Oregon Books

For over 30 years the regional flora for the Pacific Northwest was Hitchcock et al., Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. For people on the wet side of the mountains, Kozloff provides a new standard guide. He gives us a wealth of fine photographs (over 700 in color) and illustrations, with clear descriptions and keys, allowing identification of nearly every species found in western Washington and Oregon (experts have noticed that a few species are missed, though). Non-native species are identified, with reference to their country of origin. As the most recent comprehensive text, it also provides a reasonably current taxonomic picture of the region as well, which is very useful as hundreds of new names have appeared since the days of Hitchcock. In sum, if you want the definitive flora for the region, this is it. If you want something more portable, though, you should look at a field guide - Pojar and MacKinnon's.

This book may be the most comprehensive, definitive book on NW flora, but it's not very helpful to me. It's like reading a technical manual. I realize there are people who enjoy reading technical manuals, but most people don't. (That's not to say there's anything wrong with technical manuals, they just don't interest most people.) So my assumption is this book isn't written for most people.

I'd love for someone to take the information in this book and make it more engaging and accessible. Now there's a book that a wider audience would value and enjoy.

I would give this book an A- almost there and ahead of the rest.
needs a little more in the photo section for easy ID but beats the heck out of the Hitchcock that I have carried for years. I now have 2 copies..one at home and one in my pack

This was likely a very good book when published, but unfortunately, it is a bit out of date. For example, there are 15 reviews in the B's (alphabetically), but 5 of the restaurants have closed. Having said that, the book is well done and still useful when trying to find a good place to eat-just call ahead. There are 2 indices that I found helpful: listing of restaurants by neighborhood and listing by food type. The index lacks page numbers, but the restaurants are organized by name, so just remember your ABC's. My book appears to be the 5th printing of the first edition, purchased mid-late 2004. Portland prides itself on great food and local ingredients. If visiting, don't miss trying one of the local restaurants. A good, free guide is the weekly Willamette Week newspaper.

My husband and I keep this book in our car so that whenever we're in Portland we can grab it quickly. In addition to the alphabetical listing and descriptions of 200 reasonably priced restaurants, the book has an excellent index. You can look up restaurants by section of town or by the type / style of food you want. Cheap Eats has given us the opportunity to sample many different restaurants that we would never have found without it. Instead of picking the same places over and over, you can expand your choices...and eat well inexpensively.

My husband and I like to eat out at least three times a week, so this book has been very helpful in finding places that won't break the bank. We stay primarily in SE, but it includes restaurants all over town. Highly recommended.

My husband and I have recently begun walking at least 1/2 hour per day but have gotten the bug and often want to walk more. This book is an excellent resource. I've never seen one so thorough, combining history along with a route that is so clear a person would have to really try in order to get lost. The history notes are so fascinating (and I'm not in to history at all) and it divides the walk directions into numbered sections so you always feel like you're making headway. If you like to walk and you are in the Portland area, you really need this resource book!

This book could only be improved by more photos of the georgeous landscaping in and around Portland, Oregon. The cover shows four beautiful photos which the Amazon cover shot misses (you can hardly make them out), which is more than enough to whet the appetite.

Come in the spring and if the day is sunny you'll be moving to Portland. Not only the sights but the people will astound you. They're polite and helpful to strangers, unlike other cities I've visited. Here they'll offer you assistance before you need ask.

Food? Did someone say food? There's more local flavor here than you'd expect. That's an additional benefit of visiting neighborhoods on foot. You have time to stop and talk with local merchants. Many neighborhood eating establishments are listed, as well as suggestions if you should pack a picnic.

Laura Foster obviously loves Portland and knows it probably better than anyone. Having hiked, biked and walked Portland neighborhoods during my childhood, I too know the thrill of discovering a new hideout or short-cut. Some familiar paths are now overgrown, and windy hillside paths such as the one from Burnside Street to Washington Park had to be closed but there are countless others to be discovered.

Great gift book, for newcomers to Portland and anyone who's lived here for years but has never really gotten to know the city. Portland, Oregon is a treasure, and I personally want to thank Laura Foster for this wonderful book.

