I just finished reading this book and found it to be an excellent source for desert gardeners. The authors are long time desert gardeners themselves and it shows. The book is easy to use, easy to understand, well-written, and quite comprehensive. A great deal of plant material is covered here.
The sections on growing lawns under hot, desert type conditions are especially good, and are obviously the result of many years of hands-on, practical experience.
Much gardening reading material is not of much use for people living in areas like Las Vegas, Nevada, but this material certainly is.
If I had but one gripe about the book, it is that it does not cover allergies caused by landscape plants very well. But then, not many gardening books do.

This is one of the most comprehensive books that covers all the geographical areas of Nevada. It has a wonderful cross section of plants suitable for the cold climates as well as the desert of Southern Nevada.

The authors are both respected professionals in this field, and you can trust what they say. Unlike other volumes that have more pictures than text, this one gives information that is usable.

This would be the best gifts you could give to someone that wants to enjoy getting thier hands dirty and their yards beautiful.

I can not say enough about the Baynes Clan series of books. McCord is equal in every way to Louis L'Lamour in his writing abilities. I just wonder why someone has not made a movie of the Baynes Clan yet. It is the best family western series since the Sacketts and I do not exagerate at all. After reading the Baynes Clan and Walking Hawk, another excellent book by McCord, I am a devoted fan of his writing style. I am eagerly awaiting his next western book!!! ~Bev. Bozman~

I am a very big western reader and Mr.McCord is the only author that has done a better job than Louis L'amour in writing these books.The reason is,how human he makes his characters,they laugh,cry,fight and love.He also lets you hear from the little characters.All of this makes it great reading I can't wait for his next novel

First Edition published in 1969. A very informative and well researched book.702 pages.Signed Authors copy.Absolutly in mint condition.An EXCELLENT edition to any book collectors collection.

This book is a very well researched history involving one of the most important transportation corridors across Western America detailing the merging of various cultures including that of the Native Americans. Easy reading, accurate, historical documentation.

I read this book for a school project. We got to pick our own books and I had just recieved this book for my birthday, I love the details Bly put into this book and the way he used the old western language. If you like westerns, READ THIS BOOK!

My Dad and I read this book together. We really liked the book. In particular, we enjoyed the relationship between Leah and Nathan. We also enjoyed the love and togetherness exhibited by many characters, some in difficult circumstances.

If you like Wings this book is for you. The book is even better than Wings. Most of the pictures are in colour, the poems by Veronique Vial are in English and in the back of the book, there's a history of Cirque's shows and there is even details on the acts in . There's even more details on the costumes, theatre and other technical stuff on the show. Get this book!

I have just recived this book, and if you have ever seen "o" at The Bellagio and loved it and want good memories of it, this is the book you want! Buy this book if you love Cirque Du Soleil! I have seen the show 3 times and this a book of high quaility pictures taken from the show! Thanks

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California is the premier work on transportation in the Silver State. The photos are suprb, the text inclusive and the maps are a must for rail buffs and modellers seeking authenticity. I have owned this set for 35 years and it is nearly worn out from reference. The section on the southern roads is espcially well researched. I have been able to relocate features and buildings from Myrick's maps alone.

David Myrick did an excellent job of weaving history with technology in this readable work. Profusely illustrated, it connects time, place, and Nevada's colorful mining history together in a delightful fabric. The research appears flawless, as I have yet to find contradictory evidence in the several areas I have delved into. Reading the stories, one obtains a feel for the flow of commerce, the excitement of new discoveries, the character of the players in this real-life American drama. Detailed discussions of railroad technology, planning, construction, finance, and operations make this a delightful research tool.

The binding and printing are excellent, with beautiful crisp type and exceptionally clear photgraphs.

Overall, this set is a MUST for any serious student of Nevada railroads. Well worth the cost at todays price.

I have had my issues for years, and still use as a reference guide. Includes history of many lines that barely started.

Roadside History of Nevada is part of a growing series of books on roadside history published by Mountain Press. To date there are roadside histories available for sixteen states and Yellowstone Park. These books will make valuable traveling companions any time you take a trip and have time to enjoy the historical or geological sites along the way.

The Roadside History of Nevada is a well-written and interesting book. Moreno spends the first chapter reviewing the history of Nevada from its geologic and human prehistory through recorded history to the present time. He then uses the rest of the book to discuss the various roadways and the Nevada towns that were and are inhabited. The book is organized, logically, along the roadways and is divided into six chapters: Interstate 80 (The Emigrant Trail), Reno and the Lake Tahoe Area, US 50 (The Loneliest Road in America), US 95 and US 6 (The Silver Trails), US 93 (The Mormon Trail), and The Las Vegas Area. Within each section, discussion proceeds along the lines of the main highways and the other highways and byways that connect with them. A map of the roads precedes each chapter, but be careful of the Highway 50 map (page 118). It has the highway going into Idaho, not Utah! The book includes 140 photographs which include buildings still standing, ruins of buildings, and pictographs from the earliest humans in the area. There is also a selected bibliography and an excellent index which includes areas, events and people.

