Books set in Vermont

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September 27, 2022
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Books set in Vermont

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 Vermont 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.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

- Rating: 4.06 (380,673 ratings)
- Author: Bill Bryson
- Published: May 5, 1998
- Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Memoir, Humor
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Robert Frost's Poems

- Rating: 4.28 (4,961 ratings)
- Author: Robert Frost
- Published: January 1, 1949
- Genres: Poetry, Classics, Literature, Fiction
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Midwives

- Rating: 3.99 (156,000 ratings)
- Author: Chris Bohjalian
- Published: April 1, 1997
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Book Club
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Houdini Heart

- Rating: 3.80 (6,330 ratings)
- Author: Ki Longfellow
- Published: April 25, 2011
- Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery
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Crossing to Safety

- Rating: 4.16 (42,864 ratings)
- Author: Wallace Stegner
- Published: January 1, 1987
- Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literary Fiction, Novels
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Pollyanna (Pollyanna, #1)

- Rating: 3.99 (82,971 ratings)
- Author: Eleanor H. Porter
- Published: January 1, 1913
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult
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Before Familiar Woods

- Rating: 3.72 (2,055 ratings)
- Author: Ian Pisarcik
- Published: March 10, 2020
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary
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House Rules

- Rating: 4.03 (162,278 ratings)
- Author: Jodi Picoult
- Published: March 2, 2010
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Autistic Spectrum Disorder
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Open Season (Joe Gunther, #1)

- Rating: 3.77 (5,258 ratings)
- Author: Archer Mayor
- Published: September 9, 1988
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller
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Understood Betsy

- Rating: 4.19 (12,713 ratings)
- Author: Dorothy Canfield Fisher
- Published: January 1, 1916
- Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens, Historical Fiction
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Justin Morgan Had a Horse

- Rating: 4.04 (8,337 ratings)
- Author: Marguerite Henry
- Published: January 1, 1945
- Genres: Horses, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction
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For Your Eyes Only (James Bond, #8)

- Rating: 3.65 (13,170 ratings)
- Author: Ian Fleming
- Published: April 11, 1960
- Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Espionage, Short Stories
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Life Among the Savages

- Rating: 3.98 (6,831 ratings)
- Author: Shirley Jackson
- Published: January 1, 1953
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Biography
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Snowflake Bentley

- Rating: 4.10 (16,096 ratings)
- Author: Jacqueline Briggs Martin
- Published: September 28, 1998
- Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens
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All the Best People

- Rating: 3.81 (1,780 ratings)
- Author: Sonja Yoerg
- Published: May 2, 2017
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mental Health, Contemporary
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The Secret History

- Rating: 4.16 (479,364 ratings)
- Author: Donna Tartt
- Published: September 16, 1992
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Classics
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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

- Rating: 3.96 (167,783 ratings)
- Author: Shirley Jackson
- Published: September 21, 1962
- Genres: Horror, Classics, Fiction, Gothic
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Second Glance

- Rating: 3.80 (44,892 ratings)
- Author: Jodi Picoult
- Published: April 8, 2003
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary, Paranormal
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Water Witches

- Rating: 3.58 (4,228 ratings)
- Author: Chris Bohjalian
- Published: February 1, 1995
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Witches, Magical Realism
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The Buffalo Soldier

- Rating: 3.83 (7,738 ratings)
- Author: Chris Bohjalian
- Published: March 1, 2002
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Novels
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Where the Rivers Flow North

- Rating: 4.05 (374 ratings)
- Author: Howard Frank Mosher
- Published: January 1, 1978
- Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Historical Fiction
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Northern Borders

- Rating: 4.33 (989 ratings)
- Author: Howard Frank Mosher
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction
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The Winter People

- Rating: 3.81 (63,114 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer McMahon
- Published: February 11, 2014
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller
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Moonlighting In Vermont (A Bree MacGowan Mystery #1)

