Southwest Books of the Year
Notable Books
These books, although not selected as top picks, are ones worth reading.
F indicates fiction.
49 Trout Streams of New Mexico
If you're a fly fisherman who picks this book up, don't expect to get any work done the rest of the day. You'll be hooked on its photos of pools and riffles, brownies and rainbows, Ginger Quills and Royal Wulffs. Written by two avid fly fishermen, this book uniquely captures the individual personalities of trout streams better than any I've read. A tranquil antidote for winter's cabin fever.
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60 Hikes Within 60 Miles, Phoenix: Including Tempe, Scottsdale, and Glendale
Spin your compass in any direction from Phoenix and you'll find a good hike. This book covers some of the traditional favorites (Camelback Mountain, South Mountain) as well as some less traveled (Vineyard Trail, Mount Peeley). The trail directions seem reasonably clear and inviting. The hikes range from easy to challenging, and distances range from 2 to 16 miles--all can be done in a day, though backpackers may wish to camp overnight on some of the jaunts. The book could be used for an interesting year of weekend and vacation hikes, close to home, with minimal travel expenses. Maps, photos, elevation profiles.
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Albuquerque Remembered
In the main, the author, a newspaperman, has based this lively history of Albuquerque on a variety of newspaper articles and advertisements. Therefore, rather than a recap of how things once were at any particular time, we can relive an event as reported in the papers. For example, among a list of ordinances for 1863, one prohibited persons to walk in the town intoxicated, or to utter scandalous or obscene words. There is good coverage of events, starting with Albuquerque under Spanish rule to the year 2000, and vignettes about its citizens are not omitted.
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Amphibians, Reptiles and Their Habitats at Sabino Canyon
Besides a great place to picnic or hike, Sabino Canyon Recreation Area near Tucson is a fascinating place to watch wildlife. This book features 17 species of lizards, eieght species of toads and frogs, six turtles and tortoises, 25 snakes, and 1 salamander. Photos of the species and maps of their ranges are included. The authors provide insights into the geography and habitats (both terrestrial and aquatic) of Sabino Canyon. The book is guaranteed to enhance our appreciation of desert creatures. Newcomers to Tucson used to receive a gift package from the Welcome Wagon hosted by local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce. Items included a street map, coupons, and such. The Welcome Wagon should be revived and include books like this one.
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Antiquities Act, The: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature Conservation
Drawing on the expertise of 24 scholars, we are treated to a readable history of the Antiquities Act of 1906. President Roosevelt signed the act into law 100 years ago on July 8, 1906, and three months later, created the first national monument at Devil's Tower, Wyoming. As time went on, the need to protect historic sites resulted in passage of the Historic Sites Act in 1935. And in 1966, the National Historic Preservation Act was written to protect a wider range of properties than the two earlier acts. Included are tables of sites proclaimed for preservation by presidents during their administrations.
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Apache Junction and the Superstition Mountains
Everyone has heard of the Superstition Mountains and legends of lost gold, but not everyone has been there or visited the nearest town of Apache Junction. This book is your ticket. The diverse and well-printed photos make for a fun day traveling through time. Eppinga's interesting captions tell the story. This book graphically tells the tales and introduces the people as no academic book can. Eppinga takes us on a very enjoyable trip.
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Archaeology of Chaco Canyon, The: An Eleventh-Century Pueblo Regional Center
Unlike most reports following conferences, this book is lively, interesting, readable, and provocative. It is the result of the 2002 Chaco Capstone Conference and untold hours of discussion and careful thought. Twenty experts contributed 12 chapters discussing and unraveling the significance of the long-studied ruins at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. One contributor even dares to ask were the people of Chaco happy? The result is a significant summary and synthesis of Chaco's fascinating history. Of special interest are fold-out time lines detailing Chaco's history from AD 500 to 1275 in 25 year increments. Of special significance is Lynne Sebastian's synthesis and process chapter where she reviews what is known about Chaco and its region, what it means, and what needs to be studied next. In many ways, the book is a model of how archaeology and other matters should be discussed; as Sebastian reminds us, "taking smart, knowledgeable people, feeding them good food, and locking them in a room for several days generally yields remarkable results." This is a companion volume to Joan Mathien's Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin (2005). Maps, photos (color and B/W), graphs, bibliography.
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Arizona Dreams
This is the fourth novel in the popular Arizona mystery series featuring Deputy David Mapstone, of Phoenix, the Maricopa County Sheriff's go-to guy who operates under the guise of official Sheriff’s Office Historian. All of a sudden, Mapstone finds himself with too many women in his life. One of them is his wife's estranged sister, who turns up on their doorstep unexpectedly right after a homicide down the street. Another is a mysterious woman with a letter from her deceased father, confessing to a murder forty years ago. Both have the makings of real trouble. If you are new to this engaging, well-written series from veteran Phoenix reporter John Talton, you will want to start at the beginning, with Concrete Desert.
