Resources for Finding Books

[Luke]

I've found a couple of good links on this thread - thanks all. Here's another that some of you may find useful: TripFiction. Type in the name of a place and it will come back with books set in that location.

They also have a GR profile.

[Lilisa]

A friend of mine sent me this link, which has some really interesting book recommendations. It's a 2013 list but great books are evergreen, so here it is: http://www.cntraveller.com/recommende...

[Betty]

Wonderful lists above, and some of them even creatively displayed as visuals (Around the World in 81 D, Trip Fiction, CNTraveller). If I want to prep before physically exploring the library shelves, I also utilize WorldCat a few times a week for location and for topic searches. At the PaperbackSwap, there are guidelines for book condition which more or less are adhered to. At Listopia it is fun to add book titles, to vote on books read, and to explore the list. The SciFi podcast brings to mind the TOR website for scifi and fantasy. For books from Arabic countries, there is the Arab British Centre and its library and its magazine (Banipal). For many literatures in one place, there are the themed issues of World Literature Today and its archives. Also, selectively browsing through a keyword search on the local library catalog, such as for Caribbean fiction, brings up Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison, Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway, &c.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

If you have good eyesight, this could be a fun resource:

https://www.indy100.com/article/liter...

(Book list here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comm...)

[Carol]

Beverly shared this link from the NYT at Newest Lit Fic, and I thought our members would be equally excited.

"Globetrotting - Your sneak preview of books coming
out in 2019 from around the world."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

[Lilisa]

Carol wrote: "Beverly shared this link from the NYT at Newest Lit Fic, and I thought our members would be equally excited.

"Globetrotting - Your sneak preview of books coming
out in 2019 from around the world."..."

Thx for posting Carol (and Beverly) great resource!

[Lilisa]

Don’t forget that The New York Times updates this link of translated books (to English) - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

Check back often - they flag new additions.

[Carol]

Lilisa wrote: "Don’t forget that The New York Times updates this link of translated books (to English) - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

Check back often - they ..."


How wonderful! Thanks, lilisa.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Lilisa wrote: "Don’t forget that The New York Times updates this link of translated books (to English) - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2... Check back often - they ..."

I’d forgotten all about this - thanks for the reminder. It’s like early Xmas for my TBR 🎄😁

[Rachel]

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...
Whil it requires a subscription to view more than a few pages each month it looks like a great resource. Plus it's only $2/month or $35/year if you want more than just the website. World Literature Today also seems to have quite a few things on JSTOR which you may have access to through your public library or if you're a student, school. It's worth checking out at least. I haven't spent much time on it yet since I just found it but it looks amazing.

[Lilisa]

I think someone from here mentioned or I stumbled upon this in my browsing - check out https://strongsenseofplace.com/ - an awesome resource where travel, books, and food all come together via podcast, blogs, and other wonderful tips. I’ve been listening to the podcasts where Mel and Dave discuss different locations and select “strong sense of place” books set in those locations. Really cool. Their goal is to “travel” to all countries and all U.S. states. They’re from the U.S. and now live in Prague. Mel is also a cookbook author Melissa Joulwan. Check out their website and listen to their podcast.

[Lilisa]

Great resource — book recommendations by country from around the world:
https://www.afar.com/magazine/books-f...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I came across a great resource after they started a podcast, but the website and its resources goes back much farther than the podcast itself - it's Strong Sense of Place - and has a bunch of articles about specific places, or types of places, in fiction/non-fiction, also genres sometimes. I think the people who host the podcast are a couple, from the one episode I listened to.

[Lilisa]

Agree Jenny! Posted about it too above :-) their website is chockablock with awesome info, interesting tidbits, beautiful pics and, of course, book recommendations - folks should check it out, as well as their podcast. I think their latest book/travel podcast is on New Zealand. Mel published a Paleo cookbook that Andrea may be interested in checking out.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Lilisa wrote: "Agree Jenny! Posted about it too above :-) their website is chockablock with awesome info, interesting tidbits, beautiful pics and, of course, book recommendations - folks should check it out, as w..."

HA maybe that is how I learned about it. :) Sorry.

[Lilisa]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Agree Jenny! Posted about it too above :-) their website is chockablock with awesome info, interesting tidbits, beautiful pics and, of course, book recommendations - folks should che..."

No, it wasn’t me originally :-) - it was someone else but glad they shared!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Saw this list today of 100 Essential Books by Iranian writers, spanning all genres and eras. When it gets to the poetry section they list a bunch of works by each poet but count it as one item on the list (just so you know the list isn't half Rumi.)

Personally, I have read 12 of these and own 3 more!

[Lilisa]

Great list - thanks Jenny! I’ve only read four from the list and a bit of Rumi and Khayyám poetry, although there are a couple I have on my list. I’ve read other books set in Iran that didn’t make the list. Two I thought were pretty good is Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran, which I read a long time ago and still think about occasionally. The other is The Stationery Shop, which was also pretty good.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

A member in one of my other groups has shared a method for finding books by country (here on GR), that is so much easier than any other method I’ve tried, I just had to share. It certainly works, but it does have limitations. For example, it won’t be helpful finding books set in Jordan. Anyway here is how you do it:

” This may have been covered off elsewhere, but I just discovered how to search a book by the country in which it is set! :0o
For those who don't know (I think you need to do this on a desktop rather than the app - but don't hold me to it!) - you go to the Browse tab and select 'all genres' under 'favourite genres' then in the 'search' bar type the country, state or city/place you are after and voila!!!

https://www.goodreads.com/genres

I may be preaching to the converted but this is a game changer for me who manually tries to research the country in a slow and cumbersome way!”

Anyway, give it a try, and if you work out how to refine it even further please let us know.