I stumbled across Ann Morgan’s A Year of Reading the World. I like the idea of reading a book from every country, but I’m not crazy enough to do so within a year (or even a decade). Morgan’s list (found here) is a useful starting place because her blog attracted worldwide attention which led to many great recommendations. I went through her list and picked a book from each country.
No single work can sum up an entire country, but each of these books will either be set in a particular country or written by someone deeply familiar with its culture. The books here aren’t meant to be 100% representative and they can’t be—every country contains a wide variety of viewpoints, experiences, and lifestyles. This reading challenge is an opportunity to read a wider range of voices than easily found at a local bookshop.
Note: If any of these books turn out to be exceptionally rare or expensive, I may swap them out. If you have recommendations, leave them in the comments!
- Afghanistan
- Atiq Rahimi: A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear; The Patience Stone
- Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner; And the Mountains Echoed
- Albania
- Ismail Kadare: The Palace of Dreams
- Fatos Kongoli: The Loser
- Algeria
- Boualem Sansal: An Unfinished Business
- Andorra
- Albert Salvadó: The Teacher of Cheops
- Angola
- Jose Eduardo Agualusa: The Book of Chameleons
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Jamaica Kincaid: Lucy
- Argentina
- Jorges Luis Borges: Ficciones
- The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez
- Armenia
- Grigoris Balakian: Armenian Golgotha
- Australia
- Markus Zuzak: The Book Thief
- Austria
- Elias Canetti: The Torch in My Ear
- Azerbaijan
- Kurban Said: Ali and Nino
- The Bahamas
- Garth Buckner: Thine Is the Kingdom
- Bahrain
- Sarah A Al Sahfei: Yummah
- Bangladesh
- Tahmina Anam: The Good Muslim
- Barbados
- Karen Lord: Redemption in Indigo
- Belarus
- Svetlana Alexievish: Voices from Chernobyl
- Belgium
- Francois Emmanuel: Invitation to a Voyage
- Belize
- Zoila Ellis: On Heroes, Lizards and Passion
- Benin
- Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr: Stories We Tell Each Other
- Bhutan
- T. Sangay Wangchuk: Seeing with the Third Eye: Growing Up with Grandma in Rural Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Liliana Colanzi: Our Dead World
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Meša Selimović: Death and the Dervish
- Botswana
- Maisie and Travers McNeice: The Lion Children
- Brazil
- João Ubaldo Ribeiro: An Invincible Memory
- Brunei
- Eva Maria Kershaw: Dusun Folktales – A Collection of Eighty-eight Folktales in the Dusun Language of Brunei with English Translations
- Bulgaria
- Dimitar Dimov: Doomed Souls
- Burkina Faso
- Nobert Zongo: The Parachute Drop
- Burundi
- Marie-Therese Toyi: Weep Not, Refugee
- Cambodia
- U Sam Oeur: Crossing Three Wildernesses
- Cameroon
- Mongo Beti: Mission to Kala
- Canada
- Alice Munro: Runaway
- Cape Verde
- Germano Almeida: The Last Will & Testament of Senhar da Silva Araúho
- Central African Republic
- Polly Strong: African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic
- Chad
- Joseph Brahim Seid: Told by Starlight in Chad
- Chile
- Robert Bolano: The Savage Detectives
- China
- Mo Yan: Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh
- Colombia
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garciá Márquez
- Comoros
- Mohammad Toihiri: The Kafir of Karthala
- Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Frederick Yamusangie: Full Circle
- Congo, Republic of
- Sony Lab’ou Tansi: The Antipeople
- Costa Rica
- Carmen Naranjo: There Never Was a Once Upon a Time
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Ahmadou Kourouma: Allah Is Not Obliged
- Croatia
- Miroslav Krleža: On the Edge of Reason
- Cuba
- Ena Lucia Portela: One Hundred Bottles
- Cyprus
- Elmos Konis: Magnette – A Cyprus Odyssey
- Czech Republic
- Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
- Denmark
- Christian Jungersen: The Exception
- Djibouti
- Abdourahman Waberi: In the United States of Africa
- Dominica
- Elma Napier: Black and White Sands
- Dominican Republic
- Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; Drown
- East Timor
- Luis Cardoso: The Crossing
- Ecuador
- Jorge Icaza: Huasipungo
- Egypt
- Ibrahim Abdel Meguid: No One Sleeps in Alexandria
- El Salvador
- Horacio Castellanos Moya: Senselessness
- Equatorial Guinea
- Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel: By Night the Mountain Burns
