Must Read: Best Book Set in Every State

Our 50 states are united, but each one is as different as the next. Discovering each state through its literature is part of what makes U.S. travel so rewarding. When we travel, we experience what we are exposed to. But when we travel through literature, it allows us to see the sights, hear the sounds, and think the thoughts of others.

I made only two rules when creating this list: An author can only appear once, and each book must take place in the state. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short stories are all represented. Many of the books became great movies, and many (many more) did not.

These are not necessarily the best books from each state. They certainly aren’t the most famous. Sometimes an all-time classic is a must, and other times the latest mystery is called for. But they are all carefully considered choices, and they all make the perfect companion for their setting. These are the books that I would read or recommend to enhance a trip, for every state in the U.S.

Please feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. Looking forward to seeing your suggestions!

Alabama

(Photo: W.W. Norton)

Anthill: A Novel by Edward O. Wilson (W.W. Norton)

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird sequel Go Set a Watchman will be the publishing event of the year, but for something unexpected, read Anthill: A Novel. Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist, tells the story of an Alabama boy who tries to save an endangered forest, replete with warring ant colonies.

Alaska

Fifty Miles From Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People by William L. Hensley (Picador)

Hensley’s memoir conveys the suffering but also the joy of growing up among the Inupiaq traditions, north of the Arctic Circle in the 49th state. The author goes on to lead his people into a new era of self-sufficiency after negotiating the oil rights treaty with the government, bringing the story full circle.

Arizona

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage)

With Tombstone and the O.K. Corral, Arizona is the quintessential Wild West state. McCarthy brings his usual harrowing touch to this tale of outlaws and evildoers, who make their last stand at the border town of Yuma.

Arkansas

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Ballantine)

Angelou’s autobiographical novel narrates her upbringing in the poverty-stricken South and her journey to find herself. Part poetry, part pain, and all joy, this novel is a window into the tragedy of racial discrimination and how the strong can rise above it.

California

(Photos: New Directions; Picador)

Southern: The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West (New Directions) and

Northern: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (Picador)

Some think the state is divided in two already, so perhaps two books are necessary. Published in 1939, West’s slim dystopian Hollywood nightmare is still relevant, and entertaining, almost 80 years later. And for anyone interested in exactly how and why Northern California became the epicenter of the counterculture, Wolfe’s wild opus spells it out in exhilarating detail.

Colorado

Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Vintage)

This was a finalist for the National Book Award, set in the fictional town of Holt, Colo. Plainsong is a form of religious chant, and these interwoven short stories are written in the spare style of the local vernacular. Simple but beautiful, isolated Western life is subtly painted throughout this book.

Connecticut

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger (Little, Brown and Company)

This collection from the iconic author includes Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut. When Hollywood filmed its own version of the story with a tacked-on happy ending, the famously prickly Salinger decided that he would never allow his works to be made into films again. More than 60 years later, The Catcher in the Rye has still never been filmed.

Delaware

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (Riverhead)

The National Book Award winner for 2013 is a road trip tale that begins in the Diamond State. The novel is a laugh-out-loud-funny re-imagining of the abolitionist era slaves and slave owners, with real-life historical figures like John Brown and Harriet Tubman.

Florida

Fool’s Paradise by Steven Gaines (Three Rivers Press)

Perhaps nowhere outside of Las Vegas has welcomed more crazy characters into a smaller area than Miami’s South Beach. Journalist Gaines recounts the whole wacky history, starring Mafiosi, showgirls, architects, Cubans, playboys, and dreamers.

Georgia

(Photo: Vintage)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (Vintage)

Savannah is not representative of Georgia as a whole, but it is certainly one of the most fascinating cities in the state. Berendt has almost unbelievable access to the strange characters in this murder mystery, so much so that readers feel they know them personally and can solve the crime themselves.

Hawaii

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (Riverhead)

Vowell is a hipster historian, and this book about Hawaii’s history and her favorite plate lunch spot is equally enthralling and shocking. For those who don’t know much about how this tropical island became a state, this is a must-read. Beware of the unfamiliar fishes.

Idaho

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (Picador)

This marvelously written coming-of-age story is about two sisters‎ who are trying to grow up without much adult help in 1970s Idaho. Robinson would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Iowa-set Gilead, but Housekeeping is her first, and many would say best, novel. It appears on both Time and The Guardian’s lists of the top 100 books of the 20th century.

Illinois

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Vintage)

Larson sets himself a monumental task and very nearly pulls it off. The twin historical narratives recount the workings behind Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair, as well as the concurrent story of Chicagoan Herman Mudgett, America’s first serial killer. One of the book’s many pleasant surprises is that the exposition isn’t any less exciting than the true crime story.

Indiana

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (Doubleday)

The setting in this novel grows with the family. Small town America becomes a big city, and technological advances improve lives while the Ambersons fail to mature with the times. Spoiled brats, sinister spinsters, and lots of gossip and meddling make this a classic.

