Chat

And we can chit-chat here!

I'm really looking forward to this. I have my two Alabama books picked out and will start considering books for Alaska. I'm not going to be picky about the genre for fiction as long as it is set in the state and gives me the "flavor" of the area. With non-fiction, I'd like it to be something about the state - history, a major company, a memoir, a tourist attraction, wonders of nature, etc. For instance, a book about Hershey for Pennsylvania or about redwoods in California.

I love the idea of this group and what you are personally doing. Are you planning on reading works about each state in alphabetical oder?

I really love the idea of this group! My personal passion (and my MA thesis focus) is Laura Ingalls Wilder - we did the South Dakota Little House trail on our honeymoon, and hope to get to the other sites on future trips across the Atlantic - but I've read a lot of American literature for pleasure or study, and look forward to finding out about states I haven't encountered before. (What's in Utah apart from the LDS, for instance? Are there any good LDS novels?)

Yep! I'm so obsessive. I saw someone who is doing this for every country in the world! I thought that was a bit much for me, but I could certainly do the states.

For those who like comtemporary romance as done by Harlequin: In the mid-1990s, Harlequin republished some of their books from the 80's as the series "Made in America" with a book set in each of the 50 states. An example is The Waiting Game set in Washington state. Of course these focus mainly on the two main characters and less on the seting but a few readers might be interesting in tracking them down.

Bwhahahahaha. This is the third most posted on group in the last 48 hours.

*struts around like she's won an Oscar or something*

Third? We can do better than that.

To me, it's just such an interesting topic. It's hard not to post. :)

As I said on the New York thread, I love this idea. Well done, morphidae!

Here is a website that features each state (not to mention various cities) and the works that are set in said state:

http://www.bibliotravel.com/locale.php?locale=29

P.S. Sorry, not 100% how to do a link.

>9 HelloAnnie:

OooooOOOoooOoooh!

I see that "project" will take you forever morphidae :-)

>9 HelloAnnie: & 10

OooooOOOOooo, indeed, morphidae! That website is coooool. :)

I have to agree with the others, this is an interesting group! If for no other reason, it makes one think about "place". For me, I've been thinking about the idea of "regional" books, books that lend a specific sense of place - in this case, a state. I suppose this is what I might aspire to if I had set the same goal.

But I've discovered that no one book ever seems to really capture an entire state (based on the states I've lived in anyway). States are too diverse perhaps. And I've actually found myself trying to think of novels that represent other areas of the state beyond the most obvious, most written about parts of that state. The most common settings for Massachusetts, for example, are Boston, the Cape & the Islands. For Maine, clearly it's the coast. And so on.

Thanks for an opportunity for such interesting mental aerobics!

This is fantastic! I've never done this in any methodical sequence, but I occasionally choose vacation reading that is set in my destination (beyond just travel guides). For example, the last time I went to New York I read Ragtime and I brought The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Prague with me. I think it adds a lot to both the reading and travel experience.

Okay ... I'm cheating a bit ... any suggestions for reading on Quebec?? A friend is going to visit there and wanted to do some reading. Any thoughts?

brewergirl, since I've been reading Mavis Gallant I can wholeheartedly recommend her stories in the Linnet Muir and Carrette sisters series which, among others, take place in Montreal (although in the 1930s and 1940s). They can be found in the collection Varieties of Exile.

> 15

Maybe it's time to start a "Reading Canada" group?

>15 brewergirl:

Try Surfacing by Margaret Atwood.

Also about Montreal, some of the books by Mordechai Richler most famously The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

Okay, all!

I've gone and done it. Please visit (and join) Reading Canada!

I have, lilithcat.

This "reading (insert place here)" is a popular idea, I'm a member of the German group, and they've started a "reading German states" thread of their own!

I find that it's very important to stress that it should be carefully considered whether the book gives the flavor of that area or if it is "just" the setting.

As an example, yes, The Da Vinci Code is set in France but I wouldn't recommend it for that country. However, I WOULD recommend The Count of Monte Cristo. In Count you get a sense of "place" and of the history of the area. In Code, it is simply the setting.

This is the first group that I've joined and I really like it - I'm getting lots of ideas for future reading. And it's so nice for me because I live abroad and lots of times in my reading I just want to be home in the States.

However, I do not want to be to forward and create threads where they should not be. Is it ok to start Rhode Island, Connecticut and Hawaii?

Go for it!

Hope you are still taking suggestions for your reading list, Morphidae, as I have just added some. What a cool idea!

Here is a master list!

The Literary United States: A Map of the Best Book for Every State | Brooklyn Magazine http://ow.ly/CXFGo

Awesome! I'm adding that to my collection of lists.