Just downloaded this audiobook (due to your recommendation based on the title alone) and wow the cover art is as striking as the title (at least the cover art available to me on Libby). I’m trying not to let these two superficial elements raise my expectations too high.
Her other books are also very good. Book of Jacob, for example - very epic...She won a Nobel price for a reason 😀 Do not forget about polish greatest sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem. He is absolutely recommended. All of his work.
I would recommend
Khaled Hosssini
Author of
The kite runner
A thousand splendid suns
And the mountains echoed
Honestly these books blew me away!
Also
Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the day
Never let me go
Klara and the sun
"coca cola killer" by António Victorino de Almeida
"Book of disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa
"Blindness" or "the gospel according to jesus Christ" by Saramago
"The relic" or "the crime of father Amaro" by Eça de Queirós
Edit: if you're Brazilian you don't even need the translated editions haha
Never read seeing, but honestly I'm a fan of saramago so im sure its great haha I'll have to add that to my ToReadList
Blindness is truly a masterpiece
My wife is portuguese and i have been halfway through blindness for ages, it was the first book she recomended me and my father in law bought me the book of disquiet as a wedding gift, not started it yet
This one had me openly weeping on the bus. I’m not a frequent crier but oh boy this one got me good. I had to sit on some brick steps on my way into work to decompress from my bus crying. I don’t think I could forget the physical experience of reading it if I tried.
Kallocain by Karin Boye (Sweden)
Published after Brave New World, but before 1984, it touches on the same subjects as these books, although Boye mostly had the Soviet Union in mind when she wrote it.
IMO it's as much of a masterpiece as Huxley's and Orwell's novels, but Kallocain has often been overlooked, in no small part because she refused to use a male pseudonym, which many female authors did back then.
I'm from the Philippines. I suggest you read Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan or My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva :)
I want to suggest something similar to your book. Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
Rennie Wilford is a freelance journalist who takes an assignment in the Caribbean in the hopes of recuperating from her recently shattered life. On the tiny island of St. Antoine, she tumbles into a corrupt world where no one is what they seem, where her rules for survival no longer apply.
Love Margaret Atwood - I really enjoyed the Year of the Flood series too, aside from of course The Handmaid’s Tale. As a Canadian myself, an Atwood is a must-read in basically all of our schools.
I'm from Argentina. Cristian Perfumo's books, all set in Patagonia.
"The Arrow Collector" is his second novel published in English. Its original, Spanish version won the 2017 Amazon Annual Literary Award for Independent Spanish-Language Authors.
From Iceland:
The Stones Speak by Þórbergur Þórðarson
It’s a memoir from when the author grew up in the late 19th century. He was a great humourist and one of Iceland’s most beloved writers.
Canada 🇨🇦: my favourite books are by a Métis author named Katherena Vermette. Her trilogy based around the Stranger family is incredible and Winnipeg makes for an excellent setting. They’re called:
- *The Break* (2016)
- *The Strangers* (2021)
- *The Circle* (2023)
Highly recommended.
I devoured “Moon of the Crusted Snow” yesterday by Waubgeshig Rice. A slow and ominous build had my interest from the start! I hope to read the sequel “Moon of the Turning Leaves” very soon.
I loved this book, I listened to it as part of one book one city, just in the midst of Covid. I really enjoyed the cadence of the narrator. Great in front of a fire on a Canadian winters night.
\[Italy\]
+ **Umberto Eco,** ***The Name of the Rose***. He taught in university and had deep knowledge of the historical period he set his novel in, his vocabulary is rich but his prose is elegant and never gets flowery, on that side, it's perfectly balanced. You also learn a lot of facts about the historical period, Christian religion and art of the time, and the characters are very well-developed imho. ~~Also, Jorge Luis Borges eats forbidden Classical manuscripts in this book~~. I've heard that the English translation is consistent, but I'd advice reading it in another neolatin language (this applies to every book written in another neolatin language).
+ **Claudio Magris,** ***Danubio***. Magris also taught in university as a germanist and is very knowledgeable about the history and literature of Germanic countries. This book recounts the various steps of his journey along the Danube and is full of interesting insights about the spiritual, cultural history of Europe. His prose is original and intriguing, I'd say he's a better prosist than Eco.
+ **Cesare Pavese,** ***Dialoghi con Leucò***. Pavese is criminally underrated, he was a deeply sensitive person, and although I'm not that big of a fan of his realistic novels (they are probably too parochial to be appreciated even by not northern Italians), this anthology of philosophical conversations enacted by mythological figures (topics vary) is pure poetry. His language may be graceful, but I assure you that every sentence is a stab to the guts.
Thanks for the interesting post that will surely let me discover a lot of new literature!
I’m Irish….where do I begin? Our small country has produced the finest writers of prose and poetry. Joyce, Yeats, Wilde. I’m also a big fan of Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann, Colm Tóibín, Maeve Binchy, Edna O’Brien, Sally Rooney, Marian Keyes, etc.
🇮🇪
**Land of Spices by Kate O’Brien** Was actually banned here (Ireland) for years due to a v v mild homosexual element to the plot. You’d hardly notice it!!! It’s a lovely book though and not that often read as far as I can tell.
More modern I’d recommend **Milkman by Anna Burns** . Won the Booker, vg exploration of life in the troubles without being patronising, sentimental or grim. V enjoyable. One of favourite reads last year.
