pickEvocative writing. Equal to The Kite Runner. The effects of war on different groups of people are exposed. Rape as a weapon. WOMEN CHOSE TO MARRY and leave with THE ENEMY BECAUSE THEIR FAMILIES DISOWNED THEM. A brother turned into an extremist because of guilt. His sister remained a rebel to the new government because of guilt. They both neglected their loved ones while on crusades. Trigger warnings #FoodandLit @Texreader @Catsandbooks
Who‘s excited for our #foodandlit country #Bangladesh for May? I‘ve got so many books to read for it! And don‘t you just love this artwork by @Catsandbooks ? Here‘s to another great reading Month!!
April wrap-up: I finished two books for March #foodandlit #Ireland, then read four books for April #Rwanda (still working on my fifth). I read one book for #authoramonth Kate Quinn (still reading two more), and one book I finished from last month‘s author Leigh Bardugo. And I read Keeping House as an impulse read.
I tagged my favorite book of the month, but it was a close call.
pickDeborah is a mystic who helps a young girl heal her weak body. Grown up, the girl, now a professor in the USA, goes back to #Rwanda to learn Deborah‘s fate. I struggled to follow this story. There is so much more to it, but I couldn‘t follow who was who, when things were happening, etc. I blame it almost entirely on the fact that I listened to it. I sometimes wish narrators would tell us when a new section is started, even just a longer pause. ⬇️
pickThis is #Rwanda President Paul Kagame‘s story through 2008 (he‘s still president today). A young Tutsi refugee from the violence by the Hutus even back in the 1950s, he fought in Uganda, secretly training to become a rebel soldier to try to return to Rwanda. As he built a secret army, the genocide in 1994 occurred. He was able to dismantle the Hutu government and would eventually be elected president. He assembled a Hutu/Tutsi government, and ⬇️
So appropriate this last day of April reading about how precious milk is in #Rwanda for #foodandlit. For example, from the BBC: “Unique to Rwanda, milk bars reflect a little-known truth about how intrinsic cows and milk are to Rwandan culture.” I‘ve truly discovered that in this month‘s books. @Catsandbooks
Not a bad #BookSpinBingo month. I finished the tagged for #FoodandLit, #Rwanda. The Book Censor's Library was my #DoubleSpin and also fits #OffMyShelf - #InvolvesBooks; The Colour and Dance on the Volcano were for #192025; Indigenous Pacific Islander anthology worked for #FictionalTraveler and was my #BookSpin. There are a couple of #1001Books, and several for a global reading project.
Most importantly, I have two bingos!
pickThe complexity of each character had been thoughtfully crafted. Auci has a way of bringing these historical people back to life by giving them likable and unlikeable traits. I'm sad to say goodbye to the Florios of Sicily. I learned a lot about the Industrial Age of southern Italy, especially tuna canning. All thanks to this captivating family. #Italy #Jubilee #FoodandLit @Texreader @Catsandbooks
pickIn a small town near Belfast, during the Troubles, Cushla juggles her teaching job, bar keeping at the family bar at night, a perpetually drunk mother, the man she‘s having an affair with, and giving her heart to a young student whose poor Protestant family is barely making ends meet when the father is beaten so badly he can no longer function. There‘s a lot going on yet this short book moves at a snail‘s pace. We are given intimate details ⬇️
