Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2017 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #10: Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location
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Erin
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Dec 30, 2016 09:07PM
Thanks Teresa!
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As A Yorkshire Lass who's never read any Bronte books, I'm using this task to remedy that. Funnily enough I picked up The Tenant of Wildfell Hall a couple of days prior to reading the list through, so that worked out well.
As I just moved to the south-west of Germany I might go with a local crime set in Stuttgart. But if anyone would have other Suggestions for South germany (I have a second place near munich, so that would be an option too :p) I would be happy to hear!
I need some help with this one. I live in Indianapolis, IN. Indy is the only major city in my radius. I am not liking any of the options I'm finding (fault in our stars, Gene Stratton Porter and a bunch of crime novels).How strict is the 100 miles? I've found an essay collection by Jean Shepard that is in the Chicago-land area of Indiana, but it's 112 miles away.
Does anyone have a suggestion of an Indianapolis set book they liked? I
Allie wrote: "Karin wrote: "Allie wrote: "This one is the one I think will be the biggest challenge for me. ..."This is going to be the biggest challenge for me too! I'm in Melbourne AU so 100miles is 160km - central Victoria. Not sure if I'll be able to find something ...
I'm going with Elizabeth Smart's My Story. It takes place a few miles from my home. She donates all the book profits to the Rape Recovery Center (awesome organization) in Salt Lake City. I found an LDS anthology, which is rare. Monsters & Mormons is about how missionaries would continue their proselytizing after a zombie apocalypse. It looks super funny but it's not available in my local libraries.
I love reading local books, so I've already burned through a lot of the popular options for Seattle, but I'm going to take this opportunity to finally get around to Sherman Alexie, who I've seen speak a number of times, but have never read - I'm thinking Flight.Other options, though, that I didn't know about and will have to get to sometime:
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
Boneshaker
Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater
Firefly Lane
Recommend Helen Garner's The Spare Room set in Melbourne. Sad but good.
Suggestions for Columbia, MO? St Louis & Kansas City are about 15 miles too far, and so--I think--is the general Mississippi River area (so no Mark Twain?). Thanks in advance!
Hinsdale, if you haven't read any of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher mysteries, they're set in Melbourne and are delightful. I think I've solved my dilemma by remembering that The Seating Game is set at least partly in Milwaukee. If that doesn't work, I'll go with Loving Frank.
Melissa W wrote: "Anything for Vancouver, BC? Would Do Not Say We Have Nothing qualify? Or do I have to find something else? Seattle also qualifies for me (I am 99 miles north of Seattle)"Ivan E Coyote's work is set in your radius, and their writing is beautiful. I'm in Surrey and have chosen Loose Ends (stories set in East Van) for this task.
For Columbia, Missouri, you could go with A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield. She takes some liberties with the geography, but her fictional Sawyer County is definitely west-central Missouri, and a good chunk of the action is at Lake of the Ozarks. If I'm not mistaken, Ms Littlefield is a former Kewpie.
I think I've struck gold for this task. I wanted something that wasn't the obvious classic or history-focused, being that I live in the state capital of Alabama. And I found it. Yah! And it works for two other categories, so I'm gonna 
I live in Iowa. I was thinking of Gilead, but have decided to go with What We Saw. Goodreads lists the setting as Iowa, so I'm hoping this will work. Has anyone read that?Another option would be A Thousand Acres, which I've read and enjoyed, but I don't think I want to reread.
Station Eleven is excellent - it starts in Toronto and ends up in Michigan and maybe Chicago area by the end?
I'm assuming based on the lack of specificity that this task can be completed by reading either fiction or nonfiction set in a specific location? If so, BR might want to sticky a post with that, I haven't read through the whole thread to make sure this hasn't been asked and answered and can't imagine others will...
Just finished reading Dark Matter today not realizing it was going to take place in Chicago. Completed a task without even trying! Feels like cheating. :)I do plan on reading Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City which takes place in Milwaukee and is also within 100 miles of me.
