Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Dee wrote: "ohh under the frangipani sounds good...I might have to see if my library has it"

It's a very odd little book. I think it is one of the author's first novels. I would like to read some of his later works, as well.

Just finished The Day of the Pelican for a visit to Kosovo. Now am listening to The Painted Drum (New Hampshire) in the car and reading Diamonds for the Dead (Virginia).

Just finished The Day of the Pelican, too, and Solibo Magnificent. I am just starting Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood. I have had this book for a long time and had no idea that was a fabrication when I got it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Iron King

Death of a Gossip for my scotland trip

Finished up Azerbaijan last night with Ali and Nino: A Love Story; as well as Barbados with Death By Honeymoon.

Working on finishing up Turkmenistan with Sacred Horses: Memoirs of a Turkmen Cowboy and Niger with Still Waters in Niger;

i'm also reading Grenada with Death by Divorce and Iraq with Barefoot in Baghdad

Finished my Scottish trip with Death of a Gossip and am now going on a trip to London by reading The Glass Painter's Daughter

Jane(Janelba) wrote: "Finished my Scottish trip with Death of a Gossip and am now going on a trip to London by reading The Glass Painter's Daughter"

I really enjoyed The Glass Painter's Daugther.
I am currently reading The Threadby Victoria Hislop which I am finding a really powerful read.

Yes I'm finding it difficult to put down the Glass Painter's Daughter. If only we didn't have to go to work, do the washing, clean the house and shopping we would have so much more reading time !

I've only read one book by Victoria Hislop which was 'The Island' about Lepers

Well I had some spare time this morning so I sat & finished The Thread. A really great book & I learned a lot about the recent history of Greece. I read The Island a while ago & her other book The Return which is set in the Spanish Civil War

I am almost finished with Pandora (I needed a paranormal fix). It is mostly set in Antioch, which is present-day Turkey. I recently finished Paradise for Sale: A Parable of Nature, about the island of Nauru. Wow. Very thought-provoking and very depressing, especially since it is all true. There were some dry researchy parts, but otherwise very interesting. It brought up a lot of points I hadn't thought of, and makes me wonder what the world was like hundreds of years ago before oversdevelopment and environemental destruction.

Am pleased to announce that I have finished It so can now move on to something a little less lengthy! As a complete contrast I am about to start The Housekeeper and the Professor and also have Lyrics Alley by the bed for Sudan and Ali and Nino: A Love Story for Azerbaijan which will be a new country for me

almost finished with Barefoot in Baghdad a nf about a female aid worker doing the early days of the invasion - it was an interesting read as i'm n the military and she directly criticizes a lot of policies, but i'm trying to stay open minded...lol!

also working on I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist for Algeria; Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon: A Journey Through Bhutan (Bhutan) and Iron Earth, Copper Sky (Turkey)

Just finished The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings set in Mexico and absolutely loved it! Can't recommend it enough.

I just finished a non-fiction book about Armenia and I have a couple more to pick up at the library

Been reading about a chapter a day of The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century (England, obviously) which is fantastic, especially for history buffs. Just finished and loved The Undrowned Child (Italy), a YA fantasy. It's the start of a series, and Michelle Lovric's written adult novels too, which I want to read now. About to start The Foreigner: A Novel by Francie Lin for Taiwan.

i'm listening to Djibouti - since I have some personal experience wiht deployments dealing with the current piracy, i think I have a different perspective than someone who hasn't...but its an interesting dichotomy so far, Dara the idealist, who wants to believe that the pirates are doing it for the good of their family...and Xavier who sees them for the greedy men...

Reading On Whale Island: Notes from a Place I Never Meant to Leave, set in Canada.

I'm reading Doctor No for Jamaica right now. It's the sixth book in the Bond series and I've read the first few, but not the fifth so I don't really have a clue what they're talking about. It's still very early in the book though, so hopefully they'll just move on to the new story soon.

I've also started The Feast of the Goat. I'll need to read Dr No and The Old Man and the Sea before I finish, but they're both short and will be easier reads.

Picked up Wild Coast: Travels on South America's Untamed Edge by John Gimlette at the library. I'll probably use it for Guyana - it looks like slightly more than half the book is set there. But he also visits Suriname and French Guiana. There don't seem to be many choices available for the latter, but I do have a copy of Papillon floating around the house somewhere, that I want to read if I can find it. And several books on Diane's list for Suriname look interesting. So Guyana it is. Hope this one's good!

