Nans returns to the US

create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

I joined the European Endless Challenge and have found that I'm not really reading books to meet that challenge at the moment. My books seem to be centered around the US. I wasn't really looking to join another challenge, but this one has been in the back of my mind. So in the end, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge, but my reading of books to fit this challenge will be done very slowly, as I get to them.

Any book that I've read in 2009 will count retroactively to this challenge. Those are: FL, KS, NY & UT

Alabama - The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips
Alaska - Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness by Robert Specht
Arizona - These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner
Arkansas - Elkhorn Tavern by Douglas C. Jones
California - Epitaph for a Peach by David M. Masumoto
The Confessions of Max Tivoli: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Colorado: The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf
The Meadow by James Galvin
Connecticut: Something Missing by Matthew Dicks
Delaware - The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani
Florida - Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen
Georgia - Fractured by Karin Slaughter

Hawaii - Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
Idaho - Blue Heaven by CJ Box
Illinois - So Long, See you Tomorrow by William Maxwell
Indiana - A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
Iowa - The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

Kansas - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Kentucky - The Kentuckians by Janice Holt Giles
A Little Better than Plumb: The Biography of a House by Janice Holt Giles & Henry Giles
Louisiana - Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Maine - The Wooden Nickel by William Carpenter
Maryland - Life Sentences by Laura Lippman

Massachusetts - Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
Michigan - Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenburg
Minnesota - Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis
Mississippi - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Missouri - The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
Montana - The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

Nebraska - The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
Nevada - Stray Dogs by John Ridley
New Hampshire - Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
New Jersey - Rococo by Adriana Trigiani
New Mexico - Surveyor by G. W. Hawkes

New York - Garlic And Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl
Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherford
North Carolina - Serena by Ron Rash
North Dakota - A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor
Ohio - Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Cincinnatus: The Secret Plot to Save America by Rusty McClure
Oklahoma: The Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan

Oregon - The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss
Pennsylvania - Fun House a Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
Rhode Island - The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
South Carolina - Sullivan's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
South Dakota - Lakota Woman by Mary Bird Dog

Tennessee - Heart in the Right Place by Carolyn Jourdan
Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins
Texas - Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles
Utah - The 19th Wife: A Novel by David Ebershoff
Vermont - We Have always lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Virginia

Washington - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet : a novel by Jamie Ford
West Virginia - The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
The Midwife's Tale by Gretchen Moran Laskas
Wisconsin - American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Wyoming - The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
Washington DC - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Welcome, nans. You may now find that all your reading takes place outside of the USA!

Welcome - what RidgewayGirl said was pretty true for me, so joining this challenge may be the boost you need for your European challenge! I also decided on These is my Words for Arizona, but had to return it to the library unread because too many requests came in at the same time.

As long as this challenge boosts my European challenge and doesn't force me to join another part of the world challenge! I also oogle the Round the World Reading Challenge, but I prefer to take baby steps first.

I too think about the Round the World Challenge board, but I feel so out of my league over there. This sounded easier, and it is, if only I could stop getting interested in books set in California!

Welcome to the challenge, and back to the US!

New Hampshire

Handle With Care
Jodi Picoult

I gave this book 3.5 stars, my typical rating for an enjoyable book that kept my interest through to the end. I've read a lot of books my Jodi Picoult that are always set in the NE of the US. This book didn't really give a sense of the place of New Hampshire - it could have been a small town anywhere. So if I run into another NH book, I might consider changing my selection, but I won't go out of my way for it.

The book itself was a typical Picoult formula book - take a controversial issue dealing with kids... create a conflict and a lawsuit and then have a twist in the last pages of the book. In this case, the child has OI, or brittle bones disease and the mother sues for Wrongful Birth, destroying a lot of personal relationships in the meantime. There is a twist at the end that had me nearly throwing the book to the otherside of the room, albeit without a lot of force as it is a Picoult book, and that is just what the author does.

But even if she agrevates me, I'll probably continue to read Picoult, because the stories are enjoyable and I usually learn something that I never knew before. Just have to take the endings with a grain of salt.

Woo hoo! I got a map posted!

Am currently reading in Botswana with the latest in the Nr. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Am not yet sure where my next novel will take me.

Washington D.C.

The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown

What I enjoy about Dan Brown's books are learning something about a subject I know nothing about. I love the symbols, the sculptures, buildings and paintings. What I do not enjoy about his books are the characters. His books follow a formula and the deviations from that formula are miniscule.

But though it is a pop book, there was a strong sense of Washington DC in it, so it appears on my list.

And I ended up giving it 3.5 stars. The beginning 15 pages dragged and took me 3 days to get into. But then it took off and I was engrossed until the last 100 pages that I fought through. But it gets a high rating for the symbols and for the twist at the end with the villan that I didn't see coming.

Georgia

Fractured
Karin Slaughter

This is the 8th Karin Slaughter book I've read. Most take place in a rural, Georgian setting, Grant County, and her newer series (which includes Fractured) takes place in Atlanta. I didn't feel that Fractured had as strong a GA connection as some of her books in the past, but will include it since past books have.

I really really enjoyed this book. I was leary to pick up another Karin Slaughter book as the last one I read, Skin Privilege left me frustrated. But I have read so many books from her series that I decided to give it another chance. And I'm so glad that I did.

With crime novels, I love when the detectives themselves are developed and you catch a glimpse of them and their lives and personalities. Usually their lives tend to be dark and twisted. I like her detective in this book, Will Trent, and am curious to see how he fares in future novels.

I'm now off to request her newest novel, Undone which apparantly links characters from these 2 series.

Wisconsin

American Wife
Curtis Sittenfeld

Very much enjoyed this book and its fictionalized version of Laura Bush's life. Am off to google to see if I can find out just how much is fiction, and how much is based on truth.

Am undecided on where my next book will take me. I have so many to chose from, but if I just go by what is due next at the library, I have Snow or The Women's Room.

Arizona

These is my Words
Nancy E. Turner

I've been sick for nearly week. Good for my reading, bad for work. This book was the perfect book to read while confined to the sofa. It was light, even though a lot of heavy things happened to the family. I highly recommend this book!

It is told in diary entries, the story of Sarah, a girl of 17 who is traveling around the Arizona Territories with her parents and siblings, looking for a place to settle. And the story continues until this girl has a family of her own. Sarah is such a strong girl with a good sense of humor.

When I was younger, I read a lot of these pioneer type books. I'm not sure if I enjoyed this book so much more than my memory of the others just because so much time has passed, or if it really is such an exceptional book.

nans/13 - I LOVED that book! Alas, my library still doesn't have any of Ms. Turner's other books in, yet. But I keep lookin'!

North Dakorta

A Christmas Blizzard
Garrison Keillor

I've never read Garrison Keillor, nor listened to his NRP show. I've read different books of this formula before - quirky stories about everyday people in out of the way places. But somehow the characters in this book were not sympathetic nor amusing to me.

I cannot read Garrison Keillor's books without having him read them to me in my head. He reads very slowly, but I do love his voice.

Kentucky

The Kentuckians
Janice Holt Giles

This book coincided with a real life trip to KY for 4 days after Christmas. Was interesting to pass through 2 of the towns mentioned in the book, and to read in the paper about census documents recently found about early Kentuckians. Was an easy read about the early settler's in KY, their skirmishes with the Indians and the Brits and each other. Not necessarily fantastic enough to recommend as a must read though.

Kentucky (again)

A Little Better than Plumb: The Biography of a House
Janice Holt Giles & Henry Giles

Part of my reading for my trip to KY and because there is an old log cabin in our family. This book tells the real life story of the Giles' building a log cabin in the 50's in Adair County, KY near the Green River. Enjoyable read. If I make it down to that area, I would love to visit their house which is open to the public and run by the Giles Society.

West Virginia

The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Jeannette Walls

This is my second reading of this amazing memoir. This time it was for a book club meeting. Was so nice to be able to discuss this book and to hear other people's reactions to Jeannette's story. Am anxious to read the next book about her AZ Grandmother, but there is a long waiting list at the library.

Was curious to see if I would enjoy this books as much the second time around, but I was immediately hooked on page one. Even though she had such a hard childhood, the amazing thing about the book is that there is no bitterness or self-pity that comes through the pages.

I highly recommend this book.

The Glass Castle is an astonishing book. I had a five year old when I read it (she's still around, just a few years older) and I was shocked by Walls' account of boiling a pan of water for hot dogs at her age. And then the mother whining that Walls' gets to leave West Virginia and it's not fair. There was just so much in that book, that I'm amazed she emerged into a "normal" adulthood.

The next book, Half Broke Horses supposedly helps explain how Jeannette's mom got to be the way she was through the grandmother's story.

New York (again)
Brooklyn: A Novel
Colm Toibin

Read this over the Christmas break and completely forgot about it. Probably because it was my second NY book, and I couldn't tick a State off my list.

I wasn't bowled over by this book. The characters and the story had so much potential but it fell flat for me. Would like to read more Toibin though as I've heard a lot about him, but maybe this wasn't his best showing.

Long ago I read quite a log of Janice Holt Giles and met her when she lived in this area (Western Ark/Eastern Okla). Her sister-in-law was my English teacher in the community college I attended and JHG came to the class on a couple of occassions.

How interesting, clue. I'd actually never heard of Janice Holt Giles until I stumbled upon the book she wrote with her husband Henry Giles, A Little Better Than Plumb. At the time, I was searching for old books about log cabins for my father. When that one showed up, I just had to read it, and enjoyed it quite a bit, too.

24

JHG sounds like such an interesting woman. Did she have that storyteller's quality about her in your English classes?

Yes, of course it was a long time ago, but I remember her as being very engaging. I can't remember the connection, my mother was quite a bit younger than JHG, but knew some of her family (JHG was born near where I live in Arkansas, she went to Kentucky as an adult). We both read JHGs books and talked about them and I remember at some point mother telling me that JHGs husband was very jealous of her fame and she wrote a book "with him" so he would have a book too....but only his name appeared on it.

That was the sense that I got from the little bit I was able to find about her online. The books that he supposedly wrote by himself are now credited to the both of them.

Her husband also got a job at a newspaper after they were married and I wondered about that as well.

North Carolina
Serena
Ron Rash

I feel so negative lately. I can't seem to like or relate to a lot of the characters I'm reading. But I really think I was never meant to like Serena. She was evil! And while I enjoyed the book, I loathed it at the same time. Mainly because they cut down so many trees.

Serena and her husband were basically in a race to harvest as many trees as they could before their land was taken as part of the Great Smokey Mt Park. At the end of the story, the landowner ordered his men to go out and fish up a trout and seemed surprised to be told there weren't any - all the animals had fled the wasteland that they created.

What I really did not like is how the character's dealt with obstacles in their way or their employees. I won't give any more away.

So I would recommend this book with reservations, because I don't think it's for everyone. All park lovers should read it or something like it though. It will make you appreciate your parks all the more.

I got a slew of books finished this weekend.

The best of the best was Blackbird House and Moloka'i. I better post these separately.

Hawaii
Moloka'i
Alan Brennert

I got this book from the library without reading the synopsis after seeing a lot of others used this as their Hawaii book. Sometimes I like to be surprised by a book's content. Shortly after I started reading, one of the characters was diagnosed with leprosy and I groaned. In my last book club, we had read 2 books on leprosy within a year, and it became a sort of joke. I have now adjusted my tags to track 'leprosy' to keep tabs on this subconscious attraction to books on this subject.

Regardless, I really enjoyed the story about a young girl separated from her family and sent to a leper colony. And I loved the glimpses into life on Hawaii 100 years ago. I can highly recommend this book.

Ohio (again)
Cincinnatus
Rusty McClure

I received this book for Christmas. It seems a lot of recommended books for Ohio are set in the Cleveland Area, and I was happy to have one mainly set in Columbus and Cincinnati with some forays into LA and the Bahamas.

It's a thriller, reminscent of Dan Brown. I thought the book was well written, but had the feeling that there were too many threads... that the author threw in all his knowledge on 4 subjects and spun his book around those threads rather than allowing it to develop. The story just seemed too disjointed. I think it was the author's first leap into fiction and would try another fiction book from him as this one was well written.

I do want to read his book on the Crosley Brothers. Apparantly one was the author's grandfather.

Massachusetts
Blackbird House
Alice Hoffman

This was a fab collection of short stories centered around one house and all it's inhabitants through the years. I loved the connection of the Blackbird that bound these people together. This was the first Alice Hoffman book out of 3 previous reads that I absolutely loved and would highly recommend.

Louisiana
Zeitoun
Dave Eggers

Zeitoun is a non fiction book about a man named Zeitoun who chose to stay in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. His wife and 4 children fled the city and Zeitoun used a canoe he had purchased at a yard sale to paddle around the city. I don't want to give more of the story away, but this left me feeling amazed at humans, both positive and negative.

It was a book that I didn't particularly enjoy reading because it was a true story during the catastrophe of Katrina. But it was a book that I felt I needed to read since I was not in the US when it occurred and I didn't keep up with the media at the time.

I'm always interested to read reviews whose opinions differ from mine. I loved the premise of that book, but just couldn't make myself like Blackbird House. I kept hoping that at least some of the stories would show a family who were happily at home in the house.

Instead, as the book progressed, I started each new story thinking, 'I wonder what ill wind is gonna blow on THESE folks'. Maybe it was just my timing; I don't know, but the more I read, the more it bothered me.

The writing was really nice, though, and I even loved the red boots and red pears on the cover I read.

Will you be putting up a review on the book?

Hi nans - I loved both Blackbird House and Moloka'i. Brennert's Honolulu was also a very good read.

@34
I'm not really one for formal reviews. I'm happy if I can put a snapshot of my thoughts at the end of these books on these groups. Sometime I use the Private Comments section of LT, but I use those to put key things from the books to job my memory about the books - I have a really bad memory for the books I've read.

@35
Thanks for the recommendations of Honolulu... will add that to my list of books. I did like his characters and writing style in Moloka'i

Washington
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Garth Stein

Such a sweet book, but did not really provide a sense of the city of Seattle. I'm counting it anyway as that is not a big factor for me, but I know it is an issue for others.

This is a story about a family told from the dog's perspective. The main character in the book is a car racer, which is so not my thing. So there were a lot of racing analogies in the book that worked, despite my utter lack in interest in car racing... dare I say, this book might have gotten me to respect car racing a tad bit more.

But the best part of this book is the dog, Enzo. He has a special place in this family which goes through some really trying times. And he tries his best to help them.

Highly recommended, especially for dog lovers.

South Dakota
Lakota Woman
Mary Bird Dog

A non fiction book written by Mary about her life on a Sioux reservation as a child and about her activities in the 70's in AIM -American Indian Movement.

I lived in Germany for many years. When non-Americans would talk about attrocities the US has committed against people, the slaves always came first to my mind. But to the majority I met, the American Indians were right up there. I was shocked the first time someone mentioned this and very ashamed that it didn't come to my mind.

New York (again)
Julie & Julia
Julie Powell

I'm so glad I got to read this book before watching the movie. Have heard mixed things about the book, but I really enjoyed it. Parts of it were nauseating depending on what she was cooking. And the book inspired me to make my own Macaroni and Cheese last night, though I must admit, it came out rather bland.

The funny thing is that 2 of my NY books are non-fiction books about food.

Pennsylvania
Fun House a Family Tragicomic
Alison Bechdel

The last year I've been reading a lot of Autobiographical Graphic Novels. I chose this book because it was listed in Entertainment Weekly as one of the top books of the last decade, and I hadn't heard of it before. This is the first one I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe because it was sad that the father of the story lived a life that wasn't true to his nature? It took place in a small Pennsylvania town isolated by the Mountains, so it had a bit of a sense of place.

California
Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on my Family Farm
David M. Masumoto

This book saddened me to think of the delicious fruits and vegetables which are slowly being replaced by tasteles, pretty to look at varieties. It was a little hard to read as it seemed like diary entries of what was on his mind that day. Things are repeated. On one hand, it was interesting to read it that way as it was the ramblings of a farmer as the year goes on. On the other hand, it was hard to get into and took me a week to read as I put it down frequently.

But still I'm glad I read it as I will appreciate my peaches and raisins so much more!

Alabama
The Well and the Mine
Gin Phillips

I'm way behind in keeping this up to date. I really enjoyed this mystery lite set at the beginning of the century in Alabama. A baby is thrown into a well and the children in the family are intent on finding how who did it. I liked the book for the sense of the time and place it gave you. The mystery was only a subplot.

Mississippi
The Help
Kathryn Stockett

I really enjoyed reading this book and loved the 3 main characters and that the book was set up so that each had their own voice. I have given this book to a non-Mississippian that went to Mississippi State and am curious to hear what he gets out of the book that I missed.

Minnesota
Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography
David Michaelis

Even though Schulz lived a lot of his later life in CA, this book still evokes a great sense of Minnesota that I would be foolish not to include it. There is usually controversy with unauthorized biographies, and Schulz is no longer around to contradict this book and I've heard that his children have countered some things in the book. Though maybe it is not all true, or maybe the sense of the times were not correct, there were some things in Schulz's life that most likely happened that disappointed me. And I found my reaction so interesting because, I never knew, nor gave any real thought to Charles M. Schulz prior to reading this book. I guess I formed an unconscious opinion about him through his art.

There were some quite dull parts in the book, but I find that often happens in biographies.

Wisconsin (again)
A Reliable Wife
Robert Goolrick

Man this was a steamy novel. But I didn't really enjoy it - did not like any of the characters in the book. They were all horrible people. Looking around on LT, I found that people either loved or hated it. This was a bookclub read, and I'm curious to hear what the others have to say about it next month at the get together.

>42 nans: I'm adding The Well and the Mine to my wish list. It looks like the book has some great regional depictions from the era in which it was set.

>46 thornton37814:
It is a great book for the regional descriptions, but not so great for those seasoned mystery readers

Washington (again)
Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet : a novel
Jamie Ford

One reason I love books so much is because I get to learn more details behind things that happened in history without the boring facts. You get to see the back story into people's lives. This book is a prime example. I've heard about the interment of Japanese Americans in camps during WW2, but that was the extent of my knowledge. This book brought it to life for me.

California (again)
The Confessions of Max Tivoli: A Novel
Andrew Sean Greer

I'm reading a lot of States more than once. Not helping me in my challenges, but enjoyable all the same!

While reading this book, I couldn't help drawing on the similarities in the movie Benjamin Button. That took away from my enjoyment of the book unfortunately. It's not exactly the same, there are some twists, but all in all, I didn't enjoy it that much.

I LOVED Hotel on the corner! Great writing, and agree wholeheartedly about learning history - he brought it to life.

I'm always amazed when someone says they only read nonfiction because "you can't learn anything from fiction"!

ditto!

Indiana
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana
Haven Kimmel

I've been looking for a fiction book on Indiana for awhile and kept running into this memoir. One reason I was against it was because it reminded me of a fantastic memoir I'd read set in Ohio called The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan.

Even though the only similarity really was that it was a humorous memoir set in small town, USA, I felt Zippy was overshadowed by my memory of Ryan's book.

Sure, it was funny and cutsy and there were some laugh out loud moments, but I was anxious for it to end.

