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September 8th is International Literacy Day! It was started in 1967 by the United Nations with the goal of underscoring the importance of literacy worldwide. It's also a good time to explore the world through literature. This list aims to bring attention to classic literature by authors from outside the US and the UK.

Check out the full list here:

And here's the ATY listopia for this prompt: /list/show/1...

Optional questions:
1. What are you reading for this prompt?
2. What country (or countries) is it from?
3. How many books on the list have you read? Which ones would you recommend?

I went through the whole list, and I’ve read 58/1000. Yikes! Ones that look interesting include So Long a Letter (Senegal) and The Fishermen (Nigeria). Or maybe I’ll finish Kristin Lavransdatter (Norway)!

Homegoing and Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon are both on my all time favorites list, so those are my top recommendations, but there are lots of other great ones. If you are hesitant about world lit, tell the group your usual genres and maybe we can suggest something!

I've read 81 which puts me in the top 3%. At first you see the better-known books but later there are pages where I've never heard of a thing. I might go for the short The Travelling Cat Chronicles or The Housekeeper and the Professor. On the other extreme, I do own A Fine Balance, but I might use that for the long book.

I recommend Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, especially on audio, Half of a Yellow Sun, and The Road from Coorain.

I've read 49 books from the list. I'll probably go with these books that I own:

Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges
The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk
The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak

Robin P wrote: "I've read 81 which puts me in the top 3%. At first you see the better-known books but later there are pages where I've never heard of a thing. I might go for the short [book:The Travelling Cat Chro..."

I just checked out Born a Crime this week to read for the southern hemisphere book this year!

And, I agree... The first few pages of that list are all books I've read or at least heard of. Then later on there'd be entire pages where I'd never heard of a single book.

I've read 29 of the books on the list.

I recommend Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, Cobalt Blue, Under the Udala Trees, and The Count of Monte Cristo.

From what I haven't read, I own Hopscotch, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Question of Red, but I will go with Hopscotch (Argentine author, resided in France in later life) because it is an interesting reading format. I plan on reading The Question of Red for set on/below the Tropic of Cancer (Indonesia).

I have a lot from the list on my TBR and I also plan to use a book from it for the "Area you've never visited" prompt.
My top options are these:
Out Stealing Horses (Norway)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood (South Africa)
The Shadow of the Wind (Spain)

After going through the listopia with an eye for books on my 'to be read', I think I decided on My Sister, the Serial Killer, since a lot of people have recommended it.

I've read 82 on the list. Most of those are the ones from the Nordic countries, which doesn't make me that well read in world literature, since it's where I live ...
Lots of good options I want to read on that list.
I own a handful of the many I haven't read, among those 'The Fishermen' and 'The Hairdresser of Harare'.

@Viktoria, 'Out Stealing Horses' is brilliant.

... so is 'The Shadow of the Wind'

Johanne wrote: "@Viktoria, 'Out Stealing Horses' is brilliant."

Yes, it's rather short and quite perfect.

I've read 55 books on this list. I'll also note that it was sort of weird in terms of representation, i.e. I think I only saw one book by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o but he has a pretty large catalogue.

I'd recommend The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, the various Leo Tolstoy entries, Homegoing, My Name Is Red, Exit West, Silence, Ghana Must Go, The House of the Spirits, and My Uncle Napoleon. Oh and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and The Refugees. Probably others too.

For this prompt, I'm using Human Acts: I own it, it's been on my shelf physically and TBR shelf for awhile, and I haven't read anything by Han Kang or I think any Korean fiction (have read some nonfiction). So very excited to get to this!

wow, i'm in awe of all of you! i have read .... two books from that list haha

i have to say that personally this is the only challenge i'm dreading. i just don't like to read literary fiction or classics (which is most of the list). i think there are two, maybe three books on the list i wouldn't mind reading but it's very much outside of my comfort zone.

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood is probably what i'll use.

Annie, I noticed there are also newer books and children's books and short, not heavy works on the list. I can have another look and recommend a couple?

I've obviously only read a fraction, but here are a couple of those that are not hard to get through. I'm on the app so no links sorry. All of those are on the listopia.

Children's:
Heidi
Pippi Longstockings
Akata Witch

Fastpaced/easy to get through (except maybe subject matter):
Girl with the dragon tattoo
The 100-year old man ... (no triggers in this one)
Beartown

Short and good:
The Summer Book
Persepolis (graphic novel)
We need new names
The Blue Fox
Out Stealing Horses

@Johanne, @Robin P, thank you, you made my decision easier

I'll definitely read both next year, as well as "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood" (because that was also highly recommended)
It's just a matter of choosing what goes where now :D

@Annie I also recommend "The 100-year old man.." I loved it!
Beartown too, just a bit heavy subjectwise

On my owned TBR list I have Soviet Milk, War with the Newts, Ms Ice Sandwich, The Ghost Bride, Exit West and Crazy Rich Asians. Most of them are pretty short too and it will be good to have a nudge to read one of them.

