Bucharest is a city near and dear to my heart. Between Fall 1994 and Spring 1996, while providing volunteer humanitarian service there, I walked the grey avenues, packed into crowded buses, licked summer ice cream in the parks, and cuddled orphans. Even after leaving Romania for my native California, I felt I had taken part … More The Historical Fiction of Bucharest
Travel Europe Through Books as you peruse these carefully curated selections of fiction and non-fiction, created or set in various European lands. … More Books
Many years ago, when I was in college, I met a young man who always wore large round glasses and white button-down shirts. He was studious and reserved, but always polished and cordial in his bearing. I liked him as soon as I saw him for the first time one September evening, while some of … More 5 Years of Books, 30 Years of Stories
Many years ago I lived in Romania for 16 months as a young American volunteer. It was in the mid-nineties; communism (as it only shortly before existed in Romania) was a thing of the past, but its shadows still loomed large. Huge, half-built ‘hunger domes’ — that had been intended as neighborhood mess halls — … More Book Review: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
Watch the trailers of these … More A Trilogy in Three Trailers
It’s October and author V M Karren has been hard at work racing to get his new novel ready for launch in a few weeks. It’s called October Revelations and is the third and final book in The Deceit of Riches Trilogy. October Revelations, which is scheduled for release on November 12th of this year, … More October Revelations: A Great New Fall Read
Marten (with an “e”) gives you his best travel tips for avoiding the boring and irrelevant attractions in Europe’s most visited cities, and some great spots in some of the continent’s up-and-coming travel hotspots that might be off your radar. Let Marten (with an “e”) help you navigate past the tourist traps and find the “best” food that Europe has to offer to discerning globetrotters.
… More Marten (with an ‘e’) shows you Europe.
This week we are highlighting the novel, From the Rooftops by V M Karren, which is set mainly in the eastern European country of Romania. We thought you might enjoy taking a brief glimpse at what everyday life looks like in Romania as an introduction to the book. Although the book is set in the … More Everyday Life in Romania
You gotta Love it to Write it! … More “You gotta Love it to Write it!”
For a Westerner, Romania is a fascinating place to travel, with fantastic skiing and hiking in the Transylvanian Alps, the richly ornate architecture of Bucharest and other cities, and the well-preserved peasant life in the rural villages. But beyond this, Romanian culture is rich with tradition, patriotism, and high artistic achievement. The struggle of the … More Author Interview: American Novelist Writes About Modern Romania
