I like to take road trips. And I like to read. Heck – I like to listen to books while I road trip, combining two great things together!

So this year I started on a quest to visit all 50 states. For assorted logistical reasons (ferry strike! volcanoes!), I amended the plan to driving to all lower 48 states.

And it was great!!!

There are so many amazing things to see, to do, to experience across our country!! And I was usually in a time crunch, so didn’t even do nearly as much as I would have liked.

But being in a car, with time to explore new places and to see how they resemble other places you have known, is a great way to see how huge, diverse, and amazing the country is!

While I’m not going to bore you with an extensive travelogue, I do want to share some books that may help you to do some armchair traveling of your own this winter. And if you want to do some road-tripping yourself next year, I’d love to hear about it!

I’m going to share book suggestions in the order I visited these states this year, probably four states a week. These are not The One And Only books representing a state – just something to let us read and experience being in the state.

And, as always, the links below take you to Amazon.com. If you click through a link, and buy something – anything! – Amazon gives us a small piece of the profits they make. So THANK YOU!!! We could really use your support here.

State One: Minnesota

I woke up in Minnesota on January 1, so it was the first state I “visited” this year! We have talked at length about the great books set across our state, here in our blog series We Heart MN and Read Across MN. And Minnesota books are the genre we cover for our season finale episode each season on Reading With Libraries book group podcast.

So, we’ve covered Minnesota books. A LOT. And you should go read some of them!

I’ll recommend the most recent book in a series I’ve talked about many times: Monkeewrench, by PJ Tracy. I started reading these before I ever considered moving to Minnesota, and it was definitely fun to be here while I was reading them later! Book #10 is Ice Cold Heart:

“Minneapolis detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth join Grace MacBride and Monkeewrench to uncover a dark and ugly conspiracy that reaches deep into the safety of homes in this latest electrifying thriller from New York Times best-selling author P. J. Tracy.

It’s a bitter winter in Minnesota – too cold to kill. There hasn’t been a murder for a month, but the lull quickly comes to an end for Detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth, when they’re called to the gruesome homicide of Kelly Ramage. Found in a friend’s vacant house, this was no random attack, and clues reveal that she was living a very dangerous secret life. “

State Two: North Dakota

I like North Dakota. I’ve driven through it many times, end to end, camped there, been caught in rainstorms and tornadoes, and been goggle-eyed at the amazing scenery you can find. And here I’m sharing a book that has been on my TBR list for way too long, considering how many people have told me they loved it!

The Round House, by Louise Erdrich

“One of the most revered novelists of our time—a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life—Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves with The Round House, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. It is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family.”

State Three: South Dakota

I tried to take a picture of the state sign as I rolled into each state, and you can see the picture I took in South Dakota. It was January, cold and snowy, and I completely missed this sign! So I pulled over on the highway, put on my flashers, and ran back down the highway to get this shot. Some very nice drivers apparently thought I was in trouble, and tried to stop. But I waved them on and pointed at the sign. They understood the fun of standing in a freezing field, in winter, taking pictures. (I think they understood?)

61 Hours, by Lee Child

I really like this series, about Jack Reacher traveling across the country with only his toothbrush to solve mysteries and save the day! Uncomplicated storylines, clear hero, and I’m there.

” A bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses. “

State Four: Iowa

I grew up in Illinois, so have an inborn sense of superiority to the other Midwestern “I” states. But I am always able to get over it enough to admire the lovely scenery of Iowa. And I stumbled into Sargent Floyd River Museum, honoring the only member who died on the Lewis and Clark expedition (appendicitis). I drove the Lewis and Clark Trail a few years ago, so this was a fun visit to a place I’ve seen before.

Moo, by Jane Smiley

I don’t think this explicitly says it’s set in Iowa – but it clearly is. Smiley was teaching at the University of Iowa at the time, so was pretty experience at the absurdity of academic life. I read this when it first came out, and now I need to re-read it! (I love finding past gems!)

” In this darkly satirical send-up of academia and the Midwest, we are introduced to Moo University, a distinguished institution devoted to the study of agriculture. Amid cow pastures and waving fields of grain, Moo’s campus churns with devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons, and academic one-upmanship, Chairman X of the Horticulture Department harbors a secret fantasy to kill the dean; Mrs. Walker, the provost’s right hand and campus information queen, knows where all the bodies are buried; Timothy Monahan, associate professor of English, advocates eavesdropping for his creative writing assignments; and Bob Carlson, a sophomore, feeds and maintains his only friend: a hog named Earl Butz. Wonderfully written and masterfully plotted, Moo gives us a wickedly funny slice of life. “

So that’s it for now – but we have 42 more states to admire! If you want to suggest books for future states, leave them in the comments below.