Books set in Louisiana

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September 27, 2022
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Books set in Louisiana

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 Louisiana 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 Secret to Hummingbird Cake

- Rating: 3.98 (6,380 ratings)
- Author: Celeste Fletcher McHale
- Published: February 9, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Southern
- Read more on Goodreads

Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles, #1)

- Rating: 4.01 (539,065 ratings)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: April 12, 1976
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Vampires
- Read more on Goodreads

A Streetcar Named Desire

- Rating: 3.98 (288,320 ratings)
- Author: Tennessee Williams
- Published: January 1, 1947
- Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Drama
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The Awakening

- Rating: 3.67 (189,884 ratings)
- Author: Kate Chopin
- Published: January 1, 1899
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Feminism, School
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Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter, #2)

- Rating: 4.23 (58,979 ratings)
- Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Published: June 24, 2003
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

A Confederacy of Dunces

- Rating: 3.88 (256,693 ratings)
- Author: John Kennedy Toole
- Published: April 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Humor, Literature
- Read more on Goodreads

Steel Magnolias

- Rating: 4.27 (17,082 ratings)
- Author: Robert Harling
- Published: January 1, 1988
- Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction
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Sookie Stackhouse 8 Volume Set (Sookie Stackhouse, #1-8)

- Rating: 4.29 (9,837 ratings)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: January 1, 2009
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction, Urban Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #2)

- Rating: 4.08 (189,294 ratings)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: January 1, 1985
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Queen of the Damned (The Vampire Chronicles, #3)

- Rating: 3.90 (145,366 ratings)
- Author: Anne Rice
- Published: January 1, 1988
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Vampires, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)

- Rating: 4.15 (9,816 ratings)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: April 15, 1993
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)

- Rating: 3.96 (522,947 ratings)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: May 1, 2001
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Midnight Bayou

- Rating: 3.99 (33,160 ratings)
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: October 15, 2001
- Genres: Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal
- Read more on Goodreads

10 Steps to Girlfriend Status (Bird Face, #2)

- Rating: 4.38 (50 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: September 1, 2015
- Genres: Young Adult, Christian Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

8 Notes to a Nobody (Bird Face, #1)

- Rating: 4.28 (99 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: February 11, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Young Adult
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Cane River

- Rating: 4.07 (47,771 ratings)
- Author: Lalita Tademy
- Published: January 1, 2001
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, African American
- Read more on Goodreads

Out of the Easy

- Rating: 4.03 (56,695 ratings)
- Author: Ruta Sepetys
- Published: February 12, 2013
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Ruined (Ruined, #1)

- Rating: 3.84 (13,329 ratings)
- Author: Paula Morris
- Published: August 1, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Ghosts
- Read more on Goodreads

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)

- Rating: 4.13 (151,899 ratings)
- Author: Jeaniene Frost
- Published: November 1, 2007
- Genres: Paranormal, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Louisiana Longshot (Miss Fortune Mystery, #1)

- Rating: 4.21 (27,455 ratings)
- Author: Jana Deleon
- Published: June 23, 2012
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Fiction
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Call Me by My Name

- Rating: 3.96 (584 ratings)
- Author: John Ed Bradley
- Published: May 1, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Sports, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

The Veil (Devil's Isle, #1)

- Rating: 3.70 (5,588 ratings)
- Author: Chloe Neill
- Published: August 4, 2015
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic
- Read more on Goodreads

Rising Moon (Nightcreature, #6)

- Rating: 4.04 (1,216 ratings)
- Author: Lori Handeland
- Published: January 2, 2007
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity, #9)

- Rating: 4.25 (3,917 ratings)
- Author: Alexandra Ivy
- Published: October 24, 2011
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Hurricane Force (Miss Fortune Mystery, #7)

- Rating: 4.52 (7,914 ratings)
- Author: Jana Deleon
- Published: September 20, 2015
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Humor
- Read more on Goodreads

