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Best Books with Rural Settings

Looking for a book straight out of the wild? Vote for your favorite works with rural settings here.

To get you started, trek into the wilderness with these five recs from Charles Frazier, the Appalachian native behind Nightwoods, a novel set at an abandoned mountain lodge. See his picks here!
1

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4.32 avg rating — 1,087,420 ratings
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2

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4.17 avg rating — 1,270,877 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,274,465 ratings
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4

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3.90 avg rating — 1,973,361 ratings
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5

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4.21 avg rating — 2,005,835 ratings
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6

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4.17 avg rating — 2,408,167 ratings
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7

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4.36 avg rating — 156,561 ratings
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8

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3.83 avg rating — 1,323,356 ratings
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9

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3.89 avg rating — 2,770,208 ratings
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10

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4.40 avg rating — 3,073,305 ratings
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11

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4.02 avg rating — 976,738 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,247,729 ratings
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13

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4.30 avg rating — 4,371,387 ratings
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14

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4.04 avg rating — 209,418 ratings
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15

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4.01 avg rating — 4,401,292 ratings
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16

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3.84 avg rating — 145,508 ratings
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17

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3.84 avg rating — 298,969 ratings
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18

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4.09 avg rating — 1,273,613 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,002,140 ratings
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20

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4.35 avg rating — 9,667,307 ratings
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21

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4.28 avg rating — 697,335 ratings
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22

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4.22 avg rating — 256,013 ratings
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23

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4.23 avg rating — 220,486 ratings
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24

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4.02 avg rating — 236,527 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 500,768 ratings
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26

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4.21 avg rating — 282,822 ratings
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27

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4.43 avg rating — 610,752 ratings
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28

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4.35 avg rating — 156,058 ratings
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29

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4.11 avg rating — 783,413 ratings
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30

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3.91 avg rating — 463,623 ratings
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31

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3.94 avg rating — 570,531 ratings
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32

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3.77 avg rating — 201,735 ratings
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33

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3.97 avg rating — 163,734 ratings
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34

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4.02 avg rating — 1,426,229 ratings
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35

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3.44 avg rating — 905,035 ratings
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36

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4.21 avg rating — 299,893 ratings
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37

by
4.28 avg rating — 322,797 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,687 ratings
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39

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4.38 avg rating — 390,756 ratings
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40

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3.91 avg rating — 290,964 ratings
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41

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4.01 avg rating — 258,533 ratings
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42

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4.14 avg rating — 379,029 ratings
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43

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4.07 avg rating — 438,443 ratings
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44

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4.25 avg rating — 703,950 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 600,513 ratings
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46

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4.29 avg rating — 4,673,561 ratings
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47

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3.88 avg rating — 346,802 ratings
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48

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3.89 avg rating — 248,583 ratings
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49

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4.03 avg rating — 158,454 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 362,042 ratings
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51

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3.77 avg rating — 100,869 ratings
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52

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3.99 avg rating — 113,680 ratings
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53

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3.88 avg rating — 54,123 ratings
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54

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4.25 avg rating — 56,608 ratings
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55

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4.12 avg rating — 434,952 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 124,943 ratings
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57

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4.12 avg rating — 1,078,713 ratings
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58

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4.23 avg rating — 822,351 ratings
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59

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4.31 avg rating — 53,416 ratings
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60

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4.03 avg rating — 53,606 ratings
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61

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4.22 avg rating — 73,842 ratings
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62

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3.45 avg rating — 135,568 ratings
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63

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4.12 avg rating — 53,684 ratings
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64

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4.02 avg rating — 105,034 ratings
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65

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4.13 avg rating — 211,655 ratings
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66

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4.03 avg rating — 127,392 ratings
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67

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3.90 avg rating — 57,597 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 441,942 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 81,805 ratings
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70

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,009,642 ratings
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71

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4.09 avg rating — 714,664 ratings
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72

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3.88 avg rating — 7,641 ratings
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73

