In the begin of June I have a couple of India books waiting for reading. I hope I have time to read those countries that I have not ever read before. I think those are Bhutan, Brunei, Laos and Sri Lanka. Bhutan and Laos will be difficult in Finnish. But we will see it in the end of June.
Bhutan
Jamie Zeppa Beyond the Sky and the Earth, a Journey into Bhutan is story about young student, who travel from Canada into Bhutan to teach there during 3 years. She fell in love in Bhutan and its religion.
Cambodia
Anneli Vainio Missä kalat syövät puiden lehtiä (it could be in English: Where fish eats leaves of trees). Anneli Vainio is Finnish doctor, Who worked in Cambodia. She explains what it feels like to work in a clinic on what prostheses were done on amputated patients. In Cambodia there is still a lot of mines. For me it is sad, that now they sow mines in Ukraine. Does people never learn?
Indonesia
I read book Jaavalaisia legendoja (not in English, name could be Legends of Java). In the book there was 5 old stories. They was kind of religious and how you should live - stories.
I visited also Bali with Lauren Gounelle's Matka yli onnen esteiden (I did not faund this book in English, but in France it is L’Homme qui voulait être heureux).
India
Sujata Massey The Prince of Bombay is 3rd part of Bombay-serial. I have liked all of those. There is so much to learn about 1920's Bombay (now Mumbay).
N. R. F. Keating's The Murder of the Maharajah was nice detective story from India. I liked that a lot, maybe because it was not bloody and messy, and it memoir me about good Finnish book of Jacob Wegelius about gorilla who can write, but not talk.
Laos
Major Larry Thorne (in Finland Lauri Törni) was a war hero in Finland and USA 1939-1965). In Finland there is some books and comics books about his career. Kari Kallonen and Petri Sarjanen have written a new book about Thorne's career in USA and his last days in Vietnam war, Purppurasydän (Purple Heart, also Major Thorne got Purple Heart) . Thorne died in 1965... or did he died? Thorne was the model for the Green Berets movie where Thorne was played by John Wayne. A movie about the Purple Heart is being made in America.
I read every year some war books too. Vietnam war is not very familiar for me. I read this book because I know there is something about Laos, but it was very, very little. After all, a new country for me.
Malaysia
Timo Parvela Pate, viidakon kuningas (Pate, The King of Jungle) has not translated in English yet. Pate is classmate of Ella, who's books are translated in German. In English you may read Bicycling to the Moon. That book has written a little bit little kids than Ella and Pate books, but after all: all Parvela's books are quite funny. I myself never listen those in bus or train, because it is not nice tho laugh by yourself.
Madeleine Thien Varmuus in the jungle in Borneo there was a little boy and a little girl and the war drifter them away. After years they meet. Boy lives in Canada and girl in Malaysia. There is a lot of memories to collect so that the life will be whole again. Novel was kind of hard but kind of beautiful too. I have read too many war-books in this year, so that was not my favorite in this year, but it may be in some year. I hope that I have sometimes time to read it again.
Myanmar
Jan-Philipp Sendker's third book from Burma is The Heart Remembers. I have liked this trilogy, but I am quite glad, that this is the last one.
Sri Lanka
Fabio Accorrà La magia dello Sri Lanka was so easy Italy, that I could read it.
Martti Lintunen Pikku norsun uimaretki (The Swimming Trip of little Elephant, not translated in English). Martti Lintunen is Finnish photographer, who has done quite many books. This one was for children and photos has taken in Sri Lanka where is orphanage for orphaned elephants.
Thailand
Johanna Elomaa has wrote a book about Mikko Paasi and his colleagues, whose led group of football player kids and their captain out of a cave whose entrance filled with water in Thailand about 10 years ago. Paasi has a lot of informaation about driwing technology, that was last hope to help a group that didn't know how to swim and didn't know how to dive far away from very long cave. Book is not in English. In Finnish it is Sukellus valoon, (Driwing to the Light) because Kids had not Light in cave during first days after their flaslight went out.
Vietnam
Kim Thuy Ru was so beautiful book, that I first listened it and then read it by myself. I loved it.
* * *
14 books
10 countries
1 New country, Laos.
Now only Brunei is missing from South Asia
