The author's musings and advice are really quite simple: Make your family and children the focus of every day! Find the extraordinary in the ordinary happenings of life. Enjoy and hold dear the magical moments shared with your child as they grow into a deeper awareness of the world around them. Simple, and yet profound, especially in the fast-paced society in which we live.

Her essay on "Peace," I found to be most relevant. I read it not long after 9/11, when I was struggling with what had happened and feeling helpless to change the atmosphere of fear and suspicion that engulfed our entire country at that time. Again, the author's words went right to the point and made me realize there IS something I can do and, as a matter-of-fact, is my responsibility! In a few words, this quote encapsulates the essence of the essay: "In stillness, we find our peace. Knowing peace at home, we bring peace into the world." The dreadful, terrifying feeling I had carried with me for weeks melted away and I was better able to talk with my 12-year old daughter about her reaction to all the turmoil and her personal fears. Together we were able to come up with a plan to help make our world a more peaceful, loving place by starting in our own community.

Providing "balance" is the best way I can describe what this book offers. I highly recommend it to any parent, although it most specifically speaks to mothers. You won't be disappointed.

This book began slowly, with what I thought was too much background information, but that may be because I already new about Glacier National Park. The events leading up to the attacks, as well as during and after the attacks, were compelling and well-documented. It's a good book for us all to learn from -- how mindsets and bear management at parks has changed and adapted and why they had to adapt due to the unfortunate deaths of hikers, starting with those that are the subject of this book. Also, the book is older, originally written in 1969, I believe. There is a chilling ending to it, in which the author predicts a possible annhiliation of grizzlies due to the increased incidences of attacks on humans. Thankfully, that attitude never fully developed, though it remains a possibility.

WE INVADED THEIR LAND AND WE INTERUPTED THEIR WAY OF LIFE. WE ARE TO BLAME, NOT THOSE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.

By the way, if you like this book, also try "Mark of the Grizzly", an excellent collection of bear attack stories which probes beyond the attacks and into the causes. It's up-to-date and really inspires a sense of respect for the great bears.

The Ties that Bind is a compelling read about love, abuse, deceit and betrayal. As I read the story I felt a lot of anger, rage, pain, frustration and outrage...all while hoping only for the best where Mia was concerned. I wanted Mia to wake up and I wanted to Brice to get what was due to him...yes I wanted revenge in a big way! Electa Rome Parks has written an engrossing...albeit disturbing story...which sometimes read more like real life rather than fiction. My only disappointment with the story was that my emotions weren't 3-dimensional; I wish I would have experienced more joy, happiness and smiles and laughs as I read The Ties That Bind.

Overall, I enjoyed the author's writing style and I look forward to future novels...hopefully tho' the next one will be a little more upbeat than this one. (smile)

You have Mia a beautiful young woman who dreams of having a black knight in shining armor which turns out to be Brice. Brice is controlling, possessive and very jealous. I know hate is a strong word to use, but I truly hated this man for what he put Mia through. He treated her like his child rather than his wife! Then you have Christian his best friend and adopted brother who adds more drama to this story than a little! In my opinion Brice never deserved a woman like Mia. She was too good for him. He treated her like NOTHING and she treated him like EVERYTHING.

This story has became one of my favorites and is a MUST READ! It really open my eyes to a world I have never experienced. The Ties That Bind will have you turning page after page to see what happens next and the characters will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Go get this one you will not be disappointed!

Barr's usual descriptive genius doesn't fail her here, as she places Anna and her colleagues in a vicious forest fire blazing out of control in northern California's Lassen Volcanic National Park. As spike camp medic, Anna is deep in the fray. But her security officer side doesn't get called into play until later in the book--after a terrifying firestorm that traps Anna and her colleagues in an inferno from which there is no escape. Barr's description of the firestorm is so realistic, and so frightening, that I must believe she has lived through such an experience herself. As always with her books, I felt that I, too, was huddled beneath the fireproof foil the firefighters call "Shake and Bake," desperately trying to breathe while intense flames roared over the top of the flimsy little shelter. I won't be a spoiler and say who survives and who does not--but I will say that murder rears its ugly head even as Anna and crew are struggling to survive the flames' holocaust.

Those who have read the three previous books will be glad to see the return of FBI agent Frederick Stanton, whose interest in Anna has gained much momentum. Feisty southern ranger-in-training Jennifer Short is also in this book, fighting a personal tragedy that threatens her survival even more than the aftermath of the firestorm--when she, Anna, and several others are trapped in the burned-out forest with no food, no medical facilities for the badly burned, and the knowledge that whoever committed the murder is among them.

The mystery, as usual with Barr's novels, is secondary to the fascinating venue of Anna Pigeon's world. I will never watch TV footage of a forest fire, as I did while I was reading this book, in the same way again. I feel like I have been on the front lines as well, which is Nevada Barr's great talent as a writer. This is a terrific read!

This book gave me chills and a new found respect for such a beautiful place. I thought I had respect for the park and all that is in it before, until I read this book. Now I see it differently with a lot more respect. As stated above in another review, where the guy jumps in after his friend's dog, into a hot springs, grabs hold of you and makes you shake your head, thinking, "How stupid!". From there you can't help but keep reading to find out what happens next. One part that got me was the chapter about the bears. There is a story about a lady and her dog and a forest ranger. There was a bear not far from where they were and the lady wanted to let her dog run loose for awhile and the park ranger adviced her not to, she of course didn't listen and the little dog went straight for the bear and I am sure you can guess what happened next. I sat there dumbfounded and thought, "Geez lady it's not like the forest ranger has no clue what he is talking about. They are there for a reason and listening would have been a good idea." There are many more storie like that and then some.

This is a well laid out book, with a lot of historical facts and references. Mr. Whittlesey put a lot of work behind it and this sounds strange to say, considering how bone chilling this book is, it is a good thing he took the time to write it. This makes you stop and think about the world around you and about the people in it. In three words: Don't be stupid!

The book's subtitle, "Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park", sets the tone. Nearly every chronicled death in the book really is due to carelessness on the part of the deceased; or on the part of someone else.

The historian's perspective gives Whittlesey the opportunity to dig into the archives of Yellowstone as well as newspaper accounts in cities in the area taking him (and the readers) back to the 1800's and the park's earliest deaths. For recent events he often spoke with "primary sources", witnesses and family members.

Each of the 25 chapters takes the reader to a different and bizarre way that death has occurred in Yellowstone National Park. The chapter titles, themselves, often give a light hearted and much needed break from the serious nature of the overall work. Chapter titles include: "I Think I Shall Never See --Yellowstone's Deaths from Falling Trees"; "Malice in Wonderland --Yellowstone Murders"; and "The Gloom of Earthquakes --Shaky Breaky Park".

The opening chapter deals with deaths by falling (or jumping) into hot springs and geysers. The first incident in the book sets the tone and the overall theme....."Don't do stupid things in Yellowstone". It is the 1981 account of David Allen Kirwan, who dove head first into the 202 degree water of Celestine Pool of the Lower Geyser Basin to save a friend's dog that had also jumped into the boiling water <---YOU DID read that correctly --a witness described Kirwan's dive as a flying, swimming pool type dive. Among his final words after his friends were able to pull him from the water....."That was a stupid thing I did".

In most instances, it was s "stupid thing" that caused a death in Yellowstone. Usually, it was because a visitor did not heed a warning, or made a conscious decision to ignore the warning. In "Death in Yellowstone", Whittlesey repeats those warnings...over and over again. He also explains in fairly graphic terms the consequences of ignoring them.

"Death in Yellowstone" may save lives. There are few history books, so entertaining and so engrossing that can claim that.

The Wyoming Companion

Water music is a splendid story quite wonderfully told- an excellent beach book.

Water Music is at once simple in its illucidation of two men's quests for explicit and vague goals, and complex in its rich weave and stitch of subplots, motivations and perverse parallelism. Neglecting the deference and influence of the writer, Boyle is a post-modern Twain or Swift, combining polemicism and ribauld wit with a gentle love of parable and unmistakable passion for language. The plot is as plausible and exciting as any set in West Africa and London circa 1800 and has a cadence and credibility that teaches as much as it hypnotizes the reader.

Water Music is a relentless human adventure over unexplored terrain and into the essential question of individual purpose, meaning and place. The book is a vessel, its course and its wake, all in one.

T.C. Boyle's novel is a gift as he continues his validation of modern fiction writing. We should all glimpse the talent evident in this skillful-spun yarn.

...

In 1795 the Scotsman Mungo Park (1771-1806) went to Africa to explore the Niger, a river no European had ever seen. Upon arriving in present-day Gambia, he went 200 miles up the Gambia River to the trading station at Pisania and then traveled east into unexplored territory. In 1796 he reached the Niger River at the town of Segu and traveled 80 miles downstream before his supplies were exhausted and he had to turn back. He returned to Africa in 1805, intending to explore the Niger from Segu to its mouth. His expedition was attacked at Bussa, and Park was drowned. Dedicating the book to the (fictive) Raconteurs' Club, master storyteller T.C. Boyle has concocted an ingenious narrative. At first he spins numerous strands, weaving them into an intricate exotic literary tapestry, as the tale progresses. In fact, the 104 chapters can be read as short stories in their own right. Their titles are sometimes alluding to literary masterpieces by such figures as Ivan Turgeniev, Joseph Conrad and Langston Hughes.

Boyle's story starts in the year 1795. Mungo Park is held hostage by Ali Ibn Fatoudi, the Emir of Ludamar, one of the inland Muslim principalities in what is now the Sahel. A protégé Joseph Banks, erstwhile companion of Captain Cook on his circumnavigation of the globe and now President of the Royal Society and Director of the African Association for Promoting Exploration, Park, a former surgeon on an East India merchantman, has been selected to lead the first expedition in search of the river Niger.

Mungo's guide and interpreter is the intriguing Johnson a.k.a. Katunga Oyo. The early biography of this Madingo is reminiscent of the adventures of a character from Maryse Conde. Kidnapped and sold into slavery Katunga Oyo is shipped to a plantation in England's new world colony of South Carolina. After a visit to his overseas possessions the landowner takes him to London. Here Johnson, as he is now called, learns to read and write, and develops a passion for literature, becoming a "true-blue African homme des lettres". After killing a man in a duel, Johnson ends up back in Africa. Here he "melted into the black bank of the jungle". Johnson's idiom is full of - often humorous - anachronisms. He is calling the local cuisine "soul food" and his old plantation songs "the blues". He is capable of self-mockery: "Don't look at me, brother. I'm an animist." Sometimes he sounds like a 18th century Muddy Waters. Oscillating between his African heritage and newly acquired European culture, he manages to graft the latter upon his African roots. Johnson becomes a shaman of sorts: At the behest of his former master, who happens to be a member of Sir Joseph's Association, Johnson agrees to join Mungo Park's 1795 expedition. His price: the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Ned Rise, a pauper from the London underworld, son of an alcoholic hag, 'not Twist, not Copperfield, not Fagin himself had a childhood to compare to Ned Rise's'. Through a twist of fate, this impresario of live sex shows avant la lettre, corpse digger and convicted murderer ends up at Fort Goree, just off the Coast of Senegal. Here, at this 'gateway to the Niger and bastion of rot' he is drafted into the Royal African Corps and selected to accompany Park on his fateful second expedition into the African interior. Because of his sublime survival instinct he is very able to tune in with his environment Consequently, Ned Rise appears to be better suited to establish a rapport with the natives than Africa-veteran Park.

Water Music is more than a travel account. Although it is clear that Boyle has researched his subject meticulously, he is not interested in a mere historically correct chronicle of events as has explained in his introduction.

But Boyle does address the issue of the objective of travel-writing seriously. In this respect, it is interesting to see how Mungo Park's own view on his mission evolves in the course of his first journey; the cool observer of the flora and fauna in Sumatra is giving way to the romantic. Held at the court of Ibn Fatoudi Park resolves to make his findings known to the world.ý

After an audience with Mansong, ruler of Bambarra, there is a amazing twist. Reading a page from Park's notebook, Johnson notices that the explorer's recording of the meeting is not only inaccurate, but embellishing it beyond recognition. Johnson reproaches Park for this.

It seems as if the tables have turned; the African - 'the object of study' - demanding accuracy, wanting it 'guts and all'. But who is speaking here, and what is his motivation? Is it the intellectual Johnson defending the great cause of science? Or is it the up-rooted Mandingo Katunga Oyo, who wants Africa depicted in all its bizarre horror, motivated by self-hate? Why, on the other hand, does the scholar-explorer Mungo Park want to embellish and cover up? Does he intend to create an image of the 'noble savage'? (After all, this is the age of Jean-Jeacques Rousseau). It leaves the reader with questions: how are travel accounts to be read and interpreted? Can a travel-writer's intentions be discerned? And can his account be trusted?

The author addresses here an important issue because it goes to the core of travel-writing. Is it possible at all to represent the reality of other cultures? It also raises questions concerning the intertwining of fact and fiction; the imaging of cultures. Water Music is multi-layered; although not an explicit critique of imperialism and although the author does not allow himself to be restrained by ideological shackles, there are implied, ironic observations.

Neither does Boyle ignore the culture clash that is occurring within Africa itself between the Muslims, often North-Africans of Arab descent, and the indigenous population of western and equatorial Africa, which is largely animist. The latter are but despicable infidels to the 'Moors', who, usually having the political upper hand, prosecute them relentlessly, retaining or selling them as slaves. It is, incidentally, this conflict which forms a central theme in Condé's earlier mentioned novel Segou. It would be interesting to discover whether Condé has read, and was influenced by, Water Music.

But Boyle's main preoccupation is with Mungo Park, the man. In an interview he has explained that, when ýýdoing research for his thesis on 19th century English literature, he came upon Mungo Park in a book by Pre-Rafaelite poet John Ruskin (1819-1900). Further investigation learned that Ruskin's terrific hero appeared to be rather common. What fascinated Boyle was how this seemingly ordinary man came to chase a dream. To abandoned his family and embark on a crazy adventure only to die miserably in the jungle. During the second expedition, He lets Ned Rise also muse upon Mungo Park's insane, relentless push into the interior.

Like all good travel-writing Water Music is about two journeys: into the interior of Africa and into the interior of the self, the true heart of darkness.

Whether you're a grizzled veteran or a newbie this will become your bible of California Camping. Of the three past editions I own, the 2001-2002 twelfth edition truly is the most improved. As Tom says in his introduction: "More than 5000 updates and upgrades have been made in the campground listings of this edition, the biggest makeover in five years, and the third major makeover in the 15-year history of the book." And it shows! Many of the directions are now detailed down to the nearest 10th of a mile. All new reservation numbers have been added plus web site information and the RV camps that accept credit cards and are wheelchair accessible are just some of the additional improvements.

To insure accuracy "... the page galleys were reviewed by hundreds of field scouts, including 200 rangers at Forest Service Districts and state parks. Research editor Stephani Cruickshank, faxed the galleys out to field stations, then personally reviewed each listing with rangers. A similar process was completed for every page."

So it is not only the most complete - with more than 1,500 campgrounds listed - but by far the most accurate. This book achieves the author's goal of making it possible to always find a spot for the night.

After living in California for some forty years, I've moved a couple of states to the north. I got this edition so I'd be up-to-date and able to show my kids and grandkids who live in California some of the wonders of the great outdoors in their beautiful state (without getting lost!).

Just like her first book in the series, "Track of the Cat," Barr draws the reader quickly and completely into the medium--in this case, the cold, eerie and wicked Lake Superior. In no time, I was suited up with Anna, ready to make a life-threatening dive down to a well-known shipwreck that houses five ghostly bodies--and one very new one.

Who killed fellow ranger Denny Castle, himself a skilled and "superior" diver? How did his body, dressed in macabre costume, become lodged in the engine room of the wreck? Anna and her fellow Rangers, an eclectic and motley crew if there ever was one, set out in their various ways to solve the mystery. They are aided, whether they like it or not, by a brash young FBI operative who is certain that the murder is drug-related.

The identity of the murderer and the motive behind the murder take a back seat to the truly unique and wonderful descriptions of the place, the people, and especially Anna, who is one tough cookie. Almost.

A great, quick, summer read. I recommend "A Superior Death" to anybody who enjoys a well-written, if not a psychologically challenging, mystery. Anna Pigeon, in my mind, is one of the great characters, and well worth this reader's time.

Nevada Barr does not simply tell the story, but she reveals it through details that give the reader insight into both the world of the Park Rangers and underwater spectacles that delight the imagination. As she learns about this cold world, so do we.

As Anna solves the mystery, we feel the fear building because we know that she is in danger and that she didn't get into that danger by ignoring her common sense, but by following her basic intelligence to logical conclusions. Logic can sometimes take too long, which always adds to great suspense.

Some critics have complained that all of Austen's novels have the same plot: a young naive girl learns about herself, others, and the "ways of the world." Granted, these comments may have some merit, but many times readers and critics comment on Austen without having read the majority of her works. They read Pride and Predjudice, perhaps Austen's most well-liked novel, and maybe Sense and Senisbility, Emma, or Persuasion, and then consider themselves authorities on the Austen canon.

Jane Austen: The Collected Novels allows readers and critics alike the opportunity to read all of Austen, not just her more popular works. One sees Austen's growth from a young, aspiring novelist who wrote Lady Susan, Sandition, and The Watsons, to the mature writer so many readers admire.

This collection's importance cannot be stressed enough, because to truly appreciate and understand an author, one must be familiar with his or her canon. Now, with the publication of such a complete compilation, we have the chance to do just that.