Title: FROM CHERNOBYL, WITH LOVE
Subtitle: Reporting From The Ruins of the Soviet Union
Author: KATYA CENGEL
Release Date: 2019
Genre: NON-FICTION, BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS
Number Of Pages: 310 Pages
Publisher: POTOMAC BOOKS
Received From: THE AUTHOR
ISBN: 978-1640125728
Rating: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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DESCRIPTION:
Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award Finalist
2019 Foreword INDIES Award, Gold for Autobiography & Memoir
Bronze Medal winner in the Independent Book Publishers Awards
In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the late twentieth century was a time of unprecedented hope for democracy and freedom in Eastern Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union left in its wake a number of independent countries and Communist propaganda was being displaced by Western ideals of a free press. Young writers, journalists, and adventurers such as Katya Cengel flocked from the West eastward to cities like Prague and Budapest, seeking out terra nova. Despite the region’s appeal, neither Kyiv in Ukraine nor Riga in Latvia was the type of place you would expect to find a twenty-two-year-old Californian just out of college. Kyiv was too close to Moscow. Riga was too small to matter—and too cold. But Cengel ended up living and working in both. This book is her remarkable story.
Cengel first took a job at the Baltic Times just seven years after Latvia regained its independence. The idea of a free press in the Eastern Bloc was still so promising that she ultimately moved to Ukraine. From there Cengel made several trips to Chernobyl, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. It was at Chernobyl that she met her fiancé, but as she fell in love, Ukraine collapsed into what would become the Orange Revolution, bringing it to the brink of political disintegration and civil war. Ultimately, this fall of idealism in the East underscores Cengel’s own loss of innocence.
From Chernobyl with Love is an indelible portrait of this historical epoch and a memoir of the highest order.
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From Chernobyl with Love was awarded the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Academic Press. Chernobyl was on the Bookable Space podcast.
https://shows.acast.com/bookable-space/episodes/bookable-space-with-katya-cengel
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MY REVIEW:
FROM CHERNOBYL WITH LOVE: REPORTING FROM THE RUINS OF THE SOVIET UNION by Katya Cengel is a fascinating and entertaining memoir.
Katya may have a Russian first name, but she is decidedly not Russian. Instead, she is a white woman who was born and raised in California. However, that fact didn’t stop her from applying to a reporter position in the Latvia.
With both the enthusiasm and naivety of a young adult, Katya had absolutely no idea what she was in for. She didn’t speak the language. She knew almost nothing about the politics of the area.
You would assume that someone who had grown up in California with it’s temperate climate and easy access to health care and all other amenities of our first-world country would get the heck out of Eastern Europe after experiencing her first winter. Not Katya Cengel. She is made of sterner stuff than 99% of the rest of the citizens of the United States.
Reading about her exploits and adventures will hold readers riveted. From skydiving with questionable parachutes to visiting the restricted area at Chernobyl (twice) it is impossible to put this book down.
From Chernobyl With Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union has won multiple awards and each one is well deserved. This book has everything that a great read should have – with the added benefit that it is all true.
Travel, adventure, crime, corruption, food instability, harsh living conditions, friendship, love, lust and a medically life-threatening situation. This book has it all … and more.
Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book asap.
I rate “From Chernobyl with Love” as 5 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Katya Cengel is a freelance writer and author based in California. Her work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, Marie Claire, and Wall Street Journal among other publications. She has reported from North and Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa and was based in the former Soviet Union for half a decade. She was a features and news writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal from 2003 to 2011.
She is the author of Eric Hoffer Academic Press 2023 award winner, Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) 2020 winner and Foreword Indies 2019 winner “From Chernobyl with Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union”; “Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back” and “Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life”. Her latest book is Straitjackets and Lunch Money.
She has been awarded grants from the International Reporting Project, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists. Her journalism has been recognized with a Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award and a Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Award.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
https://katyacengel.com/home
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STRAIGHT JACKETS AND LUNCH MONEY is now available for Pre-Order
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ABOUT THE PUBLISHER:
Potomac Books has a long and distinguished pedigree. Founded in 1983 as the U.S. imprint of Brassey’s, a renowned British publishing house established in the nineteenth century, Brassey’s-U.S. was acquired by Books International in 1999 and renamed Potomac Books in 2004.
The University of Nebraska Press bought Potomac Books in 2013, acquiring its impressive backlist in military history, politics, current events, international affairs, terrorism, intelligence, and national security. As a general-interest imprint of UNP, Potomac continues to build on its strong roots in these fields, keeping readers informed about the critical issues and challenges of today’s world.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/potomac
FACEBOOK – UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS
TWITTER – UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS
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COMING SOON is Katya’s new book called Straitjackets and Lunch Money – PRE-ORDER NOW!!!
AUTHOR’S UPCOMING EVENTS
Straitjackets and Lunch Money Signings:
Santa Barbara
September 14th, 2023 @ 6pm
Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St., in conversation with Bookshop Podcast founder and host Mandy Jackson-Beverly.
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Berkeley
October 3rd at 7 p.m.
Books Inc., 1491 Shattuck Ave. in conversation with Berkeleyside and Cityside co-founder Frances Dinkelspiel.
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San Luis Obispo
Central Coast Writers Conference, October 14
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San Luis Obispo
October 21 at 2 p.m.
San Luis Obispo Public Library, 995 Palm Street, in conversation with young adult author Mark Parsons.
**If you are local and still want to get free parking be sure to register here.
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