New Mexico Books

Diagnosed with brain cancer. What are you gonna do? Cry? Hide? Rend your clothes and take to your bed? Not Patch Rose. He chose to meet his experience head on, with honesty and humor, and to share it with the rest of us. I chuckled, sighed, shed a tear, and laughed out loud. He says he's an ordinary guy, and I believe him because he shares what are very common experiences. But his talent to bring us in close to share it all with him is extra-ordinary. This is a wonderful read. I'm a physician and have recommended it to my physician friends, patients, and patients' families.

A wonderful recounting of the ups and downs of living with cancer. Amusing and inspiring at the same time. It is neither pollyannish nor fatalistic, showing perhaps a middle way during what many would see as a hopeless time. I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble in their lives (all of us), not just those with cancer.

UP-FRONT DISCLOSURE: Patch Rose is my brother... but I read him anyway... he's good, so give him a try!


Of the eighteen columns included, I smiled and laughed, nodded knowingly, and experienced blessings sent and received when reading A Woman Like Velma (you'll begin to think that an IMRT radiation machine is a real and powerful person... shades of 2001: A Space Odyssey), Little Missy (on the allure of comforting, but junk, food), Miracles (how Patrick's circle of support worked some), Cookie Crumbling (how Sylvia, Patrick's wife "Cookie," experienced care-taking and giving), 3rd & 10 (a creative account of cancer and recovery narrated by famed sportscasters), and, Two Phone Calls (writing about recovery helps someone clear across the country).

As I finished my brother's humorous and hopeful book I realized he has succeeded in doing what any of us may choose to do in the face of suffering, if we dare.... To make Light of it.

Great book, I read it for a Chicano Studies class but I enjoyed every moment of it. A good memoir for anyone interested in the daily life experiences of Chicanas in the U.S.

Beautifully told story of a young Mexican-American girl growing up in El Paso in the 1940s. Ms. Lopez-Stafford shares her recollections of her barrio and all it's colorful characters.

The author titles her story "A Place in El Paso." Nevertheless, any of the following titles, "A Place in My Heart," "A Place in the Sun," "A Place in my Life," would had been appropriate as well. To the careful reader the story will bloom like a flower in his or her heart and soul.

Even though the characters, the places, and the events are necessary to complete the gestalt of the story, the characters, and the events are not restricted to any particular place or to anyone in particular. It can happen anywhere to anyone.

The careful reader will examine the story "A Place in El Paso" by looking below the surface, below the gestalt of the story in order to reach the nuances of Gloria's coming of age and survival. Moreover, the grammatical structure of the story is, symbolically speaking, a ticket for the reader to shadow, follow, and observe her life, and in doing so experience her innocence and get involved in the vicissitudes in Gloria's existence. The reader will witness and feel not only the tragic sad and heartbreaking moments in her existence, but the events that made her strong to endure the various disappointments and disillusionments while trying to find the right place in her life.

I highly recommend this book whether you are Anglo, Black, Hispanic, and so forth; this story can very well be your story as well.

small streams ... and desire ... to find something wild beyond boundries and borders .. If you fish to catch fish ... you will find this book strange .. but if you fish to step out side ...

into a wild .. place

this book might suggest it is possible.

This is a fascinating exploration of a relatively unknown region of two countries. A study in determination and patience, Johnson's writing sparkles like the clear rills, pools and falls that I thought were gone forever. A refuge for survivors, from the Apaches to the rancheros, parrots and "narcos" of today, this is another view of the region Cormac McKarthy calls "not for old men". Complimented with great photography.

I really enjoyed this book. While its topic is not exactly fishing, not exactly enviro, not exactly travel - Johnson mixes opinions, observations and facts on trout, politics, south west history, people, and a look at how one may live in a very elemental style. He writes well. I will read it again and the photos are fascinating. I hope Rex Johnson does more books as this, along with his guidebook on trout in southern new mexico, are very high quality........

Wonderful illustrations make this retelling of this Cherokee tale very special. The author and the artist certainly compliment each other's work.

I am a former fifth grade instructor, a National Board Certified Teacher, and a college professor in Teacher Preparation. I highly recommend the Grandmother Stories series to elementary and early childhood instructors and parents who are homeschooling their children. The books have appropriate vocabulary and tell stories that explain nature in a creative manner. I learned several things I did not know about nature and its interactions from these books. Children love to have the books read to them and to read them to themselves. Duvall and Jacobs are a wonderful creative force as they merge their talents to produce books that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

One of the traditional Grandmother Stories, Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting is here freshly delivered, proving the eternal value of traditional lore. Ji-Stu the Rabbit gets involved in adventures in the Smoky Mountains with Otter, his friend, as they attempt to catch a wood duck. The illustrations that accompany this tale are striking black-and-white line art, heavily framed with traditional design elements. The text and art combine to produce an elegant statement, contemporary but respectful of the past. - Kim Long

This is an amazing book because it makes a real combination of Mexican traditional tastes with the mexican history

"Recipe of Memory: Five Generations of Mexican Cuisine" is much more than a cookbook - although the recipes are wonderful, unusual and very rare. They reflect a Mexican cuisine that most Americans are unfamiliar with. We are talking "haute cuisine" from a family kitchen here - not mere chile con carne, enchiladas and tacos. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Victor M. Valle and his wife, Mary Lau Valle, have artfully compiled a treasure trove of recipes, along with a family history going back five generations, 19th century photographs, and journal entries to make a very special book, which was nominated for two 1996 Julia Child Cookbook Awards and a 1996 James Beard Award.

The material used to compile "Recipe of Memory" is from an antique chest left to Sr. Valle by his great aunt, and dates back to 1888. There are over 50 very authentic recipes here which beautifully capture the varied tastes of Mexico, including: Rabbit in the Garden, Roast Leg of Lamb with Mole, Peas in Tablecloth-Staining Sauce, Chiles Stuffed with Shrimp, Squab on a Bed of Saffron Rice, Chiles Stuffed with Mincemeat with an Almond-Caper Dressing, Mango-Orange-Banana Ice Cream and Prickly Pear Sorbet. I lived in Mexico for many years and these recipes bring back memories of some wonderful meals savored at the homes of Mexican friends. You won't get this kind of food in a restaurant.

In Mexico, as in many cultures, much that is important in family life revolves around the dining table. This extraordinary cookbook, cum social commentary, cum family history reflects this tradition. It makes a wonderful gift too!
JANA

This cookbook is more than a cookbook! I've been working on a historical novel about Mexico circa 1850 and of several cookbooks I've purchased, found this one to be far and away the best history book. The recipes are proceeded with whole chapters which outline the education of women in Mexico in the 19th century, what cooking was like in the convents, on farms, and lots of other detailed information- even with old photos, letters and newspaper clippings. I recommend this book highly, not only as a cookbook but as a delightful read!

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. In this book, when the family goes searching for pine nuts, Josefina's father offers a reward for the one who gathers the most, and Josefina can't wait to collect the most and impress her aunt Dolores. But, when she is ordered to stay at camp and watch her nephews, Josefina is crushed. She refuses to give in though, and seeks a way to do both what she is told, and what she wants to do!

The final chapter of this book looks at rancho life in 1824, and gives directions for making a pastel (a spicy pie that includes pine nuts). As always, Jean-Paul Tibbles has produced some excellent illustrations that add a great deal to this already excellent book. My daughter and I both highly enjoyed this book, and we recommend it to you.

"A Reward for Josefina" is the first Josefina short story that was published. It is set in the Fall shortly after Tia Dolores's arrival to Josefina's family, possibly putting it shortly before or during the time period in "Josefina Learns a Lesson". Tia Dolores is a new adult in the family, and Josefina desparately wants her to think of Josefina as being special. The family and their hired hands go out to gather pinon nuts (pine nuts from a Pinon tree), and as a motivator, a reward is offered to the one who gathers the most. Josefina hopes it will be her, until she is left behind to tend to her oldest sister's two young sons. Josefina and her three year old nephew, Juan, find a way to gather the biggest treasure of nuts without leaving their camp site. Somehow, the reward, a cone of sugar, has run off with a squirrel (in exchange for the nuts?), but Josefina finds the reward that she is looking for.

