Help! I need a book set in....

[Peggy]

Safe to read if you don't care about Harry Potter or don't mind knowing not-very-important things, or are past book 4:
(view spoiler)[Hagrid is a half-giant by the way, 3 times larger than a normal person (hide spoiler)], I don't know if that counts?

I googled a bit and of all the books it seems giants play the biggest role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[Travis]

A Song of Ice and Fire has giants.

[Sarah]

Thanks Peggy.

It does indeed Travis but I'm not sure whether I want to commit to a reread. If I read one, I'll have to read them all.

[[deleted user]]

The Buried Giant . I stumbled on this book in a web search while looking for books with giants in them. I am not sure if it has a giant in it but I think it could work for other options.

[Stephanie]

Oh yes, Harry Potter has Giants :) Hagrid, the groundskeeper and a big part of the movies and books, is half giant. Order of the Phoenix has a giant and the later books have them as well :)

[Sandra, Moderator]

You'll probably need a rule from Janice, Sarah,but I remebered I have The Little Giant of Aberdeen County at home. It's magical realism.

[Lanelle]

The newest Kate Daniels book, Magic Shifts, has a couple of giants.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Some of The Heroes of Olympus books have giants as well.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I was thinking Archer's Goon

[Sarah]

Ok. So several giant options. How much of the story do they have to be in Janice and do half giants count too?

Also how much of the book does the cave have to be in. I've just bought Shutter Island and i remember in the film there is a cave but i can't remember how much of it was set there or even if it appears in the book. Anyone read it and can help?

[Janice, Moderator]

Let's just say that the giants/caves need to have a significant presence, and not merely a brief mention in passing.

I think a few people in YLTO have read Shutter Island and can perhaps verify whether or not the cave is more than just a mention.

[Janice, Moderator]

Half giants... I'm waffling back and forth on a decision. Let's say no. Sorry.

[Sarah]

Thanks Janice. I'll probably read Shutter Island anyway and if the cave doesn't have a significant part in it then I'll use it for the set on an island task instead. Simples!

[Sandra, Moderator]

In case someone is still looking for a book set in Scotland for the New Lanark task, I just came across this book: The Skeleton Road

[Cherie]

Yes, Sarah, The BFG is all about a giant and his friends. Odd, has Ice Giants, but not enough pages.

[Sam F]

A book with giants that I thought of was The Princess Bride.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh and Hammered has the Jötunn (frost giants) pretty prominently in it.

[[deleted user]]

Sam F wrote: "A book with giants that I thought of was The Princess Bride."

I have never read this book, love the movie and the only giant is Andre The Giant! if he counts?

[Sam F]

I have never read this book, love the movie and the only giant is Andre The Giant! if he counts?"

I was hoping he would!

[Susan]

Sarah (and everyone else) If you're still looking for a book set in a cave you might try
Blind Descent by Nevada Barr. It's part of her Anna Pigeon mystery series and this one is set in the caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

[Janice, Moderator]

Andre the Giant will count. He plays a prominent role.

[Lynda]

I'm struggling to find a book that interests me, which is set in a harbor (or port) city. Any suggestions?

[Sarah]

How about Red Seas Under Red Skies or Pirate Latitudes Lynda? Both set in harbour/port towns/cities along with boats and boat trips.

[Sarah]

How about Red Seas Under Red Skies or Pirate Latitudes Lynda? Both set in harbour/port towns/cities along with boats and boat trips.

[Sarah]

Thanks for the giant and cave recs. I've read Hammered annoyingly. The Princess Bride is a good idea. Not sure about that Pigeon series book though as it's book 6 - i don't want to start a new series just to read that one for the cave task.

[Peggy]

What genres are you looking for Lynda? One that comes to mind is The Rosie Project, which is set in Melbourne.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh that brings up an interesting question on harbours/ports. Melbourne for example has a port (Port Melbourne) but the city itself is on the river leading into the port/sea. Although as the city has grown, Melbourne has spread everywhere around the port/harbour.

Whereas Sydney city is actually on the Harbour, and we call it a harbour city.

So we don't call Melbourne a harbour/port city here, but I guess it technically is, and we call Sydney one. What's the official ruling? Any city with a port or harbour (so on the coast?)?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

See, and I just asked Lexx, and he's like "Of course Melbourne is a port city! It has a port! Just like every major city on the coast." Sounds like I'm being too literal again...

[Peggy]

What is the difference between a port and a harbour? I know boats dock in both, but there must be something that distinguishes one from the other.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Interesting question. I googled to see if I was right in my thinking, and I was right for port - where ships load and unload cargo or people. Harbour however is - where ships can hide from stormy weather, or are stored for future use.

There you go. Learnt something too. I just thought a harbour was a big body of water, salty but not the sea, but not a river. I didn't consider the boat part.

[Peggy]

Thanks Rusalka!

Harbour makes sense, if you think about the meaning of the verb 'harbour' as well. Although it seems some harbours may have changed in function over the years, as Sydney Harbour is not just a place for ships to seek shelter (if it's still used for that at all).

In Dutch we have the same word for port and harbour. It's 'haven'. Which come to think of it also nicely fits with the English 'haven' or 'safe haven', which in meaning is in line with the noun and verb 'harbour'.

