Northwest Books

I purchased two of these books, one as a birthday gift to a friend and one for my Mom. Both were very impressed with the photos. I plan to read the book when I next visit my folks.

This book is really special. Ok I am a mate of Graham's which some might see as a bias - but this book is oustanding none the less. Osborne is a biologist (infact a botanist) by trade I believe. It simply doens't matter though, because clearly what he does best is take photos. *Very* good photos. I don't mean as in 'Oh, thats a nice photo' as my mum would say to me when from four packets of snaps I produced one relatively balanced composition. I mean as in drop-that-frying pan, walk-into-that lampost, draw droppingly good photographs. This guy has had three or four calanders of his work produced for goodness sake. The book, which, ok I admit, he gave me, is always on my coffee table, and I must confess, I have chopped up the calendars and made them into nice framed pictures.

Reasons to buy it:

i) it will enhance your life ii) it will take your breath away iii) it is pretty reasonably priced

reasons not to buy it..

i) you hate temporate rainforests...

This is, quite simply, the best set of pictures of North America's west-coast maritime forests that I have come across. These forests are interesting, beautiful, and abundantly alive; they are also very hard to photograph. Through the lens they can seem messy and disordered. The unaided human eye screens out extraneous clutter, but the camera eye does not. There is order there, of course, but it is a chaotic sort of order, with many levels of order-within-disorder. Some photographers strive for excessively neat, tidy compositions, which give an entirely misleading impression of these forests; Graham, on the other hand, conveys the rhythms within the disorder. Many of the pictures are texture-rich without a sharp focus of interest. It is a style well suited to the subject. The text by Wade Davis, what there is of it, is good, but this is most definitely a picture book first.

Mikes novel is an exciting page turner. His descriptions are wonderful, especially the Shuttle flight experience from sun rises to functioning in 0 gravity or in the space suits of this era. All of which is told via an exciting novel about love and war. I would love to see it as a movie.

Red Sky is a quite interesting and plausible thriller set during the Cold War. Mr. Mullane, a retired astronaut, shows quite a bit of writing savvy and his deep technical knowledge shines through the novel without overpowering it. I found the book a genuine page-turner, and I highly recommend it. Readers should note that this is a novel for adults. It contains realistic adult relationships, including sexual situations.

Of all the different types of sci-fi and sci-fantasy that I read, this is my favorite kind. I love sci-fi set in the near future about space exploration and first contact with new worlds. I love rockets and space shuttles and astronauts in environmental suits. This book has the realistic sci-fi elements I love plus suspense, espionage, sex, and romance. Red Sky is primarily a space adventure. Modern day American astronauts are sent on a secret mission to investigate a Soviet communications platform that may be housing a "star wars" type weapon. This weapon was designed to end the cold war, and it will if the Americans don't get to it first.

Red Sky is full of drama as we look behind the scenes into the lives of the astronauts and the motivation that drives them to go higher and faster without perceptible fear. We spend time with the team that supports them as well as those that command them. Mullane, a former astronaut, creates a very complete and credible picture of NASA. He also lets us see inside the break-up of the Soviet Union. Or at least, one possible reason behind the break-up, the internal scheming, the plotting, the willingness to do anything for power.

Mullane has a good story based on a solid premise. He writes as if he lived this story, he is comfortable, he knows his business. (I love the fight in space with screwdrivers and wrenches rather than laser weapons...too cool and probably more realistic.) I even starting getting into the characters that I did not really like. I wanted them to change and grow. I still want to know these people. I wish Mullane would continue to write and populate his new books with some of these characters say 10, 20, 30 years into the future. Can Mark continue to be a hero in a desk job? Did Judy learn to live her own life? Did Bob and Anna find a way to be together? Did Mason see new patterns in the sky, an extraterrestrial thing? And did Maksimov agree to create something for the US? Tell us Mullane. Give us another book.

Sex is very explicit in the context of these complex, adult relationships. Lots of beer drinking, some violence. I highly recommend this book for the mature reader.

Rock and Roll Archeologist is a terrific read for anyone who cares about pop culture, since in its pages author Peter Blecha entertainingly describes the orgins of the monument that is the Experience Music Project in Seattle and his particular role in its founding. But this book also has a special place for those of us who know the joy of finding a much sought-after piece of vinyl or the rare collectible. In fact, though the book tells Blecha's story from record hound to rock curator with good humor and great detail, it simultaneously maps the psychic terrain of the collector in all his (and sometimes her) quirkiness, obsessiveness and ardor. You may see someone you know in its pages -- or maybe yourself. Fun and fascinating. I highly recommmend it.

Author Peter Blecha is an obsessive music collector and former senior curator of the Experience Music Project: he's spent his lifetime haunting used record shops and antique stores to track down rarities and instruments played by rock's greatest icon, and here provides a lively blend of music history and first- person adventure in the search for elusive music memorabilia. Rock & Roll Archaeologist documents his transition from fanatic to recognized artifact expert in the field, and makes for an inviting, fun read.

Really liked this book. I used to think I took stamp collecting seriously but after reading this book I'm throwing in the towel. A fascinating autobiography about one man's journey from hobbyist record collector to music history expert. Blecha was one of the early curators of billionaire Paul Allen's EMP (Experience Music Project) and this is the story of his life ---- from garage sale record scrounger to museum curator. A very funny read filled with lots of interesting stories about the art and mania of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and his life as a curator responsible for spending a decent portion of Allen's fortune to build a world class music archive. If you have any interest in collecting - whether it be vintage coca cola bottles or hub caps - this is the read for you.

This book is definitely worth every bit of 5 stars. David Muench's photographs are astounding. There are many pictures from Colorado, and his photos of wildflowers in Yankee Boy Basin are great. The pictures of Glacier National Park actually do an amazing justice to the beauty of that park. Also, the pictures of the Canadian Rockies, especially in Banff, are wonderful. It makes a great coffee table book or a gift. You will want to go through the book page-by-page because every picture, and there are too many to count, is intriguing. Definitely worth buying!

I've got an entire shelf of Colorado photo books, and this is one of the best. The pictures are fantastic - often taken at rare times and filters used to give them an almost "better than real" appearance. The brief text is also interesting, and each picture location is identified.

This book is FABULOUS!!! Since my visit to the Canadian Rockies over two years ago, I have searched for a book which could capture the spectacular images I remember. David and Marc Muench's amazing landscape photographs are magnificent. J. Udall's essay on this region is equally captivating, amusing and above all reminds me that I must return there soon! In a world of overhype and hyperbole, this book is truly matchless.

This is an excellent book. If you or someone you know has is considering adoption as a birthmother or adoptive parent, you really ought to read this book. This book gives a detailed account of a woman's long ordeal from the point of being raped, pressure from the church to give up her son, her sense of loss, her search for her son, the triumphant moment when her son is found and then, finally the joyous time they meet again! An uplifting book that shows that with a determined spirit you can accomplish most any thing and in this case, find a lost loved one!

While maternity homes were viewed as punitive and humiliating experiences, birthmothers had others like themselves to commiserate with. But, not all birthmothers had the maternity home experience! Many were shipped out of town to serve time as maids, cleaning ladies, and nannies in exchange for a bed and food to survive. (I know of one young woman who had to care for two toddlers and an infant.) Still others lived in tiny apartments during pregnancy and moved to another location after relinquishment. Evans did not go to a maternity home. As a result, for more than two decades she didn't know of any woman who had surrendered her baby for adoption! Evans tells how she felt alone and isolated in her secret pain. Regardless of the setting where they lived out their pregnancies, birthmoms do share a sense of powerlessness! Most were sentenced to a life of inner shame, of unresolved loss. I give Evans five stars because her story shows the strength of the human spirit to survive.

A spellbinding story by a truly gifted writer

Dave Strohmaier masterfully paints us a portrait of wildfire in the West, drawing from a palette of sensitivity to the earth, gritty practical experience, humor, and skilled writing craft. He calls attention to the beauty of many elements of nature we take for granted, its paradoxes, and draws complex associations between these and wildfire. This book is not a primer on how wildfires are fought. It is a loving and thorough philosophical exploration of the meaning of fire, nature, and humanity.

Seasons of Fire by David J. Strohmaier is a superbly written, artistic, and thought-provoking novel on humankind's relationship to fire. Like the author, I too have "engaged" the fires of summer,which stirred deep, ontological questions about human evolution's debt to fire. The author expresses such ideas in a free-flowing narrative that bursts with imagery. Deep yet accesible (I will admit to using the dictionary at least once every 50 pages, but I admire an author who can skillfully use words that I should know, but don't).

To ape the vernacular of Hollywood producers, "it's like Edward Abbey meets Garrison Keillor!" David J. Strohmaier provides beatific explorations of philosophical questions with a smooth, down-home panache. I have never had the pleasure of attacking a fire with gunny sacks, but the author makes me wish I had:

"There is pleasure in completing little tasks--sweating your way up a hill to the flank of a fire under the sun and open sky of mid-July, then, in the company of several others, swatting out flames until either you smother all movement, or cool, moist night air tucks the fire in for the evening. This genuine satisfaction does not abdicate you from the responsibility of asking why you are doing what you are doing, and why it is meaningful. And of all the seasons of the year, summer, the summer of fire, is when these questions are cured."

Descriptions of a bygone Halloween when the author dressed as Satan himself, dancing around a fire, made me laugh out loud. A truly provocative and enjoyable book. I look forward to his next work.

Strohmaier captures the essense of what calls people from all walks of life to a world of flames and wild places.
As a veteran wildland firefighter for over 24 years,
it was a joy to read about the spirit that exist within every wildland firefighter. If you want to understand the
essentials of what motivates wildland firefighters, read this book.

This is a great book about a people who have been overlooked by modern society, CC is an exceptional writer who applies her passion and experience as a world traveller.

St. Paul island, one of the remote Pribilof Islands far off the coast of mainland Alaska, is just 14 miles long and eight miles wide. For over a decade, the author worked, lived on, and came to love this place, its fierce weather, its wildlife, and its people. Her spare, imagistic prose illuminates the darkness and beauty of the subarctic landscape.

Alaska's Pribilof Islands are incredibly beautiful and surreal. Seven Words for the Wind captures a piece of that beauty through a series of essays and field notes. Having lived in the Pribilofs for four years I was most impressed by the thoughtful nature of this book as well as the insights provided by the author. I would highly suggest this book for anyone intending to visit the islands, see the seal or bird rookeries or just interested in learning about a different culture.

She's Tricky Like Coyote: Annie Miner Peterson, An Oregon Coast Indian Woman by Lionel Youst (an independent scholar specializing in the history and anthropology of the Pacific Northwest) is the story of Annie Miner Peterson's remarkable life. An impressive biography showcasing Annie's hardships, determined endeavors and many accomplishments, She's Tricky Like Coyote carries the reader through the remarkable story of her 79 years of life as related through interviews with relatives, revealed in anthropological studies, and drawing upon a short autobiography, all of which combine in creating a unique story of a very special Native American woman of her times. Volume 224 in "The Civilization of the American Indian" series and a welcome contribution to academic library Native American Studies and Women's Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists, She's Tricky Like Coyote is very highly recommended reading, especially for students of the Western coastal region's Native American tribal history and culture.

This book was wonderful and we need more like it. The Indian tales of Oregon and Northern California are mostly unknown by peoples outside of anthropology and archaeology, and these stories need to be told. It must have been incredibly hard to be an Indian during those times and we all should question our own history. The book is worth buying and was inspirational.

Thanks to Lionel Youst, Annie Miner Peterson's life story has been preserved. One of the last of the Coos Indians, she lived for 79 years in western Oregon and witnessed the demise of her culture. This remarkable narrative captures some of who she was and how she lived, enabling Annie to pass along some of the accumulated experiences of generations of her ancestors.

One of many features of Follansbee's writing is the straight reading is informative and interesting, and you can choose whether or not to refer to the thirty-two pages of notes, organized by chapter, and which often included even more information or anecdotes. I found myself with a finger in the appropriate section of notes as I read the chapters.

The poor sagging Wawona may yet get the support she needs to be a relic of Puget Sound. Anyone with an interest in the tall ships should enjoy this read.

This book is a fun, informative, and diverse read. I loved learning about life on a ship, through true tales!

Many authors on subjects such as this focus on either the technical or human side of the story and end up with books which are a like wine made from good grapes which havs not been properly aged. Joe has written the kind of tale which makes the reader want to throw another log on the fire, refill their glass and curl back up in their favorite chair and rejoin his world. This kind of detail and balance is rare and deserves savoring.

Well, Mr. Criscuolo has proven me wrong. Having growing up skiing other places like Idaho, Utah, and California I thought all skiing up in the Washington area was wet and marginal. I had no idea that there were all these different places to ski in the Seattle area (2 hour drive or less).

There are even more if you want to do some traveling but not make the hike all the way to Sun Valley or get on a plane to make it to Utah, Colorado, or California.

Thanks Mr. Criscuolo This is a resource that I needed to make my winters fun in Seattle!

Santo has done extensive research and this book is excellent! Santo writes very clearly and provides and all the pertinent information you'll need to enjoy any of these Northwest resorts to the fullest. Having grown up in the Northwest and skied many of these mountains, I found myself agreeing completely with what Santo wrote. His descriptions brought the resorts back to life in my memory. I especially like that he chose some out-of-the-way places that haven't been covered in other guide books. Santo gives press to some of the best-kept Northwest secrets, for which I suppose I can forgive him, and I applaud his honest enthusiasm for snow riding. This book makes me excited about the upcoming season and want to ride every single mountain he's reviewed! Get this book. Then get out there and make some turns!

Finally, a book about Pacific NW skiing that nails it!

Criscuolo obviously did his research, because the information is dead-on. While the book is meticulously detailed, it is easy to navigate and well-written.

Anyone who's serious about NW skiing & boarding needs to have this book.