Welcome to the Book Nook! This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism.

This week’s recommended discussion: international books and writers (non-US specifically). Which international books have shaped their own and other countries, or have helped you view the world differently? Which writers have a distinctive national voice? Have any international authors made you feel like the world is a little bit smaller and more cohesive?
hat tip to lebkuchen

One caveat: because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone (the OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread).

upcoming topics:
5/16: favorite micro-genre (h/t sic humor)
5/23: didn’t appreciate when younger, but revisited and loved (h/t sic humor)
5/30: STEM books for non-experts (h/t sic humor)
6/6: the devil’s number book
6/13: adaptations that missed the point of the source material (h/t sic humor)
6/20: short stories (h/t sic humor)
6/27: mature content (h/t snugglewumps)
7/4: America the beautiful
7/11: mini author spotlights – name an author, opine about their best and worst, themes, etc. (h/t snugglewumps)
7/18: imprimaturs (h/t a quiet storm)
7/25: read in order
8/1: a writer’s fiction vs. non-fiction (h/t a quiet storm)
8/8: right author, wrong book (h/t enuma) (which author’s most popular works are the wrong ones taught or recommended first)
8/15: half-remembered, but never forgotten (h/t Zecko)