I am enjoying my “Wanderlust: Reading the World” ongoing personal reading project so much that I’ve decided to expand it by also reading a book from each of the 50 states. (That inspiration came from my blogging friend, Cath, at Read_Warbler.)  I’ll call it “Wanderlust: Reading the States”.  I’m not a glutton for punishment, I assure you. I’m just interested in and curious about the world around me, and these personal projects are stress-free, motivating, enjoyable, and a way of expanding my horizons. All from my favorite reading chair (on the porch again before too long, I hope!).

I decided that I wanted the two projects to run side-by-side. They are “ongoing” with no time limit and are just meant to be fun reading journeys. I’ll review most of the books I read, but not necessarily every one.  Please do check back here occasionally to see where I’ve been “traveling.”

Red: Read and reviewed
Blue: Read but not reviewed yet

30/50 States

1. Alabama:  Barracoon, by Zora Neale Hurston
2. Alaska:  The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
3. Arizona:  Sing Down the Moon, by Scott O’Dell
4. Arkansas:  Shakespeare’s Landlord, by Charlaine Harris
5. California:  The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck
6. Colorado:  Booked to Die, by John Dunning
7. Connecticut:  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, by Mark Twain
8. Delaware:  
9. Florida:  One More Body in the Pool, by Ray Bradbury
10. Georgia:  Our Time is Now, by Stacey Abrams
11. Hawaii:  Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai’i, edited by Joanna L. Groarke and Theresa Papanikolas
12. Idaho
13. Illinois:  The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
14. Indiana
15. Iowa:  Summer of Love and Evil, by Michael Kinnamon 
16. Kansas
17. Kentucky
18. Louisiana:  Through My Eyes, by Ruby Bridges / The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles
19. Maine:  The Country of the Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett
20. Maryland:  Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler
21. Massachusetts:  Walking, by Henry David Thoreau
22. Michigan:  Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
23. Minnesota:  Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate
24. Mississippi
25. Missouri
26. Montana:  A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire:  Murder is Binding: A Booktown Mystery, by Lorna Barrett
30. New Jersey:  Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, by Dorothy Gillman
31. New Mexico:  Death Comes For The Archbishop, by Willa Cather
32. New York:  Here is New York, by E.B. White
33. North Carolina
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio:  The Time Garden, by Edward Eager
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon:  The Turning, by Emily Whitman
38. Pennsylvania
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina:  Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
41. South Dakota:  The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah:  The Great Brain, by John D. Fitzgerald 
45. Vermont:  Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin:  
50. Wyoming:  One Day At Teton Marsh, by Sally Carrighar