Which Book Should We Read Written by Refugees & the Diaspora from Myanmar, Laos, & Cambodia?

In November, we offered the choice of books written by native authors from Myanmar, Laos, & Cambodia. This month, we’re focusing on refugees & the diaspora from these countries. With the holidays, we’ll also be extending out the discussion so that it occurs beginning January 15 to give a little extra time to read.

But before we get to the vote, here’s a powerful poem from a Cambodian American poet who is included in our list this month—Monica Sok.

“There’s a sister who works so hard she never talks.
A sister who screams when she hears dogs bark.
A sister whose breasts have grown dry. A sister who always hides.
There’s a time comrades come to the hut.
They can’t tell who’s who―How many are you?
Where’s the other one hiding? That sister stays close,

somewhere in a hole, closed off with dirt.
Sometimes she sits with the sister whose baby lacked milk.
In her place of hiding, she cries, thinks of comforting words
but her mouth goes dry. In a far village,
where works the sister who never talks: the sunset.
Finally, it’s her chance. Time to run back,

but this time an owl screeches. She closes her eyes.
She disappears, pretends she’s the one who can fly.
That sister so quiet. How does that sister stay quiet?
Biting her lips she goes into hiding: between her teeth,
the skin of a snake, hiding like a chasm in a field, a hole
in the door to spy on the time, dark knot

high up in a greasy tree, little dry well in a forgotten yard
where sounds of smoke and fighting drive close.
One sister soils her sarong. To wash it, the sisters search for water
but find full of air, a balloon which swollen in the river
makes the youngest scream and cry, she who holds hands
walking around the open eyes, her own face hiding.

Then the sister who never speaks, begins to speak.
I want to go home, she says. But home is not close at all.
No salty plum juice, no rice, or fish dried.
That dream is dry. And tracing with a stick,
a sister who closes a circle around them in the dirt,
hiding them safely inside―This is a circle,
a time warp around us sisters, so we can go back
to when we girls were not hiding, when fear didn’t dry us up,
and we could be whoever we were, dear sisters.
”
— Monica Sok from "A Nail the Evening Hangs On"

THE VOTING

You can vote from now until Tues., Dec. 3 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards.

Books Written by Refugees & the Diaspora from Myanmar, Laos, & Cambodia

Cambodia

A beautiful celebration of the power of hope, this NY Times bestselling novel tells the story of a girl who comes of age during the Cambodian genocide.

You are about to read an extraordinary story, a PEN Hemingway Award finalist “rich with history, mythology, folklore, language and emotion.” It will take you to the very depths of despair and show you unspeakable horrors. It will reveal a gorgeously rich culture struggling to survive through a furtive bow, a hidden ankle bracelet, fragments of remembered poetry. It will ensure that the world never forgets the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in the Cambodian killing fields between 1975 and 1979, when an estimated two million people lost their lives. It will give you hope, and it will confirm the power of storytelling to lift us up and help us not only survive but transcend suffering, cruelty, and loss.

For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood—the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.

"How is it that so much of this bleak novel is full of beauty, even joy? . . . What is remarkable, and honorable, here is the absence of anger, and the capacity—seemingly infinite--for empathy." —NY Times Book Review

"Unputdownable." —Better Homes and Gardens

(A special thank you to book club member, Jordi Valbuena for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

Best Books of 2020 —NY Public Library

In this staggering poetry debut, Monica Sok illuminates the experiences of Cambodian diaspora and reflects on America’s role in escalating the genocide in Cambodia. A Nail the Evening Hangs On travels from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, where Tuol Sleng and other war museums reshape the imagination of a child of refugees; to New York City and Lancaster, where the dailiness of intergenerational trauma persists on the subway or among the cornfields of a small hometown. Embracing collective memory, both real and imagined, these poems move across time to break familial silence. Sok pieces together voices and fragments—using persona, myth, and imagination—in a transformative work that builds towards wholeness.

“A radiant debut collection… [Sok’s] direct voice rings with imaginative power and grace.” —The Los Angeles Review

“Grappling with the lingering collective trauma caused by the Cambodian genocide, A Nail the Evening Hangs On is a reclamation . . . It arises from atrocity but circles around to healing. This is a book to sit with and reckon with. I can’t wait to see what she does next!” —Book Riot

“Weaving the threads of her family’s stories, history, place, and identity, these poems glimmer with strength and presence.” —Publishers Weekly

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

LAOS

Winner of the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize & the 2021 Trillium Book Award as well as a Finalist for the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pen America Open Book Award, & the Danuta Gleed Award

Named one of Time's Must-Read Books of 2020, and featuring stories that have appeared in Harper's, Granta, The Atlantic, and The Paris Review, this revelatory book of fiction from O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa establishes her as an essential new voice in Canadian and world literature. Told with compassion and wry humour, these stories honour characters struggling to find their bearings far from home, even as they do the necessary "grunt work of the world."

A young man painting nails at the local salon. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant. A father who packs furniture to move into homes he'll never afford. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. In her stunning Giller Prize-winning debut book of fiction, Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to make their own. In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values. As one of Thammavongsa's characters says, "All we wanted was to live." And in these stories, they do—brightly, ferociously, unforgettably.

A daughter becomes an unwilling accomplice in her mother's growing infatuation with country singer Randy Travis. A former boxer finds a chance at redemption while working at his sister's nail salon. A school bus driver must grapple with how much he's willing to give up in order to belong. And in the title story, a young girl's unconditional love for her father transcends language.

Tender, uncompromising, and fiercely alive, How to Pronounce Knife establishes Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most important voices of her generation.

(A special thank you to book club member, Beth Cummings for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

In war torn Laos, thirteen-year-old Nou daydreams of the legendary heroes and mythical beings who live in the folklore stories she loves to hear. Remembering them helps her ignore physical pain as she struggles through the endless chores expected of a dutiful daughter. Each night, she examines the two books given to her by her ex-soldier father and prays for an end to the Vietnam War. Only peace will allow her to attend school and learn to read the secrets locked inside her wondrous books. In a late-night Communist attack on her village, Nou's home, books, and illusion of safety are lost in the deadly flames and rifle fire that follow.

Although her family escapes into the jungle, they leave behind unknown numbers of dead and missing friends and neighbors. As her father desperately searches for a place to rebuild their home, he learns that the Communist soldiers who control the country are intent upon killing any man who fought alongside the Americans. Nou's family must flee their homeland or live under constant threat of imprisonment and torture.

But escape from Laos requires a guide able to smuggle large numbers of refugees through the jungle's high mountain passes and across the Mekong River into Thailand, routes watched by patrols instructed to shoot to kill. While the number of dead who litter their escape route increases, Nou increasingly draws upon her "worthless" folklore heroes for help in getting her surviving family members closer to freedom.

“An engaging tale about love, war, and family.” —Kirkus Reviews

(A special thank you to book club member, Julie Griffin for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

Myanmar

Longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction & the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction

Based of the lives of the author’s mother and grandparents, Miss Burma tells the story of modern-day Burma through the eyes of one family struggling to find love, justice, and meaning during a time of war and political repression.

It is 1939, and Benny, a young Jewish officer, is working for the British Customs Service in Burma. One day during his shift at the docks, he catches sight of a young woman with hair down to her ankles, standing at the end of a jetty. This is Khin, who belongs to Burma’s Karen ethnic minority group, which for centuries has been persecuted by the Burman majority. She and Benny soon marry, but when World War II comes to Asia, and Rangoon finds itself under threat of the Japanese occupation, the young couple and their baby daughter Louisa are forced to take shelter among Khin’s Karen countrymen in the eastern part of Burma.  After the war, the British Empire strikes an independence deal with the Burman Nationalists, led by Aung San, leaving the Karen and other ethnic minority groups in a precarious position.  Soon Benny will become an architect of the Karen revolution, which sparks the longest running civil war in recorded history.

Nearly a decade into the civil war. Louisa captures the country’s imagination, becoming Burma’s first national beauty queen. As she navigates her soaring fame and increasingly dire political reality, she will be forced to reckon with her family’s past, the West’s ongoing covert dealings in Burma, and her own loyalty to the cause of the Karen people.

