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August Multicultural Book Group
August's Multicultural book, Kabul Beauty School, by Deborah Rodriguez, is the memoir of an American beautitian who traveled to Afghanistan with a non-profit organization in 2001. The hope was to train Afghani women in skills that would allow them to earn income.
More on Deborah Rodriguez:
Kabul Beauty School Dropout Daily Mail (son kidnap threat)
Kabul Beauty School (25 min.) Mary MacMakin and her non-profit project
July Multicultural Books
This month's Multicultural Book Group book is a challenging title from Norway and the first novel in a trilogy by Sigrid Undset, Kirsten Lavransdatter. First published in 1921 to critical acclaim, the book is noted for its historic accuracy in portraying life in 14th century Norway. It has become a classic and Sigrid Undset went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1928. The trilogy was originally translated into English by Charles Archer using archaic English words in an effort to capture the flavor of Medieval Norwegian. A more recent translation by Tiina Nunnally has been widely praised and is much easier to read. Nunnally grew up in Milwaukee and earned her MA at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and later studied in Seattle Washington.
Check out the film:
May Multicultural Book Group
"In 1551, King Joao III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. The elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people--and serves as the foundation for this witty tale of friendship and adventure. Jose Saramago's "The Elephant's Journey" tells the story of Solomon. The elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people--and serves as the foundation for this witty tale of friendship and adventure."
"The Elephant's Journey" book review by Ursula LeGuin in The Guardian
Jose Sarmago on video:
UCLA From Memory to Fiction through History with Jose Saramago
April Multicultural Book Group
Saudi Arabia is a mysterious and fascinating country. How do women and men co-exist in a country where the genders are segregated? American, Zoe Ferraris, who lived for a year in Jeddah, satisfies our craving to know more about the life and culture of the Middle East with a lively murder/mystery novel, Finding Nouf.
Talkback with C. E. Moore, an interview with Zoe Ferraris (podcast)
Commonwealth Club (Fora TV video)
Interviews
Envisioning Herself as a Saudi man - Los Angeles Times
A conversation with Zoe Ferraris - haaretz.com
Women in Islam
Why do you dress like that? by Al-Muhajabah
March Multicultural Book Group
This month the book club's cultural focus was Jamaica. The Long Song by Andrea Levy is set in 1832, the year of the slave rebellion on the island, and it tells the story of a slave woman named July, a real "character." This humorous and witty book is very readable and enlightening and avoids becoming overly depressing even though it deals with the really tough issue of slavery.
More on Andrea Levey and The Long Song:
Interesting review of The Long Song by "Tomcat in the Red Room"
More on the 1832 slave rebellion in Jamaica, also known as the Baptist War:
The Christmas Rebellion in the British National Archives
February Multicultural Book Group
This month the Multicultural Book Group read a novel that takes us between Kalimpong, a tiny Indian town in the shadow of the Himalayas to the world of illegal immigrants in New York City.
More on Kiran Desai:
January Multicultural Book Group
Harry Bernstein began to write a memoir of his childhood when he was 94 and called it "The Invisible Wall." Next he wrote of his early married life in "The Dream" about his family's immigration to the United States. He wrote about his married life in "The Golden Willow." And at the age of 100 he is working on the final book in his family history memoirs.
Bernstein Family ship log for immigration to US
December Multicultural Book Group
This month the focus of the book group is the Phillipines. The title of the book, Ilustrado, has its roots in the early Spanish colonial history of the country. The Ilustrado were an educated class that developed after the Spanish introduced public education in the 1860's.
Miguel Syjuco's book has won a number of awards and was given an impressive list of starred reviews by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, and more. This is a very stylish and creative work that really brings the writer, Crispin Salvador to life.
More on the book:
A discussion of the book on WorldLiteratureForum.com
Miguel Syjuco speaking about the book:
November Multicultural Book Group
Kate Grenville's award winning book, The Secret River, is a story set in late 18th century London and colonial Australia. This story of fiction about the immigration of a British convict and his family to Australia is inspired by one of the author's ancestors.
Listen to more about the book on the BBC's World Book Club:
Kate Grenville interview podcast
View of Wiseman's Ferry on Google Maps
Read background information on Wikipedia:
Can't find a copy of the book? You can read most of it at Google Books:
October Multicultural Book Group
Multicultural Book Group has chosen a challenging non-fiction book for its October meeting, the memoirs of prominent Israeli author, Amos Oz. For anyone struggling with this complex book, past reviews can be helpful and illuminating.
The Complete Review: A Tale of Love and Darkness
While the book focuses on his childhood in the 1940's and 50's in Israel, he covers a lot of history leading up to those times, and he is still very involved in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict of today:
New York Times, March 6, 2010
New Yorker, November 8, 2004
There is a new documentary film based on the memoirs:
