You need 3 books to enjoy LA:
1) this book, the museum companion to LA (what to do in LA)
2) Jonathan Gold's Counter Intelligence (where to eat in LA)
3) the LA/Orange County Thomas guide (how to get around in LA)

You also need to listen to the traffic report, every 10 minutes at the 01, 11, 21, etc minutes on the clock, to AM 980 to avoid our traffic.

LA is a huge melting pot - you can see it in the variety of food and museum collections. There is the netsuke collection at LACMA, Blue Boy and extensive gardens at the Huntington, the porcelain collection at the Pacific Asia Museum, the bookstore (it is ther best in town for art and architecture related books) at the Armand Hammer, the La Brea Tar Pits, California Museum of Science and Industry (free admission) with the BEST science experiments for toddlers. The book also includes lots of beautiful gardens in the area.

This book provides a very useful overview of museums both large & small across the LA Basin. From the Norton Simon to the smallest, you'll get photos of major exhibit items, overviews of what's there, plus the stats & particulars to assure that your museum choice for a given day in not a wasted day. Buy it!

Ever since I first checked this book out of the local library, it has fascinated me. But why? Why do these cheesy stories of silly ghosts and monsters make my skin crawl? Why can I not read this after dark? I'm not certain, but stories of Charman, the lizard people, and the Billiwack Monster got under my skin years ago, and I just had to own this one.
Serious investigators of the paranormal can leave this one on the shelf, but anyone who happens to read a few of the stories will have no choice but to purchase one for themselves. I did.
This is the book that inspired my first Legend Trip (to the mysterious Walls of Oakland) back when I was a teenager (so long ago) and I haven't stopped since.
This is loads of great, silly fun!

This book is a fascinating read for anyone who has any interest in strange places and eerie phenomena. It is replete with information concerning the strange goings on which have transpired in the Golden State. Topics include the ghost who haunts Nob Hill, The Forest of Disappearing Children, and the Bigfoot who has been seen in Humboldt County. The author also includes a bibliography which enables one to do even more research and find articles in both academic and popular press journals which corroborate Marinacci's findings and claims. This is a very interesting and well-written work.

So many books attempt to capture the essence of Napa Valley. This book stands out from the rest, with a remarkable combination of photographs and words that convey the soul of the Napa Valley. If you were to choose only one introduction to Napa, this would be your best choice.

We have lived in this valley for 6 years, and buy books for our guests to familiarize themselves with the valley before they go exploring. We were pleasantly surprised to find this book as a stand-out from the crowd. The photographs by Nancy Kerby are beautiful, and the writing by Tony Kilgalin is both entertaining and enlightening. If we didn't live here, this book would tempt us to move here! We recommend this book for your library or for your new home in Napa. Enjoy!

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Provides an overview of the remarkable Point Reyes National Seashore Park with a thorough discussion of geologic processes, weather, oceanic cycles, birds and other flora and fauna. Maps, drawings, and bibliography complement the text. Complete species lists provided in Appendix.

After reading the entire series of the Corrie Belle Hollister Journals, I was so excited to see that Michael Phillips continued with her married life. I felt like I was part of the Hollister family. Another GREAT set of sequels! Can't wait for more.

I Loved the book. It is one of the best books I've read.I couldn't put it down so I read it in 1 day. I loved all of the challenges Christopher put in his sermons. I want my marrige to be like Corrie and Christopher's. I'm 12 and I even loved it.

Rockport puts out an outstanding graphic design line. Their series of graphic design books entitled New Design, of which this book is part, features work of what I would call Graphis Annual caliber. For this reason, I think you can buy these books and feel reasonably certain that they will last longer, as relevant resources, than some of the ultra-trendy, flashy, but essentially shallow design books in the market now.

As our friends on the infomercials might say: "You COULD spend THOUSANDS of dollars on a guided tour of global graphic design ca. 1999-present, but WHY WOULD YOU?!" My advice: Snap up the entire City-By-City New Design series while it is still available. (My favorites of the series are London and Los Angeles, but that is merely personal taste.)

I picked up this book because I am a graduating graphic design student who wanted to see what the rest of the world is designing. This book is great for those who want to see what kind of work is coming from great designers on the west coast. Each company is headlined and has its own pages; I found this great in case you want to see a companies work before you send a resume or portfolio to them. Businesses may find this book interesting as to how design is being handled nationally and what each design firm specifically caters to. Overall, I recommend this book to those who are interested in researching different ideas in the design world and businesses looking for a variety of strategies in their design work.

Ms Doss introduced a great concept: great walks in a great area. Her love for the Bay Area is almost unsurpassed by her knowledge and research into the areas she focuses on. Her writing style is fun, sentimental, and very descriptive. I took a lot of the walks she mentioned and had many enjoyable times. I heartily recommend all of her books if you can find them.

