This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is all about books set in places that we would love to visit, whether real or fictional places. I love to travel so coming up with places I want to visit is no hardship. That said, I have to admit, when I’m reading books set in our world I often fall into reading about books set in North America or Western Europe which is something that I really need to work on. The point being I had to do some research for some of these countries so I’ve got a hefty new batch of books on my Goodreads TBR now. Let’s carry on to the books!
1. Men of Maize by Miguel Ángel Asturias: This book is set in Guatemala. I know a few people from Guatemala and have seen numerous photos and videos of absolutely gorgeous areas, especially around Lake Atitlán and would love to travel there someday.
2. The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson: This is a thriller that sounds super intriguing and is set in Iceland which is a gorgeous country that I cannot wait to visit.
3. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton: New Zealand, I think I would move to New Zealand sight unseen if the opportunity presented itself. The book itself seems quite mysterious too, so I’ll have to pick this up sooner rather than later.
4. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende: Isabel Allende is an author I’ve always wanted to read as I don’t think I’ve ever heard a negative word about any of her books, and this one is set in Chile. The main reason I want to go to Chile is to hike around the volcano San José. If you ever need something pretty to look at, google this area.
5. Facundo by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento: This is a non-fiction work about a lot of the societal issues that Argentina faced once they won their independence. There is something about Argentina that has always intrigued me, I’m not entirely certain what or why but this is one of the places I am most eager to get to in my lifetime.
6. Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark: This is about a young boy who raises llamas in the Andes mountains in Peru learning about his Incan ancestors. Peru is a country that I’ve always wanted to visit because I want to hike part of the Inca trail up into Machu Picchu.
7. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston: We aren’t going to talk about how long this is has been on my TBR… it’s shameful as all hell, but this is a non-fiction that is touted as reminiscent of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which is an AMAZINGLY fun read) and takes place in Italy… where you can eat delicious food ALL THE TIME and walk through towns that are 2000+ years old. Why wouldn’t I want to go to Italy?
8. Girl at War by Sara Nović: Honestly, I got a little bamboozled just by the synopsis of this one, but this is about a girl whose life is turned upside down when civil war breaks out in Yugoslavia and her return to Croatia years later to come to terms with the tragedies of her past. Admittedly I don’t know much about Croatia, but I do know that I have seen absolutely beautiful areas in photos along the sea and I would love to visit Croatia to see it myself.
9. The Weekend by Bernhard Schlink: This has been on my TBR since reading The Reader which I really enjoyed and takes place in Germany. If all goes as intended, I should actually be able to cross this destination off my list by the end of the year, we’re just waiting for dates for Austria’s Krampus festivals before we book this trip. Maybe I’ll get to the book this year too!
10. The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty: This is a fantasy novel set in Egypt. I actually don’t know that I knew this was set in Egypt, but I acquired the ebook a little while ago and have not picked it up yet. As far as Egypt is concerned… I really do love ancient history and there is so much of it to be seen in Egypt. The history is so rich, if horrifying at times and I would love to go there someday.
Those are ten books set in countries that I would love to visit someday (in no particular order), though honestly I could never limit the number of places I want to visit to just ten. Have you read any of these books or visited any of these countries? What’s on your list?
Until next time, Happy Reading!
Among Stories 
I would ALSO jump at the chance to visit New Zealand!!!
The only one on your list that I own (inevitably unread) is The Luminaries. New Zealand is an AMAZING place. I was there with a friend around the Millennium and we drove around the South Island in a VW Campervan. Brilliant.
Florence is one of my favourite places on EARTH. Beautiful architecture, art, food and women. Heavenly really……….. [grin] Only spent 3 days there YEARS ago but still have very fond memories of it.
Agreed on Iceland. From what I’ve seen of it (unfortunately not personally) it’s another place to fall in love with.
Those trips sound amazing!
When the volcano in Iceland was erupting last year I think it was, one of my professors went to see it in person. Even that was beautiful!
The ‘Millennium’ trip was my friends idea. Both of our girlfriends had recently dumped us and he suggested we go ‘somewhere’ to see the New Year in – and then said Sydney. So we flew via San Francisco to Australia, stayed in Sydney for a few days to see the AMAZING fireworks then flew to Cairns to stay in the rain forest and snorkel on the Barrier Reef, then over to New Zealand and the Microbus (with a helicopter trip to a glacier and shark cage diving for my friend), then back to Sydney (after an overnight in beautiful Christchurch) for another few days and finally three days in San Francisco before returning to the UK very tired and very broke. It was quite the trip! [lol] That was 3 weeks I’m never going to forget…
Chile would be a beautiful place to visit for sure!
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