Books Set in Antarctica and the Arctic
If you’re joining us for our 2024 Book Voyage Challenge, welcome! If you simply found your way to our website looking for books set in the Arctic or Antarctic, you’ve still come to the right place.
Of all the regions on our planned armchair travel journey, this is likely the one you’ve read the least about. Grab a comfy blanket and a hot drink, then join us to read one of the best books set in Antarctica or the Arctic Circle.
What Kind of Books Are Included On This List?
For the challenge, we’ve compiled a great list of reading options. Our curated recommendations strike a good balance between male and female perspectives, and between serious and light-hearted examinations of the coldest places on Earth. From Arctic novels and fiction books set in Antarctica to non-fiction accounts and memoirs, these books each paint vivid images of life at extremes. You’re also always welcome to choose your own book.
Books About Antarctica
How the Penguins Saved Veronica
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Eighty-five-year-old Veronica is estranged from her family and searching for a cause worthy of inheriting her estate. After seeing a documentary about penguins being studied in Antarctica, she contacts the scientists and tells them she’s coming to visit—and she won’t take no for an answer.
After traveling from Scotland to Antarctica, she convinces the reluctant team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin. Veronica’s curmudgeonly heart can’t help but be warmed as the penguin becomes a part of everyday life at the base.
Veronica’s grandson, Patrick, travels to Antarctica to make one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica, Patrick, and even the scientists learn what family, love, and connection are all about.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is charming and funny, but it’s also more profound than it first appears, thanks to a series of diary entries from WWII. We highly recommend the audiobook because the narration and accents add to the story!
We loved this book so much that we interviewed author Hazel Prior; she was delightful! You can watch the replay here.
If you enjoy this book, another humourous novel for the region is Where’d You Go, Bernadette. It’s not listed separately because much of the book takes place in Seattle before moving on to an Antarctic cruise, but we both enjoyed the book and the movie, which does a great job showing the cruise portion!
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This is one of the most highly-rated books about polar expeditions and is considered one of the greatest true-life adventure stories of the modern age.
In 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance bound for Antarctica, where he would cross the uncharted continent on foot. Several months later, just a short distance from its final destination, the Endurance became locked in the ice and crushed between two ice flows.
Forced to abandon the ship and ultimately crossing the dangerous Drake Passage in an open boat, their arduous survival journey takes over a year with death-defying odds at every turn.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a fast-paced non-fiction that will hold your attention. Many of our readers highly recommend the audiobook version because of the wonderful narrator.
If you’ve already read and enjoyed Endurance, consider picking up South, which is Shackleton’s memoir of the trip.
Chasing the Light
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This historical fiction novel is based on a little-known story of the first woman ever to set foot on Antarctica.
In the early 1930s, a ship setting sail from Cape Town carried three women, each vying to become the first woman to set foot on the icy continent. Ingrid is the wife of a Norwegian whaling magnate who has dreamed of traveling to Antarctica since she was a young girl. Lillemore tricked her way onto the ship. And Mathilde is a grieving widow brought aboard the ship by her calculating parents-in-law.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is the perfect mix of an entertaining, character-driven story with historic, fabulous descriptions of what it took to get to Antarctica in the late 1930s, especially as a woman. And really, what it took to be a female adventurer, not content to stay home with children, in this period. It would make a fabulous movie!
There’s a great author’s note at the end covering the places she took liberties with the story and which parts were fact-based. She definitely did her research, including travel to Antarctica and Norway, and wrote the book as her doctorate project in creative writing.
WARNING: One of the travelers, Ingrid, is married to a wealthy ship-owner and whaler. A large portion of their money came from whale oil, and the ship they traveled on was refueling the whaling factory ships and collecting the oil from them. This process of whale hunting and harvesting is discussed in intense and graphic detail, which is necessary to understand the women’s experience and further develop characters, but that section is rough to read. This book should be skipped by sensitive readers.
This book was published in Australia, and the paperback version appears hard to get your hands on, but it’s available for purchase for under $10 on Kindle.
Madhouse at the End of Earth
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In 1897, a polar expedition went terribly wrong. The crew of the Belgica was ready for adventure when they set sail on a three-year expedition to uncharted Antarctica and the magnetic South Pole. However, they hadn’t even cleared South America yet when everything seemed to be going wrong. But they pushed forward into freezing water, chasing glory for Belgium.
That decision led to the Belgica and her crew becoming stuck in the ice for an entire sunless Arctic winter and being driven to the brink of madness. The author tells this compelling non-fiction tale with extra detail thanks to exclusive access to the ship’s logbook.
