Love The Meadow? Readers share 97 books like The Meadow...

By James Galvin,

Here are 97 books that The Meadow fans have personally recommended if you like The Meadow. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Lime Creek

Tim Slover Author Of The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus

From my list on Christmas stories to read at a fireside.

Why am I passionate about this?

When our two boys hit their difficult years around age seven or eight and the other kids at school were starting to doubt Santa Claus, they began to ask questions about how he operated. Luckily I had answers, which became, eventually, The Christmas Chronicles. Now that I was outed as a Santa supporter, I started doing Christmas readings here and there, including every year on a radio holiday show for Access Utah, a PBS affiliate. Thatā€™s given me the delightful task of seeking out all kinds of Yuletide literature. These are a few of my favorites. 

Tim's book list on Christmas stories to read at a fireside

Tim Slover Why did Tim love this book?

Henry is a poet, lyricist, novelist, and rancher from Woody Creek, Colorado. His whole memoir/novel, Lime Creek, is a miniature masterpiece, but I want to draw your attention to the part of it about Christmas. He and John Denverā€”Denver called Henry his brotherā€”created Christmas gatherings in a barn for several years. In this excerpt set in Wyoming, he imagines one of those gatherings through the eyes of a young boy, Luke. Luke is there with his younger brother, Whitney, his older brother, Lonny, and his mother and father, Elizabeth and Spencer. And the two younger brothers are inspired to try an experiment from an old, old tradition, that on Christmas Eve, animals are given the gift of speech. 

By Joe Henry,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Lime Creek as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this wonderful work of fiction, Joe Henry explores the complex relationship between a father and his sons, whose deep connections to one another, to the land, and to the creatures that inhabit it give meaning to their lives.

Spencer Davis, his wife, Elizabeth, and their sons, Luke, Whitney, and Lonny, work with horses and with their hands. They spend long relentless days cutting summer hay and feeding it to their cattle through fierce Wyoming winters. The family bears witness to the cycle of life, bringing foals into the world and deciding when to let a favored mare pass onā€¦


Book cover of Land of Hills and Valleys

Emily Hayse Author Of These War-Torn Hands

From my list on capturing the poignant beauty of the American West.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I can remember, I've been captivated by the American West. Was it that cowboys were brave and if you had integrity it was most certainly put to the test? Was it that everyone rode horses and I was a horse crazy girl? Whatever it was that struck me, it stayed. I have treasured the West ever since, through books, film, art, and most recently, a fantasy western trilogy of my own. 

Emily's book list on capturing the poignant beauty of the American West

Emily Hayse Why did Emily love this book?

A slightly more modern take, this book is set in the 1930s, in the perspective of a girl who inherits an ailing Wyoming ranch and she falls in love with the land and the people who inhabit it. What I loved about this one was the discovery of the land and the lifestyle through the eyes of the main character. Throw in a mystery and a lovely romance and you'll be breathless by the end. 

By Elisabeth Grace Foley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Land of Hills and Valleys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Her inheritance came with an unsolved mystery.

If she canā€™t find out the truth, she may lose more than she gained.

Lena Campbell never knew her grandfatherā€”but she always dreamed of visiting Wyoming, where her mother was born and raised. When she receives word that her grandfather is dead and his Wyoming ranch belongs to her, she jumps at the chance.

Only later does she learn that Garth McKay was murdered, and the murder is still unsolved.

Despite this shadow hanging over her, Lena thrives in her new lifeā€”and unexpectedly finds love there. And then a new revelation breaks theā€¦


Book cover of The Virginian

Mark Warren Author Of Indigo Heaven

From my list on Westerns that donā€™t thrive off of gunfights.

Why am I passionate about this?

Because I grew up in the 1950s and ā€™60s, my supply of heroes was liberally doled out by the 130+ Western series that dominated nighttime television in those decades. My parents allowed me one program per week. It was a Western. I was soon interested in history, to know what really did happen in the American West, and so I came to understand the great discrepancies between fact and TV. The truth, for me, is so much more interesting than the myth. As a Western historian, I've done my share of historical research, but I still gravitate toward fiction as a writer. I love the freedom to engage my charactersā€™ thoughts and emotions.

Mark's book list on Westerns that donā€™t thrive off of gunfights

Mark Warren Why did Mark love this book?

This is where the ā€œWestern novelā€ began.

By reading this book, people of the early 20th century were introduced to a prototype protagonist who would be duplicated (with variations) for generations to come. Authors who followed this lead were Zane Grey, Louis Lā€™Amour, Jack Schaefer, Charles Portis, Elmer Kelton, and I.

As a boy I found my heroes in the format of the lone common man who faced up to adversities that cut against his moral code.  These protagonists played a large part in shaping my values. Even though the characters were fictitious, the lessons were real. The inspiration hit home.

Wisterā€™s influence on later writers remains intact for good reason. His work was the historical beginning of the ā€œWestern,ā€ which, to many folks, serves as the quintessential American story.

By Owen Wister,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Virginian as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Still as exciting and meaningful as when it was written in 1902, Owen Wister's epic tale of one man's journey into the untamed territory of Wyoming, where he is caught between his love for a woman and his quest for justice, has exemplified one of the most significant and enduring themes in all of American culture.

With remarkable character depth and vivid descriptive passages, The Virginian stands not only as the first great novel of American Western literature, but as a testament to the eternal struggle between good and evil in humanity and a revealing study of the forces thatā€¦


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Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: ā€œAre his love songs closer to heaven than dying?ā€ Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard itā€¦

Book cover of An Unfinished Life

Mark Hummel Author Of Man, Underground

From my list on unlikely friendships or unexpected pairings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Two instincts drive this list, one ā€œwriterlyā€ and one about being human: 1) all good fiction maximizes various kinds of tension, particularly between people, and unusual or unexpected character pairings offer rich tensions; 2) I think we live in times when we are in desperate need of human kindness and must recognize that people from very different backgrounds can come together in their humanity. I love novels with complex characters and in books, as in life, I like to see people grow and change, and a big part of change is letting other people into your life.

Mark's book list on unlikely friendships or unexpected pairings

Mark Hummel Why did Mark love this book?

I am a sucker for stories of redemption, especially those that show even the most entrenched people are capable of change.

Make the agent of change a child, and youā€™ve got me for sure. Place the story in the hands of a lyrical writer and then locate it in the hard-loved, haunting beauty of my native stateā€”Wyomingā€”and itā€™s a hopeless match.

An Unfinished Life tells of the escape from an abusive boyfriend by Jean Gilkyson and her ten-year-old daughter Griff. With nowhere left to go, they take refuge with Jean's estranged father-in-law, Einar, a more-than-reluctant host who blames Jean for the death of his son.

Griff is the transformative agent, falling in love with Einarā€™s sprawling ranch and quiet way of life, and eventually, with the grandfather she didnā€™t know she had.

By Mark Spragg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked An Unfinished Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hailed by Kent Haruf as 'one of the truest and most original new voices in American letters', Mark Spragg now tells the story of a complex, prodigal homecoming. Jean Gilkyson, pregnant when her husband was killed, is raising their daughter Griff when, in an Iowa trailerhouse with yet another brutal boyfriend, she realizes this can't go on. But the only refuge available is a town in Wyoming where her loved ones are dead and her father-in-law wishes she was too. For a decade he has blamed her for his son's death, choosing to go on living himself largely because hisā€¦


Book cover of The Deluge

Michael J. Albert Author Of Navigating the Polycrisis: Mapping the Futures of Capitalism and the Earth

From my list on books that help us make sense of the future.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a lecturer in Global Environmental Politics at the University of Edinburgh. My work is driven by the conviction that we need more thorough and realistic maps of possible futures in an increasingly turbulent and uncertain world. Ever since learning about the intersections between climate, energy, and economic crises, I have been fascinated by the question of how our future will unfold and how we might create more just and liveable futures from the wreckage of the present world. And I have been driven to bring down artificial disciplinary divides in order to integrate knowledge across the sciences and humanities in ways that can illuminate the possible pathways ahead. 

Michael's book list on books that help us make sense of the future

Michael J. Albert Why did Michael love this book?

This is a lesser-known work of climate fiction compared to Ministry for the Future, but it is equally impressive in its erudition, realism, and gripping narrative trajectory. Markley has given us a chillingly realistic and affectively charged account of Americaā€™s likely near-term future.

I love the way he weaves together developments in climate, rightwing politics, and Artificial Intelligence to show how the American political landscape is likely to evolve over the next twenty to thirty years. While the climate crisis is the main storyline, Markley also shows us how big data and AI may converge to deliver unprecedented advances in the American surveillance state ā€“ while also potentially providing emancipatory tools for activists in unforeseen ways.

It is a long book, but hard to put down ā€“ and not recommended reading before bedtime!

By Stephen Markley,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Deluge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting." -Stephen King

From the bestselling author of Ohio, a masterful American epic charting a near future approaching collapse and a nascent but strengthening solidarity.

In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will becomeā€¦


Book cover of The Solace of Open Spaces

Karen Gershowitz Author Of Wanderlust: Extraordinary People, Quirky Places, and Curious Cuisine

From my list on making you want to travel.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been traveling since age seventeen when I boarded a plane and headed to Europe on my own. Over the next three years I lived in London, took weekend jaunts across the continent, and became completely bitten by the travel bug. Since then, Iā€™ve traveled to more than 95 countries. Iā€™ve lost and gained friends and lovers and made a radical career change so that I could afford my travel addiction. Like my readers, I am an ordinary person. Through travel Iā€™ve learned courage and risk-taking and succeeded at things I didnā€™t know I could do. My goal in writing is to inspire others to take off and explore the world.

Karen's book list on making you want to travel

Karen Gershowitz Why did Karen love this book?

This book of essays are meditations on her life in Wyoming. Part travelogue, part memoir, it drew me in with its gorgeous language, evocative images, and insights into a landscape and lifestyle about which I knew nothing. 

Erlich is a filmmaker, and her descriptions of people and places are as vivid as any Iā€™ve ever seen on film or read in any book. 

By Gretel Ehrlich,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Solace of Open Spaces as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A collection of transcendent, lyrical essays on life in the American West, the classic companion to Gretel Ehrlich's new book, Unsolaced

"Wyoming has found its Whitman." -Annie Dillard

Poet and filmmaker Gretel Ehrlich went to Wyoming in 1975 to make the first in a series of documentaries when her partner died. Ehrlich stayed on and found she couldn't leave. The Solace of Open Spaces is a chronicle of her first years on "the planet of Wyoming," a personal journey into a place, a feeling, and a way of life.

Ehrlich captures both the otherworldly beauty and cruelty of the naturalā€¦


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Book cover of The Inhabitants

The Inhabitants by Beth Castrodale,

Artist Nilda Ricci could use a stroke of luck. She seems to get it when she inherits a shadowy Victorian, built by an architect whose houses were said to influence the mindā€”supposedly, in beneficial ways. At first, Nildaā€™s new home delivers, with the help of its longtime housekeeper. And Nildaā€¦

Book cover of Happiness for Beginners

Brooke Bentley Author Of Sideline Confidential

From my list on sports for women.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a little girl I dreamed of becoming a sports reporter. I loved to write and spent most of my free time playing or watching sports. I earned an academic-athletic scholarship to Davidson College to play volleyball and went on to receive my masterā€™s in journalism from the University of Southern California. After landing a job as media personality with the Houston Texans, I thought my career would skyrocket to national television. But I quickly learned that the world of sports journalism is anything but predictable. As I balanced motherhood and a career in sports reporting, I realized the most fascinating stories were the ones being created inside my own head.

Brooke's book list on sports for women

Brooke Bentley Why did Brooke love this book?

I met Katherine Center several years ago when she graciously spoke to my writing group. Her insights into the writing process and the fact that we attended the same high school made me an even bigger fan of her novels.

My absolute favorite is Happiness for Beginners, which was recently made into a Netflix movie. Main character Helen Carpenter is trying to put her life back together after getting divorced. At the urging of her younger brother, she signs up for a wilderness survival course. You may not think that hiking and camping is a sport but think again.

My husband and I hike in Colorado every summer. Steep and rocky terrain requires endurance, technical training, and courage. Helen learns this firsthand as she journeys deep into the wilderness with a colorful cast of characters. As Helen gets lost in the Wyoming forest, she finds out just how strong, resilient,ā€¦

By Katherine Center,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Happiness for Beginners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire

Helen Carpenter canā€™t quite seem to bounce back. Newly divorced at thirty-two, her life has fallen apart beyond her ability to put it together again. So when her annoying younger brother, Duncan, convinces her to sign up for a hardcore wilderness survival course in the backwoods of Wyomingā€•she hopes itā€™ll be exactly what she needs.

Instead, itā€™s a disaster. Itā€™s nothing like she wants, or expects, or anticipates. She doesnā€™t anticipate the surprise summer blizzard, for exampleā€•or the blisters, or theā€¦


Book cover of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

Jennifer Vido Author Of Serendipity by the Sea

From my list on reads for the beach for moms.

Why am I passionate about this?

When our two sons were younger, I ran a book club for moms. We met at the local library branch once a monthā€”an excuse to get out of the house for some adult conversation. I frequently offer book suggestions to friends and family because I keep my finger on the pulse of what books moms want to read, especially in the summertime at the beach. Typically, I read three to four beach reads on vacation, and I like a variety of genres. I gravitate towards stories with some element of romance, fitting since Iā€™m a sweet romance writer who loves a good book.   

Jennifer's book list on reads for the beach for moms

Jennifer Vido Why did Jennifer love this book?

