Montana Books

I gave it a 5 star rating just because of the excellent writing for this type of story.
Definitely a romance!
It was a twist to find the man [hero] in trouble and in need of a rescue.

Quist at 40 years old has had a number of women in his life time. No marriage can tempt him. Yet he falls under the spell of Lily and her five week old daughter, Nicole.
Of course a lot of it has to due with Lily nursing her baby and her tender loving care and truthfulness.

Lily Danzinger at 29 years old has decided to take her newborn baby and leave Hartford because her ex-husband's brother, Michael is determined to make her his mistress.

Jarrod has already kicked Lily out when he found out she was pregnant. But so was his girl-friend. What a jerk!

Well the snow storm [or was it a blizzard]and a stalled car and a four mile trek through the woods threw Lily and Quist [did you ever find out his last name?] together in a desparate effort at survival.

Then hormones and mating get the best of them and they just carry on.
Quist is in a frustrating search for his half-sister whom he has never met but thinks she must be just like their mother. His mother had left him when he was very young, she was 17 when she had him. So stems his issues with women, mostly distrust.

Excellent plot - two lonely characters until about the very end when Quist takes Lily and Nikki to Montana with him after meeting with nineteen year old Jennifer who also was on the run from trouble.

Definitely Recommend -- probably a keeper for most readers. Enjoy!

A passionate, compelling desire between Quist and Lily. I was so sorry the story ended that I immediately re-read several sections over and over. Quist is a dream man.

Back Cover description: Lily Danziger wanted more. With a newborn daughter and only herself to rely on, she was running from the shallow life she'd been living. Circumstances had changed and now she wanted more security than money could buy. Without looking back, she was heading to safety and a new start--until a blizzard stopped her and she had to ask a stranger for help. He came with a Stetson, a gruff voice and an even gruffer manner, but he was their only chance for survival in the snowbound car. He led them to a temporary refuge, then offered her permanent security. It was everything she needed, but would it leave her wanting more?

Fine story, and like the other reviewers, I was sorry it ended. Lily has chosen her child over less important things, and Quist is looking for sister. He finds love. Nice, strong development of the characters and the author's description of the blizzard will make you feel the cold too. The scene at the end where she gets the cowboy D.J to stand near her when her ex-brother-in-law shows up was great. She has learned that she doesn't have to shoulder everything herself--she can get help.

It was really nice to read that someone picked up a hitchhiker and was safe. Not only was she safe, but she also fell in love with him. I feel like the last reviewer--I did not want it to end. I really enjoyed this book.

Quist and Lily meet under the worst of circumstances. Lily, fleeing her old life in her car, with her young baby in tow, panics when she finds herself lost in a snowstorm. At wit's end, she finds Quist thumbing a ride, his car in a ditch. Knowing she and her baby can't survive being stranded in this awful storm, she makes a rash decision to trust this stranger, give him a ride, and pray that he can help. Quist is, at first, prickly and sullen, but soon finds himself in the role of reluctant protector of Lily and her baby. Safety is found in a (miraculously well-furnished) cabin, but the three of them are stuck there until they can get help. The rest is romantic history. Very enjoyable and satisfying read.

Published in 2000, Jerome A. Greene's NEZ PERCE SUMMER, 1877 isn't the most recent work on the Nez Perce tragedy, but it does the best job of combining a detailed, blow-by-blow account with a larger overview of this enormously complex and panoramic event, which stretched over three and a half months in the summer of 1877 and constituted one of the saddest mass injustices in the history of the Indian Wars.

Greene, who wrote the book under the aegis of the National Park Service--it's available online at their website, but I wouldn't recommend reading it that way--is especially good at explaining where things happened in relation to other things that were going on at the same time and what all the parties concerned were doing simultaneously-- an invaluable asset in an account of a military campaign. And his final chapter, "Consquences," does a splendid job of drawing back and fairly and objectively evaluating the outcome and import of the campaign, not only for the Nez Perces but for the American army and also some of the individuals involved. (Which reminds me to say that the backnotes are often as interesting as the book itself.)

There are other good books about the Nez Perce campaign, notably Bruce Hampton's more passionate and journalistic CHILDREN OF GRACE (1994), as well as Mark H. Brown's pathbreaking THE FLIGHT OF THE NEZ PERCE (1967); all three are highly readable. But if you have time for only one, it should probably be Greene's, since Brown's account has been superceded and Hampton's book, though it has many virtues, ultimately leaves you without the grand picture.

In fact, my one major complaint about NEZ PERCE SUMMER, 1877 is that it doesn't provide a timeline (neither do the other two books). This would have helped enormously in getting a handle on the complicated, multi-layered events of the story, and while an author can be excused for failing to realize how important this is for his readers, his editor shouldn't be. Luckily, you can get a great timeline on the Internet, put together--very well, as far as I can see--by Montana schoolchildren! ([...])

Aside from this flaw, NEZ PERCE SUMMER, 1877 is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to understand what it all meant.

Jerome Greene has written the standard for those studying the War of 1877. I am currently using this book as the master reference for my writings. I am very pleased with the List of References, and the Summary Appendix Listing the known Army and Tribesmen casualties; what's missing is the Civilians and Noncoms casualties. Through out, Mr. Greene maintained a neutral viewpoint, something that is absolutely necessary for a serious and worthwhile reference work.

Mr. Greene is now to the Nez Perce War what Bruce Cotton was to the Civil War. It is the "master", to which all other work must be reviewed against. Incidentally, the famous author, Terry C. Johnston used a prerelease draft supplied by Jerome Greene as the basis for his novels on the first half of this conflict.

I am very pleased with this book and I wish all the historical events making up the history of the American West had such a through, scholarly work summarizing the events and identifying those involved. It is something other scholars should think about; it sure makes research easy for a novel writer like me.

Of course, no work can cover all the facts and neither does Mr. Greene's. Further research into the works of those actually involved would be the next level of detail, the serious students will go to.

Mr. Greene's approach to a very complicated series of events, making up this Indian outbreak, was to discuss one subject at a time, while ignoring the others until that subject was complete, then take-up another and do the same. The result became a saw tooth of events that jumps the reader back and forth through history, none seemly related to the others. That is why I rated the work as I did. That aside, it's nothing a good set of notes can't correct.

Nevertheless, this is an important work and a must copy for every library covering the history of the American West.

Thank you Mr. Greene.

Over the years I've read a lot on the subject of the Indian Wars. However, it seems that many recent publications are just a re-hash of materials, from secondary sources, presented as a new thesis or from a new perspective. Nez Perce Summer is a notable exception. Greene has used a wealth of primary sources, many never used before, in order to turn up new information and call old notions into question.

This is not a history of the Nez Perce, it is a military history of the campaign against them. While many these days prefer their Indian wars history from an Indian perspective, they should not be deterred from reading this work. This is a history of the military campaign, not a support of it. Indeed, one cannot come away from this without being amazed at how the Nez Perce continually stumped the most experienced Indian fighters of the time.

The narrative is well-written, and Greene holds our attention as well as any fiction writer could. I highly recommend !this book to anyone--scholar or casual reader--interested in the study of the Indian Wars.

In Nez Perce Summer 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis, research historian Jerome Green provides an informative, superbly researched, and wonderfully written account of the Nez Perce conflict with the larger white culture as represented by the U.S. Army. Green is one of those rare historians able to combine meticulous scholarship with a genuine flair for vividly drawn and engaging presented storytelling. Nez Perce Summer 1877 is ardently recommended reading for students of American frontier history in general, and Native American studies in particular.

One word adequately describes this book-Superb! I have read other accounts of the Nez Perce conflict but none with this degree of detail. For example, other authors have skimmed over some of the smaller engagements of the campaign (such as Canyon Creek) but Greene gives this as well as other episodes the full treatment they deserve. In his introduction, Greene clearly states that he mainly relied on primary source material, using secondary sources for background only. This decision clearly paid off.

Footnotes are used extensively to bring to the fore conflicting testimony as well as useful background information. All of this is augmented by excellent maps that illustrate the action. Greene avoids wasting the reader's time with moralizing sermons. He correctly portrays the military as simply trying to do the job thrust upon them by their civilian masters.

Truly, the best parts of this work are the final chapters detailing the culminating conflict at Bear Paw Mountain. At last, I feel like I am on the way towards understanding this battle. I walked away from this book with new respect and understanding for Greene, the Nez Perce and the much-maligned frontier army.

This was the first Gabriel Du Pre mystery I read. I understand that this isn't the first book in the series, but I would have appreciated a brief character introduction. At the end of "Notches", I am left with a bunch of questionmarks.

How come Du Pre has so much money? Did he win the lottery in an earlier book? Or was his late wife independently wealthy?

What's with the Pidgin English? Is that the author's attempt at Metis dialect?

Why are people allowed to trample all over the crime scenes? Why does Du Pre touch items that could be evidence with his bare hands? Isn't he a retired investigator or cop or something and should know better?

Du Pre seems to drink a lot. How can be drink so much and still think clearly? Is he an alcoholic?

Why do stories involving Native Americans always have some sort of ESP and/or mystical element (Benetsee talking through the Man-With-No-Name and materializing basically out of thin air at the end of the story)?

Does anybody else see something wrong with the fact that Du Pre - spurred into action by his lover Madelaine - basically takes the law into his own hands (well, he and the trucker)?

As to the storyline: I may be exceptionally dumb, but I couldn't follow how Du Pre figured out who the first killer was. (Or maybe the fact that English is my second language makes it more difficult for me to understand the author's English.)

Overall I am quite ambivalent about this book. It is written in an unsual way, which I found interesting, especially Du Pre's thoughts and feelings when he is making music. On the other hand, I felt irked by many lengthy descriptions that added neither to the atmosphere nor to the story: Du Pre went hither and did this. There he rolled a cigarette. He smoked. He dropped the cigarette butt, then he went thither. There he did that, then he rolled a cigarette. Then he retrieved his bottle of whiskey. He took a drink. He smoked. He looked at the eagle in the sky. - ???

Also, in my opinion, Du Pre, a character who, in his own words, runs on sex, smokes, and music, makes a strange cop (or whatever he is). From the way he thinks and talks, what he thinks/talks about, and the way he communicates with others, you think the guy can't add up one and one, yet he is the one who figures out who the killers are. It doesn't quite fit.

Brilliant weaving of many elements: Du Pre's sense of honor, his Metis family and friends descendents of French voyageurs and their Indian wives, Bowen's caring about a country and a people and telling it all radiantly. As usual, as well as all the familiar characters, those in for only a short time are well-drawn.

A textbook on how to write.

Read in chronological order, as characters develop as the books procede.

Think Tony Hillerman liberally peppered with Cajun Hot sauce. After reading all the Montana mysteries now, I feel at home in Toussaint, Montana with Gabriel Du Pre, his rough-around-the-edges but sweetheart Madelaine; sobered up rich-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold Bart; crusty old Booger Tom; Benny and Susan Klein; Benetsee that shaman he remind me of Yoda and the rest of the rural Montana populace. If you're not careful you'll catch yourself thinking and talking with that DuPre Coyote French Metis clip. These are unique personalities with real voices that Bowen has pieced together. I feel as if I know them....like I want to hang with them at the bar and be there when Gabriel gets his fiddle out and makes that Metis music that draws the crowd and brings back the voyageurs; be around when the next bad thing happens and draws Gabriel and the others into figuring out whodunit. This is original work that's refreshing, honest, beautifully crafted and fun to read. I hope that Bowen he's home right now writing more mysteries from Montana.

Gabriel DuPre is my hero. He says and does what he wants and doesn't care what anybody thinks, he is his own man. When the mutilated and tortured bodies of several young girls and women start turning up around Toussaint, Montana, the FBI calls on Gabriel to help them solve the cases. Madelaine, Gabriel's spitfire of a girlfriend, adds fuel to the fire by telling Gabriel to find the killer and protect her girls.

Even if you don't agree with everything that Gabriel believes in or does, he will make you think. You will love this book.

"Notches" is the fourth mystery in Bowen's series that features Gabriel Du Pré, Métis descendant of the French Voyageurs and Plains Indians.

There are reasons police might not want Du Pré at the scene of a crime. He spits a lot as he circles the corpse, rolls his own cigarettes and mashes them out beneath his boot heel. A forensic specialist would find traces of him all over the scene. In "Notches," he even hides evidence because he wants to track a killer without interference from the FBI.

On the plus side, nothing at the scene escapes him. If he is called in to examine one body, he may find two others near by that no one else has noticed--which is exactly what occurs in "Notches." Someone has been killing girls and dumping them "like old guts in the brush for the coyotes to eat," according to Du Pré's long-time mistress, Madelaine.

There are two serial killers on the loose in "Notches" which makes for a confusing plot. There are also two FBI agents who add to the scenery, but don't do much more than engage in slanging matches with Du Pré, who after all is said and done isn't even a policeman, merely a part-time brand inspector. Madelaine finally presses Du Pré into tracking the killers down when her own daughter runs away from home.

Du Pré is laconic to the point of partial sentences, but the interrupted staccato of his speech is a perfect counterpoint to the harsh Montana landscape and to the sometimes abbreviated lives of its inhabitants. Over 150 corpses form an even grimmer than usual backdrop to Du Pré's musings on the long history of his people and the land. This book is not so much a murder mystery as it is a complex landscape of hell from the pen of a Montanan Hieronymus Bosch.

Peronally, I have never read the entire book of Ms.Dawn Miller's, but my mother has and she told great concepts about Dawn's novels, and it has encouraged me to try and read the whole story again. My mother is not a big "story reader", but this particular novel stuck to her like glue! And she is starting to read it again.(As well as I.)I would STRONGLY encouraged you to purchase this novel or another of her's, because this particular author really touches deep into your heart.Thank you Ms.Dawn Miller!

It has been a few months since I read this one, but I am extremely interested in Ms. Miller's description of the 1800s and life there; it's just a plus that she writes about a Christian woman who maintains her beliefs throughout the hard life that the "old west" hands out. Thank you, Ms. Miller. I am patiently waiting for "Finding Grace".

Perhaps our "reviewer" in Dallas should do her homework before making such comments on authentic journal writing--comments that appear more personal than educated. I would suggest her reading the writings of Elenor Pruit Stewart "Letters of a Woman Homesteader", a lively and very authentic tale of a young woman who lived during this time period.

I myself was very impressed with Ms. Miller's writing--as well as the predominant message of family, hope and God threaded throughout the story.

Realistic, touching and inspiring. I cannot wait to read more of her work!

Once again Dawn Miller has succeeded in drawing the reader into Callie's world, allowing us to live her joy, her pain, her love of her family and her faith. I've read all three of Ms Miller's novels and each one has surpassed the one before. Her characters are incredibly real, their experiences harrowing, their disappointments and fears frightening, their joy and laughter exhilarating, their love neverending, and their faith boundless. The reader truly feels Callie's emotions. Ms Miller is an exceptional writer and doesn't get the credit she deserves.

I was drawn to this book by its setting... I love to read books that are based in the pioneer days, detailing the way they lived, loved, and struggled. I read this entire book (without reading her previous books) and I really liked the setting and the subject matter, but I was less than impressed with the quality of the writing. My only guess is that it was the "journal" method in which it was written that killed it for me. I understand it must be a real challenge to tell a story like this from only one person's point of view when each of the characters has their own struggles and feelings. All Callie could do was speculate the way they felt. Again, I really liked the setting, but phrases like "I could tell by the look in his/her eyes that s/he felt the same..." was WAY overused to the point that I began to roll my eyes every time I read it. In addition, I felt it very unrealistic to imagine that Callie could recount entire verbatum conversations in her journal (like 4 pages of the Preacher's Easter sermon). This type of "journaling" was not realistic to me -- do YOUR journals contain whole conversations like that? I think the book would've been much better for me if it wasn't told in a journaling style as if Callie wrote it all. I enjoyed the first 1/2 of the book, but after that, all of these things became a blatant distraction to me. I wish I could've been more impressed, but I just wasn't. :o(

I have had the pleasure of listening to Jim Svejda almost every day when I lived in Southern California. Wheather you agree or disagree with his unique point of view toward performing arts, this book will keep any classical music lover entertained.

How many classical music afficionados do you know with a sense of humor, and a willingness to use it even in regard to the music they love? In all of my years of studying music I have come across only one (and he's not an academic) : Jim Svejda, one of the funniest men to ever write about music. For his incredible humor alone this book is easily recommendable enough. Where the problem starts for me is in Svekda's personal tastes -- they are quite conservative. How ironic that such an iconoclastic and irreverent guy can be so orthodox in his tastes in music, but then again that is part of the charm I guess that makes him so inimitable; you never can predict him, and if you try you are inevitably wrong! That is how I found the experience anyway due to the paradox that Svejda represents. Case in point: despite loathing just about every bit of modern music he comes across, he praises almost everything Schoenberg ever did. If there is one point of contention I would have with The Record Shelf it would be this phobia of modern music. Missing from the book are names like Cowell, Crumb, Riley, Partch, Reich, and scads of others who I had hoped would receive at least a passing remark given the book's 800-page length. It wasn't that he was required to like it - a guy as outspoken as this could easily tell us why these composers don't deserve recognition. Even Ligeti is left out, at the expense of scores of people of whom I have never heard. But Svejda's objective here, was to present music that one is likely to HEAR; not necessarily names that one is likely to know. So you can expect to find out about some composers you don't know, but ought to try. In addition, he does not take the stance so common in academic circles, whereby innovation is the only prerequisite for quality. So for example, composers such as Roy Harris, or John Field -- who get little more than an obstinate grunt of arrogant and self-satisfied disapproval from all the professors I have ever met -- get good remarks for the engaging elements of their music overlooked by scholars. I marvel at the man's super-human ability to actually remember so much data about so many recordings, performers, composers; anecdotes about performances, conductors, and yet still have enough brain matter leftover to make references to literature and more. He must have a photographic memory. I have almost nothing in common with Svejda on a musical level, and yet still every page is a revelation of some sort or another. Absolutely recommended to anyone except those afraid to enjoy themselves.

Jim Svejda's knowledge of recorded classical music is probably unsurpassed, and his views on composers and their works are as entertaining as they are enlightening. This book is your best guide to the current recorded repertoire. Buy it before you buy another classical CD or tape.

While what music-critic Jim Svejda writes is informative, funny and interesting, the survery of available recordings in this 1996 is limited and misses the last decade of newer recordings, reissues and compilations. But it will cost you a bundle more to have the latest edition. However, this is the type of guide that "distills" the more legendary recordings from the pack - at least in terms of Svejda's viewpoint - so is loaded with tons of experience. Generally, such a guide is not recommended as one's primary source of review/opinion but more as a second or third source. For this it is helpful and certainly entertaining given his often irreverant tone (unlike Penguin Guide's overly-prim-and-proper tone). His descriptions of the major works are interesting too. While the most comprehensive guide is Penguin and my favorite other source is "The Third Ear Essential Listening Companion for Classical Music, " Jim Svejda offers a fresh, highly opinionated perspective that often gives new insights the other guides did not.

Of all reviews of classical music, I trust only the American Record Guide (a periodical) and this book. The author has a wry wit and a wonderful feel for what is and isn't good. Face it; there are many pieces of classical music (particularly 20th century) that just sound bad. Svejda essentially says "don't let anyone tell you that this sounds good...it doesn't", and he's right. Perhaps his tastes are mine are alike. It's uncanny just how much they are alike, so I attribute it to telling it like it is.

Entendi que cuando la bomba atomica exploto muchas personas personas murieron y algunas se enfermaron. Cuando internaron a Sadako en un hospital, se encontro a una niña que era muy buena con ella, paso el tiempo y se empesaron a querer mucho. Sadako, sufrio mucho por la muerte de su abuelita y por la enfermedad que tenia, esa enfermedad se llamaba leusemia. Su sueño de ella era pasar su cumpleaños con su familia y asi fue. Paso el tiempo y ella empesaba a tener dolores estomacales, dolores de cabeza y otras cosas más. Al siguiente dia ella amanecio muerta.

Para mi este mensaje es que ese libro esta muy bonito y ala vez muy triste. Encontre hasta atras que era una historia verdadera, y me sorprendio porque nunca pense que una bomba atomica hubiera explotado. No se como sacan esas historias verdaderas y me gustaria saberlo algún dia. Felicito al autor porque es un grandioso libro para mi.

Cuando lo lei me dio como emoción y cuando hiba lellendo como enmedio me dio tristeza porque lei que Sadako tenia leusemia y su abuelita se habia muerto. Yo lei que era una historia verdadera, y cuando lo lei me sorprendi, porque era una historia verdadera, entonces me dio tristeza, porque no creia que una niña a esa edad tubiera leusemia. Mi opinion del libro es que yo nunca crei que hiba a leer un cuento verdadero, pues de lo que yo se, es que hay muchos casos asi. Asi mismo que el autor que saco este libro, siga adelante como lo a hecho.

Esta muy bonito casi y su madre estubo enbarasada y siempre hacia grullas de papel. llego a a tener una bandida no podia caminar y mas emfermedaad de la bamba y rapidamente otomica furso com cumendo a poco a poco las fuersas de sadako y sention especial. de ue regreso por primera vez se alegro de la tranquilidar de su abitacion de su mama y permanese sentada a su lado largo rato de vez sadako cambio.

El emergencia de sadako y su madre le pego la enfermedad y manana de agosto de 1954. sadako se desperto sebistio de prisa y salio coriendo a la calle a sol de la manana regleja vealizo de color costana ralizo su pelo negro. no habia nube en el cielo azul sala ora una buena senal sadako siempre buscaba senales de buena suerte.

La opinion de el libro que su mama de sadako estaba embarazada y estaba y en el hospital y sadako en no odia caminar y cuando camino sadako se fue vez su mama.

El libro fue escrito por: Eleanor Coerr. El libro se trata de una niña que soñaba con ser corredora. Pero cuando ella contaba con tan solo dos años de edad cuando aventaron una bomba atómica. Sadako murio cuando contaba con tan solo doce años por causa de la bomba atómica que le causo una emfermedad que se llama leusemia. Para la ciudad de y Hiroshama, Sadako se comvirtio en una niña con mucha valentia que lucho contra la emfermedad pero no lo logro. A Sadako le hicieron una misa por la valentia al luchar contra la emfermedad.

El mensege que yo tuve fue que ana niña de tan solo doce años lucho por su vida. Yo pienso que ella si lucho por su vida. Porque si fuera otra persona hubiera dicho ya no tengo vida y no les importaria su vida y a Sadako si le importo la vida de ella. Tambien yo hubiera hecho lo mismo por mi vida ó la de otra persona de mi familia. Porque yo si amo a mi vida y hay otros que no. A mi me gustari conocer a Sadako.

Mi opinión es que pasaron cosas que no me gustaron. Pero el libro esta muy bueno u quiero felicitar a la autora. Porque se isnpiro en esta historia. Que yo creo que todos que leieron el libro deben estar contentos. Yo recomiendo este libro Sadako y Las Mil Grullas de Papel. Porque no tiene esenas fuertes.

El libro Sadoko y las mil grullas de papel fue escrito por:Eleanor Coerr. El libro de Sadako se trata de una niña que a sus doce años resulto tener leucemia. A los doce años se murio. Le gustaba correr pero un dia se canso y le dio como asthma. El doctor le aviso que ella tenia leucemia y que tenia que guardar reposo para ver si se curaba. Un amigo llamado Chizuko le conto una historia de Japón que si hacia mil grullas de papel se iba se iba a reponer. No llego a hacer mil grullas y murio. Su muerte fue triste.

El mensaje del libro fue una esperiencia muy mal para las personas que estuvieron enfrentando a esa bomba destructiba.
Ella trato de sobre vivir de aquella bomba fatal. Su sueño fue ser corredora yno cumplio su sueñpor esa enfermedad que aca bo con su vida. No disfruto su vida normal por causa de esa enfermedad tan fea. Yo pienso que cuando lucho por vivir fue una cosa espectacular si fuera otra persona se iba a morir por no luchar por su vuda.

Me encanto que Sadako murio luchando por su propia vida maravillossa. Que mal si no pudiera terminar mi sueño y muriera yo. En este mundo hay muchas enfermedades que te pueden matar y que bueno que yo no tengo ni una enfermedad. Su intento de luchar fue enban. Y tuviera que cambiar el titulo yo le pusiera "Aferarce ala vida". Su muerte fue una mal desgracia. Recomiendo este a las personas.

