2014 Where in the world have you been? (Book finished and review linked!)

[Lilisa]

Just came from Egypt (and snippets of Hungary) with The Cairo Affair. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... A fairly decent modern day spy novel with some insights into global current affairs.

[Lilisa]

Was in Spain with The Return. Could have been better. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Bonnie]

And the Mountains Echoed

gave it 4 stars

I think I would have rated the beginning and the end with 5s, but found the middle a bit draggy. Still very well written and touching look at a troubled country and people.

[Lilisa]

Was in France with The Elegance of the Hedgehog. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Friederike]

Was in Germany (I presume) with Matthias Politycki's Jenseitsnovelle.
My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The English translation is by Anthea Bell, under the title Next World Novella.

[Lilisa]

Was in the U.S. with The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. A light and quick read. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Lisa (Harmonybites)]

Was in early 20th century Paris as written by English/American author Henry James in The Ambassadors. I'm counting it for my USA read. Not nearly the favorite my previous James read, Washington Square was. Review linked below:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Arielle]

Wanderlust, finished:) Adventures from Egypt, Pakistan, South America, Fiji, Mexico, Seattle, NY, London, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. An amazingly unapologetic memoir of a wandering Woman from Canada who needs to explore! personal favorite!

[Lilisa]

Just came from Greece and The Thread. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Rusalka]

I accidentally went to Canada again with Margaret Atwood, but it was a much nicer experience than last time I went there with her (which was my very first Around the World read!). Anyway, Oryx and Crake I think is worth reading. Review here http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2014/...

[Lilisa]

Was in Palestine with Mornings in Jenin. A hauntingly well-written book that stays with you. My review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Amine]

Was in France with La confession d'un enfant du siècle. It's really interesting te be there, trying to understand the feelings that Alfred Musset have had for George Sand. Really poetic.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was in Ethiopia, and India a bit, and the Arabian sea thanks to near-future technology! I was listening to The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne. I'm counting it for Ethiopia but she's trying to get to Djibouti, so I'm tempted, after all how many books are set in Djibouti. This one isn't either. :)

[Lilisa]

Was in Ireland with Shadow Spell. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

In Japan with The Arrow Catcher. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

And in Thailand with Cross Currents. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Lilisa]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was in Ethiopia, and India a bit, and the Arabian sea thanks to near-future technology! I was listening to The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne. I'm counting it for Ethiopia but..."

Hmm, methinks everyone in this group needs to vote on that Jenny! :-)

[Rusalka]

I just hear the song "Tequila" in my head.

Nah nah na nana NA! Djibouti!

[Rusalka]

This probably doesn't belong in this thread but some people, including me, may find it useful

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog...

It's full of typos and wrong main characters but may be a good start for some countries for peoples.

[Lilisa]

Haha, I hope folks figured out I was joking about the voting on Jenny's book! :-)

[Rusalka]

*whisper* you're all good :)

[Lilisa]

Rusalka wrote: "*whisper* you're all good :)"

*Whispers* back "whew!" :-)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Something very important happens to Djibouti in the end, so I guess you could say the book might actually be about it. Half of it happens on the Arabian Sea anyway.....

:) :) :)

I'm glad you are all around! This multi-year project of ours has been so interesting!

[Lilisa]

Rusalka wrote: "This probably doesn't belong in this thread but some people, including me, may find it useful

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/blog......"

Rusalka - and thanks for the link, checking it out!

[Rusalka]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm glad you are all around! This multi-year project of ours has been so interesting! "

It has indeed! And I can't stop looking at books and trying to work out how they fit in to my Around the World reads. Habit is well and truly formed.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Yah and books from countries I haven't read take a priority!

[Val]

Thanks for the World Cup link Rusalka. I have read a few of the books listed, a few more different books by the authors and already had some others on my to-read shelf, so I will most definitely be looking at the others.

I have been getting a bit behind with reading and reviewing my World Tour books, but I have managed to visit a few places.
Shadows of Your Black Memory for Equatorial Guinea
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Fan Tan Players for Macau
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Oroonoko for Suriname
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Expats for Luxembourg
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Strode Venturer for Maldives
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Greenhouse for Iceland
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I now seem to be stuck in Iceland, even though the-volcano-under-the-glacier is not erupting and filling the skies with ash, with Burial Rites, The Blue Fox, Jar City and Independent People.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Visited Kenya again, this time through the letters between two friends while one was teaching in the Peace Corps. The book is Dear Exile: The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean, and my review will review it to be a little ho-hum. I read it not because I needed a book set in Kenya, but because I wanted to read epistolary books this year adn this fit the bill. Just a book of letters!

