Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Places That Should Be Book Settings


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is book settings I’d love to visit. I feel like I’ve blogged about that before, so I’m shuffling the topic around a bit. Here are some cool places where more books need to be set.






Places That Should Be Book Settings







1. Croatia. I really want to visit Croatia someday. I think it’s a beautiful country. But, when I tell people I want to see Croatia, they say, “Where? Don’t you mean Asia?” No. I don’t mean Asia. This is why we need more books set in Croatia. (And better geography classes.)







2. Antarctica. Another place I want to visit. It's the most interesting and mysterious continent on Earth. I’ve read quite a few Antarctica books, but I’m always ready for more.







3. One of those places where the ground is on fire. Have you heard of Centralia, Pennsylvania? In 1962, a coal seam under the town started on fire, and it’s still burning today. Centralia is a smoky ghost town now. If you don’t watch your step, you can fall through the ground and into a fiery pit of death. Isn’t there also an underground coal fire that’s been burning in Australia for 6000 years? Burning Mountain? Is that what it’s called? (Refer back to what I said about needing better geography classes.)







4. The boring part of Colorado. I’ve done so many reading challenges where one of the tasks was read a book set in your hometown. There are no books set in my hometown! (No books that I want to read, anyway.) There are books set in Colorado (like The Shining), but they’re mostly set in the mountains. I live on the plains. The closest a book has come to my hometown is The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. I know there are some cowboy romances set around here, but I'm not going to read a cowboy romance. (Sorry cowboy lovers.)







5. Islands that are truly deserted. Like, a barren rock sticking out of the ocean.







6. Places with lesser-known wars. How many WWII books do we have? A billion? What about the wars that get overlooked? What about wars that happened a really long time ago? There have been a lot of wars, people!







7. Abandoned ancient cities. Do you know how many ancient cities are buried in jungles around the world? I don’t think anybody knows. A lot of them haven’t been excavated yet because they’re hard to reach. They’re just sitting there, waiting for someone to explore them. I want to read about the explorers.







8. Ancient cities before they were abandoned. Why were the cities abandoned in the first place? Where is all the fiction about ancient civilizations?







9. Earth before there were cities. We need more Neanderthal books. I’ve said that before, and I’ll keep saying it until we get more Neanderthal books.







10. The bowels of the Internet. The Internet can be a dark, strange, disgusting place. There is a lot of potential for Internet-based horror stories.







What place do you think should be a book setting?








45 comments:

  1. I love your take on the topic! I've actually been to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and it's a beautiful place. I agree, I'd like to see more stories about ancient civilizations!

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  2. Depends on how you want to define "hometown". I'm sure there are books set in St. Louis. ;)

    Great list. There's a lot there I'd like to read as well.

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  3. Man your list is pretty awesome! I would love to read about any of these!

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  4. great list! I like truly deserted Islands!

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  5. I love how you spun this week's topic. Very original idea and I love it! So many unique ideas you have!! I'd love to read about the ancient cities one the most <3 Great job!

    My Top 10 Bookish places to Visit

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  6. Plainsong - Kent Haruf: Set in the Colorado plains, but a fictional town.
    Centennial - James MIchener: Set in the plains of northeast Colorado.
    Eclipse - Dalton Trumbo: Set in a fictional town modeled on Grand Junction.
    The Good Dog - Avi: Children's book set in Steamboat Springs.

    This would be a lot easier if you lived in Denver. :)

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  7. Croatia looks amazing. I'd love to visit there too.

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  8. Great list. Definitely need more Earth-before-there-were-cities books. And ancient civilazations in general. I love the idea of mysterious deserted islands too.

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  9. H AJ - lovely places to visit ... and then write about - why not - makes us look more deeply at areas outside of where we live ... cheers Hilary

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  10. This is a great list! I agree with your choices. All would be great settings for books.

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  11. I have read stories on the plains—in Nebraska and Kansas and the Dakotas—but not Colorado. So you should write that book! I love the plains, especially where there’s some hills and the grass that seems to move like water in the wind. And I’d choose Siberia (but I have read several books about it). Its a place of above average intelligence as the Czar and later Stalin got rid of those who challenged them by sending them to Siberia. It’s also lovely in the summer (and one day I hope to make the trip in the winter!).

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  12. Your list is super varied! I have an unreasonable fear of freezing to death so Antarctica books is not for me. Heheeh. I would LIVE for "pre-civilization" locations. :)

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  13. I like you take on this and I'm with you on the ancient cities! As for neanderthals, have you read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde?

    My post this week: https://mwgerard.com/top-ten-tuesday-literary-settings-id-like-to-visit/

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  14. Oooh! Visiting abandoned ancient cities would be so fun!

    My Top 10 Tuesday

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  15. I like what you did with the topic this week - I would love to see a book about Centralia. That's an awesome idea! :)

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  16. I'm fascinated by this news of Centralia. I had never heard of such a thing! Now I need to go research it! Oh, and lost cities---definitely!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  17. The boring part of Colorado! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Would the book be boring, too?

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  18. I've gotta go check out that place in Pennsylvania now - sounds awesome! I accidentally stumbled upon a book set in Minnesota earlier this week and just couldn't finish it. I mean, I like to read about books to get away - not obsess about inaccuracies of a building they described around the corner from me :)

    Good call on Croatia! Would love to visit someday

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  19. I totally get the "read a book set in your hometown" dilemma. I grew up in a really small town in Central Washington. Every book set in Washington is always set in or near Seattle. Lots of apple farms and such, nothing like Seattle.
    Thanks for visiting my blog! Happy reading.

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  20. I really like your take on this week's topic. If you ever want some non-fiction about some of these, let me know!

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  21. Great list! Centralia, Pennsylvania would be an amazing setting for a book!

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  22. Heyyy this is so fun! I would 100% read books about ANY abandoned cities, ancient or otherwise. Someone please write this!

    Here are my Top Ten!

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  23. This is a great list idea! I think my favorite idea is the bowels of the Internet! XD So true.

    I think there are probably tons of lesser known places in the world that would make great settings. We just need to find them!

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  24. I love your list! Now I'm curious if there are books set near my hometown. I was thinking it is hard to even find books about the city I am near, since we are in the Midwest.

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  25. I love your list! Some of your ideas had me laughing out loud, like the boring parts of CO and places with lesser known wars. Thanks for the laugh.

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  26. My family really want to go to Croatia mainly because Game of Thrones is filmed there. And I am 100% with you on books about other wars. I think WWII has been milked completely dry at this point.

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  27. Another great spin on this week's topic! If it gives you any comfort, I have yet to find a book set in Iselin, NJ (my hometown). Ok, I spent my formative years in Brooklyn, but now I live here, and yep, no stories. I really love when a book is set in a country or city we don't see a lot in books, because I feel like I have visited a new place. I love that!

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  28. Great take on the topic! The only reason I have a book set in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, what I consider my hometown because I lived there longer than anywhere else, is because the grocery store my dad used to own is featured in it...otherwise I wouldn't know the book even existed.

    Have a great week. - Katie

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  29. Very cool take on the list this week. Both Croatia and Antarctica are places that I'd love to visit!

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  30. Amazing list! I've never heard of Centralia, PA but that sounds absolutely fascinating. I'll need to check it out! I would also love to read books about the horrors of the dark side of the internet, that could be really interesting as well. Happy reading!

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  31. I love this list so much! I would want more books in Croatia!

    Marissa
    Reading List

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  32. Some great places on your list!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/top-ten-tuesday-136/

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  33. I also want to visit Croatia! And I would love to read some book set there too!

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  34. Love your take on the topic! Croatia has been on my travel bucket list for a while, and a book taking place there just sounds so cool as well!

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  35. I can recommend The Meadow by James Galvin. From Amazon: “James Galvin depicts the hundred-year history of a meadow in the arid mountains of the Colorado/Wyoming border. Galvin describes the seasons, the weather, the wildlife, and the few people who do not possess but are themselves possessed by this terrain."

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  36. Great List! I heard a song about that place in Pennsylvania and became interested in it after that. I would also love to go to Croatia!

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  37. For Antarctica books have you read Favel Parrett's 'When the Night Comes'? I read it last year and it was beautifully written.
    I just want more Southern Hemisphere books. The kind where you melt at Christmas and freeze in July.

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  38. Yes, this list is everything, I would love any of these setting, apart from the internet to be honest, that's dark and full of terrors!

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  39. Ooh I love this SO MUCH!! I really wish more historical fiction books would be set away from WWII...I mean, it's a great time to learn about, but I want to know more about the other times.😂And more islands for sure!! DESSERT ISLANDS. *falls over laughing at self* (Shh yes I know that's not how you spell it, but as a kid I thought being on a "desserted island" would be amazing. Never mind if it's really deserted.)

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  40. Oh I like your twist on this topic. Yes to deserted islands. And oh my gosh yes, more ancient cities. So much need for that!

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  41. I don't think there are any books set in my town either!

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  42. Great list! I love how you've done it, and totally agree on there not being enough books about history before the WW2. There are quite a few ancient cities I'd like to visit as well, and it would be amazing to see what the world was like before humanity evolved, and destroyed it all. Maybe it would give us a better understanding of how much destruction we cause.

    My TTT: https://dysfanreads.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/top-ten-tuesday-12.html

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  43. Let's see... If you enjoy travel/non-fiction you can read "Skating to Antartica" by Jenny Diski (which reads like fiction). And while it isn't really an actual ancient civilization (but a fictional one) you might like the novella "Herland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. As for Neanderthals, I'm sure the closest we can come are all those Jean M. Auel Earth's Children novels (Clan of the Cave Bear, et.al.). Hope this helps.

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  44. OMG I love your list it's super creative and cool. So many options for sure. And I hear you on nothing being set in your home town...same here.

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  45. I would love to have some set in Croatia! Or y'know, any of the European countries that kind of go ignored. I love the reasoning for one set in Colorado as well :P The bookish challenge struggles for sure. And I'm all up for those lesser known wars or elements of struggle in countries that go unknown. They also need to be heard and learned about!

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