Okay nevermind, I always like the ways in which words and languages are connected :)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

No that's really interesting! Makes heaps of sense, how cool. I love it when you find little connections like that between languages.

Sydney Harbour is definitely still used for that. The 50 story cruise ships make it hard to forget at times. We lived on a naval base on Sydney Harbour before I was 1 that had all the ships and subs in there too.

[Sarah]

I agree that the function of harbours have changed. There are many small towns in Cornwall and Devon with harbours as they are pretty exposed but many boats moor there permanently and not just a place of safety when needed. I love harbour towns and villages. In the case of the UK, places with actual ports tend to be large towns/cities with lots of industry/naval barracks surrounding and boats which take passengers/cars/goods to/from other countries for example, Bristol, Dover, Liverpool. while places with a harbour tend to be smaller with no organised ferry links. There are exceptions though of course.

[Lori]

Apparently, Vacation in the Mountain writers only work from two directions.

1. My husband cheated on me and/or left me so I went to the mountains and found my true love. (Yeah, right!!! I am not a Romance Reader--it has to be heavily mixed with History, Time Travel, Sci Fi...anything but straight romance.) Here are two that seemed more palatable that the others The View From Here Blue Midnight

2. I went to the mountains on purpose--tragic ending (or) I went to the mountains accidentally (plane crash)--tragic ending.

If anyone finds something that leans toward a Mountain version National Lampoon's...Please, please, let me know.

Thanks!!!

[Roz]

I'm having trouble with pilgrimage. I've read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. How are we defining it? A quest, or crusade? How about a journey of courage and survival that leads to understanding and a better life?

[Lynda]

Wow, so much discussion regarding port/harbor. Harbor isn't a term that's used too much in the US, but port is, so I assumed they were regional in their usage. It seems to me that Port is a specific type of harbor, but harbor can be any place a boat can find shelter/safe docking. Here small coastal towns can have a port, and then of course there are major international ports in larger urban areas. I live in a coastal state, so we have ports all over the place from Seattle to the small fishing town of Ilwaco.

In terms of book recs, I passed on Pirate Latitudes, because I'm not the biggest Michal Crichton fan. Read Seas sounds good, but I will have to read the first book in the series first (oh, darn!).

I'm pretty open to any genre (okay, except romance), provided it's a good story with strong character development.

[Delitealex]

Has anyone found any books set in prehistoric times I know of the clan of the cave bear just looking for other possibilities

[Kristie, Moderator]

Delitealex wrote: "Has anyone found any books set in prehistoric times I know of the clan of the cave bear just looking for other possibilities"

Do you enjoy romance? I found Transcendence. I haven't read it, but it has high ratings. It was a choice awards nominee last year.

[Peggy]

I found this list Delitealex: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

It starts with all the clan of the cave bear books, but then there are a lot of others too.

[Delitealex]

Kristie wrote: "Delitealex wrote: "Has anyone found any books set in prehistoric times I know of the clan of the cave bear just looking for other possibilities"

Do you enjoy romance? I found [book:Transcendence|2..."

Yes I enjoy romance transcendence sounds interesting thanks.

[Delitealex]

Peggy wrote: "I found this list Delitealex: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

It starts with all the clan of the cave bear books, but then there are a lot of others too."


Thanks for the list I have found many that I have been interested in at one time or another. Quite afew were also on Kindle unlimited.

[Jannene]

Sarah wrote: "Can anyone recommend books with giants in them? So far my thoughts are The BFG and Odd and the Frost Giants."

There are some in the Percy Jackson series.

[Janice, Moderator]

Rusalka wrote: "See, and I just asked Lexx, and he's like "Of course Melbourne is a port city! It has a port! Just like every major city on the coast." Sounds like I'm being too literal again..."

I like Lexx's answer. Let's go with that.

[Janice, Moderator]

Delitealex wrote: "Has anyone found any books set in prehistoric times I know of the clan of the cave bear just looking for other possibilities"

There are a whole whack of books in North America's Forgotten Past series.

The trilogy, Kwani starts with She Who Remembers. I really enjoyed this trilogy.

[Janice, Moderator]

Roz wrote: "I'm having trouble with pilgrimage. I've read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. How are we defining it? A quest, or crusade? How about a journey of courage and survival that le..."

The definition of pilgrimage is, "A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith, although sometimes it can be a metaphorical journey into someone's own beliefs."

Maybe this list will help.

[Janice, Moderator]

Interesting discussion on ports and harbours. I always thought they were one and the same thing. Maybe not.

[Roz]

Thanks Janice. I found a couple I hadn't thought of that are on my TBR shelf.

[Sarah]

Has anyone read Tyrannosaur Canyon? It has teeth on the cover so I could use it for that but I wondered if it is about dinosaurs (I'm guessing they'll be dead ones). The blurb says it's an archaeological mystery but the search for dinosaurs is paleontological so the blurb and title/cover don't tally. I may well just read it and see what comes up then place it after that.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

The problem is that sometimes the author/publisher doesn't realise that paleontology and archaeology are different things... I've come across that before. They both involve digging, how different could they be, right? Throw in biological or forensic anthropology and people's brains explode.

[Sarah]

That's a good point Rusalka! I'll give it a go although the YLTO members who've read it haven't rated it highly.