Idaho Books

I have 1936 edition, given to my dad as a high school literature prize. Having grown up in southern Idaho, this was a treat to read the first hand stories of Mr Walgamott. A great asset is the town/place name bibliography with historical notes as to their origin, such as "Kuna...shoshone...meaning, green leaf good to smoke". If you grew up in southern ID, you will identify with many of the places and long to have been able to see the wonderous Snake River in its glory before it was dammed up.

This book is great on information and the way they explain everything. The problem is there is no answer keys on the chapter review questions. This is hard if you are doing this as a self study. You have no way of checking your answers. I had to enroll through evolve's on line self study program to get the answers. The cost was $39.95. This on line self study is well worth the money. They ask questions that is not in the book. There is a workbook that goes with this book. The workbook is good as far as giving you practice exercises. The problem is you only get answers on the odd number questions. You have no idea if the even number questions are right.

The test was concise and detailed for the trails I hiked. I would have liked to see more detailed maps, though. The variety of and designation of trail types and difficulty gave me enough information to determine the best trails for my ability.

Little Miss Bonnie McLure is a troublemaking vixen, well versed in cards, cons, and some unmentionable skills. She wants Skye Fargo to help her track down the man who murdered her wealthy father. The problem is, the local powers want to hang the wrong man for the crime and be done with it. Now the Trailsman has to find a killer in a town that thrives on deadly double-dealing.

This is a fairly fast moving book that'll have the reader guessing, along with Fargo, as to the motives and identity, of the killer. There's not a lot of action, more talking that helps to mask who the killer is as the murderer strikes again and again.

The author writting behind the pseudonym of Jon Sharpe has Fargo working as a detective, shows him as a man who's constantly reading up on the work of Scotland Yard so he can use their skills to solve crimes. Not really how I've seen Fargo in the past.

Still the book certainly grips the reader with it's tale of murder and mistrust and the killer isn't revealed until the end but it's here I felt a little let down as there seemed to be a few threads left hanging and someone who didn't get their just deserts - a person who'd mistreated Fargo and he lets them get away with it, not something Fargo would do in my opinion.

Not the best entry into the series if you're a long time reader of the Trailsman books, but if you're only an occasional reader of them then this could be worth a look.

Jana Harris, We Never Speak of It: Idaho-Wyoming Poems, 1889-90 (Ontario Review, 2003)

We Never Speak of It starts out with a bang, as good poetry books probably should; "Crossing Lava Creek," a poem that (and I feel like this is a spoiler) describes what can only be a tornado coming out of nowhere, but doing it in such a way that it's hard to tell it's anything but an everyday storm. Just, in other words, in the voice of its eleven-year-old narrator.

What happens after this is really the deciding factor as to whether this book is or is not one of the best books of poetry I've read in the past few years, and I still haven't figured that out. Either Harris is so in tune with her subjects, and manages to use the diction in which they speak, so much that the time period in which these poems take place becomes second nature, or the poems themselves slide into the realm of the good rather than the realm of the fantastic. (The end result is the same; everything that comes after "Crossing Lava Creek" seems rather an anticlimax, even the other storms.) The difference between the two is whether it's a conscious trick of technique (as in, say, the novels of Cormac McCarthy) or whether familiarity, in this case, bred contempt. I am more than willing to give Harris the benefit of the doubt, and wouldn't have even considered the other possibility save that such a talent is so very rare; as readers of McCarthy will attest, using such a rhythm so that it is both effortless for the author and for the reader is even more rare. If that really is what's happening here (and reading a few more books by Harris, which has shot up my list of priorities as I made my way through this, should tell me if it is), then, as is becoming increasingly common in the past few years, I have uncovered another seemingly overlooked gem in the pantheon, another poet whose work is in desperate need of being read by, well, anyone and everyone. If not, it's a book chock full of good, solid work, and should be read at least by those with a liking for poetry, for history, and especially for the combination of the two.

This rating may go way up in the future. *** ½

This book is at best a reference that must be used in conjunction with another book, or better yet, Forest Service maps. While the author does point this out, I feel that several necessary details could have easily been included in this ...book, but were not. For example, elevations are not included, reference maps are far too vague, hiking difficulty ratings are there, but are less than accurate; and when a road that must be traveled for 17 miles to get to the trailhead is very close to 4-wheel terrain, it should be noted so (fortunately I was in my 4-wheel truck). Also, if signage to the trailhead is poor, or non-existent, better instructions on finding it are in order. And the trail I'm referring to is one of the most traveled in Idaho. I later found that Falcon's 'Hiking Idaho' did a much better job making up for 'Wild Idaho's' shortcomings. Problem is, the former doesn't cover all the same hikes.

There are few more significant areas of historical study for twentieth century America than the development of aviation. For residents of the western part of the United States aviation was an especially significant engine of change, owing to the unique combination of open spaces, relatively small numbers of population, distances between urban areas, and, a pioneering spirit.

"Winqs Over Idaho" is a useful large-format illustrated history chronicling the growth of aviation in one Rocky Mountain state. The author describes in 16 chapters of referenced narrative and 184 photographs the aviation story of Idaho. Beginning with lighter-than-air activities with kites and balloons in the nineteenth century, Arthur A. Hart moves quickly into early air meets in Lewiston and Boise. He expends much effort dealing with barnstorming and daredevils but then moves on to the much more significant air mail activities of the 1920s and 1930s, the first time airplanes undertook practical activities.

From there, Hart delineates the development of a wide variety of aviation activities in Idaho. For example, he describes the maturation of a unique cadre of flyers in Idaho during the 1920s, the Mountain pilots--also called bush pilots in other parts of the world--who knew the terrain well and provided aircraft for hire for a variety of business, government, and sporting activities. In many instances inheritors of the legacy of these earlier skilled flyers still provide the only quick linkage to isolated areas in the region. His discussion of the growth of airline service is a welcome addition while still leaving room for additional work. Hart's description of airborne firefighting was useful for its detail about Idaho, while his narrative on coyote hunting from the air was both illuminating and slightly disturbing. His commentary on women aviators and the development of a state infrastructure for aviation are most worthwhile.

Arthur Hart finds, quite rightly, that World War II was the truly significant transforming force for aviation in Idaho, just as it was for the rest of the nation. The establishment of civilian pilot training programs at many locations by the Civil Aviation Authority, the creation of military airfields, and the expansion of knowledge about and access to aircraft (to say nothing of the technological developments that made aviation relatively safe and reliable) all combined to fundamentally alter public acceptance and use of airplanes in their daily lives. Hart's chapters on this period are especially valuable in beginning to understand this revolution.

Hart has done a creditable job of providing a general description of aviation in the state. While there is much positive that can be said for the book, "Winqs Over Idaho" lacks any analysis and interpretive structure. Hart understands this, and writes in his foreword that his book is only a beginning of inquiry into the subject. He hopes that "others will take up the needed and fascinating task of researching in depth the history of aviation in every Idaho town and region" (p. 6). Aviation in the American West very badly needs the in-depth study Hart recommends.

I read this book because I enjoyed The Lovely Bones so much. I was curious. I'd read bad reviews and yet I thought I should give it a try anyway. I didn't like Lucky as much as I liked The Lovely Bones, by the way. I thought that Alice Sebold was brave to tell her story, and she clearly has talent as a writer, but I just felt like her memoir was all over the place. I got the impression she was trying to convey to the reader who she was before the rape, and as a result, she ended up writing about lots of, what I felt were, irrelevant details. The same problem is evident with The Almost Moon.

Well, let me start off by saying The Almost Moon was not a pleasant novel to read at all. I couldn't even finish the book. I only got about 200 pages in and even that was 200 pages too much. I usually give a book 50 or so pages to get me invested in the story and the characters. I gave this book more of a chance. Morbid curiosity, I guess.

Why didn't I like it? It's not the subject matter that I find most repellent, though the subject matter is really dark and upsetting, which is clearly the point. The book is just not very well written. The plotline could have worked if Sebold had been able to pull off a story that spans so little time without veering off into so many non-sequiturs. But no. She complicates the story more than she needed to through endless backstory. It's essentially 290 pages of the protagonist moving her mother's body and trying to cover her tracks. Oh, yeah, and sleeping with her friend's grown son. The reason it's so long is because of all the flashbacks. Most of the book takes place in the past as Helen reflects on all the little things that have happened over the course of her 49 years. I have yet to figure out the significance of a majority of them. Sebold doesn't even try to explain why we're going back into the past. She just transports us there and expects us to connect the dots. But do the dots lead us anywhere or are we just meant to come away more confused than we were before we started reading? I don't know. That was my main problem with this novel. I mean, come on, you have to have a plot. You can't just write 290 pages of, "I remember this time" and "I remember that time" and expect the reader to follow along.

Furthermore, there's no real character you can get invested in. I understand the mother has mental issues and so I feel for her, but she's pretty much just there, causing trouble for people. The book has just got to make us at least care that she's dead. She's a human being, after all.

As for the protagonist, all I can say about her is that she bored me. She just trudges her way through the book, feeling sorry for herself and her family. I guess she tries to understand her mother, but she tries to understand her by going off into confusing tangents, like I said before, and it throws me out of the story. I can't even say for sure what she's trying to do because I'm so confused by this book, so I'm just taking a wild guess here. I assume the backstory is supposed to reveal important info about her mother and her upbringing.

The grown son whom Helen sleeps with is a cliche. He's got no personality. And I just didn't really care about anyone else in the book either. The ex-husband did intrigue me. I don't know why. I can't explain it.

I get the feeling that Alice Sebold wanted to write about what life is like for those dealing with a mentally ill parent. The thing is, a book still needs to be interesting, even when dealing with a storyline about suffocation and madness. The narrative shouldn't be suffocating and maddening just because the characters are that way to each other.

Alice Sebold is a very talented writer, no doubt. I think her problem lies in structure, mainly. Despite all I've said about the characters, I think it mainly comes down to structure for her. If the structure hadn't been so confusing, I might have gotten more invested in the characters. As it was, I didn't even have a chance to care about them because I was too busy trying to figure out where Sebold was taking me now. So just keep in mind that what I've said about the characters might not be completely fair. All I know is that this novel could have, and should have, been a lot tighter and a lot less confusing. Due to the flaws in the structure, it never stood a chance to engage me.

Strange book. I'm of two minds about it. It is interesting in that it delves into the psychological problems of the protagonist's parents. Issues including depression, suicide, dementia, agoraphobia are all part of the novel. Helen acts in some ways after her mother's death that ring true. On the other hand, some of her actions do not ring true. And while caregiver stress was part of Helen's problem, I felt the author could have brought this more to life so we could understand better what made Helen kill her mother (not a spoiler - happens in the first chapter). As it stands, it takes the entire book to see any reason for her actions, and then the reasoning still seems hazy. Organizations can offer help to the homebound.

I read this book just a few months after the death of my own mother, and that might have colored the lens from which I viewed this book. The book cover says this book is "raw and powerful" and it is. But I finished the book feeling uneasy and unsettled.

Alice Sebold has written something very different from her previous, highly successful works. Not only is the flavor of 'The Almost Moon' unexpected, but the subject matter makes us terribly squeamish. We're comfortable when mental illness afflicts an enemy 'other,' as in a crime or mystery novel. We are not comfortable when it afflicts the protagonist, with whom we can identify. We do not want to see it from the inside. We'd rather it was locked in the shed out back, or in a rundown, nameless institution well outside of town. Helen, we realize instantly, is not of sound mind. Through the course of the story we see and feel the innumerable injuries that made her what she is. We've all felt the pain Helen describes, but very, very few have been subjected to it to the overwhelming degree she's experienced. Slowly we also realize that none of the characters is entirely sound, they've all been dented and bent in various ways. Perhaps Sebold is pointing out that mental illness is highly variable in its nature, severity, and in the ability of sufferers to mask and cope with it, that it is more universal than we'd like to think. Helen and her family strove to hide their issues as best as possible so as to appear 'normal.' Their 'normal' neighbors, on the other hand, were just as capable of irrational, dangerous behavior, as evidenced by the mob that held Claire rather than the hit-and-run driver responsible for the neighbor boy's death.

Rape, a topic in Sebold's "Lovely Bones" and "Lucky" has finally been generally recognized as a crime. Further, it is generally recognized now that it is not the fault of the victim. However, as we can see in "The Almost Moon," and in our reactions to it, we have not made the same progress with mental illness.

I enjoyed The Lovely Bones and expected to enjoy this book on my beach vacation. What a waste of time! I kept reading it, expecting it to make sense... but it does not get better... only more strange! Don't bother with this book.

I absolutely loved Sebold's first novel "The Lovely Bones" but this book, The Almost Moon, was TERRIBLE! It was boring from start to finish and moved at the speed of a snail. It was an interesting concept, but was very poorly executed. I don't recommend wasting your time on this disaster of a book.

