50 States Reading Challenge (3+ Books For Every State, Over 250 total!)

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LOOKING FOR THE BEST USA READING CHALLENGE?

Yay! I finally have my first reading challenge up! This is the ultimate USA reading challenge. I included at least three books per state so that way if you’ve read the main one you have some other options right there.

I won’t have descriptions of any of the books on this post because that would be a lot more overwhelming than usual or than it needs to be, so it’s just a list with books set in every state.

I also tried to make sure this list was very diverse. I chose tons of LGBTQ+ books, books by authors of color, and books with main characters varying in colors and sizes. I did not want this to be a massive list of old white guy books, though there still are some included.

I also tried to include a wide variety of genres from contemporary to memoir, YA romance to natural science, thrillers, and more. The only thing there isn’t much of is fantasy and sci-fi just because they’re usually in their own worlds. But there is a mermaid book or two and a couple of witchy books.

So, I hope you join me in this 50 states reading challenge and are inspired to see more of the US after this or that is help gets you excited for a trip you already have planned. I’m not usually big on reading challenges (I like the idea but rarely stick with it) but want to give this one a try.

Some states have a lot more books (California, New York, Florida) and others are very hard to find books for (Delaware, anyone?) but I did my best. If you have any suggestions for the states with fewer books, I would love to hear them! I would also love any suggestions from local authors for anywhere to add.

SO, how do you even tackle a list like this? Well, I would do it one state at a time. I would either start with the ones that interest you the most to the least or just do them in alphabetical order. Or backward. There are plenty of options, but I would recommend saving this for later for easy reference. You can save the pins right under here or at the bottom of the post.

USA Reading Challenge Instagram Templates

Want to join in on this USA reading challenge? These templates will help you keep track of everything you’ve read! If you do join and share on Instagram, tag me! I love seeing everyone’s progress and book choices.

I made two to choose from with 10 book spaces on each so you can use one for all five or mix it up and use both to keep track.

• If you want to listen to some of these, consider trying Audible! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free.  Get that Audible deal here.
• If you’re on more of a budget, try Everand (formerly Scribd)! You can get 60 days free there with my link! You can read books and listen to audiobooks. It is unlimited (especially the reading) but if you listen to tons of new audiobooks you may be restricted after a few. I haven’t encountered this yet, but I do use Everand myself and like it a lot. Get 60 days free here!
• Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
• If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a good option. If you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases (especially romance), it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here!
• Get $5 off of $25 from BookOutlet! This is a great place to find new books for pretty cheap. They also have sales quite a bit, so keep an eye out for those. I tend to check here for books I want if they’re more expensive other places. They don’t have everything but they do have a lot. Shop BookOutlet here!
• Thrift Books has become my go-to when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
• Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here.

USA Reading Challenge

My USA reading challenge is one that I really want to do. It’s a fun way to “see” the US from the comfort of your home. It would be particularly fun to work on while you’re traveling, reading the book for whatever state you’re in! I just like to do that anyway.

This can be done at any time, for however long you want. There is no time limit and you can start it any time of year you want, it doesn’t have to be in January.

And don’t feel like you have to only choose books I’ve included on this list. I just wanted to give suggestions to make it a little easier and help you out for some of the states that can be harder to find books for.

Alabama – Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

• Rebel Belle
• Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistlestop Cafe
• Crazy in Alabama
• Transcendent Kingdom

Alaska – The Sun is A Compass

• Tip of the Iceberg
• Tourist Attraction
• The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska’s Arctic Wilderness
• I Know You Remember

Arizona – The Music of What Happens

• 24 Hours in Nowhere
• In the Heart of the Canyon
• Telephone

Arkansas – Cottonmouths

• The League for the Suppression of Celery
• The Bird Eater
• The Boatman’s Daughter

California – Clover Blue

• Missing, Presumed Dead
• The Joy Luck Club
• Post Office
• The Girl with Ghost Eyes
• Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
• Internment
• Music from Another World
• Full Disclosure

Colorado – Columbine

• The Hour I First Believed
• The Magic of Ordinary Days
• All the Crooked Saints

Connecticut – Silver Lake

• Before I Fall
• The Ice Storm
• Since You’ve Been Gone
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Delaware – The Book of Unknown Americans

• Sunburn
• I Will Always Find You

Florida – The Orchid Thief

• My Lovely Wife
• Swamplandia!
• Florida
• Don’t Date Rosa Santos
• Lobizona

Georgia – Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

• Hex Hall
• Cold Sassy Tree
• Late to the Party
• The Downstairs Girl
• Breathless

Hawaii – Molokai

• Taylor Before and After
• Bird of Another Heaven
• Unfamiliar Fishes

Idaho – Educated

• Baptism for the Dead
• The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon
• Diary of a Haunting

Illinois – I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

• The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
• Ghost Boys
• Love, Hate & Other Filters
• The Beauty of Your Face
• The Nix
• We Speak in Storms

Indiana – You Should See Me in a Crown

• Our Wayward Fate
• We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
• The Circus in Winter
• Now Entering Addamsville

Iowa – A Thousand Acres

• Missing Pieces
• What We Saw

Kansas – Letters Never Sent

• The Great Unknowable End
• Moon Over Manifest
• The Virgin of Small Plains
• The Persian Pickle Club
• The Deepest Roots
• The Babysitters Coven

