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Author Topic: Books: Looking for non-UK/US book recs  (Read 4070 times)

rocquelaire

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Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« on: October 13, 2016, 01:53:25 pm »
So, I've been thinking about how I would like to expand my reading and I decided to set myself the challenge of reading one book a month that is from a non-UK/US writer.

I'm looking for recommendations from my fellow Cauldronites. The books need to be available in English. My primary genre is speculative fiction but I'm happy to read just about any genre. I'm also interested in non-fiction, especially cultural or memoir books.

I'll be blogging about the books I read and how I find the challenge as well.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 11:18:45 am by RandallS »

Sefiru

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2016, 06:54:58 pm »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197423
So, I've been thinking about how I would like to expand my reading and I decided to set myself the challenge of reading one book a month that is from a non-UK/US writer.

 
Here are a few off the top of my head:

Night Watch by Sergey Lukyanenko (Russia): Noir-ish urban fantasy series, also set in Russia. It's an engaging story, if a little grim for my taste.

The works of Haruki Murakami (Japan): I've only read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which was rather surreal and literary (if that makes sense). I kinda liked it but I'm not sure I understood it.

Stanislaw Lem (Poland) and Jules Verne (France) are classic speculative fiction authors, though I haven't read much of their work.

Also, TVTropes has a whole section of pages on non-English literature (Enter at your own risk!)
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Sobekemiti

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2016, 12:25:31 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197423
So, I've been thinking about how I would like to expand my reading and I decided to set myself the challenge of reading one book a month that is from a non-UK/US writer.

I'm looking for recommendations from my fellow Cauldronites. The books need to be available in English. My primary genre is speculative fiction but I'm happy to read just about any genre. I'm also interested in non-fiction, especially cultural or memoir books.

I'll be blogging about the books I read and how I find the challenge as well.


If specfic is your thing, you might want to try Isobelle Carmody (Obernewtyn Chronicles and the Legend of Little Fur books), Garth Nix (Old Kingdom trilogy, and the Keys to the Kingdom series), and John Marsden (Tomorrow, When The War Began series). They veer towards YA more than adult specfic, but they are great Australian writers and you should read them. Also, John Marsden's book on writing is great if you can get hold of that.

Also, Fire Boy by Sami Shah, it's djinn fantasy set in Pakistan, and it's amazing. You should definitely read that. Shah lives in Australia, but originally comes from Pakistan, if I remember correctly.

I hesitate to rec Tim Winton, because he's a bit .... complex and whimsy and you might hate him, but his writing is deeply steeped in the Australian landscape, from the rural to the urban. It's not really specfic in a traditional sense, but there are elements of spirituality/magical realism that may work for you, or not. I don't find him much to my taste most of the time, but Cloud Street, or That Eye, The Sky, might be good places to begin if you're keen.
Sobekemiti | Hekatean Witch, Kemetic Orthodox Shemsu, Sobek Devotee | My pronouns are they/she

Castus

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2016, 12:40:28 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197423
So, I've been thinking about how I would like to expand my reading and I decided to set myself the challenge of reading one book a month that is from a non-UK/US writer.

I'm looking for recommendations from my fellow Cauldronites. The books need to be available in English. My primary genre is speculative fiction but I'm happy to read just about any genre. I'm also interested in non-fiction, especially cultural or memoir books.

I'll be blogging about the books I read and how I find the challenge as well.

 
The Skulduggery Pleasant series is set in Ireland, and is by an Irish writer, Derek Landy. It is thoroughly excellent, cannot be recommended more highly, and comes as a series of fantastic audiobooks if you're into that.
“Castus, meanwhile, goes straight for the bad theology like one of those creepy fish that swims up streams of pee.” — Darkhawk

“Believing in the Lord means you are connected to me no matter when you are poor, sick, or struggling in a relationship. I am always with you. I want you to believe that. The future is uncertain, and much suffering awaits. However, the mission of the believer is to live life doing their best, no matter what the circumstances.” — Ryuho Okawa

Nerys53

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2016, 08:08:10 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197423
So, I've been thinking about how I would like to expand my reading and I decided to set myself the challenge of reading one book a month that is from a non-UK/US writer.

I'm looking for recommendations from my fellow Cauldronites. The books need to be available in English. My primary genre is speculative fiction but I'm happy to read just about any genre. I'm also interested in non-fiction, especially cultural or memoir books.

I'll be blogging about the books I read and how I find the challenge as well.

 
Any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez he writes magickal realism genre, very good storyteller. Books: One Hundred Years of Solitude and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Sefiru

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2016, 06:44:14 pm »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197423
I'm also interested in non-fiction, especially cultural or memoir books.

 
That reminds me (although this "memoir" is fictional): The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay (who hails from South Africa; the book is also set there). By way of recommendation, I was assigned this book in high school English class, and then went and bought my own copy, I liked it that much.
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Sefiru

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2016, 06:45:34 pm »
Quote from: Sobekemiti;197461
If specfic is your thing, you might want to try Isobelle Carmody (Obernewtyn Chronicles and the Legend of Little Fur books), Garth Nix (Old Kingdom trilogy, and the Keys to the Kingdom series), and John Marsden (Tomorrow, When The War Began series). They veer towards YA more than adult specfic, but they are great Australian writers and you should read them.


Huh, I did not know Garth Nix was Australian.
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Sobekemiti

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2016, 10:54:32 pm »
Quote from: Sefiru;197489
Huh, I did not know Garth Nix was Australian.

 
He is indeed, he was born in Melbourne like I was. It's nice to hear of someone outside of Australia who knows of him.
Sobekemiti | Hekatean Witch, Kemetic Orthodox Shemsu, Sobek Devotee | My pronouns are they/she

rocquelaire

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2016, 03:01:52 am »
Quote from: Nerys53;197480
Any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez he writes magickal realism genre, very good storyteller. Books: One Hundred Years of Solitude and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

 
Love in the Time of Cholera has been on my reading list for ages! I totally forgot about him. Thanks for the reminder

rocquelaire

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #9 on: October 15, 2016, 03:04:42 am »
Quote from: Sefiru;197488
That reminds me (although this "memoir" is fictional): The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay (who hails from South Africa; the book is also set there). By way of recommendation, I was assigned this book in high school English class, and then went and bought my own copy, I liked it that much.

 
That's a pretty strong recommendation. There are few books I enjoyed so much in English class that I bought a copy. In fact, the only ones I can think of are Shakespeare and Norman MacCaig.

rocquelaire

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #10 on: October 15, 2016, 03:09:33 am »
Quote from: Sobekemiti;197502
He is indeed, he was born in Melbourne like I was. It's nice to hear of someone outside of Australia who knows of him.

 
Garth Nix is quite well known here but I didn't know he was Australian. My daughter tried one of his books recently but she's not quite ready for it (she's 10 and at an awkward reading stage where she can read books that are fairly difficult and complex, for her age, but she's still 10. She has trouble with fictional words and obviously some of the concepts in books aimed at teens are a bit beyond her yet.)

I'll definitely give him a try, along with the others you mentioned. My list is getting longer, I'm delighted!

Nerys53

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Re: Looking for non-UK/US book recs
« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2016, 07:53:13 am »
Quote from: rocquelaire;197505
Love in the Time of Cholera has been on my reading list for ages! I totally forgot about him. Thanks for the reminder

 
Very interesting to read is any book or story by Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis and The Trial. And  at Amazon.com some collected stories books by Kafka are also available.

(Reading about Franz Kafka his life story etc one comes accross some info that he had an interest in the occult..........I have been looking into this via google searches.....)

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