Nevada Books

I keep this in my car at all times. It encompasses a state-wide map, along with city & street maps for every major city (and not so major cities) in California. I was always forgetting to bring my fold-out maps when I would travel, and now I don't have to. So, instead of needing 50 fold out maps, everything is in one simple book.

This is a must-have for anybody who enjoys a quick road trip or a real vacation.

I bought this atlas at Costco and ended up returning it. Since the page size is only 8 1/2 by 11, it is next to impossible to see enough detail to be useful. You would be better collecting a half dozen fold-out regional California maps. The city maps are somewhat better, but still small.

I too, bought my 1st copy of this map book at Costco, now I am purchasing more as gifts. To anyone who loves and/or lives in California, this is a must have. Want to get out and have no idea where to go? Know where you need to go, but don't quite know how to get there? It is all in here and then some....Gather up your California road map/atlas, get in your car and let your inner child out to play. It lists campgrounds, State Parks and little known places just begging for you to enjoy. California is a place for all types to recharge their batteries and this is the perfect book to help you find the places that can do just that! You just can't get this detailed of info. in any fold out map.....

It is not often, in my experience, one has the opportunity to say, "I read the most sharply fascinating book about cows this past weekend." Not that I said this sort of thing after reading this book, but I could have. Barney Nelson performs at minimum two premier services for her readers. First, she reopens the cow case, teasing into gray complexity the traditional assignation of cows to the realm of domestic beasts. Second, Nelson continues a rehabilitation of fame for the early twentieth century writer of the West, Mary Austin.(This rehabilitation comes at the expense of John Muir over the issue of sheep herding and lambing.) Truly, after reading this book I think it is curious that the remarkable Austin is in need of reputation refurbishment in American letters.

The glory continues with the author adding a raucously noble essay on her own life. Nelson also contributes a fine essay on Ed Abbey's reading and suggested usage of Mary Austin's desert book. At last, I mention the political concerns churned up by Nelson's hearty ploughing. Much about land management, grazing rights, and habitat change finds sensible reappraisal. I do not have the expertise or experience to evaluate the suggestions of the author on this matter, but I find her suggestion of interest, that the government policies based on the research programs of some scientists are quite possibly informed by an erring sense of healthy land use and a mistaken foundational origin for the data they interpret. Overall, this book of essays wafts thoughtful chips into the air with relatively little theoretical marsh.

This voice is loving if you're a horse, sheep, cow, dog, antelope, sheepherder, or cowperson. But, Goddess help you if you're a mountaineer, hiker, camper, easterner, urbanite, or Sierra Clubber. Perhaps John Muir does need some dethroning, but blame him for the industrialization of Yosemite National Park? Come now.

Nelson is a creative thinker and fresh voice injecting new ways of looking at the environment, women's place in nature, and ultimately how to reconcile our dependence upon domestic livestock. By delving into works of Thoreau, John Muir, Jack London, Ed Abbey, and the lone female voice of Mary Austin, Nelson shows how our thinking about the wild, the domestic environment, and the place of men and women in both has been shaped by assumptions that are not true. I enjoyed this book very much--there are lots of new ideas to consider, as well as plenty of research to back up Nelson's points. She writes clearly and smoothly, and is not afraid to tackle ideas that westerners have misunderstood for too long, livestock grazing for one. I was not at all familiar with the work of Mary Austin, but thanks to Nelson I can see that she should be widely studied for her environmental writings, particularly pertaining to women's role. All women, all environmentalists, all westerners, should read Nelson's book, it will be the basis for many conversations, if not debates.

Having worked in a prison for almost two decades, Jimmy was dead on with his description of characters one would meet in correction institutions. Jimmy has a wry, sharp, and dark wit. His narratives (which I believe were really written by him and not a ghost writer) had the timing and delivery of a true comic. Sadly, I feel he wrote that one book each of us has inside ourselves because this memoir was born of tragedy and Jimmy had to reach deep inside himself to find the humor or go crazy.
That being said, I found this the funniest memoir I've ever read and found myself reaching for it again and again when I needed a little dark humor to pull me through frustrating times. I lent this book to several colleagues who teach in public schools that have the same wiff of craziness as Jimmy's institution and they, too, bought their own copies. Which makes me think we all have a little Jimmy Lerner in us: finding the lighter side of crazy situations to survive. Kudos, Jimmy, but I don't think you've really stopped being an alcoholic. The best line in the book...And Jesus wept.

I thought this book was great. The prison world is one full of hopelessness and despair, yet here's a man who did his time holding onto his sense of humor and himself. There is a great deal of emphasis on the prison lingo that was used while he was on the inside. This had me in stitches.

Is it all true? The disclaimer at the beginning of the book says it is not. This did not make it any less worthwhile to read.

i bought this book on the strength of the user reviews, and the fact that this book is supposedly a biography/true story of the author's time in prison.

ok, in places it's an engaging piece of writing, but as i read along, more and more holes in the (less and less believable) story popped up. anyone can tell that many of the characters are part truth and a big part fantasy, down to the full on 'cape fear'-styled pursuit at the end; it also seemed to me that the stories were probably enhanced a bit to make the author seem tougher or badder.

so i sure wasn't surprised to find in the author's foreward, an admission that his credibility was called into question in the years after the publication of the book, and all kinds of uncomfortable excuses and apologies as to how the 'emotional truth' gave him the permission to change not only events and characters, but also the factual truth.

hey, i'm sure he spent time in prison and there are some amusing stories about day-to-day prison life, but the credibility issue damages this as a 'memoir' and it's not otherwise really compelling; overall there's not much to take away from the book.

Kathy Alfano Augustine was not well-liked to say the least. This book is written by author and Las Vegas resident, Gary C. King. By being a resident of the state, King is familiar with the politics. He opens the book up about the history of poison in murders that went unsolved for centuries until it could be traced and detected.

In this case, Kathy Augustine, would slowly be paralyzed by a drug inserted by her nurse husband, Chaz Higgs. Of course, Chaz was planning to divorce his powerful wife but it wouldn't be that easy like his three previous divorces.

By then, Kathy had faced impeachment and was considered an embarrassment to the Republican party of her state. She was still running a campaign for State Treasurer anyway.

Of course, Higgs wanted separation and divorce but Kathy was resistant despite the failing marriage. Maybe after the election, she could have ended their unhappy union but I don't think Chaz could wait that long.

I won't reveal anymore but the book is just repetitive of the other book on this case which was more revealing about Kathy's family life, her parenting skills, and her previous marriages. You have to ask yourself if somebody can be driven to commit such a crime.

I just hope Kathy can rest in peace. Even in death, she earned 26,000 votes in the primary.

You will like this book if you enjoy the medical mystery-thriller!

I was living in Las Vegas at the time the murder of Kathy Augustine came to light. She had a reputation of being someone hard to deal with and she was also a member of the Nevada Republican Party. I remember three things.....that her prior husband died suddenly, that she was involved with a new man shortly after the last husbands death, and that the Republicans were not happy with Kathy. What was more intriguing is that anyone familiar with Nevada politics will know the GOP of Nevada is not like that of other states. This is cowboy/robber baron politics mixed with a sprinkling of pious religiosity and win-at-any-costs conviction!!

This is the second book I have read by Gary King that takes place in Nevada, and like the first book, An Early Grave (the story about the murder of Casino Owner and Vegas legend, Ted Binion), this story represents another in a long line of high-profile murders based on twisted defendants with incredibly selfish motive and colorful, interesting, yet tragically-flawed victims.

The only thing that I would have loved to read in this book...and perhaps there's a sequal in the works.....was more from Chaz Higgs. I am eager to listen to his own explaination of what he did and why he did it. If he still professes his innocence then I want to know who he thinks murdered his wife and why they did it!!??? I guess we won't know that until this case makes it through the court system and he is eventually released, or his appeals run out.

This was an interesting collection of essays by writers about writing. However, I was expecting a collection of short stories, so if you are looking for mysteries, don't purchase this book. If you are interested in the authors' motivations, it is a nice read.

Just finished this fascinating collection of papers. Very well done and extremely readable I thought this a great find.

I love the desert, in general, and the Black Rock desert, from the few times that I have visited there, and I plan to explore it more. I visited the show of these photograhs at Reno's Art Museum so bought the book without really reading it first as I thought that it would be a good introduction and guide to the area. Big mistake.

It is a classic "Coffee table" book, that is, if you leave it on your coffee table and some one picks it up and looks at it for no more than five minutes it is impressive. However, don't try reading it. The text is pretentious, trying to be mystical, poetic and profound but only achieving verbosity. The text is merely an excuse to pad and space out the photographs which are NICE, but not great. Any amateur photographer with a good eye could do as well. Nothing is really spectacular which is strange given the number of years that the author has visited the desert.

