5 comments about Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks (Crown Journeys).

1. This book is thin. I mean literally. It is really just a somewhat longish essay. I was disappointed that there was not more depth, more history, more "more."
   
   This is the story of McKibben's amble from Vermont to the central Adirondacks, with a crossing by row boat of Lake Champlain. McKibben is a good writer and he loves this landscape and is very concerned about it and its place in the global environment, but I could not help comparing him and this book to another Bill-namely Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Bryson is a much more energetic writer. In my opinion, he is funnier and deeper than McKibben. A Walk in the Woods is a great book, Wandering Home is light weight by comparison.
   
   McKibben has some very good thoughts on environmental issues and expresses an admirable moderation in this book. He is especially sensitive to the complexity of many environmental issues and actively criticizes the "knee-jerk" environmentalists for over-simplifying the issues in many cases. On the other hand, McKibben is something of a romantic airhead. Often his ruminations are fatuous and patronizing; for example, his dogma that those simple Vermont farmers and old Adirondack loggers that he's met are more "authentic" than you or I (McKibben makes this claim more than once in Wandering Home).
   
   Nevertheless, I liked this book and enjoyed reading it. McKibben loves the Adirondacks and so do I. In this short book he's managed to capture something of the flavor of the hidden Adirondacks, that fortunately so few people know. The Adirondack Park of New York is the most beautiful sylvan landscape in the world. McKibben's book raises, but barely starts to answer, such questions as why and how to protect and preserve the Adirondacks and other similarly blessed places.



2. Bill McKibben walks for sixteen days through the Adirondack Mountains to share his love of the land with his readers but what makes the book so special are the people Bill introduces, walks with, and talks with (and about...) along his journey. I was a Travel Agent for five years and was lucky enough to be sent to some of the best, first class places in America and this journey that Bill McKibben takes us on with his words is more meaningful than many of those places I went to which include the Grand Canyon & Scottsdale, AZ; the San Francisco Bay Area; Paradise Island & Nassau, Bahamas; Manhattan; the Sierra-Nevada Mountains (by train); and New Orleans & Mississippi River Cruise!
   
   Each authentic and real person that McKibben joins on his trek lends a hand in telling the story. The book is as much about the beauty of the people as it is of the land. I grew up twenty miles away from the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, and presently I am a steward and guardian of 400 acres of land in central PA with my husband, his uncle, and my husband's brother and I share and appreciate Bill McKibben's deep love for the power of nature, the wild, and the people. I found John Davis (owns a bicycle, no car) as one of the most interesting characters in the book. I also like the stories of Chris Shaw, who has the good sense of memorializing the people who have passed on but that once lived in the Adirondacks and give the book historical authenticity. My favorite stories in the book are from Donald Armstrong and especially Armstrong's memory he shares with McKibben (and us) about Don's wife, Velda and a fly-fishing event. I laughed so hard I cried! It is a funny moment, but this husband-wife story is so cute and sweet, and gives one a feeling of nostalgia. (The church steeple is a cool part, too.) This is a gem of a story and Wandering Home is a gem of a book.
   
   I am a people person and for the first few chapters of Wandering Home I'm thinking that it is too bad Bill McKibben spends all this passion on the Adirondacks. I imagine what his passion could do to improve the lives of the infirm or impoverished people. Much to my chagrin, in the last few chapters McKibben admits this deficit with charm and honesty. He admits he should spend more time helping the less fortunate, and then justifies his love and preservation of the Adirondacks as his way of giving something back to people. And, I agree that he has. Furthermore, he explains that he tries not to be a drain on the planet. If only we could all think this way, maybe our global warming and environmental problems would vanish. For the first time in my life, I realize the full extent of the impact that people have had and still have on our surroundings and I am saddened and sickened by it. (I imagine a sunrise or a sunset over a mountain, or an ocean breeze I thank God there are still a few areas left in this world that man / woman hasn't been able to get his / her hands on.)
   
