Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford’s series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?
What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in “their” state.
Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard’s “In Zanesville,” respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.
Stacker compiled a list of books set in Alabama from Goodreads. Whether you’re looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you’re looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you’re already familiar with, we’ve got you covered.
50. The Hidden Summer
- Rating: 3.64 (506 ratings)
- Author: Gin Phillips
- Published: June 13, 2013
- Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult
49. The Store
- Rating: 3.70 (656 ratings)
- Author: T.S. Stribling
- Published: January 1, 1932
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Civil War, Classics
48. Send Me Down a Miracle
- Rating: 3.45 (405 ratings)
- Author: Han Nolan
- Published: April 1, 1996
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Religion
47. Jericho Walls
- Rating: 3.97 (115 ratings)
- Author: Kristi Collier
- Published: April 1, 2002
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Young Adult, African American
46. Alabama Moon
- Rating: 4.06 (4,668 ratings)
- Author: Watt Key
- Published: January 4, 2004
- Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Survival, Realistic Fiction
45. Singing Hands
- Rating: 3.70 (150 ratings)
- Author: Delia Ray
- Published: January 1, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction
44. Almost Home
- Rating: 4.29 (1,580 ratings)
- Author: Valerie Fraser Luesse
- Published: March 5, 2019
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Christian Fiction, Christian
43. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
- Rating: 4.64 (46,628 ratings)
- Author: Anthony Ray Hinton- Published: March 27, 2018
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Audiobook
42. Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”
- Rating: 4.01 (25,581 ratings)
- Author: Zora Neale Hurston
- Published: April 24, 2018
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Race
41. The Keepers of the House
- Rating: 4.00 (11,470 ratings)
- Author: Shirley Ann Grau
- Published: February 12, 1964
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Southern
40. The Wife Upstairs
- Rating: 3.76 (161,433 ratings)
- Author: Rachel Hawkins
- Published: January 5, 2021
- Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller
39. The Well and the Mine
- Rating: 3.76 (3,549 ratings)
- Author: Gin Phillips- Published: January 21, 2008
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Mystery
38. A Yellow Watermelon
- Rating: 4.16 (57 ratings)
- Author: Ted M. Dunagan
- Published: October 1, 2007
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Cultural
37. Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story
- Rating: 4.20 (230 ratings)
- Author: Onnie Lee Logan
- Published: January 1, 1989
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Medical
36. In the Shadow of Alabama
- Rating: 4.04 (639 ratings)
- Author: Judy Reene Singer
- Published: May 30, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Southern, World War II
35. Wonderland
- Rating: 4.11 (1,162 ratings)
- Author: Barbara O’Connor
- Published: August 28, 2018
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Dogs, Children
34. Gods in Alabama
- Rating: 3.86 (22,404 ratings)
- Author: Joshilyn Jackson
- Published: April 13, 2005
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Southern, Contemporary
33. Standing in the Rainbow
- Rating: 4.05 (16,997 ratings)
- Author: Fannie Flagg- Published: May 1, 2002
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Chick Lit, Southern
32. Midnight at the Blackbird Café
- Rating: 4.07 (29,208 ratings)
- Author: Heather Webber
- Published: July 16, 2019
- Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Romance
31. Big Fish
- Rating: 3.68 (20,577 ratings)
- Author: Daniel Wallace
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Contemporary
30. Illuminating Gracie
- Rating: 4.01 (91 ratings)
- Author: Lisa C. Temple
- Published: June 8, 2013
- Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Supernatural
29. Boy’s Life
- Rating: 4.38 (30,541 ratings)
- Author: Robert McCammon
- Published: August 1, 1991
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery
28. Open Season
- Rating: 4.01 (20,056 ratings)
- Author: Linda Howard- Published: July 1, 2001
- Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, Suspense
27. Gone Crazy in Alabama
- Rating: 4.15 (3,937 ratings)
- Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
- Published: April 21, 2015
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Family
26. We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
- Rating: 4.10 (1,596 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia Levinson
- Published: February 1, 2012
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Historical
25. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South
- Rating: 4.26 (144 ratings)
- Author: Dan T. Carter
- Published: January 1, 1971
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, African American
24. A Christmas Memory
- Rating: 4.24 (13,324 ratings)
- Author: Truman Capote
- Published: January 1, 1956
- Genres: Christmas, Short Stories, Classics, Fiction
23. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
- Rating: 4.54 (985 ratings)
- Author: Martin Luther King Jr.