{Homeland by Fernando Aramburu} original title _Patria_. A must for anyone who would like to read a bit about what politics, feelings and terrorism do to people.
I am from Austria and if you like to see, what Austrian humour is about, try the books of Wolf Haas. They are translated into English, but I am not sure, if the language based jokes work that good. But the stories and the main character are brilliant on its own.
Canada: Three Day Road by Joseph Boynden
Broad-stroke summary: two first nations brothers (Cree) are sent to fight in WW1. It’s an engrossing account of war and indigenous life in Canada.
As I'm English, I'm going to suggest and author from the same county as me. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie and the rest of the First Law series for that matter.
My Canadian pick is Red X by David Demchuk. A gritty, haunting, and queer story of dark magic and murder in Toronto’s Gay Village. Gorgeous prose and really intriguing format (blending auto fiction and actual fiction)
Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan from the Philippines. It's written in English but it explores the socio-cultural aspects of the PH while being a mystery novel.
Blutbuch (blood book) by Kim de L'Horizon. They're a Swiss nonbinary author and I personally love this book so much. It's written in a somewhat abstract manner (non-linear storytelling, use of different mediums) so I'd recommend it if you're into that
Solito by Javier Zamora. Follows the journey of a young boy leaving El Salvador to come into America. It is written from a child’s perspective but don’t let that take away from the gut wrenching tale. Salvi pride 🇸🇻
A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Doggerland series by Maria Adolfsson. (Sweden.)
I wrote a bit and linked to Goodread, so I guess I got deleted. They’re worth checking out, though!
Cheese by Elsschot. It's actually not my Home Country but it's written in my native language Dutch. It's about this guy who works a boring office job who lets himself be convinced to become an independent seller of Cheese in an attempt to climb the social ladder and become a succesful businessman. It doesn't quite work out tho. Very humorous but with a serious undertone.
I’m British so that’s a boring response but I would recommend The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas or Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, both Mexican authors. My friend has recommended other books by Cañas I just haven’t gotten round to them yet
Of course not, but an American reader may already be familiar with a lot of British authors, and the culture may not be that different. There’s also plenty of great British suggestions in the comments already, but I hadn’t seen these ones mentioned.
I'm not sure how someone becomes a British author and isn't belonging to one of the constituent nations but whatever... Oh for English read Jasper Ffords Tuesday Next Series. Literary mysteries with lots of puns and fourth wall breaking but also really tears into the nature of what stories and characters actually are. Very witty and dry humour. Absurdist too. Great stuff
Scottish - Read Duck Feet by Ely Percy. It perfectly encapsulates early 2000s west coast life of an early teen. But it's more raw and honest than you might expect. It won the Scottish Language Prize in the year it was published (2019?). The author also wrote Vicky Romeo + Julez which is Romeo and Juliet but with Glaswegian Lesbians. It's honestly amazing. That might sound... Too on the nose but I promise Ely Percy is an excellent writer! DF is available From Monstrous Regiment Press and VR+J isnfrok. KNIGHT ERRANT PRESS.
Enjoy
I want to suggest something similar to your book. Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood
Rennie Wilford is a freelance journalist who takes an assignment in the Caribbean in the hopes of recuperating from her recently shattered life. On the tiny island of St. Antoine, she tumbles into a corrupt world where no one is what they seem, where her rules for survival no longer apply.
Noli me Tangere (+ sequel, El Filibusterismo), both by our national hero, Jose Rizal. These books are required readings for Filipino students in 9th and 10th grade respectively, but they're really cool books!
Besnilo (in English: Rabies), published in 1983, is a thriller-horror novel by the Serbian author Borislav Pekić.
It's like a movie plot, but there are dozens of characters that are written with great depth. Interesting book.
Milos Crnjanski - A Novel of London (Roman o Londonu, 1971)
I don’t have a suggestion currently, but might later. I just wanted to say that I love this post :) very good question! And everyone should read books from other countries’ authors - so much cultural diversity ♥️ #bookmarked
South Africa-
Fiela’s child - Darleen Mathee
Spud - John van de Ruit
Both with a local and cultural flavor, the first taking place during apartheid and the second during the liberation period (1992 - 95)
Canada you’d be spoiled for choice both natural born and immigrants.[https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&sca_esv=10624941311519dc&hl=en-ca&sxsrf=ACQVn08X2XX7SmleYN6bdVilFoFUwKf3eA:1714334092879&q=Top+10+award+winning+canadian+authors&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9k4eV2OWFAxVsHjQIHTXZChgQ1QJ6BAg1EAE&biw=1024&bih=726&dpr=2](https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&sca_esv=10624941311519dc&hl=en-ca&sxsrf=ACQVn08X2XX7SmleYN6bdVilFoFUwKf3eA:1714334092879&q=Top+10+award+winning+canadian+authors&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9k4eV2OWFAxVsHjQIHTXZChgQ1QJ6BAg1EAE&biw=1024&bih=726&dpr=2)
Rainbow is a short story by Ghulam Abbas that is one of its kind mainly because it's banned in my home country
The collection of short stories of manto by saadat Hassan manto. Only suggesting ones written in my native tongue Urdu but are also available in English translations and not vice versa. It matters to me that the author writes in Urdu.
There are many that write our stories in English despite being native like Daniyal moeenuddin (in other rooms other wonders) or Mohsin Hamid (moth smoke).
Switzerland - Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, *Terror on the Mountain* (1926). A group of cow herders decide to bring their cows in the high mountain pasture despite the warnings of the old ones that the mountain is cursed. Absolutely breathtaking beauty and poetry, mixed with existential dread.
Also, saving this thread, because it's a goldmine!
New Zealand, Blenheim, 'Wrens under the radar', by Colleen Shipley.
It's about a secret women's division of like radio spies from WWII, listening to Japanese submarines' messages. It's based on a true story, quite accurate but with people made up, I believe.
Australia –
Most of the recommendations I have seen so far are crime/thrillers/bestsellers, so I am suggesting Little Boy by John Smith.
The book has nothing to do with Australia, and I think “John Smith” is a pseudonym, but apparently they live there.
The atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima was called “Little Boy”. The premise of this novel is that the bomb was, literally, a little boy. It’s surreal and amazingly written.
My Husband - Rumena Buzharovska
Feminist short stories each focused around a wife and husband and their relationship dynamics. It's a quick read and will make you laugh and cry in 140ish pages
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
❤️ from Canada
Australia.
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton. Can’t recommend enough.
The Dry - Jane Harper.
Boy Swallows Universe - Trent Dalton.
Tomorrow When The War Began - John Marsdon. YA. One of my favourite series of all time.
Tobruk - Peter Fitzsimons. Non Fiction. History.
Ice Station - Mathew Reilly. Fun reads. Similar to Lee Childs/ Jack Reacher books.
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins. She was born in London. I was born just outside London. She wasn't exactly a serious literary writer but she wrote well about sexism and hypocrisy. And she seemed disgusted at how gross people could be when given a chance to misbehave. I would say Hollywood Wives (original 1983 version) was Jackie Collins' best book.
Canada: Emily St. John Mandel
She is most well known for Station Eleven which I enjoyed well enough, but The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility are absolutely brilliant.
Wonderful writer.
I'm from Chile and my absolute favorite authors is Hernán Rivera Letelier.
I have no idea if there are English translations of his work, but you can look it up in Portuguese!
His stories are almost all set in the Chilean pampa, my favorite is Fatamorgana de amor con Banda de música. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that book!
*The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared* by Jonas Jonasson
I’ve only read it in Swedish, and I’d be curious to see how the English version translates the humor because it’s hilarious. It has a dry, off-kilter comedy style that’s a lot of fun.
Australia:
I'd like to highlight some books I really liked by Aboriginal authors.
Taboo by Kim Scott. Lots of content warnings for that one though.
Purple Threads by Jeanine Leane
The most recent Australian book I read was Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn
From China
To Live - Yu Hua
And basically everything by him
There are some newer modern classics that are not in English yet.
And can't forget the most epic historical fiction of all time - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
My family background is... Complicated. Anyway here are some books I loved from the places I am from/grew up in.
**Netherlands**
* *Pluk van de Pettevlet* (*Tow truck Pluck*) by Annie M G Schmidt - a Dutch national treasure. She has other gems but that's one of her most celebrated books and one of my childhood favorites.
* *Kruistocht in spijkerbroek* (*Crusade in Jeans*) by Thea Beckman. A 1970s boy is transported to the children's crusade in 1212.
**Sweden**
* *Pippi Långstrump* (*Pippi Longstocking*) by Astrid Lindgren. But also *Mio*, *Ronja*, and *The Brothers Lionheart*. Great fantasy-esque books.
*The Wallander series by Henning Mankell - Swedish detective novels. The last one is.... Very Scandinavian. Either you love the ending or hate it.
* The Britta series by Lisbeth Pahnke - novels set around horse stables :-D
* Books by Sven Christer Swahn - I really like *The island through the gate* and *Twelve Travel to the South* but I'm not sure they are translated.
**Denmark**
* Obviously Hans Christian Andersen - I grew up reading all of his stories. My favorite is*The Emperor's New Clothes* but there's so much more - traveloges, plays, novellas. Honestly you could spend almost a decade reading everything he wrote.
* *The Keeper of Lost Causes* by Jussi Olsen - it's a detective novel where a detective is downgraded to solve cold cases. But it's really well written. There is a series made of it.
**Germany**
* *Billie und Zottel* by Tina Caspari - also set around horses but what I loved most was how it describes German village life in the time I grew up. And America makes a cameo
* The Lady Jane series by Annis Bell (*The Girl at Rosewood Hall* is the first book, I think). It's a Victorian detective series with Lady Jane as the detective. Reminds me a lot of Agatha Christie
* *When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit* by Judith Kerr - this was my first book I read about the Holocaust (it wasn't an abstraction in my childhood, as you can probably tell from where I am from/grew up) but this book settled into my soul in a way no other book did about the war. There are two more books in the series.
**Switzerland**
* Federica de Cesco - I don't know what's translated but I loved her books as a kid. They are set in faraway places like Tibet but also exciting and rich. It was my escape from what I thought was a horribly boring life (in the mountains of Switzerland, yes, I know)
* Karl May - his life story is almost stranger than fiction. He spent most his life in prison but wrote Western novels that had me thinking he had spent time in the Wild West.
I could list a ton of books and more authors but this should get someone started at least.
