For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (66) - "Pink Slime" by #Uruguay author Fernanda Trias and translated by Heather Cleary. Dystopian story of an inhabitant of fictional coastal town when an unknown plague sets in. Who can she take care of? Where can she go? #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (65) - "Clean" by Alia Trabucco Zerán (translated by Sophie Hughes), set in Santiago #Chile Story told via main character's "interrogation" monolog about being the maid in the house of the señor & señora and what happened to the girl there. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (64) - "Minor Detail" by Adania Shibli (translated by Elisabeth Jaquette), set in #Palestine The 1949 Nirim affair (gang rape/murder of a young Bedouin girl by IDF soldiers) & a present day woman's compulsion to know more. Sparse & haunting. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (63) - "Discontent" by Beatriz Serrano (translated by Mara Faye Lethem), set in Madrid, #Spain Existential crisis of an adrift, unfulfilled 30something advertising manager. Wonderful words. Excellent expressions. Irresistibly irreverent. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (62) - "I Must Betray You" by Ruta Sepetys, set in Bucharest, #Romania Teenaged Cristian is "recruited" by the secret police to be an informer. Who else is informing? Who can he trust? Set in the waning months of Ceaușescu's reign and fall. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (61) - "The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)" by Rabih Alameddine, set in #Lebanon The story of Raja, his mom, and their relationship set against the backdrop of Beirut's tumult thru the decades. Felt genuine, good read. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (60) - "These Letters End in Tears" by Musih Tedji Xaviere, set in #Cameroon Bess and Fati, a Christian and a Muslim fall in love where it is lethal to be gay. Bess tells their story, present and past, while searching for Fati. What happened? #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (59) - "The Country of Toó" by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, set in #Guatemala Cobra is the central character in this story of redemption, rebellion & relative morality. Political corruption & corporate greed vs indigenous people... who will Cobra follow? #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (58) - "In the Time of Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez, about the Mirabal sisters during the Trujillo dictatorship in the #DominicanRepublic Lives of the 3 assassinated sisters & the 1 that lived. Well-fleshed out, gripping, infuriating, sad. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (57) - "Ayiti" by Roxanne Gay, a collection of short stories about #Haiti and Hatian people there and elsewhere. Deep characters and biting commentary, resilient people and nuanced observations, short stories and big implications. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (56) - "The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography" by Sidney Poitier, which included his formative years on Cat Island and Nassau #TheBahamas Enjoyed learning about how growing up in a remote setting & early experiences formed the man. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge (55) I read "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop" by Hwang Boreum, set in Seoul #SouthKorea Gentle read about bookish lady who opens a book shop & the people who go there. Good insights on reading. Not much happens, but that is the point. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "The Book Censor's Library: A Novel" by Buthaina Al Eissa, from #Kuwait Dystopian future where imagination is expunged, meaning is surface level & books are the enemy. Like 1984. Censor works against government, suffers consequences. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Zorba the Greek" by Nikos Kazantzakis set on Crete #Greece Verbose telling of the friendship between a younger intellectual guy and an older grab life by the balls guy. One expresses with words, one with dance. Much misogyny. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez set in fictional Macondo #Colombia Magical realism isn't my favorite genre, so if I am going to read one I am glad to have read the quintessential example. What a crazy ride! #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Misinterpretation" by Ledia Xhoga set partially in #Albania Part good thriller and part odd, about an Albanian immigrant interpreter dealing with marriage, familial, and professional intrigue and drama. Parts were great, some were not. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "On A Woman's Madness" by Astrid Roemer set in #Suriname Complex story told in fragments about a young woman and her path towards survival and freedom. A look at womanhood, family ties, societal pressures, racism, sexism, patriarchy... #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Celebration" by DAMIR KARAKAŠ set in #Croatia Mijo, an Ustaša fighter, comes home from WWII. One review - physically light, psychologically heavy - so accurate. 4 moments in time described. Atmospheric, Unsettling. Recommend audio. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "It Would Be Night in Caracas" by Karina Sainz Borgo set in #Venezuela Survival. Set in a crumbling Caracas, the main character focuses on survival. Corruption, crime, loss ... personal, a way of life, a country's soul. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Eurotrash" by Christian Kracht set in #Switzerland Circular road trip in a taxi, w/a man, his 80+ year old mom, her money, her colostomy bag & lots of dredging of past. Liked the core & point of the story, but many references beyond me. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Crooked Plow" by Itamar Vieira Junior set in the rural hinterlands of Bahia #Brazil Magical realism narrated by 2 sisters linked by tragedy. Exploited black laborers work the land... racism, injustice. Spiritual faith keep them rooted. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "The Museum Detective" by Maha Kahn Phillips set in #Pakistan Mummies, mystery, missing persons. Dr Gul works with her found family to investigate a newly discovered mummy. Who can she trust? Fun mystery with some twists and turns. 👍 #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "The Blue Book of Nebo" by Manon Steffan Ros set in post-nuclear #Wales A mother and her son somehow survive "The End" alone. Their perspectives are told, written passages in a book about their village. Made a statement, made one think. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Fever Dream" by Samantha Schweblin set in rural #Argentina Unsettling. Creepy AF. Short, packs a punch. Definitely a 'what did I just read?!' moment. Real? Hallucination? 🤷‍♀️ Not usually fan of psychological terror-y, but this was good. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Sweethand" by N.G. Peltier set in Trinidad #TrinidadandTobago Rivals to lovers contemporary fiction told against the backdrop of a wedding. The maid-of-honor and the best man cannot stand each other... or can they? Fun, spicy! #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld challenge, I have completed 42 countries... #TrinidadandTobago the most recent.

For my #readaroundtheworld challenge, I have completed 41 countries... #Austria the most recent.

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "The Café with no Name" by Robert Seethaler set in Vienna #Austria Slice of life novel set in 1960s Vienna where the café and it's regulars were the gentle story. Conveyed the sense of change and passage of time subtly. Pleasant read. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "A Fort of Nine Towers" by Qais Akbar Omar mostly in Kabul #Afghhanistan Personal memoir of young Afghan from 1992-2001 during Civil War & rise of Taliban. Horrific but humble. Love of country, family, god. Infuriating beyond words. #booksky 💜📚

For my #readaroundtheworld #bookchallenge I read "Revolution Sunday" by Wendy Guerra set in Havana #Cuba Challenging read; mixes poetry w/story of a Cuban poet/author living under the authoritarian regime and learning her own history. Interesting but felt like I was missing something. #booksky 💜📚