I Can Travel Just By Sitting Still And Reading

“There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away…”

– Emily Dickinson

Hello there! Today I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their weekly feature, Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s prompt is “top ten places – real or fictional – that books have made you want to visit.”

Also known as THE BEST TOP TEN TUESDAY PROMPT EVER.

I don’t know about you, but “traveling” through books is one of my favoritest things in life. I open a book and am instantly transported to another place/time. Words are magical, people.

And very, very good books make me want to visit some of their settings for real… so if I had a TARDIS (that could travel in and out of books as well as anywhere in space and time), these are the ten locations I’d visit first.

1. Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York
(The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan)

I thought this place sounded SO COOL when I was twelve, and I still feel that way! Sure, it has a beautiful setting, bizarre training arenas (lava-covered climbing walls, anyone?), and unique cabins dedicated to each Greek god and goddess – but none of those things are what I love most about this place.

I love Camp Half-Blood because it feels like… like home, I guess. It just feels safe, and peaceful, and it’s filled with loads of awesome people.

There are actually real-life versions of the camp (and its Roman equivalent, Camp Jupiter) hosted by book-loving nerds, but they are either A) located far away from where I live or B) only for kids. (And not kids at heart.) THIS MAKES ME HAVE ALL THE SADS.

2. The Coldtown in Springfield, Illinois
(The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black)

In Black’s book, Coldtowns are walled cities in which vampires are quarantined… and most of the story takes place in Springfield’s Coldtown. It’s a dangerous place, and yet somehow alluring. I guess I like risks. Who knew?

3. Shadow City, New York City, New York
(The Kiki Strike series by Kirsten Miller)

Tunnels under NYC? Yes.

Tunnels that lead to decades-old abandoned hiding places? YES.

Tunnels and people (AKA Kiki and her posse) to explore them with? OH MY GOD YES.

4. Narnia
(The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis)

When I was little, I was very disappointed that I had only a boring closet and not a wardrobe. How else is one supposed to get to Narnia?! (Well, through paintings or by being summoned by Susan’s horn, I suppose. But those aren’t nearly as cool, right?) I swear, someday I’ll buy a wardrobe and sit in it for hours, hoping that it’ll take me to Narnia… where I’d visit Cair Paravel and then sail eastward on the Dawn Treader.

5. Westeros
(The A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin)

I PROMISE, THIS CHOICE ISN’T AS WEIRD AS IT SOUNDS. I would only go there if there were some sort of guarantee that I wouldn’t die a brutal death. Or die at all whilst there, actually.

Because underneath all that blood and gore and backstabbing (sometimes literally!), it really is a beautiful place. I’d love to visit Dorne, and Winterfell, and Highgarden, and the “Dothraki sea.” I want to meet queens and see dragons flying and eat the little lemon cakes.

6. Dublin, Ireland
(The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy)

I am ENAMORED of this series at the moment, and I want to see where it’s set! And if I could I’d see the Sanctuary, but I can’t because… it’s made up. Sigh. Being a bookworm is very disappointing sometimes.

7. Henrietta, Virginia
(The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater)

I thought this was a real place, but now I’m not actually 100% sure! There is definitely a Henrietta in West Virginia, but the series is pretty clearly set in just plain Virginia. So. I’m not sure if I could ever go there for real but if I can, I will. In the books it’s described as this tiny, sleepy town set in the beautiful foothills.

8. The Underland, via the Central Park entrance in New York City
(The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins)

MORE STUFF BENEATH NYC! But very different stuff, actually. Like gigantic talking rats, and people who fly around on ginormous bats, and enormous cities built of stone. Why visit Panem when you visit the Underland?

9. New Beijing, China
(The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer)

I just really really really want to see what a dystopian Earth would look like… especially in some place that’s not the USA, because I’ve read way too many YA dystopians that are set there. So I’d like to see New Beijing! I’d imagine that the architecture would be quite different in the future, and there’s so much new technology, and there’s ROBOTS.

10. Alabaster Preparatory School, New York
(The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart)

Why are so many of these places located in New York?!

Anyway, I’d like to visit this (fictional) academy because it has old buildings and tunnels leading EVERYWHERE (I like tunnels, don’t I?) and secret societies. Also, it is inhabited by the brilliant Frankie Landau-Banks, which is always a plus.

-~-

Which bookish locations would you love to visit? And are they real or fictional? I’d love to know!