Mexico Books

We came across this book at the local library and loved it because it incorporated some Spanish words within the stories! My daughter looks for it everytime we go to the library! She loves it and loves to practice filling in the Spanish word when we read the story together... she is only 3 right now! I highly recommend this book for some great short stories with an introduction to bilingualism!

These three simple stories are beautifully written glimpses into the day to day life of a little Mexican girl named Rosa. Magical things happen in her world and the paintings that accompany the text bring that magic to life and give it texture. Oh sure, the book teaches about responsibility and sharing, the importance of helping others and telling the truth, but it doesn't preach. It is a lovely book that my 3 year old never tires of. As a bonus, there are about 20 simple spanish words to enhance the experience. A first-rate keeper and a first-rate gift!

Chaco Canyon is in the middle of nowhere, a unexceptional canyon in the New Mexico desert where nobody in his right mind would try to make a living. All the more amazing is that this barren place was the center of the Anasazi civilization. The Great House of Pueblo Bonito is the largest pre-historic building north of Mexico, counting 800 rooms and constructed about 1,000 years ago.

Chaco is mysterious and this book of seventeen essays by authorities in several fields explores those mysteries. One is given the point of view of the scholars as well as representatives of the Pueblo, Hopi, and the Navajo Indians. Good charts, maps, and photos, some in color, support the text. Perhaps the most interesting of all the mysteries is how the Anasazi fed themselves in this unpromising environment and a brief sidebar talks about Chaco agriculture -- although not enough.

The most interesting essay in the book is titled "The Chaco Navajos" and is about the coming of the Navajos, the Spaniards, and the Anglos to Chaco Canyon long after the Anasazi had disappeared. Included is a brief account of pioneer archaeologist, Richard Wetherill, killed in a gunfight with a Navajo in 1910. "Richard Wetherill Anasazi" by Frank McNitt is a fine biography of Wetherill, a character worthy of legend.

"In Search of Chaco" is an attractive, up-to-date look at current theories and thinking about Chaco. One suspects there's a lot more to learn. One quibble: I despise the politically correct term "Ancestral Pueblo" used by the scholars for the people who built Chaco. The old and romantic name, "Anasazi," is far preferable.

Smallchief

Chaco Canyon is in the middle of nowhere, a unexceptional canyon in the New Mexico desert where nobody in his right mind would try to make a living. All the more amazing is that this barren place was the center of the Anasazi civilization. The Great House of Pueblo Bonito is the largest pre-historic building north of Mexico, counting 800 rooms and constructed about 1,000 years ago.

Chaco is mysterious and this book of seventeen essays by authorities in several fields explores those mysteries. One is given the point of view of the scholars as well as representatives of the Pueblo, Hopi, and the Navajo Indians. Good charts, maps, and photos, some in color, support the text. Perhaps the most interesting of all the mysteries is how the Anasazi fed themselves in this unpromising environment and a brief sidebar talks about Chaco agriculture -- although not enough.

The most interesting essay in the book is titled "The Chaco Navajos" and is about the coming of the Navajos, the Spaniards, and the Anglos to Chaco Canyon long after the Anasazi had disappeared. Included is a brief account of pioneer archaeologist, Richard Wetherill, killed in a gunfight with a Navajo in 1910. "Richard Wetherill Anasazi" by Frank McNitt is a fine biography of Wetherill, a character worthy of legend.

"In Search of Chaco" is an attractive, up-to-date look at current theories and thinking about Chaco. One suspects there's a lot more to learn. One quibble: I despise the politically correct term "Ancestral Pueblo" used by the scholars for the people who built Chaco. The old and romantic name, "Anasazi," is far preferable.

Smallchief

Lisa Sandlin's new collection is worth two reads. I just reread it and love the world we enter. It's a place that's mystical and spiritual and filled with salt of the earth characters who are searching for more from life. I'm reminded of Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez with their magical realism. Sandlin's third collection is beautifully written, deep and multilayered in complex characters and a joy to read and savor.Keep your eye on Lisa Sandlin. She's a writer worth knowing and watching. If you haven't heard of her, she has two other collections--The Famous Thing About Death and Message to the Nurse of Dreams--worth reading. Thank you, Lisa, for your stories. I'm sure you will give us another collection soon.

First, a disclaimer: I am acquainted with Ms. Sandlin, as she was once a colleague. But she's a fellow writer, so I was equally prepared to see, and to enjoy, either her failure or her success. That's two different species of enjoyment, however, and so I can say I was immensely pleased to read "In the River Province" for all the reasons that would do me credit.

