In August 1995, author and artist Edward Gray presented two paintings of Harney County scenes to the people of Harney County. The paintings were given in appreciation for help received while conducting research for his books detailing the lives of two notable area stock men.

Gray is the author of William "Bill" W. Brown, 1855-1941: Legend of Oregon's High Desert; including a history of the Wagontire Mountain Range Feud and Life and death of Oregon "Cattle King" Peter French, 1849-1897.

Hours of research went into the Peter French book with the help of the Harney County clerk’s office and various individuals, Gray said.

One painting is of the field where Harney County’s famous cattle king, Peter French, was killed. The other is a scene from Steens Mountain.

Originally, the paintings were displayed in the Harney County clerk’s office. Former County Clerk, Dee Swisher later donated one of the paintings to the Harney County Library, where it is on display in the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room along with other pieces of Gray’s artwork.

Subsequent to Gray’s untimely death the following year, his entire working research library—books, research notes, interviews, artwork, photographs and more—was donated to the Harney County Library. That collection, together with the library’s local history collection and a collection from Walt McEwen, a local rancher and book collector, were the basis of the Harney County Library’s western history archives.

Browse items from our Edward Gray Collection online in our digital archives. Make sure to take a walk through the Western History Room in the back of the library to view Gray’s artwork in person.

Gray's two books on Harney County history, along with two other books on South-Central Oregon history, are available for general circulation. Find available titles in the SAGE Library System catalog.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND CULTURE KEEPERS ROAD SHOW
Saturday, June 24th from 10 am TO 3 pm at the HINES CITY PARK
 
     Staff from the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room of the Harney County Library and the Harney County Historical Museum will be among many groups and organizations celebrating this year’s theme: Archaeology of Transportation. Learn about the evolution of transportation in Harney County from the era of horse-drawn freight wagons, to the construction of the Oregon & Northwestern Railroad, and the advent of the modern automobile.
      Visitors will have the chance to learn more about archaeology and history of eastern Oregon – as shared by federal and state agencies, Tribes, museums, universities, and private and non-profit organizations through temporary exhibits and hands-on activities. We also invite visitors to bring personal objects (stone tools, pottery, animal bones) they wish to learn more about.  A panel of experts will be ready to help interpret your find.
And there’s more!
     The Harney County Cultural Coalition has assembled artisans and craftspeople who will be demonstrating traditional skills such as saddle making and silver work, beading and basketry, and rawhide and horsehair braiding.  Come celebrate and learn from these “Culture Keepers”, while listening to live music scheduled throughout the day, and enjoying local on-site food.
This event is free, with activities for all ages.

Visit the combined online digital archives of the Western History Room and the Harney County Museum to browse some of the items in our collections related to the history of transportation in Harney County.

Regarded as a fine collection of items, the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room housed within the Harney County Library contains a collection of ‘Harney County’ archived and curated by our staff. Whether you are reading for your own interest or research this room is dedicated to preserving local history.

Here's a recommended reading list:

Feelin’ Fine!   Bill Hanley's Book Put Together by Anne Shannon Monroe.
Garden City 1931. 8o. Illustrations by William L. Finley. Original cloth. 'Feelin Fine' has long been out of print It has always been a favorite to pass along to someone interested in the subject of Harney County. Bill Hanley was widely known, and greatly admired.

Harney County by Karen Nitz
Archivist at the Claire Mcgill Luce Western History Room housed within the Harney County Library, combines a lifelong interest in photography and local history to portray early life in one of the West’s final frontiers. She has selected images from the combined collections of the Western History Room, the Harney County Library, the Harney County Historical Society, and private collections throughout the county to illustrate the trials and triumphs of life in the high desert. This book is available for checkout and you can also purchase it online or in the library.

Harney County, Oregon and its Range Land by George Brimlow
This colorful action-packed history runs from Indian times and the first explorations by white men through the period of settlement and Indian wars, the decades of the cattle kings, and into the modern scene of industry and change.

Harney County: an Historical Inventory by Royal G. Jackson 
This historical mosaic is replete with people, places, and events which have been the primary shapers of the Harney County story. Among these are such notable names as Peter Skene Ogden, John Devine, Sarah Winnemucca, Chief Egan, Peter French, Bill Hanley, Henry Miller, George Smyth, George McGowan, Charles Voegtly , Nathan Brown and others. Harney County Place names reflect the vitality and descriptive powers of hardy settlers adapting to a diverse and demanding environment.

