Ten Books Set Outside the US and UK

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books Set Outside the US. I live in the UK so I wasn't expecting my reading list to be quite as dominated by American books as other people's, but I was quite surprised to find that only 3 (and a half) of the books I've read so far this year were set in the US (compared to 20 set at least partly in the UK)! I was expecting the split to be fairly equal (I think it is a lot more so most years, I just seem to have picked up a lot of books set over here this year). So I've decided to modify the topic to include only books not set in the US or the UK. I've selected all of the books from different countries too to make it more interesting. All of them are books that I would recommend.
 

 

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (France)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Germany)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Canada)

Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson (Ireland)

Nothing Else Matters by Patricia St. John (Lebanon)

 

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (Norway)

Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig (Denmark)

Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (Zimbabwe)

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden (Australia)

Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin (Spain)

It's Monday! July 18th



 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date. This is my first time participating in it!

 

This week was a reasonably good one for reading; although I only finished one book I've made a fair amount of progress on several others. I was also away over the weekend so didn't get much of a chance for reading then. I also managed to pick up a few books that I've been wanting to read for a while at a second-hand bookshop and The Works, so it's been a successful week for book buying as well :)



Recent additions to my library

 

Books finished this week:
 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This was on my Classics Club list. I really really liked this book (and can't quite believe I waited so long to read it). I should have a review of it up sometime this week.

Currently reading:

My currently-reading pile - not including Kindle books

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. I've just started this but am enjoying it pretty well so far.

 

The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham. This is going OK. It's quite a quick read so I'll probably have finished it in a few days.

 

Miriam by Mesu Andrews. I am quite enjoying this.

 

Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. I'm also enjoying this, but reading it pretty slowly.

 

Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson. I haven't actually read any of this for a while, after finishing the first section of it, but I'm hoping to pick it up again this week.

 

What I plan to read next:

Lavender and Old Lace by Myrtle Reed

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Wouldbegoods by E. Nesbit

Posts this week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Bookish Facts About Me

Six in Six (Mid-Year Recap)
 

In this coming week I hope to post a couple of reviews for things I've read recently, so look out for them!

Six in Six

Six in Six is hosted by Jo at The Book Jotter. It sounded like a fun way of summarising my reading for the first half of the year. Basically the idea is that you choose six categories and list six books in each category. (If you want to take part you can still do so until the end of July.)

Choosing the categories was quite difficult - there were quite a few I could find five books for, but not six! However, I've eventually manage to choose six categories:

 

Six new authors that I now want to read more of

Paula Byrne (Belle)

G.K. Chesterton (The Innocence of Father Brown)

Jacqueline Harvey (Alice-Miranda at School)

Robert Lacey (Great Tales from English History)

Stephanie Ricker (Five Glass Slippers, The Battle of Castle Nebula, The Star Bell)

Suzannah Rowntree (The Rakshasa's Bride)

 

Six books I have enjoyed the most

Escape from Rome by Caroline Lawrence

One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

The Battle of Castle Nebula by Stephanie Ricker

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

The Bard's Daughter by Sarah Woodbury

Five Glass Slippers by various authors

 

Six series of books read or started

Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton (read book 1)

Alice-Miranda by Jacqueline Harvey (read book 1)

Roman Quests by Caroline Lawrence (read book 1)

Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters (read book 2)

Gareth & Gwen Medieval Mysteries by Sarah Woodbury (read prequel and book 2)

After Cilmeri by Sarah Woodbury (read book 2)

Six authors I read last year – but not so far this year

Joan Aiken

Jane Austen

Ally Carter

Agatha Christie

Kate Grenville

L.M. Montgomery

 

Six mystery/detective novels I have read

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

The Bard's Daughter by Sarah Woodbury

The Uninvited Guest by Sarah Woodbury

Six classics I have read

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (re-read)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Ten Bookish Facts About Me

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is: Ten Facts About Me. I've opted for bookish facts, so here they are:

1. I've read 41 books so far this year. Last year I read 80 in total, so I'm pretty much on track to hit the same total this year.
2. I read a fairly wide range of stuff: although I gravitate towards classics, historical fiction and non-fiction I also read fantasy, contemporary fiction and occasionally sci-fi or poetry. I'm also a fan of mystery novels (mostly historical ones).
3. Although I prefer to read books in physical format, I also read quite a lot on my Kindle.
4. The book I've read the most times (that I've kept track of) is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I've read nine times. Second place goes to Anne of Green Gables with six.
5. The first chapter book I read by myself was called The Chocolate Monster. It was about a girl who is always getting into trouble for losing things but then finds out that there's a (friendly) monster who lives under her floorboards who is stealing them. She then tries to find a way to get rid of it (I can't remember what the eventual solution was).
6. I really enjoy rereading books, and have a fairly long list of books I want to reread, but I don't actually do it that often (only 3 of the books I've read so far this year were rereads). I just have too many books I want to read!
7. If I had to choose one favourite book, it would be Anne of Green Gables. (I'm hoping to do a post about why I love it so much soon.)
8. Some of my favourite authors are L.M. Montgomery, C.S. Lewis, Elizabeth Gaskell, Hilary McKay, Louisa May Alcott, Theresa Breslin, J.K. Rowling, Noel Streatfeild, Jane Austen, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Michelle Magorian, and Sarah Woodbury.
9. I have a tendency to read far too many books at once. Also to get distracted by shiny new books and forget about the ones I'm already reading (and then by the time I go back to them I've forgotten what's happened so I have to start again).
10. Although I read a lot, I'm quite a slow reader. Also sometimes my mind wanders when I'm reading and then I realise I haven't taken in anything for a page or two and have to go back and read it again.

Weekly Recap - July 11th

I've finished three books this week, which makes it a pretty good reading week! Admittedly two of them were pretty short, but it still feels good :)

Finished this week:
Gatty's Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland (re-read) (review to come)
Rivals of the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Practically Perfect by Hilary McKay

Currently Reading:
Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber
Miriam by Mesu Andrews
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

To Read Next:
I'm reading quite a few fairly long books at the moment and I feel like I probably have enough to be going on with! But I have several library books I want to get to soon:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham

Blog Posts This Week:
Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Under 2000 Goodreads Ratings

I haven't been posting that much lately, but I'm hoping to post a bit more often over the next few weeks.

Ten Really Under-Rated Books I Enjoyed

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is Top Ten Books We Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads. I have a lot to choose from this week since more than half of the books I have listed as read on Goodreads fit into this category! So, I've narrowed it down to ten books (or, at least, ten series) that I really enjoyed.

 

Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin

I read this book quite a few years ago, but I really enjoyed it. It's the story of two young people living very different lives who get caught up in the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition.

Gatty's Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland

The story of a young English girl going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Middle Ages. It's beautifully written and an interesting coming-of-age story. This is a spin-off of the author's Arthur trilogy, although you don't have to have read that to read this book. (Also published as Crossing to Paradise.) Read my review here.

A Humble Companion by Laurie Graham

This was an interesting historical fiction novel, which is told like a memoir, of a girl who is a companion to Princess Sophia, one of George III's daughters. It's an interesting look at the lives lived by Sophia and her sisters, as well as what life was like for ordinary people in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

 

Just Henry by Michelle Magorian

Another really good book. Set just after the Second World War, Henry still misses his father who died in the war, and struggles to get on with his mother and stepfather. But he makes a discovery which challenges his prejudices and his views of people in his family.

  

The Exiles trilogy by Hilary McKay

I've mentioned my love for Hilary McKay's Casson Family series in a previous TTT post, but this series is pretty good as well! I don't like it quite as much as the Cassons, and the first book is definitely my least favourite, but I would still recommend the series as a whole.

 

Happy and Glorious by Hilary McKay

Another Hilary McKay book - this one is aimed at younger children and is pretty short but it is quite funny and entertaining.

 

The Battle of Castle Nebula and The Star Bell by Stephanie Ricker

I'm really enjoying this series (which also includes the novella A Cinder's Tale, which was published in Five Glass Slippers). It's a sci-fi series set in the future, which isn't the sort of thing I usually read, but I've really enjoyed all three books. You can read my thoughts on The Battle of Castle Nebula here and on The Star Bell here.
  

Apple Bough by Noel Streatfeild

I've read quite a lot of Noel Streatfeild's books, and whilst this isn't nearly as well-known as Ballet Shoes, I think I enjoyed it just about as much. It's also been published as Travelling Shoes.

The Midnight Charter and The Children of the Lost by David Whitley

I read The Midnight Charter a number of years ago, and enjoyed it. The concept is of a world in which everything can be bought and sold, including emotions, and children until they turn twelve. Everything is based on trade and there is no concept of charity or giving things without getting a return. It's quite an interesting story, but it was only much later that I realised it had been turned into a trilogy, and read The Children of the Lost, which I also enjoyed. I haven't got around to reading the last book yet, but hopefully I will sometime soon.
 

Rose o' the River by Kate Douglas Wiggin

I don't remember that much about this book but it was a sweet story, a romance set around the turn of the twentieth century. I really enjoyed it.