Tessera
Folgen

Suroor Alikhan

@suroora.bsky.social

Book blogger, book addict, amateur photographer, lover of music, stories and language, and incorrigible dreamer. Blog at talking-about-books.com. Also write reviews of travel books by women for Women on the Road.

296 Posts114 Follower86 Folgt
Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 10h ago

Ritu Menon travels both for work and pleasure. In Loitering with Intent, she writes about these trips. Some of the chapters feel a bit superficial, but others are well-observed. A snapshot of countries at a particular time in history. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/08/05/l...

Loitering with Intent—Diary of a Happy Traveller: Ritu Menon

Published by Speaking Tiger Books, 2016, 248 pages Ritu Menon does not like to travel alone for pleasure, as she announces in the first line of this book. She likes to explore places with her frien…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 4d ago

This week's book review: Nilima Rao's historical crime novel, A Disappearance in Fiji, set during the Raj. A Sikh police officer is sent to a plantation to investigate the disappearance of an indentured labourer and uncovers secrets. Portrait of an era. talking-about-books.com/2026/08/01/a...

A Disappearance in Fiji: Nilima Rao

Published by Zaffre, 2023, 280 pages Fiji, 1914. Sergeant Akal Singh, an Indian Sikh, has been sent to Fiji after a humiliating incident in Hong Kong, where he was serving. All he wants to do is cr…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last wk.

How many women mountaineers can you name? Rosemary J. Brown, in Moving Mountains, writes about nine women through the ages who have summited peaks and done so in the face of societal opposition. Inspiring. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/28/m...

Moving Mountains—Intrepid Women Climbers and the Peaks Named in Their Honour: Rosemary J. Brown

Published by The History Press, 2026, 282 pages If you are asked to name mountaineers who have climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world, do you think mainly of climbers who are men? If you do…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2w ago

This week's book review: Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Took me a while to get into but once the actual story began, it pulled me in. About the "other" and how the real monsters are seldom seen as such. Wonderful descriptions of Notre Dame too. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/25/t...

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame: Victor Hugo

Translated from French by Walter J. CobbPublished by Penguin, 1964 (this translation), 501 pages. Original version published in 1831. What makes a monster? Quasimodo, the bell ringer of Notre Dame,…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2w ago

This graphic travelogue by Kristen Radtke is unusual. After her beloved uncle Dan dies, she seeks out abandoned cities, places that are reminders of the past. A book about the traces we leave behind. @kristenradtke.bsky.social talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/24/i...

Imagine Wanting Only This: Kristen Radtke

Published by Pantheon Graphic Library, 2017, 288 pages This is not a conventional travel book: it’s a graphic book that combines memoir and travel. Kristen Radtke is very close to her uncle, Dan, w…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sara Dykman follows the migration of monarch butterflies from the starting point in Mexico, all the way to Ottawa. Every year, the butterflies make this long journey north to lay their eggs and the hatched caterpillars make it back. Fascinating. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/21/b...

Bicycling with Butterflies—My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration: Sara Dykman

Published by Timber Press, 2021, 280 pages “Beyond my footsteps, mahogany-colored clumps dripped from branches of scattered trees. They shimmered in the sparse light, nearly indistinguishable from …

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 3w ago

This week's book review: Chigozie Obioma's The Road to the Country. A book about a man getting caught up in the Biafra War in Nigeria. Harrowing and beautifully written. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/18/t...

The Road to the Country: Chigozie Obioma

Published by Hutchinson Heinemann / Penguin, 2024, 358 pages “The story of a war can only be fully and truly told by both the living and the dead.”—Igbo proverb Kunle is nine years old when he send…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 3w ago

Mary Novakovich's My Family and Other Enemies is about her trips to Lika, Croatia—where her family is from—with her mother. This is a personal book that also gives you a sense of the land and the people. @marynovakovich.bsky.social talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/17/m...

My Family and Other Enemies—Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland: Mary Novakovich

Published by Bradt, 2022, 268 pages “The beauty in small things seemed to speak Lika to me, a beauty that somehow held its own in this vast, sometimes overwhelming landscape. Orchards groaning with…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 3w ago

Davina Quinlivan delves into her family's history—a mix of Burmese, Indian, Irish, French, German and Scottish—in Shalimar. Along with their migration, she traces her own within the UK. A mix of memoir, travelogue and nature writing. Beautiful. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/14/s...

Shalimar—A Story of Place and Migration: Davina Quinlivan

Published by Little Toller, 2021, 154 pages “Shalimar is the bridge between my father’s world and my perception of it, not a real place but one of our own making, filled with his things, his storie…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 4w ago

This week's book review: Marjane Satrapi's Perspepolis, a classic, a coming-of-age story of a girl in Iran. She wanted to show what life was really like for ordinary Iranis. I reread it after her death; it was as absorbing and powerful as the first time. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/11/t...

The Complete Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi

Originally published in four volumes. Volumes 1 and 2 translated from French by Blake Ferris and Mattias Ripa, and Volumes 3 and 4 translated by Anjali Singh.The complete volume published by Panthe…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 4w ago

A glimpse into Western Sahara in the early 1970s: Tales of the Sahara is Sanmao's account of living there. It's not an easy book because Sanmao can be annoyingly opinionated but she has great empathy for the people and their stories come through. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/10/s...

Stories of the Sahara: Sanmao

Translated from Chinese by Mike FuPublished by Bloomsbury Publishing, 1976, 416 pages Sanmao, a Taiwanese writer, had always been attracted to the desert. In the early 1970s, she and her Spanish pa…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 4w ago

Di Murrell and her husband live on a barge. In A Foodie Afloat, we follow them along France's waterways, from Cambrai to Paris. The focus is on food: she gets produce from farmers' markets and by foraging, and shares recipes. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/07/a...

