WINNER! 2024 European Reading Challenge

 

2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

THIS IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST FOR 2024

TO FIND THE 2024 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO FIND THE 2024 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2025 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE SIGN UP IS AT THIS PAGE

2024 was the 12th year of the European Reading Challenge! The challenge involves reading books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries.

My big thanks go to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour last year!

JET SETTER GRAND PRIZE WINNER

The 2024 Jet Setter prize goes to Sabine at sabines.literary.world who participated on Instagram. 2024 is the fourth year in a row that this intrepid armchair traveler won the challenge. In 2021, Sabine visited all 50 European states -- TWICE! In 2022, she hit another grand slam, but only one time around the continent. In 2023, she slowed down and "only" visited 35 of the 50 European states. In 2024, she hit her stride again, visited all 50 European states, and reviewed the books she read. Her wrap up post discusses her reading journey. 

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to the other nine participants who completed the challenge and posted wrap up posts about the countries they visited and the books they read. Here they are, with the number of different countries visited in parenthesis:

• Alexis Drake on Goodreads (8)

• All About Cosy (10)

• Avid Series Reader (15)

• Cinzia at Quattro passi sulle nuvole (21)

• Maphead's Book Blog (30)

• Mark at Carstairs Considers (4)

• Me, Myself, I Read (and Write) (3)

• Reese at Typings (15)

• Tess at tessreadslibri (6)

My own wrap-up post is here. I read books from 14 different European countries, and four were translations. I didn't even try to review the books I read, which is more than I can handle as long as I am running my own law firm.

Congratulations to all the readers who completed the 2024 challenge!

There is still plenty of time to join us in 2025.

JOIN THE 2025 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE!

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

Sign up HERE for the 2025 Challenge.

The Lady of the Mine by Sergei Lebedev -- BOOK REVIEW

 

BOOK REVIEW

The Lady of the Mine by Sergei Lebedev, translated by Antonina W. Bouis

The Lady of the Mine is not an easy read, but it is a powerful one. Set in 2014 when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine, it is the tragic story of a Ukrainian mining village that suffered invaders throughout the 20th Century. There is an abandoned mine shaft in the village filled with the bodies of war victims dating back to the Russian Revolution. More recently, the Nazis executed thousands of Jews and and threw the bodies down the mine during World War II. As much as the Russians would like to expose the crimes of the Nazis, they keep the mine quiet because exposing the Nazis would also expose crimes committed by the Russians during their civil war and by Soviets later. 

That is the grisly backdrop to the 2014 story. When the Russians return to the village, the current conflict revives past miseries, especially when a passenger plan is shot down over the village. 

The book is told from multiple points of view, including a young soldier in the Russian occupying forces, a young woman with generational ties to the mine and people of the village, the former manager of the mine under prior Soviet occupation, and the original mine engineer, speaking from the grave because he is one of the bodies buried in the mine. Because the story is told by so many people and skips around in time, I had a hard time engaging with the book. I had to remind myself who the different narrators were and what their connection was to the historical events in the village. I also missed some of the many references to people, places, and events that are unfamiliar to non-European readers. 

Although I struggled with these aspects of the book, I ended up admiring it very much. It made me think about how dark times in history repeat themselves and the role of ordinary individuals in tumultuous times. Now that Ukraine is again fighting off the Russians, The Lady of the Mine is a particularly moving and significant story.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

The mystical laundress at the center of this novel is obsessed with purity. Her task is formidable as she stands guard over a sealed shaft at a Ukrainian coal mine that hides terrible truths. The bodies of dead Jews lying in its depths seem to attract still more present-day crimes. Acclaimed Russian author Sergei Lebedev portrays a ghostly realm riven by lust and fear just as the Kremlin invades the same part of Ukraine occupied by the Wehrmacht in World War II. Then corpses rain from the sky when a jetliner is shot down overhead, scattering luxury goods along with the mortal remains. Eerie coincidences and gruesome discoveries fill this riveting exploration of an uncanny place where the geography exudes violence, and where the sins of the past are never all that in the past. Lebedev, who has won international praise for his soul-searching prose and unflinching examination of history’s evils, shines light on the fault line where Nazism met Soviet communism, evolving into the new fascism of today’s Russia.

