We are really enjoying this book. There's so much information, and I love the photos. My husband and I have never been to Sanibel or Captiva (we're planning a trip later this year), but reading about the islands is relaxing and helps us escape our stressful jobs.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book cover to cover and learned a lot of things I never knew even after 9 years of coming to the islands. The book provided answers to a lot of questions I've always had, such as... how Sanibel ever managed to keep fast food places off the islands! I showed it to my uncle and aunt who live on Sanibel and they thought it was wonderful too. Looking through my copy wasn't good enough -- they are going to pick up their own. When I returned home, I loaned the book to a co-worker who spends 3 weeks each year on Sanibel. He can't put the book down!

I love this book! My family is planning a second visit to Sanibel this summer, and we have gotten so much helpful information from this guide. The information and reviews are quite thorough...the pictures are awesome! We can't wait to go back to the Islands and try out some new sights, restaurants, and much more...Thank you, Neal Family!

Elizabeth Pearsall's writing style is a joy. Some of her memories are my memories. Places in my heart I was fortunate to return to through her mind's eye.(I was born in Lenior County. Daddy and Grandaddies all tobacco farmers)

A darling woman for writing it. Details abound deliciously. Thank you, Elizabeth!

Having been a John McDonald/Travis Magee fan for a long time I have always been sad at John's passing. His Travis Magee novels are always good reading. I was pleased to read a review of Mr White and his comparision to McDonald. Our hero lives in Captiva, is a retired government agent named Doc Ford who talents these days are turned to marine biology. His side kick is a "way out" cat from the 60's named Tomlinson. This story takes place in a marina in Florida where more than Doc's biology projects seem to be blowing up. In fact half the marina is now charcoal. It could turn into all out war between the netters and the sportfishermen over the netting ban, with Doc caught in the middle. Ford trys to keep a middle of the road lifestyle, but it turns personnel when somebody puts Tomlinson in the hospital near death. Doc is looking for payback - for a lot things. The book has a real good ending and leaves the reader trying to get inside of Doc's head to figure out how and why he does things. Story is a little slow in the beginning but picks up to an international ending. I look forward to reading more of Doc Ford from Randy Wayne White.

Having been disappointed in "North of Havana" and "The Man Who Invented Florida" I started "Captiva" apprehensively. It did not take long to find the Doc Ford adventure I had missed.

Peopled with great quirky, colorful characters; both good and evil...a clear plot and a couple of red herrings, this one moved at a nice pace. The last one hundred pages truly went at warp speed.

For me, this is Randy Wayne White at his best. As usual, Florida is a major character, as it should be. The feel for Florida is unmistakingly powerful and Doc Ford is just a great protagonist. The culture and community of those who live aboard boats is well documented. There are so many realistic touches, that it becomes easy to give credibility to the entire storyline.

Pure enjoyment, satisfying resolution, interesting subplots, beautiful word pictures...a Doc Ford novel not to be missed.

Randy Wayne White played in the Senior Baseball League, writes a column for Outside magazine & some terrific fishing stories (Batfishing in the Rain Forest: Strange Tales of Travel & Fishing) and is the author of the outstanding Doc Ford novels. Not bad...

Doc Ford is a marine biologist who formerly held a somewhat shadowy position in US Intelligence. This installment of the series finds Doc & his burn-out hippie friend Tomlinson investigating the death of explosion victim Jimmy Darroux. This leads them to Jimmy's delectable widow Hannah and a feud between sport fisherman and net fishermen over a pending netting ban. As the violence escalates, noone is safe & Doc's moral compunctions are challenged and then shattered.

If you haven't discovered this great writer & wonderful series yet, I urge you to give them a read. The cover blurbs comparing him to John D. MacDonald, Carl Hiassen & Elmore Leonard are well deserved.

GRADE: A

This is a recent book of 144 pages in length, illustrating over 250 species of birds in 335 full color photographs one might likely see in South Florida . This area is defined by the authors as an area "extending south of route 70, broadly from a line drawn from Fort Pierce to Sarasota, and also includes the Keys and the Dry Tortugas". This book is a handy compendium meant to aid birders, and especially visiting birders, who may not want to carry several field guides or larger tomes while traveling, for use in bird identification.

As a "pocket book" (4" by 7.5"), the authors state that this book is not a complete guide and that other works are needed to compliment it. They proffer other more well known field guides such as the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, (3rd edition) and the ABA/Lane Guide: A Birder's Guide to Florida by Bill Pranty as supplemental reading. Further, the authors realize the limitations of a single photograph of a single species for the use of bird identification. (Cf. the pictures of Northern Rough-winged Swallow or Chimney Swift as examples!) Given the fact that the authors are not resident Florida birders, I feel that they did a very good job of organizing the material as well as making it available in an easy-to-read format. The latter is accomplished through the use of colored corner tabs representing the various avian families. Noted East Coast Florida birder Wally George is credited as having supplied the range and distributional data for the birds of Southern Florida.

Chapters of the book include: Introduction, How to use this book, Birding habitats in southern Florida, Key to corner tabs, Where to find birds in southern Florida, Species descriptions, Glossary, Further reading, Useful addresses and Index. The most useful aspect of this book, in my opinion, is the chapter on birding habitats and the species one may encounter in them. Knowing what can be expected to be seen in a given habitat makes it easier for the birder to maximize one's time birding and the species to be seen, especially in unfamiliar locations.

Another useful aspect of this book is the photographs of several of the "exotics" including psittiscids and mynas one might encounter in South Florida. Rose-ringed Parakeet, Budgerigar and Yellow-headed Parrot are illustrated as well as Common and Hill Mynas. My only wish would be for more psitticid photos such as White-winged and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, as well as Black-hooded Parakeet and perhaps Monk. Still, some photosof exotics are better than nothing.

The glossary is another useful section of this book, but one can understand its limitations given the books size.

In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to add to their library of local bird books covering our area of South Florida. In the field, it is an easy book to put in one's shirt pocket when carrying other larger books is impractical. I would also recommend it to visiting and casual birders with the admonition to supplement it with a more thorough avian treatment such as National Audubon's The Sibley Guide to Birds.