As far as Bay Area hiking books go, this is the best one I have for the East Bay. However, it is not my *favorite* hiking book. There are a lot of parks & trails that you just won't find in regular Bay Area hiking books. I like that. BUT, I found the trail descriptions long winded & sometimes confusing. What I often do with hikes from this book is find the park & get a real map to sort out my route before I leave my car. Then I leave the book in the car. I just use it as a sort of pre-hike guideline for mileage & scenery, etc.

I'm glad I picked this up. It got me motivated to get out and enjoy the stunning beauty of the East Bay. The book has only a general description of the plant and animal life you would expect to see, so if you're into that you may want to bring an Audubon guide along for more detail. I only wish he was more descriptive about the steepness of some of these trails!

I'm really enjoying this book. I've been hiking in the east bay for long enough that I was in something of a rut and this book is really breaking me out of it. It has good coverage of the area, with one or two good trails per park instead of concentrating in any given area. The hikes are mostly loops, and the distances and difficulty measurements are more realistic than some of these books where the author seems to be trying to show how tough they are. The trail descriptions are actually interesting and there are nice maps, again unlike most hiking books.

This book has some nice descriptions of the area and gives you a starting point. But it is full of internal contradictions (e.g., 2 day trip in the description but 4 day trip in the summary) and outright errors (e.g., the phone number for White Squall is wrong throughout the book) and the information is getting outdated faster than you would think (e.g., the fellow who welcomed kayakers to tea out on the Mink Islands has moved and some marinas have new names and phone numbers). The black and white photos are disapointing, being colour originals not well reproduced in grey scale. At best, this book is less useful than talking to a local resident or outfitter. More up-to-date (and verified) information can be found on the Internet. If you know nothing about the area, this book will give you a sense of what to expect and ideas on where to go. Just double-check any facts before you go. -- They're writing another guide? Here's hoping they get a better editor this time.

This is wonderfully written by experts. It is a book for amateurs, intermediates, and advanced alike! I am looking forward to Reynolds' next book about the waters around Cape Cod.

If you want to paddle in Georgian Bay, then this book is a good investment. The author provides practical information for numerous routes around the bay, and the required experience level for each. He also includes trip lengths, camp sites, fees, access points, and possible extension routes. This book is sure to enhance your Georgian Bay experience.

For the relatively small cost, this source should give the beginning player the basics of scales and two-handed techniques for the anglo concertina. The charts are clear, and help to show the logical arrangement of the instrument. Songs are a bit hokey at times, but again should suffice for the beginner, or those who wish to improve their sight-reading skills.

After reviewing this book I was able to take my new concertina right out of the box when it arrived and begin to play. My wife was amazed and made the comment that the concertina must be the easiest instrument in the world is to play. I had never even held a concertina before. I am not ready for public performances but this book helped me to play some simple tunes that my wife reconized right away.
The book does contain some music for tunes I had never heard before. It did make it easier to play tunes that were familiar. So I wish this book had more music for familiar folk tunes.

After a few fireside mishaps, a friend pointed out that the accordioned object in my hands was not a bellows but a musical instrument called a concertina. Mel Bay's book taught me the basics, and now I can play a few tunes and torture the dog with my rendition of "Waltzing Matilda." A great guide for the beginner!

I have all books in the Bay Area "Trails" series including Weintraub's previous "East Bay Trails". I was very happy to hear of this book since I have long awaited comprehensive coverage of all the parks in the North Bay. Sadly it proved very disappointing and I returned it two days after buying it.

Though it targets the North Bay, it has just one or two hikes per park, e.g. there are just two hikes described for Mt Tamalpais State Park and I think two again for the Marin Headlands and a similarly minimal number for Point Reyes. These are places where it would take many many weekends to exhaust all the great trails. There is a thick book devoted to hikes around Mt Tam alone! Weintraub's book falls far short of providing a good single resource for the area. Also his computer-generated maps are hard to read and do not show other trails besides the route described so it is hard to get the big picture.

His trail descriptions seemed pretty accurate and useful. So if you want an introduction to what's in the area it could be worth buying but given the great trails in the North Bay, you will immediately have to rely on more specific regional guides like the Hip Pocket series, Mt Tamalpais Trails, Hiking Marin and Hiking Point Reyes.

I found North Bay Trails and the author's previous work, East Bay Trails, to be excellent. It provides great direction and is written from a hiker's perspective without confusing and unclear information that haunts so many guidebooks. The maps are always accurate and as fine as a bound format allows while the excellent photos help us choose where to go. The historical background is fascinating and the information on wildlife and flora keep me and my child going from discovery to discovery along the trail. This book has guided us to wonderful places we would not have thought or known to hike rather than take us to the often hiked Mt. Tam and Pt. Reyes areas (although his picks in these areas are jewels). This is a must-have if you want to hike the glorious North Bay - now, if Weintraub could just pack our lunch...

David Weintraub's North Bay Trails will please California residents who want to locate hiking areas north of San Francisco. This is the first comprehensive guide to cross county lines to include Marin, Napa and Sonoma Countries, exploring scenic routes and trails for both avid hikers and casual walkers. An excellent reference promising lasting value.

I'll start by saying I like this book. I bought it yesterday and did not sleep last night for reading it, even though I had a very important meeting this morning. Boulware's look at San Francisco is entertaining. But it's not exactly fresh. This book tries to take over where Eldritch Weirde's "A Guide to Mysterious San Francisco" left off several years ago, but falls severely short of the mark.

Perhaps what annoys me, or irritates me or alienates me about this book is the fact that it is written from an outsider's point of view. Boulware writes many of his articles from an "us vs. them" point of view, the "Us" in question being intelligent, right-minded people and the "Them" being the freaks from San Francisco. The tone is not reverent, but mocking. Boulware belittles us at every turn, whether making fun of the way we dress while dining late-night at Sparky's, or swimming the Bay with the Dolphin Club. Boulware treats San Franciscan's like his own private freak show. It's obvious that he's not from around here.

That said, the book is still entertaining and chock full of interesting facts. It will take you to places you wouldn't find in an ordinary guide book and you may or may not be the better for it.

For a real treat, a reverent, loving guide to SF strangeness, pick up the aforementioned book by Dr. Weirde. It's out of print, so it will take some hunting, but it's well worth it.

I had a few extra days in San Francisco on a recent trip, so I got this hilarious and irreverent guide to the "unknown" San Francisco. Boulware gives us the insider's tour of weird Chinatown bars, the Coltrane Museum, the scary Musee Mechanique, wife-swapping motels for swingers and much much more. With hours, phone numbers and directions for the very intrepid explorer. A must for even the most jaded Bay Area lifers.

Reading this book has put my life back in the fast lane to simian utopia. I have purchased two copies one for reading and one to keep safely sealed in plastic. Mr. Boulware may very well be the next John Updike. SF Bizarro is both true and touching in it's ginger yet whimsical exploration journey into the very soul of San Fran. I hope to find Mr. Boulware very soon and let him know how much we have in common. SF Bizarro is not just a "guide to freakiness" it is a self help guide to just being you in the topsy-turvy quagmire, nay, rock-n-roll soup that is Frisco. Peace

This is a novel written by an honest, hard-working seaman, who undoubtedly decided to leave out some of the nastier parts associated with our occupation of The Philippines. All in all, it's a well-written novel and it takes you back to how things were. I visited Olongapo 5 years after the Base closed down, and walking down Magsaysay, I saw the Subic that used to be in the form of ancient ruins. Many of the buildings, bars and discotheques long abandoned. This novel let's you relive the sights sounds and smells of the "Old Sailor Town". I only reccomend this book to people who have been there.

Interesting book, written as a novel from the perspective of a deck seaman serving on the USS Spice, a fictional Military Sealift Command ship (probably based on the USS Spica (TAFS-9) that was actually homeported at the Subic Bay Naval Base). Takes place in the late 80's/early 90's, ably relating the story of everyday life at Subic and aboard an underway repenishment ship (my personal experience is from USS Mars (AFS-1)). The book even tastefully works in the readily available prostitution and its affects on the local inhabitants. World events intrude into life at Subic as the Spice deploys to the Persian Gulf for Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The ship returns just in time for the devastation caused by the Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption, as well as the rejection of the U.S. Bases agreement by the Philippine Senate and the end of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines. A must read for any Navy/Air Force man or woman who ever set foot at Subic or Clark Air Base, it will certainly bring back memories. The one drawback to the book is that it appears to have been printed without the benefit of proofreading, and the many spelling and grammar errors can be frustrating. Also, military acronyms are broken out differently in different chapters of the book. Even with these drawbacks, it is still a fascinating look into a place that is gone forever, except in the memories of many service men and women. Many thanks to Mr. Mills for telling this story.

An excellent read for anyone that has ever been stationed in the Philippines while in the service, or for anyone that has ever had the pleasure of making a "port of call".

My fiancee and I have purchased and used many different books that have places to get married in the bay area. The thing that this book had over all the others is that a picture is worth a 1000 words. You can look at the picture, and instantly determine if it is the right decor for your wedding. This book provides a great description of the place in flowery grandiose language, but lacks on the details needed to choose the site. That would be fine, because you can always call the provided phone number to get that info, right? Not in this case. Of the ten places I decided to call this morning, only one phone number was correct! So, now I have to hunt for the phone numbers, which will be difficult for the places like the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park, do I call the City's Parks and Recreation?

The best thing about this book is that it has actual photos of the locations. It's much easier to make a judgment based on this than just words or a hand drawing, as in some cases. The descriptions were pretty accurate as well.

This is an outstanding pictorial guide and an iIn addition it also a wonderfultravelogue ofthe bay area highlighted by mportant source of information for weddingsand a wonderful travelogue.

I bought this book with the hopes of learning specifically about the Bay of Pigs, such as: What were the issues, reasonings & other informative topics. Don't get me wrong this is an excellent story but unfortunately it only covered one specific conflict. So if you are purchasing this book with learning the history surrounding the Bay of Pigs I do not recommend it, but if you are looking for a great story and lots of action this is the book for you. I give it 3 stars ***

The finite descriptions of persons and places takes the reader beyond the boundries of fiction. It seems obvious that much of the description of the Bay of Pigs fiasco was based on pure fact. Perhaps the author participated in that event as a representative of the US government, but is not at liberty or willing to disclose this information? Readers will enjoy this story and find themselves sympathetic to the "invaders" of Cuba and puzzled if this was selfish US politics or just good fiction

Time-Life always does a good job. The illustrations are excellent and the text is quite readable. It lacks somewhat in analysis and detail, but one could do a lot worse in terms of an overview of coastal and littoral operations in the Civil War.

There are two volumes in the Time-Life series on The Civil War that are devoted to the naval aspects of the conflict. "The Blockade: Runners and Raiders" looks at the most famous naval engagements of the war, the first clash of the ironclads between the Monitor and the Merrimac, and the U.S.S. Kersearge hunting down the infamous raider C.S.S. Alabama. In "The Coastal War: Chesapeake Bay to Rio Grande" Peter M. Chaitin, who wrote the companion volume as well as "Brother Against Brother" in this series, details the Union struggle to dominate the shores of the Confederacy, which is highlighted by the Federal assault on New Orleans.

