Complete is the best way to describe this guidebook. I wasn't planning on visiting the Marin side but was forced to when the fog in San Francisco made it too cold and wet to enjoy the parks and trails. Marin was in complete sunshine everyday.

This book stands apart from all the rest because it was written by hometown authors who definitely know their turf and didn't mince on destinations, more than any other book on the subject. It mades a good companion with the Lonely Planet San Francisco book. If you like to explore the outdoors on your vacation buy this book. It will keep you entertained as well as busy.

We mountain biked in Marin and along the coast line of San Francisco using this book as our guide. We began our morning ride with misty views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio, then crossed the span and discovered all sorts of cool trails that connected to sunny Mount Tamalpais. This book has very good access information to all the open space area trails and even includes a two page list of places to take my retriever. Packing alot of sports into one volume makes this book very valuable to me.

I have reviewed lots of travel-related guidebooks over the years, so I can say with some authority that the Golden Gate Trailblazer--the third title in the popular Trailblazer series--is a real find. Although I lived for a number of years in the San Francisco/Marin area, I was simply overwhelmed by the amount of new information I learned about this most wonderful place. The choices of hikes, walks, jogs, and off-road (and sometimes on-road) cycling options are simply overwhelming. The "Best of San Francisco and Marin" section thankfully helps to break down all these choices into dozens of useful categories to help you get to where you want to go faster (for example: Short Walks to High Places; Wildflowers; and Raptors and Woodland Birds; Family Rides; Beach Runs; etc.). The "Free Advise and Opinion" section near the back, while only three pages in length, is nothing short of fabulous in dispensing loads of cryptically written, helpful information and side-splitting humor in equal proportions. And the black-and-white photography throughout the book are stunning in creating a visual sense of place (In my view, the quality of the photos sometimes reaches award-winning status--I would certainly love to see enlargements of some of my favorites!). Including hundreds of trail descriptions, jogging paths, and so forth in a book less than 300 pages long is no mean trick. The Sprouts accomplish this by using a consistent, well-organized, yet compact format, well-selected abbreviations, and carefully crafted yet succinct directions. One important note: This is one book where reading the "How to Use This Book" section will be time well spent. The organization of the book works and works well. But the reader will benefit by taking a moment to orient him or herself. And buying a good street map of the area is another essential, as the authors themselves so indicate. Map drawing, especially in the backcountry of Marin County, is a major challenge and the authors were wise to leave that job to the cartographers. With a copy of the Golden Gate Trailblazer and a good street map in hand you will be ready to explore places you may have never even heard of in a lifetime of living in the Bay Area. And if you are first-time visitors you will be thrilled to have so much well-informed guidance in selecting the activity that is just right for you. And, oh yes, a final tip of the hat to the authors for taking the time to include dozens of good ideas for outdoor exploration for those in wheelchairs and parents who opt to push the little one(s) in a baby stroller.

After I read this book, partner for a business, never more ! Thank you, Mr. Marins.

This small book is a masterpiece in behavioural sciences dealing with partnership. The humour is totally correct. So small and so complete that I have purchase several copies to give to my friends. What a book!!

How hard was to find this book! Some people have told me about it. It is one of the most interesting book I've read in the past years. It is the most hilarious book on partnership dealing with concrete aspects of the relationship between partners and relatives. Don't miss this book!

The evolution and transformation of Marin's art is brilliantly revealed in Ruth Fine's John Marin. The novice and long time art lover can be assured that they hold a treasure with this out-of-print masterpiece. Informative and well paced this comprehensive publication also delights in the shear artistic energy emanating from Marin's work. The beautifully reproduced drawings, paintings and-- most of all-- his signature watercolors are simply breathtaking. For anyone interested in the American Modernist movement this book delivers a master: John Marin.

I had the privilage to visit the National Gallery and view John Marin's work in toto a few years ago. He is truly one of the most obscure of the great American abstract watercolorists of this Century. I did not purchase the book at the time, assuming that I could purchase it anywhere back home. Now that it is out of print, I am in a desperate search for it. Marin's work is extrodinarily fresh, alive and engaging. Abbeville Press must reprint for bookstores, libraries and the public to enjoy this man's great talent and fine work!

JOHN MARIN was really a great artist. His paintings, mainly water colors, were divine. And RUTH FINE showed us with her irreprehensible work about MARIN. However I figured out he still is very unknown in US. Most salesmen of big book stores or arts stores in N.York don't know him .The book had been very well edited and printed, but unfortunatly it's out-of-print. ABBEVILLE PRESS should print it again. The book should be available at least in all Public and Universities libraries. American people and students deserve it.

The thread that binds cultures is stronger and more firm than most people think. Complicating beliefs in order to make them seem original has nothing to do with their essence. Underneath it all they spring from a common source, with an extraordinary parallelism. God is God, no matter by what name. All of that and more is embraced by this amazing book, beautifully written, thought-provoking, a reference source for a lifetime of consultation. Highly recommended.

This book is apparently complicated but in fact is quite simple: underneath the dogma and ceremony, all religions are the same. They have in common a need for answers but also a need for questions that lend themselves to lessons in morality, cautionary tales, structures of ethics that permit the fine fabric of law and society. And furthermore, the societies we think of as primitive are anything but that. Each culture devises a standard of values and behavior, that is essentially like every other culture. A valuable book, a fascinating and provocative one, as applicable as a textbook as a bedside reference source.

This book is a fantastic read - it's passionate, poignant and well written. The research done to write it is obviously extensive and thorough - Carol Miller certainly did her homework! even though the subject is highly intellectual, it's an easy read - great for a flight or a trip to the beach.

BESIDE THE SLEEPING MAIDEN was given to me as a gift. It's a beautiful book with poems by many of the talented poets who live in Marin County, California. The anthologist, C.B. Follett, is a poet and an artist; and she has applied both those qualities to the production of this volume. The book has a luminous jacket and various drawings among its poems. The wonderful, thought-provoking but eminently readable poems float in a sea of white, so one can see and think about each one separately. This makes it an excellent book for people like me who always try to read and do too much. I can open it up anywhere at random and spend either a little or a lot of time with it. In fact I like BESIDE THE SLEEPING MAIDEN so much that I've bought several copies and given them away as gifts. ...Susan Terris

C.B.Follett's "Beside The Sleeping Maiden" is cause for rejoicing. She has gathered poetry and art work reflecting the creative spirit alive in Marin County. It is a coming together of the varied elements making up the rich, spiritual/aesthetic soup that nourishes so many Marinites.This is a feast that will satisfy the appetites of sophisticated as well as general readers, and it is served up in a handsome, imaginative and generous volume that will grace any bookshelf. ................Ruth Daigon, editor of "Poets On:

One of the best ground school for seaplane is offered
through a very pleasant style where technique and humour
lead for the pleasure of learning and reading.

The training completed and the rating on the ticket will rush the
seaplane lover from the dock to the library as the is always something renewed when opening the book.

It is a good book. Explains everything a new float plane pilot needs to learn. It is very easy to understand and written in a familiar way.

I read this book years ago but I can still remember it to be one of the best true crime books I have ever read, and I have read alot of them. I often wonder what became of the killers, Chuck and Marlene. One can only imagine. These two teenagers were definately evil and I can't imagine how they could live with themselves. The author should definately write another book on how these two wound up.

i first read this book a long time ago after lending it from my local library .
It took me a long time to find a copy of my own (i wasn't on the net then)
It is one of the best true crime stories ever
Marlene Olive was truly manipulating and would have chuck running in circles .
Once i pick up this book i'm unable to put it down until i've read it from cover to cover .
Ive read it many times and i think you will too ,and like me ,you'll probably be itching to know where Marlene and Chuck are now

This is a story that shocked me. Marlene Olive lived in a fantasy world which was her way of trying to fit in after living abroad for so long. Chuck Riley was fasinated by her, and became her slave. He acted out her kinky sex fantasies, gave her drugs, stole for and with her. It shows how easily we can let our feelings of lust, that appear to be love, get us into trouble untill we are so far under that there is no way of coming back up. The thought of hurting your parents is just too crazy and sick to imagine, yet these two did. Read this book to find out why they were called the "BBQ Murders". Then just as I am wondering now you too will wonder if now, twenty plus years since the murders, where Chuck and Marlene are now?

What a great story! I have read this book to my 4th grade class and they love it. It's for children of all ages. The illustrations are outstanding and as usual Gary Soto is very entertaining.

Any controversy surrounding this book is misplaced. It is a well-written story that entices children to want to to read it and other books. Rarely is there such a fine blending between the words of the author and the pictures of the illustrator. My students love this book and read it again and again.

I really think this book is great because there were so many things in the book that remind me of my life as I was growing up as a child. I really like the language that is used in the story because it entangles a little of the Bilingual language with English. I read this book to my students and it was a big hit with them. They read it over and over again every day. I asked some of them why they liked it so much and many of them responsded that they could relate to the story line in one way or another. The school that I teach at it predominantly Hispanic and so this book has really touched base with all of my students in one way or another. I hope that Gary Soto never quits writing these kinds of wonderful books!

Do get this book if you are a big Frida Kahlo fan. Her step-daughter's memories are somewhat interesting; it's a good read that sits with dignity on either a bedroom night stand or the coffee table or the cookbook shelf.

Don't get this book if you want to start to learn Mexican cooking. It's not a beginner's cookbook!

Do get this book if you have kitchen help and/or if you have some experience with Mexican ingredients (and access to them) and Mexican recipes/dishes. In Asia I have succeeded in making the smothered pork sandwiches (associated with a baptism Frida attended) and some of the other simpler recipes.

If you like the format of Like Water For Chocolate, you'll like this special book. Nicely illustrated with photos of all the food in beautifully styled presentation.

Bonus for art lovers: the cover and some of the illustrations are re-creations of paintings by Frida... tour de force still-life photography!

This book is a true sensory experience. From the first page on, your senses will be teased by the wide array of mouth-watering recipes, organized by fiesta type (which will simplify your search once you go back to prepare one of them), the anecdotes will nourish your imagination and the exceptional photographic work provide for an exceptional visual experience. More than a simple cookbook, it is a passport to a great cultural experience. One can also discover in the book a nice set of views about the famous Blue House in Coyoacan near Mexico-City, once residence of the famous couple Frida Kahlo-Diego Rivera, nowadays a museum. The authors are to be commended for their work, as this book, beyond a mere cookbook, provides a very intimistic view of the house and the lives of its inhabitants, without making the reader feel like a "voyeur". but rather like a guest. It is the "most often picked and looked at" book of my cookbook collection, and I have noticed several of my friends had ended up buying their own copy. There definitely is something about htis book...

If you are looking for a great Mexican traditional cookbook, look no further. These mouth-watering recipes are grouped by occasions for which they are served, so the reader will also learn about the traditional Mexican fiestas celebrated all year round. What gives the book another dimension, is that these are the recipes that were prepared in Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera' "Casa Azul" in Coyoacán! The numerous anecdotes and the extensive selection of pictures also featured in the book make it an excellent choice, whether you are solely interested in Mexican cooking, or looking to read about the fascinating couple Rivera and Kahlo were and continue to be. If you are considering this book for a gift, beware! You will end up keeping it for yourself...

Groth-Marnat's Handbook of Psychological Assessment has been a great book in all of its editions. The Third Edition, however, is getting a bit old in the tooth: it needs coverage of the CPI-R and the MCMI-III, and probably a chapter on the Five Factor Model (FFM) -- or a version of it -- as well as something on a Five Factor (Costa) or Seven Factor (Cloninger) instrument. When the Fourth Edition comes out, I want it ASAP!

Tom McKenna, Ph.D., L.P. MSPP

You might think you can get by without this book during your graduate program, but I wouldn't recommend it. The text is very comprehensive -- pretty much any test you will encounter in your clinical work (with adults) is given treatment here. Excellent and thoughtful guide to interpreting test results (but you will still need to buy Roger Greene's MMPI-2 book and Exner's Rorschach Primers).

This is great, everything you need to know about psych tests is right here. A must have if you are interested in the subject. I'm a psychology grad student at UCLA, and I must say this is a great read.