We have reached the middle of the year, well technically July 2nd is the middle, but we will avoid being too technical. I will try not to complain about the lack of reading I have done so far in 2021, or the fact that I have not written in this blog in so long. While these facts are weighing heavily on my mind, I am trying to be a little more positive. All in all, 2021 has been a good year for me, while I would like to have an income again, I have been blessed with a relatively stress-free year, full of love and support. I do want to go through my reading highlights of the year as a form of a half-yearly check in.

Firstly, there is the Invisible Cities project, which has been so much fun. I have really enjoyed seeing people read books from the different countries, and while I have not been keeping up with my goals for this project, it is a joy to be involved. There is still time to join (check out the Discord), in July we are focusing on Israel, Ethiopia and Panama. August will be South Korea and Nigeria, we decided to reduce the number of countries because people wanted to read from every country, and we did not want anyone to feel like this is a struggle when they try to keep up. I might as well announce that in September the countries we are forcing on are Chile and Palestine. If you are interested in reading books from around the world, you are more that welcome to join us, there is no requirements to read from these counties. They are a structured way to explore the world.

I have only read 27 books so far this year, for me that is a low figure and I feel like I was in a reading slump for most of the year. I tried to combat the slump but reading some crime novels, as they serve as palate cleansers for me. Crime novels often get me out of a slump but have not been that effective this time around. Thankfully I do feel like I am out of this slump, and I can get back to my normally reading schedule. Let’s look at some of the highs and lows of the past six months.

I started off the year reading Dead Man Switch by Tara Moss which was a fun little Australian crime novel set in 1940s Sydney, but then I read Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (translated by Elisabeth Jaquette). This book was amazing and devastating, it still haunts me, but worth it. I finally read Themystery.doc by Matthew McIntosh, a book I’ve been wanting to read but the 1669 page count was intimating, however it was very readable and because it’s a blend of emails, chat logs, photographs and more, I flew through the book. A low point in my reading was because of a book club book, called Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. This book was not my style, there was a point in the novel, where the narrator described everything, they picked up at a supermarket, and that type of writing feels tedious to me. I also did not enjoy Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, it was described as a feminist mythology retelling, but it was pretty much the same story, just from a woman’s perspective. I did not see any difference in the story at all, and I prefer a retelling to offer something different, instead of the same story told by a different major character.

The true reading highlight so far this year is discovering Carmen Maria Machado. At the recommendation of Stephanie from That’s What She Read and Books in the Freezer, I picked up In The Dream House and fell in love with that book, so much so, that I had to read Her Body and Other Parties soon after. While I loved the short story collection, her memoir just hit differently and quickly became a new favourite. I loved the way she wrote about her of experiences but the fact that she wrote it in second person really felt like she was including others who have suffered from domestic abuse into the story.

Having a look at my reading stats, I am surprised just how different my reading has been so far this year. The fact that 50% of the reading has been digitally (ebooks and audiobooks) was surprising, and almost 70% of the books came from the library, even though I have so much to read on my shelves. I am still focusing on world literature, but only 60% were books translated, which feels low to me, but I think due to the fact that I’ve read so little and trying to read my book club books, it does make sense. Hope everyone has a better reading experience and would love to hear what books have been the highlights so far in 2021.

I am passionate about world literature, and I find myself wanting to share my passion in every way possible. I have this blog, I have a podcast, and sometimes I make YouTube videos and TIkToks. The problem seems to be that I want to share my passion everywhere, including social media, but I wonder if I am giving everything enough attention. I know my blogging has suffered and I think that should be my primary focus, I want to improve as a writer or an essayist. Although, the Lost in Translations podcast is covering a niche that I don’t think is getting enough attention. Having said this, I think my biggest hindrance is my own self-doubt. I am not going to improve in anyway until I give up that feeling of inadequacy and just make content, so 2021 is the year for that.

Like most book nerds, most of my goals for the year are book related, like reading bigger books more often, or re-reading some of my favourite works of literature. However, I do have the Invisible Cities project to focus more on world literature, not that I needed the help in reading translated literature. My main goals for 2021, is to make money doing something I love, and create more content. If I can work out a way to combine those two goals, that would be perfect, and I am about to release perks on the podcast patreon page to help with that, including essays, personal book recommendations, and much more. I do think I need to work at perfecting my craft and I believe if I can take away some of my own negativity, I will be able to write more, and make other content.