“[A] riveting account of the treacheries, fractures, and courageous acts of wartime.” ―BBC

“A gorgeously-written novel that illuminates the universalities of fear and the desires for dignity and freedom.” ―Literary Hub (15 Books to Read This May)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

The awe-inspiring story of the only person to successfully escape Australia's notorious offshore detention centre—and his long search for freedom.

In 2013 Jaivet Ealom fled Myanmar's brutal regime, where Rohingya like him were being persecuted and killed, and boarded a boat of asylum seekers bound for Australia. Instead of finding refuge, he was transported to Australia's infamous Manus Regional Processing Centre.
 
Blistering hot days spent in shipping containers on the island melted into weeks, then years . . . until, finally, facing either jail in Papua New Guinea or being returned to almost certain death in Myanmar, he took matters into his own hands. Drawing inspiration from the hit show Prison Break, Jaivet meticulously planned his escape. He made it out alive but was stateless, with no ID or passport. While the nightmare of Manus was behind him, his true escape to freedom had only just begun.
 
How Jaivet made it to sanctuary in Canada in a six-month-long odyssey by foot, boat, car, and plane, with nothing but his instinct for survival, is miraculous. His story will astonish, anger and inspire you. It will make you reassess what it means to give refuge and redefine what can be achieved by one man determined to beat the odds.

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Which Book Should We Read from Myanmar, Laos, & Cambodia?

As noted in a prior post, this month is a little different. Usually, we curate a list of 6 books from a particular country to choose from. This time, it will be 3 countries.

In the past 8 years since we began our club, we’ve found wonderful books from countries we’ve wanted to read without huge numbers of books available from these areas in English. In these cases as we will now be doing this month, we’ll combine 3 countries into a single list so we’ll still have a good choice of books from which to select. Any country not read will go back into rotation.

For November, our list will include 3 SE Asian countries each with their own cultures & languages across different literary landscapes:

  • The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (aka Myanmar formerly Burma)

  • The Lao People's Democratic Republic (aka Laos)

  • The Kingdom of Cambodia (aka Cambodia)

We also want to thank book club member, Karen Van Drie, who was the only person to successfully suggest a book from a native author from one of tthese countries. She does have a little advantage though since she currently lives in Myanmar.

THE VOTING

You can vote from now until Tues, Oct. 29 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards.

Time to Pick Up October's Book from Iraq!

The vote was close, but we have a winner. Before we get to that we’d like to share our favorite comment submitted with the vote: “I realized I have never read a book from the Middle East. This is what is great about this group. I am reading books I would have never picked up without you posting them. I used to belong to another group which was supposedly international but they often had books by American authors who just visited the different countries. I already read too many American authors. Thank you all for putting together this group and supporting expanding my book shelf!!!”

We’re thrilled you appreciate this group and the diversity of reading native authors from countries around the world.

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club?

Winner of France’s Lagardère Prize, short-listed for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

In her award-winning novel, Inaam Kachachi portrays the dual tragedy of her native land: America’s failure and the humiliation of Iraq.

The American Granddaughter depicts the American occupation of Iraq through the eyes of a young Iraqi-American woman, who returns to her country as an interpreter for the US Army. Through the narrator’s conflicting emotions, we see the tragedy of a country which, having battled to emerge from dictatorship, then finds itself under foreign occupation.

At the beginning of America’s occupation of Iraq, Zeina returns to her war-torn homeland as an interpreter for the US Army. Her formidable grandmother—the only family member that Zeina believes she has in Iraq—gravely disapproves of her granddaughter’s actions. Then Zeina meets Haider and Muhaymin, two “brothers” she knows nothing of, and falls deeply in love with Muhaymin, a militant in the Al Mehdi Army. These experiences force her to question all her values.

“We let ourselves be won over by this novel that describes with such faithfulness and emotion the tearing apart of a country and a woman forever caught between two shores. The book poetically explores the stinging sorrow of grasping at the past, the link between language and identity, and the tragic loss of never being able to truly go home again.” —AramcoWorld

(A special thank you to book club member, Jordi Valbuena for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

A graph showing the results of the book vote as follows: 1 The American Granddaughter 2 The Last Girl 3 The Baghdad Clock 4 The Last of the Angels 5 Baghdad Noir 6 The Corpse Washer

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Which Book Should We Read from Iraq?

