It is a truth universally acknowledged that an individual in possession of a holiday shopping list must be in want of a recommended book list. Also, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Montana authors are in possession of a good fortune of stories and tales and make the best gifts. Here’s a selection of books to satisfy the book lover or aspiring reader on your list. From award-winning collections of poetry to historical fiction horror, wild game cookbooks and wildlife activity books for kids, these Montana-centric titles are sure to surprise, delight, and inspire throughout the holiday season and beyond.
A former Montana poet laureate and celebrated author from Jefferson City, Melissa Kwansy has delivered a new collection of poetry, “The Cloud Path,” which is a bracing examination of her mother’s passing alongside global crises and how nature sustains us through heartbreak. The book, her seventh, claimed this year’s High Plains Book Award for Poetry.
Bigfork’s Lesile Budewitz is best known for her culinary cozy mysteries and thrillers, but she also writes historical fiction. “All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection” imagines the life of “Stagecoach Mary” Fields, who is believed to have been the first Black woman in the country to drive the U.S. Postal Star Route and spend time with the Ursuline Sisters at their Montana mission in 1885.
One of Montana’s best known and beloved books is “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean. A companion to his bestselling novella is his son’s, John N. Maclean’s 2021 memoir, “Home Waters.” The memoir shares the Maclean’s unwavering love for the Blackfoot River, fly fishing, and the family cabin set beneath the giant larch trees along the shore of Seeley Lake.
Another offspring of a literary giant is Jamie Harrison, daughter of the late Jim Harrison. A writer in her own right, Jamie Harrison’s Jules Clement mystery novels shade the Crazy Mountains outside of Livingston in a different, darker meaning. “The River View,” published last year, was the fifth installment of the series. To mark the celebrated return of the former sheriff Jules Clement to the fiction town of Blue Deer, the publisher reissued new editions of the entire series.
Horror fans have long known that Blackfeet tribal member Stephen Graham Jones can deliver a shocking, unforgettable tale. His most recent, “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” is likely his masterpiece. Those who think they aren’t fans of the genre should reconsider their stance by checking out this wild vampire Western that Time Magazine listed in its top 100 books of the year. The story opens in 2012 with the discovery of a hundred-year-old diary written by a Lutheran pastor in Miles City. Darker discoveries follow, including what happened on the cold morning of Jan. 23, 1870, when U.S. soldiers slaughtered 217 Piegan (Blackfeet) men, women, and children in their camps near the Marias River.
“The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology” edited by the late William Kittredge and Annick Smith is a perennial favorite collection of Montana literature from its earliest beginnings through its contemporary renderings when the collection was published in 1988. The door-stopper of a tome became an instant classic and put Montana on the literary map, reminding readers in places as far away as New York that Montanans could write — and damn well, too. From James Welch’s introduction to tribal stories and myths to the poetry of Richard Hugo, this anthology continues to stand the test — and stresses — of what it means to write about “The Last Best Place.”
Cookbooks are books, too, lest anyone forget, and Bozeman hunter, conservationist, and writer Steve Rinella does a fine job writing both. The host of the television series and podcast “MeatEater,” Rinella’s two cookbooks, “The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook” and “The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook” are now available in a boxed set. It’s a gift that essentially comes pre-wrapped.
Middle grade readers who love graphic novels will find “Thunderous” an unforgettable journey, as Aiyana must travel through the Spirit World to embrace her Lakota heritage. Co-written by M.L. Smoker, who served with Melissa Kwansy as co-poet laureate from 2019-2021, and Natalie Peeterse, “Thunderous” won the 2023 High Plains Books Awards. Both authors are graduates of the illustrious creative writing graduate program at the University of Montana.
Curious kids and adult alike will find Kathleen Yale’s “Howl like a Wolf!: Learn about 13 Wild Animals and Explore Their Lives through Creative Play and Activities” an exciting and imaginative way to learn about wolves, penguins, rattlesnakes and other exciting animals. Yale, who lives in the Flathead Valley, is a former wildlife biologist, writer, and editor for Orion Magazine.