Iowa City offers a little institution called Prairie Lights, and it has locals raving about their city's contribution to keeping the independent bookstore alive. It fits the college town atmosphere perfectly, providing a coffee shop upstairs for a caffeine-induced study break while students peruse the lighter side of reading. Thirteen other bookstores, including the intriguing Haunted Bookshop, make Iowa City a front runner in our quest to find the best book cities.

Where to go: Prairie Lights

Authors from here: Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gilead, and Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd