Reading My Way Into the West: A Booklist for Montana and Beyond

MontanaNomadic JourneyGlacier National Park

Sep 23

Stack of Montana and Western books on a wooden table at home, including Glacier National Park mysteries, Indigenous stories, and Montana classics for travel and adventure reading.

Recently, I decided to make Montana my home base. I signed a lease on Friday and, after the fear of being stationary passed, I now feel ready to lean into the process of settling, creating a routine, and my next “fresh start.”

I’ve felt so connected to the landscapes here that I kept comparing every place I traveled afterward. Driving back into town from Boise this spring felt like I was returning home.

Now, I don’t want to just see more. I want to know more. I want to learn stories that shape this place, its people, its history, and the layered complexity that lives here. So, I’ve started stacking a shelf (literally) of the books to fall into during this new chapter of home.

This list is my reading bucket list for Montana and the West. I haven’t read them yet, but I’ve grouped them into themes that reflect how I’m experiencing this place: through wild landscapes, complicated histories, diverse voices, and mysteries that blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. They’re in no particular order, just the beginning of an ever growing stack.

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Wild Landscapes and Survival

A Climbers Guide to Glacier National Park by J. Gordon Edwards

Night of the Grizzlies by Jack Olsen: a true account of the infamous 1967 Glacier bear attacks that changed wilderness safety forever.
The Wild Inside by Christine Carbo: the first in Carbo’s Glacier National Park mystery series blending suspense with the beauty of Montana’s backcountry.
A Climber’s Guide to Glacier National Park by J. Gordon Edwards: the route-finding classic and a guide to take as loosely as the rocks here of some rarely visited peaks. You can also check out what I pack for day hikes to stay safe while tackling Glacier trails.

Montana Voices and Histories

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean: a Montana classic set on the Big Blackfoot River. I’ll read it before I watch the movie. This book seems like the next step in my introduction to fly fishing after learning this summer.
Fools Crow by James Welch: historical fiction capturing a pivotal moment in Montana’s past.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer: a look into systemic injustice in Missoula and what it says about Montana today.

Stories of Resilience & Identity

Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

There There by Tommy Orange: While not set in Montana, this award-winning novel explores contemporary Indigenous identity across the West.
Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C Van Alst Jr.: an Indigenous horror anthology with voices that challenges how we imagine Native storytelling.
A Woman Among Wolves by Diane K. Boyd: a memoir of experiences living and working alongside wolves in Montana, exploring resilience, connection to wildlife, and the challenges of life in the backcountry.

Why This List Matters

This isn’t just a stack of books for my nightstand. It’s a way to root myself here while balancing adventure, awareness, beauty with honesty, and stories of the past with voices shaping the present.

Montana may be where my journey unfolds, but these books remind me that the West is just as big as the sky here.

So here’s to reading my way into the West while chasing my best adventures yet. Stay tuned as I read through this stack (and inevitably add more). Got suggestions? Drop them below. This shelf is just getting started.