Iowa Books

I was born and raised in Estherville, Iowa, later attended Iowa State University at Ames, and relocated to Florida fifteen years ago. I've always been fond of regional writing and was delighted when my mother gave me a copy of Esther's Town as it featured my home town. Perhaps I, like many, develop more of a sense of sentimentality and nostaligia the older I get; however, I think most readers would enjoy the tales of the strong and brave pioneers of this northwestern Iowa town. The author worked for the local newspaper and knew all the "characters" so the authenticity of the book can't be questioned.

Greg Roberts runs the construction firm that's tearing apart old neighborhoods in Des Moines, and Julie hates him on principle. She hates him even more when the bulldozer moves in next door. But what can you do with a man who keeps doing you favors?

I've been a fan of Hawkeye Basketball since before the days of Sam Williams (whose autograph I still have). I was reaching back to some old sports memories recently and acquired a few books and DVD's about some of the greatest teams, seasons, players and games that I experienced. In the case of the Iowa Hawkeyes, their basketball team has probably been the team I cheered for the loudest and the longest so it was fitting to get this book.

I am familiar with the author, Buck Turnbull, because I read his sports columns and articles in the Des Moines "Register" growing up in that fine city. I even graduated from high school with one of his sons. His style of writing is more than adequate for this book. He's a bit of a "homer" (with a small h - let's not get carried away). However, he's a good historian of the program and filled in the background on all the names I heard dropped while I was growing up. Names like Murray Wier, Sharm Scheuerman, Don Nelson, and others. I heard of them and knew of them but I didn't know their history with the Hawkeyes; now I do.

Mostly what I enjoyed about the book was what I already knew about; the big wins and the heartbreaking losses. Relieving those special moments brought back memories of where I was at the time. One game in particular got a good write up in the book. It was the first game after the tragic death of Chris Street. My wife and I were driving at night from Williston, ND to Bismarck and I caught the game on WHO radio. The Hawkeyes were down by over 15 points with less than 4 minutes to play at Michigan State and pulled out a victory in overtime. Even my wife was excited (although she wouldn't let me listen to the post-game show). That and many other memorable games are chronicled in this 168-page book. I didn't come across the Connie Hawkins matter or the serious illness that left James Speed blind but the book focusses (as it should) more on the teams than the individuals.

Good or bad, there are many memories associated with all major collegiant sports programs. This was a good overview of a program that wasn't the best but was good enough for a lot of great memories.

Bishop Dingman was a very interesting fellow

I think it is important that books present correct information -- kids use these books for reports; and everyone uses them for knowledge.
page 7 -- a photo of the Mississippi River from the hills near the foot of Main Street in McGregor, Iowa -- is incorrectly identified as "The Des Moines River" I wished that authors and editors would verify and know that what they present is correct.
I am happy to see the author writes about the Driftless area in Northeast Iowa -- a place of hills, valleys, and ridges -- a beautiful area called the Little Switzerland of Iowa
Overall this is a beautiful book with beautiful pictures and a nice look at the state.
-- I think it would be relevant in the list of famous Iowans in history to mention the Ringlings (four of the Ringling brothers were born in McGregor and the family lived here for 12 years, doing their first childhood "Pin and Penny circus" in McGregor) The Ringlings are important in the history of this country and Iowa should be proud of their past here.
the author does a nice job -- however I often wonder why publishers don't have someone familiar or from the state be the writer of that state's information. There is much to be learned from actually being there. Yes, I do have what may be considered as more regard for my particular place in the world -- but being here I also know what I'm referring to. If you really want to know what our state of Iowa is like don't accept the cliches or the info you may get from unreliable sources...find a source that knows and has been here or lives here.

There's a lot of "weird" out there, and this little slice of Americana delivers the quirk in spades. While I enjoyed the book, the potential was there for it to be so much more.

I do love this part of the country, however. The book made me smile, and hey, that alone makes it worthqhile.

This book is as brief an expression of Iowa environmental statutes and their interaction with Federal environmental law as one is likely to find. The only thing that keeps it from a higher rating is that the book is several years old, and therefore suffers from the lack of updating that is necessary for any environmental text to be completely useful. (In this discipline, two to three years is a generation, when it comes to changes in law.) This book is thus best suited to the experienced environmental practitioner, who can identify the differences that exist in the programs of the 2000+ decade, as opposed to a person who must rely upon the text to completely reflect today's standards.

An updated book from Government Institutes would rate five stars, though !

The main purpose of this guide is to acquaint the reader with what is to be found along the designated historic highway and places that have a significant relation to Laura Ingalls Wilder. The book is an overview of different regions in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in the 1800's as described in her books. Starting in Wisconsin and ending in South Dakota, taking you town by town, following the movement of Laura and her family as she grew up on the Western Frontier.

The journey is broken down into sections that highlight a few places to visit in each area. Starting in Wisconsin's Upper Coulee Country & Mississippi River Valley, to the Mississippi Valley & Bluff Country of Minnesota & Iowa, then to the Minnesota River Valley and finally the Prairies of Minnesota & South Dakota. Interesting period history and some geographic information is given on these regions throughout the pages, which also exhibits a good share of black and white pictures. After these chapters come a few notes on Festivals & Pageants in certain towns along the route. Then the author talks about different travel option ideas for interest, such as small convoy camping or large group motor coach tours. At the back of the book is a quick reference list mainly giving phone numbers and some other contact information for towns & cities in each of the previously mentioned areas.

The book is fairly decent but meager and it really may not be what you expect. It provides very little in direct help on planning a trip (recommended places to eat or stay) but does gives a "lengthy" explanation of the Dakota Conflict of 1862. It's just as much, or maybe even more so, a book of U.S. history facts, findings and events as it is of an actual travel guide.

The text offers an overview of the American media market, with general facts and figures. Broadcasting, film and print industries are detailed in separate chapters. The book is concise and clear, but at a cost: it does not provide a consistent set of economic models for an in-depth analysis of the structure of the market, or its current trends. The level of the economics is somewhat basic. Good for students, not so much for more advanced readers.

I can only comment on the Kansas section of this book, but that leaves a little to be desired. It seems that Knapp found the most popular trails but didn't dig too deep. Another problem is his tendency to list utterly boring rides on semi-maintained doubletrack. If someone buys a mountain biking guide book, it means they are looking for the real thing, not some flat access roads. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of alternatives to this book for cyclists in the midwest so I still have to recommend it as part of your collection, if for nothing else but the states you do not live in.