Celebrating the States

During 2010 I plan to celebrate each of the 50 states. The fun will start on January 2, which is the anniversary of the date that Georgia entered the union in 1788. The list below is in calendar order. For each state I plan to read one book that takes place in that state; watch one movie that is set there; and try at least one food that is typical to that place. I will be keeping a blog. Since the anniversaries are not spaced evenly throughout the year I will do my best with keeping up with the reading. I may, in some cases, just discuss books that I read previously, if I remember them well enough.

To the best of my knowledge, the links below are to the official government websites of each state.  Also see USA.gov

Books

AK - Williwaw / Children's Book - Swimmer
AZ- I married Wyatt Earp
AR - The Drowning of Stephan Jones
CA- Field Days: A Year of Farming, Eating and Drinking Wine in California
CT - Girls of a Tender Age / Near the Long Tidal River
FL - Anything by Carl Hiassen; Behind the Mask
GA - It Happened in Georgia; Georgia Quilts; Clock Without Hands / Children's Book From Sea to Shining Sea
IN - In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash
KS - Prarie Poetry - Cowboy Poetry of Kansas
LA - In the Sanctuary of Outcasts
MD - Beautiful Swimmers
MA - Walden
MI - Devil in the North Woods
NE - Goodnight, Nebraska
NV - Wormwood, Nevada
NJ - Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret
NM -
NY - No Impact Man / I loved, I lost, I ate Spaghetti
OH - Good Roots: Writers Reflect on Growing up in Ohio
OR - Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail
PR - When I was a Puerto Rican
TN - In the Rings of Saturn
TX - Lone Star / Children's Book - Armadillo from Amarillo / Tinsel
UT - Nobody Don't Love Nobody: Lessons in Love from the School with no Name; Secret Ceremonies
VA - Children's Book - Sally Hemings & Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture/ Children's Book Virginia Night Before Christmas
WA - The Commitment (Dan Savage)
WI - A Sand County Almanac / COOP (Michael Perry)

If you have any suggestions for books please e-mail me phayesboh@bridgew.edu

Movies
AL - To Kill a Mockingbird; Sweet Home Alabama; Four Little Girls
AK - The Simpson's Movie; Snow Dogs; Mystery, Alaska
AZ - Tombstone; Revenge of the Nerds; Raising Arizona; Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
AR - Thelma and Louise;
CA - Romeo and Juliet (1996); Valley Girl; My Family, Mi Familia
CO- Continental Divide
CT - Holiday Inn; The Ice Storm; Christmas in Connecticut
DE - Stone House
FL - Hoot; Striptease; Ruby in Paradise; Because of Winn Dixie
GA - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; Gone With the Wind; The Color Purple; Neon Bible
HI - Lilo & Stitch; Pearl Harbor
ID - Napoleon Dynamite; Latter Days; Smoke Signals
IL - The Lake House; Blues Brothers; Ordinary People
IN - Hoosiers; Going All The Way; A Christmas Story
IA - The Music Man; Field of Dreams
KS - Wizard of Oz; Leap of Faith; Splendor in the Grass
KY - Coal Miner's Daughter
LA - Steel Magnolias; Interview with the Vampire; The Big Easy
ME - On Golden Pond; The Whales of August; Andre; The Spitfire Grill
MD - 1969; Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; Avalon; Diner; Hairspray; ... And Justice for All
MA - Good Will Hunting; Mystic River; The Departed; With Honors; A Small Circle of Friends; The Paper Chase; Little Women; Parent Trap; http://www.boston.com/business/gallery/bostonmovies?pg=30
MI - Roger & Me; The Virgin Suicides; Coffee Shop Kings
MN - A Simple Plan
MS - Crossroads; Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?; Biloxi Blues
MO - Paper Moon; Fifth of July
MT - A River Runs Through It
NE - Boys Don't Cry; The Brandon Teena Story; About Schmidt
NV - Honeymoon in Vegas; Leaving Las Vegas
NJ - The Station Agent; The Garden State; SherryBaby
NM - Little Miss Sunshine; 21 Grams; Rocks with Wings
NY - The Devil Wears Prada; The Muppets Take Manhattan; Serendipity; Splash
NC - The Songcatcher
ND - Fargo
OH - Heathers; Little Man Tate; Rainman; The Oh in Ohio
OK - Tex; Oklahoma!
OR - My Own Private Idaho; Stand by Me; Wendy and Lucy
PA - Philadelphia; Groundhog Day; All the Right Moves
PR - Manuela Y Manuel
RI - My Sister's Keeper; A Wake in Providence
SC - The Notebook; The Secret Life of Bees
SD - North by Northwest
TN - This Thing Called Love
TX - Convicts; No Country for Old Men; Paris, Texas; Full Moon in Blue Water; Selena; The Education of Shelby Knox; Trip to Bountiful
UT - Christmas in the Clouds; Orgazmo; Latter Days
VT - White Christmas; Baby Boom
VA - Mr. and Mrs. Loving; Felicity an American Girl Adventure
WA - Twilight; Sleepless in Seattle
DC - St. Elmo's Fire; An American President; First Daughter
WV - October Sky; Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
WI - For Keeps? American Movie
WY- The Laramie Project; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Brokeback Mountain

If you have any suggestions for books or movies to watch please e-mail me.