"Butte: Images of America" available from Reading In Montana

The locally long awaited "Butte: Images of America" by Ellen Crain and Lee Whitney of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives is now available from Reading In Montana.  In addition we also have half as many copies of the Historic Postcards Set with images from the book, "Postcards of America: Butte".  We are happily able to offer both items at a discount from the cover price. Items ship directly from the home office in Butte, America and a shipping discount will be provided to folks who order both the book and postcard set shipped to the same address.  The images are beautiful and the narrative details in the text are those that could only be written by those that live and breathe this vibrant history such as the staff at the Public Archives.

I've learned quite a lot about the storied history of this mining camp turned metropolitan center called Butte, Montana since Reading In Montana moved here last July. This new volume from the Public Archives fills in a few of the gaps in my knowledge and I'll have to keep at least one copy for the family bookshelf.

Here are a few other Butte books I'd recommend:




Catherine @ Reading In Montana
currently reading this great  new Butte book.

$3.01 or Less Book Sale - Year End Inventory Cleanout

Just a quick note to let readers know that we in the process of cleaning out our book inventory for the new year.

More than 500 books are now $3.01 or less!

Also all of our titles qualify for Free 2 day shipping if you have an Amazon Prime membership or Free SuperSaver Shipping if you spend $25 or more on Amazon.com.

So , put that Amazon.com gift card you got in your stocking to good use. Pick out some reading for yourself and support a small family-run business at the same time. We'll be glad you did.

Here is the link to our store on Amazon.
Here is the link to Amazon's after Christmas deals.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

currently reading Livability: Stories
by Jon Raymond

Limited Number of "Historic Photos of Montana" Available

At the end of this last month I discovered six NEW copies of this beautiful coffee-table-sized book Historic Photos of Montana by Gary Glynn. This title captures historic Montana in almost 200 photos on over 200 pages. It includes Glacier National Park, the Anaconda Company, Fort Missoula, Great Falls, and the Bitterroot Valley as well as other photos from around the state. This would be a great gift for those family members that either live in Montana or come to visit and wonder if they should move here. The author Gary Glynn grew up in Billings and graduated from the University of Montana, so he speaks with authority about the Big Sky state.

There are currently only five copies Historic Photos of Montana left from Reading In Montana. Order now and have it delivered before Christmas.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

New Children's Books available from Reading In Montana

Just in time for the holidays, Reading In Montana has a limited number of NEW children's books available to put under the tree.

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Robin Page, illustrated by Steve Jenkins.

The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat by Michael Pollan.

Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi.

In My Nest (Board Book - perfect for little hands) by Sara Gillingham, illustrated by Lorena Siminovich.

Birds, Nests & Eggs (Take-Along Guide) by Mel Boring.

Tracks, Scats & Signs (Take-Along Guide) by Leslie Dendy.

Over in the Artic: Where the Cold Winds Blow by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by Jill Dubin.

I'm a Pill Bug (Nature: A Child's Eye View) by Yukihisa Tokuda, illustrated by Kiyoshi Takahasi.

Almost all of these are titles that I've happily shared with my own child and would recommend all of them to you for your children.

Reading In Montana is a small family-owned business that works with Amazon.com so that we can offer high quality books, great customer service, and fast shipping to most places in the world.

Please consider Reading In Montana for some of your holiday shopping. We sincerely appreciate the business.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

take a look at the history of butte, america

This Tuesday evening on PBS's Independent Lens: Butte, America will have its national premier. A superb film that will give you an inside view into "The Richest Hill On Earth."

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

currently learning the rich history of Butte, Montana.

if you really want to see yellowstone national park you must get out of your car.

Let Yellowstone Trails: A Hiking Guide by Mark C. Marshall (park ranger) get you started. This was published by the Yellowstone Association and covers both short and long hikes. I'd recommend the Bliss pass in the Northwest via Slough and Pebble creek as one of the tip top all day hikes.

Yellowstone: Image taken by dmdzine, discovered on www.flickr.com.

Here we have had snow and temps below freezing for a few days, but my favorite time in Montana is fall, hopefully it will come back for a few days for another hike or two.

Missing summer already,

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

relative fiction and memoirs

Here is a small family of fiction and memoirs that are selling quickly at Reading In Montana this weekend:

Sister Chicas by Lisa Alvardo (2006)

Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron (1988)

To See Every Bird On Earth: A Father, A Son and A Life Long Obsession on CD by Dan Koeppel (2005)

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve (2001)

Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband by Linda Dini Jenkins (2008)

Who's Your Daddy by Lynda Sandoval (2004)

Man of the Family by Ralph Moody (1993)

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

...currently trying to decide between the Hummingbird's, Astronaut's, or Bonesetter's Daughter? Any recommendations?

it has to be blunt

Judy Blunt was one of the first writers I read when I moved out to Montana, and a writer I still highly recommend.

Has she really only wrote Breaking Clean ?

I'll let you know when/if something else comes down the line from this unique as the Montana sky writer.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Reading In Montana now in Butte, America

Lee, Russell,, 1903-, photographer. Butte, Montana, September 1942. from Flickr, LOC.

One might have already guessed but Reading In Montana officially moved its home office to Butte, America over the labor day weekend.

I will tell you it was quite the laborious holiday. Thankfully we house our ever growing and changing inventory in an Amazon warehouse and not at the home office. That means we were able to continue to sell great books to our great customers and, very importantly, didn't have to drag our inventory (over 1000 titles) 90 miles. We might have needed a second U-haul truck.

We are settling in here and my new (July 1st) job as a Digital Collections Librarian at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library is taking shape. I've even posted a few local Butte historical digital objects for the whole wide world (www) to enjoy.

We hope everyone else's labor day was less strenuous and you all had time to pick up that book you've been working on. When you finish it up, come see Reading In Montana for the next one.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

currently unpacking instead of reading a good book.

berkeley pit, butte, mt

From Wikipedia:

"The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, USA. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m). It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level). The pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals, including arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
The mine was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps at the bottom were removed, and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the pit. Since the pit closure in 1982, the level has risen to within 150 feet of the natural groundwater level."

For a mere $2.00 you can see what my

lifetime, my child's lifetime, his children's lifetime, and their children's lifetime cannot erase. (Photos of our visit here.)

Get all of the details at PITWATCH.

Read Mass Destruction: The Men and Giant Mines That Wired America and Scarred the Planet by Timothy J LeCain.

Blurb on the book: "Mass Destruction is the compelling story of Daniel Jackling and the development of open-pit hard rock mining, its role in the wiring of an electrified America, and its devastating environmental effects. This new method of mining, complimenting the mass production and mass consumption that came to define the "American way of life"in the early twentieth century, promised infinite supplies of copper and other natural resources. LeCain deftly analyzes how open-pit mining continues to adversely effect the environment and how, as the world begins to rival American resource consumption, no viable alternatives have emerged."

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Currently reading Going Green: True Tales from Gleaners, Scavengers, and Dumpster Divers by Laura Pritchett

Red Lodge & the Beartooth Highway

This last weekend we decided to do a little weekend getaway before the Fall semester starts for me at Montana State University-Bozeman. I have been in Montana more than five years now, and I still hadn't driven the scenic Beartooth Highway, bringing drivers to almost 11,000 feet from Montana to Wyoming. So we decided to head to Red Lodge, MT, spend the night, and then drive the highway before heading home through the northern part of Yellowstone National Park.

Red Lodge, a mountain town known for its coal mines in the late nineteenth century, is rather small - its population just a little over 2,000. When we arrived in Red Lodge, we checked out the also-small library (Carnegie-style), nicely placed at the northern end of Broadway, and picked up some books for Reading in Montana.

We were also in Red Lodge during its annual Festival of Nations, celebrating the town's mining immigrant diversity. We attended the dances in the civic center. This is a picture of some of the Scottish dancing:

You can see more pictures from our trip via these links: Red Lodge and Beartooth Highway.

