Looking for a good Western that isn’t super dark and depressing.

Upvote for being the first person in forever who doesn’t repost the same “most disturbing book ever” requests.

Wish I could help though. I often go to TV Tropes for book recs. Maybe search something like “happy Westerns” and go from there?

Have you read any old Dime-Westerns? Zane Grey wrote some really great western novels you might like. Riders of the Purple Sage is a good one.

My fave westerns are Outlawed by Anne North and Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. Both show the hardships of living in that time period, but a lot of the main focus is on knowledge and community (esp bc the main characters in both are women outside of society). There are definitely sad things within, but by the end they both made me feel hopeful in their own ways.

“The Sisters Brothers” by Patrick DeWitt is fun.

Try something by Louis L’Amour maybe. I haven’t read many of his books but I think many of them are pretty classic Heroic Westerns. I recently read “The Quick and the Dead” and it definitely fit the bill. Has some grit but just a strong overall Heroic feeling.

I’ve read a lot of Westerns. Ever since I bought my first two Louis L’Amour books at the grocery store with the money I earned mowing lawns in the 4th grade. I’ve read lots of other books, too, but in the past decade, I’ve settled into reading Westerns pretty much exclusively. If you want more recommendations than this, let me know. I’ve been reading Westerns for over 40 years. This is by no means an exhaustive list or comprehensive overview of the genre. These are just some of my favorites that I think are worth reading.

If you haven’t read True Grit, read it. Young Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn, a mean, one-eyed US Marshal, seek revenge against the despicable outlaw who murdered her father. Just read it.

Once you’ve read *True Grit*, check out the author Johnny D. Boggs. He writes in the spirit of *True Grit*. They do not have the same style, but they do have a similar tone, characters, perspectives, and sensibilities— just plain great books. He is the most celebrated and awarded Western author, selected by his peers. It’s a tragedy that he is not known outside the genre. And, really not even so well known in the genre outside of aficionados, considering the flood of books by Louis L’Amour, William W. Johnstone, and the usual handful of top recommendations that tend to drown out anything else. In the Foreword/Afterword of his books, he usually gives you a peek at the writing process as he goes hiking and camping with the Scouts or on a Little League baseball road trip. He’ll take a detour or side trip to do some research. He has young protagonists, so his books might qualify as YA, but that’s not really how they are marketed, and his books are not juvenile or childish. Boggs shows the complicated history of the American West for what it is and people as they are. His characters deal with all kinds of adversity and face heavy challenges. They are characterized by grit, determination, resilience, and perseverance against significant odds. Johnny D. Boggs writes books that are entertaining, fast-paced, colorful action adventures, filled with dynamic characters. Very, very good. Some of my favorites:

* *Hard Winter* – A gripping tale of survival during a brutal winter.
* *South by Southwest* – An escape from a POW camp and a harrowing journey during the waning days of the Civil War.
* *Camp Ford* – The story of a legendary baseball game set in a Confederate POW camp.
* *The Fall of Abilene* – A story of Wild Bill Hickok & John Wesley Hardin, as told by “The Abilene Kid”.
* *Taos Lightning* – A coming-of-age story and an unforgettable cross-country horse race.
* *The Big Fifty* – Real life is seldom like a dime novel.

If you have to pick one, either *Camp Ford* or *Taos Lightning*.

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Anything by Louis L’Amour. There’s a reason he’s known as America’s Storyteller. He was the king of traditional paperback Westerns in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. Real page-turners. His page count grew from the mid-70s through the 80s, and his novels strayed from the traditional paperback Western formula, with good results. Also, his autobiography is a must-read. Here are some of my favorites:

* *Education of a Wandering Man*: Louis’ autobiography – Insights into his adventurous life and inspirations.
* *Hondo* – A pioneer woman, a gunman, and an Apache warrior are caught in a drama of love, war, and honor.
* *Flint* – A dying gunfighter takes on one last mission to reclaim his life.
* *The Quick and the Dead* – A family battles ruthless enemies on their journey West.
* *The Key-Lock Man* – A gripping tale of revenge and redemption.
* *The Daybreakers* – The Sackett brothers carve out a new life in the untamed West.
* *To Tame a Land* – A young boy grows into a legendary gunfighter.

And highlights from his later period:

* *The Lonesome Gods* – An epic tale of a boy’s survival in the harsh Mojave Desert.
* *The Walking Drum* – A swashbuckling adventure set in the medieval world.
* *Jubal Sackett* – A frontiersman explores the vast and wild American frontier.
* *Last of the Breed* – A Native American pilot escapes from a Soviet prison camp.
* *The Haunted Mesa* – A modern-day mystery intertwined with ancient Native American legends.

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* *Valdez is Coming* by Elmore Leonard – A Mexican-American sheriff seeks justice against a powerful landowner.
* *Black Hat Jack* by Joe R. Lansdale – A gritty tale of friendship and survival in the Wild West, with African-American cowboy Nat Love, known as “Deadwood Dick”, at the legendary Second Battle of Adobe Walls.
* *Tripwire* by Brian Garfield – A fast-paced Western about a former Buffalo Soldier seeking revenge.
* *The Day the Cowboys Quit* by Elmer Kelton – A fictional account of a cowboy strike in the late 1800s.
* Anything by Peter Brandvold, especially books in his Yakima Henry series. The action is fast and colorful. And when his main character crosses the border into Mexico, it’s as if Robert E. Howard had set Conan in the Wild West.