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Introducing...



Through the wonder that is Google, we can map all the locations we've been to through the magic of reading. This is a new group feature for 2016! If you want to participate, and we hope you do, just link your book in the comments below. But before we get ahead of ourselves... here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

Only submit the books you've finished reading.
Sure, a lot of us have our reading plans solidified for the whole year but plans have a way of changing even when we don't expect them to. It is for this reason we ask that you only submit books that you're done reading. This way, if that book you thought you'd love ends up in your did-not-finish pile or you take an unexpected hiatus from the group, we won't have to go back and try and figure out what was or wasn't read and we can end the year with a pretty accurate record.

It has to be a location that can actually be mapped.
Okay, so maybe not all the locations you read. We're not going to be able to map your trip to Middle Earth or Narnia, unfortunately, so you'll have to stick with submitting only the books you read that are set in places Google recognizes as being real. That means celestial destinations are out too. Unless or until Google develops a space add-on to their mapping features, we're going to have to keep it on Earth.

Oh, go ahead... Submit all your locations!
At member request, we've cooked up a scheme to get all your reading destinations on the map -- real, imagined, or out of this world. See the Jan 3 update below for further.

Fiction, non-fiction, doesn't matter.
As long as the book is set in or references events that occurred in a location we can include it.

Try and be as specific as you can with your location information.
The more precise the location information is, the better the map will look in the end. Obviously this is not possible with all books - sometimes the author doesn't go into specifics - but if/when you can be specific, please do.

Multiple locations are okay.
We know that there are many books set in multiple locations. If that is the case, pick one as the main setting and list any others as secondary settings. We'll map whatever you give us, but secondary settings will have their own layer on the map that can be turned on or off as needed. If you feel like there is no distinct main setting for the book (like road trip books, time travel books, part fantasy world/part real world, etc.) then pick the one that most interested you, or the one you would most like to visit, or flip a coin. However you want to do it is fine by us.

One map marker per book.
Just like with the A-Z folders we're only going to include one marker per book. If you see that someone else has already mapped a book you read, submit it anyway. We can add your name to the submission info on the map as well.

Around the Year Challenge books only, please.
We're going to limit this to books for the main challenge to keep things simpler.

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HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR BOOK:
Link it in the comments using the "add book/author" feature above the comment box. Don't forget to include your location so we know where to map it.

EXAMPLE:
The Help
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.

-or-

Twilight
Main: Forks, Washington, U.S.
Secondary: Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.

Updates

Jan 3: At member request, we'll now be allowing the inclusion of fantasy settings and space settings. We agreed that it would be nice to see all the locations for all the books read by the group. We tossed around a few ideas for how we could accomplish that. In the end, and in the interest of keeping everything all in once place, we decided that since we were already mapping locations on the map for real locations we could find a way to include the fantasy and space locations.

Two new layers, one for space settings and the other for fantasy settings, were created for that purpose. We obviously can't map them like we could if they were on the map but we can include them somewhere. These layers can be toggled on and off for those only interested in viewing real locations.

FAQ

What about fictional towns in real places?
Go ahead and submit them! Often times, these fictional places are based on real places or the author has included some information about where it would geographically be located if it did exist. We'll take care of that part, you just submit it and we'll do the best we can to map it as close to where it should be.

Love this idea!

Sounds like a great idea but I think the majority of books I'm reading will not be located on Earth :(

That's okay! Just come back and tell us if you do have any Earthy reads. We'd love to map them. :)

This sounds fun!

I love this idea! I just created my own map so I can track my personal books. So fun.

Karen wrote: "Sounds like a great idea but I think the majority of books I'm reading will not be located on Earth :("

LOL!

Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Will you make a list for those books that were set in Unknown places?

Babitix, do you mean unknown like the place is not ever mentioned in the book or unknown like not real places?

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Upper Manhattan, New York, USA

Babitix wrote: "Will you make a list for those books that were set in Unknown places?"

It could be fun to see how many books the group read that take place on Earth or in another universe. Maybe with a bookshelf? I'm volunteering if you need help ;)

Hopper's Destiny by Lisa Fiedler
Brooklyn, New York, USA

Sophie, I'll check with the other mods and see what we can do. :)

Thanks for your submissions Nicole, Ana, and Saara. Your locations have been added to the map and, with that, our journey begins!

Cujo, Castle Rock, Maine.

Not sure if this works. Castle Rock is fictional, but Maine isn't.

For books like that, I usually do a little research to see if the author had a particular geographic location in mind. I had to do that for To Kill a Mockingbird on my personal map. You guys don't have to worry about the research part, I'll do that. If it is a fictional town in a real location just throw it in here and I'll do the best I can with it. :)

In this case, after a little Wiki research, I see that Castle Rock is intended to be somewhat in the area of Portland, Maine so I will put it up around there.

