Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

What books are you reading in this category? Where is your hometown? If there are not any books set directly in your hometown I think it's fine to read one set in the surrounding area as well.

I will definitely be hitting the library for this one lol. Other than that, no ideas yet lol.

Since Tallinn (Estonia) is my hometown, my book for this category will be The Compromise

I've lived in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area longer than anywhere else so I can probably find a David Baldacci or John Grisham book.

Looking to go historical on this one. Living on the shores of Lake Huron. We have had many authors write about the great storm of 1913 and we had a month long commemorative celebration last November... so I think I will delve into local authors/historians at the library.

Ann wrote: "What books are you reading in this category? Where is your hometown? If there are not any books set directly in your hometown I think it's fine to read one set in the surrounding area as well."

I was considering Tomorrow when the war began, It is set in Australia. But it's not my home town or any surrounding areas near my home town... Can this still be included?

I was considering Tomorrow when the war began, It is set in Australia. But it's not my home town or any surrounding areas near my home town... Can this still be included?

I think I'm going to go for one set in my home country rather than town. It's hard enough finding one set in Wales, never mind a specific area!

I'll be reading the Hundred and One Dalmations, as it's partially set in Suffolk, the county I'm from, I've got no chance finding a book actually set in my town!

There is actually a book set in my tiny city. It's called In Summons to the Past by Christopher T Yarbrough.

There are no books set in my hometown. I'm just going to pick a book set in the city where I was born: Boston :)

Heidi wrote: I think I'm going to go for one set in my home country rather than town. It's hard enough finding one set in Wales, never mind a specific area! "

Maybe this might help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category... or https://www.goodreads.com/places/1118...

Jana wrote: "Heidi wrote: I think I'm going to go for one set in my home country rather than town. It's hard enough finding one set in Wales, never mind a specific area! "

Maybe this might help: http://en.wik..."

Thanks for these! I didn't realise Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was set in Wales. I'll be reading that!

I grew up on New Orleans, but I live in Melbourne so I'm not really sure yet which "hometown" I'm going to use. I have a good number of choices for both.

Since I live in an obscure town no one's ever heard of I'll count anything set in western Europe.

I live in the suburbs and there is nothing here, but I chose an author who was born in my town and the setting is about 45 minutes away. Close enough for me!

I'm reading Jalna by Mazo de la Roche (it was apparently really popular when it was first published?)

Maarten wrote: "Since I live in an obscure town no one's ever heard of I'll count anything set in western Europe."

Anything set in western Europe seems too big of an area IMHO. Try to find some books from your home country... We can always help you ;)

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy.

My home town is tiny with a population of 535. Our claim to fame is having a house that was part of the Underground Railroad. I think my best bet is reading a book that mentions the town. I already checked with the local librarian and she showed me a few books that mention my town. I'm looking forward to reading more about my town's involvement with helping slaves to freedom.

I read "Hello from the Gillespies" by Monica McInerney as I grew up in country South Australia and spent a lot of time in Adelaide

I am reading half of a yellow sun it is set in Nigeria

I'm struggling with this category. I have been living in Georgia for the last 5-6 years, but lived in New York City for the majority of my life. I feel like my hometown is NYCTF, but wonder if I should read about Georgia considering my kids are growing up here.

Any thoughts?

There are no books set in the town where I grew up, but I found one set in the next city - which is where the hospital I was born in is. So I'll be reading A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff.

I'm going to be reading Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan

there aren't any books set fully in my hometown but there is a book where a chapter takes place there so i'm going for that.

I am having a hard time finding a book for this category! I currently live near Syracuse, NY, but I grew up in a small suburban town in Union County, NJ. I can't ask any local friends for ideas since I'm not in my home town now. I thought I could find a book at least set in my home town county, but no luck, so far. So I expanded the search to books set in NJ. Union County happens to be right across the river from NYC, and a bit south of. Newark. A lot of mafia books. :-( Of course there is the Evanovich / Stephanie Plum series set in Trenton, but that's the other side of the state. I found some books set in Newark, and I may have to settle on one of those, but I wish I could find something more suburban.

I vacation every summer for a few weeks on Long Beach Island in NJ, and I do have a mystery called Wrong Beach Island that I started but never finished ... And while that is an area I'm happily familiar with, it's not where I grew up, so not sure if I'm happy with that choice.

Any other ideas of where I can search?

Nadine wrote: "I am having a hard time finding a book for this category! I currently live near Syracuse, NY, but I grew up in a small suburban town in Union County, NJ. I can't ask any local friends for ideas sin..."

Well "Chasing Dogma" the comic series is set in NJ if that helps.

Winter's Bone


This book takes place in the Ozarks (MO) which is in the same vicinity as my hometown.

I'm from Rochester NY and every time I google that I get Jane Eyre which I don't think counts :).

Any suggestions? I might just have to go with a New York or Western New York based book.

Are people interpreting home town as where they're currently living, or their birth town?

The city I consider my hometown is a really small city in South Carolina (Aiken). I was really surprised to find there are a few books set there. Thanks, Google!!

Jules wrote: "Are people interpreting home town as where they're currently living, or their birth town?"

I interpret it as the place you most call 'home'. So if you were born in Chicago but only lived there for a year then moved to Phoenix and lived there the rest of your life I think Phoenix fits the prompt better. Conversely, if you were born in Chicago, grew up there and moved at some point but you still think of Chicago at home then I think you use Chicago. If you are a military family or someone who moved a lot during your life and the place you are residing in now feels most like home, I'd choose that. Does that make any sense. That's how I interpreted the prompt.

Although I don't think I have much room to give advise since I was born and raised right were I'm living now. Unfortunately there aren't many books set in my home town since it's pretty small. I am just a 30 minute drive to Glacier National Park, though, and I know there are many stories set there. I think I'm going to use that.

My hometown has 1400 people in it so I read a book about the city I currently live in which is Nashville.

Check out the Food Lovers Village books by Leslie Budewitz. They are set in a fictionalized Big Fork and include references to a fictionalized Kalispell. There are 2 so far and the third in the series is due out in the summer. I met her in Big Fork last summer. She is worth supporting as a local author.

As I live in a very small community in Nova Scotia there are no books set either here or in the town I was born in. So I read Not Suitable for Family Viewing by Vicki Grant for this prompt. The story takes place in Nova Scotia however it is a fictional community. Many of the setting characteristics as well as the last names the author uses and the accents described fit the way of life in the town I was born in down on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. It was an interesting interpretation on an outsider coming in and experiencing the way of life in a small Nova Scotian rural community.

I grew up in london but everything (and everyone) I love are in Sydney. Home is were the heart is!

I live in Glencolmcille Co.Donegal Ireland. I didn't have a lot to choose from but my mother in law has a cousin who is an author...Patrick Mc Ginley, he was born and raised here and now lives in Kent in England. A couple of years ago he wrote about his growing up in Glencolmcille. Normally I wouldn't be a fan of factual books, but because I recognized a lot of the characters and all of the places he mentions I thoroughly enjoyed That Unearthly Valley: A Donegal Childhood ..

As i live in a small city near Vienna and was also born there and lived there for a year. I will go with a book set in Vienna. It is also only a 15 Minutes train ride from where i live. Does anyone have a recommandation for me?

I live in one of the smallest towns in Louisiana where most people have never heard of even in the surrounding areas. I think I'm going to go with Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice for this one. I live close to New Orleans, and parts of the movie were filmed at a plantation that is in the same parish I live in. I've also visited that plantation many times when I was growing up.

Angela wrote: "As i live in a small city near Vienna and was also born there and lived there for a year. I will go with a book set in Vienna. It is also only a 15 Minutes train ride from where i live. Does anyone..."

I have not read this yet but how about Death In Vienna by Frank Tallis. It's a historical mystery if you read that genre.

Melanie wrote: "I have not read this yet but how about Death In Vienna by Frank Tallis. It's a historical mystery if you read that genre. "

Thank you! I will definitely check this out.

My hometown is Lincoln, Nebraska. I'll be reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Or possibly The Underworld Sewer: A Prostitute Reflects on Life in the Trade, 1871-1909 by Josie Washburn.

I unexpectedly ended up with We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist. It's not 100% in my hometown (I live in a tiny Virginia town that no one cares about) but a good chunk of the book takes place in Harrisonburg, which is pretty close. I figure that's as close as I'm going to get, so I'll take it.

I'm reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson for my hometown book. It's not my hometown but it's 30 minutes from me so it's probably the closest I'm going to get. No one's going to write a book set in my tiny bit of country, after all.

I read River of Darkness by Rennie Airth. It's set in the countryside outside the town of Guildford in Surrey where I live and was a very good read.

I may try to read The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town in Terror

This link might help. It has links to books listed by State.
http://www.themodernnovel.com/lists/t...

I am reading the Spanish edition of USMAÍL by Pedro Juan Soto.

I was born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia. TONS of history in that area! Civil war battlefields all over the place. George Washington's birthplace, the site of Stonewall Jackson's shooting and death.

I can't find much though! I know Patricia Cornwall's Scarpetta series is based in Richmond (50 miles south) so I could sub one of those if I had to, but I know there has to be a decent book based in Fredericksburg.

I suppose I could read a biography of George Washington. Any other suggestions?

I plan on reading Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs for this one.

Does hometown imply the town you were born or the town where you grew up? Does anyone know of any books that take place in Abington, Pennsylvania? Or anywhere around Philadelphia?