Michael @ Reading in Montana

Currently reading: Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief by Dale McGowan and others.

Mark Spragg :: A Wyoming Life, Culture, Sep 2005 [ZOOZOOM]

Mark Spragg :: A Wyoming Life, Culture, Sep 2005 [ZOOZOOM]

Shared via AddThis

Where Rivers Change Direction

This book is what originally brought me out to southwest Montana, to this unique region of our country. I first read it in 2002, read it again when I moved here in 2003, and revisited it when I had the opportunity to go to an author reading at the Country Bookshelf in 2004. I've read Spragg's other work but this collection of autobiographical essays is his most significant thus far. This book is about being an animal, being a human within the confines of the wilderness. Today one's life can still be shaped by nature and one's relationship to nature and the land they grew up on.

"I am related to water. I am a descendant of its sound and movement... Water brings me joy. I fear that water will someday murder me. My life is balanced between its threat and grace... I cling to the sound of water to be brave in the world. I go to the sound of water to remember that God is not mute. "

Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg, Riverhead Books, New York, 1999 (254-255).

Today I drive across the Continental Divide often as my home, my boys are in Bozeman and my work, my profession is now in Butte as the new Digital Collections Librarian at the Butte-Silver Bow Public Library. I'm a woman who's life is halved where the rivers change direction.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Ghost Towns of Montana

Ghost Towns of Montana by Donald C. Miller, 10th Printing (1981), Details and photos for 40 ghost town locations, a historical gem about the lost places in Big Sky country.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Cookbook: Montana Celebrity

Montana Celebrity Cookbook compiled by Susie Beaulaurier Graetz for the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home, American & World Geographic Publishing (1992).

Cooking up farmer's market potatoes in Butte, Montana.

In this book 200 celebrities have volunteered their favorite recipes to make a cookbook for the benefit of the Intermountain Children's Home in Helena, Montana. The recipes are as varied, colorful, and entertaining as the contributors--who include Tom Brokaw, Glenn Close, Jack Nicklaus, Michael Keaton, Evel Knievel, and others.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Fishing in Montana

Unforgettable Days: Montana Trout Fishing Hardcover, Riverbend Publishing 2002. Full of beautiful photos and landscapes, as well as quotes from the likes of John Gierach, Jim Harrison, and Ed Zern.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

The Night the Mountain Fell

The Night the Mountain Fell: The Story of the Montana-Yellowstone Earthquake by Edmund Christopherson

Collectors Edition! 1960

11:37 P.M. on August 17, 1959 - It's almost been 50 years since the creation of Quake Lake.

Photo from http://www.mtpioneer.com/Sept-mountain-fell.htm

(Image caption: Motorists can hardly believe their eyes-the earthquake takes its toll, creating a dead end and a new lake near West Yellowstone, August 1959.)

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Going to the Sun

One of the most beautiful places I've been is along the Going to Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The Park is just one of those places you must visit to understand some of the extreme beauty Nature has to offer.

Check out this Lonely Planet Guide to some of the National Parks in North America when you plan your next trip up north. Color photos and hiking maps for Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks.

Lonely Planet: Banff, Jasper & Glacier National Parks by Miller, Derby, and Lukas.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Signed by Montana Author, Thomas McGuane

Some Horses: Essays by Thomas McGuane of Sweet Grass County, Montana - beautiful hardcover 1st edition, signed by author, illustrations, collectible, The Lyons Press 1999.

From the dust cover:

Tom McGuane loves horses. Nowhere is that more evident than in his deft and utterly fascinating essays about some of the more remarkable horses and horsemen he has known.In these nine essays, he examines the relationship between horses and humans: what it is about horses that reveals so much about ourselves, what we see in them, why they respond to us, and the symbiosis that can result from such a match. Whether he is writing about cutting horses, learning to rope, or the birth of a foal, McGuane's passion finds expression in his extraordinary talent.

Buy it here.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Books of Montana

Montana Spaces: Essays and Photographs in Celebration of Montana by Thomas McGuane, David Quammen, Wallace Stegner, Gretel Ehrlich, Tim Cahill, Alston Chase, and others. Photographs by John Smart, Edited by William Kittredge

I try seek out books and materials on Montana: people, place, art, and living, especially the out of print, more rare, and harder to find materials. This recent find (above) has only about 20 copies available on Amazon.com in hardcover.

Please consider Reading In Montana for your next Montana book purchase. If you are looking for something special you can always shoot us an email at ReadingInMontana@gmail.com and we will help you find it.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

A Few Good Books Needed for Belgrade Community Library Fundraiser

Community Alert!

The Belgrade Library is in need of your gently used books for their Summer Book Sale fundraiser that starts this Friday., June 12th.

Please drop off your gently used books at the
Belgrade Community Library
106 N Broadway in Belgrade
This Tues, Wed, and Thur (June 9 - 11) between 11am and 7pm.
All donations are tax deductable.

Please only clean books in good condition. No old textbooks, readers digest, or magazines. Children's books in good condition are welcome!

The sale is Sponsored by the Belgrade Library Foundation
Sale Date/Time:
Friday June 12 11am - 5pm
Sat June 13 11am - 5pm
Mon June 15th $2/bag 3-7pm

Thrivent Financial has generously sponsored a matching grant to support library needs.

Questions? Call 388-4346

Thank you for your support of one of our local libraries. I'll see you there!

Huge Multi-Family Yard Sale (Reading In Montana Family Included) May 29 & 30th 7:30am

Here is some info about a large sale we will be having in my neighborhood this weekend:

Huge Multi-family (5+) moving and yard sale. College students with young families are raising moving and tuition funds.  Everything priced to sell!

Friday and Saturday, May 29th and 30th starting at 7:30 AM each day. In Family & Graduate Housing on the MSU Campus (Bozeman) off of College Ave between 15th and 19th. Watch for Balloons!

We have alot to offer!

100s of  Books: Fiction & Fact, New & Old, Children’s & Adult (most 25¢),

DVDs, audio books, CDs, VHS, National Geographic Magazines (10¢), 

Packaging/Bubble Mailers (NEW! 25¢ & 50¢).

Baby Gear: Stroller, Pack & Play (playpen), baby walker and more!

TV, DVD player, VCR,  Digital Converter

Toys & Stuffed Animals (lots at 25¢)

Quality Kitchen and House wares

Christmas Items  Lots of cute snowman theme items and more!

Furniture

Clothes: Boys baby—3T, Girls 4-6 yrs & more,  Women  S, M, L & Plus sizes, Men  L &  XL

More to add, come and see!

If you need more information please email me at ReadingInMontana@gmail.com.  Also feel free to pass this along to interested folk.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

 

 

 

 

10 books in 10 minutes

A fellow reader challenged me today to name 10 books in only 10 minutes that I've read that were important to me in some way.  This is what I came up with:

1) Into the Forest  by Jean Hegland - This is the most recent book I've finished.  It is a novel that takes place sometime in the now during the breakdown of government and services, including the electric grid, telephone, shipping, and gasoline delivery.  What I found interesting is it about two young adults, two sisters and how they live their lives off the 

land after their mother dies from cancer and father dies from an accident.  Incidentally it takes place in the same area of Northern California where I grew up.  I see the land of my childhood in the land of this story.  Highly recommended for many reasons.

2) The Old Man in the Sea by Earnest Hemingway - I love this modern fable of a writer fighting with his demons.  This is a great book to present to the tough man who seldom reads.  From my experience they will read and enjoy this story.

3) The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway - The best dialog about regret ends this novel.  "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

4) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - The writing and language  in this novel is beautiful all on its own.

5) The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields - I must read this one again in my retirement years.

6) The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - Almost any book I've read by Highsmith has been both intelligent and thrilling.

