While many of us are spending time in our homes, we find ourselves daydreaming about vacations. Now is a great time to discover all the amazing things Iowa has to offer from your own living room.
Explore Iowa by diving nose-first into the below list of 30 books that were set in Iowa or show your #IowaPride by reading one of the 14 books written by authors with ties to the state.
If you’ve still got the travel bug, virtually visit cities and towns throughout the by watching one of the 20 movies listed below that were shot or set in Iowa.
Happy virtual visiting!
30 Books Set in Iowa
Source: GoodReads
- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
- Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
- Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- Ashfall by Mike Mullin
- The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
- Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
- Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
- State Fair by Phil Stong
- Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
- The Music Man by Meredith Willson
- Eleven Days by Donald Harstad
- Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa by Melanie Dobson
- Love Finds You in Amana, Iowa by Melanie Dobson
- Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America’s Heartland by Patricia L. Bryan
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
- Squashed by Joan Bauer
- Heritage of Darkness by Kathleen Ernst
- The Case of Nikki Pagan by Rachel Eliason
- Never on Sundays by Jason M. Steffens
- Dead Vault by Daniel Eness
- The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
- The Princess in the Pigpen by Jane Resh Thomas
- Bottomland by Michelle Hoover
- Last Act by Christopher Pike
- Spirit Lake by MacKinlay Kantor
- Stars Over Clear Lake by Loretta Ellsworth
- The Water-Method Man by John Irving
14 Books by Authors from Iowa
- Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
- The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
- Spirit Lake by MacKinlay Kantor
- Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
- The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
- The Walnut Grove Glacier Wars: A Story about Religion, Love, Friendship, and Living in Iowa by Peter Gerhard
- Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken
- Heading for Home: My Journey from Little League to Hollywood by Kent Stock
- The Drink Worth More Than Gold by J.S. Loving
- The Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa by Cornelia F. Mutel
- Sleeping with the Enemy by Nancy Price
7 Iowa Independent Bookstores Taking Phone & Online Orders
Looking for one of these books? Support a local Iowa small business to purchase one of these or other books to enjoy!
- The Book Vault, Oskaloosa
Open 24/7 to search, view and order books, orders over $50 get free shipping, pick up during regular business hours available.
- Prairie Lights Bookstore, Iowa City
Open during regular hours for phone orders, order online anytime, free delivery in Iowa City/Coralville area, otherwise mail order with shipping.
- Beaverdale Books, Des Moines
Online and phone orders, parking lot pick up, free home delivery within 5-mile radius, reduced $2 shipping.
- The Book Vine, Cherokee
Taking online and phone orders, mailed or delivered curbside, order over $50 delivered to home.
- Burlington By the Book, Burlington
Taking phone orders, offering curbside pickup, shipping special orders.
- Next Page Books, Cedar Rapids
Taking online and phone orders, have been shipping all over U.S.
- The Book Shoppe, Boone
Taking online orders to be shipped to your home or picked up curbside; offering books, gifts, kids crafts/activities and special orders.
10 Films Shot in Iowa
Source: Iowa Culture
- 1933: State Fair; Des Moines
- 1974: Huckleberry Finn; Keokuk
- 1977: All the King’s Horses; Des Moines
- 1983: The Healing; Des Moines
- 1984: Children of the Corn; Sioux City, Whiting
- 1989: Field of Dreams; Dyersville, Dubuque
- 1992: Whispers in the Dark; Des Moines
- 1995: The Bridges of Madison County; Winterset
- 1996: Twister; Ames
- 2011: The Offering; Washington