Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Idaho, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Gem State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
The 1805 expedition of Lewis and Clark traversed the region now known as Idaho, opening the doors for fur traders and trappers. The Oregon Trail, used by pioneers migrating west in the first half of the 19th century, also passed through southern Idaho. The discovery of gold and silver in the 1860s sparked a rush of prospectors to the region, creating new mining communities.
Idaho became the 43rd state of the Union on July 3, 1890. Throughout the 20th century, the state experienced growth in both agricultural and technological industries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, potatoes became the state’s main crop, and today, Idaho remains the leading potato-producing state in the US.
Idaho is also called the “Gem State” due to its rich deposits of precious and semi-precious gemstones. From the rugged Rocky Mountains to the serene lakes and plains, this state is renowned for its stunning scenery and diverse recreational activities. Locations such as Sun Valley and Coeur d’Alene are especially popular, making tourism a significant contributor to Idaho’s economy.
While Idaho’s population is relatively small compared to most other states, it was one of the fastest-growing states in terms of percentage of population during the period leading up to 2020. Nestled along the Boise River and set against the backdrop of the foothills, the capital city of Boise offers abundant recreational opportunities, historic architecture, and tree-lined streets.
This contemporary drama is blended with a mystery as readers experience a mass shooting, with the story narrated by those impacted in different ways.
Tessa, the 23-year-old bartender who hid in a storage closet, doesn’t understand why she survived when others did not. Angie is awakened by a call that her husband is critically injured, but she’s confused as she thought he was sleeping next to her. Joyce gets a knock at the door that her son is dead after a bar shooting, except he wasn’t a victim in the same way she expected. He was the shooter.
These three women are now tied together in an unexpected way as they are thrust into a new reality. This powerful book is a hard read, but it doesn’t focus on the shooting itself. Instead, it delves into the aftermath.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers say that the audiobook narration of this title is excellent and uses at least eleven narrators.
Gad is a father of four who channels the disappointment of his personal failures into his extreme control of others, especially his children. Aran, an aspiring artist, and his sister Tasmin are ready to challenge their father to improve their future and for the sake of their younger twin brothers.
Linda is a newcomer to Rexburg from Seattle and hopes to heal from her own hard childhood. When she falls for Aran, she learns that his family is even more toxic than her own. Linda’s introduction to the family upsets the precarious balance that existed and triggers new upheaval. Can they all break free from the past and find a way forward?
After growing up in Emerald Creek, Idaho, Ava moved away, married the love of her life, and went on to publish a bestselling memoir. But now, she’s back home in Idaho because her marriage fell apart after her husband learned the truth about something from her past.
Her sister, Madison, is finally happy after years of healing. She opened a no-kill shelter and is secretly in love with the town veterinarian. But how could he love Madi when his own father died to protect her all those years ago? To reconcile their futures, the sisters must confront the demons of their past together.
In this thriller inspired by actual events, ten children and their bus driver are abducted in broad daylight from Bus 315. Jessica, the bus driver, blames herself but will do anything to protect the kids, especially because she couldn’t protect her own daughter three years ago.
They are now trapped in a shipping container twenty feet underground, where the kidnappers insist that they’ll all be fine if the ransom is paid. But with every passing minute, the air seems to be getting thinner and harder to breathe.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Noelle W. Ihli is from Idaho and has written other thrillers set in the state, including Ask for Andrea.
1882 & following years, China, San Francisco, Idaho
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
4.1 out of 5 100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Daiyu was named after a tragic heroine in Chinese folklore and hoped to avoid being cursed like her namesake. However, she’s kidnapped in China at the young age of 11 to be sent to an American brothel.
While she’s able to escape the brothel, she can’t hide from the white men who are following the Chinese population as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 fuels anti-Asian sentiment. She’s lucky to find a safe home with Chinese shopkeepers in Idaho, but life is anything but easy in a country that hates you.
The Book Girls Say…
The author wrote this beautiful work of literary historical fiction after her father found a historical marker in Idaho and asked her to share the story with the world. Be sure to read the author’s notes at the end of the book for more information on the true events that inspired the story.
This is an emotionally challenging read that addresses some difficult topics and includes depictions of sexual assault and racially motivated violence.
Sloane is a small-town librarian in Idaho who enjoys her daily visits from the town curmudgeon, Arthur. She loves verbal sparring with him so much that she instantly notices when he doesn’t show up one morning. When another day passes without a visit, her worry intensifies.
When Sloane tracks Arthur down at home and finds him almost bedridden, she needs a way to cheer him up. An impromptu book club with other lonely library patrons soon begins, and unlikely friendships form through their shared love of books.
The Book Girls Say…
While we both enjoyed this read, it isn’t as richly descriptive of the location as some of the other, more Idaho-heavy choices on the list.
In this memoir, Tara Westover shares the story of her upbringing in rural Idaho. Born to survivalist parents, she grew up learning to stew herbs for her midwife-healer mother and also worked in her father’s junkyard. Her father forbade doctors and hospitals, even when she and her brothers suffered serious injuries.
As part of her father’s beliefs, she was kept from any formal education. While she didn’t step foot in a classroom for the first time until the age of 17, Tara worked hard to educate herself in mathematics and grammar. She was ultimately able to gain admission to BYU, where she studied history and learned about major world events, like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement, for the first time. From there, she went on to opportunities at Harvard and Cambridge.
This coming-of-age memoir recounts how she struggled to lift herself up and grappled with the tension between family loyalty and the grief that comes with severing those ties in search of something more.
In the first book of this cozy mystery series, Angie is opening a new farm-to-table restaurant in Idaho with her best friend, Felicia. With only three weeks until the opening, she’s spending a lot of time working with local vendors, including a goat dairy farm.
