5 comments about Buried Treasures You Can Find: Over 7500 Locations in All 50 States (Treasure Hunting Text).

1. Great book. I have found two forts and an old gold mining town close to me to hunt in thanks to this book. It really is a good book.



2. This book contains a few interesting and potentially helpful tidbits of information for the treasure hunter. However, most of the information about the "7500 locations" is often little more than can be had from reading the "Welcome to..." signs found as you drive into town. If you expect to have a handy collection of ideas to keep you and your metal detector busy, then this book will be a disappointment.



3. But this writer simply tried to cut too wide a swath. I'd have preferred fewer lost treasures and more information on those.



4. This book is great. It has many great places to look for treasure in every state. The author has done years of research to find many old ghost towns, buried treasure stories, and many other places. It gives tips on metal detecting, but seems to have been paid by Garrett Metal Detectors to advertise and show their detectors in this book. It also informs you how to find good places to look. This book is a masterpiece and very interesting even if you are not going out to look for lost treasures of yesterday.



5. it listing a lot of tips 7500---however since it list so many tips--- needless to say it can only give a brief bit on each one----its a good starting point of "local treasure stories /tales" in your state & area that you then must go and do the "leg work" to flesh out the rest of the story. if you are a research based type hunter its a good starting point--- "tips" to get you started ---if you expect ---"well go the the corner of elm and jones street in zippytown,florida and walk seven feet east --dig five feet down and you'll be set for life ---well get real --if it was that easy the bookwriter would do it. good hunting to all.

1 comments about Arizona Highways Photography Guide: How & Where to Make Great Pictures (Arizona Highways: Travel Arizona Collection).

1. This book is a must keep for all nature photographers. The books is well organized into basics,types of photography and places for photography with directions to the best photogenic locations in arizona. The portfolio section is amazing and has some of the outstanding photos one has ever seen about american southwest. The articles and photographs by outstanding photographers like Jack Dykinga,David Muench,Gary ladd,Peter ensenberger,Richard maack,Tom vezo,Leroy dejolie etc are both a visual as well as aesthetic feast to all photo enthusiasts. The experiences they have mastered over the years cannot be found anywhere else in one single place. This is a great travel guide too giving good directions to the best locations through out arizona. A jem of a book. Highly recommendable.

5 comments about Good Night Washington, DC (Good Night Our World series).

1. A poor sequel to the "Good Night America" original, and a great disappointment. Bad illustrations, uninspired presentation and choice of subject matter. Don't bother with this one.



2. The Good Night... series are good books for young kids to read or to have read to them. It includes basic words and gets the kids interested in different travel locations.



3. There is a misspelled word on the seventh page. This is a children's book. Need I say more?



4. Our children love the Good Night series of books and we all have great fun at bedtime looking for the mice and balloons. Washington DC is one of our faviourites.



5. Good Night Washington DC is an excellent book for anyone who would like to help children learn about the beauty of the nation's capital. The book covers all the best sites in the city with charming text and beautiful, sophisticated illustrations. Good Night Washington DC makes an excellent gift for anyone with young children, baby showers, birthdays, souveneirs etc.

5 comments about Weird Pennsylvania (Weird).

1. If you live in or been to the Keystone state than you must own this book. After read this book I did not there were so many abandon insane asylums outside of Philly. There are many interesting stories that are must read for anyone who likes weird and the unusual. If you read it you will like it !!!!



2. My 28 yr old daughter wnted this for xmas and she
   and her 22 yr old sister were reading and in awe
   of alot of things in this book.Now she just needs
   someone to go see some of these who isn't scared!



3. Its a great book for that on the go explorer in all of us. Gives you a chance to really get to know the state you live in.



4. If you like local history or just want to read about some oddities the weird series does not disappoint.



5. A friend lent me this book. I was looking for interesting places to visit in PA. This is not a useful book for that.
   
   The stories are not researched. Similar stories can be found in any mediocre book of ghost or weird stories. Nothing about the book is "Pennsylvania." How many books have stories about spontaneous combustion? What makes this a PA story? Stories about large fish? How is that PA?
   
   There is a story about a cemetery on Blue Myst road related by Anonymous. There is no other information about the location of the cemetery. There is nothing PA about this story. Sure, it's local lore, but local to whom?
   
   I'd enumerate some of the writing faux pas, but you don't care. The problem with too many books is that people read them and don't like them but don't know why. It's because of the bad writing. This book is afflicted by bad writing.
   
   I am glad I got a chance to look at this book before investing any money.

5 comments about Oahu Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Snorkel, Surf from Honolulu to the North Shore (Trailblazer).

1. It was a tremendous advantage having this Trailblazer guide along. The large walking maps of Waikiki and Honolulu were extremely helpful. Not having to drive made this a relaxing vacation since bus and trolly transportation stops were everywhere. Long beach strolls, great little restaurants, surf lessons, free entertainment and shopping were right at our fingertips. They directed us to San Souci Beach and Kapiolani Park where we grabbed a little alone time. They include the island's history, something most guides don't bother to do. There were so many great excursion listings all around the island, we were sorry we didn't have more vacation days.



2. I'm glad we brought this book with us. It's the second in the Trailblazer series that we own.
   
   It's very comprehensive and covers all the highways and offshoots, places that our friends who live there didn't even know about. Everyone knows about Waikiki, but there are better beaches to be found right in this book. The tone is positive and a splash of humor comes along with their valuable advice.
   
   We do a great deal of hiking and this one contains just about every recreational activity you can think of. It sure beats researching on the internet. Having all the info collectively right by our side made all the diff.



3. This is the one with the most adventure outings and the one that is the most accurate. We went to Oahu with another couple and this guide provided all the fun.



4. We took two guidebooks to Oahu, this one and No Worries Hawaii planning guide. They made a good pair. The one in color (NW) clued us in how to plan our itinerary and decide which island we really wanted to visit first. Hotel decisions were made so much easier. My husband was inspired by the surfing, so Oahu won out.
   
   The Oahu Trailblazer was very detailed and motivated us to explore a chunk day by day. They cover all the beaches and trails in a well thought out format. There are driving maps in each section which make it easy to skip through the pages and still know exactly where you are on the island. There are hundreds of photos so you can picture where you're going.
   
   Surfing was as good as it gets. Put their walking tour of Honolulu on your agenda. The architecture and history and restaurants and museums were very interesting and we're glad we spent one whole day cruising around downtown and following it up with the Pearl Harbor tour.



5. This album IS activity rich, absolute perfection. Buy it and enjoy it. It's hard to take advantage of everything in it if you're only there for a week like we were but we hope to use it more than once.
   
   Not many guides have such a well designed format (east to read in the car) or have detailed driving directions down to the very exit. This we appreciated. Be prepared for 6 lanes of traffic at times. We knew what was in store ahead and could manage our time. For hikes it is the best book out there. Be sure to hit Kualoa Regional Park for a swim and picnic and an outstanding view.

4 comments about Dishing Up Vermont: 145 Authentic Recipes from the Green Mountain State.

1. "Dishing Up Vermont" is a welcome addition to anyone's kitchen and cookbook library. For the master chef, novice, and everyone in between who may be interested in great whole food recipes prepared and flavored with organic ingredients, "Dishing Up Vermont" is a long awaited culinary dream. The wide selection of products used in these recipes not only include natural, healthy, and heart smart ingredients and preparation methods, but also emphasize sustainable farming practices, conservation, and fair trade markets which strengthen communities and the health of the overall land and environment. "Dishing Up Vermont" takes the reader through an exciting and delicious journey through the state of Vermont to eat at some of the finest restaurants, inns, and lodges while meeting some of the most exceptional chefs in the world...all in the comfort of your own kitchen. "Dishing Up Vermont" is an excellent cookbook that is unique in its mission and one that my family and friends will enjoy and recommend to others for many years to come. Kudos to its author!



2. Dishing Up Vermont is a wonderful new cookbook that combines the best recipes and ingredients from the Green Mountain State. It introduces the reader to a wealth of ingredients and products that give the cook an insider's view of Vermont's best. This cookbook demonstrates the important bond between farmers, chefs and consumers, while stressing the importance of the sustainable farming movement as well as buying local. The book contains beautiful photographs of Vermont and its products which add an extra touch to this delightful collection of recipes. This is a must have cookbook for anyone's library, whether you be a Vermonter, or a visitor to the state. Hats off to the author for giving us a cookbook which we will have in our library for many years to come.



3. You don't have to live in Vermont to love this cookbook. We live in Pennsylvania, and can get many of the same ingredients from our local farmer's market. This cookbook is for anyone who enjoys good food and knows the value of sustainable farming. Knowing the importance of buying locally produced foods, I found this cookbook to be a practical addition to my pantry. The recipes are easy to follow, yet taste like they were prepared by a gourmet chef. I particularly enjoyed the recipes for Blueberry Stuffed French Toast and Apple Covered Cheesecake. If you've ever been to Vermont, reading this will make you want to go back. The author does a wonderful job highlighting many of the Inns and Farms that make Vermont unique.



4. Dishing Up Vermont: 145 Authentic Recipes from the Green Mountain State is a compilation that unquestionably lives up to its title. Food writer and Tracey Medeiros, whose recipes have formerly appeared in "Bon Appetit", "Cooking Light", "Eating Well", and "Hampton Roads", offers easy-to-follow instructions for preparing tasty delights such as "Vermont-Style Hush Puppies", "Grilled Marinated Venison Loin", "Grilled Maple-marinated Portobello Mushrooms", "Butternut Squash Ravioli with Apples and Pears", and much more. Full-color photography and an assortment of Vermont food and eatery anecdotes round out this wonderful culinary tour de force.

5 comments about When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: Tie-In Edition.

1. Not having lived a very memorable life, my own writing has leaned toward fiction. Nevertheless, I tend to judge memoirs--and this is a good one--by the same standards I use for great literary fiction. One of those standards is the opener, or first line, in this case, "SUFFOCATE HER!" the midwife told my mother when I came into the world.
   
   This is what we in the business call a 'zinger,' the equal of Camus' "Mother died today." or Melville's "Call me Ishmael." What a beginning! On trial for her life right from the git-go. This opener effectively signalled the continuous trials and potential consequences Le Ly would face for the rest of her life. She would have to come from stern stock if she were to survive, and her mother held her genetic end up with her smokin' response to the midwife, "I will bury her when she stops breathing. Now get out of here."
   
   I have been a student of the Vietnam War since I first joined the Army as a chopper pilot in 1967--ironic because I've never set foot in that unfortunate land. I suppose I'm motivated by survivor's guilt. Anyway, Le Ly's fine memoir anchors a good bit of my newly won understanding of that longest and strangest of American wars. Coming from a Republican military family and growing up in the Cold War as I did, I believed at the time that everybody knew about and accepted the Domino Theory. And with my father a Korean War veteran (as well as WWII and Vietnam) I believed that any communists that were brazen enough to encroach from the north could be pushed back with a proper dose of American military muscle. I served in S. Korea myself many years after that war and things seemed to be plugging along rather nicely, thus preserving in my mind the validity of the Domino Theory. Then came Vietnam and the awful realization that we were not invincible. Hell, we got our butts kicked! Initial study from an unbiased source--General Westmoreland--suggested that America didn't lose the war, the South Vietnamese did. And he was right in a sense. Marvin the ARVN was quite content to sit back and let Joe slug it out with the VC and the NVA. I couldn't understand this. How could they take such a lackadaisical attitude about the fate of their nation when they had so much at stake? Did this mean they were for communism??? How could anybody with half a brain be FOR communism? I am not and never have been a practicioner of 'Jane Fonda logic' wherein if America makes a few mistakes, then the injured party must be lily-white, Q.E.D. I could see what rats the VC and NVA were. I knew they were just a front for a repressive dictatorship. Why couldn't the South Vietnamese see that? I was baffled.
   
   Well, along comes a nice lady with the incongruous name of Le Ly Hayslip, who writes a book about those very South Vietnamese who didn't care about their government, or their nation (at least as we Americans tried to define it for them), or to my great surprise, communism or democracy or freedom (again as we defined that term). All they really cared about was getting the rice crop in and raising a few sons to do the same. Then the VC came into their village and beat everybody up, so they felt obliged to follow communism. Most of them didn't really know what that meant, but if the VC would stop beating them up, they'd learn a few songs and dig a few bunkers, then get back to the rice crop. The VC would leave and the Vietnamese Republicans would come in and beat them up again. So they were obliged to pay a few bribes and act 'patriotic' so the new bully would go away and again they could get back to the rice crop. This bizarre pattern only seemed normal to them. Throughout their recent past they had always been plagued by one bully or another--the French with their Morrocan allies, the VC, the NVA, the Republicans, the Americans--they were all the same to them. There was always somebody trying to get between them and their rice paddies. Deep down inside they were as apolitical as the grains of rice they were so diligently trying to harvest. You can eat rice. you can't eat dogma. The rice had fed them for generations. The VC et al. only fed them baloney. I get it now, Le Ly. Thank you.
   
   --Ejner Fulsang, author of "A Knavish Piece of Work." Aarhus Publishing, 2006



2. Le Ly Hayslip has gone through one of the worst wars in American history. And she has lived. Past the rape, past the sexual inequality, past the emotional destruction of her family, past the threats and brushes with death. Le Ly Hayslip now is an accomplished author and owns several real estates throughout California.
   
   This is a powerful memoir and I will not rob it of that. However, the only reason I gave it 3 stars (an "It was OK" rating) instead of 4 is because I feel that Hayslip could have cut out about... maybe 1/6th of the book out and nothing will have been missed. Not that it didn't relate to the story, but Hayslip does occasionally go off about this or that, her re-arrival back to Vietnam as an adult also heads towards the digressing end of the spectrum a lot of time and sometimes she goes from reporting her troubles and potential sympathy to just plain whining. Perfect for the college kid looking to dig as much quotes and intangibles to write an essay (as was I) but as a reader I felt it was too much.
   
   Overall, still an excellent read.



3. An honestly told story by an author able to see both sides. This is a also a story of forgiveness. Her story is a heroic journey and the author gives the reader a perspective into the many ways the Vietnam War has affected Americans and Vietnamese Americans.



4. Recommended by my Vietnamese tour guide in October 2007, this book describes the dreadful plight of those Vietnamese families living on the border between North and South Vietnam in what the Vietnamese term the "American War". During the day, the villagers had to demonstrate allegiance to the South and at night the VC demanded their loyalty. The families would not leave their land as their ancestors are buried there. The authors, Le Ly Hayslip and her son James, describe her experiences in surviving the hell imposed upon her family by the opposing forces and her eventual emigration to the USA. The sequel, "Child of War, Woman of Peace", describes the difficulties she experienced as a Vietnamese in the USA.



5. This book is a page-turner, an amazing non-fictional look at the lives of people caught between the southern regime and the Viet Cong during the Viet Nam conflict. The protagonist herself gives an intimate view of her life that is too strange to believe.

No comments about Zagat Miami/So. Florida Restaurants 2009 (Zagatsurvey: Miami, South Florida Restaurants).

5 comments about The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life.

1. The 100 Best Vacations To Enrich Your Life by Pam Grout is a new National Geographic travel guide book with a special twist: these vacations are not to get away and veg out but to get your creative juices flowing, or to educate you, or to heal you, or to enable you to share what you know to help others. The 100 best vacations book is divided into four sections, each focusing on one of the types of trips mentioned above. The vacation experiences are described in detail, as well as what you will learn, how you can give back, and the type of people who will enjoy such an experience. The trips are within the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico and the book is written by an outstanding experienced travel writer, published frequently in top publications and the author of 13 travel books. This compilation of tour ideas and opportunities is meeting the needs of the new kind of travelers who want to have a meaningful vacation and give back to the places and people they visit, or to learn away from stresses of their normal environment. The book is EXCELLENT, with all the information you need to choose and sign up for leisure time well spent which will keep you smiling and promises to change you forever.



2. This is a short review. The book is fine and dandy for north america but there are quite a few of us who live in other countries that use the english language. It would have been helpful if the title of the book had been a bit more specific.



3. This book with help you find places to go that will enrich your spirit.
   What better way is there to spend your free time?



4. This book is great for old people. I bought this as a gift for my mother in law, and she loved it. She is well traveled and well read, so this is perfect for the person that has everything and needs nothing.



5. I have been an international volunteer vacationer for several years and have longed for a reference that focused on the North American Continent. Chapter Two of THE 100 BEST VACATIONS TO ENRICH YOUR LIFE does just that. From digging in George Washingtons' back yard in Virginia, sewing costumes for a theatre in to Kentucky, being your version of Patch Adams at his clinic in West Virginia, to cleaning up the 3000 mile long Continental Divide Trail, Ms. Grout offers something for everyone. With many people hoping to vacation closer to home recently, here are 24 options to consider if you want to volunteer while you vacation. Thank you Pam!

5 comments about Weird N.J., Vol. 2: Your Travel Guide to New Jersey's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.

1. Loved WNJ #2, better than #1. More colorful photos and some follow-ups from previous editions/magazines.



2. FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE LEFT THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY THIS IS AN INTERESTING LOOK BACK ALL THE PLACES THAT THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED AND ENJOYED.



3. Excellent! This book is as interesting and fun as all of the others. If this is your interest, you won't be disappointed.



4. Weird N.J. volume 2 is sadly disappointing and dull, especially compared to the perfection that was volume 1. Although the book has some of the wonderful positives of its series - the bright pictures, reader tales and experiences, it seems like with this volume they were a bit too hard pressed to find things with all that was crammed into 1. The book seems very rushed and the commentary on the entries does not seem nearly as lively as before, plus the site locations were fuzzy at times and the variety of sites very lacking. Pretty much just the same stories over and over. Thankfully I'm a speed reader - book was so dreadful I made a special trip to return it the day after purchase.



5. A great companion to the first volume of Weird NJ. There is a lot of debate amongst my friends as to which of the books is better and everyone seems to have their favorite. They are both very entertaining and original, without question, but for me #2 is the most enjoyable. Where #1 did an outstanding job of chronicling the more well known tales of NJ folklore and legends like the Jersey Devil and famous ghost stories, this book really delves deeper into the lesser known side of the state's uniquely weird and often disturbing side. The writing in this volume, while more sophisticated then the first volume, never loses its keen sense of wit or biting irony. Simply put, it is perhaps the most intelligent (without being highbrow) survey to date of the people, places and events that make the Garden State the ever-so-strange place that it is. Everyone who loves, or even those who love to hate, NJ should own this book!