A Reading Roadtrip Across the U.S.A. > Likes and Comments
2404 likes · Like
Would like to see this but each province and territory in Canada
Corey Zinger, someone further up def did at least one list. There were several recommendations.
No shade to Taylor Brown -- I haven't read the book -- but I'd prefer to see WV native Ann Pancake's _Strange As This Weather Has Been_ for West Virginia instead. If anyone outside of WV wants to understand why WV and Appalachia generally -- so disadvantaged, so impoverished, blah blah blah -- have turned so bitterly against their own best interests on the political front, this is the book that will give you very real insight.
*
*
*
... I'm wondering if anyone else thought about _Swamplandia!_ for Florida?
Can I advocate for books or stories centered in Tribal Lands & reservations? And maybe if there aren't enough for each, we can start elevating writers & voices from these communities?
Next: Central American countries!
Stephanie wrote: "I wish there was a printable check list of all of the books"
It's probably pretty easy to make in Google Docs, if you want to make one for yourself!
New Mexico? Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a must-read.
Lindsay wrote: "As a native Hoosier himself, I’d also include John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars for Indiana."
Good one! I'd include All the Bright Places myself.
Cindy Jiménez-Vera wrote: "Of course that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands should be included in a read across America summer reading list. I would love to read books set in the Caribbean this summer. 🏝️"
Right you are!
Amanda wrote: "So many social justice themes present in a majority of these recommendations"
Should rename this site "wokereads" and be done with it.
Daniela wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"
There's already an article on that.
I read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. It was disappointing. Can you recommend me an alternative book?
With a Hammer for my heart by George Ella Lyons for Kentucky. Or Clear Springs by Bobbie Ann Mason.
Jodi Picoult Small Great Things for CT. When I read this book, it was hard for me to conceive that the racism and white supremacy described could happen in my state. I thought I must have loved under a rock all my life.
I love this idea. Goodreads should compile a ‘Read your way around Europe’ too.
Canada, Australia and South America would be interesting also.
I think it’s pretty easy to read you way around the USA or UK though, as so many books are set there. Less of a challenge.
I really appreciate ppl's recommendations of books that better represent their state. Also, I know that they were focusing on US states but Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa could have gotten an honorable mention.
Any books about the prairie or Native Americans
I'm underwhelmed at the selection for Illinois...
"cultlike mindfulness groups, and some ill-advised polyamorous adventures" is not the best this state could have offered.
Pick Sarsh Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series. Every one is set in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.
Pick "Where the Forest Meets the Stars" by Glendy Vanderah
Pick "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano.
So many better choices to have made...
the idea is nice ....English is my second language I will try to listen to the book if it is difficult to read .....
Patricia wrote: "Any books about the prairie or Native Americans"
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angelline Boulley
Debbie wrote: "This is a great list! I do think that John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces" be a great choice for Louisiana."
WHAT A MASTERPIECE. Agreed!
I did this a few years ago. I did the same Delaware book and it was very good.
Chrissi G wrote: "I'm underwhelmed at the selection for Illinois...
"cultlike mindfulness groups, and some ill-advised polyamorous adventures" is not the best this state could have offered.
Pick Sarsh Paretsky's ..."
What's wrong with Wellness?
For Florida, for everywhere, Cross Creek, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Her memoir of life in central Florida in the early 20th C, Old Florida, the Scrub.
I grew up in Florida, and spent many happy days, weeks, years in a tiny vacation cottage on a beautiful pristine crystal-clear river less than an hour drive from MKR's farmstead/orange grove/Eden.
Marjorie Rawlings is best known for The Yearling, but her best writings are her memoir and her short stories. Her farmstead in central FL, 20 miles south of Gainesville, is well preserved and an American treasure, now a state historical site.
Rawlings was a great reader, writer, cook, and bon vivant. Chain smoker of Lucky Strikes and lover of bourbon. In the 30's and 40's she was in elite company, in the stable of editor Max Perkins of Scribner's (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe). She knew them all, and entertained them all, in her Spanish-moss-draped hamlet of Cross Creek, in the middle of nowhere. She was a great friend of Robert Frost, who spent much time at Cross Creek and in Gainesville as a lecturer and reader of poetry. She hosted Zora Neale Hurston, a good friend. Even Dylan Thomas called on her (they had a mutual love of whiskey, good food and literature).
There's no better literary road trip than to Cross Creek FL, little changed since her death. Acquaint yourself with some some of her best stuff including the memoir and short stories but also her delightful cookbook Cross Creek Cookery. She was a wonderful self-trained chef, but much of the pleasure of her cookbook is her fabulous writing.
During WW2, the American military issued pocket edition paperbacks of many favorite books to GIs and sailors, including The Yearling. MKR received thousands of letters from Army and Navy, thanking her for bringing thoughts of home and comfort and inspiration to them. She sent hand written replies to every letter. That's awesome.
