Around the World in Books Challenge - 2014

[Adriana]

Lorelei wrote: "Please update me to 4/4. Completed!!!
I have completed Morality for Beautiful Girls Africa.
Pardonable Lies Western Europe
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore N..."

Congratulations on completing your goal Lorelei!

[Meg]

Hi - this is a great challenge and I hope you don't mind a late joiner. When I saw the challenge I actually thought, oh I read lots of diverse books, I have probably done it already without even trying - but I was wrong! I am still missing South Asia and have a huge hole in Latin America - nothing from Central America, Caribbean, or South America! I will try to get to 12 by the end of the year.
But here is what I have so far....

North America - Flight Behavior - USA
West Europe - The Elegance of the Hedgehog - France
East Europe - The Tiger's Wife - Serbia
Africa - The Spider King's Daughter - Nigeria
Middle East - The Sandcastle Girls - Turkey
East Asia - 1Q84 - Japan
Southeast Asia - The Mountain - PNG
Australasia - The Luminaries - New Zealand

[Danielle]

I have just finished my tenth book and have updated post 245. I'm going to stop here.

[Sarah]

I'm not going to make my goal, so I'd like to change it from a goal of 12 to 5 instead, then I only have 1 book to read. I'm under Sarah Lou. Thanks.

[Adriana]

I don't mind Meg (;
Awesome Danielle!
No problem Sarah (:

[Paul]

What a delightful book I just finished - The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker. Part of it takes place in Syria, which covers off my Middle East region. A great blend of fable, history and just plain good storytelling. One region to go - South America.

[Adriana]

I've heard that many people have enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni before Paul. It was a group read on here before and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Glad you did too :D

[Adriana]

I'm taking myself off this challenge. I haven't read any book off my list so... yeah.

[Paul]

Sorry it didn't work for you Adriana, but I'm glad you got it going for us. Stretched me to look at regions that I haven't before. Cheers.

[Adriana]

Paul wrote: "Sorry it didn't work for you Adriana, but I'm glad you got it going for us. Stretched me to look at regions that I haven't before. Cheers."

Thanks Paul. I wanted to do explore new regions for myself. Maybe next year I'll read the books I had planned.

[Paul]

Hi there, just finished a neat book based in Colombia - The Sound of Things Falling, by Juan Gabriel Vasquez. Good storyteller, with the Columbian drug wars lurking in the background. That's my final region - South America - so 12/12. That was fun.

[Lilac]

Hi, I think I'm going to drop out of this challenge. I forgot about it for months and now that we're nearing the end of the year I want to focus on my other yearly challenges. Thanks :)

[[deleted user]]

Put a fork in me, I’m done. All twelve.

My Around the World in Books Challenge - 2014 List

It’s a toss up for the best:

North America: The Call of the Wild by Jack London (Alaska)
Southeast Asia: Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition by Grant Hardy (Chinese Philosophy)

[Adriana]

Congratulations on completing your goals Paul and Greg!
No problem Lilac (:

[Claire]

I just updated message #200 to reflect that I have not only completed my goal of 10 books for this challenge, I've actually exceeded it by reading an additional book that I had not foreseen back in January!

11 books completed...I guess I'll have to keep my eyes open for something from South America to do all 12!

[Angelique]

Hi,

I've read for my Australia read. I've updated msg 352. Only two more to go.

10/12

[Adriana]

Awesome Claire and Angelique! You are both almost there (:

@Claire - South America

[Cynthia]

I still have a couple left!!!

North America One Summer: America, 1927
Central America
Caribbean Antigua and Barbuda Antigua
South America
West Europe The Dinosaur Feather Denmark
East Europe and Former Soviet Union We Are On Our Own Hungary
Africa Americanah Africa
Middle East The Golem and the Jinni Syria
East Asia Boxers and Saints China
South Asia And the Mountains Echoed Afghanistan
Southeast Asia Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea North Korea
Australia & South Pacific The Rosie Project Australia

[Angelique]

Updated msg 352 because I've read Siddhartha for my South Asia book.

Almost there: 11/12

[Angelique]

Yippie! I've finished my last book for this challenge:
Like Water for Chocolate for Central America.

Updated msg 352.

This was great fun, I've read lots of books I wouldn't have found otherwise. Thank you for hosting!

[Adriana]

Awesome job Angelique! No problem (:

Do you need help figuring out those last books Cynthia?

[Cynthia]

Do you need help figuring out those last books Cynthia?"

I'm reading At Night We Walk in Circles now, then I'll just need one more!

[Elsbeth]

I just finished one for South East Asia:
Voyeur by Neil James MacRaild. The author lives in Indonesia.

[Adriana]

Okay great Cynthia.

Updated you Elsbeth!

[Meg]

I've added three more.

South America - Bel Canto - unnamed country
Caribbean - Treasure Island - I can't tell you where the island is because it's a secret, but it's somewhere in the Caribbean!
South Asia - The Space Between Us - India

Only 2 weeks to go and no idea what to read for Central America!!

