dreams_library | Recent Entries

Can anyone suggest good inter-racial romances? Not erotica, not fetish fiction--just good, romantic stories where the relationship is between two people of different racial or cultural backgrounds.

I'm interested in historical diaries (and also letter collections--anything that's a first-person account that isn't retrospective), especially those of American children/teens.

What I'm most interested in are books comparable to Through No Fault of My Own. It's full of little stories of daily life in the 1920s as seen by a teenage girl living on one of the richest streets in her city. It's also extremely regional in its popularity--if I didn't live in Minnesota, I don't think I'd know it existed at all. I'm hoping people from other parts of the country might know of similarly obscure little books.

That said, I'll gladly take anything you might have to suggest.

I've read:

Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-15 - Anonymous
Zlata's Diary - Zlata Filipović
The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
Through No Fault of My Own - Coco Irvine
I Await the Devil's Coming - Mary MacLane
Letters of a Woman Homesteader - Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Quite a few more, no doubt, but those are the ones I can recall off the top of my head. I have a long to-read list, but the two that I'm planning on doing in the near future are The Thoughtbook of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Homefront Girl.

sixbeforelunch

I'm looking for science fiction novels that have an element of reassignment backfire (TV Tropes warning) where a protagonist is sent to a backwater or otherwise given an undesirable assignment and ends up coming up on top in some way or another. I'm open to (but by no means specifically asking for) Star Trek books.

I'm interested in books (and any other resources you might know of) about what it was like for African-Americans (specifically African-American women) to go to college at the beginning of the 20th century. Oral histories and memoirs would be ideal, but general histories would also be really helpful for me. I'm interested in experiences at both historically black universities and colleges and experiences at schools with significant white populations.

Thank you for your help!

jain

I'd love some recommendations for gay historical romances involving Vikings--assuming they even exist; I haven't been able to find any on my own. The closest thing I've found to what I'm searching for is A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear, which really isn't close at all. Basically, I want the profic versions of

Helenish's Patience, a Steady Hand. Any recs?

kaigou

Really! I'm seeking any non-fiction/history works that include baseline monetary data for chinese trading ships. Preferably in the mid-Ming dynasty, but I'll settle for Yuan if there's nothing on the early to middle Ming. (Cut-off is about 1600 CE, though Ming ended a little later than that.) So far, I've found plenty about the trade itself, and the politics, but what I can't find is data that would answer questions like:

-- how much would the average sailor make, in whatever length of time (per trip, month, annual)?
-- what were the wholesale costs for various goods (silk, umbrellas, rice, lumber, etc) versus the retail prices at market?
-- what was an average cost to trim out a junk, employ the sailors, and make a trip?

If I could find one set of answers, I could possibly extrapolate from there. I've dug through google books for the really esoteric university press books, like Cushman's Fields from the Sea: Chinese Junk Trade With Siam During the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries which is two hundred years too late, but is a great example of the gap. Cushman actually calculates the wholesale cost, portage taxes, brokerage taxes, and retail profit to determine a ship's per-trip profit... but doesn't say a thing about operating costs. So while 7,000 baht might sound impressive, maybe it's not, if staffing and operational costs came to 6,999 baht! (For a list of the various other titles, see the post that resulted in me being sent here.)

Anyway, I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping someone here might have an idea of where to look. Also, if book-suggestions aren't available in English, I can handle Mandarin or French, too. TIA!

sonneta

I'm hoping to find some YA fiction (or even "chapter books") featuring a loving family with adopted kids. I'd particularly be interested in a book with the child going through some sort of identity crisis because he/she is adopted, but ultimately embracing his/her adoptive family. Thanks. ♥

melannen

What would you say is the Single Best Werewolf Novel Ever Written?

Feel free to rec even if you haven't read all that many; I haven't read that many either. Also: short stories, plays, poems, nonfiction, etc. are okay. I am not looking for TV, movies, or werewolf AU fanfic though.

But Dream's Library-style descriptions of the Best Werewolf Novel you wish had been written but haven't found yet are also okay. :D

carnivorousgiraffe

Hello! My brother is basically extreme-grounded for the next five months or so and he's asked me for recommendations on books he could read while he's stuck at home. I have a list growing in my head but I'd like him to have some stuff beyond what I like/usually read. For example, I don't read a lot of nonspeculative fiction.

He's a huge James Patterson fan, loved Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, and I believe he likes dystopias in general. I would also like to take this chance to sneak in some classics and poison his mind with wacky ideas like feminism, LGBT(+) are people too, or social justice, etc., but subtly, so any recs like that would be nice.
He's sixteen, seventeen in March, and the parents aren't too strict on his reading except when it comes to graphic sexual material (they probably wouldn't be pleased with too much implied sexual material but I think I could sneak that in if the story's good).

Right now I'm thinking:
Tamora Pierce
Terry Pratchett
John Green
Dragonriders of Pern (though it's been a while so I can't remember if there was some vaguely problematic material? I know there were sex scenes in some, but I read them at his age so it should squeak by).
Fahrenheit 451
Animorphs
The Giver and subsequent sequels.

I had others, but I'd have to be home looking at my bookcase to remember them.

Thanks in advance for any recs!

ETA: (either recced or I thought of them after I posted)
ETA2: Holy crap you guys this is amazing! I'm putting up here everything I'm definitely recommending to him because I've read it before, heard of it before, or it sounds perfect but I'll be checking with everything I don't recognize later. Thanks so much!
Scott Westerfield
Neil Gaiman
1984
Maureen Johnson
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Lord of the Rings
Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
Hitchhiker's Guid to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Book Theif by Markus Zusak
So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Patricia C. Wrede
Artemis Fowl
Dianna Wynne Jones
City of Ember series

jain

I'm looking for science fiction books that are based more in sociology and other social sciences than in the hard sciences. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin exemplifies what I'm seeking...as do many of her other books, but I was hoping to read some good books in this genre written by someone other than Le Guin. :-)

books2thesky

Does anyone know of any books in English that are about Karna? Fiction, nonfiction, or anything! Even anthologies (of nonfiction or fiction pieces) that contain a piece about Karna are welcome!

I would be particularly interested in reading stuff that takes a look at Karna's story in terms of real-life issues related to the caste system/reform of the caste system*, but anything at all would be great, really. :)

*and I hope I phrased that okay, since I know basically nothing about the subject!

ETA: Books about Bhishma are also good! I don't know much about him, but what I do know is intriguing.

kyriacarlisle

I need to do some catching up on dance and dance history (the classic "librarian two books ahead of likely reference questions" approach). I'm especially interested in ballet and modern, though if there's a magnificent book about another dance form, I'm very glad to know about that, too.

Much though I loved them as a child, I'm not really looking for books like A Very Young Dancer or Life at the Royal Ballet School (although if you happen to be looking for a graphic novel about ballet, try Siena Cherson Siegel & Mark Siegel, To Dance). I'm also not so very interested in hagiography - in my usual field, I'd think of this as the ten zillion coffee table books about Maria Callas. On the other hand, if the photographs are simply too revelatory to pass up....

I'm reading Apollo's Angels now. I've already read Dance to the Piper, Winter Season, Off Balance, and Behind the Scenes at the Boston Ballet.

garlicandsapphires

I'm looking for books with Third Culture Kid POVs. TCKs are usually defined as those who have grown up or spent a significant part of their upbringing in a culture different from their native/parent culture, who develop their own in-between cultural identity from elements of both. They often end up being strongly attached to two or more places/cultures without quite fitting in entirely with either.

A lot of the writing on the subject that I can find is academic, and a lot of that is annoyingly America-centric (largely about American army or missionary kids) for something that's meant to be all about the multiculturalism. I found this awesome list of books that speak to the TCK experience, but were not necessarily written about that experience. I guess a lot of things could apply, thematically, but I was wondering if anyone knows of works of fiction that are specifically about this.

Thanks!

rise

possibly a weird request, but are there any good (defined as: you read it and liked it) books about the experiences of women and minorities in the american military during the 90s and 00s? or, hell, even minority women? it hit me upside the head the other day how nearly everything seems to be about white guys. and other white guys. and yet more white guys. clearly, i need some stuff that is not about white guys!

i considered asking for books about the experiences of female minority military doctors in active service following hpsp medical training, but, uh, that is probably way too niche.

miss_haitch

Is there any YA literature you enjoy in which sisters play a strong or leading role? I'm in a bit of a historical mood at the moment, but I'm not too fussy about genre to be honest - it's well-drawn relationships I'm interested in.

onlydizzier

Can anyone recommend a book that is similar in feel to Downton Abbey or Gosford Park, in that it has an upstairs/downstairs dynamic? I'd like for the characters on both sides of the green baize door to be fully realized, with their own problems and stories. I've read THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON, so anything beyond that would be appreciated.

Thanks!

ETA: This doesn't necessarily have to be historical fiction, though that was my first thought. Something along the same lines in mystery, fantasy, or any other genre would be fine.

lauredhel

Can anyone specifically recommend or disrecommend an English-language Encyclopedia of Mythology for a fairly high reading level eight year old? I'd like one that's strong on Egyptian, Greek and Norse but with plenty of others in there, one that is good on the mythical monsters and cool/gross stuff, and one that has fabulous, large, abundant illustrations. And one that's much more comprehensive and detailed than the usual stuff pitched at eight year olds, but that still has engaging text and a touch of storytelling flair, instead of dry encyclopedic droning.

Normally for well illustrated nonfiction I'd just grab whatever Usborne or DK floats to the top, but my searches aren't turning up something likely-looking from those sources. The page counts of their books makes me think they'll fail on the "comprehensive" criterion: they seem to be introductions and overviews, not books to look up minor players and get the whole story. I'm thinking along the lines of 500-1000 pages.

Should include plenty on gods/goddesses/heroes/beasts/cryptozoology in the first instance, perhaps more so than "fairy tales" (I have some separate faerie sources, we have Grimm etc, and Spiderwick does a decent magical-wildlife directory. We have a children's Bible and are working on suitable other volumes for the mythologies generally recognised as religions around here).

Initially it will be used to look up, say, manticores or minotaurs or Apollo or Artemis or Thor or Loki or the Asphodel Meadows or Anubis or Ammit or Ouranus or the cyclopes. Etc. (You can probably guess what we've been reading/watching lately just from that!) Then on from there for a broader view of world mythology. I'd love a book that includes American, Subcontinental and East Asian, and Islander & Australian mythologies, but could live without it and get those in separate volumes if there's a really really good Euro/North African/Middle East volume I should be looking at.

Should I settle on multiple DK volumes, one for each set of mythologies? Larousse has been mentioned - but is it well-illustrated enough and interesting enough for a child in lower primary school? Something else? Am prepared to pay a fair bit for a nicely presented suitable hardback, or multiple quality smaller volumes. Can import from USA or UK.

I'd appreciate any help!

msmcknittington

I was having a conversation in

cleolinda's journal on LJ about how frustrating the Dies the Fire and other books in that universe by SM Stirling are because of the ableism. This is a pretty big stumbling block for me in postapocalyptic fiction, because I have insulin-dependent diabetes, and I basically see myself written out of the story whenever I pick up one of these books. And not just "you don't exist" but "you existed, but you died a horrible death which the author just couldn't be bothered to write about".

So! With that in mind, can anyone recommend any postapocalyptic fiction which addresses people with disabilities and/or chronic medical conditions? It could even be as simple as the character needing glasses to see and not being able to get them because of the postapocalyptic setting. I think I'd prefer it if the character was a major character in the novel who was fully fleshed out, rather than an emotional accessory for or someone to be "rescued" by the protagonist. Happy ending, if possible.

I feel like this is a pretty tall order, but there must be something out there somewhere. I'd even be open to just plain fantasy recommendations which deal with disability in a realistic way. That aren't, um, the Vorkosigan Saga, that is.

to_love_a_rose

Can anyone recommend a good history of Canada? I know next to nothing about the large country which is only about twelve hours' drive from my house, and that just doesn't seem right.

sixbeforelunch

I'm looking for three things:

One, novels set in America that take place before the 1850s and are in no way belonging to the "old west" genre. So, Colonial Period, American Revolution, War of 1812, etc. Things that don't involve being kidnapped by "Indians" would be preferred, though if anyone can suggest stories that manage to remember that Europeans were not the first people to set foot on the continent without using those cultures as nothing more than plot devices, that would be nice.

Two, historical romance novels set in either the same time period as above or in Restoration/Georgian/Regency England that aren't about the wealthy, influential, titled, etc.

Three, historical romance novels set in either America or England (same time period) that have CoC either has main characters or as fleshed out supporting characters.

I'm not looking for all three in one book, though if such a book exists, I would be interested in hearing about it. Also, the book doesn't necessarily have to be a Romance Novel in the strictest definition of the genre. Mainly I don't want something tragic and I don't want something that's too heavy.

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Page Summary

sixbeforelunch - (no subject)
ar - diaries
sixbeforelunch - science fiction with a reassignment backfire plot
ar - African-American college experiences circa 1910-30
jain - M/M Viking Novels
kaigou - accounting records for chinese trade ships
sonneta - loving adoptive family
melannen - The Best Werewolf Book Ever
carnivorousgiraffe - Looking for recs for a sixteen year old...
jain - Social Science Fiction
books2thesky - Books about Karna (from the Mahabharata) in English
kyriacarlisle - Books About Dance
garlicandsapphires - Third Culture Kids in fiction
rise - re: americans in the military who are not white or men
miss_haitch - Sisterly relationships
onlydizzier - book recommendation - masters and servants
lauredhel - Encyclopedia of Mythology: Kid-suitable but very comprehensive?
msmcknittington - Avoiding ableism in postapocalyptic fiction
to_love_a_rose - (no subject)
sixbeforelunch - (no subject)

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