The Big Book Review

Colorado's Wild Horses by Claude Steelman Wildshots Inc./2008 Durango photographer Claude Steelman follows and photographs wild horse herds in four areas in Colorado: Sand Wash Basin, Piceance-East Douglas Creek, Little Book Cliffs and Spring Creek Basin. These herds aren't huge. You'll see in Steelman's book the estimated population and manageable population of each area (and you'll see that of the four areas, the herd in Sand Wash Basin exceeds the management level). The images are intimate and grand. The awesome color photographs prove that Steelman is dedicated to friendship and protection of the wild horses that fortunately remain mostly viable in today's rapidly growing West. He pays homage to yet another American icon. Amy Maestas is a contributing editor of Inside/Outside Southwest magazine.

When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Know When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin Gibbs Smith, October 2007, 450 pages, $19.95 If you are prone to serious anxiety, it's hard to say whether brainiac Cody Lundin's book is for you to read. On one hand, it can ease your nerves when you are in a situation that calls for quick wits to save your life - and another's. On the other hand, Nervous Nellies just might be more anxious to read about the many scenarios during which life-saving skills need to be put to use. Either way, Lundin has some extraordinary advice that draws on the practical. Before starting to squirrel away that safety kit, you can assess your survival priorities - then get right to learning. Lundin breaks the book into two parts: "head candy" and "hand candy." The first is the psychological part of survival, which Lundin said is 90 percent of the battle; the second is the tangible tools part. Advice in the book really is doable for anyone (though the author does throw in some odd tidbits, such as the information that if you feel hungry and don't have food, do as Eritrean women do and strap flat stones to your stomach to ease the hunger pangs). It does not take high-tech gear, outdoor smarts or a certain education. Lundin is smart, funny and clever: a good combination for this kind of book.

Climbing: Training for Peak Performance by Clyde Soles The Mountaineers Books, Second edition, 2008, 274 pages, $18.95 Adventurer Clyde Soles updates the first edition of his book with a lot of new stuff, but most importantly a chapter about high-altitude climbing. His training tips are involved and require devotion, but the book is written in a style that people new to the sport of climbing - and, in fact, even people who are skiers, cyclists and hikers - are able to follow his regimens with ease. Soles breaks the book into readable chapters that incorporate physical and mental exercises, and nutritional plans and recipes. He touches on planning and the important aspect of resting your body so that climbers can continue to pursue the sport in good health. For the most part, the book speaks to those who aren't familiar with physiological terms. When they are used, Soles explains them in plain text without sounding like a scientist or doctor. In the exercise chapters, he also points out the pros and cons of certain exercises. In all, this book is a self-contained program that can easily be used solo to improve climbing condition and technique.

Colorado Snow Climbs: A Guide for All Seasons by Dave Cooper The Mountaineers Books, 2007, 240 pages, $22.95 Colorado Snow Climbs is a useful resource for hikers who love to make winter treks throughout the state. The book highlights 40 climbs with basic information, directions to trailheads, comments and how to approach the climb. It goes further by including color photos, GPS waypoints and maps. One of the great ways it is organized is that it divides the climbs into seasons - and indicates when the best and accessible times to hike are. The climbs are a mix of difficulty levels; some will allow you to set out with a good pair of snowshoes, gaiters and hiking poles, while others will require ropes, a companion, ice picks and helmets. For Four Corners readers, the only drawback is that the majority of the 40 climbs are located in north-central Colorado. Only four are in Southwest Colorado. Still, for those who travel to points north, this book will provide for a good climbing adventure.

100 Classic Hikes in Arizona by Scott Warren The Mountaineers Books, Third Edition, 2007, 255 pages, $21.95 Scott Warren's updated hiking book includes trails in the Grand Canyon, on the Colorado Plateau, the San Francisco Peaks, Mogollon Rim, Sedona, Sky Islands and Sonoran Desert. This edition includes 10 new hikes and joins others in including color photos (which Warren himself, a well-known and talented photographer took), maps, trail profiles and seasonal conditions. Arizona is a big state and Warren's selection of hikes covers a great deal of the landscape both on desert terrain and high-altitude peaks. Hikes aren't limited to one-day treks; many of those included can be done overnight. Warren writes well and gives good technical details, as well as observational details of nature and scenery. The author does Arizona well by completing and updating a guide that explores some of the diverse state's natural beauty.

Rocky Mountain Mammals: A Handbook of Mammals of Rocky Mountain National Park and Vicinity by David M. Armstrong University Press of Colorado, Third Edition, 278 pages, $19.95 Though Rocky Mountain National Park is some eight hours from Southwest Colorado and points beyond, this guidebook is a helpful tool for identifying the mammals crawling around out there. The book actually reveals the astounding number of species there are for those most commonly seen. Each description is well written minus the scientific vernacular, and each is enhanced with four-color photos large enough to aid in identification. The book starts with more of the scientific facts, including tips on how to observe mammals (don't laugh; it really is more about admiring from afar). For people who like to pay attention to these oft-witnessed creatures, Armstrong's updated guidebook is necessary. You will learn from him that, after all, a squirrel is not just a squirrel.

Designer Plant Combinations by Scott Calhoun Storey Publishing, August 2008, 240 pages,$18.95 From reading Scott Calhoun's book, it becomes apparent from nongardeners that those who are avid gardeners can get overzealous in overdoing the colors, the plants and design of landscaping. That's why he wrote a sort-of guidebook that helps people plan gardens by using six plants or fewer. In it, Calhoun displays 105 gardens. Each garden is named, explained by the designers and then the plants used are laid out. All of this is illustrated with beautiful four-color photographs, large and small. The print product on glossy paper makes for crisp photographs that are true to the color of the plants - a key piece of designing a space. Throughout the book are designer tips, helpful for picking up a nugget of information here and there (though the type font the publishers used makes them sometimes hard to read; they tried too hard to be fancy). A horticulturist raved that the book is good for beginners and experts. I agree to a point. The layout of the book helps hone in on one design, but it still requires at least average knowledge of plants and gardening to understand the book's goal.

Green Guide: The Complete Reference for Consuming Wisely by the Editors of the Green Guide Magazine National Geographic, May 2008 448 pages, $21.95 Wow. If ever there was a "complete" reference guide for living a green life, this book is it. And it's not just because of the title. The Green Guide is chock full of useful advice for making choices that save money and the planet. The practical tips are within everyone's reach; they aren't so "out there" or difficult to do that it feels like living a green life is a burden. And it shouldn't be a burden. The range of information is wide: housekeeping, electricity use, personal care, home décor, clothing, travel, gardening, pet care and on. It even has a chapter about enjoying green holidays and recreation. Editors of the magazine have done an outstanding job of taking the most important tidbits and putting them into one guide that deserves a place alongside your favorite cookbook. Most interesting in the guide are the mini-sections called "The Science Behind It." These short explanations give readers a quick but thorough understanding of how a product is made. This helps you understand how the "greenness" of a product affects the planet. Finally, the glossary at the tail end of the book is an educational addition to an already full guide.

Walking to Extremes by Howard McCord McPherson & Company, July 2008 144 pages, $15 Writer and adventurer Howard McCord's new book is about walking. He does a lot of it. Along the way, he - to use a cliché - waxes poetic about the environment he's seeing, as well as the random thoughts that go through his mind as he ambles through the landscape. In this latest book, McCord writes of his treks across the arctic deserts of Iceland and the deserts of New Mexico - hence the title of the book. The first part of the book is about his Iceland trip. His words are broken into brief paragraphs that sort of serve as McCord's stream of consciousness. He is able to pull it off without the book being disjointed. His thoughts are provocative and meaningful in the context of landscape. At one point, McCord writes: "I have learned walking that language does not break silence any more than I disturb a rock by stepping on it." This phrase is a good one to represent McCord's feelings about the power of walking through landscapes.

