Top Ten Tuesday: Settings I'd like to see more of

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, they will post a topic on their blog that the participants draw up their on top ten list for.


Today's topic is about settings we'd like to see more of, or at all.

I actually had to think about this quite a bit. The list I came up with is about settings I'd like to read more of, which I think makes a difference because quite often there are plenty books already out there, I just haven't gotten to them yet.

1. Russia / Prague / Eastern Europe
   I've always found the culture interesting, and after having seen Prague myself I've been a sucker for the setting! I'd also like to read more fantasy/paranormal books set there because I find the lore fascinating and I'd like to know more about it.


2. Ireland
   I've read a few books set there, but I'd like to read yet more :)


3. San Francisco
   I've never been there (or anywhere in the US for that matter) but somehow I think this is a city I could fall in love with. I haven't read many books set there though, so recommendations are very welcome!


4. The North
   You know, Finland, Sweden, Norway... never been there, always been fascinated. I've read a few because it's a more frequent location in German books, but I'd like to read something paranormal set there. I think there's plenty in that setting that one could work with.


5. Boarding School
   I know many people are sick of reading about it, but I'm not! There are still tons of series I'd like to get to. However, I do agree that it depends a lot on what the author makes of this particular location. I love the ones that make the setting integral to the novel and manage to transform it into something unique. I just like the way these schools can form a self-contained little universe with its own rules.


6. Hell / The Underword / Wherever Demons and the Badies Live
   I know there are tons of books drawing from that tradition with angels and demons and devils and whatnot, but we rarely get to go to the place they actually come from! I really enjoyed the parts in Kim Harrison's books that play in the Ever After. I'd like to see more re-imaginations of Hell.


7. Travel
   Road trips, city trips, interrailing... I'd like to see a bunch of characters in their early twenties travelling from place to place and meeting people and having adventures :)


8. Tokyo / Japan
   Love the culture. If Fukushima hadn't happened, I would have been there already, but as it is it's still a destination I want to see in the next 10 years. I used to read a lot of books by a Swiss author (Federica de Cesco) set there but I think I've read them all. I want more though, and I mean good and reflected ones that don't just exploit the 'exotic' setting but actually show some reflection in the way they depict the culture. I'd like to somehow move beyond the 'Western gaze'.


9. Completely made-up worlds
   I know there's plenty of high fantasy out there, but somehow I've been reluctant to read any in the last few years. I'd like to change that again, to fully fall into a new world and culture that just takes my breath away and comes vibrantly alive in my mind.


10. Zurich
    I know, completely self-indulgent. But I'd like to see more books set in my own city. All I get here is books by Swiss authors and they focus on stuff I'm not interested in. A paranormal set in my city that makes it magical to me would be awesome! Or a contemporary about American teens going there for a trip or whatever. It'd be interesting to get an outsider's perspective on my own culture!

I've probably forgotten a couple glaringly obvious settings, but I guess this is my list. Do you agree on some of my settings? Are there a few among them that you're sick of? Can you recommend me a read? Please leave a link to your own list, I'm sure there will be places on it that I totally forgot about :)