UK Book Club discussion

I love the idea of reading around the world in 80 books - so here's my ongoing list for the challenge (started 30.09.15)



Progress: 17/80

AUSTRALIA - I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak (09.10.15)
BHUTAN - Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming (03.10.15)
CANADA - Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones (11.10.15)
ENGLAND - The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey (26.10.15)
FRANCE - The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (01.12.15)
GERMANY - Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller (21.11.15)
IRELAND - The Year I Met You by Cecelia Ahern (01.10.15)
MACAU - The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne (06.11.15)
MALDIVES - Gatecrashing Paradise: Misadventures in the Real Maldives by Tom Chesshyre (23.10.15)
NEW ZEALAND - The Colour by Rose Tremain (09.11.15)
NIGERIA - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (17.10.15)
NORTH KOREA - The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee (15.11.15)
RUSSIA - The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot (14.10.15)
RWANDA - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin (24.10.15)
SCOTLAND - The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne (10.10.15)
UNITED STATES - The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (05.10.15)
YEMEN - Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (20.10.15)

Hope you enjoy your trip and meet lots of new authors

Thanks Tania! I've already chosen my next read which should be interesting:

You wait until you start collecting books for this challenge hitting charity shops, car boot sales and the like. I am only 25 books in and started a speed sheet last weekend to keep tabs on the counties I have amassed books for, sad or what? Have 2 heaps of books in my bedroom one for GB read and the other marked WORLD.

Babs wrote: "Thanks Tania! I've already chosen my next read which should be interesting:

"

Have added it as a book to find. How about this for Tibet just found it last week.Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet

I read Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet for this challenge as well. Highly recommend it.
Enjoy your trip Babs :)

Thanks both! I've added Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet to my wishlist. I love Chinese books in general and have already read one of Xinran's others.

Tania wrote: "You wait until you start collecting books for this challenge hitting charity shops, car boot sales and the like. I am only 25 books in and started a speed sheet last weekend to keep tabs on the co..."

You can never go wrong with a good spreadsheet! :)

Dear babs,

If you're going round Ireland, Pete McCarthy's McCARTHY'S BAR gives the most illuminating insight into the Irish character.
It's also very funny.
Tony Hawks' ROUND IRELAND WITH A FRIDGE is also amusing reading, but not quite in the same league.

Anthony

Hi Anthony. I agree both those books are great and I've read them both. Thanks for the recommendations though!

I'm doing Ireland at the moment too ;)

Babs, if you're going round the world in 80 books, be sure you read any Jan Morris books that concern places you're interested in - they're all absolutely brilliant.

Have a great trip babs, it is very addictive and I am constantly rooting around the library shelves for new countries.

Enjoy the journey :)

Happy Globetrotting.

Enjoy your bumble Babs. Just been to Tunisia myself.

Enjoy your reading journey.

Anthony wrote: "Babs, if you're going round the world in 80 books, be sure you read any Jan Morris books that concern places you're interested in - they're all absolutely brilliant."

Thanks Anthony. I will check them out!

3. USA

I've just finished my third read which I'm attributing to the USA - The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Which was disturbing in places, but overall a good read.

I'm not sure I can claim my current read as part of this challenge though!! :D

I found a few resources on another GoodRead forum thread that may be useful in finding books for specific countries ...

Wikipedia: Novels by Country of Setting
TripFiction
A Traveler's Library

Handy links Babs, thanks for posting :)

4. Australia
Have just finished my fourth book - I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak for Australia. What a drag!! I definitely need to find something unputdownable for my next read :)

Babs wrote: "Thanks both! I've added Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet to my wishlist. I love Chinese books in general and have already read one of Xinran's others."

Sky Burial is a great book, Babs. You'll enjoy it, but must persevere a little at the start. I read it years ago and it's still vivid in my memory now - a sure sign that it's made its mark.

Tori wrote: "Sky Burial is a great book, Babs. You'll enjoy it, but must persevere a little at the start. I read it years ago and it's still vivid in my memory now - a sure sign that it's made its mark. "

That's good to know, Tori. Thanks! I'll look forward to reading it.



5. Scotland
I've just finished book number 5 - The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne. I absolutely LOVED it!!

I think I might search for something from Russia, Canada, China, India or Brazil next. Get some of the big countries ticked off on my map! :)

It's great fun getting to colour in the big ones, although I've still not read my Argentina one as I switched first to finishing the US Tour then the European Tour on this challenge. You need a fine tipped pen to colour in European countries.

Mercia wrote: "It's great fun getting to colour in the big ones, although I've still not read my Argentina one as I switched first to finishing the US Tour then the European Tour on this challenge. You need a fin tipped pen to colour in European countries."