NOTES

The Lady of the Mine was one of my TBR 25 in '25 books and counts as my Ukraine book for the 2025 European Reading Challenge. I got my copy in a LibraryThing Early Reviewer giveaway. 

 

January 2025 Wrap Up -- BOOK THOUGHTS

BOOK THOUGHTS

January 2025 Wrap Up

How did your reading year start? Thanks to a lull in my law work while I wait for a ruling from the Court of Appeals, I had more time than usual to read. I finished 15 books in January and hope to maintain that pace through the year.

Are there any on my January list that you’ve enjoyed or would like to read? 

GROUP READS

I participated in several group and buddy reads on Instagram, which I enjoyed very much. 

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh with a group working our way through all his novels, one every other month. Scoop was a reread for me and I appreciated the satire much more this second time around than when I first read it about 20 years ago. 

The Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes was the first book for a MacInnes readalong project I organized on Bookstagram. Our next is The Salzburg Connection in March. If you are on Instagram and want to join us, DM me there @gilioncdumas. I'll add you to the group. 

Daphne du Maurier: The Secret Life of the Renowned Storyteller by Margaret Forster. This wraps up the Du Maurier Deep Dive project I participated in for the past three or so years. We read all du Maurier's fiction and then finished with reading a biography of our choice. I thought Forster's was excellent. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Because this is the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth, I want to reread her six major novels. I joined a bookstagram group doing the same so we can chat about them as we go. 

IRISH AUTHORS

II joined an Instagram chat group focusing on reading books by Irish authors this year. I don't know how intensely I will participate because I have a lot of books and reading goals for the year, but it it did help me read a few books that have lingered on my TBR shelves for a while. 

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien knocked my socks off. It was definitely the highlight of the month and a book that will linger with me for a long time. Read my review here. 

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan. This was my first go at one of his books. I thought it was interesting, but it didn’t wow me. I thought he packed things into this family story (a black husband, a lesbian affair, and more) to be intentionally provocative. And the pacing was so uneven, I was distracted by trying to sort the timeline.  

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods engendered lively discussion in my IRL book club. Overall, the group enjoyed the historical fiction side of it, with its braided narrative switching between the 1920s and present day. But the magical realism caught most of us by surprised and didn't go over well. 

The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell. This retelling of events during the 1857 Indian Rebellion won the 1973 Booker Prize. The events and the writing are serious, but the absurdities of the colonial class system also gave Farrell opportunity to poke fun.

JUST BECAUSE

Dragon’s Teeth by Upton Sinclair, the 1943 Pulitzer Prize winner and one of my Classics Club II picks. This was way more engaging than I anticipated and felt very current. 

The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen by Steve Sando. My husband gave me this for Christmas because I could eat beans every day. It is a fantastic cookbook and I've already made a few things from it that were delicious. 

Absolute Truths by Susan Howatch is the final book in her “Starbridge” series of Church of England novels that take place in the mid-20th Century. Now I plan to move on to the "St. Benet Trilogy" set in a London parish in the later part of the century.

AUDIOBOOKS (NOT PICTURED)

Slough House by Mick Herron. This is the seventh book in his Slow Horses series. I'm racing through all of them. So far, there are eight novels and four novellas. A new novel comes out this September. 

The Patriarch by Martin Walker, the eighth novel in his Bruno, Chief of Police, series set in a French village. This is another series I love and am trying to complete, but it will take me longer because there are 18 novels and several novellas and short stories.  

We Solve Murders by Richard Osmond, the first in a new series. It was hard for me to switch from Thursday Murder Club to this new group of characters, but I'm sure it will grow on me.

Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld, a thriller set in Oregon. This is my IRL book club's pick for our next get together. The story, inspired by true events, really grabbed me.

TBR 25 IN ‘25 & THE EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

Six of the books I read in January were from my TBR 25 in '25 list. These were the Waugh, Forster, Woods, Farrell, Sinclair, and Howatch. I wanted to start strong with that particular stack of books so they don't make me feel rushed later in the year.  

I traveled some for the European Reading Challenge, but not with any native speakers. I visited the UK, Italy, Ireland, Bosnia, and France. But none of the books I read were in translation and I have a goal to read more books by authors who do not write in English.  

There's still plenty of time to join both challenges if you want to. Click through to the main TBR 25 in '25 page and main European Reading Challenge page for details and to sign up. 

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien -- BOOK REVIEW

 

BOOK REVIEW

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien

The Little Red Chairs has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while now because I planned to read Edna O’Brien’s more famous Country Girls Trilogy first. But I was daunted by tackling a trilogy, so decided to start with this shorter, more recent book. I’m still recovering!

O’Brien published The Little Red Chairs in 2015, when she was 85 years old. I’ve read her autobiography, but this is the first novel of hers I read. I didn’t have any expectations about the book, but I sure wasn’t expecting such a gut punch.

The Little Red Chairs is the story of a charismatic stranger who moves to an Irish village. He sets up shop as a “healer” and becomes immediately popular, offering herbs, tinctures, poetry, hot stone massages, nutrition advice, and smoldering good looks. So far, the story is charming and even a little funny, giving almost Maeve Binchy vibes. Things get a bit racy when he has an affair with the local beauty.

Then, WHAM-O! Things get really dark, really fast. It turns out the charming stranger is an evil war criminal, responsible for the death and rape of hundreds during the Bosnian war. O’Brien vividly depicts the war and its violence. But it is when that violence follows “Dr. Vlad” to Ireland that the story is almost too horrible to read. 

I have struggled with my reaction, wondering if the story was more effective for me because it involved one Irish woman instead of hundreds of nameless Bosnian women. I know it is human nature to respond with greater empathy to one, specific person we know (even if only as a character in a book) than to a generalized horror happening to a large number of unknown people. O'Brien, like all good storytellers, understands this and uses it to great advantage. But she could have told the story of a particular Bosnian woman and she chose not to. Instead, the victim was in Ireland, which made me think about how I responded viscerally to an attack on an English-speaking, middle class, Irish woman much more than I did to the descriptions of violence against the "foreign" Bosnians in whom I did not recognize myself. That made me think and I'm still mulling it over.

There is more to the book. Much more. The story moves on to London and its immigrant community, then to a war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Much of it was a tough read, but excellently executed. And it has a hopeful, if not happy ending. This one will stick with me for a long, long time. I consider it a Must Read. 

Have you read The Little Red Chairs? What did you think?

NOTES

If you have reviewed The Little Red Chairs and would like me to share your review, please send me a link in a comment and I will list it here. 

This was my first book for the 2025 European Reading Challenge. I am counting it as my Bosnia books (technically Bosnia and Herzegovina), although I could count it as my Ireland book. But I know I will read other Ireland books but doubt I will find another Bosnia book this year. 

My Wrap Up Post -- THE 2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

 

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

My Sign Up Post -- 2025 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

 

THE 2025 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

My Sign Up Post

This is my sign up post for the 2025 European Reading Challenge. To join the challenge yourself (and I hope you do), go to the main challenge page, here. 

Even though this is the 13th year I've hosted the challenge, I haven't been very good about my own participation. Last year, I even forgot to do a sign up post! I resolve to do better in 2025. 

I haven't picked any particular books for the challenge. Those in the photo are possibilities. My real goal is to read books by authors from, or set in, countries I don't often visit in books. I always read many books set in the UK or by UK authors. France is a close follow up. I usually manage to visit Italy, Greece, and a couple of Scandinavian countries (thanks to Nordic Noir). But I seldom get to the Baltics, Balkans, or micro states. And I read pathetically few books in translation. I hope to address both these weaknesses this year.

I want to pay particular attention to the Balkans this year because my sister and I are taking our 85-year-old mother on a cruise this summer. We will go to Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy. I want to read a book by an author from each of these countries, preferably set in each country, before I go. 

