Reading the World
A personal challenge with no time limit. Got the ideas from several places. Personally I would count books with majority of the setting in that country or origin of the author, whichever is more prominent.
Asia
Africa
America
Australia/Oceania
Europe
ASIA
Afghanistan
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Kabul, 1970s)
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (1960s-2000s)
- Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
- The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
- The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
- The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan
- Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah (Hong Kong and China)
- A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo (setting mostly in UK)
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (19th century)
- Waiting by Ha Jin (mid to late 1900s)
India
- The Interpreters of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Indonesia
- my birth country, so LOTS, but not in English :). Will find one in English soon. Would like to read The Year of Living Dangerously and Jakarta Undercover.
Iran
- Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
- Persepolis and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
- Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
- Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
- Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
- The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- Out by Natsuo Kirino
- Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
- The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki
- Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
- Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
- Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
- Squeamish about Sushi by Betty Reynolds
- Snakes and Earrings by Hitomi Kanehara
- Strangers by Taichi Yamada
- Clueless in Tokyo by Betty Reynolds
- I Am a Cat (Volume One) by Sōseki Natsume
- Oishinbo: Ramen & Gyōza by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
Pakistan
- Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (setting also in Japan, India, and USA)
Palestine (an area in Middle East still in feud)
- Burned Alive by Souad
Saudi Arabia
- Princess by Jane Sasson
- Princess Sultana’s Daughters by Jane Sasson
Tibet
- Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood
AFRICA
Botswana
- The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
Nigeria
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Sierra Leone
- A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Somalia
- Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
- Desert Dawn by Waris Dirie
South Africa
AMERICA
Canada
- Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
Colombia
- Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
United States (lots I’m sure)
- Kindred by Olivia E. Butler (18th century)
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
- Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama
- Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Escape by Carolyn Jessop
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Detroit)
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (New York 1940s)
- Firmin by Sam Savage (Boston, 1950s)
AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA
Australia
- Sugarbabe by Holly Hill
- Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan
EUROPE
Belgium
- I Choose to Live by Sabine Dardenne
France
- French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Germany
- The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Italy
- Silk by Alessandro Baricco
- If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino
Poland
- The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (setting also in German)
Slovenia
- Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (setting in Ljubljana, by Brazilian author)
United Kingdom (lots I’m sure)
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
- Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1700s)
There are 8 Comments to "Reading the World"
[...] of origin of the author, or the country he/she lives in. This is a bit different with how my Reading the World challenge works, as I go with the setting of the book, but they can still complement each [...]
[...] could check out my reviews of Japanese books (by Japanese or set in Japan) on my Reading the World page, but I would like to list a few books [...]
[...] I have read a few books about Chinese immigrants (most of them by Amy Tan), because it’s something I can relate to, but I probably have read very few books set in China by Chinese authors. Something I need to rectify. And apparently in this challenge, Chinese immigrants story don’t count. The majority of the setting must be in China (including Hong Kong, Macau, Tibet, and Taiwan). Check out books I’ve read on China/Chinese. [...]
[...] Read for: Lost in Translation Challenge, Orbis Terrarum Challenge 2009, (Another) 1% Well-Read Challenge, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge, Reading the World [...]
[...] Challenge Lost in Translation (book #5), Orbis Terrarum 2009 (book #10), (Another) 1% Well-Read (book #9), 1001 Books Before You Die, Reading the World [...]
[...] Challenges China Challenge (book #2), Women Unbound (book #3), Herding Cats II (book #3), Reading the World [...]
[...] of origin of the author, or the country he/she lives in (a bit different with my personal project Reading the World in which I go with either the book setting or the origin of author, whichever is more [...]
[...] Challenges China Challenge (book #3), Book Awards IV (book #1), Women Unbound (book #4): for a glimpse into women’s lives in mid to late 1900s China, Pulitzer Prizes, Reading the World [...]