A Foodie Afloat: Di Murrell

Published by Troubador Publishing, 2020, 256 pages There are people who travel so they can tick places off their lists, and there are those who immerse themselves in their surroundings. Di Murrell …

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

This week's book review: Po: An Elegy for Italy's Longest River by Tobias Jones. He travels up the river, from the point where it flows into the Adriatic to its source. It's a mix of history, travelogue and ecology, and an attempt to understand a country. talking-about-books.com/2026/07/04/t...

The Po—An Elegy for Italy’s Longest River: Tobias Jones

Published by Head of Zeus, 2022, 276 pages “You need to understand the Po to understand Italy”, wrote the poet Guido Ceronetti. So Tobias Jones sets out to explore the river, going against its curr…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

Imani Perry takes a trip through southern US as a way of understanding the country. A mix of history, travelogue and memoir, the book goes into how what happened in the South shaped the country as it is now. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/07/03/s...

South to America—A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation: Imani Perry

Published by HarperCollins, 2022, 432 pages To understand the United States, you need to understand the South, its history and its legacy. That is the premise of this book by Imani Perry, a Black s…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

Food on the Move: a collection of essays about iconic trains and the food served them, including the Orient Express, Ghan, Santa-Fe Super Chief, and the Bullet Train. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/30/f...

Food on the Move—Dining on the Legendary Railway Journeys of the World: edited by Sharon Hudgins

Published by Reaktion Books, 2019, 256 pages There is something magical about sitting on a train, eating well while staring out of the window at a constantly changing vista. So when I came across t…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

This week's book review: Shugri Said Salh's memoir, The Last Nomad. She spent her childhood as a nomad in the Somali desert, then fled the civil war to move to the US. A story of strength and resilience, and an account of a dying way of life. talking-about-books.com/2026/06/27/t...

The Last Nomad—Coming of Age in the Somali Desert: Shugri Said Salh

Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2021, 302 pages “I am the last nomad. … What I am really trying to say is, I am the last person in my direct line to have once lived like that, and now …

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

Sofia Samatar retraces the footsteps of a group of Mennonites, who moved from Russia to Central Asia in the 1880s. Samatar is a Mennonite herself, so the journey is personal, drawing on the accounts of the original. Beautifully written. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/26/t...

The White Mosque—A Silk Road Memoir: Sofia Samatar

Published by Catapult / C Hurst and Co Publishers, 2022, 336 pages “I’m haunted by a little piece of history, the story of a small, hardy, stubborn group of people who travelled here more than a hu…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · last mo.

Kapka Kassabova travels to where her family is from: Lake Ohrid, which straddles Albania, Greece and North Macedonia. A beautifully written book that provides a personal insight into the Balkans. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/23/t...

To The Lake – A Balkan Journey of War and Peace: Kapka Kassabova

Published by Graywolf Press / Granta Publications, 2020, 416 pages “To journey to the place of your ancestors, you must be prepared to see what it is easier to deny.” This is the account not just o…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This week's book review: Perumal Murugan's Poonachi, or the Story of a Black Goat, a fable about an orphan goat. Through the life of the goat Poonachi, Murugan writes about the human condition. Translated by @kalyanasc.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/06/20/p...

Poonachi, or the Story of a Black Goat: Perumal Murugan

Translated from Tamil by N. Kalyan RamanPublished by Eka (Westland Books), 2018, 173 pages. Original version published in 2017. “Once, in a village, there was a goat. No one knew where she was born…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Jini Reddy travels through the British landscape, looking for magic places, "a world of signs and portents". She meets priestesses and shamans and goes on a pilgrimage. She doesn't always find the magic, but when she does, it's fantastic. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/19/w...

Wanderland—A Search for Magic in the Landscape: Jini Reddy

Published by Bloomsbury Wildlife, 2020, 272 pages “I was…sick of the anxiety. This was no way to live, I realized if I wanted to hang on to my sanity. It was time to just do the thing that I secret…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2mo ago

As a journalist, Doreen Cunningham went to Alaska to report on climate change. That was when she saw the grey whales, and became fascinated by them. She returns with her young son to follow them and to revisit the Iñupiaq family she had met. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/16/s...

Soundings—Journeys in the Company of Whales: Doreen Cunningham

Published by Blackstone Pub / Scribner, 2022, 320 pages “Then, the whales came. I heard them before I saw them, their breath hissing through the air. Punctuating the silence. The sound was so start…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This week's book review: Astrid Roemer's On A Woman's Madness, a scathing book from Suriname about societal expectations of women. Noenka is a vivid character—a woman who tries to live on her own terms. Translated by Lucy Scott. @tiltedaxispress.bsky.social talking-about-books.com/2026/06/13/o...

On a Woman’s Madness: Astrid Roemer

Translated from Dutch by Lucy ScottPublished by Tilted Axis Press, 2023, 230 pages. Original version published in 1982. “I’m Noenka, which means Never Again. Born of two polar opposites, a woman an…

talking-about-books.com

Suroor Alikhan@suroora.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Karen Haid discovers another part of southern Italy: Basilicata. After writing about Calabria, she travels around the “instep of the Italian boot”, eating the food, ziplining across 1.5 km, and taking elevators to go up and down a city. talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review/2026/06/12/b...

Basilicata—Authentic Italy: Karen Haid

Published by Hiller Press, 2020, 238 pages Karen Haid, who has spent many years in southern Italy and speaks Italian, explores Basilicata, the “instep of the Italian boot”. Basilicata is sandwiched…

talkingaboutbookswomenstravel.review