All About Books discussion

Feel free to recommend books, ask questions or just chat about the Yearly Challenge here.

I just want to say that since Antarctica is pretty difficult, we will accept books set in (or written by authors from) Oceania or the North Polar region as well in that category.

I'm not sure if I've set my challenge up or not? Everyone else's challenge is showing but not mine, is that right?

Shirley wrote: "I'm not sure if I've set my challenge up or not? Everyone else's challenge is showing but not mine, is that right?"

I don't see you as someone participating... did you create a shelf & everything?

Leslie wrote: "Shirley wrote: "I'm not sure if I've set my challenge up or not? Everyone else's challenge is showing but not mine, is that right?"

I don't see you as someone participating... did you create a she..."

But now I appear on the challenge page?

Shirley wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Shirley wrote: "I'm not sure if I've set my challenge up or not? Everyone else's challenge is showing but not mine, is that right?"

I don't see you as someone participating... did y..."

Yes I see you now! :)

OK I've set up a shelf. Do I post an empty (or provisional) list on the other thread now? I don't know if I've managed to "sign up".

Jean wrote: "OK I've set up a shelf. Do I post an empty (or provisional) list on the other thread now? I don't know if I've managed to "sign up"."

Yes, I see you too. If you look at the home page, you should see that you are participating by having the ticker/scroll bar showing your progress appear.

As for posting a list now or later, that is completely up to you. I put in my provisional choices, as otherwise I will forget what I was thinking about reading.

Jean wrote: "I can see me on the group's home page, under "Challenges." I can't see anybody else there though."

To see other people, you have to click on the 'Around the World Challenge 2014' link at the beginning of the challenge box.

Got it! :) Thank you Leslie.

(I had deleted that sentence, as I suddenly thought it might just be visible to mods, but actually this might be useful for others to know how to display too :) )

I assume that New Zealand counts as part of the Australian continent...

What about Russia -- Europe or Asia??

I was thinking that. Dostoyevsky?

I'm also considering sub-dividing some sections as they might fight.

I think it depends where in Russia...

Hey has anybody else noticed that all the continents end with the same letter they start with?

Jean wrote: "Hey has anybody else noticed that all the continents end with the same letter they start with?"

Well, if you ignore the "North" and "South" part of the Americas :P

Also asked in another thread: can The Golden Notebook count for the African continent? It is noly partly set in South Africa

I've assumed so - I'm counting The Grass is Singing although that is all South Africa.

I definitely want to subdivide Africa into countries though :)

Ok I'll count it like that then; I hope to read something else though

Jean wrote: "I've assumed so - I'm counting The Grass is Singing although that is all South Africa.

I definitely want to subdivide Africa into countries though :)"

For me it is Europe that I want to subdivide :) In fact, I started to do that in my '2014 Reads' thread!

Definitely! For English people the other European countries seem far more diverse (and alien to some) than the North American States!

And I know that New Zealanders bristle if they are subsumed under "Australians".

What is unfamiliar can tend to get lumped all together I think. I'm enjoying the freedom of this challenge though because we can approach it from different angles :)

I was considering the same thing. I tend to be "eurocentric" in my reading habits.

Does anyone have suggestions for South America? All I can think of is Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez...

Leslie wrote: "Does anyone have suggestions for South America? All I can think of is Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez..."

He is really good; I also love Jorge Amado - his Showdown is one of my favourite book form South America - and some tings by Isabel Allende - if you've never read The House of the Spirits I think you should...

There are these and quite a few more authors if you search for "South America" in the Goodreads search box.

There seem to be fewer South American novelists in that list than books set in South America though.

If you read non-fiction there are a lot more books to choose from! I've put in a Gerald Durrell, for instance, but he's probably not your thing...

Leslie wrote: "Does anyone have suggestions for South America? All I can think of is Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez..."


Mario Vargas Llosa is very good too, he's also a Nobel Prize! :) And I've heard good things about Roberto Bolaño.

So can we set as many books as we like for this challenge, as I notice that people seem to be sticking to one or two per category, while I have 30 that would fit and I already to read this year.

By the way if anyone is struggling for Antarctica and wants a fiction novel, I've heard good things about The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay which I believe is partly set there.

As for South America, I keep thinking I've got one, then realising that it's Mexico, which is North America, duh! I might be going with some no-fiction for this, such as Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

I'm definitely splitting Europe and perhaps Asia, as it turns out I have a lot to read from here.

Jean wrote: "There are these and quite a few more authors if you search for "South America" in the Goodreads search box.

There seem to be fewer South American novelists in that list than books set in South Ame..."

I really liked Durrell's My Family and Other Animals (which I see shelved as both fiction and nonfiction, making me very confused...), so if his other books are like that I would try one.

@Anastasia - Any particular book of Mario Vargas Llosa I should start with? The Feast of the Goat, or something else?

Leslie - if you enjoyed that then you probably do like Gerald Durrell's sense of humour! It's the first part of his "Corfu Trilogy" by the way. "My Family and Other Animals" is autobiography, not fiction (although I expect all true raconteurs "colour" their accounts a little.)

He has written fiction too... but I would say for every novel there are 3 or 4 others which are autobiographical. Apart from the trilogy they are about his animal-collecting expeditions to many different countries (and as such are ideal for filling in difficult parts of this challenge :D ) Oh, and he's written a couple of other factual books about animal welfare and setting up his zoo in Jersey.

Apart from the ones already mentioned: I've heard lot's of praise for Machado de Assis. One of the classic authors of Brazil (1839-1908)

Pink wrote: "So can we set as many books as we like for this challenge, as I notice that people seem to be sticking to one or two per category, while I have 30 that would fit and I already to read this year..."


