Short Stories, Irish literature, Classics, Modern Fiction, Contemporary Literary Fiction, The Japanese Novel, Post Colonial Asian Fiction, The Legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and quality Historical Novels are Among my Interests








Thursday, June 1, 2023

The Reading Life Review - May 2023 - Future Plans



The Reading Life Review - May 2023

Row One. Left to Right

1. Sarah Shimonovitz- Ukraine to Isreal.author of War Time and Holocaust memior- first appearance on R.L
2. Rebecca Donner- Canada- historian- author of All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days- National Book Award Winner for Biography and a New York Times Best Seller
3. Elyse Hoffman- USA-Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: The Barracks of the Holocaust five-book series and The Book of Uriel. Elyse’s books are the way to go if you love history and want to read some unique stories. From her website. First appearance on RL. I hope to read more of her work

Row Two- Alice Hoffman - U.S. A. - this is her six appearance on RL- She has written over 30 novels and numerous stories. I have eight of her works on my E- Reader waiting to be read.
2. Jennifer Homans- USA- Ballet Critic for the New Yorker- author of two essential books- Mr. G: George Balanchine’s century and Appolo's Angels: A History of Ballet- I am so thankful to her for the beautiful books.
3. Erin Litteken- USA- author of two historical novels set in the Ukraine- I highly reccomend her works.
4. Nalo Hopkinson- USA- highly awarded and influential science fiction writer. I have posted numerous times upon her works. I suggest all new to her work start with The Salt Roads
5. Salman Rushdie- India- featured several times

Row Three
1. Priyamvada Gopal- India To Uk- Cambridge Historian -author of Insurgent Empire: Anti-Colonial Resistance and British Dissent- - first appearance on RL
2. Olivia Schreiner- South Africa's first great writer- I thank Priyamvada Gopol for mentioning her- first appearance on RL- an early voice of repudiation for British Rule in South Africa-
3. J.P. Doughty - USA- Professor at Stanford most recent book, In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism (W. W. Norton, 2021), tells the story of one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Between 1921 and 1934, French colonial interests recruited -- most often by force -- more than 100,000 men, women, and children to work on a 500-kilometer stretch of rail between Brazzaville and the Atlantic Coast. In the end, tens of thousands of Africans were dead, killed by mistreatment, starvation, and disease. - from Stanford University - first Rl appearance
4. Alessandro Manzoni- Italy- The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes, and significantly revised and rewritten until the definitive version published between 1840 and 1842. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.
5. Euripides- Greece- I have posted so far upon five of his plays

Home Countries of May Authors
1. USA-7
2. India- 2
3. Isreal-1
4. Italy - 1
5. Greece- 1
6. Canada- 1

Eight featured are women , four men. Four are deceased, seven were featured for the first time.
Four works of non-fiction were featured as were Four short stories and four novels. A drama by Euripides was also featured.

Blog Stats

We crossed the Seven Million Page Views Mark in May

Page Views to Date

7,001,177
There are currently 4,210 posts on The Reading Life
The post viewed posts are on Short Stories

Top Home Countries of Visitors in May
1. USA
2. Singapore
3. Philippines
4. India
5. Isreal
6. Canada
7. UK
8. Germany
9. Russia
10. Ukraine
11. France
12. Pakistan
13. Sweden
14. Indonesia
15. Ireland

Future Plans

My outlook on life and what I read was forever altered when my wife passed away on January 19, 2022.  For a while I slowed down my reading, thinking why bother. Then I began to read to seek the experiences others have had dealing with a cataclysmic death and to occupy my mind. 

Future Plans

I recently began reading the work of Alice Hoffman. She has published over 30 novels. I hope to read at least one a month. I have eight on my tablet now.

I will continue my focus upon the Holocaust, Yiddish Literature and world history.
I hope to continue my Ancient Reads Project.

Mel Ulm
With the assistance of
Ambrosia Bousweau and
Oleander Bousweau
















1 comment:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.