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Read in the Blue Line

The Adirondack experience

Anyone who has driven through the Adirondacks in peak fall season, camped in its deeply quiet forests, or watched loons dive for fish on a still lake will understand Matt Dallos’ obsession with this area. In fact, it seems that the author of “In the Adirondacks: Dispatches from the ...

A rich collection of an author’s knowledge, experience

Saratoga Springs author Joseph Bruchac’s new book, “A Year of Moons: Stories from the Adirondack Foothills,” is a delightful meditation on the seasons. Tapping into his Abenaki heritage, Bruchac leads the reader through the calendar, from the “Alamikos, New Year’s Greeting Moon,” ...

A lesson on beavers well worth reading

“Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America,” by Leila Philip, purports to show how much this animal has impacted American history, plus how much potential the large and often endearing rodent can offer in mitigating some of today’s environmental challenges. Though the book is not ...

The book that launched the Adirondacks’ vacation industry

As another Adirondack tourist season approaches, it bears noting that the industry’s beginnings, in the mid-19th century, can be attributed to books. Three pre-Civil War volumes in particular proved to be springboards for what became a revolution in regional economics — those by Charles ...

History series lacks essential context

I admit, I was wary of reviewing Erik Schlimmer’s 2023 doorstop diptych “With an Ax and a Rifle: Settler and Onomastic History of the Adirondacks.” For one, the word “onomastic” — which pertains to the history and origin of proper names — is grandiose. For another, I knew that it ...

A love letter to the Adirondacks

Joseph D. Dumoulin writes passionately, and with clear objectivity, about the Adirondack region in “Rocks, Roots, and Muck.” The Rouses Point native graduated from Plattsburgh State University College with a Bachelor’s degree, earned a Master’s degree in engineering physics, and ...