Minnesota Books

This wonderful book about Gary and his dog, Cookie, starts here. Cookie is a true leader and loves being a sled dog. Cookie has about three litters a year. In one litter, one pup did not live; Cookie would not let it go until five days! A while after that Cookie and Gary were teaching pups to be true leaders, boy or girl, just like Cookie by running on the Alaskan plain. Cookie started to limp. She had arthritis! The doctor said, " She would have to give up running as a sled dog!" Will Gary have to give up racing, too? You will have to read the story and find out. Gary, a main character, is obviously representing Gary Paulsen, the author. I recommend this book to all readers, because it is heartwarming.

A must read for any dog lover or one who enjoys Gary Paulsen's work. The simple joy of the little balls of fur that are husky puppies is portrayed lovingly throughout the book, as you follow along with the birth, education, and growing up of the litter of Gary Paulsen's best and most wonderful lead dog, Cookie. Unfortunately, there comes sadness, as Gary is forced to give up the kennel he loved, and keep only Cookie as a reminder of the dogs he once had. In an amazingly short space of time, you will find yourself laughing hysterically, and sobbing, and anyone who reads this book without doing both at least once has no sence of humor and a heart of stone.

I think the book Puppies, Dogs, and Northerns is a great book because I love dogs and to go be outside. The place where it was in the snow at his house and on sled trails. Gary Paulsen was the author and he used destriptive writing so I could visualize. If you like dogs and sleding you would like the book. I give this book five stars because it is so great.

This is a must read follow-up to Gary's book "Winterdance". You'll read more about his dog Cookie as well as a variety of other sled dog related adventures and observations. If you've ever bonded with a dog (dog musher or not) you will enjoy this little gem of a read. It is a book easily read in one sitting.

This book caused me to feel the whole gammot of emotions--from excitement to disappointment to fear. It drew me in and captured my attention with its unexpected twists and turns. Unlike other books, taboo topics are essential to character development. This is an insightful look into the delicate balance of maintaining multiple relationships throughout the course of life. I couldn't ask for anything more from a book.

Without question, the very best book I ever read. You can not but it down nor can you stop thinking about it. This is a POWERFUL book. You will be moved and your foundation shaken but your life will be richer. This is a must read.

I am a voracious reader and in my late 20's. I have just finished Red Earth White Earth for the second time. The richness and poignancy with which the characters are developed is perfectly juxtaposed with that of Weaver's descriptions of the harsh but deeply beautiful Minnesota farmland. A magnificent story of what is natural in and around all of us.

For many reasons, this is the best book I've ever read. Not only does the story take me through a gamut of emotions, but I love Will Weaver's writing and descriptions. He describes everyday things in ways that sound unique and lyrical. I have read this book several times and enjoy it more each time. Don't miss out on this one!

Excellent purchase, spent days reading about Davenport and crew. You can't co wrong purchasing this collection, genually entertaining and well worth the price.

This has got to be the best value combination for a good, long but intense read - certainly I enjoyed all three stories no end and would recommend to anyone in need of some gentle,and not so gentle, reading relaxation.

The stories are engrossing, the charactors unique and the pages just turn themselves!! Go for it!

I love all the John Sanford Prey Books. They keep you reading and on the edge of your seat, Lucas Davenport is someone I would want on my side.

I'm collecting all the hard backs, and love to get the three in one books.

Major John Sanford fan - so far in the "Prey" series, I would have to say that "Mind Prey" was by far the most suspenseful and enjoyable of the books. John Sanford keeps the pace going throughout the entire book (3-in-1 here). Wish there were more books printed with more than 1 story in it. Excellent bargain.

My Scandinavian history professor recommended this book to me. What he didn't tell me is that he was mentioned in the preface of the book (the author obviously used my professor's book for a reference). Anyway, the book does a great job detailing the economic, political, and cultural situations in Scandinavia dating from 1500 to the present. If I were a professor teaching this kind of history, I would definitely require this as a text because of it's comprehensiveness and how relatively short it is. It's a good book for those interested in Scandinavian studies.

