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Books Set in the Southwest Mountain States
Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, or simply found your way to our website researching books set in your home state or your next travel destination, you’ve come to the right place!
The Best Books Set in the Mountain West
Below, you’ll find a list of highly-rated books set in the American Southwest, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Our curated recommendations strike a good balance between historical fiction, contemporary novels, and non-fiction books about the southwest mountain states. If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
Books Set in Arizona
The best books set in the Grand Canyon State, including novels and non-fiction.
Books Set in Colorado
The best books set in the Centennial State, including novels and non-fiction.
Books Set in New Mexico
The best books set in the Land of Enchantment, including novels and non-fiction.
Books Set in Utah
The best books set in the Beehive State, including novels and non-fiction.
Books Set in Wyoming
The best books set in the Cowboy State, including novels and non-fiction.
Sign Up for the Read Around the USA Challenge
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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.
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.
What is the Netflix series based on the book series by Craig Johnson called? I tried to look it up and had no luck.
Thanks
Hi Angela, the series is called Longmire.
Although this list looks interesting (and I will no doubt find something really good to read), I am disappointed that no Barbara O’Neil books are on the Colorado list.
Barbara O’Neal is a great Colorado author (my home state as well!) and we love that she sets her books in so many wonderful locations around the world. If you’d like to pick one of her books that is set in Colorado to read this month, you’re welcome to! It’s always so hard to narrow these state lists down to just 6 or so titles that we feel give a well rounded look at the state.
@Angela Rathbun, I am going to read one of hers, and one from the list so I can join in the discussions.
I am a westerner through and through and love to read books set in the western U.S. Probably my favorite Western writers are Stegner and Doig. After I read Beyond the 100th Meridian by Stegner I was even more gung-ho to take a raft through the Grand Canyon. I couldn’t ever find a rafting partner but did convince my husband last summer to raft the Green River from Brown’s Corner to Vernal, Utah. We saw Steamboat Rock that John Wesley Powell climbed (with one arm)! And many other amazing things. Dinosaur National Monument is a favorite of ours. The museum with in situ dinosaur skeletons, the Native American rock art and the remains of a woman’s ranch are fantastic sites. After our rafting trip we asked our guides for book recommendations. That led us to the book, The Bassett Women by McClure. I’ve just started it for this challenge. It is a fascinating picture of the west post Civil War.
Westerner here as well (born in Utah, lived in Colorado since I was 10). Dinosaur National Monument is a favorite of ours as well! I loved it as a kid, and was so excited to introduce my own kids to it a few years ago. Thanks for the book recommendation!