Nevada Books

My fiancée is a huge Vegas fan. He tries to go there once a year with the guys. He gave me this book as a joke, hoping that I might consider Vegas for our nuptials. Well, guess what? I'm thinking about it. Like most people, I think, I have always considered Las Vegas weddings a bit cheesy, but that's all in the past. As the author points out, Vegas stands for fun with glitz and glamour thrown in. Well, I probably won't get married in Vegas (although I now know where to turn for chapel-shopping), but I can certainly see why so many people visit Las
Vegas again and again.

This book gave me some good information about places to get married. It had a little bit more "fluff" that I had to sift through to get the information, but it was useful.

Last March my wife and I had a renewal of vows ceremony at a Las Vegas wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator. This book perfectly captures the fun and excitement of our experience. This book makes a perfect souvenir of the occasion. We are giving copies to all our guests who had joined us. For all pop culture buffs this is a perfect book for their personal libraries.

This is the first lonely planet book I've bought, but I'm very attached to it. It had lots of great listing from things to do to places to stay. I particularly linked to range of places to stay. It's organized into moderately priced to cheap options so you can pick what's right foryou... I used the 2000 edition.

Lonely Planet guides are the best out there, by far, at least for people who travel with a budget and only a pack on their backs, stay at hostels, and like to really experience a new location without being so touristy (Fodor's guides, for example, are the opposite of Lonely Planet's and are written for the upscale traveler). The California/Nevada guide is no exception, but it's just too outdated (published in 1996), and I wouldn't recommend buying it and instead would recommend waiting until the come out with a new one, whenever that will be. That's the only reason I wouldn't give it 5 stars. They did just put out a new San Francisco one though ...

Every Lonely Planet guide gives lots of tips for what to see, places to eat, and the "must-see" things when you travel. This guide explains the history of California and Nevada very well, and always has good suggestions of interesting places to visit. I am a native Californian, but I don't travel anywhere in the state without this guide.

"Megan," the fourth book about the McQuarry women. Megan McQuarry, the last of the bunch, redheaded and courageous. Upon her return to Primrose Creek, Megan is determined to make a go of it. Although, penniless, she still has grit. Megan meets Webb Stratton at the stage depot. Webb now owns Megan's share of the land. However, as time goes on, Webb not only owns the land, but Webb is also owner of Megan's heart. Little by little, Webb gets a portion of Megan's heart, but in return, Megan also steals Webb's heart.

"Megan" is not only Megan's and Webb's story, but it lets the reader know the secrets of the McQuarry girls. It is Ms. Miller's conclusion to the McQuarry saga and a very informative conclusion. I loved the way "Megan" was a revelation of the McQuarrys. Good work, Ms. Miller.

I loved this book. Being a frequent traveler I normally read during take off, work on my laptop till the battery runs out, and read until landing. I grabbed this book in the airport and read it until I was finished. I absolutely loved the relationships between the characters. Being a Binchy, Plain, and Pilcher fan I think I've found a new author. I felt like I was there, exactly what a good book should do!

In 1870 a heartbroken Megan McQuarry returns to her hometown of Primrose Creek, Nevada after two years of trying to become an actress with nothing to show for her efforts. Unlike her happily married sister and two cousins, Megan has no land to go back to after selling it. Ironically, the first person she meets is Webb Stratton, who owns her former land.

Somehow, deep in his gut, Webb knows Megan needs a friend and a bit of help. He offers both and she accepts them. She becomes his housekeeper. As she learns what values matter in life, Megan and Webb fall in love. However, before they can consider a lasting relationship, he must revisit his past and rectify his mistakes.

MEGAN, the final novel in Linda Lael Miller's Primrose Creek series, is a warm tale of redemption that emphasizes the author's belief in what really matters in life. The story line is fun due to observing Webb and Megan struggle with their pasts, their love, and their future as both learn the core values of people. The three previous novels (see BRIDGET, CHRISTY, and SKYE) are tender western romances, but MEGAN's story is the most sensitive and compassionate of the quartet. Ms. Miller provides her audience with a beautifully touching Americana romance.

Harriet Klausner

It provides some great information about the distribution of the various silkworm moth species and how some of them have evolved in recent history, and how some of these events came to pass naturally.

