Reading Roundup

I just read a memoir – Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu. She is a Third Culture Kid and grew up with a lot of trauma. Her mother was Armenian American and her father was Ghanaian. Growing up she lived in Tanzania, Italy, England, Ethiopia and Uganda and spent summers in Ghana. There were wars going on when she was in Ethiopia and Uganda. That is a lot to unpack but on top of that she had ongoing personal family issues to deal with. It is really not so much a memoir as a poem. A poem of self discovery. Who is she. Where is her home. How do the people around her influence her sense of self. How does the outside world influence her sense of self. It is a beautifully written introspective.

Speaking of Ghana. I read a fun murder mystery by a Ghanaian. Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey. I also read Dune for the first time. The Sci-Fi novel, Dune, was written in 1965 by Frank Herbert. The second part of the latest movie iteration just came out. After reading the book I watched both movies. It was a good plan. Read the book first.

And just to round things out, I’m currently reading Massacre in Minnesota: The Dakota War of 1862, the Most Violent Ethnic Conflict in American History by Gary Clayton Anderson. What a horrible thing that is. Ugh. I can only read a little at a time. Even though I have been reading about US History for many years, I am still shocked and disgusted by it. The unbelievable corruption and greed. In many ways it still carries over to the present day. Sad sad sad.

Another book I read recently was The American Adventuress: A Novel by CW Gortner. It is based on the life of Jennie Jerome, an American from New York, who married Randolph Churchill and was Winston Churchill’s mother. It explains a lot. She was a real character. In her later years she married a man Winston’s age. Mostly just because she could.

Next on my list: Burma Sahib by Paul Theroux. It is a novel based on George Orwell’s time in Burma as a servant of the British Empire. I am looking forward to it. George Orwell also wrote a book about his days in Burma – Burmese Days – which I read many many moons ago. I read someplace recently that many of his books were based on Burma and his time there. It influenced him heavily. 

If you are interested in more books specifically about expats and TCKs, see my TCK/Expats Films and Books page.

Random Thought

When I was very little I had a recurring dream about Babylonians waging war all around me.

In my 20’s I had a recurring dream about being in a big city running through alleyways evading bullets and bombs. 

Is that what life is? One big foxhole?

Sometimes I wonder.