March 2 is Read Across America Day! You're never too old to pick up a great book and get lost in a story. 

And we decided to take it really literally this year: We put together a list of 51 books, one for each state in the United States and the District of Columbia. In each book, the action primarily takes place in the state it was chosen for, and we've blended each state's classics with some outside-the-box choices.

 Have more suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alabama - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Alaska - The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
Arizona - Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
Arkansas - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California - Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende 
Colorado - The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Connecticut - The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Delaware - The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

District of Columbia - All the Houses by Karen Olsson
Florida - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Georgia - The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Hawaii - The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Idaho - All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
Illinois - The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Indiana - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Iowa - The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kansas - Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Kentucky - The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
Louisiana - Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Maine - Under the Dome by Stephen King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maryland - Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Massachusetts - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Michigan - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Minnesota - In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mississippi - Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Missouri - Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Montana - Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
Nebraska - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nevada - Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins
New Hampshire - The World According to Garp by John Irving
New Jersey - Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories by Philip Roth
New Mexico - Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya

 

 

 

 

New York - The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
North Carolina - Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
North Dakota - The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
Ohio - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

 

 

Oklahoma - Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Oregon - The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Pennsylvania - When the English Fall by David Williams
Rhode Island - Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett

 

South Carolina - Bastard Out of Carolina  by Dorothy Allison
South Dakota - In Calamity's Wake by Natalee Caple
Tennessee - Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
Texas - Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Saenz

 

 

 

 

 

 

Utah - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Vermont - Radio Free Vermont by Bill Mckibben
Virginia - The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Washington - Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Virginia - John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead
Wisconsin - Dead Loudmouth by Victoria Houston
Wyoming - Open Season by C.J. Box

Book descriptions taken from NYPL catalog.

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