The Next Best Book Club discussion

9 regions including Antarctica


Africa: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Congo, Nigeria, Guinea, Segengal, Algeria, Egypt

Antarctica: Antarctica

Asia: Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Laos, China, Japan

Caribbean: Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Antigua, Trinidad

Europe: Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City, Albania, Greece

Latin America: Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina

Middle East: Turkey, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Yemen, Omar, Qatar

North America:United States, Mexico, Canada

Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, Figi, Micronesia

Countries A through Z:


A: Antigua, Argentina, Antarctica, Algeria, Andorra, Austria, Albania, Australia
B: Brazil, Bolivia, Botswana, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina
C: Cuba, Columbia, Congo, Czech Republic, Cyprus, China, Canada
D: Dominican Republic, Denmark
E: Ecuador, Estonia, Egypt
F: France, Finland, Figi
G: Guinea, Greenland, Germany, Greece
H: Hungary
I: Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Iraq, Israel, India
J: Jamaica, Jordan, Japan
K: Kenya
L: Lesotho, Latvia, Laos
M: Mexico, Micronesia
N: Nigeria, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand
O: Oman
P: Portugal, Poland, Pakistan
Q: Qatar
R: Russia, Romania
S: South Africa, Senegal, Spain, Scotland, Sweden, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland
T: Trinidad, Turkey
U: United States, Uruguay, Ukraine
V: Venezuela, Vatican City, Vietnam
W: Wales
X:
Y: Yemen
Z: Zimbabwe

States


1. Alabama: X
2. Alaska: X
3. Arizona:
4. Arkansas:
5. California: X
6. Colorado:
7. Connecticut: X
8. Delaware: X
9. Florida: X
10. Georgia: X
11. Hawaii: X
12. Idaho:
13. Illinois:
14. Indiana:
15. Iowa:
16. Kansas:
17. Kentucky: X
18. Louisiana:
19. Maine: X
20. Maryland: X
21. Massachusetts: X
22. Michigan:
23. Minnesota:
24. Mississippi: X
25. Missouri:
26. Montana:
27. Nebraska:
28. Nevada:
29. New Hampshire: X
30. New Jersey: X
31. New Mexico:
32. New York: X
33. North Carolina: X
34. North Dakota:
35. Ohio: X
36. Oklahoma:
37. Oregon:
38. Pennsylvania: X
39. Rhode Island: X
40. South Carolina: X
41. South Dakota:
42. Tennessee: X
43. Texas:
44. Utah:
45. Vermont: X
46. Virginia: X
47. Washington:
48. West Virginia: X
49. Wisconsin:
50. Wyoming:

I'm going to try and map it, but with my lack of computer skills, I may end up just circling the Atlantic Ocean.
View ATWI 80 days

1) North America:USA:CA: Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore

Ok, I'm changing to Trekker, I have to give it a shot. And it will be a good geography lesson.

1) North America:USA:CA: Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore
2) North America:Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

3) Caribbean: Jamaica: White Witch of Rosehall by Herbert G. Delisser
4) Caribbean: Cuba: Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
5) Caribbean: Dominican Republic: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
6) Caribbean: Antigua: Annie John: A Novel by Jamaica Kincaid

7) Caribbean: Trinidad: A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
8) Latin America: Venezuela: Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann
9) Latin America: Columbia: In Evil Hour by Gabriel García Márquez
10) Latin America: Ecuador: Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut

11) Latin America: Brazil: Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis
12) Latin America: Bolivia: Crossfire by Jeanette Windle
13) Latin America: Uruguay: The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti
14) Latin America: Argentina: The Honorary Consul by Graham Greene

15) Antarctica: Antarctica: Decipher by Stel Pavlou
16) Africa: South Africa: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
17) Africa: Lesotho: She Plays with the Darkness by Zakes Mda
18) Africa: Botswana: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
19) Africa: Zimbabwe: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

20) Africa: Kenya: Out of Africa byKaren Blixen
21) Africa: Congo: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22) Africa: Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
23) Africa: Guinea: The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Boy by Camara Laye
24) Africa: Senegal: Xala by Ousmane Sembène

I saw you rated both Half of a yellow sun and The Dark child both 4 stars, so you would recommend them to read about Nigeria and Guinea? Do the books (besides the main storyline) give a good feeling of the country?

Nigeria and Guinea are not next to each other, are they?

LadyHeather wrote: "I saw you rated both Half of a yellow sun and The Dark child both 4 stars, so you would recommend them to read about Nigeria and Guinea? Do the books (besides the main storyline) give a good feelin..."

No they are not next to each other, but I don't have any books on my list for the countries in between them.

I would recommend both books. I thought Half of A Yellow Sun gave a good feeling for what the country was going through during a time of war, and how it affected their daily lives. The Dark Child, I don't know if it gave a feeling of the country, but it gave a very good account of the author's struggle to find balance between the traditions of his family, and the changing world around him.

Lisa wrote: "I would recommend both books. I thought Half of A Yellow Sun gave a good feeling for what the country was going through during a time of war, and how it affected their daily lives. The Dark Child, I don't know if it gave a feeling of the country, but it gave a very good account of the author's struggle to find balance between the traditions of his family, and the changing world around him. "

great! I will add them to my (fast growing) list ;)

I read The Dark Child, too. I really liked it. I think it is on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list as well.

