Fun Activity: Take a Road Trip Acoss the US via Books

 

Goodreads posted a summer project challenge: to read a book set in each of the 50 states and territories of the US. I looked over the list and was delighted to see I'd read quite a few of the books, and snapped up the challenge to fill in any blanks in those states/territories. I've included their titles if I've read/liked the suggestion or changed it if not.  Here is my list, hyperlinks are provided for reviewed books.

Update: Completed: September 2025.

 ALABAMA

• Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez  
  

ALASKA

• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
  

AMERICAN SAMOA 

• The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches From the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack 

ARIZONA

• Inland by Téa Obrecht 

ARKANSAS

• True Grit by Charles Portis
  

CALIFORNIA

• There There by Tommy Orange
  

COLORADO

• Plainsong by Kent Haruf
  

CONNECTICUT

• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  

DELAWARE

• The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez 
  

FLORIDA

• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
  

GEORGIA

• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  

GUAM 

• From Unincorporated Territory [Åmot] by Craig Santos Perez
  

HAWAII

• Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
  

IDAHO

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
  

ILLINOIS

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  

INDIANA 

• 
  
  The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
  

IOWA

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

KANSAS

•  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
  

KENTUCKY

• Horse by Geraldine Brooks
  

LOUISIANA

• The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  

MAINE

• Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
  

MARYLAND

• Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
  

MASSACHUSETTS

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
  

MICHIGAN

• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
  

MINNESOTA

• Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
  

MISSISSIPPI

• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
  

MISSOURI

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  

MONTANA

• The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
  

NEBRASKA

• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
  

NEVADA

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
  

NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Our Town by Thornton Wilder
  

NEW JERSEY

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS (AND OTHER TERRITORIES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC)

• The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches From the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack 

NEW MEXICO

• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
  

NEW YORK

• Trust by Hernan Diaz
  

NORTH CAROLINA

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  

NORTH DAKOTA

• The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
  

OHIO

• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  

OKLAHOMA

• Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
  

OREGON

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
  

PENNSYLVANIA

• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 

PUERTO RICO 

• When I Was Puerto Rican by Santiago
  

RHODE ISLAND

• Wedding People by Alison Espach

SOUTH CAROLINA

• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  

SOUTH DAKOTA

• Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
  

TENNESSEE

• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
  

TEXAS

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  

UTAH

• The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
  

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

• The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches From the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack 

VERMONT

• Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
  

VIRGINIA

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  

WASHINGTON

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
  

WASHINGTON, DC

• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
  

WEST VIRGINIA

• Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
  

WISCONSIN

• Bewilderment by Richard Powers
  

WYOMING

• October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
  

I've read most of my choices within the last fifteen years, since I began blogging. A few titles I had to go back further in my reading history to find. As you see, I only need to read five new books to fill out my list, clearly I need to focus on books set in US Territories. But now I have some titles I am willing to explore.

I selected nonfiction titles if I haven't read a good novel set in a state. If you have a suggested book from those states, I'd love to hear from you.

Now I challenge you to make your own READ ACROSS AMERICA list or make one for the counties/states/provinces/regions from the country where you live. I'm off on my reading road trip. See you later!

-Anne