Sergei's Western Reading

I have not read many Westerns. I don't know why, because when I do, I like them! And I enjoyed watching cowboy films and TV series when I was growing up. And, (big and), John Wayne has always been my hero...!
So, I intend to put this right.
I'm going to read more Westerns. To ensure I do, I'm going to keep score.
This is my 'Westerns Log'.

To get the ball rolling, today I began reading Sunset Pass by Zane Grey.

1) 9 June 2014 - St Agnes' Stand by Thomas Eidson 4.5★s

(Included for the sake of accuracy, because it was the first Western I'd read, and the one to make me realise I liked the genre.)

2) 3 December 2016 - Sunset Pass by Zane Grey 4.5★s

3) 28 December 2016 - The Bells of San Juan by Jackson Gregory 4.5★s

4) 3 January 2017 - Wolf Breed by Jackson Gregory 4.5★s

5) 22 February 2017 - Stoneheart by Gustave Aimard 4★s

6) 10 March 2017 - The Trail-Hunter by Gustave Aimard 4★s

Story is continued in 'The Pirates of the Prairies'.

7) 8 April 2017 - Lone Pine by R. B. Townshend 4.5★s

8) 22 May 2017 - The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey 4★s

9) 27 June 2017 - The Virginian by Owen Wister 4.5★s

10) 25 July 2017 - Blood Feud by David Robbins 4★s

11) 11 August 2017 - Twin Sombreros by Zane Grey 4★s

12) 3 November 2017 - Betty Zane by Zane Grey 4.5★s

9 WESTERNS READ IN 2017.

13) 13 January 2018 - Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton 4.5★s

14) 6 February 2018 - This Old Bill by Loren D. Estleman 4.5★s

I read The Virginian a couple years ago and liked it. My Westerns reading has slipped, but I still like the genre very much. I'll pick it up again later in 2018.

I recommend reading Louis L'Amour. He is wonderful. It's so easy to find his works in the USA because the paperbacks show up at thrift stores often at very cheap prices. He is one of my favorites.

15) 13 March 2018 - Daughter of the Sun by Jackson Gregory 4★s

>19 brickhorse: Thank you for the recommendation; my local library has one of his books, so I will be giving him a try.

16) 1 April 2018 - Summer of the Sioux by Tim Champlin 4★s

17) 14 April 2018 - Hopalong Cassidy by Clarence E. Mulford 4★s

18) 7 May 2018 - Apache Devil by Edgar Rice Burroughs 4★s

19) 23 May 2018 - The Short Cut by Jackson Gregory 4★s

20) 14 June 2018 - Code of the West by Zane Grey 4.5★s

21) 23 July 2018 - Rogue River Feud by Zane Grey 4★s

22) 13 August 2018 - Lightning of Gold by Max Brand 4★s

Just found your thread, sorry I didn't see it before.

I started a series challenge for Louis L'Amour's Sackett books, here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/294945

Come on over!

>29 fuzzi: Unfortunately, I'm finding it difficult to get hold of any L'Amour books, but I remain on the lookout...

23) 9 September 2018 - Doc by Mary Doria Russell 5★s

24) 25 September 2018 - Man to Man by Jackson Gregory 4★s

25) 15 October 2018 - Fighting Caravans by Zane Grey 4★s

>31 Sergeirocks: I loved Doc: A Novel, liked it better than Epitaph.

I'm also enjoying westerns by Robert B. Parker, starting with Appaloosa. I'd recommend his works as well.

>34 fuzzi: Thanks for the recommendation, I'll keep an eye out for him.

26) 21 November 2018 - The Trapper's Daughter by Gustave Aimard 3.5★s

Third in the series which begins with The Trail-Hunter (>8 Sergeirocks:)

One of L'Amour's best imo, The Last of the Breed is on sale today on Amazon for $1.99.

14 WESTERNS READ IN 2018.

27) 13 January 2019 - The Tiger-Slayer - Gustave Aimard 3.5★s

28) 11 March 2019 - Resolution - Robert B. Parker 4.5★s

My first 'modern' Western, second book in the Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch Series - hope to find more to read.

>40 Sergeirocks: woo! You enjoyed it as well.

Appaloosa is actually the first in the series, there are four total that the author wrote himself. After Robert B. Parker's death, someone else has been writing sequels.

>41 fuzzi: I spotted 'Resolution' on my library's e-book list after your recommendation, fuzzi. Unfortunately, they don't have 'Appaloosa', so I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for that one - be interesting to see how Cole and Hitch started out.

Good news: I got my library to buy Appaloosa and Brimstone in e-book format, :)

>43 Sergeirocks: yes!

29) 29 March 2019 - Appaloosa - Robert B. Parker 5★s

>45 Sergeirocks: good stuff!

I also have recently discovered Elmer Kelton too. I really enjoyed his book The Good Old Boys.

>46 fuzzi: Not an author I've heard of; I shall have to see if my local library has any of his books.

Elmer Kelton is excellent. You should also look at early Elmore Leonard, who started writing Westerns in the 1950s, before moving on to more modern and urban crime genre. 3:10 to Yuma is one of his classics. Many of his western books and short stories were made in to movies. He wrote nine westerns between 1953 and 1998.
http://www.elmoreleonard.com/index.php?/weblog/more/the_westerns_novels_of_elmor...

>48 dpbbooks: Thanks. I shall keep an eye open for Leonard books, too.

30) 21 May 2019 - Brimstone - Robert B. Parker 5★s

>50 Sergeirocks: woo! I really like Parker's westerns.

>51 fuzzi: I'm going to try one of his mystery novels next - see if they're as good.

>52 Sergeirocks: I've not yet read any of Parker's non-westerns, but plan to.

I have been enjoying Elmer Kelton's books as well.

31) 2 February 2020 - The Accomplice - Marcus Galloway 4.5★s

A story about a favoured character of mine, Doc Holliday.

32) 10 February 2020 - Bucking the Tiger - Marcus Galloway 4.5★s

Book 2 in the 'Accomplice' series.

33) 26 February 2020 - The Silent Partner - Marcus Galloway 4.5★s

Book 3 in the 'Accomplice' series.

34) 4 August 2020 - Let 'Er Buck - Vaunda Micheaux Nelson 3★s

Illustrated, true short about George Fletcher, black cowboy, whom spectators thought robbed of 1st place in a 1911 rodeo due to his colour.

Nice.

Just finished re-reading all of the novels and short stories featuring my favorite Louis L'Amour character Killkenny.

>58 dpbbooks: I'm planning a reread of the Kilkenny books myself, later this year.

35) 9 August 2020 - The Last Stetson - John Fox Jr. 3.5★s

Short story.

36) 15 August 2020 - Salute to Adventurers - John Buchan 4.5★s

4 WESTERNS READ IN 2019

6 WESTERNS READ IN 2020

37) 17 January 2021 - The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid - Pat Garrett 4★s

38) 8 February 2021 - The Phantom Herd - B. M. Bower 4★s

39) 20 February 2021 - Sawtooth Ranch (or The Quirt) - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

One of my favorite Louis L'Amour short story collections Riding for the Brand is on sale today for $1.99 US at Amazon (and others):

https://www.amazon.com/Riding-Brand-Western-Louis-LAmour-ebook/dp/B00W0LW7JO?_bb...

>66 fuzzi: Thanks for posting the link, fuzzi.

40) 26 February 2021 - Starr, of the Desert - B. M. Bower 4.25★s

41) 19 March 2021 - Frank in the Woods - Harry Castlemon 3★s

42) 20 March 2021 - No Place Like Home (or Montana) - Debbie Macomber 3.5★s

43) 29 March 2021 - Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho - Harry Castlemon 3.5★s

44) 5 April 2021 - Red Fire - Max Brand 4★s

45) 3 May 2021 - In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers - G. A. Henty 4★s

46) 12 May 2021 - Boss of the Far West - Burt Arthur 3.75★s

47) 24 May 2021 - Flaming Guns- Burt Arthur 4★s

48) 16 June 2021 - Ghost Canyon - John Russell Fearn & Matthew Japp 3.5★s

49) 26 July 2021 - Gunsmoke in Nevada - Burt Arthur 4.5★s

50) 4 August 2021 - Silver City Rangers - Burt Arthur 4★s

51) 11 August 2021 - The Trappers of Arkansas - Gustave Aimard 4★s

52) 1 September 2021 - Gun Law on the Range - Burt Arthur 4★s

53) 6 September 2021 - The Stranger in Boots - A. Scott Leslie 4★s

Stopping by to see what you're reading.

>82 fuzzi: Hi, fuzzi. It's always nice to have company.

