What is your favorite book that’s set in the state where you live?
What is your favorite book that’s set in the state where you live?
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What is your favorite book that’s set in the state where you live?
Escanaba in da moonlight
Centennial (though we share a bit of it with Colorado) , Longmire series, Death in Yellowstone, The White Indian Boy
I have many favorites but one that comes to mind is Sullivan’s Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
Moon over Manifest
Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
An Ocean in Iowa
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane.
Devil in the White City
I love Sarah Addison Allen – she’s from Asheville NC – and one of my very favorite books (and one I recommend to readers all the time) is “Garden Spells”. It’s set in a ficitonal town, but still in NC.
I’m going to have to check this out!
Jan Karon is another good NC writer. Her “Mitford” books are so uplifting.
I recently read Lost Lake and loved the characters.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Devil in the White City
Besides cheesy romance novels there are only two books that I know of set in Montana: A River Runs Through it and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. I must say the Miseducation is my favorite and I’m excited for the movie.
Yada Yada Prayer Group and Devil in the White City
The Orchid Thief
The Glass Castle
Bastard Out of Carolina
Handling Sin – in N.C.
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch.(Washington)
The Outsiders.
Little Women
I’m drawing a blank on the state?
@Janet Massachusetts
Wish You Well by David Baldacci
I love this book!
Tales of the City.
Elm creek quilters series
The Bookseller also Centennial.
Arizona- These Is My Words, The Glass Castle (part of it), The Bean Trees
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
The Grapes of Wrath and basically anything Steinbeck.
The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg.
Where’d You Go Bernadette
I live in Antarctica. Wink
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant, a short story by David Grubb called Fifty of the Blue (West Virginia)
A Romantic Education by Patricia Hampl
Changing Season – Steve Manchester
Simple Jess Pam Morsi this is such a good book. non typical hero. I wasn’t sure when I read it, but so glad I did
Station Eleven
This book! ??
Too many to choose from in California, but my favorite from the state I grew up in (Wisconsin) is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
The Alphabet Series by Sue Grafton, set in Santa Teresa, a fictionalized version of Santa Barbara
The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden (set in New Orleans, LA)
WV: Storming Heaven, The Unquiet Earth, Follow the River, and The Glass Castle
The Devil in the White City which is set in Chicago where I live.
That’s on my TBR list!
@Sophia It’s a great book which among other things, details some of the architectural history of Chicago. Luckily some of that architecture still stands today.
Forrest Gump and Boy’s Life.
Monday Monday by Elizabeth Crook. Novel set around the UT tower shootings. Fiction take on the path of several lives. The historical accuracy blended with fiction made a good read.
That’s a great question! I live in Georgia and really haven’t read that many books set here. I remember reading a book called “Ecology if a Cracker Childhood” about 10 years ago that was interesting.
Many of Anne Rivers Siddons’ books are set in Georgia. They are a bit formulaic, but I still enjoyed them. Not written by her, but recently read “The Twelve Mile Straight,” set in South Georgia. Disturbing, but a great read.
Savannah-Saving Cee Cee Hunicutt and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil…Tybee has a wonderful fun book, Summer Breeze.
Picture book of the Calgary flood 5 years ago…interesting to see what the power of water can do…
Maryland ?
Either Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay by William Warner or Chesapeake by James Michener
Gene Stratton Porter’s nature books and fiction books written in Indiana.
Time’s Witness, Michael Malone – set in North Carolina
The Grapes of Wrath
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts.
Under The Banner of Heaven. I live in Utah.
I really like that one, too! But I had to go with Executioner’s Song for my favorite Utah book.
On the Banks of Plum Creek: Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Betsy and Tacy Series: Maud Hart Lovelace, Duma Key: Stephen King (briefly)
News of the World by Paulette Jiles. Texas.
The Monkeewrench mysteries.
The Life We Bury-Eskens (Minnesota)
“A Land Remembered” Patrick Smith for Florida
One of The Best Books ever written about Florida!
The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien by Oscar Hijuelos a family saga about an Irish & Cuban American family in Pennsylvania.
<3 Snow Falling On Cedars <3 (Washington State)
Run, Rabbit and the other Rabbit books.
Anatomy of a Murder (Michigan) by Robert Traver.
The firm
Mississippi Greg Iles The Bone Tree Trilogy
John Grisham Books
Tangerine
which tangerine?
@Sandra the one by Edward Bloor…I read it aloud to my fourth graders and he actually came and spent the day in my classroom talking to my students about what authors do.
I taught that book for several years with 7th graders. It was always. Favorite part of the year and my students still mention it when they see me out 10+ years later!
The only (fictional) Alabama book I can think of is To Kill A Mockingbird, and it is shoved down our throats so much that I really can’t stand it.
Haha… so funny that my post immediately follows yours! ?
@Ami Great minds!!
@Kristie ??
I’m not from Alabama but I love Rick Bragg’s books. All Over But The Shoutin was awesome
@Jean I love those, too.
To Kill a Mockingbird ?
Christy
Texas by James Michener
The Dollmaker, True North, The Feast of Love – Michigan
NATIVE SON by Richard Wright, DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury
Just finished Dandelion Wine and feel sure I will read it more! So loved it!
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s fantastic!
I love this book! ?❤️
@Janet Me too!
Gone Girl, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Winter’s Bone .
The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler
Sunburn
The Outsiders in Oklahoma
A Winters Tale
“Leaphorn and Chee” Navajo police series by Tony Hillerman
I have several of his books!! Love him.
The Executioner’s Song
Great question! I really need to think about it!
this was a very different book but very enjoyable!
Anything by Gene Stratton Porter, Kurt Vonnegut, or Booth Tarkington. (Sorry, John Green!)—Indiana
Tennessee: The Tall Woman by Wilma Dykeman;
Also, the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass
Little house on the prairie
Kansas
Please post your state—I’m reading a book from each. Almost finished with all 50, but still compiling a list!
If you have a list, I would enjoy seeing it. I am in my second year of teaching American literature and have thought of using books from different states with students.
@Tanya —another woman after my own heart! I’m a former teacher. ❤️Message me on Messenger! It may be a couple of days before I get my notes in order, but I’d be glad to share!!
I would love your list too!
@Debbie Thank you!
@Tanya I just sent some info on messenger. Let me know if you have any probs accessing it.
You should just share the list publicly; I want to see it too!
Angie Lisle Face palm! I sort of melded the lists from these two sites–https://www.southernliving.com/culture/books-to-read-all-50-states
@Debbie I sent you a message!
The other list is from mental http://floss.com/—search Google for their “Most Famous Book Set in Each State” article.
The Living by Annie Dillard
The Outsiders. Although Ready Player One is also on the list.
Oklahoma
A Confederacy of Dunces
Washington – Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Folly by Laurie King, Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown.
Ordinary Grace by Kent Krueger and most of the John Sanford books and, of course, Tim O’Brien’s In the Lake of the Woods.
The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy — SC
I love this book! ?❤️
One of my favorite books! When they made the movie “Conrack” my brother was involved in helping set up some filming.
@Gretchen – Very cool!
@Janet , I only wish I’d known it while it was happening! The scenes where they took all the kids trick or treating…maybe they said in Charleston…were actually filmed on St. Simons Island, and he was the president of the chamber of commerce in those days. He also got to know Eugenia Price during his time there after she wrote her trilogy. Very cool time to live there!
@Gretchen – We love the Southeast and have visited St. Simons and Daufuskie islands. Beautiful places! Found both Ms. Price and Mr. Conroy’s gravesites ?
@Janet, how exciting for you! The barrier islands and lowcountry have a unique beauty for sure.
So Big by Edna Ferber Illinois
True Grit
Nights in Rodanthe
The Diane Mott Davidson books
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Gone with the Wind.
I loved Wilma Dykeman’s works, but my favorite book set in Tennessee is probably A Widow of the South by Robert Hicks.
Oh, I forgot Christy by Catherine Marshall!
The River Why
I also loved The Brothers K
The Wizard of Oz
Kansas, Munchkinland or The Emerald City? ??
Depends on the mood ?
The Boys in the Boat
State of Washington!
Hearts of Men (Wisconsin)
All of Wally Lamb’s books. (Set in Connecticut)
To the Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman
I’m sure there are others, but the most recent: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Ohio)
A Knight of Another Sort by Gary De Neal. Tells the story of gangster Charlie Birger during Prohibition.
Dust and Roses by Wes Brummer
Last of the Mohicans
Cannery Row.
Gone With The Wind
The Yearling
Most books by Patricia Cornwall.
A Land Remembered, by Patrick D. Smith (Florida)
I live in Louisiana- hard to choose… So many books take place in New Orleans lol…
I have never been to your home state but Anne Rice made me fall in love with New Orleans. I will someday go!
True
I read this book by Yukio Mishima while attending UT Austin. I read it in translation.
Ordinary Grace
The Fault in Our Stars
A Walk to Remember
And Ladies of the Club
Great question!
Snow Falling On Cedars, Hotel At The corner Of Bitter and Sweet, Hoys In The Boat, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian are all set in Washington State. The hotel at the Corner is still there. I have visited it. You can look down through a piece of plexiglass and view some things left behind in the hotel.
The Razor’s Edge or Devil in the White City.
The Outsiders and The Summer of the Monkys were the two books set in Oklahoma that stand out the most for me.
To Kill a Mockingbird
East of Eden
The Worst Hard Time which is about the Oklahoma & Texas panhandles during the dust bowl.
NC. One Second After by William Forstchen
Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring takes place in Wisconsin
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
When Love Walked In
State name would also help if not familiar with the book or setting
Centennial, James Michener
A Confederacy of Dunces–Louisiana
To Kill a Mockingbird (Alabama)
All Over But The Shoutin by Rick Bragg (AL)
Good book!
@Judy I love all his books.
@Jan that’s the only one I read of his but I’ll check out his others. Which one would you recommend?
@Judy All Over But The Shoutin is the story of his mother. Ava’s Man is the story of his grandfather. The prince Of Frogtown is the story of his father. I would suggest either.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck set in Monterey, CA
@Judy His newest book is more about his mother. The Best Cook In The World: Tales From My Momma’s Table. It’s on my next to read list.
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Read it around 10-11 years old. He is a well known California-Armenian author and won a Pulitzer prize and turned it down.
@Jan ok thank you! I was visiting a friend in Atlanta and we visited a cute little independent bookstore and it was recommended to me by someone there. Thank you!
@Judy happy reading!
@Jan you too ?
Or The Stand, Stephen King
East of Eden
A Day No Pigs Would Die.
Divergent series..Illinois
Any of Kathleen Earnst’s novels. Wisconsin
A Land Remembered (Florida)
Robert Thornhill’s series set in Kansas City, MO.
The Frontiersman -Ohio
Bridges of Madison County — Iowa
The Yearling – Florida
Winter’s Bones…living in the Missouri Ozarks, this book hits close to home.
Empire Falls by Richard Russo for New York State.
I am from Georgia some have already been mentioned not sure if the Lighthouse Trilogy or other books by Eugenia Price has been noted.
Love this series and her Florida Trilogy! ❤️?
OMG—how did I forget Eugenia!!! What a teller of tales! Thanks for reminding me!?
@Debbie – She also has a Savannah series and Georgia Trilogy
@Janet —yes! I read them years ago and loved them! Probably out of print, but now in my TBRA (again!) list!
I have all of her books in my personal library, have read most of them again.
@Kathy —just added to my bucket list: visit St. Simons Island. ☺️
Jean Stratton Yes the islands including Jekyll and Cumberland would be interesting also. I was raised about 50 miles west of the coast and would go there often to visit relatives.
Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver…
Can’t think of any in Michigan.
Anatomy of a Murder is set in Marquette, MI
The Color Purple
Murder in Mackinac.
Thanks Pat&Mary.
I’ll check them out.
I’ve seen the A.of a Murder movie.
Brown Dog Novellas by Jim Harrison..
@Pat . Thanks:)
Ginny Olson Cole In Nick Adams Stories by Hemingway – The End of Something. Haven’t read the others.
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Read it around 10-11 years old. He is a well known California-Armenian author and won a Pulitzer prize and turned it down.
To Kill A Mockingbird – Alabama
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Read it around 10-11 years old. He is a well known California-Armenian author and won a Pulitzer prize and turned it down.
.. Washington State, in the town of Port Orchard .. the “Cedar Cove” series by Debbie Macomber .. the author lives in Port Orchard, and she changed the town’s name to “Cedar Cove”, when she wrote the series.
A Land Remembered – Florida
Sweet Promised Land, laxalt/Nevada
A Land Remembered – Florida
We wrote the same thing at the exact same time! ?
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. A well known California-Armenian author who once won the Pulitzer prize. Read it around 10-11 years old.
Plainsong by Kent Haruf for Colorado
Love that book and Eventide.
Our Souls at Night is also really good. And, the movie, with Redford and Fonda wasn’t bad either (of course never as good as the book).
The Scarlet Letter
Tony Hillerman…
Since not alot to choose from – ready player one- ohio
Gone with the Wind ♥️
Gone with the wind!!
The Guardian by Nicolas Sparks – NC
Living in Delaware, there isn’t many to choose from!
The Halloween Tree.
This Boy, by F. Mark Granato, CT
Tonight in the Rivers of Pittsburgh, is the first of a great mystery trilogy.
Here’s another I just thought of that’s pretty good!
“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Amazing.
Also Barracoon
@Debbie As much as I love “Their Eyes Were Watching God” – and I used to read it once or twice a year – I have never read anything else by Zora Neal Hurston. I will check this out, thank you!
@Rebecca I actually loved it more than “Eyes.” The backstory: publishers insisted that Hurston anglicize the dialect of the gentleman dubbed “the last black cargo” of the slave trade. She refused, insisting that to anglicize his speech would detract immensely from the overall effect of the work. She was exactly right. Consequently, the manuscript lay dormant in the archives of Howard University until Deborah Plant recently approached Harper Collins about publishing the posthumous work. It is simply astounding. Very, very compelling.
@Debbie Wow. I will definitely read this. Thank you again. And I think I will reread “Eyes” again. It’s been a few years and we just moved from South Florida to Central Florida and it is a world of difference here. I think I’ll pick up some other authors and novels that have Florida flavor. 🙂
…and Ladies of the Club (Ohio)
The Art of Racing in the Rain. Washington
The Shack, Oregon
“The Witch of Blackburn pond “
Connecticut
Homecoming/Diceys Song (Maryland)
Staggerford – set in Minnesota.
Pigs in Heaven, Barbara Kingsolver.
Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels- Gettysburg, PA ??
The Life we Bury by Allen Eskens – MN
Kentucky – Clays Quilt, Parchment of Leaves and The Coal Tatooo by Silas House
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, WI & VT
Crossing to Safety is one of my favorite books ever!
And the Ladies of the Club, Helen Hooven Santmeyer. Ohio. It is a wonderful book!
It’s long but completely absorbing. Expect to miss out on some sleep.
@Mags How did I ever miss this? Oh, wait! I was raising kids and reading Berenstain Bears (ad nauseum!!!)when it came out. ?
11/22/63 by Stephen King—Texas
Outsiders
Gone With the Wind – Georgia!
Lonesome Dove.
Heart of Darkness
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Gone Girl (Missouri) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Arkansas)
The Rescue by Nicholas sparks
In my “travels,” I got stuck in some areas—esp coal country—and had to make side trips to read articles online. Shout out to you folks in Appalachia. VA-Wish You Well (Baldacci), WV-Storming Heaven (Giardini), KY-The Time of Man (Roberts), regionally, Hillbilly Elegy.
Does it show that I love to talk about my American reading adventure? ?
Little Fires Everywhere
Great fun to look at these. Thanks for including the state
Eatonville and Pahokee, FL Their Eyes Were Watching God
To Kill A Mockingbird. Al.
North Carolina, anything by Sharyn McCrumb.
Arizona: Desert Wives (and/or Desert Wind) by Betty Webb….just read the whole Lena James series.
Betty Webb is an investigative journalist turned novelist. “If Betty Webb had gone undercover and written Desert Wives as a piece of investigative journalism, she’d probably be up for a Pulitzer….” (The New York Times)
But I also love the J. A. Jance Joanna Brady series set mainly in AZ
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5659.Novels_Set_in_Arizona
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen Florida
Raney by Clyde Edgerton; NC
Happy Bicentennial to my “homeland,” Illinois. Ray Bradbury–Dandelion Wine, the precursor to Something Wicked This Way Comes. Sandra Cisneros: House on Mango Street.
