20 Meme-Busting Books About Florida

Submission from Lindsey of To Make Much Of Time

For anyone equally appalled and riveted by the carnival culture that pervades portions of Florida, Swamplandia! is the perfect Florida novel.

Unique and fascinating, this modern twist on the Southern Gothic novel takes place off the southwestern coast of Florida known as the Ten Thousand Islands. Swamplandia! centers around the ‘Bigtree’ family.

The Bigtrees transform their gator-infested backyard into a tourist attraction with alligator wrestling. The mother of the family even dives into a pool of alligators as a stunt.

The daughter, Ava, finds herself suddenly taking on the mantle of her family’s survival; her mother contends with a cancer diagnosis as other family members unravel.

When Ava’s sister, Ossie, elopes with a supposed ghost, Ava must set off on a perilous journey through the swampy underworld to rescue her sister.

Swamplandia! is an intriguing page-turner and takes a surprising turn as the storyline unfolds.

Russell is able to successfully take what on the surface appears to be extraordinary circumstances and portray universally human experiences and tribulations.

Let's not forget local Florida author, Ernest Hemingway, or his four wives...

Wood takes on Hadley, Pauline, Martha, and Mary. She tells their stories through love letters and telegrams.

Head to Paris, Key West, and Cuba to watch the affairs, heartache, and passionate romance that never quite lasted in this fictional account of Hemingway's relationships.

One of our favorite books about Florida, The Last Train To Key West is a must-read and gripping historical fiction novel featuring inspiring women. You do not have to read the first two Florida novels in this 'series,' either.

A very pregnant Helen is trapped in an abusive marriage and seeking a better life. Can she escape her brutal husband and allow herself to love again?

Meanwhile, Mirta questions if she can fall in love with her new mafia-tied husband. Elizabeth is searching for her veteran war brother to escape being married to a criminal. Is her brother OK?

Their lives collide during Florida's deadliest hurricane. Travel back to the mid-1930s, and watch multiple romances unfold.

We devoured this Key West novel in two sittings. Plus, learn more about Flagler's railroad to Key West.

This Key West novel is also on our books set on trains reading list.

I will never forget the day that Bad Monkey hit the library shelves. The hold list nearly imploded. Everyone wanted a copy of this 2013 mystery book set in Florida.

Recent former police officer, Andrew Yancy, is trying to figure out where the human arm in his freezer came from. With the hopes of getting his job back, Yancy must solve the murder mystery.

Hiaasen throws into the mix his usual hot mess, eccentric characters (well, at least for his adult books).

Tim Dorsey's Florida reminds me a lot of Florida Man and his life's triumphs. And yes, Florida Man is for realsss.

Meet criminal Serge A. Storms and his druggie partner, Coleman. Serge along with everyone else, including a stripper, is after a suitcase filled with millions.

Similar to Hiaasen's adult novels set in Florida, uncover a large array of unlikely and hilariously grotesque characters mixed with lovemaking, booze, death, and more drugs.

Florida Roadkill spans the state of Florida, including Cape Canaveral, Miami, and the Florida Keys. This is the first novel in the Serge Storms series.

A 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction award-winner, The Nickel Boys is based loosely on a true story about the Dozier School for Boys.

A novel set in Florida (Marianna), this is one of the best books about the South, too.

Elwood Curtis, an ambitious and talented young Black man, is growing up in a racist society filled with racist policies.

When Elwood is unfairly sent to a 'reform' school, his promising future and goals of higher education are over -- no matter how hard he tries.

Sadly, the ending isn't a surprise in this society, making The Nickel Boys one of the most powerful historical fiction books about Florida on this reading list.

One of those Florida novels that I re-read for my MLIS, Paper Towns exemplifies wanting so much more than a meaningless, cookie-cutter life.

No more gated communities, please.

Margo Roth Spiegelman fascinates the somewhat geeky and awkward Quentin. When she snatches Q in the middle of the night for an epic mission filled with revenge, he's pretty much game.

Beautiful, mysterious, and with a pained soul, though, Margo suddenly disappears.

I always thought Margo was a tad self-centered and annoying, but Quentin decides to follow the clues to find her.

For YA novels set in Florida, Paper Towns will make you think differently about the world.

I am not going to lie: this Florida novel is headed to the top of our whacky TBR list. Who doesn't love the 'space opera genre' either?!

Jules lives at Disney World, which is under attack. Someone has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and manipulates guests' minds into thinking they are the Presidents that they are looking at.

Can Jules save the Magic Kingdom? For science fiction books set in Florida, this one sounds like one good time.

From Eatonville to Miami and the Everglades, if you are looking for one of the best classic novels set in Florida of all time, you cannot miss Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

Hurston, herself, is a Florida author and lived in Eatonville, Florida.

Janie Crawford is a strong woman with her own goals and dreams. She wants to choose who she loves. 

With destructive and cruel relationships and even worse marriages, Janie constantly finds herself trapped in the town gossip. She transforms from a pretty figure to a politician’s wife and eventually an accused murderess.

Watch Janie fight to the bitter end against men, prejudices, and circumstances of her time.

Submission From Bookstagrammer, Jennia

Dexter Morgan spends his free time conducting vigilante justice. He cleanses the world of criminal vermin that have escaped the justice system.

Dexter takes his cues from his morally gray anti-conscience, a persistent voice he calls his “Dark Passenger.”

A person from his distant past puts his dubious code of ethics to the test. Is Dexter really as much of an emotionally void monster as he believes himself to be?

Or is there a spark of humanity hiding under his carefully crafted mask? Enter one of the best crime books set in Florida.

Did you know that Quentin Tarantino directed the film adaptation of Rum Punch (Jackie Brown) but changed the setting to LA?

A book set in West Palm Beach and parts of Miami, Rum Punch is about Jackie Burke, a flight attendant smuggling cash from a crime boss, Ordell, in Jamaica.

Eventually caught and arrested, the police recruit Jackie to help catch Ordell. Of course, Jackie mostly wants to save herself and attempts to double-cross her way out of this impoverished situation.

Rum Punch is a popular Florida crime novel.

Submission from J.R. at Eternity Books

The Yearling is a coming-of-age novel set in Florida during the 1870s. Encounter Jody's life on a farm with his parents, surviving severe storms, hunting, and also the rescuing of a fawn named Flag.

Jody has a strong relationship with his father, and he grows with the story, becoming wiser and much more mature by the end.

Rawlings was a resident Florida author who lived near Gainsville.

One of the most well-known books about Florida, A Land Remembered follows three generations of MacIveys, a poor family trying to make their own American Dream.

What do we sacrifice for that dream, and how can those goals destroy us along with the world we live in?

The MacIveys' story begins in 1858 in the Florida wilderness and ends in 1968 with the overexploitation of the land.

Read A Land Remembered as a fictional but realistic novel about Florida's history. Watch as greed ends up being the most threatening beast in this timeless saga.

If you are looking for indie novels set in Florida, don't miss one of my favorite lesser-known authors, Arthur D. Hittner, and his book The Caroline Paintings.

Although not strictly based in Florida -- you will head to Boston, too -- this art fiction novel depicts the perfect multi-dimensional, tempting young muse.

After winning a bidding war over a storage locker filled with junk, Florida snowbird, Jerry, thinks he might have uncovered a hidden gem or two. 

These newly discovered unsigned paintings send Jerry around the U.S. to uncover the mysterious artist and his beautiful young muse.

With altering stories and timelines, meet the woman inside the painting and her not-so-tragic plight as Jerry 'comes of age' in his maturity.

Submission from Florida author, Andre Frattino

In 1984, Patrick Smith wrote an instant Florida classic that persevered throughout the last thirty years and resonated with so many readers, young and old. Now it's been transformed for a whole new generation. 

A Land Remembered: A Graphic Novel centers around the MacIvey family. Meet the Florida pioneers struggling to carve out a place for themselves in “The Land of Flowers."

This graphic novel about Florida's history spans three generations of family, encompassing 100 years.

During this time, the MacIvey’s experience everything from the horrors of the Civil War to battling cattle rustlers, coexisting alongside Seminole Indians, and surviving devastating hurricanes.

It's a wild, wild west story set against the backdrop of a North Florida that's been long, long forgotten. 

For award-winning books about Florida and named one of NPR's best books of the year, don't miss Groff's Florida.

You may recognize Groff from Fates and Furies. Both titles were National Book Award Finalists.

Explore an intimate, mesmerizing, and starkly unnerving collection of short stories that take place in Florida.

Groff examines Florida, both the state and mindset, with her uniquely positioned characters contrasted and held up against the land.

For award-winning children's books about Florida ecology, Hoot is a must. A Newbery Honor winner, Hoot is a contemporary children's classic.

Roy Eberhardt is the bullied new kid in town. Determined to save the endangered and burrowing miniature owls, he and his new friends take on Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House.

Hoot is a fantastic and funny environmentally-conscious Florida novel, exemplifying wildlife versus the overdevelopment of the land.

Get ready for a truth bomb. Not everyone loves Mickey Mouse or Disney.

This collection of essays is about Disney, a beloved household name that may have some dark and disturbing tales behind those huggable ears.

Team Rodent sounds a lot like Black Fish.

Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and nominated for a 2013 Edgar Award, Devil In The Grove is one of those must-read Florida history books.

Learn more about Thurgood Marshall, an American lawyer, who risks it all -- including his life -- to come into Florida territory to fight for civil rights.

If you are looking for nonfiction books set in Florida and have a Florida mindset like me, you will want to check out A Florida State Of Mind.

Yes, get ready for talk about Florida Man and all of those amazing Florida memes that we love to laugh at.

Learn fun and funny facts about the development of Florida, including colonialization, snowbirds, and why people are still fascinated with the Sunshine State.