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Clara 🌺

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echo book club ~ the mediterranean era 🐚🐬🌀
december book: diary of a country prosecutor, tawfik al-hakim
dm to join 🫶

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Hi everyone! I am starting a book club and you are all welcome to join! I am so so so excited to share this with you 🤍🤍🤍

Each month, starting in October, we will read one book I will have selected. This year, we are reading the Mediterranean so we will travel to Tunisia, Algeria, Italy, Türkiye, France,… while reading recently published and not-so-recently published works of fiction. Hopefully we’ll discover new favorite reads! 🐚🐬🌀
October read will be announced very soon, so stay tuned to be part of the Echo Book Club 🌊

Send me a dm if you want to be added to the book club chat, details to come ☺️

#bookclub #echobookclub #echo #book #mediterranean #mediterraneansea #fiction #bookstagrammer #booksta #bookstagram #france #novel #translated #translatedfiction taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

I spent a lot of time with this book, quite simply because it is a huge one. Reading this almost a year ago, I would expect the story to fade but it has stuck with me. Donna Tartt’s writing does that to you.  However one or two things did annoy me in this book like the casual (yet absolutely useless) mention of Isr*el through a couple characters or their activities (please explain to me why people in New York always practice krav m*ga and not any other sport???). But the most disturbing thing was Boris’ several mentions of the n word. Uncalled for, each time. I understand having to depict a flawed character but to be honest, Boris had enough flaws without having to add this one. I don’t think it helped the story in any way, which is why I am calling her out for it. I completely fell in love with Donna Tartt’s writing and stories with The Secret History, so I had some expectations for The Goldfinch. The story is good, it is gripping despite the length (I did not get bored, not once) but I am a little bit disappointed with the two things I mentioned earlier…
After having now read two of her three novels, I can say with confidence that Donna Tartt was a young unlucky boy in another life because no one writes them like her.

Whatever I say after this may seem futile but I did enjoy the book and what it said about art, missed opportunities, and grief. This novel was like a beautiful painting you discover little by little.

I am curious to know what you thought of The Goldfinch if you have read it.

#thegoldfinch #donnatartt #bigbook #review #art by @claraxbooks

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10 months ago

As we are nearing the end of the month of november, let me announce the Echo book club pick of December : Diary of a Country Prosecutor written by Tawfiq al-Hakim. Let’s travel to 1920s Egypt together this month, are you excited? Because I am!! I cannot wait to discover this book with you all.  As you may have understood from the previous picks and this one, I am discovering most of the books along with the book club, reading from my personal library. But, I trust Saqi Books on this one to be honest, I have never been disappointed!
 Diary of a Country Prosecutor was first published in Arabic in 1937 under the title Maze of Justice, it was the Egyptian author’s second novel. It was first translated in English by Abba Eban in 2005 and later republished by Saqi Books in 2023, with an additional introduction by Richard Littler.   This short novel (192 pages) takes us back to « 1920s Cairo, where a young and ambitious prosecutor is dispatched from the bustling city to a provincial village to investigate a serious crime. Armed with his European education, the prosecutor is confident that he will dispense justice in this rural outpost. But as he becomes engrossed in village life, he finds himself increasingly befuddled by an alien legal system and the clueless bureaucrats who enforce it. As he teases out the facts of the case, one thing becomes clear: justice is never as simple as it seems. »

(Summary by Saqi Books)

Let’s dive in, shall we? 🌝

#bookclub #december #egypt #echo by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

I have yet to read Amin Maalouf’s books, and I am almost ashamed to say I have never read any of his books, when they’ve been recommended to me several times by so many different people around me. So it is with great pleasure and greater honour that I present to you the Echo Book Club pick of November : Leo the African, by Amin Maalouf.

Amin Maalouf first published, in French, this novel in 1983 (JC Lattès) and it has since then lived and been loved by so many readers around the world. This was his first novel, and yet in it, Maalouf feels so experienced in the art of narration.

Written in the form of a memoir of the eponymous famous traveler, Leo the African recounts the whole life of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Wazzān al-Zaiyātī from his birth (1494) in Granada to his travels around the Mediterranean countries during the Renaissance. Maalouf took real life events of the traveler and imagined what he could have seen and felt. Each chapter of the book tells the story of major chapters of his life: Granada, Fez, Cairo and Rome.

We are about to embark on the greatest journey across the 15th century Mediterranean my friends, I hope you are all ready for this magnificent literary trip!

Who’s joining?   If you are not already in the group chat, please send me a message !

