Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Immigrant stories have become more and more popular as there is more diversity in the publishing world. These stories speak the foundation of our countries, of people striving for a better or different life, or of unspeakable wars and tragedies. They also speak to second-generation children, who fight with the dichotomy of growing up in one nation but being raised by people from another. Whether you choose to go with a first-hand account or to look more closely at the relationship between immigrants and their children, you are sure to find a book that will give you a different perspective.

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Suggestions:

12 Nonfiction Books about Immigration
16 Books about Immigration and the Immigrant Experience
10 Books to Help You Understand Immigration
15 Powerful Books about Immigration
9 YA Novels for Immigrant Heritage Week
5 YA Books About Second-Generation Immigrants

ATY Group Listopia

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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?

Sounds like of the Women’s Prize winners will work here. So I’ll be choosing between Small Island and The Road Home. Unless I go rogue and read something else entirely.

I'm reading Pachinko.

I do like books about immigrants. Recommendations: Americanah, The Giver of Stars, Big Stone Gap, What the Wind Knows.

Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. I looked at the listopia and there were a lot of books I have on my tbr.

This is one of those prompts that my brain really wants to over analyze. Technically “immigrants” and “refugees” are different by definition. (An immigrant chooses to leave their home country and live elsewhere. A refugee is forced to leave their country because of violence, persecution, etc.) Is this prompt exclusively about immigrants or is it meant to include anyone who relocated from their home country?

In my opinion, books like When the Moon is Low and The Beekeeper of Aleppo are about refugees, not immigrants. And the synopsis for Lost Children Archive refers to the “immigration crisis” but my understanding is that it’s about refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.

O well. I think I’m going to choose a book that is (hopefully) about an immigrant and avoid all these murky questions.

Cambridge Dictionary definition does not say anything about it being a choice. It does however stipulate it should be intended to be permanent. But obviously we all make our own rules

dalex wrote: "This is one of those prompts that my brain really wants to over analyze. Technically “immigrants” and “refugees” are different by definition. (An immigrant chooses to leave their home country and l..."

I was just thinking the same thing! The prompt mentions immigrants, but then the description seems to imply fleeing wars/tragedies.

I was thinking of The Map of Salt and Stars, but there they are refugees. So if that doesn't count I'll read Dominicana

The difference between refugee and immigrant is more of a legal thing than anything else. If you are a refugee a safe country should grant you refuge, but an immigrant can be refused without the right paperwork. So a book where a refugee settles in a new country would still be in the spirit of the prompt for me, although I wouldn't read about someone fleeing war.

There is some distinction between the act of fleeing and the act of settling down in a new place. If there is a focus is on the settling down part and not only on the flight itself, I think a book about refugees is in the spirit of this prompt.

if I may cite the Oxford dictionary ( non online version ot defines an immigrant as someone who immigrates which itself is defined as "to come to a place or country which one is not native too, in order to settle their"". Obviously everyone makes their own rules but I do not think anyone should be told refugees do not count as it seems to me having a choice is not a required definition of being an immigrant.

I'd say that refugee is a subset of immigrant (as in, immigrant is the overall bubble, and within it is refugees and people who immigrate for other reasons, like work or education or whatever).

On my plans list, I have:

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Emily wrote: "I'd say that refugee is a subset of immigrant (as in, immigrant is the overall bubble, and within it is refugees and people who immigrate for other reasons, like work or education or whatever).

O..."
Agreed.

Maybe the immigrant/refuge question is best answered by considering the focus of the book. If it's a historical fiction book about a ship journey to the New World or a contemporary fiction book where people are urgently fleeing their home and taking shelter in a refuge camp.....then the people in those books don't count as immigrants. But if people have left their home country and are working to establish a new life in a new country, then those people are immigrants.

Then there are also ex pats who leave their home country and make a home in a new country. The only difference between them and immigrants is that they intend to return to their own home country. But the assimilation process is the same, so would they count for this prompt?

Such a confusing prompt. Haha. My brain is probably overanalyizing this.

I'm counting anyone who has chosen to leave their home country (either fleeing war / persecution / poverty, or simply choosing to live elsewhere for marriage/employment/other reasons) and settle permanently in a new country. A slave would not count. An ex-pat intending to go home again would not count. A refugee in a refugee camp and intending to go home again would not count.

I'm reading Transcendent Kingdom right now.

For next year's challenge, I've penciled in My Ántonia (I saw that on a list so I'm assuming it involved immigrants?) and Native Speaker

My choices include:

Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee
River Thieves by Michael Crummey (I think this one works but may have to read it first to decide.)
How to Get into the Twin Palms by Karolina Waclawiak
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Call It Sleep by Henry Roth
The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
My New American Life by Francine Prose

Books I recommend: Middlesex and Giants in the Earth

I'm definitely reading Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America which is nonfiction and definitely involves immigrants to the United States (and author was spurred by her own background immigrating to the U.S.), but is also about the various arbitrary barriers imposed to and amongst levels of citizenship in the U.S. and its relationship to white supremacy and that framing of race, identity, and country of origin.

I'm reading Transcendent Kingdom shortly so won't have it for the 2021 plan.

I would recommend to others:
Exit West
We Need New Names
Home Fire
Zeitoun
Pachinko
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The Refugees

I will read The Test

I recently got on sale the audio of How to Pronounce Knife, which contains several stories of recent South Asian immigrants to America. I would think Interpreter of Maladies would work too, as those stories are about the immigrant experience.

I have the perfect title for this prompt: The Immigrant by Manju Kapur

May seem a cheat but I will be reading Hannibal he is an immigrant from Europe to America. the prompt says involving an immigrant.

I personally will also count refugees for this category. I recently read Ru which document's the author and her family's experience as Vietnamese refugees to Canada during the Vietnam War. It's a quick read, lyrical, more like a collection of vignettes. It reminded me of structure of The Buddha in the Attic about photo brides sent from Japan to the US, and their subsequent generations, also told in a series of vignettes.

I'm not sure yet what I'll read for this, but I've got My Ántonia on my shelf. Also, I've been meaning to read The Fortunate Pilgrim which is about Italian immigrants in NCY in the 1920s, the same decade my own Italian great-grandparents came to the eastern US also.

1. What are you reading for this category?
Black and British: A Forgotten History
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
Yes, I'm really interested in books about this, fiction or non-fiction
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
All Men Want to Know, The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After, Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation, Brick Lane, Brixton Beach

I'll probably read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. I keep running across this title and I think it will fit here.

Book recommendation: If you haven't read Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, I highly recommend it.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is also a beautiful book.

If you’re lucky enough to be able get your hands on Night Singing by Kierin Meehan (children’s magical realism book), it involves an immigrant.

The author’s also Aussie.

I really liked Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim. It's about a Chinese woman who has to change her identity to become a "paper wife" to a Chinese man in San Francisco.

Katelyn wrote: "Book recommendation: If you haven't read Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, I highly recommend it.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is also a beautiful book."

Good point about Pachinko, immigrants don't have to just be going to US or UK!

I'm planning on Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska. Going with a classic.

1. What are you reading for this category?The Undocumented Americans Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
Sometimes only when the author has a background on immigration.
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
The Test and Esperanza Rising

Miracle Creek
I have read this one involving an immigrant Korean family to the USA. It's beautifully written and there are many points of view to consider in the complex court case.

If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

1. So far I have read three books that could fit this prompt:
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
Transcendent Kingdom

2. I've always enjoyed books about the immigrant experience and different cultures. I plan to read more books this year related to immigration, refugees and related topics.

3. I liked all of these. I strongly recommend the first book, which is very insightful and entertaining. Don't be put off by the title.
⭐Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Girl in Translation
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The Kite Runner
Interpreter of Maladies
Angela's Ashes
Paper Wife
Cutting for Stone
Anything by Amy Tan

I read The Namesake for this prompt. I ended up not enjoying some aspects of the story, but the immigrant and 'children in an immigrant family' perspective was one of my favorite parts.

I only occasionally read book focused on immigrants, but I do include some in my reading habits, as I do like stories that let me get inside other people's heads and see the world from different perspectives.

I read Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi for this prompt.

I read...

, Rupi Kaur

So I picked a book from the listopia and I don't see how it relates to this prompt. Everything I Never Told You - I'm thinking I shouldn't use it for this prompt. It's not like their family just came to America for this book.

Opinions?

I re-read the second chapter and determined that it did fit the category if you looked at it from the second-generation perspective.

1. What are you reading for this category? Everything I Never Told You
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about? I read a couple of books a year that are directly or indirectly related
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category? I don't know. Maybe The Sun Is Also a Star if you didn't want something too deep. Angela's Ashes was a good immigrant story but really wasn't a favorite book of mine.

1. I read The Boat by Nam Le. I originally picked this for the monochromatic cover prompt, but got sent a new edition with a multi-coloured cover - the perils of lockdown shopping! It is a very good book of short stories, all concerned in some way with immigration from Vietnam. The last one (the title story) is a moving read.

2. It's not a perspective I would look out for in particular.

3. I would recommend: Brick Lane; Anita and Me;The Joy Luck Club.

1. What are you reading for this category? I read Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about? Not one I specifically seek out, but I've read a number of books with this theme
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category? My Ántonia (novel of Czech and other immigrants in the plains), Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese Family (nonfiction story of Japanese family in Pacific Northwest), and The Stationery Shop (novel of Iranian woman settling in America)

1. What are you reading for this category? Inside Out & Back Again
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about? No
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
Inside Out & Back Again
You Bring the Distant Near
Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman's Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
No. One of the main characters is an immigrant from England who is determined to stick it out in America even though many things point to her not being particularly happy there.

3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
It's not something I focus on so I'm not sure.

I have just read Fear in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope. Not a subject I deliberately choose. I have read several books set in America which involve immigrants but cannot name any to recommend at the moment.

1. What are you reading for this category? Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about? No
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category? The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about? Not really
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category? I do recommend The Undocumented Americans it was eye-opening and a bit heart breaking. But if you wanted something more fictional I really enjoyed With the Fire on High

1. Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen - This is a true story written by an undocumented person who was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for a news story. He still feels that he has to live in hiding.

2. Yes. The immigrant experience is one of my favorite fiction subgenres, and I sometimes read non-fiction books on the topic as well. These stories teach us about both cultures.

3 Recommendations:

.The Girl Who Wrote in Silk read this year
Transcendent Kingdom read this year
Girl, Woman, Other read this year.
A Tale for the Time Being read this year
A Very Large Expanse of Sea
Pachinko
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Girl in Translation
Americanah
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The Kite Runner
Interpreter of Maladies
Angela's Ashes
Paper Wife
White Teeth
Cutting for Stone
Anything by Amy Tan
Sold

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Dreaming in Irish. I know this isn't the standard for the current times. But I was drawn to it because one set of my grandparents were immigrants in the 1920's, coming over separately as teenagers.
2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
I do. It has helped me gain a better appreciation for various countries and cultures around the world, as well as a perspective for the experience in the states.
3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
The Other Americans
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
The Buddha in the Attic
Americanah
What to Do about the Solomons
Behold the Dreamers
The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
When the Moon is Low
Together Tea
Orhan's Inheritance
The Sun Is Also a Star
Exit West
Salt Houses
The Wangs vs. the World
What are the Blind Men Dreaming?
The Undocumented Americans
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Dominicana
Mother Country

Would Of Women and Salt work for this prompt?

I would count it Janette. It is still about the immigrant experience. It includes the effect on the second generation too.

1.The Sun is also a Star

2. I would like to read more

3. I recommend
Everything I Never Told You
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

1. What are you reading for this category?
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home

2. Is the immigrant story a perspective you typically read about?
Yes. I have read many immigrant stories.

3. What book would you recommend to others to read for this category?
Angela's Ashes
Everything Sad Is Untrue
The Ungrateful Refugee
A Woman Is No Man
We Need New Names