The Water is Wide (Pat Conroy) for South Carolina🧡
Not sure why Bewilderment was picked for Wisconsin! There are so many significant stories about our state, like the lives of John Muir, Frank Lloyd Wright, Vince Lombardi, ship-building in Manitowoc, beer-brewing in Milwaukee, farming and dairy-production, the beauty of the Driftless Region and the Kettle Morraine area…I could go on, but hopefully you see there are many great stories and REAL cultural richness in this beautiful state. Come, visit!
I can't wait to start the States, most likely I'll read Connecticut's novel first. I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam War, with the sadness of friends who signed up and never returned.
On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong
Cybil wrote: "Mar wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"
This could get you started!
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2......"
Thanks for the link!
I love how the stereotype about New Jersey is that people only know the airport and the Turnpike and never actually visit the state. And then the book suggestion is about a flight that just happened to leave from Newark Airport
Here we go again would be good for this list. Not just because it represents the green beauty of Washington, it also covers Colorado, Texas, New Orleans, Mississippi and Maine.
😼jiriguru Love the initiative but I’m more on the non-fiction side. Anything for us the non-fiction lovers? History, social science, politics, biography, memoir…
Try Jimmy Carter's autobiography: An Hour Before Daylight. It covers Georgia historically as well as his life as a young boy.
Mar wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"
Hey check out @thelibrary21 - instagram page. They have an amazing curation of recommendations on their feed and have a special series dedicated to your request. Unfortunately, goodreads does not let me add the link to other websites but you can check them out.
This would be so cool if it was done for other countries around the world as well! What a cool way to explore other places
Could we get a Europe tour, and an Australian tour. Or basically anywhere that's not the US?
Wish the criteria had been "books that take place in actual cities, not fictional creations." Otherwise... the list is kind of toothless. But fun!
How about a list of non-fiction books related to each state?
Do people have thoughts on also books that have great representation, stories, and portrayal of native american reservations?
I'm going to recommend "The Leavers" by Lisa Ko for New York. It covers both upstate New York and New York City. It's also the only become I remember reading that gives a description and feel of a location that could be in upstate New York as opposed to just using upstate New York as a generic backdrop to the story.
Chels wrote: "Do Canada next!"
Yess!! I'd read all of them!! :)
Alison wrote: "Elin Hilderbrand is such a cop out for Massachusetts"
Same thing for William Kent Krueger in Minnesota.
I've read ten, have a few on my tbr shelf and started but dnf a couple, so a thumbs up list for me.
The pick for NJ is for a flight out of Newark? I hope the remainder of the book is actually set in NJ. Newark airport and the surrounding area is a very poor representation of NJ. Why not Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver?
back to top
message 101:
by
Corey
(new)
Jun 06, 2024 12:32PM
Would like to see this but each province and territory in Canada
flag
Corey Zinger, someone further up def did at least one list. There were several recommendations. No shade to Taylor Brown -- I haven't read the book -- but I'd prefer to see WV native Ann Pancake's _Strange As This Weather Has Been_ for West Virginia instead. If anyone outside of WV wants to understand why WV and Appalachia generally -- so disadvantaged, so impoverished, blah blah blah -- have turned so bitterly against their own best interests on the political front, this is the book that will give you very real insight.
*
*
*
... I'm wondering if anyone else thought about _Swamplandia!_ for Florida?
Can I advocate for books or stories centered in Tribal Lands & reservations? And maybe if there aren't enough for each, we can start elevating writers & voices from these communities? Next: Central American countries!
Stephanie wrote: "I wish there was a printable check list of all of the books"It's probably pretty easy to make in Google Docs, if you want to make one for yourself!
New Mexico? Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a must-read.
Lindsay wrote: "As a native Hoosier himself, I’d also include John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars for Indiana."Good one! I'd include All the Bright Places myself.
Cindy Jiménez-Vera wrote: "Of course that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands should be included in a read across America summer reading list. I would love to read books set in the Caribbean this summer. 🏝️"Right you are!
Amanda wrote: "So many social justice themes present in a majority of these recommendations"Should rename this site "wokereads" and be done with it.
Daniela wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"There's already an article on that.
I read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. It was disappointing. Can you recommend me an alternative book?
With a Hammer for my heart by George Ella Lyons for Kentucky. Or Clear Springs by Bobbie Ann Mason.
Jodi Picoult Small Great Things for CT. When I read this book, it was hard for me to conceive that the racism and white supremacy described could happen in my state. I thought I must have loved under a rock all my life.
I love this idea. Goodreads should compile a ‘Read your way around Europe’ too. Canada, Australia and South America would be interesting also.
I think it’s pretty easy to read you way around the USA or UK though, as so many books are set there. Less of a challenge.
I really appreciate ppl's recommendations of books that better represent their state. Also, I know that they were focusing on US states but Puerto Rico, Guam, and American Samoa could have gotten an honorable mention.
Any books about the prairie or Native Americans
I'm underwhelmed at the selection for Illinois... "cultlike mindfulness groups, and some ill-advised polyamorous adventures" is not the best this state could have offered.
Pick Sarsh Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series. Every one is set in Chicago and surrounding suburbs.
Pick "Where the Forest Meets the Stars" by Glendy Vanderah
Pick "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano.
