M.A.Orthofer
@maorthofer.bsky.social
π€ 679
π₯ 270
π 1092
The Complete Review and its Literary Saloon. [
https://www.complete-review.com/main/main.html]
reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Jacob Siefring
about 22 hours ago
At my blog, a brief statement on the past & the future of the Empyrean Series, which will turn 5 years old this April
jsief.com/2026/01/05/s...
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Jonathan Gibbs
2 days ago
My Books of the Year, in which I ponder why 2025 wasn't a banner reading year for me, and what that might actually mean.
tinycamels.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/b...
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Books of the YearΒ 2025
Some of my books of the year. I didnβt end up writing about Doctor Glas. Missing are Adrian Duncan and Alan Hollinghurst. 2025 wasnβt really a banner year for reading, though Iβm scratching mβ¦
https://tinycamels.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/books-of-the-year-2025/
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New review: "100 number poems" by Gerhard RΓΌhm, in π‘βπ ππππππ πππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/aust...
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the folded clock - Gerhard RΓΌhm
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of the folded clock by Gerhard RΓΌhm.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/austria/ruhmg2.htm
2 days ago
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New review: Thornton Wilder's debut, the 1926 novel πβπ πΆπππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/wild...
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The Cabala - Thornton Wilder
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Cabala by Thornton Wilder.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/wildert/cabala.htm
4 days ago
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Nearly a quarter of the *traffic* to the CR in 2025 was from China (nr.2 nation after US; was nr. 5 in 2024) β but it's all too obvious that almost all of it is from AI bots scraping merrily and speedily away.
5 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Anthony
5 days ago
Reading 2025: A Statistical Reckoning:
timesflowstemmed.com/2026/01/01/r...
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Reading 2025: A Statistical Reckoning
Sixty-four books read last year. A normal reading year by number, though by itself that means little. One can read sixty-four books and be unmoved, or just four and be transformed. Women edged aheaβ¦
https://timesflowstemmed.com/2026/01/01/reading-2025-a-statistical-reckoning/
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Rohan Maitzen
5 days ago
2025 was an uneven reading year, but its highlights were very high indeed. Thank you to everyone who read, commented, or chatted with me here about books, and to all the other bloggers who keep on posting. β€οΈ π
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Novel Readings 2025
2025 was a less chaotic year for meβliterally and psychologicallyβthan 2024. I wish I could say that this meant I read more and better, but instead both my memory and my records show that it was a β¦
https://rohanmaitzen.com/2026/01/01/novel-readings-2025/
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Oh, sure, why not close the year with a dispiriting survey of reading in the US ..... Survey:
ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/20...
[pdf] "Most Americans didn't read many books in 2025"-summary post:
yougovamerica.substack.com/p/most-ameri...
And, *sigh*, e.g.:
5 days ago
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I'm slipping: 121 books reviewed at the Complete Review in 2024, and only 120 in 2025, *sigh* .....
6 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Steve Aylett π
6 days ago
'Shamanspace' banned in Belarus. That's obscure...
add a skeleton here at some point
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M.A.Orthofer
The Modern Novel
6 days ago
Latest on my website: my annual review:
www.themodernnovelblog.com/2025/12/31/a...
All the best and good reading in 2026
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Annual Review 2025 β The Modern Novel
As expected, I read fewer books this year (73 books at an average of 263 pages)fewer than previous years for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons, I have to admit, is that I've been spending far t...
https://www.themodernnovelblog.com/2025/12/31/annual-review-2025/
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New review: Kurahashi Yumiko's dark little novella, πππππππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/japa...
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Scorpions - Kurahashi Yumiko
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Scorpions by Kurahashi Yumiko.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/japannew/kurahy2.htm
8 days ago
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In the mail: the tri-lingual edition ("the original DidxazΓ‘ (Isthmus Zapotec), Spanish, and English") of Irma Pineda's poetry-sequence, ππ‘ππππ πΉπππ€ππ, tr.
