My Personal Challenge for 2012 - The Around the World Challenge

I've been trying to come up with a challenge that involves reading a book set in each country in the world, so I did some research and discovered there are 257 countries total. Now I am an ambitious reader and all, but 257 books in one year is probably pushing it even for me, so I decided to use Random.org's number generator to come up with 12 randomly chosen countries, which is a very sane 1 book per month, and 2 alternates in case I can't find a book set in a country chosen.

I should add that any book counts, fiction, nonfiction, etc., and books can be used for other challenges too.

Without further ado, here are the countries (being typed live as I generate the numbers):

1. 109 - Hungary - Ballad of the Whiskey Robber - Julian Rubinstein
2. 45 - Cayman Islands - Cayman Islands - Tricia Hayne
3. 236 - Turkey - My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk
4. 215 - Spain - Captain Alatriste - Arturo Pérez-Reverte
5. 206 - Seychelles - Seychelles - Sarah Carpin
6. 221 - Swaziland - Sangoma - James Hall
7. 87 - The Gambia
8. 46 - Central African Republic - Culture and Customs of the Central African Republic - Jacqueline Woodfork
9. 235 - Tunisia - Benny and Omar - Eoin Colfer
10. 228 - Thailand - 4,000 Days - Warren Fellows
11. 202 - São Tomé and Príncipe - Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe - Sophie Warne
12. 94 - Greece - A Dark Enchantment - Roland Vernon

And 2 alternates:
Alt. 1: 256 - Zambia - In My Family Tree: A Life with Chimpanzees - Sheila Siddle with Doug Cress
Alt 2: 86 - Gabon - Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe - Sophie Warne

Well there you have it - this should be very interesting! If you'd like to join me, please feel free - I don't have the blog skillz to use the Mr. Linky thingy, but you can leave a comment. Also, feel free to create your own list using the links above to mix things up. Now I'm off to find possible books, which I'll add after the country. I hope I have at least a few hanging around in my huge TBR pile....!