Europe through literature discussion

Planning reading with a focus on my my physical TBR shelf (📚)

Sq 1 = a title from a European country not in the EU (Iceland, Greenland, Norway, UK, Switzerland, Bosnia-H., Serbia, Montenegro, North-Macedonia, Albania, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Turkey and Georgia)
The Museum of Abandoned Secrets by Oksana Zabuzhko (Ukrainian) 📚
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (UK) 📚

Sq 2 = a title originally written in a Slavic language
Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Russian) ✔️completed Feb. 18th

Sq 3 = a group read
TBD

Sq 4 = a title from a country bordering the Mediterranean Sea
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Italy) 📚
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Italy) 📚

Sq 5 = a title displaying LGBTQ character(s) / topic
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell (US author, set primarily in Bulgaria) ✔️completed Feb. 21st

Sq 6 = a title from an EU member state with a currency other than the Euro (Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria)
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen (Denmark)
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)
Blinding: Volume 1 by Mircea Cărtărescu (Romania) 📚

Sq 7 = a title by a winner of any prize of literature
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst (winner of the 2004 Booker Prize) ✔️completed June 8th

Sq 8 = a title written in the 19th century
The Red and the Black by Stendhal (1830) 📚
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844) 📚

Sq 9 = a title from a country bordering the Baltic Sea
The Saga of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden) 📚

Sq 10 = a graphic novel
The Labyrinth by Simon Stålenhag (Sweden)

Sq 11 = a title written after WWII in a European country that does not exist anymore (Soviet Union, GDR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia)
Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal (Czechoslovakia)
The Quest for Christa T. by Christa Wolf (GDR)
The Museum of Unconditional Surrender by Dubravka Ugrešić (Yugoslavia)

Sq 12 = a title originally written in a Romance language
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (French) 📚

Sq 13 = a title from a country with the Euro as its currency
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (German author, set primarily in Italy) ✔️completed May 6th

Sq 14 = a title from a country with mountains
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho by Sappho (Greece) 📚

Sq 15 = a title published 2020 or even later
What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl (2021) (Denmark) 📚

Sq 16 = a title that can be considered genre fiction
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (mystery) 📚
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Victorian sensation novel) 📚

Great that you join us in next year's bingo, Erin. All the best for 2025 and a good year reading!

Wow! You have listed some amazing titles!! And I see that you solved the issue of Sq 11 - The title by Bohumil Hrabal for me was a fun read!

Orgeluse wrote: "Great that you join us in next year's bingo, Erin. All the best for 2025 and a good year reading!"

Orgeluse wrote: "Wow! You have listed some amazing titles!! And I see that you solved the issue of Sq 11 - The title by Bohumil Hrabal for me was a fun read!"

Thank you so much! And good to hear that you enjoyed Bohumil Hrabal — one of several authors I’ve been meaning to read for a while! 😊

I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to check it out.

Jen wrote: "I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to check it out."

Have you read other books by Tokarczuk and if so, which was your favorite? I started listening to the audiobook of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead but had some difficulty getting into or staying with it, might have been me at the time, or maybe I would prefer to read this one, we’ll see. :)

I’ll be interested to hear what you think of Greenwell — I’ve been meaning to read this book for some years now! Trying to catch up with my tsundoku!

Erin wrote: "Jen wrote: "I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to check it out."
..."

Oh, I had to look up what tsundoku meant- ha. I'm working on that too. Trying to prioritize books I have actually acquired.

No, I have not read any others by her, but I have noticed it's a book with really mixed reviews- doesn't work for everyone and seems it reeeally doesn't work for some.
Personally, I'm really fussy about audiobooks- somehow I have a hard time following unless they're quite simple. I lean toward YA and memoirs as audio, for example... I am glad I read Drive Your Plow in print as I really enjoyed the writing.

Jen wrote: "Erin wrote: "Jen wrote: "I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to ch..."

Exactly! Although some books may only available for a limited time, especially in one’s preferred printing or translation, and it’s good to support independent publishers, new authors, new translations… But, yes, time to prioritize reading more of them!

I definitely have to be able to follow an audiobook in order to enjoy it since I can’t “look back” as easily, but this hasn’t limited me as much as I first thought, but older novels may also lend themselves well, especially with a good narrator, as longer descriptions were more common. At least half the stars I gave The Return of the Native were for hearing Alan Rickman read it — his reading the description of the Heath is just perfect! <3 But that may have been the issue I had with Drive Your Plow, now I only remember there were some evocative descriptions, not whatever I had difficulty with, so I shall have to check it out again and in print. :)

Erin wrote: "Jen wrote: "I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to check it out."
..."

