4 comments about At Home in Nantucket.

1. The book is written in a style that warms the reader to life on Nantucket. The photographs come to life with the descriptive prose that the author uses to provide detail. A true sense of life on the island is conveyed in the book which made me want to rush to Nantucket for some R&R!



2. Loved this book - some gorgeous homes that really gave me a lot of inspiration as I love that seaside/cottage look. Not all of the homes are decorated in an expected Nantucket style, however, which kept the pages interesting. It has beautiful photographs and some nice recipes too! If you love Nantucket or that casual, cottage/beachy design style, this is a great book for you.



3. I love this book!! I purchased a copy for myself first, and then numerous for friends and colleagues of mine who regularly summer in Nantucket, and some who have only been once, and others who haven't been yet (great way to encourage them!) - the photos are gorgeous and anyone with a bit of home decor interest would be interested in this.



4. I love everything about "At Home in Nantucket" - the pictures were beautiful, it was easy to read and the recipes were delicious! I have never been to Nantucket but would love to check it out now!

No comments about Transcendentalism: A Reader.

1 comments about Monhegan: A Guide to Maine's Fabled Islands.

1. This is a fabulous book. For decades, everyone who loves Monhegan has expressed the wish that there was a good book which they could show friends and neighbors "back in the States" when they rave about this wondrous isle 10 miles off the coast of Maine. But no book, no website ever came close to capturing the magic of Monhegan -- until now. This is the book every Monhegan-oholic has been been waiting for. Even people who think they know everything about Monhegan and who think they have seen everything there is to see on Monhegan will discover new secrets within the pages of this marvelous book. This is THE book.

5 comments about Great Lake Effects: Buffalo Beyond Winter and Wings : A Cookbook by the Junior League of Buffalo.

1. This cookbook is a must have for anyone who has ever lived in Buffalo or is interested in learning more about Buffalo. The recipes that I have made so far have all been delicious. It has also been very interesting to read the facts and stories about Buffalo.



2. Laurels for all the effort put into this cookbook. I found the history tidbits very interesting! The pictures just beautiful. And the recipes mouthwatering. All this in a cookbook?! Way to go Junior League of Buffalo!



3. This cookbook is a five star winner. I have tried many of the recipes and they are all great. I love the artwork and I also enjoy reading about the history of Buffalo. A must have cookbook for all collectors of Junior League Cookbooks.



4. This book is great for anyone who collects Junior League cookbooks. It has beautiful pictures and little history tidbits about Buffalo. The recipes are diverse and easy to do. I can't live without the "Sherry Chicken for a Crowd" and the "Potatoes Foster" - both great for entertaining!



5. I find this book well organized ,with a lot of informations about the community,the town of Buffalo,nice old pictures and very good food,real food for real people.I appreciated expecially the chapter about bread and bakery and some appetizers,anyway all recipes are put down very clearly and it is evident that before writing everything was tested many many times

5 comments about Potluck at Midnight Farm: Celebrating Food, Family, and Friends on Martha's Vineyard.

1. i bought the book because i have spent 25 years going to martha's vineyard--the book is inspiring because it makes you want to have a potluck party at your own home--but dont buy it simply for the recipes--they are fine--buy it because its a fun addition to your collection and inspires you to celebrate family and friends-- and martha's vineyard--
   the author's friends (whom she touts as a very eclectic group) happen to include all of the island's celebs---which does make it fun to look at the pics and read their recipes--



2. The New York Times was right: This book makes the Vineyard look like "a minimal-security prison for the criminally self-absorbed". There are so many better Vineyard-based cookbooks (like The Martha's Vineyard Cookbook--out now in its 3rd edition!)

   The recipes are so-so but the text you have to wade through to get to them will ruin your appetite.




3. This book was given to me as a hostess gift during our first cocktail party (Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa inspired) from a friend who knows that I love all things New England, especially Cape Cod and the Islands.

   The photographs are delicious in and of themselves, even inspiring a few unusual bouquets of flowers and eclectic ideas for table settings. There are a few recipes that seem unappealing to me, but that is true of any book. An author simply cannot please everyone! For the most part I have found these recipes to have different and creative twists on many favorite flavors.

   I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the "magical" element of the Vineyard as well as its' celebrity life. This is certainly not a book for those who want to throw hot dogs on the grill behind a split -evel home - not that there is anything wrong with that! It is for those who want to add an element of style to their backyard picnic behind that same split-level home. Potluck at Midnight Farm is about doing things with grace, that is, a Vineyard-style grace.




4. This book was given to me as a hostess gift during our first cocktail party (Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa inspired) from a friend who knows that I love all things New England, especially Cape Cod and the Islands.

   The photographs are delicious in and of themselves, even inspiring a few unusual bouquets of flowers and eclectic ideas for table settings. There are a few recipes that seem unappealing to me, but that is true of any book. An author simply cannot please everyone! For the most part I have found these recipes to have different and creative twists on many favorite flavors.

   I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the "magical" element of the Vineyard as well as its' celebrity life. This is certainly not a book for those who want to throw hot dogs on the grill behind a split -evel home - not that there is anything wrong with that! It is for those who want to add an element of style to their backyard picnic behind that same split-level home. Potluck at Midnight Farm is about doing things with grace, that is, a Vineyard-style grace.




5. I read the reviews and had to grin. Martha's vineyard has a groove,..a flow all it's own,..and it is what it is. If you don't get Martha's Vineyard,..then I can understand why alot of people don't get the book. I was bothered by the celebrity comments,..because on the island everyone mixes with everyone,...leather faced fisherman,..the town bar fixtures and awesome characters and yes even the celebrities. Good book for those who love the island, and get the mind set.

1 comments about The Connecticut River Boating Guide, 3rd: Source to Sea (Falcon Guide).

1. This is a detailed mile by mile guide to the Connecticut River, breaking the river up into a series of 28 reaches (1 reach per chapter). There are maps for each reach with sufficient lat/lon indicators to enable interpolation for GPS waypoints.
   
   River conditions from flatwater to Class IV whitewater are covered in detail as are campsites, sightseeing/sidetrip opportunities and major landmarks along the river, plus a bit of history.
   
   As a 'boating' guide, it is probably most useful to paddlers in canoes or kayaks, or perhaps rafts/inflatables. Access points, particularly formal and informal access points for cartop boats, are covered in text and on the maps.
   
   The thick, coated cover of the book is excellent quality, will handle some spray, and the page edges are rounded to avoid fraying/splaying -- making this guide suitable for on-river use.

No comments about Dream Homes New England: Showcasing New England's Finest Architects, Designers and Builders (Dream Homes).

5 comments about A Conspiracy of Paper: A Novel.

1. a fun mystery in 1870's London..no rampant sex scenes. no filthy language..just a lot of fun



2. I read this debut novel by David Liss - a historical novel set in the London of the early 1700s, and dealing with a number of con games setting on the then nascent stock exchange - some years ago, not knowing anything about the writer. The book is a fast read, despite not being a short book at all, and it's quite entertaining. But you are not likely to remember a lot about it after a while - it's exciting to read, well researched, but not very memorable.



3. At its heart it's a private eye novel set in the early 18th century run-up to the South Sea Company bubble, the first stock market crash. But the novel is also far more.
   
   Benjamin Weaver is a former boxing champion and sometime ruffian now making a more honest, if occasionally seamy living, recovering stolen goods in lawless London and taking on other work where a tough and discreet man might be needed. Also a lapsed Jew, he is alienated from his more observant family. He is drawn into investigating two recent deaths including that of his own father, a player in the freewheeling stock market, to whom Benjamin had not spoken for the last ten years.
   
   Weaver's father had been hit by a coach, and the other man had committed suicide. Is there more than meets the eye? The more Weaver digs, the more it seems so. Weaver finds many leads pointing to the South Sea Company and its rival, the more established Bank of England, which both make fortunes dealing in government bonds.
   
   He reconciles with his uncle, Miguel Lienzo, and reacquaints himself with the Jewish community he had left. He also becomes enamored of Lienzo's son's widow, the beautiful Miriam. Weaver crosses paths, as well as swords, with wealthy and powerful men, a delicate task for a Jew. He also runs afoul of Jonathan Wild, the boss of London's underworld. As his investigation threatens to shake England's financial foundation, Weaver finds his own life in jeopardy.
   
   The book has good detail, particularly on England's Jews of that period, Sephardic by way of Amsterdam. It also has good period-consistent language without getting pedantic. You don't need a glossary to read it.
   
   Liss creates a believable 18th century Jewish boxer, estranged from his own people and making a living on his own while never able to forget - nor in his heart of hearts, wanting to - that he's Jewish. And he mostly avoids planting 21st century ideas inside the head of an 18th century man.



4. I picked this book for my book club and now am black-listed from that position for the foreseeable future. I got the furtherest into it, 300+ pages, out of sheer guilt for picking it but it was a hard 300 pages. It was promoted as an "enthralling historical thriller" but ended up being a tiresome bore. At the very least I was hoping to learn something about 18th century London but I didn't like the main character, Benjamin Weaver, wasn't interested in stock-jobbery (a subject that was interjected at every turn, bringing any possible flow of action to screeching halt), and in the end didn't care Who Did It. Now I'm relegated to dessert detail for book club. Thanks a lot.



5. Think of a time where men and women, desperate to make money, buy and sell shares in companies, driving the value up; often borrowing money to further their ambitions, but where a single mishap can lead them into bankruptcy or worse. Think of a corrupt society, where marriage is mostly a sham, where affairs and adultery are winked at. Think of a culture where minorities, whether in race or religion or national origin, are careful to not draw too much attention to themselves lest there be a punishing backlash. The very wealthy spend their time in near idleness, politicians are hopelessly corrupt, and the vast majority spend their lives in trying to hold things together.
   
   America, the 2000's?
   
   Think rather, of England in the 1720's, and life is hovering on the edge of either glory or ruin, depending on luck. David Liss' novel, A Conspiracy of Paper takes the reader back to a time when speculation was everywhere, whether it was at a gaming table, in marriage or making money. Told in first person, we get to know the world of Benjamin Weaver very well.
   
   He is a Jew, but somewhat accepted by the British majority around him. Until an injury brought an end to his boxing career, he was known as 'The Lion of Judah;' now his life isn't quite as public, but the violence hasn't diminished much. Benjamin brings in various criminals to the court, or better yet, handles private, discreet inquiries. It provides him with a modest income, and as long as he doesn't have many extravagances, he does well.
   
   But when he is approached by Sir Owen, Ben Weaver finds himself entangled in a larger plot that he can begin to imagine. At first the assignment is simple enough -- retrieve a packet of letters from a woman named Kate Cole, letters that would prove to be very indiscreet if Sir Owen's intended, a young woman of wealth and sensibilities were to discover. A second commission, that of Mr. Balfour, is a bit more perilous -- discover who caused the death of his father, who hung himself after loosing an immense sum of money in stock investments.
   
   And here the tale makes a very personal twist. For it seems that to uncover it all, Benjamin must return to his family, from whom he has been long estranged, for his father also was murdered, and the crime remains unsolved. Back among his family, Benjamin meets the beautiful Miriam, his cousin's widow, and the more he discovers the more treacherous and dangerous the story turns, for at the center of it all lays the new creation of the stock market, where money can be made and lost in days...
   
   I have to say, this was a cracking good read. Author David Liss creates a very believable world here, and catches the uncertainty and menace beautifully. Much of the story is told through conversations, and the language of the time simply resonates, a time when being able to speak well, and elegantly was the sign of a gentleman.
   
   With the secondary characters, Liss does just as well as he does with Weaver. Elias, Ben's best friend, and aspiring playwright and mathematician is a delight to read about, and I couldn't help but chuckle over his obsession with letting blood. There's also his flirtatious landlady, forever trying to get some sort of gossipy story out of Benjamin. And the touches of Jewish lore and custom was spot on for the times, it was handled very well, and didn't have the mistakes that I usually come across when I read historical fiction, and someone decides to have a Jewish character or two in there.
   
   To balance out the higher end of society, there are also the dregs of London's underbelly. Jonathan Wild, an actual historical figure, is prominent in the story, and if his tale seems fantastical, it all really happened. Not only did he run gangs of theives and cutthroats, he had quite a stable of doxies as well -- and woe betide anyone who wasn't useful, as we see in the story.
   
   At the very center is the story of the South Seas Company, and the beginings of what we know as the stock market today. Every now and then, Liss shows us how the system worked, and I was both enthralled and chilled by the similarities to our own world today. I won't reveal here just what happened to the South Seas Company, but it was quite a shocker at the time.
   
   There is an author's note at the end, explaining some of the more obscure points of the story, and an interview between himself and author Sheri Holman that is fascinating to read. There are also a selection of questions for readers groups to try out. Finishing it all up is an excerpt from David Liss' followup to this, called A Spectacle of Corruption, which continues the story of Benjamin Weaver.
   
   This was a great, thoughtful as well as exciting read. Fans of historical fiction that is based in fact should enjoy this one, and mixed in with the talk of money and philosophy, there are scenes of housebreaking, swordplay, the horrors of prison and a seldom seen view of a society not so far away from out own.
   
   Five solid stars. I intend to find more of this novelist's work, it's worth it.

3 comments about Sword In The Stone, The (level 2) (Hello Reader).

1. Hey everyone out there! READ THIS BOOK! it is boring in some parts, but still good! This shows that T.H. White was an excellent author! He can spin magic with his fingers as well as J.K. Rawling and Brian Jacques! (Although they came after him!)



2. The other review on this page mistakenly refers to this edition as the novel by T. H. White. Its not. This edition is a short adapation for young children of how King Arthur became king. Maccrone's Arthur is a young boy, and he is "tricked" by Merlin into freeing the sword from the stone. Boddy's illustrations are great.



3. If you buy this book expecting to introduce your children to Arthurian myth, you will probably be disappointed. This book keeps only young Arthur, Merlin, and the barest outline of the beginning of the story of King Arthur.

   If, however, you are looking for a reasonably fun, short story for a child who is past "Hop on Pop" but not ready to read anything much more complex, you will be very well pleased. The story is simple, but reasonably engaging, the vocabulary is also simple, and the illustrations are decent. This is the first "Hello Reader!" book I have bought for my 2nd grader for use in home schooling, but it will definitely not be the last.

No comments about Month-By-Month Gardening in New England: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year (Month-By-Month Gardening in New England).