No comments about Warren County New Jersey Pocket Map.

No comments about Gardenwalks in the Mid-Atlantic States: Beautiful Gardens from New York to Delaware (Gardenwalks Series).

1 comments about Lighthouses of New York: A Guidebook and Keepsake (Lighthouse Series).

1. Let me start by saying I didn't want to review this book because my own book on the same subject will be released in approximately two months. But after receiving this book yesterday and reading it over, I felt there were some things that needed to be pointed out, especially with regard to the information presented about Long Island's lighthouses.
   
   This book contains a great deal of incorrect information. This seems to be a problem with Globe Pequot's lighthouse books, but it is especially inexcusable with regard to Long Island's lighthouses, as there is a tremendous amount of accurate and publicly accessible information available. Here are just some of the problems:
   
   Page 8: "Horton's Point, built in 1790." Horton's Point was commissioned in 1790, but the property for the lighthouse could not be obtained until the 1850s (from Charles and Hannah Payne). The lighthouse itself was not built until 1857.
   
   Page 11: The photo and description of the Montauk Point optic is outdated. Since 2001, the lighthouse has housed a VRB-25, not the DCB-224 "airport-style rotating lamps" shown. The photo on the previous page is also quite old, showing the top of the tower as white, and the band on the tower brown. The lantern roof is now black, and the tower stripe was painted a more historically accurate reddish-brown in 1999.
   
   Page 13: Race Rock was not first lit "February 21, 1879." According to the Lighthouse Board's 1879 Annual Report, "the light shone from the tower for the first time on January 1, 1879." Also, it is not a red and white flashing light, although it had been years ago when the old Fourth Order Fresnel lens (an unusual part-classical/part-bivalve lens) was in the tower. The characteristic is now flashing red.
   
   Page 14: "after the [Little Gull Island] light was automated in 1978, the Coast Guard demolished the dwelling." That 1940s dwelling was torn down in 2002, 24 years after automation.
   
   Page 15: "a team of laborers spent two weeks sawing through the big cylinder [the brick Shinnecock Bay tower] and, finally, down it came like a mighty redwood." Actually, the contractors shored up the base of the tower's interior with timbers, jackhammered the bricks away on one side, and lit the timbers on fire. When the timbers burned through, the tower fell over.
   
   Page 17: "the builders piled hundreds of tons of broken stone around the [Orient Point Light's] base." The first rocks, about 9244 tons of them, were installed between September 1902 and May 1903, when the lighthouse was already a few years old. Also: "Painted brown at the top and white on the bottom..." It was brown, from head to toe. Finally: "[Keeper] Anderson served for twenty years in the Coffee Pot." Anderson served two years there (1899 to 1901). According to official documents, after he completed his service at Orient Point, he was later appointed as the First Assistant Keeper at the Twin Lights at Navesink in 1903, where he was until at least 1912. Anderson also served with another native Norwegian, Arthur Jensen, at Eaton's Neck.
   
   Page 18: "From 1903 to 1904 Stella Prince served as keeper of the Horton Point Light... Appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, she was one of only a few women ever to receive official appointment as a lighthouse keeper." These statements are false on several points: During the last quarter of 1903 and first quarter of 1904, Prince served as an Acting Laborer, appointed by the Treasury Department, while Keeper Robert Ebbitts recovered from a broken leg. Also, there were several official female keepers in the area. At nearby Old Field Point, for instance, Mrs. Edward Shoemaker, Elizabeth Smith, and Mary Foster all served as the station's official keeper. There were also many official female assistant keepers in the area and throughout the United States. Also, the site's museum is not housed in the tower. It is located on the first floor of the dwelling, and in an adjacent oil house. It is worth noting that the photo on page 19 dates back to at least 1993, prior to the completion of the restoration of this lighthouse, including the rebuilding of a wooden porch, some iron work, and other details.
   
   Page 20: The Old Field Light was not "completed in 1868," although that is the date cast into the base of the tower. It was completed in 1869; the materials arrived on site too late in 1868 to build the lighthouse. Also: "It replaced an earlier, though similar, structure." The earlier lighthouse was a 30-foot octagonal stone tower with a detached stone dwelling, not at all similar to the rectangular 1869 granite dwelling with a beveled square cast-iron tower mounted on the front of the roof. Finally, it does not serve as the Village Hall. The original keepers' dwelling handles that duty.
   
   I could go through the rest of the book's 90-ish pages and point out more errors, both blatant and subtle, but the above should make the point that the research and writing was done without respect for the history of the sites, or the readers of this book.
   
   On the positive side, there are some nice color photos, a map showing the stations included in the book, a glossary of lighthouse terms, and the book's price is cheap (considering the problems with the text, you might just be getting what you are paying for, though).
   
   The final test for me is the thought that school kids will be using this book as a reference. These children will trust that Jones and Roberts, as well as the folks at Globe Pequot, have respect for the subject matter and their readers. This trust, in this case, is misplaced, and historians, docents, and future researchers and writers will have to work that much harder to correct the inaccuracies in the book. I have a couple of young writers that I mentor -- this book will serve as a "what not to do" example for them.

No comments about Discover the Northeastern Adirondacks: Four-Season Adventures from Lake Champlain to the Rock-Crowned Eastern Slopes (Discover the Adirondacks).

No comments about New York's 50 Best Places to Enjoy Breakfast and Brunch: The Guide to the Best Morning Meals in the Big Apple (City and Company).

