What a great idea! GingerbreadMan, thanks for starting this challenge, and lindapanzo, thanks for letting us know about it in the 50 States challenge. I probably read more books set in Europe than I do in the U.S., and most of them are set in England!

I've physically visited several European countries. I lived in England for a few years and have spent time in England, Wales, and Scotland. I've also been to France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg (just drove through without stopping), and Netherlands (for about 15 minutes driving through a small corner).

I decided to use the list of countries I found on the U.S. State Department's Web site. I'll follow GingerbreadMan's example and divide the United Kingdom into England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. I'll count books I've read since the beginning of 2009.

Europe A-C

Albania

Andorra

Armenia

Austria - A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina - The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus - Gold of Kings by T. Davis Bunn

Czech Republic - Dissonance by Lisa Lenard-Cook

Zpráva editována jejím autorem, srp 23, 2009, 8:33pm.

Europe D-I

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France - Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Georgia

Germany - Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters

Greece - The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly

Holy See (i.e. Vatican)

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt; The Irish Game by Matthew Hart; In the Woods by Tana French

Italy - The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

Zpráva editována jejím autorem, lis 21, 2009, 3:15pm.

Europe K-N

Kosovo

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro

Netherlands

Norway

Europe P-T

Poland - Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson

Portugal

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey - The Winter Thief by Jenny B. White

Zpráva editována jejím autorem, pro 10, 2009, 8:26pm.

Europe U

Ukraine

United Kingdom:

England - A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd; The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by C. Alan Bradley; The Devil's Company by David Liss; A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss; Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym; Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo; A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander; Watery Grave by Bruce Alexander; Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear; The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters; Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, In a Dark House by Deborah Crombie; Water Like a Stone by Deborah Crombie; Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen; No Graves As Yet by Anne Perry; The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin; An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear; Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn; Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Northern Ireland - An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

Scotland

Wales - The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan

Zpráva editována jejím autorem, pro 13, 2009, 9:15pm.

Using your gouvernment's definitions is a very clear policy. Welcome aboard!

I added a book for Wales to my list - The Earth Hums in B Flat. For some reason, I've ended up reading a lot of books about 12 year old girls this summer. They've all been good.

The setting is integral to the story. If it had been set anywhere else, it would have been a different book. I loved the way people were referred to in the book -- Mrs. Sergeant Jones, Mrs. Edwards the Bank, Jones the Butcher -- to distinguish among people with the same surname.

Mrs. Edwards the Bank :)! Sounds very welsh to me! I find myself thinking about Under Milkwood.

@#9 Just realised we have that book! My wife Flea bought it earlier this summer. So it might well turn out to be my welsh selection too :)

>11 I think it's a great choice for Wales. It has elements of several genres, so I think it will have a broad appeal for readers of many types.

I counted Dissonance by Lisa Lenard-Cook as my New Mexico book in the 50 States challenge, but I'm also going to count it as my Czech Republic book for this challenge. In the novel, Anna Kramer, a piano teacher in Los Alamos, New Mexico, inherits journals and music from Hana Weissova. Hana was a survivor of the Terezin concentration camp in then-Czechoslovakia. The historical parts of the novel describe Prague in the days before the round-up of the Jewish community, and the conditions at Terezin, where many Jewish musicians and artists were imprisoned and used for propaganda purposes.

Books set in more than one location are more a rule than an exception, I think. This "problem" will likely occur many times down this reading trip. Seems very fair to me that you counted this book for both challenges.

Oh my gosh, I've been to Terezin! That's it, "Dissonance" is going on my list!

>15 I hope you enjoy it. I've never been to the Czech Republic, but the book made me want to go there.

I added Sonata for Miriam under Poland. The book started in New Zealand a year after the death of Adam Anker's daughter, Miriam. Adam then traveled to Krakow to learn about his birth there in 1941 to a Jewish mother. He then traveled to Sweden to see the mother of his child for the first time in 19 years.

I decided to count the book as my Poland read because Krakow had the most vivid descriptions in the book. Most of the action (if you can call it that) in Sweden took place on an island in the winter -- very isolated with lots of ice and snow. The island and the cold were Metaphors, and the author could have set that part of the book in any northern country with long, cold winters.

The book wasn't my style, but a lot of other people have enjoyed it, judging by the ratings and reviews.

I certainly didn't need yet another book set in England, but I went ahead and listed the book I just finished, In a Dark House by Deborah Crombie. Her series about London detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James is my favorite in the police procedural category. I always find them hard to put down, and this one was no exception. Most of the action takes place in the London Borough of Southwark and features members of the fire brigade in addition to police and Scotland Yard. I gave this one 4 stars.

Still stuck in England. I'm trying to get caught up on Deborah Crombie's Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series. Water Like a Stone gets them out of their London environment into the north of England, in the charming town of Nantwich. Place is integral to the novel. The plot involves canal boats. I've dreamed of taking a trip on the canals of England ever since I first saw boats on the canals many years ago. After reading about the Christmas service at the church in Nantwich (the book takes place over the Christmas holidays), I'm ready to go! I gave the book 4 1/2 stars.

