Top Ten Books That Take Place Outside The U.S.

When I first read the topic for this week, I thought it was going to be a challenge. I didn't think I'd read that many books that take place in other countries, but I was delightfully surprised to find out that's not entirely true. I was also surprised to find out how many books I've read that take place in England! That said, I limited the amount of England-setting books I could include on this list, but believe me, there are several other lovely novels I could have chosen. I also did not include fantasy settings that aren't real places, because that's cheating.

What's crazy to me is that I have actually been to a couple of these countries, and that in a few days, I'll be headed to even more of them!!!

1) Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm | Scotland | This novel is so fluffy and adorable and completely underrated. We get to meet (fictional) Scottish royalty and explore hidden passages in Scottish castles and learn about traditional Scottish celebrations. If you're looking for a quick, delightful little romance to read, this is the book for you.

2) Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch | Ireland | Maybe this is cheating because at the time of writing this post, I'm about halfway through this novel, but I don't care. Ireland is the very first country outside of the U.S. that I had the pleasure of visiting. The first scene in this novel takes place at the Cliffs of Moher, which was my favorite place in Ireland. Already this novel makes me want to go back to the Emerald Isle.

3) Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley | Australia | This book isn't about tourists visiting Australia, so the setting doesn't play a HUGE role, but this is one of my all-time favorite contemporary novels and, again, completely underrated.

4) My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows | England | I don't even know that I need to explain this novel, because we all know that this book was an absolute blast to read. It rewrites a little bit of English history, and has fun doing it.

5) Daytripper by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon | Brazil | This graphic novel actually visits and beautifully illustrates several countries, but it takes place primarily in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This graphic novel is stunning and thought-provoking and completely worth reading whether you enjoy graphic novels or not.

6) Blood Promise by Richelle Mead | Russia | I couldn't not include a book from my favorite series of all-time. It was so refreshing to get away from St. Vlad's in this installment and roam Russia.

7) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes | England | First and foremost, I understand that this novel is considered problematic by some, but I adore it. The setting kind of plays a big role in this novel and at the same time doesn't, but we also get to visit Mauritius for a little while, which is a beautiful country in East Africa.

8) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins | France | I think this one was a given. This novel is so cute and allows us to explore the romantic city of Paris (which I will be going to next week!!!!!!!!!!!).

9) And I Darken by Kiersten White | Turkey | This novel takes place in the time of the Ottoman Empire, and it is so dark and lush and a truly fascinating read.

10) Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch | Italy | Italy had always been my #1 desired traveling destination, and this novel completely charmed me when I read it, and made me desperately want to try gelato in Italy. Now I have tried gelato in Italy, and I can confidently say it lived up to the hype. I''ll actually be on my way to Florence when you all are reading this, which is crazy! My friends and I are planning to do a gelato crawl, which is like a pub crawl but better.

Schoolyard Treasures #3

This is a feature I thought of in class, when I was supposed to be doing something that was not thinking of blog posts. Basically, since school started back up, I know I won't be doing much reading for pleasure, but, as an English major, I will be doing a ton of reading. I wanted to share with you all some of the new authors/stories/etc. I've read for a class and really enjoyed. I love that this gives me a space to talk about classic literature and short stories, which I usually don't talk about.

This past semester, I was in a graphic novels class, which I loved. For the first time in my college career I actually did pretty much all the reading for a class--and some of it I did in advance, which I can assure you has never happened before. 

I got to read a ton of interesting graphic novels and learn about a ton of interesting graphic novels that I want to read. But today I'm here to share with you my favorite graphic novel that I read for class, which I'd never even heard of before. 

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba
(standalone)
Published: February 8, 2011 by Vertigo (DC Comics)

Summary from Goodreads:What are the most important days of your life?

Meet Brás de Oliva Domingos. The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people's obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people's stories, while his own has barely begun.

But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?

Each day in Brás's life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he'll never see coming...

In Daytripper, the Eisner Award-winning twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá tell a magical, mysterious and moving story about life itself—a hauntingly lyrical journey that uses the quiet moments to ask the big questions.

 This graphic novel has won some major awards and has been on the NYT bestsellers list, I'm pretty sure, so it's not like it's unknown or underrated or anything, but I've never heard of it before and I'm a little uncertain as to why. Maybe because it came out in 2011? I don't know.

Either way, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Not only is it beautiful, but it's an interesting, kinda mind-fucky story. If you're a graphic novel person, I seriously recommend this one. And if you're not a graphic novel person, I seriously recommend this one.

HAVE YOU READ DAYTRIPPER? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT, DOES IT SOUND INTERESTING TO YOU?