Month: September 2025

Reading the World Challenge – Israel

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ISRAEL Fiction

Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen, translated from Hebrew by Sondra Silverston, 409 pages, 2013

How I found, chose this book-It chose me. I ran across this book while I was cleaning up our spring book sale and the cover spoke to me.

I finally finished my fiction read from Israel and it was a gritty, moral look at the prejudice one can have against refugees in any country. It’s dense and slow moving, but it does pack a punch.

Dr. Etian Green hits a black migrant on his drive home from a long shift at an Israeli hospital. Even a doctor couldn’t save the man and so begins the moral crisis for this husband, father, and healer. When he is blackmailed by the man’s widow Etian’s whole life begins to spiral.

It felt like a quiet book because there wasn’t a lot of dialogue. What I got instead was a front row seat to the inner minds of Etian, his wife, and the beautiful widow. Fascinating. Etian goes from dislike of the refugees to understanding their plight in his country.

The writing was beautiful. The story was thoughtful and somewhat suspenseful. But I had zero problem putting this down until about 3/4 of the way through, when it picked up and I stayed up late to finish it. So, it’s a good book, but not one you’ll breeze through. And it’s the better for it.

And that cover? Gorgeous.

A few examples of the writing…

“However much he wanted to feel compassion for them, he couldn’t help recoiling from them. Not only from their smell and bodily fluids but also from their faces-alien, staring, filled with undying gratitude. He didn’t speak their language, and they didn’t speak his, so they communicated with waving hands and facial expressions.” p. 54

“A thin man reached out for a handshake, and Eitan shook his head, thinking that somewhere along the way, his empathy button had stopped functioning. He should have felt something. Kindness. Compassion. The responsibility of one human being for another. Not only toward this man standing here and shaking his hand emotionally while he himself was only waiting for him to stop. He hadn’t felt anything for the man on the ground with his head split open either. Or perhaps he had felt something but not the right something. Not what he should have felt.” p.75

“But Eitan knew he had never been more awake. And, appalled, he realized that at that moment, at that specific moment, he was prepared to set the whole house on fire.” p.208

“It would be his fault. Because he hadn’t taken good enough care of his family, and families are fragile things.” p.227

This Week – Braces Off

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For the first time in 2 1/2 years, Gage’s mouth is metal free! He was very excited until went back 3 days later to pick up his retainer and they told him he had to wear it 22 hours a day for the first week, lol. He’s almost to freedom!

Jason and I went to an Octoberfest last night and had fun even if neither of us drinks beer. We’re doing alphabet dating and I had F. So we went to a Festival in Cuyahoga Falls on Front Street and the first thing we did was hit up the ice cream parlor for a Flight of ice cream. The weather was perfect, the band was good, the Italian restaurant was great, and we even came home with some art.

This week the Friends of the Solon Library had our annual meeting and we brought in an animal shelter and their resident cartoonist. It was a fun night learning about how she’s made a living with her art, she pens the syndicated Flo & Co, and also lends her talent to Rescue Village. Of course I bought the book that benefits the shelter.

What I Finished This Week

Before I Do by Sophie Cousens was another lovely British romance by Cousens. What would happen if there were some bad omens around your wedding weekend, with the final one being the man who you thought of as your soul mate showing up? The story was told by jumping around different times of Audrey’s life where we get to know her and men in her life better. This had all of the things I like about her books, even if it wasn’t a favorite.

I’ve read 93 books this year.

What I’m currently reading

Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is my fiction pick for Israel and I really like it, but it’s not something I’m racing through. An Isreali doctor hits man with his car and watches him die. The wife of the man tracks him down a has a proposal for her to keep quiet about it. I am really hoping to finish this today.

What We Watched

We made Gage watch two 80s movies this week and he complained. Until he watched them. First watched War Games with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. Thumbs up from all. Then we watched Coming to America with Eddie Murphy and I hadn’t realized it was rated R until we saw 2 naked ladies in the first five minutes. I was not happy (this was Jason’s pick), but the rest was just swearing, which Gage assures me is no different than what he hears at school. Insert any unhappy emoji here. We all laughed a lot so I guess that’s good.

