Books set in Illinois

Every state has its hallmark writers. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford’s series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer?

What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that—their work, nearly all of it, is set in "their" state.

Of course, there are certainly exceptions. Whether a writer sets a tale in the town where they went to college or spent part of their childhood—like Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" and its New England arts school setting and the almost-factual small town of Jo Ann Beard's "In Zanesville," respectively—or crafts a story that follows a social or political theme to a location they know little about but lay narrative claim to anyway, the world is rife with books known, loved, and respected that also capture the essence of place—books where setting itself is one of the strongest characters.

Stacker compiled a list of books set in Illinois from Goodreads. Whether you're looking for a good read set in the state you call home, or you're looking to expand your curiosity with a writer you're already familiar with, we've got you covered.

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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

- Rating: 3.99 (616,210 ratings) - Author: Erik Larson - Published: February 11, 2003 - Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime - Read more on Goodreads

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The Time Traveler's Wife

- Rating: 3.99 (1.7 million ratings) - Author: Audrey Niffenegger - Published: January 1, 2004 - Genres: Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel - Read more on Goodreads

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Ghost Hand (The PSS Chronicles, #1)

- Rating: 3.88 (1,045 ratings) - Author: Ripley Patton - Published: November 28, 2012 - Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance - Read more on Goodreads

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State of Horror: Illinois

- Rating: 4.21 (19 ratings) - Author: Jerry E. Benns - Published: August 23, 2014 - Genres: Horror - Read more on Goodreads

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The Jungle

- Rating: 3.76 (137,497 ratings) - Author: Upton Sinclair - Published: February 25, 1905 - Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature - Read more on Goodreads

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Native Son

- Rating: 4.01 (95,100 ratings) - Author: Richard Wright - Published: January 1, 1940 - Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, African American - Read more on Goodreads

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A Long Way from Chicago (A Long Way from Chicago, #1)

- Rating: 3.96 (33,184 ratings) - Author: Richard Peck - Published: January 1, 1998 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens - Read more on Goodreads

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A Heart Of Stone

- Rating: 3.71 (14 ratings) - Author: Amanda Springer - Published: September 29, 2014 - Genres: Christian - Read more on Goodreads

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The House on Mango Street

- Rating: 3.68 (158,830 ratings) - Author: Sandra Cisneros - Published: January 1, 1984 - Genres: Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Short Stories - Read more on Goodreads

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Will Grayson, Will Grayson

- Rating: 3.72 (378,675 ratings) - Author: John Green - Published: April 6, 2010 - Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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Across Five Aprils

- Rating: 3.54 (13,132 ratings) - Author: Irene Hunt - Published: September 1, 1964 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Civil War - Read more on Goodreads

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Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)

- Rating: 3.98 (329,620 ratings) - Author: Jim Butcher - Published: April 1, 2000 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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A Raisin in the Sun

- Rating: 3.84 (83,631 ratings) - Author: Lorraine Hansberry - Published: January 1, 1959 - Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction, Drama - Read more on Goodreads

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The Unicorn Hunter

- Rating: 4.11 (27 ratings) - Author: Del Henderson - Published: October 26, 2015 - Genres: Fantasy, Unicorns - Read more on Goodreads

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The Litigators

- Rating: 3.85 (71,085 ratings) - Author: John Grisham - Published: October 25, 2011 - Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Legal Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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Something Wicked This Way Comes (Green Town, #2)

- Rating: 3.92 (116,764 ratings) - Author: Ray Bradbury - Published: September 17, 1962 - Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics - Read more on Goodreads

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Chicago Poems

- Rating: 4.02 (2,439 ratings) - Author: Carl Sandburg - Published: January 1, 1916 - Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction, American - Read more on Goodreads

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Deceptions (Cainsville, #3)

- Rating: 4.15 (10,172 ratings) - Author: Kelley Armstrong - Published: August 18, 2015 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery - Read more on Goodreads

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Deadlock (V.I. Warshawski, #2)

- Rating: 3.81 (5,273 ratings) - Author: Sara Paretsky - Published: December 12, 1984 - Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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Rose Madder

- Rating: 3.73 (105,733 ratings) - Author: Stephen King - Published: January 1, 1995 - Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy - Read more on Goodreads

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Wild Women and the Blues

- Rating: 3.78 (4,834 ratings) - Author: Denny S. Bryce - Published: March 30, 2021 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Adult - Read more on Goodreads

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Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires, #1)

- Rating: 3.98 (62,970 ratings) - Author: Chloe Neill - Published: April 7, 2009 - Genres: Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Fantasy - Read more on Goodreads

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It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars, #1)

