I was born and raised in Birmingham. After college, I moved to Houston, but Alabama was always home for me. As an avid reader, it was nice to find books that were set in Alabama — and even more exciting, if they were set in Birmingham. There is just something so invigorating about seeing your hometown being acknowledged (in a good way). *Cues “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd*
I often sought out that sense of nostalgia, which lead to me researching books that had some reference to home. Here is a list of books that feature Alabama (or are written by Alabamians), and bonus points for those that feature Birmingham.
Let us know if you have read or plan to read any of these.
Alabama Book Recommendations
13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffery by Kathryn Tucker Windham and Margaret Gillis
Alabama Moon by Watt Key
Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam
Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham
Murder on a Girls’ Night Out by Anne George
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia
Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich
Terror at Bottle Creek by Watt Key
The Professor by Robert Bailey
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Z by Therese Ann Fowler
