Micro Review 24 (2025) / Women in Translation Month

Free Ride by Noraly Schoenmaker, translated by Bo-Elise Brummelkamp (Canelo)

I think that this book popped on to my radar after reading Sovietistan by Erika Fatland (translated by Kari Dickson) and enjoying the accounts of female travellers in more obscure or intrepid locations - why should men have all of the adventures?

When the book arrived at the library there was no clue that this book would qualify as a read for Women in Translation Month - poor Brummelkamp gets no mention anywhere in the book apart from a tiny line on the copyright page and this is in a tiny type size. I am assuming that this, lets call it, discretion rather than obfuscation, is because Schoenmaker's YouTube films are all in English and the publishers didn't want to put any readers off by announcing that it was a translation.

Like so many big trips Schoenmaker's was kickstarted by a personal upheaval but became so much more adventurous once her travels had started: 

Noraly Schoenmaker was a thirty-something geologist living in the Netherlands when she learned that her live-in partner had been having a long-term affair. Suddenly without a place to stay, she decided to quit her job and jet off to India in search of a new beginning. Her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free – nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads.

She first rode toward the Pacific, through the jungles of Myanmar and Thailand, then into Malaysia. Rather than satisfy her appetite for the open road, this ride only piqued it. She shipped her bike to Oman, at the base of the Arabian Peninsula, and embarked on a journey through Iran, across Turkmenistan along its border with Afghanistan, over the snowy peaks of Central Asia and into Europe, all the way back home to the Netherlands.

She covered remote and utterly unfamiliar territory; broke down on impossibly steep mountains; and pushed too many miles along empty roads, farther and farther from civilization. But through her travels, she discovered the true beauty of the world – the kindness of its people, the simplicity of its open spaces, as well as her own inner strength.

Now I've never even sat pillion on a moped let alone tried riding a powerful motorbike in such varied terrain and I'm afraid this book hasn't enticed me to try either, long distance motorcycle touring is not for me in any way shape or form (which my family will be pleased to hear as my lack of balance and coordination is legendary!).

Schoenmaker's writing also didn't inspire me to think at all of exploring the countries she visited, probably because her book isn't really about the places she visited - it is all the journey.

In normal circumstances I'd never have reviewed this book but I was so incensed that the translator wasn't mentioned I wanted to acknowledge Brummelkamp's work!

 

Reading the World update

 

My scratch off map is becoming far more colourful and my reading life is really expanding.

While I am reading a lot of books in translation or from authors living in a country I am also counting some travel writing in my project.

Some of these been accounts of journeys made in locations (Sovietistan by Erika Fatland) and some of the books have been from people who've settled in an area and are writing about their new lives (In Arabian Nights by Tahir Shah) and while I do want to read in translation where possible my bank balance isn't bottomless and I don't want to narrow my borders as I am trying to explore them!

Because my map does mark all of the US states, Canadian provinces, and Australian states I have expanded my challenge to include a book from each of these  - but I do wish that India and China has also been split up as they are such diverse countries it feels wrong to just read one book from these places and cross off the whole country!

This mix of fiction/translation/non fiction is working well for me so far and it has to be said that as this is the way Daunt Books organise their travel sections I feel I am in good company with this approach.

Some of the top reads from the past 6 months have been:

• Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by Erika Flatland. Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson
• Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Zanzibar and Tanzania) 
• Chopping Onions on My Heart by Samantha Ellis (Iraq)
• My Pen is the Wing of a Bird (Afghanistan) Translated from various languages by a variety of people.
• The Wager and the Bear by John Ironmonger (Greenland)
• Elegy, Southwest by Madeleine Watts (California, Nevada, Arizona & Utah)
• That Librarian - Louisiana 
• Between Two Rivers - Moudhy Al-Rashid (Mesopotamia)

Not all my reading has been focussed on this project and my top six books so far this year are:

• Between Two Rivers by Moudhy Al-Rashid
• Mythica by Emily Hauser
• Florrie by Anna Trench
• When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
• The Eights by Joanna Miller
• The Wager and the Bear by John Ironside

Picking these books was great fun - I scanned down my book journal and picked the ones that have stayed with me the most for whatever reason and/or are the ones I've recommended to other people the most!

Review of the year part 2

 

Top Non-Fiction read in 2021

As the New Year Bank Holiday is three days long this year I feel fully justified in spreading my 'best of the year' lists over three days too!

Today non-fiction books take centre stage, I wasn't always in the mood for fiction during 2021 and thanks to the great non-fiction out there I never quite lost the reading mo-jo. In a year that was so strange, and with so little travel possible, I definitely roamed the world via the written word.

In alphabetical order my top reads were:

• Come Fly the World by Julia Cooke
• One Woman's Year by Stella Martin Currey
• The Stubborn Light of the Things by Melissa Harrison
• Minarets in the Mountains by Tharik Hussain
• Burning the Books by Richard Ovenden
• Light Rain Sometimes Falls by Lev Parikian
• Slow Road to San Francisco by David Reynolds
• The Lost Cafe Schindler by Meriel Schindler
• Hidden Hands by Mary Wellesley
• Freedom by Lea Ypi

Micro Review 45 and 46 (non fiction November)

 

Minarets in the Mountains by Tharik Hussain (Bradt Publishing)

I'm always on the lookout for new books to try and this one really stood out for more when the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction was announced earlier in the year.

It took me a while to get around to the book but I'm so pleased that I did as I learned so much from reading it. Hussain takes his family on a long summer holiday around parts of the Balkans looking to find Muslim Europe.

To my shame I had no idea how much history there was in the region, I knew that large parts of Spain had been Muslim but not that this empire went so much further. While I knew that there were  dreadful atrocities committed against Muslims during the Bosnian War I had no idea of the deep history behind this persecuted population.

This book could so easily have become maudlin, but Hussain and his family find lots of light in present to balance the darkness of history and when travel is possible again then there are some new places I'd like to visit.

In that way reading often has this book connected very well with one that I'd read a few weeks before:

  Free by Lea Ypi (Penguin Books)

(coincidentally also on the Baille Gifford longlist & shortlist)

This is an account of life in Albania just as the communist regime fell apart in the 1990s. Ypi was only a child at the time and fully committed to the teachings and propaganda that she was taught at school.

In the west we are so used to the idea that the removal of communism was the best way forward that we don't hear much from the people who experienced a very real sense of loss after their way of life failed. Ypi's parents were very careful to ensure that she had no idea of their past and actual political leanings that you can feel her entire life fracture along with the Albania she knew.

Albania's transition to a democratic nation was not smooth, and again I don't think we in the west ever heard the full story so much of Ypi's story was new to me and incredibly eye-opening.

I do love how sometimes books you read can have unexpected conversations with each other, and the the reader. 

Micro Review 5

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake

Despite having over flowing bookshelves and a Kindle full of unread books I still found myself with nothing to read a few weeks ago and so started to browse the Library ebook shelves again. I think that the impossibility of travel and the boredom that is meal planning drew me to this book.

Cloake sets off by bike to spend a few weeks cycling around France trying the various local specialties of the regions and also trying to find the best croissant in France.

I don't hugely enjoy cycling, and there are certain foods even I'd never try (andouille sausage I'm looking at you here) but Cloake's enthusiasm is infectious and I now have a list of places as long as my arm that I'd like to visit.

I also liked that often Cloake gets fed up with the weather, camping and cycling and so checks into hotels and uses trains to get from place to place. This made 90% of her trip sound fun rather than a punishment. For me this was ideal lockdown escapism and encouraged me to open some of my recipe books and try some new dishes.

Busy life

I'm not sure why I open every post on my own blog with an apology for not writing more - after all it is my own blog and my progress isn't monitored by anyone!