When the dairy farmer is murdered, Angie jumps in to help care for the flock…and to find the killer. The first book sets up some of the future relationships, and the subsequent installments are even higher rated.
Kelsey just graduated from college and has one summer left before marrying her wealthy fiancé and starting her adult life. She heads to her family’s ranch in Idaho, hoping for a quiet summer with plenty of time to plan her wedding.
Unfortunately, she discovers that her dad has hired Cade, the guy with whom she was constantly engaged in a prank war throughout their youth. Now, her childhood enemy lives on her ranch, and all bets are off.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers enjoy the witty banter in this clean romance.
Idaho, 2020; Constantinople, 1453; and in the future
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
3.8 out of 5 94% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In the 15th century, a young orphan named Anna lived in Constantinople (what is now Istanbul, Turkey). Growing up in an ancient city famous for its libraries, Anna discovers what could be the last copy of a centuries-old book chronicling the story of Aethon. Soon her path crosses with a village boy named Omeir, who has been drafted into the army.
In a library in present-day Idaho, 80-something Zeno is directing a children’s play adaptation of Aethon. But tucked among the books on the library’s shelves is a bomb planted by a troubled teen.
In the not-too-distant future, Konstance is on an interstellar ship copying down the story of Aethon told to her by her father.
Throughout the novel, the lives of these dreamers are intertwined in such an immersive way that you’ll forget your own world and feel as if you’ve been transported into theirs.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fantasy from the author of All the Light We Cannot See was a Goodreads Choice Nominee for Best Fiction in 2021.
In the first book of the Wayward Pines series, Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in the Idaho town in search of two missing federal agents. After an accident, Ethan wakes up in the hospital with no ID or phone. Something feels off, and it becomes even more confusing when his investigation keeps turning up more questions than answers.
As days pass, he’s increasingly concerned that he can’t reach anyone outside of Wayward Pines, and that no one believes that he is who he says he is. And why is there an electric fence circling the town?
The Book Girls Say…
After reading, don’t miss the TV series of the same name, which aired for two seasons and is now available for streaming.
Opposites attract in this fun Idaho renovation romance! Maggie is a house flipper and YouTube star who needs to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She arrives in the small town of Kinship, Idaho, with her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team.
Her local landscaper, Silas, is laid back but also an outrageously sexy flirt. While she doesn’t have time in her busy production schedule for a long-term romance, she could handle a short-term fling. However, steamy nights with Silas begin to break down her long-standing emotional walls. When the end of her renovation looms, she has some big decisions to make.
The Book Girls Say…
Lucy Score is known for steamy romances, so skip this one if you prefer fade-to-black/closed-door love scenes.
This novel highlights Idaho’s famous export: potatoes. Yumi left Liberty Falls, Idaho, and its famous potato farms when she was only 15. Now 40, Yumi is returning to confront her dying parents, her best friend, and her conflicted past. The post-millennial farming community is not the same as the one she left behind. It’s been invaded by both Agribusiness and activists.
This novel explores complex topics including abortion, infertility, big agriculture, the pharmaceutical industry, environmentalism, philosophy, and religion. It’s perfect if you’re interested in changing farming practices & enjoy family dramas.
Jack’s father went to prison, and his younger brother, Matty, is headed to foster care unless Jack can come up with the money needed to save him. And the only way he can do that quickly is by finding the drug money that sent his father to prison.
Ava has lived in isolation and under her father’s directive to trust no one her entire life. Now, he is chasing the same money as Jack. When he discovers that Jack is also hunting for the cash, will Ava remain silently loyal to her dad or help the brothers survive?
In this award-winning modern classic, Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, grow up haphazardly in western Idaho on a glacial lake. It’s the same place where their grandfather died in a train wreck, and their mother drove off a cliff. After their mom was gone, they were first raised by their competent grandmother. Then, custody changed to a duo of comically bumbling great-aunts before they landed with Sylvie, their eccentric aunt.
In this literary character-driven work, the lake is like its own character, as the girls, who are very different from each other, come of age.
Sienna’s family has lived on and cared for the same wild Idaho land for generations, but with her parents gone and her marriage over, it suddenly feels very lonely. Trying to make her feel better, Sienna’s best friend jokingly places a husband-for-hire ad in the paper. The man who responds, however, is taking it very seriously.
Guy is a handsome Montana construction worker with a young daughter battling stage-five kidney disease. Money is tight, and he can’t afford the anti-rejection meds Emma would need in order to receive a kidney transplant. He’s willing to do anything to help his daughter, even if it means marrying a stranger.
Sienna knows that this marriage of convenience is only about helping Emma, but she can’t help but notice how easily the guy fits into life at the ranch and how much more light and laughter result from his and Emma’s presence. The more time they spend as a fake family, the more she fears the very real loss she’ll feel when it ends.
Amanda isn’t a fan of Christmas, but as the owner of a soap shop in a small town, a certain level of holiday cheer is good for business, so she’s participating in the town’s holiday giving market.
When Amanda’s 80-year-old grandmother starts dating a new resident at the Shelter Inn retirement community, Amanda smells trouble. Fortunately, the man’s grandson, Rafe, is equally dubious of the match. He and Amanda share a common goal of keeping their grandparents apart.
Rafe is a handsome firefighter and single father who has experienced heartache of his own. Despite the connection Amanda feels to him as their paths continue crossing at the holiday market, she is afraid of getting burned.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is the second in a Christmas series, but reads well as a stand-alone. However, if you love small-town holiday romances, you might want to start with Christmas at the Shelter Inn.
We hope you enjoyed this list of books about Idaho and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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