Does the setting or location of a book affect your reading choices?

[Leigh]

I like books set in cities, but not here in Los Angeles. I LOVE foreign locales, they make me feel like a tourist.

[Lexie]

It's true there's a grim satisfaction to reading Stuart MacBride's thrillers, then walking round Aberdeen saying to myself - ah, yes, a body was found in that wheelie bin / that public lavatory / that roadside ...

[Susan]

Lexie wrote: "It's true there's a grim satisfaction to reading Stuart MacBride's thrillers, then walking round Aberdeen saying to myself - ah, yes, a body was found in that wheelie bin / that public lavatory / t..."

Lexie, I laughed out loud when I read this! I've done the same thing with several of my favorite authors. :)

[Pamela]

Somehow placing mysteries in real places gives the whole story more believability.

[Kathy]

Not usually. However, I avoid "Renaissance" settings. I love British mystery/murder novels, and just about anything else in this genre. I am a voracious reader & am always looking for 'surprise' twists. :)

[Debbie]

I prefer U. S. but if the storyline interests me I will read it anyway.

[Taylor]

I predominately read books set in the UK but have lately gotten into some Asian fiction. Books set in North America tend to bore me. I live here after all.

[Lexie]

Does anyone know of any books set in Zambia? A friend is heading there for six months and can't find anything to give her a rounded idea of the country.

[Joyce]

I like books in which the setting and the environment challenge the protagonist in ways that are not familiar to me as an American. For example, John le Carré's The Little Drummer Girl.

[Tonya]

I guess my preference is for England and other European countries. I like all time periods though, as far back as the 1300s up to and including WWII. I'll read more recent/modern mysteries of they appeal to me.

[Alan]

I enjoy books that have a strong sense of place, particularly of places I'm familiar with. I love when an author can take a place I think I know and show me new aspects.

[R.G.]

Yes, to a degree. I'm generally not looking for books set in exotic or even most foreign locations. I prefer NYC, LA, Florida, Boston - the favorite spots from most authors. Sometimes a small town can work (like with a great Stephen King book). Not a deal breaker for me when buying a book, but I'm not looking to travel - just read a good story in a setting I'm familiar with.The Kennedy Connection: A Gil Malloy Novel

[Helen]

I love to read books set in cold climates. For the past couple of years I have read quite a bit of Scandinavian crime fiction (including some Icelandic) that have been translated into English. Some good authors are Arnaldur Indridason, Sjowall & Wahloo, Ake Edwardson, Henning Mankell, Hakan Nesser, Camilla Läckberg, Kjell Eriksson, and Karin Fossum just to name a few. These authors do a great job in taking you to cold and bleak places while you sip your tea in front of a warm fire.

[Lexie]

Oh, yes, I agree!

[Doseofbella]

I never had much of a chance to travel. I can go anywhere in a book. No, I pick a book by the story line, but if it takes me to a new location, it's an added bonus.

[Melissa]

Yeah. Since I don't get to travel much now that I own a bookstore, I've become a little obsessed with books set in other countries....

[R.G.]

One other point; If it's a location I'm familiar with, that sets the bar higher for the author as far as I'm concerned. I've never been to New Orleans, so a book set there could say pretty much anything about the city. But, as someone who's lived in New York City most of his adult life, I'm critical if the author gets anything wrong or doesn't seem to have the feel of the city.

[R.G.]

Yes, that's what I mean, Isobel. Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with writing about businesses or restaurants in NYC that don't exist. I do it myself. But if I'm writing about a real restaurant then I need to make sure those details are accurate. Does that make sense?

[Melissa]

I especially like mysteries set in New Orleans/Louisiana (I don't live there), London, Arizona, Washington (the state), Scandinavia, New York, and the Reacher series (all over the world and states)

[Martyn]

I love reading books set in Amsterdam, although I have to admit I haven't read The Goldfinch yet.

[Audiothing]

Lexie wrote: "It's true there's a grim satisfaction to reading Stuart MacBride's thrillers, then walking round Aberdeen saying to myself - ah, yes, a body was found in that wheelie bin / that public lavatory / t..."

Oh that's funny!

[Audiothing]

For some odd reason I am drawn to books set in Florida

[Tonya]

Lily wrote: "I prefer books set in the UK. I will read series that are written elsewhere, but I have always been a little bit of an anglophile and love to read British authors."

Me too.

[Lexie]

Being one, I'm very glad to hear it!

[Kirsten]

Absolutely!

1) I love reading books set in places I know. If I find a book set in the Pacific NW, I veer towards it.

2) I also love reading mysteries set in other countries with other legal systems. Like Donna Leon in Venice and James Church in North Korea.

[Lexie]

I love Donna Leon. I haven't heard of James Church - must investigate!

[M.A.R.]

Having recently moved to the Las Vegas Valley, I find inspiration in its location (surrounded by mountains and desert, its historic mob influences, its quirkiness. In my first novel, BITS AND PIECES, I make a connection between the old and new mob way of doing business. And I use a protagonist familiar to many big city police departments; a forensic facial reconstruction artist. While not a police procedural, the procedures, protocols, and forensics are spot-on. Since so much has been written about Vegas itself, I remove the reader to a the fringes…an area perhaps more dangerous than the city.

