Oh wow, what a topic! The suggestions were to choose between these two but I couldn't so I'm going to do some of each! I'm looking forward to really getting into this topic, as I think book settings and world-building are often under-appreciated.
Historic Settings:
1) World War II/Post War. As terrible and nightmare inducing as World War II must have been, it certainly makes for great reading most of the time. Plenty of drama to start with, and a lot of the books I've read from the era have done some very interesting things with this time period.
Examples I've Read: 'The Book Thief', 'Child 44', 'Life After Life', 'Etta & Otto & Russell & James', 'The Butterfly & The Violin'.
2) 18th - 19th Century Europe. I normally like to read about England particularly but I have read many great books set in this time period in France, Italy and other great European Countries and I just can't get enough of them. I love the dramas at court, the forbidden romances, and most of all watching the oppressed heroines try to live life in a society that greatly favours men.
Examples I've Read: 'Pride & Prejudice', 'The Tale Of Raw Head & Bloody Bones', 'Pure', 'Dracula', 'The Sunken', 'A Natural History Of Dragons', 'Bitter Greens', 'The Miniaturist', 'The Dark Days Club'.
3) Historic Asia. I haven't read a whole bunch of books set in Asia, but the few that I have I've thoroughly enjoyed. This setting intrigues me: it's culture and mythology are so different to my own that I love learning more!
Examples I've Read: 'Under Fishbone Clouds', 'The Walled City'.
Futuristic Settings:
1) Space. I never used to consider myself much of a Science Fiction fan but I've really enjoyed a whole bunch of books that have been set in space, and so it's time to acknowledge my not-so-secret love of the setting. It has so much potential too as a setting!
Examples I've Read: The Lunar Chronicles series, 'Red Rising', 'Spinning Starlight'.
2) Sector Divisions. There are a whole bunch of Dystopian Thrillers with this kind of setting: a future in which the world is divided into categories. Sometimes it's by job description, sometimes by race and sometimes by personality. All of these tend to make for really great reading!
Examples I've Read: The Noughts & Crosses series, 'Winter', The Hunger Games series, the Divergent series, '1984'.
3) Back To Square One. There are a fair few books that are set in the future, but see humanity almost reverting completely back to no civilisation. These are always interesting too, and normally a result of some terrible natural disaster and/or disease.
Examples I've Read: 'Lord Of The Flies', 'The Queen Of The Tearling', Station Eleven', 'Cloud Atlas'.
Settings I'd Like To Read More Of:
1) The Wild West. After reading 'Vengeance Road', I am dying to get hold of some more YA Western fiction. I think it's become my new favourite genre! My desire was partly satisfied by the inclusion of a Western style story in the first Sherlock Holmes book, 'A Study In Scarlet', but this is a setting I'll be craving for a while.
2) Ancient Times. A while back I read Ilka Tampke's 'Skin' and absolutely adored it's Celtic Britain, pre-Rome setting. It made me think about my lack of reading in Ancient times: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, etc. I love learning about those eras. Why haven't I read them?
3) Utopian Society. I have read a lot of Dystopian books and it makes me sad to realise that most Authors imagine such a dank, gloomy future. I'd like to read a book where society itself is very advanced and prosperous in the future but there are other problems to solve.
4) Heavy Robots. I see so many robots in movies and games, yet I rarely see them in books. I'm not sure why this is but I think it would be cool to see more of them, whether they are in a good or bad role, because robotics is a very real, quickly advancing topic today.
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