I'm using this book for a class. We're up to chapter 6 now, and while I'm learning a lot of basic concepts, I've stumbled several times on the writing. It's terribly unclear in places, and clarity is essential in some of these places -- to be short, it's poorly written.

The scope of the book is so wide that it necessarily is shallow. The illustrations are a bit silly and are not a great improvement to clarifying the concept. I am reminded of manuals that go into overwhelming detail as to what mouse-clicks or menu items to select, but don't explain why you want to do this to begin with.

I haven't taken any certification exams as yet, but I would only recommend this book as a brief introduction to subjects that are covered more thoroughly and competently in other books.

I am a network engineer with almost 10 years experience. I have typically shied away from certification tests because I have always found them to be of the "right answer, wrong answer and TEST ANSWER" category. Security+ is absolutely no different but my job required that I take this certification. I signed up for a class at the local college and this was the textbook for that class.

I read the book cover to cover twice, skimmed it twice more, answered the end-of-chapter questions, took the practice exam included on the cd over 20 times and passed everytime with scores 85% and higher. I failed the security+ exam. The difference between the questions on the test and the topics in this book was amazing. DO NOT RELY ON THIS HORRIBLE BOOK TO GET YOU THRU THE TEST. IT IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.

If I could have given it negative stars, I would.

Generally speaking, this have to be by far one of the worst books I have come across for both the content related to the scope of the subject matter, and also extreme inaccuracies due to total lack of comprehension on the material from the author.

The subject matter is general security concepts as it relates to the Security+ exam. In this scope, I expected the material would focus the technologies themselves as they relate to security that is not specific to any one platform, as after all every major OS uses the Internet and E-mail for example. However, this book is overwhelmingly a Windows only book, and reflects a rather narrow vision of Windows-only problems, technologies, and solutions.

In the narrow view of Windows only security, there were so many deficiencies in this book, I could write a tomb on a material. I'll highlight a small sampling of the stuff that really stands out. When covering DNS, there is no mention of secure updates through TSKIP (page 118), nor was there any mention of Active Directory (LDAP) integrated DNS (page 118). These Windows DNS solutions are really important and fairly easy to configure. On UNIX side, one can block zone transfers completely and restrict it through tcpwrappers or xinetd (Exctended Internet Daemon), and Windows can do something using IPSec policy configuration. The book never touches any concept or thinking of this nature for DNS or any other technology for that matter.

On the topic of Windows domains, the author states that "Active Directory is stored in a Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database" (page 120), which oh my, is oh so wrong. Perhaps in older Windows NT this might have been true, but Active Directory uses a distributed database (LDAP) for storing passwords and such, which an extended Jet database stored on each domain controller. The author goes on to proclaim his ignorance of Active Directory noting that a "primary domain controller (PDC) is the name of the server that houses a SAM database. A domain can also have multiple backup domain controllers (BDCs) that are on other servers in the domain" (page 120). Anyone knowing anything about Active Directory is probably rolling on the floor laughing at this moment.

In the topic of databases, the author only discusses Microsoft SQL Server specific issues, and ignores general database security issues and solutions. In the extremely narrow scope of SQL Server, the author recommends installing a personal firewall to block the virus Slammer. However, if the author understood how Slammer works or read any technical articles published by Microsoft on the issue, he would understand that to stop slammer all one needs to do is have a password for SQL Server. What the author doesn't do is note that MSDE, a limited SQL Server database bundled with many Microsoft and third-party applications, doesn't have any password configured by default. However, a password can be added through use of a command-line tool.

For e-mail technologies, the author dissuades using POP3 with completely inaccurate statements about the protocol (page 192). The problem also being with his arguments besides being flat wrong, is that it is his personal opinion on which technology to use and doesn't use any arguments in regards to security. Additionally the author doesn't even cover how to secure either POP or IMAP using SSL or TLS. In the scope of Microsoft Exchange POP and IMAP, there's no mention of the extreme dangers of using un-encrypted POP or IMAP, where passwords fly across the wire in clear naked text. Exchange is integrated into Active Directory, and as such, passwords for these facilities are passwords into their account. Using insecure IMAP or POP traffic is broadcasting the keys to the fort as the expression goes. This situation is not shared by Unix solutions (as they can be configured differently), but as Exchange forces you to use domain accounts, securing the traffic is extremely, repeat extremely, vital and important for security. The author misses the boat with this concept, like other concepts.

In regards to web technologies, this has to be perhaps the most laughable area. The author confuses JavaScript with Java, and even goes so far as to state that JavaScript is a virtual machine and that JavaScript is based on Java (Page 201). Those laughing right now might know that JavaScript was originally called LiveScript and had nothing to do with Java. It was renamed to JavaScript for marketing purposes to popularize JavaScript in created an illusion that it was related to Java. The author goes on to cover only Internet Explorer on only Windows platform, and states that all browsers suffer from the same security weaknesses as ALL other browsers (page 202). If the author had any inkling about browser technology, he would know that the scripting engine in IE is from embedded solution (OLE) sometimes referred to ActiveScripting. This engine has access to all other OLE libraries including saving viruses, um files, on your computer without any sort of authentication. Thus, even if this engine was rock solid secure, it's base features allow hackers to bad things to your computer. This ActiveScripting is embedded into WSH (Windows Scripting Shell), and also IIS (ASP), which is a cause for many exploits in those systems. Internet Explorer itself is packaged up and is embedded into other applications like Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc. As some might know, those applications have had many exploits in the past, especially Outlook. Of course all of this is well beyond the ken of the author.

For wi-fi solutions, this has to be the weakest section in the book. On the coverage of specifically WPA/802.11i, the author doesn't cover enterprise WPA or things like a RADIUS server used to authenticate VPN, dial-up, and WPA. He also doesn't even mention AES or EAP security with WPA.

This book is one of the most appalling books I have come across, and cannot even recommend the book even if only for a good laugh. The quality of books sometimes is concern for many in the industry, and this book sets an all new low standard to shoot for.

(I apologize for being unusually harsh, but I have rarely come across a book so regrettable.)

I studied the text - all 17 chapters and the Appendix, then I took every one of The included study CD-based CertBlaster "Subject matter drills", then all 4 of the exams (passing every one on the first pass, and coming very close to perfection on the 2nd pass on any given test.)

I took AND FAILED the S+ exam today. ANY SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE STUDY TOOLS, THE TEXT BOOK, AND THE PRACTICE TEST WITH THE REAL TEST WERE RARE!!!! I basically wasted a week and several hundred dollars.

BTW. The Comptia S+ Exam was probably one of the worst knowledge measurement tools (e.g. exam) that I have EVER taken - and I have taken a huge number of them....
Just FYI
Will Harper, MCSE (NT 3,51/NT 4/W2K/XP), MCT, CCNA, A+, N+, CTT+ (and a bunch of other certs) AAS(IT/Networking), BSEE(computers), MBA.

This textbook does not cover the material in the Security+ Exam. Entire test subjects are not included, and the lab exercises are terrible. The lab manual only includes a few useful labs and some of them are so outdated they are irrelevant. Authors contradict each other, and the chapters do not hold together well. If you're looking for a lightweight topical introduction, this may work for you, but it won't help you pass the certification exam. This is a very weak introduction to network security, and there are better books available that do cover the content you need to pass the exam. Consider instead "Principles of Computer Security: Security+ and Beyond" ISBN: 0072255099

This book does a great public disservice. The information in the book has not been updated in years and is terribly outdated. Quite a bit of the information is absolutely wrong. Send the publisher a message - don't buy the book until they update it. Save your money, there are much better, current books out there such as "Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest" & Northwest - which are updated ever two years

The only useful thing about this writer's books on hot springs are the USGS maps and the latitude/longitudes. I bought a book of his nearly 20 years ago and was thoroughly dissatisfied, & was incensed when it seemed to me he was more interested in providing info for the land yacht crowd. I wonder if his book alleging that the lunar landings were hoaxes is any better. I doubt it. He probably denies the Holocaust took place, too. If you want a book on hot springs, check out Jayson Loam's books. They are much better. If you want info on faked lunar landings, get the movie "Capricorn One."

depending on what your looking for you may not want this guide. it has a fairly well established list to many commercial hot springs, but little else. If your looking for hot springs where you can hook up your RV then this guide may work for you. If on the other hand your looking for real, natural hot springs off the beaten path, then this guide is worthless.

We have tried one hot spring listing and enjoyed our hot soak, found one shut down, one remodeling and one a bit too pricey for us. Would like to see some reference to actual costs rather than than reasonable or free or deluxe. One place inacessible without 4 wheel drive but we will keep trying, the maps are good.