The setting of a book may be as important as the events that transpire in it. Well. Maybe not that important, but it ranks a close second. There are some places that have been depicted so lovingly in books that I now want to visit it. So, without further ado, here are the real life places I want to visit because of a fictional account of it (…just go with me here. Literally :D):

  1. New Orleans. Of course, the city of music, gumbo and magic (always) has an attraction all of its own. Because of series like The Originals, and even Heart of Dixie (yep, loved that show) and books like the Sookie Stackhouse series, New Orleans always seemed so real and wonderful and filled with people from all over the place who fit together randomly and come together to dance, sing, and drink (if you are in to that, the NY Times compiled the best cocktail places).
  2. By extension… the bayou that surrounds it. It is the swamp fictional Clayton got bitten as a child and turned into a werewolf (yep, I am obsessed with Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series!). Crocodiles may leap out at any moment. Hmm. Well, doesn’t it look magical?

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3. The Australian desert. A looong while back I read a story in which a girl gets kidnapped and is taken to Australia. Her captor keeps her in the scorching red desert and throughout the story (in which she develops some kind of Stockholm Syndrome and expresses it by constantly describing her surroundings and falling in love with it. Ever since I have been wanting to visit Australia’s “inlands.” But… I can’t remember the title or author of the book for the life of me. Help me out if you can?

4. Paris. Now, I have been to Paris and loved it, but I’d like to revisit and just hang out at old writer’s spots and be on my own there for a while. I think it’d be magic. Based on Midnight in Paris actually.

5. Toronto. It features somewhat prominently in the Otherworld series, and I have been so interested in it since it seems like such  big city where I wouldn’t expect it (my apologies, Canada).

6. Egypt. This one’s on Pratchett actually. His Pyramids depicts, well, the craziness of the pyramids among other things (and of course it’s just a plain fun book). Now I am curious about seeing them, and going through the desert, and imagine the camels there being busy calculating.

7. America again… Well, the US open road, which counts as one place in this list. This is partly on many series of books I have read that feature any kind of road trip and largely the fault of Supernatural. Give me the car, leave the demons and I will have a blast along the way anyway. (Dean can come too).

8. Any and all mountain lake, which has been idylically depicted in any childrens’s book I have read. Hm. Can’t be more specific, just generally feel drawn to these kinds of lakes that are nowhere near me physically. Because books.

9. Iran. Again because of a book I can’t remember the title off! It was actually pretty horrible with the girl being sold, sort of etc. She came out really strong though (exactly like Khaleesi in Game of Thrones first season she teaches her man not to rape her. She ends up with a small business. But what got me were the depictions of the bathing houses, the spices that were sold on the market and the carpets she weaves which tell stories.

10. Ireland. I blame this fully on Juliet Marillier, all of her books actually. I want to take a hiking trip there and wander through the woods. That’s it.

Where do you want to go? How do you experience reading? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to know your thoughts ❤

 

P.S. Just as a sidenote, in my blog and also in my mind I make little distinction between series on TV and series in print. This is because what I picture when reading a book is so vivid it’s similar to TV (like, when I put down a book and wander away I may come back and turn on the TV if I am in a distracted mood). That’s also why I say a book “depicts” something instead of “describes.” So there, I felt no need to change the phrases but did want to explain myself.