2 comments about Ipswich: A Celebration of Light, Land, and Sea.

1. I lived in Ipswich through my high school and college years and spent much time walking the beach and the castle lawns, riding bikes through Waldingfield Road, and enjoying the sites of Appleton Farms. This book reminded me of the connection that I had with both the town and the beach. The photography in this book is fabulous. The photos are such that they put me in a place where I can feel many memories and emotions from my time in Ipswich. I have returned to Ipswich many times and you really can "go home again". Ipswich is a unique town and Andrew Borsari has surely captured it's character. This book was given to me as a gift, one that I shall always cherish.



2. As a nearby resident of Ipswich, I love the way Bosari captured the area. It feels like the place it is.

1 comments about Moon Acadia National Park (Moon Handbooks).

1. This book is extremely helpful as a planning guide to a great trip.

5 comments about The Present (Malory Novels).

1. The Present reunites the Malory clan for Christmas at the family's estate at Haverston. When a mysterious package turns up in the sitting room, it's only a matter of time before the whole family gathers to unwrap it and with it unwrap a mystery surrounding their past. Inside the package is a journal belonging to the first marquis of Haverston and his wife, Anna Malory. It turns out that the rumors surrounding their family are true and that Anna Malory was indeed a Gypsy.
   
   This book started off pretty slow to get the reader acclimated with what's going on with the family. While Anthony and James are arguing, Jason is busy trying to convince Molly to marry him. When they finally get around to opening the journal, then the book really hits its stride. The story of Anna and Chrisopher Malory is an interesting one, and deserves to be told, but I would have rather had it featured as its own full length novel instead of a subset of this small holiday story. It went along too quickly for my tastes and then we were back to the mishmash of family members that didn't really flow too well. Overall, this book will be good for fans of the Malory family because they are all in one place for once. However, for those who are more interested in Lindsey's love stories, it's pretty lacking here.



2. I was disappointed in this novel as a whole. I love the Malory series but this one had too many things going on at once, as well as terrible character development. The story of Christopher and Anna could have been so much better. It was very vague, I didn't get involved with the characters at all, and it's hard to believe the had a long and happy marriage after "suddenly" being in love when they barely spent an hour together.



3. I have to agree with other reviews, that this one just didn't quite meet my expectations for a JL novel. I found myself paying more attention to the Malory family members that we are already familiar with- such as James and Georginia, Tony, etc. If anything, it was nice to catch up on thier lives after the fact. I can also see where this can be a huge annoyance to anyone not familiar with the Malory novels. This book cannot be a stand-alone as any reader would get lost in the various characters.



4. I don't know how this book escaped my notice when it first came out, but it did so I am reading it almost 10 years after it was published! I loved looking back at the Malorys. Each of her characters are well thought out and it was nice to "visit" with them again. It wasn't too heavy on the romance, but it was like reading a really long epiliogue ~ which is usually my favorite part of romance novels. A fun, fast read that is highly recommended!



5. The Malory family is gathered together at Christmas in 1825. They read from a diary/journal which describes how their ancestor Christopher Malory met and married the gypsy woman Anastasia 100 years earlier. Anastasia needed to get married in a hurry to avoid a prearranged marriage to an abusive gypsy man. Her story is interesting but short. A second plot in the book is 1825 Georgina being pregnant and not wanting to tell her husband. This plot was poorly done.
   
   As I read this book, I wondered if Johanna Lindsey truly wrote this or someone else wrote it using her name. The grammar was terrible. I don't recall this type of talk among her characters in the other Malory books, but maybe I missed it somehow. In this book, Anthony keeps saying "aint." On page 115, Christopher Malory's friend says "He don't have it." On pages 270 and 271 Derek says "It does, don't it?" and "aint". The grammar was unsettling.
   
   Sexual content not evaluated. I read this book before I began counting sex scenes and describing the language. As I recall, it was probably mild. Setting: 1825 England and 100 years earlier. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
   
   For a list of my reviews of other Johanna Lindsey books, see my 5 star review of "Gentle Rogue" posted 6/14/08.

5 comments about Management Secrets of the New England Patriots: From Patsies to Triple Super Bowl Champs.

1. I always wanted to know what make teams tick, especially great teams like the Pats. This is a good example of a well run organization for any business.



2. I don't know about you, but this Patriots fan can't re-live those days enough. And this book is packed, cover-to-cover, with the details.
   Sure, as a manager and Patriots fan, I've read it all before too. But as a beer drinker, it never occurred to me to decide "hey, I've done it before, I think I'll stop."
   Bring on the other volumes!



3. this is THE BIBLE for all football fans. This book should be read by everyone in management in the world of business as well as by executives in the NFL and other professional and college sports teams.James lavin shows the reader HOW THE PATRIOTS ORGANIZATION THINKS!!!!! If you want to learn how to build a winner in sports as well as business I RECCOMENT THIS BOOK IT'S WORTH EVERY PENNY!! P.s. reading volume II currently and lavin's second book is as good as the first i can't wait for the third volume.



4. Just a bunch of quotes from other articles and resources about the Patriots. There are literally over 2,000 listings in the Endnotes.
   
   I'm not through the whole book yet, but I'm beginning to wonder if he even talked to one soul at the Patriots himself. Looks like he just used others' research and consolidated it into one place like a lame college paper.
   
   Avoid and wait for a book by someone who has inside info or by Belichick himself.



5. I'm sure this is a great book and everything, but I think I'll wait for the video.

5 comments about SARUM THE NOVEL OF ENGLAND.

1. I'm a working mother, so I don't have as much time to read as I'd like, and when I do have time, I find that I prefer lighter fare. My family will be traveling to the UK this summer, so I picked up this book hoping to brush up on my British history in a format that I would actually complete.
   
   The book lived up to my expectations. I really liked the way it covered different generations, because the transitions between eras made it easy to put the book down and not end up reading all night. I also liked the sense of the sweep of history that it conveyed, and the sense of how small the individuals were against the sweep of time. And, by giving me stories of normal people responding to large historical events, it made it easy for me to get a sense of what the Magna Carta is about and who all the different important kings were, and more.
   
   I'm now trying "London," by the same author!
   
   I found the stories light and enjoyable, but not stunningly compelling and sometimes clichéd - hence the 4 stars instead of 5.



2. The author writes in a style very similar to James Michener; a saga spread across centuries.
   Easy to read, a good book for cold winter days in front of a warm fire.



3. Rutherfurd uses an interesting formula for telling the entire history of this area of England. He starts with several families during the age of primitive man, weaves a tale of their lives, then fast-forwards several decades, where we pick up on the lives of their descendants. This is repeated over and over, with the timeline jumping forward anywhere from 50 to 150 years each time. We learn what is happening in England with regard to invasions, wars, cultural growth, and politics at each stage. Eventually we arrive at modern times, still following these same families. What a great way to learn history! The book does not have a great plot, but is well worth reading if you'd like to increase your understanding of the rich tapestry of England's history. I had previously read Rutherfurd's LONDON, and while (of course) the country's history was the same, the issues that most affected the city of London were at different time periods in the history of England from those that affected the area around Salisbury (Sarum). I highly recommend both books.



4. I am just putting it out there that I am an avid reader, I love historical fiction, and sweeping epics are my favorites. I read a couple of books a week and I cannot remember in recent history not finishing a book. Sarum is slow and contrived. A great way to learn history? Not quite. Try actually LEARNING history. It is much more interesting. The author's style was so annoying that I found myself skipping pages, then chapters, and then finally slamming it closed late last night after getting to page 500 or so. The author uses big lead ups such as: Then two things happened that would forever change their lives... He continually introduced paragraphs like this that ultimately had little to no pay off other than minor plot twists. I wanted so much to like this because I find the underlying idea of this book very interesting. The writing style totally put me off, I found it mind-numbingly slow, and the characters completely forgettable.



5. This is a much more enjoyable way to gain an appreciation of the complex web of English history than reading history books. After all, it is more palatable AND memorable to observe the lives of individuals and families rather than just kings and battles, even if most of them are fictional! Like its language, the country's history has varied and tangled roots that, like the book, span millennia.
   
   Mr. Rutherford display not only a grasp of the events of England's past, but its important themes and cultural strands. He bravely suggests origins and purposes of Stonehenge, and also suggests how such disparate peoples as Viking and Norman invaders ultimately blended into the human landscape. The centrality of the rise and fall of a city's cathedral provides an excellent focal point. I give him particularly high marks for the way he follows several lineages over many centuries, showing how some family characteristics pass through the generations but the top dog spot changes over time. Thankfully he provides a genealogical chart to help us follow the lines of descent!
   
   The scope, depth, and creativity of Mr. Rutherford's novel is truly impressive. Few books of this length hold the reader so well. My usual concern about where the historical facts end and the fabrication begins pertains to this book like others of its genre, so it is not a substitute for a rigorous study of "real history", if that what you seek. It is, however, far more entertaining and perhaps, in the final analysis, insightful that many traditional history books. Unless you are cursed with a short attention span or an affinity for trite plots, this book will not disappoint.

3 comments about Foghorn Outdoors New England Camping: The Complete Guide to More Than 800 Tent and RV Campgrounds.

1. We just returned from a trip where we intended to stay at Surry Mountain Camping Area - rated an 8 in "New England Camping". When we arrived there Friday evening we were very surprised at the condition and cleanliness of the "campground". There was trash in several of the sites that looked like it had been there a while, run down trailers and it was clear the campground has not been well maintained for some time. With two small children, we had no choice but to forego our deposit and leave. In fact, we didn't even get out of the car. While I'm sure this is an oversight (had the authors even been to this site?), I can't say that I will be using this book for planning future camping trips.



2. My husband and I planned a 6 hour trip to a campground in Maine. When we arrived there, the campground was someone's backyard and the "silver lake" was down the road and across the street! The so-called sites were muddy spots that were so small we could not get our camper in the them. We pulled out this book and located a campground 12 miles up the mountain that we loved so much we booked for next year. We should have consulted the book in the first place!



3. I have the second edition (1999) and admit that I have used it only a few times so far. While it's unfortunate that a previous reviewer had a bad experience, the authors clearly state in the beginning of the guide that the number ratings indicate scenic beauty of the campground, not overall campground quality: "...ratings are based solely on scenic appeal and do not reflect quality issues such as cleanliness of the camp or the temprament of the management, which can change from day to day." Users of the book would be wise to note this distinction and not blame the authors when a campground fails the cleanliness test.

1 comments about New Haven (CT) (Then and Now).

1. This was a requested gift noticed in an article in the newspaper. This book arrived quickly and in good condition. The recipient was surprised and pleased.

No comments about Field Guide to Backyard Birds of the Northeast (Field-Guide to Backyard Birds).

2 comments about Foghorn Outdoors Maine Hiking: Day Hikes, Kid-Friendly Trails, and Backpacking Treks (Foghorn Outdoors).

1. I'm a native of Portland, and my friend (who's not originally from Maine) and I found this guide really helpful. Though I know the state well, I don't know all the little things about certain trails, such as whether certain trails allow dogs (important to my friend) or where a good place is to park the car (important to me, since I'm the one driving the two of us to these places). This guide tells you all that, and about all the hidden parking/entrance fees of certain trails. Highly recommended!



2. Offers quite a variety of hikes in Maine. Could use perhaps some more detailed maps. Have not got a chance to use yet as I am planning a trip for September 2007.

No comments about Country Stores of Vermont.