Reading the World discussion

I am going to be listing the books I have read since joining goodreads in 2016.

AFRICA

Botswana:
A Question of Power by Bessie Head
Egypt:
Khufu's Wisdom by Naguib Mahfouz (2/19)
Lesotho:
Sometimes there is a Void – Memoirs of an Outsider by Zakes Mda (6/19)
Liberia:
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
Nigeria:
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Republic of South Africa:
Out of Bounds by Beverley Naidoo
Sierra Leone:
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

ASIA

Afghanistan:
The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari
Bahrain:
Round the Bend by Nevil Shute (01/20)
Bangladesh:
The Storm by Arif Anwar (11/19)
Burma:
Burmese Days by George Orwell (01/19)
China:
Rickshaw Boy by Lao She
Hong Kong:
Defend or Die: The Siege of Hong Kong, Jack Finnigan, Hong Kong, 1941 by Gillian Chan (11/19)
India:
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Indonesia:
Max Havelaar, or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company by Multatuli (03/20)
Iran:
My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran by Kader Abdolah (11/19)
Iraq:
The Old Woman and the River by Ismail Fahd Ismail (12/19)
Israel:
Judas by Amos Oz (2/19)
Kazakhstan:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Kyrgyzstan:
Jamila by Chingiz Aitmatov (10/19)
North Korea:
North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors by Daniel Tudor (7/19)
Philippines:
Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal
Saudi Arabia:
The Green Bicycle by Haifaa al Mansour (03/19)
Singapore:
Beneath the Singapore Sky by P.C. Nicholas
Turkmenistan:
Pomegranate Roads: A Soviet Botanist's Exile from Eden by Gregory M. Levin (02/20)
United Arab Emirates:
The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai by Maha Gargash (03/20)
Vietnam:
The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bảo Ninh

EUROPE

Albania:
Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare
Belarus:
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
Channel Islands:
Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake (7/19)
England:
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher (7/19)
France:
Bird in a Cage by Frédéric Dard
Germany:
I Will Bear Witness 1933-41 A Diary of the Nazi Years by Victor Klemperer (1/19)
Greece:
A History Of My Times by Xenophon
Hungary:
Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 by Aranka Siegal
They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy
Iceland:
Independent People by Halldór Kiljan Laxness (8/19)
Ireland:
Amongst Women by John McGahern (03/19)
Italy-Sicily:
The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga
Latvia:
Baltic Facades: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since 1945 by Aldis Purs 04/20)
Lithuania:
Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz(05/20)
Netherlands:
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Northern Ireland:
Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane
Norway:
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
Poland:
Isaac's Army: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland by Matthew Brzezinski (05/20)
Russia:
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Serbia:
When Pumpkins Blossomed by Dragoslav Mihailović
Slovakia:
Embers by Sándor Márai (7/19)
Slovenia:
Slovenia, 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II by John Corsellis (10/19)
Sweden:
The Red Room by August Strindberg
Turkey:
Memed, My Hawk by Yaşar Kemal
Ukraine:
The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov
Wales:
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (08/19)

LATIN AND SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina:
Far Away and Long Ago by W.H. Hudson
Barbados:
Growing Up Stupid Under the Union Jack by Austin Clarke
Belize:
Our Man in Belize: A Memoir by Richard Timothy Conroy
Brazil:
My Sweet Orange Tree by José Mauro de Vasconcelos (10/19)
Colombia:
Short Walks from Bogota: Journeys in the New Colombia by Tom Feiling (10/19)
Curacao:
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Dominica:
Home Again: Stories Of Migration And Return by Celia Sorhaindo
Dominican Republic:
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Ecuador:
The Old Man Who Read Love Stories by Luis Sepúlveda
Guyana:
Frangipani House by Beryl Gilroy (1/19)
Peru:
The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland by Hugh Thomson (8/19)
Suriname:
The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname by Andrew Westoll (8/19)
Trinidad:
A Way in the World by V.S. Naipaul (11/19)
Venezuela:
Doña Bárbara by Rómulo Gallegos (04/20)
Virgin Islands:
Timothy of the Cay by Theodore Taylor

NORTH AMERICA

Canada:
Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill (01/19) (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Such Is My Beloved by Morley Callaghan (08/19) (Toronto, Ontario)
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston (09/19) (Newfoundland)
The Curse of the Viking Grave by Farley Mowat (Nunavut) (10/19)
Ghost Stories and Legends of Prince Edward Island by Julie V. Watson (10/19)
Village Of The Small Houses: A Memoir Of Sorts by Ian Ferguson(Alberta) (11/19)

Mexico:
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

United States:
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (01/19)

OCEANIA

Australia:
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
New Zealand:
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera (11/19)
Solomon Islands:
Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
Tahiti:
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Bernard Nordhoff (1/19)
Vanuatu:
Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost

I have visited other countries but did not read the books in English.

You have a some great titles here! I would love if you would post some thoughts or link reviews over in that folder!

