BW4: Books of the Far East

Rebun Island, Japan

I have been meandering about Japan, but I'm ready to venture on. In my wanderings discovered the Sea of Japan is bordered by not only Japan, but North and South Korea and Russia. I've already explored Russia so decided to head in a southerly direction to explore different rabbit trails and ended up adding a few more books to my wishlist.

James Church and his Inspector O series set in North Korea which starts with A Corpse in the Koryo:

A Corpse in the Koryo

 Plus Simon Winchester's  A Walk through the Land of Miracles

A Walk through the land of Miracles

as well as The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim

The Calligrapher's Daughter

I dipped down into the East China Sea and across to Shanghai and found Elvira Baryakini's White Shanghai: A novel of the Roaring Twenties.

White Shanghia

and from there started my journey across the continent with Colin Thubron's Shadow of the Silk Road

Shadow of the Silk Road

Check out the Goodreads Around the World in 80 Days  discussion for more books set in both North and South Korea, as well as those set in China,  Mongolia, as well as popular Silk Road stories.  

Happy Hunting!

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History of the Medieval World - Chapter 4 (pp 28-35) and Chapter 5 (pp 36 - 40)
The Persian Threat (325 - 361)
The Apostate         (361 - 364)



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BW3: Women of the Middle Ages

Eleanor of Aquitaine courtesy of Medieval Life and Times

There has been quite a bit of discussion about balancing out our read of History of the Medieval world with some female authors or reads about females of the medieval time period.  Since the time frame runs from the 5th century with the collapse of the Roman Empire through the 15th century and the beginning of the Renaissance, we have a rather broad area to browse through.   Although the period was admittedly dominated male centric, there were quite a few powerful women not only behind them, but leading as well. I've highlighted a few as well as some books I discovered in my meanderings about the interwebz:

Notable women

Hypatia of Alexandria ( 370 - 415 ) Mathematician and Philosopher

St. Brigid of Kildair ( 451 - 525)  Founded the first nunneries in Ireland

Theodora ( 497 - 528)  Byzantine empress, wife and adviser to emperor Justinian

Irene of Athens (752 - 803)  Byzantine empress who, upon Leo IV death, become co-ruler with son Constantine VI 

Anna Comnena - (1083 - 1148) Considered 1st female historian and documented the reign of her father, Alexius I

Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) German prioress of Benedictine cloister of Disibodenberg

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 - 1204) Queen of France 

Christine De Pizan (1364 - 1430)  Italian poet, writer and feminine activist

Joan of Arc (1412 - 1421) Lead French army to victory during 100 years war

Book discoveries

Most Wise and Valiant Ladies by Andria Hopkins

The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages by Melissa Rank

Women in the Medieval Islamic World by Gavin Hambly

Goodreads Best Medieval History Books - nonfiction

I think that gives us a pretty good start and there are numerous historical fiction stories that will suffice as well, so be sure to check out Historical Novels which has quite a long list of reads.  Happy hunting! 

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History of the Medieval World - Chapter 3 (pp 21 - 27)

Empire of the Mind (India 319-415)

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BW2: Akutagawa Prize

Courtesy of Archipelago Books

In my meandering around Japan and checking out translated books, I stumbled upon the Japanese literary Award - the Akutagawa Prize which is currently sponsored by the Society for Promotion of Japanese Literature.  It was established in 1935 by author and editor Kan Kikuchi of the Bungeishunju magazine in honor of the author Akutagawa Ryunosuku.  The award is rewarded semi-annually.  

It is  considered the most prestigious, yet controversial award in Japan because many authors feel that the prize should only go to authors that write in the proper, classic Japanese style while others feel it should go to modern young authors who deal with more current events.  This past year, one of the judges who'd been on the panel 17 years actually resigned because he felt the quality of works submitted had been very poor.  Which undoubtedly was insulting to the current winner, Shin'ya Tinaka. 

The whole list of prizewinners is available on goodreads here with links to various books. Have fun exploring.

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History of the Medieval World Readalong - Chapter 2, pp 13 - 20

Seeking the Mandate of Heaven (China 313 - 402) 

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Week 1 - A Merry New Reading Year

Courtesy of Adelightsomelife

Happy New Year and welcome to a merry new reading year at Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.  Welcome back to all who are joining me for another round and to those joining in for the first time.  

The rules are very simple. Read 52 Books. That's it. How you get there is up to you.  We have several optional challenges listed in the link bar above to stimulate your imagination and help you on your reading journeys.  In addition to the perpetual A to Z, Well Educated Mind challenge, Dusty/Chunky books, and another journey Around the World,  we will be having some readalongs, an Author Flavor of the Month as well as monthly themes to tickle your reading taste buds.  I'll be throwing in mini challenges here and there such as pick a book with a color or number or season in the title, or pick a book written in your birth year.

To start off our mind voyage for the year, this month's theme is January Journeys - rambling jaunts and walks, translated and transformed.    We'll be packing up our backpacks, replacing those old thread worn walking shoes for a new pair, and sailing (or flying if you prefer)  out across the Pacific toward the far eastern shores of the continent of Asia.  Where you go from there is up to you.  We'll be rambling and roving around reading translated books, exploring and examining different cultures and delving into the present as well as the past. 

We'll be starting out with a year long read of Susan Wise Bauer's History of the Medieval World. The goal is to finish by the end of the year so we will aim for one to two chapters a week.

Our author flavor of the month is Haruki Murakami (born 1/12/49) and I'll be diving into Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World while a few other gals on Well Trained Mind forums are choosing to delve into Kafka on the Shore.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading 1Q84  and still contemplating the strangeness of A Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Check out one of his books this month if you choose. 

I have found several resources for translated books and if you know of any I haven't mentioned, please let me know and we'll add it to the list. 

3% - A resource for international books by the University of Rochester.  I ended up exploring many rabbit trails through this site. 

Archipelago Books - Thanks to this company, I currently have Blinding and The Great Weaver of Kashmir in my backpack.

Glagoslav Publications - Translations from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus for English and Dutch readers.  

Europa Editions has now created World Noir specializing in international crime fiction. 

Our first week is going to run from today through Saturday, January 10th so enjoy, relax and have fun exploring.  I look forward to hearing all about your finds. 

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