Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Personal Challenges
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Tytti A "Never-Ending" Country Challenge
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Pink
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Dec 19, 2016 12:35PM
I haven't been able to get my map to work recently, when I click the link it takes me to a blank map. Has anyone else had problems with this, or know how to fix?
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Anetq wrote: "So just a status & reading plan...In Europe I've am slowly catching up in the east (behind the iron curtain) - though I still have ways to go in the former Yugoslavia...
World reading
..."
What one are you reading from Greenland?
Tytti wrote: "Because there seem to be also other "slower" readers here besides me AND there are about 200 countries in the world right now, so getting through them in one year may be a bit too much for the most..."A question - is it the setting for the book or the origin of the author? For instance, Neil Gaiman was born in England, lives in the USA (I think) and set American Gods in the US. Would that count as English or American? Thank you, I find this concept intriguing.
I think everyone does it their own way, as like you say many authors are born in one country, move to another and set their books somewhere else entirely. It's completely up to you to decide your own rules.
This is a very fun challenge. I started something like this some years ago but never finished it.More recently, I have been reading books before/while traveling somewhere new that are set in that place, to help me get a feel for it. So I am going to do more of a "been there, read that" map. Since I have some books from places that I have visited but have not yet read, this should help me get them off the "to-read" list!
Been There, Read That Challenge
Africa
54 sovereign states
Read 5 of 9 Visited
Botswana
✔ Ethiopia: Cutting for Stone, Remote People
✔ Ghana: The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life
✔ Kenya: Out of Africa
✔ Morocco: In Morocco, The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca, For Bread Alone
South Africa
✔ Tanzania: The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Asia
44 sovereign states (excl. Eurasia counted in Europe)
Read 1 of 6 Visited
Bahrain
China
✔ Israel: A Horse Walks into a Bar, Homesick
Malaysia
Qatar
Thailand
Europe
56 sovereign states and dependent territories
Read 10 of 26 Visited
Austria
Belgium
✔ Cyprus
- North: Bitter Lemons of Cyprus
- South
Czech Republic
Denmark
✔ France: All the Light We Cannot See
- Paris: Down and Out in Paris and London, A Moveable Feast
✔ Germany
- Berlin: Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
Gibraltar
✔ Greece: Circe, A Separation
✔ Hungary: Sunflower, Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture
✔ Italy: Italian Hours, A Literary Tour of Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
✔ Norway: Kristin Lavransdatter, I: The Wreath
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
✔ Spain: The Winemaker
Switzerland*
✔ Turkey: The Turkish Embassy Letters
✔ United Kingdom
- England: Afoot in England: Standfords Travel Classics
- London: Down and Out in Paris and London
- Scotland: Scotland: A Literary Guide for Travellers, His Bloody Project
- Wales:
Vatican City
North America
23 sovereign states and 9 dependent territories
Read 3 of 3 Visited
✔ Canada*: Eating Dirt
✔ Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate, The Power and the Glory
✔ United States: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and probably 100 others...
South America
12 sovereign states and 2 dependent territories
Read 1 of 3 Visited
Argentina
✔ Brazil: The Viceroy of Ouidah
Paraguay
Oceania
14 sovereign states
Read 1 of 1 Visited
✔ Australia: First Person
* = lived in this country
Zoe wrote: What one are you reading from Greenland?
First: thanks for the recommendations - quite a few I'll use for my african reading!
For Greenland I was looking at
Zombieland by Sørine Steenholdt
HOMO sapienne by Niviaq Korneliussen
(not sure if any of them are translated into English?)
But in my looking for Reading Africa - I also came across this odd travelbook: An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Which I am not sure if it should count for Togo or Greenland :)
What a great way to get inspiration. I've got my own project about reading a classic (older than 60 years) from an author from all of the 54 (England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Vatican City). I have read some and will try to be done before 1.1.2018. I would love recommendation. 
Albania – Pas vdekjes by Andon Zako Cajupi
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark – At være eller ikke være; roman i tre dele by Hans Christian Andersen
England – Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Estonia – Poems by Marie Under
Finland – Moomin by Tove Jansson
France – Chéri by Colette
Georgia
Germany – The Prince of Homburg by Heinrich von Kleist
Greece – The Bacchae by Euripides
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland – Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
North-Irland
Norway – Albertine by Christian Krohg
Poland
Portugal
Romania – Mitrea Cocor by Mihail Sadoveanu
Russia – Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
San Marino
Scotland – Miss Marjoribanks by Mrs. Oliphant
Serbia – Pripovetke by Laza Lazarević
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain – Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World by Catalina de Erauso
Sweden – The Saga of Gosta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Vatican City (Holy See) – The Tale of the Two Lovers by Pope Pius II
Wales
Anetq wrote: "Zoe wrote: What one are you reading from Greenland?
First: thanks for the recommendations - quite a few I'll use for my african reading!
For Greenland I was looking at
[book:Zombieland|28084017..."
Thanks :)
I encourage everybody to read Half of a Brilliant Sun by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie. She's an amazing writer from Nigeria of whom too who many have not heard. I also recommend Khalid Hosseini (my favorite of his so far is A Thousand Splendid Suns) of Afghanistan. I'll come back and do a map and a list tomorrow. I started doing this on another group (Read Women) but the challenge is too hard to limit oneself to half the population!
I'm allowing setting to count, as long as it feels like I've been there when I'm done with the book.
Africa
Kenya - City of Thorns 12/2016 < set in Dadaab (refugee camp)
Kenya - Find Me Unafraid 9/2015 < set in Kibera
Kenya - Constant Gardener 1/2014
Mali - The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu 3/2017
Nigeria - Half of a Brilliant Yellow Sun
Somalia - A House In the Sky 4/2017
Zimbabwe - We Need New Names 11/2014
Asia/Oceania:
India The Lowland 6/2016
Malaysia The Ghost Bride 12/2015
Japan The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet 9/2014 (Dejima)
Japan Tale of Murasaki 11/2013
China The Good Earth 1/2014
Australia The Rosie Project 11/2013
Europe
Italy Enchanted April 3/2017
Switzerland Heidi 12/2016
Ireland Brooklyn 3/2016
England Orlando 2/2016
France Paris Letters 1/2016
Denmark all of the Dept. Q mysteries
Germany All the Light I Cannot See 11/2014
Norway The Bat by Jo Nesbo 1/2014
Iceland Journey to the Center of the Earth 4/2013
Spain - Prisoner of Heaven 11/2012
Washington The Violets of March 1/2017
Ohio Hillbilly Elegy 12/2016
New York Faithful 10/2016
Hawaii Molokai 6/2016
Kentucky Patron Saint of Liars 4/2016
Alabama To Kill a Mockingbird 12/2015
Virginia Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power 9/2015
Arizona Epitaph 6/2015
California The Circle 12/2014
Indiana Girl of the Limberlost 10/2014
Idaho All Over Creation 10/2014
Mississippi Mudbound 9/2014
Nebraska Eleanor and Park 6/2014; Magician's Assistant 5/2017
South Carolina Invention of Wings 4/2014
North Carolina Flight Behavior 10/2013
Florida - Bad Monkey 5/2014
Illinois - My Fair Lazy 4/2013
Kansas - The Wizard of Oz 3/2013
Canada
Ontario - Madd Addam by Margaret Atwood 2/2015
Prince Edward Island Anne of Green Gables 11/2014
I like the idea of this. I have tried the year-long challenges in the past, but they haven't worked out for me so having as long as I need sounds good! Here is my map:
The UK and US are obviously quite easy, but some of the other countries:
NIGERIA: Half of a Yellow Sun
BANGLADESH: The Good Muslim
CZECH REPUBLIC: Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia
FRANCE: Labyrinth
IRELAND: Round Ireland with a Fridge
ITALY: Sacred Hearts
TURKEY: The Prizegiving
I would say I need to travel more, but the reality is that a lot of my reading is based in different time/space/reality or worlds which just plain don't exist! Hehe.
EDIT Apr 15th:
ALGERIA: The Stranger
EDIT July 21st:
KAZAKHSTAN: The Dead Lake
ISRAEL: To the End of the Land
UKRAINE: The Gardener from Ochakov
CUBA: The Old Man and the Sea
I've finally updated my list in message 30. I've added the following countries - Mauritania Guantánamo Diary
South Korea The Vegetarian
Norway A Doll's House
Romania Night
Sweden Creditors
Dominican Republic The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Democratic Republic of the Congo King Leopold's Ghost
Rwanda We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Oh and I'd missed France from my list but I've picked Madame Bovary
My 2017 challenge to read Africa (which was the whitest spot on my map) is starting to pay off, I'll update msg. 39 with these:Algeria*: Camus The Stranger
Botswana: Head Maru
Cameroon*: Bebey L'enfant Pluie: Roman
Congo (Brazzaville): Mabanckou Broken Glass
DRC Congo: Mujila Tram 83 (+ Conrad: Heart of Darkness)
Egypt: Mahfouz Café Karnak
Kenya: How Shall We Kill the Bishop? and Other Stories by Lily Mabura
Malawi - Macheso in Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
Morocco*: Jelloun The Sand Child
Nigeria*: Adichie We Should All Be Feminists. Abani The Face: Cartography of the Void Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun
Rwanda - Ntwari in Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
Senegal*: Sow Fall The Beggars' Strike (Mariama Bâ)
South Africa - 8 authors in Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
Sudan - Salih Season of Migration to the North
Zimbabwe - Hushu The Hairdresser of Harare
Swaziland - Mngomezulu in Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
Still working on these 4 countries:
-> Angola: Pepetela: Jaime Bunda, Hemmelig Agent
-> Ethiopia: Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste
-> Gambia - Ousmane Sembène: Xala
-> Ghana: Armah The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born
-> Togo - Kpomassie An African in Greenland
My challenge & more book suggestions for Africa here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Anetq wrote: "My 2017 challenge to read Africa (which was the whitest spot on my map) is starting to pay off, I'll update msg. 39 with these:Algeria*: Camus The Stranger
Botswana: Head [book:Maru|..."
Looking good!
Anetq wrote: "My 2017 challenge to read Africa (which was the whitest spot on my map) is starting to pay off, I'll update msg. 39 with these:Algeria*: Camus The Stranger
Botswana: Head [book:Maru|..."
I just read The Stranger today, how did you find it? I thought it had potential to have been so much more than it was.
(And I too have An African in Greenland earmarked for Togo after researching Togolese literature today - it looks like a great book!)
Thanks Pink - It is moving along nicely - and quite interesting as well. @Tonia I read The Stranger last year I think - I don't know that I liked it as such - but it was interesting - and oddly did remind me of this painting (which I like in it's strange sadness) http://www.smk.dk/udforsk-kunsten/soe...
I am however halfway through An African in Greenland and I am rather liking it - The perspective is definitely (rural) African, and the travel story is interesting (and naive travel in the way it could only have happened in the 60's or 70's) - and his view of Greenland and the Inuits is definitely different from what I know from the Danish view.
I recommend it!
For anyone looking for African titles, or just a great read, my favourites so far have been:Morocco*: Jelloun The Sand Child
I read this years ago - but remember the great storytelling.
Several countries: Water: New Short Story Fiction from Africa: An Anthology from Short Story Day Africa
Mixed bag of great short stories (selected blindly) in all kinds of genres, including sci-fi - but how else do you deal with genocide in literature and not make it a horrible experience?
Nigeria: Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun
...Well this is how you do it! Great characters, loveable people living through in Biafra's rise and fall.
Sudan - Salih Season of Migration to the North
Clever and interesting story.
Zimbabwe - Hushu The Hairdresser of Harare
Almost a feel-good novel - though with a background of politics that turn serious.
That's an interesting picture - quite insular and distant.Thank you for the list of books... my 'must read' list is growing by the day!
Janet wrote: "I have read books by authors native to these countries. Perhaps it's time to pick up books written by Africans and Asians.
