In terms of reading, August was easily the most productive and enjoyable month I’ve had so far this year. That was thanks in large part to it being Women in Translation Month, which I always love getting stuck into! All of my reads throughout August fit into the WIT category, with my 12 picks representing 9 languages across 12 countries. Below are links to my full thoughts on each, followed by a look at the embroidery projects I’ve been working on recently.
The books I read in August
Books Read: 12
Yearly total: 71
1. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez – Argentina – Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
2. So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ – Senegal – Translated from the French by Modupé Bodé-Thomas
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
3. The Others by Sarah Blau – Israel – Translated from the Hebrew by Daniella Zamir
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
4. Palimpsest by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom – Korea/Sweden – Translated from the Swedish by Hanna Strömberg & Richey Wyver
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
5. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami – Japan – Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett & David Boyd
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
6. Magma by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir – Iceland – Translated from the Icelandic by Meg Matich
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
7. The Yogini by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay – India – Translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha
⭐ ⭐ | Review
8. Everywhere Antennas by Julie Delporte – France – Translated from the French by Helge Dascher
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
9. Eartheater by Dolores Reyes – Argentina – Translated from the Spanish by Julia Sanches
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
10. The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail – Iraq – Translated from the Arabic by Elizabeth Winslow
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
11. The Secret Talker by Geling Yan – China/USA – Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
12. Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa – Japan – Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ | Review
Favourite of the month: Magma & Hotel Iris
I had a lot of fun with embroidery projects this month too, including trying out some embroidered bookmarks for the first time. I also hit 30 sales over on my little Etsy shop; a small but lovely milestone! Here’s a quick look at the pieces I worked on throughout August.
What was your favourite read in August? Did you pick up anything for WIT month?
Callum McLaughlin 
A great selection of reads Callum, and as always, your embroidery is gorgeous!
Thanks so much, Cathy! 😊
For some reason modern Argentinian authors’ literary work does not agree with me in general, and I still don’t know why and I also see you gave both Mariana Enriquez and Dolores Reyes’s works only three stars. One book I now definitely want to read from your list is The Others. Congratulations on your sales too! The embroidery is amazing, but I especially love the one with the tree. Simply beautiful.
I had seen very high praise for both, and while I enjoyed elements of their style, I didn’t quite gel with either, sadly.
Thank you very much! I really enjoyed working on that one 😊