5 comments about American Map 2008 United States Road Atlas (American Map Road Atlas).

1. This is an excellent detailed road atlas that has served me well. If you appreciate detail in using road maps, then this is for you. You'll soon notice the difference between this road atlas and the bargain ones sold at Wal-Mart. If you enjoy going off the beaten path you'll appreciate using this.



2. This is a wonderful Atlas. The best we've found so far. Larger print and spiral binding makes viewing great for those of us with not the best eyes. More pages per state so you get a good idea of what is really there. Fun to go through!



3. I appreciated the large, detailed map when I traveled from S. Florida to N. Carolina. The layout is well thought-out. This is the map for the casual, carefree traveler.
   I immediatley knew I made the right choice after opening the 1st page. The large lay-out design makes it expecially easy when you need to find your exit or country road in a hurry.
   I recommed this map for the casual traveler. You won't be dissapointed.



4. This helped a lot in our return trip from the East Coast going back home to the West recently. It included rest areas, which were ideal stops for us so our oldest five children could run around, and we could eat picnic lunches in the fresh air instead of eating in restaurants (better food for less money + happy kids = happier parents). The increase in detail meant I had to flip pages more than with our previous atlas, but the slight inconvenience was worth it.



5. I am very disapointed by this atlas. I am planning a road trip to the USA in June. Blue Ridge Summit, PA, is not on the maps. Neither are Scottdale, PA, Hagerstown, MD, nor Long Pond, PA.
   The good point if any is the number of city maps included.
   I end up with an atlas I am not really going to use, and I'll have to carry along my 10+ yr old Blay-Foldex atlas, which has always been very useful. I hope not too many roads have changed in the meantime!!!
   Hope this helps.

5 comments about Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer.

1. I have nothing but praise for DeLorme. We have purchased and used 5 states now (Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, and Arizona), and each has enabled us to really enjoy some spontaneous vacations. I plan to buy one for each state I visit.



2. Great Product! Nearly as good as having a seperate map for every county in the whole state.
   I like it best because I can read the text much easier than a state map, especially in low light. My bifocals are OK for reading but not the fine details of most maps.



3. I purchased the maps so I could see the elevation contours. I have a Tennessee maps and it gives the elevation changes by 100 foot. The map gives some elevation but not the contours.



4. These Delorme Atlas & Gazetters are wondeful. They show you many features not available through GPS, maps or other atlases. It is a great feature to have the BLM lands marked as well as the back roads. Good resources are also included in each states atlas. A good addition to anyone's travel tools.



5. We are snowbirds and we kept getting "misplaced" with the regular maps. This one is complete and accurate. Thanks

3 comments about Weird Massachusetts: Your Travel Guide to Massachusetts' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Weird).

1. I really liked this book, although it was a bit of disappointment to learn that there isn't really anything that spooky about Spider Gates! ha ha I learned a lot of things about my own home state that I didn't even know, this was a great book. Each story is pretty short, so you can always investigate the stories that really interest you further on your own.



2. I was so sad when I got this book. I love the "Weird" series and live in MA, so I could hardly wait to learn some juicy tidbits of weirdness. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I think I would've liked this better if I didn't already own "Weird New England" of which some of the info is taken from. Honestly, there really isn't anything new here. I mean, Salem? Lizzie Borden? Plymouth Rock? Between that and seeing the exact same info (sometimes the exact same pages) from "Weird New England" I was just really disappointed. Too much info that you can find elsewhere. It's still a good series of books though.



3. I'm from New Jersey but go to school in Mass., so when this book came out I snatched it right up--and I'm very glad I did. It is not only a great addition to the series as a whole, but also a must have companion to the Weird New England book published a few years back. Sure, the obvious stuff is covered here--Salem, Lizzy Borden and so forth--but you really couldn't do a book called Weird Massachusetts and NOT include those stories. It just wouldn't be complete. Even so,the author does a great job of retelling the few obligatory stories that are included here, and somehow manages breathe new life into them through his energetic writing style. But the real tastey meat of this book lies in the material not covered in any previous volumes: like the terrifying stories of Dudley Road, the little know odd finds buried deep in the woods like Deed Rock, and the just plain quirky entries like the story of Sheila Shea's grave (it actually reads "who the hell is Sheila Shea?" In addition to that, there are some chilling tales from some of MA's abandoned place. Sure, most people know of Danvers, but what about Worcester State, Northampton State, and Medfield State hospitals? All are explored here in their creepy and forlorn glory! If you are into Weird and want to know more about its presence in the Bay State, this book has it covered. What more can I say?