NYC (again)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Michael Chabon

Such a great book. This was a bookclub selection for a real life bookclub I don't really care for (they tend to discuss the book for a sum total of 2 minutes), but they chose good books that I don't typically read, so I keep them in my sights.

This was a Pulitzer Prize winning book about the creation of comics in the 30's by Jewish New Yorkers and one immigrant from Prague. The story has many elements that are supposedly taken from the lives of many of the comic book artists of that time.

The comic first developed by Kavalier and Clay was The Escapist. I loved the idea of this character and how his inspiration came from escape artists like Houdini. The theme of escape came up often in the life of the artist as well.

Tennessee
Heart in the Right Place
Carolyn Jourdan

Fabulous book. It's an autobiography about a woman having to come back to E. Tennessee from Washington DC and her high powered career to help out in her 72 yr old father's small town doctor's office for a couple of days and ends up staying a bit longer. There are great characterizations of the patients she encounters and of life in a small town in TN.

I listed to this book on Audio, and fell in love with the narrator's voice, Kate Forbes. Her voice was perfectly suited to the story and I'm off to see if my library has anymore of her work.

>55 nans: That sounds like an interesting book and it sounds like it's set practically in my back yard. I'm adding it to my wishlist.

56
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

California (again)
The Spellman Files
Lisa Lutz

Another book I listened to on Audio that was a great find. This is a completely dysfunctional family of private investigators set in San Francisco that spend more time spying on each other than working for clients. Hilarious!

Tennessee (again)
Evidence of Things Unseen
Marianne Wiggins

I can really recommend this book set in TN after WWI. I was unsure of the amount of science in the book, but me, a non-science person really enjoyed learning about xrays and meteors. And whatever flew over my head did not take away from the story.

Fos comes back from WWI and sets up a photography studio in Knoxville with a fellow soldier he met from the war. Fos is more interested in science and research while his partner Flash is more interested in women. The story enfolds from there with both men's lives through to the Tennessee Valley Authority and the secret testing of the H Bomb in WWII.

Pennsylvania (again)
The Whiskey Rebels
David Liss

This is a book set in Philly, Pittsburg, NYC, and the PA frontier after the Revolutionary War. There are 2 characters that are narrating that story. Ethan Saunders is a veteran who was falsely charged with treason who's received a plea to help a friend from his past.

Joan Maycott is a strong willed girl who eventually marries and moves to the harsh frontier with her husband Andrew (loved that the frontier of America at this time was Western PA). The couple seem to fall on the wrong side of the powerful locals, and their life is not made easy.

I'm trying my best to sum up this book,and not give much away, but it's so difficult as it touches on many things. Where I thought the book was going, was not where it ended up. In the end, it turned into a fictional account of a financial crisis in the US and how these could be controlled and manipulated with a bit of Alexander Hamilton mixed in for good measure.

I did enjoy the book, especially the chapters focusing on the west and Joan Maycott. But the last chapters of the book lost me on the purpose of the plots and who the good guys were. Still, I'd recommend it.

South Carolina

Sullivan's Island
Dorothea Benton Frank

This read was for a book club, otherwise I would not have finished it. The main character is brash and annoying, but 1/3 of the way in, we're introduced to the character of Livvie, and suddenly, I was engaged in the story.

This book takes place in 1963 on Sullivan's Island off the coast of SC near Charleston, and it takes place in 1999 in Charleston. Susan is going through a divorce in present day and goes back to her childhood on the island.

What I enjoyed about the story is their housekeeper in the 60's, Livvie, and how she brings some stability to their lives. What I did not enjoy was the craziness of the main character, though she eventually settles down from her nuttiness and begins to make sense.

Not sure if I'd recommend it, but if you do read it, keep at it.

I'm having a self imposed ban on US books until I get a bit more caught up with my European reading... Let's see how long that lasts!

Still on my US hiatus, officially. But someone I still managed to read some duplicate States.

Murder on Astor Place
Victoria Thompson
New York City

A good, quick read set in turn of the century NYC. A woman is murdered in the boarding house where Midwife Sarah just delivered a baby. Sarah and the police Sergeant Malloy work together to solve the crime. I liked the twists and turns of the story, and the historical elements too. It was a nice read, the first in a series, but not outstanding enough for me to pick up the next book.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Maryland

A fabulous non-fiction account of HeLa, cells taken from the cancerous cells of Henrietta Lacks in the 50's which did not die, as most cells did. The cells were given by John Hopkins Hospital to various labs and went on to aid in innumerable scientific breakthroughs. Eventually the cells were sold by for profit companies and continue to do so today.

But this book also tells the story of Henrietta's 5 children and their lives. It's a very compelling story of a poor family unable to pay their medical expenses as their mother's cells continue to rake in oodles of money.

I was happy to see that the author created a scholarship fund for the decendents of Henrietta Lacks.

This is one of my top picks of the year thus far.

