As somone who used to date Dennis, I found his writings more entertaining then his actual personality.
This book doesnt tell much that I couldn't find out from any other book.
Good try though.

I have been researching camping in Yosemite using this book as a guide. From what I've found, this book is a terrible reference. The index gives the wrong page numbers for specific campgrounds, and the information given has turned out to be wrong for most of the campgrounds I have looked at. In trying to make my reservations I found errors ranging from whether or not the site required a reservation to whether or not RVs are allowed in the campground to whether or not there was running water at the site.

This guide rates and reviews hundreds of campgrounds including county parks which are often overlooked by other guides. It is illustrated with black and white photographs and contains a helpful index by rating. Campgrounds are rated from 1 to 5. 5 means it is a perfect, not to be missed site; 1 means it is acceptable only when desperate.
Reviews are one paragraph to a page or more in length and include reservation information, number of sites, facilities, maps and driving directions, as well as nearby recreational activities. Reviews give the reader a clear idea of what to expect from each campground. Look for key words and phrases that tell all: secluded, private, remote, too darn crowded, hordes of day visitors, or too much asphalt. This is a detailed, well-organized guide. Don't leave home without it!.

I picked this book up for some ideas of fly fishing areas nearby (I live in Northern California). Not having lived here very long, I was not familiar with the specific rivers and their even general locations on a state map of California (and given that these are supposed to be big fishing areas and I fancy myself as begin geographically literate - shame on me!). The editor has not deemed fit to include a well marked overall map of the area that leads one to the specific rivers in question -- you are assumed to know where the areas are and how to get there already, I figure, or if there is some rhyme or reason for locating these streams on the big map, it was not obvious to me.

From the text perhaps even a passing familiarity with the rivers in question themselves is assumed - though it will definately be useable to me once I figure out where these waterways might be!

To be fair it does appear that there is good information to be had, but the location of the rivers in questions on a map of the state might be good. There *is* a map in the front -- just begging for the locations detailed in the book to be clearly indicated -- how about having it done that way in a new edition?

I will have to get a map or a different book to take advantage of this one, so if you don't alerady know the locations of these waterways - you have been warned!

This book is fine if you want to go to one of the 6 or 8 most famous trout streams in CA, but if you want to try one of the several thousand other places to fish, it has nothing. A much more complete reference is "California Fishing" by Tom Stienstra. While it isn't fly-fishing specific, it is a much more comprehensive book, and rates places based not only on the fishing, but on camping spots, number of people, and scenic beauty, which are at least as important as the fishing, in my opinion. Stienstra's book also includes detailed maps and directions to the places it reviews.

Ditch this book and pick up Tom Stienstra's instead.

This book is a collection of writings from different authors who have an intimate knowledge of the rivers they write about. The book is very well organized - giving you maps, tactics, and lodging information. If you are new to Fly Fishing or new to Northern California this book is a must.

I am an avid reader, and am, in general, open to most styles and opinions. This book was suposed to be a book about Irish suspense; it should really come with a warning "read only if you are of the Unionist/Loyalist mindset." If you are of this mindset, then you will enjoy it. I could not finish it due to the Unionist mindset that infers that everything Irish is inferior; and, of course, everything English is superior.

Jack McCallam finds himself at loose ends after a career in the British Army is cut short by a bullet to his head. On a routine visit to his dad's in Northern Ireland, his life is turned upside down when he finds his father has died in an acccident and his girlfriend has left a message on his home answering machine saying she is going back to her husband.
A well-written book though I had trouble with the timeframe being so far in the future, yet nothing was the least bit futuristic. Cars, airplanes, and phones all operated just as they do today. While having been in Northern Ireland and finding it a bit backward by our standards, this is stretching the reader's imagination a wee bit thinking that nothing would have changed. I understand why he had it take place in the future, as it was essential to the plot, but it didn't work well for me. Baker's knowledge of the Northern Ireland political parties was very accurate and the plot was believable on most points. I would recommend this book for readers of espionage, suspense, or police novels.

A fascinating book from beginning to end. Explores both The Troubles and issues that come up when you lose a parent as an adult. Suspenseful and surprising--it will keep you guessing until the end.

I think this book would have been useful several years ago but this edition is almost 10 years old and the information contained is out of date. The elevation profiles provided for the roads in Alaska are also misleading and not detailed enough to be reliable.

I wouldn't recommend that you buy this book if you intend to tour Alaska. Buy a general guide book (Lonely Planet or Rough Guide) and get some decent maps instead.

The second edition is a useful book covering all the major roads in Alaska and the Alaska Highway as far as Whitehorse, YT. Information is organized by region and then by roads within those regions. An introductory section describes the background of the area and provides land management and emergency information. Any communities the cyclist will pass through are described and services relevant to cycle touring are listed. Roads are broken into approximately 80-mile segments with a small elevation profile provided for each. The terrain and road surface are described and the mile post locations of any junctions, water sources, camping, food, lodging, and roadside sights are tersely noted. No mile-by-mile description is provided. Unfortunately, the service information is dated as north-country businesses seem to pop up and shut down with alarming frequency. Coupled with the Milepost, this is a helpful book. Those used to hand-holding touring guides with detailed ride notes may be disappointed.

It is a man with little imagination that writes a book about historical events that no one cares about. The editing was badly done, with several errors that I picked up with only one reading. Yes, documentary literature has its place in the literary world, however this one would not be missed if it had not been written.

It has been suggested that he is writing a book about a Mass Murder. God forbid! Literature has been murdered enough in the past. Do we really want Murder in the Unimaginative in the present

I personally enjoyed the book. It was an interesting look at a piece of American history often overlooked. It may be a little rough around the edges but it was very informative. As to Amy Scott's comments; "It is a man with little imagination that writes a book about historical events that no one cares about." I do find it hard to believe that no one cares about an accident that took the lives of almost 100 people. What might a 'bitter little woman' like that recommend as more acceptable? Does her emphasis on the lack of imagination of the author hint at a desire for him to make stuff up? While Amy may be happier sticking with her Dr. Suess books I'll be looking forward to see how the next one comes out.

This book is so boring, don't waste your time. The author is clearly capitalizing on the West's increased interest in Islam and Muslims post-September 11. If you are looking for a thorough anthropoligical examination of this small subset of Muslims living in Pakistan, this isn't your book.

As a native of Pakistan who has lived in the U.S for over 25 years, I have always been interested in what Western writers are writing about Pakistan and people of Pakistan. I bought 2003 edition of this book last Christmas for a light reading. When I started to read it, I could not put it away. Jamie had visited the Northern Areas in early 1990's. She talks about not just beautiful landscaps but ordinary people. People she met during her travel to Gilgit and Skardu. "Gilgit going"! that's exactly what the locals with little English knowledge would say anywhere in Pakistan. She is not judgemental but paints a beautiful portraits of life in that part of the world. People might not have lots of luxuries but they are contended with what they have and show wonderful hospitality to visitors. She had lots of access to women in that part of world. It is nice to read a story of people beyond the prejudice which exists among the Western media. There are no Mullahs and no Talibans in this story. A young Western woman travels fearlessly in this distant, remote part of Pakistan. I have not seen most of these areas but found myself visiting these areas through this book. What's even more impressive that Jamie revisits the same areas 11 years later and meets many of those women again. Lots has changed since her last visit. Progress in terms of roads, electricity and internet has come in many areas but people are still the same. Kathleen Jamie's book is wonderful and I strongly recommend it to all. It is as if I was there visiting those beautiful areas for few days!

I was very disappointed in this book. I am a native to Northern California and wanted to learn more about our Coast, since I live within an hour's drive of many beaches. The author skipped over most of the smaller beaches and just gave incredibly short summaries of the most popular places - I did not need a book for this information! The authors majored on restaurants and lodgings, however, since they only gave listings for the more popular sites, none of the information was helpful to me. I was planning a trip to Pacifica, and there wasn't a single entry on that entire town!! There are probably 3 hotels (at least) and many, many restaurants and beaches there. But there was not even a paragraph about any of it.

I purchased the book because I wanted one dedicated to Northern California's unique beaches. However, I was much happier with another book that while it also listed the beaches in Southern California, at least I had access to a satisfactory amount of insight into the Northern California beaches. The book is named "Foghorn Outdoors California Beaches" - you can see my review under that book if you are interested.

As for this book, I wish I had not wasted my money.

Finally, a book regarding the best places in Northern California! This book was easy to comprehend, delightful to read, and very informative. As a high-school student I am happy to know i have decades remaining to visit these places.

There are some good things about this novel. Specific episodes in the book take off and you find yourself burning 15 pages to find what happened. Some of the characters are interesting and unique. The construction is episodic with story lines cut and pasted like reading a painting from the cubist school. Chunks of the story are cut out and displaced into other parts of the story, creating a disjointed reading experience. This might have been a successful artistic technique if it weren't also weighed down by a huge cast of characters, so large that the publisher had to print a whole listing before you get to the first chapter. To complicate this, some of the characters are known by different names which also change depending on the timeline that is also cut and distributed throughout the story. To comlicate this, characters go from being homosexual to bisexual; so you have to identify who it is, what name they're going by, and whether they like guys or gals at the moment. In short, this book is extremely confusing. Knox needs a new editor; this relationship did not work well. Here are some examples of how the story didn't follow through for me. There is a whole segment on how a girl loves her horse. So, of course, two characters feel it's their mission to find the elusive horse and dismember it. They get naked, hack up the horse, bury it, wash in a stream, one guy tries to seduce the other only to have the other one try to kill himself, then the girl shows up, they get out and a flood comes, the dismembered horse floats by, and the story line is dropped. What's the point? To complicate these matters, there are secret societies whose members are unidentified. At one point, the characters are at a funeral. Rather than being affected by the sorrow in the scene, I was trying to remember who it was that died and what her relationship was to the people at the funeral. At the end, someone tells Carme that she's a mother, but I could never figure out who was speaking. After this book, I felt like I needed a study group to figure out what went on. Unfortunately, for all its promise, the read is not worth the effort.

