Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

The West has always held a strong place in the American psyche. From the earliest days, west represented the frontier of this nation. Whether it was Kentucky and Ohio or Colorado and Montana or Oregon and Alaska, as a people we’ve always moved westward. And once we crossed the Mississippi, we found a harsh environment unlike any other. Deserts and oases, flatlands and mountains; it was a land of environmental and climatic extremes.

2025 Reading Schedule:

January-March1918 - My Ántonia by Willa Cather 219 pgs
1962 - How the West Was Won by Louis L'Amour 219 pgs

April-June 1973 - The Time It Never Rained 1973 by Elmer Kelton 416 pgs
1919 - The Mysterious Rider by Zane Grey 164 pgs

July-September 1955 - Miss Morissa: Doctor of the Gold Trail by Mari Sandoz 249 pgs
1934 - A Cowman’s Wife by Mary Kidder Rak 355 pgs

October-December 1970 - The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje 105 pgs
1957 - The Hell Bent Kid by Charles O. Locke Charles O. Locke 161 pgs

Year Long Read
A.B. Guthrie Jr. AB Guthrie Trilogy = 1010 total pages

1947 The Big Sky 386 pgs
1949 The Way West 352 pgs
1982 Fair Land, Fair Land 272 pgs

I suggest:

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey 1912
(setting: Utah)

by Zane Grey

I suggest the A.B. Guthrie trilogy:


The Big Sky (1947)

The Way West (1949)

Fair Land, Fair Land (1982)

I support My Anthonia by Willa Cather

I support My Antonia too 🙋🏻‍♀️

Updated

I support anything by Willa Cather, The Time It Never Rained and I'd like to read a Louis L'Amour but I've never read anything by him - maybe Hondo - or can someone suggest a better one?

I suggest How the West Was Won by Louis L'Amour-1962

I have The Lonestar Ranger and The Mysterious Rider by Zane Grey here I'd like to read.

Lesle wrote: "1912 - Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (I think we read this one recently actually)"
Yeah, we read it in 2022. We could read the sequel, The Rainbow Trail.

Thank you Book Nerd for looking into that!! I thought we had. I can never tell from my list as sometime Ive read them in the past but do not have them marked as read.

I like the thought of the follow up read! Since we have a quarter to read them in one would have time to read the Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey that had not and than read the sequel.

I support How the West Was Won.

Thanks for the suggestion, Rosemarie. I'll support How the West Was Won.

You're welcome, Annette.

Some suggestions
Hondo by Louis L’Amour 1953
Pale Moon by W.R. Burnett 1956
The Earthbreakers by Ernest Haycox 1952
The Hell Bent Kid by Charles O. Locke 1957
Ramrod by Luke Short 1943

Any other thoughts or suggestions? I will work on this next weekend to see where we are.

Those that like Larry McMurtry might think about these:

Anything for Billy (1988)
Buffalo Girls (1990)

Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West (1985)
The Crossing (1994)

Two possibilities:

Miss Morissa: Doctor of the Gold Trail by Mari Sandoz (orig. pub. 1955)

A Cowman’s Wife by Mary Kidder Rak (orig. pub. 1934)

Anyone else's interested in The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje? A short one from 1970 :)

Lorraine wrote: "Some suggestions...Hondo by Louis L’Amour 1953

Hondo would be good. I found this one and thought of the movie. Doesnt sound the same though.

The Quick And The Dead: This short, enticing novel can be read in one sitting, and it won’t disappoint. One of the best things about L’Amour is that he jumps straight into the action; we’re immediately introduced to a stranger, who comes upon a family travelling and joins them for coffee. While sitting with them, he mentions that he noticed that their horses have been stolen by a local band of criminals. What ensues is a gripping chase across the west and a unique study of human nature.

Kathy wrote: "Two possibilities:
Miss Morissa: Doctor of the Gold Trail by Mari Sandoz (orig. pub. 1955)
A Cowman’s Wife by Mary Kidder Rak (orig. ..."

I like the woman angle Kathy! Good choices

Any other thoughts for this list for next year?

Updated

At the bottom of message 1 is the 2025 Suggestions so far.
We can do 4 one a quarter or 8 two a quarter.

Please support the ones you would like to see for next year.
We have 15 suggestions.

Please list just the number.
You can support up to 4 reads.

I put my support behind:

2, 5, 7, 9,

I think I got everyones suggestions please let me know if I am missing any.

I’m so bad at keeping up with these things. I notice that they are happening when they are at their end. I think it would be really cool to read the A.B. Guthrie Jr. trilogy as well as How the West Was Won. That would fill out a year or quarterly reads.

3 and 10

I support 4 and 2.

Just a reminder: I support number three.

I support 5 and 10 please.

I support 4 and 9.

Anyone else like to share their support? Im thinking next weekend I will wrap up hopefully all my planning threads.

Please see the bottom of message one for the updated support so far.

This weekend I will work on getting this organized for the reads.
Please put your support by using the numbers if you have not as of yet.

Suggestions:
-Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
-All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Blueberry wrote: "Suggestions:
-All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy"

Blueberry this one was on our list for the second quarter this year! Im sorry you missed it :(

I support 3, 8, 10, and 14. Thank you everyone for your ideas!

Lesle wrote: "Blueberry wrote: "Suggestions:
-All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy"

Blueberry this one was on our list for the second quarter this year! Im sorry you missed it :("

I thought it sounded familiar but I didn't see it on the group bookshelf. I was probably using it wrong. I'm having a great difficulty with the stripping down of Goodreads by Amazon.

I'll support 2, 3, 4 & 5.

We have our 2025 Reading Schedule.

Thank you everyone for the list we have for next year.
Much appreciated!!