Keepin' It Real is a celebration of contemporary YA fiction hosted by Kaitlin @ Reading is My Treasure and Eli @ Reality Lapse!
You can check out the posts by the other bloggers here, and join in all the festivities as we celebrate some fantastic YA contemporary fiction!
I had the wonderful chance to ask Kim Culbertson a Top 10 topic and I chose: TOP 10 BOOK VACATIONS! What is a book vacation you may ask? It's a book that takes you to a place in the world that you may want to go, may have already been or just generally super cool places. And so, I had over this post to her to tell you all about her book vacations!
I just had knee surgery so right now my primary view is the fluttering green maple leaves I can spy out my window. Not bad when laid up with a bum knee. Still, it’s an optimal time to talk about book vacations – those wonderfully drawn “place” novels that make for great escape, even when you’re weighted to a chair by an enormous bag of ice. Here are ten of my favorites, some YA and some adult reads, but all will send you somewhere rich in place and character. As you can see, I have a soft spot for the UK, islands, and coastlines.
THE LIST
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - An island off the coast of Massachusetts
- Moonglass by Jessi Kirby - California
- The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith - London, England
- The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean - The Antarctic
- How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - London, England
- The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery - Prince Edward Island, Canada
- The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - all over the United Kingdom
- A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy - Ireland
- Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan - Maine
- Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead - New England
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sourcebooks Fire published Kim’s award winning first YA novelSongs for a Teenage Nomad (2010, originally Hip Pocket Press, 2007) and her second YA novelInstructions for a Broken Heart (2011) which was named a Booklist 2011 Top Ten Romance Title for Youth and won the 2012 Northern California Book Award for YA Fiction. Her third YA novel Catch a Falling Star will be published by Scholastic on April 29, 2014. When she’s not writing for teens, she’s teaching them. She’s a college advisor and teaches creative writing at Forest Charter School. Kim wrote her eBook novella The Liberation of Max McTrue for her students who, over the years, have taught her much more than she has taught them. Kim lives in the Northern California foothills with her husband and daughter.
(Bio taken from her website)
ABOUT THE BOOK
A deliciously charming novel about finding true love . . . and yourself.
Nothing ever happens in Little, CA. Which is just the way Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star turned PR mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Carter's town becomes a giant glittery set and, much to her annoyance, everyone is starry-eyed for Adam. Carter seems to be the only girl not falling all over herself to get a glimpse of him. Which apparently makes her perfect for the secret offer of a lifetime: playing the role of Adam's girlfriend while he's in town, to improve his public image, in exchange for a hefty paycheck. Her family really needs the money and so Carters agrees. But it turns out Adam isn't at all who she thought he was. As they grow closer, their relationship walks a blurry line between what's real and what's fake, and Carter must open her eyes to the scariest of unexplored worlds - her future. Can Carter figure out what she wants out of life AND get the guy? Or are there no Hollywood endings in real life?
***GIVEAWAY***
Thank you so much to Kim Culbertson for providing a copy of her book and signing it to giveaway to you guys! This giveaway is US/CAN ONLY.
I'd choose a book that was featured in Ireland. I've always wanted to go there! It just sounds so beautiful and magical. :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds fantastic! Ireland does seem to be magical. :)
DeleteOh I have read some of these and really loved them. It was really nice to visit all those places :) Great list :)
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! :) I think I've only been to PEI.
DeleteWow there are so many places that I would love to go. I know some books would take places in small towns in the states and others in big cities. One of the places that I would love to vacation at is London! Of course I got to visit the location where Harry Potter is at. :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit London too! And of course, visiting Harry Potter locations is important! ;D
DeleteOh gosh, there's so many places that I want to go! I definitely want to go to England or France, because Harry Potter and Paris just sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteThose are both fab places to visit! :D
DeleteAw, this list makes me want to go on vacation! It's funny, because as I was reading We Were Liars, I wanted so badly to be on that island too :)
ReplyDelete-Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight
Same here! I definitely want to visit the place that We Were Liars takes place on!
DeleteThis makes me miss the U.K., but it also reminds me of the fun times that I got to spend there. Thanks for the great list of books, I have actually read some of them, which is exciting because I don't read too many contemporaries!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you like the list! I would love to visit the U.K. and I hope you get to go back soon! :)
DeleteSuch a cool interview topic! I have always wanted to travel to Germany. If I ever do get the chance to go, then I would love to learn German beforehand. The language fascinates me!
ReplyDeleteGermany would be such a fun place to go! And you should totally learn some German. I started doing it on Duolingo, which makes it easier to pick up. :)
DeleteI LOVE this topic! There are so many awesome book vacations that I would love to go on. Like Anna and the French Kiss: Paris. I have been once, but would love to go again! And I would totally like to go all over the UK like in Harry Potter! I haven't read most of these books, but there are several that are already on my TBR list and now I am even more excited to read them for the book vacation aspect. Great list! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad that you love this topic! Those are some great choices!
DeleteOut of your list, I would definitely say visiting the We Were Liars setting would be pretty awesome. I adored that setting SO much. Also, of course Ireland ;) Growing up in a very rural area, it's impossible not to want to visit EVERYWHERE. There's just so much out there!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! Being afflicted with wanderlust is never a bad thing, except maybe the wallet. Haha!
DeleteOoh what lovely places!! I'd love to visit the UK :) The setting of We Were Liars was quite nice and luxurious. I'd love to visit that place as well! Great post idea! :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit the UK too. Oh man. It would be so great! And thanks I'm glad you like it. :D
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