Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want to Read that Take Place In Another Country

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is: Books That Take Place In Another Country
Since I just did this topic a couple years ago, I thought I'd switch it up just a bit and instead feature some books set in countries outside of the US that I want to read. I'm choosing outside of the US since I currently reside here in the States. Here are just a few of my picks!

Hikikomori: Adolescence without EndHikikomori: Adolescence without End by Tamaki Saito, trans. by Jeffrey Angles
Setting: Japan
"This is the first English translation of a controversial Japanese best seller that made the public aware of the social problem of hikikomori, or “withdrawal”—a phenomenon estimated by the author to involve as many as one million Japanese adolescents and young adults who have withdrawn from society, retreating to their rooms for months or years and severing almost all ties to the outside world. Saitō Tamaki’s work of popular psychology provoked a national debate about the causes and extent of the condition."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Jamaica InnSetting: Engand
"In the bitter November wind, Mary Yellan crosses Bodmin Moor to Jamaica Inn. Her mother's dying wish was that she take refuge there, with her Aunt Patience. But when Mary arrives, the warning of the coachman echoes in her mind: Jamaica Inn has a desolate power, and behind it's crumbling walls Patience is a changed woman, cowering before her brooding, violent husband. When Mary discovers the inn's dark secrets, the truth is more terrifying than anything she could possibly imagine, and she is forced to collude in her uncle's murderous schemes. Against her will, she finds herself powerfully attracted to her uncle's brother, a man she dares not trust."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Bohemian Gospel (Bohemian Gospel #1)Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter
Setting: Historical Bohemia
"Set against the historical reign of the Golden and Iron King, Bohemian Gospel is the remarkable tale of a bold and unusual girl on a quest to uncover her past and define her destiny. Thirteenth-century Bohemia is a dangerous place for a girl, especially one as odd as Mouse, born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. Some call her a witch. Others call her an angel. Even Mouse doesn’t know who—or what—she is. But she means to find out."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer
Setting: Timbuktu, Mali
"To save ancient Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean’s Eleven in this “fast-paced narrative that is…part intellectual history, part geopolitical tract, and part out-and-out thriller” (The Washington Post). 

In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that were crumbling in the trunks of desert shepherds. His goal: to preserve this crucial part of the world’s patrimony in a gorgeous library. But then Al Qaeda showed up at the door."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Glimmer Palace
The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin
Setting: Berlin, Germany
"In the tradition of Michel Faber and Sarah Waters, a literary historical novel about an orphan girl's journey from poverty to film stardom, set against the grand backdrop of World War I Berlin, the cabaret era, the run-up to World War II, and the innovations in art and industry that accompanied it all."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository




Flood of FireFlood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh
Setting: India, Britain, China
"It is 1839 and tension has been rapidly mounting between China and British India following the crackdown on opium smuggling by Beijing. With no resolution in sight, the colonial government declares war. One of the vessels requisitioned for the attack, the Hind, travels eastwards from Bengal to China, sailing into the midst of the First Opium War. The turbulent voyage brings together a diverse group of travellers, each with their own agenda to pursue. Among them is Kesri Singh, a sepoy in the East India Company who leads a company of Indian sepoys; Zachary Reid, an impoverished young sailor searching for his lost love, and Shireen Modi, a determined widow en route to China to reclaim her opium-trader husband's wealth and reputation. 

Flood of Fire follows a varied cast of characters from India to China, through the outbreak of the First Opium War and China's devastating defeat, to Britain's seizure of Hong Kong."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Da Vinci's TigerDa Vinci's Tiger by L.M. Elliot
Setting: Italy
"Laura Malone Elliott delivers the stunning tale of real-life Renaissance woman Ginevra de' Benci, the inspiration for one of Leonardo da Vinci's earliest masterpieces. The young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy family, Ginevra longs to share her poetry and participate in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence but is trapped in an arranged marriage in a society dictated by men. The arrival of the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers. Bembo chooses Ginevra as his Platonic muse and commissions a portrait of her by a young Leonardo da Vinci. "
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Girl at War
Girl at War by Sara Novic
Setting: Croatia
"Zagreb, summer of 1991. Ten-year-old Ana Jurić is a carefree tomboy who runs the streets of Croatia's capital with her best friend, Luka, takes care of her baby sister, Rahela, and idolizes her father. But as civil war breaks out across Yugoslavia, soccer games and school lessons are supplanted by sniper fire and air raid drills. 


When tragedy suddenly strikes, Ana is lost to a world of guerilla warfare and child soldiers; a daring escape plan to America becomes her only chance for survival. Ten years later Ana is a college student in New York. She's been hiding her past from her boyfriend, her friends, and most especially herself. Haunted by the events that forever changed her family, she returns alone to Croatia, where she must rediscover the place that was once her home and search for the ghosts of those she's lost."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Secrets of Jin-shei (Jin-Shei, #1)The Secrets of Jin-shei by Alma Alexander
Setting: China
"A sweeping epic set in medieval China; it is the story of a group of women, the Jin-Shei sisterhood, who form a uniquely powerful circle that transcends class and social custom. They are bound together by a declaration of loyalty that transcends all other vows, even those with the gods, by their own secret language, passed from mother to daughter, by the knowledge that some of them will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice to enable others to fulfil their destiny."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository


Penelope's Daughter
Penelope's Daughter by Laurel Corona
Setting: Ancient Greece
"The award-winning author of The Four Seasons retells The Odyssey from the point of view of Odysseus and Penelope's daughter."
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository







Have you read any of these books? What books set outside of the US do you want to read?


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12 comments:

  1. The first one is going on my to-read list now! Thanks

    Lisa @ https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-take-place-in-another-country/

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    1. Awesome, I hope you like it! It's one of those that I always forget is on my TBR on Goodreads, but I really want to pick it up soon!

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  2. Nice twist on the topic, though I have to admit that I haven't heard about any of these books. But from the descriptions that you have given, they look interesting :) I hope you get to read these soon :)

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

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  3. I want to read Jamaica Inn - I've read two other novels by Daphne du Maurier and really enjoyed them.

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    1. Same here! I've really liked du Maurier's work, so I'm hoping this is just as good.

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  4. The Glimmer Palace looks good, and I haven't read Daphne du Maurier, yet!! Nice list!
    http://justmeandmyblogreviews.blogspot.com/2018/03/top-ten-tuesday-10-books-that-take.html

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    1. Thanks! I know, Michel Faber and Sarah Waters are some of my favorite authors also, so I just knew I have to read The Glimmer Palace! I hope you have a chance to read Daphne du Maurier, she is fantastic.

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  5. Oooh this is a great list! I haven't read any of these, actually, but The Glimmer Palace and Bohemian Gospel both sound REALLY good, I need to check those out, thanks for sharing them!

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    1. Thanks! I am so intrigued by those two, I really hope to pick them up soon, and I hope you enjoy them as well if you read them!

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  6. I've had Da Vinci's Tiger on my TBR for ages, but still haven't read it! Jamaica Inn has a super gorgeous cover that's making me intrigued, too.

    - Aimee @ Aimee, Always

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    1. I'm in the same situation for Da Vinci's Tiger--I really need to get around to actually reading it.
      I'm in love with that cover for Jamiaca Inn. <3

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  7. I've seen Hammer's book at the library - I'll have to give it a shot. :)

    Lauren @ Always Me

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