CAPSULE COMMENTS

April 5, 2007

New Books - Travel

The upcoming warm weather will bring many vacations. The following books offer a glimpse at three different areas of the United States that would make great trips.

Located in the California Sierra, the John Muir Trail is considered to be one of America’s best known and most beautiful. This pathway has some of the nicest weather of any high altitude wilderness trail and the entire length does not cross a single road.

This collection of photographs from Adams was originally published in 1938. Adams had been commissioned to do a collection of photos from the John Muir Trail as a tribute to a mountaineer who had died there in an accident. Many of the fifty photographs have not been published since that time. This new edition once again shares with readers a book that in 1938 set new standards for reproducing photographs in book form.

This book is not only a walk through the history of country music, but it is also a collection of essays from some of the legendary stars in the business. The informative text, pictures and memorabilia from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, makes this book a mini tour of what could be seen in person in the museum’s downtown Nashville location.

The book starts with the beginning of the commercial country music tradition in the 1920’s and follows through to today. Interesting sidebars include artist profiles and top ten lists of favorite albums and songs from people involved in the business.

It is the opinion of some scholars that the state of Ohio used to lead the country with the largest number of covered bridges, but this state is currently in second place with 141 bridges. More interesting facts, such as their history and how they were built, can be found in the informative introduction of this volume.

This book is easy to use with a separate section for each state. The names of the bridges and the counties where they are located are easily identifiable under each listing. All covered bridges in the United States are numbered according to a system developed in the 1940’s and that numbering system is included. Each bridge is featured with a color photograph and text describing where it is located and the known history of the bridge. Many of the covered bridges are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.