Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Places That Books Have Made Me Want To Visit





Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.  This was such a fun sounding idea when I saw it on the 7th, I started planning ahead!  And honestly, when I name the places, I will have to name several books.  So, I've decided instead of putting pictures of the books, I'll put a picture of the place (if I can find one), and then just list the books below it.  So here we go.


1.  New York City





 Okay, really I've wanted to see all of NYC, so many books talk about it, as well as movies and tv shows.  But I chose two specific spots to start.  The first picture is of Belvedere Castle, which is in Central Park.  I first learned of that by reading Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz.  Now, the 2nd building is not what I thought it was.  I thought it was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory building where they'd had the horrible fire in 1911.  And you have to give me a little break on that, the building is a triangle shape.  But I was informed by my friend Cara Lynn Shultz, that is not the building where the fire took place, this one is called the Flatiron Building.  I had read a few books on the fire though, most specifically one called Lost by Jacqueline Davies.  I did get to see both of these buildings the first time I went to NYC to visit my sister when she first moved there about 3 years ago.  But there are still so many other places to visit in NYC that I haven't yet.

2.  Paris





One specific place is the catacombs.  Up until recently, I never really cared if I got to visit France.  Sure I knew about the Eiffel Tower, but I didn't really care. Then I read Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and was immediately intrigued.  Other books I've read that make me rethink my decision to go to Paris are Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and Die for Me by Amy Plum.

3.  Poland/Germany





I don't know if it was from studying World War II and the Holocaust in school, or from reading The Diary of Anne Frank, but I really want to go visit those places and just see.  For one thing, in the pictures of Anne Frank's hiding place that I saw in Anne Frank:  Beyond the Diary, I am just completely shocked that they weren't found sooner. I know this is kind of a depressing place to want to visit, but it is something that I want to do one day before I die.  I feel it is something very important and worth seeing to commemorate those who died.

4.  New Orleans




Now, I have read a lot of books set in or around New Orleans.  And while of course I want to visit Bourbon street and that kind of stuff, one place in particular I'd like to go is the cemeteries, especially the one where the voodoo queen is supposed to be.  Books that have made me want to see the haunted side of New Orleans include Ruined and the other books in that series by Paula Morris,  as well as the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (although to be honest I saw the first season of the tv series before I read the books.)

5. Maine




Because of probably every single book of Stephen King's, and how they're set in Maine, I want to visit the state some day.  And how cool would it be to go by his house as pictured above?

6.  Ireland




I don't know that it was a book that first made me want to go here, especially to see the Blarney stone, which is near the Blarney House pictured above.. I think it was probably a combination of movies, and just hearing and loving the Irish accent.  I kind of want to go just in hopes of finding and falling in love with a cute Irish guy.  One of my favorite authors, Sarah Rees Brennan, is from Ireland, and when I told her my hope of finding an Irish guy, she joked and said maybe she'd introduce me to one of her brothers.  I'd list two books that specifically make me want to go to Ireland.  First is Scarlett, by Alexandra Ripley, the unofficial sequel to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  The 2nd one is Herself by Leslie Carroll.

7. London/England
-->



So the first picture is the Tower of London, where Anne Boleyn was held, and also where many beheadings took place.  There are several books that have made me want to visit this part of London:  Transcendence by CJ Omololu, The Missing Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  The 2nd picture is a make believe place from the book Austenland by Shannon Hale.  I think it would be so much fun to go somewhere where you had to dress and act and eat like people from that time period.  

8.  Laura Ingalls Wilder homes
 




I loved the tv show Little House on the Prairie, but never read the books.  By the time I "discovered" them, I was really too old to read them.  I tried to, they were just so simple that I was bored quickly.  But I still would love to take a summer and travel the country and see them.  I've visited the one in Missouri.  Above are the one in Kansas, Wisconsin, and finally Minnesota, Walnut Grove that I remember the town in the tv show was named.  Besides the tv show making me want to go there, I also read The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure.  

9.  Jurassic Park





Okay, I've always been fascinated by dinosaurs.  So if there was a real Jurassic Park, where they really had control of the dinosaurs, I'd be all over that!

10.  Area 51




Another thing I've been fascinated with is UFOs and aliens.  There are many, many books that talk about Area 51, as well as movies and tv shows, but there are two main books that sparked my interest, Strangers by Dean Koontz, and (obviously) the Area 51 series by Robert Doherty.

Those are my top ten places I want to visit.  Where would you go after reading some of your favorite books?