Sam Choy's book is one of my favorite cookbooks. The recipes are so simple and always have great results.

This is not a diet book, but it is great for the evenings you have company over and want to WOW them with a minimal amount of work. The Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms with Mango Bearnaise Sauce is worth the price of the book. A close second is the Ahi Salad with Creamy Peanut Dressing (translation: seared ahi on a salad of radishes, cabbage, sprouts, and green onions tossed with a spicy peanut, cilantro dressing - it's killer). The Macadamia Crusted Mahimahi with Coconut Cream Spinach Sauce is so easy and will really impress the in-laws.

Other dishes regularly made at our house include: Seared Albacore Tuna with Coconut Ginger Sauce, Roasted Chicken with Macadamia Nut Stuffing, both of his recipes for BBQ pork ribs, and Sesame Ginger Snap Peas.

I really can't say enough about what a great and easy cookbook this is. Every recipe I have tried from it is a "make againer". The next recipe I have flagged to try is something he calls My Kids' Favorite Seafood Lasagne. It has scallops, shrimp, mahimahi, and salmon smothered with great sounding white sauce and lots of cheese and pasta - is your mouth watering yet?

Sam Choy's Island Flavors is a wonderful book for people who enjoy the unique taste of food in Hawaii but aren't lucky enough to live in Hawaii and enjoy it every day! Sam Choy's recipes are simple and easy to make. They don't require you to be a master chef to try out the recipes. This cookbook includes recipes for all types of foodlovers (vegetarians, chicken-lovers, seafood lovers and meat-lovers) and takes you from appetizers all the way down to recipes for tropical drinks. Some of Sam Choy's recipes also include substitutions since a lot of us aren't lucky to be living in Hawaii and have some ingredients so readily available to us. My favorite recipes include: Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms, Quick and Easy Shoyu Chicken, Local Boy Beef Stew, and my very favorite Macadmia Nut Pie! This is a wonderful cookbook. Made me very homesick for my old hometown of Waipahu, Hawaii!

All of Sam Choy's books are good, but this one has a special place in my kitchen, because it covers the gamut of dishes. Unlike his seafood and Poke books, Sam provides some of the finest "home cooking" recipes of the islands.

Well done!

The good news is you don't have to be a child to be enchanted by the Moomins. The bad news (for me) is missing out on these delightful stories when a child. I always try to begin the Moomin tales in the middle of the day because I know I won't stop until the end of the story.

Moominpappa decides they all need an adventure, and he is most desirous of "taking care" of everyone so Moominmamma can rest and all can be safe and protected. They set sail on an evening in late August to a small island in the Gulf of Finland planning to live in a wonderful lighthouse. The island is strange, bleak and barren. The lighthouse appears abandoned and is locked. The Moomin family consisting of Mamma, Papa, little son Troll, and Little My all go about practical tasks of settling in, first a search to locate a key. The living quarters in the lighthouse are at the very top only to be reached by a rickety spiral staircase. Much to Pappa's dismay, the light is out, and he cannot make it work. The fall storms begin (Pappa never explains why he didn't begin his adventure in the spring) and the life on the island becomes terrifying as well as bleak.

Though the Moomins get angry at one another, they are unfailingly polite and cooperative with the exception of Little My who is a cheerful, cynical pragmatist. Mamma & Pappa are very permissive parents, but always interested in what Troll and Little My are thinking and doing. The author very gently shows how perhaps there is a downside to sleeping and eating when you want, sleeping where your fancy takes you, and going on any adventure that occurs to you. There is delightful comedy where the Moomins throw a birthday party for The Fisherman, and he discovers all his "presents" belonged to him in the first place.

Come, enter the world of the Moomins! You might want to stay!

This is the most sweet and gentle Moominbook. Moominpappa takes the family to a lonely island where it is sometimes dark and scary but also there are beautiful dancing sea horses and secret places in the woods. Little My is the funnest person who never gets bothered about anything even red ants. My favorite part is Moomintroll meeting the Groke at night. The Groke seems very scary but maybe there is a soft spot inside where she is lonely and wants the Moomins to like her. Moominmamma tries to plant roses in the seaweed. You should read this book if you like to go to the beach or have daydreams.

As a children's librarian, I often try to get kids interested in the wonderful Moominbooks. However, only certain children seem to catch on, while many do not. I'm not quite sure why this is so. The Moomins originated in Finland, where perhaps kids are more attuned to nature and the world around them, to taking time for subtleties, thinking outside the box, and quiet wit; instead of being bombarded by extra stimuli all the time. At any rate, adults as well as kids would do well to investigate a superb book such as this. Each character has a depth all their own in this tale of a family who sets sail to discover an island and a mysterious lighthouse. There they try to understand their new environment, each other, and themselves. Delightful cartoon drawings by the author illuminate this wistful, magical book.

i first met jim quillen when i visited alcatraz on the 18th of march 1995 i talked with him a while and bought his book from him the book is really easy to read and gives a great outlook of his life from tragedy to tragedy as soon as i started reading i could not put it down congratulations on finnishing the rest of your life so well all the best jim phylip a visitor to alcatraz

I just want to start by saying that this book is the best that I have read about Alcatraz. It tells you about how hard life really was on the island. This book also tells you about one mans life that led him to reside behind the unescapeable walls of the most infamous prison in history. In my opinion Mr. Quillens book is the best! I have known him for about five years now and I think the only better way to hear about Alcatraz is to hear Mr. Quillen talk about it himself. If you ever get a chance to visit the island stop by the first desk you see and there you will find Jim Quillen. He is a very soft spoken, kind, and gentle man. Also he is one of the best people that I know. I consider myself very fortunate to have a friend like Mr. Quillen.

