It’s a new year, but don’t miss these books released by Tucson authors in 2025!
Mural by Jessica Gonzales on the side of Antigone Books, Tucson
Order, order!
I’ve included links to order via Bookshop.org, but you can also check your favorite local bookstore.
Fun fact: Most bookstores that sell new books can order just about anything in print, whether they carry it or not. If they don’t have an online shop, call or stop in.
If you prefer to browse in a brick-and-mortar shop, I’ve listed independent Tucson- and Phoenix-area bookstores that say they have a particular title in stock. (I didn’t bother which stores you can order these books from, because the answer is any of them.)
Barnes and Noble also had a few of these books available in certain stores, so you can check there if that’s the option closest to you.
Her Arizona Trail advocacy, as well as her photography and writing about hiking and the outdoors.
About the Book:
This book is part of the Urban Trails series, published by Mountaineers Books. It’s a look at nearly 50 trails in Tucson and the surrounding areas. Each trail has a several-page description, along with maps and photos. Even before you get to those, there is tons of information about desert wildlife, Tucson culture, hiking tips, and local pronunciation. There’s a handy map and chart that will allow you to quickly find a trail based on location and length, as well as kid- and/or dog-friendliness.
Updated May 2025. Originally posted November 2017.
Over 30 Arizona museums and attractions offer free passes to local library card holders through the Culture Pass program!
“G’s Horn” sculpture of bronze and living plants by Robert Wick at Tucson Botanical Gardens.
What is a Culture Pass?
Culture Passes are a limited number of free admissions to cultural, historic, and other educational sites in Arizona that libraries make available to patrons. It was created by Act One, a 501(c)3 charitable organization.
Culture Passes from 2017 (old design)
Libraries that offer Culture Passes have a certain number available for each museum, etc. Different libraries have a different selection and number of Culture Passes that they offer.
Great Reading Room at Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix
About 175 libraries statewide and the library districts for 11 out of Arizona’s 15 counties participate in this program.
Desert Botanical Garden pathway
Who Can Check Out a Culture Pass?
To check out a culture pass you must…
Be a current cardholder for a participating library.
Live in the district (or be a member of the community) that library serves.
Be 18 or over.
“Measures of Separation” sculptures by Nazafarin Lotfi at Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson
How to Use a Culture Pass
Each pass is good for free general admission for two people on one visit.
We’re right smack dab in the middle of Sonoran Restaurant Week, when around 100 (!) restaurants in Tucson and surrounding cities offer special prix fixe menus for $25, $35, or $45 (plus tax and tip). The price often includes several courses that would regularly cost more.
The idea is to encourage diners to try restaurants they haven’t been to, as well as revisiting old favorites. You many need to ask for the Sonoran Restaurant Week menu if you’re at a participating place and don’t see one. Find participating restaurants and menus on TucsonFoodie.com.
View of the city from inside the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson.
Tohono Chul is a nature preserve just north of Tucson. On its 49 acres, you can find art, shops, gardens, a bistro, and lots of paths winding through the desert.
A Desert Corner
The name comes from the words for “desert corner” in the language of the Tohono O’odham (“desert people”), who were the ancestral inhabitants of this region.
I’d heard about this beautiful place from my Master Gardener uncle long before we moved to Tucson. For awhile I thought it was called “Tohono Jewel.” It is a gem of a place, so that fits too.
Phillip and I finally made it in there when my parents and their friends who were visiting from the Midwest decided to spend a day in Tucson.
They drove down from Phoenix and met us at the entrance on a sunny morning in February 2020 – when we were all blissfully unaware what the next 12 months would bring.
Routes to Drive from Phoenix to Tucson
Tohono Chul is actually in a pretty convenient location for people making the trip south from Phoenix.
There are two main ways to get from the Phoenix area to Tucson:
1. I-10 Freeway (“the 10”)
1.5-hour approximate drive time.
Quickest, most direct route.
Tohono Chul is about 15 minutes east of the 10 (exit at Ina Rd.)
2. Highways / Scenic Route (“the back way”)
2.5-hour approximate drive time.
Slower, more interesting route through Florence to State Route 79 then to Copper Corridor Scenic Road (SR 77).
Tohono Chul is just west of SR 77, so this route practically drops you at its front door.
“Regal Horned Lizard” by Dave Stone.
Art in Nature
Even though the sun was out, it was pleasantly chilly when we arrived. Many of the less cold-tolerant plants in the gardens were covered up because of a freeze warning, draped in sheets like furniture in an unused room of a Victorian mansion.
Part of “Two Cactus Wrens” sculpture by Mark Rossi.
Of course, plenty of the cactus varieties there are unfazed by frost. For example, no one needs to cover 30-foot-tall saguaros. Which is good. They take care of themselves and tend to outlive us humans.
Which brings me to my favorite plant we saw that day: a friendly-looking crested saguaro! Crested saguaros have a rare mutation that causes them to fan out at top.
“Standing Life-size Vulture” sculpture by Kioko Mwitiki.
While we didn’t go into any of the galleries, we did see several outdoor animal sculptures woven throughout the gardens, like a life-sized rusted metal vulture (by Kioko Mwitiki) and a much-larger-than-life horned lizard (by Dave Stone).
During the summer, it would be great to spend the morning exploring outdoor trails and then retreat into the galleries during the heat of the day.
There’s an outdoor geology wall that uses rocks from the nearby Santa Catalinas to illustrate the layers of stone under the mountains.
The Desert Living Courtyard showcases several types of gardens you could DIY with plants that grow well here, including a moorish garden and a “barrio garden” that replicates a backyard garden space with art from upcycled materials. For each garden vignette, there’s a list of plants and materials you could use to recreate it.
More Tucson Gems
After Tohono Chul, we ate lunch at the nearly 100-year-old restaurant El Charro. While there is a much closer location in Oro Valley, we opted to go to the original old building in Downtown.
It was the time of year where the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show® happens at the Tucson Convention Center. If you don’t have time for the massive, main show, you can get kind of a sampling at dozens of smaller gem shows that spring up around it.
I knew that we’d be in walking distance of Hotel Tucson City Center, which had its own free, open-to-the public show with 300 vendors selling minerals and fossils on their property.
Before our guests returned to Phoenix, we took a drive around Downtown, stopping for ice cream at HUB.
Everything Changes
I’m extra grateful we happened to go on that day a year ago, just before a certain coronavirus would shut everything down, when 2020’s dumpster fire was only a spark.
After being closed for months, Tohono Chul has reopened 7 days a week with pandemic precautions in place (details below).
Many Downtown Tucson restaurants are open for takeout. El Charro is celebrating its 99th anniversary with a special menu. HUB Ice Cream Parlor has remodeled and now has a walk-up window.
On a more personal note, my parents’ Midwestern friends were getting ready to launch their annual winter visit, when my dad received a cancer diagnosis and found out he would need major surgery right away.
It has all given him – and us – a new perspective.
After coming through his surgery successfully, he made himself a rule to focus on the moment we have now. It’s a good thing to practice.
Treasure your corner of the desert.
– More Tohono Chul info –
Not to be confused with Tucson Botanical Gardens (which is a collection of urban gardens in the middle of town).
A few years ago, I wrote (through tears), “Life can be such an off-balance mix of highs and lows, beautiful moments and heartbreaking ones all scrambled together.”
It remains true at the close of this tumultuous, challenging, disorienting – and, yes, often heartbreaking – year. There are points of light, even in dark times.
Quijote hanging out with me before polling place setup in November.
I asked a few friends to think of some good moments they experienced in 2020 and share them in the form of a top five list of things they did or simply enjoyed.
Their lovely responses (and fun photos!) are below.
These are my top five favorite makes of 2020 – a year that provided ample time for me to be creative.
1. Cornflower Yoke Cardigan from Vintage Baby Knits for my niece, Maxine Eleanor. She was born August 1.
2. No. 1 shirt from designer Sonya Philip. I learned how to sew basic garments this year. I made several of these and lived in them all summer!
3. I participated in Denyse Schmidt’s Proverbial Quilt Along. The quilt reads, “The Darkest Nights Make the Brightest Stars.” I gave it to my eldest niece Alexis, who headed off to college in August and was having a hard time with everything she’d been forced to miss due to the pandemic.
Kelli in a sweater she made herself!
4. My best friend Meghann turned 40 in August and asked for a quilt in her colors. This is the most ambitious quilting project I’ve ever completed. My mom quilted the top with her longarm, to make it extra special. The pattern is an Ohio star.
5. I completed Morning Sky sweater in cornflower blue and have enjoyed wearing it. I really like the scalloped edge and the fit. I made it from inexpensive yarn, and it has held up nicely!
1. I went on my first meditation retreat in Stockbridge, MA a week before everything shut down because of COVID. This was on my 2020 list before 2020 arrived.
2. I went on an epic hike in Yosemite and hiked Half Dome. I was sooo lucky to be invited on this hike as going all the way to the top requires a permit that is given through a lottery system.
Two of Vesna’s hand carved stamps.
3. I was able to stay home for 6 weeks when COVID first hit. We did a lot of walks in local parks. I also learned how to edit videos and filmed 3 classes for Skillshare.
4. I planted two fruit trees in my backyard: a fig and a pomegranate. I will always remember that they were planted during COVID year (haha)!
5. I am joining Carve December, and I am determined to carve a stamp a day during this month.
Lori camping with family.
• from Lori Meisner Cleland:
1. Socially distanced camping trips with my brother and his family
2. Discovering new (to me) music, like Gregory Porter
3. A slower pace
4. Increased support of and appreciation of small businesses
5. Seeing all the amazing creativity going on as people work to navigate this crazy year together
Photos from some of the local restaurants Lori supported this year.
Photos that go with the lists are from the respective listmakers.
P.S. Dinah Liebold’s list of gift ideas that was so detailed and timely that it got its own post last week, so be sure to check that out if you haven’t already!