I attempt so many mediums because I do not see enough people sharing the joys of world literature, and it often feels like the cries for more diversity in literature often focuses on American literary scene. I love that people are putting more focus on reading diversely, and I want to help promote books that don’t get talked about. I have found my reading passion and it is world literature, but rarely see it being talked about until after I start making content. There are so many great book bloggers that review literature from all around the world, but it feels like it wasn’t till I started that I found them. It’s like the internet waits to show you all the people that are doing a better job at making content than you. The BookTube community is growing and there are many great content creators, but I feel like world literature is still a small niche in that community, so I should make the effort to promote it, even if I have never gotten comfortable in that medium. As for TikTok, I’m very new to this short video format, and the book community feels very focused on young adult literature, so my brain is telling me to make content to help it grow, but also, I just hope to find more lovers of world literature.

Basically, I am saying that I want to make more content and promote my love of world literature but also, I want should make the essay writing side of it my primary focus. I still need to write book reviews because I find that having written thoughts on a book has been very useful for my own memory. One day, I hope to develop a similar style as Alejandro Zambra, and be able to write essays that function as a book review as well, but that will take a lot of practice. I find my essays to be a great way to dump all my thoughts onto a page and process my own feelings, but I hope they are enjoyable to read as well. I will probably focus on personal essays revolving around literature to begin with, but I would love to branch out and try different topics as well, maybe film would be a safe starting place.

I consider myself a reader, but I am not well-read. (Will I ever be well-read?). I have only been a reader for eleven years and in that time, I have slowly discovered my literary tastes. I know I want to learn something from the literature I read, and I know I prefer to read books from around the world. When I started my reading journey, I used the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die book as a guide to try out literature and discover my tastes. I had this idea that maybe I would read every book listed but now that I have a better idea of what I like, I have abandoned that plan.

I have often written about my reading journey, because I find it useful to track the way I have changed as a reader and as a writer. However, now that I have not written many blog posts for a while, I have noticed just how valuable they are for my own personal reminders. I want to become more than a book reviewer; I want to improve my style as a both a writer and a book critic. Recently, I have discovered how useful book reviews have become for my own personal reflection.

In this past year or two, I have not written many reviews and I now I am paying for it. When someone starts talking about a book, it is useful to reflect on your own thoughts. I have friends recently read Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan (which was translated from the Indonesian by Annie Tucker). I have vague recollections of enjoying it, but that was hundreds of books ago. Without a review, I struggle to recollect my thoughts to discuss the novel with others.

This might be useful when it comes to re-reading a book. I am currently in the middle of a re-read of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky but this time I am reading the Oliver Ready translation. I have a review of the David McDuff translation of the book from 2012, which means once I finish my re-read, I can look at my old review and see how much my thoughts have changed. I can see the different themes that worked for me, maybe even see how my own literary analysis has changed. I have discovered, one of the joys of re-reading translated classics is the fact that you can test out new translators and have a completely different experience with the text.

While I have a YouTube channel, and host the Lost in Translations podcast (I even recently joined TikTok), I am not a fan of my own voice. Which means, I am not likely to go back and see my thoughts on a book if my review is in a video format. Also, I do not think I am making good content on YouTube. Although, I think the advantage of the podcast is having a discussion with someone else. These mediums are not great for going back and reflecting on my thoughts on a book. I think I prefer the written word as a way to record my thoughts. My YouTube channel was created as a way to practise verbalising my own thoughts, but I have doubts about any improvement. The podcast was just a fun way to talk with others about translated literature (and I am looking for guests if you are interested) and with Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, I think it is just a way to be more social about translations. My main focus obviously needs to be the written word, since it seems to have the most value to me and my future self.

I have somehow fallen off the blogging bandwagon, which really disappoints me. I love this blog; I have had it for eleven years now and I think it has been a great reflection of how much I have changed as a reader. There was a time where I considered myself a literary explorer, I would read from all genres, trying to find what I like and did not like. I used the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list as a guide to try out books and discover my reading personality. I think I have found it now; I want to read the world. Translated literature has become my focus and I tend to navigate towards women in translation because I realise just how easy it is to throw off the gender balance in my reading. This is not by desire but more the fact that around a third of all books being translated into English are by women, which means that if I don’t focus on women in translation my reading balance will be all wrong.

