30. The Royal Maccabees Rocky Mountain Salvation Company, by Ron Carter

A con artist realizes that a group of Blackfoot Indians is buying moonshine with enormous gold nuggets and decides to con them out of their fortune. However, for all that he tries to think of himself as just out for his own good, his cons frequently wind up helping people. In spite of himself, a lot of people (including the Blackfoot) see good in him. A humorous, if somewhat strange, read.

31. So Far From Heaven, by Richard Bradford

SO FAR FROM HEAVEN is the story of the Tafoya clan, a Chicano family with a flair for misadventure. The Tafoyas include a physician philosopher, a radical daughter with a degree from Bryn Mawr, a clumsy, stupid son, and a governor of New Mexico.

The title comes from a quote by Manuel Armijo, governor of Nuevo Mexico in 1841: "Poor New Mexico! So far from heaven; so close to Texas."

The book starts with disgraced Texas executive David Reed driving through the night as fast as he can, headed west and nowhere, fueled by coffee and the strange notion that if he only goes fast enough, he will experience some sort of breakthrough -- which he does, when he swerves to avoid a jackrabbit, goes through a fence, and winds up with a concussion. After being rescued by Cruz Tafoya, a rancher/physician, David accompanies him to his ranch in New Mexico, where he regains his equilibrium (and his moral compass), all the while having nightmares about his former boss, Clyde Clifton Cotton, a land buyer who dabbles in oil, natural gas, sugar beets, housing developments, and whatever else happens to catch his fancy (always to the detriment of whoever he buys the land from). Meanwhile, New Mexico is undergoing change (the book was written in the early 1970s), including a radical grassroots movement that

turns out to be more of a very corrupt AstroTurf movement, where wealthy developers pay young hotheads to burn ranchers out and scare the hell out of them so the developers can buy the land for cheap.

This is one of my favorite books -- it's funny, heartwarming, and infuriating at turns, and definitely worth reading.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland