Around the World discussion

OK, here is my (aspirational) list. Hopefully I have adhered to the rules of the group properly. I am only about halfway there, so still a fair amount left to be added. I organized by continent and then by country, though I may have put Sri Lanka in the wrong spot (sorry about that if it's not where it belongs). Suggestions, comments, etc. are always welcome :-)


Africa
1. Congo -- Heart of Darkness
2. Eritrea -- My Father's Daughter
3. Ethiopia -- Cutting for Stone
4. Kenya -- The Temptress,
Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa
5. Morocco -- Hope & Other Dangerous Pursuits, The Sand Child,
A House in Fez: Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco
6. Nigeria -- Graceland,Gods of Noonday: A White Girl's African Life
7. Rhodesia/Zimbabwe -- Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness
8. South Africa -- The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood
9. Sudan -- What Is the What
10. Tunisia -- Pillar of Salt
11. Pan-African -- Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik: One Woman's Solo Misadventures Across Africa

Asia
12. Afghanistan -- Shooting Kabul
13. Burma -- The Piano Tuner
14. Cambodia -- When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge
15. China -- Dreams of Joy, The Piano Teacher, Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid
16. India -- The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Lost Loves, and Forgotten Histories
17. Japan -- The Makioka Sisters, Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess, When the Emperor Was Divine
18. North Korea -- Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
19. Singapore -- The Singapore Grip
20. Sri Lanka -- A Disobedient Girl: A Novel
21. Vietnam -- The Lotus Eaters

22. Australia -- A Shorter History of Australia, In a Sunburned Country

Europe
23. Armenia -- Black Dog of Fate: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past, Passage to Ararat
24. Austro-Hungary -- Taste for Paprika: A Memoir
25. Bulgaria -- Street Without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
26. Chechnya -- A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya
27. Croatia -- The Tiger's Wife
28. Czech Republic -- A Desert in Bohemia, Farewell To Prague
29. Eastern Europe -- On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe
30. England -- Sarum: The Novel of England
31. France -- The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss
32. Germany -- Summer At Gaglow
33. Greece -- Dinner with Persephone: Travels in Greece, Spies of the Balkans
34. Hungary -- The Storyteller: Memory, Secrets, Magic and Lies
35. Ireland -- Troubles
36. Italy -- The Enchantress of Florence, The Imperfectionists
37. Poland -- Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations, The Spies of Warsaw
38. Romania -- The Appointment: A Novel
39. Scotland -- Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Margaret of Scotland, A Scottish Ferry Tale
40. Spain -- By Fire, By Water
41. Wales -- Here Be Dragons, The Welsh Girl
42. Ukraine -- Scratches On A Prison Wall


Middle East
43. Egypt -- Playing Cards in Cairo
44. Israel -- Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel's Separation Barrier. For Fun
45. Iran -- Foreigner
46. Iraq -- Late for Tea at the Deer Palace
47. Lebanon -- Once upon a time in Beirut
48. Palestinian Territories -- Fast Times in Palestine
49. Saudi Arabia -- Girls of Riyadh
50. Turkey -- The Bastard of Istanbul
51. UAE -- City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism
52. Yemen -- Yemen: The Unknown Arabia


North America

53. Cuba -- Blessed by Thunder: Memoir of a Cuban Girlhood
54. Caribbean -- An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude
55. Peurto Rico -- The Ladies' Gallery: A Memoir of Family Secrets

Pacific Islands
56. Hawaii -- My Time in Hawaii: A Polynesian Memoir
57. Pitciarn Island -- Lost Paradise: From Mutiny on the Bounty to a Modern-Day Legacy of Sexual Mayhem, the Dark Secrets of Pitcairn Island Revealed

OK -- I ended up w/ 57 stops along the way. And some of the stops have more than 1 book to choose from. But I guess it gives me options when the time comes to actually start reading all these books :-)

Hi Wendy, welcome. Glad to see you here.

Thanks for the geography tip Barry. I just tried to edit and move things around a bit and it looks like it didn't save my changes. I will try tinkering with it and and adding some more over the weekend.

