The Bookworm Challenge discussion

I don't know about you guys, but I myself don't have the opportunity to travel much so reading about foreign places is as good as it gets! Just to clarify, these have to be real places, here on Earth... ;-)

Read up to 5 books with a Foreign (to you) setting.

My first one in this category:
Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes by Kamal Al-Solaylee
This book takes place mostly in Yemen. It is about a young gay man growing up in Yemen with moves to Cairo and Beirut during years of political unrest.

Another visit with my favorite chemist, Flavia de Luce:

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Setting is my neighbor to the north, Canada.

Oooh! I hadn't seen that there was a new on out!

Oh, great. One more for my "read immediately" list, which will take at least a month to get through. By which time there will be 10 more books on it.

Rebecca wrote: "Oooh! I hadn't seen that there was a new on out!

Oh, great. One more for my "read immediately" list, which will take at least a month to get through. By which time there will be 10 more books on it."


Hahhaha, good luck with that!

A Pelican at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse

And my first one for this is The Night Season by Chelsea Cain, set in America (sometimes I love living in the UK!)

Sam wrote: "And my first one for this is The Night Season by Chelsea Cain, set in America (sometimes I love living in the UK!)"

What do you think of this series, Sam? I've had the first one on my To-Read list for quite a while...

Well having started with the third in the series (oops!) it is pretty good, nothing outstanding but a good crime collection. I'm ready the fifth one at the moment and enjoying it. Certainly worth a go :-)

I finished Killed at the Whim of a Hat a mystery set in Thailand.

I finished Yakuza: Japan's Criminal UnderworldYakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld David E. Kaplan.

Another cheeky US setting with Kill You Twice

I finished Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma yesterday. It was set in Britain and Scotland.

I seem to be reading a lot of books from other countries right now. Here are my most recent in this category:
2: Hiding Edith: A True Story about a little Jewish girl who has to hide from the Nazis. Takes place in Austria, Belgium and France
3: Love in the Time of Cholera a classic love story set in Colombia
4: Where Angels Fear to Tread classic by E. m. Forster set in England and Italy

Connie wrote: "I seem to be reading a lot of books from other countries right now. Here are my most recent in this category:
2: Hiding Edith: A True Story about a little Jewish girl who has to hide..."

Wow, one more to go and you will have completed this category!

Yippee, finished a book -

Takes place all over the world - the Caribbean, Italy, Ukraine, Germany...they are on a worldwide treasure hunt for some long lost gold.

I've never read Clive Cussler, my daughter picked this book for me. They have this Christmas store at school where they can pick up a present or two for family members for free. It is all donated stuff and gives them a chance to have a surprise gift. My daughter thought it looked like 'all of the other books I read'.

Bookworm wrote: "Yippee, finished a book -

Takes place all over the world - the Caribbean, Italy, Ukraine, Germany...they are on a worldwide treasure hunt for some long lost gold.
..."

Excellent gift! I love it. My daughter did something similar with a Chuck Yaeger autobiography. If feels great when they think of us that way.

Non-fiction, but definitely a foreign setting:
Antarctica

My 5th and final one for this category:
Things Fall Apart - Classics in Context by Chinua Achebe which takes place in Africa. A fairly short book so a very quick read.

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

I've managed a non-USA one with The Plague by Albert Camus which is set in Algeria

And I'm back to the USA with Dead Ever After

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith - set in and around London. Excellent detective story by J.K. Rowling's alter-ego.

The Property by Rutu Modan - charming graphic novel set in modern Warsaw. An old woman returns to Warsaw from Israel with her granddaughter 50 years after WWII.

My fifth and final outing was back in the USA with Let Me Go

I'm going far too - to the US, New York City to be precise. Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
A nice memoir from a whining waiter with a bad attitude.

I'll take one for Kerry Greenwood and Death at Victoria Dock, set in Melbourne, Australia.

Rebecca wrote: "I'll take one for Kerry Greenwood and Death at Victoria Dock, set in Melbourne, Australia."

These Phryne Fisher books have been on my list to read for years but I still haven't gotten to them. Do you like them, Rebecca?

I love them, Stephanie. She's a real character, and the books are a bit sexy (just because she's a, ah, "free spirit") and the mysteries interesting and well worked out. Usually a good subplot going on, often with an unexpected tie-in to the main plot.

I am counting The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik at one of my foreign setting books. Although a small part of it does take place in Canada it is mostly about U.S. locations.

Just finished:

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay

It takes place in and around the city of Aix en Provence, France.

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Rebecca wrote: "Mrs. Pollifax on Safari"

That's four for you, Rebecca, one more to go!

India: Finished: A Long Way Home: A Memoirby Saroo Brierley

by Saroo Brierley (no photo)

I think I have two more destinations to achieve for this topic. This book is on my highly recommend you read it page it is a very interesting memoir. Quick read.

Michael wrote: "India: Finished: A Long Way Home: A Memoirby Saroo Brierley

by Saroo Brierley (no photo)

I think ..."

Yes, this was number three for you in this category. Two to go. And thanks for the book rec!

Okay, I'll finish off the category with the next Phryne Fisher: Blood and Circuses

According to my list the completion of Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey Into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa will be my fourth in this category. There are some interesting things in this book that I really did not expect. This one was of interest to me as I was within site of the Bhutan border during a trip to India.

by Jamie Zeppa

Just finished:

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason which was set in a steampunk-y Victorian London.

Number 5:
by Robert Leckie This is an account of the last battle in World War II. Had Japan not surrendered the allies would have had to slug it out with the Japanese on their main home islands. Throughout the war the closer the allies got to Japan proper the harder the Japanese fought. The author is a veteran of the campaign.

I finished Acqua Morta on Saturday, a mystery set in the beautiful Italian Riviera.

Finished The Mystics of Mile End: A Novel, set in the magical, mystical land of Montreal, Canada.

Read and underwhelmed by:

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Setting was Norfolk, UK

Finished the quirky A Bright Moon For Fools, which takes place in Venezuela.

Melki wrote: "Finished the quirky A Bright Moon For Fools, which takes place in Venezuela."

And that finishes up Foreign Setting for you, good job!

Yay! I finished something!

Finished this the other day but forgot to add it:

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This was set in Pirriwee Beach, a fictional town on the Sydney-side of Australia.