I have written two historical novels set in the Philippines. Check them out. https://www.amazon.com/Rosalinda-Morg...
I'm aiming to read books set in each country and US state. 
Afghanistan: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Costa Rica: Lonely Planet Costa Rica by Wendy Yanagihara
Egypt: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
France: Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Germany: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Greece: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
India: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Napal: Two All-Action Adventures by Bear Grylls
Netherlands: Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Pakistan: I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
Spain: Bloody Hell What's an Alpaca? by Alan Parks
Sweden: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Switzerland: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
UK: One Day by David Nicholls
US: States Map below
Alabama: To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
California: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Florida: 3500: An Autistic Boy's Ten-Year Romance with Snow White by Ron Miles
Georgia: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Illinois: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Louisianna: Seed by Ania Ahlborn
Maine: Carrie by Stephen King
Massachusetts: Yes Please by Amy Poehler
New York: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Oregan: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kasey
Pennsylvania: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Texas: The Martian by Andy Weir
Washington: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Laura Jane wrote: "I'm aiming to read books set in each country and US state..."Looks good! I'm aiming to get back to this challenge soon!
Places I VisitedThe A-Z country challenge – started 2017
A- Afghanistan: Bittersweet Melody- Belinda Boring
B- Britain: King Lear- William Shakespeare
C-Canada: The Perfect Storm- Sebastian Junger
D- E-Egypt:Ships at Work- Mary Elting
F- France: Selected Writings of Guy de Maupassant
G- Guatemala: The Book of Mormon- Joseph Smith, Jr.
H-
I- Israel: David- Duff Cooper
J- Japan: Gulliver’s Travels-Jonathan Swift
K-Kenya: Country Heaven- Ava Miles
L-Lesser Britain: The Crystal Cave- Mary Stewart
M- Mexico: A Covenant of Love- Gilbert Morris
N- New Zealand: Xamnesia-Lizzie Harwood
O:
P- Poland: Destiny’s Passion- Lucy Cores
Q-Qatar: Queen Elizabeth I: A Diamond Jubilee Souvenir Program
R- Russia: Judge and Jury- James Patterson and Andrew Gross
S- Sweden: The Marsh Croft Girl- Selma Lagerlof
T- Turkey: The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 4
U-United States:The Gift of the Magi- O Henry
V- Vatican City: The Lady in the Tower-Jean Plaidy
W-Wales: A Morbid Taste for Bones-Ellis Peters
X- Xina/China: Everest Summit of Achievment-Stephen Venables
Y- Yemen: I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced – Nujood Ali
Z-
USA
1. Alabama: Looking for Alaska- John Green*
2. Alaska: The Son of the Wolf: Tales of the Far North- Jack London*
3. California: Orson Hyde: The Olive Branch of Israel- Myrtle Stevens Hyde*
4. Colorado: Angle of Repose- Wallace Stegner*
5. Arizona: The Host- Stephenie Meyer*
6. Connecticut: The Stepford Wives- Ira Levine*
7. Delaware: The Good Lord Bird- James McBride*
8. Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston*
9. Georgia: The Firm-John Grisham*
10. Hawaii: Chicken Soup for the Couple’s Soul-Various*
11. Idaho: A Mail-Order Heart-Janelle Daniels*
12. Illinois: Native Son- Richard Wright*
13. Indiana: The Stone Diaries- Carol Shields*
14. Kansas: Apocalypse With a Side of Spam Episode One- Michael Angel*
15. Kentucky: Beloved- Toni Morrison*
16. Louisiana: Tempted by the Pack- Anne Marsh*
17. Maine:
18. Maryland: A Spool of Blue Thread- Anne Tyler*
19. Michigan: Country Heaven- Ava Miles*
20. Minnesota: Caught up in You- Colee Firman*
21. Mississippi: With Love from Karen- Marie Killilea*
22. Missouri: Truth Restored/Gospel Principles- Gordon B Hinckley*
23. Montana: Mountain Angel- Suzie O’Connell*
24. Nebraska: The World Turned Upside Down-Various*
25. Nevada: Start Over- J. Saman*
26. Arkansas: Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery In the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves Part 2 *
27. New Hampshire: A Prayer for Owen Meany- John Irving *
28. Iowa: A Thousand Acres- Jane Smiley*
29. New Jersey: The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain*
30. New Mexico: Adobe Road - R.A. Lupowitz*
31. New York State: Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang- Joyce Carol Oates*
32. NYC: Princess Daisy- Judith Krantz*
33. North Carolina: The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks* and Safe Haven- Nicholas Sparks*
34. North Dakota: Love Medicine- Louise Erdrich*
35. Ohio: The Bluest Eye- Toni Morrison*
36. Oklahoma: The Outsiders- S.E. Hinton*
37. Oregon: The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey- Rinker Buck*
38. Pennsylvania: The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold*
39. Rhode Island: Affliction- Scott Medbury*
40. S. Carolina: Blood Debt- Nancy Straight*
41. S. Dakota: Little Town on the Prairie- Laura Ingalls Wilder*
42. Texas: Lonesome Dove- Larry McMurty* and/or Texas Heat- Fern Michaels*
43. Tennessee: Where Honor Dwells- Gilbert Morris*
44. Utah: Fire of the Covenant- Gerald N. Lund*
45. Virginia: Celebration- Fern Michaels*
46. Vermont: The Secret History- Donna Tartt*
47. Wyoming: The Virginian- Owen Wister*
48. Wisconsin: The Art of Fielding- Chad Harbach* and Pioneer Sisters- Laura Ingalls Wilder*
49. Washington: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven- Sherman Alexie*
50. Washington, D.C.: For All Their Lives- Fern Michaels*
51. West Virginia: Strange Stories of Harper’s Ferry With Legends of the Surrounding Country-Joseph Barry*
52. Massachusetts: Library of World Poetry- edited by William Cullen Bryant*
* equals read
Mod
Hayley wrote: "Places I VisitedThe A-Z country challenge – started 2017
A- Afghanistan: Bittersweet Melody- Belinda Boring
B- Britain: King Lear- William Shakespeare
C-Canada: The Perfect Storm- Sebastian Junger..."
yep
Tonia wrote: "Well done, Haley!"thanks
This year I've added Israel, Brazil, Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, The Marshal Islands, Senegal, Fiji, Nigeria, Mongolia, Belarus, Denmark, Tuvalu, Portugal, Iran and Cambodia.
Zoe wrote: "Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
This year I've added Israel, Brazil, Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, The Marshal Islands, Senegal, Fiji, Nigeria, Mongolia, Belarus, Denmark, Tuvalu, Portugal, Ira..."
cool
Update for 2017I managed to visit 2 new countries last year, and read books while traveling (these are both author and setting-relevant):
✔ Israel: A Horse Walks into a Bar, Homesick
✔ Hungary: Sunflower, Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture
And also accidentally covered a country I've already visited but had not read from (only the setting matches and only for about 1/2 the book so I'm not sure it will stay for the final):
✔ Brazil: The Viceroy of Ouidah
After so many years of frustration with tragedies, traumas, and more, I'm listing as I go.Africa
Collected Poems
Things Fall Apart
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Comes to Terms with Global Fame
14 Cows for America
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Ancient Mediterranean
Tithonus
Salomé A Tragedy in One Act
Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative
Bangladesh - A Golden Age
Canada - Runaway
China - Letter from Tokyo A Theory of Relativity
England
84, Charing Cross Road
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Sweet Ermengarde
Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie
France
Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Queen Who Rode Off to Battle
You Will Not Have My Hate
The Sphinx Without a Secret
A Simple Heart
Germany
Rock Crystal
Survivors Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz
In berlin
The Demon Lover
Holland
The Little Mermaid
India
Train to Pakistan
Mother Teresa: A Pictorial Biography
Ireland
Saint Dymphna : Patron of the Nervous and Emotionally Disturbed, mine isn't in here, but was about 115 pages. Interesting read.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Waiting for GodotThe Irish Famine: The Birth of Irish America
Ireland
All Stations! Distress!: April 15, 1912: The Day the Titanic Sank
The Story of Ireland
The Wasteland
The Dead
The Happy Prince
Door Into the Dark: Poems
Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Italy
The Boundary
Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Story of the the Dumb Ox
Korea
Mother's Hitching Post
Where's Halmoni?
