The Antelope Wife


Louise Erdrich - 1998
    Originally an important hunting ground for the Ojibway, the city of Minneapolis draws from nearby reservations many Native people, people who infuse the city with a strong and ongoing Native presence as well as a potent indigenous past. This story brings to life the people who live in or around this midwestern city. And like a modern city itself, it portrays people of all backgrounds and is a mixture of vibrant cultures and ideas. But also like a modern city, it has an edge, troubled by violence."New York Times" bestselling author Louise Erdrich has twice won the National Magazine Award and her work has been included in both the O. Henry and the Best American collections several times.

Ishi's Brain: In Search of the Last "Wild" Indian


Orin Starn - 2004
    The trail to Ishi's brain leads Starn through the painful history of the extermination of the Indians, the strange and sometimes scandalous history of anthropology, and the changing, mixed-up world of Native California today. This absorbing new portrait of Ishi, wild man of Deer Creek, museum curiosity, and last of his tribe, will appeal to anyone interested in Native America, a story of science and scandal, and the life and legend of California's most famous Indian. 15 illustrations.

The Book of Nods


Jim Carroll - 1986
    

Strong for Potatoes


Cynthia Thayer - 1998
    In a life beset by tragedy, beginning with the death of her twin sister Berry only days after their birth, Blue must discover on her own strength she needs to survive.Blue's true ally is her grandfather, a full-blooded Passamoquoddy Indian who teaches Blue life's most vital lessons: that the ways of nature can illuminate life, that family can be depended on, that true passion is worth waiting for, and that grief can heal. Most important, he he passes on the ways of his ancestors-knowledge that Blue will need to find a sense of her own true self amid the chaos of her adolescence.Reminiscent of Dorothy Allison and Barbara Kingsolver, Strong for Potatoes is a rich, evocative literary debut by a gifted writer and teller of the most rewarding kind of story: beautifully crafted, authentic, moving, and ultimately uplifting.

Selected Shorts: American Classics


Symphony SpaceEdgar Allan Poe - 2010
    Other featured stories include Alice Walker’s "Everyday Use" read by Carmen de Lavallade, John Cheever’s "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" performed by Malachy McCourt, Amy Tan’s "Rules of the Game" read by Freda Foh Shen and Jerry Stiller reading John Sayles laugh-out-loud classic "At the Anarchists’ Convention" by John Sayles.

Spirit Talker (Native Warrior Series)


Elizabeth Anne Porter - 2019
    Year after year, whenever she visited her grandparents' cabin in South Dakota, she and Wihanbla would meet and spend time learning about each other's worlds - hers in the twenty-first century, his on the cusp of the infamous battles that would eventually lead to the internment of his people on reservations. Now grown, Clementine and her friend continue to meet, though her family has decided that she should have long ago done away with her "imaginary" friend. Clementine knows better. Wihanbla is as real as the sunshine she sees when she opens her eyes each day. She may not be able to touch it or him, but both are beautiful and true. They may be two individuals out of time, but their love is timeless. Over the years, Clementine grows desperate for a way to be with the man she knows is her true soul mate - but how?

The Comanche Captivity of Sarah Ann Horn


James A. Crutchfield - 2015
    After spending several months in New York City, the family signed up for a journey to the Republic of Texas where they could homestead and eventually acquire 137 free acres for their efforts. Soon growing discontented with, not only the land, but also the management of the colony in which they had settled, the Horns decided to return to England. But, it was not to be. Attacked and captured by a party of Comanche Indians, Sarah Ann was faced with challenges and realities the like of which she never could have dreamed. Over a period of fifteen months of Comanche captivity, she and her captors rode endlessly across the Texas plains until finally she was purchased out of bondage and befriended by traders in New Mexico. This is the true story of a remarkable woman who endured an unimaginable amount of suffering and pain in her short lifetime.

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914


David McCullough - 1977
    That nation did not exist when, in the mid-19th century, Europeans first began to explore the possibilities of creating a link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow but mountainous isthmus; Panama was then a remote and overlooked part of Colombia.All that changed, writes David McCullough in his magisterial history of the Canal, in 1848, when prospectors struck gold in California. A wave of fortune seekers descended on Panama from Europe and the eastern United States, seeking quick passage on California-bound ships in the Pacific, and the Panama Railroad, built to serve that traffic, was soon the highest-priced stock listed on the New York Exchange. To build a 51-mile-long ship canal to replace that railroad seemed an easy matter to some investors. But, as McCullough notes, the construction project came to involve the efforts of thousands of workers from many nations over four decades; eventually those workers, laboring in oppressive heat in a vast malarial swamp, removed enough soil and rock to build a pyramid a mile high. In the early years, they toiled under the direction of French entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps, who went bankrupt while pursuing his dream of extending France's empire in the Americas. The United States then entered the picture, with President Theodore Roosevelt orchestrating the purchase of the canal—but not before helping foment a revolution that removed Panama from Colombian rule and placed it squarely in the American camp.

The Sea Gulls Woke Me


Mary Stolz - 1951
    Then she accepts a summer job at a Maine resort and her whole life changes. In a setting full of crisp cool air, white-capped waves, and gleaming sails, Mary Stolz's third novel presents once again very real young people dealing capably with their own problems and enjoyng themselves with all the enthusiasm and ingenuity of youth.

The Connoisseur


Evan S. Connell - 1974
    Connell sends us through the complete experience of a man initially intrigued and then enslaved by art: a curious interest, a rapt fixation, and the becoming of a connoisseur. The Connoisseur trails the evolution of Muhlbach, an insurance executive on a business trip in Taos, New Mexico, who develops an obsession with pre-Columbian figurines after meandering through a curio shop. Entranced yet bewildered by his sudden affinity for a little figurine, Muhlbach succumbs to his intrigue and, thirty dollars later, begins his journey as a connoisseur.With superb delivery and subtle clarity, Connell allows us to see and feel Muhlbach’s emerging mania, with its impending tension and sudden exhilaration. He illustrates how a new fixation alters our lens on life and shapes our actions.

A Yellowstone Season of Giving


Peggy L. Henderson - 2014
    It’s a time to reflect on the year’s good fortunes, and to reminisce about days gone by. Join them around the hearth for the holiday, as memories are shared, and a story is retold of how one young hunter won favor with the woman of his heart during a past season of giving. Other titles in the Yellowstone Romance Series (in recommended reading order Yellowstone Heart Song A Yellowstone Christmas (novella) Yellowstone Redemption Yellowstone Awakening Yellowstone Dawn Yellowstone Deception A Yellowstone Promise (novella) A Yellowstone Season of Giving (short story)

Love Came Laughing By


Emilie Loring - 1949
    En route to Washington she eludes a sinister pursuer by darting into a Pullman compartment, and there finds herself confronted with Van Tyler, a young Congressman and a 'rock-ribbed, girl-resistant bachelor.'

Jackie Tyrrell: The Warrior's Code: My Autobiography


Jackie Tyrrell - 2017
    Kilkenny were beaten in that final by Tipperary but Tyrrell’s inner-most thoughts from his diary, both in the lead-up to, and after the game, provide the narrative to a compelling life story. His unique insights paint the picture of a relentless individual and a relentless team – the most successful side in the history of Irish male sport. The intrigue and aura around Kilkenny coach Brian Cody and his players was always heightened because very little ever emerged from the camp, or the dressing room. Now, for the first time, Tyrrell opens a unique window into the elite mindset and attitude which forged such unprecedented success. Tyrrell’s own journey is chronicled with brutal and unwavering honesty. The hurling legend’s constant drive to be a winner with his beloved county have pushed him towards breaking point many times. Tyrrell operates somewhere between obsessed and maniacal. On the pitch, he displayed the ruthless mentality of an assassin but behind it all, he had to conquer crippling self-doubt and fear. It took until his fourth successive All-Ireland final for Tyrrell to believe he had finally arrived as a senior inter-county hurler, going on to become one of the most feared and respected defenders in the game.

The Mothers of Sweet Cheyenne


Caroline Lee - 2016
    These stories are meant to be read after the rest of the Quartet. Christmas Wishes: Molly struggles with her toddler's feelings towards his new baby brother and her sister's decision to leave for St. Louis. Meanwhile, she's determined to create the perfect Christmas for all of them... but can Mothers really do everything?[Note: this story has appeared in publication in the Christmas Caring Anthology of 2015]Spring Fever: Wendy aches to become a mother, but their efforts have ended in heartbreak so far. Is there anything Nate can say to convince her that it isn't either of their faults, so that he can enjoy the spring with his wife?Summer Lovin': Tess knows she still has a month to go in this pregnancy, so when the contractions start, she doesn't want to alarm her precious family. But with Cam's love and support, she'll learn that to appreciate God's blessings she needs to first go through Hell. ***************************Heat Level: 0 out of 5 References to infertility and childbirth

Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974


Kevin M. Kruse - 2019
    Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer uncover the origins of our current moment. It all starts in 1974 with the Watergate crisis, the OPEC oil embargo, desegregation busing riots in Boston, and the wind-down of the Vietnam War. What follows is the story of our own lifetimes. It is the story of ever-widening historical fault lines over economic inequality, race, gender, and sexual norms firing up a polarized political landscape. It is also the story of profound transformations of the media and our political system fueling the fire. Kruse and Zelizer’s Fault Lines is a master class in national divisions nearly five decades in the making.