Wonderful list, Wendy. I don't have Barry's critical eye, but I like your choices!

Wendy, you will enjoy The Piano Tuner. It is well written, keeps you r head thinking and has an ending that isn't what you expect! I gve it four strars.

The Bastard of Istanbul is worthy of five stars! The lines are beautiful.The humor is priceless.The questions posed are numerous. I think my review has excerpts if you want to check the writing style.

I want to thank you for listing Late for Tea at the Deer Palace. I checked, It has finally come out on Kindle. YAY! That I definitely want to read more than the book already listed under Iraq.

Thank you for your list. I have more to check now!

Chrissie wrote: "Wendy, you will enjoy The Piano Tuner. It is well written, keeps you r head thinking and has an ending that isn't what you expect! I gve it four strars.

The Bastard of Istanb..."</i>

I just finished
[book:Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq and Riverbend speaks rather derisively about Chalabi and I'm pretty sure this is the same Chalabi family -- though maybe a different branch? Either way, I'm looking forward to checking out Deer Palace. Glad to hear Piano Tuner and Bastard of Istanbul are highly recommended. I've had Piano Tuner sitting on my literal shelf for years, just haven't gotten to it. At this point, I've been a hold out on a kindle/nook and like to keep it old school, but probably only a matter of time before I end up breaking down and going digital.

Gaeta1 wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Wendy, you will enjoy The Piano Tuner. It is well written, keeps you r head thinking and has an ending that isn't what you expect! I gve it four strars..."

The way the book is set up, I believe it is just a compilation of her blog posts.

Wendy, I have read both derisive and positive reviews of Late for Tea. I am not quite sure how I will react to the book. I am intrigued because it shows how one family was influenced by historical event. In this case, the family were clearly right smack in the thick of it. The sample given is only the prologue, unfortunately. I prefer tasting the lines after chapter one.

Concerning digital books, they are great for certain purposes, but flipping to maps, a glossary and family trees are laborious if not impossible! I still am very happy they exist. They will improve with time.

You've got a good start on your list, Wendy. Remember, it's not the group rules so much as your own individual rules. I love the diversity. :)

I still have 20 more book to go! BTW, if anyone is looking for a couple of fast reads from the Pacific Islands, check out The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific and/or Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu.

Judy wrote: "Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness looks excellent. I didn't know that Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood had a sequel.

You have a nic..."

I believe Alexandra Fuller's new book is about her mother and her mother's childhood, so I don't think it's a sequal. Have you also read Scribbling the Cat? It was good, but rather disturbing.

Wendy wrote: "Judy wrote: "Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness looks excellent. I didn't know that Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood had a sequel.

Y..."

Yes, it is about her mother. The setting i have read is predominantly Kenya instead. I will be reading that too. Looks good although it does not have a straight timeline.

Hello Wendy!! :-) Didn't know you were here too! Looking forward to checking out your list.

Love how you've organised your list according to continents/regions. I like that! Might rearrange my list now. :-)

Muphyn wrote: "Love how you've organised your list according to continents/regions. I like that! Might rearrange my list now. :-)"

Glad to see you here too Muphyn :-) I may be at risk though of being expelled from this group since I know we're not supposed to start reading on our list till 2012 and I just started listening to the audio of Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness -- which technically means I'm not "reading" it, but I'm sure violates the intention of the rules. There is no way I will be able to get through all 52 next year though so I need a bit of a headstart. Hopefully they will let it slide!

I think there are others who have started reading early for precisely that reason. And I don't think I'll be able to get through these 52 books since I'll also want to read other things. Don't worry, you can make up your own rules (as far as I understand it)! :)

Gaeta1 wrote: "@ Wendy: Well, how's the book and narration so far?"

I'm not too far into it, but so far so good. It's 6 discs long so I figure if I can knock a few books off my list by listening to them then I will be able to make more headway.

Nice list Wendy. Congratulations on finishing. I noticed some new and different titles to be investigated.

I like that you don't follow directions. That's the name of the game in this group - no rules.