Here at High Country News, we’ve combed through hundreds of new titles that strike us as relevant to the American West, mostly from indie presses and other small publishers, to bring you a sampling of the season’s best new reads. Listings appear alphabetically by author; if a book is already available, no publication month is given. —Jodi Peterson
NOVELS & SHORT STORIES
Brave Deeds David Abrams, Grove Press
Black Jesus and Other Superheroes: Stories Venita Blackburn, University of Nebraska Press
Snow Mike Bond, Mandevilla Press
The Relive Box and Other Stories T.C. Boyle, Ecco
Watch Me Disappear: A Novel Janelle Brown, Spiegel & Grau
The Child Finder Rene Denfeld, Harper
In the Distance Hernan Diaz, Coffeehouse Press
Future Home of the Living God: A Novel Louise Erdrich, Harper
The Vengeance of Mothers Jim Fergus, St. Martin’s Press
Love and Other Consolation Prizes Jamie Ford, Ballantine Books
Absolutely Golden: A Novel D. Foy, Stalking Horse Press
Gangster Nation: A Novel Tod Goldberg, Counterpoint
Montana Noir James Grady and Keir Graff, eds., Akashic
The Flicker of Old Dreams Susan Henderson, HarperCollins, March 2018
Strange Weather: Four Short Novels Joe Hill, William Morrow
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories Denis Johnson, Random House, January 2018
The Disintegrations: A Novel Alistair McCartney, University of Wisconsin Press
Blackfish City Sam J. Miller, Ecco, April 2018
Some Hell: A Novel Patrick Nathan, Graywolf Press, February 2018
Savage Country Robert Olmstead, Algonquin
The Dark Net Benjamin Percy, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The Dead Go To Seattle Vivian Faith Prescott, Red Hen Press
The Overstory: A Novel Richard Powers, W. W. Norton & Company, April 2018
Ash Falls Warren Read, Ig Publishing
Hour Glass Michelle Rene, Amberjack Publishing, February 2018
Fly Me Daniel Riley, Little Brown
Manifest West: Women of the West Caleb Seeling, Sapphire Heien and Sheena Feiler, eds., Western Press Books
Stanton, California: Stories Sam Silvas, Silver Birch Press
The Last Cowboys of San Geronimo Ian Stansel, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Parts per Million Julia Stoops, Forest Avenue Press, April 2018
Lord of California Andrew Valencia, Ig Publishing, January 2018
Wild Bird Wendelin Van Draanen, Knopf
Stony Mesa Sagas Chip Ward, Torrey House Press
The Saints of Rattlesnake Mountain: Stories Don Waters, University of Nevada Press
Muir Woods or Bust Ian Woollen, Coffeetown Press
Buckskin Cocaine Erika T. Wurth, Astrophil Press
NONFICTION, BIOGRAPHY, MEMOIR
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir Sherman Alexie, Little, Brown & Company
American Wolf Nate Blakeslee, Crown
Confidential Source Ninety-Six: A Memoir Roman Caribe and Rob Cea, Hachette
Utopia is Creepy and Other Provocations Nicholas Carr, W. W. Norton & Company
Wonderlandscape: Yellowstone National Park and the Evolution of an American Cultural Icon John Clayton, Pegasus Books
Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man Martin Corona with Tony Rafael, Dutton
The Earth is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West Peter Cozzens, Vintage
Stories Find You, Places Know: Yup’ik Narratives of a Sentient World Holly Cusack-McVeigh, University of Utah Press
Crown Jewel Wilderness: Creating North Cascades National Park Lauren Danner, Washington State University Press
The Source: How Rivers Made America and America Remade Its Rivers Martin Doyle, W. W. Norton and Company, February 2018
Dodge City and the Birth of the Wild West Robert R. Dykstra and Jo Ann Manfra, University Press of Kansas
“That’s What They Used to Say”: Reflections on American Indian Oral Tradition Donald L. Fixico, University of Oklahoma Press
The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet Henry Fountain, Crown
Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands Zoltán Grossman, University of Washington Press
Way Out There: Adventures of A Wilderness Trekker J. Robert Harris, Mountaineers Books
American Indian History On Trial: Historical Expertise in Tribal Litigation E. Richard Hart, University of Utah Press
Grass Roots: A History of Cannabis in the American West Nick Johnson, Oregon State University Press
The Powell Expedition: New Discoveries About John Wesley Powell’s 1869 River Journey Don Lago, University of Nevada Press
Whale in the Door: A Community Unites to Protect BC’S Howe Sound Pauline Le Bel, Caitlin Press
Feverland: A Memoir in Shards Alex Lemon, Milkweed Editions
Nature, Love, Medicine: Essays on Wildness and Wellness Thomas Lowe Fleischner, ed., Torrey House Press
Open Spaces, Open Rebellions: The War over America’s Public Lands Michael J. Makley, University of Massachusetts Press, December
Both Sides of the Bullpen: Navajo Trade and Posts Robert S. McPherson, University of Oklahoma Press
Hunting El Chapo Cole Merrell, Harper, April 2018
Grand Canyon for Sale: Public Lands versus Private Interests in the Era of Climate Change Stephen Nash, University of California Press
Windfall: How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s Power Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Simon & Schuster
Changing Energy: The Transition to a Sustainable Future John H. Perkins, University of California Press
Wild Horse Country: The History, Myth and Future of the Mustang David Phillips, Norton
Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity Sandra Postel, Island Press
Making Friends with Death: A Field Guide for Your Impending Last Breath Laura Pritchett, Viva Editions
Eat Less Water Florencia Ramirez, Red Hen Press
Yellowstone Migrations: Preserving Freedom to Roam Joe Riis, Mountaineers Books/Braided River
Limits of the Known David Roberts, W. W. Norton & Company, February 2018
Interwoven: Junipers and the Web of Being Kristen Rogers-Iversen, University of Utah Press, January 2018
We Aspired: The Last Innocent Americans Pete Sinclair, University of Utah Press
Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Drug Cartel Dan Slater, Simon & Schuster
Stewart L. Udall: Steward of the Land Thomas G. Smith, University of New Mexico Press
A Temporary Refuge: Fourteen Seasons with Wild Summer Steelhead Lee Spencer, Patagonia
Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods Danna Staaf, ForeEdge
Blood Brothers: The Story of the Strange Friendship between Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Deanne Stillman, Simon & Schuster
Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape our Future Edward Struzik, Island Press
Letters to Memory: A Memoir Karen Tei Yamashita, CoffeeHouse Press
River of Lost Souls: The Science, Politics, and Greed Behind the Gold King Mine Disaster Jonathan Thompson, Torrey House Press, February 2018
The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship, and Hope in an American Classroom Helen Thorpe, Scribner
Bones: Brothers, Horses, Cartels and the Borderland Dream Joe Tone, One World
Red Rock Stories: Three Generations of Writers Speak on Behalf of Utah’s Public Lands Stephen Trimble, ed., Torrey House Press
Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet Anna Tsing et al., ed., University of Minnesota Press
The Archaic Southwest: Foragers in an Arid Land Bradley J. Vierra, ed., University of Utah Press, February 2018
The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny Michael Wallis, Liveright
Floodpath: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th-Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles Jon Wilkman, Bloomsbury, January 2018
Eat the Apple: A Memoir Matt Young, Bloomsbury, February 2018
The Misfit’s Manifesto Lidia Yuknavitch, Simon & Schuster/TED Books
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline New books to read this fall.
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