The List - 50 Books for 50 States

I love traveling throughout America. Even though every state is one part of the same country, each state really does have something unique to offer. It's why even though I might be busy with other things, I don't mind too terribly if I'm asked to go out of town for work. It's why I love turning on the option to avoid interstates when I use my GPS. 

I figured earlier this year that if I loved seeing America, why not do something symbolic like read a book for each state? That's how this project got started. Aside from bragging rights ("I'm just saying guys, when's the last time you read a book that took place in Idaho?") and a good time killer, this was also a personal love letter to Americana. 

A project like this is made far easier by planning what you would like to do in advance. If I wanted to pick a book that took place in each state, I wanted to have a list set in stone. I did this for two reasons: I wanted to commit myself to something and make it less likely I would change my mind, and I didn't want to be bogged down by indecision when I was ready to start something new. Some states, like New York, have a lot of options. Other states, like Idaho, I really had to dig through Google for.

After spending a couple of hours, I managed to put together a list I'm happy with. These were chosen by recommendations made for similar challenges, along with information from websites like goodreads.com. Some recommendations were removed in favor of other books, whether I thought one might be more interesting or if I felt one wasn't the best example of a "classic"; I really wouldn't call Twilight timeless. Some states I added two books given the length of one or both books. 

The list, presented in alphabetical order, is as follows: 

• Alabama - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
• Alaska - The Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London 
• Arizona - The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 
• Arkansas - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 
• California - East of Eden by John Steinbeck 
• Colorado - The Shining by Stephen King 
• Connecticut - Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 
• Delaware - Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 
• Florida - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 
• Georgia - The Color Purple by Alice Walker 
• Hawaii - Hawaii by James A Michener 
• Idaho - Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson 
• Illinois - The Jungle by Upton Sinclair 
• Indiana - The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West 
• Iowa - A Thousand Acres by James Smiley 
• Kansas - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 
• Kentucky - Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 
• Louisiana - A Confederacy of Dunces by James Kennedy Toole 
• Maine - The Cider House Rules by John Irving 
• Maryland - Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler 
• Massachusetts - The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne 
• Michigan - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Minnesota - Main Street by Sinclair Lewis 
• Mississippi - The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 
• Missouri - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 
• Montana - A River Runs Through It by Normal Maclean 
• Nebraska - My Antonia by Willa Cather 
• Nevada - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson 
• New Hampshire - A Separate Peace by John Knowles 
• New Jersey - Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth 
• New Mexico - Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather 
• New York - The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald 
• North Carolina - Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier 
• North Dakota - Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 
• Ohio - Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson 
• Oklahoma - The Outsiders by S E Hinton 
• Oregon - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 
• Pennsylvania - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 
• Rhode Island - The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
• South Carolina - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 
• South Dakota - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 
• Tennessee - A Death in the Family by James Agee 
• Texas - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry 
• Utah - The Executioner's Song by Normal Mailer 
• Vermont - Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter 
• Virginia - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron 
• Washington - Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson 
• West Virginia - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 
• Wisconsin - Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
• Wyoming - Close Range by Annie Proulx 

At the time of posting this I've already read eight books, from Alabama to Delaware. I'll still give my thoughts on these, but the posts might be shorter than the upcoming ones since I don't have the books with me anymore. This is the one downside of libraries!