Reading World Tour

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