In this article, together with the Ukrainian Book Institute, we have prepared a selection of books about the diverse culture of Crimea for the National Nonfiction Reading Week. These books will allow you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the steppes, mountains, and sea to learn about the life and fate of the Indigenous People of Ukraine.

1. Crimean Tatar Cuisine by Olena Soboleva. This is not only a book of recipes for Crimean Tatar cuisine but also a guide to the history of culture, gastronomy, and the fate of the Crimean Tatar people. The book tells about the customs and traditions of the Indigenous People of Ukraine and the vital place of gastronomic traditions in them. In addition, this book allows us to eliminate the stereotypical idea of Crimean Tatar cuisine.

2. Krym Kerima by Natalia Smirnova. A book for children that aims to reveal a difficult topic–the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people for the youngest. The events in the book take place on behalf of a 12-year-old boy who tells about the Crimean Tatars’ culture, traditions, life, crafts, and cuisine. All of this is seen through the prism of one of the most difficult pages in the history of his people.

3. Crimean Tatar Families by Yevheniia Henova. The book consists of the stories of fourteen Crimean Tatar families, told to the author by different people, known and unknown. From generation to generation, they have been persecuted by the same enemy under various names: the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the Russian Federation. These families are united by a shared pain and a common desire: to regain their homeland, to live in a free Crimea.

4. Wedding of the Crimean Tatars: Traditional Forms and Transformations by Olena Soboleva. The book contains numerous ethnographic materials collected by the author during her expeditions to Crimea. In addition to purely ethnographic facts, the book offers a reconstruction of the ethnic history of the Crimean Tatar people and an analysis of the typology of the wedding ceremony.

5. Toy. Sevgi arfesi (Wedding. The Eve of Love). The art book is dedicated to the traditions of the Crimean Tatar people in premarital relations of young people, their parents, and relatives, as well as the traditions of weddings and the first years of family life. The book is published in Crimean Tatar, Ukrainian, and English.

6. Dreamland by Lily Hyde. A book by a British writer who worked in Ukraine as a journalist for Radio Liberty and the Kyiv Post. The book tells the story of the Crimean Tatars. To write this book, the author collected materials in Bakhchysarai, interviewed a variety of people, and visited the Ismail Hasprinsky Library in Simferopol, where she learned about the history of the Crimean Tatars from the Middle Ages up to the present day.