In case anyone's wondering, I'm still wandering around southern England. I had a very good reason this time! I just finished a re-read of Sense and Sensibility for a book club discussion coming up later this week.

England is a hard place to get out of! It seems like every interesting book I pick up is set in England and so superfluous to needs.

But rereading Austen is never a waste of time.

I agree, and wander around England as much as possible (mostly in literature, but in real life when I can get there!)

A huge percentage of the books in my TBR stacks are set in England. It's going to take a lot of effort on my part to get to some of the other places on my lists!

Nickelini, I love to wander around England in real life whenever I can, too! I suppose that's why I enjoy reading about it so much.

I'm still in England, but I've changed locations! This time I've been hanging out in Cambridge and the surrounding countryside. I just finished Anne Perry's No Graves As Yet, the first book in a World War I series. I really like both of Perry's Victorian mystery series, but found this one disappointing. I don't think her writing style works well with espionage stories. I think I'll just stick to her Victorian series.

I've done it again. I just finished another book set in England, Edmund Crispin's first Gervase Fen novel, The Case of the Gilded Fly. I guess it's only fair to give Oxford equal time, since I had just read a book set in Cambridge. I would classify this as a locked room mystery. I figured out right away who the murderer must be, but not the means or the motive. The theatrical setting reminded me of some of Ngaio Marsh's novels. I gave it 4 stars.

I'm still in England, this time in 1930s Kent following Maisie Dobbs on an investigation in An Incomplete Revenge. I've been in the hop fields during picking time, and in a gypsy camp near the village. It's the best book yet in a very good series. I gave it 5 stars.

Maisie is a WWI veteran, having served as a nurse in France, and the books in the series explore the after-effects of the war on the men and women who served and the families and friends of those who didn't return home. With Veterans Day/Remembrance Day coming up next week, it was a timely read.

I know Wolfy is doing a sub-challenge to his European one, where he's reading books from every county in England. He has a map and everything! Might be worth checking out his thread?

I read a lot of books based in the UK so thought it would be useful. The site I've been using for the map seems to be in a state of flux though right now so I've just been uploading it to my photobucket account.

I love the Maisie Dobbs series and the Maisie Dobbs character in particular. Her last two books are still unread for me, and I feel all warm and cozy inside when I think that I have those yet to enjoy.

>27, 28

I think I'll be leaving England, at least briefly, in the next couple of weeks. I just finished an ER book set in the Belgian Congo. It doesn't count toward any of my challenges, but at least it got me out of England! I'm currently reading a non-fiction memoir of a Newfoundland family for my Canada challenge. Next up are books set in Germany and Greece. I'm sure it won't be long before I end up back in England, though!

>29

I like the way Maisie's character grows from book to book. I only have one more to go before I'm caught up with the series. Then I'll have to wait impatiently for the next one!

I finally made it somewhere other than England! I spent a few hours with Elizabeth Peters's Vicky Bliss in a castle in Rothenburg, Germany, looking for a missing Renaissance shrine. Borrower of the Night is a gentle spoof of the gothic novel. It worked well as a distraction that kept me from getting too nervous while my teams were playing some tough opponents yesterday. (Both teams ended up winning!)

I added Barbara Cleverly's The Tomb of Zeus as my Greece book. It's a historical mystery set on the island of Crete. I had read and enjoyed a few of Ms. Cleverly's Joe Sandilands mysteries set in 1920s India, and thought I might enjoy her new Laetitia Talbot series. The book has a strong sense of place, but the characterization and dialogue are weak. I gave the book 1 1/2 stars. I don't think I'll continue with this series.

I just started on my Christmas reading and finished yet another book set in England - Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn. It isn't heavy reading, but it's fun. Lady Julia Grey is one of ten children in the March family. Several family members and guests gather in the family home, a converted monastery, for the holidays. A ghost roams the halls at night, valuable jewels go missing, and one of the guests is murdered. It has a lot of Gothic elements, and also the feel of an English country house mystery.

Most of the other Christmas books I have lined up are set in the U.S., so it will be a while before I make it back to Europe.

Thanks to the ER program, I just finished visiting Turkey in The Winter Thief by Jenny White. I didn't even have to interrupt my Christmas reading since the book's action began on the Orthodox Christmas in January of 1888.

I suppose you could call the book a 19th century legal thriller. In a way it was like some of John Grisham's books. We know who the bad guys are. The big question is what strategy the magistrate/"good guy" will adopt and if there will be enough evidence for a conviction.

I liked the book well enough to want to read the two earlier books in the series. I gave it 4 stars.

#35 This one sounds very interesting - excellent review, too

I second post 36!

>36 & 37 Thanks! I struggled to describe the book and my reaction to it without giving too much of the plot away, and I'm not sure I've done it justice. I've been lucky with ER books. Most of the ones I've received have been very good, and I've discovered new authors whose work I enjoy.

I've been drawn back to England again. I wanted to read Cranford before watching the series on PBS starting next week. (It's a re-run, but I missed it the last time around.) I was charmed by the women of the village, and I look forward to seeing how well the TV version lives up to the book.