Featured Author Adam Yamey:
Adam Yamey, retired dental surgeon and author of several books about the Balkans, visited Albania in late spring 1984, when the Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha still ruled the country with an iron fist. This journey is described in Adam’s book “Albania on My Mind”.
Adam and his wife made a trip to Albania in 2016, travelling all over the country by car and talking to many people they met on their travels.
“Rediscovering Albania” is about this trip and compares Albania in 2016 with what it was like in 1984. The book also makes references to the impressions of several earlier travellers to Albania including Lord Byron and Edward Lear. It also touches on the popularity of Indian culture amongst today's Albanians. Adam’s informative travelogue offers a new and interesting look at Albania: its valiant people, its intriguing history, its wonderful landscapes, and its myriad attractions.
You can find Rediscovering Albania:
Or by ordering through a bookseller [ISBN 978-1326807108].
Next author Arti Malaj:
Arti Malaj was raised in northern Albania during the height of Communism. It was challenging. Religion was abolished, food rationed, and essential items limited. He lived in a multi-generation home; dinner was always a significant event with immediate and extended family, often followed by music, translated stories read by his uncle or legends told by his Grandfather Gjeto, never a dull moment.
His journey post Communism included university studies, obligatory military service, immigration to the US, business owner, husband, author, and currently living on his tenth-generation vineyard, orchard, and home in northern Albania.
Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends
Generations of Northern Albanian are known as great storytellers. They shared many folk tales, myths, and legends with their descendants. The collected short stories include mysterious legends of lost treasures, mystical tales of mountain fairies, superhuman powers, century-old witches, blood feuds, and more written by a twelfth-generation Albanian. The lands described in the stories are still visible today, and locals share a sense of wonder and respect the mysteries that hide beneath. Northern Albania is a true treasure of raw natural beauty and a hidden gem in Southeastern Europe.
You can find Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends:
And our final author Kim Malaj:
Kim Malaj lives on a vineyard and homestead in northern Albania. Although she is a Show Me State (Missouri) lady at heart (Go KC Chiefs and Royals!), she loves her life at Homestead Albania.
When she’s not writing, she tends to the garden, orchard, vineyard, or livestock. Even brewing up several batches of raki, making wine, and other sweet and savory treats made from the fruits and veggies produced in the garden. She is an avid photographer, keeps an active blog about their homestead, and hobbyist drone pilot, learning the art of drone photography and filming.
Castle of Teskom
Shiny ember rocks are fuel for time; the dull rocks are a fool’s dime.
An old nursery rhyme, or so they think.
Itra and Danae stumble across an ancient secret kept hidden behind a reflection in time near their Albanian home. A faded memory and cryptic messages have propelled them to risk an encounter with foes from Greek mythology, altering their perception of Albanian folklore and reality. Itra and Danae grapple with events set in motion centuries ago and must choose to protect and serve or risk having the secret exposed.
Will love, loyalty, and lineage be enough to hold them together, or will they lose their way in a universe they are only beginning to understand?
You can find Castle of Teskom
Amazon Paperback & Kindle: https://amzn.to/3n5Aetj
Barnes & Noble Hardback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/castle-of-teskom-kim-malaj/1137830298?ean=9781666206975
Other eBooks: https://books2read.com/u/bpryMl
If you have a book inspired by Albania and want to be featured in next month's spotlight piece, comment below.
Our latest catch of Homestead Albania with the drone included because it's to pretty not to share. Cheers!
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