Arizona books

Here's a place to talk about fiction/nonfiction set in Arizona.

For this one, I read The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman. It's the first in his series and it's set among the Navajo. I really enjoyed the first part, but the ending was dumb. I hear that the series gets better as it goes, which is not usually the case in series.

cmbohn, this first Hillerman sounds great. I've never read him before and this would be a good time to start. It certainly is a long-running series.

A long time ago, I read a Tony Hillerman book (maybe even two). I don't recall much about it now, only that I didn't exactly dislike it but decided it wasn't a series I wanted to continue. Might be worth revisiting, though.

Another book I read this year and absolutely loved was These Is My Words, which is also set in Arizona. Sarah Pine is the main character and she is a tough, smart pioneer woman who can stand up to just about anything. I got this one on CD and could never manage to stop listening until the disk was over. Then I would come upstairs and tell my family all about what happened. I understand there's a sequel, but I haven't got it from the library yet. I want to find this one to buy for myself.

If you like mysteries, Louise Ure wrote one (the Fault Tree) set in Arizona about a blind mechanic who a murderer thinks witnessed his crime. It was well told and had the feel of the place.

The Hillerman books are addictive. Give it a few more books and you'll be hooked on Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee (especially Jim Chee).

And Die in the West is a well-told account of the story of the OK corral gunfight, if you're looking for non-fiction.

For humor, Laurie Notaro is a Phoenix-based author. Her Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club is funny.

I think J.A. Jance also has a detective series set in Arizona. I don't recall the name off hand (it's a female sheriff) ---Sarah BradY????

Oh, but they're terrible!

#8 How do you really feel about the Jance books, RG?! ;-) I've read a couple of her other series, set in Seattle, and didn't care for them and so gave up on her.

#5 This book sounds very good - onto the wish list it goes.

Sorry, all, but I've been given her Arizona books a few times because I've lived in Phoenix. The mysteries are weak and take up very little of each book, which is more concerned with detailing the female sheriff's perfect life, full of baby showers and long chats with friends. They read like those newsletters people send out around Christmas.

#10 Eww, they DO sound awful. I'm from the camp who wants a mystery book to be focused mostly on the mystery.

I never got into Jance's series set in Phoenix, but I really enjoy the J.P. Beaumont series set in Seattle. I find them well plotted, with good characters, and enough of the flavor of the town that I can get a picture of it.

I think it's fascinating to see how different people feel about different writers. I'm not nearly as big a fan of Laura Lippmann as my sister, and we both grew up in Baltimore. And I can't stand Janet Evonovitch but others love her.. It's why we have these threads because among us, we'll be able to find something for everybody.

#12 Tina, you forgot to mention what I think is one of the best reason to have these threads. More than once I've seen positive comments about books or authors that I'd given up on which were so convincing that I gave them another try. This is exactly what happened with the Harry Bosch series, and now I'm hooked.

Some Barbara Kingsolver, like The Bean Trees.

Tony Hillerman's mystery series is a bit erratic in quality, but I really enjoyed A Thief of Time and read it twice, including once while rafting the San Juan River. It was very true to the landscape and river.

cmbohn/5: Thank you for that recommendation. I just finished that book, These is My Words! LOVED IT! If anyone is considering it for your Arizona book, check out the CK; I've added a handful of quotations from the book to give a flavor of the author's style. Wonderfully drawn sense of place for 1880's Arizona. Highly Recommended!

Stargirl, a young adult novel by Jerry Spinelli is set in a fictitious exurb of Phoenix called Mica, and is full of the feel of a new city pushed against the desert.

While vacationing in AZ I picked one up for a friend called Over the Edge, which details the history of all the people who either went over the edge or disappeared in the Grand Canyon.

Windling, Terri: Wood Wife

I have wanted to read this book ever since I read a review on LT describing it as a book that is about Southwestern myth, folklore and culture, an area in which I have great interest. That description, although not untrue, is only a tip of the iceberg and I was really unprepared for the experience of the book, set in the mountains just outside of Tucson.

Here are some of the impressions I have about Windling’s incredible novel. I would describe it as a collision of “real life” with the myth and folklore of the American Southwest. In addition to the folklore the story handles well several other passions of mine, including music, poetry, and art. Both the “real” characters and the mythical characters are well developed, interesting and sometimes difficult to tell apart. The descriptions of the landscape are so vivid that the reader is pulled into the “place” as well as into the story. I may never use the expression “Words cannot describe…” again. Teri Windling has proven that, indeed, words can definitely describe so vividly that the reader can actually see it all.

Bottom line: I loved this incredibly fascinating book. It was an almost overwhelming reading experience that will stand up to several rereads because there is so much to explore and revel in.
Highly recommended—4 ½ stars.