The most recommended books about Montana

I started Lone Women needing to know, with every fiber of my being, what's in that steamer trunk?? And I appreciate that Victor LaValle gives us the big reveal by page 80-something. 

Knowing this secret only makes this book more exciting and scarier. That said, don't skip ahead. And don't read the author's acknowledgments until you've finished the book because they contain some spoilers.

As if being a lone Black woman moving onto a Montana claim purchased sight unseen in 1915 isn't terrifying enough, there's also banditry and bone-whistling winds. But I was also deeply moved by the alliance between the titular "lone women." Not to mention one of the most incredible and shocking reconciliations I've ever read.

The ending is hard-fought and immensely satisfying, too.

Bernice tells us a story. Her clean, quiet narrative rides us with her. Bernice was soft spoken, unpretentious, and steadily courageous. A long-time, long distance, trail boss told me he was humbled after sitting on an Adventure Riding panel with Bernice.

Bernice lived and wrote the partnership she had with her horses. Her book is a last gift to those of us who dream of horse adventure.

This is an extraordinary novel.

Sun House is a sprawling, challenging, intimate, and deeply engaging book that follows the lives of a dozen or so amazing characters as they struggle to find meaning and purpose in their lives. Although they are all extreme people in various ways, you can find yourself in each of them.

The setting is the Pacific Northwest, especially Oregon, Washington, and Montana from 1958-2016. The characters' lives intertwine in remarkable ways, both with each other and with the urban, rural, and wilderness landscapes that they inhabit.

As you read about their developmental journeys, you will also get involved in challenging discussions about Buddhist and Christian spirituality, wilderness philosophy, and ecological awareness. Most importantly, you deeply care about each of the characters.

The book sometimes seems like it's gone astray with wild spiritual speculation, but it always returns to its home ground—the intriguing lives of its… show more.

I read the novel when I saw that Jane Campion had chosen to adapt the book for her latest film. I have nerves of cast iron. But I found this book truly terrifying. The subject is human evil – the sadistic, twisted cruelty of which men are capable, both to animals, and other human beings. The descriptive writing is extraordinary: the ranch, the mountains, and the wild lands of Montana appear before your eyes. The family is almost destroyed by the predatory, violent brother Phil. He is like a Shakespearean villain: magnetic, charismatic, spellbinding, brilliant, and vicious.

Campion softens the edges of the story at every step in her wonderful film. And I can understand why. Had she filmed the book the movie would be banned. Read the book. 

And another Montana writer, Debra Magpie Earling grew up in Spokane, and is a member of the Salish tribe. Her 2002 debut novel, Perma Red, became an immediate classic. It’s the story of Louise White Elk, a young woman living on the reservation in the 1940s who is determined to avoid the trap of becoming the possession of a man. A challenge for any woman during that time period, but especially for a native woman living in a place with few options. Earling’s prose is elegant but tough, and that would be a pretty apt description of her main character as well as Louise makes a valiant effort to fight off the powerful men trying to take control of her life. 

I love to read about animals and Fox and I moved me deeply.

Raven, a young biologist, lives alone in an isolated cabin. One afternoon, Fox appears mysteriously. Delighted, she reads to him from The Little Prince, which also features a fox. After that, Fox joins her each day at the same time.

In the course of their magical and touching relationship Fox helps Bell feel at home in the world and appreciate the power of friendship.

Having lived in many countries, I, too, can feel homeless and would appreciate a Fox by my side and, in a way, through this book, I do have one.

I grew up in a small Montana town, so Watson’s novel has a special meaning for me. It is a vivid portrayal of small-town life on the Great Plains and takes place during the same time period as my own book. It tells of the corruption of a trusted official and its effect on his family, his victims, and the town itself. Watson’s novel allowed me to feel and understand the deep emotions, the pain, the anxiety, the love, and the disappointment that his characters were feeling.

Book of the Little Axe follows one woman at two ends of her life, spanning from the late 1700s to the early 1800s.

One thread follows who she will become—“Ma,” wife to an Apsáalooke man and mother to three children—and the woman she was before, “Rosa,” a daughter and sister in Trinidad. A third thread follows a man named Creadon’s diary.

This book explores so many important and complex topics like what it means to be family, what it means to belong, and what it means to accept yourself. I loved how deep Francis-Sharma dives into the feelings of shame and pride and fear that the characters feel.

I felt those same things and it made me physically ache for them.

The healing power of horses is used nowadays in formal equine therapy, but young people have always known their horses could nurture them. I love this book because it shows how a horse can provide support in a situation as challenging and stigmatizing as the mental illness called bipolar. Horses provide a wonderful way for readers to come to terms with such a complex topic. I love the premise that horses help kids to cope with human difficulties. 

The first time I finished reading this book, I felt ambushed. The description is breathtaking and the dialogue is hilarious.

So much of the book is surreal: The main character hunts for a runaway girlfriend who’s absconded with his electric razor (which is useless; it has no cord). A woman at a bar blows smoke rings without a cigarette. A guy known only as “airplane man” winds up nabbed, with a large plush bear, by the FBI—and the main character’s major epiphany is sparked by a horse fart. Then, suddenly, near the end, I cried so hard the words blurred. And the final scene is perfection.

Funny, heartbreaking, absurd, and poignant at once.