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Nice to hear you mention Green Apple Books, Tonya. I lived in SF for twelve years and that was a big favorite. I'm currently reading James Welch's The Indian Lawyer. We have a big book festival coming up here in Montana later this month named after Mr. Welch, and featuring only Native writers. And my podcast partner and I are going to be interviewing Debra Magpie Earling about her novel Perma Red, which is an incredible book. So she requested that we pair her book with The Indian Lawyer, and I'm loving it. Also came across this very timely passage, from a book published in 1990:

“Montana is becoming one big reservation and all the people in it are the Indians. They make noises about self-determination, but we know who, up to this point, determines what’s good for Montana—not the Indians, not the people of Montana, but the special interests, the giants, and their backers. And these backers are the ganglia of the body politic. They are spread throughout and they have interests you wouldn’t believe. They would sell out Montana for the opportunity to have a photo hanging on their wall of them kissing George Bush’s ass.

"But—this is worst-case scenario. Even here, on the state and local level, the conservatives, the gun nuts and the constitutionalists, are posing a real challenge to our candidates. They call themselves the mainstream, and the scary thing is they might be right. This country is turning is a ad direct, Sylvester. Those people you wanted to appeal to—the Indians, the poor people, the conservationists—they are on the outside, liking in. And I’m afraid they’re going to stay there for the next four years, possibly the next eight years.”

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such fun to read! Thanks, Tonya

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Jul 18, 2022Liked by Tonya Morton

I am on a road trip, so my reading reflects my "regimen" around that. When I travel I tend to bring a book that takes place in the relevant area, so I am re-reading one of my perennial favorites, Joe David Brown's "Addie Pray," which tracks much of the southeast.

I also always bring along what I call a vintage malt shop book or two - teen novels written in the 1940s & '50s. I have no idea why, I just find them soothing & transporting. If I am going anywhere, I am likely to be reading about a spirited high schooler getting her first kiss in the Midwest.

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