2020 CHALLENGE: The European Reading Challenge

MY SIGN-UP POST

for the 2020 European Reading Challenge

This is my sign-up post or the 2020 ERC. To sign up yourself (and I hope you do), go to the main page for the 2020 European Reading Challenge here, or click the picture above.

The idea is to read books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries. You can sign up to complete the challenge by reading one to five books, each from a different country. Of course, you can read more than five to compete for the Jet Setter Prize. Or just to visit more countries! Read all the details on the main challenge page.

I've signed up for the "FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE)" level to read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries. This year, I decided to read five nonfiction books. My nonfiction shelves are overflowing. None get me to far-flung corners of Europe, but this year I’m determined to clear some space on my nonfiction shelves!

MY CHALLENGE BOOKS

ITALY: A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance by Marlena de Blasi.

FRANCE: Paris to the Past: Traveling Through French History by Train by Ina Caro.

GREECE: Prospero’s Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corfu by Lawrence Durrell.

U.K.: Britain by the Book: A Curious Tour of Our Literary Landscape by Oliver Tearle.

IRELAND: Country Girl: A Memoir by Edna O’Brien.


NOTE: WHAT COUNTS AS "EUROPE"? For the European Reading Challenge, we stick with the standard list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the UK, France, Germany, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.