Interesting idea to extend your reading

I tend to do this, without realizing it I suppose.

My boyfriend makes fun of me for it (in a joking way) since I tend to go full in on places I am going, have been, or would love to go. Not touristy books, but everyday memoirs or works of historical fiction etc.

I love this idea, but I will be honest. I often have a hard time reading books that were not written in English as the translations often seem so stilted and feel...I don't know, cold or something? I realize that different languages and cultures have different styles, but it's like in my old age, I'm too grumpy to try that hard. I'm an avid reader, so this pains me to admit.

What a fascinating goal.  There have been a few times when I purposely sought out reading something from an author in other than say US, UK, Ireland, which tends to be the rut I get into, but I never thought so grand as to try to check off something from every country.  I'm off to go watch & check out the comments.

Thanks for sharing!

I love this idea, too, and am always looking for books that teach me about a different part of the world through the story.

Over the years I've gone through different phases and can highly recommend learning about India from Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things), Rohinton Mistry (A Fine Balance) or Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies or The Namesake). These were bestsellers/award winners when published and written in English though.

Another book that has stayed with me since reading it a couple decades ago is a childhood memoir by Alexandra Fuller called Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight set during the fight for Zimbabwe's independence. 

So many of Isabel Allende's books have a different feel to them and include the political/social history of Chile. She was influenced by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.

I think I've read most books that have been translated into English and hit the best seller lists (thinking of Swedish writers Frederik Backman and Stieg Larsson, Brazilian Paolo Coelho). Thanks to this thread, I just added Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman to my hold list at the library and should have it by the end of the week.