Ritacate's 50 states

DiscussieFifty States Fiction (or Nonfiction) Challenge

Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.

Ritacate's 50 states

1ritacate
Bewerkt: dec 12, 2021, 3:31 am


Create Your Own Visited States Map


34/51

I like the incentive to try new authors and books through the challenges.

ALABAMA
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *2021 January

ALASKA
-Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow *2020 March

ARIZONA
- Deadly Stakes by JA Jance *2020 March

ARKANSAS
- A Haunted Love Story: The Ghosts of the Allen House by Mark Spencer

CALIFORNIA
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Husseini *2020 March

COLORADO
- The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne *2020 August

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

FLORIDA
- The Man Who Invented Florida (Randy Wayne White) - Florida Keys *before 2019
- Artifacts (Mary Ann Evans) - Florida panhandle *2020 Jan

GEORGIA
- In for a Penny by Kelsey Browning and Nancy Naigle. *2020 August

HAWAII

IDAHO

ILLINOIS
- Critical Mass by Sara Paretsky *2021 June 10

INDIANA
- The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore *2021 June 9

IOWA
- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller *2021 June

KANSAS

KENTUCKY
- Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance *2020 April

LOUISIANA
-Jolie Blon's Bounce Dave Robicheaux series (James Lee Burke)

MAINE
- Scone Cold Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett *2020 February
- One Last Lie by Paul Doiron *2021 March

MARYLAND
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler *2020 September

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA
- Holy Ghost and other Virgil Flowers books (John Sandford) *2019 fall
- Northwest Angle and other Cork O'Connor books (William Kent Krueger) *before 2019

MISSISSIPPI
- A Chain of Thunder by Jeff Shaara *2020 May

MISSOURI

MONTANA
- Montana 1948 by Larry Watson *2021 June

NEBRASKA
- My Antonia (Willa Cather)

NEVADA
-Innocent in Las Vegas by AR Winters *2021 March

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY
- Top Secret Twenty- One by Janet Evanovich *2019 October

NEW MEXICO
- The Tale Teller by Anne Hillerman *2019 August
- Sister Agatha mysteries by Aimee Thurlo. *2019

NEW YORK
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. *2020 March
- The Silent Bride by Leslie Glass. *2020 March

NORTH CAROLINA
- Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs *2020 May

NORTH DAKOTA
-Badlands by CJ Box *2021 December

OHIO
- The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo. *2020 April

OKLAHOMA
-Ghost at Work Bailey Ruth series (Carolyn Hart) *2020 February

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH CAROLINA
- Death on Demand (Carolyn Hart) *2019 fall
- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate *2020 July

SOUTH DAKOTA

TENNESSEE

TEXAS
- Big Red Tequila and other Tres Navarre books (Rick Riordan) *2019 Oct

UTAH
- Bookman Dead Style by Paige Shelton *2021 June

VERMONT
-The Invited by Jennifer McMahon *2021 June. (Not linking properly)

VIRGINIA
- Meg Langslow series (Donna Andrews) *2019 Oct -2020 Jan

WASHINGTON
*Seattle
- Until Proven Guilty by JA Jance. *2020 March
- Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. *2020 April

WASHINGTON, DC

WEST VIRGINIA
*mining area
- Redemption Mountain by Gerry FitzGerald. *2020 July

WISCONSIN

WYOMING
*Wind River Reservation and Lander
- The Eagle Catcher by Margaret Coel. *2020 April

2Willoyd
feb 17, 2020, 11:13 am

>1 ritacate:

I like the way you've managed to incorporate the map into your post (and am interested in how you progress, as I'm doing the same!). How did you work it, please?

3ritacate
feb 18, 2020, 10:29 pm

Willoyd, thank you.
1 - Click right below the map where it says "create your own visited states map." The site will open in the same window. I can't figure out how to copy and paste the address on my phone so it opens in a new window.
2 - click on the state names or directly on the map for each state "visited" in a book.
3 - once you've clicked on at least one state, a link will show up under the FB, Twitter and pinterest icons. It says "share your link" followed by an address and then says you can copy code... followed by a code in a box that you can copy.
4 - after copying the code return to the 50 states challenge page and paste it into your message. Once you post your message, it will show up as the map.

To update, so far, I have returned to the map site, created a new one and replaced the code, somewhat cumbersome. I see that the code includes the two letter state codes in two places. When I have a new state I am going to try just adding the two letter code in alphabetical order in those two locations. It *should* work and would be quicker.

Good luck and enjoy playing with it.

4Willoyd
feb 19, 2020, 6:07 am

Thank you - that worked really well!

5ritacate
feb 19, 2020, 3:40 pm

>4 Willoyd: Willoyd 👍

6ritacate
apr 16, 2020, 10:50 am

In my rush and excitement to get started I didn't think to put any sort of intro or my approach to this. I've gone back about four months before I started this challenge, but not longer since I would like the challenge of new books and new authors. I also will list only books that give you a feel for the place, some of the natural setting, city life, culture, e.t.c. I will not include books that could as easily be set in Any City, Any State, USA.

Now that I'm a few months in, I will also try to include a brief review for books because I really enjoy others' reviews for finding new books to read.

7ritacate
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2020, 11:13 am

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

Set in Seattle, WA

Our library reading programs always include activities to stretch beyond our norm. The current program included reading a humor book.

Today Will Be Different details a single day in the life of Eleanor. She vows in the morning to be a better person that day, from looking into people's eyes as she talks to not swearing to playing a board game with her son to initiating sex with her husband. It goes beautifully until midway through breakfast with her own personal poet.

As the day takes its own turns and twists we are privy to not only Eleanor's actions, but her thoughts, memories, joys, anguish, hopes, hurts and everything in between. One day covered an amazing amount of her life as each event and thought avalanched into a million other memories and thoughts. We also get to vicariously experience those uncensored reactions that we feel guilty about in ourselves, that perfect friend who won't go away, jumping to conclusions with the barest of evidence.

This is a light, enjoyable book that can also make us take a gentle look at our own quirks and shortcomings.

8ritacate
apr 16, 2020, 11:32 am

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Set in Jackson, KY and Middletown, OH

This is a memoir and reflection by JD Vance about his childhood and the culture from which he came. Although he grew up in Ohio, he describes Middletown as being a little Kentucky, a place of hope for a better future constrained by the culture of the past. The values and family patterns of his parents' Appalachian upbringing as well as a continued closeness with family still in Kentucky greatly shaped the author and was the bulk of the setting for this book.

I very much enjoyed this book, especially for some of the insights Mr. Vance brings out. It's so easy to judge from the outside what the problems of a community are and apply our own solutions. How much better to actually get the views of people in the community. While this will yield as many points as people interviewed, it will also reveal many things an outsider might never consider.

9ritacate
Bewerkt: mei 30, 2020, 12:28 am

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo a Kate Burkholder mystery

Set in fictional Painter's Mill, in the Amish country of Ohio

This book opens with a minor crime gone horribly wrong. It was a bit more graphic than I prefer, but a standard violent crime rather than some of the truly twisted stories. We then move to the modern day and a murder that hints at the crime 35 years prior. Chief of police Kate Burkholder and her small department are kept on their toes trying to figure out what's happening and if there is a connection.

I especially enjoyed the window into Amish life in this book/ series. Chief Kate has left the Amish faith of her childhood, but is able to bring a respect and understanding that was traditionally missing between the Amish and the "Englishers," anyone not Amish.

10ritacate
mei 30, 2020, 12:12 am

Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs

I dislike the TV show Bones, but generally enjoy the books. This book disappointed me.

The main conflict involves a schismatic Christian church that is heavy on hellfire and demonic possession with an exorcist pastor and isolationist following. Though the author mentions how the Catholic church has many precautions in place to distinguish psychological issues from true instances of demonic possession and only specially trained priests, with permission from their bishops, are allowed to perform exorcisms, she then goes on to detail multiple abuses by non- Catholic exorcists. Along with the pastor being a renegade Catholic priest, this leaves the impression that all Christians are the same.

She also takes the modern approach that there is no such thing as possession, but fully accepts dissociative identity disorder without mentioning how controversial it is within the mental health field.

I felt like this book was a podium for a personal diatribe against christianity and faith in general since there was no countering representation of a strong, healthy faith.

11ritacate
Bewerkt: mei 31, 2020, 5:13 pm

A Chain of Thunder by Jeff Shaara

I chose this book because one of my great- great grandfathers was wounded at the Battle of Vicksburg and this seemed a good way to learn about that bit of history.

Mr. Shaara appears to do a great deal of research for his historical novels. The main characters included Generals Grant and Sherman for the Union and General Pemberton for the Confederacy, as well as the fictional Private Bauer serving in blue and Lucy Spence nursing the wounded soldiers in gray. Each chapter progressed from one character's view, thus building the story from both sides of the line, and officers', soldiers' and civilians' points of view.

My only disappointment was that the battle in which my grandfather was wounded was told from the private's point of view and he was in a different unit than my grandfather. 😔 Family legend says our grandfather was actually serving as Grant's bodyguard at the time he was wounded and it would have been neat to read about that battle from Grant's position!

12ritacate
Bewerkt: jul 21, 2020, 8:47 am

Redemption Mountain by Gerry FitzGerald

West Virginia

On the surface this is the story of immediate attraction between a proud hillbilly and the restless New York company man leading a big project in her town. You can easily read through the book just enjoying the story.

This book also presents deeper questions on the meaning and expectations of marriage. What is a good marriage? What if a marriage doesn't meet that definition? What are our responsibilities to our spouse, our children or a neighbor in a difficult marriage? I enjoyed this book and the reflection it inspired regarding what are the right answers and right responses.

I also liked how this book captured both beauty and poverty of West Virginia, and the character of its people, particularly the areas impacted by industrial mining.

13ritacate
Bewerkt: jul 21, 2020, 9:08 am

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

South Carolina

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is heart-wrenching, hopeful and beautiful all at the same time and extremely well written. I was both anxious to find the resolution of the story and sorry to reach the end of this book. At the same time it was fully satisfying and self-contained; I have no yearning for a sequel though I am looking for other books by this author.

The story is based in the real-life scandal of Georgia Tann who kidnapped and sold children through her position at the Tennessee Children's Home Society. Other than Ms. Tann the characters are fictional, but represent the true experiences of families impacted by her methods.

The story alternated between a poor family living on a homemade riverboat shanty in 1939 and a wealthy, powerful family of the present day. I appreciated not having to read through the laundry lists of famous designers and antiques that some authors use to indicate the wealth of their characters! 😉

14ritacate
aug 16, 2020, 8:42 pm

In for a Penny by Kelsey Browning and Nancy Naigle

Summer Shoals, Georgia

Lillian Summer Fairview is the last member of the prestigious Summer family of Summer Shoals. Her recently deceased husband, however, has left her penniless. As she struggles to keep up the family estate and have everything ready for her friend Maggie before disappearing, we learn there is a lot more going on than even Lillian realized. Maggie and two new eccentric friends in the over-50 crowd join forces to discover the truth.

This was a light and enjoyable mystery.

15ritacate
aug 18, 2020, 11:20 am

The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne

Pine Lake, Colorado

I really enjoyed this book. The elderly and eccentric Lucy has always been able to see 'loose ends' and felt the call to bring them together. In this story her newly hired care-giver, Jess, and a young runaway, Star, struggle with the pains of their pasts as Lucy gently nudges them toward resolution.

This was beautifully written and blessedly well-edited! I thoroughly enjoyed NOT having to slog through misspelled words, mixed up tenses and sentences that forgot their purpose halfway through as in another book I recently started.

I highly recommend this book for the story itself, but the proper use of the language was an added bonus for me.

16ritacate
jan 5, 2021, 11:05 pm

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Alabama

Some of the best books tend to leave me speechless. Being told through the innocence of a child's eyes brought a powerful poignancy to this story. Even worse than the attitudes of the past was the complete acceptance and normalcy of them. How do we change if we don't realize we're in the wrong?
Definitely👍👍

17Willoyd
jan 6, 2021, 5:35 pm

>16 ritacate: One of my favourite books ever. Not on my tour list simply because I've already read it (introduced to it by my son when he read it for his GCSEs - the UK exams at 16), and one of the criteria for my list is that I've haven't done so beforehand. Otherwise would be a must.

18ritacate
Bewerkt: mrt 9, 2021, 4:10 pm

Innocent in Las Vegas by AR Winters

Nevada

I am in Las Vegas helping care for my grandchildren and have a reading list of "serious" books and "higher quality" books. I wanted a quick, light read and found this as one of the free books I had downloaded. It completely met my requirements. Quick and light, no thought required.

Our main character, a Las Vegas casino card dealer, is an aspiring PI. She is just finishing her year of supervision and has been approached by an old acquaintance to look into her husband's murder. The woman is out on bail as the guilty party, but swears she did not do it. This is a simple mystery with overtones of the Stephanie Plum series in her grandmother and her good-looking security side-kick.

19ritacate
mrt 24, 2021, 1:24 am

One Last Lie by Paul Doiron

Maine

Julie_in_the _library recommended this author for his excellent portrayal of the northwoods of Maine. I worked one summer on the Canadian border of Minnesota and reading this book felt like a return to the beauty of that wilderness. I never would have guessed that the northwoods of Minnesota and Maine were so similar. A major difference is the French Acadian influence in this area of Maine. Mr. Doiron provided a good sense of this community and how the single community was split when the international border was set.

I enjoyed this mystery as light reading. I am trying to add more substance to my cotton candy reading diet, but still need regular doses of mysteries. Overall the plot was interesting, the pace was good and I was invested in the outcome. I appreciated the lack of typos (for a while it seemed every ebook I read had skipped the editing phase!) My one frustration was that the main character, Mike, developed theories out of thin air. The plot revolves around the reappearance of a warden's badge from the 1930s and the disappearance of an undercover warden in the early 2000s. Mike assumes the badge has made his mentor review the disappearance even though we've been given no connection between the two situations and Mike himself has wondered what connection there may be. In another instance, based on a coy photo of a woman, he assumes she is sleeping with someone and that is what led to future events. Again, it could be, but it's a major leap of an assumption and we were not given any other info that would suggest that.

I was all excited to check Maine off my list, only to realize after reading this that I already had a Maine book. This was better than the other one. I would enjoy trying another book by this author.

20ritacate
Bewerkt: jun 6, 2021, 12:09 am

The Invited by Jennifer Mahon

Vermont

This is not my usual genre, but I really enjoyed the book. I like that I questioned right to the end what was going to happen. There were multiple plausible directions the story could go. It's confusing to listen to two of her books at the same time though, one with my husband and one alone!
Thank you to Julie_in_the_library for your review of The Winter People, which I'm listening to with my husband. That encouraged me to read this author. The suspense is great.

21Tess_W
jun 13, 2021, 2:22 am

>20 ritacate: Sounds like a good read. I will take that as a BB!

22ritacate
jun 20, 2021, 5:48 pm

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

Surprisingly, Montana!

This book revolves around a specific event in the main character's childhood. I felt it had well-drawn characters with an array of realistic personalities and responses. It also seemed a better balanced representation of small town USA than Winesburg, OH, which I just finished. I really enjoyed this book. I always have a harder time reviewing the books I like than the ones I don't.

23ritacate
Bewerkt: jun 20, 2021, 8:08 pm

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert John Waller

Iowa, Winterset



I remember when this came out I had no interest in reading it. I thought it was a novel of small town intrigue, gossip, politics and affairs. I now have a nephew and his family living in Madison County, Iowa, and have learned that the bridges of the title are indeed the covered bridges of that county, not the ruling family I thought it referred to. With this newfound knowledge and connection this seemed a perfect book to read for Iowa.

For those who liked the book, no need to read further. I like a good love story, I believe in love at first sight, but that 'in love' of first sight also needs development to become actual love. This theme has come up repeatedly in my last week from church to my book club discussion of Crime and Punishment to this book. You can be enamored with, like the idea of, desire, something that looks good, but love requires actually knowing the other. Without knowing the other you are only in love with the idea of love.

Based on an afternoon of watching a photographer at work, Francesca drove far from her small town to buy a new (sexy) dress, wine and brandy, hoping to share them with this man the next day. Francesca's husband, and indeed all the men of the county, are brushed off with a broad stroke of stereotype: boring farmers, stuck in their ways. Francesca immediately starts lying even for simple things like pretending she doesn't know the stranger was a photographer. He is appealing because he is exotic. Robert also realizes his attraction and tells himself to leave her alone because she is married, yet moves forward with her anyway. They both clearly see the pitfall and blithely race forward with no concern for her husband.

In one way this is fine and can begin a good story, but I got tired of them being portrayed so sympathetically while her family were a mere footnote. We're supposed to swoon in the glory of their true love and not worry about the betrayed husband. I don't think I got beyond her phone call with the neighbor, small town stereotypes, boo, hiss. The artsy stranger who wears sandals, yay! This is not the basis of love.

Couldn't finish, apologies to my nephew and his family who live there.

24Willoyd
jun 21, 2021, 6:07 pm

>23 ritacate:
This was my book for Iowa too. It's a while since I read it, but think I was a bit more positive about it than you. However, if you're still looking for an Iowa book to complete, I'd suggest taking a look (if you haven't already) at Jane Smiley's 'Thousand Acres', a midwest take on King Lear! I'd already read it, so by my rules, it couldn't count, but IMO an excellent representative for the state on this sort of list.

25ritacate
jun 22, 2021, 2:43 pm

>24 Willoyd: thank you. I just came back today to look for Iowa suggestions. Yay! This is at my library!

26Tess_W
jun 22, 2021, 10:29 pm

>23 ritacate: Sorry you didn't care for this book. I know it has some "incorrect" notions as far as what love is and personal integrity; but I have read it twice and it brings tears to my eyes every single time.

>24 Willoyd: I'm going to take that as a BB for Iowa!

27ritacate
Bewerkt: sep 19, 2021, 11:39 am

A Haunted Love Story: The Ghosts of the Allen House by Mark Spencer

Arkansas - non-fiction

Very interesting. I enjoyed the overlap of history and the investigations. I wonder, however, about the ghosts' continuing presence. Across history, cultures and belief systems, the soul is meant to move on after the death of this earthly body. My curiosity is why there appears to be a whole family remaining and, if true, how healthy that is for them.

28ritacate
dec 12, 2021, 9:50 am

Badlands by CJ Box

North Dakota

I'm not sure how I discovered this author recently, but I've very much enjoyed his books.

This novel, number three in a series, features Cassie Dewell, the new chief investigator for the sheriff's department in Grimstad, North Dakota. Along with the oil boom and newfound wealth, drug lords have come to town. It's a good story, well written with three dimensional characters.

I enjoyed the sense of place in this book. I live in a simular climate and the author really caught the cold of winter, especially as seen through the eyes of newcomers. I also enjoyed the descriptions of places I've been and could see in my mind.

Aansluiten om berichten te kunnen plaatsen