The Other Side of Freedom

- Rating: 4.61 (49 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: October 9, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult
- Read more on Goodreads

Shadowed Summer

- Rating: 3.53 (1,521 ratings)
- Author: Saundra Mitchell
- Published: February 10, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Mystery, Ghosts
- Read more on Goodreads

Pearl in the Mist (Landry, #2)

- Rating: 3.92 (10,315 ratings)
- Author: V.C. Andrews
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

The Love Potion (Cajun, #1)

- Rating: 3.92 (1,734 ratings)
- Author: Sandra Hill
- Published: December 1, 1999
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Humor
- Read more on Goodreads

Fiddle Fever

- Rating: 3.86 (22 ratings)
- Author: Sharon Arms Doucet
- Published: September 1, 2000
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

6 Dates to Disaster (Bird Face, #3)

- Rating: 4.62 (26 ratings)
- Author: Cynthia T. Toney
- Published: December 5, 2016
- Genres: Christian, Young Adult
- Read more on Goodreads

American Hippo (River of Teeth, #1-2)

- Rating: 3.91 (1,744 ratings)
- Author: Sarah Gailey
- Published: May 22, 2018
- Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Alternate History
- Read more on Goodreads

The Last Suppers

- Rating: 3.73 (1,892 ratings)
- Author: Mandy Mikulencak
- Published: December 26, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Mystery
- Read more on Goodreads

Ruby (Landry, #1)

- Rating: 3.95 (13,077 ratings)
- Author: V.C. Andrews
- Published: January 1, 1993
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Sweet Ruin (Immortals After Dark, #15)

- Rating: 4.32 (16,277 ratings)
- Author: Kresley Cole
- Published: December 1, 2015
- Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1)

- Rating: 4.19 (77,138 ratings)
- Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
- Published: October 13, 2002
- Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux, #16)

- Rating: 4.17 (13,888 ratings)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: January 1, 2007
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

Red River

- Rating: 3.87 (3,179 ratings)
- Author: Lalita Tademy
- Published: December 4, 2006
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, African American
- Read more on Goodreads

Madam: A Novel of New Orleans

- Rating: 3.70 (1,202 ratings)
- Author: Cari Lynn
- Published: February 25, 2014
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Prostitution
- Read more on Goodreads

Midnight on Julia Street

- Rating: 3.65 (641 ratings)
- Author: Ciji Ware
- Published: January 1, 1999
- Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux, #5)

- Rating: 4.17 (7,869 ratings)
- Author: James Lee Burke
- Published: April 2, 1992
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
- Read more on Goodreads

Pieces of Why

- Rating: 4.02 (969 ratings)
- Author: K.L. Going
- Published: September 8, 2015
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Family
- Read more on Goodreads

Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family

- Rating: 3.73 (305 ratings)
- Author: Kimberly Willis Holt
- Published: January 1, 2006
- Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens
- Read more on Goodreads

Swamp Thing, Vol. 6: Reunion

- Rating: 4.29 (5,122 ratings)
- Author: Alan Moore
- Published: September 1, 1987
- Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

Men of the Otherworld (Otherworld Stories, #1)

- Rating: 4.27 (16,078 ratings)
- Author: Kelley Armstrong
- Published: January 27, 2009
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Werewolves
- Read more on Goodreads

The Rules for Disappearing (The Rules for Disappearing, #1)

- Rating: 3.91 (8,736 ratings)
- Author: Ashley Elston
- Published: May 14, 2013
- Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Romance
- Read more on Goodreads

Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, #11)

- Rating: 3.80 (122,870 ratings)
- Author: Charlaine Harris
- Published: May 3, 2011
- Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
- Read more on Goodreads

Cajun Waltz

- Rating: 3.38 (65 ratings)
- Author: Robert H. Patton
- Published: June 14, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane

- Rating: 4.27 (1,094 ratings)
- Author: Kate O'Shaughnessy
- Published: March 3, 2020
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

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