I just want to start by saying that this book is the best that i have read about alcatraz. It tells you about how hard life really was on the island. This book also tells you about one mans life that led him to reside behind the unescapeable walls of the most infamous prison in history. In my opinion Mr. Quillens book is the best! I have known him for about five years now and i think the only better way to hear about alcatraz is to hear Mr. Quillen talk about it himslef. If you ever get a chance to visit the island stop by the first desk you see and there you will find Jim Quillen. He is a very soft spoken, kind and gentle man. Also he is one of the best people that I know. I consider myself very fourtunate to have a friend like Mr. Quillen.

Orphan of Ellis Island is part fantasy and part historical fiction. The story is based on immigrants that came over from Italy to America for freedom and for families for orphans. This is a book filled with ongoing emotional events. We would recommend this book to people who like time travel and dramatic endings. So read Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff.

I'm a fifth grade teacher and our class reads this book during a unit on immigration. I've used it for two years and the students love it. Students who usually dislike reading moan with disapproval when I say "put away your books until tomorrow." It is exciting and is a great way to integrate instruction. Students who read about this time-traveling orphan express appreciation for their own families who are often taken for granted. Donna King, teacher on Long Island, NY

I rate this book five stars because it's adventurous,exciting,and it leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.I can only tell you a little because I can't spoil the book for you...but I can tell you this much.Well,it all begins when Dominic,an orphan,was on a class trip and he left the group...a boy named Salvatore died because of pits...when Dominic came off the boat at Ellis Island in 1908... Francesco used a pin to carve a ... Dominic found himself in the museum back in the year 1996. Sorry for skipping a lot of the story..but like I said at the beginning I can only tell you a little because I can't spoil the book for you. So you'll have to read the book to find out what parts of the story I did not tell you!

I read this book years ago and have always loved it. The book has enough historical detail to entertain anyone who loves history and romance. The characters are strong and mostly likable,their lives seem to be like everyone else's. The only thing I did not like was there was no closure. The reader is left with feeling that they have to find out what happened to Jane and Thomas.Ciji Ware certainly left this one open.

I picked up this book never expecting it to be such an entriging love story. However, when I got into it, I could not put it down. I have never been interested in the British perspective on the American Revoltution, but the story of Jane Maxwell, Thomas Fraser and the Duke of Gordon was gripping. My fasination with this story is sorting out what was real and what was fiction. I have tried, rather successfully to research Alexander, the 4th Duke of Gordon. I was able to pinpoint several facts in history, but haven't been too successful with the characters. Does anyone know? The author details in the back of the book her exhaustive search for her Scottish linage to Jane Maxwell, but I was just curious how much was true. Great book, I loved it and will probably reread it again.

I am a latecomer to the novels of Ciji Ware, but very impressed with her ability to richly depict characters and places. I have personally visited the Island of the Swans, and thoroughly hiked in the area in which her book is set. Ms. Ware has a historian's love of accuracy, and her descriptions of Struy, Loch an Eilean, the River Spey, Culloden House (where I have sojourned many times), etc. are absolutely perfect. I was transported, once again to that delightful corner of the world.

My sister got me hooked up on Randy White's Doc Ford novels this summer. I am from Sarasota so it was interesting to read about action and adventure occurring in an area that is close to home. This is the first Doc Ford novel and although I liked it it is not my favorite.

Doc is an ex-NSA officer that has returned home to SW Florida to start a new life. He is a marine biologist (his front while being an NSA operative) who is the owner of the one man operation Sanibel Biological Supply. He lives in an old stilt house on fictional Dinkins Bay that also serves as his lab. Close by, at Dinkins Bay Marina, are his neighbors and friends. His best friend, Tomlinson, who reminds me physically of the character Jeff Bridges played in The Big Lebowski, lives on a sailboat at the marina. The two are opposites that author White has said in an interview represent his own coming to terms with his logical (Ford) and spirital (Tomlinson) sides.

This novel has Ford rescuing a dead highschool friend's small boy from a group of radical terrorists in a Central American country. Ford's NSA past is revisited as he sets off to save the boy with the freespirit "hippy" Tomlinson by his side. This novel has a twist for an ending and like all White's Doc Ford novels gives you a history lesson to boot.

