A Book Set in New York
While I originally hoped to read through all fifty states in the order they were admitted to the Union, that bright idea fell apart pretty quickly, as I couldn’t seem to find a book I wanted to read set in Delaware. I suddenly realized that fifty books is half my reading goal, and I better get started! Delaware would have to wait.
2026 Reading Goals
Happy New Year! I’m beginning the year with the usual goal-setting, and that includes figuring out how to add more reading and travel inspiration to this website on a more regular basis. In honor of that aspiration I thought I would share a reading project for 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is not a novel idea at all, but I want to read one book set in each of the 50 states to mark the occasion.
The Audubon Museum and Nature Center
If you turn off a highway in Henderson, Kentucky, not far from the Ohio River and the Indiana state line, you find yourself quickly leaving behind gas stations and familiar fast food chains and instantly surrounded by trees. Next, and rather improbably, you find yourself parking your car outside of a French château in the middle of the Kentucky wilderness. It’s as if you managed to travel back in time and across an ocean without ever leaving your vehicle. You’ve arrived at the Audubon Museum and Nature Center in the John James Audubon State Park.