Washington Books

This new guidebook to hiking in the coulee, sage and Palouse east of the Cascade crest fills a void in learning about and discovering a region that many overlook when contemplating an outdoor adventure. Many of the hikes and areas described may be foreign to many "westsiders", and some even to their neighbors in eastern Washington! One of the particular thrills in reading through the guidebook is the sense of discovery on finding out things about a land that many have dismissed as a wasteland and habitat for the occasional rattlesnake, tick, lizard and sage plant.

One soon finds out the truth very quickly with the help of Alan Bauer's photography and the writing of Dan A. Nelson. One of the greatest things about the region is that it's a perfect antidote to the wet and gray fall through spring of the Westside. Fall and Spring are mild, winters cold but generally dry with just a dusting of occasional snow. The region is abundant with all kinds of wildlife and without the thick forest can be seen much more readily. The wildflower show in spring is not to be missed either.

I have done a few of the hikes they describe and a whole new world has opened up for future enjoyment. Interestingly, though with most of the 100 hikes featured in the book they are describing a physical trail, jeep track or game trail, they stress that due to the mostly wide-open layout of the land the hiker has the freedom to roam whenever or wherever the need strikes them. Of course private property and common sense needs to be paid attention to!

The book is chockfull of helpful info such as a long list in the front breaking down each of the 100 hikes (in the same order as they appear later in the book) by the name, total distance, hiking time, difficulty and season it can be hiked in. A good introductory chapter gives you background on the region and how to prepare for it. Then follows the 100 hikes covering an area from just east of the Cascades, north to the upper Grand Coulee, east to Kamiak Butte near the Idaho border and south to Twin Sisters Rock near the Oregon border. Hikes range in altitude from the Saddle Mtns to the shores of the Columbia River and inside vast canyons and coulees to vistas over wildlife-teeming pothole lakes.

Each hike begins with the necessary info like mileage, degree of difficulty, elevations, maps and permits that are required that anyone familiar with a hiking guidebook would expect. What is nice is a quality photo for each trip (though a shame more are not in color- they are stunning) and a good map, plus accurate directions to get to the trailhead and the hike description itself- where the authors enthusiasm and delight in each spot is contagious!

I eagerly await the next chance to explore more of the region Bauer and Nelson have brought to light in this fine guide. It's a must-have companion for central-eastern Washington hiking.

OK, I'm not a big fan of the east side of the Washington Cascades BUT when there is so much snow in the mountains, the east (dry) side of the state looks a little more interesting.

In my heart, I'm a west-sider but I grew up and am currently in the Yakima Valley. Throughout my life (I'm now somewhere in my middle ages), I never knew there were things to do around here on the dry side! This book showed me so many things about the Yakima area and other areas on the dry side. And dry doesn't mean boring!

Herds of deer and elk, eagles, bluejays and avian galore! The flowers in the spring are gorgeous! We even have a cactus - needles and all but in the spring, a fantastic bright fushia bloom can be found on it. The views are outstanding and are comprised of huge mountains, rolling hills, canyons, as well as wild and tamed rivers. Here and there you even get to go through tunnels and visit old ghost towns.

With this book I've found plenty of things to do when the weather up in the mountains becomes too foreboding. And I'm very glad I have done so!

This lovely, little cookbook combines recipes and fun, inside-the-loop stories about prominant Southern figures. I thoroughly enjoyed Vicky Moon's book "Middleburg Mystique," and I'm glad this book is just as good.

Vicky Moon has assembled a nice assortment of Southern salad recipes that take the reader up the eastern coast, from the Florida Keys to Northern Virginia and Washington, D. C. She calls it "Margaritaville to Egoville." The book is witty with bits of humor and antidotes about her travels.

BEST DRESSED SOUTHERN SALADS has a catchy title and the small, but compact book is filled with some luscious sounding recipes. I like the small size of the book, because you can easily take it with you to the grocery store when you shop for the dressing and salad ingredients.

I tried several of her salads and enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes as we get into the summer months when our produce is at its peak.

Not only that this book will come in handy, the list included names I never knew existed! It's a great addition to my book collection! Thank you very much!

BEST PLACES SEATTLE is a great guide to Seattle and its surrounding area. It describes where the best outdoor activities, dining, nightlife, shopping, museums, lodging, and other attractions are, as well as discussing many great day trips to national parks within a couple of hours' drive from Seattle. Seattle (and King County, Washington, in general) has a great deal to offer to any traveler, so pick up this book wherever you may find it.

I am lucky to have Professor Morrissey for my Photography class in Rhode Island and his book has really touched me and made me look at my photos in a different way. He truly is one of the most sincere people I have met with amazing talent behind the lens.

There are several books with moving and important photographs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This one is a welcome addition as it focuses on the veterans and visitors to the Wall. Mr. Morrissey has obviously spent much time at the Wall and captures the feelings well.

Extremely user friendly -- great for use both by health care professionals and the general public. Very thorough, but not too 'dense'. As a postpartum doula, I recommend giving this to book to all the families you might work with.

This is a very easy-to-read synopsis of postpartum mood disorder. I highly recommend it to other care providers that work with new mothers (OB-GYN, midwives, doulas, pediatricians). It is cheap enough that a practice can buy several hundred a year so they can give out a copy to mothers who look like they are in need.

I am a childbirth educator that gives the Beyond the Birth booklet to my clients before they give birth. I make sure that partners, especially, are aware of its content, and give them all "homework" to read it and watch for mom's symptoms after the baby is born. With giving out this booklet, I feel that I am more effectively preparing the new parents for the inevitable hormone drop, relationship differences and social changes that accompany the birth of their baby.

Highly recommended. Easy to read, easy to give, full of information.

I don't know anything about the book or E. O. Wilson. But the service I received from the vendor was first class, it arrived on-time and I saved a ton of money on this book.

As we all know, E.O. Wilson is a giant of modern biology. Though his work has not always been quietly accepted, his ideas and opinions are undoubtedly an invaluble resorce to the world. In this huge book, Wilson presents what he believes are the 57 most important essays on the current state of Earth's biodiversity.

Being assigned summer reading, my teacher was convinced that I would love this book. He obviousely thought highly of it and so I began reading with an open mind. I'm so glad I did because the issues presented took my breath away. We are living in the middle of the largest mass extinction Earth has ever seen. Right now. These essays bring the reader completely up to speed on what is being destroyed, what efforts are being done to save the Earth, and what further efforts need to begin.

I can honestly say that my career path may have been steered more in the direction of biology after finshing Biodiversity. Everyone should read this book - I can garrentee that it will be a great enlightening experience.

Charles Birch is Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney and draws upon his years of research and thought in the philosophy of biology and the relationship of science and religion to provide a seminal rethinking of both science and religion allowing each field to expand its unique contribution to our study and understanding of life in Biology And The Riddle Of Life. Birch argues that while biology has an impressive history of explaining the objective, measurable aspects of life, it has not been able to deal effectively with life's subjective phenomena. What is need to address the issues surrounding a search for meaning in life must include seeking answers to such questions as what it is to be alive, experience pain, to be in love, is God necessary as an explanatory principle for life (and if so, is it a naturalistically understood deity, or an interventionist supernatural deity). Highly recommended reading for students of biology, philosophy, and religious studies, as well as the nonspecialist general reader with an interest in the conjunction of science and religion, Biology And The Riddle Of Life is scholarly, insightful, articulate, engaging, and at times iconoclastic.

Charles Birch is Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney and draws upon his years of research and thought in the philosophy of biology and the relationship of science and religion to provide a seminal rethinking of both science and religion allowing each field to expand its unique contribution to our study and understanding of life in Biology And The Riddle Of Life. Birch argues that while biology has an impressive history of explaining the objective, measurable aspects of life, it has not been able to deal effectively with life's subjective phenomena. What is need to address the issues surrounding a search for meaning in life must include seeking answers to such questions as what it is to be alive, experience pain, to be in love, is God necessary as an explanatory principle for life (and if so, is it a naturalistically understood deity, or an interventionist supernatural deity). Highly recommended reading for students of biology, philosophy, and religious studies, as well as the nonspecialist general reader with an interest in the conjunction of science and religion, Biology And The Riddle Of Life is scholarly, insightful, articulate, engaging, and at times iconoclastic.

This book is a great historic full of history and triumph that has made radio/ disc jockey's /music and players what it is today. It allows you to understand and feel what Black muscians had to go through to be noticed and recognized. I recommend all muscians to read this and appreciate the very men and women that have certainly paved the way into the new Millienium. A good read with great pictures.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I have it on my coffee table for everyone to see. The book tells you all about the first black Disc Jockey in Chicago all the way up to the mid 60's. I enjoyed the pictures which also told their own story as well.

I am a former student of Arno. His work captures his brilliance for a split second that everyone gets to look at. But he is so much more than that. Traveling with him across Europe to make Body Land seemed almost dream like. His love, passion and dedication to his work and his students is like nothing else one can describe. Master!!!

Just when you think you've seen everything, you see Arno Rafael Minkkinen's book, "Body Land". He has tapped into a truly new form of image in nature. His photographs are intensly creative and will inspire even the most inexperienced photographer. The form of the nude body blends perfectly in nature with images that will leave you gazing. Everyone needs to see this collection.

From 1955 to 1957, Boise, Idaho, was caught in the grip of a full-blown Gay panic that made national headlines and gave Idaho's judicial system a black eye. This study of the panic, published in 1965, is both of its time and decades ahead of it. Gerassi brilliantly dissects the (chiefly economic) motives of people involved in promoting and prosecuting the scandal. He also displays a sharp eye for character and incidental detail.

A must-read for anyone interested in GLBT history, and also a classic piece of investigative journalism, Gerassi's book is an astonishing piece of work. (Neil Miller covers a similar scandal in Sioux City, IA, with the somewhat inferior _Sex Crime Panic_.)

The Boys of Boise is one of those books that anyone interested in understanding the issues besetting those living an alternative lifestyle must read.

John Gerassi writes an editorial history of a series of politically motivated arrests and harrassments of those in the homosexual community in Boise, Idaho in 1955. Gerassi writes from a mid-1960s perspective in the midst of the sexual revolution looking back on a different perspective when homosexuality was even less accepted than it was in the 1960s.

The book explores several issues as they impacted a prosecution of a given portion of the homosexual population: community politics, the input and influence of a religous community (in Boise - the LDS), the role of the popular local press, a grab for power by those outside the main community power structure, the role of law enforcement and the courts.

Why is this book a must read for understanding issues facing those living alternative lifestyles today? The events covered could happen in any community today - to those who are exploring poly relationships, BDSM, and Gor - as well as to those who continue to simply live within the Gay community. There are laws on our books in each state and locale that could be discriminatively enforced to bring problems to individuals or groups - in violation of protections they believe they have under the Bill of Rights.

The only possible negative in the book - and for some it is not a negative - is the amount of space devoted to reproducing the entirety of court dialogs and certain other primary sources. While I personally enjoyed having the sources there - other historians would prefer they be relegated to either appendices or simply referenced and summarized. It should be noted that when Gerassi wrote this book - he was a reporter/editor for a news periodical rather than a university professor.

The book definitely belongs in the library of scholars devoted to Urban studies, gay studies, the sociology of alternative lifestyles and the like.