Oregon Books

Chakeipi--"The Place of the Beaver" is what the native Atfalati people called the present-day Beaverton, Oregon. From the time of the Tualatin Natives through the Trappers and Beaver Trade to the Oregon Trail and Land Donation Claims--these events lead to the settling of the area. Since the 1870's when the "town" (store and school house) to serve the early settlers -- Beaverton was platted out along the railroad route. The book focuses on the ordinary people and events that took place. Tt reflects on the past and the early pioneers with an appreciation for their struggles and efforts. It celebrates the diversity of those common hands which helped to make Beaverton the thriving city it is today.

Chief Joseph And The Nez Perces is a beautiful photographic history documenting the epic journey of the Nez Perces made in flight from the army from June to October of 1877. The role of the respected Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph is explored with care and precision throughout the time of the Nez Perces' flight. The authors have presented only photographs of the areas travelled and frequented by the Nez Perces without reminders of modernity, so the land is presented as closely as possible to the landscape known by the Nez Perces of 1877. Tracing the route of the Nez Perces with a color coded map of the area helps explain their tortuous crossing and recrossing of the mountainous area through the main passes. The brief book is divided into three main sections: prologue, flight , and epilogue, with a helpful bibliography of related works. There is no doubt that the star feature of this history is the stellar color photographs, including a beautiful golden sweep of vista of the Bear Paw Battlefield, in Nez Perce National Historical Park, south of Chinook, Montana, and many more. There is also no doubt of the tragic heart of the tale, for Chief Joseph himself, though he worked tirelessly to reinstate his people in their homeland after the surrender, was never allowed to return to the Nez Perce Reservation in the Northwest. This blatant violation of the terms of surrender is blamed upon the army's high command, Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan, who"ignored the surrender terms as if they had never existed (page ix)." Chief Joseph And The Nez Perces is a beautiful and moving picture account of a sorrowful bloody history.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

This book features an exhibition at the Portland art museum in 1997. George R. Stoemple's collection is an excellent representation of two and a half decades of Chihuly's work, and it shows some pieces rarely seen by the public. I highly recommend this book.

Every student of Chinese fiction, or rather, Chinese literature, should own this book. I started out using a copy in the library, but this is really something that you would want to own after reading.

This great work by Patrick Hanan focuses on the genre of the Chinese short story, and attempts to break through an impasse in literary scholarship¡ª providing inspiring insights into the dating, authorship and composition of the Chinese short story. Using stylistic criteria with extreme care, he studies 149 extant and accessible short stories, dividing into three periods: Early (ca.1250-1450), Middle (ca. 1400-1575) and Late (ca. 1550-1627). This is an important breakthrough in the scholarship of this genre, as it is only after this work that we can have a clearer idea of how to place the individual story in history.

This book provides all the essential information and argument and prepares a reader to enter his another great work, THE CHINESE VERNACULAR STORY published seven years later. I will recommend this book even to people outside the study of Chinese literature. Hanan¡¯s scholarly passion and cautious attitude in research is best presented in this work, and it will benefit any serious reader.

Featuring impressive dishes contributed by the chefs and head cooks of some of Oregon's finest restaurants and lodges, "Savor Oregon Cookbook" is an enthusiastically recommended compendium of regional recipes collaboratively compiled by the husband and wife team of Chuck and Blanche Johnson. Very nicely illustrated throughout with period photography, the recipes in this celebration of Oregonian cuisine ranges from Molasses and Caraway Seared Elk Loin with Black Barley Risotto and Honey-Mead Demi-Glace (Salishan Lodge); to Hazelnut Encrusted Halibut Florentine with Champagne Oyster Cream (Silver Salmon Grille); to Alder Smoked Duck Breast with Raspberry Anjous (Morton's Bistro); to Gungeness Crab Cakes with Artichoke Tapenade, Garlic Coulis, and Caper Berries Appetizer (Hood River Hotel). Four other regional and thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' collections by the team of Chuck and Blanche Johnson include: Savor Colorado Cookbook: Mountains and Western Slope; Savor Idaho Cookbook; Savor Greater Seattle Cookbook; and Savor Montana II Cookbook.

In Circles Of Power: Shifting Dynamics In A Lesbian-Centered Community, La Verne Gagehabib and Barbara Summerhawk effectively collaborate to survey the history and operation of the Southern Oregon Women's Community. This lively and energetic, largely lesbian circle of women experimented with new ways to live and work together. Their activities and explorations included forming sacred circles, building houses, collective gardening, and the publication of "WomanSpirit Magazine". Indeed, this unusual and ground breaking community has thrived for more than twenty-five years. Enthusiastically recommended for women's studies, lesbian studies, and alternative culture studies reading lists and reference collections, Circles Of Power is informative, engaging, and at times inspiring.

I found a copy of CIVIL AND SAVAGE ENCOUNTERS in a little bookstore while vacationing in Alaska. The Alaskan landscape is beautiful and awe inspiring. However, once I started reading this diary, I couldn't stop. It is a treasure! I stress, I became so engrossed in Golovin's exceptional descriptions, I totally lost interest in the beauty of Alaska. I don't understand why this diary did not become a best seller.

I loved Golovin's comparative descriptions between his beloved Russia and Europe. Americans will be mesmerized by his perception of the American Civil War.

Golovin has a charming and wonderful vividness in his writing style. Could he have intended for his diary to be published? On the other hand, I have often heard it said that we have lost the art of good writing. We'll never learn the answer. Regardless, CIVIL AND SAVAGE ENCOUNTERS is a wonderful piece of literature.

Although this book was written in 1872 is is full of very practical gardening ideas. Its focus is the style of gardening known as the Cottage Garden. and informal planting of all manner of plants, not formal beds. In addition it is a pleasure to listen to the voice of long ago.

Got this for my commute to and from work everyday. It really made the ride go by 'faster' as I was less concerned about traffic and more riveted to Cussler's great story telling. I have always been a fan of his books and now really like the "Oregon Files" series!!! Cussler's stories make for great drive material. Enough detail and suspense to keep you listening, but not so much just that it interferes with paying attention to the road (or vise versa).

"Cody's Guide to Oregon's South Coast" is a CD-Rom that provides a series of 23 maps and over 1,100 color photographs of over one hundred miles of Oregon's South Coast from Bullards Beach State Park to the California state line. "Cody," in this case, is J. Cody Couch, a native of the area whose Internet marketing day job does not stop him from combining his love of hiking and photography in this guide to his native environs.

When you start up this CD-Rom, which you can use on a Windows PC without any installation, you start off by zooming in on one of the 13 areas defined by overlapping boxes on "The Big Picture." Doing this will take you to a corresponding map that provides more detail and there are some additional sub-maps where appropriate. The maps provided include: Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon State Park to Floras Lake State Park Map, Cape Blanco Area, Port Orford Town, Gold Beach Area, Otter Point State Recreation Site, Brookings-Harbor, and Harris Beach State Recreation Area. By purchasing "Cody's Guide" you get the right to print up the maps to use when you go check out these locations on your own.

Each of the detailed maps have blue arrow icons which mark photo locations: when you put your mouse on the icon (there are over 400 of them) it will tell you the photo caption and then you can click on the icon to see the color photograph taken at that spot. Many of the icons will take you to pages in the middle of a photo-series, which is how you get to the rest of the over 1,100 photographs. The photographs all have captions; just enough to provide key details without being overly informative.

Everything is really interconnected on this CD-Rom, so there are lots of ways of getting from one part to another. If you actually go to the Table of Contents, instead of plunging right in, you will find sections on How to Use Cody's Guide; Composite Photos; Flora & Fauna; Places to See; Printable Maps; Rocks, Islands & Reefs; Signs; and Web Links.

The inclusion of all the Signs is interesting (there is everything from "Fresh Sea Food" to "Messy Activities Prohibited"), but if you have ever tried to follow directions that involve looking for signs then actually getting to see the sign would be helpful. The one on Rocks, Islands & Reefs is key because as you look through the photographs of these various sites you will quickly see that these are the main attractions along Oregon's South Coast. I also like the photographs of the lighthouses. However, the section on Flora and Fauna is limited to what Cody happened to capture with his camera when he was out and about; the section is not intended as a real guide, but rather as an indication of what you might see on a trip. Besides, you would want to be lugging around a book not a lap top computer when you are out hiking around these areas.

As Cody explains on the back of the jewel case, you can use this guide either to plan your next trip to this area or you can simply enjoy a tour in the comfort of your own home. I was tempted to say that once you watch "Cody's Guide to Oregon's South Coast" there is no reason to go there, but that is not really the case. I am going out to the northern part of the state this summer and driving down the coast to see some of these sites in the south certainly is appealing to me, especially Coquille Point and the Brookings Area.

The format of this CD-Rom is both interesting and effective and I can see how it could be used for capturing all sorts of locations around the world. Of course, for all I know there could be similar projects like this devoted to anything from the Everglades to Westminster Abbey, but I have not seen anything like this before so I get to be impressed at this point. Where "Cody's Guide" would be different from similar CD-Roms is that it is clearly a labor of love that should provide a nice boost to tourism in this region.