Reading Around the USA - Bahzah's Journey

46 states +DC completed

Alabama: A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
Alaska: A Wilderness Calling by Kenneth Santiago
Arizona: These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Arkansas:
California: Cannery Row and The Wayward Bus both by John Steinbeck
Colorado: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Connecticut: Arsenic Under the Elms by Virginia McConnell
Delaware:
District of Columbia: The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller
Florida: Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall and the Groveland Boys by Gilbert King
Georgia: Auraria by Tim Westover

Hawaii: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Idaho: Bitterbrush Country by Diane J Peavey
Illinois: The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson
Indiana:
Iowa: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Kansas: Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
Kentucky: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir by JD Vance
Louisiana: 1 Dead in Attic; After Katrina by Chris Rose
Maine: A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard by Laurel Thacher Ulrich
Maryland: A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Massachusetts: American Jezebel by Eve LaPlante
Michigan: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Minnesota: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull *and* Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye
Mississippi: Light in August by William Faulkner
Missouri: When The Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman
-also- The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
Montana: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Nebraska: The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
Nevada:
New Hampshire: The Hidden Life of Deer by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
New Jersey: Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

New Mexico: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
New York: New York: Life in the Big City by Will Eisner
North Carolina: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
North Dakota: Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Ohio: Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance
Oklahoma: The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown
Oregon: The Shack by William Young
Pennsylvania: Crisis In Bethlehem by John Strohmeyer
Rhode Island: The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
South Carolina: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

South Dakota: Leaning into the Wind by Linda Hasselstrom
Tennessee: Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Texas: The Color of Lightning : a novel by Paulette Jiles
Utah: Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
Vermont: South of the Northeast Kingdom by David Mamet
Virginia: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Washington: In Earshot of Water by Paul Lindholdt
West Virginia: Follow the River by James Alexander
Wisconsin: An Echo Through the Snow by Andrea Thalasinos
Wyoming: The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton

Shame you didn't start on your travels with a good one. But looking on the bright side, things can only get better or so they tell me. Welcome to the group and hope you have more luck with your next destination.

Thanks for the encouragement, Wolfy. You're right... things can only get better from here. I don't give up easily. Just hit a bump in the road. Onward.

OH! I love the map... saw this on your "Fifty States"...thanks AHS-Wolfy!

Maine: A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard by Laurel Thatcher
Great non-fiction book encompassing medicine, politics, family relationships, hardships of everyday life and the role of women in a Maine community of late 18th & early 19th centuries. Insightful historical analysis - very readable - placing Martha's diary entries in the context of her time. I could read this book a couple more times... there is a lot of info here.

Arizona: These is My Words by Nancy Turner
This book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Diary format of gutsy pioneer woman... felt very real. What sacrifices were made to settle our country! No matter how many books I read about it, I am always amazed. Simple words, powerful feelings, raw emotion, wonderful reading.

I've been neglecting this group for a while and missed your thread. A belated welcome to the group. It sounds like things have gotten better after your slow start. I've got the Turner book on my wishlist, and am always happy to see another positive response to it. Good luck with the rest of your challenge!

>10 sjmccreary: Thanks for the welcome, Sandy(?) My choices are getting much better... having more fun. I'm a slow reader so this challenge will take me awhile. I see you live in Kansas City. Would that be the one in MO? Anything you could recommend that I MUST read about your state?

Pennsylvania: Crisis in Bethlehem by John Strohmeyer
The Bethlehem Steel Co's rise and fall is carefully analyzed and highlights corporate/union behavior so common in the 1960s and '70s. Interesting, believable and upsetting... this book explains a lot that helps me understand my own experiences in corporate America.

I'm actually glad I read this. Wasn't sure I would like it or that the steel industry would interest me. Turned out to be an important read for me. Recommended to me by another LTer... Linda (Whisper1). Thanks, Linda!

#11 A must-read for Missouri? I think I saw you post on Donna's 75-books thread that you'd chosen Moonflower Vine. That is an excellent choice, and one of 2 that I would suggest. The other is Winter's Bone. They made a movie from that one that is currently in theaters (only in the art-film houses here, though). It is a darker story - dealing with drug abuse and poverty in the Ozark mountain region. But the writing is excellent.

BTW, I'm impressed by your question of WHICH Kansas City I live in. Lots of folks don't realize that there are 2, and many don't know that the "real" one - that is, the big city with Chiefs football and Royals baseball - is in Missouri and not in Kansas. We get visiting dignitaries all the time who insist that they are "glad to be here in Kansas". I'm originally from Kansas, but have lived in Missouri for more than 15 years.

