iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

This week's book review: Lafcadio Hearn's collection of Japanese ghosts stories, Of Ghosts and Goblins, based on Japanese folktales with some of his Irish heritage. Haunting. By a writer with an interesting story of his own. @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/10/10/o...

talking-about-books.com

Of Ghosts and Goblins: Lafcadio Hearn

Published by Penguin Classics, 2022, 203 pages. Original stories published 1894–1905. A dying wife summons her husband’s youngest concubine under the guise of handing over her husband’s welfare to …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Canadian author Anne Carson wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her “bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. @nobelprize.org @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/books/2026/o...

theguardian.com

Anne Carson wins Nobel prize in literature 2026

Most prestigious literature prize goes to Canadian known for genre-crossing works such as Autobiography of Red

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"I have always thought that the novel, if it must survive and endure, has to be challenged every time we engage it." I interviewed Chigozie Obioma on his latest novel on the Biafra War, and how he integrates Nigerian folklore into his fiction. talking-about-books.com/2026/10/06/d...

talking-about-books.com

Drawing on Nigerian History and Folklore: An Interview with Chigozie Obioma

Photo: Nikki May Chigozie Obioma is a Nigerian novelist. He has written three novels: The Fishermen (2015), An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), and The Road to the Country (2024). The Fishermen and …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This week's book review: Lisa K. Friedman's Hello Wife, a novel about a woman sliding into opioid addiction. It is told from her point of view, which shows how easy it is to slip into addiction. A view of the opioid crisis from the inside. @sfwp.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/10/03/h...

talking-about-books.com

Hello Wife: Lisa K. Friedman

Published by SFWP, 2025, 251 pages “My wedding dress was made by a costume designer I met while buying weed at the 7-Eleven one February, which is also where I met Jimbo, my husband to be. I went t…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It’s International Translation Day, and Charlie the sax player is back with books in translation from around the world! A big thank you to all the translators who give us access to books we would never be able to read without their work. Reviews available on talking-about-books.com/.

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This week's book review: Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia, eds. Evelyn Flores, Emelihter Kihleng. A wonderful collection—diverse voices, styles, genres—and a testament to the richness of the region's literature. @universityofhawaii.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/09/26/i...

talking-about-books.com

Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia: edited by Evelyn Flores and Emelihter Kihleng

Published by University of Hawai’i Press, 2019, 358 pages “The work remains of breaking down myths and building up re-visioned ones that empower rather than demean. It remains to tell new sto…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In this At Home in Two Worlds, Maria Aurora Couto takes us to the real Goa—not the ones tourists see. In this mix of history and memoir, Couto draws on writing about Goa and her own experiences to paint a portrait of a very special place. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/09/25/a...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

At Home in Two Worlds—Essays on Goa: Maria Aurora Couto

Published by Speaking Tiger, 2024, 214 pages When you think of Goa, what images come to you? Most people associate this tiny state on the west coast of India with beaches, sunshine, good food, a la…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Four travel books for this month by or about women, focusing on a single country: Switzerland, Chile, Nigeria and Indonesia. All of them fascinating portraits of a country. Full reviews on talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This week's book review: Ian McEwan's What We Can Know, clifi and much more. It is about climate change, how we remember and how we are remembered, and the appropriation of memories. A glimpse into the future, and a warning about the path we are on now. talking-about-books.com/2026/09/19/w...

talking-about-books.com

What We Can Know: Ian McEwan

Published by Jonathan Cape, 2025, 301 pages The United Kingdom, 2119. Tom Metcalfe, an academic, studies the 1990s to the 2030s, a period he romanticizes. Looking back, this was a time of plenty: w…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"I started this project with a goal around informing others about Fiji's history. I didn’t anticipate the impact it would have on my sense of self and my grounding in my cultural identity." I interviewed Nilima Rao about her crime novels set in Fiji in 1910s. talking-about-books.com/2026/09/17/f...

talking-about-books.com

Focusing on Fiji: An Interview with Nilima Rao

Nilima Rao is a Fijian Indian Australian writer. Her first book, A Disappearance in Fiji (2023), won the 2024 ALA Reading Award for Mystery Fiction; was one of Booklist’s Top 10 Debut Mysteries and…

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Reposted by Suroor Alikhan

Susan DuBose @houseofbast777.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." #Booksky

Image is of Carl Sagan.
Text reads "Nothing disturbs me more than the glorification of stupidity."

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This week's book review: Indrek Hargla's The Secret of Saint Olaf's Church, a murder mystery set in 1409 Tallinn. A knight is beheaded. Melchior, the town apothecary, tries to find the murderer before more deaths. A trip into history. Transl. Adam Cullen. talking-about-books.com/2026/09/12/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Secret of Saint Olaf’s Church: Indrek Hargla

Translated from Estonian by Adam CullenPublished by Pushkin Press / Peter Owen Publishers, 2015, 364 pages. Original version published in 2010. Tallinn, 1409. A knight is beheaded and the murderer …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Cristina Bendek's Salt Crystals is fiction but reads like a memoir/travel book. Victoria returns to her parents' home in San Andrés, a Colombian island in the Caribbean with a mix of ethnicities. She rediscovers the island and her family's past. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/09/11/s...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Salt Crystals: Cristina Bendek

Translated from Spanish by Robin MyersPublished by Charco Press, 2022, 216 pages. Original version published in 2018. “That’s how we were built: out of historical circumstance, a mysterious process…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Nabaneeta Dev Sen travels to a Buddhist monastery near the India-China border, much to the horror of her friends, especially when she hitches a ride on a truck. But she is determined to go. A delightful travelogue. Translated by Arunava Sinha. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/09/04/o...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

On a Truck Alone, to McMahon: Nabaneeta Dev Sen

Translated from Bengali by Arunava SinhaPublished by Oxford University Press, 2018, 216 pages. Original version published in 1984. “I wasn’t trying to discover new places. I wasn’t going to break o…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

This week's book review: Salman Rushdie's The Eleventh Hour, a quintet of stories mostly about getting old. I enjoyed the first three, especially the ones about two old men on adjacent balconies, and a prodigal musician. The last two not so much. talking-about-books.com/2026/08/29/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Eleventh Hour: Salman Rushdie

Published by Jonathan Cape London / Random House, 2025, 254 pages This is Salman Rushdie’s latest book, a collection of three longish stories bookended by two short ones. Given the attack on him th…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Pip Stewart, with two women friends, hiked through the jungle in Guyana to the source of the Essequibo River. They then kayaked 1,014 kilometres of the river to the point where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. A real adventure! talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/28/l...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Life Lessons From the Amazon—A Guide to Life From One Epic Jungle Adventure: Pip Stewart

Published by Sommersdale, 2021, 335 pages Pip Stewart and two of her friends spent nearly three months in the wilderness in Guyana, hiking through the rainforest to the source of the Essequibo Rive…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Dolly Parton left a huge legacy. Her Imagination Library programme reached so many young children and gave them something invaluable. She will be missed. www.thehindu.com/books/the-le...

thehindu.com

The legacy of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Explore Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a transformative literacy initiative that has enriched millions of children's lives through reading.

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

She was truly an icon—so much more than her music. She will be missed. RIP, Dolly Parton.

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Do you want to know more about the women who write travel books? You can now find interviews with them on Women's Travel Books! (There is also one man who has written about a woman traveller.) Go to the page and discover the writers! talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/19/i...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Interviews with Writers

I have just published an interview with Rosemary J. Brown about her book, Moving Mountains, where she tells us about her inspiration for the book. Image: Dedraw Studio via AdobeStock You can find t…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

This week's book review: Madeleine Thien's The Book of Records. A father and daughter flee to the Sea, an enormous refugee centre that transcends time and space. A book about ideas, identity, freedom and so much more. Beautiful. @grantabooks.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/08/22/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Book of Records: Madeleine Thien

Published by Granta Books / W.W. Norton & Company, 2025, 368 pages “The only way to really remember is to forget everything and let time fill the story up. To reach it through a different doorw…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Helena Atlee delves into the history of citrus fruits in Italy, a journey that takes her to Calabria, Sicily, the Italian Riviera, Liguira and, of course, Amalfi. It is a history of Italy, seen through citrus. Fascinating. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/21/t...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

The Land Where Lemons Grow—The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit: Helena Attlee

Published by Penguin, 2014, 230 pages “During journeys that have taken me from the bergamot groves of Calabria, on the southern tip of the Italian peninsula, to lemon houses set against the snowy b…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Women in Translation Month: four books from around the world: Chile, India, France and Mauritius. Each one very different, each worth discovering. Full reviews on talking-about-books.com

