Southwest Books of the Year
Sharon Gilbert and Paul Huddy Picks
Cooking with Cafe Pasqual's: Recipes from Santa Fe's Renowned Corner Cafe
Located in an historic adobe in Santa Fe, this award-winning restaurant has been cooking up its own version of southwestern cuisine for more than 25 years. Like a holiday party, this delightful cookbook is full of warmth, good food, tradition, and friendly faces. Enticing recipes from around the world, photos that tempt and motivate, pictures of the loyal staff at work, good background information, and instructions that are clear and easy to follow make this a winner.
Doc Holliday: The Life and Legend
A border overrun with illegal activity. Enraged local citizens demanding action. Greatly outnumbered lawmen hamstrung with limited resources, inept bureaucracies, interagency rivalries, and ill-informed, politically expedient decisions from higher up. Sound familiar? It's back to the future in southern Arizona 125 years ago. Not only does this thoroughly researched comprehensive biography by prominent western historian Gary Roberts reveal much more of the reality of this mysterious western icon, it also greatly clarifies what the famous shootout in Tombstone was all about, with details of what led up to it and the surprising events that followed
Lasting Light: 125 Years of Grand Canyon Photography
This luminous volume is a celebration of photography of Arizona's iconic geological marvel from 1871 to 2006, based on a juried exhibition sponsored by the Grand Canyon Association. Award-winning Arizona ecologist, writer, editor and photographer, Stephen Trimble, has assembled striking images of the beloved Canyon collected from more than 25 of its best-known photographic admirers, including the Kolb brothers, Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, Josef Muench, Phillip Hyde, David Muench, Jack Dykinga and Gary Ladd. It's not just the great photos, but also the interesting information, history and discussion about the Grand Canyon, photographers and photography that make this an exceptional book.
Native Harvest: Authentic Southwestern Crops
For those interested in enjoying the full benefits of a southwestern lifestyle, this gem will get you off to a good start. It is based on the fine work of Tucson's Native Seeds/SEARCH, a remarkable nonprofit organization that has pioneered the preservation of the rich agricultural legacy of the native peoples of the Southwest and the plants that sustained them. Those plants can sustain us, too. Here's an opportunity to connect in substantive and profound ways with the roots of southwestern history, culture and way of life--and have fun putting good food on your table.
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Volume 1: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life and Landscape
Falling groundwater tables and rising water bills remind us that it was not long ago that the Southwest was described as an arid wasteland. Rainwater harvesting, restoring native habitat, permaculture, xeriscape and outdoor living spaces reconnect us with our natural environment and enrich our lives in special ways. Written by a hands-on pioneer and expert in the field, this easy-to-understand, how-to manual shows simple, low-cost ways we can significantly increase the quantity and quality of our water supply, fit in better with the southwestern environment and shift to a more sustainable way of living. The first of three comprehensive volumes, it is packed with well-proven, practical information suitable for everyone from homeowners, to builders, to public policy makers. It is a major contribution to the effort to address one of the key issues impacting the future of the Southwest.
Reaper's Line, The: Life and Death on the Mexican Border
The author returned from Vietnam with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, but says the danger there was nothing compared to his service with the U.S. Border Patrol on the Arizona Border, which he describes as "one of the most violent places on Earth." There, greatly outnumbered lawmen are hamstrung by limited resources, inept bureaucracies, interagency rivalries, ill-informed, politically expedient decisions from higher up and corruption on all sides. In this hard-hitting expose, the retired Special Agent offers striking insight into why America is losing the border war.
Shape Shifter, The
The Grand Master is back with a welcome new novel in his popular Navajo detective series. Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn may be retired, but trouble still seeks him out. A call from an FBI pal turned private eye leads Leaphorn to take up an old case that eluded him when he was young and has haunted him since. However, this is a very different Leaphorn than we saw in the first novels. He has grown, matured and, with the death of his beloved wife, Emma, is now having to seek balance and completion within himself. In rising to the challenge, Leaphorn finds strengths and wisdom that had also eluded him before. This is a multifaceted and multilayered story that is Tony Hillerman at his finest.
Sunshot: Peril and Wonder in the Gran Desierto
With his latest work, Bill Broyles joins Edward Abbey, Charles Bowden and others in the pantheon of great southwestern writer-explorers who share their knowledge and understanding of the real desert in moving and profound ways. His vivid descriptions from years of exploring the Gran Desierto authentically invoke the stark beauty and dazzling wonder of this unique region. For those who love the desert, this is a must-read, a memorable experience in itself. The stunning photographs of Michael Berman are an apt accompaniment in this beautiful publication from the University of Arizona Press. Highly recommended.
About Sharon Gilbert