I did order Moonflower Vine since it kept popping up everywhere and will read it for this challenge. But I like to ask people who live in a state what they recommend - especially people who are readers. There might be a book I would not normally hear about - but would be a really great read. I will investigate your suggestion. Thanks much!

Colorado: Plainsong by Kent Haruf

For the first hundred pages or so I wondered what the point was to this book. Several seemingly dysfunctional characters with nothing in common - and it just wasn't going anywhere. Two little boys with separated parents (one who gave up on life, one who struggled to keep it together), a pregnant teen whose mother threw her out, a sensitive and wise single woman taking care of her senile father, two old bachelor brothers working a ranch, etc... how do you make any kind of story out of that mess?

But that mess is life in the middle lane, I guess. And little by little it started coming together in a fascinating way. Set in a rural Colorado town, the author gives us a view of how we live in unglamorous places and work together through the tough times. The treasure found in this book is the characters' daring to risk connections to each other. When the need arose, there was someone to care.

This is not a Cinderella story nor a rags to riches ending. Though the ending was not particularly happy in my view, it was hopeful. There is a hint of faith in the human condition. Well written.

After reading Kent Haruf's The Tie that Binds, also set in Colorado, I couldn't wait to read all his books. Plainsong was probably my least favorite, but I'm still glad I read it, for all the reasons you mention.

>15 mariesansone: So, Marie... would you say I should read The Tie That Binds ? Not that I have a shortage of books to read... but if it's that much better perhaps I should give it a try.

Missouri: When The Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman

I saw this was one of the group reads on LT and with encouragement from Sandy (sjmccreary) decided to take it out of the library. Wow, the library? What an idea! Why didn't I think of that?

Although the title is somewhat misleading, it is catchy afterall - probably meant to sell books, I still found the other subjects of the book interesting. This book was a good review of the War of 1812 - more detail than I ever got in my history classes. I will follow up with The Earthquake America Forgot to get more detail on the earthquakes. It still amazes me that I never heard of these terrible quakes before.

The devastation of the earth, rearrangement of geography, and personal stories of terror are mind-boggling. Dry in spots, engaging at times, and a good overall base of info on the times and the quakes.

Thanks again, Sandy, for the little nudge I needed to re-discover my public library. Now that I am retired (again) it will probably come in handy more often than I expect. I used to practically live in the library in the summers when I was a kid...bike ride across town, big old building, nice and cool, full of great reading adventure!

The Tie that Binds, yes, it's great. There are images and scenes from that book that have stayed with me for years, some brutal, but others tender.

OK... it's going on my list. Thanks!

Hi! Saw this thread from your profile page and thought, hmmmmm, that looks interesting. I'm from New Zealand and have a strange fascination with the United States, so I am going to have a look around this groups threads and see if I dare to join! Plus, my fave authors are generally from your fair land so what other excuse do I need? I loved Plainsong too, I think it was another of his that I read and wasn't really getting it when I realised it was a book of short stories! No wonder I wasn't getting any continuity!

Hi Megan, New Zealand! I'll never get there myself, but maybe you could recommend a good book about your country for me to read. Something with a strong sense of place and culture. I'll be an armchair traveler.

Good to hear from you again. This is a really slow challenge for me, but that's ok. I have been looking at other threads for ideas of good "state" choices. I also try to ask other LTers what they would recommend from their own state. I'm just gonna take my time with this one. I love filling in the map. LOL. :)

Wyoming: The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton

see review here

Great book ... great sense of place ... as well as something to think about.

That looks like an interesting one, Claudia. I just put a hold on it at the library - thanks!

Montana: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

Excellent book - and he's written others!

Small town Montana. 1909. Widower w/3 sons and a housekeeper that "Can't cook, but doesn't bite"! Schoolhouse is epicenter of story. Events ripple out from there. Wonderful story... Great read! 4.5 stars

There seem to be so many books set in Montanta- I'm still compiling my list before I start this challenge, but seem to have come across a few. What's with that place? (of course I'd love to visit but it's 12500 kms away so might have to plan that one)

I'm not sure why there are so many Montana books. I didn't think there was much up there - haven't been there myself. But I will say it seems to me that less populated places seem to attract or encourage good writing or writers. Also, there is such natural beauty - unspoiled by mankind - that it inspires an expansion of the mind and the need to express oneself.
Don't know. Good question, though.

