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Terry Tempest Williams's Reading List

By email she shared what it’s like to be writer in residence at Harvard Divinity School (and so close to Walden Pond). SCOTT HELLER

By the Book: Terry Tempest Williams (2026)

NYT By the Book column (2026-04-02).

Source: www.nytimes.com

A Field Guide to Western Birds

Roger Tory Peterson · Buy on Amazon

"My grandmother gave me a copy of Roger Tory Peterson's "A Field Guide to Western Birds" when I was 5 years old."

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Stephen Graham Jones · Buy on Amazon

""The Buffalo Hunter Hunter," by Stephen Graham Jones, to my father, who is 92. He reads close to a book a day."

Walden

Henry David Thoreau · 1854 · Buy on Amazon

"I began reading it when I was a junior in high school. I underlined my hardback copy with a green felt-tip pen... Each time I go to Walden Pond... I take my book with me and write a paragraph inside its covers about what I saw."

Earth Keeper

N. Scott Momaday · Buy on Amazon

"N. Scott Momaday's "Earth Keeper" reads as a prayer"

Killing Spree

Jorie Graham · Buy on Amazon

"Jorie Graham's new collection of poems, "Killing Spree," is a brutal beauty."

A Long Winter

Colm Toibin · Buy on Amazon

"My husband, Brooke, and I stayed inside and took turns reading out loud to each other, with candles lit, Colm Tóibín's novella, "A Long Winter," set in Catalonia."

American Zion

Betsy Gaines Quammen · Buy on Amazon

"Betsy Gaines Quammen's insightful books, "American Zion" and "True West," both informed by Utah and its religious history, allow us to more carefully examine the mythologies of the American West."

True West

Betsy Gaines Quammen · Buy on Amazon

"Betsy Gaines Quammen's insightful books, "American Zion" and "True West," both informed by Utah and its religious history, allow us to more carefully examine the mythologies of the American West."

Tracks

Louise Erdrich · Buy on Amazon

"Fleur Pillager in Louise Erdrich's "Tracks.""

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