The greatest thing this book did for me was to turn me on to Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Overall, the book is great, with good directions and a great selection of lodging and activities. There's a lot to Massachusetts besides Boston and Cape Cod!!

This book is about a place very close to my heart. My grandparents, the Gorskis, have owned a place there for many years and my fondest childhood memories are of summers spent there (many of them are related in the Gorski chapter). Judy Fracher does a wonderful job of relating the many interesting stories of the people who dearly treasure this natural oasis. I can't wait to get back and catch some more brookies!

While Baltimore Sun's columnist Michael Olesker (a native) is too liberal for my sensibilities, his "Baltimore, "If You Live Here, You're Home" is a wonder read.

A collection of his columns between 1979 and 1995; it's a respectful and loving paean to the city of Baltimore.

The heroes, characters, politicos, sports figures, neighborhoods, crime and missing friends are featured subjects.

It resonates for all who enjoy, love, live or work in Baltimore.

Well done.

Members of Trout Unlimited (TU) have had the pleasure of reading Ann McIntosh's "Budget Angler" in "Trout" magazine for a number of years. Her long awaited book won't disappoint TU members and, likely, a whole new group of fans.

"Mid-Atlantic Budget Angler" offers something often hard to find in flyfishing literature: useful information. Ms. McIntosh describes some of the region's best flyfishing spots, some well-known, others not so well known. She describes stream conditions, gives understandable directions and offers tips on fishing conditions, stream idiosyncracies, places to stay and much more.

For flyfishers seeking practical information on flyfishing in the Mid-Atlantic region, this book may well become the bible.

This book is great and I would recommend this book to anyone coming to Massachusetts that is able to spend some time here. If you know roughly what part of Massachusetts you want to see then this book will be a godsend as it will tell you everything, and I mean literally everything about your trip from history to sights, dining, accomodation ,etc. However, that's also a small drawback as there is so much information that at times, it can be a little disconcerting because you don't exactly know where to start. So, if you're planning a trip to MA and you're only going to be here for 1 or 2 days this book isn't for you. However, if you've got a week or more (and even for all of us that live in MA) this book will give you a real feel for the state and take you to places that other books don't. I recommend purchasing this book for anyone that's serious about understanding MA ; not only it's sights but it's history too. Well done to the author and for Moon for publishing such a comprehensive guide to such an interesting and beautiful state.

Wonderful photagraphs and great images of beautiful New England! Reminiscent of my childhood, and old fashioned villages of yesterday. A must for the coffee table!

With basically one day to plan my trip (so I am a bit last-minute these days), this book was an indespensible boost in the good-time department. It is a great book to get you started, and provides all the necessary clues to create your own journeys. After a couple of days, you get to understand the way the maps illustrate the individual roads, and marty's book helps you identify the best kinds to explore. Sometimes the routes get confusing, but that just adds to the adventure. Makes a great gift, as I told the friend who got it for me.

Ever since the mountain bike was invented two decades ago, fat tire aficionados have dreamed of an endless summer of endless downhill riding.

Two years ago, Robert M. Immler, a Vermont freelance writer and mountain bike enthusiast, pursued this dream, spending the summer bombing down Alpine slopes on his Specialized Rockhopper at 20 downhill ski resorts in the Northeast that cater to cyclists.

Immler wrote up his findings and distilled his experiences and observations in a book published this month. "The Mountain Biker's Guide to Ski Resorts is a long awaited compendium of downhill riding in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Quebec.

This enticing volume deserves a place on he bookshelf of any serious mountain biker, and rates a read even by armchair adventurers who've only dreamed of hanging their wheels on a ski lift and riding into the clouds.

The guide is easy to read, close to comprehensive in scope and excruciatingly thorough in attention to any details. Although the book's principal strengths in the area by area information, much of its appeal lies in the opportunities it offers for planning a fat-tire vacation this summer.

There are only two major faults. Despite its title, the guide's scope is strictly limited to downhill ski areas and omits much fine off-road cycling available at cross-country centers.

The second is really beyond the author's control: the ski-cum-cycle market is changing so quickly that several of the book's 20 detailed chapters - averaging nine pages per ski resort - will be seriously out-of-date by this summer.

Some high points:

In addition to hours, opening dates and costs, each chapter includes several suggested itineraries with best viewpoints, difficulty ratings, explicit directions and distances computed to hundredths of a mile.

Other information for each resort includes rentals, bike shops, major cycling events and related attractions - such as water slides to cool off sweaty cyclists.

Added information includes daycare facilities, on-mountain restaurants and even places to wash off mud-encrusted bikes. Secondary info directs vacationers to nearby accommodations, campgrounds, restaurants and nightlife.

Only a handful of ski mountains provide lift service directly to the summit. Because most high elevation expert ski slopes are too steep and rocky for cyclists to handle, most resorts carry bikes only mid-mountain lifts.

Vermont's 4,211 foot Killington Peak, is the highest lift-served summit in the Northeast. Other ski mountains with lift service to the to include Loon in New Hampshire and Jay, Stratton and Snow in Vermont.

Several mounts operate an off-mountain shuttle service for cyclists. Among the most appealing is Loon's bike van, which carries riders to the height-of-land of Franconia Notch and allows them to cruise downhill along the famed Franconia Recreation Path.

Along this graded, paved off-road path, riders can visit sites and sights such as the Old Man of the Mountain, Profile Lake, the Flume and the Basin. Before returning to Loon's cycle center, riders pass half a dozen ice cream shops in Lincoln.

Before visiting any ski mountain, call ahead. Because of the changes in the ski industry, much of this book will be out of date this summer. Here are some notable updates:

Add Sugarloaf to the lift-served list this season, while Shawnee Peak started serving cyclists last summer. In New Hampshire, add Attitash Bear Peak and delete Bretton Woods and Cranmore.

Scott Andrews

I have just completed reading Carl Feather's Mountain People in a Flat Land. This book tells the stories of migrants from West Virginia, who left for the jobs in Ashtabula County, Ohio. As one who was born and raised in Ashtabula County during 1948-1971, it brought back memories. Many of the people were people I worked with at the Electromet, or were with friends with my parents. I could hear the noise and the danger,as my father worked there for 25 years. It is a wonderful addition to anyone looking for works on local history. While it does not have the scope of Studs Terkel,one realixes not all migration was to the big cities, but to the many small towns in Ohio who had similiar factories. While I enjoyed reading the book, I was left with a sadness, since many of the shops no longer exist nor do many of the people including my parents.

The woodland trail descriptions contained in "Nature Walks" are excellent and very well detailed. My only major complaint with the book is that the directions given to arrive at the base locations are NOT accurate. I have used this guide on two trails and both times I found street names to be wrong, and measurements to be off greatly. The book does not differ between dirt and paved roads, so bring the book, but also bring a map. On a more positive note, I felt my hiking experience was greatly enhanced by the information in the book.