Where Have You Been? (With link to your review)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Visited the poor west side of San Antonio, Texas in Drift: A Novel. My review is here.

[Yrinsyde]

Looks like I am going to continue into 2015! I just finished reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides for Michigan. What a wonderful story - I highly recommend it!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was in Florida and picked books set there, including:

-Continental Drift by Russell Banks, set partly in the Bahamas too. My review is here.

-Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, book three of the Southern Reach trilogy. My review is here.

[Suzanne]

I just left California with On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family. It was a fascinating look at the history of Chinese immigrants through the lens of Lisa See's family. Now I'm off to Virginia with Chesapeake!

[Suzanne]

I stand corrected: Chesapeake took me to Maryland. Loved it! Definitely one of Michener's best! My reviews is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2015/0...

[Suzanne]

Yrinsyde wrote: "Looks like I am going to continue into 2015! I just finished reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides for Michigan. What a wonderful story - I highly recommend it!"

Glad you enjoyed it, Yrinsyde! I'll be reading it for this challenge this year!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was in a very cold post-apocalyptic Virginia with Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. My review is here.

[Yrinsyde]

Hi everyone! I am still doing this challenge and am determined to finish this year! I have just finished Garrison Keillor's Liberty, set in the imaginary town of Lake Woebegon, Minnesota. It was a bit meh - his earlier work is better.

[Suzanne]

I greatly enjoyed my visit to Wisconsin with The Art of Fielding. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Yrinsyde]

I'm reading The Women by TC Boyle for Wisconsin (nearly finished). I've read Some Luck by Jane Smiley for Iowa (bit of a disappointment) and I've just finished my Kansas read: The Cat Inside by William Burroughs. Next up is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Missouri).

[Yrinsyde]

I've finished The Women for Wisconsin. Long, but an absorbing read!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I visited Missouri of the first half of the 20th century with Stoner by John Williams. It was excellent, highly recommended, less than 300 pages. Not about drugs. :)

My review is here.

[Stacey]

I loved Stoner - and other works by John Williams. You should read Augustus (not For the USA book list) and Butcher's Crossing (Kansas and Colorado). He is just terrific!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Stacey wrote: "I loved Stoner - and other works by John Williams. You should read Augustus (not For the USA book list) and Butcher's Crossing (Kansas and Colorado). He is just terrific!"
You are the second person to mention Butcher's Crossing!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Just left Minnesota with Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. It includes a covered dish, people of Scandinavian descent, and church ladies. My review is here.

[Suzanne]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Just left Minnesota with Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. It includes a covered dish, people of Scandinavian descent, and church ladies. My review ..."

Thanks for the recommendation, Jenny! I've just added this to my TBR list:)

[Yrinsyde]

I finished The Grapes of Wrath last night for Oklahoma, but it could have been for California too. I'll stick with OK. Very sobering.

[Yrinsyde]

And I've just written my review for No Country for Old Men for Texas. Still don't know what to think about it ...

[Yrinsyde]

I finished my review of The Wives of Los Alamos for New Mexico. I fount it an interesting read and recommend it.

[Yrinsyde]

Fatally Flaky, a Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery, was my read for Colorado. It was OK I guess, but I'm not a fan of cozies.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was in antebellum Maryland with Kindred by Octavia Butler. It starts in Los Angeles in 1976, but the main character time travels to antebellum Maryland. It is horrific, heart-wrenching, and possibly the best novel about slavery I've read. Here is my review.

[Suzanne]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was in antebellum Maryland with Kindred by Octavia Butler. It starts in Los Angeles in 1976, but the main character time travels to antebellum Maryland. It is horrific, heart-wrenchi..."

I just loved Kindred! Because of the perspective of a modern day person, it makes the life of slavery come even more alive to the reader. It still haunts me.

[Suzanne]

I spent a few days in Minnesota with Orphan Train. An easy read, but definitely a page-turner! My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Suzanne wrote: "I just loved Kindred! Because of the perspective of a modern day person, it makes the life of slavery come even more alive to the reader. It still haunts me. "

I don't think it will leave me any time soon. Much like her Parable novels!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Because it is a finalist for the National Book Award in the USA, I just read The Turner House by Angela Flournoy. It ended up being a good read about different generations of a family living in Detroit, so it counts for Michigan. Of course I already had a Michigan, but maybe you don't!

[Suzanne]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Because it is a finalist for the National Book Award in the USA, I just read The Turner House by Angela Flournoy. It ended up being a good read about different generations of a fami..."

I added it to my TBR list. Thanks for the recommendation, Jenny!

[Suzanne]

I just left a family camp in Wyoming where the guests try to live as they would in the year 1890. It was a fun trip with the book Little Blog on the Prairie. My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2015/1...

[Yrinsyde]

I finished reading a Willa Cather novel called A Lost Lady for Nebraska a little over a week ago. It was lovely and I recommend it.

[Yrinsyde]

And a few weeks ago, I finished reading my South Dakota novel - High Plains Tango by Robert J Waller. It was a good read.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I had a review copy of The Flood Girls by Richard Fifield, an easy read about recovery and amends in small-town Montana. My review is here.

[Yrinsyde]

I finished An Untamed Land for North Dakota the other day, It was meh.

[Suzanne]

Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished An Untamed Land for North Dakota the other day, It was meh."

It's not easy finding good books set in North Dakota...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Suzanne wrote: "Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished An Untamed Land for North Dakota the other day, It was meh."

It's not easy finding good books set in North Dakota..."

I'd probably just read Louise Erdrich for ND.

[Suzanne]

Wasn't thrilled with my trip to Missouri because I didn't enjoy The Maid's Version. At least it was short!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Oh hello, dear group. I accidentally read a book set in New Mexico, which was on my list of books I didn't own yet or anything. It was The Atomic Weight of Love: A Novel by Elizabeth J. Church and my review is here.