I figured I had to do this challenge since it is related to Europe. The intent is to read novels either set in different European countries or by authors from those countries. You can only count each of the 50 countries once, and while the highest level only requires a minimum of five books, there is a chance to win a prize for the participant that hits the most countries. I am, of course, doing 5 Star (Deluxe Entourage) with five books or more. While the fact that the novel just has to be set in a country and not from an author of that nationality certainly makes this a bit easier, I'm going to try to challenge myself to focus on the author piece a bit, too, rather than just reading a bunch of English or American novels taking place in other countries - there will be a few of those as well, but hopefully there will be a good balance.
16 countries done.
1. The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart - set in the UK and the author is from the UK
2. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield - set in ancient Greece
3. The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak - set partially in Turkey and the author is from Turkey
4. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo - set mostly in Norway and the author is from Norway
5. Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada - set in Germany and the author is from Germany
6. The Tiger's Wife - Serbia (unnamed war torn country, author originally from Belgrade)
7. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - set in Italy and author is from Italy
8. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera - set in Czech Republic and author orginally from there (technically Czechoslovakia but I'm counting it as Czech since Prague is now part of the Czech Republic)
9. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell - set in Sweden and author is from Sweden
10. Hood by Emma Donoghue - set in Ireland and the author is from Ireland
11. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen - set in Denmark and author is from Denmark
12. The Expats by Chris Pavone - set in Luxembourg
13. The Dinner by Herman Koch - set in the Netherlands and author is Dutch
14. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - set in Estonia; author is Finnish-Estonian
15. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - set in Spain and author is from Spain
16. The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan - set in France
Potential future touring stops:
No One is Here Except All of Us - Romania
2 comments:
Thanks for signing up for the European Reading Challenge! Sorry it took me a while to get here to visit.
COngratulation on finishing six books already -- I think that is the most so far.
Rose City Reader
Thanks for dropping by! I'm having a lot of fun with this, but I expect some countries are going to a bit more difficult to complete than others.
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