Cecilturtle Travelling the States

As much as I try travelling around the world, I seem to roam around the States a great deal. Last year, I was pretty happy with the ground I covered, so I'll use my 2023 reads as a base and build from there.
I'll have a 5 book limit for each state to keep it manageable.
Toot, toot, looking forward to some transcontinental reads!


Create Your Own Visited States Map

California (visited)
1. La fille de papier by Guillaume Musso (2023)
2. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson (2023)
3. Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman (2024)
4. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2024)
5. My Name is Aram by William Saroyan (2025)

Colorado (lived there!)
1. Killer Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson (2023)
2. Borden Chantry by Louis L'Amour (2024)
3. No Exit by Taylor Adams (2024)

District of Columbia (visited)
1. Les Imposteurs by John Grisham (2023)
2. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (2025)
3. Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman (2025)

Florida (visited)
1. The Brethren by John Grisham (2024)

Georgia
1. Deadline by Sandra Brown (2026)

Idaho
1. The Cat Who Moved Mountains by Lilian Jackson Braun (2023)
2. Educated by Tara Westover (2025)
3. Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (2026)

Illinois
1. Moms who Drink and Swear by Nicole Knepper (2023)

Indiana
1. The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay (2026)

Iowa
1. Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf (2024)

Kansas
1. If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay (2025)

Louisiana (visited)
1. Dites-leur que je suis un homme by Ernest J. Gaines (2023)
2. The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice (2024)
3. The Chef by James Patterson (2025)

Maine
1. Different Seasons by Stephen King (2026)

Maryland
1. Homicide by Philippe Squarzoni and David Simon (2023)

Massachusetts (visited)
1. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (2024)
2. Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta (2024)
3. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (2025)
4. The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand (2025)
5. The Last Noel by Heather Graham (2025)

Michigan (visited)
1. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun (2023)
2. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun (2023)
3. The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lilian Jackson Braun (2024)
4. The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson Braun (2025)

Minnesota
1. La Conspiration by Maggie Hall (2023)

Mississippi
1. Ford County by John Grisham (2026)

Montana
1. The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaege (2025)

New Hampshire
1. La Vérité sur l'Affaire Harry Quebert by Joël Dicker (2023)
2. The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult (2025)

New Jersey
1. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver (2023)

New Mexico (visited)
1. Solar by Ian McEwan (2025)

New York (visited)
1. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (2023)
2. La Brume by Mireille St-Pierre (2023)
3. Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (2023)
4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (2024)
5. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2026)

North Carolina
1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2026)

Ohio
1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (2026)

Oregon (visited)
1. The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt (2024)

Pennsylvania (visited)
1. Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan (2024)

Rhode Island
1. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (2023)

Tennessee
1. A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings (2025)

Texas
1. Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown (2023)

Vermont (visited)
1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (2025)

Virginia
1. Moïra by Julien Green (2025)

Washington
1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (2025)

Back from Massachusetts with The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, set in Franklin, a little town on the Cape

I finished The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice set in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is an interesting account of Creole society in the 19th century.

Post-apocalyptic New York in The Shadow by James Patterson and Brian Sitts. Terrible but a vision of NYC in the future (2050? didn't really care).

I'm wrapping up California and New York with The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I'm finishing Henry, Himself by Stewart O'Nan, a really sweet series of vignettes of 75 year-old Henry and his wife, Emily. The novel is set in Pittsburg - a hommage to the city as we walk the streets with Henry.

I'm also reading Borden Chantry by Louis L'Amour for some old style Colorado ranching.

Although I travelled throughout of the United States, with a back and forth between Washington DC and Florida, most of the action is based in Florida. A new state for me with The Brethren by John Grisham.

I'm adding Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta to Massachusetts where most of the action happens in a sleepy suburb.

I have my first for Oregon with The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt which happens in Portland.

I have a third for Colorado in a snowed out rest area in the middle of the Rockies: No Exit by Taylor Adams

I'm back from the fictional town of Penny Gate in Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf. This is my first for the state of Iowa.

That 's a lot of ground covered in two years!

>14 labfs39: thanks :)

I just finished a fun thriller, The Chef by James Patterson which is a real ode to New Orleans, its culture and food.

My first for Virginia, Moïra by Julien Green. Although the State is not expressly named, this is a very autobiographical novel and it is where Green himself studied.

I'm back from Idaho in the highly traumatic tale of Educated by Tara Westover.

>18 Cecilturtle: Thanks for the reminder about this one. I read it back in 2018 and just added it for Idaho.

I'm back from Washington in Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple where Bernadette did a lot of complaining about Seattle. I don't blame her; I feel the same way about Vancouver (unpopular opinion in Canada!)

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen is set in Belmont, Massachusetts, where the author spent almost two years in a psychiatric hospital.

I have my first book for Vermont, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, where the story unfolds in a small college.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn is set in Washington DC where McCarthy is waging a war not only against Communists but also women, Blacks and the LGBTQ community. A disturbing parallel to today's situation in the US.

A disappointing second read for New Hampshire: The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

I'm back from my first stay in Kansas with If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay

It's cheesy, but The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand actually contains a tourist guide of the island. If anything, a good resource.

I'm back from Michigan in The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson Braun

A great political thriller set in the heart of DC: Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman

Even though a good part of the book is set in Florida, I choose Tennessee where the author experienced some of the toughest moments of her life.

A great novel set in Montana with travels to Saskatchewan

The first part of this book is set in England but the final crucial moments are in New Mexico. Adding a state to my list!

I have my last entry for Massachusetts in
The Last Noel by Heather Graham

This is my first for Mississippi.

This is my first for Ohio, where Humbert settles for a while as Lolita goes to Beardsley College.

I have my first for North Carolina

Here is my first read from Indiana, not a success.

My first book for Maine!

I have a third book for Idaho: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

I've swapped one of my NYC reads for a great upstate NY read: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore