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
- Author: John Green
- Published: January 10, 2012
- Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary
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The Wide Game (Harmony, Indiana, #1)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: June 23, 2003
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Suspense
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Indy Writes Books: A Book Lover's Anthology
- Author: M. Travis DiNicola
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Short Stories, Unfinished, Contemporary, Fiction
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All the Bright Places
- Author: Jennifer Niven
- Published: January 6, 2015
- Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
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A Christmas Story
- Author: Jean Shepherd
- Published: October 28, 2003
- Genres: Christmas, Humor, Fiction, Classics
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Running Out of Time
- 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)
- 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
- Author: Kathryn Lasky
- Published: January 1, 2001
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Christmas, Young Adult, Middle Grade
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Spook House (Harmony, Indiana, #3)
- Author: Michael West
- Published: October 17, 2012
- Genres: Horror, Halloween, Fiction
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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
- Author: Karen Joy Fowler
- Published: May 30, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Animals
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Skull Full of Kisses
- Author: Michael West
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Collections
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When Lightning Strikes (1-800-Where-R-You, #1)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: February 27, 2001
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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Cold Cold Heart
- Author: Tami Hoag
- Published: January 1, 2014
- Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
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Here Lies the Librarian
- Author: Richard Peck
- Published: April 20, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Humor
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Rosetown
- Author: Cynthia Rylant
- Published: May 8, 2018
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Historical Fiction
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Turtles All the Way Down
- Author: John Green
- Published: October 10, 2017
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Health
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A Girl of the Limberlost
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1909
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction
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The Magnificent Ambersons
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1918
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Literature
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Alice Adams
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1921
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, American
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The Friendly Persuasion
- Author: Jessamyn West
- Published: September 8, 2003
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Civil War
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God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
- Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Published: January 1, 1965
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Humor, Science Fiction
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Pearls of Wisdom
- Author: Chantilly White
- Published: April 23, 2012
- Genres: Historical, Military Fiction, Historical Romance
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Freckles (Limberlost, #1)
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1904
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction
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Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
- Author: Mark Marimen
- Published: May 6, 2008
- Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History, Paranormal
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Laddie: A True Blue Story
- Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
- Published: January 1, 1913
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
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Zorrie
- Author: Laird Hunt
- Published: February 9, 2021
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Historical
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The Sirens of Titan
- Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- Published: January 1, 1959
- Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Humor
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South of the Big Four
- Author: Don Kurtz
- Published: June 1, 1995
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels
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The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
- Author: Edward Kelsey Moore
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Historical Fiction, Audiobook
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Code Name Cassandra (1-800-Where-R-You, #2)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: August 1, 2001
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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The Beef Princess of Practical County
- Author: Michelle Houts
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Chapter Books, Middle Grade
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Seventeen
- Author: Booth Tarkington
- Published: January 1, 1915
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Humor, Romance
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She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana
- Author: Haven Kimmel
- Published: December 1, 2005
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography
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Sanctuary (1-800-Where-R-You, #4)
- Author: Jenny Carroll
- Published: September 1, 2002
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
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You Should See Me in a Crown
- Author: Leah Johnson
- Published: June 2, 2020
- Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance
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Called by a Panther (Albert Samson, #8)
- Author: Michael Z. Lewin
- Published: January 1, 1991
- Genres: Mystery
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One Shot (Jack Reacher, #9)
- Author: Lee Child
- Published: July 10, 2005
- Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime
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Missing You (1-800-Where-R-You, #5)
- Author: Meg Cabot
- Published: December 26, 2006
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
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The Mighty Miss Malone
- Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
- Published: January 10, 2012
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens
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The Aqua Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town
- Author: Jennifer Niven
- Published: September 1, 2009
- Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography
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Viola in Reel Life (Viola #1)
- Author: Adriana Trigiani
- Published: September 1, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
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Chasing Orion
- Author: Kathryn Lasky
- Published: September 11, 2007
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
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So Dear to My Heart
- Author: Sterling North
- Published: January 1, 1943
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile
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Our Wayward Fate
- Author: Gloria Chao
- Published: October 15, 2019
- Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
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Ivy in the Shadows
- Author: Chris Woodworth
- Published: February 5, 2013
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary
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The Hoosier Schoolmaster: A Story of Backwoods Life in Indiana
- Author: Edward Eggleston
- Published: January 1, 1871
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, American
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A Hoosier Holiday
- Author: Theodore Dreiser
- Published: January 1, 1916
- Genres: Autobiography, Travel
- Read more on Goodreads