Talisman

I have been to Iceland five times now and love the place. The first time I went was a package tour (coach trip) where I camped, but the other four times have been under my own steam, using Icelandic carriers and local busses and staying mostly at the excellent Icelandic youth hostels and the odd guest house. Iceland has a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn't have to be - if you want to you can spend several thousand pounds on a package tour with first class hotels and all your food included, but it is cheaper and much more fun to do it my way with a back pack and a bus pass. My last visit was in 2010, for a little over 2 weeks - including spending money (and eating out at least half the time - Iceland does have some very good vegetarian restaurants) it cost me around £1000 which wasn't too bad at all I thought. It is easy to organise yourself, as the country lends itself so well to this type of travel, and there are heaps of websites to help you.

Atkins would never work for me, as with the emphasis so much on protein, it just isn't suitable for vegetarians at all - personally I don't think it's healthy to eat all that protein anyway, most people eat way too much of the stuff as it is - all we need is about 2 ounces a day, but most people I know eat about three times this amount - no wonder they are so sluggish and bloated. As for cutting out bread - well if you are wheat free as I am, then you pretty much do this anyway, as gluten free bread is just too expensive to buy on a regular basis. The trouble is that the alternatives are not nearly as filling, so you end up snacking on junk. Despite the expense then, Coran and I have reluctantly begun to buy bread again, and I have found that far from adding to my weight, it has had the opposite effect. Cutting out other grains such as rice just wouldn't work for me either, as half my diet consists of rice - when you are a wheat free veggie it tends to go with everything - apart from anything else, you need the fibre anyway ! I don't go a bundle on diets overall, but one that does work for me is the Hay diet, which is basically food combining. The idea is that proteins and carbohydrates need different digestive juices to break them down, protein acid, and carbs alkali, so when you eat them together the two neutralise each other, making it extremely difficult to get the nutrients that you need. This means that you can't for example have egg on toast, or a roast dinner (meat based) with potatoes - this is not a hardship for me, since I don't eat meat anyway. It also says that the digestive system works according to a cycle of elimination and digestion, and that the elimination cycle is from late evening through to about midday - during this time you should eat only fruit, as it is pure glucose (in oiher words brain food) which goes through the digestive system to be utlised by the body in less than 20 minutes. Fruit is the one thing that you cannot overeat unlike most other foods and like our own body, is mostly water. Most of us don't eat nearly enough raw foods, in the form of fruit and veg and this way of eatting encourages you to make sure that at least 50 percent of the foods that you eat are like this - it is not difficult at all, but just needs a little thought - fruit throughout the morning, and a large salad at least once a day, or lightly steamed vegetables. I just know that when I eat like this, I feel a lot more energised with less bloat, and for that reason, I am sticking to it.

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 !

A few more suggestions from books that I have read: Burma: The Road to Wanting - Wendy Law-Yone Cambodia: When Broken Glass Floats - Chanrithy Him South Korea: Please Look After Mother - Kyong-sook Shin Libya: In the Country of Men - Matar Hisham Sierra Leone: Ancestor Stones - Aminata Forna

I am about two thirds of the way through a crime fiction novel based in the Solomon Islands (South Pacific). It has been a bit of a laborious read if I am honest, but it is interesting in a weird sort of way - not your usual crime fiction at all but filled with strange things like death curses, cargo cult uprisings and head hunters.

I have a green hemp case which I got from Amazon for about £20. I liked the idea of hemp as it is bit more hard wearing than neoprene or some of the artificial fibres that you get, and as a vegetarian I knew that I didn't want leather. They come in a few other colours as well - light and dark brown, but I liked the green. I also got a cheap reading lght from Robert Dyas, which was about £5.

For me it is more about losing inches than it is weight - mostly around the middle and the bum ! I have an active job, so do burn off quite a few calories that way, it is not all about calories though but more about the type of food that you eat. I do try and eat healthily, but with the hours that I do - starting early in the morning at 7am and finishing at 2pm with only a 20 minute tea break, it isn't always easy - I try and eat at least a small salad though every day with my rice cakes or gluten free bread. Lately in the mornings I have been trying to eat a lot more fruit rather than stodgy cereals - I don't have time to make juice in th mornings, so just take a big bag of fruit with me and leave it in the laundry room, so that I can have a nibble every time I go out there to fold some sheets or whatever. The way I look at is it that if some of the carers can keep popping out for a cigarette, then I can keep popping out for an apple ! I certainly do feel better for it, and a lot less bloated.

I too have a passionate dislike of reality TV and it is not something I would ever wish to go on, but with a diary, well in a way my blog is my diary, so it is already out there - I really then don't see a difference between reading it out loud in a reading group or strangers reading it on online. In fact when I used to run my own writing group, one of the exercises I got them to go was write their autobiography - on one page, and that had to be read to the rest of us. It was quite a powerful thing for most of us and very cathartic. On my blog I don't of course write about the really personal stuff though, at least not in any great detail.

Not having a backlight doesn't bother me either - you can some very low prices and good reading lights these days - I got mine from Robert Dyas for around the £5 mark. As for the audio book thing, I have never really bothered with those, I much prefer reading to listening, although it would be good for driving long distances. The read to me feature that is on my keyboard Kindle only reads in an annoying American accent, which I would probably just end up screaming at !

Finished my first book of the year last night - When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him - a Cambodian survivor and one of the lucky ones who managed to get to the US (this is not one for the faint hearted but is very, very good and really makes you think about how lucky we are) - I am now reading a book based in the Solomon Islands - Devil, Devil by GW Kent.

Mad About the Boy - Dinah Washington (or whichever version you prefer) !

And there was I thinking I was the only one ! Coran and I have about 57 pigs now, in all different shapes and sizes, some black ones, some white, some pink and some brown. At the risk of sounding completely mad, they all have names, and many of them are related to each other, either through marriage or some other means (litter mates, brothers, sisters etc). Of course none of this is real, but it is real to both of us ! Our friends think we are mad, but it keeps our inner children happy !

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 !

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.

I think I'll join you - provided the cheesecake is gluten free of course !

Me too !

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

I have decided that I too am going to attempt this, although I see that Janet's lsit of countries is a ltitle longer than my own - 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 then is thatthe territory in question has to fulfil at least 2 of these: a) the country has have its own nationality - some overseas territories of France for example the natives are classiifed as French b) it has to have its own flag and c) some form of its own Governmentm 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! I will make my own thread re this then in due course, but in the meantime Janet, good luck - you have certainly inspired me !

Well 2011 wasn't a bad year for reading all told. For the first few months of the year, there seemed very little that I wanted to read at all, although the books I did get through where all very good ones. As the year progressed, and we got into the summer months, there seemed to be more different books that piqued my interest - the warm weather also played a part, as there is no greater pleasure (for me at least) than sitting outdoors with a good book, and living where I do, there is no shortage of places in which to do this. Unusually for me though, I only got through 3 books during my 2 week holiday to the Isle of Man - that may be partly because I spent so much time driving though ! I made up for it after I returned home, as the purchase of a Kindle at the end of August totally changed the way in which I read. I suddenly found a whole new swathe of books that I would never have previously considered. Kindle is just so easy and convenient to use, that I find myself switching it on to read every time I have a few moments to spare - while I am waiting for the kettle to boil, during my tea breaks at work, or just sitting in the car with a cup of tea listening to the rain (also one of my favourite passtimes). Buying that one small device was one of the best things I ever did. In total then I managed to get through some 48 books - this is a record for me, and I don't think I have ever read so much, not even as a teenager, when reading was about the only thing that kept me sane! It would be really difficult to pick out particular books as highlights, but the one that stands out more than any other has to be Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes. This was a first novel orignally concepted through Nanowrite, and is a dark thriller about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend. I need say no more, as I am sure that many of you are already familiar with the book, and I wouldn't want to ruin it for those who aren't. I have found myself reading a lot of this type of book lately, and a lot more crime fiction also. I have especially enjoyed the 'Erlendur' series by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason - I have read four out of seven of these now, and each one seems to get progressively better than the last. Maybe it is because I am so familiar with the country myself, and so can share the authors own insights into the Icelandic psyche, which I have to say is pretty unique. I love his descriptions too of the Icelandic landscape. I have also found myself being drawn to and actively seeking out books from more unusual places, like Bhutan for instance, which is a small kingdom in the Himalayas, and Burundi in East Central Africa. I have read a few African novels this year and find that the authors have a totally diferent perspective on life, which has helped me to also understand my African colleagues at work a bit better. Perhaps this year I shall seek out some Eastern European literature and see if it has the same effect! With this in mind, I have decided then that for this New Year I am going to attempt the Reading Round the World Book Challenge. I know this is a big one, and it will probably take several years, but those that know me will tell you that I have never done things by halves, and if you are doing to set yourself a challenge then you might as well aim high! So I start the year with the same book that I ended last year on, and which I am currently about a third of the way through - a novel based on the authors experience of growing up in wartorn Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (that's another country I can tick off from the list then) - When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him.

