These 10 must-read books set in Wisconsin include national bestsellers, award-winning fiction, and compelling fictional accounts of notable Wisconsinites. Visit America’s dairy country and the Badger State with these books that take place in Wisconsin.
1. the art of fielding by chad harbach
“at westish college, a small school on the shores of lake michigan, baseball star henry skrimshander seems destined for major league stardom. But when a routine launch goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people change.”
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2. american gods by neil gaiman
“Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow served his sentence, silently waiting for the day he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man who was no longer afraid of what he might bring tomorrow, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he loved dearly, and start a new life.
“but just a few days before his release, laura and shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in tatters and nothing holding him back, Shadow takes a job from a seductive stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. a trickster and a rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about the shadow than the shadow itself.
“Life as a bodyguard, driver, and Wednesday errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined. soon the shadow learns that the past never dies. . . And that beneath the placid surface of everyday life there is a storm brewing, an epic war for the very soul of America, and he stands squarely in its path.”
3. little house in the great forest by laura ingalls wilder
“little house in the big woods” takes place in 1871 and introduces us to four-year-old laura, who lives in a log cabin on the edge of the great woods of wisconsin. She shares the cabin with her dad, her mom, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and her adorable dog, Jack.
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“Pioneer life is not easy for the Ingalls family, as they must grow or gather all their food as they prepare for the cold winter. but they make the best of every difficult situation. They celebrate Christmas with toys and homemade treats, plant in the spring, reap the harvest in the fall, and take their first trip to the city. And every night, safe and warm in their little house, the sound of Dad’s violin lulls Laura and her sisters to sleep.”
4. shotgun love songs by nickolas butler
“welcome to little wing. It’s a place like hundreds of others, but for four childhood friends, all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town, it’s home. one of them never left, still working on the family farm, but the others felt the need to move on. one trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit. one of them achieved success as a rock star. and then there is beth, a woman who has meant something special in everyone’s life. when everyone gets together for a wedding, the little wing looks even smaller than before. lifelong bonds remain strong, but there are tensions, between friends, between husband and wife. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, and even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of friendship and love.”
5. black house by stephen king and peter straub
“twenty years ago, a boy named jack sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called the territories to save his mother and her “twin” territories from an agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Jack is now a retired homicide detective from Los Angeles who lives in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, Wisconsin. he has no recollection of his adventures in the territories, and was forced to leave the police force when a strange fortuitous event threatened to awaken those memories.
“when a series of horrific murders occurs in western wisconsin reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named albert fish, the killer is dubbed “the fish man” and jack’s friend, the police chief local, begs jack to help the inexperienced force find him. But are these new murders simply the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and evil force been unleashed on this sleepy town? What causes Jack’s inexplicable waking dreams, if that’s what they are, of robins’ eggs and red feathers? it’s almost like someone is trying to tell him something. As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack returns to the Territories and his own hidden past, where he can find the soul force to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted stretch of forest, there to find the obscene and ferocious evils it harbors.”
6. the western game by ellen raskin
“A strange chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for a reading of Samuel W. westing’s will And while no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger – and possible murderer – to inherit his vast fortune, the truth is that Sam Westing may be dead… but that won’t stop him. let him play one last game!”
7. women tc boy
“Having brought to life eccentric cereal king john harvey kellogg on the road to wellville and sex investigator alfred kinsey on the inner circle, t.c. Boyle now directs his fictional gaze to an even more colorful and flamboyant character: Frank Lloyd Wright. Boyle’s incomparable account of Wright’s life is told through the experiences of the four women who loved him. There’s montenegrin beauty olgivanna milanoff, passionate southern belle maude miriam noel, tragic mamah cheney and his young first wife kitty tobin. Resplendent with his trademark wit and inventiveness, Boyle deftly captures these very different women and creative life in all its complexity.”
8. the edgar sawtelle story by david wroblewski
“Born mute, speaking only in signs, edgar sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have bred and trained a fictional breed of dog whose extraordinary gift for companionship is embodied in Almond, Edgar’s lifelong friend and ally. Edgar seems ready to carry on his family’s traditions, but when catastrophe strikes, he finds his once-peaceful home thrown into chaos.
“Forced to flee into the vast desert beyond Sawtelle Farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of his accompanying three year-old dogs, until the day in which he is forced to choose between leaving. forever or return home to face the mysteries he has left unsolved.”
9. a prayer for the dying by stewart o’nan
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“Set in amity, wisconsin, just after the civil war, a prayer for the dying tells of a horrible epidemic that is suddenly and frighteningly killing the town’s residents and triggering terrifying paranoia. Jacob Hansen, sheriff, undertaker and pastor of friendship, is soon overwhelmed by the fear and anguish that surround him, and his sanity begins to unravel. Dark, poetic and chilling, Stewart O’nan’s Prayer for the Dying examines the effect of madness and violence on the morality of a once decent man.”
10. whistling in the dark by lesley kagen
“sally o’malley made a promise to her dad before he died. she swore that she would take care of her sister, troo. keep her safe. but as her grandmother always said, actions speak louder than words. Now, during the summer of 1959, the girls’ mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has dumped them for a six-pack, and their older sister, Nell, is too busy making out with her boyfriend to notice that Sally and Troo are on the move. loose. . and he is also a murderer and an abuser.
“the highly imaginative sally is pretty sure of two things. who is the murderer. and that she is next on her list. She now has no choice but to protect herself and jog as best she can, relying on her own courage and the kindness of her neighbors.”
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