Any suggestions? Here's what I came up with as possibilities:

GREECE: Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

MONTENEGRO:

CROATIA:

SLOVENIA:

ITALY: Bread and Wine by Ignazio Silone

I have no ideas for the three countries left blank. I could be talked out of the two I picked for Greece and Italy. I picked books on my TBR shelves. 

I'm going to go back to the review pages for prior years of this challenge and see if I can find any for the missing three countries. 

  

The 2025 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

 

THE 2025 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2025 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. You can do a separate post on your blog or social media platform. Or, if you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK too. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the names of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you. This is also why you need to identify the country of your book. I don't want to guess and I don't want to research.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries (but not as many as the winner), with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

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NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have until December 31, 2025, to finish reading the books. You have until January 31, 2026, to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2026.

The 2025 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

 

THE 2025 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please add links to your review posts in the Linky box below. Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, War and Peace, Russia.

   

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LINKS

When you review a book for the 2025 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me, email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not. If you are going for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up link so I know you are in the running. 

NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2025. You have until January 31, 2026, to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner(s) as soon as possible after January 31, 2026.

The Cheesemaker's Daughter by Kristin Vukovic -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Cheesemaker's Daughter by Kristin Vukovic

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Marina gripped the rental car's wheel just as the heavens opened.

-- from The Cheesemaker's Daughter by Kristin Vukovic.

This debut novel just came out. It is the story of a woman in a shaky marriage who travels to Croatia to help her father with his cheesemaking business. It sounds charming! And it will count for a Croatia book for the European Reading Challenge. I've never read a book set in Croatia. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Cheesemaker's Daughter:

Luka picked up the heavy box with ease. She couldn't help but notice his fine build, how his biceps flexed under his black T shirt.

Oh, looks like there's more to the story than cheesemaking! Romance and travel -- a perfect book for the summer. 

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

In the throes of an unraveling marriage, New Yorker Marina Marzic returns to her native Croatian island where she helps her father with his struggling cheese factory, Sirana. Forced to confront her divided Croatian-American identity and her past as a refugee from the former Yugoslavia, Marina moves in with her parents on Pag and starts a new life working at Sirana. As she gradually settles back into a place that was once home, her life becomes inextricably intertwined with their island's cheese. When her past with the son of a rival cheesemaker stokes further unrest on their divided island, she must find a way to save Sirana--and in the process, learn to belong on her own terms.

2023 European Reading Challenge -- WINNER!

 

2023 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

THIS IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST FOR 2023

TO FIND THE 2023 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO FIND THE 2023 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE SIGN UP IS AT THIS PAGE

2023 was the 11th of the European Reading Challenge! The challenge involves reading books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries.

My big thanks go to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour last year!

JET SETTER GRAND PRIZE WINNER

The 2023 Jet Setter prize goes to Sabine at sabines.literary.world who participated on Instagram. 2023 is the third year in a row that Sabine has won the challenge. But she slowed down a bit last year. In 2021, Sabine visited all 50 European states -- TWICE! In 2022, she hit another grand slam, but only one time around the continent. In 2023, she visited 35 of the 50 European states and reviewed the books she read. Her wrap up post discusses her reading journey. At this rate, she might actually face competition next year!

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to the ten other participants who completed the challenge and posted wrap up posts about the countries they visited and the books they read:

Avid Series Reader (11)

Alexis Drake on Goodreads (7)

Cinzia at Quattro passi sulle nuvole (21)

Mark at Carstairs Considers (6)

Kym at Just a Second (7)

Maphead's Book Blog (26)

Will Work for Books (8)

Reese at Typings (17)

Yvonne at A Darn Good Read (4)

Me, Myself, I Read (and Write) (7)

My own wrap-up post is here. I read 12 books from different European countries, and four were translations, which is better than the year before. I didn't even try to review the books I read, which is more than I can handle as long as I am running my own law firm.

Congratulations to all the readers who completed the 2023 challenge!

