No comments about Fodor's Toronto 2005 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

No comments about Michelin Western USA/Western Canada Map No. 493 (Michelin Maps & Atlases).

No comments about Food Festivals: Eating Your Way from Coast to Coast.

No comments about Frommer's with Kids Toronto, 1E.

3 comments about Plates and Dishes: The Food and Faces of the Roadside Diner.

1. Diners, yet again have seduced another photographer, who wanted to capture an authentic slice of Americana. Stephen Schacher went the extra mile and only ate in them too while travelling to take his photos. This should have been a neat looking book, all the ingredients are there but it turns out to look extremely boring.
   
   Each left-hand page has a food photo and every right-hand page has a shot of the waitress who served Schacher. You can see what I mean by clicking on the images under the book cover at the top of this Amazon page. The images shown are in fact better looking than the ones in the book though, all the food images suffer from a yellow cast, frequently the plates break out of the image area (that would have easily been solved by running the photos of the page) various other elements of the meal, drinks or side orders are only vaguely included. For an alternative look at diner grub try 'Roadside Food' (ISBN 0941434680)
   
   The waitresses on each right-hand page are also slightly yellow looking but perhaps more serious is that the pages all look so similar. Far better I would have thought to vary the poses and show much more of each diner, they are after all bursting with visual excitement as Gerd Kittel found out in his Diners: People and Places. The only visual break in Schacher's book are the occasional graphic spreads that display a map and made-up receipts with details of the meals plus where and when they were eaten.
   
   'Plates+Dishes' is a great idea that just isn't cookin', unfortunately.
   
   Oh yes, Bonnie from Fenders Diner, Cornelia, Georgia can serve me a meal anytime, what a dish!
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.



2. The blue plate special, meatloaf, mashed spuds and more are all specialties of the house for most roadside diners, which are celebrated in Plates & Dishes: The Food And Faces Of The Roadside Diner. Artist/photographer/author Stephan Sacher toured the country in search of picturesque roadside diners and their fare: Plates And Dishes isn't a recipe collection, as one might expect, but a visual, artistic food celebration which juxtaposes photos diner dish specialties with their cooks on facing pages. A warm, inviting visual treat, sans recipes.



3. Schacher's road trip is interesting. The photos show the food on one side and the server on the other. It's interesting to see some of the food (greasy and burned), and how it changes from region to region. A great concept.

1 comments about Guide to Tourist Railroads and Museums, 2002 (Empire State Railway Museum's 37th Annual).

1. Now in its 37th Annual Edition, the Kalmbach Guide To Tourist Railroads And Museums 2002 (drawn from "Trains" and "Classic Trains" magazines) continues to be the definite "bible" for railroad enthusiasts, modelers, collectors and operators for planning their railroading themed vacations. Guide To Tourist Railroads And Museums 2002 also offers a wealth of information on steam engines and diesels, railroad lines, and trolley cars available for riding. Also included are a number of displays (including model railroads) accessible to the general public. Site descriptions include operating schedules, locations, phone numbers, photos, accommodations, special events and directions. The Guide To Tourist Railroads And Museums 2002 is enhanced with coupons for savings on entrance fees and tickets! If you are a railroad buff looking for that perfect vacation, begin your planning with the Guide To Tourist Railroads And Museums 2002!

5 comments about Roughing It in the Bush or Life in Canada (Centre for Editing Early Canadian Texts).

1. I came away from this with a very bad taste in my mouth. I don't find Mrs. Moodie very likeable at all. Her racism toward the Irish is really offensive, even judging her by the standards of her own day. The rest of the book is so-so -- some of the frontier experiences are interesting, but I found her personality so unlikeable that I cheered when her house caught fire.



2. For a great first hand account of the early Canadian immigrant experience read this book. The author is authentic and self depreciating in a subtle way. The places and people are real, and more important the thoughts of the author are the thoughts of the time but reveal a mind not different from our own. Bye the way, I find history books boring but loved this piece of our history.



3. I absolutely loved this book because Mrs. Moodie has an incredible ability to paint pictures and emotions in your mind and heart. The day to day history is vivid and exciting. I found it interesting to read first hand about the many places in the Kawarthas and Cobourg regions as they existed at the dawn of their settlement. Observing the interaction between the Americans and early Canadian immigrants was also valuable. A very eloquent book.



4. I have read most or many chapters of this book. Since it is a report of a time and place and area of human endeavor and North American pioneering history that would remain in greater darkness were it not for Moodie (her husband, and her sister Traill too), this book is priceless and amazing. There were not many fully literate English gals in the undeveloped woods of Canada in 1832! What a treasure.



5. Where was this book in the bra-burner days of the 1960's and 1970's: The Feminine Mystique meets Moodie, Judy Chicago inviting Susanna to The Dinner Party? Barely begin reading and you will want to give a swift kick in the pants (and wish that she had done it) to her ever-absent husband who dragged her back from honest mud of the pioneer life to the Cheney's and Halliburton's of mid-nineteenth century western civilization.
   
   We are frustrated that she doesn't speak up to those who take and trample over her. Speak up, woman! Don't let them get away with it!
   
   Her daughter and granddaughter were historic photographers who set milestones. Where were they mentioned in my history books or Girl Scout handbooks? Roughing it in the Bush is about women's place and power, make no mistake about it, whether you like it or not.
   
   I'm finding that with the eyes of the world on Canada, Alaska, and the Arctic suffering from rapid global climate change, books on this part of the world are becoming increasingly easier to find for those who seek the obscure, out-of-print titles being resurrected by reader inquiry and demand.

1 comments about Montreal Photo Album: Photographs from Montreal Archives.

1. We have all heard the expression " a picture is worth a thousand words" and Véhicule Press's publication of Montreal Photo Album: Photographs from Montreal Archives edited by Nancy Marrelli very aptly accomplishes this feat.

   The book originally served as a catalogue for a 1992 exhibition curated by Nancy Marrelli, who at the time was Director of Archives of Concordia University.
   Various Montreal archives at institutions submitted photos and unfortunately only some were chosen.

   The accepted photos were chosen based on their historical interest, quality, aesthetic considerations, and contributions to the overall view of Montreal.
   Nancy Marrelli states in the introduction of the book that there seemed to be a lack of single focal point. However, as she goes on to assert, this lack of a single focal point turned out to be the most charming asset of this collection of photos.

   A study of the history of Montreal would be incomplete if you could not see actual scenes and moments in history through the eyes of the photographer.
   For example there is a beautiful photo of a streetcar scene on Rue St Jacques taken in the year 1907.
   We see the streetcar as well as the passengers embarking. The clothes they were wearing at the time. We also notice the cobble street.
   What can be more informative than looking at this sight and living vicariously in Montreal in the year 1907?

   Another scene photographed in 1921 shows a view from Rue St Jacques towards the east and recalls the activity in Montréal's financial district in the 1920s.
   Montreal at the time was the centre of finance and commerce in Canada and most of the buildings shown are still in existence.

   There is a fascinating picture of the Bonsecours Market taken in the year 1908 where we see the horses lined up and the women with their long dresses strolling and checking out the produce.

   To the Montrealer the book will serve as a reminder of a Montreal that was but not forgotten. In fact when native Montrealers view some of these photos they may even comment to themselves "hey that's my neighbourhood!" "I can't believe Rue St Jacques looked that way in 1908."

   Even if you are a visitor to Montreal you can still be captivated and drawn to these photos as if you were part of the Montreal family.

   This review first appeared on the reviewer's own site: www.bookpleasures.com

No comments about Travels with Farley: A Memoir.

3 comments about Journeys to the Brink of Doom.

1. This is an extrodinate book. Once you pick it up, you can't stop reading it. When I started to read the book, I right away became more interested in the Niagara Falls. This book kept my imagination going the entire time. I recommend this book to anybody who is facinated by mystery, heroism, and tragedies of one of the most breath taking places on earth.



2. Very pleased with my purchase and I hope to hear more of T.W. Kriner in the near future.



3. If you are tired of reading the same stories over and over again - about Niagara Falls, then this is the book for you. The book is packed with little known trivia in a well-written manner.