Book Battery

While not a fast reader I consider myself a steady reader and now, after this Corona-year, I have a set of books to look back upon and rank from best to worst. If any of you have read any of these books this ranking might indicate a few books I found to be better - unless we're talking about Tough Trip Through Paradise, in which nothing in this battery of books bests it.

1. Tough Trip Through Paradise by Andrew Garcia - The command that Andrew Garcia writes with is impressive and lends to a higher level of authenticity than any book about Montana that I have ever read. Going into this read I had in my mind that Andrew Garcia was a trapper who wrote the book in pieces submitted to a Missoula lawyer for safe-keeping, eventually to be printed posthumously, however, and after realizing this was a love story written about Garcia's first wife in a little writing shack at Garcia's home on the Clark Fork, it is likely this book wasn't published until later as to not make trouble with Garcia's then current wife. Whether or not this is the case, this book sheds light on the earliest of commerce in Montana and, in my opinion, could be required reading for a college-level business class. I love this book.
   
   
2. The Amazing Death of Calf Shirt by Hugh Dempsey - There's just something amazing about the stories contained in this book about the Blackfoot tribe of Montana and Alberta. I can almost imagine these tales being told inside a teepee with an audience of old and young alike, transfixed with wonder as each story becomes more and more incredible. These stories are what stories are supposed to be.
   
   
3. The Royal Wulff Murders by Keith McCafferty - This book is a real page-turner; I read it in like three sittings. Similar to "The Ploughmen" by Kim Zupan, this is a murder-mystery written in modern-day Montana. I feel like Kim kept political issues out of his book better, however it was kind of interesting to learn about whirling disease and the potential effect of fish populations on land value. I agree that the fish are the answer. Oh and this murder-mystery move is also similar to "Death and the Good Life" by Richard Hugo and if I was to rank these three it would probably go Hugo, Zupan, and then McCafferty.
   
   
4. Fools Crow by James Welch - This book was quite nice and gave a little insight to Native American names. I like how they change as we move into new stages of life.
   
   
5. When You and I Were Young, Whitefish by Dorothy Johnson - What I really like about this book is the elegance of Dorothy Johnson and how she weaves her later life experiences with her simple, down-to-earth upbringing in Whitefish. I also found it interesting that Whitefish is built on trash.
   
   
6. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck - I read this book as a break from Montana stuff and by the end of it I needed a break from China stuff. The interesting thing about this book is that the main character is a male and the author is female. Considering this, the book doesn't go much into the psychology of things and instead gives sort of a bird's-eye view of an entire life in ancient China, where farming is everything. Ultimately it was more touching of a book than I expected.
   
   
7. Winter Brothers by Ivan Doig - In true Doig form, this book is jam-packed with historical information and is like a lesson. This time the subject is the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington and the times as chronicled by the journals of James Gilchrist Swan, which Doig reviews and compares to his modern experience throughout the book. Now I really want to go to Neah Bay.
   
   
8. These Thousand Hills by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. - This is the first A.B. Guthrie book I have read and it didn't disappoint. The raw and hard times told about by Guthrie really makes that time in Montana history come alive and a reader gets a good idea of the sorts of troubles that can come about in the wild west.
   
   
9. The Generous Years by Chet Huntley - My dad is a fan of Chet Huntley and gave this book to me. Generally this book was boring and obviously an attempt to bring things back home after a long and successful career for Huntley. Basically, all I got from this book is that the town of Huntley Project was named after Chet's family.
   
   
10. The Way West by A.B. Guthrie, Jr. - The second Guthrie book I've read and this one makes me want to learn more about the Oregon Trail and possible even travel it from Independence, Missouri on through Laramie and Boise and eventually to the Willamette Valley.
    
    
11. Counting Coup by Larry Colton - I had high hopes for this book and, after reading a good many books about Montana, this one slightly disappointed me as Colton just seems too interested in high school girls to make the story more than that.
    
    
12. One Man's Montana by John Hutchens - This book I actually read a couple years back, but it fits in with the Montana stuff and makes me want to find the ghost town of Alder Gulch, where the outlaws hung out.
    
    
13. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean - What's the big deal with this book? I found the second story in this book, about a trail boss in the Bitterroots, to be better.
    
    
14. Ghost Hunting in Montana by Barnaby Conrad - Ugh! This book was awful. Conrad comes to Montana to learn about his roots and writes a book that, as someone from Montana, irritates the heck outta me. It was like having a stranger tell me about the pictures in my house. Grrr. Best to not have even written this book.

The take-away here is that Tough Trip Through Paradise is a very powerful book and anyone living in Montana should read it, especially those in the Sleeping Child Hot Springs area, which I revisited immediately after reading this book.