I love using books to help me get under the skin of a country. Sometimes I ask my journalism students what book they recommend - poet and novelist Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is the title most likely to come up, although I don't have that many students from Nigeria. There is a blogger (of course), who has gone a million times better - she's managed to read herself around the world. You can see her brilliant blog at http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com. Definitely worth following.
This is her selection of books, what a star.
- Afghanistan Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner; A Thousand Splendid Suns / Anna Badkhen Waiting for the Taliban / Emmanuel Guibert The Photographer / (as told to) Batya Swift Yasgur Behind the Burqa / Atiq Rahimi A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear; The Patience Stone
- Albania Ismail Kardare The Palace of Dreams; Broken April / Fatos KongoliThe Loser
- Algeria Leïla Marouane The Sexual Life of an Islamist in Paris / Anouar Benmalek Abduction / Assia Djebar So Vast the Prison / Boualem Sansal An Unfinished Business / Al-Tahir Wattar The Earthquake / Anouar Benmalek The Lovers of Algeria / Yasmina Khadra The Attack
- Andorra Albert Salvadó The Teacher of Cheops
- Angola José Eduardo Agualusa My Father’s Wives; Creole / Pepetela The Return of the Water Spirit / Ondjaki Good Morning Comrades; The Whistler / Jose Eduardo Agualusa The Book of Chameleons
- Antigua and Barbuda Jamaica Kincaid Lucy; Annie John / Marie-Elena John Unburnable / Althea Prince Loving this Man; Ladies of the Night / Gisele Isaac Considering Venus
- Argentina Martin Kohan Seconds Out / César Aira How I Became a Nun; An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter / Ernesto Sábato The Tunnel / Alicia Steimberg Musicians and Watchmakers / Jorges Luis Borges / Tomás Eloy Martínez Purgatory (trans. Frank Wynne) / Matias Nespolo 7 Ways to Kill a Cat (trans. Frank Wynne) / Carlos Gamerro The Islands / Iosi HavilioOpendoor / Luisa Valenzuela / Ricardo Piglia / Guillermo Martínez / Manuel Puig / Adolfo Bioy Casares The Invention of Morel / Julio Cortázar Hopscotch
- Armenia Armand Inezian Bringing Ararat / Grigoris Balakian Armenian Golgotha
- Australia Tim Winton Cloudstreet / Helen Garner The Children’s Bach / Markus Zusak The Book Thief / Nam Le The Boat / Andrew McGahan The White Earth / Elizabeth Jolley / Alex Miller Lovesong
- Austria Elias Canetti The Torch in my Ear / Anna Kim Frozen Time / Thomas Bernhard Extinction / Stefan Zweig / Julya Rabinovich Splithead
- Azerbaijan Gioulzar Akhmedova Magnolia / Maksud Ibragimbekov / Anar Razayev / ? Ali and Nino
- The Bahamas Ian Strachan God’s Angry Babies / Garth Buckner Thine is the Kingdom
- Bahrain Ali Al Saeed Quixotiq / Sarah A Al Sahfei Yummah
- Bangladesh Taslima Nasrin Shame / Tahmima Anam The Good Muslim / Humayun Ahmed To the Woods Dark and Deep / Ekhlasuddin Ahmed When the Evening Darkens / Shawkat Osman The Laughter of a Slave / Anwar Pasha Rifles Bread Women
- Barbados Karen Lord Redemption in Indigo / Agymah Kamau Flickering Shadows; Pictures of a Dying Man / Glenville Lovell Fire in the Canes; Song of Night; Too Beautiful to Die
- Belarus Artur Klinov The Sun City of Dreams / Uladzimir Karatkievich King Stakh’s Wild Hunt / Uladzimir Bykau Sotnikau / Viktar Martsinovich Paranoia / Svetlana Alexievich Voices from Chernobyl
- Belgium Hergé The Adventures of Tintin / Peter Terrin The Guard / Stefan Brijs The Angel Maker / Francois Emmanuel Invitation to a Voyage / Dimitri Verhulst The Misfortunates / Louis Paul Boon My Little War
- Belize Zoila Ellis On Heroes, Lizards and Passion
- Benin Gisèle Hountondji / Jean Pliya / Florent Couao-Zotti / Adelaide Fassinou / Rashidah Ismaili Abubakr Stories We Tell Each Other
- Bhutan Kunzang Choden The Circle of Karma / Karma Ura The Hero with a Thousand Eyes / T Sangay Wangchuk Seeing with the Third Eye / Dorji Penjore Bomena / Pema Euden Coming Home / Sonam Kinga
- Bolivia José Edmundo Paz-Soldán / Víctor Montoya / Renato Prada Oropeza / Giovanna Rivero Sweet Blood / Juan de Recacoechea American Visa
- Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlata Filipovic Zlata’s Diary / Wojciech TochmanLike Eating a Stone / Saša Stanišić How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone / Aleksandar Hemon The Lazarus Project / Ivo Andric The Bridge on the Drina