Yes it is. I am in that book club as well, so when I was compiling my list for this challenge I pulled as many books as I could off the 1001 list.

25)Africa: Algeria: The Plague by Albert Camus
26)Europe: Portugal: Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago
27)Europe: Spain: The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
28)Europe: Andorra: Andorra by Peter Cameron
29)Europe: France: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

30)Europe: Belgium: The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus
31)Europe: Netherlands: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
32)Europe: Wales: A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
33)Europe: Ireland: The Gathering by Anne Enright
34)Europe: Scotland: The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

35)Europe: Iceland: Independent People by Halldór Laxness
36)Europe: Greenland: Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
37)Europe: Norway: Hunger by Knut Hamsun
38)Europe: Denmark: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Woo-Hoo, made it to the halfway point!


39)Europe: Sweden: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
40)Europe: Finland: Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo
41)Europe: Estonia: The Czar's Madman by Jaan Kross
42)Europe: Latvia: The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell
43)Europe: Russia: Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Lisa wrote: "Woo-Hoo, made it to the halfway point!


39)Europe: Sweden: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
40)Europe: Finland: [book:Troll: A Love Story|1..."

Wow! Great work! You have some really good books on the list, too.

I actually have you to thank for that. If I hadn't signed up for this challenge I don't think I would have read a lot of these. But that's what I love about this group, finding so many wonderful books adn authors I had never even heard of before.

44) Europe: Belarus: Wave of Terror by Theodore Odrach
45) Europe: Ukraine: Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
46) Europe: Romania: Dracula by Bram Stoker
47) Europe: Bulgaria: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

48) Europe: Serbia: Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić
49) Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnian Chronicle: A Novel by Ivo Andrić
50) Europe: Slovenia: Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
51) Europe: Hungary: Embers by Márai Sándor

52) Europe: Poland: Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz
53) Europe: Germany: Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
54) Europe: Czech Republic: The Trial by Franz Kafka
55) Europe: Austria: The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek

56) Europe: Switzerland: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
57) Europe: Italy: The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
58) Europe: Vatican City: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
59) Europe: Albania: The Accident: A Novel by Ismail Kadare
60) Europe: Greece: Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
61) Middle East: Turkey: Neuromancer by William Gibson
62) Middle Ease: Cyprus: Othello by William Shakespeare
63) Middle East: Iraq: Vathek by William Beckford
64) Middle Ease: Israel: The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Untold Story by Kenneth Hanson

65) Middle East: Jordan: Body of Lies, A Novel by David Ignatius
66) Africa: Egypt: Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
67) Middle East: Yemen: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
68) Middle East: Oman: Sandstorm by James Rollins
69) Middle East: Qatar: Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne

70) Asia: Pakistan: Shame by Salman Rushdie
71) Asia: India: life of Pi by Yann Martel
72) Oceania: Australia: The Conversations at Curlow Creek by David Malouf
73) Oceania: New Zealand: The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
74) Oceania: Figi: Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost

75) Oceania: Micronesia: Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
76) Asia: Vietnam: The Quiet American by Graham Greene
77) Asia: Laos: The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
78) Asia: China: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Yeah, my world tour is done! Now to travel the states back home. I had to work a couple state books in so I could keep them in trekking order.
79) Asia: Japan: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
2) Hawaii: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
3) Alaska: The Spell of the Yukon by Robert W. Service
80) North America: Canada: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
4) New York: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Lisa, congratulations on finishing the world tour!!! You're amazing to do it so quickly. Did you have any favorite foreign country books?

Connie wrote: "Lisa, congratulations on finishing the world tour!!! You're amazing to do it so quickly. Did you have any favorite foreign country books?"

Thank you, I have this was a great opportunity to read books I never would have picked up before, and ended up liking a lot. A couple of my favorites:
Wave of Terror
Cry, the Beloved Country
life of Pi
Hunger
The Plague
Half of a Yellow Sun

Thanks, Lisa. I just added a couple of them to my TBR list.

Congrats Lisa! Awesomeness! :)

Her Royal Orangeness wrote: "Congrats Lisa! Awesomeness! :)"

Thank you :-)

Congrats! That is a huge feat, ESPECIALLY as a Trekker! Outstanding!

Diane wrote: "Congrats! That is a huge feat, ESPECIALLY as a Trekker! Outstanding!"

Thanks Diane, can you tell I'm a book-a-holic?

05) Vermont: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
06) New Hampshire: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
07) Maine: The Cider House Rules by John Irving
08) Massachusetts: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
09) Rhode Island: The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
10) Connecticut: Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill
11) New Jersey: Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.
12) Pennsylvania: 46 Pages: Tom Paine, Common Sense, and the Turning Point to American Independence by Scott Liell

13) Maryland: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
14) Delaware: Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton
15) Virginia: Cat's Eyewitness by Rita Mae Brown
16) North Carolina: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
17) South Carolina: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
18) Georgia: Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
19) Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

20) Alabama: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
21) Mississippi: Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
22) Tennessee: I Still Miss My Man But My Aim Is Getting Better by Sarah Shankman
23) Kentucky: The Grays by Whitley Strieber
24) West Virginia: Fatal by Michael Palmer
25) Ohio: The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman