Montana Books

This book is unbelievably detailed when it comes to trails to hike etc. However the book is fatally flawed (for me) in that it has absolutely *no* information about lodging! I am planning a trip to Montana with my three kids and I wanted to know about where to stay in Glacier Park, whether we should consider a ranch stay, and if there were once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as a dinosaur dig or a wagon train ride. Not one of these questions were answered by this book! However, once you are at Glacier I imagine the detailed information about trails and scenery (and a few stores etc) would be quite useful.

If you want to explore Montana, whether you have kids or not,
this is the book to use! There are places to go that are
easy to get to with good directions. The hiking trails are
easy enough for everyone and there are interesting museums
and cultural sites. You will definately find this helpful
and insightful!

Montana or beyond, this is a creative, intelligently written guidebook for both nature and natural lovers of cultural and historical resources. Clear, well written stories depict the landscapes in a manner that both entertains and directs children and adults to the wonders that Montana has to offer. Take a drive, book a flight, either way, this book is a delight!

It is difficult to imagine a more splendid introduction to flyfishing in Big Sky country than this thick (472 pp.) 2005 publication in the Flyfisher's Guide To ... series. Like all writing in the flyfishing subculture, a fair amount of knowledge on the part of the reader is assumed, though Robbins is less guilty of talking over the heads of apprentices like this reviewer than most writers on his beloved avocation.

'Beloved' is a word carefully chosen, for Robbins' enthusiasm for the sport and for practicing it in his gorgeous state, comes through loud and clear. This is especially so when he can do so far from drift boat congestion and stomping waders, as a pair of comments and a section on flyfishing etiquette make clear.

After some perfunctory preliminaries, the book reaches its stride with a nice introduction to 'Angling Tactics', a particularly helpful word to semi-beginners like this reviewer who were trained on the relatively fast waters of the Big Horn River and then found himself making a solo adaptation of those skills to the still-ish blue of the unspeakably gorgeous Wade Lake. A couple of maps familiarizes the reader with the regions of the state that Montanans take for granted and will assume you know, then launches into a region-by-region survey of the trout waters in each.

You'll find here almost all the facts about a body of water that are stable enough to be written down. Then, for the things that change with the climate, the seasons, the hatches, and the Great Unknowns of flyfishing for trout, Robbins steers you to the fly shops that can give you the up-to-date skivvy on what's hatching, what's biting, who's bragging, and who's staying mum.

Two appendices are particularly helpful, one on the basic flies you'll need in order to fish Montana and another on the species that you might just find in your net.

This is a high-value, well-presented reference on fly fishing the Big Sky State. You may not find a better one.

Outstanding reference and, well written! All fly anglers should have this book as part of their library.

Lots of good information to help you plan a flyfishing trip to Montana. Extensive coverage of the major drainages. Data is pretty current -- this book was just published in 2005. The maps are very detailed but many of the tributaries and small streams are not identified. Color photos would have been nice but would probably be cost-prohibitive.

I had to read A Doll House and the Wild Duck for one of my classes, and this was the edition recommended to us by the professor. I was so caught up in Ibsen that I went back and read Hedda Gabler and Master Builder in my spare time, and was not disappointed.

For those who are not familar with Ibsen, his plays are studies of human interaction and psychology, and this collection slants towards the tragic (meaning that it's not quite over until someone dies). There's certain patterns readers will notice, how characters lives are inter-connected by past secrets or relations they haven't been quite honest about, and how a character's unfulfilled life is linked to past actions and someone else's meddling hand. But it's all very compelling, and once you've gotten the names straight and how everyone is related to each other, you're sucked into the drama of these lives.

Of course if you don't like your modern drama depressing then this might not be for you. But any serious playwright/drama student needs to read Ibsen, and this is a fine place to start.

Ibsen is one of the most important playwrights to ever grace this earth, and it is not difficult to see why after reading this collection of plays. "The Doll House" is immediately fascinating, perhaps the easiest to understand out of this group of plays. It teaches the lesson that one must learn to stand on one's own, to carry out the cliché -- "to find oneself" -- but the lesson is not learned by the main character until the stage has been skillfully set in order to make the ending all the more compelling. The strongest play is perhaps "Hedda Gabler," whose upper class heroine, Hedda, is one of the most abstract and intriguing female characters ever written for a play. Devious and suffocating in her new middle class surroundings after marrying a rather dull man, her frustrations play out and alienate the other characters. The other characters are not merely accessories; they ARE the play when one juxtaposes them with Hedda. "The Wild Duck" is not as strong a play, and the dullest of the group, but is also worth a read. Overall, the collection is a quick and engrossing read.

Hedda gabler is a tale of a woman in the victorian ages. She was recently married to a man who considered writing a book "The Brabant in the middle ages" an exiting topic. She is torn between the role she must portray and the role she wants. The play shows the fall from grace and the decline of Hedda Gablers power. It is a powerful play and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyone who read the play and wants to help me with a staging essay. amieDicaprio@yahoo.com

From There to Here is a wonderfully old fashioned type of story that is hard to get your hands on anymore. Not only are the stories full of surprises, written by an American Cowboy, Wildlife Ranger and devoted familyman, but he shares with us what life must have been like not so long ago. This book is a true gift to friends, family and even tweens and younger. Buy this book now!

A hard book to put down. Very informative on needs for wildlife mgmt. An advocate of natural resource conservation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Alfred Ridgeway's autobiography "From There to Here" was an exciting look into the life of a true American cowboy. If you like a good, honest, heartwarming story look no further.

My 3-year-old daughter and I have enjoyed "God and Me!--Devotions for Girls Ages 2-5" for the past several months. Each day's reading covers a topic such as obedience, faith, sharing, etc., with a Scripture verse and a short story about children this age to illustrate it. Then we use the three discussion questions given to review and make our own personal application. This has often been so relevant to where she is at, and I find this feedback technique an excellent way to know if she really got the point. The facing page has a corresponding activity such as coloring, dot-to-dot, art project to do with mom, or a puzzle. It reinforces the lesson in a very hands-on way and is so good for this active and visual age. The book is spiral-bound which I found makes it easy for my daughter to do the activities. Though all the stories were taken from real-life scenarios, I felt some of them might have been better illustrations of the topics. I also wished for more discussion of the spiritual meanings of the story. But overall, it is written in an attention-getting way for this age group and introduces many new concepts for discussion. I appreciate the book's message that even a small child can learn to know and trust Jesus in every part of their life.

The daily devotion guide is an excellent resource for young girls. I gave 3 as gifts and the girls and their parents were quite pleased. We enjoy reading the daily devotional at bedtime.

This book is a great way to involve children in their Bible study with activities and puzzles daily as well as a great devotion that inspired wonderful discussions!! I had not expected to have such clear teaching for my girls at ages 4 & 7, but I am thankful for this book that helped us to do that!! We will probably go back & do it over every year or so until we are ready for the next level!!

Great book! Very interesting true life stories that pull you in and let you experience some of these exciting adventures. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. A must read!

My mother loves bear stories and is constantly trying to get me to read them. She had just got Ben's book for her summer reading and I was lucky enough to spend most of my vacation with it. It is a great read and has provoked alot of discussion around the dinner table.
Be sure to read Ben's book on Lewis and Clark, too.

I read this book after reading "Great Wyoming Bear Stories" (which was actually written after this book, and is intended to be a companion piece) and really enjoyed the stories and writing that Ben Long employed in this collection. Many of the tales go back to the late 19th/early 20th century, and into the present. I wouldnt call it a definitive book on the behavior of bears (if you are looking for that information, read something written by Stephen Herrero). Nonetheless, this is absolutely a great collection of stories concerning both grizzlies and black bears. My only complaint is that it wasnt longer. Definitely worth reading.

I had delightfull moments reading that book. It's another winner from author Cheryl St. John. Highly recommended (almost 5 stars for me)!

Brock Kincaid was home and the last thing he expects is to find himself staring into a set of eyes that look hauntingly familiar...the eyes of a son he never knew he had. Is he too late to build a relationship with his son? Abby Watson wants nothing to do with the man who murdered her brother, left her pregnant and broke her heart. But how can she deny a father's right to know his son? Brock and Abby have to work to overcome the past, live through the present and possibly find a future together. Cheryl St. John is known for her tender, poignant stories that touch readers' hearts, but she's outdone even herself with The Gunslinger's Bride, a tender story about letting go and loving.

Brock Kincaid is just as [wonderful] as his brothers, Caleb and Will and cousin James portrayed in the anthology of Big Sky Grooms, another must read and also a keeper!

Be sure not to miss Big Sky Brides anthology of the delightful contemporary sisters, Suzanna and Diana Brennan and the historical story of their great-great grandparents, Isabella and Kyle Running Horse Brennan.

The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.

it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.

I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.

This is not a coffee table book. Nor is it a book to be wasted on a library shelf. The photographs and brief accompanying text are meant to be consumed slowly, revisted, again revisted, appreciated like two fingers of old sour mash sipped during the bleak. It is irrelevant that a few of the photographs appear slightly grainy. What the artist brilliantly captures are facets of modesty and humility among a gracious people who, by choice, live a somewhat remote, sometimes trying life.

Once in awhile, you find a book that outstrips others and stands on its' own. This isn't the glam photography of Annie Liebowitz, the sexually overt Herb Ritts, nor is it the intentionally odd portraiture of Diane Arbus. This is an artist in the same league as Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Galen Rowell, and Phil Borges. Simply put, Laura Wilson is a thoughtful artist, whose vision and understanding are the product of a level of artistic and a respect for history that few others show. If there is one word that stands above all it is this: craft.

This book is the result of years of visiting and slowly getting to know the Hutterites, not an easy task. A friend of Richard Avedon, Laura Wilson's greatness and strength show up in her photos which depict the people as they are. If you can, buy them all! Her work is an education in the type of commitment it takes to make and pursue fine art.

Laura Wilson's photographs are truly extraordinary. I first was introduced to them by a recent essay on the PBS News Hour. The few photograps that were shown left me mesmerized and eager to see more. The presentation of the photographs in the book, however, is extremely disappointing. Rather than helping the photographs, the layout gets in the way. Several of the best photos are split between two pages ( e.g., the photo of the women on the haystacks is split 75%/25%). Also, many of the photos are blown up so large that graininess becomes a significant problem.

Laura Wilson's photographs deserve a far better presentation than they are given in this volume.

Kari Swenson was abducted by a mountain man father/son team as she hiked alone on an isolated trail in the thickness of the country growth at Big Sky, Montana, as she trained for the Olympics event she meant to win. They treated her abusively in the rough mountain way as she pleaded to be released. The old man, Don Nichols, asked his son, "Shall we keep her?" Danny nodded, with "Yeah, let's keep her."

This drama played out for five months while the first rescuer was killed on Moonlight Creek in the wild forest, so close to Big Sky. "Remembering a tragedy is always painful." The long manhunt and eventual capture of the kidnappers ended peaceably due to the expertise of Sheriff Johnny France. This "drama of the confrontation between the Sheriff and the fugitives is as exciting as any fiction" and it is "a tale of high adventure in real life."

At the first trial in Virginia City where cowboys drink coffee and other liquids at Bettie's Cafe, Danny was not found guilty of murder because his father was the one who shot Al Goldstein. The district judge is described as a crusty old Southerner who 'ran a tight court' who felt that the younger man should have been found guilty as well because the murder had occurred during the course of the original felony. But the jury of rural Montana didn't see it that way. Dan got the maximum sentence to be served at the hardrock prison at Deerlodge.

A new trial ended with Don Nichols receiving guilty on both counts, murder and kidnapping and also got the maximum sentence under law. He must serve 42 years before any chance of parole. For a man his age, that is equivalent to the death sentence.

Life goes on at the Mountain Range with hot dry summers and fiercely cold winters. Kari went back to full time training for international biathlon competition, but this time in the Green Hills of Vermont -- but never alone. She was only twenty-three when that happened; today, she would be 44. By now, it is hoped that she has found the peace after such a grueling experience.

In contrast to the other reader, I've known Johnny France since *my* childhood LOL. This is a gripping crime story that also gives a native's glimpse into a community and a way of life that's rapidly changing. Read this as much for a taste of western Montana as it once was as much as for the murder story.

I've know Johnny France since he was a young man. Without his dogged determination, these two killers might not have ever been captured. Don Nichols is still in prison and most likely will never get paroled. This book tells fascinating tale almost too strange to believe in these modern times. Great reading!!