- Botswana Angus, Maisie and Travers McNeice The Lion Children / Bessie Head A Question of Power
- Brazil Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro House of the Fortunate Buddhas; An Invincible Memory / Clarice Lispector / Rubem Fonseca / Paulo Freire / Clarice Lispector / Jorge Amado
- Brunei Eva Maria Kershaw Dusun Folktales: A Collection of Eighty-eight Folktales in the Dusun Language of Brunei with English Translations / Christopher Sun (aka Sun Tze Yun) Four Kings
- Bulgaria Elias Canetti The Tongue Set Free / Kalin Terziyski Is there Anybody to Love You? / Georgi Gospodinov Natural Novel / Kapka Kassabova Street Without a Name / Anton Donchev Time of Parting / Milen Ruskov Thrown into Nature
- Burkina Faso Sarah Bouyain / Frédéric Pacéré Titinga / Nobert Zongo The Parachute Drop
- Burundi Marie-Therese Toyi Weep Not, Refugee
- Cambodia U Sam Oeur Crossing Three Wildernesses / Alice PungUnpolished Gem / Vaddey Ratner In the Shadow of the Banyan / Loung Ung / Haing S Ngor / Bree Lafreniere and Daran Kravanh Music Through Dark
- Cameroon Mongo Beti La Pauvre Christ de Bomba (The Poor Christ of Bomba); Mission to Kala / Beatrice Fri Bime Mystique: a collection of lake myths
- Canada Robertson Davis / Nicole Brossard Mauve Desert / Alice Munro / Lauren B Davis Our Daily Bread / Darcie Friesen Hossack Mennonites Don’t Dance / Anne Michaels Fugitive Pieces / Thomas King Green Grass, Running Water
- Cape Verde Germano Almeida The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo
- Central African Republic Bamboté Dada’s Travels from Ouadda to Bangui
- Chad Joseph Brahim Seid Told by Starlight in Chad
- Chile Roberto Bolano The Savage Detectives / Alejandro Zambra The Private Lives of Trees; Bonsai / Isabel Allende The House of the Spirits(trans. Magda Bodin) / Diamela Eltit / Alberto Fuguet / María Luisa Bombal / Luis Sepúlveda / Antonio Skármeta
- China Zhu Wen I Love Dollars / Jian Rong Wolf Totem / Ma Jian Stick Out Your Tongue; Red Dust/ Cao Xuequin Dream of the Red Chamber / Wu Cheng’en Journey to the West / Zhang Yueran / Chan Koonchung The Fat Years (trans. Michael Duke) / Yan Lianke Dream of Ding Village / Mo YanThe Garlic Ballads; Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh / Zhu Wen / Zhang Yueran / Han Dong Banished! / Yan Ge / Xialou Guo Village of Stone / Mian Mian Candy / Wang Shuo Playing for Thrills / Chen Xiwo I Love My Mum / Xu Zechen / Xue Xinran The Good Women of China; China Witness; Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother
- Colombia Evelio Rosero The Armies / Pilar Quintana Tickles in the Tongue / Juan Gabriel Vasquez The Informers / Eduardo Garcia Aguilar Boulevard of Heroes / Fernando Vallejo Our Lady of the Assassins / Hector Abad Faciolince / Laura Restrepo / Fernando Vallejo
- Comoros Mohammed Toihiri The Kafir of Karthala
- Congo, Democratic Republic of Amba Bongo / Frederick Yamusangie Full Circle
- Congo, Republic of Emmanuel Dongala Johnny Mad Dog; Little Boys Come from the Stars / Sony Lab’ou Tansi The Antipeople
- Costa Rica Anacristina Rossi / Carmen Naranjo / Oscar Nunez Olivas Cadence of the Moon / Anacristina Rossi The Madwoman of Gandoca / ed Barbara Ras Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion
- Côte d’Ivoire Bernard Dadié Climbié / Ahmadou Kourouma Allah is not Obliged
- Croatia Miroslav Krleža On the Edge of Reason / Dubravka Ugrĕsic The Ministry of Pain; In the Jaws of Life / Slavenka Drakulic A Guided Tour through the Museum of Communism
- Cuba Mayra Montero Dancing to Almendra / Ena Lucia Portela One Hundred Bottles / Alejo Carpentier / Reinaldo Arenas / Antonio José Ponte / Leonardo Padura / Reinaldo Arenas / Leonardo Padura Fuentes / Virgilio Piñera / José Lezama Lima / Severo Sarduy / Guillermo Cabrera Infante / Lydia Cabrera Afro-Cuban Tales
- Cyprus Anna Marangou/Andreas Coutas (trans. Xenia Andreou)Famagusta: the Story of the City / Eve Makis / Christy Lefteri A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible / Panos Ioannides Gregory and other stories / Elmos Konis Magnette / Nora Nadjarian Ledra Street
- Czech Republic Bohumil Hrabal Too Loud a Solitude / Hana Demetz The House on Prague Street / Tomáš Zmeškal Love Letter in Cuneiform Script / Josef Škvorecký The Engineer of Human Souls (trans. Paul Wilson)
- Denmark Jakob Ejersbo Exile: Book One of the African Trilogy / Morten Ramsland Dog Head / Christian Jungersen The Exception / Louise Bugge Laermann Constanze Mozart
- Djibouti Abdourahman Waberi In the United States of Africa; Passage of Tears
- Dominica Phyllis Shand Allfrey The Orchid House / Elma Napier Black and White Sands / Jean Rhys / Pupils of Atkinson School The Snake King of the Kalinago / Alick Lazare Pharcel / Various Home Again / Christborne Shillingford Most Wanted: street stories from the Caribbean
- Dominican Republic Juan Bosch / Arambilet Neguri’s Secret / Junot DiazThe Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao / Pedro Mir When they Loved the Communal Land / Julia Alvarez
- East Timor Luis Cardoso The Crossing
- Ecuador Jorge Icaza Huasipungo / Benjamin Carrion Cartas al Ecuador
- Egypt Ahdaf Soueif The Map of Love; Cairo: My City, Our Revolution / Sonallah Ibrahim Stealth / Mohamed Mansi Qandil Moon Over Samarqand / Waguih Ghali Beer in the Snooker Club / Naguib Mahfouz Midaq Alley; The Thief and the Dogs; Miramar; The Final Hour/ Alaa Al Aswany The Yacoubian Building / Radwa Ashour / Nawal El Saadawi / May TelmissanyDunyazad / Salwa Bakr / ed. Marilyn Booth My Grandmother’s Cactus / Gamal al-Ghitani Zayni Barakat / Yusef Zeidan Azazil / Radwa AshourGranada / Ibrahim Abdel Meguid No One Sleeps in Alexandria / Bahar Tahir / Muhammad Bisati
- El Salvador Horacio Castellanos Moya Senselessness
- Equatorial Guinea Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel / Donato Ndongo Shadows of your Black Memory / Maria Nsue Angue Ekomo
- Eritrea Senait Mehari Heart of Fire / Sulaiman Addonia The Consequences of Love
- Estonia Jaan Kross Professor Martens’ Departure; Treading Air / Sofi Oksanen Purge / Viivi Luik The Beauty of History
- Ethiopia Maaza Mengiste Beneath the Lion’s Gaze / Dinaw MengestuChildren of the Revolution / Abraham Verghese Cutting for Stone
- Fiji Peter Thomson Kava in the Blood / Epeli Hau’ofa Kisses in the Nederends; Tales of the Tikongs / Mikaele M.K. Yasa Of Baluka and Nibong Palm
- Finland Arto Paasilinna The Year of the Hare / Mika Waltari The Egyptian / Johanna Sinisalo Troll: A Love Story
- France Alain-Fournier The Wanderer / Marie NDiaye Rosie Carpe / Marie Darrieussecq My Phantom Husband / Colette Chéri / Faiza Guene Dreams from the Endz / Raymond Queneau Exercises in Style (trans. Barbara Wright) / Georges Perec Life:a User’s Manual (trans. David Bellos) / Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio Wandering Star / Jean Echenoz Lightning/ Delphine de Vigan Underground Time / Faïza Guène Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow / Alexis Jenni The French Art of War / Laurence Cossé A Novel Bookstore / Hélène Grémillon The Confidant
- Gabon Daniel Mengara Mema
- The Gambia Dayo Forster Reading the Ceiling / Dembo Fanta Bojang & Sukai Mbye Bojang Folk Tales and Fables from The Gambia
- Georgia Sana Krasikov One More Year / ed Elizabeth Heighway Contemporary Georgian Fiction
- Germany Jenny Erpenbeck Visitation / Günter Grass The Tin Drum / Christa Wolf / Heinrich Böll The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum / Emine Sevgi Özdamar Bridge of the Golden Horn / Walter Benjamin Illuminations (trans. Harry Zohn) / Clemens Meyer All the Lights / Christa Wolf Medea / Franz Fühmann / Inka Parei The Shadow-Boxing Girl / Hans Fallada Alone in Berlin / Jurek Becker Jacob the Liar / Herman Hesse Siddhartha
- Ghana Ayi Kwei Armah The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born / Isaac Neequaye / Ama Ata Aidoo / Jo de Graft Hanson Amanfi’s Gold / Gheysika Adombire Agambila Journey / Various Anansi Stories
- Greece Kostas Hatziantoniou The Black Book of Bile; Agrigento / Margarita Karapanou Kassandra and the Wolf / Panos Karnezis
- Grenada Tobias Buckell / Merle Collins The Ladies are Upstairs
- Guatemala Miguel Angel Asturias The President / Rodrigo Rey Rosa
- Guinea Camara Laye The Radiance of the King; The Guardian of the Word
- Guinea Bissau Amilcar Cabral Unity and Struggle
- Guyana Oonya Kempadoo Buxton Spice
- Haiti Marvin Victor / Lyonel Trouillot Children of Heroes / Dany LaferriereHow to Make Love to a Negro without Getting Tired; I am a Japanese Writer/ Louis-Philppe Dalembert / Edwidge Danticat The Farming of the Bones / Franketienne / Gary Klang / Josaphat-Robert Large
