The Reading Life Review July 2020

Column One

1. Patrick Modiano - France - Nobel Prize Winner

2. Neera Kashrap - India - Neera Kashyap has published a book of short stories for young adults, ‘Daring to dream’ (Rupa & Co.) and contributed to five prize-winning anthologies for Children’s Book Trust. As a writer of short fiction, poetry, essays and book reviews, her work has appeared/is forthcoming in leading South Asian journals which include Kitaab, Papercuts, Out of Print Magazine and Blog, Muse India & Indian Literature.

3. Marc Wilson - UK - author Marc Chagall 

4. Kate Williams - UK - historical biography 

Column 2

1. Pamela Binnings Ewen - USA- author Coco Chanel- A Novel and other highly regarded historical novels

2. Leonora Carrington - UK to Mexico - Surealist.  Artist and writer

3. Chava Rosenfarb - Poland to Canada - one of The very best post WW Two Yiddish language writers. Featured on our side bar 

4. Henry James - USA to England 

Column 3

1. Shirley Hazzard - Australia to USA - author Transit of Venus 

2. Edith Wharton - USA to France 

3. Catherine Hewitt - UK - historian focused on 19th century France 

4. Brian Kirk - Ireland - featured Seven times on The Reading Life -Brian Kirk is a poet, short story writer, playwright and novelist from Dublin, Ireland. His work has appeared in the Sunday Tribune, Crannog, The Stony Thursday Book, Revival, Boyne Berries, Wordlegs and various anthologies

Column 4

1. Mavis Gallant - Canada to France

2. Elizabeth Taylor - UK -  author of 11 novels and numerous exquiste Short Stories - A read through of her work is planned

3. Alice Adams - USA - much more coming on her Short Stories

Birth Countries of Featured Writers

1. UK - 5

2. USA-  4

3. France - 1

4. Poland - 1

5. Australia- 1

6. Ireland - 1

7. Canada - 1

Five of the authors immigrated from their home countries.

11 works by women were featured, four by men.

8 deceased writers were featured, 7 living

Only two writers were featured for the first time.  Mel wants more new to The Reading Life writers to be featured going forward.

The Reading Life is a multicultural

book blog, committed to Literary Globalism

Blog Stats

Since inception there has been 6,078,987 page views

As of yesterday there were 3776 posts online.

The most viewed posts for July were

1. “Ghosts” by Edwidge Danticat

2. Flush - A Biography by Virginia Woolf

3. “The Flood” by Thakazhi Sivasnka

4. “Water Child” by Edwidge Danticat

5. “The Auspicious Visit” by Rabindranath Tagore

Home Countries of Visitors 

USA, India, Turkmenistan, UK, Russia, Canada, 

Philippines and France 

We are glad to see so many visitors from Turkmenistan.  

Future Plans and Hopes for the next three months

Mel hopes to complete two long novels he began to read when the Quarantine began for him on March 3, A Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil and The Recognitions by William Gaddis as well as novels by Cynthia Ozick, Elizabeth Taylor and Ivy Compton-Burnett.  We are planning to feature two short story writers a week who have not yet been featured on The Reading Life.

Longer term Mel will continue reading along with Buried in Print through the short stories of Mavis Gallant.  In time he hopes to read collections of short stories by Alice Adams, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Hazzard  and possibly Nancy Hale.  

There are  over 200 Yiddish translations in queue.  

Mel will continue reading on in Holocaust related works and quality narrative non-fiction.

Review books.  To those who have sent review books, please be patient.

To all our readers, these are dark times.  Reading at least a little everyday can help you.  Consider reading maybe two short stories a week.  To our fellow book bloggers, among the greatest readers in the world, keep blogging.

To those who comment on posts, you help keep us going.

To Max u thanks for you very much appreciated Amazon Gift Cards

One day the Pandemic will be over.  Through reading we can time travel and visit countries now forbidden.  Reading protects people from cognitive decline.  Rich, poor or in between reading will enrich your life, keep away boredom and loneliness.  

Oleander Bousweau