Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Settings I’d Like to See More Of (Or At All). I love reading books set in places I’ve travelled to (or intend to travel to). Equally, there are books I’ve read set in places I’ve never visited, including some I’m never likely to. My list consists of a combination of the two.
Links from the book titles will take you to my review.
Places I’ve Visited
The Caribbean – Cruises have given me the opportunity to visit a number of lovely Caribbean islands and allowed me to fall in love with my personal favourite: Barbados. Find a list of books set in Barbados here, including Sugar in the Blood by Andrea Stuart. Or try Sugar Money by Jane Harris, set in Martinique and Grenada.
The Greek Islands – Experience the island of Crete in the 1960s (and during World War 2) in The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale by Rebecca Stonehill or become immersed in ancient superstition on a fictional Greek island in The Dancing Floor by John Buchan
Barcelona – Take a trip back to the past and explore entirely different parts of the city than you’ll see as a tourist in historical mystery The Secret of Vesalius by Jordi Llobregat.
Venice – If ever there were a place ideal as a setting for a book it’s this city of canals and narrow alleyways. Explore contemporary Venice in Venetian Blood by Christine Evelyn Volker or step back in time in City of Masks by S. D. Sykes.
Cornwall – Back the UK and joining the long list of books set in Cornwall is The Cliff House by Amanda Jennings (available in paperback on 25th July 2019).
Places I’ve Never Visited
Iceland – But I’ve been there in a literary sense through reading books such as The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea and Smile of the Wolf by Tim Leach.
New York – I’m not sure the violent, gang-ridden New York depicted in Paddy Hirsch’s The Devil’s Half-Mile and Hudson’s Kill is the best advertisement for the city but it’s OK because that was a long time ago…
Tokyo – I’ve loved the contrast between old and new Japan so convincingly depicted in Michael Pronko’s Detective Hiroshi series: The Last Train and The Moving Blade.
Pakistan – Two books set, at least partly, in the historic city of Lahore: The Inside City by Anita Mir and Razia by Abda Khan.
Space – The final frontier, right? In the week we’ve been marking the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, it seems only right to include a couple of books with an out of this world setting: The Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar and The Things We Learn When We’re Dead by Charlie Laidlaw.
