Customer Reviews

Towns of the Sandia Mountains (NM) (Images of America)

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Growing up in one of the towns of the Sandia Mountains, I can ashamedly say that I really didn't do much digging into the history of the place. I don't know why really, I guess I figured it was just there and left it at that. Then comes along this little dandy of a history book wherein the unique history of the place I grew up in is laid before you through non-run of the mill descriptions, quirky photos, and some fantastic quotes from the people who have made up and make these towns.
This book is published through Arcadia, which has about, I don't know how many, of these history/photo style books. I have read a few books from Arcadia and maybe it's because this is one that specifically talks about the place I grew up in, but Towns of the Sandia Mountains seems to sit a few levels above the others Arcadia has out there.
This book reads like a dreamy ride through the past on an old desert road. Starting on Route 66 in Albuquerque and lazily winding it's way up into the mountain towns, past the towns, higher into the mountian, down a back pass, to the front of mountian and back into Albuquerque, picking up the towns of Carnuel, Tijeras, Hobbies, San Antonio, Cedar Crest, Canoncito, San Antonito, Sandia Park, and Placitas along the way, as well as a brief concluding chapter on Albuquerque touching on its growth into the mountain. Some of the pictures in this book are completely astounding to see. There are amazing photos of areas with just a few cattle grazing around that now have freeways and strip malls running through them. Pictures of places, if you know that area, you would never recognize. Pictures of Hippies and TB patients alike escaping into the mountains. People who made this town that you never knew who now you can know.
This book does away with the dull page after page of random portraits of people with boring captions style of history writing and brings new life to history.
If you live in the Sandia, used to, or are just interested in a unique area then I would say this is a good little read for you. Eight thumbs up!

It's hard to stop reading, engrossing, hard to stop reading!

My wife and are enjoying this book immensely, well written and the details of the areas of the places around us here in Tijeras are fantastic. This book brings the rich history to light in an enjoyable read. The photographs are amazing, to see the places as they were and are now.

Mike Smith, the author is extremely accessible for any questions or comments about his book, the region and the history.

Definitely a five star book, run now to get yours!

This book has wonderful stories of the rich history of communities of the Sandia Mountains. The photos are wonderful, and really add to the stories. The geographic orientation, beginning with Carnuel, and working around the mountain to Placitas emphasizes the rich variety of the area. I highly recommend it.

New Jersey authors have contributed over 75 titles to Arcadia's Images of America series, some excellent, some not so good, depending on the knowledge and research strengths of the authors. New Jersey leads with 75 communities in the Images series, the most of any state. Massachusetts is second, with 67. New York has 30, Connecticut 16.

Arcadia's formula: "use local writers or historians to write about their community using 180 to 240 black-and-white photographs with captions and introductory paragraphs in a 128 page book." (I've included a description of how the Steubenville, Ohio volume was created in the first Comment.)

There are now apparently six volumes for New Mexico, and Towns of the Sandia Mountains by Mike Smith is an outstanding effort for the entire series, based on the dozens I've read through or glanced at in local bookstores. Smith expresses a real love for the area, and we've really enjoyed consulting his book on our drives between the Albuquerque Airport and Santa Fe over the past several months.

Smith maintains at least two blogs, one here on Amazon and a personal blog called "My Strange New Mexico". "'My Strange New Mexico' is a unique column of strange New Mexico history and lore. The column currently appears every month in Local iQ, 'Albuquerque's Intelligent Alternative.'"

Smith writes in his biography: "For most of my life, I have lived in New Mexico, loved New Mexico, loved history, loved the West, and loved to write. As a teenager I moved alone to Alaska where I spent a year-and-a-half hitchhiking all around the state, worked as a commercial fisherman, and lived in a tent in the woods before hitchhiking back down to the lower forty-eight states. In 1999 and 2000 I spent almost seven months becoming the only person so far to circumnavigate the entire 1,960-mile shoreline of Lake Powell, in Utah and Arizona, in a canoe. In 2001, my younger brother, four other friends, and I walked over 3,500 miles from Key West, Florida to Cape Gaspé, Quebec, to raise money for charity. ..."

Smith's love for New Mexico shines through this volume, and his writing and research are both outstanding. See his Listmania! of over 30 titles related to the Sandia Mountains entitled "Books about the towns of the Sandia Mountains."

I've always enjoyed this "Images of America books -- it can be great fun to ask local residents about some of the entries. Some day I plan to track down Mike Smith and listen to some of the stories that didn't make it into this fine book.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Out of all the Images of America books by Arcadia I have looked at over the past few months this one is by far the best. The book was written with love and care by someone who obviously loves the area and knows it very well. It is also the most imaginatavely layed out Arcadia book out all of them that I own. The book has many great photos as well as vintage postcards, maps, and advertisements. Needless to say its a must have for anyone living in the Sandia Mountains but also a wonderful addition to any New Mexico library.