March 2022 List of the Month: A Ukraine Reading List

It's the first of March, and time to think about another List of the Month!

What do you all think? What should we highlight this time?

Topics/themes already requested include:

1. Poetry (could be general, or more specific)
2. Non-English language works (this would need to be made far more specific)
3. Desert Island Books (not clear whether this means books you'd take to a desert island, or books about people on desert islands, i.e.: the Robinsonade)
4. The First Book(s) You Remember Reading
5. Best Books of a Certain Decade or Other Time Period
6. Best Youth or YA Fiction of a Certain Period
7. Your Country/State's Bestseller/Classic/Best/Most Recent Book
8. Best Sports Writing
9. Noirvember - Best Noir (for next November)
10. Best Books with Animal Protagonists
11. Best Graphic Novels
12. Best Books about Immigrants
13. Best Surreal Books
14. Books Made Into Great Movies

We could, of course, go with something else entirely, as we did last month. Additional suggestions are always welcome, and if not adopted, can be added to the list above, for future consideration.

March is the month of Mars, traditionally when it gets warm enough for countries to kill each other's soldiers and citizens in considerable numbers. How about a mixed fiction/non-fiction list of books about war?

>2 paradoxosalpha: In November, we had Stories of War and Revolution, which included both fiction and non-fiction: https://www.librarything.com/list/43280/all/Stories-of-War-and-Revolution.

"Spring/Autumn is in the air"? :) (depending on your hemisphere).

So books about seasons, changes and nature (for examaple) - frame it any way you want.

For some of us, the clocks change and for all of us the days lengthen. Maybe something about light, brightness, relief from winter's gray? (I know practically speaking March is still winter but I can dream.)

>5 susanbooks: If you are in the Southern hemisphere, your days are starting to shrink about now though -- and you are getting towards the winter's grey. :)

How would people feel about a Ukraine-centered list this month? It could be devoted to Ukrainian literature, art and folklore, or perhaps to Ukrainian history?

>7 AbigailAdams26: Spontaneously it sounds great, but I doubt many of us have much to contribute to such a list.

I could probably add one item if the Ukrainian diaspora was included. I have a picture book about Ukrainian settlers on the Canadian prairies.

>6 AnnieMod: excellent point! Thanks for checking my Northern-Hemispherocentric thinking.

>8 anglemark: For my part, I would have books to contribute to a list that included Ukrainian folklore, but not so much for history.

We could have a list of books we want to read, assuming people have some, of course. I've always wanted to read more about the Holodomor, for instance and the Applebaum title looks good (Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, 1921 - 1933). But if it were books that people hadn't actually read, I'm not sure how it would work?

>7 AbigailAdams26: For some reason it feels almost... cheap maybe?. I cannot articulate why or what exactly is bugging me so if we go that way but...

>8 anglemark: Yeah, that worries me a bit as well - although I probably can find more books to add.

>11 AbigailAdams26: Red Famine is good - so if you are interested in the event, you cannot do much better.

>11 AbigailAdams26: Recommended titles, or indeed, titles one has read at all, have never been a requirement of the list function on LT, even if this is what the Lists of the Month have thus far focused on.

Presumably if the name of the list is formulated carefully -- "Ukraine reading list" or some such -- it could embrace both "recommend" and "want to read".

>8 anglemark: Given a topic that a lot of users aren't likely to have deep familiarity with, there is a risk that more popular but arguably less relevant titles will tend to rise to the top, while works by authors writing in Ukrainian, or which have a central place in Ukrainian culture, will get fewer votes. However, the bias towards more numerically popular titles has always been there, so I don't see this as a reason to choose only topics that are so broad that most LT users will have already read lots of applicable books. On the contrary, there's more chance for discovery if people have to go digging a bit deeper in their bookshelves to come up with titles.

>12 AnnieMod: I have mixed feelings, too. I'm uneasy about the idea of potentially instrumentalizing a tragedy for social media purposes (though that's surely not the intent) ... on the other hand, I imagine there are more than a few users on LT who have already been thinking they need to do some reading on Ukraine, as a way of grappling with what is happening there, and a list maybe facilitates some of that individual brainstorming.

>12 AnnieMod: Thanks for the recommendation, regarding the Applebaum.

Regarding the Ukraine list idea, I can understand that instinctive response. If one were creating the list solely to jump on a bandwagon, or somehow seeking to capitalize on a very tragic real-world situation for social media clout, that would certainly be distasteful.

If we did choose a Ukraine-themed list (however constructed or worded), I would inevitably promote it on our social media accounts, as I do all Lists of the Month, and I would feature it in the March SOTT, so I can't say this would be an entirely separate thing, from the larger social media world.

That being said, as spiphany observes, many people might be wanting to read more about the subject right now, given the fact that Ukraine is dominating the news, and a list could be a resource for them. I see our List of the Month lists as resources, generally speaking, that are created by the community.

Speaking of resources, the Association of University Presses has put together this list of Ukraine titles available from various publishers, that might be of interest:

https://digitaldigest.up.hcommons.org/2022/03/03/on-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/

Another resource, in the form of this Guardian article.

For a bit broader topic that is still related, what about a list about the history of former Soviet countries? It could be nonfiction or both history and historical fiction.

This is completely different and could be a topic for a future month, but I'd like to see a list of Australian literature. I know there are several lists of books set in Australia or the region, but I was thinking of a list specifically highlighting Australian writers.

>17 sturlington: I think the idea of a "post Soviet world" list is interesting. That said, I suggested the Ukraine idea specifically because I know it's on everybody's mind, given current events, and it might be helpful to create a list of reading suggestions. As you noted, LT members are no doubt already intending to improve their knowledge of the country and its history and culture, through reading. Why not work together on it?

It doesn't seem that there are strong feelings in favor of any other idea, so I'm going with the idea of "A Ukraine Reading List," to encompass Ukrainian history (nonfiction) and historical fiction. I'm thinking I will increase the number of permitted titles, from each member, from five to ten, as many members might be adding titles that look interesting or informative, rather than those that they specifically recommend.

Please add titles to the list, that you think are relevant, and only downvote titles because they do not fit the category: https://www.librarything.com/list/43524/all/A-Ukraine-Reading-List#

>17 sturlington: I meant to say, in my previous comment, that I really like the idea of an Australian Literature list, and will definitely add that to the list of ideas.