This is a wonderful book that chronicles the Arts and Crafts movement in California. Telling of The Mission Inn, Roycroft, Batchelder and many more. This book is wonderfully illustrated with plenty of color photographs. The book is from a exposition at a Museum. An overall great book.

What are you worth dead?

Most of us prefer not to dwell on what happens to us after after the 'big lights out'.

Our disposal is someone else's concern by then.

But, we trust people in the death aftercare industry to treat our mortal remains with care and respect.

Trust no one buddy...

This true crime revelation about violent, arrogant, rogue mortician, David Sconce, will turn your stomach.

It exposes a highly lucrative industry, involving unauthorised organ removal, multiple cremation, and ash mingling.

Skinned, de-brained, de-toothed, eviscerated, there was often little left of peoples' parents and children before they were crammed into ovens like trash.

For some curious reason I usually dismiss true crime books that have no pictures as I see it as a sign of cheapness or lack of research.

Despite the absence of pictures this work is a detailed, enthralling read...excellent.

I am constantly asked for a good recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad. The one in this book is absolutely delicious and worth making for a dinner party on a hot night. The chicken is grilled with hoisin sauce and served on light somen noodles.

I also am a big fan of Soba, Japanese buckwheat noodles, but other than putting them in a vinegar-soy dip, I had no recipes to use them. This book has quite a few, including a Green Tea Soba Stir fry, which combines my favorite ingredients.

The best part of the book is the inclusion of recommended wines to serve. Chosing wine to go with Oriental or oriental-inspired foods isn't so easy. It's great to have a guide to use and the wines could also apply to other standard oriental fare.

A Play in the Promised Land was the perfect book to finish the Califonia Chronicles. Juliet, Clay, and Sully where a wonderful conbination. I really enjoyed Sully's story because it took us out of the United States for some fun in Brazil. (He didn't think it was fun, until he met a certian someone! :)) I thought Juliet was brave for taking her sisters with her to live with her. Juliet had two men in her life, I was scared she would choose the wrong man. Did she? Well I won't tell you! Find out by reading the book for yourself!

Experience the romance and adventure of this book.....ivy nesbitt, sweetfaced and modest, has been ruined by a vicious lie. her 1st love has left her, her reputation has been shatterred. all she has to look foward to is a life of spinsterhood.

its her sisters idea to go to califo. ivy doesnt care either way. she cant even consider marriage when her heart is broken 4everm but maybe the change will help.

the change definitly helps. cal. brings out a strenght in ivy she never knew she had. and to her pleasent surporise, justus calhoun has taken a likin 2 her. if she can keep down her inner demons, maybe she'll find happiness.

then, jamie rayburne, ivys 1st luv, steps back in her life. shes torn.. how can ivy choose between her old love and her new?

It's a joy to have private eye Sydney Bryant back.

AUGUST NIGHTS is a nice blend of mystery, suspense, humor,
and romance. You will soon feel as if Sydney is a good friend
whom you've known for years.

I look forward to many more novels from the talented
Patricia Wallace.

I have an earlier edition of this book and use it extensively when we travel. On it's own, it's packed with interesting information and trivia. I use it together with AAA guidebooks and find they complement each other nicely. I'm looking forward to getting the latest edition since we found on this last trip up to the redwoods that a few of the restaurants recommended have since changed hands.

I first read "B-Ball: The Team That Never Lost A Game" when I was in my seventh grade English class. We had to choose a book to read from the teacher's collection, and this one just drew me in. The title is what caught my attention. What sports fanatic wouldn't want to read about some incredible basketball team that could never be beaten? It's seemed too good to be true. I began to read this book and quickly realized that this team was a different type of team. It was a recreational league team that was comprised completely of mentally challenged players. The author of this book was the coach of team. He took the job having never dealt with these types of people before. In their first practice he quickly became frustrated that the team members had no real sense of competition and didn't understand his ideals of how to play basketball correctly. In the beginning he nearly quit, but hung on because he felt something deep down that told him to keep trying. He continued with his team and his practices. They played their first game, and to his surprise, the coaches of the other teams in their league, also comprised of mentally challenged individuals, did not keep score, and played for fun. After weeks of these games, the author/coach came to the realization that basketball is to be played for fun, not for competion, for recognition, or for money. As long as everyone had fun, everyone was a winner. He continued coaching his team through the years, and his team continued winning. They eventually broadened their competition, and played regular school teams, high school teams, and other recreational teams made up of players who were not mentally challenged. Each and every game however, they found a way for every player on both times to just enjoy themselves as much as possible. And in this way, the team won every game they played. Along with the focus on the basketball aspect of this book, other areas were covered. How people dealt with these mentally challenged basketball players was shown well, and the problems that the coach and his players had to deal with to play some of the teams they did was the focal point of the book. It was a great book about how one can deal with a mental disability, and still have the time of their life. I last read this book nearly four years ago, but I still remember it vividly in my mind. I read it more than once in that English class in 7th grade; I probably read it 10 times. I am not a huge fan of books, but I loved this one. I it one of my favorite books of all time, and I feel that everyone should read it. If you can find a copy of it, read "B-Ball: The Team That Never Lost A Game".

Small towns and villages feel the downswing of a depressed economy as much if not more so than the large urban centers. The small California seaside town of Port Silva is wracked with severe social and economic problems. Schoolteacher Meg Halloran, wife of Police Chief Vince Gutierrez, watches a group of teens attack a homeless person. She tries to intercede, but is beaten up by the gang.

Meg goes to the police station to file a report, but the officer, not recognizing her relationship to his boss, blames it on the Mexicans. With employment down, the Anglos resent the Mexicans who are taking away their jobs while draining the local resources. Things turn ugly when someone murders Mexican Esperanza Moreno. Soon a pregnant Mexican teenager disappears. Protests within the town have turned violent. Vince believes a link exists between the murders and the other incidents, that once uncovered, will lead to the culprit behind the brutality.

BABY MINE is filled with several well designed who-done-its and other mysteries that blend together into a coherent and entertaining story line that dazzles the audience. Readers will find it nearly impossible to ascertain what will happen from one moment to the next. Small town life in a mixed community is vividly described. The sixth Port Silva novel is pure pleasure as old friends return after a long absence. This reviewer does not believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder because Janet La Pierre is too good a writer for readers to persevere that long between books.

Harriet Klausner

I like whales really much. I have been studying whales for about 3 years. I am most knowledgible about the the giant creatures of the sea: like the blue whale, the bowhead whale, the right whale, the grey whale, humpback, fin whale, minke whale (all baleen whales), and the rest are toothed whales.

I liked "Baby Whale Rescue" because they saved a whale that was stranded without its mother for a week. I knew JJ from TV News, Seaworld, and from watch his release to the sea.