During more than 15 years of working with local writers, The Cabin has collected hundreds of wonderful books. Now these books by Idaho authors will be available for sale through Hyde Park Books. Be sure to browse the book shop's special section dedicated to local artists. We also have review copies here at The Cabin.

Books represent five genres: fiction, nonfiction, children and young adult, anthologies and journals, and poetry. A complete listing of these books is below -- by genre, alphabetical by author's last name, plus a brief description of each book.

Hyde Park Books is located at 1507 N. 13th Street in Boise. Or call 208-429-8220.

Fiction:

Challenge the Wind, Christine Echeverria Bender

A young Basque explorer, Dominique Laca, joins Christopher Columbus’s voyage of discovery and meets adventure, romance and tragedy while making a few personal discoveries of his own. 

Sails of Fortune, Christine Echeverria Bender

The horrors and hardships of the 1519 voyage of Ferdinand Magellan come to life in this historical novel about the Spanish, Portuguese and Basque explorers attempting to find a direct route to the Spice Islands through the Pacific Ocean.

Hunger, Elise Blackwell

Set in Russia during the Nazis’ siege of Leningrad, Hunger recounts the deprivation and sacrifice of one man as he must decide between survival and bravery, honor and betrayal.

All She Ever Wanted, T.L. Cooper

This is the story of Victoria (a white woman) and Daryn (an African American man) whose friendship is strained and threatened by the pressures of prejudice, love, family and grief.

Memory Wall, Anthony Doerr

With beautiful and lyrical language, Doerr creates vivid and believable stories that explore the interconnectedness and fragility of memories.

The Shell Collector, Anthony Doerr

Each of the short stories included in this award-winning collection encompass the breadth of most novels, using elegant language to evoke emotions ranging from heartbreak to triumph, love to anger, defeat to redemption.

Edna and John: A Romance of Idaho Flat, Abigail Scott Duniway, Debra Shein, ed.

Originally published as a serialized novel in The New Northwest, here is the complete work about a married couple following the gold rush to Idaho and the challenges women faced in 19th-century gold fields.

The Cultivator, Bill English

All Gene Poole has to do is finish pharmaceutical college and he’ll take his spot in the family business. To his surprise, the family business is in shambles. Gene does what any out-of-work pharmacist would do: he becomes a pot farmer.

Kissing Asphalt, Jack Ewing

A 1960s drifter stumbles upon a dead woman and gives her a proper burial. Bad idea. A search party comes along and chases the Drifter into the rugged Idaho wilderness, and straight into a mystery involving UFOs and murder.

Radiant Days, Michael A. Fitzgerald

Trying to escape San Francisco’s dot-com mania of the 1990s, Anthony follows a beautiful Hungarian waitress to Budapest, where he finds unattainable love, misguided lust and compromised loyalties.

How the Dead Live, Alvin Greenberg

In these 15 finely crafted stories, Alvin Greenberg delivers characters seeking to survive life made difficult by accidents and disease, chaos and loss.  

The Ferry Woman: A Novel of John D. Lee and the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Gerald Grimmett

The Ferry Woman recounts the horrific and tragic events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre through the voice of a 19th-century Mormon pioneer woman, transporting the reader to an incident many would prefer to forget.

Spring Drive: A North Country Tale, Chuck Guilford

Two young loggers roll into Menominee, Michigan in 1881 to earn a little money, blow off some steam and mosey on to Oregon. Quickly, things go violently wrong and the boys are swept into events that lead to their lynching. 

The Rock Street Five: The Mystery of the Computer Disks, James B. Harshfield

Harbor View, Oregon is a typical Pacific Coast town with a typical high school, until exchange student Mike Locke comes to town, bringing with him murder, espionage and a possible worldwide conspiracy.

Volt: Stories, Alan Heathcock

Welcome to Krafton, a rural town somewhere in America, where harrowed citizens face murder, death, violence and mayhem with grace and humility. 

The Road Builder, Nicholas Hershenow

A young couple from San Francisco travels to Ngemba in Central Africa on a romantic, suspenseful and spellbinding journey where even their commitment to each other is at risk.

The Boys’ House: New and Selected Stories, Jim Heynen

Sixty-four sharply honed stories showcase Jim Heynen’s elegant prose and old-style country wit. These are stories of country boys getting into all sorts of mischief, along with the tenderness they display when opportunities arise. 

The Orphan, Chet Hosac

Hosac tells the story of an orphan leaving behind the loneliness of foster homes to find solace on freight trains and in the love of a woman.

Keeping Private Idaho, Rick Just

The New West struggles to peel the reins from the Old in this coyote tale “where cowboys are girls and Indians wear rollerblades” (Midwest Book Review). 

The Nuremberg Funnel: Idaho-German Tales, George M. Klein

Klein’s collection of short stories, some true, some fabricated, are a valentine to his “kinfolk, friends, and all the characters … real or imagined” (George M. Klein).

The House in Harrison, Michael Andrew Marsden

Before he leaves for the army, Frank Potter reopens an abandoned mansion as a place for his mother to live. Potter’s plan goes south when a beautiful and cunning ghost bent on revenge attempts to reassert herself as the house mistress.

The Man in the Closet, Michael Andrew Marsden

Eighteen years after witnessing a saga of arson and murder, Kyle Carraher returns to Wallace, Idaho to find out the answer to a question that has haunted him since childhood: was there a man in the closet?

Howling at the Moon, Steven Mayfield

“Funny, incisive, heartbreaking and at times wickedly cynical, this collection of short fiction mines the soul of the American Character, unearthing hope and despair, joy and sorrow, largesse and larceny” (back cover).

Out of Innocence, Adelaide McLeod

Part folklore, part fiction, this book recounts the tale of a pioneer woman and her ability to grow and triumph as only a frontier woman could during the decade surrounding World War I.

Waiting for the Harvest, Elaine Ambrose Nielsen

Set in the 1960s against the backdrop of a volatile potato harvest, the story tells of waiting for water, waiting for maturity and waiting for answers to some of life’s toughest questions.

Refrain of the Night Wind, Phillip Obenchain

Bigfoot, a mixed-race outlaw from Indian Territory, leads a band of renegade Indians that torment the residents of the Snake River country. For years he eludes pursuers until it all comes to a brutal end among the sagebrush bluffs of Idaho.

Across Open Ground, Heather Parkinson

Set during World War I, Across Open Ground recounts Walter Pascoe’s experiences as a sheep herder in Idaho’s outback and follows him into his first love, and finally into his loss of innocence due to war. 

The Art of Absence, Joy Passanante

Passanante’s short stories reveal truths about lovers, betrayals, family bonds and friendships in ways both strange and familiar. Her stories are at once provocative and heartfelt.


My Mother’s Lovers, Joy Passanante

Not until Lake Rose Davis becomes party to her own betrayal does she begin to understand her mother’s long-ago yearnings and infidelities, leading to an understanding of her own self.

A Road Well Traveled, Marjorie L. Price

Out of the Civil War-torn East of 1864, Becky goes West in a covered wagon, surviving floods, disease, blizzards, birth and death. Fast forward to 1939 and Becky’s great-granddaughter makes a similar journey; this time in a Model-A.

Squirrel Pie and Other Morsels, Dixie Thomas Reale

Squirrel Pie and Other Morsels delivers what its title promises: humorous and creative stories that will leave the reader asking for more.

Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson

Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for first fiction, Housekeeping tells the story of Ruth and her tragedy-stricken family, who find both solace and heartache in the glacial lake that they reside next to.

Takeover, Dede Ryan

Monty West is a hotdog-loving, savvy advertising exec tackling the challenges of a corporate takeover, a budding romance and doubt about her future. To help her along the way is a philosophical street vender and her dog, Cinnamon.

Near Postcard Beautiful, Gino Sky

With humor and the gentle wisdom of a man who’s been there and done that, these stories report the making of the perfect fruitcake, the San Francisco scene of the sixties and a vision quest on an island in the Snake River.

Time Laguna, Richard L. Smith

Forty-four airplane passengers depart Boise headed for San Francisco. At 35,000 feet, thunderstorms envelope the plane, transporting it 125,000 years into the future. So begins this spellbinding struggle for human survival.

Jumping Skyward, Stan Tate

Winner of the 1995 Gem State award, Jumping Skyward is the story of the Seven Squad, a fire fighting team that specializes in putting out fires in Idaho’s remote bioscathedral.

