Around the World discussion

I'm so excited for this, what a great idea!

For now, I have my working list in a Google Doc, but will probably copy/paste it here when I have it finalized.

I try to read a balance of literary and science fiction/fantasy, so I will be using the link at the bottom to try to infuse it with some of those authors as well. I'm trying to stay away from USA/Canada/Australia/UK/South Africa since I read so many of those, particularly with my Booker nominee reading. I'm going to stick with the country the author is from with a few exceptions, because I sense I might read more unknown-to-me authors this way. Hooray!

Glad you've joined and are so enthusiastic. I feel the same way. Look forward to seeing your list. My list is a mess because I didn't work on it the way you are, in a Google doc.

Judy wrote: "Cool beans! ."

LOL

Okay here is my list, slightly over 52, I'll keep tweaking it. Books I own stay on the list whether or not I get to them. Books I've read will be in italics.

Afghanistan
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Algeria
The Lovers of Algeria: A Novel by Anouar Benmalek

Argentinia
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

Australia
Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan
Cocaine Blues (Phryne Fisher #1) by Kerry Greenwood) - my review here
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (my review here

Bangladesh
A Golden Age by Tahmina Anam

Barbados
Redemption in Indigo: A Novel by Karen Lord

Belgium
The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs

Burma
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe

Canada
On Whale Island by Daniel Hays
The Saints of Big Harbour: A Novel by Lynn Coady

Chile
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (my review)
Travels in a Thin Country: A Journey Through Chile
My review here
Baked good: mil hojas

China
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Big Breasts and Wide Hips by Mo Yan (my review)
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuschia Dunlop (my review)
Land of Plenty by Fuschia Dunlop (my review)

Croatia
The Tiger's Wife
Book review
Baked good

Cuba
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelo

Czech Republic
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Denmark
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist
Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard (my review)

Dominican Republic
This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz (my review)

Easter Island
Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderres

Egypt
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
Review
Baked good: Basbousa

Faroe Islands
The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú
Review here
Baked good: not going to happen. No Faroese Island recipes that aren't purely based on living off the land.

Finland
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna (my review)

France
The Unknown Masterpiece by Balzac

Germany
The Hangman's Daughter
City of Women by David R. Gillham (my review)
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (my review)

Greece
Skios by Michael Frayn (my review)
Kassandra and the Wolf by Margarita Karapanou (my review)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (my review)

Greenland
This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland by Gretel Ehrlich

Haiti
Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

Hungary
Embers by Sandor Marai

Iceland
From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjon

India
Destination: India, Destiny: Unknown, A Three Week Journey Beyond the Taj and Behind the Symbols by Bill Fitzpatrick
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (my review
The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai ()

Indonesia
This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Ireland
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle (possibly abandoning since I read two others)
A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Review

Dubliners by James Joyce
Review here
Baked good: Caraway seed cake

Israel
To the End of the Land by David Grossman

Italy
Little Novels of Sicily by Giovanni Verga
Review here in GoodReads and in my reading blog (same review.
Baked good: Sicilian Cassata
Related website: stumbled across this lovely blog post about Sicily

Jamaica
From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island by Lorna Goodison

Japan
The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Review: here

Kashmir
Chef: A Novel by Jaspreet Singh

Kazakhstan
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Kiribati
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

Korea, North or South
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Liberia
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (my review)

Libya
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (my review
The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim Kuni (my review)

Malaysia
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (my review)

Mexico
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival
Queen of America: A Novel by Luis Alberto Urrea

New Zealand
The Forrests by Emily Perkins (my review)

Nigeria
Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie

Norway
Last Places: A Journey in the North by Lawrence Millman

Palestine
Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh

Papua New Guinea
Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea by Kira Salak

Paraguay
The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck (my review)

Peru
The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
Review
Baked good - Arroz Zambito

Poland
The Taste of a Man by Slavenka Drakulic (my review)

Portugal
Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa

Romania
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller
Dracula by Bram Stoker (my review)

Russia
Hard to Be a God by Arkady Strugatsky
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (review)
Moscow but Dreaming: Stories by Ekaterina Sedia (my review)

Saint Maarten
The Making of an Island: St. Martin by Jean Glasscock

Serbia
Landscape Painted with Tea by Milorad Pavić

South Africa
Blood Safari
Moxyland by Lauren Beukes (audio)
Review
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (audio)
Review
Baked good - malva pudding!


Spain
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart (my review)

Sri Lanka
Running in the Family (or newer novel) by Michael Ondaatje
The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke (my review)

Sweden
Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson (my review)

Tahiti (French Polynesia)
Frangipani: A Novel by Celestine Vaite
Review of book
Baked good: Po'e

Thailand
Sightseeing: Stories by Rattawut Lapcharoensap

Tibet
Seven Years in Tibet

Trinidad and Tobago
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey

Turkey
Snow by Orhan Pamuk

Ukraine
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (my review)

USA
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Uruguay
The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Hughes Galeano

Jenny, do check out The Bridge on the Drina, which is similar in content to Ismail Kadare's book The Three-Arched Bridge. Of the two I found Ivo Andric's superior. Here is my review of that: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... Andric won the Nobel Prize in 1961 and is born in Bosnia Herzegovina. I also have a review of the Thre-Arched Bridge here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

I prefered A Thousand Splendid Suns over the Kite Runner.

