Just in case you missed it, I have been working on a project recently. I wondered whether it would be possible to read your way around the UK in children’s / YA books, and you know something? You pretty much can. After a busy, busy week of googling, map reading, and tweeting, the Read Your Way Around the UK spreadsheet is getting very, very full. (Which is AMAZING).
Thank you so much if you’ve given me a title suggestion or confirmed whether book X is set in Village Y. Thank you also if you’ve tweeted me sympathetically and gone, “Yes, Bangor is in Wales love” when I’ve lost track of what my name is, let alone borders and counties and that. Thank you if you’ve helped me clear up my geography. Basically, thank you for getting involved in this fascinating project and for helping it out.
So here’s the first part of the challenge. I want to know if you’ve read / reviewed any of the books of the list. I reviewed my first this morning but I want to know if anybody else is having a go. Will you let me know if you are? I’ll keep an eye on the #readyourwayaroundtheUK tag on Twitter but if I miss it, let me know!
And here’s the second part of the challenge. We have gaps. Gaps are bad. Can you help with any of the below queries? Is there a county on there that doesn’t exist currently? Have I put Narnia in Wales by mistake? Are you an author who writes books solely set in Rutland?
Give me a bell or comment here or on Twitter. I would so love to be able to get a book for every county in the UK…!
Thank you! 🙂
England: Books still needed for Rutland and Hertfordshire
Scotland: Books still needed for Aberdeen, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Moray, Perth and Kinross, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian
Wales: Books still needed for Anglesey, Brecon, Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Dyfed, Flintshire, Mid Glamorgan, Montgomeryshire, Powys, Radnorshire, West Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Wrexham
Wales: Can anybody confirm the settings of the following books / series? Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs, Whistler’s Van – Idwal Jones, The Magician Trilogy – Jenny Nimmo, The Seeing Stone – Kevin Crossley Holland
Northern Ireland: Books still needed for Amagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry
Daisy May Johnson 
Such a brilliant project!
I can’t wait to see this list. I have been doing a similar list about books set in NY. Anyway, I pulled out Miss Peregrine and looked to see if there might be a hint of any real place nearby, but all I found was the Irish Sea, which pretty much covers the whole western coast of Wales. But I distinclly remember thinking it was up north near Anglesey, because of the comment in the book about the bay beinga submarine graveyard.
Thank you! I’ve put it in Anglesey for now with a question mark by the side of it. Much appreciated 🙂
Liz Whittaker’s Dream-Stealers trilogy is set in Dyfed, on the Ceredigion/North Pembrokeshire borders, though I haven’t yet read any of them (http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/129921/desc/whittaker-liz/ and http://www.ylolfa.com/en/chwilio.php?func=pori_cyfres&cyfres=Dreamstealers for more information.
I’ll check The Seeing Stone for location, and also have a think about other Welsh settings.
That is brilliant, thank you for that!
You’re welcome!
Another possible: It’s been decades since I read The Owl Service, so don’t have a copy to hand, but a little searching suggests that it was set at Bryn Hall, Mawddwy in Gwynedd, though the 60s TV series was filmed at Poulton Hall in Liverpool.
Oooh. It’s been suggested to me that The Owl Service was in Cardiganshire. Do let me know if you discover for definite otherwise though and I’ll amend it.
I’d forgotten Philip Pullman’s The Broken Bridge, set near Harlech in former Meirionnydd (now Gwynedd), but as I can’t see Gwynedd on your list I guess that’s already covered.
I’ll have a look at Wales again, thank you for this!