Nevada Books

This CD lets you see a lot of Las Vegas in the cool Quicktime VR format. You can take a 'virtual tour' and get a good idea about how to plan a trip to Vegas, and see a variety of perspectives on the action!

I got the CD for Chirstmas and thought that it was a great CD. It was fun and bought back some cool memories. I would recommend this CD if you love Vegas.

I bought this CD sometime ago and thought that it was a great resource for my family. If you are ever going to go to Las Vegas you should see this CD. It really helped us grasp a very confusing and overwhelming town.

Save your money. This virtual reality program of Vegas is just some virtual junk. First of all, the program doesn't come with instructions or even an installation application. It took me 30 minutes to figure out how to start the program and when I did, I was greatly disappointed. The program did have some nice picures of Las Vegas, but [price] for a collection of pictures that you can rotate and zoom in and out on, is a bit much.

Has a lot of information, but very few really detailed or inside information about jobs.

This author covers the essential aspects one must deal with in considering and making a move to the Las Vegas area. I read another book called "Craps Across America" that gave me insight into the daily casino life that one could lead after moving to the "Sin City" area. But this book gave me the practical knowledge that I needed outside of the gaming world in Las Vegas. I recommend this book for the practical knowledge it provides.

This book is very insightful for those who wonder what Nevada has to offer other than tourism and casinos. A must read if you are thinking about moving to this state!

This isn't a bad book, but the information is very broad, with not as many specifics as one might believe - or want. For exapmle, the book does not contain directions on how to obtain a work card to get a job in casinos, or what a work card is. Other info has nothing to do with Nevada but is still useful, like how to write a cover letter. The best info is the geographic info and the descriptions of the towns and real estate. The book's shortcomings deal with jobs and money issues (save real estate)Also, the book's writing style is very informal, to the point of dumbing down the material. Still, it's a pretty good place to start, but you'll want more specific info later.

This book is written by a Nevadan who has spent his life in rural Nevada. He knows of what he speaks. This book tells the surprisingly full story of the history of this desert. It ends around 1975, however, so it does not include important events such as Burning man or land speed records.

A good read! Gives a a nice over view of the regions history. However, it should be updated with a little spot on the Burning Man project, and other activities that have taken place out there. I read the book while I was in the Black Rock looking for a Geocaching.com project. A more perfect book, I think you couldn't find.

A good read! Gives a a nice over view of the regions history. However, it should be updated with a little spot on the Burning Man project, and other activities that have taken place out there. I read the book while I was in the Black Rock looking for a Geocaching.com project. A more perfect book, I think you couldn't find.

This book covers the history of the Black Rock Desert region near Gerlach, Nevada from roughly 10,000 BC until the early 1970s.

The writing style is a little stilted, but this book is a quick read. The longest chapter discusses the war with the Paiute Indians, but there is also discussion of some of the mining activity, and an excellent chapter about the ranchers of the area.

It would be nice to see this book updated to include more information about the founding of Gerlach, and to discuss some of the activities of the 70's and 80's.

If you've been to Burning Man, and are wondering about the history of the area, then this is the book for you.

Tom Bernard does a great job with this novel, especially considering it is his first.

Like the Nici bond scheme, so central to the plot, there is little redeeming value to "Wall and Mean." The book suffers from a number literary flaws such as cartoonish characters, desultory dialog, and plodding plot. The twists and turns the author, Tom Bernard, presents are at best illogical, and at worst (to turn a title) just 'woeful and mean'.
What is successful in this book are the scenes involving stale trading floor antics, overstated trader debaucheries, and recycled Wall Street anecdotes. It is always fun to recall Wall Street excesses brought to literary light in "Liars Poker" and the rest of the Street tell-alls. Read those books instead.
This book breaks no new ground and if not for its one redeeming value, I would have demanded a refund. The author's proceeds are given to autism research, which is quite a worthy cause. But I cannot recommend the book for that reason alone, rather you should donate the entire cost of the book to autism research and cut out the middle-man.

Bernard's intimate knowledge of wall street provides a realistic framework for this fast paced thriller. The story is engaging and enjoyable, so much so, that I read the book in one sitting.

George Wilhelm lives in a rarified world where his intellect is celebrated, the newest young phenomenon on the Emerging Markets desk at City Trust Bank in New York, one of a select few. George's singular vice is gambling, but then he has always had the touch... until he doesn't. Then Wall Street meets the mean streets and Wilhelm learns the hard way that bookies don't wait for payday to collect their money. Reeling from a wakeup call delivered by two thugs who have purchased his contract, George is introduced to the sudden brutality of the criminal underbelly that lurks below the surface of big money; and thugs they are, two lowlifes whose massive biceps belie any patience or tolerance when their money is at stake.

