We hear about all different kinds of reading challenges around here, and today's guest is seeking titles to help mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Mary Pogue lives in St. Louis with her family, where she enjoys her work as a digital marketing strategist and her hobbies like coaching field hockey, traveling, and of course, reading.
This year, Mary's embarking on a challenge she is calling Read the USA. Her goal is to read a book set in or written by an author from every U.S. state. While Mary has made great progress already at this point in the year, she is hoping for Anne's help in picking books for a handful of states Mary has yet to visit, either in person or on the page, and is having a hard time finding options for.
Mary would be thrilled if these books could do double duty. She especially enjoys learning about each state's history and culture through works of historical fiction, and she has a preference for titles she'll find at her local library. But as you'll hear today, Mary is open to all kinds of options. Today we'll tackle her list of outstanding states and discover titles she might want to add to this reading road trip.
Find the list of the books discussed today and leave your suggestions for Mary on our show notes page at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com/519.
Chapters:
03:56 Meet Mary
08:32 Mary's Read the USA reading project
16:56 The Huntress by Kate Quinn
20:44 The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry
23:05 The Library Book by Susan Orlean
25:47 Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
41:11 The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
44:57 The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
49:15 Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
51:22 Montana 1948 by Larry Watson
56:04 Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
57:56 What will Mary read next?
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