Reading the States: Indiana

Friday, April 13, 2012


** This is my state, so it was fun to discover a few new authors and books that originated here.

State: INDIANA

Fiction:
- The Fault in Our Stars* by John Green
- God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
- A Girl of the Limberlost* by Gene Stratton-Porter
- Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck
- The Circus in Winter* by Cathy Day
- The Inner Circle by T. C. Boyle
- Where the Birds go When it Rains* by Jamie Paul Wesseler
- Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager
- The Stone Diaries* by Carol Shields
- Raintree County by Ross Lockridge
- Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill
- The Magnificent Ambersons* by Booth Tarkington
- We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler 

Nonfiction:
- A Fever in the Heartland* Timothy Egan
- A Girl Named Zippy* by Haven Kimmel
- A Lynching in the Heartland Race and Memory in America by James H. Madison
- A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd
- She Got Up Off the Couch by Haven Kimmel 

Authors Known for Writing in or about the State:
- John Green
- Haven Kimmel
- Booth Tarkington

Authors Who Lived Here:
- Ernie Pyle
- Kurt Vonnegut
- Booth Tarkington
- Lew Wallace
- Meg Cabot
- James Whitcomb Riley
- Karen Joy Fowler
- Theodore Dreiser

Great Bookstores:

*Books I've Read

Photo by moi.

12 comments:

Sandy Nawrot said...

I'm sitting here thinking that I should be able to whip off a dozen examples of books taking place in IN but I can't think of anything but The Fault in Our Stars! I did get an ARC once that was titled something like "Murders in Southern Indiana" but I gave it to my mom. I'll get back to you on that one!

Sandy Nawrot said...

Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill.

annieb said...

I was born and raised in Indiana, but I left when I was 20 and I'm now 68. However, although I have lived in 4 other states and consider Nevada my home after 32 years, I still get a little thrill reading about Indiana. I remember my mother trying to get me to read A Girl of the Limberlost when I was young, but I never did. I should try to find a copy (probably not easy).

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Sandy - I added it in, thanks! I actually had a really hard time thinking of any for Indiana, but I was surprised by some of the authors that started out here.

annieb - You'll always be a Hoosier at heart!

B said...

Cheers to Half Price Books! I LOVE that place. When I was single I'd go there about once every two weeks after dinner. I'd get there about 6:30 or 7:00 and next thing I knew they would be announcing their closing at 10. I can seriously spend hours there and the time always passes so quickly. I still go there, just not quite as often and usually not for three hours at a time :)

Anonymous said...

I went to one of Frank Bill's readings a few months ago after I read Crimes in Southern Indiana. He was so down to earth and offered great advice to a group of aspiring writers (not me! I went with a friend who is a writer). His book was disturbing, but well written. I'm really glad it's fiction, let's put it that way! :)

-Care

Jenners said...

Yay for a Girl Named Zippy! I loved that book!!!

Jeanne said...

Magic by the Lake was set in Indiana? I'm going to have to reread that book when I can find it again!

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

WELL. If you're ever in Dallas then you MUST visit the flagship HPB store because it is the most awesome place in the entire world. I typically only go there on my lunch breaks because otherwise I would be lost for hours.

Hope to read The Fault in our Stars very soon!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Brenna - Me too! I can spend hours.

Care - I hadn't heard of him before, but I'm always interested to find Indiana authros.

Jenners - I did too, but I haven't read the rest of her work yet.

Jeanne - Apparently it's set at a resort in Angola, IN. I never realized that before.

Trish - I would LOVE to go there! If I make it to Dallas it's a must see.

BookQuoter said...

You have a lot of nice authors in your State!!
Have never been to a Half-price book store, so shocking!!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

BookQuoter - Half Priced Books is great! They are all over the country now too, so definitely check one out.