   I do have one eco-criticism of Wandering Home. Bill writes that he and John Davis climb to the top of Owl's Head on page 93 of his book. Owl's Head is a considerable distance away from Bristol, and is not included in the path outlined on the inside covers of his book. But, every author has to create mystery in some way, right? Judging by the description of Owl's Head I can see why McKibben would include it in his "walk" since Owl's Head sounds like a stunning place with it's 390 degree view of the Adirondack mountains. On my map, Owl's Head is about sixty miles north of Lake Placid one way, as the crow flies.
   
   Dr. Robert Bernard Hass (English Professor, poet, writer, and Robert Frost expert at Edinboro University) and I got into a discussion about hyper-individualism in class one day. Dr. Hass told me about his friend named Bill McKibben and how McKibben writes about hyper-individualism and that a good place to start on the subject would be Wandering Home. I am grateful that Hass recommended the book to me. It was a book that I was sad to see end, but a journey I will always remember in more ways than one. I was so inspired that I am planning on a short family vacation to the Adirondacks for this summer. I will do my best to demonstrate a sense of forest preservation and protection while I'm there, visiting the wild of the Adirondacks.



3. Bill McKibben describes a walk through place and community. The community is bound by a geographic region but the displaced reader is imperceptibly drawn into the mind-set of McKibben and his guests. You are introduced to a group who love the land on the Vermont/New York border and recognise it as one of the few "wild" places left in America. It is their passion to preserve and conserve that comes through and it is infectious. The book inspires the reader to analyse their relationship to place and modes of behaviour driven by place. The antithesis of economic consumption exists in all of us, however repressed. Bill brings it to the fore. The effect on the distant reader is such that you will join the community despite being so far way. Bravo Bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!



4. I have spent much of my recreational time in the two places Bill McKibben writes about in this book -- The Adirondacks of New York and the Champlain Valley of Vermont. They both offer some of the most beautiful, pastoral scenery in the US. From Lake Champlain itself you can see the Green Mountains of Vermont on one side and the Adirondack Mountains of New York on the other. As Mr. KcKibben points out, while they may look similar and proximate from afar, each is quite different from the other. The Champlain Valley is more pastoral, bucolic and New England-like. The Adirondacks are much more rugged, wilderness-like and rough around the edges. Both can call to you in a way that becomes a lifetime's pursuit.
   
   This book is an easy and short read. It is engaging, paints wonderful pictures with words and gets you to think about the tension between a simpler life closer to the natural world and modern society and progress/development. He is fair in his assessment of the joys and the struggles associated with a simpler life closer to nature. I don't know who would enjoy this book more - the person who has enjoyed this simpler life or one who can only imagine it through books like this one. I highly recommend this book for people who love this part of the world or who have thought about getting closer to the land and living a simpler life.



5. Bill McKibben comes through again. This time it's "a walk in his woods," a three week hike connecting upstate Vermont with the Adirondacks.
   
   When you travel with Bill, it's a journey of body, a journey of mind and a journey of spirit, all rolled into one. You'll meet other folks along the way, people who have something to say to Bill and to you. You travel easy with Bill. This Bill is not as funny as Bill Bryson but he's more thoughtful. And he'll get you thinking.
   
   This book is a book about a place and about the history of that place. Having hiked in both areas, I especially enjoyed the subtle distinctions Bill is able to discern in landscape, flora and in the character of people between what he sees in the gentle hills of Vermont and the rougher landscape and terrain of the Adirondacks.
   
   Take this trip with Bill McKibben. You'll be glad you did.

5 comments about The House on the Strand.

1. I have read many Daphne du Maurier books. As I began this book, I started to get bored with the 14th century characters. Determined to finish the book, I took special note of the unusual names and locations in order to fully understand the various plots; and I finished the book with its surprise ending making it worth the while. As everyone knows, du Maurier is a great writer. Anyone that could dream this situation up has a great imagination.



