Riverhead Reads: The Wild West

The Adult Winter Reading Club is back with Riverhead Reads: The Wild West. Stake your claim on a reading kit at the Adult Reference desk and begin.

Here are just a few of the books being offered:

Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain by Roy Morris, Jr.

This lighthearted account of Samuel Clemens's sojourn through the American West documents how a failed search for silver prompted his literary reinvention and work as a journalist, stage performer, and short story writer

Those who prefer more traditional western stories might like to try Max Brand, Zane Grey, or Louis L'Amour. There's also less traditional westerns, designed to appeal to both men and women, and even some mysteries. Robert B. Parker 's acclaimed first western, Gunman's Rhapsody, plays out at the O.K. Corral with Wyatt Earp as the gunman. Check out Parker's Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch series as well.


If romance is what you're looking for, try one of Linda Lael Miller's novels. The Man from Stone Creek kicks off her Stone Creek series. Miller's books are more steamy unlike the Christian romances written by many female western authors such as Susan Page Davis and Lori Copeland.

Don't forget to check out the true stories of remarkable western women including High Spirited Women of the West by Ann Seagraves, Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, and Cathy Williams: From Slave to Female Buffalo Soldier by Phillip Thomas Tucker.

Although you may read or listen to any book for a chance to win prizes in the Adult Winter Reading Club, you'll double your chances of winning by selecting one of these or other books from our preferred reading list. The Old West has it all!

Riverhead Reads: Passport to Mystery

Winter is here and so is the Adult Winter Reading Club 2011, Riverhead Reads: Passport to Mystery. Read or listen to any book for a chance to win prizes in our weekly raffle drawings. Read a book from our preferred reading list, featuring international crime fiction, and double your chances of winning. Here's a sample of a few of the books listed for Scandanavia.

Before the popular Stieg Larsson series (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), the first grandmasters of Swedish dectecive fiction were the writing team of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. The Man on the Balcony features Stockholm police inspector Martin Beck who also fights crime in The Locked Room. If you don't mind Scandinavian dreariness or brutal crimes, put this Edgar winning duo next on your list.

Even James Patterson has hopped on the bandwagon with his own Swedish crime thriller, The Postcard Killers, which he co-wrote with Swedish novelist, Lisa Marklund. We have plenty of extra copies of this book on hand. The number one bestselling author in Europe, Marklund has yet to make it big in the USA, but expect more of her books to surface here in the near future.

Swedish mystery writer Henning Mankell's Detective Inspector Kurt Wallander series features a rumpled, irritable middle-aged cop. Though the character failed to capture the same devoted attention of American readers as did Larsson's tattooed heroine, the author gets high praise for intricate plotting and for his tackling of social and global issues. Try The Dogs of Riga or any of his other available mysteries for something different.

The Scandanavian invasion is not just limited to Sweden. Many top notch crime writers hail from other countries, including Norwegian writer Karin Fossum. Her Inspector Sejer series is kicked off by Don't Look Back, set in an idyllic Norwegian village. Fossum is another author who is widely acclaimed across Europe and many of her books are available here as well.

Most of the international mystery authors write series mysteries with continuing characters. However, their books that are published in the USA may vary from the order in which they were published in their native countries. In most cases it is unnecessary to read an author's books in any particular order. Check with the Reference Desk to join the Adult Winter Reading Club and pick up a kit for your Passport to Mystery.