I am interested in reading Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster but the right time never comes up.

I listened to 'Voices from Chernobyl' this year. It's really good, makes you think a lot, but actually not super depressing. I listened to it in Danish translation so I have no idea how the English audio is.

This might be the year I finally read The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng. It’s been on my TBR List for ages. I haven’t read - or even heard of - most of the books on the list.

I wasn’t around for the threads where this was nominated: can anyone tell me about the origins of this list? Is it from a group? A website? Just some person’s opinions on what it means to be well read?

Steve, I think the website it's created on allows for any person to make a list. So... this one person's idea of what it means to be "well read" in world literature. The appeal of the list was the variety of the genres and publication dates of books included, as well as the fact that it literally has a thousand options lol

Steve wrote: "I wasn’t around for the threads where this was nominated: can anyone tell me about the origins of this list? Is it from a group? A website? Just some person’s opinions on what it means to be well r..."

the lsitopia has a link to the formal list.

I will be readign True History of the Kelly Gang I have neevr read anything of his before

Yikes, I've only read 6 on that. I'll have to add the others to my tbr. I'm planning on reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stiegg Larsson(Sweden). I read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi earlier this year and I 100% recommend that.

Thomas wrote: "Steve wrote: "I wasn’t around for the threads where this was nominated: can anyone tell me about the origins of this list? Is it from a group? A website? Just some person’s opinions on what it mean..."

Thomas wrote: "Steve wrote: "I wasn’t around for the threads where this was nominated: can anyone tell me about the origins of this list? Is it from a group? A website? Just some person’s opinions on what it mean..."

The link is in this thread too. I’m just trying to figure out if it’s just one person’s list, if it’s a group list from elsewhere that someone turned into a list on that site, or some other source.

There does seem to be a lot of overlap because this list and the 1001 books to read before you die list.

Yea I think it was just made by someone randomly. *shrugs*

I have a ton of books on this list on my TBR, but these are the five I've narrowed it down to:

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

sorry if i seemed negative, johanne! i know there is quite a lot of variety but i think it just meant that almost none of these books are naturally on my tbr or ones i'm personally interested. i definitely will look into the titles people recommended and find something that suits but it's stretching me out of my comfort zone for sure. like even the graphic novels and 'ligther' stuff are much more in the 'literary fiction' section than my reading taste goes normally.

i haven't heard great #ownvoices reviews for Akata Witch, which is why it wasn't on my tbr but i definitely have Beartown and Crazy Rich Asians i wouldn't mind giving a shot. thanks for everyone helping out with recs! i'm sorry i was being such a downer!

Oh, I didn't think you were negative, Annie! I just reacted with my usual librarian modus operandi - help pair a book to a person :) Not all books are for everyone, but there is a book for every one.

Tbh I haven't read Akata Witch, but the kids like it.

Johanne wrote: "I listened to 'Voices from Chernobyl' this year. It's really good, makes you think a lot, but actually not super depressing. I listened to it in Danish translation so I have no idea how the English..."

That's good to know. I found the TV show about the disaster harrowing, so I felt like all the books would feel that way too.

Ellie wrote: "...That's good to know. I found the TV show about the disaster harrowing, so I felt like all the books would feel that way too...."

Yeah, me too. It does sort of have the same feel though. And especially in the beginning (not a spoiler if you've watched the show): (view spoiler)[where the young pregnant wife of the fireman tells her story in great detail. I almost gave up the book at that point. (hide spoiler)] But apart from that, it's as much about the Soviet society, thinking etc. Which is also kind of depressing, but in a strange way also hopeful.

I've only read 36 from the list so have decided to use some of them to fit other prompts

This actually is a perfect prompt category as I attempt to knock out some classics next year!

I'll probably read The Count of Monte Cristo for this prompt, but my other options are The House of the Spirits, Anna Karenina or 1Q84

That said I HATED The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with a passion, and I will shout it to the rooftops every time.

But I would highly recommend Homegoing, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and One Hundred Years of Solitude

I've got several of these on my TBR. Will probably choose between:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Let the Right One In
The Ghost Bride
The Master and Margarita
Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
The Hole

I would absolutely recommend these:

Call Me By Your Name
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Things Fall Apart
An Unnecessary Woman
Things We Lost in the Fire
Salt Houses

I didn't count how many I've read from the list, and I didn't initially think I would be keen for many of these, but I am interested in some of them. However, I know at least 2 of these are door-stoppers, so I probably won't go down the track of A Suitable Boy or Anna Karenina...!

