Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Africa
Algeria - Angola - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Canary Islands - Cape Verde - Central African Republic - Chad - Comoros - Congo (Republic) - Congo (DRC) - Djibouti - Egypt - Equatorial Guinea - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) - Kenya - Lesotho - Liberia - Libya - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Mauritania - Mauritius - Morocco - Mozambique - Namibia - Niger - Nigeria - Reunion - Rwanda - Sao Tome & Principe - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Somalia - South Africa - Sudan - Swaziland - Tanzania - Togo - Tunisia - Uganda - Western Sahara - Zambia - Zimbabwe

Antarctica

Asia
Armenia - Azerbaijan - Bangladesh - Bhutan - Brunei - Cambodia - China - East Timor - Georgia - Hong Kong - India - Indonesia - Japan - Kazakhstan - Korea, North - Korea, South - Kyrgyzstan - Laos - Macau - Malaysia - Maldives - Mongolia - Myanmar - Nepal - Philippines - Singapore - Sri Lanka - Taiwan -Tajikistan - Thailand - Tibet - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Vietnam

Caribbean
Anguilla - Antigua & Barbuda - Aruba - Bahamas - Barbados - Bermuda - Bonaire - Cayman Islands - Cuba - Curacao - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Grenada - Guadeloupe - Haiti - Jamaica - Martinique - Montserrat - Puerto Rico - Saba - St. Barth's - St. Eustatius - St. Kitts & Nevis - St. Lucia - St. Maarten - St. Vincent & the Grenadines - Trinidad & Tobago - Turks & Caicos - Virgin Islands

Europe
Albania - Andorra - Austria - Azores - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey) - Croatia - Czech Republic - Denmark - England - Estonia - Faeroe Islands - Finland - France - Germany - Gibraltar - Greece - Greenland - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Kosovo - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Macedonia - Madeira - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Northern Ireland - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Scotland - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Ukraine - Vatican City - Wales

Latin America
Argentina - Belize - Bolivia - Brazil - Chile - Colombia - Costa Rica - Easter Island - Ecuador - El Salvador - Falkland Islands - French Guiana - Galapagos Islands - Guatemala - Guyana - Honduras - Nicaragua - Panama - Paraguay - Peru - Suriname - Uruguay - Venezuela

The Middle East
Afghanistan - Bahrain - Cyprus - Iran - Iraq - Israel - Jordan - Kuwait - Lebanon - Oman - Pakistan - Palestine - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - Syria - Turkey - United Arab Emirates - Yemen

North America
Canada - Mexico - USA

Oceania
Australia - Cook Islands - Fiji - French Polynesia (incl. Tahiti) - Guam & Wake - Kiribati - Marshall Islands - Micronesia - Nauru - New Caledonia - New Zealand - Niue - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Pitcairn Island - Samoa - Solomon Islands - Tonga - Tuvalu - Vanuatu

Africa
Egypt: The Yacoubian Building Alaa Al Aswany
Kenya: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall M.G. Vassanji
Nigeria: Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
South Africa: Disgrace J.M. Coetzee



Asia
China: Red Sorghum Mo Yan
India: The Lowland Jhumpa Lahiri
Japan: Spring Snow Yukio Mishima



Caribbean
Barbados: Easy in the Islands Bob Shacochis
Dominican Republic: La fiesta del chivo Mario Vargas Llosa
Jamaica: A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James and The Book of Night Women Marlon James




Europe
England: A Dance to the Music of Time 1st Movement - A Question of Upbringing
Germany: Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family
Hungary: Embers
Ireland: The Riders Tim Winton
Italy: Death In Venice Thomas Mann
Netherlands: The Goldfinch Donna Tartt
Russia: Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Spain: Riña de gatos. Madrid 1936 Eduardo Mendoza and Son de mar (Premio Alfaguara 1999) Manuel Vicent



Latin America
Argentina: El vuelo de la reina Tomás Eloy Martínez
Colombia: La hojarasca Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez
Nicaragua: Margarita, está linda la mar Sergio Ramírez
Peru: Conversación en La Catedral Mario Vargas Llosa



The Middle East
Turkey: My Name is Red Orhan Pamuk




North America
Canada: The Orenda Joseph Boyden
USA: American Pastoral Philip Roth and The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner and
Beloved Toni Morrison



Oceania
Australia: Cloudstreet Tim Winton
French Polynesia/Tahiti: The Moon and Sixpence

Welcome to the challenge, Johanna! Enjoy your journey!

Thanks Diane! Looking forward to enjoying and discussing all the books with the group! Happy New Year!

Diane wrote: "Welcome to the challenge, Johanna! Enjoy your journey!"

Read #8
Region: Caribbean
Country: Jamaica
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

Read #9
Region: North America
Country: USA
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Read #10
Region: Europe
Country: Spain
Riña de gatos. Madrid 1936 by Eduardo Mendoza

Read #11
Region: Europe
Country: Netherlands
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Read # 12
Region: Europe
Country: Spain
Son de mar (Premio Alfaguara 1999) by Manuel Vicent

Read # 13
Region: North America
Country: Canada
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

Read # 14
Region: Europe
Country: England
A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement - A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell

Read # 15
Region: Latin America
Country: Colombia
La hojarasca by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

Read # 16
Region: Asia
Country: Japan
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

Read # 17
Region: Oceania
Country: Australia
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

I just finished that one too. What you think?

Rusalka wrote: "I just finished that one too. What you think?"
I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, based on the bleak blurbs and descriptions I had read. Lately I've read a lot of books written in the characters' slang or patois. Winton does this as well, bringing his working class characters brilliantly to life, while at the same time giving us beautiful, lyrical descriptions and universal insights. Although there wasn't much of a story, the fabulous cast of characters kept me turning the page.

What did you think?

Sorry Johanna, this didn't pop up on my notifications (I seem to have real issues with those).

I really enjoyed the book. As an Australian, I thought it summed up the feeling of Australianness beautifully. The characters really do make the book, and for me I didn't even like some of them straight away, but wanted to see where they went. By the end of the book though, I was incredibly sad to leave them.

We love a battler in this country, someone just fighting to get by, and I don't think I have read a book full of more battlers than this. I did feel one or two parts dragged a little, and I must say I probably didn't get all of the magical realism allusions.

I'm a bit disappointed it's taken me so long to get to it, but it's got such a rep here I thought it was too good to be true. After reading it though, I feel like it's entirely deserving of the praise.

Read #18
Region: Europe
Country: Russia
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Read #19
Region: Oceania
Country: French Polynesia/Tahiti
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

Read #20
Region: Latin America
Country: Nicaragua
Margarita, está linda la mar by Sergio Ramírez

Read #21
Region: Asia
Country: India
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

My first book from the Middle East!
Read #22
Region: Middle East
Country: Turkey
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Read #23
Region: The Caribbean
Country: Barbados
Easy in the Islands by Bob Shacochis

Read #24
Region: Europe
Country: Italy
Death In Venice by Thomas Mann

Read #25
Region: Africa
Country: South Africa
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Read # 26
Region: Latin America
Country: Peru
Conversación en La Catedral by Mario Vargas Llosa

Read # 27
Region: Africa
Country: Kenya
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji

Read # 28
Region: Europe
Country: Ireland
The Riders by Tim Winton

Read # 29
Region: Europe
Country: Germany
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann

Read # 30
Region: Europe
Country: Hungary
Embers by Sándor Márai