Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.
This week's topic is Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want To Visit. We can pick real or imaginary places, but since I did a similar meme with imaginary places already, I thought I'd pick real places. A few of these books feature historical versions of these places; I'd like to visit those, too, but until someone invents a time machine, I'll have to make do with the present-day versions:
France
(Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald) - I'd love to see Paris, but I'd also like to visit some of the smaller villages in the French countryside. In this particular case, I don't think I'd want to see the historical version. Too many Nazis...
Italy
(The Awakening by L. J. Smith; New Moon by Stephenie Meyer) - What is it with vampires and Italy? But I digress. I would love to visit some of the old villages and the beautiful ancient cities in this lovely country. But let's be honest... I'd probably eat my way through the trip. I love Italian food.
London, U.K.
(Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling; Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury) - I'd probably want to visit London even if I hadn't read about it in any novels. I have lots of ancestors who made their home there in the past; I'd like to see where they lived.
New York City, U.S.A.
(The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon; Beastly by Alex Flinn; Heat Rises by Richard Castle; Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston) - One day I'd like to visit this city. I'd like to see Central Park and the Empire State Building, and maybe take a trip to see the Statue of Liberty up close.
Oxford, U.K.
(A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness) - For a book that I couldn't even get through, it did make an impression on me. Oxford was described quite well. Now I want to go there and see it for myself!
Prague, Czech Republic
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor) - I'd like to see pretty much any part of Europe, but Prague looks especially intriguing with its history and architecture. I'm kind of curious about goulash, too, after reading that book. I wonder if anyone makes a vegan version...
Prince Edward Island, Canada
(Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery; Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery) - I think a lot of people who read Anne of Green Gables ended up wanting to see the province where the story was set. Though I do live in Canada, I'm at the wrong end of the country to make visiting this place easy!
Saint Petersburg, Russia
(The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller) - This city has always fascinated me more than Moscow. If I were to take a trip to Russia, I'd definitely want to see Saint Petersburg. I find the old, opulent buildings especially intriguing.
Scotland, U.K.
(The Daykeeper's Grimoire by Christy Raedeke; The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth) - Both of those books feature Scottish castles, but that's not a requirement. I'm half Scottish, so I'd just love to see where my ancestors came from. (Yes... I really should read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series one of these days!)
Southern California, U.S.A.
(The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson; Evermore by Alyson Noël) - Though I'm Canadian born and raised, I did spend a couple of years in Southern California as a child. These books brought up more nostalgia than anything, and made me want to revisit the places I'd been before. The inclusion of the Spanish missions in the former and the spur-of-the-moment trips to Disneyland in the latter really brought back some memories!
What places have books made you want to visit?
Hahah Daughter of Smoke and Bone also made me want to visit Prague! And then I would love to go to Paris, but I haven't read any books that take place in France! I don't really read many books that focus on awesome "real" places, so I had to stick with mostly fictional :D
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit tricky to come up with ten real places. So many of the books I read are set in unreal places!
DeleteAHHHHHHHH this is the sound of me realizing I forgot PEI. As a kid I wanted to travel there sooo bad after reading those books. I still want to!! And you are the second person that has mentioned DSOAB and I never realized it was set in Prauge. Definitely moving up on my TBR!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the lovely blog comments! I always appreciate them! <33
I almost forgot PEI when I was making my list, too. I especially wanted to visit there after seeing the Road to Avonlea TV series (though I think it was actually filmed in Ontario).
DeleteGreat list! Prague is a popular choice this week and I can't believe I didn't think of it, I want to eat at the poison kitchen where Zuzana ad Karou spent all their time! Also, I'm 99% sure I spelled at least one of those names wrong...oh well. =)
ReplyDeleteI know! I saw Prague so many times today. Well, it does look like a great place to visit!
DeleteLots of great places to travel here!
ReplyDeleteI hope I get a chance to actually see some of them one day!
DeleteCalifornia is a place I do want to go, but probably more from tv shows. And I do want to visit the city in Italy that was supposedly where the vampires were from. Great list! Thanks for stopping by my top 10 earlier!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I think TV shows have influenced my travel wishes more than books. Being able to see pictures of the place helps.
DeleteI would love to visit every single place on your list! Bummer that you couldn't get into A Discovery of Witches. I loved the entire trilogy, and I put Oxford's Bodleian Library on my list because of those books. :)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to like the book, but I felt like it was slow just for the sake of being slow. Did she ever check out that special book, or did she just keep avoiding doing so for the next hundred pages? (I only got 100 pages in and got fed up with the narrator going to library over and over again, just to not check out that book.)
DeleteBut I did really like the setting. The university town atmosphere, and the rowing thing... that's so cool! If I ever get a chance to visit England, I'll have to make time to see Oxford.
Yaaaay! I have SO many the same as you! We will probably bump into each other on our tours of Europe some day in the Hopeful Future. xD lol *wishing wishing* YES TO PRAGUE. I didn't realise how much I wanted to go there until I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone. And I am getting myself to Paris and London asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by @ Notebook Sisters!
Somebody should organize a book blogger tour of Europe. I bet it would be very popular!
DeleteYes, visit all of the places! In the past year I've been quite lucky as I've been to London, Oxford, and New York all for the first time! My favorite is definitely London though (which I guess makes sense, since I'm currently living here :P). I think the one location I really want to go to because of a book is Prague. I've had two friends visit there this past year and the pictures they've taken are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends visited Prague years ago. Some of her pictures of the old part of the city were really intriguing. That was long before Laini Taylor's books, though; I didn't want to visit there as much as I do now, after having read them!
DeleteYeah, I'd pick all magical lands. (Places where I could either get magic or super powers, I've got my priorities straight.) I like the idea of visiting the real world versions of the world as seen in books though. (Yeah, except for wartime) The Daughter of Smoke and Bone made me want to see Prague too! I need to get around to reading Outlander too. I'm from Michigan, we're neighbors. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, sort of neighbours. Former neighbours, actually. You know, I lived in southern Ontario for most of my childhood, but I never visited Michigan! I think the closest I ever got to the U.S. was a trip to Niagara Falls when I was about four (all I remember is lots and lots of mist). Now I'm in British Columbia... so I'm technically neighbours with Washington state. Which means I could visit the locations in the Twilight series, if I felt so inclined... but I really don't. :)
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