Tonight I met with my foreign authors book group, (we’ve been meeting for 13 years – that’s a lot of years of good books!) and we discussed The Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb. I also count this book as one of my books for the Armchair Travel Reading Challenge.
I wish I could say I loved the book. I feel like it did open my eyes a bit more into the history of Afghanistan and it was interesting, it just wasn’t exactly what I expected to read. I thought it was going to focus more on the human interest stories but to me it felt like it was more about the background. Which is not bad, it’s just not what I expected.
Anyway we also saw the list for our 2008 books and these are the ones that made the cut:
- Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende
- The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
- Zeno’s Conscience by Italo Svevo
- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
- Out of Egypt by Andre Aciman
- Madame by Antoni Libera
- The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
- The Accidental by Ali Smith
- In the Empire of Genghis Khan by Stanley Stewart
- Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Chess Machine by Robert Lohr
A good list don’t you think? We still have another meeting in early December where we’ll discuss A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka. I’m looking forward to it.
And, stay tuned because next post I have a treat – a Q&A with an author. A first for Bookgirl’s Nightstand.
How exciting! I can’t wait.
Looks like you’ve got some good reading ahead of you.
Great list! Wild Swans was a great read and I learned so much.
I am so sorry that I missed out on last night. I like the list this year and was excited to see two of the books I nominated on there! =)
Looking forward to the Q&A…..
Congratulations on the interview. What a coup!
Let me know about The Accidental and Bookseller of Kabul. I tried with both and failed to finish them.
That’s a great list of books! Looking forward to the author interview!
That DOES look like a great list. And 13 years! Wow.
I really enjoyed The Bookseller of Kabul and Half of a Yellow Sun this year.
Sounds like a really great group to be part of!
Oh, and I enjoyed Wild Swans, too. That’s a long one, but fascinating!
Like 3m, I loved Bookseller and Yellow Sun. I plan on reading Wild Swans early next year, and I look forward to your reviews of the other ones. I love reading foreign authors. 🙂 Thirteen years is impressive!
aka Nik – I know, I want to read all those books now! 🙂
Tara – I’m so glad to hear that.
Christine – We missed you girl. Yay two of your books made it. You know, I can’t even remember all the ones I nominated. Ha,ha.
Isabel – Why didn’t you finish them? Do you think it was right book, wrong time kind of thing? I’ll keep you posted as we read them.
Stefanie – Thanks! I hope you’ll enjoy the interview.
Dorothy W. – I know, 13 years of some great books. Especially when I think back to the books I may not have picked up on my own and ended up liking a lot.
3M – So glad to hear that. I’m looking forward to Half of a Yellow Sun especially as I read her first novel and loved it.
Eva – That’s what drew me to the book group in the first place, the fact that we only read books by authors outside of the U.S. It just helps us learn more about our world you know.
That is a serious book club! You have a great list of books ahead of you. I really liked Wild Swans, too!
A foreign authors book club? That’s awesome Iliana, I’d love to belong to something like that! Let’s see…I’ve probably read about 5 books from your list and the one I would recommend very highly is Chimananda Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun”. I also enjoyed Thrity Umrigar’s “The Space Between Us” for its lyrical writing.
That’s an awesome list you’ve got there. I read The Bookseller of Kabul when I was in Puerto Vallarta. It’s very shocking but informative book. I enjoyed reading it a lot. I like how she explores the perspective from women in a country where women have no rights and no respect.
Zeno’s Conscience is on my Outmoded Author challenge list.
Wild Swans is yet another great one that tells the story of three women against the historic backdrop of war and political instability. 🙂
Danielle – It is isn’t it 🙂 Now I’m eager to read Wild Swans as so many of you have liked it.
Lotus Reads – If you are ever in Dallas then you’ll have to join us! This book group is really wonderful. We’ve read some amazing books.
Matt – I get the feeling I will like that book too. Zeno’s conscience seems like it might be a bit more challenging but that’s the best part about a book group – you get to discuss it.
That’s a greast list, it sounds like a wonderful book club! I wish I stayed in a place long enough to be a member of a book club for 13 years! I have read a few of those selections, and liked them all.
I love this list. I have Italo Svevo, Andre Aciman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Stanley Stewart on my own TBR list. The Accidental — it was interesting. Can’t say I loved it, but it was interesting.
Thirteen years is a LONG TIME for a book group. But just wondering – how many of the original members are still around after 13 years, and how many new faces?
I’ve read and Wild Swans (recommended by booklogged), The Space Between Us, and The Chess Machine — enjoyed all of them! Great list…a couple are on my TBR list, too.
Alisia – It is a great group. I have a list of all the books we’ve read since the group started and some of the books from the list have become some of my all time favorites.
Dark Orpheus – Believe it or not we actually have a three or four members that are original members (me included!) and some of the others have been attending for years too so it’s actually a group with a good history now 🙂 It is nice to get new faces and I think every year we’ll add one or so that do become permanent members.
jenclair – I remember you reviewed The Chess Machine! I am glad to hear you enjoyed some of the books too.
I read “The Accidental” earlier this year and I really liked it. It sounds like you have some great reading ahead of you!
Nymeth – Good to hear! I’m excited about our list. I think we’ll have some great discussions.