196 Books: Belgium

Searching for Augusta by Martin King

And heeere's Belgium:

Lots of fun neighbors. Aaand summary:
Untold millions who saw and read Band of Brothers can finally know the whole story of what happened to American soldiers and civilians in Bastogne during that arduous Winter of 1944/45. In the television version of Band of Brothers, a passing reference is made to an African nurse assisting in an aid station in Bastogne. When military historian Martin King watched the episode, he had to know who that woman was; thus began a multi-year odyssey that revealed the horror of a town under siege as well as an improbable love story between a white Army medic, Jack Prior, and his black nurse, Augusta Chiwy, as they saved countless lives while under constant bombardment. Based on the recent discovery of Prior's diary as well as an exhaustive and occasionally futile search for Augusta herself, King was at last able to bring belated recognition of Augusta's incredible story by both the U.S. Army and Belgian government shortly before she died. This is not only a little-known story of the Battle of the Bulge, but also the author's own relentless mission to locate Augusta and bestow upon her the honors she so richly deserved.

I'll admit that I erred a bit here: I got so excited when I was reading the summary that I didn't look into the author. He's British, but I'm calling it okay because he lives in Belgium and is a military historian so I think he probably did his homework. 
I really love historical fiction. My only wish is that they made it more obvious which parts or conversations they made up so you can know for sure. 

It was another war book, so there were a lot of things that made my stomach turn. The nazis (no, Google, I won't give them the respect of capitalization) were big old bastards. It definitely blew my mind the level of racism that was still rampant at that time. Some of these soldiers were literally dying but they somehow thought being worked on by a black nurse was worse. Fucking ridiculous. There was a super amazing line about that: "In his opinion the most frightening aspect of any society is the one that regards others, those who are different, as being 'less than human.'" A-fricken-men. I think that's pretty relevant to today's society (well, I guess society always). 

And here's a *spoiler* that's also a complaint: when I read a love story I want the main characters to get together! It was a bummer that they didn't. Although, when the author did meet Augusta a few years ago and she told him how Jack was in love with her, she seemed like she might be a smidge senile. So maybe it wasn't a love story at all. And less love story than war story. Which I guess makes sense for what was going on. It's definitely not for the squeamish though. 

So, that's it for Belgium. Another war story, another history. Sorry not sorry, etc. 
Ok, I know I'm not doing well at these "review" things. I really don't know what to write for starters. Second, I have a huuuuge headache that's making me very cranky, and my knees have been naughty lately. I went to the doctor about them today which always throws me into a big pity party. Alas, woe is me and all that. Maybe by the next review I'll be more chipper. 

196 Books: Belarus

Paranoia by Victor Martinovich

Belarus is located here:

It used to be part of the Soviet Union and is considered by many to be a dictatorship. So that's fun. 

Book summary:
Banned in Belarus two days after it was published, Paranoia is a thriller, a love story, and a harrowing journey into one of the world’s last closed societies. The book never mentions Belarus or its capital, Minsk, but the setting is unmistakable. In his tragicomic prefatory remarks, author Victor Martinovich all but acknowledges the inevitable comparison: "There is no more need to invent ‘1984’: just look around." The state has so penetrated all areas of life—scrutinizing even errant scraps of paper and utterances between lovers—that he must "enjoin readers not to read this book." But for those who do, Paranoia is a timeless story of doomed romance between a young man, Anatoly, and a mysterious young woman he notices at a café. Their whirlwind romance draws Anatoly into a world of privilege and danger, as he discovers that the third party in their love triangle is the omnipotent and omniscient head of state security. A heart-pounding tale of love, murder, and betrayal, Paranoia will appeal to fans of political thrillers. It also offers insight into the frightful workings of a contemporary totalitarian state. Historian Timothy Snyder’s helpful foreword makes explicit, for interested readers, the parallels between politics in Belarus and the rest of the Eastern European region.

It's also worth noting the "description" on the back of the book:
"All the events related herein are fictional: the protagonists have never existed in any reality other than that of the present text. Any unsanctioned comparisons with historical figures or persons alive today may be qualified as a criminal offense punishable under international and national law. To avoid unintentionally committing acts prosecutable (Google says that's not a word) under the Penal Code, the author--fully aware that, essentially, he should never have written it in the first place--enjoins the reader not to read this book."

