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I have been grown a bit tired that I mostly read books from Estonian authors and from native-English authors (USA, UK, Australia). Of course it's easy since Estonia is my homeland and a lot of books (especially YA) are easiest to translate from English. To fix that problem, I decided to do something differently this year - I read one book from each European country author.

The setting doesn't have to be located in the country, but the author must be known as "X country author". History, novella's, children books, fiction, YA, fairytales and so on. Everything goes!

First book I read was from Latvia ("City by the river" by Gunars Janovskis ). Second book from Netherlands (Anne Frank's diary). I also have ideas what to read from Hungary but beside that... No ideas. Some books I'll just choose from library randomly. Others I'll just when they come and tap on my shoulder so that I'd read them.

Feel free to join the discussion, join the challenge or give some ideas, what to read :)

I like your challenge. There are so many countries in Europe and of course so many good books from that countries. I think I am going to join your challenge.

Dina wrote: "I like your challenge. There are so many countries in Europe and of course so many good books from that countries. I think I am going to join your challenge."
Awesome! Welcome!

I´m in on this one! My challenge will be limited to authors the 28 member states of the EU, though.

I start today with "House of Day, House of Night" by Olga Tokarczuk (PL)
/book/show/5...

Great challenge! I´m from Finland and one of our newer finnish author is Sofi Oksanen, and one of her book is about the history of Estonia; Purge. Have heard about it? I haven´t read it but it won Finlandia-prize. I liked Johanna Sinisalo´s Finlandia-prize winner Not Before Sunset, which combines some fantasy with reality.

Do you have some estonian writers to recommend? Which might have translated to finnish or english?

Welcome Rasmusnl & Desertorum!

Yes, Sofi Oksanen is very well known in Estonia. A bit embarassing, but I think I haven't read her books yet but they have been in my list for a very long time. I think I'd read Johanna Sinisalo before, since combining fantasy and reality sounds interesting.

As Estonian writers who have been translated, I have to check them. I know one that I would suggest for sure but I think that one certain book has not been translated to Finnish nor English =(

I know that books by Jaan Kross have been translated, in Professori Martensin lähtö one of the characters is Hella Wuolijoki.

I also found a book by Friedebert Tuglas. (There is and has been for a long time a Tuglas Society in Finland and I recognised the name. They played a role when Estonia declared independence.)

Apteekkari Melchior ja Olevisten kirkon arvoitus and the rest are pretty good historical mysteries.

A.H. Tammsaare's pentalogy has probably been translated, too. It sounds a bit like Under the North Star.

Yes, Jaan Kross is considered Estonian classic. But if you enjoy historical mysteries, than Apteekkari Melchior ja Olevisten kirkon arvoitus would be the choice.

I would wanted to suggest a book from Andrus Kivirähk, "Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu", but it has been translated only to Latvian, Czech and French. But one his book, that I also find great, "Riihiukko", has been translated.

Thanks! I think I´m going to try that historical mystery some time :)

I begin my European journey through books. My first destination is Albania. I read Broken April by Ismail Kadare. He is a best-selling Albanian writer.

Since I do not know the Albanian I read it in English.
For now it's very interesting book. It's about brutal blood feud traditions of the Albanian highlands, based on a four-century old set of rules called the Kanun.

So, I just finished with Hungary. My choice was Stars of Eger by Géza Gárdonyi.

It was an interesting insight into the battles that Hungary held to keep their freedom and even more, how just a handful of men managed to keep their fortress while it was attacked by thousands and thousands of soldiers. Of course the build-up of the book made it also interesting. Although at first I had problems with remembering the names, then after awhile I managed to remember all of those and could concentrate just on enjoying the reading. I also didn't find out what was the result of the battle before I had finished the book and therefore I managed to keep it mysterious until the end. I must admit, I was waiting some other version of ending, thanks to the hints from the author.

And Poland is done! I found book Lesio by Joanna Chmielewska.

I have to say that Estonian book cover was kinda disappointing and misleading, but otherwise the book was really nice. At first - no. But as pages passed it just began to get more interesting. I really enjoy this type books more than book that start awesome good and then... they'll be boring and uninteresting. Lesio is fun adventure through one architecture firm job during times when there were no computers, no phones but a lot of misunderstanding, weird characters and tons of fun.

So, I've read some new books.

The Cold Song by Linn Ulman from Norway.
I know that the point of this book was probably something else but for me the most important was that as a writer you shouldn't just sit and wait for the inspiration to come. When the inspiration finally walks in from the door, it should find writer already working. The story was fascinating to read. Moving back and forth in time was done without any effort. Characters were enjoyable and in the end, there were still enough questions that you couldn't find any answers to. My rating: 4/5

Before I Die by Jenny Downham from United Kingdom.
It was promoted a lot and basically everywhere. It was one reason why I hesitated that long before deciding to give the book a chance. I've just had too much encounters with books that were marked as "amazing, extraordinary, must read etc" and in reality just sucked. Luckily this wasn't the case. Style of writing was rather simple without any "bells and whistles" but it was still impressive, honest and sad. My rating: 5/5

Το ημερολόγιο ενός τιμονιέρη by Nikos Kavvadias from Greece.
It's hard to go wrong with marine theme. What made the book interesting for me was that it was hard getting used to the time period where the author had located the story and where my mind wanted to put it - a lot more earlier. Maybe it's because for centuries the life of sailors were kinda same - hard working on the sea, f*king women on the land and different woman in every port. The book gave some insight to sailor's soul. Occasionally it was a bit hard to keep track who said what, since there were tons of just dialogues. But then again it might have been my mistake, since I read the book while on the bus, walking, between activites, so it might have needed a bit more concentration. Anyway, let's forget that. If you want to know how was the life on the sea, read this book. My rating: 3/5