SOS! Help me winnow down the last 22 books!

Hey y'all, it's coming down to the wire now. This Friday I go to a friend's house to cat sit, then as soon as that's done it's back to Vancouver to mother sit (my mother's having knee replacement surgery) and then back to Nanaimo. So I more or less need to pack this week. Which means... book decisions!!

I've thought up some really random ways to choose the rest of the books. I hope you'll enjoy them. Sorry the writing is so small--you might need to zoom in (command + on a mac).

Now the results for...

 

Here are the books you unwittingly voted on...

Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie, and The Bride Price by Emecheta

"Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed."

"A powerful story of a modern Nigerian girl who rebels against traditional marriage customs."

Kenya: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by Vassanji

"Against the unsettling backdrop of Mau Mau violence, the grandchildren of an Indian railroad worker search for their place in a world sharply divided between Kenyans and the British."

Lebanon: DeNiro's Game by Hage

"about a Lebanese petty criminal during the bloody civil war, who is only a little more ethical than a shithead." (Goodreads reviewer, lol)

Egypt: The Cairo Trilogy by Mahfouz

"the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain’s occupation of Egypt"

Turkey: My Name is Red by Pamuk

"At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art"

India: The White Tiger by Adiga, and Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) by Swarup

"unsubtle look at 21st Century India... told by a working class fellow who, through ambition, intelligence, and a willingness to be utterly ruthless is clawing his way up the rungs of the Indian class ladder."

"a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil - and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive."

And so, Yellow Sun, Red, and the Cairo Trilogy make it on the longlist. Thanks again for the help! I'm enjoying our little democratic game.

BONUS! Most douchey review I came across on Goodreads (ohhh the hipstertude of it all!)

"Postcolonial lite. I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be reading while I listen to MIA and rock last season's mirrored "ethnic chic" from Urban Outfitters. To show that, you know, I'm a citizen of the world, and a really hip westerner who gets the shifting forces of globalization.... did I feel a bit pandered to? I did feel a bit pandered to. ... To be honest, I might have given it three stars if it hadn't won the Booker and made a bunch of Best of the Year lists."

    

  

 

 

Reading multiculturally

Thank-you everyone for participating in the Non Fiction Choice-a-tude, as part of the on-going series Nanaimo Island Reads!

The Corner got some mentions in the comments

Now we begin the fiction English portion, and a game change!

I've separated out the non-western novels, because I like to make sure I read some every year. I would love it if you would consider the countries below and say which two you think I should read a book from. :-)  And later I'll tell you what books they represent!

(If you read these factoids, check out the ethnic and religious diversity, or lack of. Tells you a lot. like whether colonial state boundaries were poorly chosen, or the kinds of issues facing governments. For example in Lebanon seats in Parliament are based on census results, so they don't dare do new ones.)

NIGERIA

 

 

KENYA

 

LEBANON

 

 

EGYPT

TURKEY

 

INDIA

 

 

 

 

Cataloging and Culling - Tales of a Book Hoarder

Pretty soon I'll have to decide which books to bring to Nanaimo with me.

...It's going to be like Sophie's Choice around here.

In the meantime I'm cataloging my books on goodreads, so at least I won't buy any duplicates while away. (I shouldn't buy ANY books but we all know...)

While cataloging I'm taking advantage to cull. Not in a harsh way--if I was culling for an actual move things would be different. But if we stay here, then the books can stay... there's room.

I'm putting things into goodreads, reading the reviews, seeing what I think. If it's a book I know I bought new and never tried, then I'll keep it. But if I couldn't get into it, or it was free / second hand, then I can be meaner.

For example I only thought Pamela was okay, so why am I holding onto Joseph Andrews? I read two Thackerays and enjoyed them, but do I want to read a third? If I would rather re-read all 1474 pages of Seth's A Suitable Boy (loved!) than take another stab at An Equal Music... then EQ should go. On the other hand, the praise for Middlemarch is so high, and I've now forgotten the mini series, I felt I should hold onto it.

I pulled 15 books out of about 65. Only about 10 of these 50 remaining books I've read and are keeping just for the moment. Most are unread. 37 were newly bought, though many from the bargain section and all with my 30 % discount, and sometimes more than that.

I'm working through the literary fiction books. The Mystery section has more second hand books... the SFF has more new books because you don't get lot of the really great SFF at book sales (often filled with the books of someone's parent who just died... or so I figure when I see an entire Lady Di collection on the bio table). The romance is mish mash. The plays and poetry almost all second hand.

Okay look it's 6 am go to bed.

(I'll be by soon to catch up on bloggy reads, but haven't really set up my computer yet. That's where my System resides for blog visiting. It's like a little neighborhood locked in my Chrome browser. )

CAT PHOTO...

Say goodnight to the peeples Minion! (Complete unconcern that Maugham's short stories didn't make the cut.)