"In the River Province" is Lisa Sandlin's third collection of short stories, each better than the one before it, and this one matchless in its artistry and its vivid depiction of the lives of Anglo and Hispanic inhabitants of New Mexico both contemporary and historical. Like some literary descendant of Chaucer, she uses the annual pilgrimage from Santa Fe to the village of Chimayo as the focal point of three stories ("'Orita on the Road to Chimayo," "Everything Moves," and "I Loved You Then, I Love You Still"); not surprisingly, while on their hegira the protagonists in those stories search their souls and rearrange the way they define themselves, but introspection never bogs the stories down and they stay vividly active in the colorful present moment of the pilgrimage and of their companions and their lives. Two other stories, likewise set in Santa Fe, round out the portrait of life in that city - "Night Class" contains a long passage about the terrors of teaching for the first time that everyone who has stepped in front of a class will readily identify with. "Another Exciting Day in Santa Fe" celebrates a long friendship between a man and a woman, a rare thing to see and a pleasure to watch unfold.

But the highest peak in this Sangre de Christo range is far and away the novella entitled "The Saint of Bilocation," a marvelously ambitious, moving, and suspenseful account by a New Mexican priest who has been called back to Spain in 1630 to interview a nun who claims to be traveling miraculously to Santa Fe without transporting her body, where she allegedly works wonders, converting the Indian population. Based on historical documents by Fray Antonio Jimenez Vera, who worked with New Mexico's indigenous peoples for decades, the novella follows his fictional representation as he arrives in Spain properly skeptical yet willing to concede the possibility of the nun's miraculous claim. The story poses a vivid contrast and tension between practical religious practice and mystical faith, between reason and the imagination, and it speaks to our time very well. Lisa Sandlin makes Fray Antonio's mission itself a suspenseful undertaking (is the abbess Sor Maria de Agreda a saint or a charlatan?), and a brilliant coda to the story is slyly and meaningfully ambiguous.

Edith Warner's own words exceed in beauty and simpicity anyone else's account of what her experiences were like in Northern New Mexico during the era of the making of the atomic bomb. Captured for the reader are the feelings of an anglo woman being accepted by Native Americans, the difficult life a woman making it on her own, and her intense feelings about how the war affected pueblo people.
Editor, Patrick Burns, has done a fine job of editing and staying true to the spirit of these wonderful writings!

Edith Warner came to New Mexico from the East in 1922, seeking a place to regain her failing physical health. Rather, she found a place ideal for her spiritual health, an ancient land where she felt at peace. She settled into a little house beside the Rio Grande at a lonely railroad siding called Otowi, where she supervised the off loading of freight. Ironically, in that out-of-the-way location, fate placed her at a crossroads in time, to live between the pastoral life of the neighboring Pueblo Indians and the frenzied pace of nearby scientists ushering in the atomic age at Los Alamos. In the midst of these different worlds, Edith completed her personal journey and touched the lives of everyone who passed her way, from sheepherders and potters to world-renowned physicists. Her story has been presented in two previous books, THE HOUSE AT OTOWI BRIDGE, a memoir and southwestern classic by Peggy Pond Church, and THE WOMAN AT OTOWI CROSSING, a fictionalized and altered version of Edith's life by Frank Waters. Now, IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS offers the story through Edith's own writing, with a preface to set the stage.

As a reviewer, I am suppose to tell you whether or not you will enjoy this book, but such a prediction would be based solely on opinion. What I can tell you is that Patrick Burns, the book's editor, was passionately dedicated to his project on Edith Warner and that his admiration of Edith, despite never having met her, shows through in his work. Burns pursued lost documents in dusty archives, salvaged old letters that were about to be destroyed, and talked with Edith's friends and relatives from around the country to gather and preserve this record of her writing, which includes published and unpublished articles, letters, and surviving portions of her journal. IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS is the result of years of in-depth research into a remarkable woman and a place in time. Edith's story leads the reader to wonder what might have become of her had she stayed in Pennsylvania, never having found her little house by the river, but we will never know because Edith recognized that she was right where she was suppose to be. She pursued her destiny. Through this book, she continues to inspire others to do the same. My opinion? You will more than enjoy IN THE SHADOW OF LOS ALAMOS.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE VOLCANO: ONE FAMILY'S BAJA ADVENTURE is adventure reading at its best: in the early 1970s the author and his family explored Baja, living in a tiny hut they constructed on a remote beach. But that didn't end their adventure: in 1985 they revisited the area with their sons ages and 8, living for a summer in another beachside hut. Their first-person adventures offer warm reflections on local culture and family experiences alike.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I loved this book--his descriptions of the beauty of the place they lived really made me want to see it. I have not traveled in Baja but now I want to go to Bahia de Los Angeles where they lived.
I especially liked the way he wrote about the wildlife and the different animals they owned, the burro and the chickens and their dogs. The whales and the dolphins that swam in the bay nearby, too.
I think they were a brave couple to take their little boys to live on the beach. It sounds like it was good for them bonding as a family, though, and what a great place to spend your vacations!

