LittleW Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 That's a great list you have by now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 I think so! I'm quite pleased. I think with another day or two I'll be able to start narrowing it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Or you might read them all and by the time you've completed that task, your situation has chanced and allows you to travel everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 Wouldn't that be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 As soon as I saw Spain I was going to recommend The Shadow of the Wind, I loved that book, but you'd already thought of it Although it was a few years ago I read it, I remember liking Cecilia Ahern's The Book of Tomorrow, that was set in Ireland. There was another really good book I read set in Ireland but I really can't remember the name of it now. If it comes to me I'll let you know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Yay! More for Ireland. . Let me know if you think of another.That's two for The Shadow of the Wind... Eta: More random thoughts on this challenge: I think I'm going to buy physical books of the ones I choose for the challenge instead of e-books or library books. I'd like to be able to line them all up on my shelf and read over & again. This is the first reading challenge I've ever done. The whole concept is rather growing on me. I actually have some ideas on more to do after I finish this one. Edited April 11, 2014 by dtrpath27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) Day Two updates: 1. Spain The Sun Also Rises by Hemmingway For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemmingway Duende by Jason Webster Sacred Sierra by Jason Webster The Stone Raft by José Saramago The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Luiz Zaffon Bloodletting by Federico Garcia Lorca 2. Turkey Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga 3. Ireland Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt Paddy Clarke, ha, ha, ha! by Roddy Doyle The Dubliners by James Joyce The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Ahrens 4. Portugal The Stone Raft by José Saramago For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemmingway The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas), by Luís de Camões The Following Story by Cees Nooteboom 5. Desert Southwest The Professor's House by Willa Cather Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingslover The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher 6. Nova Scotia Sailing Around the World Alone by Joshua Slokum The Shipping News by Anne Proulx Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston Fall on Your Knees by Anne Marie MacDonald Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill 7. India A Fine Balance A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth Eclipse of the Sun by Phil Whitaker Author Ruth Prawler Jhabvala Behind the Beautiful Flowers by Katherine Boo 8. Peru The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder 9. Czech Republic The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera 10. Moscow The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov Anna Karenina by Tolstoy Doctor Zhivago by Pasternak Edited April 12, 2014 by dtrpath27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) You must simply try Lorca's Bloodletting (Spain). His bio is interesting too. Edited April 13, 2014 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Thank you so much! I'm quite excited about all the wonderful suggestions everyone has made. It seems Spain has a wealth of amazing literature. I really like it when the author has an interesting story as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 Well, narrowing it down is proving to be more difficult than I thought! There are so many great options... I was able to cull the longest list, Spain, down to three choices: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemmingway, The Stone Raft by José Saramago and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Luiz Zaffon. With Turkey, I've read samples of both choices and just can't decide. They're very different books, but both look wonderful. So many decisions. I did, however, manage to narrow down one of the countries. The first country on my trip around the world will be...Ireland! I will be reading The Dubliners by James Joyce. It had a lot of things going for it: both author and setting from the country in question, classic literature, great characters. The main reason I chose it, however, is because it's actually a collection of short stories. I love a good short story and there are no other short story collections on the list. I thought that it would make a great addition to my journey and bring a little variety to things. So off I go to Ireland, compliments of Mr. Joyce! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Bon voyage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I hope you enjoy your journey ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm a bit late but I just remembered the name of that book, it was The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. I had in my head that it was the scarlet something and it was throwing me off . Oh well maybe it can be an option if you re-visit Ireland later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 Haley, thank you so much! There were several on the list that looked amazing, so I plan on reading them just to read them. This challenge has really opened me up to some great sounding books that I wouldn't have known about. It's been pretty fun so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 The Dubliners is well underway and proving to be an interesting read. It's time to start thinking about the next leg of my journey. I believe the next stop on my journey will be the city of Moscow. Elegant and mysterious, it's always been high on my list of places to visit in real life. Now what to read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 My journey to Ireland is complete! Unfortunately, The Dubliners by James Joyce was not quite the tour I was hoping it would be. Although it did provide glimpses of a wide cross-section of people in turn of the century Dublin, the lack of connection to those characters coupled with the abrupt, unresolved endings were unsatisfying to me. I might revisit Ireland later on and try one of the other books on the list. Until then, off to Moscow! The book I've chosen for this leg of the journey is the great Russian classic, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. It's quite a long one, so wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Good Luck- I loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Thanks! I'm really enjoying it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Good luck ! I have the book on my TBR, but plan to read War and Peace first. They both intimidate me so I haven't read either of them yet . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Once again, great minds think alike, Athena! War and Peace is also on my list but I thought I'd tackle Anna Karenina first as it seemed very slightly less daunting. So far, it seems to be not as bad as I thought it might be. Of course, I'm only about ten chapters into the 130 or so in the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kreader Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 (edited) I've spotted The Shadow of the Wind in my library. I already had someone recommend that book to read so I knew that I will eventually read it. Edited April 23, 2014 by Kreader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 I found The Dubliners a bit disappointing when I read it too. It's a really interesting book to study though, you can find loads of interesting interpretations on the stories. I think because it's little snippets of different lives without any complete story, when you get to the end of the book without having read a story it feels quite strange! I hope you enjoy Anna Karenina more, I've never read anything by Tolstoy so I'll be interested to see what you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 I found The Dubliners a bit disappointing when I read it too. It's a really interesting book to study though, you can find loads of interesting interpretations on the stories. I think because it's little snippets of different lives without any complete story, when you get to the end of the book without having read a story it feels quite strange! I hope you enjoy Anna Karenina more, I've never read anything by Tolstoy so I'll be interested to see what you think Haley, that's exactly how it felt! I can see where it would be interesting to analyze, but it is strange not to have read a single complete story in a book of stories. I'm actually really enjoying Anna Karenina so far. It's a big one, though, so we'll see where it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrpath27 Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 I've spotted The Shadow of the Wind in my library. I already had someone recommend that book to read so I knew that I will eventually read it. I've read the sample and really enjoyed it. It's really inching toward the top of my Spain list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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