Northwest Books

I own several books issued by this publishing company, and I'm never dissappointed! The vintage photographs are always sooooo amazing!

Anyhow, this book is my latest addition to my library filled with books on the Pacific Northwest, and as usual, this book did not disappoint!

I've lived in Snohomish County for more than 25 years, and even in this short time, I have seen so many amazing changes to our wonderful environment. This book is very special to me because it shows what the landmarks were once like,--- many years ago before current "progress".

While flipping through the pages, I could not help but wonder what ALDERWOOD MANOR would be like today , if progress had not torn down so many historical landmarks. I wish that the landmarks could have been moved to other places, so that we could still enjoy them. But as we all know, that would take too much money, and most developers do not have the interest nor the extra money to do so. Therefore, since we cannot retain these wonderful landmarks, I feel that a book, such as this, is about the next best thing. At least with this book we can reflect on Snohomish County's past.... with awe.

I stumbled, quite by accident, onto Alderwood Manor (Images of America), a book filled with memories of days gone by of this small community in the country. Having grown up in Alderwood Manor, I didn't hesitate to order the book. I was not disappointed. The book is full of pictures with captions. I found the book fascinating, and I really enjoyed reading about the history of the area. Having ridden horses in my youth on the interurban trail, I was especially pleased to find information in the book about the old Seattle to Everett interurban railroad line. (Too bad the interurban line isn't still in existence!) This book is a must for anyone who grew up anywhere near Alderwood Manor or anyone interested in turning back time to take a peek into yesterday.

This book was a wonderful book with plenty of interesting tidbits. I also liked cole's other books including Fairbanks, and Hard Driving.

While many would agree that the Cole clan of Fairbanks knows the story of the Interior, nobody can tell it like Dermot Cole. Cole is able to tell a tale about Alaska like no other Cole can. If you want to get a true slice of Interior life, then buy Dermot's books. His twin brother Terrance is not half bad either.

Having been to the Northwest US, Alaska and British Columbia several times, I truly appreciated the understanding of the artist's work in relation to the various wild creatures which the First Nation people have used in their totem poles and lore. I saw the book in Canada this summer and admired the work and the content very much. Very well done.

As a Canadian I can vouch for the fact that Sue Coleman has captured the essence of Fisrt Nation's deep spiritual roots, their artistic beauty and the true beauty of their mythology! This book is a rare combination of visual and expressive art!

This is a fantistic book. It has large, clear, and colorful pictures of animal babies and their mothers and fathers. When my children were little they loved to count the babies then point to the mommy and the daddy. The text is simple and easy for a young child to understand. The additional information in the back was a nice touch. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good children's book.

A very nice childs book about animals in Alaska, and how they look. Has many wonderful drawings of Bears, Wolves, Otters, Moose and a lot more!
Author, Katy Main has done a great job showing the animal's in their natural setting. Additional info. on the animals can be found in the last 2 pages of the book. I give this fine childrens book 5 Stars!

Unlike the first reviewer, I'm an amateur. Our family recently relocated to the Puget Sound region and have discovered the excitement of exploring the many tidal pools and beaches in the area.

We've purchased several field guides and although this one is not my favorite - it is large and has a limited number of high-quality color photographs - it is definitely a good book.

What it lacks in photos it more than makes up for in information - in a very easy to understand format. He introduces the region and explains the "whys" behind the geography, then moves into his very beneficial tips for successful beachcombing.

What I like most about the book, however, is that he goes into great detail about the different tidal zones and the particular creatures you will find in each zone.

This book is a little advanced for our needs right now, but as my children age, I am sure it will be a well-referenced guide.

Recommended.

This book is an outstanding guide to the marine life found along the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Before I go further, I should note that it is NOT a pocket guide. But if you slip it into a daypack, you will be amply rewarded. Dr. Niesen has written a book that in very clear language helps you identfy what you are looking at, learn about its life habits, and learn about its habitat. Its emphasis on habitats, and arrangement by type of organism within each habitat, is extremely helpful. The black and white photos are usually pretty good, although sometimes dark, but the section of color plates is really good. What are really outstanding are the line drawings--David Wood, the artist, really captures the organisms in a way that brings out details yet preserves the basic nature of the organism.

The book also gives a great (meaning clear yet not too simple) introduction to marine biology for the Pacific Northwest, explaining tides, currents, the origin of the coast , and the basic biology of the major groups (taxa) of organisms. Furthermore, he provides tips on beachcombing.

All in all, a very handy reference. I will consider it for my Marine Biology class for non-majors (I'd use it with a majors course, too, if I taught one!).

At last! An historical novel that's interesting, amusing, and *entertaining* and so *real* you feel you need to clean your boots every time you read a piece of it. Yeah, the pictures are faded. They're *old*, dammit, *real*. These are *everybody's* folks, the way they grew up and loved and lost their limbs just so we could be here. John Sayles, *do* read these books. You'll have another "Matewan" in your hands.

'Labor of love' seems inadequate in describing BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS, authored by resident-historian, Mona Leeson Vanek. This engaging book narrates virtually every known event of significance in the region, through the use of oral tape recordings, letters, and written documentation. Beginning before the arrival of David Thompson, it contains determined homesteaders, exciting log drives down river, pioneering merchants, establishment of schools and churches, and the horrors of the 1910 forest fire. Countless stories of individuals, ranging from mildly amusing to hilarious enliven this history. Where else in a book of this sort can one find characters who vow to escape from a local jail "disguised as a bunch of radishes?" or a shingle-mill owner who closed down his mill after having to ante up compensation for too many workers' sawed-off fingers - at $1,000 per finger. BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS stands as the definitive history of its region, the lower Clark's Fork of the Columbia River and the Bull River valley in Sanders County, Montana. The chapter on the Forest Service's arrival in the valley clearly describes the bitter struggles between pioneer ranger Augustus Ferdinand Silcox and local businessmen, led by Clifford R. Weare, who wanted to continue their unfettered exploitation of the public domain. The more than 200 photographs are positioned in the book to match and enhance the text, but reporoduction of many of them obviously is more faded and washed out than the author would have liked. The thorough index is a boon for genealogists. A complete set of end notes contain material that enhance the stories, and if readers ignore the footnotes, they'll miss some stirring accounts of vigilante activity during the 1880s. Excellent accounts of the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which opened the northwest area of Montana to settlement, provide vivid accounts of problems along this 'most difficult and expensive division' of the entire NPRR line. Vanek has done her community and Montana a great service

This is a quite wonderful story.... a music of words.... ebbing and flowing between near-surreal and ultra-surreal with only a few intrusions of pure didactic rationalism. Buy it and read it.

This is a very powerful book. It is not the typical wilderness adventure book. Unlike the TV nature show, amazing things don't happen every few mintutes. In fact few amazing things happen at all, yet the whole experience of small wilderness experiences add up to a book that will take you to another place.

"It seems critical to me to devote some part of each year to this nothingness, this time without time, this confrontation with animal demons real and imagined, learning once again how to surrender to some internal environment made external."

Nollman confronts the question of us versus them strongly in this book with the us being modern society and them being animals, nature and native cultures. He feels the chance has been lost to learn from "them" in a way that everyone would benefit, instead of disregarding that knowledge and destroying it.

Chapter 15 begins with a wonderful quote by Carl Safina from Song for the Blue Ocean. "Ecosystems are now like history books with many of the pages ripped out. And when people come along there is no way for them to know what was on those torn-out pages. Their values are not constructed around the abundance that once filled those holes. They accept the blank parts as though they've always been there."

Nollman pulls no punches in what he experiences on this trip including describing the constant difficult and loving give and take among the three soujourners.

This is a strong book and well worth the time to read it.

Good reference of some of the favorite multi-day bicycle tours in the Northwest.

While there are several multi-day trips in the guide, this book is targeted at the more serious recreational rider who is looking for day rides of 25 to 60 miles. It covers quite a large area, mostly in Washington State, with general and detailed descriptions of the routes, augmented by line maps. One nice feature is that it details the vertical profile of each ride so you can see what you're getting into when it comes to climbing hills at various milage points in the rides.

I've ridden about 1/3 of the routes and have found the rides well planned and accurately described. There is always a place to stop for a break near mid-way, and often alternatives to shorten or lengthen the trip. A great book to get you in touch with quiet roads or bike trails that you otherwise may never discover.

This is a story of outdoor adventure and personal transition. These hunting tales are humorous, touching, and sometimes tragic, and through them runs the silent question: to kill or not to kill?

In a refreshingly original western voice, Stephen Reynolds tells his life story. As a game warden, he explores the wonders of wild, untamed places such as the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico, and the Brooks Range and Yukon Delta of Alaska. He meets people who use the land to live and people who live to abuse it. His is the heritage of a boy raised as a hunter, drawn to the excitement of the kill, but who experiences transform him into an outspoken protector of wildlife. Yet, this is no sermon or manifesto. Stephen Reynolds offers adventure, spiritual change, and transformation - but no easy answers. B&W illustrations.

I recently purchased this CD, and have found the recordings to be of exceptional quality, and more engaging than most others I own (I have a lot of these)....It is a great learning tool, the birds are introduced in quiet non abrasive tones, making it a great tool in the field for those wanting to call in birds, or verify just who is out there! I love listening to this recording and the Owl and The Woodpecker (great new book by Paul Bannick, with recordings by Martyn Stewart) recordings, while doing the mandatory walking of the dogs; as it enables me to continue to learn and refresh my memory of specific bird vocalizations.
If you need a crash course in learning the bird calls and songs for this region, or just love learning new birds, this is a must have!

The information doesn't seem to mention that there is a CD of bird sounds. It's very cool!

I used this book before a 7th grade field trip to a wildlife refuge. I put pictures of the birds (from the Internet) into a PowerPoint presentation and added the bird sounds from this disk. We listened to the sounds and made notes about what each bird looked like and sounded like. When we went to the refuge, the students could identify wigeons, grebes, and wood ducks. Waterfowl don't just quack.

I also liked listening to the songbirds and using the sounds to identify the little birds that hard to see in the bushes. If you enjoy figuring out what's in your yard or your neighborhood, you'll enjoy having this CD and book combination.