I fully agree on what you write about audiobooks - if books require "looking back" a few pages, the audio versions can drive me mad as also is the case with bad narrators.
As far as works by Olga Tokarczuk are concerned and besides Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, which I really liked very much in print, I can recommend the following titles:
House of Day, House of Night
Primeval and Other Times
but again, I would not recommend the audio version..

I also started The Books of Jacob, but as it is quite a tome, I did not manage to finish it. What I read, though, I really liked!
Another book by her which was to my taste is Letzte Geschichten. Unfortunately, this book has not been translated into English but is available in many other languages.
And last but not least, I should mention that I was very much disappointed by her Empusion, this was not at all my cup of tea...
And I agree, Alan Rickman is such a talent!!

Orgeluse wrote: "Erin wrote: "Jen wrote: "I really like Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Tokarczuk :) and I just got a Garth Greenwell for Christmas. I only learned of him recently and am excited to ch..."

Thank you so much for the recommendations! I will be sure to check out those three, and read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead in print this year. =]

Not really part of the EtL Bingo Challenge, but I wanted to make this list of European countries with books I have (✔️) or plan to read that are both written by an author of that country and set there (limited to one book per country).

Albania Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare
Andorra
Armenia
Austria The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
Azerbaijan
Belgium Malpertuis by Jean Ray
Belarus Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich
Bosnia and Herzegovina The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić
Bulgaria Under the Yoke by Ivan Vazov
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia Innocence; or, Murder on Steep Street by Heda Margolius Kovály
Denmark The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Estonia The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk
Finland The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
✔️France The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Georgia Kvachi by Mikheil Javakhishvili
Germany All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Greece The Odyssey by Homer
✔️Hungary The Door by Magda Szabó
Iceland Independent People by Halldór Laxness
Ireland Dubliners by James Joyce
Italy My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Kazakhstan
Kosovo Bolla by Pajtim Statovci
Latvia High Tide by Inga Ābele
Liechtenstein
Lithuania Shadows on the Tundra by Dalia Grinkevičiūtė
Luxembourg
Malta
Moldova Bessarabian Stamps: Stories by Oleg Woolf
Montenegro
Netherlands Amsterdam Stories by Nescio
North Macedonia
Norway Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Poland Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Portugal The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
Romania Blinding: Volume 1 by Mircea Cărtărescu
✔️Russia Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Serbia A Tomb for Boris Davidovich by Danilo Kiš
Slovakia Samko Tále's Cemetery Book by Daniela Kapitáňová
Slovenia
✔️Spain Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Sweden The Saga of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf
Switzerland I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch
Turkey My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Ukraine The Museum of Abandoned Secrets by Oksana Zabuzhko
✔️United Kingdom Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Erin wrote: "Not really part of the EtL Bingo Challenge, but I wanted to make this list of European countries with books I have (✅) or plan to read that are both written by an author of that country and set the..."

Nice idea. I'd be up for a buddy read of My Brilliant Friend if you're interested and we find a compatible time. I was gifted that one recently.

Great list, indeed, Erin!
There are some titles that could become our group reads this year (with "On the Edge of reason" to begin with :-))!

Orgeluse wrote: "Great list, indeed, Erin!
There are some titles that could become our group reads this year (with "On the Edge of reason" to begin with :-))!"

Thank you! I look forward to seeing what are selected for the group reads this year! :-)

Jen wrote: "Erin wrote: "Not really part of the EtL Bingo Challenge, but I wanted to make this list of European countries with books I have (✅) or plan to read that are both written by an author of that countr..."

Sorry for my slow response! I would be interested in a buddy read of My Brilliant Friend — perhaps later this spring or in the summer if that works for you? On top of work being busy, I have started the New Year trying to do everything all at once, or nearly, lol, and find myself a bit overbooked (pun intended), but this is one I have been wanting to read for a while and would like to plan to this year. :-)

Oh same, as far over”booked” haha… Late spring/summer is the soonest I see myself potentially having time. Perhaps we circle back to the idea in the spring :)

Orgeluse wrote: "Wow! You have listed some amazing titles!! And I see that you solved the issue of Sq 11 - The title by Bohumil Hrabal for me was a fun read!"

Oh there's my perfect solution to sq 11! I bough this in Prague last year - this is the perfect reason to read it now :)

Anetq wrote: "Orgeluse wrote: "Wow! You have listed some amazing titles!! And I see that you solved the issue of Sq 11 - The title by Bohumil Hrabal for me was a fun read!"

Oh there's my perfect ..."

:)))))

Orgeluse wrote: "Anetq wrote: "Orgeluse wrote: "Wow! You have listed some amazing titles!! And I see that you solved the issue of Sq 11 - The title by Bohumil Hrabal for me was a fun read!"

Oh there..."

Just read it today! All done with the challenge, unless I go for 'optimising' with less French authors and more Eastern Europeans :)