- Honduras Augusto Monterroso / Guillermo Yuscaran / Ramón Amaya Amador
- Hungary Sándor Márai Embers / Dezső Kosztolányi Skylark / Zsigmond Móricz Be Faithful Unto Death / Antal Szerb Journey by Moonlight / Peter Esterharzy Not Art / Tibor Fischer Under the Frog / Antal Szerb The Pendragon Legend / László Krasznahorkai War and War (trans. George Szirtes) / Ferenc Karinthy Metropole / Imre Kertész Fatelessness
- Iceland Arnaldur Indridason Jar City / Halldór Laxness The Atom Station / Ófeigur Sigurðsson / Gyrðir Eliasson Stone Tree / Auður A Ólafsdóttir The Greenhouse
- India Suketu Mehta Maximum City / Rohinton Mistry Family Matters; A Fine Balance / Premchand / Rahul Bhattacharya The Sly Company of People who Care / Amitav Ghosh River of Smoke / Tabish Khair The Thing about Thugs / Aman Sathi A Free Man / Sunetra Gupta / Omair Ahmad Jimmy the Terrorist / UR Ananthamurthy Bharathipura / Chandrakanta A Street in Srinagar / Siddharth Chowdhury Day Scholar / Kishwar Desai Witness the Night / Namita Devidayal Aftertaste / Manu Joseph Serious Men / Kavery Nambisan: The Story that Must Not Be Told / Kalpish Ratna The Quarantine Papers / Uppamanyu Chattergee Way to go / Chandrahas Choudhury Arzee the Dwarf / Manju Kapur The Immigrant / Neel MukherjeeThe Immigrant / Mani Sankar Mukherji The Middleman / I. Allan Sealy The Trotter Nama / Shashi Warrier / Aniruddha Bahal / Vikram Chandra / M T Vasudevan Nair Mist; The Legacy; The Demon Seed; Second Turn / Asha Poorna Devi / Ruskin Bond / Gurcharan Das India Unbound / Mark Tully / Shashi Tharoor The Great Indian Novel / Mahasweta Devi Imaginary Maps; Bitter Soil; Hajar Churashir Maa / RK Narayan Malgudi Days / Jhaverchand Meghani / Kushwant Singh Train to Pakistan; The Portrait of a Lady / ed Rakesh Khanna The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction / Shivaji Sawant Mrityunjay / OV Vijayan / Govardhanram TripathiSaraswatichandra / Satyajit Ray Feluda series
- Indonesia Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya Durga Umayi / Ayu Utami / Mochtar Lubis
- Iran Akbar Golrang Parpin Flowers /Nasrin Alavi We are Iran / Shahrnush Parsipur Touba and the Meaning of Night / Mahmoud Dowlatabadi The Colonel (trans. Tom Patterdale) / Adnan-Ahmed
- Iraq Samuel Shimon An Iraqi in Paris / Ali Bader The Tobacco Keeper / Hassan Blasim The Madman of Freedom Square / Rodaan Al Galidi Thirsty River / Samira Al-Mana / Wafaa Abed Al Razzaq / A Alwan The Sheikh’s Detective / Fuad al-Takarli The Long Way Back
- Ireland James Joyce Ulysses / Maria Edgeworth Castle Rackrent / William Trevor / Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture / Flann O’Brien The Third Policeman
- Israel David Grossman Falling Out of Time; To the End of the Land / Amos Oz A Tale of Love and Darkness (trans. Nicholas de Lange) / Savyon Liebrecht / AB Yehoshua / Ronit Matalon / Alex Epstein / Aharon AppelfeldBlooms of Darkness / Sara Shilo The Falafel King is Dead
- Italy Roberto Saviano Gomorrah / Leonardo Sciascia The Day of the Owl(trans. Archibald Colquhoun) / Fabio Geda In the Sea there are Crocodiles(trans. Howard Curtis) / Elena Ferrante The Lost Daughter / Antonio Tabucchi Pereira Maintains / Diego Marani New Finnish Grammar
- Jamaica Kei Miller / Lindsay Barrett / Margaret Cezair-Thompson The Pirate’s Daughter / Colin Channer / Brian Meeks Paint the Town Red / Patricia Powell / Victor Stafford Reid / Vanessa Spence / Marlon James John Crow’s Devil
- Japan Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore; 1Q84 / Natsume Sōseki TheMiner; I am a Cat/ Michitsuna no Haha (Michitsuna’s mother) The Kagero Diary (trans. Sonja Arntzen) / Yukio Mishima Death in Midsummer (trans. Seidensticker, Keene, Morris, Sargent) / Hiromi Kawakami Manazuru/ Shiba Ryotaro / Yoko Ogawa / Yoriko Shono / Yumiko Kurahashi / Yoko Tawada
- Jordan Ibrahim Nasrallah The Time of White Horses
- Kazakhstan Rollan Seisenbayev The Day the World Collapsed / Mukhamet Shayakhmetov The Silent Steppe: The Story of a Kazakh Nomad Under Stalin / Nursultan Nazarbayev My Life, My Times and the Future / Ilyas Esenberlin Nomads
- Kenya Binyavanga Wainaina One Day I Will Write About This Place / Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o A Grain of Wheat; Wizard of the Crow / Philo Ikonya Kenya, Will You Marry Me?
- Kiribati Teweiariki Teaero Waa in Storms
- Kuwait Saif Marzooq al-Shamlan Pearling in the Arabian Gulf / Jehan S Rajab Invasion Kuwait / Haya al-Mughni Women in Kuwait / Danderma The Chronicles of Dathra, a Dowdy Girl from Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan Chinghiz Aimatov Jamilia; The Place of the Skull
- Laos Outhine Bounyavong Mother’s Beloved
- Latvia David Bezmozgis The Free World / Agate Nesaule A Woman in Amber / Inga Zolude A Solace for Adam’s Tree / Sandra Kalniete With Dance Shoes in Siberian Snows
- Lebanon Joumana Haddad I Killed Scheherazade / Elias Khoury Yalo; Gate of the Sun / Hanan al-Shaykh One Thousand and One Nights; The Locust and the Bird / Jabbour Douhaiy June Rain / Alexandra Chreiteh Always Coca-Cola / Iman Humaydan Wild Mulberries / Amin Maalouf Samarkand;Leo the African / Rashid al-Daif Dear Mr Kawabata / Amin al Rihani
- Lesotho Thomas Mofolo Chaka / AS Mopeli-Paulus Blanket Boy’s Moon; The World and the Cattle / Morabo Morojele How We Buried Puso / Various Basali! Stories by and about women in Lesotho
- Liberia Helene Cooper The House at Sugar Beach / Ellen Johnson SirleafThis Child Will Be Great / Mardia Stone Konkai: Living Between Two Worlds
- Libya Hisham Matar In the Country of Men; Anatomy of a Disappearance / Ibrahim Al-Khoni Anubius: A Desert Novel; Gold Dust; The Animists; The Bleeding of the Stone; The Puppet; The Seven Veils of Seth / Ahmed FagiHomeless Rats; 30 Short Stories
- Liechtenstein Iren Nigg / Stefan Sprenger / Heinrich Harrer Seven Years in Tibet / CC Bergius The Noble Forger
- Lithuania Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė / Various No Men, No Cry (‘Collective Series’) / Ricardas Gavelis Vilnius Poker / Jonas Mekas / Juozas Baltusis
- Luxembourg Jean Back Amateur / Robi Gottlieb-Cahen Minute Stories
- Macedonia Rumena Bužarovska Scribbles; Wisdom Tooth / Goce SmilevskiSigmund Freud’s Sister; Conversation with Spinoza/ Elizabeta Bakovska On the way to Damascus
- Madagascar ed. Jacques Bourgeacq and Liliane Ramarosoa Voices from Madagascar
- Malawi Samson Kambalu The Jive Talker / Aubrey Kachingwe No Easy Task
- Malaysia Shih-Li Kow Ripples and Other Stories
- Maldives Abdullah Sadiq Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu
- Mali Amadou Hampâté Bâ The Strange Destiny of Wangrin / Yambo Ouloguem Bound to Violence
- Malta Immanuel Mifsud Happy Weekend / Pierre Mejlak / Simon Bartolo
- Marshall Islands Ed Daniel Kelin Marshall Islands Legends and Stories / Marshallese school students (the Unbound Bookmaker Project) The Important Book about Majuro / Jack Niedenthal For the Good of Mankind / Bob Barclay In Melal: A Novel of the Pacific / Dirk R Spennemann Bwebwenatoon etto: a collection of Marshallese legends and traditions
- Mauritania Mohamed Bouya Bamba Angels of Mauritania and the Curse of the Language
- Mauritius Anand Mulloo Watch Them Go Down / Barlen Pyamootoo Benares
- Mexico Juan Pablo Villalobos Down the Rabbit Hole / Octavio Paz The Labyrinth of Solitude (trans. Lysander Kemp) / Laura Esquivel Like Water for Chocolate (trans. Carol Christensen and Thomas Christensen) / Martín Solares The Black Minutes / Carlos Fuentes / Jorge Volpi / Rosario Castellanos / Carmen Boullosa / Sandra Cisneros / Mario Bellatín / Elena Garro / Juan Rulfo / Elena Poniatowska / Sergio Pitol / Juan Rulfo Pedro Paramo
- Micronesia, Federated States of Luelen Bernart The Book of Luelen
- Moldova Ion Drutse Moldavian Autumn; The Story of an Ant
- Monaco Apollinaire
- Mongolia Galsan Tschinag The Blue Sky
- Montenegro Petar II Petrović-Njegoš The Mountain Wreath / Andrej Nikolaidis / Xenia Popovich A Lullaby for No Man’s Wolf
- Morocco Diss Chraïbi Heirs to the Past; Le Passé Simple (The Simple Past) / Tahar Ben Jelloun The Sacred Night; This Blinding Absence of Light (trans. Linda Coverdale); A Palace in the Old Village (trans. Linda Coverdale) / Bensalem Himmich The Polymath / Mohammed Achaari The Arch and the Butterfly / Fatima Mernissi / Muhammad Shukri For Bread Alone / Muhammad Barrada The Game of Forgetting
- Mozambique Mia Couto The Sleepwalking Land; Under the Frangipani / Paulina Chiziane Niketche / Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa Ualalapi / Luis Bernardo Honwana We Killed Mangy Dog
