Bryson, Bill "Bill Bryson's African Diary"

Bryson, Bill "Bill Bryson's African Diary. A Short Trip for a Worthy Cause" - 2002

I had a hard time obtaining this book. I usually try to find my foreign literature in local bookshops that carry them. And there are lots of Bill Bryson books to be had. However, not the "African Diary". So I ordered it at that online book shop everyone orders all their stuff from, you know, the one named after a South American river. ;) Even they couldn't deliver, After a year it was still on back order.

But I was lucky and found it in the end. Of course, a hardback that is smaller than a paperback but costs at least as much as a hardback. Maybe that's what holds people back. However, about the money: ALL the money goes to CARE International, so you make a donation AND get a book for FREE.

And it was totally worth it. Even describing the poorest people, refugees, slum dwellers, Bill Bryson finds such a gentle way of describing it, even makes you laugh from time to time. Not that this is the aim of the book, he just can't help himself.

I still think it is sad that the book is so short but he covers everything and it might get people to read him or at least read about the subject who are not much into reading. If that is the idea and it works, I'm totally behind one of my favourite authors.

In any case, even though it is so short, it's a MUST read for any Bryson fan.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

From the back cover:

"Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world.

Kenya, generally regarded as the cradle of mankind, is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves, stunning landscapes, and a vibrant cultural tradition. It also provides plenty to worry a traveller like Bill Bryson, fixated as he is on the dangers posed by snakes, insects and large predators. But on a more sober note, it is a country that shares many serious human and environmental problems with the rest of Africa: refugees, AIDS, drought and grinding poverty.

Travelling around the country, Bryson casts his inimitable eye on a continent new to him, and the resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight.

All the author's royalties from Bill Bryson's African Diary, as well as all profits, will go to CARE International."

Obama, Barack "The Audacity of Hope"

Obama, Barack "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" - 2006

I think definitely since I reviewed "Dreams from My Father" (or Hillary Clinton's "Living History"). everybody knows what party I would support if I lived in the USA. I loved that book and wanted to know more about Barack Obama, so I read his next one

I am often shocked when I hear some people talk about this president as if he was evil and only wanted the worst for his country when he has done so much for them and tries to help everyone. I also don't understand how people who have to work hard for their money don't support him and his party in their effort to cut tax reliefs for the rich people and make the life of the "little man" a little easier. Who does not want health insurance??? I live in a country where it has been the norm to have health insurance and help when you get unemployed. We believe in nobody gets left behind. Maybe that's why Barack Obama has so many supporters over here, he has the same goals as we do.

Anyway, back to the book. Whilst in "Dreams from My Father", the author talks about his childhood and first steps into adulthood, he now gives an account of his first steps as a politician. I found it very interesting to look behind the scenes with someone who has been a Senator, who knows all the ins and outs and the pros and cons of politics. Very interesting, I think everyone should read this book.

He quotes Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." I think we all should take that to heart.

From the back cover:

"The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics - a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward."

Barack Obama received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2009 "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Obama, Barack "Dreams from My Father"

Obama, Barack "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" - 1995

I wanted to read this book for a long long time but that's what it is with books you buy and then you start borrowing more books from the library or get books from friends and your TBR pile gets longer and longer ...

But I finally did and I am happy I read this before a great President leaves his post. Might even be able to start "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" before that happens.

I have just been told on Facebook that this book is full of lies but all my research has shown that this is only stated by right wing newspapers. So, if anyone finds a reliable source, I'm happy to leave your comments up here but I will delete any insulting, name-calling posts. This is not a political blog, all I do is talk about the books I read. If you hate Barack Obama, I suggest you stop reading now and come back for the next book I review.

There is one thing to consider when reading this book. This memoir wasn't written by a president. It wasn't even written by a president-hopeful. It was written in 1995, a long time ago. He had just finished his law school and was starting in politics, so I believe he wanted a real book about his inheritence.

Another thing is for sure, Obama is a great author. His words flow of the page, you are there with him. I hope he will write more books in the future, I think we can learn a lot from him. He knows so much about race, politics, and culture in the USA, his experiences will be well worth many many more publishings. I thought it highly interesting to read how it feels to be treated as a "black" person. Personally, as a European, I am always surprised how someone who has one black grandparent or even great-great-grandparent is still considered black. Reminds me too much of the dark times of my country where we divided people into half-Jews, quarter-Jews etc. and none of them were considered human beings. And I think that's behind it, you're only a second class person if you are considered black. So sad.

But putting all that aside, If I hadn't liked him before, I surely would after reading this book. He comes across as a very amiable man, even though he does not hide his flaws and mentions a few times when he was wrong. Of course, this is an autobiography and anyone who writes that would like to be liked by people. But I doubt that he made up things just to be elected president one day. He seems very honest in his writings. And it is a great way to get to know someone better who is in the public all the time and who gets portrayed and trashed by so many different kind of people every day.

I wish him and his family a wonderful future after he will leave the White House. I have nothing but respect for all of them.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2026.

From the back cover:

"In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance."

Barack Obama received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2009 "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa"

Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa" (German: Nirgendwo in Afrika) - 1995

I reread "Nowhere in Africa" by Stephanie Zweig with an online book group, created by a friend for some of her friends on Facebook. Everybody suggested a book and then would "lead" through the discussion with some questions.

If you have not read the book before, I refer you to my review here.

If you have read it, you might want to go through my questions and maybe add a thought or two to it. Here they are:

1.    What do you think of Jettel, the mother? Do you think there were many people in Germany who didn't see what was coming?

2.    What about Regina? How do you think she will be feeling when she is being transplanted to Germany after the war?

3.    Walter, the father, is mostly described as a caring father who just wants to bring his family through the war. In retrospect, this was the right decision. What do you think he would have thought if the war hadn't been like it was, if he'd transplanted his family for nothing?

4.    Did you know that "Nowhere in Africa" is almost a memoir of the author Stefanie Zweig, that all this happened to her family, that she does have a younger brother called Max who was born in Africa, for example? If you did, how did that make you feel during the read. If not, do you think differently about the novel now?

5.    Do you have the feeling that growing up in Africa has influenced the author's style? Did you feel her storytelling had a specific flow?

6.    What do you think about the other characters, mainly Walter Süßkind and Lilly and Oskar Hahn but, even more important, Owuor? How do you think Walter and Owuor influence each other and change the other's life?

7.    This book was made into a film and received the prize at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003 for Best Foreign Language Film. If you saw the film, how do you think it compared to the book? What would you have done differently if you'd been the director?

8.    I like to learn something with every book I read. Whether you belong to those readers or not, what did you learn from the book?

9.    Any other subjects I haven't touched that you would like to discuss?

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2021 and in 2025.

Dinesen, Isak/Blixen, Karen "Out of Africa"

Dinesen, Isak/Blixen, Karen "Out of Africa" - 1937

Who didn't watch the fantastic film "Out of Africa"? I often read a book and then watch a movie which really is the wrong way around because you never really like the film if you've read the book and see your own images.

Now - "Out of Africa". I think I would have liked the movie even if I'd read the book first. Meryl Streep captures the narrator's language so beautifully, I don't think one can imagine it any different.

Isak Dinesen, aka Karen Blixen, moves to Africa where she marries a good friend and wants to start a dairy farm with him. Nothing happens as planned but we get to know a smart and wonderful woman with a big heart who really gets to like the continent and its inhabitants. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"From the moment Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya in 1914 to manage a coffee plantation, her heart belonged to Africa. Drawn to the intense colours and ravishing landscapes, Karen Blixen spent her happiest years on the farm and her experiences and friendships with the people around her are vividly recalled in these memoirs. Out of Africa is the story of a remarkable and unconventional woman and of a way of life that has vanished for ever."

Newsham, Brad "Take me with you"

Newsham, Brad "Take me with you" - 2000

A travel book with a twist. An American travels around the world, 100 days backpacking. The twist? He invites one of the people he meets to visit him in America. Someone who could never travel anywhere.

