Historical Fiction

Anything by Bernard Cornwell – his books are Viking & Saxon tales. I have read and loved many of these books.

East of the Mountains by David Guterson – This story takes place in 1997 in the Columbia Basin of central Washington state.

Quinn’s Book by William Kennedy – This tale takes place in Albany in 1849 and reflects the details and attitudes of the era with wonderful use of language.

Cold Mountain – By Charles Frazier is a wonderful story about a disillusioned Confederate soldier who walks away from a battle and walks back to his home in the Smokey Mountains.

Western Fiction

Anything by Larry McMurtry – His Lonesome Dove saga is one of the best westerns. The last of which was Comanche Moon, where he mentions that the Civil War had happened. I joke about that because my books are closer tied to history, while these are timeless stories with character development and imagination.

Anything by Louis L’Amour – he wrote a countless number of great books. I especially loved Down the Long Hills, which is a story about a seven-year-old boy leading his toddler sister away from bad guys while an Indian is also tracking them, through storms and packs of wolves and …

Whispers of the Stones by Loretta Jackson & Vickie Britton. As a lover of westerns, I have heard about the little people in the mountains. This pair of writers has created an interesting mystery from this folklore imagery.

Anything by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. They have written a number of excellent Westerns.

African FictioN

A Slave No More – by David W. Blight is about two men who escaped to freedom.

A Long Walk to Water – by Linda Sue Parker is really two stories about young people in the Sudan.

The True Story of Cassius Clay: Kentucky Lion – Richard Keil and Pamula Wallace. I include this in the African section because Cassius Clay was a Southern Congressman against slavery. It’s a fine biography. Richard Keil was the arch-enemy of James Bond you will recall as being 7 feet tall with metal teeth. Richard was a mild man and a scholar in life.