I love Murakami, but I am halfway through Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and have been for ages so.... Yeah. LOL

I'd suggest 1Q84, but it is a long journey, especially so if you're feeling iffy about him. Are you open to his short story collections? If so, The Elephant Vanishes is my favorite of the three or so that I've read so far.

That's actually good to know that as a Murakami fan you're not blazing through Wind-Up Bird Chronicles... It definitely didn't help that I tried listening to it on audiobook, which is why I've been wanting to give him another read! I was actually thinking about starting with a short story collection since I've been iffy, so I appreciate that rec! <3

For Germany, a book by a dead german white dude, written in the 1880's: Karl May, Winnetou I.
This is one of the most-read German genre literature, it's quite slashy (for us today) and steeped in late 19th century religious themes and historical German nationalism. At their time, the Winnetou novels were considered too "Indian-friendly" for an English-speaking audience. Winnetou I is the first book I've read as a child. :)

And what a great idea, Gracerene. I'll definitely put this post in memories to look for new books to read.

Thanks for the rec! Is it set in Germany or mostly in America? I'll have to see if my library has a copy.

Edited 2021-02-07 04:26 pm (UTC)

For Poland something by Olga Tokarczuk? Perhaps Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. (I've read that one in English translation.)

Thank you so much! That looks great! <3

Denmark
I could never get through Miss Smilla - it's a classic, but I just...find it incredibly boring. If you want to read Peter Høeg, he has other, better books.

Other Danish book options: anything by Naja Marie Aidt, Leonora Christina Skov (lesbian) or Sara Omar (woc - she's from Kurdistan) or Jesper Wung-Sung (moc). I confess I haven't checked if these have been translated into English. I don't think a lot of Danish literature gets translated if it's not a crime novel or some great literary classic. I know Dorthe Nors is translated though, so you might check her out. Helle Helle is a big ish name who might've been translated. if you can find Yahya Hassan in translation he might be worth a read - he was a poet.

Iceland
Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Honestly I just haven't had many opportunities to read any recent literature from Iceland because of how hard it is to get in the original language when you're not literally in the country, and I just refuse to read Icelandic literature in translation, lol.

If you want old white men anything by Halldór Laxness will do, tbh, but I'm partial to Angels of the Universe by Einar Már Guðmundsson. It's a newer book (90s). For more recent stuff, something by Jón Kalman Stefánsson would probably be good too, or Sjón.

Finland
Sofi Oksanen is the Big New Writer - it's well deserved too, what she does with language is phenomenal. I don't know how that would come through in translation though! I've only read one of her books, Stalinin Lehmät (Stalin's Cows, dunno if it's translated) and while I could recommend it, it can be very triggering re: disordered eating. her novel Puhdistus (Purge) is definitely available in English. she's a queer writer, of Estonian origin as well.
Johanna Sinisalo is another queer writer to look out for - I've only read one of her books so far, but it is very good. It's been published as troll: a love story OR not before sundown (I forgot which is the US and which is the UK edition). For Finnish literature in Swedish (seeing as Finland is a bilingual country) you probably couldn't go wrong with Who killed Bambi? by Monika Fagerholm.
Laura Lindstedt - Oneiron (if it's been translated into English) would be great, as would anything by Rosa Liksom.

(for 'old white men' you could try Mika Waltari. He wrote Historical fiction so none of it takes place in Finland, but he's one of the most translated authors in Finland... Väinö Linna is another Old White Man, author of the most famous Finnish novel (in Finland, anyway), The Unknown Soldier, about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union in the 40s. The most recent translation is from 2015 and it was published as Unknown Soldiers, I don't know if this translation is better but I hope so, as the older ones are...bad.)

Other comments

It's been at least a decade since I read Girls of Riyadh but I loved it. It's a great book.
I forgot to say, A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohamed Hanif (Pakistan) is great, and also queer.

Also, here's a list of indie publishers that do translated fiction! I'm sure you can find something from them to fill out some of your gaps:
- Tilted Axis Press - Asia (I've got two books from them by Japanese authors, but Asia here truly means *Asia*, they cover the entire region)
- Charco Press - Latin America
- Fitzcarraldo Editions - World (they also do essays (I can recommend Svetlana Alexievich's Second-Hand Time. Soviet Union/Belarus). Hurricane Season (Mexico) has had stunning reviews, though I haven't personally read it. They publish Olga Tocarczuk as well - I saw somebody else mention her, and yeah I'd second, and now that I'm skimming the list I just realised they published Christina Hesselholdt, a Danish writer. She's good.)
- Nordisk Books - Scandinavia
- Istros Books - Balkans and Eastern Europe
- Peirene Press - Europe, they specialise in short books
Strangers Press - Project based in University of East Anglia, with three collections of translations out: Voices from Japan, Korea, and The Netherlands

Edited 2021-02-07 04:59 pm (UTC)

Haha, I was hoping you'd comment!! I figured you'd have some good suggestions for me! Definitely not wed to Peter Høeg for Denmark, I just heard it was a classic! Unfortunately, it looks like most of those authors you mentioned don't readily have translations as you anticipated, though I did find several for Dorthe Nors and Helle Helle--have you read them/do you have specific books you'd rec? Or do you have a Peter Høeg book you'd recommend over Miss Smilla?

