#BookTrailAmbassadors – New York – Crime By The Book

Submitted: 1st August 2017

August is the holiday month so what better time than to launch the BookTrail Ambassadors – bloggers from all over the world will be appearing on this page to showcase literature from their country, talk about translated fiction, reveal authors from their neck of their woods and showcasing both books and their destinations!

BookTrail-Ambassador

First up is the lovely Abby from Crime By the Book – she’s a NYC city gal and loves nothing better than a coffee in a NY coffee shop and tucking into a tasty tome at the same time. She’s going to be talking about American set books and American fiction – but she’s also recently been to Norway to booktrail Jo Nesbo! Well, with credentials like that, let’s get straight to meeting the great lady herself…

Reading in the streets of NYC (c) CBTB

Abby – it’s over to you:

CBTB logo Hi there, reader!

I’m so excited to be on The Book Trail today. My name is Abby, and I’m the blogger behind Crime by the Book, a crime fiction review blog. My blog is dedicated solely to crime books: reviewing them, interviewing their authors, and covering festivals and events dedicated to them!

I read strictly crime fiction—but the best thing about the crime genre is that it has so much variety within it. There are classic mysteries, police procedurals, psychological thrillers, domestic thrillers, serial killer thrillers… just to name a few! My personal favorite subgenres are Scandinavian crime fiction and psychological thrillers.

As an American, my introduction to adult crime fiction came through the work of some of the biggest American crime authors: James Patterson and Patricia Cornwell. While I don’t read their books anymore, I absolutely still credit these authors with sparking my interest in crime fiction as a teenager. Nowadays, some of my favorite American crime writers include Peter Swanson, Caroline Kepnes, and Jessica Knoll.

Growing up, my favorite book was any Nancy Drew book! I became completely obsessed with Nancy Drew after I discovered my mom’s old collection of Nancy Drew books in our attic. They were the first books to really make me hooked on reading as a child, and I credit them for inspiring my lifelong interest in mysteries!

Coffee shop reading in NYC (c) CBTB

Personally, I think one of the most interesting things about American crime fiction is that it varies so much. America is such a diverse country, and there are so many unique regions within it – the culture in the northeast is totally different from that of the South, or the West, and there are even unique cultures within each of those regions – you can imagine that this would spark truly distinct kinds of crime fiction from each region of America.

My favorite American writers tend to be those who set their books in the region of the country I’m most familiar with – the Northeast. All of the authors I mentioned above (Peter Swanson, Caroline Kepnes, and Jessica Knoll) set their books in this region, and I love reading thrillers that are set in areas I know so well.

Peter Swanson, for example, sets his newest book HER EVERY FEAR half in Boston and half in London. As a New Englander (I grew up in Connecticut) I loved reading about the Boston setting. Same goes for Caroline Kepnes, whose stalker thriller YOU (a chilling and twisted read!) is set on my home turf as well – this time in New York City. Last but certainly not least, Jessica Knoll’s debut LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE is set against the backdrop of a northeast boarding school – and yours truly attended boarding school in New England! There’s something extra unsettling about reading a thriller set in a world you can really relate to, which is why I love these particular authors so much.

Booktrailing Jo Nesbo in Oslo (c) CBTB

I recently had the opportunity to travel and explore the locations from my most favorite book series: the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo. In March, I traveled to Oslo, Norway, and walked around the city visiting the significant locations from Nesbo’s series! This was truly such a fantastic experience – I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could.

Visiting locations from a book series that you love adds so much to your understanding of the books. Walking around Oslo, I felt as though I could bump into Nesbo’s main character, Harry Hole, around any corner. It was incredible to see the locations that I’ve imagined over the course of 11 Harry Hole books right in front of my eyes!

If you ever get the chance to take a trip and visit the locations from your favorite book(s), I can’t recommend it highly enough. It made me feel that much more connected to stories I already love, and I’m so thankful to have had that opportunity.

Books are the best way to experience cultures, countries, landscapes, and whole worlds different from our own – and they can also show us other sides of places we thought we knew so well. I absolutely love the idea of expanding our worldviews by reading, and I also love delving even deeper into the culture of places I already know through my reads.

I’m always fascinated to see how authors and their books are inspired by the cultures they come from, and that’s why I personally love The Book Trail – I love the idea of getting a glimpse into the real-life backdrop to the books I’m reading. I’m delighted to share this post with you, and hope you’ve enjoyed this little glimpse into my reading world!

Aah thanks Abby for this lovely piece and for your kind words! Blushing here. See you again soon!