Around the World discussion

Welcome to Around the World! Whether you're new or have been with us for while, please feel free to introduce yourself and share some details of your reading habits. What type of books do you like to read? Do you gravitate to books set in particular countries? Have your reading habits changed during the pandemic? What's one book that you love? And one that you loathed?

Hi - I’m Lilisa in the U.S. and love experiencing the world through books, travel, food, shows, etc. I generally read historical fiction, non fiction - history, culture, food, etc., and some mystery/thriller, mythology, fantasy, other genres if the book summary sounds interesting or if someone familiar with my reading preferences suggests I check it out.

I’m still obsessed with Turkey (!) and, thanks to a gift card, a couple of days ago ordered print books set in Turkey that are not available in e-format. Favorite books set in Turkey that I loved are:

Portrait of a Turkish Family
Madonna in a Fur Coat
Dawn: Stories

India continues to be a top favorite setting, although I didn’t end up with a a five-star read from there in 2021.

Hi everyone, I'm Andrea from Melbourne, a slow and fairly predictable reader. But I must say the pandemic has changed my reading habits. The Good: I'm reading more than ever - in 2021 I read more than 100 books for the first time ever, more than double what I was reading just 3-4 years ago. This is partly because I walk a lot and have finally embraced the audiobook format. The Bad: I can't concentrate to read for more than 20-30 minutes at a time. I waited for years for The Mirror & the Light to be published, and I still can't read it because of this concentration issue. It has become my yardstick for measuring how I'm coping with the pandemic.

I adore reading India too - actually South Asia more generally - but I've also developed a reading crush on Russia/USSR just lately. Not so much for the classics (concentration...) but for the history and learning about the cultures of the former Soviet countries. I've joined Jenny's other Group to steal ideas for this.

Some of the books I loved are going to get another run this year, as I've chosen a few that are overdue for a re-read. Titles relevant to this Group include:

The Glass Palace (Myanmar)
The Map of Love (Egypt)
Bel Canto (Sth America, unnamed country)
Still Life (Italy - this one is just from last year, but I'm going audio this time, narrated by the author)

Andrea wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm Andrea from Melbourne, a slow and fairly predictable reader. But I must say the pandemic has changed my reading habits. The Good: I'm reading more than ever - in 2021 I read more t..."

I have been to Melbourne many years ago and loved it.

I am Leona and I live in Minnesota. I have traveled a lot so enjoy books about places I have visited and hope to visit.

Lilisa wrote: "Hi - I’m Lilisa in the U.S. and love experiencing the world through books, travel, food, shows, etc. I generally read historical fiction, non fiction - history, culture, food, etc., and some myster..."

I crochet and find many yarns come from Turkey. I know there is a lot of archaeology in Turkey but I have not read any books set there. I will check on your list.

Hi Leona, and welcome. Good luck exploring Turkey settings and traveling around the world in 2022!

Ann wrote: "Hi, I'm Ann. I came across this group, after deciding to attempt a personal reading challenge concentrating on geographical regions. I like historical fiction but am not a particularly fast reader...."

Hi Ann, welcome aboard. I love historical fiction too, and if it’s set somewhere I’m not familiar with - even better! I’ve had a quick look at your plan and am keen to follow your journey throughout the year.

Ann wrote: "Hi, I'm Ann. I came across this group, after deciding to attempt a personal reading challenge concentrating on geographical regions. I like historical fiction but am not a particularly fast reader...."

Hi Ann and welcome! I’m a fan of historical fiction as well. I like your geographic region approach - will have to take a peek at your list. We’re all about stealing books from each other’s lists! Good luck with your travels around the world in 2022.

Welcome Ann and Leona! Very glad to have you travelling along with us :D Looking forward to sticky beaking at your lists!

Hello, I am Bill and I am an avid reader and a public librarian in Louisiana. I stumbled on this group from a post in Redddit. One of my long range goals is to read books from many different countries as well as different U.S. states. I mainly read contemporary mysteries,thrillers and also non- fiction.

Welcome Bill! We love a random stumble :D Hope you enjoy your time here.

Welcome to Around the World, Bill! Hope you get great book tips here for a good book journey around the world and in the U.S. and also feel free to share your suggestions as well. Happy traveling!

Hi everyone! I'm Anmarie from Portland, Oregon. Like Bill, I stumbled on this group and I'm so glad I did. I enjoy reading fiction set in places around the world. I've been binge reading Arthur Upfield's Inspector Bonapart series set in Australia. I've just finished reading The Taste of Ginger (Mansi Shah) set in India. And, I'm laughing my way through the Auntie Poldi series that takes place mostly in Italy.

The Barrakee Mystery
The Taste of Ginger
Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna

Anmarie wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Anmarie from Portland, Oregon. Like Bill, I stumbled on this group and I'm so glad I did. I enjoy reading fiction set in places around the world. I've been binge reading Arthur Upf..."

