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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 — 1,087,499 ratings
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2

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4.17 avg rating — 1,270,968 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,274,605 ratings
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4

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3.90 avg rating — 1,973,491 ratings
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5

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4.21 avg rating — 2,005,943 ratings
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6

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4.17 avg rating — 2,408,307 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 — 1,323,403 ratings
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9

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3.89 avg rating — 2,770,363 ratings
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10

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4.40 avg rating — 3,073,516 ratings
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11

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4.02 avg rating — 976,793 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,247,762 ratings
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13

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4.30 avg rating — 4,371,612 ratings
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14

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4.04 avg rating — 209,427 ratings
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15

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4.01 avg rating — 4,401,690 ratings
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16

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3.84 avg rating — 145,511 ratings
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17

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3.84 avg rating — 298,983 ratings
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18

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4.09 avg rating — 1,273,676 ratings
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19

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3.92 avg rating — 1,002,199 ratings
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20

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4.35 avg rating — 9,667,907 ratings
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21

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4.28 avg rating — 697,363 ratings
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22

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4.22 avg rating — 256,020 ratings
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23

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4.23 avg rating — 220,501 ratings
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24

by
4.02 avg rating — 236,539 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 500,784 ratings
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26

by
4.21 avg rating — 282,834 ratings
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27

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4.43 avg rating — 610,836 ratings
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28

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4.35 avg rating — 156,067 ratings
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29

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4.11 avg rating — 783,447 ratings
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30

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3.91 avg rating — 463,654 ratings
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31

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3.94 avg rating — 570,551 ratings
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32

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3.78 avg rating — 201,746 ratings
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33

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3.97 avg rating — 163,743 ratings
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34

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4.02 avg rating — 1,426,347 ratings
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35

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3.44 avg rating — 905,082 ratings
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36

by
4.21 avg rating — 299,901 ratings
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37

by
4.28 avg rating — 322,809 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 501,715 ratings
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39

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4.38 avg rating — 390,774 ratings
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40

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3.91 avg rating — 290,974 ratings
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41

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4.01 avg rating — 258,541 ratings
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42

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4.14 avg rating — 379,055 ratings
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43

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4.07 avg rating — 438,476 ratings
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44

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4.25 avg rating — 704,017 ratings
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45

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4.06 avg rating — 600,537 ratings
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46

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4.29 avg rating — 4,673,893 ratings
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47

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3.88 avg rating — 346,808 ratings
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48

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3.89 avg rating — 248,588 ratings
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49

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4.03 avg rating — 158,459 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 362,046 ratings
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51

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3.77 avg rating — 100,872 ratings
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52

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3.99 avg rating — 113,688 ratings
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53

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3.88 avg rating — 54,125 ratings
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54

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4.25 avg rating — 56,609 ratings
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55

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4.12 avg rating — 434,970 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 124,952 ratings
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57

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4.12 avg rating — 1,078,799 ratings
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58

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4.23 avg rating — 822,418 ratings
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59

by
4.31 avg rating — 53,428 ratings
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60

by
4.03 avg rating — 53,609 ratings
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61

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4.22 avg rating — 73,844 ratings
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62

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3.45 avg rating — 135,577 ratings
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63

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4.12 avg rating — 53,685 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 — 211,660 ratings
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66

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4.03 avg rating — 127,403 ratings
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67

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3.90 avg rating — 57,603 ratings
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68

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3.79 avg rating — 441,979 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 81,808 ratings
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70

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,009,713 ratings
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71

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4.09 avg rating — 714,711 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 — 1,695,725 ratings
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74

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4.35 avg rating — 3,423,792 ratings
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75

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3.95 avg rating — 555,059 ratings
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76

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4.13 avg rating — 50,287 ratings
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77

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3.84 avg rating — 89,702 ratings
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78

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4.02 avg rating — 50,497 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 151,262 ratings
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80

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3.78 avg rating — 223,504 ratings
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81

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3.69 avg rating — 92,369 ratings
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82

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4.10 avg rating — 71,839 ratings
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83

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4.24 avg rating — 55,507 ratings
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84

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3.74 avg rating — 405,252 ratings
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85

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4.05 avg rating — 281,709 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 — 106,111 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 82,468 ratings
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89

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4.18 avg rating — 25,482 ratings
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90

by
4.11 avg rating — 4,412 ratings
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91

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3.72 avg rating — 183,604 ratings
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92

by
4.10 avg rating — 73,361 ratings
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93

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3.88 avg rating — 40,029 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 — 60,945 ratings
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98

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 124,444 ratings
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99

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4.03 avg rating — 176,054 ratings
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100

by
3.83 avg rating — 58,326 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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