Foreign Media: The Letter A

In my quest to read books from every country (set in the country or about the country), I recently (okay, last year) decided to start filling in blanks in countries starting with the letters A and B. I got sidetracked by pandemic-related changes, but I have now read at least one thing from all the countries on my list starting with the letter A. (An asterisk below means I got one of those cool childrens' books about that country.)

* Afghanistan (1 fiction, 4 nonfiction* (plus part of another nonfiction book))
* Albania (1 fiction, 1 nonfiction*)
* Algeria (3 fiction, 1 nonfiction*)
* Andorra (wikipedia article)
* Angola (1 nonfiction*)
* Antigua and Barbuda (wikipedia article, 1 fiction)
* Argentina (1 nonfiction*, 2 movies)
* Armenia (1 nonfiction*)
* Australia (1 fiction series, 2 nonfiction, 8 movies, 1 TV series)
* Austria (1 fiction)
* Azerbaijan (1 fiction)

Ideally, I would read at least one fun fiction book and one broad nonfiction book plus have the feeling of getting more than one perspective. But for some countries I will settle for just the wikipedia article. So I do not consider myself finished with the letter A countries. Except for three of them:

* Afghanistan - I found one of the books called Afghanistan plus several recommended nonfiction books on various aspects of life there (Born Under a Million Shadows, We Are Afghan Women, Bookseller of Kabul and part of Three Cups of Tea) plus a highly recommended fiction book (The Kite Runner). And it's in the news a lot.

* Andorra - It's just so small; I'm satisfied with just the wikipedia article.

* Australia - Although I have a good minimum, I will continue consuming more media from this country that's a nice mix of familiar and alien. I loved the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries TV series and also, for different reasons, the books they were based on. Miss Fisher is just so fun and decent. Well, also indecent, but I meant kind. Also, "Strictly Ballroom" is one of my favorite movies, admittedly partly because I like the dancing. And "Cane Toads" is perhaps the only documentary I own. I've also read a bit about Aborigines. And one summer in high school my best friend and I made up lessons for each other because we were bored, and the unit she taught me was Australia. (She got a unit on the solar system.)

Up next: I have 17 countries starting with the letter B on my list. Eight of these still have no books listed, including Belgium!?, which should be so easy! But I've already got the book Bahrain checked out of the library, so I'm still rolling!

As usual, I'm happy to hear about beloved books about or set in other countries (including countries I've "finished").