Unaccustomed Earth: Stories
Jhumpa Lahiri
Various States including Massachusettes & Pennsylvania

Such a great book. This is a collection of short stories about Indian immigrants in the US or the children of Indian immigrants. I love this author. She hasn't disappointed me yet. Just checked, and of the 3 books of hers I've read, all have received 4.5 stars.

I'm also continuing in my saga of the Spellman Family by Lisa Lutz. There are 4 novels out and I've listened to 2.5 of them so far. They're set in San Francisco.

I loved the first one and rushed out to get the second audiobook and was not as bowled over. First of all, the narrator was different. Secondly, the story was off. I finally figured out that I had grabbed the abridged version.

Now I've grabbed the third book and was thrilled to see my favorite narrator, Christina Moore, back in the unabridged version.

I went to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains last week, both in real life, and in my reading. Both books were ones I searched out on LT as recommendations, and you didn't let me down!

The Tie that Binds by Kent Haruf
This book started by hinting that something happened, and through the eyes and memory of a neighbor, went through the history of a family starting at the turn of the century in Colorado and ending in present day. This didn't take place in the Rocky's, but I still got a good sense of the place, how things changed over a century, and for the people. I really enjoyed this book and will search out more from this author.

The Meadow by James Galvin
This book was similar... but instead of following a family, it followed a place on the border of Colorado and Wyoming through the centuries. Though this book wasn't set in the place I visited, I still felt like it could have as it was a mountainous region. I also really enjoyed this book, but was often confused about which people it was following. It wasn't chronological, and jumped back and forth between different folks. But the prose was so nice to read, that I forgave the author for this confusion.

New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd

Wow, I listed to this as an audiobook, and it took ages. 30 discs! The book began as the area to become NYC was being settled and followed a family, and some of those that surrounded the family all the way through to the present day.

What a saga. I really enjoyed listening to this novel, and getting to know NYC's rough start.

Something that made me think was that the decendants encounted people through their lives, that maybe were decendants of those their family had encountered a century before. It seemed too coincidental, but then, if your family was attracted to or had a working relationship with someone, then those traits of those people are passed down to another generation... who's to say that they too would not be attracted??? It's maybe hard for me to put into words, and while I doubted the many coincidences, it was nice to mull over.

>67 nans: I hope you had a good time in Colorado - it's a wonderful time of year (usually) to visit! I also enjoyed the two books you read.

When you're ready for another, Kent Haruf's Plainsong is wonderful!

>69 Copperskye:
I was just looking over my photos last night. The Aspens are glowing yellow in the sun right now. Between the trees, the perfect weather, and the mountains, it was just gorgeous! We hiked a ton.

Plus I went with a friend who left her 3 year old and husband at home. It was the first time in a long time that she was herself again. Normally she's so distracted with life, that we haven't had a decent conversation in years. She really enjoyed getting away and we've decided to make it an annual event.

Thanks for asking!

We Have Always lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson
Vermont

I made a slight mistake when chosing this book. In hindsight, I should have chosen her novel The Haunting of Hill House as I was looking for something spooky for Halloween. This one was more of a murder mystery. Two sisters and an Uncle remain after the rest of their family has been poisoned. One sister was accused of the murder but was able to get the charges dropped. Since then, they are hermits in their home. Only one sister goes out to do the weekly shopping and gets mercilessly taunted by the townspeople.

I enjoyed the sister's and the way they view their very narrow world. However, I was so agitated with their passiveness that by the end of the book I was groaning at them.

Next year in October, I'll read the other book, and give the author another chance.

The Midwife's Tale
Gretchen Moran Laskas
West Virginia

Such a great novel about a Midwife's daughter in the mountains of West Virginia around the first WWI. Strongly recommended.

So Long, See you Tomorrow
William Maxwell
Illinois

I had forgotten to post this book earlier in the month and am having difficulty recalling it. A murder of some kind took place, and it wasn't until I looked up a synopsis that I remembered the details of that murder. So I obviously cannot strongly recommend this forgetable book.

Rococo
Adriana Trigiani
New Jersey

Wish I saw the world through the main character's eyes. I'm in awe of interior decorators, because I just don't have that knack.

This is a book set in the 70's in an Italian American community in New Jersey. The main character, B, is an interior decorator with colorful friends and family that surround him.

While I didn't like this book as much as Lucia, Lucia which dealt with dress designs, I did still enjoy it and felt like I could picture the rooms and buildings he decorated.

The Whistling Season
Ivan Doig
Montana

Loved this book set in Montana in 1910. A family with 3 boys recently lost their mother. Their father answers an add for a housekeeper who cannot cook.

Not wanting to give anything away, I sort of picked up on the direction the story was going in very early. So that took away from the book, but I loved the characters and the link to Hailey's Comet, so I can't fault it too much.

I read The Whistling Season earlier this year and loved it, especially the characters. Now I want to get hold of Work Song as well as some of Doig's other books.

cbl's review prompted me to read The Whistling Season. I loved it and promptly ordered a copy for my father for his birthday.

