Constellations
The books around Mother Poems
Every book here sits next to Mother Poems for a reason, and the reason is written on the line between them. Click a book and the books next to it appear beside it, without the map moving. The list below has every reason in words, and a way to make any of these the book in the middle.
How to read it
One book in the middle, its neighbours around it, and a line for every reason they are neighbours. The order around the ring is the ranking: the closest neighbour is at the top, and the rest follow clockwise outward.
- a line drawn on a claim about what the books are — a shared subject, or the same author
- a line drawn on how they sit in the catalogue — the same genre, a similar reading measure — which is weaker evidence and is drawn dashed
- the book you started from
- a book with a solid border has neighbours of its own: click it and they appear beside it, while the ring stays exactly where it is
Every line here rests on the same subject, Poetry/Rhymes. That is enough to say these 8 books belong next to Mother Poems, and not enough to say how they differ: the catalogue has nothing finer to separate them with. What is doing the ordering below that is how hard each book reads. A fuller subject on the books around this one is the change that would sharpen this map most — and every other map they appear on.
Every line, with its evidence
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Keeping the Night Watch 2008 · 3.6
Written by the same person, the same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Emotions), the same narrower subject (African American), the same catalogue tag (Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Emotionssame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · African Americansame genre · Poetrysame author · Hope Anita Smith
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Martin Rising: Requiem for a King 2018 · 730L
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Emotions), the same narrower subject (Love, Poetry/Rhymes and African American) and the same catalogue tag (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Emotionssame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Lovesame narrower subject · Poetry/Rhymessame narrower subject · African American
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The Dream Keeper and Other Poems 1996
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Emotions), the same narrower subject (Poetry/Rhymes and African American), the same catalogue tag (Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Emotionssame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Poetry/Rhymessame narrower subject · African Americansame genre · Poetry
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Iveliz Explains It All 2022 · 940L
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Emotions), the same catalogue tag (Grief and Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Emotionssame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Griefboth filed under · Poetrysame genre · Poetry
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Under the Mesquite 2011 · 990L
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Mothers and Poetry/Rhymes), the same catalogue tag (Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Motherssame narrower subject · Poetry/Rhymessame genre · Poetry
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What Is Goodbye? 2004 · 3.8
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Death/Dying), the same catalogue tag (Grief and Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Family Lifeboth filed under · Griefboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Poetry/Rhymessame narrower subject · Death/Dyingsame genre · Poetry
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Mid-Air 2024 · 3.3
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Death/Dying), the same catalogue tag (Grief and Poetry) and the same genre (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Griefboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Death/Dyingsame genre · Poetry
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In Daddy's Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers 1997 · 3.1
The same subject (Poetry/Rhymes and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poetry/Rhymes and African American) and the same catalogue tag (Poetry).
same subject · Poetry/Rhymessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peopleboth filed under · Poetrysame narrower subject · Poetry/Rhymessame narrower subject · African American
What the map is not showing
Coverage. 3,013 of the 3,815 books in the catalogue carry a curated subject tag, which is the strongest thing one book can share with another. Where a book has none, the map falls back to genre and reading measure — real reasons, drawn on the weaker line, but a beginning rather than a recommendation. The number above is also the work still to be done: a subject on the rest of the catalogue is the single change that would improve every map on this site at once.
Years and sizes. Two books published in the same decade are not more alike for it, and neither are two books of the same size. When they are neighbours here it is because of what they are, not when they were printed or how thick they are — which is why the ring around a book from 1937 can hold one from 1863 and one from 2003, and the list is better for it. The year is printed on a book's line because it is worth knowing, not because it draws anything.
Lists. Awards and recommended-reading lists are not used here at all. Every book on a list shares something with every other book on it, and that something is the list — which is what Treasury is for. Counting lists puts Holes next to The Hobbit.
One layer. This map shows what two books share. It cannot yet show what a book did for a reader — that a journey, or a funny voice, or being believed by somebody, is what made a book matter — because that is not written down anywhere in the catalogue. It comes from readers, and it is the next thing to build.