I walk/hike with two other women once a week. We have found no other book which does what this one does. It not only provides interesting walks acurately, but also covers the history, architecture and plants along the way. I can't say enough about how much we've enjoyed this book.

This book provides some great pictures of historic Portland and compares them with current Portland images. While it's not the most expansive piece regarding Portland landmarks, it captures important aspects of Portland's history.

What an interesting idea it was to take current pictures from the same angle as old photos of Portland. The book is well done and anyone who has lived in Portland and enjoys history will love this book

This book is excellent! It has a lot of great pictures of our city and the "now" photos tried to keep the same angles and perspectives. I love this book!

The book is an excellent, extensive look into the history of Portland's elected officials. Even lifelong Portlanders will be sure to pick up some new factoid or historical reference they probably didn't know.

However, a few mistakes snuck through despite the research and footnoting effort. Nothing too bad, several typos, listing one date for an event and then listing another even in the same chapter. Nothing that couldn't be fixed by going through the book again with a different editor and cleaning up the text. It did make me wonder about the editing process she used, because the lengthy fact-checking and researching is one of the main claims of the book yet obvious errors snuck through.

This ambitious work covers more than a century and a half of the history of Portland, Oregon, from its days as a clearing in the Pacific Northwest wilderness to its present status as 28th largest city in the United States. (This review title, by the way, refers to two of the community's most prominent nicknames. "Stumptown" was an early reference to the number of trees that had to be felled to make room for the growing community; Portland lays claim to being the "city of roses" today by hosting the annual Rose Festival).

Author Jewel Lansing knows the city government from the inside; she served a term as the elected auditor. Since her retirement from elective politics, she's devoted considerable energy to researching all facets of the city's history. The story unfolds chronologically, with the 42 men and two women who have served as Portland mayor providing the thread of continuity. The text weaves together the political, business and cultural forces that have shaped today's city.

It's an often lively story. At the dawn of the twentieth century, Portland was known as a wide-open community where corruption and vice flourished. Men who ventured too close to the wrong areas of the waterfront would find themselves shanghaied for service aboard oceangoing ships. Lansing covers the wave of reform that swept the city and state shortly thereafter, and many of the great battles that dominated the ensuing decades, such as the fight over public vs. private power in the 1920s and the siting of freeways in the 1950s.

Lansing's prose is clear, straightforward and rarely given to flights of fancy or rhetorical flourishes. Exhaustively researched, well-organized and profusely illustrated, this volume is among the best ever to appear telling the Portland story.--William C. Hall

It's a startling moment when an author promotes her book by recommending its footnotes, but Jewel Lansing did just that at a book launching in City Hall in early November. After reading through her book, Portland, People, Politics and Power, 1851-2001, I want to assure the footnote-phobic that they should buy the book anyway. This is a very comprehensive book on the people and issues that shaped our city in. It's also an engaging read.

To date my standard reference works on Portland's development have been E. Kimbark MacColl's three books on some of the same topics. They are not out of date but unfortunately they are out of print. Access to city records has greatly improved since the 1970's when MacColl wrote his books and there is now a professionally organized records management system operated by the City Auditor.

Mrs. Lansing has taken full advantage of these public resources, of Dr. MacColl's original research papers (which he generously loaned), the works of many other professional historians and original materials to construct a comprehensive history of the development of our city government. There are three main areas of focus: the personalities, the issues, and the deals.

The format is fresh. Although the book is divided into sequential chapters covering 150 years of history, the flow of text is often interrupted with sidebars and boxes of additional information, an anecdote, or even a small chart or table. These enhance the main text, but can also be used to latch onto the primary narrative, if you are a reader who avoids beginning a book on page one and plowing purposefully through to the end. You can make a meal of the appetizers as it were, or they might lure you on to the main course.