2. This is a captivating story and one of my most favorite books. Although I didn't like reading Du Maurier's much more famous "Rebecca" (found the narrating heroine's whiny and insecure personality unbearable), I found this book addictive and finally understood why Du Maurier was so famous - She's a really great writer and story teller. Very unusual premises, extremely well plotted (none of the big gaps in plot or continuity, like in John Grisham's books), and great insight into people. The sections on the 14th century were so interesting! Like the protagonist, I also wanted to spend more time in the 14th Century rather than in the present! She pulls you into the very different lives and culture of the middle ages, while spinning in and out of their lives at different points with each of the hero's "trips". The life he sees there is so much more exciting that the real world he (and we all) live in, and Du Maurier shows his boredom, confusion and selfishness. I'm surprised that no movie's been made from this book - I think it'd be a great story. I've read this book several times over the years, and each time have enjoyed it so much that I had to read it straight through - truly the mark of a fun read!



3. The House on the Strand is narrated in the first person by Dick Young, who is staying at his friend Magnus's house in Cornwall and agrees to become a guinea pig for an incredible experiment. Magnus, a brilliant biochemist, has invented a powerful drug which takes the user back to the early 14th century...at least, in his head. Dick wanders around the past, seeing and experiencing everything with great clarity, while his body remains in the 20th century. He is unable to touch anything in the past, and is invisible to the people he sees.
   
   The novel is divided in time between the 1960s and the late 1320s and early 1330s. Dick's 'guide' in the 14th century is Roger Kilmersh, who used to live in the house where Dick is staying, and who is the steward of Lady Joanna Champernoune. All the characters in the fourteenth century, Joanna, Otto Bodrugan, Isolda Carminowe, etc, really existed.
   
   Dick becomes increasingly fascinated and obsessed with the people he is watching, their political intrigues, extra-marital affairs and even murder. He lies to his wife Vita in order to take the drug and 'go back' in time to see them, despite the physical side-effects he experiences - intense nausea, vertigo, disorientation, and, increasingly, mental confusion between the past and the present. His eye becomes terribly bloodshot and his hand becomes numb. Also, because he is traversing a 20th century landscape while his head is in the 14th century, he is unaware of dangers such as crossing roads and railway lines, and often ends up trespassing on private property, bruised, soaking wet and cut to pieces by hedges, marshes and so on he is simply unaware of encountering. His friend Magnus suffers a terrible accident on a railway line that simply does not exist in the reality inside his head.
   
   As in some of Daphne du Maurier's other novels, the Cornish landscape here is almost a character in its own right, and her descriptions of the differences between the 14th and 20th century landscapes are incredibly vivid. She is almost unsurpassed at creating atmosphere, and Dick's mental and physical deterioration, and overriding obsesssion with Isolda Carminowe and the other 14th century people, is utterly compelling.
   
   I've read House on the Strand four times now, and I never get remotely sick of it. Every time, it grabs me right from the first page - the novel begins with one of Dick's trips to the past - and I get utterly caught up with the characters past and present. The 14th century is brilliantly depicted, and like Dick, I'm fascinated by their lives. This novel is crying out to be made into a film! Highly recommended.



4. Oh yes, certainly. Everyone loves a story that involves time travel, romance, intrigue and beautiful scenery. 'The House on the Strand' has all this but, unfortunately, this reader was left unimpressed with it all. Why? Well, let's see...
   
   The setting, Cornwall, wasn't the problem. It is rich in history, and its geography/topology is fascinating. The story, about a couple of men who regularly time travel back to the 1300s, was MOST incredulous but not especially dull. However the science behind all this was completely bonkers. Imagine, a British scientist discovers a mind-altering drug which transports people back in time mentally (but not physically) to a certain, inexplicably, important time in history. Subsequent doses transports them back to a slighter later point in time that, again inexplicably, is also pivotal in time. Why not transport them to back when everyone simply mulling around and milking cows or something. But nooooo.....! It had to be when a murder was about to take place or a plot to overthrow the realm was being devised. Thankfully du Maurier's fine prose and characterizations save 'The House on the Strand' from being a contrived mess.
   
   
   Bottom line: easily one of the author's most dismal efforts. Not recommended.



5. Written long before the other time-travel stories out there, the lead character is a man who steps into the 14th century. But that won't stop you from empathizing if you are female.
   
