The Magic Of Books Brings Wyoming’s Towns To Life

Coping with the craziness of the world is tough. If you turn on the news, you're going to hear all of the negative things happening worldwide. Hollywood movies can be stressful to watch and comprehend.

One way you can control what's going through your head is by reading a book. You pick the topic, you're the director, you're the one who decides what the scenes look like, and you paint the picture of what the characters look like.

That includes deciding what the towns in the story look like.

When you construct the way the small town's atmosphere, how many times does that town resemble one of Wyoming's incredible small towns?

One of my favorite type of books to read are westerns. That topic was one passed down from both of my grandpas and is still my topic of choice today.

I mean, if you're reading a western, like one that Craig Johnson or CJ Box would write, of course, you're going to picture a town like Pinedale, Thermopolis, Sheridan, Lander, or Dubois. Their atmosphere fits in a good western novel.

WorldAtlas put out a list of Wyoming's 12 Storybook Towns, and I agree that you could plant any of the 12 into almost any type of story.

When you think about what a "storybook" town looks and feels like, there are a few common factors that contribute.

• Incredible architecture
• Sense of history and charm
• Fantastic natural landscape
• A sense of community
• Unique features and details

If you think about Wyoming's 12 storybook towns on the list, you can check off every one of those factors.