Footloose and Ahorseback: Memories of a Buckaroo on Steens Mountain, Oregon by Johnie “Cactus” Smyth
 Cactus Smyth lived in Andrews, Oregon at the base of the Steens Mountains. He has written stories of his life in the surrounding area.

Also check out our Special Collection Scrapbook of Mary Neal Kueny: Woman Buckaroo of Harney County

A collection of photographs of the life and times of a true buckaroo woman, Mary Neal Kueny, ranch owner in the Wild Horse Valley on the edge of the Alvord Desert, a true pioneer of the west. She once wrote “It will be nice to know that my name will be in a book to read many years after I have galloped over the mountain.” Over 200 photographs available in this scrapbook.  For more information visit our online digital collections database at: https://harneycountylibrary.catalogaccess.com/search. Select photos of this scrapbook are currently on display at the Harney County Library.

This February will see two new Oregon collections added to Northwest Digital Heritage: Weston Public Library and Harney County Library.  
Visitors to Northwest Digital Heritage will soon be able to search the Digital Historic Archives Collections of Harney County Library. Harney County has a diverse collection of records that includes images and documents from the Basque community as well as the Burns Paiute Tribe. Adding these archives to Northwest Digital Heritage will improve overall accessibility, allowing more people a chance to discover, access, and view the records.  
Northwest Digital Heritage seeks to enhance access to collections at Oregon’s smaller libraries and museums through digitization, collection hosting and migration services, metadata harvesting, and building local skills and capacity.
Northwest Digital Heritage is a partnership between the State Library of Oregon, Oregon Heritage, and the Washington State Library. To date, Northwest Digital Heritage has added over 200,000 unique items related to Northwest history and culture, and has recently worked with the Orbis Cascade Alliance, Oregon Digital, and University of Washington Libraries to create a distinctly Northwest portal of over a half million unique items available at nwdh.dp.la. 
For questions and inquiries about Northwest Digital Heritage, please contact Ross Fuqua, Data & Digital Projects Consultant, State Library of Oregon, at ross.fuqua@slo.oregon.gov

Harney County Library and Harney County Historical Museum historical archives are also searchable online through our own local Digital Collections website. Explore hundreds of photos, oral history interviews and more. Contact Karen in the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room with questions or for additional research help.

ADULT:

•  A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman: Ove is grumpy but loveable. He points at people he does not like. But underneath his bitterness, there is a kind man with a story that will warm your heart. This book is funny, filled with unexpected friendships and a story to be shared over and over.
• The Essential Oils Book Creating Personal Blends For Mind & Body: recommended for its simple approach to creating herbal potpourri, salt baths, herbal steams, and sets up the reader for success on the education of essential oils to use and blend successfully.  
• Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom: Available as an audiobook on Hoopla! A sharp look at Instagram culture and a deeper look at feminism in the digital age through the eyes of an influencer. Makes you think.
• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: A former tennis star returns to retake her record. Fascinating even for non-tennis afficionados.
• The Paris Wife by Paula McClain: A poignant historical fiction account of Hadley Richardson. Hemingway’s first wife and their life in Jazz Age Paris. 
• Rose Code by Kate Quinn: 1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets.

 𝘾𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚.

Pictured here are Marian Louie, Mary Teeman, Annie Kennedy Shakespeare, Jennie Louie, and Everett Capps of the Burns Paiute Tribe in 1939.

Marian Louie was a keeper of Burns Paiute tribal history handed down from elders such as her husband's parents, Captain and Jennie Louie, who experienced the atrocities of the 1878 Indian wars in Harney County first hand. Following is an excerpt from the History of the Malheur Paiutes as told by Marian Louie, translated by Minerva Soucie.
 
“𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 “𝘞𝘢𝘥𝘢.” 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 “𝘞𝘢𝘥𝘢-𝘋𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘢” 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘩𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵.”
 
Read the entire text online in the Individual and Family History Files section of the Western History Room on the Harney County Library website.

Browse our new online digital archive and learn more about the local Paiute culture and history.

NEW to our digital collections are four short Paiute creation myths as told by Marian Louie and Chester Beers to Robert W. Gail who illustrated and compiled the stories into booklets.

Graphic Novels
 
Bone Vol. 7 - Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith (author) and Steve Hamaker (colorist.)
Summary: The war in the valley rages on while the Bones, Gran'ma Ben, and their loyal rat creature cub venture on a dangerous trek to Atheia, the old city of the royal family. The goal is to bring Thorn to safety, but to do so they must first travel through fields of the mysterious ghost circles where reality meets the supernatural -- and all this while fending off deadly attacks from Briar, Kingdok, and the rat creatures.
 
Short Stories
 
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark collected by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Summary: Tapped from the oral traditions of American folklore, these ghost stories and tales of weird happenings, witches, and graveyards have startling, funny, or surprising endings.
 
Spooky America - Four real Ghost Stories by Lori Haskins, illustrated by Viviana Diaz
Summary: Recounts four fact-based tales of hauntings, including a ghost horse on the coast of Massachusetts, a haunted painting at a Virginia plantation, a skeleton in Colorado, and a ghostly sea captain of California.
 
 
Shorter Fiction
 
The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
Summary: Brother Bear learns about fear and getting back in the saddle when a ghost haunts the riding academy.
 
The Ghost Town Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Author) illustrated by Charles Tang.
Summary: While visiting a recent purchase of Grandfather's, a ghost town in the Rocky Mountains, the Aldens encounter a mystery involving a run-down motel and a woman who may be a ghost.
 
Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House #10) by Mary Pope Osborne.
Summary: Their magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the Wild West, where they experience excitement and danger and try to solve a riddle.
 
Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Summary: A family of nice ghosts protects a British orphan from the diabolical plans of his evil guardians.
 
 
Longer Fiction
 
Pony by R. J. Palacio
Summary:
Twelve-year-old Silas is awoken in the dead of night by three menacing horsemen who take his father away. Silas is left shaken, scared, and alone, except for the presence of his companion, Mittenwool...who happens to be a ghost. When a pony shows up at his door, Silas makes the courageous decision to leave his home and embark on a perilous journey to find his father.
 
The Ghost Sonata by Gilda Joyce
Summary: When ninth-grader Gilda travels to an international piano competition in Oxford, England, as page turner for her friend Wendy Choy, she finds adventure investigating why Wendy is being haunted and who is frightening the performers, while enjoying a romance with a British boy and her first kiss.
 
Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko
Summary: Zee Puckett loves ghost stories. She just never expected to be living one. It all starts with a dark and stormy night. When the skies clear, everything is different. People are missing. And Zee is seeing frightening things: large, scary dogs that talk and maybe even . . . a ghost. When she tells her classmates, only her best friend Elijah believes her…
 
The Ghost of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
Summary: When Miss Lana accidentally buys a haunted inn at the Tupelo Landing town auction, Desperado Detectives--aka Mo LoBeau and her best friend Dale--opens up a paranormal division to solve the ghost's identity before the town's big 250th anniversary bash"--
 
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Summary: Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing. Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances…
 
Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret
Summary: Sixth-grader Rusty, determined to help an injured dog that is chained outdoors in frigid weather, calls animal control then takes matters into his own hands, aided by his best friend and a ghost collie that leads Rusty to an even deeper secret. Includes instructions for knitting cat blankets.
 
Golden Ghost (Phantom Stallion series) by Terry Farley
Summary: Sam discovers a lost palomino mare in a spooky ghost town. Is she just a mirage, or will Sam manage to return her to her owner?
 
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Summary: "Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential"

Horror isn’t that bad after one is over the intense feeling of shock and disgust. As far as movies, instead of being fearful and scared, imagine being one of the actors in the movie, imagine how much fun it could possibly be to a part of the cast. If you love Halloween, then you probably would dream of being on a set of Stephen King’s “IT”.

These movies are only scary because they are edited and produced so well. They are just actors, it’s not real. But then there is the fact that, in some cases, the brain does not distinguish our imagination from reality. But one must override the primitive part of our brain (our amygdala!) and just be grounded in knowing that you’re just watching a movie or reading a story.

And, plus, if you have ever Googled your medical symptoms, oftentimes the results can seem far more horrific than any horror movie or book. (Sometimes WebMD is not your friend!).

Still in the mood to relish in a scary story or two? Read on:

 Magical realism and Horror are a great combination in Stephen Graham Jones' The Only Good Indians

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

Want to read it?
Find it in the catalog / Find the Audio & eBook on Libby

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Yet, even as Jade drags us into her dark fever dream, a surprising and intimate portrait emerges… a portrait of the scared and traumatized little girl beneath the Jason Voorhees mask: angry, yes, but also a girl who easily cries, fiercely loves, and desperately wants a home. A girl whose feelings are too big for her body.

Want to read it?
Find it in the Catalog / Find the Audio/eBook on Libby

If you just want to get creeped out, then Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the first 100 pages are a “slow burn” and really sets the reader up for the rest of the book.  This book is definitely gothic horror inspired by Jane Eyre. It is a perfectly moldy book. 

It. By Stephen King. Its horrific, creepy, and this is the reason people fear clowns. Classic.

Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond

A mysterious lab. A sinister scientist. A secret history. If you think you know the truth behind Eleven's mother, prepare to have your mind turned Upside Down in this thrilling prequel to the hit show Stranger Things. It's the summer of 1969, and the shock of conflict reverberates through the youth of America, both at home and abroad. As a student at a quiet college campus in the heartland of Indiana, Terry Ives couldn't be farther from the front lines of Vietnam or the incendiary protests in Washington. But the world is changing, and Terry isn't content to watch from the sidelines. When word gets around about an important government experiment in the small town of Hawkins, she signs on as a test subject for the project, code named MKULTRA. Unmarked vans, a remote lab deep in the woods, mind-altering substances administered by tight lipped researchers . . . and a mystery the young and restless Terry is determined to uncover. But behind the walls of Hawkins National Laboratory--and the piercing gaze of its director, Dr. Martin Brenner--lurks a conspiracy greater than Terry could have ever imagined. To face it, she'll need the help of her fellow test subjects, including one so mysterious the world doesn't know she exists--a young girl with unexplainable, superhuman powers and a number instead of a name: 008. Amid the rising tensions of the new decade, Terry Ives and Martin Brenner have begun a different kind of war--one where the human mind is the battlefield.

Want to read it?
Find it in the Catalog / Find the Audio on Libby

Non-Fiction Review by Marjorie Thelen
(Find Marjorie Thelen's books in the catalog or on her website)
 
The Book of Joy – Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Doug Abrams, 2016.

Find it the catalog here.

This is an uplifting and inspiring book about two giants in the spiritual community -- Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.  Both are Nobel Prize Laurates. The Dalai Lama is head of the main Tibetan lineage of Buddhism. Tutu was a social rights activist and Anglican Bishop in South Africa. The book asks the question of how to find joy in the face of life’s inevitable hardships. Doug Abrams, writer, journalist, and friend, accompanied Bishop Tutu on a trip to Dharamsala, India to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday in April 2015. It was a strenuous journey for the archbishop who was suffering from cancer at the time. He died in 2021. The Bishop and the Dalai Lama had long been great friends. The more delightful part of their friendship was their ability to giggle together, to keep their sense of humor. Dharmsala sits in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas, and it has been the Dalai Lamas’ refuge since he was forced out of Tibet by the Chinese in 1959. Bishop Tutu was a leading force in driving apartheid out of South Africa. Both men have known unbearable hardships, but still retain unspeakable joy. The essence of the book is true joyfulness comes from helping others, the way to change our world is by teaching compassion, and the ultimate source of happiness lies within ourselves. If you need inspiration, read this book.

Fiction Review (Audiobook) by Cheryl Hancock
(Our Harney County Library Director)

​Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

​Find in the catalog here.

Historical fiction at its best! The reader is fabulous, the story riveting and although it’s a fictional account, it is based entirely on the true story of a woman sniper in the Russian army during World War II. Sometimes called Lady Midnight, other times Lady Death, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a young single mother who became a sharpshooter so she could also be a father to her son. When Hitler invaded Russia, this young woman joined the army, became a sniper and began to record kills of the enemy, eventually totaling over 300. This fascinating story is full of family and friends, bravery, heartbreak and heroism and narrated perfectly by an extraordinary reader – I highly recommend it!