Where to start with this one? When looking for Belarus, I was stuck between two books: this one and one that was more factual. I kept getting really excited about the description for this one though, so I went with it. Let me start by confessing that I didn't read the foreward (Google strikes again with that one. Either spell check is going crazy or I am). I rarely read them, and I'm kind of glad I didn't in this case. Books like this one (and 1984) are compelling, but they freak me out to think of that as reality. Like panic attack freak out. Part of me wants to know how close this book is to real life Belarus, and part of me is a scared little girl that wants to shut away all the bad stuff. 

So I liked this book just as much as I thought I would. There should have been a disclaimer though...the first line should have been "This book does not have a happy ending." I mean at a certain point you know that it won't, but the love story in there makes you hopeful. There were a few points that really caught me, that I want to point out:

There's a passage about the paranoia: "Sometimes things disappear at home, too. Not very important things but like...gadgets. A postcard from somebody. Or a shoehorn. It's a weird kind of awareness. An awareness of some sort of presence." It reminded me of a conversation I had with Diplomat Sister once about serving the US in communist countries. She said she knew people that did it and they would come home and the police or whomever would have been in their home. They would do things like use the toilet and not flush it...or I assume move/take small things like that. They wanted you to know that they'd been there, that they had access to you and your home and your things. It's such an eerie thought. But I guess that's the authoritarian government. 

Next is a silly thing: pelmeni meat dumplings! He mentions them a couple of times and it kept making me smile because there's a pelmeni place in little Juneau! I had them for the first time a few weeks ago. Everybody said they're amazing drunk food; they weren't lying. 

The last thing I want to point out about this book is that Martinovich had such rich descriptions. Here's one that I absolutely loved: "Then Bach diminished and faded like the last Gothic cross, like a glint of light in a stained-glass window, and Chopin began. He was like his name. His music bubbled with the foam of champagne spilling from a bottle, surging and flowing from side to side across the stage." I could actually picture the Chopin music; it was such a beautiful description. I could feel it. Other descriptions and thoughts were almost dizzy; almost like the paranoia was setting in for me. 

Anyone who likes political thrillers should read this. It's amazing and he's such a vivid, deep writer. Just don't think to much about the reality of it.

196 Books: Barbados

Fire in the Canes by Glenville Lovell

Here's Barbados!

Fun fact: Rihanna is from Barbados. Not so fun fact: it's been kind of slammed by Mother Nature lately. 

Here's the summary!

A new arrival on a Caribbean island dominated by the cane fields, fifteen-year-old Midra falls under the spell of the island prince, whose African ancestry brings Midra a revelation from the ancient past. A first novel.

That doesn't say much. Here's the summary I read when I picked this book...or maybe it was the only one I could find. I dunno. Here it is anyway:

"Caribbean stories are often filled with magic and mysticism. Glenville Lovell immerses readers in all these elements in his debut novel, "Fires in the Canes". Lovell brings to life the sleepy West Indian village of Monkey Road, 50 years after the end of slavery. Peata, a sensual and fun-loving woman, arrives with her beautiful teenage daughter, Midra, which starts a chain of events that forever changes their lives and those of the villagers . . . Lovell spins an interesting story, one that will make you think about how one incident can change the future".--"USA Today".

Ok. This was a good, quick, fun read. Without giving too much away, I was not prepared for all of the mysticism. It was going along like a normal, everyday life story and then BOOM--ancestor spirits. I kind of got into it though. One thing I did have a really hard time with was picturing in my mind's eye that this was taking place in like the late 1800s. Especially with the women; I could not picture them in the long conservative dresses of the time. I think it was because there was a lot of sex and debauchery, and you hear about that time being really prudish. But I guess if you really think about it there's always been a lot of sex, it was just maybe kept under wraps or just not talked about. It was very open in the story (that may be a consequence of it being written in 1995 though) and there's a lot of nakedness that people just kind of shrug off. 

I liked this book and I liked how it opened me up to a really different perspective on beliefs. I don't really have any ties to my past so the pride and love for the ancestors was neat. 

This one is kind of short and rushed, I apologize...but I gotta get to work and I like to get this out before I start the next book! Kbye!

196 Books: Bangladesh

Liberation by Humayun Ahmed

Here we have Bangladesh, with bonus fun facts! 

And synopsis, of course:
In this book, by means of an engrossing fictional story which skilfully incorporates various historical figures and many true incidents as well as the author's own personal experiences, fortified with excerpts from newspapers and other documents, Humayun Ahmed manages to produce a remarkably vivid and well balanced picture of the political events and bloody civil war which led to the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state in 1971. No other work on the subject has the same breadth of vision or the same power to absorb and engage the reader. This is essential reading for anyone who wishes to explore the human reality behind the stark facts of the Bangladesh Liberation War. In the present translation Humayun Ahmed's highly accessible Bengali style has been recreated in modern colloquial English, making an easy read for Western readers. This edition also comprises explanatory notes to assist those unfamiliar with the cultural and historical background to the novel.