Plans for the weekend

It’s book sale week! So, today I’ll be checking my lists and getting everything organized. I should really go to the library, BUT I will be there pretty much all day every day for the next week starting tomorrow and a few hours every morning the week after that, so I’m trying to rest up.

What’s going on in your neck of the woods?

I’m linking up with the Sunday Salon.

This Week- Day of Stacy

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On September 11 I participated in one of the Day of Service events. The Cleveland State University arena was packed with volunteers who packed meals to be distributed by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. I was part of the clean up crew and by the time I got there at 11am they had already packed 290,000 meals! It was amazingly organized and I hope to participate again.

I also had tickets to see The Notebook musical at Playhouse Square that night at 7:30, so I decided to spend the time in between just exploring downtown Cleveland. I found an outdoor music performance while I ate and went to the library to charge my phone. I read in a church park and did some list making. I mostly walked. I met Jason for drinks and dinner before the show. It was a great day.

Posts

I posted a review of the first book I read for my Reading the World challenge. My Israel nonfiction book encompassed the world but had a clear Arab from Israel voice.

What I finished this week

I listened to Lethal Prey by John Sandford This is #35 in the Lucas Davenport series (I’ve read them all) and #19 of the Virgil Flowers series (I’ve not read all of these). I like both of these detectives separately, but together they are perfection if you like police/FBI procedurals. The bad guy in this one was a cold, cold woman who made me look around and wonder what seemingly normal people I know are just offing people who get in their way.

I also listened to Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. This is the first in the Throne of Glass series and I will probably continue with the series. It’s about an assassin forced to compete in a series of tests against the worst of the worst where there will be only one winner and many will die. She’s the only female, and a teen at that. This fantasy series is addicting like the author’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, but so far there’s been no hot fairy sex. And I okay with that!

What I’m currently reading

Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen is my fiction pick for Israel and I really like it, but it’s not something I’m racing through. An Isreali doctor hits man with his car and watches him die. The wife of the man tracks him down a has a proposal for her to keep quiet about it.

I’ve read 92 books this year so far.

What we watched

For family movie night we watched I Am Legend. I’d seen this post apocalyptic movie before but had blocked out most of it. There were tears, hiding behind pillows and stress. That was all from me. My two guys loved it.

What I made

A cousin sent me a recipe for Stuffed Pepper Soup and I made it for the first time. I loved it and it was so easy to make. Don’t know what’s taken me so long.

Plans for the weekend

I’ve got an online reading club meet up at 1:30 and may have to go in to the library to facilitate a donation, but other that that it’s laundry! What about you?

Reading the World Challenge – Israel

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ISRAEL nonfiction

Around the World in 60 Seconds: The Nas Daily Journey-1,000 Days, 64 Countries, 1 Beautiful Planet by Nuseir Yassin with Bruce Kluger, 2019, 272 pages

How I found it- Gage and watched some of the Nas Daily videos during our homeschooling days and I snatched this up when I saw it in Michigan bookstore. It’s been sitting on my shelves ever since just waiting for this challenge.

About the author- Nuseir grew up an Arrabas, an Arab city in Israel. It’s a middle class small to middling size city where he stayed until a visit to Ohio when he was 19. After graduating from Harvard and working for Venmo for a few years his idea for this epic adventure became a reality.

Nuseir, or Nas, decided to travel around the world and post a 60 second video of wherever he was in the world EVERY DAY for 1,000 days! He mentioned from the beginning that because he was an Israeli with an Israeli passport he was prohibited from going to a majority of the Arab world. Even though he was Arab. Right at the beginning he talked about money, politics, and religion so he could get them out of the way. He didn’t want his videos to be about any of that, he wanted to bring people together. And they did! I was amazed that he was able to acquire such a worldwide following as he traveled. He started doing meetups where he’d arrive in a country and tell his viewers where he’d be and when and people would show up. Amazing.

I was impressed with the introspective way he did talk about religion and politics. While it did come up in different places for the most part, it was kept to a minimum. The one strictly religious experience with a Jewish brother and sister who confronted him in Jerusalem was shocking to me, but given the current climate maybe it shouldn’t have been. There were countries, like Senegal, where he highlighted that all religions lived side by side and there was nothing but love.

The book doesn’t follow his journey from beginning to end, rather he groups countries and people by categories like Fun & Adventure, Getting Personal, Conflict, and Humanity. I loved getting to read about his preconceived ideas versus what he found when he got there. I loved so many of the stories, even the one that didn’t end well. I learned about new countries like Seychenelles gained some insight into countries I’ve always wanted to visit.

This was the perfect book to begin this challenge. There are lots of pictures and the book is well laid out and colorful, but the stories are the main draw. It gives me hope for our planet. I love it!!!

And where did he end up after traveling the world? He now calls Singapore home.

This Week

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It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done one of these. But as fall weather rolls in, so does my desire to jump back on here and gab about books, movies, and maybe Gage too. I miss it.

Challenge: This week I started a new challenge I’m calling Reading the World. The post is here and I’m looking for recommendations for books from other countries. Here are recommendations I need today…Fiction books written by and set in Pakistan, Poland, Sierra Leone, Vietnam. And nonfiction books by people from and set in the countries of Afghanistan, Canada, Columbia, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Trinidad&Tobago, and Egypt.

I started the challenge with Israel because I had both a nonfiction and fiction book. When I finish I’ll move on to Sweden because I have both books ready to go.

Finished this week: Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas. I love her historical romances, but this first of the Bow Street Runners series was not a favorite. I love her so much that I’ll still pick up the second one.

Currently reading: Around the World in 60 Seconds: The Nas Daily Journey-1000 Days, 64 Countries, 1 Beautiful Planet by Nuseir Yassin. This is the first book of my challenge and I’m so close to finishing. It is the perfect way to begin my journey around the world. Expect a review tomorrow.

I’m listening to Lethal Prey by John Sandford, the 35th book in the Lucas Davenport series. This one also has Virgil Flowers and I love them together. The murderer in this one is pretty cold. Makes me look around at some normal looking people with suspicion.

Movies: Jason and I watch Sinners this week. What a weird and compelling movie. I both loved the original storytelling and didn’t care for the twist, lol. And for family movie night we watched Escape Room on Netflix. We like escape rooms, just not ones this deadly. We all liked the movie though.

TV: We’re working our way through The Middle. I think we’re on season 5 and we all love it, Gage especially. Jason and I watched the first episode of the Great Bristish Bake Off. We’re in a pool that Jason won last season so he’s under some pressure to do well this time too.

Puzzles: Today I’m hosting a puzzle swap at my house. I’ve been having an informal Little Free Puzzle Library on my porch since January and needed to clean out the 70+ puzzles that have been acquired. This is the 1000piece+ table.

This weekend: So far it’s been fairly quiet. I see lots of laundry in my future today and most likely a family game. What about you?

Linking up with The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz.

Reading the World Challenge

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I’m back! I’ve been unable to use my blog for weeks but think everything is okay now. Bloggers know how frustrating this can be. I haven’t used my blog as much as Instagram these past few years because I wasn’t able to use my own photos. I still haven’t entirely fixed that problem but did manage to get this one on here so there is hope.

On September 1st I embarked on a new challenge. I’m calling it Reading the World and I’m going to attempt to read a fiction AND nonfiction book from every country in the world.

I’ve been toying with the idea for a few years and finding a few people attempting to read one book from each country on Instagram gave me the push I needed. I’m going to use the current UN list of 193 countries, but am opening to reading the territories too if books are recommended, but it’s not a priority.

I need your help! The rule (made this up myself) is that the author must be from the country and the book must be set in the country. There’s wiggle room for sci-fi or fantasy where the setting is fluid. Please recommend favorite books! I combed my shelves and pulled out this stack, once I have one fiction and one nonfiction from a county it gets read. The only one I had to start was Israel, so I’m currently reading there.

Send me any recommendations and especially these since I already have one book. I need nonfiction books for these countries. I’m partial to memoirs, but anything is fine.
Canada, Afghanistan, Japan, Poland, Nigeria, Sweden, S Korea, Trinidad &Tobago. I need fiction options from Sierra Leone and Pakistan. I’m open to kids books too, sometimes those are my favorites!

I’ll be on here more since I’ll be tracking my progress. I’m excited for this challenge and excited to blog more. I’ve missed it.