Read Around the World – one book from every country

I have a new longterm project that I will start despise still working on my second 101 goals in 1000 days list. I am planing of reading a book from every country on this planet. I am not sure how long it will take me but I am looking forward to diving into many interesting stories from around the world. To get me started and also motivated that this is possible I will add all books already read to this list. For countries I’ve read multiple books (Germany, USA, England) I will only add 5 star ones so it will not be overwhelming. I will probably continue to update when ever I remember.

Have you ever dared a project like that? Will you join me in this endeavor to “Read Around the World”project? Or maybe you can recommend a book for a certain country? I’d love to hear that for sure.

This is how I Read Around the World:

I decided to add authors to the country in which they were born.
My main goal is to read the stories in the original language. So that means German for Germany, Austria and Switzerland and English for United Kingdom and U.S.A. and maybe Canada. If an author for some reason has published the book originally in German or English even though not from the above mentioned countries I will read it in said language. All other books are translations. I probably try to read them in German however if it is easier to come by English it will be.

Books in light grey have already been sourced to go into this list but I have not yet read them. If they have a ▷ I already own the book.

Books in black color have been read. The links will take you to my reviews here on the blog or goodreads.

Books in blue are children’s books.

Books from countries starting with A (3/11)

• ✔ Afghanistan ▹ Dream Catcher by Kaled Hosseini; Gott im Reiskorn by Miriam Kühsel-Husseini; The Broken Circle by Enhjeelaa Ahmadi-Miller
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia Meine andere Hälfte or Armenische Märchen by Agapi Mkrtchian
• ✔ Australia Oremere Chronicales by Helen Scheurer, Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally; Airwoinman 1-3 by Zara Quentin
• ✔ Austria Black out by Marc Elsberg; ▷Sternstunden der Menschheit by Stefan Zweig; Das größere Wunder by Thomas Gavinic
• Azerbaijan

Books from countries starting with B (1/17)

• The Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh Lajja by Taslima Nasrin
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina Tagebuch der Übersiedelung by Dževad Karahasan
• Botswana
• ✔ Brazil The Alchemist | Veronica decides to die | Eleven Minutes | Manuscript found in Accra by Paulo Coelho
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi

Books from countries starting with C (4/17)

• Cambodia
• Cameroon ▷ How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
• ✔ Canada Magic Series by Coralie Moss | Jade City by Fonda Lee | The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang| Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
• Colombia Die Liebe in Zeiten der Colera by Gabriel García Márquez
• Comoros
• ✔ Congo, Democratic Republic of Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, xxx by Alain Mabankou
• Congo, Rep
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Croatia
• ✔ Cuba ▷If on a winters night a traveler by Italo Calvino| Of Woman and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
• Cyprus
• ✔ Czech Republic Krabbat & Das kleine Gespenst & Räuber Hotzenplotz & Hörbe by Otfried Preußler | The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, ▷Amerika by Franz Kafka

Books from countries starting with D (2/4)

• ✔ Denmark Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• ✔ Dominican Republic The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Books from countries starting with E (0/8)

• East Timor
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador ▷ Solito by Javier Zamora
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea SILENCE is my Mother Tongue or Consequences of love by Sulaiman Addonia
• Estonia
• Ethiopia Beneath the Lions Gaze by Maaza Mengiste; The Wife’s Tale by Aida Edemariam

Books from countries starting with F (2/3)

• Fiji xxx by Daryl Tarte
• ✔ Finland Joulutarina by Marko Leino
• ✔ France ▷ Eine Liebe Swanns by Marcel Proust; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exubéry; Eine Überwinterung im Eise by Jules Verne

Books from countries starting with G (3/11)

• Gabon
• The Gambia
• ✔ Georgia Das Achte Leben by Nino Haratischwili
• ✔ Germany Sag kein einziges Wort by Dörthe Binkert; Mariannengraben by Jasmin Schreiber; About People by Juli Zeh; Diaries of a young girl by Anne Frank; Momo by Michael Ende
• ✔ Ghana Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Greece
• Grenada
• Guatemala Die Maismenschen by Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana

Books from countries starting with H (0/3)

• Haiti Ayiti by Roxane Gay, The farming of bones or Claire of the Sea by Edwidge Danticat
• Honduras
• Hungary

Books from countries starting with I (4/8)

• Iceland
• ✔ India ▷ Thanka by Himanshu Kumar Sah; A long way home by Saroo Bierley, The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• ✔ Ireland Dracula by Bram Stoker; White Rose, Black Forest by Eoin Dempsey
• ✔ Israel Alles bestens by Yael Hedaya;
• ✔ Italy ▷ The Periodic Table by Primo Levi; Das Mädchen, das den Himmel berührte by Luca Di Fulvio; The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Books from countries starting with J (2/3)