This book is an irresistible thriller about Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker who rents an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming for some rest and relaxation and stumbles upon an intriguing rancher and townsfolk with secrets to keep.

The sexual attraction between Grace and Calvin Wells, the handsome rancher, kept me turning the pages. I never saw the shocking twist coming at the end. It made me think twice about booking a vacation rental in a remote area without cell service!

I devoured this novel in a few days, making it a good choice for a quick beach read.   

Book cover of Wapiti Wilderness

Patrick Dean Author Of A Window to Heaven: The Daring First Ascent of Denali: America's Wildest Peak

From my list on first-person narratives about the outdoors.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an avid trail-runner and mountain-biker whoā€™s done a ton of outdoorsy things, from sailboat racing on the Chesapeake Bay to rockclimbing to backpacking in the Pacific Northwest, Iā€™m convinced that nothing gets you closer to someoneā€™s experience than a well-told first-person account. The best personal narratives make you feel the cold, glow with the exhilaration, and burn with ambition to go, to do, to see for yourself ā€” and can even make you look at the world, and yourself, in a new way. These books, different as they are, have all done those things for me.

Patrick's book list on first-person narratives about the outdoors

Patrick Dean Why did Patrick love this book?

I really love a lot of the writing between the two world wars ā€” thereā€™s something clear-eyed but lacking in guile, almost willfully large-spirited and generous. The two Muries alternate chapters, Mardie describing everyday life in the beautiful but rapidly-changing Jackson Hole of the 1930s and 40s, while Olaus writes about and illustrates his work as a famous wildlife biologist. I regularly re-read this book when I want to feel good about people and the world.

By Margaret E. Murie, Olaus Murie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wapiti Wilderness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For over thirty-seven years, Margaret and Olaus Murie made their home in the mountainous wilderness of the Tetons, where Olaus Murie conducted his famous studies of the American elk, the wapiti. Through these years their home was almost a nature-conservation shrine to thousands of Americans interested in the out-of-doors, in animals, in nature in general. Wapiti Wilderness, begun by Mrs. Murie as a sequel to her Two in the Far North, which told of the Muries' life and expeditions in Alaska, became a book written by both the Muries.

In alternate chapters, Olaus tells of his work as a fieldā€¦


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Book cover of Girl in the Ashes

Girl in the Ashes by Douglas Weissman,

Odette Lefebvre is a serial killer stalking the shadows of Nazi-occupied Paris and must confront both the evils of those she murders and the darkness of her own past. In Douglas Weissman's "Girl in the Ashes," this young woman's childhood trauma shapes her complex journey through World War II France,ā€¦

Book cover of Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3

E.I. Parr Author Of Thistle in the Long Grass

From my list on candid insight into the human psyche.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a young woman I became fascinated by what contributes to our uniqueness as human beings. I was intrigued by historical influences, the development of personality, and how we frequently travel lifeā€™s lanes through a labyrinth of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Feminism, spirituality, psychology; I was absorbed by all three. Eventually I studied psychology. My working life was spent in a variety of roles, mainly supporting adults or young people to manage the challenges thrown at them by circumstance. Regarding my writing, I have always penned something i.e., poetry, songs, holiday journals. I progressed to short stories for adults, which were self-published under a pseudonym. ā€˜Thistleā€™ is my first novel.

E.I.'s book list on candid insight into the human psyche

E.I. Parr Why did E.I. love this book?

Eventually, I recommend a work of fiction.

Micro-psychology by a brilliant storyteller, this was the first of Proulxā€™s books that I ever read, even though it was the last of the Wyoming trilogy. I went on to read the rest ā€“ and then more of her work.

Proulx draws me into the characters, their lives, the plot, setting, and atmosphere, using cleverly interpretative, and uniquely descriptive language. Just a few of her words and I am inside the story. I have been to Wyoming, taking the trilogy for company, although I had read them previously.

Some of her stories remain firmly fixed in my head, and I can re-read them without ever becoming bored. 

By Annie Proulx,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fine Just the Way It Is as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The fantastic new collection of stories from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. Fine Just The Way It Is marks Annie Proulx's return to the Wyoming of Brokeback Mountain and the familiar cast of hardy, unsentimental prairie folk. The stories are cast over centuries, and capture the voices and lives of the settlers this sagebrushed and weatherworn country has known, from the native Indian tribes to the modern day ranch owners and politicians, and their cowboy forebears. In 'A Family Man', an old man nearing the end of his life unburdens himself of theā€¦


Book cover of Lime Creek
Book cover of Land of Hills and Valleys
Book cover of The Virginian

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