Croatian books I read in 2024 & which deserve an international audience kick off with Dora Šustić's Psi ("Dogs"; originally publ. in 2022 but I'm a bit slow), a story of a Croatian film student in Prague and her passionate encounter with an older man. 1/2

Reading Cro historian Grga Novak's 1933 account of his trip to Egypt which (quite apart from being a gem of a travel book) clearly shows that most of the 'relevatory' themes featured in Nat Geo and Viasat History documentaries about Egypt were already well known to the educated public of the 1930s

2024's best translated fiction part 3: few are better than Kurkov when it comes to mixing strong characters, a sense of period, narrative thrills and ironic humour. And he only seems to get better at pulling these things off, while making serious points about the identity of Ukraine at the same time

So my list of 2024's best CEE-region transated fiction would kick off with Croatian Damir Karakaš's Celebration (publ. @twolinespress.bsky.social), a deeply nuanced and disarmingly lyrical exploration of the links between harsh landscape, rural poverty, emotional damage and political extremes.

The history book I most enjoyed reading in 2024 is @alicehunt.bsky.social's Republic, a deftly woven account of a decade uniquely full of change, ideas, ambiguities and possibilities. It also has something of the thriller about it: we know that the republic fell, but keep on reading to find out why

Finally got to grips with one of the outstanding UK non-fiction books of recent years, a searing account of Leeds during the lockdowns - when author @stuhennigan.bsky.social was a volunteer delivering food & meds to the needy and isolated. Published by indie mavericks @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social

Greatest reading pleasure of 2024 (so far) was finally getting to grips with 2021 Nobel winner Abdulrazak Gurnah. His novels beautifully evoke a richly storied (& frequently tragic) East African space scarred by colonialism, often crafting moving, decade-spanning epics in the space of 260-300 pages.

Joseph Roth was a master at embellishing the history of himself and others so I guess that justifies the, erm, somewhat creative map of the Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the book...

Arguably it was Roth more than any other writer who introduced me to Central Europe: a vast body of outstanding journalism and fiction was written by a man who roamed the continent without ever seeming to settle - a chaotic but epic life told in gripping style by biographer @keironpim.bsky.social

Krešimirac, the prettiest of central Zagreb's parks, especially when the light is right

Also found this guide to Poreč impossible to refuse - the aesthetics of 1960s Cro/Yu travel brochures are quite frequently stunning (although the artists responsible frequently left uncredited)

Popped into my local 2nd hand bookshop on impulse and found the 1969 edition of Blue Guide's Yugoslavia: Adriatic Coast staring irresistibly back at me. A dour colourless read when 1st published it's a fascinating historical source 55 years on

Looks like the irrepressible Borderlines made it to the table-top display at the Znanje bookshop in central Zagreb, @lewisbaston.bsky.social

Only here for the cat pics tbh

Had this by Katarina Luketić on the shelf for 10yrs and only just got round to reading it. Good overview of Balkanogies, lots of original observations on self-generated & nesting Balkanisms, & an eloquent takedown of arch Britsplainer Rebecca West.