#november #bookclub #pick #bookclubpick #echobookclub #aminmaalouf #lebanon #french #literature #book #leotheafrican #islam #15thcentury #granada #fez #cairo #rome #ottoman #muslim #andalusia #classic #leonlafricain #read #reading #tbr #tbrpile by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

“My memory begins with my anger”

This is not a conventional halloween book rec but trust me when I say, you will not sleep well after reading this book.  I do not want to say too much about I Who Have Never Known Men for the pleasure of reading (this book especially) lies in the surprise. Both the story and style will leave you thinking « what.the.hell.??? » and I think that’s enough to want to read this book.  Note that this short novel can be read in one day or two, so you have your weekend plans right there! I personally read it in the original French because although I looooove the cover, the cheap price of le livre de poche was much appreciated in that case! And, I always prefer reading in the original language if I can.  
Another bookstagram fave that will end up on my list of faves. So far, this year, I have had very good surprises when reading popular books. Will tell you about that shortly, because I just finished a book earlier today that falls into the same category!

If you don’t read too much and are looking for something to start again, this book is a great way to do so!
Happy reading!

PS: what’s your theory for this novel? Come tell me in dm to avoid spoilers!!

#review #fiction #iwhohaveneverknownmen #translated #belgian #belgium #literature #shortbook #small #read #reading #haunting #dystopian #book #bookstagram #recommendation by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same”

#dump taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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0

a year ago

When visiting my partner’s family in Algiers, I went to the Librairie L’Arbre à dires where I had the chance to find someone kind and expert enough to point me in the direction of contemporary Algerian authors. Écorces (tr: tree bark) by Hajar Bali was my first read from the bookseller’s excellent selection.

In this familial saga, Nour is surrounded by the women of his life. Now, everything seems to revolve around him, but it was not always the case.The narration suggests that the story is more about the women, especially Baya, the great grandmother and matriarch of this family.
Écorces is about transmission: of memories of course because Baya has her share of them and she is finally ready to pass them on to the only man in the family who has survived this supposed curse. It is also about trauma, and how within a family, however hard we try not to, we pass them down to our children and their children after that. Baya has seen colonisation, liberation, civil war, she has witnessed Nour’s father being arrested for terrorism, she is history and she embodies it, but she elegantly tells the story of their family without saying too much. Nour cannot be the one to bear everything on his shoulders, she will not let it be so. If at times, the narration is rambling or the timeline is a bit incoherent, we understand that it is done purposefully because this familial saga is not some perfect account of one’s family ; for this one is told by its protagonists, and their tales are layered, full with emotions and memories bubbling up.

A beautiful testimony of love, womanhood, family and the connections we have with ancestors we may or may not know. Algeria’s history personified by its women.

#algeria #book #contemporary #algiers #alger #dz #author #hajarbali #saga #family #women #bookstagram #review #novel #fiction taken in Alger by @claraxbooks

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6

a year ago

Goodbye sweet September and hello October 🧡🍂
Although I am the biggest summer fan, I do enjoy autumn for the literary ambiance. Hopefully I will swim in the Aegean Sea next summer, in the meantime I will get cosy at home and read read read and read with next to no interruption (let’s forget about the full time job for a minute 😌)

I do have to catch up on my 25 reads for 2025 (tell me in the comments if you’d like to know how late I am lol) so I will motivate myself to read these books first! I honestly think I won’t have time to finish them but oh well, no pressure let’s just enjoy!

Do you have any plans for this fall semester? (see how I miss my years of academia 🥲). I have two main objectives: reading and posting on this account! Let’s see if I can do that 😇 look, I already followed the corkboard wallpaper trend and made myself a little content calendar in my home office. I’d say I’m on the right track, aren’t I? 🤭

Happy October!!! 🫶

#october #fall #autumn #mediterranean #book #booksta #bookstagram #25 #academia #darkacademia #reading #france #southoffrance taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

The first book of the Echo Book Club is a family saga revolving around one night. Every chapter is divided by a character, either an aunt or a son or the help who has something to say about it. And… it’s difficult to keep track on who’s who!!

Does that happen to you with family sagas?? I have the same thing when I’m reading a book with a map at the beginning 🤓, always going back and forth!