Told with the narrative fluidity of a memoir, Moth Catcher: An Evolutionist's Journey Through Canyon and Pass is an amazing look into the scientific research of author Michael M. Collins. Moth Catcher introduces the reader to a fascinating canyon and pass environment in Sierra Nevada that is what geneticists call a "hybrid zone" for silk moths. In the hybrid zone, two species of silk moths interbreed to produce fertile offspring - unlike lab-bred hybrids between the same two species. These naturally occurring hybrid populations serve as unique, non-reproducible laboratories in nature, offering an exceptional opportunity to gain greater insight into how evolution itself operates. A handful of color photographic plates illustrate this exceptional account of the hidden wonders of one of nature's smaller species. Accessible to readers of all backgrounds, Moth Catcher is as highly recommended to the lay person with a budding interest in natural science as it is to professionals curious to hear a firsthand account of fieldwork and its astonishing results.

Michael Collins' book very effectively bridges the gap between the passions of a lover of nature and the frontiers of scientific discovery - in new evolutionary thought.

The book is introduced with a beautiful poem written by his daughter, who says so much in a few chosen words.

I read this book twice ten years ago when it was still in the library. I haven't been able to find a copy since then, but the images of the hellish, alien landscapes that Mr. Goin photographs are still so vivid that to use words "powerful" or "evocative" would tarnish their terrible beauty.

If any book begs to be reprinted, this is it.

Anyone researching locations on nuclear waste disposal sites or areas used for nuclear testing will find ample material in this book by Peter Goin. If you're looking for images of desolate and abandoned landscapes, this is definitely a great resource.

I don't know of any book whose images have stuck with me for so long. "Nuclear Landscapes" is a chilling look at the remnants of America's vast nuclear weapons production and testing. From the Hanford reservation in Washington state to the south Pacific to the deserts of Arizona you will always be aware that while the photos may look serene there's always enough radiation around to at least give you cancer or some other related malady. Peter Goin knew the risk he was taking, but he left a priceless work for all people to look at and become aware of what we've done to many places on Earth with nuclear testing. One would wish that India and Pakistan would take a serious look and realize that they too have places that can never be inhabited. That they also have nuclear landscapes.

As with other books of this style and Author, There are no maps of any use nor are there GPS Coordinates. While instructions are included so the sites they are very vague and many depend on your finding a site your not interested in, in order to find the one you want. With so many dirt roads in mining area's the directions to turn left of a dirt road does not help with there could be 10 dirt roads in a span of three hundred feet.

All of Shawn Hall's books are excellent. We have used them for several years to plan trips and then go find the locations he mentions. He gives the reader not only the history of the site, but what remains today of the ghost towns, old stage stops, and railroad towns.

Shawn Hall obviously has a love of history and it's preservation. "Old Heart of Nevada: Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of Elko County" is obviously the result of 1000's of hours of research and countless miles of off-road exploration. Hall's account of these now vanished towns is both factual and facinating as he provides the history, stories, and current state of dozens of now defunct towns, mines, and ranch sites of the area.
The text alone is worth the price for the facts and stories, but even better are the historical photos which can often be contrasted with the author's own photo's of the same area.
A must-have for any Nevada historian or explorer.

While doing due diligence on The Cortez Trend in Nevada I came across this wonderful autobiography of the geologist that reinterpreted earlier work in the Nevada basin and range and discovered the Carlin Trend gold belt, also the Battle Mountain Trend and the Cortez Trend. Nevada had been scoured by prospectors since the gold rush of 1849 and the Comstock Lode silver discovery. Virtually all surface deposits had been found and exploited. The Carlin Trend is micro-gold which does not show up when panning, it must be assayed. With the advent of heap leaching Nevada has produced in excess of 600 million ounces of gold and this will continue for quite some time with the prospective development of The Cortez Trend. Dr Roberts tells of his work in the USGS in Central America during WWII, Nevada, Utah and Saudi Arabia. He gives us his reasons for believing the Ophir mine that produced the gold of King Solomon is in Saudi Arabia. It was very interesting to read about the life of a field geologist.

Excellent read with good intermix of personal and professional history. It is inspiring to read as well as educational. Thank you Dr. Roberts.

