Top Ten Tuesday: Places in Books We’d Love to Live

There are plenty of fictional places we’d like to live so this list was a fun one to come up with. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl for continuing the Top Ten Tuesday tradition!

Pete’s Five

The castle from Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This is one of the most magical settings I can think of—I would love to live in a castle roaming a fantasy land with a magic portal door to other places.

Brakebills from The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman

While the world of The Magicians can be a bit of a bummer, the magic school setting of Brakebills is fairly idyllic, and it’s not too far from where we currently live! 

The Wayfarer from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

There’s no spaceship I can think of cozier and more inviting than the Wayfarer. It may not be the slickest, but I would have no problem living my life in this vessel while travelling across the galaxy.

Urithiru from The Stormlight Archive 

I love walkable communities—and while Urithiru relies heavily on its magical elevators, it’s still a self-sustaining community that would make for a pretty great home.

The Jenny Haniver from The Mortal Engines Quartet 

While the world of Mortal Engines is pretty grim, it might be fun to live in if you were flying thousands of feet above it in a timeworn airship.

Indiana’s Five 

The Shire from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 

How could I not start off with this one? It’s one of the coziest fictional places I can think of. 

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books from the series by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

One of the most intriguing book-filled settings I’ve come across. I loved this mysterious series, especially the descriptions of the book cemetery. And how cool would it be to live in a place like that?

Qifrey’s atelier from Witch Hat Atelier by Kamone Shirahama 

A large, thatched roof cottage in the middle of the country, surrounded by fantastical animals – what more could one want?

Cottage in Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards 

Reading this as a kid, I loved the idea of stumbling across an abandoned cottage and fixing it up for yourself. A million years later (give or take) I still love that idea. 

Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture from the Aru Shah series by Roshani Chokshi 

I love the idea of living in a museum and the description of this one is one of the most fascinating that I’ve come across.