Country Bookshelf in Downtown Bozeman–Montana’s largest independent bookstore since 1957–has an exciting slate of March events for bookworms and literature enthusiasts alike.
Another Author Event with Richard Fifield for The Flood Girls will follow on Wednesday, March 23rd at 7pm.
The Flood Girls are a special kind of team. Bound together over the years, they come from the small Montana town of Quinn. They’re dreadful at softball, and have never once had a winning season.
Regardless, they take the field every year, ready for whatever the game will bring, whether it’s pop flies or fist fights. The people of Quinn don’t welcome outsiders easily, but they especially have it out for Rachel, who for years was the alcoholic town harlot. She hit the road soon after high school, but nine years later, she’s back with a list of amends to make. Rachel knows her mother, Laverna, hardnose captain of the Flood Girls, wants nothing to do with her, and quickly learns that the rest of the team don’t either. Rachel befriends one of the only people in town who will acknowledge her–her 12-year-old neighbor Jake. An outsider like her, he’s obsessed with Madonna, thrift stores, and his daily outfit. With Jake’s help, Rachel begins to make a life for herself in a town she never wanted to return to. Richard Fifield earned his MFA from Sarah Lawrence College in upstate New York. He grew up in Troy, Montana: population 956.
For the past twenty years he has worked as a social worker for adults with intellectual disabilities, while volunteering as a creative writing teacher. A member of Alcoholics Anonymous and proud of living nine years sober, Richard spends his time playing softball, writing, and directing hip-hop music videos. He lives in Missoula, Montana. An Author Event with CJ Box for Off the Grid will take place on Thursday, March 24th at 7pm.
The latest Joe Pickett installment begins not long after the events of Endangered, which left Pickett and his best friend, Nate, separated, out of touch, and lucky to be alive. Nate is living off the grid entirely, relying on survival skills as an outdoorsman, and his ability hide his movements. However, a secretive government agency finds and blackmails him into locating a rogue journalist, who has gone off the grid too, but in a way that could lead to bloodshed. Pickett’s daughter, Sheridan, receives an invitation to join a nighttime, wilderness gathering with a group of political activist strangers. All she knows is that they are “passionate” about their cause. Curious, Sheridan agrees to go. It’s a decision that will place her directly in the middle of danger. While Joe Pickett is conducting a series of unrelated investigations, he soon finds himself in Wyoming’s Red Desert. Unfortunately for him, he’s also about to stumble across a diabolical plan, and it will leave him stranded. Even if he makes it out alive, he may be too late to save his daughter and his friend. C.J. Box is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen Joe Pickett novels. He has won the Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, and was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, all for the Pickett novels. He has also won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for his first standalone, Blue Heaven. A Wyoming native, Box has worked on a ranch and as a newspaper reporter and editor. He lives outside Cheyenne, WY with his family.
The Country Bookshelf is located at 28 West Main Street downtown. All events are free and open to the public, though an RSVP is recommended. For more information about the store or these events, visit countrybookshelf.com/ or call 587-0166. •
