UK Book Club discussion

OK, here goes. Some of the stories may take place in more than one place, but I've arbitrarily picked the place where the majority of action takes place. I guess the aim is to stick with real live places in the world, eh? Not Jupiter, or Atlantis, or places like that? ;0)

1. England - Above Suspicion by Lynda La Plante
2. US of A - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
3. Java - Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
4. Canada - Blackfly Season by Giles Blunt
5. Norway - The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
6. India - Ragtime in Simla by Barbara Cleverly
7. Switzerland - Pilgrim by Timothy Findley
8. Burma - Burmese Days by George Orwell
9. France - The Night of the Generals by Hans Hellmut Kirst
10. Australia - On the Beach by Nevil Shute
11. France - A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups adn Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains by Tony Hawks (oops, I didn't realize this was my 2nd novel set in France.. )
11. Russia - Deadlock by Iris Johansen
12. Italy - Dressed for Death by Donna Leon
13. Greece - Spies of the Balkans: A Novel by Alan Furst
14. Cameroon - The Crystal World by J.G. Ballard
15. Scotland - The Wasp Factory by Iain M. Banks
16. Israel - Knights of the Black and White by Jack Whyte
17. Sweden - Shadow by Karin Alvtegen
18. Netherlands - DeKok and the Death of a Clown by A.C. Baantjer
19. Turkey - Greenmantle by John Buchan
20. Germany - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John le Carré
21. Pakistan - The Damascened Blade by Barbara Cleverly
22. Laos - The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
23. Zaire (Congo) - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
24. Libya - The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor
25. Jamaica - Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
26. South Africa - The Water Man's Daughter by Emma Ruby-Sachs.
27. Thailand - Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
28. Bahamas - Thunderball by Ian Fleming
29. Gibralter - Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester
30. Guyana - The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton
31. Malta - The Maltese Goddess by Lyn Hamilton
32. Poland - A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship and Survival in World War Two by Caroline Moorehead
33. Portugal - Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell
34. Mexico - A Deadly Shade of Gold by John D. MacDonald
35. Singapore - South By Java Head by Alistair MacLean
36. Greenland - Night Without End by Alistair MacLean (started 14 Oct 13)

starting anew in 2014, new list on page 2

Currently travelling through the Pyrenees (France) with and his piano

Come on over to San Francisco, California for a walk up and down the hills. Although some of the story takes place in Glasgow, majority in San Francisco.
The Skye in June

June wrote: "Come on over to San Francisco, California for a walk up and down the hills. Although some of the story takes place in Glasgow, majority in San Francisco.
The Skye in June"

It's fun travelling the world from your sofa, or wherever you read. :0).. I have walked up and down the hills in SF mind you, very interesting, nice place

I'll wait to include it, in case the locale changes, but I'm currently reading Deadlock by Iris Johansen and the setting is Afghanistan. Not really a place I necessarily wanted to add to my passport, but what the heck..

Well, Deadlock has moved a bit, so I'll have to gauge the premier location when I finish before I can add it to my world locations. Unfortunately, my current book, Sovereign is once again set in England, so I'll have to wait to add any other locations.. lol

I just finished Deadlock and while it did feature different locations, the last half took place mainly in Russia, so I'll accept that passport stamp.. :0) (not that the book was worth the trip...)

Dusting off my passport to visit Italy in September, with , a nice mystery set in Venice with one of my favourite police inspectors, Commissario Guido Brunetti, by Donna Leon

Darn, leave it to me to read a second book set in Burma.. lol. I just finished The Jacaranda Tree and figured it would be a safe bet to add to my book passport.. Nope... better luck next time..

Currently travelling in Sweden reading Karin Alvtegen's Shadow and also returning to the USA to read Plan for Chaos by John Wyndham

Finally managed to travel to another country; I'm now visiting the Netherlands (Amsterdam, particularly) to watch Inspector DeKok solve .

I sort of travelled around the world with this latest book, Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World by Ewan McGregor, because of course, it was a travel book and they travelled around the world. :0).. Unfortunately, I can't pick a specific country because they were in so many.. lol

Tricky to do, but if you can identify it Bill, you could have the country they spent the most time in.

hmmm, maybe I could go page by page and total the number of pages per country... or not.. :0)

Reading another book that is taking me around the world.. Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire by Simon Winchester. Excellent read; Simon Winchester does know how to tell a story. So far visited the British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia) and Tristan da Cunha....

You need to visit the southern hemisphere Bill - nice map.

You may be right. I'll keep working at it.. :0)

Added Turkey today. Greenmantle starts in England and works through Germany, but the majority takes place in Constantinople and the rest of Turkey. Excellent story too.

I've added Germany to my Around the World Book Tour. Finished The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, which, while it does return to England and briefly visit the Netherlands, primarily is set in Berlin and East Germany of the time. Excellent story as well. One of my favourites of this year. Classic le Carre.

I've added Pakistan to my list of countries visited; The Damascened Blade was set in what was to become Pakistan, situated in Peshawar... Back to the US of A for my next story...

Visiting Laos with this next story, a mystery featuring Dr Siri Paiboun, Laos' Chief Coroner; The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill.

Finished my visit to Laos and loved it. The Coroner's Lunch was one of the best books I read this year. Great mystery, fascinating characters and just a super story. I highly recommend.

Just bought it Bill

I hope you enjoy it, Ian..

Heading to Africa for my next story, visiting the Congo with .

Finally getting to visit some of the Southern Hemisphere, Zaire, or now called the Democratic Reupublic of the Congo. Fantastic story as well, The Poisonwood Bible is definitely one of my favourite selections so far in 2012.

Moving to the northern part of Africa for this next book, Libya and The Flight of the Phoenix.

I finished my journey through the Libyan Desert. Very dry... not sure where I'll be headed next. Currently reading by Scott Westerfeld and enjoying very much. Also in the process of deciding which books to take with me when the missus and I go on a bit of a vacation... :0)

Finally made it to a new country. Live and Let Die does wander from New York to Florida but it spends the last portion in Jamaica. A nice easy read, guilty pleasure from my High School days..

My first trip of 2013. Visiting South Africa reading by Emma Ruby-Sachs.

Visiting the Asian continent with this book, specifically Thailand. Enjoying an excellent police drama, Bangkok 8 by John Burdett.

I finished Bangkok 8 this weekend and loved it. Exotic locale, interesting mystery and characters. I highly recommend. I'll be reading more of his Thailand mystery series.

Back in Jamaica again reading ; someday I'll visit a different country.... lol

Visiting the Caribbean with 007 again, this time in the Bahamas as I read Thunderball. The weather is great..

I had no idea that Gibralter was considered its own country, but I had to check and for the purposes of this, it is. :0).. Reading Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester and a good portion is set there. I must say I'm greatly enjoying this book.

I'm currently reading The Water Rat of Wanchai. I have to decide whether to use Guyana or British Virgin Islands as my location as the book has visited both places.. :0)

I've got that one Bill. Where is more of it set?

Other than brief visits to Hong Kong and Thailand and starting in Canada, the majority is set in those two locations, Ian.

Ta Bill.....just looked at your blog.....love the puppies.

Well, I've visited my 30th country, one I'm glad to see the last of, Guyana.. with Ava Lee in The Water Rat of Wanchai. Interesting mystery/ thriller by Ian Hamilton, but not outstanding (3 stars)

Ian wrote: "Ta Bill.....just looked at your blog.....love the puppies."

Thanks, Ian. They are keeping us hopping.. having said that, of course, the little one, the demon dog, is currently resting on a pillow by my side.. lol

I'm hoping to visit Malta next, The Maltese Goddess. We'll see how much time is spent there as I get into the story.

Not a pleasant visit, this last one, in fact, very depressing, but at the same time, able to see great heroism. Visited Auschwitz, in Poland, A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship and Survival in World War Two by Caroline Moorehead

On the campaign with Richard Sharpe in Portugal, with Sharpe's Havoc.

Good choice! I just missed Portugal as he'd moved into Spain in Sharpe's Eagle by the time I started this challenge!

Trojanhorse wrote: "Good choice! I just missed Portugal as he'd moved into Spain in Sharpe's Eagle by the time I started this challenge!"

Enjoying so far... Lucky for me, I jumped a book ahead of this one, so it fit in perfectly.. Great series..

Did you get the tv series with Sean Bean in Canada Bill?

We did Ian, but I also have the dvd set.. I have a British dvd player I can use or I can watch on my computer. I'm sure the last couple were shown on one of the US PBS stations, though.

Finishing off North America with a visit to Mexico, A Deadly Shade of Gold.