I've just startedThe Poisonwood Bible. I read The Lacuna by Kingsolver last year but I much prefer her writing style in this.

Sam wrote: "I've just startedThe Poisonwood Bible. I read The Lacuna by Kingsolver last year but I much prefer her writing style in this."

Poisonwood Bible is my all-time favorite book.

Reading The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho. Not loving it. I keep hoping it will get better, but as I'm more than 3/4 of the way through the book I doubt it will happen. The first three books I read of his were great. The last two, not so much...

Just starting Moloka'i :)

Reading The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. It is set in Sicily.

I am just starting Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje on audiobook. It is set in Sri Lanka. I have also started Under the Silk Cotton Tree: A Novel by Jean Buffong, set in Grenada. It is a tough one to get through since it is written in the island's Creole dialect and tends to get off on tangents and meander all over the place.

diane who is narrating Anil's Ghost?

Dee wrote: "diane who is narrating Anil's Ghost?"

Are you talking about in the book itself or on the audio cd?

As far as the book goes, I just started it, but I think it is an omniscient narrator (not sure of the correct term), not a character.

In terms of the person who is reading the book on the CD, it is narrated by Alan Cumming.

the narrator for the audio cd...I just requested it from the library and they had the audio so I grabbed it

I recently started The Cubs and Other Stories by Mario Vargas Llosa for my Peruvian book. It is also on the 1001 list. This book is a grammatical nightmare. It has been a long time since I read a book this hard to read (and I thought the recently finished Under the Silk Cotton Tree: A Novel was bad with the island dialect). I do hope the rest of his books aren't like this. I'd like to blame it on the translation, but I don't think that is the main problem.

Dee wrote: "diane who is narrating Anil's Ghost?"

The narrator has a very pleasant voice. His voice reminds me of a cross between Ewan McGregor and Bear Grylls.

sounds good - I got this from the library the other day to listen to, hopefully in the next week i'll be able to start, I have another to do first...in audiobook, I also have Island Beneath the Sea (Haiti) and Layover in Dubai (UAE)

I just started The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, set in Sudan. So far, it is amazing.

Ellie wrote: "I'm reading One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I want to read it before I go see the movie."

Welcome to the group, Ellie! I can't wait to see the movie. I really enjoyed that series.

Hoping to finish up Island Beneath the Sea this weekend. Started Red Poppies: A Novel of Tibet.

Thanks Diane! :)

I started on The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf last night. I'm a few chapters into it so far and its a bit of a page turner.

The timeless "Madame Bovary"

Ellie - I really liked The Weight of Silence - I listened to it a couple of months ago

Fede wrote: "The timeless "Madame Bovary""

There's another book I really want to read soon.

I just started reading the second book in the Stephanie Plum series Two for the Dough.

I've got 4 books going....
Black Swan Green-audio cd
Clockwork Prince-Kindle
Ender's Shadow-itouch
Rules of Civility-book.

I'm currently reading
It's really good!! i think it's heading to become one of my favorites!!

I just started listening to Layover in Dubai and since i've visited UAE before, it'll be interesting to see how he portrays it.

I'm also reading Butterfly in the Wind (Trinidad & Tobago) and The Moai Murders (Easter Island)

I've just began reading The Shakespeare Secret by J.L. Carrell this evening.

Book: A Thread of Grace
Kindle: State of Wonder
Audiobook in the car: The Forgotten Garden
Out-loud reading with my 10-year-old: Vampire's Photograph

I'm currently reading Oliver Twist and I bought Hunger Games a few days ago but haven't even opened it yet : /

Ahmad wrote: "I'm currently reading Oliver Twist and I bought Hunger Games a few days ago but haven't even opened it yet : /"

I loved Hunger Games!

Glad I'm not the only one who has a book going for every format! Just got my first Kindle for Christmas. Currently reading a bunch of stuff that doesn't apply to the challenge, including The Taming of the Shrew - already have something for Italy. Oh wait, there's Tide, Feather, Snow for Alaska. It's a memoir, I like it.

i'm starting Wave of Terror for Belrus - about the soviet invasion of...like the soviet annexation of the baltic states, its a time period in history that i'm not familiar with

Dee wrote: "i'm starting Wave of Terror for Belrus - about the soviet invasion of...like the soviet annexation of the baltic states, its a time period in history that i'm not familiar with"

I have that book on my TBR list. Let me know what you think.