What a wonderful,innovative hiking guidebook! As a hiker andPalm Springs resident, it is a joy to read Linda's prose that soappropriately captures our beautiful desert trails.

I amparticularly impressed with Linda's description of the IndianCanyons. Each year, HIKE FOR HOPE is held in these beautiful canyons,offering 7 different guided hikes to raise money to fund women'scancer research at The City of Hope. Linda understands the magic ofthose canyons and the wonderful spirit that exists there. Linda hasbeen a terrific supporter of this event... we met her because of herbook and our admiration of it...

During our drive out to Palm Springs, I skimmed through the book and map to find hikes that would be near our hotel. I read about six different hikes/chapters and then chose two that I thought would be close and not too long since I would be hiking by myself.

Not familiar with the area at all, the first thing I did after arriving at the hotel was ask the concierge where the nearest hiking trails were. I was told there were none.(The concierge could use a copy of your book.)

Back at my room, armed with your book I found one three blocks away. Perfect! I set out the next morning, found the trail easily and started up. What I enjoyed most while hiking was remembering what you had written about your experience and it was like sharing my trek with an invisible friend. I noticed the canyon below that you had mentioned and wondered if I would have admired it as much if it hadn't been pointed out in your book. When I reached the top with that incredible view of the Coachella Valley, I sat for a long time.I was looking forward to telling you that I had 'made it', it was worth the uphill climb and to say thanks because if I hadn't read about this trail, I would never have known it existed!

I had originally planned to run up the trail--that lasted about one third of the way up. But I did run all the way down on the way back. Yahoo!!!

I finished the rest of the book and intended to do a second hike but ran out of time. We did check out the famous homes listed in your book while driving around.

This book is a great resource for those who like to get outdoors on the San Francisco penninsula (particularly San Mateo county). I like to use it as a resource to find places to go when friends visit. It's a catalog of the often ignored foothills (and other areas) along the pennisula. Highly recommended. Check out Windy Hill (gorgeous panoramas) or any other part of the mid-pennisula open space district.

Excellent list of area trails

I arrived in Chicago at 3 years old and have felt the stigma of prejudice and misunderstanding of who and what Filipino culture is about, as I slowly became who I am now. In the 70s and 80s, I felt strange emotions when I began to journey back and forth to the Philippines. I was one of the first wave of balikbayan youth to feel I had sojourned out of the mainland back to the culture in my soul, helpless in integerating who I am, because truly I have come to accept I am both. With a very strong Ilocano-Tagalog flavor in our home life in the early 70s such was my identity - both Filipina and American. My mama has few yet vivid memories of Japanese invasion in the North Ilocano region as a child, yet I myself held some confused and strong emotions hearing about the EDSA Revolution in the 80s...but did not know why, when I lived in Chicago. My point in all this? Reading the work of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard has helped me understand who I am as a Filipina and as an American. Brainard does not sound "revolutionary" and emotional like most Filipino writers think they must express. There is a softness, soothing and tenderness to the touch of her pen. No one has yet been able to penetrate the Chicago area with this understanding. Continue Ma'am Brainard, in your special gift and example. May God honor the rest of the chapters of your life experience. ~~~by Ms. Janis Ver Licuanan

I loved these essays by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. They are straightforward, elegantly-written, and pithy. The essays reveal much of the author's experiences as an immigrant in the United States. A wonderful book by a great writer!

This book falls into a category somewhere between botany, climatology, and geography; it looks at several different types of "mediterranean climate" around the world, and describes the different vegetational types within each region, explaining (in a scholarly but accessible way) why these plant communities look the way they do.

It's beautifully produced, with both climate maps and full-color illustrations of plants and plant communities. I know of no other book that explains the relationship between geography and botanical ecology this elegantly; it's a lot of fun to browse, and I would recommend it *very* highly to armchair travellers with botanical inclinations.

Peter Dallman's Plant Life In The World's Mediterranean Climates covers plants of California, Australia, South Africa and the Mediterranean, and will prove more accessible to general audiences studying plants. Here are photos, charts, and a host of details on plant communities and plant life common to this climate, with chapters providing both individual regional details and links between plants of each area. This is a highly recommended pick not just for specialty libraries, but for general collections.

I enjoyed this analysis of LA politics, seen through the rise of minorities in LA politics, specifically the Bradley coalition. His work, about LA, is important because LA is important. The lessons that can be learned from LA's successful minority political coalition, and the lessons Sonenshein draws, can and should be used to measure the success of other big city racial politics. And I'm not just saying this because he was my professor at UCLA.

