This is a great book for anyone who loves sea lions. The "characters" are so cute and the story is very interesting.

San Francsico's Famous Sea Lions is a must have for anyone who has enjoyed the sea lions at Pier 39. I saw the sea lions last year and I have always wondered why they are there, and now I know! This is a great book for kids and adults who love marine mammals and great illustrations.

As an elementary school teacher, nonfiction material that is informative and entertaining is hard to find. This book with its wonderful illustrations opens many doors for discussions about animal behavior, adaptations, and their habitats.

This is not just a story about a First Amendment battle to keep the klan in check. This is a story about who we are. In so many of the characters, I saw a little piece of myself - sometimes liking what I saw, sometimes not, but always reading on, to see which part of me pulled for which character. It's a great American story.

It took me a few weeks to read the book, because I've had such a very hectic schedule lately. But, Sign of the Cross is a sensational True-to-Life Drama that kept me anxiously turning each and every page. The book was extremely well-written and I think we need more books like this one, so that people in our society can be aware of what's going on in society (both historically and currently).

I would love to see the book adapted as a screen-play. I think it would make for a sensational film.

If you want true legal drama at its best, with insights into the inner workings of the Klan and the prosecutor who challenged it, this book will fascinate and captivate. First Amendment issues are eloquently presented by both sides. In this case, the Klan's freedom of speech is contrasted with a community's right to be free from fear. But can any one man perservere against an unwilling legal system and the most notorious terrorist groups in America?

This book is, well, fun for anyone with a Los Angeles childhood, like me. However, for anyone who loves kitsch and Californiana, this book is well worth the price. Sun, Fun and Fantasy" takes an indulgent, loving look at a time and place that's largely been torn down and paved over. The author gets more than five stars from me for his accuracy--I couldn't find one error, based on my memory, my extensive reading about California, and yes, my picture postcard collection!

My hope is that this author will produce follow-up volumes from the '60s and '70s.

Our library just added this book to their collection and I began reading it out of curiousity. It's fabulous - filled with great pictures and chock full of unique facts. Reading it made me feel like I stepped back in time. Great coffee table or gift book.

Wow! If you've seen Charles Phoenix' slide shows, you know how dedicated he is to mid-century Southern California. He loves it, but he can also laugh at it. It's a perfect coffee table book, in fact it's on my coffee table right now. One-of-a-kind photos galore (many from discarded family slides found in thrift shops), along with fun, informative text. Buy this book. See his shows. Enjoy life!

As a late 50's and early 60's surfer growing up in Imperial Beach, CA. I could have used this book on our excursions north to surfers paradise, take your pick, this book list them all. Gosh what can I say what a trip, I found my book at a flea market and paid 50 cents for it. I would pay easy for this book what they are asking for it. Original price 8.95 for my 2nd edition. If Ida only known. My son moved to Ventura last year and I loaned him the book and he was so jazzed. He found all the places mentioned and got to surf a lot of them. He wants me to win the lottery and move to Hollister ranch. I had forgotten about sneaking into Hollister back then. Awesome Surf and a very special little book. Thanks to the authers for a great trip down memory lane.

When Bill Cleary and I lived three houses away from each other at Topanga Beach and he began to write this book, we never dreamed that it would become the appreciated classic that it has. I simply want to thank the surfing public for having expressed their appreciation many times during the 40 years since we wrote it.

In 1998 Bill and I we brought out what we called the "35th Anniversary Nostalgia Edition." In 2002, when the first printing sold out, we reprinted it.

And then, on July 4, 2002, my friend Bill died. Of a heart attack. At age 64. He was the first surfer I ever saw (it was 1959), and he was then one of the fittest athletes I'd ever seen. The last 15 years of his life he had Parkinson's Disease, which destroyed his coordination and made his life hell. May he rest in peace.

But for me, life goes on. I now live in Jerusalem, Israel, and I don't surf much any more. In fact, even by my own minimalist definition of catching at least one wave per calendar year, I'm an ex-surfer, because I last went out in the year 2001.

When the present supply of books sells out, there will be no more reprintings.

Happy surfing!

I've probably spent more time with this book than any other, except for the Bible. That's because SURFING GUIDE is the Bible of surfing guidebooks. For me, it's more than nostalgia. I actually used it quite a bit when it first came out, and I found its information very accurate. Of course, since I've been away from the Pacific for lo these many years now, it has become essentially a nostalgia trip. And since the surfing scene is so different now than when it was written, unless you're a full-bore retro longboarder (and I know there're lots of you out there), it's probably almost per se an exercise in nostalgia. But don't let that put you off. Cleary and Stern are very clever fellows and shrewd observers. Their wry observations and sly sensibilities propel this book out of its homely little genre and into the vast ocean of truly great reads.