There is some actual interesting information but the text could be condensed to four pages for a very nice pamphlet on the area.

It is the kind of book that a small university press publishes to show how hip it is to its locale.

I received this book two days ago as a gift. I am absolutely enthralled by the images and just getting started on the text. I'm having a difficult time pulling myself away from the beautiful pictures of the haunting Black Rock. as a resident of northern Nevada and a frequent visitor to the Black Rock Desert I can attest to this book's ability to capture the feeling of one of the world's most unique landscapes. A must for the Black Rock lover and suggested for anyone interested in the Black Rock but unable to get there in person. This book certainly shows the unique beauty of the Black Rock and makes a strong case for the preservation of the fragile environment of the playa.

This book was so well written and actual events were woven into the storyline so believably that I was convinced until about half way through the book that it was a true story. It was also a reminder of how brutal the human race can be, no matter the nationality. The protaganist, Balthazar Wood is an irreverent but latterly idealistic computer programmer with a dry sense of humour and the story covers human smuggling, the fallout to people's lives and minds from war and relationship struggles. A great book.

In recent years it's seemed like a lot of the authors in the international crime or espionage genre never quite made it out of the Cold War. At best, we've had Eighties themes of Central American drug smuggling, or terrorist plots that seem tame if you've been watching the TV news. While I've got a soft spot for the Cold War genre myself, it's to be hoped that today's authors could write about today's 'theater'.

Evans' _Blood Price_ is so fresh you almost expect its events to show up in tomorrow's headlines. Readers don't get to shy away from today's ugly truths for much longer than protagonist Paul Balthazar Wood does, whether those truths are the aftermath of Sarajevo or the wreck that is Paul's relationship and career at the start of the book. Nor is Paul a former CIA agent or some other all-too-typical military hero; he's an out-of-work Canadian programmer, albeit with a few tours in the world backpacker and hiker scene, and the adventures from Evans' debut novel _Dark Places_.

From the Balkans to Burning Man, refugee smuggling to cyber-crime, _Blood Price_ spans the globe and an ever-widening range of topics that Evans clearly knows his way around. Despite brief digressions into the mechanics of computer programming in C, scuba, border crossings and even flamethrowers, Evans keeps the story moving without excessive technical lecturing - but also without tripping up on any details. (Unlike the average Hollywood movie, I can read Evans secure in the knowledge that Evans knows even more about how the Internet works than I do.)

The settings would make a Bond movie blush, and yet the action scenes come in realistically under budget. The characters are rounded and likeable - even when they shouldn't be; Evans has a genius for making you realize that the Bad Guys are, in fact, human. The heroes are human too, from moments of brutal suffering to unexpected comedy, tinged with adrenaline.

The novel's pace is engaging and interesting, maintaining a rate of tension even in the slower parts of the plot without seeming artificial. It's hard to say whether the very human drama of Evans' characters or the world-wide criminal empire's plans are more compelling; they are inevitably, inextricably linked.

If you're looking for hip, even savvy, current fiction without hipster pretension, Evans has it. If you'd rather have a fast-paced international crime thriller with a hero who's more brain than brawn, pick up _Blood Price_ for a satisfying read.

In the 2nd installment of the Evan Horne mysteries, Bill Moody sets his hero in the neon snakepit of Las Vegas, where an old friend sends Evan on a mission to solve a 37-year-old murder. But doing so peels back layers of Las Vegas history, opening old wounds that someone is willing to kill to keep covered... As in Solo Hand, Bill Moody assembles a vivid cast of characters and plays out a twisted story-line like a jazz virtuoso with murderous chops that include the fate of tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and the real history of the Moulin Rouge, as well as a handful of subplots that Moody deftly ties together in a coolly musical climax. For all its brooding authenticity, regarding both jazz and Las Vegas, Death of a Tenor Man is a fast-paced and well-wrought mystery.

In the 2nd installment of the Evan Horne mysteries, Bill Moody sets his hero in the neon snakepit of Las Vegas, where an old friend sends Evan on a mission to solve a 37-year-old murder. But doing so peels back layers of Las Vegas history, opening old wounds that someone is willing to kill to keep covered... As in Solo Hand, Bill Moody assembles a vivid cast of characters and plays out a twisted story-line like a jazz virtuoso with murderous chops that include the fate of tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and the real history of the Moulin Rouge, as well as a handful of subplots that Moody deftly ties together in a coolly musical climax. For all its brooding authenticity, regarding both jazz and Las Vegas, Death of a Tenor Man is a fast-paced and well-wrought mystery.

