Top Ten Tuesday – MY TOP 10 FAVORITE READS SET OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Top Ten Books That Take Place In Another Country. I live in the U.S. and I love to read books that are set in other countries. Not only is a great way to learn about other cultures, etc, but It also helps to somewhat satisfy my wanderlust because reading these books is like traveling without a passport. That said, here are some of my favorite reads that have non-U.S. settings.
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MY TOP 10 FAVORITE READS SET OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.
1. ON THE JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta (Set in AUSTRALIA)
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2. WARCROSS by Marie Lu (Set primarily in TOKYO, JAPAN)
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3. HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi (Set primarily in AFRICA)
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4. MY LADY JANE by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, & Brodi Ashton (Set in ENGLAND)
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5. ANGELS & DEMONS by Dan Brown (Set in ROME, ITALY, VATICAN CITY, & SWITZERLAND)
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6. HARRY POTTER SERIES by J. K. Rowling (SET IN LONDON/HOGWARTS)
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7. A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki (Set in TOKYO, JAPAN & BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
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8. THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak (Set in GERMANY)
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9. THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini (Set primarily in AFGHANISTAN)
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10. ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy (Set primarily in RUSSIA)
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Homegoing, The Book Thief and Kiterunner are three I need to get to. Yay for Hogwarts!! Great list!!
Thanks!
Oh Warcross is mostly in Japan? That makes me a bit more excited for that one. 🙂
Yep, there’s one part at the beginning that is in the U.S. but then the rest is in Japan 🙂
Was the Kite Runner good? I have that on my to buy list.
My TTT.
I thought it was an incredible read. Definitely have the tissues handy though because it’s a tearjerker at times.
Ooh, great list! Dan Brown’s books are so good, because I really feel like I’m learning a lot about the different locations the books take place in.
Right? I feel like I’ve traveled most of Europe thanks to his books, lol.
I do really love books set outside of the U.S. Yay for The Book Thief! I feel like I read a lot of books set in Europe, so I want to expand that a bit more too. I do really like the book Penance by Kanae Minato – that’s based in Japan (the author is Japanese too) and I really want to read her other book, Confessions.
-Lauren
I haven’t read anything by Minato but will have to check those out. Thanks for the recs 🙂
Happy Potter for sure! I want to read My Lady Jane though, it is one I’ve been keeping an eye for at our library. Hopefully they’ll get it soon. 🙂
My Lady Jane is such a fun read. I laughed out loud so much while reading it!
Ooo I’m going to look into Homegoing.
I loved Homegoing so much. I really want to read more from Yaa Gyasi.
Japan would be awesome (loved Warcross!!!) and I always enjoy stories set in England or Australia.
Switzerland and Italy I’d like to read more about…
Same here. England and Australia are two of my all-time favorite book settings.
Reading is indeed a bit like travelling without a passport! I just finished Warcross and loved it, and really enjoyed the Tokyo setting 🙂
So glad to hear you enjoyed Warcross. I really liked that one too and can’t wait to see what happens next!
I have a lot of these books on my “To Read” list already, so I’m glad to see you enjoyed them enough to recommend them here. I hadn’t heard of Warcross before, though, and I’m adding it to my list. While it doesn’t necessarily sound like the kind of book I’d love, I thought the summary on Goodreads sounded interesting. I can always pick it up when I’m in the mood for something different.
I enjoyed Warcross a lot more than I was expecting to, so if you give it a try, I hope you have a similar experience. 🙂
Ooh I love The Book Thief! And Harry Potter, obviously 🙂
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/top-ten-tuesday-152/
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Marchetta is on my list of an author I must read. I have Jellicoe Road, so maybe I will start there.
I’d like to read more from her. Jellicoe Road was a book that made me so emotional.
I enjoyed Warcross and love Harry Potter everything! I see a few titles like My Lady Jane that I’d want to read.
My Lady Jane is so much fun!
It made me happy to see my favourite book at the top of your list this week 😀
I love that book too 🙂
I didn’t even realize some of these were set in other countries! I’ve heard great things about Jellicoe Road and Warcross. The only ones I’ve read on your list though are HP and Kite Runner. But it is a lot of fun reading about books in other countries because it is like getting to travel there without leaving your home!
It really is and I’ve lost track of how many places I’ve added to my travel bucket list simply because I read about them in books.
I keep scrolling back to the cover of A Tale for the Time Being — it looks so good! Off to check it out now!
That’s one of my favorite book covers. It’s just so vibrant and pretty.
Angels and Demons was a DNF for me:( I’ll check out A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING! HOMEGOING is on my TBR I cannot wait to get to it!
Homegoing is wonderful, one of my favorite reads from last year.
That’s a good mix of countries. Though I have to admit the only one I’ve read is Angels and Demons (though I preferred Brown’s Da Vinci Code and its trip through the art world). Yaa Gyassi’s book has long been on my TBR. Especially like the Jellicoe Road cover. Also thanks for stopping by my blog and happy reading week to you.
Happy reading to you too!
I completely agree with you: books set in other countries help satisfy one’s wanderlust (at least, it helps me). There are so many places I want to visit and learn more about and through books I have a chance to learn a little bit about them and their culture. Books are too precious…
I can’t believe I haven’t read Warcross yet.
Happy readings Suzanne. 🙂
I agree with you. Books are precious 🙂
I totally should have added My Lady Jane to my list.
Great picks!
Lauren @ Always Me
My Lady Jane is such a fun read. I can’t wait for their next book!
This is a really great list – my contribution would be Necessity by Jo Walton, the first book in her Thessaly trilogy, which is set in Greece. Have a great Easter:)
I need to read more books set in Greece so thanks for the rec! Happy Easter to you too 🙂
I love visiting other places via books too, both within my own country and in other countries. I likely won’t get to most of them in my life time–so thank goodness for books! I really enjoyed Angels and Demons and The Kite Runner as well. Oh, and Anna Karenina! I don’t know why I didn’t think of those. Great list, Suzanne!
Thanks!