"Society for Commercial Archeology Journal," Spring, 2000 For those of you unfamiliar with the West Coast, Highway 99 is the principal historic highway that knitted together the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Portions of it were known early on as the Pacific Highway or the Valley Route or the Golden State Highway. However, in 1928 these various bits were sewn together and given federal designation as US 99. Despite de-designation as a US highway in 1964, Highway 99 continued to play a prominent role in western transportation. Jill Livingston and Kathryn Maloof have compiled a two-volume guide to the history and sights of Highway 99 in California. Each book, half-sheet size and paperbound, provides a general summary of the road's history and a detailed description of features along the existing road organized geographically from north to south. Both offer an extensive photographic tour of the respective route sections, as well as sections devoted to detailed maps that outline the route and provide directions on how to access often-bypassed elements or road alignments. There are generous graphics and photos throughout. I may be a biased reviewer of this topic. I grew up on Highway 99 just south of Sacramento and enjoy mostly fond and entirely vivid memories of this road. I have muddled memories of passing objects from car to car while careening down the Grapevine toward Metler, CA to rescue a friends' stranded vehicle. I also remember with fresh horror as I watched my record collection of 250 albums melt in 100+ degree heat while broken down on that same wretched hill in 1983. Livingston and Maloof have brought it all back for me. I pine for chicken dinner at Pollardville and an orange freeze at the Mammoth Orange. I mourn the passing of the Blueberry Hill Café in Chowchilla, and am startled to see a picture of the theater where I saw my first genuine rock concert in 1975. The authors have peppered their text with sidebars of interest to one and all. The evolution of the Ridge Route and disappearing/reappearing highway under Shasta Reservoir are two of my favorites. The organization of the books is clear and easy to follow; the photos are beautiful and plenty. The text is well written and enjoyable, not bogging down in non-essential detail or excess verbiage. These books are just the ticket for roadside exploration off the beaten track in the Golden State.

That Ribbon Of Highway II: Highway 99 From The State Capital To The Mexican Border takes the reader from Sacramento to Calexico in a history that is enhanced with more than one hundred historic and contemporary photographs, an Accurate Road Log, and twenty detailed maps. Together, these two volumes present the armchair traveler with a splendid and informative entertainment, and serve the on-site traveler with a marvelous reference for a truly engaging road trip. Also highly recommended is the companion title, That Ribbon Of Highway I: Highway 99 From The Oregon Border To The State Capital.

Since my family moved to the San Joaquin valley in 1972, I have seen many changes on Highway 99. This book not only brought back memories, it also piqued the curiousity I have always had in travelling old highway routes. I have now covered all of old Highway 99 between Sacramento and Fresno. Someday I plan to make it to Calexico. Even if youdon't plan to make the journey, this book is a must read for anyone who has travelled or lived near Highway 99 and is interested in it's history. The photos are wonderful and informative, as is the text. Especially the appendix (Following The 99 Trail). FIVE STARS PLUS!

An extradorinarily fine and distinctive mystery. Noir updated and downloaded. And a savage morality play.
Focused writing. And it has enough secrets that it is easy to be surprised, even when you think you're ahead of the plot.
A cliffhanger, too.
Fans of Coggins' first mystery will enjoy encountering the Riordan / Duckworth team from a different perspective.

Vulture Capital is a well executed, slightly twisted and weird, but completely believable story about the dark side of Silicon Valley's start-up community.

Venture Capitalist Ted Valmont is informed that the brains behind a biotechnology start-up he's funded called NeuroStimix is missing. Without the technology guru, NeuroStimix's future is in jeopardy just as a new product designed to aid spinal cord injury victims is about to come to market. Valmont engages PI August Riordan to help find the missing man and we soon learn that the disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy to use NeuroStimix technology for dastardly purposes. To complicate matters, the missing man is Valmont's buddy and Valmont's own brother, as a spinal injury patient, would benefit from the NeuroStimix discovery.

Co-founder of a failed Internet start-up, Mark Coggins injects lots of local color into his work. Technology-types and dot-com veterans will especially appreciate the Silicon Valley photos and clever quotes, which open each chapter. Settings and situations will be familiar to industry types, but the jargon is not overwhelming. The book is even dedicated to the Pets.com Sock Puppet.

VULTURE CAPITAL is the second in a series featuring August Riordan, a private eye we first met in Coggins' well-reviewed debut THE IMMORTAL GAME (2000). THE IMMORTAL GAME received extraordinary attention for a debut title from a very small press. It was chosen as a Penzler pick and nominated for a Shamus Award. This would only happen because the book was good. Expect similar praise for VULTURE CAPITAL. According to the excellent Vulture Capital Website... we can expect more titles to come in the Riordan series

Witty and fast-paced, Vulture Capital is one fun read. Fans of The Immortal Game will be thrilled with the return of private eye August Riordan, and also the reappearance of his likeable sidekick Chris Duckworth. Newcomers and old fans alike will appreciate Coggins' vivid, stylish prose, well-developed plot line, complex characters, sparkling (and also very funny) dialogue, and the novel's San Francisco Bay Area locations depicted in the author's own photographs that introduce each chapter. I say "Hammet is a Coggins for the twentieth century."

Sight is one of those gifts a person takes for granted. I know I do, but after reading this book I don't think I ever will again. Jean loses her sight at the age of 12 and has so many things to overcome. Luckily for her, her parents didn't coddle her and made Jean do everything for herself that was possible. As the years go by she feels something is missing and after meeting Forest Holly, a man who also lost his sight, she knows that she needs to be married to him. This story takes in all the years from 1930 on through Jean and Forest's married life and all the challenges they face through lean years and the hardships of raising four children with little help. There were some hilarious parts, and some sad too.... This is truly a book that will make a person thankful for their sight and let you know that whatever adversities you may have to face, they can be overcome. A book I will recommend to everyone.

I THOUGHT THIS BOOK WAS GREAT AND VERY HEARTFELT IT SHOWS THAT EVEN IF TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE VISUALLY IMPAIRED THEY CAN STAND ON THEIR OWN.I WAS AMAZED HOW THEY RAISED FIVE CHILDREN .I HAVE A SEIZURE CONDITION SO I KNOW HOW IT IS TO BE LIMITED AND I STILL LIVE WITH MY MOTHER SO I CAN RELATE WITH HOW JEAN FELT WHEN HER FATHER KEPT TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD AND NOT LETTING HER TAKE A WALK INTO TOWN WITH HER SEEING EYE DOG OR WHEN SHE AND GORDON WANTED TO GET MARRIED.

If you are looking for a true love story and true dedication in a marriage, this book is for you. My grandparents overcame their blindness had four children, and conqured everything themselves. My grandparents have given my such motivation, that I can do anything I set my mind to, they are the most wonderful people alive, besides my parents. This book is truly a wonderful book about love, hard times and good times, how they beat all of the odds.

Todd Borg is a Minnesota native who followed the lure of lakes in the mountains to live in Lake Tahoe. He has created the art-loving detective, Owen McKenna, in his action-packed series beginning with Tahoe Death FALL, which was published in 2001. He quickly followed his maiden book with Tahoe Blowup. Thriller Press launched its business with Todd's Tahoe Death Fall, which was an astute decision.

Fourteen-year-old Jennifer Salazar, a wealthy young heiress, shows up at Owen McKenna's office to hire him as a private investigator because she feels the death of her twin sister nine years before is no accident. She has the I.Q. of a genius, is set to inherit almost four hundred million dollars, and is rightly convinced someone is out to kill her. McKenna, his Harlequin Dane named Spot, and his girlfriend, an exotic beauty who is an entomologist named Street, believe Jennifer. Her claim is verified everywhere they turn as dead bodies from the past and present speak of a family full of evil secrets and unsuspecting victims:

"'That's what they say,' Immanuel said.
'What do you mean?'
'Just what I said. That's what they say.'
'You don't believe it?'
'Put it this way,' the old man said wearily. He leaned his head back and rested it
against the pillow. 'There is something wrong with the woman. She is disturbed.
No doubt about it. But a paranoid schizophrenic needing to be locked up? I doubt it.'"

Todd Borg writes a rip-roaring, suspense-driven mystery that keeps the reader glued to his book until the final breathtaking denouement. His characters are superbly crafted, especially his dog Spot, who looms over the action like a benevolent giant, finally risking his life when necessary. Borg knows how to spin a yarn, and he is adept at utilizing every nook and cranny of the Lake Tahoe area as his backdrop. Tahoe Death Fall is an outstanding effort from a true up-and-comer in the mystery business. Borg is able to send shivers up our spine and make us think twice about checking all the doors and windows before we go to bed at night, as well as looking for skeletons in our ancestry. A tremendous read from a great writer.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

I picked up this book at a local (to Lake Tahoe) independent bookstore. It is a treat of a book and as a local to Lake Tahoe, I appreciated that all the references were accurate. Owen and Spot, along with girlfriend Street, were dynamite in this book. The book is well written and I was hard pressed not to stay up all night finishing it. I have the second book which I am anxious to start. Well written, well research, and a great story! I urge others to pick it up and give it a read!

LIVELY AND ATMOSPHERIC THRILLER THAT WILL SPELLBIND MYSTERY
FANS WITH THE NOTION OF A NEW AND EXCITING AUTHOR.
I FOUND A WONDERFUL SETTING WITH CHARACTERS YOU CARE ABOUT AND
A PLOT TO KEEP YOU TURNING PAGES!
DEFINITELY AN AUTHOR TO WATCH!

Hector Tobar's depressing but masterfully-written The Tattooed Soldier is a compelling story of tragedy and revenge, and provides a deep insight into the poverty-stricken lives of immigrants to Los Angeles.
Several background stories, each focusing on a different major character, intertwine to tell the tale of Antonio Bernal. Antonio, a bookish young man from a lower-class family, attends a university in Guatemala. This is where he meets his future wife, Elena; a passionate revolutionary, fearless and irreverent of the government's attempts to quell such actions, Elena worries that the ones she loves will suffer for her actions. One day, a "death squad," with leader Guillermo Longoria (the title's "tattooed soldier"), takes the lives of Antonio's wife and infant son. Forced to leave the country, Antonio moves to Los Angeles, seeking a better life. What he finds there is not opportunity, but rather homelessness and poverty.
Evicted at the start of the book, Antonio and his roommate live on a hill with others like them. Purely by chance, Antonio sees Guillermo again, and works up the courage to confront him.
The true focus of the story, however, is not Antonio; it is everything around Antonio. It seems that everywhere he goes, he sees nothing but poverty and despair. In Guatemala City, there were army groups created to fight freedom of expression. In San Cristobál, there were funerals for babies at least twice a month. Los Angeles is no different, despite the common perception that it is a land of opportunity. "Perhaps they could move to Mexico. Save enough money to move to Mexico or the United States. A place where they could be safe and their daughter, or son, could be educated. A place where you could speak your mind and there were no soldiers on the street." (118) In truth, the soldiers that roam the streets of Los Angeles are fellow immigrants. Everyone must compete for the limited jobs and money in the city, and there is apparently no room for sympathy.
Antonio learns the truth of the world, that revenge against those who have wronged him does not solve anything. He regrets his actions several times in the book, and realizes that the only thing he can do is suffer.
This sense of hopelessness is the book's core. Tobar himself said that, "at its root, The Tattooed Soldier is the story of the conflict between the idea of Los Angeles as a place of unlimited freedom and opportunity, and the truth of the poverty and decay that have come to eat away at the very heart of the city." The fact that immigrants can seemingly do nothing to improve their lives in the U.S. often leaves them no better off than where they were.
A powerful and deep story, The Tattooed Soldier does not give the feeling that everything will be okay. Tobar's incredible presentation of the immigrant's eternal struggle makes this book most definitely worth reading.

This beautifully constructed novel has everything:
profoundly moving characters and situations; penetrating
vision into the political economy of the United States and
Latin America; an invaluable history lesson; social realism
of the highest order; psychological and ideological
profundity; a revelation of the true meaning of the so-called
"global village." I am now assigning it in both graduate
and undergraduate courses here at Rutgers University in
Newark.

Where can I begin with this book!? I'm surprised that many people have still to read this book. It's centered around the time of the L.A. Riots, but does not compete with the turmoil concerning both of the central characters in this novel. I highly recommend for anyone's library. I can't keep mine on my shelf because I keep sharing it and making fans of this great work. BUY IT NOW!

This book is a very comprehensive and accurate book about the Temecula Wine Country. This I know because I have been living in the area for about 13 years and have limo toured the wine tasting areas many times. Make this one of your next purchases, immediately. It's great.

Very comprehensive and up to date. It fills a niche for the San Diego region.

Wow--this is a great book! It shows lots of wineries in Southern California and is a great reference tool to the wine novice and the connoisseur. Highly recommended for travelers to the San Diego and Southern California areas.