The Plaid Pladd

This year I decided to read a book set in each state. And I did! Here is the genre breakdown:

My selection process was not especially intense. I mainly searched the library catalog for the state and chose from what was available, heavily biased towards ebooks I could download to my phone. I tried to only read fiction, but ended up with memoirs twice (Hawaii and Utah) when they seemed like the best option by far. Here’s my Goodreads rating breakdown:

It definitely skews lower than my overall Goodreads ratings. Let’s face it, I wouldn’t have read the vast majority of these books if not for this project. In the list below I include the average rating on Goodreads in parentheses next to my reading. As you can see, I didn’t like the romance novels as much as the majority of their other readers. The book descriptions are straight publisher’s copy so don’t blame me for how cheesy some of them sound. I’m also including whatever review I wrote on Goodreads at the time, primarily because I’ve forgotten a lot about some of the duller books I read towards the beginning. Unfortunately, I tend not to write detailed reviews unless I really hated something! Here are the books, in alphabetic order by state:

Alabama
Book: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 (4.28)
Description: It’s first the story of two women in the 1980s, of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women—of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth, who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I really liked this: the way it was written, the way it was structured, and the characters were all really engaging. Definitely not what I was expecting, in a good way!

Alaska
Book: Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2 (3.58)
Description: Before beginning her new job as sous chef at one of Seattle’s finest restaurants, Josie Stewart takes on a six-month position cooking at a lodge in an Alaskan lake town. It’s only temporary–or so she thinks, as she becomes a valued part of the local community, falling in love with the people who call the Klutina Lake home. But one man, in particular, stands out among Josie’s new friends: Palmer Saxon, a quiet, intense sword craftsman, whose very existence forces her to question whether her heart wants to return to Washington at all.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I don’t know, maybe I’ve read so many of these for this project that my standards have changed, but this didn’t seem AS ridiculous as I was hoping from the premise.

Arizona
Book: Breathless (Old West #2) by Beverly Jenkins
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3 (4.15)
Description: A strong-willed beauty finds herself in the arms of the handsome drifter from her past, in this second book in the sizzling series set in the Old West, from USA Today bestselling author Beverly Jenkins
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I thought the pacing of this was a little weird, but I really liked the intersectional feminism.

Arkansas
Book: The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 (4.09)
Description: Every first Sunday in June, members of the Moses clan gather for an annual reunion at “the old home place,” a sprawling hundred-acre farm in Arkansas. And every year, Samuel Lake, a vibrant and committed young preacher, brings his beloved wife, Willadee Moses, and their three children back for the festivities. The children embrace the reunion as a welcome escape from the prying eyes of their father’s congregation; for Willadee it’s a precious opportunity to spend time with her mother and father, Calla and John. But just as the reunion is getting under way, tragedy strikes, jolting the family to their core: John’s untimely death and, soon after, the loss of Samuel’s parish, which set the stage for a summer of crisis and profound change.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would from reading the description. It was well-written, and even though it was set in rural Arkansas, certain parts definitely reminded me of visiting my own grandparents in rural Tennessee.

California
Book: Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2 (3.52)
Description: For fans of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Allison Pearson’s I Don’t Know How She Does It comes an irresistible novel of a woman losing herself . . . and finding herself again . . . in the middle of her life.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I liked the unconventional format of this, but I saw the twist coming from the very beginning so the supposed suspense seemed tiresome. Plus, I kind of loathed the main character.

Colorado
Book: Angel’s Rest (Eternity Springs #1) by Emily March
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1 (4.03)
Description: Gabriel Callahan has lost everything that mattered. All he wants is solitude on an isolated mountain estate. Instead, he gets a neighbor. Vibrant, no-nonsense Nic Sullivan is Eternity Springs’ veterinarian, and she has an uncanny plan to lure this talented architect back to the world of the living. First with a dog, next with a renovation project, and, finally, with a night of passion that ends with a surprise.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: At first I was pleasantly surprised that this book decided to deal with PTSD a little more realistically than typical romance novels, in that sex didn’t ~magically~ cure it. But realistic trauma recovery is not really what I’m looking for in a romance novel, so it wasn’t enjoyable at all. Also, the hero is a huge asshole who uses his mental health as an excuse to treat everyone around him like crap. Not hot.

Connecticut
Book: The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (2.91)
Description: Betty Weissmann has just been dumped by her husband of forty-eight years. Exiled from her elegant New York apartment by her husband’s mistress, she and her two middle-aged daughters, Miranda and Annie, regroup in a run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage. In Schine’s playful and devoted homage to Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” the impulsive sister is Miranda, a literary agent entangled in a series of scandals, and the more pragmatic sister is Annie, a library director, who feels compelled to move in and watch over her capricious mother and sister.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was fine, but forgettable.

Delaware
Book: Hope Never Dies (Obama Biden Mysteries #1) by Andrew Shaffer
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4 (3.51)
Description: Part noir thriller and part bromance novel, Hope Never Dies is essentially the first published work of Obama/Biden fanfiction
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This was a quick read, and pretty funny. It delivered on the promise of its cover.

Florida
Book: Florida by Lauren Goff
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2 (3.78)
Description: The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida—its landscape, climate, history, and state of mind—becomes its gravitational center
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book let me down hard. A better title would be “Stories that are tangentially related to Florida”. A few of them reminded me of home, and a few descriptions were really on point, but mostly I was bored and wondering why so many of them were set in France.

Georgia
Book: Hex Hall (Hex Hall #1) by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3 (3.95)
Description: Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Quick read, kind of silly but enjoyable anyway.

Hawaii
Book: Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen by Liliuokalani
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4 (3.86)
Description: An account of those difficult years at the end of the nineteenth century, when native Hawaiian historian David Malo’s 1837 prophecy concerning “the small ones” being “gobbled up” came true for the Hawaiian Islands
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Really interesting. We should have read this in school.

Idaho
Book: Truly, Madly Yours (Truly, Idaho #1) by Rachel Gibson
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2 (3.94)
Description: When pretty hairdresser Delaney Shaw returned home to Truly, Idaho, for the reading of her stepfather’s will, she planned on paying her respects and getting out of town. But it seems the will has some unexpected stipulations-like the one that says if Delaney wants her inheritance she needs to stay put and have nothing to do with sexy Nick Allegrezza. . .for an entire year!
Review I wrote on Goodreads: The premise of this book is super dumb, and a lot of the narrative choices felt like a cop-out, but it wasn’t the worst small town romance I’ve read for this project.

Illinois
Book: Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 1 (4.01)
Description: When the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: A lot of people really like this series, so I was expecting to at least Not Hate this, but here we are. I couldn’t get over how sexist it is, and nothing else about it really caught my interest to distract from that. You can write noir without leaning heavily on its misogynist tropes. At least it was short.

Indiana
Book: The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 5–the only one in this project! (3.95)
Description: Mean Girls meets The Tudors in Hannah Capin’s The Dead Queens Club, a clever contemporary YA retelling of Henry VIII and his wives (or, in this case, his high school girlfriends)
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This was just what I was hoping it would be. A Henry VIII/Gossip Girl mashup, but unlike both of those, everyone gets called out on their slut-shamey double standards.

Iowa
Book: The Princesses of Iowa by M. Molly Backes
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2 (3.67)
Description: In this arresting and witty debut, a girl who was once high-school royalty must face a truth that money and status can’t fix, and choose between living the privileged life of a princess, or owning up to her mistakes and giving up everything she once held dear.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: There are some good parts to this book, but mainly it was frustrating. I kept thinking “Ah, here is rock bottom. Here she will change her ways.” But no, the main character just kept on being terrible. Also her boyfriend attempts to rape her and it is completely unaddressed?!

Kansas
Book: The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3 (3.73)
Description: In Kansas in the year 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father’s failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: At first I wasn’t sure about this art style, but it really worked for the story.

Kentucky
Book: Kentucky Bride by Hannah Howell
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3 (3.92)
Description: Beautiful Clover Sherwood never expected such a cruel fate. Her father’s death has left her penniless, ostracized from Pennsylvania society, and abandoned by her fiancé. All she has now is a grieving mother, two hungry little brothers and no prospects until a wealthy Kentucky backwoodsman with a deep Scottish burr comes to town–and inspires her to make a most daring move
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was way more hilarious than I thought it would be.

Louisiana
Book Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3 (3.96)
Description: Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out…. Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I liked this more than I thought I would. It reminded me of the Mercy Thompson series, which is infinitely better, though.

Maine
Book: The State We’re In: Maine Stories by Ann Beattie
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 (3.05)
Description: From a multiple prize–winning master of the short form: a stunning collection of brand-new, linked stories that perfectly capture the zeitgeist through the voices of vivid and engaging women from adolescence to old age.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I needed to read a book set in Maine, and this was a good one

Maryland
Book: Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 (3.81)
Description: Abandoned by her salesman husband, Pearl is left to bring up her three children alone – Cody, a flawed devil, Ezra, a flawed saint, and Jenny, errant and passionate. Now as Pearl lies dying, stiffly encased in her pride and solitude, the past is unlocked and with it, secrets.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I liked this book more than I thought I would. The multiple POVs were engaging.

Massachusetts
Book: The Lace Reader (Salem #1) by Brunonia Barry
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3 (3.47)
Description: Can you read your future in a piece of lace? All of the Whitney women can. But the last time Towner read, it killed her sister and nearly robbed Towner of her own sanity. Vowing never to read lace again, her resolve is tested when faced with the mysterious, unsolvable disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva, Salem s original Lace Reader.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was a good, quick read–very atmospheric and some good twists. Although if you think about some of them too much, it’s all just a mess of plot holes lol.

Michigan
Book: The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (3.69)
Description: In this latter-day ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, men and women speak of and desire their ideal mates; parents seek out their lost children; adult children try to come to terms with their own parents and, in some cases, find new ones.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Really liked the switching POV

Minnesota
Book: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1) by Joanne Fluke
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 1 (3.71)
Description: Hannah already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother’s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden’s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah’s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can’t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer. But if she doesn’t watch her back, Hannah’s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book hasn’t aged well. Besides all my usual problems with cozy mysteries, it has a lot of casual fat-phobia and sexism. The heroine is worried that if she helps her brother-in-law cop solve the case (sigh), then he’ll get a promotion and her sister will “have” to quit her job lol okay

Mississippi
Book: Sing, Unburied, Sing (Bois Sauvage #2) by Jesmyn Ward
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (4.02)
Description: Drawing on Morrison and Faulkner, The Odyssey and the Old Testament, Ward gives us an epochal story, a journey through Mississippi’s past and present that is both an intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Hard to read but worth it

Missouri
Book: When You Love a Scotsman (Seven Brides for Seven Scotsmen #2) by Hannah Howell
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1 (3.82)
Description: With danger closing in from all sides, Abigail Jenson works tirelessly to protect her small Missouri farm. She doesn’t require saving—but a handsome officer appears on horseback just as ruthless marauders set her cabin ablaze. With nowhere else to turn, Abigail allows the soldier with the seductive Highlander’s gaze to escort her to shelter.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was incredibly lazy in every aspect. The characters even have the same conversation, word-for-word, about 30 pages apart, so even the editing is pretty sub-par. There’s no chemistry between the two main characters, no relationship build-up; they just randomly start making out, which would be kind of weird in a modern setting but in the 1800s is pretty inconceivable. Their relationship is incredibly boring, but so is every other aspect of the “plot”. Also, the first time they have sex is definitely rape. It doesn’t stop being rape because after the fact she decides she liked it.

Montana
Book: Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4 (3.71)
Description: In the spring of 1898, A. E. (Alexandria) Bartram–a spirited young woman with a love for botany–is invited to join a field study in Yellowstone National Park. The study’s leader, a mild-mannered professor from Montana, assumes she is a man, and is less than pleased to discover the truth.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This was a quick read, but really enjoyable.

Nebraska
Book: Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3 (3.84)
Description: Stella Gordon’s life is a lie. She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the star witness in a murder trial against a drug dealer, Stella is now in the Witness Protection Program. The small-town locals can never know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, the one boy who makes her want to reveal her true self. She knows that telling the truth will only bring violence to this safe haven.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book is basically an attempted gritty reboot of the 2000 Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie, Our Lips Are Sealed. It was better than I thought it would be.

Nevada
Book: The Secrets She Keeps by Deb Caletti
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 2 (3.27)
Description: A trio of women gather at their aunt’s once famous Nevada “divorce ranch,” where in the 1950’s, high-society women and Hollywood elite gathered to obtain quickie divorces. As they tackle their own conflicts of love and marriage, past and present collide when secrets of the ranch’s tumultuous history are revealed.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I like the format of two different intertwined narratives in different time periods, but I think authors sometimes use it as a crutch to add tension to a bland story. Neither narrative really grabbed me.

New Hampshire
Book: Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (3.57)
Description: Fifteen-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary. The judge throws the book at Sunny—literally—assigning her to do community service at the library for the summer. Bright, curious, and eager to connect with someone other than her off-the-grid hippie parents, Sunny coaxes Kit out of her self-imposed isolation. They’re joined by Rusty, a Wall Street high-flyer suddenly crashed to earth.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I liked the different POVs and the writing style, but the story just kind of didn’t really go anywhere, which I guess is True To Life, but not as satisfying in this kind of book. I liked reading this, but I will have forgotten it by next week.

New Jersey
Book: Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2 (4.03)
Description: Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father. It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book reminded me of everything I hate about John Green books, but with slightly more substance, so two stars instead of one.

New Mexico
Book: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 (3.90)
Description: In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows—gently, although he must contend with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I did not expect to like this as much as I did. It surprised me by how kind it was.

New York
Book: Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 (3.15)
Description: Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love—all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was fun: I really like the interwoven storylines and switching POV. Forgettable, but a nice, quick read.

North Carolina
Book: The Secret, Book, and Scone Society (Secret, Book, and Scone Society #1) by Ellery Adams
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4 (3.70)
Description: The first in an intriguing new series set within a quirky small-town club where the key to happiness, friendship—or solving a murder—can all be found within the pages of the right book
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Wow, the first cozy mystery I actually enjoyed! Probably because the characters seemed more real and not just two-dimensional. Really liked the emphasis on female friendships and the healing power of fiction.

North Dakota
Book: Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3 (3.99)
Description: Set on and around a North Dakota reservation, ‘Love Medicine’ tells the story of the Lamartines and the Kashpaws – two extraordinary families whose fates are united and sustained in a harsh world by the strength and diversity of their love.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: It’s entirely my fault I didn’t like this book more. I’m not in the right mood for it, and reading it felt like being back in school, forced to read Serious Things when I just wanted to read about dragons.

Ohio
Book: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2 (3.36)
Description: The Andreas family is one of readers. Their father, a renowned Shakespeare professor who speaks almost entirely in verse, has named his three daughters after famous Shakespearean women. When the sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother, but really to lick their wounds and bury their secrets, they are horrified to find the others there. But the sisters soon discover that everything they’ve been running from-one another, their small hometown, and themselves-might offer more than they ever expected
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book just didn’t grab me, but I did finish it.

Oklahoma
Book: Franny Parker by Hannah Roberts McKinnon
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3 (3.93)
Description: From the moment Franny meets Lucas, the two begin a friendship that introduces Franny to the large world beyond her barnyard fence. As their town endures one of the harshest droughts in decades, Franny learns that those in need are not just those others you hear about in church or school; they can be injured wildlife or even the family next door. When her own family suffers a loss, Franny must find the courage to look beyond her sadness to aid a friend in need.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Certainly less depressing than any other Oklahoma book I could have picked

Oregon
Book: Lies You Never Told Me by Jennifer Donaldson
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3 (3.83)
Description: Gabe and Elyse both make the mistake of falling for the wrong person, and falling hard. Told in parallel narratives, this twisty, shocking story shows how one bad choice can lead to a spiral of unforeseen consequences that not everyone will survive.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This was more complicated than I thought it would be. It definitely had aspects of Teen Problem Novel, but wasn’t preachy.

Pennsylvania
Book: Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (3.87)
Description: For generations the Millers have lived in Miller’s Valley. Mimi Miller tells about her life with intimacy and honesty. As Mimi eavesdrops on her parents and quietly observes the people around her, she discovers more and more about the toxicity of family secrets, the dangers of gossip, the flaws of marriage, the inequalities of friendship and the risks of passion, loyalty, and love.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: The best part of this book was the atmospheric setting.

Rhode Island
Book: The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3 (3.55)
Description: A reckless wager between a tennis pro with a fading career and a drunken party guest–the stakes are an antique motorcycle and an heiress’s diamond necklace–launches a narrative odyssey that braids together three centuries of aspiration and adversity.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I really liked the concept of this book: five different storylines in five different time periods set in the same city. But the endings to all five was pretty weak, unfortunately, and I wish more had been done to tie them together.

South Carolina
Book: The House on Tradd Street (Tradd Street #1) by Karen White
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3 (3.99)
Description: Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she’s going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I enjoyed this book, in large part because of my own memories and experiences in Charleston and its historic homes. I’m always willing to give a story where someone can see ghosts more leeway than it maybe deserves. The mystery’s payoff wasn’t as satisfying as the mystery itself; the author hand-waved things that were actually just plot holes. Plus, the HUGE issue of Charleston’s history as a nexus of the slave trade was never alluded to at all, even when it should have been necessary for plot reasons. Pretty on brand for Charleston and its tourism board though, I guess.

South Dakota
Book: Country Nights by Winter Renshaw
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2 (4.09)
Description: Leighton thought she’d rented a South Dakota ranch house for the summer, but shows up to find she has been scammed. Hot rancher River reluctantly offers her a place to stay in exchange for room and board and sparks fly.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Not the worst romance novel I’ve read for my 50 States project.

Tennessee
Book: Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 (4.18)
Description: Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. But now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, a powerful judge is pressuring the district attorney to open up a criminal investigation. Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a “goodbye day” together to share their memories and say a proper farewell.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: This book was less dramatic than I thought it would be, but it did a good job for what it was.

Texas
Book: The After Party by Anton DiSclafani
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 3 (3.30)
Description: Fortier is the epitome of Texas glamour and the center of the 1950s Houston social scene. Tall, blonde, beautiful, and strong, she dominates the room and the gossip columns. Every man who sees her seems to want her; every woman just wants to be her. But this is a highly ordered world of garden clubs and debutante balls. The money may flow as freely as the oil, but the freedom and power all belong to the men. What happens when a woman of indecorous appetites and desires like Joan wants more?
Review I wrote on Goodreads: The premise of this book was better than the execution. I would have rated it lower, but I liked that it was set in Houston. It was fun to read about places I’m familiar with.

Utah
Book: Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3 (4.22)
Description: Edward Abbey vividly captures the essence of his life during three seasons as a park ranger in southeastern Utah. This is a rare view of a quest to experience nature in its purest form–the silence, the struggle, the overwhelming beauty. But this is also the gripping, anguished cry of a man of character who challenges the growing exploitation of the wilderness by oil and mining interests, as well as by the tourist industry.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Really liked the evocative descriptions of the landscape

Vermont
Book: Radio Free Vermont: A Fable of Resistance by Bill McKibben
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 (3.74)
Description: As the host of Radio Free Vermont–“underground, underpowered, and underfoot”–seventy-two-year-old Vern Barclay is currently broadcasting from an “undisclosed and double-secret location.” With the help of a young computer prodigy named Perry Alterson, Vern uses his radio show to advocate for a simple yet radical idea: an independent Vermont, one where the state secedes from the United States and operates under a free local economy. But for now, he and his radio show must remain untraceable, because in addition to being a lifelong Vermonter and concerned citizen, Vern Barclay is also a fugitive from the law.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I really liked this book!

Virginia
Book: Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 (4.16)
Description: From Ivy Rowe’s birth on Blue Star Mountain, her life is full of passion and longing as she writes letters to family and friends. Ivy’s talent as a budding writer is recognized early on, but just as she is about to realize her dream of going north to school, she is betrayed by her passionate nature. Facing an unwed pregnancy and publicly admonished for her sins, Ivy marries a childhood friend who takes her back to the family homestead, where she bears several children and endures the endless toil of a farmer’s wife. Through her trials Ivy holds firm, knowing that her life will hold happiness one day.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: I had no idea the timeline of this book when I started, so I was pleasantly surprised to be reading something that spanned decades. Family saga+epistolary novel, so obvs I was happy.

Washington
Book: Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1 (3.84)
Description: Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl. Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: If you’re contemplating reading this, just give up and watch You’ve Got Mail instead. It’s the exact same story, and the movie is much better written. This book reads like a plot outline instead of an actual novel. Characters think their entire backstory with no prompting. Characters think about how they feel, and then think about how their recent actions really show how they feel. I felt bored and also vaguely insulted. Pretty sure this was written in an afternoon, and it shows.

West Virginia
Book: The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 (3.75)
Description: In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Family secrets! I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would.

Wisconsin
Book: Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe
Genre: Romance
Rating: 1 (3.53)
Description: Matilda Geoffrey had risked it all for love. She’d left Australia to be with Barry—the man who had swept her off her virtual feet. Now, wearing a wedding dress, she’s alone on Main Street in small-town Wisconsin, and things aren’t working out exactly as planned.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: “Cupping her face in his hands, he used his tongue to tickle and cajole, using every trick in his arsenal of seduction to enter the secret cave. Her lips parted and he dove in like a pirate seeking treasure.”

Wyoming
Book: Tempest (Old West #3) by Beverly Jenkins
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3 (4.22)
Description: What kind of mail-order bride greets her intended with a bullet instead of a kiss? One like Regan Carmichael—an independent spirit equally at home in denims and dresses. Shooting Dr. Colton Lee in the shoulder is an honest error, but soon Regan wonders if her entire plan to marry a man she’s never met is a mistake. Colton, who buried his heart along with his first wife, insists he only wants someone to care for his daughter. Yet Regan is drawn to the unmistakable desire in his gaze.
Review I wrote on Goodreads: Like Beverly Jenkins’ other books, this was surprisingly in-depth on the history for a historical romance. I really appreciate a romance novel with a list of sources.