UK Book Club discussion

So I finally made it back to the Reform Club and joined Ian there. But itchy feet .............. so have set this up. Places I have been on my first trip have been included with *. Going to fill in a list because it just got too complicated and I kept reading where I had been before (not that it mattered as generally speaking they were all goodreads).

Africa

Algeria The Tongue's Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories - Assia Djebar أسيا
Angola [book The Book of Chameleons]- José Eduardo Agualusa
Benin. The Viceroy of Ouidah
*Botswana [booka:When Rain Clouds Gather|28278]- Bessie Head
Burkina Faso The Parachute Drop - Norbert Zongo
Burundi
Cameroon Houseboy - Ferdinand Oyono
Canary Islands
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
*Congo (Republic) The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Congo (DRC)
Djibouti
*Egypt - The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
*Ethiopia The Garbage King - Elizabeth Laird
Gabon Tropic Moon - Georges Simenon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivorie)
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya. In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius. Blue Bay Palace - Nathacha Appanah
*Morocco The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca - Tahir Shah
*Mozambique A Treacherous Paradise - Henning Mankell
Namibia
Niger Harmattan - Gavin Weston
*Nigeria Half of a Yellow Sun- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Reunion. Don't let Go - Michel Bussi
*Rwanda A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali - Gil Courtemanche
Sao Tome & Principe
Senegal. Africa Junction- Ginny Baily
Seychelles
Sierre Leone
*Somalia -
The Orchard of Lost Souls - Nadifa Mohamed
*South Africa - Philida - André P. Brink
*Sudan An Honourable Man - Gillian Slovo
Swaziland
*Tanzania - Admiring Silence - Abdulrazak Gurnah
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Western Sahara
Zambia. Scribbling the Cat - Alexandra Fuller
*Zimbabwe - We Need New Names - NoViolet Bulawayo

Antarctica

Asia

Armenia. The Sandcastle Girls - Chris Bohjalian
*Azerbiyan - Ali and Nino: A Love Story-Kurban Said
*Bangladesh - A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam
Bhutan
Brunai
*Burma - The Road to Wanting- Wendy Law-Yone
*Cambodia - The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine - Somaly Mam
*China - The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
East Timor
Georgia
*Hong Kong - The Man in the Wooden Hat - Jane Gardam
*India - An Atlas of Impossible Longing - Anuradha Roy
Indonesia
*Japan - The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Mishima
Kazakhstan - The Dead Lake- Hamid Ismailov
*Korea, North - Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea - Guy Delisle
*Korea, South - Lark & Termite - Jayne Anne Phillips
*Kyrgstan - Jamilia - Chingiz Aitmatov
*Laos - The Coroner's Lunch - Colin Cotterill
Malaysia
Macan
Maldives
Mongolia All This Belongs to Me: A Novel - Petra Hůlová
Nepal. Thin Air - Michelle Paver
*Pakistan - In the Name of Honour: A Memoir - Mukhtar Mai
Philippines
Singapore - The Garden of Evening Mists - Twan Eng Tan
*Sri Lanka - Monkfish Moon- Romesh Gunesekera
Taiwan
Tajikastan
*Thiland - Catching the Sun - Tony Parsons
*Tibet - Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet - Xinran
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam The Trader of Saigon - Lucy Cruickshanks

Carribbean

Anguille
Antigua and Barbuda A Small Place- Jamaica Kincaid
Aruba
Bahamas
Bermuda
Bonaire
Cayman Islands
*Cuba -The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
Curacao
Doninica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Guadeloupe
*Haiti - L'Énigme du retour - Dany Laferrière Read in English.
*Jamaica - Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
Martinique
Monserrat
Puerto Rico
Sabu
St Barth's
St Eustatius
St Kitts & Nevis
St Lucia
St Maarten
St Vincent & the Grenadines
Trinidad & Tobago
Turks & Caicos
Virgin Islands (BVI & US)

