The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

Well, my first name starts with L. Countries that start with L are slim, Laos/Lebanon/Luxembourg
Anyone have any book ideas for countries that start with L?
Thanks!

i read The Coroner's Lunch- which is set in Laos, for the winter challenge.

lithuania, latvia

lol just to add some more L countries!! Ok still not very likely ones!

You can search for countries on the CIA World Factbook website - select the pull-down menu for an alphabetical list:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publicati...

I'm an L (surname) too and I second The Coroner's Lunch, which I'm going to read. It's supposed to be good.

There's also Lesotho, Liberia, Libya. Not that that helps much!

Who was looking for ideas for Wales? I think these are all set in Wales, but double check as I did this fast :)

Eve Green A Novel
The Hiding Place A Novel
At Sixes and Sevens
Carrie's War
Grits
Running for the Hills Growing Up on My Mother's Sheep Farm in Wales
The Old Devils
Barefoot in the Dark
The Master Bedroom A Novel
A Gift Of Sanctuary
Red Shift
Morgan's Woman

Books from countries that start with "L":

Vampire Loves-Joann Sfar (Lithuania)
Heshel's Kingdom-Dan Jacobson (Lithuania)
Tales of the Amber Sea Fairy Tales of the Peoples of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania-Irinia Zheleznova
The Last Girl A Novel-Stephan Collishaw (Lithuania
Journey without Maps-Graham Greene (Liberia)
Mississippi in Africa-Alan Huffman (Liberia)
Red Dust on the Green Leaves-John Gay (Liberia)
The Hakawati-Rabih Alameddine (Lebanon)
Beaufort-Ron Leshem (Lebanon)
The Story of Zahra A Novel-Hanan Al-Shaykh (Lebanon)
A Girl Made of Dust-Nathalie Abi-Ezzi (Lebanon)
Books by Colin Cotterill (Laos)
I Little Slave-Bounsang Khamkeo (Laos)
Red Dust, Red Sky-Paul Sunga (Lesotho)
Headcrusher-Alexander Garros (Latvia)
In the Country of Men-Hisham Matar (Libya)
The Shadows of Ghadames-Joelle Stolz (Libya)

Hope this helps!!

oh wow dionisia, thank you SO much! :)

Dionisia wrote: "Books from countries that start with "L":

Vampire Loves-Joann Sfar (Lithuania)
Heshel's Kingdom-Dan Jacobson (Lithuania)
[book:Tales of the Amber Sea Fairy Tales ..."

Okay, you were SO good with the letter "L" could you work your magic on the letter "K" and post a list of K countries? They're right next to each other in the alpahbet. :-)

(Or let me in to your secret on how you compiled the list so quickly)

Thanks! -Krista

Another thought for WALES is the 'Wales' trilogy by Sharon Kay Penman I believe the first book in that series is Here be Dragons

Dionisia wrote: "Books from countries that start with "L":

Vampire Loves-Joann Sfar (Lithuania)
Heshel's Kingdom-Dan Jacobson (Lithuania)
[book:Tales of the Amber Sea Fairy Tales ..."

I'm also an "L"...thanks so much for this list! I was able to put one on hold at the library. :)

Dionisia wrote: "Books from countries that start with "L":

Vampire Loves-Joann Sfar (Lithuania)
Heshel's Kingdom-Dan Jacobson (Lithuania)
[book:Tales of the Amber Sea Fairy Tales ..."

OMG.....I could hug you right now!!!!
I have been stuck on L for a while now :0)

Yay! So glad I could help a few people find some matches.

And.....some books from countries that start with "K":

Apples Are from Kazakhstan The Land that Disappeared-Christopher Robbins (also works for task #5.2!)
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years-Chingiz Aitmatov (Kazakhstan)
Nine Layers of Sky-Liz Williams (Kazakhstan)
Borat Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan/Minor Nation of U.S. and A.-Borat Sagdiyev
The Sex Lives of Cannibals Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific-J. Maarten Troost (Kiribati)
A Pattern of Islands-Arthur Grimble (Kiribati)
Out of Africa-Isak Dinesen (Kenya)
Unbowed-Wangari Maathai (Kenya)
A Grain of Wheat-Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
The White Masai-Corinne Hofmann (Kenya)

There's also Kosovo, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan! I'll be on later with more books because I actually enjoy finding ones that fit.

Secret = Amanda's CIA World Factbook suggestion combined with searching tags in LibraryThing =)

I need books from countries that start with "B"....please!!!

