Harrigan’s inclusion of a botanist as one of the fictional characters we follow across Texas, makes this book a great one for this challenge, but the pervasive mythology of the Alamo makes it an essential one. I am reading my way across the USA–5 or so books from each state, with an emphasis on those […]
California, here we come! My adopted home state. We’ve been here since 2011. The company my husband works for moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles when its founder did, and we came too. When we found out about the move, we looked at each other and grimaced. Los Angeles? LA-LA land? But we love it! […]
In the immortal words of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “And now, for something completely different!” Indiana. The first things that come to my mind when I think of Indiana are the Indy 500 race, and the song “Gary, Indiana” from The Music Man. (Sorry! If it’s any consolation, it’s stuck in my head too, now.) […]
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 need to make something clear here: I’m still finding my way through this challenge, and I may make mistakes. Especially when it comes to picking books. We’ve all done it – you pick up a book, the cover looks interesting, the blurb sounds cool, maybe you see a review or two that make it […]
Although I said in my challenge criteria that I wasn’t going to go in any particular order, I began doing a little research in alphabetical order and got excited about several of the books I discovered for Alaska (sorry Alabama – I’ll get back to you!). Alaska is the only state in the US that […]
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.