Popular North American Cultural Books

Find cultural books written by authors from North America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (58)

21.

In Morocco by Wharton, Edith EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
First published in 1919, this detailed account of the author's journey through Morocco following World War I shares Wharton's observations on local customs and lifestyles, Moroccan history, cities, and more. Reprint.

22.

In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Description:
In a sleepy fishing village in 1930s Barbados, nine-year-old G. leads a life of quiet mischief. While the village lies tranquil in the shadow of its English landlord, Mr Creighton, and his towering house on the hill, G. makes his own fun, crab catching, teasing preachers, and playing among the pumpkin vines. Yet from this world of boyish pursuits, the precocious G. finds himself slowly awakening to strange goings-on in adult society. All around him, sudden bursts of violence - a devastating flood on the morning of his birthday; the headmaster unduly flogging his schoolmates on Empire day - hin... continue

23.

It Falls Into Place: The Short Stories of Phyllis Shand Allfrey by Phyllis Shand Allfrey EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
Brings together, for the first time, the shorter fiction of Phyllis Shand Allfrey, one of Dominica's best-known writers. Her characters, of different races and cultures, find themselves in unpredictable encounters where miracles can happen.

24.

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat EN

Rating: 5 (3 votes)
Description:
When Haitians tell a story, they say "Krik?" and the eager listeners answer "Krak!" In Krik? Krak! In her second novel, Edwidge Danticat establishes herself as the latest heir to that narrative tradition with nine stories that encompass both the cruelties and the high ideals of Haitian life. They tell of women who continue loving behind prison walls and in the face of unfathomable loss; of a people who resist the brutality of their rulers through the powers of imagination. The result is a collection that outrages, saddens, and transports the reader with its sheer beauty.

25.

Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
First pub. 1950. Tale of the conquered of Mexico in 1521 and its aftermath.

26.

Learning to Breathe by Janice Lynn Mather EN

0 Ratings
Description:
A 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection Amelia Bloomer List’s 2019 Top Ten Recommended Feminist Books for Young Readers A Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist A Junior Library Guild Selection A Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize Semifinalist A BC Book Prize Finalist “A love letter to girls—bittersweet and full of hope.” —Ibi Zoboi, author of National Book Award Finalist American Street “This is a stellar debut.” —Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Little & Lion and Pointe “A vibrant, essential story of healing, resilience, and finding one’s family.” —Stephanie ... continue

27.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Description:
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic. After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a m... continue

28.

Moccasin Square Gardens : Short Stories by Richard Van Camp EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
The characters of Moccasin Square Gardens inhabit Denendeh, the land of the people north of the sixtieth parallel. These stories are filled with in-laws, outlaws and common-laws. Get ready for illegal wrestling moves ("The Camel Clutch"), pinky promises, a doctored casino, extraterrestrials or "Sky People," love, lust and prayers for peace. While this is Van Camp's most hilarious short story collection, it's also haunted by the lurking presence of the Wheetago, human-devouring monsters of legend that have returned due to global warming and the greed of humanity. The stories in Moccasin Square ... continue

29.

My Antonia by Willa Cather EN

0 Ratings
Description:
"My Antonia(1918) depicts the pioneering period of European settlement on the tall-grass prairie of the American midwest, with its beautiful yet terrifying landscape, rich ethnic mix of immigrants and native-born Americans, and communities who share life's joys and sorrows"-- back cover.

30.

My Monticello : Fiction by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America. Tough-minded, vulnerable, and brave, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s precisely imagined debut explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging. Set in the near future, the eponymous novella, “My Monticello,” tells of a diverse group of Charlotte... continue