• Jamaica Augustown by Kei Miller
• ✔ Japan River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa; ▷Das Seidenraupenzimmer & The Convenience Store Woman by Suyaka Murata, Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki
• ✔ Jordan A Song for the missing by Pierre Jarawan

Books from countries starting with K (2/6)

• Kazakhstan
• ✔ Kenya The Whale at the end of the World & The Year of the Dugong by John Ironmonger; Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
• Kiribati
• Kurdistan
• Kuwait
• ✔ Kyrgyzstan Dshamilja by Tschingis Aitmatov

Books from countries starting with L (0/9)

• Laos
• Latvia ▷ Wellen by Eduard von Keyserling
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg

Books from countries starting with M (1/19)

• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• ✔ Malaysia Daughter of the Moon Goddess & Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan; The Night Tiger by Yangtze Choo
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius xxx by Ananda Devi; Silent Winds, Dry Sea by Vinod Busjeet
• Mexico
• Micronesia, Federated States of
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar

Books from countries starting with N (3/10)

• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
• ✔ Netherlands The Last seven months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer; ▷Allerseelen by Cees Nooteboom
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua Die Verteidigung des Glücks by Gioconda Belli
• Niger
• ✔ Nigeria Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Under the Udala Tree by Chinelo Okparanta,Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi
• North Korea
• ✔ Norway The Solitaire Mystery | Sophies World | The Orange Girl | Through a glass, Darkly | Vita Brevis | House of Tales | Castle in the Pyrenees | An unreliable Man | Magic Library by Jostein Gaarder, Snøsøsteren & Bienes Historie by Maja Lunde

Books from countries starting with O (0/1)

• Oman

Books from countries starting with P (2/10)

• ✔ Pakistan I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai | ▷Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree by Tariq Al;Zwischen den Spiegeln by Qamar Mahmood
• Palau
• Palestine
• Panama
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• ✔ Peru Daughter of Fortuna, Woman in Sepia & ▷ The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
• Philippines
• Poland The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski
• Portugal Die Reise des Elefanten by José Saramago

Books from countries starting with Q (0/1)

• Qatar

Books from countries starting with R (1/3)

• ✔ Romania Ein Mädchen nicht von dieser Welt by Aharon Appelfeld
• Russia Hier sind Löwen by Katerina Piladjan
• Rwanda

Books from countries starting with S (6/27)

• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• San Marino
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Solomon Islands
• ✔ Somalia Desert Flower | Desert Dawn by Waris Dirie; North of Dawn by Nurrudin Farah
• ✔ South Africa Born a Crime by Trevor Noah | Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• ✔ South Korea The Vegetarian by Han Kang | Pachinko by Min Jin Lee | Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
• South Sudan
• ✔ Spain After the Rain by Javier Martínez, Was für ein schöner Sonntag by Jorge Semprún | Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
• Sri Lanka The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje; The Saint of the Bright Door by Vajra Chandrasekera
• Sudan
• Suriname Wir Sklaven von Suriname by Anton de Kom
• Swaziland
• ✔ Sweden Pippi Longstocking & Michel | Bullerbü by Astrid Lindgren | Die Woche mit Sara by Carl Jonas Love Almqvist | A man named Ove by Fredrik Brackman
• ✔ Switzerland Der Richter und sein Henker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt | ▷Das Buch des Vaters & ▷ Der Geliebte der Mutter by Urs Widmer | ▷ Mein Name sei Gantenbein by Max Frisch
• Syria

Books from countries starting with T (2/11)

• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• ✔ Tanzania Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar by Emily Ruete | Paradies by Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Thailand
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• ✔ Turkey The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali | Wir sind eure Töchter, nicht eure Ehre by Serap Cileli
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu

Books from countries starting with U (3/6)

• Uganda The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
• ✔ Ukraine Dead Souls & The Nigh before Christmas by Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Gogol | ▷Blauwal der Erinnerung by Tanja Maljartschuk
• United Arab Emirates
• ✔ United Kingdom The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North | Kingsbridge Saga by Ken Follet | A Christmas Carol &The Chimes & The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens | ▷ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• ✔ United States of America Daughters of the Dragon & Dragon Queen & Spirit of the Dragon by Andrew Williams | South of Main Street by Robert Gately | Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
• Uruguay The Brief Life by Juan Carlos Onetti
• Uzbekistan

Books from countries starting with V (1/4)

• Vanuatu
• Vatican City
• Venezuela xxx by Arturo Uslar Petri; The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz
• ✔ Vietnam On Earth we are briefly gorgeous by Ocean Vuong; The unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams; The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Books from countries starting with XYZ (0/3)

• Yemen I am Nujood, Age 10 and divorced by Nujood Ali
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe Out of Darkness, Shining light by Petina Gappah; This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga

And this is my list of reading around the world. It’s a work in progress. Current count is 42/195 and I am still sorting books. If you have any recommendations of a book to a specific country let me know.