Welcome Anmarie! Good to have you joining us in our travels around the world. Looks like you’ve visited some wonderful countries. How did you like The Taste of Ginger? I have it on my TBR list and hope to get to it this year.

The Taste of Ginger was quite a sociological eye opener into India's culture. It showed the pros and cons of arranged marriages versus "hollywood love" in a modern day setting. I'm almost a convert to arranged marriages, as a result! It also gave insights into America's immigrant experience that I had not encountered previously. All this, on top of a great storyline!

Anmarie wrote: "The Taste of Ginger was quite a sociological eye opener into India's culture. It showed the pros and cons of arranged marriages versus "hollywood love" in a modern day setting. I'm ..."

Great, thanks for your thoughts Anmarie! I am going to move it up on my TBR list.

Hi I am Jo, I live in Ecuador, I am currently taking on a Read one book from each country challenge, already on country 61.
Here is my list so far with reviews to each book and I am also doing a video review in Spanish, Recomendations are always welcome.
https://readinginecuador.wordpress.co...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm1C...

Welcome Jo - sounds like you’re way into your trip around the world - nice going! Looking forward to checking out your reads. Happy armchair travels!

Hi, I’m Carol, in Ireland. Because I binged on KDramas at height of lockdown, I’ve been reading a lot of Asian writers, mostly Japanese, some Korean. Like another person said on here, my concentration slipped big time, and I’ve got about 5 books on the go at same time, all in different places, bedroom, sitting rooms, car, bathroom. Currently I’m concentrating hard on “Exit West” which is set in either Afghanistan or Syria, and “All The Things I Never Told You”. For the person who likes Turkey, I suggest Louis Bernie’s, spelling might b wrong, he wrote “Captain Correlli’s Mandolin” but there are others more interesting that are historical fiction based on fact set in Turkey/Greece. I’m trying really hard to to meet my 2022 challenge of 25 books.

Carol wrote: "Hi, I’m Carol, in Ireland. Because I binged on KDramas at height of lockdown, I’ve been reading a lot of Asian writers, mostly Japanese, some Korean. Like another person said on here, my concentrat..."

Good to hear from you Carol. Korea (South & North) is a region I need to read more - have you discovered any gems?

Hello, I'm Poppy.
I work in hospitality: a plush establishment, patronised by more gentle, conservative folk. I work. I walk. I read. I work. I walk. I read.
I don't know just yet what I really wanted to read, I'm just picking books from the small library where I work. I hope to find friends and share thoughts on what I do read.
I'm very new to this: I'm all ears or should I say, "All eyes."

Poppy wrote: "Hello, I'm Poppy.
I work in hospitality: a plush establishment, patronised by more gentle, conservative folk. I work. I walk. I read. I work. I walk. I read.
I don't know just yet what I really wan..."

Hi Poppy, and welcome to the Group. You’ve joined a bunch of very like-minded readers, as we’re always side-eyeing each other’s lists! 😆 Please dive into our main discussion threads and let us know what books you’re reading, then come back to tell us what you thought.

Hi everyone! I'm Caroline and I'm new here. I've always loved to read but I've been a fairly inconsistent reader - sometimes devouring a book in one sitting and sometimes going months without reading. I began 2022 planning to be more consistent and now, half way through the year I'm finding myself reading more than I have ever done!

I have always enjoyed reading translated works and authors of different backgrounds, but last month I totted up the number of countries I have read authors from and reached only a measly 15 which really surprised me - so I set out to change that and I plan to read at least one book from every country. I found this group when looking for others with similar goals and so I joined hoping to find some great recommendations! For my challenge I will be reading a mix of classics, contemporary fiction and memoir, focussing on books hopefully that really give me a sense of the culture of a place, though I'm not going to be too strict with it, as long as the author is from that particular country.

My favourite book so far (Malaysia):
The Garden of Evening Mists

Welcome Caroline! Lovely to have you join us. We hope you have fun and we look forward to seeing what you read.

Let us know if you are looking for anything in particular for your around the world reading or just generally. There is one thing we enjoy as much as reading, and sometimes more, and it's giving book recs!

The Garden of Evening Mists is one of my favourites too.

Hi Caroline and welcome! I second what Rusalka said - hope you get some great ideas for reading translated books and books set around the world here. And we’d love to get your thoughts too so we can add to our TBR list! I’m a huge fan of Tan Twan Eng. I hear he’s working on a third book and I can’t wait. I loved both his books.

Thank you Rusalka and Lilisa for the warn welcomes, and glad to meet other Tan Twang Eng fans - very excited for his next book! Looking forward to getting some ideas from everyone else's literary journeys and hopefully sharing some of my own too.

Wow, we have lots of new members in 2022! Please don’t be shy - drop in and tell us what you’re reading (or what you like to read). Sharing is caring 😊

Welcome all new members! I agree with Andrea, half the fun is sharing what we are reading and borrowing ideas from each other. Please say hi, and let us know your finds :D