7) The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory - I love the mind games, the trickery, and the scandal the permeates Gregory's Boleyn novels.  It says much about the human condition.

8) The Owl and the Pussycat  by Edward Lear (Little Golden Book)-  This is the very first children's book that I remember being to read all on my own.  I still know exactly how the cover looks and how the book fit in my small hands.

9) Life of Pi  by Yann Martel - My not-yet-to be husband gave me this story to read when he was courting me.  A great adventure story and worth reading agai

n and again, full of details I have yet to squeeze all the juice out of. 

10) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents."  Loved Jo's character the first time I read it, still do.    I also could never come to grips with the fact that Jo chose Professor Bear over Laurie.  I believe that Jean Hegland (author of the first book) must have read Little Women as well as the stories began the same: Christmas and no presents.

Please share your 10 with us by posting the list in the comments section.  To be honest I came up with mine in just over 15 minutes.  It can take a little longer than 1 minute a

 book.  You don't have to have a reason why for each book either, it can be just a list of titles and authors.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

the library book and 6 other small wonders for a cool planet

With climate change an ever increasing threat for us and our children here is a short list of ordinary things, that with widespread use, can have an extraordinary impact in the fight against global warming:

Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet

1) The Clothesline

2) The Real Tomato

3) The Bicycle

4) The Ceiling Fan

5) The Condom

6) The Microchip

7 and my favorite) The Library Book

"By sharing books, periodicals, and other materials with an entire community, a library makes thousands of persaonl copies uncessary. By reducing the demand for paper, libraries help save forests from logging (so they can work their wonders of carbon storage), salmon streams from logging-road erosion and pulp mill effluent, and greenhouse-gas-belching electric grids from the power load of pulp and paper mills....The essential wonder of libraries is that they reduce the need for newly manufactured goods." 

-Eric Sorensen in Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet: Everyday Things to Help Solve Global Warming (p 79-80)

So before you buy that spanking new book, decide if you really do need a new copy, and if not then consider your favorite used bookstore or public library instead.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Over 1,000 books, movies, and music for sale at great prices

For the first time in Reading In Montana's history we now have over 1,000 books, movies, and music you can buy now from our virtual amazon store front.  We have recently updated our prices so all items are available at a great value.  Please give us a look and see if we have what you have been looking for at a price you can afford.  We add new titles daily so make us the first (and hopefully last) place you look for great books.

Recent additions: "The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots" by Pepperburg and  "The Little Red Book of Wine Law: A Case of Legal Issues" by Robertson.

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

currently finishing "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin

The Home Office

I was recently inspired by a photo essay,  behind the scenes at Netflix.  I've posted my own behind the scenes at Reading In Montana of sorts. Here are some photos of the spoils of a short trip to Big Timber for a library fundraiser last week. This small Montana town has a beautiful library with very friendly staff. 

Quite a lot of books looking for new readers!  While this only a small snapshot of operations here at the "home office" I do hope you enjoy the peek .  These books will soon each be individually washed, inspected for flaws, priced, and made available for sale on amazon.com. 

Note, not all of these titles are available at Reading In Montana today but they will be in the near future. 

Catherine @ Reading In Montana

Books in the shots:

"The Last Full Measure" by Jeff Shaara

"The Virgin's Lover" by Phillipa Gregory

"The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp

"Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates

"Vera and the Ambassador: Escape and Return" by Vera and Donald Blinken

"Solo Suppers: Simple Delicious Meals to Cook for Yourself" by Joyce Goldstein

"Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History" by Art Spiegelman

"She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Breakdown: What Every Man Needs to Know and Do When the Woman He Loves is Pregnant" by James Douglas Barron

"The Radio Amateur's Satellite Handbook" by Martin R. Davidoff

"Among the Impostors" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

"When God Disappears: Finding Hope When Your Circumstances Seem Impossible" by Shane Stanford

"Free to Be... You and Me and Free to Be... A Family" by Marlo Thomas

If you want more photos from the home office you can see them here at our flickr site.