Books set in Illinois
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 Illinois 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.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- Author: Erik Larson
- Published: February 11, 2003
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime
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The Time Traveler's Wife
- Author: Audrey Niffenegger
- Published: January 1, 2004
- Genres: Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel
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Ghost Hand (The PSS Chronicles, #1)
- Author: Ripley Patton
- Published: November 28, 2012
- Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
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State of Horror: Illinois
- Author: Jerry E. Benns
- Published: August 23, 2014
- Genres: Horror
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The Jungle
- Author: Upton Sinclair
- Published: February 25, 1905
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature
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Native Son
- Author: Richard Wright
- Published: January 1, 1940
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, African American
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A Long Way from Chicago (A Long Way from Chicago, #1)
- Author: Richard Peck
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens
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A Heart Of Stone
- Author: Amanda Springer
- Published: September 29, 2014
- Genres: Christian
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The House on Mango Street
- Author: Sandra Cisneros
- Published: January 1, 1984
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Short Stories
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Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- Author: John Green
- Published: April 6, 2010
- Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Fiction
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Across Five Aprils
- Author: Irene Hunt
- Published: September 1, 1964
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Civil War
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Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)
- Author: Jim Butcher
- Published: April 1, 2000
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Fiction
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A Raisin in the Sun
- Author: Lorraine Hansberry
- Published: January 1, 1959
- Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Drama
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The Unicorn Hunter
- Author: Del Henderson
- Published: October 26, 2015
- Genres: Fantasy, Unicorns
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The Litigators
- Author: John Grisham
- Published: October 25, 2011
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Legal Thriller
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Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2)
- Author: Ray Bradbury
- Published: September 17, 1962
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics
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Chicago Poems
- Author: Carl Sandburg
- Published: January 1, 1916
- Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction, American
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Deceptions (Cainsville, #3)
- Author: Kelley Armstrong
- Published: August 18, 2015
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery
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Deadlock (V.I. Warshawski, #2)
- Author: Sara Paretsky
- Published: December 12, 1984
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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Rose Madder
- Author: Stephen King
- Published: January 1, 1995
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy
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Wild Women and the Blues
- Author: Denny S. Bryce
- Published: March 30, 2021
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult
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Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires, #1)
- Author: Chloe Neill
- Published: April 7, 2009
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Fantasy
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It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars, #1)
- Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Sports
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Omens (Cainsville, #1)
- Author: Kelley Armstrong
- Published: August 20, 2013
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal
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Visions (Cainsville, #2)
- Author: Kelley Armstrong
- Published: August 14, 2014
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery
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Brush Back (V.I. Warshawski, #17)
- Author: Sara Paretsky
- Published: July 16, 2015
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15)
- Author: Jim Butcher
- Published: May 27, 2014
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery
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The Firebrand (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy #3)
- Author: Susan Wiggs
- Published: April 1, 2001
- Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction
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The Mistress (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy, #2)
- Author: Susan Wiggs
- Published: October 1, 2000
- Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction
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Blood Secrets
- Author: Craig Jones
- Published: January 1, 1978
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
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Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, #1)
- Author: Mia P. Manansala
- Published: May 4, 2021
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller
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Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1)
- Author: Ray Bradbury
- Published: September 1, 1957
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction, Fantasy
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Time Between Us (Time Between Us, #1)
- Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
- Published: October 9, 2012
- Genres: Young Adult, Time Travel, Romance, Fantasy
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Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
- Author: Veronica Roth
- Published: May 1, 2012
- Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction, Fantasy
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The Hostage (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy #1)
- Author: Susan Wiggs
- Published: April 1, 2000
- Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction
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If We Were Villains
- Author: M.L. Rio
- Published: April 11, 2017
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Contemporary
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The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days
- Author: Michele Weber Hurwitz
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction
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Sister Carrie
- Author: Theodore Dreiser
- Published: November 8, 1900
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature, American
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Deliver Us from Normal
- Author: Kate Klise
- Published: January 1, 2005
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade
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About Average
- Author: Andrew Clements
- Published: June 26, 2012
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, School
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A Year Down Yonder (A Long Way from Chicago, #2)
- Author: Richard Peck
- Published: January 1, 2000
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens
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Indemnity Only (V.I. Warshawski, #1)
- Author: Sara Paretsky
- Published: February 3, 1982
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller
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My Chocolate Year: A Novel with 12 Recipes to Make Your World a Little Sweeter
- Author: Charlotte Herman
- Published: February 19, 2008
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens, Historical
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Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)
- Author: Jim Butcher
- Published: July 26, 2011
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery
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The Jazz Palace
- Author: Mary Morris
- Published: April 7, 2015
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Music, Jazz
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A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry, #1)
- Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
- Published: September 30, 2000
- Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
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Just Your Average Princess (Just Your Average #1)
- Author: Kristina Springer
- Published: October 11, 2011
- Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
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The Paper Cowboy
- Author: Kristin Levine
- Published: September 4, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical, Family
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