Interesting and very informative description of several countries, he stays in the Philippines, in India, then Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and finally South Africa. With every person you try to guess whether he will take this one back home.

I love travel books, that way I can travel the world without spending more than about 10 Euros for the book. What I love about this one is, that the author doesn't just visit the most famous places, he also takes the time to really get to know the people. Whether his decision is the "correct one", I don't know. I probably would have invited someone else but I believe they all would have deserved it.

From the back cover:

"'Someday, when I am rich, I am going to invite someone from my travels to visit me in America.'

Brad Newsham was a twenty-two-year-old travelling through Afghanistan when he wrote this in his journal. Fourteen years later, he's a Yellow Taxi driver working in San Francisco. He's not rich, but he has never forgotten his vow.

Take Me With You is the compelling account of his journey through the Philippines, India, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa as he searches for the right person - someone who couldn't afford to leave their own country, let alone holiday in the West. Newsham's story will change the way you think about your life and the lives of those you meet when you travel.

Who does he invite home? Read Take Me With You and find out..."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

Hirsi Ali, Ayaan "Infidel: My Life"

Hirsi Ali, Ayaan "Infidel: My Life" (Dutch: Mijn Vrijheid) - 2006

I had suggested this book to our book club because we live in the Netherlands and would like to get a little more information about the topic, actual present Dutch politics, something going on at the moment while we live here, I always wanted to read something like that.

We all thought it was a very interesting book and it led to a lively discussion about religion, women's rights, different lives in different countries and other books about these topics. We were surprised about the way Dutch people think about this.

We didn't find there were any new views about the politics here in this country. The question came up how much the Muslims would have to adjust in our countries.

There will always be people with prejudices. We have to change our minds if we want to understand the Islamic world. And we have to change them through moderate ways, Europe hasn't changed in a couple of years, it took a long time. Kader Abdolah (an Iranian-Dutch writer) says: "We Muslims in Europe have to stop importing imams from Muslim countries. We shouldn't forget that the consequences in breaking the rules are not the same as in Christianity."

The author had an interesting childhood. We were astonished how well-educated people in Somalia live to the Islamic rules. Also, the difference between towns and villages was very well documented - and the problems growing up as a girl.

Hirsi Ali also mentions how difficult it was to stir up people, to make them aware of the problems. The book shows how easy it is to manipulate people.

In some ways the book was depressing but we found a glimmer of hope in it. It is difficult when you see so much pain. We should enforce women's rights. Islam needs to be pulled up to modern standards. Ayaan Hirsi Ali had the courage to stand up for something so fearful. Education is the key.

We did think it was sad that she lost God but she is still young. We hope she finds him again. The difference between poor and rich is a battle between religions. God's word is above human love but we don't always see it that way.

As we saw in this book, great privilege comes with great responsibility. If you are from another background you say something and people think it's different. When we came here, we thought the Netherlands is a free country with open-minded inhabitants. Some areas, especially in the Amsterdam/Rotterdam area are just populated by a lot of immigrants.

We all agreed that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is so extraordinary, remarkable, a fantastic person. She lived in different countries, times, systems. We all hope she doesn't get assassinated, the Islam needs her.

I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in understanding Muslims and who would like to work towards a better world for all of us.

We discussed this in our international book club in March 2008.

From the back cover:

"In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of "The Caged Virgin", Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West. One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie "Submission".
 
"Infidel" is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant."

Ayaan Hirsi Ali continues her story in "Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations"

See also "Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance" by Ian Buruma

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.

Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa" and "Somewhere in Germany"

Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa" (German: Nirgendwo in Afrika) - 1995

Another one of my favourite books ever.

We are writing the year 1938 and attorney Walter Redlich manages to flee Nazi Germany in the last minute. They move to Kenya where he is hired as the manager of a farm. They are all experiencing this new country differently, Walter struggles with the different kind of work that is expected of him, Jettel misses the luxuries of her former life, both have more than a few difficulties with the culture and the language, let alone with the bad news they receive from Germany. Only Regina, 9 years old, embraces the life on the new continent, learns the languages, finds friends and cannot imagine another life. When her little brother Max is born in 1946, the family is complete.

