Like a lot of book nerds, I love to keep track of the books I read and create shiny reports with the data I collect. Over the years, I’ve used lots of methods, often inconsistently. But the coolest data point I’ve kept track of has been “where I read,” i.e., what countries I’ve visited in my fictional travels.
In 2020, I visited 14 countries, which I shared in a post over here. This past year, I also visited 14 countries! (what a coinkydink). Not as many as I wanted to get in 2021, honestly, but still a decent showing overall.
Where I Read in 2021
Please note: for my own purposes, I do not track books that take place in the United States or England. I do track Northern Ireland and Ireland, for Reasons. Sometimes, I track Scotland and Wales, also for Reasons.
Brazil
Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins
Felipe gets it—he’s fat. Not chubby. Not big-boned. Fat. That’s why he’s been waiting for this moment ever since the school year began: school break. Finally, he’ll be able to spend some time far away from school and the classmates who tease him incessantly. But then mom informs him that Caio will be spending the next 15 days with them while his parents are on vacation.
Canada
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever…but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind.
Ethiopia
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
With the threat of Mussolini looming, Hirut struggles to adapt to her life as a maid in Kidane and Aster’s house. Kidane, an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie’s army, rushes to mobilize his strongest men. Meanwhile, Mussolini’s army prepares for an easy victory. Hundreds of thousands of Italians march on Ethiopia seeking adventure.
France
Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim
Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris.
Germany
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Katharina is an illiterate widow, known by her neighbors for her herbal remedies and the success of her children. It’s enough to make anyone jealous, and Katharina has done herself no favors by being out and about and in everyone’s business. So when the deranged and insipid Ursula accuses Katharina of offering her a bitter, witchy drink that has made her ill, Katharina is in trouble.
Ghana
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
Afi Tekple is a young seamstress whose life is narrowing rapidly. She lives in a small town in Ghana with her widowed mother, spending much of her time in her uncle house with his many wives and children. Then one day she is offered a life-changing opportunity—a proposal of marriage from the wealthy family of Elikem Ganyo, a man she doesn’t know. She acquiesces, but soon realizes that Elikem is not the catch he seemed.
Iceland
The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
Rósa has always dreamed of living a simple life alongside her Mamma in their remote village in Iceland, where she prays to the Christian God aloud during the day, whispering enchantments to the old gods alone at night. But after her father dies abruptly and her Mamma becomes ill, Rósa marries herself to a visiting trader in exchange for a dowry, despite rumors of mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death.
Italy
Dominus by Stephen Saylor
A.D. 165: The empire of Rome has reached its pinnacle. Universal peace—the Pax Roma—reigns from Britannia to Egypt, from Gaul to Greece. Marcus Aurelius, as much philosopher as he is emperor, oversees a golden age in Rome. The ancient Pinarius family and their workshop of artisans embellish the richest and greatest city on earth with gilded statues and towering marble monuments. Art and reason flourish. But history does not stand still.
India
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
Bombay, 1921: Perveen Mistry has just joined her father’s law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Mistry Law is handling the will of Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows. But as Perveen goes through the papers, she notices something strange: all three have signed over their inheritance to a charity. What will they live on if they forefeit what their husband left them?
Japan
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
The story of three women: the thirty-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with growing up. Ten years later, Natsu struggles with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties about growing old alone and childless.
Mexico
Crossed Trails in Mexico by Helen Randolph
In “Jitters,” their rattly old car, Jo Ann and Peggy and Florence are driving through Mexico. With them are Carlitos and his aunt. The party happens on a band of smugglers who are terrorizing the natives and underpaying them for their workmanship. The girls expose themselves to many risks while attempting to capture the smugglers. Their anxiety is increased when the desperadoes threaten the life of a revenue officer trying to prevent the smugglers from taking their goods across the border.
Northern Ireland
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Galen
Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors’ stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up just after the Troubles. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go. When Majella’s predictable existence is upended by the death of her granny, she comes to realize there may be more to life than the gossips of Aghybogey, the pub, and the chip shop
Palestine
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
On the eve of her daughter Alia’s wedding, Salma reads the girl’s future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel and luck. She chooses to keep her predictions to herself, but they soon come to pass when the family is uprooted in the Six-Day War of 1967. Salma is forced to leave her home in Nablus; Alia’s brother gets pulled into a politically militarized world he can’t escape; and Alia and her husband move to Kuwait City, where they reluctantly build a life with their children.
Scotland
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
The story of “Shuggie,” a boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow. Thatcher’s policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city’s drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings. Shuggie’s mother, Agnes, walks a wayward path. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good, but under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink.
So, there you have it! I don’t make resolutions , but in 2022 I would like to “visit” a few more countries. Say…15 rather than 14.
Your post from last year inspired me to track my reading travels too! It really interesting to look back and see where the books were set. 🙂