I was kind of nervous about this one because it was pretty long and the print was suuuper tiny, but it was a pretty good read so it wasn't so bad. Alright so it did take a while to read, but I also had parents' visits in there. Ok, you don't care. On to the book. 

About 70 pages in I had a big shock. I'm reading along, and all of a sudden one of the characters says he's going to college at the State University of Moorhead, North Dakota. Holy shit! THAT'S WHERE I WENT TO COLLEGE. Well, kind of. It's actually Minnesota State University, Moorhead in (obvs) Minnesota. It turns out the author went to University of North Dakota in Fargo, which is right across from Moorhead. I kind of wonder if he did it wrong on purpose. It was weird, but also pretty cool; I'm reading this book about Bangladesh a world away and found a piece of my own life. 

Next: war. In this book quest I keep reading stories about war. It's of course a huge part of history, but I find it equally fascinating and depressing. Although it has kind of gotten me wondering if I should start to look for books that focus more on the real history of a place instead of novels. This one also got me thinking about the crazy shit people do during war. How do people get turned into that? There was one part where someone was getting tortured...his torturer told him how that it doesn't work. And there have been studies that show the same thing: yes, people being tortured will say all sorts of things. But they'll say what they think the torturer wants to hear; whatever will make them stop. So why does it keep happening? I guess they just go completely insane. 

Apart from the raping and pillaging and war shit, I really liked this book. There were some really interesting stories, even if I had a hard time keeping some of the names straight. I really only have one hangup with it: it had a happy ending. And then he was like oh, just kidding, everyone died. Ugh. 

House Guests

In laws 

It's kind of funny that, at my age, I'm still having adulty firsts. But, after almost 2 years in Juneau, we had our first house guests: Soldier's parents. I knew it was going to be a little overwhelming for me; his family is all very animated, opinionated, and extroverted and I am very much not. But it turns out I might also just be a terrible hostess. 

When I go to visit and stay at someone's house, one of my biggest priorities is to not interrupt their life. I don't want to be a burden or a pain and I want it to be as fun and easy as possible. I kind of assumed that everyone was like this. That is not the case. To be fair, we did have some fun, and some of the things that bothered me probably should have: 
We made a trip to Costco and the in-laws bought enough food for a month, which meant my fridge was full to the brim, which gave me anxiety every time I opened it. Mom in law has just about every health issue known to man, but none of them seem to be entirely managed. This meant that going anywhere was a production and a large bag of food and various supplies and forms of entertainment always had to go along. 

But the biggest thing that bothered me is mom in law would randomly clean things, mostly in the kitchen. I know, you now think I'm insane (if you didn't already). But here's the thing: many (most?) people would love to have a maid and a lot find a way to do it. I am not one of those people. I don't want someone who doesn't live with me to be going through my things, someone who doesn't know how I like things done or where things go. Does that make me weird or a control freak? Eh, maybe. And logically I know it shouldn't bother me because she just wants to help (I think), but it made me feel like she was trying to take over my home. It's like she wants to help but instead of asking what will be helpful, she just starts doing whatever and it stresses me out. Alright, I'll admit I might be a little crazy. I really tried to not let them know how much anxiety it was giving me, but I'm not sure I was successful. 

And of course, now that they're gone, I feel guilty about not enjoying their visit more and not being more gracious. I also feel bad because I don't think I'm ever going to be close to Soldier's family. But on the other hand, maybe I just don't like people staying in my little apartment. My parents are coming to visit in a week, so I guess we'll find out.  

196 Books: Bahrain

Yummah by Sarah A. Al Shafei

Bahrain is this little guy:

Um, I don't know that Bahrain is actually a little guy. Upon further research, it has over 1.2 million people. I'll be honest, I don't really know if that's little or not. I'm just gonna stick with that little guy. I like it. 

So here's the description:
Khadeeja is a child who is forced into womanhood early. She is compelled to marry a man much older than she through arranged marriage and lives a world of hardships from then on. Her mother dies soon after her wedding, leaving her with a husband she hardly knows and two brothers she knows nothing of. Khadeeja learns to love her husband and win his love in return, but just as she thought her life was a beautiful love story her precious son dies from a scorpion bite. Grief and sadness become her new best friends. Her husband, whom she can't live without, abandons her without warning and she is left to raise and support eight children while pregnant with the ninth. Her brother, who finds out about his sister's misfortune and the truth behind his brother-in-law's actions, returns to Bahrain to take care of Khadeeja, but when he finds out about his cheating wife falls ill with sadness and grief and soon dies. Khadeeja forces herself to survive with the faith and patience she has inherited from her late mother and faces life's war with strength, courage and pride. She grows with her children; she grows with time; she grows with history - her country's history. She succeeds in raising wonderful children who go through their own share of happiness and misfortune. Her husband, who married another woman for money, returns filled with regret and in a wheelchair. Though Khadeeja was hurt and angry she opens her arms for him with love and forgiveness, but watching him die in her arms takes her back in time as she goes through the grief all over again. As a great-grandmother Khadeeja sits back to watch her triumph, her success and dies with dignity, leaving behind a legend to be remembered by many.

You may read that synopsis and think that it gives you the whole book, but it's misleading. *I'll try to weed out the incorrect parts without giving too much away.*

But let me start with: Wahoo! I finished this one in less than a week! Was it super long? No. Under 200 pages. Was it a difficult read? No. Almost childlike in its simplicity. Was it engaging? Yes. Fantastic story. 

Ok. So yes, she goes into an arranged marriage at 12, but she's *totally in love* from the first day. Which, I gotta say, annoyed me a little. Partly because of my bias against arranged marriage, partly because the description makes it sound otherwise, and partly because twelve. 
But, whatever. So when her mom dies (spoiler) she's just found out she's pregnant. So yeah it's obviously not an easy thing, but she has her husband who she loves and loves her, and the new baby that she's very excited about. So it makes it sound worse. It doesn't get really bad for her until her husband leaves. Although, I guess I can't really say that. I mean she was obviously a child when she had to become a wife and mother so that's gotta mess up your head. And she has a doll that's legit her best friend. So, psychologically (or social workologically!) I think you could probably make a case that she's pretty much mentally stuck at 12. 

Honestly, it was a really good story and a fast read. There were just a few things that were hangups though. I imagine it was the translation, but it wasn't great...there were quite a few grammatical errors and a lot of missing commas. The language seemed very modern and western, but that could be my ignorance. It doesn't reference a time frame for quite a while so I'm guessing it begins in maybe the 1940s or '50s...I originally imagined it much earlier. But the actual story line really hooked me. It went in depth with this family and was pretty easy to follow. I also loved that there would be a foreign word for something and the author described what it was so it was easier for me to imagine the setting. 



Some of the books on this around the world quest are kind of hard to find, and *I think* this was one I had to search for a bit. I might be making that up, but it sounds right. All I have to go on is the description so they're not all hits, but this one was definitely worth it. It's re-energized my enthusiasm for this challenge and I'm excited to start the next book. Even though I don't remember what anything about it. So...onward! 

196 Books: The Bahamas

God's Angry Babies by Ian G. Strachan

You know the drill by now. Map of The Bahamas: 

And book description:
This coming-of-age novel, by the Bahamanian writer, traces the lives of Tree Bodie and his three brothers as they grow up in the streets of Pompey Village, an area of extreme poverty hidden from the tourists who populate the luxury hotels. Creole conversation lends a distinct flavour.

I'd hoped to have this finished before I went on my trip to LA but didn't quite make it. Oh wellsies. 

This was a pretty good read once I got the hang of it. It took a little bit because it went back and forth between "present" time and the main character's childhood. Also that Creole conversation was really freaking hard to understand. Luckily there's a glossary in the back for some of the really local words. 

It was interesting because the author set this book during political upheaval. I don't know if any of that is based in fact but, if it wasn't, he's really good at bullshitting. It seemed very much like it could have been real; you had politicians who were corrupt and leeching off the citizens, and the people who were sick of their tax money being used for politician's personal gains. There was also discord between Tree and his mom; Mama supported the existing party and Tree (though he got blackmailed into working for them) did not. Oops, that may have needed a spoiler alert. 

So I guess my only hangup with this book was having a hard time with the Creole. I would say if you're better than I am at interpreting it you should definitely read this. 

So now I'm officially into the B countries, which I'm glad about, and I'll really try to read them faster. In other news, which I'm positive you've noticed, I don't know how to write book reviews. I'm bad at them and I feel bad. But read them anyway. K byeee!