SFPL Library Director Pat Hodapp's Favorite New Mexican Authors

 I was asked to put together a list of 10 NM authors (I cheated, there are 11 here) for a local website.  I did not want to include all of the usual suspects, not that they are not deserving of being on the list, but anyone can make a list with Cormac McCarthy, Michael McGarrity, Jamie McGrath Morris and Hampton Sides, just to name a few of our stellar authors.

Here is my eclectic list…in no particular order!

Ricardo Cate— Without Reservations. Cartoonist Cate has a wicked sense of himself, Indians and everyday happenings. A daily cartoonist for the New Mexican, most of us turn to the comics the minute one gets the paper in one’s hands in the morning. Yes, even before coffee.

Judith Van Giesen—The Stolen Blue. Great mystery set in New Mexico with Claire Revnier on the job solving the mystery.

Sallie Bingham—Mending: new and selected stories.  Always makes you want to read more of her books.

John Nichols—The Milagro Bean Field War. This classic tale of conflict between developers and the farmers in northern New Mexico will make you laugh out loud. And cry for the truth it tells.

Angelo Jaramillo—The Darker: Tales of the City Different.  A coming of age book with dark overtones set in Santa Fe. You cheer for Angelo to survive.

Tony Hillerman—The Blessing Way. Ah, Leaphorn and Chee start on their adventures in Dine country.

Anne Hillerman—Tony Hillerman’s Landscape.  Don Strell’s photographs and Anne Hillerman’s text with quotes from her father Tony, lets you visit all of the mysteries’ sites where Leaphorn and Chee lived and worked.

Lucy Moore—Into the Canyon: Seven Years in Navajo Country. Lucy moves to a Navajo reservation in 1968 and masters the steep learning curve of living on a reservation and how she can do meaningful work within the Native American culture.

Rudolfo Anaya—Serafina.  This children’s book is charming and works from the old tale of 1001 Nights. Serafina’s stories captivate her captor and we cheer for her. (And of course, he is the author of the iconic Bless Me, Ultima.)

Pat Mora—Dona Flora. (children’s book) The engaging tale of a female Paul Bunyon who lives in New Mexico. The illustrations are perfectly matched to the tall tale.

Joe Hays—The Day it Snowed Tortillas. (children’s book) The consummate story teller, Hayes creates some memorable plots and situations—even adults will laugh out loud.

I have included three children’s books in this list—Mora, Hays and Anaya.  They can be read and enjoyed by adults as well.

Each of these books brings Santa Fe and New Mexico to life—some humorous, some touching and some with characters that will stay with you for a long time. Am not sure all of these would be ones I would take to a desert island, but then maybe I would! 

PCH/Main