[Bookworm_Girl]

The poll is closed now. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go until the end! I am pleased with the outcome and looking forward to the month. Now that voting is over I'll share a little more about how I built my list.

I have lived most of my life in the Western US. I have lived in many states: on the Mississippi River and on the Pacific coast as well as adjacent to both the Canadian and Mexican borders. Therefore I love this whole expansive region and not particularly any single region.

The book on the list that I most wanted to share was Ramona. This book was one of my favorite reads last year. It is similar to A Secret River and Fools Crow. I learned much history about the clash amongst the Mexican, Spanish, Indian and American cultures as California became a U.S. state. There is also a beautiful tale of forbidden love between two races woven in with the history. I discovered this gem in the gift store of the Old Mission in Santa Barbara, CA.
http://www.santabarbaramission.org/

I discovered Willa Cather in New Mexico while visiting Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Taos. Her descriptions of the landscape are so vivid, and I enjoyed reading Death Comes to the Archbishop while traveling through this area at the same time.

I selected a book by Sarah Orne Jewett because of her influence on Willa Cather.

I knew I had to have a Mark Twain book on the list since he's a big influence on every kid's reading where I grew up. I discovered Roughing It in a display of Twain's books while exploring the old mining town of Virginia City, Nevada.

Spoiler:

Virginia City could be considered the "birthplace" of Mark Twain, as it was here in February 1863 that writer Samuel Clemens, then a reporter on the local Territorial Enterprise newspaper, first used his famous pen name. Clemens lived in Virginia City and wrote for the Enterprise from late fall 1862 until May 1864, when he escaped from a potential duel instigated by a local newspaper editor upset at Clemens' reporting. Clemens returned to the Comstock region twice on western lecture tours, once in 1866 where he was mugged on the Divide. The muggers relieved Clemens of his watch and his money. The robbery turns out to have been a practical joke played on Clemens by his friends. He did not appreciate the joke, but he did retrieve his belongings—particularly his gold watch (worth $300), which had great sentimental value. Clemens mentions the incident in his book Roughing It (1872), apparently still sore about it. Clemens' second lecture tour in 1868 occurred at the time of the hanging of John Millian, who was convicted of murdering Julia Bulette.

In January I watched the TV mini-series Klondike on the Discovery channel which was based on Charlotte Gray's non-fiction book Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike. Highly recommend this show! Jack London is one of the main characters and keeps repeating the phrase "burning daylight." Richard Madden stars as Bill Haskell, one of the most successful miners from the Klondike rush. You may know Madden as Robb Stark from Game of Thrones. I share this info because the real Bill Haskell's memoir was absolutely riveting and one of my favorite reads of this year. This subtitle "thrilling narrative" is no exaggeration! Madden mentions reading Haskell's book to prepare for the role.
http://www.amazon.com/Years-Klondike...skell+Klondike
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...-stunts-672552

Richard Dana Jr.'s book has been mentioned in multiple books I've read in the last year so I figured that I should read it someday!

Wharton and James have been on my TBR list for ages, and I keep meaning to get to several of their books!