Earlier this year, I made a conscious attempt to read books from different countries of the world. The reasons for this were my understanding that the Western countries are not the be-all and end-all of this world, the innate need to belong to the world, to be more human, and last and least of all, to explore writing styles and stories. My main sources for the books were this list by Ann Morgan who has read a book from every country in the world, copious amounts of help from DF, and then, my own research and Google recommendations based on my search history. Suffice to say I have had an exhilarating time. It has been such a ride I cannot even begin to explain in words. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you’re a reader, and you want to belong to this world, read a book from every country in the world. To put it colloquially, it will blow your mind. Some people ask me what’s the best book I have read. Of course, it’s hard to pick, but here are my top picks: The Appointment, Dept. of Speculation, Falling Out of Time, and Slow Startle. Here’s the entire list.
Country | Book | Author | Rating | Genre/Type |
Albania | Broken April | Ismail Kadare | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Algeria | The Rabbi’s Cat | Joann Sfar | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Graphic Novel |
Canada/ Japan |
A Tale for the Time Being | Ruth Ozeki | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Chile | Daughter of Fortune | Isabel Allende | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Cyprus | The Spice Box Letters | Eve Makis | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
France | Around the World in Eighty Days | Jules Verne | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
France | The Little Prince | Antoine Saint De Exupery | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Germany | Metamorphosis | Franz Kafka | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Iceland | Stone Tree | Gyrdir Eliasson | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Stories |
India | Bombay Stories | Saadat Hassan Manto | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Stories |
India | The Post Office | Rabindranath Tagore | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Play |
India | Twilight in Delhi | Ahmed Ali | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Iran | Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Graphic Novel |
Iran | Women Without Men | Shahrnush Parsipur | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Stories |
Israel | Falling Out of Time | David Grossman | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction/Poetry |
Kashmir | Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir | Malik Sajad | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Graphic Novel |
Malta | Ironfire (The Sword and the Scimitar) | David Ball | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Historical Fiction |
Mesopotamia | The Epic of Gilgamesh | Anonymous | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
Middle East | From the Holy Mountain | William Dalrymple | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction/Travel |
Middle East | The Red Tent | Anita Diamant | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Historical Fiction |
Morocco | The Last Friend | Tahar Ben Jelloun | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Nepal/India | Slow Startle | Rohan Chhetri | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
Pakistan | Trespassing | Uzma Aslam Khan | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Romania | The Appointment | Herta Muller | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
South Africa | Things I Don’t Want to Know | Deborah Levy | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction/Memoir |
Spain | Cathedral of the Sea | Ildefonso Falcones | ♥ ♥ | Historical Fiction |
Sudan | The Wedding of Zein | Tayeb Salih | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Sweden | My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry | Fredrik Backman | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. | Mightier Than the Sword (The Clifton Chronicles #5) | Jeffrey Archer | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. | Cometh the Hour (The Clifton Chronicles #6) | Jeffrey Archer | ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Script Edition | John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, J.K.Rowling | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Play |
U.K. | Me Before You | Jojo Moyes | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. | Say You’re Sorry | Michael Robotham | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. | The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.K. based WI/African | Bone | Yrsa Daley-Ward | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
U.K./U.S.A | 84 Charing Cross | Helene Hanff | ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction/Memoir |
U.S. based African | Nejma | Nayyirah Waheed | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
U.S. based African | Salt | Nayyirah Waheed | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
U.S.A | Big Magic | Elizabeth Gilbert | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A | Chasers of the Light | Tyler Knott Gregson | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Poetry |
U.S.A | Dept. of Speculation | Jenny Offill | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.S.A | Grief is a Thing with Feathers | Max Porter | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Prose Poetry |
U.S.A | Help, Thanks, Wow | Anne Lamott | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A | Now Go Out There | Mary Karr | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A | The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.S.A | What I Know for Sure | Oprah Winfrey | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A | Where’d You go, Bernadette | Maria Semple | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.S.A | An Abundance of Katherines | John Green | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.S.A | Bird by Bird | Anne Lamott | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A | Brave Enough | Cheryl Strayed | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Non-Fiction |
U.S.A/Israel | Acts of Faith | Erich Segal | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
U.S.A/Middle East | Habibi | Craig Thompson | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Graphic Novel |
Ukraine | Death and the Penguin | Andrey Kurkov | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Fiction |
Short Stories | ||||
Country | Title | Author | Rating | Genre |
Canada | Happy Endings | Margaret Atwood | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
Iran | Two Stories | Mahsa Mohebali | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
Qatar | The Jealous Wife | Um Khalaf | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.K. | Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies | J.K.Rowling | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.K. | Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists | J.K.Rowling | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.K. | Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide | J.K.Rowling | ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.K./Nigeria | Who Will Greet You At Home? | Lesley Nneka Arimah | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.S.A | Hills Like White Elephants | Ernest Hemingway | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.S.A | Last Chapter on Hotel Stationery | Ursula Villarreal-Moura | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |
U.S.A | The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ | Short Story |