Read Around Europe Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Europe.
Best books from Europe (2679)
1331.
Vilnius Poker by Ričardas Gavelis, Elizabeth Novickas EN
LithuaniaDescription:
four different perspectives, and it captures the surreal horror of life under the Soviet yoke." --Book Jacket.
1332.
In the Shadow of Wolves by Alvydas Šlepikas EN
Description:
A Times Book of the Year, 2019 THE SECOND WORLD WAR IS OVER. BUT THE WORLD IS FAR FROM SAFE. As victorious Russian troops sweep across East Prussia, a group of desperate children face a new battle. Confronted by critical food shortages and the onset of a bitterly cold winter, these 'wolf children' secretly cross the border into Lithuania in search of work or food to take back to their starving families. In a world still reeling from the devastation of war, the children must risk everything to survive. In the Shadow of Wolves is a story of resilience, devastation and, ultimately, hope. Based on... continue
1333.
Those Whom I Would Like to Meet Again by Giedra Radvilaviciute EN
Description:
Ten stories on the border of fiction and essay, in which the experiences of life “are unrecognizably transformed, like the flour, eggs, nuts, and apples in a cake.” In ten of her best essay-stories, Giedra Radvilavičiute travels between the ridiculous and the sublime, the everyday and the extraordinary. In the place of plot, which the author claims to have had “shot and buried with the proper honors,” the reader finds a dense, subtly interwoven structure of memory and reality, banalities and fantasy, all served up with a good dollop of absurdity and humor. We travel from the old town of Vilniu... continue
1335.
Shadows on the Tundra by Dalia Grinkevičiūtė EN
Description:
An extraordinary piece of international survival literature, joining the likes of Primo Levi and Anne Frank. In 1941, 14-year-old Dalia and her family are deported from their native Lithuania to a labour camp in Siberia. As the strongest member of her family she submits to twelve hours a day of manual labour. At the age of 21, she escapes the gulag and returns to Lithuania. She writes her memories on scraps of paper and buries them in the garden, fearing they might be discovered by the KGB. They are not found until 1991, four years after her death. This is the story Dalia buried. The immediacy... continue
1336.
Bajo la sombra de los lobos by Alvydas Šlepikas ES
Description:
"Acabada la Segunda Guerra Mundial, las mujeres y los niños alemanes de Prusia Oriental quedaron abandonados a su suerte ante el avance victorioso del Ejército Rojo. En medio de aquel terrible invierno, las mujeres trataron de ayudarse entre sí, mientras algunos niños se atrevieron a cruzar los bosques y la frontera para alcanzar Lituania y, una vez allí, pedir comida o trabajo a los granjeros y traer de vuelta lo que consiguieran. Esos niños conocieron la crueldad, la violencia, pero también la amabilidad y solidaridad, incluso el heroísmo. A esos niños los llamaron «los niños-lobo»."--Contra... continue
1337.
Vilnius : three short stories by Kristina Sabaliauskaitė EN
Description:
A journey across time and space. A journey into the soul, despair and the meaning of art. A young polish woman finds solace in art and the company of Wehrmacht troops in occupied Lithuania. The girl's school where she studies is opened by the influence of art to a wider world she is forced to inhabit and must learn to love.
An elderly KGB agent is confronted by an ideological past which crosses time to haunt his last days. Soviet Man is a long dead dream killed by the descendants of those oppressed because of art. Soviet monolith art and culture is once again overcome by the new past ove... continue
1338.
Siberian Haiku by Jurga Vile EN
Description:
One morning in June 1941, a quiet village in Central Lithuania is shaken out of its slumber by the sudden arrival of the Soviet Army. Eight-year-old Algiukas awakes to the sound of Russian soldiers pounding on the door. His family are given ten minutes to pack up their things. They are not told where they're going or for how long. An airless freight train carries them from the fertile lands of rural Lithuania to the snowy plains of the Siberian taiga. There, in the distant, dismal North, they begin a life marked by endless hunger and unrelenting cold. And yet the darkness of exile is lightened... continue
1339.
Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys EN
Description:
To get his woman a slice of bread, a man will kill. He does it out of love. To feed and protect his children, a man will conquer the world. A man wants things safe. If he has to, he will pick up a weapon, and if he can, he will march across the world with it. It's as simple as that. The need for security and the impulses of love left trails of dead and dying across the face of human history and always, somewhere, have made someone happy and safe, and free to build a future. In this novel, Algis Budrys shows us a hope some of us have not forgotten we have - one that many of us may not be able t... continue
1340.
Description:
New York Times Notable Book 2018 Romain Gary's bittersweet final masterpiece, a novel of courage and resistance--never before in English