Around the USA in 52 Books discussion

These are books I've been keeping track of for a while, and are just possibilities.

Alabama
Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake-Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia (own)

Alaska
The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat by Nick Jans
Coming into the Country by John McPhee

Arizona
Desert Solitaire By Edward Abbey (also listed under Utah)-(own on Kindle)
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

Arkansas
Cash by Johnny Cash (own)

California
When the Killing's Done by T. C. Boyle
East of Eden (own)

Colorado
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle (own)
Plainsong by Kent Haruf (own)

Connecticut
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (own)

Delaware
The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani (own)

Florida
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiesson (own)

Georgia
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (own)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (own)

Hawaii
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings (own)
Hawaii by James Michener
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport
Six Months in the Sandwich Islands: Among Hawaii's Palm Groves, Coral Reefs and Volcanoes by Isabella Bird

Idaho
Slant by Greg Bear (own)

Illinois
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson (own)
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (my review)

Indiana
The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene (library)

Iowa
Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman (own)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (own)
A Thousand Acres (own)

Kansas
The Lichtenberg Figures by Ben Lerner (review)

Kentucky
All the Living: A Novel by C. E. Morgan

Louisiana
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (own)

Maine
Drinking the Rain: A Memoir by Alix Kaites Shulman (own)

Maryland
Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
Kindred by Octavia Butler (own)

Massachusetts
Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island by Jill Nelson
Illumination Night by Alice Hoffman

Michigan
The Road to Wellville by T. C. Boyle

Minnesota
Selected Poems by Robert Bly

Mississippi
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty (own)

Missouri
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (maybe in audio?)

Montana

Nebraska
The Plain Sense of Things by Pamela Carter Joern
The Floor of the Sky by Pamela Carter Joern
Nebraska: Stories by Ron Hansen
Sing Them Home: A Novel by Stephanie Kallos
In the Land of Second Chances: A Novel by George Shaffner
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers (own)
Devils in the Sugar Shop by Timothy Schaffert

Nevada
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson
Beautiful Children by Charles Bock (own)
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion (own)

New Hampshire
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York
The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridian Hay my review
The World in a City: Traveling the Globe Through the Neighborhoods of the New New York by Joseph Berger
Manhattan, when I Was Young by Mary Cantwell
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin (own, temporary from NetGalley)
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology
City of Light by Lauren Belfer
The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
The Whirlpool by Jane Urquhart
Just Kids by Patti Smith (own)

North Carolina
A Short History of a Small Place (own)
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (own)

North Dakota
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (own)

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon
A Girl from Yamhill by Beverly Cleary

Pennsylvania
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
Hell by Kathryn Davis

Rhode Island

South Carolina
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (own)
Freeman by Leonard Pitts, Jr. (own, eBook)

South Dakota
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean (own)

Texas
Waterloo: A Novel by Karen Olsson
Strange Peaches by Edwin Shrake
Nothing Happened and Then It Did: A Chronicle in Fact and Fiction by Jake Silverstein

Utah
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey (own)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (own)

Vermont
A Stranger in the Kingdom: A Novel by Howard Frank Mosher

Virginia

West Virginia

Washington
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Wisconsin
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (own)

Wyoming
The Signal by Ron Carlson (own)
Close Range by Annie Proulx (own)

Trails
The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind—and Almost Found Myself—on the Pacific Crest Trail
Zero Days: The Real Life Adventure of Captain Bligh, Nellie Bly, and 10-year-old Scrambler on the Pacific Crest Trail
A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple's Trial by Trail

Train Rides
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Stranger On A Train by Jenny Diski (own)
Riding Toward Everywhere by William T. Vollmann (own)
The Train of Small Mercies by David Rowell

I love looking at the lists this has given me a some good ideas for my list thanks!

Chelsea wrote: "Jenny, I love your Train Rides. You might like The Train of Small Mercies."

Thank you! My original plan was to read books about train rides on a train ride but I may be driving from LA to San Jose instead of taking the Starlight.

Cleaned up my list a bit after taking stock of what I already owned. Who would have expected so many books set in Iowa?

I do find that this exercise in taking stock of our home libraries has felt like a spring cleaning. I even sprayed my indoor door wreaths with fragrance.

Are all those volumes about Iowa?

Just the three labeled Iowa. That still seemed like quite a few!

Interesting system with the state labels, Jenny.

I added Cash for Arkansas, since it is Johnny Cash's own account of growing up in Arkansas. If I hadn't already read it, I'd want to read My Life by Bill Clinton for Arkansas. It is a compelling read of a poor childhood, particularly if you listen to the audio.

I added The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle and Plainsong by Kent Haruf for Colorado. I wanted to read The Shining too, but I've read Stephen King before, his books are always too long, and these other two were pretty compelling.

I added a book for Delaware and updated some books as "own" since I've acquired copies.

For Delaware:
The Saint of Lost Things

I added Kindred for Maryland, A Girl from Yamhill for Oregon, The Descendants for Hawaii, and am realizing I don't have answers for all the states yet. But I'm getting there!

You're going to love Kindred!

Suzanne wrote: "You're going to love Kindred!"
I might start there. I have only read Octavia Butler's post-apocalypse stuff but she's a great writer.

A great place to begin, especially knowing what a great book it is!

Uh Jenny , speaking of Booker books, do you know this podcast? They just did two great Booker episodes:
http://www.adventureswithwords.com/

You have so many choices for Nebraska and none of them are Willa Cather. Nothing against her, I love her. But Fascinating to see so many other options.

FYI, I am pretty sure A River Runs Through It takes place in Montana.

Thomas wrote: "You have so many choices for Nebraska and none of them are Willa Cather. Nothing against her, I love her. But Fascinating to see so many other options."

I was trying to read authors I hadn't read before, and I had read at least one book by her. :)

Wow I really need to work on this project again.. this will be a multiple year thing for me!

I think rather than update my original list, I'll make a list here of which states/books I read for this challenge in 2013. Somehow I only read books set in FIFTEEN states, and some many many times. Mississippi? Washington? Huh. :)

Alabama
The Thanksgiving Visitor

Illinois
Loving Frank

Indiana
The Fault in Our Stars

Kansas
Biting through the Skin: An Indian Kitchen in America's Heartland

Maine
The Burgess Boys

Massachusetts
Infinite Jest
The Movement of Stars

Michigan
Detroit: An American Autopsy

Mississippi
Freeman
The Ponder Heart
Rivers

Missouri
Gone Girl

Nevada
The Flamethrowers

New Jersey
Ivyland

New York
97 Orchard : An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement
Arcadia
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories
The Flamethrowers
The Golem and the Jinni
The Other Typist
The Secret of Lost Things

North Carolina
Raney
The Storycatcher
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

Texas
Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places

Washington (the state)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Brothers K
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Where'd You Go, Bernadette

West Virginia
Crapalachia: A Biography of Place

Looks like you did get through quite a few books, Jenny! It's nice that we can read whatever we want, whenever. No pressures and we all enjoy reading the comments about each book. Looking forward to next year!

I read Crapalachia: A Biography of Place today, and found it to be much more endearing than the title makes it sound. Rural West Virginia!

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters set in Concord, New Hampshire.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters set in Concord, New Hampshire."

This one looks interesting. What did you think of it, Jenny? I find it a challenge to find books set in New Hampshire that aren't written by Jodi Picoult:)

Suzanne wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters set in Concord, New Hampshire."

This one looks interesting. What did you think of it, Jenny? I find it a challenge to find books set in New Hampshire that aren't written by Jodi Picoult:) "

Well, it's mostly police-procedural/crime, but with the added element of pending doom due to asteroid headed for earth. :)

In 2014 I read 26 more books for this challenge but still have some states left to cover! This was a great year for southern lit, since that was another one of my goals, I'm pleased!

Florida
Continental Drift

Georgia
The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

Illinois
The Pale King

Iowa
Lila

Kansas
Doc

Kentucky
Nathan Coulter
Ultima Thule

Massachusetts
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Mississippi
The Optimist's Daughter
Long Division

Missouri
In the Course of Human Events: A Novel

Montana
A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

New Hampshire
The Last Policeman

New Jersey
American Pastoral

North Carolina
A Land More Kind Than Home

Oregon
Geek Love

Rhode Island
The Witches of Eastwick

South Carolina
Between Wrecks

Texas
Drift: A Novel

Virginia
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

West Virginia
Hill William
In the Garden of Stone

So! The states I have left, I'm going to try to finish up in 2015. That will be Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Should be doable! I've read some books set in some of those states but never for this challenge, and I did promise myself to start fresh.

You've had a great year around the USA, Jenny! Can't wait to see what you read in 2015!