Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I thought this might be a fun way to get book recommendations since our members are located in every corner of the earth. I'll start.

I think the best book set where I live (metro-Atlanta, GA, USA) is by Margaret Mitchell.

The best book I've read that is set in my state of Nebraska was a nonfiction by Bob Greene - Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

Great idea - I loved Gone With the Wind too. I'd have to say Thoreau's Cape Cod for his vivid descriptions and for the way he makes fun of Cape Codders.

Easy! Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Christopher Buckley

Both books of his set in DC are absolutely perfect.

Ok - for where I live now in Sydney I would suggest a couple of Kate Grenville's books - The Secret River or Lilian's Story... and for where I grew up over in the West of Australia I would suggest either one of my favourite books - Joan London's Gilgamesh or Tim Winton's books

I live in Cincinnati, OH and would nominate the Kate Burkeholder series which occurs a couple of hours NE (outside Columbus) in Amish country.

Buck Fever Ben Rehder in the Texas Hill Country. Funny and fantastic

I live in north Florida and would have to say Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's Cross Creek. A more contemporary book from south Georgia just over the state line from us that captures the region is Death in Bloodhound Red by Virginia Lanier.

For my old home town in South Florida, I loved all the Carl Hiaasen books. He really captured the craziness of living there. Great offbeat, humorous mysteries.

I don't have a favorite yet for where I'm currently living in Illinois.

The Home Repair is Homicide Mystery series by Sarah Graves is set in the small island town of Eastport, Maine where I lived as a kid. I haven't read any of the books yet, but I have one on my Kindle.

The province of Manitoba in Canada:
Where I used to live up North would be Lost in the Barrens.

The more metropolian areas in the south would be: The Diviners by Margaret Lawrence.

I'm in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and there is a growing writing community here! I'll recommend one from a member of my writing group set in my city, The Good Doctor by Vince Agro:

It's about the Italian-Canadian experience during WWII. Neat story.

Also, Ross Pennie writes some good medical thrillers set in Hamilton as well.

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I'm from Northampton, in England, and what springs quickly to mind is Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore, seeing as it's very local in it's focus, though universal in its themes.

It told me new details about the history of the town (though one little fact, central to one of the characters, I can actually credit myself for having told him when I worked on a history project in the town) and the last chapter even told me news about specific people I had met and hadn't seen or heard of since I'd left. Though his current, longstanding project, called Jersusalem, may top it in all those ways and maybe more, from what I've heard on and off over the years of him writing it.

Definitely worth a read, even if you're not at all into the comic/graphic novel/etc. stuff he is better known for (Swamp Thing, From Hell, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, etc., etc.), though that has some variety too.

Definitely a good book for a general view on England, and even the general roots of modern western society too. So a real 'place book', where the place is minutely focused on, but therefore touches on the depths that are common to all. This is a big part of Alan's approach, I think.



I live in Moscow, Russia, so I'd have to say The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, which needs no introduction for many, and may be a standard response, but nonetheless. Has some commonalities perhaps with Alan Moore's writing too, though maybe not necessarily in technicalities or aspects easy to pin down.

There are lots of books about Moscow, of course, lot's set in the city, etc., etc.; with the name of the city in the title even, and more obscure ones, but that remains my favourite, and gets at the human realities of Soviet Russian life in a sharp, though magical realist, semi-hidden, kind of way.

Much of its story happens in concrete places in Moscow too, many if not all of which you can go and see to this day, including an apartment not too far from the first scene (the devil, the cat, the tram, the death), where Bulgakov himself used to live, with a stairwell covered in graffiti dedicated to the book.

I'll have to read both books again. Though I lent Voice of the Fire to a Russian about 12 years ago who never gave it back (so many people do that, really, whatever you say to them, however much you say you want to keep it, only 1 in 10 of people you lend books to give them back).

Anyway, both highly recommended.

I live in Chicago, so I'd have to say "The best Places To Visit In Chicago" by Ron Grant, which is the best little ebook detailing what's wonderful about living here.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-b...

