Happy Sunday everyone! Today, I'm sharing my seventh and final update and mini reviews for my European portion of the Read Around the World Challenge. Of the 46 books for the 46 European countries on my original tbr, I managed to complete 4 in September for a total of 46 completed. I can't believe I've managed to complete my original challenge tbr! The challenge website has had some changes/ updates since I created my original tbr, so in regards to it there are now 49 countries and some of the books I selected for the Europe challenge are now classified as other countries in other continents. All that said, I now have 7 books remaining to complete my challenge. You can check out my profile here on the challenge website here (you can see the my newly available country progress list here). Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read this month and below I'll also share my tbr to fully complete my Europe challenge to reflect the changes:
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Baptism of Fire (The Witcher #3) by Andrzej Sapkowski is another great installment of an entertaining fantasy series. It's good to jump back into it because it's been too long. I missed these characters. I wish I could say I preferred the narrator a little more though in this particular volume.
My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.
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I can't believe I've finally read the last book in the series, The Troubled Man (Kurt Wallander #10) by Henning Mankell, even if I've still got 4 left somewhere in the middle. I don't know why I've done this out of order. It's another solid installment of the series. It may not a favorite, but I do still enjoy seeing what's next in it.
My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.
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The Republic of San Marino by Charles de Bruc reads like one overly long and wordy article. Also, it was written in 1880 so I expect we've missed some important things since then what with WWII and all.
My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.
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Freud's Sister by Goce Smilevski is a fictional historical biography about Sigmund Freud's sister Adolfina. The first 15-20% of this story was interesting, but it went downhill from there. It's very depressing, especially with every thing the title character experiences. Plus, most of the other characters are quite irritating, especially Freud himself. Definitely not a favorable portrayal of him at all.
My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.
Updated TBR To Complete My Europe Challenge:
1. Albania
My choice: The Siege by Ismail Kadare - My original choice for this country was Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta edited by Brian Kolodiejchuk, but now that's listed for Europe as North Macedonia. Anyway, I'm not at all familiar with this author but it does sound pretty intriguing.
2. Croatia
My choice: Always Remember Your Name: The Children of Auschwitz by Andra and Tatiana Bucci - My original choice for this country was Girl at War by Sara Novic, but now that's listed for North America as the United States of America. Anyway, this sounds like a piece of history that can't be forgotten.
3. Ireland
My choice: Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle - My original choice for this country was The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2) by Tana French, but now that's listed for North America as the United States of America. Anyway, I really loved The Accident Season by this author so I hope this one will be just as good.
4. Northern Ireland
My choice: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke - This country was not listed separately when I made my original tbr as it was just under the United Kingdom as a whole. Now, the U.K. has been divided out into England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Of the group of four, my original choice for U.K. which was A Death in Vienna (Liebermann Papers #1) by Frank Tallis is now listed under England. Anyway, I've had my eye on this fantasy horror novel, so I hope I'll enjoy it.
5. Scotland
My choice: Kidnapped (David Balfour #1) by Robert Louis Stevenson - See my above pick for Northern Ireland. Anyway, I wasn't at all familiar with this adventure classic before now, but it sounds like it could be a good one.
6. Vatican City
My choice: The Apostles: The Origin of the Church and Their Co-Workers by Pope Benedict XVI - My original choice for this country was The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis, but now that's listed for South America as Argentina. Anyway, I've never read anything by Pope Benedict XVI before, but I guess that will be changing.
7. Wales
My choice: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl - See my above entry for Northern Ireland. Anyway, somehow I'd missed this growing up, but I loved the Netflix adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and The Swan which are stories included in this collection. I figure it's time to give it a try. By the way, this audiobook is narrated by the actor Andrew Scott, and he's one of my favorites so that's really cool.
Have you read any of these books? Are you participating in this challenge? As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!
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