Arizona Books

I finished reading A Good Town a week ago and I am still thinking about it. Howie and Tink are best friends, who grew up together in Bisbee, Arizona. They are young men bored with their hometown life and then they meet Waldo, who spells TROUBLE! This is a great story about friendship, honor, betrayal and the need for finding ones self. Douglas Hirt is a compassionate writer, who never lets the reader down and he knows the human heart. A Good Town is a keeper and I will enjoy reading it over again.

The Poston, Arizona relocation campsite was the site of a psychological study during WWII when the Japanese and Japanese-Americans were forced to relocate from the West Coast of the United States to the Arizona desert.

Many errors were made in decisions about how to organize and govern a self-sufficient community among strangers. Learn about the futile attempts to create a self-government using the inexperienced young Nisei (second generation) and the mistake of excluding the Issei (first generation) Japanese-speaking elders and how lack of communication in the early months created discontent and rebellion.

Nothing real fancy about this book. Just a list of waypoints and their Lat and Longs. For what I've seen by navigating to the towns, they are just scaled off of quad maps to the approx center of town. For what I want, it's great!

Being a UK publication, I was not familiar with the Cicerone series, but I must say I have been very impressed with this one. There are numerous Grand Canyon hiking guides available, but this one is one of the most complete and well prepared ones I have found. The trail descriptions are clear without being too wordy and include the wise usage of benchmarks and landmarks on USGS topographic maps for the more remote trails of the canyon.

This book does not just cover your basic Corridor (Bright Angel, South Kaibab, and North Kaibab) trails either; it includes trails that will keep the enthusiastic canyoneer busy for many years.

And because it is written for people coming from afar, it is an excellent guide to assist one in all their planning (permits, transportation, shopping, food, lodging, camping, etc.)

And what it does for Grand Canyon trails and planning, it also does for Zion and Bryce National Parks! I highly recommend this guide!

My son is in first grade and an avid reader. He selected this book from his school library and reading two chapters a night, we finished it in less than a week. Even thought it looks complex, the text and the illustrations in the book are wonderful. It's very well written and easy to read. My son knows most of the words in the book, and there is a glossary in the back for specific terminology. It's very engaging and stimulating even for an adult. I love reading it to him!

Through an informative text enhanced by a wealth of 130 beautiful, breathtaking, color photographs, Grand Canyon On My Mind reveals one of the most awesome natural wonders on earth -- the Grand Canyon, carved out over eons of time by the wild Colorado River. Here are depicted the towering canyon walls, the superb sunsets, the river, and the total grandeur of the canyon in all its aspects by some of the Grand Canyon's most ardent and articulate admirers. Grand Canyon On My Mind is a very highly recommended addition to any and all community library collections and would make an ideal "Memorial Fund" acquisition selection.

Like most wildflower books that are not tools for keying out species, content is arranged by flower color. Unlike most, the images in this book are taken with sensitivity and grace. It's worth purchasing for the photos alone, which afford easy identification of the flowers as well as a pleasing aesthetic.

Only 10% of Grand Canyon visitors visit the North Rim. This may be a good thing for those of us who find the patio of the North Rim Lodge to hold the best wooden rustic chairs in the West for enjoying a great view, a picnic, or a book--hopefully, a book about the Grand Canyon. If readers wanted to read about the North Rim, they've had few choices, until now. This book brings out why the North Rim is so different from the South Rim. It's canyon views are different, its forests and meadows are different, its human history is different, and its lack of traffic is different. This book also explores the Arizona Strip lands you'll pass through on your way to the North Rim.

Towns and regions are fortunate if they have a local historian who devotes years to researching and writing their history. Northern Arizona is fortunate to have Richard and Sherry Mangum, who grew up here and have a strong personal interest in and enthusiasm for the region. In this book they've brought to light a fascinating part of Grand Canyon history that barely gets mentioned in other history books. This book is more than just a history of the stage coach line between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. It's a great history of Grand Canyon pioneers, the first whites to live at the canyon and open up tourism there. It includes lively characters like John Hance and Pete Berry and Ralph Cameron. Some readers may be surprised to find that the first tourist facilities at the canyon weren't at the current south rim village but at the Grandview area, where there were several hotels and other facilities. The stage coach line may have been brief in duration but it did intoduce the world to the Grand Canyon, bringing up famous writers like John Stoddard, Charles Lummis, and Harriet Monroe, whose reports helped shape public interest in and perceptions of the Grand Canyon. The stage line also turned John Hance into a legendary character. The stage line itself quickly became famous, showing up in Baedeker guide books. It's a bit surprising, then, that it should be thoroughly forgotten. The Mangums have brought this story back to life, digging into obscure sources and puzzling out the missing links in the story. They've also assembled a gallery of seldom-seen photos, such as one with John Hance and Thomas Moran and a donkey. The book offers a portrait of Flagstaff in the 1890s, and details the building of the stage road and the way-stations along the way. For today's explorers, the book offers detailed maps of the old stage route, much of which can be followed today. The book closes with two sections on early bicycling to the canyon, and the arrival of the automobile age. This is a unique and rich contribution to Grand Canyon history.

This softcover book is full of color photos. Includes information about the geology, biology, Indians, recreation, and history of the Grand Canyon. This would be a great field guide to take with you to the Grand Canyon.