Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Challenge Prompts - Regular
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20. A book by a local author
Do they have to be FROM your area...or LIVE in your area?
Kim wrote: "Jenny wrote: "this link may help! https://www.mappit.net/bookmap/countr..."Holy Cow! Over 7,400 books for California! I'm trying to narrow it down to my town (too small, unless I find a book..."
It sounds like you're trying to find a book that's SET in your local area. Is that your own addition to the official prompt of finding a book by an author that's from your local area, or did you misread it?
Rachel wrote: "One of my least favourite kinds of prompts! I was hoping not to have anything related to hometown/home "state"/etc. This one is a little more broad at least, so I'm hoping to find something. I live..."Maggie Helwig lives in Toronto, and Girls Fall Down is about Toronto. It is an odd novel, though; Girls are passing out in public places. Is it a virus? Drugs? A chemical terror attack? Hysteria? The reader can eventually figure it out, but the characters don't.
Woot! I've been meaning to read 'The Gospel of Loki' by Joanne Harris for a while, and that fits this category nicely :)
I was about to give up on this prompt, and then I found The Drums of Drumnadrochit by Peter Gray. It takes some mental gymnastics to make it local (if you count within the same county as local, and say that the Highlands of Scotland is a county (which it isn't)), but the book is set within 40 miles of my house, and I've bought it so I'm sticking with it!
href="https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/ncnovels/index.php/browse-by-county/">my link textHere's a link for those who are still having a problem finding a local author by country/ city.
I will probably read the first novel of maybe our most popular crime author for this. I believe he lives within 3 km from me. I was actually listening to him at the opening of our renovated city library and apparently he does his grocery shopping in the same store I like to visit. (He told a story about what had happened there.) Also I think the first murder happens somewhere near and the fictional detective's (ex-?) wife "works" at my local library. So I think that's local enough.Though I am also listening to one of our classics (Under the North Star), and in that same discussion he said that he used to pass the author of that trilogy on the street when he was a boy and living at the city centre, where also I used to live. The older author lived somewhere near. So I could choose that as well.
for people in the SF Bay Area here's a few I found!:Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate eventsThe Bad Beginning
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner - focuses on Fremont in Bay Area
Jack London - The Call of the Wild
Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club
Alice Walker - The Color Purple - written while living in CA
I live in NH so was scared until I remembered John Irving was born here
I am going to read Kookooland a memoir by a woman who grew up in Manchester NH in the 60's, not sure if she still lives here. If you are a Dan Brown fan, he lives in Exeter and grew up in NH.
I'm from Kansas City, any suggestions for authors?
Cindyjaxn wrote: "I am going to read Kookooland a memoir by a woman who grew up in Manchester NH in the 60's, not sure if she still lives here. If you are a Dan Brown fan, he lives in Exeter and grew up in NH."Not really a Dan Brown or Jodi Picoult fan and those are the 2 obvious choices besides Salinger and I've read his stuff already. I did some more looking around and The Best of Us by Joyce Maynard (from Durham) looks good so I have a few options now.
For Upstate New Yorkers looking for an author from outside the city, John Gardner was born in Batavia and taught at Binghamton University for a few years. I'll probably read either Grendel for this prompt, or pick up one of the gajillion books about local ghost stories that have been written for my area.
You guys... I don't know what I'm going to do! I'm from Charleston, SC and have more options than seems fair. Pat Conroy, Sue Monk Kidd, Frank Gilbreth Jr. (one of the kids from the family that the original Cheaper By The Dozen was based on), Stephen Freaking Colbert, Dubose Heyward, and the list goes on and on... How the hell am I going to pick?
I was not sure what to pick for this at first. I was thinking about reading a book from an author who grew up few hours away. But then I found out Rosalie Ham who wrote The Dressmaker grew up in a town less then an hour away from where I grew up. And she now lives about 3 hours from me. This is probably the closest I am going to get to a local author.
I loved the movie and just finished the audio book tonight. It may not suit everyone but I really enjoyed it.
I think the most well-known author from my area is Sue Grafton--there's a giant building downtown with her face on it--so I thought I might sneak in a quick, easy read by starting her Kinsey Millhone series. But I'm pretty sure those books are set in CA, not Louisville. That kind of feels like cheating to me... Does anyone know of a Louisville author whose works are SET IN Kentucky? We also have Hunter S. Thompson, but again, pretty sure his books are set elsewhere.
Amanda wrote: "You guys... I don't know what I'm going to do! I'm from Charleston, SC and have more options than seems fair. Pat Conroy, Sue Monk Kidd, Frank Gilbreth Jr. (one of the kids from the family that the..."For last year's 'book about an interesting woman,' I read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. It was fascinating and beautiful, and I highly recommend it.
Lesley Livingston is from Toronto, so I'll be reading something by her. Just haven't decided on a book yet.
Not sure if he has been mentioned but Vince Flynn was from Minnesota.
Rachael wrote: "I was about to give up on this prompt, and then I found The Drums of Drumnadrochit by Peter Gray. It takes some mental gymnastics to make it local (if you count wit..."I think the definition of local depends on a lot of things, including population density. Like if, I lived in a big city like NYC I'd probably be looking for something from my specific neighborhood if possible, but if I lived in one of the tiny northeastern USA states, I'd probably count my whole state as local. (I happened to find a book by a local library book club that looks fun, but I was willing to count the closest big city three hours away as local if necessary.)
All of that to say, I don't really think you're stretching the definition of local unreasonably at all. :-)
I am from South Yorkshire, UK and the only authors I can find are Ted Hughes or Joanne Harris and I am not a fan of either. I could spread it out to Yorkshire in general and reread one of the Bronte sisters but that feels a bit like cheating.
Any more that anyone knows?
Raquel wrote: "Rachael wrote: "I was about to give up on this prompt, and then I found The Drums of Drumnadrochit by Peter Gray. It takes some mental gymnastics to make it local (..."Yeah I live in London but I wanted to find someone from my borough. Nothing interested me so I spread my net to South West London and had a lot of options. Anything above the river definitely does not feel local to me.
I don't take "a local author" to mean the book has to be about where I am living but by an author who lives in my area. They can write about anything, anywhere.
I'm not sure how to deal with this prompt yet...I'm trying to decide whether the spirit of this prompt is more to support local authors OR to try to read/experience something with a familiar setting and connect!
I come from a very small community and we do have a handful of local authors here but every single one of them has written historical non-fiction to do with this area. Since my family has been here for generations and I also grew up here I already know the local history well and probably won't find any of it interesting since it's not new information to me. I've pretty much eliminated using one of their books towards this prompt for me because the point of this whole challenge is to diversify our knowledge/experience but now I'm struggling to choose between the following two options:
1. Pick an author from a town about 3 hours away (she has a national bestseller) The Continuity Girl
OR
2. Choose to read a classic novel I know has a setting based on my area - about 40 minutes away (Deerwood is based on Bala, ON) as the author vacationed here a lot when she was younger! The Blue Castle
Which of the two would you choose for this prompt if you were me??
Angela wrote: "I am not a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks, but he does live in my small town. Any suggestions as to his best novel?"I'm really not a fan of the Notebook but i LOVED the movie for A Walk To Remember although haven't read it myself!
I’d go with the author who is a few hours away. I read the prompt as, “get to know the talent around you rather than just what is big and flashy and world-wide.” Three hours away may seem like it’s not “local,” but it’s more local than most authors probably are. For that prompt, in my “local” I’m looking at anyone from the DC/Maryland/Virginia area - it’s three “locals” but it’s considered one “area” (the DMV). So, go with your gut!
Erin wrote: "I’d go with the author who is a few hours away. I read the prompt as, “get to know the talent around you rather than just what is big and flashy and world-wide.” Three hours away may seem like it’s..."Yes, I interpret the prompt the same way. I´m from a large city with quite a lot of authors to choose from, so for me it´s easy. I´m going to go with an author I´ve wanted to read forever, who died last year. He not only lived in my neighbourhood (as in - saw him regularly on the street - local), but he also wrote stories that were set in our neighbourhood, about the people and their fates here.
Thanks guys! I just wasn't really sure what was more appropriate for this prompt because I didn't really know what everyone else interpreted as the spirit of/idea behind this challenge so both of your posts have helped clarify that a bit for me! I decided to go with the author a few hours away! I ran out to the used bookstore in town this morning and found a copy for $2 so pretty happy about that! :) The Continuity Girl The author is from Peterborough, ON incase there is anyone from Muskoka area or Toronto, ON reading this post who didn't find anything else they liked.
I may still end up reading The Blue Castle out of curiosity to see how a big classic portrays the area I grew up in because I think that would be neat and I will probably recognize some specific areas based on her descriptions but I can always use that for the favourite colour in the title of the book prompt as blue is one of my favourite colours!
Angela wrote: "I picked an author from Indiana.Nightlife"This book sounds interesting. I also live in indiana. Where in the state is the author from?
Shanna wrote: "Angela wrote: "I picked an author from Indiana.Nightlife"This book sounds interesting. I also live in indiana. Where in the state is the author from?"
I also live in Indiana, so I was interested as well. No matter where I look, it says she lives in "Rural, Indiana", which is about 95% of the state. She must enjoy her privacy, and I can respect that.
