THE 2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE
My Wrap Up Post
I finished the 2024 European Reading Challenge, but without any flair or fanfare. I even forgot to do a sign up post in 2024 -- and it's my challenge!
There are some amazing ERC participants who always read interesting books from all over Europe. Some people have managed to read books from all 50 European nations in a year, even in multiple years. See Sabine's Literary World on Instagram to see what I mean. But my European tour was slapdash at best. I intend to be better planned in 2025.
Go to the main 2024 European Reading Challenge page to see who signed up and find links to the reviews and wrap up pages. If you finished the challenge, please add a link to some sort of wrap up post (even an updated version of your sign up post) on the wrap up post here.
If you want to join the 2025 European Reading Challenge (and I hope you do), go to the sign up page, here.
MY 2024 EUROPEAN TOUR
In 2024, I read 125 books set in Europe or written by European authors, mostly from the UK. However, I only visited 14 different countries, and only one book from each country counts for the challenge.
I traveled with English-speaking authors for the most part. Only four were in translation, something I struggle with every year. I mean to read more books in translation, but I also want to read the books on my TBR shelves. Those goals compete.
Here is my itinerary, with one book from each country:
AUSTRIA: Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (translated)
CROATIA: The Cheesemaker's Daughter by Kristin Vukovic
DENMARK: Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by Nichole Accettola
FRANCE: The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
GERMANY: Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas by Anja Dunk
GREECE: The Light of Day by Eric Ambler
HOLLAND: King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling (translated)
ICELAND: My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere by Susan Orlean
IRELAND: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
ITALY: Still Life by Sarah Winman
SPAIN: The Vacationers by Emma Straub
SWEDEN: Beartown by Fredrik Backman (translated)
SWITZERLAND: Object by Kristin Louise Duncombe
UNITED KINGDOM: Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
