Women in Translation Month

Did you know August is Women in Translation Month? Here are a few of my recently read translated favorites:

Picture Books

Animal City by Joan Negrescolor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought the colors in this picture book were fantastic!





How to Knit a Monster by Annemarie van Haeringen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun and cute tale of what happens when you're a prolific knitter, but you don't always pay attention to what's on your needles...



Graphics

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a quirky, detailed, fun collection of illustrated stories! This nonfiction graphic works well as a dip-in-and-out resource, and even though I read it cover to cover, it could easily be read by interest or as curiosity leads. The colors are sharp, and the book as a whole has a very eclectic feel. I love that it features women we don't often see depicted in media.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution is at times funny, moving, sweet, heartbreaking, and enlightening. Satrapi's simple black and white illustrations tell her story without sensationalizing it, and both the words and images allow for the reader to connect with the content on an emotional and intellectual level. I'm excited to continue reading more of Satrapi!


YA Novels

The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Gläser
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading The Forgotten Book is like reading Pride and Prejudice, but set at German Hogwarts. Largely a P & P retelling, though with more fantasy elements, The Forgotten Book swept me up in its romance and in the mystery of a book that makes the things written in it come true. An old boarding school with hidden secrets set in the countryside is a perfect setting for this story, and I loved exploring its passageways and imagining what it would be like to hang out it the library. Austen isn't always my cup of tea, but I like what Gläser did with this story. Despite mostly knowing what direction storylines were headed in, I still enjoyed the journey.


Erebos by Ursula Poznanski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For fans of Ready Player One and Warcross, Erebos shows readers a world where a computer game influences the real lives of teenagers in one city. This mystery-thriller was a slow burn with plenty of world-building (both on- and offline) and a few red herrings along the way. It was interesting to put myself in the places of the characters, and I also appreciated the thoughtfulness of the details of secondary characters and subplots.


Extras: view all my reviews.