No comments about North Carolina.

2 comments about 100 Hikes in Northern California: Covers the Coast Range and the North Coast, the Bay Area, and the Klamath, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada Mountains.

1. I had a short time to spend in the backcountry and needed some succinct guidance for choosing the best trail for my time and experience levels. The 100 Hikes guide filled the bill - got me from Reno to the Sand Ridge Trail. The trail guide and map was way ahead of the material I picked up at the Forest Service Ranger station and I had a great two nights on trails that were just right for the equipment I had with me. Well written, guide from guys who've obviously been there on the ground. I'd even buy the book someday if the library copy is checked out next time I'm heading for northern California. Dick Williams 10-30-97



2. Details the flora and landscape of the hike; degree of difficulty of hike in a straight forward, useful manner. I have used the book for several day hikes in the Lake Tahoe and Bay Area and the book has helped make the hikes enjoyable and fun. Heed the degree of difficulty listing, they are accurate.

   BUY IT and ENJOY!!!!!!!!

1 comments about The Alaska Wilderness Guide.

1. 9781892154200, $19.95 www.amazon.com
   
   The editors of "The Milepost" present The Alaska Wilderness Guide: Where to Go Camping, Sportfishing, Sea Kayaking, River Running and Hiking in Alaska's Backcountry, now in a newly updated ninth edition. Featuring detailed information on public-use cabins, lighthouses, hot springs, ghost towns, and marine parks, as well as descriptions of over 85 navigable rivers, 100 parks, a wide assortment of refuges and monuments, and much more, The Alaska Wilderness Guide is ideal for hikers, outdoorsmen, skiers, sport fishermen, kayakers, bird and wildlife enthusiasts, and just about anyone eager to see Alaska's natural wonders for themselves. A gigantic fold-out color map of the entire state of Alaska and an index round out this extensive, one-of-a-kind guide to Alaska's glorious backcountry.

No comments about The Difinitive Journals of Lewis & Clark, Vol. 2: From the Ohio to the Vermillion.

No comments about LEWIS AND CLARK: THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.

No comments about Savage Dreams: A Journey into the Hidden Wars of the American West.

1 comments about Summer on the Lakes, in 1843 (Prairie State Books).

1. Many American literature textbooks cover the topic of Transcendentalism with selections from just Emerson and Thoreau. Why they don't include some of the essays of Margaret Fuller is a mystery, especially in our current age of political correctness and emphasis on diversity. She provides a woman's opinion of life in general and of the landscape and people of the Midwest in particular in this, her first published book.
   
   
   _Summer on the Lakes, in 1843_ is first and foremost a travelogue of Fuller's tour of the Midwest, and we follow her to Chicago and Milwaukee and into rural Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Her trip not only predates her friends' visits to the same area (Emerson first came through by stagecoach in 1850, and Thoreau took the train in 1861) but it also offers more observations about the people and the living conditions out on the prairie. Fuller had more time to spend roaming and adventuring, and she seems to have been more interested in the local culture than the men later were. (Or perhaps Emerson and Thoreau figured that Margaret Fuller had already provided the world with descriptions of the region, so they need not bother.) Midwestern readers should particularly enjoy the historic look at familiar landscapes, written at a time when white settlements were just beginning to congeal and take hold.
   
   
   Secondarily, Fuller focuses much of her writing on the plight of American Indians and also of women in general. She had read a great deal about the native people and seems disappointed to find that most of the Black Hawk War survivors had already moved west by the time of her visit. She also points a critical eye to the fate of the members of her gender who were helping to eke out a living on the prairie: "The great drawback upon the lives of these settlers, at present, is the unfitness of the women for their new lot." ... All domestic labor "must often be performed, sick or well, by the mother and daughters, to whom a city education has imparted neither the strength nor skill now demanded." (p. 38) And yet, many of the people she meets seem to be happy; and while life is hard and without most amenities, entertainment (even the occasional piano!) and merriment can abound.
   
   
   The narrative tends to languish when Fuller digresses into long-winded stories of the plights of specific women she either knew personally or heard about second- or even thirdhand. While these plot interruptions get tedious to the casual reader, they are further glimpses of feminine life in the early 19th century. Seen in that light, they can provide interesting diversions to the travelogue.
   
   
   Original illustrations by Fuller's traveling companion, Sarah Ann Clarke (sister of James Freeman Clarke) augment the text. This edition's introduction by Susan Belasco Smith helps to bring perspective to the trip and the writing. Recommended especially for residents of northern Illinois and to anyone interested in Midwestern history, transcendentalism, or women's studies. [This reviewer was an Illinois resident when these comments were written.]

2 comments about Silent Speedways of the Carolinas: The Grand N Histories of 29 Former Tracks.

1. Anyone interested in racing should purchase this book. Good look at tracks in the south and the part they played in forming todays sport.



2. Mr. Wood has taken a question bounced from one "good ole' boy" to another ever since the the silence grew deafening to those in the racing world, and given it 29 births, lives, and alas, histories, all wrapped up quite nicely in this book.
   
   This is a detailed look inside of what started as the proverbial heart beating of NASCAR as we know it, as well as a first hand account of Perry Allen Wood growing up in the midst of all the greatness that racing and NASCAR had to offer such as these now sadly, silent speedways and the legends that made them famous and vice versa. Perry Wood was so obviously brought alive first hand by the thundering roar of the call "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines" and the smell of the gasoline and rubber, not to mention, the sound of metal against metal, guaranteed to bring any spectator to their feet.
   
   Racing and what it meant and stood for is obviously a part of Perry Allen Wood and deeply ingrained to say the least. If the passion he has shown in this work, "Silent Speedways" is in any way, an insight to Mr. Wood, then it is without doubt from a readers stand point, that his heart lies with racing and related subjects, just as much or higly more so than those of us "square box worshiping, AC addictied, "baby, get me another beer" types. So then...good news for us 'fans',it looks as though those of us that once made the seemingly endless nomadic, pilgrimages to those 29 racetracks that are no more, we'll just have to change our route to detour the nearest bookstore for the latest title from racings newest smoking weapon. AND NO LINE JUMPING, I'M FIRST!

2 comments about The Rites of Autumn: A Falconer's Journey Across the American West.

1. If you are interested in falconry at all, this is a MUST READ! The story takes you from the hack site to the beaches of Texas. I ordered this book for my boyfriend (now husband!) many years ago based on a review that I read in Sports Illustrated. I recently read it again and it was better the second time around (maybe because I know more about falcons, falconry and especially falconers than I did before!). It is a great story, it wont take you long to read and anyone who has ever loved a bird and let it go will really appreciate it!



2. Dan O'Brien has a keen respect for and love of nature. His desire to protect and preserve peregrine falcons not only is told in an interesting way, but with a desire to teach others a respect for the importance of letting nature teach us.
   There are funny and interesting tales of his relationships with his hunting dogs and a peregrine falcon, as he trains a wild falcon to hunt and soar, with the hopes of releasing it in the wild after a migration from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico.
   Dan writes with the ability to hold your interest. You'll want to keep reading!
   This is a "good read".

1 comments about CONDE NAST JOHANSENS RECOMMENDED HOTELS, INNS, RESORTS AND SPAS - THE AMERICAS, ATLANTIC, CARIBBEAN, PACIFIC 2006 (Johansens Recommended Hotels Inns and ... North America, Bermuda, Caribbean Pacific).

1. No, I did not purchase this because my last name is Johansen. This is just THE book if you are looking for THE best, most unique, boutique type loding in the USA.