Around the Year in 52 Books is a Goodreads group that creates a user-generated reading challenge each year. This listopia is dedicated to one of our 2023 prompts. Please do not vote on these lists unless you are participating in our reading challenge!
Prompt: A book with a tropical setting
Prompt: A book with a tropical setting
309 books ·
99 voters ·
list created September 10th, 2022
by Emily Bourque (votes) .
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Choose a book set in the Tropics on the planet earth.
The Tropics are defined as the region between the Tropic of Cancer (about 23° N), and the Tropic of Capricorn (about 23°S). *Think of 2023 to remember 0 ° to 23°North or South.
OR
a. a book set in another hotspot in the universe, such as Qatar or the planet Venus.
b. a book set in the future that reaches tropical temperatures due to climate change or a cataclysmic event
c. a non-fiction book about the Tropics
MAPS - search for "World Map of Tropics" for various views.
Or google the latitude of a location.
e.g. Mumbai latitude = 19.09 N (this number should be 23 or lower)
Listopias for specific regions:
Tropical setting- - all regions
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Southeast Asia – fiction, non-fiction, speculative fiction
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/indo...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Hawaii
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/hawaii
Caribbean
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6...
South America, Central America
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Adventure travel lists - South America, Africa.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Africa
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...
Romance lists
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7... https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...
Regions/topics
The tropics cover about 40% of the earth, including Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Caribbean, most of Central and South America, much of Africa, and half of India, Australia and Mexico. You could read about the culture of SE Asia, an island romance, an extreme adventure set in a Dense Amazon rainforest, or dramatic struggles in Africa. Or read about volcanos, geological hot spots, sci-fi on a Venus, or futuristic sci-fi involving climate or a cataclysmic event.

Angola Full
Antigua and Barbuda Full
Aruba Full
Barbados Full
Belize Full
Benin Full
Brazil- majority is tropical
British Virgin Islands Full
Burkina Faso Full
Burundi Full
Cambodia Full
Cameroon Full
Cape Verde Full
Central African Republic Full
Chad Full
Colombia Full
Comoros Full
Costa Rica Full
Cuba Full
Djibouti Full
Dominica Full
Dominican Republic Full
DR Congo Full
Ecuador Full
El Salvador Full
Equatorial Guinea Full
Eritrea Full
Ethiopia Full
Fiji Full
French Guiana Full
Gabon Full
Gambia Full
Ghana Full
Grenada Full
Guadeloupe Full
Guatemala Full
Guinea Full
Guinea Bissau Full
Guyana Full
Haiti Full
Honduras Full
Indonesia Full
Ivory Coast Full
Jamaica Full
Kenya Full
Kiribati Full
Laos Full
Liberia Full
Malawi Full
Malaysia Full
Maldives Full
Mali Full
Marshall Islands Full
Martinique Full
Mauritania Full
Mauritius Full
Micronesia Full
Nauru Full
Nicaragua Full
Niger Full
Nigeria Full
Palau Full
Panama Full
Papua New Guinea Full
Peru Full
Philippines Full
Republic of the Congo Full
Rwanda Full
Saint Kitts and Nevis Full
Saint Lucia Full
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Full
Samoa Full
Sao Tome and Principe Full
Senegal Full
Seychelles Full
Sierra Leone Full
Singapore Full
Solomon Islands Full
Somalia Full
South Sudan Full
Sri Lanka Full
Sudan Full
Suriname Full
Tanzania Full
Thailand Full
Togo Full
Tonga Full
Trinidad and Tobago Full
Tuvalu Full
Uganda Full
United States Virgin Islands Full
Vanuatu Full
Venezuela Full
Vietnam Full
Yemen Full
Zambia Full
Zimbabwe Partial - majority is tropical
Partially Tropical Large Countries:
Brazil - Most of the area is tropical and contains significant rain forests
Australia - Northern regions are tropical
India - Southern half is tropical
China - only the southern edge is tropical
Mexico - the Southern half is tropical
United States - only Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands are tropical
Other partial countries:
Bahamas Partial
Bangladesh Partial
Bolivia Partial
Botswana Partial
Madagascar Partial
Mozambique Partial
Myanmar Partial
Namibia Partial
Oman Partial
Paraguay Partial
Saudi Arabia Partial
Taiwan Partial
United Arab Emirates Partial
Zimbabwe Partial -
Countries that are primarily NOT tropical:
Algeria
Argentina
Chile
Egypt
Eswatina/Swaziland
Lesotho
Libya
South Africa
Tunisia
United States -the 49 contiguous states are not tropical
Western Sahara Partial

edited from taleaway dot com
https: // taleaway. com/ books-set-in-africa-african-novels/
Go to the site for descriptions and non-tropical books
2. Angola- A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa
3. Benin - The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin
5. Burkina Faso - Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some
6. Burundi -Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
7. Cameroon - Overloaded Ark by Gerald Durrell
8. Cape Verde -The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida
9. Central African Republic - Daba’s Travels from Ouadda to Bangui by Makombo Bambote
10. Chad -The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary
11. Comoros - A Fish Caught in Time by Samantha Weinberg
12. Democratic Republic of Congo -The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
13. Republic of Congo -Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
14. Djibouti -In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman A. Waberi
16. Equatorial Guinea -By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel
17. Eritrea- My Fathers’ Daughter by Hannah Pool
19. Ethiopia -Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
20. Gabon -Mema by Daniel M. Mengara
21. The Gambia -Reading the Ceiling by Dayo Forster
22. Ghana -Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
23. Guinea -The Dark Child by Camara Laye
24. Guinea-Bissau - The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila
25. Ivory Coast -The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
26. Kenya -Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen)
28. Liberia - She Would Be King by Wayetu Moore
31. Malawi -The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba
32. Mali -Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway
33. Mauritania - Dangerous Love: A True Story of Tragedy, Faith, and Forgiveness in the Muslim World by Ray Norman
34. Mauritius- The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
38. Niger - Harmattan by Gavin Weston
39. Nigeria - Half of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
40. Rwanda -A Sunday At The Pool In Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
41. Sao Tome and Principe - Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares
42. Senegal - God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembène
43. Seychelles -Brothers of the Sea by D.R. Sherman
44. Sierra Leone - The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
45. Somalia -Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed
47. South Sudan -They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak
48. Sudan - Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
49. Tanzania -The Magic of Saida by M. G. Vassanji
50. Togo -Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja
52. Uganda - Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
53. Zambia -Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku
54. Zimbabwe - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
Bonus: Across Africa -Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan
13. A book with a tropical setting
This could be an actual tropical location near the equator (between 23 degree North and 23 degrees South latitudes), between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Or a comparably hot location elsewhere or in the future.
The tropics cover about 40% of the earth, including all of Southeast Asia, most of Central and South America, Equatorial Africa (at least half the continent), The Caribbean, and half of India and Australia.