   Du Maurier's method of getting into the past is a drug, which was a timely topic at the original date of publication. A portal to the past was opened allowing the subject to see and hear the past, while leaving the body in the now. But that window once opened, is not easily closed and can be fatal.
   
   I have recalled this story from time to time during my long life but had forgotten the title until I recently began picking around the old novels once more. This one is a good read and a little chilling at the end.

1 comments about New England Birds (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press).

1. A very handy size and has great pictures for identification when you are out backpacking or just a walk in the woods or fields.
   \

2 comments about Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It.

1. Though the musical of Mary Poppins was no masterpiece, its production values were certainly enchanting and this well put together volume includes a multitude of color production photos, scenic models and concept sketches from the stage show as well as photos and concept sketches from the much better 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews.
   I'd recommend this book to any fan of this musical (which I wasn't all that keen on) or fan of the film (which I certainly am) or anyone interested in studying stage design.



2. An absolutely amazing book on the creation of the musical Mary Poppins.
   
   It is full of information, facts, photos and even the design folio is included! A beautiful, incredible book that will definitely be kept forever.

No comments about Moon Vermont (Moon Handbooks).

5 comments about England (Country Guide).

1. I will soon be traveling to England and plan to trek around the country for a week on as little money as possible. I know that Lonely Planet produces the best kind of guides for this type of traveler - that is, a cheapskate drifter like me. I'm certainly happy I picked this guide up and I'm mostly confident in the data it provides. There's a treasure trove of information on how to travel cheap, especially in terms of bus and train transport between the major cities, plus inexpensive lodging - including hostels and even YMCA's and campgrounds. The problem with this guide is a general "cooler-than-thou" attitude toward tourist areas, with a real snobbish outlook on some popular attractions. An example is the Madame Tussaud organization, as their various museums are described as boring at least twice in the book (I've been to England before and I strongly disagree). Also watch out for the general "tacky" or "dull" label for many towns that cater to tourists, which makes you wonder about Lonely Planet's motivation for including them in the guide at all. In most cities, the restaurant and club recommendations do not seem like a representative sample, but just a quick list of locations that the LP team found cool enough to visit in a short amount of time. A lingering production problem is the quality of the maps, which are mostly dim in the black-and-white format and hard to read. But despite the occasionally condescending attitude, Lonely Planet succeeds in providing a very informative guide for the penny-pinching traveler.



2. Now in an updated and expanded second edition, England: An Ancient Land In A New Light is Lonely Planet's latest guide to traveling throughout England. Accessibly covering all of facts that any visitor would need to know, including transportation advice, and a careful piece-by-piece dissection of every corner of English territory, Lonely Planet's utility as a travel guide is further enhanced with the inclusion of extensive maps, information concerning activities such as horse riding, biking, visiting national landmarks, and so much more. The collaborative and impressive effort of David Else, Paul Bloomfield, Fionn Davenport, Abigail Hole, and Martin Hughes, this compact, portable, extremely useful and authoritatively informative resource make England invaluable for planning any kind of trip anywhere in this island nation.



3. You're going to LOVE BRITAIN! I've spent a year in England and have made >30 visits all together.
   
   Here are my reviews of the best guides....to meet you r exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!
   
   Lonely Planet
   Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.
   
   Fodor's
   Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
   The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
   SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide
   PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
   UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
   CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
   Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide
   
   MapGuide
   MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for pubs, hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the underground and the double decker buses. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the city centre. When you get to be an old London hand, remember that the classic Londoners guide will always be an A to Z (zed) map and guide. If you want to go a bit beyond the central core of the city (perhaps to Windsor, Hampton, or further away) you really need the proper AtoZ to be able to find exact routes and streets.
   
   Time Out
   The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!
   
   Blue Guides
   Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.
   
   Michelin
   Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.
   
   Let's Go
   Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
   Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
   City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
   PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
   MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)
   
   Frommer's
   These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.
   
   Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.



4. I love these books!! The first one that I used was Chicago. I have let more friends use it. They love the notes my husband and I made in the margins. The England book has been so helpful in planning our 10 day back packing trip through Great Britain. My only complaint is that maps need to be in color!



5. Lonely planet has a great team of writers. Every time I travel I get one of theirs books. It is a good format, has information on hotels, attractions and so on that are updated and realistic. Lonely planet a great job.

5 comments about Hiking Acadia National Park (Regional Hiking Series).

1. I found this book to be very helpful in planning my vacation in Acadia. I have 2 boys aged 5 and 13 and needed hikes that were doable for the youngest one. He turned out to be the best hiker of us all! This book gave me a good sense of what the trails would be like. We only did easy and moderate and one strenuous one (South Bubble Trail). You will need to buy a more detailed map (like from the AMC) but the trails are well marked. I liked the section on the authors' favorite hikes. We did most of our hikes from their recommends. Don't miss the Wonderland and Great Head trails if you go! Happy hiking.



2. For a party with kids, this book is just what we needed. The descriptions and difficulty ratings were right on. The directions to the trail heads were very clear (unlike in many hiking guides). Perhaps the best thing about it was the size. The book fit easily into my back pocket. No taking off my backpack everytime I wanted to check the map!



3. This guide is a scaled-down version of the longer "Hiking Acadia National Park" by the same authors. Included in this guide are 21 day hikes within the national park boundaries, some of which follow along the coast while others go to the more accessible mountains. Each hike contains directions to the trailhead, an adequate though not particularly detailed map, and a brief but adequate description of the hike. Length ranges from 0.5 mile to 5.8 miles, with the average falling at around 2 miles.
   
   There are a couple of things you should know before purchasing this guide. The book is only 84 pages long and only measures 6" by 4". This small size makes the book easy to carry, but at a cost. Specifically, only hikes on Mount Desert Island are included in this guide, with the rest being left on the cutting room floor from the larger version. So, if you are only planning a few days vacation to Acadia (like I did), this book will probably fit the bill. If you want a more comprehensive guide to Acadia hiking, you will want to look elsewhere.
   
   Second, the term "easy" in the title is relative. True, there are no multi-day backpack journeys described here, and the handhold rock climbs do not appear in this guide, but not everyone in even decent health will be able to hike all of these trails. For example, as an experienced day-hiker with average conditioning, I could have hiked any trail in this guide. However, my 60-something mother would have struggled on many of these trails even though she has no major health problems. My point is simply that not all of these trails are easy strolls on a level path, and I think you should know that before buying this guide. You may still need to choose a trail for your ability, and given the guide's size, your choices are somewhat limited.
   
   In summary, I gave this guide a good rating because I felt that it accomplished what the authors intended, namely a compact guide designed for short-term park visitors. However, depending on what kind of trip you are planning, this guide may not be for you, as I described above. So I recommend that you decide what kind of Acadia visit you desire and then use this review and others to choose the guide that will help you the most.



4. My wife and I just got back from Acadia. It was amazing. However, this book was useless for planning hikes. It has less information than what you can get from the park hand-out you get. We stayed at the Atlantean B&B and they had a book with a man and his 3 dogs on the front. It was excellent. I did not get the name/ISBM, sorry.
   
   However, we really enjoyed the extended Bubbles, Beehive and Goram (sp?) hikes. The beauty of this area rivals the Rocky Mts.



5. Good book and the descriptions are accurate.
   If you haven't been to Acadia, this is a good book to get.
   Acadia National Park is very big and has a lot of different areas with many options, so this book really helps you make informed decisions.

5 comments about Johnny and the Bomb.

1. On page 160 of Hawking's Brief History of Time, where the author is discussing string theory, he remarks `in the case of closed strings it is like the two legs joining on a pair of trousers'. This remark, I am in no doubt at all, was the basic inspiration, such as it is, of this book from Pratchett.
   
