Monday, July 20, 2009

Where Rivers Change Direction


This book is what originally brought me out to southwest Montana, to this unique region of our country. I first read it in 2002, read it again when I moved here in 2003, and revisited it when I had the opportunity to go to an author reading at the Country Bookshelf in 2004. I've read Spragg's other work but this collection of autobiographical essays is his most significant thus far. This book is about being an animal, being a human within the confines of the wilderness. Today one's life can still be shaped by nature and one's relationship to nature and the land they grew up on.

"I am related to water. I am a descendant of its sound and movement... Water brings me joy. I fear that water will someday murder me. My life is balanced between its threat and grace... I cling to the sound of water to be brave in the world. I go to the sound of water to remember that God is not mute. "
Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg, Riverhead Books, New York, 1999 (254-255).

Today I drive across the Continental Divide often as my home, my boys are in Bozeman and my work, my profession is now in Butte as the new Digital Collections Librarian at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library. I'm a woman who's life is halved where the rivers change direction.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana


Ghost Towns of Montana

Ghost Towns of Montana by Donald C. Miller, 10th Printing (1981), Details and photos for 40 ghost town locations, a historical gem about the lost places in Big Sky country.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Cookbook: Montana Celebrity


Montana Celebrity Cookbook compiled by Susie Beaulaurier Graetz for the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home, American & World Geographic Publishing (1992).


In this book 200 celebrities have volunteered their favorite recipes to make a cookbook for the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home in Helena, Montana. The recipes are as varied, colorful, and entertaining as the contributors--who include Tom Brokaw, Glenn Close, Jack Nicklaus, Michael Keaton, Evel Knievel, and others.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Monday, July 13, 2009

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Night the Mountain Fell


The Night the Mountain Fell: The Story of the Montana-Yellowstone Earthquake by Edmund Christopherson

Collectors Edition! 1960

11:37 P.M. on August 17, 1959 - It's almost been 50 years since the creation of Quake Lake.

(Image caption: Motorists can hardly believe their eyes-the earthquake takes its toll, creating a dead end and a new lake near West Yellowstone, August 1959.)

Catherine @ Reading In Montana


Monday, July 6, 2009

Going to the Sun






One of the most beautiful places I've been is along the Going to Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The Park is just one of those places you must visit to understand some of the extreme beauty Nature has to offer.

Check out this Lonely Planet Guide to some of the National Parks in North America when you plan your next trip up north. Color photos and hiking maps for Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks.




Catherine @ Reading In Montana



Sunday, July 5, 2009

Signed by Montana Author, Thomas McGuane


Some Horses: Essays by Thomas McGuane of Sweet Grass County, Montana - beautiful hardcover 1st edition, signed by author, illustrations, collectible, The Lyons Press 1999.

From the dust cover:
Tom McGuane loves horses. Nowhere is that more evident than in his deft and utterly fascinating essays about some of the more remarkable horses and horsemen he has known.In these nine essays, he examines the relationship between horses and humans: what it is about horses that reveals so much about ourselves, what we see in them, why they respond to us, and the symbiosis that can result from such a match. Whether he is writing about cutting horses, learning to rope, or the birth of a foal, McGuane's passion finds expression in his extraordinary talent.


Catherine @ Reading In Montana



Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Books of Montana


Montana Spaces: Essays and Photographs in Celebration of Montana by Thomas McGuane, David Quammen, Wallace Stegner, Gretel Ehrlich, Tim Cahill, Alston Chase, and others. Photographs by John Smart, Edited by William Kittredge

I try seek out books and materials on Montana: people, place, art, and living, especially the out of print, more rare, and harder to find materials. This recent find (above) has only about 20 copies available on Amazon.com in hardcover.

Please consider Reading In Montana for your next Montana book purchase. If you are looking for something special you can always shoot us an email at ReadingInMontana@gmail.com and we will help you find it.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana