Colorado Books

Finally, a book that is worth its weight in your backpack. Lou Dawson has done it right. Great photos, incredible maps and route descriptions that make sense and are easy to follow. All you have to do is compare Lou's book to any other title to the shelf to see that his book is the one to have.

I own many trail guide books and this one is far and above all of them. The book is logically structured, maps and photos are very helpful and directions are clear. Dawson has obvioulsy dedicated a great part of his life hiking Colorado and has documented his travels well in this book. All routes are rated and shown in pictures of the mountain. If you buy one Colorado 14er guide book, buy this one.

I've read seemingly every 14er guide available. Much of the information overlaps as one can imagine. However, what really sets this (and the companion volume as well) one apart is the truly four season information that it provides. Louis gives you ratings for summer and snow climbs as well as ski descents. None of the other 14er guides I've read give you that. These volumes are often compared to Gerry Roach's books which are excellent in their own right. However, in my mind the information in Louis Dawson's guides is better as many of us climb in seasons other than summer!

Rubén Cobos' short but monumental "Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish" (1983) was a classic the day it was printed. If you have any interest in the Spanish-speaking cultures of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, this book is a great way to learn something about the dialect without plunging into a difficult linguistic study.

Like Samuel Johnson's dictionary, Cobos's is a book you can sit down and read enjoyably. The entries are not just translations of Spanish words into English. Cobos traces their origin and (in most cases) illustrates their meaning by including them in sample sentences. For instance, "murre" (in standard Spanish, "muy"): "Esta muchita es murre gente" ('This child is very friendly'). Additionally, many words are also explained by the use of proverbs and folk-poems.

Cobos also explains the cultural signficance of about a third of the words in the dictionary. For example, "pitarrilla": "Pitarrilla, f. [Obviously, the dictionary has great value not only (nor even primarily) for the linguist, but for the anthropologist and historian, as well. It is completely free of technical linguistic terminology and accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of standard Spanish. (I might emphasize that the book is a guide to local usage only and does not include standard Spanish words.) Although the pronunciation of the New Mexico/southern Colorado dialect is relatively standard, Cobos has taken care to indicate divergences where they exist (e.g., "raices" is pronounced "rái-ces", not "ra-íces"). He includes a short historical and linguistic introduction, tracing the four-hundred year evolution of the dialect. Finally, for a kick, at the start of each alphabetical section you'll find a short proverb -- "P. 'Pa pendejo no se necesita mestro' (To be a fool one needs no school)."

A valuable book that sells for a good price. Five stars.

For years, my wife and I had heard people in northern New Mexico speaking Spanish as described in this book, and we believed they were just not educated properly in correct Spanish grammar and vocabulary. Then I found this book. All the sudden, all the odd pronunciations, verb conjugations and vocabulary made sense. This Spanish evolved almost on its own since the 1500's!

My wife, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico, constantly looks to me to interpret for her when we do business with Northern New Mexicans (who refer to themselves as "Españoles", not Hispanics)who speak this dialect of Spanish. Some time ago, we bought furniture from a sales-lady who referred to herself as an "Española". My wife was happy to be attended to in her native tongue, but when the sales lady asked for my wife's "licencia para arrear", I could tell she didn't have a clue. Thanks to this book, I was able to properly interpret it as "drivers license" (not "marriage license" as my wife was inclined to believe).

From a practical standpoint, it's probably not of much use anywhere else in the world, but if you come to northern New Mexico, and you want to converse with the native Spanish-speakers, you'd better come armed with this book!

I recently wrote a book about the history of the towns of New Mexico's Sandia Mountains, and during that time I probably picked this book up two or three times every day.
It is invaluable--loaded with obscure words that no normal Spanish-English dictionary would ever have. It's well-structured, nicely organized, clearly printed, thorough, and as complete as you would ever need it to be.
In its way, it's a sort of linguistic and cultural history of New Mexico and southern Colorado, disguised as a dictionary. Leaf through it and glance at a few words and definitions, and you can't help but learn fascinating things about the people and the places that produced these terms.
If you are a New Mexico student or scholar or writer, you really NEED to have this book. Your work will be incomplete without it.