- Eritrea
- Dawit Gebremichael Habte: Gratitude in Low Voices
- Estonia
- Jaan Kross: Professor Martens’ Departure
- Ethiopia
- Abraham Verghese: Cutting for Stone
- Fiji
- Tales of the Tikongs
- Finland
- Emmi Itäranta: Memory of Water
- France
- Abnousse Shalmani: Khomeini, Sade and Me
- Gabon
- Daniel Mengara: Mema
- The Gambia
- Dembo Fanta Bojang & Sukai Mbye Bojang: Folk Tales and Fables from The Gambia
- Georgia
- Sana Krasikov: One More Year
- Germany
- Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
- Ghana
- Ayi Kwei Armah: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
- Greece
- Margarita Karapanou: Kassandra and the Wolf
- Grenada
- Merle Collins: The Ladies Are Upstairs
- Guatemala
- Miguel Angel Asturias: The President
- Guinea
- Camara Laye: The Radiance of the King
- Guinea-Bissau
- Amilcar Cabral: Unity and Struggle
- Guyana
- Oonya Kempadoo: Buxton Spice
- Haiti
- Edwidge Danticat: The Farming of Bones
- Honduras
- Guillermo Yuscaran: Points of Light
- Hungary
- Sándor Márai: Embers
- Iceland
- Gyrðir Eliasson: Stone Tree
- India
- Vivek Shanbhag: Ghachar Ghochar
- Indonesia
- Pramoedya Ananta Toer: This Earth of Mankind
- Iran
- Fariba Hachtroudi: The Man Who Snapped His Fingers
- Iraq
- Hassan Blasim: The Madman of Freedom Square
- Ireland
- James Joyce: Ulysses…just kidding! Dubliners
- Israel
- Sara Shilo: The Falafel King is Dead
- Italy
- Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend
- Jamaica
- Marlon James: The Book of Night Women
- Japan
- After Dark by Haruki Murakami
- Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
- The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
- Jordan
- Abdulrahman Munif: Cities of Salt
- Kazakhstan
- Mukhamet Shayakhmetov: The Silent Steppe: The Memoir of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin
- Kenya
- Binyavanga Wainaina: One Day I Will Write About This Place
- Kiribati
- Teweiariki Teaero: Waa in Storms
- Kuwait
- Danderma: The Chronicles of Dathra, a Dowdy Girl from Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Chingiz Aitmatov: The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years
- Laos
- Outhine Bounyavong: Mother’s Beloved
- Latvia
- Sandra Kalniete: With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows
- Lebanon
- Iman Humaydan: Wild Mulberries
- Lesotho
- K. Limakatso Kendall: Basali! Stories by and about Women in Lesotho
- Liberia
- Helene Cooper: The House at Sugar Beach
- Libya
- Hisham Matar: Anatomy of a Disappearance
- Liechtenstein
- Heinrich Harrer: Seven Years in Tibet
- Lithuania
- Antanas Škėma: White Shroud
- Luxembourg
- Robi Gottlieb-Cahen: Minute Stories
- Macedonia
- Goce Smilevski: Conversation with Spinoza
- Madagascar
- Naivo: Beyond the Rice Fields
- Malawi
- Samson Kambalu: The Jive Talker
- Malaysia
- Shih-Li Kow: Ripples and Other Stories
- Maldives
- Abdullah Sadiq: Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu
- Mali
- Amadou Hampâté Bâ: The Strange Destiny of Wangrin
- Malta
- Immanuel Mifsud: Happy Weekend
- Marshall Islands
- Ed Daniel Kelin: Marshall Islands Legends and Stories
- Mauritania
- Mohamed Bouya Bamba: Angels of Mauritania and the Curse of the Language
- Mauritius
- Barlen Pyamootoo: Benares
- Mexico
- Octavio Paz: The Labyrinth of Solitude
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Luelen Bernart: The Book of Luelen
- Moldova
- Ion Drutse: The Story of an Ant
- Monaco
- Richard and Danae Projetti: Grace Kelly: Princesse du Cinema
- Mongolia
- Galsan Tschinag: The Blue Sky
- Montenegro
- Xenia Popovich: A Lullaby for No Man’s Wolf
- Morocco
- Mohammed Berrada: The Game of Forgetting
- Mozambique
- Mia Couto: The Sleepwalking Land
- Myanmar
- Nu Nu Yi Inwa: Smile as They Bow
- Namibia
- Joseph Diescho: Troubled Waters
- Nauru
- Ben Bam Solomon, et al.: Stories from Nauru
- Nepal
- Samrat Upadhyay: Buddha’s Orphans
- Netherlands
- The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
- The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen
- Harry Mulisch: The Discovery of Heaven
- New Zealand
- Eleanor Catton: The Luminaries
- Nicaragua
- Gioconda Belli: Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand
- Niger
- Nouhou Malio: The Epic of Askia Mohammed
- Nigeria
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah
- North Korea
- Ri In Mo: My Life and Faith
- Norway
- Karl Ove Knausgaard: My Struggle
- Oman
- Khadija bint Alawi Al-Dhahab: My Grandmother’s Stories
- Pakistan
- Daniyal Mueenuddin: In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
