Southwest Books

Great photography with poetic like readings. A different approach to enjoy this incredible Park. Actually comes alive. Took the book and relived some of the pictures with the readings in person. My way of enjoying nature through anothers eyes and words.

Great book with the most beautiful full page photos of Big Bend National Park that I have ever seen! Makes me want to go back right away. It was well worth the money...

A very fascinating read. As a classic movie fan, I enjoyed reading about the existence of these films. The photographs and lobby cards provide a sneak peek into a historical time.

IN THE READING OF THIS BOOK I FOUND THAT IT GAVE A CLOSE SUMMARY OF THE BLACK MOVIE INDUSTRY,AS IT,WAS, AS NEW AS A BABY BOTTOM COMING INTO THE WORLD. FROM DAY ONE,I WISH THERE WERE MORE BOOKS OF THIS NATURE IN THE LOCAL LIBRARY,IN DOWNTOWN WHITE AMERICA, JANEEN CURRY

Mary Sojourner has the unique talent for taking us, with just a few strokes of the pen, into the stark, cold underbelly of human greed and arrogance, then flinging us into the heartbreaking beauty of the natural world. As a lone warrior and guardian of that natural world, she stops at nothing to protect it, facing arrest and the lawyers of multi-million dollar corporations with the same unyielding stance. Her essays are a testament to the best--and the worst--of the human spirit and this world we live in.

This is a collection of fifty-one personal essays about living (and dying) in the southwest that will leave you angry, sad, happy, disillusioned, and hopeful. But beware: if you are looking for a touchy-feely, I'm OK-Your OK collection, this is not for you. These essays are opinionated, sometimes in-your-face, always passionate critical critiques of living in the contemporary southwest that are a sheer delight to read. In pieces ranging from aging, gambling, land development and nature to the demise of local businesses and the joy of shopping in downtown Flagstaff, AZ., the reader is treated to one woman's opinions in a thoughtful, clear, and highly readable manner. Sojourner is destined to be a major player in the environmental, activists' genre. Highly recommended.

Braun's Battlin' Bastards (BBB) recounts the adventures and misadventures of a New Jersey boy who finds himself in command of a multi-ethnic company, fighting his way across the Pacific in the "island-hopping" campaign of WWII.

The book recalls a simpler time, before our country was being mislead by a bunch of war-mongering draft dodgers. The men in this book have a clear mission and get it done.

That is not to say there are no laughs. At times the hilarity is reminiscent of "Catch 22" at other times the combination of beautiful native customs and terrible violence recalls "The Thin Red Line." Through it all, Braun's capacity as a caring and intelligent leader shines through. Because of these qualities and an uncommon dose of common sense, many men returned home alive to start families.

The aging veterans who appear in the later chapters of BBB reunite to celebrate their bond - the brotherhood of combat. It is unfortunate that many of these men never got the recognition they deserved.

Read this book and you'll travel back to the Pacific in 1945. You may see the veterans of this campaign in a new light.

"Brauns Battlin Bastards" is a veterans personal account of life in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.Lt. Braun served with the 158th Regimental Combat Team "Bushmasters" from training in Panama,battles on the islands of New Guinea,The Trobriand Islands,Wakde-Sarmi and Noemfoor Island until being wounded on Luzon in the Phillipines.Braun has a wonderful ability for story telling and his personal(and often hilarious) anecdotes will provide hours of enjoyment.

This is an attractive book that provides interesting and useful information as well as delicious recipes that turn out successfully! It is fun to browse through the background information on southwest baking and ingredients. The recipes that I've tried include the Taos Pumpkin bread, Potato Bread with Southwest Herbs, Cornmeal Pueblo Bread with Walnuts, Blue Corn Bread and Blue Corn muffins. The instructions were easy to follow and everything turned out great! This is my favorite bread book right now.

I am very pleased with this book as I have made the "Taos Pumpkin Bread" receipe and the "Pumpkin-Cinnamon Rolls". My family gobbled these breads down. Some of the recipes take time, but is well worth it. I am from the Southwest and truly do appreciate the recipes in this book. The photographs in this book are fabulous. The book includes a description or an "Horno" (a bee hive oven) something I grew up with on my Grandmother's property in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico.

I love Mexican and Tex-Mex food. I visited the Cafe for lunch while on a business trip to Phoenix. I ate dinner there the next night and bought the book! All the items on the menu are in the book - arranged by season of the year. Excellent detailed instructions. Stand-out recipe now in my repertoire -- Chile Rellenos, stuffed with chicken, wrapped in puff pastry, baked, not fried, although they give the instructions for both. Makes me salivate thinking about it.

I have eaten in a Canyon Cafe many times and never had a bad meal. Whenever I pull out Bringing the Southwest...Home, my family knows we're in for a treat! It's not just about the South Texas Tortilla Soup or the Pecan Crusted Crab Cakes with Chipotle Remoulade...Mmmmmmm!!! For every season there are occasion menus, like Los Dias de Los Muertos, an Aztec celebration of life that offers a feast of Chicken Chile Rellenos with Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa, Venison Posole, Noche Buena Salad, Fire-Grilled Turkey Skewers with Papaya-Mango Salsa & Cucumber Mint Dipping Sauce, Braised Buffalo Short Ribs in Mustard Mole Sauce, and a Mini Bunuelo Sundae Bar. Unlike most cookbooks, it takes out the guess work by presenting recipes from the appetizer to the dessert, up to four menus per season. The book comes in its own colorful jacket, making it the perfect gift, too! AND, I can find all of the ingredients in right in my neighborhood supermarket. My relatives just love it!!!

I stumbled across this book accidentally while researching a book about Glen Canyon and Lake Powell. I started reading it in the library parking lot, and finished it the next night in bed, around two a.m.
I WOULD have finished the book the very same night I got it, except that Scott Thybony did such a terrific job of invoking the feeling of the outdoor West that I had to fill a backpack and take my wife on an unplanned desert camping trip.
"Burntwater" visits an amazing variety of my very favorite places in the West, and is full of interesting history, great stories, unique facts, and insightful observations. And the writing: the writing is superb. (Bats "flicker"!) I found this book to be every bit as good as Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire"--much more Zen-like, and much less preachy; a good description of the West is reason enough to protect the West--it doesn't always need an insane prophet to yell about it.
This book distills and bottles the spirit of the Four Corners states; read it in the West and you'll find yourself running outside to be a part of it; read it somewhere else, and you'll find yourself going crazy to get here.

Author Scott Thybony shares with readers his fascination with and love of the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Burntwater is a loosely joined series of descriptions of Thybony's travels to various locations within this sparsely populated region: the Grand Canyon, back country on the Navajo Reservation, the Goosenecks region of the San Juan River, northern New Mexico, and others. Scott's wandering narrative describes his experiences in each place, often involving travel companions or new found acquaintances and sometimes just himself. One moving chapter describes how he nearly died from dehydration in the Grand Canyon while hiking to the site of his brother's death in an airplane/helicopter collision.

This is a wonderful book filled with gentle descriptions of sometimes physically harsh locations and circumstances. Scott describes but does not judge and, unlike so many other authors, refrains from directing readers to specific emotions or thoughts. Those he leaves up to you. You can easily read this book's 117 pages in a single sitting, but the invitation to this marvelous part of the Southwest may result in a literary and even physical journey of discovery that can last a lifetime.

Did you know that cacti have "personality"! A SMILE is what you'll get every time you pick up this gem - along with something new you've learned about our American deserts! It's a delightfully fun example of Jim Willoughby's artistic sense of humor in colaboration with wife, Sue. It's a great gift for locals and visitors to the southwest. I send it as a thank you gift to collectors of my husband's desert landscape paintings and hear back that it's enjoyed by the whole family!

I bought this book at the museum gift shop at the White Sands Nat'l. Monument and enjoyed every moment of reading! My husband and I moved to Alamogordo, NM from Laramie, WY 1 1/2 years ago and did not know what the cacti were. Your book helped tremendously! Now we can pick out quite a few on our travels. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! Chris Mendoza

Young people will be delighted in addition to being informed. And even adults will be charmed by the personal history of Gwinn Vivian, who grew up in glorious, mysterious Chaco Canyon and became the "living history" reporter on this amazing place. We are so lucky to have this book to enlighten our minds and our hearts.

Young people will be delighted in addition to being informed. And even adults will be charmed by the personal history of Gwinn Vivian, who grew up in glorious, mysterious Chaco Canyon and became the "living history" reporter on this amazing place. We are so lucky to have this book to enlightened our minds and our hearts.

I may be a bit biased, being a friend and student of the author, but here goes... This book is incredible. The characters are unforgettable, the plot compelling, and the writing spellbinding. I couldn't put it down, and that's saying an awful lot considering my attention span. It's not exactly light reading, though. It has its humorous moments, but for the most part, it's very deep. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the American Southwest or American lit; fans of Mark Twain or John Steinbeck would certainly enjoy this book.

During my first drive across the southwest, I recognized the washes, thickets and open spaces Stark so vividly portrayed in his novel and enjoyed the sense that I had been there before. Years had passed since reading Chasing Uncle Charlie, but it all came flooding back: Bo's thirst for adventure, the quirky but powerfully real characters that guide and misguide his journey. This definately ranks among my favorites.