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#Guinea
review
Gleefulreader
The Hanged Man of Conakry: A Novel | Jean-Christophe Rufin
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Pickpick

An unusual book that is a mash of up a mystery and a French comedy of manners. Set in French Guinea, it is the story of the very odd duck Romanian-born minor French official who is normally ostracized and given little responsibility who steps up to solve the murder of a tourist. Quirky but I found it very interesting, although sad in parts.

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Dilara
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A very engaging non-fiction about the colonisation by the French of what is now #Senegal, #Guinea and #Mali, and its ramifications in modern-day France and Senegal, centered around the mythical sabre of El Hadj Oumar Tall, looted along with his treasure and library in 1890, at the sack of Ségou by the French colonial army.

The sabre (picture from https://chroniques.sn) was “lent back“ by France to the musée des civilisations noires in Dakar

Dilara Tervonen is the daughter of Finnish missionaries in Senegal. She studied in the Senegalese school system until 15 & speaks Wolof, which gives her an invaluable in into the culture & history. She writes articles for the French & Finnish press, and also in-depth, long-form journalism. I am in awe of her trilingualism. Les otages is excellent. I'll be looking for her other books, hoping they're as sensitively-written & well-researched as this one. 7mo
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
MallenNC
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Pickpick

I read this pick from my #AuldLangSpines list from @Cinfhen and it was so good. It was well written and helped me learn about the healthcare workers who fought the virus so hard. The last chapter of this book, written before COVID-19, was pretty prescient about the pandemic to come. I‘m not sure if this Ebola outbreak was technically a pandemic or an epidemic but I‘m counting it for #Booked about a pandemic

Cinfhen Definitely counts as a pandemic 😷 I thought this was a terrific first hand account - some parts made me SO ANGRY 😡 1y
MallenNC @Cinfhen Yes! Especially the part where the Doctors Without Borders people were debating whether or not to use the drug on the doctor and they didn‘t. And I was sad for all the nurses. 1y
Cinfhen OMG! I was SO FURIOUS over that too!!! I didn‘t feel their rationale made any sense. It was so heartless 1y
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MallenNC @Cinfhen I didn‘t understand it either. They seemed to weigh the pros and cons but then they just never decided and didn‘t even tell him to give him a chance to have an opinion. Awful. 1y
Megabooks @Cinfhen @MallenNC yes, I felt the ethics of DWB was quite questionable in that instance! 1y
MallenNC @Megabooks Definitely questionable. It made the organization seem more focused on their reputation than medical care. 1y
29 likes6 comments
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Cinfhen
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#12Booksof2022 - October @Andrew65 This #NF account of the 2013-14 Ebola outbreak was RIVETING!!!! Preston traces the history of Ebola & examines its origins through the telling of personal narratives. It‘s such a powerful first hand account. Once again I‘m awed by the medical workers, specifically nurses & doctors who risk their lives in order to save, treat & care for others. Outstanding audio.

Andrew65 Sounds brilliant, I will keep an eye out for this one. 1y
Megabooks I‘m so glad you got me to read this!! 🫶🏻 1y
65 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Megabooks
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Pickpick

I second @Cinfhen in loving this as a #ReadingAfrica2022 choice! Preston, author of a book on the 1970s Ebola crisis, tackles it again for 2013-14. He shares the stories of many healthcare workers as well as researchers involved in providing care and quelling the crisis. I was particularly absorbed in the story of Dr. Khan, a physician from #SierraLeone who ends up battling Ebola himself. Scary problem with no easy answers. Highly recommend!

Cinfhen I‘m so glad you loved this one too!!! Some of the moral questions reminded me of 1y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I missed that one! Thanks! 1y
Cinfhen YOU MUST read that book!!!! It‘s one of my 5 favorite all time NF reads!!!! 1y
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Megabooks @Cinfhen wow!! That‘s quite a recommendation!! 🤩🤩 1y
Cinfhen I love it that much!!!!! 1y
BarbaraBB Excellent review. It is on my radar! 1y
Librarybelle So much love for this book! 1y
74 likes1 stack add8 comments
review
Cinfhen
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Pickpick

Absolutely riveting!!! Preston traces the history of Ebola & examines its origins through the telling of personal stories, most specifically the latest outbreak that occurred in 2013-14. It‘s such a powerful story especially given the past 2.5 years we‘ve just lived through. Once again I‘m awed by the medical workers, specifically nurses & doctors who risk their lives in order to save/care for others. Outstanding audio. Excellent narrative

Cinfhen I forgot to mention @Megabooks there‘s a shoutout to your hometown!!! I definitely recommend you listen to the audio 2y
squirrelbrain This sounds fascinating, if terrifying. Stacked. 2y
Cinfhen One of the BEST books I read this year @squirrelbrain and it just might be “required” reading if you‘re participating in #Booked2023 😘 1y
75 likes3 comments
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Cinfhen
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I picked this up months ago for #ReadingAfrica22 but somehow I didn‘t get around to listening until now. It‘s FANTASTIC!!! What a gripping medical story - the trajectory of the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in Western Africa. I‘ve already read books for the three main countries #Guinea #SierraLeone and #Liberia - it also covers #DRCongo. With the knowledge we now have about Covid-19 this book is truly fascinating🤓

Bookwormjillk This is still on my list of want to reads for this year. 2y
Cinfhen I HIGHLY RECOMMEND @Bookwormjillk and the audio is excellent 🙌🏻‼️ 2y
Bookzombie Was your narrator Ray Porter? He is great. I read this in January 2020. @Reggie and I had a conversation about how we weren‘t ready for an epidemic here. Crazy timing. 2y
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Cinfhen Yes @Bookzombie the narrator is Ray Porter🙌🏻 and how crazy that you & @Reggie read this in Jan 2020! I can‘t imagine reading this BEFORE Covid - I think I would have FREAKED OUT 🤯 2y
Cinfhen I‘m shocked by how many careless “mistakes” the Ebola experts made @Bookzombie - not passing judgment but just scary how hard it must have been to stop the spread 2y
julesG @Bookwormjillk Same! I steered clear because of Covid so far. I love learning about epidemics and viruses, but with the pandemic around I just couldn't read it. 2y
Reggie @Bookzombie that was kinda crazy timing, lol. How‘s Indiana? Ya‘ll are in the Big10 now. You have to be Hoosiers fans I think. 2y
BarbaraBB I should read this! 2y
Librarybelle I should read this too! 2y
Megabooks Tag me in your review because I am very interested!! 2y
Bookzombie @Cinfhen It‘s hard to not judge in hindsight. I can‘t imagine what it would really be like to try to stop the spread of Ebola or even being on the front line of Covid. 2y
Bookzombie @Reggie It‘s good. We really like the area we are in. Starting to have cooler weather and I‘m loving the leaves changing color. If being a sports fan is a requirement, we are screwed. 😂 How are you doing? 2y
Reggie Yeah,lol, normal season changes are nice, right? I‘m good. I just saw Halloween Ends last night and it was sooooo good. I loved it. Also, I really only follow 2 sports, womens gymnastics and womens ncaa volleyball. And Indiana‘s conference is tough. Like 5 of the top ten are in that conference. Lol 2y
Cinfhen Glad to hear you‘re settling in @Bookzombie ❤️ 2y
Cinfhen DEFINITELY read this @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle @julesG @Megabooks I have about 3 hours to go on audio - it reads like a medical thriller!! And I think it‘s a bit less frightening as we‘ve now all lived through a pandemic. 2y
Megabooks @Reggie I‘m an ncaa gymnastics fan too! Mainly Florida, but I watch other teams too. The SEC is such a great conference for gymnastics. We get some Big 10 coverage here too, but I mainly like the SEC for gym. I feel like Oklahoma is overrated and UF was robbed at last year‘s championship. Bitter, I know. Anyway… 2y
Bookzombie @Reggie They are! I need to see the Halloween movie before this one still. I‘m off for a couple of days so maybe I will get caught up there. Those are two sports I could into. 🙂 2y
Bookzombie @Cinfhen Thank you! 💕 2y
53 likes18 comments
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Texreader
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I downloaded this book in case I get a chance to read it as well. I‘ve already covered all these countries for #readingafrica2022 except #Senegal, but I think this will give me a better idea of some of them than what I read, especially #GuineaBissau. In case anyone is needing these hard-to-find countries in books for the challenge, this ebook is free with Kindle Unlimited. #Mauritania #Gambia #Guinea

BarbaraBB Thanks, I‘m sure I can use it! 2y
48 likes1 comment
review
Texreader
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Pickpick

Every chapter contained an in-depth look at bad guys (Anthony Bourdain excepted). My fave was the chapter about producer Mark Burnett, the man who truly made Donald Trump. Dang was that enlightening (& a lot scary). One chapter uncovered the true culprits in the Lockerbie bombing, much of the sleuthing taking place in #Libya. In another we learn how the most abundant natural resource (iron) in #Guinea was swindled into an outsider‘s hands. ⬇️

Texreader Some of the chapters were enthralling. One or two just lost me, which I think was a factor of listening rather than reading the book when names sounded so much alike, but also some topics were less than exciting. Still, brilliantly done overall. #readingafrica2022 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB (edited) 2y
Cinfhen I LOVED this one!! Agreed, a few stories were less interesting than others but still a fascinating book- I especially “enjoyed” the Boston Marathon Bomber story 2y
Librarybelle I really need to read this one! 2y
Texreader @Cinfhen I enjoyed that one, too, especially as a former trial court lawyer (but civil). 2y
64 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Cinfhen
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rockpools I‘m pretty sure I have one of his books on Kjndle. Should maybe bump it up the list. 2y
Cinfhen His books are EXCELLENT @rockpools 2y
Megabooks I used this for Guinea. Really interesting essay! 2y
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Cinfhen I thought they were all fantastic @Megabooks and more than one could have worked for #ReadingAfrica22 2y
Suet624 Oh! I have to find this! Love this author. 2y
Cinfhen It‘s sooooo good @Suet624 try to find the audio if you can 2y
60 likes6 comments