Thankfully my library has ebooks for the english translations of several of your recs for Iceland & Finland! Also, happy to hear you endorse Girls of Riyadh as I saw it pop up on a lot of lists, but it's always nice to hear a rec more personally.

And thanks so much for those links to indie publishers that do translations! I definitely think that will come in handy!!

Ohh! I love this challenge! I wanted to make an effort last year, but 2020 happened, scribd offered a free subscription, and I ended up bingeing a lot of English-speaking novels again.

Have you read Isabel Allende (Chile)? Her House of Spirits is pretty good. Idk how you feel about magic realism.

I also liked The Gift of Rain (Malaysian dude with Chinese origin): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1219949.The_Gift_of_Rain

About Greece: if you want to read something more contemporary than Zorbas, this is a novel by a female author that I remember I'd liked: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22245335-the-scapegoat

You could also read Cavafy, a Greek gay poet, who I love. He lived in Alexandria. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/604117.C_P_Cavafy

As for Chinese... er, you could read the Untamed LOLOL xx

ETA: Have you read Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other? HIGHLY RECCED!!! UK, POC author, queer, stunning writing.

Edited 2021-02-07 06:38 pm (UTC)

Haha, I was totally going to message you if you didn't comment because I figured you'd have some suggestions!!

I actually studied abroad in Chile and have read a LOT of Allende--I adore magical realism! I actually read The House of Spirits in the original Spanish and really loved it--it's the perfect pick for Chile if I hadn't already read it!

I'd love to do something more modern for Greece! I've got some classics on here, but that particular pick wasn't super calling to me, and I'm definitely keen to prioritize books by women!

What did you think of The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng? Only asking because my library has that one in ebook, but not The Gift of Rain! But they do have it in hardcopy so if you think that one is better, then I'll go with that! :D

I haven't read Girl, Woman, Other but that looks PERFECT!

And LOL ofc you'd suggest The Untamed!! haha, I'll keep that one in mind :D

For the Czech Republic: Gerta by Katerina Tuckova. She's a good writer, it takes place in my favorite CZ city, and it's great if you are into historical novels. It has some harsh scenes (it's a war-time novel), but it's told in such a raw way.

For China: It's a long-ass tale, but I really really loved The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. There are five parts to the story, but man it is so good. Lots of commentary on the structure of society at that time, and it's at times just hilarious. If you decide to go with this one, get the Hawkes translation for sure - there's one other big translation but it's told so literally, and it comes off as extremely dry. Hawkes is where it's at. (I don't know of any standalone things, unfortunately. :-/ )

Naguib Mahfouz is a classic pick for Egypt. I've only read the Cairo trilogy, which was pretty good. Arabian Nights and Days is a standalone novel if you don't want a series though (haven't read it though; on my TBR).

Love your pick for Argentina - I adore Borges so much.

Also, I love Eco but man, The Name of the Rose is such a difficult book to get through! He intentionally wrote the first 100 or so pages to be especially challenging to get through. I will pick it up again someday, but just wanted to toss out Foucault's Pendulum as a possibility as well. It was brilliant and complex, but more approachable.

I love this idea, too!

Ooo, thanks so much for these recs!! My library doesn't have the Hawkes translation of The Dream of the Red Chamber, so if I go with that one I might need to search around!

I'm definitely keen to go with standalone books where possible since this challenge is already going to take me years and years to get through, so I might go with Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz since that looks interesting!!

I've not read any Eco and have been wanting to, so I just went with his most popular work, but I'm happy to go with a different book by him if you think it's not super approachable!

Thanks again! And I'm glad you like the idea! I've been wanting to do something like this for ages and kept putting it off, but I'm finally ready!

What a cool challenge!

I have a rec for Liberia: The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper. It's a memoir of growing up in Liberia and then having to flee the country due to a coup. I learned a lot about the history of the country (it was founded as a colony by freed African-American slaves) and the deep social and ethnic divisions that led to the coup (ironically, the former slaves and their descendants set themselves in a position of privilege over the people whose land they colonized). Not the lightest topic, I know, and there are some harrowing events before her family escapes, but as I recall it isn't overly graphic, and is more about the author's realization of how privileged she had been, and how she'd been fed a lot of patriotic nonsense about her country that didn't reflect the truth of marginalized people there--something many of us Americans can probably relate to. I can't remember what proportion of the book takes place in Liberia, but I think it certainly fits the theme of really being about the country in question.

For Iran, the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi has a similar theme of deconstructing the history and social structure of a country through watching a revolution take place. I had mixed feelings about the second volume, after she leaves Iran, but I thought the first volume was very strong.

For New Zealand, one that springs to mind is The Bone People by Keri Hulme, which is a literary novel that deals with human connections and lack thereof, connections to the land (the author and some of the characters are Māori), trauma, and abuse. It's quite heavy and I found it hard going at times, though it is very well written. I had some issues with the way the plot ultimately played out, so I don't know if this is exactly a rec? lol. More just saying, this is a notable New Zealand book that exists, which may be of interest to you.

Oo, thanks for the recs!! That book for Liberia definitely seems like it qualifies even if it's not majority set there!

I've actually already read Persepolis, otherwise I agree it would be a great option for Iran!

And I'll put down The Bone People as a tentative rec from you, LOL! I've poked a friend for some New Zealand recs so we'll see if they've got anything they really love!

I love the idea of this challenge!

For Lebanon I highly rec Le jour où Nina Simone a cessé de chanter/ The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing by Darina al-Joundi (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8198458-the-day-nina-simone-stopped-singing). It's a very intense read, but was so interesting to learn more about Lebanon, the conflict there, and see what that meant for a young woman growing up there. I think my copy is at my Dad's house and I'm wishing I had it here, I really want to reread it now! I read it in French but it looks like there are English translations around.

Will keep thinking to see if I can come up with some others, and am going to have a good read of the comments for some recs for myself!

Thanks so much for the rec!! And yes, please do let me know if any other books come to mind. <3

What an awesome challenge! You'll be busy for a very long time, lol! (Also, I'll be interested to see if you can get books for ALL of these? The Holy See? Wow.)

I second space_wingding about the difficulty of accessing The Name of the Rose. I think I eventually gave up after three tries.

A few more recs off the top of my head:

Algeria: The Lovers of Algeria by Anouar Benmalek - qualified rec, as I haven't finished this myself - I started it and it seemed beautiful but a bit too heavy for me at the time. I keep meaning to get back to it though because the bit I read definitely left an impression.

Australia: LOL, the Born Thirds/Bone Turds/etc. may have been Seth Myers' greatest bid ever. That said, not sure how enjoyable you'll find the actual book. I discovered Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock, another Aussie classic, last year and was very gripped by it. Historical, set at an all girls' school, lots of queer subtext both f/f and m/m (which the 2018 miniseries made a lot more Actual Text, a move I approved of).

Austria: The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. She's not what you'd call uplifting in her style, but her stuff is psychologically fascinating, and she's a distinctly Austrian voice if there is such a thing. I'm very glad she's been getting more recognition in recent times (long after she died, natch) as opposed to all the dead old white dudes in Austrian literature. Brother of Sleep by Robert Schneider also comes to mind.

Germany: Don't know how you feel about technically children's books, but either Momo or The Neverending Story by Michael Ende are absolutely beautiful and everyone should read them. (Just don't expect the latter to have much to do with the film, they completely butchered the story). I also absolutely love Perfume by Patrick Süskind (it's set in France tho, not Germany, so not sure it meets your criteria). It's a historical about an olfactory genius who is also a serial killer? but it's... amazing? lol. The language is absolutely lush and I can confirm the translation is very good.

Iceland: The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson - beautifully written, interesting characters. It's set half in Iceland and half in North Africa.

Ireland: Having slogged through Ulysses last year, I fully respect if it's one of those bucket list read things, but I also wholeheartedly recommend that you don't, lol. it. is. so. boring. Not even because it's obscure, or pretentious, or because the style is mad. It's just fucking dull. I recommend Emma Donoghue - Room is fantastic if you haven't read it, but any of her earlier f/f stories (Landing, Stir-Fry, Kissing the Witch) are also definitely worth a read, as is her short story collection Touchy Subjects (some of these are queer-themed too). I also loved Days without End by Sebastian Barry - protagonist is Irish though it's set in the US during the Indian Wars. Gay soldiers, some interesting cross-dressing/gender-fluidity rep, beautiful language.

New Zealand: Oh dear. I am actually terrible at reading Kiwi authors, it turns out. I just need Lee Welch to write some new ones! I will throw in The Wind City by Summer Wigmore in here but with some heavy qualifications - it is set in Wellington, and beautifully so, with lots of local flavour, and the-setting-is-a-character; it uses Maori mythology to good effect; it has LGBTQ rep; it is snarky and fun. That said, it has flaws (most notably, one of the MCs is Problematic); the author was 19 when they wrote this, and while that's impressive, it also kind of shows.

Philippines: Brigitte Bautista - I've only read You, Me, U.S. but loved it and keep meaning to read more of her stuff. BIPOC, f/f.

Switzerland: Well, until any Swiss people come along and rip my head of for going for the most cliché thing imaginable, there's always Heidi :D It is so wholesome it may melt your teeth, but there's also a reason it's a classic.

United Kingdom: I expect you'll have no trouble finding books for this bracket but I will throw Mary Renault and her Alexander the Great trilogy in here because if there is a perfect book in the world, it is The Persian Boy.

SO MANY RECS!! haha, I'd knew you'd come through--thank you! And ugh, yeah, some are gonna be tough, and I anticipate the Vatican will be the toughest! I might either have to resort to religious texts or just do a book that's set there... But that's future!grace's problem!

So for Australia, I actually totally meant to put Picnic at Hanging Rock as an alternate because I was betaing for an Aussie friend a few months ago and she included several references to it and was talking it up! I was hesitating because horror isn't generally my thing, but I've heard multiple people rec it now and I'm all about the queer sub-text/actual text!

LOL, fun fact, I actually had Perfume down for Germany because I've been wanting to read, but then I realized it was set in France which does disqualify it, alas! Totally down to read children's books for some of these, and I've always been curious to read The Neverending Story, but was waffling on it because it seems to mostly take place in a fantasy land and not Germany, yeah? Is that the same for Momo?

Also, I was totally thinking of you when I put down Ulysses! Like, your tortured reading of it kind of made me curious, LOL! BUT I've not read any Emma Donoghue and I've been curious!

Haha, you're now the second person to rec me a New Zealand book but VERY half-heartedly! But I've got years with this challenge so maybe Lee Welch will come out with something new before it's over and I can just read that, LOL.

Oh man, I've had several Mary Renault books on my TBR list for ages! I think the thing I miss most about being a kid is summer vacations where I could spend the whole day laying on the grass outside reading and didn't have any real responsibilities that I felt guilty about avoiding. I used to blow through 600 page books like they were nothing!

it's so much fun to come back to this post and see what you've added to your list and what other people are suggesting!

I noticed you don't have Greenland on your list 👀 if you feel like adding it, Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen is a queer novel set in Greenland written by a Greenlandic (indigenous) queer author. here's a Guardian review about it: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/02/crimson-niviaq-korneliussen-review

For Sweden I have a couple of suggestions:
Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi - takes place on the Swedish side of the Sweden-Finland border in the Tornedal valley, in (iirc) the 70s-80s - it's a funny book, but also in some ways deeply weird, and it portrays the cultural tensions that come with being from a border region where you don't quite know if you're Finnish or if you're Swedish.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - this one's been a bestseller in Scandinavia for the past couple of years. It's about a grumpy old man, lol. Funny and heartwarming.

Isn't it!! I was really hoping people would give me recs and I've had a better response than I could have imagine! So many exciting books and I'm really looking forward to digging in! I already checked out one book from the library and put another on hold!

So I took this list off the UN list, which is a bit complicated in that it doesn't formally recognize certain countries as sovereign states, such as Greenland... So this list has 195, and the issue I've been mulling over in including territories is that there are SO many of them, and I think I'd struggle with figuring out where to draw the line, especially because it can get quite complicated and political. Which is all to say, I've been mulling over expanding this, adding territories/countries such as Puerto Rico and Greenland, splitting up the UK into the four countries its comprised of, etc. But I've not yet landed on the best way to go about it for my sanity! But thank you for the Greenland recs! <3

And thanks for the Sweden rec!! I was hoping you'd come through with the Northern Europe recs since I know you're a big reader!

On the topic of Haruki Murakami, Kafka On the Shore is my favourite. But if you want something shorter, I'd recommend Norwegian Wood.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've heard good things about Norwegian Wood!

Hi! I came across your post through getyourwordsout and got all excited about the idea of reading something from every country in the world too! I'll leave some recommendations as well:

I'm from the Netherlands myself and so I would like to recommend The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (non-binary author, story is set in the Netherlands, Booker International Prize winner of 2020).

For Uganda, I'm currently reading Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. So far I can recommend it!

Hi, thanks so much for dropping by and for the recs! I have to say, this challenge has me even more excited about reading than usual, LOL! And your recs for Uganda and the Netherlands sound perfect and are both at my library, which is always a plus! <3

I’ve got one for Israel. The author is Amon Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness. It creates a vivid picture of Israel as a state with its problems and meaning for its citizens. It was inspired by the author’s own upbringing.

If you want a funnier one of France I could rec The Intouchables/Untouchables. It’s a book based on a movie but it’s hilarious either way. I enjoyed it both very much and it’s also based on a true story.

Edited 2021-02-08 04:43 pm (UTC)

Thanks so much for the recs, hon! Your Israel rec looks perfect! Who's the author for the French rec? There are so many books with that sort of title I wasn't sure which you meant...

For Canada I have two recommendations by Indigenous authors: Birdie by Tracey Lindberg and Five Little Indians by Michelle Good.

Both books deal with the legacy of trauma resulting from the residential schools. Sometimes hard to read but also great reads.

Ooo, those look perfect! Is there one that you would recommend over the other?

Oooooh, this is such a marvelous idea!! I'm way late commenting here, because I saw your post but wanted to come back and give it my full attention...which I've now done. So I'm going to leave you, um, a LOT of recs, probably in a whole series of comments. ;-)

I'll also be coming back here at some point to make note of some of these recs you've collected for myself as well; I really want to read more books in translation, and I've been frustrated by how much more effort it takes to come across translated books in the US as compared to Europe, so this is going to be a great place for me to magpie some ideas! All right, some recs coming up...

Yay!! I was hoping you might comment as I know what a voracious reader you are and I figured you'd have some good recs!

