Greta&Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly

From all the novels with a strong multicultural, diverse and not necessarily topic-oriented books I´ve read this year, Greta&Valdin by New Zealand Maori author Rebecca K. Reilly was by far the most fascinating read. 

An alternate exchange of stories between two queer brothers, it is as intense as a Tower of Babel in the informational sense could be. You may need an overactive brain to go through the billions of references that are as diverse as mentions about Moldavian ice hockey and sea fungus. There is no need to check ChatGPT, there is a flow of information that surrounds and adorns every single word in this book. 

Somehow, Reilly has the inspiration to balance the waterfall of ideas and words with a story that although not necessarily impressive, at least builds up pathways through the maze. That´s what helps you to not completely feel overwhelmed and mentally blocked by too much information. 

While reading, I felt like being part of an experiment, as all those references were instantly exciting my brain, who wanted more of it. More information, more diversity, more constructions. The premises are not fully realistic and not everyone exhibits such a diverse background in all the possible respects, but it sounded normal to be exposed to all of it.

Greta&Valdin is entertaining, thoughtful, mindblowing and joyful, all at the same time. The author played the card of global diversity in an unheard way. In many respects, it sums up perfectly both my interests and my concerns, and would definitely think about this book for many days to come.

Rating: 3 stars

Book Tour: The Legendary Mo Seto by A.Y.Chan

 

The 12-yo Mo Seto is learning about her own limits and the world´s in this funny yet meaningful coming-of-age debut novel by A.Y.Chan. Although I am not obvious the target of this book, at least I can resonate with the importance of practising martial arts - our brave girl is a Taekwondo expert - for increasing self esteem and discipline, two life saving super powers. I´ve started my own martial arts adventure - pushed by my parents - at almost the same age and I am grateful for the lifelong insights and experiences I gathered at the time.

The Legendary Mo Seto has all the qualities aimed at inspiring young girls starting to cope with the incertainties of the age. It has a well paced action, a charismatic main character, dynamic dialogues and some lessons learned exposed in the smartest possible way - through example and choices. She will learn to believe in herself first by breaking the rules that other people set for her. It´s a hard bet but sometimes it´s exactly what we need to experience a healthy growth as humans.

What I also particularly loved in the case of this book is the smooth ways in which Mo Seto is experiencing her identity. As Chinese-American, her heritage is part of her way of being, without the need to display any of it ostensibly. It´s how she is and she loves herself being like that, with no further ado.

Since publishing The Legendary Mo Seto, there is another book from the series published and I cannot wait to check her adventures. Indeed, I am well past her age but there is so much to learn from characters like her, especially our sons.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman

 

The advantage of a relatively slow down of daily working chores is that I can spend more quality time reading on topics that are currently relatively out of my area of interest, but used to be once. Also, to keep discovering authors whose works were an occasion for pleasant intellectual delights. Like Elif Batuman, whose The Idiot was a very unexpected rendition of the homonymous novel by Dostoevsky. 

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them is, as the title suggests, a book about Russian books, with a reference to another book by the same Russian author. Autobiographical stanzas aiming to add some layers of literary criticism to personal encounters, especially during her PhD time at Stanford, the articles included bring humorous takes on serious literary considerations. Also - one of my favorite parts - share very original and interesting insights about Uzbek language and literature, based on the author´s experience learning and practising the language in Samarkand.

The takes are very original, mostly based on personal human encounters projected into complex literary analysis, but although the projection of personal experiences into a theoretical, professional realm may bring life and reality into the theory, a too fast back and forth from a register to another and all the way back may be confusing. Also, some ideas seem to be lost on the way to putting together different arguments. But the unique humour may actually save and excuse some of the partial achievements. And, again, I haven´t ever read until now about Uzbek literature and someone who actually learned the language with dedication and interest.

If you are looking for some good humour while wandering through the maze inspired by Russian literature and those who are possessed-like to read it - although I promise you it is more to it than Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and Pushkin, but it´s a matter of taste after all - this is a good book for the end of the year/month. 

Rating: 3 stars 

Rachel´s Random Resources: The Lotus House by Ann Bennett

Although the horrors of WWII are still alive in our daily historical memories, mostly the focus is on the European realm. In fiction or historical reports, the temptation is to rather cover geographical areas relatively familiar instead of exploring unknown territories.

I´ve read in the last years various accounts about the war fought and the horrors commited by the Japanese Army during WWII in the territories occupied in Asia, but there are not too many books of historical fiction covering the Philippines. Thus, my interestfor The Lotus House by British author of historical fiction Ann Bennett. 

With a timeline going back and forth from the 1960s to the 1940s - the moment of the attack on Pearl Harbor - the story is built around the figure of Nancy, an American nurse who shortly after he fiancé was killed in the Pacific, decided to relocate to the Philippines to help the local war efforts. 

A story of love and betrayal, it outlines the deep human connections that can be built during moments of deep human crisis, and the women´s solidarity that may come with it. The alternance between dialogues and the story structure creates a story that´s hard to leave until the very end. I also loved how the nature descriptions in various moments of the narrative resonate with the characters and the turns of the story. 

The Lotus House is an insightful novel, recommended to any lover of contemporary historical fiction. A plus if you are interested in untold stories of the WWII. Personally, I am very much interested to read more by Ann Bennett, as I loved her writing style and the approach to very sensitive unique historical facts.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt

As Ella is early released after being sentenced for attempted murder, she is trying to reconnect with her life, after spending her late teenage years in prison. While trying to figure out the details of a night whose details were completely obliterated from her over-exhausted mind, she is also longing for her old love, Jude - whose father she supposedly attempted to murder - and is trying to trace her daughter, born at the beginning of her sentence prison, who was given for adoption. Meanwhile, her mother, who was forced to leave her Orthodox Jewish community due to her pregnancy, is also able to finally make place for love in her life, until then, only focused on her daughter.

Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt is inspired from a real story, that the author tried to anonymise. I had access to the book in audiobook format but this is one of the few times when I did not fully enjoyed the audio experience, as some of the voices, particularly Ella´s mother, were deeply annoying. 

The story goes in different directions: an impossible love story, personal trauma, a bit of mystery and crime, a lot of psychology. But although all those directions are skillfully balanced by the author, the characters themselves are extremely disturbing. Ella has a habit of stalking and her love for Jude is obsessive. Her mother is lonely, lacking social skills and confused, Jude´s father is abusive and Jude himself is a confused young man. This outpour of hybris is highly disturbing at times. 

But there are also moments of tension and twists - especially regarding the possibility of the crime - which are highly enjoyable, and so are the message of forgiveness that may give place to wonder. 

Days of Wonder was recently longlisted for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize  in the company of authors whose works I was lucky enough to get to know this year as well. 

Rating: 3 stars

Random Things Tours: Oaklore by Jules Acton

Nature is my therapy. It really is. The most beautiful, carefree moments of my life, especially as a child are intrinsically connected with nature. Forests, to be more specific, as places of refuge, timeless experiences of being connected with a stronger realm, a different life challenging my everyday limitations.

I don´t have too much time lately to wander days in a row through forests and get to know trees, but as usual, my other lifesaving refuge is hidden in the pages of a book. Reading about nature is just preparing me for the moment when I can start my nature adventures in real life.

Former journalist Jules Acton had the advantage of living close to Sherwood Forest. Her book Oaklore. Adventures in a World of Extraordinary Trees is a global and well researched outlook into the ways in which we are connected every day with nature, from the trees to the birds nesting on their tops. It reveals those ways we forgot they exist, which do play though such an important role in the ecosystem, but equally in the history and cultural myths of a country. 

Acton writes with the emphasis of a scientist and the empathy of a human who got to know nature from close by, empathically. It is a book recommended to anyone looking to better understand the secret life of trees, particularly oak trees, but also as an example of quality nature writing. 

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Book Tour: Paperback edition of Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated by Quentin Bates

I do not usually return to a book twice, but good thriller stories, especially, from the Icelandic Noir category, always deserve an exception. Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated fron Icelandic by Quentin Bates and published by Orenda Books, is published in paperback format therefore, it was my pleasure to return to the book for few hours.

Published in Icelanding in 2020, Dead Sweet is Katrín Júlíusdóttir´s debut novel. A former MP between 2003 and 2016, she gathered a lot of real-life inspiration for her setting, characters building and encounters. If you think that being a politician is totally useless, you only have to think that there are many of them who are gifted and their stories are a blessing to the world, especially the thriller reading category.

The death of a popular politician who did not get it into his birthday party, Óttar Karlsson, may reveal very dark secrets of local politics and of himself as the character of his own story. The smart investigator Sígurdis is tasked to figure out the culprit(s) in this case, an investigation leading to very troubling truths. Despite his physical absence, Karlsson is the main character of the book, whose life and (mis)deeds reflect to the ways in which Icelandic society operate, from its smallest details. 

Both the story construction - with a very surprising ending as well as the meticulous character building are hard to resist, and one may need to turn again to this book - as I recently did - for an insightful reflection on politics and politicians. 

Dead Sweet is a recommended read for those passionate about politics, with all its shortcomings and dark sides. I guess politicians too, particularly in Iceland, may need to include this book on their reading list, as it may inspire them how to stay away of dangerous situations. Bad people do make good thrillers, but maybe not all of them want to be characters in a book. 

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Building the Beast. How (Not) to Build an Overland Camper by Jacqueline Lambert

´I´ve had enough of Britain - let´s go to Mongolia´.

I always share a secret admiration for people who make it successfully into camping. Real camping, I mean, of people able to spend time on the road in their well tailored camper, able to prepare at length a trip around the world, with all the practicalities that such a project may involve. Although I give myself a lot of credit for a wide range of adventurous temptations, I am not sure will ever be able to do something like this. But as knowledge is power, I am trying to figure out the practical details from experts. And as usual in such cases, let´s give (again and again) credit to the books teaching me the best in life.