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Below the Escondido Rim: A History of the 02 Ranch in the Texas Big Bend
This thorough, detailed history chronicles the O2 cattle ranch from its founding in 1890. Once covering 275,000 acres, the ranch drew its share of interesting characters, memorable events, and crises as drought and declining beef profits have forced owners and cowboys to look to alternative business models such as ecotourism, paid hunting, recreation, and conservation easements. It is a familiar story of Indian removal, cattle barons, cows, and rebellious land. The ranch is somewhere south of Alpine, Texas.
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Bernard Plossu's New Mexico
Like a jovial dinner guest from abroad who teases us about our customs and attitudes, foreign commentators can show us much about ourselves. Through their jibes and confusions we gain new perspectives on our lives. In the late 1970s French photographer Bernard Plossu took his keen eye and camera to New Mexico, and his film delivers his vision of the Land of Enchantment. He recorded its "roughness and austerity" through a 50 mm lens, gathering a memorable assortment of people, pickup trucks, adobes, horses, horizons, and highways. He lends us a different sense of what we think is important in our lives. In his text, Giles Mora notes that the photographs generally are autobiographically happy encounters with friendly people and new places.
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Big Bend National Park
Finally, a book that does justice to the majesty and beauty of Big Bend National Park. In the author's words, "Big Bend is about as eternal as a place can be within the boundaries of Texas: the last place where you can go and be alone, where you can hear the sound of silence, where your spirit can be restored." If that doesn't seduce you, the photos will.
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Brides and Sinners in El Chuco
Humor enlivens this collection of short stories that focus on working-class, and ocassionally on down-and-out, Mexican American life in modern-day El Paso. Wickedly funny and pointedly unsentimental, Granados is a promising new voice in southwestern fiction.
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Byron Cummings: Dean of Southwest Archaeology
Few names are better known in Southwest archaeology than Byron Cummings (1860?-1954), but until this scholarly and comprehensive biography, we knew his life only from bits and pieces. Pick a Southwestern site--Kayenta, Lehner, Kinishba, Pueblo Grande--or archaeologist-- Haury, Ezell, Kidder, Douglass--and you’ll likely find some connection with Cummings. Bostwick has written what will probably be the definitive work and paints a balanced picture of a man who wore many hats, influenced many people, and accomplished more than most people ever dream of doing. The book constitutes an archaeologist's trench through a major site and vividly reveals a fascinating cross section of the history of Southwestern archaeology.
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Though he has been faulted for his failure to produce exacting scientific reports, Byron Cummings made archaeology happen in Arizona because he wrote about his excavations for the general public. During the first half of the twentieth century, he investigated and excavated some 100 prehistoric sites in Arizona with his students from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Bostwick has given us a most readable narrative, which in addition to being a biography of a man, is also a detailed history of the Arizona State Museum, where Cummings deposited the thousands of artifacts retrieved from Kiet Siel, Betatakin, Tuzigoot, Ventana Cave, Snaketown, Gila Pueblo, and Montezuma Castle, just to name a few. His students achieved fame in their own right, and among the elite were Clara Lee Fraps (Tanner), Emil Haury, Frances Gilmor, and Edward Spicer. Cummings was also responsible for the formation of a number of National Monuments to preserve the various ruins, he served for awhile as President of the University of Arizona, and above all, worked to keep Arizona's ancient artifactual treasures in the state.
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Byron Cummings: Dean of Southwest Archaeology
Few names are better known in Southwest archaeology than Byron Cummings (1860?-1954), but until this scholarly and comprehensive biography, we knew his life only from bits and pieces. Pick a Southwestern site--Kayenta, Lehner, Kinishba, Pueblo Grande--or archaeologist-- Haury, Ezell, Kidder, Douglass--and you’ll likely find some connection with Cummings. Bostwick has written what will probably be the definitive work and paints a balanced picture of a man who wore many hats, influenced many people, and accomplished more than most people ever dream of doing. The book constitutes an archaeologist's trench through a major site and vividly reveals a fascinating cross section of the history of Southwestern archaeology.
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Though he has been faulted for his failure to produce exacting scientific reports, Byron Cummings made archaeology happen in Arizona because he wrote about his excavations for the general public. During the first half of the twentieth century, he investigated and excavated some 100 prehistoric sites in Arizona with his students from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Bostwick has given us a most readable narrative, which in addition to being a biography of a man, is also a detailed history of the Arizona State Museum, where Cummings deposited the thousands of artifacts retrieved from Kiet Siel, Betatakin, Tuzigoot, Ventana Cave, Snaketown, Gila Pueblo, and Montezuma Castle, just to name a few. His students achieved fame in their own right, and among the elite were Clara Lee Fraps (Tanner), Emil Haury, Frances Gilmor, and Edward Spicer. Cummings was also responsible for the formation of a number of National Monuments to preserve the various ruins, he served for awhile as President of the University of Arizona, and above all, worked to keep Arizona's ancient artifactual treasures in the state.