- Palau
- Susan Kloulechad: Spirits’ Tides
- Palestine
- Ibtisam Barakat: Tasting the Sky – A Palestinian Childhood
- Panama
- Juan David Morgan: The Golden Horse
- Papua New Guinea
- Bernard Narokobi: Two Seasons
- Paraguay
- Augusto Roa Bastos: I, the Supreme
- Peru
- Mario Vargas Llosa: Death in the Andes
- Philippines
- Bino A. Realuyo
- Poland
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
- Olga Tokarczuk: House of Day, House of Night
- Portugal
- José Saramago: The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis
- Qatar
- Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud: The Corsair
- Romania
- Herta Müller: The Passport
- Russia
- Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita
- Rwanda
- Philip Gourevitch: We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with our Families
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Bertram Roach: Only God Can Make a Tree
- Saint Lucia
- McDonald Dixon: Season of Mist
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Cecil Browne: The Moon Is Following Me
- Samoa
- Sia Figiel: The Girl in the Moon Circle
- San Marino
- Giuseppe Rossi: The Republic of San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Olinda Beja: The Shepard’s House
- Saudi Arabia
- Raja Alem: My Thousand and One Nights: A Novel of Mecca
- Senegal
- Mariama Bâ: So Long a Letter
- Serbia
- Milorad Pavic: Dictionary of the Khazars
- Seychelles
- William Travis: Beyond the Reefs
- Sierra Leone
- Aminatta Forna: The Memory of Love
- Singapore
- Su-Chen Christine Lim: Fistful of Colours
- Slovakia
- Peter Pišt’anek: Rivers of Babylon
- Slovenia
- Nataša Kramberger: Heaven in a Blackberry Bush
- Solomon Islands
- John Saunana: The Alternative
- Somalia
- Nuruddin Farah: Secrets
- South Africa
- Nelson Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom
- South Korea
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- The Vegetarian by Han Kang
- South Sudan
- Julia Duany:” To Forgive Is Divine Not Human”
- Spain
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Sri Lanka
- Carl Muller: The Jam Fruit Tree
- Sudan
- Tarek Eltayeb: The Palm House
- Suriname
- Cynthia Mcleod: The Cost of Sugar
- Swaziland
- Sarah Mkhonsa: Weeding the Flowerbeds
- Sweden
- John Ajvide Lindqvist: Let the Right One In
- Jonas Jonasson: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
- Switzerland
- Aglala Veteranyi: Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta
- Syria
- Rafik Schami: Damascus Nights
- Taiwan
- Pai Hsien-yung: Crystal Boys
- Tajikistan
- Andrei Volos: Hurramabad
- Tanzania
- Abdulrazak Gurnah: Desertion
- Thailand
- Kampoon Boontawee: A Child of the Northeast
- Togo
- Tété-Michel Kpomassie: An African in Greenland
- Tonga
- Joshua Taumoefolau: A Providence of War
- Trinidad and Tobago
- V.S. Naipaul: A House for Mr. Biswas
- Tunisia
- Abdelwahab Meddeb: Talismano
- Turkey
- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
- Turkmenistan
- John Kropf: Unknown Sands
- Tuvalu
- Various: Tuvalu – A history
- Uganda
- Moses Isegawa: Abyssinian Chronicles
- Ukraine
- Nikolai Gogol: Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
- United Arab Emirates
- Qais Sedki: Gold Ring
- United Kingdom
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
- United States of America
- Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses
- Uruguay
- Felisberto Hernández: Lands of Memory
- Uzbekistan
- Hamid Ismailov: The Railway
- Vanuatu
- Sethy Regenvau: Laef Blong Mi: From Village to Nation
- Vatican City
- The Millenari: Shroud of Secrecy – The Story of Corruption within the Vatican
- Venezuela
- Alberto Barrera Tyszka: The Sickness
- Vietnam
- Nguyen Ngoc Thuan: Open the Window, Eyes Closed
- Yemen
- Wajdi al-Ahdal: A Land without Jasmine
- Zambia
- Gaile Parkin: Baking Cakes in Kigali
- Zimbabwe
- Christopher Mlalazi: They Are Coming
Hello! I am reading her list right now also. Have you been able to find the South Sudan book?
I just took a look at the post and it looks like that book may have been printed specifically for her challenge. I haven’t found it anywhere else online, but in the comments someone recommends “There is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan” as another option.
What a great challenge! I wish you luck with it! In 2019, I set myself my own reading goal of reading just 50 books set in different countries of the world, and now we are in 2021, and I have only four books to read left. I also found it a bit of a struggle to cover the Middle East.