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

Ron Grant also wrote a great book about what to see in Dallas.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-b...

and lastly he wrote about what you need to see in Boston.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-b...

I currently live in Portland, OR. There is a fun thriller/murder series by Chelsea Cain.


Heartsick

The only books I think I've read that are set in my area are The Bean Trees and Pigs In Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. Although I'm currently reading Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko which is also set in AZ.

If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Jenifer wrote: "I currently live in Portland, OR. There is a fun thriller/murder series by Chelsea Cain.


Heartsick"

Hey Jenifer
Live in Portland as well. May have to check out this series.

Well, I guess not much of English novels have been set in Cairo. My favorite book will be the one I'll write! ;)

I live in the UK, county of Kent. There's plenty of books set in London, which is only an hour away, but I think the 'best' books set in Kent are probably The Canterbury Tales, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, or The Pickwick Papers. Dickens lived nearby and set these books here, for example Satis House (where Miss haversham lived) is about 20 minutes drive away - or the house it was based on, at least!

I'd also like to mention Shōgun which is loosely based on the life of Will Adams, who was born in Gillingham, (where I live) and was believed to be the first englishman to reach Japan, also rumoured to be the first foreigner to become a samurai. We have a festival to him every year and I have a wonderful excuse to wear a kimono & eat sushi ;)

The only books I've read that are set in Ottawa are Urban Fantasy written by the Ottawa author Charles de Lint. It might sound silly but his books Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon and Moonheart made me like living in Ottawa! My family moved here for work reasons after living in other places that we found more interesting. De Lint’s Ottawa set novels made me feel like it was a magical place!

I live in Monza, Italy, quite close to Milan. One of the pillars of the Italian literary canon has some chapters set in my city, Manzoni's The Betrothed. It's a quite long and slow historical novel about the time Spain occupied northern Italy, and at the same time is an incredibly ambitious book where the author reflects upon fate and providence, trying to match its vision of the world with the Catholic dogma. Not being a Catholic myself I can really appreciate the scope of such an architecture, and I really love the book - some chapters actually *are* slow but it generally reads really well, even though it's about a-century-and-an-half old.
At the same time I'm sort of an exception - most Italian students hate it, especially 'cause it generally is a compulsory reading in high school ^^!

I live just outside Minneapolis, MN and I have several local favorites. I love the St. Paul Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He grew up in St. Paul and you can wander the neighborhood and see the houses where he grew up. Judith Guest's Ordinary People is a local classic and I love Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and In the Lake of the Woods. And of course we have Louise Erdrich here. Her books mainly take place in North Dakota, with side trips to Minneapolis.

The_Bookchemist wrote: "I live in Monza, Italy, quite close to Milan. One of the pillars of the Italian literary canon has some chapters set in my city, Manzoni's The Betrothed. It's a quite long and slow historical novel..."

I can't think of any for my current location in Edmonton. But The Regiment by Farley Mowat is about the Hasty P's. (the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment) based out of Belleville, Ontario.

My granddad is mentioned in the book (being of that regiment) and I grew up in Prince Edward County.

Jalilah wrote: "The only books I've read that are set in Ottawa are Urban Fantasy written by the Ottawa author Charles de Lint. It might sound silly but his books Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink..."

(I think I have this in the right place now.)
Hi Jalilah: I just wrote a little article on my blog about a book group in Ottawa, what they've read and how they've taken reading-related field trips. They had some great ideas for Ottawa/Canada authors. It's was a couple of posts ago at www.offthebeatenpagetravel.com

Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

A light memoir from his Parsi colony in Mumbai, India. A very interesting read even if you know nothing about the community. Delightful.

The Great Hurricane: 1938 gives an excellent overview of one of the most impactful events that Rhode Island has experienced. Every other weather event is compared against the Great one.

For Florida, my favorites are
The Yearling by Rawlings
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston

The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson .. Takes place in Richmond, VA. Our book club here read it last year and really enjoyed it.