The Not Forgotten War
Japan - The Strange Library
Russia - Doctor Zhivago, grShadow Catcher: How Edward S. Curtis Documented American Indian Dignity and Beautyeat so far
South America
El Dia de Los Muertos
Dia De Los Muertos / All Souls Day
Day of the Dead: A Latino Celebration of Family and Life
Day of the Dead
Dia de Los Muertos
Clatter Bash!: A Day of the Dead Celebration
Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras
Bananas!: How The United Fruit Company Shaped the World
Christ Comes to the Indians
Spain
Little Roja Riding Hood
Interior Castle
Turkey - The Secrets of the Harem
Prayers Written at Vailima
Sweden
Sebastian and the Troll
USA
Anywhere
Heroin
Bomb Sniffing Dogs
Poems from the Women's Movement
I Stand Here Ironing
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
The Small Assassin
A Dead Woman's Secret
88 Instruments
Shadow Catcher: How Edward S. Curtis Documented American Indian Dignity and Beauty
Whereas
Girls, At Play
Connecticut - Franny and Zooey
Florida - Because of Winn-Dixie
Georgia
Flossie and the Fox
A Worn Path
Louisiana
Bayou Trackdown
Massachusetts
What Was the First Thanksgiving?
Massachusetts
The Wampanoag
The Great Molasses Flood: Boston, 1919
Nelly's Hospital
Maine - Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates
Mississippi - So Much Water, So Close to Home
Missouri - Get Ready The Wreaths
New Mexico - Death's Confessor: A Civil War Murder Mystery
New York
Shaking the Foundations
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Core Events of an Industrial Disaster
When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
T.B.
The Secret Goldfish
The Sandbox
Pennsylvania
Johnstown Flood
The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Woman on the Frontier
News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories
Tenth of December
The South
Am I Blue
The Flowers
To Hell with Dying
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Virginia - How John Wilkes Booth Crossed the Potomac River
George Washington: The Crossing
Vietnam
Inside Out & Back Again
I have done a clean up of my post - and hidden the read stuff, so I can find the rest... But my world map is looking pretty good after a bit of work (especially on reading Africa)
EUROPE 28/51 read
Not Read: Armenia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey.
Countries I have read: (view spoiler)
AFRICA 29/55 read
Not Read: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, CAR, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauretania, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan.
Countries I have read: (view spoiler)
AMERICAS North & South 8 countries read
Not Read: Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Countries I have read: (view spoiler)
ASIA (5 read)
ChinaLu Xun
India Tagore
Iran Satrapi, Hedayat,
Japan Akutagawa,
United Arab Emirates Unnikrishnan
OCEANIA: 1
New Zealand Ngaio Marsh
Oh, yeah and I have left small island nations and places basically consisting of a Casino (looking at you Monaco) off the "not read" lists of countries, I figure I'll try countries with more than one writer before exploring those :)
Mod
Katy wrote: "Wow AnetQ that is looking great."Thanks- I was surprised myself! Obviously Australia would be an easy fix to a white spot there, just haven't got anything lined up for that...
