Books set in every U.S. state | The Odyssey Online
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read your way across america with these 50 books that take place in each state

You won't even have to leave your house.

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The setting of a book is crucial to its story-line. It sets the tone and can sometimes be so important that it almost seems like a character. Everyone likes having their town and state recognized, and reading a story in which the characters go to places you've been is exciting. It makes you feel even closer to them. Here's your roadmap to reading your way across America!

1. Alabama

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

2. Alaska

The Fugitive Wife by Peter C. Brown

3. Arizona

The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney

4. Arkansas

A Painted House by John Grisham

5. California

The Girls by Emma Cline

6. Colorado

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

7. Connecticut

I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

8. Delaware

West of Rehoboth by Alex D. Pate

9. Florida

Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman

10. Georgia

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

11. Hawaii

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport

12. Idaho

Faraway Places by Tom Spanbauer

13. Illinois

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

14. Indiana

The Solace if Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel

15. Iowa

The Bridges of Madison County by James Waller

16. Kansas

Letters Never Sent by Sandra Moran

17. Kentucky

In Country by Boobie Ann Mason

18. Louisiana

Property by Valerie Martin

19. Maine

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (and almost every other book he's written)

20. Maryland

Blindsided by Priscilla Cummings

21. Massachusetts

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

22. Michigan

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

23. Minnesota

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

Mississippi

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

25. Missouri

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

26. Montana

Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith

27. Nebraska

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

28. Nevada

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

29. New Hampshire

Horns by Joe Hill

30. New Jersey

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

31. New Mexico

Where They Bury You by Steven W. Kohlhagen

32. New York

Sex in the Title by Zack Love

33. North Carolina

Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allen Gurganus

34. North Dakota

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

35. Ohio

Beloved by Toni Morrison

36. Oklahoma

"That Was Then, This Is Now" by S.E. Hinton

37. Oregon

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

38. Pennsylvania

American Rust by Philipp Meyer

39. Rhode Island

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

40. South Carolina

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

41. South Dakota

Deadwood by Pete Dexter

42. Tennessee

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

43. Texas

Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce

44. Utah

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

45. Vermont

Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian

46. Virginia

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

47. Washington

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

48. West Virginia

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

49. Wisconsin

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

50. Wyoming

Bone Fire by Mark Spragg

BONUS! Puerto Rico

The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferré

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