So many better choices to have made...
the idea is nice ....English is my second language I will try to listen to the book if it is difficult to read .....
Patricia wrote: "Any books about the prairie or Native Americans"Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angelline Boulley
Debbie wrote: "This is a great list! I do think that John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces" be a great choice for Louisiana."WHAT A MASTERPIECE. Agreed!
I did this a few years ago. I did the same Delaware book and it was very good.
Chrissi G wrote: "I'm underwhelmed at the selection for Illinois... "cultlike mindfulness groups, and some ill-advised polyamorous adventures" is not the best this state could have offered.
Pick Sarsh Paretsky's ..."
What's wrong with Wellness?
For Florida, for everywhere, Cross Creek, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Her memoir of life in central Florida in the early 20th C, Old Florida, the Scrub. I grew up in Florida, and spent many happy days, weeks, years in a tiny vacation cottage on a beautiful pristine crystal-clear river less than an hour drive from MKR's farmstead/orange grove/Eden.
Marjorie Rawlings is best known for The Yearling, but her best writings are her memoir and her short stories. Her farmstead in central FL, 20 miles south of Gainesville, is well preserved and an American treasure, now a state historical site.
Rawlings was a great reader, writer, cook, and bon vivant. Chain smoker of Lucky Strikes and lover of bourbon. In the 30's and 40's she was in elite company, in the stable of editor Max Perkins of Scribner's (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe). She knew them all, and entertained them all, in her Spanish-moss-draped hamlet of Cross Creek, in the middle of nowhere. She was a great friend of Robert Frost, who spent much time at Cross Creek and in Gainesville as a lecturer and reader of poetry. She hosted Zora Neale Hurston, a good friend. Even Dylan Thomas called on her (they had a mutual love of whiskey, good food and literature).
There's no better literary road trip than to Cross Creek FL, little changed since her death. Acquaint yourself with some some of her best stuff including the memoir and short stories but also her delightful cookbook Cross Creek Cookery. She was a wonderful self-trained chef, but much of the pleasure of her cookbook is her fabulous writing.
During WW2, the American military issued pocket edition paperbacks of many favorite books to GIs and sailors, including The Yearling. MKR received thousands of letters from Army and Navy, thanking her for bringing thoughts of home and comfort and inspiration to them. She sent hand written replies to every letter. That's awesome.
The Water is Wide (Pat Conroy) for South Carolina🧡
Not sure why Bewilderment was picked for Wisconsin! There are so many significant stories about our state, like the lives of John Muir, Frank Lloyd Wright, Vince Lombardi, ship-building in Manitowoc, beer-brewing in Milwaukee, farming and dairy-production, the beauty of the Driftless Region and the Kettle Morraine area…I could go on, but hopefully you see there are many great stories and REAL cultural richness in this beautiful state. Come, visit!
I can't wait to start the States, most likely I'll read Connecticut's novel first. I'm old enough to remember the Vietnam War, with the sadness of friends who signed up and never returned. On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong
Cybil wrote: "Mar wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"This could get you started!
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2......"
Thanks for the link!
I love how the stereotype about New Jersey is that people only know the airport and the Turnpike and never actually visit the state. And then the book suggestion is about a flight that just happened to leave from Newark Airport
Here we go again would be good for this list. Not just because it represents the green beauty of Washington, it also covers Colorado, Texas, New Orleans, Mississippi and Maine.
😼jiriguru Love the initiative but I’m more on the non-fiction side. Anything for us the non-fiction lovers? History, social science, politics, biography, memoir… Try Jimmy Carter's autobiography: An Hour Before Daylight. It covers Georgia historically as well as his life as a young boy.
Mar wrote: "Now make a world tour and put a few books from every continent 🙏✨"Hey check out @thelibrary21 - instagram page. They have an amazing curation of recommendations on their feed and have a special series dedicated to your request. Unfortunately, goodreads does not let me add the link to other websites but you can check them out.
This would be so cool if it was done for other countries around the world as well! What a cool way to explore other places
Could we get a Europe tour, and an Australian tour. Or basically anywhere that's not the US?
Wish the criteria had been "books that take place in actual cities, not fictional creations." Otherwise... the list is kind of toothless. But fun!
How about a list of non-fiction books related to each state?
Do people have thoughts on also books that have great representation, stories, and portrayal of native american reservations?
I'm going to recommend "The Leavers" by Lisa Ko for New York. It covers both upstate New York and New York City. It's also the only become I remember reading that gives a description and feel of a location that could be in upstate New York as opposed to just using upstate New York as a generic backdrop to the story.
Chels wrote: "Do Canada next!"Yess!! I'd read all of them!! :)
Alison wrote: "Elin Hilderbrand is such a cop out for Massachusetts"Same thing for William Kent Krueger in Minnesota.
I've read ten, have a few on my tbr shelf and started but dnf a couple, so a thumbs up list for me.
The pick for NJ is for a flight out of Newark? I hope the remainder of the book is actually set in NJ. Newark airport and the surrounding area is a very poor representation of NJ. Why not Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver?
