Rob Bignell: 9 books

"Love Letters to Sophie’s Mom" The intriguing debut collection of poetry from Rob Bignell Passionate and evocative, "Love Letters to Sophie’s Mom" traces a relationship from the first dance of love at a coffee shop to its tragic demise as mental illness overtakes the narrator’s...

Imagine a place of crystal blue waters surrounded by lush green forests, of friendly Mayberry-like villages, of skies graced by rare, elegant birds, some whose wings span up to seven feet. The place is real: It’s called Burnett County, Wisconsin. Now comes the only complete guide to the county’s...

Whether you own a cottage that you visit on weekends or rent one for a week-long vacation, “headin’ to the cabin” is more than a time-honored tradition among Midwesterners. Simply put, it’s part of who we are. And what better way to experience all that “up north” has to offer than through...

Imagine a place where you can walk amid majestic evergreens and blue freshwater lakes, across 1.1-billion-year-old rock formed in the violent rending of a continent, past peaceful dairy farm pastures, over a landscape carved by a mile-high glacier, through small towns seemingly torn from the pages...

Whether you own a cottage that you visit on weekends or rent one for a week-long vacation, “headin’ to the cabin” is more than a time-honored tradition among Midwesterners. Simply put, it’s part of who we are. And what better way to experience all that “up north” has to offer than through...

The Grand Canyon rightly defies description. Most who see it for the first time say it reminds them of a majestic painting, appropriately suggesting it’s a place that only can be visualized by actually gazing upon it. Now comes the only complete guide to the parks’ great day hiking trails:...

Imagine a place of more than a hundred glacial lakes and trout streams, full of rustic charm and beauty in its farms and villages, all where ancient hills that formed 1.7 billion years ago stand as a backdrop. The place is real: It’s called Barron County, Wisconsin. Now comes the only complete...

Imagine a place where you can walk among the remnants of an ancient ice age lake and past tens of thousands of rare and endangered birds gathered on their annual migration, all as you hear the howls of wolves and calls of loons in the distance. The place is real: It’s the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area...

Few locales in the Upper Midwest match Wisconsin and Minnesota’s Interstate State Parks’ scenic beauty: a pristine blue river running through a gorge sided by black lava rock; fascinating multi-story sandstone formations; an utterly clear lake; extinct ancient riverbeds covered in ferns and wildflowers;...