Swansea in South Wales has a literary scene overwhelmingly dominated by the late, great, lush Dylan Thomas. His house on Cwmdonkin Terrace has been lovingly restored, many of his favourite watering holes remain relatively untouched, The Kardomah Cafe is a time-warp from the 1950s. His great work for those of you not familiar is 'Under Milk Wood,

Our modern literary hero has to be Joe Dunthorne, his latest novel, 'Wild Abandon' is not only a work of insightful literary near genius, but it will also give you a perceptive flavour of what it is to live on Gower.

I am currently finishing up The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. It is set in Oregon/Washington and it is sooooo good.

I'm in NC and Diana Gabaldon's series is set here part of the time.

I live in the suburbs, but work in New York City and consider it my second home. Some favorites are:

I live in Scotland, in the United Kingdom. I recently read a book called
The Blackhouse by Peter May
and thought it represented the folk and culture of Lewis, part of the Western Isles (off the NW coast of Scotland) extremely well. The Isles are remote and the story is about a Lewis man who has been working as a policeman in the city of Edinburgh but who goes back to Lewis after his marriage breaks up. The culture shock described and how it affects his investigations are well written. There is a trilogy with the second book called The Lewis Man, but I would recommend a month or two between each reading.

Bonnie wrote: "I'm in NC and Diana Gabaldon's series is set here part of the time."

I live 2 miles from the stones at Clava, near Inverness in North of Scotland where she entered into that timeline. Diana Gabaldon researched her work well here.

Diane wrote: "I thought this might be a fun way to get book recommendations since our members are located in every corner of the earth. I'll start.

I think the best book set where I live (metro-Atlanta, GA, US..."

What a super idea!! Thank you!

MichelleCH wrote: "The Great Hurricane: 1938 gives an excellent overview of one of the most impactful events that Rhode Island has experienced. Every other weather event is compared against the Great one."

Michaelle--if you like reading about the 1938 hurricane, I'd recommend Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R.A. Scotti. I thought it was better written than The Great Hurricane: 1938.

I live in southeastern Connecticut. There are so many books set in our state, it's hard to pick one! But because I love Wally Lamb (who is a native of Norwich), I'm going to go with I Know This Much Is True.

For most of the year I live in Texas and I loved Elmer Kelton's The Time It Never Rained . It's about the extended and punishing drought of the 1950s.

The remainder of the year I live in Colorado and one of the best books I've read that is set in Colorado is

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas. It is about a small town that becomes home to an internment camp during WW2.

I haven't gotten to Tallgrass yet, Lynn, but I enjoyed the other Dallas books I read and I love learning the history of my new state through them. That book sounds fascinating!

I'm from Munich, Germany. One of my childhood favourites is partly set there: Das doppelte Lottchen..

The Book Thief is also set next to where I live. The author calls the place Molching but I'm 99% sure that he's actually talking about Olching which is the neighbouring of the place where my parents are living.

How far is Olching from Regensburg? I spent a semester there in college. That part of Germany is just gorgeous!

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I love this book. it is set in Nigeria my home country and where I live

Lade wrote: "Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I love this book. it is set in Nigeria my home country and where I live"

That is a great book. I am looking forward to read ing Half of a Yellow Sun this year.

I am in Quebec city. While,there is lots of local authors, very few english novels are set here. One stands out, Louise Penny's Bury Your Dead is a great one.

Esther wrote: "I am in Quebec city. While,there is lots of local authors, very few english novels are set here. One stands out, Louise Penny's Bury Your Dead is a great one."

My inner French girl is very jealous of where you live (you can keep the winters, though). French people (and French food) are few and far between in these parts.

Diane wrote: "Esther wrote: "I am in Quebec city. While,there is lots of local authors, very few english novels are set here. One stands out, Louise Penny's Bury Your Dead is a great one."

My inner French girl ..."

Merci. Yes, but for the winters, QC is a great place.