This is the page where I will keep track of my progress in the Reading All Around the World Project, for which I’m trying to read books from at least 50 different countries of the world. There are links to reviews on my blog where applicable.
Here is a map with the countries I’ve “visited” so far created in Google Maps.
Two stars** after the author name indicates the author is a native of the country described. One star* indicates the author’s ethnic background is from that country. Other books have a strong and well-researched setting; usually the author has lived in the country for an extended period.
Europe
- Sweden – War Diaries by Astrid Lindgren** – January 2017
- Netherlands – I Was a Stranger by John Hackett – January 2017
- Switzerland – The Gilded Chalet by Padraig Rooney – July 2017; The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain – April 2020; The Swiss Summer by Stella Gibbons – February 2021; Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes – May 2021; In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim – October 2021; Voting Day by Clare O’Dea – 2022;
- Spain – Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes** – July 2019; The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafón**, translated by Maria Graves – 2022
- Iceland – Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – February 2020
- Ireland – Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor** – May 2020; Haven by Emma Donoghue* – 2023
- Eastern Europe – Danubia by Simon Winder – November 2020; A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor – 2022
- Wales – A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond – October 2021
- Crete – Daughters of the Labyrinth by Ruth Padel – July 2021
- Germany – Die Kleine Hexe by Ofried Preussler** – July 2021; All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque**, translated by A.W. Wheen – 2023
- Italy – The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper – June 2021
- Sicily – Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano, translated by John Brownjohn – 2022
- Scotland – The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett** – 2022
- Alsace – The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave – 2022
- Norway – The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker* – 2023
- France – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby**, translated by Jeremy Leggott – 2023
- Cyprus – The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak – 2023
Americas
- Brazil – Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson – January 2018
- Venezuela – Octavio’s Journey and Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy** – February 2018
- Chile – The House of the Spirits and My Invented Country by Isabel Allende** – January 2020; How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada**, translated by Elizabeth Bryer – 2022
- Bolivia – Women Talking by Miriam Toews – 2022
- Argentina – Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza**, translated by Thomas Bunstead – 2023
- Texas – Forget the Alamo by Jason Stanford, Bryan Burrough, and Chris Tomlinson** – 2023
- Trinidad – When We Were Birds by Ayanno Lloyd Banwo** – 2023
Africa and Middle East
- Nigeria – Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie** – July 2017; The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré – 2023
- Nigeria/Biafra – Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie** – 2023
- Lebanon – An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine** – August 2017
- Sudan – Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Sahil** – November 2017
- Egypt – The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson – August 2018
- Saudi Arabia – Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif** – December 2019; In the Land of Invisible Women by Qanta Ahmed – 2023
- South Africa – Born a Crime by Trevor Noah** – December 2019
- Ghana – All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou* – January 2020
- Palestine/Israel – Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye* – May 2020; Salt Houses by Hala Alyan** – 2022
- Iran – Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi** – August 2021
- Algeria – L’étranger by Albert Camus** – July 2021; The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud** – December 2021
Asia and Australia
- China – Bronze and Sunflower by Cao Wenxuan** – March 2017
- Cambodia – The Last Gods of Indochine by Samuel Ferrer – July 2017
- Afghanistan – One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi* – September 2017
- Australia – My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin** – October 2019; Cloudstreet by Tim Winston** – 2023
- India – The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sunja Massey* – February 2020
- Bhutan – Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming – February 2020
- Pakistan – Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal* – September 2020
- Vietnam – The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai ** – December 2020
- Korea – A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park * – December 2021; Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim * – December 2021
- Georgia – The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili**, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin – January 2022
- Malaysia – Black Water Sister by Zen Cho* – 2022; The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf* – 2022
- Japan – Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikawa Kawaguchi**, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot – 2023; Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa**, translated by Alison Watts – 2023
- Singapore – Auntie Lee’s Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu** – 2023
- Philippines – Nervous by Jen Soriano – 2023
- India – Autobiography of a Yogi – 2023
Immigrant/Cross-cultural
- Japan/Canada – A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki* – January 2021
- India/US – Missed Translations by Sopan Deb* – March 2021
- Korea/Japan – Pachinko by Min Jin Lee* – January 2020
- Mexico/US – Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan* – September 2017