What the staff at Poor Richard’s Books suggests for your next great read

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, staff from Poor Richard’s Books & Gifts in Colorado Springs recommend “The Alpha Female Wolf,” “Henry Hamlet’s Heart” and “In a Land of Awe.”

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From the publisher: Yellowstone’s 06 female was called “the most famous wolf in the world.” Her strength, beauty, and intelligence were unmatched, and her ability to hunt, protect her young cubs, and choose the right mates made her pack successful. In his latest book, award-winning author and renowned wolf researcher Rick McIntyre turns his spotting scope on 06 and more remarkable female wolves, telling the dramatic true story of five generations of female leaders in Yellowstone National Park.

From Jeffery Payne, book department coordinator: We return to the vast majestic land of Yellowstone National Park in the latest installment of the epic adventures and lives of the area’s wolves. It is fascinating how the author is able to share keen observations, biology and history in such a concise and compelling way. He captures the distinctive personalities of each wolf and engages us with familial dynamics not that different from what each of us experience. 

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From the publisher: Henry Hamlet doesn’t know what he wants after school ends. It’s his last semester of high school, and all he’s sure of is his uncanny ability to make situations awkward. Luckily, he can always hide behind his enigmatic best friend, Len. They’ve been friends since forever, but Len is mysterious and Henry is clumsy, and Len is a heartthrob and Henry is a neurotic mess. Somehow it’s always worked. That is, until Henry falls in love. Hard. How do you date your best friend?

From Jeffery Payne, book department coordinator: This YA story is just adorable. We all have done it, fallen for a close friend and then mayhem ensues but this book is able to make us smile through the awkward moments and the sweet gestures. We can’t help but to root for the characters as they sort out feelings for each other. A light and fun gay teen romance for sure.

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From the publisher: Out on the edges of our frantic twenty-first-century nation, bands of wild horses stand nestled together, calmly nuzzling each other to maintain the bonds of family. Prairie hills unfurl around them, and the sky provides their shelter. In the same states where factories churn, offices bustle, and cell phones demand our attention, remote places of solace and beauty rest, mostly undiscovered, in a parallel world that lies closer than we often imagine.

From Jeffery Payne, book department coordinator: This book is much more than a read about bands of wild mustangs of the west, this book is a meditation on the connection between ourselves and the boundless (and yet withering) nature around us. Mr. Hanson stuffs us into his already over-packed knapsack and allows us to discover along with him, the delight, deference and, well, awe, of discovering compassion for, and a little bit of understanding of, the wild herds of horses that have galloped through the allure of the western spirit for generations.