Another fan of The Whistling Season here. I read it last year for this challenge. The book was passed on to me from my Mother who grew up in a rural community and loved how the school played such a large part in the social lives of these people.

I'm loving this challenge. Nearly all of the books are taken from suggestions from others doing this challenge, and I'm loving nearly all the books. Here are two more:

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
counted as Nebraska, but also takes place in the Dakotas and Minnesota

This is a non fiction book about an actual blizzard that took place in the early 1900's. I've tried to stay with fiction, but this story fascinated me so much, that I made an exception.

The best part of the book are the individual stories of the families that settled in these areas. It's called the Children's Blizzard because a lot of children were on their way home from school when they were caught out in the snow. Some of the chapters on weather were a bit too detailed for my non-scientific brain, but I did enjoy reading on the early history of weather forecasting.

The Memory of Running
Ron McLarty
Rhode Island

This is a hauting story about a man named Smithy Ide who starts riding his bike across country from Rhode Island to Los Angeles after some personal tragedy. The bulk of the story takes place in flashbacks to Smithy's childhood in RI. His sister, Bethany, is mentally ill and that takes such a toll on his family.

It's an odd story with all these quirks, but it works together. At the end of the story, I'm still not sure if I liked Smithy Ide, but I did feel sorry for him and enjoyed the story.

So I have 16 States left... here's my list as well as what I'm planning to read. If you have any suggestions for the blank States, or if you think I should replace a book, please feel free to chime in!

Alaska: Tisha by Robert Specht
Arkansas: Elkhorn Tavern by C. Douglas Jones
Connecticut: Something Missing by Matthew Dicks
Delaware:
Idaho:
Iowa:
Maine:
Michigan: Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg
Missouri: Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
Nevada: Stray Dogs by John Ridley
New Mexico: Surveyor by G. W. Hawkes
Oklahoma : Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Oregon:
Texas: The Color of Lightning or Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles
Virginia:
Wyoming: The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

Connecticut
Something Missing
Matthew Dicks

This book had a wonderful idea, but I feel it fell short in the execution. It's about a man that supplements his income by breaking into homes. What he steals are small items that one would never notice, like paper towels. He's very meticulous, taking photos of pantries and observing what is not used by his clients so that his crime will not be registered.

Gradually he begins taking jewelry, handbags, china, etc. But only items that are hardly used. These he sells on Ebay under a fake persona. One week our thief starts to try to 'fix' his client's lives, and the story really starts to get interesting.

If I had two words to describe this book, I would say wordy and meticulous. Maybe these words work against each other. But I would say it's wordy, because he goes into great detail describing every move, thought, etc that this thief makes. After too many of these passages, I found my eyes rolling and yelling at the book to get a move on! And in his wordiness, the author, like the thief is meticulous. Described down to the last hair on a head.

But I loved the idea of the book. Of wondering if I would notice that a bottle of ketchup I bought 6 months ago was missing. So I'd recommend this novel, but with reservations. Oh, and it's set in suburbia, so I never really got a feel of place. Maybe I'll find a better CT book for this challenge.

Nevada
Stray Dogs
John Ridley

What a bad book. Not in how it's written, or the story, but I often had to put the book down just because the people are so evil! Basically a guy gets into financial problems in Vegas. His car breaks down in the small, desert town of Sierra and he has one amazingly horrible 24 hours.

This type of book reminds me that it's great being a good person! And it also makes me want to go to Vegas even less than I already do.

Michigan
Annie's Ghosts
Steven Luxenberg

I did not care for this book unfortunately. The premise sounded like something I would really enjoy... family secrets and discovering what happened to the Author's Aunt who's existence had been kept a secret. But I couldn't get into it. Not a lot of information was uncovered. And the author was so detached from the story, that I couldn't have any sympathy for those involved. Especially for his mother who kept the existence of a sister secret from possibly her husband and her children. Not recommended.

Here's what's left with what I will probably read. I'm not doing so well in my 11 in 11 challenge this year. So my goal for the year is to finish the 50 States Challenge so I'll feel an accomplishment for 2011.

Alaska: Tisha by Robert Specht
Arkansas: Elkhorn Tavern by C. Douglas Jones
Delaware: The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani
Idaho: Blue Heaven by CJ Box
Iowa: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish or The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
Maine: The Wooden Nickel by William Carpenter
Missouri: Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
New Mexico: Surveyor by G. W. Hawkes
Oklahoma: Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Oregon: Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge
Texas: The Color of Lightning or Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles
Virginia: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Wyoming: The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson

Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness
As told to Robert Specht

What a fabulous book! And I love that this woman really existed. Anne is a young teacher in Oregon that applies in the 20's for a teaching position in Alaska. The book starts with her journey to the village of Chicken and goes through her first year of teaching. The book has a nice balance. It could dip too far in many directions (rough winters, indians, stubborn townspeople). But it doesn't at all and was a joy to read. Highly recommended.