I remembered this book from a newspaper review years ago. My husband and I started using it for walking in San Francisco last month. We have been discovering places in San Francisco that we never imagined existed and learning about the history as well. It has been years since I have been so enthusiastic about a book.

"Nightwork" is the seventh Dave Brandstetter mystery by Joseph Hansen. The series is set in and around Los Angeles. Dave, a death-claims investigator is looking into the death of Paul Meyers, a truck driver. Someone placed a bomb under the truck and it blew up with him one night. Dave learns that Meyers had been doing nightwork to make extra money. Who killed Paul Meyers? Was it Silencio Ruiz, a gang leader who was sent to jail on Paul's testimony, and who vowed to kill him when he got out of prison? Was it Bruce Kilgore, a teacher, with whom Paul's wife Angela was having an affair? Does it have anything to do with Paul's nightwork? The plot and the characters are strong. Hansen is an excellent mystery writer. It's just too bad that there were only 12 of the Dave Brandstetter mysteries written.

Book seven in the Brandstetter series finds David comfortably settled with a still-fragile Cecil, and looking into the death of a trucker; a trucker who was on the wrong road at the wrong time of night--with a bomb taped to his rig. Hansen writes classic hard-boiled PI novels which start out in prosaic fashion, but weave and wind to brutal and surprising conclusions. The writing is always spare and vivid, with shrewd characterization, snappy dialog, and 'atmosphere' you can smell, touch, and taste. One of the few writers who actually merits comparisons to Chandler and MacDonald, Hansen also set the gold standard for the sub-genre of 'gay mystery.' NIGHTWORK is one of my favorites for the interaction between Dave and Cecil, and the chiaroscuro of Dave's private life and the grim world he works in.

no immunity, susan dunlap's fourth novel featuring medical examiner-turned-private eye kiernan o'shaughnessy, is her best yet... kiernan has to deal with a potentially devastating, highly contagious virus that could ptove to become a huge epidemic. she has to face some past personal demons and make a tough decision to help an old friend, dr. jeff tremain, regardless of the threat to her personal safety... but it seems the only thing kiernan can say no to is partnership, so she agrees to help her old friend. adding to her woes is her long-time houseman, ex-pro football player brad tchernak, who's feeling undervalued and underapprecciated. brad is determined to prove himself to kiernan and he takes on a case of his own, seemingly unrelated to kiernan's highly-contagious virus. as the two cases begin to overlap, kiernan must do some quick thinking to save them both. a highly satisfying mystery, intelligent and fast-paced without ever rushing out of control. susan dunlap has become one of my favorite authors; i find myself reaching for her books itime and again. i'd love to see jill smith take a break from her woes and team up with and vj haskell to solve some really tough case!

Dr. Jeff Tremaine demands that private investigator Kiernan O'Shaughnessy apply her skills as a pathologist by conducting an autopsy on a cadaver, who might have died form a highly contagious disease. Jeff and Kiernan share the memory of a nasty experience in Africa where people were dying from a Lhasa fever epidemic. Jeff made a decision that ultimately cost him the woman he loved and he still blames Kiernanan for the choice he made. NO IMMUNITY is a believable tale that emphasizes the end result of fear, greed, and desperation that seems to prevail in today's society. Based on headline news stories about epidemics, Susan Dunlap weaves a frightening story where unchecked profit allows for the concealment of the truth and the resultant consequences are buried alongside it. Kiernan's motives to go it alone are fully understood, adding a personal touch to the chiller. This compelling thriller is a fascinating profile of human behavior that is a must read for those who enjoy an intellectual doomsday novel.

I bought this book entirely on the fact that I spotted the discussion of "kinkeeper" when I skimmed through this book. This idea, though not original to the author of this book, was a real revelation to me when I first saw it in this book. It really blew me away, though in hindsight it seems so obvious. There is a gay couple in my family tree and I always wondered why the half who was my blood kin wasn't the same one who kept in touch with me, rather, it's his other half who regularly does. My other relatives, it's usually the half I'm related to by blood who keeps in touch with me. The instant I saw in this book the concept of "kinkeeper," all of a sudden I realized, my cuz wasn't the kinkeeper, rather, it was his life partner who had assumed that role in their communications with me! I had wondered previously if, on some level, something was wrong re my connection with my cuz. But in fact, all I needed to do in my own mind was, at least for this particular couple, to separate out the role of "kinkeeper" from my other usual expectations of blood kin. As a result of this book, therefore, I feel better now about my connection with my cuz. [Truth in reporting: This is the only part of this book that I've read so far. My rating does not apply to any other part of this book.]

This book offers an concise, realistic look into the everyday lives of gays and lesbians. The dynamics of "our" relationships and how we choose to make our homes, lives and create our families are revealed thru the tales of different couples. I found this book especially fascinating and useful in my situation. My partner and I have an extended chosen family as we live with another couple. We can relate to so many issues faced by some of the couples the book. This is a definite MUST READ for any gay couple!