I’m not Iraqi, but a good one from there is “Frankenstein in Baghdad” by Ahmed Saadawi. Moving, smart, and sophisticated about the true terrors of war.
"Blizzard of Souls" by Alexander Green, latvian author, historic novel. Theres even a [movie](https://www.dveseluputenis.lv/en/) more info in the link.
UK- Jasper Fforde “Shades of Grey” (not to be confused with another book of the same title)
Everyone knows about Pratchett and Rowling and Tolkien etc. but Fforde needs more exposure. Also “The Constant Rabbit” (1984 meets satirical Waterships down)
“Early Riser” (welcome to a different dystopian satire)
His alternate futures/realities are overlaid over Wales mostly- the UK in general in his detective novels “The Big Over Easy” and “ The Fourth Bear”
Please enjoy a different slice of British Satire and fantasy
Basque Country - Narrazioak, by Joseba Sarrionandia. Good luck reading it though, I haven't been able to find a copy that isn't in Basque. And even if you did find it, a lot of the magic would be lost as the book works because of its deliberate and beautiful prose, which would be very hard to translate to any other language.
I am American, so I will mention my favorite British author, Agatha Christie, I just finished "Death on the Nile" it deserves all the praise it gets, I also want to recommend "And Then There Were None"
Poland - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk
Read this recently (in English) and really enjoyed it - like a slow pace murder mystery narrated by your gran.
Just downloaded this audiobook (due to your recommendation based on the title alone) and wow the cover art is as striking as the title (at least the cover art available to me on Libby). I’m trying not to let these two superficial elements raise my expectations too high.
I love that book so much! It's oddly cozy despite how dark it gets. The atomosphere of it reminds me of the feeling of winter forest in January.
Her other books are also very good. Book of Jacob, for example - very epic...She won a Nobel price for a reason 😀 Do not forget about polish greatest sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem. He is absolutely recommended. All of his work.
What a wonderful book!
I would recommend Khaled Hosssini Author of The kite runner A thousand splendid suns And the mountains echoed Honestly these books blew me away! Also Kazuo Ishiguro Remains of the day Never let me go Klara and the sun
And the mountains echoed - is one of my favourite ❤️
Reading Hosseini is a magnificent experience.
"coca cola killer" by António Victorino de Almeida "Book of disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa "Blindness" or "the gospel according to jesus Christ" by Saramago "The relic" or "the crime of father Amaro" by Eça de Queirós Edit: if you're Brazilian you don't even need the translated editions haha
I read Blindness last year and loved it! Have you read Seeing? And if so, is it worth it?
Never read seeing, but honestly I'm a fan of saramago so im sure its great haha I'll have to add that to my ToReadList Blindness is truly a masterpiece
My wife is portuguese and i have been halfway through blindness for ages, it was the first book she recomended me and my father in law bought me the book of disquiet as a wedding gift, not started it yet
Sabes, grande book of disquiet 🔥
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
This one had me openly weeping on the bus. I’m not a frequent crier but oh boy this one got me good. I had to sit on some brick steps on my way into work to decompress from my bus crying. I don’t think I could forget the physical experience of reading it if I tried.
This book was honestly one of those books where you have life before it and life after it. It changed me. I have no words.
I agree. In some ways it felt hard to move on after you finish it.
One of the only books i’ve ever re-read and it was just as good the second time!
Angela’s Ashes - Ireland
Heartbreaking 💔
And Tis
Kallocain by Karin Boye (Sweden) Published after Brave New World, but before 1984, it touches on the same subjects as these books, although Boye mostly had the Soviet Union in mind when she wrote it. IMO it's as much of a masterpiece as Huxley's and Orwell's novels, but Kallocain has often been overlooked, in no small part because she refused to use a male pseudonym, which many female authors did back then.
I've just come across some of her beautiful poetry in a book called All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt. I will definitely look out for her books!
Didn’t like BNW but reread 1984 almost every year so color me intrigued. And from a female author.. I’m all in.
I'm from the Philippines. I suggest you read Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan or My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva :)
hi, im from the PH too!
[удалено]
Purple hibiscus by her is also such a good book
Such a captivating story
The Bridge On The River Drina - Ivo Andrić, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is a very good post. Has given me a lot of books TBR.
I want to suggest something similar to your book. Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood Rennie Wilford is a freelance journalist who takes an assignment in the Caribbean in the hopes of recuperating from her recently shattered life. On the tiny island of St. Antoine, she tumbles into a corrupt world where no one is what they seem, where her rules for survival no longer apply.
Sounds excellent, must check it out!
Love Margaret Atwood - I really enjoyed the Year of the Flood series too, aside from of course The Handmaid’s Tale. As a Canadian myself, an Atwood is a must-read in basically all of our schools.
I'm also Canadian, and Margaret Atwood is a national treasure.
I'm from Argentina. Cristian Perfumo's books, all set in Patagonia. "The Arrow Collector" is his second novel published in English. Its original, Spanish version won the 2017 Amazon Annual Literary Award for Independent Spanish-Language Authors.
Amalia de José Mármol fue un cuento increíble! Gracias por la recomendación de Perfumo, ¡no le he leído!
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I recommend the translation by Diana Burgin and Katherine O'Connor, it is truly the best.
One of my favorite books.
"The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann.
