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.

We are big fans of VR! Starting this year we have several VR/AR kits we are loaning to our school libraries, complete with lesson plans they can use to connect classes with all kinds of great resources.

Sure, it’s fun to play with these. But virtual and augmented reality is playing an increasingly important role in a lot of other areas. We are going to look at a different use each week, so you can work with your community members to help them learn about the great things possible for them today, and tomorrow.

I’ve never been to the Louvre, and never seen the Mona Lisa in person. And even if you have, the crowds are so huge people get about 30 seconds in front of the painting.

But, we are living in the future!

You don’t need to be in Paris to enjoy this cultural treasure of the world – you just need some VR goggles!

(Conveniently: we have them to loan!)

The Louvre has worked with tech companies to make a video to give some perspective on making the Mona Lisa video:

You can read more details in this article: The ‘Mona Lisa’ Experience: How the Louvre’s First-Ever VR Project, a 7-Minute Immersive da Vinci Odyssey

We are working on getting this video, and many other VR experiences, to share with our CMLE community.

There are so many great things out there to explore – let’s keep finding all the great images and ideas to share!!

You probably know that we run a couple of podcasts here:

• Linking Our Libraries: talking about library skills each week
• Reading With Libraries: podcast book group, with new genres, books, and beverages each week

So, yeah – we are big fans of podcasts! They can be such a good way to share ideas with your community.

Each week we share a podcast about books and/or libraries, so you can join us in expanding podcast community and admiring the work others are doing to share cool info!

This week we are admiring the podcast Reading Glasses! I regularly listen to this one, and it’s fun! Check out their Twitter account: @ReadingGPodcast

From their website:

“Do you love books? Want to learn how to make the most of your reading life? Join hosts Brea Grant and Mallory O’Meara every week as they discuss tips and tricks for reading better on Reading Glasses, a podcast designed to help you get more out of your literary experiences.

As professional creatives and mega-readers, Mallory and Brea are experts on integrating a love of reading into a busy lifestyle. Listeners will get help for bookish problems, like how to vanquish that To-Be-Read pile and organize those bookshelves. Brea and Mallory also offer advice on reader dilemmas. How do you climb out of a reading slump? How do you support authors while still getting books on the cheap? Where do you hide the bodies of the people who won’t stop talking while you’re trying to read? No matter what you read or how you read it, Reading Glasses will help you do it better.”

Here are a few recent episodes:

• Ep 123 – Scary Books for Halloween and Clay McLeod Chapman!
• Ep 122 – Space: The Ultimate Escape and Madeleine Roux!
• Ep 121 – Punks, Goths and Russian Composers – Music Scene Books and Elizabeth Keenan
• Ep 120 – Mr. Dewey Is A Trash Baby and Library Systems with Adam Sockel
• Ep 119 – Extremely Beige – The Goodreads Rundown