Connecticut Center for the Book, in partnership with 15 Centers for the Book along the length of the East Coast, will celebrate regional literary luminaries through the 2020 Route 1 Reads initiative, a road trip-inspired reading list that explores various genres spanning the network of Center for the Book affiliates located along Route 1. The 16 centers are affiliates of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

Now in its sixth consecutive year, Route 1 Reads is a road trip-inspired reading list that explores various
genres through the network of affiliate Centers for the Book located along Route 1. In 2020, the theme of the
reading list is historical fiction.

Through Route 1 Reads, armchair travelers can explore the East Coast without taking a single footstep.
Featuring beloved classics as well as new titles that have already received substantial accolades,
there’s something for everyone on the 2020 Route 1 Reads list —with virtual programming and digital
resources to accompany the reading list as well.

The diverse reading list created by Route 1 Reads highlights each Center for the Book while celebrating the
East Coast as a whole. To take part, readers may simply pick up one of these books at a local bookstore
or library and start reading.

The full list of featured books is here, geographically from North to South:
MAINE — Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
NEW HAMPSHIRE — Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
MASSACHUSETTS — Cascade: A Novel by Maryanne O’Hara
RHODE ISLAND — The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
CONNECTICUT — The Judge Hunter by Christopher Buckley
NEW YORK — Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald
PENNSYLVANIA — Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict
NEW JERSEY — In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
DELAWARE — Leading Men by Christopher Castellani
MARYLAND — The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Watergate by Thomas Mallon
VIRGINIA — The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
NORTH CAROLINA — In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow
SOUTH CAROLINA — Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff
GEORGIA — Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard
FLORIDA — Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

About Route 1 Reads:
Connecting the 2,369 miles of U.S. Route 1 from Ft. Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida, the Route 1 Reads
initiative is a partnership between 16 affiliate Centers for the Book to promote books that illuminate important
aspects of the region for readers traveling the major and meandering highway. The initiative was launched at
the 2015 National Book Festival.

Route 1 Reads is a partnership between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and its affiliates
in Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey;
New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Virginia; and, Washington, D.C. For
more information, visit Route1Reads.org or follow #Route1Reads.

About the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress:
The Library’s Center for the Book, established by Congress in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and
reading, is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors
educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated centers, collaborations with nonprofit
reading promotion partners, and through its Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress. For more
information, visit Read.gov.