With apologies to the NY Times for this title, this is the book to have on all things moose. Everything is coverered in this comprehensive bible of the moose. From habits, descriptions, pictures, diagrams, and charts to a study of this fine creature's impact on our culture, this is the definative study of a subject that could not be any more worthy of an examination this extensive. The moose is really about all that is good in this world. Brave, handsome, strong, and yet loveable. What more could you want? Don't let the price scare you away reader. Be like the courageous moose and plunk down the 65 bills(plus shipping and handling) for something that will enrich your life time and again.

I would like to take this oportunity to thank all of the people/scientists, biologists, volunteers, etc. who helped put this awesome book together. The information in this book is coming from hands-on time consuming experience. This book is truly a mooselover's bible. I hold the men and women who devote their lives to researching this beautiful animal in the hightest respects. I just hope someday I may be part of the group of people contributing their knowledge into a future book as great as this one. I would like to say a special hello and thank you to the people of the Moose Research Center (MRC) at Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. I hope to be offered the wonderful opportunity of being able to volunteer at MRC. Moose and this book combined have opened up whole new doors to life's avenues for me. Again, thank you for your time and efforts in bringing this great book to us. I love it

If you're a moose-aphile, then this is your book! Every aspect of the moose is covered and includes great pencil drawings and photos. While written for scientists, most of the book is still quite readable for the layperson. I haven't read most of the book, but I do thumb through it regularly, and I always read something else that I never knew about the moose!

I am a fan of Louis L'Amour and Matthew White will give him a run for his money. This is a great book worth reading and hard to put down. I hope he will write a sequal and maybe even a trilogy. Keep up the great writing and hope to read more books written by Matthew White.

Fort Medano is a great western story. When I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. Matthew White has done a wonderful job of bring the real old west to the palm of your hands. I felt like I was right in the middle of the action riding side by side with outlaws, soldiers, and Indians. I highly recommend Fort Medano as a must read western from an author on his way to becoming the next Louis L'Amour.

A promising new young writer has written a good clean book that anyone can read and not be offended. His insights are remarkable as he presents all types and classes of people from those upholding the law as well as the law breakers, people of different races and cultures and yet does not condemn anyone but depicts how they feel and why. A very good read and one that you will not want to put down until you get to the end.

A great guide for the collector who wants to identify the different fossils in the slabes he has collected.

The Fossils of Florissant written by Herbert W. Meyer is a wonderful collection of flora and fauna from the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado in the shadow of Pikes Peak. Encased between layers of volcanic ash from an erupted volcano 34 million years ago are animals, leaves, and plant life at the time and are remarkably well preserved.

"The Fossils of Florissant" is a collection of different museum specimens all brought together in one readable tome for not only the specialist paleontologist but the causal reader of interest as well. This book is easily followed and is laid out well. There are ample illustrations and photographs to whet the readers interest making for a book to keep. These fossil specimens are so well preserved that a color patterns of tiny flies are preserved.

"The Fossils of Florissant" is a feast for the imagination as one wishes to understand life's history on planet Earth and this is a clear snapshot into time as it was on a wooded lake shore some 34 millions years ago in the Eocene. There are pictures of flowers, spiders, and insects galore making this one of Earth's richest deposit of life on Earth in this time.

The reader will enjoy this book as it is. The book is well appointed and there is pictures of fossilized vertebrates from this time even thorough they are small. The larger vertebretes are only fragmetary but this show that this area was a one time teaming with life and is a good cross section into how life was at that time. If you have any scientific background you'll enjoy this author's prose. Even if you are a casual reader, you'll enjoy reading about life's past.

"The Fossils of Florissant" gets a solid five stars from me. This is a highly readable well illustrated book that will capture and hold your attention till the end. The study of geology and paleontology at plases like Florissant clearly shows that the world is, if for nothing else, an everchanging, evolving place.

