Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I'll record the first book for each country I have visited and add GT (Globetrotter) for those books written by an author where the book is based. I am aiming to get GT for as many countries as I can.

North America
1. Mexico
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera GT
2. USA
Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman GT
3. Canada
Runaway by Alice Munro GT

The Caribbean
4. Haiti
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat GT
5. Antigua
Musical Youth by Joanne C. Hillhouse GT
6. Bahamas
Life On A Rock by K.A. Albury GT
7. Trinidad and Tobago
Memoirs of Dr Andrew Moonir Khan - A great Educator In Trinidad and Tobago by Brenda Mohammed GT

Latin America
8. Columbia
Delirio by Laura Restrepo GT
9. Bolivia
American Visa by Juan De Recacoechea GT
10. Brazil
Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera GT
79. Argentina
Purgatory by Tomás Eloy Martínez GT
83. Suriname
The cost of sugar by Cynthia Mc Leod GT
84. Guyana
Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge by John Gimlette

Europe
11. Bosnia & Herzegovina
How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone by Saša Stanišić GT
12. England
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks GT
13. Finland
Under the North Star by Väinö Linna GT
14. France
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre GT
15. Germany
Go, Went, GoneThe Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald by Jenny Erpenbeck GT
16. Iceland
The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness GT
17. Ireland
Academy Street by Mary Costello GT
18. Russia
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy GT
19. Scotland
Complicity by Iain Banks GT
20. Spain
Wrinkles by Paco Roca GT
21. Sweden
Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck GT
22. Ukraine
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol GT
23. Denmark
Borderliners by Peter Høeg GT
24. Estonia
The Willow King by Meelis Friedenthal GT
25. Italy
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa GT
26. Switzerland
All Days Are Night by Peter Stamm GT
27. Albania
Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare GT
28. The Aland Islands
Jää by Ulla-Lena Lundberg GT
29. Austria
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler GT
30. Latvia
High Tide by Inga Ābele GT
31. Azerbaijan
The Human Sea by Vagif Sultanly GT
32. Poland
Rage by Zygmunt Miłoszewski GT
33. Belgium
The Misfortunates by Dimitri Verhulst GT
34. Bulgaria
East of the West: A Country in Stories by Miroslav Penkov GT
35. Romania
The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller GT
36. Croatia
The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
37. Norway
The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann GT
38. Belarus
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich GT
39. Greenland
Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen GT
40. Turkey
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk GT
41. Czechoslovakia
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek GT

Hi! Did you like Herta Muller's novel? I tried to read two of her novels; I was unable to finish them. I find her very hermetic. What do you think of her style?

Africa
42. Nigeria
I Do Not Come to You by Chance
by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani GT
43. Sierre Leone
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna GT
44. Zimbabwe
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah GT
45. Zambia
When Hoopoes Go to Heaven by Gaile Parkin GT
46. South Africa
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee GT
47. Morocco
Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun GT
48. Algeria
The Bridges of Constantine by Ahlam Mosteghanemi GT
49. Angola
The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa GT
50. Democratic Republic of Congo
Seven Houses in France by Bernardo Atxaga
51. Botswana
A Question of Power by Bessie Head GT
52. Somalia
Crossbones by Nuruddin Farah GT
53. Mauritius
Snow Beach by Sophie Cayeux GT
54. Tanzania
The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior: An Autobiography by Tepilit Ole Saitoti GT

Middle East
55. Egypt
Heart of the Night by Naguib Mahfouz GT
56. Iran
Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi GT
57. Israel
To Know A Woman by Amos Oz GT
58. Bahrain
The Pearl Thief by Noor Al Noaimi GT
59. Syria
The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria by Samar Yazbek GT

Asia
60. Afghanistan
The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi GT
61. China
The Boat to Redemption by Su Tong GT.
62. Japan
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto GT
63. Laos
The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill
64. Timor Leste
Beloved Land by Gordon Peake
65. The Philippines
Fish-Hair Woman by Merlinda Bobis GT
66. Sri Lanka
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera GT
67. Mongolia
Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong
68. Indonesia
Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan GT
69. Bangladesh
Lajja: Shame by Taslima Nasrin GT
70. Vietnam
The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh GT
71. South Korea
The Vegetarian by Han Kang GT
72. Singapore
The River's Song by Suchen Christine Lim GT
73. Thailand
The Sad Part Was by Prabda Yoon GT
80. Kazakhstan
Under the Wolf's Nest. A Turkic Rhapsody by Kairat Zakiryanov GT
81. Pakistan
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid GT
82. Mynamar
Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi GT

Oceania/Australia
74. Australia
Anchor Point by Alice Robinson GT
75. New Zealand
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera GT
76. Papua New Guinea
Playing the Game: Life and Politics in Papua New Guinea by Julius Chan GT
77. Samoa
Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt GT

Antarctica
78. South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917 by Frank Hurley

Acinorev wrote: "Hi! Did you like Herta Muller's novel? I tried to read two of her novels; I was unable to finish them. I find her very hermetic. What do you think of her style?"
My review states " The writing is unemotionless - I guess this is the state you have to reach in order to survive - and reads like non-fiction. " So I have to agree this book is not easy to read but I still enjoyed it.

