50 State Challenge

[Nancy]

Thanks Edwina, in three years, I might have a chance. Right now, I have one book set in Virginia, another in North Carolina, and a third somewhere in New England. Of course, it is easy at the beginning since all state settings are open.

[Cheryl]

Since we're starting a new page of comments, I'm going to make my life easier by starting the next batch of books I've read here. So:

Massachusetts The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks YA about kids in a Prep boarding school. Surprisingly delightful, despite all the things 'wrong' with it. I'll be reviewing it soon and you can see why I used scare-quotes on that word...

Maryland The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account Of What Befell A Little Boy In Search Of Adventure Children's adventure fantasy, almost 100 yrs old but still exciting and very funny & mysterious.

Nevada The Motel Life YA or NA, in the vein of The Outsiders, with a ubiety of Nevada that, unfortunately, doesn't ring quite true for this resident.

Florida What I Saw and How I Lied Surprisingly rich YA - historical, and mystery, and coming-of-age. I listened to it, and I think that made it better because I couldn't zip through, as I would have did I listen.

South Carolina Debbie Harry Sings in French Smart and sweet YA about a teen who realizes he's not gay, but is happy when entering a contest as a drag queen.

Kansas The Center of Everything Dysfunctional people passing judgement on other dysfunctional people. Well-written, however.

And, to sum what I've done so far, here's the list of states covered in my first post:

Maine ..... Illinois .... Oregon
Missouri .... Iowa .... New York
Wisconsin .... Minnesota .... Arizona
California .... Hawaii

[Nancy]

Stealing Edwina's list of states because I am too lazy to type them all out (thanks Edwina).


Alabama--A Killer Read-Erika Chase 12/2015
Alaska--Vampire Vacation (V V Inn #1)-C.J. Ellisson 9/2013
Arizona
Arkansas--A Painted House-John Grisham 5/15
California--The Language of Flowers-Vanessa Diffenbaugh 9/2013
Colorado--Prelude and Fugue-Laura Haley-McNeil 9/2013
Connecticut--Sins of the Flesh-Colleen McCullough 9/2014
Delaware
Florida--Florida Roadkill-Tim Dorsey 4/2014
Georgia--Pastors' Wives-Lisa Takeuchi Cullen 10/2013
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois--Divergent-Veronica Roth 1/2014
Indiana--The Poor Man's Guide to Suicide-Andrew Armacost 12/2014
Iowa
Kansas--Silver Bells-Deborah Raney 5/2014
Kentucky--Death by Drowning-Abigail Keam 7/2014
Louisiana--The Night of the Comet-George Bishop 10/2013
Maine--Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm-Kate Douglas Wiggin 1/2015
Maryland--On the Way to Everywhere-Kirsten B. Feldman 1/2015
Massachusetts--The Postmistress-Sarah Blake 5/2014
Michigan--Speak Easy-Melanie Harlow 12/2013
Minnesota--In the Lake of the Wood-Timothy O'Brien 3/2014
Mississippi
Missouri--A Delight Before Christmas-Angie Daniels 11/2013
Montana--Circle of Gold-Diana Palmer 3/2014
Nebraska--My Antonia-Willa Cather 7/2015
Nevada--The Goldfinch-Donna Tartt 6/2015
New Hampshire--Under the Lights-Shannon Stacey 6/2016
New Jersey--Only Everything-Kieran Scott 10/18/2014
New Mexico--The Three-Two Pitch-Wilfred McCormick 7/2014
New York--The Mistress-Tiffany Reisz 9/2013
North Carolina--The Four Corners of the Sky-Michael Malone 8/2013
North Dakota--A Christmas Blizzard-Garrison Keillor 12/2013
Ohio--Twelve Days-Teresa Hill 12/2013
Oklahoma--To Seduce and Defend-Deborah Camp 2/2014
Oregon
Pennsylvania--Save Me-Lisa Scottoline 4/14
Rhode Island--
South Carolina--The Sound of Glass-Karen White 8/15
South Dakota
Tennessee--The Girls of Atomic City-Diane Kiernan 4/2015
Texas--Death Ain't But a Word-Zander Marks 8/2013
Utah--Country Tied-Robyn Buttars 9/2013
Vermont--Mistletoe on Main Street-Olivia Miles 11/2014
Virginia--The Hen of the Baskervilles-Donna Andrews 8/2013
Washington--Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford 2/2014
West Virginia--The Moon Sisters-Therse Walsh 3/2015
Wisconsin--The Beautiful Ship-John B. Prescott 4/2014
Wyoming

* provisional choice based upon author's residence

39/50

[Edwina]

lol Nancy, I was too lazy to type them all out also, that's why I googled "list of 50 US states" then did a copy and paste on here. I thought it might come in handy for others who are playing along also.