Before we get to the vote, I wanted to first apologize for the delay in posting. This month has been particularly difficult for me personally. Since we’re so late with the vote, we’ll be reading the book from Iraq for October. Moving forward, please know that the vote will be posted by the 15th of every month.

To start us off, I’ve included a powerful poem written by a native of Baghdad who lived there until the authorities considered her poetry to be not as innocent as it originally looked. She then fled to the US where she has since published two collections of poetry that also include works about the wars she had experienced: the Iraq–Iran war of 1980–88 and the first Gulf War of 1992 one of which is included below.

“What good luck!
She has found his bones.
The skull is also in the bag
the bag in her hand
like all other bags
in all other trembling hands.
His bones, like thousands of bones
in the mass graveyard,
His skull, not like any other skull.
Two eyes or holes
with which he saw too much,
two ears
with which he listened to music
that told his own story,
a nose
that never knew clean air,
a mouth, open like a chasm,
it was not like that when he kissed her
there, quietly,
not in this place
noisy with skulls and bones and dust
dug up with questions:
What does it mean to die all this death
in a place where the darkness plays all this silence?
What does it mean to meet your loved ones now
With all of these hollow places?
To give back to your mother
on the occasion of death
a handful of bones
she had given to you
on the occasion of birth?
To depart without death or birth certificates
because the dictator does not give receipts
when he takes your life.
The dictator has a skull too, a huge one
not like any other skull.
It solved by itself a math problem
that multiplied the one death by millions
to equal homeland.
The dictator is the director of a great tragedy.
he has an audience, too,
an audience that claps
until the bones begin to rattle ¬
the bones in the bags,
the full bag finally in her hand,
unlike her disappointed neighbor
who has not yet found her own.”
— Dunya Mikhail

THE VOTING

You can vote from now until Fri., Sept. 27 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards.

Time to Pick Up August's Book from Albania!

The vote was so incredibly close! But before we get to that we’d like to share a comment submitted with the vote which made our week: “This was the best compilation for voting yet! How can anyone choose?!?!”

We’re thrilled you appreciated the list this month especially since it was such a hard one to put together.

We also wanted to highlight a book that didn’t work for a club read since a good portion occurs in the US, but it seems like a fascinating book. It focus on an Albanian tradition we hadn’t heard about before—if there are no male heirs, a woman can "choose" to become a man & enjoy the associated freedoms as long as she swears herself to virginity for life. “

“Dones’s deft and lively novel finds its sweet spot in a handful of dualities . . . Dones writes in a clean and breezy style, raising sly questions about culture, art, and, especially, gender. Her novel is provocative without being confrontational.” —Publishers Weekly

“Fascinating reading. The word pictures of people and of those repressive climates; dictatorship, rural isolation and patriarchy; that condition them are set out in very compelling prose. If you have never been to rural Albania, reading this novel will transport you there and bring you back again safely. It would be well worth the journey.” —Akanos

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club?

Note: We’re thrilled we found an audio version available as well under a different link!

Named a Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Sunday Times, and more

An astonishing and deeply resonant memoir that is by turns "bitingly, if darkly, funny…and truly profound" (NY Times), Lea Ypi writes about growing up in the last days of the last Stalinist outpost of the 20th century.

Family and nation formed a reliable bedrock of security for precocious 11-year-old Lea. She was a Young Pioneer, helping to lead her country toward the future of perfect freedom promised by the leaders of her country, the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania. Then, almost overnight, the Berlin Wall fell and the pillars of her society toppled. The local statue of Stalin, whom she had believed to be a kindly leader who loved children, was beheaded by student protestors.

Uncomfortable truths about her family’s background emerged. Lea learned that when her parents had spoken in whispers of friends going to “university” or relatives “dropping out,” they meant something much more sinister. As she learned the truth about her family’s past, her best friend fled the country. Together with neighboring post-Communist states, Albania began a messy transition to join the “free markets” of the Western world: a dystopia of pyramid schemes, organized crime, and sex trafficking. Her father, despite his radical left-wing convictions, was forced to fire workers; her mother became a conservative politician on the model of Margaret Thatcher. Lea’s typical teen concerns about relationships and the future were shot through with the existential: the nation was engulfed in civil war.

Ypi’s outstanding literary gifts enable her to weave together this colorful, tumultuous coming-of-age story in a time of social upheaval with thoughtful, fresh, and invigorating perspective on the relation between the personal and the political.

"Riveting. . .A wonderfully funny and poignant portrait of a small nation in a state of collapse. . . gloriously readable. . .One of the nonfiction titles of the year, it is destined for literary accolades and popular success.” ―Observer

"Utterly engrossing . . . Ypi's memoir is brilliantly observed, politically nuanced and—best of all—funny." ―Guardian

"Ypi is a beautiful writer and a serious political thinker, and in just a couple hundred readable pages, she takes turns between being bitingly, if darkly, funny (she skewers Stalinism and the World Bank with equal deadpan) and truly profound...Free is meant to inspire." ―NY Times Book Review

“I was entranced from beginning to end." ―Sunday Times

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Time to Pick Up July's Book from Thailand

The vote was very close this month, but I think all will be pleased with the winner. But before we get to that, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a cookbook considered to be the “Gold Standard for Authentic Thai Cuisine” in the US written by a chef to Thai Chinese parents who immigrated to the US—which is particularly apropos this month.

“In this showstopping collection of must-try Thai dishes, culinary mastermind and bestselling author Jet Tila opens up the world of his Thai heritage for today’s home cooks with recipes that are authentic, accessible and ultra-craveable.

With dishes ranging from tantalizing classics and popular street foods to unsung heroes spanning the region, this cookbook is your one-stop guide to the rich culinary traditions of Thailand. Jet also presents an exciting collection of plant-based takes on popular dishes to welcome everyone to the table and show the range of possibilities in the modern Thai kitchen. Fire up your wok and get hungry for 101 of the best damn Thai dishes you’ll ever have.”

Jet Tila is a James Beard–nominated chef. He’s made appearances as a celebrity chef on Iron Chef America, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Cutthroat Kitchen and more. Jet is culinary VP of the Pei-Wei Restaurant Group and co-owns Dragon Tiger Noodle Co. Jet grew up helping at his family’s famed Bangkok Market―the first Thai market in the United States. He is also the Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine.

“There’s nothing better than when a born teacher teaches the cuisine he was born to cook. Jet Tila is that teacher and Thai is that cuisine.” ―Alton Brown

“This book is amazing because it makes one of the most delicious cuisines in the world accessible, thanks to Jet.” ―Marcus Samuelsson

“Jet cooks with the same passion, heart and verve that he lives by. You’ll get a glimpse of the soul he puts into his cooking when you read this book, and you’ll get a mouthful of it when you try these recipes.” ―Duff Goldman

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

 

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club?

When the original Thai version of Letters from Thailand appeared in Bangkok in 1969, it was promptly awarded the SEATO Prize for Thai Literature. Thirteen years later, it was translated into English to reach a much wider readership. Today, the book is still considered one of Thailand’s most entertaining and enduring modern novels, and one of the few portrayals of the immigrant Chinese experience in urban Thailand.

Letters from Thailand is the story of Tan Suang U, a young man who leaves China to make his fortune in Thailand at the close of World War II, and ends up marrying, raising a family, and operating a successful business. The novel unfolds through his letters to his beloved mother in China.

In Tan Suang U’s lively account of his daily life in Bangkok’s bustling Chinatown, larger and deeper themes emerge: his determination to succeed at business in this strange new culture; his hopes for his family; his resentment at how easily his children embrace urban Thai culture at the expense of the Chinese heritage which he holds dear; his inability to understand or adopt Thai ways; and his growing alienation from a society that is changing too fast for him.

"The deft and at times hilarious comedy of these letters lies in the slow but relentless erosion of Tan Suang U's principles, under the balmy influence of a sunnier, lazier land." ―The NY Review of Books

"This is a fascinating book, and I heartily recommend it to all Westerners who know and love Thailand." ―Bangkok Post Sunday Magazine

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Which Book Should We Read from Thailand?

Thailand is such an interesting country & I’m so glad it was selected this month! The last time we tried to read this country, there weren’t enough books available translated into English in order to choose it. But I’m happy to say the US is now embracing more books from other countries & publishers are now finally translating them.

Before we get to that list of books to vote on, here’s a great Thai cookbook I just picked up which really immerses the reader into Thailand & makes Thai food cookery seem achievable.

“Growing up in Thailand, Pailin spent her childhood with the kitchen as her playground. From a young age, she would linger by the stove, taking in the sight of snowy white coconut being shredded, the smell of lemongrass-infused soups, and the sound of the pestle pounding against the granite mortar. 

Years later, as a Cordon Bleu–educated chef in San Francisco, Pailin vividly remembered the culinary experiences of her youth. And so, on YouTube, Hot Thai Kitchen was born. Combining her love of teaching with her devotion to Thai food, Pailin immediately connected with thousands of fans who wanted a friend and educator.

In this much-anticipated cookbook, Pailin brings her signature warmth and impressive technique to Thai food lovers everywhere. She begins by taking readers on a beautifully photographed trip to Thailand to explore the culinary culture and building blocks central to Thai food. With foolproof and easy-to-follow instructions, Pailin breaks down the key ingredients, flavours, equipment, and techniques necessary to master authentic Thai cooking. Then, she shares her must-make recipes for curries, soups, salads, and stir-fries, including entire chapters on vegetarian and vegan dishes, dips and dipping sauces, and sumptuous Thai desserts. With QR codes to video tutorials placed throughout the book, you’ll be able to connect with Pailin online, too. Both a definitive resource and an extraordinary exploration of Thai cuisine, Hot Thai Kitchen will delight and inspire you in your Thai cooking journey.”

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

THE VOTING

Since we’re running a little late this month, you can vote from now until Tues., July 2 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards so you can get the book in advance.

Time to Pick Up June's Global Pride Book!

There’s a clear winner from the book vote this month, but before we get to it I wanted to share an LGBTQIAP+ travel memoir named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Elle, Them, Book Riot, LitHub, Stylecaster, and Chicago Review of Books in addition to being named One of Esquire‘s Best Memoirs of 2024!

A memoir given the highest of praise:

“Phenomenal…. A memoir that opens into the world, with brilliance, courage, and elegant prose…. This is a book to read, read again, and remember.” —Imani Perry

“Bursting with humor and life, it will do more than transport readers; for many, it will be transformative.” —Esquire

In their new book, Shayla Lawson reveals how traveling can itself be a political act, when it can be a dangerous world to be Black, femme, nonbinary, and disabled. With their signature prose, at turns bold, muscular, and luminous, Shayla Lawson travels the world to explore deeper meanings held within love, time, and the self.

Through encounters with a gorgeous gondolier in Venice, an ex-husband in the Netherlands, and a lost love on New Year’s Eve in Mexico City, Lawson’s travels bring unexpected wisdom about life in and out of love. They learn the strength of friendships and the dangers of beauty during a narrow escape in Egypt. They examine Blackness in post-dictatorship Zimbabwe, then take us on a secretive tour of Black freedom movements in Portugal.

Through a deeply insightful journey, Lawson leads readers from a castle in France to a hula hoop competition in Jamaica to a traditional theater in Tokyo to a Prince concert in Minnesota and, finally, to finding liberation on a beach in Bermuda, exploring each location—and their deepest emotions—to the fullest. In the end, they discover how the trials of marriage, grief, and missed connections can lead to self-transformation and unimagined new freedoms.

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club?

Acclaimed by Cosmopolitan Magazine, the LA Times, Out Magazine, and many others, “this is a unique and devastatingly hopeful story about the paradox of love: even in the midst of war, and in a world dominated by violence and prejudice, still, love transcends.” (Mia Couto)

Inspired by Nigeria's folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly.

Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls.   When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.       
 
As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti's political coming of age, Under the Udala Trees uses one woman's lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are also wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. This story offers a glimmer of hope—a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.  

A special thank you to book club member, Linda Varick Cooper for the suggestion.

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Time to Pick Up May's Book!

We’re thrilled to again be celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month to honor these diverse communities’ experiences, histories, & cultures.

The vote was close, but we’re pleased with the excellent read that came in first especially since it’s a genre we don’t often read.

But what book are we reading?

It’s a RUSA Award-winning novel & a truly delicious book written by “a Chicago Filipina, who has reinvigorated tired tropes to create a multicultural, queer-friendly culinary mystery, making Arsenic and Adobo an envelope-pushing, world-expanding debut that goes down easy.” (LA Times)

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block.

"This debut introduces readers to Filipino American food and culture, with its emphasis on family. There are cozy tropes (the close-knit community, the food business), but the emphasis on the Tagalog language, the culture, and drug dealing in a small town add gravity and individuality to this outstanding series kick-off."—Library Journal, starred review

"Even though I tend to write dark, hardboiled stories in which people get hit in the face with tools, I love to read a well-written and quirky cozy mystery. Manansala has created just that with her debut novel, a tale full of eccentric characters, humorous situations and an oh-so-tricky mystery. Check this one out for the poetic prose and the mouth-watering recipes that are integral to the plot."—The Washington Post

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Time to Pick Up November's Book

There was a clear winning book this month & it’s a fairly short read, but before we get to that I’d like to share my astonishment that a club member has already read 5 of the proposed books—Anna Ruth! She lived in Cameroon for 2 years, but we’ve had others who lived in other countries all of their lives & still haven’t come close to that number. 😮

And what would a voting results post be without another great global cookbook? Here’s one which just came out in September written by someone who grew up in Cameroon on an organic farm. She later moved to the US where she became a Certified Integrative Nutritionist, chef, & TV personality before founding Yummy Spoonfuls Organics, the first nationally-distributed organic food for kids.

“I want you to close your eyes as you hold this book in your hands and understand that it is yours to create magic, to reinvent yourself in the kitchen in ways you never thought possible. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t raised in a home with skilled cooks or entrenched in healthy food traditions as I was. It doesn’t matter if you have no culinary experience at all. I am sharing my kitchen, my mami’s kitchen, my grandma’s bare-bones, gadget-free kitchen that produced the healthiest, most mouthwatering meals. This book you are holding—full of recipes, knowledge, life stories, and tips I share with my own family and clients—is an extension of who I am. I hope it helps and brings you joy, too.” —From the introduction

When Agatha Achindu came to the US from Cameroon, she didn’t know what to make of the aisles and aisles of canned foods in the grocery store. She started making meals with fresh ingredients for her college roommate. After her first community dinner for 50 fellow students, word spread. Fast-forward 30 years: What started as small workshops teaching moms how to make nutritious meals blossomed into a career dedicated to helping families live life unprocessed, and eat flavorful, nutrient‑dense foods that can help prevent chronic disease and other food-related health concerns. No matter what Agatha does, her dishes are always based on one fundamental principle she learned from her mami: You are what you eat. Throughout her career, she has shared this ethos: for each and every person—no matter their age, background, or locale—to grow and thrive without the daily aggravation and hardship (and expense!) of preventable chronic diseases. Agatha has been on an unrelenting mission to make families and communities healthier, to live a life that is bursting with vibrant energy, age gracefully and in good health. It is never too late to start eating food that will nourish our body, mind and soul. 
 
Bountiful Cooking celebrates these matrilineal culinary philosophies with 100 recipes packed with life-giving nutrients. Not only are these recipes healthy, but with global flavors, they also serve as cultural nutrition for the whole family. Agatha’s recipes will make you fall in love with food—and recognize that food, a sacred source of life and feeding, is the highest expression of love.

But what book are we reading?

A slim novel at only 169 pages (4 hours 48 minutes on audio) which you’ll be able to read even though we’re getting a late start this month!

A powerful, heartrending, and insightful novel of a trio of women in Cameroon who dare to rebel against oppressive, long-held cultural traditions—including polygamy and domestic abuse—that define and limit their lives.