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"The climbers in Moving Mountains stand for the countless women who pushed boundaries, finding freedom in the mountains when it was denied to them elsewhere." I interviewed Rosemary J. Brown on her book Moving Mountains on women climbers. talking-about-books.com/2026/08/19/r...

talking-about-books.com

Reaching Summits: An Interview with Rosemary J. Brown

Photo: Adrian Pope Rosemary J. Brown is a journalist and author based in London. Her book, Moving Mountains: Intrepid Women Climbers and the Peaks Named in Their Honour, has just been published. He…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This week's book review: Nélida Piñon's The Republic of Dreams, a multigenerational story. Madruga, a Galician leaves for Brazil, determined to make his fortune. A book about stories and dreams. Translated from Portuguese by Helen Lane. talking-about-books.com/2026/08/15/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Republic of Dreams: Nélida Piñon

Translated from Portuguese by Helen LanePublished by Picador / Alfred A. Knopf, 1989, 663 pages. Original version published in 1984. This multigenerational story set mostly in Brazil is centred aro…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Erika Fatland sets out to discover what it is like to be Russia's neighbour. She starts in North Korea and works her way around to Norway, and takes a trip through the Northeast Passage. Fascinating and very informative. Transl. by Kari Dickson. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/14/t...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

The Border—A Journey around Russia: Erika Fatland

Translated from Norwegian by Kari DicksonPublished by Maclehose Press, 2017, 611 pages The full subtitle of this book is “A journey around Russia: through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

This week's book review: Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, about a friendship that survives betrayals and tragedies. And video games and the tensions between creativity and commerce. @vintagebooks.bsky.social @usharaman.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/08/09/t...

talking-about-books.com

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: Gabrielle Zevin

Published by Vintage, 2022, 482 pagesReview by Usha Raman and Suroor Alikhan This is the story of a friendship—one that survives betrayals and tragedies. Two 11-year-olds meet in a paediatric hospi…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Sola: Amy Field heads out to Latin America with barely any knowledge of Spanish and ends up spending over 2 years there. Based in Costa Rica, she travels around the continent. A story of getting outside your comfort zone and enjoying it! talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/07/s...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Sola—One Woman’s Journey Alone Across South America: Amy Field

Published by WanderWomyn Publishing, 2018, 340 pages Amy Field seems to have it all: a degree from a prestigious liberal arts college and a good job in downtown Los Angeles. But something is missin…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Ritu Menon travels both for work and pleasure. In Loitering with Intent, she writes about these trips. Some of the chapters feel a bit superficial, but others are well-observed. A snapshot of countries at a particular time in history. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/05/l...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Loitering with Intent—Diary of a Happy Traveller: Ritu Menon

Published by Speaking Tiger Books, 2016, 248 pages Ritu Menon does not like to travel alone for pleasure, as she announces in the first line of this book. She likes to explore places with her frien…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

This week's book review: Nilima Rao's historical crime novel, A Disappearance in Fiji, set during the Raj. A Sikh police officer is sent to a plantation to investigate the disappearance of an indentured labourer and uncovers secrets. Portrait of an era. talking-about-books.com/2026/08/01/a...

talking-about-books.com

A Disappearance in Fiji: Nilima Rao

Published by Zaffre, 2023, 280 pages Fiji, 1914. Sergeant Akal Singh, an Indian Sikh, has been sent to Fiji after a humiliating incident in Hong Kong, where he was serving. All he wants to do is cr…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

How many women mountaineers can you name? Rosemary J. Brown, in Moving Mountains, writes about nine women through the ages who have summited peaks and done so in the face of societal opposition. Inspiring. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/28/m...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Moving Mountains—Intrepid Women Climbers and the Peaks Named in Their Honour: Rosemary J. Brown

Published by The History Press, 2026, 282 pages If you are asked to name mountaineers who have climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world, do you think mainly of climbers who are men? If you do…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

As the US celebrates 250 years, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight some books by or about Native Americans. Reviews on talking-about-books.com

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

This week's book review: Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Took me a while to get into but once the actual story began, it pulled me in. About the "other" and how the real monsters are seldom seen as such. Wonderful descriptions of Notre Dame too. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/25/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Victor Hugo

Translated from French by Walter J. CobbPublished by Penguin, 1964 (this translation), 501 pages. Original version published in 1831. What makes a monster? Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame,…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This graphic travelogue by Kristen Radtke is unusual. After her beloved uncle Dan dies, she seeks out abandoned cities, places that are reminders of the past. A book about the traces we leave behind. @kristenradtke.bsky.social talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/24/i...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Imagine Wanting Only This: Kristen Radtke

