Book Bingo NW 2024: In Translation

This summer, check out a book in translation! Translated works allow the reader to find new stories and perspectives, delving into another viewpoint or geography through language and story. To fill the In Translation square on your Seattle Public Library #BookBingoNW2024 board, check out the titles suggested below, or find 25 more on this list: Book Bingo NW 2024 In Translation

The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated by Sawad Hussain and Ranya Abdelrahman
In a future where deviant literature is banned and the government can read thoughts, a man takes a job as a book censor, sifting through manuscripts for unpublishable material. To his shock, he becomes a reader, falling in with a subversive group trying to save books, even as his daughter is taken for “reeducation.”

A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World by José Luis González Macías, translated by Daniel Hahn
Spanish author Macías presents a survey of 34 lighthouses in remote areas of the world, detailing their location, architecture, operation details, and fascinating (sometimes haunted) histories alongside artistic renderings and maps.

The Forest Brims Over by Maru Ayase, translated by Haydn Trowell
Novelist Nowatari had a smash hit with a novel that featured a thinly veiled version of his wife, Rui; when Rui discovers Nowatari’s infidelity, she begins to turn into a forest that takes over their house, their town. Nowatari uses this as a new inspiration for his next novel, while editor Sekiguchi grapples with the ethical boundaries between art and exploitation.

Reinbou by Pedro Cabiya, translated by Jessica Powell
In 1965, a brutal civil war in the Dominican Republic reverberates through every strata of society. In 1976, 10-year-old Angel Maceta has a magical touch – literally – finding small treasures that morph into items with the power to transform the lives of his neighbors, even as the legacy of the civil war lingers.

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk
In the rubble of post-World War I Kyiv, unemployed electrical engineer Samson Kolechko loses his right ear to Red Army soldiers – but the ear doesn’t lose its hearing. This proves a boon when Samson takes a job with the police, investigating thefts of silver and unsolved murder, leaving his ear in various places to eavesdrop.

The Villain’s Dance by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated by Roland Glasser
Late 1990s Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) is in turmoil, as Mobuto Sese Seko’s 30-year regime is threatened, and the wake of the Rwandan genocide shapes the region. Teenage Sanza, part of a glue-huffing gang, is recruited to spy on people in the city’s bars. Across the border in Angola, Tshiamuena gives spiritual guidance to workers enticed by the diamond mines. Sanza, Tshiamuena, an Austrian writer, taxi drivers, mine workers, intelligence agents and more intertwine, separate, and twirl back together.

For more ideas for books to meet your Summer Book Bingo challenge, follow our Shelf Talk #BookBingoNW2024 series or check the hashtag #BookBingoNW2024 on social media. Book bingo is presented in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures.  

~ posted by Andrea G.