Novels that will take you around the world

The Fishermen

by Chigozie Obioma

When 9-year-old Ben’s strict father takes a job in another city in western Nigeria, he and his three brothers decide they will use this time to become fishermen in the forbidden Omi-Ala river. The first several weeks are idyllic, until a mentally unstable man prophesies the oldest son Ikenna will be brutally killed by a fisherman and Ikenna believes it will be one of his own brothers. This prophecy leads to tragedy as the previously close knit family becomes undone. With a rich background of the political landscape of Nigeria in the 1990s, Obioma’s powerful storytelling is an intimate portrayal of family and revenge.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

by Laini Taylor

The first book of Laini Taylor's wildly creative and highly original YA fantasy series is set in the beautiful city of Prague—an absolutely perfect setting for the otherworldly battle a young art student inadvertently gets tangled up in. Many readers who don't typically read these genres have found this series a delightful surprise.

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy Book 1)

by Kevin Kwan

When Economics professor Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend Nicholas Young, she has no idea his family is worth billions. Instead of the lovely vacation she imagined, she spends her days navigating the complicated and perilous world of three mega rich Chinese families, as Nick's mom schemes to drive the couple apart. This is an insider look at wealthy Singapore society that toes the line between fun romp and over the top parody. It'll have you laughing out loud and gasping at the characters' antics!

Faithful Place

by Tana French

When he was 19, Frank Mackey planned to run off with his girlfriend Rosie Daly: they would cut ties to home, get married, and start a new life in England. When Rosie didn't show, Frank assumed she changed her mind and left without him. But 22 years later, Rosie's suitcase is found hidden in their planned meeting spot. Frank never got over her, and he'll do whatever it takes to uncover what happened. Frank's qualities make him a first-class detective: he's painfully honest and willing to deal with unpleasant truths. He knows his weak spots, expects the sucker punch. He believes the most important thing every man should know is what he would die for. Depressing, but French tells a great story. This is the third book in her Dublin Murder Squad series, which can be read in any order.

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Clap When You Land

by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X author Acevedo dedicates her new novel in verse to the memory of the lives lost on American Airlines flight 587, the passenger flight that crashed en route to Santo Domingo from JFK on November 12, 2001. Taking this historical event as her leaping off point, Acevedo tells the story of two teenage girls—one in New York, one in Santo Domingo—who are shocked to discover they are sisters in the aftermath of the crash, when the truth of their father’s double life was unceremoniously revealed. The girls tentatively bond as they explore the love—and pain—they share. A lyrical, heartfelt exploration of what it means to discover secrets, to find family, and to discover your own hidden resources in the face of great loss, and surprising joy.

My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Novels Book 1)

by Elena Ferrante

This is the first installment of Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, which revolves around the friendship between Elena and Lila. This book begins when the girls are in first grade and carries them through adolescence. I picked this up from my local bookstore's blind date with a book shelf: the bookseller had described it as "a masterpiece you probably haven’t read yet. (Three and a half years later, booksellers can no longer say that with confidence!) Originally written in Italian and beautifully translated by Ann Goldstein. (Hot tip: I LOVED this series on audio.)

The Yield

by Tara June Winch

From the publisher: Profoundly moving and exquisitely written, Tara June Winch’s The Yield is the story of a people and a culture dispossessed. But it is as much a celebration of what was and what endures, and a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling and identity.

The Arsonists’ City

by Hala Alyan

File this one under "What Should I Read Next made me do it." When I recommended Alyan's debut to an upcoming WSIRN guest, I was reminded that she had a new book out, published in March. This new novel is significantly longer than Salt Houses, clocking in at nearly 500 pages and 20 hours of listening time, but I'm so glad I downloaded the audiobook anyway. I was quickly swept up in the story of the complicated Nasr family, with its Syrian mother, Lebanese father, and three adult children flung across the globe. If you enjoyed Marjan Kamali's The Stationery Shop, I urge you to consider The Arsonists' City for your TBR. Alyan's story, while a bit edgier (I'm thinking specifically of drug use), has a similar feel. Leila Buck's narration was outstanding.

A Gentleman in Moscow

by Amor Towles

In this well-loved historical novel, Towles tells the story of Count Alexander Roskov, an aristocrat who the Bolsheviks sentence convict in 1922 for crimes of state (involving poetry). His punishment is house arrest, confining him to a small room inside the elegant Metropol Hotel. Towles show us how, over many decades, the Count makes a life for himself after his walls literally close in. With a rich, transportive (if claustrophobic) setting and endearing characters, this novel lingers in readers' minds long after the final page.

No Land to Light On

by Yara Zgheib

This contemporary novel follows one fictional couple, refugees from Syria, who meet and fall in love at school in Boston, and who then get separated under the worst possible circumstances. This is about their struggle to be reunited, which is all but impossible due to the implementation of the very real executive order issues on January 27, 2017. The story unfolds in alternating narratives from each partner's perspective, as well as texts, newspaper clippings, voice mails, and office memos. It's an emotional journey that unfolds over a short span of time yet manages to feel sweeping. I enjoyed this on audio, as narrated by Fajer Al-Kaisi, Ali Andre Ali, and Suehyla El-Attar.

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This atmospheric novel is built around a literary mystery: who is Julián Carax, and why is someone systematically burning his books? After I got oriented I couldn't turn the pages fast enough: I loved the post-war Barcelona setting, the rich cast of characters, and the surprising twists and turns the story took. The plot description reminds me of personal favorites The Thirteenth Tale and The Distant Hours. From Entertainment Weekly: "Wonderous... masterful... The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero." This is a lifetime favorite of several readers I know with great taste.

Dom Casmurro

by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis

I wasn’t familiar with this Brazilian novel from 1899 until Peter Heller put it on my radar. Machado de Assis is considered to be one of the most important writers in Brazilian literature and this is considered to be his greatest work. It’s a classic adultery tale, following Bento, our unreliable narrator, who believes his wife has done him wrong. Was she unfaithful or is Bento’s paranoid jealousy steering him wrong? Despite the subject matter, this is darkly funny and I’m glad I gave it a chance.

The Luminaries

by Eleanor Catton

New York Magazine called this "A very clever, absurdly fun novel that reads like a cross between a locked-room mystery, a spaghetti Western, a game of Sodoku, and Edwin Drood."

The Chestnut Man

by Soren Sveistrup

From the creator of the television show The Killing, Sveistrup’s Scandinavian noir debut is about a brutal serial killer haunting Copenhagen. He leaves handmade dolls made of two chestnuts and matchsticks at his grisly crime scenes. The chestnut dolls are the only link between the victims but the detectives don’t have much to go on in order to catch the killer. But when they discover a fingerprint belonging to one of the past victims, they’ll have to think outside the box before time runs out in this slow burn mystery.

Next Year in Havana

by Chanel Cleeton

After her beloved grandmother dies, a Cuban-American woman travels from Miami back to Havana and unearths a treasure trove of family secrets. If you love stories that go back and forth in time, this is for you. In 1958, 19-year-old Elisa falls in love for the first time—with a dangerous revolutionary. In 2017, Elisa's granddaughter Marisol travels to newly-open Cuba, ostensibly to write an article on tourism, but really to learn more about her grandmother and the complicated country she loved. I didn't know much about Cuba, then or now, before reading this, and really enjoyed the experience.

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The Boat People

by Sharon Bala

In her powerful and timely debut, a cargo ship carrying more than 500 refugees fleeing war-torn Sri Lanka docks on Canada's coast near Vancouver, thinking their journey is over, and they have made it to safety. After all, in the words of one character, "Canada has a reputation for being a soft touch." But government officials wonder if the ship holds members of a terrorist cell, and so all the occupants remain in detention until the national security crisis—whether real or imagined—is resolved. Bala uses three perspectives to great effect: a refugee, his lawyer, and a new adjudicator who feels woefully unprepared to make these potential life-or-death decisions. A 2018 Canada Reads contender.

Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese

I've heard to start this book with no preconceptions because the description doesn't do it justice. Suffice it to say that this novel has been recommended by fellow readers with great taste who describe it using my favorite adjectives: haunting, sweeping, gorgeous.

Strange Weather in Tokyo

by Hiromi Kawakami

From the publisher: "Tsukiko, thirty-eight, works in an office and lives alone. One night, she happens to meet one of her former high school teachers, "Sensei," in a local bar. Tsukiko had only ever called him "Sensei" ("Teacher"). He is thirty years her senior, retired, and presumably a widower. Their relationship develops from a perfunctory acknowledgment of each other as they eat and drink alone at the bar, to a hesitant intimacy which tilts awkwardly and poignantly into love. As Tsukiko and Sensei grow to know and love one another, time's passing is marked by Kawakami's gentle hints at the changing seasons: from warm sake to chilled beer, from the buds on the trees to the blooming of the cherry blossoms. Strange Weather in Tokyo is a moving, funny, and immersive tale of modern Japan and old-fashioned romance."

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr

Doerr's characters in this World War II novel are fascinating and altogether unexpected. The book’s setting couldn’t be lovelier: much of the action takes place in Saint-Malo, France, a unique walled port city on the English Channel. Haunting story, beautiful prose, and entirely deserving of its place on 2014's best-of-the-year lists.

The Historian

by Elizabeth Kostova

From Amazon.com: "If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller."

Novels that will take you around the world

The MMD Summer Reading Guide

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