As I mentioned in my last post, the Orbis Terrarum Challenge was my first reading challenge, and to my own astonishment I completed it – just in the nick of time! It was with great excitement and trepidation that I picked out books, authors, and countries. My decision to use South America as a jumping off point proved to be one of the best reading related choices of my life. I’m so excited about Latin American literature! I’ve hit most of the South American countries, and now I am eager to explore Central America and the Caribbean.
For now though, I am finished – 10 books by 10 authors from 10 countries across 10 months. My completed reading list varies slightly from my original list, due to availability mostly. I liked almost every book I read. Here’s the list, with links to my reviews:
1. March
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa – Peru
2. April
Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar – Argentina
3. May (Original choice: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Columbia)
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Columbia
4. June (Original choice: The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti – Uruguay)
The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Galeano – Uruguay
6. August
The Villagers by Jorge Icaza – Ecuador
7. September
The Palace of the Peacock by Wilson Harris – Guyana
8. October (Original choice: The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell by Jorge Amado – Brazil)
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado – Brazil
9. November
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano – Chile
10. December
I The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos – Paraguay
Hurray!! Many thanks once again to Bethany for hosting the challenge, and to everyone who commented here and gave me so much support. Hopefully there will be many more reading challenges in my future!
what we have here is a failure to communicate 
What a wonderful panoply of books. And it’s great that you liked most of them. Congratulations on finishing your challenge!
By: rhapsodyinbooks on December 29, 2009
at 9:00 am
I read Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter several years ago. I remember it had the most spectacular ending I have ever come across.
By: EL Fay on December 29, 2009
at 8:16 pm
EL Fay – You should watch Tune in Tomorrow, if you haven’t before. It’s a fairly decent movie version of Aunt Julia with a fun cast. I keep meaning to write something about it – I saw it about a month ago and was impressed.
Jill – Thanks!
By: tuulenhaiven on December 29, 2009
at 9:33 pm
I’m way behind on commenting, but I just wanted to say that I’m so glad you joined Orbis Terrarum, since that’s where I met you! This is a great list – I love your South American “theme within a theme.” 🙂
By: Emily on January 4, 2010
at 3:59 pm
Emily – And I of course am so glad that I met you too through Orbis Terrarum! I couldn’t have wished for a better experience with a reading challenge. 🙂
By: tuulenhaiven on January 4, 2010
at 10:37 pm
It was a really fun challenge, wasn’t it?! I’ll be doing it again this year, but for myself (over at LT). Lots of good suggestions from the group!
By: Eva on January 15, 2010
at 1:47 pm
Eva – What’s LT? I don’t know if I’ll do the challenge again, but I certainly want to keep on adding books to my world reading list, which you inspired by the way. 🙂
By: tuulenhaiven on January 15, 2010
at 9:16 pm
LT=librarything.com. That’s where I keep track of the mounts of books I have – somehow I collect them faster than I can read… sound familiar?? 🙂
By: Eva on January 17, 2010
at 1:15 am
Oh, right, right. Library Thing. Yes, I am very familiar with stacks of unread but eagerly anticipated books!!
By: tuulenhaiven on January 17, 2010
at 10:34 am
[…] even though it was the most fun I’ve had doing a reading challenge since last year’s Orbis Terrarum. (Erm…and the only reading challenge that I’ve done since then I suppose – I […]
By: R.I.P. V Wrap-Up Post, + One Last Tale « what we have here is a failure to communicate on November 6, 2010
at 2:27 pm