This is an almost-autobiography of author Stefanie Zweig. She is a wonderful author who has written a lot about the continent where she left her heart: Africa. There is a sequel to this book which is called "Somewhere in Germany".

It has taken long enough to translate this book into English, twelve years to be precise. In 2001, it was made into a movie and that movie received an Oscar for best foreign movie. The film is very good but, as usual, doesn't give the book any credit.

Anyway, Stefanie Zweig is one of my favourite authors. She writes equally well about Jewish issues as well as about Africa since she spent an important time of her childhood there. She still lives in Frankfurt, though.

We discussed this in our international book club in April 2008.

From the back cover:

"Nowhere in Africa is the extraordinary tale of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. Abandoning their once-comfortable existence in Germany, Walter Redlich, his wife Jettel, and their five-year-old daughter, Regina, each deal with the harsh realities of their new life in different ways. Attorney Walter is resigned to working the farm as a caretaker; pampered Jettel resists adjustment at every turn; while the shy yet curious Regina immediately embraces the country - learning the local language and customs, and finding a friend in Owuor, the farm's cook. As the war rages on the other side of the world, the family’s relationships with their strange environment become increasingly complicated as Jettel grows more self-assured and Walter more haunted by the life they left behind. In 1946, with the war over, Regina's fondest dream comes true when her brother Max is born. Walter's decision, however, to return to his homeland to help rebuild a new Germany puts his family into turmoil again."

I have read the book again in the meantime and discussed it with another book club. Find my discussion questions here.

* * * * *

Zweig, Stefanie "Somewhere in Germany" (German: Irgendwo in Deutschland) - 1996

As we all know, the war ends at some point and so the Redlich family returns back to Germany into bombed-out Frankfurt. This seems as hard as the move to Kenya. The post-war country is struggling, and so are the Redlichs. There is still anti-Semitism and hunger is ever present, they lost their whole family, they have to adjust to life in Europe again, for the children a completely unknown world. Regina grows up and starts working as a journalist. Life circumstances get better.

Another great description of life in different circumstances. This is the sequel to "Nowhere in Africa". Read the other one first and then come and discuss this with me.

From the back cover:

"Somewhere in Germany is the sequel to the acclaimed Nowhere in Africa, which was turned into the Oscar-winning film of the same name. This novel traces the return of the Redlich family to Germany after their nine-year exile in Kenya during World War II. In Africa, Walter had longed for his homeland and dreamed of rebuilding his life as a lawyer, yet ultimately he and his family - wife Jettel, daughter Regina, and baby Max - realize that Germany seems as exotic and unwelcoming to them in 1947 as Kenya had seemed in 1938. Hunger and desperation are omnipresent in bombed-out Frankfurt, and this Jewish family - especially Regina, who misses Africa the most - has a hard time adjusting to their new circumstances. Yet slowly the family adapts to their new home amidst the ruins.

In Frankfurt, Regina matures into a woman and, though her parents want her to marry an upstanding Jewish man, her love life progresses in its own idiosyncratic fashion. She develops a passion for art and journalism and begins her professional career at a Frankfurt newspaper. Walter at last finds professional success as a lawyer, but never quite adjusts to life in Frankfurt, recalling with nostalgia his childhood in Upper Silesia and his years in Africa. Only his son Max truly finds what Walter had hoped for: a new homeland in Germany.

Although the Redlichs receive kindness from strangers, they also learn anti-Semitism still prevails in post-Nazi Germany. They partake in the West German 'economic miracle' with their own home, a second-hand car, and the discovery of television, but young Max’s discovery of the Holocaust revives long-buried memories. Rich in memorable moments and characters, this novel portrays the reality of postwar German society in vivid and candid detail."

We discussed this in our book club in January 2016.

I have reread the book a couple of times. Find my new reviews here and here.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2021 and in 2025.