Nevada Books

Mrs. Davis has been a friend of our family for nearly 50 years. As a child, I heard many stories about her upbringing in Battle Mountain, NV and the challenges and hardships she faced as a child. I also heard more than a few stories about her fabulous cooking. Only now, as a middle-aged man do I get to experience some of her cuisine outside of an all-too-rare visit to her kitchen.

I have only recently received my copy, but the two selections I have tried so far have been unique and mouth watering. I can heartily recommend this book, both as a lover of food and as one who appreciates the stories, anecdotes, and vignettes included in this unique work.

I guarantee you'll like it.

Chorizos in an Iron Skillet is a disspointing cook book. I know and am very familiar with Basque cooking, therefore, the recipes here are a big let down. I had heard so much about this book before its publication and had great expectations. Mrs. Davis presents a mix of recipes of (what she refers to as) 1.old world, 2. new world adaptations, and 3.American recipes. At best there are maybe 4 or 5 recipes in the entire book that prompted any interest. It is not clear why she would even include American recipes (they're out of place in this book). There are some truly weird recipes, such as Sangria made with Fresca, and orange soda? Just because they may be serving this in some tapa bar in Bilbao or San Sebastian does not make it Basque nor does it make it good! It is very sweet that Mrs. Davis has all these wonderful memories of her childhood in Nevada but her recounting of them is rather boring and uninspired. Please skip this book.

This is the 1995 edition which, while useful in showing how Slot Clubs work, is hopelessly outdated in its particulars. I had understood that there would be a 1998 edition which would have been more useful. None of the newer casinos is listed here because of the book's age. I also know for fact that the club at MGM Grand has changed its modus operandi since this book was written. If you want an overview of how slot clubs work, this book could be for you. I cannot recommend it for current information.

I am heading for Las Vegas again very soon and am going through this book very carefully to decide where I will do most of my playing. This is the 3rd time I am using this book as a reference to guide me to the best places to play slots and video poker. I had hoped a newer edition would be out by now, hence the 4 rating rather than a 5, but don't let that stop you from buying this book. The am't of info
contained in this book will guide the new and the veteran
Las Vegas gambler alike. I won't leave home without it!

It would seem that this book has not been updated in some time since The Blue Man Group hasn't been performing at Luxor for over a year.

I recently took my family to Las Vegas. With young children we were not able to spend time in the casinos. I bought this guide and it helped me to plan the vacation which included details on nightlife, shows, and celebrity restaurants. The guide was easy to carry around and offered options that could fit into any budget. We found out that there was more to do in Vegas than gamble!

Very highly recommended, Magpies And Mayflies: An Introduction To Plants And Animals Of The Central Valley And Sierra Foothills is knowledgeably co-authored by Derek Madden, Ken Charters and Cathy Snyder. An invaluable resource for ecological explorers of (and casual visitors to) the central valley and Sierra Foothills. Magpies And Mayflies is a perfectly "user friendly", informed and informative guide to flora and fauna of the fields and hills of the beautiful and endless Sierra area.

Magpies and Mayflies is written by three scientists which implies the writing is factual and trustworthy. I happen to be a bat specialist so naturally turned first to the chapter on bats and was amazed by the innaccuracies and plain heresey. The authors make the claim that "airborne droplets of urine loosed by bats inside of houses have infected humans with rabies". This is an absolute fairy tale unsupported by any evidence what-so-ever and perpetuates the myth that bats are dangerous and scary creatures.

The ONLY case where humans may have contracted rabies through areoslized virus was two spelunkers in prolonged and inimate contact with MILLIONS of bats in a New Mexico cave in the 1950's - and the validity of even these cases is seriously questioned by the CDC.

By chance I flipped to page 121 where the authors claim the red legged frog is "only found in the Coast Range and Golden Gate Park". In fact, colonies of red legged frogs have been under long term study across the Sierra foothills.

For a natural science book to be so laced with serious errors does a disservice to any reader who cannot separate the fact from the fiction. I would suggest spending the time reading a few field guides rather than Magpies and Mayflies.

I was really surprised that there was another Nevada book by Zane Grey. I had originally wanted another copy of the first book, Nevada, but when I saw this one I just had to buy it. Thanks!

Book was not written by Zane Grey, but by his son. He is nowhere near the author that his father was. There were numerous typos and mistakes all through the book. I bought the book beleiving it was written by Zane
Grey, but it was based on characters created by Zane Grey.
Very dissapointing.

I picked this book up while I was in a museum in Reno. The author is the brother of the former U.S. Senator from Nevada, Paul Laxalt. I took a few tours while I was in Reno (along with some gambling)and when I later read this book, I knew what book my guides had read, prior to doing their job with the tourists. I doubt if any state's history can be made interesting, but Laxalt does a good job. Nevada is an interesting state compared to the rest of the nation, and the author relates why: precious metals, prize fighting, easy divorce, legal hooking and gambling. All in a state that is at heart very conservative.
This is a short read, and for those who travel to Vegas or Reno often, a necessary read. Why did Nevada become the way it did? The book answers this question and details some of the interesting characters of Nevada (Mark Twain, Bugsy Seigal, along with a number of politicos). At a little over 130 pages, this is a great read to take on the plane to Vegas.

I wouldn't recommend this book for new residents. Too dry, facts are slanted toward the monetary rather than the "interesting" side of history.

This the most useless climbing guide I have ever seen.

There are 3 guidebooks available for Red Rocks. The best one one is the new eddition of Mountaineers guide edited by Roxanne Brock, which is a very comrehensive, and gives good route descriptions pitch by pitch. It is similar to 'Falcon' guide; in fact it is a copy of it with much improved topos and graphics. It is also somewhat better organized then 'Falcon' guide and provides stellar guide for each route; very helpful. I definitely recommend it.

The only good thing about supertopo guide are actually topos but unfortunately the number of routes described in this book is very limited. I can only guess that the author included only routes he has done, otherwise I cannot understandthe reason of producing the guidebook to a fenomenal climbing area including only 10% routes or so.

Second problem with the book is a lack of detailed route descriptions; instead the author decided to suggest strategy of doing the route consisting of a statement such as that the route is very popular and you should start early to be first in line to avoid waiting in the que; I guess this is really difficult to figure out yourself.

Third problem with the book is the lack of directions on how to get to the route. OK after few days and after talking to other climbers, who have climbed there for few days, you can get a good orientation but if you don't have anyone to ask for directions, you cannot work-out from this book.

The book looks impressive if you never climbed in Red Rocks, but if you did, it is absolutely useless, unless you really want to limit yourself to a small number of routes described in the book.

So do yourself a favor and don't waste your money for this particular book; go for Mountaineers guide, it is very good and useful. Besides it is cheaper. I bought this book because it was offered in the electronic form and I could print it out and reap easily pages with topos for the route.

And go climbing in Red Rocks, it is really a stellar climbing area.

I've got every Red Rocks guide ever published, which is about 10 books, including a really old one published in Rock and Ice around 1982. This guide is not comprehensive but contains a good selection of classic long routes. One thing I enjoyed was the historical information on each route. For example, Triassic Sands has a section on the history of this climb that can't be found anywhere else.

However, if you just want to get up these routes you may think all this history is unnecessary. Red Rocks is a difficult area for one guide book as there are such a wide variety of climbs, from single pitch sport routes to multi-pitch sport routes to full day trad affairs. This book does seem to emphasize the latter and if you are more into sport climbing you are probably better off buying one of the comprehensive guides.

The photos in this book are superb. The online version, in particular, has some really good shots. I guess they reproduce better on a monitor than on paper.

This is a facsimile of the 1859 Report presented by the Army, Corps of topographical engineers.

There wasn't anything to review...how do you see the preview to review?

This book was slanted to create confusion. The truth behind this incident was never fully disclosed to the public. Yes, Mr. Tarkanian is a great coach, but the picture that prompted the entire deal was never about him. The reason why the picture appeared in the public is a greater story than you could ever imagine, and no one thought of asking the right questions. Mr.Yaeger missed many of the facts with his own interpretation of reality, but that's what a scandel is all about? Some day the true story will be told!

I enjoyed this book, mainly because I am a fan of Jerry Tarkanian. I would read this again because I found it enjoyable. I did not live in Vegas while Tark was there, so I can't verify if it's truthful or not, but it is a good read.

Sierra and Desert Rails is a fun look at a bygone era with good photos and interesting text to put it all in context. Worth having.

The photos are excellend and of great interest and historical value. Unfortunately, the printing and reproduction is very poor.