While events are organized in chronological order, contents are equally tasty, for the author has an eye for quirky, intriguing morsels. For instance she describes the matter-of-fact approach of reform Mayor Allen G. Rushlight (from the Midway area of our neighborhood), a professional plumber, who was elected in 1911 for a two-year term:
"The mayor used his plumbing background to taxpayer advantage. When the city's "balky" crematory kept acting up (he) donned his old overalls and climbed inside to repair it..."
Or a comment made by pugnacious East-side developer Ben Holladay in 1869:
"Immediately after he arrived in town...he bought a large plot of land east of the river and declared that the city of the future would be on that side, that the grass would soon be growing on Front Street, and that he would make a rat-hole out of west-side Portland."
Reading a book about the city's history over a 150-year time period makes you realize that the same issues just keep coming back - where to get water, how to improve transportation, eliminate drug dealing and prostitution, pay for education and do it all without raising taxes. And we are never satisfied with our elected officials:
"Was there ever a city government managed in such a worthless and imbecile manner as this our city of Portland? We have not a continuous street that is passable with a well loaded vehicle. Current revenue is sixteen thousand dollars. What becomes of this money?" The Oregonian,1860

The book pulls no punches when it comes to contemporary issues, since Mrs. Lansing was an elected official herself between 1975-1986 (county, then city auditor) and reports as an insider on activities at City Hall under the direction of Mayors Frank Ivancie and Bud Clark and council members Schwab, Lindberg, Strachan, Jordan and Bogle. As the first city auditor to be a certified public accountant, she also describes the improvements she successfully implemented and the resistance to those changes in City Hall.

As a quick reference source, the book is invaluable for its lists in the back of the book of city officials, including dates served and in some instances place of birth, occupations, dates of birth/death. The text of the City Charter (1851) and locations of city halls (there were 18 others before our current building) are also included. Finally, there are those (foot) notes: They don't get in the way! Along with the index they are at the back of the book and constitute almost a fourth narrative that enhances the main text. As an auditor might phrase it, this is great value for the money ($30.00).

Treat yourself to an interesting read about your city, as well as a valuable reference book. Or buy it for someone on your holiday gift list. I think you will find it full of information, stories, insights and memories. It's a good read!

This book gave me a fascinating view of an area I did not know existed. Ms. Houle lets us explore the Zumwalt with her as she studies the birds of prey on the prairie, the delicate balance of the natural food chain, and the effect of human land management. I have been far more aware of the different birds of prey since reading this book. Ms. Houle's writing induced me to search out other books, identification charts, and exhibits about these fascinating creatures.

The Prairie Keepers is a charming account of a graduate student's summer wildlife biology project. I enjoyed sharing Marcy Houle's youthful enthusiasm for the rugged Zumwalt Prairie, her fascination with prairie wildlife, and her persistent efforts to determine why the buteo hawks thrived in this remote area in Oregon. Her descriptions of the adversarial relationship between the ranchers of the Zumwalt Prairie and the government employees (Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife Services, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Game) managing public land were thoughtful and well-balanced. Her recognition of the role ranchers play in preserving the Zumwalt Prairie was particularly insightful.

The remote Zumwalt Prairie in northeastern Oregon is home to a large concentration of buteo hawks - the ferruginous hawks, red-tailed hawks, and the Swainson hawks, all characterized by distinctive broad, round-tipped wings, husky bodies, and wide fanning tails. Elsewhere most hawk populations appear to be in decline. What makes the Zumwalt prairie habitat special?

Marcy Houle had a daunting summer job: locate and identify the nesting buteo population on the 200 square mile Zumwalt prairie. Climb the trees and place leg bands on the hatchlings while cautiously ignoring angry parents. Identify and measure relevant ecological parameters that might offer clues why the Zumwalt prairie is so attractive to buteo hawks.

Her account brought back memories of a summer several years ago when I mapped paleomagnetic trends in southwestern Montana. My field work was in many ways different; I certainly never climbed trees to place leg bands on hawk hatchlings! Nonetheless, I readily related to Marcy Houle's description of her field activities: careful reading of topographic maps and aerial photos, exercising care on private property, and completing transects of range conditions. Thanks to Marcy Houle for an enjoyable book.

Marcy Houle is a wildlife biologist yet her books read as easily as those of any good fiction writer. As Marcy presents the science of her work, in this case the study of hawks, the reader becomes involved in a very interesting story. As man's use of the land becomes more invasive of nature, man needs a better understanding of how his actions effect not only the earth but also himself. Marcy's study of a 200 square mile area known as "The Zumwalt Prairie" in northeastern Oregon provides an informative, interesting, and enjoyable look at man's impact on nature. Well worth reading!

The Julesburg Mysteries Series - "Whirlpool, Riptide, and Undertow" by Lorena McCourtney were all exciting suspense stories that made it hard to put down the book before the last page.

I enjoyed this book immensely and had to read it straight through. Set in the same town as the previous novel in the serious, McCourtney revisits some of the characters she's already introduced. The mystery keeps you guessing until the end leaving hints here and there for you to pick up. It's about two twins that decide to buy the old Nevermore (the theater in town). This building is surrounded by horrible "coincidences" where any person that becomes involved with it ends up dead, badly burned, or some other horrible tragedy. As you may have guessed it, that's what the two twins encounter as well. Filled with struggles towards Christianity and a well-written love story, Whirlpool is a great novel for mystery lovers, Christians, and romantics alike.

I've been collecting this author's works for some time now and this novel reaches the usual McCourtney standard. I'd even stretch this comment as far as being on a caliber up there with Dee Henderson (who I've read avidly). I recommend this novel as a good, quick read that keeps you on your toes.

Sisters Sarah McIntosh and Julie Armstrong only recently found one another before being tragically separated again by a catastrophic act of fate. They share a dream of renovating an abandoned theater called The Nevermore, hoping to create a mini-mall where they can display their artistic creations. They invite contractor Nick Nordahl to make a bid for the renovations. Their new found friendship leads to unexpected consequences, however, when a moment in time brings tragedy.

Julie falls asleep in the backseat of the car and Sarah gently covers her, leaving the car running while she runs into a convenience store for milk. Meanwhile, a masked man robs the store, killing the owner, before using Sarah's running car for his get away. He does not see the sleeping woman in the backseat, which profoundly escalates his situation. Subsequently, Sarah struggles with profound issues of grief, guilt and terror. While she believes in God, Sarah lacks the assurance of faith that sustains Nick, creating a terrible wall between them.

Once again author Lorena McCourtney pens a powerful romantic suspense. Profound questions of a spiritual nature lend the novel an emotional and psychological intensity, landing both Sarah and Nick in a riptide of feeling. Unfortunately, the nature of the Christian genre precludes the edgy suspense readers expect when the characters are analyzed from a perspective of good verses evil on a scale of spirituality. Nevertheless, the Nick's determination to save Sarah's life, even if he cannot save her soul, makes him a marvelous hero readers will treasure. With a skillful blend of romantic suspense and realistic spiritual challenges, RIPTIDE comes recommended.

This is a story about contemporary American Indian life around the Washington State and Oregon border. The author begins his acknowledgments by telling us "...this novel places fictional characters in actual places and against some historical events." The acknowledgments continue to reveal his considerable research into the history and anthropology of the Indians who live along the Columbia River, even as to the variation in pronunciation and spelling of certain Native American words from band to band. Indeed, the book reads as if many of the incidents, conflicts and jokes in the story are embellished recollections of actual events. Although billed as fiction, River Song is more a chronicle on the folklore and contemporary lifestyle of some Northwest Indians. I'll call it Indian Gonzo Journalism.

In River Song, you are going to read about the trials and tribulations of a people living in trailers or BIA housing, and who refer to The Treaty on occasion. They are stuck together by an ethnic bond, but in culture that allows them to con and cheat one another. These people know how to pronounce Tiskaatpama and Tsau-tsau; they might eat at Cimiyetti's restaurant or picnic in Happy Canyon or at Preacher's Point. Although the principal characters have common names like Danny, Jack, and Willis, you will also meet Iggy Two Medicine, Lucy Pretty Mink, and "one of the best-looking young women around Mission," who never wears a bra, called Trudy Two Sleeps, perhaps because her winnemucca has been here and there.

These people survive near the bottom rung of the ladder by rodeoing, picking fruit and fishing. They save the Segram's Seven for "Code Blue Emergencies." As migrant workers, Danny and Jack work along side illegal immigrants, Mexicans, who are the brunt of all their jokes.

