When I moved to the Washington, D.C. area little more than a year ago, I discovered there were so many good and many not-so-good things about living in the nation’s capital—especially during an election year. I quickly learned how great it is to have a robust and reliable metro system, how few residents are locals so being new in town is nothing unusual, and, most importantly, what times of day to stay off the Beltway.
I also happily gathered that this is a reading town, with an abundance of independent bookstores, including my own favorite local shop, Old Town Books in Alexandria. I’m overjoyed to find that authors make their way through town frequently and that I can meet up with bookish friends at frequent Silent Reading parties or for yummy sandwiches with a side of books at Busboys & Poets in their restaurant-meets-bookshop space.
But there’s still so much to learn! Where do I turn? To books, of course. In the pages of books, I learned how we got those famous cherry blossoms, which neighborhoods and restaurants mean this or that, and what a lobbyist actually does. I hope to be a rare long-term resident of this capital capitol city, so I’ve got more reading to do. Vote for your favorite D.C. books in the comments!
Literary Tourism: Washington, D.C.
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The List
Heartburn
The House of Eve
The Hopefuls
Rachel to the Rescue
The First Ladies
Yellowface
Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress
Personal History
The Cave Dwellers
Never Saw Me Coming
Digital Fortress
Do you have any favorite books set in D.C.? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 23 recommended reads for those traveling to Chicago, 12 recommended reads for those traveling to Maine (or who want to), and more literary tourism.
About the author
Ginger Horton is our Book Club Community Manager here at MMD. Her go-to genres are literary fiction and classics. You can find Ginger on Instagram at @gthorton or the MMD Book Club account @MMDBookClub.
50 comments
Horse (Geraldine Brooks) and The Briar Club (Kate Quinn) are both excellent historical fiction novels set in D.C. I happened to be reading Horse on my visit to D.C. a couple of years ago and I was so happy at the coincidence. Happy reading!
Thanks for those recs! Both on my TBR, but I had somehow missed they’re set in DC.
Horse is one of the best books I have read in recent years.
I loved both Horse and the Briar Club. Wishing you lots of happy reading!
Another vote for The Briar Club: Kate Quinn provides a great glimpse into the lives of women in DC in the early 1950s. Typical of her books, this is a novel with plenty of historical facts woven through it.
For something in the “gritty murder mystery” vein, try Margaret Truman’s series that begins with Murder in the White House and bounces all around the capital in subsequent entries. I think there are over 20 of them!
Thanks for a second vote! I’ve read and enjoyed a few of Kate Quinn’s.
I was going to comment and recommend the Briar House! I loved this book. I also enjoyed Horse, but it didn’t immediately come to mind.
We are about to read that for my bookclub!
Exciting timing! I’m chaperoning my kid on a school trip to DC this summer, and I’m working on my reading list ahead of it.
I have some broader US history books, Stacey Abram’s thrillers, a History Lover’s Guide to Washington DC, and maybe some middle grade titles. Still in progress!
A long time ago, I read “Upstairs at the White House” by J.B. West, former chief usher. Can recommend
Good to know! That one has lived on my kindle for the longest time.
I live in suburban DC (Maryland side). My son loved James Ponti’s Framed series, which is upper middle grade and set in DC. It’s action packed and full of local sites.
Definitely “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks and newly published Linda Holmes book “Back After This.”
I need to read the latest Linda Holmes—I’ve loved both her previous books.
This DC resident recommends “Lost in the City” by Edgar P. Jones, which focuses on Black residents living primarily in the Northeast quadrant before gentrification, “Erasure” by Percival Everett (the book takes place in DC, American Fiction does not), “Creatures of Passage” by Morowa Yejide, which takes place in Southeast and incorporates supernatural elements (and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2022!), and “Flying Home: Seven Stories of the Secret City” by David Nicholson (short stories).
Thanks, Stephanie! I appreciate these from a fellow resident.
I just got back from a trip to D.C. and these are some books I suggest:
– Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Mundy – I heard about this on WSIRN and really like it. I learned so much! Much of the book is set in DC.
– Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies by J.B. West – I found this inside look at White House life to be fascinating. The book covers the presidency’s of FDR through Johnson. If this book leaves you wanting more then try The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Brower. I found this one to be not quite as good as the one by West, but it covers the more recent presidency’s.
I would love to read both of those, but especially the Code Girls because it reminds me of one of my favorite movies—Hidden Figures. I love those sorts of “untold stories.”
Ginger, I consider you one of my book twins and always resonate with your posts and recommendations. This is a delightful list of some great books that I can’t wait to sink my teeth….er, my eyes into! My daughters and I visited Georgetown a couple of years ago and stayed in Adams-Morgan at a VRBO directly above Lost City Books!
What a high compliment, Jen! That sounds like a delightful trip and place to stay.
I have read Stephen Carter’s “Back Channel” twice over the years, set in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This sounds like it would go along so nicely with the Katherine Graham book. And reading a book twice is always SUCH a statement. Can’t wait to read this one.
Dan Brown’s thriller, The Lost Symbol, is set in DC and northern Virginia. High literature it is not, but it is a fun ride through the DC area.
Agreed! He’s always good for a page turner.
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki
A large portion of this story takes place at Hillwood. It also provides background on how she came to collect so much Russian art.
Say less! I had to Google Hillwood as I didn’t know it, but you said art, and I was in, and now I need to pay a visit to Hillwood too. A book and a site-seeing recommendation – thank you!!
Yes to The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post. Fascinating read about her life, and her business acumen! A lovely visit to Hillwood is a DC must!
This is greatly timed! I’m so excited to dive into these books as I travel to DC next week!
So glad we helped! You’re coming at such a pretty time of year.
From the Corner of the Oval: A Memoir, by Beck Dorey-Stein Fantastic perspective on working in the Oval Office as a White House stenographer. Sharp, witty, wry – and with enough veiled references to keep you googling “Obana WHite House Staff” and make you want to drink a Cape Codder cocktail. Makes you feel like you really are experiencing life from a corner of the Oval :).
Side note, Ginger – I’m a lifelong NoVa resident and would love to meet up at a local haunt, anytime. Always looking for more IRL friends and book people!
One thing I love about this town is how many jobs I hadn’t even thought of existing, but of course they do – White House stenographer! Now I want to know everything.
I’d love to meet up, Allison! Shoot me a DM if you would on the Book Club website sometime and we’ll make a trek to Old Town Books for some book shopping, how about??
I will do that, Ginger!
Also a DC resident here, with a gentle note that there is a large population of people born in DC that are residents (about 1/3.) They are mainly Black Americans that live east of the Anacostia River.
DC is also on one the most diverse cities in the world! And here are some books that reflect that:
– All Aunt Hagar’s Children by Edward P. Jones (himself a DC native)
– The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
Thanks for these recommendations, Katie! I’d love to learn more about the Anacostia area. The DMV is such a vast and varied place; it’s one of the things I love about living here and would love to learn more about.
The author Dinaw Mengestu writes books set in DC. I read The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears and it is a good one. His latest, Someone Like Us, is on my TBR. Along with Cave Dwellers, my FAVORITE is Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala – grappling with race, privilege, sexuality and independence for two high school friends.
Thank you, Naomi! Sounds like I for sure need to add Dinaw Mengestu to my TBR list.
A DC-based, action-packed book I liked (in the vein of John Grisham, the tv series 24, or the Jason Bourne movies) was Hour of the Assassin by Matthew Quirk.
Oooh, that sounds nice and exciting. Love a good page-turner.
Thanks Ginger – love Busboys & Poets. My kids go/went to University of Maryland in College Park. And there is a Busboys very near campus. My daughter was a server there. Such a great vibe. And, tangentially related, we are rewatching “West Wing” which ofc is not a book but such an incredibly well-written TV series. It’s been amazing to revisit.
SUCH a great vibe — I’ve never had a bad meal or bad service there. And I could seriously eat their spicy slaw every single day of my life.
We are giant fans of West Wing and it might be time for a rewatch. Such gorgeous and hopeful writing.
This one is Civil War Historical Fiction, but it gave me a real picture of DC in the 1860s. It’s My Name is Mary Sutter, by Robin Oliveira. Mary Sutter is a midwife who wants to be a doctor and wants to help with the wounded sent to DC. Lincoln and Dorothea Dix make appearances. I enjoyed the story more than I expected to and felt like I was walking the streets of the Capitol!
Love that, and I really don’t know much about DC in the Civil War era. Thanks, Suzy!
Another longtime DC resident here. Really enjoyed the list—glad to see Elinor Lipman’s book included. For historical background, I’d also recommend these very readable titles—Capital Games: the Civil War and the Women of Washington, by Cokie Roberts; Washington Goes to War, by David Brinkley; The Five of Hearts: an Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends, 1880-1918.
You should add The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine and The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Both take place in or near DC. Really good reads.
I too love Old Town Books and try to visit it each time I visit DC from my home in the “other” Washington (State). Thanks for this great list. Sixteenth Street NW is very interesting non fiction book the follows the history of that part of DC. It has lots a great pictures too.
Visiting in Hillwood in the spring is wonderful. There are amazing gardens.
Kristin Gore (Al Gore’s daughter) wrote a couple books that take place in DC. Sammy’s Hill & Sammy’s House (it’s a 2 part series) . They’re very light and would definitely be categorized as “chick lit”. If you do not like this genre, you will not like these books. HOWEVER, I think she writes some of the best fictional humor EVER. I laughed so much reading these . I think it’s pretty hard to write good fictional humor and she nails it.
I grew up in the DC area and am still a part-time resident. There are far too few novels set in DC that don’t center around politics. You’ve included some good ones. Another one I’d highly recommend is Off to Join the Circus by Deborah Kalb, about what happens to an “overly enmeshed” extended family in Bethesda when a relative reappears after 64 years. (Full disclosure, Deborah is my friend and podcast partner, but I’m recommending it because I think you’ll love it.)
I live in the Maryland Suburbs of DC and I love reading books set in DC. My favorite lately was The Monsters We Defy, a historical/fantasy/ heist novel set in 1920s Black DC.
Dining with the Presidents was a recent book 2024 was excellent Untold Power by Roberrts (last name) about Edith Wharton who acted as President after her husbands stroke. Are all that come to mind.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks and The Briar Club by Kate Quinn are two remarkable historical fiction works that take place in Washington, D.C. A couple of years ago, I found myself immersed in Horse while exploring the city, and it made the experience even more special. Wishing you enjoyable reading adventures!
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