[Paula]

Ok, so I'm recopying my list over here so I can keep up.



1. New York - The Story Sisters - Alice Hoffman

2. Maine - Valentine Murder-Leslie Meier

3. Connecticut - Two Little Girls in Blue - Mary Higgins Clark

4. Florida - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children-Ransom Riggs

5. Pennsylvania - The Last Confession-Solomon Jones

6. Colorado - Peppermint Twisted-Sammi Carter

7. Georgia - The Witch's Grave - Phillip DePoy

8. Minnesota - Off the Grid - P J Tracy

9. Arizona - Son of a Gun - Justin St. Germain

10. Kansas - The Chaperone - Laura Moriaty

11. Washington DC - Behind the Scenes, or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House - Elizabeth Keckley

12. Virginia - Spare Change - BEtte Lee Crosby

13. Nebraska - Tears on a Page - Patricia Young

14. Montana - The Bartender's Tale - Ivan Doid

15. New Jersey - Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich

16.California - A Darkness More Than Light - Michael Connelly

17. Texas - Zero at the Bone - Mary Willis Walker

18. Alaska - Two Old Women - Velma Wallis

19. Massachusetts - Lying With Strangers - James Grippando

20. W. Virginia - Billy Creekmore - Tracy Porter

21. Hawaii - Blood & Orchids - Norman Katkov

22. Alabama - Hopes's Son - Andrew Bridge

23. Michigan - Starvation Lake - Bryan Gruley

24. N. Carolina - Serena - Ron Rash

25. Idaho - Killer Summer - Ridley Pearce

26. Tennessee - Ask a Shadow to Dance - Linda George

27. Ohio - Saving CeeCee Honeycutt - Beth Hoffman

28. New Hampshire - Rebel Angels - James Rice

29. Kentucky - The Rosewood Casket - Sharyn McCrumb

30. Illinois - The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 - Charles Rivers Editors

31. Rhode Island - Love on a Dime - Cara Lynn James

32. Oregon - Hand of Fate - Lis Wiehl

33. Rhode Island - Love on a Dime - Cara Lynn James

34. Wyoming - Heart - Dick Cheney

35. Oklahoma - Magic City - Jewell Parker Rhodes

36. Louisiana - Voodoo Dreams - Jewell Parker Rhodes

37. Missouri - The Christmas Lamp - Lori Copeland

38. Indiana - City of the Sun - David Levien

39. Nevada - Stateline - Dave Stanton

11 left!

40. New Mexico - Everyone Dies - Michael McGarrity

10 more

[Nancy]

I just finished a book, The Snow Angel (Glenn Beck), and I can't tell exactly where it was set. Somewhere in the Midwest, I think, but does anyone know for sure? I even went back through it to see if I missed something other than the name of the town (Everton).

[Paula]

I just added my latest ones. I'm half way! Good thing it's going for 3 years. LOL

[Nancy]

Another book, The Christmas Note by Donna VanLiere, in which I can't pinpoint the state. Tennessee, perhaps? Grandon is the name of the town, and lots of references to other states (Arizona, Oklahoma), but nothing definitive. Like The Snow Angel, I have checked back through a bit to see if I missed anything. Now, two mysteries to solve. Anyone?

[Cheryl]

I wonder, Nancy, if the authors weren't being intentionally vague. Maybe they want lots of readers to think the location of the book is their own home state.

Or, let's see. Are either of the authors from a state that could be the one in the book? If VanLiere's book seems to be set in Tennessee, and she lives in (or was raised in) TN, then it would seem fair to count that as solved, I think.

There is an Everton in Missouri. There is no Grandon, though there is a Grandin in N. Dakota. (source - google maps)

[Nancy]

@Cheryl, those were the two states that I considered. Missouri for The Snow Angel and Tennessee for the The Christmas Note.

[Cheryl]

Ok I just read The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account Of What Befell A Little Boy In Search Of Adventure, a very old Newbery contender. Mostly it's a fantasy, but it does mention Chesapeake Bay, so I'm going to count it for Maryland.

[Nancy]

I may go your route and consider those two states as being correct, then if I read another book that is definitively Missouri and/or Tennessee, I can modify the record. I am finding that the same states are coming up as the setting over and over again. I have read quite a few with setting in New York, California, and North Carolina. I guess I never paid that much attention to the setting in the past; I just read a book.

