The most recommended books about Massachusetts

Who picked these books? Meet our 220 experts.

220 authors created a book list connected to Massachusetts, and here are their favorite Massachusetts books.
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Book cover of A Drink Before the War

David Hutchison Author Of Deacon Brodie: A Double Life

From my list on crime characters who transcend the printed word.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Edinburgh and, from an early age, I heard the tale of Deacon Brodie. However, it was not until I was older—when a city official was charged with corruption—that I realised Brodie might just be the first ‘white collar’ criminal in Edinburgh. The more I found out, the more fascinating he became. Here was a man who everyone in the city saw as a wealthy, respectable, Councillor, yet—at the same time—he was a gambler who became a criminal to feed his habit, and so, when I moved to America, I decided to write my first crime novel based on Brodie’s life.

David's book list on crime characters who transcend the printed word

David Hutchison Why did David love this book?

Lehane, one of my favourite authors, introduces the crime writer’s device of the duo, in his first Kenzie and Gennaro novel. For me, as in my own DCI Steel novels, the duo in writing can work to inform, or mislead, the reader and, if handled well, the reader doesn’t notice, seeing the interaction between characters as normal. Clichés abound in crime fiction, especially in lead characters, but Lehane avoids this with P.I. Patrick Kenzie, and his lifelong friend, Angie Gennaro. Given the area they inhabit, with its racial and gang tensions, added to the clients they have, clichés would seem unavoidable, but—once again—the lesson here is to write multi-faceted characters, which Kenzie and Gennaro emphatically are. They are flawed, but in Lehane’s hands, triumphantly human, and very believable.

By Dennis Lehane,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Drink Before the War as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are tough private investigators who know the blue-collar neighbourhoods and ghettos of Boston's Dorchester section as only natives can. Working out of an old church belfry, Kenzie and Gennaro take on a seemingly simple assignment for a prominent politician: to uncover the whereabouts of Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen confidential Statehouse documents.
But finding Jenna proves easy compared to staying alive. The investigation escalates, uncovering a web of corruption extending from bombed-out ghetto streets to the highest levels of state government.

With slick, hip dialogue and a lyrical narrative pocked…


Book cover of Mystic River

Colin Garrow Author Of Terminal Black

From Colin's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Colin's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Colin Garrow Why did Colin love this book?

Lehane's writing and use of language is clever and original. It reminded me a lot of James Ellroy's writing style.

By Dennis Lehane,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Mystic River as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This New York Times bestseller from Dennis Lehane is a gripping, unnerving psychological thriller about the effects of a savage killing on three former friends in a tightly knit, blue-collar Boston neighborhood.

When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened—something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.

Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to…


Book cover of Knowledge is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865

Andrew Pettegree Author Of The Library: A Fragile History

From my list on the history of communication.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started academic life as a historian of the Protestant Reformation, and gradually shifted to the history of communication, in the process creating a major online resource documenting publications from all over the world in the first two centuries of printing, the Universal Short Title Catalogue. After several works on books, news, and information culture I teamed up with another St Andrews colleague, Arthur der Weduwen, to enjoy the pleasures of co-authorship: this book, a history of libraries and book collecting, is our fourth collaboration.

Andrew's book list on the history of communication

Andrew Pettegree Why did Andrew love this book?

The key obstacle to communication in the pre-modern age was distance: this was particularly the case in the transported communities of European settlers in distant continents, often sparsely settled and without the familiar settled infrastructure of roads and trade. In this landmark study, Richard Brown considers the case of colonial America and the early Republic through a series of well-chosen case studies. These reveals that Americans relied on a multi-media experience of newsgathering, where conversation, gossip, and neighbour networks competed with new media innovations. An instant classic full of insight.

By Richard D. Brown,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Knowledge is Power as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the leading scholars dealing with early communication history in America, Richard Brown discusses how information moved through eighteenth and nineteenth-century American society, principally through the expansion of the printed word and its change from the property of the learned and wealthy into a mass-audience market.


Book cover of We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence

Rebecca McKanna Author Of Don't Forget the Girl

From my list on true crime that still honor the victims.

Why am I passionate about this?

After writing a novel about the toll true crime can take on victims’ loved ones and the risk it runs of glamourizing killers while overshadowing victims, I’ve been on the hunt for true crime books that don’t fall into these traps. The titles on this list showcase beautiful writing and tell compelling stories without dehumanizing the victims or glamourizing the perpetrators. 

Rebecca's book list on true crime that still honor the victims

Rebecca McKanna Why did Rebecca love this book?

As a Harvard undergrad, Cooper hears a story about an anthropology professor who murdered a female graduate student with whom he was having an affair, burning her body with cigarette butts and surrounding her in red ochre.

