Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I have been busily plotting and planning for months in the hopes that I can complete the Trekker option in 2012. The lists are made...the maps are created...now I'm ready to start reading!

Trekker = Epic Fail

But I'm still logging my books, so if you're looking for a good read in a certain location, please see what I've listed here! :)

REGION 1: North America
1. United States


Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Rating: 2.5 Stars

REGION 2: Central America
2. Mexico


Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr
Rating: 2 Stars

3. Guatemala


The Long Night of the White Chickens by Francisco Goldman
Rating: 2 Stars

4. El Salvador


Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benitez
Rating: 3 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 1998

5. Honduras


The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
Rating: 3 Stars


REGION 2: Caribbean
6. Dampier Cay


Galveston by Paul Quarrington
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, 2004

7. Cuba


The Messenger by Mayra Montero
Rating: 2.5 Stars

8. Bahamas


Fire on Dark Water by Wendy K. Perriman
Rating: 3.5 Stars

9. Haiti

The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
Rating: 4 Stars

10. Dominican Republic

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Rating: 3 Stars

11. Trinidad

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey
Rating: 5 Stars
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, 2010

REGION 3: SOUTH AMERICA
12. Guyana

The Ventriloquist's Tale by Pauline Melville
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, 1998
Winner of the Costa First Book Award, 1997

13. Venezeula

Keepers of the House by Lisa St Aubin de Terán
Rating: 3 Stars

14. Columbia

Delirium by Laura Restrepo
Rating: 3 Stars

15. Brazil

Max And The Cats by Moacyr Scliar
Rating: 3.5 Stars

16. Argentina

Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
Rating: 4 Stars
Galchen was named one of the "20 Under 40" authors by The New Yorker

17. Chile


The Postman (Il Postino) by Antonio Skármeta
Rating: 2.5 Stars

18. Peru


Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Rating: 2 Stars
Winner of the Orange Prize, 2002

REGION 4: OCEANIA
19. Solomon Islands


Beside a Burning Sea by John Shors
Rating: 2 Stars

20. New Zealand


As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong
Rating: 3 Stars

21. Tasmania


The Hunter by Julia Leigh
Rating: 4 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2000

22. Australia


Sorry by Gail Jones
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2008

23. New Guinea


I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn
Rating: 4 Stars
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, 1997
technically this takes place on an unnamed island in the vicinity of New Guinea

REGION 5: ASIA
24. Indonesia

A Taste for Green Tangerines by Barbara Bisco
Rating: 1 Star

25. Malaysia

Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
Rating: 3 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2009

26. Thailand

The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone
Rating: 2 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2011

27. Cambodia

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Shortlisted for the Scotiabank-Giller Prize, 2009

28. Hong Kong

White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2006

29. Japan

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
Rating: 2 Stars
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize, 2004
Longlisted for the Booker Prize, 2004

30. Korea

Fox Girl by Nora Okja Keller
Rating: 2 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2003

31. China

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Rating: 2 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2001

REGION 6: AFRICA


32. Zambia

Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku
Rating: 3.5 Stars

33. Rhodesia

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg
Rating: 3 Stars
Longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2008

34. South Africa

The West Rand Jive Cats Boxing Club by Lauren Liebenberg
Rating: 4 Stars

35. Egypt

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Winner of the Booker Prize, 1987

36. Sudan

An Honourable Man by Gillian Slovo
Rating: 2 Stars

REGION 7: EUROPE



37. Croatia

Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge
Rating: 4 Stars

38. Romania

No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel
Rating: 4 Stars

REGION 1: NORTH AMERICA


39. Canada

Atonement by Gaétan Soucy
Rating: 4 Stars

The journey has begun! (Edited above.)


Regions: 1
Countries: 1

Edited above.


Regions: 2
Countries: 5

At this rate, the trip is going to take me several years to complete!

I LOVE your detailed maps!

Enjoy the journey! It looks like a great trip.

Thanks for stopping by my thread, Diane and Connie! I had so much fun creating the maps, and I thought adding screen shots of each region was easier for people to see and understand than a link to the entire map.

Edited above.


Regions: 2
Countries: 8

Edited above.


Regions: 2
Countries: 10

Edited above.


Regions: 2
Countries: 11

Edited above.


Regions: 3
Countries: 13

Edited above.


Regions: 3
Countries: 15

Edited above.


Regions: 3
Countries: 17

Edited above.


Regions: 3
Countries: 18

Ack! I've been lost at sea! lol

I've been distracted by a lot of non-AtWi80 books. Plus I really did not want to read the book I'd chosen for Tahiti so I kept putting it off. I finally decided to take it off the list and continue onward.

I'm so behind now that I'm not certain it will be possible to finish this, but I'm not giving up yet.

Regions: 4
Countries: 20

Edited above.

Regions: 4
Countries: 23

Edited above.

Regions: 5
Countries: 25

Edited above.

Regions: 5
Countries: 28

Edited above.

Regions: 5
Countries: 31

I've done some number crunching, and have decided to step down from the challenge. To finish this, I would have to read approximately 8 books per month, which is doable, but doesn't give me much opportunity for other reading.

I'll save all the books I've set aside for this until the challenge starts again in January.

Good luck to everyone!

Her Royal Orangeness wrote: "I've done some number crunching, and have decided to step down from the challenge. To finish this, I would have to read approximately 8 books per month, which is doable, but doesn't give me much op..."

Don't feel you have to finish! The important thing is that you enjoy the reading and don't feel overwhelmed. Enjoy your break for other reading. We will miss you, and look forward to seeing your posts again.

Thanks Diane. :)

I certainly learned that it is much easier and more fun to make all the lists and maps than it is to read all those books in order!

I've updated everything to include the books I read out-of-order and will continue to add to the list. I understand, of course, that I have officially 'failed' and am no longer a challenge participant. But I found some great reads, and want to have them logged so that others can learn about them and maybe enjoy them also.

There's no such thing as failing! You are extremely successful in that you have read a lot of great books and learned about world cultures along the way. It is very hard to read them in consecutive order. Each year I say that I will attempt it, but never have. I am so glad you have participated in the challenge and hope that you will again in the future. Thanks so much for including the other books you have read!