#bookclub #familysaga #historical #historicalfiction #fiction #multiplepovs #tunisia #book #bookstagram #literature #contemporary #funny #genealogy #familytree #translation #arabic taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

When I read this book in April, I considered it to be a good memoir. We learn a lot about Omar El Akkad’s life as an Egyptian immigrant and later journalist in post 911 North America. I also said it had a focus on Palestine (I went back to check…) but now I would say that Palestine is a pretext for this book. El Akkad denounces everyone who has been silent on the subject of Palestine, since the beginning of the genocide.
His 2023 tweet (featured on slide 2) is a resounding quote, we have been seeing glimpses of this newfound morals from celebrities, influencers and even people around us because as Omar El Akkad said it: it IS more safe. Now that so much time has passed, it is more easy to condemn.

So I find it quite contradictory that the author would quote his own tweet obviously referring to Palestine, and… not really talk about Palestine?
In my first notes I wrote that El Akkad was too compromising. I still think it to be the case because you cannot condemn Israel and its supporters for committing ethnic cleansing while talking about Palestine since 2023 and not encompass previous years of (not-so-slow) genocidal actions. I would advise not taking the oppressor’s chronological lens and rather use your platform and status (as a respectable journalist) to reposition the focal point on the almost 80 years of oppression. Nevertheless, I have seen interviews in which El Akkad talks about Palestine before 2023. On Al Jazeera for instance.

After reading Amanda’s great review (@books_ergo_sum ) I had a lot of thinking to do. My own review is a product of having read hers and trying to find more criticism on this book. Please read her review which I find eye-opening on the topic.

This book is not really about Palestine, and that’s okay. The title is misleading because of what it refers to. This book is to me, a (good) testimony of the individualistic societies we live in. It tackles the ways liberals’ morals depend on public opinion. You would never not condemn South Africa’s apartheid, or Nazi Germany now.

Continued in the comments >>

#palestine #oneday #quote #tweet #omarelakkad #journalism #memoir #genocide #review #book #bookstagram #booksta #criticism taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

Quel bonheur de reconnaître les lieux de cette histoire ! Entre le tout début dans les rues de Toulon, puis dans les environs de Manosque.

Angelo est un capitaine Piedmontais de l’armée qui fuit l’Italie après avoir abattu un personnage influent de Turin. Malheureusement il arrive dans notre région en pleine épidémie du choléra. D’abord il fuit, de ville en village puis il s’installe quelques temps sur les toits de Manosque. Où qu’il aille, la mort le suit mais ne l’atteint jamais, même lorsqu’il aide une nonne à débarrasser les rues des cadavres qui s’amoncellent. Le narrateur laisse entendre que si Angelo passe entre les filets de la maladie, c’est parce qu’il n’a pas peur. Il est bien trop occupé à chercher son frère de lait Giuseppe et à rêver de liberté, de justice et de soulèvement du peuple.
 Sur sa route, il rencontrera tous les cas de figure d’une épidémie : les quarantaines, les exilés, des malades et les morts, mais surtout l’effroi et l’ignorance des populations.

- J’ai peur des épiciers quand ils ont des fusils, dit-il. La frousse a donné le goût de l’aventure à des gens qui avaient l’habitude de dormir au coin du feu. Ce sont des chats à qui on a marché brusquement sur la queue : ils griffent à tort et à travers. »

Angelo est un homme bon, bien élevé, qui connaît sa place et ses privilèges et ne perd pas une occasion de se remettre en question.

- Vous savez trop de choses.
- Je ne sais rien. Les premières fois qu’il m’a fallu commander à des hommes (et j’avais mille avantages […]) je me suis posé la question : ‘De quel droit ?’

C’est un protagoniste très agréable à suivre, et l’auteur lui confère des réflexions très intéressantes qui résonnent avec ce que nous avons traversé à l’échelle mondiale en 2020.

Heureuse d’avoir pu découvrir ce classique de la littérature provençale, et française.

#giono #jeangiono #hussard #lehussardsurletoit #manosque #toulon #provence #classique #litterature #book #bookstagram #review #critique #critiquelitteraire #france #italie #turin #piedmont taken in Toulon, France by @claraxbooks

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a year ago

Today would have been Refaat Alareer’s 46th birthday but the Palestinian writer, poet, professor and activist was murdered by Israel on December 6th, 2023. Today we honor his memory and his friend (and writer as well!) @mosab_abutoha suggested to record ourselves reading his poem ‘If I Must Die’.

Let us remember Refaat through his texts and what he left behind. Let us hope and pray for a free Palestine, forever and always. 🍉

#ifimustdie #refaatalareer #palestine #poet #poem #mosababutoha #resistance #remember by @claraxbooks

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a year ago