Around the World discussion

I was debating whether I should limit my list to only 30 countries since I highly doubt I will make it through 52, especially since some of these are whoppers in size! However, it is too hard for me to pick just 30 countries, so I guess I will make my list for 52 and just plow through as many as I can. Maybe I will take a 2 year tour around the world, instead of just one :)

* indicates that I own a copy

1. AFGHANISTAN: Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi*

2. ALBANIA: The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare

3. ALGERIA: The Stranger by Albert Camus

4. ANGOLA: The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa *

5. ARGENTINA: Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras *

6. ARMENIA: Family of Shadows by Garin Hovannisian *

7. AUSTRALIA: Cloud Street by Tim Winton

8. AUSTRIA: The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer

9. BANGLADESH: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

10. BOSNIA: The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric

11. BRAZIL: Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis

12. BURMA: Burmese Days by George Orwell*

13. CANADA: River Thieves by Micheal Crummey

14. CHILE: The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende ( July Group Read )

15. CHINA: Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

16. COLOMBIA: Even Silence has to End by Ingrid Betancourt

17. CZECH REPUBLIC: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

18. DENMARK: Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoag *

19. EGYPT: Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz*

20. ENGLAND: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

21. ETHIOPIA: Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb

22. FINLAND: The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna

23. FRANCE: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas *

24. GERMANY: Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane

25. GREECE: Eleni by Nicholas Gage *

26. ICELAND: Independent People by Halldór Laxness

27. INDIA: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry*
(June Group Read)

28. IRELAND: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

29. ISRAEL: Someone to Run With by David Grossman

30. ITALY: The Betrothed by Alessandro Menzoni

31. JAPAN: The Wind-Up BIrd Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (May Group Read)

33. LIBERIA: The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

33. MEXICO: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

34. MOROCCO: This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun

35. NETHERLANDS: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom *

36. NEW ZEALAND: Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett

37. NIGERIA: Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (February Group Read)

38. NORWAY: Hunger by Knut Hamsun

39. POLAND: With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz

40. PORTUGAL: The History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago

41. ROMANIA: The Appointment by Herta Muller

42. RUSSIA: The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

43. SAMOA: aka AMERICAN SAMOA Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt

44. SCOTLAND: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

45. SOUTH AFRICA: A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

46. SPAIN: THe Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Zafon *

47. SRI LANKA: Reef by Romesh Gunesekera

48. TURKEY: The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk

49. UNITED STATES: The Alienist by Caleb Carr

50. URUGUAY: The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis

51. VIETNAM: Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong

52. ZIMBABWE: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Judy wrote: "Looking good, Steph, and take your time. Just remember, no rules, just right,...Oh, that's that popular steakhouse slogan. :-)"

Thanks Judy! This is so much fun- don't want to rush the holiday season- but I am glad I have this to look forward to starting in January

Steph, I loved Smilla's Sense of Snow. Ytu to stick that one in the ones you read this year. You have tons of oother good ones too. I know it is so hard to decide.....

Looks like a great list - I probably won't be able to read all 52 in a year either, but it's a nice way to read some different stuff, and work your way through a few piles of unread books.

Chrissie wrote: "Steph, I loved Smilla's Sense of Snow. Ytu to stick that one in the ones you read this year. You have tons of oother good ones too. I know it is so hard to decide....."

I own that one Chrissy and have been wanting to read it for a long time, so it is definitely toward the top of my list. It is soooo hard to decide. I will have to check your list out too :)

Louise wrote: "Looks like a great list - I probably won't be able to read all 52 in a year either, but it's a nice way to read some different stuff, and work your way through a few piles of unread books."

I agree ! :)

Stephanie wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Steph, I loved Smilla's Sense of Snow. Ytu to stick that one in the ones you read this year. You have tons of oother good ones too. I know it is so hard to decide......."

Your New Zealand choice intrigued me, so I hope you don't mind but I ended up adding it to my list. :)

Stephanie wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Steph, I loved Smilla's Sense of Snow. Ytu to stick that one in the ones you read this year. You have tons of oother good ones too. I know it is so ..."

Go ahead! Isn't that one of the main points of the group- to tell each other of interesting books about different cultures?! Fun, huh!

1. Finished January 1,2012-
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi 3.5 stars
AFGANISTAN

2. Finished January 10,2012-
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom 4.0 stars
NETHERLANDS

I have read the sample for the The Hiding Place. I end up wondering if it will suit me. The preface and introduction all seemed to emphasize the religious concept that God will help us through tough times. But will this book work for someone who is not religious - ie me?!

Thanks for your help!

My teacher read us The Hiding Place in primary school, and although she made the effort to emphasise that it was a religious story (that the morals and spirituality of Corrie and her family were the driving force for the things they did), there was enough history and sense of place for the story to be of interest if like me religion isn't your thing. I'm not sure how much of the book is concerned with her later life, where the religious nature of her work is likely to come through more strongly.

It is worth reading as a comparison to The Diary of Anne Frank, to compare a memoir of an older woman, a Christian working in support of the Dutch Resistance, to the contemporaneous diary of a young girl, a Jew in hiding from the Nazis.

Vicky, thank you for your help! I am happy to hear it is not just for the religious minded!

Chrissie, I agree with Vicky as well. It is religion that helps Corrie and her family get through the horrific things they face, but the story in and of itself is just an excellent historical account of what happened to the people who were caught helping Jews hide.

That's a good list!

The Year of the Hare is a good pick for Finland!

Chel wrote: "That's a good list!"

Thanks Chel! Happy reading!

windy wrote: "The Year of the Hare is a good pick for Finland!"
I am having trouble obtaining it from our local library, so I think I am just going to have to purchase it online.

That's a good list.

Yipee! I finally completed making my list- I plan on sticking to it as much as I can, but there may be some additions/subtractions along the way.

cool.

3. Finished January 28, 2012 Someone to Run With by David Grossman 4.5 stars
ISRAEL

4. Finished February 3, 2012 Hunger by Knut Hamsun 4.0 stars
NORWAY

5. Finished March 19,2012 Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 4.5 stars
NIGERIA