This “macabre legend” illustrates a common critique of true crime—a victim provided no name and no identity beyond the way she was brutalized. A former New Yorker editorial staff member, Cooper performed meticulous research on the 1969 murder, debunking the affair rumor and instead exploring a more interesting story about memory, institutional power, and misogyny in academia.

She also excavates the story of the crime’s victim, 23-year-old Jane Britton. Full of twists and turns, this real-life whodunit provides an exacting portrait of who Jane was and what her loved ones lost.

By Becky Cooper,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Keep the Dead Close as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

'I'm obsessed!' REESE WITHERSPOON

'Exhilarating ... Becky Cooper masterfully uncovers the story of Harvard undergrad Jane Britton.' VOGUE
________________________
You have to remember, he reminded me, that Harvard is older than the U.S. government. You have to remember because Harvard doesn't let you forget.

1969: the height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and the year that Jane Britton, an…


Book cover of Bound

Tracy Lawson Author Of Answering Liberty's Call

From my list on featuring strong women in 18th century America.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by American history and have clear memories of celebrating America’s bicentennial as a child. I have twenty-two Revolutionary Patriots in my family history, and I am most proud of my 6x-great grandmother, Anna Asbury Stone, for her bravery and daring during the winter of 1778. I did extensive genealogical research to learn about her, her family, and her circumstances before writing Answering Liberty’s Call: Anna Stone’s Daring Ride to Valley Forge.

Tracy's book list on featuring strong women in 18th century America

Tracy Lawson Why did Tracy love this book?

Bound is set in the years prior to the American Revolution, and highlights the difficulties faced by girls and women indentured servants. Alice and her family set out for America from England, but when her mother and brothers die during the voyage, Alice’s father decides he cannot keep her and sells her as an indentured servant upon reaching Boston. Alice should have had a middle-class upbringing, but instead, she becomes chattel. The scenes of abuse in this book are stark, but it helps to shed light on the sufferings of the disenfranchised and the helpless. Alice’s determination will inspire.

By Sally Cabot Gunning,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bound as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An indentured servant finds herself bound by law, society, and her own heart in this novel set in colonial Cape Cod from the author of acclaimed The Widow’s War.

Indentured servant Alice Cole barely remembers when she was not “bound”, first to the Morton family, then to their daughter Nabby—her companion since childhood—when she wed. But Nabby’s new marriage is not happy, and when Alice finds herself torn between her new master and her old friend, she runs away to Boston. There she meets a sympathetic widow named Lyddie Berry and her lawyer companion, Eben Freeman. Impulsively stowing away on…


Book cover of NOS4A2

Patrick R. Field Author Of The Bedfordshire Warlock

From Patrick's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Patrick's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Patrick R. Field Why did Patrick love this book?

By Joe Hill,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked NOS4A2 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Summer. Massachusetts.

An old Silver Wraith with a frightening history. A story about one serial killer and his lingering, unfinished business.

Anyone could be next.

We're going to Christmasland ...

NOS4R2 is an old-fashioned horror novel in the best sense. Claustrophobic, gripping and terrifying, this is a story that will have you on the edge of the seat while you read, and leaving the lights on while you sleep. With the horrific tale of Charles Manx and his Silver Wraith, Joe Hill has established himself as the premiere horror and supernatural thriller writer of his generation.


Book cover of Community Board: A Novel

Betsy Uhrig Author Of The Polter-Ghost Problem

From Betsy's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Cat servant Cheese avoidant Still recovering from junior high

Betsy's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Betsy Uhrig Why did Betsy love this book?

Having spent a lot of my reading year in darkish-fantasy mode, I branched out with Community Board, a refreshing, funny, and – yes, I’ll say it – heartwarming novel about trying desperately to go home again.

Set in a small Massachusetts town and told partly through its Nextdoor-type message board, Community Board tells the story of a young woman, heartbroken and jobless, who returns home expecting her parents’ loving comfort, only to find they’ve left town.

She holes up to nurse her grievances, finally venturing back into society via the drama and turmoil of the message board. The characters are as quirky as their messages, and the whole thing coalesces gratifyingly and hilariously. 

By Tara Conklin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Community Board as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics delivers a wise, timely, big-hearted novel of unplanned isolation and newly forged community.

Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life-the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day-suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?

I went home, of course.

MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARD

FREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.

REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can…


Book cover of The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony

Noelle A. Granger Author Of The Last Pilgrim

From my list on colonial Plymouth.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in Plymouth, MA, I was steeped in the history of the Pilgrims, eventually working as a tour guide at Plimoth-Patuxet.  After I retired as professor emerita from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I wrote and published a series of mysteries. That experience and my New England background buoyed my confidence that I could write about a Pilgrim woman, keeping true to the history of the Plimoth Colony. The story of Mary Allerton Cushman’s life was the result. It was long-listed for the Devon and Cornwall International Novel Prize. 

