Washington Books

Santa Fe will be 400 years old next year, and this beautifully illustrated and written book was issued in commemoration of its rich history.

There are eleven chapters, nine dealing with various historical eras in the city's history: high desert living before the formation of the city, the founding, the Pueblo Revolt, the Spanish Restoration, 25 years as a Mexican town, the U.S. occupation, the Santa Fe Trail, the Palace of Governors and a history of histories of the city. Each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the area, and each is illustrated with many black and white images.

Two chapters were particularly interesting to me. "Españols, Castas, y Labradores" by Adrian H. Bustamante is a very careful analysis of the the complex mixing and cross mixing of different ethnic backgrounds. "One's social position was determined by the degree of pureza de sangre española that flowed in one's veins. To have been born in Spain, especially in Castile, gave one the highest classification possible -- penninsular." Pure españoles who had been born in the New World had the marginally lower status of Criollos (Creoles)." The book lists on page 54 (you may be able to retrieve a copy through the Amazon Search this Book function) 22 separate "castas" typical of the 18th century: mestizo, castizo, otrna a español, mulato, morisco, etc.

Tara M. Plewa's "Acequia Agriculture" is a beautifully written, fact laden discussion of water, irrigation and their defining roles in Santa Fe's history. "Long established Spanish irrigation methods translated well to the dry landscape. The practice of irrigation necessitated establishing rules so that benefits were divided equitably among users. As I. G. Clark has written in his insightful book, Water in New Mexico: A History of Its Management and Use, Spaniards had centuries before learned irrigation techniques from the Romans and, later, Islamic water law from the Moors. It was the Prophet Mohammed who had taught about the law of thirst, which grants living things free access to all waters to satisfy their needs. ... These ideas, established more than one thousand years ago, form the foundations of contemporary water laws followed in the western United States today." Plewa illustrated her essay with a number of maps, pictures and charts, perhaps the most interesting two photographs of the Acequia Madre from 1890 and 2007, respectively -- the principles of Mohammed in practice many hundreds of years after his death.

The publisher offers a very generous extract from the book at sarpress.sarweb.org , focusing on the archeological studies of the city.

Two weeks ago I asked the owner of Collected Works, a great bookstore in Santa Fe for the "essential" books needed to understand Santa Fe. Her list: New Mexico: An Interpretive History by Marc Simmons; Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya; The Wind Leaves No Shadow by Ruth Laughlin; The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos by Peggy Pond Church; and Santa Fe, History of an Ancient City: Revised and Expanded Edition edited by David Grant Noble.

This wonderful volume is a perfect introduction of this complex, endlessly fascinating city.

Robert C. Ross 2008

The chapter edited by Tara Plewa remains one of the most enlightened discourses on the Santa Fe River that I have ever read. Plewa is a brilliant writer, with a knack for detailing this area and its history is an unparalleled manner... this one is not to be missed, and be on the lookout for anything that Plewa writes!

"Sarah and Me and the Lady from the Sea," is part of a trilogy of excellent historical fiction books set on the Pacific coast of the Long Beach Penninsula in Washington State. The other titles are "O the Red Rose Tree," and "The Nickel-Plated Beauty." All three titles by Patricia Beatty take place in the same region, within a few years of each other at the turn of the 20th century. There are only a few common characters, so it doesn't really matter what order you read them in.

I like to compare these books to the Laura Ingalls Wilder titles. They were quite popular during our Washington State Centennial in 1989, and still get read by students who like historical fiction.

It's nice to see a review here by a student who says this is her favorite book. That says a lot. These titles are not on any "top ten" lists, but are certainly worth reading. Beatty has a knack for bringing an unknown part of history to life, and adding adventure, as well as accuarately describing the weather and locale of this region.

I recommend this book and the other two titles!

This is the best book i have ever read. I have asked my mom for it for Christmas. It is my favorite book and i read it in 5th grade and have been looking for it ever since. This is a great book for a book report seeing how it has one main character. It must not be very popular because it has 0 reveiws. It is about a girl (whos name i donot remember) whose family has some finacially bad problem due to a flood. They move to Washington for the summer. She meet a girl named Sarah who at first she despices but becomes friends with. They were riding on the beach when they find a lady who they found out was from Russia and had survived a terrible thunder storm on the ocean. This is a great book for preteens. like I said, it's my all time favorite book!

Someone recommended this book to me and gave it to me as a gift. I was less than thrilled until I started reading the book. I truly enjoyed it, far beyond what I had imagined. Bradley uses a light touch and every page is lifted with Bradley's unique sense of humor. Highly recommended.

I have been teaching for nearly 20 years and came across School Daze on the Internet. I purchased the book hoping to compare my first year as a teacher to Bradley's. When the book arrived, I read the book in two days. It is an extremely accurate portrayal of the life of a first year teacher. Also, the humor Bradley uses really takes the book to another level. I highly recommend School Daze.

I love this book. If you can get a copy that comes with the cd, do it. The music is so real, so encapsulating. I know you're going to love it, just as I do. My biggest recommendation is to get the book with the cd; I cannot stress this enough. You will feel the scene rise up in you. Ahhh...real, for once. In fact, leaf through the book while listening to the cd...it's an experience, to say the least.

If it's possible to see music, this is where to look. From Kurt's upside down guitar playing to Andy Wood's heartbreakingly direct gaze, these photos are riveting. I felt like I was there.

