Round the World in Words

One of the pleasures I miss most in Morocco, is perusing a good book shop. A look at the new releases, then the crime fiction section followed by a stop in the travel section focusing on the travel narratives then maybe biographies, Australian fiction . . . . . . No English bookshops here unfortunately but London is looking good in a couple of months.

No bookshops, so the next best thing is bookclubs or bookgroups. After initially starting in one, somehow it has now multiplied to two. As long as it doesn't continue to expand like the Caterpillars in Australia

Last weekend a group of us got together to select the books for next year for one group, and it is an opportunity to take a trip around the world without leaving your lounge room chair. We always aim to get a mixture of fiction and non-fiction with a variety of styles, genres and settings. The choices:

• In Morocco by Edith Wharton for an historical perspective on Morocco
• Ines of my Soul by Isabel Allende for some Chilean history, which is also a book I started and was enjoying but didn't have the time to finish it before leaving Australia and the library copy behind.
• Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Meehan about three sisters who escape Iran and set up a cafe in Ireland.
• Among the Righteous by Robert Satloff looks at the role of north African Arabs and Jews in the Holocaust
• Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner a fiction novel set Japan where the mystery is in rice paper wrappings
• Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut, who recently died. This is centred on American prisoners of war in Dresden during WWII.

These books should make for an interesting year, and some interesting discussions (and a quick trip around the world).