16. A book set in a rural or sparsely populated area

[Marie]

I read The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel.

It's set on a farm near Osage Flats, a small fictional town in rural Kansas, a couple of hours drive from Wichita. I don't go out of my way to find books with this type of setting, but I do enjoy them, and the setting was definitely a big part of this story.

[Karen]

I read The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend for this prompt.

It's set in a small, dying town in Iowa, called of course, Broken Wheel. I don't really choose books based on their setting; I'm generally more interested in the plot. That said, I don't shy away from books set in rural areas; I have read several that I enjoyed. I did not particularly enjoy this book though.

[Laura]

1. What are you reading for this category?
When the Bough Breaks by Denise Grover Swank

2. What is the setting?
Henryetta, Arkansas. A fictional small town

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
It doesn’t really matter to me but I lived in a small town for a while so it’s fun to read and relate to books in that way sometimes.

[Alexx]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I am reading The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

2. What is the setting?
The book is set in a isolated English mansion called Blackheath, approximately an hour away from Abberley (a village in England)

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
I do enjoy books set in rural areas as I find that they are somewhat more intimate. However, I wouldn't necessarily choose one book over another because of the place it's set in. I think each setting has a time and a place.

[Emily]

1) I just finished Night Theatre by Vikram Paralkar (& I was pleasantly surprised by it, 4 stars!)
2) A small village in India.
3) I done find a certain quaintness to books set in small villages or towns but location of where books are set has nothing to do with my book selection.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I read (listened to, actually) Spirit of Steamboat, the next book in the Walt Longmire detective series by Craig Johnson. Since they take place in Wyoming, they are pretty much all in rural or sparsely populated areas. The narration by George Guidall, the granddaddy of audiobooks, is a big part of the appeal for me.

There are many mystery series that take place in rural or wilderness areas, including those by Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr.

[Brittany]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
2. What is the setting?
It's a small town setting, the main character often talks about wanting to travel to bigger cities because everyone knows everyone in her hometown and there are only 3 restaurants.
3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
I don't mind them. I probably read equal amounts of small town settings and big city settings.

[Joanne]

I read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, which was set in rural China. I enjoyed the book although I had assumed it was written by a Chinese author until I looked the book up on Goodreads when I was 90% through. After I found out I felt much more conflicted about the book and wished I had picked up a book by an actual Chinese author instead. I enjoyed the farming aspect of the book though.

[Suzanne]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race

2. What is the setting?
This book follows a horse race that takes place in Mongolia.

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
I have certainly enjoyed many over the years and I did enjoy this one.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

The Witch Boy

I debated back and forth as to whether or not I felt like the setting was 'rural' but in the end I decided it counted. While Aster is definitely in walking distance of a neighborhood, it's clearly far enough away that his family never runs into any of the people there. And there's definitely real world places like that, huge expanses of rural farmland broken up by some random McMansion neighborhood. So I feel ok counting it, even though it's maybe not the most rural location I could have gone with.

[Kellie Lyn]

What are you reading for this category?

Regular: Apple Cider Slaying Julie Anne Lindsey-Rural North Carolina on an apple farm
ABC: The Brutal Telling Louise Penny-Three Pines, Quebec

Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
I love the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. When looking at the categories for this series, I noticed it is a Cozy Mystery. According to Wikipedia, "Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community." I had never heard of this type of subgenre and looked for more books in the category. I have read several now and really enjoy the light, non-gruesome tone of this type of mystery every once in a while.

[Anne]

I am going to be reading Out of Love by Victoria Clayton.
It is set in a rural area.
I enjoy reading books set in the countryside.

[Veronica]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Beartown by Fredrik Backman
2. What is the setting?
It is set in Beartown, (I think it is Sweden?)
3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
I have enjoyed the ones I have read.

[Joan]

1. What are you reading for this category? Us Against You
2. What is the setting? Beartown, Sweden
3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas? I seem to read a lot of them but to me it doesn't matter as long as the story is interesting. I live in a small town myself so it's what I'm used to. It is nice to read about big cities every once in awhile to get a different perspective from my life.

[Emily]

1. What are you reading for this category?

Valentine

2. What is the setting?

Odessa, TX and the oil fields outside the town

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?

I enjoy books set in rural areas if they have a good story. I'm not a huge "description" person and sometimes rural stories can have too much of that for me.

[Stacey]

What are you reading for this category? I read The Lower River by Paul Theroux
What is the setting? A remote, decaying village of Malawi called Malabo. Ironically, it's only one letter, but a lifetime away from a city famed for its luxury and wealth.
Do you enjoy books set in rural areas? Yes, it sometimes gives the story a different balance. Rural areas can make for cozy settings, but can also offer something equally edgy.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Kellie Lyn Aldrich wrote: "What are you reading for this category?

Regular: Apple Cider Slaying Julie Anne Lindsey-Rural North Carolina on an apple farm
ABC: The Brutal Telling Louise Penny-Th..."

Interesting, I would say this series should never be considered a cozy because Gamache is a a professional police detective. I think people confuse the character and the setting. The setting is a charming small town, but to me a cozy is an amateur solving the crime.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Robin wrote: "I would say this series should never be considered a cozy because Gamache is a a professional police detective


That's interesting. I don't necessarily think of an amateur detective as being a requirement of cozy mysteries. A hallmark, for sure. I think I tend to define 'cozy' mysteries by the amount of gore and the way the mystery is solved. Cozies stay away from gore and just give you enough of the medical info to know the cause of death etc, but nothing graphic and then the detective usually has to rely more on talking to witnesses than on scientific evidence.

Like, there's this series that begins with Swiss Vendetta and the main character is a homicide detective. But the story is about a body found at a remote Swiss chalet, and they all get snowed in. So the detective does do the usual evidence gathering but since she can't immediately send everything off to the criminology lab, she has to spend her time trying to figure out motives and alibis and what not. To me, it's a cozy mystery even though she's a professional.

[Angela]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Last Anniversary, by Liane Moriaty

2. What is the setting? Scribbly Gum Island, near Sydney, Australia.
3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas? Yes, I find that there is sense of natural beauty in them, but also a sense of claustrophobia can be portrayed very effectively in small towns.

[Tracy]

I read Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes. It is set in a small town in Maine, and one of the main characters has gone there to escape the big city. I generally prefer rural settings to big cities, but the story itself is more important to me than the setting.

[Jackie]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Educated by Tara Westover

2. What is the setting?
Rural Idaho

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
Depends on the book.

[Pam]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Malagash by Joey Comeau

2. What is the setting?
Malagash, Nova Scotia

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas
Usually but, of course, it depends on the book.

[GailW]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Caribbean Sunset with a Yellow Parrot by Andrea Frazer
2. What is the setting?
Privately owned island in the Caribbean where someone is trying to sell shoddy land to elderly English ladies. The last entry in a cozy, funny mystery series.
3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
Depends on the book.

[Anna]

1. What are you reading for this category?

I read Where the Crawdads Sing

2. What is the setting?

North Carolina, in the marsh

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?

As always that depends on the writing. But I do enjoy several books set in rural areas, sometimes it feels like it focuses more on the characters.

[Virginia]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Great Alone.


2. What is the setting?
rural Alaska

3. Do you enjoy books set in rural areas?
As long as it's a good story!