A couple of weeks back, Kim Kovacs posted about her reading challenge to read 80 books set in different countries within one year. Here, by popular demand, is her reading list as a spreadsheet, so you can sort the books by country, rating, fiction vs nonfiction and so forth.
Kim wishes to clarify that the rules of the challenge were that a "significant portion" of the book had to take place in the country being claimed. So, although most of the books she read were set in the country specified, some only had portions of the action in that country. For example, Zeitoun is mostly set in the U.S.A., but there's lots of information about Syria through the flashbacks to Zeitoun's life before establishing USA residency. Kim's personal criterion as to whether or not the book qualified was whether or not she learned something about a specific country and its people from reading it.
She also says that the opinions noted are hers alone. For example, she rated Love in the Time of Cholera a 3 (average), because she, personally, didn't enjoy it - but, of course, many others would rank it among their favorites (but of course, the same can be said of any review - it is always just one person's opinion).
Lastly, the * in the first column indicates a favorite book that she particularly recommends.
All links go to more information at BookBrowse. If a book is not linked you'll easily find information elsewhere, such as at IndieBound - the online destination for independent bookstores.
Download the list
Davina, BookBrowse editor
