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March 2 is Read Across America Day! You're never too old to pick up a great book and get lost in a story.

And we decided to take it really literally this year: We put together a list of 51 books, one for each state in the United States and the District of Columbia. In each book, the action primarily takes place in the state it was chosen for, and we've blended each state's classics with some outside-the-box choices.

Have more suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas





Alabama - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Alaska - The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Arizona - Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko

Arkansas - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware



California - Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Colorado - The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Connecticut - The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Delaware - The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii



District of Columbia - All the Houses by Karen Olsson

Florida - Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Georgia - The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Hawaii - The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa



Idaho - All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki

Illinois - The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Indiana - God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut

Iowa - The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine



Kansas - Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Kentucky - The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Louisiana - Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Maine - Under the Dome by Stephen King

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota



Maryland - Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Massachusetts - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Michigan - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Minnesota - In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska







Mississippi - Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Missouri - Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

Montana - Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson

Nebraska - O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico







Nevada - Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

New Hampshire - The World According to Garp by John Irving

New Jersey - Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories by Philip Roth

New Mexico - Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

















New York - The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud

North Carolina - Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

North Dakota - The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

Ohio - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

























Oklahoma - Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

Oregon - The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

Pennsylvania - When the English Fall by David Williams

Rhode Island - Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas



























South Carolina - Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

South Dakota - In Calamity's Wake by Natalee Caple

Tennessee - Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

Texas - Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington













Utah - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Vermont - Radio Free Vermont by Bill Mckibben

Virginia - The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Washington - Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming











West Virginia - John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead

Wisconsin - Dead Loudmouth by Victoria Houston

Wyoming - Open Season by C.J. Box

Book descriptions taken from NYPL catalog.

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