Last year I participated in Rose City Reader’s European Reading Challenge and I really enjoyed it. Although I reached my goal of reading at least 5 books for this challenge, in the end reading 17, I did not “visit” every European country on the list. So, I am back at it again this year and attempting to travel to some more countries through the books I read.
This challenge is back now for its 10th anniversary and, as usual, there are various levels at which participants can join, and a Jet Setter prize for the person who visits the most countries. The idea of the challenge is to read books by authors from European countries, or books which are set in different European countries. (Countries that count as Europe are the list of 50 sovereign states which are, at least partly, geographically in Europe and/or are members of international European organisations).
Once again, I have decided to participate at the Five Star level, meaning that I will be hoping to read at least 5 books for this challenge this year. I already have a working TBR list, mostly of books that I didn’t get round to reading last year. But there are also various countries for which I have yet to find a book, and I will be scouring other blogs and bookstagram (in particular Sabine’s Literary World) for inspiration.
A few books on the TBR this year include:
The Painting, by Alison Booth (Hungary)
The Lady in Gold, by Anne-Marie O’Connor (Austria)
300 Days of Sun, by Deborah Lawrenson (Portugal)
Circus of Wonders, by Elizabeth Macneal (Ukraine)
The Deathless Girls, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Romania)
Let me know if you have any obscure European book suggestions!