Iowa

(Photo: Mariner)

Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella (Mariner)

Kinsella was an Iowa writer’s workshop student when he conceived this tale of an Iowa farmer who builds a baseball diamond in a corn field, which then conjures the spirits of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox. Although Kinsella is Canadian, this is Americana at its best — baseball, cornfields, and building a home where dreams come true.

Kansas

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (Vintage)

Possibly the greatest masterpiece of true crime reportage, Capote, like Raymond Chandler before him, took a disrespected genre and proved that it could produce great literature. By getting to know the accused killers in Kansas on a personal level, he also forever blurred the line between writer and subject.

Kentucky

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine)

Horse-racing writer Hillenbrand’s riveting tale of the iconic underdog and the biggest news story of 1938 is set largely where the horse was born, Kentucky. In Lexington, a visitor can even take a two-day tour of famous locations used in the movie.

Louisiana

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (Vintage)

This National Book Award winner set during Mardi Gras around 1960 is a farce, a romance, and a poignant comedy. Walker would go on to become one of the major voices of Southern literature of his time. It’s impossible to read this without a constant desire to be in the Big Easy.

Maine

’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (Anchor)

Not since William Faulkner has one author been so inextricably tied to his or her home state. King has stated more than once that ’Salem’s Lot is his favorite novel and that it represents the decline of the type of small Maine town King knew so well growing up. Read with the lights on.

Maryland

(Photo: Barnes & Noble)

Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems (Castle Books)

When an NFL football team is named in your honor more than 150 years after your death, you can claim immortality. The Ravens brought some literary cache to the sports world, and Poe brought murder and mystery to Baltimore.

Massachusetts

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow & Co.)

A sprawling historical novel from the famous Boston native and crime novelist, The Given Day is based on the 1919 Boston Police strike and features all the big Boston characters of the time. Fast-paced, edgy, and cool, Lehane’s novels are everything a Friday night date should be.

Michigan

52 Pickup by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow & Co.)

Leonard set more than a dozen novels in Detroit. 52 Pickup, filled with the usual cast of lovable, sleazy Leonard characters, is one of his first and one of his best.

Minnesota

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (Signet)

Skewering suburbia and small-town hypocrisy may seem familiar by now, but this novel was controversial in its time. Lewis would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first American to do so.

Mississippi

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury)

This book leaves an imprint on readers’ hearts well after the story is over. Set in rural Mississippi right before a hurricane, a family prepares for the inevitable while fighting the daily struggles of poverty, and while keeping hidden secrets. Obviously, anything from Faulkner is appropriate here as well.

Missouri

(Photo: Signet Classics)

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain (Signet Classics)

Any Mark Twain will do, but this lesser-known account of Twain’s previous career as a riverboat captain is a fascinating read. Twain’s digressions into politics, history, and geography are always welcome and contain his trademark satiric and, at times, sarcastic humor.

Montana

Fools Crow by James Welch (Penguin Classics)

Set in 1870 among the Blackfeet and Crow tribes in the territory, Fools Crow is the one person who sees that the white man’s invasion of their lands will change things forever. Welch himself was of Blackfoot descent; this is his ode to his people.

Nebraska

Heed the Thunder by Jim Thompson (Mulholland Books)

Set in Verdon, Neb., the feuding Fargo family is outrageous, odious, and lovable. This is early Thompson, before he became semifamous and all his books were turned into movies. Pack it for your next trip to see the Huskers play.

Nevada

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Four decades later, no other book comes close to matching Thompson’s for the frenzied sensory overload that is Las Vegas. This drug-fueled story of a journalist’s “trip” to Vegas is an all-time classic.

New Hampshire

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker (Penguin)

John Irving is the obvious call here, but Quebert, by a Swiss author and set in coastal New Hampshire, is well worth a look for mystery lovers. It is an intricately plotted “mystery within a mystery” that was a publishing phenomenon all over Europe. If you run into any Swiss tourists visiting New Hampshire, you’ll know why.

New Jersey

(Photo: Riverhead)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Riverhead)

An essential read for a trip to the Dominican Republic, this book is set among the diaspora in New Jersey. Oscar is funny as well as sad, gentle, and profane, and consistently amazing. Díaz’s distinctive voice is like that of a great jazz singer. It was just named the best novel of the 21st century so far in a BBC poll.

New Mexico

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (Vintage)

Santa Fe, N.M., is the second-oldest city in the United States, so the fact that it is nowhere near the coastal waters of global exploration is somewhat mind-blowing. Cather’s spare, careful story of priests living among the natives helps the reader understand how this unique, beautiful town came to be.

New York

Just Kids by Patti Smith (Harper Collins)

This is Smith’s vividly rendered portrait of life in lower Manhattan in the early 1970s. Apart from her deep and tragic friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe, what really sticks out is the struggle that Smith and many other artists of the time had to endure in order to make their art. Trust fund artists they were not. Quite an impressive achievement, this book won the National Book Award.

North Carolina

Something Rich and Strange by Ron Rash (Ecco Press)

Rash cares about language above all else, and this collection of short stories that moves between old and new South strings words together like notes on sheet music. Lyrical and luminous, the spirit of North Carolina is subtly painted throughout each tale. As always with Rash, a seemingly simple thread is woven into a generational tapestry.

North Dakota

The Round House by Louise Erdrich (Harper Collins)

Set among the Ojibwe tribe, the book is a stark and often violent account of the difficult life on a reservation. An unforgettable mystery, it also features a memorable young hero at its core.

Ohio

(Photo: Penguin Classics)

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (Simon & Brown)

Interlocking short stories set in the fictional Winesburg, Ohio, which is not the real Winesburg, Ohio. Got that? Anderson’s prose has aged surprisingly well, and as with all great literature, memorable characters are at the core.

Oklahoma

True Grit by Charles Portis (Overlook)

This classic, comic novel of the old West features the wonderful characters Rooster Cogburn and Mattie Ross. Set in the territory that would later become Oklahoma, Portis’s book is a feat of language and atmosphere.

Oregon

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey (Penguin Classics)

Kesey wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as well, but this is his masterpiece. The multigenerational Stamper family saga is set around the logging industry in coastal Oregon. Often compared to John Steinbeck and Faulkner, Kesey also has a unique, exuberant voice that is clearly his own.

Pennsylvania

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon (Harper Perennial)

This funny, poignant, coming-of-age novel is set in — you guessed it —Pittsburgh. Chabon went on to write many acclaimed novels, but this one still reads as fresh as the day it arrived.

Rhode Island

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike (Ballantine)

A coven of witches living in fictional Eastwick is joined by a mysterious stranger. Chaos ensues. Relatively few books are set in the smallest state, nevertheless Updike’s novel of female empowerment is a treat.

South Carolina

(Photo: Dial Press)

Beach Music by Pat Conroy (Dial Press)

Conroy’s larger-than-life personality comes through in his novels. The humor, passion, and drama are all there, and many believe Beach Music to be his best. The main character, Jack McCall, returns home after living abroad to reconcile with family and friends while finding himself in the process. South Carolina’s beaches are a character in the novel, and Conroy uses his trademark levity to make even the worst situations amusing.

South Dakota

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Technically children’s books, the Little House books are masterful at evoking the pioneer spirit of westward expansion. In this installment of the popular series, the Ingalls family takes advantage of the Homestead Act and moves to South Dakota.

Tennessee

A Death in the Family by James Agee (Penguin)

Published after the author’s death, this autobiographical novel relates his life in Knoxville in the early 20th century. Tragic but always artful, it was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 English language novels of the 20th century.

Texas

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster)

Set in fictional Thalia, McMurtry’s pitch-perfect account of small town teenagers with hormones running amok in rural Texas would go on to become a trilogy, but the original is the only must-read. For a classic Western, Lonesome Dove is another great novel by the Texas native.

Utah

The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer (Grand Central Publishing)

Mailer’s masterpiece of true crime casts a compassionate light on its enormous tableau of characters. At 1,100 pages, it is well worth the effort. The book showcases the state simply by providing an eloquent look at every day people.

Vermont

(Photo: Dial Press)

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner (Modern Library)

Stegner was considered mostly a writer of the American West, but his true love was Vermont. This semi-autobiographical novel was written in and around Greensboro, Vt., the small, northern town where Stegner spent most of his summers.

Virginia

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham (Random House)

No man epitomizes Virginia more than the third president, and Meacham’s well-organized biography does a great job of translating 18th century politics for the modern mind. It is the perfect companion piece for a visit to Monticello.

Washington

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (Harper Perennial)

Set in the Wenatchee Valley of Central Washington, Coplin’s sweeping, historical fiction evokes the West at the start of the 20th century, when the railway and industry are about to change everything.

West Virginia

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (Vintage)

This National Book Award winner is set around a cast of shady characters and lovable lowlifes at a low-rent horse racetrack. Gordon expertly captures the essence of track atmosphere and the state itself.

Wisconsin

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (Back Bay Books)

Baseball is quintessentially American, but Harbach’s book, set in northern Wisconsin, is also about so much more. The author sometimes attempts more than he can accomplish, but it is still a wonderful evocation of place.

Wyoming

(Photo: Viking)

The Cold Dish: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Penguin)

The first of the Sheriff Walt Longmire novels, this story about a Wyoming crime solver is steeped in Native American mysticism. Author Johnson is known for his wry wit, his fully developed characters, and his respect for local tribal culture.

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