Frank McNitt's biography of Richard Wetherhill, the pioneer explorer of the Anasazi culture of the Four Corners Region of the southwest has been in print since 1957. Not a bad record for a trade book, that is to say not a textbook. McNitt's eastern based publishing family owned the Brentwood Newspaper in suburban Los Angeles. Frank, sent out as publisher, vacationed with his family in New Mexico and was ever after attracted to the Southwest. On subsequent trips he heard of Richard Wetherill, the Quaker rancher from Mancos,CO whose family property was below Mesa Verde. As a Quaker, son of a former Indian Agent, Wetherill's honest relationship with the local Utes permited him to range the nearby Mesa Verde canyons unmolested. Here he and his brothers made the first significant explorations of the mostly unknown Anazasi ruins there. Sponsored by the Babo Soap heirs he would eventually discover or explore every significant Anasazi site in four states. He homesteaded at Chaco Canyon,the grandest Anasazi of them all. To finance his commitment to exploration he became one the most successful promotors of Navajo crafts, igniting a national decorative fad before WWI. His goods hung in the Waldorf Astoria Bar, a young Joseph Campbell saw Wetherill's Anazazi collections at The American Museum of Natural History, the St. Louis World's Fair featured his basketmaker culture artifacts. Independent, individualistic and highly humanistic in his relationships, Wetherill,by his very nature threatened those less talented or secure. His archeology was demeaned by professionals. He was subverted by agents of the Dawes Severalty Act,a law binding native Americans to enforced assimilation and dependency. Wetherhill's business enterprises among the Navajo gave lie to the need for the Dawes Act. Assassinated from ambush in what McNitt concludes was a political manipulation, Wetherill was dead by 1910. McNitt's investigative talents lead him through years of research and oral history depositions with living contemporary's of Wetherill. McNitt moved to New Mexico to be closer to his research, supporting himself as a publisher at Farmington and breifly as an employee of The University of New Mexico Press. He wore out a Land Rover driving the unpaved reservation roads of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah to track down facts about Wetherill. McNitt's awe at what he found is disclosed in balanced journalistic terms which build, chapter-upon-chapter into the stuff of legend without a scintilla of sentimentality to mar the art.

Very interesting and complete. Makes you want to visit and keep exploring. Well written. Holds you interest.

To the archaeologists Richard Wetherill is a villain -- an uneducated cowboy who plundered the ruins of the pre-historic civilization of the Southwestern Indians. Author McNitt takes the opposite tact, portraying Wetherill as an upright honest man whose accomplishments, the first scientific examinations of the great ruins at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, far outweigh his faults. Adding to the enigma of Wetherill is the matter of his death -- murdered in cold blood by a Navajo Indian debtor according to this author, the loser in a gunfight caused by his own cattle rustling according to others. Wetherill inspired strong passions in both life and death.

This is a fine biography. The first few chapters may be hard slogging as the book goes through Wetherill's early life, but the chapters of Wetherill's life and work at Chaco Canyon leading up to his death in 1910 are fascinating. The author follows up the shooting of Wetherill with a full description of the trial of his killer and the aftermath of his death. This is a Western tale worthy of an epic movie and one has to wonder why it has not attracted Hollywood's attention.

McNitt makes a persuasive case that Wetherill's reputation was the victim of ambitious Eastern academics, jealous of his discoveries, and government Indian agents, jealous of his influence among the Navajo. I was impressed at how little dated were his descriptions of the ancient civilizations of the Anasazi, although the book was written in 1957.

Was Wetherill a hero or a villain? The controversy about his character makes for a fascinating read.

Smallchief

This handsome, well-designed book has a lot of pictures of buildings -- beautiful pictures, documentary pictures, artistic pictures, quaint pictures, snapshot-y pictures, and historically significant pictures. However, what struck me about it was the sense of community that emanates from this book. This isn't a book about architcture. Ultimately, this is a book about a place and about the people who lived there.

The speed in which I received my book was wonderful - and I can't remember the last time a book that was used was in such great quality!
Thanks for making my Christmas a Merry One!

I visited Santa Fe 20 years ago and was charmed by the city, enough so that I moved here and have made it my home. I keep meeting other people with the same story.

So what a pleasure it is to find this beautifully photographed love song to Santa Fe! The historical photos are fascinating. I recognize some of the spots, but many places have changed so much. The nice thing is that Santa Fe, while growing and changing, retains is charm and its easygoing atmosphere.

This book is a treasure.

This is so much better than your average ski history.

It covers a time when the hardcore ski community was much smaller and tighter than today, and all of the pioneers of skiing were finding their places to make ski areas. Tremendously real, told in the words of the pioneers themselves, this is just fantastic reading. Probably the most wonderful aspect of the book is how well it goes with the actual experience of being in Taos Ski Valley today, many of the subjects of the book, including the editor, are easy to find in TSV, going about their daily business. The experience of reading this book, then seeing it all come to life in front of you is spectacular.

The incredible life of Ernie Blake and the desire to celebrate his wonderful legacy may have inspired Rick to start this project, but the finished product turned out to be much more than just a book about a fascinating person and a wonderful ski resort. This is by far the most comprehensive collection of ski lore (complete with accompanying photography) that I have ever had the pleasure to peruse, most of it directly transcribed from personal interviews with those who were the midwives at the birth of lift-served skiing in North America. If you have any sense of history and have enjoyed making turns on snow, this book should be in your collection.

This book contains incredible interviews with skiing legends along with wonderful pictures illustrating the history of skiing. I found that I did not want to put the book down, both because it contains skiing history as told by the participants and because the writing holds your interest. It is really a shame that the author did not film the interviews, because it would have made an outstanding documentary.

This book starts off pretty mindless, with a spoiled girl who wants to go to a party in Mexico because the guy she likes is going. Once she tries to get back in the U.S., however, she finds out that her parents did not enter legally & she can't get back to the life she knew. Inspired by a true story, the book examines border issues and immigration from a highly personal viewpoint. Sofi is forced to become a tougher person in Mexico and you will like her all the better for it. Very realistic--great romance as well as eye-opening in terms of culture. Highly recommend!

Sofi Mendoza's life was made when she and her best friends were invited to the hottest party of the year.

Just when Sofi thought everything was perfect, her overprotective parents say she can't go. But that doesn't stop her -- after she tells her parents a lie, she heads straight to the party.

After the party, Sofi and a group of her friends decide to make a quick trip to Tijuana and make it back before morning, but little do they know that everyone will return, except for Sofi!

The only thing stopping her is the green card she has. Well, the counterfeit one. While her parents do the necessary paperwork, Sofi ends up staying with her aunt and cousins. Spending her time working on their ranch, living in their house with no electricity, Sofi finds a new love. By the time she falls head over heels, her paperwork gets completed and Sofi is on her way home.

But will the romance continue? Will she learn what life is really all about, and will she finally understand why her parents care so much?

You'll have to find out the answers yourself when you read SOFI MENDOZA'S GUIDE TO GETTING LOST IN MEXICO!

Reviewed by: Cho

Being a publishing and education professional, I can't say enough about SOFI MENDOZA'S GUIDE TO GETTING LOST IN MEXICO. Alegria's voice is very real as well as engaging. Her description of Mexico truly brought me back to the moment I first stepped into the country--the sights, smells, attitudes...Also, the problems and hurdles that Sofi must overcome are not exaggerated nor simple. Again, Alegria's voice is real, and Sofi deals with real emotions and real problems. I couldn't be more impressed. Alegria captures the struggle for identity and independence of every emerging adult--with a Latino spin. Can't wait to buy Estrella's Quinceañera!