Western Movies and TV Shows

Did you know that the movie High Noon was based on the short story, “The Tin Star”? Did you know that the TV show The Virginian was based on a book that literary experts consider to be the very first Western novel? Did you know that LONESOME DOVE is the second book in a series by Larry McMurtry?

Take the opportunity to read the books that your favorite western shows and films were based on. Who knows what neat insights you’ll gain?

Here is a list of Western books that movies and TV shows were based upon that we have in the TBP collection.

TELEVISION SHOWS

Gunsmoke

DAY OF THE GUNFIGHTER by Joseph A. West (BRC 01270)

Justified

Raylan Givens Series by Elmore Leonard

1.     PRONTO (DB 37320, BR 21514)
2.     RIDING THE RAP (DB 75230, BR 10359)
3.     WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE: STORIES (DB 55963, BR 14648)
4.     RAYLAN (DB 74284, BR 19487)

Virginian

VIRGINIAN: A HORSEMAN OF THE PLAINS by Owen Wister (DB 36421, BR 16196, LB 00331)

FILMS

Best of the West Series by Bill Pronzini

1.     BEST OF THE WEST: STORIES THAT INSPIRED CLASSIC WESTERN FILMS (DB 55165)
2.     BEST OF THE WEST II: STORIES THAT INSPIRED CLASSIC WESTERN FILMS (DB 47923)
3.     BEST OF THE WEST III: MORE STORIES THAT INSPIRED CLASSIC WESTERN FILMS (DB 48644)

All the Pretty Horses

ALL THE PRETTY HORSES: THE BORDER TRILOGY, VOLUME I by Cormac McCarthy (DB 34043)

Assassination of Jesse James

ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD, ROBERT FORD by Ron Hansen (DBC 16651, BR 05670)

Big Country

BIG COUNTRY by Don Hamilton (DB 57773)

Dances with Wolves

DANCES WITH WOLVES by Michael Blake (DB 32009)

High Noon

CENTURY OF GREAT WESTERN STORIES includes the short story “The Tin Star” by John W. Cunningham (DB 51381, LB 07487)

Little Big Man

LITTLE BIG MAN by Thomas Berger (DB 32463)

Lonesome Dove

LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry (DB 22959, BR 13696)

MacKenna’s Gold

MACKENNA’S GOLD by Will Henry (DB 34699)

Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE AND A MAN CALLED HORSE, LOST SISTER, THE HANGING TREE by Dorothy M. Johnson (DB 64881)

Missing

LAST RIDE by Tom Eidson (DB 40965, LB 04746)

Open Range

OPEN RANGE MEN by Lauran Paine (DB 32457)

Outlaw Josey Wales

JOSEY WALES: TWO WESTERNS, GONE TO TEXAS AND THE VENGEANCE TRAIL OF JOSEY WALES by Forrest Carter (DB 56451)

Ox-Bow Incident

OX-BOW INCIDENT by Walter Van Tilburg Clark (DB 52564, BR 13679)

Searchers

SEARCHERS by Alan Le May (DB 69294, BRC 00476)
SEARCHERS: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND by Glenn Frankel (DB 76467)

Shane

SHANE by Jack Schaefer (DB 60163, BR 13561)

Shootist

SHOOTIST by Glendon Swarthout (DB 55309, LB 05175)

Stagecoach

CENTURY OF GREAT WESTERN STORIES includes the short story “The Stage to Lordsburg” by Ernest Haycox (DB 51381, LB 07487)

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE by B. Traven (DB 45216, LB 01289)

True Grit

TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis (DB 44219, BR 19212, LB 06837)

Contemporary Western Mystery Series

Are you a fan of the Longmire TV show that aired on Netflix? Were you sad when it got cancelled? Here is a list of Modern Western Crime Series that you may enjoy in the TBP collection. We’ve listed the first book in the series to get you started.

Anna Pigeon Mystery Series
TRACK OF THE CAT by Nevada Barr (DB 65648, BR 21546, LB 10965)
Blanco County, Texas Series
BUCK FEVER by Ben Rehder (DBC 14681)
Charlie Moon Series
SHAMAN SINGS by James D. Doss (DB 41500)
Garrett Kohl Series
DOWN RANGE by Taylor Moore (DBC 26465)
Highway 59 Series
BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD by Attica Locke (DB 89420)
Jamaica Wild Series
WILD INDIGO by Sandi Ault (DR 04167)
JOANNA BRADY MYSTERY SERIES [BOOKS 1-3]: DESERT HEAT; TOMBSTONE COURAGE; SHOOT DON’T SHOOT by Judith Jance (DB 81543)
Joe Pickett Series
OPEN SEASON by C. J. Box (DB 53008, BR 21980, LB 04838)
Leaphorn and Chee Mystery Series
BLESSING WAY by Tony Hillerman (DB 49586, BR 01357)
Posadas County Mystery Series
SCAVENGERS by Steven Havill (DB 60574)
Sheriff Bo Tully Series
BLIGHT WAY by Patrick McManus (DB 66502)
Sheriff Dan Rhodes Series
TOO LATE TO DIE by Bill Crider (DB 26149)
Texana Jones Mystery Series
DEATH OF A HEALING WOMAN by Allana Martin (DB 47921)
Walt Longmire Series
COLD DISH by Craig Johnson (DB 69906, LB 07672)

Watched It on Netflix? Read the Book!

You’ve heard about the Netflix Series or maybe you’ve already watched it, but you want to see how the book differs from the show? Did you finish Season 4 of Stranger Things and need something to tide you over until Season 5 is released? Maybe you watched that documentary and want to see if there is more information to be had on the topic. Here are some books that either inspired or were based on Netflix shows.

DANCING ON THE EDGE OF THE ROOF by Sheila Williams DBC 15917

Based on the Netflix movie, Juanita, forty-two-year-old Juanita Lewis leaves her dead-end life with her grown, deadbeat children in the Columbus, Ohio projects. Buying a one-way bus ticket to Montana, she finds a fulfilling life as a down-home cook in the Paper Moon diner.

DIAGNOSIS: SOLVING THE MOST BAFFLING MEDICAL MYSTERIES by Lisa Sanders DB 96900

Collection of more than fifty hard-to-crack medical quandaries from the physician-author’s “Diagnosis” column in the New York Times Magazine and now a Netflix series. In each case, the winding path to diagnosis and treatment shows how making the right diagnosis requires expertise, painstaking procedure, and sometimes a little luck. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

DUKE AND I: A BRIDGERTON NOVEL by Julia Quinn DB 60504, BR 21413

Simon Basset, the new duke of Hastings, and Daphne Bridgerton stage a courtship to keep society matchmakers at bay. But when the charade becomes all too real for Daphne, Simon must either marry her or risk ruining her reputation and breaking her heart. Some explicit descriptions of sex. Inspiration for the Netflix series, Bridgerton. 2000.

INDEFENSIBLE by Michael Griesbach DBC 08252

A legal insider’s examination of the Steven Avery murder case in Wisconsin and response to Making a Murderer, the Netflix series about the trial. Some strong language, violence, and explicit descriptions of sex. 2016.

MEATEATER GUIDE TO WILDERNESS SKILLS AND SURVIVAL by Steven Rinella DB 102863

Outdoors expert and host of the Netflix show MeatEater provides advice on surviving in the wilderness. Includes tried-and-true tips, techniques, and gear recommendations from Rinella and his trusted crew of expert hunters, anglers, emergency room doctors, climbers, paddlers, and wilderness guides. Strong language. 2020.

NADIYA BAKES by Nadiya Hussain DB 104614; BR 23906

Host of the beloved Netflix series Time to Eat and Nadiya Bakes and 2015 winner of The Great British Baking Show presents a collection of recipes for baked goods. Categories include cakes, one-pan bakes, no-bake bakes, tarts and pies, desserts, celebration bakes, cookies and bites, breads and buns, and savory bakes. 2020.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK: MY YEAR IN A WOMEN’S PRISON by Piper Kerman DB 77538; LB 09162

Upper-middle-class author chronicles her conviction and incarceration in 2003 for drug smuggling and money laundering—crimes she committed ten years earlier after graduating from Smith College. Kerman relates her immersion into prison culture at a minimum-security facility in Connecticut. Basis for the Netflix original series. Strong language. Bestseller. 2010.

QUEEN’S GAMBIT by Walter S. Tevis DBC 17656, En español: DB 105896

Shy, plain Beth Harmon loses her mother at age eight in Lexington, KY and is sent to an orphanage. Beth is lonely and unhappy, despite the medications given to the children to keep them manageable. One day she discovers the janitor playing a strange game in the basement and they gradually become friends as he teaches her the game of chess. Beth becomes obsessed with the game and at age 16 is competing in national chess competitions. But while she rises in the ranks of the professional circuit, her personal and emotional life suffer. Basis for the 2020 Netflix series. 1983.

STRANGER THINGS: SUSPICIOUS MINDS by Gwenda Bond DB 94103

In this novel based on the Netflix show Stranger Things, it is the summer of 1969 and Indiana college student Terry Ives wants to make a difference in the world. She volunteers to be a test subject for a secret government project, only to uncover a conspiracy. Some strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2019. Prequel to DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (DB 105858)

WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?: A BIOGRAPHY by Alan Light DB 83699

Inspired by the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone, is an in-depth portrait from a music journalist of the singer and activist Nina Simone (1933-2003). Using archival footage, interviews, and Simone’s diaries, the author examines Simone’s youth in the Jim Crow South, her musical career and civil rights activism, and her reclusive later years in Liberia and Paris. Some strong language. Commercial audiobook 2016.

WHITE NOISE by Don DeLillo DB 23512

This black comedy zeroes in on the absurdities of life and the fear of death in contemporary America. Jack Gladney, professor at a small Midwestern college, created the discipline of “Hitler studies” despite the fact that he knows no German. He lives happily with his wife Babette and their assorted children from former marriages. Both share a pervasive dread of death that is justified when a cloud of lethal fumes threatens to engulf their quiet college town. Some strong language. National Book Award for Fiction. 1985.

YOU by Caroline Kepnes DB 80055

Clerk Joe Goldberg is immediately drawn to aspiring writer Beck when she enters his bookstore. He describes the increasingly dangerous steps he takes to get to know her, and to make her his own. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. 2014.