We’re into a new blog series now where we’re going to read around the world, featuring a book from every country in the world. We’ll work alphabetically through all the countries in the world and add in some smaller countries and islands too, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe!
We’ll work alphabetically and the last list ended at Belize, so today we’re covering ten countries from Benin to the British Virgin Isles. Join us on our literary world trip as we read around the world in more than 200 books.
Benin
Say You’re One of Them
Benin is a tiny African nation and proved one of the most troublesome countries to find a story from so far, but this anthology of short stories from across Africa travels from Nigeria to Benin, and Ethiopia, bringing the magic of rural Africa to life.
Bermuda
The Deep – Peter Benchley
Bermuda is mostly known for the water that surrounds it, and the dangers that water poses. Famed for its reefs and diving, Bermuda is a popular diving destination but if you’re diving for shipwrecks, you would hope you don’t get an experience like the one in The Deep.
Bhutan
Married to Bhutan – Linda Leaming
Tucked away in the eastern end of the Himalayas lies Bhutan—a tiny, landlocked country bordering China and India. Impossibly remote and nearly inaccessible, Bhutan is rich in natural beauty, exotic plants and animals, and crazy wisdom. In this funny, magical memoir, we accompany Linda Leaming on her travels through South Asia, sharing her experiences as she learns the language, customs, and religion; her surprising romance with a Buddhist artist; and her realizations about the unexpected path to happiness and accidental enlightenment.
Bolivia
The Bolivian Diary – Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara
As soon as we got to Bolivia we knew there was only one book choice for this nation. This is Che Guevara’s last diary, compiled from notebooks found in his backpack when he was captured by the Bolivian army in October 1967 and subsequently executed. It became an instant bestseller.
Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba
Omeros – Derek Walcott
For these tiny Caribbean Islands we chose Derek Walcott’s epic poem, Omeros. The 4,000 line poem will wash over you in waves evoking the beauty and the landscape of this Caribbean idyll.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Zlata’s Diary – Zlata Filipovic
If you’re over 30, the chances are that when you think of Bosnia, you think of the Bosnian conflict. When Zlata’s Diary was first published at the height of that war, it became an international bestseller and was compared to The Diary of Anne Frank, both for the freshness of its voice and the grimness of the world it describes.
Botswana
Twenty Chickens for a Saddle – Robyn Scott
For Botswana we chose this stunning memoir that the author’s adventures of growing up in Botswana with her loving and eccentric family, an upbringing marked by her doctor father’s yearnings to be a vet, her holistic and home-schooling mother, and the apartheid mind-set embraced by their white neighbors.
Brazil
Ancient Tillage – Raduan Nassar
For Brazil we chose this classic coming of age novel of Brazil. As Andre grows up and learns farming the land life consists of “the earth, the wheat, the bread, our table, and our family.” As he begins to harbor shameful feelings for his sister Ana, we follow his torment as he falls into the comforting embrace of liquor as―in his psychological and sexual awakening―he must choose between body and soul, obligation and freedom.
British Antarctic Territory
Chasing the Light – Jesse Blackadder
In Chasing the Light, Jesse Blackadder blurs fact and fiction as she takes us along on the journey of the first three women to Antarctica. Or is it the first three? Legend and ambition blur the reality as much as any creative license on the author’s part.
British Virgin Islands
Two on the Isle – Robb White
Set in the Depression Era in the 1930s, Two on the Isle tells the story of two Americans who escaped all the misery and set up home in the then barren Marina Cay in the Virgin Islands.
We hope you enjoyed the first list in this new blog series, we’ll be back with the next journey through literature in a few days, starting with Australia
As the series continues, you can try this search to find the rest of the blogs in this series. Alternatively if you’re looking for a specific country so far we have covered:
10 of 2024’s Most Anticipated Reads
The For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2023
Are You Willing to Unite Against Book Bans?
Roald Dahl Censorship Creates Grotesque Versions of Classics
For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2022