Europe

*Albania - Broken April - Ismail Kadaré
Andorra
*Austria - Waiting for Sunrise - William Boyd
Azores
Belarus - Gingerbread - Robert Dinsdale
Belgium On Black Sisters Street: A Novel - Chika Unigwe
*Bosnia & Herzigovania - The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
*Bulgaria - East of the West - Miroslav Penkov
Channel Islands. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. -. Mary Ann Shaffer
*Croatia - The Hired Man - Aminatta Forna
Cyprus The Sunrise - Victoria Hislop
Czech Republic. Ignorance - Milan Kundera
*Denmark - Nemesis - Jo Nesbø
*England - Oranges are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
*Estonia - Purge - Sofi Oksanen
Faeroe Islands The Blood Strand - Chris Ould
*Finland - Sculptor's Daughter - Tove Jansson
*France - Little Boy Lost - Marghanita Laski
*Germany - The Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers
Gibralter
*Greece - The Thread - Victoria Hislop
Greenland
*Hungary- The Book of Summers - Emylia Hall
*Iceland - Last Rituals - Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
*Ireland - The Forgotten Waltz - Anne Enright
Isle of Man -. Dark Tides - Chris Ewan
*Italy - The Master - Colm Tóibín
Kosovo - Three Elegies For Kosovo -Ismail Kadare
*Latvia - The Dogs of Riga- Henning Mankell
*Liechenstein - Ludmila- Paul Gallico
*Lithuania - Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
Luxembourg The Candidate: A Luxembourg Thriller - Daniel Pembrey
Macedonia
Maderia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands Girl in Hyacinth Blue - Susan Vreeland
Northern Ireland. Those We Left Behind -Stuart Neville
*Norway - Nemesis - Jo Nesbø
*Poland - 22 Britannia Road - Amanda Hodgkinson
Portugal - Sostiene Pereira - Antonio Tabucchi
*Romania - House of the Lost - Sarah Rayne
*Russia - Snowdrops - A.D. Miller
San Marino
*Scotland - Gillespie and I - Jane Harris
Serbia
Slovakia. Zoli - Colum McCann
Slovenia - Veronika Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho
*Spain - Carpenter's Pencil -Manuel Rivas
*Sweden - Roseanna- Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo
Switzerland The Swiss Affair - Emylia Hall
*Ukraine - Everything Is Illuminated- Jonathan Safran Foer
Vatican City
*Wales - Submarine - Joe Dunthorne

Latin America

*Argentina - Corazon De Tango-Elia Barceló
Belize
Bolivia. Beyond the Barricade - Deborah Ellis
*Brazil - State of Wonder- Ann Patchett
*Chile - Memoirs - Pablo Neruda
Colombia The Sound of Things Falling - Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Costa Rica
Easter Island
Ecuador
El Salvador
Falkland Islands Little Black Lies - Sharon Bolton
French Guiana
Galapagos Islands
Guatemala. Stranger: A Novel David Bergen
Guyana
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
*Paraguay - The News from Paraguay - Lily Tuck
*Peru -La hora azul/ The Blue Hour- Alonso Cueto
Suriname
Uraguay
*Venezuela - The Sickness -Alberto Barrera Tyszka

The Middle East

*Afghanistan -The Taliban Cricket Club - Timeri N. Murari
Bahrain
Cyprus -
*Iran - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
Iraq -The Corpse Washer - Sinan Antoon
**Israel - The People of Forever Are Not Afraid- Shani Boianjiu
Jordan
Kuwait
*Lebanon - Oranges in No Man's Land- Elizabeth Laird
Oman
*Palestine - A Little Piece of Ground- Elizabeth Laird
Qatar
Saudi Arabia Finding Nouf - Zoe Ferraris
Syria Cinnamon - Samar Yazbek
*Turkey - The Bastard of Istanbul- Elif Shafak
United Arab Emirates - The Dog - Joseph O'Neill
*Yemen - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen- Paul Torday


North America

Arctic The North Water - Ian McGuire
*Canada - The Good Life: Up the Yukon Without a Paddle - Dorian Amos
*Mexico - Like Water for Chocolate- Laura Esquivel
*USA - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller


Oceania

*Australia - Cocaine Blues - Kerry Greenwood
Cook Islands
Fiji
*French Polynesia (incl Tahiti) - Frangipani- Célestine Hitiura Vaite
Guam & Wake
Kiribati A Pattern Of Islands - Arthur Grimble
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
New Caledonia
*New Zealand - The Wives of Henry Oades - Johanna Moran
Niue
Palau
Papua New Guinea. Euphoria- Lily King
Pitcairn Island
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu

So there are more than enough countries to go round at least twice more!!
Can't get the map to load at the moment. Making the list reminded me of so many wonderful novels - there were very few I couldn't remember.

That must have taken ages to do Sue.

Ian wrote: "That must have taken ages to do Sue."
It did but it was a cold, wet afternoon. Had the list of countries already but it did take a while to find what books went with where! Shame I can't get the map to work.

Sue. This is really great list. Can you put on challenge front page for others? I am proud as have Benin on my list
You have inspired me to have further push to complete

Robert wrote: "Sue. This is really great list. Can you put on challenge front page for others? I am proud as have Benin on my list
You have inspired me to have further push to complete"

Thanks Robert. What did you read for Benin? Not quite sure what you would like me to do with the list. Just put a blank one on the challenge page? If so, away at the moment but will do on my return - it is saved on my home computer.

Sue - can you hold off from doing this please. I'm currently reviewing allowable "countries" as per response to Andrew re Chechnya. I'll then set up the potential country lists on the Challenge thread.

sue this is book
Looked up town they ended at in Africa and saw in modern day Benin. Had never heard of it before

Congrats on the first 80! I'm miles behind (quite literally) but can recommend The Glass House by Simon Mawer for Czech republic.

OK Ian - no prob. Thx Robert and Ellie. 2 more for the list.

Here's the map of where I went for the first trip:

81. Israel . Coming of age story of girls who do national service. Some funny bits but didn't really enjoy it- political problems seem insoluble and I didn't relate to any of the characters.

