A Denver man is digging into a reading challenge that has captured attention online: 50 books representing all 50 states buried in his backyard beneath a display of state flags. Steven Reese, 29, started the “50 Books for 50 States” project to push himself—and his followers—to explore titles they might not otherwise pick up.
Reese says he never considered himself a reader in high school or college and relied on study aids like SparkNotes. It wasn’t until after graduation when a friend handed him Stephen King’s The Stand that he discovered a passion for novels. “Reading was never something I did,” he told Daily Mail. “I would never read the books, I would just read the summaries.” The experience sparked a months-long journey that now centers on reading one book from each state.
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To set the project in motion, Reese’s wife selected the books, aiming for titles that would challenge him and be new to him. The collection includes a mix of old and new copies, hardcover and paperback, and spans both fiction and nonfiction. The total price tag hovered between $700 and $800. “This kind of a challenge forces you to read books you would have never picked up otherwise,” Reese said. “We grow as individuals when we read from different perspectives.”
Each volume was wrapped in brown paper with the corresponding state written in Sharpie on the front, then placed in a Ziploc bag before being buried in the backyard—one hole per book. Reese notes the dry Colorado climate and the shaded location help protect the volumes, and thus far none have suffered damage. He even keeps a pegboard in the yard ranking the books from his most to least favorites, with California’s East of Eden leading the pack and Wisconsin’s Evicted by Matthew Desmond near the bottom.
The project has drawn attention online, with hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and Instagram and numerous direct messages from people following along. A fan-created book club on the reading platform Fable has emerged to accompany the endeavor. Reese also recalls reactions from publishing giants; Penguin Random House commented on social media that it was “at a loss for words” over the burying method, a response he says underscores the project’s aim to disrupt scrolling culture. “I wanted other people to do this with me,” the Kentucky native told Daily Mail. “If I bury these in my backyard, people will stop scrolling and join me.”
Reese acknowledges his audience skews toward women, who have historically formed the majority of consistent readers, but he sees value in broadening engagement across genders. He also hopes to inspire more men to pick up titles they genuinely enjoy rather than resorting to “performative reading” for social-media clout. “Performative reading is not reading,” he said. “If you want to read sci-fi, just go pick up a sci-fi book. You don’t have to pick up some post-modern literary thing you’re not even interested in that you’re just doing to perform.”
Ultimately, Reese says the 50-state voyage is about more than a clever gimmick. Books, he notes, have a unique ability to place readers inside someone else’s head—an experience he believes can build empathy and reduce division in a culture increasingly consumed by noise. “Reading is the only way, really, to get into someone else’s head for a minute to see from their perspective.” Whether others join in the burial project or simply follow along online, Reese hopes the effort nudges more people to seek out literature that challenges them and broadens their horizons.