- Rating: 3.48 (584 ratings)
- Author: Kate George
- Published: July 15, 2009
- Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Crime
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Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape: Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks

- Rating: 3.88 (735 ratings)
- Author: Bill McKibben
- Published: April 5, 2005
- Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Nature, Environment
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Green Mountain Ghosts, Ghouls Unsolved Mysteries

- Rating: 3.90 (134 ratings)
- Author: Joseph A. Citro
- Published: January 1, 1994
- Genres: Folklore, Paranormal, Nonfiction, Ghosts
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Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began

- Rating: 4.39 (137,156 ratings)
- Author: Art Spiegelman
- Published: January 1, 1991
- Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, History, Comics
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Chirp

- Rating: 4.17 (2,201 ratings)
- Author: Kate Messner
- Published: February 4, 2020
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Family
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Georgia Rules

- Rating: 4.30 (222 ratings)
- Author: Nanci Turner Steveson
- Published: May 2, 2017
- Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile
- Read more on Goodreads

Out: The Vermont Secession Book

- Rating: 3.68 (19 ratings)
- Author: Frank Bryan
- Published: May 1, 1989
- Genres: History
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A Moose for Jessica

- Rating: 4.02 (50 ratings)
- Author: Larry Carrara
- Published: October 14, 1987
- Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens
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A Stranger in the Kingdom

- Rating: 4.15 (1,121 ratings)
- Author: Howard Frank Mosher
- Published: January 1, 1989
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Race
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Soup (Soup, #1)

- Rating: 3.95 (1,660 ratings)
- Author: Robert Newton Peck
- Published: January 1, 1974
- Genres: Childrens, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Humor
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Faraway Summer

- Rating: 3.82 (78 ratings)
- Author: Johanna Hurwitz
- Published: January 1, 1998
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Childrens
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A Day No Pigs Would Die

- Rating: 3.57 (9,690 ratings)
- Author: Robert Newton Peck
- Published: January 1, 1972
- Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Classics, Historical Fiction
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Borderlines (Joe Gunther #2)

- Rating: 3.87 (2,269 ratings)
- Author: Archer Mayor
- Published: January 1, 1990
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime
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Bittersweet

- Rating: 3.44 (17,281 ratings)
- Author: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
- Published: May 13, 2014
- Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
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Radio Free Vermont: A Fable of Resistance

- Rating: 3.74 (2,390 ratings)
- Author: Bill McKibben
- Published: November 7, 2017
- Genres: Fiction, Politics, Humor, Contemporary
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The Drowning Kind

- Rating: 3.83 (18,796 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer McMahon
- Published: April 6, 2021
- Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

In One Person

- Rating: 3.69 (25,894 ratings)
- Author: John Irving
- Published: May 8, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Novels, Literary Fiction
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The Bench (Rocky Meadow Mysteries, #1)

- Rating: 4.46 (104 ratings)
- Author: Linda Rawlins
- Published: March 23, 2011
- Genres: Mystery, Christian Fiction, Fiction
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God's Kingdom

- Rating: 3.98 (446 ratings)
- Author: Howard Frank Mosher
- Published: October 6, 2015
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Novels
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We Are Unprepared

- Rating: 3.34 (1,884 ratings)
- Author: Meg Little Reilly
- Published: August 30, 2016
- Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Contemporary, Dystopia
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Raising Demons

- Rating: 4.16 (2,148 ratings)
- Author: Shirley Jackson
- Published: January 1, 1957
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Humor, Biography
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Return to Sender

- Rating: 3.77 (3,572 ratings)
- Author: Julia Alvarez
- Published: January 7, 2009
- Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade
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My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer

- Rating: 3.76 (263 ratings)
- Author: Jennifer Gennari
- Published: January 1, 2012
- Genres: Middle Grade, LGBT, Realistic Fiction, Fiction
- Read more on Goodreads

Northwest Passage

- Rating: 4.18 (3,014 ratings)
- Author: Kenneth Roberts
- Published: January 1, 1937
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Classics
- Read more on Goodreads

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