#WorldReads - five books from Turkey

If this is your first visit to my WorldReads blog series, the idea of the posts is to encourage and promote the reading of global literature. On the 5th of each month I highlight five books I have read from a particular country and you can see links to previous countries' posts at the end of this post. Feel welcome to Comment your own suggestions too.

This month's country is Turkey.

Turkish literature benefits I think from not only the country's turbulent history, but also its unique physical place on the globe. A gateway between cultures, this meeting of thoughts and ideas produces a particularly thoughtful style in many of her authors. I have chosen a variety of Turkish books below and if these five aren't enough to entice you, there will be another Turkish authored book featured on Literary Flits today (post published at noon)!


The King of Taksim Square by Emrah Serbes

Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

This coming of age tale is set during the Taksim Riots, a national event which completely derails Caglar's attempts to make his Michael Jackson impersonator sister famous! The book is slow to start, but really takes off once Serbes finds his pace.



Love in Exile by Ayse Kulin

Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

My second Ayse Kulin novel, I found this tale of love across religious divides more accessible than Aylin. Kulin explores not only love between a Muslim woman and a Christian man, but also love for family, for country, and the peculiarly Turkish husun (a nostalgic love).


Istanbul: Memories Of A City by Orhan Pamuk

Buy the audiobook from Audible via Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository
Buy the paperback from Waterstones

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Orhan Pamuk's beautiful memoir of his home city also explores husun amongst other themes. Pamuk jumps from childhood memories to his thoughts on writings by mostly Western authors, to famous Istanbul characters, to the drift of the city over the past couple of centuries from the heights of the Ottoman Empire to relative global obscurity and creeping Westernisation.


Ali And Ramazan by Perihan Magden

Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Based on a true story, Magden's novella of abandoned Istanbul children is shocking for its illumination of neglect and abuse recounted in starkly matter of fact prose. It shows a very different side of the city to Pamuk's recollections, yet is not completely depressing or without hope.


Three Daughters Of Eve by Elif Shafak

Buy the book from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository
Buy the hardback from Waterstones

Read my original book review on Literary Flits

Saving the best for last, this philosophical novel was my Book Of The Month for February this year! I love its explorations of faith and culture, and that I found my own preconceptions challenged by the characters' conversations and actions.


That's it for March's WorldReads from Turkey. I hope I have tempted you to try reading a book from this country! Please do Comment your own favourite Turkish books below and if you fancy buying any of the five I have suggested, clicking through the links from this blog to do so would mean I earn a small commission payment.

You can join in my WorldReads Challenge at any time! Simply read 1 or more books from a different country each month, write a post about it/them, grab the button below and add it to your post. Don't forget to pop back here and Comment your link so I can visit!

Stephanie Jane

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If you missed any earlier WorldReads posts, we have already 'visited' Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. In April I will be highlighting five books by German authors. See you on the 5th to find out which ones!