The Wanderlust Book Tag

I have not posted a book tag this year, so I thought I would participate in one. The Wanderlust Book Tag was created by Alexandra from Reading by Starlight, and everyone is free to participate. 

I. Secrets and lies: a book set in a sleepy small town 

Still Life by Louise Penny is a detective story and a debut set in a small town called Three Pines in Canada. Another detective thriller-debut which is set in sleepy small town is The Dry by Jane Harper. That one is set in a small fictional town called Kiewarra, Australia. 

II. Salt and sand: a book with a beach-side community

Jaws [1974] by Peter Benchley is a book that popped into my head first, but I think I will settle for a coastal community in Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura. This is a story about a poor fishing village in Japan that desperately wants and tries to attract shipwrecks to its coast so that villagers can survive. 

III. Here there be dragons: a book with a voyage on the high seas

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl is a non-fiction book that tells of an incredible 1947 voyage across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl thought that it was possible for people in past times to have crossed the ocean from South America and settle in Polynesia. He tried to prove his theory by making his voyage without using any modern materials or technologies.

IV. Tread lightly: a book set down a murky river or a jungle

A book set down a murky river? That will be The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb. The river in the book contributed to instilling the eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

V. Frozen wastes: a book with a frost bitten atmosphere

Many books come to mind, including a non-fiction book that I read in 2019 – The Worst Journey in the World , which tells of an expedition to the South Pole, and another which is set in historic Iceland – Burial Rites, but I think some of the winter magic is also seen in Russia-set Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. I am currently following the reading of this book on a blog A Russian Affair hosted by Elisabeth, and I recommend everyone to join in in the celebration of this masterpiece by this most famous and loved Russian author/poet. “Tatyana, (Russian through and through  /  Herself not certain of the reason)  /  Loved that cold perfection too  /  Loved Russia in the winter season  /  The glittering frost on shiny days;  /  Sledge rides;   and the far-off haze;  /The gleaming radiance on snow,  /  Pink softness of its sunset glow  /  Epiphany they celebrated,  /  In the silent misty evening,  /  In the old way, maids foretelling  /  To what their mistresses were fated,  /  Promising, each year, again,  /  A soldier-husband, a campaign.”

VI. The boonies: a book with ruff or isolated terrain

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky is set in the very isolated terrain – after an extra-terrestrial event, one area became known as “the Zone” and isolated from others. Strange things are happening there (including the laws of physics not applicable), and, as it turns out, the heart of the Zone may have a place where a person’s deepest desires may be realised. This is a very philosophical science-fiction book which, arguably, did not lose any of its potency to bewilder and amaze since its publication in 1972/77.

VII. Hinterlands and cowboys: a book with a western-esque setting

Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich is set in northern Georgia, US and does have this feeling of a western since it deals with violence, betrayal and self-destruction in the rugged terrain. 

VIII. Look lively: a book set across sweeping desert sands

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. This book is partly set in the sweeping deserts of Africa. “A love story is not about those who lost their heart, but about those who find that sullen inhabitant who, when it is stumbled upon, means the body can fool no one, can fool nothing – not the wisdom of sleep or the habit of social graces. It is a consuming of oneself and the past” (Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient).

IX. Wild and untamed: a book set in the heart of the woods

A book I am reading right now and will review this month is set deep in the woods of Shikoku, one of the main islands of Japan – The Silent Cry by Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe. 

X. Wildest dreams: a whimsical book shrouded in magic

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.