Paulo Coelho’s acclaimed novel The Alchemist is set in an unspecified pre-modern time in Southern Spain and Northern Africa. The protagonist, Santiago, is an Andalusian shepherd who abandons the fields to pursue his “personal legend” in Egypt. Santiago’s story serves as an allegory about finding and following your dreams. Throughout the novel, the narrator repeats […]
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In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s most recent publication, Notes on Grief, she pays homage to her late father, who passed away unexpectedly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Expanded from her piece in The New Yorker, Notes on Grief is a quick read and comparable in length to her other recent work Zikora. Adichie often grapples with complex topics that
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In his book Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport provides a philosophy on how to approach and integrate technology into our daily lives. Rather than outlining a few quick tips to hack our (often addictive) habits, Newport urges readers to review the platforms we use on a regular basis and evaluate what purpose they serve and whether
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In her memoir Beautiful Country, Qian Julie Wang tells her story of immigrating from China to Brooklyn at seven years old. The story spans roughly five years and is told from the perspective of young Qian Julie, who struggles along with her parents to survive and adapt to life in New York City as undocumented
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Miljenko Jergović’s short story collection Sarajevo Marlboro was published during the Yugoslav Wars in 1994. Jergović depicts everyday citizens living in Sarajevo through a series of vignettes. The short narratives sometimes show how the war impacts the Sarajevo residents, but often, it is only in the background. In many respects, Sarajevo Marlboro is a melancholic version of
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My Cat Yugoslavia is Pajtim Statovci’s debut novel, set in 1980s Kosovo and contemporary Finland. The story jumps between two characters’ stories: a woman growing up in post-Tito Yugoslavia who immigrates to Finland and her young, gay son Bekim, who feels like an outsider both due to his immigration status and sexuality. The novel shares
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Yet another excellent collection from David Sedaris! Much like Calypso, The Best of Me takes readers into seemingly ordinary situations and draws the funniest bits out of them. Several of Sedaris’s stories revolve around his encounters with strangers while traveling on tour or living abroad. These chance encounters lead to a host of beautiful, sardonic,
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Pulitzer-prize winner Annie Proulx takes readers on a 300-year saga through the woods of North America in her novel Barkskins. Clocking in at just over 700 pages, Barkskins tells the story of two immigrants from Paris, René Sel and Charles Duquet, and their descendants. Sel and Duquet move to New France as indentured servants in
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A regular storyteller on The Moth, Sofija Stefanovic tells her story of immigrating from the former Yugoslavia to Australia during the Yugoslav Wars in her memoir Miss Ex-Yugoslavia. As the title suggests, her book opens and closes with scenes from the Miss Ex-Yugoslavia Melbourne 2005 beauty pageant that Stefanovic entered as a film student to
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Published in 1906, Beneath the Wheel tells the story of young Hans Giebenrath, who is from a small village in the German state Baden-Württemberg. After spending his formative years dedicated to his studies, Hans takes and passes the state exams and is selected to continue his education for free at the Seminary of Maulbronn Abbey.
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