Sunday, May 25, 2008

Books Around the World Meme

Silvia Tolisano is always one to challenge me in the best of ways! She devised a meme challenging readers to look at the books we are reading, see if we tend to favor certain locales and then expand our horizons. Since reading is a type of travel, it is the next best thing to being able to visit or live in different worlds. I have always been an avid reader, although I have a bit of a problem remembering details of the books I've read.
Here are the details of the meme. You can join by being tagged or you can tag yourself.
  • Create a Google Map and add a bookmark with the title and author of a book you have read with a setting in another country of the world.
  • Look through Book Around the World recommendations or on other Google Maps created by participants in this meme/challenge.
  • Pick at least three books for your summer reading list that have a setting in a country you have not read another book about.
  • Enjoy expanding your horizon!

Step 1: Create a google map. I decided to put a few recent reads on my google map. I noticed that my book settings seemed to favor North America and Asia lately. I tried to take a minute and think of books I have read from each continent. I can not think of a book I have read from Antarctica. The closest I could think of was Mr. Popper's Penguins. Other than that, I have "visited" the other six continents through reading. Countries, however, are a different story. Luckily, I already had a few books on my "plan to read" shelf that also fit the challenge.


View Larger Map
Here are my three books:
1. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, Bosnia and Herzogovnia
2. Shadow of the Wind by Carols Ruiz Zafon, Spain
3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Germany

Now I know I am favoring Europe here...what can I say? These are three books I have really wanted to read anyway (have Shadow of the Wind sitting on my night table) and all happen to be listed on the Book Around the World site.

Thanks, Silvia, for always keeping me on my toes! I am tagging: Kim Glasgal, Ken Allan (Ken, something tells me you are a reader-hope you are up for a new challenge since the comment challenge is almost over) and.....who else out there would like to participate?

2 comments:

david santos said...

Excellent work, Andrea, excellent!
have a nice week.

Blogger In Middle-earth said...

Kewl Andrea!

I'll have to have another look at my Google Earth and see how I can create a special map for your project - hmm.

I didn't see your reference to me the first time I read this post! Just goes to show how inobservant I am when trying to concentrate! I've just read Donald Clark's post on concentrating during lectures.

He reports that concentration falls off rapidly in the first 15 to 20 minutes of a lecture.

I wonder if the same applies to reading blog posts?

Ka kite