That's so true! I can barely spot Bhutan on my map and some of the European countries are even smaller!!



6. Canada
I have now finished book number 6 for Canada - Winter Wonderland. It was a nice, light-hearted, chick-lit book which is just what I wanted after finishing the brilliant The Ice Twins.

7. Russia
I've just finished book number 7 - The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot. Partially set in Russia, it also gives me another large chunk of the map to colour in!

I enjoyed this book. It's a good read with decent characters and an interesting backdrop of the Russian Revolution.

China next?

I'm actually part-way through a book set in Nigeria, and have my eye on Singapore next.

I'm really loving this challenge!

That's a great book you're reading for Nigeria.

It's slow going but I'm sticking with it Ian. It's Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie if anyone else is interested. It's not an area of the world I know much about to be honest.

That Biafran conflict is part of my memories of childhood watching the tv news with my dad.

8. Nigeria
Number 8 finished and my first foray into Africa with Half of a Yellow Sun. I have to admit I struggled a bit with this book. It definitely picks up towards the half-way mark, but it didn't excite me.

I visited my local library today for the first time in years and am back with a further 4 books for this challenge! Next up is The Maldives, Iraq, Croatia and Yemen.

so glad you stuggled through half a Yellow Sun. Not the greatest literature, indeed, but it odes giv you a very clear picture of how life went on there at the time (and still does). funnily enough i got caught up in the war in a968 ( a book called Highly Irregular was written about me and my mates)
By the way if ,if you want to read a book about Croatia my book 'Under a croatian Sun got to No5 on the Amazon Best Seller list of travel writing last month - to my great surprise. It certainly won't win any literary prizes, but it does tell you about Croatia, I think.
I'm not at home now, but I'll send some recommendations of Croatian literature next week.

Anthony wrote: "By the way if ,if you want to read a book about Croatia my book 'Under a croatian Sun got to No5 on the Amazon Best Seller list of travel writing last month - to my great surprise. It certainly won't win any literary prizes, but it does tell you about Croatia, I think."

Well I've just had a look at the books I brought home from the library and the Croatian book is indeed Under a Croatian Sun by Anthony Stancomb!! What a small world indeed. I look forward to reading it.

What have you found for the Yemen Babs?

I'm on my phone Ian so can't link directly to the book. But it's called "Yemen - Travels in Dictionary Land" by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. ISBN 978-0-7195-9740-4

I'm only a few pages in so far so no thoughts as yet!!

Babs - books from Croatia - have a look at Slavenka Drakulic's How we survived Communism and Even Laughed or at Dubravka Ugresic's books or for short stories; a good take on contemporary Croatia - New Croatian Short Story.

Thanks Anthony!

9. Yemen
Book #9 completed. This was a struggle to get through, and I ultimately didn't like it and gave it 1*.

Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

10. Maldives
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's rare in this day and age to read a travelogue that makes you feel like the author really is the first to do the journey. However with "local island" tourism only recently being permitted in the Maldives, this is exactly what Tom Chesshyre manages to achieve. Well written, it gives a good look at the real life of the Maldivians behind the glossy 5-star resorts.

11. Rwanda
This was an enjoyable read. It follows the story of Angel, who bakes cakes for her friends and neighbours. Through each order for a cake, we learn more about the neighbourhood and the people who live there.

It didn't have the magic or finesse of an Alexander McCall Smith / No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency book, it's a nice book all the same.

12. England
I absolutely loved this book. It wasn't at all what I was expecting (and I wasn't expecting to count it towards this challenge, until I realised it was set in the Home Counties!).

Two travelogues up next - one for Croatia and one for Iraq. I'm certainly racking up the reads!

Babs wrote: "

12. England
I absolutely loved this book. It wasn't at all what I was expecting (and I wasn't expecting to count it towards this challenge, until I..."

I read it earlier this year and liked it. I found some scenes rather daunting though

Hi Danielle. I agree there are parts that are a little uncomfortable. Fortunately I'm a fan of "The Walking Dead" so that kind of gore doesn't really bother me. It's definitely not a book for the faint hearted, though, or people who aren't fans of zombie/dystopian fiction (which isn't my usual genre I have to say!)

13. Macau
I picked this book up purely for this challenge because it was set in Macau. It was an OK read, but the characters were too middle-of-the-road for me to really care one way or the other about them. 2* for me.

Good find for a country though.

Yep, not many get there.

14. New Zealand
Another book picked up purely for this challenge, which was a tough read. A bit like wading through treacle. Didn't really enjoy it and another 2* read for me.

15. North Korea
An absolutely fantastic book about a young girl's defection to China. 5 stars!