Sanne's read around the world challenge

[Sanne]

I've been doing this challenge since 2018, but I now discover there's a dedicated place to track and share the progress. Hooray!

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

I read in Dutch and English, and I didn't count books from the Netherlands, the US and UK for this challenge as I read books by authors from these countries regularly. Only the first book by an author from a certain country is counted. I've also noted regions or countries that are not on the UN list but which I feel warrant separate mention. Where possible, I will link the English title below, regardless of the language I read.

2018: 25 countries visited
South Korea: The Impossible Fairytale by Han Yujoo
Suriname: Over de gekte van een vrouw: Een fragmentarische biografie (translation of the title: About the madness of a woman) by Astrid H. Roemer
Argentinia: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
Dominica: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Sudan: Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
Algeria: Een vrouwelijke Odysseus, N'zid (translation of the title: A female Odysseus, N'zid) by Malika Mokeddem
Nigeria: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
Japan: Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yōko Tawada
Croatia: Farewell Cowboy by Olja Savičević Ivančević
Italy: Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante
Canada: Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton
Brazil: Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady by Clarice Lispector
Belgium: Alexis by Marguerite Yourcenar
Iran: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Vietnam: Crystal Messenger by Phạm Thị Hoài
Libya: Vrouwen van de wind (translation of the title: Women of the wind) by Razan Al-Maghrabi
Albania: Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones
Equitorial Guinea: La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono
Sweden: Simon and the Oaks by Marianne Fredriksson
Poland: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Uganda: Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Australia: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Not on the UN-list:
Taiwan: The Bear Whispers to Me by Chang Ying-Tai
Puerto Rico: The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferré
Mayotte: Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah

2019: 21 countries visited
Slovakia: Samko Tále's Cemetery Book by Daniela Kapitáňová
Finland: Purge by Sofi Oksanen
China: Smaragd (translation of the title: Emerald) by Zhang Jie
India: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Austria: Yellow Street: A Novel in Five Scenes by Veza Canetti
Switzerland: Het Maanpaard (translation of the title: Moon Horse) by Federica de Cesco
France: Le Bal by Irène Némirovsky
Ireland: Foster by Claire Keegan
Mauritius: Eve out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi
Belarus: Boys in Zinc by Svetlana Alexievich
Lithuania: A Stolen Youth, a Stolen Homeland by Dalia Grinkevičiūtė
Guatamala: I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú
Oman: Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
Colombia: The Book of Emma Reyes by Emma Reyes
Norway: The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad
Denmark: The Tenant by Katrine Engberg
Portugal: Keerzijde by Dulce Maria Cardoso
South Africa: Hoe alles hier verandert (selection of: Country of My Skull and the 2 follow-ups) by Antjie Krog
Antigua: My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid
Marshall Islands: Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Not on the UN-list:
Cook Islands: Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka: The Autobiography of a Sea Trader's Daughter by Florence Johnny Frisbie

[Sanne]

2020
Turkey: How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran
Nicaragua: The Inhabited Woman by Gioconda Belli
Germany: The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel
Samoa: Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel
Azerbaijan: Days in the Caucasus by Banine
Czech Republic: De naam (translation of the title: The name) by Eda Kriseová
Senegal: So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ

Not on the UN-list:
Curaçao: Habitus by Radna Fabias
Hong Kong: A Girl Like Me, and Other Stories by Xi Xi

[Story]

Your lists are fantastic, Sanne. Looking forward to sitting down and exploring them. (MY TBR may explode. Or implode. Or something.)

[Hannah]

Wow great list Sanne, there are many on here I want to read. And I know what you mean Story!

[Sanne]

I'm glad you both found the lists inspirational! I had great fun going through my reading history and compiling the lists. Also, it's interesting that the lists also seem to correspond with some of my favorite reads from the lasts years. If it wasn't for my obsession with reading more internationally, I wouldn't have come across Banine, Sia Figiel, Dulce Maria Cardoso or Emma Reyes and I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on their excellent books!


Let me know if when you read one of the books, I'd love to hear what you think!

[Crazytourists_books]

Your list looks super interesting, I will also go through it in detail. My tbr is definitely going to explode