In November of 2013, I committed to reading three books set in each of the 50 United States, plus the District of Columbia, for a grand total of 153 works of fiction. I didn’t set a time limit for myself, and now, six years later, I have completed my literary tour of the US. As you can see from the title of this post, I read a few more than 153 books.

The list below is a comprehensive list of books I’ve read that are set in a US state and written by an author who lived in or was born in that state (exceptions are noted). Some are not fiction. Some I read prior to embarking on this project. I wanted to include them all here for anyone looking for books set in particular places. My favorites are marked with an asterisk*. You can find brief reviews for some of the books in the BOOKS BY STATE category.

Alabama

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee*
• Forrest Gump by Winston Groom*
• Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington*
• Train Whistle Guitar by Albert Murray
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Alaska

• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey*
• Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis
• The Woman Who Married a Bear: An Alaskan Mystery by John Straley
• Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Arizona

• Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
• La Maravilla by Alfredo Véa, Jr.
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Arkansas

• True Grit by Charles Portis*
• Ark of Bones and Other Stories by Henry Dumas
• The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

California

• Cannery Row by John Steinbeck*
• The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh*
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell*
• The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
• The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

Colorado

• Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf
• The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz by Manuel Ramos
• Little Miss Strange by Joanne Rose
• Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson

Connecticut

• The Narrows by Ann Petry
• I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Delaware

• The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez*
• Courting Ruth by Emma Miller
• The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani

Washington, DC

• Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
• You Are One of Them by Elliot Holt
• River Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
• Discretion by Allison Leote

Florida

• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston*
• A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith
• Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaason
• Chomp by Carl Hiaason
• Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel
• Surface Tension by Christine Kling
• Mangrove Squeeze by Laurence Shames
• Summer Lightning by Judith Richards
• To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
• Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews
• Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.
• The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

Georgia

• The Color Purple by Alice Walker*
• Flannery O’Connor: The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor*
• Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers*
• Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell*
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
• Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
• Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne Burns
• Delirium of the Brave by William C. Harris, Jr.
• Lighthouse by Eugenia Price
• Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
• Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews
• Savannah Breeze by Mary Kay Andrews
• Paris Trout by Pete Dexter

Hawaii

• The Descendents by Kaui Hart Hemmings
• Song of the Exile by Kiana Davenport
• The House of Pride and Other Tales of Hawaii by Jack London
• Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport
• Paradise Park by Allegra Goodman
• Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton
• Moloka’i by Alan Brennert (not a Hawaii author, but the book is worth reading)

Idaho

• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• The Jailing of Cecelia Capture by Janet Campbell Hale
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

Illinois

• Native Son by Richard Wright
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
• Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Indiana

• The Bright Forever by Lee Martin
• The Used World by Haven Kimmel
• The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf
• Mum’s the Word (A Flower Shop Mystery, #1) by Kate Collins
• The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Iowa

• A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley*
• What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? by Peter Hedges
• Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Kansas

• The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard*
• Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Kentucky

• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver*
• River of Earth by James Still
• The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson
• Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
• My Bluegrass Baby by Molly Harper

Louisiana

• The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
• The Missing by Tim Gautreaux
• A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Maine

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout*
• Rigged for Murder by Jenifer LeClair
• Edinburgh by Alexander Chee
• Carrie by Stephen King
• Pet Sematary by Stephen King
• It by Stephen King
• Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
• Cujo by Stephen King
• Clammed Up (Maine Clambake Series #1) Barbara Ross
• The Cider House Rules by John Irving
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
• Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert (author not from Maine, but worth reading)

Maryland

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
• A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Massachusetts

• The Storied Life of A.J. Fickry by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Wedding by Dorothy West
• The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• The House of the Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Michigan

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
• Winter Study by Nevada Barr
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Minnesota

• Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
• The Late Homecomer by Kao Kalia Yang
• The Real Minerva by Mary Sharratt
• Summit Avenue by Mary Sharratt
• An Untamed Land (Red River of the North, #1) by Lauraine Snelling
• On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America by Natalie Goldberg
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1) by Joanne Fluke

Mississippi

• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward*
• The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner*
• The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
• As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
• The Optimist’s Daughter, Eudora Welty
• Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward

Missouri

• Stoner by John Williams*
• Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell*
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Montana

• Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker
• Fools Crow by James Welch
• Death Al Dente by Leslie Budewitz

Nebraska

• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell*
• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
• My Ántonia by Willa Cather
• Bead on an Anthill: A Lakota Childhood by Daphne Red Shirt
• Plains Song by Wright Morris

Nevada

• The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark*
• Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins*
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
• Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins

New Hampshire

• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving*
• The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving*
• Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
• Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
• Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

New Jersey

• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
• Family Life by Akhil Sharma
• One For the Money (and all Stephanie Plum novels) by Janet Evanovich
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

New Mexico

• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
• Night at the Fiestas by Kirsten Valdez Quade
• Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home by Natalie Goldberg

New York

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald*
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt*
• Just Kids by Patti Smith*
• Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• Bright Young Things (Bright Young Things #1) by Anna Godbersen
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
• A Widow For One Year by John Irving

North Carolina

• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris*
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs*
• Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
• The Truest Pleasure by Robert Morgan
• Garden Spells (Waverly Family, #1) by Sarah Addison Allen
• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
• At Home in Mitford (Mitford Years, #1) by Jan Karon
• Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
• The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert (author not from North Carolina, but book is worth reading)

North Dakota

• The Round House by Louise Erdrich
• The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
• Prairie Silence: A Memoir by Melanie Hoffert

Ohio

• Winesburgh, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
• At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier
• All the Things I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Oklahoma

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
• Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
• Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson

Oregon

• No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July*
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
• The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson
• Wildwood by Colin Meloy
• Mink River by Brian Doyle

Pennsylvania

• Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon*
• Oreo by Fran Ross
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Rhode Island

• Spartina by John Casey
• The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood
• The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

South Carolina

• The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• Beach Music by Pat Conroy
• My Losing Season by Pat Conroy
• The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
• The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
• Clover by Dori Sanders

South Dakota

• The Soul of the Indian by Charles Alexander Eastman
• Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris
• Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Tennessee

• A Death in the Family by James Agee
• Bloodroot by Amy Greene
• This Side of Eternity by Rosalyn McMillan
• Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Texas

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry*
• Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry
• Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry
• Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
• The Old Order by Katherine Anne Porter
• Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria E. Anzaldúa

Utah

• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
• The Last Cowgirl by Jana Richman
• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Vermont

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt*
• My Garden by Jamaica Kincaid
• Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Virginia

• Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani (4)
• Wish You Well by David Baldacci
• Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
• The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (not a Virginia author, but worth reading)
• The House Girl by Tara Conklin (not a Virginia author, but worth reading)

Washington

• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie*
• Bread Alone by Judi Hendricks
• Before the Wind by Jim Lynch
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

West Virginia

• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake
• John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead (not a West Virginia author)

Wisconsin

• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach*
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr
• The Jesus Cow by Michael Perry

Wyoming

• Skipped Parts by Tim Sandlin
• Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley
• The Virginian: Horseman of the Plain by Owen Wister
• Open Season (Joe Pickett #1) by C.J. Box

* Denotes a favorite