North Dakota Books

This was a book club selection, and we all enjoyed it. The author, Kent Nerburn ,lives in Minnesota as we do. He has considerable knowledge of the areas described in the book, and the ways of life on the reservations. The story is written by a white man who is being "talked to" by an elderly Indian oral historian. Because Nerburn was a writer, he was contacted by the grandaughter of the elderly man. They wanted his stories recorded and passed on. It is fascinating to anyone who is interested in the perspective of the Indians about the early interactions and dealings with white men. The relationship between the author and storyteller grew over time as their respect and trust for one another solidified and developed. The book introduces us to many interesting characters and places. They actually travel many miles to see and experience the feelings and places included in the stories. I was especially moved emotionally by the visit to the "Wounded Knee". I liked this book very much,It is "one of a kind".

This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine and I am glad he took the time to tell me about it. I just received my copy yesterday and I am just over half way through it, but it is safe to say this is one of the best books I have ever read. I literally could not stop reading it (until it got too late and I had to get to bed otherwise I would have probably missed work because of it.)

The book itself is refreshing in its honesty. The author, and the people in the book didn't try to make themselves look any better than they truly are. Some people will say this book is not for those seeking spiritual enlightenment, as a seeker myself, I think it cannot hurt. It contains many truths about how to live as well numerous other things that cannot be overlooked. The timing of this book is perfect and I recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to learn more about Native Americans or who thinks the Native Americans were simply on the wrong side in a battle for land.

This book may come across as a slap in the face to many, but it is one that is much needed and deserved. If you have taken the time to read through the reviews, then you are serious enough to buy this book and I promise you will not be the least bit disappointed. I have already recommended it to four friends and bought another copy for another friend and I am not even finished with my first reading of this book.

Dan, the elder, spoke the words I had only in my head but never knew how to speak. He spoke of the abuses of the past that continue today. The book is thought brovoking as well as entertaining and humorous. My only nagative is there are no thoughts on resolutions to the many problems still facing the Native Americans.
I feel bad about what happened but I don't feel guilty as I was not there during the attempted extermination and take over of their land. My thoughts don't even come close to the bias shown against red, black, yellow or brown people and to an extent to the white people from the others.
This is an excellent book. I recomend it to anyone and everyone interested in Native American studies.

I really dumbed onto this book and I was totally hypnotized by it. As so many have written, you learn so much from it and you feel so guilty...particularly as a white American. But you also laugh. You aren't beaten up for 300+ pages without respite - there is humorous wisdom in those pages and there are delightful experiences. Over my 54 years, I've tried to act in ways furthering civil rights. I've read so much and seen so much. Never have I seen so much in one small book. It shouldn't just be in libraries. It should be taught in schools. Great, great read!

I have read many books on the Lakota over the past 10 years, but I enjoyed this book more than any other book I have read !!! From the first page, I was completely hooked ! You actually feel like you are along for the ride with Kent and Dan ! He is a beautiful, descriptive writer that creates such a mood and his love for the people becomes so evident. What I enjoyed most about the book was how he tells you about 'his' feelings being immersed in this culture, and how it feels to be the 'odd man out' for a change. He tells you his true feelings--how what they say and do around him--how that affects him and makes him feel. I feel like I know Dan intimately because of how well he described him and I actually felt affection for him !!! This book had the unique quality of making you 'laugh out loud' and later crying your eyes out.....what a treasure !

Sometimes I found myself angry at Dan, but then I realized--well these are Dan's 'feelings', which you come to understand why he has them. I think Kent told this story from Dan's point of view--and also from his own---and after reading this book, I realized I was guilty of some of the things Dan didn't like about the whites. This book makes you examine how 'you' truly feel about the culture, and if some of us are perhaps, romanticizing and thinking of the Indians in the way we 'need' to think of them--not the way it really is. I am not a good writer, so I can't express in words how much I enjoyed this book. I actually MADE myself stop reading some days just so I could drag it out. I was so sad when it ended....so sad.... I felt like I had just been back to Pine Ridge and I just wanted more. I have heard they are making a movie out of the book--which I'm thrilled about ! I loved this book so much that I decided to read another book of his--CHIEF JOSEPH AND THE FLIGHT OF THE NEZ PERCE and I can honestly say that I am just as spellbound as I was in NEITHER WOLF NOR DOG. Now, believe this or not---I have NEITHER WOLF NOR DOG still sitting on my kitchen table because I cannot bear to put it away yet. It's as if having it in sight, and seeing the picture of the old rusty car and the golden landscape keeps me living in the book !
Silly, I know...but true..... Kent Nerburn is a beautiful writer and I surely hope he continues to put his remarkable talent to use.

Shelley Bausch in Iowa

This is one of my heart books. It is prose that reads like poetry. It is Norris at her best; I've yet to read anything of hers that surpasses Dakota. I read this at a time when I was living in New Mexico and hiking the mountains and canyons there with my spiritual friend. I grew up on a farm in a family of beekeepers, so I was no stranger to the world of nature. But reading Dakota helped me come into my own spiritually. For the first time I felt the spirit in the land and came to understand my own spiritual geography as I read other spiritual greats like Julian of Norwich and the Cloud of Unknowing. The mountains and canyons became the terrain of the spirit. Norris' descriptions of the Dakota landscape made me want to be there, to witness the spirit in the land, the spirit of the land. And by loving her spiritual geography, I came to love my own. From that moment on, the land has been more sacred, more reverential, more Eucharistic. I will always return to this book.

The book likens the experience of living in the western Dakotas to that of monasticism. Some poetry in prose as she enthuses over the landscape, and her occasional visits to a nearby Benedictine monastery. (Norris is a Presbyterian.) The book is marred by some digressions on economics that may have seemed necessary to the author, but which did not magnetize this reader; also, there are some remarks about her fellow townspeople (their provincialism, their being "set in their ways") that seem to flirt with "Snobama"-type elitism. There is the incredible claim on p. 210 that the Benedictine order predates "the Catholic hierarchy" -- to employ the popular code, whiskey tango foxtrot? But Norris's genuine affection for the monks, for the landscape, and (yes) for most of her neighbors, does come through and make us almost forget the flaws.

The key to this book is right there in the title. The Dakota of Kathleen Norris' experience, depiction, and understanding is a decidedly spiritual state of being. Just as "deep calls unto deep," so the austere, high plains landscape both evokes and instructs Norris' interior world. Having traveled with Norris through her "Cloister Walk," and having learned her lexicon in "Amazing Grace," I was prepared to look around Dakota with her penetrating vision, to listen to the wind with her attentive hearing, to think deeply about what we were seeing together, and to let my heart grow still as she taught me. Now, though I've never yet been to the high plains, I have truly been to Kathleen Norris' unique and personal Dakota -- and is that not the best accolade for a travelogue, that the reader honestly feels that he's made the trip? I gave this book to a deep-souled friend who needed the time of quiet contemplation it provides, and I recommend it to you as well.

Whoever thought the little town of Lemmon, South Dakota could be an addition to that 'places you must visit some day' list? Sparsely populated,remote with miles of nothingness, adverse to modern technology and with constant severe weather, you would think, before your read "Dakota - A Spiritual Geography" by Kathleen Norris you might just want to skip that one spot on your travels. But after reading this eloquently written, detailed account of life on the plains, I longed to go there. Norris gave the land a power to behold, peopled with a mix of families that love the land going back generations, native Americans and monks. A tight knit community, who keep to themselves, and although of different beliefs and lifestyles, they somehow all fit together with one common denominator - the land.

Kathleen Norris returned to her native Dakota, home of her grandparents after a long absence and living life as a bona-fide city girl. After 20 years back,working in both North and South Dakota,and although very much accepted and a pillar of the community, she still seems to be an outsider. She writes of the adjustments to her new life on this stark and harsh land, but more so of the love and appreciation of a place out of the time with the rest of the world. Woven together are the very different ways the various cultures and religious beliefs of the inhabitants make this land work for them. Norris' own religious background,including the many years faith played little or no part ofher life, is an integral part of the story as well.The beauty of the land had awakened in her a new spirit.

The visions that she gives of land stretching forever, the power of the wind and weather puts the reader right there and you can almost smell and taste the sights, sounds and flavors of Dakota country.So simple a place, yet so complex in it's being,she compares this dry landscape to an ocean. It's a memoir, but more then that it's an experience that we become part of. One you may not want to come back from too soon.

Highly recommended for those who like to be swept away to another place for just a little while. Thanks Ms. Norris for a wonderful read.
enjoy....Laurie

hardcover:Dakota a Spiritual Geography

I had been meaning to read this book for years. After finally doing so, and then skimming through the 40+ previous Amazon reviews, it is clear that the book will appeal most to those of a highly spiritual bent (but probably not devout followers of an organized religious denomination or practice). I am not highly spiritual, so the book does not speak as intensely to me as no doubt it does to many. Nonetheless, I admire the author's sincerity and her individuality.

As for the "Dakota" angle, that too is present, although not to the degree perhaps suggested by the title. Don't expect some sort of travelogue or overview of the Dakotas. In point of fact, much of the content is rather prosaic, which of course is not really a criticism of what is essentially an inward, spiritual book. Actually, the "geographical" locus of the book has more to do, I think, with the High Plains and with small towns than it does with the Dakotas.

The book consists of thirty or so short stand-alone chapters, interspersed with what the author terms "weather reports". Thus, it is somewhat of a hodgepodge; it certainly is not an example or product of linear thought (which also denotes it as spiritual in nature). I ended up marking a few sentences or paragraphs for future reference. In that sense, I found the book to be somewhat like a magpie's collection -- a few sparkling gem-like pieces of glass amidst a lot of string, weeds, and twigs.

This is a really great read. The story is gripping and original and the characters are ones you don't see in every novel. The story is unique and untold with it's own interpretations of love and hate, excitement and suspense.

You fall in love with the main characters, both their positives and negatives, but in the meantime there is a whole array of background characters and events that find their way to the surface with an exciting electricity. If you are a woman you'll find yourself relating to Violet's pining for the bad-boy w/ a good heart character of Kjel (Shell).

I also really like the way in which the story is presented. At the beginning of each chapter an elderly Violet (main character) addresses you, the reader, to recap some era or events. Then it moves onto the past where, from a narrative standpoint, Violet's story is told as it occurred.

My only fault is that the recaps are entirely in italics, sometimes a page and a half. I personally find italics a little difficult to read in great lengths, but other than that everything was great!

Wonderful book written by a great author!
Lorna Landvik is a great storyteller. My biggest problem is putting the book down to get anything else done. I've just ordered another book by her.
"Oh MY Stars" captivated me from the first page. I felt like I had lost a good friend when it ended. Very very enjoyable.

A woman I worked with lent me this book and I read it in two days ... it was EXCELLENT. My favorite authors are Nora Roberts, Catherine Anderson, Janet Evanovich, Sandra Brown ... I'm now adding Lorna Lanvik to that list!

While the book started out somewhat depressing, I think it was overall an uplifting story. Like with Janet Evanovich books, parts of this book actually had me laughing out loud (then laughing until I cried, as my husband looked at me like I was nuts!)

This was one of the best books I've read in a while. Wonderful, richly developed characters take you on an incredible journey from heartbreak to triumph. I read this all in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. You can bet I'll be checking out the rest of Landvik's work!

Hands down, Landvik's best work. I loved it, everyone I've loaned it to loved it, you will too!

While I was reading this book (#1 in the series) I sent for #2 and #3. I'm just starting #3. They're all great stories to read to just be taken away to another world that you wouldn't mind being in.

I recently read all three books in this Dakota series while my family was on vacation. I immediately was drawn into the lives of the characters and found that they seemed to "come alive". I am now sharing the books with my mom and my daughter. I think it is wonderful that these books are enjoyable reading for three generations, 30's, 50's, and even 80's.

It's a very good book. If you like Debbie Macomber books, you should like this one. I don't like to read much, but Debbie Macomber books I like very much. This book is about modern American farmer and its townspeople pulling together to make their hometown one they can be proud of.

Once I pick up a Debbie Macomber book, I just canot put it down and onced I am finished if it is in a series I have to immediately start on the next on. I have througly enjoyed each and every book I have read by Debbie Macomber
Edie~

This is the first in the Dakota Series by Debbie Macomber. I just finished reading this and it is great! I can't help but think that most women would love Debbie's writing. There is never any lag time....she will leave you hanging so you have to read the next chapter and next chapter, etc. She has an excellent understanding of relationships.
I really love them!

It was obvious to me, having grown up in North Dakota, that the author did not know much about North Dakota.

I have just gotten finish reading Dakota Home today, it was excellent as I have found all of the Debbie Macomber books that I have read. The only thing that I regret is that the third book of this series will not be available for purchase until June, 2008.
I cannot recommend Debbie Macomber's books enough.
Happy Reading,
Edie~

Since I live in the Dakota's I was interested in the books. I can relate to the winters and the places they traveled. Very interesting to read.Sounds very real like you are there.

Again, Debbie Macomber has penned a book that you can barely put down. I highly recommend the whole Dakota Trilogy series.

I had read the first book in this series and couldn't wait to get this one. I oculdn't put it down till it was finished and can hardly wait for book three to come out.

delivery was quick and on time. product arrived in great condition.
I love reading Debbie MaComber books as they are always great

The third book in a wonderful series. The entire series is worth the read for true romantics.

I work at the library and we only had one of the titles in the series. Someone donated the first one and I bought and donated the third one. The whole series is just another example of Debbie's wonderful work. Keep going!!! Iris.

I really like this series. I love the town and the people in it. Fun read.

This is one of Debbie's better series. If this is that last in the Dakota series I'm going to miss the characters. Good reading.

I loved After Anne, and could not wait to read this book. I felt this story was slow and had a hard time getting through it. I never felt the kind of pain Libby was going through or the emotional wrath that I should have felt for her depression. The same themes kept coming up over and over. It always seemed she was drinking coffee to get through the day. There was so much more that could have come from this story. I think Roxanne Henke is a great writer this book just did not inspire me.

roxanne Henke wrote an excellent scenaro for a Christian dealing with depression: "I can't be sick, it must be my lack of faith, I don't need a doctor, now I have the pills but won't rely on them." I'm sure it would help someone understand it can be physical and get help.

I am giving this 2 stars, not because of the author's writing ability, but because I think the author is short-changing Christians with this type of book.

Her characters are believable, but her solution is not at all Christian. Most of the book could have been written as a secular book and it would not have changed any major points of plot at all. The Christian beliefs of her character are mentioned from time to time, but it is not the driving force behind her behavior. As a matter of fact, her character could have belonged to any religion and the story would have gone the same.

Everything was set up for the main character to go to the Bible for her answers because the root problem she had was that she didn't understand who God actually is, but that is not where she went. Her idea of God was someone who was detached and not able to help her when it really mattered. For help, she goes to secular sources and drug therapy instead of to the God who has been helping people through depression for thousands of years.

Certainly, the main character would quote a verse from time to time, but she never struggled with who she thought God was or how God could change things in her life. The solution she "found" was the exact same as any secular character in a book about depression would find. There was no difference between them. The character in this book only received drugs to mask the symptoms she was having. She was never spurred on to deal with the spiritual problem itself.

My question then is, what made this a Christian book? Because the character was a Christian? Because it used short quotes from the Bible from time to time? Because it used the word God in a good way and not as a swear word? I think Christians should expect better from their fiction. If we can't trust God to help us through depression, then how can we expect Him to help us through other things?

I've been doing biblical counseling for 9 years and I've worked with over 1000 depressed Christian people. They have come to me because they realized that the secular world doesn't have the answers they need and, as a last resort, they come to God. Wouldn't it be better if our fiction challenged us to find the answers from God first instead of as a last resort -- or not at all?

Try this for some real answers to depression:
BIBLE Counseling

This book is one of very few contemporary Christian books I have read that deals up front with the issue of clinical depression and anxiety disorder with compassion, reality and humor. As a writer myself I am struck with the beautiful language and conflict Roxanne creates in Becoming Olivia. As a reader I am caught up in the character's struggles. And as a woman who struggles with depression and anxiety myself, I know first hand that Roxanne Henke has given this illness a realistic face and also offers real hope for overcoming the power of this illness.

It's been almost a year since I read this book, but decided to write a review and my thoughts on it because it truly is an excellent portrayal of depression with anxiety. I personally know many women with the same issues and for people who need encouragement that treating the illness rather than ignoring it is the best route to take, I applaud the author. Too many people feel ashamed that have this problem and there is nothing wrong with getting help before your life falls apart. Depression affects the entire family. Also, I loved the entire subplot with the teenager sneaking out to see her boyfriend and having to deal with confronting modern culture in contrast to the values she'd been taught. I thought that was great and a very good portrayal of a teenage girl in an unhealthy relationship. I'm glad the daughter made the right choices in the end. :)

I read this book in one day. It was very quick and never really lagged which I have not found in many books that I have read lately. It was refreshingly pure and entertaining.

I love all of the books about the Bjorklands. The culture and the family ties along with the Christian values presented are a delight to read. I can share these books with family, friends and my high school students without fear that they will read something off color or crude.

A wonderful read taking one back to the difficulties of life in early America. Recommend highly.

This is one of the best series that I have ever read. It is a must see but beware, once you pick it up you will not want to put it down.

The Red River story of Ingeborg Bjorklund continues with the Daughters of Blessing series. Andrew, Ingborg's second son, is a main character in this novel. After years of protecting and being best friends with Ellie since a child, their impending wedding is postponed and may never happen. This series fits right in with the other Red River books and I enjoyed reading the continuing saga of Ingborg and her family.

Doctorow obviously hit the pavement running as demonstrated by the first novel he published, WELCOME TO HARD TIMES. There is nothing "newbie" about it. It is accomplished in an economical way and sails breathlessly as it revives the desolate and violent reality of the Old West. It takes iconic (or stock or stereotypical) characters like the saloon gals, the orphan boy, the loner Indian and immigrant entrepreneurs and breathes life into them. It is as elegiac as it is gritty, sweet as much as it is brutal, comic as it is tragic.

The story is told in retrospect by Blue, the de facto mayor of the Dakota Territory town he calls Hard Times. Its reason for existence is the nearby mining community and its business. As one character observes to Blue, he is the type who may be hanging off the edge of a cliff by his fingertips but he will say he's taking a climb up the mountain. So when the Bad Man from Bodie goes on a murderous rampage that leaves the town in ashes and only four survivors--Blue, Molly from the saloon, the now orphaned Jimmy Fee and the Indian--Blue pulls everyone together and starts building anew. It's a hard new start: Molly suffers from what today would be diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Jimmy is a young boy who saw his father murdered. Blue collars the few travelers passing by and talks them into staying, but it is slow going at first, especially through the harsh winter. When spring comes, though, Hard Times begins to flower and it looks like Blue's hope and vision will be validated, even though the damaged voice of Molly continues to express fear that the Bad Man will act on his promise and return.

To say more would be to spoil it. Give it a try. It is a fine meditation on survival in the Old American West.

"Welcome to Hard Times," E.L. Doctorow's first novel, is a western of sorts; simple in characterization and in prose. Doctorow brings us to the town of Hard Times, an obscure little civilization in the American West. After "the Bad Man from Bodie" wreaks havoc to the town, "Mayor" Blue and the surviving citizens must rebuild. What follows is a menagerie of prostitutes, liquor, arguments, conniving women, and solemn shopkeeps.

Doctorow uses a healthy mixture of stereotype, oddity, drama, and his sparse-as-a-desert language to bring his otherwise flat characters to life. Easily devoured in two or three sittings, "Hard Times" is a powerful novel, twisting the traditionally held view of the West as adventurous, reminding us of its more savage origins.

A reflection on American morals and history, Doctorow elevates the work from being just an ordinary western. Asking us to rethink history, all the while presenting a decent story, Doctorow succeeds in presentation and in content.

While it may be smooth, easy reading, after leaving "Hard Times" we are left with some hard questions--specifically, on the West. I could see this novel as part of a US I or II high school course. An excellent read; highly recommended.

E.L. Doctorow's "Welcome to Hard Times" a taut, unadorned tale about the Old West was a foreshadowing of the unmatched literary style of this author. Always displaying mastery in the genre of historical fiction, Doctorow accurately depicts the desolate and often hopeless lifestyle experienced by the pioneers of the western frontier.

Set in the Dakota Territory a small town that owed it's existence to a nearby mining facility was utterly destroyed by an apocalypse known as the Bad Man from Bodie. Rampaging his way through town, killing those in his path and ultimately burning the town to the ground, few survivors were left. Those that arose from the ashes were the cowardly unofficial Mayor of the town Blue, an orphaned 12 year old boy, an Indian medicine man, and a badly burned prostitute Molly.

Together the group decided to remain in the locale. They were encouraged to rebuild the town when they were joined by an enterprising Russian named Zar and his wagonload of provisions which included a stable of three ladies of the night. Using wood nails and other supplies scavenged from a nearby ghost town they hastily constructed a crude array of shelters that barely enabled them to survive the horrors of a ravaging winter. The springtime brought hope, other pioneers and miners with money to spend and the town, now named Hard Times began burgeoning. All the while the reminder of the destruction at the hands of the Bad Man from Bodie remained etched in their memory.

While Doctorow added to his impressive resume with his subsequent works, "Welcome to Hard Times" served as an exalted starting point from which this accomplished author honed his style.

The book is a spaghetti western in novel form featuring all the cliches and stereotypes of its type. It was Doctorow's first book and it kind of shows. The book opens with a nameless outlaw monster doing a bunch of mindless violence in the process of destroying the town. Then a pile of broadly drawn stereotypes with postmodern twists are brought in to rebuild the town. Then the monster comes back to destroy everything again.

In the end, the book portrays life as a meaningless cycle of violence. No matter what happens, the town will be destroyed and rebuilt in an endless futile struggle. Courage doesn't matter. Effort doesn't matter. In the end, the monster will simply arrive and destroy anything. The best anyone can do is accept the judgement of the monster and run away when he comes.

Its all very 1960s, very postmodern and very dark. But its also way too gimmick oriented. The middle section of the town rebuilding was far superior to the monster stuff at the beginning or the end. It would have been better if the town had destroyed itself or produced its own monster in the end rather than having the one from the beginning come back.

A good first novel and a decent western. But not much more than that.

I write this review having now spent a couple of months going one by one through E.L.Doctorow's books. God, I'm glad this man was given the time to write. I have a couple of more novels to go and were it not for the fact that I can start again, I would already be engulfed by sense of impending loss. So what I want to say is not so much about this novel, masterpiece that it is, but about the work of this author. What I want to convey as best I can is this mixture of dazzle and depth, of craftmanship at its highest imbued throughout with the morality of affirmation, of the value of questioning, of courage in our weakness and of honor in the act of living. In this book (his first novel - imagine that!) you are pulled into a world as familiar to you as a dusty main street of the western movie you've watched so many times. You are pulled in and now you live there while you read. This is in the end this writer's greatest accomplishment, the unbreakable dream-worlds he creates. And yet, without rupturing the dream, this author has you looking at your soul and the soul of all your fellow men and you question in the way only fiction can make you question because the questioning is not of the mind alone but of the heart and it is not devoid of fear even as you are allowed to hope.

As with all books by Lauraine Snelling have enjoyed this one as well - nice to read them in sequence.

I absolutely loved this 6th book in the series. Yes, the author did jump back and forth from the ranch to Blessing etc but it did not make the story disjointed. In fact, it made the story more interesting by keeping up with what was going on in both places and making us look forward to what we knew was going to happen in the end. When you start this series, it's hard to put down.I can't wait to start the Return to Red River series.

I found this to be a very sweet story and a great addition to the "Red River of the North" series. I would recommend this book to be read alone or as a part of the series without hesitation.

This is one of the best series that I have ever read. It is a must see but beware, once you pick it up you will not want to put it down.

The book came in good condition but the box it was in was ripped to shreds