No comments about Rand McNally Nevada/Utah Easyfinder (EasyFinder).

No comments about Utah Trails Northern Region.

3 comments about Desert of the Heart.

1. Picked up this book on the recommendation of our local bookstore. The writing is beautiful, poetic while still being entirely readable. Never experienced such exquisite writing. Normally exquisite writing gets mired down, and I can only handle a page a day, but this is beautiful AND compelling . . . page after page after page. I didn't want to leave it. Explores the desert, a unique habitat, and the soul of being human. I can't rate it high enough. Not only beautiful, but an intensely brave and beautiful story. For women who have gone through the need to be alone to learn about yourself, to be in wild places, and/or feel an affiliation with animal friends, DO NOT PASS THIS UP! Bravo, Karen Chamberlain



2. Karen Chamberlain's exquisite memoir captures Utah's red rock wilderness in all its harshness and sensuality. Her human and non-human companions are unforgettable and her love for all things wild is present in every word. Part essay, part love story, this book invites the reader to experience a true western adventure arising from the joys and struggles of living alone in canyon country.



3. I will recommand this book to everyone out there. This very well writen book will make you rediscover something that we have all lost at some point: Ourselves and the connection that we have with the nature itself. Karen is a true spirit, and I admire a lot not only her spirit but also her courage. This book will revive something in you and/or even melt your heart, if you take the time to read between the lines. Great job Karen and wonderful book. love it

No comments about The Labyrinth Rims 60 Accesses to Green River Overlooks.

3 comments about Pursuit of Justice.

1. Absolutely loved it! I couldn't put it down and read it any time I got a chance. It was definitely one of the best pieces of LDS fiction I have ever read. It was as good as the first one- Race Against Time. Both have great plots and are extremly well written. I was hooked from the beginning.



2. Gardner picks us up where we left off at the end of Race Against Time. This time we're following Owen as he seeks justice against the man who killed his partner. Well-written, exciting, suspenseful . . . you must have it in your library.



3. The hero in this book is so endearing, you'll be cheering for him from the very first page.

No comments about Desert Rock I Rock Climbs in the National Parks (Regional Rock Climbing Series).

3 comments about Meeting the Tree of Life: A Teachers' Path.

1. On-Line Review by Leo Goldman, Natural Resources Defense Council.:

   In one way, this book is in the tradition of the author's admired nature writers -- such folk as Emerson, Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold. But the framework is an autobiography, beginning with brief mention of his childhood in suburbs, which he describes almost as if they were crowded cities, and from which he began to escape at age 15 to backpacking and climbing. A college student during the Vietnam War, he later sought in wilderness "authenticity" and " a model for just and sustainable human societies" -- which he did not see in the world he and his friends had grown up in.

   He begins the detailed story with a difficult High Sierra climb -- between his military service (having volunteered for a program of Russian studies and intelligence work in order to avoid Vietnam itself) and graduate school. As he seeks for understanding of his motivations and feelings, he speaks first of challenge, thrill, danger, and athletic pleasure, but eventually realizes that he has become a naturalist, appreciating nature in all its complexity, not just the physical challenges and dramatic views. We follow his wilderness explorations, first in the mountains of the southwest during his first three years as a professor in Utah, then his disappointment in leaving the mountains for his next job, in Minnesota. There, however, he develops an appreciation of the wilderness of the flat country, mostly in canoe trips.

   Certainly an offbeat English professor, he had his students read nature writing, then accompany him on difficult treks to mountains and lakes, and return to write about their experiences. This approach was not appreciated by his colleagues, who apparently preferred traditional methods of teaching literature and writing. He ends this volume with the shock of being denied tenure -- but finds new awareness in the metaphor of a pine cone that releases its new life only in fire.




2. Tallmadge uses the events of his own life to illustrate mankind's connection to the environment and the necessity of wilderness. Writing in the spirit of his admired predecessors, Thoreau, John Muir, Edward Abbey, and Aldo Leopold; Tallmadge attempts to find his own unique voice in the enlightenment of his experience. At times he may get a little too "intimate with the rock", but he leaves the reader an optimistic feeling of the joy of discovery and knowledge.



