As I tried to decide how to handle the multiple bird sightings in the books, I chuckled to myself that I could compile a “life list.” And then I stopped chuckling and realized that was actually ideal. Birding life lists are often broken down by geographic regions such as state. The table below can be […]
I’ve decided – I’m reading my way across the United States. Three to five books set in each state of the US – especially books where the setting becomes another character, and those which deal with some aspect of the people, geography, or history of the state.
This was a pretty good book, introducing a historical figure (Nathaniel Bowditch) that I wasn’t familiar with, and some great information about navigation. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (1955) was also a decent choice for my Massachusetts list of books–not quite so much for the setting itself, as for the history. I […]
Wow! We Love You, Charlie Freeman by Kaitlyn Greenidge was a really interesting book! The commentary on race and racism were enlightening, and the commentary on families, sisterhood and motherhood were, at times, heart-wrenching. Overall, I’m glad I read it. However, despite a few lovely descriptions of western Massachusetts and less lovely ones of Dorchester, […]
When I got to Nebraska, I was surprised at how many options there were for books that were set in the state and that looked interesting to me, and there were several that I just didn’t get to at the time. This post is a follow-up, to cover a couple that I have eventually gotten […]
Run by Ann Patchett (2007) was an amazing read and just great for my reading challenge–we really feel not just the New England snowstorm, but also many of the Massachusetts people. I am reading my way across the USA–5 or so books from each state, with an emphasis on those where the setting becomes its […]
In the early- to mid-1990s, I lived in Massachusetts, outside of Lawrence, along New Hampshire’s tiny coastal strip, and worked for a Girl Scout council on the North Shore, which included Lawrence, Lowell and Lynn, Salem, Marblehead and Gloucester. I also did an internship a bit to the west, around Worcester. What I remember the […]
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata is my Young Readers choice for Georgia. It’s a Newberry Award winner, and very reminiscent of Bento Box in the Heartland, by Linda Furiya, which we read in Indiana. I am reading my way across the USA–5 or so books from each state, with an emphasis on books where the setting […]
Between, Georgia has the most Southern stereotypes of any of the Georgia books we’ve read so far. It is also the only Southern Gothic book we’ve read so far. (Though A Cry of Angels by Jeff Fields fits that category as well.) I am reading my way across the USA–5 or so books set in each […]
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones was a great addition to my challenge reading list for Georgia… or Louisiana. The story was split–Roy’s family lives in Louisiana, and that’s where he is wrongfully convicted and serves five years in prison. Celestial grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and she received her childhood home as a wedding […]
If you have a woman, you recognize when you have said the wrong thing. Somehow she rearranges the ions in the air and you can’t breathe as well.
—An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Among the Living by Jonathan Rabb is set among the Jewish community in Savannah, Georgia, immediately after World War II. I am reading my way across the USA–3-5 books set in each state, with an emphasis on those books where the setting becomes another character, or those that help me learn a bit about the […]