The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

5.3 - World Cinema
Parasite was the first non-English film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Read a book set at least 50% in a country where the total number of English speakers is below 50%, based on this list: Countries by English-Speaking Population. A list of qualifying countries can also be found in message 2 of the help thread.
Required: State which country the book is set in when you post. And, if not obvious from the book's description, provide a link to a reference establishing how the book fits the task.

Qualifying Countries

Algeria
Andorra
Argentina
Aruba
Bangladesh
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Cameroon
Chile
China
Colombia
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Czech Republic
Egypt
Eswatini (aka Swaziland)
Fiji
France
Gambia
Hungary
India
Iraq
Italy
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Lithuania
Madagascar
Malawi
Mauritius
Mexico
Morocco
Myanmar
Namibia
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Lucia
Samoa
Seychelles
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
Tanzania
Thailand
Tonga
Turkey
Uganda
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

reserved

This thread is now open!

I'm so fascinated by this list and these stats! God, I'm such a nerd lol

It's weird that the list doesn't have every country, but this is still fascinating.

Is it okay for it to be set in a fantasy version of a real place? The Haunting of Tram Car 015 is set in an alternate Cairo, Egypt - Egypt is on the list.

Trish wrote: "Is it okay for it to be set in a fantasy version of a real place? The Haunting of Tram Car 015 is set in an alternate Cairo, Egypt - Egypt is on the list."

As long as the real country is clearly referenced in the book's description (as this one is), yes, a fantasy version will work.

Thank you.

So if the country is not listed, we cannot use it, is that correct?

Stacey wrote: "So if the country is not listed, we cannot use it, is that correct?"

Correct.