54) 11 September 2021 - Tall in the Saddle - Chuck Martin 4★s

55) 30 September 2021 - The Cage - Talmage Powell 4.5★s

56) 18 October 2021 - Lightning of Gold - Max Brand 4★s (Reread)

57) 26 June 2022 - Cow-Country - B. M. Bower 4★s

58) 28 August 2022 - Law of the Desert Born - Louis L’Amour 4.5★s
(Collection of short stories)

>88 Sergeirocks: oh, that's one of my favorites!

They also published a graphic novel of that particular book.

59) 25 February 2023 - The Thunder Bird - B. M. Bower 4★s

60) 6 April 2023 - The Ghost - Max Brand 4★s
(Short story)

That's a good one.

It’s been a while…

61) 5 February 2024 - The Indian Scout - Gustave Aimard 4★s

62) 15 February 2024 - The Gold-Seekers - Gustave Aimard 4★s

63) 17 February 2024 - The Indian Chief - Gustave Aimard 4★s

Thanks -- was not aware of Aimard. What an interesting guy. Look like some intriguing titles to check out.

>96 dpbbooks: Hello, dpbbooks (Donald). I don’t know whether you care for Wikipedia at all, but here’s a link if you’re interested in Aimard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Aimard

Born 1818, died 1883; so, as you can imagine, his writing style is quite formal and long-winded (probably not helped by being in translation from French), but I find his rambling stories entertaining. They’re not shoot-em-up, cowboys-n-Indians, but more tales of old frontier days.
Possibly not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like them. The stories can stand alone, but there is a chronological order to them (if you can take time to research them - I think I’m just blindly stumbling through them, ☺️).

>97 Sergeirocks: I downloaded one of his books from Project Gutenberg, and read a few pages. He is big on description and lots of adjectives, much like James Fenimore Cooper, same era I believe. I think I will try to read something of his, do you have a recommendation? The book I downloaded was The Trapper's Daughter.

>98 fuzzi: Hi, fuzzi, 🙂.

As I said in >97 Sergeirocks: Aimard’s style is “formal and long-winded”, but personally I don’t mind that, I have enough time on my hands to be able to wade through. I think he might be an acquired taste however, so I hope you won’t be too disappointed if you do give him a try.

If you have a look at my posts at >36 Sergeirocks: and >8 Sergeirocks: you’ll see that ‘Trapper’s Daughter’ is part of a series. (I never did find a copy of the 2nd in the series: ‘The Pirates of the Prairies!)

My first Aimard book was Stoneheart, which I don’t think was part of a series, but that being 7 years ago, I can’t rightly remember. However, The Trappers of Arkansas is a one-off, and a decent story, as far as I can remember.

64) 4 March 2024 - The Red Track - Gustave Aimard 4★s

65) 24 April 2024 - Cabin Fever - B. M. Bower 4★s

>101 Sergeirocks: oh. That looks interesting.

If you want, come over to our Westerns thread for 2024. There's a few of us, and you can share your reads:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/356917#8346489

66) 9 August 2024 - The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County - Edgar Rice Borroughs 4.5★s

67) 10 December 2024 - Ferguson’s Ferry - Noel Loomis 4★s

68) 17 December 2024 - Boothill Gospel - Chuck Martin 4.5★s

8 WESTERNS READ IN 2024

69) 8 January 2025 - Casey Ryan - B. M. Bower 4★s

70) 27 January 2025 - The Coming of Cassidy - Clarence E. Mulford 4★s

Love the Cassidy series.

>109 dpbbooks: I intend reading more…

71) 10 February 2025 - Hellgate - William Colt MacDonald 4.5★s

72) 15 March 2025 - Gunsight Trail - Alan Le May 4.5★s

73) 19 April 2025 - Chip, of the Flying U - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

First book in the ‘Flying U’ series.

74) 21 April 2025 - The Happy Family - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

Second in the ‘Flying U’ series.

Another great series!

>115 dpbbooks: I’m enjoying it!

75) 22 April 2025 - Flying U Ranch - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

76) 26 April 2025 - The Flying U’s Last Stand - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

77) 4 May 2025 - Good Indian - B. M. Bower 4★s

78) 31 May 2025 - The Gringos - B. M. Bower 4.5★s

Just managed to scrape in with one last book for 2025! ☺️

79) 31 December 2025 - The Great Cattle Trail - Edward S. Ellis 3.5★s

11 WESTERNS READ IN 2025

First one this year:

80) 29 June 2026 - Last of the Incas - Gustave Aimard 4★s