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#mali
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Dilara
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A very engaging non-fiction about the colonisation by the French of what is now #Senegal, #Guinea and #Mali, and its ramifications in modern-day France and Senegal, centered around the mythical sabre of El Hadj Oumar Tall, looted along with his treasure and library in 1890, at the sack of Ségou by the French colonial army.

The sabre (picture from https://chroniques.sn) was “lent back“ by France to the musée des civilisations noires in Dakar

Dilara Tervonen is the daughter of Finnish missionaries in Senegal. She studied in the Senegalese school system until 15 & speaks Wolof, which gives her an invaluable in into the culture & history. She writes articles for the French & Finnish press, and also in-depth, long-form journalism. I am in awe of her trilingualism. Les otages is excellent. I'll be looking for her other books, hoping they're as sensitively-written & well-researched as this one. 7mo
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review
GatheringBooks
Segu | Maryse Conde
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Mehso-so

#TemptingTitles Day 7: #OneWord title. Read this as part of our #DecolonizeReads2023 theme. I am glad that I persevered and challenged myself further even when I was on the verge of abandoning the book, because I knew that there is complexity and truths here that need to be revealed. There is also courage – an outspokenness against White colonizers that I find particularly gratifying. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-pdC

Eggs 🍰📚😋 12mo
dabbe I did read this, but all I see is yummy cheesecake and whipped cream! 😋💜🤗 12mo
47 likes2 comments
review
BoldCityBooks
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Mehso-so

Finished this today and for the most post I enjoyed it. There were a few slow parts but I enjoyed reading about his travels to the most remote places on Earth.

review
Robotswithpersonality
This post contains spoilers
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Mehso-so

I fear journalists feel a necessity to focus on the facts that will sell best, and this book suffered for that approach. I wanted more on the manuscripts, their rediscovery, preservation, digitization and housing, their content and significance to the culture/history, rather than the conflict that briefly, if dramatically, threatened them (some destruction). I wish one of the librarians had written it, or Skip Gates. Sad books are not yet home.

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Robotswithpersonality
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Something about the way this is phrased rubs me the wrong way, like the author's pointing out a flaw of a particular region, when Europe and US have both had periods in history of 'religious purification' (witch trials, spanish Inquisition), 'anti-intellectualism' (book burning, and I would argue McCarthy era) and barbarism (middle ages, colonialist enslavement and confinement of indigenous peoples).

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Robotswithpersonality
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Ignite?! 😬🔥Talk about growing pains in digitization! Suppose they did chemistry calculations beforehand, or only figured it out after a scanned manuscript was suddenly on fire?!

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Robotswithpersonality
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Give new books, protect old books! 🥰📚

5 likes1 stack add
blurb
squirrelbrain
Segu | Maryse Conde
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Had a long day full of meetings today but I‘m not often in Leeds anymore so I seized the chance to go to The Leeds Library and pick out some books I had identified for #readingtheamericas2023.

They‘re all on 12 week loans so will keep until next year.

Let me know if you want to know which countries any are for.

Not sure who‘s playing along, so tagging any Littens I‘ve noticed!

Cinfhen I‘ll follow along with your reviews but very excited to see (& read) the possibilities!! 1y
TrishB Planning ahead 👍🏻 1y
rockpools Exciting! 1y
See All 17 Comments
Itchyfeetreader I am starting to realise my read what takes my fancy and plan not a jot approach to challenges is why I rarely finish a challenge! This is so organised of you! 1y
Suet624 A 12 week loan is something I could really use. We get 3 weeks. 1y
KristiAhlers Wow a 12 week loan that‘s awesome! I work at a bookstore so today I placed an order for a few books today! Can‘t wait to get my hands on them! 1y
BarbaraBB That is great, the haul and the loan! I read and loved the tagged book. I wonder how it is about the Americas? It‘s set in Mali. Maybe part of it is set in America however, I don‘t remember. It is great anyhow! 1y
squirrelbrain @Suet624 @KristiAhlers - new / in-demand books are on 3 week loans, but after that they go onto 12 weeks. We don‘t get fines either…! It‘s a private subscription library that you pay to be a member of, but it‘s only 660 per year. My local public library is also very good, and they‘re the standard 3 weeks too. 1y
squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB The author was born on #guadeloupe so that‘s why I picked it. I‘m doing a few ‘author from‘ books… Derek Walcott is from St Lucia, and Caryl Philips is from St Kitts and Nevis. (He now lives in Leeds and is a patron of the Leeds Library!) 1y
jenniferw88 I'm using The Mapmaker's Wife too - it #doubledips for 'involves a murder' for #booked2023! @Cinfhen @alisiakae @BarbaraTheBibliophage 1y
Cinfhen I have that one available from my library too @jenniferw88 but #involvesAMurder is from 2022 😊😂😘 I love the idea of using an author from a certain country, Helen. I think I‘ll be pinching several of your ideas 💡 🥰 1y
jenniferw88 @Cinfhen d'oh! That must be one of my other challenges then! 😂😂😂 1y
Cinfhen I know!!! Too many to keep track of!!! @jenniferw88 😝 1y
Megabooks None of these are on my radar, so thanks for the tag. I‘ve always wanted to read Jean Rhys. What country is that for? 1y
squirrelbrain @Megabooks -Jean Rhys was born on Dominica. I recently read her biography and didn‘t love it, but that was because I felt you needed to have read more of her books to appreciate it, and I‘d only read Wide Sargasso Sea before. 1y
Caroline2 Oh let me know when you get to Voyage and if you fancy a buddy read. 😀 👍 1y
85 likes17 comments
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Robotswithpersonality
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Upcoming reads: Non-fiction about libraries and librarians. 📚♥️

review
Cinfhen
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Pickpick

Sometimes a graphic novel is really the best way to highlight a situation that is difficult to comprehend. This is the story of a West African man from #CoteDIvoire who is desperate to immigrate to Europe but he can‘t obtain a legal visa. So he does what so many Africans do, they attempt to enter the EU illegally. The simple prose and line drawings are harrowing and haunting. This book while short is very impactful. #Scribd #ReadingAfrica22

Librarybelle Completely agree about graphic novels and some subject matters! 1y
Cinfhen I think I might go children‘s books / gn to complete the challenge if any are available- I only have a handful of countries to go @Librarybelle 1y
Librarybelle I think that‘s a perfect idea!! 1y
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