Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Take Place In Other Countries

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! While I read mostly books set in the country in which I was born and live (which I imagine many of us do), my reading goes all over the world! And that's something I love about reading, how I can travel anywhere I want from my chair/bed/reading locale of the moment. Here are ten mostly recent-ish reads that take place outside of the US that I really enjoyed!



The Bear and the Nightingale (Russia): I've written about this Slavic folklored-based young adult book before to tell you how much I loved it but I LOVED it! The first two books in this series are both great, honestly, and I can't wait for the third to come this summer!

Stay With Me (Nigeria): You think you know where this book might be headed when a couple's interfering, traditional in-laws get the husband a second wife because his first one hasn't gotten pregnant yet...but you have no idea. And the plot continues to twist on and on in ways that are completely unexpected.

Rebecca (England): This Gothic suspense novel has lots of repression, largely takes place on a countryside estate, and features a head housekeeper as the main antagonist, so it's very English indeed.

The Blind Assassin (Canada): Margaret Atwood is Canadian after all, so it's only reasonable that she sets this incredible, rich story in her homeland.

The Book Thief (Germany): Bring all the tissues for this World War 2 story about a young orphaned girl who loves to read.

Big Little Lies (Australia): I still haven't managed to sit down and watch the TV show (which was set in California), but the book was super entertaining and it just goes to show that rich lady competitive mommy-ing is not a uniquely American phenomenon.

The Queen of the Night (France): There's a little bit at the beginning that's in America, and another bit in Germany, but this is mostly in Napoleonic France and it has the best kind of truly insane plot and I love it so much.

The God of Small Things (India): This is one of my two "cheats", because I first read this book quite some time ago, but it's so good and basically anything I know about Kerala at all comes from this book.

In The Woods (Ireland): I don't read a lot of mystery, because I find it gets formulaic and often is plot-over-character when I prefer the other way around. But this book has inspired me to collect the rest of the Dublin Murder Squad series because it was so well-told and I want to read mooooore.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sweden): My second cheat, because I read these books during the summer of my first year in law school, but I did really love this trilogy, the first book especially. I've got no interest in the continuing series with a new author, though.

12 comments:

  1. I find myself looking forward to your posts and this one is no exception--good job. I have only read three on the list: The Blind Assassin; The Book Thief; and Rebecca, but I have read books from every corner of the world. I have read everything by Jhumpa Lahiri (India), including the nonfiction she wrote about Italy and learning Italian as an adult. Many books set in England and Australia during all time periods, a few from Africa, Italy, France, Mexico, South America, and Japan and China. On another note, I started the Road to Jonestown (Guyana) by Jeff Guinn and it is excellent. I am reading about Jones time in Indiana during the early 1950's and Guinn talks about the subtle (and not so subtle) racism of the time. It was still around in the 1960's during my school years. You will enjoy this book when you get to it. Really good writing.

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    1. I read The Namesake and loved it and I really want to read Lahiri's book about Italian...it's the language I took in college and I was conversationally mostly fluent for a while there and I miss it! And good to hear the Jonestown book is worth looking forward to!

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  2. I read over the list again and discovered I have also read In the Woods (very good) and wanted to mention I just recently read A Man Called Ove (Sweden) and loved it. I am not usually happy with books as hyped as this one, but all the hoopla was correct--an exceptional book.

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    1. Yay! I picked up a copy of Ove from the Friends of Carson Library bookstore a couple months ago and am looking forward to reading it...I love that little store, it's one of my favorite places to get secondhand books!

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  3. Loved The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo books too! But also, not interested in continuing the series with a new author... The Bear and the Nightingale and Big Little Lies are on my TBR.

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    1. I will preach to everyone I can about The Bear and The Nightingale...I promise it's worth getting to!

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  4. I love The Book Thief! It’s one of my favorite books ever. The Blind Assassin is one of my favorite Atwood books. I liked Rebecca, but I think I liked My Cousin Rachel more. I still need to read Stay with Me and The Bear and the Nightingale. Great list!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks! I liked Rebecca enough that I decided I wanted to read more duMaurier and actually grabbed My Cousin Rachel, so it's on my list!

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  5. I really want to read Rebecca! It's on my list for hopefully in December when I read whatever I want...

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    1. Definitely worth getting to (and then, if you haven't yet, watch the movie!)

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  6. Great list - I need to read more Atwood. :)

    Lauren @ Always Me

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    1. I've got most of the rest of her work on my shelves...just have to find time to get to them!

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