38. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson *****
(Vida, Montana)
I love this story. Young Hattie inherits a homestead from an uncle she's never met and sets out to prove up in the Montana wilderness. She faces wildlife, wildfire, and wild men who want her land... and deals with all of them with grace, courage, and a lot of spunk. I love the characters, the vignettes, and the sense of family. It's just a feel good story all around.
39. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan ****
(Wallace, Idaho)
This was a very interesting piece of history that I had no idea about! It told about the Big Blowup of 1910 when about 3 million acres burned in Idaho and Montana. It told about Teddy Roosevelt's creation of the national forest service (in an effort to preserve the country's land), Gifford Pinchot (the first director of the forest service), and the heroic firefighters who risked their life to save settlements in the Bitteroot mountains. Eventually, the government finally paid for a memorial to those who lost their lives... and changed some policies to protect the rangers and the forests. I'd like to go there someday.
40. Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund ****
(Nantucket, Masschussetts)
This story was beautifully written in prose that moved like the waves of the sea. The imagery, the characters, the timeline came in and out just like one would expect the tides to. I've never read Moby Dick, but I'm familiar enough with the story to make his wife's history and devotion an interesting read. Mixed with the birth of the ideas of the time (abolitionism, women's suffrage, transcendentalism, etc) this tale of the love of the sea makes one wonder about a lot of things.
41. The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis *****
(Gary, Indiana)
I love me some Christopher Paul Curtis. I love his characters, candidness, and sense of story. This one did not fail to disappoint. It tells of Deza Malone - who made a debut in Bud, Not Buddy - during the 1930s. The ups and downs, the uncertainties of life and race, and the power of family. I love his characters and their honesty as they make their journey to a place called Wonderful.
42. Called Out of Darkness by Anne Rice *****
(New Orleans, Louisiana - Memoir)
I loved this book... I haven't read any of Anne Rice's books, but I picked this one up anyway. It tells of her childhood growing up Catholic, a turn to atheism, and then her return to faith. I loved her candidness as she explained why she left (or why she thought God had left her) as well as her descriptions of the events that brought her back to her childhood church. While I am not Catholic, I completely appreciated her telling her journey and her new relationship with God. So poignant and oh, so true.
