New Mexico Books

I love all of Aimee and David Thurlo's books. Excellent writing and knowledge of the subject area. The Ella Clan books are all wonderful mysteries written around the Navajo traditions. Great books!

Life on the Navaho reservation in New Mexico is never easy but this winter is particularly hard. The weather is abnormally cold, unemployment is up, and many people are forced to choose between eating and heating up their homes. The Tribal Council, responsible for the welfare of the people on the reservation, debates whether to legalize gambling as a way of bringing in revenue.

Navaho Special Investigator Ella Clah knows that the Indian Mafia is behind the wave of vandalism that is concentrated in the Shiprock area. The thugs hope to intimidate the people and the Tribal Council to vote for gambling and they are willing to escalate the level of violence to achieve their goals. Between tracking down the leaders of the criminal element and avoiding snipers and other assaults on her life, Ella has a thirty-six hour day just staying alive.

Amy and David Thurlo have created a mystery series that gets better with each book written though the previous novels are all top quality. Ella Clah is a fascinating character who endears herself to the audience by adhering true to her values even defending the rights of those who disagree with her. Fans of Tony Hillerman and Southwest mysteries will appreciate CHANGING WOMAN.

Harriet Klausner

Written for readers of all backgrounds, A Cherokee Encyclopedia is a one-volume quick reference to the different groups of Cherokees within the United States and their history. Entries are listed in alphabetical order and include brief biographies of famous individuals in Cherokee history, different bands of Cherokee Indians in the past and present, Cherokee societies, and more, illustrated with occasional black-and-white photographs. From Keetoowah News, the official newspaper of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, to modern "tradition bearer" of old songs, tales, Cherokee hymns, and flute melodies Tommy Wildcat, A Cherokee Encyclopedia is an up-to-date resource highly recommended for modern Native American reference shelves.

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the Cherokee. Also highly recommended is Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears, by Jerry Ellis. The book is about his 900 mile walk along the Trail of Tears and it was nominated for a Pulitzer and a National Book Award. At long last, books about the Cherokee are starting to get the attention they so deserve.

This is how all books should be like. It's too bad high schools don't use books like this one. Gomez-Quinones doesn't sugarcoat anything in his book.

This book is written on facts. I highly recommend it to others.

This is my second novel by Loren D Estleman;the first being "Journey of the Dead" for which I wrote a Review on January 31,2007 and rated it 5*.
Although I enjoyed it more;this novel is somewhat similar in style.
Estleman includes a lot of historical connections,extensive ,almost to the point of excess descriptions. He spends a lot of effort in great detail on characters and other things;where in many cases I just wished he would get on with the story. As a result ,his writing,descriptions etc, outweigh the storyline.If that is what you like ,you'll really enjoy this author.
I notice from some of the author's other novels that he writes a lot of mystery and suspense;and this definately comes through in this novel;but less so in "Journey of the Dead".
Estleman combines historical facts,characters,events etc. with fiction and I find it somewhat of an aggravation to sort things out. In 1991 ,I spent a week in the area of Soccoro,Bosque del Apache,San Marcial,and Truth or Consequences; Birding.This is where most of this novel is set.There is still an Old Soccoro area,with many buildings from the 1880's,but I don't recall any Mesas,nor can I find any town of San Sabado on the atlas.The town of Truth or Consequences is still very active and it certainly was Geronimo's old stomping grounds. Actually,I remember seeing a spring where he came for water. The time period is 1881,and several references to the death of President Garfield are made along with those of Jay Gould,the Railroad Magnate,Lillie Langtree,the actress,Jack Rimfire a writer somewhat like Ned Buntline,Bill Cody,Billy the Kid ;just to name a few. Although I'm not positive, I doubt if Judge Blacktorne,Marshal Ortiz,Frank Baronet ever existed or were based on real characters. I'd like to know if otherwise.
Readers of the fast-ation westerns will note the similarity of the main character Page Murdock,to Curtis Long of "Longarm",Skye Fargo of "The Trailsman",or Ben Stillman and Lou Prophet ,Peter Brandvold writes about.
If your preference is descriptive writing,lots of historical association and mystery over barroom ,canyon and mainstreet fast-action and shoot-outs ;this novel should be right down your alley.
Estleman sprinkles his novels with great lines,such as these;

"Cheap meaning stole."

"Every great fortune begins with a crime."

"God's finger touched him and he slept."

"They were dressed all in black from bonnets to shoes,their dark
hems dragging like crow's wings in the dust of the street."

"California has its swallows and we have our magpies."

"Any town that is running out of widows can't be all bad."

"A man who arms himself in secret is a man who will come at you from
behind."

"Gold itself isn't wicked,only its source."

"There is no sport in hunting men.I never did it for sport."

This story would be Ideal for the film media. Though it is a western novel,it bears the stamp of authenticity due to the fact that it was carefully researched, the characters were not just cardboard figures with dialogue but human beings living in Western United States in the 1870-1880's. Its setting is after the Lincoln County Wars when most of the males were killed off
during the fueds. Enter U.S. Marshall Page Murdock who is undercover searching for the Baronette Brothers who were guilty of a murder in the North,he is supposed to have retired from law enforcement. He was commisioned to bring in the baronnete brothers but had to do so quickly because the statute of limitations for their crime was approaching expiration. He bought a third interest in a saloon with an ex-lover who proves treacherous and one of the baronetted brothers who happens to be the Marshall in a neighboring town. The action in this story leads to a credible climax, it is a story which will have you waiting for the next Page Murdock Novel.

This is one of the great classics of anthropology and Latin American studies. Largely ignored during the rush to make anthropology a science of culture, this is a description of Candomble and the women who led the spiritual life of Bahia in the thirties. Good to see that it is now available in this format.

If you are looking for an excellent book on the Candomble Orixa Worship of Brazil, then this is the classic. The book as the title states is of the power of the Brazilian Priestesses of the orixas, also known as orisha. Mai De Santos, or Priestesses of Orixas are as powerful, and as highly respected as the Babalawos of the Ifa and Babalorichas of Lucumi. I highly recomend this to all Voodoo Mambos, Santeria Santeras, and all Woman of the world, who believe in the power of Woman.

From a man's point of view this is a brilliant and inspiring work, and should be read buy all who honor the Ancient African Gods.

"Cloudcroft" was a great read. Enough suspense and drama to keep you entertained from cover to cover and a writing style that puts you in the character's shoes. If you've been to the area you will recognize the settings, if you've never been there the book will take you there.

Hanly's way of writing and developing characters is the best I read in a long time. When I finished the book I went back and read it the next week, still enthralled in the imagery and plain speak that makes this book stand out.
This is one of the best books out this year.

In this superb anthology of six of his short story collections, Moacyr Scliar presents readers with a panoply of themes, such as persecution, exploitation, and how ideologies mold our lives. Many of these themes reflect the times during which Scliar wrote -- a time when literary and other forms of cultural expresson were being surpressed under Brazil's military regime. In the first collection of stories, "The Carnival of Animals," Scliar uses allegory to explore the theme of persecution and exploitation, amongst other things.In his story, "The Cow," Scliar writes of a sailor who, shipwrecked with only a cow for company, comes to rely on that cow for his very survival. Like the loving, maternal tree in the classic, "The Giving Tree," the cow, named Carola, provides the sailor with food, clothing, fuel -- everything.The sailor readily exploits the cow --and ultimately destroys her to save his own life. But though he survives and prospers, the sailor lives a sad, empty life. Thus we are given a brief, anecdotal allegory of how exploitation dooms both the victim and the exploiter. Scliar, a Jew, also writes of Jewish themes, some of which are included in this collection. For example, The Ballad of the False Messiah is an allegory about the Jewish quest for redemption vis a vis a messiah -- and the ultimate futility of that quest. Casting the notorious, historical "false messiah," Shabtai Zvi, as one of his main characters,Scliar uses humor and irony to develop the theme that candidates for the Jewish messiah may come and go, but the Jewish people, with a messiah or without, will prevail. In "The Plagues" readers have an opportunity to see how "the other side fared" during biblical times when God smote the Egyptians with 10 plagues. Here we read of the tribulations of an average, Egyptian family that is arbitrarily being punished for the stubborness of the Pharaoh not to "let the Hebrews go." Again we have allegory, irony, and a true literary gem. Scliar uses biblical parables and elements of that particularly Latin American genre, magical realism, to entertain,enthrall, and enlighten. A wonderful anthology.

This book collects The Carnival of Animals, The Ballad of the False Messiah and The Enigmatic Eye which all are out of print in their English editions with The Tremulous Dwarf, the Dwarf in the Television Set and Van Gogh's Ear which have not to my knowledge been previously available in English. The fact that I would award Moacyr Scliar a Nobel Prize for literature in itself explains why 400 pages of his short stories is just right.

Scliar is a versatile author - Jewish and Brazilean - with a breadth of knowledge of history, medicine, psychology, anthropology and Hebrew scripture that both root his stories in the concrete and give them a universal understanding. He is comfortable in allegory, fantasy, magical realism.

All the traits of his better known novels - The Strange Nation of Rafael Mendes and Centaur in the Garden - are here in minature.

Given my interests, I particularly enjoyed the retelling of the ten plagues of Egypt from the perspective not of the Hebrews but of the Egyptians. However, were I to list all my favorites and explain why I'd exceed the Amazon word limit!

If you aren't up to this thick volume, read Centaur in the Garden ... then you'll want 400 pages more of his masterful writing.

While images of Roosevelt, Dewey and Maine are the most recognized images of the Spanish American War, Geoffrey Hunt provides some very interesting insight into lesser known actions of the war and the subsequent problems of dealing with an insurrection. Further, I found it interesting to see how much the members of the Colorado Volunteers were responsible for sowing the seeds of what would become the largest organization for Veterans, the VFW.

This is an exhaustively researched investigation into the the First Colorado Regiment. These troops enlisted in the army in the aftermath of the descruction of the battleship Main in 1998. They had just finished training and were assembled with other units in San Francisco when Admiral Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila in May 1981. Having a shortage of infantry, these units were rushed to the Philippines rather than to Cuba.

At the end of the eighteen hundreds the Americans were beginning to think of building an empire like those of the European powers. The First Colorado was put to fighting in the Philippines to take over the Spanish colony. They then found themselves as conquerors of the Philipine people and were fighting to subject them to American rule.

The Spanish American war occurred at a time when the world was in a period of dramatic change. The American Army was still following the mentality of the Civil War, while the technology of quick firing artillery and machine guns were rapidly changing the battlefield. This new book covers a little reported, little understood part of American history.

Compiled and edited by Nasario Garcia (Professor of Languages, New Mexico Highlands University), Comadres: Hispanic Women Of The Rio Puerco Valley is a unique and ground breaking survey of Hispanic-American women and their manifold contributions to the evolving culture of New Mexico, especially during the first ten years of statehood. Ranch life, the evolution of Spanish dialects, the struggles to birth and raise children, and so much more are accessibly covered in this unique anthology of vignettes, anecdotes, and revealing glimpses into New Mexican daily life. Black-and-white photographs enhance this outstanding collection of brief yet personable tales, each of which is rendered in both Spanish and English. Comadres is a very strongly recommended addition to Women's Studies, American History, and Southwest Regional Studies academic reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Compiled and edited by Nasario Garcia (Professor of Languages, New Mexico Highlands University), Comadres: Hispanic Women Of The Rio Puerco Valley is a unique and ground breaking survey of Hispanic-American women and their manifold contributions to the evolving culture of New Mexico, especially during the first ten years of statehood. Ranch life, the evolution of Spanish dialects, the struggles to birth and raise children, and so much more are accessibly covered in this unique anthology of vignettes, anecdotes, and revealing glimpses into New Mexican daily life. Black-and-white photographs enhance this outstanding collection of brief yet personable tales, each of which is rendered in both Spanish and English. Comadres is a very strongly recommended addition to Women's Studies, American History, and Southwest Regional Studies academic reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Comida Sabrosa: Home-Style Southwestern Cooking is a spiral bound compendium of outstanding recipes celebrating New Mexico's culinary heritage and traditions. From New Mexican Hot Chocolate; Nana's Green Chile Sauce; Southwestern Tamale Pie; and Beefed-Up Chile Casserole; to Taco Frijoles para los Ninos; Zesty Appetizer Meatballs; Dorito Casserole; and Arroz Dulce (Sweet Rice Pudding), Comida Sabrosa will prove a family favorite of easy to prepare, mouth-watering, appetite satisfying delights. A glossary is included, as are very useful instructions for microwave adaptations.

WIth no previous experience cooking Mexican food, I've become an expert flour tortilla maker - not to mention that my family devoures the cheese enchiladas. Thanks!