I would like a record of all the places I've 'visited' so I've gone back to the start of my Goodreads account (2014) to backlog! From now on I will update as I go! Looking at this I definitely need to read more books set in Africa and South America.Africa
Nigeria - Americanah
Egypt - The Alchemist
Kenya - A Visit from the Goon Squad
Asia
India - The Last Queen of India
Japan - Hotel Iris
Afghanistan - The Taliban Cricket Club
Pakistan - The Taliban Cricket Club
China - The Power of the Dog
Bangladesh - Brick Lane
Europe
Russia - Nicholas and Alexandra
UK - The Death of Bees
Turkey - The Drowning Guard: A Novel of the Ottoman Empire
France - The Iron King
Slovakia - House of Bathory
Italy - Roman Blood
Hungary - The Poisoned Crown
Sweden - The Long Ships
Denmark - The Long Ships
Spain -The Long Ships
Ireland - Hood
Norway - God of Vengeance:
Belgium - Silent Saturday
Austria - Quicksilver
Germany - The End of Days
The Netherlands - The Confusion
Ukraine - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Portugal - Blindness
Finland - The Hummingbird
Romania - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Serbia - The Exiled
Bulgaria - The Historian
Croatia - The Historian
Greece - The Historian
Slovenia - The Historian
North America
United States - She Who Remembers
Canada - Station Eleven
Mexico - The Lacuna
South America
Colombia - The Power of the Dog
Oceania
New Zealand - Survivor
Australia - Alex As Well
Here it is in map form:
[image error]
And these are the authorsAfrica
Nigeria - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
South Africa - Lauren Beukes
Asia
Japan - Kazuo Ishiguro
India - Timeri N. Murari
Bangladesh - Monica Ali
Europe
UK - Philippa Gregory
France - Maurice Druon
Sweden - Frans G Bengtsson
Ireland - Emma Donoghue
Germany - Jenny Erpenbeck
Ukraine - Marina Lewycka
Portugal - José Saramago
Finland - Kati Hiekkapelto
Greece - Jeffrey Eugenides
North America
United States - Robert K. Massie
Canada - Emily St. John Mandel
South America
Brazil - Paulo Coelho
Oceania
Australia - Alyssa Brugman
READ (82/196)
AFRICA (14/54)
Algeria - Assia Djebar
Egypt - Ahdaf Soueif
Guinea - Camara Laye
Ivory Coast - Véronique Tadjo
Kenya - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Libya - Ibrahim al-Koni
Malawi - William Kamkwamba
Morocco - Laila Lalami
Nigeria - Amos Tutuola
Senegal - Ousmane Sembène
Somalia - Nuruddin Farah
South Africa - Bessie Head
Togo - Tété-Michel Kpomassie
Zimbabwe - Yvonne Vera
ASIA (23/47)
Afghanistan - Khaled Hosseini
Bangladesh - Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
China - Xinran
India - Arundhati Roy
Indonesia - Maria Dermoût
Iran - Marjane Satrapi
Iraq - Dunya Mikhail
Japan - Banana Yoshimoto
Jordan - Abdul Rahman Munif
Korea, South - Han Kang
Lebanon - Hanan Al-Shaykh
Malaysia - Tan Twan Eng
Myanmar - Aung San Suu Kyi
Pakistan - Malala Yousafzai
Russian Federation - Tatyana Tolstaya
Saudi Arabia - Micheline Aharonian Marcom
Sri Lanka - Michael Ondaatje
Syria - Mohja Kahf
Taiwan (Democratic Republic of China) - Li Ang
Thailand - K. Surangkhanang
Tibet - Gendün Chöphel
Turkey - Latife Tekin
Vietnam - Dương Thu Hương
EUROPE (25/47)
Austria - Stefan Zweig
Belgium - Marguerite Yourcenar
Croatia - Dubravka Ugrešić
Czech Republic - Rainer Maria Rilke
Denmark - Sigrid Undset
Finland - Sofi Oksanen
France - Simone Weil
Germany - Unica Zürn
Greece - Sophocles
Hungary - Magda Szabó
Iceland - Halldór Kiljan Laxness
Ireland - Iris Murdoch
Italy - Goliarda Sapienza
Lithuania - Czesław Miłosz
Netherlands - Harry Mulisch
Norway - Henrik Ibsen
Poland - Wisława Szymborska
Portugal - Fernando Pessoa
Romania - Elie Wiesel
Serbia - Milorad Pavić
Spain - Mercè Rodoreda
Sweden - Selma Lagerlöf
Switzerland - Max Frisch
Ukraine - Clarice Lispector
United Kingdom - Virginia Woolf
N. AMERICA (12/23)
Antigua and Barbuda - Jamaica Kincaid
Canada - Alice Munro
Dominica - Jean Rhys
Dominican Republic - Junot Díaz
Haiti - Edwidge Danticat
Honduras - Horacio Castellanos Moya
Jamaica - Mary Seacole
Mexico - Laura Esquivel
Nicaragua - Gioconda Belli
Saint Lucia - Derek Walcott
Trinidad and Tobago - M. NourbeSe Philip
United States - Karen Tei Yamashita
OCEANIA (2/14)
Australia - Oodgeroo Noonuccal
New Zealand - Keri Hulme
S. AMERICA (6/12)
Argentina - Silvina Ocampo
Brazil - Hilda Hilst
Chile - Roberto Bolaño
Colombia - Gabriel García Márquez
Peru - Isabel Allende
Uruguay - Eduardo Galeano
PLANS (view spoiler)
There's some disagreement between what actually constitutes a country and what can be filled on the map, but I'll resolve that later. By the way, I'm being a hardliner about authors being of the country they were born in, regardless of whether they were relocated soon after or not, so please carefully check your facts before you seek to correct any of my categorical decisions.