@wendycall.bsky.social
from
@yalepress.bsky.social
in their Margellos World Republic of Letters-series
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
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Stolen Flower
From a trailblazing poet, a trilingual narrative in verse that bears witness to a devastating crime and testifies to the power of collective defiance Β In 2...
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282481/stolen-flower/
8 days ago
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Apropos of recent tweet: I always wonder what the English-language ππππ¦-πππ-π ππππ-πππ‘ππ-π-ππππππ-!!! fanatics make of French spacing-practices, incl. putting a space ππππππ the colon, or for what's inside quotation marks, etc., e.g. :
8 days ago
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Getting an early start .....
www.stabroeknews.com/2025/12/28/s...
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Guyanese David Dabydeen nominated for 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature - Stabroek News
Award-winning academic and Guyana Prize recipient David Dabydeen says he has been officially nominated for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature by European
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2025/12/28/sunday/guyanese-david-dabydeen-nominated-for-2026-nobel-prize-in-literature/
8 days ago
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Just found out about the current issue of πΏπ πππ’π£ππππ π ππ£π’π πΉππππΜ§πππ π, with its dossier on 'BibliothΓ¨ques : un idΓ©al menacΓ© ?'
www.gallimard.fr/catalogue/la...
Will need to get my hands on a copy of that .....
9 days ago
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New review: πβπ πΆβπππ'π πΆβπππ by (Ruth Rendell writing as) Barbara Vine
www.complete-review.com/reviews/rend...
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The Child's Child - Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Child's Child by Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell).
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/rendell/vine/childs_child.htm
9 days ago
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New review: Gore Vidal's 1998 novel, πβπ ππππ‘βπ πππππ πΌππ π‘ππ‘π’π‘πππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/popu...
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The Smithsonian Institution - Gore Vidal
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Smithsonian Institution by Gore Vidal.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/popus/vidalg.htm
12 days ago
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In the mail: nice pre-Christmas university press duo: the very promising-sounding πβπ πΆππππ’πππ’π πΆβππππππππ : "A Guide to the Texts That Made the Legend", ed. Wai-yee Li, coming from
@columbiaup.bsky.social
cup.columbia.edu/book/the-con...
and ...
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The Confucius Chronicles | Columbia University Press
Our ideas about Confucius come from the stories told about him. He often appears as the great sage of ancient China, handing down timeless moral precepts to ... | CUP
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-confucius-chronicles/9780231214834/
14 days ago
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New review: Ivan Franko's π΅πππ¦π πππ£ ππ πΉπππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/ukra...
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Boryslav in Flames - Ivan Franko
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Boryslav in Flames by Ivan Franko.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/ukraine/frankoi.htm
15 days ago
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Revisiting Henry Miller's πβπ π΅ππππ ππ ππ¦ πΏπππ (
www.ndbooks.com/book/the-boo...
) and this good point:
16 days ago
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In the mail: ARC of Emma Tholozan's ππππ-ππππ‘β (tr. Emma Ramadan), coming 5/2026 from
@scribepub.bsky.social
Certainly an ... interesting premise.
scribepublications.com/books/self-w...
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Self-Worth by Emma Tholozan | Book
True love or easy moneyβwhich would you choose? Fresh out of grad school with her masters in philosophy, Anna is shocked when a career counselor tells her...
https://scribepublications.com/books/self-worth
17 days ago
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More conkers coverage !
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
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Tomas Weber | At the World Conker Championships
The annual World Conker Championships take place every October in the grounds of the Shuckburgh Arms, a pub in rural...
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/december/at-the-world-conker-championships
18 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
FALTER. Die Wochenzeitung aus Wien
18 days ago
Der Traditionsverlag muss seine Buchhandlung in der Innenstadt schlieΓen. Das erzΓ€hlt auch viel ΓΌber eine Gesellschaft, die sich ganz am Handy orientiert.
