Around the World discussion

My list of around the world books.

Algeria – The Stranger – Albert Camus [Author/Setting]
Australia – The Secret River – Kate Grenville [Author/Setting]
Botswana - The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith [Setting; Author is British] The Kalahari Typing School for Men
Canada – Where White Horses Gallop – Beatrice McNeil [Author/Setting]
Burma – The Piano Tuner – Daniel Mason [Setting; Author is British]
China (Yunnan) – Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World – Yang Erche Namu [Author/Setting]
Czech Republic - The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera [Author/Setting]
Cuba – Our Man in Havana – Graham Greene [Setting; Author was British]
Democratic Republic of Congo – The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver [Setting; Author is American]
Haiti – Island Beneath the Sea – Isabel Allende (translated by Margaret Sayers Peden) [Setting; Author is Chilean American]
“Island Beneath the Sea”
Hawaii – Comfort Woman– Nora Okja Keller [Author/Setting]
Iceland – The Draining Lake – Arnaldur Indridason (translated by Eric Boury) [Author/Setting]
India – A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry [Author/Setting]
Indonesia – Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded – Simon Winchester [Setting; Author is British]
(Inner) Mongolia – Wolf Totem – Jiang Rong (translated by Howard Goldblatt) [Author/Setting]
Iran – Not Without My Daughter – Betty Mahmoody [Author/Setting]
Ireland - Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt [Author/Setting]
Israel - The Red Tent: A Novel - Anita Diamant [Setting; Author is American]
Italy – The Baron in the Trees– Italo Calvino (translated by Archibald Colquhoun) [Author/Setting]
Jamaica (& Dominica) - Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys [Author/Setting]
Japan – Out - Natsuo Kirino [Author/Setting]
Lebanon – The Fifth Mountain – Paulo Coelho [Setting; Author is Brazilian]
Madagascar – Muddling through in Madagascar – Dervla Murphy [Setting; Author is Irish]
Malaysia (Borneo) - My Life In Sarawak - Margaret Brooke [Author/Setting]
Mauritius – Paul Et Virginie – Bernardin de St Pierre [Setting; Author was French]
Netherlands - Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier [Setting; Author is American]
New Zealand – Behind closed doors. - Ngaire Thomas [Author/Setting]
Nigeria – Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe [Author/Setting]
North Korea – The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag – Kang Chol-Hwan [Author/Setting]
Norway – Jostein Gaarder Sophie's World – Jostein Gaarder (translated by Paulette Møller) [Author/Setting]
Pakistan – The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid [Author/Setting]
Seychelles – Travelling Hopefully – Maggie Makepeace [Setting; Author is British]
South Africa – Disgrace – JM Coetzee [Author/Setting]
South Korea – Who Ate Up All the Shinga?: An Autobiographical Novel – Park Wan-Suh (translated by Yu Young-nan) [Author/Setting]
Spain - The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón [Author/Setting]
Sweden - The Millennium Trilogy – Steig Larsson (translated by ‘Reg Kreeland’) [Author/Setting]
Tibet – My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City – Alexandra David-Néel [Setting; Author was French]
Turkey – My Name is Red – Orhan Pamuk (translated by Erdağ Göknar) [Author/Setting]
Uzbekistan (& Iran) – Samarkand - Amin Maalouf [Setting; Author is from Lebanon]
Vietnam – The Lover - Marguerite Duras [Author/Setting]

My rules:
- As an expat Brit I’ve arbitrarily excluded the UK, France and the USA as I’ve read so many books from these countries I’d have trouble choosing just one!
- If I’ve read several books from a country I’ve generally just listed my favourite.
- I’ve also taken liberties by listing some non-independent regions (e.g. Hawaii, Tibet).
- I excluded some books (such as Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, or William Boyd’s African novels) that take place in unidentified countries.
- I also excluded books (such as Elie Wiesel’s Night) whose action takes place in several countries.
- I’ve included some books not written by natives of the country in question.


I live in Reunion Island which is not an independent country, but a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean. If you're interested in books from or based in Réunion check out here: http://asmarttranslatorsreunion.wordp... or here: http://travelssmart.blogspot.com/2012....

Welcome to our group and to the challenge, Catherine! You have some great looking titles on your list. A few of them have made their way onto my wishlist. :)