I saw this on-line today, and it looks interesting...
From National Book Award-nominated Kem Nunn comes an exquisitely written tale of loss and redemption along California's untamed borderland,
confirming his reputation as a master of suspense and a novelist of the first rank.
When Fahey, once a great surfer, now a reclusive ex-con, meets Magdalena, she is running from a pack of wild dogs along the ragged wasteland where
California and Mexico meet the Pacific Ocean -- a spot once known to the men who rode its giant waves as the Tijuana Straits. Magdalena has barely
survived an attack on her life and Fahey, against his every instinct, takes her in.
An environmental activist, Magdalena is engaged in the struggle for the rights of the thousands of peasants streaming from Mexico's impoverished
heartland to work in the maquilladoras -- the foreign-owned factories that line her country's border, polluting its air and fouling its rivers. She is
passionate about her work, and perhaps has taken too many risks with her own safety.
[img]http://wakebookaday.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/tijuana-straits.jpeg?w=167&h=254[/img]
As Magdalena attempts to reconstruct the events that delivered her, battered and confused, into Fahey's strange yet oddly seductive world, she
examines every lead, never guessing the truth about the man who has marked her for death. Armando Santoya, beset by personal tragedy, an aberration
born of the very conditions Magdalena has dedicated her life to fight against, is leading a trio of killers on a drug-fueled mission to end her life
-- and that of Fahey, her new protector, confidant, and friend -- in a final duel on the beaches of the Tijuana Straits.DENNIS - 4-17-2010 at 09:03 AM
Haven't you heard that the best Baja books are the ones that were published five years ago or more?DENNIS - 4-17-2010 at 06:18 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Cooke
Haven't you heard that the best Baja books are the ones that were published five years ago or more?
Hey..I'm sure it's a good book. A great book even.
Any information on Tijuana is going to be dated if it's more than a week old. The place is changing that fast.
Personally, I won't buy a book that hasn't been reviewed favorably and I won't waste time reading one that claims to present a contemporary scenario
if the book is outdated. It's history.
Without pointing out the publishing date, readers here could easily think the story is about today. Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't.wilderone - 4-18-2010 at 08:33 AM
I read it a few months ago. It is very engaging. An old surfer dude trying to scrape his life back together. the "back alley" type shenanigans
about TJ, the health clinic, the border, smuggler's gulch, methods of crossing, etc. - all must be founded on truth. Very enlightening even if "near"
to the truth. Also, the whole description of life in TJ River Valley. It is pithy, well written, and you want to root for the good guys.
I'll sell my book for $5.00- $3.00 s/h. (still working on the Hawaii fund!!!)Salsa - 4-18-2010 at 09:40 AM
Keeping tabs on what has been donated, here is what I have as the most current list.
When we were last in El Rosario I talked with Antonio about these things. He is still as enthused as the rest of us. His concern is that the books
don't grow legs and wander off into the wilds of Baja.
The custom built bookcase is a dandy.
John M.
New alphabetical (by titlle) listing of the books either promised for, or donated for, the Baja Cactus Motel Library, as of this date:
July 19, 2006.
AAA Mexico Travel Book
AAA Baja California - 1987
Air and fire ? Rupert Thomson
Almost an Island - Travels in Baja California - Bruce Berger
Angler's Guide to Baja California - Tom Miller
Angler?s Guide to Baja California ? Tom Miller - 1979
Baja Adventure Book, The - Walt Peterson
Baja Adventures by Land-Air-Sea c1981 by Mavin & Aletha Patchen
Baja Book II, The, c1977 by Tom Miller
Baja Book II, The - Tom Miller
Baja California, AAA Auto Club, ?95
Baja California - William Johnson ? (Time-Life Book)
Baja California and its Missions by Tomas Robertson,
Baja California and the Geography of Hope. Joseph Wood Krutch / Eliot
Porter. 1969. paperback.
Baja California ? Lonely Planet guide
Baja California ? Lonely Planet guide, 5th ed 2001
Baja HaHa ? Hoctor
Baja Handbook, Joe Cummings, Feb ?92
Baja Journey - Reveries of a Sea Kayaker - Robin Carey
Baja Legends ? note ? no author shown
Beaches of Baja - Walt Wheelock
Birds of North America ? Golden Field Guide
Butterflies and Moths ? Peterson First Guides ? Paul Opter
Cacti ? Tribune Books - 1973
Cave Paintings of Baja California. Harry W. Crosby (autographed). 1997.
hardcover with dustjacket.
California Desert Wildflowers. Philip A. Munz, Univ Calif Press. 1962.
California Missions Pictorial, McConalogue, 1965
Capturing Rainfall ? Small Scale Water Supply Systems, State of CA - 1981
Desert Tree Finder, May Watts - 1974
Desert Wildlife, by Edmund Jaeger, 1961
Discoverying the Geology of Baja CA : Six Hikes on the So. Gulf Coast - Markes Johnson
Diving and Snorkling Baja, CA, Lonely Planet, Walt Peterson Feb ?99
Diving and Snorkling Guide, Cozumel, 2nd ed., Pices Books
Due South Los Cabos - Stephanie Marceau
Essentials of Sea Kayaking - ?
Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of No America - Gulf of Alaska to Baja CA - William Eschmeyer
Fishes of California and Western Mexico. Burgess and Axelrod. 1984.
Time of the Bells- When California Began c1961 by Richard Pourade
Todos Santos Book, The, Lee Moore (autographed). 1996. Spiralbound.
Water Quality in the Kumiai Communities of Baja Calif, and Building a Kumeyaay Environmental Strategy. Native cultures Institute,1996. Spiralbound.
Whales ? Lesley Dow - 1990
World Food ? Mexico ? Lonely Planet
Bound articles:
San Diego History ? Winter 89 ? A History of Santa Rosalia in Baja California
San Diego History ? Spring 1976 ? El Camino Real in Baja California
San Diego History ? Winter 1980 ? The Baja California Gold Rush of 1889
San Diego History ? Fall 75 ? Problems of the Serra Route
The Trout of the Sierra San Pedro Martir ? Lower California ? John Snyder
Magazines:
American Archaeology
Baja Life magazines, early issues (3)
Desert ? 1956
National Geographic, October 1989 ? La Ruta Maya
National Geographic, December 1992 ? Whale Sharks
National Geographic, February 1994 ? Sea Turtle story
National Geographic Adventure
Saltwater Sportsman
Scuba Diving Magazine ? Dec 05/Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug 06
Sunset Travel Guide, July 1973
Maps:
Baja, United States, Mexico, Californiawilderone - 4-19-2010 at 07:39 AM
Getting a little off-topic - but I have two more boxes of books for the library. Too much work to write all the titles. If Antonio ends up with lots
of duplicates, he can have an assortment for sale. I am also collecting books in Spanish for Mexican hotel guests who just want something to read
during their stay. I love Antonio's planned addition with coffee sales, book loft, snack grill, etc. I think it will be a huge success, and maybe
even spur a more grand town library. I was involved in the creation of a library in a Zapatista village, and it very quickly (a year and a half)
became the biggest library in the region, with donations of books from school teachers from Mexico City, etc. As for the concern that books will be
absconded, maybe allow borrowing, with a cash deposit, name, address, time limit. If the book isn't returned, then the deposit is forfeited. Some
books just wouldn't be "borrowable" - the ones too difficult to replace. An available copy machine, 15 cents per page, would also generate income,
and travelers could copy pertinent pages of interest for their trip. Possibly have a selling price on each book in case somebody just had to buy it.
I would bet that there would be several volunteers to help keep records, inventory. A plea for grants, donations, more books, would yield
satisfactory results to keep it viable. You just have to begin, and see what develops.
