Shade and Color is the only book I have found on the market that offers such an update guide to arid-climate plants. The pictures are well done and plentiful.

The majority of the book consists of "Individual Plant Descriptions" -- amazingly comprehensive. The authors have even taken the time and forethought to classify whether or not your plant will do well in not only one but also several desert elevations.

Every important landscape detail is accounted for each type of desert plant. You will know ahead of time the height, width, flower color, and watering needs of each plant.

Anyone living in the Southwest and California that wants to be successful at landscaping needs this book in his/her library. This enlarged text is also an essential reference book for landscapers and landscape maintenance companies.

I stumbled across this book in the tiny library in Casa Grande, Arizona, during one of the roughest times in my life. Ms. Coleman's strength, vibrant images of the Southwest, and willingness to get out there and struggle to find a new self, were so inspiring and comforting for me.

This should be a "coming of age book" for every woman in that spectacular time in her life. It also needs to be shared with daughters.

I was working on the Pima Reservation at the time, and the author's descriptions of the mountains and the majestic landscape truly captured the stark beauty that is so captivating. One gentleman I worked with was disabled, but even with the intellect of a seven year old he could, with a box of crayons, reproduce the deep shadows and myriad colors that she so lovingly painted with words.

The book is a very quick read, but definitely a "keeper."

I thought this was a wonderful book with a slightly different approach to the parable of the Shepherd and His lost sheep. It shows the love of the shepherd for his sheep and what he will do to keep them safe. This has wonderful symbolism of a parent's love for their child and the Savior's love for us. The illustrations are beautiful and brings back some memories of a time I spent in the Colorado Plateau. I enjoyed it so much that I plan to buy one for each of my nephews.

Join the author as she visits the Old One and explore the ways of his tribe. Meet Shouts Down Trees and walk with him as he journeys to manhood in a time when only Native American Indians roamed the land. A wonderful way to introduce your children to poetry transporting them to another time.

This is an excellent book. It does a good job of identifying shrubs and trees. It shows illustrations of: Flowers, if any, Leaves, and fruit, along with the average size of the plant. Each plant has a detailed description which helps distinguish it from similar plants.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Outdoors, Hiking, plants, gardening, you get the idea....

I first read the "Silver Kings: The Lives and Times of MacKay, Fair, Flood, and O'Brien, Lords of the Nevada Comstock Lode", because there was a family story that James G. Fair might be a lost relative. If he is it's quite distant, but the book was so interesting that I've since read everything I could get my hands on about the Comstock Lode and it's characters. Virginia City really did more as the birth place of the myths and truths of the Old West than did Tombstone or Dodge City. I am also an "Earp" buff and have read much available on the "Gun Fight" related characters. Even Samuel Clemens, later known as Mark Twain, was a reporter for the Virginia City newspaper during his early days. The book was fantastic. I'm glad to see it in reprint as I will give it as gifts to some of my friends. I had hunted long and hard for my old copy. If you like stories of the Old West you will enjoy this one. And the stories are true.
Senator Mike Fair
Oklahoma State Senator

This book is a true masterpiece. I demand that everyone read it

In this lovely collection of essays, the author, Russell, explores the relationship between the American search for mythological Home to the landscape, the community and the self. In her title essay, she writes about memories of her father, a former test pilot in the Air Force, who died while setting a new speed record in the X-2 over another desert in California, when Russell was still a child. Her memories of him are recovered through her exploration of the image of the Kokopelli man, part of the mythological landscape of the Southwest that she struggles to identify with in this search for Home. In the other essays, Russell tries to balance her utopian ideal of a quiet, slow-paced life in a small rural community with the reality of the isolation and financial struggle of raising a family and building a home in the harsh, though stunningly beautiful, landscape of the Southwest desert, along with the politics and problems that arise in their eccentric and somewhat transitory community. Russell writes to understand, to make meaning--and the writing seems to discover itself over and over, allowing the reader a fresh journey, no matter the number of readings. Beautiful language

As we are reminded in this stunning pictorial chronology there is little on our shores to rival the grand beauty and dramatic history of the Southwest. Photographer George H. H. Huey illustrates the volume with contemporary photos of landscapes from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Utah.

Presenting the stories of this region and its peoples - Indian, Hispanic and Anglo - the author begins with the Clovis people, who can be traced back some 13,000 years, and then he moves on to the Pueblo and Hopi tribes who found homes on in the mesas of Arizona.

Spanish and French missionaries and explorers also play a role in the area's rich cultural background. Among the first missionaries to pioneeer the Southwest were Eusebio Kino and Junipero Serra who traveled to California to convert the native peoples and claim land for the Spanish king. Expeditions from France were largely focused on Texas.

Perhaps most impressive of all is the recounting of William Becknell's forging of the Santa Fe Trail.

Walker brings the area to the present with nuclear research, contemporary border issues, unparalleled growth, and diminishing resources.

Both fascinating and edifying, "Gold, God & Grandeur" will be of interest to all Southwesterners.

- Gail Cooke

A must have book for getting ideas for decorating