2020 Reading Challenge: A Western

If you're looking for an escape, how about going back in time to when a horse was a man's best friend, duels were a national pastime and Stetson hats were all the rage. Take a trip back to the ol' west with these 10 reads. Ride 'em, Cowboy!

Fiction

The Son by Philipp Meyer

Comanche Indian captive Eli McCullough must carve a place for himself in a world in which he does not fully belong -- a journey of adventure, tragedy, hardship, grit, and luck that reverberates in the lives of his progeny.

  

True Grit by Charles Portis

With her papa's pistol tied to her saddlehorn and a supersized ration of audacity, fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross sets out to avenge her father's murder.

         

My Antonia by Willa Cather

After the death of her immigrant father, Antonia works as a servant for neighbors in the farmlands of Nebraska. She leaves for an unfortunate affair with an Irish railway conductor, but returns home, eventually marries and raises a large family in true pioneer style.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWit

Set against the backdrop of the California Gold Rush, this darkly comic novel follows the misadventures of the fabled Sisters brothers, two hired guns who, under the order of the mysterious Commodore, try to kill Hermann Kermit Warm, a man who gives them a run for their money.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Set in the late-nineteenth century, this novel chronicles a cattle drive from Texas to Montana, and follows the lives of Gus and Call, the cowboys heading the drive, Gus's woman, Lorena, and Blue Duck, a sinister Indian renegade.

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

Refusing to marry the grim, brutal Elder Tull, Jane Withersteen is dismayed when her Utah ranch and hired hands are targeted in retaliation, and the mysterious gunfighter Lassiter offers Jane protection and a chance at love.

Nonfiction

The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn

A revisionist history of the Old West battle challenges popular depictions of such figures as the Earps and Doc Holliday, tracing the influence of a love triangle, renegade Apaches and the citizens of Tombstone.

Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides

Examines America's westward expansion, describing the forcible subjugation of Native American tribes, including the fierce battles against the Navajo which ended with a brutal siege at Canyon de Chelly and the "Long Walk" migration.

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Describes in sometimes brutal detail the actions of both whites and Comanches during a 40-year war over territory, in a story that begins with the Comanche kidnapping of a white 9-year-old girl, who grew up to love her captors, marry a Comanche chief and have a son, Quanah, who became a great warrior.

Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose

A chronicle of the two-and-a-half year journey of Lewis and Clark covers their incredible hardships, first encounters with Native Americans, the contributions of Sacajawea, and Lewis' post-journey depression.

Want to participate in Dover Public Library's 2020 Reading Challenge? Download the form here!