Iowa Books

The Book of Mormon Sleuth
By: C.B. Anderson
When you read this book you might think it is pretty dumb. But after you start reading it you will think that it is pretty good. This story has it all; it has humor, fiction had some non-fiction.

The main character is Brandon. He is a teenager that lives in Utah and loves to play soccer. Brandon or Bran has five brothers and sisters. The oldest is Shauna, he has an older brother Jeff and he has a younger sister that is called Meg. But the other two do not play any certain roll but they are Danny and Kerrisa. But they all play some roll in this action packed book.

While their dad is working at a college in Orem, Utah he goes and decides to do research at his Aunt Ella's dairy Farm. While they are at the farm his Aunt decides to make use of it and starts teaching Bran everything that he needs to know about the Book of Mormon. She gets him up every day at 6:00 am teach him about a One Hundred year old Book of Mormon. After Fore weeks she gives it to him. This is where the story get Interesting.

While on the Farm this in crazed lunatic is after Bran's Book of Mormon. This mans name is Dr. Anthony. He steals it once but the police dog catches him. When the police take him to the court house he escapes. And all of a sudden three states are after him. And to make it worse his parents want to go on vacation. While they are on vacation he is determined to keep it safe with him.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I can honestly say that I would recommend this book to any body.

This book is not a bad book. It is sort of wildly thought out and not really down to earth. I really like how the author encorporated solid gospel principles into it though. It's one of those books that you decide you aren't really fond of it but you cant put it down because its a bit intreguing. I would recomend this book to a younger teen.

As a native of Iowa, I read this book with a tear in my eye and a laugh in my throat. It brought back many fond memories of my own childhood in a small farm community. For anyone from a small town this book is a must read.

This book provides an apt description of small-town living in Iowa. It tells the story of a town/county that is both a farming community and a commuter community, caught between the past and the future. The most interesting part of the book for me was the story of Ruby Wingert's "ghost". I grew up in Tipton, the county seat, and as a child I had to walk past her home to get to my best friend's house. I was always terrified of the place -- a creepy, run-down Victorian -- as were most of the other children I knew. As an adult I took a tour of the home, after it had been beautifully restored, and found myself wishing I could live there. Now I'm even more fascinated by the place, wondering if it is, indeed, haunted by Ruby.

If you are interested in this book you might also enjoy "Bird, Kansas" -- a book that's been on my shelf for years, so I'm not sure if it's even published anymore.

I picked up this impressive book, leather bound, gotta be good. Being a long time fan of Iowa sports I had a good idea what to expect. Some guy who thought he knew my school better than I did. Some people will try to make money out of anything. If you care about sports... read a magazine that's all i got to say.

A chronological 100 plus year history of the University of Iowa in intercollegic athletics. This is the best book (perhaps the only book) devoted to the history of Iowa athletics. All sports are represented. Presentation of material follows a chronological year by year review of major athletic events starting from the end of the 19th century through the 1998 season. If you're a Hawkeye fan interested in Iowa's intercollegiate sports history, this is the only book of its kind. As a special feature, an Appendix at the end of the book lists all Varsity Lettermen and Letterwomen and the years in which they received their Letters.

Exquisitely written, this book is superbly articulate advocacy in defense of the fundamental components of traditional liberal education. This advocacy of 'tradition' is all the more special coming from one of academe's leading true Liberals. As President of Dartmouth Universty, Freedman took on the hate-speech of Dartmouth's right-wing journal and made it stick. He held a similar position at the sometimes underrated University of Iowa, and was ombudsman and also law dean at the Universtiy of Pennsylvania. He truly knows whereof he speaks, and our policy makers would do well to heed his exhortations.

"Liberal Education" initially appeared promising. After an interesting chapter on the history of college presidents, Freedman discusses the current and future states of higher education. As expected he passionately defends liberal education and intellectualism. I was stunned, however, when in the middle of the second chapter (p. 42), he defends tenured faculty by drawing on the following statistics: there are perhaps "200,000 faculty members" at significant research universities and colleges in the United States, a country of "280 million people." He concludes that such faculty "make up less than .0001 percent of the nation's population." He repeats this assertion in the following paragraph, indicating that this was not simply a typo. He makes no small mistake: it is the equivalent of standing in Chicago and stating that Boston is about a mile away. Freedman attempts to mislead the reader (he uses these numbers to argue for academic freedom for a small proportion of the population); as my expertise is limited, I cannot tell if he has made other such mispresentations of facts, but one such significant mistake is enough to make me distrust the remainder of the book.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

Though her preference would be to stay home in Southern California, literary agent Charlie Greene agrees to accompany her adopted mother attending a funeral in Myrtle, Iowa. Charlie has not met this side of the family that has never accepted adoption as a source of viable kin. Still, Charlie would do almost anything for her mother, biology professor Edwina Greene, including meeting the extended family even in this backwater.

Once there, Charlie realizes she has an opportunity to uncover the identity of her biological mother, but instead ends up at Gentle Oaks Nursing Home. Though elderly, the patients seem more than senile than the average geriatrics. Most of the senior citizens act petrified in mind and body leaving Charlie to wonder why society allows people to live with what appears no dignity, hope or thought. Apparently someone agrees with Charlie because someone begins killing the residents. Encouraged to uncover the truth, Charlie begins to investigate what seem to be euthanasia killings.

The latest Charlie Green mystery, THE RAMPANT REAPER, is a strange eccentric amateur sleuth tale. The story line centers on what to do for the aging especially when the mind goes and the body is not lagging far behind. However, Marlys Millhiser's efforts to use humor to diffuse the seriousness of the topic come across as iniquitous because the cast including the heroine is nasty. Fans who don't mind an ensemble of misanthropes will enjoy Charlie's sleuthing and the insight into a problem that society would prefer die away.

Harriet Klausner

When her mother asked her to go back with her to Iowa, Charlie Green had wanted to refuse. Iowa and the family there meant nothing to Charlie--noting but the people who had made her mother's life miserable. Still, she couldn't abandon her mother to her ruthless relatives. Charlie goes to Iowa.

Myrtle, Iowa is something of a mystery itself. The town is supported largely by a home for the aged--where, curiously, people go to die but...

Author Marlys Millhiser delivers a quirky and thoughtful mystery. ...

THE RAMPANT REAPER includes knee-slapping humor, but is occasionally hard to follow and sometimes loses track of the mystery completely. As I was reading, I couldn't help wonder if Millhiser is having current problems with her own aging relatives. Perhaps so, because REAPER seemed unable to make up its mind whether it was intended to be a funny-quirky novel, or a thoughtful examination of the way America treats its aging, and saddles its women with these responsibilities.

This book was very useful for planning our wedding reception in my home state - Michigan. With my mother's assistance from Kentucky, my husband and I were able to coordinate our reception AND guest accomodations from our home in California. I found the book helpful, insightful, very well organized, and succinct. Flowery writing is great if you want a novel. If you are looking for a true reference book, this one is a good place to start.

If you are looking for a book to inspire your next midwestern trip, keep looking. Bob Puhala's writing is hardly the sort to bring out the intrepid (or insipid) traveler in anyone. Reading the reviews of inns I was familiar with was disappointing. He does not manage to bring these places to life or capture their essence. He does provide a good basic description of each inn and fairly good directions to each, along with the information you would need to make a reservation. Because most of his picks are rather on the beaten path, if you're going to visit Uncle Lem and Aunt Nan in Backwater Creek, you probably won't find a likely place to stay using this resource.

I was suprised that many Inns were neither Inns or in the counrty. Jumer's Castle Lodge is hardly an Inn (having 210 rooms and being part of a chain) and the Blanche House, minutes from downtown Detroit, Michigan (and a short walk away from some unsavory neighborhoods), would only be in the country if one traveled back in time about 150 years.

This book might be more useful for business travelers looking for something different, but for the traveler looking for inspiration and a nice country vacation (as I was) - it dosen't fit the bill.

Although containing good general information, this book is not very detailed. For the most part, I needed more specific information for prairie restorations. However, I did enjoy the discussion on the history of tallgrass prairie restoration in Iowa. Additionally, the species-specific information with additional comments on the native prairie wildflowers and grasses is quite useful and much appreciated. It is the first species list I have found that provides information regarding what wildlife would be attracted to each plant.

Restoring the Tallgrass Prairie is a great "first" book for a person interested in praire management/restoration. The book is split into two parts. The first part is a guide to restoration. The second part is a field guide for the identification of prairie grasses, plants etc. I recommend this book because of its content and superior value for this type of book.

Hi Andy,
We bought and enjoyed your Civil War book. We sent it on to a son and he liked it too. You were not bashful about the facts, as some are, and folks will respect your judgment on the matter.
Hal Hotle, Bentonsport, Iowa (received in U.S. mail; Hal doesn't have computer)

Perhaps I was expecting too much, but the interesting title suggested that a welcome update to the field of the impact of the Civil War on the developing states -- and vice versa -- had arrived. I was sadly disappointed. The book adds little, is full of inaccuracies, and -- aside from a couple of pages of bibliography -- has no references or citations. If you're looking for a quick read, it's okay. If you're looking for serious scholarship, you, too, will be disappointed.

Here is one example of where I felt that the movie(s), that were based on this book, were better than the book itself. I loved the Pat Boone remake but wished that it contained more of the fair goings on. I had hoped that the book would contain more on that, but sadly it did not. The family does not even get to the fair until almost halfway into the book. I found the author's writting style tedious, and I also did not appreciate the "low" morals displayed by the (post) teens, as depicted in this book. It was obviously written from the male point of view.

I read this book for my 8th grade english and reading class. I never really heard of the book, but of course like ever one else in the United States have seen then the musical State Fair. The book was a lot like the book. The reading goes really fast. If you want a book that you can read in a day or two this is the book you should pick.