Book Riot's 100 Must-Read Books of the American Midwest

1.
Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3)
Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #3) 4.21 avg rating — 299,235 ratings
2.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 3.83 avg rating — 1,319,020 ratings
3.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl 4.14 avg rating — 3,358,889 ratings
4.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 477,030 ratings
5.
The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 739,884 ratings
6.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 3.92 avg rating — 996,805 ratings
7.
Middlesex
Middlesex 4.04 avg rating — 657,134 ratings
8.
Gilead (Gilead, #1)
Gilead (Gilead, #1) 3.85 avg rating — 121,031 ratings
9.
O Pioneers!
O Pioneers! 3.90 avg rating — 57,280 ratings
10.
Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five 4.10 avg rating — 1,451,439 ratings
11.
Lake Wobegon Days
Lake Wobegon Days 3.64 avg rating — 8,324 ratings
12.
A Thousand Acres
A Thousand Acres 3.82 avg rating — 71,375 ratings
13.
Stoner
Stoner 4.35 avg rating — 221,342 ratings
14.
The Corrections
The Corrections 3.84 avg rating — 194,268 ratings
15.
Winesburg, Ohio
Winesburg, Ohio 3.84 avg rating — 36,330 ratings
16.
Sister Carrie
Sister Carrie 3.77 avg rating — 41,372 ratings
17.
The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye 4.13 avg rating — 288,150 ratings
18.
The Turner House
The Turner House 3.63 avg rating — 17,807 ratings
19.
The Art of Fielding
The Art of Fielding 3.99 avg rating — 115,139 ratings
20.
The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides 3.78 avg rating — 395,432 ratings
21.
Plainsong (Plainsong, #1)
Plainsong (Plainsong, #1) 4.04 avg rating — 78,110 ratings
22.
Native Son
Native Son 4.04 avg rating — 103,289 ratings
23.
An Untamed State
An Untamed State 4.07 avg rating — 19,599 ratings
24.
The Jungle
The Jungle 3.78 avg rating — 152,247 ratings
25.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek 4.08 avg rating — 29,051 ratings
26.
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance 3.94 avg rating — 229,616 ratings
26.
The Ghost Network
The Ghost Network 3.11 avg rating — 1,699 ratings
28.
The Fishermen
The Fishermen 3.88 avg rating — 21,352 ratings
29.
Notes from No Man's Land
Notes from No Man's Land
by: Eula Biss
4.18 avg rating — 3,798 ratings
30.
My Life on the Road
My Life on the Road 4.07 avg rating — 36,282 ratings
31.
The Round House
The Round House 3.98 avg rating — 122,372 ratings
32.
Negroland
Negroland 3.62 avg rating — 7,833 ratings
33.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping 3.81 avg rating — 57,357 ratings
34.
A Brief History of Seven Killings
A Brief History of Seven Killings 3.89 avg rating — 37,308 ratings
35.
Shotgun Lovesongs
Shotgun Lovesongs 3.79 avg rating — 19,226 ratings
36.
Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems
Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems 4.43 avg rating — 37 ratings
37.
The House on Mango Street
The House on Mango Street 3.69 avg rating — 222,996 ratings
38.
Main Street
Main Street 3.78 avg rating — 26,596 ratings
38.
Babbitt
Babbitt 3.69 avg rating — 24,525 ratings
40.
Angle of Repose
Angle of Repose 4.24 avg rating — 61,310 ratings
41.
My Ántonia
My Ántonia 3.84 avg rating — 144,875 ratings
42.
The Lazarus Project
The Lazarus Project 3.57 avg rating — 6,812 ratings
42.
An Iowa Farm Boy's Odyssey:: Priest, Parent, Professor
An Iowa Farm Boy's Odyssey:: Priest, Parent, Professor it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
44.
Palladium
Palladium 3.89 avg rating — 44 ratings
45.
The Wind Done Gone
The Wind Done Gone 3.16 avg rating — 2,212 ratings
46.
For the Time Being: Essays
For the Time Being: Essays 4.14 avg rating — 4,331 ratings
47.
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream 3.83 avg rating — 168,486 ratings
48.
Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.
Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. 3.81 avg rating — 9,118 ratings
49.
American Salvage
American Salvage 3.99 avg rating — 2,853 ratings
50.
Q Road
Q Road 3.86 avg rating — 692 ratings
51.
Blue Hour
Blue Hour 3.90 avg rating — 602 ratings
52.
If He Hollers Let Him Go
If He Hollers Let Him Go 3.97 avg rating — 2,560 ratings
53.
Blind Man with a Pistol (Harlem Cycle, #8)
Blind Man with a Pistol (Harlem Cycle, #8) 3.58 avg rating — 1,017 ratings
54.
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest 4.25 avg rating — 98,671 ratings
55.
Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems
Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open: Poems 4.53 avg rating — 173 ratings
56.
The Giant's House
The Giant's House 3.65 avg rating — 7,897 ratings
57.
Get Shorty (Chili Palmer, #1)
Get Shorty (Chili Palmer, #1) 3.96 avg rating — 24,666 ratings
58.
The Nick Adams Stories
The Nick Adams Stories 4.02 avg rating — 8,320 ratings
59.
In Our Time
In Our Time 3.74 avg rating — 26,661 ratings
60.
A Doubter's Almanac
A Doubter's Almanac 3.68 avg rating — 4,719 ratings
61.
On Immunity: An Inoculation
On Immunity: An Inoculation
by: Eula Biss
3.94 avg rating — 11,713 ratings
62.
Annie Allen
Annie Allen 4.14 avg rating — 248 ratings
63.
Maud Martha
Maud Martha 4.10 avg rating — 3,718 ratings
64.
Monolithos: Poems, 1962 and 1982
Monolithos: Poems, 1962 and 1982 4.29 avg rating — 276 ratings
65.
Legends of the Fall
Legends of the Fall 4.05 avg rating — 12,782 ratings
66.
The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand 4.08 avg rating — 1,103 ratings
67.
The Space Between
The Space Between 4.41 avg rating — 66 ratings
68.
Not Without Laughter
Not Without Laughter 4.23 avg rating — 3,669 ratings
69.
The Weary Blues
The Weary Blues 4.43 avg rating — 3,068 ratings
70.
Lilies Without
Lilies Without really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 97 ratings
71.
Eden Springs (Made in Michigan Writer Series)
Eden Springs (Made in Michigan Writer Series) 3.32 avg rating — 360 ratings
72.
Magnetic North
Magnetic North 3.65 avg rating — 122 ratings
73.
The Plague of Doves
The Plague of Doves 3.80 avg rating — 18,324 ratings
74.
Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm
Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm 3.51 avg rating — 3,012 ratings
75.
Jubilee
Jubilee 4.37 avg rating — 6,827 ratings
76.
Margaret Walker's "for My People": A Tribute
Margaret Walker's "for My People": A Tribute 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
77.
On Michael Jackson
On Michael Jackson 3.76 avg rating — 847 ratings
78.
Cataclysm Baby (The Mud Luscious Press Novel(la))
Cataclysm Baby (The Mud Luscious Press Novel(la))
by: Matt Bell
4.36 avg rating — 238 ratings
79.
In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods
In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods
by: Matt Bell
3.31 avg rating — 1,574 ratings
80.
Serve It Forth
Serve It Forth 4.14 avg rating — 1,033 ratings
81.
Consider the Oyster
Consider the Oyster 4.19 avg rating — 1,906 ratings
82.
The Boat
The Boat
by: Nam Le
3.62 avg rating — 5,996 ratings
83.
The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm 3.87 avg rating — 3,202 ratings
84.
The Florist's Daughter
The Florist's Daughter 3.46 avg rating — 1,110 ratings
85.
The Hundred-Year House
The Hundred-Year House 3.44 avg rating — 12,838 ratings
86.
Collected Poems
Collected Poems 4.28 avg rating — 419 ratings
87.
Against Which
Against Which
by: Ross Gay
4.44 avg rating — 311 ratings
88.
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
by: Ross Gay
4.24 avg rating — 6,131 ratings
89.
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories 4.05 avg rating — 11,126 ratings
90.
The Adventures of Augie March
The Adventures of Augie March 3.84 avg rating — 18,692 ratings
91.
The Lake, the River & the Other Lake
The Lake, the River & the Other Lake 3.29 avg rating — 533 ratings
92.
The Coast of Chicago: Stories
The Coast of Chicago: Stories 4.05 avg rating — 2,663 ratings
93.
Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems
Sure Signs: New and Selected Poems 4.32 avg rating — 295 ratings
94.
Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison
Winter Morning Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison 4.48 avg rating — 765 ratings
95.
Open City
Open City
by: Teju Cole
3.49 avg rating — 17,169 ratings
96.
Every Day Is for the Thief
Every Day Is for the Thief
by: Teju Cole
3.69 avg rating — 7,750 ratings
97.
The Waking: Poems: 1933 - 1953
The Waking: Poems: 1933 - 1953 4.27 avg rating — 91 ratings
98.
On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose
On Poetry and Craft: Selected Prose 4.21 avg rating — 163 ratings
99.
Ninety-two in the Shade
Ninety-two in the Shade 3.73 avg rating — 1,864 ratings
100.
The Tunnel
The Tunnel 4.05 avg rating — 1,926 ratings
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