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I‘m not usually a fan of childhood memoir, but I enjoyed this look back at Saramago‘s young years. Around 100 years ago in Portugal is so different from my own experience, and he tells vignettes, giving an overall impression rather than a straightforward recounting. His writing is just so good that I was carried along.

Recent home library acquisition

Random book from our home library:

📖 Crediting Poetry: The Nobel Lecture by Seamus Heaney

2013 review: ★★★★★

I didn‘t appreciate this as much as I feel I should have. Historical fiction in war (WWI) and post-war Africa. Amazing writing, but not my typical read. Read for my country challenge.

#Tanzania #ReadtheWorld2025

Random book from our home library:

📖 Selected Poems 1988-2013 by Seamus Heaney

#DaysDevotedTo Day 8: #CoffeeTea with a Norwegian novel while I was in Bodo Norway early this year. This is part of the free “fika” offered by the hotel between 3-5 pm and- said to be a big part of Scandinavian culture. Reminded me of our merienda - byproduct of Spanish colonization.

Set in the early 1900's in Kenya & Tanzania, we witness the invasion of the Germans and later the British.

There were parts of this I was totally absorbed in, while some chapters I struggled through. Some characters were really well done and interesting, while others flat and didn't really have a role anywhere.

Now reaching the end, I really like this story (which has been a theme for me with this author's work).

Soft pick. Montale was a poet who also wrote short prose pieces for various newspapers just before and after WWII, most of them lightly fictionalized anecdotes from his own life. This book is a compendium of those newspaper columns, which collectively form a memoir of sorts. I liked the non-linear, piecemeal structure of this, as it seems to mimic what it's like getting to know another person in real life, a series of tiny glimpses that 👇

I liked the premise and how the book started. Even the characters seemed interesting. But, the writing style was not for me. I thought I'd get used to it and that made me read like 40% of the book but it was simply annoying after that.
#hailthebail

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Maybe you'll recall seeing the Amico delle famiglie at my house.