I live in St. Louis, and we held the World's Fair in 1904, and my apartment is two blocks from the grounds, so for this I am reading Meet Me in St. Louis: A Trip to the 1904 World's Fair. It's a nice reminder as to how different the world was 113 years ago! Really eye-opening read!
I'm in Sacramento, California. It would be easy enough to find something set in San Francisco, which is within the radius, but I'd rather find something in Sacramento. I've already read the big ones that I know of. Karen Joy Fowler has some stuff set in this area, The Jane Austen Book Club and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (much of it takes place in Davis, which is very close). Joan Didion is from here, and I recently read her first book Run River, which I really loved for all the local settings. I might go with Didion's nonfiction book Where I Was From, which I think is largely about California in general but sounds like it should have plenty of reflections on this area. There is also a murder mystery series from the '90s set here, the Kat Colorado series by Karen Kijewski. It always comes up on lists of books set in Sacramento, so maybe I'll give that a try.
I've read one of the Kat Colorado books and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a fluff book.
I just finished reading The Mothers by Brit Bennett, which set in Oceanside, CA, within 100 miles from my home. And since it is also a debut novel, I just killed two birds with one stone. Off to a great start...
Anyone else here from Atlanta? I think I'm finally going to read Gone With the Wind. It's just sooo long.
Erica wrote: "Anyone else here from Atlanta? I think I'm finally going to read Gone With the Wind. It's just sooo long."I am!! Oh, GWTW is a good choice! I'm going to read Darktown. It's been on my TBR since I saw the author at the Decatur Book Festival in September.
Erica wrote: "Anyone else here from Atlanta? I think I'm finally going to read Gone With the Wind. It's just sooo long."I just moved out of Atlanta in October, so I can't use these but if you like non-fiction I suggest Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America and The Temple Bombing.
Bonnie wrote: "Erica wrote: "Anyone else here from Atlanta? I think I'm finally going to read Gone With the Wind. It's just sooo long."I just moved out of Atlanta in October, so I can't use these but if you lik..."
I just heard of Blood at the Root a few weeks ago. I was totally unfamiliar with this story & find it horrifying. The book is on my TBR!
Theresa wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Erica wrote: "Anyone else here from Atlanta? I think I'm finally going to read Gone With the Wind. It's just sooo long."I just moved out of Atlanta in October, so I can't use these..."
I actually saw the author of Blood at the Root at the Decatur Book Fair, maybe at the same time you saw the Darktown author :)
Kalin wrote: "I'm assuming based on the lack of specificity that this task can be completed by reading either fiction or nonfiction set in a specific location? If so, BR might want to sticky a post with that, I ..."The BR samples linked at the top of the the first page of this thread list both fiction and nonfiction. I'm going with a nonfiction book for this challenge.
Carthage, Missouri, is in the very southwestern corner of Missouri, too far from Columbia, but the fictional North Carthage is just south of Hannibal, which *is* within 100 miles of Columbia. So Gone Girl would work, but so would Tom Sawyer. For Ozarks settings, it depends on *where* in the Ozarks. I seem to recall that Winter's Bone is more in the West Plains area, which would put it too far south for a Columbian.Nonfiction is always a possibility. Maybe something about the local history?
Or she could wait a few months and beta read the steampunk novel I'm setting in Arrow Rock. :-)
I've been struggling with this category as I live in Omaha and I've already read all of Rainbow Rowell's novels. I have some Willa Cather on my list for this year, but that's in Nebraska but outside the 100 mile radius so it won't count either. I just remembered that Roxane Gay is from Omaha so I'm guessing significant parts of Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body take place here and that was definitely on my TBR list for 2017 anyway!
Brandyn wrote: "I've been struggling with this category as I live in Omaha and I've already read all of Rainbow Rowell's novels. I have some Willa Cather on my list for this year, but that's in Nebraska but outsid..."Roxanne Gay was born in Omaha, but I don't think she lived there growing up, and I know she went to boarding school at Phillips Exeter with someone I know so her teen years were spent in New Hampshire.
Bonnie wrote: "Brandyn wrote: "I've been struggling with this category as I live in Omaha and I've already read all of Rainbow Rowell's novels. I have some Willa Cather on my list for this year, but that's in Neb..."I think that the "devastating act of violence" referenced in the book blurb happened here (I felt that way after reading Bad Feminist), but I could definitely be mistaken.
Nicole wrote: "Looking for suggestions in Toronto, Canada or as far as Detroit,Michigan. I'm kinda smack-dab in the middle"Robertson Davies would seem to be a natural for this. Also, he's wonderful.
Living in Maine, Stephen King's fictional towns are all within 100 miles of me. :)
I read Double Jeopardy by Bob Hill, which tells the story of the murder of a woman in Louisville, KY, and the eventual conviction of the perpetrator. It's an infamous story in my hometown, and it was odd to read about locations, streets, and businesses that I know so well, as well as a story that I'm very familiar with, since I was alive when it occurred.
Gary wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Looking for suggestions in Toronto, Canada or as far as Detroit,Michigan. I'm kinda smack-dab in the middle"Robertson Davies would seem to be a natural for this. Also, he's wonderful."
For Toronto The Unquiet Dead
Gary wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Looking for suggestions in Toronto, Canada or as far as Detroit,Michigan. I'm kinda smack-dab in the middle"Robertson Davies would seem to be a natural for this. Also, he's wonderful."
I've been looking into books set in Detroit as well. The Turner House is on my list as an option, as well as a couple of Jeffrey Eugenides books. The Virgin Suicides (also his debut novel) was set in Grosse Pointe, and Middlesex was set, at least partly, in Detroit.
Since I live right outside of the Nation's Capital this task should be pretty easy for me. For this task I'm going to read
which has been on my TBR for a long time.
I live in Tucson, Arizona. I found a series set in Tempe, which has its City Center 104 miles from my house. Do you think this could count for Task "10. Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location"? (The book is Hounded, from the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne.) I might be able to find an Urban Fantasy (or a Paranormal Romance) that's set IN Tucson, but I'm hoping that reading a book set within my state will be acceptable enough.
Jen wrote: "I live in Tucson, Arizona. I found a series set in Tempe, which has its City Center 104 miles from my house. Do you think this could count for Task "10. Read a book that is set within 100 miles of ..."If you are interested, Goodreads has a list, Books Set in Tucson, Az. There are ~40 books on it.
Teresa wrote: "If you are interested, Goodreads has a list, Books Set in Tucson, Az. There are ~40 books on it. "That's great news! I will try to find that list, as an earlier search didn't pull that one up. Thank you!
Thoughts on books that are set partially in your city vs completely there?I happen to be reading a book about wall street where one of the main characters is from Toronto where I live. They spend a chapter talking about his childhood there.
Now there are lots of books set completely in Toronto so I'm not sure if it would be cheating to use this book....thoughts?
Does anyone have suggestions for books (preferably fiction) set within 100 miles of Dallas? I'm new to the area and I'm afraid I'm not even certain where 100 miles would get me....Thanks!
Pamela, the Sookie Stackhouse series, JD Robb's In Death series and Sandra Brown all have novels set in Dallas.
Pamela wrote: "Does anyone have suggestions for books (preferably fiction) set within 100 miles of Dallas? "Some options for you:
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (set in Texas Stadium, for the most part. Could also work as "about war.")
Lord Vishnu's Love Handles: A Spy Novel
North Dallas Forty (also a book about sports)
Living Dead in Dallas (the second Sookie Stackhouse book)
I'm reading Louise Penny's wonderful Armand Gamache series which is set in the Montreal/VT border area. Love, love, love her books.
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