Read with Mel focuses on works based in, or written by authors of the western portion of North America. Special attention is paid to the west coast, especially the PNW. The Mississippi river and/or 90th meridian serves as the soft eastern boundary. There is no temporal boundary; new releases and backlist titles are both given attention.

At some point in her years spent as an avid reader, Melissa noticed that a ridiculous number of books she read took place on the east coast, specifically New York City. While both NYC and the other coast are fine and lovely, her mission with this website is to highlight the rich works found in a more westerly location. Some works might only spend a bit of time in the west, others might never leave the left coast.

An exception to the geographical rule are the authors. If there is a particularly good book or story that does not take place in the western United States/Canada/Mexico but the author hails/hailed from this region for a period of time, their work will also be included.

If you would like to add to Melissa’s TBR please reach out and provide the title, author, and the link to the west [here.]