Me and my blog
I am a thirty-something Dutch woman who moved to Armenia at the end of 2004. Since then I have been blogging about my life in my adopted homeland. I have always had a passion for reading, writing and words, devouring books, newspapers, magazines since I was very little. Unfortunately, living in Armenia did find me somewhat cut off from a supply of good books and information about new books. One of my solutions is my parents bringing in loads of books whenever they come to visit me. They have no idea how grateful I am for that! Another solution to fill my craving was to turn to the internet: I started reading litblogs. From this grew the idea to start one myself and discuss the books I read. I feel like I have something to say about the books I read, but I have never really tried to structure those thoughts and put them into writing, so in that way this blog is a learning exercise for me as well.
My then-boyfriend once called me a book-eater. It is a pretty accurate description, even though I don’t have nearly as much time for books as I used to have.
You must have guessed about the “Armenian” in the title of my blog, but what about “Odar”? For the explanation of that, go here.
What I read
I love reading both fiction and non-fiction. The latter includes mostly books about Eastern-Europe, Russia and the other countries that used to be part of the Soviet-Union (I admit: I have an MA in Eastern-European and Russian studies), especially the Caucasus region where I live now and books about the Middle-East (that’s my second region of interest, and no – no professional background there 
). Other themes you will find frequently in the books I read are human rights, women’s issues and feminism (another admission: I also have an LL.M in international and human rights law).
When it comes to non-fiction, my all-time favorite writer is Chaim Potok. Other favorite writers include Jonathan Safran Foer and Amos Oz. A coincidence that they are all Jewish? I don’t know. I do know that I tend to like Jewish-American writers. Other writers I like include some of the great 19th century Russian writers (Turgenyev, Tolstoy, but I have never liked Dostoyevsky – he is the one I can’t get my head around), Louis de Bernieres, Khaled Hosseini, Jeffrey Eugenides, J.R.R. Tolkien, Rafik Schami, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Dutch children’s book writer and cultural icon Annie M.G. Schmidt. And if I think a bit more, I am sure I will come up with a whole lot more names.
But don’t let these last two paragraphs fool you: I also read lots of books that don’t fall into any of these categories!
Sending me review copies
I love to receive books for reviewing, but I will only accept review copies of books that really interest me. There is one big “but”, though: I live in Armenia. So anyone who asks me to review a book should be prepared to send it overseas to Armenia or to Holland (if I go there or have visitors from Holland within a reasonable amount of time after the request was made). Anyone who wants to ask me to review a book, this is a caveat that I can’t change for practical reasons 
.
You can find me here as well
The Armenian Odar is my other blog, about my life in Armenia.
I’m here on Twitter.
Contact me
You can contact me at armenianodar [at] yahoo [dot] com.
In Europa - Geert Mak
Kindertijd Jeugdjaren Jongelingschap (Childhood Boyhood Youth) - Lev Tolstoy
My last name is Odar, in The Armenian Odar is that a first name or last name?
Antonio, it is neither. Odar is the Armenian word for someone who is non-Armenian, “foreign”. I use Armenian Odar as my online name, because I am non-Armenian, but have spent the biggest part of the last eight years living in Armenia. My Armenian friends call me “half-Armenian”. I feel attached to Armenia, but at the same time I am and will always be an Odar.
What was it that made you decide to move to Armenia? I find it very interesting.
Anashe, I moved to Armenia because I wanted something else. I was done with living in Holland, living the same organized liife day in day out: getting up in the morning, go to work, come home, having to plan meeting friends days if not weeks in advance. Also, I feel that Armenia gives me more opportunity to use my talents and do things that interest me and that I care about. I know on a small scale I am making more of a difference in people’s lives in Armenia than I ever could in Holland.
Before I moved to Armenia to live there permanently, I had been spending more than four years traveling between the two countries. So I wasn’t moving to an unknown place, I knew the country, spoke the language a little, had many friends there. I knew where I was going and what I was doing.
At the time, I didn’t have a good job in Holland and it was difficult to find one. If I wanted to move, I should do it at that time, because it wasn’t as if I was leaving a lot behind. I’d move to Armenia and if it would work out, great! If not, I’d think of something else. I’m still there with a house, two cats and a boyfriend, so something must have worked out right!
Eventually, the decision to move wasn’t difficult, it had been growing inside of me for some time. Living in Armenia isn’t always easy, but for now it is where I want to be.
Chaim Potok and Amoz Oz are brilliant authors. I also like the Russian author, now living in France, Andrei Makine.
Jewwishes, thanks for stopping by. Chaim Potok has been my very favorite author for years and years. I recently rediscovered Amos Oz after getting off on a bad start with him and I now enjoy his books very, very much as well. I read one or two books by Andrei Makine some years ago. I liked them, but wasn’t bowled over at that time. I should revisit him as well.
Meir Shalev and A.B. Yehoshua are also brilliant.
I have never read anything by Yehoshua, but he has been on my want-to-read list for some time. About ten years ago I read a few books by Meir Shalev and at the time I thought they were merely okay. After my successful re-acquaintance with Amos Oz, I want to give Shalev another try as well. I have some of his books back in Holland, so I plan to find them and take them with me.
Hello Myrthe,
I had stumbled upon your blog some time ago and your focus on books, literary analysis, and life in Armenia were very appealing to me particularly because of similar literary tastes. Also, my desire to visit and live in my homeland can be quasi-satiated in my online travels where I can sample others’ experiences and impressions. Thanks for that.
I’ll have to come back with my thoughts on Mahfouz and Maupassant!
Cheers,
Saro
Hallo Myrthe, net je blog ontdekt en ga je besprekingen volgen. Ik ben ook een fanatiek lezer, heb lang geleden Engelse literatuur gestudeerd, maar ben te lui om in het Engels te schrijven, dus blog over de Engelse boeken die ik lees in het Nederlands.
Wat avontuurlijk dat je naar Armenië bent verkast. Ik was daar vorig jaar nog in de buurt (bij wijze van spreken dan), in Georgië. Is Armenië net zo’n prachtig land?
Welkom, Anna!
Armenie lijkt inderdaad wel wat op Georgie, maar veel mensen die beide landen kennen, zeggen vaak dat ze Georgie mooier en leuker vinden.
Volgens mij hebben we nog meer gemeen dan onze liefde voor boeken: ik kom ook uit (de buurt van) Groningen, heb er op school gezeten, maar ben daarna vertrokken.
Hi Myrthe, I just stumbled over your blog, googling Rafik Schami. I call myself a bookeater as well, though I read “only” about 30 books a year. I think we have a similar taste in books, I saw quite some familiar books and authors on your list. I added your blog to my favorites and I am sure I will find quite some inspiration for my reading, always on the hunt for good books.Thanks! Barbara