   This is the first thing of Pratchett's that I have ever read, and I learn from the dust-jacket that it is one of a series of children's books. My own childhood is a long way behind me, but on the other hand I can remember - or I think I can - quite a lot about it, and I have some idea how this book might have seemed to me at the age of, say, 12. At that age I was devouring science fiction - where, I wonder, is Vargo Statten these days, and what has become of the works of Jon J Deegan? I had probably read all the Just William books by Richmal Crompton by then, and I would certainly have noticed just how strongly Pratchett's formula derives from them, although whether I would have been bothered by that I don't know. The derivative feel of this book certainly bothers me now. Johnny Maxwell's little gang is blatantly based on William's, with Ginger and the rest of them and in particular the alpha-female Violet Elizabeth Bott here replicated in the polyonymous Kassandra/Kirsty/Klytemnestra. There is even an explicit reference to Just William at one point, in case I had been in the slightest doubt. I am also old enough to spot what looks like a rather feeble attempt at imitating Chandler - `men in suits who listened to little radios a lot and wouldn't even trust their mothers'. Back at the juvenile science-fiction level, the mention of golden-haired Atlanteans recalls very specifically the Eagle comic and its series Dan Dare Pilot of the Future - does Pratchett think that we have all died off or are suffering from dementia?
   
   Hawking's abstruse theories are very sensibly reduced to a vague level suitable for the starting point of such a tale. When time is `changed' (know what I mean - changed?) there is not one future from there on but two alternative futures, like a pair of trousers. The catalyst for the change is an elderly female vagrant wheeling around a Tesco supermarket trolley containing bags that somehow do the changing. She seems to be all over the place mentally, but that's because she is everywhen. She dots in and out of different eras, and through their interaction with her Johnny's gang from 1996 are transported back to the blitz in 1941. There is no enormous ingenuity in the way Pratchett handles the theme, perhaps wisely not in a children's story. He is addressing an audience familiar with Dr Who. However one trouser-touch that struck me as odd was that his 1996 kids saw something unusual in the 1941 schoolboy clad in shorts reaching below his knees. Those dressed to the height of casual fashion wear just such apparel in 2005, and so far as I remember were already doing so in 1996.
   
   If I were 12 years old in 2005 or in 1996 my guess is that I would have enjoyed the switching between epochs, and I might or might not have picked up the innuendoes regarding changes in racial and gender attitudes. I think I would certainly have felt there was something a little second-hand about too much of the story, and I think I would have awarded it 3 stars.



2. For the Terry Pratchett fans out there, nothing more need be said. It's Pratchett, you want to read it, the only reason you've been hesitating is because it's marked as a kids book (juvenile, young adult...) But this one isn't just for kids. As with any Pratchett book, there are layers and layers, and some of them wouldn't be obvious to kids at all.
   
   For example, kids who have only seen the Batman movies, and not the original TV show, will miss it entirely when Mrs. Tachyon is saying "dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner..." and continues a few more times between interruptions, finally ending with "dinner, dinner, Batman!" which is where adults (at least my generation) will realize she's not saying dinner, she's humming the theme song. Also, kids the age of our protagonists, 13 or so, may not recognize the "red shift" when they get to it; that's usually covered a bit later in the science curriculum, such as college physics.
   
   The protagonists are Johnny, and his friends Wobbler (who wobbles), Bigmac (who is large), and Yo-less, who is apparently the only black in Blackbury who doesn't say yo. They are joined in this book by Kirsty/Kasandra (she changes her name each week), who is hyper-intelligent and socially even more inept than the others. Each of this team has his own strange store of skills or knowledge. These talents turn out to have entirely different implications when travelling in time than they do in their own time. Bigmac's car-stealing abilities (which some parents may object to in a kids' book) turn out to be impaired when trying to steal a car that doesn't have power steering and power brakes. On the other hand, Yo-less's lack of cool is suddenly changed when he puts on period clothing and suddenly looks, as Johnny says, as though he plays the saxophone in a band. Yo-less does, though get exposed to the more primitive social prejudices of 1941, as does Kasandra. And Bigmac finds out that the skinhead symbols and attitudes that he wears only as a social item suddenly have real meaning, and it's not pleasant. OK, there's a bit of a moral or two snuck in here, about thinking about what things mean. There is also at least one moral that readers one and all will ignore, just as the characters do, about following advice (and about giving it).
   
