Task #5: A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa)

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the fifth Read Harder task.

[Audra]

I'm reading The Tsar of Love and Techno for this task.

[Teresa]

I had at least half a dozen options for this category. I narrowed it down to The Twentieth Wife or The Glass Palace.

[Sarah]

I am hoping to read Doctor Zhivago for this one.

[D.L.]

The Bear and the Nightingale for sure. it's already sitting on my shelf!

[Theresa]

I'm torn between a few options: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, The Good Earth, Midnight's Children, or The God of Small Things. The Woman Next Door is another option; I just got that in the Book Riot Best of 2017 Box & it looks pretty good. Decisions, decisions!

[Bonnie G.]

Deciding between a few on my shelf: The Association of Small Bombs, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, and Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China. Yeah, I read pretty broadly :)

[Bonnie G.]

Teresa wrote: "I had at least half a dozen options for this category. I narrowed it down to The Twentieth Wife or The Glass Palace."

The Glass Palace takes place in Burma (Myanmar) not a BRICS country but it is good.

[Stina]

Daph wrote: "The Bear and the Nightingale for sure. it's already sitting on my shelf!"

One of my book clubs just picked it for January, so that makes this one easy to choose!

[Erica]

I took an African Novels class and can recommend July's People and Life and Times of Michael K. There's another book that I remember reading but can't remember title/author, so I'll go back and see if I can find the essay I wrote about it.

[Candace]

I'm reading The God of Small Things for this task. It's been sitting in my bookshelf begging to be read.

[Britt]

Theresa wrote: "I'm torn between a few options: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, The Good Earth, Midnight's Children, or The God of Small Things. [book:The Woman Ne..." I highly recommend The God of Small Things!

[Teresa]

Bonnie wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I had at least half a dozen options for this category. I narrowed it down to The Twentieth Wife or The Glass Palace."

The Glass Palace takes place in Burma..."

I figured that out late last night, thanks. That's what I get for rushing.

[Carolina]

I read Trevor Noah's book this year. I'll be reading Johannesburg for South Africa.

[D.L.]

I highly recommend Cry, the Beloved Country. It's one of the most amazing, affecting books I've ever read.

[Andrea]

I bought The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra earlier this year, but haven't read it yet.

[emalee]

The Bear and the Nightingale has been on my TBR this entire year, so I'm choosing that for sure. :)

[Rachel]

I think I'm going to read whatever's next in the Night Watch series.

[Kris]

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is on my TBR

[Am]

I'll be reading The Girl in the Tower. I loved reading The Bear and the Nightingale so I'm really excited to read this!!

[Riah]

I'm planning on going with South Africa, and will read either Agaat or The Prey of Gods. I'm also considering The Lazarus Effect for my mystery by a person of color, which is also set in South Africa.

Books I've read before that I liked set in these countries include Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood (South African celebrity memoir), Daytripper (graphic novel set in Brazil), and The Three-Body Problem (Chinese sci fi, translated from Chinese).

[Hafsa | حفصہ]

All of Tolstoy's work can go for this one e.g. Anna Karenina or War and Peace

[Robin]

A Fine Balance is what I'll be reading. It also fits the Oprah selection and possibly post-colonial.

[Paula]

I will be reading The Power of One by Bryce Courtney which takes place in South Africa. Not really looking forward to it but it was a deal that my husband and I made. If I read one of his favorites, he will read one of mine. Although I may read Doctor Zhivago since it's a cinematic work that I've grown up with. I've always wanted to read it.

[A Million Pages]

I think I'm going with A Passage to India, has anyone read it?

[Mel]

I'm planning on reading Women of the Silk for this one; trying to use as many "owned but haven't read" books as I can for my reading challenges this year. It's certainly a fun challenge in itself.

[JessicaJ]

I'm reading this for another book challenge (a book originally written in a language you don't speak) but thought it could be useful in this category (and it looks amazing): Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets

[Yrinsyde]

Mel wrote: "I'm planning on reading Women of the Silk for this one; trying to use as many "owned but haven't read" books as I can for my reading challenges this year. It's certainly a fun challeng..."

I'm planning to read as many owned books for this challenge this time too!

[Rayne]

I'm leaning towards The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great.

[Louise]

I have had The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee on my tbr pile for a couple of years so hoping this fits?

[Maddy]

I think I'm going to read the Revolution of Marina M. for this challenge - Russia is an intriguing country and I don't know much about it.

I've read a lot of books set in India, and would recommend these: Shantaram, anything by Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things is my personal favorite) or Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies is my personal favorite).

[Stephanie]

I am going to read The Three body Problem by Cixin Liu, it's been on my reading list for quite some time.

[Vívian]

Since I'm Brazilian I'm going to recommend some books:Captains of the Sands is a story about orphan boys living in the slums, pretty much any book by Clarice Lispector is excellent, The Brothers is a very interesting contemporary fiction.

[Allison]

A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles for this task and it is one of the books on my shelve that I haven't read.

[Karen]

I'm reading The Girl in the Tower!

[Stephanie]

I'm going with Sonali Dev's A Distant Heart
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Her previous books The Bollywood Bride or A Change of Heart would work too as they take place in India and the U.S.

[[deleted user]]

A Million Pages wrote: "I think I'm going with A Passage to India, has anyone read it?"

Great choice, I read it for a class focused on Global Post-Colonial Literature and I really liked it!

[Erika]

I had a hard time with this one because I knew I wanted to go with Russia, but most Russian novels take place during the Russian Revolution or WWII and historical fiction is not one of my favorite genres, but I came across 2017: A Novel which is set in 2017 and has slight dystopian vibes (which is my genre of choice).

[Caroline]

I’d like to read a book set in South Africa or Brazil for this one, since I have less reading experience with those two countries than with the rest. I’d also love to read something written by a South African or Brazilian author of color. Anybody have any suggestions?

If I wasn’t getting so picky with this one, I’d probably read a book set in India. The Year of the Runaways devastated me last year, and The God of Small Things has been on my TBR forever.

[Min Blossoms]

Caroline wrote: "I’d like to read a book set in South Africa or Brazil for this one, since I have less reading experience with those two countries than with the rest. I’d also love to read something written by a So..."

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood?

[Nicole]

Would Interpreter of Maladies work here? I’m currently it - it’s definitely about Indian culture, but does that count as “in or about” the country itself?

[Bonnie G.]

Caroline wrote: "I’d like to read a book set in South Africa or Brazil for this one, since I have less reading experience with those two countries than with the rest. I’d also love to read something written by a So..."

There are a lot to choose from, but for books I have read and liked a great deal:

For books set in Brazil
Brazil and
State of Wonder

For South Africa
Cry, the Beloved Country
July's People (or anything by Gordimer)
Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography

[EllenZReads]

Candace wrote: "I'm reading The God of Small Things for this task. It's been sitting in my bookshelf begging to be read."

Me too!

[Risa]

First task done for this challenge! I read The Bear and the Nightingale, and it was very beautifully written.

[Elizabeth]

I made a list of suggestions for myself of two books for each country (one fic, one nonfic), all books that my local library has on the shelf. Once I get through the reads I am trying to get through right now, I will end up picking a couple from my list that suit my specific mood at the time. Or something not on the list because of course.

Brazil: Blood-Drenched Beard or The Last of the Tribe: The Epic Quest to Save a Lone Man in the Amazon

Russia: The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great or The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia

India: Before We Visit the Goddess or India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from C. 7000 BC to Ad 1200

China: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution

South Africa: The Woman Next Door or A History of South Africa

[Riah]

Did you see the post about this prompt on the Book Riot website? https://bookriot.com/2018/01/09/books...

I was surprised by how many of the books on it were not actually set in these countries. It seems that they're using a less strict reading of "in or about" than I am, and have included a large number of books about immigrants from a BRICS country living somewhere else, such as a book about a half Brazilian woman in Japan, or about Chinese immigrants in the US. I'd been thinking of this task as encompassing books set in the countries, or books that were explicitly about the countries, such as nonfiction, rather than fiction with different settings that is more tangentially related.

I'd be curious to hear others' thought on the interpretation of this task inherent in this list.

[Erica]

Theresa wrote: "I'm torn between a few options: Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, The Good Earth, Midnight's Children, or The God of Small Things. The Woman Ne..."

The NY Public Library also recommends The Woman Next Door for this task. It's on my possibles list for this challenge also.

[Erica]

Bonnie wrote: "Deciding between a few on my shelf: The Association of Small Bombs, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, and Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind ..."

I really enjoyed Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. And if you're into audiobooks, is narrated by the author and a wonderful listen.

[Allie]

Riah wrote: "Did you see the post about this prompt on the Book Riot website? https://bookriot.com/2018/01/09/books...

I was surprised by how many of the books on it were not actually set in thes..."

This kind of bothered me too. I'm currently reading Little Fires Everywhere (which was on the author's list), but I had no illusions it would work for this - it has next to nothing ABOUT China in it and the Chinese baby isn't even a character, just a device to move the story forward (so far)*. I don't agree with the way the author of that piece made her selections, but to each their own. I'm going to stick with something that is actually set in one of those countries instead.

*Not bashing the book at all, I promise. I'm really enjoying it, I just don't see how it would fit this prompt by any stretch.

[Bonnie G.]

Riah wrote: "Did you see the post about this prompt on the Book Riot website? https://bookriot.com/2018/01/09/books...

I was surprised by how many of the books on it were not actually set in thes..."

Thank you! I just read Little Fires Everywhere and would never have thought to include it for this prompt, but now I have. I am just finishing Chemistry -- and if LFE meets this prompt Chemistry definitely does. Also both are excellent.