European Reading Challenge 2012

Did not complete this challenge.

The European Reading Challenge 2012 is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*click links above or image to sign up

Details:
The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour.

What counts as "Europe"? For this challenge, we will use the list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City. 

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

Five Star (Deluxe Entourage): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
Four Star (Honeymooner): Read four qualifying books.

Three Star (Business Traveler): Read three qualifying books.
Two Star (Adventurer): Read two qualifying books.
One Star (Pensione Weekender): Read just one qualifying book.

Alternate Arrangements

Agritourisimo: For foodie readers – read a selected number (your choice) of food-related books written by European authors or about European food, cooking, restaurants, culinary traditions, farming, winemaking, etc. Again, each book must be by a different author and set in a different country. 

Youth Hostel: For participants under 18 only – read a selected number of books (your choice), by European authors or set in a country of Europe. (Adults reading YA books still participate as adults, not in this sub-category).

Culture Vulture: For those obsessed with prize-winners – read a selected number of books (your choice) that won a major literary prize in its original country. Any of the following literary prizes would count, but there may be others: Anton Wildgans (Austria), Magnesia Litera (Czech Republic), Finlandia (Finland), Le Grand Prix du Roman (France), German Book Prize (Germany), Balint Balassi Memorial Sword (Hungary), Icelandic Literary Prize (Iceland), Bagutta (Italy), Batty Weber (Luxembourg), Norwegian Critics (Norway), NIKE (Poland), Camões (Portugal), Russian Booker (Russia), Prešeren (Slovakia), Premio Planeta de Novela (Spain), August (Sweden), Swiss Book Prize (Switzerland), Sedat Simavi (Turkey), Shevchenko National (Ukraine), Booker (United Kingdom).

***There will be prizes...click links at top of post to read details at the sign-up post***

• Read all books between January 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013. I like having 13 months so there is extra time to finish after the holidays. 
• You do not have to commit to your choices now; you can change your mind about books at any time.
• Overlap with other challenges is allowed -- and encouraged! The Venice in February Challenge is just one idea. Others? Please leave links in comments and I will add them.
• Re-reads count. Audiobooks count. E-books count. Self-published books count.
• As you progress, please let us know by leaving comments with links to progress reports and reviews. Reviews are not necessary, unless you are going for one of the prizes, in which case only books reviewed count. If you do not have a blog, put your reviews or reports in a comment on this post.

I'm not sure which level to sign up for because I'm not sure if we can move up and down the levels so I'm going to go with the Five Star level (5 books) just because I already read a lot of books set in European countries anyway.  The countries I'm thinking of including are France, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, and United Kingdom.  However, I reserve the right to change them and I may even read more than five.

1.  At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill (England)

2.  The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot (France)

3.  The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin (Italy)

4.

5.