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Unless by Carol Shields
The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

I THOUGHT I was "well read" but clearly I'm not! I had so much fun going through this list and checking off what I've read!!! I ended up with 44/1000. I added so many books to my TBR from this list. Then I went and read one (Fatale - which was weird, and short, and has stayed in my head) so now I guess I'm 45/1000.


Top contenders for what I'll read:
The Vegetarian
Kitchen
Jar City
Solaris
The Woman Next Door

Steve wrote: "I wasn’t around for the threads where this was nominated: can anyone tell me about the origins of this list? Is it from a group? A website? Just some person’s opinions on what it means to be well r..."


I can't find the info now, but I remember (I THINK I remember?) reading that this list was created by a group.

Homegoing was an easy pick for this one.

I've only read 24 of the books on the list. A few of them are planned for prompts for next year though.

I don't remember how many of the books I've read but I know I read a lot on the top half of the list and have many more on my TBR! When I complete this prompt, I will check the number again, as it will probably change. My current favorites to read are: Out Stealing Horses, The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Ficciones, Snow by Orhan Pamuk, The Good Soldier Svejk, Voices from Chernobyl, The Garden of Evening Mists, and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

I've read...14. *hangs head in shame*

Probably going to read The Shadow of the Wind for this because I've been meaning to for forever

I've read 60, and have 10 on my physical tbr, so this prompt won't be a problem. I just have to decide:
The Vegetarian
Heat and Dust
A Case of Exploding Mangoes
A Fine Balance
A House for Mr Biswas
The Blind Assassin
Waiting
Remembering Babylon
The Harmony Silk Factory
Monkey: A Journey to the West

I've read 90/1000 of these, and I'm a sucker for books in translation. I'm angling to knock off a few of the more obscure titles, and on my spreadsheet i've added...39 of these to choose from! And knowing me, I'll probably add more before the year is up.

Some that caught my eye are:
- Iceland's Bell (liked his other book Independent People, have it on my shelf)
- Woman at 1,000 Degrees another Iceland book
- Effi Briest (should have read this back in college)
- The Blue Fox (because Johanne suggested it above, and I was just able to locate a copy, and because iceland)
- The Long Ships (vikings!)
- Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster (read Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster this year and couldn't put it down)
- Kaputt (on my shelf, looks depressing)
- Soldiers of Salamis (also on my shelf and looks depressing, but short)
- The Invention of Curried Sausage (on my shelf and looks fun, and is short)
- The Black Spider (looks short, gothic and rather fun. also, I trust NYRB)
- Split Tooth (always interested in reading more indigenous stories)

So I find the List Challenge format of the list to be a bit hard to navigate. So I made a spreadsheet of all 999 books. (Yes, 999. #628 The Moon and the Bonfire is a repeat of #131.)
If anyone is interested here is the .
FYI for any book written in a language other than English, I have used the English translation for the edition information. If I have time, I'll try to add the original title and original language for each book.

Thanks Jackie!!

Awesome! Thank you Jackie for the spreadsheet!

Jackie wrote: "So I find the List Challenge format of the list to be a bit hard to navigate. So I made a spreadsheet of all 999 books. (Yes, 999. #628 The Moon and the Bonfire is a repeat of #131.)
If anyone is ..."



WOW this is amazing - I will definitely make use of this format. It's super helpful! thanks!!

Jackie this is amazing! Thank you so much.

Thanks, Jackie!

Things I'd recommend from this list:

Small Country (especially to anyone who liked the premise of The Kite Runner! - it's a similar type story but a way more compelling one without the pacing issues imo)
Noli Me Tángere Touch Me Not also known in english as The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere - it's a fictional story written as a political commentary about 18xx's Philippines and it started a revolution. The author eventually became a martyr for it. It's now one of their national novels and delves into some ways that the Catholic church and it's agents were corrupt/hard on society. Best part is that it's in the public domain now so you can find the ebook and audiobook online for free. Also recommend the Litcharts chapter summaries for this one!
Beartown
The Count of Monte Cristo
Anne of Green Gables

This is a really tough prompt for me to fill!! I'm trying my hardest to fill my entire challenge list with SFF this year and I also have a really tough time with most classics... this list heavily skews away from SFF and heavily towards classics! :( I've already picked up and read the more modern things that I'm interested in here and I'm not a rereader. I may end up attempting Omon Ra or A Dog's Heart but if that doesn't go well then I might end up using my Wildcard and changing the prompt to "A book originally written in another language and then translated into English" since that sort of still keeps with the spirit or theme behind the prompt and then pick up one of the Witcher books that definitely should have made it onto a list like this! xD I'd definitely say that getting several adaptations (including one that's happening now, 40 years after the fact) has proven long term merit meeting the literature aspect of the prompt and it was written in Polish and includes many aspects of Slavic mythology which should satisfy the world aspect especially considering how many Russian titles are on this list!

Or I might stretch a bit and read Us Against You the sequel to Beartown (which is on the list)!