Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2025
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11. A book set in a fictional location
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Good idea! I want to reread Olive Again before I read her new book.


I’m doing a Three Pines book for this one.

Good idea! I want to rere..."
Same! I read it when it first came out so it's been awhile, time to revisit.
I also own Amy and Isabelle who show up in one of the stories in Olive, Again so I want to read that

All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews (East Village)
The Little World of Don Camillo - Giovannino Guareschi (a town on the Po)
Thrush Green - Miss Read
or a book by Thomas Hardy set in his fictional Wessex.

All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews (East Village)
The Little World of Don Camillo - Giovannino Guareschi (a town on the Po)
[book:Thrush Gr..."
I love the Thrush Green books!

All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews (East Village)
The Little World of Don Camillo - Giovannino Guareschi (a town on the Po)
[... I love the Thursh Green books!
I find them so comforting.



I loved it.

Good idea!..."
I've read everything that Elizabeth Strout has written and Amy and Isabelle is my absolute favorite. What struck me in that book is how well she portrayed the characters in Crosby, ME. It made me feel I was in that small town.


REJECT: A book with a major character who doesn't have a job
Finished: 02/20/2025
Rating: 4 stars
From ŷ: "Like a colder, Reagan-era version of The Last Picture Show fused with Friday Night Lights, Chuck Klosterman's Downtown Owl is the unpretentious, darkly comedic story of how it feels to exist in a community where rural mythology and violent reality are pretty much the same thing."
My mother grew up on a farm near Jamestown, and my grandfather was living in Medina at the time of the Gordan Kahl incident. Both are mentioned numerous times in the book.



I chose Cibola Burn since it is set in one (fictional) location, as most of these books are wandering around the whole galaxy,

I *think* this is my first cozy fantasy. I enjoyed it, but it is not my normal 'go-to' sort of book. Based on an incredibly low sample size (1 of each), I think I'd rather read cozy fantasy over cozy mystery, but I'm willing to try both again. My copy of Legends and Lattes included a short story prequel (showing how Viv came to know about coffee). I didn't enjoy this part as much as there was a lot of chasing/fight scenes, which is something that bores me in books and movies. But in this case, I understand why this was necessary � to show the main character's history and how she came to change her life.
I can see myself trying the next in the series when I need a palate cleanser. I likely would not try the full novel prequel, however, as it is likely to contain those dreaded fight scenes.


Maybe something by Elizabeth Strout or Cold Comfort Farm

I read a few books in the Crosby universe, so I enjoyed reading the initial book about the difficult but ultimately sympathetic Olive.
The Paris novella was extremely strange, set in a Paris peopled by Surrealist art come to life and where World War II was still being fought in 1950. Despite the eerie strangeness, I liked it.

Books mentioned in this topic
Marrying the Ketchups (other topics)Olive Kitteridge (other topics)
Last Days Of New Paris (other topics)
Cold Comfort Farm (other topics)
Legends & Lattes (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jennifer Close (other topics)Elizabeth Strout (other topics)
Travis Baldree (other topics)
Stephen King (other topics)
Tomi Adeyemi (other topics)
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This week, we are traveling to a fictional location in our reading. That could be a book set in a fantasy world, or it can be a contemporary novel set in a made up town. As long as you can't actually visit the location, the choice is yours!
GR Shelf: /shelf/show/...
Reddit: Super Creative and Original Worlds:
Wikipedia: List of Fictional Universes in Literature:
ATY Listopia: /list/show/2...
What are you reading for this prompt, and how does it fit?