This Reading Challenge in 2012-2013 was probably the most exciting reading experiences I have ever had.
Here is the recap of the 52 countries I read about. Usually the book is set in that country, but sometimes it was also the country of origin of the author.
And I will add to the list whenever I read another book in a new country not listed here in 2012-2013, so it will actually be more than 52
READ IN 2012
You can also see all my countries and some books already listed on this Google sheet – it contains actually all my 2012 reading Challenges!
1. France: Le Grand Meaulnes, by Alain-Fournier
2. England: Charles Dickens: A Life, by Claire Tomalin
3. Nigeria: Half of A Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. Egypt: Cleopatra’s Daughter, by Michelle Moran
5. Australia: Remembering Babylon, by David Malouf
6. South Africa: The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie
Born A Crime, by Trevor Noah
7. Bangladesh: A Golden Age, by Tahmima Anam
8. Morocco: Mrs Pollifax and The Whirling Dervish, by Dorothy Gilman
9. Romania: Exploring the Inner Universe, by Roman Braga
10. Greece: Saint Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite, by Ierotheos of Nafpaktos
11. India: Gandhi: A Manga Biography, by Kazuki Ebine
12. Belgium: The Adventures of Hergé, by José-Louis Bocquet
13. Syria: The Aleppo Codex, by Matti Friedman
14. The Maldives: The Maldive Mystery, by Thor Heyerdahl
15. Denmark: The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
16. Italy: If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler, by Italo Calvino
17. Guatemala: Maya Roads: One Woman’s Journey Among The People of The Rainforest, by Mary Jo McConahay
18. North Korea: The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson
19. Tanzania: Tanzania, The Land And Its People, by John Ndembwike
20. Cuba: The Harp And The Shadow, by Alejo Carpentier
21. Germany: In The Garden Of Beasts, by Erik Larson
22. Japan: The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino
23. Algeria: The Lovers of Algeria, by Anouar Benmalek
24. Iraq: Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle, by Slavoj Zizek
25: Israel: To The End Of The Land, by David Grossman
26: Iran: Equal of the Sun, by Anita Amirrezvani
27: China: A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson
28. Nepal: Little Princes, by Conor Grennan
29. Pakistan: American Dervish, by Ayad Akhtar
30. Russia: The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
31. Bhutan: Beyond The Sky And The Earth, by Jamie Zeppa
32. Switzerland: A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
33. Iceland: The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman, by Nancy Marie Brown
34. Mexico: Itinerary, by Octavio Paz
35. The Philippines: Dusk, by Sionil José
36. Lebanon: House of Stone: a Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East, by Anthony Shadid
37. Jordan: Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist, by Dorothy Gilman
38. Albania: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
39. Peru: The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder
40. Sri Lanka: Running in the Family, by Michale Ondaatje
***
READ IN 2013
41. Turkey: The Dervish, by Frances Kazan
42. The Netherlands: House of Rocamora, by Donald Michael Platt
43. Portugal: Blindness, by José Saramago
44. Hungary: Skylark, by Dezső Kosztolányi
45. Bulgaria: The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman
46. Zambia: Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, by Dorothy Gilman
47. Thailand: Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle
48. Sicily: Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief
49. Botswana: The No.1 Ladies’s Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
50. Wales: The Cuckoos of Batch Magna, by Peter Maughan
51. Greenland: The Greenland Breach, by Bernard Besson
52. Austria: Mozart’s Last Aria, by Matt Rees
READ AFTER 2013
53. Tibet: Race to Tibet, by Sophie Schiller
54. South Korea: The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
55: Scotland: Conan Doyle for the Defense:
The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer, by Margalit Fox
ANY OTHER BOOK
YOU WOULD RECOMMEND?
Words And Peace 
Hooray! I’m reading the Adichie at the end of the month, I think. I love your blog, with so many lists….
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well, I’m starting getting a nuts reputation… am on about page 100 on the Adichie’s book, and wondering where it’s going
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Great challenge. I look forward to hearing about your journey around the world!
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yes, that’s going to be very special I have the feeling
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Ooooh looking forward to your opinion of Half a Yellow Sun – it’s on my to-read list.
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so far a bit on the slow side
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Pingback: (2012) #32 review: The Devotion of Suspect X « Words And Peace
looks like you are having fun with this challenge 😉 i am doing something similar with a goodreads group – Around the World in 80 books – i am on year 2 right now and trying not to duplicate any of the countries i have already hit – so i’m getting to some interesting ones (Cape Verde, Lesotho and others). Will definately be following your travels
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I may not finish it this year, but yes I certainly enjoy it extremely. do you know about that other blogger? she reads a book for each country part of the Olympics! here is her site: http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/.
I’m following you now through google reader
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Pingback: (2012) #36 review: The Lovers of Algeria « Words And Peace
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Pingback: December 2012 wrap-up « Words And Peace
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Thanks for sharing your list. I will include a link to your post during our Travel the World in Books Readathon that runs 9/1-9/14. I hope you join our low key Readathon to focus on reading books set in countries or by authors from other countries than the one you live in.
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right now I’m in the reading the States challenge actually. I’m always reading books from other countries, but this year not from a country I have not read yet. But enjoy: this 52 countries reading challenge has definitely been a highlight of my reading life
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It seems that Mrs. Pollifax is a good series to read if you want to travel the world! Thanks for sharing this with me.
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exactly, each book is set in a different county. I discovered her because of this challenge! And it’s an awesome series
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Thank you so much for your visit to my post: Read more Books from my TBR pile and leaving your link. I found four countries that I still need to “visit” here: Bhutan, Guatemala, The Philippines and Tanzania.
Thaaaaaaaaaaanks.
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awesome, so happy it helped
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Your posts always help. Btw – I just “logged in” with gravatar. Maybe my link shows now? Hopefully.
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I thought it would, but only your email shows (and IP)
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I’ll just have to comment with my link from now on. Sorry if I forget it once or twice but I’ll try not to.
Marianne @ Let’s Read
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It’s still puzzling. I just went to check my settings. It’s on “Comment author must fill out name and email”, so this should be enough. I never chose asking commenters to be logged in, so that’s really weired that they ask you for a wordpress log in
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I know. I have to do this with several others. I’m with blogger, it’s probably their fault. Sometimes, especially when they change stuff around and make things more difficult, I think about changing but then I think that’s even more work. LOL
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I should have an easy solution for you soon. One of my other followers and recurrent commenters is also using blogspot, and the url of her blog always shows, so I asked to explain how she set it up. Will let you know
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Thank you. The trouble is, once everything works, they change something else. Like, this week, the edit button disappeared and it takes three times as long to get to an older post in roder to add something.
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wow, crazy!
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I know. They’ve corrected in the meantime but probably because the net was full of complaints.
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At least, if they listen, that’s good
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Not always, unfortunately. It’s the same with many computer programmes, the makers love to make changes but don’t think about those of us who are not as computer savvy as they are.
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Yes, updates are always issues
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I know, those programmers always forget that not everyone studied computers at university level. 😉
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😉
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