The Next Best Book Club discussion

Can anyone recommend books that accurately depict an unpopular (less well-known) culture? I'm more interested in modern cultures, but ancient ones work as well. Thank you!

One book that comes to mind is Moloka'i - it's fiction but really draws readers into a time and place in Hawaii. When first hearing about it, members of my book club thought it might be depressing - but everyone loved the story and the setting.

LOVED Molokai. I have Honolulu on my TBR shelf right now - home on my nightstand.

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I loved LOVED

I second One Thousand White Women.

There's also:

The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk; Palace of Desire; Sugar Street (Egypt)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (China)
A Fine Balance (India)
The White Tiger (India)
Things Fall Apart (Africa)
Rasskazy (Short Stories) including One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. (can't find a direct link: A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich) (Russian Siberian Concentration Camp.....sort of a culture...in a way)
The Blood of Flowers: A Novel (17th Century Persia)
Child 44 (Stalinist Russia; murder mystery)

I have alot of them on my TBR as well as ones that I have read and loved!

Oh! Petra, I agree with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

It's not technically present-day modern (obviously... the gulags are thankfully a thing of the past), but if you're interested in 20th Century Soviet Union, all of Solzhenitsyn is good.

And while Hawaii might not be an "unpopular" culture, another good one is Letters from Hawaii

Chantelle wrote: "LOVED Molokai. I have Honolulu on my TBR shelf right now - home on my nightstand."

Just read the synopsis for Honolulu - that looks good too! Thanks for the tip. :)

Tara wrote: ".... but if you're interested in 20th Century Soviet Union, all of Solzhenitsyn is good...."

Tara, I agree. I've only read a few Solzhenitsyn books so far but many more are on my TBR list. His writing isn't "dark", like a lot of Russian writers are, and the reader comes away from the story with a grain of hope, I find, despite some dire circumstances in the story lines.

Posessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker - is a heartbreaking story about an African woman from a culture that practices female circumcision.

I recently read My Place, which is non-fiction. It was excellent and very informative in regards to the Aborigine culture.

If you like fiction I recommend anything by Amy Tan, which usually deals with Chinese culture. I also love The Twentieth Wife: A Novel and The Feast of Roses: A Novel, which focuses on the Indian culture.

The Jersey Shore Uncovered: A Revealing Season on the Beach

Nonfiction:

What Is the What

Fiction:

The Death of Vishnu: A Novel
Evening Is the Whole Day
Between the Assassinations

I really enjoyed Lisa See's autobiographical journey of her Chinese family in On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family and Denise Chong's The Concubine's Children .

What a great thread. There's always so much going on at TNBBC that it's sometimes easy to miss something.

I'm looking for 7th grade social studies reads over on the "lists" thread. A lot of these would be great, so I'm going to steal some of your posts and post them over there as well.

Solibo Magnificent is a novel about Creole culture.

some ideas:
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia (small religious group in Appalachia)
The Swinging Bridge (Indio-Trinidad)
Annie John: A Novel (Antigua)

all very interesting and well written books--Covington is a thorough and honest journalist, Espinet and Kincaid both hail from the cultural groups they take as subjects

It's not the best-written book I've ever read, but Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris was influential because he was one of the first authors to try to show the downlow (black gay/bisexual men who kind of lead secret lives).

C wrote: "Solibo Magnificent is a novel about Creole culture."

This one looks fascinating - thanks!

My pleasure! :)

Thank you all very much! My "To-read" list is going to have a breakdown.... I love it ;o)

Chantelle wrote: "Or

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The Well and Mine is a favorite of mine.

Jessi wrote: "It's not the best-written book I've ever read, but Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris was influential because he was one of the first authors to try to show the downlow (black gay/bisexual men who ki..."

Yes, if you didn't read this book, you would not have known what they were talking about on one of the episodes of Law and Order.

I really liked The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia by Mike Resnick

Yes, it's science fiction, but it also deals with the culture and customs of Africa, and how they clash with modern values. The first few stories set up ethical dilemmas that will have you thinking about right and wrong.

One of the best books I've ever read. Highly recommended to non-SF readers as well.

On your recommendation Bryan, I have added it to my TBR list. The last SF book I read was Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. And I must say, I really liked it.