This is such a tempting challenge. I might do it for the country in which the book is set, rather than author origin. It's hard to find a definitive list of countries though. Are you all using the list that is associated with the map?
Valerie wrote: "It's hard to find a definitive list of countries though. Are you all using the list that is associated with the map? "I've been using Wikipedia - they have lists of "countries in Africa/Europe/etc" - they show up if you google it. I guess most stick to countries acknowledged by the UN, that list is pretty stable (latest addition South Sudan)
Thank you for posting. I signed up for this months ago and forgot which book club and which challenge this was with. i think I still have another one of these out there because I remember setting it up. :-)
Leslie wrote: "Thank you for posting. I signed up for this months ago and forgot which book club and which challenge this was with."I have resorted to links in a note on my computer - If you right-click the time-stamp (top right) of your message and copy the link, you can always find your post again.
You're welcome - someone told me, and since then my Goodreads life has been so much easier :)
I have started working on reading books by authors from around the world and am glad to join this thread! :)Read or in-progress 2018:
AFRICA
Egypt - Woman at Point Zero✔️
Senegal - So Long a Letter✔️
ASIA
China - The Art of War✔️, The Golden Days✔️
Iraq - The Arabian Nights: Alf Laylah Wa-Laylah (in progress...)
Japan - Snow Country✔️
EUROPE
England - Persuasion✔️, Jane Eyre✔️
France - The Three Musketeers✔️
Greece - Prometheus Bound✔️
Poland - The Street of Crocodiles✔️
NORTH AMERICA
Dominica - Wide Sargasso Sea✔️
United States - The Bell Jar✔️
OCEANIA
New Zealand - The Garden Party: And Other Stories (in progress...)
SOUTH AMERICA
Chile - Bonsai✔️
Planned reading (not exhaustive and always under construction!)
(view spoiler)
Nice list Erin! That must have taken some time. I think I'll start this challenge next year, as an ongoing project.
Valerie wrote: "Nice list Erin! That must have taken some time. I think I'll start this challenge next year, as an ongoing project."Thank you, Valerie! Yes, it’s taken a while and the right lists are essential — those that distinguish between books by authors from a particular country/region as versus anyone who has written about the country/region. But it’s been fun, like a treasure hunt! 😄
Some countries in South America remain a challenge as there are many works that don’t seem to have been translated to English. But this is very much an ongoing project for me as well and I am working on improving my Spanish, so perhaps that will no longer be an issue in another year or so. 😁
I hope you do join! Even though I did not read as many different countries as I had hoped this year, I have broadened my reading and found it very rewarding and I am looking forward to continuing to do so in the years to come! 😊
Erin, that's good, being able to read in Spanish will open up quite a few countries for you. Luckily for me the French language is spoken in many corners of the world, so that will help me! I just need to organise my list.
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
Books mentioned in this topic
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West of Rehoboth (other topics)
Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Peter Taylor (other topics)James Agee (other topics)
Alexs D. Pate (other topics)
Mamadou Kouyaté (other topics)
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