Wisconsin Books

This book is the one of the best field guides to aquatic plants we have seen. For the professional or the person that just loves learning more about nature. It reviews over 128 aquatic plants in an accurate yet fun and easy to follow style. It focuses on a holistic vision of lakes rivers and the plant comunity. The drawings are spectacular.

This is truly a fantastic field guide for anyone interested in aquatic plant life and nature. Excellent illustrations, descriptions and life cycles, make identification and learning these plants fun and easy. Loaded with other intriguing information.

Author, Alice Vollmar has live in Minnesota for the past 28 years. Who better to write a book about the area? Divided by region, this book offers information on dining, recreation, lodging, camping, and rates each using a four star system. It takes the guess work out of planning a trip to the area. A great guide for visitor and resident alike.

In addition, "101 Things To Do on the Wisconsin Great River Road", is a great gift idea.

This travel guide book is one that you'll actually keep in the front seat of the car and use. It's a nice size and contains lots of extra resource information, too.

Here a treasure of memories and meaning, presented through the eyes of the writer as he traverses the span from childhood to grandfatherhood. All is spun around the idea of fishing --- particularly trout fishing --- and the various colorful family members, neighbors, buddies, cronies, children, and grandchildren who shared a host of adventures over many decades. Stokes has a wonderful sense of humor and insight and never misses a chance to turn the story of a mishap into something more: fun, learning, or simply human connections. It's great to see that Bill continues to work his wordsmithing magic, now that his professional career as a newspaper reporter in Wisconsin and Illinois has ended. To enjoy this book one need not be familiar with the Wisconsin lakes and rivers that are the backdrop for the tales; the hilarity, pathos, and wisdom that seep through transcends any particular landscape.

Bill Stokes has written a collection of stories running from his childhood through adulthood centered around flyfishing in Wisconsin. He tells the stories with humor and affection for his friends and those he has fished with (his dog also fishes). It seems to me that Bill must have been the prototypical straight man to play against the "characters" that he wrote about. Stokes tells his humorous stories with fishing as the subject, and what comes out is the importance of sharing experiences with friends, and a hometown feeling for the land and Wisconsin. I love this book!

Monroe's writing is amazing. Dreamlike and poetic. All of the stories are connected, twisting together with subtle brilliance. The mood of the landscape and people she writes about is somewhat somber, but her characters all seem to have a remaining hope to them. What they have in common is that they all hope for a better way of life, a better man, etc.

Her characters and depictions of small town life are dead on accurate (I grew up in Iowa, very close to the Wisconsin border). I read the book in one night. Couldn't put it down. If you get a chance, READ THIS BOOK! You won't be dissapointed.

Ms. Monroe brings so much depth to both her characters and setting, that it is nothing short of amazing. Once these tales bring you into their world, they will always remain with you. Whether it's a waitress or a little girl looking for a better life, one can easily relate to them, thanks to the superb writing.

Can't wait to get out and try all of the wonderful microbreweries Wisconsin has to offer.

We bought this book from the author at the World of Beer Festival in Milwaukee...what a great book for beer lovers! Every brewery and Brewpub in Wisconsin is listed by region along with info on tours, beers brewed, food, and a brief history or summary of the place. Even better, most places listed offer a special freebie to those with the book, from a free sample beer to a free pint, etc.
We used the guide on a recent trip to Madison where we visited several brewpubs there and in the surrounding areas that we wouldn't have found without it. Interestingly, the first place we went to was the Great Dane Brewpub in Madison. After sitting at the bar for a while we realized we were sitting in the exact spot where the cover photo was taken. We took a picture of the book sitting in front of the tap shown on the front cover, and we now take a picture of the book at each location we visit.
So far the book is very accurate as well; we strayed away from it once by visiting Angelic Brewing in Madison, only to find that they no longer brew; so THAT's why they weren't in the book!
Recommended for any beer-lovers in Wisconsin or planning on visiting for any extended period of time.

This book is an ideal companion to a field guide to Eastern birds. Primarily designed as a reference guide (it contains no pictures, descriptions, or field marks) it contains a wealth of information on the likelihood of finding a particular species by county and time of year in Wisconsin. Based on at least 15 years of birding reports, the book is organized in standard order of species with one bird species per page. Each page contains the probability of spotting the species somewhere in the state in a given year, a map of the frequency of reports by county, a chart of the reporting frequency by week for the year, and a trend line by year of the total relative number of reports. I would recommend the guide primarily to the intermediate or advanced birder who is knowledgable about each bird species and their likely habitats already, but needs to know what is likely to be found in a given part of the state.

IMHO, this book is a template of how every state or regional guide should be designed.

Any birder is familiar with the format that even the best guides use to convey the likelihood over time of finding a given species in a particular location. Because of the scope of those guides, they are limited to conveying the timing to seasons and the locations to regions.

This book tells the reader exactly when specific bird species are generally found in specific counties of the state. A field guide will tell you that a certain bird migrates through the state in the spring, but some birds migrate in March, and some in June. This book will also tell you how populous the bird is (ie. how rare it is). You can also see the general movements of resident birds in the state over seasons.

I live in Wisconsin, so I use this book all the time. I have been frustrated trying to find similar information for states that I visit regularly. It is an invaluable resource for concentrating observation and understanding the animals being studied.

There are chapters of SAH throughout the USA and in Britain. They vary in size and interests; some are primarily social and others have regular historical programs for their members. A few, like the Wisconsin chapter, carry on chapter-wide research and writing projects. This work has culminated in the publcation of their first book, timed to coincide with the state's sesquicentennial celebrations.