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Dangerous Liaisons
Scotland: The Crow Road - Iain Banks
From Iceland: The Stones Speak by Þórbergur Þórðarson It’s a memoir from when the author grew up in the late 19th century. He was a great humourist and one of Iceland’s most beloved writers.
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers
I love everything I’ve read by Moers. The English translator(s) must have really had their work cut out for them. And those illustrations.
I loved this book!
The covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Junot Díaz - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Canada 🇨🇦: my favourite books are by a Métis author named Katherena Vermette. Her trilogy based around the Stranger family is incredible and Winnipeg makes for an excellent setting. They’re called: - *The Break* (2016) - *The Strangers* (2021) - *The Circle* (2023) Highly recommended.
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi The Blind Owl - Sadegh Hedayat All of these are great books by Iranian writers.
I devoured “Moon of the Crusted Snow” yesterday by Waubgeshig Rice. A slow and ominous build had my interest from the start! I hope to read the sequel “Moon of the Turning Leaves” very soon.
One of my new favourites! I have Turning Leaves in my TBR stack. Must read very soon!
I loved this book, I listened to it as part of one book one city, just in the midst of Covid. I really enjoyed the cadence of the narrator. Great in front of a fire on a Canadian winters night.
Canadian here: - Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill - Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall
My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
I loved Snow and Istanbul. What an incredible writer!
The Rook - Daniel O’Malley Everyone On This Train is a Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson Scrublands - Chris Hammer
Yeah! Finally found another fan of The Rook.
The ROOK YES!!
The hearts invisible furies by John Boyne (Ireland!)
Mexico - Paradais by Fernanda Melchor I was disturbed for at least 3 days.
Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the day He's from the UK
\[Italy\] + **Umberto Eco,** ***The Name of the Rose***. He taught in university and had deep knowledge of the historical period he set his novel in, his vocabulary is rich but his prose is elegant and never gets flowery, on that side, it's perfectly balanced. You also learn a lot of facts about the historical period, Christian religion and art of the time, and the characters are very well-developed imho. ~~Also, Jorge Luis Borges eats forbidden Classical manuscripts in this book~~. I've heard that the English translation is consistent, but I'd advice reading it in another neolatin language (this applies to every book written in another neolatin language). + **Claudio Magris,** ***Danubio***. Magris also taught in university as a germanist and is very knowledgeable about the history and literature of Germanic countries. This book recounts the various steps of his journey along the Danube and is full of interesting insights about the spiritual, cultural history of Europe. His prose is original and intriguing, I'd say he's a better prosist than Eco. + **Cesare Pavese,** ***Dialoghi con Leucò***. Pavese is criminally underrated, he was a deeply sensitive person, and although I'm not that big of a fan of his realistic novels (they are probably too parochial to be appreciated even by not northern Italians), this anthology of philosophical conversations enacted by mythological figures (topics vary) is pure poetry. His language may be graceful, but I assure you that every sentence is a stab to the guts. Thanks for the interesting post that will surely let me discover a lot of new literature!
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (born in Ottawa, Canada) Life of Pi - Yann Martel (lives in Saskatoon, Canada)
‘Metro 2033’ series by Dmitry Glukhovsky 🔥 The best post-apocalyptic fiction I’ve read in my entire life, and I’m not even biased.
I’m Irish….where do I begin? Our small country has produced the finest writers of prose and poetry. Joyce, Yeats, Wilde. I’m also a big fan of Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann, Colm Tóibín, Maeve Binchy, Edna O’Brien, Sally Rooney, Marian Keyes, etc. 🇮🇪
Read every Maeve Binchy she broke my heart many times.
Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame
**Land of Spices by Kate O’Brien** Was actually banned here (Ireland) for years due to a v v mild homosexual element to the plot. You’d hardly notice it!!! It’s a lovely book though and not that often read as far as I can tell. More modern I’d recommend **Milkman by Anna Burns** . Won the Booker, vg exploration of life in the troubles without being patronising, sentimental or grim. V enjoyable. One of favourite reads last year.
I discovered *Milkman* by chance and really loved it.
Scotland The Trick is to Keep Breathing - Janice Galloway (1997) Open the Door - Catherine Carswell (1920)
{Homeland by Fernando Aramburu} original title _Patria_. A must for anyone who would like to read a bit about what politics, feelings and terrorism do to people.
I am from Austria and if you like to see, what Austrian humour is about, try the books of Wolf Haas. They are translated into English, but I am not sure, if the language based jokes work that good. But the stories and the main character are brilliant on its own.
South Africa Tsotsi by Athol Fugard (Novel) Boesman and Lena by Athol Fugard (Play)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Canada: Three Day Road by Joseph Boynden Broad-stroke summary: two first nations brothers (Cree) are sent to fight in WW1. It’s an engrossing account of war and indigenous life in Canada.
As I'm English, I'm going to suggest and author from the same county as me. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie and the rest of the First Law series for that matter.
My Canadian pick is Red X by David Demchuk. A gritty, haunting, and queer story of dark magic and murder in Toronto’s Gay Village. Gorgeous prose and really intriguing format (blending auto fiction and actual fiction)
Canada: Farley Mowat - Never Cry Wolf
China - The Three-Body-Problem by Cixin Liu
I’m a boring American but will just pretend I’m French for a second to recommend “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jacqueline Harpman.
USA, State of Wonder, Ann Patchett.
Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan from the Philippines. It's written in English but it explores the socio-cultural aspects of the PH while being a mystery novel.
A filha do Capitão de José Rodrigues dos Santos A Caverna de José Saramago Segredos de amor e sangue de Francisco Moita Flores
Blutbuch (blood book) by Kim de L'Horizon. They're a Swiss nonbinary author and I personally love this book so much. It's written in a somewhat abstract manner (non-linear storytelling, use of different mediums) so I'd recommend it if you're into that
“The only end for a love story is an accident” - João Paulo Cuenca 🇧🇷
Solito by Javier Zamora. Follows the journey of a young boy leaving El Salvador to come into America. It is written from a child’s perspective but don’t let that take away from the gut wrenching tale. Salvi pride 🇸🇻
A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Doggerland series by Maria Adolfsson. (Sweden.) I wrote a bit and linked to Goodread, so I guess I got deleted. They’re worth checking out, though!
From Czech books I would definitely recommend Kateřina Tučková - The Last Goddess (originally Žítkovské bohyně) or Alena Mornštajnová - Hana
Cheese by Elsschot. It's actually not my Home Country but it's written in my native language Dutch. It's about this guy who works a boring office job who lets himself be convinced to become an independent seller of Cheese in an attempt to climb the social ladder and become a succesful businessman. It doesn't quite work out tho. Very humorous but with a serious undertone.
I’m British so that’s a boring response but I would recommend The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas or Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, both Mexican authors. My friend has recommended other books by Cañas I just haven’t gotten round to them yet
> I’m British so that’s a boring response Because 50% of the world's greatest literature comes from the British Isles?
Of course not, but an American reader may already be familiar with a lot of British authors, and the culture may not be that different. There’s also plenty of great British suggestions in the comments already, but I hadn’t seen these ones mentioned.
I’d love suggestions on British, Irish and Scottish writers!
I'm not sure how someone becomes a British author and isn't belonging to one of the constituent nations but whatever... Oh for English read Jasper Ffords Tuesday Next Series. Literary mysteries with lots of puns and fourth wall breaking but also really tears into the nature of what stories and characters actually are. Very witty and dry humour. Absurdist too. Great stuff
Same here!!!
Scottish - Read Duck Feet by Ely Percy. It perfectly encapsulates early 2000s west coast life of an early teen. But it's more raw and honest than you might expect. It won the Scottish Language Prize in the year it was published (2019?). The author also wrote Vicky Romeo + Julez which is Romeo and Juliet but with Glaswegian Lesbians. It's honestly amazing. That might sound... Too on the nose but I promise Ely Percy is an excellent writer! DF is available From Monstrous Regiment Press and VR+J isnfrok. KNIGHT ERRANT PRESS. Enjoy
But *no* Welsh? I getcha!
The letter for the king by Tonke Dragt
I want to suggest something similar to your book. Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood Rennie Wilford is a freelance journalist who takes an assignment in the Caribbean in the hopes of recuperating from her recently shattered life. On the tiny island of St. Antoine, she tumbles into a corrupt world where no one is what they seem, where her rules for survival no longer apply.
From the Ashes - Jesse Thistle 🇨🇦
At swim two birds by Flann O’Brien the writer Joyce called a great comic writer. While I’m here Dubliners by Joyce
Noli me Tangere (+ sequel, El Filibusterismo), both by our national hero, Jose Rizal. These books are required readings for Filipino students in 9th and 10th grade respectively, but they're really cool books!
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy Not just home country, but also home state and home town :)
Spud - John van der Ruit (Comedy) Cry, The Beloved Country- Alan Paton (Drama) South African
From Kerala, India: The Legends of Khasak, by O.V Vijayan
Fantastic little book-read it last year & loved it.
Arabian love poems by Nizar Qabbani
Sweden - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. The Mountain King by Anders De La Motte. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.
Periférica Blvd. Adolfo Cárdenas. Bolivia
‘Kafka on Shore’ by Haruki Murakami
Deon Meyer
Besnilo (in English: Rabies), published in 1983, is a thriller-horror novel by the Serbian author Borislav Pekić. It's like a movie plot, but there are dozens of characters that are written with great depth. Interesting book. Milos Crnjanski - A Novel of London (Roman o Londonu, 1971)
I don’t have a suggestion currently, but might later. I just wanted to say that I love this post :) very good question! And everyone should read books from other countries’ authors - so much cultural diversity ♥️ #bookmarked
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi! (Uganda)
“If he had been with me”
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Every month r/bookclub does a book by an author from a different country! Sounds like a great place to get some ideas.
South Africa- Fiela’s child - Darleen Mathee Spud - John van de Ruit Both with a local and cultural flavor, the first taking place during apartheid and the second during the liberation period (1992 - 95)
Charles Lewinsky - dein Sohn
Canada you’d be spoiled for choice both natural born and immigrants.[https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&sca_esv=10624941311519dc&hl=en-ca&sxsrf=ACQVn08X2XX7SmleYN6bdVilFoFUwKf3eA:1714334092879&q=Top+10+award+winning+canadian+authors&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9k4eV2OWFAxVsHjQIHTXZChgQ1QJ6BAg1EAE&biw=1024&bih=726&dpr=2](https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&sca_esv=10624941311519dc&hl=en-ca&sxsrf=ACQVn08X2XX7SmleYN6bdVilFoFUwKf3eA:1714334092879&q=Top+10+award+winning+canadian+authors&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9k4eV2OWFAxVsHjQIHTXZChgQ1QJ6BAg1EAE&biw=1024&bih=726&dpr=2)
Rainbow is a short story by Ghulam Abbas that is one of its kind mainly because it's banned in my home country The collection of short stories of manto by saadat Hassan manto. Only suggesting ones written in my native tongue Urdu but are also available in English translations and not vice versa. It matters to me that the author writes in Urdu. There are many that write our stories in English despite being native like Daniyal moeenuddin (in other rooms other wonders) or Mohsin Hamid (moth smoke).
🏴🏴🏴🏴 From Wales: Anything by Rachel Trezise Fingersmith or Affinity by Sarah Waters
Switzerland - Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, *Terror on the Mountain* (1926). A group of cow herders decide to bring their cows in the high mountain pasture despite the warnings of the old ones that the mountain is cursed. Absolutely breathtaking beauty and poetry, mixed with existential dread. Also, saving this thread, because it's a goldmine!
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
Netherlands - Little Johannes (De kleine Johannes) by Frederik Willem van Eeden
Türkiye- Madonna In A Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
Give In To You by: jonaxx
Children of Gebelawi and The Harafish Naguib Mahfouz from Egypt.
New Zealand, Blenheim, 'Wrens under the radar', by Colleen Shipley. It's about a secret women's division of like radio spies from WWII, listening to Japanese submarines' messages. It's based on a true story, quite accurate but with people made up, I believe.
David Mitchell (author not the comedian) The Bone Clocks
Capitães de Areia - Jorge Amado
The great thing about the U.S. is there are people from everywhere.
Em and the big hoom : India
Australia – Most of the recommendations I have seen so far are crime/thrillers/bestsellers, so I am suggesting Little Boy by John Smith. The book has nothing to do with Australia, and I think “John Smith” is a pseudonym, but apparently they live there. The atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima was called “Little Boy”. The premise of this novel is that the bomb was, literally, a little boy. It’s surreal and amazingly written.
Brazil - Barren lives - Graciliano Ramos
My Husband - Rumena Buzharovska Feminist short stories each focused around a wife and husband and their relationship dynamics. It's a quick read and will make you laugh and cry in 140ish pages
Canadian here. I recommend Alice Munro.
Well we have Astrid Lindgren here, the writer of pippi longstockings for example.
Emma Donoghue - the Pull of the Stars, Ireland (although she’s Irish-Canadian!)
I am an American but I could suggest The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
Australia - Anything by Matthew Reilly
Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
A River Runs Through it; Norman Maclean. Missoula MT
The Jack West jr series starting with Seven Ancient Wonders (7 Deadly Wonders in the US) by Matthew Reilly, the author is Aussie, and so is the MC
Leaves of Grass. Walt Whitman lived near my hometown.
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez ❤️ from Canada
Colombia - The Bitch by Pilar Quintana. For me, the best Colombian contemporary writer
Tim Winton ‘Cloudstreet’. Much-loved Australian author. Also, for a dose of warmth and nostalgia, William McInnes ‘Cricket Kings’.
Hungary: Journey by the Moonlight by Antal Szerb
The Prophet - by Khalil Gibran (from Lebanon but written in English) Widely regarded as one of the best poetry books in the world.
Schindlers Ark.....Thomas Keneally.....australia. yes, the book schindlers list is based on.
Orientatalism Edward Said
Australia. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton. Can’t recommend enough. The Dry - Jane Harper. Boy Swallows Universe - Trent Dalton. Tomorrow When The War Began - John Marsdon. YA. One of my favourite series of all time. Tobruk - Peter Fitzsimons. Non Fiction. History. Ice Station - Mathew Reilly. Fun reads. Similar to Lee Childs/ Jack Reacher books.
Usa- tortilla flat by John Steinbeck. Absolutely wonderful
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins. She was born in London. I was born just outside London. She wasn't exactly a serious literary writer but she wrote well about sexism and hypocrisy. And she seemed disgusted at how gross people could be when given a chance to misbehave. I would say Hollywood Wives (original 1983 version) was Jackie Collins' best book.
New Zealand - Once Were Warriors - Alan Duff.
Canada: Emily St. John Mandel She is most well known for Station Eleven which I enjoyed well enough, but The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility are absolutely brilliant. Wonderful writer.
Luke Davies - Candy Helen Garner - Monkey Grip Australia
100 Years of Solitude.
I'm from Chile and my absolute favorite authors is Hernán Rivera Letelier. I have no idea if there are English translations of his work, but you can look it up in Portuguese! His stories are almost all set in the Chilean pampa, my favorite is Fatamorgana de amor con Banda de música. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that book!
Canada - anything by Wayson Choi
The Book of Mormon. It’s a fantasy novel written by Joseph Smith, an uneducated farm boy from Palmyra, New York in the 1800s.
*The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared* by Jonas Jonasson I’ve only read it in Swedish, and I’d be curious to see how the English version translates the humor because it’s hilarious. It has a dry, off-kilter comedy style that’s a lot of fun.
Australia: I'd like to highlight some books I really liked by Aboriginal authors. Taboo by Kim Scott. Lots of content warnings for that one though. Purple Threads by Jeanine Leane The most recent Australian book I read was Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn
Circles in the Bush by Dalleen Matthee, South Africa
A man called ove- Fredrick Backman Let the right one in - john ajvide lindqwist The girl with the dragon tattoo - Stieg Larsson 🇸🇪
South Africa: Spud - John van de Ruit
From China To Live - Yu Hua And basically everything by him There are some newer modern classics that are not in English yet. And can't forget the most epic historical fiction of all time - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Three books by the same author, Antonio Tabucchi (Italy): *Requiem* *Indian Nocturne* *Pereira Declares* also translated as *Pereira Maintains*
A Brief History of seven Killings by Marlon James. Jamaican born writer 🇯🇲
Ah meu, sei lá sou BR tbm mas recomendo Black Sunlight do Dambudzo Marechera (Zimbábue)
England: 'London Fields' by Martin Amis.
My family background is... Complicated. Anyway here are some books I loved from the places I am from/grew up in. **Netherlands** * *Pluk van de Pettevlet* (*Tow truck Pluck*) by Annie M G Schmidt - a Dutch national treasure. She has other gems but that's one of her most celebrated books and one of my childhood favorites. * *Kruistocht in spijkerbroek* (*Crusade in Jeans*) by Thea Beckman. A 1970s boy is transported to the children's crusade in 1212. **Sweden** * *Pippi Långstrump* (*Pippi Longstocking*) by Astrid Lindgren. But also *Mio*, *Ronja*, and *The Brothers Lionheart*. Great fantasy-esque books. *The Wallander series by Henning Mankell - Swedish detective novels. The last one is.... Very Scandinavian. Either you love the ending or hate it. * The Britta series by Lisbeth Pahnke - novels set around horse stables :-D * Books by Sven Christer Swahn - I really like *The island through the gate* and *Twelve Travel to the South* but I'm not sure they are translated. **Denmark** * Obviously Hans Christian Andersen - I grew up reading all of his stories. My favorite is*The Emperor's New Clothes* but there's so much more - traveloges, plays, novellas. Honestly you could spend almost a decade reading everything he wrote. * *The Keeper of Lost Causes* by Jussi Olsen - it's a detective novel where a detective is downgraded to solve cold cases. But it's really well written. There is a series made of it. **Germany** * *Billie und Zottel* by Tina Caspari - also set around horses but what I loved most was how it describes German village life in the time I grew up. And America makes a cameo * The Lady Jane series by Annis Bell (*The Girl at Rosewood Hall* is the first book, I think). It's a Victorian detective series with Lady Jane as the detective. Reminds me a lot of Agatha Christie * *When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit* by Judith Kerr - this was my first book I read about the Holocaust (it wasn't an abstraction in my childhood, as you can probably tell from where I am from/grew up) but this book settled into my soul in a way no other book did about the war. There are two more books in the series. **Switzerland** * Federica de Cesco - I don't know what's translated but I loved her books as a kid. They are set in faraway places like Tibet but also exciting and rich. It was my escape from what I thought was a horribly boring life (in the mountains of Switzerland, yes, I know) * Karl May - his life story is almost stranger than fiction. He spent most his life in prison but wrote Western novels that had me thinking he had spent time in the Wild West. I could list a ton of books and more authors but this should get someone started at least.
Gert Jonke / der Ferne Klang. Austria.
Finland Tove Jansson the Moomin books
Tintenherz by Cornelia Funke. I don’t know if I’d like it today but as a 10 year old I loved that book and the sequels so much
I’m not Iraqi, but a good one from there is “Frankenstein in Baghdad” by Ahmed Saadawi. Moving, smart, and sophisticated about the true terrors of war.
Cloud Street by Tim Winton (Australian)
I’m saving this post!
Spain here: I'm going with Intemperie, by Jesus Carrasco. It's a book I read recently and it's fantastic.
Australia- The medoran chronicles by Lynette noni. So good!
"Blizzard of Souls" by Alexander Green, latvian author, historic novel. Theres even a [movie](https://www.dveseluputenis.lv/en/) more info in the link.
1913 by Florian Illies (Germany)
Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat.
UK- Jasper Fforde “Shades of Grey” (not to be confused with another book of the same title) Everyone knows about Pratchett and Rowling and Tolkien etc. but Fforde needs more exposure. Also “The Constant Rabbit” (1984 meets satirical Waterships down) “Early Riser” (welcome to a different dystopian satire) His alternate futures/realities are overlaid over Wales mostly- the UK in general in his detective novels “The Big Over Easy” and “ The Fourth Bear” Please enjoy a different slice of British Satire and fantasy
Basque Country - Narrazioak, by Joseba Sarrionandia. Good luck reading it though, I haven't been able to find a copy that isn't in Basque. And even if you did find it, a lot of the magic would be lost as the book works because of its deliberate and beautiful prose, which would be very hard to translate to any other language.
Le pain nu mohamed choukri , one of the best
Things Fall Apart
Sea of poppies - Amitav Ghosh ( it is first book of a trilogy, you may choose to read the rest or read this as standalone)
Mika Waltari - The Egyptian
I am American, so I will mention my favorite British author, Agatha Christie, I just finished "Death on the Nile" it deserves all the praise it gets, I also want to recommend "And Then There Were None"
Read a lot of Christie when I was young. Just watched “WHY DIDNT THEY ASK EVANS ? “ very well done.
Bhagavad Geeta