Ep 519: Let's plan a Read the USA project

From What Should I Read Next? by Anne Bogel

March 24, 2026 · 1h 4m · Episode 519

About this episode

Mary Pogue discusses her Read the USA project, seeking book recommendations for each U.S. state to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary.

We hear about all different kinds of reading challenges around here, and today's guest is seeking titles to help mark the 250th anniversary of the United States. Mary Pogue lives in St. Louis with her family, where she enjoys her work as a digital marketing strategist and her hobbies like coaching field hockey, traveling, and of course, reading. This year, Mary's embarking on a challenge she is calling Read the USA. Her goal is to read a book set in or written by an author from every U.S. state. While Mary has made great progress already at this point in the year, she is hoping for Anne's help in picking books for a handful of states Mary has yet to visit, either in person or on the page, and is having a hard time finding options for. Mary would be thrilled if these books could do double duty. She especially enjoys learning about each state's history and culture through works of historical fiction, and she has a preference for titles she'll find at her local library. But as you'll hear today, Mary is open to all kinds of options. Today we'll tackle her list of outstanding states and discover titles she might want to add to this reading road trip. Find the list of the books…

People in this episode

Host: Anne

Guest: Mary Pogue

Topics covered

reading challenges
historical fiction
USA literature

Keywords

Read the USA
book recommendations
state history
cultural literature

Mentioned in this episode

Products: The Huntress by Kate Quinn, The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry, The Library Bo

Books & works: The Huntress by Kate, The Secret Book of Flora Lee, The Library Book, Maine Characters, The Night Watchman, The Bean Trees, Trail of Lightning, Montana, Groundskeeping by

Places: the United States, St. Louis, U.S.