Talisman Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) I have been thinking about doing this for a while, and sort of have been unofficially, but since David Cameron wants us to 'go for it' (whatever 'it' is) have decided that I will go for this. Having looked at Janet's list, who is also undertaking this, I see that my own is a little shorter, but also a little longer than the one in the thread has been bookmarked at the top of this forum. I have spent a bit of time researching what is and isn't a country (opinions do vary) and checking various lists. The main criteria I am using is that the territory in question has to fulfil at least 2 of these: a) have its own nationality - in some overseas territories of France for example the natives are classiifed and treated as French citizens rather than citizens of their own country. b) have its own flag and c) have some form of its own Government such as for example in the Isle of Man. It has taken me a bit of time to compile the list, but I think I have got there! Wherever possible the books will be written by authors who were either born or have spent a lot of the time in the country in question, but where this is not possible (and it will be more difficult for the more remote areas), the book will merely be set there. Here then is my list. Books shown in bold already been read, with those shown in italics on the tbr pile. Ihave listed up to 5 books per country. Afghanistan The Kite Runner – Khalid Hussein; Born Under a Million Shadows – Andrea Busfield; A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khalid Hussein Albania Chronicle in Stone – Ismail Kadare Algeria What the Day Owes the Night – Yasmina Khadre American Samoa Pago Pago Tango – John Enright Andorra Andorra: A Novel – Peter Cameron; Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Angola Our Museque – Jose Luandino Viera Antigua and Barbuda Annie John – Jamaica Kincaid Anguilla The Night of the Rambler – Montegue Kobbe Argentina Fatal Tango – Wolfram Fleischhauer; The Motorcycle Diaries – Eernesto Che Guevara; The Tunnel – Ernesto Sabato Armenia An Armenian Sketchbook – Vasely Grossman Aruba Australia A Fraction of the Whole – Steve Toltz; The Secret River – Kate Grenville; The Cry – Helen Fitzgerald; The Light Between Oceans – ML Stedman; The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion; Gould’s Book of Fish – Richard Flanagan; A Town Like Alice – Neville Shute, The Dry – Jane Harper Austria The World of Yesterday – Stefan Zweig; 3096 Days – Natascha Kampuch Azerbaijan Layla and Majnun - Nizami Azores The Tenth Island – Diana Marcum Bahamas An Evening in Guanima – Patricia Glinton-Meicholas Bahrain My Beautiful Bahrain – Robin Barrett Bangladesh Brick Lane – Monica Ali Barbados Caribbee – Thomas Hoover Belarus Diary of a Perestroika Kid – Vladimir Kozlov Belgium The Man I Became – Peter Verheist Belize Mango Roots Chronicles – Wanjiru Uhuru; Belizean Nail Soup – Felene M Cayatano Benin Voodoo Slaves and White Man’s Graves – Tim Coote; Butterfly Fish – Irenosen Okoje Bermuda Outposts – Simon Winchester Bhutan Married to Bhutan – Linda Lemming Bolivia Lost in the Jungle: Yossi Ghinsberg Bonaire Bosnia and Herzegovina Nowhere Man – Aleksandar Hemon; The Cellist of Sarajevo – Steven Galloway Botswana A Question of Power – Bessie Head Brazil All Dogs are Blue – Rodrigo Souza Leao; The Alchemist – Paolo Coelho; If I Should Close my Eyes Now – Edney Silvestre British Indian Ocean Territory A Lesser Dependency – Peter Benson British Virgin Islands Tamarin of Tortola: John ‘Whitey’ White Brunei Written in Black – KH Lim Bulgaria Zift: A Noir Novel – Vladislav Todorov Burkina Faso The Ring Tone and the Drum – Mark Weston; Voodoo Slaves and White Man’s Graves – Tim Coote Burma (Myanmar) The Road to Wanting – Wendy Law-Yone; The Art of Hearing Heartbeats – Jan-Philip Sendker; A Well Tempered Heart – Jan-Philip Sendker Burundi Strength in What Remains – Tracey Kidder Cambodia When Broken Glass Floats – Chanrithy Him; Survival in the Killing Fields – Haing Ngor Cameroon Behold the Dreamers – Imbolo Mbue Canada Late Nights on Air – Elizabeth Hay; The Life of Pi - Yann Martel Cape Verde Cape Verde Blues – CW Childs Cayman Islands Outposts – Simon Winchester Central African Republic My Trip to the Central African Republic – Martin Skubinna Chad Impossible Journey – Michael Asher Chechnya A Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Anthony Marra Chile Ways of Going Home – Alejandro Zambra; Where the Earth Ends – John Harrison China The Vagrants – Yi Yang Li; Wild Swans – Jung Chang; A Many Splendoured Thing - Han Suyin; Do Not Say We Have Nothing – Madeline Thien, A Single Swallow – Zhang Ling Colombia Delirium – Laura