From the Land of Green Ghosts sounds fabulous. I have added it to my shelves, but it does not yet exist on Kindle :0( I did find one that I didn't know of and that is on Kindle: Deliriuum by Restrepa. I will check out the sample. Thank you for your help.

You simply must read both Wild Swans and House of Spirits.

I do have The Bridge on the Drina up there under Balkans. I thought the pairing would be interesting.

I have The Kite Runner down because I've never read it, but I read A Thousand Splendid Suns a few years back. I feel like I've read a lot of the books set in Afghanistan, but was going for one by an author from there, and few are translated into English! :)

I want to start reading now, how about you?

Yes, I saw that you had Ivo Andric. I went through your whole list looking for Kindle books! I did add Delirium. I haven't decided when to start.

There are a few I need feedback on. Which Orhan Pamuk book should I read for Turkey? Does anyone have a Finnish author to recommend, as I have already read something by Tove Jansson (loved it, but just trying to expand my horizons here).

Judy wrote: "Jenny, I found some nice choices on this list:

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...

It does have all writers from all the Scandinavian countries, but yo..."

Thanks Judy! I found a good one on there, it looks like. I should also talk to my uncle, who is FROM Finland. :)

To everyone else, I have linked all the books! Phew!

Jenny wrote: "There are a few I need feedback on. Which Orhan Pamuk book should I read for Turkey? Does anyone have a Finnish author to recommend, as I have already read something by Tove Jansson (loved it, bu..."

If you are not 100% tied to Orhan Pamuk, I can recommend a wonderful book by a Turkish writer. Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga.

Judy, there isn't a Turkey recommendation thread yet so I just put this here. If Jenny doesn't want to read it someone else might. It is a 5 star favorite book for me.

Jenny, Snow by Pamuk is terrible.

Jenny, I have also read Portrait of a Turkish Family. I gave it five stars. In my review I have quoted parts so you can see if you like the style of writing: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Anne, so you have read that too?! I absolutely adored it, much, much better than PamuK.

Per Petterson is an excellent Norwegian author. I highly recommend To Siberia. Out Stealing Horses is also good. I want to read In the Wake.

Astrid Lindgren and Elsa Beskow are excellent Swedish authors, primarily for children. All Swedes read The Wonderful Adventures Of Nils And The Further Adventures Of Nils Holgersson.

Anne and Chrissie, I've made note of your recommendation of Portrait of a Turkish Family. At present, I'm planning to read Panuk's My Name Is Red. Pahnuk seems to be a real love/hate type of author. I saw a PBS "world literature" show on My Name is Red which really intrigued me and I've wanted to read it ever since. I do understand it's not an easy read by any means.

Jenny.....I think your list is great and will probably be back looking it over for future reading ideas. Needless to say I will never in my life run out of books to read.

Oh, and I found a book by Ismail Kandare on Amazon last night, low price, The General of the Dead Army, which looked interesting so I added it as a possible to my list and downloaded it.

Sue wrote: "Anne and Chrissie, I've made note of your recommendation of Portrait of a Turkish Family. At present, I'm planning to read Panuk's My Name Is Red. Pahnuk seems to be a rea..."

I hope you enjoy it.

Jenny, good luck with Pamuk!

Jenny, if you want a new book by a Swedish author, check out The Emperor of Lies: A Novel. The setting is Poland. Not sure the translation is topnotch.

Anne wrote: "Sue wrote: "Anne and Chrissie, I've made note of your recommendation of Portrait of a Turkish Family. At present, I'm planning to read Panuk's My Name Is Red. Pahnuk seems..."

Have to say I really butchered Orhan Pamuk's name in this message, not just one way No...but 2 different ways. I guess any future as a proofreader are up in smoke.

Sue, I do not mind if you butcher Pamuk. I don't want you to misunderstand me - that was a joke! He is NOT my favorite author.

Chrissie wrote: "Per Petterson is an excellent Norwegian author. I highly recommend To Siberia. Out Stealing Horses is also good. I want to read In the Wake.

[author:A..."

Oh yes I loved Per Petterson. That Scandinavian list was full of Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic authors. I didn't expect to see so many from Iceland, and I'm intrigued to try more... Hmm, maybe in 2013....

Chrissie wrote: "Sue, I do not mind if you butcher Pamuk. I don't want you to misunderstand me - that was a joke! He is NOT my favorite author."

Oh, Chrissie that response was not really aimed to you individually but to everyone in the thread who read my rather inattentive post.

Jenny wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Per Petterson is an excellent Norwegian author. I highly recommend To Siberia. Out Stealing Horses is also good. I want to read In the ..."

