Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
Best Westerns
Those books (fiction and nonfiction) that embody the spirit of the Old West, the heroism, tragedy, and drama of this mythic era of American history.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1300 |
|
Wild Bunch Women
by
3.39 avg rating — 165 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1300 |
|
Caddo Creek (Texas Brazos, No 4)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1300 |
|
Grizzly Killer: Hell on the Horizon (Grizzly Killer, #12)
by
Lane R. Warenski (Goodreads Author)
4.62 avg rating — 1,032 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1304 |
|
The Sinister Pig (Leaphorn & Chee, #16)
by
3.97 avg rating — 8,228 ratings
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1304 |
|
Mariana's Knight: The Revenge of Henry Fountain (Legends of the Desert #1)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1304 |
|
The Wild Bunch
by
3.93 avg rating — 29 ratings
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1304 |
|
Death List (The Badge Book, No 12)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1308 |
|
Across the Cheyenne River
by
John D. Nesbitt (Goodreads Author)
3.26 avg rating — 23 ratings
score: 28,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1308 |
|
Westering Women
by
3.98 avg rating — 6,786 ratings
score: 28,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1308 |
|
A Lantern in Her Hand
by
4.19 avg rating — 7,049 ratings
score: 28,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1308 |
|
The Faceless Man (The Badge Book, No 2)
by
4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 28,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1308 |
|
Ten Years, A Cowboy
by
4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 28,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1313 |
|
Dark Prairie
by
John D. Nesbitt (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 22 ratings
score: 27,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1313 |
|
River With No Bridge
by
Karen Wills (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 78 ratings
score: 27,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1313 |
|
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography
by
4.07 avg rating — 8,550 ratings
score: 27,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1313 |
|
Powder River (The Badge Book, No. 4)
by
4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 27,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1317 |
|
The Rusted Sun
by
Michael Zimmer (Goodreads Author)
4.48 avg rating — 29 ratings
score: 26,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1317 |
|
The Stranger (The Badge Book, No 8)
by
4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 26,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1319 |
|
Butch Cassidy, My Brother
by
3.70 avg rating — 76 ratings
score: 25,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1319 |
|
North of Forsaken
by
Matthew P. Mayo (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 25,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1319 |
|
Black Robe
by
3.79 avg rating — 1,481 ratings
score: 25,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1322 |
|
Messenger (Walt Longmire, #8.2)
by
4.27 avg rating — 4,371 ratings
score: 24,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1322 |
|
Bendigo Shafter
by
4.23 avg rating — 4,107 ratings
score: 24,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1324 |
|
Tom Dooley
by
2.85 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 23,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1324 |
|
Daring Deeds of Pioneer Women
by
3.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
score: 23,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1326 |
|
The Outlaw Trail
by
3.88 avg rating — 67 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1326 |
|
Brodie
by
4.20 avg rating — 179 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1326 |
|
Comanche of the Seventh
by
4.42 avg rating — 38 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1326 |
|
The Medicine Trail (The Medicine Trail #1)
by
4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1330 |
|
Robbing The Pillars
by
Kalen Vaughan Johnson (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 51 ratings
score: 21,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1330 |
|
The Chisholm Trail: A History of the World's Greatest Cattle Trail
by
3.69 avg rating — 204 ratings
score: 21,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1332 |
|
The Carroll Farm Fight
by
4.55 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 20,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1333 |
|
Bill Doolin, Outlaw O.T.
by
3.57 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 19,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1333 |
|
Snake Oil: Easy Pickins
by
3.32 avg rating — 22 ratings
score: 19,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1335 |
|
Mustangs, Rinder, Schienenstrang: Die große Zeit der Cowboys
by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 18,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1335 |
|
Crimson Harvest
by
Phil Dunlap (Goodreads Author)
2.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 18,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1335 |
|
Bride of Glory: The Story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings
score: 18,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1338 |
|
The Ox That Gored
by
James D. Crownover (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 17,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1338 |
|
Shavetail
by
Thomas Cobb (Goodreads Author)
3.58 avg rating — 179 ratings
score: 17,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1340 |
|
Unter Geiern
by
3.80 avg rating — 390 ratings
score: 16,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1340 |
|
Wild Ran the Rivers: One Family's Western Odyssey (Five Trails West, #1)
by
James D. Crownover (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 72 ratings
score: 16,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1342 |
|
Picketwire Vaquero (Five Trails West, #3)
by
James D. Crownover (Goodreads Author)
3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 15,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1342 |
|
True Sisters
by
3.71 avg rating — 4,995 ratings
score: 15,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1344 |
|
The Oil Prince
by
3.84 avg rating — 921 ratings
score: 14,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1344 |
|
Smoke Wagon
by
Brett Cogburn (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 144 ratings
score: 14,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1344 |
|
Silver Lies (Silver Rush, #1)
by
Ann Parker (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 958 ratings
score: 14,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1347 |
|
Winter Harvest
by
3.97 avg rating — 93 ratings
score: 13,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1348 |
|
The Vigilante (Reno Western Saga #4)
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1349 |
|
Galloway's Gamble
by
Howard Weinstein (Goodreads Author)
4.22 avg rating — 40 ratings
score: 11,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1349 |
|
Fallen Women
by
3.49 avg rating — 3,383 ratings
score: 11,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1349 |
|
Honor in the Dust (Winslow Breed, #1)
by
3.92 avg rating — 267 ratings
score: 11,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1352 |
|
Sawbones (Sawbones #1)
by
Melissa Lenhardt (Goodreads Author)
3.76 avg rating — 1,186 ratings
score: 10,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1353 |
|
Billy Pinto's War (American Legends Collection, 6)
by
Michael Zimmer (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 25 ratings
score: 9,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1353 |
|
How the Vote Was Won: Woman Suffrage in the Western United States, 1868-1914
by
3.52 avg rating — 27 ratings
score: 9,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1355 |
|
The Grub Rider
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1355 |
|
And the Wind Whispered
by
Dan Jorgensen (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 25 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1357 |
|
The Glovemaker
by
Ann Weisgarber (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 2,869 ratings
score: 7,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1358 |
|
The Removes
by
Tatjana Soli (Goodreads Author)
3.63 avg rating — 870 ratings
score: 6,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1359 |
|
Girl with a Gun (An Annie Oakley Mystery #1)
by
Kari Bovee (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 655 ratings
score: 5,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1360 |
|
Dragon's Gate (Golden Mountain Chronicles, #3)
by
3.67 avg rating — 2,222 ratings
score: 4,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1361 |
|
Coolies
by
4.18 avg rating — 413 ratings
score: 3,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1362 |
|
The Red and the White: A Family Saga of the American West
by
3.84 avg rating — 91 ratings
score: 2,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 1363 |
|
The Great Chinese Art Heist: Imperialism, Organized Crime, and the Hidden Story of China's Stolen Artistic Treasures
by
Ralph Pezzullo (Goodreads Author)
4.36 avg rating — 39 ratings
score: 0,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
1,363 books ·
1,489 voters ·
list created December 19th, 2008
by Ann Keller (votes) .
Ann
6841 books
1594 friends
1594 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Bettie
15668 books
19 friends
19 friends
Tammy
197 books
1368 friends
1368 friends
Ed
2163 books
5064 friends
5064 friends
Robin
307 books
1109 friends
1109 friends
Arlisa
162 books
220 friends
220 friends
Marc
635 books
369 friends
369 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-39 of 39 (39 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Nina
(new)
Dec 22, 2008 07:32PM
Of course I had to vote for "Unsinkable Molly Brown," as that was the name of our sailboat. nina
reply
|
flag
That's an ecclectic selection of westerns. Like a lot of people, my introduction to westerns has been through movies and this has shaped my taste. Of course, most of my novels and film scripts are in fact westerns, even if they're set in places like Birmingham, the Black Country and Yorkshire mining villages during the strike.
I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!
deleted user wrote: "I was very surprised not to see more Elmer Kelton!!!!!"
I agree, its amazing!
I agree, its amazing!
Both "Angle of Repose" and a few books by Elmer Kelton are now on the list! :)
Surprised to not see more Cormac McCarthy, especially the Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. Glad to see Blood Meridian is high on the list. McCarthy is the greatest Western writer, in my opinion.
"All the Pretty Horses" is on the list, too ... (currently #57).
I had to add Elmer Kelton's Hewey Calloway trilogy and Monte Walsh.
On the Road? The Grapes of Wrath? I can see where there's a case to be made to include Wallace Stegner and Tony Hillerman. But those two books ... and "spirit of the Old West?" Seriously??
This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)
Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"Everyone can add books -- there's a tab up top next to "all votes."
Cold Mountain is not Western!! It is Appalachia - mid atlantic. Please fix.
What about "The Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner"? Many of them are connected and one is a novella.
mountain man needs re-filming; jeremiah johnson didn't do it justice!(john)
Maybe I have misunderstood the purpose of this list, but just because a novel takes place in the west doesn't make it a western.
True, the list is well defined at the top under the title. The owner of the list or a librarian can delete books that don't fit.
Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list.
Brian wrote: "Don't get me wrong. I love On the Road, but maybe it doesn't belong in this particular list."I have to agree with you here.
Martin wrote: "This list needs more Zane Grey, too :)"I agree completely.
I am glad to see Westerns making a comeback. There are some really good new authors.
Valerie wrote: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West is a "Western?""I consider the term "Western" to mean fiction -- although the list maker didn't specify such. That certainly doesn't apply to Dee Brown's book.
How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?
Nina wrote: "How about "Plain Song," by Wright Morris?" You should add it if you think it fits the list Nina.
Thanks, I really enjoyed this list. I like the fact that the definition of western is kept broad, so that modern tales with spirit akin to the 'Wild West' are included. I'm still wondering about Steinbeck, though. Into the Wild, for sure; even todays Alaska is in the wild west!
I removed #134 Last of the Mohicans. It is an "Eastern", not a "Western". It took place in New York State and thereabouts.
Yes, but it was 'the West' then. And it ticks the right boxes. The Native and the frontiersmen, the clash, and sometimes harmony, of different civilisations, power exercised by remote eastern rulers, the potential and fragility of the wilderness, good versus evil and so on. Set in the times before the push for American independence, this book forms something of a template for subsequent Westerns. It might be too geographically literal to remove it, though I suppose some criterion of location must apply.
Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales is a set of five novels (available together in a two vol Library of America set) that follows the adventures of the hero, Natty Bumppo, from his youth in the Eastern forests to his final years in '"The Prairie" (published 1827) where he is dealing with Indians on the Central Plains (in his 80s!) and would be a good match for this list geograpically.
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
