The Smithsonian Natural Guides are my new bibles for travel. Who really cares about those guides for motels, restaurants and cheesy attractions anyhow? These guides take one to the real America behind (and often above) the tourist traps!

Finch and Wallen team up to the best of their expertise with splendid descriptive writing and photography (the latter always a trademark of this series!). Cape Cod, The Berkshires, the Connecticut and Rhode Island Coasts as well as other areas of natural interest are brought right to the reader and make you want to go there immediately and see what you've just read about.

Mrs. Fiske has carefully sorted through early documents and developed a thorough and friendly history of the Thomas Cook line. She presents new thoughts, supports them with evidence, and makes this book a very valuable resource for those working anywhere along this line. Two fat! volumes may be obtained (be sure to tell Amazon which, or both, that you want) and you'll learn more than you ever dreamed possible about the Cooks. There are a few errors as can be expected in a work of this size (Grandpa's middle name was Orlando, not Oleander) but they appear minor in relationship to the vast number of entries.

Ken Weber has done an excellent job describing these walks. His descriptions and difficulty assessments are usually dead on correct, so you can easily judge which hike to take and how hard it will be. I have done most of the hikes in this book in 2001, and the 3rd edition is quite up to date. The companion book is excellent too (More Walks and Rambles in Rhode Island).

Professor Gary Gerstle's book doesn't remotely resemble the pop history books that sell so well today. The happy history that provides all that one needs to know about the great events of American history is missing here. In place of the pap, the professor has substituted facts, data, and the truth.

In Working-Class Americanism, we find the Great depresion, at least at the micro level, as well as its antecedents and aftermath, to be quite different than we were quite sure we knew. Dr. Gerstle fights through the popular notions of how the times impacted working men and women to determine how the great events of the first half of the last century really touched ethnic workers in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Those of us who know Woonsocket - at least a little - wonder why students of American history don't know a great deal more about the place that is still the most French City in the United States. Here resides a large population of the descendants of an important yet largely overlooked ethnic minority that contributed greatly to the advancement of the industrial revolution in America. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Franco-Americans spread over the northern regions of the U.S. and especially to New England and to nowhere more than Woonsocket. These hard working and modest people wanted nothing more than a place to preserve their cultural identity and to find work to support themselves, their offspring and their institutions, especially the Church.

The horrendous difficulties these French Canadians faced as they moved from being an admired but suspect seperatist oriented minority to become part of the American labor movement that reached beyond the safety and security of their in group has been tackled in a very straight forward manner by Dr. Gerstle. He has stripped away the myths of the monolithic impact of the powerful economic forces of the first half of the twentieth century and demonstrates clearly that we cannot rely on the widely perpetuauted myths of the economic history of the times.

That the impacts of the Great Depression varied significantly by industry, even within a single city should open the eyes of readers. That even in related industries such as the woolen and cotton textiles the impact on labor was widely different in places like Woonsocket. That the times and the overpowering nature of American culture threatened the insularity of even the most committed ethnic groups is laid out in stark detail. That the French Canadians looked outside their society to seek common cause with workers from other backgrounds - even some, such as the Irish, that had worked to keep them in check - is a wonderful tale that Dr. Gerstle has treated beautifully and with great sensitivity.

The book is an academic treatise that has the clear writing style of a work of popular fiction. To gain an appreciation of the complexity of the times and an original view of the American labor movement, buy this book. You'll be enriched and you'll enjoy the read.