   Johnny has been working on his World War II project for school since the previous book, "Johnny and the Dead." One of the funny bits in the book is how, whenever a kid claims he's doing "a project," he winds up with all sorts of information that is unsuitable for kids, and/or hitherto classified or secret; the remembered horror of school projects makes all the adults give in so that they don't have to think about it any more!
   
   Other reviewers have described much of the plot, so I won't repeat it here. One thing that some readers may wish to note about this plot is that it isn't just time travel, it's alternate history as well, and for kids this may serve as an introduction to the whole sub-genre of alternate history. Meanwhile, some of the high points:
   * Mrs. Tachyon's cat, Guilty - and his tastes in food.
   * The ice that forms on the characters during their last-minute rush for the air-raid siren.
   * The importance of pickles.
   
   The series has no noticeable sexual content, and no real bad language; the most dangerous things in it for young readers are the ideas, which may make them *gasp* think! It may also make them lifelong Pratchett addicts. In the opinion of an existing Pratchett addict, there's nothing at all wrong with that!



3. Johnny Maxwell worries about many things, such as money, AIDS and his father (who has left the family), but that doesn't explain the dreams he has --- day and night --- of war planes and bombs. Fortunately, he can vent all he wants to his four buddies: Yo-less, Bigmac, Wobbler and Kirsty.
   
   If only he had a time machine like the one they just saw at the movie theater, then all of his problems would be solved. He could set his life up to be perfect. On the way home from the time-travel film, they find a shopping cart belonging to homeless, crazy Mrs. Tachyon, who is passed out beside it. After the ambulance hauls the woman off, he puts her cart in his grandfather's garage for safekeeping.
   
   Johnny doesn't look through the cart, though he can't help but notice some weird things in it, like fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, which no one does anymore. Even stranger, the paper looks new but is dated from World War II. Kirsty believes that the cart is a time machine. Johnny disagrees --- until he is hurtled back in time for a few moments.
   
   Back in the present, an ominous black car chases Johnny and his friends. They time-travel, landing in their very own British hometown, on May 21, 1941. Johnny knows that the town was bombed on that day, killing many innocent people. Can Johnny and the gang do anything to change that fact without destroying the future? In the meantime, his pals are accused of being war spies --- and one is in danger of actually being erased by their trip into the past.
   
   JOHNNY AND THE BOMB touches on heavy topics, including war, the nature of time, history (Can it be changed? And can change be a good thing?), gender and racial prejudice, and more --- in a frequently side-splitting and thrilling yet deeply thought-provoking manner. It also continues the Johnny Maxwell tradition of portraying distant "others" (such as people from the depths of history books) as alive and real.
   
   In short, this book is amazing. And highly recommended. (By the way, if you haven't read the first two books in this trilogy, ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND and JOHNNY AND THE DEAD, you're missing out on some fantastic reading.)
   
   --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon



4. Johnny and the Bomb (Johnny Maxwell Trilogy, 3.) While I am a devoted fan of Terry Prachett's Discworld, I also enjoy his young teen fiction. (Why is that the kids get all of the great, fun and funny adventures?) I bought this book to complete my collection of his fiction.
   
   Johnny Maxwell is an interesting 12 year-old boy around whom events swirl. In this, the third of the Johnny Maxwell books, he and his friends are transported back to 1941's version of their home town. Can he prevent or change the effects of a bombing he knows occurred? And what is happening with his friend, Wobbler? The book explores the ideas of time travel, personal responsibility,and experiencing the consequences of your actions.
   
   10 year-olds and above will enjoy the Johnny Maxwell series. This entertaining, humorous adventure story emphasizes all of the varieties of people there are in the world and is affectionately amused by their antics. The children are realistically drawn and the story engaging.



5. In Blackbury, England twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell and his pal Bigmac find local bag lady Mrs. Tachyon badly hurt in an alley off High Street. He quickly dials 911 to get her help, and stores her shopping cart loaded with black garbage bags in his family garage until he can return them and her cat to her.
   