Dionisia wrote: "Yay! So glad I could help a few people find some matches.

And.....some books from countries that start with "K":

Apples Are from Kazakhstan The Land that Disappeared-Christop..."

Wa-hoo! Thanks -- you just keep on searching. I love what you've come up with so far. :-)

Now that you've jogged my memory about Kenya, I've had West with the Night on my TBR pile for quite awhile. That is set mainly in Kenya also. I think I'll pencil that in for the task for now.

Lori (BNPL) wrote: "I need books from countries that start with "B"....please!!!"

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith takes place in Botswana.

Jennifer L. wrote: "Lori (BNPL) wrote: "I need books from countries that start with "B"....please!!!"

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith takes place in Botswana."

Thank you. I have been meaning to try those.

Dionisia wrote: "Yay! So glad I could help a few people find some matches.

And.....some books from countries that start with "K":

Apples Are from Kazakhstan The Land that Disappeared-Christop..."

Wow! Dionisia, I thank you on behalf of "K"-names everywhere.

Dionisia wrote: "Yay! So glad I could help a few people find some matches.

And.....some books from countries that start with "K":

Apples Are from Kazakhstan The Land that Disappeared-Christop..."

Thank you thank you thank you :-)

Jennifer L. wrote: "Lori (BNPL) wrote: "I need books from countries that start with "B"....please!!!"

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith takes place in Botswana."

Also - i think i was going to read Eat Pray Love which partly takes place in Bali. That could work for a B. I'm hoping Cynthia will allow Britain to count... that would really open up possibilities.

I have a great suggestions for people looking for L books, I read Anarchy and Old Dogs recently and it's set in Laos. I didn't realize that it's a detective series when I picked it up, and of course it's not the first in the series (that's how I seem to manage to do things!) But it's a great book nonetheless and if you wanted to start with the first in the series it's set in Laos as well.

Books set in countries that start with the letter "B":

Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl-Kate McCafferty (Barbados)
The Polished Hoe A Novel-Austin Clarke (Barbados)
Limestone-Cecil Foster (Barbados)
Looking for Dilmun-Geoffrey Bibby (Bahrain)
Lajja-Taslima Nasrin (Bangladesh)
A Golden Age-Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
How to be a true-true Bahamian-Patricia Glinton-Meicholas (Bahamas)
Thunderball-Ian Fleming (Bahamas)
God's Angry Babies-Ian G. Strachan (Bahamas)
Defiance The Bielski Partisans-Nechama Tec (Belarus)
Factory of Tears-Valzhyna Mort (Belarus)
Pack of Wolves-Vasil Bykau (Belarus)
Resistance-Anita Shreve (Belgium)
The Folding Star A Novel-Alan Hollinghurst (Belgium)
In the Company of Angels A Novel-N.M. Kelby (Belgium)
Beka Lamb-Zee Edgell (Belize)
Tea With Tracey-Tracey Caswell (Bermuda)
The Deep-Peter Benchley (Bermuda)
Bermuda Grass-Keith Miles (Bermuda)
The Bolivian Diary The authorized edition-Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (Bolivia)
I Am a Taxi-Deborah Ellis (Bolivia)
Turing's Delirium-Edmundo Paz Soldán (Bolivia)
Marching Powder-by Rusty Young (Bolivia)
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands-Jorge Amado (Brazil)
War of the End of the World-Mario Vargas Llosa (Brazil)
The Seamstress A Novel-Frances D Peebles (Brazil)
Also check out the many books set in Brazil by Paulo Coelho.
The Piano Tuner A Novel-Daniel Mason (Burma)
The Glass Palace A Novel-Amitav Ghosh (Burma)
The Lizard Cage A Novel-Karen Connelly (Burma)
The Cellist of Sarajevo-Steven Galloway (Bosnia)
Love Thy Neighbor A Story of War-Peter Maass (Bosnia)
Pretty Birds A Novel-Scott Simon (Bosnia)
The Fixer A Story from Sarajevo-Joe Sacco (Bosnia)

Enjoy!

Dionisia wrote: "Books set in countries that start with the letter "B":

Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl-Kate McCafferty (Barbados)
The Polished Hoe A Novel-Austin Clarke (Barbados)
[..."

Cynthia just approved using Britain as a B country - so anything set there will work too!

Ideas for books set in M countries?
Morocco
Mali
Malta
Madagascar
Mexico
Mongolia
Malaysia

If possible i would like to avoid using Mexico as I have to do the other Mexico task already and would like to branch out!

