Related Vacation Book Subjects:
Pennsylvania
More Pages: California Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
More Pages: California Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "California", sorted by average review score:
Cape Cod
Published in Hardcover by Princeton Univ Pr (01 November, 1988)
Average review score: 
book reviewI thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I have moved to the Boston area only a year ago, and this book has helped me learn a lot about the life in and around Cape Cod since 1621. The characters seem almost real with all the trials and tribulations they have had to suffer. I highly recommned it to any reader who enjoys historical novels (the best!).
Leave your brain at the door.You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.
Cape Cod is the ultimate desert island beach book.Each year, in preparation for a week's retreat to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I go in search of a book that would be perfect for a sojourn on a desert island. Of course, the Outer Banks are hardly deserted--the locals have printed up Wege's infamous photograph of a packed stretch of Coney Island with the caption "Nags Head, circa 2000 A.D."--but there we are on an island for seven days, my husband experiencing near death in the waves while I read. Sometimes we stop these pursuits and prowl the beach. Mostly we live as if we're the last two people on earth (which is easier in the off-peak season).
I've learned that not every book is right for this way of life. The perfect desert island book has to celebrate the place you are in, not transport you. It should offer a tinge of society, because, after all, a human is a social animal, but it should not make you yearn achingly for what has been left behind nor should you be so repelled by it that you will never fit in again when you leave the island (you always leave the island). It should have some narrative sweep to withstand the competition of the seascape. It should make you think, at least a little: you want the stress to wash out to sea, not the little grey cells.
Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau is the benchmark by which I've chosen beach material for several years. it is the quintessential celebration of littoral life. If you are on the beach, you appreciate it all the more; if you are not, well, at least you know vividly what you are missing. There is drama, as in the specter of villagers racing to the shore at the news of a shipwreck. There is information, as in what part of the clam not to eat, how the Indians trapped gulls for food, how a lighthouse really works. There is Thoreau's contagious respect for solitude, his occasional crankiness, and that magic trick of his that can suck in high school sophomores and get them through his books without so much as a whimper.
There is one flaw to Cape Cod: brevity. It lasts about a day and a half on the Robinson Crusoe plan. This is not to say that it does not withstand re-reading, it does, but at some point after you have committed it to memory, you may wish for the collected works of Shakespeare and move onto the Bard's beach play, The Tempest.
Cases
Published in Hardcover by Mysterious Press (January, 1999)
Average review score:
A gripping, wonderfully written and plotted book.This book is hard to put down for a moment, after the first chapter. Joe Gores writing is superb: tight, interesting, intelligent. While containing an abundance of unlikely coincidence at a couple of points, it also pursues each end result of the complex plot to its reasonable climax.
You shoulda been here yesterday...This book is basically a pretty flimsy excuse to remember being young and strong and smart and free as a bird in Las Vegas and San Francisco in 1953, but I loved it. The plot strains credulity, but read it for the atmosphere.
Homage to the underbelly of the Eisenhower eraIn 1953, Pierce Duncan leaves Notre Dame University to gain inspiration a an author by touring the United States, planning to keep a notebook as a precursor to his career as a writer. Just like Joel McCrea, Pierce finds the underbelly of America. The Georgia police arrest Pierce and place him on a chain gang. On another trek, he meets a killer in Texas. He tangles with a heavyweight in Nevada and finally comes to San Francisco without flowers in his hair.
Instead of writing, Pierce becomes a private investigator working with veteran "Drinker" Cope, who teaches him the business of locating missing persons (especially bail jumpers) and midnight stakeouts. What Pierce has learned from his travels and his association with Drinker is that America is the land of the avarice and the home of the deadly.
CASES is an interesting period piece that seems to revere the under side of the early Eisenhower era. The well-designed story line and the characters, especially Pierce, are intriguing in a retrospective sort of way. Joe Gores pays homage to the 1950's. However, at times his writing seems a bit disjointed, which is not surprising since segments were previously published elsewhere. Still, Mr. Gores shows the talent that has won him an Edgar as he scribes a warm semi-autobiographical private investigatior tale that would have pleased Hammett and Gardner.
Catching the Bullet and Other Stories
Published in Paperback by Scarlet Tanager Books (01 January, 2000)
Average review score:
Catching the BulletThis densely packed, powerful volume shows Daniel Hawkes as a writer not just of potential but of great accomplishment. Most of the stories center around sports and the meaning of sports for those who play and watch, and Hawkes has a real gift for describing physical activity, the feel of running, throwing, competing. The title story, "Catching the Bullet," beautifully dramatizes the ways family relations get acted out in sports and the terrible importance to kids, girls as well as boys, of failure and success in sports. Another, "Marathoners," captures the sweet camaraderie of adult athletic companionship, the inner life of the athlete, and the anguish of injury. But, for me, Hawkes is even stronger in two stories not about sports, "Pants," which deals with the pain and inevitable self-deception in the aftermath a failed marriage, and especially "The Bells," a wrenching story about the irrevocable passage of time.
A review from New York.A wonderful book of short stories, all of which are very interesting. A MUST read book from a very talented author.
READ THIS BOOK. IT IS EXCELLENT!From Catching the Bullet to Rasslin, every one of these stories is a pleasure to read.
Cause and Conscience
Published in Paperback by Haven Books (01 October, 2000)
Average review score:
Cover to cover - ability and agility as a writer!"I sat down and read/finished "Cause and Conscience" from cover to cover. It was great. It was really good! I can't tell you how well I think you write. I see how you use yourself so well as a writer and I'm very impressed and proud of your ability/agility."
Love these characters!"Your book is astounding! I had no idea. I just loved it. I love these characters! I spent my whole vacation reading your book. Now I'm making plans for spending the weekend reading your next one!"
Loved the book and admire it deeply.My wife and I have both enjoyed your latest book, "Cause and Conscience," ever so much! We have talked about it over morning coffee and during tea time repasts, and because I am a typer, it is my pleasure to put together and summarize our thoughts. Your books are fun to read and easy to read. You have a terrific talent for coming up with new situations, new characters and new conflicts that hold one's interest age after page. It is a delightful book. We were also especially impressed by the research you have put into the book to ensure that the scenes and locales have authenticity. We really felt that we were actually in Santa Barbara and in Alaska. You convinced us! And your skill at creating a wide variety of interesting characters is just amazing. It's a real treat to go through the book constantly being surprised by the variety of people and conflicts. In short, we loved the book and admire it deeply.
Celestial Dogs: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by St. Martin's Press (April, 1997)
Average review score:
Good "Dogs" - Have a BiscuitJay Russell may be America's best-kept secret. I blame myself for this. And you, of course. If you and I had bothered to read his work, he might be a lot more famous. Instead, he ran off to the UK and rests in relative obscurity.
Shame on you.
Russell is the author of a short series of books featuring Marty Burns, former child TV star and washed-up private eye. In "Celestial Dogs", Marty is introduced as a likeable drunk, a not-too-terribly sharp detective and a Hollywood namedropper par excellence. Every page is filled with so much LA lore you'd think the author spends his days on a studio backlot with a tape recorder running.
"Dogs" starts off like your ordinary LA potboiler. Witty, wisecracking and jaded PI is hired to locate a stripper for a local pimp. During his investigation, PI is lied to, beaten up, misled and has his body taken over by a demon from Japanese mythology.
You heard me. This ain't Elvis Cole we're talkin' about.
It turns out that the myths are truth and that one particularly bad-bootied demon has already joined the guest list at Spago. Marty and his new girlfriend Rosa find themselves in the middle of this dreamworld trying to protect themselves and the people they care about from things they can barely comprehend.
Jay Russell does wisecracks like nobody's business. His writing is deceptively easy and fluid, making "Celestial Dogs" speed past like a Ferrari, but Russell manages to tell a darned good story. I bought this book because I had read the author's "Brown Harvest" and liked it, but the Marty Burns tales quickly rose to the top of my favorite detective stories list.
If you are put off by a supernatural element in your mysteries, "Celestial Dogs" might not be for you, but if you enjoy a little macabre with your mayhem, you'll love it.
Jay Russell deserves to be more than a well-kept secret.
A genre-crossing thriller that I couldn't put downCelestial Dogs, which I stumbled upon doing a search through Amazon, is the story of a Raymond Chandler -isque private detective who gets caught up in a supernatural plot to summon real demons into present-day Los Angeles. As "Ghostbusterish" as that sounds, the author pulls it off beautifully, mixing humor with intensely graphic suspense. I especially love Russell's writing style and look forward to reading the next Marty Burns novel
horry + mystery= arooler coasrer ride of thrills&chillsCELESTIAL DOGS
Jay Russell
St. Martin's, Mar 1997, $21.95, 272 pp.
Collector's Encyclopedia of Howard Pierce Porcelain: Identification and Values
Published in Hardcover by Collector Books (October, 1997)
Average review score:
Howard PierceThis encyclopedia created an incitefull look at a great mans work and an intersting look at his life. Great photography.
Best book on Howard Pierce ever!This book was a wonderful look at Mr. Pierce's personal background and his pottery
great information about Howard Piercewonderful insight into his personal life and his potter
Compass American Guides : Coastal California
Published in Paperback by Fodors Travel Pubns (June, 1998)
Average review score:
Doerper's Coastal CaliforniaA very helpful guide for driving up or down my favorite coast in the world! Doerper takes you almost mile by mile - was particularly helpful as I drove from Sebastopol up to Menocino, heretofore undiscovered country for me. Galen Rowell's photographs have always been a treat. His death was a real loss, but at least you can tour the CA coast through his eyes in this book.
I liked this book enough to buy Doerper's corollary for the Pacific Northwest to use this year:)!
Great book for a weekend driveI bought this book before traveling from San Francisco down Big Sur (about halfway), and it has great coverage of the Big Sur coast, the Santa Cruz area, and San Francisco.
More than a guide- Beatifully illustrated and writtenCostal California is more than just a guide book to the California coast. A first glance, Galen Rowell's spectacular photography, 25 full-color maps, wine labels, and historical photographs tell you that there can't be a better illustrated guide for this local. When you start to read this book, you find that it is more than just travel data. John Doerper writes, "The California coast is as much a state of mind as it is a place. Its people, and the stories and myths they have woven around this magic coast, are as captivating as the spectacular scenery." He obviously kept this thought in mind as he wrote this inspirational , entertaining, and expert guide.
Convicted Survivors: The Imprisonment of Battered Women Who Kill (Suny Series in Women, Crime, and Criminology)
Published in Paperback by State Univ of New York Pr (April, 2002)
Average review score:
A Must Have! Exceptional and Insightful, a hands-on study!One of the most comprehensive studies on the subject I have come across. Leonard gives a thought provoking overview of the circumstances involving battered women who kill. Sure to bring invaluable perspective regarding "domestic violence" to every reader. The interviews with women serving time add an edge to the literature, that brings us into their lives, their fears, and their reality. Impressively thorough in introduction to the topic, giving readers a solid framework to process the real-life stories of women inmates. I highly recommend this book as a must have to any sociological library, And to the author, wonderful research! and much needed... I await your next publication.
Best book on this subject I've ever readElizabeth Leonard's book reveals a shocking difficiency in the United States' legal system. She systematically and clearly outlines the outrageous way the legal system treats victims of domestic violence when they defend themselves. It is the most fair and even book I have ever read on the subject, yet carries with it a passion and drive as such I couldn't put it down. The time and care with which the research has been done is astonishing, so much so that even Amnesty International has sat up and taken notice. If you want a well written sociological study of how women who have killed their abusers are treated in the American legal system, this is the best book to buy.
Terrifyingly insightfulHow easy it is for most of us to go about our daily life without care or concern for those in prison. How easy it is for us to take the "They get what they deserve" attitude toward all prisoners. This books exposes the horrors of how the justice system convicts and treats women that come from homes in which spousal and child battering is routine, and who, ultimately kill their spouse in a desperate attempt to preserve both their own life and that of their children. It is horrific to see how sexist the system is, and how the concept of spousal abuse is so thoroughly swept under the rug and/or treated as non-issue. This occurs not only in the prison system, but in our country at large. Too many of us feel all prisoners are guilty, and that the system gives out an appropriate sentence for the crime.. do they? Do these women get equal treatment and punishment as the men do? Can you murder in self defense? Is spousal abuse for real? This book is a real eye opener, and a must read for anyone in or looking into a political, law enforcement or sociological career.
Crimson Green: A Quinn Parker Novel of Suspense
Published in Hardcover by HarperCollins (August, 1994)
Average review score:
Easy to feel part of the lives of the charactersI keep looking for more books by Mr. Zimmerman. I found all four of them by accident when I started looking at the "Z" authors at my library. I was hooked immediately, I especially like that he included golf in one of his mysteries.
Thoroughly enjoyable with a fascinating and interesting plotI have read several of Bruce Zimmerman's books and find them to be very easy to get absorbed into the plot. The author is knowledgeable on the subject of each of his books and the area that is portrayed in each book. I understand that he has another book out and am waiting for the opportunity to read it.
One of the Very Best Murder Mysteries, I have ever read!Intriging Murder Mystery found on the Golf Course,
light reading with an amusing sense of humor, keeps
you guessing with so many characters to suspect.
Very knowledgeable of the California area and all
aspects of Golf, including the U.S. Open
Tornament.
Chief: My Life in the Lapd
Published in Paperback by Bantam Books (February, 1993)