A rojak* of items that caught my eye this
week…
Seen Elsewhere
Delhi Metro takes a literary turn, with the
establishment of commuter-friendly bookstores.
The Hindustan Times
Scholars debate French legacy in Vietnam:
Viet Nam News (English edition)
An interview with Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov:
Electric Lit
Quick Notice – Conquerors: How Portugal seized the Indian
Ocean and forged the First Global Empire by Roger Crowley
About the book: The history of
Portuguese exploration is now almost forgotten. But Portugal’s navigators
cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasca da
Gama to India and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East – then set
about creating the first long-range maritime empire. In an astonishing blitz of
thirty years, a handful of visionary and utterly ruthless empire builders, with
few resources but breathtaking ambition, attempted to seize the Indian Ocean,
destroy Islam and take control of world trade. Conquerors is an epic tale of navigation, trade, technology and
religious zealotry, sea battles and shipwrecks, endurance, courage and
terrifying brutality. Drawing on extensive first-hand accounts, it brings to
life the exploits of an extraordinary band of conquerors who set in motion five
hundred years of European colonisation and unleashed the forces of
globalisation.
About the author: Roger Crowley has
had a varied career as a teacher and publisher and now writes full time. He is
the author of Constantinople, Empires of the Sea and City of Fortune.
Details: Published by Faber &
Faber in hardback and eBook, priced in local currencies.
Blog Spot
Each week I invite the
administrator of a relevant and interesting-sounding blog to write a paragraph.
This week Michaela Anchan, blog administrator for Woolf Works, a co-working
space for women, in Singapore.
The Woolf Works blog features a range of content - from
current events and workshops we’re running, to longer articles around women and
business. Part of my role at Woolf Works is helping women, especially mothers,
make themselves and their professional goals a priority. It can become an habitual
practice for mothers to take care of everyone else in the household's needs and
then run out of time / energy / resources to take care of themselves. Through
my blogging I like to talk about my own experience of juggling motherhood with
ambition in an authentic and realistic way. I also like to cover tools and
resources for small business owners and we often feature inspiring Ted talks
too.
Do you run a
blog you think may be of interest to readers of Asian Books Blog, and which you’d
like to see featured here? If so, get in touch, preferably via e-mail - asianbooksblog@gmail.com. Thanks.
Twitter Spot
Each week I make a suggestion of
an interesting Twitter account you may like to follow. This week, sticking with the theme of promoting
women’s interests, She Reads South Asia, @SheReadsSA, an account devoted to discovering,
celebrating and discussing works by female South Asian writers. To see also their
website, click here.