I am still reading for various projects that I can't talk about and I am also reading a lot of books that aren't published until later in the year so hopefully I'll remember to come back and talk about them nearer to publication, although to be honest I really wouldn't hold you breath over that!

In addition to the reading projects I am also currently trying to tie up the loose ends of my current job *and* learn my new one.  This all feels overwhelming at times and means much of my reading has become turning to old favourites, and generally children's books at that as they are nice and familiar but in some cases I had forgotten how good they were - this week's rediscovery was The Secret Garden.

A book that did come along at just the right moment recently was Sarah Baxter's Literary Places.

I'd not heard of the book but the publisher contacted me through NetGalley to let me know it was available for review and I am so glad that the email didn't end up in my junk folder.

This book is a guide to the locations in many books and talks a little bit about the book/author and then the location.  It isn't particularly deep or even in depth but the chapters are wonderfully short and moreover beautifully illustrated and it felt a little like having a holiday just reading through it, which is funny as right now I can't leave the country as my passport is away being renewed.

To be honest I would have liked more written detail about each book/place as it just didn't go into enough depth for me to fall in love with books that were new to me, but I spent ages gazing at the pictures and it reminded me just how special an illustrated book could be however old you are!

It seems funny to be reviewing and praising a book that initially didn't seem like it was for me, but I have found myself returning to the proof just to look at the art work, and at a busy time in life it was great to find just the right book.

Many thanks to Quarto for alerting me to this book, and as ever I was under no obligation to read and review it.

Two Steps Forward (in my reading recovery)

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Stimison & Anne Buist.

Book provided by Bookbridgr.

This book caught my eye as soon as I saw it advertised on the Bookbridgr website - it is a book told in two viewpoints by two authors, in this case with each chapter being told by the alternating protagonist. It is also a book that could easily be a non fiction, travel writing book and I love them.

Zoe and Martin both end up walking the Camino de Santiago from Cluny in France all the way to Santiago de compostela in Spain - well over 1000km. They have very different reasons for undertaking the walk, Zoe is recently bereaved, and Martin recently divorced and from the start you know that their paths will cross and there will be sparks of all sorts.

Despite the mental place that both lead characters start from, this isn't a book that focuses entirely on the spiritual journey the pair take, nor does it read like a diary of the journey taken by the two authors in real life. All aspects of the journey are covered. It is a fulfilling read, but it is always believable - perhaps because Zoe and Martin have time to tell their stories as the walk progresses.

All of the incidental characters we meet on the way have their own reasons for walking and are well rounded if used slightly in deus ex machina roles. While the ending could be seen as a little predicable and trite the authors have the confidence to extend the story on a little beyond the pilgrimage and tie up loose ends in a satisfying, but believable, conclusion.

This was a brilliant book to continue my reading recovery with, again the short alternating narratives were great for my concentration but unlike previous books I had to follow the plot from one chapter to the next. I did find myself having to reread chapters as my concentration slipped but the story was so good I didn't give up - I had to find out how it ended!

July Reading Round Up

July was another great month of reading for me, and one where I had lots of time to catch up on requests from Net Galley.  2017 is shaping up again to be a great year for books.

Two of the books that have made my top reads of the month I reviewed earlier The Children of Jocasta and These Dividing Walls but other standouts this month were:

Circe - Madeline Miller.
This was a very early proof (the book isn't actually out until sometime in 2018!) but I loved every word. It is very different from her first book The Song of Achilles whilst still firmly being rooted in Ancient Greece. The scope is huge but told very intimately - I hope it does really well.

The January Man - Christopher Somerville

Another walking book come memoir makes my list this month and this one is also shortlisted for the Wainright Prize. Somerville (and his wife or friend on occasion) takes a different walk around the UK each month. He talks about the history of the area he is walking and the legends but is quite open about how unobservant he is about his surroundings!