Yes, you can set any number! I must admit that since all books (except perhaps sci fi and fantasy) are set somewhere I was tempted to set a high number at first, but in the end decided to follow Jenny's lead & stick to 2 which were written by authors from there...

That's what I'm still considering Leslie :)

Does anyone have anything interesting for Australia?

Pink wrote: "That's what I'm still considering Leslie :)

Does anyone have anything interesting for Australia?"

I have a nonfiction title picked out, as I acquired it last year (part of my effort to read books off my own shelves). I have a great Australian mystery writer to recommend, Arthur W. Upfield, and another from New Zealand (Ngaio Marsh, although many of her mysteries are set in England) if you want that sort of book...

Famous Australian book from my past: The Thorn Birds - a family saga...

Would we count Papua New Guinea as Asia? There's no category for Oceania so just wanted to check...

Thanks for the suggestions Leslie, I noticed The Thorn Birds, but not sure I fancy it. I might try and read 7 little Australians as it will be short, or else a non-fiction probably.

Laurel, well Oceania just throws a spanner in the works! When I was at school I learnt the continent to be called Australasia in this area...I'm not sure if this is now defunct, splitting Australia and Oceania slightly? I think Papua New Guinea would still come under Australia, though I'm sure someone else can shed better light on this than me!

Laurel, check comment #2 by Leslie: since Antarctica is a pretty challenging task to fulfill, Oceania and the North Polar region count as well.

Ok, thanks ;)

Serendipity strikes! I was just checking the daily deal at Audible, and stumbled across this classic from the public domain -- At the Mountains of Madness, which is set in Antarctica :)

Here is the blurb from Blackstone Audio, Inc.
"A master of terror and nightmarish visions, H.P. Lovecraft solidified his place at the top of the horror genre with this macabre supernatural tale.
When a geologist leads an expedition to the Antarctic plateau, his aim is to find rock and plant specimens from deep within the continent. The barren landscape offers no evidence of any life form - until they stumble upon the ruins of a lost civilization. Strange fossils of creatures unknown to man lead the team deeper, where they find carved stones dating back millions of years. But it is their discovery of the terrifying city of the Old Ones that leads them to an encounter with an untold menace.
Deliberately told and increasingly chilling, At the Mountains of Madness is a must-have for every fan of classic terror."

And, needless to say, this would also count in the Halloween Theme challenge!

That's the first book Chris (husband) suggested to me when I mentioned Antarctica! :)

Why is it that all the books I think of as possibilities seem to be actually set in the Arctic and not the Antarctic...? LOL

Jean wrote: "That's the first book Chris (husband) suggested to me when I mentioned Antarctica! :)

Why is it that all the books I think of as possibilities seem to be actually set in the Arctic and not the An..."

But you can use books from the Arctic as we have 'relaxed' the rules for the continent of Antarctica!

Ah yes! So I have my original thought Who Goes There? - the novella on which John Carpenter's wonderful film "The Thing" is based and I can also double up if I like with rereads of Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver, or even better His Dark Materials , Philip Pullman's trilogy which it's high time I read, or...

That might end up being my choice for Antarctica as well Leslie!

By the way, GR has several list for Antarctica and the Polar regions: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

Pink wrote: "So can we set as many books as we like for this challenge, as I notice that people seem to be sticking to one or two per category, while I have 30 that would fit and I already to read this year.

..."

I was wondering for an Antartica novel! Hope I'll be able to find.
And I was also thinking of the autiobiography of Che Guevara in his youth before the cuban revolution, but also his biography Senza perdere la tenerezza (Nuovi saggi) by Paco Ignacio Taibo II if you've never red them. He was a real idealist ...

Leslie wrote: "Serendipity strikes! I was just checking the daily deal at Audible, and stumbled across this classic from the public domain -- At the Mountains of Madness, which is set in Antarctica ..."

I'll give a look at it as well ...

For Australia , Tim Winton is one of my favourite authors. There's also Geraldine Brooks.

Gill - yes I was staggered to discover Geraldine Brooks on a list of Australian authors! Her novel about the plague Year of Wonders seems so authentic in its description of the little village of Eyam and the Derbyshire folk I know so well. Incredible! If nothing else, this challenge is worth it for that discovery alone, setting my preconceptions on their head!

Somehow I'd baulk at this novel being counted as Australian - it would just seem so odd. I'm sure there are many converse examples too, where an English author has the "voice" of another nationality.

I got quite excited about finally picking up something by Geraldine Brooks for the challenge, unfortunately though I am struggeling to find a single book by her set in Australia.

There is a danger I am repeating myself here, but The Bone People by Keri Hulme (New Zealand) is great. I still working on bribing amazon into releasing a kindle edition though ;)

BTW: Isn't Peter Carey Australian as well?

@Gill: which book by Tim Winton would you recommend?

Pink wrote: "Thanks for the suggestions Leslie, I noticed The Thorn Birds, but not sure I fancy it. I might try and read 7 little Australians as it will be short, or else a non-fiction probably.

Laurel, well ..."

I'm not sure what you're in to but an even better book by Colleen McCullough I think is Morgan's Run It gives you an idea of how Australia was first settled. Great read.

For South America: One can try Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo. It can give you a different experience.

For Australia: I had read an author and he was good. His name is Steven Amsterdam. The book I read is What the Family Needed.

Leslie wrote: "Jean wrote: "There are these and quite a few more authors if you search for "South America" in the Goodreads search box.

There seem to be fewer South American novelists in that list than books set..."

Oh God, I didn't see the reply! Sorry. Anyway, I've read only The Bad Girl, which I liked very much, but I've hard great things about The War of the End of the World and a more divided opinion on Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. :)

Where are we putting the Caribbean in the "Around the World" challenge, please?