Sometime in the past I read a post from someone who was spending a year reading 50 books, each set in an individual state. I love a reading challenge, but I also read so much I suspected I might have already done this.

I’m sorry to say I’ve read some really uninspiring books over the past few years. A few gems for sure, but a lot of things that I would consider mediocre at best. To get myself out of that situation, I’ve been intentionally seeking out authors that are my age or who were 40+ when their novels were written and published. I’ve also been looking back at best seller lists prior to 2000. This has all been just fine and good, but I remembered the 50 states challenge and decided it would be fun to combine my efforts.

I’m going to do things a little differently and just keep running lists of the books I read from each state. I’m allowing myself to go as far back as 2020 to keep track of this. Since I catalog everything, this feels doable. I especially want to see what states have been overlooked; I’m 100% positive my New York State list will be a big one. Follow along if you want and suggest a favorite book from your state. I’m looking for good ones!