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#ReadTheWorld2025
review
BarbaraBB
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Mehso-so

The speculative tale of Yewon, a young woman adrift, and of the relationship between the Koreas. At first it is rather realistic, with Yewon wondering about her life while driving a North Korean woman to her long lost brother in prison and while worrying about her mom, who keeps and daily washes the bones of family members. Yewon doesn‘t eat and dreams of an invisible hotel. And are the Koreas heading for peace or war?Very weird. #ToB25Longlist

BarbaraBB @GatheringBooks #ReadTheWorld2025 Book 6 #Korea 🇰🇷 (edited) 16h
squirrelbrain I‘m not really drawn to this one 🤷‍♀️ 10h
66 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
PaperbackPirate
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I checked off my first 2 countries in one book for #ReadtheWorld2025 :
Japan and Canada! This book really transported me to both places!

My goal is to get to 10 this year to beat last year.

Thanks for hosting @GatheringBooks !

GatheringBooks 2 countries in January alone! Awesome! 💕💕 7d
mhillis Such a good book!! 7d
PaperbackPirate It will definitely be on my favorites list at the end of the year @mhillis ! 🐈 19h
46 likes4 comments
blurb
mhillis
Untitled | Untitled
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January wrap up!! I enjoyed all 12 books this month📚

Not pictured are The Desire Map & Winter in Sokcho which I finished at the last minute! #FictionalTraveler #SomeplaceCold 🇰🇷

The Woman Destroyed 🇫🇷 The Samurai of the Red Carnation 🇫🇷 🇯🇵 Invisible Helix 🇯🇵 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop 🇰🇷 #ReadtheWorld2025

The Puffin of Death 🇮🇸 A Trail of Lies #ThematicCozies
The Kiss Countdown #RiseUpReads

Catsandbooks Excellent! 🚀💖 1w
julieclair Great month! 😀 1w
See All 8 Comments
GatheringBooks 12 books is awesome! And you‘re just getting started! 1w
mhillis @julieclair thank you! I have two books for #MonthlyNonfiction2025 as well lol The Jakarta Method and Co-Intelligence 🙌 7d
mhillis @Catsandbooks thanks! my library hold came in so I finished the book early 7d
mhillis @GatheringBooks thanks 🙌 7d
julieclair I love it! You had a good month for a challenge you didn‘t even know you were participating in! 😂 7d
51 likes8 comments
review
BarbaraBB
How We Named the Stars | Andrs N. Ordorica
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Mehso-so

#ToBLonglist25

I felt ancient reading this book. It‘s about coming out, about first love and first loss during freshman year. Everyone in the book is sooo gentle and good: it was all a bit too cheesy and YA for me.

📷 Zeeland, Netherlands

Gleefulreader I‘m laughing because I feel like I could have written that review about a lot of books recently. It is why I find my reading habits and what I pick up has changed lately. 1w
Kerrbearlib Beautiful picture! 1w
BarbaraBB @Gleefulreader I recognize that. And I was never much into YA anyway! 1w
See All 10 Comments
BarbaraBB @Kerrbearlib Thank you 🙏 1w
Suet624 In this dead of winter I find I‘ve become tempted by any book with that type of colorful cover. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 1w
BarbaraBB @Suet624 If you‘re in for some sad gay romance too, pick it up 💕 1w
squirrelbrain Oh no, I‘m sorry you didn‘t love it. 😞 1w
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain That‘s no problem of course!! I still trust your recommendations 💯 ❤️ 1w
BarbaraBB @GatheringBooks #ReadTheWorld2025 Book 5 #Mexico 🇲🇽 (edited) 16h
GatheringBooks Wow! You‘re on a roll! Looove it! now
69 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
BarbaraBB
Playground | Richard Powers
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Pickpick

I loved this book right up until the end. It‘s probably me but I don‘t get the ending.. I am left with so many questions, it‘s such a thought provoking story.
I loved the friendship between Todd and Rafi, I loved Evelyn‘s diving, her love for the ocean and her marriage, I loved Makatea, its inhabitants, I loved Powers‘ style and love for nature. But I feel like I have to start it again to really get it. All the stars nevertheless! #ToB25Longlist

