Anyone wanting to get into the heart of Virginia must read history books:  books about colonial America, books about Native Americans, books about the Revolution - particularly Yorktown, books about the presidents - Virginia gave birth to 7 of them, books about the Civil War. 

If you’d rather read books BY Virginians, you can keep very busy.  Here are just a few men and women of letters:

Sherwood Anderson

David Baldacci

Rita Mae Brown

James Branch Cabell

Willa Cather

Patricia Cornwell

John Dos Passos

Rita Dove

Nikki Giovanni

Ellen Glasgow

William Styron

Booker T. Washington

Tom Wolfe