“Desert Country” by Edward Corle – great section on Death Valley and Death Valley Scotty.

“Mormon Country” – Wallace Stegner, need I say more?

I agree with you Joe on Caro’s book on Moses but when is he going to finish his intermidable bio of LBJ???

http://ronkayela.com/2008/07/what-if-they-gave-an-election.html

If the power structure of Los Angeles had not foisted Measure R on gullible voters, these six City Council members — Zine, Alarcon, Garcetti, Weiss, Perry and Hahn –would be termed out of office and we would be having a real election next March.

Instead, we face a rigged election. The same powerful, self-serving interests that have been running the city badly for too long preserved their control of City Hall by spending millions to sell as ethics reform extending from two to three terms the limits on council service. They will spend whatever it takes to keep these political hacks in office and to bamboozle you into paying higher taxes for worse public services.

But their collective efforts in leading the city are disastrous. Taxes, fees and rates of every type have soared in the last eight years. Poverty has risen dramatically. Gangs still terrorize many neighborhoods and City Hall lacks the will to get tough even with illegal immigrant criminals. Desperate for cash to feed the sweetheart contracts they approved with unions and contractors, city leaders will do anything for money and that’s why the L.A. is being overdeveloped without the roads, public transit, parks, water or other needed infrastructure.

Anyway this election season I recommend Fear and Loathing on the Campaign trail, by Hunter Thompson.

Highwire Moon by Susan Straight. A novel about a girl born in the US and her illegal immigrant mother who gets deported when her daughter was a baby. Told from both of their POVs, about how they’re trying to find each other.

And Southern California: an Island on the Land by Carey McWilliams. All but started the field of Southern California studies.

I recommend the U.S. Master Tax Guide. People are going to have to learn a lot more about avoiding taxes if Obama has a chance to get his way.