This is a delightful book, well written and profusely illustrated, about one of the world's premier fossil insect and plant localities. It is written for the serious paleontologist, as well as the casual inquisitive reader interested in the natural world.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is remarkable because it constitutes a highly detailed snapshot of life at a time when the earth was entering a period of major climate change. The setting is a 34 million year-old forest, along a lake teeming with exceptional diversity, in the shadow of an erupting volcano. Due to the outstanding quality of preservation, many unique fossil plants, birds, butterflies, spiders, bees, and fish from this site appear to have met their demise only yesterday.

During the last 100 years, a large number of prized fossils from Florissant have been scattered to museums all over the world. The author has traveled extensively to find and catalog these specimens, and assemble a collection of color photographs printed in exquisite detail. He meticulously reconstructs the ancient ecosystem from the fossil record, at times much like a detective unravels clues from a good murder mystery. Interesting twists abound. For example, why is the only fossil of the tsetse fly-the blood-sucking, disease-carrying scourge of equatorial Africa today-- found at this location high in the Rockies?

When it comes to fossils, big is not necessarily better. Dinosaur books have grabbed the imagination of many in the last few years, but The Fossils of Florissant, by Herbert Meyer, is a newcomer that deserves to be at the top of the heap.

Weller's prose and photography make this book an often-visited favorite of mine. His emotive musings fuse with incredible photography to give a sense of place to a destination that may seem desolate to some, but which teems with unique and tenuous life.

The first thing that struck me about this book was the depth of Weller's exploration of Great Sand Dunes National Park. His images feature all seasons, a wide variety of subjects, and capture the many moods and emotions of this national treasure. As you delve into the book and read Weller's essays, he takes you on a virtual journey through the wilderness of the park - you can practically feel the sand in your fingernails and eyes; feel the rain of a summer storm; and step out of your home into an entirely different world. I highly recommend this book, both for its photography, and for Weller's writing.

Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light And Shadow is a collection of essays and photographs by Boulder, Colorado-based nature photographer John B. Weller and showcases the landscapes of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The truly breathtaking, full-color images of sand dunes, tracks, and wildlife are perfectly complemented by the brief reflective pieces describing the author's journey and experiences. Great Sand Dunes National Park reveals captivating beauty amid shifting sands and seasons; it is exceptionally easy to lose oneself in the panoramic interplays of light, shadow, sand, and natural life. A "must-have" for nature and environmental photography collections.

Well written short biography's of some notable Colorado historical figures and some recent ones. Entertaining and informative.

I wasn't thirlled when I was given this book as a present - but as soon as I read the first lively biography, I became a fan of this well-written, sprightly collection of biographies of the colorful, eccentric characters who people Colorado's history. This book adds a well-researched human touch to the history of the west, and anyone who loves that history will be captivated by it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Here Lies Colorado. It gave entertaining insight into some really colorful characters and the times in which they lived. The author writes well about his subjects who are wide-ranging. I'd read about a few people and then say to myself, "Okay, just one more"....again and again and again! Needless to say, I finished the book too quickly.

I love her adventures

I truly enjoyed this book. It is one of the books I re-read every winter. I found the main character refreshing and unique from the "sleuths" I've been reading for years. The sense of humor is wry and the writer throws that quick-wit at you. I find myself chuckling out loud. The read is fast-paced. You hate to have it end. This was the first book I picked up by this author, in this series. Excellent!

I thought this book was AWSOME!!!! Because really at like the beginning I was a bit bored then i really started getting into it. then once they arrived at the ranch and they were giving you clues on who did it it let you belive a total maximum of things. i found this book great!

Under suspicion for embezzlement Abigail Pierce, accompanied by her sister Moriah, flee St. Louis to run their late father's store at Fort Lookout, Colorado. The commander of the army post, Captain Bryce McGregor tries, but fails to persuade the siblings to go home as they do not belong in the rugged unsafe Rocky Mountains even inside the fort. Bryce does convince the women to stay with him until the store can be renovated and made hospitable. His young daughter Pamela serves as a perfect chaperone so Abby and Moriah accept the kind offer.

