While Milk Horses is first and foremost a memoir, it is also the tale of a writer who knew she wanted to be a writer at an early age. She struggled to do so with little encouragement and with scant mentors who, on the surface, could hardly be called champions. Miss Gostelow, Newth's piano teacher, was one such mentor. True to the humanity evident throughout the memoir Newth, however, saw Miss Gostelow as a "person of strength." The final chapters answer the questions posed in the beginning of the memoir: Where is the young author going and how is she going to get there?

For anyone who has ever wondered how it could ever have been named Fairy Chasm Road, or who Plankinton was, this is the book for you. Lots and lots of local history tidbits. And unlike some books of this type, it isn't afraid to say, "Gee, we just don't know why its named that. But here are a few theories." Definitely a must own for the Milwaukee history buff.

The book is aesthetically pleasing as you page through it, containing black and white drawings of each bed & breakfast. Each page is also bordered with drawings of lilacs.
All B&B's are highlighted on two pages. The first page gives a description of the B&B, the second page contains a recipe that is a specialty dish served by the B&B. The descriptions are very helpful because they not only list the address and telephone number of the B&B, they also list the B&B's e-mail address and website if they have one. This is very useful for someone that makes a lot of travel arrangements on-line.

A friend loaned me this book recently. The layout is extremely helpful for quick reference and useful information. I look forward to taking it with me when I go to the garden center. The book is organized alphabetically, readily showing the most important information including hardiness zones, sun requirements and a synopsis of the plant's habit. In addition, there is a photo reference with clear and distinct photos of the plants described. I own quite a few garden books, but this is the one I will be taking with me when I go to buy plants, and the one I will use when browsing catalogues.

Driving in Jefferson City, Missouri a few years ago, I saw a man selling Confederate flags by the side of the road. In the St. Louis area, where I live, this man would probably have been beaten to within an inch of his life, but to most Missourians, St. Louis might as well be New York City. In out-state Missouri, publicly displaying a Confederate flag does not seem to be an unofficial felony.

Why? Why did a state which began life and perceived itself as Western become the most Confederate state in America(as some of us like to point out, WE didn't surrender until 1882, when Frank James turned himself in after Jesse's murder)? In this biography of Claiborne Jackson, the Missouri governor who tried to take his state out of the Union, Christopher Phillips argues that Missouri's transformation from Western to Southern basically boiled down to the protection of slavery. Central Missourians, the people around whom this book mostly revolves, did not see owning slaves as contrary to democracy but central to it. Their families had owned slaves since emigrating to the West from Kentucky or Virginia. Threats, or perceived threats, to slavery finally drove segments of Missouri's leadership to a full-fledged Southern identity and led to Missouri's exceptionally violent civil war, which in turn fueled Missouri's fierce postwar attachment to the Confederate States.

This is both a good biography of Jackson and a good study of antebellum Missouri. But I do have a few problems with it. Phillips spends the bulk of his time in the Boon's Lick(now called Little Dixie another result of the war)among the slaveholding aristocracy there. Natural, one assumes, because that's where Jackson was from, but the rest of the state is neglected. St. Louis is paid attention to, but other areas of the state, like the fiercely Unionist regions of the Ozarks, are barely mentioned. And once the war starts, Phillips seems in a hurry to wrap things up; I wish he'd spent more time on the war itself.

Nonetheless, if you're interested in antebellum American history, this book is well worth your time.

Mobil guides in general have some of the info you need for your stay but I prefer location specific guides more. They only list a few of each (hotels, restaurants, attractions etc.) Overall it was helpful but I wouldn't use it by itself. There isn't enough info about each area.

I am a big fan of ghost stories, especially supposedly true ghost stories from Michigan. I absolutely adored Gerald Hunter's first book, and I waited anxiously for the sequel. I had heard rumors that the second one would concentrate on Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. This pleased me as I live in Metro-Detroit, and very rarely find ghost stories about my area in print. When I finally picked it up, I was somewhat disappointed to find that only a handful of the stories were from southeastern Michigan. Also, stories from other U.S. states were included at the end. There have to be more haunted locations beyond the U.P., and other norhern Michigan parts! For me personally, reading a story about a haunt hundreds of miles away is as relevant as if it were in another state. Other than this complaint, the book, like the first one, is a great read. Mr. Hunter has a very laid-back, yet detailed style of writing. Whether you're from Michigan or not, you should pick it up. The story from Dearborn Hgts. alone makes it worth the price for admission.

Finally someone has done a through guide book of ohio. The information in this book could be a little more up to date, but that is a little hard to due with trail expansions and closures. I'm extremely happy to see the book because I met the author while riding at mickeys mountain, in norteast ohio, with two friends. Although the author put some of the pictures with different trails . I'm on page 137, in the front. Needless to say I was stoked to see my photo in print.

This book gives the off-road cyclist a great amount of information on a variety of trails. It covers location, length , & difficulty of the trails it reviews. There is also information about the Chambers of Commerce close to the trails. A must buy for experts & novices alike.

This book should be read by anyone interested in the Ohio trails. The book shows maps, warnings of hunters and anything else that the rider needs to know before the journey is begun.