No comments about Mountain Park (Images of America: Massachusetts).

No comments about Appalachian Trail on My Mind.

1 comments about Fishing New England : A Cape Cod Shore Guide.

1. A must for all who enjoy fishing from the shorelines of Cape Cod. Loved the format with directions and tips. Well done and great buy for the money.

1 comments about Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular Culture.

1. E. P. Thompson was one of the founders of social history. He was part of a group of marxist British historians, among them were Raymond Williams and Eric Hobsbawm. Costums in Common offers a great social analysis of XVIIIth century England. His main thesis is that XVIIIth century England saw sort of a tacit agreement of social behavior and stability between the gentry and the poor. They were both allowed to take certain measures to achieve their aims--the gentry did it via the parliament, and the poor via civil desobedience. Most interestingly, however, was the symbolic struggle, or cultural struggle--what E. P. Thompson calls the theatre and counter-theatre. The theatre meant the social attitudes--the gentry had its wigs, its fancy outfits, and its arrogant attitude, and the poor had its popular culture. This was a way to channel power and discontent through cultural manifestations. All in all, E. P. thompson demonstates how all these tacit agreements and symbolic struggles allowed England to go through the XVIIIth century without going through a revolution (unlike the rest of Europe did or would later), although let's not forget that this was the rural poor and the haute bourgoisie and aristocracy, but the real bourgois were barely emerging. For that we'll have to turn to his other (and lenghtier too) book: The Making of the English Working-Class.

3 comments about New England Indians, 2nd (Illustrated Living History Series).

1. This nicely illustrated book provides an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the early Indian inhabitants of the New England region. Stretching back to 30,000BC, the book opens with descriptions of the first inhabitants of North America, the Paleo Indians, and continues up through the Archaic and later Woodland cultures, finally concluding with the early years of contact between the eastern Algonquians and Europeans in the region that would become Massachusetts. This book is filled with well researched information and detailed illustrations and depictions of everything from spear and arrow points, to flintknapping techniques, clothing, cookware, and religious rites.

   This book is perfect for someone with little or no previous knowledge of pre-historic Indian culture in North Americ, but can be a nice addition to a collection of someone already familiar with the subject and is well worth the price. It should lead the interested reader to even more in-depth works on the subject.




2. This nicely illustrated book provides an excellent introduction to the history and culture of the early Indian inhabitants of the New England region. Stretching back to 30,000BC, the book opens with descriptions of the first inhabitants of North America, the Paleo Indians, and continues up through the Archaic and later Woodland cultures, finally concluding with the early years of contact between the eastern Algonquians and Europeans in the region that would become Massachusetts. This book is filled with well researched information and detailed illustrations and depictions of everything from spear and arrow points, to flintknapping techniques, clothing, cookware, and religious rites.

   This book is perfect for someone with little or no previous knowledge of pre-historic Indian culture in North Americ, but can be a nice addition to a collection of someone already familiar with the subject and is well worth the price. It should lead the interested reader to even more in-depth works on the subject.




3. C. Keith Wilbur's expertise on the fascinating subject of the daily lives of the New England Indians is stunning. Anyone who has wondered how they withstood the harsh winters, how they sheltered and clothed themselves, and how they raised their families, will have his questions answered. The topics are endless: firemaking, snares, stone tools and weapons, needles and thread, canoes, language, ornamentation, their Iroquois adversaries, and the first contact with European settlers; it's all here. Where the archaeological and historic record is equivocal, the author makes educated guesses, such as the probable way stone tools were hafted to their shafts. One exception stands out, and that is his guess as to the earliest dates for Indian habitation in New England. For some reason Wilbur states this date as 32,000 years ago. In fact, there is no evidence that humans inhabited New England earlier than 15,000 years ago, following the end of the Wisconsin Ice Age. With this minor (and unnecessary) error, the book constitutes a rich compendium of factual detail about New England Indian life.

5 comments about Thirtynothing.

1. Lisa Jewell is a very good writer, but the premise and the execution of this story is just dumb. The background stories of Dig's and Nadine's friendship and Delilah's troubled past are credible. However, the path of their two-week romantic realization of love after ten years of friendship is utterly unbelieveable. Plus, while Dig's character is fleshed out, Nadine's character feels unappealingly spliced together.



2. The book tended to be slow and a little predictable. It was cute with a happy ending but I wasn't that satisfied.



3. Recently turned 30, Dig Ryan and his lifelong pal Nadine Kite decide to stop dating inappropriate people and find someone to love. They even make a wager on it to see who is successful first. Told through a series of flashbacks and current events, "Thirtynothing" captures the essence of first love, unrequited fantasy, and two reluctant people teetering on the brink of responsible adulthood and coming to terms with love and loss.
   
   Dig is a record producer of a small independent label. He is a womanizing (okay, more like a "girlizing"), fun loving, anal retentive bloke; Nadine, a successful photographer, is brash, independent, and strong willed. Neither ever dates the right person. But it is painfully obvious to everyone around them that they belong together. They run into the now grown up woman that stole Dig's heart (and broke Nadine's) when they were teens. Delilah was every adolescent boy's fantasy. And now she was back in London, and separated.
   
   Nadine fears that she has lost Dig again, and this time for good. To calm her broken heart, she makes a fateful call to a former boyfriend - one that Dig despises - and somehow ends up back in his clutches. Phil is much more a loser (and ex-con no less) than he ever was. Each is convinced that the other is only doing it because of their bet.
   
   The situations were comical - loved Dig's reaction to Delilah paying him the ultimate compliment - naming her dog after him. Of course, the dog is a Yorkshire Terrier - not exactly a gruff or manly dog. As well as how stressed he got with Delilah's messiness.
   
   Yes, you can pretty much see the ending coming a mile away - but it was a great quick read. I was hooked and almost overslept from staying up late to finish it. Unlike so many novels of this genre, the ending is satisfying and gives the reader closure.



4. I enjoyed it. I felt like I was friends with the characters and felt myself rooting them on.



5. Thought the book looked a little more "used" than I thought it was going to look for the way it was listed/priced

3 comments about Second Shot: A Charlie Fox Thriller (Charlie Fox Mysteries).

1. In the frozen New Hampshire woods, British bodyguard Charlie Fox wonders if she will bleed to death before she freezes to death. She muses back to her home in London where her boss Sean Meyer asked Charlie to protect lottery winner Simone Kerse and her daughter Ella from the mom's former boyfriend. Charlie hesitantly agrees to keep the two females safe.
   
   Simone travels to Boston in hopes of finding her estranged father and patch things up with him. She takes Ella with her. Charlie also accompanies them. In New England, a man informs Simone that he is her father; Charlie has doubts about his claim. When Kerse family secrets surface, Simone shoots Charlie who now is bleeding to death in the New Hampshire woods wondering why her client would try to kill her bodyguard.
   
   SECOND SHOT is an exhilarating thriller that starts off with an incredibly exciting opening sequence as the heroine, who knows she might be dying in New England, looks back to how she ended up here. Charlie is a terrific protagonist as she protects the Kerse pair from the ex, but wonders who will protect her from the Kerse pair. As with Charlie's FIRST DROP in the States, her latest American adventure is a sharp thriller.
   
   Harriet Klausner



2. Second Shot is the fourth Zoe Sharp book that I've read. I wasn't disappointed. This book is full of smart, vivid action, and plenty of twists. It's a fast read that kept me up late at night.
   
   If you like a tough female protagonist, you will like Charlie Fox.
   Charlie is ex-British special forces turned bodyguard. She's clever, a crack shot, and a bit of a smartass. She struggles with issues from her past...military career cut short, critical parents, boyfriend, and her dark side. She finds herself in a bad situation and grits it out.
   
   I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, Third Strike, which comes out later this year.
   
   The early books in this series are out of print and unfortunately somewhat challenging to acquire. I got my copies used from various booksellers. Shop around a bit on the prices.



3. SECOND SHOT (Lic. Invest-Charlie Fox-London, Boston, New Hampshire-Cont) - Poor
   Sharp, Zoë - 6th in series
   Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, US Hardcover - ISBN: 0312358954
   
   First Sentence: Take it from me, getting yourself shot hurts like hell.
   
   Simone Kerde won multi-millions in the lottery and her greatest wish is to get to know the father that left them when she was very young. She is being hounded by the press and feels threatened by her ex-boyfriend, the father of her 4-year-old daughter.
   
   Private bodyguard, Charlie Fox, is hired to take Simone and her daughter to Boston, where a private investigator, where they meet Simone's father. What should have been a joyous reunion turns deadly with Charlie a target.
   
   Sharp always knows just how to grasp the reader's attention with the opening line. However, exciting though it may be, opening the story with a climatic scene and then telling the main story in flashback is not a technique of which I am particularly fond.
   
   Sharp also used foreshadowing, which I find unnecessary and annoying. I prefer to have the story build as it otherwise seems a bit of a cheat. But that's just me.
   
   There were many more things which bothered me about this book than that. Sean, for being Charlie's lover, seemed very cavalier about Charlie's concerns. Many of Charlie's actions and decisions seemed incredibly stupid for someone who is a professional bodyguard.
   
   For me, the best thing was the sense of place when the book was in Boston and North Conway, New Hampshire. These are locations I know well and it was fun to visit them with Charlie.
   
   That, however, was not enough to make up for, what was otherwise, an over-the-top plot that left me almost as cold as a New England winter.

5 comments about Cape Light (Cape Light Series, Book 1).

1. This is an excellent series that depicts the characters in a small New England seaside town. The characters are alive and interactive. I have enjoyed each book in the series and look forward to more.
   His books describe this little town and the people who live there as well as his paintings describe the cottages and the seashores, all with the wonderful light.



2. I am so glad that I have found this lovely series of books! It is so refreshing to read some great fiction without tons of sex, violence and/or language filling the pages. These are gripping characters who keep the story alive without resorting to all of the 'junk' that a lot of today's authors turn to. I would not be concerned one bit if my small children read this book - it's just a good wholesome read with a little bit of God and faith thrown in (without shoving the Gospel down your throat).



3. If you love the charactyer of seaside towns or a community that really understands the true meaning of community, then you will enjoy this book. A variety of events that happen in the town, as you get to know the characters you live through each experience with them.
   
   Very enjoyable reading!



4. This was really a pretty good book. The kind that you really don't have to think about as you read. Although you kinda know what is going to happen it still was enjoyable. Nice to give the mind a rest sometimes.



5. I enjoyed reading this series, I have gotten the first 4 books in the mail this past week. I have read the first two and am looking forward to reading the other two.
   
   The books I have received are in good shape, the only problem I have is the S & H charge for each of the books. I have paid $3.99 for each of them and although I enjoy reading I find this charge a little steep. I find that ordering through your service is costing me quite a bit and I can ill afford the charges. If I cannot find the books in the used book store in my town then I will have to revert to you but only as a last resort.

No comments about 50 Hikes in Massachusetts: A Year-Round Guide to Hikes and Walks from the Top of the Berkshires to the Tip of Cape Cod, Fourth Edition (50 Hikes in Massachusetts).

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.