Calzean wrote: "Acinorev wrote: "Hi! Did you like Herta Muller's novel? I tried to read two of her novels; I was unable to finish them. I find her very hermetic. What do you think of her style?"
My review states "..."
Thank you for your interesting consideration! I guess I need some more background to appreciate her writing.

Europe
85. Faroe Islands: The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú GT

Europe
86.
Malta: The White Lady of Marsaxlokk by Rosanne Dingli

87. Ascension Island: The Devil's Ashpit: and other Tales of Ascension Island by Dan Kovalchik

Calzean wrote: "87. Ascension Island: The Devil's Ashpit: and other Tales of Ascension Island by Dan Kovalchik"

You beat me to Ascension Island. :) Is the book worth the read?

Diane wrote: "Calzean wrote: "87. Ascension Island: The Devil's Ashpit: and other Tales of Ascension Island by Dan Kovalchik"

You beat me to Ascension Island. :) Is the book wor..."
I was disappointed - it was just the author's recollections of his 3 years in Ascension during the 1970s.

Calzean wrote: "Diane wrote: "Calzean wrote: "87. Ascension Island: The Devil's Ashpit: and other Tales of Ascension Island by Dan Kovalchik"

You beat me to Ascension Island. :) I..."

Bummer. It is a hard place to find books from.

88. Africa/Equatorial Guinea: By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel GT

Calzean wrote: "88. Africa/Equatorial Guinea: Palm Trees in the Snow by Luz Gabás"

How did you like this? I recently got it with Kindle Prime.

Diane wrote: "Calzean wrote: "88. Africa/Equatorial Guinea: Palm Trees in the Snow by Luz Gabás"

How did you like this? I recently got it with Kindle Prime."

It was too long. I would say it was a romance novel. It had some good sections on Spain and it's colony, life leading to and after Independence.
I noticed it was made into a film - probably it is one of those rare books which is better as a movie.

Calzean wrote: "Diane wrote: "Calzean wrote: "88. Africa/Equatorial Guinea: Palm Trees in the Snow by Luz Gabás"

How did you like this? I recently got it with Kindle Prime."

It ..."

Thanks. Good to know.

89. Africa/Libya:In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar GT

90. Latin America/Chile: Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende GT

91. The Caribbean/Grenada: The Bone Readers by Jacob Ross GT

92. Europe/Hungary: They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy GT

93. Africa/Sudan: Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela GT

94. Africa/Togo: An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie GT

95. The Caribbean/Jamaica: Disposable People by Ezekel Alan GT

96. Africa/Republic of Congo: Black Moses: A Novel by Alain Mabanckou GT

97. Oceania/Kirabati:Food of Ghosts by Marianne Wheelaghan

98. The Caribbean/Barbados: In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming GT

99. Oceania/Guam: Water Over Time: A Collection of Stories and Poems by Barbara Toboni GT

100. Africa/Cameroon: How to Cook Your Husband the African Way by Calixthe Beyala GT

101. Asia/North Korea: The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector's Story by Hyeonseo Lee GT

102. Africa/Zanzibar: By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah GT

103: Africa/Mauritania: Ubuntu: One Woman's Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa by Heather Ellis - this is the last country on a cross Africa travel tale so I am claiming it for Mauritania.

104. Oceania/Nauru: Offshore: Behind the wire on Manus and Nauru by Madeline Gleeson

105. Africa/Canary Islands: The Drago Tree by Isobel Blackthorn

106. Europe/Gibraltar: The Escape Artist by M.G. Sanchez GT

107. Arctic: A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

108. Asia/Hong Kong: The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei GT

109. Africa/Ghana: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi GT

110. Latin America/Honduras: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston

111. Europe/Uzbekistan: The Dancer from Khiva: One Muslim Woman's Quest for Freedom by Bibish GT

112. The Caribbean/St Vincent and the Grenadines: The Moon Is Following Me by Cecil Browne GT

113. Asia/Georgia: Antonio and David by Jemal Karchkhadze GT

114. Europe/Slovenia: German Lottery by Miha Mazzini GT

115. Africa/Malawi: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba GT

116. The Caribbean/Martinique: The Middle Passage by V.S. Naipaul