Kentucky – Come and Go, Molly Snow

• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
• Three Ways to Disappear
• The Bourbon Thief

Louisiana – Beware the Wild

• Orleans
• The Book of Lost Friends
• Rebel Girls
• Dead Girls Society

Maine – Orphan Train

• Delirium
• Evvie Drake Starts Over
• Sweet Salt Air
• Miss Portland
• The Second Mother
• The Last True Poets of the Sea

Maryland – Bewitching Hannah

• Kindred
• Digging to America
• Wilde Lake

Massachusetts – How to Hang A Witch

• The Lace Reader
• The Physick Book of Deliverance
• The Perfect Couple
• Things You Save in a Fire
• Seaview Road
• We Were Liars
• We Were Promised Spotlights

Michigan – American Street

• Stealing Buddha’s Dinner
• The Mason House
• The Feast of Love
• The Marsh King’s Daughter
• Hello Girls

Minnesota – We Contain Multitudes

• Riding with Brighton
• The Last Shadow Warrior
• This Town Sleeps
• Ordinary Grace
• The Lager Queen of Minnesota
• Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words

Mississippi – The Gone Dead

• Sing, Unburied, Sing
• Desperation Road
• Pale
• Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

Missouri – The Empire Rolls

• Beyond the Attic Door
• Elly in Bloom
• The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak
• The Borrower

Montana – Missoula

• Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post
• A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
• Blind Your Ponies

Nebraska – There’s Someone Inside Your House

• A White Bird Flying
• Anatomy of a Misfit
• The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Nevada – Harley in the Sky

• The Distant Dead
• Lords of St. Thomas
• Battleborn
• Welcome to the Slipstream

New Hampshire – The Secret History

• Wintergirls (TW: eating disorders)
• Behind the Red Door
• A Separate Peace
• Asylum

New Jersey – All Boys Aren’t Blue

• The Light Years
• Luster
• The Mall
• Chelsea Avenue

New Mexico – Paperweight

• The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing
• Hearts of the Missing
• American Elsewhere

New York – The Thirty Names of Night

• The Sundown Motel
• Clap When You Land
• Felix Ever After
• An Unwanted Guest
• Let Me Hear a Rhyme
• The City We Became
• The Stars Beneath Our Feet

North Carolina – I Wish You All the Best

• All the Missing Girls
• The Edge of Anything
• In West Mills
• The Woods are Always Watching
• No One Is Coming to Save Us
• The Weight of This World

North Dakota – The Master Butchers Singing Club

• Downtown Owl
• Burger Clown

Ohio – Other Words for Home

• Ohio
• Egg Drop Dead
• No One Can Pronounce My Name
• Betty

Find more amazing Ohio books here.

Oklahoma – Kind of Kin

• The Long and Faraway Gone
• To Hear the Ocean Sigh
• Into Captivity They Will Go

Oregon – Piecing Me Together

• The Wicked Deep
• Wildwood
• The Jump-Off Creek
• Listening for Coyote: A Walk Across Oregon’s Wilderness

Pennsylvania – With the Fire on High

• Boy21
• Dead End in Norvelt
• They All Fall Down

Rhode Island – Providence

• Tenemental: Adventures of a Reluctant Landlady
• So Much Blue
• The Drowning Girl

South Carolina – Lying Beneath the Oaks

• An Unexpected Role
• I Been in Sorrow’s Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots
• Some Sing, Some Cry

South Dakota – The Work of Wolves

• In Calamity’s Wake
• Betrayal in the Badlands
• Giants in the Earth

Tennessee – Nothing to See Here

• Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee
• A Snicker of Magic
• If You Find Me
• The Myth of Jake

Texas – This Is My America

• The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
• The Gravity of Us
• Bleeding Violet
• Orpheus Girl
• The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
• Barely Missing Everything
• Tigers, Not Daughters

Utah – Autoboyography

• Byuck
• The Desert Sky Before Us
• A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention
• Junction, Utah

Vermont – All the Best People

• Before and Again
• Sanctuary paula mendoza
• Truly Devious

Virginia – Miracle Creek

• Good Girls Lie
• Bridge to Terabithia
• The Water Dancer
• How to Build a Heart

Washington – The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

• Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
• Girl, Unframed
• Dead Girls Don’t Lie
• The Orchardist
• My Name Is Venus Black
• The Highest Tide

West Virginia – Almost Heaven

• The Unquiet Earth
• Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place
• The Truth According to Us

Wisconsin – Amina’s Voice

• The Art of Fielding
• Driftless
• Shotgun Lovesongs

Wyoming – Skies Like These

• The Laramie Project
• Bad Dirt
• You Shouldn’t Have Come Here

It feels like it’s been weeks that I’ve been working on this (over a year on and off) but really hasn’t taken all that long. A few days at least. But it’s finally done and I’m so excited to do this myself next year and to share it with all of you!

I hope you’ll join me on this 50 states reading challenge. Make sure to comment and let me know if you join me or share it in my Facebook book club group! You can join that here. And don’t forget to leave any suggestions for books to add below, especially from diverse and local authors!

Is there anything you would add to this? Or take off? Are you going to join me in the 50 states reading challenge!?