Considering what the book claims to cover, it is adequate. It has lots of pictures and brief descriptions of the eastern Sierras and the Owens Valley. Do not expect detailed descriptions of the natural history, geology, or history of this region.

If you're a fisherman, hiker or just someone who appreciates magnificent scenery, then the Sierra Nevada mountain range is the place for you. This book is a rewarding introduction to the splendors of this region. From Lone Pine to Bridgeport, this book covers most of the treasures in this area, easily accessed from Highway 395.

I spend most of my summers in the Sierra Nevada and this book helps me pass the winter months in anticipation of hitting the trails again when the snow melts off. The photos make you feel as if you're there, they are high quality and beautifully reproduced. If you've never made a trip to this area, this book is the perfect introduction. If you're someone who knows the Sierra's like the back of your hand, it's still an excellent coffee table book.

I hope the authors tackle another photographic challenge: publish a book specifically on the magical John Muir Trail. The opportunities for great photos there are endless! In any case, this book is a welcome addition to anyone with an interest in one of the most scenic areas in America.

I made the trip to Bodie and bought the book at the museum. There are many interesting stories that are touched upon, but with few details. If you are interested in an overview this is an excellent source. The Author has written several other books on various aspects of life in Bodie and I intend to buy them to broaden my knowledge. I wish the pictures were of better quality. They are ok considering the paper quality but the half toning and resolution could be improved.

Bodie State Historic Park, off of Highway 395 in the High Sierras between Bishop, California and the California/Nevada state line, is a place where spirits still wander the dusty streets and abandoned buildings. There are no ice cream parlors, souvenir shops or video game arcades occupying what were once historic buildings. A boomtown, most of Bodie's buildings were hastily erected wooden structures barely capable of surviving the punishing winters. The few buildings still standing serve as park rangers' quarters and a museum that sells books and video tapes about Bodie and other ghost towns. The only creature comforts are restrooms and a drinking fountain.

Bodie is best visited in the summer, when even the warmest days are more like spring at lower altitudes. The journey begins on a paved road that seems to be leading to nowhere. The last 3 miles of the road leading to Bodie are unpaved but still navigable without the benefit of all-wheel drive. I made my first trip in a Renault Alliance, a dicey form of transportation at best. Once the pavement ends, you are now travelling on the same dusty stagecoach trail that brought hopeful miners and their families to Bodie while providing escape for those whose dreams were shattered there.

After paying a small entrance fee to the park, the first stop for many is the Bodie cemetery. A stone angel with downcast eyes marks the grave of a young girl named Evelyn. Its base is often ringed with flowers, toys, balloons and tiny stuffed animals. Another resting place sought out by visitors is that of prostitute Rosa May, whose life was chronicled after years of relentless research by author/publisher George Williams III (See "Rosa May: The Search for a Mining Camp Legend", also available from Amazon.com).

Small groups are given tours of the Standard Mill works. The park rangers who escort these tours plunge right into the history of the place, playing the role of the mill manager or his wife welcoming newly hired workers to the rigors of life in Bodie.

For the princely sum of $4.00 a day, you could work the bottomless shafts of the mines or accept a starting position scraping accumulated mercury out of the settling pans in the mill. Chances are, since either occupation meant a short life, you'd spend that $4.00 as quickly as you earned it, gladly paying a quarter for a lavish meal at one of the hotels and blowing some more on a few belts of whiskey in the saloons that outnumbered the general stores and churches. If you had the presence of mind to save up five of those dollars, you'd head down to Bonanza Street, just behind Bodie's Chinatown where those $5 bought a night's companionship.

A trip to Bodie leaves a lasting impression. It calls you back. It might even haunt your dreams. As you walk Bodie's streets and try to locate landmarks in this book, a breeze will kick up. It strikes the back of your neck and you feel a chill, even though it's the middle of summer. For a few fleeting moments, you sense what life might have been like when 12,000 men, women and children roamed these streets and called this place home. And as the breeze passes on and this mysterious feeling subsides, you wonder if you had only imagined it or if someone from another time whispered it in your ear.

If you're planning a trip to Bodie, or if you never make it there, George Williams's book is the closest you will come to walking the streets of a true ghost town.