SqueakyChu's Global Author Challenge

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YOUR COMMENTS ARE INVITED!

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Here's my map:

(I killed this map because it was getting too many errors and was too hard to update)

Next I'll add the books with authors from various countries. I'll base the country on the author's birthplace. I'll let you know the author's birthplace (if I can figure out which city) with each book.

I'll set this challenge for 50 books - each from a different country. Maybe I'll increase my challenge number later. I'll see how it goes. I'll only use books read in 2009 or later.

NORTH AMERICA:

Canada:
1. Crow Lake - Mary Lawson - This is a lovingly told story of a family in crisis, living in the rural north of Ontario. There is special empasis on a brother-sister relationship. The story has a mysterious, edgy feel to it, a characteristic which may compel a reader to finish this book faster than anticipated (like me!). The author was born in southwestern Ontario.

United States
2. Loon: A Marine Story - Jack McLean - Many years after the Viet Nam war, the author revisits his time in boot camp, Viet Nam, and home again as a veteran. The author was born in Huntington, New York.

Mexico
3. Gaby Brimmer - Gaby Brimmer - Co-written with Elena Poniatowska, this book by Mexican-born Gabriela Brimmer chronicles Gaby's life as a person living with cerebral palsy. Gaby goes on to become a writer, poet, and activist in the fight for disabled people's rights.

4.

SOUTH AMERICA:

Argentina:
1. The Moldavian Pimp - Edgardo Cozarinsky - This is a sad but true story of Jewish pimps and prostitutes which comes out in personal papers of an old man who dies. The author was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Uruguay
2. Miracle in the Andes - Nando Parrado - This is the true life story of survival after the plane crash in the Andes Mountains which killed most members of a soccer team. The author was born in Montevideo, Uruguay.

3.

EUROPE:

Austria
1. April in Paris - Michael Wallner - This book is about a German soldier, translator for a Nazi torturer, in Paris during world War II. Its author was born in Graz, Austria.

Croatia:
2. Frida's Bed -Slavenka Drakulic - Another story about the fascinating life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The author was born in Rijeka, (former) Yugoslavia.

Germany
3. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka - A story of two sisters dealing with a father attempting to help a fellow Urainian while assuaging his own lonliness. The author was born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany.

Ireland:
4. Brooklyn - Colm Toibin - This is the story of an Irish girl who is given the opportunity to work in Brooklyn, New York. The author was born in Enniscorthy County, Wexford, Ireland.

Netherland
5. Under the Skin - Micahel Faber - A hitchiker will meet an unfortunate fate in this thriller. The author was born in The Hague, Netherlands

Norway:
6. To Siberia - Per Petterson - This book is about a brother and sister living a hard scrabble life in Denmark. The author was born in Oslo, Norway.

Poland:
7. Rat - Andrzej Zaniewski - This is a facinating, albeit off-putting to some (but I love it!), story about the life of a rat seen through the eyes of a male rat. The author was born in Warsaw, Poland.

Romania
8. A Mad Desire to Dance - Elie Wiesel - A man explores with his therapist the reason for his madness. The author was born in Sighet, Transylvania, Kingdom of Romania.

Scotland
9. Marabou Stork Nightmares - Irvine Welsh - An injured young man, in a coma, has three levels of consciousness. The author was born in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Serbia:
10. Gotz and Meyer - David Albahari - An aging literature teacher reminisces about lost members of his family tree and two German soldiers who helped transport them to their deaths. The author was born in Peć, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Spain:
11. The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón - The author was born in Barcelona, Spain, although he now lives in the United States. An unsuccessful author is given a second chance to succeed in this gothic tale of books and writing.

Sweden
12. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson - An elderly man would like to know who murdered his great niece many years ago. The author of this book was born in Skelleftehamn, near the city of Skellefteå, in northern Sweden.

Switzerland:
13. Homo Faber - Max Faber - An engineer unintentionally encounters his grown daughter while travelling. The author was born in Zurich, Switzerland.

Ukraine:
14. David Golder - Irene Nemirovsky - A rich Jewish businessman wishes to retain his wealth and power despite a bad heart. The author was born in Kiev, Ukraine.

United Kingdom:
15. Being Dead - Jim Crace - This is the before an after story of a couple murdered at an isolated beach area. The author was born in St. Alban's, Hertfordshire, UK.

16.

ASIA:

Iran:
1. Chicken With Plums - Marjane Satrapi - This is the story of Marjane’s great uncle Nasser Ali Khan, a musician trapped in a marriage to a woman he did not love and father of four children. The author was born in Rasht, Iran.

Israel:
2. The Girl on the Fridge: Stories - Etgar Keret - This book is of very short, bizarre stories. In this collection, the best story is "Super Glue." Better yet, look for another of his books called The Nimrod Flipout, which I liked better than this book. The author was born in Tel Aviv.

Japan:
3. The Master of Go - Yasunari Kawabata - In this novel, the Master of Go (a strategy board game) competes in his last championship game. The author, born in Osaka, was the winner of the Nobel prize for Literature in 1968.

Lebabon
4. The Story of Zahra - Hanan Al-Shaykh - A Lebanese woman tried to find marriage and sexual fulfillment. The author was born in Lebabn in 1945.

Pakistan
5. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamis - A Pakistani man seated in a cafe explains his experiences in the United States before and after 9/11. The author was born in Pakistan.

South Korea:
6. Tongue - Kyung-Ran Jo - The break-up of a live-in love relationship between a cooking school owner and her architect boyfriend has some unsettling consequences in this author's first novel to be translated into English. The author was born in Seoul.

Sri Lanka
7. Reef - Romesh Gunesekera - A boy servant moves up to the roll of a cook for a wealthy man. The author of this book was born in Colombo, the largest city and former capital of Sri Lanka.

8.

AFRICA:

Egypt
1. Wedding Song - Naguib Mahfouz - This is a novel that tells the same story from four different perspectives. Its 1988 Nobel prize winning author (prize for literature) was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1911.

Ethiopia
2. The Tennis Partner - Abraham Verghese - This novel has a doctor in an El Paso hospital befriending a medical student based on their mutual love of tennis. Cocaine addiction troubles their relationship. The author was born in Ethiopia to parents from Kerala in south India.

Morocco:
3. Secret Son - Laila Lalami - The author, born and raised in Morocco, writes about a mother and son who live in a poor area of Casablanca and the son's dreams and fantasies.

Sierra Leone:
4. A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah - The author was a boy soldier in his country. He was born in Mattru Jong, Bonthe District, Sierra Leone.

South Africa:
5. Wearing Dad's Head - Barry Yourgrau - Now a U.S. citizen, but born in South Africa, this author presents a book of very short and highly bizarre fiction to his readers.

Zimbabwe:
6. Zenzele - J. Nozipo Maraire - In this novel, a mother writes a letter to her grown daughter who is going abroad to study. It's a warm letter full of the things the mother has learned and wishes to impart to her daughter. The author, a nuerosurgeon practicing in the United States, was born in Zimbabwe.

7.

AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC:

Australia:
1. Sorry - Gail Jones - A young girl lives the life of an outcast as her parents ignore her and her schoolmates ostracize her. The author of this book was born in Harvey, Western Australia.

2.

Reaching my 20% mark soon...

I got lucky. The book I won from Early Reviewer, Secret Son, fits right into my global challenge. When I'm finished this book, I'll be 20% through this challenge.

What a great idea! "Around the World in Fifty Books!"

The Master of Go is the last novel I read -- that was almost three years ago. I am too busy writing to read at present.

After your trip is over and you can read something on/of Japan by someone not born there, check out Mad In Translation for the neglected tradition of comic waka (kyoka). I would like to know more about similar traditions in other cultures and maybe you can help me there. . .

Ooh! Oooh! I just won an Early Reviewer book by a South Korean author. Tongue: A Novel fits right in with this challenge. Yay!

Another score! A book by Norwegian author Per Petterson. I'm now reading To Siberia. I *love* LT Early Reviewers - especially when I win a book. This is a good one, too!

I picked up the audio version of The Angel's Game by The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, only now learning that the book I'm reading is the prequel to Shadow of the Wind. I have that book as well. I lucked out to be starting it in the right order. :)

I have Crow Lake floating around somewhere. I'll have to find it. Zenzele also looks interesting.

I like your idea of a 50 book limited challenge. You won't be hunting around for a book set in, say, the Republic of Kiribati or the Cook Islands. I look forward to reading your thread.

You won't be hunting around for a book set in, say, the Republic of Kiribati or the Cook Islands

LOL!! ...and I'm glad of it!

I'm half-way through this challenge! :)

26 out of 50 books!

What did you think of A Mad Desire to Dance? I love Elie Weisel, but had mixed feelings about that one.

> 16

A Mad Desire to Dance was really a tough book to get through. I wanted to quit very often while reading it. I forced my way through to the end, but it was such an effort. The therapist copped out on her patient; the ending was too quick. Parts of the book were good, but I don't like having to work at enjoying a book.

Hehe! I just looked at both of our our star reviews of that book. Both of us gave Wiesel's book lots of stars, but we're now saying that, in hindsight, we perhaps didn't enjoy the book as much as we originally thought we did!

#17> Yeah, retrospection can be a bear, eh?

It can. :)

I added a ticker. I really needed to see my progress tracked more visually. :)

Oops! I almost forgot that this challenge was still live! :)