Lists

100 Must-Read California Books

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I’m a California girl, born and raised. So when I got the chance to list 100 MUST-READ books set in this fantastic golden state, I jumped.   100 Must-Read California Books   Some of the books on this list are classics; some, imho, should be. Some aren’t set completely in California, but characters spend enough (relevant) time there that I gave them a pass. All I can recommend are must-reads. (But I know there are more! Add to the list, please!) Here they are-sorted by genre. Enjoy. AS IF you could do otherwise.

Books Set in California – Fiction/Romance

Pasadena, David Eberhoff Elsewhere, California, Dana Johnson Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath / John Stienbeck The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan Maya’s NotebookDaughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende Red Earth and Pouring Rain, Vikram Chandra Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan Dirt, David Vann Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis Tales of the City (Series), Amistead Maupin White Oleander, Janet Fitch The Language of Flowers,Vanessa Diffenbaugh The Golden Gate, Vikram Seth Tripmaster Monkey, Maxine Hong Kingston Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon Innocents and OthersDana Spiotta A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan Postcards From the Edge, Carrie Fisher All the Little Live ThingsAngle of ReposeWallace Stegner Ham on Rye, Charles Bukowski Brothers and Sisters, 72 Hour Hold, Bebe Moore Campbell DivisaderoMichael Ondaatje The Valley of the Moon, Jack London Big Sur, Jack Kerouac The Jane Austen Book ClubWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler Crescent, Diana Abu-Jaber Ramona, Helen Hunt Jackson Beaches, Iris R. Dart House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III Changing Places, David Lodge Family Album, (too many to count!Danielle Steele California CaressRebecca Sinclair A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler What Lies Between Us, Nayomi Munaweera I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky, June Jordan

Books Set in California – Short Stories/Novellas

Masha’allah and Other Stories, Mariah K. Young Shopgirl, Steve Martin Hot Water Music, Charles Bukowski Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes San Francisco Stories, Jack London A Model World World and Other Stories, Michael Chabon

Books Set in California – Mystery/Noir/Supernatural

The Black DahliaThe Big Nowhere,  L.A. ConfidentialWhite Jazz, James Ellroy Get Shorty, Be Cool, Elmore Leonard Pulp, Charles Bukowski L.A. Times, Stuart Woods The Black Echo, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde (The Harry Bosch Series), Michael Connelly The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe Series), Raymond Chandler No Rest for the Dead, David Baldacci & multiple authors Devil in a Blue Dress, White Butterfly, Black Betty (Easy Rawlins Mysteries), Walter Mosley The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett Sandman Slim, (Sandman Slim Series), Richard Kadrey Ripper, Isabel Allende Watchers, Dean Koontz Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars Mystery Series), Rob Thomas

Books Set in California – Young Adult

Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan AdaptationMalinda Lo Sweet Valley High (series), Francine Pascal Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell Everything Leads to You, Hold Still, Nina LaCour Weetzie Bat (series), Francesca Lia Block Paperquake, Kathryn Reiss Fifteen, Beverly Cleary Mexican White Boy, We Were Here, Ball Don’t Lie, Matt de la Peña Strays, Jennifer Caloyeras

Books Set in California – Nonfiction

Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James Houston Valencia, Michelle Tea Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, Firoozeh Dumas The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston The White Album, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion Paula, Isabel Allende Revolutionary Suicide, Huey P. Newtwon A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story, Elaine Brown Wild, Cheryl Strayed Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cameron Crowe This Bridge Will Not Be Gray, Dave Eggers Swimming with Maya, Eleanor Vincent Infinite City, Rebecca Solnit A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers