Related Vacation Book Subjects: united_states Rocky_Mountains
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Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "West", sorted by average review score:

I Don't Care! Said the Bear
Published in Library Binding by Bt Bound (October, 1999)
Author: Colin West
Average review score:

4 1/2 * A One-Joke Note
There's not much plot to this book, but it's done extremely well. IT is made for reading aloud, with jumpy rhymes and repetition. "There's a moose on the loose!" Next page: "There's a moose on the loose and a bad-tempered goose!" And so on, until the bear also says "I don't care to a "pig who is big," "a snake from the lake," "a wolf from the north(what happened to the rhyme on that one?)," and a "teeny-weeny mouse." The latter gets our laissez-faire bear jumping back to his lair. As you can see, infectious fun. A good book for the small fry, read this one with drama! 16 pages, with simple pictures on each one.

My 8 year old still loves this book!!
The wonderful patterning of words and the rhyming text pull the young child's attention right into the story. The story is one the the child can memorize and begin repeating it as you read they really love the repetative aspects.

I really wish the author and the publisher would once again put this selection back into print.

The Best
I absolutly loved this book. It was the first Colin West book I ever read to my story time group. They laughed and enjoyed the book. I love the rhyming. The illustrations were colorful and wonderful. Simply a must for little children.


Ida:Her Labor of Love
Published in Paperback by Western Reflections Inc (15 December, 1998)
Authors: Carol Crawford McManus and Carol, C. McManus
Average review score:

One of my favorite books
An interesting and well written story of one woman's life. You will not be disappointed in this book. Ida's life is written in novel form with her many triumphs and disappointments drawing the reader in. I couldn't wait to get back to Ida and her life while I was reading this book.

Read this book!
I am not the typical book reader you usually see in this site. I seldom read, because I get easily distracted and bored. Yet this book was great. Now I want to read more books on Western Colorado hoping to find other stories as interesting as this was.

Ida : her labor of love
This book should be required reading for every woman living on the Western Slope of Colorado. The format reads like a novel, but Ms McManus inserts factoids at chapter breaks to remind the reader what else was going on in the state & nationally to put Ida's travails into perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed this read & would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Western History and women's adventure stories.


Impetuous: Mattie's Story (Brides of Wildcat County, No 4)
Published in Paperback by Aladdin Library (January, 1996)
Author: Jude Watson
Average review score:

REALLY good.
Mattie was the younger Nesbitt girl, but she was always the courageous girl of the family. She decided to bring her sister along with her to the West so they could find some good husbands. Ivy being the more girly girl she is lands a husband with ease, but Mattie who prefers pants to dresses has SO much trouble. After awhile Mattie decides to just work and have a vacation from all this huband seeking. So she decides to work for the Pony Express. She meets up with Sam again after they met at a dance, but Sam doesn't know that Matt is really Mattie, because she got a makeover. A big makeover. And then the romance begins....

Interesting Introduction to Romance for Teenagers
The plot was fascinating, kind of like the picture brides of the past. Fierce women are shipped to a town, believing it's a large city, only to find it be be out in the middle of nowhere. Females will love these romances, adults may also. Very graphic at times, but nothing raunchy.

For the next generation of Danielle Steel and Sandra Brown readers, this is where you start.

Great book!
17 year old Mattie came to California to find a husband so she wouldn't be fated to live a life of loneliness and poverty. But she discovers that here, disguised as a boy, she can make her own way by riding the Pony Express. But when Mattie falls in love, how can she keep from revealing who she really is/


In Search of Kinship: Modern Pioneering on the Western Landscape
Published in Paperback by Fulcrum Pub (01 March, 2001)
Author: Page Lambert
Average review score:

It is a rare privilege to read such writing
In Search Of Kinship is an achingly luminous epiphany to read. A series of essays by an award winning Western author who honors her sacred connections to the earth through life and literature, In Search of Kinship draws on Native American sacred writings and traditions as well as others. It becomes a rich rainbow fusion seen through a filtering prism of light.

Unself-conscious in form and style, vivid in natural, daily detail, it is a series of testaments to a deeply felt faith in the land and creatures, human and non-human, who people the land set in Wyoming on the visionary back doorstep of the Black Hills near Sundance Mountain, Lambert draws upon numerous rich traditional literary sources, including Black Elk Speaks by John Niehardt, Buffalo Woman Comes Singing, by Brooke Medicine Eagle, and Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions by John Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes, to name a few. She weaves a rich blanket of hope, addressed to the land itself. In the epilogue,'Song of Songs Which is Wyoming's,' she writes of her aging horse, Romie: "Memories cloak and comfort. Time has, for each of us, a different measure. Your decline in many ways frees me to become a new woman whose past is just beginning to catch up with the future.

Actually, it is you , Wyoming, and not Redy, who has taken over Romie's role in my life. Our affair began despite my grudging nature, despite my loyalty to Colorado - land of my youth. At first, these gentle black hills hid their power from me. I compared your eastern edges to the Rockies of my childhood and thought them not worthy of my devotion.

I recoiled from your red-slashed buttes, scoffed at those who called them mountains; these mere places where your face wrinkled with age. I was, at first, deaf to the ancient whispers of those who had found shelter within your arms. I trod the ancient paths but saw only my own footsteps(pp.239-240)."

She goes on to describe the land as an ancestor, even a jealous lover.

"It was not fair of you to tease me with your elusive antelope, to flaunt your whitetail deer before my modern human eyes. You seduced me with the perfume of your summer sage, kindled memories of other women, dark-skinned and light.

But then, when I dreamt of home, of innocent days unburdened by painful truths, of running like the wind upon Romie's back in pursuit of the mythical buffalo, you pulled tight your sovereign rein and let loose the fury of your winter. You taught me that the true mythology of the buffalo, like the words of the Bible, must not be taken lightly. 'Ask the beasts,' it is written in Job. 'Speak to the earth, and let it teach you.'

Your storm raged around me, the vibration of your anger reaching deep chords. When I dared to open my eyes, you offered me a crystalline world, frosted brilliance glittering from every branch, a chance to start anew.

Like a reprimanded child, I pushed thoughts of former places from my consciousness and let you stake your claim on my no-longer-innocent soul.

It would have been easier had I not sifted your red earth through my fingers - had I not breathed in the musky odor of your mountain asters. I should have turned away from your hideless tipi rings, from your bouquets of dried weeds turned to silver sage, and from the shadows of your buffalo bones before it was too late. But I did not.

And now you will not let me go. You demand an enlightened future - whose very hope lies in the lessons of the past - a past that all our ancestors bequeath to all of us (.pp.240-41)."

It is a rare privilege to read such writing. In Search Of Kinship is to be kept, treasured, and returned to, for the glints and patina reflected in it are soul-enlightening.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

A rare richness of spirit
This beautiful book of reflections about rural life, family values, and Wyoming, is a gem. Page Lambert brings grace and wisdom to her pages, as well as an understanding of what it means to live in the rural West. This is a book about love and courage. Both men and women will treasure this book and this author.

Moving, Extrodinary, Unique!!!!!!
This book is wonderful! Mrs. Lambert artfully weaves the fabrications of her willful imagination and vivid life into a stunning masterpiece. I would reccomend it to any reader who likes to feel the emotional pulling of heartstrings. Read it!


Insiders' Guide to Austin--1st Edition
Published in Paperback by Insiders' Publishing Inc. (March, 1999)
Authors: Cam Rossie and Hilary Hylton
Average review score:

Wonderful guide!
This is the best travel book, I have come across. I have used it for one year and it has not failed me. The restaurant, lodging and daytrip sections have been particularly helpful. You can't go wrong with this book.

Thank you Hilary and Cam. I hope the 3rd Edition is on its way.