Ralph J. Roberts has found that a devotion to family and geology can lead to a life well lived and he relates the story of his life well in A Passion For Gold. Roberts spent 44 years with the United States Geological Survey and after retiring, became a private consultant. His most important discovery was the Carlin-type gold deposit. The reader with a non-geologic background will want access to a copy of the Glossary of Geology to help with the few technical sections included in the book [there is a glossary at the back of the book, but it is not thorough enough]. There are a few awkward sentences and some extraneous commas [I think, being the extra comma and awkward sentece king myself], but this is a suprisingly comfortable read considering that most of Mr. Roberts' earlier writings were technical papers. I trained as a mining/exploration geologist and so it was easy for me to relate to this autobiography, but non-geologists should find much of interest in Ralph Roberts' life story. It was on top of one of the mines near Battle Mountain, Nevada that Mr. Roberts writes about that I found myself deciding to abandon my masters thesis in geochemistry and to devote my life to the education of America's younger citizens [I teach earth science at the high school level]. I knew I couldn't help folks did big holes in the ground just for a little gold. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in geology, but I can't give A Passion For Gold a full five stars because I think the technical sections could have been handled in a way that would have made this book a little more accessible to a wider audience.

Midnight Louie Does it again!!! He's one cool cat that has the street smarts to solve the case.

Midnight Louie, the suave, sophisticated cat sleuth, has done it again! He and his family and friends come to life in a very unique way. As he "pussyfoots" through the pages, he becomes a part of "the family." As a devoted fan of animal detective mysteries, it is easy to see why this one rates high on the list. And the way the human and animal stories proceed together is excellently done. Keep 'em coming!

*Pussyfoot* draws the reader deeper into Midnight Louie's and Temple's slice of Las Vegas. You get to meet Crawford Buchanan, a rival PR man, and sleazy 50s throwback who completely missed the Women's Liberation movement. After suffering a heart attack, Crawford talks Temple into covering a stripper convention, the climax of which is a competition. Unfortunately, strippers start to show up dead, strangled with items from their costumes. Temple also encounters a striptease protestor who joins in the adventure, and learns some of the dancers' stories. As a special added attraction, the reader meets the Divine Yvette, Midnight Louie's petite, silver coated lady love. Temple's natural nosiness puts her face-to-face with the killer. Carole Nelson Douglas always includes some little device to explain the title...where will it be this time?

Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier

As a Gr Granddaughter of handcart pioneers, I've wondered what could have driven them to such extreme efforts, but my ancestors left very little in writing. This book was a small window into a culture that is difficult to understand. I only wish she had gone into more detail. Her calm acceptance of polygamy, and her courage in raising 7 children in such a desolate place, almost single-handedly, leaves much unsaid.

A fascinating peep into the everyday life of one woman who, along with many others, braved the trail west. Her story is told simply and factually - it has the feel of sitting down with an old friend you haven't seen for a long time and catching up on the news. Whether you're of the Mormon faith or not (I'm not, but enjoyed the book for its historical content), you can't help but admire the hardy spirit of this pioneer woman in the face of death and hardship and rejoice with her in the simple delights that come along just often enough to make it all worthwhile. Though the title sounds like the book focuses mostly on the trail experience, it actually tells her story through the rest of her life.

I must admit that I am a bit biased, since Mary was my wife's great grandmother. A touching book, and does not white wash the trials experienced.

I am a resident of Nevada and read a lot of history. Recently I have read a lot of books on Nevada history, and I must say this is one of the best. Thoroughly researched and footnoted, it covers almost every aspect of Virginia City history, yet is eminently readable. Some history books are too dry and dusty, and you have to plow through them (or give up), but Mr. James' book holds your interest from beginning to end. If you are interested in the history of VC, this is the one to buy!

Mr. James cuts through all of the legends that have grown up around Virginia City and its fabled Comstock Lode to give us a truly outstanding and eminently readable history. He draws together primary and secondary sources, demographic analysis and archaeology to give the reader a broad, yet surprisingly detailed understanding of the Comstock from its humble beginnings, through bonanza and borrasca, and right up to the present day. Highly recommended!!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading each chapter of Mr.James' book. I would suggest it for anyone having an interest in the old West, the mining periods, and personnae of the same, and perhaps just as importantly to gain some insightful information behind the storefornt facades and adits of Virginia City. The author has provided much background behind the legends, pulled down to earth other "legends" and truly given this "tourist site" it's legitmate and historical due. I am anxious to visit the Lake Tahoe area once again and take that little jaunt over the hill to visit a now-less-mysterious Virginia City.