The First Book on the List

Over the next four months, I will be traveling around the world as I leave China and make my way back to the United States for law school in the Fall. On the way, I will travel for 131 days to, as I now have it planned, 18 countries (not counting China or the United States). In order to attempt to best connect with each country I am visiting, I have put together an around-the-world book list. Below I have listed each country I will travel to as well as the books I am planning to read in/about the country. I tried to chose a variety of books that would keep me interested and engaged while truly helping me understand the country (or, sometimes, Americans' relationships with the country). I was limited to books that I could obtain in eBook form, as I cannot trek around the world with 30 books on my back, as much as I may wish I could. There are therefore many books left off the list that I now plan to read when I am in a place where physical books are an advantage rather than a burden.

I welcome any thoughts and recommendations!

China

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 by Yang Jisheng

Vietnam

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

Thailand

Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap

Myanmar
Burmese Days by George Orwell

The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma by Thant Myint-U

Freedom from Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

Malaysia
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

Nepal

Arresting God in Kathmandu by Samrat Upadhyay

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

India
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Tamas by Bhisham Sahni

Jordan

Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen

Israel
Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour

Turkey
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Crescent and Star by Stephen Kinzer

Germany
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Morocco
The Caliph’s House by Tahir Shah

Austria
Winterfische by Paul Kolhoff
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig

Italy
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician by Anthony Everitt
Selected works of Cicero

Netherlands
Rituals by Cees Nooteboom

The UK
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Iceland
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent


I am still looking for a book for the Czech Republic. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!