North America Books

This is a deep, thought-provoking book that is without a doubt evolutionary. Exploring the Seven Sacred Paths of Human Spiritual Development, Jamie Sams has presented a pattern for spiritual progress that can not be absorbed in one sitting, or even in one reading. I know I am going to have to read it again. A lot of it was over my head, and yet, without being academic. I could easily identify where I am spiritually today, and have some idea where I need to go next...still I know it is a spiral, and anything is possible. This book is an essential guidebook along the way that I think I'll be hanging on to. If you are looking for spiritual nourishment that doesn't turn into fluff, this book is for you.

I believe this statement reflects Jamie's chief goal for this book: this statement is listed in the authors note, preceeding the text. I don't think it is possible to draw a universal map of consciousness applicable to all humans. The chief reason being is that some folks never get past the 1st commandment let alone rise to metaphysical heights described in the text. Further, unless the reader has more than a beginners background in the metaphysical - or enjoys flipping back and forth between the text and the glossary - the reading can be difficult.

I gave this book five stars for what it DOES do, and that is a whole lot more than 99% of the metaphysical works I have read:

It paints a picture of the onesness of all existence, even though most of existence sees itself as seperate from everything else;

It bashes the notion that only enlighted earthly masters can achieve spirituality;

It clearly describes the downfalls of anyone being overimpressed with their spiritual progress;

It provides healers with a strong dose of reality: not to forget that therapy patients come to you because they are sick...there is pressure in them staying sick so you can make money;

It confronts head on the notion that a healer can see oodles of people on end: a handful may be too many;

It rightfully makes warriors out of beings immersed in the waters of daily life and it's endless tortures and misfortunes;

It superbly raises these tribulations to the status of lessons, encouraging hope and joy in the struggle;

It clearly points out that transformation is not a linear process;

It describes this circular process as seven different paths: this description allows readers to compare, contrast, and analyze later;

It describes the first hand accounts of Jamie in her path of transformation;

Read the book for yourself: you can't put it down.

This book is easy to read, with sensible suggestions that can be incorporated into your life with relative ease.

Jamie Sams once again takes us on a journey through the layers of our spirit by bringing a complete understanding to the path we walk.

Sams book certainly provides the reader with much material to ponder. It's definitely not the type of book to be read in one sitting and it's not a real "page turner". Instead, the truths Ms. Sams explores are best digested slowly. Perhaps this is most appropriate since she is describing a spiritual journey that lasts a lifetime and more. The diagrams are helpful.

I very much enjoyed this book. The author goes into painstaking detail of many many animals (probably some you've never heard of). Not only are the tracks explained, but the possible gaits of each animal, along with the most likely ones are given great attention. There are even sections given to animal scat, what each animal eats, what claw marks might look like and one of my favorites: how to identify predators and prey from kill sites.

This book will remain the standard to the lay person and advanced tracker for quite some time (or at least until wild animals all have GPS embedded in them).

Kudos!

This book has very clear pictures and descriptions. It is a great guide to help you identify tracks and scat when you are in the mountains. It is a great resource to use when you see tracks or scat and want to know what animal left them.

Great book - very thorough collection of mammal tracks and more. Very much worth the money.

I am earning a B.S. in wildlife management and I was needing a book that would help me with mammel signs. I reviewed several and found that they were not what I was looking for. After purchasing Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North America Species, I found that it was a huge help! This book gives understandable descriptions and a lot of pics of mammal dens, feces, tracks, and other signs. I encourage anyone who is in the wildlife perfession or just the everyday wildlife lover to purchase a copy.

This book has great photos of scat, prints, and other animal sign. I was able to use it to definitively identify otter scat on my property. Information is grouped by type of sign, so all the scat pictures are together, for example, and those are subdivided by how they look (pellets, amorphous, etc.). For many animals there are several examples of scat showing what you might see if the animal had been eating berries, or meat, or whatever. In addition to the photographs are drawings and scale data, and other information about animals and their habits. Though as you can tell, I mostly use it for scat identification.

What a great read! Awe Inspiring, Alaskan all the way. Does not get more raw than that! I grew up in the bush hearing tales of the good old days. This is a story worth every word.

I spent time in the village of Huslia and actually taught in the school Jimmy started there. I met Jimmy's brother Sidney, who also wrote an awesome book, SHADOWS ON THE KOYUKUK. This is a beautiful, but harsh country where survival was not a given. This is a marvelous book..... unforgetable........ a must-read for a lover of adventure and the wilderness!

Recently, I have been fascinated by Alaska and the people that inhabit(ed) its interior. The life of Jim Huntington is to be admired by everyone. This book was a fast read and a real page turner. It is more adventurous than many fictional tails I have read. Excellent and should be read by everyone.

I think I bought the last eight copies, so please order more, Amazon. I teach high school in the Alaskan bush, and it is extremely difficult to find books that my non-readers enjoy reading that also have academic value. This book, and "Shadows on the Koyukuk" by Sidney Huntington, Jimmy's brother, have given my students insight into the transition between traditional Native culture and current native culture with its White influence and inclusion. My copies are going into the Alaska History tub of materials from our district resource center, to be shared by the other schools in our district. We will need more copies.

Jimmy Huntington wrote the best read I have seen in awhile--not too flowery, just basic truth. I loved it!!! Bonnie

Author Daniel James Brown is to be commended for his knowledge of the incident and his chronicling of it. What an emotional read! There was so much drama, so much carnage and human suffering, that I sighed sometimes as I put the book down to take a break. This author knows his subject, and he knows how to write about it to please his readers. I've never seen the monument to the fallen pioneers but I plan visit it soon. I've read books about the great Chicago fire, and the Peshtigo fire, but never have I felt the riveting force as I did in this book. Now I feel it. The dissection of a firestorm of this magnitude along with the destruction it brought, and the lack of medical knowledge at that time about burn treatment showed me what a scholar Brown is. I learned an immense amount. Thank you, Daniel James Brown, for such a glorious textbook and tribute to those who lived in Minnesota during this era.

I grew up in Sandstone, MN and happened to find this book on the "Noteable Reads" table at BN. Picked it up and couldn't put it down. I had, of course, been taught the history of the Hinckley Fire, but never realized the total horror those people went through or what a monster of a fire it actually was. This book had chills running up and down my back as I read it. I'm sure I have one up on most people reading this as I have actually seen the places in the book (though altered now) for example the Sandstone Quarry (Robinson Park now) is one of my favorite places. I have a personal thanks for Mr. Brown for writing such an amazing book that really touched home for me(no pun intended.)

This book is an easy, informative read about a horrific disaster. It follows several people before, during and after the fire. It was much like reading an enjoyable fiction book. I plan to use portions of this to teach my junior high students about the causes and effects of forest fires.

I was glued to this book. Wonderfully written, interesting facts combined with a heart breaking story...I couldn't recommend it highly enough!

"Under A Flaming Sky," by Daniel James Brown, is an intense, enthralling book detailing the events of the 1894 Hinckley firestorm. The event itself has been buried in our national memory, part of the great fires that happened at the end of the 19th century, like Peshtigo and others, unlike those of Chicago and major cities. Occasionally it is brought up at its anniversary in Minnesota by the local media. As Brown points out, though, the same kind of horrific incident that happened at Hinckley can still happen today.

Brown builds the chronicle of events from the night before the fire, augmenting it with conditions that built the firestorm, through the day of the fire and the events afterward. In the book, many characters are introduced - it was a bit confusing sometimes to trace who was with which family - but in being caught up with this tragedy and people, one would wonder who would survive, how they would survive, who would not and how they would die. The human interest stories that Brown creates an almost fiction-like story - but you know that it is a true story, and you want to know how it ends.

There are also three parts of the book where the story is interrupted, something that may seem to be an annoyance in most books, but extremely useful in this book. The first takes several pages to explain fires and the creation of firestorms, where conditions build swirling winds that may reach hurricane strength, heat the melts steel and throws fire and gases to instantly burn oxygen and set fire to things miles away. Another impressive detour has to do with burns and their effects on humans: how the body has difficulty dealing with burns, in fighting infections, the process of fighting bacteria, and more. Add to this the perspective of the technology of the times, and one gets further insight to the evolving disaster. Brown has written an excellent book on an American tragedy, and done it in engrossing style.

What a great book for your pre-teen! Enough "romance" without the nitty-gritty details. I loved the storyline and ordered the 2nd and 3rd books right away. I worked in an elementary school library for 5 years and became good friends with one particular student. She would ask me to suggest books for her. To this day, we have continued our book club of 2! After I finished reading this series, she was delighted to get them. I know she will enjoy reading them over and over! Thanks for such a great series.

Not a typical christian romance. This is "old school" christianity, back when the Bible was a regular part of a family's daily regimen. And, this author has done her research and made the novels historically accurate. Yet, if you aren't a history buff and not into Bible study, you'll still love these novels because they are so well written. You get drawn into loving the characters and caring about what happens to them. One of the few books that have made me laugh, cry, and hope. I devoured this series and went on to the next. Let this review stand for every series this author has written. Great work!

All I can say is this book swept me off my feet. I finished this book which is 300 pages in less then a week it is that good! What a amazing story it is. I highly recommened this book to anyone that loves these kind of stories.

I discovered this book at a used booksale, and since I love stories about the west and Indians, I bought it. And once I started to read it, I couldn't put it down! I even thought of the characters during the day until I could get back to the book! I could even picture them-he was very handsome!! I also read Part 2 of the series, and just now I'm going to start reading the 3rd Part Red Bird! Even though parts are sad and made me almost cry, the happiness is there too, and the love of God! An excellent book in all regards!! I'm going to read everything she has written!

I bought this novel used, not knowing what to expect and not realizing it was the first of a trilogy. I loved this book! It dealt with the relations of the Lakota and whites back in the 1800s. Walks the Fire is a white woman who is captured by Rides the Wind. They are distant at first but a love grows between them that is every woman's dream. Their life together is not easy, but they find joy in their lives. I can't wait to get the rest of this trilogy! I'm hooked! This was my first by this author but it will not be the last. Some of her other series sound interesting and I plan to read several of them. To the author: Thanks for a beautiful....though sometimes sad...story!!!

I live in North Carolina and I have been able to identify all the snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs that I have found using this book. Good descriptions and photos to help you tell the difference between different species.

This book features clear plates with apparently well painted views of probably all the species of amphibians and reptiles occuring in Canada and the USA east of the Rocky Mountains, apparently also including those of Puerto Rico and introduced ones. Unfortunately, the plates of the third edition from 1998 are printed badly, with the colour dots not completely blurring in front of the reader's eye, and the pictures are a little tiny anyway. On the page opposing the plates are the common and scientific names given, as well as some important details of their appearance. Many species are represented with several images (e.g. from the side, from below; adults, juveniles), but this would probably be warranted for even more species.
The species accounts are, however, usually much too short, giving almost no detail about biology and life history of the species. Among them are, however, some colour photographs, whose printing resolution is usually also somewhat too bad, though.
The range maps are in colour and show the different subspecies in different shades, yet they are also somewhat confusing, because water bodies like the sea or the great lakes are not shaded differently from the land, so that their borders look like the state borders, and because the range borders have also be drawn in black (maybe for copying?).
Laudable is the existence of a general section about amphibians and reptiles and their catching, handling and captive care. This section would be worth expanding, though.
The third printing (1998) is/was, as already stated, not very good because of its low colour resolution and its maybe somewhat too small size, and it is/was bind only as paperback with relatively thick pages throughout.

Thank you for your timely shipping of this brand new book. I ordered it for a friend who is looking forward to getting it soon.

I have had this book for several years and absolutly love it. Not only is it nicely informative, it holds up well in the feild. I can not begin to count the number of times I have slipped (I generally keep it tucked in my waist band) in creeks on outings. After years of abuse, my cover is a worn, spine wrinkled and paged stained, but it's still solidly bound.

The book is great. Wonderful range maps, nice pictures, generally good ID characters. Could use some more info on larval amphibian identification though.

The book "Kiki's Journey" is a excellent story. It is about a little girl named Kristina (Kiki) who goes back to her Tiwa Tribe where her parents are from, to see her Grandma Santana and her uncle Tim.When she goes back to Taos Pueblo she forgets becuase she hasen't been there in a long time,ever since she was a baby. During her journey,Grandma Santana takes her for a walk after she comes out of the giftshop and tells her that she is still part of the Tiwa culture even though she lives in Los Angles. At night she thanks the Creator for making her an Native American and for her Pueblo. So,if you are going take a chance to read this wonderful book, your own journey will begin on the first page you read!!!!

The story of Kiki`s Journey was a marvelous story because she goes to see her grandmother and grandfather in her village. Kiki was from her grandmother's village, so she goes and visits. You should look at it. It`s for all ages.

KIKI'S JOURNEY WAS A TERRIFIC BOOK. KIKI'S JOURNEY WAS A SUPRISING BOOK. I FELT GOOD ABOUT IT.THE THEME WAS TO REMEMBER`YOUR PEOPLE. IT WAS A SAD AND HAPPY STORY AT THE SAME TIME.

A heart warming book for all ages, "Kiki's Journey" is delightful. It works as a story, a read aloud story, as a lesson in cultural differences, as well as a lesson of acceptance. The book would be great for kids of all ages, parents, and teachers. The illustrations are also a wonderful addition to the story.

Written by Kristy Orona-Ramirez and illustrated by Jonathan Warm Day, Kiki's Journey is a picturebook about modern Native American life. A young Tiki girl living in Los Angeles knows little about her traditional culture and heritage, as her parents brought her from the pueblo to the city when she was a baby. During spring break from school, she has the opportunity to experience the pueblo with her parents for the first time. At first she feels like a tourist in a place that should be home, but the more she learns and sees, the better she understands the proud cultural history and traditions that precede her, and above all, the importance of family ties. The boldly simple and colorful artwork is the perfect complement to this heartwarming story of discovery.

I gave this book 4 stars because it was'int one of thoese books that you couldn't put down to me. But I learned some stuf from it, like facts from the last american rainforest. Shelley Gill came to our school to talk about her books. She was cool. AND I MEAN IT.

I liked it because she took the story and made half a fact.She came to our school on Tuesday talking to us about herself.The book I wanted to talk is The Last American Rainforest is talking how the earth was before.

I like it.We learn things from it. I learned that Salmon come from trees.

I think when Mrs.Gill came she really inspired me in reading. Since Harry Potter #4 was the longest book I read.I tried to get all Shelley Gill books.But,I could only get one.So I got Tongass. I chose it because of its beautiful illustrations.

I liked when we read The Last american rainforest,because it was cool.I liked when she brougth the pictuers and the fallsools. The book was very, very, very, very good. I learend a lot of stuf.

Daughter of a full-blooded Navajo father and white mother, Lori Arviso Alvord grew up on a New Mexico reservation in a family that took pride in its native heritage, but followed few of the traditional ways. She attended Navajo schools but never learned the language; she knew her clan relationships and enjoyed the security of tribal connections but seldom attended ceremonies or understood the depth of meaning in the Navajo concept "Walk In Beauty."

Such a person might expect to shed the remnants of tribal culture on leaving the reservation to become a high-powered surgeon, a career that by its very nature flies in the face of Navajo precepts like privacy and self-effacement.

Indeed, throughout her memoir, co-authored by Elizabeth Cohen Van Pelt, Alvord seems to straddle two worlds separated by an uncomfortable gulf. She first looked upon the deepness of that gulf at Dartmouth.

"For a girl who had never been far from Crownpoint, New Mexico, the green felt incredibly juicy, lush, beautiful and threatening." Unable to see the horizon, she felt claustrophobic. But the culture shock was worse. "I thought people talked too much, laughed too loud, asked too many personal questions, and had no respect for privacy." Navajos do not put themselves forward and cooperation is valued over competition. Not a good prescription for success at an Ivy League school.

At Dartmouth she began to feel her tribal identity more strongly and wonder if a kinaalda ceremony (a celebration of womanhood) would have helped empower her in such alien surroundings. But not until after medical school at Stanford, where she was forced to break numerous taboos (Navajo never touch the dead, for instance) and joined a profession where it is essential to ask prying, intimate questions and invade another's personal space at will, did Alvord really begin to explore the philosophical grounding of Navajo culture.

Becoming a surgeon at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, close to the reservation, Alvord notices that her patients do better when they are calm and relaxed, that harmony - even in the operating room when the patient is unconscious - is important for recovery.

She grows more interested in the Navajo philosophy that "everything in life is connected and influences everything else." To "Walk in Beauty" a person strives to live in balance, symmetry and harmony with everything and everyone else.

While this is an ancient precept, held in common with many other cultures and enjoying something of a renaissance in American medicine today, Alvord comes up with a particularly striking example. One of her surgery patients, a young woman, was the first to die of a strange illness that swept through the Navajo nation, killing 11.

A doctor working for the Centers for Disease Control, Ben Muneta, visited a medicine man, a hataalii, who told him "the illness was caused by an excess of rainfall, which had caused the pinon trees to bear too much fruit." There was "a significant deviation from the natural harmony of the world."

The medicine man showed a sand painting of a mouse and said that twice before in years of excess rainfall a similar disease had struck. " `Look to the mouse,' " he said. Weeks later the CDC determined that the Hantavirus was contracted from the droppings of infected deer mice. The deer mouse population had surged due to an excess of pinon nuts. "It was the rain."

Alvord's tone is quiet, reserved. It does not seem easy for her to describe the alcoholism of her charming father or the difficulties and generosity of her (married at 16) mother. Though she takes us to a nightlong ceremony for the sick and celebrates the strength her patients draw from medicine-man visits, she never explains why it takes her so long to visit a hitaalii during her own pregnancy. Or why she never approaches a medicine man to discuss cross-cultural treatments despite her growing conviction of the efficacy of the "whole body" approach.

While most of the book concentrates on her work and her struggle to reconcile cultures, she provides a wide, sad look at reservation life, beset by poverty and "white mans'" diseases. The long grief of history resides in the alcoholism and the self-loathing of so many - a balance that can never be put right.

At last Alvord leaves. Seeing it as the next natural step in her own "life trail", she returns to Dartmouth as a surgeon and a dean of minority and student affairs. At Dartmouth, she hopes, she can teach the Navajo "Walk In Beauty" principles to new doctors as well as working within the established system to bring better care to her own people.

I am full-blooded Navajo, I was taught to believe in my traditonal ways and it disappoints me that she has talked about very scared ceremonies.

Lori Arviso Alvord walks in two worlds. Raised on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico -- "the rez" -- she is the daughter of a Navajo man and a white woman. Carrying this dichotomy into her education and career, she went from the reservation high school to Dartmouth College, then found her path to Stanford University School of Medicine and a surgical residency in New Mexico.

As the first Navajo woman surgeon, she learned to integrate the science-based world of medicine and the spirit-based Native American culture. The importance of the singing cures, native healing practices, and other spiritual traditions was brought home to her when she observed her patients' outcomes. Surgical skill was often not enough when delivered without respect for the language, culture and spirituality of the Navajo patients.

The main focus of this memoir is Dr. Alvord's path to acceptance of the first Navajo principles: balance, harmony and wholeness, known as "Walking in Beauty." Along the way we learn a great deal about Native American history and culture, sensitively presented.

Dr. Alvord speaks of the cultural bases for Native American alcoholism and the prevalence of gang culture, monumental threats to the health and well-being of her people. The healing of these ills will never be achieved in the operating room alone, and many patients' stories illustrate this lesson effectively.

The outcome of Dr. Alvord's journey is signaled from the beginning, as is often the case with a memoir. While this may dilute the dramatic tension of her story, we're rewarded with a thoughtful and inspiring look at one woman's life and work, in all its contexts. I recommend this book to readers young and old who have an interest in the cultural aspects of medical care.

Linda Bulger, 2008

I picked up this book and I could NOT put it down. What a wonderful journey described here....how she interlocks traditional medicine with Navajo, how harmony and positive spirit is such a process in the healing world. You will not be disappointed with this read. I have shared this with all those close to me. Make it part of your list

--Dr Alvord writes about her journeys as a Native American student and physician. The book seems clearly designed for non-technical readers rather than the professional medical community, and there's little medical jargon. She uses her own difficult pregnancy and the death of a beloved grandmother as case studies in integrating Western medicine and Navajo ideas.
--On the one hand, it's worth reading this book just to hear such an inspirational story from such a role model. Dr Alvord tells her story with dignity and courage and she has many good ideas about listening to patients and integrating Balance and Harmony in our profession (although these ideas don't seem as radical or as rare within the medical community as she seems to imply, and I don't think she does anyone a great service by implying they are).
--On the other hand, the authors remained disappointingly abstract, even given the limitations of confidentiality and space. The stories of Navajo healing barely scratched the surface and the book was pretty scanty with practical advice that would help non-Native healers understand Native American patients. I'd love to have heard her perspectives on the magnitude of Native American health problems, how she handled the constant pressures of time and funding, or how she successfully used traditional Native American methods to help manage serious medical-social problems (i.e. alcohol use, diabetogenic diets, family pressures, basic compliance and responsibility issues, etc). In short, I'd like to have heard more about her successes.
--The book's perspective gives a good counterpoint to those who criticize Western medicine as too impersonal/sterile/uncaring/whatever, while they fail to demonstrate how to predictably improve things and still efficiently deliver technically competent health care to people with different levels of motivation and understanding. Western medicine works beautifully in its own niche, but it will be made to work less efficiently if we mess around with the wrong things. Perhaps medicine will improve if we balance the responsibilities of patients to live a healthy lifestyle with the responsibilities of healers to carefully listen to patients and then help them heal.
--This book did not practically help me to do this, so I cannot give it five stars despite my respect for her credentials. I do look forward to a sequel.
--Other books which may be of interest include Blessings (by Dr. A. Organick), The Dancing Healers, and Primary Care of Native American Patients.

This book seems to cover many great hiking areas in Sedona. It is quite explicit re: directions and information about the hiking trails. Great book for a person new to the area or even people who have been around awhile. Very informative!

I used this book for planning a 2 day visit to Sedona. I was extremely happy with the format. It has 2 pages per hike, with a high quality photo of what to expect for views, driving/hiking distance/time, as well as selections of their favorites. We didn't visit long enough to do a lot of the hikes, but we truly felt that we were able to select 3 hikes that were perfectly suited to our tastes and with nice variety. Overall, I don't think you could go wrong in Sedona, but I felt like this guide was well worth the price and only wish I could find similar guides for other locations. The Magnum's have done a great job, deserving of 5 stars.

The only shortcoming you may find is that their maps are very general and mostly help you find the trailhead (which was flawless). But, I prefer to have a quality map as well and I purchased the Emmitt Barks Cartography - Sedona Trails Map (not sure if it was on Amazon), and was very happy with it. Personally, I don't think you can create a detailed map inside the book for each hike, so I don't consider this a flaw to the book - just a bit of advice if you are planning a trip.

This book was very helpful in deciding which hikes to do. We were not dissappointed by any of the hikes. It was good that we knew about the pink jeaps ahead of time.

I have read five books about the Sedona hikes, all written approximately across the same time period, and this is why Iknow what I am talking about.I have also been to Sedona twice and know about it in a general sence. Short and sweet...this is the best all around Sedona hiking book filled with lots of bits about popular and unheard of hikes. This book is good because it is created by a Husband and Wife writer and photographer team who have lived in the area for years. The book includes maps of how to get to the trail heads and where the trails go from there. Also, descriptions of weather related to time of year and level of exertion required to do the hikes. The hikes that include VORTEXES are clearly marked. The photography is great. The five other books are best described by one or several of the following phrases: sickening and homespun; the writer as spiritual guru who is grandiose; might as well not bother; information repeated elsewhere ad nauseum. GET THIS BOOK

This book is good you want to look up a specific trail by name. I am more interested in researching trails in a specific area and found the layout of this book VERY frustrating. This book NEEDS a trail map overview where one can see where a specific trail is in relationship to the other trails. If you purchase this book make sure to purchase a Sedona Trail Map as well.