Top Ten Tuesday 6/7/11: Top Ten Favorite Book Settings

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish.  We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new top ten list complete with one of our bloggers' answers.  Everyone is welcome to join.  All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers in the comments.

TOP TEN FAVORITE BOOK SETTINGS

1.  Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling-  Come on now folks.  Do you really have to ask why this is my top choice?  Hogwarts has always had a special place in my heart.  As a kid I used to daydream that I was wandering down Diagon Alley, navigating the ever changing halls, sipping butterbeer in Hogsmead, and cheering at the Quiddich world cup.  (OK I'll admit, I still daydream about that)...

2.  Misselthwaite Manor and the garden in The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett- The secret garden seems like the perfect escape.  I would love to spend my rainy days exploring the giant manor, finding treasures hidden away by long forgotten inhabitants, and my sunny days out in the garden, playing with fairies and casting a child's magic spell.  I love exploring.  I love finding hidden paths, rooms, and secrets.

3.  Wonderland from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll-  I love wonderland.  I love all of the zany characters that Alice meets throughout her adventure.  I love the mad tea party (why is a raven like a writing desk), the mouse's tale, and the rose garden.  I am so picky about my wonderland, I HATE it when people mix up the red queen and the queen of hearts (chess and cards are not the same).

4.  Narnia from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis- Who wouldn't want to visit Narnia?  As a little kid I would pretend that the wardrobe in my grandmother's bedroom was a gateway to Narnia.  There I would play with the fauns and dryads, battle the white witch, and go on quests for Aslan.  

5. Hill Top Farm from Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter- Did anyone else watch the BBC cartoons from the 90s?  It was my favorite movie to watch whenever I went over to my grandmother's house (I spent a lot of time there as a kid if you can't tell lol).  Tom Kitten was my favorite.  After watching the cartoon or reading the book I would go out to her garden and pretend to be Beatrix Potter with all of her animal friends.  I'm starting to realize that I have a fascination with British children's literature...

6.  Neverland from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie-  More British children's literature anyone?  As a little kid I didn't really like Peter Pan because I hated the Disney movie.  It wasn't until 6th grade when I read Peter and Wendy that I realized just how horribly wrong Disney got it.  I loved Tiger Lily and how Peter Pan saved her from the Mermaid's Lagoon.  The quote "to die would be an awfully big adventure" pretty much blows my mind.

7.  Redwall Abbey from the Redwall Series by Brian Jacques- I just want to go to Redwall and EAT!  The food sounds simply amazing.  I love the honor and nobility of the heroes in these books.  I also loved how each book felt very different, some took place at the abbey, some on boats, some to the south, some to the north, but they were all very similar.  Jacques had a very distinct writing style that I could relate to, even when his main characters were woodland creatures.

8.  The Land of Oz from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum- I have a 1908 copy of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz which was given to me by my grandfather.  I have since read more of the series and I really loved the land of Oz and Ozma, the original princess of Oz.  My favorite place was the emerald city (more from the movie than the books though, gotta be honest).

9.  The Ages from the Myst series by Robyn and Rand Miller- Myst was an awesome computer game series that had three companion books.  The magic of this series is the race of the D'ni write their ages in books that become portals to the actual worlds.  They travel by book.  That is awesome.

10.  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton- Let's pretend for a second that the dinosaurs don't break out and start eating everyone.  How FREAKING AWESOME would Jurassic Park be!?  I love amusement parks and I love dinosaurs, so it's a perfect match.  I saw the movie when I was six and it thoroughly amazed me.  Later in middle school I read the novel and knew I had found true love.