It is one of my favorites, too! It's different read and PW is one of my favorite authors. The year is the late 1890's and the place is Rhode Island during victorian times. It is during an annual fox hunt that Emma Tremayne, a high-society beauty that is engaged to be married to her childhood friend, meets Shay McKenna, an impoverished Irish revolutionist. He is at first the mystery man without a name who works for her fiance, to Emma. Emma has been born into a luxurious, social world that requires her to separate herself from the common people. But Emma's heart wants to reach out to those less fortunate that her. She starts visiting local mill-factory (of which her fiance owns) families, becoming best-friends with married pregnant millworker with 2 girls- Bria McKenna. During visits Bria opens Emma's eyes up to unconditional love and friendship. It is during her visits that she meets Shay McKenna again- Bria's husband. She observes the strong love, passion, and devotion Bria and Shay have for one another, realizing that is what she wants. She loves her fiance- they have always been best friends and there is a love for one another, but not a passionate love. It is revealed that Bria is dying of consumption but no one wants to speak of it or admit to it until Bria forces Shay and Emma to accept that she will not be with them much longer and that she wants them to lean on each other to fill the void. Emma has never told Bria that she feels a desire for Shay. It is definitely a complex story of devotion to each other and strong passionate love. Emma's mother feels threatened and severely punishes her for the bond Emma has developed with the lower class. It is heart breaking. The chemistry is strong all the way through the book between Bria, Shay, and Emma- definitely a triangle! I highly recommend the book- it is definitely a keeper for me!

A rich young heiress, Emma Tremayne, becomes engaged to her childhood friend at the last social event of the season, soon after noticing and being rather intrigued by a young Irishman who is way too familar with her. The encounter that day raises her social conscience and she soon befriends a young Irishwoman suffering from tuberculous, while risking being ostracized by her social group for associating with shanty Irish.
A wonderfully written book with multidimensional characters, this story is told from the various points of view of the main characters, but doesn't jump around enough to make it confusing. A story that will make you believe again that true love is possible. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I found myself going back rereading especially well-written and moving passages, something I'd never done before in a novel. It will appeal to readers of historical fiction, romance novels, and mainstream fiction as well. I highly recommend it.

This book will go down as one of my favorates! It hurt to turn the last page and end the story. The chemestry between Emma and Shay was powerful. I am a first time reader of Penelope Williamson and after reading this beautiful story, I plan to read all of her books.

Bestselling author Delinsky broadens her field with her latest by adding a touch of mystery to romance. Voice performer/director Sandra Burr offers a highly listenable reading to this tale of three women - one of whom is missing.

Sisters Savannah and Susan are rivals, perhaps experiencing the sibling jealousies common to many, until they join forces to solve the kidnaping of Megan, a well-to-do mutual friend. As they begin to explore possibilities both are resistibly drawn to two very different men.

Jared Snow is a late night disc. jockey with a voice that seduces; Sam Craig is a macho detective whom Susan cannot resist.

Shocks and surprises abound as the investigation leads Savannah and Susan further into the discovery of dark machinations and deeper into the heart of love.

- Gail Cooke

It was hard to say just who's story this was - so many characters all with depth, strengths and charm of their own - society twin sisters, Savannah the over achiever top attorney and Susan the divorcee socialite; their childhood and best friend Megan raised from blue collar to socialite thru marriage. Then, as always, there are the men in their lives - Sam, the hard nosed, down to earth cop; Will, Megan's loving society husband; and last but not least, Jared Snow - the voice, the heart and the soul in the heart of the night!

This story was impressive showing very successful and dynamic people on the outside and examining the all too human complexities of sibling rivalries, issues of self esteem in the privileged world of the Newport elite! Toss in some really hot and sinfully sensual love scenes as well as a mysterious socialite kidnapping and you have in this, an almost perfect read! This was an extremely fast page-turner that I consider high praise from a die-hard historical romance genre book reader such as myself. This story invoked a lot of feeling here and I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to any of those who like to read into the 'heart of the night'.

I had actually forgotten how much I enjoyed this book until I picked it up again last night in the bookstore. I think this is one of the books that not only made me a Delinsky fan, but a romance book fan as well. It is just really well done. And it holds up 15 years after it was first published!Delinsky is more a "women's fiction" writer than a "romance" writer these days -- which is a big loss to the romance genre. My only comfort is that every few years I can pick up one of her best romance titles -- in this case 'Heart of the Night" -- and have a few hours of blissful reading enjoyment once again with familiar but still enjoyable characters. And may I also add that if you liked this book, then you owe it to yourself to pick up Delinsky's "Through My Eyes." It's another title that stands the test of time.

If you are having trouble coping with winter depression, or blahs in any season, try escaping to a Greek isle, soaking up the sun, relaxing with bouzouki music, and meeting interesting people. OK, maybe the experience is vicarious; but, it might help you out of the winter doldrums. D.R. Ransdell's book, "Amirosian Nights", will enable you to do all of the above and much more. A fun read and a fast escape--you will be whisked away to another part of the world where you can quickly become a part of a displaced mariachi player's life. "Amirosian Nights" is definitely worth your time if you have any interest in Greece or music, and a "must read" if you like both!

Thanks, Carmen Besso

I enjoyed the book by Ms. Ransdell. It took me back to days when Greece was less developed and the spring out back served the taberna as a refrigerator and the cook worked by a fire out the back door. The islands which she writes about were a bit more civilized than when I was there; but, the tourists were present in both cases trying to forget the lands from which they came. Her interlacing of the Mexican and the Greek provided a unique contrast of the two cultures.

After reading Amirosian Nights I feel like I have been on the most refreshing vacation in Greece all summer. The vivid and thick descriptions in the novel capture my imagination in a way only the greatest literary authors do. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THIS - YOU'LL LOVE IT. I especially like how she includes abundant colorful native Greek language with translations -- I learn while I am entertained. And if you like music this book will entrance you. This book is about music and life. Thank you DR Ransdell for passionately capturing the essence of a musicians life in print. You have given the world optimistic hope for the future. INSPIRING....BRAVISSIMO!!!!

Reading this book was a good change of pace, I had just finished another thriller (oh...Vince Flynn, please learn to write!) with some of the worse dialogue I had read outside of my own writing (and this indeed bad). Anyway, this is was pleasure in that is was nicely written and the characters were finely drawn. The book is a bit of Single White Female (as a character in the book says), a bit of Chinatown, a bit of The Accused, and a bit of any movie that has a man in prison trying to drive his favorite cop crazy. The ending was a bit out there (as so many in this genre are), but what sets this book apart is the humanity. These are characters, all of them except maybe Fitz, who have heavy secrets dragging them down. They are all survivors (except Eddie Como) and Gardner deals with them fairly and honestly. Some of the book is hard to read as any good crime story should be, but in the end, there is hope.

When I read, I read strictly for entertainment. I want to be drawn into the plot and entertained by the characters. Lisa Gardner didn't draw me into the plot of The Survivors Club-she yanked me into it head first! From page one to the end, the suspense never lets up. I didn't think Ms. Gardner could top her last book, boy was I wrong.

The story opens with two men trying to plot the perfect brutal assault crimes without getting caught. They discuss theories and discard methods that haven't worked. Let me tell you it's unnerving to read something discussed so casually. Cut to the courthouse where a man is set to go on trial for brutally assaulting and raping three women and one who didn't survive the nightmare. Up on the rooftop lies an assassin waiting for the perfect shot to take the man out. The moment arrives, he fires, escapes to his awaiting car only blocks away. He starts the engine, boom-his car explodes. Meanwhile back on the job for his first day after an eighteen-month medical leave is a state policeman. He had witnessed the agonizing death of his wife while taking down the man known as the "Candy Man", a pedophile who killed ten small children and just happened to be the his next door neighbor. Thrown into the mix is three women who form the Survivors Club to deal with the trauma they have each went through. Three women, who come from different walks in life, with nothing in common other than they have survived every woman's worst nightmare. This is pretty intense stuff especially when you consider it's just the first three chapters of the book. But hey, Ms. Gardner doesn't let up there, chapter after chapter throws new curves that keeps this story as fresh and compelling as the first three chapters.

This book was mesmerizing. I'm sure there will be those out there who will criticize the fact that there was no romance in the book, or those who will think Ms. Gardner strayed into the unbelievable area on DNA and police procedures. But for someone who reads strictly for entertainment, this book has it all. Grab a copy and settle down for a fascinating journey with The Survivors Club. You won't be sorry.

When I picked up this book, I should have known better. I have never been able to read Lisa Gardner's books without putting it down ~~ and this book is no exception!

The book centers around a state detective hot on the trail of a double murder. Griffin had just returned to work after a bereavement leave ~~ he had just lost his wife to cancer ~~ only on the day he arrives to work, an accused serial rapist, who was on his way to court for the first day of trial, was shot to death by a sniper. Then a few blocks away, the sniper was blown up as he entered his car. The suspicions soon focused on the three "survivors" ~~ three women who were raped by the accused serial rapist, Eddie. And that was just the first chapter.

This book will be hard to put down ~~ Gardner strings you along with tempting bits every chapter ~~ and no matter what you do, you can't resist it. She delves into the psychological aspects of the rape victims as well into Griffin's mindset as he tracks down the mystery of the rapists and murders. You find yourself relating to the darker sides of the story and you really shouldn't read this alone at night ~~ it will spook you! She delivers this book with a fast-paced, page-turner story ~~ and I highly recommend this book for everyone's summer reading. It's fabalous and she's also a great writer to boost. You can't beat this one!

7-9-03

Ignore the moron from Kirkus reviews,who has obviously read from a simulated Cliff's Notes about this fine,poetically written tome. I became a Pagan myself because of this book. The lifting writing style drifts one into a modern faery tale,filled with darkness and cold,good and evil,struggle and truth,poetry and politics,real Witches and real villains,all too real and ever-present in this society,me thinks! For those Pagans looking for a good read,or any intelligent person,dreamers,poets,WHOEVER.
This book is for you. Read it if you have just taken a self-confidence test and failed. Read it if you are a crusader for the Right Things. Read it if you are hopelessly oppressed. But by all means,read it! And a pox(of ignorance,obviously already cast by a more adept magi than I) on that closed-minded bozo from Kirkus reviews,who hasn't the foggiest idea what this valuable tale of enlightenment is about. A fantastic read that will stay with you and plant it's prose in your mind long after the last page.

Unfortunately, the people who most need to read this playing-out of popular delusion and the madness of crowds aren't likely to do so. I live in a rather conservative community, and my dominant thought throughout reading the book ran along the lines of, "Without eternal vigilance, it could happen here." Grant is a wonderfully vivid writer, almost snapping his fingers and putting you into a setting. Logic and happenstance mingle believably in this book. I did not find the characters stereotypical. I feel that I have met nearly all of them (and even been several myself). Strongly recommend this novel.

I first read _Tex and Molly in the Afterlife_ (also by Grant). I really liked that book and decided to try another. _In the Land of Winter_ is a shorter, but more intimate book. (of note, Pippa is a character from _Tex and Molly_)

Grant does a fabulous job of making Pippa (the main character) a three-dimensional character. She is fleshed out emotionally and physically throughout the book, and reading it, one can become quite attached to her and her plight.

His writing is veritably magical. He illustrates beautiful scenery, horrific and endearing characters, and plotlines of great imagination.

He has truly become one of my favorite authors. I have and will continue to recommend this book to all my friends.

The Art of Keeping Cool is about a story of a young boy named Robert, who used to live on a farm with his mother and sister while his father was at war. His mother, however is unable to keep the farm running with little help, and moves to a town called Sachem's Head in Rhode Island. They end up moving next door to his grandparents, and over time, becomes friends with his cousin, Elliot.
The story is rather quite dull at times and slow moving. It quickly lost my intrest, but at times caught my attention. The story does have very little suspense, such as the mystry of the families past and the mysterious man Abel Hoffman, but The Art Of Keeping Cool was good, but not the best novel I have read, so I awarded this book 3 stars.

Do you want to read an exciting, spellbinding, spectacular, page-turner that will hold you so tightly that you won't be able to put it down? Well, here it is, The Art of Keeping Cool! This is a story about two boys. One of them, Robert, whose dad is a fighter pilot, moved to his cousin, Elliot's house. Elliot is very good at art. Then he meets a German artist who everybody thinks is a spy, even Robert. That changes when the artist, Abel Hoffman, tells the kids a story about himself and gives them a painting. This story is a lot like Don't You Know there's a war on? by Avi because it has the same basic theme. Readers from ages seven to 121 that like exciting, page-turners will love this book. The Art of Keeping Cool is such a good, awesome, rocking book. You just have to read it!

This book is GREAT!!! It isn't really about being cool. That is just the title. It is about a boy who moved to the east coast with his cousin. It is during World War 2. A German artist moves in...that means trouble. Read the book and find out what happens.....