[Jo Ann]

R.G. wrote: "Yes, that's what I mean, Isobel. Just to be clear, I don't have a problem with writing about businesses or restaurants in NYC that don't exist. I do it myself. But if I'm writing about a real resta..."

If the book is written in a location that I am familiar with then I am really critical if they get things wrong but I do like to read a book and be able to say "I've been there".

[Lexie]

Sometimes authors do meet challenges in that direction, though: I've mentioned Stuart MacBride on this thread before, an author local to me here in Aberdeen (the one in Scotland). He said that the local police welcomed him with open arms when he said he wanted to write a police procedural based here, and couldn't have been more helpful. The local council, however, when he asked what day rubbish collection took place on a particular street, refused to tell him!

[M.A.R.]

Rubbish collection? If rubbish collection accuracy were needed to add texture to the novel, go to the source --either the company collecting the rubbish, or visit the area. I'm sure someone on the street would have told him. Creativity shouldn't be reserved for the story alone.

[Carmen]

I love mysteries that take me to a different place and have been captivated by Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series set in 1970's Laos. From the food to the political and economic messes of the new Communist administration, the books give a wonderful window into that place and time. Leighton Gage's series set in Brazil is also excellent, although much darker and more violent. And it is hard to beat Alexander McCall Smith and Michael Stanley for very different, but equally terrific, mysteries set in Botswana.

[Lexie]

M.A.R. wrote: "Rubbish collection? If rubbish collection accuracy were needed to add texture to the novel, go to the source --either the company collecting the rubbish, or visit the area. I'm sure someone on the ..."

He did, he did! He was just making a point that co-operation doesn't always come from where you'd expect!

[Lexie]

Carmen wrote: "I love mysteries that take me to a different place and have been captivated by Colin Cotterill's Dr. Siri Paiboun series set in 1970's Laos. From the food to the political and economic messes of th..."

Colin Cotterill's books are wonderful - I'm delighted to find another fan!

[Wendy]

In an another GR Group, we have 2 personal Challenges. Read a mystery, suspense, thriller in all 50 US States and the "World" or UN Challenge. It has been tremendously fun to traipse around the world learning about new peoples, cultures and solving "who did it" too.

[Lexie]

That's an interesting thought - perhaps one could also do it with British counties. I might look into that!

[Betsy]

Eyehavenofilter wrote: "Absolutely. I live for stories written about Britain, or mysteries set in Scandinavia, and stories set in Maine."

I agree with you about preferring mysteries set in Britain, but I have read some from Scandinavia and Maine too.

[Icewineanne]

I'm also in the camp that prefers UK, Scand & Australian settings.

[Wendy]

My question to readers is this: is your comfort level of UK, Australian, Scand because you are familiar with the cultures and nuances or the author's styles of writing or something else?
For example, for my aforementioned mystery challenge I read a few books based in Thailand. I had trouble wrapping my head around the mind-set depicted in the books. SO much that I sought out more to further understand Thailand.

[Lexie]

I think the crime genre is a terrific way of learning about other cultures. After all, death and grief and the emotions that lead to murder are very similar, even if the culture around them and the ways of dealing with them are radically different, so you have a way in to learning something new.

[Icewineanne]

For the mostpart, Uk books are written so well. My background is Scandinavian & if all goes well, I plan to retire in Australia :-)

[Margaret]

Not a whole novels set in far off places. I'm a big fan of Scandinavia stories and also loved a series set on the Guernsey Islands.

[K. G.]

Excuse me, but Guernsey is ONE of the Channel Isles, the other two being Jersey and Sark. For the record, Guernsey was the smuggling entrepôt of choice in the 18th century. Good deep harbor, inside English waters, but outside of Parliament's legal, statutory reach, easy sail from anywhere along the English coast.

[Icewineanne]

Love books set in Guernsey & Jersey. Not read any with a setting in Sark. How about it budding authors? :-). :-)

[Kirsten]

I love reading books set in the Pacific NW as I live there. I also love reading mysteries set in foreign climes and reading about not just the landscape and the culture, but also the difference in legal/police matters.

[Lexie]

Isn't there an Alderney somewhere down there too? I've always intended to go to the Channel Islands but I'm still working my way through Scottish ones! Very tempted by Sark where a friend of mine once spent the summer driving the local taxi - a pony and trap, I think it was.

[J.B.]

The setting and location have no impact on my decision to read a book. The time period is a dominating factor in my decision. Outside of the classics, I am trapped in the present day time period. Can't seem to escape.

[Margaret]

I also read one recently set in the Falklands-Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton.

[K. G.]

Alderney is the northern most of the Channel Isles; it's within the Balliwick of Guernsey (medieval administrative unit). 3 x 1 (miles) island. Historically, it's never been important. Not like Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.

http://www.alderney.gov.gg

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

Not really. I enjoy reading about different time periods and locales. It really helps with the escapist effect of a good novel.

[Diane]

Sometimes. I became interested in the Brother Cadfael tales by Ellis Peters because of their medieval settings, and in Bangkok 8 for its exotic Asian setting. However, I also read more domestic novels, too.