10 Books Like YELLOWSTONE for a Literary Cowboy Journey

This content material accommodates affiliate hyperlinks. When you purchase via these hyperlinks, we could earn an affiliate fee.

Addison Rizer is a author and reader of something that may be described as bizarre, unhappy, or scary. She has an MA in Professional Writing and a BA in English. She writes for Book Riot and Publishers Weekly and is all the time trying for extra methods to gush in regards to the books she loves. Find her printed work or contact her on her web site or at addisonrizer at gmaildotcom.

View All posts by Addison Rizer

It looks like everyone seems to be speaking about Yellowstone as of late. And for good purpose! The violent Western drama follows the Dutton household as they handle the biggest ranch in Montana and fend off anybody and something that tries to get of their method. USA Today calls it the “biggest series on TV” as its fifth season wraps up. With its spin-offs, 1883 and 1923, there’s greater than sufficient to leap into for the lengthy haul. Full of soap-opera-esque household drama, bloody violence, and lovely landscapes, there’s one thing for everybody. If you’re trying for extra books like Yellowstone, we’re right here to assist.

Some level out the slender perspective the present takes with variety, focusing — as usually occurs in Westerns — on the issues of white male cowboys. While the present does painting some Indigenous, queer, and Black tales, the main target is the Duttons and their desperation to maintain their land the way in which it’s regardless of points with looming builders and the close by Native reservation. It’s pretty well-known the Western style tends to have a one-track thoughts in terms of whose tales it tells.

So, listed here are 10 nice books like Yellowstone, with some alternate views to the everyday Western included, too!

no country for old men cormac mccarthy book cover

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

After serving as a sniper for the Army, Llewelyn Moss is out within the desert taking pictures when he finds a left-behind pick-up truck with lifeless males throughout. Inside is a briefcase full of cash that he can’t resist taking. Now, the lads who did this are on his tail, wanting the cash again that they so willingly killed for already. For followers of the violence and blood within the Yellowstone collection, this one’s for you!

A Sharp Solitude by Christine Carbo

More wilderness than Western, this follows the investigation into the homicide of a journalist in distant Montana by the Canadian border. When FBI agent Ali Page sees that the finger is being pointed at her ex-boyfriend and daughter’s father, who final noticed the journalist alive, she begins to poke round to clear his identify. Set towards a brutal panorama and with interpersonal drama susceptible to getting out, Yellowstone followers will nonetheless benefit from the story regardless of the not-so-Western features.

Book cover of How Much of These Hills Is Gold

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang

After the dying of their mom, Lucy and Sam have solely their father, who spends his days searching for gold within the West. That is, till he dies, turning them into orphans in a mining city. Now, the siblings want to search out the right place to bury their father whereas navigating an unforgiving panorama through the Gold Rush. The familial themes and the cruel world are good for Yellowstone followers.

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz

On the way in which to the United States from Sweden, Hakan and his brother have a lengthy journey forward. When they get separated whereas headed for New York, Hakan jumps on a ship, hoping to reunite with him there. But when his ship results in California, he begins the lengthy slog of touring throughout the United States to search out him. If the panorama of Yellowstone is your factor, this ebook has a few of the most lovely descriptions of the West as Hakan travels via it.

Wounded by Percival Everett

John Hunt is a Black horse coach operating his ranch in distant Wyoming within the aftermath of his spouse’s dying. When a younger homosexual man is murdered, and close by animals begin to flip up lifeless, violence creeps nearer to his life. Taking a younger man from Chicago beneath his wing, John exhibits him the methods of farm life. With group rigidity rising and a blizzard on the way in which, John’s life is about to get a lot much less steady.

The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich

After Gretel Ehrlich journeys to Wyoming for work, grieving the dying of her companion, she finds herself staying within the wilderness for longer than supposed. This nonfiction assortment of non-public essays sheds mild on the truth of the American West within the Seventies and the individuals who lived and beloved there.

Outlawed by Anna North

After Ada marries her husband as a teenager, a clock begins ticking down. She will need to have a little one inside a yr or danger being hanged. As time handed with no little one, Ada determined to run away, becoming a member of an outlaw group known as the Hole within the Wall Gang. To get a protected and cozy life, they need to put their lives on the road to make it occur.

Inland by Téa Obreht

Left on his personal to outlive as a little one, Lurie takes up employment with The Coachman, a grave robber and outlaw, the place he finds a semblance of household. That is, till his involvement will get him needed and on the run. Years later, Nora is accountable for sustaining her household farm whereas her husband goes off in the hunt for water. When her sons go off too, she’s fearful about their return and simply how thirsty she’s getting. The storylines weave collectively in sudden methods as each haunted folks search solace of their recollections.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

For three many years, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call had been Texas Rangers combating whoever crossed their path. As the turmoil of the time calmed, they fashioned a steady in Lonesome Dove, the place they deliberate one final hurrah earlier than they settled down, driving cattle from Texas to Montana. The relationships are on the forefront of this touching Western.

Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down by Ishmael Reed

In the Western city of Yellow Back Radio, Loop Garoou, a Black cowboy, is out for revenge. Drag Gibson is the white and rich proprietor of principally the entire city, and he does what he pleases, together with killing anybody and everybody he can. Loop decides to make use of his voodoo powers to get again on the violent man. More of a satire of the Western, this one’s lovely and surreal — good for somebody interested by a totally different tackle the style.

For extra cowboy Western vibe books, try 28 of the perfect Western books or these 8 alternate historical past Westerns!

Have one other TV present you’re simply dying for a comparable ebook to however can’t appear to search out one anyplace? Check out Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendation (TBR) service, the place skilled Bibliologists are consultants to find the right ebook for you. After filling out a survey in your tastes, your Bibliologist will give you three suggestions simply for you. With choices to simply get the suggestions or to get exhausting copies of the books despatched proper to your door, there’s one thing for everybody. Next time you turn into obsessive about a present and wish a literary model, try TBR!