Literary Reference Books

Working in a library I think I have a particular affinity for reference books.  Since I work in Acquisitions I get to see lots of new books and other materials pass by my desk.  I wish I could soak in all the information as I browse through the books.  I tend to buy reference books for myself as well, but more on a whim.  I get them and then they end up on a shelf or in a stack somewhere forgotten about.  I took a look around my book room looking for some inspiration  on what to post about today, and I decided to pull this one out.  The Atlas of Literature by Malcolm Bradbury appears to be out of print, but if you can check it out from the library, it is a fun book to look at.  It is literally an atlas of literary places.  And yes, there are essays in it as well.  It essentially goes by time period and locale giving a brief overview of the literature particular to it.  For instance there is Dicken's London, Thomas Hardy's Wessex, Kafka's Prague, Faulkner's South, etc.  Since I am currently reading Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", now is a good time to read about Austen's Regency England!