When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, 1994
- Philippines, #22
- Borrowed from SF public library
- Read July 2018
- Rating: 4/5
When the Rainbow Goddess Wept: a very inaccurate synopsis
World War II
Potions and Paper Cranes: a bunch of bad things happen to a bunch of unlikeable people
Potions and Paper Cranes, Lan Fang, 2013
- Indonesia, #21
- Kindle edition, $10
- Read August 2017
- Rating: 2/5
- Recommended for: an additional perspective on race and gender in World War II-era Indonesia (but only if you’ve already read everything else)
Beauty is a Wound
Beauty is a Wound, Eka Kurniawan, 2002
- Indonesia, #14
- Borrowed from SF library
- Read August 2017
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Recommended for: Anyone longing for a 100 Years of Solitude update written by Chuck Palahniuk
- Content warning (after the jump): sexual assault
The Weaverbirds: Eyes are not like guns OR nipples, pick another metaphor please
The Weaverbirds, Y.B. Mangunwijaya, 1981
- Indonesia, #10
- Kindle, $10 on Amazon.com
- Read June 2017
- Rating: 2.5/5
- Recommended for: boring people
The Ten Thousand Things: Every, every minute
The Ten Thousand Things, Maria Dermoût, 1955
- Indonesia, #8
- Paperback (received as a gift)
- Read May 2017
- Rating: 5/5
- Recommended for: Saints and poets maybe
The Black Lake
The Black Lake, Hella Haasse, 1948
- Indonesia, #7
- paperback (received as a gift)
- Read May 2017
- Rating: 4/5
- Recommended for: reformed spoiled brats
The Crocodile: Let’s not accept that history is written by the victors, especially when “victors” means former colonial powers who prefer not to acknowledge the abuses perpetrated under their regimes
The Crocodile, Vincent Eri, 1970
- Papua New Guinea, #2
- Borrowed from SF Library
- Read September 2016
- Rating: 3.5/5
- Recommended for: colonial powers ripe for toppling
Kiki: All These Changes
Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime, Albert Maori Kiki with Ulli Beier, 1968
- Papua New Guinea, #1
- Borrowed from SF Library
- Read September 2016
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: self-starters in search of inspiration
Tu: More Maori identity issues, this time addressed through war
Tu, Patricia Grace, 2004
- New Zealand, #10
- Paperback, £0.69 from alibris.com
- Read June 2015
- Rating: 4/5
- Opening Line: Dear Rimini and Benedict, You didn’t deserve ill-humour and rebuff, and I had no right to send you off with empty hearts when all you were asking was to get to know your ‘father’.
- Recommended for: the insatiably curious and tragically brave
Death of a River Guide
Death of a River Guide, Richard Flanagan, 1994
- Australia, #22
- Paperback, Alibris.com, $0.99
- Read January 2015
- Rating: 3.5/5
- Opening line: As I was born the umbilical cord tangled around my neck and I came into the world both arms flailing, unable to scream and thereby take in the air necessary to begin life outside of the womb, being garrotted by the very thing that had until that time succoured me and given me life.
- Recommended for: Reading breaks between fever dreams
Around the World in 2000 Books 