All Over the Map

The Books

On the Map

Author: Simon Garfield

Genre: Nonfiction; Microhistory

Publisher: Gotham

Published: December 27, 2012

Number of Pages: 464

This is a microhistory about maps and cartography. Topics range from early cartographers and explorers to rare historic maps to atlases and paper maps to modern digital maps. Along the way, the author also explores the role of maps in various contexts including books, movies, disease control/prevention, criminal trials, videogames, and board games.

The Cartographers

Author: Peng Shepherd

Genre: Mystery; Conspiracy

Publisher: William Morrow Books

Publication Date: March 15, 2022

Number of Pages: 400

Seven years ago, Nell Young was on her way to getting everything she’d ever wanted: a full-time job in the map division of the New York Public Library, a husband who shared her love of maps, and the respect of her father. All those dreams fell apart when Nell discovered a box marked “Junk” and an old gas station map.

Blacklisted from the academic map community by her own father and abandoned by the man she loved, Nell has spent seven years creating historically inaccurate maps for casual enthusiasts. It’s killing her soul. Then she gets a phone call from an old friend: her father is dead. When she visits his office at the NYPL, Nell discovers something hidden in a secret compartment: the old gas station map that ruined her life. Determined to figure out what on earth is so special about this cheap, out-of-date map, Nell decides to dig deeper. It isn’t long before she attracts the attention of some very dangerous people.

The Ties That Bind

In On the Map, Simon Garfield describes several people whose professional lives center around maps. This includes cartographers, scholars, conservators, dealers, collectors, and even a globemaker.

In The Cartographers, Nell is highly trained in the art and science of mapmaking, preservation, and restoration. She’s also the daughter of two celebrated cartographers who are well-known in the academic world of maps. Nell met the love of her life when they were both in grad school for cartography. The main conflict of the novel revolves around a seemingly worthless gas station map. Basically, maps are Nell’s entire life.

I freely admit that these read-a-likes are less unlikely than my usual picks. They both clearly involve maps. In particular, both books focus on maps as a subject worthy of study in their own right rather than just a means to get from Point A to Point B. The big difference between them is that one book is a factual account of maps and their roles in both history and modern life, while the other is a fictional exploration of maps and their influence on the world.