The Book Girls Say…
In 2021, this book was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for History & Biography. One of our most trusted readers selected it last year for Antarctica and rated it 10/10.
My Last Continent
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For two weeks each year, Deb and Keller leave the frustrations of their separate lives behind to study the habits of penguins in Antarctica. Set against the landscape of glacial mountains, icebergs, and frigid waters, this is where the two feel at home, and where they share a brief romance each year.
This year, however, Keller doesn’t show up on the expedition ferry to their research destination. When the ferry receives a distress signal from a sinking cruise liner in the icy waters of the Southern Ocean, she learns that Keller is aboard.
This novel of love and loss dives deep into the wonders of Antarctica and the human heart.
The Worst Journey in the World
Book Summary
This classic book recounts Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. The author was the youngest member of Scott’s team and one of three who survived the notorious Winter Journey. In this book, he draws on his firsthand experiences as well as the diaries of other team members to provide a detailed account of this legendary expedition.
The Book Girls Say…
This book gets pretty technical at times, but it’s great for readers who appreciate the details.
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In 2015, at age 55, Henry Worsley set off on an adventure that he had been dreaming of almost his entire life – walking across Antarctica alone. The British special forces officer had long idolized Ernest Shackleton and felt a strong connection to his story, perhaps because he was related to one of Shackleton’s men.
In 2008, Worsley visited Antarctica with two other crew descendants. Despite the harsh environment they experienced, he knew he wanted to spend more time in this fascinating region and planned his even more extreme solo trek. This biography is the perfect mix of history, adventure, and geography as the author takes you through each step of Worsley’s journey.
The Book Girls Say…
If you’re short on time this month but still want an all-encompassing view of Antarctica, this 160-page pick might be perfect!
Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of the World’s Most Mysterious Continent
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Antarctica is the only continent on Earth where humans could never survive unaided. Many books have come out of our fascination with the frigid region, but this one strives to truly capture the whole story.
Drawing on her broad travels across the continent, science writer Gabrielle Walker weaves all the significant threads of life on the vast ice sheet into an intricate tapestry, illuminating what it feels like to be there and why it draws so many different kinds of people.
We witness cutting-edge science experiments through Gabrielle, visit the South Pole, lodge with American, Italian, and French researchers, drive snowdozers, drill ice cores, and listen for the message Antarctica is sending us about our future in an age of global warming.
The Book Girls Say…
One reader says, “I love this book! Was exactly what I was hoping for – tells about the land, the people who work there, about their work, about early explorers. Utterly fascinating!”
Lean Fall Stand
Book Summary
At an Antarctic research station, Robert ‘Doc’ Wright is reminded that even veteran surveyors can have their lives changed in an instant by unexpected storms. He’s separated from his trainees, and communication is largely lost.
In the first section of the book, Lean, you’ll need to bundle up in a blanket as the team tries to remember how to survive in unthinkable circumstances. Themes of communication will continue as you follow the aftermath of this experience through the Fall and Stand sections.
Ice
Book Summary
When Archaeologist Leah explores a Native American cliff dwelling that had been abandoned for 800 years, she finds a previously undiscovered massacre. With the human remains, she finds rare, brilliantly colored granite crystals. These crystals are only known to exist in a frozen mountain range in central Antarctica, so how did they end up in New Mexico?
Leah’s estranged husband is a hiking guide and the only person who can help her unravel the mystery. But, when they make a major discovery in Antarctica that impacts both science and history, governments get involved.
The Book Girls Say…
This one is for those who love a good dose of science fiction and don’t mind if unrealistic situations make their way into your reading. We don’t want to share any spoilers, but just know that it’s very much not a straightforward adventure novel.
Migrations
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Franny packed up her research gear and talked her way onto a fishing boat in Greenland to follow the Arctic terns on what could be their last migration from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica.
Set in an unspecified date in the future, this novel has dystopian qualities. As the boat travels farther from civilization and safety, it becomes clear that Franny’s journey is as much about running away as it is about following the birds. Franny’s tale and journey are equally heartbreaking and breathtaking.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers warn that this story may make you uncomfortable and that you might need some Kleenex, but that you won’t regret being consumed by Franny’s story and the beautiful writing.
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Books About the Arctic
The Arctic Fury
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This historical mystery is based on the true story of Lady Jane Franklin’s quest to find her husband, who went missing during an arctic expedition in the 1850s. She convinces adventurer Virginia Reeve to lead 12 women on a secret quest through impossible terrain and conditions.
A year later, only 5 of the original 12 women are back home, and Virginia has been charged with murder. This compelling novel covers both the expedition and the court case, combining a tale of adventure with a legal drama. We can’t wait to read this Arctic novel to see how it plays out!
The Book Girls Say…
This book begins with quite a bit of backstory before the Arctic adventure begins, but it’s well worth it, and the importance of the long introduction becomes apparent as the story comes together.
Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild
Book Summary
Only a small number of people call Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge home. When James Campbell’s cousin, Heimo Korth, asked him to spend a summer building a cabin in this harsh and lonely place, Campbell hesitated about inviting his fifteen-year-old daughter, Aidan, to join him. He wasn’t sure she’d be able to withstand the grueling labor, the threat of grizzlies, and bathing in the ice-cold river. But to his surprise, Aiden embraced the wild.
A few months later, Aiden returned to Alaska, amid windchill of negative 50 degrees, to help the Kroths set traps and hunt for caribou.
Heimo’s wife told James about a tradition in Eskimo culture in which some daughters can earn a rite of passage usually reserved for young men. With this in mind, Campbell returned to Alaska with his daughter one final time for an ambitious backpacking trek over Alaska’s Brooks Range, where they assembled a folding canoe and paddled the Hlahula River to the Arctic Ocean. The journey tested not only their individual endurance but also their relationship.
Between Shades of Gray
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Lina is a typical 15-year-old Lithuanian girl who loves painting, drawing, and boys. But one night in 1941, Soviet officers burst into her home, tearing her family away from their comfortable life. She and her mother and brother are forced onto a train with no idea where they are headed.
Under Stalin’s orders, they are sent to a work camp under the cruelest and coldest conditions. Just getting to the camp requires crossing the Arctic Circle But, somehow, Lina finds comfort in her drawings. She depicts the scenes she witnesses daily in hopes that they’ll provide proof of all they are forced to endure.
The Book Girls Say…
This YA novel deals with the very grim realities of a Gulag and will introduce you to a side of WII that you’ve probably learned little about. Some readers didn’t enjoy the audio version of this book as much as the printed version.
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The Sun is a Compass
Book Summary
In March of 2012, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. She was in graduate school then, and the extra time doing lab research made her crave studying in the wilderness.
A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, this book is said to pull you in early and take you alongside the couple on their great adventure. The trip is difficult, with life-threatening dangers encountered more than once, but they are also surrounded by the well-described beauty of nature.
The Book Girls Say…
If you enjoy travel memoirs about adventurous treks, this highly-rated book would be a great pick.
Northern Lights
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Nate Burke needs a change after watching his partner die on duty as a Baltimore police officer. When the remote town of Lunacy, Alaska needs a police chief, Nate packs up his life and heads to the tiny frontier town.
While he was looking for an escape to a low-crime area, his detective skills are soon needed. The body of someone missing for 15 years is found, and it’s clear he has been murdered. Soon, there is another town death, which appears to be a suicide and confession, but Nate isn’t buying it.
Along the way, Nate develops a complicated relationship with Meg, the daughter of the murder victim. You’ll be drawn into this town’s characters, the beautiful scenery, and of course, the mystery!
The Book Girls Say…
This book weaves together adventure, romance, and suspense. The descriptions of the cold landscape will have you reach for a blanket as you dig into the story.
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This book is part memoir, part travelogue, and the incredible story of how Laura Galloway’s life changed after an ancestry test to find her roots. When the test revealed shared DNA with the Sámi people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic tundra, she was inspired to learn more. Along the way, a relationship with a Sámi reindeer herder led her to leave New York for the tiny town of Kautokeino, Norway.
However, when the relationship ended after six months, Laura wasn’t ready to leave the remote community behind. She stayed for six years, trying to learn the language but also trying to make peace with her difficult childhood and to discover what it means to truly belong.
The Book Girls Say…
If you’re looking for a book that brings heart-warming qualities to the cold environment, readers say this charming book is similar to Eat, Pray, Love or Wild, but with a more likable protagonist.
The Great Alone
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When a Vietnam POW returns home, he carries new anger and impulsiveness. Determined to stand by her husband, his wife agrees with his plan to move his family to Alaska to live off the grid. Soon after arriving, the harsh reality of rural Alaska sets in for 13-year-old Leni and her mom.
For a while, things were better with her dad as they spent the fall season preparing for their first Alaskan winter, but she feared his more balanced self was only temporary.
The Book Girls Say…
While only northern Alaska is officially part of the Arctic Circle, we think this book deserves a place on our list of Arctic fiction because it provides an intimate look at life for families who live in extreme environments. They have to be very intentional with preparations to survive long winters. It was a five-star read for both of us!
