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Cuddle up with one of the 10 best books set in Arizona

By Maura Derr

January 2, 2025

Discover the 10 best books set in Arizona, capturing the state’s unique landscapes, rich history, and vibrant culture. Perfect for your next read!

Arizona’s history is as rich and diverse as its landscape, making it a popular setting for books across various genres, including coming-of-age stories, literary fiction, mystery, memoirs, and more. No matter which title you choose, you’ll be captivated by the rich characters and stories rooted in the Sonoran Desert. To get you started on your Southwestern adventure, we’ve curated a collection of books set in Arizona—there’s something for everyone! 

1. The Greer Family Series (“The Bean Trees” & “Pigs in Heaven”) by Barbara Kingsolver

The Greer Family series begins with Barbara Kingsolver’s debut novel, “The Bean Trees.” This story follows Taylor Greer, an open-hearted, say-it-like-it-is protagonist who leaves her rural Kentucky home behind in search of a hopeful future in Tucson, Arizona. Along the way, she unexpectedly becomes the guardian of a three-year-old American Indian girl. As you get to know the characters, you’ll also explore themes like friendship, love, abandonment, and belonging. The second novel, “Pigs in Heaven,” picks up three years after “The Bean Trees” and continues to delve into the joys, sorrows, and complexities of the human condition through the lives of the Greer family. 

Favorite quote (“The Bean Trees”): “The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.”

Favorite quote (“Pigs in Heaven”): “It occurs to her that there is one thing about people you can never understand well enough: how entirely inside themselves they are.”

2. “Animal Dreams” by Barbara Kingsolver 

Codi Noline returns to her hometown, feeling dreamless, hopeless, and uncertain about what comes next. As she confronts her past and navigates her relationship with her distant and ailing father, Codi struggles to make sense of herself amidst a lifetime of memories, secrets, and a fragile hope for love. The narration alternates between Codi and her father, both grappling with their reality and all it entails. This is a story of love, commitment, self-exploration, environmental catastrophe, and so much more.

Favorite quote: “You can’t replace people you love with other people…But you can trust that you’re not going to run out of people to love.”

3. “These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901” By Nancy E. Turner

This historical fictional saga follows the story of Sarah Agnes Prine—a character deeply inspired by the author’s own family memoirs. Written in diary entries, we follow Sarah’s life as a woman in Arizona Territories in the 1800s. Throughout the story, we come to understand her unique struggles as well as her unbelievable strength and courage as she survives physical attacks from Indians, robbers, and wild animals, as well as emotional hardships surrounding love, heartbreak, motherhood, and loneliness. 

Favorite quote: “My life feels like a book left out on the porch, and the wind blows the pages faster and faster, turning always toward a new chapter faster than I can stop to read it.”

4. “The Monkey Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey

“The Monkey Wrench Gang” is a comical yet thought-provoking adventure. Vietnam veteran George Washington Hayduke III returns to the desert only to find his beloved canyons and rivers threatened by industrial development. Refusing to admit defeat, George joins forces with a motley crew to fight back against “the big yellow machines,” dam builders, road constructors, and strip miners. If you love the desert or have ever felt the pain of seeing a cherished place change, “The Monkey Wrench Gang” will speak to your heart while making you laugh at the characters’ outrageous and humorous exploits.

Favorite quote: “What do we know? What do we really know? He licks his dried cracked lips. We know this apodictic rock beneath our feet. That dogmatic sun above our heads. The world of dreams, the agony of love and the foreknowledge of death. That is all we know.”

5. “Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus” by Dusti Bowling

“Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus” may be aimed at middle-grade readers, but like any truly great book, its audience is everyone. This coming-of-age story follows Aven, a girl born without arms, as she navigates life’s challenges. At thirteen, Aven moves with her family from her comfortable life in Kansas to Arizona. Unlike in Kansas, the students at her new school haven’t known her forever and struggle to accept her. Along the way, Aven befriends a student with Tourette syndrome and another who struggles with obesity. No matter your age, this story will challenge your perspective on disability, diversity, and the importance of acceptance. It’s a must-read for all.

Favorite quote: “You shouldn’t get so offended if someone calls you disabled, Aven. You DO have extra challenges that others don’t have. It DOES take you longer to do most tasks. Your movements ARE limited. There’s a big difference between saying you’re disabled and saying you’re incapable.”

6. “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace 

Perhaps one of the most complex and cerebral novels, “Infinite Jest” is at once confusing, funny, dense, and unexpectedly moving. Spanning over 1,000 pages, this book is a monumental undertaking—but an ultimately rewarding one. Reminiscent of James Joyce, William S. Burroughs, and Kathy Acker, Wallace pushes the boundaries of English-language norms as he delves into American culture, the nature of desire, art, addiction, institutions, and more. The novel follows a wide range of characters, including recovering alcoholics, foreign statesmen, high school tennis stars, and residents of halfway houses. While not entirely set in Arizona, a significant number of scenes and scenarios unfold there, rightfully earning its place on this list. 

Favorite quote: Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.”

7.La Maravilla” by Alfredo Véa

Beto, a young boy, lives with his Mexican healer grandmother and his Yaqui Indian grandfather at the end of Buckeye Road, just outside of Phoenix. From an early age, Beto must navigate the challenges of existing between two cultures. In this coming-of-age novel, Véa intertwines magical realism, spirituality, history, and the human condition in a way that encourages intentional reflection and sparks curiosity about understanding others outside of one’s own culture and perspectives.

Favorite quote: The woman in black looked up into the high, endless sky. The skin of the hand that shaded her eyes was browned and softened by the tannins of her life.”

8. “Sunland” by Don Waters 

This two-part fictional comedy is more than it initially seems. Our protagonist, Sid, returns home to Tucson after discovering his girlfriend has been cheating on him. Back in Tucson, he joins the care team for his sick grandmother. To afford the rising cost of her medications, Sid frequently crosses the border to purchase pharmaceuticals at lower prices. Throughout the story, we follow his misadventures and mishaps involving the eccentric characters at his grandmother’s retirement home, threats from Mexican gangs, echoes of his past love, and, unexpectedly, a giraffe (yes, you read that right). While this novel is classified as a comedy, it’s also a story of struggle, love, and the never-ending journey of growing up, all set against the beautifully described backdrop of Tucson.

Favorite quote: “My problem was that I liked these old folks too much. I liked their unending kindness, their teary eyes, and their crazy fashion sensibilities. … Very few people had the time to sit down, prepare a pot of tea, and talk to you, and care about you, truly care, but these people did.”

9. “The Land of Open Graves” by Jason De León and Michael Wells (Photographer) (Nonfiction)

Disclaimer: This book is heartbreakingly heavy, yet its significance can’t be understated. Anthropologist Jason De León tackles one of the most pressing political issues of our time: the human consequences of immigration policy. In his debut book, “The Land of Open Graves,” De León sheds light on the suffering and deaths that occur daily in the Sonoran Desert as migrants attempt to cross the border from Mexico to the United States. Through powerful storytelling and evocative photographs, the book provides deep insight into the emotionally and physically grueling journey that thousands of migrants undertake each year in search of a better future. While academic in nature, “The Land of Open Graves” is also accessible to any reader.

Favorite quote: “Those who live and die in the desert have names, faces, and families. They also have complicated life histories that reflect an intimate relationship with transnational migration and global economic inequality.”

10. “The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman” by Margot Mifflin (Nonfiction)

“The Blue Tattoo” is a true story detailing the life of a forgotten heroine, Olive Oatman. At thirteen, in 1851, Olive traveled west with her Mormon family. She was the sole survivor of a brutal attack on her family by the Yavapai Indians and was enslaved for a year until the Mohave rescued her and raised her as one of their own. At nineteen, she was ransomed back into white society, where she quickly became famous. Through historical records, diary entries, and letters, Margot Mifflin provides the first full, detailed account of Olive’s life—one marked by a ruptured childhood, violence, loss, inner strength, and resilience.

Favorite quote: “Using a cactus thorn, they ‘pricked the skin in small regular rows on our chins with a very sharp stick,’ Olive wrote, ‘until they bled freely. They then dipped these same sticks in the juice of a certain weed that grew on the banks of the river, and then in the powder of a blue stone that was to be found in low water.’ The stone was burned, then pulverized, then applied to the pinprick patterns that had been etched into their faces.”

BONUS BOOK: “The Desert is Theirs” by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall

“The Desert is Theirs” written by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall is a beautiful, poetic children’s book illustrating the true nature of the desert. Rather than a harsh and dry environment, the desert is a colorful, vibrant place filled with life, love, and beauty. 

Favorite quote: “They’ll say they like the land they live on, so they treat it well—the way you’d treat an old friend. They sing it songs. They never hurt it. And the land knows.”

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. x?republication pixel=true&post=&ga=G NWLBHRL

 

READ MORE: 25 books publishing in 2025 that we can’t wait to read

Author

  • Maura Derr

    Maura Derr is an experienced copywriter and a devoted lover of words. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading the latest in literary fiction, trail running in the mountains, or sipping a large mug of coffee.

CATEGORIES: LOCAL CULTURE
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