Heather’s Heart: The Love We Give Ourselves, Rena Vandewater

This magical and heartfelt book recounts Heather’s journey from childhood to womanhood, and how loving and being loved uncovered her buried-away heart.

God’s Dogs: A Novel in Stories, Mitch Wieland

Swan has fled into the Idaho desert to escape the tattered remnants of his life. But like ghosts from his past, Swan’s stepson and ex-wife invade his refuge and force him to reckon with unforgotten mistakes and heartbreaks.

Red, White, and Dead, Lonnie L. Willis

A rockabilly guitar-picker turned reverend winds up murdered in the sanctuary of his fundamentalist Boise church. The local yokels show faint interest, so Clayton James, an ex-Texan investigator, takes up the case. What could go wrong?


Nonfiction:

Menopause Sucks: What to Do When Hot Flashes Make You and Everyone Else Miserable, Elaine Ambrose and Joanne Kimes

Menopause Sucks gives you all you need to know—along with a few belly laughs—about how to deal with the whirlwind of emotional and physical transformations that occur during menopause.

Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815-1848, Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz

This comprehensive, scholarly collection tells the story of California when it was still part of Spain and Mexico, from the perspective of thirteen different women.

Idaho and the Magic Circle: How They Came To Be, Betty M. Bever

From the land’s first inhabitants to the present residents, Idaho and the Magic Circle tells the unique and entertaining history of South Central Idaho and the area surrounding Magic Reservoir.

Equus Evolves: The Story of the Hagerman Horse, Mark Cohen

Set in the Hagerman Fossil Beds, Equus Evolves tells the story of the horse’s evolution and survival against impossible odds while also shedding light on the development of modern paleontology and wilderness ecology.

With Our Good Will: 30 Years of Shakespeare in Idaho, Doug Copsey

This intimate and artful book details the remarkable evolution of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and testifies to the hard work, dedication and vision of the people behind the theater that has prevailed for three decades.

Dinner at Your Door: Tips and Recipes for Starting a Neighborhood Cooking Co-op, Alex Davis, Diana Ellis and Andy Remeis

Dinner at Your Door welcomes you to co-op cooking: a plan that allows you to enjoy fabulous home-cooked meals nearly every day of the week without all the hard work. 

Resurrection of the Bar O: The Tom and Jemima Davis Story, Tom and Jemima Davis

Resurrection of the Bar O is more than a family history—it’s a coming-of-age saga of the American West and the pioneers who built it.

Voices from the Snake River Plain, Bonnie Dodge, Patricia Santos Marcantonio and Dixie Thomas Reale

In this anthology, three award-winning authors offer thought-provoking tales that are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always from the heart of the Snake River Plain.

River Otter: Handbook for Trip Planning, Maria Eschen

Whether you are a rafter, kayaker or canoeist, this is the handbook for you. Eschen uses years of personal and professional experience to help you plan your next successful, self-outfitted, multi-day river trip.

Trails of Eastern Idaho, Margaret Fuller and Jerry Painter

Find fun trails for day hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, horseback riding or peak bagging in this book that covers 19 mountain ranges and the lava flows of the Snake River Plain. 

Trails of Western Idaho, Margaret Fuller

From the Owyhee Mountains to the Seven Devils, from Weiser to Ketchum, this is your guidebook to Southwestern Idaho’s challenging, fun and exciting trail systems.

Trails of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness 2nd Ed, Margaret Fuller

Fuller’s guidebook uses detailed descriptions to aid both the beginning hiker and the experienced outdoorsperson to navigate the diverse and complex mountain area of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

Wild Berries of the West, Margaret C. Fuller and Betty B. Derig

Written for berry lovers, adventurous cooks, amateur botanists and students of Native American folklore, Wild Berries of the West is an indispensable field guide to the fruits of the western outdoors.

Finding the Top of the Sky: Essays, James Grabill

James Grabill confronts the modern world with a combination of poetry and prose, insisting “that compassion triumph over cruelty and meditative clarity over bombast and spin” (Christopher Howell).                            

Computeritis: And How to Survive the Technological Age, Joe Thames Gundy

Part autobiography, part essay, Computeritis is a survival guide for the technological age, helping to navigate the over-amped craziness of modern times and emerge happily on the other side.

Ki and Reiki, Joe Thames Gundy

With a bit of history and personal sharing, Joe Thames Gundy tells the touching story of finding Reiki—a stress-reducing Japanese technique that promotes healing.

Elegant Soul: The Life and Music of Gene Harris, Janie Harris and Bob Evancho

Written by Janie (Gene Harris’s widow) with the help of Bob Evancho, Elegant Soul paints a vivid portrait of an enormously talented and graceful man.

A Gift of Life: A Memoir of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Hungary, Lorissa Wilfong Holt

This is the remarkable true story of a World War II refugee returning from America to Europe as a Peace Corp Volunteer after a lifetime of heartache and joy, to discover that the second half of life can be just as rewarding as the first.

Along Montana & Idaho’s Continental Divide Trail, Lynna Howard (author) and Leland Howard (photographer)

Written and photographed by a sister and brother team, this book explores the 900-mile stretch of the Continental Divide Trail that cuts through Idaho and Montana, a country so wild grizzlies still inhabit the beautiful and intimidating terrain.

Montana and Idaho’s Continental Divide Trail, Lynna Howard (author) and Leland Howard (photographer)

Complete with maps, elevation charts, mountain biking information, trailhead access points and resupply information, this is the perfect guide for all trekkers of Montana and Idaho’s Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.

Cataclysm: When Human Stories Meet Earth’s Faults, Douglas W. Huigen

This is the story of the largest earthquake ever recorded in the Rockies, an event so strong it sheered a mountain, buried nineteen campers, and fatally injured seven others along the Madison River.

Dishrag Soup & Poverty Cake: An Idaho Potluck of Essays on Food, Idaho Humanities Council

Forty-three contributors from Hayden to Pocatello share recipes and tales of food while also enlightening us on the most important ingredients of all: community, friendship, family and memory.

Idaho Snapshots: Stories from the Popular Radio Series, Rick Just

Idaho Snapshots brings to print a number of Rick Just’s commentaries celebrating Idaho’s Centennial and some of the state’s most unique and interesting histories.

Burning Fence: A Western Memoir of Fatherhood, Craig Lesley

Lesley, an award-winning novelist, turns the prose lens onto his own life and evaluates his struggles in coping with an estranged father, a born-again half-brother and a violent foster son.

Small Boy: The Wisconsin Childhood of Homer L. Pound, Alec Marsh, ed.

Homer Pound—father of the 20th-century’s greatest and most controversial poet, Ezra Pound—tells the story of his Midwestern childhood, shedding light on the origins of one of American literature’s most influential players.

Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939-1942, Garet Garrett and Bruce Ramsey

Eloquently written, these columns took the losing side in the most momentous foreign policy debate of the 20th-century: whether, and in what fashion, to take sides in the world’s most calamitous and horrific war.

The Journals of Patrick Gass: Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Carol Lynn MacGregor, ed.

Patrick Gass was one of the few members of the Corps of Discovery who kept a detailed and thorough log of the expedition’s daily activities. Written in simple and direct language, his journal chronicles the historic journey from start to finish.

Boise with Kids: 101 Adventures in Treasure Valley and Beyond, Jean McNeil

Floating the Boise River, exploring the Oregon Trail and blading the Greenbelt are just a few of the adventures on which Jean McNeil, a veteran mother and Idaho journalist, takes you and your children.

Idaho Wine Country, Alan Minskoff (author) and Paul Hosefros (photographer)

With a combination of spare prose and breathtaking photography, Alan Minskoff and Paul Hosefros take you on a journey through Idaho’s wine country, introducing you to a relatively unknown, yet budding industry.

Idaho Anthem, Les Montgomery, M.D.

In this humorous book, the reader gets a “how not to do it” look into the misadventures of Les Montgomery, a Gem state doctor. Dr. Montgomery also includes a history of Idaho’s medicine from the Indian Wars to Medicaid.

Meriwether’s Medical Chest, Les Montgomery, M.D.

Ever wonder about the medical procedures of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?  Dr. Les Montgomery did, and in this little book he tells us what he found out about the Corps of Discovery and their medical team.

A Forest of Wormwood: Sagebrush, Water and Idaho’s Twin Falls Canal Company, Niels Sparre Nokkentved

Without holding anything back, this book brings to light the biggest water-rights war in Idaho’s history, while informing the reader about the principles of water use and the development of the West.

Rebel Yell, Lance Olson

Witty, informative and featuring over 40 interviews with contemporary authors, editors and publishing insiders, Rebel Yell is a must in learning to write fiction that will grab attention in a crowded literary world. 

While They Died, Robert Patterson

In 1967, Bob Patterson traveled to Vietnam and gained employment with a massive joint-venture. Soon corrupt officials, crooked politicians and the killing of brave American soldiers strained this otherwise patriotic man’s convictions.

My Oregon Life: The Memories of a 20th Century Pioneer, Elvine P. Gienger and David Proctor

Elvine “Bangor” Gienger tells her extraordinary life story through her own words, giving voice to a bygone time and a look into how the elderly connect us to our past and inform us about ourselves.

The Red Tease: A Woman’s Adventure in Golf, Elaine A. Romano

This little book—featuring some of the author’s award-winning columns from Intermountain Golf Magazine—won’t improve your golf game, but it might just double you over with laughter.

The Treasure Called Tubbs Hill, Scott W. Reed

Coeur D’Alene’s environmental gadfly, Scott Reed, delivers a comprehensive look at Tubbs Hill, from its history and ecology, to the efforts to preserve this ecological gem.

Letters of Long Ago, Agnes Just Reid

Told in the form of letters, this book—written by Emma Thompson Just’s only daughter—chronicles 20 years of courageously eking out an existence on the harsh, high desert of Eastern Idaho.

Traplines: Coming Home to Sawtooth Valley, John Rember

Rember returns to his home in the Sawtooth Valley, but it doesn’t feel like home, not anymore. To make sense of this loss, he excavates the mine of memories and shows us how they can allow us to understand anew the stories we tell ourselves.

The Night My Small Red Beans Grew Legs and Ran Away, The Mourner and Other Women, Susan Richardson

In this collection of short stories, Richardson delivers witty, quick-hit tales that will leave readers doubled over and clutching their bellies in laughter.

A Single Square Picture: A Korean Adoptee’s Search for Her Roots, Katy Robinson

Armed with a single photograph and the blessing of her adoptive family, a Korean-American girl sets out on a quest to find the birth mother who sent her to the United States long ago.

Secrets of the Magic Valley and Hagerman’s Remarkable Horse, Todd Shallat, ed.

Beneath the arid surface, secrets lurk and confound science, challenging us to rethink the history of a stark, spectacular land. This book gives a comprehensive and complex look at the history of the Magic Valley and its inhabitants.

Tom & Julia Davis: “Some Good Place,” Boise, Idaho, Susan M. Stacy

Susan M. Stacy retells the remarkable story of Tom and Julia Davis, a wife and husband who created a city out of wilderness while triumphing over family tragedy and the challenges of business with determination and joy. 

More Stories from Home, Judy McConnell Steele

Originally published in The Idaho Statesman, these are Judy McConnell Steele’s revised columns dishing on family, kids, travel and the Nineties, among other things that will make you both laugh and cry.

Stories from Home, Judy McConnell Steele

The original collection of Judy McConnell Steele’s columns from The Idaho Statesman, these funny, sometimes serious pieces take on such issues as the Eighties, abortion, gun rights and George Burn

Cool North Wind: Morley Nelson’s Life with Birds of Prey, Stephen Stuebner

As a civilian, Morley Nelson was a major force in protecting birds of prey and their habitat. As a soldier, he received a Silver Star for his service in WWII.  In this book, Stephen Stuebner recounts the extraordinary events of a life well-lived.

 

Children and Young Adult:

Gators & Taters: A Week of Bedtime Stories, Elaine Ambrose Romano

Captivating scenes and gentle messages bubble with lyrical language, introducing kids to juggling alligators, hungry giants and a bicycle ride to the moon.

Cinco De Mouse-o!, Judy Cox (author) and Jeffrey Ebbeler (illustrator)

Mouse wakes to a wonderful smell and starts out to find its source. He spots a piñata high up in a tree and dreams of just one piece of candy. But watch out: cat is planning a fiesta and Mouse is on the menu.

The Journey of Ban, James B. Harshfield

In this second book of the Ban Trilogy, the evil wizard Crossmore must be thwarted before he executes his evil plan to lay waste to the world, whose only hope rests in the hands of Coaldon and his fellow adventurers.

