Want to get outdoors and be active in the Boston area? Start by buying this book. Lee Sinai describes, in wonderful detail, many of the rides and hikes one can take within a thirty-five-mile radius of Boston. The author has organized the forty trips around geographical areas, north, south or west of Boston, so selecting one is easy. Maps of each destination are included. Each trip description includes what's important to an outdoor enthusiast.... availability of restrooms, closest access to food, degree of difficulty, directions for getting there, and a historical background of the area.
Using this book, I discovered Dogtown, a mountain biking haven in Gloucester. I also experienced Cameron's, home to the best lobster roll in Massachusetts. The author led me to Great Brook Farm in Carlisle for cycling and then to Kimball's for a memorable ice cream treat.
As a guidebook, I give Exploring In and Around Boston on Bike and Foot the highest rating.

Lee Sinai has taken a group of varied and unusual hikes and trails around Boston and compiled them into an informative and accessible guide. We refer to her book often when looking for interesting, new places to explore, and have found it invaluable in "rediscovering" Boston.

Right from the get go I found this hiking and biking guide to be a miracle of organization and indispensable information. This book not only groups locations by geographical location, but also with respect to hiking, road biking and mountain biking. I found the handy reference guide towards the beginning of the book extremely useful while including not only difficulty ratings, but also mileage for each trip, something not always available in one specific location in a guide book. The maps accompanying each site are extremely easy to follow and the descriptions really do fit the terrain perfectly, whether or not you chose to take the book along on your journeys. I found the directions to each location to be extremely useful and especially appreciated the public transportation options that help those city dwellers who lack automobiles. Other handy features include locations and descriptions of local restaurants, attractions and even restrooms. This book included an very helpful mix of locations both in the greater Boston area, as well as highlighting several gems in the neighboring suburbs. I especially appreciated the handy reference map showing the location of all the spots, as well as the ever present tips to find geater enjoyment in your outdoor adventures!

This book is wonderful! The recipes are tasty and are not difficult to follow. We used several for our Thanksgiving feast this year. The pumpkin pie and berry crisp are delicious! I also have enjoyed some of the less traditional treats, however, and I look forward to trying food from the Portuguese chapter.

From Apple Pie to Pad Thai is also interesting to read. As someone who grew up on Boston's North Shore, I really enjoyed reading about familiar places and events. The chef profiles help bring the book to life. And I loved the tips in each chapter on local ethnic markets and restaurants.

This is my favorite kind of cookbook- not only are the recipes good, the sidebars and background information are fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the biographies of various Boston North Shore cooks, and I think this project really captures the essence of American cuisine and its continual evolution. This is a great book if you enjoy cooking, history, or just a good read.

The best thing about this book is the recipes really work! I haven't been dissapointed yet! The word of mouth is getting out about this wonderful cookbook. My favorite recipe is the fried chicken (crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside). I also recommend the Peanut Soup. The history and biographies of the cooks capture the true history of the North Shore of Boston. I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who enjoy food or enjoy a good read. Its also a good tourguide for foodies because it tells all about the ethnic fairs. Hope you enjoy!

Let's face it; most travel books are a glance-and-go proposition. Most of them do a passable job providing key information, but they aren't exactly a pleasure to read. Frommer's New England 2003 changes all that. Not only are the cititations clear, correct, and complete, many of them are laugh-out-loud funny or wickedly sly. At the end of a busy day on the road, I actually found myself reading the guide for fun (while happily settled in one of the recommended accommodations).A literate guide obviously written by folks in the know.

Great for a recent trip to Boston and Newport, RI.

The tips on what to see and what to avoid were dead on.

I have never bought a Frommer's Guide Book before, and now after I purchased this one, I am a loyal customer! I found it extremely insightful as to the most quaint New England towns to visit, which are the best routes to get there, practical information on the restaurants in town as well as their price ranges for any type of budgets - as well as advice on the many different bed and breakfasts that are available. This book caters to all travel styles, preferences and budgets. I planned most of my vacation with this book because it had phone numbers, prices, excellent directions... I could probably go on and on. Definitely a must for anyone who is traveling and not familiar with the area. It's like talking to someone who has lived in New England their whole life and is on hand to give you all the practical information you need to have a successful and fun/relaxing vacation. As if the book weren't great enough - they give you a wonderful full-sized pullout map that has all the towns marked on it which are mentioned in the book.