5 comments about Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena.

1. Well, having recently finished Celia Rivenbark's 'We're Just Like You Only Prettier', which was very amusing, I figured this book would be similar to that one. The reviews said it was very humorous, and entertaining. I'm sorry, but I do not agree. Julia Reed is a Vogue writer living in New York City, but she's from Mississippi. Now, I felt that at times when describing the silly ways of the southern women's traditions, it was almost like she was making fun of them. But then when she would bash the Yankees (which I happen to be, and am darn proud of it) she was all for her southern heritage.
   
   I love southern books, and I've always had this fascination with the south. I truly hope one day to live there when my husband retires. I have always admired southern women, their traditions, their tight family bonds, and the land itself. Ms. Reed made these women sound ditsy, and shallow, while making us Yankees sound like ignorant, clueless slobs. And she made the area (the south) sound like pure hell to live in.
   
   I gave this 2 stars because there were some interesting facts in it, and some of the events that go on down there were really neat to learn about, and all the food she talked about, sounds delicious! But overall I'd just like to forget this book. It has in no way changed my opinion of southern men and women, or the south itself, and I can only hope they don't look at the Yankees the same way Julia Reed does. If you're looking for a funny book on the 'ways of the south', pick up Ms. Rivenbarks book, that one won't disappoint.



2. Wow, where do I start? I read this book in one sitting and laughed and cried while I was at it. Being from Arkansas myself, I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, "What would people think?" It was a mantra in my household, particularly when I was trying to do something as outrageous as leaving the house without lipstick. I turned about every other page over to show my husband later, so he would understand me better!
   
   I felt Ms. Reed presented both sides of the South well... the backward (and oft times embarrassing) ways, and the strong traditions and attitudes that make a real (positive) difference in a person's life. I bought it for my mom and her three sisters, as I knew they would laugh as hard as I did at how she nailed so many aspects of Southerners. I've also given this book to several young women, as I think it portrays the strength of Southern women. Ms. Reed finally gave me a way of explaining to blue-state Northerners (where I live now) why I'm so proud of being Southern.



3. There's plenty of laugh-out-loud fodder in this little book of short essays. Nothing is quite as funny as the human condition, observed and considered. At this, the author excells.
   
   What astonished me was that I turned the last page of the book with the realization that race seemed to be completely omitted from the narrative, except where one could infer the presence of a non-white in the kitchen or as a maid. For a book of the 21st century, this is beyond startling to me. A subtitle of "Other (White) Southern Phenomena" might have been more on point.
   
   Consider some of the topics. I know that debutantes, for instance, are not only white girls, but the writing about debs and their parties and their season is about a particular kind of girl whose lineage goes back to before -- well, you know. Think about the ubiquity of queens in places like Mississippi and Alabama and the picture that will come to your mind is not one of diversity. If the author's country club experience includes a racially integrated membership, this certainly would have happened not only in her lifetime, but probably since she has become an adult. But there's no mention of that reality, only of a particular kind of food available to those privileged few -- though I suppose that the included recipes purport to allow us to elevate our experience.
   
   The essay about Scarlett O'Hara goes some distance toward explaining what it is so many white women find so endearing about Scarlett: her pluck, her determination, her sauciness. It overlooks entirely that Scarlett, even in Margaret Mitchell's rarified imagination, did not save herself without a "mammy". I don't get Gone With the Wind and probably never will. What I got from the essay was a point of view blessedly or infuriatingly disconnected from decades of social criticism.
   
   The adage that people who like this sort of thing will probably like this seems quite apt. If you are interested in a funny, fairly unnuanced view of the upper-middle class white experience of a Southern woman born in 1960, here's your book.



4. By now, is there anyone alive who doesn't know Southern men like their guns, while their women like big hair and wear lots of makeup? Judging by this mundane ( the nth Scarlett O'Hara deconstruction), repetitious collection of vignettes (see the German model story), there is truly nothing new under the southern sun. The recipes ( except for the frozen tomato - and who would really serve that?) are familiar. Sure, it is a comfort to know that in the South losing one's mind isn't all that big a deal. It also helps to have housemen, plus maids and cooks to fry up all that great chicken, raise up the kids and allow that steel magnolia (what else?) grandma to keep looking so immaculate while doing years of exhaustive note-taking at the "closed" Belle Meade Country Club - and Julia and friends attend a "racist" boarding school.
   
   We know there really are wonderful cooks and writers to experience in the female South. For fun and style in writing, Florence King was there first. Her books are much more satisfying.



5. For those of us who are fascinated by the women of the South and the unique lives they lead, Julia Reed's Queen of the Turtle Derby is the ideal book. A senior writer at Vogue and a contributing editor at Newsweek, Reed grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, and still spends half her year in New Orleans. She knows the South, its women and its men, as well as I know the back of my hand. And she isn't shy about telling it like it is.
   
   I laughed on almost every page. At times, I thought I was reading about a foreign country. The manners and mores of the characters are so different than my own. Yet at times, I could imagine myself living there because I love the friendship of women. The women Reed writes about are utterly loyal and devoted to one another, no matter how diverse their personalities or how much they gossip about one another.
   
   Many years ago, I was a guest in the home of a friend from Jackson, Mississippi, for only a week. I was reminded of my time there when I read the notion of the author's columnist friend who says that to successfully adjust to living in the South, just "Don't think you know what is going on." That was a feeling I had frequently during my week with my friend. I was there. I was showered with gracious attention; yet I couldn't help but feel very much the outsider.
   
   Reed reminds us that the rules and regulations in the daily life of every young Southern woman are entrenched traditions which must be followed to the letter of the law. However one might feel about them. For example, "Memphis girls don't wear a lot of black and they wouldn't be caught dead in public without their makeup." At the same time, she tells us that Southern belles are tough as nails and hold every bit of power over their spouses...that all their "softness" (of which they are so proud and go to such lengths to maintain) is little more than a veneer...a veneer to let the fellows feel they are the ones in charge. Talk to any Southern belle, Reed says, and she will tell you it works.
   
   Another fact I read with interest is that the FBI has released statistics which show Southerners to be the most violent people in the country. Apparently, they own the most guns and will shoot one another at the drop of a hat. One example we are given is the stabbing of a husband by his wife on Thanksgiving Day. "They had been fighting over the last piece of turkey, some dark meat, and the victim had made the mistake of taking it."
   
   The author provides many other examples of their trigger happiness, which, henceforth, might make me think twice before disagreeing with anyone from the South. "The South leads the nation in murders of lovers, spouses, and other relatives (though we don't kill our children any more than most people do)," her source assures us. "But really, we'll shoot just about anything." At the same time, Southern women are the most church-going people in the country.
   
   Another fun subject is Southern food. A homecooked dinner might consist of fried catfish, okra, turnip greens, lima beans, green onions, potatoes, cornbread, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob and tea. Not just some of these, but all. Reed also explains which foods "must" be served at funeral receptions--hams, roasts and, of course, tenderloins, not to mention dozens of casseroles topped with crushed Ritz crackers, crushed potato chips or canned Durkee's fried onions." She is appalled when families resort to Chinese takeout or deli sandwich platters on plastic trays. I doubt that my daughter, who insists that her children eat only organic and wouldn't dare touch anything resembling a potato chip or anything out of a can, would last even a day in that part of the country.
   
   Then there is the matter of drinking. Reed once asked a friend why he thought Southerners drink so much. "Because we lost the War," he said. But the author insists that Southerners drink less than the national average, and she points out that their rate of suicides and mental illness are lower. Though she readily admits that the definition of mental illness in the South is given a great deal more lattitude than in the North.
   
   These are only a few examples of this author's heartfelt appreciation of what makes her countrymen/women different from the rest of us. Indeed, they have their own special genre of unconventional behavior--a love of food and partying, a zest and passion for life that is as endearing as it is often "over the top." I suspect that if I lived in the South, I would be watching from the sidelines with great pleasure.
   
   by Duffie Bart
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women

No comments about We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam.

5 comments about Arctic Dreams.

1. This arctic study goes under the surface of the ice to bring out the subtleties in arctic life. You'll uncover mysteries without answers in this nonfiction work.



2. I would, sincerely, rather scrape linoleum tile off of a concrete slab than read any more Barry Lopez.



3. Arctic Dreams is the most extraordinary book I've ever read. Lopez not only has the insights that make the Arctic come alive, but he expresses those insights in the most elegant prose. Arctic Dreams was published 20 years ago, and while the science needs updating (an Arctic scientist recently shared with me), the rest of the book is timeless. Who knew there were so many kinds of ice? Not only does the author describe the "land", but he describes the culture of the people whose lives are intertwined with the land, as well as the influences and politics that have changed their way of life forever. He explores the language needs of the people who work to survive in their often harsh environment. Those languages are primarily verb rich as opposed to English which is noun based. It took me a long time to read the whole book because often I would stop to ponder something I had just read. I have bought at least 20 copies over the years to give to friends and relatives. I still return to the book to reread passages or favorite chapters. Anyone interested in the Arctic would love this book. I would guess that someone with patience but not interested in the Arctic would become fascinated by the challenge to experience the Arctic in ways never imagined. B. Vesper 11/07



4. I bought this book while in the tourist center at McKinley National Park in Alaska because of the chapter on Polar Bears (someone at the desk recommended it to me). I have found this book to be amazing. This is one of the most rewarding books I've ever read. It's one of very few books that I'll read more than once.
   Lopez's writing creates a desire to know more, to research more, and to experience the arctic for oneself. Reading Arctic Dreams is like going on a journey to the Arctic in an airplane, equipped with a microscope, where in general you get a broad picture, but on certain topics (narwhals, polar bears, etc) you have a living speciman to study. And the writing is never mundane. It reads as a narration, as though you were sitting around a campfire while Lopez talks of the arctic. There are enough facts to educate without being a burden, and enough of Lopez's voice to carry the imagination to remote arctic islands, or on an early expedition, or simply to a prarie to watch the arctic fox. And when a question arises about something in particular, Lopez address it, answering both the scientific and the introspective questions at the same time.
   Arctic Dreams is a masterpiece that will educate the mind and the heart. I couldn't recommend it enough.



5. This book is a lyrical reflection on the oneness of nature and mankind's troubled relationship with it. It is recommended for anyone contemplating a journey to the higher latitudes. However, as a history of arctic exploration it is sadly flawed. The two chapters on early journeys of discovery and the quest for the northwest passage are chronologically jumbled. Furthermore, the inexplicable and virtually complete neglect of Amundson - including his learning from Eskimos - leaves one wondering what other omissions may have tilted the balance of Lopez's otherwise thought-provoking writing.

5 comments about Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

1. This is the best desert book I have used. The recipes are very easy to follow and the results are always wonderful.



2. I love this book, thanks to Rick Roger.Last year ,I have a chance to travel to five cities that include Paris,Vienna, Budapest,Prague, and Brussel. My mom and I both have a sweeth tooth, so we visited all the famous pastry house in france like Fouchon, Lauduree,and all local pastry shop, In Austria, We visited the Hotel Sacher, Demel, Aida,and Sluka .as
   well as other local Konditorei ( pastry and coffee shop )In Budapest ,we
   visted the famous Gerbeaud and Grundel, and some cake at the central market. Unfortunatly we only stay one day in Prague ,So we only try some roll that is coated with peanut crust on the outside,but we did brought lots of chocolate back from Belgium.now when we get back to the U S .I laminated all the receipts from all those store and make those as a bookmark. and guess what book I Put those bookmarks in .



3. Rick Rodgers has written *the* definitive guide to the elegant desserts and coffee drinks found in historic Austro-Hungarian cafes. The beautifully illustrated book features interior photographs of several landmark cafes in their Art Deco glory, along with mouthwatering close-ups of featured recipes such as Linzertorte, Sachertorte, strudel, and schnecken.
   
   Recipes begin with basic doughs, such as Viennese Sweet Yeast Dough, sponge cake, and puff pastry, which form the basis for many later recipes. Various icings and glazes (fruit, chocolate, and sugar) are also included, as are flavored whip creams. The book is appropriately divided into simple cakes (apricot tart, farmer's cheesecake, coffee cakes, gugelhupf, pound cakes, plum squares), fancy cakes (linzertorte, sachertorte, various cream and chocolate tortes), strudels (sour cherry, grape, pear, farmer's cheese and raisin), sweet yeast breads (brioche braid, stollen, jam rolls and sweet rolls, dumplings, kolacky), cookies and doughnuts, pancakes and sweet omelets, and coffee beverages.
   
   Rogers also includes a "personal coffee house guide" that offers a tour of some of the more famous (and memorable) cafes (given that several years have passed since the book's publication, hours may have changed). Several e-commerce websites are included, and an in-depth bibliography is included as well. The Index thankfully includes the recipe's German titles as well as the English, so if you're more familiar with the German recipe titles, looking them up is a breeze.
   
   The yeast recipes in particular are superb, particularly the brioche braid, stollen, and the cream puffs, made in Nordic Ware Danish Ebelskiver Iron.
   
   The book's layout deserves a special mention as well. Grounded in Art Nouveau, the numerous page numbers and inserts make use of Alphonse Mucha's vine-and-flowers motif. Inserts feature stories behind famous recipes such as the Linzertorte and Sachertorte, or about the landmark cafes and their role in the Austro-Hungarian empire's history. It's beautiful to look at even in you never make a single recipe.



4. I lived in Vienna for three years as a teenager and recently returned for my honeymoon. These recipes really do seem to capture authentic Eastern European pastry making, adapted for American cooks. Many of the recipes, while clearly written, are time consuming, so alas, all I have made so far is the gugelhopf, which came out great. I recommend this book to slightly-more-ambitious-than-average home bakers with more time on their hands than I have!



5. This is really a terrific book. Other reviews here lead me to purchase this and I am SO glad I did!
   
   First off, it is a beautiful presentation. The photos, the layout, everything. Beautiful.
   
   The recipes are explained very well, and RR takes the trouble to explain further when necessary. He really wants us to understand the recipes without making you crazy. I love that he references every picture so you can match the finished product with the recipe. This might sound like a no-brainer, but many a book will not have this feature, and you have to guess what recipe will get you that yummy cookie on page 14. You don't have to guess anywhere. He even includes a directory at the back of the book. LOVE this! :-)
   
   You can really tell how RR put time and dedictaion into this work. It really is a learning experience on all levels. Being of Czechoslovakian decent, it matters to me that he explains why the coffee houses had relevance in a cultural sense - and where you can go today if you find yourself in Europe.
   
   I REALLY hope we see more books like this from RR. A true five-star book.

5 comments about M Series Us Deluxe.

1. I think the map itself is great - however: the first map we ordered never got to us. On UPS tracking it was found to be "lost with a damaged box", and although that was reported to Amazon, they wanted it to be returned. The second map we ordered was actually a guitar chord chart. Finally they got the map to us, and it arrived in a long box (ever hear of a poster tube?) that was bent in half, leaving a huge crease in the middle of the map. We decided to just keep that map because it was such a pain to get it to us! (And, I guess the crease almost fits over the Great Divide). We do like the map itself, though.



2. I was totally dissapointed with this map. I ordered this to put it up in my daughter's room. But when I receive this, it was all wringkled and the laminating was so thin to tell whether it is acutally laminated at all. I am keeping them just because my daughter wants it in her room so bad yet I don't recommand this to anyone.....



3. After reading the reviews about arriving creased and damaged I figured Amazon would have it figured out by now. WRONG!!! Arrived in a rectangular box that was crushed... map is toast. Come on guys... how hard can it be to ship a poster?? Do not buy this map unless you want a creased map.



4. Do not order this map from Amazon. They send it in a flimsy cardboard box, not a shipping tube designed for maps. It WILL get crushed in shipment. This is the THIRD map I have ordered from Amazon that arrived crushed. I'm going to order it somewhere else, where they ship it in a tube. BUYER BEWARE OF ORDERING FROM AMAZON!



5. This map is great. I love it. When my wife or I travel to different state we can show our kids where we will be traveling to. The map is nice and big. Paper is laminated nice and sturdy. This is a great buy.

1 comments about Photographing Yellowstone National Park: Where to Find the Perfect Shots and How to Take Them.

1. Gustav Verderber was right on the money about everything in this book. If you only have a week to explore, save yourself some time and follow his instructions. He has mapped out when the rainbows appear on the falls, gives advice on where to photograph wildlife. Some of the trails he mentions in his book have since been closed due to erosion or wildlife management but if you talk with the Park Ranger Service (not Xanterra!) you should be able to find a comparable walk to capture the images.
   
   The book may be beneath the experienced photographer but for an amateur who just wants better vacation photos and does not have the luxury to spend a year in the park getting them, this is the perfect guide!

5 comments about Holman Bible Atlas: A Complete Guide to the Expansive Geography of Biblical History (Broadman & Holman Reference).

1. We found this book to very interesting even as just a look-through, but also very helpful and colorful for even young students to use.



2. I gave as a gift, and they seem to use it quite often for Bible study.



3. "Holman Bible Atlas" is an immensely readable book supplying first of all geographical, then rising from it historical, political, social, economic and, most of all, theological foundations to the context of the Bible. Whether a layperson seeking this grounding or a more serious theological student, the reader will find that context here.
   
   This atlas was required reading in a Survey of the Old Testament course I took several years ago. Because an atlas is a book of maps, this book, of course, focuses on ancient topography, agriculture, migrations, and a changing history. All things together combine to tell "the story of God's redemptive work in human history" (2).
   
   The story begins with a land layout of the general area of the Ancient Near East, then the lens closes in on the geographic regions of Palestine, then life in the region, including weather, climate, crops, and what archeology has provided.
   
   Then the writer, Thomas Brisco, pulls his lens way back to focus on the earliest people of this geography, then refocuses closer to the time of the Patriarchs, and specifically Abraham and his descendants through Joseph and his passage into Egypt. An examination of Egypt: geography and the dynastic history as they pertain to God's work that follows.
   
   This pattern, adhering to atlas and map disclosures, predominates through the Exodus, Resettlement, the Kingdoms and kings and judges, rise of powers and loss of powers--all geographically revealed.
   
   How does one use a Bible atlas? You can read it straight through as I did and thoroughly enjoyed. Or you can use the Table of Contents or Index for locating specific topics you are interesting in pursuing. Let's say you are studying the walls of Jericho. The TC gives me pp. 77-78 for information on Joshua and the suspected location of Jericho. I find a picture of Tell es-Sultan, possibly the ruins of Jericho. I don't find the story itself because this is an historical atlas, not a history book.
   
   On page 40 is a map locating the settlement of the twelve tribes of Israel and the Levitical cities. On page 100 is a map showing the possible flight of David from Saul, who was intent on killing David, his God-appointed successor. On page 118 is a map of the two kingdoms: Israel and Judah.
   (A side note: According to some sources my name Judy derives from Judah.)
   
   Often colorful, the maps are clear and easy to follow. The photographs enhance the written description. Sidebars provide interesting anecdotes. The flowing and well-written narration is situated amongst a variety of visuals. "Holman Bible Atlas" is an inviting, informative trek through the rocky hills and green valleys into the paths of the past of the Bible Lands. Your ticket is in the book.



4. The book was as described, a nice book, but it is a heavy book and needed to be shipped in a box. It was shipped in a softly protected envelope giving the post office an opportunity to do damage to it, and they did.



5. Very pleased with arrival time of book and the condition. I will not hesitate to use this seller again.