   However, Johnny and his buddies (Yo-less, Bigmac, Wobbler, and Kirsty) make a startling discovery about Mrs. Tachyon's bags. If they touch a bag they go back in time to whatever era that particular bag takes them to. Johnny sees a chance to change history; over four decades ago on May 21, 1941, a German air raid killed several people on High Street. He and his pals decide to go back in time to save the lives of those who died on that fatal day. However they will soon learn the paradox of altering the past when Wobbler fails to return with them so the remaining time travelers try again and again as they have all the time in the world or at least until Mrs. Tachyon claims her bags.
   
   The third Johnny and the gang science fiction thriller (see ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND and JOHNNY AND THE DEAD) is the best of an excellent trilogy as the hero's cohorts seem so much more developed. The story line uses humor and not so subtle puns to provide the risks of fooling with tachyon particles to change history as the consequence can alter the present one pants leg at a time. Although Terry Pratchett targets young adult fans with this series, fans of all ages will enjoy JOHNNY AND THE BOMB as he and his teammates learn complex lessons about getting "lost in the trousers of time".
   
   Harriet Klausner

2 comments about New Hampshire: An Explorer's Guide, Sixth Edition.

1. The Explorer's Guide series provides in-depth travel information you can actually use, and the New Hampshire entry is no exception. Eating in good--not necessarily expensive--restaurants is a favorite part of my travel experience, and the authors' restaurant suggestions in the Lincoln/Woodstock area didn't steer me wrong.



2. This guidebook is wonderful in showing the many personalities of New Hampshire. With over 500 pages on our Granite State, it reveals the little-known gems that abound here. I checked out a copy from our library recently to explore southwestern New Hampshire, and it was so useful I am ordering a copy. It has excellent in-depth descriptions of inns, B&Bs and restaurants, as well as full descriptions of outdoor recreation opportunities. The writing is crisp and informative, and there are numerous photos. Maps are not plentiful, but the maps that are included are helpful. Recommended for residents as well as adventurous travelers.

5 comments about Boston (Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides).

1. I bought this guide directly in the USA when I arrived because differently from others of this series it has not been translated into European languages (not italian at least). I want to say that I have used this type of guides before and found them very useful and entertaining. "Boston" is a useful guide to get an idea of the town, because it divides it in rational and well defined sectors eventhough the large and small scale maps are in different parts of the book, and so not easily found at thumb. The description of all the individual sights is sufficiently satisfying but I found the book lacking in overviews of historical, ethnic, economical, litterary, artistic issues, differently from other books of the same series. For example it gives no idea whatsoever of religions in Boston, whick are extremely important to understand the toponomastic of the city and its development. There is never mention of a churches belonging to this or that confession.
   As to artistic features, they are singularly mentioned in the places described but there is no overview as to where for example to find all works by Sargeant or Lafargue or Bullfinch, etc. Even modern architecture is not sufficiently described, some of the beautiful skyscrapers are just given for granted, while people interested in modern architecture would appreciate a notation on these buildings. Another point, in most of these guides there is a notation on places that must no be missed, so it is easy to choose in advance what to do that single day. Unfortunately the authors have not provided this kind of indication, which would be useful.
   The interrelationship between the people, the culture and the city is not well examplified. Naturally I understand that this is not possible in this kind of guide, but as I mentioned other books from this same series are better.
   I enjoyed using this guide even if at times I was slightly deluded.



2. My family and I took a trip to Boston in July 2006. This guide was incredibly helpful. We used this little book our whole trip. There is a great section on Boston on a budget and a wonderful map in the back.



3. Used this book for a 2 day trip. I like the pictures and images and history, but it's a bit light on other things. It didn't do as good of a job helping to prioritize. I'd buy them again, but only as a supplement to other bigger guides, not as my primary.



4. I spent a week in Boston and this book was great in helping me plan that trip. It offers lots of suggestions by region of the city which was a great way to plan. The restaurant recommendations were excellent and it is always fun to see what they recommend as the regional dishes. For those looking to soak up the history, culture and fun of Boston this is a great book to use in planning that trip.



5. As with all Eyewitness Travel Guides - you can't do better. Great breakdowns by area, highlights of top tourist places and lots of other items of interest, also a great brief history. The book brought out lots of special interest info that the guides didn't even talk about.