Requiem for America’s Best Idea: National Parks in the Era of Climate Change by Michael J. Yochim
Yochim died of Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2020 but left behind a legacy of books about Yellowstone National Park that had his writing compared to Edward Abbey and John Muir. His last book is about how climate change has already impacted some of our greatest national parks, Yellowstone included, along with Glacier, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Having worked for 20 years at Yellowstone and other parks, Yochim was uniquely placed to observe the effects of human destruction of the environment on these sacred places in the American pantheon. With 32 color plates and five maps, Yochim illustrates the downward trends of nature when in human hands. Personally, he draws parallels between his struggle with a wasting disease and the perils of environmental ignorance.
House Gods: Sustainable Buildings and Renegade Builders by Jim Kristofic
Kristofic has made it his life’s work to write about the Indigenous way of life and its lessons in a modern age. All of his books have been published by UNM Press. His award-winning 2011 memoir Navajos Wear Nikes tells of his growing up on the Navajo reservation in Ganado, Arizona. He has also written on the benefits of natural methods in building sustainable soil. In House Gods, he visits dwellings and apprentices with their builders to find out how to make houses that heal rather than sicken. Because of Kristofic’s curiosity for enlightenment, that means conversations with others with whom he crosses paths, like a shaman and a few stray dogs.
I Got Mine: Confessions of a Midlist Writer by John Nichols
If Hollywood made movies out of your books, wouldn’t “midlist writer” be a modest thing to say about yourself? Nichols of course is the author of The Milagro Beanfield War and The Sterile Cuckoo, among 11 other novels and other nonfiction including an earlier memoir, My Heart Belongs to Nature: A Memoir in Photographs and Prose. In this latest story of his life, he talks about all that went into making him a writer, his progressive politics and his love of this state. Of special interest to New Mexico fans will be the saga of making The Milagro Beanfield War with director Robert Redford in Truchas, which took years.
Fishing with My Fly Down: A Fly-Fishing Career Ruined by Rock Radio by TJTrout
Local radio personality TJ Trout has a home here and Back East but fly fishes all over the world. We learn about his most recent adventures in his inimitable, humorous style verging on fantasy and rife with self deprecation. (This book is being distributed by UNM Press but is published by Sunbelt Editions, a new client for the press).
The Mexican Chile Pepper Cookbook: The Soul of Mexican Home Cooking by Dave DeWitt & José C. Marmolejo
There are more peppers in the world than we can count. This book by Fiery Foods & BBQ Show founder and local author Dave DeWitt et al. includes 150 recipes and regales us with stories about chile peppers and how they are used in Mexican cooking, from apps to moles. A glossary of chiles and cheese is included. Not all of these recipes are hot, but we’ll bet most of them are smokin’.
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