Bridgit wrote: "Dionisia wrote: "Books set in countries that start with the letter "B":

Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl-Kate McCafferty (Barbados)
The Polished Hoe A Novel-Austin..."

I'm planning on reading Hideous Kinky A Novel by Esther Freud. It's set in Morocco.

If your a horror fan this one sounds promising The Ruins, I stumbled across it. Stephen King even did a review for it :0) Takes place in Mexico.

I was going to use it for part of my Geography task but now that I see Hideous Kinky is based in Morocco I might switch it to my Hispanic Heritage Month instead.

Anyone have any other good M suggestions?

Morocco
Points in Time
The Tenth Gift
Lulu in Marrakech

Mali
Desert Burial A Novel

Malta
Ironfire A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades
The Religion A Novel (Tannhauser Trilogy, #1)
The Brass Dolphin

Madagascar
Ghost of Chance
Hot Ice
The Sapphire Sea A Gemstone Thriller

Mongolia
The Blue Sky A Novel
The Blue Wolf The Epic Tale of the Life of Genghis Khan and the Empire of the Steppes
Treasure Of Khan

Malaysia
Evening Is the Whole Day A Novel
White Is the Color of Death A Mystery
Saviors

Ok, I need some help. I need books set in G countries - preferably NOT Germany as I'm reading two other 'German' based books for this challenge .... so Great Britain (I know there will be lots here, but fancied somewhere different to be honest!) Greece, Gambia, ???

Not Captain Corelli's Mandolin please lol!

Everytime I check this thread my TBR list gets bigger and bigger!

Ghana
The Clothes of Nakedness
Search Sweet Country
The Prophet of Zongo Street Stories
Wife of the Gods A Novel

Greece
Nights of Rain and Stars
Little Infamies Stories
Forgery A Novel
When the Tree Sings

Grenada
A Tan and Sandy Silence
Wishin' on a Star

Guatemala
The Long Night of White Chickens
Betrayed
The Queen Jade A Novel
Amigo, Amigo

Guyana

Roy A.K. Heath has several books set here
Buxton Spice

Some books set in "G" countries (minus Germany and Gr. Britain):

The Magus-John Fowles (Greece)
Dinner with Persephone Travels in Greece-Patricia Storace (Greece)
The King Must Die A Novel-Mary Renault (Greece)
Reading the Ceiling-Dayo Forster (Gambia)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-Mary Ann Shaffer (Guernsey)
Island Madness-Tim Binding (Guernsey)
The Toilers of the Sea-Victor Hugo (Guernsey)

Edit: How did I miss the super obvious fact that you did not want to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin?!

Dionisia wrote: "Some books set in "G" countries (minus Germany and Gr. Britain):

Captain Corelli's Mandolin-Louis de Bernières (Greece)
The Magus-John Fowles (Greece)
[book:Dinner wi..."

OOH - the Magus is SOO good!

oooh, thanks everyone! Decisions, decisions .... lol

Ps
Pakistan
Charlie Wilson's War The Story of the Largest CIA Operation in History


Panama
The Tailor of Panama
Beneath a Panamanian Moon

Papua New Guinea
The King of America A Novel


Paraguay
Sweeter Than All The World - not sure about this one, Paraguay featured in one main section

Peru
The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Phillipines
Hey, Joe A Slice Of The City-An American In Manilla...


Poland
Push Not the River
Against a Crimson Sky A Novel - sequel to Push
Fugitive Pieces A Novel

Portugal
The Crime of Father Amaro
Night Train to Lisbon
Hunting Midnight


Ts
Tanzania
The Book of Secrets

Togo

Thailand
The Bridge Over the River Kwai A Novel
Fieldwork
The Gate
Bangkok Haunts

Tibet
Seven Years in Tibet


Turkey
Snow - set in Kars (northern Turkey)
Birds Without Wings - set after fall of Ottoman Empire
A Woman of Singular Occupation

any J's? I'm having a hard time!

Jamie wrote: "any J's? I'm having a hard time! "

Jamaica
The True History of Paradise A Novel
The Book of Night Women
In The Company Of My Sistahs

Japan
The Scent of Sake
Brilliance of the Moon
The Tale of Genji

Jordan
Shy Moon
Mosaic
Honor Lost Love and Death in Modern Day Jordan

I'm looking for R's and E's. . . Any ideas?

Miramar (Egypt)
Professor Martens' Departure (Estonia)
The New World (Ethiopia)

And England counts, so there are innumerable choices for that.


