Our friends at Seattle Arts & Lectures and The Seattle Public Library knew that we could all use a little something to smile about right now, so they released their annual Book Bingo game a bit early.

It’s easy to play: download a bingo card and start reading! You can read five across or down for a traditional Bingo or you can go for a Bingo Blackout and read all 24 squares. Either way, you can submit your completed Bingo Card by September 8, 2020 to be entered to win wonderful prizes!
And here’s the best news! This year, one of the squares is to read a book “Set in a City of Literature!”

We thought you might need some recommendations for books to read, so we asked our colleagues in the thirty-eight other Cities of Literature to recommend some titles. We’ll be sharing those in the coming months to inspire you to read the world!

We’ll start with books that are available digitally from The Seattle Public Library. If reading printed books is more your style, you can purchase books through Bookshop.org and support your favorite local indie bookstore in the process!

The titles below are just a small selection of titles set in Cities of Literature around the world. Stay tuned for more recommendations and let us know what you’re reading below! And if you’re looking for recommendations for other squares on the board, The Seattle Public Library has got your back!

Books Set in a City of Literature

Featured

Milan, Italy

The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti

This classic Italian coming-of-age story features Pietro and Bruno, who meet one summer as children and whose friendship endures the years and their divergent paths.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The first of Atkinson’s beloved series introduces readers to Edinburgh-based private investigator Jackson Brodie, who is on the trail of three seemingly unconnected mysteries.

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut Noir, edited by Iman Humaydan Younes

Part of a series of original noir set around the world, many of the stories in Beirut Noir are influenced by the Lebanese Civil War. And unlike many translated books set in Beirut, most of the authors still live in the city, making this an important contribution to contemporary Middle East literature.

Lahore, Pakistan

Duty Free by Moni Moshin

This contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is set amongst Lahore’s high society and offers biting social commentary alongside the classic love story.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis

Cantoras tells the epic story of five women who, despite the Uruguayan dictatorship, create a sanctuary for themselves as lovers, friends, and family on a remote cape. Through the next 35 years the women are tested and the social tumult will test their abilities to live authentic lives.

Seattle, United States

No No Boy by John Okada

This seminal book is considered the first Japanese-American novel, and tells the story of Ichiro Yamada, who after being forcibly relocated to an internment camp, resisted the draft and paid the price.

Barcelona, Spain

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The library’s description says it best: “A boy named Daniel selects a novel from a library of rare books, enjoying it so much that he searches for the rest of the author's works, only to discover that someone is destroying every book the author has ever written.”

Prague, Czech Republic

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Set during the ‘Prague Spring,’ this classic novel explores the philosophy of being, set amidst the love affairs of two couples.

Dublin, Ireland

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien

Selected as Dublin’s 2019 One Book, One City read, these novels were originally published in the 1960s and relate the misadventures of two girls who leave rural Ireland for Dublin’s bright lights.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón

Set in Reykjavik in 1918, Moonstone is the story of Mani Steinn, a sixteen-year-old who is infatuated with the new narrative form of cinema. An outbreak of the Spanish flu forces Mani to evaluate his place in the community as his isolated island is swept up in global events.