Readers who enjoyed Elizabeth Knox's bestseller The Vintner's Luck will find the same unique style and rich characters in Black Oxen. But be warned, it is a long and demanding read. Central to the book is a similar character to the angel in The Vintner's Luck. Ido/Walter is a man who is not quite human. He is a healer, a visionary, bisexual and capable of living in two worlds. He is immensely fascinating which is necessary to get you through 503 pages of a rich and complex story which at times is very hard to keep track of. As with The Vintner' Luck, Knox's research and knowledge of her topics from revolutionaries in Latin America to complex surgical terms, to the world of television in Hollywood seems flawless. Fans of The Vintner's Luck will remember that even though it was convincingly set in France, unbelievably Knox had never visited the country before writing the book. Knox's writing is delightful in its sense of imagery and romanticism and beautiful in its structure and form. You can't help but get involved with every character and while this is immensely satisfying as a reader to be challenged so thoroughly there are times when you just have to stop reading and sort all the information and the characters into their correct time zone and family connections. This would not have been a problem had I been able to devote a decent chunk of time to reading the book instead of spacing it out over several weeks. I found myself wondering at the intensity of the author and her ability to fill page after page with such wonderful writing and information. I am going to re-read Black Oxen ( after I dip into a lighter read for a change of pace) as I finished it last night and I'm still not quite sure of the conclusions I should have drawn from it, or even if Knox intends us to have any conclusions. Perhaps like good poetry or music, we will all take our own individual meaning from this piece of work. A much more difficult read than The Vintner's Luck as Black Oxen feels 10 times more intense. Some readers may be unwilling to put in the time, but I highly recommend you do.

A warning to all interested readers: take this book with a HUGE grain of salt. Gerry Adams helped organise a widespread campaign of bombings, kneecapping, and mass murders as leader of a group of terrorists, before he was justifiably sent to prison. Here, he uses the hardship of prison life in an attempt to arouse sympathy. Are we really supposed to feel sorry for someone responsible for such horrific crimes? The stories of prison torture are rediculous. I don't believe a terrorist, with a hatred of all things British will give a honest account of the UK justice system.

If you want a reason why to support the Irish Republican cause, then pick up this excellent fast paced read. Gerry Adams is a hero to the men, women and children of NI. He knows what the people want, and that is freedom from the rude, ignorant, and selfish English.

A very flawed book. It should advertise itself for what it is - a commercial advertisement for its membership list and not as a bookstore guide. I feel swindled as if I bought a logo t-shirt (paying for the privelage to advertise for an unknown other).

The book had the following flaws:
1) VERY incomplete listing of bookstores in the SF area not to mention the rest of California. The most notable lack of listings were the independent bookstores of the Mission District. Further, antiquarian dealers were left out as well. I could understand if they gave a complete list of bookstores with no ratings thereby letting the reader have a chance to explore and judge but the complete exclusion of so many independent book stores and dealers from even being listed was very odd;

2) No maps. The organization is simply by town with no maps of large book buying districts. It would have been nice to have a map of the SF area to give the reader an idea of where the bookstores are located in relation to each other and the reader. The general breakdown by large California geography chunks e.g.,Sierra Nevada does not induce one to go walking around town;

3) The book's subtitle, 'A Guide to Northern California's Independent Bookstores' is deceptive. It lulls one into the expectation that this book will give a comprehensive listing of ALL independent book stores, but instead gives fawning endorsements of its membership. I am still curious how one can be an independent northern California bookstore located in Arizona (mayhaps having NCIBA membership helps);

There were some saving graces. The section on Berkeley's book stores was reasonable. But if the book gives such short shrift to the rest of the Bay Area should I not think that the Berkeley section is flawed as well?

One of the great pleasures in life is finding the heart of any town through its book stores. Trying to track down that elusive pre 1920's Sinclair Lewis or even a 1982 reprint of Charles Babbage's analysis of manufacturing methods makes one know the smells, thoughts, desires and fears of a town and its inhabitants. A good guidebook is the starting point of a long love affair between the subject and the exploring reader. This guidebook by Akers is phone sex - short, cheap and incomplete.

I purchased this book while planning a trip to San Francisco and Northern California. I planned my trip around all of the great bookstores that I wanted to visit, and it worked out well. There may have been other stores that I should have visited in each particular area, but I feel the book represents the best of the best. It is impossible to list every single retail location that sells books, and it seems that is exactly what the other person reviewing this book wants. Either that, or the author of the review is a bookseller that was left off the list.

I had a fantastic time in Mendcino visiting the Gallery Bookshop. I plan to visit City Lights every time I visit San Francisco in the future. A bookstore is indeed the heart of a community, and thanks to First and Foremost I feel a deep and intimate connection with the communties I visited.