Join the 50 States Reading Challenge and read books set in each United State of America. It’s the perfect reading challenge idea for avid readers looking to expand their horizons and track the states about which they read at the same time.
Get specific book recommendations for each state (as I am almost done with my own U.S.A. reading challenge), and download a free printable PDF to track your reading!
Note: This is the type of challenge that you can easily do concurrently with another one. For example, I am hosting a Reading Challenge for the Rory Gilmore book list, in which you can participate! And I also have an Around the World Reading Challenge and share POPSUGAR reading challenge book recommendations.
Why You Should Take the 50 States Reading Challenge
Reading books set in a variety of states expands your point of view, knowledge, and empathy. You can walk a mile in someone else’s shoes somewhere else all within the pages of a book. It can also provide a great escape or teach you about a place you are visiting.
Printable PDF Tracker
If you’re ready to get started, simply download, print, and fill in the free reading tracker below with the books you read set in each state in America. Take this challenge on your own and at your own pace.
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50 States Reading Challenge Recommendations
Based on my own experience taking the 50 States Reading Challenge, below is a list of each state and the top book I recommend for each state in the challenge. I tried to select books that really say something about life or history in that particular location so that you have at least one great option to read for each state.
Alabama: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Alaska: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Arizona: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
California: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Colorado: Foreign Faction by A. James Kolar
Connecticut: The Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann M. Martin
Delaware: Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden
Florida: The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleton
Georgia: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Hawaii: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Idaho: Educated by Tara Westover
Illinois: Becoming by Michelle Obama
Indiana: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Iowa: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
Kansas: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Kentucky: The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
Louisiana: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Maine: Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Maryland: Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Massachusetts: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Michigan: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Minnesota: This Tender Land by William Krueger Kent
Mississippi: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Missouri: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Montana: Lone Women by Victor Lavalle
Nebraska: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Nevada: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
New Hampshire: A Separate Peace by John Knowles
New Jersey: Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
New Mexico: Meet Josefina: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp
New York: The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
North Carolina: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
North Dakota: Peace Like A River by Leif Enger
Ohio: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Oklahoma: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Oregon: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Pennsylvania: Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Rhode Island: A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
South Carolina: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
South Dakota: Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Tennessee: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Texas: Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Utah: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Vermont: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Virginia: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Washington: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
West Virginia: The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald M. Stern
Wisconsin: Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wyoming: Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Conclusion
This 50 States Reading Challenge helps you expand your horizons and track the countries about which you read at the same time. Use the free printable PDF to track your books as you walk a literary mile in someone else’s shoes.
Check out more Reading Challenges next.
Each state has a “Center for the Book” This might fill in some of the holes you have for suggesting books about the states that you don’t have titles for.