Southwest Books

This is not a coffee table book. What it is: a helpful guide written by someone who obviously has faced the challenges of growing food in the high desert. I'm currently a Midwestern gardener planning to move to the (you guessed it) high desert. This book gives me the facts I need to know what I'm getting into and how to work with the soil and climate of the area. I know this book will be front and center on my bookshelf - and out in the garden.

This book is simply the best book out there on the subject of growing food in the mountains of the Southwest. Author Lisa Rayner is a real perfectionist who goes the extra mile to get her facts straight. In this third edition of her now-classic permaculture text, her attention to detail is beautifully combined with the helpful illustrations of Zack Zdinack into a well-organized guide that has become even more indispensable as the need to grow more of our food locally has become more intense. This book not only explains how to grow food in an arid, high-altitude climate, but also how to do so in a way that works with nature using permaculture techniques. Even if you have never heard of permaculture, you will learn how to follow nature's examples to succeed at growing food in a harsh environment. As with Rayner's other book The Sunny Side of Cooking - Solar cooking and other ecologically friendly cooking methods for the 21st centurythis book on growing food is well researched and contains an extensive list of resources. In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am the author's husband.

If you have an interest in Hopi katsina dolls, this is the right book at a price everyone can afford. Having been in contact with the author several months prior to the book's publication, it was eagerly anticipated. The finished product does not disappoint. As a collector, judge at several major juried shows and owner of a Native American Trading Company, Kent McManis knows his stuff! I have only one complaint ... I wish the book were at least twice it's size. At 56 pages, I hope the author will consider another book on the subject as he had with Zuni fetishes. This is the first book I have discovered which traces the katsina cycle and includes the corresponding doll on the page where it is discussed. This aspect alone makes the book a "keeper". Robin Stancliff is to be commended for 70 beautiful photographs of both contemporary / action pieces and historic / traditional katsinam as well. If you have never seen the work of modern masters like Brian and Ronald Honyouti, Cecil Calnimptewa, Ros George, Loren Phillips and Dennis Tewa ... add this book to your library. Thank you, Mr McManis, for sharing such a valuable resource with your readers.

This is Dobie's commentary and listing of a miscellany of writings on the Southwest that he considered "good reading." The Guide's purpose, according to Dobie, was primarily: to help people of the Southwest learn more of the land to which they belong, to make their past more alive, to bring them to a realization of the values of their own cultural inheritance, and to stimulate them to observe. This is an important work, written in a witty style, and conveniently organized into almost three dozen categories that cover virtually every aspect of Southwestern culture.

Rarely does one find such a combination of gorgeous photographs, well written descriptions and useful information in one book. The book features 52 national parks, monuments, recreational areas, historical parks and historic sites. There are 170 color photos and a map of the southwest together with descriptions and access maps. George H.H. Huey's stunning photos include the magnificent vistas of the American Southwest, close up photographs of flowers and wildlife, accurate depictions of historical sites and much more. They portray the diversity and glorious landscapes of both famous and lesser-known gems of our the area. They bring life to the land and entice one to visit. Vickie J. Leach's descriptions give factual information of what to see at each site in a clear and concise manner. She gives useful information in an easy to read manner. I would heartily endorse this book. It is a joy to read and an excellent reference guide.

Dr. J. McKim Malville has outdone himself in this guide to prehistoric astronomy. Even a reader with little or no background in archaeoastronomy will like this book. One reason is the tons of good photos and diagrams that can help anyone better appreciate the miraculous order of our solar system and the stars.

The reader is taken back 1,000 years to the time of the ancient ones; Malville tells us what they saw and how they reacted through building design and special markers. The sky watchers of the Southwest were remarkable observers of the heavens, leaving evidence behind to prove it!

The book is designed for use by visitors to the pre-historic ruins of the southwestern U.S. It would make a great gift for children between 10 and 16, potentially stimulating them to enter the field of science.

The iconography of the American West is full of discrepancies: the myth-making machinery of 19th century dime novels and 20th century Hollywood movies elevated some people and events into legends and totally ignored better stories. Even today, when revisionist historians have combed through western history to find women and African Americans worthy of hero-hood, one group largely remains off-limits for American hero-hood: the Mormons. Since the Mormons pioneered one of the harshest parts of the West, this means that some of America's most extraordinary pioneer stories have remained largely unknown outside of Utah. In all of American pioneer history, few stories can match the Hole-in-the-rock expedition for unlikeliness, determination, and ingenuity. Though this book is titled as a trail guide, it is first of all a good account of the adventure, along with plenty of photographs that bring home the toughness of the terrain. Then it offers a route guide, although after reading about this ordeal, some people may be content to stay home.

Gun Notches is a reprint of an extremely scare out-of-print 1931 edition, with added section of rare photographs of frontiersmen with whom Captain Thomas H. Rynning came into conflict. Captain Rynning was without a doubt one of the most colorful and exciting personalities of the American West. His life-story, as told to Al Cohn and Joe Chisholm, is as fascinating a tale as ever came out of the Frontier era; an era in which run-of-the-mill heroes stood little chance. He was a cowboy, an Indian fiighter, an officer in the Roosevelt Rough Riders, penitentiary warden, and Captain of the Arizona Rangers. -from book's flyleaf

I have used this book, in both hardcover and paperback, until its covers are ratty. It is wittily written, as well as clear, and it covers loads of things you can do with herbs, as well as how to grow the things, and some interesting history of most of the herbs as well.

I've been an herb enthusiast for 15 years. With my personal home library of herb books reaching over 90 volumes, I've read many approaches to this topic. This particular book is large, full of quality color photos, and contains useful information for Texas herb growers (what I used to be). Latin names of herbs are given (along with proper pronunciation). Mr. Garrett includes pertinent information on planting, height and spread of plants, problems, harvest and storage, and culinary, medicinal, and landscape uses. One of my favorite portions of this book is the "insight" paragraph of each herb's profile. Did you know that there is evidence that alfalfa may trigger lupus in sensitive individuals? Also, did you know that although you can use angelica in salads, the juice of the plant should never come in contact with the eyes? I'd recommend this book for those new to herb growing or as an addition to an already diverse herb library. Mr. Garrett includes information that makes this book worth owning. My paperback copy has been a valuable resource.