Top Ten Tuesday is a tag hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's prompt is "Bookish Places I’ve Visited (share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, book stores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc. You can also share your bucket list of the bookish places you’d like to visit someday.)" Thanks to Susan @ Bloggin' 'bout Books for this lovely topic!
I decided to go with a straightforward interpretation of the topic! I've organized this list in alphabetical order of place, all covers are linked to Goodreads.
Annapolis, Maryland: Good Spirits, by B.K. Borison
Genre: Christmas Romance
Release Year: 2025
I would not recommend reading this to get an accurate feel for Annapolis, but it was a sweet story! (No spice readers beware, though.)
Bath, England: Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Genre: Classic
Release Year: 1817
My family went to England when I was ten, and we spent a day in Bath! Northanger Abbey would work for this too, but I reread Persuasion more recently.
Berlin, Germany: My Berlin Kitchen, by Louisa Weiss
Genre: Food Memoir
Release Year: 2012
I've read a lot of food memoirs, but this one might be my favorite. There's something about it that I just love.
Charleston, South Carolina: The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Release Year: 2024
I actually just read this for my book club! I've only wandered around Charleston for a couple hours on foot and didn't really get to explore much, but at least I can say I've been there!
Florida: Chomp, by Carl Hiaasen
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Release Year: 2012
My memories of this are hazy, as I read it over ten years ago, but I remember really enjoying it! My mom loved it too. I haven't been to the Everglades, where this book is set, but I've been to Orlando, Florida several times.
Front Royal, Virginia: Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison, by Belle Boyd
Genre: Memoir
Release Year: 1998
For a few years, my mom and I took an annual summer road trip. On one of these trips, when I was thirteen, we stopped by the Belle Boyd Cottage in Front Royal, VA. Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy during the Civil War, and she's a very interesting lady! I recommend reading her entertaining but dubiously truthful memoir.
London, England: Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Year: 2013
This book made a huge impression on me when I read it as a teenager. It's definitely one I'd want to revisit someday (and I wouldn't mind revisiting London someday too)!
Massachusetts: The Language Inside, by Holly Thompson
Genre: Young Adult
Release Year: 2013
I absolutely love this novel in verse! It does have a light romance, but it's mostly about a girl who's trying to reconcile the two cultures in which she's been raised. It's a lovely and quite unique book, and I highly recommend it!
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: With the Fire on High, by Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre: Young Adult
Release Year: 2019
I just read With the Fire on High this year and really enjoyed it! I've been to Philly several times over the years to visit my sister, who just graduated with her PhD from Temple University this past May!
Washington, D.C.: A Curse So Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Year: 2019
Technically, most of this book doesn't take place in D.C., but it starts there, so it counts!
Berlin sounds like a lovely place to visit.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit overwhelming because it's so huge, but there's lots of history there!
DeleteOne of my best moments in Bath was realizing that I was standing on the gravel walk from Persuasion where Wentworth finally proposed to Anne Elliott. Fun list!
ReplyDeleteI love that!
DeleteI’m pretty much only an armchair traveler.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your #TTT
I only like traveling if I don't have to plan anything lol!
DeleteI didn't realize the Demon of Unrest was set in Charleston. My husband and I usually listen to his books on car trips but we haven't gotten to that one yet. We took a walking tour by ourselves while there. We found a list of suggested spots and a route someplace in town and spent the day exploring. So fun.
ReplyDeleteA lot of it takes place in Charleston because it's about the lead-up to the Civil War, including all the tensions at Fort Sumter. It was a very interesting read! I feel like you would enjoy it.
DeleteYou did great with this prompt. If I had interpreted it this way, I might have done it, but since I didn't, I skipped today's prompt. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I had fun with it. My other thought was to come up with a list of books set in places I want to visit someday ... but I only thought of that after I had already started on this post! Oh well.
DeleteIt's funny, I've been through Front Royal numerous times as someone who grew up in Virginia and with family in New York. But I've never stopped to actually visit anything there.
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/fictional-bookstores-i-would-love-to-visit/
I can't remember if we stopped there because of Belle Boyd's house or if I got interested in Belle Boyd because of the house. I think it was the latter, but I can't be sure. I enjoyed it, in any case! It's a cute town.
DeleteBath is lovely! I first visited as a kid too, but barely remembered it when I visited again as an adult...
ReplyDeleteIt is! I really enjoyed walking around and visiting the assembly rooms. I wonder how much I would remember now. (Although my family did take quite a lot of photos, so that would probably help me remember it better!)
DeleteLet's see...I've been to Bath, London, D.C., Massachusetts, Pennsylvania (although not Philadelphia), and Florida.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Nice! Thanks for stopping by! :)
Delete"I would not recommend reading this to get an accurate feel for Annapolis, but it was a sweet story!" - LOL, I was gonna say I don't even remember this book being set in Annapolis! Haha. Place didn't make much of an impression on me there.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a few England places on this list. If you ever make it back, add Exeter to your list of places to visit! Wonderful home base for South England exploration, and it's a UNESCO city of literature. I spent two years there doing graduate research on English literary landscapes and would recommend it for any bookish itinerary.
As an almost-native of Annapolis (I don't live there but grew up going there often and still do), I was angry at all the inconsistencies in the book lol! It feels to me like the author (who is from Baltimore) just romanticized Annapolis.
DeleteOoh, thank you for the recommendation! That sounds amazing!