This is my book list for the Around the World in 52 Books challenge. It’s a work in progress, and I’ll update my status and changes in the list here as I go.
Status
I am currently thinking about what to read next.
Reading Order
I decided to have themed months so it was easier to compare and contrast books. I’m aiming for 3-4 books per month, though I think that will be a pretty hard goal to reach. Bold means I have read the book.
Note: the links are broken, I know. My style is eating the anchors for some reason. I’ll go back and fix it later.
January – Countries that are new/unfamiliar to me
Cuba, Myanmar, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia
February – Countries that are considered “romantic”
France, Italy, Russia
March – Countries that have been recently affected by war
Afghanistan, Ireland (unplanned stop), Lebanon, North Korea, Sri Lanka
April – Asian countries
China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
May – South American countries
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay
June – Native English-speaking countries
England, India, Ireland
July – Scandinavian countries
Denmark, Finland, Norway
August – Southeast Asian countries
Bhutan, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam
September – Eastern European countries
Albania, Bosnia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Hungary?
October – Central American countries (and a little beyond)
Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico,
November – African countries
Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe
December – Whatever I feel like
Germany? Austria? New Zealand? Ukraine?
The List
Afghanistan
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Albania
Chronicle in Stone by Ismael Kadare
Austria
The Bells by Richard Harvell
OR Mozart’s Last Aria by Matt Rees
Bhutan
Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming
Bosnia
Shards by Ismet Prcic
Brazil
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
Cambodia
The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam
Chile
Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende
China
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Cuba
Havana Real by Yoani Sanchez
Finished on March 16, 2012. (Review)
Czechoslovakia
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Denmark
We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen
Ecuador
The Queen of Water by Laura Resau
Egypt
The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran
OR Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
England
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Ethiopia
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
Finland
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
France
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Germany
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Hungary
The Door by Szabo Magdan
India
Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
Ireland
The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry
Finished on March 19, 2012. (Review)
Ireland by Frank Delaney
Italy
Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
Japan
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Lebanon
Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War by Annia Ciezadlo
Malaysia
Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
Mexico
The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
Myanmar
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
New Zealand
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
North Korea
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
Norway
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
Nigeria
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Finished on January 14, 2012. (Review)
Poland
Anya by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
Romania
Smuggled by Christina Shea
Russia
The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
OR Anna Kareninaby by Leo Tolstoy
Saudi Arabia
The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen
Finished on January 10, 2012. (Review)
South Africa
Spud by John van de Ruit
South Korea
The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim
Sri Lanka
A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
Taiwan
Taiwan Folktales by Fred Lobb
Ukraine
The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu
Uruguay
The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis
Vietnam
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
I love the monthly theme idea!