- Rating: 4.01 (64,344 ratings) - Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Published: January 1, 1994 - Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Sports - Read more on Goodreads

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Omens (Cainsville, #1)

- Rating: 4.07 (19,880 ratings) - Author: Kelley Armstrong - Published: August 20, 2013 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal - Read more on Goodreads

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Visions (Cainsville, #2)

- Rating: 4.25 (12,603 ratings) - Author: Kelley Armstrong - Published: August 14, 2014 - Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery - Read more on Goodreads

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Brush Back (V.I. Warshawski, #17)

- Rating: 3.93 (4,001 ratings) - Author: Sara Paretsky - Published: July 16, 2015 - Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15)

- Rating: 4.56 (79,214 ratings) - Author: Jim Butcher - Published: May 27, 2014 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery - Read more on Goodreads

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The Firebrand (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy #3)

- Rating: 3.90 (2,148 ratings) - Author: Susan Wiggs - Published: April 1, 2001 - Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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The Mistress (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy, #2)

- Rating: 3.78 (1,757 ratings) - Author: Susan Wiggs - Published: October 1, 2000 - Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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Blood Secrets

- Rating: 3.89 (282 ratings) - Author: Craig Jones - Published: January 1, 1978 - Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery, #1)

- Rating: 3.56 (49,123 ratings) - Author: Mia P. Manansala - Published: May 4, 2021 - Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1)

- Rating: 4.08 (63,916 ratings) - Author: Ray Bradbury - Published: September 1, 1957 - Genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction, Fantasy - Read more on Goodreads

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Time Between Us (Time Between Us, #1)

- Rating: 3.90 (11,084 ratings) - Author: Tamara Ireland Stone - Published: October 9, 2012 - Genres: Young Adult, Time Travel, Romance, Fantasy - Read more on Goodreads

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Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

- Rating: 3.99 (1.4 million ratings) - Author: Veronica Roth - Published: May 1, 2012 - Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Fiction, Fantasy - Read more on Goodreads

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The Hostage (Great Chicago Fire Trilogy #1)

- Rating: 3.90 (2,211 ratings) - Author: Susan Wiggs - Published: April 1, 2000 - Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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If We Were Villains

- Rating: 4.22 (102,871 ratings) - Author: M.L. Rio - Published: April 11, 2017 - Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Contemporary - Read more on Goodreads

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The Summer I Saved the World . . . in 65 Days

- Rating: 4.12 (1,281 ratings) - Author: Michele Weber Hurwitz - Published: January 1, 2014 - Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction - Read more on Goodreads

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Sister Carrie

- Rating: 3.76 (38,660 ratings) - Author: Theodore Dreiser - Published: November 8, 1900 - Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature, American - Read more on Goodreads

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Deliver Us from Normal

- Rating: 3.41 (554 ratings) - Author: Kate Klise - Published: January 1, 2005 - Genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade - Read more on Goodreads

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About Average

- Rating: 3.71 (1,651 ratings) - Author: Andrew Clements - Published: June 26, 2012 - Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, School - Read more on Goodreads

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A Year Down Yonder (A Long Way from Chicago, #2)

- Rating: 4.13 (29,030 ratings) - Author: Richard Peck - Published: January 1, 2000 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens - Read more on Goodreads

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Indemnity Only (V.I. Warshawski, #1)

- Rating: 3.90 (17,327 ratings) - Author: Sara Paretsky - Published: February 3, 1982 - Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller - Read more on Goodreads

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My Chocolate Year: A Novel with 12 Recipes to Make Your World a Little Sweeter

- Rating: 3.54 (144 ratings) - Author: Charlotte Herman - Published: February 19, 2008 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens, Historical - Read more on Goodreads

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Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)

- Rating: 4.25 (92,055 ratings) - Author: Jim Butcher - Published: July 26, 2011 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery - Read more on Goodreads

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The Jazz Palace

- Rating: 3.68 (750 ratings) - Author: Mary Morris - Published: April 7, 2015 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Music, Jazz - Read more on Goodreads

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A Kiss of Shadows (Merry Gentry, #1)

- Rating: 4.01 (57,038 ratings) - Author: Laurell K. Hamilton - Published: September 30, 2000 - Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance - Read more on Goodreads

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Just Your Average Princess (Just Your Average #1)

- Rating: 3.38 (386 ratings) - Author: Kristina Springer - Published: October 11, 2011 - Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Romance - Read more on Goodreads

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The Paper Cowboy

- Rating: 4.19 (1,248 ratings) - Author: Kristin Levine - Published: September 4, 2014 - Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical, Family - Read more on Goodreads