Still. Cowboys at the Start of the Twenty-First Century Tintypes by Robb Kendrick Essay by Marianne Wiggins Afterword by Jay Dusard University of Texas Press, February 2008, 232 pages, 148 color photos/$50 What a beautiful book. And what beautiful subjects. Photographer Robb Kendrick's flawless images of the American icon - the cowboy - make a book with content that can either suffice your eyes or make you beg for even more. Tintype is an early photographic process that creates a 19th century look. Even though the photos are recent, the old photographic processing of them pays homage to the quintessential backstory of how the West was - and is still being - won.

Healing the West: Voices of Culture and Habitat by Jack Loeffler Museum of New Mexico Press, 2008 175 pages (includes audio CD), $34.95 Healing the West is a compilation of interviews Jack Loeffler has produced since 1984. They are taken from a documentary radio series and sound collage. Loeffler divides the book into themed sections, with corresponding interviews. The interviews cover a wide range of environmental issues pertinent to the West, and they come from a myriad of voices. It's what is known as aural history. The format is welcoming; you can pick up or put down the book without disruption in thought and tracking the subject. In fact, you may find yourself picking it up and putting it down more often than not, simply because you want to spend time chewing on the thoughts and words of interviewees. The subjects of discussions - land and water rights and preservation and conservation - are stimulating. Loeffler culls the best of voices on these subjects and the fact that Loeffler himself had a long-term friendship with one of the premiere voices in the West - Ed Abbey - makes his pick of interviews all the more important as emerging voices pick up where Abbey left off in pointing out the changes taking place before us.

Colorado's San Juan Mountains by Grant Collier, with historic images by Joseph Collier Collier Publishing, May 2008, 80 pages, $12.95 Photographer Grant Collier, from Northern Colorado, makes a book with stunning images of the San Juan Mountains. There are countless photographers roaming the San Juan wilderness - and for good reasons. Look at Collier's shots and you know that no matter how often you see the images or who takes them, the insurmountable beauty is going to evoke some feeling in you that can't be denied: inspiration and gratitude for beauty. Enhancing Collier's book are historic images of the same area that his great-great-grandfather took in the 1880s. Compare those images of the landscape today. They evoke a whole other feeling: nostalgia.

Hiking Alone: Trails Out, Trails Home by Mary Beath University of New Mexico Press, April 2008, 368 pages, $19.95 Poet Mary Beath tried her hand at writing in this first book. A replaced East Coaster, Beath admits up front in her book that her story is so familiar that it is iconic: She was living in New York City working as an artist. She found an inner voice telling her to go West. "Unbind. Connect to the land. Link your inner journey to the outer one." That was the beginning of her memoir unfolding. As it has unraveled, Beath explores many aspects of spending time in nature. She writes about them eloquently, even as she admits that no one can tell a complete story to someone else about experience. Beath took a chance on writing a book of personal essays about nature's lessons during a time when such books are flooding the writing genre. She interjects just enough about environmental politics and activism to make her book compelling enough to read. Beath is candid, empathetic and vulnerable. It makes Hiking Alone a book without pretenses, and that's refreshing in this genre.

Searching for a Perfect State of Colorado: My Enlightening Experience Crossing the Weminuche Wilderness Area by William Hood Bauu Press, May 2008, 308 pages, $15.95 The title of this book is interesting. First, those of us with bias already feel close to perfection in Colorado. Second, the simplicity of the subtitle is almost too dull. Any hike across the vast Weminuche Wilderness would be enlightening. But aside from those two things, the book is worthwhile reading for those who don't know much about the Colorado wilderness and who enjoy reading personal experiences of those who have the drive to take on such a project. Hood's book is a bit more than mediocre. He's chosen to enter a genre of nature and adventure writing that is flooded with authors. To stand out among the glut of such writing is difficult. In his book, the author goes beyond talking about his time in the wilderness and includes educational information about animals, history and terrain. For those unfamiliar with this territory, they'll find Hood's explanations valuable in understanding his trek.