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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 — 1,087,792 ratings
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2

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4.17 avg rating — 1,271,272 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,275,161 ratings
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4

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3.90 avg rating — 1,974,160 ratings
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5

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4.21 avg rating — 2,006,467 ratings
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6

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4.17 avg rating — 2,408,900 ratings
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7

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4.36 avg rating — 156,578 ratings
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8

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3.83 avg rating — 1,323,560 ratings
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9

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3.89 avg rating — 2,771,103 ratings
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10

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4.40 avg rating — 3,074,424 ratings
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11

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4.02 avg rating — 977,046 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,247,877 ratings
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13

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4.30 avg rating — 4,372,643 ratings
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14

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4.04 avg rating — 209,455 ratings
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15

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4.01 avg rating — 4,403,364 ratings
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16

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3.84 avg rating — 145,538 ratings
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17

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3.84 avg rating — 299,028 ratings
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18

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4.09 avg rating — 1,273,954 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,002,406 ratings
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20

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4.35 avg rating — 9,670,607 ratings
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21

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4.28 avg rating — 697,515 ratings
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22

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4.22 avg rating — 256,067 ratings
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23

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4.23 avg rating — 220,564 ratings
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24

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4.02 avg rating — 236,594 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 500,851 ratings
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26

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4.21 avg rating — 282,871 ratings
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27

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4.43 avg rating — 611,184 ratings
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28

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4.35 avg rating — 156,095 ratings
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29

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4.11 avg rating — 783,600 ratings
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30

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3.91 avg rating — 463,751 ratings
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31

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3.94 avg rating — 570,692 ratings
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32

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3.78 avg rating — 201,776 ratings
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33

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3.97 avg rating — 163,775 ratings
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34

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4.02 avg rating — 1,426,786 ratings
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35

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3.44 avg rating — 905,249 ratings
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36

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4.21 avg rating — 299,933 ratings
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37

by
4.28 avg rating — 322,868 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,825 ratings
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39

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4.38 avg rating — 390,840 ratings
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40

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3.91 avg rating — 291,059 ratings
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41

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4.01 avg rating — 258,571 ratings
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42

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4.14 avg rating — 379,157 ratings
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43

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4.07 avg rating — 438,576 ratings
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44

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4.25 avg rating — 704,283 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 600,672 ratings
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46

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4.29 avg rating — 4,675,341 ratings
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47

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3.88 avg rating — 346,839 ratings
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48

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3.89 avg rating — 248,614 ratings
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49

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4.03 avg rating — 158,483 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 362,097 ratings
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51

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3.77 avg rating — 100,889 ratings
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52

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3.99 avg rating — 113,712 ratings
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53

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3.88 avg rating — 54,133 ratings
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54

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4.25 avg rating — 56,613 ratings
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55

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4.12 avg rating — 435,038 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 124,992 ratings
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57

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4.12 avg rating — 1,079,189 ratings
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58

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4.23 avg rating — 822,694 ratings
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59

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4.31 avg rating — 53,472 ratings
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60

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4.03 avg rating — 53,611 ratings
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61

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4.22 avg rating — 73,851 ratings
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62

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3.45 avg rating — 135,594 ratings
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63

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4.12 avg rating — 53,691 ratings
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64

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4.02 avg rating — 105,039 ratings
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65

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4.13 avg rating — 211,670 ratings
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66

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4.03 avg rating — 127,438 ratings
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67

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3.90 avg rating — 57,614 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 442,106 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 81,825 ratings
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70

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,010,035 ratings
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71

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4.09 avg rating — 714,892 ratings
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72

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3.88 avg rating — 7,643 ratings
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73

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4.45 avg rating — 1,696,249 ratings
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74

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4.35 avg rating — 3,424,593 ratings
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75

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3.95 avg rating — 555,180 ratings
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76

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4.13 avg rating — 50,289 ratings
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77

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3.84 avg rating — 89,714 ratings
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78

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4.02 avg rating — 50,525 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 151,281 ratings
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80

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3.78 avg rating — 223,548 ratings
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81

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3.69 avg rating — 92,395 ratings
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82

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4.10 avg rating — 71,855 ratings
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83

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4.24 avg rating — 55,522 ratings
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84

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3.74 avg rating — 405,356 ratings
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85

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4.05 avg rating — 281,757 ratings
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86

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3.86 avg rating — 38,314 ratings
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87

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4.23 avg rating — 106,130 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 82,480 ratings
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89

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4.18 avg rating — 25,486 ratings
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90

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4.11 avg rating — 4,413 ratings
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91

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3.72 avg rating — 183,660 ratings
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92

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4.10 avg rating — 73,376 ratings
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93

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3.88 avg rating — 40,034 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 — 60,959 ratings
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98

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 124,488 ratings
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99

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4.03 avg rating — 176,104 ratings
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100

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3.83 avg rating — 58,331 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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