Thank you for submitting it, Debra.

[book:Murder on the Orient Express|16304, mostly on a stopped train near Vinkovci, Croatia.

Emm wrote: "For books like that, I usually do a little research to see if the author had a particular geographic location in mind. I had to do that for To Kill a Mockingbird on my personal map. You..."

Thanks, Emm!

Our journey has officially take us out of the United States! Thanks Kathy! Keep 'em coming as you read 'em, guys! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Main: Prague, Czech Republic
Secondary: Marroco

The Night Circus
Main: London, England

Delirium
Portland, Maine

All the Light We Cannot See
Main: Paris, France & Germany

Mariana, Angela, Katie, and Kristin... you've all been mapped! We're off to a solid start! We've now been to three of the seven continents.

Doctor Sleep
Main: New Hampshire
Secondary: Colorado

You're on the map, Erica! :)

Now You See Me, SJ Bolton
London, England

Kristin wrote: "All the Light We Cannot See
Main: Paris, France & Germany"

the main is not Paris, but Saint-Malo. Paris takes like one fifth of the book and then they move to Saint-Malo where everybody meets and the important happens

Go Set a Watchman
Maycomb, Alabama

Katerina, I edited All the Light We Cannot See and made Paris and Germany secondary locations.

Bec, I added Monroeville, AL to the map for Go Set a Watchman. Since Maycomb is a fictional town that is based on Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, AL I went with that and noted that Maycomb, AL is the actual location of the book in the map details. :)

Oh, and I got yours too, Amy!

Wow, so many finished books already! Mine will take us places, many places :)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Beijing, China

The Lake House by Kate Morton

Cornwall, UK
London, UK

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Zaz, Aleksandra, and Bridget -- you are added!

The Rumor
Nantucket, Massachussets

Is there a physical map that we will be able to look at? Since my book is a journey, it will have many real places. Is that okay? Holy Moly, in 52 weeks with 900+ readers, the map will be black!

Cool idea!

Emm wrote: "Babitix, do you mean unknown like the place is not ever mentioned in the book or unknown like not real places?"

Why not both?

We could make more 2 lists, with those that didn't have any place mentioned and those with unreal places, like Narnia, Hogwarts, etc

What do you think?

PS: Narnia and Hogwarts have real places that lead to them (Hogwarts in London and Narnia somewhere in England, maybe London too, I don't remember right now.) But there are some that we have no idea, like the Maze from the Maze Runner (until now, I have no idea where this place is lol)

Sophie wrote: "Babitix wrote: "Will you make a list for those books that were set in Unknown places?"

It could be fun to see how many books the group read that take place on Earth or in another universe. Maybe w..."

Exactly, Sophie! There are so many unreal places! We could make a parallel map for them :D

Valerie wrote: "Is there a physical map that we will be able to look at? Since my book is a journey, it will have many real places. Is that okay? Holy Moly, in 52 weeks with 900+ readers, the map will be black!

C..."

You can see the map by clicking on the link in the first post. If the book has multiple locations then try to pick a primary location and then list all the others as secondary locations. On the map, you can choose to only look at one or the other by clicking on the check mark next to the section. Hopefully that will help with the map becoming crowded.

Babitix wrote: Why not both? We could make more 2 lists, with those that didn't have a..."

In my opinion, if the place is never mentioned then it will defeat the purpose of the map since we wouldn't have the visual of where it is located. It is likely located somewhere on earth so it's not really the same as the "unreal" locations.

Laura wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Is there a physical map that we will be able to look at? Since my book is a journey, it will have many real places. Is that okay? Holy Moly, in 52 weeks with 900+ readers, the map w..."

I was thinking about making just a list with "unknown places", and other map with unreal places. Do you understand?

Let me know what you think about it!

xx

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
primary: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
secondary: Chicago, Illinois, USA
(There was a lot of traveling in this novel, but I decided to go with these two cities as it seems like the bulk of the story takes place there. But, honestly, with the amount of traveling the characters did it was hard to keep track! If anyone else knows better, please feel free to correct me.)

The Property by Rutu Modan
Warsaw, Poland

Beloved by Toni Morrison.
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

I didn't know Beloved was set in Ohio! (my home state)

At the Water's Edge
The Scottish Highlands, a village called Drumnadrochit on the shore of Loch Ness.

Laura wrote: "I didn't know Beloved was set in Ohio! (my home state)"

I hope that doesn't make you want to read it ... ;)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

France (various)

Sharp Objects

Wind Gap, Missouri
Chicago, IL