Idaho Books

Bill Mason's No Nonsense Guide To Fly Fishing In Idaho is a slender but invaluable compendium of useful, descriptive information on some of Idaho's best streams and lakes for fly fishing. With Mason's detailed, hand-drawn maps and annotations, anyone can plan their next Idaho bound fishing excursion with confidence. This superbly presented, "user friendly" guide covers the Salmon River, Silver Creek, Henry's Fork, The Teton, Kelly Creek, the Clearwater, the Big Wood, the South Fork of the Boise, the South Fork of the Snake, high mountain lakes, and more! If you are planning a fishing trip anywhere in Idaho, begin with Bill Mason's No Nonsense Guide To Fly Fishing In Idaho!

Most of this book is interestingly mostly to literary historians or really-dedicated Oregonians. Mr. Davis was a character in his own right, but for most I don't recommend his essays and imaginative, fact-bending "non-fiction" portrayals of Oregon.

However, buy the book for three pieces of short fiction, one of which is perhaps my favorite short story of all, beating out some pretty stout competition from Albert Camus and James Joyce.

The third best story is "Open Winter", a richly-described opportunity to experience youth and mentoring through the lens of a just-beginning sheep-driver in the early 1900's. It's mildly profound but sweet reading.

The second best story is "Old Man Isbell's Wife". It's a humorous ode to the passing of the old west and the old-timers that peopled it. It works at the superficial level of humorous satire, at a slightly deeper level of social satire, and is best at extolling some values of genuineness, compassion, and vigorous living.

The real gem is "The Homestead Orchard." This beautifully crafted masterpiece is, in my opinion, the best work to come from this Pulitzer-prizewinning writer. It is at once hilarious, beautiful, exciting, and stunningly profound. I get misty-eyed every time I reread it. The final three-line paragraph clicks home oh so softly and simply. Why, oh why did he only write three short stories?

"The Kettle of Fire", while fictional, isn't really a short story but an original "legend". It's okay, but disappointing after some of the rest.

Davis fans will find his traits demonstrated: long sentences, rich descriptions of nature--both the beautiful and the blighted, minor characters that are humorous caricatures, and rich descriptions of place and history.

This is a little-known and under-appreciated author whose works are not of even quality. Following is my list of his works that I've read, in order of my esteem from highest to lowest.

1. The Homestead Orchard--Humorous, sad, joyous, beautifully crafted short story about a father and son.
2. Winds Of Morning--novel of a junior-grade lawman
3. Old Man Isbell's Wife--Humorous short story
4. The Distant Music--reminiscent, a little, of East of Eden
5. Open Winter--sheepherding story
6. Beulah Land--epic novel of pioneers
7. All of Davis's essays
8. The Kettle of Fire--a fictional legend
9. Honey in the Horn--spare yourself! Overlong, random, Pulitzer-prize winning, historically inaccurate, pointless

This book had personal meaning for me as it is the story of my great aunt. Growing up I had always heard about my family's trips to Idaho to see Frances. I laid in bed as a child as my grandfather told me stories about hunting bear with Frances and the great times they had. My eyes were filled with wonderment, much as they were after I read this book. It is a true story and I'm proud to say that she was a relative of mine. To read all of the different tales I had heard growing up put together in one book was great. I have lent my autographed copy to many people and all have enjoyed it as much as I did. It truly is a wonderful story.

I have read this book more than once and highly reccomend it to anyone hungry for a refreshing book! It's written with great taste and will truly make you laugh out loud. The experinces are real and you can easily picture them in your mind. The main character is like your brother or like a friend the whole way threw. It's like a good buddy telling you of his experinces. It easy to read and a whole lot of fun

The guide provides excellent trail information for novice and experienced hikers embarking on a day trip or longdistance excursion. The book rates each hike, offers a trail map, and gives directions for getting there. Seventy-four trails are listed, grouped by geographic location. Includes hiker's checklist, glossary, rules for low-impact wilderness recreation. I recommend both the book and the trails.

Mort Arkava's "Hiking the Bitterroots" is a definite winner with "rec heads" locally and otherwise.

His book leads you to the trailheads of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Montana and Idaho with it's pristine forests, rushing creeks, alpine meadows and towering peaks.

Each of the 41 hikes varies in length as well as endurance. Each hike's description is accurate as well as descriptive and detailed. Mort provides you with trailhead directions, trail descriptions and sketch maps. You know that Arkava has hiked every trail more than once.

He has made it easy for beginners and experts alike to get out there and explore. So let's go! Let's get out there! And don't forget your moleskin, your extra pair of socks and of course, "Hiking the Bitterroots" by Mort Arkava.

Bluestein creates wonderful hiking guides, full of useful information and details about the hikes so you will be prepared. He includes detailed maps and pictures of the areas. He gives the level of difficulty, length of the hikes, and which maps you will need. This book contains hikes in the West Central area of Idaho, in the Mountain ranges North of Boise. There are none listed South of Boise.

Tressa spent a lot of time compiling information for this book. She has compilied information for two other hard bound books about hers and her husbands personal family history, each about 750 pages of stories, pistures, family history, and memories.

This is a must read book for understanding the equipment and the horse power that was needed to farm the large wheatland farms of the Northwest. Thomas Keith lived and worked on these farms as a young man and his knowlege has been preserved between the cover of this remarkable book.

This is a valuable book (resource) for budding entrepreneurs. It seems to try to cover all the bases for starting a small business, but it can't do them all well in the space available between its covers. The book is only 288 pages long. If you are in the planning stages of starting a small business, then I highly recommend you get a copy of this book. Read it, study it, and outline it. There are helpful checklists to help you grasp the subjects. You will come up with a plethora of keywords and terms that you will want to google to find Web pages giving more detailed (and maybe more current) information.

I am a SCORE counselor (Senior Corps of Retired Executives) who typically does face-to-face counseling sessions three nights a month. It would really be neat if my clients would read this book BEFORE they came to their session with me because they would pretty much be "educated customers" ready to ask educated questions. Our sessions would be so much more beneficial.

My favorite chapters were:

1. Initial business concerns
2. Your business' structure
3. Business start-up details
5. Sources of business assistance (SCORE is mentioned here)
7. Your smart business plan (and a good sample plan is included)
8. Obtaining the financing you need

The book is weak when it comes to how the Internet can be used in corresponding, hiring, and marketing. But this is just one example of how googling keywords and concepts found in the book will make the book more complete. Don't treat the book as authoritative on the law. It isn't. Nor was it ever intended to be. It is light on tax information as it relates to small business.

I was particularly impressed with the material presented in Chapter 2: Choice of Legal Entity. That subject is sorely ignored in most small business books, and it is critically important. It is a subject I regularly must spend a great deal of time discussing at my SCORE sessions. This book does a pretty good job on the topic.

Chapters 4 and 9 through 12 are easy to find fault with. The topic of each could fill a book. But having these topics covered definitely will help a budding entrepreneur know some of the issues they raise.

I would have liked the book more if Chapter 6 (marketing) had been less superficial. When I read it I got the impression that the author was more a public relations expert than a marketing expert. I generally categorize public relations as a subset of marketing. Marketing includes advertising, public relations, and a whole host of other promotion techniques. I did not get this message when I read the book. I also would have liked the book better if the Internet, email, and Web sites had been discussed more. But there are many books on those subjects. Therefore, I can't complain too much about the limited discussion of computers.

When you read this book it may feel a little like it was produced on an assembly line. Maybe it was? There are 51 versions of this book sold; one for each state and the District of Columbia. Content is king, and this book has it. 5 stars!