Rural Route Bookstore

Books about Farm Life, Small Town Life, the Midwest, and Scandinavian-Americans

Featuring the Heartwarming Humor of "Those Lutheran Ladies"

NOT ALL OUR INVENTORY IS LISTED, SO E-MAIL US at questions@ruralroutebookstore.com
TO ASK IF WE HAVE A PARTICULAR BOOK OR CD.

Orders received on the web site order form are usually filled sooner than those phoned in, and the order form ensures that addresses and items ordered will be accurate.

Happy New Year! Godt nyttår!

Start it out with something both useful and beautiful. Yes, we do still have the five Scandinavian calendars in stock.

We just received new Scandinavian-American and Children's Christmas books, CDs, and books about Scandinavian immigrants in the Civil War. If you want information about these before their descriptions get added to this Web site, call me at 800-494-9124.

Gift Packs

Three holiday gift packs are available, two with Scandinavian-American classic novels, and the third is geared to nature lovers. All make wonderful gifts.

Vilhelm Moberg's four novels about Immigration

For a description of these books, go to our Immigration page. (These novels may also be purchased individually by using the code for the specific book on Immigration.)

GP - 01 Paperbacks $68.00 if the four books are purchased together.

Ole Rølvaag's immigration trilogy

GP - 02 Paperbacks $54.00 if the three books are purchased together.

"The Boat of Longing," not a part of the trilogy, is also available.

For a description of these books, go to our Immigration page. (These novels may also be purchased individually by using the code for the specific book on Immigration.

Nature Gift Pack

Four small books with beautiful photography and essays

GP - 03 Hardcover books with photographed paper jackets $36.00 if the four books are purchased together.

For a description of these books, go to our Nostalgia page. These small (5" X 7") "coffee table" books, may also be purchased individually by using the code for the specific book on Nostalgia.

New and Recently Released

Look for the "new" symbol throughout the site for other new books, CDs and products.

Five styles of 2010 calendars featuring photography from Norway and Sweden and Carl Larsson's art are available.

Some of the new books this Holiday Season include:

An Ellis Island Christmas

Although this children's book isn't about Scandinavian immigration, the circumstances — the long voyage, fear of the unknown, and reluctance to leave everything familiar — that Krysia, a young Polish girl, goes through are perhaps universal. Two things make this book special: the beautiful and captivating artwork by Dennis Nolan that evokes the uncertainty, wonder and dreams felt by many young immigrants, and the fact that it is on Christmas Eve that Krysia spots the Statue of Liberty and realizes that this may be one of many great holidays in a New World. This book can easily be placed on the shelf with the holiday stories families come to treasure year after year.

Recommended for ages 5 and up by the publishers, and recommended by this Web site's owner that it be read to children by grandparents or great-grandparents who can steal some quality time to tell another generation stories about their ancestors, embellished or not!

CH - 40 Paperback $6.99

Sunday Afternoon on the Porch: Reflections of a Small Town
in Iowa, 1939 — 1942

Photographs by Everett W.Kuntz Text by Jim Heynen

If you find yourself getting more and more interested in "recent" history as you get older, if you prefer the clarity of black and white photos, and if you are one of many fans of Jim Heynen's writing, you will truly appreciate this book of wonderful, "lost" photography by Iowan Everett W. Kuntz.

I had the privilege of meeting his wife and son last year and heard firsthand about Kuntz from them. Just before graduating from high school in Ridgeway, IA in 1939, Kuntz spent his entire savings of $12.50 on a 35mm Argus AF camera and made a case for it from a worn-out boot, scraps from a tin can, and a clasp from his mother's purse. Wherever he went for the next several years — around his parents' farm or to town on Saturday night — his camera was his constant companion as he captured rural and small town life in the 40s.

However, Kuntz never had the money to print his early photos. Eventually, though, he purchased movie reel film in bulk from a mail-order house, rolled his own film, and developed it in a closet at home. Kuntz married, raised a family, and worked as an electrical engineer in the Twin Cities, and over 2000 negatives remained undeveloped in a box. When he became ill with cancer in the fall of 2002 — sixty years after he had developed the last of his bulk film — he opened his "time capsule" and finally printed the images from his youth. Kuntz brought his childhood and hometown back to life just as he was to depart from it. He died in 2003 leaving the rest of us a great treasure, and his wife and son are now some of his greatest fans.

I hope some of my family reviews my Web site soon; I want this beautiful book for Christmas!

MEM - 4 Hardcover $29.95

Check the different categories at Rural Route Bookstore for gift ideas. If you still can't decide, why not order a gift certificate from Rural Route Bookstore. Just make sure you include the amount when you place your order online.

Order by using the 'Place an Order' form or you may order by phone (800 494-9124). For payment and shipping charges, see 'Place an Order.'

All Caragana Press products are available at wholesale prices to qualified retailers, organizations, churches, schools, and libraries. Call 800 494-9124 for details.

Scandinavian-American and Rural Humor Books