Around the World in 80 Books

If you popped over to this page, you must be a book lover.

If you are a book lover, you must know the "Show Us Your Books" link-up.  (If you don't ask me about it because it is wonderful.)

On a recent link-up, I stumbled upon a blogger (Femme Frugality) who was 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.

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 8 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 wonderfully extensive catalogue of suggestions for books by country.  I'm going to have fun with this...

1. AFGHANISTAN - When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi - READ 21 November 2016 - read review here
2. ARGENTINA - Perla by Carolina De Robertis
3. AUSTRALIA - Hades by Candice Fox - READ 21 May 2016 - read review here
4. AUSTRIA - A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
5. BOLIVIA - Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Prison by Rusty Young and Thomas McFadden - READ 23 August 2017 - read review here
6. BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks - READ 23 April 2016 - read review here
7. BOTSWANA - Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
8. BURMA - The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly
9. CAMBODIA - Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
10. CAMEROON - The Informationalist by Taylor Stevens
11. CANADA - Still Missing by Chevy Stevens - READ 29 June 2016 - read review here
12. CHINA - Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
13. COLOMBIA - Infinite Country by Patricia Engel - READ 5 July 2022
14. CONGO - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
15. CROATIA - Girl at War by Sara Novic - READ 16 April 2016 - read review here
16. CUBA - The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
17. CZECH REPUBLIC - The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman
18. DENMARK - The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
19. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - READ 21 September 2021
20. ECUADOR - The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango
21. EGYPT - The Woman Who Would Be King by Kara Cooney
22. ENGLAND - The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan - READ 10 June 2016 - read review here
23. ESTONIA - Purge by Sofi Oksanen
24. ETHIOPIA - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
25. FALKLANDS - Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton - READ 30 March 2016 - read review here
26. FIJI - Wreckage by Emily Bleeker
27. FINLAND - Snow Angels by James Thompson - READ 22 January 2019 - read review here
28. FRANCE - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - READ 4 December 2016 - read review here
29. GEORGIA - A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux
30. GERMANY - The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
31. GHANA - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - READ 10 July 2017 - read review here
32. GREECE - The Island by Victoria Hislop - READ 31 October 2016 - read review here
33. GUERNSEY - Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter - READ 26 April 2016 - read review here
34. HAITI - An Untamed State by Roxanne Gay - READ 11 August 2021 - read review here
35. HUNGARY - The Door by Madga Szabo
36. ICELAND - The Shadow Killer by Arnaldur Indridason - READ 20 February 2019 - read review here
37. INDIA - Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao - READ 12 August 2019
38. IRAN - A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri
39. IRAQ - Home Front by Kristin Hannah
40. IRELAND - In the Woods by Tana French - READ 15 July 2016 - read review here
41. ISRAEL - Devil in Jerusalem by Naomi Ragen
42. ITALY - The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi - READ 5 July 2018 - read review here
43. JAMAICA - A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
44. JAPAN - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - READ 10 April 2016 - read review here
45. LIBERIA - Beyond the Mango Tree by Amy Bronwen Zemser
46. LUXEMBOURG - The Expats by Chris Pavone
47. MALAYSIA - Stranded by Emily Barr
48. MEXICO - The Cartel by Don Winslow - READ 3 June 2016 - read review here
49. MONACO - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
50. NEPAL - Sold by Patricia McCormick
51. NEW ZEALAND - The Cleaner by Paul Cleave - READ 02 July 2017 - read review here
52. NIGERIA - The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - READ 20 August 2021 - read review here
53. NORTHERN IRELAND - I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty - READ 04 November 2016 - read review here
54. NORWAY - Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo - READ 12 September 2016 - read review here
55. PAKISTAN - Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed
56. PALESTINE - The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohn Corasanti
57. PANAMA - Missing by Sue Whiting - READ 26 June 2018 - read review here
58. PAPUA NEW GUINEA - New Guinea Moon by Kate Constable
59. POLAND - The History of Love by Nicole Krauss - READ 18 April 2017 - read review here
60. ROMANIA - The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness
61. RUSSIA - Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris - READ 7 July 2020
62. RWANDA - The Flower Plantation by Nora Anne Brown
63. SCOTLAND - Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride - READ 7 August 2016 - read review here
64. SIERRA LEONE - A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
65. SINGAPORE - A Different Sky by Meira Chand
66. SLOVAKIA - Three Sisters by Heather Morris - READ 18 June 2022
67. SOMALIA - Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man by Abdi Amen and Robert Hillman - READ 27 February 2020 - read review here
68. SOUTH AFRICA - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah - READ 22 March 2020 - read review here
69. SPAIN - The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys - READ 28 September 2021 
70. SRI LANKA - What Lies Between Us by Nayomi Munaweera - READ 19 February 2020 - read review here
71. SWEDEN - The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell
72. SWITZERLAND - Heidi by Johanna Spyri - READ 21 October 2016 - read review here
73. SYRIA - The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
74. THAILAND - The Day of the Wave by Becky Wicks
75. TURKEY - River of the Dead by Barbara Nadel
76. UKRAINE - Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
77. USA - Cross Justice by James Patterson - READ 1 April 2016 - read review here
78. VIETNAM - Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai - READ 30 June 2016 - read review here
79. ZAMBIA - Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
80. ZIMBABWE - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo - READ 28 April 2017 - read review here

I will keep my progress updated on this page.  Wish me luck in my travels!