Amid the Chaos

so-so

Amid the chaos of this mediocre novel - glaring ESL mistakes, too many pages-long, mind-numbingly ponderous political discussions - I enjoyed the characters and vivid portrayal of modern Eritrean society. Nathan Mogos has demonstrated writing talent but moreso he has demonstrated the need for a professional editor rather than a vanity-press-published novel.

shawnmooney My full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1671762678 8y

ReadingEnvy Were you contacted by the author to read it? I was but didn't take him up on it. And yet I have not read a book from Eritrea. 8y

shawnmooney @ReadingEnvy No, I wasn't. I found out about it on my own. 8y

35 likes3 comments

shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

And injera is an Ethiopian white leavened bread. And berbere is a spice mixture comprised of chili, garlic, ginger, basil, and umpteen other spices I've never heard of. And now I'm hungry!

becausetrains I'm lucky enough to live in a part of DC's suburbs with many immigrant, first, and second-generation Ethiopian Americans... their restaurants are delicious 😊 8y

shawnmooney @becausetrains I am jealous! :) 8y

StephBengtson We have a few Ethiopian restaurants in Minneapolis. The food is so freaking good! 8y

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Lindy @StephBengtson I love Ethiopian food too. Spicy greens soaked into injera - yum! 8y

BookishFeminist I'd just went to comment and say what @becausetrains did but he beat me to it! We have lots of amazing Ethiopian and Eritrean places here in DC. I've tried this dish before and it's delicious! Injera is also- it's kind of like a thick, strong-flavored crepe with a bit of a bitter after taste. They tend to serve really saucy dishes on top of the injera- meant to be eaten together. So yummy! 8y

becausetrains @BookishFeminist sorry for beating you to the punch, but I couldn't resist once I started thinking about that stew we had - and omg the coffee 😍☕️ 8y

becausetrains @StephBengtson it's silly that for the 30 years I lived in the Twin Cities, I never once went to a Somali, Ethiopian, or Eritrean place. I was so proud of eating at non-Euro-American restaurants, but had no idea how much I was missing out!! #food #Eritrea #Ethiopia #Somalia 8y

29 likes7 comments

shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

17 likes

shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

(Unfortunately, Google didn't offer up any pictures of a dangling driver such as is described in this passage…)

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shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

Grooving to some Eritrean music on Apple Music while reading the next few chapters of this interesting but obviously self-published Eritrean novel (so far a very compelling story is unfolding, but with really atrocious grammar and spelling mistakes at the rate of about one every 10 pages, and a few inexact uses of idioms – yet other quite striking examples of the writer's mastery of what'd be his second or third language).

Megabooks That sounds really cool! I don't know much about the country, but I worked with a girl who had immigrated from there. 8y

Megabooks Wait I think emigrated is proper. That's one thing I definitely mess up on!! 8y

shawnmooney @Ebooksandcooks You're not the only one who gets confused about that – but I think your correction is the correct choice. I'm reading a paper copy, but @BookishFeminist got hers on Kindle. Please join me or us – not sure if she's going to start reading it anytime soon. With the proviso I put in this post about the uneven quality of the writing. :-) 8y

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BookishFeminist @shawnmooney 👀 I see you Shawn politely hinting that I should start 😂 8y

shawnmooney @BookishFeminist Lol. Who, me? :). Seriously, though, no pressure at all! 8y

Megabooks As soon as I finish a couple of the 4 books I'm reading. 😃 I can't read as many as you at once! Four is as many as I've ever done. Plus two on serial reader. 8y

BookishFeminist @shawnmooney No never any pressure, lol. 8y

BookishFeminist @Ebooksandcooks It's really cheap on Kindle! Only $4 I think. 8y

26 likes8 comments

shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

17 likes

shawnmooney

Amid the Chaos | Nathan H Mogos

BookishFeminist I love when that happens too, especially if I happen upon something like this while browsing bookshelves! I haven't read an Eritrean novel either, but it looks like I'm going to now. 9y

shawnmooney @BookishFeminist Awesome! I broke down and just ordered the paperback even though the ebook was 60% cheaper. As if I didn't already have enough to read! 9y

LeahBergen That sounds so good! 9y

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ReadingEnvy The author self-promoted to my Great African reads group so I didn't know if it would be good or not.. Please report back!! 9y

shawnmooney @BookishFeminist, @LeahBergen, @ReadingEnvy, @tkingsanchez My gorgeous softcover edition arrived in tonight's mail. I'm going to read it in August as part of my BONS Bingo (a book with a tree in the title or on the cover). Anyone want to read & discuss it here with me then? 9y

shawnmooney And, of course, no pressure! Especially @BookishFeminist, who has already committed to another book discussion with me in August! LOL 9y

tkingsanchez I'll have to see how my reading for July goes. But I definitely want to read this sooner than later. 9y

BookishFeminist I might be interested! I know there's no pressure but discussing books w/people keeps me on track sometimes. I want to read this anyway. Check in with me when you start & I will see what my schedule is like! 9y

shawnmooney @BookishFeminist Ha! I just reread this post and all of these comments and see I was supposed to let you know when I started it. I just started it minutes ago; the first chapter was incredibly charming! 8y

shawnmooney I will also copy all the other commenters on my announcement of having begun reading this novel: @LeahBergen @ReadingEnvy @tkingsanchez 8y

LeahBergen Thanks for the reminder! I'll be following your comments to see how you are enjoying it. 8y

BookishFeminist 😂😂😂 I'll see if I can fit it in- I have it on kindle 8y

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