New Mexico books (Albuquerque, Clovis, Socorro: home, travel, work)

[_yb]

Do you all have favorites?

I have a couple of copys of "The Place Names of New Mexico".
I keep one in my work truck and one in my personal truck. I travel all over NM and I refer to these books quite often. It's interesting to get a little info on how a place was named and a breif history behind it.

The one in my personal truck is all tabbed up for when my wife and I are out exploring NM. I use the book in conjuction with a few maps.

I'm sure a few of you have come accross a New Mexico place that you were curious about the name and what the place was about. This book would be helpfull to you.


The Place Names of New Mexico
Robert Julyan
isbn# 0-8263-1689-1



Anyone else have recomendations?

[6/3]

New Mexico's Best Ghost Towns
Philip Varney
204 Pages
Lots of Pictures !

[ducksburg]

ghost towns?
is Socorro included?lol

[catman]

I have one: Sky Determines: An Interpretation of the Southwest, Ross Calvin, illustrated by Peter Hurd, U of NM Press. A very interesting book about the influence of the natural environment, especially the climate, on the history of New Mexico.

[clairz]

It is so much fun to witness a good writer getting better and better. That's exactly what you will find in Pari Noskin Taichert's Sasha Solomon mystery series. She started with The Clovis Incident (2004) and The Belen Hitch (2005), both of which were great books and fun reads. But I've become a confirmed fan with her latest in the series, The Socorro Blast (2008).

Not only do we get reacquainted with the always imperfect and whipped cream-swigging Sasha, but we also get to meet some more members of her eccentric family. We get to ride along with her attempts to solve a mystery, this time in the areas around Socorro, Magdalena, San Antonio, and Albuquerque. And to top it off, Taichert offers some timely insight into the machinations and manipulations of the media. Don't miss it!

~clairz

[clairz]

New Mexico Then & Now, by William Stone. Westcliffe Publishers, 2003.

This is a coffee table type book, filled with fascinating photographs. First you see the historical photo, then a recent shot taken from the same place. It's an amazing way to look at how our state has changed over time. I'm sure that most NM libraries will have a copy.

~clairz

[Towanda]

Before our move out here, I bought a neat book called Retirement New Mexico by James Burbank.

It covers many of the cities and towns in NM from a retirement perspective and is loaded with lots of good information.

We already knew where we were going to be moving ... but for someone who has not made that decision yet, this little book would be a really good resource.

(I got it from Amazon.com)

[Pintada Kid]

If you want to read a book that tells the True History of the Southwest and to know more about the Spanish then they know about themselves and to use as reference the book NORTH FROM MEXICO by Carey McWillams is used in some Colleges to teach the True History of the Southwest and not the way todays Western Portray History as being. pintada kid at webtv.net

[tecpatl]

A great non-fiction book about one of New Mexico's most famous residents is Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides. Though Kit Carson traveled widely, he always returned to his home and family in Taos, and a fair amount of his time was spent here. It's the kind of book that makes one think: "If this wasn't a true story you couldn't get anyone to believe all this happened to one guy." I wasn't much of a Carson fan (the Navajo war/Bosque Redondo) but the book opened my eyes to a larger, more complex view of this fascinating man.

[tecpatl]

Originally Posted by Pintada Kid

If you want to read a book that tells the True History of the Southwest and to know more about the Spanish then they know about themselves and to use as reference the book NORTH FROM MEXICO by Carey McWillams is used in some Colleges to teach the True History of the Southwest and not the way todays Western Portray History as being. pintada kid at webtv.net

I highly recommend Pintada's pick. Great book.