If you are a book lover and/or reader of this blog, you must know the "Show Us Your Books" link-up. (If not, ask me, because it's the best link-up everrrrr!)
On last week's link-up, I stumbled upon a blogger who is participating in a book challenge called "Around the World in 80 Books".
I do love myself a book challenge. And, I love to travel. And, if I read a book set in another country, it's kinda, sorta like I'm traveling and exploring another culture without the travel costs. Win. I like goodreads. I like lists. And, I like finding new books. This is totally a challenge for me.
I'm playing around with a goal/bucket list of "50 Before 50" (except, I'm hating the thought that I'm rolling towards 50). This is going to be one of those goals...to "travel" around the world in 80 books before the 17th of June 2023. I've got plenty of time to do this.
So, I joined this group on goodreads. I looked at my "to read" list; based on that list, I had a pretty good list going. I'd already selected many books set in various countries. Go me! I already own 7 of the books I've selected that I've picked up at secondhand bookstores along the way. Finally, I'll get around to reading them.
The group has a wonderful catalogue of suggestions for books by country. I'm going to have fun with this...
- AFGHANISTAN - When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi
- ARGENTINA - Perla by Carolina De Robertis
- AUSTRALIA - Hades by Candice Fox
- AUSTRIA - A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
- BOLIVIA - Lost in the Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg
- BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
- BOTSWANA - Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
- BRAZIL - Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera
- BURMA - The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly
- CAMBODIA - Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
- CANADA - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
- CHILE - The Dancer and the Thief by Antonio Skarmeta
- CHINA - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
- COLOMBIA - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- CONGO - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- CROATIA - Girl at War by Sara Novic
- CUBA - The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
- CZECH REPUBLIC - The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
- DENMARK - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
- ECUADOR - The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango
- EGYPT - The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney
- ENGLAND - The Red House by Mark Haddon
- ESTONIA - Purge by Sofi Oksanen
- ETHIOPIA - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
- FALKLANDS - Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
- FIJI - Wreckage by Emily Bleeker
- FINLAND - Snow Angels by James Thompson
- FRANCE - The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
- GEORGIA - A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux
- GERMANY - The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
- GREECE - The Island by Victoria Hislop
- GUERNSEY - Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter
- HAITI - An Untamed State by Roxanne Gay
- HUNGARY - The Door by Madga Szabo
- ICELAND - Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
- INDIA - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
- IRAN - A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri
- IRAQ - Home Front by Kristin Hannah
- IRELAND - In the Woods by Tana French
- ISRAEL - Devil in Jerusalem by Naomi Ragen
- ITALY - The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi
- JAMAICA - A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
- JAPAN - Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
- KENYA - Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
- LIBERIA - Beyond the Mango Tree by Amy Bronwen Zemser
- LUXEMBOURG - The Expats by Chris Pavone
- MALAYSIA - Stranded by Emily Barr
- MEXICO - The Cartel by Don Winslow
- MONACO - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- NEPAL - Sold by Patricia McCormick
- NETHERLANDS - Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch
- NEW ZEALAND - The Cleaner by Paul Cleave
- NIGERIA - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- NORTHERN IRELAND - I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty
- NORWAY - Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo
- PAKISTAN - Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed
- PALESTINE - The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohn Corasanti
- PAPUA NEW GUINEA - New Guinea Moon by Kate Constable
- POLAND - The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
- ROMANIA - The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness
- RUSSIA - The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
- RWANDA - The Flower Plantation by Nora Anne Brown
- SCOTLAND - Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
- SIERRA LEONE - A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
- SINGAPORE - A Different Sky by Meira Chand
- SOMALIA - A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
- SOUTH AFRICA - A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn
- SPAIN - For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
- SRI LANKA - Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
- SWEDEN - The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell
- SYRIA - The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
- THAILAND - The Day of the Wave by Becky Wicks
- TURKEY - River of the Dead by Barbara Nadel
- UKRAINE - Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
- USA - Cross Justice by James Patterson
- VIETNAM - Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- WALES - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
- ZAMBIA - Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
- ZIMBABWE - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
I will keep my progress updated on this page. Wish me luck in my travels!
Are there any books from other countries that you think are "must reads"?
This is a totally awesome challenge! I would love to participate but judging on how I am feeling at your other challenge I'm thinking maybe I should just focus on finishing that one first! Still I might put this on the bucket list for reading and attempted at one point!
ReplyDeleteAhh, thanks for inviting me to the Goodreads group!! I've been trying to read more international (i.e. non-American) authors this year, so this challenge just takes it one step further! :)
ReplyDeletedude, you know how i love making lists, but this one looks pretty herculean... i admire your gumption, girl.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, but I think I need to finish the BBC Big Read before I set myself any new challenges ;-)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Good choice :-)
A book set on the Falklands? MUST read that! My dad fought in the Falklands War, so I'm fascinated with the place.
I have another blogger friend who's working her way through the challenge. Here's the link to her most recent post about it: http://femmefrugality.com/category/around-the-world-in-80-books/
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of this challenge but as we've noticed, I suck at doing reading challenges. I did bookmark this list for ideas, though. I know you're going to kick ass reading all the books because that's what you do.
This is the coolest list and challenge! What an awesome idea! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI was looking at the books on IG this morning & love this idea... I dont travel so doing it via books is perfect for me :)
ReplyDeleteHoly cow and good luck, I don't think I could do this challenge. I thought about trying out the Popsugar 2016 challenge but I'm just not sure, I should probably decide before 2017 rolls around.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fun idea for a book challenge, and who doesn't love a good book challenge, right? It's an even better score that you had several books on your TBR list, and that you already owned several of them!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool! What a fun idea.
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh this is amazing! i will definitely have to have a look at this challenge and see if i can add another to my list :)
ReplyDeleteFlame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley for Kenya- hands down!
ReplyDelete