Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Post your nominations here for the May group reads. A significant portion of the book must be set in the featured location. We will be reading books set in Yemen, the US state of Wisconsin, and the UK county of Dorset. Here are our group lists to get you started:

Yemen:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Wisconsin:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

UK: Dorset:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... (please scroll down to the "Dorset" heading)

Books do not need to be present on these lists to be nominated. Authors, please do not nominate your own books.

For a list of books we have read in previous months, click here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Wisconsin - If You Could See Me Now by Peter Straub

Dorset - The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Dorset - The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
Yemen - Motoring with Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea by Eric Hansen

Wisconsin A Reliable Wife

Yemen - The Adventures of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan: An Arab Folk Epic. An ancient king of Yemen.

Dorset Awakening

Dorset - Far from the Madding Crowd

Wisconsin - . I joined my face to face book club later, but this was their favorite read so far.

Yemen -

Dorset; The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy

Yemen: The Woman Who Fell from the Sky

for Dorset, I suggest Tamsin by Peter Beagle

I want to suggest Brewster by mark slouka. It's supposed to be a must read and I think it would bring great discussion and debate.

Hi all,

I am new to the group, so maybe my concern has already been discussed. When picking books set in a particular location, should we not also pick writers from said location or region in order to have true representation of the place? For example, there are plenty of books by Hemingway about African countries, but I would not rely on him for representing these cultures properly. Same goes for Graham Greene and Central America and Asia. Not paying attention to whom the authors are might lead to stereotypes or, at the least, in simplification of the country/culture we are trying to "visit" in these challenges.
Have you discussed this previously and if not, how can we overcome this bias as a group?
K.

K wrote: "Hi all,

I am new to the group, so maybe my concern has already been discussed. When picking books set in a particular location, should we not also pick writers from said location or region in ord..."

I do not want to restrict the books nominated solely to authors from the region. In a situation where the leading book is written by a non-native or resident author, I will also include the top book from a native author, when possible. Our upcoming books for May from Poland are an example.

Kristina wrote: "I want to suggest Brewster by mark slouka. It's supposed to be a must read and I think it would bring great discussion and debate."

It looks like a great book, but does not seem to be set in any of the featured locations.

Yemen: Yemen: The Unknown Arabia by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Yemen: A Winter in Arabia
Wisconsin: Afraid by Jack Kilborn
Dorset: Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Yemen - I second Henna House