While struggling to pay the weekly vig, George comes up with an elaborate scheme to raise the sum he needs to get out from under the threat of bodily harm, taking on a partner to accomplish the sophisticated plan that is inspired by the intricacies of trading in which he excels. One step ahead of the violence that awaits his failure, George juggles work, romance and an increasing panic, mixing with men of questionable repute from Miami to the Bahamas, desperate to escape his compromising circumstances and go back to a normal life. Although George's plan will make more sense to anyone familiar with the vagaries of stocks and hedge funds, clearly the risk is significant, both personally, in his career and potentially, his life.

A former stock broker, the author molds his tale around a young man's hubris and his unfortunate susceptibility to the vice of gambling. George skates to the limit and back over one harrowing long weekend, learning quickly the duplicity of greed. Although the author attempts a bit of American Psycho gallows humor at the end, the whole is uneven, the brutality of George's choices an uncomfortable match with his levity. One is never sure if Wilhelm is a genius or a fool; he is, however, unlikable, as are the rest of the characters, either too self-centered or stereotypical to leave a lasting impression. (A caveat: you can't ignore Bernard's generosity; proceeds from the sale of Wall and Mean go to Autism Speaks and Safe Minds.) Luan Gaines/2007.

This is an excellent book. I agree with the other reviewer who noted the quality of the organization and the photos--it has some of the best photos of any wildflower guidebook I've seen. This is a field guide, not a flora, so the comments by another reviewer regarding the species not in the book aren't really very relevant.

Laird R. Blackwell's "Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley" (1999) is an excellent field guide to the area. The "Quick Key" organizes 357 thumbnails of flowers by elevation for quick reference, and the bulk of the guide is organized by family. Descriptions are adequate. The photos, overall, are good.

Although I own and use many wildflower identification books, most are lacking in some respect...organization, quality of photographs, etc. I stumbled across this book at a State Park ranger station shop, and was immediately impressed with the excellent quality photographs and the organization of information. The introduction contains much valuable data about elevational zones and where to find the flowers. There's a Quick Key of tiny photographs to steer you to the plant family and page number where you'll find the flower in question. I'm recommending this guide to all my friends.

The book is well organized and has the appearance of being handy, but is seriously incomplete. I'm a botanist, with research in the Sierra, and have tried several different resources in the field. Many plant species, common throughout the Sierra, have no mention in the book. If you happen across a plant that is covered by the book, the information is usually good, but what good is the book if most plants are not covered? Many photo-based field guides exclude the vast majority of species, because it's too costly and unfeasible to publish a book that thorough. However, a photo-based field guide should at least include all the most common species, which is where I believe this book falls short.

Wow, what gorgeous pictures, Robert Cameron is an amazing photographer and the images in this book are just breathtaking. I defer to the other reviewer on whether the pictures are current, I assume looking at the publishing date of this book that they where not taken yesterday, but quite frankly Lake Tahoe is timeless and the pictures are amazing, whether taken 1 year ago or 10 years ago, a great picture is a great picture. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys great photography and amazing scenery, but if you are looking for a picture of the most current casino in Reno, you may be disappointed.

I live at Lake Tahoe, and I have bought many copies of this book because I like to give my guests a one as a souvenier of their visit. The arial photos are spectacular.

We were disappointed in the pictures because many of them are out of date. We travel to Lake Tahoe often, and know the area well. The 'current' picture of Stateline, for example, did not even have Harvey's casino on it. We recently purchased 'Above Chicago' and loved it. The old pictures were great, and the 'current' views of those old pictures were up to date. We expected the Above Tahoe to be similar. It wasn't.

"...intended for the adventure-minded travelers with special affection for the outdoors and nature. Each Adventure Guide packs in outdoor-oriented activities set in different regions. There's something for nearly everyone." Midwest Book Review

California's magnificent Sierra Nevada mountain range packs a punch when it comes to adventuring. Join local author Wilbur Morrison as he walks you along the Pacific Crest Trail and the John Muir Trail, through King's Canyon, up to the top of Mount Whitney, and swimming in Lake Tahoe. Offering tips on exploring this fantastic area alone, Morrison also lists local outfitters who can help you plan a horseback riding trip, a hike, a biking excursion or an overnight trek.

The trouble with this book is that it tries to do too much with too little space. A book with 261 pages may not seem "little", but given the multitude of adventures available in the Sierra Nevada, that turns out to be the case. The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in California that stretches from Lake Tahoe on down past Mount Whitney. Encompassed within this 400-or-so mile stretch is a diversity of topography that is world-renowned for its stunning beauty. No less is this area admired for the myriad adventuring possibilities, from the typical skiing, hiking, and fishing to the more exotic rock climbing, mountain biking, and river rafting. Unfortunately, in trying to present this smorgasbord of possibilities in its limited space, the book squeezes out quality for quantity.

The book is divided into three regions: the Eastern Sierra (which includes Mt. Whitney, Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, and Mono Lake); Nevada & Lake Tahoe; and the Western Sierra (which includes Sacramento, Yosemite, Kings Canyon & Sequoia, and Gold Country). Looking at the table of contents, one might be impressed by the books' seeming comprehensiveness: Under any given area one sees subheadings about its history, local transportation, information sources, cultural & historical sights, where to stay, and where to dine. And the listing of its raison d'être, adventuring, appears to be even more impressive: the table of contents is liberally sprinkled with listings for hiking, skiing, water-sports, and other activities. Looks impressive until one notices that most of these sections get only one page or less -- with fairly large print to boot. In other words, you don't get as much information as you might think you're getting.

Even the activities or areas that get multiple-pages are given short shrift. The section on Tahoe rock climbing, for instance, amounts to three pages of extremely brief descriptions of a number of climbing areas; clearly, a guidebook or two to the area will be needed, and yet they don't mention any. As another example, the section on recommended Yosemite trails points out the names of the standard spots (Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, etc.) with a minor bit of description -- too minor to be of much use. You'll end up having to use a Yosemite hiking guide or some brochure available at one of the ranger stations. One is tempted to ask the authors: Why not just start with the other guidebooks or brochures? What does your book add to them? What makes your book worth purchasing?

The book's main claim to existence -- the niche it has tried to carve out for itself to separate it from the scores of other Sierra guides -- is its attempt to be comprehensive in listing the adventuring possibilities in the Sierras. In this attempt the authors have failed: the listings are just too scanty to be of much use. Nothing in this book expands on the information you could get on any given area over the internet, through the mail, or over the telephone; it certainly doesn't expand on the information available in similar books.

Not that the book is terrible; if you can find this book at the library, perhaps it might be of some use to you to help plan your trip. I just can't recommend anyone purchasing it; any number of popular general guides would probably serve you better. A guide on your particular specialtie/s would be better still, e.g., a guide to Sierra fishing or Sierra hikes. And the internet or a few addresses and numbers (available at any library) could get you the info that would really flesh out your trip. Even if you were into scores of outdoor activities, this book wouldn't be enough. Which gets back to my question: Why, then, pick up this guide at all?

We used this book while on a recent Tahoe vacation. Although it was written in 1999 we found the descriptions accurate enough to go on two fabulous hikes (and we are out of shape parents with a 7 & 10 yr old). Bring it along and enjoy the beauty Tahoe has in store.

We just returned from our trip to Tahoe and used this trail guide on the Grass Lake hike. It is obvious that the writer actually hiked the trail to write the directions. It was very descriptive of every step of the way. It also fits in the back pocket very nicely.

Just took a trip to South Lake Tahoe and used this book to guide our hikes. It's written in 1999, which I didn't realize until taking two hikes, both of which had poor descriptions/directions and innacurate maps.

Although Mr. Gallop's cultural knowledge of the Basque's (at least the French Basques) was very in depth, The narration is dreary, pompous, and one-sided. The author concentrated on the French Basques while neglecting the Spanish. Another unfortunate point is that it did not offer anything after 1930. I see that progress has been made over seventy years by the Spanish Basques and all they have had to endure. It wasn't until the latter chapters of this book that the reader becomes interested. This subject is very dear to me and after extensive study I would consider other sources to learn about the Basques. Agur.

As mentioned by one of the other reviewers, Gallop's book does need to be taken more as a historical account than a contemporary glimpse into Basque culture, but this is clearly not something that should be held against his work. By the way, for a reviewer to accuse Gallop of being pompous because he assumed his readers knew French is ridiculous when you go on to so casually mention that you only know 4 languages yourself. talk about pompous. It wasn't what you, as a student of Spanish, were hoping for, but that is a statement about your needs and not about the work itself. Viewed in the proper context, this account is anything but a pompous, dreary account. It is an accurate and insightful glimpse into an entirely unique way of life that once existed. If it focuses on the French Basques, so be it.

I usually don't review books that have already been reviewed, but I think the customer below severely misjudged this book.

First of all, the reason why it doesn't go much beyond 1930 is because that's when it was published. British folklorist Rodney Gallop was a pioneer in the field of Basque anthropology and "A Book of the Basques" was one of the earliest (and remains one of the most readable) attempts to explain Basque culture to the English-speaking world.

Gallop inclined heavily toward the French side of the Pyrénées for two reasons. First, that's where he did most of his research. Second, as he points out in the book, the French Basque Country -- at least up to the time he wrote -- had always been much less heavily industrialized than its Spanish counterpart, making it much more ideal for an anthropologist's study. The ancient traditions of the Basques survived more intact in France and, additionally, the French Basques were more culturally "introspective" than their Spanish cousins; that is, they never played as prominent a part in the national life of France as did the Spanish Basques in Spain and its empire. Consequently, they remained much closer to their "roots", so to speak.

Unlike the reviewer below, I thought the book was extremely well written and a fantastic source of information on traditional Basque folklife. Gallop does quote a lot from French, but he wrote in a time when you weren't considered educated until you knew a little French, and a little Latin, too. (In other words, don't blame Gallop -- blame yourself!). The book is divided into chapters on such aspects of Basque folklife as language and literature, folksongs, folkdance, proverbs, Basque houses, superstition and witchcraft, fishermen and corsairs (!), decoration, and that great game, "pelote". Additionally, the author discusses some of the many theories regarding the mysterious origins of the Basques, which, admittedly, is of less interest today than it was in 1930 (the Golden Age of bogus racial theories!).

Unfortunately, much of the book has to be shifted into the past tense today, since the traditional Basque folkways Gallop describes have grown more and more obsolete since he wrote. But as work of history, it's still a classic and is destined to remain one. A+

This book was a very good read! How ever, the author wrote her story from second hand information, she, herself had no real memory of the horrors the others went through! But, her description of Sacramento, and surrounding areas was very interesting. Her hardship that she recalls at Sutters Fort were disheartening! The author had a comfortable life with the Brunner's after her tragic experience. But, the title of the book, just doesn't fit the story, it should be titled "The Life and Times of Eliza Donner"!

The author of this book, which was first published in 1911, was a survivor of the Donner Party, that hapless group of eighty-seven pioneers who in 1846, while navigating a supposedly new route to California, found themselves trapped high in the Sierra Mountains. Immobilized by snow and frigid weather, little more than half, mostly women and children, of this hardy band of westward-ho pioneers would survive the deprivation and great human suffering. One of those survivors was Eliza P. Donner, then a child just under four years of age. She would live on, hearing of lurid tales of cannibalism, which were to mar her survival.

A little less than half of this book is devoted to the doomed expedition itself. Of course, even though the author was one of its survivors, given her tender age, most of the information about the expedition is based upon the recollections of other survivors, including those of her older sisters. She paints a fairly intimate and poignant portrait of her family, but the account of their tragic journey seems to be subjectively sanitized, as if to offset the grisly details that had become an integral part of the Donner Party legend. The details of the Donner Party tragedy are best told by historian, George Stewart, in his book, "Ordeal by Hunger."

Still, this book provides an interesting look at the aftermath of the Donner Party debacle. It looks at early pioneer life in California, through the author's eyes, recounting what became of her and her surviving sisters after their incredible rescue. This makes for an eye-opening, first hand account of what life was actually like in those early pioneering days. The author, an apparently hearty soul, would go on to have quite a full and interesting life. Written in an easy, conversational tone, this book will capture the interest of those who enjoy memoirs, books on pioneer life, or books on the Donner Party.

I loved this book! While I understand that there was a bias coming from Eliza Donner in her effort to clear her family name - the book still is a reflection of the time in it's prose and in it's descriptions of life. Originally, I picked the book up to read about the Donner tragedy. But in the end I found myself facinated by the 2nd half of the book. In this half little Eliza describes life in early California as an orphan. Because of her unique position, she was able to experience a variety of cultures that existed in California in the mid 1800s. This was a time when Indians, Mexicans, and European Americans mingled in small towns. There are so many books that deal with the large issues of men's conflicts. Conversely, if you are curious about a woman's perspective of the small details and the day to day life of new settlers in California this book is absolutely a must read. Learn about some of the details of farm life, of the responsibility of children, and the harsh realities of a life where community, family, and traditions were bound with love, respect, and survival.

Ms. Donner Houghton has a real skill in writing and was able to write the book from the perspective of a child growing up in early California. As I read the book, I found myself loving little Eliza for her courage, honesty, and effort. For me, it was window into the cultural mindset of people of that era. I remember a remark about a visitor coming into Sacramento that excited the women so much that they 'forgot to roll down their sleeves before they came outside'. Yes, the dress code was very strict - but only little Eliza, a person of that time, would notice. I also liked the details of how the people of the early towns worked together to help make a community. For example, when the sick came back from the gold mines, the German household that Eliza lived in became a makeshift hospital for the men.

If you are from Northern California or just like pioneer history, little Eliza has a story to tell you.