Wisconsin Cars and Trucks is neatly organized into ten chapters plus an appendix listing over 80 automotive marques built in the state, and an index. Seven of the chapters cover vehicle manufacture; steam cars, trucks, major car and truck manufacture today, and four regional summaries covering vehicles built in Racine, Kenosha, southeast Wisconsin, and the Fox River Valley. Complimentary chapters concern component manufacturers, related auto topics (mostly Wisconsin license plates). The authors of several of the chapters are authorities on their subjects; most are chapter members. coverage of Wisconsin vehicles is exhaustive, from J.W.Carhart's 1871 steam-propelled "Spark" to present day Chrysler production in Kenosha, including the "mainstream" Nash, Kissel, Case and Mitchell, the not so wellknown Harris Six and Wausau Flyer, and the very obscure Ballard and Radford.

The book is nicely produced, with generally good quality photo reproduction, and a smooth-reading text, that belies its origins on the keyboards of 16 authors. Editor Quandt, who wrote a good many of the chapters himself, is to be congratulated on this book, which will tell you just about everything you could want to know about the automobile industry in Wisconsin.

I like to read books like this! Many of the articles, oops, chapters, may have been printed before in a local newsletter, but who cares? They seem well researched and are presented with a good deal of respect. Surprise!

Kenosha built automobiles make up only 10% of the pages in Wisconsin Cars and Trucks. There could have been more pages dedicated to the largest and longest-lasting manufacturing plant in Wisconsin, but there was so much more to cover, and besides that story is better covered in a book of its own.

The list of 183 brands of vehicles built in Wisconsin in the last 100 years is impressive. Kissel Kar, Mitchell, National and Rambler were the big ones during the brass era, but there were others and many of them are covered quite nicely. Harley-Davidson is not covered at all but, then again, has never been accused of making a car or truck.

Chapter 9 covers manufacturers of automotive components and it is quite interesting.

Wisconsin Cars and Trucks is not a coffee table book. It is something to read cover to cover and to be thankful for.

John C. Meyer III

This is definitely a must read for any man in Wisconsin that is facing a divorce or going back to court for a placement change. Packed with great, practical advice and organized for quick reference, it is loaded with critical information. Be careful of the Family Law section as it changes from year to year, but a bargain at any price. Oops, appendix 8 has a repetitive typo: WDW 40 should be listed as DWD 40. Good Luck!

Wisconsin Father's Guide To Divorce And Custody was written by experienced men's rights advocates specifically for Wisconsin men having to consider or deal with a divorce and its emotional, financial, social, parental, and familial aftermath. Specific, practical, effective advice covers the entire gamut of pertinent issues including choosing a lawyer, Wisconsin divorce laws, developing a winning strategy, fighting judicial gender bias, why "temporary hearings" aren't really temporary at all, preparing for mediation, containing legal costs, continuing to be an active father during and after divorce, and much more. Wisconsin Father's Guide To Divorce And Custody is a user friendly, highly recommended "how to" manual that will significantly reduce the financial costs of legal fees, reduce the confusion and anxiety of not knowing what is going on or why, and enhancing the chances of a divorce settlement that is fair, unbiased, and as satisfactory as circumstances can permit under Wisconsin's legal system.

When the Wisconsin Garden Guide first debuted in 1975 it achieved an impressive status with home gardeners, professional landscapers and horticulturalists throughout the state. Now in an updated third edition and again available to Wisconsin's gardening enthusiasts, Jerry Minnich's exceptionally well written and superbly presented compendium is a complete and total guide to growing flowers, lawns, herbs, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Jerry covers every aspect of the gardening experience from soil evaluation, composting and mulching, to weather, insects, pets, and disease control (without having to resort to herbicides). Of special note is the informative chapter dedicated to indoor gardening. The Wisconsin Garden Guide is further enhanced with a segment on tools and sources, as well as a "gardener friendly" index. The Wisconsin Garden Guide is a core, essential, invaluable, comprehensive reference for every personal or professional Wisconsin gardening collection.

Excellent tips, easy organization, a few nice anecdotes,
and written with a positive and independent spirit.

Now in a completely updated sixth edition, Wisconsin Off The Beaten Path: A Guide To Unique Places is an exciting travel guide to enriching one's Wisconsin vacation, whether one is relaxing for a single afternoon or weeks on end. Divided by region, and offering maps, unusual accommodations and attractions, as well as lists of county and state parks and unique museums, Wisconsin Off The Beaten Path is an excellent and enthusiastically recommended guide for any Wisconsin native looking for an entertaining day trip or weekend adventure, as well as the out-of-state vacationer looking for something fresh and new in what the Badger State has to offer!

Now in a fully updated and expanded fifth edition, Martin and Daniel Hintz's Wisconsin: Off The Beaten Path continues to be the premier guide to the unique places of the Badger state, often referred to as "America's Dairyland". Like the earlier editions of this invaluable guide and reference, Wisconsin: Off The Beaten Path is replete with detailed, user- friendly maps; chapter listings of restaurants, accommodations, annual events and popular attractions; a "fact block" provider at-a-glance information about the state including major newspapers, recommended reading for kids, public transportation, climate overview, population figures, and fun facts. Wisconsin: Off The Beaten Path is enhanced with numerous sidebars listing historical facts, geographical tidbits, stories and legends about various attractions, trivia, suggested day trips, and first-person anecdotes about the authors' experiences while researching their guide. Whether you are a vacationing traveler just passing through, or a born-and-bred native looking on a little recreational excursion, don't leave home for any Wisconsin destination without your own trusty copy of Wisconsin: Off The Beaten Path.