Top Ten Tuesday

This week's TTT theme at Broke and Bookish is "places books made us want to visit."

The very first book to pop into my head was:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. The fictional island of Thisby is a character in this memorable book. I've read it both with my eyes and ears and look forward to reading it again. The audiobook has music composed and performed by the multitalented author.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. For some reason, I have to work so hard to read Marchetta's books but they always, always pay off in the end with memorable characters and strong settings. 

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Another vivid worldbuilder, Taylor's descriptions of Prague made me feel I was there. Ditto the otherworldly, Elsewhere.

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I've always wanted to visit Venice anyway but I really loved the setting here.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. I just adored the worldbuilding in the debut. I just found out that there's a sequel coming in March of 2015! Holy moly, I just went back to my post on the book and found that I mis-named the author. Head-desk.

The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Beginning with The False Prince right through the concluding, Shadow Throne, the kingdom of Carthya was real in my mind's eye.

The Raven Boys Tby Maggie Stiefvater. Raven Boys series #1. I so want to visit Blue's house, have tea with her aunts, and hang out in Henrietta, Virginia and Aglionby Academy.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia. Even though I found the story to be a bit overwrought in the end, I was captivated by Gatlin County and its environs. Very atmospheric.

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan. Speaking of atmospheric, that was the word I used to describe this ghost story set in Ireland in the 1970s in my post about it. 

For my tenth place, I give a two way tie to worlds of The Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter, with LOTR having a slight edge.