How important is the setting of a book to you?

[IHateWasps]

Time or Place. Do you have strong preferences/dislikes either way?

I tend to avoid books set in Australia and Maine. I think I read too many Stephen King books at once and I got tired of reading about the place.

I don't generally enjoy reading books set in my city either and if I read Sci-Fi then I prefer it to be set on earth.

Another pet peeve is books that are set during the past and the present. I'd rather the whole thing be set in the past than jump back and forth.

What are your preferences?

I like a strong sense of place and/or time. I think I avoid books set in the US or those never quite work for me, not sure why.

I do however, like books set elsewhere.

I don’t mind backwards and forwards or multiple character perspectives. In fact, I first saw the character thing in Captain Corelli and loved it and Elif Shafak who I love alongside de Bernieres does this too.

Setting is one of my main positive reasons for choosing a book but I'm drawn to books in a wide range of settings place and time wise. And I like narratives which jump between two or more settings a lot, whether that is time travel or dual/multiple narratives.

I must be one of the fussiest readers imaginable. I don't like books that are set in foreign countries or in the past. I don't like stories told in the first person either or anything that's deemed "feel good" or chick lit.

I'm not keen on books set in American cities - New York is a frequent offender - where the author assumes the reader is familiar with the local geography and the stereotypes associated with particular local areas. Mostly because as someone who has never been to these places, I don't understand any of the references.

I'm not too fussy about where or when a book is set, but it really bothers me when the author uses the setting as a lazy short cut and clearly knows very little about that setting because it stops me getting into the book properly. I'm thinking here about historical romance set during the Jacobite rebellion, for example, or clichéd versions of Paris popping up.

Therefore I do really love books where the setting is or becomes a character because they're so immersive.

I have a long held prejudice against books that are set in the USA. I can just about cope with ones set in Australia.

No idea why. Nothing that I can do anything about.

Years ago I read the first in a historical crime series by an author who seems to be popular with lots of people I know, but it really annoyed me because a character was described walking down the street where he lived or something like that and the narrative remarked on a lot of details for scene seeing purposes which would just be the normal thing. If someone gets a chamber pot emptied out of the window on his head, that would be worthy of comment because he'd obviously had an issue, but that method of emptying would be normal and you would presumably take care about where in the street you walked and watching out to dodge anything chucked out above you.

I like books with a strong sense of place, whether its Ireland, Europe or the US or anywhere else really.

I love it when I know the area a book is set in, or if I read a book set in the place I'm visiting.
I read an Ian Rankin in Edinburgh for example. Currently reading Val Wood books because they are set in Hull which I know well.
Read The Magus on holiday on a Greek Island.

@Siuan

I love it when I know the area a book is set in, or if I read a book set in the place I'm visiting. I read an Ian Rankin in Edinburgh for example. Currently reading Val Wood books because they are set in Hull which I know well. Read The Magus on holiday on a Greek Island.

Same - I've also read Val Wood books when in Hull, and when on holiday or short breaks I've read books set there (Dorset this year and the Lake District in the past, for example).

Like a pp, I dislike reading books set somewhere the author assumes the whole readership will be equally familiar with.

I prefer it when an author does not play with geography too much when a book is set somewhere I know - as this can distract from the story or message of the book.

I enjoy books which move back and forth in time, as long as it's clear where or when the action is taking place.

I have quite specific tastes, but I don't know why. I like to read books that I can, in some firm, relate to. So nothing set too far in the past or in a country that is very different to the UK. Most the books I read are present day in UK or US.

I don't mind jumping between past and present.

*in some form

Since part of the point of reading is to imagine yourself into other experiences I like reading about different times and settings. Love reading books from other countries or written in different languages and literary traditions.

Yes, I am interested in the setting, and it does put me off reading some books. Like a PP I'm afraid I am just not interested in books set in the States and cannot remember the last time I read an American book.

I read quite a lot of French books as I love France, but someone once lent me a book by a French writer and I found out that it was set in America! Other than that I find most European settings and Japan and India appeal to me the most.

I like the writer Belinda Bauer because her books are set in the West Country, where I live.

I like the writer Belinda Bauer because her books are set in the West Country, where I live.

@TonTonMacoute - John Marrs (he who wrote recently televised Behind Her Eyes and many more) is a Northampton lad and sets most of his books in my home town.

I don’t like books set in USA or Australia generally speaking.

I liked ‘Where the Crawdads sing’ or whatever it was called, but l don’t like stuff set in modern US.

I really hate it when people get their history wrong too. I stop reading straight away. 2 examples are:

Luckenbooth set in 1930’s refers to Dior make up. Dior didn’t do anything until the late 40’s. Book abandoned immediately.

A boo set in the 1970’s talking about ‘Mister from another sister.’ That definitely wasn’t around them. I stopped reading it straight away. It really gets on my tits

It's very important. It's been so nice to 'travel' through the pages of a book during these last 22 months. I particularly like reading books that have taken me to India - my first conscious read was Shantaram and on the back of that I went to India because it inspired me to do so. Japan, too and love travelling around Europe. If you fancy a really excellent, still under the radar novel that is strong on setting and writing: All My Mothers by Joanna Glen has inspired me to book a trip to Córdoba.

Really interesting comments here.
I have no preference to setting at all and I love reading books set in places that I’m very unfamiliar with.
I do want to get to know the setting through the story so appreciate the experience or research of the author.
It’s an important part of the reading experience for me.

I'm pleased other people are as fussy as me, good to read that. I generally don't like historical fiction but then when I'm lured into reading one I love it. I recently read The Manningtree Witches which was brilliant, for example, and set in 1645. Maybe it's the royal historical I don't like, I don't know really. That book was very much a modern voice in historical setting, which I loved.

@thisplaceisapigsty I mentioned Val Wood above. I rarely read historical fiction these days, especially clogs and shawls sagas but tried one of hers as she was interviewed on local TV. There is rather a modern feminist touch around all the ones I've read so far.

I don't mind. In some books setting is essential - think Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing. But in other books setting is less important.

I love Peter May's Hebrides books for their setting and description.

I don't like books that jump around from POV to POV without a nice strong sense of place and voice; I just get lost with who's meant to be speaking. Rock, Paper, Scissors was terrible for that.

@rosegoldwatcher

Reading books set in places you know is fun but it has to be convincing, and just convey the sense of the place. Bauer does that, Tim Pears is another writer who is good at this too.

I can't stand books set in a city and the author just describes journeys and gives directions - He walked up X street, passing Y cafe on the left before reaching the charming boulevard of Z Avenue.

It means nothing if you don't know the place yourself, it doesn't give you any real sense of the place, you might as well look it up on google earth.
Philip Kerr does this in his Bernie Gunther series, it put me right off them.

I prefer it when an author does not play with geography too much when a book is set somewhere I know - as this can distract from the story or message of the book.
This is an annoyance of mine - if an author's using real places then they should get facts etc correct. I recently read a series of books set in the Lake District and the main character set off to drive to Hawkshead from Ambleside on completely the wrong road.

Thanks all. It's interesting to see what settings others like and dislike.

I forgot that I don't tend to enjoy road trip stories. I prefer the focus to be on the characters, not the journey.

I agree too that it can ruin a book when you know an area and they get the geography completely wrong.