In a newly updated, revised, and expanded edition, Bell Ranch: Cattle Ranching In The Southwest, 1824-1947 is an informative, engaging, at times fascinating history of cattle ranching in the Southwest from the founding of the Bell Ranch as part of a Spanish government land grant, down to the present day when it is much smaller, but still very active and viable. Here is also a history of the people that saw the Bell Ranch through hard and turbulent times, that lived and worked as cattlemen plying their trade in the cattle country of the southwest. David Remley (Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico) provides a skillfully written and admirably presented 416 page history that is enhanced with vintage photographs. Bell Ranch is very highly recommended reading for students of the American southwest in general, and cattle ranching in particular.

This book covers bike paths and routes in several cities in Arizona (14 routes), Southern California (6 routes), Northern California (26 routes), Nevada (2 routes) and Utah (8 routes). There are no maps of the routes but the author does a pretty good job of describing them. The descriptions are pretty detailed including such things as places to park, restroom locations, places to eat, level of difficulty, and condition of pavement.

This book seems to be written with the casual cyclist in mind. If you're looking for a route where you can "hammer" out 40 miles at a fast pace then this book is not for you. If you're looking for a place to enjoy a leisurely weekend ride with friends or children, then this book was designed with you in mind, For example, in their level of difficulty ranking the authors consider a 3-mile route with rolling hills to be "challenging."

The only negative comment I have about the book was that it was written about 5 years ago so some of these routes may have changed over the years. For most of the routes, the author does provide a phone number to call to get more information about the route. If you're traveling to a new area and plan to ride one of these routes you may want to call ahead of time to make sure the route or bike path still exists or has not changed.

The story of Ella and her struggle with illness and how it intersects with her spiritual and cultural world is at once fascinating and very sad. To read Benedek's account is to travel by literary horseback deep in the rez, and meet the residents of a different world, one which is changing, one which is struggling to hold onto traditional ways at the same time. I recommend this book to anyone with interest in native people, anyone interested in cultural perspectives on illness. And anyone else! Benedek is academic and personal, she takes you there.

This the definitive work on the Comstock Lode. How it started, how they did it, and what happened. If you are a history buff you will not be able to put it down.

This book provides color photographs, in-depth descriptions, and migration/nesting habits of many birds in the southwestern US.

Bird species include water birds, birds of prey, hummingbirds, songbirds, etc. that residents or visitors to the southwest may encounter.

The book is very well organized and is useful as a quick reference when viewing birds.

This is a collection of fifty-one personal essays about living (and dying) in the southwest that will leave you angry, sad, happy, disillusioned, and hopeful. But beware: if you are looking for a touchy-feely, I'm OK-Your OK collection, this is not for you. These essays are opinionated, sometimes in-your-face, always passionate critical critiques of living in the contemporary southwest that are a sheer delight to read. In pieces ranging from aging, gambling, land development and nature to the demise of local businesses and the joy of shopping in downtown Flagstaff, AZ., the reader is treated to one woman's opinions in a thoughtful, clear, and highly readable manner. Sojourner is destined to be a major player in the environmental, activists' genre. Highly recommended.

This book is available as a part of "Lyric of the Circle Heart: The Bowman Family Trilogy", published in 1996. Three Eastlake novels, "Go in Beauty", "The Bronc People", and "Portrait of an Artist with Twenty-six Horses" comprise the trilogy. *****

In this historical written for young people (but probably enjoyable for older readers as well), Gessner tells of a boy, his widowed mother, retarded little brother, and uncle, who become stranded in the Arizona desert on their way to a new life where the mother was to have worked as a cook. A Navajo man finds them, and they travel to a nearby reservation, where the white man who runs the trading post helps them to recover from dehydration. They learn more about not only the Navajo's traditions and changes that have come with the white people, but also about the place where the mother was to have worked and their talents. Then they must make a decision about how to build their future life. Gessner has lived in Arizona (she came to speak to students when my sixth-grade teacher read this and another book to my class, through our librarian's arrangement), so her depiction of the setting comes from firsthand observation. Finally although there is definitely a romance or two in this story, its being told from the older son's viewpoint should keep it from putting off readers who don't think they want to read a romance. It is unfortunate that this title has gone out of print at the time of my review, but it is worth either trying to order or looking for at your local library.

Author Scott Thybony shares with readers his fascination with and love of the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Burntwater is a loosely joined series of descriptions of Thybony's travels to various locations within this sparsely populated region: the Grand Canyon, back country on the Navajo Reservation, the Goosenecks region of the San Juan River, northern New Mexico, and others. Scott's wandering narrative describes his experiences in each place, often involving travel companions or new found acquaintances and sometimes just himself. One moving chapter describes how he nearly died from dehydration in the Grand Canyon while hiking to the site of his brother's death in an airplane/helicopter collision.

This is a wonderful book filled with gentle descriptions of sometimes physically harsh locations and circumstances. Scott describes but does not judge and, unlike so many other authors, refrains from directing readers to specific emotions or thoughts. Those he leaves up to you. You can easily read this book's 117 pages in a single sitting, but the invitation to this marvelous part of the Southwest may result in a literary and even physical journey of discovery that can last a lifetime.