Coran and I are going to watch The Adjustment Bureau this afternoon, which is the other DVD I got yesterday (2 for £10 in HMV).

I know what you mean - there are certain books that I too would prefer to have as paper editons (or maybe both) - especially non fiction and of course reference books (arguably the same thing), and I also know what you mean about the weight of books - some of them are very heavy, and you have a have huge handbag to carry them around in so that you end up with back and shoulder pain. This I guess is where the Kindle really comes into its own - especially when travelling - I know that the weight of my own baggage will probably halve. This is great, as it means more room for the wheat free food that I have to take with me as well, especially when certain airlines only one bag and you can't take it seperately ... Actually this is another misnomer - yes the publisher does set their own RRP, but Amazon and other retailers are perfectly free to place books on promotion any time they like, thereby changing (or setting) the price, whichever way you look at it. I don't see that ever changing, as we have gone too far down that route for it now to be otherwise - the public would not tolerate it. It has become the norm for not just books, but everything to be discounted by the retailer, and there are people that I know who refuse to pay full price for anything. I have nixed feelings about it personally, and as an author myself, can see it from both sides. It is more relevant I suppose for paper books than e-books, as with e-books the author can publish them him or herself directly with Amazon, Google Books etc, cutting out all those middle men that make publishing such a cut throat business. The danger is that Amazon are becoming so large and so important that they are starting to dictate terms to the publishers (of in some cases up to 60 percent discount), and this understandabnly leads to resentment on the part of both authors and publishers, as the lower a book is sold for, the less profit the publisher makes, and the less they can afford to pay their staff and their authors. It also of course means that they have to much more choosy about which authors they choose to work with. The public may think that lower book prices are a good thing, but it ain't necessarily so - it seems to me that it's a lose, lose situation all round.

It is interesting to see you use the term 'real book'. I think you are trying to say that because Kindle books are not physical entities they do not seem as real, but a book is a book in no matter what format it was produced - in its crudest form it is a collection of words, although we all on here of course know that they can be so much more. Getting a Kindle was one of the best decisions I made last year, that has revolutionised the way in which I read. I am probably somewhat unusual in that I buy books for their content rather than the price, and although kIndle books are sometimes more, I see it in terms of convenience rather than anything else. It is a myth that Kindle books cost less to produce anyway - it is only because people think that printing osts more than paying someone to do the conversion process (which not everyone can do themselves). The other costs - editing, indexing and so on remain the same, no matter which format the book is published in. The most expensive Kindle book I have got then was £11 something and the cheapest was free - the average though seems to be around the £5 mark.

Black Swan, which I managed to get a copy of today for £5. It was brilliant and really lived up to the hype - so much so that I am going to go online in a minute and see what ballets are on at the local theatre. I used to love going and haven't for ages.

That's a brilliant book, which you will love. It was by far the best one I read this year. It is though very scary in places, even more so because you know that the events that it describes could actually be true - sadly men like that really do exist.

I have decided that starting next year I am going to attempt the Reading Around the World Challenge. I have doing it kind of unofficially for a few months now anyway, so I am now making it official. I know it's a big one which will probably take a few years, but I have made a good start with the books I have read already this year. My first read of 2012 overlaps with this year, as I started it yesterday and don't expect to complete it for a few days yet - it's a book about the Kmere Rouge regime in Cambodia entitled When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him.