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the settings of a book....

I read tons of books set in the UK. I absolutely adore British mysteries!

I don't seek out books set in places I've been but if I do read one, then it better be accurate. One of my book clubs read a mystery set in Door County WI (the skinny thumb of WI that separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan) and the plot was so preposterous for the area that not one person liked the book. On the other hand, when we lived in the Detroit area, I loved reading the William Kienzle Father Koesler mysteries because the author accurately used well-known Detroit metro area landmarks.
 
I must admit I've never thought of this. Now that I think of it, most "places" from books start looking the "same" if I can't picture it. What a vivid imagination I have, eh? :rofl

I only read books that aren't bogged down in details (Maeve Binchey - Gaah!!!). If my eyes start to cross, I stop reading, mostly because I've too little spare time to read something that's giving me a headache.
 
cookingmylife said:
I will read most any book set in the UK because unless it is set in a very specific place I know backwards and forwards, I won't spot some setting mistake. I did read a set of crime mysteries recently that had me googling a word ever 3rd page or so. I haven't had that happen in a long time. In the past I read as many books set in Washington DC as I could and when they got a street wrong I'd be furious. Do your homework! I'm a little more tolerant these days but haven't found many novels currently set in DC. Any suggestions?
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Have you read The Camel Club series by David Baldacci, Maureen? They're set in Washington DC as are some of the Vince Flynn thrillers (I've only read a couple).
 
I love to read books that are set in places I've visited. I usually don't remember enough details to be annoyed by any discrepancies, but love being able to visualize the general ambience of the location.
 
Jane, I haven't read the Camel Club series but I will look for them. I've just about exhausted what our libraries have of international crime books. boohoo... I have read a great many of the Vince Flynn ones and regret his death quite a bit. Fortunately, I have about half of his to read. For me they are perfect vacation books or airline books.
 
cookingmylife said:
@bonnenuit Can you suggest some of the British mystery series you've liked?
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Sure!
Historical Mysteries:
Anne Perry - Thomas & Charlotte Pitt series, William Monk series
Charles Todd - Ian Rutledge series (I haven't read these yet, hope to start them this year, but they are very highly recommended.)

Lighter mysteries/Humorous mysteries:
Susan Wittig Albert - Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter
Nancy Atheron - Aunt Dimity series
Alan Bradley - Flavia DeLuce books
Dorothy Cannell - Ellie Haskell series

British Police Procedurals (vary in intensity of crime/gore)
Deborah Crombie - Kincaid & James series
Elizabeth George - Inspector Lynley series
P.D. James - Adam Dalgleish series
Peter Robinson - Inspector Banks series
Dorothy Simpson - Inspector Thanet series

British Private Detective:
Robert Galbraith - Cormoran Strike series (Galbraith is a pen name of JK Rowling)

Psychological Thrillers (can be quite intense)
Stand alone books by Minette Walters
 
Here's a few more to add to your list, @cookingmylife

Historical Mysteries
C.J.Sansom - Matthew Shardlake set in Tudor London
Jacqueline Winspear - Maisie Dobbs set in the early 20th Century

Val McDermid - Tony Hill & Carol Jordan
Peter James - Roy Grace plus stand alone novels
Ian Rankin - Inspector Rebus (set in Scotland
Susan Hill - Simon Serrailler

Psychological Thrillers
Nicci French - stand alone
 
I've realized that settings are less of a factor to me but languages and accents are!

Now that I've started listening to audiobooks I do find it very important that the accents fits the story. I'm listening to The Earth Children right now and I could choose either an US or UK accent. As the book is set in Europe of course I want the UK accent. My last book: the other way around. It really helps me get into the story. If I read books myself, I read out loud in my head. And I always read with different accents. Is that weird?

This might be why All The Light We Cannot See was so annoying to read for me. Because the French and German wasn't used right. For some things they used the German words, for other (imo much more logical) things not.
It's also one of the reasons why I started reading in English: because if a book is written in a certain language, it is so much better to read it in that language. Some jokes or references are not translatable or are just forgotten. So if they want to write about a certain country, they have to at least use the right language and phrases and stuff. Because if I notice those mistakes, it annoys me sooooo much.

(I've always been interested in weird religious, cult-like groups so I've read many books on those themes. I've just bought Beyond Belief, about the Scientology church. I've also had a little obsession with Amish novels for a while, because it's just SO DIFFERENT! and I always liked it when they used typical Pensylvanian Deutsch in there. Because it fit. And it was right. And it made the story more alive. Anyhow. Ok. Bye.)
 
berniek said:
It really helps me get into the story. If I read books myself, I read out loud in my head. And I always read with different accents. Is that weird?
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lol i hope it's not weird cos i do it too ;) my kids also do it when they read aloud - wonder where they get that from?! :whistle
 
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