In North Cameroon, well-to-do young Ramla is torn from her true love and wed to a manipulative older man. Safira, her co-wife, juggles envy and empathy for this new bride with disappointment in the husband she desperately loves. Like her older sister, Ramla, Hindou is married off to a man she does not know or want, a distant cousin whose instability and violence terrifies her.

From an early age, these women were raised to submit to men, or risk shame and repudiation of themselves and their families. They are advised to have munyal—patience. They are told that their fates are the will of the All-Powerful, and that it is unthinkable—or rather, impossible—to defy tradition. They are reminded of the Fulani proverb which holds, “At the end of patience, there is the sky.”

Yet Ramla, Safira, and Hindou are tired of waiting for a happiness that may never come. Their lives are driven by impatience and clouded by the suffering rooted in forced marriage and physical abuse, but it is this oppressive culture that binds them together.

Djaïli Amadou Amal makes her literary debut in English with this remarkable novel that breaks taboos as it denounces the cultural mores of Africa's Sahel region. Inspired by the author’s own experiences and written with grace, strength, and veracity, The Impatient is a moving testimony to a shared pain and a call for change—an unflinching depiction of the psychic damage traditions can have on the women who must abide by them and a denunciation of violence against all women and the normalization of domestic abuse—not only in Cameroon but around the globe.

“A stark and unflinching view of an oppressive culture.” —Publishers Weekly

(A special thank you to book club member, Elke Richelsen for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)

Which Book Should We Read from Cameroon?

Since we’re running a little late to start reading this month, we’ll be shortening the vote time down a little. Some of the books are also shorter reads as well which may influence which book you choose to vote for this month.

We’re happy to note we have some different genres included despite the fact that there aren’t a huge number of books available in English that are also available as both ebooks & paperbacks.

THE VOTING

You can vote from now until Mon., Nov. 6 11:30PM on which book you’d like the club to read next. (That's NYC time. See this converted to your local time below.)

Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com

To participate:

1. Review the books.

2. Then, click here to vote.

We'll publish the anonymous results afterwards so you can get the book in advance.

Time to Pick Up October's Halloween-themed Book

It looks like book club members were just as excited as we are to read a Halloween-themed book as we received a number of comments noting folks were going to read their top picks either way too!

But before we get to the winning book, I want to introduce you to a book that wasn’t chosen which I highly recommend. As someone who hates horror, it was also a surprise to me that horror could just be fun/creepy (& not filled with gore & the other things I hated about horror). +It’s also a good intro to flash fiction if you’re unfamiliar.

The Cave

“When I was a kid, I loved to play with my sisters under the blankets of my parent’s bed. Sometimes we pretended it was a tent, and sometimes we said it was an igloo near the North Pole, though the best game was always the cave. The bed was huge! Once I took the flashlight from the nightstand and told my sisters I was going to explore the deepest part of the cave. At first they laughed, then they got nervous, and they ended up calling down for me. But I didn’t pay any attention to them and kept crawling until I couldn’t hear their cries any more. The cave was enormous, and, when the batteries ran out, it was impossible to go back. I don’t know how many years have gone by since then, but my pajamas wore out and now I wrap myself up in them like Tarzan.

I’ve heard my mom has died.”

This is 1 of the pieces of flash fiction in Grave Goods written by someone renowned as one of Peru’s best contemporary writers. For those of you like me who didn’t really know how good flash fiction could be, I hope it’s just as eye-opening. I had no idea you could get a whole story out of so few words! I also really enjoyed the surprise factor of these stories as shown above as well as the author’s humor in other stories.

The Kindle book is currently only $2.99 (Click here to view on Amazon) so now’s a great time to check it out. It’s the perfect October read in addition to the group pick. (I’m also happy to have a discussion about this book as well if anyone is interested.)

BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING FOR THE CLUB?

A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.

These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.

Featuring stories by: Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller

“Never failed to surprise, delight, and shock.” —Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and Little Heaven

(A special thank you to book club member, Amanda Foxman for the suggestion.)

View on Amazon | Bookshop.org

Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)