Now that summer is truly underway, it’s time for a book bingo check-in. How’s it going? Do you need a few more suggestions for books set in Cities of Literature? We thought you might need some recommendations for books to read, so we asked our colleagues in the thirty-eight other Cities of Literature to recommend some titles.
We’ll start with books that are available digitally from The Seattle Public Library. The titles below are just a small selection of titles set in Cities of Literature around the world. If reading printed books is more your style, you can purchase books through Bookshop.org by supporting your favorite local indie bookstore in the process or see if curbside service will work for you!
Books Set in a City of Literature
Milan, Italy
The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti
This classic Italian coming-of-age story features Pietro and Bruno, who meet one summer as children and whose friendship endures the years and their divergent paths.
Seattle, United States
No No Boy by John Okada
This seminal book is considered the first Japanese-American novel, and tells the story of Ichiro Yamada, who after being forcibly relocated to an internment camp, resisted the draft and paid the price.
Nanjing, China
Nanjing Requiem by Ha Jin
Set during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanjing, this historical novel tells the story of Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary who, as dean of Jinling Women’s College, worked to protect the staff, students, and public during the occupation and beyond.
Lillehammer, Norway
Kristin Lavransdatter: The Bridal Wreath by Sigrid Undset
Set in 14th century Norway, Kristin Lavransdatter is the life story of a passionate and headstrong young woman. The first volume in the trilogy relates Kristin’s life as a young girl, her devotion to her family, and her journey of self-discovery as she falls in love for the first time.
Richly detailed, the novel is an enduring portrait of medieval Norway from one of the country’s most celebrated writers.
Nottingham, England
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
This classic, semi-autobiographical novel features Paul Morel, an artist whose relationship with his mother influences his romantic life. Primarily a study of family relationships, the novel also examines class dynamics as Paul’s mother must come to terms with her own unhappiness in her marriage to a coal miner.
Baghdad, Iraq
Iraq + 100 edited by Hassan Blasim
Iraq +100 asks contemporary Iraqi writers (both living in Iraq and abroad) to imagine what their home country might look like in the year 2103, a century after a calamitous foreign invasion. This innovative anthology features science fiction, magical realism, and allegory to challenge the idea of what it means to be “The Other.”
Melbourne, Australia
Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin
Winner of the Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award, Axiomatic presents five sections that examine the way that we come to terms with our inherited traumas and the systems that uphold them. With wit and spirit, Tumarkin explores loss and grief, and how our particular histories inform who we become in the world.
Let us know what you’re reading below! And if you’re looking for more recommendations for City of Literature, The Seattle Public Library has got your back!
For more ideas for books to meet your Summer Book Bingo challenge, follow our Shelf Talk #BookBingoNW2020 series or check the hashtag #BookBingoNW2020 on social media. Book bingo is presented in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures.
~posted by Stesha B.
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