For many years I taught English and served as the International Student Advisor at a Massachusetts college, a job which stimulated my broad interest in international fiction. I found that by reading books set in the countries where my students and their families lived–usually books written by authors from those countries–that I was able to gain a different perspective and a deeper appreciation of the cultural similarities and differences between life in the US and life in other parts of the world, an appreciation one does not get from textbooks and guidebooks. (There aren’t many textbooks that give detailed scenes in which a father takes the family’s falcon out for exercise or a mother prepares her dung hut for guests, for example.)
In recent years I have reviewed fiction written by authors from Afghanistan to Zanzibar–a fascinating way to gain new understandings of people and cultures around the world. (See list of countries under World in the Categories section on the right.) Reviews on this site include books from 112 of the 195 countries in the world, so far. Many of my reviews appear in shorter form on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.
As far as my reviews are concerned: I’ve never felt it to be the job of a reviewer to “sell” a book. People have different tastes and interests, as do writers, and ideally, the right reader will find the right author and right book. If a reviewer describes a book accurately and completely, a perceptive reader should be able to tell whether s/he would enjoy that book, so that’s what I aim for here, trying very hard, at the same time, to avoid “spoilers.” I don’t usually review books that I don’t like, though there are some for which I express reservations, usually in the last paragraph. You will also find a number of “classics” here, old books that that I was always going to read “someday.” Well, “someday” has arrived, and I’m loving some of these “oldies,” too–even those by Henry James. Hope you enjoy the site.
If you are on Facebook and want to get a live feed there, whenever I post a new review, just do a Facebook search for “Mary Whipple Reviews,” and it will appear at the top of a page. Just open the page and become a “fan.”
What a marvelous site and venture for you, Mary. I am very excited to start reading the reviews of yours I might have missed.
Hi Mary,
Congratulations to you for your new website! What a wonderful treasure trove for finding books and recommendations on books. I will recommend it to friends as well who are avid fiction readers but not part of the amazon network.
cheers Friederike
Thanks so much, Friederike! I’m looking forward to posting more reviews. Look forward to hearing from you again. Best, Mary
Thanks, Pris. Hope you’ll stop by often. It’s an easy place to browse, once you find the “How to Find” tab. Isn’t it nice to see the sun, finally!
Hi Mary, and congratulations on your new website. It’s wonderful – so professional and inviting, and international fiction is a fascinating theme.
Thanks, Kona. I’ve been reading mostly international fiction for many years, but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to highlight it as a body of literature, instead of just one book review at a time. Best, Mary
This new website is the last one you will have to search for. This review represents what thousands others by Mary Whipple perform: meticulous and thoughtful (as well as thought out) reviews after reading a book in anything other than warp speed fashion. I am not a relative, insider or shill; but, I am a fan. I have read reviews by thousands of others in Amazon, and this website will slowly and assuredly eventually replace many of the minutes or hours I otherwise would have devoted to that site. Before I leave, I will bookmark this page. And now this site is only a click away.
Thanks, Bob. I’m blushing. Hope I can live up to half of your praise. Best wishes, Mary
Mary, I just chanced upon your website — what a fabulous idea. Through the past couple of years, you’ve certainly helped me broaden my reading tastes and discover authors I never would have chanced upon. I’m always thrilled to read one of your excellent reviews and here they are — all in one place!
And Hi, to you, too, Jill! What a happy surprise to discover that someone actually found this site on his/her own! I’m having fun with the site, though I’ve discovered the hard way (twice!) that Wordpress has a limit of about 300 links on the tabs (pages) at the top of the Home page! Two crashes for the Authors and Recent Books pages, after I’d put in all the information for 600+ books. The problem is now solved through a workaround, though I still have over 400 links to put back. Still, it’s a lot more rewarding to do than dealing with some of the issues on the site where we first “met.” Best, Mary
Hi Mary,
Congratulations on a truly amazing site! I’ve long felt that your reviews would deserve a room of their own (to misquote Virginia Woolf) and it’s great to finally see them presented in such a worthy environment.
Best of luck and take care,
U.
Thanks so much, Ulrike! It’s great to reconnect with you. Hope you’ll visit often. I’ve missed our conversations! Best, Mary
What a great site! I am having site envy problems now!
don
LOL! Thanks, Don, and welcome. Hope you find lots of interesting things to read and do here. I have a new review coming today or tomorrow from an Algerian author. Best, Mary
Mary:
this is a great site and I’ve read several books based on your reviews. Have you or anyone on this page ever heard of a book called “the Black Hand of God”? I believe it’s a new publication. I saw a couple of chapters of it while researching a thesis and it looked good…about the history of the kingdom of Kongo, but I’m wondering what a professional like you thinks of it…lol. Honestly, I don’t have the time to go down rabbit trails…school is keeping me busy. Anyway, I was wondering if you had read it.
Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Haven’t read this one, Mark, but Robert Edrick’s THE BOOK OF THE HEATHEN, set in the Congo, rates right up there with HEART OF DARKNESS, which it sometimes resembles. A fantastic, and frightening, novel. Thanks for writing. Which books did you read? Best, Mary
Hi Mary, live from london
Congratulations on your website – a greet idea for all us reviewers.
As you know I follow your amazon.co.uk reviews with interest and pleased to see we still share some similar tastes.
Question: albeit a cursory glance you always rate your reads highly. How do you seek out the best and miss the worst? I think amazon is rife for 5 star reviews when popular press would sometimes surely judge a little more soberly? No judgement on your opinions intended but maybe some stinkers that don’t go down so well, make for a more valued opnioner?
I’m a liberal reader and listener but still struggle to rate a lot of reading at maximum greatness. Perhaps we should all move to 10 stars rates to be more objective?
It’s a tricky balance between a tight scoring mechanism and words of reviewing opinion granted.
Hi, Monlibu! It’s really great to see you here! Re choosing to read books I like and reviewing books I like! By now, in my Xth year, I know my own tastes, and I’ve read enough reviews by commercial venues to be able to recognize the buzz-words in advance reviews. I subscribe to Publishers Weekly, so I know about 3 – 4 months ahead of time what books are coming out by authors I know I usually like–or are coming from countries which interest me. I can usually tell by the publishers’ descriptions (or the descriptions on PW or Kirkus) if something is going to be sentimental, full of melodrama, laden with fantasy, and geared to women, and I avoid these from the start. (For me a book that is “geared to women” eliminates half the intelligent population, and that makes no sense to me, unless the author and publisher are afraid ahead of time that intelligent men will reject the book and have good reason to fear this.)
The fact that I don’t like books like these casts no aspersions on those who do, but I’m not going to review them when I know I have a predisposition not to like them. I’ll let the people who enjoy them review them.
The second part of your question refers to the fact that I do not review books that I don’t like. (I have a few exceptions on this site, by major writers who have written books that I think are bad books.) If I don’t like a book, I don’t want to be responsible for giving it a lot of publicity and getting other people to read it. Usually, if I don’t like a book, I don’t finish it–time is too precious.
As I said in my About section, I think my job as a reviewer is to describe the book the way it really is–and let other people decide if they think they would like it. For every book that I like, I usually find something I don’t like, and I note that in the last paragraph. If the review is a rave, you will probably find the book listed in my Favorites list. Tonight, for example, I was SO EXCITED to discover that Colum McCann’s book LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN just won the National Book Award in the US. Since McCann is Irish, now living in New York, and writing, in this case, about New York, that’s a huge achievement. McCann is an author I’ve been praising ever since I reviewed THIS SIDE OF BRIGHTNESS many years ago, and I’ve had LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN at the top of my Favorites list from the day I read it in July.
I don’t think of myself as a prolific reader, however–I have many other interests, and I take notes on everything I read, so it takes time–but it is a very consuming interest, and I enjoy having this site. I’m not an uncritical reader, but I am a reviewer who is reluctant to give publicity to books that I don’t think are worth that publicity, and I am an eclectic enough reader to pay attention to a wide range of books. I also remind myself with every review I write that a real person–an author with hopes, dreams, and talent–spent an average of 2 – 3 years writing a book in which s/he has invested an enormous amount of effort. The author has invested way more time in writing a book than I have in reading and reviewing it, so I’m going to be judicious. lf I don’t like it, then, fine. Someone else can review it. If it like it, I’ll review it, though it won’t necessarily be a rave.
Thanks so much for writing! Best, Mary
Hello Mary,
I’m delighted to have found this website, thanks to Erma Ordach, of Wave of Terror. I very much like the idea of ‘International’ books being looked at as a category, in their own right. And how refreshing to read reviews written by someone who understands books and authors so well. I shall be visiting this site often.
Victoria
P.S. Mary, If you ever feel like a little light read about Spain, please google my name. I’d be honoured to hear your opinions.
Mary,
Your website is a treasure! As I begin to skip along the delicious avenues you have set out for readers everywhere, I find myself overwhelmed, much like a child in a toy store I am not sure which aisle to run down first. The depth and breadth of subject matter is astonishing and your balanced well thought out reviews are a treat to read. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with all of us and introducing us to books we would never otherwise find. You are amazing!
Cheers,
Myranda
Woo! Thanks, Myranda. Hope you find lots of Irish books here to keep you busy and happy. Best, Mary
Dear Mary,
Just a short note to say thank you for such a thoughtful review of “Beneath the Lion’s Gaze”. It is gratifying for a writer to know that their work is being read so closely and carefully.
Best,
M
Mary, what a fantastic site! My hat is off to you for finding so many wonderful books that would never otherwise come to my attention. I love your comprehensive reviews and particularly appreciate the effort you make to bring in all of the photos ~ truly an extraordinary effort! Thank you so much for sharing this with us; I know of no other site like yours and am so happy to have discovered it.
Can’t wait to read your newest Irish review!
Cheers,
Mimi
Thanks, Mimi. I’ll be posting a new Irish review today or tomorrow. (Just got the computer back from having the whole hard drive, the RAM, and the OS replaced. Now I have a whole new computer in the two-year-old packaging. Best, Mary
Mary,
I happened across your blog today while lamely googling my own blog, “Through Books.” What a find! I’m going to have to spend some time reading your reviews. Great minds think alike–it’s such a funny coincidence that we both started our blogs at almost the same time (I think you have 4 days on me!) and with similarly themed titles, although of course the content is totally different. Anyway, just wanted to say hello from a fellow book-blogger. Keep up the good work!
Theresa
And hello to you, too! Thanks for writing. Your site is very attractive, and I enjoyed browsing through it. Left a comment on LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN, my favorite book for last year. Best wishes, Mary
I happened to come across your site and after spending quite a considerable time browsing and reading, just felt I had to congratulate you for all the hard work and effort, that you obviously commit to, in order to keep things current and fresh.
I have only just started out with my site, but I am feeling overwhelmed with all the great content already out there.
Still, I am enjoying it, so I guess that counts for something.
I will be back to visit you often.