Sonenshein's dead-on analysis and clear writing make this book an essential for anyone studying politics in America. There's a reason he was given the APSA award. Not reading it is a travesty and you should be ashamed of yourself. And I'm not just saying that because he's my uncle.

After playing Poppy Hills in June 2001 I found this book to be both fascinating and exciting. The book brought back both fond memories of great shots and the disapointment of not so great shots. After reviewing the pictures and learning of the history I'm already planning our next trip! I recommend this book to anyone with a smattering of appreciation for a beautiful golf design.

Udo Machat, who previously brought us a terrific book (The Golf
Courses of the Monterey Peninsula) about golf on this fabled
landscape, has here concentrated on one of the three courses used for
the annual AT&T Pro-Am. Poppy Hills is a tough test of golfing
skills and Machat amply displays both in story and photographs the
subtlety and dimension of this world-class course. While the photos
are not of top professional caliber, they nevertheless complement and
offer good balance to the text. The excellent forward is by the
course's architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. I recommend this book to
anyone interested in golfing literature. It's a good read and looks
great on the coffee table.

I believe this book should be used in a didactic sense with students in the social service field. It is thought provoking and written in a format that can be used during course teachings et.al. I know that a lot of research and skills were utilized via the writers. It begins with the California Crucible and opens like a flower to reveal deeper insight in what appears to be happening "not so silently" in our political environment. Much appreciation to the writers for their approach in addressing this sensitive and powerful subject of cultural suppression and attempts at keeping the circles of power contained.

Once I started reading, I could not put this jewel down. Bankhead and Gibbs treat many sensitive areas faced by our changing society with dignity without losing the candid nature areas deserve. Obviously these two women are gifted writers. I want to know more about what they have written and how they have addressed other socio-political stages. Tough subjects are wonderfully presented. I would recommend this book due its insight and flow. Hats off to the researchers/writers-Bankhead and Gibbs!!!

This book offered a variety of mix and match options for mission building. The text and drawings were easy to understand. Highly recommended! One of the most useful book purchases I've made.

This definitive book for 4th graders belongs in every public and school library in California. The text offers easy-to-follow directions for creating models of California missions from items either purchased or on hand at home. Various instructions for projects will appeal to those with a lot or little time to prepare before the due date.

I read Saito's book for a course he taught at UCSD in San Diego. I felt that from his book I was given not only a unique and fascinating sociological examination of the interworkings of perhaps the first Asian suburban neighborhood in America, but I was also enlightened to a relatively new notion of 'whiteness' and its effects on the American scene. This book may be read by high school students or academic scholars, the topics of which address some of the most controversial issues in contemporary society.

I came upon the book in an unusual way. I was having dinner with a group of educators and happened to meet the author. Over dinner he talked about some of the issues he came across in his research and I decided to pick up a copy a few days later. I read the book and it surprised me. It was interesting to me because I'm from Hawaii, and the experiences of Asian Americans there, I think, are different, and the text let me experience a major community outside my own. And while I don't see myself as politically driven, I found myself caught up in the alliances/divisions he sees forming in the San Gabriel Valley. As the text examines the theoretical aspects of the politicking in that community, it also presents detailed accounts of actual events that took place during the various stages of grassroots organizing. The depth of the cross-referencing is impressive, but what strikes me most are the insightful, sometimes very personal observations offered to the researcher by participants as events formed --observations that exist almost as sub-themes to the research. He sifts through then traces back lines of political theory through to actual events as residents began to change their community. A worthy read. It has caused me to look at my own community and makes me want to understand more about the forces and processes of change.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California is the premier work on transportation in the Silver State. The photos are suprb, the text inclusive and the maps are a must for rail buffs and modellers seeking authenticity. I have owned this set for 35 years and it is nearly worn out from reference. The section on the southern roads is espcially well researched. I have been able to relocate features and buildings from Myrick's maps alone.

David Myrick did an excellent job of weaving history with technology in this readable work. Profusely illustrated, it connects time, place, and Nevada's colorful mining history together in a delightful fabric. The research appears flawless, as I have yet to find contradictory evidence in the several areas I have delved into. Reading the stories, one obtains a feel for the flow of commerce, the excitement of new discoveries, the character of the players in this real-life American drama. Detailed discussions of railroad technology, planning, construction, finance, and operations make this a delightful research tool.

The binding and printing are excellent, with beautiful crisp type and exceptionally clear photgraphs.

Overall, this set is a MUST for any serious student of Nevada railroads. Well worth the cost at todays price.

I have had my issues for years, and still use as a reference guide. Includes history of many lines that barely started.