Noelle's book list on colonial Plymouth

Noelle A. Granger Why did Noelle love this book?

James Deetz was an American anthropologist and his wife, a cultural historian. Their book was the result of studying Plymouth Colony court transcripts, wills, probate listings, and rare firsthand accounts, and then combining the facts with archeological evidence from various sites in Plymouth. This book shows a reality of the Pilgrims and Pilgrim life very different from the straight-laced, nearly mythical images from the 18th and 19th centuries: an all too human group who wore bright clothing, drank, believed in witches, had premarital sex and adulterous affairs, and committed petty and serious crimes. This book is informative and eye-opening.

By James Deetz, Patricia Scott Deetz,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Times of Their Lives as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This title sets out to debunk the longstanding ideas about the life of the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Colony. The authors describe the arrival of the English settlers, the early years of the settlement, and the myths which have developed since.


Book cover of Calico the Wonder Horse

Tina Matthews Author Of Out of the Egg

From my list on stealing - when, why, and whether to do it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve found kids to be interested in difficult topics - like stealing, racism, inequality, environmental catastrophe to name a few! But I don’t want to lecture or frighten them about their future. I believe picture books can tell a story about things going awry but coming right again through a good idea, or act of kindness or a magic wand or the intervention of fate. When the story unfolds in the comfort and security of a carer’s lap or a safe classroom and there are accompanying pictures of absorbing detail that communicate the artist’s emotion and humor I think you provide universal foundation blocks for a good life.

Tina's book list on stealing - when, why, and whether to do it

Tina Matthews Why did Tina love this book?

Like all my previous choices this book is written and illustrated by the same person which I think allows a very subtle dance between words and pictures in the storytelling. 

Calico the Wonder Horse is a simple black and white comic strip, one or two frames per page, with changing background page colours. There are dramatic panoramas of canyons and mountains hideouts juxtaposed with close-ups of Calico, then Stewy Stinker, and his gang of Bad Men. Its graphic perspectives and cartoon ‘action’ marks make it exciting for kids. The Bad Men are soon brought undone by the heroine horse but it’s so heartening that they eventually redeem themselves in an unexpected way—which kids love too.

By Virginia Lee Burton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Calico the Wonder Horse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Way out west in Cactus county lived a horse named Calico. She wasn't very pretty, but she was smart and could run like greased lightning. When villain Stewy Stinker threatens to hold up Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, will Calico the Wonder Horse be able to save the day? This gift edition celebrates the 75th Anniversary of this classic tale by Caldecott medalist Virginia Lee Burton, the author of Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel. With an updated cover, it's the perfect holiday present for children of all ages. AGES: 4-7 AUTHOR: Virginia Lee Burton (1909-1968) was the talented author…


Book cover of Flying Deep

Mary Batten Author Of Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean

From my list on capture the excitement of ocean exploration for all.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love the ocean—the awesome power of the waves, the shifting of tides, the beauty of life below the surface, and the infinite freedom of the boundless horizon. I feel free when I walk along the ocean, at one with wild nature of which human nature is a part. I respect the life-giving force of the water that covers most of Earth’s surface, water that made life possible billions of years ago and that sustains life today. As a science writer, I feel it is my responsibility to convey my passion for the ocean and the importance of protecting it for the health of our planet and future generations.

Mary's book list on capture the excitement of ocean exploration for all

Mary Batten Why did Mary love this book?

I will never dive miles below the ocean’s surface, but this book about the deep-sea submersible Alvin, which is operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, takes me from the sunlit surface to the dark world without the sun thousands of feet below.

I enjoyed learning how the submersible’s pilot maneuvers this small craft, large enough for only the pilot and two scientists, to the bottom of the sea. The author did a lot of research, including interviewing one of the Alvin’s pilots, so her book is filled with the kind of authentic details that make for good science writing. 

By Michelle Cusolito, Nicole Wong (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Flying Deep as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 5, 6, 7, and 8.

What is this book about?

Climb aboard Alvin, the famous deep-sea submersible credited with helping to find the Titanic, and take a trip two miles down to the bottom of the ocean.

Experience a day in the life of an Alvin pilot and join scientists at the seafloor to collect samples and conduct research. Along the way, discover what one wears, eats, and talks about during a typical eight-hour trip in a underwater craft and find out more about the animals that live deep in our oceans. Extensive back matter explains how Alvin works, describes the author's research, and includes a glossary and further reading.…


Book cover of A Drink Before the War
Book cover of Mystic River
Book cover of Knowledge is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865

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