Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Books Set Outside The U.S.

I really like this topic, because so much of what I read is set in the U.S., and so I tend to talk about the books set in the U.S.  It’s really nice to talk about books that are set in other countries!  These are my top ten books set in countries that aren’t the U.S.

1. And I Darken by Kiersten White, set in the Ottoman Empire.  This book is such a good book, AND it’s about Dracula…but as a teenage girl.
2. Where The Street’s Had A Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah, set in Palestine.  It’s about the Israeli-Palestine conflict but on the Palestine-side of things, and that made it really interesting to me.
3. The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi, set in Afghanistan.  It was uncomfortable to listen to at times, but it also showed what it’s like to not be able to talk to a childhood friend because of they’re a different ethnic group, or to have to leave everyone you know and love behind because you fell for them.
4. Guardian Of The Dead by Karen Healy, set in New Zealand.  This book draws on Maori mythology, which made Guardian Of The Dead even more of an interesting book.
5. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, set in Nigeria.  I didn’t realize how much I took for granted until I read this book.  Also, if you haven’t read anything by her, you should!
6. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, set in Nigeria.  It’s Nigerian folklore and myths and Sunny is a really cool character.  It’s totally worth checking out.
7. Anna And The French Kiss/Isla And The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, set in France (mostly).  I couldn’t decide which one to do, so I decided to put them both together.  And yes, parts of both books are set in the U.S., but a majority of both books are set in France, and they’re amazing.
8. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, set in France.  Because assassin nuns in medieval France.  That’s enough reason for me!
9. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, set in multiple places.  I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to include, but since all of the books are not set in the U.S., I figured I’d go for all of them.  You have China, France, Africa, the moon…those are all real places, even though the books are re-tellings of different fairy tales.
10. Witchstruck by Victoria Lamb, set in England.  Because I need a list that has England on it, and I wanted to do something U.K. that wasn’t Harry Potter (but I thought about it).  It’s historical fiction and fantasy and magic, and you can’t go wrong with that.