A year or so ago, I watched a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talk by writer and editor Ann Morgan called My Year Reading a Book from Every Country in the World. I was immediately captivated by the title, as anything involving reading and books fascinates me.

She opened her talk with, “It’s often said that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at what’s on their bookshelves.” She began to say how she had always considered herself a fairly cultured and open-minded person until she had taken a good look at all her books and made the alarming discovery that almost all of them were written by British or North American authors. Morgan then talked about her decision to “read the world” and her endeavors and adventures in trying to acquire translated books from all the different countries.

After finishing the video, I sat for a long time in front of my very own bookshelf. I have been reading for as long as I can remember, and books are piled up everywhere in my room. At the beginning of this year, I made a decision to read more classic literature as well, so my shelves were filling up with Dickens, Hemingway, the Brontes, Austen, and Poe. Not surprisingly, almost all the authors were British or North American.

I decided it was time for a change.

I believe in the power of literature more than anything else. Words have a mysterious ability to connect and create empathy and kindness across hearts. Language is how we see through time and space, how we understand the lives of others, and how I have been introduced to the world.

The fact that I barely had any international authors on my shelves made me realize how much of the world I didn’t know. Although the idea of reading a book from every country was incredibly daunting, I was immediately excited to find literature from countries I didn’t even know existed.

So far I have read books from 16 countries across the world and have learned about the Biafran War in Nigeria, the effect of Mao’s Communism on Chinese scholars, women refugees in Afghanistan, the Iran Cultural Revolution, and the hindering effects of class distinctions on Indian society. The books I have read have been hilarious, heart-wrenching, sorrowful, and uncomfortable. They have made me more aware and even more eager to learn about this world.

Reading the world has been another form of education altogether, and I am so excited to continue this journey (there are 196 countries total, after all). It has added a new sense of purpose to reading, which I had previously considered just a hobby. Now I feel like I am truly getting the most out of literature: a new perspective and a sparked interest in learning about the incredibly diverse collection of stories around me.

Find the list that I’ve been reading at myreadanddream.blogspot.com and Ann Morgan’s list here.