Around the World in 80 Books Reading Challenge
I would love to travel the world and for this stage of my life with young kids, I will have to travel vicariously through my joy of reading. I found this Around the World in 80 Books Reading Challenge at Have Books, Will Travel . For the Around the World in 80 Books Reading Challenge, I have 5 years to read at least 80 books from 80 different countries. Plenty of time to explore new countries and cultures in a fast and convenient way. Thankfully the rules are fluid so I can customize it for my reading patterns. Click on the button below or head to Stacey’s site to join the challenge and see where in the world the other participants are heading to in their reading journey. I hope you will stay tuned to see where my reading journey takes me as when I complete a book review, I will post it on my blog.
My Challenge:
1. I have five years to complete my journey. My start date is December 18, 2012 {but you can join this challenge any time} and my end date will be December 17, 2017. Should be plenty of time to make it around the world in 80 books.
2. I’m choosing my books that take place in a particular country {since one of my primary goals is to learn about other countries} therefore it does not matter to me what country the author is from. If a book takes place in multiple countries then I will count it towards the country that it is mostly set in.
Stacey at Have Books, Will Travel has set herself some other admirable challenge goals including:
* In addition to reading a book set in a particular country, she will also do some research on that country and will include some “Fun Facts ” about the country along with each book review.
* She will release 80 books “into the wild” via BookCrossing and watch them {hopefully} travel the world.
* She will donate 80 books to her local library.
Ok, the challenge is extended and the rules in place…now, where to go? Here’s my preliminary list of ideas of books to read for each country, your suggestions are welcome. When I finish a book, I will link up the review and put it in the completed books section below and highlight it on the map.
Links in this section take you to Goodreads. Book suggestions I have not read yet.
Belgian Congo –The Poisonwood Bible
Bora Bora – The Bungalow
Botswana – The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Burma – The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
Cambodia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India – Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
China – Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China
Columbia – Love in the Time of Cholera
Czech Republic – Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Egypt & Spain – The Alchemist
England – The Mysterious Affair At Styles
Ethiopia – Cutting for Stone
France – Anna and the French Kiss
France – Paris in Love
France – The Three Musketeers
France –Scaramouche
France – The Painted Girls: A Novel
France & Hungary – The Invisible Bridge
Greece – Song of Achilles
Italy – Beautiful Ruins
Italy – The Shoemaker’s Wife
Japan –1Q84
Kenya – Chai Tea Sunday
Korea – The Orphan Master’s Son
Luxembourg – The Expats
Noirmoutier Island (France) A Secret Kept
Pakistan – Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time
Russia – Anna Karenina
Saudi Arabia – Finding Nouf
Serbia – The Tiger’s Wife
Spain – Zorro
Sweden – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Syria – The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights
Tibet – The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Turkey & Croatia – Murder on the Orient Express
UK – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Vietnam – The Lotus Eaters
Here’s a map to keep track of where the books I finished have taken me…
visited 20 states (8.88%)
Create your own visited map of The World
Completed Books and Travels
Links take you to my book review.
1. Dominican Republic and US – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (finished 12/28/12)
2. Germany – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (finished 1/1/2013)
3. England – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (finished 1/7/13)
4. China – Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
5. Ireland – In the Woods by Tana French
6. France – Sarah’s Key by Tatiana deRosnay (finished 3/24/13)
7. Netherlands – The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
8. Netherlands/Switzerland/Iceland/Qatar/UK – The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the World’s Happiest Places by Eric Weiner
9. England – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. UK – Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
11. India – Monsoon Memories by Renita D’Silva
12. Guam/Singapore/Mexico/Ghana – Here We Are and There We Go by Jill Dobbe
13. Russia – The Last Romanov by Norbert Mercado
14. India/UK- Under the Jeweled Sky by Alison McQueen – review and author’s guest post about growing up multiracial
15. China – Lethal Circuit by Lars Guinard
15. Italy – At Least You’re In Tuscany by Jennifer Criswell
16. India – Karma Gone Bad by Jenny Feldon
17. India – First Darling of the Morning by Thrity Umrigar
18. France – Paris, Rue des Martyrs by Adria Cimino
19. Turkey – Blown Circuit by Lars Guignard Audiobook
20. Spain – Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Leave me a comment with your favorite books in different countries. It’s cold here, I am thinking somewhere tropical to start. I hope you will join Stacey, I and others on our journey around the world through books!