2019 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

I will get as many books for this one as possible. Click to see more.

January 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020

Welcome to the 2019 European Reading Challenge – where participants tour Europe through books. And have a chance to win a prize. Please join us for the Grand Tour! This is the eight year for this challenge, so a big THANK YOU to past participants and new for keeping it going so long.

THE GIST: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. (See note about the UK, below.)

WHAT COUNTS AS "EUROPE"?: We stick with the standard list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the UK, France, Germany, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

NOTE: Even after Brexit, the United Kingdom is still one country, in Europe, that includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. So one book from any one of these four counts as your one book for the United Kingdom. I'm not going to be a stickler about it because challenges should be about fun not about rules. However, when it comes to winning the Jet Setter prize, only one book from one of the UK countries will count.

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

• FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
• FOUR STAR (HONEYMOONER): Read four qualifying books.
• THREE STAR (BUSINESS TRAVELER): Read three qualifying books.
• TWO STAR (ADVENTURER): Read two qualifying books.
• ONE STAR (PENSIONE WEEKENDER): Read just one qualifying book.

Here is what I am reading:

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles--Agatha Christie (UK)
2. Cavalleria Rusticana and Other Stories--Giovanni Verga (Italy)
3. Don Quixote--Miguel de Cervantes (Spain)
4. I Have Lived a Thousand Years--Livia Bitton-Jackson (Hungary)
5. Between Shades of Gray--Ruta Sepetys (Lithuania)
6. Ulysses--James Joyce (Ireland)
7. Paris for One and Other Stories--Jojo Moyes (France)
8. The Zookeeper's Wife--Diane Ackerman (Poland)
9. Alpine For You--Maddy Hunter (Switzerland)
10. Wolves Eat Dogs--Martin Cruz Smith (Russia)
11. Odd and the Frost Giants--Neil Gaiman (Norway)
12. A Death in Vienna--Daniel Silva (Austria)

Challenge completed on December 11