Before and during my travels, and sometimes after, I read literary fiction or memoirs set in my destination. Sometimes I also read historical accounts. I enjoy the process of immersing myself in a place before I go, getting a feel for the culture and what defines a place. Reading ignites my imagination about a place and its inhabitants. It also extends my travel time. 🙂
The following list of books set in the United States is a work in process. I invite readers to suggest additional books set in these locales in the comments below. I’m most interested in including memoir, literary fiction, historical accounts or essays, not guidebooks. Links to Goodreads and my Star ratings (1-5) are provided for books I’ve actually read.
- Iconic American Road Trip Books
- Non-fiction
- Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck *****
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac ****
- Wanderful: The Modern Bohemian’s Guide to Traveling in Style by Andi Eaton
- American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bull Riders by Richard Grant
- Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
- Road Trip USA: Cross Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways by Jamie Jensen
- The Great American Road Trip by Eric Peterson
- The Cruise of the Rolling Junk by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson
- Cross Country: Fifteen Years and Ninety Thousand Miles on the Roads and Interstates of America with Lewis and Clark by Robert Sullivan
- Trip of the Tongue: Cross-Country Travels in Search of America’s Languages by Elizabeth Little
- A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins
- Trespassing Across America: One Man’s Epic, Never-Done-Before (and Sort of Illegal) Hike Across the Heartland by
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- Postcards from the End of America by Linh Dinh
- The Best American Travel Writing 2000, Ed. Bill Bryson
- The Best American Travel Writing 2015, Ed. Andrew McCarthy
- The Best American Travel Writing 2016, Ed. Bill Bryson
- Fictional road trips
- The English Major by Jim Harrison *****
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov ****
- The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty ****
- America for Beginners by Leah Franqui
- The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
- Staying at home or stay-cations
- This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick
- Adventures in Stillness: The Art of Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer
- Non-fiction
- U.S. States (& the District of Columbia)
- Alabama
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *****
- The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
- Four Spirits by
- A Walk Through Fire by William Cobb
- Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin
- All Over but the Shoutin’ by Rick Bragg
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton
- Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter
- Alaska
- My One Square Inch of Alaska by Sharon Short
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
- The Fugitive Wife by Peter C. Brown
- The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan
- The Memory Thief by Emily Colin (?)
- Into the Wild by John Krakauer
- Alaska by James Michener
- Coming Into the Country by John McPhee
- The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock
- Arizona
- Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver ****
- The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison *****
- Crossers by Philip Caputo
- Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor
- Gallatin Canyon by Thomas McGuane
- The Song of the Lark (Great Plains Trilogy #2) by Willa Cather
- Arkansas
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (also Louisiana & California)
- A Painted House by John Grisham
- Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
- Elkhorn Tavern by Douglas C. Jones
- California
- The Infinite Plan by Isabel Allende ****
- China Dolls by Lisa See **
- The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan *****
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ***
- The Physics of Sunset: A Novel by Jane Vandenburgh ****
- Failure to Zigzag: A Novel by Jane Vandenburgh
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (& N.Y. & Nevada)
- The House of Broken Angels by
- Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
- An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender
- The Book of Dead Birds by Gayle Brandeis
- The Metaphysical Touch by Sylvia Brownrigg
- Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Essays) by Joan Dideon
- The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
- White Oleander by Janet Fitch
- Abandon by Pico Iyer
- The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin
- Like Family by Paula McLain (memoir) (?)
- Song of the Seals by Christy Yorke
- The Golden State by Lydia Kiesling
- A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
- Colorado
- Plainsong (Plainsong, #1) by Kent Haruf *****
- Eventide (Plainsong, #2) by Kent Haruf *****
- Benediction (#3) by Kent Haruf *****
- The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf *****
- Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
- Where You Once Belonged by Kent Haruf
- The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
- The Song of the Lark (Great Plains Trilogy #2) by Willa Cather
- Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
- Descent by Tim Johnston
- The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard
- Orange Mint and Honey by Carleen Brice
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (non-fiction)
- Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
- Connecticut
- The Children by Ann Leary
- Brass by Xhenet Aliu
- The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
- Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
- A Good School by Richard Yates
- The Ice Storm by Rick Moody
- Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
- Delaware
- The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez (& Mexico) ****
- Shattered: Reclaiming a Life Torn Apart by Violence by Debra Puglisi Sharp & Marjorie Preston (memoir) ****
- The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani ****
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (also Ohio & Kentucky)
- West of Rehoboth by Alexs D. Pate
- District of Columbia – Washington, D.C.
- Breaking her Fall by Stephen Goodwin ****
- The Sea of Tears: A Novel by Nani Power *****
- plum & jaggers by Susan Richards Shreve
- The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (& N.C. & Mexico)
- That Summer’s Trance by J.R. Salamanca
- Florida
- Lost Man’s River by Peter Matthiessen
- The Problem with Murmur Lee by Connie May Fowler
- Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (also Virginia)
- Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen
- Digging to Indochina by Connie Brewald (??)
- Love Warrior by Blennon Doyle Melton (memoir) (?)
- Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Tallahassee)
- Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- Georgia
- A Childhood by Harry Crews
- The Twelve-Mile Straight by Eleanor Henderson
- Atlanta
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary M. Pomerantz
- The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene
- Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Savannah
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt ****
- Hawaii
- Hawaii by James A. Michener
- From Here to Eternity by James Jones
- Moloka’i (Moloka’i #1) by Alan Brennert
- Honolulu by Alan Brennert
- Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
- The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
- Paradise News by David Lodge
- East Wind, Rain by Caroline Paul
- He Mele A Hilo by Ryka Aoki
- Wild Meat and Bully Burgers by Lois-Ann Yamanaka
- Democracy by Joan Didion
- The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
- Song of the Exile by Kiana Davenport
- Sleeping Beauties by Susanna Moore
- Idaho
- Idaho: A Novel by Emily Rukovich
- Educated by Tara Westover
- All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
- Iona Moon by Melanie Rae Thon
- Coeur d’Alene Waters by Ned Hayes
- The Big Burn by Timothy Egan
- In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country by Kim Barnes
- Illinois
- Barn Blind by Jane Smiley ****
- Anything is Possible (stories) by Elizabeth Strout
- The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
- The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
- The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
- The Nix by Nathan Hill
- Dandelion Wine by Rad Bradbury
- Ordinary People by Judith Guest
- Chicago
- Chicago by Alaa al Aswany ****
- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros *****
- Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
- The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger ***
- The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
- The Girl in the Photograph by Gabrielle Donnelly
- The Coast of Chicago (stories) by Stuart Dybek
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
- Native Son by Richard Wright
- Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
- Indiana
- The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf
- The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel
- A Girl Named Zippy (Zippy #1) by Haven Kimmel (memoir)
- Indianapolis
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ****
- Iowa
- Gilead (Gilead, #1) by Marilynne Robinson ***
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
- Kansas
- The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty *****
- Kentucky
- The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett ***
- Shiloh and Other Stories by Bobbie Ann Mason ****
- Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
- Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith
- In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason
- Baptisms and Dogs: Stories by Brian L. Tucker
- The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz
- The Sisters by Nancy Jensen
- River of Earth by James Still
- Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories by Gurney Norman
- Hunter’s Horn by Harriet Simpson Arnow
- Louisiana
- The Awakening by Kate Chopin *****
- Nine Women by Shirley Ann Grau ****
- The House on Coliseum Street by Shirley Ann Grau
- Roadwalkers by Shirley Ann Grau
- The Condor Passes by Shirley Ann Grau
- Audubon’s Watch by John Gregory Brown
- Madeleine’s Ghost by Robert Girard (also New York)
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (also Arkansas & California)
- Last Things by Jenny Offill (& Vermont)
- Louisiana Power & Light by John Dufresne
- Maine
- Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine by Ann Hood ****
- Cider House Rules by John Irving ****
- Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff (??)
- Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
- The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
- Maryland
- An American Summer by Frank Deford
- A Map of Betrayal by Ha Jin (& China)
- Massachusetts
- Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
- Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
- Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
- Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
- Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray
- A Reckoning by May Sarton
- Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz
- Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (?)
- The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman
- Boston
- The Saturday Evening Girls Club by Jane Healey
- Cape Cod & Provincetown
- The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken ****
- Any books by Mary Oliver, the poet
- House of Light
- A Thousand Mornings
- Felicity
- New and Selected Poems, Volume 1
- New and Selected Poems, Volume 2
- Upstream: Selected Essays
- A Poetry Handbook
- Michigan
- The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter ***
- A Relative Stranger (stories) by Charles Baxter
- Midnight Champagne by A. Manette Ansay
- Pears on a Willow Tree by Leslie Pietrzyk
- Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
- The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
- Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill
- A Mentor and her Muse by Susan Sage
- True North by Jim Harrison
- Detroit
- Eight Mile High by Jim Daniels
- The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow
- Minnesota
- Love Among the Ruins: A Novel by Robert Clark *****
- Night of the Radishes by Sandra Benítez
- The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg
- Range of Motion (?) by Elizabeth Berg
- Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee
- Rainlight by Alison McGhee
- In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien
- Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
- Mississippi
- Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall *****
- Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
- Jewel by Brett Lott
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Missouri
- Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
- the obituary writer by Porter Shreve
- Montana
- The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans *****
- The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
- The Cadence of Grass by Thomas McGuane
- Nebraska
- Dalva (Dalva #1) by Jim Harrison
- The Road Home (Dalva #2) by Jim Harrison
- O Pioneers! (Great Plains Trilogy #1) by Willa Cather
- My Antonia (Great Plains Trilogy #3) by Willa Cather
- The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
- Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child
- Goodnight, Nebraska by Tom McNeal
- Nevada
- Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (& N.Y. & California)
- New Hampshire
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving *****
- The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
- Sea Glass by Anita Shreve ****
- Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve
- The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
- All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
- A Separate Peace by John Knowles
- Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
- New Jersey
- Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies by Tom Perrotta
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by
- Drown by
- The Lay of the Land (Frank Bascombe #3) by Richard Ford
- Palisades Park by Alan Brennert
- Paterson by William Carlos Williams
- The Pine Barrens by John McPhee (non-fiction)
- Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Twenty-Seventh Letter of the Alphabet by Kim Adrian
- Cape May by Chip Cheek
- Newark
- American Pastoral (The American Trilogy #1) by Philip Roth
- Indignation by Philip Roth
- New Mexico
- Loving Pedro Infante by Denise Chavez ****
- The Professor’s House by Willa Cather ****
- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
- Cities of the Plain (#3) by Cormac McCarthy
- Juniper Tree Burning by Goldberry Long
- The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter
- The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob (& India & Seattle)
- The Spell of New Mexico by Tony Hillerman (essays)
- The Wailing Wood by Tony Hillerman
- The Milagro Bean Field War by John Nichols
- The Nirvana Blues by John Nichols
- Georgia O’Keefe: 100 Flowers
- The Woman at Otowi Crossing by Frank Waters
- The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook
- Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg
- Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
- The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Manhattan Project)
- Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
- Night at the Fiestas (stories) by Kirstin Valdez Quade
- New York
- The Good Husband by Gail Godwin ***
- Arabian Jazz by Diana-Abu Jaber ****
- What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt *****
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (& California & Nevada)
- The Sunday Tertulia by Lori Marie Carlson
- For Kings and Planets by Ethan Canin
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
- Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
- Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream by John Derbyshire
- The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards
- Madeleine’s Ghost by Robert Girard (& Louisiana)
- The Honey Wall by Karen Latuchie (& Vermont)
- The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
- Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
- The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
- the light we lost by Jill Santopolo
- More Than Words by Jill Santopolo
- Improvement by Joan Silber
- Running to the Mountain: A Midlife Adventure by Jon Katz
- Look at Me by Jennifer Egan
- The Fall of Saints by Wanjiku wa Ngugi
- In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende (& Guatemala, Chile & Brazil)
- Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina by Raquel Cepeda (& Dominican Republic)
- Buffalo
- Broke Heart Blues by Joyce Carol Oates (Willowsville, NY – 11 mi. east of Buffalo)
- Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames
- Buffalo Gal: A Memoir by Laura Pedersen
- Niagara Falls
- The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates ****
- The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
- Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildner
- Cataract City by Craig Davidson
- The Odds: A Love Story by Stewart O’Nan
- City of Light by Lauren Belfer
- Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies by Ginger Strand
- New York City
- Three Junes by Julia Glass ****
- The History of Love by Nicole Krauss ****
- Crawling at Night by Nani Power *****
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith ****
- The Book Doctor by Esther Cohen ***
- Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
- The Book Borrower by Alice Mattison
- Surrender, Dorothy by Meg Wolitzer
- City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
- The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
- Syracuse
- Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber
- North Carolina
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier **** (& Virginia)
- The World Made Straight by Ron Rash
- At Home in Mitford (Mitford Years #1) by Jan Karon
- The Hotel Alleluia by Lucinda Roy (?)
- The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (& D.C. & Mexico)
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- North Dakota
- The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
- Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
- The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
- The Master Butcher’s Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
- The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
- Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich
- LaRose by Louise Erdrich
- The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
- The Horizontal World: Growing Up in the Middle of Nowhere by Debra Marquart
- Beyond the Bedroom Wall by Larry Woiwode
- Ohio
- Beloved by Toni Morrison (Ohio and Kentucky)
- Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance (Middletown)
- House Under Snow by Jill Bialosky
- The Truth of the Matter by Robb Forman Dew
- Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
- Cincinnati
- Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
- Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield
- Northeastern Ohio
- Ohio by Stephen Markley
- Cleveland
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
- Oklahoma
- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann ****
- Oregon
- The Memoir Club by Laura Kulpakian
- All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung
- Pennsylvania
- Heat & Light by Jennifer Haigh
- Philadelphia
- Third and Indiana by Steve Lopez
- Birdy by William Wharton
- Black Girl/White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
- In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
- Pittsburgh
- The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon ****
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards ****
- An American Childhood by Annie Dillard ****
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Rhode Island
- The Edge of Winter by Luanne Rice
- The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
- South Carolina
- Beach Music by Pat Conroy *****
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ****
- The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy *****
- The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
- The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
- The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
- Sullivan’s Island (Lowcountry Tales, #1) by Dorothea Benton Frank
- Isle of Palms (Lowcountry Tales, #3) by Dorothea Benton Frank
- Pawley’s Island (Lowcountry Tales, #5) by Dorothea Benton Frank
- Plantation by Dorothea Benton Frank
- All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank
- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
- Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
- The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange, Ifa Bayeza
- The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd
- Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
- South Dakota
- Black Hills by Nora Roberts
- Tennessee
- The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard
- The Long Home by William Gay
- The Children by David Halberstam
- Sweet Water by Christina Baker Kline
- taft by Ann Patchett
- Flight Behavior by Ann Patchett
- Nashville
- Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall *****
- All We Ever Wanted by Emily Griffin
- Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
- A Place to Come To by Robert Penn Warren
- Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
- Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro
- Texas
- The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr ****
- All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy #1) by Cormac McCarthy ****
- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry *****
- Streets of Laredo (Lonesome Dove #2) by Larry McMurtry
- Dead Man’s Walk (Lonesome Dove #3) by Larry McMurtry
- Comanche Moon (Lonesome Dove #4) by Larry McMurtry
- Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
- The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
- Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler
- The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
- Houston
- Towelhead by Alicia Erian ****
- Utah
- The Never Open Desert Diner by James Anderson ****
- Lullaby Road by James Anderson
- When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka *****
- Junction, Utah by Rebecca Lawton
- Basin and Range by John McPhee (non-fiction)
- Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer
- Mormon Country by Wallace Stegner
- Vermont
- In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent
- breathing water by T. Greenwood
- Last Things by Jenny Offill (& Louisiana)
- The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian
- The Honey Wall by Karen Latuchie (& New York)
- Testimony by Anita Shreve ***
- Virginia
- Father Melancholy’s Daughter by Gail Godwin *****
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier **** (& N.C.)
- Big Stone Gap (Big Stone Gap #1) by Adriana Trigiani ****
- Big Cherry Hollow (Big Stone Gap #2) by Adriana Trigiani
- Rescuing Patty Hearst (memoir) by Virginia Holman
- Feed the Hungry by Nani Power (memoir) (?)
- The Good Remains by Nani Power
- Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
- The Known World by Edward P. Jones
- The House Girl by Tara Conklin
- The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
- Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
- On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon by Kaye Gibbons
- Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons (?)
- Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (& Florida)
- This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick
- The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-boats by William Geroux
- Richmond
- The Language of Good-bye by Maribeth Fischer *****
- Washington
- Seattle
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford ****
- Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford ***
- Long for This World by Michael Byers
- The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
- The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob (& India & New Mexico)
- Bread Alone (Bread Alone #1) by Judi Hendricks
- The Baker’s Apprentice (Bread Alone #2) by Judi Hendricks
- Baker’s Blues (Bread Alone #3) by Judi Hendricks
- Seattle
- West Virginia
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls *****
- Gloria by Keith Maillard
- Oral History by Lee Smith
- Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual by Brad Barkley
- Wisconsin
- The Dive from Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer ****
- Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay
- Midnight Champagne by A. Manette Ansay
- Wyoming
- Close Range (Wyoming Stories #1) by Annie Proulx
- Bad Dirt (Wyoming Stories #2) by Annie Proulx
- Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
- All Walt Longmire books by Craig Johnson
- The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller
- The Laramie Project by Moíses Kaufman (non-fiction)
- Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
- Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C.J. Box
- American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
- Alabama
- U.S. Territories
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Puerto Rico
- The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy
- The House on the Lagoon by
- Eccentric Neighborhoods by
- When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago
- U.S. Virgin Islands
************
- Memoirs or books about the general American experience, books that take place in regions, or books of short stories with various locations.
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls *****
- a visit from the goon squad: a novel by jennifer egan ****
- my only story by Monica Wood
- Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z by Debra Weinstein
- A Ship Made of Paper by Scott Spencer
- One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni
- Four Corners:
- A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
- The Midwest:
- The Abundance by Amit Majmudar
- The Southwest:
- Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest in Pursuit of Coronado by Douglas Preston
- The South:
- The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
- the song reader by Lisa Tucker
- The Pacific Northwest
- Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot
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[…] entire reading list for each of the four states is on my page: books | u.s.a. | I didn’t get to them all, but hopefully I will finish some of them on the journey or by the […]
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