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Reading a book from every country project

august 2025

in the country of men - hisham matar

heartbreaking and gut wrenching. made me sit for bit having to process it. another banger after the fishermen but just way more upsetting because of how real it felt. the child narrator made it all too real esp within his familial relationships. ofc the most interesting and sadenning part was his mothers story, which made me tear up multiple times, not just from reading one suddenly upseting fact or line, but after each story she told, it would make me sit there trying to process it or not wanting to. it was very well balaned with the little boys relationship with his dad and how much he idolized him but still dreamt of saving his mother. the characters were so fleshed out, truly feeling like a real family which was the scary part. the political tension and storyline was very upsetting as well, suddenly hard hitting even with all what you see daily on the news, i thought i was desensitized to these scenes but he still managed to disgust me while reading it. and just like nigeria, i discovered i am not as well versed on libyas modern history as i thought i did. the book also caputred a childs arab summer so well, and the cruelty of a little boy, and the trauma a traumatized authority figure could cause. and this was his first novel i think, not even his most popular.

the fishermen- chigozie obioma

very glad to have picked this as an audiobook on a whim when i needed something to listen to while i mademy circus book sculpture. finished in two sittings as i was incredibly immeresed in the story. everything about it was just so well done; the story telling, the atmosphere, the nigerian culture introduction for me. i think the characterization of the two eldest brothers was maybe not so fleshed out but it was still enjoyable. it is my first nigerian book and i want to read more from the country and this author specifically. made me realize i knew nothing about nigeria or even the spoken languages or recent history, i loved the historical elemnts mixed in with the personal story of benjamin. was eerie and i think accomplished what it set out to do, i had not realized it took some inspo from cain and abel before getting into it but bonus points for the religious symbolism throughout the book in general. the audiobook narrator also did an amazing job and i enjoyed that he actually had a nigerian accent.

July 2025

tampa - alissa nutting

another reread to make sure i actually like the book. and i do. it is an odd book to put in my favorites or to reread, a story about a woman pedophile. it is vulgar and uncomfortable at times. however, the commentary about gender, age and relationships was insightful. not just in the sense of 'people cant see women as sexual monsters' type of way, as it was predictable how due to her conventional beauty and just being a woman, thus extremely sexualized by evereyone in her life, she could do no such thing, even if a woman would commit such a crime, it would be an ugly woman. beauty=goodness. the interesting aspect was her justification for her actions or why she was so attracted to 14 year olds, the idea that as people grow older, even by 16, they start to form some sort of mask during sex or others where you cant show youre enjoying yourself too much or are too embarrassed in general in the bedroom, there is no awe, adults are boring in that way. which is true. she was terrified of aging in regards to everyone, she hated anything or anyone that was not youthful, she wanted childlike wonder, innocence and fun. everything she did was so calculated as to let her sleep with these teenagers that it was chilling at times. her relationship with her sexuality was so fucked up and so telling of female sexuality in general in the sense of its unhealthiness. the way men in the criminal procedures allowed her to be free is expected, how the men were still attracted to her even after knwoing what a monster she was because they didnt care because she was only flesh to them, the inside didnt matter. it is not comparable to lolita as tampa was more pragmatic in its prose and not trying to sugarcoat or trying to empathize, it showed a cruel mentally ill women who was a perpetrator and victim. also it was based on a true story of a pre-school teacher from tampa.

the veiled woman- anais nin

the way i perceived erotica in the 20th century was similar to how i perceived comedy would be before reading the hearing trumpet. did not realize it could be good. i dont know if im intrested in reading more of it anytime soon but i think i will at some point as i think it being from a womans pov and actually well written, def makes it the first choice in erotica if i were to read any more. out of all the stories, the lesbian one is the onlu one that ended up in fulfillment in some way, while all the ones with men were just chasing an idea that ended up in failure. it also made me want to read more of my little penguin modern classics.

regarding the pain of others- susan sontag

bit of a tough read- both emotionally and intellecutally. sontag talks a lot about the philosophy of war photography which is not something im very familar with, i think she refrenced her book on photogrphy quite a bit too. i loved that she refrenced works of authors i have read or want to read like george batille- was coincidental to me (as ive only just recently wanted to read him) but informative. lots of important commentary on the power and effect of media on our perception of war and human suffering in general even in the 1800's. lots of parts that i def want to revist again and maybe then be more equipped to have formed a solid opinion about. i am excited to read notes on camp and alice in bed by the author.

happy city-charles Montgomery

was reading this on and off and skipped a few parts that were so american centric that i literally just could not understand them. but in general i do love the way the author incorporated psychology and human evolution into the discourse of urban design and how we could better our lives in general. ofc he spent a lot of the book talking about how the designs need to inclusive and feel inclusive but never a deep dive into the needs of women or their saftey in his perfect city. very much an incomplete book

the virgin suicides - jeffery eugendies

complicated read. the author did a very good job at portraying how men will dehumanize women even/esp when they are going through hell. but it is not because he is this man who undertands women and was wrriting these boys being gross satirically or as commentary, it is becayse he acyually thought that was what love was according to his interviews which is so disturbing, the way the narrator is talking about how they sill picture these young girls instead of their wives in bed is insane. he thinks that is love. so yes the book did really succeed in making me want to die as well, or rip my jair out yelling at everyone that this not some mystery regarding womens mystique but just thesegirls being suufocated and then killing themselves simple as that. idk if i would watch the movie

the ballad of the sad cafe- carson mccullers

this was a short read. the atmosphere wa svery well written, i did not expect the plotwist and it was a good read overall but not enough to make me read the other little stories in the book, i might later, im just not sure if mccullers is an author i want to read more from yet

bad blood- john carreyrou

read like a thriller. very interesting and made me want to look more into malpractice/medical law. the story is tied together by actually looking up pics og elizabeth holmes and too see that the steve jobs emulation was not an exaggeration in the slightest

The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford

I am once again surprised at how a modern classic can be funny- I did not know anything about the Mitfords prior to reading this, however now I think I've fallen into a rabbit hole. Made me tear up towards the end. Obviously wouldn't be a posh classic without racism, might give the show a try, Andrew Scott is in it.

The Hearing Trumpet - Leonora Carrington

I did not know anything about Carrington or that this was magical realism which I usually dislike. I also dislike surrealist art, I think- so I was pleasantly surprised when I loved this and laughed out loud. I rarely find books funny- especially those which describe themselves as so- but it seems as though people in different eras were actually capable of humor.

Nuclear War: A Scenario - Annie Jacobsen

Filled with so much interesting info - I especially loved the history lesson parts the most. It did get repetitive at times and lost me but for the most part it was so engaging and peculiar to read given that I kept wondering why there were even that many protocols or caring about hierarchies or a sense of duty when destruction was assured.

June 2025

The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

I just do not like YA. I think it was full of cliches because it started those cliches but I'm not so sure as I don't read this teen rebel genre. It definitely showed that she wrote this when she was so young, every character was just a caricature and I didn't feel anything for anyone. Also full of men. Ew.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

At first I was not vibing with it all then the more I read the bleaker and more interesting it got. The mother's speech was so raw, showing that this genre of westerns is male dominated for a reason. It is not a woman's world, she would not survive men's cruelty...

A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams

Reading this and watching the 2014 performance was traumatizing to say the least. It was very funny at times. I loved it when Blanche went on a whole monologue about Stanley's ugliness and his coming from the stone age. The characters so well written which is why it was haunting and too real and raw...