1 comments about Alberta Wildlife Viewing Guide (Watchable Wildlife Series).

1. Was not as good as I expected. We didn't use the book very much on our three week trip in Alberta.

1 comments about Colorado Winter: Activities, Trails & Tips (Altitude Superguides).

1. Easy to use and comprehensive! Makes a great gift for new implants to Colorado, but useful for old-timers, too. All the info you need in one place!

5 comments about Cities Ranked and Rated: More than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada, 1st Edition.

1. This book rates cities by several livability factors, then adds the ratings to determine who's #1 (it's Charlottesville, VA), who's #2 (Santa Fe, NM) . . . all the way down to who's #331 (Laredo, TX), dead last.
   
   In doing so, the authors have inadvertently switched the ratings of cities with the same name: Columbia (Missouri and South Carolina), Columbus (Georgia and Ohio), Decatur (Alabama and Illinois), Florence (Alabama and South Carolina) Jackson (Michigan and Mississippi), Lafayette (Indiana and Louisiana) and Springfield (Illinois and Massachusetts).
   
   For example: Florence (Alabama) gets Florence (South Carolina's) rosey score for employment, while the latter is saddled with the former's rather grim employment score. Or, Jackson (Michigan) receives Jackson (Mississippi's) milder weather rating, while the latter is stuck with the former's rotten climate rating.
   
   Since a city's ranking depends on the rankings of other cities, these astounding errors affect the final results of every other city listed in the book. You can verify this yourself by comparing ratings summarized in the beginning of the book with ratings in each city's profile.
   
   This book is a fraud. If this had happened in health care or financial services, the authors would have been fired and their study withdrawn.



2. I think this book is uncannily accurate in the way it described many cities with which I am familiar. Must be accurate for the others as well, right? So I would say it is actually very useful.. Anything with a gazillion bits of information will have some errors, but on the whole, trust me, it's a good book.



3. I found this book a delightful conglomeration of every fact you might want to know about a city and it's livability. The catagories were population,economy& jobs, Cost of living, Climate, Education, Healthcare, Crime, transportation, Leisure,arts& culture, and quality of life.The charts, tables,and maps kept me in a sense of discovery! The info is really easy to understand and not too abstract. Peter Sander and Bert Sperling, the authors have a great background and created a very flowing publication.



4. I bought this book in hopes of finding my ideal location. The book is useful but almost all statistical. Also, the real estate and economy sections are very much out of date - then again, our economy in general is always changing. I found the sections on Canada very helpful. For more stats, try the US Census website, talk about all the right tools!



5. I've been looking for a place to settle down for a few years now and it's much easier to read a book written by those who have researched every major and medium sized city in the country and Canada than to try and do it myself. This book also includes small cities but obviously not EVERY one. It is very informative and it ranks the cities in an easy to understand way. This book includes details most people trying to relocate want to know about such as - weather, crime rates, what kind of crimes occur the most, water quality, air quality, population, job growth rates, #of hospitals nearby, airports nearby, colleges, sports and culture nearby.

No comments about Vancouver: A Visual Portrait.

No comments about Atlantic Canada Map.

No comments about Paddle Quest - Canada's Best Canoe Routes.

3 comments about Leaning on the Wind: Under the Spell of the Great Chinook.

1. From the warmth of your bedroom to the clarity of a foothill on a February morning, Leaning on the Wind takes you to places you didn't think existed. Like going on a trip with a serene uncle and reading his life like a carpet slowly unrolling in front of you. You are there with him and above it looking at his memories. This novel is neither myth and only cousin to fact; it is a folk story of the every day. In the middle east, Persian weavers insert a flaw in the pattern of their rugs, because only God is perfect. Marty, too, puts some extra stitches in his weaving and occasionally waxes tedious in his comment on the every day. But every insight requires a little bit of time and energy. It is a picture of both the beauty and sorrow in Canada.



2. I've just discovered the books of Sid Marty this year and I'm finding anything written by this gifted author is simply astonishing. What a rare combination-- what we have here is a park ranger with an extraordinary insight into human behavior who also has an ability to record his reflections with uncommon talent. Leaning on the Wind is spellbinding. I could not put it down.



3. Leaning on the Wind is a biography of the eccentric Marty clan and their homestead on Alberta's prairie below the eastern front of the Canadian Rockies. While a family history, it is equally an ecological treatise and a paean to the beauty and wonder of nature. Marty is a gifted writer who captures the heart and brings it home to revel in his mountains. Alternately comic, tragic, and inspiring, one readily feels a member of his family and the unconventional lives they lead.
   
   Like all eco-centric books, there is a fair share of ideology tossed about, but, unlike others, Marty takes the complete political spectrum to task. His is no Leftist caterwaul that bleeds well beyond the issue of environmentalism, but an objective exposition on the ecological ills that all forms of government bring.
   
   From page one, I swept through this book in just a couple of sittings. It is a model of it's genre full of optimism, success, failure, and melancholy, but ultimately, of love: Sid Marty's love for his people and their place amidst Alberta's rustic natural majesty. I recommend it highly. 5 stars.

No comments about The Coastal Companion: A Guide for the Alaska-Bound Traveler.

5 comments about Rand Mcnally 2008 Deluxe Midsize Road Atlas United States/Canada/Mexico: Delux Midsize (Rand Mcnally Road Atlas Mid Size Deluxe).

1. This Atlas is good for travel but not as good as the larger one.
   It is compact and easy to store in the car or truck.



2. I owned a much older larger size Rand McNally Road Atlas. I needed a new one and then read all the other views before buying this Deluxe Midsize. While this Deluxe Midsize might be right for some individuals, I now wish I would of gotten the Larger Size. This one lacks the detail and large print of the Larger Size. One almost needs a magnifying glass to read some of the smaller print on the maps. I do like the spiral bond.



3. Spiral binding and small size makes it an easy map to use in the car but the small size makes it not a very informational map! So limited in detail - I wouldn't rely on it for more than general "point me in the right direction" use. This was a waste of money for my purposes - glad I bought the big one also.



4. .....as the other reviewers state this atlas is just a tad too small. The larger version would be more ideal for those with not so perfect eyesight.
   
   This version of Rand McNally Atlas is recommended for those who do not wish to take up a lot of space and don't need their atlas to go into great or easy to see detail.
   
   I like it, but it still could have been better.



5. The Rand McNally 2008 Road Midsize Road Atlas is the perfect size to take on a trip. It also has a lot of good features, such as information on different areas of the states that have interesting things to see and do, but that aren't well known to most people. We have seen many great places that we did not know about before using these Atlases (this is our third one). We recommend this Atlas highly.

4 comments about Taste of Quebec.

1. French-Canadians and New England's Franco-Americans will be delighted with the presentation in this supberb cookbook because the recipes reflect the traditions of the French culture in North America. Pictures are beautiful and a history of each dish is provided.



2. I bought this book last March to recreate some favorite dishes for my French Canadian boyfriend here in Los Angeles. We have made several dishes together, and all were proclaimed a great success (by him, the expert taster!). It is an enjoyable book as well, dividing the culinary landscape into regions with intros etc. that made me more educated about Quebec regional cooking. I highly recommend this book.



3. I really enjoyed this book - it breaks the recipes down according to Quebec regions and is rich in history and the stories behind the recipes. It has everything from Eggs in Maple Syrup (!), various versions of Meat Pie (Tourtiere), various Sugar Pie recipes, and finally, to the famous Jo Louis cream filled cake that started the Jo Louis empire. Every French Canadian person I've ever showed the recipe book to has immediately wanted a copy of it. Highly recommended!



4. Nice cookbook with some authentic Quebecois recipes. If you enjoy Quebec cuisine then this book is work adding to your collection.