Books set in Indiana

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September 27, 2022
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Books set in Indiana

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 Indiana 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 Fault in Our Stars

- Rating: 4.16 (4.5 million ratings)
- Author: John Green
- Published: January 10, 2012
- Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary
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The Wide Game (Harmony, Indiana, #1)

- Rating: 3.86 (210 ratings)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: June 23, 2003
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Suspense
- Read more on Goodreads

Indy Writes Books: A Book Lover's Anthology

- Rating: 4.08 (64 ratings)
- Author: M. Travis DiNicola
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Short Stories, Unfinished, Contemporary, Fiction
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All the Bright Places

- Rating: 4.14 (471,094 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer Niven
- Published: January 6, 2015
- Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
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A Christmas Story

- Rating: 4.06 (3,787 ratings)
- Author: Jean Shepherd
- Published: October 28, 2003
- Genres: Christmas, Humor, Fiction, Classics
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Running Out of Time

- Rating: 3.99 (24,834 ratings)
- Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Published: October 1, 1995
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction, Middle Grade
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Cinema of Shadows (Harmony, Indiana, #2)

- Rating: 3.70 (309 ratings)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: August 9, 2011
- Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Fiction, Ghosts
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Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932

- Rating: 3.90 (3,002 ratings)
- Author: Kathryn Lasky
- Published: January 1, 2001
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Christmas, Young Adult, Middle Grade
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Spook House (Harmony, Indiana, #3)

- Rating: 3.78 (242 ratings)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: October 17, 2012
- Genres: Horror, Halloween, Fiction
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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

- Rating: 3.71 (115,179 ratings)
- Author: Karen Joy Fowler
- Published: May 30, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Animals
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Skull Full of Kisses

- Rating: 4.10 (67 ratings)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Collections
- Read more on Goodreads

When Lightning Strikes (1-800-Where-R-You, #1)

- Rating: 4.05 (16,809 ratings)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: February 27, 2001
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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Cold Cold Heart

- Rating: 3.89 (15,463 ratings)
- Author: Tami Hoag
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
- Read more on Goodreads

Here Lies the Librarian

- Rating: 3.75 (3,630 ratings)
- Author: Richard Peck
- Published: April 20, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Humor
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Rosetown

- Rating: 3.69 (577 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia Rylant
- Published: May 8, 2018
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Historical Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Turtles All the Way Down

- Rating: 3.91 (474,461 ratings)
- Author: John Green
- Published: October 10, 2017
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Health
- Read more on Goodreads

A Girl of the Limberlost

- Rating: 4.16 (19,775 ratings)
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1909
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction
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The Magnificent Ambersons

- Rating: 3.78 (10,928 ratings)
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1918
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Literature
- Read more on Goodreads

Alice Adams

- Rating: 3.64 (4,355 ratings)
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1921
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, American
- Read more on Goodreads

The Friendly Persuasion

- Rating: 3.90 (876 ratings)
- Author: Jessamyn West
- Published: September 8, 2003
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Civil War
- Read more on Goodreads

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

- Rating: 3.95 (63,680 ratings)
- Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Published: January 1, 1965
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Humor, Science Fiction
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Pearls of Wisdom

- Rating: 4.08 (49 ratings)
- Author: Chantilly White
- Published: April 23, 2012
- Genres: Historical, Military Fiction, Historical Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Freckles (Limberlost, #1)

- Rating: 4.11 (10,893 ratings)
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1904
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets

- Rating: 3.92 (167 ratings)
- Author: Mark Marimen
- Published: May 6, 2008
- Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History, Paranormal
- Read more on Goodreads

Laddie: A True Blue Story

- Rating: 4.24 (4,162 ratings)
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1913
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
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Zorrie

- Rating: 3.89 (4,769 ratings)
- Author: Laird Hunt
- Published: February 9, 2021
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

The Sirens of Titan

- Rating: 4.14 (129,618 ratings)
- Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Published: January 1, 1959
- Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Humor
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South of the Big Four

- Rating: 3.81 (156 ratings)
- Author: Don Kurtz
- Published: June 1, 1995
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels
- Read more on Goodreads

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat

- Rating: 3.98 (12,249 ratings)
- Author: Edward Kelsey Moore
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Historical Fiction, Audiobook
- Read more on Goodreads

Code Name Cassandra (1-800-Where-R-You, #2)

- Rating: 4.06 (12,733 ratings)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: August 1, 2001
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

The Beef Princess of Practical County

- Rating: 3.86 (402 ratings)
- Author: Michelle Houts
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Chapter Books, Middle Grade
- Read more on Goodreads

Seventeen

- Rating: 3.87 (667 ratings)
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1915
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Humor, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana

- Rating: 4.05 (9,597 ratings)
- Author: Haven Kimmel
- Published: December 1, 2005
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography
- Read more on Goodreads

Sanctuary (1-800-Where-R-You, #4)

- Rating: 4.10 (10,977 ratings)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: September 1, 2002
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

You Should See Me in a Crown

- Rating: 4.13 (36,019 ratings)
- Author: Leah Johnson
- Published: June 2, 2020
- Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Called by a Panther (Albert Samson, #8)

- Rating: 3.40 (30 ratings)
- Author: Michael Z. Lewin
- Published: January 1, 1991
- Genres: Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads

One Shot (Jack Reacher, #9)

- Rating: 4.22 (105,699 ratings)
- Author: Lee Child
- Published: July 10, 2005
- Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime
- Read more on Goodreads

Missing You (1-800-Where-R-You, #5)

- Rating: 4.18 (12,206 ratings)
- Author: Meg Cabot
- Published: December 26, 2006
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

The Mighty Miss Malone

- Rating: 4.13 (15,173 ratings)
- Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
- Published: January 10, 2012
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens
- Read more on Goodreads

The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town

- Rating: 3.03 (441 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer Niven
- Published: September 1, 2009
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography
- Read more on Goodreads

Viola in Reel Life (Viola #1)

- Rating: 3.52 (3,616 ratings)
- Author: Adriana Trigiani
- Published: September 1, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

Chasing Orion

- Rating: 3.58 (321 ratings)
- Author: Kathryn Lasky
- Published: September 11, 2007
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

So Dear to My Heart

- Rating: 4.06 (103 ratings)
- Author: Sterling North
- Published: January 1, 1943
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile
- Read more on Goodreads

Our Wayward Fate

- Rating: 3.60 (1,131 ratings)
- Author: Gloria Chao
- Published: October 15, 2019
- Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Ivy in the Shadows

- Rating: 3.41 (49 ratings)
- Author: Chris Woodworth
- Published: February 5, 2013
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

The Hoosier Schoolmaster: A Story of Backwoods Life in Indiana

- Rating: 3.75 (193 ratings)
- Author: Edward Eggleston
- Published: January 1, 1871
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, American
- Read more on Goodreads

A Hoosier Holiday

- Rating: 3.95 (38 ratings)
- Author: Theodore Dreiser
- Published: January 1, 1916
- Genres: Autobiography, Travel
- Read more on Goodreads

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