ALGERIA: perhaps Assia Djebar? She's a feminist novelist, and I read her in a class my freshman year of college – my apologies that that's about all I remember at this point!

[CHILE: I was going to rec Isabel Allende as a classic, but I see you said you’ve read a bunch of her – I didn’t know you’d studied abroad in Chile! How cool!]

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: I'd recommend both Julia Alvarez and Junot Díaz.

EGYPT: Latifa al-Zayyat, with the caveat that I *want* to read her, but haven't yet! Her novel The Open Door is apparently an important feminist novel, in fact I saw it referred to as "one of the first feminist Arab novels".

FINLAND: Okay, so, I see nerak_rose recced Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo, and I definitely defer to nerak_rose on all things Finnish! I just want to add the caveat that I read this book, and I liked it a lot...although in conversation about it afterward with nerak_rose, I ended up with the impression that there's *so* much culture-specific context here, that it was practically like I'd read an entirely different book than the one nerak_rose was telling me about... So, I rec it too, but just know that it's a strange one. :-)

Another option for Finland is that you can *never* go wrong with any of the Moomin books by Tove Jansson! Queer author, and incredibly charming, thoughtful stories that have imprinted on the psyches of not only Finnish people, but people everywhere in Scandinavia. I started reading the Moomins because they were clearly so, so important and foundational to my Icelandic friends.

GEORGIA: The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischwili – I actually haven't read this yet, but it was recommended and given to me as a gift by my friend who lived in Georgia for a number of years, so I figure it comes recommended. :-) I wasn't sure if it was translated into English (I have it in German) but it looks like it is!

GERMANY: I ought to have SO many recs, given how long I lived there, so I feel like this is going to fall woefully short. But let's see, here are a few ideas:

I was going to wholeheartedly second the rec of Momo by Michael Ende, as a charming, classic, wonderful story...but it's true, it's set in kind of a fantasy version of Italy, so I guess that doesn't count.

Emine Sevgi Özdamar – a Turkish-German author I enjoyed reading in college. She was born in Turkey, moved to Germany as a very young adult, lived in West Berlin but worked in East Berlin, so she has a unique perspective!

Herta Müller – Romanian-German (...or German Romanian, it's complicated) author who won the Nobel in 2009 – which was during the time I was living in Germany, and it was a huge deal! Everyone was so proud! I have to shamefacedly admit I haven't read her yet, because the subject matter felt too heavy to me at the time, but she's supposed to be excellent.

Wladimir Kaminer – I've got a fondness for him, because he, like me, is a foreigner in Berlin; he's Russian but writes in German, very funny stories about life in Berlin as a foreigner. No idea how that translates to English, though!

Janosch – Incredibly beloved picture book author, but he's also written novels for adults; not sure whether they've been translated into English.

If you don't mind veering into poetry, I do love Paul Celan. And Rilke is of course difficult, but worth it. :-)

My library actually has a few books by Assia Djebar, so I'll add her as an option for Algeria!

Yes, I've read a lot of Allende, and I think most, if not all, of her books majority-set in Chile, otherwise I'd absolutely agree she's the perfect choice for Chile!

I've also read a number of book by both Julia Alvarez & Junot Diaz! I've got a few of Diaz's books as possibilities, but since most of them seem to be partially/mostly set in the USA, I've been hesitating on if it "counts".

That book by Latifa al-Zayyat looks super interesting! Sadly, my library doesn't have it, but it doesn't look like it's too difficult to find, so I'll add it as an option!

And !!! your rec for Georgia looks amazing! My library has it in ebook and it looks like a bit of an epic, but I don't mind! I figure I'm in this challenge for several years at least!

I might actually use one of Herta Müller's books for Romania! It does seem a bit complicated the whole German/Romanian of it all, but the book of hers my library has seems to be set in Romania and it sort of seems like she could qualify for either...

GHANA: If you haven't already read it, I was really impressed by Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; I felt like I learned so much about Ghana's history, and that of West Africa in general, so much more complex than the reductive view of "Africa" we have from over here in the U.S. However, it looks like Gyasi mostly grew up in the U.S., despite being born in Ghana, so I'm not sure if that fits your criteria?

GREENLAND: I second what nerak_rose mentioned, the novel by Niviaq Korneliussen. I haven't actually read it myself (yet!) but I remember when the author made a *huge* splash with that book.

HAITI: Edwidge Danticat – I recently read Claire of the Sea Light; I think I've only read that and Breath, Eyes, Memory, so I'm sure she has many, many more great works than the few I know about.

ICELAND: Another country I have too much to say about. ;-)

I was so impressed by Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón – this slim little novella, with so much in it. The main character is gay, but as far as I know the author isn't.

Independent People by Halldór Laxness is the country's absolute classic; it's pretty bleak (because life in Iceland for most of its history was pretty bleak) so you could also choose to read one of his shorter novels instead.

I'll also second The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson, which someone mentioned above – though it should be mentioned that the author herself is Scottish (her dad was Icelandic) and the novel takes place mainly in northern Africa – though it's based on a real event in Icelandic history, and presented very thoughtfully.

