Colorado Books

Aa Always Rand Mcnally does a superb job with their map books easy to use indexes, and great detail make this map book a wonderful resource for anyone, planning to relocate to the Denver area, or anyone in the Real estate Business

I like the Easy Finder maps for ease of folding and occasional dry erase marking. The last Denver Easy Finder I had was nearly useless, as most of my time was spent in Westminster and Broomfield, which was not covered by the map. This newer Easy Finder Denver map supports a much broader area. I love only needing one map for everything in Denver-Metro!

This book offers no new information or perspectives on the West, but it is a useful introduction nonetheless. Limerick seems to be a cultural conservative who also wishes to parrot the more interesting perspectives of other writers. I wish she had taken more trouble over the Native peoples, instead of playing it safe. There is nothing objectionable about this book, but it is really kind of dull, too. As a feminist I'm looking for something with more intellectually stimulating discourse. There wasn't anything like that here.

Professor Robert W. Adler presents Restoring Colorado River Ecosystems: A Troubled Sense of Immensity, an examination of the devastating toll humankind has inflicted upon the Colorado River and its ecosystem, and what can be done to help restore nature's balance. From the detrimental effects of dams and whether dams should be modified or removed, to problems that stem from blocking the movement of fish or sediment and concentrating pollutants, to the legal dimensions of attempts to protect the ecosystem, and much more, Restoring Colorado Ecosystems is the culmination of extensive research and thoughtful analysis, and highly recommend for environmental studies shelves.

This volume complete, extensive research and information compiled. A worthy read!
Barbara

Ordinarily I skip or only skim prefaces, but that would have been a big mistake in this book which starts right out with a hilarious account of Jim Greer's encounter with Jack Nicholson, the famous actor immediately recognizable to everyone but clueless Jim. Riding West is always entertaining and frequently moving. Greer's description of his metamorphosis from performance auditor for the Colorado legislature to outfitter in the rugged high country of Gunnison County should be of interest to anyone who has ever contemplated reinventing himself in the midstream of life. Greer emerges as a fascinating (if somewhat eccentric) personality and a superb storyteller. I hated to see this book end. Someday, I suspect, it will be made into a film. It has all the earmarks of a classic, one that belongs in the distinguished company of other such classics as A River Runs Through It.

Judy Buffington Sammons grew up on a ranch in the Ohio Creek Valley country of Gunnison, Colorado where her father and grandfather raised registered Hereford cattle. So Judy writes with a particular expertise in "Riding, Roping, And Roses: Colorado's Women Ranchers" of what Colorado women ranchers have been able to accomplish in a country and a business that was and continues to be dominated by men. Spanning the late 1870s down to the present day, "Riding, Roping, And Roses" features the examples of women drawn from many parts of Colorado. Some of the are obscure while others are well known. What all these women have in common is the success they made of ranching against all odds and expectations -- including their own. "Riding, Roping, And Roses" is strongly recommended to the attention of non-specialist general readers, as well as a unique and welcome addition to academic and community library Women's Studies, Western American History, and Colorado History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This workbook is full of very detailed information I found very useful for my layout. The workbook has loose leaf pages so I was able to put my own clipping and ideas all in one place- really nice! I recommend his works to anybody who is serious about the RGS. Thanks.

What a great little book! I have tried several of the restaurants, now, and the author has been dead-on with her descriptions. There are some great suggestions for out-of-the way places that I never would have known about, otherwise. Good for anyone looking to get off the beaten path and into the heart of Denver's breakfast cuisine. The cover is great, and the key symbols are fun and creative, not to mention very helpful! Great idea to list whether reservations are recommended, if alcohol is served, if the restaurant has healthy options, etc. I definitely recommend this book.

Every once in a while a book sneaks into your life and nothing is ever quite the same again. It happens when you least expect it and later you are hard-pressed to remember how or why you choose that particular book...or did it choose you? This is such a book. At first blush this appears to be a book about one man's exploration of the Colorado Plateau in general and the Colorado River in particular. To the knowledgeable reader that topic alone would not be all that unusual in the literature of the West, unless it was done in an extraordinary manner...a really extraordinary manner. This one is, and more. Callahan is of the very few writers that have a real attachment to life and the environment and can write about it in an honest,convincing and readable way. For example,his ability to convey his passion for the Colorado River has enabled me to better understand Norman Maclean's statement "I am haunted by waters." The author begins his odyssey at the headwaters of the Colorado River in the Never Summer Range of Colorado and ends in northern Mexico in a salt desert among "...human garbage and human faith." In a series of essays and poems the reader visits such towns as Green River and Moab, UT; Monument Valley; the San Rafael Swell; the Grand Canyon; Mexico and every conceivable spot in-between including a number not on any map. It is a seven year journey like no other you have ever encountered. In a humorous, vibrant, poetic manner he takes the reader on a virtual guided tour of the Colorado Plateau with its rich compliment of people, wilf life and landscapes all affected, in one way or the other, by the River. Callahan says like much of the desert southwest he is "watermarked" and, when he explains one of the reasons he feels that way, which date back to his childhood, you will understand his liquid obsession...natural and otherwise. He talks about friends, past and present, growing old, women, erlationships with his children, ex-wives, and other things that matter in an open, non-judgmental manner that is refreshing and, at times, painful and brutally honest. Consider this passage: "I've come to that point in my life where I can no longer recall the reasons I began most things, the point where all directions look the same, and every choice seems equally senseless. I drink too much, I play with myself too often, I eat like myocardial infarctions and colon cancer don't kill middle-aged men, and every morning I swear I'll change, but nothing ever changes. Except times in the desert, and especially except times in the desert near water."

In a poetic tone and heartfult manner the reader is treated to one man's odyssey to quench his desire for solitude, friendship, and an understanding of life that is unflinching honest, at times irreverent, and always refreshing in its candor. If you like John Holt, T.H. Watkins, Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and Ivan Doing, this book is a must. It will sneak up on you and make you glad you took the trip.