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The House at Sugar Beach
The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood | Helene Cooper
7 posts | 11 read | 19 to read
The author traces her childhood in war-torn Liberia and her reunion with a foster sister who had been left behind when her family fled the region.
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BarbaraBB
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#12BooksOf2022

My May favorite was my favorite #ReadingAfrica2022 read as well. I loved that challenge and highly recommend the book!

Andrew65 Not read this one. Stacked. 2y
Deblovestoread Highly recommended = stacked! 2y
BarbaraBB @Andrew65 @Deblovestoread Thanks for trusting my judgment. It really is very good. 2y
See All 6 Comments
Andrew65 Now frantically trying to research books for #ReadingTheAmericas2023 2y
Currey Loved this book also! 2y
PaperbackPirate Such a good book! 2y
52 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
Bookwormjillk
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Pickpick

This was an excellent book about growing up in Liberia, and later leaving as a refugee in the 1980‘s. I highly recommend the audiobook read by the author. #ReadingAfrica2022

Librarybelle Good recommendation…it‘s hot or miss for me when the author reads their own work, so I‘m glad this is highly recommended! 2y
BarbaraBB Glad you loved it too! 2y
Bookwormjillk @BarbaraBB thanks for putting this on my radar 2y
54 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Currey
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Pickpick

An autobiography of an award winning journalist‘s coming of age in Liberia before the country descended into the chaos of civil war. In mere months, a country with solid infrastructure and tax base but with historically approved class and racial distinctions between the haves and have nots, lost all stability. The author‘s family flees to the US where they are mere faceless refugees without funds. Very well written and fascinating history lesson

Texreader Sounds like a perfect book for #readingafrica #Liberia! 2y
BarbaraBB Glad you enjoyed it. I just read it for #ReadingAfrica2022 and loved it. A great storyteller and I learned so much! Highly recommended @Texreader ! 2y
Graywacke @Currey I listened to Madame President on audio, knowing nothing about author or subject or Libreria. I can‘t promise you the joy of the unexpected I had, but i can recommend it. 2y
20 likes4 comments
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rockpools
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Eek. #ReadAroundTheWorld is not going well this year @BookwormM ! I‘m still in the middle the last two months‘ books for the Solomon Islands and The Czech Republic. Which is particularly annoying as I was really enjoying both of them.

Have just reserved the tagged to ignore for 3 months for June‘s Liberia read 😬. Apparently I stacked this 5 years ago!

Simona I‘m constantly behind with this challenge too … (edited) 2y
AlaMich The cover of the book on the left is making me want to look it up! 2y
rockpools @Simona I put way too much time into finding the books, and don‘t leave myself any time to actually read them! 2y
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rockpools @AlaMich Have you read the Dr Siri novels? It‘s a similar vibe- but a young policeman who is also a traditional peacemaker, and set in the 1960s. The descriptions of the Solomon Island settlements are fascinating - adding it to my world tour! The story… has its moments 🤷🏻‍♀️ 2y
AlaMich @rockpools The Dr. Siri series is a favorite of mine! I will definitely have to check this out. 2y
BarbaraBB I just read it for #ReadingAfrica2022 and so far it‘s one of my favorite books of the challenge! So good!! 2y
rockpools @BarbaraBB I saw that - it‘s what convinced me to give it a go! That‘s high recommendation! 2y
rockpools @AlaMich I had a feeling we‘d talked about Siri before! The characters are maybe not as strong, but it‘s similar in the mix of the traditional/supernatural and western officialdom / (in this case) policing. 2y
BarbaraBB I feel the pressure 😄. I really hope you like it as much as I did! 2y
BarbaraBB Sorry. Unfollowed you incidentally, corrected that of course 😅 2y
rockpools @BarbaraBB 😂😂 Oops! I‘m looking forward to the book ☺️ 2y
BarbaraBB You better 😉 2y
51 likes12 comments
review
BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

One of my African favourites so far for. These are the memoirs of NYT journalist Helene Cooper, who grows up in #Liberia. When the country falls apart after the coup of 1980, she and her family flee to the US. Her less privileged half sister Eunice stays in a country that for years suffers under crazy dictators who recruit child soldiers  and drug them to fight for.. well, for whatever. ⬇️⬇️

#ReadingAfrica2022 ??

BarbaraBB Cooper tries to forget about where she came from, but the Liberian girl within her needs to go back, in search of Eunice. There is so much I never knew about this country, that I have come to love from afar. I‘m in awe of its proud people, always hospitable and dressed up, even on the ruins of civilisation. 3y
Cinfhen Wow!!! This sounds WAY BETTER than the book I read for #Liberia 3y
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BarbaraBB @Cinfhen It‘s fantastic. So informative in a extremely well written and personal way. 3y
Librarybelle Look at all of those prompts used! 3y
Lcsmcat An incredibly powerful book! 3y
Graywacke Ooh. Glad to see this title. I listened to her book on Liberia‘s inspiring female president, and it was terrific. 3y
sarahbarnes Sounds very good! And I love the lilacs! 3y
BarbaraBB @Lcsmcat @Graywacke Terrific and powerful indeed. I am so glad I discovered it. 3y
73 likes4 stack adds9 comments
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BarbaraBB
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Picture, caption, quote: all about this page is heartbreaking ❤️‍🩹

However, this book about a childhood in #Liberia is much more than that. #ReadingAfrica2022

DivineDiana It certainly is. 💔 3y
LeahBergen Oh my God. 💔 3y
KristiAhlers Oh my goodness. 🥲 3y
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Librarybelle Oh my! 💔 3y
Linsy 😭 3y
Megabooks Terrible 😢 (edited) 3y
57 likes6 comments
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Lcsmcat
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My first thought for the #sugar prompt is this memoir from journalist Helene Cooper of growing up in Liberia and surviving the 1980 coup. A horrific story told beautifully. #lyricalapril @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Stacked! Thanks for posting 💙 8y
19 likes5 stack adds1 comment