Books set in Oklahoma

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September 27, 2022
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Books set in Oklahoma

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 Oklahoma 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 Outsiders

- Rating: 4.11 (1.2 million ratings)
- Author: S.E. Hinton
- Published: April 24, 1967
- Genres: Classics, Young Adult, Fiction, School
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The Grapes of Wrath

- Rating: 3.99 (838,909 ratings)
- Author: John Steinbeck
- Published: April 14, 1939
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature
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Where the Red Fern Grows

- Rating: 4.10 (378,829 ratings)
- Author: Wilson Rawls
- Published: January 1, 1961
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens
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Where the Heart Is

- Rating: 4.03 (244,583 ratings)
- Author: Billie Letts
- Published: January 1, 1995
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary
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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

- Rating: 4.09 (178,287 ratings)
- Author: David Grann
- Published: April 18, 2017
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime
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The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl

- Rating: 4.04 (51,758 ratings)
- Author: Timothy Egan
- Published: December 14, 2005
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Historical
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The Bean Trees (Greer Family, #1)

- Rating: 3.98 (144,321 ratings)
- Author: Barbara Kingsolver
- Published: December 1, 1988
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Novels
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The Past Never Ends

- Rating: 3.81 (104 ratings)
- Author: Jackson Burnett
- Published: July 29, 2012
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal Thriller, Mystery Thriller
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The Innocent Man

- Rating: 3.84 (72,479 ratings)
- Author: John Grisham
- Published: October 10, 2006
- Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Mystery
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Cimarron

- Rating: 3.76 (724 ratings)
- Author: Edna Ferber
- Published: January 1, 1929
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Westerns, Classics
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Marked (House of Night, #1)

- Rating: 3.80 (469,659 ratings)
- Author: P.C. Cast
- Published: May 1, 2007
- Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal
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Paradise (Beloved Trilogy, #3)

- Rating: 3.84 (25,221 ratings)
- Author: Toni Morrison
- Published: December 24, 1997
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, African American, Historical Fiction
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True Grit

- Rating: 4.15 (51,514 ratings)
- Author: Charles Portis
- Published: May 21, 1968
- Genres: Fiction, Westerns, Historical Fiction, Classics
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Pigs in Heaven

- Rating: 3.98 (59,181 ratings)
- Author: Barbara Kingsolver
- Published: January 1, 1993
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction
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Where the Dead Sit Talking

- Rating: 3.36 (4,005 ratings)
- Author: Brandon Hobson
- Published: February 20, 2018
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
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Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

- Rating: 4.24 (1.0 million ratings)
- Author: Ernest Cline
- Published: August 16, 2011
- Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy
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Kind of Kin

- Rating: 3.67 (1,042 ratings)
- Author: Rilla Askew
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: Fiction, Family, Contemporary, Literary Fiction
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Bound for Glory

- Rating: 4.14 (5,438 ratings)
- Author: Woody Guthrie
- Published: January 1, 1943
- Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography
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Oklahoma!

- Rating: 4.00 (821 ratings)
- Author: Richard Rodgers
- Published: June 1, 1943
- Genres: Plays, Theatre, Musicals, Music
- Read more on Goodreads

Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom

- Rating: 4.15 (308 ratings)
- Author: Tiya Miles
- Published: January 1, 2005
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race, African American
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Dreamland Burning

- Rating: 4.23 (9,999 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer Latham
- Published: February 21, 2017
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction
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Strange Business

- Rating: 4.11 (65 ratings)
- Author: Rilla Askew
- Published: January 1, 1992
- Genres: Fiction, Short Stories
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That Was Then, This Is Now

- Rating: 3.93 (32,868 ratings)
- Author: S.E. Hinton
- Published: April 26, 1971
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Classics, Coming Of Age
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Zeke and Ned

- Rating: 3.80 (1,673 ratings)
- Author: Larry McMurtry
- Published: January 1, 1997
- Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical
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Divine By Mistake (Partholon, #1)

- Rating: 4.09 (11,932 ratings)
- Author: P.C. Cast
- Published: August 28, 2001
- Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Mythology
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Harpsong

- Rating: 3.91 (160 ratings)
- Author: Rilla Askew
- Published: January 1, 2007
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult, American
- Read more on Goodreads

Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

- Rating: 4.10 (372 ratings)
- Author: Scott Ellsworth
- Published: February 1, 1982
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Race
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The Hot Kid (Carl Webster, #1)

- Rating: 3.77 (4,844 ratings)
- Author: Elmore Leonard
- Published: January 1, 2005
- Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
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The Edge of Nowhere

- Rating: 4.18 (341 ratings)
- Author: C.H. Armstrong
- Published: January 19, 2016
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult
- Read more on Goodreads

Along the Watchtower

- Rating: 3.67 (163 ratings)
- Author: Constance Squires
- Published: July 5, 2011
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels
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Fire in Beulah

- Rating: 4.09 (410 ratings)
- Author: Rilla Askew
- Published: January 15, 2001
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Social Justice, Race
- Read more on Goodreads

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon

- Rating: 3.96 (19,932 ratings)
- Author: Billie Letts
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Southern, Contemporary
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Shoot the Moon

- Rating: 3.71 (12,018 ratings)
- Author: Billie Letts
- Published: January 1, 2004
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Chick Lit, Adult Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Secret Hour (Midnighters, #1)

- Rating: 3.81 (29,108 ratings)
- Author: Scott Westerfeld
- Published: March 2, 2004
- Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Fiction
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Will Rogers: A Biography

- Rating: 3.97 (117 ratings)
- Author: Ben Yagoda
- Published: January 1, 1993
- Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction
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The Mercy Seat

- Rating: 3.55 (184 ratings)
- Author: Rilla Askew
- Published: August 1, 1997
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literature
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Rifles for Watie

- Rating: 3.92 (10,183 ratings)
- Author: Harold Keith
- Published: January 1, 1957
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Civil War
- Read more on Goodreads

Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851-1909

- Rating: 3.73 (30 ratings)
- Author: Devon A. Mihesuah
- Published: February 1, 1993
- Genres: History, Education, Nonfiction
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Rumble Fish

- Rating: 3.79 (21,025 ratings)
- Author: S.E. Hinton
- Published: September 15, 1975
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Classics, Coming Of Age
- Read more on Goodreads

Whose Names Are Unknown

- Rating: 4.09 (2,130 ratings)
- Author: Sanora Babb
- Published: January 1, 2004
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis

- Rating: 4.39 (7,354 ratings)
- Author: Sam Anderson
- Published: August 21, 2018
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sports, Basketball
- Read more on Goodreads

The Autobiography of Will Rogers

- Rating: 3.51 (39 ratings)
- Author: Will Rogers
- Published: January 1, 1949
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Humor
- Read more on Goodreads

The Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874

- Rating: 4.11 (19 ratings)
- Author: James L. Haley
- Published: January 1, 1976
- Genres: History, Nonfiction
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And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes

- Rating: 4.17 (75 ratings)
- Author: Angie Debo
- Published: January 1, 1940
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Native Americans
- Read more on Goodreads

Tompkin's School For The Extraordinarily Talented (Tompkin's School Trilogy #1)

- Rating: 3.96 (123 ratings)
- Author: Tabi Slick
- Published: April 19, 2016
- Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Amazon
- Read more on Goodreads

Angel of Greenwood

- Rating: 4.24 (1,498 ratings)
- Author: Randi Pink
- Published: January 12, 2021
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

The Dirty Days: A Young Girl's Journey to and from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl

- Rating: 4.10 (198 ratings)
- Author: Norma Welty
- Published: June 28, 2012
- Genres: Nonfiction, American History
- Read more on Goodreads

Desperadoes

- Rating: 3.88 (461 ratings)
- Author: Ron Hansen
- Published: January 1, 1979
- Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literature
- Read more on Goodreads

A Cup of Dust: A Novel of the Dust Bowl (Pearl Spence #1)

- Rating: 4.19 (1,129 ratings)
- Author: Susie Finkbeiner
- Published: October 27, 2015
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Historical
- Read more on Goodreads

Nail's Crossing (Bill Maytubby & Hannah Bond Mystery #1)

- Rating: 3.64 (566 ratings)
- Author: Kris Lackey
- Published: October 10, 2017
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Contemporary
- Read more on Goodreads

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