ImperfectCJ Thank you for tagging me on your review! I still can't quite get over that ending, but the feelings I got with the rest of it are still hanging on and coloring my daily life, too, which really says something for Powers's writing. 2w
BarbaraBB @ImperfectCJ I think it will stick with me for some time to come. There‘s so much going on in the book and in my head now! 2w
squirrelbrain Yes, I didn‘t really ‘get‘ the ending either. 🤷‍♀️ 2w
See All 10 Comments
sarahbarnes I‘ve been waffling on whether I want to read this one. Good to know you liked it (except for the ending)! 2w
Suet624 Hmmm… guess I need to find this one. You‘ve got me curious. 2w
Hooked_on_books I had a pretty similar response. I really liked the storylines but not really together as a whole. 2w
BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @Suet624 It‘s soo good. I didn‘t get the ending, or at least have to give it some more thought, but it‘s still the best book I read this year (which doesn‘t say that much, I admit!) 2w
BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books I did like them together as well but I didn‘t get the time thing: that Rafi lived on the island as well as died in Illinois? @squirrelbrain @ImperfectCJ 2w
ImperfectCJ @BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain I read it as the whole thing was written by Todd's AI as a kind of happy ending for him to listen to as his Lewy Body Dementia progressed. It's similar to "it was all a dream," which feels like a cop-out. 2w
84 likes3 stack adds10 comments
review
Kristy_K
Heavy is the Head | Sumaya Enyegue
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Pickpick

Powerful and moving. A great book of contemporary poetry.

#southafrica #readtheworld2025

review
BarbaraBB
Moshi-Moshi: A Novel | Banana Yoshimoto
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Pickpick

Yoshie‘s father dies along with his mistress and Yoshie and her mother have come to terms with both having a death and the circumstances.
And they do, after moving to an old neighborhood in Tokyo, where they live and work and eat. Again, food plays in important role in a Japanese story!
It‘s a very Japanese novel, quiet and melancholic. A light pick.

#ReadTheWorld2025 Book 3 #Japan 🇯🇵#ATY25 #IntriguingTitle

GatheringBooks I love banana yoshimoto‘s writing. The last book of her i‘ve read is 3w
GatheringBooks So glad you traveled to Japan through #ReadTheWorld2025 challenge. Awesome! 3w
BarbaraBB @GatheringBooks I only had read Kitchen, so good! 2w
93 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
BarbaraBB
Short War | Lily Meyer
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Pickpick

Yes this is an excellent book. 16 years old Gabriel grows up in Chile with his American parents. He is ashamed of his capitalist parents and his imperialist motherland, infiltrating the world with propaganda. He is a Chilean communist and a supporter of Allende‘s socialist politics. He falls in love in the days leading up to the coup against Allende in 1973.
In 3 parts we read about this period in time and its aftermath. And about Gabriel‘s life.

sarahbarnes Great review. I‘m interested in this one! 3w
BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes Have you read@Megabooks review? To her it‘s one of the best books the ever read!! (edited) 3w
See All 9 Comments
Megabooks So glad you enjoyed this too!!! 👍🏻💜 3w
Kerrbearlib This sounds really good! Stacked! 3w
Suet624 Okey doke. I stacked it after reading yours and Meg‘s review. 😊 3w
Singout If you‘re interested in that period in Chile‘s history, try Carmen Aguirre‘s 3w
GatheringBooks Oh wow, haven‘t heard of this book at all. Thank you for adding it to #ReadTheWorld2025. Stacked! 💕 3w
BarbaraBB @Singout Thank you that is good to know! 3w
77 likes3 stack adds9 comments
blurb
GatheringBooks
Belle Greene | Alexandra Lapierre
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#25Alive! Day 11: Belle‘s #TakeCharge attitude when it comes to JP Morgan‘s collections totally impressed the brilliant man - and the rest is history. Review is forthcoming. Finished reading the book and absolutely loved it. #ReadTheWorld2025: France (translated from French) - although setting is mostly US based. #EuropaCollective

GatheringBooks Food is known as egg carbonara - and yes it is delish. 1mo
Eggs That looks amazing 🤩 1mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful 😍 1mo
46 likes3 comments