Read 50 Books from Around the World in 2008

Read 50 Books from Around the World in 2008

Welcome Read 50 Books In One Year members and anyone who should happen across this list.

"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens ..."

Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind)

One of my goals since early in 2006 was to read a book from every country (either by an author from there or set in the country) participating in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by the time the games are over (see 2008 Olympics Reading Challenge). I have to this point read books from 92 of the 205 countries and I realize I won't get them all read, but, here are 50 I'd like to read in 2008. I'll mark the countries off in red as I read them

A Bend in the River (audio) by V. S. Naipaul - Trinidad and Tobago
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain - Morocco, Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Viet Nam, Japan, Cambodia
An African in Greenland by Tt-Michel Kpomassie - Togo
Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill - Laos
Beka Lamb (Caribbean Writers Series) by Zee Edgell - Belize
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - Botswana
Breaking the Tongue: A Novel by Vyvyane Loh - Singapore
Broken April by Ismail Kadare - Albania
Chaka by Thomas Mofolo - Lesotho
Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario - Honduras
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung - Cambodia
He Who Searches by Luisa Valenzuela - Argentina
Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad - Congo
Independent People (Vintage International) by Halldór Kiljan Laxness - Iceland
Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk - Turkey
Land Without Shadows - Djibouti
Letters of a Javanese Princess by Raden Adjeng Kartini - Indonesia
Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Spain
Mexico and the Caribbean by Lewis Hanke - Mexico, Venezuela, Haiti, Columbia, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica
Micronesian Legends by Bo Flood - Micronesia
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home (Audio) by Nando Parrado - Uruguay
Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia - Cuba
Nest in a Cage by Foluke Ogunleye - Swaziland
One Day of Life by Manlio Argueta - El Salvador
Paradise of the Blind: A Novel by Duong Thu Huong - Viet Nam
Qatari Women: Past and Present - Qatar
Quixotiq by Ali Al Saeed - Bahrain
Savage: the Life and Times of Jemmy Button by Nick Hazlewood - Chile
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih - Sudan
Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder - Norway
Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb - Ethiopia
Teenager in the Chad Civil War: A Memoir of Survival by Esaie Toingar - Chad
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric - Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - Russia
The Matter of Desire by Edmundo Paz Soldan - Bolivia
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Biography. by Sidney Poitier - Bahamas
The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck - Paraguay
The Orphan Calf and the Magical Cheetah by children of Namibia - Namibia
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble - North Korea
The Sea 'venture by H Van Wyck - Bermuda
The Truly Married Woman and Other Stories by Abioseh Nicol - Sierra Leone
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera - New Zealand
The wheaten loaf by Angel Karaliichev - Bulgaria
The Yankee Girl-A Korean Girl's Journey to Find Herself by Kyusun Chung - South Korea
They Who Do Not Grieve by Sia Figiel - Samoa
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin - Pakistan, Afganistan
To Know a Woman by Amos Oz - Israel
Travels With A Tangerine: A Journey In The Footnotes Of Ibn Battutah by Tim Macintosh-Smith - Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Oman
White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway - Hong Kong
Wide Sargasso Sea - Domenica

Here's a map that shows from where I've read books so far.

create your own visited countries map

Comments: 13

Chris W. Jun 8, 2008, 4:05pm EDT

Hi Susan--what an impressive goal! Thanks for posting the list. I'm going to check some of those books out. The Shadow of the Wind is one of my all-time favorite novels. Good luck! I look forward to seeing your continued progress.

reply to this comment

Mary M. Jun 8, 2008, 4:10pm EDT

That's pretty neat! What a way to take a cultural tour. Wish I had time to do something like that. I just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (Afghanistan culture).

reply to this comment

Diana Raabe Jun 8, 2008, 4:16pm EDT

I have to add my recommendation for Carlos Ruiz Zafon's book, The Shadow of the Wind. Buy it, start it and I dare you not to devour it.

His next book will be out in the US in 2009.

reply to this comment

CyberGwen ! Jun 8, 2008, 4:39pm EDT

That is an intense list. I don't think that I could manage that many countries, but I will give some of these a perusal. I am so often disappointed when I go out so far afield.

Kudos for meeting the challenge!

reply to this comment

Susan B. Jun 8, 2008, 4:47pm EDT

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" is still on Mt. ToBeRead and could get added here :)

reply to this comment

Quirky Jessi Jun 8, 2008, 4:52pm EDT

Wow, what an interesting challenge. Keep up the work and hope you're having fun reading all those!

reply to this comment

Mary Ann S. Jun 8, 2008, 4:54pm EDT

Very nice list. And what a wonderful idea.

reply to this comment

Charlene C. Jun 8, 2008, 5:03pm EDT

I used to read an awful lot. I could read 3 books a month easy, but now that I work online so much, there is no way. I am brain dead when I go to bed. For over a month I have been reading a Stephen King book.. and hope to finish it this month sometime... I just can't devote the time to it like I used to.