The story also tells of Somerville's relationship with his father and is wonderfully moving without being sentimental.

Artemis - Andy Weir

I loved The Martian when I read it on holiday a few years ago (I've not seen the film) I love this type of sci-fi - set in the not too distant future with a premise that could be true. Artemis is just this sort of fiction and added to this is a bit of a crime caper. The icing on the cake? The person "science-ing the shit out of the moon" is female!

The book is out later this year and I hope that it does even better than The Martian because there was no hint of the 'difficult second novel' here.

Travels with my Sketchbook - Chris Riddell
Chris Riddell has just completed his two year stint as the Children's Laureate and he has been a huge supporter of libraries and school libraries throughout his tenure. This is a collection of his sketches, cartoons, drafts for his final work and a diary in image form and a pure delight.  Riddell manages to capture the whimsy of life along with the terrible and I wanted to race through this book and savour every image simultaneously. Who says picture books are just for for children?

One Summer in Tuscany - Domenica de Rosa

This is a real guilty pleasure book - I won it in a Twitter competition with Quercus books and it was a pure delight to read some unashamed chick lit. Okay I guessed the main plot points early on but I enjoyed the ride as we got there and the writing definitely made me think I was in Tuscany in summer with the heat and the food. This was a fun escapist read.

Graphically speaking

Graphic Novels / Travel Writing from Guy Delisle

While I am renowned for reading anything and everything (cereal packets if there are no books) I don't often read graphic novels.  Superheroes leave me cold and have done since I was a child and never moved on from Super Ted and Banana Man so I have tended to avoid this area in bookshops and libraries as I perceive them to be full of this sort of story.

There have been exceptions, I enjoyed the historical and allegorical Maus books and was fascinated by Peresopolis for instance and so when Guy Delisle's books came up as suggestions on Goodreads I thought they might appeal to me.

So far I've raced though Burma Chronicles, Jerusalem, Pyongyang and I have just started Shenzen. They are a mix of autobiography, travelogue and cultural guide to some of the most interesting or restrictive places on the planet.

In some of the books Guy is alone and travelling as part of his job as a animator and in others he accompanies his wife, who works for Medicins Sans Frontieres, on her postings. All of the books give you some insight into the counties visited but personally I prefer the ones where Guy is with his family and trying to adjust to both a non traditional role (he is a house husband) and life in strange surroundings.

The illustrations are deceptively simple but convey so much, Guy manages to tell all sides of the story where he can and it does seem that he tries to get behind the public facade of the places he lives - perhaps it is being a Canadian (who is married to a French woman) that allows him to be both an objective observer as well as expressing his own opinions in a non-confrontational way.

The books I've read so far have all been translated from the original French but whether it is the style of the books or the quality of the translation I'd never have known. (I would credit the translator of them all as being Helge Dascher but I have returned some of the books to the library already and as is so often the case the translator is not credited on Wikipedia or Amazon for quick reference.)

I'm still not sure that I'm ever going to love graphic novels as genre as a whole but I will keep trying them as just occasionally I am going to hit gold like I did with these! If anyone can suggest more books like these I'd be grateful.

Not dribbling - giggling

The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson.

I can't believe that it is twenty years since the wonderful Notes from a Small Island was published, and by all accounts neither can Bryson as he haphazardly sets off to explore England, Wales and Scotland again.

From page one I was chuckling to this, and I found myself reading out many sentences to my poor travelling companion who kept giving me funny looks as I shook with suppressed laughter on a busy train.

After re-reading some of Bryson's earlier travel books a while back I was a little nervous about this one - there was a nasty strain of racism/xenophobia in a a couple - but this didn't disappoint. It is full of well aimed and well deserved quips about the British all dialled up to 11 for comic effect.

This will become a firm favourite and Mr Norfolkbookworm is now reading it, giggling a lot and reading favourite passages to me, all the sign of a good book. Bryson's mocking of poor grammar and punctuation in print journalism really made me smile. It won't be for everyone, it is firmly southern England-centric and at times less than kind to Norfolk but on the whole a great read.

