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June's Around the World Book Challenge


Talisman

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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

 

 

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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 !

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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 !

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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?

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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 ...

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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.

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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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 ...

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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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 by Janet
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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 by Talisman
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