82. Colombia Not nice character unravels the mystery of why he's shot. Lots about the country's political past and geography.

83. Antigua Potted history of the island told from one point of view. Enlightening - would like to know more.

84. Netherlands Story of a painting by Vermeer working from sale in the almost present (echoes of the news of the painting allegedly looted in WW2 now in the Tate) to its painting and the family life of Vermeer. The story about the flood was also poignant given recent events. Not read that format before but quite enjoyed it.

Ian wrote: "Sue - can you hold off from doing this please. I'm currently reviewing allowable "countries" as per response to Andrew re Chechnya. I'll then set up the potential country lists on the Challenge thr..."

Sorry for delay......will be posting these later today.

Look forward to seeing the list - this one was taken from the list of countries on the world map. Please don't find any more!!!

Tee hee.

85. Niger . What a story of a young girl's struggles against the odds and how awful the final page was. Think sports relief will cost me more than it would have otherwise have done.

Glad you liked it Sue. I think you and Bob both liked the ending more than me but still a really good read.

Ian wrote: "Glad you liked it Sue. I think you and Bob both liked the ending more than me but still a really good read."

Very powerful book. This reason enjoyed round world challenge so much as would never have read this book otherwise

Well put Robert - that's why I'm carrying on with it = there is such a variety and as you say you would never read them otherwise.
Ian - thought the ending was about perfect! Would love to know how you would have liked it to end but wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone who is planning on reading it!

Dunno Sue.....don't have the imagination to think one up but just didn't work for me.

:( lol

86. Set in Lucerne english university student Hadley falls in love. Coming of age story in a lovely setting. Didn't enjoy it as much as her previous novel, but enjoyed it.

That's my Switzerland novel sorted - aka A Heart Bent Out of Shape if looking for it on kindle. Switzerland has been a strangely difficult place to find a decent book for. Been waiting for The Pledge by Friedrich Dürrenmatt to come out in kindle format but to no avail.

Not sure if it will be your kind of novel, Ian. Be interesting to see what you think of it. I like Durrenmatt too. Currently reading وحدها شجرة الرمانi.e. The Corpse Washer which is entirely different!

I'm always game for something a bit different......not averse to a bit of romance/coming of age now and again.

Be interested to hear your views on the corpse washer sue, i thought it was excellent and one of shortlist for independent foreign fiction award.

87. Iraq Andrew I found the book almost unbelievably sad on both a personal and society level. His nightmares, I felt after a few pages, could for the most part have been reality. But it was an extraordinary book in its portrayal of the main character doing a job with respect, even though it was not what he wanted. I think it is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

I agree sue, the beauty and respect of the ritual of the corpse washing was such a contrast with the horror of the inter religious violence that i too was sad especially as you learn so much about how rich the culture is. Also the family relationships were very moving, and the dreams frightening .Amazing as such a short book, glad to see someone else read it.

I think I must have seen it on your list Andrew - so thank you. I ordered it from the library and it looks like they bought a copy. Do hope other people will read it as it was a privilege to step into an almost different world - survival was paramount but not at the expense of humanity. The little descriptions e.g. the biscuits brought the book to life - and made me care.

Had you read durrenmatt, i heard about him in the mark Lawson radio 4 prog but his books are not in library, i got an old library copy of the pledge on line and enjoyed it so will look for more. I was v excited that i got a like of my review of the corpse washer from the author, glad you enjoyed it, there are some other good ones on the foreign fiction award shortlist website, its under booktrust website.

88. Syria Uncomfortable read but interesting. About power in sexual relationships (and abuse) but a fair amount about both stratas of Syrian society.
Many years ago, Andrew, I read Durrenmatt - did enjoy them.

89. Kazakhstan I don't remember who recommended this but thank you!! Couldn't put this story of a boy affected by the automic tests. Beautiful descriptions of the landscape. Must admit I did get a bit confused by all the names but that didn't detract.

And such a large blob to colour in on your map.

So ignorant I don't know where for sure it is. Will update map when I get to 90! Looking forward to that now!

Oooh yes! Have ordered a book set in Mongolia which should also be a big blob!!! New map after 90!

90. Vietnam
I enjoyed this book about the trading of women as it was beautifully written with good characters and their lives. But the fact that this is a trader of women, inspired by someone the author met on a plane says little for the status of women, especially those who are the rural poor.

So where's the new map then???

Ian wrote: "So where's the new map then???"
It's too hot to be thinking of doing one!!! Have decided to wait til 100 when, at the rate I'm going, it should be winter and cold!

Large G & T with ice needed by the sound of things.

Ian wrote: "Large G & T with ice needed by the sound of things."
Yes, please!

91. Algeria Book of short stories about women from France and Algeria, their ties to the two countries, separation and violence. Interesting but not an easy read.

Angola Sue? Think you really mean Algeria? By coincidence, I've just bought my Angola one by Ryszard Kapuściński.