Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.
Hey y’all! I’m really proud of this last week, since I’ve been posting more consistently again and found more of a balance between my needs and those of others. I even scheduled a bunch of posts in advance so I had the time to devote to taking care of Mom — I’m basically her unpaid personal assistant, but she did it for me for a lot longer, so I’m just repaying the favor. Typically, I get overwhelmed easily, but Mom and I have a lot of fun together. When I was younger, she was all about ‘I’m your mom, not your friend,” but we’ve shifted roles to become friends now that I’m an adult. And she is an awesome person.
This week’s prompt is books guaranteed to put an end to your book slump, but plot twist! I decided to go rogue because I feel like it’s so hard to recommend books to get someone out of a slump if you don’t really know your taste, but since it’s Jana, I’m going to make a few suggestions before telling you about my own topic. I know you’re all about the romance, so here’s a couple of my favorite romances: Meet Me at Midnight by Felicia Grossman (historical romance with fairy tale influences), literally anything by Jean Meltzer (contemporary rom-com), and any of Gina L. Maxwell’s books (The Deviant Kings series is romantasy, but her earlier books are just hawt 🥵 romance). And now onto my topic for this week.
I’ve been reading a lot of books set around the world and some translated works, and want to share my ten most recent reads set in places I don’t know a lot about. Yeah, it’s kind of a long prompt, hence the catchy post title. Also, I’m sharing the most recent ones, not necessarily my faves, so I’ll include a short reaction to the book.
- Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adobe Trisha Nwaubani and Viviana Mazza (historical fiction). This was a powerful story about a girl in Nigeria who dreams of attending university but finds herself kidnapped by Boko Haram. Goodreads | Amazon
- Ponary Diary, 1941-1943: A Bystander’s Account of a Mass Murder by Kazimierz Sakowicz (nonfiction WWII). This is translated from Polish, and it tells the tale of a horrifying and often unknown massacre that killed nearly all the Jews living in Vilna, Lithuania—the Ponary massacre. Goodreads | Amazon
- High Season by Katie Bishop (mystery). Although it is set in the south of France, and I really enjoyed the story, it didn’t really leave me with a feel for the location. Goodreads | Amazon
- Sons and Daughters by Chaim Grade (historical fiction). Set in Bialystok, Poland and translated from the original Yiddish, this was a doorstopper of a book. It was fantastic and really gave good insight into the ever-present struggle of parents adhering to the old ways, and their children adopting modern life. Goodreads | Amazon
- No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack (cozy mystery). This is the second book in a hilarious series featuring a mystery writer and she’s visiting Catalina Island, California. The setting felt perfect for the story, and I like that each book features a different location. Goodreads | Amazon
- The Master Jeweler by Weina Dai Randel (historical fiction). I adored this book set in Shanghai, and loved that it gave me a lot of insight into what the Shanghai of the past looked like. Goodreads | Amazon
- Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland (nonfiction travel memoir). Originally written in Norwegian, this book really delves into the history, culture, and society of these post-Soviet nations with long roots in the area, but as expected, it was a bit dense. Goodreads | Amazon
- The Women by Kristin Hannah (historical fiction). I was fascinated by this look into the experience of the women who served in the Vietnam War, and their fight for recognition and equality in veteran’s benefits. Goodreads | Amazon
- My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende (historical fiction). She’s an incredible author and this book took me to late 1800s San Francisco but also to Chile and left me with another country I would love to see. Goodreads | Amazon
- Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi (historical fiction). Joshi is another of my favorite authors, and she takes on colonial India through the eyes of a young Anglo-Indian nurse who finds herself traveling far from her humble home. Goodreads | Amazon
Have you read any books set in distant or unfamiliar places?
Categories: Top Ten Tuesday
Leah's Books 
Catherine’s book looks so funny and the title, though lengthy, is immediately eye catching. 🙂
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I can assure you, they’re even better than they look. Also, why are such long titles a thing now?
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I’ve visited Nigeria twice through books in the past few years. The first was The Girl with the Louding Voice, and the second was the sequel that quietly came out last year. And earlier this year I visited northern Sweden, where Norway and Finland are just a 15-30 minute drive away. I’m always amazed at the people who live in the Arctic Circle.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/the-os-have-it-ten-titles-starting-with-o/
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There seem to be some really great books from Nigerian authors and set in Nigeria lately – I remember reading My Sister, the Serial Killer a few years ago. I’m blown away by the Arctic Circle – I’d love to visit there someday.
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I’m glad you’re finding your groove with your mom.
Books about places and times I don’t know much about are so interesting to read.
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Thank you – it’s a relief to have things go a little more smoothly at home, and I’m sure this is really tough for my mother, who has been so strong and independent her whole life. I always liked your posts about Canadian books, and I have read a few of them, but I got interested in a visual representation of where the books I’ve read are set, and started tracking it on a map!
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I love reading books from around the world/set in different countries. One of my favourite (if not most favourite) books of the year so far is The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, which is set in Malaysia and really so good. I highly recommend! If you enjoyed the book set in Shanghai, you might enjoy another historical fiction set in China (although not in Shanghai) – Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See!
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I love finding a fellow reader passionate about reading around the world! Just added The Garden of Evening Mists to my TBR, and have been meaning to get to Lady Tan’s Circle of Woman ever since I thrifted a copy. I’ve gravitated heavily towards book set in Asia, and have read so many books set in China since my introduction to the country through Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. There are so many different regions/climates/ethnic groups within China, that I never get bored.
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Oh that’s great! My degree was in Korean and I’m about to do my master’s in East Asian studies so I inevitably end up reading a lot of books about/set in that part of the world, but I genuinely love them!! Those books are both great, so I hope you enjoy!
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Oh wow, that’s amazing! Thanks for the recs!
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I’m glad that you’ve found a balance. It sounds like you have a lovely relationship with your mum.
I do like translated works. I haven’t read any in a while though.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
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Thank you! It is making life easier for both of us, although my brother is taking custody of her for a week – we all have a great relationship with my Mom, and it’s the norm for each of us to speak to her at least once a day. I however, get to spend most of the time with her, and it’s fun to see what our relationship has grown into now that I’m an adult.
Translated works are fantastic – I love getting a view into a different country, religion, and/or culture. It makes me realize how different the norms are for Western society and other areas of the world. Sorry for the SUPER late response, but I hope you had a great week!
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Bless. That will be nice for your mum to see your brother. Wow once a day. I send the odd text I suppose 😂
It is interesting to see how things are written. It does make me feel quite narrow minded 🤣
That’s ok. No problem at all! Have a lovely week too.
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I think it’s got more to do with her age and how much we all worry about her as she navigates being elderly.
I always like to see the different types of storytelling and social expectations – it makes me feel more open minded for actively learning about something or someone new.
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I understand. It’s a scary time.
Something to keep you interested 😊
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It’s never boring, that’s for sure.
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😂
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I loved the Women and Six Days in Bombay!
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I love when my faves overlap with books that others enjoyed as well. Have you read Alka Joshi’s trilogy? I was OBSESSED, but I’ve always wanted to travel to Asia and especially India. Unfortunately, between my health and the cost, traveling to India in real life isn’t happening for quite a while. But armchair travel is free, so I can live vicariously.
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Yes, mostly about archeological places like Egypt and Central America. If you find the time, and if you haven’t already, read ” Wonders of the World” by Richard Haliburton.
Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
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That is fascinating! There’s so much that they’ve been able to learn from archeology. Wonders of the World sounds like a great read, just added it to my TBR. Thank you for the rec.
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I love reading about other places and armchair traveling. I recently read Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See which was set in South Korea. It was so good.
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Its amazing what we can learn about a place from a book, even when it’s fiction. I’ve been wanting to read Island of the Sea Women.
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I loved it and definitely recommend it, Leah.
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I need to read The Women. It gets amazing reviews.
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It was so good! And here I was thinking I was the last person to read it 😂
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Some of these do sound really interesting, it is good to keep learning about our world.
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It really is, there is so much to learn.
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What a lovely tribute to your mom! It sounds like you have a wonderful relationship with her.
Great topic! Funny enough, I read both NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE AT THIS WEDDING and THE WOMEN last month. I’ve been to California numerous times, but I’ve never been to Catalina Island. It’s supposed to be beautiful. I know little about Vietnam and I also found THE WOMEN fascinating in a lot of ways, even though I didn’t love the book as a whole.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Thank you so much! Mom and I do have a good relationship, I think.
I’ve only been to California once but it was a really short trip and I don’t really remember much about it. I love armchair traveling – it’s almost as good as real travel, but better for my wallet!
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