ŷ������

Post suggestions for books or ask for recommendations here.

A starting point for finding authors is wiki's list of authors by nationality: .

Keep in mind that wiki is not a perfect source, so if there is uncertainty about whether a book will qualify, please ask!

This may be helpful, too!

Nice resource, Theresa, thank you!

I highly recommend In the Shadow of the Banyan for anyone looking for a book set in Cambodia (Vadney Radner was born in Cambodia).

Jenifer wrote: "I highly recommend In the Shadow of the Banyan for anyone looking for a book set in Cambodia (Vadney Radner was born in Cambodia)."

Oh, good, that's the one I have planned for Cambodia!

Isabell wrote: "For Gogol I was considering Dead Souls but couldn't get a specific setting for the book (I don't want to read too much of the plot summary, because knowing too much of the book befo..."

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Dead Souls will qualify - takes place in the farming districts..."

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "1. Mexico - Laura Esquivel

2. Guatemala - Miguel Ángel Asturias (Nobel Prize 1967)

3. El Salvador - Manlio Argueta

4. Columbia - Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez (Nobel Prize 1992)

5. Peru - Mario Vargas Llosa (Nobel Prize 2010)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I can nothing to indicate Jay Kristoff is NOT of Australian nationality, so we will assume he is...."

Here is my plan with my choices:

Moderators, would you rather I take my books off of the itinerary in that thread and just keep them in this thread?

Canada (might be last- I will decide before starting):
The Year of the Flood or MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (A & B)
United States:
The Circle by Dave Eggers or We Are Water by Wally Lamb (A, B & C)
Mexico:
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (A & C)
Colombia:
The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (A, B & C)
Australia:
The Tax Inspector or Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (A & C)
Malaysia:
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (A, B & C)
Cambodia:
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner (A & C)
Vietnam:
The Tapestries by Kien Nguyen (A & C)
China:
In the Pond by Ha Jin (A & C)
Japan:
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami or something by Banana Yoshimoto (A, B & C)
(Canada)

Here is my current plan:

Canada: MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood (A & B)
US: Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers - Amy Sutherland (A, B, & C)
Mexico: Swift as Desire - Laura Esquivel (A & B)
Nicaragua: Death of Somoza - Claribel Alegría (A & B)
New Zealand: The Bone People - Keri Hulme (A, B, & C)
Australia: The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas (A, B, & C)
Cambodia: In the Shadow of the Banyan - Vaddey Ratner (A & C)
China: Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth - Xiaolu Guo (A & C)
Japan: Shipwrecks - Akira Yoshimura (A & B)
Russia We - Yevgeny Zamyatin (A & B)

Please speak up if you see any trouble in the journey.

Karen GHHS wrote: "Moderators, would you rather I take my books off of the itinerary in that thread and just keep them in this thread?..."

Book choices can go either or both places, but i will delete all non-itinerary posts from the itineraries thread.

This is my tentative plan for "Traveling the Pacific Rim":


Canada The Wildfire Season by Andrew Pyper A,B,C or A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay A,B,C
United States Sula by Toni Morrison A,B,C or The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls A,B,C
Columbia The Angel of Galilea by Laura Restrepo A,B,C
Peru Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter or Death in the Andes or The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa A,B,C
Chile The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda A,B,C
Australia Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland A,B,C or Remembering Babylon by David Malouf A,B,C or Breath by Tim Winton A,B,C
Indonesia The Girl from the Coast by Pramoedya Ananta Toer A,B,C
Malaysia The Garden of Evening Mists or The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng A,B,C
Cambodia In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner A,C
Japan Goodbye Tsugumi or Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto A,B,C

This is my tentative plan for this challenge:

Canada Oryx and Crake byMargaret Atwood AB
United States Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger ABC
Columbia Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez ABC
New Zealand Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones AB
Australia Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden ABC
VietnamParadise of the Blind by Dương Thu Hương AB
China Waiting by Ha Jin AC
Japan Battle Royale by Koushun Takami ABC
South Korea Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin ABC
Russia One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ABC

Tanya, I read Please Look After Mom. I really liked it.

I'm trying to find books set in one or more of:

Vanuatu
Fiji
Tonga
Samoa/American Samoa
Solomon Islands/Marshall Islands
Papua New Guinea
Federated States of Micronesia

that also fit:
A) Author born in said country
B) Author's nationality is of said country

Someone had listed The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara for Federated States of Micronesia -- looks good -- but when I searched for Hanya Yanagihara everything I found suggests that she's American, born and raised, and currently living in New York City.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Deedee wrote: "Someone had listed The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara for Federated States of Micronesia -- looks good -- but when I searched for Hanya Yanagihara everything I found suggests that she's American, born and raised, and currently living in New York City."

Thank you for looking at this. In a couple of interviews, she says she is "from" Hawaii, and that the setting for this book is a fictional place.

Deedee wrote: "I'm trying to find books set in one or more of:

Vanuatu
Fiji
Tonga
Samoa/American Samoa
Solomon Islands/Marshall Islands
Papua New Guinea
Federated States of Micronesia

that also fit:
A) Author b..."


The is a blog written by a woman who read a book from every country in the wolrd that might be helpful in tracking down some of the island countries. It can be found at

Regarding Samoa, I have been looking at two highly reviewed novels:

Leaves of the Banyan Tree
and Where We Once Belonged

I haven't read either one, but they look good.

Jama wrote: "Regarding Samoa, I have been looking at two highly reviewed novels:

Leaves of the Banyan Tree
and Where We Once Belonged

I haven't read either one, but they look good."


Yes, they do look good. I've put them both on hold at the library so I can take a closer look at them :0)

In case anyone's still looking, I was listening to the Three Percent Podcast and remembered that they'd probably be a good source for this if I need a quick fill-in. Anyway, they maintain a database, which could be useful: