September is Western Month

Here at the PorPor Books Blog, we like to take a break from reading and reviewing sci-fi, horror, and fantasy novels to spend time with books from other genres.

For September 2020, we’ve decided to focus on western novels, particularly those published from around 1968 to 1988, the same time interval we use for our sci-fi surveys.

You can go into any used bookstore and among the shelves devoted to western fiction find stacks of books written by Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Luke Short……….as well as what seems to be fossilized piles of ‘Longarm’ westerns by ‘Tabor Evans’.

We will not be reviewing those novels.

Instead, we’ll be taking a look through the above layout of books for those titles that are less traditional, less formulaic, in scope. These include titles from more obscure authors, along with entries from such series as ‘Edge’ and 'The Gringos'. 

We’ll also be taking a look at some novels that deal with the ‘modern’ west, as well as some graphic novels that offered up something different from the usual Cowboys-and-Indians themes. And why not offer up some CD reviews as well.... !?

Reading western novels published during 1968 – 1988 is going back in time to an era when men read for entertainment; when it was routine for shelves to hold paperbacks under 200 pages in length; and paperbacks could feature page inserts advertising cigarettes.

So strap on your gunbelt, grab your hat, pull on your boots, and prepare to ride the range......