Idaho Books

I first selected to read this book because I was on assignment to select and report on a book based on a subject convered in my college Agro-Ecology class. What I found was a new perspective of these amazing people known as "Okies" from the perspective of one among them in the fruit trees of America. The touching stories, informative history, and beautiful photography touched my heart. The book was well thoughtout, written, and developed. I am truely thankful for the enlightenment this book has brought to my mind and heart concerning this fasintating culture which is disappearing. I am grateful for this preservation of the thoughts and ideas of this people for future generations when the life syle of these people have finaly slipped into pure history.

If you love the Tetons of Wyoming or have ever climbed with Exum Guides, then you'll enjoy this book. Filled with wonderful photos from a by-gone period of Teton climbing (when you just tied in around your waist) and funny stories from one of the men who created Teton climbing, this book will make you chuckle and impress you with the simple humor and ease of Glenn Exum. If you're looking for a detailed story of the early years of Teton climbing, this is not the book for you. It gives you a view through Exum's own eyes, but that's pretty interesting. It's worth the cost just for the photos alone.

Grassy Flats is about two women who are trying to make a go of it on a potato farm outside of the town of Grassy Flats during the Great Depression. Things go fine until the people in town discover that the women are lesbians and then the lovers find themselves shunned by everyone, especially the men who run all of the businesses. Suddenly, their credit is no good, the bank won't give them a loan and they find they've been fenced away from the necessary water. In the midst of this, two drifters, a man and his pregnant wife, come into their lives when the drifters try to steal a chicken to eat from the farm. These four find themselves in an uneasy alliance to try and get in a year's crops that will make the farm successful. True success comes when the women of the town decide to rally around the lesbians because of their own frustrations with how their husbands treat them. The end of the story is a little unsatisfying, but the book is worth the read.

This was such an interesting project, documenting the first American to marry an Iranian in the early 1900's, and their lives and their children's lives in America and in Iran. I really enjoyed the poetry and the pictures and the letters. I think it could've been laid out a little better (so it's easier on the eyes) but a fascinating story nevertheless. I would definitely recommend it.

The guide is the best I've found, but it's not a stand alone resource. It's more comprehensive and with better comparison tables than the older "Hiking the Bitteroots." However, it lacks good mapping. If you're gonna use this guidebook, also get the two plastic topo maps of the Selway Bitteroot Wilderness from the Forest Service.

Idaho is not a bad book, especially if you wish to read/collect the entire series. But somehow, it just didn't jell with me. Maybe because outside of Edward Blackstone no idea of importance got introduced in this book. Or maybe it was because Ross tried to put too much in one book.

I find Idaho Byways to be a useful and handy guide to exploring Idaho's spectacular mountain and desert roads. The routes chosen are ideal for anyone in a sport-utility vehicle. No serious four-wheeling, just lots of backcountry scenery as well as historic sites off the beaten track.

David Stocklein's, The Idaho Cowboy, was a picture book of sights, smells, seasons, and images of the true Idaho Cowboy. Short essays on the seasons took up a couple pages between photo displays, which added tremendously, if you are not someone familiar with this lifestyle. You will find yourself looking at these photos over and over, each time finding something interesting, that you may have missed. Whether you are a cowboy with vast knowledge and experience or a person who dreams of places faraway, where legends still trend the earth, you will love this photographic portrayal of the Idaho Cowboy.

Having grown up in this area I thought it would be an intersting read. I found the book to be a lot of fun. If you aren't familiar with the potato industry of Idaho you can learn a lot by reading it and the story keeps you wondering what is going to happen next making it tough to put down. For me it brought back a lot of fun memories as I have spent a lot of my life exploring the Idaho deserts myself. Give it a try I think you'll enjoy the time you spend reading it.

Cory

Having recently become quite a rockhound, I was very excited to discover this book. It lives up to the promise of being a complete guide to Idaho. The bulk of the book is a mineral list that includes brief mineral descriptions followed by county by county descriptions of where you can find the mineral. The index also includes a listing of counties and the minerals that can be found there, although the index is not as thourough as it could be. The biggest downfall of this book is that it doesn't really describe how to find the minerals. It gives approximate locations but does not tell you what features in rock outcroppings to look for to find the cavities that contain minerals. However, this would not be a problem to a more experienced rockhound.