After buying both this book and "Hiking Mt. Rainier National Park" by Schneider, I would say this book definitely takes second place. The nice features are the detailed elevations and the topographic maps. He also gives anecdotal descriptions, like if there are mosquitos or not. However there are a couple of detractors. A few of the hikes are not really even in the park. He also intersperses some snide comments that I do not find humorous, though I guess that is what he was meant by them. A good book if you ONLY intend to day hike and not explore the park in depth, but for a really complete guide Schneider's book is a lot better, as well as being more professional and emphasizing the care that we need to observe to preserve this beautiful national park. However, I do recommend buying both of them for an even more complete hiking guide. They really do not overlap too much and the writing styles are so different you benefit from the information found in both of them about the same hike.

I really enjoy reading Ron C. Judd's books. He has a terrific sense of humor and is not afraid to call them the way he sees them.
You can tell by the descriptions in this hiking guide that he's been out on every one of these trails. The book is organized so you can tell which hikes are best for beginners and which will be a long walk for any veteran hiker.
This is one of a series of three guides that is specifically written for day hikers, but it would be just as useful for anyone planning a backpack. Most of the hikes have a section on extending the hike, so just about anyone who shoulders a pack would benefit by this book
If you compare it to the other trail guides about Rainier, I think you'll find that this one is the most up-to-date and accurate book of all. Better than that, this one was produced by a real writer.

This book only took me a day to read, but only because I couldn't put it down! Full of turns and twists of fate, you'll instantly fall in love with the fiery Silver and the dedicated, but troubled, Chris. I definatly recommend this book.

"Dear Silver" is a great novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has an interesting beginning. Silver receives a "dear Jane" letter from a guy she never heard of. But she eventually does meet him and she gives him a piece of her mind. And guess what happens ... they fall in love and ...

Emotionally difficult, but worthwhile. Author's ego gets in the way at the end, but that should not stop you. Explores Masonic foundations of our country, something omitted from most histories, but crucial to understanding where we came from and our obligation to continue the experiment with vigor and enthusiasm.

For many dissatisfied with conservative organized religions, distills the essence of moral living and explains an option for discussing what the purpose of life is. xEND

Similar to "Celestine Prophesy" but better written. A novel about law, but unlike John Grishom, an uplifting message. If you're concerned about the government bashing of Rush Limbah, et al,. but agree government must change, "Destiny" presents an answer that's more fundamental and profound than Marianne Williamson's book "The Healing of America". I think Clute is on to sumthing BIG!!! Excellent for government classes and study groups, as well as just thoughtful reading.

I recommend this book. It is a quick, informative and enjoyable read esp if you are interested in how a speech is prepared and delivered.

I agree that the "I Have a Dream" speech has become a cliche among many and ignores King's post-1963 life.

It would be nice if the book could have contained a CD of the speech but the King family owns the rights to the speech, I think, a point not ever addressed by the author.

I've listened to King's famous speech dozens of times and read a number of books on King, but it wasn't until reading Hansen's captivating description and analysis of the speech that I realized how little I knew about this seminal event in American history. This book is unusual in that it is both hugely readable and phenomenally informative and insightful.

Mark Olshaker's "The Edge" is a gripping, tension-filled whodunit with lots of graphic violence and a feisty heroine named Sandy Mansfield. However, Sandy isn't quite so smart when she finds herself falling for the prime suspect: Dr. Nicholas Ramsey, charming, debonair and perhaps a hard-hearted killer. Ramsey also had a brother who was a demented serial killer, and it is his motifs that a new killer is using in homage to the crazed Neville Ramsey.
There are some major inconsistencies, however, that keep it from being a true "5" thriller. For instance, letters are being sent to Mansfield after each of the killings, urging her on. However, when it seems as if one of the killings is a copycat crime, she still gets a letter with the main killer taking credit. A big plot faus pax in an otherwise tightly written medical thriller. The ending is rather overblown, but it works okay, and I guess one can't help but wish Ms. Mansfield well.
The book moves well and the dialogue is terse and believable.

RECOMMENDED.

The details of the murders,the cunning connections the chemistry between a suspect and detective Sandy Mansfield are just a few things that give the story its course and non-stop action. The use of medical science as portrayed in this story is hard to put away from the mind. The force that pushes the murderer to butcher and "play with the body" lasts mind provoking. The end leaves the reader stunned yet fully satisfied with each detail and concept given. Olashaker contribution to the story is fully present in each aspect of The Edge. It is a non-stop thrilling, unforgettable experience for a human mind.

When President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor moved into the White House, it was a shabby place to live. The furniture and curtains were old with most needing replacement, but with the country deep into the Depression, Congress refuses to authorize funds to redecorate the President's home. Thus the Roosevelts do the best they can with what they have.

While the President is a movie with an aide, someone tries to assassinate him, but kills a police officer instead. The First lady theorizes that the killer ran away when he heard voices in her husband's bedroom, not realizing that the sound came from the movie. Obviously, White House security is lax and anyone who knows the layout of the place can easily enter and leave without detection. Eleanor, DC police Lieutenant Edward Kennelly, and the White House police join forces to ferret out the identity of the perpetrators.

MURDER AT THE PRESIDENT'S DOOR is the latest Eleanor Roosevelt mystery in this long running series that provides a fascinating look at the 1930s White House. In this age of terrorism and Pennsylvania Avenue cordoned off it is difficult to fathom the Presidential home lacking security measures, and containing broken down furniture and torn curtains. Though the who-done-it is short on action, history buffs will enjoy the late Elliot Roosevelt's latest homage to his parents early years in the White House.

Harriet Klausner

The phrase, "period piece" could have been coined to describe this book, as all the principles are presented in a realistic historical setting. Elliot Roosevelt is the son of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and the setting is the white house during FDR's first term. A security man is efficiently murdered outside the door of the room where FDR was staying and it is obvious that it was a professional job as there was no struggle. It is also clear that it was a foiled attempt to assassinate FDR.
While the murder is of course the main point, I was more fascinated with the interactions between all of the historical figures. Joseph Kennedy and his current consort Gloria Swanson; General Douglas MacArthur and his current consort; J. Edgar Hoover and his longtime consort Clyde Tolson; Eleanor's close friends as well as Franklin's longtime companions all play roles in the story. There are also interactions with the current crop of mobsters as well as brief appearances by Harry Truman, Harry Hopkins, John L. Lewis and other figures of significant importance at that time. This lends a backdrop to the story that thrilled my historical roots.
As a murder mystery, this is not an edge-of-your-seat thriller. However, as a story placed in an accurate historical context, there is none better. This is one of the best murder stories that I have ever read.

This novel has one of the best beginning paragraphs I have read. It may seem like a farce but in truth it tells how things don't work in the nation's capital. Many very funny scenes

In The Floating Island, Epps attempts to do for our time what Swift did for his own--in fact, he uses epigraphs from Gulliver's Travels throughout the book. At times sad, at times silly but always funny and interesting, this is a must read for anyone who doesn't take the posturing in Washington too seriously.

This is a very good biography of George Washington during the French and Indian War years. It is written well, enjoyable and easy to read.
One of the things I especially appreciated was the writer explaining just how George Washington became involved with the colonial goverment, so that he was ever asked to be involved in the political situation of the time. Not many books make this clear.
The book not only covers George Washington, but also hits upon the politics of the time and many other important people involved during this exciting historical period.
I am glad I read the book and I recommend it to others. This is an especially good book for those with little knowledge of George Washington's involvement with the British government and the politics of the French and Indian War.

This is by far the best biography of the early years of the life of George Washington I have ever read. Lewis gives us not only a brilliant introduction to young Colonel George Washington, but also a vivid analysis of the period of the French and Indian War, including the people, places, and circumstances of the conflict.

The book first gives a background on an adolecent Washington and his boyhood adventures as a surveyor in western Virginia. We learn how he grew up admiring the wealth and lifestyle of his aristocratic neighbors, the Fairfaxes, and how he began a long journey to emmulate them and to be a part of their privileged world. However, Washington's own ambitions pull him in other directions as he becomes deeply involved in the brewing storm of events that would culminate with the conflict with the French and Indians over posession of the Ohio Country and the Trans-Allegheny region. We follow Washington as he attempts to make a name for himself with the Governor of the Virginia colony by accepting a mission to deliver a message to the French army marching south from Lake Erie to the Forks of the Ohio River. This single event pushes Washington from the "shadows of an ordinary life" onto the stage of history. We see as Washington botches his attempt to protect the Forks from a French invasion at Fort Necessity and his anger at his own failure to not only obtain a royal commision in the British army, but to even obtain a victory in battle. Lewis details Washington's involvment in the war from Braddock's disasterous campaign against Fort Dusquene in 1755 to his ultimate anti-climactic success at the end of the long and muddy Forbes' Road in 1758, after which Washington retires from public service to return to the simple life of a farmer forever.

I also enjoyed Lewis' attention to the background of the struggle that served as the forge of experience for young G. W. Here we are exposed to the details and origins of the problems with not only the French, but particularly the Indians living in the Ohio Country and the singularly important role they played and the failure of Washington, or any other whitemen, to grasp that importance. This is evident in both Washington's and Braddock's terrible defeats in the early war years. Lewis gives us fascinating accounts of Washington's peers, his allies, enemies. These are men like Ohio Company scout Christopher Gist, The Seneca chief Tannacharison (Half-King), friend and neighbor George Fairfax, and others. In the end Washington would emerge older and experienced from a bloody conflict prepared to take on an even greater leadership role in another later fight in the not too distant future. A great book that I highly recommend.

This is an excellent example of how a historical figure can be seen in many different ways that are not really who the person was. This book gives you and idea of how the people saw George Washington during his lifetime, and then goes on to his real life story.

This is an excellent and brief account of George Washington's life. A couple of sittings will allow the reader to understand Washington the man, why he is so highly regarded, and to understand the important issues that will forever keep us debating his greatness.

This is a beautifully illustrated book filled with interesting and fun facts about each president. My nine-year old as well as my 12-year old found it entertaining. Even if your children haven't visited the White House, they will enjoy this book. I would definitely recommend it for a classroom library.

My eight-year old son received this book as a Christmaspresent. He is very interested in presidential trivia and has at leasta dozen other books about presidents.

In the three months he has hadthe book, he has read it so many times it is already starting to fall apart! Since it's really a collection of anecdotes and facts, it's easy to pick up when he has a minute.

The book provides many interesting bits of trivia about the presidents -- even the relatively obscure ones. While many books concentrate on Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the Roosevelts, this book includes tidbits on all of the presidents. It's not just a list of dates of birth and death, first lady's name, party affiliation, etc.

The illustrations are beautiful.

If you know a child who is interested in presidential trivia or American history, this book is a must. And it may spark the interest of a child who isn't interested in history (yet).