@angoldna.bsky.social
β berichtet β
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Am Ende der Landkarte: Der Traditionsverlag Freytag & Berndt verlΓ€sst die City
Der Traditionsverlag muss seine Buchhandlung in der Innenstadt schlieΓen. Das erzΓ€hlt auch viel ΓΌber eine Gesellschaft, die sich ganz am Handy orientiert
https://www.falter.at/zeitung/20251216/alles-auf-einer-karte
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*Prediction* markets now basically just a sports-gambling racket.
www.ft.com/content/1ac0...
Who could have predicted that ?
18 days ago
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New review: Friedrich Torberg's 1943 novella, πππππππππ ππ ππππ, now (well, 3/2026) finally in English
www.complete-review.com/reviews/aust...
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Vengeance is Mine - Friedrich Torberg
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Vengeance is Mine by Friedrich Torberg.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/austria/torbergf.htm
18 days ago
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In the mail: Kurahashi Yumiko's πππππππππ β always great to see something from
@wakefieldpress.bsky.social
wakefieldpress.com/products/sco...
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Scorpions
Translated, with an introduction, by Michael Day / December 2025 / 4.5 x 7, 80 pp. / 978-1-962728-10-2 βMy literature is a cancer which attacks and destroys the literature of the past.ββYumiko Kurahas...
https://wakefieldpress.com/products/scorpions
19 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
19 days ago
National Book Critics Circle 2025 longlist for Barrios book in translation prize announced -
www.bookcritics.org/2025/12/18/2...
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2025 NBCC Awards Longlist: Barrios Book in Translation Prize - National Book Critics Circle
Bodies Found in Various Places, by Elvira HernΓ‘ndez, translated from the Spanish by Daniel Borzutzky and Alec Schumacher (Cardboard House) (Poetry) Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue, by Yoko...
https://www.bookcritics.org/2025/12/18/2025-nbcc-awards-longlist-barrios-book-in-translation-prize/
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New review: Monique Wittig's π΄ππππ π π‘βπ π΄πβππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/modf...
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Across the Acheron - Monique Wittig
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Across the Acheron by Monique Wittig.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/modfr/wittigm2.htm
21 days ago
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New review: Lee Child's 2009 Jack Reacher-novel (nr.13), πΊπππ ππππππππ€
www.complete-review.com/reviews/thri...
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Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/thriller/childl15.htm
22 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
22 days ago
National Book Critics Circle 2025 longlist for fiction announced -
www.bookcritics.org/2025/12/15/2...
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2025 NBCC Awards Longlist: Fiction - National Book Critics Circle
The Antidote, by Karen Russell (Knopf) Audition, by Katie Kitamura (Riverhead) The Book of Records, by Madeleine Thien (W.W. Norton) Heart the Lover, by Lily King (Grove) Long Distance, by
https://www.bookcritics.org/2025/12/15/2025-nbcc-awards-longlist-fiction/
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Wild. ππππ‘πππππ ππππππ‘ππ ππ πΏππ‘πππ’π ππππ ππ by Vladimiri Putini.
antigonejournal.com/2025/12/caes...
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Caesar in the Kremlin: Vladimir Putinβs Speeches in Latin
MICHAEL FONTAINE Latin of the New Empire
https://antigonejournal.com/2025/12/caesar-kremlin-vladimir-putin-latin-speeches/
24 days ago
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New review: Nishizawa Yasuhiko's πβπ πππ πβπ π·πππ πππ£ππ πππππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/trcr...
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The Man Who Died Seven Times - Nishizawa Yasuhiko
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Man Who Died Seven Times by Nishizawa Yasuhiko.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/trcrime/nishizaway.htm
25 days ago
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So much in
@nytimes.com
article on "Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class." horrifying ("A 2024 survey of English teachers [...] found they assigned an average of 2.7 whole books per year" etc.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
but also this:
25 days ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Matthew Cheney
26 days ago
Astonishing in so many ways:
add a skeleton here at some point
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Krasznahorkai thanks multitudes in his Nobel banquet speech
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
but there's a transcription fail when he gets to W.G., sigh.