There is still plenty of time to join us in 2024.

JOIN THE 2024 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE!

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

Sign up HERE for the 2024 Challenge.

The 2024 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

 

THE 2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2024 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. You can do a separate post on your blog or social media platform. Or, if you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK too. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the names of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you. This is also why you need to identify the country of your book. I don't want to guess and I don't want to research.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries (but not as many as the winner), with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have until December 31, 2024, to finish reading the books. You have until January 31, 2025, to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2025.

The 2024 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

 

THE 2024 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YO HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please add links to your review posts in the Linky box below. Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, War and Peace, Russia.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

LINKS

When you review a book for the 2024 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me, email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2024. You have until January 31, 2025 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner(s) as soon as possible after January 31, 2025.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- WINNER!

 

2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR!

THIS IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST FOR 2022

TO FIND THE 2022 REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO FIND THE 2022 WRAP UP POSTS, GO TO THIS PAGE

THE 2023 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE SIGN UP IS AT THIS PAGE

2022 was the tenth anniversary of the European Reading Challenge! The challenge involves reading books set in different European countries or written by authors from different European countries.

Big thanks to all the participants who joined me for the Grand Tour in its tenth year!

JET SETTER GRAND PRIZE WINNER

The 2022 Jet Setter prize goes to Sabine at sabines.literary.world who participated on Instagram, visited all 50 European states, and reviewed the books she read. Her wrap up post discusses her reading journey.

Honorary Mention (but no prizes) go to the six other participants who completed the challenge and posted wrap up posts about the countries they visited and the book they read:

• Sue at Carey Family (5)
• Avid Series Reader (10)
• Maphead's Book Blog (20)
• Cinzia at Quattro passi sulle nuvole (13)
• Kym at Just a Second (4 countries in three books)
• Reese at Typings (13)

My own wrap-up post is here. I read nine books from different European countries, although only two were translations, which is backsliding from the year before. I didn't even try to review the books I read, which is too much as long as I am running my own law firm.

Congratulations to all the readers who completed the 2022 challenge! 

There is still plenty of time to join us in 2023.

JOIN THE 2023 CHALLENGE! SIGN UP HERE

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

Sign up HERE for the 2023 Challenge.

2023 European Reading Challenge -- MY SIGN UP POST & WRAP UP POST

2023 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

COMPLETED

MY SIGN UP POST

This is my sign up post for the 2023 European Reading Challenge. If you want to join me -- and I hope you do -- please go to the main challenge page, here. You will find details and a Linky box to add a link to your own sign up post. You can play along through your own blog, a social media profile, or just in the comments on the Challenge pages. Join us to take the Grand Tour of Europe in books!

2023 is the 11th year of the European Reading Challenge and the 11th year I am signing up for the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage) Level to read five books set in different European countries or written by authors from five different countries. I have not been good about reviewing the books I read, but that may change as things slow down a bit for me at work (knock wood) and I have a little more time to play with this blog. 

MY ERC BOOKS

I haven't picked the books I am going to read for this challenge. The books in the photo above are some possibilities. As I read qualifying books, I will list them here. 

UPDATE: I finished the challenge by reading books set in 12 different European countries or written by authors from different countries. Four were books in translation, which is better than usual for me but I'd still like to read more books by non-American, UK, or Irish authors. 

1. The Big Four by Agatha Christie (UK)

2. A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (Germany)

3. Even the Dead by Benjamin Black (Ireland)

4. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Sweden)

5. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (France)

6. April in Spain by John Banville (Spain)

7. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade (Holland)

8. Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher (Czech Republic)

9. The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier (Italy)

10. Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Poland)

11. Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery by Wendy Lesser (Norway)

12. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russia)

2023 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2023 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. You can do a separate post on your blog or social media platform. Or, if you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK too. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the names of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you. This is also why you need to identify the country of your book. I don't want to guess and I don't want to research. 

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries (but not as many as the winner), with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

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NOTE ABOUT DATES

You now have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2023. You have until January 31, 2024 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2024.