"Scandinavia Since 1500" is a scholarly history of the area encompassing the modern nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, along with what were then outlying possessions such as Iceland. Nordstrom focuses on the major governmental, economic, and social trends from the Reformation to the present day. What is emerges is a nuanced survey of a region with a more complicated history than may be commonly thought.

The biggest single thread in this history is the growth of nationalism and the gradual deconstruction of the Danish and Swedish empires that once dominated the region. The interaction of various portions of the Nordic area with sometimes exploitative central governments in Copenhagen and Stockholm is the context for the development of local governance, economies, and feelings of nationalism. Nordstrom makes a point of keeping his analysis fairly objective and of including lesser known areas such as Iceland and the Faroes in his analysis.

"Scandinavia since 1500" clearly represents extensive research and analysis. The tone of the book is relentlesses academic and extremely dry but will be of value to those looking for more information than may be found in popular histories or the average tourist guide.

Scandinavia, an often overlooked and opaque faction of affluent modern countries that never seem to capture the spotlight like its modish Western European neighbors. There is a lot more to this unheeded part of Europe then the common images held today: Scandinavia has a proud and rich history. In bygone times, Denmark and Sweden were two of the mightiest naval powers in Europe that ferociously contended for supremacy of Northern Europe in the Early Modern Era as well as significantly contributed to the Continent`s great wars of the age. Although quite contrary to the existing welfare states plagued by immigrants today, an abundance of great thinkers, reformers, scholars, inventors, writers, painters, and scientists from the region once contributed to the greater development of European and Western society as a whole.

Bryon Nordstrom, a professor of Scandinavian History at Gustavus Adolphus College, examines all five of these fascinating Scandinavian countries with emphasis on how the interactions between each other and the rest of the European powers have transformed the countries of today. From the beginnings of the first Paleolithic nomads to the modern contemporary states, the bulk of the significant historical events are covered with special attention to an in-depth analysis of the complex times from the 16th Century to present.

Nordstrom accomplishes, quite commendably, the strenuous task of providing readers with the historical highlights over the past five centuries, as well as elaborating and clarifying any ambiguities or misconceptions one might have. Although his delineation of the major events comprising Scandinavian history is much in the diction of a 300 page lecture, this does not hinder the effectual illustration of this intricate subject. As long as you, have any spark of interest or appetite for knowledge of the region, a modest comprehension of the book will likely contribute to a greater and more complete understanding of how these countries were shaped and exist today.

Being a history professor, Nordstrom's writing is rather straightforward. He delivers his message clear and straight to the point with no frills and with little personal bias in his writing which is rare for his profession these days. It becomes evident he has strong appreciation for his subject and an thorough, almost encyclopedic knowledge of the region.

The events that have transpired in the timeframe which the book is centered around (1500 to present) are presented in an adequate introduction which outlines the fundamentals of the region but also further elaborates on scholarly details. If you aren't already familiar with the basics of the Kalmar Union, the Hanseatic League, and the Nordic countries' involvement in the Thirty Years' War, Nordstrom provides a thorough overview. He also breaks down the perplexing Dano-Swedish wars during the 17th and 18th centuries which number around eight and were sparked by a multitude of reasons. Professor Nordstrom organizes the past five hundred years into three sections; Early Modern (1500-1800), Nineteenth Century, and the Twentieth Century. Special emphasis is placed on each country's political, economic, and social progressions. While all five modern day Norden countries are covered, a majority of the book deals with countries with a paramount role in the region's progression, which is mostly Sweden and Denmark.

Although "Scandinavia Since 1500" is not without it's low points: the economic evolutions of Norden during 19th and 20th centuries do certainly drag down the pace a bit, and a recurrent stress on peripheral topics such as "women's rights" and environmentalism are quite common. However, his purpose of creating a straightforward history of Scandinavia for the past 500 years is accomplished exceptionally well and worthy of five stars for a meritable effort of meticulous research and a diverse encompassment of little known details. With no other book of it's kind available today geared especially towards Americans, "Scandinavia Since 1500" makes a compelling read for any student of history, and especially Scandinavian-Americans, who hope to gain a familiarization with a part of the world that holds a rich and considerable history well worth a thorough examination.

