Books I Read Around the World

May 11, 2008 - Books, Geography, Global Learning

Sometimes, when you arrange information in a different order or through a different media, patterns become apparent that were not visible before to you. Those a some of the benefits I so enjoy of Web 2.0 tools.

I have always made it a point to read books in Spanish and German. That is one of the ways that I try to keep my languages alive, since I am not able to speak them on a daily basis. When I travel to Argentina or Germany, half of my suitcases are filled with books on the return flight.

I am adding to a Google Map that show books I have read and their corresponding geographic setting. I wonder (maybe I suspect already) what pattern will emerge? I wonder if a pattern would lead me to explore other authors and other settings around the world?

View Larger Map

Check out Book Around the World Blog for some inspiration.

The world has many countries. Let’s “book around the world” and find at least one excellent book for each country in the world. The book should help us learn something ABOUT that country and not just be one written by somebody who lives there.

6 thoughts on “Books I Read Around the World”

Shaun Fletcher 11. May, 2008 at 14:27

Interesting way to reflect on books that you’ve read. I was wondering if you’ve ever read any James Michner books, really great historical fiction, at least my opinion. They take you through time at different locations. Alaska, Hawaii, The Caribbean, Cheaspeake, Texas, Cenntenial(Colarado), The Covenant(South Africa). I enjoyed them all, but never could get into Poland. Thanks for making me think of these books, I ‘ll have to take the novels “waiting” off the shelf and turn the computer off.
Langwitches 11. May, 2008 at 14:53

@Shaun,
Yes, I have read several of Michener’s books. I just added “The Source” to the map before I read your comment. Am working on combing through my memory of the books I read in the last 30 years…
LangLabCindy 11. May, 2008 at 16:00

Very interesting! Our English Department recently created a bulletin board and invited folks to submit the books they’d read – I would love to move it to the web and invite a larger audience. This would be one tool that could be useful, but do you have any suggestions for what to start with – a wiki? Or is there another tool that would be better?
Tina 11. May, 2008 at 18:02

Great idea!!! I’m going to have to try this…I know it will inspire me to broaden my reading!!
Langwitches 11. May, 2008 at 18:22

@LangLabCindy
Google Maps allows you to invite collaborators.

Google Maps supports collaborative map-making, so multiple people can edit the same My Map. Just click the “Collaborate” link and enter the email addresses of the people you want to invite. They’ll receive an email invitation with a link to the map. Once they open the map, they should be able to edit it, as long as they are signed into a Google Account that’s associated with that email address. You can also open your map to the world so anyone can edit it by selecting the “Allow anyone to edit this map” checkbox.

A Wiki would be a great place to embed that Google Map. Contributors could also leave a short review or summary.
Barbara Lindsey 12. August, 2009 at 16:44

You’ve come up with another great, creative use for Google Maps, Silvia! This also would be a fabulous way for an entire school to present another aspect of a global curriculum, foster articulation with other content areas and show how interconnected we all are. I love the idea of embedding this map within a wiki so that a school or departments can provide even more interdisciplinary content.