This week’s Weekly Geeks is brought to us by Terri who asks us about our world travels through books.
Are you a global reader? How many countries have you “visited” in your reading? What are your favorite places or cultures to read about? Can you recommend particularly good books about certain regions, countries or continents? How do you find out about books from other countries? What countries would you like to read that you haven’t yet?
I have a long term goal to read a book representing every country in the world. You can see my progress by visiting these links on my blog:
Africa
South America
North America
Europe
Australia/Oceania
Asia
Here is my progress graphed from The World 66 site:
I am not sure I actually have a favorite region from which to read. So far, I have enjoyed them all! Some of my favorite reads which I can recommend are:
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (read my review) set in the Congo.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (read my review) set in Nigeria.
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (read my review) set in Canada.
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (read my review) set in Bosnia.
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain (read my review) set in Denmark.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (read my review) set in France.
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (read my review) set in Norway.
Guernica by Dave Boling (read my review) set in Spain.
The Secret River by Kate Grenville (read my review) set in Australia.
The Colour by Rose Tremain (read my review) set in New Zealand.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (read my review) set in Afghanistan.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (read my review) set in India.
I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal, but I am having fun reading around the world!
= Excellent
= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
Wow, you’re fast!! I like the way you presented this Wendy.
Nicely arranged post! I have several of the ones you spotlighted on my tbr pile so it is always fun to see them as being thought of as worthy reads by others before I dig into them.
*smiles*
Kim
Great post! You’re far more widely read than me.
Happy Weekly Geeks
I’ve read a couple of those, and really enjoyed them. Half of a Yellow Sun was incredible, as was Secret River. I want to read Cellist of Sarajevo, but just not gotten down to it yet, and I’m not the biggest fan of Khalid Hosseini – just didn’t like Kite Runner!
Best of luck
Terri: I happened to be on line when you posted
And I was inspired!!
Kim: Thanks – glad to see you have some of my favorites on your TBR piles
Maree: There are some readers far more widely read than me!! But it is the process I enjoy
Another Cookie: I agree – Adichie’s book was amazing. You should really read the Cellist of Sarajevo…that was a stunning book. I didn’t like The Kite Runner as much as A Thousand Splendid Suns…but they are both a little “tough” in terms of subject matter.
I also recommended The Secret River. It’s a personal favorite since I’ve had the pleasure of hiking along the river that features so prominently in the novel. My post is here.
I’m also recommending A thousand splendid suns. An awesome book.
You really set this post up nicely. I loved Splendid Suns, Suite Francaise and Poisenwood Bible (forgot to add that one to my Africa list). I still haven’t read Stealing Horses and I need to remember to add Guernica to my list.
Interesting post! I need to get my thoughts together and see what I come up with!
You have a lot of great books here, many I’ve never seen before.
Pusserboots: How cool that you hike that river trail!! I will pop over and read your review!
Rikki: It was a stunning book, wasn’t it? Disturbing, but such a well written novel.
Icedream: Looks like we have a lot of reading in common!
Sandy: I’ll look forward to your post!
Kristen: Oh, glad I could steer you towards some new books!
You’ve done well Wendy
My map keeps changing! I didn’t think I could count India because I had given up on Midnight’s Children but I forgot that I DID read The God of Small Things! but it’s been awhile ago.
I applaud your goals!
Really appreciate you listing titles. Impressive map. Thanks.
Wow, that’s a great goal to have! Many of the books that you have read are on my TBR list. Do you have an all-time favorite book from your list above?
Kerrie: Thanks!
Care: Thank you! This is a fun project, isn’t it? I’ve read a lot of books from India…I stopped adding them to my list after a while!
Susan: You’re welcome…hope I can steer you to some good books you haven’t heard of before.
Dreamybee: Oh, it is so hard to pick just one favorite. I really love Rose Tremain’s writing…and you can’t go wrong with Adichie (she is incredibly talented). And Kingsolver is just fantastic…No, I don’t have an all-time favorite! I actually could re-read each of the books I’ve listed!!!