Having been born and lived in Denmark till age fourteen, I was taught history in a most subjective fashion.
Many years later when visiting Stockholm I saw an enormous monument celebrating a battle in which Sweden defeated Denmark. I was aware of the battle, but obviously no monuments to it existed in Denmark.
Years later I stood on the battlements of Kungelv castle watching the Gotaelv running below. The loss of Bohus county to Sweden was but a minor footnote to Danish history, but obviously very important to Sweden as it controlled access to the Western oceans.
Professor Nordstrom's book has succeeded in putting events such as these in a subjective form and is a must for anyone seriously interested in the history of Scandinavia.
PHT
Branford, Connecticut

A wonderful book that combines a little trivia, a little history, and a little understanding into a culture that is widely ignored yet offers some amazing flavors in the culinary experience. If you are going to purchase this book, buy it with the Scandinavian Baking companion, as the two go well together and will assist amazingly in the creation of your own smorgasbord! I have used the recipes as additions to traditional American favorites for the Christmas holiday season and have gotten rave reviews (from children AND adults!). If you are bold enough to try some interesting combinations (oranges and garlic, anyone?), you won't be disappointed.

My favorites were the Swedish Meatballs and Finnish Egg Cheese. Have yet to try them all but have not found one that I didn't like.

After I was first married, I purchased the HP version of Scandinavian Cooking. Wore the cookbook out from almost daily use. Am so glad Scandinavian Cooking was reprinted, because all the recipes are keepers. Every cook should have a copy, especially if they are married to someone from Scandinavian descent.

It has a great look to it and the recipes look wonderful. It has Danish Kringle and I'm in the process of making that. I look forward to trying many more of the recipes soon. I'm going to order 2 more copies for my mother and friend.

This is a great series. The characters are complex, their interactions and dialogue realistic within the context of a police procedural. Jake Hines' police work and his life with Trudy are an excellent combination. And, best of all, the author has not felt it necessary to stuff her story full of extraneous material in order to produce a 300-page book when a 200-page book does the job.

Jake Hines is a captain and the chief of Detectives in the Rutherford Police Department who loves his job only slightly less than he loves his significant other, Trudy Hanson. They live in a farmhouse that needs a lot of work but Jake isn't worried about such trivial thing since he finally has what he always wanted since being a foster child: a place to call home.

A group of grifters consisting of two men, two women and a child descend upon the citizens and merchants of Rutherford, conning them out of their hard-earned money. When two bodies are found in a home garbage can, the police believe that the two male drifters are involved in the crime. Jake and his teams try to solve a double homicide with very little evidence and no leads.

This is the fifth Jake Hines police procedural and it is definitely the best in the series. The police, a tight knit group, are truly baffled by the strange turns in the case and their collective and individual bewilderment humanizes the force. This allows the readers to empathize with and appreciate the hard, often unrewarding work cops do. The hero is a rarity as an person totally happy in his personal and professional life. Elizabeth Ginn continues to deliver an ingenious mystery.

Harriet Klausner

What happens when a small-town police force runs up against a series of bizarre events? Science will out, if they understand their police procedures. In Seventh-Inning Stretch, you have two deaths that occur under gruesome and unimaginable circumstances. Finding out what brought it all on will leave you intrigued.

Jake Hines has recently become chief of detectives in Rutherford, Minnesota, and he's finding it hard to supervise rather than taking charge. In the process, he bends everyone a little out of shape and begins to back off . . . just a little.

As the book opens, things are looking up. There's been a temporary lull in serious crimes. So he directs everyone to work on cold cases. He even has time to hear about a series of Murphy and other con games being run by grifters in the small town and its environs. New offices are being constructed and the new furniture is being delivered.

At home, he's settling into the old farmhouse that Trudy Hansen and he have bought together. His only complaint is that her long hours of DNA training on Saturdays leave them with too little time together. He's slightly concerned about how to get the roof fixed, insulation put in and rewiring done . . . but that's what credit cards are for, isn't it? Trudy's not so sure.

Then, everything turns topsy-turvy when a body is found stuffed into a trash bin behind the Lotus Blossom restaurant downtown. But no one saw or heard anything. And what's that stuffed into the stiff's mouth?

Nothing turns out to be what it seems in this exciting story, but with careful research and thinking everything is pretty well sorted out.

I would have rated this book higher, but the modus operandi of the murder was exceedingly gruesome and disgusting. The story would have worked better for me with a more tasteful demise. If you have delicate tastes in your crime fiction, this book may not appeal to you.

After you finish this fine police procedural, think about where you may be assuming that things are one way . . . when they are actually quite different. How can you test your assumptions before you act on them?

What can I say? I just really love this series. I found Jake quite by accident on a bargain table and took a chance. This was really serendipity. I promptly bought all that were written and have kept up ever since. I am eagerly awaiting # 8 as I have gotten involved with these characters. MEMLINE

As a Minnesotan I thought this captured some of our cultural values and found the interpersonal, small town relationships to be an interesting forum for good and evil to interact. About half way through I got the feeling that I should have started reading the last chapter first; unfortunately the author was not finished with the book and it needed a bit more editing to "flow".

For many years American infantrymen were issued a "shelter half," which was half of a pup tent. At the end of a day, each soldier had to join up with a buddy so that the two of them could attach their shelter halves and thereby share a single tent. This image sets the theme of cooperation and caring that runs through Carol Bly's only novel, Shelter Half, finished just before her death from cancer in December of 2007. Bly is well-known in Minnesota as a short story writer, essayist, teacher and social worker, and to her followers it is no surprise that her novel is a good one.

Shelter Half is a portrait of life in a small town in Northern Minnesota. It is incidentally the story of a murder discovered on its opening page, but it is primarily about people failing or succeeding to live decently with one another. We see the life of the town through the eyes of a number of representative characters, the cop and the rector, the town bully and the town doctor, and a marvelously realized do-gooder who only in the end realizes that he has not done good at all. Bly imagines her world not just once, but as it exists in the minds of each of these characters. The different points of view are held together by the question of the murder, and by other recurring events and projects within the town. This is a novel of great craft and great moral imagination.

Despite the seriousness of Bly's intentions, she is no stranger to wit and humor, as when she describes the woman whose "motionless eyes were like the gun and cannon muzzles of a tank still pointed at you well after its captain or crew had died inside." Or when she says of a certain lying low-life that "his brain-dead waste ran out of his mouth like bad water from a culvert." And many of her chapters are nearly small stories in themselves, with ironic reversals culminating in a rearrangement of a character's attitudes or knowledge.

The novel's most powerful message is that we must recognize evil and act against it if we are to care for one another. Tremendous empathy and moral purpose, not to mention craft and wit, went into this book, and one can only regret that Bly did not turn to novel writing sooner in her life. It is no surprise to her fans that her novel is good, but just how good could not have been anticipated. At a recent memorial event, someone who knew her said that she respected the novel form so much that she hesitated to give it a try. Her hesitation is a loss, but this one, final achievement of her life is a great gift. Shelter Half is published in Duluth, MN by Holy Cow! Press.

Why do some people put their necks out for others? Why is the call for honor and justice answered even when there is so much to be lost? "Shelter Half" is the first and sadly only novel by author Carol Bly, who unfortunately passed away last year. Her tale lives on as an examination of honor among human beings, as a murder occurs in a small Minnesotan town. A finely written mystery from a new perspective, "Shelter Half" is highly recommended for community library fiction collections.

Carol Bly, "Shelter Half." Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press, 2008. 248 pages. $15.95. ISBN 978-0-9779458-6-3

Carol Bly's posthumously published and only novel is a remarkable achievement by any standard--plot, characterization, theme, intelligence, perception.
It esembles earlier Bly essays and stories, but extends and deepens her range as a fiction writer. Although, or perhaps because, she takes risks, they are all to good and relevant purpose. One senses Bly's beloved Tolstoy in the background, whispering, "go deeper," and she does, as the novel resonates with the history of the last half-century.
The narrative unfolds in a series of scenes following the discovery of a young woman's body on the outskirts of a small town in northern Minnesota. Each chapter almost a story in itself. Events and characters that may appear tangential to the main narrative, however, are eventually woven into its complex tapestry of related and integrated portraits and experiences.
Shelter Half's assemblage of characters and personalities may remind the reader of Chekhov, with various members of the community playing significant roles. They include a no-good, lying Brad Stropp and his abused wife, Arlene; Pearl, bartender, church organist, and a no-nonsense judge of character; Eliza MacInnes, a 23 year-old Episcopal rector; Vern Denham, a handsome young whistle-blower, and John Rubrick, a smooth executive whose Institute for Humane Research "tortured rabbits as part of product development." Each of the characters remain consistently and imminently believable, in their instincts and flaws, their failure and hard-won victories.
Flashes of wit inform the narrative, as in this comment by local social worker about Californians. "There was no more futile exercise than agreeing to do psychological work with clients in California; they came to their first sessions full of cheer like expectant shoppers for in-season organic fruit."
Thirty-year old Imogen Tenebray, is a kind of central consciousness, whose choices and decisions impinge on other characters. She is a memorable woman thinking her way through her life and making choices that distance her from her family and neighbors, even those sympathetic to her values. Her thoughts, as she is about to talk with her therapist "about something very, very bad, are representative: "For a murderous species. we are certainly courteous,"
Following a personal tragedy earlier, Imogene has immersed herself in the moral and political concerns of the wider community, as a counselor and director of a peace center in Duluth. Once admired as a community organizer, she is eventually forsaken by her contemporaries for tolerating homeless people sleeping on the stairway to the peace center.
Imogene's parents, Peter and Natalie Tenebray, are local sophisticates who "didn't share their private lives with folks having coffee at the bakery or even after church. They were said to give bash-up dinner parties on the weekend, where other Episcopalians who were college graduate types went--but news never sifted from those parties out to...the Friday night philosophers at the VFW." Peter, a Harvard alumus, supplements his inherited income writing articles that present corporation's interests "in the light of that company's good intentions and potential good behavior." He is a "whitener," in other words, whose moral behavior is shaky, but not completely hopeless.
Shelter Half concludes with a meeting of a German and an American veteran of World War Two, conquered and conqueror, in a reconciliation at once mysterious, complicated, and convincing. Bridging a gap that we sometimes feel toward events of the past half century, it offers valuable insights into the moral, cultural, and aesthetic implications of the present.
Not surprisingly, the novel responds to demands Bly made of American writers, in her memorable pamphlet, Bad Government and Silly Literature, 1986. "Most of the characters in American fiction are fools," she wrote at that time, "who have no political or ethical feelings, seldom betraying any feelings of shame for our nation and fear for the planet itself." Although they "are not meant to be fools, the characters "conduct their joys and frets during unjust wars and terrible domestic poverty and never notice.
Ducking that condition, if we like," Bly continued "our literature will remain what it largely is now--rather too self-centered and capricious, with its plots full of private love life and financial considerations". Needless to say, Shelter Half ventures far beyond the narrow fictional landscape that she criticized.
In a body of work that includes essays, stories, commentaries on writing, ethics, and community, and finally this novel, Bly claims a special place among American writers. She is populist and sophisticated, with a moral vision and wit reminiscent of Sinclair Lewis and J. F. Powers. Although her gentle satire differs from theirs, it reflects a similarly penetrating eye for detail, as she plummets the depths of that Upper Midwestern and American culture.
Having known Bly's work, since we first became friends three decades before her death, I have long admired her intelligence and daring as an artist. But I must admit to being even further impressed by this novel. It took my breath away. The prefatory note on the title, Shelter Half--that is, the half a pup tent issued to American infantrymen--is alone worth the price of the book.
--Michael True

Where else can you find a picture of a 20 foot mosquito? As long as Minnesotans can fry up a limit of bluegills as the sun sets late on a hot summer day, we should feel secure in our abilty to defeat the Saracens.

Small Town Minnesota A To Z by Minnesota native Tony Andersen is an engaging and nostalgic look at a wide variety of small-town communities in Minnesota from Argyle to Zumbro Falls. Most of these distinctive Minnesota communities have fewer than 1,000 people. Full-color photographs and an engaging text written with wry humor and replete with candid, anecdotal stories of conversations and adventures with small-town folk make Small Town Minnesota A To Z an engaging and refreshing tribute to an outstanding Midwestern state, as well as a less crowded, less hyper, and less pressure-intense way of life.

The photos and stories are amazing. I wish I could write somthing that would do this book justice, but I guess that's why Bill Holm wrote the forward. His words describe perfectly the beauty of this book.

What a unique book! At times the writing flows just like poetry, ...."A forest thick with pine and poplar was interrupted only by the ribbon of road and clearings of shimmering lakes..." and other times it feels like a talking about fish stories with a friend in a local cafe..."My trusty rod and reel were packed in the trunk, just in case." If you've never been to Minnesota, or don't have a concept of what 'Small Town Minnesota Nice' really is, then pick up this book. And if you've ever visited a small town in Minnesota, or anywhere, read this book to feel welcomed back again! I truly couldn't put it down from Argyle to Zumbro Falls!

I've bought de book Space and Place, by Yi-Fu Tuan. I live in Brazil and the book got here in the best shape, carefully raped, and earlyer tha promissed.

This is a seminal text which offers insight into how we are awakened as children to the complex world which exists around, how we navigate, read and atribute meaning to the abstract spaces and places within which we exist. It opens a door to the genetic knowledge which is embedded in everything which exists around and how through our senses even the preception of time and space can be warped by experience.

"The aspects of things that are
most important for us are hidden
because of their simplicity and
familiarity"
L. Wittgenstein


As a thesis [here I stand] it is a delight, fundamental and engaging. It illuminates a wide and fertile field critical to an understanding how we are rooted to place and space.

There are books you read, then there are those which - live with you - you keep them close and consult them often.

In "Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience," Tuan provides a descriptive account of the concepts "space" and "place," drawing on the work of phenomenologists, anthropologists, psychologists, geographers, and others. He grounds his analysis in a structuralist framework, using anthropological research to illustrate how our experiences of space and place can "transcend cultural particularities" (Tuan 1977, p. 5). Tuan provides an original and intriguing discussion of a wide range of topics, such as the relationship between space and place, on the one hand, and myths, architecture, time, religion, and cognition, on the other. I would highly recommend this work to anyone interested in human geography, cultural geography, urban geography, urban studies, and to anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of the importance of space and place for our lives.

This book was one of several books I studied to better understand the role of place in architecture and interior design. It helped me understand the importance of working with clients to understand the meanings they infer from the environment around them. In the book, Tuan highlights the importance of meaning and an insider's view. He describes place as humanized space. The contrast of open space with enclosed, comforting areas enhances both. As a person's emotional bond to a space increases, so do familiarity, comfort, and the sense of insideness. Without personal control over space, this emotional bond is slow to develop. To create place, Tuan suggests that memorable architecture should strenghen our memories, enhance the self, and provide layers of meaning to a space.

Fantastic book, love the descriptions, often humorous, and I marvel at the time Donald must have taken to research all these names! A great read!

I have throughly read and enjoyed the first edition of this book. I look forward to reading the new version with all of its' additions. I have lived in St. Paul since 1964.

I've enjoyed this book because it's given me a lot of interesting history regarding the area where I live. St Paul is an interesting place to live with a lot of history and this book does a great job describing it. I recommend the book.

As I lived in St. Paul for over 20 years, I found the book very interesting and informative. I first read about familar streets and then found myself reading the book front to back. The pictures also really helped bring the story of each street to life. Every city should do all it can to promote it's history; the street names and stories behind them is a great place to start.