Reading the world
A resource to help you read from every country in the world.
I was in high school when I first read “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. Growing up in a conservative Christian household, my political and world beliefs at that point in my life, like most teens, was mostly shaped by my family. I had a very limited view of the world and while I cared about other people, I had no idea about people’s life experiences outside of my little bubble.
Until I read “The Kite Runner.” It’s the first book I ever remember reading that truly dismantled what I thought I knew about the world. And once I had that knowledge, I couldn’t turn away. I started to read any and all books I could get my hands on about geo-political events which then led to me consuming every book about genocide at my library (I was very popular in high school). And, although it was a slow process that took about five years, this knowledge helped me critically look at and dismantle beliefs I held simply because I was told to believe them.
Books literally helped open me up to the rest of the world and helped me understand and empathize with people and circumstances which were entirely different from mine. I so strongly believe that education is the pathway towards collecitve liberation. It’s the reason why I was a teacher for so long and the reason why we see our educational resources being attacked right now.
Reading the world
It’s always been important for me to read books from other cultures and one way I conciously do this is by tracking my reading by the countries I read from. It’s a personal goal of mine to read a book from every single country in the world.
Right now, I’m tracking my reading on an app meant for travel, Skratch. It’s a fun way for me to track my progress and see my current gaps:
But I also wanted to help others read from every country in the world too, so I spent the last couple of months working on something I’m truly excited about: a Reading the world spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet
Inside the spreadsheet, you'll find a tab to every country in the world and books from that country.
How are the books chosen?
In order to be listed under a country, the book either has to take place in that country, discuss the country (if it's non-fiction), or the author needs to be from that country. Sometimes it's all of the above.
This is a living document
I don't want this to be something that I just send out. The comments are open. So if you have a book recommendation or if you have a review of any book mentioned, please leave a comment with a link and I will be sure to add it. As you'll notice, some countries have a LOT of books listed and a few have little or none, so I need your help finding gems to add.
Some things to note:
🌎 You'll notice that there are some additional tabs for places not officially recognized as "countries". I wanted to recognize them as such due to their current occupation or colonization. If there are any such places that you think I missed, please let me know.
🇺🇸For the United States, I only put books written by indigenous authors or books that critique systemic issues in the country. The majority of books people read are from the US, so I wanted to highlight voices that need to be read more.
✍️ Most of the descriptions were taken from other websites such as Goodreads, StoryGraph, and publisher websites.
Want to support this project?
Like I said, please add any and all comments to this document. If you want to support me and my work, please subscribe to my Substack (there are both free and paid options). Your support means the world to me.
There's nothing more powerful than learning about the world around us and exposing ourselves to history and culture that we may not be familiar with. I truly believe that educating yourself through reading brings powerful change to not only yourself, but the rest of the world. Let’s help each other out, hold ourselves accountable, and learn about each other, together.
Other creators to follow who are also reading the world:
Tonje from @reading.all.the.world
Lydia from @lydloves
Hanna from @theworldtoread
Cover photo from: LAYİHA
This is incredible!
Brazil: You must, must must include *The Hour of the Star* by Clarice Lispector. Short, deep and piercingly beautiful. The late author is a Brazilian national treasure.