The past few years on my former blog, Bookworm Brandee, I enjoyed doing a “look back at the year” and sharing my favorites. So I asked Lexxie if we could continue the tradition here and to join me in listing favorites. We hope you enjoy reading about some of our favorites and we’d be happy to hear about any of yours!
This post is all about Worlds/Settings! Here are my favorites for this year:
- Maico, North Carolina, where the Wahyas of Walker’s Run reside. This series by Kristal Hollis has a great small-town feel along with some unique mythology for her wolf shifters.
- Although I’ve only listened to Darkness Dawns so far, Dianne Duvall has created a fascinating world and mythology in her Immortal Guardians series.
- Denver, Colorado, is the setting for Kristen Ashley’s Chaos series and her Rock Chick series. Since it’s close to home, I enjoyed every minute I spent in these worlds where I’m familiar with restaurants and grocery stores, etc.
- Post-apocalyptic San Francisco is the setting for Susan Ee’s End of Days and her gritty, violent description of this world vividly conveyed the surroundings, circumstances, and situations Penryn had to fight through.
- The Lakeside Courtyard is home to Meg Corbyn, Simon Wolfgard, and the Others in Anne Bishop’s Murder of Crows. The Others series is creatively built, inhabited by fascinating characters, with a compelling mythology.
Here are Lexxie’s favorite World/Settings for 2018:
Yeah, once again, I’m copying off of Brandee’s list… she’s right, though, these places are just awesome!
- Denver Colorado for a lot of Kristen Ashley’s books. I went to Denver for the first time last summer – both for Book Bonanza and to spend some time with Brandee and her family. And I had a great time, it’s beautiful both in Denver and around in the small towns up in the mountains.
- San Fransisco and its environs are the setting for Jill Shalvis’ Heartbreaker Bay series, and I want to go visit San Fransisco now!
- North Carolina is the setting for Sawyer Bennett’s Cold Fury Hockey series, and I don’t know if it’s the setting or the hot hockey players, but I just love everything about this series.
- Sarina Bowen’s True North series is set in Vermont, and I feel like I know some of the small towns her characters live in. They may not exist in the real world, but they are real to me!
Do you have favorite settings or worlds for books you read in 2018? Do we have any in common?
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
I’ve never seen this Best of list done before, but I love it. Yes, there are some worlds and settings that came alive for me through books. I totally want to live in Carol Van Natta’s Central Galactic Concordance series back drop in a futuristic sci-fi world grabbed me this year, but I totally would love to live in any small town that Carolyn Brown creates.
I’m happy you like the list, Sophia. I wanted to do something a little different when I created these Best Of lists. I’ve not read Van Natta but I completely agree with you on Brown. 😉
I am so in love with everything about the True North series, but VT definitely gets shown off by Bowen. You can tell how much she loves that state.
I can’t wait to binge on the series. 🙂
I do love your setting list that you have here guys. I would love to see San Francisco, and I don’t live too far away from Colorado so I would love to see Denver soon.
Ooh, I hope you’ll come to Colorado sometime. I’d love to meet you! 🙂
Twitter: Mlsimmons
I love the world that Anne Bishop created too. I would also add, Kit Rocha’s Sectors (Beyond series and Gideon’s Rider series), DFZ (Heartstrikers by Rachel Aaron) and Year One by Nora Roberts. Happy New Years
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
All those series are on my TBR. Just need time to work them in. 😉 Hope your 2019 is off to a good start!
I love books set in European places – Ireland, Scotland, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Spain…
Those are some of my favorites as well, Davida. 🙂
This is such a cool idea of a best of list! San Francisco is such a cool city and I definitely recommend visiting it!
Thanks! I’ve been to San Fran a few times. It is a neat city!
Twitter: Northwomn
I love to read some books about North Carolina since I live here (I see you chose NC also) and MInnesota or Iowa as I have lived there also. But I have been to every state except Alaska so I like to read about many more. In fact, I went to 29 states on my Harley in 2014 so somewhat recently for more than half those states. (although I had been to most of them before and since)
I also love stories set in England / Ireland where I have never been. I’ve been to almost all the rest of Europe but not there. So that’s high on my list of places I want to travel.
And I don’t want to live in JD Robb’s In Death series NYC. I like real food and apparently unless you’re wealthy like Roarke it’s crap food. Anne – Books of My Heart
You are quite the traveler, Anne! I wish I’d seen as much of the world as you have. 🙂 England and Ireland are high on my bucket list. I’m going to Europe for the first time in about 2 months – to visit Lexxie. 😀
Twitter: Mollykatie112
I love Duvall’s Immortal Guardian world as well. Bishop’s Lakeside Court yard was fantastic too. My favorite world to visit is, of course, Dannika Dark’s Breed world. Great lists!
I didn’t even think of the Breed world, Lorna – it’s definitely one of my favorite settings as well 🙂
Oh, Dark’s Breed world is definitely a favorite of mine, Lorna. 🙂
Totally agree with Bishop’s worldbuilding in The Others series! Every time I read one of those book I felt like I was right there at the Lakeside Courtyard. She’s a master at creating a rich, belieavable world.
And Bowen’s True North series… between the Shipley farm, and the weekend markets, and the small town feel, I’m dying to go to Vermont and see it all for myself. 🙂
I’m glad you agree about Lakeside, Tanya. And you’re making me even more eager to binge on Bowen! 😉
Duvall is one I still need to try. hers always sound so fun 🙂