Sunday Salon - August 5

Happy Sunday! I'm off enjoying myself and relaxing (well, as best I can with the entire family stuck in the car and my go-go-go-go husband). I packed my books to take so long ago, I had a hard time remembering what I'll have with me. Here's what I've brought with me: The After Wife by Levangie Granger, Falling Home by Karen White and Sea Escape by Lynne Griffin.

In light of the fact that part of our trip will be spent in Minnesota, this week I'm bringing you some books set in Minnesota today. If you're a female, you probably spent at least some of your reading time with the Ingalls family. On The Banks of Plum Creek tells of the family's time in Minnesota where they first live in a dugout and where they meet the infamous Nellie Oleson.

Both of Peter Geye's novels, Safe From The Sea and the upcoming The Lightening Road, are set in Minnesota on the Great Lakes. He's not the only author to pick up on the darker aspects of living in a place where it's cold so much of the year. A lot of mystery writers come out of Minnesota or set their books in the state including John Sandford, William Kent Krueger and Tami Hoag. For a lighter take on mysteries set in Minnesota, check out Joanna Fluke's foodie mysteries. Just be sure you're not too hungry - you will want a little something sweet before you're finished.

Of course, it goes without saying (but clearly I'm going to say it anyway) that Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days and In Search of Lake Wobegon are set in Minnesota. Less obvious is  Stephen King's Dumas Key, which kicks off in Minnesota and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder which starts and ends in Minnesota.

Elizabeth Berg set Range of Motion in Minnesota, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the collection wrote a collection of stories about St. Paul, Minnesota where his family hailed from, and in Peace Like A River Leif Enger's protagonist recalls his childhood in small-town Minnesota.

As I'm writing this before I leave, and thinking about all of the choices there are for reading about Minnesota, I'm wondering if I need to go check my shelves and find one more book to pack. Surely I've got something that will work.

What are you reading this week?