While physical travelling is difficult this year bookshelf travelling is still perfectly possible, hence the meme Bookshelf travelling in insane times, which was started by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness and is now hosted by Katrina at Pining for the West. As I love spying on other people’s bookshelf I have long followed the posts, but this is the first time I am joining myself, starting off with what is perhaps my most far reaching shelf. This is a bit of an odd shelf, featuring my books from three quality publishers, Peirene press, Bakhåll förlag (Swedish) and Virago, as well as books of similar type and literary quality from other publishers.
Browsing it takes me from 19th Century Russia (The Boarding-School Girl and City folk and country folk), through the Russian revolution (When Miss Emmie was in Russia) and all the way to modern Russia (Other Russias). Peirene press, one of my favorite publishers, bring me all over Europe and also for a short trip to Libya (Under the Tripoli Sky). North Africa, in this case Morocco, is also featured in Abdellah Taïa’s An Arab Melancholia, whereas Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus brings me to Nigeria.
I have only a single stop in Asia on this shelf, Hiromi Kawakami’s Strange weather in Tokyo, before taking off to south America where César Aira (The Lime Tree and The Seamstress and the Wind) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor) awaits. There I also meet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who is hanging out in Argentina in his novel Night Flight.
Farther north the US is represented by Anne Fadiman, Maya Angelou and Truman Capote, while Tanya Tagaq brings me to Canada. From there I return to Sweden where I encounter Elin Wägner and Ester Blenda Nordström (e.g. A maid among maids)
Finally I make it back to Europe again where I meet-up with Virginia Woolf, Muriel Spark, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Edith Olivier, Elizabeth Taylor and Winifred Holtby in the UK, and with Kate O’Brien and Molly Keane in Ireland.
All in all this is one of my favorite shelves, full of excellent reading destinations
I read that in a book 
While I have terribly itchy feet at the moment (no doubt owing to being locked down) I’m not going anywhere soon – thank goodness for vicarious travel through books! 😀
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Yeah, I’m feeling the travel restrictions badly, especially since I’m a homesick emigrant, but books are a great comfort!
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What an interesting bookshelf that is! I thought I was going to reach the very end without encountering any authors I had read but then I got to Saint-Exupery, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and in the last paragraph I’ve at least read all of the authors, if not all of their books. Thanks for joining in.
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Thanks for hosting! I have had little energy left for blogging recently, but bookshelf travelling felt like something that would be both fun and manageable.
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That is an impressive shelf of books from many different countries. Most of these authors are ones I have not read. Thanks for sharing these books.
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Thank you for visiting. Not all of my shelves are as far reaching but as the topic is bookshelf travelling I thought I’d start with the one that reached furthest.
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What a great idea and lots of authors and titles I haven’t read so extra interesting!
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First, I totally love spying on other people’s bookshelves, too! Whether in a post like this or in real life. I love when I’m at someone’s home and I can peruse their bookshelves. It’s soooo fun. Second, this totally makes me want to go look at my bookshelves in this way now! What a fun idea.
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It was fun to do! I don’t usually do memes but I had been tempted by this one for a long time, just for the chance to spy on other people’s bookshelves (and to show of my own).
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I think it’s a nice way to get to know people, too. Our books share so much about us. I think that’s a big part of why I love seeing other people’s books! Where do we have similarities?? Where are their differences?? Are there any new titles I see I think I need to check out?? It’s a great way to see what people love learning about and what they love to escape into.
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I agree, and on a bookshelf you also see the context. Which books are grouped together on a shelf? Is there a system or do they seem more haphazardly placed? Is there one crime novel or a hundred? What else is hiding in the bookshelf, souvenirs, postcards, art?
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