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4.45 avg rating — 1,695,595 ratings
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74

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4.35 avg rating — 3,423,576 ratings
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75

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3.95 avg rating — 555,028 ratings
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76

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4.13 avg rating — 50,284 ratings
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77

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3.84 avg rating — 89,696 ratings
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78

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4.02 avg rating — 50,485 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 151,259 ratings
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80

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3.78 avg rating — 223,490 ratings
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81

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3.69 avg rating — 92,364 ratings
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82

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4.10 avg rating — 71,834 ratings
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83

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4.24 avg rating — 55,503 ratings
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84

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3.74 avg rating — 405,234 ratings
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85

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4.05 avg rating — 281,696 ratings
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86

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3.86 avg rating — 38,310 ratings
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87

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4.23 avg rating — 106,106 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 82,466 ratings
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89

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4.18 avg rating — 25,482 ratings
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90

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4.11 avg rating — 4,412 ratings
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91

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3.72 avg rating — 183,597 ratings
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92

by
4.10 avg rating — 73,354 ratings
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93

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3.88 avg rating — 40,027 ratings
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94

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4.30 avg rating — 56 ratings
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95

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3.83 avg rating — 3,989 ratings
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95

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4.45 avg rating — 55 ratings
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95

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3.86 avg rating — 60,944 ratings
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98

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 124,439 ratings
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99

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4.03 avg rating — 176,043 ratings
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100

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3.83 avg rating — 58,324 ratings
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1,136 books · 1,014 voters · list created October 5th, 2011 by Jessica (votes) .
126 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


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Comments Showing 1-17 of 17 (17 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl To Kill a Mockingbird doesn't have a rural setting. It takes place in a small town.


message 2: by Jan C (new)

Jan C I think that is true with a lot of these. Certainly The Adventures of Tom Sawyer also takes place in a small town.


message 3: by Ian (new)

Ian To kill a mockingbird is in a town, but it has sort of a rural setting around it.


message 4: by Molly (new)

Molly Lovelady Alice in wonderland isn't a rural setting...

Also Into the Wild would be a good add :)


message 5: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Wicke Gone with the Wind? Atlanta? C'mon...


message 6: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl A lot of Gone with the Wind takes place at Tara, though.


message 7: by Laurel (new)

Laurel Wicke Yeah, I'll give you that, but I still don't think of it as a rural kind of book.


message 8: by Chaminda (new)

Chaminda dff


message 9: by Judy (new)

Judy Some of these are definitely not my idea of rural. For those of you looking for a great book, I think "Ordinary Wolves" is a much under-acknowledged book. I found it fascinating, takes place in a remote part of Alaska.


message 10: by Rebekah (new)

Rebekah What about The Help? I don't think the citizens of Mississippi would consider their capitol city "a rural setting"!


message 11: by Melanie (new)

Melanie David Copperfield? Rural setting? Not quite.


message 12: by Bettie (new)

Bettie There is a discrepancy in the list description which throws voters off. Rural denotes farmed or grazed land i.e. tamed by man in some way. Wild is the opposite. *shrugs*


message 13: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl ☯Bettie☯ wrote: "There is a discrepancy in the list description which throws voters off. Rural denotes farmed or grazed land i.e. tamed by man in some way. Wild is the opposite. *shrugs*"

Agreed, that has bugged me for donkey's years.


message 14: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Rebekah wrote: "What about The Help? I don't think the citizens of Mississippi would consider their capitol city "a rural setting"!"

Deleted.


message 15: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Jessica, since you started the list, do you want books that have rural settings (e.g. pastures, meadows, farms, grassy fields surrounded by mountains, etc.) or truly wild - wilderness, jungle, savannah, tundra, taiga, boreal forest?

I've been voting as if you meant "rural."

Which I do not consider small town, by the way. Small towns are not the same as rural.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) @Debra
It is a sorry state when you are forced to promote your own book this way, at least three times....


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