Monday, March 26, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Take Place In Another Country

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana at The Artsy Reader Girl.


This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is the Top Ten Books That Take Place In Another Country. I love reading books set in other countries, and so coming up with this list was a bit of a challenge. There are so many good ones out there! All of these books are among my absolute favorites, although there are many more I could easily have included as well. (With the exception of Stones from a River which I read during my pre-blogging days, all other covers are linked to my thoughts on each of the books.)

1. 

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)

2. 

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal (India)

3. 

The Ghost Bride by Yangszee Choo (Malaysia)

4. 

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney (Ireland)

5. 

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi (Afghanistan/Iran/Turkey/Greece)

6. 

Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi (Germany)

7. 

Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland (Australia)

8.


The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See 
(China - and partly in the U.S.)


9. 

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (Vietnam)

10. 

The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary  (Japan)

What are some of your favorite books set in other countries?


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50 comments:

  1. I want to read ALL the books on your list. Oh dear. My TTT

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    1. Anne - I hope you do give them a try! I enjoyed them all. :-)

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  2. Wow, you've got some amazing looking books on here. I'm intrigued by quite a few of them. :-)

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    1. Chrissi - Thank you! This was such a fun list to put together.

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  3. Greece is a country I'd like to see more of, and China and India as well. Nice list! The Night Parade looks great, and so does the one set in Ireland!

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    1. Greg - When my mom was showing me photos from her trip to Greece, I couldn't help but think of Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman. Probably not exactly what someone thinks of when thinking of books set in Greece, but part of it is. I love reading books set in India and China.

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  4. Great list, Wendy! I'd only read three of the books you listed and yes, I love reading books about other countries and their culture so will have to keep your list in mind.

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    1. Melody - I know I will never get to travel to so many of the places I would love to visit. Books make a good alternative. :-)

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  5. Sooo much goodness on this list to enjoy, not to mention diverse countries!

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    1. Verushka - I love reading books set outside my own country. I don't do it often enough.

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  6. I haven't read a single book on your list, but I'm aware of many of them. Looks like my TBR is going to increase - ha!

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  7. I want to read The Night Parade. I love that cover.
    My TTT.

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    1. Mariela - I hope you will read The Night Parade! It is such a good book!

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  8. I love books set in other countries. Some of my favorites are The Confusion of Languages, The Book Thief, and Mastering the Art of French Eating.

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    1. Kathy - I love reading books set in other countries as well. Of those you mention, I have only read The Book Thief--that's a really good one!

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  9. I've always wanted to read The Night Parade but never picked it up. Maybe I'll see if my library has it.

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    1. Barb - I hope you do give The Night Parade a try. It's a fairly quick read. I really enjoyed it.

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  10. I was surprised and happy to see Stones from the River on your list. I read this years ago and really liked it!

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    1. Jenclair - Stones From the River is one of my all-time favorites. :-)

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  11. The Ghost Bride sounds really interesting! Here is my Top Ten Tuesday

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    1. Poinsettia - The Ghost Bride is a good one! I recommend it if you get a chance to read it.

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  12. I haven't read any of these books but that Adichie's book is definitely on my TBR. I have included one book of Adichie in my list too :)

    My TTT: http://flippingthruthepages.com/2018/03/ten-books-that-take-place-in-another-country/

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    1. Sim - I need to read more by Adichie. I really admire her as a person and an author.

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  13. I've got Adichie's Americanah sitting in my TBR pile. I hope to get to it one of these days.

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    1. Book Sage - I haven't yet read Americanah either. One of these days. :-)

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  14. There are so many great books set in other countries, aren't there? I've read the Adichie, and I really want to read Ghost Bride...along with several other titles you mention in your list. ;D

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    1. Lark - Yes! I want to read them all. LOL I hope you get a chance to read as many of these as you can. :-)

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  15. Wow what a nice list-all different places!! I haven't read any of these but they look nice!!
    http://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/03/top-ten-tuesday-10-books-that-take.html

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    1. Joann - Thank you! I enjoy reading books outside my country (and inside it too). Armchair traveling. :-)

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  16. I need to read more Adichie books. I’ve only read Purple Hibiscus, and I really liked it. Great list!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. AJ - I need to read more by Adichie as well. I have a copy of Purple Hibiscus, but I haven't yet read it.

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  17. I love few things as much as I love book covers and there are some beauties here! There's something about moons or things like moons and "night" anything, so THE NIGHT PARADE attracts me, and I love THE GHOST BRIDE cover, too :)

    Since KidLit is my world, the two books that come to mind are actually both written by the brilliant Linda Sue Park. There's her Newbery winner: A SINGLE SHARD (Korea, I believe), and A LONG WALK TO WATER (Africa, I think). Short novels that really get you. I'm blown away by the quality of her writing (and she's so sweet and humble, too :) )

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    1. Donna Marie - Yes, many of these covers are gorgeous, aren't they? I could look at them all day. :-)

      I haven't read either book you mention, but I will look them up. The Night Parade is a middle grade book--so not quite kidlit, but close. :-)

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  18. I really need to branch out on my reading a bit. I do like the sound of Ghost Bride so I may have to check that one out.

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  19. I have Half of a Yellow Sun on my shelf and really need to read that one. I always hear such wonderful things about it.

    And how cool is the cover for Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show? I love it!

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    1. Suzanne - I really enjoyed Half of a Yellow Sun. I keep meaning to go back and read her earlier book, Purple Hibiscus, but I haven't managed it yet.

      Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show as a nice surprise when I read it. I like that cover too. :-)

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  20. Awesome list! I haven't heard of any of these books before, but they sound great!

    Here’s my TTT!

    Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog

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  21. These books all look interesting. I would like to read most of them. I am thinking about what my own list would look like. I am in The United States. I read a lot of books set in The UK. I would likely not count those.

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    1. Brian - I tend to read a lot of books set in the United Kingdom as well.

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  22. Oooh, I loved the Ghost Bride! But I think it takes place in Malacca, Malaysia and not China(:

    The Lotus Eaters sound really fascinating and I still have The Night Parade on my TBR list!

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    1. Eustacia - Thank you for the correction. It was late when I put this post together and I was in a rush.

      I was surprised at how much I loved The Lotus Eaters. It is about an American photo journalist during the Vietnam War, so maybe not quite without the American slant to it in terms of viewpoint. I hope you do get to The Night Parade. I still think of that one quite fondly. :-)

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  23. The Night Parade sounds so cool! Great picks!

    Lauren @ Always Me

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  24. What a great list! I really need to get out of my usual locations when reading as I always really enjoy it when I do. The Night Parade and Ghost Bride are both on my TBR. They sound amazing.

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    1. Katherine - It's hard to visit every place we want in books with so many great sounding books out there, isn't it? At least I know I'll more likely visit all these places in books than I will in person.

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  25. I'm loving these lists and adding so many books to my tbr list - love books set in other countries. The Lotus Eaters was one of my fave books the year I read it and it still stays with me after many years.

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    1. Lisa - I love books set in other countries too! I am glad you loved The Lotus Eaters too! I still think of it as well.

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