26 days ago
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OFFS
www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Sarkozy releases prison diaries about his 20 days behind bars
The former French president was jailed for taking part in an election campaign funding conspiracy.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8r30py751mo
27 days ago
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Krasznahorkai's 'Nobel diploma'.
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/liter...
27 days ago
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New review: π΄ππ£πππ‘π’πππ ππ πππ₯ ππππ‘π§ππππ: πβπ ππππππ β πβππππππ π»πππππ , by Jonas Kreppel
www.complete-review.com/reviews/yidd...
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Adventures of Max Spitzkopf - Jonas Kreppel
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Adventures of Max Spitzkopf by Jonas Kreppel.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/yiddish/kreppelj.htm
27 days ago
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M.A.Orthofer
Open Letters Review
27 days ago
Open Letters Review editor Steve Donoghue kicks off his Worst Books of 2025 with this year's Worst Fiction - see them now at his Substack, Stevereads:
stevedonoghue.substack.com/p/the-worst-...
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The Worst Books of 2025: Fiction
As mentioned, 2025 was a rough year for fiction.
https://stevedonoghue.substack.com/p/the-worst-books-of-2025-fiction
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75 Notable Translations of 2025, per
@worldlittoday.bsky.social
worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/lit-lis...
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World Literature Todayβs 75 Notable Translations of 2025, by Michelle Johnson
The field of translated literature was again robust in 2025.
https://worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/lit-lists/world-literature-todays-75-notable-translations-2025-michelle-johnson
28 days ago
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In the mail: an Amit Chaudhuri triple-pack from
@nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
: a collection of: "New and Selected Essays 1999-2023", πΌππππππππ‘ππππ π
www.nyrb.com/products/inc...
as well as re-issues of the novels πβπ πΌπππππ‘πππ
www.nyrb.com/products/the...
and π΄ πππ€ πππππ
www.nyrb.com/products/a-n...
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Incompleteness
Essays on everything from the music of Joni Mitchell to the declining quality of Bengali food from one of Indiaβs preeminent writers.
https://www.nyrb.com/products/incompleteness
29 days ago
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M.A.Orthofer
Verbrecher Verlag
29 days ago
Am Sonntag wΓ€re der 98. Geburtstag des groΓen deutsch-georgischen Autors & Philosophen Giwi Margwelaschwili - der 2025 Literaturkalender der Edition Momente wΓΌrdigt dies, indem er Margwelaschwili zum Autor der Woche kΓΌrt. Das freut uns! Mehr Margwelaschwili:
www.verbrecherverlag.de/autor_innen/...
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Good to see this reviewed; surprised/disappointed it hasn't gotten more attention. (My review:
www.complete-review.com/reviews/deut...
)
add a skeleton here at some point
29 days ago
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New review: Felix Platter's journal of "Coming of Age in the Renaissance", π΅ππππ£ππ πππ πΉππππ₯
www.complete-review.com/reviews/divb...
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Beloved Son Felix - Felix Platter
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of Beloved Son Felix by Felix Platter.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/divbiog/platterf.htm
about 1 month ago
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This will go over well .....
www.bbc.com/news/article...
("We as booksellers would certainly naturally and instinctively disdain it," he also says, but .....)
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Waterstones would sell books written by AI, says chain's boss
James Daunt says booksellers instinctively have "disdain" for AI but it could be sold if clearly labelled.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvdkw4xgewo
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
M.A.Orthofer
Lektorat Wengorz
about 1 month ago
Die Lektorin der Reihe hat jeden Band mindestens dreimal gelesen β ihr schafft das auch!
add a skeleton here at some point
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New review: Touhfat Mouhtare's πβπ πΉπππ πππ‘βππ
www.complete-review.com/reviews/fraf...
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The Fire Within - Touhfat Mouhtare
A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Fire Within by Touhfat Mouhtare.
https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/frafrica/mouhtaret.htm
about 1 month ago
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