The Key of Ban, James B. Harshfield

This book begins the Ban Trilogy, the fast-paced and tantalizing adventures of Coaldon of Rocknee and his companions as they venture into the den of the evil wizard, Crossmore, in an attempt to stop his plans of terror and destruction.

The Power of Ban, James B. Harshfield

The Ban Trilogy comes to a startling conclusion as the evil wizard Crossmore wages war against the brave rebellion raised by Prince Coaldon and his noble companions.

Wizard Chase, Rick Just

A skinny, 13-year-old kid named Gerrald follows a cat into a cave and finds himself in a place called Kimyra, where he leads alien trekkers on a quest to steal the eyes of a dragon. 

Wizards’ End, Rick Just

In this dragon-riding, planet-hopping adventure, the destiny of Kimyra and the galaxy will be decided in one final struggle.

Wizard Girl, Rick Just

Kat believes her father when he tells her of a magical world called Kimyra. Then teenhood approaches and her faith wanes, until a mysterious creature appears and Kat follows it into a world of soaring dragons and whirling wallacatoons.

The Elephant in My Stocking: Introducing Linda Furtado Fagundes McGee, Chris Latter

Linda must learn quickly to keep her wits about her when Santa throws in a few unexpected twists and turns in trying to respond to her enormous wish.

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Sara Nickerson

Armed with a swimming medal, a key and a handwritten comic book, Margaret and her neighbor (Boyd) investigate an abandoned mansion to solve her father’s mysterious drowning death.

Zach’s Lie, Roland Smith

Zach Granger has been relocated to a new town by the Witness Protection Program. Everything about him is a lie: his name, his hometown, his eye color.  Just as he’s about to pull his new life together, danger comes for him once more.

 

Anthologies and Journals:

The Whistle Pig, Vol. 1. Fall 2009, Mountain Home Arts Council

The Whistle Pig, Vol. 2. Fall 2010, Mountian Home Arts Council

Published by the Mountain Home Arts Council, The Whistle Pig is an annual journal that gives voice to contributors from Elmore County and the surrounding area.

cold-drill, Issue 35. 2005, John Ottey and Erich Schweikher, eds.

Innovative and exciting, cold-drill is the journal of stories and poems gathered and published by Boise State University’s MFA students. 

First Light: Poems, Stories and Essays of the Winter Holiday Season, Calypso Publications

These poems, stories and essays focus on the beauty of winter and the true meaning of the holiday season.

Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace: Writing by Women of the Great Plains/High Plains, Marjorie Saiser, Greg Kosmicki and Lisa Sandlin, eds.

The indelible spirit of women living the hardscrabble life of the Plains comes to life in the stories collected in Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace.

The Idaho Review, Volume 10, 2009, Mitch Wieland, ed.

In the Tenth Anniversary Issue of The Idaho Review you’ll find contributions from such acclaimed authors as Rick Bass, Stuart Dybek, Alyson Hagy, Chris Offut, Brad Watson and others.

 

Poetry:

Goodbye, Magpie, Rick Ardinger

Goodbye, Magpie is a collection of poems about traveling and the Idaho mountains, along with the renewal to be found through good friends, good places and good love.

Holocene Trail Guide to the Boise Front, David Beisly-Guiotto

Using a mix of prose and poetry mingled with geological history David Beisley-Guiotto explores Boise’s backyard and introduces us to the foothill’s rich ecosystem.

The Radium Watch Dial Painters, D.S. Butterworth

“Musically adept, tonally acute, sharply insightful: this is wise and well-written poetry that deserves our attention” (Tod Marshall).

Straw into Gold, Irene Dodge

Beautiful and lyrical, these poems acquaint us with the killdeer and the forest, while showing a mother dealing with the death of a child: a death still real to her after the passing of decades.

Caffeine Poems, Thom Garzone

Sex, love, education and travel are all on the menu in these thirteen seriously humorous poems about surviving in the modern world.

Songs of Urban Madness, Thom Garzone

War, sickness, home and love are all touched on in this collection of poems by Thom Garzone.

Transformations in the Abysmal Soul, Thom Garzone

Garzone’s poems are both intimate and world-encompassing, capturing the plight of Afghan women and the mundane beauty of house hunting in a new city.

Blue Like the Heavens, Gary Gildner

Accessible and readable, these poems possess emotional depth that will delight the reader who bemoans obscure poetry.

The Baseball Field at Night, Patricia Goedicke

“[Patricia Goedicke’s] lexicon is deliciously rich. Her voice has life. She was in the world in her time, and these poems are the moving case” (Forrest Gander).

Hunting for Bittersweet: Memories from Missouri, Delores Gore

In Hunting for Bittersweet, a bygone time is brought forth in astonishing detail through the mingling of poetry and photographs.

Payette River Anthology, Carol Gorman

These poems place you firmly in Idaho and its backcountry, and then sweep you away to Taiwan and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard.

Hurry Back, Alvin Greenberg

“A love for the quotidian and a refreshing humor undergird these original and wise lyrics” (Robin Becker).

Passionate Travelogue: New & Collected Poetic Sequences, Alvin Greenberg

“[This book] reads like an intellectual and emotional diary—the sculpted notations of a witness to his times, thus in large part surreal. It delivers the news we can’t get from the media—news from the interior” (Stephen Dunn).

Love, Poetry, & Philosophy, Joe Thames Gundy

In this unique and stirring collection of poems and essays, Joe Thames Gundy takes on life, love and philosophy through vivid word pictures that clearly express his point of view.

Ripples: A Book of Spiritual Pause and Ponder, James B. Harshfield

Through freestyle verse, Ripples invites the reader to see the beauty of God in all things and seek guidance through the Spirit of Truth.

Betting on the Night, Dennis Held

“From the moraines of Wisconsin to the Idaho Rockies, Dennis Held writes about America. His poems find their roots like the poems of Richard Hugo and Ray Carver, deep in the organic soil of physical detail” (Dorianne Laux).

The Green Tuxedo, Janet Holmes

Winner of the 1999 Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry, The Green Tuxedo “is a wonderful book [beaming] light into the darkness that surrounds us all” (Thomas Lux).

Humanophone, Janet Holmes

“Holmes works language into a variety of forms both familiar—syllabics, couplets, villanelles, sonnets—and engagingly new” (back cover).

Through Silence: The Ling Wei Texts, Christopher Howell

“In his Ling Wei poems Christopher Howell joins his command of meditative tone with lyric narratives and brilliant visual imagery. The result is a stunning new sequence of poems” (Joseph Langland).

The Bradshaw Riots, Arlitia Jones

Winner of the 2001 Brunsman Poetry Prize, this collection comes from a place raw and real, bringing to life the grit and grind of the working class without pandering and romanticizing. 

Thistle, Melissa Kwasny

Thistle’s “poems are so exact in their movement and presentation, so fresh in their botanical and observatory language, they invoke … what it would be like to be brave enough to touch both the inner and outer worlds” (Christopher Howell).

20th century led astray blues, LaRoy

In this collection, we witness the impact – both good and bad – on a person raised in the leaded smog of the white, Southern California suburbs.

Driving & Drinking, David Lee

“In Lee’s work there is … just a voice … making a sort of social comment, in creating the hard world of the bottom class, he does so by telling, retelling, some of the funniest and most terrible stories” (Western American Literature).

The Porcine Canticles, David Lee

“[Lee] entertains us, enlightens us, makes us laugh and feel good laughing, [and] makes us taste the sadness of our world” (David Clewell).

What Mattered Once, What Matters Now: An Anthology of the Live Poets Society, The Live Poets Society, William Studebaker, intro.

In this anthology of poems written by Idaho poets, the reader experiences both the magical and realistic life of the Intermountain West.

Dancing Shadows, Mustangs & Dreams: Poems of the Western Range, Sam Mattise and Michael Luque, Photography

Complimented by Michael Luque’s breathtaking photography, Sam Mattise’s poetry takes you into the West and what remains of the cowboy way of life.

Lucifer: A Hagiography, Philip Memmer

“Memmer’s collection, with a few pitches and an unexpected saint we can all root for, has the power to provoke, enlighten and unsettle” (M.L. Smoker).

As Is, Sheryl Noethe

“Sheryl … chronicles a lost and battered world in gritty detail, a bleak world saved by her tough humor” (Ed Lahey).

Composing Voices: A Cycle of Dramatic Monologues, Robert Pack

“Robert Pack is a humane and eloquent poet, deeply seasoned by the courage to surmount suffering, and wonderfully benign in his exaltation of the common life” (Harold Bloom).

At the Edge of the Western Wave, Carlos Reyes

“[T]his collection … catches perfectly that special sense of rural Ireland which might be described as a mixture of raw satirical humour” (Ger Killeen).

Rapunzel’s Short Hair & Braving the Flood: Two Volumes of Poetry, Susan Richardson

“[F]airy tales in a modern voice … a feminist voice … recovering the suppressed voice of these women who were created through a patriarchal mind … you’ve unfairied them” (Deeanna Rohr).

Friendly Fire, Katrina Roberts

“This is a gorgeous, amazing book. I’ve been an admirer of Katrina Roberts’ poems for years and these poems confirm my long-standing affection” (Sherman Alexie).

Bowl and Pitcher Park, Ryan Sawyer

Both traditional and inventive, the poems in Bowl and Pitcher Park cast a close eye on the space around us with detail and wonder.

The Nature of My Spirit: Seasons of Soul, Lisa K. Stravers Seeliger

These complex and affecting poems blend and mold Spanish and English together in their exploration of a woman’s experience in the modern world.

The Imaginary World, Daniel Stewart

“The poems [in] … The Imaginary World exhibit unusual honesty and elegance as they explore our connections with the natural world and with each other” (Diane Raptosh).

Ghostholders Know, Ford Swetnam

“These poems … are … as subtle as frost on a warm wind. We hitchhike … from Amsterdam to Silver City, Idaho, listening to a traveler long on the journey and willing to share” (Gerald Grimmett).

Come Share My Swing, Ann Vycital

“In a time when poetry seems to have become its own subject, I loved reading [these] poems about life. Her poems swing. And sing. And soar” (Clay Morgan).

On the Dark Side, Ann Vycital

Ann Vycital calls the writing in this collection “dark brown or black.” And indeed, she takes on the darker side of humanity in these finely crafted poems and short stories.

Ruthy Proffer’s Eagle Ordeal, Tamara Shores

“No one said anything about the eagle attached to Ruthy Proffer’s face. It might well have been a botched eyelift. Ruthy ignored it—believing it might vanish while folding laundry or grocery shopping” (Shores).

Like This, Like That, Libby Wagner

“With poise and an unflinching eye on our underlife, Libby Wagner sings back to us in a voice that is muscular, sensual, and clear” (Nance Van Winckle).

Nome Poems, Ken Waldman

“[Ken Waldman is] a vessel—for stories, music, that far northern place he has chosen as home—and transmits it all as a wondrous, authentic blend, replete with humor and heart” (Naomi Shihab Nye).

We Do Not Eat Our Hearts Alone, Kerri Webster

“An authentically original voice of astonishing intellectual and formal range, refreshing and disarming in its frankness. The vision here is fierce, intimate, and tireless” (Carl Phillips).

No Wrong Notes, Norman Weinstein

“In … Weinstein’s vibrant … collection of prose poems, the sentence is a dexterous musical composition where various cultures lovingly collide” (Laynie Browne).

Albedo, Norman Weinstein

“The root-metaphors of an alchemical psychology are here located within imaginal landscapes evoking Jamaica, Russia, Israel, and America” (back cover).

Weaving Fire From Water[Rubedo: Book II], Norman Weinstein

“This book … mirror[s] the alchemical stages of moving out of a time of dark chaos through an unsettling limbo into a period of fulfillment” (back cover).

The Paradelle: An Anthology, Theresa M. Welford, ed.

Here is an anthology celebrating the paradelle, a poetry form invented by former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins to parody the villanelle.

Caliban, John Whalen

“John Whalen’s Caliban is tempest-, whiskey-, and romance-tossed. It is also mordantly funny, peculiarly moving, and always gorgeous” (Elizabeth McCracken).

A Change of Maps, Carolyne Wright

“In these brilliant and intuitive poems, Carolyne Wright reflects on love and independence, love and work, choices made in youth and the larger awarenesses that enable the world and the species to continue” (Betsy Sholl).

Clearing Away, Charles David Wright

“[W]ith an easy readiness Charles David Wright takes up stances that enable the best communication of the surprising things he has to say” (William Stafford).