River Song is not just about the economic struggle of a band of contemporary Native Americans. Mr. Lesley tells us something of their history, and their beliefs, about Steah-hah masks, Night Ghosts, Weyekin animal spirits, and the value of dentalia shells. Danny, the protagonist, has a vision of the Chinese Massacre of 1887 on the Snake River, an actual event. At first, Danny doesn't know the relevance of this vision, doesn't recognize the river, and is even uncertain as to whether the victims are Indians or Chinese with suntans. To sort it out, he consults Wauna the medicine woman and we learn how these people tame their ancestral spirits.

Being a Yankee raised amongst buttercups and maple trees, I also learned more than I ever wanted to know about the vegetation in Northern Oregon. Up there they have bunch grass, hackberry, klamath weeds, service berries, snake-biscuit, blue bachelor buttons, bitter brush, camas bulbs, lupine, cheat grass, balsam root, rock lilies, and bluebells, to name a few. Leslie Craig did teach me something valuable, though. Now I can to tell the difference between Indians and Chinese with suntans. The Indian is the one telling the Mexican joke.

A wonderful novel about the cultures and the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. This is one of my favorite novels. When I teach it, my students find that it changes the way they look at the world. Read it!

"River Song" picks up where Lesley's previous novel, "Winterkill," left off. Unfortunately, it's not as strong as its predecessor, since some of the situations the characters become involved in seem a bit contrived. Lesley seems to resort to the device of suspense to keep the story going: early in the novel, the main character, Danny Kachiah, has a disturbing vision which he spends much of the novel trying to figure out by visiting, among other things, a medicine woman on the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho. It seems that this whole aspect of the story was added just to tie in certain actual historical events and give the characters an excuse to travel about the countryside in Eastern Oregon and Idaho. Also, Danny eventually figures out where his vision took place, but Lesley never really explains how. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would have been grounds for tossing the book aside, but Lesley has such a talent for evoking place and time that it's hardly noticeable while you're reading. Thus, Lesley's engrossing style tends to gloss over these and other shortcomings, making "River Song" a very compelling tale. The other aspect of the story, the struggle of the Native Americans along the Columbia River to maintain their fishing rights and thereby preserve their traditions, is handled very well. In a very direct yet unassuming style, Lesley adeptly describes the frustations of the River People in dealing with the U.S. government, the local authorities, commerical fishing operations and sport fishermen and even windsurfers. As with "Winterkill," the characters in "River Song" are very believable, and you often find yourself thinking about them as real people - which attests to Lesley's talent as a top-notch writer.

If you've ever driven along a highway or road and noticed the different layers of rocks and soils on the "cut-bank", then this book is for you! Just pick a main road in OR between two points, such as HWY 101 from Tillamook to Florence, and the geology along the way is spelled out for you. It gives a basic geology of the entire state as well, with a few unusaul graphics that work well with the author's explanations.

A nice addition to anyone's geology library. Alt and Hyndman cover every corner of Oregon, and explain the major players in the shape of the landscape clearly and succinctly, as well as local aspects of geology. There's the added bonus of being able to jump in the car and find what they've written about as they provide regional maps, indicating formations, special interest items and more.

Mention "Oregon" and the average traveler thinks of Crater Lake, the Columbia Gorge, and miles of trackless evergreen forest. The more seasoned may be familiar with Newberry Volcano, Mount Hood, and the Oregon Dunes along the Pacific coast. But there is much more, and this is the book to show it to you, give you good directions, and explain why the secenery looks the way it does. Once you read this book, even if you never get there, you will know why Oregon is the Unknown Gem of the West.

The writing is clear and concise, and the routes along which the reader is taken are well chosen. Photography is black and white, and this detracts a bit, but is easily overcome.

Oregon has more geologically recent sites of volcanism than any other state in the Lower 49, and you are directed past many of these. So for anyone into volcanoes, as I am, the book is a must. The various volcanic processes and minerals that formed thse features are excellently explained.

The book also addresses Oregon's many spectacular canyons, as well as its matchless seacoast, its waterfalls, and its sand dunes. Virtually unknown facts, such as the largest U.S. meteorite being known, but not found, near Port Orford, are brought to light, along with a thousand other facts of the same genre.

I would be remiss if I did not praise authors Hyndman and Alt, along with Mountain Press, for this fine book, and others of its kind, covering other states, mostly in the West. All are highly recommended, and will make any tourist's time more well spent and enjoyable.

