There’s nothing better than getting lost in a book that takes you to a new location or way of life (except perhaps going to that new location!). Reading a fiction or non-fiction book set in a destination you have been to, plan to go to, or just want to learn about is a joy. These aren’t ‘travel books’, but rather are books I’ve enjoyed which leave the reader with a knowledge of a new place or culture. The US non-fiction list includes a few books set in very specific locations from which you learn about a particular place.
Below, please find two lists (non-fiction and fiction) of books set in foreign countries, broken out by region of focus.
NON-FICTION
AUSTRALIA
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
AFRICA
Botswana:
Whatever You Do Don’t Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison
The Congo:
Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart by Tim Butcher
How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Namibia:
Soul of a Lion: One Woman’s Quest to Rescue Africa’s Wildlife Refugees by Barbara Bennett
Rwanda:
Land of a Thousand Hills: My Life in Rwanda by Rosamond Halsey Carr
A Thousand Hills to Heaven: Love, Hope and a Restaurant in Rwanda by Josh Ruxin
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch
Somalia:
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
South Africa:
The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony
Born a Crime: Stories from an African Childhood by Trevor Noah
The Wilderness Family: At Home with Africa’s Wildlife by Kobie Kruger
Uganda:
All the Glimmering Stars by Mark T. Sullivan
Zimbabwe:
The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe by Douglas Rogers
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller
ASIA
Bhutan:
Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa
Cambodia:
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
China:
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
Nepal:
Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Mongolia:
Ghenghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
Myanmar:
Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Croke
North Korea:
The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story by Hyeonseo Lee
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Thailand:
Elephant Company by Vicki Croke
CUBA
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
EUROPE
France:
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Ireland:
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
INDIA
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
IRAN
Maman’s Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen by Donia Bijan
RUSSIA
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man’s Fight for Justice by Bill Browder
SOUTH AMERICA
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard (the Amazon)
A Wild Idea by Jonathan Franklin (Chile and Argentina)
We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People by Nemonte Nenquimo (Equador)
UNITED STATES
Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Misissippi Delta by Richard Grant
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me by Bill Hayse
My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South by Rick Bragg
Set in Multiple Overseas Locations
It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario
Swell: Sailing the Pacific in Search of Surf and Self by Liz Clark
Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life by Arlene Blum
Wavewalker: Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
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FICTION
AFGHANISTAN
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
AFRICA
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
ASIA
China:
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Indonesia:
Sisters Under the Rising Sun by Heather Morris
Korea:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Singapore:
The Original Daughter by Jemimah James Wei
Vietnam:
The Mountains Sing by Phan Que Mai Nguyen
EUROPE
England:
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
France:
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel
The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Ireland:
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
Italy:
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Poland:
The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr
IRAN
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
INDIA
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
Honor by Thrity Umrigar
SOUTH AMERICA
Violeta by Isabel Allende
