My “Read Around the World” project is essentially my wish to read more than just typically published American authors. I want to read books by people from different parts of the world, who have emigrated from other nations, or who have heritage from other countries in the world. Originally, the project was only going to include books in translation, but due to inadequate funds and resources, I’ve opened criteria and focused more on the concept “read more diversely”. While maybe not entirely accurate in name, I’m very excited to start my Read Around the World project, which focuses on 80 recognized UN nations!
So, without further ado, for anyone with an interest in what I’ll be reading or looking for some recommendations, my list:
Afghanistan: The Pearl that Broke it’s Shell by Nadia Hashimi
Algeria: The Lovers of Algeria by Anouar Benmalek
Argentina: Purgatory by Tomás Eloy Martínez
Australia: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Austria: The Reluctant Empress by Brigitte Hamann
Bangladesh: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
Belarus: A Factory of Tears by Valzhyna Mort
Belgium: The Life of Hunger by Amélie Nothomb
Brazil: Don Casmurro by Machado de Assis
Bulgaria: Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian by Aleko Konstantinov
Cambodia: Never Fall Down by Patricia Cormack
Canada: Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
Chile: The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende
China: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
Colombia: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Costa Rica: Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion by Barbara Ras
Croatia: The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugrešić
Cuba: Before Night Falls: A Memoir by Reinaldo Arenas
Czech Republic: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Denmark: The Exception by Christian Jungersen
Dominican Republic: In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Ecuador: The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and María Virginia Farinango
Egypt: The Palace Walk: The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
Finland: The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
France: The Confidant by Hélène Grémillon
Georgia: One More Year by Sana Krasikov
Germany: Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
Ghana: Changes: A Love Story by Ama Ata Aidoo
Greece: Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
Haiti: The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat
Hungary: Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy
Iceland: Independent People by Halldór Laxness
India: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Indonesia: The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata
Iran: The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
Iraq: Nostalgia, My Enemy by Saadi Youssef
Ireland: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Israel: A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz
Italy: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Jamaica: The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
Japan: The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama
Kenya: Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Latvia: The Earth is Singing by Vaness Curtis
Lebanon: June Rain by Jabbour Douaihy
Lithuania: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Libya: In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
Malaysia: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Malta: Death in Malta by Rosanne Dingli
Mexico: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Morocco: Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatema Mernissi
Mozambique: Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto
Nepal: Arresting God in Kathmandu by Samrat Upadhyay
Netherlands: In Lucia’s Eyes by Arthur Japin
New Zealand: The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Nigeria: Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
North Korea: The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee
Norway: A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Pakistan: I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
Peru: The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
Philippines: Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal
Poland: This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski
Portugal: Blindness by José Saramago
Romania: The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller
Russia: Queen of Spades and Other Stories by Alexander Pushkin
Rwanda: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch
Saudi Arabia: Cities of Salt by Abdul Raman Munif
Slovakia: The House of the Deaf Man by Peter Krištúfek
South Africa: The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
South Korea: Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
Spain: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Sri Lanka: Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
Sweden: The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Switzerland: Small World by Martin Suter
Syria: In Praise of Hatred by Khaled Khalifa
Turkey: The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
Uganda: Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana
Ukraine: Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex by Oksana Zabuzhko
Uruguay: Open Veins in Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano
Vietnam: The Sorrow of War by Bảo Ninh
Zimbabwe: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin