Around the World in 12 Books Challenge 2014 Wrap-Up Post

Around the World in 12 Books Challenge 2014 Wrap-Up Post

This was another new one for me. It is more flexible than the Global Reading Challenge as it also allows nonfiction, and I can read from more countries in particular regions. I also like the emphasis on the country in terms of significant setting or subject.

My signup post
I went for the Seasoned Traveller level

Level 4: The Seasoned Traveller

- The Seasoned Traveller doesn’t do anything by half-measures: they go the whole hog and the more obscure the better!
- Read 12 books over the course of the year, each set in a DIFFERENT country
- Books selected should include ones set in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia+New Zealand, North America and South America. The Middle East is a bonus
- You do not need to plan ahead but it might help you keep on track
- No re-reads
- Any genre is okay (including non-fiction) BUT books MUST be set in a specific country or region with a noticeable attention to the location or environment; some genre books won’t be much use for this challenge

Details Unlike previous years, we are no longer reading a book every month. You can read your selected titles whenever you like throughout the year (hell, you can read them all in January and be done if you like!) and you can take as long as you like to finish them

Unlike previous years, the countries to visit are no longer decided upon ahead of time. We will all be visiting different countries, at different times. The choice is all yours! (You can “visit” countries we’ve covered before in the challenge, too)

My books:

1. Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel. Finished January 5 (Assam, India) [Asia]
2. The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan. Finished March 4 (Paris, France) [Europe]
3. The Bear by Claire Cameron. Finished March 7 (Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada) [North America]
4. The Sun and Other Stars by Brigid Pasulka. Finished March 16 (San Benedetto, Italy) 
5. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit. Finished March 26 (Los Alamos, New Mexico)
6. Hope Deferred edited by Peter Orner and Annie Holmes. Finished April 13 (Zimbabwe) [Africa]
7. The Blue Fox by Sjon. Finished May 9 (Iceland)
. A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrienne Harun. Finished May 17 (northern BC) [oops, same country as #3 so doesn't count]
8. Saigon by Anthony Grey. Finished June 8 (Vietnam)
9. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Finished August 20 (Nigeria)
10. Petrified by Barbara Nadel. Finished September 13 (Turkey)
11. Kilometer 99 by Tyler McMahon. Finished November 8 (El Salvador) [South America]

So I came up a book short, I missed a book for the Australia/New Zealand category, and I didn't get one for the Middle East. I did read books that were set in both those areas, but didn't feel that they covered the "noticeable attention to the location or environment" that was specified in the challenge. Better luck next year.