Wisconsin books

Here's a place to talk about fiction/nonfiction set in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin, the Dairy State, is my home away from home. Actually, this is not a huge stretch since I live only a few miles from the state line.

I'm thinking about Mona Simpson's Off Keck Road as my Wisconsin book. This is set in the Green Bay area, which is where I went to college for undergrad.

If you're interested in mysteries, the Wisconsin Northwoods mysteries by Victoria Houston, really capture of the flavor of the Northwoods.

I picked up a Victoria Houston mystery earlier this year at a book sale. It's in my TBR stash. Sounds like it would be a good choice for my Wisconsin book.

I've just finished American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - it's set there for most of the book.

American Wife is on my TBR list! So many books, so little time!

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is set in Wisconsin. It's basically Hamlet re-told in the North Woods and I enjoyed both the re-working of the play and the beautiful scenic passages.

Vinegar Hill bu A. Manette Ansay is also set in Wisconsin.

This one intrigues me. I really want to read: http://www.librarything.com/work/6502660

#7 Me too, I've got a hold on it at the library. Waiting (not very) patiently for it to be my turn.

#6 lahochstetler, I have Vinegar Hill but haven't read it. Did you like it?

I'm also intrigued by A Reliable Wife.

cmt, I didn't like Vinegar Hill, but it was an Oprah and did do fairly well. I didn't like the way it was clearly written by someone who'd just graduated with an MFA in creative writing--after a while they all seem so alike. On the other hand, it wasn't about a wealthy, married woman with happy, healthy children being dissatisfied with her life, but about a financially struggling woman with healthy children living with the in-laws. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't long...

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz. I read it a few years ago. It was meh.

If anybody does get A Reliable Wife, you have to tell me what you thought! :) I absolutely love stories that look like they could have been taken out of old historical newspaper microfilms. It's where I get most of my own ideas from (and I'm a genealogist, so I search a LOT of microfilm!)

L

Thanks RG... ok, it can stay downstairs for a while longer!

Parts of Loving Frank take place at Taliesin near Spring Green. Also places in Europe and Oak Park, and Chicago, IL.

Firestorm at Peshtigo, about the tragedy. An amazing book.

I heard about one from LauraBrook, but I haven't read it. It's called Laura Ingalls Wilder Country. It would be lots of fun for a Little House on the Prairie fan.

Read American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Recommended.

Just getting into The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (October 23), and enjoying the parts about the dogs, especially the faithful, super-smart, loving Almondine. Actually, I think I'm more curious to find out what happens to Almondine than the humans. Hmmm.

Finished the book. It is a little bit long, but there is a lot of complexity to the characters (including the dogs, the deceased, and some of their ghosts), some of whom are pathological. The novel offers a strong sense of place - farmland, forest, bogs, rural America, dramatic weather. I was particularly intrigued by the scene involving the Lake Superior water spouts, and may read that chapter again. I'm surprised by the LT reviews that complain about the ending. I thought the novel ended the only way that it could have, in wildness.

#11 I just finished A Reliable Wife for Wisconsin, and wasn't crazy about it. The book was very dark - lots of people seemed to think highly of it judging from the reviews that have been posted, but it didn't work for me.

Houston, Victoria: Dead Angler

I got this book from the library after reading a review on LT (can’t remember whose) because I’m looking for some “new” series mysteries to read next year. This is the first in a series called “Loon Lake Fishing Mysteries” and the first fiction book written by this author. Unfortunately, it shows in her writing both in character development and in plotting. The story was okay and I rather enjoyed the fishing references (including the fishing “lessons”) since in my youth I was quite fond of fishing. A couple of the characters were well done but many seemed to be caricatures rather than real people. Houston also had the habit of “telling the reader information about the characters feelings rather than “revealing” this information which interfered with the flow of the story.

Bottom Line: Obviously I didn’t hate this book since I stayed up half the night finishing it, but I found it disappointing. It could have been a much better story in the hands of a more experienced mystery writer. I will try to find one the later books in the series (she has done 10 of them so far) to see if she develops the potential she shows in this first effort.

There are lots of books listed here that I want to read! Didn't realize there are so many books set in Wisconsin. I'm halfway through The Dive from Clausen's Pier, by Ann Packer. It was a little bit of a slow start because of the tragic storyline, but it picks up about halfway through the first section and really starts to focus on the development of the main character, Carrie, as she moves through handling her emotional response to her fiance's accident that leaves him a quadriplegic. I find myself feeling a lot of compassion for her and horror at the situation she is in and the difficult decisions she faces.

This one's a children's book. Caddie Woodlawn is set on the Wisconsin frontier and features an independent heroine. The sequel--Magical melons is just as good and perhaps has more local color.

Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding is set in Wisconsin. Highly recommend!