Restrepo; Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez Comoros Congo Drums on the Night Air – Veronica Cecil; Canoeing the Congo – Phil Harwood Cook Islands My Year on a South Sea Island – Kathy Giuffre Costa Rica Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate - Cote D’Ivoire The Bitter Side of Sweet – Tara Sullivan Croatia The Hired Man – Aminatta Forna Cuba The Maids of Havana – Pedro Perez Sarduay; Before Night Falls – Reinaldo Arenas Curacao The House of Six Doors – Patricia Siebert Cyprus The Cypriot – Andreas Koumi Czech Republic HHhH – Laurent Binet; Helga’s Diary – Helga Weiss Denmark The Library of Shadows – Mikkel Birkegaard; The Vanishing Act – Matte Jakobsen Djibouti Transit – Abdourahman A Waberi Dominica The Orchid House – Phyllis Shand Alfrey Dominican Republic Drown – Junot Diaz Ecuador End of the Spear – Steve Saint East Timor Beloved Land – Gordon Peake Egypt Sipping from the Nile – Jean Nagger; The Yacoubian Building – Alas al Aswany; Impossible Journey – Michael Asher El Salvador A Place Where the Sea Remembers - Sandra Benitez; Senselessness – Horacio Castellanos Moya England Past Imperfect – Julian Fellows; On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan; Call the Midwife – Jennifer Worth; Animal Farm – George Orwell Equatorial Guinea Cry Havoc – Simon Mann; By Night the Mountain Burns – Juan Tomas Avita Laurel Eritrea My Father’s Daughter – Hannah Pool Estonia Purge – Sofi Oksanen Ethiopia Beneath the Lion’s Gaze – Maaza Mengiste Falkland Islands Outposts – Simon Winchester Faroe Islands The Old Man and His Sons – Herin Bru Fiji More Tales of the South Pacific – Graeme Kennedy, So Many Islands – Thomas Laughlin Finland The Summer Book – Tove Janssen; The Brothers – Asko Sahlberg, Snow Angels – James Thompson France The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery; Rosie’s War – Rosemary Say; The Presidents Hat – Antoine Laurain French Guyana Colony – Hugo Wilchen French Polynesia Call it Courage – Armstrong Sperry Gabon Gabon – Marius Gabriel Gambia Reading the Ceiling – Dayo Forster Georgia A Man Was Going Down the Road – Otar Chiladze Germany Berlin: A Novel – Pierre Frei; The Reader – Bernhard Schlink; The Berlin Wall: My Part in it’s Downfall – Peter Millar; Next World Novella – Matthias Politycki; The Mussel Fest – Birgit Vanderbeke Ghana Voodoo Slaves and White Man’s Graves – Tim Coote; Journey – Gheysinka Adombire, Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi Gibraltar The Atlantis Gene – AG Riddle; Outposts – Simon Winchester Greece The Island – Victoria Hislop; The Messenger of Athens – Anne Zaroudi Greenland The Long Haul – Alex Hibbert; Graenlindinga Saga – Hermann Palsoon and Magnus Magnusson; Eskimo Folk Tales – Niviaq Komeliusen; Crimson - Niviaq Komeliusen Grenada Pynter Bender – Jacon Ross Guam Gallivanting on Guam – Dave Slagle Guadeloupe Who Slashed Celanire’s Throat – Maryse Conde; Desirada – Maryse Conde Guatemala Tree Girl – Ben Mikaelson Guernsey The Book of Lies – Mary Horlock; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer Guinea My Heart Will Cross the Ocean – Kadiatou Dialto Guinea Bissau The Ring Tone and the Drum – Mark Weston Guyana Kiskadee Girl – Maggie Harris Haiti Love, Anger, Madness – Marie Vieux-Chauvet; In Darkness – Nick Lake Honduras The Ships – Roberto Quesada Hong Kong Girl in Translation – Jean Kwok; Whispering Shadows – Jan-Philip Sendker Hungary The Door – Magda Szabo; Iza’a Ballad – Magda Szabo Iceland Independent People – Halldor Laxness; Jar City – Arnaldur Indridason; My Soul to Take – Yrsa Sigurdadottir; Laxdaela Saga – Herman Palsson; Burial Rites – Hannah Kent; Blackout – Ragnar Jonasson India Witness the Night – Kishwar Desai; Shantaram – David Gregory Roberts; Tiger Hills – Sarita Mandanna, Narcopolis – Jeet Thayil; Behind the Beautiful Forever – Katherine Boo; The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga Indonesia Hotel K – Kathryn Bonella; The Tea Lords – Hella S Haase Iran The Cypress Tree – Kamin Mohammadi; Children of the Jacaranda Tree – Sahar Delijani Iraq The Dove Flyer – Eli Amir; The Madman of Freedom Square – Hassan Blasim; The Girl Who Beat Isis – Farida Khalaf Ireland Round Ireland with a Fridge – Tony Hawks; How to Fall in Love – Cecelia Ahearne; Under the Hawthorn Tree – Maria Conlon; The Good People – Hannah Kent Isle of Man Boy Racer – Mark Cavendish Israel When I Lived in Modern Times – Linda Grant; The Marrying of Chani Kaufman – Eve Harris; Losing Israel – Jasmine Donahaye Italy That Summer in Ischia – Penny Feeny; Last Train from Liguria – Christine Dwyer Hickey: Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin Jamaica Small Island – Andrea Levy; The Book of Night Women – Marlon James Japan Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami; The Reason I Jump – Noaki Higashida; Hiroshima – John Hershey; The Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful – J David Simons Jersey Chequered Hearts – Michael Heath Jordan My Name is Salma – Fadia Faqir Kashmir The Far Field – Madhuri Vijay Kazakhstan On The Trail of Genghis Khan – Tim Cope; The Dead Lake – Hamid Iamailov Kenya Weep Not, Child – Ngegi wa Thiong’o Kiribati So Many Islands – Thomas Laughlin Korea North Nothing to Envy – Barbara Dimmock; Escape from Camp 14 – Blain Harden Korea South Please Look after Mother – Kyong-sook Shin; The Vegetarian – Han Kaing Kosovo Travels in Blood and Honey – Elizabeth Gowing, Three Elegies for Kosovo – Ismail Kadare Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Jamila – Chingiz Aitmatov Laos The Opposite of Hate – Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar Latvia The Betrayers – David Bezmorgia; The Eagle in the Fridge – Zenta Brice Lebanon Somewhere Home – Nada Awar Jarrar Lesotho Folklore Tales from Lesotho - Various Liberia A Marker to Measure Drift – Alexander Maksik Libya In the Country of Men – Matar Hisham; Gaddafi’s Harem – Annick Cojean Liechtenstein Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Lithuania Between Shades of Grey – Ruta Sepetys; No Men, No Cry – Ligne Barauskalte Luxembourg Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Macao The Fan Tan Players – Julian Laws Madagascar Beyond the Rice Fields - Naivo Madeira Malawi The Jive Talker – Samson Kambalu Malaysia Evening is the Whole Day – Preeta Samarasan; The Gift of Rain – Tan Twan Eng Maldives Gate Crashing Paradise – Tom Chesshyre Mali Monique and the Mango Rains – Kris Holloway; Voodoo Slaves and White Man’s Graves – Tim Coote; Impossible Journey – Michael Asher Malta Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Marshall Islands Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island – Peter Rudial-Gould Martinique The Old Slave and the Mastif – Patrick Chamoiseau Mauritania Impossible Journey – Michael Asher Mauritius The Last Brother – Nathacha Appanah Mayotte Tropic of Violence – Natacha Appanah Mexico Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel; Prayers for the Stolen – Jennifer Clement Micronesia The Fish and Rice Chronicles - PG Bryan Moldova From Tajikistan to the Moon – Robert Frimtzis Monaco Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Mongolia On The Trail of Genghis Khan – Tim Cope; Mongol – Uuganaa Ramsay Montenegro A Lullaby for No Man’s Vok – Ksenija Popovich Montserrat Only God Can Make A Tree – Bertram Roach Morocco A Palace in the Old Village – Tahar Ben Jelloun Mozambique The Blind Fisherman – Mia Couto Namibia The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs – Damon Galgut Nauru The Undesirables: Mark Isaacs Nepal Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer Netherlands Infidel – Aayan Hirsi Ali; The Twin – Gerbrand Bakker New Caledonia French Sand – Catherine Broughton New Zealand Wake – Elizabeth Knox Nicaragua The Scroll of Seduction – Giondonda Belli Niue More Tales of the South Pacific – Graeme Kennedy, So Many Islands – Thomas Laughlin Niger Harmattan – Gavin Weston; Impossible Journey – Michael Asher Nigeria Tiny Sunbirds Far Away – Christie Watson; The Famished Land – Ben Okri; Under the Udala Trees – Chinelo Okparanta North Marianna Islands Pu’ukani’s Song – Hannah Steenbock North Macedonia Damages – BK Bazhe Norway The Devil’s Star – Jo Nesbo; Out Stealing Horses – Per Petterson Northern Ireland Watching the Door – Kevin Myers; The Living – Lean Cullnam Oman Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs – Abdulaziz Al Farsi Pakistan Partitions – Amit Majmundar; The Wandering Falcon – Jamil Ahmad; I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai; The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid Palestine Once Upon A Country – Sari Nusseibeh Palau The Fish and Rice Chronicles – PG Bryan Panama Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal – Margarita Engel Papua New Guinea Master Pip – Lloyd Jones Paraguay Peru The Blue Hour – Alonso Cueto Puerto Rico We The Animals – Justin Torres Philippines Banana Heart Summer – Merlinda Bobis Pitcairn Island The Mutineer: A Romance of Pitcairn Island – Walter Jeffrey Poland The Auschwitz Violin – Maria Angels Anglada; The Long Walk – Slavomir Rawicz; Inside the Gas Chambers – Schlomo Venesia; The Dwarfs of Auschwitz – Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren Portugal Last Train to Lisbon – Pascal Mercier Qatar From Dunes to Dior – Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar Reunion Romania The Appointment – Herta Muller; The Beggar and the Hare – Tuomas Kyro; The Last One Hundred Days – Patricl McGuiness Russia The Conductor – Sarah Quigley; Nothing is True and Everything is Possible – Peter Pomerantsev Rwanda Running the Rift – Naomi Benaron St Barthelemy White Sand, Blue Sea: A St Bart’s Love Story – Anita Hughes St Eustacius St Helena, Ascension and Tristan de Cunha Three Years in Tristan de Cunha – Katherine Mary Barrow; Outposts – Simon Winchester St Kitts and Nevis A Distant Shore – Caryl Philips; Only God can make a Tree – Bertram Roach St Lucia Seasons of Mist – McDonald Dixon St Martin St Pierre et Miquelon The Sea Around Them – Norman G Gautreau St Vincent and Grenadines The Moon is Following Me – Cecil Browne Saba Samoa Sons for the Return Home – Albert Wendt; More Tales of the South Pacific – Graeme Kennedy San Marino Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Sao Tome et Principe Sao Tome: A Novel – Paul D Cohn Saudi Arabia Girls of Riyadh –Rajaa Alsanea; The Consequences of Love – Addonia Sulaiman; The Doves Necklace – Raja Alem; Daring to Drive – Manal Al-Sharif Scotland The Life and Death of St Kilda – Tom Steel; Island of Wings – Karin Altenberg; The Hills is Lonely – Lillian Beckwith Senegal Redemption in Indigo – Karen Lord Serbia The Five Wonders of the Danube – Zoran Zivkovic Seychelles Voices: Stories from the Seychelles Islands – Glynn Burridge Sierra Leone Ancestor Stones – Aminatta Forna; The Ring Tone and the Drum – Mark Weston Sint Maarten Gone Bamboo – Anthony Bourdain Singapore Singapore Sling – John Malanthronas; The Moonlight Palace – Liz Rosenberg Slovakia Rivers of Babylon – Peter Pistanek Slovenia The Golden Shower: Or What Men Want – Luka Novak, Yuogoslavia: My Fatherland – Goran Vojnovic Solomon Islands Devil, Devil – GW Kent Somalia Infidel – Aayan Hirsi Ali; Fractured – Clar Ni Chonghalie; Black Mamba Boy – Nadifa Mohammed South Africa Stones for my Father – Trilby Kent South Georgia and Sandwich Islands Outposts – Simon Winchester South Sudan What is the What – Dave Eggers Spain The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruis Zafon; Pilgrimage to Heresy – Tracy Saunders; Stone in a Landslide – Maria Barbal Sri Lanka Mosquito – Roma Tearne Sudan Impossible Journey – Michael Asher; Tears of the Desert – Halima Bashir Suriname The Cost of Sugar – Cynthia McLeod Svalbard and Jan Mayen The Svalbard Passage – Thomas Kirkwood Swaziland When Hoopoes Go to Heaven – Gayle Parkin Sweden The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larson; The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson Switzerland Beauty on Earth – Charles Ferdinand Ramuz Syria The Silence and the Roar – Nihad Sirees Taiwan Tajikistan Uncertain Light – Marion Molteno Tanzania Baking Cakes in Kigali – Gayle Parkin; The Last Gift – Abdulrazak Gurnah Thailand The Beach – Alex Garland Tibet Togo Do They Hear You When You Cry – Layli Miller Bashir and Fauziya Kassinga; Voodoo Slaves and White Men’s Graves – Tim Coote Tokelau Tonga A Farm in the South Pacific Sea – Jan Walker; More Tales of the South Pacific – Graeme Kennedy Trinidad and Tobago The Ten Incarnations of Adam Avatar – Kevin Baldeosingh Tunisia A Tunisian Tale – Hassouna Mosbahi Turkey Ali and Ramazan – Perihan Magden; The Boat – Clara Salaman Turkmenistan The Tale of Aypi – Ak Welspar Turks and Caicos Islands The Unfortunate Potcake – Julie Thompson; Outposts – Simon Winchester Tuvalu Where the Hell is Tuvalu – Philip Ells Uganda Abyssinian Chronicles – Moses Isegawa Ukraine A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – Marina Leweycka United Arab Emirates Dubai Dreams – Raymond Barrett US Virgin Islands Land of Love and Drowning – Tiphanie Yanique United States The Shack – WM Paul Young; The Heretics Daughter – Kathleen Kent; The Passage – Justin Cronin; The Memory Keepers Daughter – Kim Edwards; Emissary of Light – James Twyman; The Colour Purple – Alice Walker Uruguay The Truce – Mario Benedetti Uzbekistan A Carpet Ride to Khiva – Christopher Aslan Alexander Vanuatu Vatican City Secrets of the Vatican – Cyrus Shahrad; Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europe – Thomas M Eccardt Venezuela The Sickness – Alberto Barrero Tyszka, Black Sugar – Bonefoy Miguel Vietnam The Sympathiser – Viet Than Nguyen Wales The Earth Hums in B Flat Major – Mari Strachan Wallis and Futuna More Tales of the South Pacific – Graeme Kennedy Western Sahara Silent Territory: Seven Stories on Western Sahara – Fredrik Louren and Lars Schmidt Yemen A Father’s Betrayal – Gabriella Gillespie Zaire Broken Glass – Alain Mabanckou; The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver Zambia Canoeing the Congo – Phil Harwood, Patchwork – Ellen Banda- Aaku Zimbabwe Out of Shadows – Jason Wallace; The Book of Memory – Petina Gappah Edited April 9, 2021 