Constellations
The books around The Contender
Every book here sits next to The Contender 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, Social Issues. That is enough to say these 8 books belong next to The Contender, 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
-
For Black Girls Like Me 2019 · 500L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Growing Up and African American) and the same genre (Fiction). Also within 190L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Growing Upsame narrower subject · African Americansame genre · Fictionreading measure · 190L apart
-
M. C. Higgins, the Great 1975 · 560L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poverty and African American). Also within 130L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Povertysame narrower subject · African Americanreading measure · 130L apart
-
P.S. Be Eleven 2013 · 770L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Violence and African American). Also within 80L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Violencesame narrower subject · African Americanreading measure · 80L apart
-
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1982 · 810L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poverty and Growing Up) and the same genre (Fiction). Also within 120L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame narrower subject · Povertysame narrower subject · Growing Upsame genre · Fictionreading measure · 120L apart
-
Santiago's Road Home 2020 · 740L
The same subject (Social Issues and People), the same narrower subject (Poverty and Violence) and the same genre (Fiction). Also within 50L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Povertysame narrower subject · Violencesame genre · Fictionreading measure · 50L apart
-
Midnight Without a Moon 2017 · 870L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Violence and African American). Also within 180L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Violencesame narrower subject · African Americanreading measure · 180L apart
-
The Noonday Friends 1965 · 790L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poverty) and the same genre (Fiction). Also within 100L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Povertysame genre · Fictionreading measure · 100L apart
-
No Ordinary Day 2011 · 580L
The same subject (Social Issues and Family Life), the same narrower subject (Poverty) and the same genre (Fiction). Also within 110L of its reading measure.
same subject · Social Issuessame subject · Family Lifesame subject · Peoplesame narrower subject · Povertysame genre · Fictionreading measure · 110L apart
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.