Not everyone agrees and the Guardian's Digested Read does have more than a whiff of truth about it, but taken as a light, whimsical book it was perfect reading for the weekend that saw the clocks change and everything seeming that bit darker and more miserable.

Travelling vicariously

Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach

Since coming back from holiday I've been reading quite a lot of travel writing, perhaps in a hope of prolonging the feeling of being on holiday, the books have been of all types and my list of places to both visit and avoid are growing ever longer.

One of the best I've read was The Yosemite by John Muir, this was written in 1912 and is a collection of thought made by Muir after years spend visiting Yosemite National Park.  I'd tried his books before but found them very hard going, however on returning to this one after visiting the area was a delight as I could now really 'see' what he was writing about. If you aren't familiar with the geography/wildlife however I do wonder if you'll enjoy it as much.  It is worth trying just for his descriptions of avalanches and thunderstorms.

Other books I've read have been the autobiographies of National Park Rangers in various areas of the USA.  These are insightful and funny and as someone who has worked in various customer service jobs for years there is a lot to relate to.  The knowledge, advice and friendliness of all of the NPS employees we've met have really added to our experiences of the American wilds and it does make me sad to read how overstretched, under protected and vulnerable they often are.

The last book in the genre I've read broke my book butterfly problem and I have no idea who suggested it to me or why I had it on reserve from the library.

Without Reservations is the story of Alice Steinbach's 9 months spent in Europe in 1993.  She takes a sabbatical from her job (and life) in Baltimore and apart from knowing where she'll be living in Europe she crosses the Atlantic with no plans.  This could so easily have become mawkish - like I found the inexplicable popular Eat, Pray, Love - but was delightful and I sat up until gone midnight as I had to keep reading.
Alice is a friendly person and even when feeling lonely and shy in new cities manages to meet people and turn them into friends where ever she goes which no doubt adds to her experience but her willingness to try anything makes her journey a joy to read.

Cities that I know well revealed new secrets to me through the writing and again yet more destinations have been added to my list of places to visit.  However Alice's experiences in Rome were so different to mine that I wanted to encourage her to go again and give a magical place a second chance.

This book was a pleasant surprise and just what I needed to kick start my reading again.

Vive La France

An Englishman Aboard - Charles Timoney
Road to Rouen - Ben Hatch

Travel writing can be very good and sometimes it can be self indulgent rubbish, in the past 10 days two titles about France have come my way - one from the library and one through a competition on Twitter.

Although I am only a little way into Road to Rouen so far both books are fun, enjoyable reads although very different. Both have made me want to visit France and to get off the beaten track once there...

Charles Timoney built a row boat to the amusement of his French friends who at a New Year party challenge him to circumnavigate the length of the Seine.  He quickly realises that it won't be possible to do this in his rowboat and so we are spared long passages of him complaining about blisters and backache but rather have anecdotes on towns and villages near to the river, food and drink reviews of the areas travelled through and a few expeditions on the river in various crafts.  Towards the end I got the feeling that he remembered that this was supposed to be about a boat on the river and not about all the other things and, for me, it petered out a little but on the whole it was a fun read.

Ben Hatch on the other hand is travelling around France with his family and on a mission to write a travel guide.  He is trying hard to find things to review but travelling with young children isn't making this as easy as he'd hoped BUT is very entertaining to read from my (childfree) point of view.

I feel that parents will be nodding along and sympathising with Ben Hatch but I'm afraid I am just enjoying knowing that when we travel it can be spontaneous and that as long as Mr Norfolkbookworm and I have plenty to read and access to nice food we are easily amused.

A few other books have come in to the library for me that I can only borrow for a couple of weeks as there are long reservation lists on them so I shall only be dipping into Road to Rouen for the next few weeks but I know that I'll be looking forward to those moments!