Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I’d Like to See More Of

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we're talking about settings we don't see enough of in our reading. Often, not seeing settings you like means that you should broaden your reading outlook, because there are books written about any kind of people living in any kind of place if you're willing to search. But these settings (both literal places and kind of general milieus) are ones that I don't encounter as much and would like to read more from!



South America: Unless it's non-fiction about the Colombian drug trade, I've hardly read anything set in South America. Brazil alone is the fifth most populous country in the world, and I'd love more opportunities to look at what life feels like there or elsewhere in South America.

Eastern Europe: There are lots of books (both fiction and non) about the Holocaust, but relatively few about life before it, or even after it. What is the modern experience or even just pre-WWII experience of Poland, or the Balkans, or Slovakia?

New Zealand: There's Australian-set literature out there that's not hard to find, but I don't think the Kiwis have gotten as much press as their much larger neighbors, even after Lord of the Rings!

Southeast Asia: Vietnam has obviously loomed large in America's cultural imagination for quite a while now, but what about Laos? Burma? The non-Bangkok areas of Thailand?

Northern Africa: Egypt tends to dominate here, but the rest of Northern Africa seems to get forgotten. I don't know that I've ever read anything set in Tunisia or Libya or even seen anything set there while browsing at a bookshop.


Medium-sized cities: I feel like small towns where everyone knows everyone make for ample writing fodder, as do exciting big cities, but what about places that are neither small enough where you see your neighbors every time you go grocery shopping or big enough to let you start over with new friends if something goes wrong?

The Dark Ages: It's not as dynamic (or well-documented) of a time as the Renaissance, but people still lived back then and I'm curious about what it might have been like.

Minor wars: The World Wars, Vietnam, the Civil War, the Napoleonic wars...these conflicts are at least in the background of many great books. But regional wars can have just as much of an impact on the people caught up on them, and give some context to under-reported incidents.

Non-Christian religious social groups: There have been some great books set inside convents and abbeys...now what about a lamasery? Or a madrasa or yeshiva?

Olympic sports: There are books with characters who play the major sports, and plenty of books about ballet, but what about bobsledders? Javelin throwers? Those worlds are surely fascinating in their own right!

12 comments:

  1. All of these settings sound super interesting to me. Nice job with your post this week.

    My TTT.

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  2. Great list! The Dark Ages are on my list this week, too, and I'd really like to read more books set in North Africa.

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    1. Literally the only one I can think of that I've read set outside of Egypt in North Africa is The Stranger, and that's not really very atmospheric

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  3. I'd really like to read some South American set books - especially something historical. Would definitely read a bobsledder book too!

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    1. Right? We spent SO MUCH time in school on the history of Europe and basically none on South America, so I am ready to learn some history through books!

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  4. I love the idea of some books based in New Zealand. I feel like there are more TV shows, comedians, and movies from the country as of late, but not books.

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    1. I need some Big Flight of the Conchords Energy in my reading life!

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  5. Australia is on my list today. I feel like it's becoming a more popular setting in literature lately, which is great. New Zealand is one I have not seen much of. I did read I AM NOT ESTHER not long ago. It's about a girl whose mother sends her to live with a relative who is part of a religious cult. It was interesting, but I didn't love it.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. I Am Not Esther does sound intriguing! I'm a sucker for cults in books, so I'll look for this one on sale so it's not a big loss if it doesn't work for me. Thanks for the rec!

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  6. Really good point about some underrepresented locations. I'd especially love to see northern Africa and New Zealand. And I have eastern Europe on my list this week too.

    Autumn Cornwell's "Carpe Diem" is one that involves a trip through southern Asia -- I forget where exactly they visited, but it stood out as an unusual locale. And Laura Resau's "The Indigo Notebook" is one that was really beautiful in depicting Ecuador.

    Mine.

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    1. Thanks for those recs! I've added them to my list. And I hope we both find books about Eastern Europe soon!

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