Resources for Finding World and Travel Literature

[Barry]

Such a useful resource of books. I'm interested in Spanish based books, written in English, but set in Spain whether fiction or nonfiction. Any advice?

[Ruth]

Barry wrote: "Such a useful resource of books. I'm interested in Spanish based books, written in English, but set in Spain whether fiction or nonfiction. Any advice?" One author you might like to try is Jason Webster who writes both fiction and nonfiction about 20th century and contemporary Spain. Giles Tremlett writes about contemporary Spain and its history. Ian Gibson, George Orwell, Laurie Lee and Gerald Brenan are others whose books about Spain are well worth a read. Spanish authors Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, María Dueñas and Arturo Pérez-Reverte have had many of their books translated into English. There are lots more books too on the Spain shelf of the Around the World in 80 books bookshelf, including translations from Spanish into English as well as authors writing in English about Spain.

[ishaan]

This is a perfect group for my site.
I have created a website that analyze your Goodreads books and give you insights into how many books you have read from each country, how many male and female authors you have read. Also it will recommend you books from countries from which you have never read a book before.
I would love if you check it out and give me some feedback.

https://recommendmebooks.com/

Ishaan

[Elizabeth A.G.]

Amazon is celebrating "World Book Day" with a giveaway of 9 free Kindle book downloads April 16 - April 24, 2018 of authors from Greece, Sweden, North Korea, Japan, Iran, Russia, Spain, Chile, and Turkey. Also you can browse other inexpensive e-books from other countries. What a great way to become familiar with writers from around the world! This is for readers ONLY IN THE U.S.
Go to Amazon.com and search AmazonCrossing in search box to download the selected e-books to your Kindle for free.

[Miranda]

Elizabeth A.G. wrote: "Amazon is celebrating "World Book Day" with a giveaway of 9 free Kindle book downloads April 16 - April 24, 2018 of authors from Greece, Sweden, North Korea, Japan, Iran, Russia, Spain, Chile, and ..."
Thanks so much for this recommendation! Many of these books seem really intriguing. Before now I wasn't aware of the Amazon Crossing feature, but it's worth noting that none of the books it offers are over $5, and some are much cheaper. Pretty good deal!

[Elizabeth A.G.]

Miranda wrote: "Elizabeth A.G. wrote: "Amazon is celebrating "World Book Day" with a giveaway of 9 free Kindle book downloads April 16 - April 24, 2018 of authors from Greece, Sweden, North Korea, Japan, Iran, Rus..."

You're welcome, Miranda -- saw the add on the Goodreads site (don't see it now, though) for AmazonCrossing and had not heard of it before either. Hope you find the selected books interesting - I am not familiar with any of them so I will enjoy exploring these titles.
BTW, I see you are in Columbus, Ohio. We lived in Cincinnati for 15 years before moving to Las Vegas in 2003. I also had an aunt who lived in Columbus.
HAPPY READING!

[alexander craig]

Mark Twain Can-Cans, Cats and Cities of Ash is a good short book. It's a good read about Greek mythology if I remember rightly. A Movable Feast is an enlightening read about Paris by Ernest Hemingway.

[Sunita]

Some more resources :from ambassadors of each country. https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/22...

[John]

This book really gets into the small villages of Vietnam

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...

[Howard]

Diane wrote: "Post any helpful websites for finding book settings and world authors here."

I write novels of the Middle East highly evocative of locale. The Damascus Cover, now filmed with Sir John Hurt, particularly evokes the grandeur of that city before the Civil War. On the ancient caravan route, an oasis, it's the oldest continuously inhabited city on the planet.

www.howardkaplanauthor.com

Howard Kaplan

[Cheri]

Sunita wrote: "Some more resources :from ambassadors of each country. https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/22......"

I second this as a great resource! I found some really good books this way, and feel like they gave a true sense of the country where they took place.

[Elizabeth A.G.]

Today came the announcement of the nine finalists for the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature which is awarded to those "poets, novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights who make significant contributions to world literature."