Having lived for many years in Seattle and the Northwest, I was eager to read this book. I am pleased to say that this book truly captures the essence of Seattle and is filled with wonderful text and photography.
Kudos to Mr. Rogers for a lovely and sensitively written book.

Most city photo books are for tourists, awards or perhaps libraries. They usually don't give you a sense of the people and emotions of the city just some photos of landmarks. Joel Roger's book is different because he knows Seattle so well and he is a great photojournalist. His book left me happy I live here and reminded me of many sweet and breathtaking moments. It is the perfect book to hand to my house guests when they arrive asking, "What should we do?"

Walt Crowley and his gang at historylink.org provide a valuable service to anyone interested in the history of Seattle, King County, and western Washington generally. While this book is necessarily less comprehensive (and less easily searched and updated) than the online version, it's still an interesting and informative browse-through for Emerald City residents and a good introduction to the greater wealth on their web site.

This small title's pages are packed with colorful illustrations and punchy copy. It probably works better to open and read it at random than to try to follow it systematically from page to page, because while it's basically organized chronologically, there are so many sections, subheads, and sidebars -- plus the timeline itself on nearly every page -- that trying to keep it all straight could get maddening. It's much more fun simply to open a page and read about why Seattle's streets aren't aligned north and south of Yesler Way, what happened to the communities known as Squack and Slaughter (they're still here, under different names) and why there were as many arguments about light rail 50 years ago as there are today.

On the whole, any Washington resident with an interest in this city would probably find something entertaining or worthwhile to justify browsing this title. Gene Logsdon writes that one of the ways to avoid provincialism is to know your own province really well. This book is one useful way for Seattleites to do that.

(...)This compact volume is chock full of interesting information, some of which has never appeared in other histories of Seattle. It is readable, very attractive, and includes mention of the September 11 attacks and other recent events.

Some of the new stories include Pioneer Henry Yesler's Native American family, the early smallpox epidemics that decimated the local tribes, the last several decades of the 20th Century, Ivar Haglund, and the arrival of the Buffalo Soldiers.

I'm buying several as gifts.

Just finished reading Murdoch's latest mystery. Great read for a rainy Seattle day! Love the cover!

if you lived in seattle, you will really appreciate reading this book. If you have never lived/visited seattle, you will still read it start to end in one seating. Must read novel...

Senator Love is a mystery featuring detective Fiona Fitzgerald, who is on the trail of a murderer in Washington D.C. The most apparent connection between the victims is the charming and womanizing politician Senator Love. Even as Fiona works to solve the case, she finds herself drawn by the senator's seductive charm -- strong enough to tempt even the stout-hearted to illicit pleasure. Written by Warren Adler (the author of the acclaimed War of the Roses) Senator Love is an insidious, compelling mystery that keeps the reader guessing both the criminal's and the heroine's intentions up to the very end.

Is the author, Warren Adler, psychic or just very in tuned with modern day politics in Washington? Senator Love has some shocking connections to the Levy/Condit case. A very attractive senator is surrounded by a string of unsolved murders, mostly his interns. Is truth stranger than fiction? In this case, it's a tie.

I just love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when is the next one going to arive . this book should be made into a move, it would be a block buster !!!!!!!

I highly recommend this compelling story about a man's quest to find his niche in life, amid numerous trials and tribulations. Only the end of the story will tell you if our hero finds acceptance and love or if he climbs naked to the top of the factory and picks off his coworkers with a shotgun one by one! This story kept this reader engaged from Chapter One til the last word, a real page turner! I eagerly await the arrival of this author's next work!

I felt that Christina Ching wrote this book for me. She speaks to me in my mother's voice, telling me about the insurmountable obstacles she had to overcome to pave the way for me. I used to think of Chinese women of Ching's generation as old-fashioned and oppressed, but after reading her memoir, I realize what a giant leap they have made, and how much I owe them. This is a universal story of the emancipation of a group of people, in this case, Chinese women. From tiny, timid steps, Ching took bigger and bolder steps until she was unstoppable. Yet while living out her ambitions, she was also a devoted mother and wife. Her life offers many important lessons for younger women. The memoir moves at the page-turning pace of a thriller, but I can't help stopping frequently to savor the beauty of her words.

Veronica Li, Washington, DC, USA

This magnificent memoir is the first I have read that faithfully chronicles the love story of a 20th century Chinese woman with the idea of modernity. Many writers before Mrs. Ching-Tsao have tackled the gray and dismal role of women in traditional China, the horrors of the early and mid-20th century and equal tragedy of women under the Cultural Revolution, when supposedly they "held up half the sky." This account is more nuanced, more hopeful, and much more representative of the energy, dynamism and drive not just of Chinese women but all women entranced by the jazz age and the promise of equality. Mrs. Ching-Tsao's account is wonderful for its detail and its honesty, as well as the marvelous balance of her personality, whether she is unexpectedly charmed by her father's concubine or unexpectedly loyal to a man who has used rape to force her into marriage. This is an unusual woman who falls into no easy definition or category, as wife, mother, professional woman, or lover. She is simply herself, a Chinese Colette, charming, self-willed and compassionate. The book is beautifully written and paced, although as literature it has more the quality of a very good translation than a book that is fully comfortable in the boundaries of English, but that is to be expected from an author whose first encounter with English was as a teenager in a prep school in Shanghai. In the interest of full disclosure, I have known Mrs. Ching-Tsao's sons and daughters for many years, but was in no way prepared for the richness and depth of their mother's book.

Edith Terry, Hong Kong