WARNING: This book includes descriptions of domestic abuse.
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In the Kingdom of Ice
Book Summary
Subtitled “The Grand and Terrible Voyage of the USS Jeanette,” this non-fiction tells the story of the United States’ aspiration to be the first nation to reach the North Pole. US Navy Captain George Washington DeLong set sail on the JSS Jeanette with a team of 32 men. They departed San Francisco, heading deep into Arctic waters.
Two years into the expedition, Jeannette’s hull was breached by an impassable stretch of ice. The crew was forced to abandon the ship into the icy water. Shipwrecked a thousand miles north of Siberia, they are forced to march across the endless ice pack as they struggle to survive.
The Book Girls Say…
This survival story was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best History & Biography in 2014.
A Blizzard of Polar Bears
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If you’re a fan of action-packed thrillers, you might enjoy this Arctic mystery about a wildlife biologist. Alex gets an opportunity to study threatened polar bears in the Canadian Arctic with a small team of researchers. She spends days flying over remote areas by helicopter, using a tranquilizer gun to temporarily freeze the bears so she can get close to them.
As the study continues, enough unfortunate events occur that it’s clear someone doesn’t want her to complete her work. From missing equipment and the sudden resignation of her pilot to late-night intruders, it’s clear she isn’t welcome. Things escalate when the helicopter catches fire mid-flight, trapping the team on the frozen ice far from civilization.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers commend all the information about polar bears included in this novel and appreciate what they learned about these fascinating animals. However, be aware that you have to suspend your disbelief as the protagonist gets herself into unlikely scenarios and manages to escape one too many times to be believable.
This is the 2nd book in the Alex Carter series, with the first taking place in Montana and Manitoba as Alex studies wolverines.
Winterland
Book Summary
This novel is set in Norilsk, the northernmost city of Siberia, where the brutal weather mirrors the sacrifices of young Russian gymnasts competing for their country. When Anya was 8, she was selected for the famed USSR gymnastics program. Her father is thrilled, but she can’t share the news with her mother, who disappeared years earlier.
Anya’s only confidant is her neighbor, Vera, an older woman who survived unspeakable horrors during her ten years in a Gulag camp. While Anya doesn’t know this, Vera was also her mom’s confidant and may be able to help solve the mystery of her disappearance.
The Book Girls Say…
The character of Elena is based on the real gymnast Elena Mukhina, who was paralyzed performing a now-banned move (the Thomas Salto).
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The Bear and the Nightingale
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Set in medieval times at the edge of the Russian Arctic wilderness, this magical fantasy tale draws on the history of Russian fairytales.
Vasilisa spends the long, cold winter nights around the fire with her siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales, and her favorite is that of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. The nurse teaches them to honor the spirits of the house, yard, and forest to protect their homes from evil.
When Vasilisa’s mom dies, her husband remarries a woman from Moscow who forbids the children from honoring the household spirits. Soon, signs of evil are all around – crops are failing, and misfortune strikes the village. Vasilisa must defy the people she loves and call on her hidden and dangerous gifts to protect her family from a threat as frightening as any in her nurse’s fairytales.
The Book Girls Say…
This book particularly appeals to those who enjoy the fantasy genre. Be sure to take note of the glossary at the back of the book, which will make the story much easier to follow.
Tisha: The Wonderful True Love Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaskan Wilderness
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This is the true story of Anne Hobbs who arrived in harsh and beautiful Alaska in 1927, at the young age of nineteen. She quickly discovered that running a ramshackle schoolhouse would expose her to more than just the elements.
After she allowed Native American children into her class and fell in love with a half-Inuit man, she learned the meanings of prejudice and perseverance, irrational hatred, and unconditional love.
“People get as mean as the weather,” she discovered, but they were also capable of great good.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers say that this YA memoir reads like fiction, which is a sign of a great story!
Though it can be difficult to read, the language and attitudes toward indigenous people in this memoir reflect the racism Anne Hobbs experienced.
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The Cruelest Miles
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In 1925, the remote town of Nome, Alaska, suffered a severe diphtheria outbreak. While scientists had created a lifesaving serum, it was located 1000 miles away, and there was no clear transport route. Roads didn’t exist, and planes couldn’t fly in the harsh blizzard conditions. But without the serum, death was inevitable for those affected.
Inspired by the annual Iditarod race, sled dog teams were called upon to make the long, treacherous journey. While you may know about one of the dogs, Balto, this is a deeper look at the whole event and journey.
