Julie's Journeys

I've edited my list to only include books I've read since the start of 2020, in the spirit of doing this as a sort of challenge going forward. So my list is very sparse, but I seem to be getting my reading groove back again, finally, so hopefully I can start filling it in. The 50 US states are on my post in the 50 States group, so I won't be duplicating that here.

Finished another book set in London, A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders.

United Kingdom

England
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: read May 17 through July 9, 2021, 4 stars
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell: read September 20 through 24, 2020, 3 ½ stars
A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders, read July 7 through 12, 2020, 4 stars.
A murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders, read June 28 through 29, 2020, 4 stars
A Bed of Scorpions by Judith Flanders, read June 29 through July 6, 2020, 4 stars
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch, read in January 2022

EUROPE

France
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell: read from September 20-24, 2020, 3 ½ stars

NORTH AMERICA

Canada
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede: read January 24-30, 2020, 3 stars

CENTRAL AMERICA

CARIBBEAN

SOUTH AMERICA

OCEANIA

MIDDLE EAST

Israel
If All the Seas Were Ink: a Memoir by Ilana Kurshan: read January 17 through 24, 2020, 5 stars

SOUTH ASIA

EAST ASIA

China
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn: read December 4 through 7, 2021, 5 stars

Japan
Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: read June 15 through July 7, 2021, 2.5 stars

SOUTHEAST ASIA

NORTH AFRICA

SOUTHERN AFRICA

I've just finished a book of Japanese folktales written in the early 20th century by Lafcadio Hearn, a Japanophile from Europe and the US, called Kwaidan. It was interesting, albeit tinged with more than a little exoticism, and an easy, entertaining enough read, up until the end, when Hearn went off topic and off the deep end into social-darwinist theory.

At some point, I'd like to read a collection of Japanese folktales written and translated by a Japanese author and translator, both for comparison and for a look at the folktales without the Western Christian lens and framing.

I just finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which is set in Kent, England. I enjoyed it a lot, and rated it four stars.

People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn took me to a bunch of different places around the world, which I will be adding on my list, starting with Harbin, China.