- Myanmar Cho Tu Zaw / Ma Thida / Nu Nu Yi Inwa Smile as they Bow
- Namibia Joseph Diescho Troubled Waters / Neshani Andreas The Purple Violet of Oshaantu
- Nauru Timothy Detudamo Legends, Traditions and Tales of Nauru
- Nepal Samrat Upadhyay Buddha’s Orphans / Ajit Baral The Lazy Conman and Other Stories
- Netherlands Harry Mulisch The Discovery of Heaven / Cees Noteboom Lost Paradise / Tessa de Loo / Gerbrand Bakker The Twin / Kader Abdolah The House of the Mosque / Abdelkader Benali / Jan van Mersbergen Tomorrow Pamplona / Arthur Japin The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi / Tommy Wieringa Little Caesar / Bernlef Out of Mind / Jan Wolkers Turkish Delight
- New Zealand Charlotte Grimshaw Singularity / Maurice Shadbolt Season of the Jew / Keri Hulme The Bone People / Lloyd Jones Mr Pip / Alan Duff Once Were Warriors / Witi Ihimaera Tangi / Janet Frame
- Nicaragua Gioconda Belli Infinity in the Palm of her Hand
- Niger recounted by Nouhou Malio The Epic of Askia Mohammed
- Nigeria Wole Soyinka The Interpreters / Wole Soyinka Season of Anomy / Toyin Falola A Mouth Sweeter than Salt / Lola Shoneyin The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives
- North Korea Ri In Mo My Life and Faith / Kye Wol Hyang
- Norway Karl Ove Knausgaard My Struggle / Per Petterson To Siberia; Out Stealing Horses (trans. Ann Born) / Knut Hamsun Hunger / Lars Saabye Christensen The Half Brother
- Oman Ibrahim Farghali Smiles of Saints / Khadija bint Alawi Al-Dhahab My Grandmother’s Stories / Unni Wikan Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman
- Pakistan Mohsin Hamid Moth Smoke; The Reluctant Fundamentalist / Sara Suleri Meatless Days / Bapsi Sidhwa Ice Candy Man / Bina Shah A Season for Martyrs; Slum Child / Jamil Ahmad The Wandering Falcon / Daniyal Mueenuddin In Other Rooms, Other Wonders / HM Naqvi Home Boy / Uzma Aslam Khan / Musharraf Ali Farooqi The Story of a Widow; Between Clay and Dust / Ali Sethi The Wish Maker / Kamila Shamsie Kartography; Broken Verses / Mohammed Hanif
- Palau Susan Kloulechad Spirits’ Tides
- Palestine Ibtisam Barakat Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood / Sahar Khalifeh Wild Thorns / Susan Abulhawa Mornings in Jenin / Mahmoud Shukair Mordechai’s Moustache and his Wife’s Cats, and other stories
- Panama Juan David Morgan The Golden Horse / Carlos Russell
- Papua New Guinea Russell Soaba Maiba / Regis Stella Gutsini Posa / Russell Soaba Maiba / Bernard Narokobi Two Seasons / Vincent Eri The Crocodile / Nash Sorariba / Michael Somare Sana /
- Paraguay Augusto Roa Bastos The Prosecutor
- Peru Mario Vargas Llosa Death in the Andes; Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter(trans. Ursule Molinaro, Hedwig Rappolt) / Jaime Bayly / José María Arguedas / Santiago Roncagliolo
- Philippines Charlson Ong / Joel Toledo / Miguel Syjuco Illustrado / F Sionil José / Jessica Hagedorn Dogeaters
- Poland Stanislaw Lem / Olga Tokarczuk Primeval and Other Times; House of Day, House of Night / Pawel Huelle Cold Sea Tales; Castorp; The Last Supper; Mercedes Benz/ Zygmunt Miloszewski Entanglement; A Grain of Truth/ Witold Gombrowicz Pornografia / Wiesław Myśliwski Stone upon Stone / Magdalena Tulli In Red / Dorota Maslowska Snow White and Russian Red / Marek Krajewski The Eberhard Mock books / Grazyna Plebanek Illegal Liaisons / Antoni Libera Madame / Andrzej Stasiuk On the Road to Babadag; Dukla; Fado; Nine; White Raven / Stefan Chwin Death in Danzig / Michal Witkowski Lovetown / Jacek Hugo-Bader White Fever / Wojciech Jagielski The Night Wanderers / Kazimierz Moczarski Conversations with an Executioner
- Portugal Eca de Queiroz The Mandarin and Other Stories / José SaramagoBlindness; The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis; The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
- Qatar Mohammed Ali Victory over Abu Derya: The Quest for Pearls in the Arabian Gulf
- Romania Herta Muller The Passport / Filip and Matei Florian The Baiut Alley Lads / Mircea Cartarescu / Mircea Eliade