I have read all three books in the series, and the books do pull you in. You get attached to the characters and want to read more about them. You feel like you live in the village of Cape Light and know all the people personally. I'm looking forward to the next book.

I have truly enjoyed reading the Cape Light Series. I really hope the authors continue the series, as I would love to read more abotu the town and people of Cape Light. The authors have done a wonderful job of making you feel like you are part of the town, and make the characters so interesting. I look forward to the next book.

I have really enjoyed reading this series. The authors have done a good job of writing to stimulate my imagination! They keep me engrossed to the very end. I cannot wait for the next one if there is going to be one?

An absolutely superb book about the 18th century process of selecting, felling and transporting enormous New England hardwood trees so that they might be fashioned into masts for the king's ships. This book is filled with wonderfully detailed drawings and fascinating information. An example: "A first-class British warship was larger than Faneuil Hall in Boston. It was larger than the State House at Williamsburg in Virginia, larger than any building in the colonies from Maine to Georgia." If only there were more books like this! A must for any classroom.

I have been delighted with the wonderful response that this book has elicited from readers, as well as by the generous reception that it has had among teachers, librarians and reviewers. Most recently, it has been honored by YANKEE MAGAZINE, where the editorial staff has included GIANTS IN THE LAND on a list of the best 100 books ever written for children about New England. I hope that parents who enjoy reading GIANTS IN THE LAND with their children will also enjoy reading BULLOUGH'S POND, a book for grownups published under my childhood name, Diana Muir.

I really like this book because all of it is true and it happened where I live. I like to think that the giants once grew where my house is. It is also special that the giants only grew in New England. The story is good to listen to or to read because it is telling real things in a way that is fun to hear. I particularly like the part about having to put smaller trees and branches underneath to keep it from breaking when the giant falls. My Dad and I have cut down small trees it is exciting when they fall. Learning history through books like this is great.

I myself have conducted extensive research on the subject and have found Nancy's book to be the most comprehensive study to date on the graffiti subculture. How a researcher can get so close to the essense of a very difficult subculture to penetrate is beyond me. An immensely interesting read, and a resource for study into any youth subcultural activity.

THOUGHTS:

At last! A sensible rational book on the graffiti sub-culture. This book presents established sociological schools of thought uniquely re-interpreted in a reader-friendly down to earth methodology. Should be compulsary reading for any student of Culture or Sociology, or indeed anyone with an interest in this controversial artform.I think it would be enlightening reading for those who continue to make political mileage about the deviance of graffiti , and force them to examine the roots and different branches of the sub-culture. I only wish I'd owned it at the beginning of my degree course but will be fully utilising it in my last year of essays. It is rare to read a book which balances academic strength with such clarity on the little studied role of female participants of sub-cultures.

Taking a different approach to the graffiti subject is not something I would usually recommend - most authors that have tried to write about graf and the surrounding culture produce forgettable books often ridiculed by graf writers. And if you don't appeal to the people you're writing about, where's the decency in that? Nancy Macdonald has totally blown any preconceptions you might have about her approcah to this subject - she looks at the culture from the perspective of an outsider looking in, but successfully involves the people she is writing about. Genuine quotes from writers (not just any writers, but respected and admired writers) prove that Macdonald carried out the necessary research to write an incredible book on the ideas and psychology behind graffiti. Although the content is generally text, the selection of photos are well chosen and effective at backing up the writing.

To cap off an already-essential book, Macdonald had the courtesy to hand the book back to the writers who contributed and helped. Their comments (in the back of the book) only enforce that this book is accurate and genuine - and for that alone, Macdonald should be applauded.

For anyone interested in graffiti - whether it's reading quotes about yard missions, or wanting to know the reasons behind why people write on trains and walls - this book is vital reading.

After the other reviews in this column piqued my interest, I picked this CDrom up in one of the Mansions stores a couple of weeks ago,and boy, am I glad I did! Great insight to the construction of the mansions including, the materials used, styles used, builders etc.. There is a brief narration for each one that gives dates & facts , along with 8 classical tunes that play at random as you wander about. The only constructive criticism is that you don't get narration for each room as you enter, just at the beginning of each VR tour. I'm sure it would've been too costly and time consuming to do that anyway. But, you can even do an auto tour where you sit back and relax, while the camera pans to different rooms, or you can do the manual tour at your own pace. Great quality! Runs smoothly with no popping or skipping, and the picture quality is terrific! You can zoom, spin, look down, up, to get a closer look at that special vase, or to look at the gilded ceiling tiles. Great for those who have never been to get an inside look, or a great momento for those who have visited the 10 mansions from the preservation society. You'll feel like you've wandered back in time to the Victorian age on Bellevue Ave.......................

This is a very cool CD showing you the various Newport mansions. You can pan around inside the rooms, looking at all the walls, even the floor and ceiling.

I like it because when you visit the mansions there isn't time enough to see them all, and with this CD I can see them all. Also, I can go back to the rooms that I like and study the details in that room. It is very interesting.

Anyway, I would recommend this CD. It makes great use of new technology and is fun and easy to use.

I just love the Newport Mansions. This CD is great because I can never remember all the details when I visit the mansions, and this CD lets you pan around and up to the ceiling and down to the carpet, also zooming in. You can see all the details that give the rooms their luxurious feel.

Also, it's great because I haven't been to all the mansions and through the virtual tours I can see which one I most want to visit next.

Now, if they could just figure out a way to get the CD to give you that musty dusty smell of the actual mansions...

Seriously, this is very cool and if you are only visiting Newport for a short time, it's worth it to see which mansions you really want to see in person.

Jilla

Paul Karr has done his homework and he receives an A+ for the information in his Hostels Ireland book. My wife and I spent 7 weeks treking Ireland summer '99 and found his book to be invaluable. The information was clear, concise and accurate. Things change and so do hostels and some hostels he recommended we liked better than others. But we did not stay any where we disliked or felt the information in the book had misled us. Hostel Ireland was our bible and served us well. It was our "Lonely Planet" for where to stay. He did a great job and I'm looking forward to any future editions.

I leave for Ireland in 10 days for a 2 week stay. This book was invaluable in planning my trip and I'm sure has cut down on the expenses. I was able to read it in one night and quickly scanning the reviews was made simple by clever icons giving each hostel the thumbs up, thumbs done, a cleanliness factor, party index, and general brief review.

Paul Karr offers a comprehensive, honest, regional survey of the best hostels in Ireland. I had the opportunity to stay in four of them recently and I disagree with the ratings that he presents, espe cially in the section "Paul's Picks". Both the Old School House Hostel in Dun Laoghaire and the Bru Hostel on Inisheer Island were average, uninspired hostels, adequate, but certainly not worthy of special attention. I did, however, stay in 2 other hostels which were rated "thumbs up" and found them to be wonderful - clean, friendly, spacious and fun. They are the Old Mill Hostel in Westport and the Aille River Hostel in Doolin. I would not have had the pleasure of staying in either of these without the help of this book. Thanks, Paul!

If you want to know what real daily life was like for New England tribes before the Europeans arrived, this is the book to read. I especially enjoyed the chapter about what a typical day would be like in the summer or the winter. Very enjoyable reading, also great to keep for reference.

This is an amazing resource on the everyday lives of the natives of New England. I love this book! So many interesting details, like how the English were shocked at the amount of wildlife they found in the area, how the natives were disgusted by European war tactics, and how native women gave birth to their babies (I won't go into detail there!). The author draws his info from the first explorers of the east coast to early settlers, using plenty of quotes. There are black and white drawings, maps, and photos too. This book is a colorful and educational step back in time. You'll learn things you would never have thought to ask about. Whether you are researching or just into history, it's a great book to have.

I picked this book up a couple of weeks ago at the Harvard Book store in Boston, Mass. It is an excellent book for anyone researching the pre-contact Native Peoples of New England. From Personal Characteristics to Horticulture and Warfare, Howard Russell's publication is phenomenal. It is full of primary source excerpts, which really backs up the author's writing. A must-read.

This is a good read. Witty, warm, engaging--I was thoroughly immersed in the environs of Mt. Washington that the book related. The mood evoked both the warm cozy feeling of being tucked away indoors with a fire going (safe from the rugged outdoors), as well as the electric thrill of experiencing harsh, brutal weather first-hand. Believe it or not, I was actually hungry for a hot meal from reading this!

Great stories of life on top of Mount Washington. Interlaced with the stories like shovling snow from the kitchen and sliding 8 miles to the bottom of the mountain are explainations of our weather, how it forms and why. They also have cooking contests (what eles can you do when it's 41 below) and tell you how to make their great foods for warming the cockels of your heart on those cold winter days.

Eric's book is a delightfull source of both light hearted stories and easy to understand weather knowledge. If you love The Rockpile or just have a desire for a good weather book, then this book will not disapoint.