Every state is known for something. As you work your way through the list, don't miss the best books set in Tennessee.
Tennessee is a landlocked state in the U.S. South. Its capital, centrally located Nashville, is the heart of the country-music scene, with the long-running Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a legendary stretch of honky-tonks and dance halls.
Memphis, in the far southwest, is the home of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, rock-and-roll pioneering Sun Studio and the blues clubs of Beale Street.
Best Books Set in Tennessee
- Agee, James (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
A Death in the Family
Author: James Agee
The classic American novel—winner of the 1958 Pulitzer Prize—is now re-published for the 100th anniversary of James Agee’s birth. Published in 1957, two years after its author's death at the age of forty-five, A Death in the Family remains a near-perfect work of art. This autobiographical novel contains one of the most evocative depictions of loss and grief ever written.
As Jay Follet hurries back to his home in Knoxville, Tennessee, he is killed in a car accident—a tragedy that destroys not only a life but also the domestic happiness and contentment of a young family. A novel of great courage, lyric force, and powerful emotion, A Death in the Family is a masterpiece of American literature.
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Kingsolver, Barbara (Author)
Flight Behavior
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present-day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths.
Kingsolver's riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions—religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, and politicians—trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world. Flight Behavior represents contemporary American fiction at its finest.
- Audible Audiobook
- John Grisham (Author) - Scott Brick (Narrator)
The Firm
Author: John Grisham
At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had his choice of the best in America. He made a deadly mistake. When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way. The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired him as a decorator.
Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his brother Ray — doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail — already knew. You never get anything for nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch's firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice — if he wants to live.
- Audible Audiobook
- Kevin Wilson (Author) - Marin Ireland (Narrator)
Nothing to See Here
Author: Kevin Wilson
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then, Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal, and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help.
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family, and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: The twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.
- Hardcover Book
- Tarkington, Ed (Author)
The Fortunate Ones
Author: Ed Tarkington
When Charlie Boykin was young, he thought his life with his single mother on the working-class side of Nashville was perfectly fine. But when his mother arranges for him to be admitted as a scholarship student to an elite private school, he is suddenly introduced to what the world can feel like to someone cushioned by money.
That world, he discovers, is an almost irresistible place where one can bend—and break—rules and still end up untarnished.
As he gets drawn into a friendship with a charismatic upperclassman, Archer Creigh, and an affluent family that treats him like an adopted son, Charlie quickly adapts to life in the upper echelons of Nashville society.
Now that you've completed the list of best books set in this state, why not check out some others? Here are the Best Books Set in All 50 States.
DOWNLOAD AND PRINT BOOKS SET IN ALL 50 STATES
Click here to download the printable. It has a list of books in all 50 states including the Best Books Set in Tennessee.
Related Posts:
- All the Nicholas Sparks Movies on Disney Plus
- Are There Any Martin Luther King Jr Movies on Netflix?
- 8 Fascinating Martin Luther King Jr Documentaries
- All the Black Christmas Movies on Hulu
- Listen to these 44 Books that Became Movies
- 11 Awesome Books that Became Movies
- 22 Banned Books You Can Watch as Movies
- 20 Books to Read Aloud and Watch the Movie
Further Reading About the State:
- Birds of Tennessee Field Guide (Bird Identification Guides)
- No products found.
- Moon Tennessee: With the Smoky Mountains: Outdoor Recreation, Live Music, Whiskey, Beer & BBQ (Travel Guide)
- Tennessee Curiosities (Curiosities Series)
- Amazing Tennessee
- A Full List of All of The Equalizer Movies (Updated for 2025) - July 29, 2025
- A Full List of All of The Flash Movies - July 21, 2025
- 10+ Healthy Seasonings For Popcorn - February 3, 2025