There was a time when I thought people should read whatever they want and while this is true, we need to also be aware just how biased our own reading can become. If I look at my reading spreadsheet, 35% of all the books I have read (since 2009) were women. However, last year 79% were from female authors, this gives you an indication of just how messed up my reading balance was in the past and how much of a struggle it can be to get that balance back to an acceptable level. This is why events like #WITMonth have become an important part of my reading life, but I do think it is more #WITForever for me. Also, it is just so great to see readers talking about translated literature and reading the world. Not to mention the fact that these are books I am interested in and want more people to discover how great it is to read outside of US and UK literature.

I tend not to plan my reading, I find it hard to read on a schedule and I know I am very much a mood reader, but I did pull out a pile of women in translation books that I would like to focus on and thought it might be a good idea to list them here as a way to promote #WITMonth and maybe get suggestions on which to prioritise. I did make a YouTube video on the same topic, but this list includes audiobooks and ebooks as well.

Here is my list;

• The Book of Anna by Carmen Boullosa (translated by Samantha Schnee) – I am currently reading this one because of the 2MR podcast
• Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami (translated by Sam Bett & David Boyd)
• Bright by Duanwad Pimwana (translated by Mui Poopoksakul)
• Claudine in Paris by Colette (translated by Antonia White)
• Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
• Malina by Ingeborg Bachmann (translated by Philip Boehm)
• Katalin Street by Magda Szabó (translated by Len Rix)
• The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf (translated by Alan Sheridan)
• Sidewalks by Valeria Luiselli (translated by Christina MacSweeney)
• A Winter Book by Tove Jansson (multiple translators)
• A Man’s Place by Annie Ernaux (translated by Tanya Leslie) – I wanted to read another Ernaux and this was her highest rated on Goodreads so just picked that one
• Last Witnesses by Svetlana Alexievich (translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky)
• Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (translated by Sarah Moses)
• Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo (translated by Jamie Chang)
• Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter)
• The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (translated by Marlaine Delargy)
• Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (translated by Alison Entrekin)
• Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko (translated by Halyna Hryn)
• Dark Constellations by Pola Oloixarac (translated by Roy Kesey)
• Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery (translated by Alison Anderson)

The International Booker longlist is about to be revealed in the next few days. As most people know, this is probably the main prize I follow. I want to pay attention to the Best Translated Book Award (BTBA), Warwick Prize for Women in Translation or National Book Award for Translated Literature, but it is the Booker that is the most accessible here in Australia. Plus, there is the added bonus of having people from all around the world talking about these books.

I often find it challenging to predict the books that will end up on the longlist, but this year feels particularly more difficult. I am not sure what to expect, and the books have not been major standouts. I do think Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai (translated by Ottilie Mulzet) will be longlisted but purely on the fact that Krasznahorkai always turns up on the list. I don’t have a great relationship with László Krasznahorkai but I have started Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming trying to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

If the judges are going for popularity, then The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Synder) will be on the longlist. I am a fan of Ogawa and pleased that this book got so much attention, but this is not a favourite of mine. After those two books, it really is a struggle to pick what will be longlisted. Possibly Love by Hanne Ørstavik (translated by Martin Aitken), it was released in the US last year, but the UK release would be eligible for the prize.

The judging panel for this year’s International Booker Prize is pretty amazing. The judges are Lucie Campos, Jennifer Croft, Valeria Luiselli and Jeet Thayil, with Ted Hodgkinson chairing the panel. If I made an assumption of the longlist based on the judges, I will expect that this will be a European/South American heavy list, more so than normal.

Here are the books I am predicting (watch me be very wrong)

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This Women in Translation Month, Meytal (Biblibio) has decided to include another project to find the 100 best women in translations. She asked everyone to nominate their top ten WIT books and will compile a list to be released at the end of the month. I was excited for this project but quickly found it difficult to narrow down my choices. At first, I thought about making strategic choices to ensure some great books make the list but since there are over 650 books nominated from over 1200 votes, I just went for my favourites. This however did mean I had to painstakingly narrow a list of twenty books down to get to these ten. Unfortunately books like The Lover by Marguerite Duras (translated by Barbara Bray), Belladonna by Daša Drndic (translated by Celia Hawkesworth), La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono (translated by Lawrence Schimel) and Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen (translated by Anna Halager) are not listed even though they probably deserve a spot.