- Russia Alina Bronsky The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (trans. Ralph Parker) / Vladimir Sorokin Day of the Oprichnik / Mikhail Lermontov A Hero of Our Time / Mikhail Bulgakov The Master and Margarita (trans. Michael Glenny) / Roman Senchin MINUS / Alan Cherchesov Requiem for the Living /Off the Beaten Tracks: Stories by Russian Hitchhikers / Oleg ZaionchkovskiHappiness is Possible
- Rwanda Philip Gourevitch We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with our Families / Jean Hatzfeld Into the Quick of Life / Barassa Teta / John Rusimbi By the Time She Returned
- Saint Kitts and Nevis Caryl Phillips / Bertram Roach Only God Can Make a Tree
- Saint Lucia Derek Walcott Omeros / Garth St Omer A Room on the Hill; Shades of Grey; Nor Any Country; J-, Black Bam and the Masqueraders / Dr Earl Long Consolation; Voices from a Drum / McDonald Dixon Season of Mist / Michael Aubertin Neg Maron
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines H Nigel Thomas Spirits in the Dark; Behind the Face of Winter; Return to Arcadia / George Thomas Ruler in Hairoona / Cecil Browne The Moon is Following Me / Richard Byron-Cox Were Mama’s Tears in Vain? / Marcia King-Gamble / Trish St Hill / Nickie Williams /
- Samoa Misa Telefoni Retzlaff Love and Money / Lani Wendt Young Telesa/ Albert Wendt The Adventures of Vela; Sons for the Return Home; Pouliuli / Sia Figiel Where We Once Belonged; The Girl in the Moon Circle; They Who do not Grieve
- San Marino Giuseppe Rossi The Republic of San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe Olinda Beja The Shepherd’s House
- Saudi Arabia Rajaa Al-Sanea Girls of Riyadh / Raja Alem My Thousand and One Nights: A Novel of Mecca / Abdul Rahman Munif Endings; Cities of Salt; The Trench; Variations on Night and Day / ed. Abubaker Bagader Voices of Change
- Senegal Mariama Bâ Une Si Longue Lettre (So Long a Letter) / Ken BugulRiwan ou Le Chemin de Sable (Riwan or The Path of Sand)
- Serbia Ivo Andric Bridge in the River Drina / Milos Crnjanski A Novel About London; Migrations / Danilo Kiš / David Albahari Bait / Milorad PavicDictionary of the Khazars / Srdjan Valjarevic Lake Como / Zoran Živković
- Seychelles Glynn Burridge Voices / William Travis Beyond the Reefs; Shark for Sale
- Sierra Leone Aminatta Forna The Memory of Love / Ishmael Beah A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of Boy Soldier
- Singapore Su-Chen Christine Lim Fistful of Colours
- Slovakia Pavol Rankov / Peter Pistanek Rivers of Babylon / Daniela Kapitánová Samko Tale’s Cemetery Book
- Slovenia Slavoj Žižek / Nataša Kramberger Heaven in a Blackberry Bush, a Novel in Stories / Andrej Blatnik You do Understand / Andrej Skubic Fužine Blues / Miha Mazzini The German Lottery
- Solomon Islands John Saunana The Alternative / ed. Alice Aruhe’eta Pollard and Marilyn J. Waring Being the First: Storis Blong Oloketa Mere lo Solomon Aelan
- Somalia Nuruddin Farah Secrets; Sweet and Sour Milk
- South Africa Gavin Evans Dancing Shoes is Dead / Ingrid Winterbach The Book of Happenstance / Damon Galgut The Quarry / Kgebetli Moele The Book of the Dead / Diane Awerbuck Cabin Fever / Siphiwo Mahala African Delights / Henrietta Rose-Innes Nineveh / Ivan Vladislavic The Loss Library
- South Korea Hwang Sok-yong The Guest; The Old Garden / Lee Hye-Kyung A House on the Road / Shin Kyung-Sook Please Look After Mom
- South Sudan Julia Duany ‘To Forgive is Divine not Human’
- Spain Miguel Delibes Five Hours with Mario / Javier Cercas Soldiers of Salamis; The Anatomy of a Moment (trans. Anne McClean) / Alberto Mendez The Blind Sunflowers / Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote (trans. Edith Grossman) / Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Shadow of the Wind / Enrique Vila-Matas Dublinesque / Juan Goytisolo Exiled from Almost Everywhere
- Sri Lanka Romesh Gunesekera Reef / Carl Muller The Jam Fruit Tree / Shehan Karunatilaka Chinaman / Ru Freeman A Disobedient Girl / Siri Gunasinghe The Shadow / Kathleen Jayawardena Circles of Fire / S Ponnuthurai Ritual / Sunethra Rajakarunanayake Metta / Keerthi Welisarage The Doomed
- Sudan Amir Tag Elsir The Grub Hunter / Tarek Eltayeb The Palm House / Tayeb Salih Season of Migration to the North / Leila Aboulela Minaret
- Suriname Cynthia Mcleod The Cost of Sugar; The Free Negress
