I will, thank you. What is all on your list of westerns to read? Were you reading Lonesome Dove?? Or was that someone else? Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Good solid reads, Bill. Honestly, all those L'amours are great reads. If you only have two, I'd read the Sackett books. Good video! Should be a good month.
Thanks Jim! I am looking forward to reading some Louis L'Amour. I started one yesterday and got a little ways in. I hope to read a few more chapters today. I want to read at least three Louis L'Amour's this month. I will be sure to include some Sackett! Thanks for the recommendation. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Thanks, Bill! I'm reading "Showdown at Yellow Butte" by L'amour right now. One of his early novels. I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!.
@@billruttenberg “Bendigo Shafter” I remember as being more of an epic and stands out in my head and “Hondo” and “Conagher” come to mind as memorable too. I’ve read a lot of his books but some years ago. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
That is a BIG book, but it is REALLY good. It reads fast and is an awesome story. You'll love it. I've wanted to reread it, but I haven't found the time yet. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
True Grit- yes!! It's the only Western I've read and I loved it!! My son told me that there was an audio version of Louis L'Amour books narrated by Willie Nelson, so I'm going to listen to one of those. I'm definitely going to give Zane Grey a try, too. My son has a collection of John Wayne movies, so I think I'll watch one of those as well.
Thanks Mitzi! I am starting True Grit later today. I'll watch the movie afterwards for some comparisons. I watched Hang Em High with Clint Eastwood last night to get in the mood for my westerns. Great movie. Thanks for the audio recommendation. I will have to look for it. John Wayne, you can't go wrong! Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Great plan! I am really enjoying True Grit. The movie did a good job of following the book from what I remember. I will have to go and rewatch both versions. I hope you enjoy the other two. Do you have any favorite western movies?? Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
Hi Bill, I recently purchased a vintage paperback copy of Louis L'Amour's novel Hondo at a local thrift store for 50¢ so I plan to read it for June on the Range. I don't read a lot of Western novels (as opposed to history) and have never read any L'Amour. I have seen the movie version of it starring John Wayne and really like it. I might try to read a Zane Grey which I never have, but as you said, it's harder to find them anymore. Even the local libraries seem to have gotten rid of them in favor of newer Westerns. Riders of the Purple Sage, as his most famous, would be the obvious choice. The Vanishing American is another prominent Zane Grey I have heard about. Speaking of newer Westerns, I got a newer title, also for 50¢, at the thrift store, Kill the Indian by Johnny D. Boggs, which seems to be part of a series. I haven't read a book by Boggs, but have read articles by him in True West and Wild West magazines. He also reviews books and movies for both magazines and seems to be a very prolific author of both fiction and nonfiction. Have you read any by him?
Hey Ricky! I am glad to see that you are participating in June on the Range. It is an awesome event. I have never read any books by Johnny D. Boggs. I will have to look him up. I have read a couple of Zane Grey books that weren't westerns and really enjoyed them. I have also read a couple of L'Amour books. I am looking forward to diving into these. Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
@@billruttenberg Hi Bill, helped by it being a day off from work, I read Louis L'Amour 's Hondo yesterday, the first L'Amour I have read. It was a good, fast read of only about 150 pages and I enjoyed it. A nice mixture overall of action, romance and gritty details. The only disappointment was the conclusion in that it seemed rushed and not as well developed as the rest of story, so even though there was a climatic big battle, it seemed rather a let down. I wouldn't have minded if the novel had been fifty pages longer and the author would have use the same level of detail as he had in the rest of the book. Nevertheless, I would recommend it and I liked it enough to try other books by the author. It also makes we want to watch again the movie version with John Wayne which I have on DVD and which I haven't seen in several years. Interestingly, the movie predates the novel. Apparently, the movie is based on a short story by L'Amour called "The Gift of Cochise" that was published in a magazine. Cochise didn't figure in the movie or novel, being replaced by a fictional Apache chief called Vittorio (there was a real Apache chief of the era known as Victorio.). When L'Amour sold the movie rights to the story he stipulated that he would write a novelization of the movie even though he didn't write the screenplay. The popularity of the movie helped the success of the novel and really launched L' Amour as a Western storyteller; prior to that he had bounced around in different genres including mysteries and science fiction. If you get a chance to read Hondo, or see the movie, I would enjoy hearing your comments. Hope you are having a great week.
@@rickynewport6339 Thanks for the recommendation Ricky. I just bought Hondo the other day in a big box of 48 Louis L'Amour books (only $4.50 - what a deal!) , so I will read it some time in the future. And John Wayne ... you can't go wrong there. I think I own the DVD. I have several, I will have to check.
Sounds like a great deal in the L'Amour books! I'm definitely going to read some more of his. But now I 'm reading Zane Grey's sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage. I would also like to get into that Johnny Boggs novel I bought.
Thanks Vin! I hope you are doing well. I am starting True Grit later today. Thanks for the recommendation. I am looking forward to digging into these books. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend. P.S. - I am looking at getting the Historathon going again in July. Sorry about the 2nd quarter lapse. Life is hectic and it got away from me. I am looking froward to the 3rd quarter.
Yes! I'm participating in June on the Range. My plan is to read The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey, The Californios by Louis L'Amour, and The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley - the original Zorro book published in 1919, also set in California (because I'm a Californiaphile) and I like classics.
Thanks Linda! Good to hear from you and good to see that you are participating in June on the Range. I hope you enjoy those books. I haven't read those particular books, but I have read Zane Grey before and I enjoyed his work. Never read Zorro. I am going to start True Grit later today. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Zane Grey's a good writer, but be prepared for it to be more romance than shoot-outs. I hope you like descriptions of sage! The Bowdrie stories are pretty great. All Louis's stuff is pretty good. I've read a lot of his stuff, but, oddly, none of the others you have in your stack. Luke Short is great! I sometimes have trouble getting into his books, but once I'm in they're always terrific. Max Brand is a great writer... his writing reminds me of Charles Dickens. He's pretty odd, though... he has some weird plots sometimes. I'm still amazed how that guy wrote SO MUCH stuff and kept the quality so high. Again, I've read dozens of Max Brand but none of the ones in your stack...
Thanks for watching. It sounds like you have read a lot of westerns overall. Who would you say is your favorite of all of them?? What would be your top three western books? I am trying to put together a list of must reads. I just finished Utah Blaine by Louis L'Amour this morning. It was really good. I enjoyed it. I also finished Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry yesterday. It was awesome! So far, my June on the Range books have been 5 star reads. I hope the trend continues!
@@billruttenberg L'Amour and McMurtry are great! Lonesome Dove is a contender for best book ever written, in any genre. My favorite Western writer overall is Lewis B. Patten. I've never read a bad book by him. Good ones to look for are A Killing In Kiowa, Death Stalks Yellow Horse (that's almost a slasher novel, set in the west), Tincup in the Storm Country (that also got retitled as Rifles of Revenge), and Red Sabbath (about Custer's last stand). Just about any of his books guarantee a good read, though. He really sets up some desperate situations with no easy outs, I'm always impressed with his books. Elmer Kelton is another fave. He doesn't write strictly shoot-'em-ups, although he has those, too. The Time It Never Rained, The Day The Cowboys Quit, and Wagontongue are three of the best books I've ever read. Buffalo Wagons is another standout. They're intelligent books, and he's good at creating complex characters. His good guys will invariably do something self-defeating that'll make you mad at 'em at some point, where his bad guys will have some moment of nobility that won't let you completely hate them. It's hard to write that way, but Kelton pulls it off beautifully. Clair Huffaker's The Cowboy and the Cossack is a masterpiece. Definitely worth snagging, and I think it's his only book still in print. Most of his other books are harder to find these days, but they're worth seeking out. Anything you find by Wayne D. Overholser, Gordon Shirreffs, Giles Lutz, T. V. Olsen, H.A. DeRosso, and Ray Hogan are worth snagging. Reading each of them sent me on a quest to find all their other stuff. Also, John Benteen's Fargo series is great, and his Sundance is good, too. Fargo's kind of a mercenary-at-the-turn-of-the-century more than strictly a western... very hard-boiled, tough anti-hero stuff. The Renegade series by Ramsay Thorne (aka Lou Cameron) are also good, and inspired by Fargo. They're "adult westerns" so there's tons of explicit sex scenes, but there's usually a good story in between 'em. :) Usually "adult westerns" are pretty bad, but those are worth trying.
@@nunyabidness4220 Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will have to look for some of them. I have read some Elmer Kelton and I really liked his stuff. I need to get back to his books.
Range War, darn sheepers😂. I vote for Bowrie and Sackett (not the one about Philadelphia). I start reading The Son by Philipp Meyer and A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley set in 1849 California about two "soiled doves," tomorrow.