Delaware
The Saint of Lost Things
by Christopher Castellani

I'm close to the final 10 books of this challenge. As a planner, I love to go through books and plan out my reading. Delaware has been blank with not a single suggestion all of this time. Once I started searching for a book set in Delaware, I found there was not much to chose from. And when I started reading this book, I thought it could have been set in Anywhere, USA. The main character, Maddalena even complains of the sameness of her new town of Wilmington and compares it to Italy saying that every village in Italy has a distinctive feature to set it apart from other villages such as the church or the square. Besides Wilmington, the book mentions Philadelphia and Wildwood, NJ. Once I looked at the map to see the location of Wilmington, then I could picture the characters better and it took on it's own location.

Anyway, about the book... it was actually the second novel by this author. His first novel A Kiss from Maddalena seems to take place more in Italy. This novel picks up the life of Maddalena as a new wife in Wilmington working and having problems conceiving. I don't want to say too much in case you decide to read the first book. The book can stand alone, but I still wish I had known and read them in order.

It's a nice, light summer read and reminded me a lot of the Italian American novels by Adriana Trigiani.

Missouri
The Moonflower Vine
by Jetta Carleton

Started slow, but then got pretty good. It's a story of a farming/teacher family in Missouri in the first part of the century. Each of the 6 sections are told from a different family member's perspective. Loved seeing how different people perceived occurances in the family.

There was a bit of god talk in the novel, but not preachy. And the parts that got too religious, I just skimmed over.

A nice novel to read, especially in the summer.

Idaho
Blue Heaven
by CJ Box

Another cops gone bad novel. Well written with some great characters. A beautifully written setting in Northern Idaho. Enjoyed the angle of the retired LA cops moving in droves to the area which is how the novel got its title. But would love to see less novels about corrupt cops. Seems to be too easy angle to start a novel.

Iowa
The Weight of Silence
Heather Gudenkauf

Ugh. I have to get away from novels doing bad things to children! Two little girls go missing one morning. I loved the writting but did not care for the story. The cops were inept. They never really went out searching for the kids and told the parents they were planning that for the next day. The families were not contained and created their own chaos. Would something like that really happen? And it wasn't until the last chapters of the book that one investigator actually asked the question "Can you tell me what happened?" Um, where was this question at the start.

Too many ineptitudes just ruined this book for me.

Maine
The Wooden Nickel
William Carpenter

A book that I'm going to love to hate. The characters are highly flawed and very unlikable. But the story was engrossing, so something pulled me it!

Lucky Lunt is a 3rd generation lobster fisherman in Maine. His son isn't following in his footsteps and is hanging out with some questionable characters. His daughter Kristen, the first Lunt to graduate high school, is getting ready to start college and is embarrased by her family. Lucky's wife started making art glass sculptures to supplement their income, and is starting to get a following from the tourists. And then there's Lucky. Lucky is an angry, stubborn man that resists all changes to how things were done in his father and grandfather's times. He's frustrated at his wife's attempts to reign him in after his heart attack, and has to seek someone outside the family to help him on the boat.

I couldn't identify with Lucky, and had a hard time not rolling my eyes at the choices he made throughout the book. But it was well written, and a good view into the life of a lobster fisherman off the coast of Maine.

And an update on what's left to keep me on track per 12/19:

Virginia: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
I tried reading this book and couldn't get into it! Will give it another go next week.

Oregon
The Hearts of Horses
Molly Gloss

Such a great book with some strong, women characters. I'm not a horse person, but Martha's relationship with horses was so amazing that I didn't mind the horses at all. It takes place during WWI in rural Oregon. Martha is a 15 year old girl, trying her hand at being a traveling horse breaker. She sets up a horse breaking ring with many farmers in the area, and the book sort of goes through each family and gives us wonderful glimpses into their homes. This gives a great sense of many different types of settlers in Oregon in that time period without feeling too forced. Definitely recommended for reading.

New Mexico
Surveyor
G. W. Hawkes

A really well written book set in a New Mexico desert. Two men have been surveying the desert since the Korean War. They've led a hermit like existence but recently a couple of others have moved into the desert throwing off their balance. I gave it 4.5 stars.

A sprint to the end.

Oklahoma
The Worst Hard Time
Timothy Egan

A non fiction book about those that stayed behind when the dust started to blow in the prairie states. This book covers all the states, but seemed to center on Oklahoma and Texas, and since I identify the Dust Bowls mainly with Oklahoma, then I'm going to count it. I only knew the jist of what happened to these States in the 30's but hadn't realized the extent of the dust storms or even considered how people and the land could recover from such devestation. It's a good book to read to remind ourselves of how much damage can be done to the land.

Wyoming
The Cold Dish
Craig Johnson

A great crime novel set in rural Wyoming. The sheriff and those around him are extremely likable. The conclusion was a little trite, but since the book was so well written, I'm not going to keep that against reading the next novel in series. In fact, I just requested the next book from the library and plan on reading all the published books in the series in 2012.