Radz Pandit
@radzpandit.bsky.social
Avid reader, book reviewer & amateur book photographer. I write about books on my blog Radhika’s Reading Retreat. Love art and travel too. Website: https://readersretreat2017.wordpress.com Also on: linktr.ee/radzpandit
"But if you work, really really work, and get educated, something will come of it, maybe. Like being able to get out of Manawaka and never come back. One day Morag will be on one of those trains, going to the city and maybe even further than the city. Going to the whole world."
The Diviners – Margaret Laurence
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence is an immersive novel about family, motherhood, writing, one’s roots, and a woman's journey of self-discovery.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
THE DIVINERS is superb, one of my top books this year! A remarkable story about a woman's journey of independence and self-discovery, it is also a novel about writing and the creative process, complicated families and mother-daughter relationships, poverty and social prejudices. My thoughts here:
The Diviners – Margaret Laurence
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence is an immersive novel about family, motherhood, writing, one’s roots, and a woman's journey of self-discovery.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
New for #WITMonth, three short stories by Jacqueline Harpman in We Were Forbidden, translated by Ros Schwartz: 1streading.wordpress.com/2026/08/04/w...
We Were Forbidden
The recent success of Belgian writer Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men (originally translated into English in the 1990s alongside the novel Orlanda) has finally led to more of her wor…
1streading.wordpress.com
A new Mathias Énard is out this September! Translated by the one and only Charlotte Mandell.
"What sort of person can you be, she wondered about the Deaconess, if you can’t see how terrified I am? Say something, if only to show me that you feel sorry for me, or at least that you understand. Show me that, for all your strange customs here, you are still a human being." #NYRBWomen26
A #WITMonth recommendation. THE WAITING YEARS by Fumiko Enchi. A beautifully written, devastating tale of a dysfunctional family, the sense of entrapment felt by its women compelled to submit to the demands and loose behaviour of men. A wonderful book drenched with sadness. Tr. by John Bester.
The Waiting Years – Fumiko Enchi (tr. John Bester)
Fumiko Enchi’s The Waiting Years is my contribution to #JanuaryinJapan and Dolce Bellezza’s Japanese Literary Challenge, and what a terrific read it turned out to be! Set at the beginning of the Me…
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
New for #WITMonth, six of the best women in translation from Peirene Press: 1streading.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/w...
Women in Translation with Peirene Press
The Mussel Feast by Brigit Vanderbeke Brigit Vanderbeke’s The Mussel Feast, translated by Jamie Bulloch, is a classic example of allegorical fiction, taking afamily meal as the starting point of a …
1streading.wordpress.com
"Has anyone told you what to put in the coffin for the deceased? It's best to have a watch so they can measure the time until we meet; and to prevent that time from dragging, you can put in a pack of cigarettes, or playing cards. There's no point goading the dead once they're on the other side."
August is Women in Translation Month so obviously I'm out here waving the HORROR FICTION flag for book recommendations!
Some further suggestions for #WITMonth - this time from the fantastic @charcopress.com 1streading.wordpress.com/2024/07/30/w...
Women in Translation with Charco Press
If you are wondering where to start with Women in Translation Month, you could do worse than turn to Edinburgh-based publisher of Latin American fiction, Charco Press which has, since its formation…
1streading.wordpress.com
Throughout Women in Translation Month, we'll be celebrating the brilliant translators behind Charco Press books, sharing their thoughts on translation, the books they love and why bringing stories across languages matters. Our series begins with Alison, co-translator of I'm Still Here.
That strange face in the mirror: Maybe This Time by Alois Hotschnig, translated by @tesslewis.bsky.social roughghosts.com/2026/08/01/t...
That strange face in the mirror: Maybe This Time by Alois Hotschnig
The stamps on the envelope were still moist. I noticed they were foreign. As I got to the window I realized that I was, in fact, in another country, somewhere unfamiliar. I didn’t know where. To co…
roughghosts.com
"The change that came about in her life robbed her of so much it was as if a bomb had destroyed her home." Starting ABIGAIL by Magda Szabó for #NYRBWomen26 and #WITMonth. Translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix.
I've done a #WITmonth Starter Pack. I do not claim it to be remotely all-encompassing but if you've used the hashtag (as per the criteria⤴️), hopefully I've found and added you. If I haven't, please let me know. go.bsky.app/KEkwYR6
New books in! Picked up my most anticipated release of the year (Gaining Ground - will you look at the French flaps 😍) + a little treat for #witmonth (Brandy Sour) at the wonderfully curated @ravenbooks.bsky.social 🐦⬛ #booksky
As #WITMonth approaches, here are some of my favourite women in translation in Penguin Classics, including Tove Ditlevsen and Irmgard Keun. 1streading.wordpress.com/2023/07/24/w...
Women in Translation in Penguin Classics
Women in Translation Month, which takes place each August, is an annual celebration of women writers from around the world, writing in languages other than English, started by Meytal Radzinski in 2…
1streading.wordpress.com
August is Women in Translation month - #WITMonth - and here are some recommendations from me: readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/w...
WIT Month: Some Favourite Books in 2025 & 2026
A post on some recommendations for Women in Translation (WIT Month) featuring twelve books covering nine languages.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
My post on twelve excellent books worth considering for #WITMonth featuring authors such as Samanta Schweblin, Han Kang, Marlen Haushofer, Inès Cagnati and more. readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/w...
My post on twelve excellent books worth considering for #WITMonth featuring authors such as Samanta Schweblin, Han Kang, Marlen Haushofer, Inès Cagnati and more. readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/w...
August is Women in Translation month - #WITMonth - and here are some recommendations from me: readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/w...
WIT Month: Some Favourite Books in 2025 & 2026
A post on some recommendations for Women in Translation (WIT Month) featuring twelve books covering nine languages.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
"Cameron, who undertakes the strange responsibility for the town's dead, seems to bear now the mark of his calling upon him. His calling calls."
A friend is on holiday in Ukraine and making me jealous so I'm paying it forward. The landscape brings to mind what I imagined reading Marlen Haushofer's The Wall.
Starting my first book for #WITMonth. WHITE NIGHTS BY Urszula Honek. Translated from the Polish by Kate Webster.
Presenting the Booker Prize 2026 longlist. Find out more about the books and authors that make up this year's Booker Dozen: thebookerprizes.com/bp2026
Here's another Barbara Pym novel I loved - THE SWEET DOVE DIED. A dark, beautifully written tale of ageing, loneliness, and possessive love, laced with flashes of Pym's trademark wit. Read this for #NYRBWomen26. readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/t...
The Sweet Dove Died – Barbara Pym
The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym is a dark yet poignant tale of loneliness, aging, and possessive love laced with doses of Pym's trademark wit.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
"Her first feeling was her usual one of contempt for anybody who could live in this way, then, perhaps because growing unhappiness had made her more sensitive, she saw the woman going home to a cosy solitude, her dinner heated up in 25 minutes with no bother of prep, books to read while she ate it."
The Sweet Dove Died – Barbara Pym
The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym is a dark yet poignant tale of loneliness, aging, and possessive love laced with doses of Pym's trademark wit.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
5 novels (well, 4 novels and one short story collection) about trees! 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳
Five From The Archive (no.15): Books about Trees
Apparently today is National Tree Day in Australia. Now, I’ve never been to Australia (or, indeed, to the Southern Hemisphere) but a post on five novels featuring trees on Brona’s Books…
stuckinabook.com
Caught up then couldn't stop reading Barbara Pym's The Sweet Dove Died. #NYRBwomen26 What an exquisite, caustic work! It felt like a dark mirror to Austen's Persuasion. I was also strongly reminded of Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont and its trio of Mrs. P, her fake grandson, and his indifferent gf.