This Book is great if you want to add another book to your collection this is a great one to add. It is an inspiring book that will make you open your eyes and go through the pain people with leukemia have.

Having grown up during this era, I can relate to the way things were done in this generation. It should be considered a remarkable event when the author has the commitment and opportunity to revisit places and events which were a part of his life almost 60 years ago. It is obvious that his Forest Service experiences left a lasting impression on the author as a young man. The reader is brought into those experiences with considerable detail.

This is the story of the way life was in the Clearwater National Forest and elsewhere for the folks who lived and worked for the Forest Service about 60 years ago. The author's vivid memories are etched in details that make great reading. Some of his recounts are quite amusing and others testify to the danger and tough mindset required to live in the conditions common to those days and the area. The book let me relive similar experiences from long ago. I especially enjoyed the photos showing lookouts, scenery and people of the US Forest Service.

Mr. Coffman has done a good job of transporting his readers back to a time of adventure for young men that would be hard to find today. The book is informative and at times amusing. I enjoyed it.

The author did such a good job of telling about his days as a smokechaser in this rugged and unforgiving territory that I felt every muscle in my body getting stiff and sore. I am sure these boys slept well whenever they hit the pillows. Interesting reading.

This is a well written book that gives the reader a look at life as it was in the mid-forties in the mountains and the work it took to be team player. The long hikes from camp to the look outs and the pure brawn of hard work was a way of life, a true way of camping out!!!!

I am in this book

The book All but the Waltz is something you should read if you are interested in learning some things about Montana life from the 1880's on. You should only read this book if you have patience because it skips around a lot. The book is a lot of stories put together and don't really ever tie together. If that bothers you then you shouldn't read this book but if it doesn't then I think that you would like this book.

This fine book is a collection of essays that weave together remarkable accounts of four generations of the author's ancestors, from their settlement in central Montana in the 19th century to the latter years of the 20th. Pioneers of strong fortitude, originating in Pennsylvania, her father's family, the Hogelands, are among the first settlers along the headwaters of the Judith River.

Good years, wise management, and a faith in the rewards of hard work serve them well - until the early death of the author's grandfather, followed by a decade of severe drought and then the Great Depression. While half of the homesteaders around them go broke and move on, her family continues to scrape a living from the land, the women on her mother's side of the family supplementing their incomes with teaching in remote one-room country schools.

Reconstructing her family's story, the author brings vividly to life her father and mother, grandmothers, aunts, and her great-grandparents. She deciphers and transcribes the writings of her great-grandfather Abraham, interviews living relatives, and studies family photographs, many of which are included in her book. While the primary theme of the book is the survival of her family, she also has much to say about the role of women, focusing on the circumstances that invariably compromised their hopes and aspirations.

There is her father's mother, Grammy, who does the work of a man while providing home and shelter for a live-in hired man without benefit of clergy. There's her mother's mother, who teaches school into her seventies to support her family and pay for her husband's care in a nursing home. There's the author's aunt Imogen, who remains unmarried and also teaches school. There's the author's mother, who marries a handsome cowboy and then struggles to make a place for herself in her husband's domineering family.

Meanwhile, the men in her stories make equally interesting studies, especially her strong-willed father, Jack, who's a natural horseman and top hand; her mother's father, who cannot withstand the pressures of a lonely, hard life on the prairie; and a husband in later years, a wildcat oilman who is in complete denial that he is dying of pulmonary fibrosis.

I highly recommend this well-written, absorbing and sometimes harrowing book that renders such a vivid picture of Montana homesteaders and the extremes of rural life. Thanks to the University of Oklahoma Press for keeping it in print. Readers of this book will also like Judy Blunt's memoir of growing up on a Montana ranch, "Breaking Clean."

While I enjoyed this book - it made me aware of just how fragmented my own family history is. How I wish my ancestors had written (or kept) diaries and especially wish they had written on the backs of all those old photos to know what states, counties, cities, villages they were in at the time of the photograph and what was the event or celebration, etc. Thanks for a good read, Ms. Blew

Carolyne Aarsen spins a story that proves blood is thicker than water and that regardless of the past, family ties are strong. There are moments of laughter and times of frustration as the reader quickly passes through the pages of this easy read. I couldn't help but fall in love with the depth Aarsen places into her characters making one think twice about those in need of Christ and how we can affect them. All In One Place is a captivating and enjoyable story spun together with all the perfect pieces.


Reviewed by Cindy Sproles
Mountain Breeze Ministries

With ALL IN ONE PLACE, Carolyne Aarsen strikes a satisfying balance between humor, real life issues, discovering faith, and romance. A great read!

In Seattle Terra Froese decides ending another bad relationship is not enough. To distance herself, she leaves the West Coast for Montana to live with her sister Leslie VandeKeer, whom she has not spoken with for quite some time. As she regains her equilibrium, Terra assumes she will need to rescue her sibling from tedious rural family life.

However, she finds Leslie seems shockingly contented and the small town residents wonder about the big city intruder as she lands in some trouble almost from her first step there. Police officer Jack DeWindt thinks Terra will not survive Big Sky Country although he is very attracted to her and her to him. However, Terra wonders if that is enough for her to finally put down permanent roots.

This interesting character study focuses on Terra's conversion (for the most part from her viewpoint only) from a life of wandering disentanglement to one of belief in God and truly caring about others, but does so in a reasonably realistic manner. Although the lack of other perspectives especially that of her sister reduces the impact of Terra's journey, fans who appreciate a simple well written contemporary tale starring a complex woman will enjoy Terra finding her way and self.

Harriet Klausner

All In One Place by Carolyne Aarsen is the sequel to last year's The Only Best Place. This book features Terra Froese, the sister of Leslie VanderKeere. Terra is on the run from an abusive boyfriend and turns to the only family she has: Leslie. Unfortunately, she meets Amelia who takes her to a bar and soon Leslie is paying Terra's bail and picking her up from jail. Not a fortuitous reunion. Terra takes a job at the local diner to pay Leslie back and soon finds herself falling for police deputy named Jack. Terra's fear of trust and rebellious ways mean she's in for trouble. I loved The Only Best Place, and I was not disappointed in its sequel. Terra is a wry character always ready with her cynical wit to defuse a situation. Aarsen does an amazing job of writing Terra from a completely different point of view from Leslie. Leslie was easy for me to relate to as a wife and mother trying to make it through each day in unexpected circumstances. Terra is very different, and yet Aarsen is able to make her come alive. Terra's vulnerability cracks through on rare occasions, and when it does, it shines. St. Francis of Assisi said to preach the Gospel always, and if necessary use words. Terra sees the Gospel working through the various denizens of town, and while it frightens her, it also pulls her toward the Lord. The ending with Eric seemed a bit cliched to me, but Terra's will to fight put a different spin on a scene that has been written in many books before. The resolution was never truly in doubt to anyone except Terra. This is a wonderful read.

This wasn't a bad little book, it was just eclipsed by the other book I bought, "Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula: The Best Trails You can Hike in a Day".
Both books were purchased 5/2007

those starting to hike or who want ideas of where to go. Having done all but 3 of the hikes in this book,I would recomend it. Erik gives clear directions and his rating system of easy to hard is very accurate. The book is pocket size and weighs little, with good refernces on time, maps and seasons. His North Cascade Dayhike book is also helpful to daytrippers.

We had little or no time to plan our short trip to the Olympic Peninsula, but we knew that the area is best enjoyed by walking into the forests, the mountains, or the beaches. This book includes descriptions of 29 hikes that do not require overnight stays, organized geographically. While there is no single map pointing out the locations of all the hikes, each geographical section has one, so it is not too difficult to find something nearby. There is also an ordered list of the hikes, from easiest (the .2 mile Madison Creek Falls hike, with minimal elevation gain) to most difficult (the Mount Zion hike, 3.5 miles with a 1340 foot gain).

We took six of the hikes listed and found the descriptions to be accurate. It was well worth the (relatively low) price.

I used this guide to plan a recent trip to Olympic. It does contain a lot of good info but I wish it had just a little bit more. Perhaps some better detail on the maps would be nice. I would recommend using this little guide along with a good topographic map like the National Geographic topo map. Definitely a good book to have along with you.