Winstonsdads Dozen of 2023

1. A tomb of sand by Geetanjali Shree
2. Canzone Di Guerra by Dasa Drndic
3. Necropolis by Boris Pahor
4. The book of Mother by Violaine Husiman
5. Among the Almond trees by Hussein Barghouthi
6. Goshawk Summer by James Aldred
7. Thread ripper by Amalie Smith
8. The critical case of a man called K BY Aziz Mohamed
9. Something Strange like Hunger by Malika Mostadraf
10. Pyre by Perumal Murgan
11. school for girls by Arianne Lessard
12. Dead Lands by Nuria Bendicho

Here is my dozen books I have picked books I reviewed on the blog I managed to read 122 books well that is as I write this on the 29th.My books of the year start in India with the Man booker international winner about an older woman getting over her husband’s passing and suddenly aspiring in her life all that wonderful use of language that had been brought Wonderfull to life into English. Then we are in the Balkans and Canada as we see how we cope with being an immigrant and trying to keep alive our own identity and heritage this book goes back to the war and has so much more by the late Dasa a writer that should be better known. Then we are still in the Balkans and Pahors account of his life in the concentration camps as he helped a doctor and saw the horrors a testament to surviving the horrors of the camps, Then a daughter tells of her chaotic childhood with her mother that had mental health issues as some that have struggled this year with stress and my mental health books around mental health are important. Then a man returns home to Palenstine and his past and present mixes as he wanders his childhood haunts as he faces death a powerful book. Then I read lots of nature books but Goshawk summer was the best as it captured that moment when the lockdown was there and nature crept back as the world felt silent and the world slowed for a short time. Then a gem of a book that has interlink stories thread ripper is one of those books that has a loose theme of computers women and computers and tapestry it is just a book that lingers long after you have finished the book. Then we meet a man undergoing Cancer treatment in Saudi Arabia this book nods to Kafka as our lead character gets lost in the world of medicine and what his family expects. Then we have the stories of a feminist Moroccan writer that died too soon this collection captures Morocco at the time from the female point of view but also what it was like living there from a woman chatting on the internet to being on a bus. Then we shoot in India and a story about castes set in a village as a son brings a wife back from the wrong cast what will happen especially when he has to go back to the city where they first meet.It is that class of cultures a son returns after seeing the city and its world back to the small minds of the village. Then a chorus of girls from a school in the middle of the country tell their tale and that of their teachers this is a creepy collection of voices. Then lastly is my book of the year Dead lands the story of a son that has been killed and shot in the back in his small Catalan village. The book takes the form of 13 stories from family members and those involved with the death of a priest to a carer, later on, caring for one of his siblings this is a Faulkneresque style but has a strong voice that captures that world of a small village and the secrets that lie under neither.So that is my dozen for this year. I will be back in the new year.

Reading Doldrums, reading rotation a new Horizons

I sat the last few days and tried to think why My reading has felt flat for a good while. I have at times acted passionate about books but in my heart of hearts, the passion isn’t there as it once was. I  have talked about reading for me is like my own yacht (well boat) and I have for many years sailed the translated sea of books but maybe I have reached the Doldrums as a reader that part where wind and currents have dropped and you are just there as a reader adrift and that has been me. I first felt it earlier in the year I had an idea for a project for the forthcoming translation of Solenoid but never really got started with it, not sure why I tried to read another Cartaescu book already out and this was just about the time I went of work with stress so I never finished it and then with this year shadow booker I was going through the motions the passion I had felt for doing this had gone and that was sad as it was a jolly good longlist the best for a long time. But I have sat and tried to kick start my reading of translation but then I have come to the conclusion I need a reading rotations and to broaden my scope of reading my reading is a fallow field overworked on the same crop of translation for year and years. This has also come as I have discovered book tube and the tubers I like people like Lonesome reader, Bob the bookerer tend to read a wider breadth of books. I then start to think about crop rotation and then compared this to my reading I always say, I’d  Like to try other books and for years haven’t I tried new projects but all with a hint book in translation or world lit and I am someone that isn’t great at following plans I just get too distracted by other things. I mentioned I want to read some more nature writing so I have looked at books on the Wainwright prize lists the big prize for nature writing and have ordered some of them from the library just to try and kickstart some joy in books. I have read a lot of books this year but for me, I read a lot it is like a reflex to just read but I have missed feeling passionate and I am someone that loves buzz books, books I connect with and maybe I have had a run this year of books that I haven’t connected that have made me buzz as a reader I can think of the books I have reviewed on here that there is maybe five of the forty-plus books that I have read I have really connected with and rather than carry on I need to rota my reading. I will be reading fewer books in translation for the time being this means I may only slightly contribute to Spanish and Portuguese. this year I feel I will broaden my reading for the rest of the year nature writing, English classic, historical fiction, some new fiction from the Uk and America, memoir and biographies. I love taking apart myself as a reader I am like a clockmaker my reading clock has been overwound I have sent it to the mender he has loses the spring cleaned the working and polished the reading clock. So hang on I am just about to do some night shifts and won’t be back to Weds or Thurs next week with a review. Do you look out for yourself as a reader ? have you burnt a genre out.I started the post with a picture of Oldway which I brought a while ago in hindsight this was maybe me starting to think of other books to read and then from the library today after I had paid my fine I am always bring books back late so bad at renewing or getting back so fine paid and I picked these three books up