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49) Set in a country with an active volcano

This was our second voter-picked prompt for 2025. For this prompt, we voted on a book set in a specific region, country, or city. “Set in a country with an active volcano�� was our winner!

For prompt 49, choose a book set in a country with an active volcano. Active volcanoes have a recent history of eruptions and are likely to erupt again. The volcano may or may not be currently erupting.

Note: There will be different definitions of “active�� and that’s okay! Even volcanologists disagree on the exact definitions. A volcano may not have erupted for thousands of years, but still be considered active due to frequent earthquakes, geothermal activity, and/or other signs of activity. For this prompt, you get to decide what makes a volcano “active�� or not.

Examples of counties with active volcanoes include (but aren’t limited to): Indonesia, Japan, United States, Russia, Iceland, Chile, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Mexico, Philippines, New Zealand, Italy, Tanzania, Australia, etc.

You may choose any book set in any country with an active volcano. The book does not have to be about or feature a volcano, but you may choose to do so as a fun bonus. The book may have a contemporary or historical setting.


Click here for our ŷ������ List of suggestions

Great excuse to finally read Memoirs of a Geisha. I only got back into reading in late 2023 after many years off due to work and study commitments. I love classics and non-fiction. So have put this on my list of books to borrow from the library

Hello, I just wanted to mention that Spain has as well an active volcano , so one more country for a possible read.

If someone wants a fictional country with a volcano, Drumindor by Michael J. Sullivan is built on top of one.

I'm planning to read The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux. It is set in multiple countries with volcanoes

This seems almost a gift given that the US has volcanos. I'm going to read something outside of the Continental US. Maybe one of these: Moloka'i, Daughter of Fire, Lady Tan, One Italian Summer

An Italian history book for me,

Familien Medici: det vackra folket i Florens by Ulla Britta Ramklint

I'm going with Trap by Lilja Siguroardottir. I read Snare for the Noir prompt last year and have been meaning to get back to the series. It takes place in Iceland

Lies and Wedding by Kevin Kwan

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Between Shades of Gray

This might as well be the same prompt as Standalone, because any book set in the US (or Japan, Iceland, etc) will fulfill it. The US alone has some 169 active volcanoes.

So my book will be The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George Higgins.

I have several books to choose from on my TBR bookshelf...so I decided to pick the book that has been on my TBR the longest :)

I will be reading:


Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
**This is set in Chile

HAPPY READING!!

Lessons in Chemistry

Set in Italy, during a week-long journey between Turin and Naples: Scent of a Woman by Giovanni Arpino.

Currently reading The Girl from Guernica and I think I'll use it for this prompt.

I've started The barefoot Investor as I always have a fiction and none fiction on the go at the same time, this is written and set in Australia where there are 2 active volcanos according to Google.

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

I read Romanov by Nadine Brandes, 3 Stars

I read Diavola by Jennifer Thorne if you like supernatural horror

Bloody Sweet, Vol. 4 (Volume 4) by NaRae Lee

I am a little hesitant to use this one, but it is the last in the series and I counted two of the four volumes in last year's challenge. The graphic novel is set in Korea. In an interview, the author herself didn't specify which Korea. There is also a Korean unification flag, but North and South Korea are also considered separate countries. There is an active volcano on the North Korean-Chinese border, and there is a volcano just off the coast of South Korea - which I've seen called both active and inactive. It's a little confusing, but since the prompt just has to be set in the country, so the majority of my options wouldn't even revolve around the volcano itself, I think I'm still honoring the prompt.

I read This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.

The Devil's Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo {Japan}

FYI, for anyone looking to find an easier way to meet the requirements of this prompt, the recent volcano activity in Hawaii should give you enough of an "out" to include any book set in America. It's not exactly "malicious compliance", more that it is a "lawfully neutral" form of interpreting the prompt in a way that is most beneficial to your own goals.

I've got Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens on my TBR so this seems promising.

I read Road No Good, a memoir by a New Zealand author of her 2 years in Vanuatu working with daycare teachers in the outer villages.

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Set in Japan, the country that has the most active volcanoes in the world.

I read “Water Moon�� by Samantha Sotto Yambao. This book takes place in Japan.

I did finish reading Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

This was just an okay book. 3 star rating.

I read Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II. Set in Papua new Guinea

I read Before Your Memory Fades the third book in the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold�� series, set in Japan.

I read Eruption for this prompt. Based in Hawaii, tells the story of the eruption of one of the vulcanoes on the island and some secret army project

by Kim Fay set in LA and Washington State.
This could also work for Prompt 10: Author's Last Name is also a First Name.

im reading A Sicilian Affair by Susan Lewis which talks about n visits Mount Etna

I'm reading Wonder

Killshot by Elmore Leonard

I stretched this one a little bit so that I could include my favorite book EVER. The Underworld by Susan Casey. Words cannot describe the wonder of this book, which explores our oceans underworld. Technically, not a country, but lots and lots of active volcanoes. There is one section devoted to the underwater volcanoes of Hawaii, so I think that counts. All I can say is that if you live on planet Earth, this is a must-read.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. 3.5 stars
Set in a private island of Indonesia

I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I read Prudence by Gail Carriger.



It was set in India, the stratovolcano named Barren Hills has been active since 2021.

The Sea King’s Daughter�� by Barbara Michaels has an active volcano that erupts during the novel. It is the island of Thera and this novel has an exciting plot with many twists.

Before We Were Innocent - set in Greece, which has at least 4 active volcanoes.

I read "The Night Guest" by Hildur Knútsdóttir (Set in Iceland)

I read Feral: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks by Emily Pennington - set across the USA and she actually hikes some volcanoes on her trip.

Others I've read this year (and their settings) that I recommend:
China: Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan

Malaysia: The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds by Selina Siak Chin Yoke

Japan, Italy, Mexico, USA: World War Z: The Complete Edition: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Set across New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Australia, I read this wonderful memoir by Ruth Shaw, The Bookseller at the End of the World.