So, here are my official nominations for the #100BestWIT

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez (translated by Megan McDowell)

Let’s start with the obvious one, while contemplating my nominations, I found myself re-reading Things We Lost in the Fire, and it still holds up as a great short story collection. I love the way that each story is unique but work together to explore the theme of violence towards women. If you like the film Get Out and the way Jordan Peele used horror tropes to explore social issues, then this collection is for you.

Disoriental by Négar Djavadi (translated by Tina Kover)

For the people that know me, most of these nominations are no surprise, particularly my first three. Disoriental is one of those books that should have got more attention that it did; it should have won more literary awards. This novel explores the life of Kimiâ Sadr, who fled Iran at ten years old and is now sitting in fertility clinic looking into her options.

Sphinx by Anne Garréta (translated by Emma Ramadan)

I may have read Sphinx by Anne Garréta back in November last year but there has not been a day go by where I have not thought about this amazing book. Anne Garréta was the first female to join the Oulipo, an experimental literary group that likes to put constraints on their writing to force themselves to be more creative. In Sphinx, the constraint is the fact that the narrator and their love interests’ gender are never revealed. This makes it read like a non-binary love story.

The Years by Annie Ernaux (translated by Alison L. Strayer)

This memoir explores Annie Ernaux’s life from 1941 to 2006. Paris is changing drastically and Ernaux is growing up. I loved the way this book explores the changing lifestyle of both the writer and the city. From post-World War II, existentialism, and the huge advances in technology. This memoir is very French, but it was an amazing read, so much so that I had to include it on this 100BestWIT list.

The Faculty of Dreams by Sara Stridsberg (translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner)

This is a fictionalised account of the last years of extreme feminist Valerie Solanas. She wrote the SCUM Manifesto, in which the SCUM is believed to mean the Society of Cutting Up Men. She attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol and this book follows her life from the trial until her death. What I love about this novel is the character of Solanas, she is a witty, intelligent and angry feminist. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her, but never want to meet her in real life.

 Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin (translated by Bonnie Huie)

This is the most recent book I have added to my favourites list. This cult classic is a satirical post-modern piece of autofiction, in which queer people are depicted as crocodiles disguised as humans. Qiu Miaojin uses this metaphor to explore her feelings of being an outsider in society. This is an exploration into queer people struggling to find their place in the world, or to make connections with each other. The raw emotions playing out in this novel are only amplified by the fact that Qiu Miaojin suicided at 26.

Mars: Stories by Asja Bakić (translated by Jennifer Zoble)

Do I have to say more than Mars is a feminist collection of science fiction short stories from Bosnian? There is something about the way Mars blends the speculative with humour, gender politics and the post-Soviet style that really stayed with me. I read this after reading the entire Man Booker International longlist this year, I thought I was reading a palette cleaner, but I got so much more than I expected from Mars.

Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich (translated by Bela Shayevich)

One of the few women to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Svetlana Alexievich has a unique approach for interviewing people and creating a narrative. I could recommend any of her books here, but I chose Secondhand Time because of my interest in the Soviet era and its collapse. I learnt so much from reading the differing opinions around Russian history and I think Alexievich has an amazing ability in collecting differing opinions.

Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz (translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff)

I love Argentine literature and I am a little surprised that there isn’t more on this list. What I love about Die, My Love is the intense raw emotion found within the 128 pages. I can’t think of many other novels that can pack so much emotion so tightly. The narrative that Ariana Harwicz is able to weave is so affecting; we are able to follow this vivid portrayal of a mother and experience every single emotion and thought, no matter how dark or disturbing it may be.

The Little Girl on the Ice Floe by Adelaïde Bon (translated by Tina Kover)

This memoir explores the effects of sexual assault on a women’s life. The experience Adelaïde Bon had as a child was so traumatic that her brain blocked it out. However, while trying to understand, through therapy, why certain words or smells triggered her, she was able to uncover the root of her trauma. A third person perspective allows her to experience her own life while feeling like she has no control over it. This narrative style is what stood out in the book. As disturbing as the topic may be, this is an important piece of literature and the writing style is so beautiful, it really is a must read.