Adding Burma

Burmese Days by George Orwell

The writing in the book is wonderful but the topic is depressing and aggravating at the same time. It is set in Burma in the last days of the British Empire, based on Orwell's own experiences as a police officer in Burma. It is his first novel.

Rosemarie wrote: "Adding Burma

Burmese Days by George Orwell

The writing in the book is wonderful but the topic is depressing and aggravating at the same time. It is set in Burma in the l..."

Myanmar continues to be a hotbed. So many troubles! I have not heard of this book. I will be adding it to my TBR.

I have read and reviewed the book Burmese Days. Rosemarie had pointed me to the book!!
You can find my review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Adding Canada

Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill

I have read many books by Canadian authors, so I am adding the first Canadian book of this year, that wasn't a reread.
This is the author's first novel and I enjoyed it. However, my favourite Lawrence Hill novel, and probably one of my favourite Canadian books, is Any Known Blood. I loved it!

Adding Guyana:

Frangipani House is the story of a dedicated Guyanese woman whose family now lives in the United States.
After a severe illness they place in what is supposed to be an excellent nursing home.
Mama gets bored and has real difficulty with the snooty matron, until she finds a way to escape from her oh so refined prison.

Adding Germany:

I Will Bear Witness 1933-41 A Diary of the Nazi Years are the diaries of a professor living in Dresden Germany during the Nazi Years. He survived the war and went on to resume his scholarly career after the end of the war. The diary describes the day to day hardships and aggravations caused by the anti-Jewish laws of the time.

Rosemarie wrote: "Adding Germany:

I Will Bear Witness 1933-41 A Diary of the Nazi Years are the diaries of a professor living in Dresden Germany during the Nazi Years. He survived the war and went on ..."

Is there much about the Dresden bombings in this one?

This is while Dresden was safe. I am now reading the second volume, which ends in 1945, including the time of the bombings.

Oh, yes I didn't look at the dates. I can't wait to hear what you think of volume 2.

I am about 100 pages into the second volume, and the conditions are getting worse-more restrictions, more searches by the Gestapo and severe lack of food, and it is only August of 1942. The author and his wife were 60 years old when all this was happening.

Adding United States

A Raisin in the Sun is a play about a black family and their dreams-and also the harsh reality of day to day life

Adding Israel

Judas by Amos Oz

Not a lot happens in this book, but the author writes well, especially when describing city and landscapes. He is also good at creating an almost dream like atmosphere in what is really a dull situation.

Adding Egypt

Khufu's Wisdom by Naguib Mahfouz

This historical novel is the author's first novel, published originally in 1939.

Adding Ireland

Amongst Women by John McGahern

This book is about a family with an unpredictable and domineering father in a small town in Ireland. The author writes well.

I have been planning to read this one for a while, but haven't gotten to it yet. How many stars did you give it?

I gave it three stars, which means I liked it, but didn't love it.
The author writes well and is good at creating authentic characters and atmosphere.

Adding Saudi Arabia

The Green Bicycle by Haifaa al Mansour

This book shows us what life is like for a non-conforming girl of 11, who already has to deal with so many restrictions to her freedom because she is a girl. She is a feisty girl who can't be stopped from going her own way.

Rosemarie wrote: "Adding Saudi Arabia

The Green Bicycle by Haifaa al Mansour

This book shows us what life is like for a non-conforming girl of 11, who already has to deal with so m..."

Did you like it? Is it fiction or non?

It is children's/YA fiction and I really liked it. The main character was a lot of fun and very feisty. The book showed what life was like for ordinary people.

My library can actually get it through ILL so I put a hold down on it.

I hope you enjoy it. It was a fast and interesting read.

Adding another book to Hungary

They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy


I love this book!

I didn't find a copy of this one, unfortunately.

That's too bad, Kelly.

Adding Sierra Leone

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

Adding Lesotho

Sometimes there is a Void – Memoirs of an Outsider by Zakes Mda


This is an interesting and informative autobiography.

Adding Channel Islands (Sark)

Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake

Adding England

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher


I love this book, even if it did make me cry.

Adding North Korea

North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors by Daniel Tudor

Adding Suriname

The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname by Andrew Westoll

Adding Iceland

Independent People by Halldór Kiljan Laxness

Adding Ontario (Canada)

Such Is My Beloved by Morley Callaghan

Adding Peru

The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland by Hugh Thomson

Adding Newfoundland

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston

Adding Colombia

Short Walks from Bogota: Journeys in the New Colombia by Tom Feiling

Adding Brazil

My Sweet Orange Tree by José Mauro de Vasconcelos

Adding Kyrgyzstan

Jamila by Chingiz Aitmatov

Adding Canada - Nunavut

The Curse of the Viking Grave by Farley Mowat

Adding Slovenia

Slovenia, 1945: Memories of Death and Survival after World War II by John Corsellis

Adding Iran

My Father's Notebook by Kader Abdolah

Adding New Zealand

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera