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There are many aspects of a book that may appeal to readers, and my favorite is setting. I look for books with a strong sense of place as these atmospheric reads can transport readers to new, fun, or familiar places and add to the reading journey. I personally enjoy books with a strong nature setting, but there are also armchair travel books and books that feature the setting like a character. Having a setting that is integral to the story can draw in many readers to these titles. Some people enjoy reading books that take place in locations they are travelling to or want to dream of places they have yet to go. Whatever the reason, immersive books are perfect for summer trips- real or literary.
Books you should know about
The Wanderer’s Curse by Jennifer Hope Choi
A daughter enamored (at first) with New York and a mother moving from place to place until they come together in South Carolina. This memoir is about mothers and daughters, but the desire to wander and the impact of places on people highlight the various settings.
From the publisher: One of Condé Nast Traveler’s 11 Best Books of Spring
A Korean mother runs off to Alaska, sparking a greater season of wandering. Could her daughter be destined for the same?
When Jennifer Hope Choi first stumbled upon the “curse” known as yeokmasal—an allegedly inheritable affliction causing one to roam farther and farther from home—she immediately consulted her mother. “Oh yeah,” Umma quipped. “I have that.” Technically this wasn’t a revelation. Since 2007, the no-nonsense open-heart surgery nurse had moved suddenly from the Golden State to the Last Frontier, shuttling over the next decade through seven states.
For much of her adulthood, Choi had fancied herself nothing like her immigrant mother, late-blooming vagabond spirit and all—until life in Brooklyn imploded, spurring her to relocate to South Carolina and reckon with startling truths. Artmaking had left her in debt, single, and jobless. Questions hovered, gathering ragged like fractus clouds: Was it time to give up writing? Would she ever have a place of her own to call home? Or was she doomed to bunk up with Umma in the Deep South indefinitely?
This probing memoir follows Choi through her many former homes, from a crumbling Chinatown tenement to a haunted museum in Georgia. Connections emerge, between her curious trajectory and idiosyncratic Korean identity narratives: a mystical Korean dog breed, pro golfers, modern Korean cults, the four pillars of destiny, and Korean American art. One question lingers throughout her search: What might be gained from living in residence with uncertainty?
Told with whip-smart sensibility, The Wanderer’s Curse is an electric mother-daughter story, exploring ideas of belonging, self-determination, and possibility, leaving readers to wonder what we take with us generation to generation, what we wish we could leave behind, and how we move on.
Heartwood by Amity Gaige
The Appalachian trail is a destination all its own and this book focuses on the Maine section of the trail. Told from various perspectives, the impression of the trail and the Maine wilderness brings a unique experience to see the setting from differing points of view.
From the publisher: In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.
At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.
Heartwood is a “gem of a thousand facets—suspenseful, transporting, tender, and ultimately soul-mending,” (Megan Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning) that tells the story of a lost hiker’s odyssey and is a moving rendering of each character’s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.
The Couples Trip by Ulf Kvensler
The wilderness abroad. Experience the mountains of Sweden in this twisty thriller that delves into adventure across unique landscapes.
From the publisher: Two couples set out together on a hiking trip that goes terrifyingly wrong in this addictive psychological thriller for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.
Anna, Henrik and Milena’s annual hiking trip is just around the corner. This year, however, Anna and Henrik have a hard time saying no when Milena asks if her boyfriend, Jacob, can tag along. The hike soon spirals into mayhem when the three friends come to realize that taking Jacob was a decision that could change their lives forever.
>From the austere mountaintops of northern Sweden, this highly anticipated thriller traverses through the unexplored wilderness—here, there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson
Escape to the Caribbean for a fun read full of beaches and laughs. Not everything is sunny at this destination wedding, but even if people can get ugly, the scenery is beautiful.
From the publisher: A hilariously offbeat and tender comedy about one bipolar woman’s messy search for love at a seaside wedding where no one can stay afloat.
Is she falling in love, or falling apart?
Dee, Misa, and Matt were the “three musketeers” of the psych ward. A year after discharge, Dee is eager to convince everyone that she’s finally turning things around. But Matt and Misa are tying the knot in Turks and Caicos, surrounded by guests who have no idea where they met, and the secrecy isn’t sitting well with Dee, who has been hopelessly in love with Matt since before she got kicked out of the hospital.
>So, when Dee arrives at the swanky resort with her high-voltage sister, Tilley, it’s now or never to confess how she feels. But disrupting her best friends’ nuptials would jeopardize the entire support system that holds the trio together. When it comes to happily ever afters, how is a girl supposed to choose between love and recovery?
Beartooth by Callan Wink
Explore the wild west in this harrowing tale of survival of everyday life living off the land. Atmospheric descriptions of nature and off-the-grid life are truly transportive.
From the publisher: Two brothers in dire straits, living on the edge of Yellowstone, agree to a desperate act of survival in this taut, propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Peter Heller and Donald Ray Pollock.
In an aging, timber house hand-built into the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, two brothers are struggling to keep up with their debts. They live off the grid, on the fringe of Yellowstone, surviving off the wild after the death of their father. Thad, the elder, is more capable of engaging with things like the truck registration, or the medical bills they can’t afford from their father’s fatal illness, or the tax lien on the cabin their grandfather built, while Hazen is . . . different, more instinctual, deeply in tune with the natural world. Desperate for money, they are approached by a shadowy out-of-towner with a dangerous proposition that will change both of their lives forever. Beartooth is a fast-paced tale with moments of surprising poignancy set in the grandeur of the American West. Evoking the timeless voices of American pastoral storytelling, this is a bracing, masterful novel about survival, revenge, and the bond between brothers.
The Catch Me If You Can by Jessica Nabongo
Covering the entire globe, this travelogue has it all. The stories are little glimpses into big adventures and the photos help highlight these top trips.
From the publisher: In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo—the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world—shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.
It was a daunting task, but Jessica Nabongo, the beloved voice behind the popular website The Catch Me if You Can, made it happen, completing her journey to all 195 UN-recognized countries in the world in October 2019. Now, in this one-of-a-kind memoir, she reveals her top 100 destinations from her global adventure.
Beautifully illustrated with many of Nabongo’s own photographs, the book documents her remarkable experiences in each country, including:
- A harrowing scooter accident in Nauru, the world’s least visited country,
- Seeing the life and community swarming around the Hazrat Ali Mazar mosque in Afghanistan,
- Horseback riding and learning to lasso with Black cowboys in Oklahoma,
- Playing dominoes with men on the streets of Havana,
- Learning to make traditional takoyaki (octopus balls) from locals in Japan,
- Dog sledding in Norway and swimming with humpback whales in Tonga,
- A late night adventure with strangers to cross a border in Guinea Bissau, And sunbathing on the sandy shores of Los Roques in Venezuela.
Along with beloved destinations like Peru and South Africa, you’ll also find tales from far-flung corners and seldom visited destinations, including Tuvalu, North Korea, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. Nabongo’s stories are love letters to diversity, beauty, and culture—and most of all, to the people she meets along the way. Throughout, she offers bucket-list experiences for other travel-lovers looking to follow in her footsteps.
For armchair travelers or readers planning a trip around the globe, this arresting collection will awe and inspire!
Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent
New places often mean new foods. In this rom com, explore Italy and its cuisine. The setting is beautiful, and the food described is mouthwatering!
From the publisher: Olive Stone is about to spend four weeks in Italy with the most beautiful man she’s ever hated.
>When Olive Stone and her Italian pseudo-celebrity chef father fell out fourteen years ago, annoyingly handsome Leo Ricci slipped right in as his surrogate son and sous-chef. No one is more surprised than Olive when her father wills her his beloved (and now failing) restaurant. Or that his dying wish was for Olive and Leo to complete his cookbook…together.
She’s determined to sell the restaurant. Leo is determined to convince her not to. As they embark on four weeks in Italy, traveling from Sicily to Tuscany to Liguria, they’ll test each other as often as they test recipes. But the more time Olive and Leo spend together, the more undeniable their attraction grows. Olive finds herself wondering whether selling the restaurant might be running away, and what it might be like to try Just One Taste of Leo Ricci. Because he isn’t who she expected, and this trip might reveal more about who Olive is than she’s ready for.
Capture the Moment by Suzanne Woods Fisher
The wonder of national parks is captured here as a photographer sets out to obtain the perfect picture of a favored bear.
From the publisher: She’s ready for adventure—isn’t she?
Kate Cunningham is facing the opportunity of a lifetime. As a zoo photographer, she’s spent years photographing animals in carefully controlled environments, but now National Geographic has dangled an irresistible prize: If Kate can snag a unique photo of a legendary bear in Grand Teton National Park, they just might publish it. It’s the kind of challenge Kate has been waiting for, and she’s eager to prove herself in the wild.
With more enthusiasm than experience, Kate soon realizes that capturing an image of this bear isn’t as simple as she hoped. Fortunately, she crosses paths with Grant Cooper, a seasonal park ranger who knows the terrain—and the bears—better than anyone. His tracking skills could be exactly what Kate needs to succeed, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes. But they’re not the only ones with an interest in the park’s most famous bear. And his motives are far from innocent.
Finding Normal by Jen Doktorski
A fun endeavor to find normal for two struggling teens becomes more about the journey than the destination in this endearing road trip tale.
From the publisher: There are five towns in the U.S. named ” Normal” and seventeen-year-old Gemma Leonardo plans on visiting every one of them. Right after she escapes Children’ s Hospital in Harrisburg, where she’ s being treated for anorexia. Enter Lucas Polizzi, a high school wrestler with bulimia and, more importantly to Gemma, a getaway car. Sick of being told they’re sick, Gemma and Lucas team up for a themed road trip to “the Normals” on one condition— they can’t mention food, ever. But as each passing mile puts their lives at greater risk, they soon realize it is their growing love and friendship, not a place on a map, that will put them on the path to recovery.
Sea Legs by Jules Bakes, Niki Smith
This graphic novel set at sea brings the unique and beautiful experience of boat living to life with amazing art and fun adventures.
From the publisher: Set sail for adventure! Dive in to this hilarious and moving middle grade graphic memoir about friendship, growing up, and life at sea.
Janey’s family is about to set sail for the adventure of a lifetime! The only problem? Janey must leave her school, her life, her best friend, the entire country behind for new adventures – coral reefs, colorful markets, and new cultures. Life at sea is exhilarating, but there’s a major downside: when you’re raising anchor every few days with sights on a new harbor, it’s almost impossible to make new friends.
Finally, Janey meets the cool and aloof Astrid – a fellow boat kid who’s equally starved for friendship. But Astrid can be a challenging friend to navigate, and beyond that, hurricane season has only just begun . . . .
At turns laugh-out-loud hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant, this stunning graphic memoir charts both the turbulence and joys of growing up.
If you’re interested in exploring more titles that center around setting, you can explore our full Readers’ Advisory Lists
Must-Watch Films
Into the Wild, 2007
From the studio: After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) abandoned his possessions, donated his entire savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.
New York, I Love You, 2008
From the Studio: In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come to life in NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU – a collaboration of storytelling from some of today’s most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast.
A little Extra something
Support your community by diversifying your Libby offerings with Libby Extras. Today we’re highlighting Learn it Live.
Learn It Live offers live and on-demand classes, quick tip videos, and programs for wellness and personal development.
Test run Libby Extras to see how each service can entertain and educate your patrons.
Thank you for joining us on this week’s round up of scenic materials! Reach out to your Digital Content Librarian or Account Manager for more information on how to provide the best content for your community.
| About the author: Tori has worked in academic libraries, archives, and public libraries in various roles. Now at OverDrive, she helps public libraries build and highlight their digital collections. Outside of work and reading, she enjoys hiking, gardening, wildlife photography, and planning trips to national parks. Tori is always happy to discuss all the books with strong nature settings! |