Arizona Books

The power of Ken Lamberton's "Beyond Desert Walls: Essays from Prison" comes from its amazing, unflinching honesty joined with elegant writing - a combination that, for me, is irresistible in personal essay or memoir. A Teacher of the Year in the 1980s, Lamberton later spent a dozen years in prison for an offense even he describes as despicable. Yet it was in prison that he found himself and honed his writing skills. His first book of essays, "Wilderness and Razor Wire," won the 2002 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing; written while he was incarcerated, it eloquently describes the little bits of nature available to him within an Arizona prison and how they saved him.

While "Beyond Desert Walls" is also about nature (specifically the Sonoran Desert of southeastern Arizona), it is more about Lamberton himself and how he got into the predicament that put him behind bars. Describing this over the course of several essays is where his honesty really comes to the fore. It's also about his wife, Karen, and her stubborn determination to stick by him - she even became a paralegal to assist with his case - and how she believed, as he wrote, that he was "worth salvaging." And it's about Lamberton's belief in himself as he creates a new, more introspective and truthful life as a faithful husband, devoted father, and freelance writer.

In my opinion, Lamberton does for prose what another remarkable ex-convict, Jimmy Santiago Baca, does for poetry.

Beyond the Reach of Time and Change: Native American Reflections on the Frank A. Rinehart Photograph Collection features one hundred photographic portraits taken during the very late nineteenth century by professional Frank A. Rinehart. Rinehart practiced his trade upon Native Americans in their traditional dress during the an event known as the Indian Congress; his landmark photography, which unlike that of others did not pander to shameless stereotypes, rests in the Haskell Indian Nations University today and is widely regarded as one of the best photographic documentaries of the era. In addition to the powerful black-and-white photographs of individuals and groups from a wide variety of native tribes, Beyond the Reach of Time and Change features 14 essays by modern Native American writers, artists and educators - including some descendants of the individuals photographed - offering various reflections upon the role of these timeless images in their heritage. Highly recommended for native studies shelves and personal collections, and an emotional collection to page through.

1.Each tour is really a series of tours starting with a short route and then extending it. This lets the rider decide how far he wants to ride instead of being constrained by a single route. 2.I've used the routes around Tucson and found the descriptions to be accurate and detailed. Many of the routes came from the Tucson Chapter of the Greater AZ Bike Assn and are still used on the club's rides. 3.About 25% of the rides are close to Tucson. Routes further from Tucson include multi-day tours in the southern part of AZ going right to the border with Mexico.

There are many, many books on scientific terminology out there, and in my mind, this is one of the best.It covers all of the standard greek and latin bases and combining forms. (the other book that I would recommend) is a good book on root words and combining forms such as,Donald.J.Borrors dictionary of root words and combining forms-if I have gotten the title wrong, just search Donald.J.Borror and I am sure it will be rectified.
This book is basically a book on biology. It covers plant,animal, and human anatomy.There are many, many, lessons in this book,and as I said formerly,I think that it would be a good investment to purchase a dictionary of greek and latin root word constituents and their various forms in order to do a thorough etymological study of it.
That said, and I know that I have been rambling, it is a worthwhile book. I would suggest this book to any biology,medical,etymology, or lover of words. It will increase your vocabulary and understanding of life ten-fold.

Every now and again a book is destined to become a classic. This is such a book. To describe this reference book as monumental is not using too strong a word. This is indeed a singular effort to provide scholars, collectors and interested readers with a must-have resource to understanding the origins and intricacies of some sought-after works of art.
For centuries collectors have coveted the hand-woven blankets, sarapes and ponchos of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish American artists of the Southwest.
Indeed, the popularity of these objects is increasing, as evidenced by the long line of cars and attendant crowds gathering in the high school auditorium in Crownpoint,N.M., on the third Friday of every month.
Collectors, buyers and speculators meet at the school to examine hundreds of handmade rugs created by native artists. These would-be buyers vie for the sought-after items in a high-speed auction. These monthly sales are testimony to the never-ending popularity of Southwestern textiles.
As for this book, where to begin?
The author became the first curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado Museum in 1953. He remained at that post until his retirement in 1986, and later became interested in the history of Southwestern textile development.
His exhaustive research led him to visit dozens of museums and painstakingly study thousands of 19th century textiles. He supervised chemical tests of dyes from hundreds of yarns and spent years conducting research in both renowned and obscure archives in an effort to document the material and basis for textile development.
His work resulted in a classification scheme for Southwestern textiles that established a baseline for understanding, identifying and dating items of unknown origin. This book is the result of that research and will be the standard by which all future efforts will be judged.
The book contains 115 black and white figures, line drawings that demonstrate weaving techniques, edge finishes and corner tassels as well as 191 gorgeous color plates that enable the reader to visually determine the distinct traits of the three textile traditions of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish-American blanket weaving art.
There are chapters dealing with fibers, yarns, dyes, fabric structure, tools, weaves and finishing techniques as well as 97 pages of appendix, chapter notes and an index.
This is a monunmental work that will appeal to scholars, collectors and general readers with an interest in the history of this Southwestern art form.

Luci Tapahonso delivers another beautiful collection of poems and stories centered around her Navajo culture. Like most of her works, her emphasis is on family and community, and on the ties that bind us invisibly and lovingly to each other and to our homeland. The stories and poems are at times touching and funny, revealing the human being behind the sorrows and joys of everyday living. If you like happy endings, family values, and good old-fashioned heartfelt love, this will become your favorite book. It is at once beautiful and familiar -- these are your experiences and emotions as much as the poet's, whether you are a Navajo or not. Don't skip "In Praise of Texas," in which the narrator reflects the thinnest hopes and dreams which live in all of us, and which "blossom without any urging on our part" (13)

This is a double book written by one of Arizona's greatest ranchers. Set in Northern Mexico in the 1930's and Northern Arizona in the 1940's, it tells of some of the great old ranches. Some of these old Cowpunchers are still around after all these years! A great read.

I read this book a while ago. I read alot and especially on spiritual topics. I had read Children's Past Lives a long time ago and then I just read Return From Heaven - both by Carol Bowman and she had mentioned this doctor and her book.

It is a wonderful book! Gladys McGarey doesn't condone abortion but is sensitive to a women's feelings on the subject and has different ideas to consider. I remember wishing that I had read this book before I had my abortion many years ago. Talking to your baby's spirit is such a beautiful idea! And perhaps I would have gone a different path with more insight!

Gladys McGarey's experiences through her practice shed a whole new light on a very tender subject - abortion. This was not the only thing that she writes about in her book. Her whole spiritually on children is a very positive read!

I will loan out my copy to my friends and family who are having a baby. I believe her ideas round out other ideas nicely.

The Bounty Hunter's Daughter is an incredible book and I didn't want it to end. Delphinia Estes is a strong heroine, with all the odds against her. What I thought at first would be a basic revenge western, became an intricately plotted novel, that keeps unfolding all kinds of hidden secrets. Phyllis de la Garza is an amazing, gifted writer. A classic western novel!

This is not only a beautiful hard bound book (with very nice high quality matching black dust cover) for the hunter's library; it is a great bowhunting reference tool. The book has nearly a dozen stories by successful Arizona bowhunters and state record holders, a listing of the current Arizona bowhunting records for all species, and numerous very helpful charts, tables and graphs. The charts, tables and graphs show exactly which hunting units have produced the most record entries on a species by species comparison. Additionally, various graphs and charts show (by species) the most successful times of day to hunt, best hunting methods for each species, and average shot distances based upon all of the record entries in the book. You could not find a better source of this type of information for the would-be Arizona bowhunter!