Blah blah blah books

So, I'm reading Louise Penny's Bury Your Dead, and while I found the book itself a tad difficult to get into at first, I'm starting to really enjoy it. I think part of the reason has to do with setting; it's set in Quebec City, and there's a definite sense of "place" in it. And even though I'm not far into it yet, there's also a sense of tension between the French and English, and I find that interesting. (It certainly doesn't hurt that the author is Canadian. Having not heard of her before, I at first thought that the author was an American who'd written somethig set in Canada - which pretty much never happens - and that made me a bit excited, but finding out that she's Canadian, well, that's cool too).

I will not lie, I think that part of the reason I kept reading this one (despite finding it hard to get into) and also why I've been gravitating toward Scandinavian novels lately is because they're modern novels set somewhere other than America. Most of the stuff I come across - I mean, if you pick up a novel at random in a bookstore here, it'll be by an American author, featuring American characters, set in America. And right now, I'd honestly rather read something else. Canadian stuff, or pretty much anything written by authors other than Americans. (Though I will not lie, I would happily read - as I mentioned before - an American novel about Canadians, set in Canada.)

I was talking about this the other day with Tik - the Scandinavian stuff, somehow it's easier for me to identify with than American novels, especially the stuff set in big American cities. Maybe it's because of geographical factors; all of the Scandinavian novels I've been reading are set during snowy, dark, gloomy winter, and I certainly know a thing or two about that. Or maybe it's because I've been there, in the case of Sweden, or intend to go there, for Norway. Or something. I just know I have no interest in America, or American settings. I can't identify with it enough to care, and I really do not care to put my nose into it any more when there's already a glut of it over here as it is.

Thankfully, at least these days, it's getting relatively easier to find settings to my taste even in my trashy dime-store leisure reading (which is what all of this is).