Skip to Content

Best Books Set in Ohio

Every state is known for something. As you work your way through the list, don't miss the best books set in Ohio.

Ohio, officially the State of Ohio is a state in the Midwestern United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area. With a population of nearly 11.8 million, Ohio is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated state.

Best Books Set in Ohio

Winesburg, Ohio
  • Anderson, Sherwood (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

Winesburg, Ohio

Author: Sherwood Anderson

Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson, is a classic collection of short stories that illustrate the peculiarities of life in a small Midwest town at the turn of the twentieth century. Through a series of vignettes, Anderson explores themes of loneliness, alienation, and the difficulty of communication between individuals.

Each story highlights the human struggle to find connection and meaning in the world. Through his powerful, poetic style, Anderson manages to capture the essence of small-town life and its inhabitants, creating a powerful and lasting impression on the reader. Winesburg, Ohio is a timeless classic that is sure to captivate readers of all ages.

Sale
Indignation (Vintage International)
  • Roth, Philip (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

Indignation 

Author: Phillip Roth

Indignation, Philip Roth's twenty-ninth book, is a startling departure from the haunted narratives of old age and experience in Roth’s recent books and a powerful exploration of a remarkable moment in American history.

RELATED:  Best Books Set in Louisiana

In 1951, the second year of the Korean War, a studious, law-abiding, and intense youngster from Newark, New Jersey, Marcus Messner, begins his sophomore year on the pastoral, conservative campus of Ohio's Winesburg College. And why is he there and not at a local college in Newark where he originally enrolled?

Reading Blue Devils: A Novel
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Bennett, Jon (Author)

Reading Blue Devils: A Novel

Author: Jon Bennett

Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger's New Yorker stories–particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme With Love and Squalor–will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is full of children. The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield.

Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it.

Sale
Beloved: Pulitzer Prize Winner
  • towering achievement
  • Toni Morrison (Author)

Beloved

Author: Toni Morrison

This “brutally powerful, mesmerizing story” (People) is an unflinchingly look into the abyss of slavery, from the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner.

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. Sethe has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.

Sale
The Bluest Eye (Vintage International)
  • Morrison, Toni (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)

The Bluest Eye

Author: Toni Morrison

RELATED:  Best Books Set in Pennsylvania

In Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, Pecola Breedlove—an 11-year-old Black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment.

Now that you've completed the list of best books set in this state, why not check out some others? Here are the Best Books Set in All 50 States.

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT BOOKS SET IN ALL 50 STATES

Click here to download the printable. It has a list of books in all 50 states including the Best Books Set in Ohio.

If you enjoyed this list, I have a monthly membership for parents and educators that want to teach or supplement lessons with shows and movies.

“I absolutely love sharing movies with my kids as a way to teach them valuable lessons. It's like this awesome bonding experience where we all snuggle up on the couch with some popcorn, and I get to see their little faces light up with curiosity. Whether it's a classic with timeless morals or a new animated flick with hidden gems of wisdom, it's a fantastic way to impart important life lessons in a fun and engaging way. Plus, the post-movie discussions are priceless – hearing their take on the characters and the story adds a whole new dimension to our family time.” –a Homeschooling parent

RELATED:  Best Books Set in Colorado

With Homeschooling with Shows and Movies membership, you will get resources every month, including:

  • List of This Month’s Suggested Themes
  • List of Monthly Observances
  • List Of Movies for Unit Study
  • Unit Study Resource
  • Seasonal Activities (minimum of three)
  • (BONUSES) Resources for you, the teacher

These resources are worth it if you'd like to easily incorporate shows and movies into your homeschooling.

Grab your membership here.

Related Posts:

Further Reading About the State:

Sharing is caring!