When I read a book I always have to go on to Google earth to see where the author is setting the scene
when they tell you they are driving down a road to some place I look to see where it actually goes because… now this might upset some
they are telling fibs and these places do not exist
.Nope,haven’t done that before Vaniy…You really take Your reading seriously then?
I haven’t done that, although I may do now!
I do check up on some historical facts sometimes, I like vintage crime.
I do it too & some places written about do exist.
Yes, it’s only you apparently. Digressing slightly, what really annoys me is reading on a book cover all the blurb about the author, their brilliance, their past titles and so on but bugger all about the plot of the actual book.
Fiction is just that, fiction. That’s why you can’t find the place at times. Just like elves and fairies don’t exist. But they can in fiction. Or like murder is not fun, but there are books about it and people seem to get off on reading about it.
Elves and fairies are not real?..that’s upset me now 
Actually van I do that sometimes too specially if there is a building that’s pivotal in the plot or a place, I check facts too especially in historical novels looking at characters and taking it a step further into when and how they died or remarried that sort of thing…
You have to be careful though because it sometimes ruins the plot for you
@ summer - re: elves & fairies aren’t real?
Elves and Sprites exist right enough. They are types of Upper Atmospheric lightning!
I always thought sprite was a can of lemonade?
I do find it jars, to the point of being off-putting sometimes, when an author (usually American) sets a book in an English town that I know and it bears no resemblance to reality. In these days of Google Streetview there is just no excuse.
That’s a good point. I wonder how many authors use it as a guide?
When I start a book, I can’t be bothered reading all the blurb at the front; where the author lives, this book is dedicated to…etc. When I have finished the book, that’s when I get interested in where it was set etc.
I use the internet whilst reading, especially when the book is historical or a biography. I like how on my iPad I have the facility to use maps and wikipedia to look up places and people I’m not clear about. Trouble is, sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked from the book.
Are you talking about works of fiction or travel guides?
That Dan Brown rubbish is quite educational and gets me googling maps and wikipedia. 
No, it’s not just you. The site is full of people who can’t put a decent thread title up.
Or at least refuse to.
John Grisham … total rubbish, but I read one of his about Bologna and was totally hooked … on streetview, checking restaurant menus and stuff … still obsessed ten years on.
Maybe I need a holiday.
Peter May books are usually based around real places and I have actually followed his Lewis trilogy around Harris and Lewis and the places he describes actually exist. Also John Harvey based a series of books in Nottingham and reading them is like stepping back in time in my home town.
Elly Griffiths sets her books in and around King’s Lynn. I remember when she mentioned a Tesco Extra and I had just been in that shop the same day. Although I’m in Yorkshire I’ve spent a lot of time in Norfolk.