Best book about Austin
This book is full of details and descriptions. Everything you could want to know about Austin. Great for travellers as well as prospective residents (has chapters about neighborhoods and schools). The CitySmart guide is a good supplement, but not nearly as thorough.

Thorough and easy to read.
This book is not dry like many guidebooks can be. The authors give enough history and background to put their topics in context, but not so much that it becomes boring. I bought this book because I am considering moving to Austin from Northern California, and every question I have is answered in this book. Specific descriptions of individual neighborhoods, indoor and outdoor activities, annual events, arts and music, food, and the list goes on.

I cannot reccommend this book strongly enough.


Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills & Badlands, 2nd
Published in Paperback by Globe Pequot Pr (August, 2002)
Authors: Barbara Tomovick, Kimberly Metz, Bert Gildart, and Jane Gildart
Average review score:

Valuable Tool
We took a South Dakota vacation and found this book to be great reading in our preparation and planning. It covers everything from lodging to attractions to activities to history and on and on.

This book, in combination with "Exploring the Black Hills and Badlands: A Guide for..." helped us have a better vacation than I ever expected.

Great informational guide!
This is a GREAT book if you are visiting this area. It gives all sorts of information to make your trip more complete. It also gives background information and little insiders tips here and there. The only thing I would look elsewhere for is accomodations. It has good camping and B&B info but not nearly enough hotel and resort listings but you can get that anywhere. This book is worth it just for the INFORMATION included.

Superb travel guide
If you are going to the Badlands or the Black Hills, this book is a must have. On our recent trip, this book was an invaluable guide to getting around and I would highly recommend it. It saved us tons of time that would have been wasted just driving around.


Intertidal Invertebrates of California
Published in Hardcover by Stanford Univ Pr (November, 2002)
Authors: Robert Harding Morris, Donald P. Abbott, and Eugene Clinton Haderlie
Average review score:

Excellent book on Marine invertebrates
This book has very nice color pictures of the animals. It is not just a reference book. It has more detail about the Invertebrates (distinctive characters, range, habitat, life history, interactions with other species, economic importance ...etc.) It really fulfills the curiosity of the person who is interested in the marine invertebrates.

Comprehensive compilation
This book, though having a publication year of 1980, is still absolutely the best compilation of information about invertebrate animals that are found along the California coast. Many of the animals included in the book have geographic ranges that extend well to the north and the south of California, so this book is useful to anyone who lives, visits, or works along the west coast of North America.

This is not a book of taxonomic keys, like Light's Manual. It is, rather, a book that provides a summary of the biology and ecology of invertebrates of the west coast. The authors provide lists of the best research literature for each animal (up through 1980), as well as photographs and line drawings that show what the animals look like.

This is not a field book, per se, but copies of this book are found on the shelves of most marine biological laboratories in the world, and on the shelves of most invertebrate zoologists who have visited the west coast of the USA.

A professor of mine once said, "That is a 'big boy' book." And, as books on invertebrates go, he is right.

This book is well worth the price!

Most Comprehensive book on Invertebrates
Intertidal Invertebrates of California is one of the well written book on the invertebrates that live off the cost of California. The picture of the invertebrates are amazing along with the through explanation of them. If you are a person who wants to know about marine life, you will love this book.


Jean Howard's Hollywood: A Photo Memoir
Published in Hardcover by Harry N Abrams (October, 1989)
Authors: Jean Howard and James Watters
Average review score:

A Photographic Record of a Epic Era
Jean Howard was married to the famous Hollywood agent Charles Feldman and as such was a friend of movie stars and celebrities from the 30's through the 50's. She was also an inspired photographer who roamed freely among Hollywood stars taking portraits of the celebrated and famous while they were at home, at parties, and completely at ease. This book is a pictorial record with her own text of those "golden" years with marvelous photographs and fascinating stories about glamorous stars in Hollywood.

FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
This book is incredible! I picked it up to do a high school project about six years ago and I still sit down and flip through it once a week. This book has kept me interested in classic movie stars and their lives. Jean Howard was an actress and was married to Charles K. Feldman, a producer. However, she eventually became a photographer and was able, because of her insider status, to get really great photos. There are pictures of EVERYONE from Norma Shearer (in her 50s) to Natalie Wood (in her 20s). My favorite pics are the ones of Linda Christian being fitted for her wedding gown to marry Tyron Power, Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier, and many, many more. This book is wonderful...I can not recommend it highly enough!

A Photo Memoir on the Golden Age of Hollywood
This is a wonderful tribute from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the stars who appear in it. What a wonderful book for anyone who truly loves this era and it's stars. If you love movie star photographs and you want to see some great ones with great captions...this is the book for you because you won't see these anywhere else since this is truly Jean Howard's Memoir. She gets up close with the stars in person not as a studio photographer, but as an insider and it really shows. This is a true capture of a time gone by and the wonderful stars that made it memorable even for those of us who hadn't yet been born when it was happening. This book spans all generations for those of us who love the classics and best of all the classic movie stars who can't be matched.


Jerk: Barbecue from Jamaica
Published in Paperback by Crossing Press (October, 1990)
Author: Helen Willinsky
Average review score:

The best cookbook ever
I dare you to find a bad recipe in this book. Every single recipe is a winner. The Jamaican cole slaw is so good everyone who eats it asks me for the recipe. The same for the jerk chicken. I love this book.

Absolutely The Best Jamacian Cookbook Ever!!
My husband and I have tried numerous recipies from this cookbook and each one has turned out 100% successful!! Helen has captured the true taste and flavor of the Caribbean with each and every recipe in this cookbook! This is our favorite cookbook!! We highly recommend her recipe for Dry Jerk Seasoning on Page 16!!!!! If you try her Jamaican Cole Slaw on Pg. 115, we would suggest adding pineapple. The sweet flavor makes it perfect!!! If you are going to buy ANY Caribbean or Jamaican cookbook, this is the BEST one by far!!!!!!

This is a "use it" cookbook !!
I have tried at least 10 of the receipes in this book and find it very hard to move on to others. The ones that I have tried are always repeated in some cases many times over. The Dry Jerk seasoning is a staple which I have prepared and given as gifts in fancy found jars (page 16). "Wid It" is a special treat that is a must. My all time favorite "Jerked Spareribs", that I place in a platter, cut ribs into small chunks, mix well with white rice, yellow raisens, cashews, and pineapple rings cut into chunks, smooth,put a flat layer of yellow corn on top, place pineapple rings on top of corn, spill all of the juice from the can all over the top and add a few maraschino cherries for color!! It's the BEST!!


John Gregory Country: Place Names and History of Ralston Buttes Quadrangle
Published in Paperback by C Lazy Three Pr (March, 1999)
Authors: Charles Ramstetter and Mary Ramstetter
Average review score:

This is History we never read about in school.
John Gregory, the Georgia gold miner who saved the Pike's Peak gold rush and gave his name to the Gregory Toll Road, would have loved this book! It's all here, that terrible first road into the North Fork of Clear Creek in the Colorado mountains, the toll road tht followed, and the people who followed the roads. Full of original quotes and pictures. I was amazed to learn that the miners set the mountains on fire in order to find their way around. The fires, which were visible far out on the prairie, were called the miners' fires.

The History of the Gregory Toll Road
This is the only book written about the toll road named for John Hamilton Gregory. The road traveled from the prairies north of Clear Creek through the mountains to the gold mining camps in the Little Kingdom of Gilpin, in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It was followed by thousands of goldseekers jubliant with hope. Many returned, chased away by winter and poor prospects. Theirs was a chorus of hope mingled with despair, a chorus which this book captures. I enjoyed it very much. Today's road through Golden Gate Canyon follows that old toll road.

John Gregory Country
This is a fun trip through the early days in Colorado's History. The pictures are well chosen. Anyone who has ever spent time in Colorado should pick this up! I got my copy and could not put it down.


Related Vacation Book Subjects: united_states Rocky_Mountains
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