50 Books of the West

 

When did you first feel you’d discovered your True West? Are you still looking for the tools to make that discovery? 

The staff of The Colorado Sun, in consultation with a diverse local group of historians, offers here a starter list as part of our “50 Books of the West,” with the mammoth caveat that your own picks may vary. 

Read the full article HERE!

We couldn't help adding some titles of our own as well. Let us know what you think!

 

 

 

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition By Marc Reisner Cover Image

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition (Paperback)

By Marc Reisner
$20.00
ISBN: 9780140178241
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - June 1st, 1993
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West By Wallace Stegner Cover Image

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West (Paperback)

By Wallace Stegner
$18.00
ISBN: 9780140159943
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - March 1st, 1992
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Sabrina & Corina: Stories By Kali Fajardo-Anstine Cover Image

Sabrina & Corina: Stories (Paperback)

By Kali Fajardo-Anstine
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525511304
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - April 7th, 2020
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How Much of These Hills Is Gold: A Novel By C Pam Zhang Cover Image

How Much of These Hills Is Gold: A Novel (Paperback)

By C Pam Zhang
$17.00
ISBN: 9780525537212
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Books - April 6th, 2021
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI By David Grann Cover Image

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (Paperback)

By David Grann
$17.00
ISBN: 9780307742483
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - April 3rd, 2018
Paradise (Vintage International) By Toni Morrison Cover Image

Paradise (Vintage International) (Paperback)

By Toni Morrison
$17.00
ISBN: 9780804169882
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Vintage - March 11th, 2014
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West By Dee Brown Cover Image

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (Paperback)

By Dee Brown
$20.00
ISBN: 9780805086843
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Holt Paperbacks - May 15th, 2007
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement By Peter Matthiessen, Martin Garbus (Afterword by) Cover Image

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement (Paperback)

By Peter Matthiessen, Martin Garbus (Afterword by)
$23.00
ISBN: 9780140144567
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - March 1st, 1992
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) By Willa Cather Cover Image

Death Comes for the Archbishop (Vintage Classics) (Paperback)

By Willa Cather
$16.00
ISBN: 9780679728894
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - June 16th, 1990
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder By Caroline Fraser Cover Image

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Paperback)

By Caroline Fraser
$23.00
ISBN: 9781250182487
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - August 7th, 2018
Translating Property: The Maxwell Land Grant and the Conflict Over Land in the American West, 1840-1900 By Maria E. Montoya Cover Image

Translating Property: The Maxwell Land Grant and the Conflict Over Land in the American West, 1840-1900 (Paperback)

By Maria E. Montoya
$32.50
ISBN: 9780700613816
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: University Press of Kansas - March 15th, 2005
Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West By Stephen E. Ambrose Cover Image

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West (Paperback)

By Stephen E. Ambrose
$20.00
ISBN: 9780684826974
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - June 2nd, 1997
Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America By Gustavo Arellano Cover Image

Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America (Paperback)

By Gustavo Arellano
$18.00
ISBN: 9781439148624
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - April 16th, 2013
The Black West: A Documentary and Pictorial History of the African American Role in the Westward Expansion of the United States By William Loren Katz Cover Image

The Black West: A Documentary and Pictorial History of the African American Role in the Westward Expansion of the United States (Paperback)

By William Loren Katz
$21.95
ISBN: 9781682752265
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Chicago Review Press - Fulcrum - September 2nd, 2019
Two Years Before the Mast By Richard Henry Dana, Jr., John Seelye (Introduction by), Wes Davis (Afterword by) Cover Image

Two Years Before the Mast (Mass Market)

By Richard Henry Dana, Jr., John Seelye (Introduction by), Wes Davis (Afterword by)
$7.95
Title unavailable, please email for information.
ISBN: 9780451531254
Published: Signet - April 7th, 2009
Black Elk Speaks: The Complete Edition By John G. Neihardt, Philip J. Deloria (Introduction by), Vine Deloria, Jr. (Foreword by) Cover Image

Black Elk Speaks: The Complete Edition (Paperback)

By John G. Neihardt, Philip J. Deloria (Introduction by), Vine Deloria, Jr. (Foreword by)
$21.95
ISBN: 9780803283916
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Bison Books - March 1st, 2014
The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott (Introduction by), Robert DeMott (Notes by) Cover Image

The Grapes of Wrath (Paperback)

By John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott (Introduction by), Robert DeMott (Notes by)
$18.00
ISBN: 9780143039433
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Classics - March 28th, 2006
The Monkey Wrench Gang By Edward Abbey Cover Image

The Monkey Wrench Gang (Paperback)

By Edward Abbey
$17.99
ISBN: 9780061129766
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial Modern Classics - December 12th, 2006
On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker By A'Lelia Bundles Cover Image

On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (Paperback)

By A'Lelia Bundles
$19.00
ISBN: 9780743431729
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Scribner - January 1st, 2002
Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West By H. W. Brands Cover Image

Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West (Paperback)

By H. W. Brands
$19.99
ISBN: 9781541672543
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Basic Books - October 20th, 2020
Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights By Gretchen Sorin Cover Image

Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights (Hardcover)

By Gretchen Sorin
$28.95
ISBN: 9781631495694
Availability: Warehouse Out of Stock
Published: Liveright - February 11th, 2020
Wild Life on the Rockies By Enos A. Mills Cover Image

Wild Life on the Rockies (Paperback)

By Enos A. Mills
$30.75
ISBN: 9781116234794
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: BiblioLife - September 29th, 2009
Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies By John McPhee Cover Image

Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies (Paperback)

By John McPhee
$18.00
ISBN: 9780374514310
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - October 1st, 1977
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Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History By S. C. Gwynne Cover Image

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History (Paperback)

By S. C. Gwynne
$18.00
ISBN: 9781416591061
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - May 10th, 2011
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl By Timothy Egan Cover Image

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (Paperback)

By Timothy Egan
$16.99
ISBN: 9780618773473
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Mariner Books - September 1st, 2006
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains: Volume 14 (Western Frontier Library #14) By Isabella L. Bird, Daniel J. Boorstin (Introduction by) Cover Image

A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains: Volume 14 (Western Frontier Library #14) (Paperback)

By Isabella L. Bird, Daniel J. Boorstin (Introduction by)
$9.95
ISBN: 9780806113289
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: University of Oklahoma Press - December 15th, 1975
Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family’s Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High By Polly E. Bugros McLean Cover Image

Remembering Lucile: A Virginia Family’s Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High (Hardcover)

By Polly E. Bugros McLean
$29.95
ISBN: 9781607328247
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: University Press of Colorado - September 28th, 2018
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats By Kristen Iversen Cover Image

Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats (Paperback)

By Kristen Iversen
$18.00
ISBN: 9780307955654
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown - June 4th, 2013
The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West By Patricia Nelson Limerick, Ph.D. Cover Image

The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (Paperback)

By Patricia Nelson Limerick, Ph.D.
$18.95
ISBN: 9780393304978
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - January 17th, 2006
God is Red: A Native View of Religion, 30th Anniversary Edition By Vine Deloria, Jr., Leslie Silko (Foreword by), George E. Tinker (Foreword by) Cover Image

God is Red: A Native View of Religion, 30th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

By Vine Deloria, Jr., Leslie Silko (Foreword by), George E. Tinker (Foreword by)
$25.95
ISBN: 9781555914981
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Fulcrum Publishing - September 1st, 2003
Wilderness and the American Mind By Roderick Frazier Nash, Char Miller (Foreword by) Cover Image

Wilderness and the American Mind (Paperback)

By Roderick Frazier Nash, Char Miller (Foreword by)
$25.00
Title unavailable, please email for information.
ISBN: 9780300190380
Published: Yale University Press - January 28th, 2014
The Milagro Beanfield War: A Novel (The New Mexico Trilogy #1) By John Nichols Cover Image

The Milagro Beanfield War: A Novel (The New Mexico Trilogy #1) (Paperback)

By John Nichols
$23.00
ISBN: 9780805063745
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Holt Paperbacks - February 15th, 2000
Lonesome Dove: A Novel By Larry McMurtry Cover Image

Lonesome Dove: A Novel (Paperback)

By Larry McMurtry
$22.00
ISBN: 9781439195260
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster - June 15th, 2010
Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West By Hampton Sides Cover Image

Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West (Paperback)

By Hampton Sides
$20.00
ISBN: 9781400031108
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor - October 9th, 2007
Centennial: A Novel By James A. Michener, Steve Berry (Introduction by) Cover Image

Centennial: A Novel (Paperback)

By James A. Michener, Steve Berry (Introduction by)
$23.00
ISBN: 9780812978421
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback - May 29th, 2007
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West By Dorothy Wickenden Cover Image

Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West (Paperback)

By Dorothy Wickenden
$17.00
ISBN: 9781439176597
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - April 24th, 2012
Plainsong (Vintage Contemporaries) By Kent Haruf Cover Image

Plainsong (Vintage Contemporaries) (Paperback)

By Kent Haruf
$17.00
ISBN: 9780375705854
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - August 22nd, 2000
The Comanche Empire (The Lamar Series in Western History) By Pekka Hamalainen Cover Image

The Comanche Empire (The Lamar Series in Western History) (Paperback)

By Pekka Hamalainen
$26.00
ISBN: 9780300151176
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Yale University Press - May 19th, 2009
The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories By Bret Harte Cover Image

The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories (Paperback)

By Bret Harte
$4.00
Title unavailable, please email for information.
ISBN: 9780486272719
Published: Dover Publications - October 21st, 2015
Colorado Day by Day By Derek Everett Cover Image

Colorado Day by Day (Paperback)

By Derek Everett
$26.95
Title unavailable, please email for information.
ISBN: 9781646420063
Published: University Press of Colorado - March 16th, 2020
Westering Women: A Novel By Sandra Dallas Cover Image

Westering Women: A Novel (Paperback)

By Sandra Dallas
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250781413
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - January 26th, 2021
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The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West By Megan Kate Nelson Cover Image

The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Paperback)

By Megan Kate Nelson
$18.00
ISBN: 9781501152559
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner - February 16th, 2021
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Winter Counts: A Novel By David Heska Wanbli Weiden Cover Image

Winter Counts: A Novel (Hardcover)

By David Heska Wanbli Weiden
$27.99
ISBN: 9780062968944
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Ecco - August 25th, 2020
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Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country By Pam Houston Cover Image

Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country (Paperback)

By Pam Houston
$15.95
ISBN: 9780393357660
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - January 7th, 2020
Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (The Lamar Series in Western History) By Pekka Hamalainen Cover Image

Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (The Lamar Series in Western History) (Paperback)

By Pekka Hamalainen
$22.00
ISBN: 9780300255256
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Yale University Press - October 13th, 2020
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Half Broke: A Memoir By Ginger Gaffney Cover Image

Half Broke: A Memoir (Paperback)

By Ginger Gaffney
$15.95
ISBN: 9780393541540
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - February 9th, 2021
Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology #24) By Justin Farrell Cover Image

Billionaire Wilderness: The Ultra-Wealthy and the Remaking of the American West (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology #24) (Hardcover)

By Justin Farrell
$27.95
ISBN: 9780691176673
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Princeton University Press - March 3rd, 2020
All Things Left Wild By James Wade Cover Image

All Things Left Wild (Hardcover)

By James Wade
$27.99
ISBN: 9781982601058
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: Blackstone - June 16th, 2020
The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems By N. Scott Momaday Cover Image

The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems (Hardcover)

By N. Scott Momaday
$28.99
ISBN: 9780062961150
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper - March 10th, 2020
Through a Native Lens: American Indian Photography Volume 37 By Nicole Strathman Cover Image

Through a Native Lens: American Indian Photography Volume 37 (Hardcover)

By Nicole Strathman
$50.00
ISBN: 9780806164847
Availability: Available to Order - Usually Arrives in Our Store in 4 to 7 Days
Published: University of Oklahoma Press - March 19th, 2020