After four years on the road with Pawsome 4 - some adventures included in a book I featured many months ago - Jackie and Mark  are ready for a new adventure: converting a huge truck (Volvo N10) into a camper and starting another adventure on the road to Mongolia. But the timing couldn´t have been worse: Brexit bomb detonated which meant, among others, restrictions in terms of freedom of movement, especially within the Schengen area, and Covid pandemic started. 

With a contagious humour - in some parts I just couldn´t stop from laughing out loud -, Jackie is sharing the hilarious yet annoying adventures navigating various lockdowns, the bureaucratic system and repairmen with a too Bohemian mindset. But the book also has very relevant technical details about how to practically build such a special camper, in terms of technical details and materials. If you plan some serious overland-camper trip, add this book to your to read list.

Building the Beast. How (Not) to Build an Overland Camper is the first in a series dedicated to this project, and I cannot wait to see what happened next, particularly the trip part, as Mongolia is one of the places high on my travel lists for ages. Hopefully, to be continued...

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the author in exchange for an honest review

Tanz zwischen Zwei Welten by Mariam T. Azimi

There is a subject on the list of the oral topics to be prepared for the B1 Goethe Institut test of German knowledge requiring the participants to explain how does it feel to live ´between cultures´.  The subject of German perception of life while belonging to one or more cultures requires more than a blog post but nevertheless I am more happy when I read novels inspired by this topic. The feeling and questions are real, but are better said in the literary format.

Kabul-born Mariam T. Azimi moved to Germany when she was six years old. Her book Tanz zwischen Zwei Welten - Dancing between two worlds, in my own translation - is a well elaborated story of Wana, who also moved to Germany with her family from Afghanistan at the beginning of the war, trying to find out her own voice and relationship with her culture and in the end, with herself.

Told at the third person, it is a story who flows beautifully because before proving a point, it cares for the literary qualities of the story. Thus, it created characters, with their inner contradictions and intentions, as well as inner changes. Wana´s voice itself changes, and I appreciated how her 6yo voice is corresponding to this age range. 

As the main character of the story is Wana, there may be less development in the case of the others. Personally, I would have been curious to find out more about her mother and father history, whose details are more vague that I expected. 

Towards the end of the novel, Wana is asking herself what would she have been if she have stayed in Kabul. It´s such a simple and heartwarming question anyone who left his or her comfort zone at least once considered. 

There are not too many women of Afghan origins highly profiled in Germany, and this book is an important reminder of this cultural heritage. I loved very much the tone of the novel as well as the topic, and I can only wait for more writing by Mariam T. Azimi.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Blowing My Cover. My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran

It is that time of the year when the time has come to plan some few weeks of work and then get some rest with a book or two. The perks of a freelancer work is that there could be some reward of working almost without a break weeks and months in a row: offering yourself some free reading time. 

And when my mind is too busy to keep following fictional events, my only choice is to delve into the world of nonfiction. Memoirs do me good, spy memoirs, even better, as it suits my interest for crime and political thrillers. 

Blowing  My Cover. My Life as a CIA Spy by Lindsay Moran is a story of falling out of professional love. A teacher of English in Bulgaria, she wanted to do something ´good´ for her country she expected the CIA to be the ideal place to do it. 

Chronologically, the book goes through the difficult recruitment part, the even more challenging training and the ways in which this patriotic decision influenced her family and personal relationships. The ´I work for the government stamp´ may deter and destroy friendships, although from outside it can be an enviable job description. But the memoir is not at all pesimistic or dramatic, and has so  many funny and rebelious moments demonstrating that being a spy may be also fun.

Based in Skopje in the nowadays North Macedonia, a new country confronted with an armed conflict, while struggling to create a network of informers she experienced the loneliness for not receiving enough professional feedback and support. The quantity - the more informer the better - versus quality ratio was shockingly put into question by 9/11 and the following events, including in N. Macedonia. 

My first trip overseas was shortly after 9/11, was in N. Macedonia, part of an OSCE field mission for journalists, and I remember the Bible ladies she mentions in the book. The world changed without a warning and the intelligence agencies, mostly CIA, failed to get the right memo. In the craziness that followed, those ladies were really the announcers of the end of an era. It will continue with the war in Iraq, that Moran did not support, bringing her one step further from leaving the Agency for good, which eventually happened.

Tenderly, she is sparkling her story with personal details, regrets and love stories broken for a cause, but also about a happy personal ending, as she was still able to have her own family and build a life outside the CIA. 

Expectedly, this memoir may have go through a careful facts and figures check by the Agency but nevertheless it does maintain a strong layer of credibility and relevance.

Blowing My Cover. My Life as a CIA Spy is a recommended read if you are interested in real spy stories, but also in some before and after 9/11 US intelligence tracks. The humour spices up the story good enough to guarantee also some amusement and pure reading pleasure.

Rating: 3.5 stars