This year, DPL is holding its first adult reading challenge! Participants “travel the world”, and explore our library, by reading books and counting countries. Countries may either be the setting where the story takes place, or be the birthplace or residence of the author. Library travelers may choose to be either a “Tourist” reading 12 books, an “Explorer” with 20 titles, or become a “Globetrotter” by finishing 40 books during the challenge.
Remember, it’s not too late to get your Passport and join
in; just see Reference for more information and sign up!
When first packing our bags for this adventure (that is to
say, choosing what books to read) the Non-fiction collection comes easily to
mind. It’s relatively simple to find factual
books about different countries and their history, geography and culture. Although
it is a good number to start with, don’t limit yourself to just the ranges of Dewey
900’s —branch out and find appropriate
art books (700’s) or books about social issues (300’s) dealing with various
world nations.
And who doesn’t enjoy a novel set in an intriguing location
abroad? Naturally, Fiction is also chockfull of travel options! Don’t forget the genre fiction collections
either. For instance, it is possible to
complete up to the Globetrotter level, with 40 countries in 40 books, just by
reading books from our Mystery section!
However, what about the Science Fiction/Fantasy shelves a
few aisles over? I love science fiction! But how (in the world) would that fit
within the reading challenge? Doesn’t
Science Fiction depict off-world space travel, with alien beings and unknown
civilizations? Isn’t the purpose of
Science Fiction to “explore strange new worlds”. Likewise, isn’t Fantasy simply the creation of
fairytales and imaginary places?Keep calm and keep reading! The worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy, jointly referred to as Speculative Fiction, may indeed sometimes be recognizable as our own and can be counted as part of the READ THE WORLD challenge.
Within science fiction, there are novels with stories that take place on in the future, but still recognizable and similarly mapped Earth. To recommend a few, perhaps one with advanced cyber technology (as in Cory Doctorow’s MAKERS) or robotics (such as Daniel Wilson’s ROBOAPOCALYPSE )or dystopian/apocalypse tales where the setting is a dying Earth in the aftermath of a global disaster or holocaust (for example James Braziel’s regional novel BIRMINGHAM, 35 MILES) There are also time-travel books, which may send characters either into the future or the past. (For instance, Kim Stanley Robinson’s GALILEO’S DREAM takes past in both future and past Italy) Look for alternate histories as well, where things are almost like factual history- but with a fictional twist that spins the plot off toward a different timeline and a different history. (Harry Turtledove is well known for his multiple series in this subgenre).
As for the Fantasy genre, one can read novels of Magical Realism and Urban Fantasy. (An example is Charles De Lint’s novels of an alternate Canada) In these books, the location of setting is real, the characters contemporary, but what happens is somehow supernatural or magical. There is also fantasy fiction set directly in the past world, where there is no time travel involved but there is still a magical element (such as Stephen Lawhead’s PATRICK: SON OF IRELAND).
Following is a list of Speculative Fiction novels that are
included in our library’s Science Fiction and Fantasy collections. I will provide the Title, Author, and Country
which the story is set in. (I have also marked with a *, titles that I have
already read and would recommend.) I attempted to find as many different
nations as possible, but I’m sure I missed some. I have not included ALL the
books set in the United States or Great Britain; those are quite numerous. Some
of the books listed are actually shelved on our general Fiction, but these
titles could have just as appropriately cataloged in the genre areas. For more details about an individual title,
specific shelf location, and current availability, please consults our card
catalog.
Zoo City* by Lauren
Beukes SOUTH AFRICA
Memory and Dream* by Charles DeLint CANADA
On the Beach by Nevil
Shute AUSTRALIA
Lost Horizons by James
Hilton TIBET
Bones of Time by
Kathleen Goonan TIBETNeverwhere* by Neil Gaiman ENGLAND
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ENGLAND
Kraken* by China Meiville ENGLAND
Wind Up Girl* by Paolo Bacigalupi THIALAND
1Q84 by Neil Stephenson JAPAN
River of Gods by Jean McDonald INDIA
Sagramara by Alan Dean Foster INDIA
Night Watch by Serge Lukyanento RUSSIA
Dervish House by Ian McDonald TURKEY
Year of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson SOUTH ASIA
Gallileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson ITALY
Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson ANTARCTICA
The Futurist by James P. Othmer SOUTH AFRICA
Wild Reel by Paul Brandon IRELAND/AUSTRALIA
Birmingham, 35 Miles* by James Braziel ALABAMA, USA
Iron Heart by Harry Turtledove GERMANY
1632 by Eric Flint GERMANY
Blonde Roots by Evaristo AFRICA/AMERICA/ENGLAND
Middle Kingdom by David Wingrove CHINA
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson CARIBE
Idoru* by William Gibson JAPAN
Aftermath by Samual Florman MADAGASCAR
Flood by Stephen Baxter SPAIN
The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers EGYPT
The Wild Ways by Tanya Huff CANADA
Pashazadeby Jon Grimwood PERSIA/IRAN
Black Ships by Jo Graham GREECE
Hand of Isis by Jo Graham EGYPT
Dreaming Down-Under ed. By Jack Dawn AUSTRALIA
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn GERMANY
A Princess of Romania by Paul Park ROMANIA
Blindness* by JoseSaramago PORTUGAL
Makers by Cory Doctorow RUSSIA/USA
Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom *by Cory Doctorow (USA- Disney World)
On the Beach by Nevil Shute AUSTRALIA
Santa Olivia by Jaqueline Carey MEXICO
Half the Day is Night by Maureen McHugh CARIBE
Imaginary Magnitude by Stanislaw Lem POLAND
Patrick: Son of Ireland by Steven Lawhead IRELAND
Wild Reel by Paul Brandon AUSTRALIA
Roboapocalypse by Daniel Wilson USA/AFGAHNISTAN
Arthur C. Clark SRI LANKA
Charles D. Lint CANADA
Ian McDonald NORTH IRELAND
Lauren Beukes SOUTH AFRICA
Stanislaw Lem POLAND
Haruki Murakami JAPAN
Nalo Hopkinson JAMAICA
Jasper Fforde WALES
Julie Marllier AUSTRALIA
Lisa Tuttle SCOTLAND
Sarah Hoyt PORTUGAL
Jules Verne FRANCE
J.R.R. Tolkein b.SOUTH AFRICA
Margaret Atwood CANADA