[Lilisa]

Just been on a whirlwind trip to Toronto, Seattle, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Guyana and the British Virgin Islands with The Water Rat of Wanchai. A fun and entertaining read. My review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Bonnie]

Finished TransAtlantic set in Ireland and some Newfoundland. Very interesting storylines (3) of famous historical events through history and an intertwined fictional storyline of a family of women who moved through it tying it together.

[Lilisa]

Just came from China with River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze. My review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jayme]

I was in Spain with The Shadow of the Wind. My thoughts are here. I am now heading to Botswana with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

[Lilisa]

Was in Victorian England with The Woman in White. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Cherie]

Lilisa wrote: "Was in Victorian England with The Woman in White. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I finished the audiobook version I was listening to. It was soooo good. The book was so good, but listening to the voices just put it over the top!
Dan Stevens reading Frankenstein has been the only one to beat it, I think.

[Lilisa]

I will have to listen to the book some time in the future then Cherie - except it will be a long time hence - so many books, so little time!

[Lilisa]

Just came from France and The Perfume Collector. I enjoyed it. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jayme]

I was in Tibet/China with Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet loved it. my review is here.

On my way to Gabon with Say You're One of Them.

[Lilisa]

Jayme - Sky Burial sounds really interesting - added to my list. Thanks!

[Friederike]

Been in Germany (physically and with reading) with Birgit Vanderbeke's debut book, only recently translated into English, The Mussel Feast. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

I have visited some small French territories:
The Marriage Proposal for French Polynesia
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Perversity for New Caledonia
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Papillon for French Guiana
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

None are great books, but the first two are written in styles which complement the story and setting and the third has been made into a good story.

[Val]

Judy wrote: "Kudos for persisting through the reading of those three books, Val. Hopefully, you were able to learn a little about the culture of the three territories along the way."
Thanks Judy.
I did not hate any of them and by this stage of the tour I am just pleased to find any book which has a connection with the country. (I only have small island countries and territories left, plus a few tax havens and Vatican City.)
I enjoyed the Polynesian one the most of the three.
Perversity is set in Paris, but the author was born in New Caledonia and I had heard of him.

[Lilisa]

Traveled to several countries with Under the Wide and Starry Sky - historical fiction on the life of Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny van de Grift. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Was in China with Three Souls. Enjoyed this book by first-time novelist Janie Chang. My review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

Mainly in Vanuatu with Alexander Frater, who was born there.
Tales from the Torrid Zone: Travels in the Deep Tropics. Alexander Frater
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Thanks Val - I've added it to my TBR list as I haven't read a book set in Vanuatu.

[Val]

Lilisa wrote: "Thanks Val - I've added it to my TBR list as I haven't read a book set in Vanuatu."

It is not all set in Vanuatu, he also visits other places, but he keeps returning to it. The book is a mixture of travelogue and memoir and I liked it a lot, so I hope you do too.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

On the plane to Oregon I read another Italy pick - La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture by Lily Prior. I'm not sure I recommend it (see my review) but it was a quick and silly read in case you need something like that. And you don't mind sex on the kitchen table.

Another book I read and enjoyed is My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, the younger brother of Lawrence. It is a nature-memoir of a ten year old boy, and a lovely little book about a Greek Island during the 1950s. Sweet and easy read. Not his older brother, but captures a moment in time. (My review is here.)

I also read another book set in Ireland, a book everyone seems to have read already: In the Woods by Tana French. If you have read it, what do you think of the others in the series? (My review is here.)

[Jayme]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "On the plane to Oregon I read another Italy pick - La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture by Lily Prior. I'm not sure I recommend it (see my review) but it was a quick and silly read in case ..."

Thanks for the review on My Family and Other Animals. I needed a book for Greece and this looks wonderful.

[Lilisa]

Just came from Sri Lanka with Island of a Thousand Mirrors. Still reeling from this powerful novel by first-time author Nayomi Munaweera. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shriya]

Just got back from England, both in person and in the world of Literature with The Constant Princess and The Uncommon Reader. Bothered to halt in Lebanon for a while with The Madman.
My review here:
http://tometravelling.blogspot.in/

[Daisy]

I was just in Iceland in 1829 with Burial Rites.
Here's my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recommend the book.

[Daisy]

Lilisa wrote: "Was in Hungary with The Invisible Bridge - loved it. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Oh I remember loving that.