This large two volume set of books is an excellent reference for those interested in early Cape Cod history and Genealogy, as well as very interesting reading, being a reprint of older articles. Some page areas of the books had very light print, but overall, an excellent pair of books, and worth consideration. If you have early roots in Cape Cod, you may find reference to them in this book.

I liked the mystery except Sarah Kelling was barely involved in this mystery. It keeps you guessing as to whodunit. Uncle Jem unable to go to the train party Max fills in for him and ends up with his hands full.

What other state can claim as many notable small towns as does the Empire State? Cooperstown, Lake Placid, Sleepy Hollow, Woodstock, Watkins Glen, Chautauqua, Corning, Saratoga Springs, West Point, Oyster Bay, several Hamptons, Ticonderoga, Seneca Falls-- Norman Rockwell (who lived a short walk across the state line) might just have been a tad jealous. Only the first and last make it into this book, and just as well. When Country Roads Press sends America's top small-town journalist through America's top small-town state, you don't want to waste him on places you already know.

Bill Kauffman (of Batavia and Elba) has milked a career out of keeping the leaders of the land's great Lost Causes from, as he puts it, "going down the memory hole", in books such as America First! and With Good Intentions, and in frequent pieces in The Wall Street Journal, American Enterprise, Chronicles, Liberty and other magazines. Here he applies the same special talent to a "second tier" of New York villages, and one wonders if he chose these particular communities for an unusual richness in odd stories and characters, or whether he'd have dug these up anywhere he went.

Kauffman's at his best at home in the western snout of the state, where he unlocks the somewhat feudal nature of Geneseo, LeRoy and Angelica. (The obscurer the town, the more fun he has with it.) The pump industry of Seneca Falls, a quarter of the world's total, gets as much of his attention as the distaff business there. And why not? Sanitation has saved more lives than medicine. Hundreds of millions owe their lives to this important town, celebrated for the all the wrong reasons.

His subjects have given us three presidents, Mormonism, women's suffrage and colored gelatin, but if there's something else of note in town, Bill'l let us know. (And if it's in the next town over, he'll cheat and go there.)

Further afield Kauffman's more the tourist, especially across the "soda/pop" line, which is not as close to the city as he imagines. Cooperstown is not quite as cute as he paints it-- indeed, one of its charms is the relative lack of the boutique pollution that has ruined many similar places. And couldn't he find a "country town" left on Long Island? That in itself is sad. However, his analysis of the Burned-Over District is so sharp it will inspire the reader to try his hand at the built-over districs as well.

Finally, some things to look for which aren't in the book (and may no longer exist):

Westfield-- the weird, wing-shaped Theatre Motel and Drive-In on the lake;

Bath (in the Hammondsport chapter)-- the Chat-a-Wyle Café and its grape pie;

Palmyra-- where Winston Churchill's grandparents married, perhaps not in one of the four churches at the intersection;

Oneonta (in the Cooperstown chapter)-- the book mentions the NY-P League team there, but check out their Depression-era ballpark in the Susquehanna valley, one of the handsomest settings in all the sport. (And in "Soccertown, USA", no less.)

Some trips are worth taking. Cranberry Smoke is one of them. On a 13 year journey through the cities and towns of Massachusetts, poet Michael Hood explores questions about himself, and questions about the universe. With always an eye for the forgotten, the poor, and the lost, Hood's eloquence evokes emotions of compassion, joy, sorrow, humor, and wonder. It is a book that reminds us of our flaws and our potentials, and the poet's pain and gifts. This is a one-of-a-kind trip, an indepth look at ourselves, in which we emerge bruised but not broken, and infinitely better as people. - Joseph Gustafson

This book is a meticulously-researched look at the forces that shaped religious thought in early America. Dr. Field traces the political infighting and economic pressures on church leaders that led to the separation of religious and secular cultures, a condition evident in our present-day factionalism. This is not a book for the faint of heart. It is detailed, precise, and reads like a mystery novel as we follow the threads of intellectual, cultural, and religious thoughts from the Puritans and Calvinists to the Unitarians and beyond. Field's book brings us to Emerson and the brink of the Industrial Revolution, another turning point in American culture. This book is a "must" for understanding the intricacy of our religious expression.

This is easily the best crit care handbook around. Well written chapters - the one on mechanical ventilation is the best I've read in a handbook - and hits most topics you need to know.
Downsides - it can use some updating, and I think most chapters can be a little more detailed. (better to have more detail than less)

Another good option would be Joseph Varon's Handbook of Practical Critical Care Medicine.

If you're going to buy a crit care handbook it should be one of these.

The Crux is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in the writings of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Jennifer S. Tuttle's is to be commended for bringing it to readers in this excellent edition. After having read most of Gilman's other fiction, I will admit that I put off reading this one because of its reputation as "the book about venereal disease" (sexually transmitted diseases). I feared it would be didactic, heavy handed, and depressing. Instead, it's like the best of Gilman's "optimistic reform" books: it treats its serious subject with a light touch, conveying its important ideas through appealing characters and a strong plot with Gilman's typical "happy ending." (Some readers might argue that the ending is a bit implausible, but that's part of the interest of this set of Gilman's writings.) At times, it is laugh-out-loud funny. Also, it's not entirely accurate to say that the book is "about" venereal disease, for although the last third of the book discusses the dangers women faced from sexually transmitted diseases in the years before adequate cures had been discovered, there is much more to the story. It portrays the opportunities for self discovery open to women who move from the stultifying conditions of New England villages to the open life in a new city in the Colorado mountains. The women characters (on whom the story focuses) range from young unmarried women to a seemingly dried-up old maid, a woman doctor, and one of literature's most delightful grandmothers.

My only serious objection to this edition is that University of Delaware Press, for some unaccountable reason, has elected to publish this book only in an expensive hardback edition. The story, along with Tuttle's illuminating introduction and clear explanatory notes, would be highly suitable as a teaching text if the book were available in a reasonably-priced paper edition.

rick boyer is w/out a doubt an amazing author-but this book stands out from all his other books, it is truly a do not put down book!!!!!!!!!

When a snowstorm cancels their Christmas plans, a New England couple finds the spirit of the holiday in spontaneous generosity to their neighbors. The resulting old-fashioned celebration illustrates that people of every class share the same basic needs.

As a first in the Merry Folger series, this book provided all the great elements of a classic mystery: developed characters, suspense & a puzzle to gnaw your teeth on. The death of Peter Mason's brother draws detective Merry Folger into a relationship with the bog owner, providing a touch of romance woven into the web of mystery. The characters are so well written, without being sentimental, that by the end of the book, you feel they live next door - you want to know what happens next in their lives. The mystery itself rates with the best of them, and the setting of Nantucket is so well written, you'll want to be on the next ferry - but not without someone watching your back!