In recent years libraries – including us - have experienced a decline in demand for traditional Westerns. We’re talking about classic Western authors like Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey. These books have always been a safe bet for readers who want to be guaranteed of settings in the American West from the end of the Civil War to 1900s, and stories featuring mostly cowboys and outlaws with clearly defined good guys and bad guys and emotionally satisfying endings.

We still offer new titles of traditional Westerns and there are still loyal readers of Westerns, just not a whole lot of either. Despite this, the American West and its history has remained fertile ground for writers and popular with readers.

For those who like their stories set Out West but don’t absolutely HAVE to have an outlaw or a gunfight, there are rich and diverse offerings on library shelves. For Western fiction – both traditional and otherwise – try something from the list below.

Or if you just like the history of the old west, try one of these. Happy trails!