I just began reading Reck's book and it seems to me that it will be very informative and enjoyable. I suppose I have no buisness writing a review when I haven't even completed the book, but I can recommend that Reck's voice be heard by all interested in the effects of globalization on independent cultures through the anthropological scope. I am in one of Reck's classes now, so I can put my word behind this novel. I know what he says is not only out of great knowledge of what he's talking about, but also of tremendous compassion for his subjects. Read this book.

I had the benefit of taking some of Dr. Reck's anthropology courses and reading this book. From what he tells me, there were many who were reluctant to call it anthropology at the time it was written because it was written as a story rather than a positivist ethnography written with a "voice from nowhere." One might criticize the book for not going far enough and demonstrating reflexivity by including himself within the text, but this is a minor point. This book conveys something about the culture in a readable way, which is the essence of a good ethnography in my opinion.

This book is a wonderful glimpse into the lives of ordinary people who struggle with all the problems you can imagine. It is a testament to deeply-held faith and how it works. It made me happy to read all the stories and see that you CAN get through the worst of times.

Retablos are oil paintings on metal that give thanks for divine intervention in a tough time, like escaping before your best friend finds you in bed with his wife. There is very little text besides a translation of the explanation of each event painted on each picture. There are probably about 100 pictures of retablos in this book, mostly by Afredo Vilchis Roque or his sons.There are a few from the artists own collection going back to the 1920's. There are twenty different sections based on subject like prostitution, drowning, circus accidents and September 11. The artwork is very colorful and humble, if someone fell from the roof she is pictured upside down, the way a child would probably paint it. The prayers are written in a more phonetic Spanish, for example, gracias is spelled grasias, vende becomes bende, etc. A great introduction to the subject and you can't beat the price.

In this intriguing book, Polk closely examines the historical record of a myth. The idea that California was an island persisted for two centuries despite reports from explorers that the Baja California peninsula was connected to the American mainland. That myth was linked to others, including those of golden cities and of an island ruled by women. The book is most interesting when Polk describes the linkages between the California myth, the mythical Strait of Anian, and the Northwest Passage so eagerly sought by the English and other northern Europeans. In that case, the myth was intertwined with geopolitical maneuvering, including disinformation. The book is generously illustrated with old maps. The only negative is that the long quotes from documents sometimes slow down the forward motion of the narrative, though they may be necessary for academic thoroughness.

The author uses an impressive accumulation of scholarly research--maps, documents, explorers' accounts--to trace the origin and development of the myth that California was an island. Highly readable and very clearly organized and written. Although I found her conclusion that the island myth comes from what people project onto California (from an ecopsychological standpoint, the myth might represent the imaginal presence of the landscape protecting itself) to be reductive, this is an invaluable resource for anyone researching early Californian cartography, especially as a history of errors.

This book was perfect for my adventure loving 6 year-old son. I am looking for more titles by this author. The puzzles really make you think!

Jack's Time Machine is a delightful book suitable for young and old alike! It follows a magical and beautifully illustrated journey of a young boy and his trusted friend Scruff to the land of the Aztecs. The book contains five challenging conundrums, which have been skilfully integrated into the story as to make the reader feel that they are assisting Jack and Scruff in their quest. However the author has been kind enough to supply all of the solutions at the back of the book, just in case!

Dan James has once again proved that he is a man of many talents, a puzzle setter, author, and above all, a fine artist. The full-page illustrations are truly captivating and make it quite impossible for me to pick a favourite. To that end, it will ensure that Jack's Time Machine will remain a firm bedtime favourite for many a year to come.

There is however one puzzle who's solution still eludes me .... "Why has this book only been published in the States and Canada, when Mr James is British?" Thank you Amazon for bring this book to my attention!

Readers seeking a fast-paced thriller with a different flavor will relish Janus Deception, a story of international intrigue and a chemical weapons program gone awry. When Commander Jake discovers mysteries surrounding a sick soldier's murder, he teams up with beautiful agent Kaci to probe the depths of a program which has caused the death of an entire Mexican village, and which threatens the world. Fast action and unpredictable twists make this hard to put down.

John Bayer's The Janus Deception is a thrilling novel with a deep inner message of faith. Lieutenant Commander and recent widower Jake Madsen feels he has little left to live for, when he discovers a conspiracy to test chemical weapons on U.S. soldiers. He must fight against faceless computers and a human mass that has abdicated responsibility both without and within, and hold close to his steadfast faith as a Christian. The Janus Deception is far more than just another action/adventure novel; it is also a cautionary tale of the perils that await humanity should it forsake morality for money.