Wyoming Books

First off, my copy, Hudson House Publishers is a subsidy and self-publishing company. In old terminology, "Vantage Press" publishing. James paid to publish his novel. PARIS, WYOMING came as a gift as I generally do not purchase subsidy or self-published books or novels. Most do not exert "tight" editing and consist of numerous passive voice verbs and common writing errors. Secondly, I will finish this novel as my "thank you" to the one giving this gift. To complete reading PARIS, WYOMING, Wyoming will take forever. Lastly, whatever is the "Wyoming Writers, Inc. 'New Horizons Award'" as Jim James is a recipient?

This book is wonderful, full of suspense and unsuspected turns of events. You get to know the characters almost immediately, and when the book is near its end, you don't want it to end, want it to go on.

From the catchy title to the theme of the book, it is A-One!

I hope Jim writes a sequel, as I would buy it in a microsecond.

Great book with wonderful characters. You'll find it hard to put it down.

Very likeable (and hateful) characters; reluctant love; purpose of life......Wonderful references to Wyoming, Paris, and other interesting places. Tightly written, never bogs down...I live in Wyoming and understand the hero's love of Wyoming. Highly recommended.

Gerard
Walker's Crossing
By Phyllis.R.Naylor

Just imagine you being a 12 year old boy that has always wanted to be a cowboy for all of your life and then your dad rips your dream away from you and says since one the cowboys had did something illegal and accidentally hurt your father and he says that you are not allowed to be a cowboy cause of what happened.
Then when you think you're off the hook and will not get in to any trouble cause your dad has died your brother joins the C.P.F. the Cowboy Protective Force.

This kids name is Ryan Walker and he always wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up,
After a few weeks his father was in a accident with a cowboy and some of his friends got it to a fight and he got shot and was sent to the hospital. They got the bullet out of him and he got stitches. When he came home from the hospital and they asked what had happened to you? and dad answered I got shot by a cowboy and Ryan said no they wouldn't they couldn't, no then dad said yes they did and they got away with it and I don't want you to a cowboy ever then out yells Ryan noooooooooo why then dad says because of what they do and the way they act and that's the end of that now go to bed.


So if you want an adventure and mysteries book just go and pick up Walkers Crossing By Phyllis.R.Naylor

Walker's Crossing was The best book I have Ever read. Usually when I read a book, I get bored and I don't finish the book. When I read Walker's Crossing, I read the book. I was very interested in the book. I used to want to be a cowboy when I was younger.When Lon Walker got hurt,I thought it was cool that Gil Walker and Ryan Walker helped out on the Ranch.If I was a girl, I would want to be a Junior Rodeo Queen too.Charlene never gave up.I learned alot about what cowboys really do on a Ranch.I urge everyone in the world to read Walker's Crossing. It's a great book.

"Walker's Crossing" is an excellent example of historical fiction as it brings to life the prejudicial views of the Ku Klux Klan and shows how prejudice affects a community. Ryan Walker is a seventh grade boy who lives on a ranch in rural Wyoming. All Ryan wants is to be a cowboy for Saddlebow Ranch, where his father is the foreman. Ryan's good-for-nothing 22-year old brother, Gil, becomes involved with the Mountain Patriots Association, a group formed to drive out all "minorities" from the area.

Ryan's best friend, Matt, becomes a junior member of the Patriots and starts spreading racial propoganda around their junior high school. Then a friend's father is killed in a helicopter crash caused by the Patriots, and Ryan tries to help his friend deal with the loss of his father. Ryan's brother, Gil, is put in jail.

Throughout the book, Ryan is described as being "too tall and too skinny", made fun of because of his appearance. This story uses prejudice and differences among people to explore how we find common ground and acceptance in order to build character. Ryan remains true to his friends, despite ridicule from others, and finds an inner strength he did not know he possessed. At the end of the story, he is offered that job at Saddlebow - and Ryan learns that honesty, integrity and trust win over hatred and ignorance.

A wonderful story for young people and adults alike.

I had purchased "Walker's Crossing" just prior to hearing Phyllis Reynolds Naylor speak at the Keene State College Children's Literature Festival. She spoke briefly about this particular book and I glanced at the first chapter quickly! I was hooked!

The book takes you to a small ranch in Wyoming where you meet a junior high boy--Ryan--who doesn't fit in at home and is the tallest boy at school by far. He is teased about his height and tongue-tied in front of girls.

To make matters worse Ryan's older brother Gil has become interested in a para-military hate organization run by one of Gil's new friends--Matt. Many of the boys in Ryan's class are impressed by this organization and can't wait to be old enough to join.

Although Ryan's parents are not very empathetic Ryan has mentors in the ranch hands who allow him to help them run the ranch. Ryan is a real help and feels that ranch life is the only life for him. His father dismisses Ryan's desire--wishing instead that his older son Gil would becoome a rancher.

Even the adults in this book are very confused about their feelings regarding Jews immigrants and anyone not descendants of twelve northern European countries. An important book!!

Ruth Langan does a superb job of making you wish there were more Wildes of Wyoming out there with this book. Ace is the wily rogue that we all wish was waiting for us on our doorstep at the end of the day. Ally is the one woman who is even better at pool than this charming hustler. The interaction of Ace and Ally is charming to watch as she finds out that her new boss is the person who she deprived of $1000 the night before at the local pool hall. Ruth does a wonderful job in tying up the series and yet giving us a glimpse of the lives that she has introduced us to in the two previous books. "Ace" beautifully stands alone, but the other two books should be read, if you haven't already, as you'll want more of the Wildes of Wyoming when you finish. This book is a definite must-read of the summer.

The third in the Wildes of Wyoming series. A good story that ties up all the loose ends and offers a solution to the problems the three Wilde brothers are experiencing. Ace the youngest (and wildest) of the three boys is a hustler, a gambler and has been from the time he was a teenager. He now runs a very successful mining business using these talents. He meets his match in Ally Brady the granddaughter of an old enemy of Ace's deceased father. When Allycat cons him and beats him at his own game(pool), he has to have her for his own. But her grandfather hates his family, someone is trying to ruin his business, and Ally has his hormones in such a tizzy he can't think straight. At least as good a story as the previous two and maybe better. I recommend it to those who enjoy a walk on the Wilde side.

The conclusion in the Wilde trilogy, Ace's story was not, in my opinion, the best of the three (though he is certainly the most charming brother!), but it was highly enjoyable. The sparks and feuds between Ace and Ally only serve to heat things up, and for those who were waiting for Ace to finally meet his match in a woman, you won't be disappointed. The characters in the Wilde trilogy are rich and full of life...Ally and her cantankerous grandfather, the newcomers in this book, personify the characterization standards we have come to expect from Ms. Langan by the end of this trilogy. Though my personal favorite is Chance, I would swoon for any of these three brothers.

This last installment of Ruth Langan's trilogy, The Wildes of Wyoming, is fulfilling and just a bit surprising in terms of plot. It is the characters, however, who drive this plot towards an excellent finish.

Ace Wilde comes into contact with Ally Brady in Clancy's where she is systematically hustling the cowboys out of their money by feigning ignorance when it comes to pool. By the night's end, she cons our unvanquished hero, a qualified target in her eyes, out of a thousand dollars. Ace is left drunk, humiliated, and enraged. But of course Ally is not the mercenary she seems to be. She needs the money to help her grandfather whom she loves dearly and has finally come home to.

Danger threatens the Bradys as well as the Wildes and they successfully deal with this unexpected, and overarching, dilemma. In the meantime, Ace and Ally have their hands filled trying to outhustle each other into a happy ending and coming to terms with the love they are coming to share.

I really enjoyed getting to know both Ace and Ally. I had been looking forward to Ace's story from the start and was not disappointed.

The Wildes of Wyoming is a trilogy that is memorable and enjoyable. The bond between the brothers and how they make the most of their father's legacy is wonderful to read about. I have to admit that Hazard is my favorite of the three brothers. I really found myself admiring and respecting Ace as a hero because his dependability manifests itself when he puts his heart on the line and falls in love with Ally.

Yes, this book is full of wit and the complex side characters are ready for novels of their own -- and that may be enough reason to invest a few hours in Ms. Bramkamp's world. But the best reason to read this book for the insight into what is going on inside the modern American's mind. She deftly listens in on the stream of words that go through all our heads, eavesdropping on what we say to ourselves when we are tourists, or when we worry about choosing the right clothes for the occasion, or when we bump into our childhood memories. Come to this book to find a breezy reflection of what you've been thinking about, and what you noticed along the highway of American life.

Bramkamp takes a restless 40 year old woman's fantasy and turns it into a novel that's not only believeable but entertaining. Breathes there a woman (or a man) who hasn't at least once in her life wanted to do something so impulsive and nutsy that the sensible people in her life could no nothing but shake their collective heads and envy her just the same. Her wacky jouney, takes her back to a place she never left. On her way she meets some marvelous characters and discovers in herself a woman she never knew existed. A fun read.

Hank Mattimore is a columnist with the daily Republic and the author of "The Priest Who couldn't Cheat."

Though clearly pitched to women, the writing and humor are strong enough to hold any reader. And beneath the humor, there's plenty here to learn from re navigating the shoals of modern life. This from a guy who was never that impressed by Thelma and Louise.

Ever thought about running away from home? instead of driving to work, have you fantasized about driving out of state?

One typical Tuesday morning forty-year-old Jane turns her Volvo right instead of left and briskly drives away; from her job, her husband, her life, towards something she can't identify.

Women have overwhelming responded to Woman on the Verge of Wyoming with their own ideas of running away. Be it to a hotel, away from the kids, or to another adventure. This book is about that adventure.
The heroine of the book runs away from her comfortable life in Marin County and travels across the western US to land in South Dakota, an unlikely place for redemption but her initial destination all the same. As in all odysseys, she counters unique people, odd places and danger on the way to her final destination, which is not where she thought it would be.

After reading a few reviews and being a Westerner myself, I decided to buy Wild Bill's new novel. First, on the back cover the author claims that he was at the Palladium Bar in Ekalaka when he hatched his mad scheme to write a better horror novel than Stephen King - that the West (Montana) can produce its own unique style of writing. Judging by King's recent liter of puppy-mill novels that might not be such a big accomplishment, but Mr. Righteousness seems to have actual talent. His characters are not King's predictable, cutter-board types; his description is more intense and effective; his innovative story line catches and keeps your attention. Lastly, the whole thing is chockfull of Wild Bill's crazy, strange and genuinely twisted style of humor.
Later after purchasing and reading Wild Bill's other book, Monkeys with Guns, I think that if Wild Bill is really from Montana, that he could indeed be the state's greatest writer. There is just no one else of his caliber, and you can probably throw in the Dakotas and Wyoming too. For writing these two odd, bizarre and epic novels, Bill should either be haled by his emasculated peers or incarcerated immediately in the state's lunatic asylum. He's a danger to the established order as well as to all those clueless graduates with their Masters of Fine Arts in writing from all the fancy ivy-league colleges. Pay attention, Wild Bill Righteousness and Badass are gunning for you!

Wild Bill Righteousness earns his nickname once again with "Badass Wyoming", a second book (following "Monkeys With Guns") of absurdity and craziness dripping with anarchy, sex, mystery, weird science, and God-knows what else.

This story is not as complicated or blatantly psychotic as "Monkeys" but delivers a great story nonetheless. "Badass" is not a sequel nor any continuation of themes from its predacessor.

As a Wyomingite, I am proud of our "Badass" connotation and selection by Wild Bill as the location for his story.

I won't disclose too much about the outcome of the story or elements of the plot. There is a richness of description in this book that was evident in "Monkeys" and you can expect to be engulfed into a wacky world of small college life on the isolated high plains of the Western United States.

Buy this book and welcome yourself to Wild Bill's badass Wyoming.

Authoring a second book is the most optimistic action a person can take short of committing to a life of marriage with somebody and his/her three kids whom you've known for only a week. It predisposes that the first book was not a fluke and that the writer still has something original to say. Originality is not in short supply from Mr. Righteousness, but his attempt this time to create a mainstream novel (an admitted effort to out Stephen-King Stephen King) has constrained his muse to too restrictive boundaries.

The novel is populated by a plethora of unique characters which requires extensive background and still doesn't always manage to create believable motivations. Fortunately confused response is not typical of all of Mr. R's characters (though his first book is more appreciated for his genius in turning a phrase and his shocking constructs than for well ironed personalities).
Temporal ambiguities slipped in with the background profiles and created a disconnect which led me to believe for a while that one main character was actually two separate people.
These impediments make the book an effort to read through the first half. Then it settles down and starts sucking the reader in.

To Mr. R's credit in characterization, a chapter stands out. The exceptional painting of the dilemma Bill Baxter feels while contemplating suicide could live on it's own as a literary jewel. The essence of humanity and life is distilled for us all to tipple. And it's a bitter, too recognizable drink.

The story follows the ultimate mad bomber on a single-minded quest to nudge the universe off its metastatic energy plateau to the next lower, more natural, state. The complicated interplay of frustrated novelists, mathematicians, university politics and freelance Mafiosi that precipitates "Ted's" construction of his nudging device makes an interestingly tangled plot.
The jargon of high level physics gives credibility to the concept. It's easy to suspect that the author is directly involved with Hawking and the rest at the forefront. A question that must come up now is: Who is this Wild Bill Righteousness? Is Mr. R cracking the secrets of the universe in the basement of some university and writing on the side to exhaust nagging literary dreams? Or is he a man of letters who follows the abstruse discipline of cosmology?
I was lost trying to follow the more mundane set-theory explanations for interpersonal relationships. Though there's probably some value to glean from the idea.

Because his first book (Monkeys with Guns) prompted me to a superlative five star rating, I had hoped to give the same to BADASS WYOMING. Maybe Wild Bill can re-conjure the grist of his first novel if he makes a third. Three stars for this one.

Interesting and nostalgic. I love to look at cookbooks and found this book worth keeping. Good idea to preserve recipes from across our country. I appreciate the number of cookbooks it took to make the selections.

I bought this as a gift, but on looking at the recipes before wrapping it, I ended up copying numerous recipes myself. The Glazed Fresh Apple Cookies are outrageously yummy! Also, most recipes don't require many ingredients, and most cooks have the ingredients right on their shelves already.

One of the best books of recipes from local cooks using local ingredients. Easy to follow and accurate.

Wonderful book. I like the pictures and the way it is written on two levels. A kid can't help but learn about the state with these beautiful books. This one is for us. The grandkids have their copy. We love the memories of a beautiful state we lived in. Thanks for a high quality product.

This is a fine book which introduces a child to the beautiful state of Wyoming not only through verse but also with capsule facts that help the parent. Even more importantly you will see some really fine water colors in vibrant color which seems to leap off the page. The wild life paintings are particularly amazing. This is a book any parent can really enjoy along with their child.

This is one of a series of many alphabet books. While the basic book is written for children I love the sidebars of information for adults. After visiting the Big Horn Mountains area, I found this book captivating. It seems to truly reflect that area.

I bought this book to plan a week-long backpacking trip. It is very similar in concept to Secor's "High Sierra" guide for CA's Sierra Nevada: Adequate description of the trails and off-trail passes, and comprehensive information for climbers on about everything climbable. I am not a technical climber and cannot judge the book's usefulness as a real "climbing guide", but I like to take off-trail excursions, shortcuts, and scrambles. Together with the "Earthwalk" topos (which are excellent) this book was just the right thing for planning a backpacking trip with "side adventures". If you stay strictly on the trail, you might find a pure trail guide more useful, as trail descriptions only make up 10 or 20% of the text. Off-trail travel turned out to be easy in the Wind Rivers, though.
The book has a short and very interesting account of the history of Wind River exploration.

This book outlines hundreds of different routes up all of the Wind's well-known peaks (as well as several not-so-well-know ones). He did a phenomenal job amassing all of this information. There is enough here for a short lifetime of awesome mountain trekking.

The information Kelsey gives is mean, lean, and straight to the point. Novices beware, this book makes no attempts to come down to anyone's level. It is written for those grounded in that arts of route-finding, technical climbing, and alpine survival. It is not a hiking book. If you are uncomfortable with this, either buy a more toned-down Wind River guide, or pick up a book to build your skills like "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills" and start psyching yourself up for some world class backcountry.

Joe Kelsey has taken the old trail book of Finis Mitchell's and turned it into a Trail and Mountain Guide that leads you to every nook and crany, you would want to go.

Many years before Joe's book, I would hike the Winds with Mitchells book in hand as if I was following an old adventurers pencil notebook. Today, Joe Kelsey's "Wind River Hiking/Climbing Guide" is as necessary as the matches.

I found this first novel really interesting. The characters were familiar but not like those in other books. I loved the structure and plot, both of which kept me reading. I learned something about families, including my own, from the ways in which the sister, brother and father related to each other. I would recommend this book highly.

Ed Hardy has written an engaging book. Drawing from some of his life experiences, both as a youth in the Fingerlakes region of New York and as a journalist and newspaper reporter, his portrait of a dysfunctional family was engaging and humorous even if it sometimes hit too close to home. I found myself hoping, for the authors sake, that the familial relationships portrayed in the book were purely fictional. Discerning readers should enjoy the change of style vs. the sometimes overblown and gimmicky fiction on many of the best seller lists. It was a difficult book to put down. I'm looking forward to Mr. Hardy's next novel.

Geyser Life is simply one of the best contemporary novels Iýve read in the last five years. It was engaging, entertaining, thought-provoking, and funny, a thorough pleasure that I lead me to feel sad when I had finished because I wanted the experience to continue. I was extremely impressed by Hardyýs ability to manage several different first-person voices in the novel, each of them a distinct character, each one interesting in its own way. I have recommended this novel to people I know, and Iýd recommend it to anyone looking for a excellent novel that is both readable and intelligent. I canýt wait for Hardyýs next work.

The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.

it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.

I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.