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Good luck, June - I shall be popping in for recommendations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Me too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) I have just downloaded another 2 books each for 99p from Amazon's 12 Days of Kindle. This really is a wonderful way of getting very cheap books from some very unusual places. I got one from Equatorial Guinea last week, and today I have managed Congo and the Solomon Islands. I am guessing that the 12 days will end soon though - on 12th night whenever that is. Edited January 3, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I've just had a look myself but sadly they don't fit my criteria of 'author born in that country'. I'm going to try to read 10 from this challenge this year if I can - I managed 9 in 2011. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Good luck with this, June! I've been doing it since last year or the year before - haven't progressed much though. I'm determined to read at least 5 this year from my list, and try and find ideas for countries I've no books for yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Do you have a thread in here for yours, Noll? You're welcome to look at my Amazon World Challenge Wish List if you like - it has the author's country of birth in the notes column down the right-hand side. (Sorry to hijack your thread, June!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Ooh cheers for that Janet, that's awesome! I'd never think to use Amazon like that. I'll have a look through that list this evening. I don't have an individual thread for my World Challenge, no, as I don't really like having multiple reading threads. I just have a post in my reading blog where I'll note any titles I read this year, and I have the full list of what I've read, own, ideas for various countries etc, all on my blogger book blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Do you have a thread in here for yours, Noll? You're welcome to look at my Amazon World Challenge Wish List if you like - it has the author's country of birth in the notes column down the right-hand side. (Sorry to hijack your thread, June!) No problem. I can understand why you decided to do it with the authors country of birth Janet, and in many ways this does make sense, and I will try to do this when possible, but for many of the smaller countries or those more off the beaten track, it will I think be downright impossible to find anything at all, let alone from an author who was born there, so for me at least, it will work just as well if the book is just set there. I will take a look at that list though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Oh my that is a huge challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) Completed Solomon Islands - Devil, Devil by GW Kent - the author wasn't born there, but lived and worked on the islands for 8 years and his knowledge comes through very well in the book. This is definately one I would recommend - not your average detective story ! Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) You crazy people!! This is an insane challenge! All the best of luck. June, on your particular challenge do you have to read just one of the books you have selected for each country, or all of them? Edited January 9, 2012 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 On my particular thread, the books shown in bold have been read already, but those shown in italics are on my tbr pile (or more accurately, my Kindle) ! You don't have to read more than one book per country, but there are some countries (like the US for example, or in my case Iceland) where you are bound to, as they publish so many interesting books that you will want to read ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Completed Poland - The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Angels Anglada - this would be classed as a Spanish book for those who are doing this by authors country of birth rather than where the book is set. I am now reading a book set in Equatorial Guinea - Cry Havoc by Simon Mann. Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) I completed Simon Mann's Cry Havoc this morning for Equatorial Guinea, and have posted a review along with the other books I have read this year on my new reading blog. I am not sure what I will read next - I thought about something from Haiti, but the only book I so far like the look of costs more than £12. On the other hand, I do have an £15 Amazon voucher to spend, so I guess it wouldn't be my own money and in my experience, the more expensive books such as this are normally well worth getting. Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) Completed Haiti - Love Anger Madness by Marie Vieux-Chauvet. An excellent read that I would wholeheartedly recommend. My review can be seen here Not sure what I will read next - either Sri Lanka or Italy. Edited January 31, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) Finished my 2nd book set in Italy - Last Train from Liguria by Christine Dwyer Hickey (author born in Ireland) about half an hour ago, and have just finished reviewing it on both Amazon and my own book blog (best to do it straight away). The snow kept me away from work today, so it gave me the chance to finish the book a day earlier than I otherwise would have done - see how good can come from bad ! The next book will err slightly from the Around the World Challenge in that I have already read a multitude of American books, but it will give me the chance to review one as well, since the blog was set up after I had read these other ones. It has a somewhat unusual title - The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating and is written by an author who was also born in the States - Elizabeth Tova Bailey. It is not a large book, so shouldn't take more than a few days ... Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) Completed Sri Lanka - Mosquito by Roma Tearne, on 14th, but I was so tired last night, I did not round to writing the review until this morning. This was a beautifully written book, written by an author born in Sri Lanka, but now living in Oxford, and working as both an author and an artist (and this really shows in her work - the lead characters in this, her first novel are an artist and a writer respectively). This book which was published in 2010, was justifably imo nominated for the Costa Prize, although I don't think it won it. Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Well done on another country, June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Completed Haiti - Love Anger Madness by Marie Vieux-Chauvet. An excellent read that I would wholeheartedly recommend. My review can be seen here Not sure what I will read next - either Sri Lanka or Italy. Hi June I read your review and liked it. I tried to comment on your blog but couldn't remember my google account. I read a lot about the sad history of Haiti in a book called The Black Diaspora. I will read this one thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) Just back back from a weeks holiday on Lundy, where I slept, walked, read and ate, pretty much in that order. All four were quite prolific - at a rough estimate I walked around 40 miles during the week, and managed to get through 4 books. Two have been added to this list - Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare for Albania, and Drums on the Night Air by Veronica Cecil for Congo. Ismail Kadare was born in Albania, but Veronica Cecil was not born in the Congo. The book is about her experiences of living there, with her husband during the 1960's. I have needless to say fot a bit behind with the reviews, but I will try and bring them up to date in the next day or so. Edited March 12, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 24, 2012 Author Share Posted March 24, 2012 Completed another country last night - Algeria. What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra. The author despite the female name, is actually man, a former Officer in the Algerian Army, who used a pseudonym in order to avoid military censorship. He now lives in France. This though really was a good book, one of the best I have been so far this year, reading it was almost like listening to a beautiful song, as the way that he writes is almost poetic, with a lyrical quality to the words, and the way thet he describes what is happening to the lead character. I wish more of his books were converted to Kindle so that I could read them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the recommendation, June - I will add it to my suggestions list! ETA: I see I have one by this author, The Attack, on my list already, but this one sounds excellent, so I guess it depends which I come across first! Edited March 26, 2012 by Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) Indeed. I think where possible it is good to read a book that is not only written by someone born in that country, but one that is also set there, and from what I have seen, most of his other books are set in other countries. They do look good as well though ! Edited March 26, 2012 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Finished Zimbabwe - Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace. Another excellent book by a British born author who has lived in Zimbabwe since 1983. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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