"The Coastal War" is divided into five chapters: (1) Invading the Inland Sea focuses on the amphibious assault on North Carolina's Roanoke Island; (2) The Fight for New Orleans is about Captain David Glasgow Farragut's assault on the daunting Confederate position at the key Louisiana port, where the Union fleet had to run the gauntlet between Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson; (3) Stalemate in the Tidewater continues the assault on North Carolina coastal towns and the pivotal city of Goldsboro, which deteriorated into a desultory stalemate; (4) Charleston under the Gun tells of a high Federal priority, the capture of the South Carolina city where the Civil War began (this includes the failed assault of the black 54th Massachusetts on Fort Wagner that was the climax of the film "Glory" and the story of the experimental Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley); and (5) Battle on Two Coasts takes us to the summer of 1864 when the Federal navy had only two principal objectives left in the coastal war, the Confederates' last major ports, Fort Fisher on the entrance to the Cape Fear River and the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast.

By the end of Chaitin's volume the coast war is over and from Virginia down to Florida and westward along the Gulf to the Missippii not a single important Confederate port remained open. Chaitin makes his case for how the stranglehold on the Confederate port ultimately impacted the outcome of the war, even if the Civil War was ultimately decided by inland battles between great armies. "The Coastal War" is richly illustrated with historic photographs, paintings, and illustrations, as well as contemporary shots of naval munitions and other objects. Taken together with "The Blockade," Chaitain has put together a concise yet comprehensive two volume look at the naval aspects of the Civil War and gets well beyond the pivotal first clash of the ironclads.

First off, this is a gorgeous cookbook. It's a large format and very well illustrated. Virtually every recipe includes four pictures: a large picture of the finished dish, and three smaller ones illustrating various steps. A key also grades the recipes on a difficulty scale of 1-3. Few recipes rate above a 1 (easiest).

What I really like about this cookbook, other than its good looks, is the wide variety of stir-fries included. It covers beef, pork, lamb, poultry, seafood, tofu, and vegetable stir-fries; there are stir-fries with noodles, for serving over rice, as salads, or as a stand-alone dish. I think stir-fry is the ultimate quick weeknight meal, and all the choices here could keep you going for weeks without getting bored.

However, there is a problem. This book was originally published in Australia, and very little has been done to adapt it for the US. For instance, bell peppers are called "capsicum," and ramen noodles "instant noodles." I figured out that English spinach means regular spinach, but I'm still not sure about Lebanese cucumbers, or a few other things. A small chart at the back translates the US names of a handful of items, but not enough.

The recipes were developed with metric measurements, and although conversions are given, they tend to come out as awkward odd measurements: 3-1/2 ounces of mushrooms, or 13 ounces of beef.

Also, the book is not consistently written. For instance, although there is a key to stir-fry ingredients at the front of the book, I ran across some things that either were not in the list, or were listed under another name. One recipe called for "Golden Mountain Sauce." I could not find this in the list, until I finally noticed that it was alphabetized under "Seasoning sauce" (gee, why didn't I think to look there?). Buried in the text describing seasoning sauce, it said, "also sold under the name Golden Mountain Sauce."

There were one or two other things I didn't recognize that weren't described in the list, but I suspect this is because they are common Australian terms that didn't translate.

You can also tell that the recipes were written by different people and not edited to appear consistent, as the same techniques are described differently in some recipes; some leave out hints/steps like freezing beef in order to get thin slices; and some specify a cut (usually rump steak for beef--I think this is boneless sirloin?) but some just say "beef."

Bottom line, this book offers enough good things to outweigh the bad, so on balance I do like it. But the bad things just shouldn't be there in the first place. It should have been reworked before publication in the US.

all of the recipes in this book look wonderful, there are plenty of beautiful pictures to accompany this book. most of the recipes are fairly simple and quick to prepare. the only downfall is that many of the recipes require special ingredients that you might not find at your local grocery store. if this is not a problem for you, then you will enjoy the book. the ideas are great and there is a lot of variety, recipes for all kinds of meats, vegetables and some sea food. it also includes descriptions of ingredients, if you're new to asian foods!