Books set in Washington
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 Washington 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.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
- Author: Jamie Ford
- Published: January 27, 2009
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance
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Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
- Author: Stephenie Meyer
- Published: October 5, 2005
- Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction
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Snow Falling on Cedars
- Author: David Guterson
- Published: September 12, 1994
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
- Author: Sherman Alexie
- Published: September 12, 2007
- Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
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The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
- Author: Daniel James Brown
- Published: June 4, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sports, Biography
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Simply Irresistible (Lucky Harbor, #1)
- Author: Jill Shalvis
- Published: October 1, 2010
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
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Freaks I've Met
- Author: Donald Jans
- Published: May 1, 2015
- Genres: Humor, Drama, Contemporary, Fiction
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- Author: Maria Semple
- Published: August 14, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, Mystery
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New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
- Author: Stephenie Meyer
- Published: September 6, 2006
- Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Vampires
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Puget Sound Whales for Sale: The Fight to End Orca Hunting
- Author: Sandra Pollard
- Published: June 15, 2014
- Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals
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The Killer Whale Who Changed the World
- Author: Mark Leiren-Young
- Published: January 1, 2016
- Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Animals
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Geoducks Are for Lovers (Modern Love Story, #2)
- Author: Daisy Prescott
- Published: May 13, 2013
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
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Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)
- Author: Stephenie Meyer
- Published: August 2, 2008
- Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Vampires
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Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
- Author: Stephenie Meyer
- Published: August 7, 2007
- Genres: Teen, Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance
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The Egg and I (Betty MacDonald Memoirs, #1)
- Author: Betty MacDonald
- Published: October 3, 1945
- Genres: Humor, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography
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Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge
- Author: Mark Yarm
- Published: September 6, 2011
- Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Biography
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Endangered Orcas: The Story of the Southern Residents
- Author: Monika Wieland Shields
- Published: January 1, 2019
- Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Natural History
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The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
- Author: Ann Rule
- Published: August 1, 1980
- Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook
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The Good Rain: Across Time & Terrain in the Pacific Northwest
- Author: Timothy Egan
- Published: January 1, 1990
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, Nature
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The Orchardist
- Author: Amanda Coplin
- Published: August 21, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction
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Green River, Running Red
- Author: Ann Rule
- Published: January 1, 2004
- Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook
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It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor, #7)
- Author: Jill Shalvis
- Published: May 28, 2013
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
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Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us
- Author: Alexandra Morton
- Published: January 1, 2002
- Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, Nature
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Into Great Silence: A Memoir of Discovery and Loss among Vanishing Orcas
- Author: Eva Saulitis
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Memoir, Science
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The Obsession
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: April 12, 2016
- Genres: Romance, Mystery, Romantic Suspense, Fiction
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I Love Led Zeppelin
- Author: Ellen Forney
- Published: July 17, 2006
- Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Queer
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Sizzle and Burn (Arcane Society, #3)
- Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
- Published: January 3, 2008
- Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Mystery
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Aliens on Vacation (Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast, #1)
- Author: Clete Barrett Smith
- Published: May 3, 2011
- Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Humor
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Collecting the Dead (Special Tracking Unit #1)
- Author: Spencer Kope
- Published: June 28, 2016
- Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
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Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)
- Author: Cherie Priest
- Published: June 1, 2009
- Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction
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Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
- Author: Timothy Egan
- Published: September 1, 2011
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Photography
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Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5)
- Author: Patricia Briggs
- Published: March 30, 2010
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
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A Lie for a Lie (All In, #1)
- Author: Helena Hunting
- Published: October 15, 2019
- Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Sports, Contemporary Romance
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The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941
- Author: Kirby Larson
- Published: January 1, 2010
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical
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Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens
- Author: Steve Olson
- Published: March 7, 2016
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Nature
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Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2)
- Author: Patricia Briggs
- Published: January 30, 2007
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires
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River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6)
- Author: Patricia Briggs
- Published: March 1, 2011
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
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Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7)
- Author: Patricia Briggs
- Published: March 5, 2013
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires
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Katie Gale: A Coast Salish Woman's Life on Oyster Bay
- Author: LLyn De Danaan
- Published: January 1, 2013
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography
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Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre
- Author: Max Brooks
- Published: June 16, 2020
- Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller
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The Search
- Author: Nora Roberts
- Published: July 6, 2010
- Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Fiction
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The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche
- Author: Gary Krist
- Published: March 6, 2007
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Survival
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Blackberry Winter
- Author: Sarah Jio
- Published: September 1, 2012
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Chick Lit
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Skid Road: An Informal Portrait of Seattle
- Author: Murray Morgan
- Published: January 1, 1951
- Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Historical
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Deep Waters
- Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
- Published: January 1, 1997
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance
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Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1)
- Author: Lish McBride
- Published: October 12, 2010
- Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
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If You Tell: a True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
- Author: Gregg Olsen
- Published: December 1, 2019
- Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook
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The Dark Place (Gideon Oliver, #2)
- Author: Aaron Elkins
- Published: January 1, 1983
- Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Anthropology, Contemporary
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Absolutely, Positively
- Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
- Published: January 1, 1996
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
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One in a Million (Lucky Harbor, #12)
- Author: Jill Shalvis
- Published: October 14, 2014
- Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit
- Read more on Goodreads