Book List 2016

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

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