Read your way around the USA

[ScarerAndFuck]

Just seen a list of the most famous books, one from every state in the USA.

I thought it might be interesting to share here in case anyone felt like a reading challenge with a difference.

The list is here

I've already read 20 of them, although two were for the same state as they were joint first on the list.

There's Orkney by Amy Sackville, if that helps for Scotland.

Oh, Alan Sillitoe's a much better choice than Lawrence.

Humpday That's why I just listed some authors above. I could not figure out how to assign books by county in Scotland.

ENGLAND

• - - - - - - - - -

Bedfordshire Berkshire Bristol, City of Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumberland Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Co. Durham East Riding of Yorkshire East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Hampshire Hertfordshire Hereford and Worcester Herefordshire Huntingdonshire Isle of Man Isle of Wight Jersey Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire London - City of London Merseyside Middlesex Norfolk North Yorkshire North Riding of Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Sussex Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex West Yorkshire West Riding of Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire Yorkshire

WALES

• - - - - - - - - -

Anglesey Breconshire Caernarvonshire Cardiganshire Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Denbighshire Flintshire Glamorgan Gwent Gwynedd Merionethshire Monmouthshire Mid Glamorgan Montgomeryshire Pembrokeshire Powys Radnorshire South Glamorgan

SCOTLAND

• - - - - - - - - -

Aberdeen, City of Angus Argyll Ayrshire Banffshire Berwickshire Bute Caithness Clackmannanshire Dumfriesshire Dumbartonshire Dundee, City of East Lothian Fife Inverness Kincardineshire Kinross-shire Kirkcudbrightshire Lanarkshire Midlothian Morayshire Nairnshire Orkney Peebleshire Perthshire Renfrewshire Ross & Cromarty Roxburghshire Selkirkshire Shetland Stirlingshire Sutherland West Lothian Wigtownshire

NORTHERN IRELAND

• - - - - - - - - -

Antrim Armagh Co. Down Co. Fermanagh Co. Londonderry

South Yourkshire - Sheffield, The Northern Clemency

Have read 17 and seen films of a couple more. Great list! Now we could do a UK one but that would be tough!

Thanks for thoughts BasketzatDawn on Scotland. We'll need to divide the country up. Looking forward to Torvill n Dean in Notts!

So CORNWALL is sorted.

DEVON Treasure Island opens in Barnstaple - do we think there is enough of the book 'set there' to warrant inclusion? Thoughts , please.

So can peeps please to choose from the following:

-And then there were none by Agatha Christie (island off Devon)
-Green Smoke by Rosemary Manning
-The Hound of the Baskervilles
-Lorna Doone
-War Horse
-Tarka the Otter

(to keep things easy, please prefix your post with DEVON)

Thank you Belfastbloke. That is comprehensive. We can go alphabetically from now, might be easier. So, are we going to go for Hound of the Baskervilles for DEVON?

Next up:
BEDFORDSHIRE: to get the ball rolling I can suggest:
Bageye at the Wheel by Colin Grant
The Yips by Nicola Barker

Anyone any other ideas???????

(I've noted The Northern Clemency for Sheffield, tks to antimatter)

Work gets in the way, unfortunately.

Oh, I've been thinking about the Scottish part of this on and off today. I did intend to write it down, just haven't found the back of an envelope yet. It's a lovely little project when so much rubbish going on elsewhere (the world and nearer home!). I agree with somebody above who suggests list of counties too long - certainly for Scotland many of these are historic, as they are for elsewhere too. I'll need to look some writers up as brain minced and can't recall names.

BTW we have to have Jennifer Johnston for C Londonderry. No? I was also wondering why only 5 counties listed for NI when there are 6. I can't think which has been missed. Can we put lovely Seamus Heaney on list too?

I'll be back, but bedtime now. And tomorrow a busy day so the weekend maybe??

Answering own question here. It's County Tyrone missed off list above. And Seamus H from Co Londonderry too, and of course he wrote poetry not prose - but we could put a collection of poems on list??

Roald Dahl for Buckinghamshire.
John Bunyan for Bedfordshire.

Oh, do they have to be set there, or the author from there? I have lost track, (because I should have gone to bed ages ago.)

Thank you BasketzatDawn for Co Tyrone.

Yes, we could rethink Scotland. Might feel less overwhelming if we can pare it down a bit

EBearhug - which Roald Dahl for Bucks?

BEDFORDSHIRE: Can we use Bunyan, as Pilgrim's Progress seems to wander about the place?

BERKSHIRE: 3 Men in a Boat passes through. Cocktail Time by PG Wodehouse seems to be set there. Any thoughts anyone?

BEDFORDSHIRE What about Reginald Hill 'Blood Sympathy'?

If everyone is happy with Berks Cocktail Time by P G Wodehouse we can move on to

BRISTOL Suggestions of famous books set in the city?

EBearhug - which Roald Dahl for Bucks?

Well, I'm possibly rethinking that - because it was too late last night, and I was confused about whether it should be where the author's from or where the book is set.

Where's everyone gone? Come on folks, we can do this.

Bristol Dare we go for Jeffrey Archer Only Time will tell???

Can't you do Bath instead, and include a Jane Austen?