Literary Escape Challenge 2023

 

Literary Escapes Challenge
Hosted By: Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

Official Challenge Page
#LiteraryEscapes

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2023

Summary of Rules:
Try to read 1 book that is set in each of the 50 USA states + District of Columbia (51 points). If I complete the challenge, I earn a bonus 50 points.  Other bonus points are given for each country around the world.  Only 1 point per state/country can be earned.  If a book goes from one state to another, use the state that the majority of the book is located in. Any genre, or format can be used.

MY GOAL: 
26 States + 4 Countries  

PROGRESS: 
32 States + 11 Countries + 4 Fictional Places 

Goal Completed 8/26

States: (not read yet/suggestions)

• Alabama ~ 
• The Darling Dahlias series #2-4 by Susan Witttig Albert 
• Alaska ~ 
• Alaskan Diner series #1 by Elizabeth Logan
• Arizona ~ 
• The Ghost Who Stayed Home (HD #11) by Bobbi Holmes
• Chet and Bernie series #0.1 by Spencer Quinn
• The Cupcake Bakery series by Jenn McKinlay
• Arkansas ~ 
• TBA
• California ~ 
• The Raven Thief (Secret Staircase #2) by Gigi Pandian
• Fake Plastic World (Fake Plastic Girl #2) by Zara Lisbon
• IQ series #1 by Joe Ide
• Tourist Trap series by Lynn Cahoon
• Witchcraft Mystery series by Juliet Blackwell
• Toby Peters series by Stuart M. Kaminsky
• Haunted Home Renovations series by Juliet Blackwell
• Colorado ~ 
• Knitting Mystery series #2-3,6 by Maggie Sefton
• Connecticut ~ 
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series #0.5-1 by Holly Jackson
• Delaware ~ 
• TBA
• District of Columbia ~ 
• Camel Club series #1 by David Baldacci
• Florida ~ 
• Black Out by Lisa Unger
• Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger (FL and GA)
• Georgia ~ 
• Pretty Girls (prequel and novel) by Karin Slaughter
• Last Breath (pq The Good Daughter) by Karin Slaughter
• The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
• All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
• Grant County series #1 by Karin Slaughter
• Charmed Pie Shoppe series #3-5 by Ellery Adams
• Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond
• Magical Bakery series by Bailey Cates
• Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter
• Hawaii ~ 
• TBA
• Idaho ~ 
• Kitchen Witch series #1 by Lynn Cahoon
• Illinois ~ 
• Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor
• Tita Rosie's Kitchen series #1 by Mia P. Manansala
• Indiana ~ 
• Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards 
• Iowa ~ 
• Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf
• Kansas ~ 
• The Amelia Six by Kristin L. Gray
• Kentucky ~ 
• Campers & Criminals series #22 by Tonya Kappes
• Louisiana ~ 
• Caleb Rooney series #0.5 by James Patterson
• Sting by Sandra Brown
• Maine ~ 
• Lucy Stone series #9 & #26.5 by Leslie Meier
• Blackmoore Sisters series # by Leighann Dobbs
• Gray Whale Inn series by Karen MacInerney
• Maine Clambake series by Barbara Ross
• The Inn at Holiday Bay by Kathi Daley
• Maryland ~ 
• What We Saw by Mary Downing Hahn
• Massachusetts ~ 
• Wishcraft series #8-9 by Heather Blake
• Borden Dispatch series #1 by Cherie Priest
• Nantucket Candle Maker series #1 by Christin Brecher
• Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark
• When All The Girls Are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault
• Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series by Vicki Delany
• Michigan ~ 
• Beacon Bakeshop series # 1-4 by Darci Hannah
• The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng
• Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz
• Minnesota ~ 
• Mason Falls Mysteries #1 by Raelyn Drake
• Hannah Swensen/Cookie Jar series #5 by Joanne Fluke
• Cork O'Connor series #18 by William Kent Krueger
• Mississippi ~ 
• Louis Kincaid series by P.J. Parrish
• Missouri ~ 
• TBA
• Montana ~ 
• Big Sky Cowboys series #3 by Nicole Helm
• Sean Stranahan series by Keith McCafferty
• Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts 
• Nebraska ~ 
• All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (Mostly in Minnesota, then in Nebraska)
• Nevada ~ 
• TBA
• New Hampshire ~ 
• Booktown Mystery series by Lorna Barrett
• New Jersey ~ 
• TBA
• New Mexico ~ 
• TBA
• New York ~ 
• The Hollows series #1,4 by Lisa Unger
• Magical Bookshop series #1-2 by Amanda Flower
• Off Season by Jennifer Weiner
• The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
• The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Mitchum series #1 by James Patterson
• A Stranger In The House by Shari Lapena
• Lucas Page series #1 by Robert Pobi
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
• The Book Collector series by Victoria Abbott
• North Carolina ~ 
• Enchanted Bay series #1-2 by Esme Addison
• Seaside Cafe series #4-7 by Bree Baker
• Secret, Book, & Scone Society series #3-5 by Ellery Adams
• In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead
• Antique Bookshop series by Laura Gail Black 
• North Dakota ~ 
• TBA
• Ohio ~ 
• A Welcome Murder by Robin Yocum
• A Killing In Amish Country by Gregg Olsen & Rebecca Morris
• Amish Candy Shop series by Amanda Flower
• Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo
• Cheese Shop series by Avery Aames
• Oklahoma ~ 
• Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn
• Oregon ~ 
• The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden
• Haunting Danielle series #10-12 by Bobbi Holmes
• Christmas River series #1 by Meg Muldoon
• Pennsylvania ~ 
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• The Stranger Game by Cylin Busby
• Rhode Island ~ 
• TBA
• South Carolina ~ 
• The House on Tradd Street series by Karen White
• South Dakota ~ 
• The Killing Season (Carter Blake series) by Mason Cross
• Dearly Departed in Deadwood (Deadwood series) by Ann Charles
• Funeral Food (Tory Bauer series) by Kathleen Taylor
• Tennessee ~ 
• Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lector #2) by Thomas Harris
• Texas ~ 
• My Summer Darlings by May Cobb
• Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
  
• Christmas Tree Ranch series #1 by Janet Daily
• Utah ~ 
• Board to Death (Board Game Shop #1) by C.J. Connor
• Vermont ~ 
• Small Spaces series #2 by Katherine Arden
• Virginia ~
• Murder In The Reading Room by Ellery Adams
• Washington ~ 
• Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier
• Waterman & Stark series #0.5 by Gregg Olsen
• The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
• What Lies In The Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
• Chasing The Devil by David Reichert
• Victim Six by Gregg Olsen

• West Virginia ~ 
• Trial by Twelve (Murder in the Mountains series #1) by Heather Day Gilbert
• Wisconsin ~ 
• Mattie Winston series by Annelise Ryan
• Wyoming ~ 
• Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton (WY and CO)

Countries:

• United Kingdom
• Scotland
• Shetland Island series #4 by Ann Cleeves
• Cotswolds
• Agatha Raisin series #12 & 32 by M.C. Beaton
• England
• Max Tudor series #1 by G.M. Malliet
• To Die For by Alice Clark-Platts
• Hercule Poirot series #11, 15 by Agatha Christie
• Vampire Knitting Club series #0.5 by Nancy Warren
• Flavia de Luce series #6.5 by Alan Bradley
• Hawthorne and Horowitz series #1 by Anthony Horowitz
• Parker Pyne series by Agatha Christie
• Jane Austen Murders series #1 by Tirzah Price
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• In A Cottage In A Wood by Cass Green
• Italy
• Rome, Italy
• Ireland

• Island just off of Ireland
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley
• Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland
• Irish Village Mystery series #1 by Carlene O'Connor
• Dublin, Ireland 
•  Irish Castle Mystery series #1 by Ellie Brannigan
• Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French

• China
• Shanghai 
• Inspector Chen series #5 by Qiu Xiaolong
• Northern China
• Manga Disney: Kilala Princess - Rescue the Village with Mulan Vol. 1-4 by Mallory Reaves
• Czechia
• Prague
• The Ghosts Of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
• Nigeria
• Lagos
• My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• Caribbean
• Paraiso Island
• Paradise Island series #1 by Carrie Doyle
• Australia
• Sydney, New South Wales
• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
• Melbourne
• The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
• France
• Paris
• Assault and Beret (Hat Shop #5) by Jenn McKinlay
• The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
• So This Is Love (Twisted Tale #9) by Elizabeth Lim
• Canada
• Toronto
• My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
• Greece
• One Of The Girls by Lucy Clarke
• Israel
• Jeruselem
• Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie 
• Honduras
• Miss Quinces by kat Fajardo

Fictional Places

• Halloween Town
• Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw
• The Hundred Acre Woods
• Winnie The Pooh: The Complete BBC Collection by A.A. Milne
• Wonderland
• Unbirthday by Liz Braswell
• Zootopia
• Zootopia: The Junior Novelization by Disney

Specific Place is Unidentified

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