Legacy of the Frontier : Day Trips to Historic Sites That Shaped the West, by Deborah Erickson

A quick read, this book centers chooses four historical sites within reasonable driving distance from Denver--Bent's Fort, Georgetown, Scotts Bluff, and Fort Laramie. As a travel guide, this is pretty useful, but as a reading book not so much. Sadly, I've only been to Georgetown, and didn't know enough about its history at that time. Still, to a certain degree its placement in this book is as a "sample" gold or silver boomtown. I've had plenty of experience with that elsewhere.

The Secret Life of Cowboys, by Tom Groneberg

Really good book about what it takes to ranch ahe life, and work with animals in the west, what depending on the land really means, now. The author takes care not to overly mythologize the subject, and is very honest about his failings, and discoveries of strengths. Nicely written, very evocative.

I miss the West.

Overland West (vol. 1), by Will Bagley

I started this, ambitiously, and only got about 25 pages in. I think I'll wait for volume 2 since by then he will start talking about Colorado. ;-)

OK, that's not fair, because he already was talking about Colorado. However, this may be one of those things that works better on Nook simply because I can read it for a long period of time and spend some time thinking about it and making notes to myself as I go.

Soiled Doves, by Anne Seagraves

Bought this in Ouray. It's self-published and very "local history" but aside from some more editing issues, the research is solid and the portraits of women who flouted the conventions of society in the West of the late 1800s were carefully and caringly drawn. The author does a fine job of explaining some of the reasons women turned to prostitution and how they affected the towns of the West.

Ouray, by Gail Zanett Saunders, Maria Jones and the Ouray County Historical Society

Found this in Ouray and read it quickly. There wasn't a whole lot here that was really news, but I did enjoy the photos, many of which were new to me. Made me rather homesick.

Creating Colorado, by William Wyckoff

This took forever to read, but it was worthwhile in that I now have a much better sense of how the state became Colorado. It's a bit old, but the early years are all that matter (to me) anyway.

The Devil's Paintbox, by Victoria Mckernan

This YA novel follows two orphaned teens west with a wagon train. I'm a huge sucker for this kind of thing, and this book did not disappoint. In fact, were it not for the ending and some classic "YA overtones" I'd be tempted to think this isn't a YA novel at all. The people seem relatively realistic and the events are portrayed with accuracy too. I learned a lot about the Civil War and logging, among other things, too.

Breath and Bones, by Susann Cokal

Would make a good discussion novel.

Wolf, No Wolf, by Peter Bowen

Somewhat difficult reading for a mystery, because the author writes the main character's dialogue in Métis Creole. The story is about the murders that occur when wolves are reintroduced to a ranching area in northern Montana. Fascinating view of how people living in underpopulated areas view the government and outsiders in general. [Hint: not very pleasantly, and with pretty good reason]

A good book for a quick primer on how people "out west" think.

Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I'm well into the double digits on reading this book.

I love it.

Next up, the rest of the series. It's time. I read it about every 3 or 4 years.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Country, by William Anderson

Beast bought this for me on one of his recent business trips; he stopped at the Walnut Creek site. It is, primarily, a pictorial view of all the places Laura and her family lived throughout her childhood, along with some holding-it-all-together text and quotes from Laura's writings. There are also some absolutely stunning landscape photos.

Basically, there's not a lot here that I didn't know, but the packaging is a little different.

Single Tree, by Gary D. Svee

Wow, totally depressing from page one!