Without my usual sources, I still read more things about and set in other countries than I would have without this goal. Below are the books I read and movies I watched (the ones I plan to own are asterisked) plus my favorite articles and videos.
AfricaNigeria* fiction -
Children of Blood and Bone - Three teenagers in an epic fight between those who want to bring back magic and those who want to kill it forever. The magic is fun, but there's too much torture, fantasy, and stupidity for my taste.
Tanzania* fiction -
Hard Rain - Guy who doesn't believe in love falls for a totally hot woman with a mysterious past. Has she killed a bunch of exes? Is he in danger? Can he trust her yet? And somehow she falls for him, magically "knowing" he is decent when he is always angry with her for being late, lying, and refusing to tell him things that she feels are none of his business. The mystery sucked me in; the ending made me angry--basically one character disappears so that this can be the first story in a series.
AmericasBolivia* nonfiction -
Bolivia in Pictures - A landlocked country twice as big as Texas, Bolivia borders Lake Titicaca and its ancient ruins, and has llamas and all kinds of minerals, but government is by coup.
* article -
"In World's Highest Capital, Breathing is Main Challenge" (1992)
Canada* movie - "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" - Seven year old witnesses a kidnapping near the Canadian side of Niagara Falls where she lived. As an adult, she returns in order to deal with the sale of the hotel of her recently deceased mother, but she also investigates the disappearance. It's hard to keep track of what's happening and what's real. "The haunted houses aren't really haunted. The fun houses aren't really fun."
Mexico* fiction -
Murmur of Bees - Man describes life in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution and Spanish flu epidemic, which they survived partly because of his brother who could talk to bees and see some of the future. I kind of love it until the terrible thing happens and it's nothing but mourning, grudge holding, and not telling me what happened for eighty years.
AsiaBhutan* article -
"Bhutan PM Asks All Citizens to Adopt a Stray Dog or Plant a Tree for King’s Birthday"China* fiction -
The Last Chinese Chef* - A widow is recovering from her grief by moving to ever tinier homes. A Chinese American opens a traditional Chinese restaurant in China. Fascinating look at Chinese food, and many of the characters are likeable, but I don't quite love the ending.
* video -
"Can China go net-zero? Two charts show just how ambitious Xi Jinping’s goal is"* article -
"Tibetan altitude gene came from extinct human species"Israel* movie - "The Band's Visit" - An Egyptian band arrives in Israel for a performance at the new Arabic cultural center, but they end up in Beit Hatikva instead of Petah Tiqva (Arabic has no "p" sound), where, according to one character, there is no Arabic culture, no Israeli culture, no culture. Some humor, but also very slow paced and lonely, and all the marriages have gone bad. It's trying to be arty--it looks like people are set up for art photos.
Japan* fiction -
Go* - A Japanese boy with North Korean citizenship finds love and prejudice. Shocking but fascinating.
* fiction -
Convenience Store Woman - A woman with a mental disorder tries to find a place in society and learns to love the convenience store where she works. Being set in Japan is not what feels alien about this setting. It's the part about how people have all these expectations and demands and expect you to fit into various molds; the same molds that humans have had since caveman times.
Russia* fiction -
A Gentleman in Moscow* - Set during the Russian Revolution, there's a lot of depressing stuff, but the protagonist is super charming, and even when there's no one there to talk to, he talks anyway, to the cat, to the bird, to himself, and he's okay. This book also made me cry about wine (which I don't care about at all in real life).
EuropeBelarus* article -
"Belarus poll workers describe fraud in Aug. 9 election"Denmark* movie - "Checkered Ninja" - Doll made in sweatshop comes to life and with his owner seeks revenge on the guy who killed his maker. Disturbing lessons, but great contraption built in preparation for a fight.
* article -
"Denmark apologizes to children taken from Greenland in a 1950s social experiment"Germany* movie - "Jojo Rabbit" - Ten-year-old in Nazi Germany has Hitler as an imaginary friend to help him get through life. He also has a real life best friend. And, it turns out, a Jew in the attic. There were many creative, fun, and touching scenes, but of course many horrors. It still feels too soon.
Greece* fiction -
This Rough Magic (also partly set in Albania) - Actress visits her sister on a Greek island (Corfu, off the coast at the Greek/Albanian border, theorized to be the setting of "The Tempest") to recover from the failure of her first play. Mystery, adventure, dolphin stories, and too much happening all at once in the last few pages.
* fiction -
The Moon-Spinners - Gal arrives in vacation spot in Crete one day early. So before checking into the hotel, where she's not expected, she goes for a little walk and ends up embroiled in a plot to kill murder witnesses. Too much trickery on who's dead and who isn't, and there is a very heroic character that our protagonist abuses, endangers, and doesn't even apologize to or anything.
Norway* fiction -
Bear Island - A doctor takes a converted trawler toward Bear Island in the Arctic with filmmakers, and then characters are dying left and right. Some of the writing is insightful and some is fun, but mostly we have a lot of characters and no clue what's going on.
Sweden* nonfiction -
No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference - A collection of Greta Thunburg's speeches against the climate crisis. Too repetitive for fun reading unless you read only one speech a day, but a beautiful, well-made, if poorly named book. (It should be called
House on Fire! or something.)
* fiction -
Samurai Summer - A boy in a terrible summer camp for poor people tries to become a samurai and build a castle. It's sad and slow for a while, but then gets exciting.
United Kingdom, England* nonfiction -
Outposts: Journeys to the surviving relics of the British Empire - The author looked up how much of the British Empire remained and decided to visit all these outposts. He sort of got it that colonialism is sucky but sort of also liked the idea of the sun never setting on the British Empire. I forgot that I don't generally like travelogues.
OceanaAustralia* nonfiction -
Uluru: Australia's Aboriginal Heart - Find out about the biggest rock in the world. It's red sandstone, it's in the middle of the desert in Australia, and it's part of a National Park managed by the local Aborigines who find it sacred and won't quite let you do everything you want or quite tell you all their stories.
Tonga* article -
"The Real Lord of the Flies: What Happened When Six Boys Were Shipwrecked for 15 Months"I also read a couple of books set in multiple countries:
* nonfiction -
Rascals in Paradise (Easter Island, Chile; Taiwan, China; Tahiti, France; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Tonga) - a collection of true-life stories of people who looked for paradise in the South Seas. A lot of them are scumbags, wanting to unite many of the islands so they can rule them all.
* fiction -
QB VII (Czech Republic; Malaysia; Poland; England, UK) - Guy escapes false accusations of criminal Nazi behavior in Malaysia, but then goes back anyway, and the narrator lied or cheated and then we have to read about a whole bunch of Nazi horrors.
Quote of the Day - "I am full up on sordid truths right now." - me
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