North America - Flight Behavior - USA
West Europe - The Elegance of the Hedgehog - France
East Europe - The Tiger's Wife - Serbia
Africa - The Spider King's Daughter - Nigeria
Middle East - The Sandcastle Girls - Syria
East Asia - 1Q84 - Japan
Southeast Asia - The Mountain - PNG
Australasia - The Luminaries - New Zealand

[Elsbeth]

Meg, what about The Pearl by John Steinbeck? It is based on a Mexican folk story - and not too long.

[Adriana]

Good luck Meg! Listopia is very helpful - You might want to read Like Water for Chocolate.

[Elsbeth]

Adriana wrote: "Good luck Meg! Listopia is very helpful - You might want to read Like Water for Chocolate."

Yes, that one is great, too! And it has a special place in my heart, since the film from that book is the film I went to on my very first date with my husband (more than 18 years ago...)!

[Adriana]

Elsbeth wrote: "Adriana wrote: "Good luck Meg! Listopia is very helpful - You might want to read Like Water for Chocolate."

Yes, that one is great, too! And it has a special place in my heart, since ..."

Aw!!!

[Sharon]

AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2014

For this challenge, your task is to read books from different regions of the world. The book must take place in that region, be written in a language of that region, OR be written by an author from that region.
only 5 so far, might try to get that 6th one
Regions
North America ✔

Central America
West Europe Denmark ✔

East Europe and Former Soviet Union - Greece ✔

Africa - maybe one of these? >

South Asia - India ✔


Australia & South Pacific✔

[Meg]

Thanks Elsbeth and Adriana - I did grab The Pearl and read it immediately! It was very quick and interesting. I've read Like Water for Chocolate before, but never seen the movie.

So that means – CHALLENGE COMPLETED!!

Central America - The Pearl - Mexico
South America - Bel Canto - unnamed country
Caribbean - Treasure Island - somewhere in the Caribbean
South Asia - The Space Between Us - India
North America - Flight Behavior - USA
West Europe - The Elegance of the Hedgehog - France
East Europe - The Tiger's Wife - Serbia
Africa - The Spider King's Daughter - Nigeria
Middle East - The Sandcastle Girls - Syria
East Asia - 1Q84 - Japan
Southeast Asia - The Mountain - PNG
Australasia - The Luminaries - New Zealand

[Elsbeth]

Well done, Meg!!
I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera at the moment, for South America, and than I'm finished, too!

[ScarlettMi]

Message 68 Updated - I finished 6 books for this challenge.

[Elsbeth]

That's not bad, ScarlettMi! Well done!

[Elsbeth]

Yes! I managed to finish my last book for this challenge for Colombia, South America:
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez.

12/12

[Adriana]

Yay to everyone who completed this challenge and got to read at least one book. Snape approves!

[Jave]

Here's my final count: 10/12

COMPLETED REGIONS :D
North America: Divergent [USA]
Caribbean: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor [Caribbean Sea]
South America: La soberbia juventud [Chile]
West Europe: The Remains of the Day [England]
Africa: Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide [Botswana]
Middle East: A Thousand Splendid Suns [Afghanistan]
East Asia: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time [Japan]
South Asia: ¡Muuu! [India]
Southeast Asia: El tiempo del Loto [Bangkok]
Australia & South Pacific: Tales from Outer Suburbia [Australia]

NOT COMPLETED :(
Central America
East Europe and Former Soviet Union


Thank you for the great idea! Some of these books I'd have never read if it wasn't for the challenge, and I wouldn't have known what I was missing. This really took me out of my comfort zone in a great way.
Thank you again Mod! And thanks to the other participants too! Some of their recommendations were very helpful (and fun!).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Chloé]

Well I didn't get to read anything new in the past few months, but I did beat my goal.
8/5



West Europe: Animal Farm 01-01-14 ★★★★☆
South Asia: Life of Pi 03-01-14 ★★★★★
Middle East: Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution 22-01-14 ★★★★☆
North America:The Catcher in the Rye 27-01-14 ★★★★☆
Australia & South Pacific: The Rosie Project 16-02-2014 ★★★★★
East Europe and Former Soviet Union Cruel Beauty04-04-2014 ★★★☆☆
East Asia: Please Look After Mom11-05-2014 ★★★★☆
Africa A House in the Sky 23-06-2014 ★★★★★

[M.H.]

I didn't keep my list current, but here's what I've got:


North America - The Silvered by Tanya Huff - born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

West Europe - Dodger by Sir Terry Pratchett born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, The United Kingdom

Africa - Marcus Samuelsson - Yes, Chef: A Memoir

Middle East - Sandstorm - James Rollins

East Asia - Margi Preus - Heart of a Samurai

[Adriana]

Awesome job everyone!

[Cynthia]

I finished all but Central America, but I'm going to do this again in 2015. It was one of my favorite challenges!

North America One Summer: America, 1927
Central America
Caribbean Antigua and Barbuda Antigua
South America Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free
West Europe The Dinosaur Feather Denmark
East Europe and Former Soviet Union We Are On Our Own Hungary
Africa Americanah Africa
Middle East The Golem and the Jinni Syria
East Asia Boxers and Saints China
South Asia And the Mountains Echoed Afghanistan
Southeast Asia Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea North Korea
Australia & South Pacific The Rosie Project Australia