1 comments about New York `a LA Carte: The City's Great Restaurants, Their History, Anatomy, and Greatest Recipes.

1. The word selection and wit of Jay Jacobs mark him as potentially the most literate of the food critics of the last quarter of the 20th century. Jacobs was able to obtain the signature recipes of the best dishes of the greatest NYC chefs. I will never sell my copy since the great repository of formulas could be lost should its owners not attend to the disposition of this work.

3 comments about Rome in Detail: A Guide for the Expert Traveler.

1. Overall, this book delivers what it promises: descriptions of "hidden gems," walking tours, and restaurants that go beyond those of the standard Rome travel guide recommendations (the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, etc.) to provide the visitor with a richer and subtler experience of the city.

   The book divides the city into nine different neighborhoods, and provides artistic, hotel, and culinary highlights for each. The book's greatest value is in the walking tours, which expose the visitor to out-of-the-way churches or relatively unexplored neighborhoods. I greatly enjoyed visiting sights that I would never have seen had it not been for this book - the Santa Prassede and San Saba churches, and the Testaccio neighborhood, to name a few. The walking tours, such as the Quirinale and Via del Corso routes, are well-organized, and the writing is informative and well-written.

   All of the contributors to the guide have lived in Rome for a while, and their "insider's" knowledge clearly comes across. I showed this book to a friend who lives in Italy, and, impressed with the authors' familiarity of lesser-known locations and insights, he gave the book a strong endorsement.

   That said, there are several minor flaws. Although the maps show locations of various sights very clearly, they are not easy to use to navigate this very chaotic city. The maps are split up into the nine different neighborhoods, and one must flip back and forth through different pages to find one's way to a new area, which can be cumbersome and maddening. The maps also do not clearly indicate precise subway locations. These flaws may be avoided if one supplements the book with a separate tourist map.

   Secondly, the restaurant list could have provided a more diverse selection of choices in the lower price range. The book's recommendations tend to focus more on expensive, high-end (and occasionally overpriced) restaurants. I would have appreciated a more extensive listing of inexpensive trattorie that provide traditional fare for good value. The Slow Food guide (only available in Italian) provides far better choices for this sort of meal. Clearly, the book seems geared more towards travellers with means (i.e. the expensive hotel and restaurant choices, "best golf courses" recommendations, etc.).

   Finally, opening hours information is occasionally inaccurate or just plain out of date - a common problem with guidebooks, but troublesome if one tries to plan an extensive itinerary beforehand.

   In general, however, the strengths of this guidebook outweigh its minor weaknesses. No travel guide is perfect, but Rome in Detail provides especially valuable insights into this extraordinary city.




2. Simply put, using this guidebook is one of the most frustrating experiences any traveller can have. The problem is not the information, but, rather, accessing it in a useful, efficient manner. Unless you enjoy looking in several different places in a book for information about sights and their locations within areas of the city, you will find many other guidebooks more useful.



3. I had absolutely no problem navigating this guide. Listings are grouped by neighborhood and I was able to plot my itinerary very easily with a streetwise map. Very nice info on history and contents of different villas and churches with local color for added atmosphere. I found the practical information on hours and admission fees to be up to date. I ended up not using too many of the restaurant recommendations but was happy to have cafe and shopping tips.
   My only complaint would be that the maps are not terribly accurate- consider them illustrations only.
   This book may be a little scholarly/dry for some but I think they are a great resouce and I am happy to have them in my collection. I bought both Rome in Detail and Florence in Detail at Barnes and Noble for about $25 each. This price here on Amazon is a LOT less. Definitely worth the price.

4 comments about The Grownup's Guide to Living with Kids in Manhattan.

1. I live in N.Y. and my sister lives in Philly. She has 3 children and wants to move to N.Y. I told her it's great here, but still she had to do some "homework." She bought this book and really liked it, so she told me to read it. I thought I know everything about N.Y. But I guess I didn't. Now I know the best places to SHOP!! Thanks to your book!!



2. As a native New Yorker, I even learned stuff from this complete, well written guide. This guide has everything from museums, to zoos, to stores, to "boredom busters!" Everything you need to know to keep kids busy in the city! A must have for all New Yorkers with kids! even if you are just visiting.



3. As a NYC educational consultant, I am often asked by clients to recommend enrichment activities and classes for children. I am impressed by this book's comprehensive lists. Reading them, parents can plan stimulating weekends and afternoons.



4. Very, very little value in this book. Literally half could apply to any city because it's a bunch of lame general parenting tips. An example, here are the "Seven Principles of Living with Kids in Manhattan"
   
   1) Know what works for you
   2) Plan ahead
   3) Never take more than you want to carry
   4) Make sure that you and anyone caring for your children is equipped to handle an emergency
   5) Safety first
   6) Too much of a good thing can be too much
   7) Attitude is everything
   
   Thanks a lot, we parents in San Francisco don't have to worry about planning or safety!
   
   The other half of this book is a series of lists. Here's a list of *all* the museums in NYC! And one of all the kids stores (including Barnes & Nobles and Bloomingdales, thanks for the tips!). Zero commentary on *anything* just a bunch of lists. Seriously this book is like the output of a list of google searches paired with some generic parenting tips. Worthless!

No comments about Rand Mcnally Hunterdon/somerset/middlesex Co, New York (Rand McNally Middlesex/Somerset/Hunterdon Counties Street Guide).

No comments about Streetwise East Hampton Map - Laminated City Street Map of East Hampton, New York - with integrated LIRR tracks and Jitney stops.