So excited for a new month and an opportunity to read lots of great things. It’s also time for Women in Translation. If you haven’t heard about this or just want to read a bit more about this please visit WIT. There’s a ton of info from suggested reading lists to even a bingo card to help you get out of your comfort zone and find books to read this month.

I have selected 5 books from my shelves that are perfect for this and wanted to show you what I’m considering:

Space Invaders by Nona Fernández, translated by Natasha Wimmer. This is a story about a group of children growing up in Chile at the end of the Pinochet regime and who in adulthood are preoccupied by uneasy memories of their classmate Estrella.

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, translated by Sherif Hetata. A novel about a young women in a Cairo prison cell, facing execution.

My Grandmother’s Braid by Alina Bronsky, translated by Tim Mohr. Max lives with his grandparents in a residential home for refugees in Germany. When his grandmother moved them from the Motherland it was in search of a better life. But she is not at all pleased with how things are run in Germany: the doctors and teachers are incompetent, the food is toxic, and the Germans are generally untrustworthy.

The Girl with the Leica by Helena Janeczek, translated by Ann Goldstein. Gerda Taro was a German-Jewish war photographer, anti-fascist activist, artist and innovator who, together with her partner, the Hungarian Endre Friedmann, was one half of the alias Robert Capa, widely considered to be the twentieth century’s greatest war and political photographer.

High Tide by Inga Abele, translated by Kaija Straumanis. The story of Leva, her dead lover, her imprisoned husband and the way their youthful decisions dramatically impacted the rest of their lives.

What do you think of these? I mentioned in my last post that I’m carrying over several books from July but my goal is that any book I pick up in August has to fit into WIT month. I don’t usually do very well with a set of book but I’m going to try. Plus I have many other books either on my Kindle or shelves that I can choose from if I’m not quite feeling these at the time.

How about you? Are you reading any books for #WITMonth?

This week was busier than usual at work so I didn’t get a chance to blog more but I have to say I’ve been in a funk given the recent Covid news. Just as we were getting more confident about going out, infection rates have been spiking everywhere. I’m so mad about those who won’t get vaccinated, or at least wear a mask. I’m going back to limiting my outings. Here in Texas we can’t depend on our government to be sensible and issue good guidance. Thank goodness I’m still working from home for the most part.

But we’re here to talk about books right? July was a great reading month. I finished The Reader’s Room by Antoine Laurain, Gone Missing by Linda Castillo, The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday by Kiley Dunbar, Real People by Alison Lurie and The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley.

I enjoyed all of these books a lot and while most of them were on the lighter side, I found them to be perfect summer reads. Some of these count towards reading challenges so that’s always a plus. The Reader’s Room (my favorite read of the month) was for Paris in July and I’m reading another book for that reading event but probably won’t finish until next month. Thank you again to Tamara for hosting the reading event.

In other bookish news did you see the The Booker Prize long list was announced this week? Any thoughts? I recognize a couple of titles but will have to investigate a bit more to see which ones are must reads.

As far as what I’m looking forward to next month? Women in Translation month! I have several books that are perfect for this and I can’t wait to share those with you.

In the meantime I hope you are staying safe and reading lots of good books.