Published by Pantheon Graphic Library, 2017, 288 pages This is not a conventional travel book: it’s a graphic book that combines memoir and travel. Kristen Radtke is very close to her uncle, Dan, w…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

English Pen has just announced the Pen Translates awards! www.englishpen.org/posts/news/p...

englishpen.org

PEN Translates winners announced - English PEN

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Sara Dykman follows the migration of monarch butterflies from the starting point in Mexico, all the way to Ottawa. Every year, the butterflies make this long journey north to lay their eggs and the hatched caterpillars make it back. Fascinating. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/21/b...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Bicycling with Butterflies—My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration: Sara Dykman

Published by Timber Press, 2021, 280 pages “Beyond my footsteps, mahogany-colored clumps dripped from branches of scattered trees. They shimmered in the sparse light, nearly indistinguishable from …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Sometimes that is exactly what you need.

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I read that a while ago and enjoyed it.

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

This week's book review: Chigozie Obioma's The Road to the Country. A book about a man getting caught up in the Biafra War in Nigeria. Harrowing and beautifully written. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/18/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Road to the Country: Chigozie Obioma

Published by Hutchinson Heinemann / Penguin, 2024, 358 pages “The story of a war can only be fully and truly told by both the living and the dead.”—Igbo proverb Kunle is nine years old when he send…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Davina Quinlivan delves into her family's history—a mix of Burmese, Indian, Irish, French, German and Scottish—in Shalimar. Along with their migration, she traces her own within the UK. A mix of memoir, travelogue and nature writing. Beautiful. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/14/s...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Shalimar—A Story of Place and Migration: Davina Quinlivan

Published by Little Toller, 2021, 154 pages “Shalimar is the bridge between my father’s world and my perception of it, not a real place but one of our own making, filled with his things, his storie…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

This week's book review: Marjane Satrapi's Perspepolis, a classic, a coming-of-age story of a girl in Iran. She wanted to show what life was really like for ordinary Iranis. I reread it after her death; it was as absorbing and powerful as the first time. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/11/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Complete Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi

Originally published in four volumes. Volumes 1 and 2 translated from French by Blake Ferris and Mattias Ripa, and Volumes 3 and 4 translated by Anjali Singh.The complete volume published by Panthe…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

A glimpse into Western Sahara in the early 1970s: Tales of the Sahara is Sanmao's account of living there. It's not an easy book because Sanmao can be annoyingly opinionated but she has great empathy for the people and their stories come through. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/10/s...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Stories of the Sahara: Sanmao

Translated from Chinese by Mike FuPublished by Bloomsbury Publishing, 1976, 416 pages Sanmao, a Taiwanese writer, had always been attracted to the desert. In the early 1970s, she and her Spanish pa…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Gearing up for the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2027! The Indian language in focus is Manipuri. Look out for talks, performances and displays of Manipuri literature, culture and art during HLF2027, 22-24 January! #hlf2027 #hydlitfest2027 #literature #art #manipur #literaryfestival

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Di Murrell and her husband live on a barge. In A Foodie Afloat, we follow them along France's waterways, from Cambrai to Paris. The focus is on food: she gets produce from farmers' markets and by foraging, and shares recipes. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/07/a...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

A Foodie Afloat: Di Murrell

Published by Troubador Publishing, 2020, 256 pages There are people who travel so they can tick places off their lists, and there are those who immerse themselves in their surroundings. Di Murrell …

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

This week's book review: Po: An Elegy for Italy's Longest River by Tobias Jones. He travels up the river, from the point where it flows into the Adriatic to its source. It's a mix of history, travelogue and ecology, and an attempt to understand a country. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/04/t...

talking-about-books.com

The Po—An Elegy for Italy’s Longest River: Tobias Jones

Published by Head of Zeus, 2022, 276 pages “You need to understand the Po to understand Italy”, wrote the poet Guido Ceronetti. So Tobias Jones sets out to explore the river, going against its curr…

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Suroor Alikhan @suroora.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Imani Perry takes a trip through southern US as a way of understanding the country. A mix of history, travelogue and memoir, the book goes into how what happened in the South shaped the country as it is now. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/03/s...

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

South to America—A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation: Imani Perry

Published by HarperCollins, 2022, 432 pages To understand the United States, you need to understand the South, its history and its legacy. That is the premise of this book by Imani Perry, a Black s…

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