Semi-Bicentennial Reading: Through the States

I heard a reader say on a podcast recently that they were going to spend the semi-bicentennial year reading a book from each of the 50 states. The idea appealed to me, even though I will not be doing that this year. My TBR (to-be-read) is more than full, actually. But I could spend some hours researching books from different states and make a list for others to use, right? Of course.

Conclusions after making this list: There are too many books about New York City. We already knew that. There are a ton of old/classic books from New England, etc. Lots of historical books about the South, especially the Deep South, because we have been so focused there as a country. (The actual authors from there just moved to NYC and wrote NYC novels.) The Midwesterners and anyone in the Breadbasket (including Alaska) have been working too darn hard to survive to write fiction. Or anything, really. As for the West Coast, they’re obsessed with film, so they don’t need so many books (but they have a few). I guess Hawaii just does its own thing, as always. Overall, we are really into the trope of young girl gets pregnant and kicked out of the house. I couldn’t believe how many books had nearly the same exact blurb on the back that started with disowning a teen girl.

I gave you some options for each state, though my “choice” is the first one. Why are there more suggestions for some states? The reasons vary. I did my best. There are all sorts of genres here, even some memoirs and nonfiction, poetry, picture books, at least one graphic novel, YA, whatever felt it had a strong sense of place and also great reviews (or I had read it and recommend it).

And yes, I know it’s almost May. Maybe you could start on the Fourth of July and read 50 before the next Fourth. Or you could use this list when you’re travelling to a state or two. I love reading to the place I’m visiting.

(Also, just because it doesn’t have a review link doesn’t mean I haven’t read it. Some of my favorite books are on here without reviews, either because I read them long ago or because I haven’t gotten to it yet, like A Prayer for Owen Meany or Kristy’s Big Idea. But there’s also plenty I haven’t read and mean to or was just plain surprised by.)

Alabama:

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Junie, Erin Crosby Eckstine

Alaska

The Call of the Wild, Jack London
or Coming into the Country, John McPhee
Two in the Far North, Margaret E. Murie
Two Old Women, Velma Wallis

Arizona

Almanac of the Dead, Leslie Marmon Silko
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, Dusti Bowling

Arkansas

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
The Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine
True Grit, Charles Portis

California

Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
The Joy Luck Club (or The Backyard Bird Chronicles), Amy Tan

Colorado

Misery (okay, really more The Shining, but I’d rather read Misery), Stephen King
Sabrina & Corina, Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Centennial, James A. Michener
Plainsong, Kent Haruf

Connecticut

The Babysitters Club #1: Kristy’s Big Idea, Anne M. Martin or Raina Telgemeier
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates

Delaware

The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henriquez
The Saint of Lost Things, Christopher Castellini
Ladder of Years, Anne Tyler

Florida

The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
The Yearling, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Florida, Laren Groff
Annihilation, Jeff Vandermeer
(I was also intrigued by Dave Barry’s Best, State, Ever, and With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson)

Georgia

The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt
A Good Man Is Hard to Find (or Complete Stories), Flannery O’Connor
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
An American Marriage, Tayari Jones

Hawaii

Moloka’i, Alan Brennert
Hula, Jasmin Iolani Hakes
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, Kawai Strong Washburn

Idaho

Educated, Tara Westover
The Girl Who Slept with God, Val Brelinski
All Over Creation, Ruth Ozeki
(And one that takes place partly in Idaho, Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Tinghui Zhang)

Illinois

The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
Selected Poems or A Street in Bronzeville, Gwendolynn Brooks
Native Son, Richard Wright
Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
Hello Beautiful, Ann Nepolitano

Indiana

A Girl Named Zippy (and The Used World), Haven Kimmel
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut
Zorrie, Laird Hunt

Iowa

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Peter Hedges
Shoeless Joe, Sophie Kinsella
The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller
(And shout out for Patricia Bryan and Thomas Wolf’s Midnight Assassin. Tom is a friend of mine and I was thrilled to see his book on a Booklist list.)

Kansas

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
The Good Lord Bird, James McBride
Prairie Fires, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Butcher’s Crossing, John Williams
(And maybe we have to say The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum)

Kentucky

Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry
Horse, Geraldine Brooks
Appalachian Elegy, bell hooks

Louisiana

Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup
The Green Mile, Stephen King

Maine

Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
Empire Falls, Richard Russo
On Writing, Stephen King
(And great kids books: Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White, Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey; The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare)

Maryland