Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Cover at least 24 countries

8 regions: North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania/Australia. You are welcome to visit Antarctica during your travels, but this is not required

Book 1: United States, my home country
Region: North America

White Tears by Hari Kunzru - completed 1/3/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book 2: St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Region: the Caribbean

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman - completed 1/11/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 3: Ireland
Region: Europe

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt - completed 1/16/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Normal People by Sally Rooney - completed 9/26/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 4: Japan
Region: Asia

The Translator by Nina Schuyler - completed 1/17/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - completed 9/16/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - completed 11/21/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 5: Algeciras, Spain
Region: Europe

Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry - completed 1/19/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 6: United Kingdom
Region: Europe

Autumn by Ali Smith - completed 1/29/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - completed 4/15/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Untouchable by John Banville - completed 4/19/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - completed 5/3/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - completed 5/9/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Coming Up for Air by George Orwell - completed 5/10/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier - completed 5/13/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan - completed 5/16/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - completed 5/24/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark - completed 5/27/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

Regeneration by Pat Barker - completed 7/5/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes - completed 9/14/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

The Accidental by Ali Smith - completed 10/8/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - completed 12/13/20 - 5 stars - My Full Review

and

The Winter King: A Novel of Arthur by Bernard Cornwell - 5 stars - My Review

Book 7: France
Region: Europe

Seasons of the Moon by Julien Aranda - completed 2/5/20 - 5 stars - My Review

Book 8: Bay of Naples Region set in the Roman Empire of 79 A.D, which is located in current-day Italy
Region: Europe

Pompeii by Robert Harris - completed 2/14/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and another for Italy:

The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner - completed 4/16/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith - completed 7/19/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book 9: Berlin, Germany
Region: Europe

The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy - completed 2/23/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 10: Shanghai, China
Region: Asia

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See - completed 3/4/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Hunan Province, China:

The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna - completed 5/21/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and another for China:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See - 5 stars - My Review

Mija, China:
Waiting by Ha Jin - completed 12/28/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book 11: Mexico
Region: Latin America/North America

The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea - completed 3/7/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - completed 4/5/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book 12: Portugal
Region: Europe

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago - completed 3/16/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The History of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago - completed 4/11/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book 13: Jamaica
Region: the Caribbean

Small Island by Andrea Levy - completed 3/19/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and another one set in Jamaica about 275 years earlier:

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty - completed 3/21/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book 14: Reykjavík, Iceland
Region: Europe

Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland by Sarah Moss - completed 4/5/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #15: Nigeria
Region: Africa

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - completed 4/13/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #16: Czechia (at that time called Czechoslovakia)
Region: Europe

The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis byElizabeth Letts - completed 4/21/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - completed 8/6/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal - completed 12/1/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #17: Malta
Region: Europe

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave - completed 4/21/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book #18: Norway
Region: Europe

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson - completed 4/22/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Visited so far: China, Czechia, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands

Book #19: KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
Region: Africa

An Elephant in My Kitchen by Francoise Malby Anthony - completed 5/2/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #20: Australia
Region: Oceania

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - completed 5/6/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth - completed 8/20/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Fled by Meg Keneally - completed 9/24/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey - completed 11/6/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book #21: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Region: the Caribbean

The Comedians by Graham Greene - completed 5/12/20 - My Review

Book #22: Canada
Region: North America

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - completed 5/15/20 - 5 stars - My Review

and

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx - completed 6/6/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky - completed 6/18/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews - completed 7/24/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Galore by Michael Crummey - completed 10/23/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #23: Indonesia
Region: Asia

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester - completed 5/22/20 - 5 stars - My Review

Book #24: Antarctica
Region: Antarctica

The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick - completed 5/25/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and The Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong - 4 stars - My Review

Book #25: Democratic Republic of Congo
Region: Africa

Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart by Tim Butcher - completed 5/30/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #26: Greenland
Region: North America

Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff - completed 6/1/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #27: India
Region: Asia

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - completed 6/14/20 - 3 stars - My Review

and

A Burning by Megha Majumdar - completed 12/5/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #28: Dominican Republic
Region: the Caribbean

Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson - completed 6/20/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #29: Russia
Region: Europe or Asia

A Bend in the Stars by Rachel Barenbaum - completed 6/26/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #30: Tripoli - current day Libya
Region: Africa

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade - completed 6/24/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book #31: Athens, Greece
Region: Europe

Outline by Rachel Cusk - completed 6/29/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book #32: Island of Martinique (not a separate country but aligned with France)
Region: the Caribbean

The Day the World Ended: The Mount Pelée Disaster: May 7, 1902 by Gordon Thomas - completed 7/8/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #33: Ukraine
Region: Europe

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham - 4 stars - My Review

Book #34: Estonia
Region: Europe

The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk - completed 7/28/20 - 3 stars - My Review

Book #35: Brazil
Region: Latin America/South America

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - completed 8/25/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #36: Chile
Region: Latin America/South America

Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende - completed 8/26/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende - completed 12/6/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #37: Sweden
Region: Europe

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman - completed 9/3/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #38: Kenya
Region: Africa

West with the Night by Beryl Markham - completed 9/4/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain - completed 9/6/20 - 2 stars - My Review

Book #39: Pakistan
Region: Asia

Kartography: A Novel by Kamila Shamsie - completed 9/13/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai - completed 10/24/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #40: Sierra Leone
Region: Africa

Ancestor Stones: A Novel by Aminatta Forna - completed 9/27/20 - 4 stars - My Review

and

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna - completed 11/26/20 - 5 stars - My Review

Book #41: Bolivia
Region: Latin America/South America

Ruthless River: Love and Survival by Raft on the Amazon's Relentless Madre de Dios by Holly Conklin FitzGerald - completed 10/1/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #42: Ghana
Region: Africa

The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry - completed 10/28/20 - 4.5 stars - My Review

Book #43: Iran
Region: Middle East/Asia

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio J. Méndez - completed 11/2/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #44: Bahamas
Region: the Caribbean/North America

The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard - completed 11/3/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #45: Colombia
Region: Latin America/South America

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez - completed 11/12/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #46: Poland
Region: Europe

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne - completed 11/18/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #47: Mali
Region: Africa

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer - completed 11/23/20 - 4 stars - My Review

Book #48: The Netherlands
Region: Europe

The Dinner by Herman Koch - completed 11/27/20 - 4 stars - My Review