Just googled "Coastal Maine"- WOW now that place looks amazing! I have to admit I wasnt sure exactly where Maine was....New Zealand is very small and the U.S. is very far away! I would love to travel from LA-NY along the northern borders (in summer) and maybe back again the southern way (in winter)....Im getting tips of which books to read as I go through each state!

To my shamefully neglected states thread, I have finally added New York. New York:Life in the Big City by Will Eisner. A wonderful graphic book by a talented cartoonist. Eisner explores several aspects of city life with a resident's insight. Recommended.

Think I will also look for a book about upper New York - more rural.

Claudia, you are not the only one shamefully neglecting this thread, and this group. I just came over to do a badly needed update and found you here. I hope I can keep better track next year. I thoroughly enjoyed your Maine book, which I read last year, and have Doig on my MUST read list for next year, although I don't need a Montana book for this one.

Well I guess there's a whole army of us that have neglected this thread as I have too! A great book for Arkansas (my home state)or Oklahoma (in its Indian Territory days) is True Grit, you may have seen the publicity for the Coen brothers new movie of it. It's very much like the book.

Oh! I forgot to add In Earshot of Water for Washington State! This was a great "visit" to the Columbia Plateau region. A book of essays - highly descriptive and environmentally informative. Loved this book. :)

“South of my family’s acreage, among roots of alders and poplars and willows, Walter Creek is sourcing still, the liquid surfacing invisible at first, at last a legible trickle inches deep and one foot wide. The water purls. It sends up notes like early music. It quickens the willows and grass. You are within earshot of water.”

Just added New Mexico Death Comes for the Archbishop lovely descriptions of the west before it became "civilized" or "uncivilized" , however you look a it. Anyway, good book to get a feel for the land and some of its history.

Also, forgot to add Vermont when I read Vermont Tradition: Biography of an Outlook on Life by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Excellent book on Vermont's history from the beginning. Includes lots of insights and history I never knew - even being a New Englander myself.

Louisiana: New Orleans region & Hurricane Katrina

1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose
Feels like the real thing instead of all the irritating news coverage following the disaster.
See review.
Recommended 4.25 stars

California: Two classics by John Steinbeck

Both 4.5 stars!

Cannery Row
The Wayward Bus

Both excellent reads with a real attention to detail of time and place.

deleted double post

Hmmmm.... I keep forgetting about this thread...
I read A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (2.5 stars)
Alabama!
This book was not particularly to my taste with its sweet view of Southern warmth and hospitality.... just a little too sweet :} A nice description of the countryside and lifestyle though.

Just finished The Hidden Life of Deer by Eliz Thomas and felt immersed in the woods of New Hampshire. 4 stars

Slowly but surely getting more states covered :-)
North Dakota:
Just finished Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. 5 stars!
Loved this book and will be reading more of hers...

Hi Cee, I hadnt realised you were active on this group too! I am a newbie here, but have enjoyed slotting in my books to the various states.
:)

Hi Megan -
Active is a strong word for my thread here... but I am trying.
Sometimes I read a book about a state I have not colored in because I forget about this.

I'm impressed that you are doing this too! Makes me think I should do this for countries as well as states - but I only have so much ambition. I'll have to find your thread to see how it's going ;-)

Kansas:
Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell 5 stars!

What a great story of the American West and particularly Dodge City (post Civil War) in Kansas.

I am not a big fan of westerns - but this was exceptional!

Virginia:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard 5 stars

Another excellent book... filled with observations of the beauty and terror of Nature. Mystical and thoughtful.

Maryland:
A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler 4.4 stars

My first book by her, but not my last! I was disenchanted with the main character for awhile - which I guess I was meant to be - and actually grew to like him a lot by the end of the book. There were many meaningful reflections on relationships: parent/child, marriage, family, friends. A young man of 30 looks for his "angel" (family tradition) to turn his miserable life around and slowly begins to realize what is really important. Good story.

Utah:
Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams 5 stars

Great sense of place - the Great Salt Lake, the desert, lifestyles

This is one of my favorite books now. Excellent display of moral issues and the struggles of families, cities, and cultures concerning life and death.
Highly recommended.

Oklahoma:

The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown 3.2 stars
A light read - predictable - good, clean story - somewhat humorous - wrapped up very nicely in the end ...
I gave the .2 stars for the humor that sometimes hit my funny bone and sometimes not. Being a serious-minded person and a realist, I do think this book was way too happy! A good fun break from my normal reading choices.