MICHAEL WALLIS AND BERNARD DEVOTO ENLIVEN THE DONNER PARTY AND MANIFEST DESTINY In The Best Land Under Heaven, Wallis recounts the history of the Donner
SWEET PROMISED LAND AND ROBERT LAXALT, THE STORY OF A STORYTELLER Aside from Mark Twain’s Roughing It, Robert Laxalt’s, Sweet Promised Land (1957, 2007) is
DEEP CREEK When I first read Pam Houston’s acerbic collection of short stories, Cowboys Are My Weakness, I recognized a writer who would have a
ANGLE OF REPOSE Because it is a new year doesn’t mean a reviewed book has to be new. If Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose hadn’t
THE BONANZA KING: JOHN MACKAY AND THE BATTLE OVER THE GREATEST RICHES IN THE AMERICAN WEST Gregory Couch’s The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the
RIVER OF LOST SOULS The Animas River, Jonathan P. Thompson’s “river of lost souls,” rises on the steep slopes above Silverton, Colorado, flows south through
WIDOW A classic cast of characters populates Sara Dahmen’s novel, Widow. The naïve easterner, a winsome heroine headed West for reasons revealed only piecemeal as
RANTS FROM THE HILL In 2010, the High Country News editors asked Mike Branch to write a monthly column for its online edition. They asked
MONUMENT ROAD Influenced by Ann’s recent review of Charlie Quimby’s latest novel, Inhabited, I requested a review copy of Quimby’s earlier novel, Monument Road. Having
RAISING WILD, DISPATCHES FROM A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS Michael P. Branch, author of a book of essays titled Raising Wild, manages what some would
GIRLCHILD I am of two minds as I write this review of tupelo hassman’s girlchild. I admire this novel enormously, but I found its content
HOLDING FIRE ‘Embattled ranchers versus the federal government’ has been a headline in newspapers for generations, especially in Nevada, where the disagreements have been fierce.
INHABITED Torrey House Press fills a very special publishing niche. Their stated mission is to promote “environmental conservation through literature.” Their editors choose books that
ANTHEM FOR A BURNISHED LAND: WHAT WE LEAVE IN THIS DESERT OF WORK AND WORDS Sitting alongside the Little Walker River last weekend, contemplating Nevada’s
The Burning Hour Reading The Burning Hour reminds me of sitting outside on an arid Nevada afternoon, when thunderheads build over the mountains and hot,
WILD AT HEART, MUSTANGS AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE FIGHTING TO SAVE THEM Readers who come to Bookin’ with Sunny, those in the SF Bay Area
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