Around the World discussion
Resources
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Resources for Finding Books
GoodReads has a "places" list, which must be member-generated.It doesn't seem to have its own search box, so if you do one in Google, add a country name to site:http://www.goodreads.com/places/ and it will link you.
Like:
Faroe and site:http://www.goodreads.com/places/
I very much appreciate the tips. I have shelved all my books at GR since joined years ago, on a country shelf designating the setting of the book. I could actually dig up 52 different countries from my own shelves! So if anyone is interested just check out my shelves. But my organization is sloppier than the great sources you have mentioned. In fact Anne used my shelves to fill in the holes of her list. That is how I found out about this group!
FyI, Chrissie and anyone,once you go to Chrissie's shelves, not her home page, GR lists her shelves in alphabetical order. So, that is very helpful.
Chrissie wrote: "I very much appreciate the tips. I have shelved all my books at GR since joined years ago, on a country shelf designating the setting of the book. I could actually dig up 52 different countries f..."Chrissie, your country shelves were so helpful! I had to share a funny moment - I was amazed at how many books were listed in the country of Kirkus, since I'd never heard of it. Google schooled me. :)
Jenny wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I very much appreciate the tips. I have shelved all my books at GR since joined years ago, on a country shelf designating the setting of the book. I could actually dig up 52 diff..."That's hilarious, Jenny.
Jenny, OMG that is funny!!! Kirkus was wonderful before. You could get their reviews at B&N for free. B&N no longer has them. Kirkus and B&N have both gone down the drain... Before Kirkus was the only reviewer I trusted. They really said stuff was terrible. Their cutting remarks were sometimes hilarious. Amazon only takes parts of the Kirkus review and then you get a completely wrong idea about the book! Amazon is just trying to sell books.I have my list out now, but I had a fit halfway through since all the countries from Ghana to Russia disappeared and I had to add them a second time. Some countries have lousy books so I need a bit more - or maybe I will split up some countries - I mean Alaska is so different from the Sounthern States as a group. Also, Wales and Scotland and England are all bart of Great Britain but that could perhaps be split..... Have you guys split countries into disparate sections?
Judy, there is also that group here at GR that has books listed by country!
I used the Read a Book From Every country group too. It was very helpful. Of course I checked out each book too. I also am using books from Wales, Scotland and Britain (which I probably should change to England under this terminology).
Sue, nice, to know that you have split Great Britain. then I can do that soo! My next step is the USA...... maybe I will divide it into Alaska, Southern States, The West and New England? Something along those lines. Yup, that is the group I was thinking of - Read a Book From Every Country. In that group you sort either by the author's origin or the book's setting. I asked them once, ages ago.
Chrissie wrote: "Sue, nice, to know that you have split Great Britain. then I can do that soo! My next step is the USA...... maybe I will divide it into Alaska, Southern States, The West and New England? Something..."If you two are going to go back centuries in order to separate America and Great Britain, then I may do the same. Maybe we should call this group one culture per week.
I don't know Chrissie. Have to admit I'm being a bit inconsistent on that. I'm going more by the book I think I want to read and the country. Sometimes the author's origin and country sync and sometimes they don't.
I'm not planning to separate parts of the US but I guess I think of Great Britain in 2 different ways: culturally and politically. In that manner, they divide comes up different for listing books. No way am I going to tackle that for the US. There are too many identities. I'm sure Canadians would feel the same way.the exception I did make was for Native Americans. I selected the Laguna Pueblo as a country. Within the US, each reservation is independent territory.
Sue, you have me smiling. About the Native Americans. And the Alaskans? I have a hard time with Alaska......
I guess I see Alaska as a state but then there are the native populations......I've been interested in Native American history, art and literature for a while (not that I know much) but I know they do have their own nations and laws in part. They are trying to preserve their language the same way the people of Wales and Ireland are. (I don't know about Scotland.) I figured I'd get a few comments on this!!
There is also Hawaii to consider. I'm going to most likely read Honolulu by Alan Brennert for my US choice.
Judy--no I haven't read that book. I don't think I will read books from the states unless I have a horrible time finding international books. I'm looking at this as a reason to branch out more, out of my comfort zone a bit.
Judy, check out The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat Eskimos for Alaska. Judy, your Alaskan book doesn't come in Kindle :0(I am only going to go for regions if I feel I mlust read a book. Hej, the ultimate goal is to read good books that teach about different ways of life.
Now I get to peruse others' lists. This will be more fun than yesterday's hours of typing.
Sue, If I need to do USA I will read Molokai also by Alan Brennert. That is certainly different enough culturally from the rest of the U..S. for me to feel that I'm not reading my usual thing.
Judy, I looked it up here at Goodreads. I don't usually go for adventure books per se, but maybe at some point I'll give this a try if it's available.Just checked....it's not in my library system.
OK, when the time comes I'll check it out.
Janice wrote: "I found this resource tonight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category..."Nice catch Janice. Very interesting list with a wide assortment of books. I bookmarked it to go back to. I made a quick look at a few countries and it has some historical and unexpected works as well as the usual suspects.
Janice wrote: "I found this resource tonight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category..."That's terrific, Janice. thks.
Contemporary World Fiction: A Guide to Literature in Translation published 2011. There's a circulating copy and an electronic copy of it at the univ library, so won't buy this expensive new reference. Sample it at Amazon if you're patient and techie.
Asmah, do you have a link to the library? Is this a library where people living in countries outside of the US can borrow books? I am confused about who has access.
Chrissie, Contemporary World Fiction: A Guide to Literature in Translation (2011) is limited to North American libraries at this time, according to World Cat. First 33 pages: http://www.worldcat.org/title/contemp...
First two pages of each chapter: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/alltitles/...
I often find interesting books at this site dedicated to translated literature: http://wordswithoutborders.org/books/
Thanks for the link Chrissie. I've seen the site before but lost track of it.
I have so many book ideas now, looking at more sources will keep me going for a few more years.But these are interesting. I just keep adding them to my bookmarks.
When I read authors from Greece, Dalkey suggested some good, modern titles.
Jenny wrote: "One of my blog readers gave me a link to the Guardian World Literature Tour series. Very cool!"Nice link Jenny. This will take some time to walk through.
Thanks Audra. Are you joining our group? I'm going to check out your link now....
Audra (Unabridged Chick) wrote: "Hopefully you don't mind thread crashing (Daisy invited me, thanks!!) but A Celebration of Women's Fiction lists women authors by era and country, lots of obscure authors with bios. A fav site of m..."Nice link.
Great resource, thanks Audra!
A followup to the interlibrary loan discussion in Barry's thread - if you go to worldcat.org, you can do a search and type in your zipcode, and it will tell you where the closest copy of something lives. That can help when you make an interlibrary loan request, or in case a college/public library nearby that you might qualify to borrow from has a book.
I think I found another good resource - Paperbackswap.com. You have to put in 10 books of your own to start off with 2 credits, but I found more than two of the Around the World books right away that someone will send me for just the cost of media mail. And in return, I promise to send my books to others. It was recommended to me by someone who has used it successfully, so I don't think it is a scam!I requested The Lovers of Algeria: A Novel and Landscape Painted with Tea from my list. I'll let you know how it goes.
Hi Jenny! I'm new to the group but just wanted to jump in and say Paperback Swap works really well. I've used it for years. No scam there :)
Judy wrote: "I just stumbled across this list on GR Listopia:http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/42...
Some of these books look familiar! :)"
Great list, Judy! I found another good Caribbean choice that I hadn't seen before.
I found another place discussing international science fiction and fantasy books, if you are looking for books to change up your list.A recent SF Signal Podcast features a bunch of different authors discussing their favorite international SF/F writers. Unfortunately the show is too new to have textual show notes, but listening through I've learned about Karen Lord (Barbados), Lavie Tidhar (Israel), Greg Egan (Australia) - although I'm not sure he will help since everything is space or distant future, and so on.
And then they did an earlier post along the same lines, this one you can read the text online - so many choices!
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http://ow.ly/BpTGS
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Rusalka wrote: "I just found this great google map by Edinburgh City Libraries of Around the World in 81 D.Is. You must look if you enjoy mysteries/crime novelshttp://ow.ly/BpTGS"
Right up my (dark/dangerous) alley. Thanks.
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Around the World
Books mentioned in this topic
Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran (other topics)The Stationery Shop (other topics)
Honolulu (other topics)
The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat Eskimos (other topics)
Contemporary World Fiction: A Guide to Literature in Translation (other topics)
More...
International SF Database advanced searchLets you search author by birthplace if that's how you're doing it
What else has helped you make your list?