Pamela adopts Abby as a mother figure and the former St. Louis resident cannot stop her heart from reaching out to the young child. Inadvertently Pamela plays matchmaker as Abby and Bryce fall in love. However, Abigail willingly sacrifices her happiness because she knows the scandal she fled would destroy the man she cherishes as a rising officer cannot afford a dishonored (even if she is innocent) spouse.

There are few if any authors that can provide such well drawn characters including secondary players with a colorfully vivid nineteenth century Americana panorama inside an exciting historical romance than Leigh greenwood can. His latest tale INDEPENDENT BRIDE matches up two honorable individuals in love and encouraged by her sister and his daughter and even to a degree his men, but those same principles stand in their way of happiness. Mr. Greenwood shows that principles are important even if it costs achievement of a personal goal all that within a fabulous post Civil War romance with a deep message.

Harriet Klausner

Favorite scene with Abby-
Shooting the intruder in her store.

Favorite scene with Bryce-
Abby telling Bryce she can't be with him.

Together-
The gunfight while getting the cows to the reservation.

What did you like about Abby-
Her stubborness and her strength. Her love for Pamela. Not willing to give up, despite obstacles.

What didn't you like about Abby-
She was too stubborn to listen to advice on how to protect herself. She wanted to do things her way. She wouldn't let herself love and be loved because of her past.

What did you like about Bryce-
His love for Abby and his daughter, Pamela.

What didn't you like about Bryce-
Only that he wouldn't let his soldiers marry.

If I had to cast Abby, I'd cast Hilary Swank.

Abby and Moraih's father had left them with their Aunt Emma. He would send money home for them. But the girls still worked. Moraih worked for her aunt in the dress shop. Abby worked in a bank.

That's were she met Albert. They were engagded to be married. But one day Abby found out that Albert was embezzling money from the bank. She gave him two weeks to return the money or she would turn him in. Someone else also found out and turned him in. Albert was arrested, he implied that Abby was his accomplice. They never found any evidence that she was involved.

In the meantime, Abby's father died. The girls decided to move to the west and take over the trading post at Fort Lookout.

When they arrive, they find that the trading post is nothing like the store their father had in St.Louis. They were also confronted by three thugs. Who thought they were going to have their way with Abby and Moraih. But Colonel Bryce McGregor intervene's. He throws the three in jail. Then tried to send Abby and Moraih back to St.Louis. The two are determined to stay and make things work. They had nothing else.

The Colonel agrees to let them stay in his extra bedroom. That is until the trading post is ready. While staying at Bryce's home, Abby falls in love with Bryce and his dauhter Pamela. But Abby has vowed that she would never let another man into her life. Especially after Albert.

Can Abby get over her past, to become Bryce's wife and Pamela's mother. Or will the embezzlement issue in St.Louis caome back to haunt her.

I have read a lot of American history with the Old West being my favorite subject. I have always said that Stephen Ambrose's books about the Old West are some of my favorites that I have read over and over. I just finished reading Money Mountain by Marshall Sprague. It is now my favorite history book of the Old West. He writes so well it was hard to put down. Of course, the subject matter is unbelievable mining history. Some prior historical knowledge of the Cripple Creek Mining District in the late 1800s is very helpful to have before you read this book.

I was looking for a complete history of Cripple Creek from it's beginning, and I found it in this easy to read and follow book. Great details encompassing many different pioneers and stories of the area.

I don't know where I got this book, but at whim I just picked it off my bookshelf. I was not particularly interested in Colorado, or gold mining, but this well-researched history of the Cripple Creek district was so well written, that I just couldn't put it down. This book was written 50 years ago, but Marshall Sprague's style is so crisp, so fresh, it reads like it was written yesterday. He has a real knack for chapter-ending punchlines.

There is only one "problem" with the book. It seems so contemporary, that when I read such statistics as the price of gold, and they were off by hundreds of dollars, I had to remind myself that the book was indeed a half century old. The author died in 1994. I am sorry I cannot tell him how his writing shines. I plan to read other titles of his.