Emmanuel Carrere (France), author of Fast: PoemsThe Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception

Jorie Graham (United States), author of Fast: Poems

Jessica Hagedorn (Philippines / United States), author of Dogeaters

Eduardo Halfón (Guatemala), author of Mourning

Ismail Kadare (Albania), author of Broken April

Sahar Khalifeh (Palestine), author of Wild Thorns

Abdellatif Laâbi (Morocco), author of Beyond the Barbed Wire: Selected Poems

Lee Maracle (Canada), author of Celia's Song

Hoa Nguyen (Vietnam / United States), author of Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008

The winner will be announced on October 16th at the 2019 Neustadt Lit Fest at the University of Oklahoma/Norman campus celebrating international books & sponsored by World Literature Today.

https://www.neustadtprize.org/finalis...

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Elizabeth A.G. wrote: "Today came the announcement of the nine finalists for the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature which is awarded to those "poets, novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights who make signi..."

Nice! My vote is for Ismail Kadare.

[Marcie]

https://www.openletterbooks.org/

[Della]

https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/ Books voted for by Librarians around the world. A great resource and totally independent.

[Anetq]

Hi Diane - from the lists in the first post:

This link doesn't work anymore:
Arab Women Writers: http://arabwomenwriters.com/
Books by female authors from the Middle East

[alexander craig]

Charity shops in Scotland are immensely good places to get the rarest reads possible. Reading The Great Gatsby at the moment.

[Chau]

It is a very humbling opportunity to have the story of I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. I, Chau Van Truong, wrote to be placed in the library across the state of Florida for the people to read and share.

Đó là một cơ hội rất khiêm tốn để có câu chuyện về I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. tôi, Châu Văn Trường, đã viết để được đặt trong thư viện trên toàn tiểu bang Florida để mọi người đọc và chia sẻ.
I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. book is  now available in Indie FL.  Our current Florida customers are St. John's County, Putnam County, Broward County, Sumter County, Jacksonville Public, and WT Bland Public.  This means that patrons of these libraries will have access to be able to read your book. 
The link to your book is: https://library.biblioboard.com/conte...  


I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. book arrives from Amazon, 2 more weeks  I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. will know if U.S. and Canada libraries selected I-B.A.B.Y. Inc. book for circulation, and the copyright of I-B.A.B.Y. and its auspices coming in 6 to 8 weeks..  Well, who is the failure now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEI68...  

[Ally]

“Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvellous adventures that anyone can have.”

-Lloyd Alexander

Hey There!

I hope you and your family is safe during this time of crisis. I recently made an online book chatting website called- http://book-talks.com. Book-Talks is a platform where passionate readers like you and me and book readers from around the world can come and chat about their favourite books. For e.g. If you’ve read a very famous book then why not chat about the book with readers who have read the same book – share your thoughts on the book, the best moments and scenes in the book, post a fan edit for a part of the book you liked or disliked or even share some real-life experiences that you can easily relate with the book. I really really wish you would check Book-Talks and contribute in its aim for connecting book readers all over the world. Lastly, as said by Lloyd Alexander books are the best form of an adventure then why not share your adventure with others and also be of their adventures.

(PS: Thank you for spending your precious time reading this message. Everyone starts with that one subscriber, one follower and today I am doing that with my site so the biggest thank you to the very first visitors of my website. I Pinkie Promise that you will love Book-Talks and Book-Talks loves you back for visiting it.... Thanks again!! Have a wonderful day!)

[Irene]

Check out TripFiction:

https://www.tripfiction.com

[Andrew]

Here's a map that shows the most popular book set in pretty much every country: https://netcredit.com/blog/most-popul...

Pretty cool!

[Della]

Andrew wrote: "Here's a map that shows the most popular book set in pretty much every country: https://netcredit.com/blog/most-popul...

Pretty cool!"

Is there a way to actually look at the titles. I can't see any individual European country titles??

[Andrew]

Della wrote: "Andrew wrote: "Here's a map that shows the most popular book set in pretty much every country: https://netcredit.com/blog/most-popul...

Pretty cool!"

Is there a way to a..."

I think the titles are easier to see on this version of the maps: https://matadornetwork.com/read/most-...

[Sophia]

Get the latest updates about Dubai travel news here. Here is latest Dubai Airport Transfer details might help you in 2021 +, https://www.busrentdubai.ae/dubai-air...

[The Bamboo Traveler]

A list of books (with reviews) set in Asian countries https://thebambootraveler.com/books-f...

