Book #59 – A Time to Kill by John Grisham

Welcome back to the Library, post-quarantine edition. The lack of updates is due to an inability to focus on reading for any length of time. I decided that I’m going to -once again- halt my travels across the US. This will be the last book for Reading Across America before I transition into my summer reading list which will be dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is my pick for Mississippi, and while it does take place in a fictional town, the racial tensions it details are based on incidents that Grisham saw during his time as a lawyer in the Southeast.

Originally published in 1989, A Time to Kill was not initially a success, and was in fact rejected by many publishers before a modest 5000 book release by Wynwood Press. It was not until later novels by Grisham began cycling in the 1990s that A Time to Kill became a best seller. It was adapted into a movie in 1996, starring Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie has nominations for a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor and the Razzie for worst written film grossing over $100 million. The book was also adapted into a stage play that ran on Broadway for 2 months in 2013. There is also a sequel, Sycamore Row, that features the attorney Jake Brigance taking on a different case in Clanton.

Book #156 – The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

I’m jumping back to the Midwestern US for my Illinois pick. Set in Chicago during the rush to build the 1893 Columbian Exposition, aka the 1893 World’s Fair, the book flips back and forth between the architects of what became known as the White City, and the methods of the United States’ first documented serial killer, H.H. Holmes. As a note, I swear I’m not trying to pick something so dark for so many of these states. It’s been nothing but murder and mayhem for weeks now, and I’m sure, eventually, I’ll strike a book with a more positive note. Maybe that will be the next section: Books with Good Vibes Only.

Originally published in 2003, the Devil in the White City was Erik Larson’s 4th published work, and has been by-and-large, his most popular. Although that may change if the United Kingdom rallies behind his latest book, The Splendid and the Vile, which tells about Churchill during the London Air Raids. But on the subject of Larson’s coverage of the Columbian Exposition and H.H. Holmes, the book itself was met with nearly a dozen literary awards, and despite the fact that Leonard DiCaprio bought the film rights in 2010, after a decade, I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing his promised mini series any time soon. However, there are plenty of things in the book that probably affect the average reader’s day-to-day life.

Book #859 – Crank by Ellen Hopkins

While the entirety of Crank is not set in New Mexico, the first major section of the book is set in Albuquerque, and it’s the only book on the list that takes place at all in the Land of Enchantment. I decided that instead of going off script and taking up Death Comes for the Archbishop or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, I’d give this book of connected poems a try. Let me tell you, as someone that was in Poetry Club in high school and took contemporary poetry writing as my arts course in college? This was certainly in my wheelhouse.

Crank was originally published in 2004, roughly a couple years before I’d start writing sestinas and haikus for fun. Crank is actually the first part of a trilogy detailing the life of Kristina, the narrator, but as I wasn’t certain if she returned to New Mexico in either, I decided to forgo reading the rest of the trilogy, but maybe one day for fun, I will. After all, not only is it poetry, it’s in line with all the books that really gripped me as a teenager: Laurie Halse Anderson, Patricia McCormick, Margaret Haddix. While a book of poetry may not lend itself well to the stage or screen (Not counting you, William Shakespeare!), Crank did win several awards for Young Adult literature in 2005 and 2006.

Book #148 – Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Since I’ve already read Gone Girl as part of the Great American Read, and Tom Sawyer as part of my classic literature challenge, there weren’t many books left set in Missouri. I was tempted to read Gillian Flynn’s other novel, Dark Places, which has settings in Kansas City, but given the recent Super Bowl win and my sister living there, I didn’t want to tarnish my idea of the place with how twisted Flynn makes her characters. So, I instead went to the “boot heel” of the state with Flynn’s Sharp Objects. So, sorry, little-sis, I’m still terrified by your new state.

Sharp Objects was Gillian Flynn’s first published novel in 2006, during her career as a television critic for Entertainment Weekly. This debut novel has been met with praise, and while it may not have reached the fame of Gone Girl, it was the winner of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger from the Crime Writer’s Association in 2007. This award is given to a thriller where one “just has to turn the next page”. The book also received a recent miniseries adaptation on HBO in 2018, with Amy Adams starring as Camille and Patricia Clarkson as Adora Crellin.

Book #146 – Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

For Delaware, I chose a book that never specifically states it was set in Delaware. It mentions other cities, dozens of airports, but never where the narrator’s apartment, job, or the building on Paper Street actually are. However, it’s universally accepted that Fight Club takes place in Wilmington, Delaware, and there were no other books on the List that were set in Delaware (at least according to the rather spotting “setting” setting on GoodReads – try saying that 5 times fast.) So, I chose the author to whom I was introduced with Invisible Monsters many years ago.

Fight Club was originally published as a 7-page short story in 1995 for a compilation called “The Pursuit of Happiness”, and that particular publisher went out of business shortly thereafter. However, Fight Club lived on and was published in 1996 as a full novel, and received 2 awards for Best Novel in the Pacific Northwest. It was not until the cult from the DVD sales of the 1999 movie that the book itself gained national attention. Aside from the film, the book has inspired several stage plays, a slew of underground wrestling/boxing clubs, and more bruised headshots than Palahniuk likes to think about. Also, Palahniuk has been apparently collaborating on a musical since the mid 2000s, so I’m looking forward to that eventually.

Honorable Mention #4 – Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

South Dakota seems to be the place of sequel books, so it took a while to determine what to assign to the state. So, I was left with Strange Angels, Logan’s Run, a novel about the making of Wizard of Oz, and a smattering of dust jacket with shirtless men in jeans. I decided to go with the part of me that will always say yes to a YA fantasy novel and chose Strange Angels as an honorable mention to the list. It’s set in an unnamed South Dakota town during the winter months, so expect plenty of Midwest/North West snow. Seriously, Dakotas, which section of the US are you? I thought Midwest, but Google keeps telling me otherwise. (This is why I studied math; I’m horrible at geography.)

Strange Angels is the first of a series by Lili St. Crow and originally published in 2009. I’m breaking one of my newer rules and not reviewing the entire series for the sole reason that this was an Honorable Mention pick, and I don’t believe the remainder of the books are set in South Dakota. It’s surprisingly flown under the radar, despite a promotional video that makes the whole book sound way less sarcastic than it actually is.

Book #337 – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Although much of Station Eleven takes place in Toronto, I selected it for Michigan due to the time spent in the Severn City Airport, which was used to represent Grand Rapids, Michigan’s airport. Well, that and I came across the fact that aside from Jeffrey Euginides’ works, this was the only Michigan-set book on the list. And I’m saving Euginides’ Middlesex for another occasion. So, that meant that this post-apocalyptic novel set mostly around the Great Lakes was the perfect pick for Michigan.

Station Eleven was originally published in 2014 and was Mandel’s fourth novel, and to date, her highest selling. The book was met with praise and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2015, as well as the 2015 Toronto Book Award. It was nominated for the U.S. National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner, and Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction. The book was originally set to become a film, but in October 2019, the plan was changed to a 10 episode miniseries on HBO. Of course, the first time I heard of the book, it was because my hometown has a city wide book club and this was the book chosen. (Despite my hometown being on the opposite side of Ohio from all the action in the book.)

Book #588 – The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

For my Minnesota pick, I decided on The Good Girl, the debut novel of Mary Kubica. The other choices on the list were American Gods by Neil Gaiman which honestly bopped around the United States a bit too much to pin it to one state, and the sequels to Shiver, which I still need to read as part of my initiative to review all a series in one post. After those, I would have had to pull honorable mentions from another Stephen King novel, and the various young adult supernatural and general romance novels that seem to exist for every state. Not saying that The Good Girl was bad, but given the mixed reviews that already exist for it, I figured I’d justify my choice.

The Good Girl was originally published in 2014, it is the first of Mary Kubica’s psychological thrillers. The book has been met with mixed reviews, mostly due to comparisons that I’ll explain in a bit, and it was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award and the Strand Critics Award for Debut Novel. While there are no current adaptations of the novel, it was announced in 2018 that Grey Matter Productions and Topic Studios would be attempting a TV series based on the novel. Just, don’t get it confused with the 2002 film of the same name starring Jennifer Aniston.

Book #157 – Misery by Stephen King

Welcome to 2020! I’m back on my road trip around the United States, and my first stop is Colorado. “But wait!” I hear you say, “Didn’t you have Stephen King for Maine, too?” I did, and normally, I wouldn’t have the same author twice for this type of challenge, but when the 3 most popular books set partially in Colorado are all by King? I sort of had to go with it. Since The Shining was used for this past year’s Halloween Reads, I decided to go with a book that actually references The Shining and is set in the mountains nearby.

Misery was originally published in 1987, and King attributes the start of the novel to a dream he had while in flight to London. Misery was originally set to be released under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman, but shortly before printing started, Bachman was outed as King. (But more on that in a bit!) The book was met with general praise upon release and won the Bram Stoker Award in 1987. The book has inspired at least one film, an appearance in the King-centric show Castle Rock, and several plays. 

#730 – A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

I actually watched this movie during my brief bout as a movie reviewer in 2014… or was it 2013? In any case, I remember vague parts of the film such as Helena Bonham Carter is rather hilarious as a young British woman trying to deal with Maggie Smith’s helicopter chaperoning in Italy. The men, though, I barely recalled, and that may be due to my inability to see Julian Sands or Daniel Day Lewis as particularly dashing or romantic. But, to each his own. However, having read the book, I can say that I rather enjoy Lucy’s antics, regardless of media.

Originally published in 1908, this is probably considered E.M. Forster’s 3rd most important book. I was actually surprised when neither Howard’s End nor A Passage to India made the List, since these are usually the books chosen to showcase Forster’s work. I can only hazard that the 1985 movie may have been more popular with recent generations than the 1984 Passage to India or 1992 Howard’s End. It seems rather arbitrary, honestly. Aside from the movie, A Room with a View has been made into a play in 1975, a radio show in 1995, and a made for TV movie in 2007. It’s also been featured in song and cameo’d in Gilmore Girls and the USA version of The Office.