Around the World in 80 Books discussion
ATW in 80 Books World Challenge
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Anna - Circumnavigator 2022-2025
MIDDLE EAST - CYPRUSThe Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
4 stars
Loved the fig tree
2023 stats
30 countires/22 new
OCEANIA, AUSTRALIA, ANTARCTICA - AUSTRALIAWhat Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
4 stars
Compulsively readable, good character development.
2023 stats
31 countries/23 new
AFRICA - KENYAThe River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
3.5 stars
Short but full of big things. I probably missed a lot of things because I don't pick up symbolism well and I don't know the history of colonial Africa well.
2023 stats
32 countries/ 24 new
OCEANIA - PAPUA NEW GUINEAMister Pip by Lloyd Jones
4 stars
The story of how Mr. Dickens and Great Expectation changes the island for a group of school children
2023 stats
33 countries/ 25 new
EUROPE - AUSTRIALeviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Steam punk taking place pre WWI. Not good enough to finish the series.
2023 stats
34 Countries/26 new
EUROPE - AZORESThe Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores by Diana Marcum
Journalist writing about her time in the Azores, which are islands off of Portugal. They are an autonomous region of Portugal.
Not including Portugal in my total, but adding this to my trip around the world.
2023 stats
34 countries/26 new
AFRICA - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGOHow Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
A memoir of a child of war, survivor of a massacre, and a refugee in America. A great inspirational story.
EUROPE - NETHERLANDS
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Don't know how I managed not to read this before. Glad I finally read it.
2023 stats
36 countries/28 new
EUROPE - RUSSIAThe Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming
3 stars - interesting but not captivating.
2024 stats
1 country/0 new
NORTH AMERICA - UNITED STATES OF AMERICADemon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
5 stars
2024 stats
2 countries/0 new
MIDDLE EAST - ISRAEL/PALESTINEThe Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan
4 stars
I think this book is as impartial as you can get when talking about Israel/Palestine.
2024 stats
4 countries/0 new
EUROPE - NETHERLANDSThe Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan
3 stars
2024 stats
7 countries/1 new
AFRICA - LIBYA13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff
3 stars
2024 stats
8 countries/2 new
EUROPE - FRANCEThe Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
4 stars
A view of the French Revolution (and more) through the biography of Alezandre Dumas father.
2024 stats
11 countries/2 new
EUROPE - SWEDENThe 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
5 stars
2024 stats
12 countries/2 new
AFRICA - CONGO (DRC)The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
4.5 stars
2024 stats
14 countires/ 3 new
CARIBBEAN - CUBAThe German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa
3 stars
I thought setting would be Germany and part of it is but Cuba, to me, was the main setting.
2024 stats
16 countries, 4 new
AFRICA - SOUTH SUDANWhat Is the What by Dave Eggers
5 stars
Set in the southern part of Sudan which is now South Sudan. About the lost boys of Sudan.
2024 stats
17 countries/5 new
ASIA - INDONESIAThe Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life by Doug Bock Clark
4.5 stars
Interesting and informative about the Lamaleran people of Indonesia.
2024 stats
18 countries 5 new
ASIA/SRI LANKAThe Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
3 stars
2024 stats
21 countries/7 new
ASIA - NORTH KOREAThe Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
4.25 stars
2024 stats
22 countries/8 new
EUROPE - UKRAINEMidnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
4 stars
2024 stats
23 countries/9 new
EUROPE - ICELANDIcelandic Folk Tales by Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson
3 stars
2024 stats
26 Countries/12 new
LATIN AMERICA - BRAZILThe Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles
4.5 stars
2024 stats
27 countries/13 new
MIDDLE EAST - LEBANON When All Else Fails by Rayyan Al-Shawaf
2 stars - interesting but not well written
2024 stats
30 countries/15 new
LATIN AMERICA - VENEZUELAIt Would Be Night in Caracas byKarina Sainz Borgo
4 stars
2024 stats
32 countries/17 new
AFRICA - RWANDAThe Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya
4.25 stars
2024 stats
33 countries/18 new
I didn't quite make my 2024 goal for 20 new countries but I came close with 18.This year I am not putting a goal for countries because I am trying to finish up the states. So I will continue to read books set in interesting places but my focus will be states.
EUROPE - SWEDENThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
4 stars
2025 stats
2 countries/0 new
EURASIA - AFGHANISTANAnd the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
4.5 stars
2025 stats
3 countries/0 new
ASIA - PAPUA NEW GUINEALost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
4 stars
2025 stats
4 Countires/0 new
AFRICA - SIERRA LEONEEverything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
5 stars
While not "set" anywhere, one of the main human characters is from and living in Sierra Leone and is who inspired the book and the authors fascination with tuberculosis.
2025 stats
5 countries/1 new
Around the World in 80 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Moonflower Murders (other topics)American Spy (other topics)
Gods of Jade and Shadow (other topics)
The Lost Bookshop (other topics)
A Madness of Sunshine (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Anthony Horowitz (other topics)Lauren Wilkinson (other topics)
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (other topics)
Evie Woods (other topics)
Nalini Singh (other topics)
More...
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
4 stars - stark but beautiful writing, a moving story of humanity during war
2023 stats
28 countries/20 new