Sounds great! Thank you for your votes. I will tally them up next week and see which one wins. Do the Sackett novels need to be read in order?? Is that a project I should start? Have fun with The Son and A Dangerous Business. I haven't read either one. There are so many westerns out there!! Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
@@billruttenberg I did not read all of them and the ones I did read, were not in order, but yes, if you can read them in order that would definitely be the way to read them. I have all four of McMurtry's Berrybender novels that I bought as they were published but have yet to read, so during June I will start with Sin Killer, especially since Smiley's A Dangerous Business is going to be a fast read and Meyer's The Son is a real page turner too
You know what they say “The book is better than the movie “. Not in this case. 🤨I hated the book. It’s nothing like the movie True Grit which is my all time favorite movie.
Oh no! Well, I am going to give it a try anyway. Hopefully, I like it. Sorry it wasn't a great experience for you. I do love the movies though. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Rider the River by Louis L’Amour is one of my favorites.😊However it’s more for the ladies because of Echo. It’s not much of a shoot ‘em up. She goes up north to get her money and is escorted back home because someone (s) want to steal it. 🥱 I don’t have time for my westerns right now. I have some Christian romance, The Rising and a true crime to read. 😍 Awesome ending to video!🤠🐎
Thanks Amy! This was a fun video to make. I love the westerns. Fun, quick reads. Thank you for the recommendation. I hope you enjoy your romances and true crime. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
True Grit is a masterpiece
I agree. It was a great read. I am glad I read that last year. Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
I will start reading June on the range tomorrow. Enjoy your June reads.
I will, thank you. What is all on your list of westerns to read? Were you reading Lonesome Dove?? Or was that someone else? Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Good solid reads, Bill. Honestly, all those L'amours are great reads. If you only have two, I'd read the Sackett books. Good video! Should be a good month.
Thanks Jim! I am looking forward to reading some Louis L'Amour. I started one yesterday and got a little ways in. I hope to read a few more chapters today. I want to read at least three Louis L'Amour's this month. I will be sure to include some Sackett! Thanks for the recommendation. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Thanks, Bill! I'm reading "Showdown at Yellow Butte" by L'amour right now. One of his early novels. I'm enjoying the heck out of it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!.
Every Louie L’Amour book is basically the same in that the good guy kills the bad guy and gets the girl. And it’s great every time.
You are exactly right. And it never seems to get old! I love them. Do you have a favorite?? Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
@@billruttenberg “Bendigo Shafter” I remember as being more of an epic and stands out in my head and “Hondo” and “Conagher” come to mind as memorable too. I’ve read a lot of his books but some years ago. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
So far I have committed to Lonesome Dove. We’ll see what else I can squeeze in with the rest of my tbr for the month.
That is a BIG book, but it is REALLY good. It reads fast and is an awesome story. You'll love it. I've wanted to reread it, but I haven't found the time yet. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
True Grit- yes!! It's the only Western I've read and I loved it!! My son told me that there was an audio version of Louis L'Amour books narrated by Willie Nelson, so I'm going to listen to one of those. I'm definitely going to give Zane Grey a try, too. My son has a collection of John Wayne movies, so I think I'll watch one of those as well.
Thanks Mitzi! I am starting True Grit later today. I'll watch the movie afterwards for some comparisons. I watched Hang Em High with Clint Eastwood last night to get in the mood for my westerns. Great movie. Thanks for the audio recommendation. I will have to look for it. John Wayne, you can't go wrong! Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
My plan is to read Honda by Louis L´Amour, True grit and Zane Greys The lone star ranger. I will also try to watch some western movies.
Great plan! I am really enjoying True Grit. The movie did a good job of following the book from what I remember. I will have to go and rewatch both versions. I hope you enjoy the other two. Do you have any favorite western movies?? Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
It's "Hondo" :). Don't mean to nitpick . (unless you're gonna drive it and not read it. - Just teasing :)
Ask Peg from the history shelf which Louie L'Amour books to read. She's read them all!
Good idea, will do. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
@Bill Ruttenberg you too Bill thanks!
I read em all and I love and Highly Recommend "The Last Gunfighter" series by William W. Johnstone. Good Reading Pardners. Yeehah :)
Thanks for the recommendation. I will be moving that one to the top of the list. Thank you for watching. Have a great week.
Hi Bill, I recently purchased a vintage paperback copy of Louis L'Amour's novel Hondo at a local thrift store for 50¢ so I plan to read it for June on the Range. I don't read a lot of Western novels (as opposed to history) and have never read any L'Amour. I have seen the movie version of it starring John Wayne and really like it. I might try to read a Zane Grey which I never have, but as you said, it's harder to find them anymore. Even the local libraries seem to have gotten rid of them in favor of newer Westerns. Riders of the Purple Sage, as his most famous, would be the obvious choice. The Vanishing American is another prominent Zane Grey I have heard about. Speaking of newer Westerns, I got a newer title, also for 50¢, at the thrift store, Kill the Indian by Johnny D. Boggs, which seems to be part of a series. I haven't read a book by Boggs, but have read articles by him in True West and Wild West magazines. He also reviews books and movies for both magazines and seems to be a very prolific author of both fiction and nonfiction. Have you read any by him?
Hey Ricky! I am glad to see that you are participating in June on the Range. It is an awesome event. I have never read any books by Johnny D. Boggs. I will have to look him up. I have read a couple of Zane Grey books that weren't westerns and really enjoyed them. I have also read a couple of L'Amour books. I am looking forward to diving into these. Thanks for watching. Have a great week.
@@billruttenberg Hi Bill, helped by it being a day off from work, I read Louis L'Amour 's Hondo yesterday, the first L'Amour I have read. It was a good, fast read of only about 150 pages and I enjoyed it. A nice mixture overall of action, romance and gritty details.
The only disappointment was the conclusion in that it seemed rushed and not as well developed as the rest of story, so even though there was a climatic big battle, it seemed rather a let down. I wouldn't have minded if the novel had been fifty pages longer and the author would have use the same level of detail as he had in the rest of the book. Nevertheless, I would recommend it and I liked it enough to try other books by the author. It also makes we want to watch again the movie version with John Wayne which I have on DVD and which I haven't seen in several years. Interestingly, the movie predates the novel. Apparently, the movie is based on a short story by L'Amour called "The Gift of Cochise" that was published in a magazine. Cochise didn't figure in the movie or novel, being replaced by a fictional Apache chief called Vittorio (there was a real Apache chief of the era known as Victorio.). When L'Amour sold the movie rights to the story he stipulated that he would write a novelization of the movie even though he didn't write the screenplay. The popularity of the movie helped the success of the novel and really launched L' Amour as a Western storyteller; prior to that he had bounced around in different genres including mysteries and science fiction. If you get a chance to read Hondo, or see the movie, I would enjoy hearing your comments. Hope you are having a great week.
@@rickynewport6339 Thanks for the recommendation Ricky. I just bought Hondo the other day in a big box of 48 Louis L'Amour books (only $4.50 - what a deal!) , so I will read it some time in the future. And John Wayne ... you can't go wrong there. I think I own the DVD. I have several, I will have to check.
Sounds like a great deal in the L'Amour books! I'm definitely going to read some more of his. But now I 'm reading Zane Grey's sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage. I would also like to get into that Johnny Boggs novel I bought.
True Grit is fantastic. I read Dark Canyon last year and found it a swift and enjoyable light read.
Thanks Vin! I hope you are doing well. I am starting True Grit later today. Thanks for the recommendation. I am looking forward to digging into these books. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
P.S. - I am looking at getting the Historathon going again in July. Sorry about the 2nd quarter lapse. Life is hectic and it got away from me. I am looking froward to the 3rd quarter.
Yes! I'm participating in June on the Range. My plan is to read The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey, The Californios by Louis L'Amour, and The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley - the original Zorro book published in 1919, also set in California (because I'm a Californiaphile) and I like classics.
Thanks Linda! Good to hear from you and good to see that you are participating in June on the Range. I hope you enjoy those books. I haven't read those particular books, but I have read Zane Grey before and I enjoyed his work. Never read Zorro. I am going to start True Grit later today. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Sackett and Bowdrie!
Thank you for your vote Lisa! Thank you for watching. Have a great weekend.
Zane Grey's a good writer, but be prepared for it to be more romance than shoot-outs. I hope you like descriptions of sage!
The Bowdrie stories are pretty great. All Louis's stuff is pretty good. I've read a lot of his stuff, but, oddly, none of the others you have in your stack.
Luke Short is great! I sometimes have trouble getting into his books, but once I'm in they're always terrific.
