Read Around Europe Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Europe.
Best books from Europe (1757)
1671.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Offers explanatory notes on pages facing the text of the play, as well as an introduction to Shakespeare's language, life, and theater.
1672.
Wintering : The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! AS HEARD ON NPR MORNING EDITION AND ON BEING WITH KRISTA TIPPETT “Katherine May opens up exactly what I and so many need to hear but haven't known how to name.” —Krista Tippett, On Being “Every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself. . . . This is truly a beautiful book.” —Elizabeth Gilbert "Proves that there is grace in letting go, stepping back and giving yourself time to repair in the dark...May is a clear-eyed observer and her language is steady, honest and accurate—capturing the sense, the beauty and the latent power of our resting landscapes." —Wal... continue
1673.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
In The Merchant of Venice, the path to marriage is hazardous. To win Portia, Bassanio must pass a test prescribed by her father’s will, choosing correctly among three caskets or chests. If he fails, he may never marry at all. Bassanio and Portia also face a magnificent villain, the moneylender Shylock. In creating Shylock, Shakespeare seems to have shared in a widespread prejudice against Jews. Shylock would have been regarded as a villain because he was a Jew. Yet he gives such powerful expression to his alienation due to the hatred around him that, in many productions, he emerges as the hero... continue
1674.
Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Henry IV, Part 2 is the only Shakespeare play that is a “sequel,” in the modern sense, to an earlier play of his. Like most sequels, it repeats many elements from the previous work, Henry IV, Part 1. This play again puts on stage Henry IV’s son, Prince Hal, who continues to conceal his potential greatness by consorting with tavern dwellers, including the witty Sir John Falstaff. As in Part 1, Prince Hal and Falstaff seek to best each other in conversation, while Falstaff tries to ingratiate himself with Hal and Hal disdains him. Part 2 adds some fresh characters, the rural justices Shallow and... continue
1675.
The Birth of Venus : A Novel by Sarah Dunant EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Turning fifteen in Renaissance Florence, Alessandra Cecchi becomes intoxicated with the works of a young painter whom her father has brought to the city to decorate the family's Florentine palazzo.
1676.
The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s very late plays, is filled with improbabilities. Before the conclusion, one character comments that what we are about to see, “Were it but told you, should be hooted at / Like an old tale.” It includes murderous passions, man-eating bears, princes and princesses in disguise, death by drowning and by grief, oracles, betrayal, and unexpected joy. Yet the play, which draws much of its power from Greek myth, is grounded in the everyday. A “winter’s tale” is one told or read on a long winter’s night. Paradoxically, this winter’s tale is ideally seen rather th... continue
1677.
Sisters : A Novel by Daisy Johnson EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR “[A] skillfully crafted gothic mystery . . . Johnson pulls off a great feat in this book.” —Financial Times “It reminded me, in its general refusal to play nice, of early Ian McEwan.” —The New York Times Book Review “Johnson crafts an aching thriller about the dangers of loving too intensely.” —Time From a Booker Prize finalist and international literary star: a blazing portrait of one darkly riveting sibling relationship, from the inside out. “One of her generation’s most intriguing authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Daisy Johnson is the youngest writer... continue
1678.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
The authoritative edition of The Tempest from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for both students and general readers. Putting romance onstage, The Tempest gives us a magician, Prospero, a former duke of Milan who was displaced by his treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero is exiled on an island, where his only companions are his daughter, Miranda, the spirit Ariel, and the monster Caliban. When his enemies are among those caught in a storm near the island, Prospero turns his power upon them through Ariel and other spirits. The characters exceed the... continue
1679.
As You Like It by William Shakespeare EN
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Readers and audiences have long greeted As You Like It with delight. Its characters are brilliant conversationalists, including the princesses Rosalind and Celia and their Fool, Touchstone. Soon after Rosalind and Orlando meet and fall in love, the princesses and Touchstone go into exile in the Forest of Arden, where they find new conversational partners. Duke Frederick, younger brother to Duke Senior, has overthrown his brother and forced him to live homeless in the forest with his courtiers, including the cynical Jaques. Orlando, whose older brother Oliver plotted his death, has fled there, ... continue
1680.
Dacă nimeni nu vorbeşte despre lucruri deosebite by Jon MacGrego, Ecaterina Popa, Ioan Aurel Popa RO
Country: Europe / United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Pe o stradă dintr-un oraş din nordul Angliei, oameni absolut obişnuiţi fac lucruri perfect normale: copiii joacă crichet, ramele ferestrelor sunt vopsite, un cuplu se ceartă, studenţii îşi strâng catrafusele, oameni necunoscuţi trec unii pe lângă altii, ca în fiecare zi, dar fără a comunica. Numai că un eveniment teribil spulberă liniştea unei seri de vară, dupa care, de atunci încolo, nici un martor al accidentului nu va mai fi acelaşi.