Reading the States: Florida

Friday, March 2, 2012


State: FLORIDA
Fiction:
- Their Eyes Were Watching God* by Zora Neal Hurston
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter* by Jeff Lindsay
- Because of Winn-Dixie* by Kate DiCamillo
- Paper Towns* by John Green
- The Yearling* by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
- Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard
- Done Deal by Les Standiford
- To Have & Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

Nonfiction:
- The Orchid Thief* by Susan Orlean
- Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston 
- Marley and Me* by John Grogan

Authors Known for Writing about the State:
- Carl Hiaasen
- Patricia Cornwell

Authors Who Lived Here:
- Dave Barry
- Ernest Hemingway

Great Bookstores in the State:

*Books I've Read

Photo by moi.

9 comments:

Kristi said...

I'm guessing as a dog lover, Marley and Me broke your heart. The movie was crap, but I thought the book was a pretty good mix of funny and touching.

I've been meaning to read Their Eyes Were Watching God forever, but I had no idea it took place in Florida.

I just read my first John Green this year and I really loved it.
I think The Fault in Our Stars will be next, but I'm hoping to get to all of them.

annieb said...

I also loved Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' "Cross Creek" about her life in Florida. I even like the movie with Mary Steenburgen and Peter Coyote. Most everything written by Carl Hiaasen is centered in Florida I believe, including his nonfiction. I think he is a highly underrated writer.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

oh how I LOVE Paper Towns. Love.

I have read one of Carl Hiaasen's books and have several more on the shelf but I've been thinking about ditching them for audio versions. My parents really love his stuff, though.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

PS--where did that dang "Subscribe to comments" button go!!!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Kristi - Marley and Me was so good! I loved that he blended so much of his real life struggles into the book. You should really read Fault, I loved it! Also, Their Eyes is good, but the dialect in it is rough. Listen to the audio if you get the chance.

annieb - I'll really have to check out his work!

Trish - I have no idea! Stupid blogger, I'll see if I can fix it. I loved Paper Towns too! I haven't read any of Hiaasen's work, but I've been meaning to.

Darlyn (Your Move, Dickens) said...

If you haven't read Out of Sight yet, I highly recommend it. The prose, particularly the dialogue, is pitch-perfect.

Also, Florida played a really huge part in Paper Towns. It was almost like another major character. :)

care said...

orchid Thief, oh yea!

BookQuoter said...

For a change I have read 3/7 Fiction books: loved Zola's book, liked John Green's book, and didn't care for Swamplandia that much.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Darlyn - I should definitely read that one. I agree about Paper Towns, the state is a major part of the book.

care - I know, it always makes me think of Adaptation.

BookQuoter - I haven't read Swamplandia, but it got so much hype, I was curious about it.