Max Brand is a great writer... his writing reminds me of Charles Dickens. He's pretty odd, though... he has some weird plots sometimes. I'm still amazed how that guy wrote SO MUCH stuff and kept the quality so high. Again, I've read dozens of Max Brand but none of the ones in your stack...
Thanks for watching. It sounds like you have read a lot of westerns overall. Who would you say is your favorite of all of them?? What would be your top three western books? I am trying to put together a list of must reads.
I just finished Utah Blaine by Louis L'Amour this morning. It was really good. I enjoyed it. I also finished Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry yesterday. It was awesome! So far, my June on the Range books have been 5 star reads. I hope the trend continues!
@@billruttenberg L'Amour and McMurtry are great! Lonesome Dove is a contender for best book ever written, in any genre.
My favorite Western writer overall is Lewis B. Patten. I've never read a bad book by him. Good ones to look for are A Killing In Kiowa, Death Stalks Yellow Horse (that's almost a slasher novel, set in the west), Tincup in the Storm Country (that also got retitled as Rifles of Revenge), and Red Sabbath (about Custer's last stand). Just about any of his books guarantee a good read, though. He really sets up some desperate situations with no easy outs, I'm always impressed with his books.
Elmer Kelton is another fave. He doesn't write strictly shoot-'em-ups, although he has those, too. The Time It Never Rained, The Day The Cowboys Quit, and Wagontongue are three of the best books I've ever read. Buffalo Wagons is another standout. They're intelligent books, and he's good at creating complex characters. His good guys will invariably do something self-defeating that'll make you mad at 'em at some point, where his bad guys will have some moment of nobility that won't let you completely hate them. It's hard to write that way, but Kelton pulls it off beautifully.
Clair Huffaker's The Cowboy and the Cossack is a masterpiece. Definitely worth snagging, and I think it's his only book still in print. Most of his other books are harder to find these days, but they're worth seeking out.
Anything you find by Wayne D. Overholser, Gordon Shirreffs, Giles Lutz, T. V. Olsen, H.A. DeRosso, and Ray Hogan are worth snagging. Reading each of them sent me on a quest to find all their other stuff. Also, John Benteen's Fargo series is great, and his Sundance is good, too. Fargo's kind of a mercenary-at-the-turn-of-the-century more than strictly a western... very hard-boiled, tough anti-hero stuff. The Renegade series by Ramsay Thorne (aka Lou Cameron) are also good, and inspired by Fargo. They're "adult westerns" so there's tons of explicit sex scenes, but there's usually a good story in between 'em. :) Usually "adult westerns" are pretty bad, but those are worth trying.
@@nunyabidness4220 Thanks for all of the recommendations! I will have to look for some of them. I have read some Elmer Kelton and I really liked his stuff. I need to get back to his books.
Range War, darn sheepers😂. I vote for Bowrie and Sackett (not the one about Philadelphia). I start reading The Son by Philipp Meyer and A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley set in 1849 California about two "soiled doves," tomorrow.
Sounds great! Thank you for your votes. I will tally them up next week and see which one wins. Do the Sackett novels need to be read in order?? Is that a project I should start? Have fun with The Son and A Dangerous Business. I haven't read either one. There are so many westerns out there!! Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
@@billruttenberg I did not read all of them and the ones I did read, were not in order, but yes, if you can read them in order that would definitely be the way to read them. I have all four of McMurtry's Berrybender novels that I bought as they were published but have yet to read, so during June I will start with Sin Killer, especially since Smiley's A Dangerous Business is going to be a fast read and Meyer's The Son is a real page turner too
@@susprime7018 I am going to give one a try and then see about finding them all in order. Hopefully that won't break the bank or my sanity.
You know what they say “The book is better than the movie “. Not in this case. 🤨I hated the book. It’s nothing like the movie True Grit which is my all time favorite movie.
Oh no! Well, I am going to give it a try anyway. Hopefully, I like it. Sorry it wasn't a great experience for you. I do love the movies though. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.
Rider the River by Louis L’Amour is one of my favorites.😊However it’s more for the ladies because of Echo. It’s not much of a shoot ‘em up. She goes up north to get her money and is escorted back home because someone (s) want to steal it. 🥱 I don’t have time for my westerns right now. I have some Christian romance, The Rising and a true crime to read. 😍 Awesome ending to video!🤠🐎
Thanks Amy! This was a fun video to make. I love the westerns. Fun, quick reads. Thank you for the recommendation. I hope you enjoy your romances and true crime. Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend.