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Books Set in New England

By: Angela & Melissa Updated: As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.

If you’re joining us for our Read Around the USA Challenge, welcome. If you simply found your way to our website researching books set in your home state or your New England travel destination, you’ve still come to the right place!

Photo of fall folliage reflected in a lake with three book covers of books set in New England across the bottom of the image

New England immediately conjures images of fall leaves and covered bridges. But for the challenge, we’ve compiled a wide range of reading options that dive deeper into life in each state. Our curated recommendations strike a good balance between historical fiction books, contemporary novels, and nonfiction books about New England.

New England Books: The Best Books Set in Each State

Below, you’ll find lists of highly-rated and enjoyable books set in each New England state. If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.

Lighthouse on rocky coast with 3 book covers

Books Set in Maine

The best books set in the Pine Tree State, including novels, memoirs & non-fiction.

MAINE BOOKS
Photo of historic Boston red brick row homes with three Massachusetts book covers overlaid in the bottom right corner

Books Set in Massachusetts

The best books set in the Bay State, including novels and non-fiction.

MASSACHUSETTS BOOKS
Old covered bridge in fall scenery with three book covers overlaid

Books Set in New Hampshire

The best books set in the Granite State, including novels and non-fiction.

NEW HAMPSHIRE BOOKS
image of Newport Bridge (high suspension bridge) and 3 book covers

Books Set in Rhode Island

The best books set in the Ocean State, including novels and non-fiction.

RHODE ISLAND BOOKS
aerial photo of church and fall trees in Montepelier, Vermonth

Books Set in Vermont

The best books set in the Green Mountain State, including novels and holiday-themed reads.

VERMONT BOOKS

Sign Up for the Read Around the USA Challenge

Sign up for our email list below to receive a free printable tracker for the Read Around the USA Challenge. Our weekly email newsletter helps you stay on track with friendly reminders while still allowing you the flexibility to read at your own pace.

Printable Version of the Challenge Book Lists

Readers who support The Book Girls’ Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee (BMAC) membership site can access printable versions of the reading challenge book lists. As we create stand-alone book lists for the Read Around the USA Challenge throughout the year, each individual state book list will be available in a single-page printable format for our BMAC members.

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We offer two membership levels. Both our BFF members and our Inner Circle members get access to the single-page printables for the year-long reading challenges. Visit our Buy Me a Coffee membership page for a full list of benefits for each level.

Our BMAC members help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone!

Book Recommendations for Other Regions of the USA

If you’re participating in our 2025 Read Around the USA Challenge and reading one book per region, you can find links to every region here. If you’re doing the 50 States Challenge and reading books from every state and territory, you can get an alphabetical index here. Throughout 2025, we’ll be expanding the regional book lists into standalone book lists for all 50 states.

FIND YOUR PERFECT BOOK LIST

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The Book Girls are best friends who jointly read over 200 books per year. We started Book Girls' Guide in 2019 to help others de-stress and find joy through the power of a great book. We do in-depth research on thousands of novels and non-fiction titles each year to provide curated book lists covering a variety of genres.

Comments on: Books Set in New England

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17 Comments

  1. I’m pledging to do the States challenge next year. Like many dedicated readers, I buy way more than I can read. Looking through some of the lists I saw several books I’ve bought but haven’t gotten to yet scattered through New England and Midwest settings. What a great way to read some of my backlog, that must have sounded good to me but I haven’t got around to. Yet!

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  2. Hester is only available for pre-order via your link. It does not come out until October of this year. ☹️

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    1. Angela Rathbun says:

      Our link goes to the Kindle version, which is available now, as is the audiobook and the hardback. Hester has not yet been released in paperback (that’s what is available for pre-order). Quite a few of our readers have already checked out Hester from their local libraries, as well!

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  3. I’ve picked 11……. what a great list of books!!!!

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  4. First time in this group and I can’t wait to start reading! Seriously all of the books sound so good!

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  5. Joan Schmidman says:

    Loved Fellowship Point, our bookclub is reading it this month.

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  6. Lynndorian Swindell says:

    Good thing I am retired because I want to read so many of these! Is there a way to print off a list of titles and authors? I do appreciate the work that went into the choosing of all these books!

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    1. Angela Rathbun says:

      This was a big request last year that we weren’t able to add to our plates in 2022. New for 2023, readers who support Book Girls Guide through our Buy Me a Coffee membership site (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bookgirlsguide) will receive special monthly printable journal pages as a thank you bonus. The voluntary members (we call them our BFFs) help cover the cost of running the challenges so we can keep them free for everyone.

      The journal pages are pre-filled with every book title/author for the month, and include space for you to mark your interest level, make notes about whether you’ve requested the book from the library (or any other notes you’d like), and then fill in your rating. We’ll also include blank lines in case you have other books on your TBR (to be read) list that meet the prompt. You can see a sample of what the journal pages look like in this post: https://bookgirlsguide.com/read-around-the-usa/ (look below the list of monthly reading prompts).

      Reply
  7. Amy Garner says:

    Hi I’m new here! Looking forward to the challenges! A great list of books, I have read 4 of them! I am going to start with Hester!

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  8. Susan Joris says:

    This is a comprehensive list. I have read three already: Empire Falls, A Secret History and The Hotel New Hampshire. I would recommend them all. I’m going to start with Geraldine Brooks.

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  9. Fabulous list and great challenge.
    Looks like a year filled with lots of wonderful reads.

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  10. What a great list! Can’t wait to get started! Love the challenge – it adds a bit of extra fun to my reading! Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Carrie Clifton says:

    I’m going to read Mad Honey for sure. There are so many others on this list that I want to read!!

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  12. I am excited to start this challenge. I see a lot of interesting reads here!

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  13. I want to read almost all of them!

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    1. Denise Johnson says:

      @Bev, you and me, too! I’m having a hard time deciding. But I also wanted to read books around the world. Obviously too many books and too little time.

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    2. @Denise Johnson, this Bev is also having a hard time deciding…

      Reply