Arlington has shown up in more literary settings than people may realize. These books use the county as more than a backdrop, whether it’s a staycation guide, a neighborhood history, or a crime novel.
100 Things to Do in Arlington, Virginia, Before You Die by Barbara Noe Kennedy
This book allows you to take satisfaction in checking off the things you’ve already done and discover what remains to be seen. You might just be inspired to taste Arlington’s best ice cream, watch the sunset at the Air Force Memorial, or picnic at the Netherlands Carillon.
Arlington County Chronicles by Charlie Clark
Explore the county’s oddball, under-told moments with a collection of native Arlingtonian Charlie Clark’s weekly columns from the Falls Church News-Press. Many community moments and monuments mentioned here can still be seen today, like the hidden burial grounds of one of Arlington’s earliest families, the remains of Hall’s Hill “segregation wall,” and the once-threatened David M. Brown Planetarium and Cherrydale Library.
Echoes of Little Saigon by Kim A. O’Connell
Echoes of Little Saigon tells the story of Arlington’s Vietnamese immigrants who came in great numbers after the fall of Saigon. A thriving Vietnamese-owned commercial district soon sprang up in Clarendon, offering familiarity for this displaced community. Using the booklet’s map and black-and-white photos as your guide, you can appreciate the history and culture by walking along Wilson Boulevard, dining at Nam Viet, or shopping at Eden Center, the largest Vietnamese commercial center on the East Coast.
Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique
Arlington takes center stage in Secret Lives, a mystery that opens with a murder outside the Clarendon home of Ethel Crestwater, a 75-year-old retired FBI agent. The victim is one of Ethel’s boarders, and it’s up to her and a younger relative to figure out who did it. Next time you’re at the Clarendon Whole Foods, peer at the nearby buildings and try to imagine from which parking deck the dramatic opening scenes may have taken place before the trouble arrived at Ethel’s doorstep.
Amazing Women of Arlington by Donna Brand
Did you know the first person buried at Arlington National Cemetery was a woman? This book chronicles the lives of prominent women like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, first ladies Jacqueline Kennedy and Helen Taft, as well as astronauts, actresses, and spies. You can pay your respects to these accomplished women by visiting their gravesites using the book’s burial locator.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
While Commonwealth doesn’t identify specific landmarks, this celebrated novel plants part of its blended family saga in Arlington — and uses Virginia’s official designation as the book’s title. The story opens in Los Angeles but soon has siblings of divorced parents shuttling back and forth between coasts. When one sibling recounts a traumatic childhood experience to an author she’s dating, he writes about it in an award-winning book, also titled Commonwealth.
Feature image courtesy publishers
This story originally ran in our May 2026 issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
