Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit


Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Places Books have made me want to visit.  I had a hard time getting to 10 as a lot of books I read that have strong place feelings tend to center around the same place!

1. Ireland - I don't know if it's books like Secrets of the Lighthouse and most of Nora Roberts' books that have made me want to go to Ireland  or if I wanted to go to Ireland and that made me pick books set in Ireland.  Regardless of the order this would be the first plane ticket I'd purchase if I won the lottery.

2.  Prince Edward Island - How can any fan of L.M. Montgomery not want to go to Prince Edward Island?  Anne of Green Gables is basically a love story to this island.

3.  Cornwall, England - Cornwall has been on my short list of places I want to go since I discovered The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher when I was a teenager.

4.  Bookstores in London - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff is the best love story for books I've ever read.  It just makes you want to visit and spend hours prowling around the stores that contain the beautiful books mentioned.

5.  Provence, France - While Lisette truly considers Paris her home.  In Lisette's List we get what amounts to an ode to the French countryside.  The mannerisms, the people and the sheer beauty of the countryside makes it an alluring travel destination.

6.  Small town just about anywhere - small town settings seem to be all the rage in cozies and contemporary romance right now and I really want to go to a beautiful bustling little town filled with fascinating shops like the ones so often described!  Can I please go visit the bookstores in Lorna Barrett's Stoneham, New Hampshire or eat ice cream while shopping at the boutiques in Mariah Stewart's St. Dennis?

7.  Maine - I've hit several series set in Maine lately and it's definitely increased my interest in travelling there.  My favorite is probably Donna Kauffman's Blueberry Cover series where she talks a lot about
the landscape of coastal Maine.

8.  Portland, Oregon - the Pacific Northwest has never been high on my Places to Go list until I read Scene of the Climb by Kate Dyer-Seeley.  Her portrayal of Portland, Oregon made it seem damp and cold but also vibrant and intersesting.

9.  The Greenway Estate in Devon England - okay so this one wasn't really inspired out of a book unless you count the many biographies and the autobiography of Agatha Christie that I've read.  After I buy my plane ticket to Ireland the next place I"m going will be Greenway.

10.  Pre-1950s Egypt and Baghdad - these are also from Agatha Christie books.  It's hard not to get swept up in the exotic locations that Agatha paints in her portrayals of the Middle East.  Not only is she extremely familiar with these places but she loved them dearly as well.  I'd love to visit these places to see what she saw even though most are not exactly tourist destinations now.

There's my places.  Do you armchair travel?

34 comments:

  1. Awesome choices! How could I have forgotten Prince Edward Island???? The book, and the movie always made me want to go there! :)

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    1. It's hard to read the Anne books and not want to go PEI! And the movie! Just gorgeous!

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  2. Ireland and London are on my list. I also picked Maine, but because of all the Stephen King books set there!
    Check out my Top 10

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    1. Until this list I never put it together that all the Stephen King books were set in Maine. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing! I don't think I'll be staying in any snowbound lodges. I've seen The Shining!

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  3. I love to armchair travel. :-) All the places we've been through books . . . It's even more fun when you actually get to visit those places. I think, too, it's why I like to buy books on vacation set in the places I visit (or as close to it as possible).

    Bookstores in London would be at the top of my list, I think. Great list, Katherine!

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    1. I agree! I love books that are set in places I've vacationed so I can revisit them. I'm definitely looking forward to going book shopping in London. I'll probably have to ship books home!

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  4. Ireland and rural France would be on my list too- and Prince Edward Island is a great one. Haven't read Anne of Green Gables but always thought the maritimes of Canada would be a great vacation destination.

    Coastal Maine as well- I've read a few books set in Maine and it has increased my interest in going there. :)

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    1. I love the Anne books but they're definitely not for everyone! So many great places to visit!

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  5. P.E.I. is lovely, as is Cornwall. (They weren't on my list because I ruled out anywhere I'd been.) I'd love to go to Ireland - I think I read about it because I'm drawn to it. And I'd love to visit Greenways. Coastal Maine would be nice, too. And speaking of fictional small towns, Robyn Carr's Virgin River, Emily March's Eternity Springs, and Nancy Atherton's Finch!

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    1. There's so many great fictional small towns! I couldn't narrow it down. I'm really looking forward to travelling to these places.

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  6. I could copy nearly your whole list. I'm really mad at myself for forgetting PEI! I so want to go there. I have Lisette's List on my list to read and you're inspiring me to move it up now.

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    1. I was just flipping through a book about Anne so it was fresh on my mind. I really enjoyed Lisette's List though the beginning drug for me. It's worth pushing through especially if you can get it on audio!

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  7. Oh I love all of your choices. I'd love to visit (or live) in a small town like some I read. And England would be lovely to visit. Scotland too. :)

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    1. I'd love to go to Scotland though it doesn't grab me quite as much as Ireland! Aren't the small towns great!

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  8. What a great list! I'll join you and many others visiting Ireland :) and I would also like PEI, France, Oregon and Washington state. Only one above I've been to is when I lived in Maine. I recommend that for a vacation.

    The book you mentioned about bookstores in London sounds wonderful; I am going to check it out now. I guess I should have added a list of countries (but realistically also states) in which I would love to visit their libraries and bookstores. That could be a real-life bucket list.

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    1. Oh you must read it! It a series of letters and it's just great! It's super short but worth the read.

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  9. I love how many people have picked PEI. We are waiting for you!

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  10. I'm definitely getting myself to France ASAP. ;) lol! I just really love all the pictures and the books set there are AMAZING. Paris for me! (Although I'll totally like drive around..*dreams*) XD
    Thanks for stopping by @ Notebook Sisters!

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  11. (Sorry if this posts twice; I tried to comment but it seemed to get rid of it?) I'd visit any of these places, though I haven't read the books that have inspired you. Maine would interest me because of Stephen King. I'd look for what has inspired him, as well as eat the seafood!

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    1. I wasn't aware that all of Stephen King's books were set in Maine until this list! That definitely makes me more interested though I'd be a little wary of any isolated inns!

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  12. Yes! And I'm also a travel agent. So if I'm not traveling through a book, I'm traveling through a client. Lol. I pretty much want to go everywhere in the world whether real or fictional.
    Happy reading!
    Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life

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    1. Oh that sounds like so much fun! I'm definitely looking forward to traveling more but it'll have to wait until a few of our dependents become independent!

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  13. I definitely had this category too narrow - I love the idea of number 10!

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    1. Wouldn't #10 be wonderful! Every time I read a book where they're bounding around some exotic area where there's no way you could travel to now I kind of wish for a time machine!

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  14. Oh, I'd love to go to 84 Charing Cross Rd! And I absolutely agree with the small town. I love small town settings :) Especially in England and Europe. So quaint!

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    1. I do wish those small towns existed! They all sound wonderful though I know realistically they're probably impossible.

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  15. Lovely list, I hope you get to visit Ireland and Cornwall one day, I've been lucky to visit both a couple of times and they are beautiful places. You've reminded me I want to read 84 Charring Cross Road too.

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    1. Definitely read! It's a short little book but it's lovely and the book descriptions are drool worthy! I will go one day I just may be a bit older!

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  16. I've been to several of these places - Egypt and Jordan were fantastic - and my books are set in Maine, so I go there every year to do research and oh, yes, eat lobster! The Maine coast is so spectacular and has the best sailing - just don't go there in February, which I did for some winter research.

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    1. I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere north of Florida in February! I'm not know for my hardiness to temperature!

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  17. I love your list especially how you mentioned Egypt pre 1950. I've been to Ireland and it is amazing. I spent 3 weeks there at my Aunts home when I was 17 and cant wait to go back.

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    1. Oh that sounds lovely! I'm looking forward to visiting Ireland one day but unfortunately we've lost any relatives who stayed.

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