Read Around the World/US Challenge

Most of us readers know that books can take us to different places and help us to see the world in different ways. I had heard about the Read Around The World Challenge that someone had done on Pinterest about a year ago, and I thought it sounded interesting. After reading Wicked Fox, and going through my Memrize course where I’m trying to recognize all the locations on the world by looking at a map, I thought I’d actually try it.

Read Around The World

There are 196 places where I’d like to read books from. If you’d like to read books from all around the world too, you can use this list from A Year of Reading the World as a guide. I plan on taking more than a year to do this challenge. I don’t know how long it will take me, but I’m not concerned.

Many of us want to read diversely, what’s more diverse than reading books from all around the world? For the purposes of my challenge, I’m not going to count historical books from a long time ago (so Enchantée, set during the French Revolution, won’t count). I’m also not going to include books set in the future (so I can’t use Warcross for Japan). I might make an exception if there are some really difficult countries to find books for.

I’ve found some books that I’ve already read for this challenge (I won’t count books that I read prior to starting this blog either).

Australia: A Thousand Perfect Notes – C.G. Drews

If you decide to do this challenge too, Australia should be easy to knock off your list. Paper Fury’s A Thousand Perfect Notes is set in Australia, written by an Australian! There are plenty of other books set in this country, and if you don’t want to read this book (but why wouldn’t you) then there are plenty of Australian book bloggers you can get recommendations from. My Review

Brazil: Never Stop Walking – Christina Rickardsson

For Brazil, I read Never Stop Walking by Christina Rickardsson. Yes, part of this book does cover what happened after she was adopted and moved away from Brazil, but a good portion of this story takes place there, so I’m going to count it. This was a really eye-opening story. Wow. If you’re interested in a book that covers how things are not-so-nice in some places, you might be interested. My Review

Ireland: Brenna Morgan & The Iron Key – Katie Masters

I’ve read a couple of books set in Ireland, including Brenna Morgan & The Iron Key by Katie Masters. I believe The Wren Hunt is also set here. If you decide to do this challenge, there are plenty of books set in Ireland. This is a fantasy book, but for me, I’m going to count fantasy books (as long as they’re set in fairly modernish times in that country). My Review

South Korea: Wicked Fox – Kat Cho

I just read this book last week, and I mentioned earlier that this was partly why I was inspired to do this challenge. This is another story with fantasy elements in it, but it’s set in Seoul, South Korea. I loved how the setting played a huge part in this story (even in the lore). I’m not sure if I’ve read any other books set here before, but this one worked. My Review

United States of America: When Elephants Fly – Nancy Richardson Fischer

For most people, The United States of America will be one of the easiest countries to check off your list. There was no particular reason why I put this book here, except they travel through different states, so it doesn’t really fit in a particular location in the US for the 50 State Challenge I also want to do. My Review

Read Around the United States

In addition to challenging myself to read books from every country, I’m also going to challenge myself to read books set in all 50 states.

California: Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett

California was really easy to check off my 50 States list. There are a lot of books set here, including When Dimple Met Rishi and a lot of The Dark Artifices. I picked Alex, Approximately because it has surfing, and reading it reminded me of a camping trip I took with my friends to the Redwood Forest. My Review

Nebraska: Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

I don’t read a lot of books set in Nebraska, but fortunately, Fangirl is. So I got to check that one off my list. The setting doesn’t play a huge part in this story, but Rainbow Rowell lives in Nebraska, so I’m guessing that when she talks about the setting, she’s pretty accurate. I know when I write about places I’ve lived, it’s so much easier for me to describe what’s going on because I can picture everything in my head as I’m writing it. My Review

New York: City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

A lot of The Mortal Instruments takes place in New York City, so I’m including it here. Like the Reading the World Challenge I’m doing, I’m willing to count fantasy books that are set in fairly recent times. There are a ton of books that are set in New York State, so these should be pretty easy to find, but this is the one I picked for this slot. My Review

West Virginia: Into the Hollow – Lynn Vroman

I don’t read many books set in West Virginia, which is why I thought Into the Hollow was so interesting when I read it. I’ve been to 43 states, but West Virginia is one of them. Except now, I’ve taken a book there. The setting is well-described in this book, and also plays a pretty big role in the story itself. My Review

So there are my initial entries for my Read Around the World and Read Around the United States book challenges. I don’t know how long it will take, but I think this would be fun. If you decide to do something like this too, let me know!