- Swaziland Sarah Mkhonza Weeding the Flowerbeds
- Sweden Henning Mankell Chronicler of the Winds / Per Olov Enquist The March of the Musicians (trans. Joan Tate); The Story of Blanche and Marie / Jens Lapidus Easy Money / Karin Altenberg Island of Wings / Jonas Hassen Khemiri Montecore / / Hjalmar Soderberg Doctor Glas / Lotta Lotass / Amelie Posse / John Ajvide Lindqvist Let the Right One In
- Switzerland Friedrich Dürrenmatt The Pledge / Hansjörg Schertenlieb A Happy Man / Gottfried Keller A Village Romeo and Juliet / Annemarie Schwarzenbach / Friedrich Glauser In Matto’s Realm / Peter Bichsel Children’s Stories / Aglaja Veteranyi Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta / Hugo Loetscher Noah / Gerhard Meier Isle of the Dead
- Syria Fadi Azzam Sarmada / Zakaria Tamer Breaking Knees / Ghadda Samman / Rafik Schami Damascus Nights / Hassan Bahri / Hanna Mina Sun on a Cloudy Day / Khaled Khalifa In Praise of Hatred
- Taiwan Su Wei-chen / Pai Hsien-yung Crystal Boys
- Tajikistan Andrei Volos Hurramabad
- Tanzania Muhammed Said Abdulla / Abdulrazak Gurnah Desertion / Edwin Semzaba / Ismael Mbise Blood on Our Land / Agoro Anduru / Adam Shafi / Bethsaida Orphan Girls’ Secondary School Their Voices, Their Stories / Sophia Mustafa Broken Reed / Tengio Urrio The Girl from Uganda / S Ndunguru The Lion of Yola
- Thailand Chart Korbjitti The Judgement; No Way Out; Time; Mad Dogs & Co
- Togo Jeanette D Ahonsou / Pyabelo Chaold Kouly / Tété-Michel KpomassieAn African in Greenland
- Tonga Joshua Taumoefolau A Providence of War
- Trinidad and Tobago VS Naipaul A House for Mr Biswas; In a Free State / Monique Roffey The White Woman on the Green Bicycle / Robert Antoni / Keith Jardim Near Open Water / Earl Lovelace Is Just a Movie / Vahni Capildeo One Scattered Skeleton / Errol John Moon on a Rainbow Shawl
- Tunisia Habib Selmi The Scents of Marie-Claire / Abdelwahab Meddeb Talismano / Hassouna Mosbahi A Tunisian Tale /
- Turkey Orhan Pamuk Snow / Latife Tekin Dear Shameless Death / Elif Shafak The Forty Rules of Love / Erendiz Atasu The Other Side of the Mountain / Murathan Mungan
- Turkmenistan John Kropf Unknown Sands / Ak Welsapar The Tale of Aypi;Cobra
- Tuvalu Various Tuvalu: a history
- Uganda Okot p’Bitek Song of Lawino / Moses Isegawa Abyssinian Chronicles; Snakepit
- Ukraine Andrey Kurkov Death and the Penguin / Theodore Odrach Wave of Terror
- United Arab Emirates Qais Sedki Gold Ring / Maha Gargash The Sand Fish / Ameera Al Hakawati Desperate in Dubai / Mohammad Al Murr The Wink of the Mona Lisa; Dubai Tales
- United Kingdom Angus MacLellan Stories from South Uist / Christina HallTo the Edge of the Sea / Deborah Levy Swimming Home / Siân Melangell Dafydd Y Trydydd Peth / Vanessa Gebbie / Caryl Lewis Martha, Jack and Shanco
- United States of America Neil Gaiman American Gods / Sean Murphy The Time of New Weather / Norton Juster The Phantom Tollbooth / Michael Shaara The Killer Angels / Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible / Cormac Mccarthy All the Pretty Horses / Eliot Weinberger
- Uruguay Juan Carlos Onetti The Shipyard / Felisberto Hernández Lands of Memory / Rafael Courtoisie / Cristina Peri Rossi /Eduardo Galeano / Mario Benedetti / Horacio Quiroga The Decapitated Chicken
- Uzbekistan Sabit Madaliev / Hamid Ismailov The Railway
- Vanuatu Sethy Regenvau Laef Blong Mi: From Village to Nation
- Vatican City Luigi Marinello & The Millenari Shroud of Secrecy or Gone with the Wind in the Vatican
- Venezuela Francisco Suniaga / Alberto Barrera Tyszka The Sickness / Ana Teresa Torres / Romulo Gallegos / Federico Vegas Falke
- Vietnam Pan Hon Nien The Joker; Cold Eyes; Left Wing / Bao Ninh The Sorrow of War (trans. Frank Palmos, Phan Thanh Hao)
- Yemen Wajdi al-Ahdal A Land without Jasmine / Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj The Hostage
- Zambia Gaile Parkin Baking Cakes in Kigali / Field Ruwe / Binwell Sinyangwe A Cowrie of Hope
- Zimbabwe Petinah Gappah An Elegy for Easterly / Tsitsi DangarembgaNervous Conditions / Brian Chikwava Harare North / Tendai Huchu The Hairdresser of Harare / Shimmer Chinodya Chioniso and Other Stories / Stephen Lungu Out of the Black Shadows
