Pack Your Books: We’re Taking a Reading Road Trip Across America

What if your reading list felt less like an assignment… and more like a road trip?

The kind with roadside diners, questionable gas station snacks, and that one random stop that ends up being your favorite part.

That’s the idea behind this America 250 reading challenge.

We’re not trying to cover every chapter of American history. We’re just moving through it the way road trips happen: through small towns, big skies, crowded cities, unplanned adventures. Through turning points and traditions, voices that shaped the conversation (and those that should’ve been heard), and the seemingly inconsequential moments that shape life in unexpected ways.

This America 250 Reading Challenge is designed for adults, teens, and families who want to explore America’s stories.

Pick a stop. Pick a prompt. Start wherever curiosity pulls you.

Stop 1: Hometown & Everyday America

Every road trip begins at home. It’s where your story begins. And where we’re beginning this trip across America.

In small towns & big cities. In backyards & front stoops. At diners & the corner bar. And, sometimes, the most ordinary places, like Grandma’s kitchen, hold the best stories.

• Read a book set somewhere you’ve lived
• Read a book that tastes like home
• Read a book set in a big city
• Read a cookbook of church potluck, diner, or state fair favorites
• Read a book set in a neighborhood where everyone “knows your name”

• Read a book set in a farm or in a small town
• Read a book that reminds you of home
• Read a book that takes place in summer in the US

• Read a cookbook of regional recipes
• Read a book set in Washington, DC
• Read a book that reminds you of home
• Read a book that includes a fair, parade, or festival

Stop 2: The Open Road & Natural Wonders

Now the map opens up.

Highways stretch longer, landscapes grow bigger, and suddenly you’re realizing how much of this country is shaped by the land and the people who moved through it.

• Read a book that includes a road trip or journey
• Read an American western
• Read a book about a US national park or landmark
• Read a book about a native plant or animal
• Read a book about a place you’d love to visit
• Read a book set in the desert or mountains

• Read a book about protecting America’s wild places
• Read a book about heading west or set on the American frontier
• Read a book about a natural disaster
• Read a book with a map inside
• Read a book about roadside attractions
• Read a book about or set on a famous American highway (Route 66, Pacific Coast, Blue Ridge Parkway, etc.)

Stop 3: Crossroads

On long trips, conversations meander from one topic to another. Sometimes, you’re left wondering how you got here in the conversation.

This stop moves through moments when the country was forming & changing. When decisions, conflicts, and survival shaped what America would & will become. The story becomes less about where we are and more about being “in the room where it happened.”

• Read a book about a political figure
• Read a fictional book set during a turning point in American history
• Read a book about the Founding Fathers or Mothers
• Read a diary, journal, or letters from another era

• Read (or listen to) a famous American speech
• Read a book set during the Revolution
• Read a book about early settlers
• Read a fictional book that mentions the Constitution or Bill of Rights

• Read a book about a historical mystery
• Read a fictional book set during a war
• Read a story about life on the home front or the front lines
• Read a book about an ordinary person living through an extraordinary moment (think: Forrest Gump!)

• Read a book set during the Revolution
• Read a book that shows life in a different century
• Read a book about the Supreme Court or a Justice

Stop 4: Culture, Creativity & American Life

Even further from home, you notice how different everything looks, feels. The sounds. The smells. The stories. You’re reminded that culture isn’t one thing, but it is the thing that shapes a region and a time.

• Read a book about an invention or an inventor
• Read a book about the Jazz Age or early rock’n’roll
• Read a book of American folk legends/tall tales
• Read a memoir about growing up in America

• Read a book set in Hollywood, Nashville, or New York City
• Read a book about an American pastime
• Read about an American tradition or celebration

• Read a book that shows life in a different century
• Read a book set in a region of the US you know little about
• Read a book that captures a specific American decade
• Read a book about an American subculture

• Read a book that explores regional dialects or cultures
• Read a book about coming to America
• Read a book about roadside food, diners, or regional treats
• Read a book that could only happen in America

Stop 5: Voices That Changed the Conversation

At this point in the trip, you start noticing who’s been speaking & who hasn’t been heard.

This stop is about perspective. About stories that widen the lens of what America means, and challenge the idea that there’s only one version of the journey.

• Read a book by an Indigenous author
• Read a memoir about identity in America
• Read a book about Native American history
• Read a book that tells a familiar story from a different perspective

• Read a book by an African American author
• Read a story about belonging
• Read a book about the spouse of a famous American
• Read a book about a protest

• Read a story about finding your place in America
• Read a book by an immigrant author
• Read a book about workers fighting for change
• Read a book about Reconstruction or the Civil Rights Era

Stop 6: Icons, Influence & American Stories

Every country tells stories about its heroes. Some are real. Some are complicated. Some we learn to tell better once we know better.

This stop is about influence. From people, ideas, & achievements.

• Read a biography of an influential woman
• Read a book about an American hero
• Read a book inspired by a true story
• Read a book about chasing the American Dream
• Read a book connected to an American legend or myth

• Read a fictional book set in post-2000 America
• Read a book about a larger-than-life American personality
• Read a book about fame in America
• Read a book about an athlete or sports team
• Read a book by an author from before 1900

• Read a book that has been challenged or banned
• Read a book by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Read a classic American novel
• Read a book about someone who changed the way Americans lived
• Read a book about an event from your lifetime

Stop 7: Roadside Attractions & Wild Cards

Every road trip has these moments. The unplanned adventures of roadside attractions, recommendations from the guy at the last gas station, the surprisingly good restaurant.

This is the playful stop, the one that reminds you of how much fun reading can be.

• Place a book in a Little Free Library
• Read a book about a historical mystery
• Read a friend’s favorite book
• Read a book published the year you were born

• Read a book with a red cover
• Read before school or work
• Ask a librarian or bookstore owner for a book they loved as a child
• Read a book while traveling

• Read a book with a blue spine
• Read a book while in a park
• Read a book set during a snowstorm, heat wave, hurricane, etc…

• Read a book with a star or flag on the cover
• Read a book with a historical photograph on the cover
• Read a book you picked because of the cover
• Read a book suggested by a friend