The Book Girls Say…
This non-fiction account of the 1925 Serum Run to Nome reads like an adventure tale in some portions but can feel more like a textbook in others. However, you’ll get new insight into native cultures in Alaska, sled dogs, and the history of the diphtheria epidemic.
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When a spy satellite crashes in Greenland, the elite Sirius Sledge Patrol’s first female patroller, Fenna, has to survive the Arctic conditions and a team of mercenaries to retrieve it. After her partner is killed during the mission, she becomes the first patroller to be tried for murder.
After her arrest, a deep fog isolates the village from the outside world, and she must decide who to trust in this thriller.
The Book Girls Say…
If you enjoy The Ice Star, there are two additional books featuring Fenna, which are also set in Greenland. All three books are included with Kindle Unlimited.
On Call in the Arctic
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The author graduated from medical school amid the Vietnam War, but on the eve of being drafted into the Army to serve as a M.A.S.H. surgeon in Vietnam, he was offered a commission in the U.S. Public Health for assignment in Anchorage, Alaska. Once he arrived in Anchorage, he discovered he was being transferred to a remote outpost over 500 miles northwest in Nome.
In addition to covering the frontier town alone, he was responsible for the care of 13 Eskimo villages in the Norton Sound area. Equipment and supplies were sparse, nothing like his time learning on state-of-the-art equipment in school. Additionally, he was seen as an outsider and not trusted by those he served. This memoir tells about his time serving patients on the icy shores of the Bering Sea.
The Book Girls Say…
Last year, one of our readers enjoyed another memoir sharing a female doctor’s story about her time in Antarctica called Ice Bound: A Doctor’s Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole.
Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier
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In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized an epic trip. He converted a steamship into a luxury “floating university” and invited some of the brightest scientists and writers to join him on a journey through Alaska’s beauty.
Author Mark Adams retraced this journey more than 100 years later. He traveled three thousand miles, following the itinerary north through Wrangell, Juneau, and Glacier Bay, then continuing west into the colder and stranger regions of the Aleutians and the Arctic Circle.
Along the way, several unusual characters are encountered, and Adams examines how lessons learned in 1899 could apply today. While this non-fiction travelogue is often humorous, it’s also a realistic look at how Alaska’s resources are being depleted and endangered.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers note specifically enjoying the story-telling narrative of this travelogue.
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Split Tooth
Book Summary
While Split Tooth is a work of fiction and uses magical realism and fantasy, it does pull from the author’s journals and experiences in her Intuit village. The book tells of a girl growing up in the far north Nunavut territory in the Canadian Arctic. Set in the 1970s, the lyrical book explores all the good, bad, beauty, and violence surrounding her. Then, she becomes pregnant and must learn to navigate all the opposing aspects of hard life in her small arctic town.
The Book Girls Say…
This book will not be for everyone. In fact, you’ll probably wonder what you are reading at some point. However, if you love lyrical poetry or want something really far outside your comfort zone, readers say this Indigenous work is completely mesmorizing. Consider picking up the audio version, which is read by the author and contains her Intuit throat singing between chapters.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of sexual abuse along with other graphic sexual and brutal situations. It’s a very tough, but powerful read highlighting what really happens in very remote Arctic towns.
You are welcome to choose any book you’d like to read for the challenge, but we hope this list of books has given you a good starting point.
Sign Up for the Book Voyage Challenge
Sign up for our email list below to receive a free printable tracker for the Book Voyage Challenge. Our weekly email newsletter helps you stay on track with friendly reminders while still allowing you the flexibility to read at your own pace. Additionally, challenge participants have an opportunity to discuss the books on this list and to provide ratings and reviews via our book logs.
Printable Book Lists
Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site have access to two different printable versions of this book list.
New for 2024, members can print a single page containing all the book titles from each guided challenge list. We will also continue providing the journal page format, which has space to indicate your interest level in each book, jot down notes, and rate the books once you have read them.
Our BMAC members (we call them our BFFs) help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone. You can read more about why our members are essential and learn about the perks of membership.
Book Recommendations for Other Regions
Find more recommendations for other regions of the world using the links below.
- Books Set in the Middle East
- Books Set on a Form of Transportation
- Books Set in Asia: Northern Countries
- Books Set in Asia: Southern Countries
- Rom Com & Romance Books Set in Paris
- Books Set in Australia and New Zealand
- Books Set in Eastern Europe & Russia
- Books That Take Place On an Island
- Books Set in Africa
- Books Set in Western Europe
- Books Set in South America
- Books Set in North America
- Books Set in Antarctica and the Arctic
- Books that Span Multiple Continents