2023 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please add links to your review posts in the Linky box below. Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, War and Peace, Russia.

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LINKS

When you review a book for the 2023 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me, email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2023. You have until January 31, 2024 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner(s) as soon as possible after January 31, 2024.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- My Wrap-Up Post!

 

THE 2022 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

MY WRAP-UP POST

COMPLETED

There's another week or so to go before the end of the year and the end of the 2022 European Reading Challenge. But I don't foresee finishing any additional books for this challenge before the new year.

I read 58 books set in European countries or written by European authors in 2022. Under the rules of the challenge, only one book per country counts. I read books set in, or by authors from, nine different European countries. 

My list of books and countries is below, in the order I read them. See any of your own favorites?

BOOKS I READ

• Kathrine by Anya Seton (UK)

• French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (France)

• Island of Gold by Amy Maroney (Greece)

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (Czech Republic)

• Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir Of Science, Faith, And Love by Dava Sobel (Italy)

• The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russia)

• Holy Orders by Benjamin Black (Ireland)

• Windfall: The End of the Affair by William F. Buckley, Jr. (Portugal)

• The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (Switzerland)

THE CHALLENGE

The European Reading Challenge has been around since 2012 so 2022 is the ten year anniversary! Every year, the idea is to tour Europe in books by reading books written by authors from different European countries or set in different European countries. You pick the books, the countries, and how many books you want to read. You can complete the challenge by reading 1 to 5 books, depending on what level of participation you chose.

If you want to read more, you can compete for the Jet Setter Prize. The prize goes to the person who reads and reviews the greatest number of books from DIFFERENT countries. Only one book from each country counts towards the prize, so the greatest number of books that could be read is 50, because there are 50 official sovereign states in Europe:

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.

PLEASE JOIN US IN 2023 FOR THE NEXT GRAND TOUR IN BOOKS!

The Master and Margarita -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Do you read books in translation?

Every time I read a book in translation I vow to read more. I’m a lunkish monoglot, so do not read in foreign languages. But I appreciate literature of other countries so make an effort to read translated books. I end up reading several for the European Reading Challenge each year. 

In honor of Bastille Day, I have my French teapot out, as you can see in the picture above. But I won’t try any well-wishes in French, which you can understand from this anecdote. My sister has an ear for languages and I’d love to say I shared it, but no. I try to speak the local language when I travel, often with great enthusiasm. You would think I’d give up this habit after a holiday trip to Mexico when I wished many people a Happy Asshole instead of a Happy New Year!

So Happy Bastille Day, however you say it in French!

And now let's share the opening sentences (or so) of the books we are reading this week here on Book Beginnings on Fridays! 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

At the hour of sunset, on a hot spring day, two citizens appeared in the Patriarchs' Ponds Park. 

-- The Master and Margarita by Mikail Bulgakov. That is an underwhelming opening sentence for what is a rollicking satire of Soviet life, featuring Satan and his sidekicks, with lengthy digressions about Pontius Pilot.

I’m racing through this Russian classic. Mirra Ginsburg translated my edition and several other Grove Press editions of Mikhail Bulgakov’s books. It is way funnier than I anticipated, in a crazy slapstick way.

Have you read it? It’s one of the 50 books on my list for The Classics Club.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave a link to your Book Beginnings post and use the hashtag #bookbeginnigns if you post on social media. 

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Master and Margarita:

“I wouldn’t like to meet you when you’ve got a revolver,” said Margarita with a coquettish look at Azazello. She had a passion for people who did things well.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2022 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. If you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the name of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries, with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

One change in 2022 is that we no longer extend the challenge into January as in years past. You now have to read all books by December 31, 2022. You have until January 31, 2023 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2023.

2022 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS.

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE.

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE.

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, Anna Karenina, Russia.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Easy-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

LINKS

When you review a book for the 2022 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Mr. Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me or email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

One change in 2022 is that we no longer extend the challenge into January as in years past. You now have to read all books by December 31, 2022. You have until January 31, 2023 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2023.