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Casas Grandes and the Ceramic Art of the Ancient Southwest
Whether you study Indian art or collect it, this beautiful book on the pottery of Casas Grandes will rivet you with its 214 sumptuous color and 33 B/W photos and essays by Ken Kokrda, Barbara L. Moulard, and Richard F. Townsend. The authors effectively show the influence that Casas Grandes had on the entire Southwest, not just in Chihuahua, starting about A.D. 1250 when Paquimé was founded. The ancient artwork is absolutely stunning in its beauty, detail, and function. The pottery traditions begun back then continue today. We are fortunate that modern Native American artists continue this proud tradition, ably providing not only replicas of the old pottery, but evolving new styles and art.
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Civil War to the Bloody End
Based on extensive research, particularly in Heintzelman's detailed journals, Thompson has produced an authoratative and long-overdue biography of the soldier-entrepreneur who established Fort Yuma and who promoted Arizona territorial development as a principal investor in the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company near Tubac. Heintzelman distinguished himself in the Cortina War along the Texas Rio Grande border, served as a corps commander and as superintendent of prisoners during the Civil War, and returned to the Southwest during Texas Reconstruction.
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Conservation Across Borders: Biodiversity in an Interdependent World
A scholarly look at international conservation efforts on the American borders with Canada and Mexico. The book highlights the International Sonoran Desert Alliance based in Ajo, Arizona, and Mexico's Pinacate Biosphere Reserve. A wealth of useful information and enlightening analysis, it will be a standard reference for years to come. It also discusses the Y2Y project linking wildlife corridors from Yellowstone to the Yukon. Chester wisely notes, "protecting life on Earth will ultimately require an international approach."
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Dead Wrong
Sheriff Joanna Brady is pregnant, very pregnant. That does not stop her one bit as she tries to solve an ugly crime that has a link back a few generations. She drives in hot pursuit of a criminal, proves she is a crack shot, is out all hours of the day and night, then solves the crime just in time to give birth to her son. All the while, her loving husband supports her in her endeavors and has the meals hot and ready. One wonders if Jance uses the two characters to paint what a perfect marriage could be like.
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As if the ninth month and counting of her pregnancy weren't enough, it's just one thing after another at the office for Joanna Brady, Sheriff of Cochise County. A passing motorist discovers a body along the border road, wrapped up in a tarp, and missing every finger. Then her only remaining Animal Control Officer disappears while investigating a dog fight ring in which some very bad people are implicated. Not only that, but the in-laws arrive unannounced to "help" and clearly plan to stay for the duration. Three involved plots, a wide-ranging cast of characters, and continual action make this one of Jance's better ones.
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Dead Wrong
Sheriff Joanna Brady is pregnant, very pregnant. That does not stop her one bit as she tries to solve an ugly crime that has a link back a few generations. She drives in hot pursuit of a criminal, proves she is a crack shot, is out all hours of the day and night, then solves the crime just in time to give birth to her son. All the while, her loving husband supports her in her endeavors and has the meals hot and ready. One wonders if Jance uses the two characters to paint what a perfect marriage could be like.
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As if the ninth month and counting of her pregnancy weren't enough, it's just one thing after another at the office for Joanna Brady, Sheriff of Cochise County. A passing motorist discovers a body along the border road, wrapped up in a tarp, and missing every finger. Then her only remaining Animal Control Officer disappears while investigating a dog fight ring in which some very bad people are implicated. Not only that, but the in-laws arrive unannounced to "help" and clearly plan to stay for the duration. Three involved plots, a wide-ranging cast of characters, and continual action make this one of Jance's better ones.
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Desert Southwest, The: Four Thousand Years of Life and Art
Romp through 4,000 years of Southwest history and art. The book is a happy celebration of native crafts, western jewelry, cowboy art, tourist gifts, and historic doodads. Its diversity and array gathers art far beyond what we'd ever be able to hang on our own walls, stuff in our own closets, or view in a dozen museums. The text is light, entertaining, and subtly educational. The photos are fun and nostalgic. It has deeper currents and soul than one might first expect. The book is an invigorating afternoon well spent.
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Environmental Change and Human Adaptation in the Ancient American Southwest
Landscapes affect people, and people affect landscapes. Ecology meets anthropology. This book chronicles and discusses the effects of droughts, floods, and climate variations on American Indians living in the Southwest for the past two millennia. Some of the changes profoundly altered societies, technologies, politics, and even the fate of entire cultures. This collection of 13 essays illuminates "the general processes that drive human behavioral responses to environmental stability, variation, and change." The essays are well documented, clearly written, and reflective. Modern people living in the Southwest will see parallels with today’s environmental issues in this excellent discussion.