I'm not familiar with the book nerak_rose recced, and I wish I knew more Icelandic women authors, so I'll definitely look that up!

IRAN:

Shoot, I was going to recommend Persepolis, but I see you've already read it. :-)

Simin Daneshvar is another author on my "want to read, haven't yet, apparently very important" list – "largely regarded as the first major Iranian woman novelist," says Wikipedia.

I also enjoyed Reading Lolita in Tehran, which I see you've got on your list.

IRELAND:

It's probably an overly obvious/clichéd rec, but I really enjoyed The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. Such an indelible portrait of a very specific slice of Dublin life at a very specific moment in time.

Or for something more contemporary, of course Sally Rooney is a huge name right now!

KENYA:

This is a bit of a reach (since I don't actually remember the book itself!) but I went digging for some of the books I read way back in a literature-of-sub-Saharan-Africa class, and came across one by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who's apparently a very big name. So I'll just throw that in there, in case you find yourself still in need of an author from Kenya!

I also *really* enjoyed A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky, way back when I read it – over 20 years ago, but bits from that book still come to mind sometimes! However, it's by an American scientist reflecting on his time studying baboons in Kenya, so that definitely shouldn't count as a book that's actually from Kenya.

MOROCCO: One possibility would be Fatema Mernissi – another feminist writer whose name I recall from that same freshman-year-of-college-class where we focused on North African writers. Though it looks like you've got Morocco covered. :-)

NIGERIA: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of my favorites *ever*, so I recommend anything and everything by her!

NORWAY: I'll second the rec of Kristin Lavransdatter, even though it's another one I haven't read yet...but it's on my list to read, and it's supposed to be very good. (Very long, though! Just mentioning, since you've got the entire world to get through...)

PAKISTAN: I highly recommend Mohsin Hamid. Everything I've read by him is very good, but it was Exit West that I first read and that blew me away. I'm not sure if you'll want to count it for this challenge, though; it's set in a slightly magical realist, near-future world, and the country where it starts is never specified...even though it's likely based on Pakistan, since that's where the author is from and where the rest of his novels are set.

PALESTINE: It's a fairly short graphic novel, and the author was born in the U.S. (but considers herself Palestinian), so I'm not sure if you want to count this, but Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq is about the author's father's childhood in a Palestinian refugee camp.

POLAND: I second Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead! Read that just recently, and I really enjoyed it.

I think Yaa Gyasi would be a bit of a borderline case for me in terms of qualifying for Ghana, but I've also already read (and loved!) Homegoing! I actually have her second novel on my bedside table right now and am planning to start it tonight!

Haha, I should see how many countries I could fill if I was counting books I've already read!

Ooo, Edwidge Danticat looks perfect for Haiti! Thanks!

My library actually has a number of novels by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o available on ebook, and several look like they'd be a great fit for Kenya!

I (shockingly!) just read my first book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, and really enjoyed it! I've got several other of her books on my TBR, but decided to prioritize Under the Udula Trees since it's got queer rep!

I've actually had Exit West my by TBR list for years and had originally thought to use it for Pakistan but decided not to because of the murkiness of setting. But I definitely still want to read it at some point!

And I'll tentatively add your Palestine rec to my list! I'm still refining how strict I want to be with certain criteria, especially as I imagine I'll struggle with finding translation for several of these countries!

...And I'm going to have to return another time for the rest, because it's late, and even though there's not much of the alphabet left, there's a lot to cover in that S–U stretch. More soon! :D

Thank you!!! You've already gave me so many recs, but I'm definitely excited to see what else you've got for me! <333

SAUDI ARABIA: I enjoyed Driving by Starlight by Anat Deracine, a YA book about girls fighting to create a life for themselves given the intensely restrictive society. However, it looks like you've already got that covered even better by Girls of Riyadh!

SENEGAL: Perhaps So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ – I'd seen this recommended and managed to track it down; but that was only because I was working in a school library at the time and had access to an extensive ILL system! So I'm not sure, it may be hard to get otherwise. There's surely also tons of interesting contemporary literature from Senegal, though! This is another one where it's a bit embarrassing that I don't know more, because I spent a bit of time in Senegal, with a friend who lived there for years and has deep ties, so I feel like I ought to know more. I'll be excited to see what you come up with!

SIERRA LEONE: Seconding A Long Way Gone – another one I haven't actually read yet, but I've been meaning to for years. I keep hesitating because the subject matter is so tough, but I just recently put it back on my list and I do plan to read it.

SOMALIA: When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking memoir-in-graphic-novel-form about two brothers growing up in a refugee camp after fleeing war in Somalia. Technically, it takes place almost entirely in Kenya (where the refugee camp is), but it's a Somali refugee camp, so all the characters are Somali, the cultural setting is Somali, etc. Caveat that it's coauthored by a Somali (whose life story it is) and an American (a graphic novelist). I found this a very important and humanizing view into the refugee experience, making it personal rather than big statistics that can be hard to fully grasp. But if you'd rather find a book that's actually set in Somalia, I'm curious to see what you'll come up with!

SOUTH AFRICA:

You've probably already read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, but otherwise I would rec that.

This Book Betrays My Brother by Kagiso Lesego Molope for book that takes in misogyny and gender, class and race, societal and familial pressure, and there's LGBTQIA+ rep in a secondary character as well.

Or of course there's Nelson Mandela's autobiography (Long Walk to Freedom)! Or perhaps Peter Abrahams, one of the names that came up when I dug through the books from that college class on literature from sub-Saharan Africa, and who's apparently a big name in South African literature.

SRI LANKA: I'll second Shyam Selvadurai (I've read both Swimming in the Monsoon Sea and Funny Boy). His books are definitely LGBTQIA+ rep, though not in a happy way – more "coming of age in a homophobic country amid racial violence" than "yay, coming out and happy first romance".

SWEDEN:

Enthusiastically seconding Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi! That book was a delight, and I still think about things I learned from it. It's this slightly heightened/absurdist take on the culture of far northern (Finnish-speaking) Sweden, but even with the absurdist element, I felt I learned a lot about life there. And it's funny, too. :-)

Also seconding Fredrik Backman; A Man Called Ove has somehow ended up being about the only book of his I haven't read, but all of his books are quite charming and have a fair bit in common, stories about curmudgeonly people who end up forming human connections despite themselves.

Wish I had female and/or LGBTQIA+ authors to rec though! There's certainly no shortage of authors to choose from, and I feel like I ought to know more of them.

SWITZERLAND: Okay, so if you want to go a *much* darker route than Heidi, I'll just mention Mariella Mehr, an author we read in a college German class. She's Yenish (i.e., another nomadic people, like the Roma and Sinti, who have faced similarly horrific oppression in Europe). Her works are *tough*, because they draw on her experiences as a child in the era when the Swiss government forcibly removed Yenish children from their parents. And I don't actually know if she's been translated into English! But just wanted to throw a more diverse rec in there, in case you want it.

SYRIA: A country whose literature I'd like to be more conversant with. I haven't had a chance to really start digging in, but here's a recs list I'd bookmarked for whenever I do get a chance to take a closer look, in case it's any use to you: https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/syria/articles/10-syrian-writers-you-should-know/

TAIWAN: Maybe Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, if you're stuck on finding something for Taiwan? I have to say, I didn't actually enjoy this book (I found it bafflingly difficult to follow, and I'm not sure if that was the translation or the writing itself) but I read it because it's a renowned lesbian novel from Taiwan, if that appeals!

THAILAND: Ugh, I hate that I don't have recs to offer for Thailand, since it's another place I've lived! Then again, I was 18 (it was my exchange year) so I wasn't exactly any sort of literature expert. ;-)

TURKEY:

Oya Baydar is an author whose work has been recommended to me, though I haven't read her yet; it sounds like she writes books with a strong social and political conscience, especially around Kurdish-Turkish issues.

I've struggled to connect to anything by Orhan Pamuk, but he's certainly a major name, so I'm sure you won't go wrong there.

UNITED KINGDOM – SCOTLAND:

I enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, so that's certainly not a bad choice.

Another suggestion would be Ali Smith, a contemporary author who's a lesbian.

Or for some options of classics, just to toss that in the mix, there's Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (an important writer from northeast Scotland, the region where I lived) or The Quarry Wood by Nan Shepherd (an important "early Scottish Modernist" writer from the same region and time period – she's on the Royal Bank of Scotland's £5 note!). Both of them address the lives of women in the early 20th century. Perhaps also George Mackay Brown, who's a big, big deal in Orkney, where I also spent some time. (See, this is the trouble, each region of a country is so much its own thing – Orkney doesn't even consider itself part of Scotland, for the most part! – that it's impossible to pick just one voice to represent the whole...)

UNITED KINGDOM – WALES: It looks like you've got this covered, but I'll still add a rec for Jo Walton, especially her novel Among Others, which I love so much. Looks like Walton now lives in Canada, but she was born in Wales, lived there for much of her life, speaks Welsh, and the novel is set between Wales and England, and involves a really unique take on magic that's very much tied to the Welsh landscape.

...And, apologies for being *that* obnoxious person, but if you're including all of the U.K.'s component countries, don't you also need UNITED KINGDOM – NORTHERN IRELAND? :D

Also, I'm excited to see you're including territories! This is absolutely a question and not a criticism, but how did you choose (or how do you think you will choose...) where to make the cut-off on what to include? I'm thinking about things like, as nerak_rose mentioned, if Greenland is being considered its own state then technically the Faroe Islands would be as well, since both are territories of Denmark but both have devolved government... And I'm sort of shocked to be reminded here that Kosovo isn't entirely considered an independent state, even though so many other states recognize it. And then there are so very many places that aren't recognized, but are de facto self-governing... (Transnistria... Somaliland... South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh...) I was just looking through the U.N. list, trying to get a handle on the varying degrees of partial recognition, and I feel like my brain is going to explode! So I sure do recognize what you're up against. Is the idea to pick 10 territories and let that kind of stand for the whole, instead of trying to be deeply comprehensive (and probably tearing your hair out in the process...)?

My library actually had So Long a Letter and that seems great for Senegal!

When Stars Are Scattered definitely looks interesting! Borderline at the moment if it counts, but I'll put it down for Somalia and I'd like to read it regardless!

I have indeed read Born a Crime already, but This Book Betrays My Brother looks like a great option for South Africa!

And thanks for that list of Syrian writers! I'll take a look! I'll also add Notes of a Crocodile for Taiwan as an option if nothing else jumps out--I do love the queer rep!

Honestly, I wasn't all that enthusiastic for what I was able to find in terms of Welsh authors (lots of stuff that was actually English) so Among Other looks awesome!

And haha, yes, I technically should include Northern Ireland if I'm parsing out the UK's component countries, but since I decided to cap my list at 208 (more on that below), and since I already have plain old Ireland on the list, I decided that would suffice for Ireland overall and I'd rather include a non-UK country instead... Which I am sure is deeply offensive to the people of Northern Ireland, but eh, I gotta make some tough choices with the list!

As you noticed, there are A LOT of territories that aren't considered separate countries by the UN list I used as reference, and trying to include them all is overwhelming and a bit impossible, so I decided to cap it at 208, since that would be the equivalent of me reading one book a week for four years... The original list was 196, bumped to 198 when I split the UK into 3 (as noted above, should have been four, but I made the executive decision to exclude Northern Ireland...) which leaves me with 10 bonus territories. My plan is to essentially choose them at random/based on recs/books that sound particularly interesting--if you happen to have any recs for countries/territories not listed here, I'd be happy to have them and add them to the bonus list! I prioritized Greenland since nerak_rose had a rec for me that sounded interesting, and the others are ones I knew I wanted to read something from, but I'm very open on the other possibilities. I just knew I needed some kind of cap for my sanity, and 52 a year for years for a total of 208 seemed like a nice, neat way to go about it. With the thought that, maybe once I finish (if I ever finish!) this challenge, I could possibly take on the rest of the territories!

Thank you so much again for all the recs! I'm honestly really excited about this challenge and soliciting recs from people + researching possibilities has been a lot of fun!

What a fun challenge! For Ghana, I might recommend The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah for a kind of classic fat social-critique novel, which I think is to your taste given all the Pulitzer winners?

Oo, that looks perfect, thanks for the rec!

Ooh! I've had a couple more ideas…

Jamaica: Small Island by Andrea Levy – I was lamenting just now that I didn't manage to watch the stage version that streamed through the National Theatre at the beginning of the pandemic, and was reminded that I could read the book it's based on! I just added that to my own reading list, so I thought I'd mention that here, too... However, the author is of Jamaican descent but born in London, so she probably doesn't count for this. Also, although the part of the play I managed to watch was set in Jamaica, it sounds like the book itself may be mostly set in the UK. (It's about members of the Jamaican diaspora who move to the UK during the "Windrush" generation.) So all in all, what you've already got listed is surely better!

Dominica: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, though you've most likely read it already? Also, as far as I can tell, Rhys was born in Dominica but of European descent, and you'd probably prefer to preference a BIPOC author. But just in case you don't think of anything else for Dominica!

U.S. Virgin Islands: I recently realized that Kacen Callender (YA author who's Black and trans, and writes books with queer themes and trans characters, and who I've got on my want-to-read list but haven't had a chance to read yet) is from the Virgin Islands – so they could be a great choice if you'd like to include more U.S. territories!

Speaking of territories, back when you first explained your plans for how to choose your 10 bonus territories, I went a little nuts brainstorming possibilities... and then decided that wasn't particularly useful, since I didn't have actual book recs to go with them. But as long as I'm at it now, and for what it's worth, I might as well toss in some of my thoughts about territories and unrecognized states that struck me as particularly interesting to read about: Tibet, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, Eskadi/Basque Country? I don't have specific recs for any of those places, although I can at least mention one possibility for Chechnya: I Am a Chechen! by German Sadulaev. (I picked it up in a used bookshop in Edinburgh a few years ago because it looked intriguing, but haven't managed to read it yet – such a huge pile of books to read!)

Also, you mention above not being able to find anything for Armenia, so just in case any of this is useful:

https://www.goodreads.com/de/book/show/32703696-the-gray-house
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22791971-four-years-in-the-mountains-of-kurdistan
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23385537-tour-de-armenia

You know, I actually haven't read Wild Sargasso Sea! It's been on my list but everybody I know who's read it didn't end up enjoying it so I keep putting it off... I actually had looked at it for Dominica but wasn't sure how much of the book was sent there vs. England--have you read it/do you know/did you enjoy it?

Oooo, I've had Kacen Callender on my radar as well and they sound like a great pic! It looks like their first novel is set in the Virgin Islands, so I'll go ahead and add that to the list!

And agreed about those territories! Several of those are on my short list as well--I've kept most of the slots open to either see if I get recs, or see if I stumble upon a book that seems really interesting that ends up working for a territory