3. I read this book for the first time when I was in my last semester of graduate work at Kansas State University. I was about to graduate with an M.A. in English that I had no idea how I was going to use. Tallmadge's autobiographical tale of his struggles with nature, self, career, and others encapsulates perfectly the agonizing dilemma that strikes any teacher with the slightest amount of idealism still in their blood. He wants to be true to himself, to, as Joseph Campbell put it, "follow [his] bliss." But he keeps getting derailed: first by the army, and then by a succession of teaching jobs that seem intent on crushing the budding idealism out of his teaching methodology.
   While the book is at times a bit overly idealistic and starry-eyed, you can't help but admire the enthusiasm and passion with which Tallmadge tries to instill his passion for nature in his students. He's the kind of teacher that any lover of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, or modern writers like Terry Tempest Williams, Leslie Marmon Silko, or the like would immediately take to. He wants his students to understand their connection, not only with the land, but with each other, as a community of learners as well as a community of human beings. And then, at the end, when everything seems to fall apart, he finds solace in the simplest of items: a jack pine cone. I'd say more about that, but I don't want to ruin the moment of revelation that comes at the end.
   Sufficed to say that "Meeting the Tree of Life" will leave you with a greater appreciation as well as understanding of the complex relationships that exist within nature as well as within the human soul. Like this review the book can be a little overly flowery at times, but the understanding that comes with reading this book makes those moments of saccharine sweetness almost pleasant. Give this book a try and I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

3 comments about Southwest Circle Quest - A Walkabout in the American Outback.

1. This isn't just a book, it's an adventure you can enjoy again and again. Brett's journey is a soulful evolution through the most magical land in the USA. It shows what the culmination of dreams and the human will can co-create. This man WALKED through 1400 miles of the American Southwest, recording his thoughts and personal unfolding. It is a journey not to be missed. If you enjoy philosophy, the desert, or just pure adventure, you will love this book.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Brett's book about his amazing adventure into the wilderness of the Southwest. It is a well written and exciting story and I found that I did not want to put it down. I read the whole thing in two sittings. Few people have the courage to undertake what Brett did. The book has inspired me to live simpler and closer to my heart and to cherish the beauty of this Earth.



3. This book would get five stars from me for being a compelling story of a walk through the southwestern desert (most of the locales well-known to me) if that's all it purported to be. But I downgraded it to three because it purports to be a spiritual quest but is almost empty of the kind of personal questions, thoughtful reflections, and insights you would expect in that kind of book. It seemed to me that he covered a lot of ground but never got anywhere. If you want hearty on-foot adventure and survival, though, your money will be well spent. Everything long-distance hikers have nightmares about: You'll sweat with him through a harrowing time when a friend forgets to send money at an agreed time to an agreed place and the author has no cash for food, and another time when his boots fall apart, the endless and sometimes frightening search for water. You'll wonder why he started his trip through the desert during the hottest time of the year, and it is never explained. Still, he's got guts and determination and these qualities see him through.

No comments about Beautiful America's Utah (Beautiful America).

1 comments about Utah Roadside History.

1. The book concentrates on historical markers, monuments, etc. as the title proclaims. Yet, the actual text of the markers is not given. Sometimes the marker text is summarized/reworded, but often not. The book is quite imcomplete---based on the other markers that I know of (which are not in the book), I'd estimate that the book covers only about 1/4 of the historical markers in the state, maybe less. Directions to find the markers is frequently inadequate or misleading. A typical description of a location is "Old Highway 40 north of Whatever City." Such a description is unusable because "Old Highway 40" is not on any maps. Why can't the author say "US 6"? or whatever the current designation of the road is? Similarly, I've found that "north of Whatever City" could mean 1 to 50 miles north. One location is given simply as "Little Cottonwood Canyon"---which is a very large area. In a few cases, no location whatsoever is given.
   On the positive side, what there is, is good. The background material is good including introductions to each county etc. The book is good for what is it, but more is needed.