Reading about New Jersey

To get this one started, here are a couple New Jersey ideas:

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

You're already reading a McPhee for Alaska, so you may want to chose a different author... but, he is from Princeton NJ (and teaches there still, I think). His books on New Jersey include:
the Pine Barrens
A Sense of Where You Are; a profile of William Warren Bradley

And at least one his geology books has a lot on, or near New Jersey. I just can remember which one. It might be Basin and Range, but it might also be In Suspect Terrain or maybe another. If anyone asks, I'll check.

edited to fix touchstones

Another good one: The Meadowlands : wilderness adventures at the edge of a city by Robert Sullivan.

Janet Evanovich's mystery/chick lit Stephanie Plum series takes place in NJ.

Fiction: Garden State by Rick Moody is set in New Jersey.

You should also check out Weird NJ!

Independence Day by Richard Ford is set in New Jersey with a few ventures to other north eastern states. The narrator being a real estate agent, he remarks on the houses and landscape a lot. The author being a good one, the remarks are good. So it gives you a really nice picture of New Jersey in the summer. Also, New jersey aside, it's a great book.

The Rule of Four is set in New Jersey. Here's the rest of the list I came up with...

http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2012/08/reading-states-new-jersey.html