Summer Challenge 2026: A Real Place You've Never Heard Of

Looking for help completing your Summer Challenge Bingo Card? Here are some suggestions for books that are set in real places you might never have heard of!

Updated June 27, 2026
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A separation
Kitamura, Katie M.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Named a best book of the year by the New York Times, NPR, Huffington Post, The A.V. Club, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, Refinery29, Town & Country, Harper's Bazaar, NYLON, BookRiot. "Kitamura...
The mercies : a novel
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood
Paper Book
After the men in an Arctic Norwegian town are wiped out, the women must survive a sinister threat in this "perfectly told" 1600s parable of "a world gone mad" (Adriana Trigiani).   Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on...
The lightkeepers : a novel
Geni, Abby
Paper Book
A nature photographer's residency among the harsh natural beauty of the Farallon Islands takes a startlingly violent turn in this debut eco-thriller with echoes of Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer. CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BY- People Magazine, Marie Claire...
Moloka'i
Brennert, Alan.
Paper Book
This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off...
The island of sea women : a novel
See, Lisa
Paper Book
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come...
We do not part : a novel
Han, Kang
Audiobook
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD IN FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE OBSERVER...
A Far-Flung Life
Stedman, M L
Cantoras
De Robertis, Carolina
Paper Book
"Cantoras is a stunning lullaby to revolution--and each woman in this novel sings it with a deep ferocity. Again and again, I was lifted, then gently set down again--either through tears, rage, or laughter. Days later, I am still inside this song of a story." --Jacqueline Woodson, National...

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