10 Books With A Place in the Title

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This prompt was books with destination or place in the title. It was a little tricky – there were a few I thought of that turned out to either not be a place (Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton, it’s the name of a group not a place!) or was the name of the series but not the individual books (Gormenghast is the series, Titus Groan is the book!).

I got to 10 without resorting to a Harry Potter title, which is always my goal. If I don’t have to mention Harry Potter that feels like an achievement. I did have to reach for some classic low-hanging fruit though! I also technically could have put Deadhouse Gates on this list but I’m still feeling sore about the Malazan series..

Anyway, in the words of Wolverine “let’s fucking go“

The first eight I have read, the last two have been in my TBR for a while! As usual if the title is linked it’ll take you to my review either on this blog or on Goodreads.

1. Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Brontë – this is the name of the house that, with its miserable inhabitants, Heathcliff ultimately controls and is central in his unhinged generational revenge plot. I read this book recently and turns out I had many misconceptions over what it is about!
2. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan – I read this in 2012 which is actually a really long time ago now! From what I remember (and reading the synopsis) the climax of this dark psychological story takes place in the titular city.
3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – lovely Green Gables farm is orphan Anne’s salvation. No need to say more! I greatly enjoyed rereading these books in 2021, though I never make it through every book. I got to Anne of Windy Poplars and that has enough of a happy ending for me!
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell – I need to stop putting Animal Farm on every list… but Animal Farm is the name the animals give the farm!
5. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – another obvious one! Personally I think Wonderland sounds terrifying and stressful, and I’d not enjoy to going there!
6. Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy by Serhii Plokhy – this is a non-fiction book that tells the story of the night of the nuclear disaster. It’s the book the excellent HBO TV series was based on and I highly recommend it. I found it both incredibly informative and moving. Weirdly I read most of it sunbathing in Lanzarote (yes I have weird taste in beach reads).
7. Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley – this is a prequel novel to the videogame Bioshock, and tells the rise and fall of the city of Rapture, which is the creepy setting of the first game. It’s mostly from the point of view of the building engineer Andrew Ryan employed to execute his vision for an opulent, underwater utopia free from rules or morality. I found it in a charity shop and it was surprisingly really good! I would love to reread it at some point.
8. First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton – I enjoyed this series about the Malory Towers school as a child! It made boarding school seem fun with the midnight feasts, dances and even lacrosse. I hate sport but something about lacrosse appealed to me, I think because it sounded posh and exotic!
9. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh – I know, I am always bringing this one up but soon I might actually finally read it! Lapvona is the name of the medieval fiefdom that is the book’s setting.
10. Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St. John – a place on the moon and I think the setting for the human colony in this book, which I need to get around to reading!

Next week’s prompt is for the book with the oldest publication date in my TBR which could be interesting!