The Raven’s Gift by Don Rearden, Alaska
New Mexico/Arizona Anything Tony Hillerman….and even his daughter Ann Hillerman’s sequels.
The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers….set in Northern California and back and forth re Yemen. Great book, author, real-life story…
Diana Gabaldon is from my state but the books are set in Scotland.
Great Santini
And The Water is Wide….unbelievable!
Really almost all Conroy
Absolutely love pat conroy
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson!
Just finished Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson! It was amazing!
Have you read any of her others?
Winter’s Bone
Parchment of Leaves by Silas House, amazing portrait of Appalachia with real people, not stereotypes.
I grew up in Jersey, so I’ll choose Fitzgerald’s first published work, This Side Of Paradise….some parts take place in NYC, where I live now….
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Missouri
Oklahoma: “Grapes of Wrath”, Woody Guthrie’s “Bound for Glory”, and “The Outsiders”. Two of my favorite Oklahoma authors are Billie Letts and Rilla Askew.
A Land Remembered, Florida.
Too many to list. Lots of books sent in Chicago❤️
Devil in the White City is a great non-fic
“Surface Tension” by Mike Mullin, based in my current town Indianapolis IN. new YA suspense book. Lots of familiar places.
Georgia-
God, Mr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man, a fabulous memoir about Sapelo Island
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil-Savannah
Saving Cee Cee Hunnicut-Savannah
An Hour Before Daylight- very good memoir by Jimmy Carter of his rural boyhood in Plains.
Holes
“o pioneers” & “my antonia” by willa cather <3 also, parts of "the stand" by stephen king (nebraska)
I Sailed With Magellan by Stuart Dybek – it’s a compilation of short stories all set in Chicago. One, “Lunch at the Loyola Arms,” is even set on a block I used to live on.
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by Kinsella.
Because Bill Bryson grew up in my neighborhood in Des Moines Iowa and went to Roosevelt High School where my child went to school, his book “Thunderbolt Kid” is a favorite, though I like his book about living in England “Notes from a Small Island” even better.
LOVE “Thunderbolt Kid”
Haven’t seen HI weigh in. I’ll proxy: Moloka’i. I must’ve been the only one over 55 that had never heard of a leper colony in Hawaii. Great historical fiction. Blessings to you folks in HI….such a tragic last several weeks.
My book club read Moloka’i a few years ago. I really like the book.
The Grapes of Wrath
A Land Remembered
State?
@Debbie Florida
A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains (Colorado)
Idaho: Educated, Tara Westover
Arizona-These is My Words
Also check out A Beautiful Cruel Country by Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce. It’s also set in S. AZ and is a memoir of the author’s childhood near Arivaca.
The Secret Knowledge of Water by Craig Childs
Apparently, the only one I’ve read set in Pennsylvania is The Lovely Bones. I need to work on that!
O’ Pioneers by Willa Cather –Nebraska
Bridge to Terabithia, Virginia. It’s a children’s book. No equally wonderful adult novels set in Virginia come to mind.
NJ Any book by Harlan Coben
I was wondering when I would see jersey pop
Up lol I’ve never read him before.
Great author
The Joy Luck Club
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611681-at-the-edge-of-the-orchard is set in NW Ohio when it was still the Great Black Swamp.
A Gathering of Old Men – Louisiana
Gilead
Anything by Stephen King 😉
LuAnne Rice novels- CT
Lonesome Dove until my book is published!
The Outsiders
To Kill a Mockingbird (AL)❣️
God’s in Alabama
Ha!
Georgia:
When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
North Carolina:
The Serafina Series
Alabama:
Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
Texas:
News of The World by Paulette Jiles
Chicago:
Dear Mr. Knightley
Also Georgia: Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns and everything by Flannery O’Connor.
Oh, girls! Think some more! SC has (RIP) the great Pat Conroy so take your pick: Prince of Tides, Lords of Disciple, The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, I’ll stop there?
Set mostly in Seattle, the J.A. Jance, J.P. Beaumont Mystery Series. Not high literature, but they are what comes to mind. Most of the books that have touched me deeply from our area are more from Oregon or British Columbia, and, of course, I can’t remember any of the titles. Sorry!
I discovered J. P. Beaumont when I lived in the Pacific Northwest in 1987. At that point, he was suffering from “delusions of adequacy.” A phrase which hooked me, and I have read every single Jance book since then.
I’m originally from NYC, and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn has been a favorite since I first read it 50 years ago.
I’m in Maryland – What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman.
Roses
BOTTOMLAND.
So far, from Arizona, The Bean Trees, and
Animal Dreams
And the Lena Jones mysteries by Betty Webb and JA Jance’s Joanna Brady mysteries.
The monkey wrench gang by Edward abbey, plus the lazy b by Sandra day O’Connor. Epitaph a novel of the ok corral by Mary Doris Russell
Wow, how could I forget that one.
A Painted House and Lions of Little Rock- Arkansas
a tree grows in brooklyn
JP Beaumont by Jance in WA and Rex Burns’ books in CO
Shame on me! I haven’t read any for Iowa!! Suggestions anyone?
Bridges of Madison county is the first that pops into mind. Not a favorite of mine, but probably the most beloved by many. https://bookriot.com/2015/03/12/5-great-books-set-iowa/
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley – She won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel.
Yeah im good on that one lol
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Homer Price books by Robert McCloskey
I am a Floridian so I am having a difficult time choosing something by Carl Hiaasen. Probably Stormy Weather, but maybe Star Island. Any of his novels that feature Skink as a leading character. Tourist Season is also a favorite.
Love Hiaasen!
Also John D McDonald’s Travis McGee novels. They’re a bit sexist, but still good mysteries.
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. Tellico Plains is only a few miles from my town.
The first that came to my mind (New York): http://www.jenniferdonnelly.com/book/a-northern-light/
I don’t live there anymore, but I was born and grew up in Baltimore, I love The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler.
Anyone heard about SC? Where can we find out?
https://www.goodreads.com/places/1117-south-carolina
@Linda Thanks, doll?❗️
PRINCE OF TIDES
@Linda Good one.
Yes and The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. We have a lot of great books set in SC!
Beach Music!
the first that came to my mind was the Left Behind series
A Prayer for Owen Meany.
( New Hampshire)
Lonesome Dove!
Gone With the Wind!!❤️
Georgia!!
A guilty pleasure, but totally enjoyable because I can picture the setting and all of the places mentioned– the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series, in New Jersey.
hard to come up with one from Jersey- maybe one by Diaz-
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. Washington.
The Polar Express from Rhode Island.
Tongues of Angels -Reynolds Price -Blue Ridge Mt-NC
I hope everyone puts the state with their title. I’m trying to read a book set in every state. Just a fun way to make sure I’m reading a variety!
A Northern Light
South Carolina: Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy and The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
I picked Pat Conroy for SC as well.
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter.
IL: Devil in the White City
Lonesome Dove: Texas
The serafina series!!!
https://www.amazon.com/Frontiersmen-Narrative-Allan-W-Eckert/dp/0945084919. One in a series that Eckert wrote. Almost entirely Ohio based
Lonesome Dove.
Anything by Wally Lamb, “The Ice Storm” by Rick Moody, “Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (Connecticut)
The Outsiders!
All the Garth Stein books take place in Washington State. It’s hard to pick my favorite, but A Sudden Light doesn’t require lots of tissues. Jamie Ford books for historical fiction in Washington.
I will be adding these to my list!!
The Bookseller
Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver, and a couple of J.A. Jance series for AZ.
It’s a stretch, but The Wizard of Oz. Kansas
The Stand! I’m not in Boulder, but it’s close! I always thought that was awesome! That book really influenced my life…and reading!??
Great book!!
Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon
Shotgun Love Songs
Middlesex-Michigan
So many! The first I remember reading was Farmer Boy in the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Almanzo lived in a small farmhouse outside of Malone, NY, on what is now Stacy Rd. Volunteers keep it going! http://almanzowilderfarm.com/
“Misty of Chincoteague” (Virginia)
I LOVED that book. Read it when I lived in Virginia.
Born in Kansas; living in California?
Roots and Deliverance. In Virginia
one of my favourite books. I live in ontario about an hour from MI
Forgot James Mitchner’s Chesapeake, and Misty for Virginia
Hannah Fowler by Janice Holt Giles Kentucky
meant to respond to Middlesex
Ashes Underwater: The SS Eastland the Shipwreck that Shook the World. Michael McCarthy
Beach Music – SC. Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors.
News of the World or True Grit.
so favor 2
Lonesome Dove that turned into a movie and
Little house on the
Prairie
Snow Falling On Cedars…Washington State..
Georgia: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Great book
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
Little Fires Everywhere and Everything I Never Told You, both by Celeste Ng, both set in Ohio. And both are beautifully written.
Wisconsin. I was going to say The Story of Edgar Sawtelle because it was very good, but truthfully it’s Little House in the Big Woods!
I’ll try latter now – read Sawtelle already.
I’ll try latter now – read Sawtelle already.
Marsi – I second Little House in the Big Woods!
The Bookmaker’s Daughter and True Grit Arkansas.
Mine also, Marsi Feiber Plaunt! Our daughter worked at Old World Wisconsin for 4 years. They have a Laura Ingalls Wilder day, nice to see all the girls so interested in the activities.
On The Corner or Bitter and Sweet or The Orchardist-it’s a tie!
Probably Old Yeller and/or Lonesome Dove.
Killer Angles the battle of Gettysburg
Love this book too!
Anything be Dorothea Benton Frank!
Cider House Rules by John Irving
Little Women.
I don’t remember its name but my dad had a book full of short stories about Detroit. I remember one was titled “The Boy who Bought the Tigers So He Could See a Game”. It was how Walter Briggs couldn’t afford to go to a Tiger baseball game as a boy so when he grew up and became rich, he bought the team. The bleachers were then where he gave paperboys free tickets to see the game. That was my favorite. I also read a Regency Romance set in Detroit. Can’t remember it’s name either.?
Raney by Clyde Edgerton, set in North Carolina.
Prince of Tides
Centennial
And Ladies of the Club. Xenia, Ohio – my birth place.
not much is set in Indiana
Little Fires Everywhere. I also like Les Roberts Whiskey Island. They both take place in Cleveland Ohio.
Ramona series
Any of the James Lee Burke Robicheaux series!
Centennial by James Michner.
The Awakening
“One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864” by Gary Joiner.
I live in Savannah Georgia. It’s a toss up between Gone With the Wind and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
I lived in your state for 33 yrs … mine would be Midnight In the Garden Of Good and Evil (loved both the book and the movie) 😀 #ReadOn
@Donna where do you live now?
@Debbie, Military BRAT who spent many of my growing up years at Ft. Rucker, AL, so I’m back in “Sweet Home”. #LifeIs ?
Prairie Silence
The Secret Life of Bees
GWTW
The House With a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
The Devil in the White City
Calico Joe
Winesburg, Ohio
The Steven White’s, Dr. Alan Gregory series.
In Cold Blood.
The Grapes of Wrath…California
Moby Dick
The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Florida. Winner of the 1939 Pulitzer for the Novel.
So sad.
@Cindy, agreed. It’s such a beautiful novel, which takes place in old Florida. I was torn between this one and A Land Remembered, by Patrick D. Smith.
The Great Gatsby
Giant
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippmann
WHITE OLEANDER.
I’m originally from Wisconsin. Walkers by Graham Masterton scared the crap out of me because I knew every location in the book.
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series are set in New Jersey.
The Chaperone
I am from Alabama so…To Kill .a Mockingbird
Gone Girl, Missouri
Peachtree Road…. Georgia
The Music Man by Meredith Willson.
Iron Weed by Wm Kennedy (Upstate NY)
The Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Used to live in Nebraska and really enjoyed Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos. Just read Language Arts by the same author set where I live now in Seattle. That was pretty good.
Richard Peck’s YA books.
Thieving Forest. Ohio!
I’m going to take some liberties here:. I grew up in Oregon, although I don’t live there now and Cathy Lamb’s stories are usually set there.
Anything Steinbeck:)
A Land Remembered – Patrick Smith
That’s a great one for FL! Also Their Eyes Were Watching God
It’s not all in Texas, but the best book is Lonesome Dove
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston.
TheophilusNorth by Thornton wilder
The Great Gatsby, Ragtime, Charming Billy
Virginia
Yes! Our book club in Williamsburg has it on their list for December!
Centennial by James Michener, Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
Colorado
J P Beaumont series by J A Jance. Beaumont is a detective in Seattle, Washington
Terms of Endearment, Lonesome Dove, All the Pretty Horses
Joanna Brady series by J .A. Jance
Anything by Pat Conroy
Michener’s “Texas”
Middlesex
Gone with the Wind
Snow Falling On Cedars
Also…On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Station Eleven (same state as Middlesex)
A Land Remembered
Yes, mine too!
Lonesome Dove
Clifford of Drummond Island (Michigan)
Giant
Operation Ragnarok (set in Northcentral Pennsylvania)
Beach Music. Pat Conroy describes SC lowcountry beautifully
I am a Native Californian living in a different state now but I love Valley of the Moon by Jack London, set in the Sonoma Valley, not far from my hometown.
Christopher Moore writes about San Francisco often. I love his writing! So funny
The Grapes of Wrath
Little House in the Big Woods – WI
Lonesome Dove with Texas Rangers Gus McRae and Woodrow Call – together they’re the best man ever!
Gus ruined me for other men
Little women
Alas, Babylon
I love that book!
Laura Ingalls Wilder set of books
My Antonia.
True Grit – Arkansas; Grapes of Wrath – Oklahoma
Kings Row by Henry Bellamann. Later a movie starring Ronald Reagan. Set in Fulton MO (although not called that in the book) about 15 minutes from my house. It caused quite a stir in town and was banned from the library at one time. Great book.
The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher (but, specifically, Blood Rites, which is book 6)
Paloverde
Bonfire of the Vanities. New York.
The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner. (Utah)
The only one I know of is To Kill a Mockingbird.
Oh Promised Land by James Street. Also, Tap Roots and By Valour and Arms by the same author in the same series.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
I love that book, set in Chicago, where my mom was born and raised.
Loved that book! Curious to see how the movie turns out.
All of Louisa May Alcott’s books!
Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey set on Oregon
“Shoeless Joe” by W. P. Kinsella (my home state of Iowa – Field of Dreams)
Just visited the North Woods of MN. Any suggestions for a book in that region and NOT Little House on the Prarie.?
You should try the Allen Eskens books. He is a fantastic author and his Max Rupert series is fantastic.
Thank you, will check it out!
“In Cold Blood” (Kansas, present state of residence)
The movie scared me “to death” when I was a kid ….LOVE Truman Capote …. neighbor to my Nelle Harper Lee. 🙂
The Help – Mississippi
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati — NY and as we have a home in FLA…A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith
Gone with the wind
To Kill A Mockingbird
@Hilaire are you from Alabama too?
Yes, I don’t know of another book set here.
@Hilaire Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannin Flag
Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
And A Walk Through Fire but I can’t recall the author.
Fried Green Tomatoes is on my tbr. I’ve seen the movie. I guess I just didn’t remember.
Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Florida)
A Death in the Family, set in Knoxville TN
Although I am not a native (I am from California), I live in Utah now. Desert Solitaire: A Season In the Wilderness written by Edward Abbey when he was a Park Ranger at Arches National Park in Utah, is quite good.
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton – Oklahoma
The Anne George Series
Lonesome Dove – TX
I have to post one for NJ/IL. “Radium Girls” will stop you in your tracks. True story of the early 1900s “dial painters”–unsuspecting young women in factories in Orange, NJ and Ottawa, IL tasked with painting radium-laced luminescent paint on watch dials. Compelling.
Everything by Pat Conroy and Dorothea Benton Franks…South Carolina
Brighty of the Grand Canyon AZ from childhood
Thanks for posting that book! I could only think of Twilight ?!
A Lantern In Her Hand. Nebraska
I loved that book, and also Miss Bishop, both by Bess Streeter Aldrich. My mother introduced me to her books.
Nelson DeMille books are set in NY – The Gold Coast and Plum Island and Night Fall and Wild Fire!
The art forger. Boston
Catcher in the Rye-NY
The Legend of Buddy Bush
Gone With the Wind
The soul brothers and sister lou
Silence of the Lambs
??
The Widow of the South. great read of post Civil War.
The Air We Breathe, set in Saranac Lake NY.
The Winter Garden, eastern Wa.
Cold Mountain
“Grapes of Wrath”
Catcher in the rye
Charlotte’s Web
A river runs through it
Yes??????
Into the Wild by Kim Barnes (Idaho)
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya- New Mexico
To Kill a Mockingbird!
Dave Barry’s Best State Ever.
Point of Origin
Martin Marten
Cannery Row
When the Legends Die, by Hal Borland, about a young Ute Indian man, partly set in Colorado.
To Kill a Mockingbird ?
Can anyone recommend a book set in New York (NOT NYC)?
Massachusetts.
Even though part of it takes place in NYC, it’s a wonderful novel….
Broke Heart Blues by Joyce Carol Oates
My favorite is City of Light, Lauren Belfer, set in Buffalo NY
Thank you!
An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser, Maureen Doherty
Clara and Mr Tiffany (I know it takes place in NYC but in a very different time)
The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart is set in a rural area near a tiny un-named town near NYC.
Grapes of wrath
Arkansas, Maya Angelou, Helen Gurley Brown, Ellen Gilchrist, Dee Brown (I Left My Heart at Wounded Knee), and John Gould Fletcher Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who lived up the hill on our country road.
The Adventures of Daniel Boone
And Passage by Connie Willis is set in Denver. She is a science fiction writer who lives in Colorado, so several of her stories are set in this state.
I liked centennial but where I’m from I loved the elm creek series
One for the Money
Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood
Cornbread Mafia
Midnight In The Garden of Good & Evil
Shoeless Joe
This was my second choice for Iowa.
What was your first choice?
@Kim Bridges of Madison County.
@Jeanine I completely forgot about that one! ?
The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill @Bryson
Have it but have not read it yet !
Enemy Woman – set in Missouri
A Parchment of Leaves
Lovely Bones
Gap Creek
East of Eden
Rainey.
The Best Cook in the World
That’s a no brainer for this AlabamIan: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Flowers in the attic.
The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb.
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (post-apocalyptic, but realistic, Ohio!)
Gone with the wind
News of the World, the audio is wonderful
A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith. Great historical novel about Florida.
Lonesome Dove or The Son
Eli The Good by Silas House; set in Kentucky. All of his books are very good!
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Is that Washington?
Yep
Guess I’d better read it then ☺
Anything by Anne Tyler (Maryland)
The Monkey Wrench Gang
Driftless
South of Broad
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
“Old yeller” Texas
Hoot by Carl Hiassen for FL. Or The Everglades: River of Grass by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas.
Love the Cork O’Connor Series by Wm. Kent Krueger
Shepard of the hills
From the Ozarks in Missouri.
I grow up there and have seen the outdoor play many times. My late husband bought me an early copy, that I just cherish.
I was born and raised in Kansas City and spent lots of time in the Ozarks as a child and teenager.
Funny, I grew up in the Ozarks and now live in Blue Springs, just outside of KC Mo
Lonesome Dove
I looked up books based in Wyoming. Since I’m not a fan of westerns, I have to say none.
My Friend Flicka comes to mind.
@Stacey I liked it, but I didn’t love it. It’s not one I would read again.
Girl of the Limberlost
Cheaper by the Dozen
A book I read years ago and would like to read it again: Bluegrass-Kentucky
Well, a Blanton recommended it, I best go look it up. Do you know the author?
@Alicia Borden Deal. I worked in a public library in the early 1980’s. I found this on the shelf and really liked it.
Wizard of OZ!
Beloved-mostly set in Ohio
Or The Bluest Eye also by Toni Morrison
A TIME TO KILL, THE HELP, MY DOG SKIP, anything by William Faulkner or Eudora Welty.
I’m sorry, I’m from Mississippi. People from my state can spin a yarn.
Mississippi is a dramatic state! ?
yes they can. some older books would be the James Street books.
I grew up in Kentucky. A very important novel is set there, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s UNCLE TOM’S CABIN.
Love finds you in Branson, Mo
The Stand by Stephen King much of which was set in Colorado.
And The Shining was inspired by King’s visit to the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.
@Cheryl Yes, I was just at the Stanley Hotel last week. Anyone who is a fan of him should go visit. I liked the Shining but The Stand is in my top 5 favorite books.
I read Hillbilly Elegy last year. The author’s family moved from Kentucky to Ohio-this book is about the white middle class today. I have a special interest in Kentucky because my sister married a fellow from KY and lived the last 30 years of her life there. When I was in high school in the early 1960’s, we read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which is an abolitionist novel set in a Kentucky plantation. It was written in the 1850’s. Our class read this book at the height of the Civil Rights injustices. Those are the two books I know of personally that were set in Kentucky. I know there must be many, many more. Although I am a Californian, I have been to KY several times and I lived there once for a year. I last visited in 2014. It is a beautiful state and I love it!
A Painted House by John Grisham
Ghostbread by S Livingston: about ppl in Rochester, NY: I loved it!
The Stranger Beside me, by Ann Rule
Actually surprised Uncle Toms Cabin wasn’t in the top 100 reads.
Necropolis by @Tim
“The Milagro Beanfield War” by John Nichols.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Devil in the White City.
Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter
The Time Travelers Wife
Any thing written by Sandra @Dallas
All the Light We Cannot See. By Anthony Doer
There aren’t many; but probably a short story in which a perpetually dieting teen & family stop at the restaurant in Santa Claus, AZ. “Cliff and the Calories” by Heinlein. Quite hard to find.
I love Mink River set in Oregon, but Ken Kesey’s books would probably be favorites of many more readers.
Many of Jane Kirkpatrick’s books are set in Oregon where she (and I) live. Wonderful stories based on true historical women.
The Girls from Ames.
The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks – (Tennessee)
I have that book, and love it. My mom and I are planning on visiting Franklin next summer
I grew up in Franklin so it was all very familiar to me.
I’ve read both,it’s been since high school though for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I enjoyed reading a Hillybilly Elegy.
Before we were yours
I read that one recently and enjoyed it.
Winter’s Bone
Anatomy of a Murder
Big Two Hearted river
Anything by Joseph Heywood (MI)
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
The Art Forger (Mass)
The Last Ballad
اassassin
Roth’s American Pastoral
One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline
Lives of girls and women by Alice Munro Ontario, Canada
@Desiree….I haven’t read that book …but I am now
I just read The American Cafe by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe, set in northeast Oklahoma. It was very good. I checked out her two other books yesterday.
Cold Sassy Tree!
Galveston
True North by Jim Harrison
Richard Pecks books
Lots of excellent books set in NC, but Cold Mountain comes in on the top 10 list.
Plainsong
The Last Cattle Drive – set in Kansas
I live in Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain’s, birth state, Missouri. Can’t top it. Though we put out many other great authors.
Little House on the Prairie in WI
All the books by Janet Evanovich (Trenton), Harlen Coban and David Rosenfelt (North Jersey)
East of the Mountains by David Guterson (WA State)
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.
Cannery Row?
Destiny of the Republic was about James Garfield from Ohio
Snow falling on Cedars by David Guterson. (WA)
@Maryann, have you read his other book East of the Mountains? Also set in WA 🙂 I think I like the former better but both are very good!!
@Krista yes I have read both. Good writer. I enjoy all his writing.
Oh, my–I’d forgotten how much I loved that book!!!
I forgot to add that one to my response to question. Great book!
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole, The Movie Goer by Walker Percy: Louisiana.
News of the World by Paulette Giles about TEXAS
Interesting little book
Connor Westphal mysteries by Penny Warner
Which state?
@Chris California
@Diana thank you!
@Heidi me too.
After realizing I really didn’t have an answer for this, I decided to look for a book set in Detroit while visiting my sister. We found a small bookstore in old town Northville and inside was an author signing his books. One of his books was about 5 John/Jane Does in the Detroit morgue. So I bought it. ?
Let us know if you like it.
Books by Jeffrey Eugenides are set in Detroit and the metro area.
Also, Northville is a cool place. Awesome bookstores as well as in Plymouth.
The book is Awaiting Identification by R. J. Fox.
Station Eleven
Michigan
Is that a name of a novel about Michigan?
Station Eleven is mostly set in Michigan
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Great question! A Land Remembered. Florida history.
How about Carl Hiaasen?
New Mexico: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Love
Me too
Oh, absolutely!!!
“Erasure” by Percival Everett (California)
“Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry (Texas)
Read this as a selection in a book group! Not one I would have probably picked on my own and I ended up loving it!!!
@Ellen book clubs are the best for broadening your horizons. I found some of my favorite titles that way.
People of the lakes
Tony Hillerman, JA Jance and Barbara Kingsolver for AZ. Can’t choose just one!
Love Tony Hillerman
just finished reading Sister Mine by Tawni O’Dell, set in coal region of PA
John Steinbeck.
YES! Went to camp in Carmel and now I understand Cannery Row. YES!
The Orphan Train, Kansas
Anything Updike…
Penrod
A Land Remembered. Historical fiction about a family of FL pioneers.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtrey and Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson (Texas).
Bless Me Ultima (Albuquerque, NM)???
Have you read the rest in the series?
@Jennifer yes, I like to read series (in sequence) and stories that take place where I live and places I have lived or been to.
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (California)
I loved this book. Parts of it have stuck with me even though I read it years ago.
I loved it too. I need to read it again, I’ve forgotten so much.
I liked it – well not quite all of it – but I liked The Circle better. I have great admiration for his efforts with 826 valencia.
I found this book fascinating. It’s historical non-fiction about Florida.
“In Last Train to Paradise, Standiford celebrates this crowning achievement of Gilded Age ambition, bringing to life a sweeping tale of the powerful forces of human ingenuity colliding with the even greater forces of nature’s wrath.”
Yes, fascinating true story of Henry Flagler! Another good one during that time is The Storm of the Century by Willie Drye about the hurricane of 1935
@Janet I’ll have to check that one out!
Mystic River
These Is My Words by Nancy Turner. Arizona
Snow Falling on Cedars
That was a great book!
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!
Ready Player One
(Ohio)
Housekeeping
Anything by Heather Gudenkauf.
Centennial
Great book! Any novel by Michener is fabulous!
I also love The Source and Hawaii by him. My friend named her baby, Kerith, after one of characters in The Source. Her baby is almost 40 years old now!
Dawn McKenna books set in Appalach area of Florida.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
One of my most favorite books!
I LOVE that book!!!
Love this question and all the responses!
@Shelley mine, too!
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb.
Giant (Ferber) and Lonesome Dove (McMurtry)…Texas