Sarah's Long Ride, by Susan Page Davis, is a story of a girl on a new life journey. After the tragic death of her mother, fourteen-year old Sarah Piper goes to live with her uncle Joe on his ranch in Eastern Oregon. She hardly knows her uncle, but he offers to let Sarah bring her horse, Icicle, and her mother's horse, Clover, along. Desperate to keep both horses, Sarah acclimates to isolated life in the country and tries to get to know her shy uncle. She worries he doesn't like her and never really wanted to have a teenage girl come live with him.

She watches him train horses and keeps Icicle and Clover in shape by riding them every day. The horses once competed in endurance races. Sarah hopes Uncle Joe will partner with her as a sponsor for the Bandicoot 100, a big upcoming race.

Sarah misses her mother desperately. As time goes on, she and Uncle Joe grow closer, and she starts to learn his way of communicating. He truly does care for her. They have love for God and horses in common. Uncle Joe signs them up for the Bandicoot 100, the longest ride of Sarah's life. By the time the race starts, Sarah has learned to lean on God for strength in any pursuit in life.

Sarah's Long Ride is a heartwarming story of perseverance and faithfulness in all things. I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Uncle Joe become a family. Recommended.

This book may be listed as a 9-12 year old read, but that doesn't begin to do this book proper justice! I read it by myself with the intent of going back and reading it with my 11 year old daughter. I enjoyed it so much that it will be a family read instead as all 5 of my children ages 3-11 will love getting to know Sarah, Uncle Joe, Junior, Miss Rose, Aunt Becky and Eric. Susan Page Davis takes us inside Sarah's world - a 14 year old girl who is suddenly left all alone after a tragic accident takes her mom away from her and her dad died 8 years previously. Uncle Joe, a quiet, solitary bachelor takes her in on his horse farm which allows her to keep her horse and her mom's horse. As they settle into a routine, Uncle Joe finally agrees to ride with Sarah in the Bandicoot 100, which her mom had previously registered to do with Sarah. This leads us inside the world of distance horse racing which turned out to be fascinating! This is Sarah's first time to do a 100 (100 miles in under 24 hours) though she and her mother had completed a 50 mile race shortly before her mom passed away.

God's provision is the phrase that kept coming to mind as I read this book, God's provision for Sarah (and Uncle Joe) even when they didn't know what they needed.

This was just a really great book and I can't wait to see what Susan brings us in the next installment of The Piper Ranch Series!

Review:
I was pleasantly surprised that this was not your typical story about a girl who becomes an orphan; is left with adults who do horrible things to that orphan. Quite the opposite is true in this book. Sarah is the orphan who loses her mom unexpectedly two weeks before "The Bandicoot 100" in Oregon. That is the competition that Sarah and her mom were registered to compete in together.

After Sarah's mom dies she isn't sure how her uncle really feels about her and why he wanted her to live with him in the first place. But as the story unfolds you see both Sarah and her Uncle live and breathe horses and God. That is their connection. It was difficult for them at first to work out new routines for their lives and learn about one another. It was fascinating how both Sarah and Uncle Joe planned their days around caring for the many horses on the Piper Ranch. They also had to work out how they could find time to train the horses for the competition and do the normal chores.

Sarah's faith is tested and she learns to press into her faith in God her father. She takes comfort in scripture one night (Isaiah 65:24) "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

Sarah's prayer that night is "Thank you for answering my prayer, Father;" she whispers "You gave me everything I needed, even when I was too hurt to know what that was...Thanks especially for Uncle Joe. You know we needed each other."

I was amazed at all the checks and balances that were planned within the Bandicoot 100 competition. Everyone wants to make sure that the horses and humans do not get hurt or abused during the race. Susan does a great job about taking you inside the world of horse competition and horse care. It was very interesting to read.

This is a story of faith, hope and love as you get to know Sarah and Uncle Joe. See their struggle to get to know each other and become a family unit. This story will grab your heart strings. You don't have to be a horse lover to enjoy this story. I highly recommend this book for everyone to read.

Nora St.Laurent
Book Club Servant Leader
Novel Journey Reviewer