Around the World in 80 Books discussion

The group site has become quite huge information-wise so I'm going to attempt to condense everything by links in this post.

Group Announcements
This is where the moderator posts anything new and noteworthy about the group and also happens to be where you are right now.

Getting to Know You: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Introduce yourself here, if you like, and get to know the other group members. This is where you can post discussion questions on any topics relating to books or the group. Any group member can lead a discussion here. Anything inappropriate will be removed.

Challenges
There are three main challenges and a several smaller challenges. Challenge-participation is not a requirement of group membership, although we would certainly love to have you join in! Challenge descriptions and rules can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_... and here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_.... Think of the rules merely as guidelines and adjust them as you see fit. No one will ever tell you that a book you have read won't work or dock points, etc. The important thing is that you're broadening your reading horizons and are enjoying the journey. If you have an idea for a new challenge, please share. I would love to start more challenges.
If you are participating in a challenge you will need to set up your own topic thread to post your progress. You can view the challenge postings here:
Around the World in 80 Books Challenge:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
USA Roadtrip Challenge:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Around the World in 1001 Books:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Monthly Themed Reading Challenges:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
TBR Takedown
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Translated Language Challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Random Travel Challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Translated Lit Genre Challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
The Century's Most Popular Books Challenge
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Miscellaneous Smaller Challenges:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Monthly Group Reads
Each month we have a group reading selection from a book set in a country or region of the world and another book selection set in a US state. Nominations are accepted three months in advance and are posted in the Group Announcements Thread.
Polls for voting on the Group Reads books are posted two months in advance and can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/52...
Discussions for our monthly Group Read books can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Resources for Finding Books
I am a list maker, what can I say? I have posted a lot of lists to help you get started in finding books in settings all over the world. Please feel free to add to these lists at any time. I have read only a very small fraction of these books so I often get the settings wrong. If you see one that shouldn't be there, please let me know that as well. Note: I add to these all the time via post editing, so they may not always show up as new posts. To find books set in specific countries scroll to the lower half of the group home page or follow these links:
Group Bookshelf
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
African Countries: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Asian Countries: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Caribbean Countries: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
European Countries http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Latin American Countries: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Mexico and Canada: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Middle Eastern Countries: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Pacific Islands and Australia: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
US States: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Antarctica: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Be sure to check out our ever-growing bookshelf, with books shelved by location. You can access the bookshelf here: http://www.goodreads.com/group/booksh...
You can find information on prize-winning books set around the world here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_... I will be adding more to this in the future.
Miscellaneous other resources, such as ebook deals, author giveaways, and even more lists can be found under the Good To Know folder found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Lists!
Personal Lists
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Prize-winning books and other book lists sorted by country
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Book Reviews and Recommendations
We would love to hear what you have to say. You can post a review of any book here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_... and add receommendations for books here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
Do you have a book you would like to start a discussion on? Add it here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Authors
If you are an author and would like to promote your book please do so under the location of where your book is set. So, if you wrote a book set in say Monaco, find the topic heading for Monaco and put your posting there. I also have a spot for Goodread authors to promote their books here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...
I also have another thread for book promotions and giveaways here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

Suggestions
Last but not least. Any feedback or suggestions for additions or improvements can be made here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Link broken? I was hoping to start a discussion on a Dorothy Gilman book (most of her books travel the world) and was going to put it under: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/6...

But I get an error message saying the folder cannot be found. Thank you, AnnMarie Lamb

Thank you for doing LISTS by the way. I could not live without them and they are a huge guide for readers.

Thank you for this easy to access page. We really do have lots of resources and they can be hard to find.

Have you checked the Sudan and South Sudan thread? These tend to be set in a county so if you're looking for an author you may have to do a bit more research on each title.

I have updated the site map. It was long overdue. I apologize for my delinquency.

@Diane is there any way to sort the bookshelves by Goodread average rating? There are so many books in the bookshelves I don't know where to begin! Thank you!!! :)