See Jenny how easy it is to fall into the "maybe in 2013..." realm.

I haven't read any Per Petterson. Not sure what to do with him. Where would you suggest I begin reading.

Out Stealing Horses was my favorite

I think I'll put both on my potentials list.

Sue, To Siberia was my favorite, and I want to read In the Wake. I didn't take you comment personally, I just wanted to be sure you understood I was joking. Joking is hard on the net!

Jenny, I have to warn you against Sunflower. I had super high expectations for that book. I loved the beginning sample, but then it gets overly wordy. I quoted it in my review. I rarely dump books. This I dumped. Another friend of mine also dumped it. It goes on and on and on about minor characters.

I know what you're saying Chrissie. It's certainly impossible to get inflection and tone into an online post so joking is more difficult and intent has to be more carefully spelled out--though it's sometimes not possible.

For Pamuk, I enjoyed The White Castle.

Sho wrote: "For Pamuk, I enjoyed The White Castle."

That's another interesting looking book.

Sue, thanks for understanding.

Judy wrote: "Jenny, I'm not much for love stories, but The Lovers of Algeria: A Novel looks like a winner. I can't wait until you read it and let us know what you think! (Can you start now? Just k..."

I found a few books from my list at a used bookstore yesterday and I might have to hide them from myself....

I don't often read love stories either, but I like this idea of multiple genres throughout the list, as it will add another interesting perspective! I might replace a few with crime novels in interesting settings, I'm thinking of the wealth of recently translated Scandinavian stuff we have access to in English now.

I agree Jenny re: the crime novels. I have one from Korea (I think the setting is North though I just put Korea on my list as I'm not sure about the author) and I believe I have a couple of others on my list too.

Sue wrote: "I agree Jenny re: the crime novels. I have one from Korea (I think the setting is North though I just put Korea on my list as I'm not sure about the author) and I believe I have a couple of others ..."

I also agree. I've used two Simenons for that reason. They're also very short. I know that I will need a breather from a lot of long, arduous and/or harrowing novels.

Definitely! I added a Donna Leon too but I have to decide about Primo Levi too.

Simenon is one book I bought yesterday, the train one.

Have you ever read anything by A.C. Baantjer , like
Murder in Amsterdam? This series was recommended to me but I haven't read any yet.

Jenny wrote: "Simenon is one book I bought yesterday, the train one."

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By ?

There's one by Simenon called The Train, but it's one of his roman durs. I'm considering this one for Belgium.

Yep, and I haven't read any by that other author so I'll check him out!

Jenny and Judy, I have read The Lovers of Algeria: A Novel. I debated between three and four stars. I try to save my stars so I gave it only three. I explained in my review what I liked and diliked. I do not give book synopses. Anybody can read the book description! The review is spoiler free: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

I wish I liked crime novels but I do not, unless they relate true criminal events. I cannot get out of my head - this didn't happen, so why should I worry about who did it?! Now if it is true, then I am curious to see what crazy things we human beings are capable of.

I added one for Brazil and one for Uruguay, thanks to my friend from Paraguay! I have about 75 books at this point, which will make a great pot to choose from.

I haven't counted the books listed, just that I have 65 real countries..... I will pick from the alternatives when I start reading. Who knows what I will feel like then?! I have added quite a few books since I made the original list. I will add even more as weeks go by.

For Brazil I can recommend The Seamstress and The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. For Uruguay, I can recommend The Invisible Mountain. I have your Brazil book on my GR shelves, but it is not yet on Kindle. Neither is you book for Uruguay. I do not buy anymore DTB! It is clearly easier if one buys them!

Chrissie wrote: "I haven't counted the books listed, just that I have 65 real countries..... I will pick from the alternatives when I start reading. Who knows what I will feel like then?! I have added quite a few b..."

You reminded me that I have The Seamstress at home. Now I can add another country!

Oh Anne, you must then read it!

I plan to.

Gaeta, we seem to like very similar books!

Barry, maybe you would like to check out The Invisible Mountain.

Has anyone read The News from Paraguay. I am considering this but I did not enjoy the author's book I Married You for Happiness, which I read because it was free. What a waste. Barry, News from Paraguay is set during the background conflict between Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

Gaeta, what didn't you like about Nicholas and Alexandra?! I want to also read his book on Peter the Great.

Barry wrote: "cool! I think I'm traveling to Uruguay next March"

Cool, you don't hear many people traveling there, at least not in my circle. I love to read a book set in the place I'm traveling!

Gaeta, well that is you opinion, but I found the pain of what these parents lived through vividly expressed. I understood their emotions. I most certainly would have made other choices to the given circumstances, but I did nevertheless understand their decisions. In their shoes, I could never have kept secret the condition of their son. I am sure of that. I do understand why they did, but look at the result!

I didn'tt get so engaged in the political theme as you did. And isn't it nice to be able to diasgree peacefully?! I appreciate peaceful discussions!