Basically Books! discussion

It's been a fair while since we held a proper reading challenge in the group, so we thought that we'd get it off again with a bang.

With the summer holidays just around the corner, the theme of this challenge is to read your way around the world.

And there will be prizes! (Rules below)

See the group challenge that goes with this reading challenge here.



One person will win a book from TBD (€10,-).
And to celebrate the diversity of countries (and our origins) one person will win a bookmark from England, one a bookmark Chile, and one a bookmark from the Netherlands.

The rules:
"Visit" as many countries as you can between June 21st and September 20th.
Each country only counts once!
Fantasy lands count as one country per book.
If a book is set in more than one country, it only counts for the one where the characters spend most of their time.
Every "visit" counts as a point to go into the pool at the end of the challenge. Winners will be picked randomly using a random number generator.
If we catch anyone trying to count one country twice, the entry for that country will be eliminated.

Additionally, I want to make it clear that the USA is *ONE* country. It doesn't matter how many different states you visit, the country only counts once.
For the purpose of this challenge, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are considered four separate countries.

Please make one main post that you update each time you visit a new country. This will make it easier for the mods to tally the points in September.

We wanna be kept updated about your progress! Come back and talk to us about the books you've been reading. You neverk now, you might help others to find some interesting books as well!!

Happy reading!

Bon voyage!!

Rea: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 11
Emma: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 10
Jeshu: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 6
Anne: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 6
Tara: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 6
Rachel: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 7
Olga: current: 14
Xdyj: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 10
Amy Sue: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 1
Becky: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 4
Andrea: current: 4
Daisy: http://www.goodreads.com/user_challen... current: 10

Can I suggest my book for this challenge? Lost and Found in Russia is women's fiction. It takes place in 3 countries: Russia, Israel, and Canada.
Moderators, if it's against the rules, please delete my post.

It's not against the rules at all! Recommendations are always handy.

That said, each book can only count towards 1 country.

So, do we post here or where do we post if we want in? If it is here I am reserving my spot.

1. Zombieland: Alice in Zombieland
2.
3.
4.
5.

As a Goodreads author, two of my suspense thrillers are set in different countries. COVERT DREAMS is set primarily in Germany and in Saudi Arabia. DEADLY EYES is set in the Virgin Islands. Both books are available at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. Thank you, Rea, for arranging this interesting and unique international contest.

https://www.goodreads.com/user_challe... -my challenge

I've decided to try and read 8 books.

1. Country: Panem.
2. Country: China
3. Country: Marica 3 (fictional space planet)
4. Country: England.
5. Country: Well, it's not specified in the book, but since the himalays are present in several countries, I'm going to choose just one... India.
6. Country: U.S.
7.
8.

Last updated: 20th August, 2013

I'm definitely going to give this a try.

I know most of the books I read are either set in the US or the UK so it will be a good incentive to consider things that are a bit different to my norm. :)

I'll reserve this as my main post!

1. The UnTied Kingdom - England (two England's in fact)
2. Down London Road - Scotland
3. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris - France
4. Goddess - USA
5. Sinfully Summer - Spain
6. The Mammy - Ireland
7. Mort - Disc World
8. Confessions of a Chalet Girl - Switzerland
9. Me, Cinderella? - Hungary
10. Notable - Cambodia

I will try :S This is ma spot :D
1. Ireland - The Nature of Cruelty by L.H. Cosway
2. The Cook Islands - Wicked Games by Jessica Clare(Pseudonym), Jill Myles
3. England (London) - The Silver Chain by Primula Bond
4. USA - Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine
5. Fantasy world - Suicide Gates (Hell) - Sanctum by Sarah Fine
6. Canada - Awakening by Karice Bolton
7.
8.

last update: 31/07/13

I'm in also.
Stolen: A Letter to My Captor Australia
Turning the Storm fantasy land based on Italy
Local Girls US
Empire fantasy land
The House of the Spirits Chile
The Woman Who Flew Bangladesh
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank Israel
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Dominican Republic
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg Czech republic
The Hours England

I'm in.

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/1... Shelf name: read around world

Read your way around the world

Start Date: June 21, 2013
End Date: September 20, 2013

Total Countries Visited to Date: 6/15

1. Palestine - The Haj by Leon Uris, 5 Stars, Finished: 6/26/2013
2. Canada, Vancouver -Exit Strategy by *Colleen Cross, 4 Stars, Read: 7/1/2013
3. France - Sarah's Key by *Tatiana de Rosnay, 5 Stars, Read: 7/3/2013
4. England - In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden, 5 Stars, Read: 7/7/2013
5. Afghanistan - Caravans by James A. Michener, 3 Stars, Read: 7/18/2013
6. Italy - The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, 2.5 Stars, Read: 7/19/2013
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

I'm in! *my spot*

I'll take part :)

1. USA Looking for Alaska by John Green
2. Sweden The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
3. Belgian Congo Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4. France The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
5. Liliput (fantasy) Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
6. England How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
7. Nigeria Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

I'm glad to see that so many people are interested! It certainly motivates me to come up with similar ideas for the future as well. ;)

Couple of additional rules for this that weren't made clear in the original post:

1. Every "visit" counts as a point to go into the pool at the end of the challenge. Winners will be picked randomly using a random number generator.
2. If we catch anyone trying to count one country twice, the entry for that country will be eliminated.

Additionally, I want to make it clear that the USA is *ONE* country. It doesn't matter how many different states you visit, the country only counts once.
For the purpose of this challenge, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are considered four separate countries.

I will add this all to the original post.

