May 2021 List of the Month: Must-Read Maine

A little late (busy treasure hunting), but I'm spreading the word about our May list of the month. In honor of LibraryThing's home base, this list is focused on Maine. Add your top 5 books set in Maine or by Maine authors to the list. Please only add five and please only thumb down if there is not a Maine connection.

What makes a good Maine book? Why are so many books set here? Tell us what you think here.

Has the "you can't thumb down if you've already added your limit" bug from last month been fixed?

I don't know that I've ever read a book set in, or about, Maine! Though I probably have and just didn't realize it. Same with authors - I don't necessarily know where an author is from.

Maine - I don't know if I'm typical as a non-American, but it doesn't immediately speak to my imagination. I believe I rarely know what states American authors are from, unless they're really vocal about it.

Perhaps you should share some fun facts to spark our imagination?

I wonder how long it will take for this list to be overrun by Stephen King and his prolific offspring? :-)

I have restrained myself, only adding The Fireman to the list, written by Joe Hill and actually set in Maine.

>4 igorken: I'm sure Meg will have more insight as an actual Maine-iac, but here are some quick facts about Maine to get you started: https://thefactfile.org/maine-facts/

As someone from the American Midwest, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear "Maine" is lobster. Lots of lobster fisheries along the Maine coastline with the Atlantic Ocean.

>5 rosalita: overrun by Stephen King

That was my initial thought too, seeing how his books took up about 60% of the two bookcases allotted to "horror" in a chain bookstore when I visited recently. He seems mighty conspicuous as a Maine author.

>7 paradoxosalpha: At least so far, our fears are unfounded. There's a nice mix of authors and genres on the list currently

Although I’ve read enough Stephen King books set in Maine to have my 5 be all King, but I limited myself to one S King. I wanted one I had tagged Maine, which meant the setting was important. If I was allowed six, I would have added Joe King’s The Fireman.

The only book I've knowingly read that's set in Maine is M*A*S*H Goes To Maine. Nowadays it's very politically incorrect so it probably ought not to go on any list...

>3 lilithcat: Agreed, although I know of three or four. This list might be helpful in case you want to add to the list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Writers_from_Maine

E.B. White describes coming into Maine so beautifully: "What happens to me when I cross the Piscataqua and plunge rapidly into Maine at a cost of seventy-five cents in tolls? I cannot describe it. I do not ordinarily spy a partridge in a pear tree, or three French hens, but I do have the sensation of having received a gift from a true love. And when, five hours later, I dip down across the Narramissic and look back at the tiny town of Orland, the white spire of its church against the pale-red sky stirs me in a way that Chartres could never do. It was the Narramissic that once received as fine a lyrical tribute as was ever paid to a river—a line in a poem by a schoolboy, who wrote of it, ‘It flows through Orland every day.’ I never cross that mild stream without thinking of his testimonial to the constancy, the dependability of small, familiar rivers." (From "Home-Coming" in Essays of E.B. White

I think setting is a big part of what draws writers to write about Maine. Maine is mountains and oceans, hardscrabble and fantastic, rivers and pines. It feels like there are still undiscovered places here, but we also have a pretty great small city in Portland.

>11 anglemark:

Thanks for the list. I haven't heard of most of them, and know Jennifer Finney Boylan from her newspaper columns, rather than books.

Didn't know that Scott Nearing was from Maine, I never really thought about his origins. I do have a couple of his books, one of which was given by my great-aunt to her husband. It contains this rather unromantic inscription: " A token of sweet remembrance to my beloved husband . . . To one who has a clear understanding of economics".

>12 megbmore: >6 rosalita: Thanks. Had a look on Google and it does look lovely. Maybe one day a hiking trip with lobster rolls and some fun campsite reading :)

We were able to visit Portland and Bar Harbor. Beautiful.

The Most Photographed Lighthouse in the world.

I appreciate the (for me) randomly particular theme to this month's list. An opportunity to delve into an area of literature I don't have a particular attachment to.

Oooh, good topic for a list. Glad to see that someone's already added some Carolyn Chute titles: a Maine author who writes about working class people.

Sorry, I am indeed only aware of Mr. King being an author from Maine. I am curious about what more knowledgeable folks will be adding though.