Shanna wrote: "This book sounds interesting. I also live in indiana. Where in the state is the author from?"I couldn't find any information other than rural Indiana either, but a sneaky way to find out might be checking out the local author section of a bookstore/library near you to see if she's in that section?
Regardless many people are considering home state as local for the purposes of this prompt!
The River's End Bookstore in Oswego, New York, has a shelf of local authors, including Laurie Halse Anderson.
Mike wrote: "Shanna wrote: "Angela wrote: "I picked an author from Indiana.Nightlife"This book sounds interesting. I also live in indiana. Where in the state is the author from?"
I also live in..."
Local is a very subjective term. I live in northwest indiana and Chicago is actually closer to me than most of the state of indiana. I will add this book to my list of possibilities for this prompt.
Mod
I finished Fruit Mansion by Sam Herschel on Jan 21. I may read another book for this challenge when I move.
I just found out something really cool that has definitely influenced my choice for this prompt. George Eliot lived 'in sin' with George Henry Lewes a few minutes walk from where I live. My flat borders a park and their house was one of the beautiful terraced houses on the other side of the park.
Eliot and Lewes lived together for 24 years despite Lewes still being married. His wife was fully aware of the relationship and had relationships of her own and children by another man.
This would be pretty scandalous now let alone in the 19th century!
I've been meaning to read Middlemarch for so long but I feel to be absolutely true to this prompt I should read something that was written during the time when she lived in that house and the couple moved out of the area in 1863. So my choices are:
Adam Bede
The Mill on the Floss
Silas Marner
Which would you guys recommend?
I read Silas Marner at school and it's a book that's stayed with me. Funnily enough, I live not too far from George Eliot's birthplace so could also legitimately claim her as a local author.
In case you're struggling with the prompt, I just wanted to let you all know that I went to my library's website and I searched "local author" and a few popped up from within an 80 mile radius. Even found someone from my tiny city- who knew!?!?
Ngaio Marsh is from the town I live in and I'd never read anything by her so I grabbed Surfeit of Lampreys from the shelf .
Was talking to my boyfriend about this prompt and he went on a mission to find some authors local to our little town. If you're not in a city and struggling with this prompt, do check out any local historical society, they know all sorts of nuggets! Such as...Nevil Shute was stationed in the New Forest during the war. I was aware many of his books had connections to Southampton but it hadn't really clicked why (I always think he's Australian, but he only spent the latter part of his life there). He was at Exbury House which is about 16 miles away. Requiem for a Wren has scenes taking place in the local area.
Also Elizabeth Goudge went to boarding school in the New Forest and she partially lived literally down the road (although Wikipedia just says she lived in Oxford, apparently she went back and forth a lot). To be honest, I hadn't heard of her before but she wrote award winning children's books and The Little White Horse was apparently one of J.K. Rowling's favourite childhood books.
I will probably still go with Claire Fuller as I want to read Swimming Lessons. She lives in Winchester which is in the same county as me.
This was an easy prompt for me because few years back, I read The Hug: A Veterinarian's Secret Potion and discovered in reading it that the author founded, and still works at, one of the largest animal care practices in the Lehigh Valley (PA). Our local library carries his older book True Confessions of a Veterinarian: An Unconditional Love Story, so even though I suspect I have a copy somewhere on my to-read shelves at home, it was quicker to borrow the copy at the library. These books may be hard to find otherwise, as I am the only person who has read 'The Hug' on Goodreads and one of 5 readers of 'True Confessions'.
Had I wanted to go REALLY local, Larry Deibert works at the same hospital as I do and occasionally visits our department so we all know him, although he writes vampire books and they're not usually my cup of tea.
Otherwise, I'm not familiar with any of the local authors listed on Wikipedia but I'm sure I could have found an interesting book with further web searching.
I read the famous play The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore. Not only are his novels brilliant but the plays are too.
I found this helpful list for those in South East Qld, Australia. I don't think I had heard of any so I'm excited to check out a few new authors.http://www.couriermail.com.au/questne...
I was originally going to go with Joan Didion, since I live in Sacramento now, but I started reading The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story and I recognize the specific blocks in Seattle where events occur. I had no idea Ann Rule lived in Seattle or that those events took place so close to where I grew up. Since I'm getting the "oh my goodness I know that place!" experience, I think it counts for my local author.
im from south africa so im going to read Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by trevor noah
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We Were Witches (can also work for LGBTQ+ protagonist, and alliteration)
Uptown Thief (can also work for a book about a heist, and the author is black if that's a different ethnicity than you)
The Wedding Date (the author is black if that's a different ethnicity than you)