Forest of the Hanged (Romania)
On the Heights of Despair (Romania)

And then there are several well-known Russian writers:
Nabokov, Vladimir
Tolstoy, Leo
Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Pasternak, Boris
Pushkin, Alexander
Turgenev, Ivan
Gorky, Maxim
Bulgakov, Mikhail
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander

Thank you!!! =)

lesley wrote: "Well, my first name starts with L. Countries that start with L are slim, Laos/Lebanon/Luxembourg
Anyone have any book ideas for countries that start with L?
Thanks!"

I am using The Coroner's Lunch.

I too am having a difficult time with this list. I am looking for D and S. Thanks in advance for the help!!!

Tanja wrote: "Ps
Pakistan
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Phillipines
Poland
Portugal


Ts
Togo
Thailand
Tanzania
Turkey

will edit once I find books set in these places"

For T, I asked Cynthia and Tibet also works. I am using Sky Burial An Epic Love Story of Tibet for my T.

For S I'm reading Frankie and Stankie set in South Africa - there are lots of books set here and I can recommend anything by Andre Brink

There's also Scotland and Sweden ...

SuzieR wrote: "oooh, thanks everyone! Decisions, decisions .... lol"

Read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society! I read it for the Summer challenge and it was wonderful!

I've read that one - loved it! :)

Hmm I'm looking for H countries... Holland or Haiti I guess, but I'm struggling to find any books... Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Thanks in advance

Hungarian novelists

Some contemporary Haitian authors
Living in Haiti:
* Frankétienne (1936 -)
* Lyonel Trouillot (1956 -)
* Gary Victor (1958 -)

Living in the US or Canada:
* Anthony Phelps (1928 -)
* Émile Ollivier (1940 - 2002)
* Dany Laferrière (1953 -)
* Marie-Célie Agnant
* Stanley Péan (1966 -)
* Edwidge Danticat (1969 -)

Living in France:
* René Depestre (1926 -)
* Jean Métellus (1937 -)
* Jean-Claude Charles (1949 -)
* Louis-Philippe Dalembert (1962-)

Mountains Beyond Mountains The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World is set primarily in Haiti

Heidi wrote: "Hmm I'm looking for H countries... Holland or Haiti I guess, but I'm struggling to find any books... Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Thanks in advance"

For Haiti, I would recommend The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat. Warning: it was heart-wrenching. It's one of the few books that made me cry.

You might take a look at Goodreads author Myriam J.A. Chancy. Her novel The Scorpion's Claw wasn't my cup of tea, but you might have a different reaction.

Also, I've had Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica on my TBR list for a while, though I couldn't fit it into this challenge. That might count for this task (if you're lucky enough to have a J or H name).

Books set in "D" countries:

The Exception A Novel-Christian Jungersen (Denmark)
Music & Silence-Rose Tremain (Denmark)
The History of Danish Dreams-Peter Høeg (Denmark)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead-Tom Stoppard (Denmark)
Unburnable A Novel-Marie-Elena John (Dominica)
The Orchid House-Phyllis S. Allfrey (Dominica)
In the Time of the Butterflies-Julia Alvarez (Dominican Republic)
The Feast of the Goat-Mario Vargas Llosa (Dominican Republic)
The Farming of Bones-Edwidge Danticat (Dominican Republic)

Katie wrote: "Heidi wrote: "Hmm I'm looking for H countries... Holland or Haiti I guess, but I'm struggling to find any books... Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Thanks in advance"

For Haiti, I wou..."

I thought The Farming of Bones dealt with Haitians in the Dominican Republic. I haven't read it though. Sorry for the confusion.

Books set in "S" countries:

The Dark Side of Love-Rafik Schami (Syria)
Just Like a River-Muhammad Kamil Al-Khatib (Syra)
Night Falls on Damascus A Novel-Frederick Highland (Syria)
Heidi-Johanna Spyri (Switzerland)
Bloomability-Sharon Creech (Switzerland)
The Pledge-Friedrich Dürrenmatt (Switzerland)
The Laughing Policeman-Maj Sjöwall (Sweden)
Also, check out the books by Swedish authors Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson.
The Shadow of the Wind-Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Spain)
The Flanders Panel-Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Spain)
The Monk-Matthew Gregory Lewis (Spain)
Cry, the Beloved Country-Alan Paton (South Africa)
Persistance Of Memory-Tony Eprile (South Africa)
The Power of One-Bryce Courtenay (South Africa)

So many "S" country books! There's Sudan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Singapore, Serbia, Saudia Arabia, and more!