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I'm hoping to read 12 WiT books this year.

1. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (Japan) was a 2.5 star bust for me. Too bad as I really liked her novel The Hole last year.

2. Wild Swims by Dorthe Nors 3.5 stars; some stories were great and others didn't make any mark on me at all.

3. The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara 3 stars.

4. Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda (from Japanese) 3 stars. A couple of the stories were outstanding but overall, it was just okay for me.

5. Our Riches by Kaouther Adimi (from French) 3 stars. This "based on real events" novel of a man who starts a bookstore and publishing company in colonized Algiers started well but was dragging by the end.

6. Paper Houses by Dominique Fortier (from French). 4 stars. I really loved this re-imagining of Emily Dickinson's life, written by a French-Canadian author.

Thanks Story, sorry the Matsuda didn't work for you, it was a favourite for me I think. I like the sound of the Fortier, hadn't heard of it before so thanks for flagging it. Look forward to hearing about your next read.

I knew you'd loved it. I've been in quite a strange mood lately so I'm sure it was just me. I've been putting so many books down after 30 pages.

I was disappointed in the Matsuda collection, too. I thought it was just me, but the simplistic writing struck me as YA and lacking the insights and style I like most about Japanese lit. I’m glad so many enjoy her, though.

Maybe that's why it worked for me I read a lot of children's and YA lit so I'm not as bothered by the distinction, but I can see that it doesn't have the same depth as other novels I've read. I enjoyed the central conceit of the factory and the slightly surreal, fairy-tale qualities.

7. The Garden of Monsters by Lorenza Pieri (from Italian)
This novel about the effect real-life artist Niki de Saint Phalle has on two warring families from different social classes started well but ultimately dragged for me. 3.5 stars

8. My Grandmother's Braid by Alina Bronsky (from German)
4.5 happy stars for this one about an orphaned Russian boy and his deeply eccentric grandmother trying to adjust to life in a refugee settlement in Germany. It's drenched in the dark humour that I know and love from that part of the world.

Ooo thanks for bringing the new Bronsky to my attention Story! She is one of my favourite authors and I too love her dark humour. Looking forward to it

I think you'll enjoy it, Hannah.

9. My Brilliant Life by Kim Ae-ran (from Korean) 3.5 stars rounded up to four. A touching story about a boy dying from progeria.

I have that one on my list too, so glad you think it's worth exploring.

10. The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura (from Japanese). Barely 3 stars. Not sure what the point of this book was exactly but at least it was short.

11. Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
(from Italian) 4 stars for this moving exploration of solitude and disconnection

*12. In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo (from French/ Côte d'Ivoire)
4 stars for this powerful novella about the Ebola pandemic

*13. I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories by Kim Bo-young (from Korean). Not sure how to rate this. The writing was great but I'm really not a sci-fi fan. 3 stars?

*14. Conversations After a Burial by Yasmina Reza (from French) 2.5 stars from me.

*15. 'Art' by Yasmina Reza (from French) 3.5 stars for this exploration of art and the intricacies of friendship.

*16. Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel by Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk (From Inuktitut) I can't rate this. As an ethnographic document it was quite interesting but as a series of interlinked stories, it dragged.

*= read for #WiT challenge.

Good job on your WiT challenge Story! Although it doesn't look like you had the best experience. I DNF'd woman in the purple skirt. I really didn't see the point either, it seemed obsessive but not in any way interesting. I'm glad you rated the Tadjo highly, that's moved it up my list :) Shame about Sanaaq

Thanks, Hannah. There was nothing wrong with Sanaaq and lots of other reviewers enjoyed it. I think it was partly about timing. When I read it, we were having a gross combination of a heat wave and terrible air quality from forest fires and reading the story's endless hunting scenes made me even queasier than I was to begin with.

(I ended up re-reading Station Eleven next and its apocalyptic mood was quite suitable for what we were going through.)

I think I'm going to leave the Imamura based on how you both felt about it. The variety on your list's so impressive Story, although I don't think I'd be able to cope with hunting scenes. I followed what was happening in Canada, are things calmer now? It must be terrible after all the fires that happened before, can't help thinking of all the wildlife that must have been destroyed, along with people's homes and communities.

Conditions are okay right now where I am, Alwynne (thanks for asking), but there are still over 250 fires burning in this province and more across the border into Washington and Oregon so it all depends on the direction the wind is blowing. My mother lives about 1000 km to the east of me and has barely been able to go outside all summer because of smoke and ash. She's elderly and has severe respiratory disease so I'm quite worried for her.

The last two heat waves we had were bearable, more or less, but the one in June killed over 800 people and an estimated billion marine creatures. So between that and the number of animals and trees lost in the fires, not to mention whole towns burnt, it's been a time of great climate anxiety all around. I've been drawing heavily on all the mindfulness skills I possess to stop myself from panicking :)

I'm so sorry you're going through this, and for your mother, it's been hard enough with the pandemic. We've had increased flooding here which has been very disruptive but not yet anywhere near as devastating as the fires in Canada, or elsewhere. I can't imagine what it's like to be confronted with this level of destruction so close to home, I find it so hard to understand how slow and complacent so many governments are still about climate change - at least that's the case here. I know that there are endless reports talking about future problems but it seems to me the situation is already unacceptable, and we ought to be doing things now, the time for working towards change seems to be over. But without corporations and governments leading the changes I don't know what we all can do, the small changes individuals can make are nowhere near enough. I'm glad you're finding ways to cope but I wish you didn't have to.

I'm sorry to hear about the flooding in your area, Al. And I agree that it's hard (a.k.a frustrating/enraging/panic-inducing) how complacent so many governments seem to be about climate change and conservation.

It's all well and good to make micro-changes like banning plastic bags and switching to paper straws but where are the major changes we need? It's overwhelming to try to both understand the scope of what's happening and to figure out what we as individuals can do to help effect change.

Story, I'm thinking of you and everybody that is affected by these terrifying climate changes. I feel quite far removed from it all here in northwest england but even so it fills me with fear and dread for the future of all living things 😰

Thanks Hannah. Conditions are improving here, but I share your dread and concern for all of us over the long term.

17. A fun comfort read to end my WiT challenge: Moomin and the Golden Tail by Tove Jansson (from Swedish). I'd very much like to go to Moominland for some R&R!

18. Inseparable by Simone de Beauvoir. It's getting rave reviews from others but it left me cold.

That's a shame, I wanted to try it but I haven't enjoyed her fiction so far, much preferred her memoirs. I think I'm with you on Moominland too.

Alwynne wrote: "That's a shame, I wanted to try it but I haven't enjoyed her fiction so far, much preferred her memoirs. I think I'm with you on Moominland too."

If you do try it, I'll be interested to know what you think. My suspicion is that it would help for a reader to have been raised Catholic. I really could not relate to a lot of the story.

I will, FWIW I disliked a lot of her first memoir and preferred the later ones, I found the details of her childhood etc much less interesting than her subsequent experiences.

Alwynne wrote: "I will, FWIW I disliked a lot of her first memoir and preferred the later ones, I found the details of her childhood etc much less interesting than her subsequent experiences."

Thanks for this. I'll consider trying something about her adult life.

19. Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao (Taiwan/ translated from Chinese.) Started out as a nearly 5 star read but the longer I read, the more uneasy I became about her story. 3 stars?

20. How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada (Chile/ from Spanish) 3.5 stars. I might have been a little too old for this coming of age story. I would have loved it when I was younger.

21. Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada (from Japanese)
I loved the first novella (Touring the Land of the Dead) but the second (Ninety-Nine Kisses) left me cold.

I thought the Sanmao was quite uneven too, the attitudes towards local people were quite difficult to accept at times. I was thinking about the Kashimada but think I'll wait based on your comments. But still your challenge seems to be going really well and a great mix of books.

Alwynne wrote: "I thought the Sanmao was quite uneven too, the attitudes towards local people were quite difficult to accept at times. "
Exactly!

"I was thinking about the Kashimada but think I'll wait based on your comments...."
If you can get it from the library, the first one is worth a look.

22. The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas (from French). 3.5 stars. I was looking forward to this one so the clunky writing was a bit of a letdown. I really wish that Sarah Waters or Helen Humphreys had written it instead!

What a shame I liked the look of that one too, seems to be a lot of clunky writing about in contemporary fiction!

If you can get it from the library, it's worth a quick read, Al. But it didn't live up to my craving for an engaging piece of historical fiction.