Around the World discussion

My task for this year is to read at least 50 books that take me all over the world.

The only criteria is that I must attempt to read books that are set in countries that are geographically next to the last book's country. I have divided the US into five areas and the same applies to the US, provided the area of the next book is adjacent to the book I just read.

Ocean crossing is allowed, so the leap from California to China, for instance, is acceptable.

We'll see how it goes!

JANUARY 2022

1. Mexico - Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone by Mary Morris. Completed JAN 03
2. US/SW (Texas) - Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera. Completed JAN 05
3. US/SE (Arkansas) - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Completed JAN 08
4. US/MW (Illinois) - The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Completed JAN 12
5. US/NE (New York) - Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. Completed JAN 17
6. France - The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. Completed JAN 28.

Hi Suzanne! Given that some of us in the group use the dd/mm/yyyy system, it could get confusing. To me, it reads that you finished reading this in March. Perhaps we should put something like Jan 1 or 1st Jan? Anyway, you are off to a great start!

I like your goal, Suzanne, and great start! I chuckled at the leap from California to China bit🙂. Enjoy your travels around the world.

Thanks for your input Yrinsyde and Lilisa. I made the date change as suggested, and so far I've travelled through Mexico and crossed over the border (illegally) into Texas. Next stop? Arkansas with Maya Angelou's memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

FEBRUARY 2022

England - Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey. Completed FEB 01.

Ireland - There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones. Completed FEB 05

Greenland - Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff. Completed FEB 10

Canada - The Birth House by Ami McKay. Completed FEB 19

US/West (California) - Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes. Completed FEB 21

At the end of January I traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to France and then across the English Channel to World War II England with Letters to the Lost, which I loved! Now I'm off to Ireland with There You'll Find Me - which I'm reading with my teenaged daughter. It's nice to armchair travel together!

February had me crossing the North Atlantic from England and Ireland, making my way across the frozen ice cap of Greenland to Canada, and ending up on the West Coast of the United States in sunny California. My daughter and I enjoyed the YA romance There You'll Find Me, and my favorite read of the months was Petty: The Biography, about one of my favorite music legends. March will see me crossing the Pacific into Asia.

I spent the whole month of March reading Edward Rutherfurd's chunkster China: The Novel, and it was worth the long trip! I love this author's writing and had been waiting for this work of historical fiction for years. As always, it was an excellent read!

Suzanne wrote: "I spent the whole month of March reading Edward Rutherfurd's chunkster China: The Novel, and it was worth the long trip! I love this author's writing and had been waiting for this w..."

That's good to know, Suzanne! I bought it about 6 months ago, but am still too daunted by its size to begin just yet.

Finding myself jumping around Asia a bit during the month of April, breaking my "adjacent country" rule. Oh well, rules are meant to be broken!

APRIL 2022

China - China: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd. Completed APR 04.

Viet Nam - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Completed APR 06.

South Korea - Bias by Lucy Gold. Completed APR 19.

Burma - Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Constantine Croke. Completed APR 19.

North Korea - Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom by Lucia Jang. Completed APR 27.

MAY 2022

Japan - Silence by Shusaku Endo. Completed MAY 09

India - Peanut Butter and Naan: Stories of an American Mom in the Far East by Jennifer Hillman-Magnuson. Completed MAY 05

Tibet - Coming Home to Tibet: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Belonging by Tsering Wangmo Dhompa. Completed MAY 17.

Midway Island - The Eagle's Claw: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Jeff Shaara. Completed MAY 28.

JUNE 2022

Costa Rica - When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall. Completed JUN 05.

US/NW (WA) - Lottery by Patricia Wood. Completed JUN 28.

JULY 2022

US/PAC (HI) - To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara. Completed JUL 20.

AUGUST 2022

Spain - The Muse by Jessie Burton. Completed AUG 15.