[Cheryl]

Yeah, I see NY and CA often, too. I don't have NC yet though.

[Cheryl]

Finally got a new state, instead of a duplicate. I didn't really want to read The Motel Life but my step-daughter pressed it on my husband so I decided I should participate, too. I promise, however, that not everything about Nevada is that bleak!

[Edwina]

Here's a link for the 50 states: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-f...

In case anyone needs some book ideas.

[Nancy]

I live in Ohio, and would not consider the Ohio book to be the "most famous" or even that I had ever heard of it prior to this list. I can name quite a few books that are set in Ohio, famous and not-so-famous. I would have expected either Beloved by Toni Morrison or Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio as the choice. Other choices less famous, ask me.

By the way, has anyone read The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace? Moreover, have you heard of it?

[Cheryl]

I've not heard of The Broom of the System, and my library seems to have nothing by Wallace (but I'll double check).

Added books for South Carolina and Kansas to my list above.

[Cheryl]

Michigan Things Invisible to See /weird & surreal, with romance and baseball

Alaska The End of the Road actually I read all three related books about Tom Bodett's home in Homer. Pretty clean, gentle, funny, and short.

(editing here to add - will have to combine later)

Indiana How Dear to My Heart - Kimbrough's ode to her interesting but mostly comfortable childhood in Muncie.

North Dakota Prairie Beat - collected newspaper columns, mostly light essays on life as a middle-aged white husband and father who writes for a small-town newspaper on the northern prairie... ;)

Colorado An Owl on Every Post - while the rest of the country was becoming more urban, with telephones, motorcars and electricity becoming commonplace, Babb's family decided to emulate Laura Ingalls (Wilder)'s family and spend several years breaking sod, suffering scurvy and living 5 in a one-room dugout severely isolated from schools or neighbors in eastern Colorado. I found it a bleak read, though some readers find it heartwarming, and the Babbs did, after all, survive.

Pennsylvania The Kitchen Daughter - we don't see a lot of Philadelphia because the main character has Aspberger's and doesn't get out much, but we do get enough of a sense of place to count. Great story, relatively quick and light read despite the fact that one of the main themes is grief.

[Cheryl]

Came here to add Bad Medicine for Arizona and A Girl from Yamhill for Oregon and see that I already have those two states covered. Oh well, mentioning anyway, because they were pretty good reads, that really were about the respective states. The first is a basically a medical thriller, but based on real life; the second is a memoir of a children's author.

[Paula]

I get a book and think, oh good, I can add a state but it always turns out to be a state I've already read! Oh well, still time.

[Cheryl]

added ND above - if someone needs ND this book is registered at bookcrossing and I can send it on. Actually, and I don't know why I didn't mention it before, I'd be delighted to send many of these on to any USA member for free.

[Cheryl]

The book I read for Colorado is available, too.

[Cheryl]

Massachusetts ... Maryland ... Nevada
Florida ... South Carolina ... Kansas
Michigan ... Alaska ... Indiana
North Dakota ... Colorado ... Pennsylvania
Maine ..... Illinois .... Oregon
Missouri .... Iowa .... New York
Wisconsin .... Minnesota .... Arizona
California .... Hawaii

Vermont The Call - well, not 100% sure this sharp gem is Vermont, but it's def. rural New England and the author blurb says she lives in Vermont. I can't summarize my feelings about the book here, but I recommend you check out my longer review if you're craving something smart & different.

Tennessee A Snicker of Magic - delightful fast-paced children's book with a mystery and lots of new friends, probably best for ages 9-12.

Georgia Grandaddy and Janetta Together: The Three Stories in One Book - another kid's book, very short, but deeper than it appears. Momma grew up on a red-dirt farm and now it's little Janetta's turn to visit down from Baltimore and make friends with Mule, Cat, Chickens, and Grandaddy.

Virginia Belle Prater's Boy - children's historical fiction, but, even though it's wise and has been deemed an Honor book for the Newbery, it's also funny. And there's s mystery/ ghost story underlying it.

North Carolina Life After Life - a Maeve Binchy-type story set in & about a nursing home, and a more intense story, tangentially related, that serves as a counterpoint to give the reader a chance to do some hard thinking about life, and death, and love.

Connecticut Because of Mr. Terupt - a sweet, though slightly implausible, school story for fifth-graders. Not much ubiety, but a classic classroom with a winter cold enough for real snow is important to the story.

Idaho Train Dreams - short, but not recommended

Washington Harmonic Feedback - powerful and smart YA. I didn't get much of the ubiety of Bellingham, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these three teens.

New Jersey Hot and Cold Summer - kids' book, not a strong ubiety, but I'll take it. It is an awfully nice story.

Texas Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time

New Hampshire Our Town - the classic play, short and well worth the read.

Arkansas Where Things Come Back - YA mystery/ *L*iterature; I was not impressed.

[Cheryl]

And, to help me keep track, here's what's left for me:

Alabama ... Delaware ... Kentucky ... Louisiana ... Mississippi ... Montana ... Nebraska ... New Mexico ... Ohio ... Oklahoma ... Rhode Island ... South Dakota ... Utah ... West Virginia ... Wyoming

[Maeve]

Ok, so here is what I have left...

Alabama -
Maine -
Minnesota -
New Hampshire -
North Dakota -
Rhode Island -
South Dakota -
Tennessee -
Wisconsin -

[Cheryl]

So, we're about 1/2way through, as we've given ourselves 3 years and we started Feb 17 2013. I probably won't make it, just because some will be hard to find, but I'm making good progress! :)

[Cheryl]

If I get desperate, can I do things like Georgia O'Keeffe: A Life or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?

[Maeve]

Sounds good to me! I'm definitely getting creative! I think biographies are ok as long as they are mostly set in the State.

[Cheryl]

Oh, yes, biographies, sure. But what I'm asking is, could Georgia O'Keeffe, the painter who split her time between New York and New Mexico, count for Georgia, just based on her name?

Btw, I'm starting to look at Listopia, and just typing in the name of the state as a tag/ keyword search seems like it will work well. For example, I see several lists that have books set in Delaware.

[Maeve]

Totally! Like Looking for Alaska could count for Alaska even though it is set in Alabama. I think the state name in a title counts :)

[Cheryl]

Ok, thanks!

Although, irony to make us grin here, I need Alabama but not Alaska, and I do want to read Looking for Alaska, so I'll count it for Alabama. :)

[Maeve]

Lol! Perfect!

[Paula]

Just added 5 more for a total of 29. Now to find some books with my missing states.

[Cheryl]

Go Paula!

[Paula]

Thanks Cheryl! I need to sit down and make a list of my missing ones, I've just been taking whatever comes along so far. LOL

[Cheryl]

Wait a minute, what?! I don't have Texas yet? Shoot, I'll have to look back on My Books shelves. Seems to me I recently read one set there and thought to myself 'too bad I don't need Texas...'

[Maeve]

Ok... so I'm only halfway there... definitely need to step up my game!

[Cheryl]

It's getting harder.

I'm reading North Carolina right now, and can recommend it as a good book: Life After Life by Jill McCorkle . A bit like a Maeve Binchy, in that we get to know a large cast of characters and they're all pretty decent people - but the core is at a nursing home, and not many of the people we meet are not seniors.

[Paula]

I don't know where I've been adding my states but found I was behind on here so now I'm up to date. Probably on the old list. LOL

[Cheryl]

got Connecticut with a kid's book

[Maeve]

If anyone needs Vermont might I recommend The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. It's a trip!

[Nancy]

Does anyone else find they enter giveaways based on the fact that the description indicates a state that they haven't found a book that is set in a state they haven't read yet?

[Maeve]

Nancy wrote: "Does anyone else find they enter giveaways based on the fact that the description indicates a state that they haven't found a book that is set in a state they haven't read yet?"

Haha awesome! I haven't even thought to do that!

[Cheryl]

Washington with an upper YA some of you might like: Harmonic Feedback

[Paula]

I need 15 more

[Cheryl]

I keep reading states over again. I don't need Michigan, but I just enjoyed Fowl Weather and it's got a real ubiety of Michigan. Any animal lovers out there will probably like it a lot.

(However, I do wish I'd read the book that came first, first - Enslaved by Ducks and will read it soon.)

[Cheryl]

Got New Jersey with a fun kids' book.

[Cheryl]

The short classic play, Our Town, is set in New Hampshire. It was a little dated, but not as much as you'd think. Good read.

[Cheryl]

I can't believe I forgot about this resource: goodreads.com/places
It's simply a very long alphabetical list, but it should help. For example, Arkansas is on page 4, and clicking gives 2 pages of results. One could also, of course, try Little Rock and other cities in Arkansas, too.

[Maeve]

Thanks Cheryl! That's great!!!