My challenge:

1. The Glass Swallow by Julia Golding - Magharna
2. Fractured by Teri Terry - England
3. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting - USA
4. Wicked Games by Jessica Clare - Cook Islands
5. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis - Centauri-Earth
6. The Ghost Rider by Ismail Kadare - Albania
7. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters - Egypt
8. Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fischer - Ardagh 1
9. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - Russia
10. Harbinger by Philippa Ballantine - Fantasy land
11. Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson - Norway

And we are go!

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/1...

Set yourselves a challenge! :)

I'm gonna add people's stats to the original post (will update as often as time allows). Thanks Anne for that idea!

My spot!
I don't want to set a challenge to myself, just see how many different places I can visit by reading.

1. Greece - Wedding Night
2. England - The Mystery Woman
3. France - The Splendour Falls
4. Ankh-Morpork - Going Postal (fantasy)
5. Rannit - Hold the Dark (fantasy)
6. Mandrigyn - The Ladies of Mandrigyn (fantasy)
7. Germany - Shadows and Wings
8. TunFaire - Sweet Silver Blues (fantasy)
9. USA - Cyberbooks (science fiction)
10. Monsea - Bitterblue (fantasy)
11. River - The Bird of the River (fantasy)
12. Wodenderry - The Dream-Maker's Magic (fantasy)
13. Elan - The Crown Tower (fantasy)
14. Japan - Eight Million Gods (fantasy)

I've added my shelf and link, Bea. I need to finish the book I started b4 the challenge started then I can "travel."
See post 10. Goal is 15.

Well, I've made my first foray into a fantasy land! I thought I was going to be reading about the USA but apparently I misread the synopsis because it's a second world fantasy.

I see people are starting on their summer voyages! Great!!

I'm impressed by Palestine, Anne!! Not a very common setting in literature!

What did you think of Stolen, Xdyj? It ended up being one of my favourite books when I read it a couple of years ago!

I also think Stolen is very well written & well paced, & both main characters are complex & interesting. I like the description of Gemma's emotional conflicts & the beauty & harshness of Australian desert, which fits the mood of the story.

Rea,
I agree, Palestine is not common. It was a very good book, though both shocking and depressing.

The way I'm going about this is that I'm using the book's setting(s).

I'm not using the countries where only a scene happens in it. Am I doing it correctly?

The idea is that the majority of the story needs to take place in that country.

For example, I would consider The Da Vinci Code as France rather than England.

One scene isn't enough. However I have to trust all participants to be honest in this as I'm not going to read all the books that members have chosen for the challenge!

Rea,
Thanks for the answer to what I thought was the case of our "visits".

I am a Goodreads Librarian, so anyone needs help to correct page number or add the setting if it's not listed, please let me know.

a fine balance - India

I dunno about you lot but I seem to be stuck on a tour of the US! Since this challenge started I've done Cali, Oregan, Washington, New Mexico, Louisiana, plus an unspecified US setting.

Ah well, back home to sunny ol' England now!

USA - the eye of the witch, couple of Sookie stachouses
Ireland Personally I blame the fairy godmother
France - The Lady of the Rivers

For any of you who have a Kindle and want an easy read:

Wicked Games is a fairly short story based on a US game show that takes place in the Cook Islands. It is currently free on Amazon.



NOTE: It contains sex!

Rea, I just added 2 more books that I forgot to post. I'm up to 6 Countries now. =)

Hey Rea, a random question that came to my mind: do short stories count or do they have to be actual novels?
The thing is that I have to read a set of random short stories for uni, and I thought I could put them on the challenge (as long as the countries are not included in the list I made for this) :O

I thought the book I am reading was going to be based in Morocco but the characters returned to England about a quarter of the way through. :(

Boo, what a disappointment, Emma :(

I'm currently reading Dragon Rider and the character's destination is the Himalayas... but so far I have no idea in what part of the gloe they are!! I guess they are England, but places are not named.
This is so annoying XD I bet they will find the himalayas by the last chapters.

Hullo!

I just got back from Slovenia. :) With one additional bookmark!

I'll update the stats this evening when I have a bit more time.

Ok, I'm afraid I lied. :(

When I got home yesterday I discovered that the bunny had managed to get into the computer room (cat opened the doors for him!) and had eaten through the power cable for my laptop. -_-

I'm out of commission for a bit until I can get it fixed. :(

Rea wrote: "Ok, I'm afraid I lied. :(

When I got home yesterday I discovered that the bunny had managed to get into the computer room (cat opened the doors for him!) and had eaten through the power cable for ..."

Oh dear..

This has all been updated now!

I got Briar Rose by Jane Yolen hoping for a book to count towards Poland but the first half of the book is in the USA and when they get to Poland the narrator of the story changes and you end up in a mix of countries during WW2. So no Poland. :(

So we took our sweet time, but we finally got together and finished off talking winners!

We had 1 book and 6 bookmarks between the three of us.

Xdjv won the book. Congratulations!

Emma will receive a bookmark from Jeshu.

Adrea will receive a bookmark from Tara.

Anne, Becky, Olga, and Rachel will receive bookmarks from me.

We will contact you privately for your addresses so we can ship the prizes to you.

Thanks for participating! We hope you enjoyed travelling around the world! :)

Rea, Jeshu, Tara <3

Thank you, Rea.

I got sick, then one of my cats died--I totally forgot about the contest...My sincere apologies!

Thank you, Rea.
I didn't think about the contest either. It was fun to see how many places I visited through my reading during the summer - a reward in itself.