A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth: Daniel Mason

Published by Mantle, 2020, 240 pages. This is an intriguing collection of short stories, many of them set in the 1800s. A doctor finds himself blanking out regularly. The seizure is heralded by the smell of chestnuts. When he comes to, he finds that, instead of passing out, he had carried on with what he …

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Walking Kabul: An Interview with Taran N. Khan

Photo: Jonathan Page Taran N. Khan’s book, Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul, won the 2021 Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award and the 2020 Tata Literature Live First Book Award for Non-Fiction. The book is about Taran’s trips to Kabul from 2006 to 2013 during which she set out—against all advice—to walk …

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Tyll: Daniel Kehlmann

Translated from German by Ross BenjaminPublished by riverrun, 2020, 352 pages. Original version published in 2017. The jester or trickster is a ubiquitous figure, popping up in mythologies, literature, street theatre, and in playing cards and tarot. He (it’s almost always a man) is an entertainer, mentally and physically agile, and able to speak truth …

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Please Look After Mom: Kyong-Sook Shin

Translated from Korean by Chi-young KimPublished by W&N, 2011, 272 pages. Original version published in 2009.Review by Susanne Karine Gjønnes South Korea has gone through an unprecedented journey from a developing country to one of the world's largest economies in only a few decades. This transformation has led to generations growing up and living completely …

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Becoming: Michelle Obama

Published by Viking, 2018, 448 pages. “When I was a kid, my aspirations were simple. I wanted a dog. I wanted a house that had stairs in it—two floors for one family. I wanted, for some reason, a four-door station wagon instead of the two-door Buick that was my father’s pride and joy.” Simple beginnings …

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