Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Read several books all set within one country or region, to get a better understanding of it's culture and history. Books can be any genre. You can tailor-make this challenge by the types of books you choose. Here are some optional ideas:

*Read history books relating to all the major historical events of that country
*Read both non-fiction history books and historical fiction books about the same event and compare and contrast the similarities and differences
*Read books from several different native authors
*Read books from several different genres, but with the same setting

Time limit: None

Hey, I was already doing this! I'm traveling to Vietnam in January, so I've been:

*Listening to a Vietnamese language course on my commute each day
*Reading a history of Vietnam
*Reading three collections of short stories from Vietnamese writers
*Reading The Quiet American
*Reading books by Duong Thu Huong--whom I love!

Obviously, I'm trying to stay away from works just about the Vietnam War...I feel it's a very limited, American-centric perspective. And besides, I've already done the Tim O'Brien thing (not that he's not great!).

I will start my immersion challenge in january 2013 and I have decided to "go" in India.

@Rebecca, there is a book by Tiziano Terzani about Vietnam but I can't find an English edition. It is this one Pelle di leopardo. It isn't only about the Vietnam war and Terzani was an Italian journalist who wrote for a German magazine so here you haven't the American point of view. I hope you can find it in English because Terzani's book are really interesting.
There is also another one:
Giai Phong! The Fall And Liberation Of Saigon

Dely, thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely look into those.

I am doing something that is a cross between immersion and 3D challenge for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. I may expand this to all of Southeast Asia, but I am focusing on these three countries first as they share some similar historical experiences.

I started in Vietnam and read:


I feel like I could read more from here.

I also went to a local Vietnamese noodle house and had vegetarian Pho, which I thought was quite good. If I go back soon, I'll take and post a picture.

Here is also a link for an article on the history of Pho from Lucky Peach I came across at just the right time, if anyone is interested:

http://luckypeach.com/the-history-of-...

I would like to do a regional study. Possibly Eastern Europe: East Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

I guess now reading this section I'm doing a combination of this with "Round Ireland With A Book" and "Journey Through Germany", so I'm not sure whether to place it there or here. I guess I'll decide later as I progress.