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Explorers in Eden: Pueblo Indians and the Promised Land
The author presents the reader with an interesting concept as he writes about early anthropologists, writers, and photographers working in or visiting the southwestern pueblos. He described it as an "edenic paradise" the biblical homeland of America, a place where the puebloans lived in an unspoiled land untouched by modern man. It all began with Frank Hamilton Cushing, who steeped himself in Zuni culture, and whose writings captured the imagination of others. He was followed by Frank Boaz's femininst scholars who further perpetuated the romantic myth of unspoiled culture. Include the likes of Charles Lummis, Mable Dodge Luhan, photographers like Vroman and Curtis, painters like William Henry Jackson, then add the railroad and Fred Harvey to the prestigious list to challenge the imagination, thus the tourists and the curious helped change this mythic paradise forever.
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Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona, A
This is a very handy, accurate, useful guide to Arizona frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, and salamanders. Clear, accurate text with maps of each species' range. The photos are exceptional. Species are keyed, and their ranges, habitats, and habits are described. The volume is worth carrying in a backpack or on a dash board. Valuable for beginners and experts, natives and newcomers alike. It's one of the most helpful guides around and belongs in every home library. It's a fitting companion to Lazaroff and Rosen’s excellent Reptiles of Sabino Canyon.
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Finding Butterflies in Texas
Tired of watching birds? Try butterflies. This book will guide you to 76 sites within 10 regions across the broad expanse of Texas, from shore to forest to mountainside to prairie to city park. Searching for the beauties with names like Sara Orangetip, Melissa Blue, and American Lady sounds like a good way to see the Lone Star state.
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Flamenco Academy, The: A Novel
Set in contemporary Albuquerque, this coming of age novel tells of a girl whose attraction to a handsome and mysterious young Flamenco guitarist leads her and her best friend to the exotic rhythms and spirit of the University of New Mexico's famous Flamenco Academy. The lives of the characters are inseparably woven into the art of flamenco, but they learn much more than that from their flamenco teacher, Dona Carlota, who influences them in soul-changing ways.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Western Sand Dunes
Very nicely illustrated with great photos and diagrams, this is one of the best concise overviews of sand dunes in the West for popular audiences that we have seen. A real gem about one of the West's major icons. This is representative of the excellent series of concise, informative guides published by the Western National Parks Association that helps connect us to the wonders of our National Park system.
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Freshwater Fishes of Mexico
This is the first encyclopedia of Mexico's inland fishes. It is authoritative and comprehensive, but as would be expected, relatively few of the species are from the arid Southwest. It does cover the Río Colorado and Río Grande (Río Bravo del Norte) drainages, as well as other borderland waters. Each species is accompanied by a map of its range, a photo, and remarks on its populations and habitat. Of interest to general readers as well as required reading for professionals. Miller was the central author, but many people contributed to the final volume. This first clear and complete picture is now the standard reference and should inspire generations of ichthyologists. Numerous photos and maps. Thorough bibliography.
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From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame.
This book about maps covers a number of place-name controversies, including the renaming of Arizona's Squaw Peak as Piestewa Peak. Other Southwestern toponyms such as Squaw Tit Peak, are mentioned as examples of place-names that have become fighting words for ethnic, religious, or political reasons. Most of the discussions and examples in this fun and informative book reach far beyond the Southwest. Monmonier is a geography professor from Syracuse who apparently loves poring over maps as much as we do.
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Geology Underfoot in Southern Utah
One of the most spectacular and beautiful exhibitions of naked geology on the planet, the whole of southern Utah was once proposed as a national park. Today it features some of the nation’s most popular national parks-- Canyonlands, Arches, Glen Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion-- attracting millions of visitors annually from all over the world. A land so strikingly different, it inspires awe and wonder and questions, lots of questions. What am I looking at? How is this possible? How did this come into being? Combining the authors' backgrounds in geology, paleontology, biology and photography, this exceptional guidebook helps us see this land for what it is, understand it better and enjoy it much more. Very well written and well-illustrated, it takes us on a fascinating tour of the many wondrous geological high points of southern Utah. For those planning a trip there, this is one of the best guides for popular audiences available.
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Geronimo and Cochise
Garmon acknowledges his debt to historical sources by listing eight well-known non-fiction works about Apaches and provides interpretations. He sees not just the two leaders in his title, but also Nana, Ulzana, Mangas Coloradas, and the land where their exploits are still remembered. Rough poetry, I’d call it; a bit like the frontier people and times it sheds light upon.
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Hiking the Grand Canyon
This is the revised and updated third edition of John Annerino’s classic guide from Sierra Club Books in a handy 4 x 6 inch take-along size. A former cross country running star in Tucson, John went on to explore the deserts of the Southwest and become an award-winning photographer and author. He has personally covered all of these trails and knows his stuff. It’s comprehensive, knowledgeable and well written – a must for anyone planning to hike in the Grand Canyon.
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Husk of Time: the Photographs of Victor Masayesva
With word and film renowned Hopi photo artist Victor Masayesva explores the forms and meanings of time. For example, he contends that the moon gives us "neighborly time" and the sun bestows "fatherly time." The prints include digital composites, photogravures, silver prints, and oil on silver prints and represent Indian activities and dreamscapes. The photographer, in his words, "attempts to explore juxtapositions, tensions, ironies, and emotions combined to form my photographic explorations of text into image and image into text." He succeeds in presenting a unique and provocative view of the world.
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Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment
In the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned in ten remote locations scattered mostly around the West, in what were originally called "concentration camps." In an odd twist of fate, Dorothea Lange, one of the greatest photographers of the Golden Age of American photography, famous for her portraits of victims of the Depression, was hired by the U.S. War Relocation Authority to document the process. After her work was completed, it was immediately "impounded" by the U.S. Army. Over sixty years later, two prominent, award-winning historians bring Lange's moving images back into the light and put them into context. As history so often does, it provides a timely reminder of what happens when we forget important lessons of the past: in this case, when a government uses fear and expediency to justify ignoring the laws that distinguish it from those of its presumed enemies.
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In a Special Light
There is an elegiac tone to these short essays in which Bode reflects on his Texas hill country boyhood and his long career as an El Paso high school teacher. "It is just plain old everyday reality," he writes of his subject matter, "but to me reality is always italicized." Readers old and new will be captivated by Bode's ability to extract universal meaning from everyday moments and will especially be moved by the heartwrenching account of his son's suicide.
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Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder
He became fascinated with birds at the age of six. At sixteen, he took a sabbatical from high school and, with his parents’ permission, set out on a birding quest around the U.S. This is the story of the amazing odyssey, which became a transformative experience for him. Today, Kenn Kaufman is one of the top recognized authorities on birds in the world, the author of many popular and respected books and the editor of a series of field guides of the natural world. Interestingly, Tucson figured prominently in his quest because of the large variety of birds in Southern Arizona, and he later moved here for that reason. Kaufman succeeds brilliantly in expressing the magic and wonder of exploring nature with the help of our feathered friends. For anyone interested in birds, this is a fun and very satisfying read.
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Master birder and field guide author Kenn Kaufmann recounts his furious year spent filling blanks in his checklist of bird species sighted. In that year he hitchhiked 69,000 miles criss-crossing the nation several times in hopes of glimpsing elusive and rare birds. Even beginning birdwatchers will chuckle and admire his victories and frustrations, as well as gaining deeper insights into birds and the observant people who pursue them. In the end, Kaufmann lost the contest to see the most birds, but he "resolved to look at birds more carefully…, look at them all, common or rare, to see if I could really get to know them." Many of the chapters narrate his travels in the Southwest. Includes new afterword to the 1997 edition.
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Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder
He became fascinated with birds at the age of six. At sixteen, he took a sabbatical from high school and, with his parents’ permission, set out on a birding quest around the U.S. This is the story of the amazing odyssey, which became a transformative experience for him. Today, Kenn Kaufman is one of the top recognized authorities on birds in the world, the author of many popular and respected books and the editor of a series of field guides of the natural world. Interestingly, Tucson figured prominently in his quest because of the large variety of birds in Southern Arizona, and he later moved here for that reason. Kaufman succeeds brilliantly in expressing the magic and wonder of exploring nature with the help of our feathered friends. For anyone interested in birds, this is a fun and very satisfying read.
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Master birder and field guide author Kenn Kaufmann recounts his furious year spent filling blanks in his checklist of bird species sighted. In that year he hitchhiked 69,000 miles criss-crossing the nation several times in hopes of glimpsing elusive and rare birds. Even beginning birdwatchers will chuckle and admire his victories and frustrations, as well as gaining deeper insights into birds and the observant people who pursue them. In the end, Kaufmann lost the contest to see the most birds, but he "resolved to look at birds more carefully…, look at them all, common or rare, to see if I could really get to know them." Many of the chapters narrate his travels in the Southwest. Includes new afterword to the 1997 edition.
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Lynch Ropes & Long Shots: The True Story of an Old West Train Robbery
Alexander has ferreted out every single detail concerning the New Mexico Territory train robbery known as the Gage robbery, covering both the historical antecedents and what happened later, and it's all here!
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Made in the Southwest: A Shopper's Guide to the Region's Best Native American, Hispanic, and Western Craft Traditions
I can't think of anything missing from this beautiful guide, well illustrated with maps and photographs. It covers shopping in Southern Calfornia, Utah, Nevada, West Texas, Southwestern Colorado, and all of Arizona and New Mexico, and outlines three traditions: Hispanic Crafts; Native American Crafts; and Anglo-American (Western Crafts). A western afficianado, for example, will not only find where to find western apparel, but where to buy spurs, buckles, boots and saddles in any of the states mentioned above. This is also true of Hispanic crafts, which might include wooden furniture, textiles, tinware and devotional arts. In addition to fetishes and Katsinas, dealers are listed for locating American Indian pottery, weavings, jewelry and basketry. The book ends with a listing of cultural events. Because this promises to be a useful tool for those that buy and collect folk arts, I would suggest that future volumes have a spiral binding for ease of use.
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Mesa Verde World, The: Explorations in Ancestral Pueblo Archaeology
The attraction of Mesa Verde is both obvious and subtle: It is a magnificent complex of noble ruins in a beautiful setting, and it brims with history and questions about earlier people. This volume, containing 20 chapters by experts, appeals to each of those attractions. The photos are appealing and informative; the essays are enlightening and provocative. It is indeed an exploration of what is known and what riddles remain, as well as a geographical tour of sites, making for a very satisfying reading brightened by the thrills of discovery.
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Mountains of New Mexico, The
New Mexico has more than 100 named mountain groups and each is described in this encyclopedia. From the highest summits to the lowest rises, the author catalogues their features, sizes, and locations, as well as giving interesting local lore and information. A bonus for hikers is an appendix listing the high points of each range, as well as the highest 250 or so summits, ranging from Mosca Peak at 9,509 feet to Wheeler Peak at 13,161 feet. Many of the ranges are seldom visited and this book should lure hikers, campers, and climbers to explore and enjoy the Land of Enchantment.
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Mourning Dove: An Ella Clah Novel
In this new novel in the series featuring Special Investigator Ella Clah of the Navajo Police, Ella has a growing number of problems on her hands that could mean big changes in her life. One is the coming marriage of her widowed mother, whose resultant move from the household will be sorely felt by both Ella and her young daughter. Another is her ex-husband, an attorney who has a new desire for changes in their custody agreement. Then comes the death of a Navajo National Guardsman in what initially looks like a carjacking gone bad, but then a cryptic letter arrives from the deceased expressing fear that he is in mortal danger. As she gets deeper into the case, Ella realizes that this last one could change her life permanently. Having lived most of his own life on the Navajo Reservation, David Thurlo writes with great insight and respect for the Navajos. Fans of Tony Hillerman who have not yet discovered this satisfying series, recommended by Hillerman, are in for a treat.
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Nesting Birds of a Tropical Frontier: The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas
If you take a bird trip every weekend of the year with an expert birder like Tim Brush, you’ll hear a wealth of information and topics--in short, a book like this. Brush, a professor of biology, has been everywhere and read everything on the lower Rio Grande. He enthusiastically and expertly discusses a multitude of interesting birds, giving their distribution, habitat, habits, population trend, and other observations. With this book in one hand and an identification guide in the other, you'll have many memorable outings and will come away much more appreciative of population dynamics.
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Organ Pipe Cactus, The
Many of us are familiar with organ pipe cactus in the wild, but this colorful book takes the fresh approach of reminding us that especially in Mexico these cactus are used for food, wood, and landscaping. The lively book talks about the organ pipe's life history, its relatives, its homeland, and its future. The author is the host of the popular TV series The Desert Speaks, and his many viewers will doubly appreciate this tasty book.
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Painted Desert, The: Land of Wind and Stone
An eloquent book about a place everyone has heard of but few people know: the Painted Desert. Thybony weaves history, sentiment, Navajos, geology, and adventure into this seamlessly told tale. His words ripple like a breeze over smooth sand: "It’s a region lying beyond the river where roads fade into a narrative landscape. Each butte is a remnant of an older story, half remembered, worn to fragments." Thybony knows this desert and its people, Navajo herders. He gently reveals layers of detail and mystery. A superb, satisfying book. Evocative black/white photos by David Edwards disclose a dreamscape of rock and sky. It has been rewarding to watch this University of Arizona Press series evolve.
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Photographing Mesa Verde: Nordenskiold and Now
This Mesa Verde centennial series is seven books that merit special recognition as a wonderful set celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park. The books are beautifully designed, well written and amply illustrated. Their topics include tourism, early photographer Gustaf Nordenskiöld, restoration of the ruins, the effects of forest fires, the Wetherill family, visionary women who worked to create the park, and CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) crews who worked there. The authors are well-spoken folks who know the park intimately and write engagingly. The result is delightful, a genuine contribution to the literature of the Southwest. The seven titles are available individually or as a boxed set.
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Postcards From Ed: Dispatches and Salvos From an American Iconoclast
The words of Ed Abbey are still reverberating across the canyon walls, still inspiring or enraging those who listen. Pick a page, any page, of this book, and you'll hear the dean of Southwest writers rail, rouse, and reflect. At times he is soothing and compassionate; other times he is inflammatory and antagonistic. On every page is his wit and intellect, his humor and his passion, his opinions and his questions. Of special interest is a list of his own reading favorites (letter to Robert Houston, 1988), his ranging comments on the craft of writing, and photos from his family album. This is a must for any Abbey library and a good read for those newcomers who wonder what the Abbey fuss is about.
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Quarry
Like the author, the protagonist is a geologist who lives in Tucson. In this third novel in the series, Frankie McFarlane returns to California to defend her dissertation and thereby complete her Ph.D. However, when people around her start disappearing and dying, her life takes a drastic turn for the worse as she becomes the prime suspect in an expanding homicide investigation. The disappearance of a fellow geology graduate on a desert dig leads Frankie into the Mojave, where her knowledge of geology and everything else she knows will be put to more strenuous tests than she had imagined. A compelling heroine and lots of action make this a very enjoyable read, but we were particularly impressed with the skill with which good science and the desert locale were woven into a nice complex plot and its resolution. We hope to see the plucky Dora again, too.
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Rivers of North America
This encyclopedia of rivers provides up-to-date coverage of facts, issues, and studies for major North American rivers and their drainage basins. Coverage of the Southwest includes the Colorado River, Rio Grande, Rio Yaqui, and Rio Conchos. The book expands our understanding of North American geography, land uses, and water ecology. Some of the information should give us pause for thought; for example, in the arid Southwest, nearly 64% of the Colorado River basin's runoff is used for irrigation and another 32% is lost by evaporation from open-surface reservoirs. The book is well illustrated with maps of watersheds, photos, charts, and graphs. The book's 70 contributors, an all-star team of water experts, have given us a book for general browsers as well as hydrologists and decisions makers.
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Rock Art Along the Way
Latest in a long line of petroglyph guides of our region (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah are covered) this book, printed on coated paper with nearly 200 color photographs, should add to the enjoyment of any tourist with an interest in rock art. It covers only sites readily accessible to the public and reveals no "secret" sites that are better left untrammeled.
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One of our most direct and enjoyable links with people long past is their legacy of rock drawings, those painted or pecked lines and figures on stone canvasses. The author provides travel directions to more than 55 rock art sites in Arizona, New Mexico, eastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. Even better, she doesn't try to analyze or explain the meanings of the figures. Heath's beautiful photos are a bonus of delight--they are some of the best ever taken of these art panels and they convey a sense of the larger place where real people lived and worked. The book is quite respectful of the sites and the people who made them. This reader was pleasantly reminded of his own visits to sites described and again felt those senses of admiration and tranquility-- holiness if you will-- that descend on visitors to these places. I feared this would be a kiss-and-tell book, betraying the sacred sites, but instead it kisses and then weds us to the past. Considering the vulnerability of many lesser known rock art sites across the West, this book actually may do good service by steering folks to sites that are already featured and semi-protected. Books should move us to do or feel something new: this one will do both.
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Rock Art Along the Way
Latest in a long line of petroglyph guides of our region (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah are covered) this book, printed on coated paper with nearly 200 color photographs, should add to the enjoyment of any tourist with an interest in rock art. It covers only sites readily accessible to the public and reveals no "secret" sites that are better left untrammeled.
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One of our most direct and enjoyable links with people long past is their legacy of rock drawings, those painted or pecked lines and figures on stone canvasses. The author provides travel directions to more than 55 rock art sites in Arizona, New Mexico, eastern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and southwestern Colorado. Even better, she doesn't try to analyze or explain the meanings of the figures. Heath's beautiful photos are a bonus of delight--they are some of the best ever taken of these art panels and they convey a sense of the larger place where real people lived and worked. The book is quite respectful of the sites and the people who made them. This reader was pleasantly reminded of his own visits to sites described and again felt those senses of admiration and tranquility-- holiness if you will-- that descend on visitors to these places. I feared this would be a kiss-and-tell book, betraying the sacred sites, but instead it kisses and then weds us to the past. Considering the vulnerability of many lesser known rock art sites across the West, this book actually may do good service by steering folks to sites that are already featured and semi-protected. Books should move us to do or feel something new: this one will do both.
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Salsas and Tacos: The Santa Fe School of Cooking
Put salsa and tacos together and you have one of the great food favorites of the Southwest. This delightful cookbook from the Santa Fe School of Cooking offers a yummy and inspiring tour of these southwest staples. For example, for salsa, how about classic nopal-chile salsa, fresh tomatillo-avocado, or zesty grapefruit-orange? For tacos, you can choose among classics like carnitas or calabacitas, or more innovative combinations like adobo pork with pineapple or baja fish with chipotle mayonnaise. You can even top your meal off with apple pie tacos for dessert. The book also expands our knowledge and possibilities with discussions of ingredients, accompaniments and processes, including how to roast chiles and make your own corn or flour tortillas.
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Southwest Flavors: Santa Fe School of Cooking
This is the Santa Fe School of Cooking's long-awaited second major volume on Southwestern cooking. Recipes range from basics like herb roasted vegetables, saffron rice and shredded pork tacos to sublime innovations like paella carnaval, smoked pork tenderloin with red chile-cider glaze and apple-pinon chutney, and strawberry- tequila mousse. It features discussions of selected ingredients, as well as techniques for preparation and cooking. It does indeed provide a flavor of Southwest cooking today.
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Tales from the Journey of the Dead: Ten Thousand Years on an American Desert
New Mexico's Jornada del Muerto is a 90-mile desert, desolate, hot, and subject to Indian attacks. Hundreds died as they slogged along waterless route along the Camino Real. For most it was a trip through hell, and the author documents its use over time, while he hikes, bikes, drives, and camps at places the ancients trod, and sites passed by the Spanish, the Mexicans, ranchers, desperadoes, and the U. S. Army. He brings us to the present with a hike on Ted Turner's buffalo ranch. A good story but the lack of an index detracts from its use.
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Taos Truth Game, The
When asked who the best Montana author was, without hesitation Dr. H.G. Merriam, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Montana, responded, "Myron Brinig." Not having even heard of him, Earl Ganz began a multi-year exploration of this fascinating man. Written as historical fiction, Taos Truth Game is the culmination of Ganz’s research, highlighting Brinig’s years in New Mexico (1920-35) among the celebrities of the day, centered around Mabel Dodge Lujan. This is a fascinating look at the Golden Age of culture in Taos, involving such well known figures as Robinson Jeffers, Gertrude Stein and D.H. Lawrence.
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Time for Peace, A: Fort Lewis, Colorado, 1878-1891
Smith, the dean of Colorado historians, paints a vibrant portrait of this southwest Colorado army post. Noting that not a single soldier lost his life in combat, Smith describes the ways in which Fort Lewis fostered settlement and economic development in the Four Corners region. Thanks to Smith's skills as a historian and writer, this small book packs a big punch.
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Timeless Texas: Photographs
Although only part of the book covers our Southwest, the photos are evocative and beautiful. Especially eye-catching are the Chiso Mountains at sunrise and El Capitan in the Guadalupe Mountains. The text dwells on why the photographer took the shot and what he was trying to do. Shows some of the many diverse and beautiful places in Texas. Parents' color work will be familiar to readers of Arizona Highways. This is volume eight in the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Texas Photography Series.
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Tread Lightly: Venomous and Poisonous Animals of the Southwest
Tread Lightly takes a fresh look at those spiders and snakes that give some people the creeps and, rarely, a painful bite. The authors administer a dose of caution and a diet of understanding so that we can live and let live with rattlers, black widows, scorpions, Gila monsters, and Africanized bees. Each species is described by range, diet, life span, characteristics, behavior, and reproduction. A number of harmless look-alikes--geckos, gopher snakes, tarantulas, millipedes, sun spiders--are also included. The photos by the authors are excellent, and the book combines their skills as medical professionals as well as pro photographers. The text is fresh enough to interest residents old and new. Fascination and respect are pleasant antidotes for fear.
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Walking It Off: A Veteran’s Chronicle of War and Wilderness.
War breaks people. Doug Peacock, a traumatized Vietnam vet, journeys across the Cabeza Prieta wilderness in southwestern Arizona, the Canyon Country of Utah, remote beaches of Mexico's Isla Tiburon, and rugged mountains of Nepal seeking a truce with himself. The book isn't so much about recovery as it is his recovery, coming to grips with horror and loss. His close friend Edward Abbey, who battled his own demons, struggles along with Peacock in this intensely personal yet universal odyssey.
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Whole New Life, A
Set in the fictional southeastern Arizona town of Dudley (Bisbee), Thornton's deftly plotted mystery keeps readers guessing down to the last page as an engaging cast of characters searches for answers to the poisoning deaths of a local woman and a college English professor.
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Working Wilderness: The Malpai Borderlands Group and the Future of the Western Range
The Malpai Group formed in 1992 to preserve ranching in the desert grasslands in far southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. The ranchers there banded together to study and promote sustainable grazing practices that also may enhance conservation of a wide range of plant and animal species. Along the way they have employed a number of researchers, including Sayre, to look at biological and rangeland problems from an ecological perspective. The underlying concepts are that humans are part of nature; wilderness, beauty, utility, and ecological change can go hand in hand; humans are more successful when they work with natural processes than against them; and wild lands can serve a wide range of human values, including livestock production. The book looks at their efforts, judges their successes, and asks if the lessons learned apply to other rangelands across the American West. An interesting community of cowhands and ranchers is a large part of this story. Some readers will see this book as slick propaganda for ranchers who are trying to control public lands; others will view it as a model for productive rangeland management here and across the New West. In time the science, the economics, and the land itself will tell.
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