- Published: November 30, 1957
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography
22. The Miracle Worker: A Play
- Rating: 4.20 (34,209 ratings)
- Author: William Gibson
- Published: January 1, 1956
- Genres: Plays, Classics, Biography, Nonfiction
21. And Their Children After Them: The Legacy of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: James Agee, Walker Evans, and the Rise and Fall of Cotton in the South
- Rating: 4.02 (239 ratings)
- Author: Dale Maharidge
- Published: May 13, 1989
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Photography
20. Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- Rating: 3.78 (21,151 ratings)
- Author: Casey Cep
- Published: May 7, 2019
- Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Biography
19. My Year in the Middle
- Rating: 4.06 (641 ratings)
- Author: Lila Quintero Weaver
- Published: July 10, 2018
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction
18. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
- Rating: 3.99 (64,910 ratings)
- Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
- Published: January 1, 1995
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction
17. The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories
- Rating: 4.01 (5,729 ratings)
- Author: Truman Capote
- Published: January 2, 1956
- Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, American
16. Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution
- Rating: 4.19 (919 ratings)
- Author: Diane McWhorter
- Published: March 15, 2001
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Race
15. Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey
- Rating: 4.17 (435 ratings)
- Author: Kathryn Tucker Windham
- Published: May 15, 2014
- Genres: Paranormal, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Southern
14. Francie
- Rating: 3.85 (185 ratings)
- Author: Karen English
- Published: January 1, 1999
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fiction
13. Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven
- Rating: 3.93 (18,987 ratings)
- Author: Fannie Flagg
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Southern, Chick Lit
12. Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!
- Rating: 3.90 (25,304 ratings)
- Author: Fannie Flagg
- Published: September 22, 1998
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Southern, Humor
11. Inside Out & Back Again
- Rating: 4.12 (55,446 ratings)
- Author: Thanhha Lai
- Published: February 22, 2011
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Poetry, Middle Grade, Young Adult
10. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March
- Rating: 4.16 (3,442 ratings)
- Author: Lynda Blackmon Lowery
- Published: January 8, 2015
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Middle Grade
9. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
- Rating: 4.01 (3,611 ratings)
- Author: James Agee
- Published: August 1, 1941
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Photography, Classics
8. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
- Rating: 4.62 (201,418 ratings)
- Author: Bryan Stevenson- Published: October 21, 2014
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Social Justice, Race
7. The Complete Stories of Truman Capote
- Rating: 4.20 (5,736 ratings)
- Author: Truman Capote
- Published: January 1, 1993
- Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Literature
6. Murder on the First Day of Christmas
- Rating: 3.86 (165 ratings)
- Author: Billie Thomas
- Published: December 17, 2012
- Genres: Christmas, Mystery, Holiday, Cozy Mystery
5. Forrest Gump
- Rating: 4.04 (64,706 ratings)
- Author: Winston Groom
- Published: December 31, 1986
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Historical Fiction, Classics
4. Looking for Alaska
- Rating: 3.98 (1.4 million ratings)
- Author: John Green
- Published: March 3, 2005
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
3. A Masque of Infamy
- Rating: 4.03 (73 ratings)
- Author: Kelly Dessaint- Published: March 6, 2013
- Genres: Relationships, Mental Health
2. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
- Rating: 4.28 (289,747 ratings)
- Author: Fannie Flagg
- Published: January 1, 1987
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Classics
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
- Rating: 4.27 (5.4 million ratings)
- Author: Harper Lee- Published: January 1, 1960
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, School
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