If you ever wanted to know how a place got its name or why it was settled, then this is the book for you. This book isn't just about places; it is also about the people who populated them. As I read this book, I found myself wishing that I had had it along on the many trips I have taken through Nevada. As I finished each section of the book, I was ready to get into the car and go exploring the places that Moreno discusses.

Who should read this book? Anyone who has an interest in Nevada and/or western history in general. And anyone who enjoys seeing where history was made. Academic and public librarians will find this book, as well as the series, a good addition to their collections, either as historical information or for description and travel information.

If you find this book interesting, I would recommend other books Richard Moreno has written on outings a person can take throughout Nevada: The Backyard Traveler and The Backyard Traveler Returns. Also consider other books in the Roadside History... and Roadside Geology... series, depending on where your travels take you. The geology series includes twenty-three titles. Unfortunately at the present time Nevada doesn't have the companion roadside geology book, but since Nevada has mining as a major part of its history, it is possible that Roadside History of Nevada and the book Geology Underfoot in Central Nevada can fill the gap for now.

Rich Moreno is one of the most talented travel writers in the West. His knowledge of Nevada's farthest reaches and the unusual history of each place may be unmatched. In "Roadside History of Nevada," Moreno captures what's best of Nevada, and shows his talents off in a remarkable way.

I have visited Eureka several times since finding out my great grandfather worked in the mines there. Romancing Nevada's Past directed me right to the mining site my great grandfather worked and the book had a picture of the house my grandfather was born in. The information is well written and accurate. I often find myself reading it just for the fun of learning more about Eureka and the surrounding areas.

This is an extremely complete history of the local history which provides detailed directions which are easy to follow. Covers many more sites than any other book on the subject I have seen. Excellent contrast of vintage and modern photos.

My brother and I traveled through Surprise Valley and the Black Rock Desert last Sept.19,'02.We camped at Onion Valley Reservoir(20 miles N of Quinn River Crossing at road 140). What looks to be dry and desolate desert, these three authors bring to life. As usual with really good books, It's the people that make it ring true. You would think living out in the sticks would get you away from government hassels: it ain't goin' to happen, partner. A beautiful read; go for it!

Many readers may not realize there is a little-known area in the northwestern corner of Nevada, up on the border with California, that is a part of the West every bit as beautiful, inspiring, [endangered] and sometimes controversial as anyplace in the better known tourist destinations of the "other" West. It is in the Great Basin area and is cattle and ranching country.
This book is unique in that three very unlikely women that live in the area have written personal essays describing their lives in what has been called the Sagebrush Ocean. Linda Hussa is a published writer of both fiction and nonfiction and the winner of the Nevada Writers' Silver Pen Award. She lives on a ranch near Cedarville, CA. Sophie Shepard is an accomplished artist and environmental activist living in Lake City, CA. He paintings have been exhibited in galleries from San Francisco to Montana. Carolyn Duferrena is a freelance writer, geologist, and grade school teacher. She lives on the Quinn River Ranch in Nevada. All three women came from different backgrounds and cultures but found a common ground in their love for the area and their desire to protect the environment while at the same time continue their livelihood of ranching. Many scholars argue that the two goals are incompatible and cannot be accomplished in any meaningful manner. These essays refute that argument and are a testament to the progress that can be made when friends and neighbors care enough about a place they call home to listen to each other and work together to protect their unique place in the West.
This collection is special in that it relates down to earth, on the ground stories of families living off the land and caring for the enviroment in equal measure. This is a close to the real West as a reader can get without actually living there. There are stories of the familar, constant struggle to conserve water when "...most years there is sand in our drinking glasses by the end of July. We run the drip lines to the garden at night to minimize evaporation. We haul water to the sheep, move the cattle farther into the high country. We wait. Dry years teach us to wait." There are stories of the U.S. Air Force's proposal to use the airspace in the area for bombing runs and practice flights; of living for the first year in Surprise Valley with no outhouse, water, or electricity; of a flood of devastating consequences; of the ever present fear of developer's plans to turn the area into a Disney World complex; and a host of events and issues that face western families on a daily basis. Nothing fancy here, just heartfelt stories of real people struggling to live in, and protect, a special part of the West. For those who claim that the much-debated issue of ranching and environmental protection is virtually unsolvable without decimating one or the other I submit this book as exhibit No. 1 to refute that doomsday prediction. This is a good as it gets in describing the real West.

As a fanatical fan of the Anna Pigeon series, I was ready to read just about anything Nevada Barr wrote. The book's subtitle promises to record Barr's spiritual "path" and the title of "hat to hat" suggests a charming theme. The LC Cataloging-in-Publication assigns this book to "biography." Yet we get not a path, but a series of unrelated thoughts. You have to stretch to call this book biography. And hats appear only in the introduction and a rather forced conclusion.

I must admit I was hoping for a narrative story, as befitting a novelist who creates magnificent plots, believeable 3D characters and, above all, scene and place. Instead, we get a series of unrelated musings that could have been written by almost any decent writer. There's a bit of humor, as when Barr asks to be confirmed, although she doesn't accept Jesus as her personal savior, and the priest agrees. Yet in the end we're served a fairly standard helping of, "I sinned, I saw the light, here's what I believe now."

There's a tantalizing glimpse into Barr's life, when she says she'd rather be a tiger's lunch than a conforming member of a pod. And we learn she's experienced depression, addiction, betrayal, joblessness and more. Yet there's no sense of how she put the pieces together to arrive not only whole, but wildly successful.

I was interested to learn that all the experts agree on two keys to relieving depression: exercise and service. Nothing new about exercise -- but what type of service does Barr take up? Not everyone is cut out for standard volunteer options. Some folks are better off making pots of money and donating so that others might serve hands-on.

Of course Barr writes well, although there's less style evident here than I would have expected. Yet we have to acknowledge that an unknown author probably could not have gotten this book published by anyone -- certainly not a major house like Putnam. When we buy a brand name, we don't want to be served generics. I'm waiting for Barr to write the real story of her life...but I can't help wishing she'd put energy of writing this book into another Anna Pigeon story.

Only Nevada Barr can write those wonderful mysteries. Dozens of converts can write about spirituality.

This autobiography/philosophy is not an in-depth life story, nor is it strictly a religious study. We become familiar with bits and pieces of Nevada Barr's past, but only as they apply to her personal maturing process and evolving spirituality. She presents and discusses religious tenets, but not in the new-age fadlike fashion of _Conversations with God_ by Neale Donald Walsch or _Celestine Prophecy_ by James Redfield. And she's someone famous, someone we already "know" -- but not an author we'd expect to hear such talk from. Therein lies the charm of _Seeking Enlightenment_.

In short and easy subject-based chapters, Barr reveals her basic philosophies of life. Readers can decide whether or not they agree with her conclusions. There's no pressure here...except perhaps for the chapter called "Do animals have souls?", which begins with the succinct first paragraph: "Of course they do. Don't be an idiot." (Hear! hear!) I found myself smiling at and re-reading some passages and later hurrying over others. Sometimes the stories sounded so close to the experiences of friends that I made a mental note to share this book with those folks after I'm finished with it. Or better yet, I'll buy and distribute copies as gifts.

Some fans will pick this book up because of the author's name and will leave most of it unread when they realize it's not another Anna Pigeon mystery. The more curious ones will continue on with an eye to compare Nevada's background, beliefs, and behaviors with Anna's. They'll nod in satisfaction when some of Anna's history does indeed show up in Nevada's own life. Still others will savor these casual observations enough to sit down and think about their own philosophies. If a busy mystery writer can take the time to contemplate Life, why can't we?

This interesting biography showcases Nevada Barr's quest for knowledge of much that seems untenable and dependent on belief. The author, renowned for her Anna Pigeon mysteries, explains that as she worked through numerous jobs like acting and writing, she grew up as an contemptuous atheist who deep down inside wanted to believe, but needed proof. She read everything she could and entered discussions in her search for empirical evidence for something to believe in greater than her short life.

SEEKING ENLIGHTENMENT HAT BY HAT is targeted for a limited audience. This obvious labor of love is aimed at the most devout fans of the author or exterior cynics seeking enlightenment of the existence of a greater presence. Those casual fans of the author's mysteries will want to pass to avoid feeling like a pigeon. The writer states her external searches proved futile in terms of concrete confirmation, but when she began to look at the inner essence of Nevada Barr she began to feel a sense of being part of a greater universe than just herself. One hat at a time, Ms. Barr provides a deep, humorous look at how she found her spiritual path that she ironically (in light of her honest admittance that her research into other writings failed to answer her questions) hopes encourages others to do likewise.

Harriet Klausner