I have a REALLY exciting post for you guys today! The lovely people at UKYABA are celebrating the UKYA community in the lead up to YALC. The UKYA community is such a positive and wholesome community, and it’s something I’m really proud and happy to be a part of.
However, as UK book bloggers, it’s our responsibility to read books which aren’t set in the UK and US. And this includes branching out from YA books too. So so soooooo many books are set in the UK and the US, and it creates a bubble of only seeing people that you recognise in books.
I spent a lot of time researching books for this post, and it really is safe to assume that if a summary doesn’t say where a book is set, it’s going to be set in the UK or the US. That sucks.
So … for my day of celebrating UKYA, I’ve decided to encourage us all to read OUTSIDE of UKYA by creating the #NOTUKYA CHALLENGE!
The challenge is simple and has 2 parts:
- To read a book set on each of the continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania). I haven’t included Antarctica as … no one lives there.
- Get a bingo! There are six mini bingo cards for each continent, which I have then compiled to make up one MAHOOSIVE bingo card. Take your pick as to how big a challenge you want! You can aim to get a bingo line, or go for the full house. It’s really up to you for this part!
It can take place any time you want. I’m going to be trying to complete the continents challenge by the end of the year, and of course trying to get a few bingos along the way. The whole point is to encourage yourself to read books from all over the world, and that can be within your own deadline.
SO …
Here are the six mini bingo cards for each continent! You can also find them on my Twitter (@jazdamen) and on my Instagram story (@travelsinfiction) if you want to screenshot them. All of the books mentioned are also in the master list at the bottom of this post!
[Note: If you're reading this in the WordPress Reader, the formatting doesn't work for the bingo cards or for the collapsible master list - it will work on mobile, out of the app though!)
And here is the big one … the one you’ve all been waiting for. It’s the mega-continent bingo card for those of you that want a REAL challenge. I mean, it’s literally huge. I’m not even sorry. You better get reading!
You can tackle this HOWEVER you want! I think I’m going to use this for the rest of the year (and let’s be honest, next year too, basically just all the years to come), to guide my reading. My endgame is to get 2 horizontal bingo lines, one across the top 3 continents, and the second across the bottom 3.
I would absolutely love it if you guys joined in – even if that’s picking up just one or two books that you wouldn’t have usually. Remember to use the hashtag #NOTUKYA if you decide to tackle any part of this challenge, and tag me so I can share it.
And here’s the – by all means not comprehensive – master list of books from around the world. Thank you so much to everyone who suggested books to add to this list … and please keep them coming! I want this to be a list that grows and grows as more wonderful books get published.
MASTER LIST OF BOOKS SET AROUND THE WORLD
A quick note – the challenge is called #NOTUKYA, but this master list incorporates books from lots of different genres – not just YA.
Key:
* own voice (In this context, I am using own voice to mean the author is from the specified country)
(NF) – non fiction
(A) – Autobiography
(SS) – Short story / short story collection
Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Ethiopia
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese *
Love, Siri and Ebba by Siri Fraser and Ebba Pederson
The Gambia
Reading the Ceiling by Dayo Forster *
Ghana
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi *
Kenya
Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor *
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen
Nigeria
An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma *
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma *
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie *
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite *
The Spider King’s Daughter by Chibunda Onuzo *
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * (SS)
Welcome to Lagos by Chibunda Onuzo *
Senegal
Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye *
Sierra Leone
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishamel Beah * (A)
Somalia
The Caged Virgin by Ayaan Hirsi Ali *
South Africa
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah * (A)
When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina *
You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr
Uganda
I Am Change by Suzy Zail
Zimbabwe
We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo *
Asia
Afghanistan
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini *
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini *
The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay * (A)
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
China
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
The Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson
Goodnight, Rose by Chi Zijian *
The Moon Opera by Bi Feiyu *
Secrets of the Great Fire Tree by Justine Laismith
Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin * (Translator: Ken Liu)
India
Clear Light of Day by Anita Desai *
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy *
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar *
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Sold by Patricia McCormick
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergil Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal *
When I Hit You by Mean Kandasamy *
Indonesia
Saman by Ayu Utami *
Israel
A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev *
Japan
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki *
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata *
Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh
I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami * (Translator: Louise Keal Kawai)
Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata * (Translator: Edward G. Seidensticker)
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa * (Translator: Philip Gabriel)
Lebanon
The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine *
Malaysia
The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka *
North Korea
Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong
Pakistan
Dear Yasmeen by Sophia Khan *
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai * (A)
Palestine
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Sea Cloak by Nayrouz Qarmout * (Translator: Perween Richards) (SS)
Saudia Arabia
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea *
Singapore
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan *
South Korea
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang *
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
The Vegetarian by Han Kang *
Wicked Fox by Kat Cho *
Syria
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini
Taiwan
The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan *
Vietnam
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Qatar
Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
Europe
Austria
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig *
Croatia
Girl At War by Sara Nović
Czech Republic
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera * (Translator: Michael Henry Heim)
Finland
Let Me Find You by Julie Valima
France
The Book of Wonders by Julien Sandrel *
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegül Savas
Germany
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink *
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Tiger Milk by Stefanie de Velasco *
Greece
The Island by Victoria Hislop
Italy
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Latvia
The Book of Riga by Juris Zvirgzdinš (SS)
Doom 94 by Jānis Joņevs * (Translator: Kaija Straumanis)
The Secret Box by Daina Tabūna * (Translator: Jayde Will)
Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena * (Translator: Margita Gailitis)
The Netherlands
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank * (A)
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Norway
Naïve. Super by Erlend Loe *
Portugal
Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali
The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson
Cork Boat by John Pollack (A)
The Day of Atonement by David Liss
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier (Translator: Barbara Harshav)
Skylight by José Saramago *
A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson
Tango in Madeira by Jim Williams
300 Days of Sun by Deborah Lawrenson
Poland
Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz by Olga Lengyel *
Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott
Russia
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy *
Sweden
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman *
The Circle by Mats Strandberg *and Sara Bergmark Elfgren *(Translator: Friederike Buchinger)
Spain
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
North America
Canada
What We All Long For by Dionne Brand *
Cuba
The Art of White Roses by Viviana Prado-Núñez
Dominican Republic
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz *
El Salvador
Ashes of Izalco by Claribel Alegría and Darwin J Flakoll
Haiti
The Black Jackobins by C.L.R. James * (NF)
Jamaica
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn *
How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs *
Mexico
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel *
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo by F.G. Haghenback *
The Wild Book by Juan Villoro * (Translator: Lawrence Schimel)
Panama
The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez
Puerto Rico
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
U.S. Virgin Islands
Hurricane Child by Karen Callender *
South America
Argentina
The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez *
Brazil
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha *
Colombia
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez *
Chile
City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende *
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende *
Ecuador
The Queen of Water by Laura Resau
Guyana
The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya
Peru
Who killed Palomino Molero? by Mario Vargas Llosa *
Trinidad and Tobago
Dreams Beyond the Shore by Tamika Gibson *
Golden Child by Claire Adam
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey *
The Yard by Aliyyah Eniath *
Oceania
Australia
Amelia Westlake Was Never Here by Erin Gough *
Am I Black Enough For You? by Anita Heiss *
The Dry by Jane Harper *
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland *
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Linsay *
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas *
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden *
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts *
Guam
Keeper of the Night by Kimberly Willis Holt
Papua New Guinea
Euphoria by Lily King
New Zealand
The Bone People by Keri Hulme *
The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield *
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera *
Books set in multiple places
Spain, Egypt, Morocco
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
France, Germany
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Czech Republic, Morocco
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Poland, Canada
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
Korea, Japan
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia
New Baltic Poetry by Jayde Will
Turkey, France, Egypt, Germany
Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin (Translator: John W. Baker)
A Fictional Pacific Island
Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
I hope you find this master list helpful and that it inspires you to read more books set outside of the UK. If you see any errors in the lists, or if you have any suggestions of books to add, please let me know in a comment and I’ll add them.
UKYA is so wonderful, but it’s important to not only read UKYA. I really hope you guys enjoy the challenge as much as I had fun creating it! I can’t wait to see what books you end up picking up and giving a go!
Right … I better get reading!
This is a great list! It must have taken you ages to compile them. I am humbled as I have only read a few on the list. Here are two I can suggest to add to your list:
Japan : Shadow of the Fox
China : Secrets of the Great Fire Tree
I am going to bookmark this page and read books on your list.
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Thanks so much or your comment – it did take a fair while so it’s really exciting that people are loving the list!
Perfect, thank you so much! I’ll make a note to add them later on ☺️ Good luck with reading!
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Amazing idea Jaz! I honestly can’t wait to join this and start planning which books to read! 🙂 – Sophie x
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Haystack thanks Soph! I’m so excited to see what you pick ☺️
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What a fun idea. I should broaden my horizons!
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Thanks so much! I agree – I think we all need to broaden our horizons!
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Omgg, first off, those bingo cards are *adorable*! This is also such a good idea for a reading challenge! I’m always scared to start reading challenges because I don’t know if I can complete them, but I’m definitely saving those bingo cards and I’m going to try my best to read around the world.
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Ahh thank you so much, I’m so glad you like them! Also I completely agree, which is why I didn’t put any deadline on it or anything. Sometimes that’s just too much pressure! Let me know or use #NOTUKYA if you do read some books, I’d love to see!
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