The Well-Rounded Reader discussion

This year (and probably for at least 1 more, 2 at most) I am reading a book with a title that begins with a different letter (A-Z) with the extra challenge of not virtually visiting the same country twice. I made it up to G before finding this group. I could use additional suggestions for books outside Europe, and the letter "X". (Preferably nothing too depressing.)

Hello! I know you wrote this in 2013, and it is literally a full year later, but I wondered how your challenge went? Are you still working on it, or did you finish it (or were you unable to finish it)? I'd like to know what books you did read, even if you didn't complete it! I don't know what you have read, but I could recommend books from Russia (the Romanovs), China (Qing Dynasty and later in Chinese History), and When My Name was Keoko is a fabulous book set in Korea at the end of Japanese occupation. I also have books on Ireland, Scotland, Wales, North America, Greece, Egypt, and England that I could recommend as well, though mostly of a fantasy, and often a young adult genre, if you should require them. Hope to see your reply! ^.^

Thanks Rebekah! I completed the challenge I described in my original post, which had titles from A-Z all being from different countries. But when I was about 1/4th of the way through my middle son misspoke during Open House and told his teacher I was doing an Around the World in 80 Books challenge.
That night I corrected him, but then I started to wonder if it was actually possible. Now I am 33 books into my extended challenge, and have 76 of my 80 titles picked out based exclusively on friends' recommendations. You can follow my progress on my Pinterest page: www.pinterest.com/bwilsonconley/aroun... I've also been keeping a detailed map on my Facebook page.
I'm pretty fond of the fantasy genre, and one of the coolest things about this challenge is the amount of genre hopping I've been doing to complete it. Of the countries you mentioned above I don't have anything limited to Wales, or to Korea. I will add When My Name was Keoko to my list. Thanks for your recommendation!