The list includes
China
Japan
Korea
Cambodia
Indonesia
Malaysia
Myanmar
Singapore
Thailand Vietnam
Sri Lanka

[The Bamboo Traveler]

Terrence wrote: "Writers and Readers of Sri Lankan Books
I am interested in contacting writers and readers of books with Sri Lankan backgrounds."

Hi Terrence!
I spent the month of September reading books set in Sri Lanka.

https://thebambootraveler.com/books-o...

[Debbie]

It is amazing to see how many resources everyone has posted. Thank you for sharing. I will definitely have to check some of these out!

[Andrew]

Thank you all for the inspiration! Plenty here to add to my list.

Another resource here.... This particular study shows the highest-rated children's book from every country: https://thetoyzone.com/most-popular-k...

[Ruth]

The BBC in conjunction with the Open University has just broadcast three programmes that are ideal for readers in this group. This series is called Write Around the World and features the actor Richard E Grant (you may remember him from the film Withnail and I). He visits Italy, The south of France and Andalucía in southern Spain with a bag full of books. If you can access the BBC iplayer they are well worth a watch. I hope it will be available in countries other than the UK. Everyone should be able to access this page though. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09n...

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Andrew wrote: "Thank you all for the inspiration! Plenty here to add to my list.

Another resource here.... This particular study shows the highest-rated children's book from every country: https://thetoyzone.com..."

Nice!

[A.K.]

Some publishers that focus on international crime:
https://sohopress.com/
https://serpentstail.com/
https://www.bitterlemonpress.com/
http://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/n...

[A.K.]

And an article I wrote a while back on my favourite international mystery books:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Sam wrote: "FREE BOOK PROMOTION!

Good news for all you kindle readers out there because 'Wax & Gold: Journeys in Ethiopia & other roads less travelled' eBook is FREE to read from Sat 11th - Wed 15th December ..."

Flagged for self-promotion.

[Rachel]

Apologies if this one has been mentioned elsewhere but bookgirlsguide blog does a good Read Around the World: Book Voyage Reading Challenge with recommendations for reads from different regions, including little author bios. https://bookgirlsguide.com/world-read...

[Diana]

If anyone's interested, I have published my list of reviewed books titled "Around the World in 50 Books" here - https://thoughtsonpapyrus.com/2022/03...

[Your Common House Bat]

Oh this is awesome, thanks! I've been looking to find books set in the Maldives if anyone knows any!

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Your Common House Bat wrote: "Oh this is awesome, thanks! I've been looking to find books set in the Maldives if anyone knows any!"

Here are a couple of lists of books set in the Maldives:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Sarah]

A good site for books on Central Asia is Caravanistan - it’s really a travel planning site but they include a list of recommended books for the area and by country.

https://caravanistan.com/planning/books/

[Heather]

Fantastic list! Thank you so much for sharing. 😀

[Elisa]

Thanks

[Thomas]

I started a project similar to this 2.5 years ago called https://culturalreads.com. I'm now working on organizing the top 5 books per country.

Another great resource is this reddit page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/wiki/l...

[Jacob]

Another fun way is https://visitthisreadthat.com/ when looking for literature inspired by or with events taking place at your destination

[Steven]

This is what I have been looking for ( for years ! ). Thank you all that contributed and those that continue to do so.

[Brett]

Ruth wrote: "Barry wrote: "Such a useful resource of books. I'm interested in Spanish based books, written in English, but set in Spain whether fiction or nonfiction. Any advice?" One author you might like to t..."

That's an excellent list. Personally, I'd also add (in English translation:) the brilliant Antonio Muñoz Molina + Juan Goytisolo, as well as Jan Morris, Robert Hughes, Andrew Dowling, Jon Dos Pasos plus the encyclopedic/academic Jimmy Burns .

[Laila]

https://80books.hsites.harvard.edu/it...

https://www.amazon.com/Around-World-B...

I've created a list that capture all of the books in the anthology.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

[Leo]

ishaan wrote: "This is a perfect group for my site.
I have created a website that analyze your Goodreads books and give you insights into how many books you have read from each country, how many male and female a..."

Did your site move or did nothing come of the project Ishaan? Is sounded like a great idea!

[Nicole]

I just finished my Read the World challenge and published a searchable database for international authors. Check it out and let me know any feedback you may have!
http://wanderingrosebooks.com