White was a saltwater guide and does a wonderful job of explaining different mysteries the Gulf in that part of Florida holds. He also knows the ins and outs of a marina's micro-community and does an excellent job of describing how it feels to live with a group of boaters on the water. Also, White has done a great deal of research on the Calusa Indians of Florida as well as the ancient peoples of Central and South America.

As I said, this is not my favorite Doc Ford Novel. My favorites were Captiva (dealing with the Net Ban issue) and Heat Islands.
But it doesn't matter which one you start off with, if you like one, you'll like them all.

I'm never sure whether I enjoy Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford mysteries because I love Captiva Island, or because they're as good as they seem. I've read all of them, and re-read this one recently. Reading it in a more urban environment than Sanibel or Captiva Island has convinced me it's the latter. His ex CIA agent turned marine biologist detective is a wonderful character, virile, but sweet,too. While world-weary Doc Ford is as laid-back as only too many hours spent looking for fish on Florida's Gulf coast can make one, he's ready for action whenever he's got to get that boat moving!

The best way to read this page turner is by actually being in Sanibel. Sanibel is indeed still Florida'a Florida. This is the last unspoiled place in Florida and Randy Wayne White captures it in all its glory. In addition, he brings forth yet another Doc Ford adventure with its many twists and turns. This is an intelligent person's mystery series and the perfect way to escape on a hot, lazy day.

I came across this delightful book a couple of years ago while searching for new music by this wonderful songwriter. Since then it has remained a consistent re-read whenever I start to feel overwhelmed by the day to day drudgery that sometimes affects us all. I've purchased this book for many friends and family because I think the meaning of it is so important, yet so simply told. Sadly, the book is now out of publication so it's difficult to locate. I will always treasure my signed copy.

On that note, I'll now explain why this book is so important to me.

Joshua wrote this quirky novel in the form of a handwritten journal that has been "discovered" by a traveler in a railway station, delivered to a publisher and published to share with the world. The journal has been kept by J., a young botanist, who is sent to the remote tropical island of Sakahara to research the quality of the land for a commercial mango plant. After he arrives he meets Katchumo and his life will never be the same. Katchumo appears out of nowhere on a regular basis with words of wisdom that J. must decipher. As the days go by, J. is keeping his journal of all the activity on the island and he's making observations about his funny new friend, as well. "'There are seventeen ways to eat a mango' he (Katchumo) said matter-of-factly." (at their first meeting.) As time goes by, J. realizes that Katchumo has been giving him the tools to live his life in his seventeen ways to eat a mango. Each way to eat a mango can be transferred into your everyday life and remind you of the riches you already have and the riches you can have. Not the material riches, but the riches of your heart and soul.

Although this book is written very simply it has truly influenced me like no other. My favorite is Way Number Seven. Or maybe Way Number Two. No, definitely Way Number Seventeen. Yeah, definitely Way Number Seventeen.

Charming book with wonderful, uplifting images. Suggests that there is more than one way to approach life and experiences. I've read it several times already, given copies to two friends and am about to order another to give away. When I feel locked into a situation, rereading this book, one chapter at a time like delicious bites of fruit, reminds me that there are other ways to see and live your life.

This is a wonderful book written by a wonderful person. J.K. is a talented musician/Writer that has written a book with words to live by. I have read the book several times and have, to date, bought five copies. I have incidently given them all to dear friends and need to buy another. This a definate MUST HAVE for any bookshelf to be pulled down and read whenever you need to re-center and 'simplify' your life.

Mattanza Love and Death In The Sea of Sicily by Theresa Maggio pulls you into the world of the men and customs found only on this small island.

Theresa Maggio not only tells a wonderful story, but she is able to paint the scenes and views she has seen into the readers mind. You can see the colorful boats owned by the fishermen, smell the drying nets as they hang in the damp cannery building, and feel the warm sun as she rides her bike from her tiny room into the piazza to wait for her voyage to the chamber of death out at sea.

I am always looking in the NYT travel section for Miss Maggio's travel stories which have appeared over the years. Her photographs are wonderful and revealing of a time and tempo of the villages she visits and shares with us.

Her book is scientifically accurate, honest and a very lovely read.

Theresa Maggio has a beautiful writing style, which is very descriptive.

The book, "Mattanza," begins with a bang, when Maggio describes the first time she views the trapping and killing of bluefin tuna. As I read her description of the mattanza, I found it awesome, fascinating and sad. I could actually visualize the fishermen and the giant bluefin tuna. I could envision both fishes and men struggling to win their own goal - life. The origins of the mattanza ritual are interesting. Maggio explains it in such a way that keeps you wanting to know more.

I also enjoyed the fact that the book is not only about the mattanza. It is also about Maggio's stay in Favignana -- the people she met, her relationship with them and the fishermen. After reading the book, I felt as if I knew and understood the fishermen who perform the mattanza.

If you're looking for a different book on Italy, a place where classical mythology is said to have occurred, a book filled with interesting natural history facts, culture, and sprinkled with a little romance, "Mattanza" is the book for you!

Sicilians perform dramatic killing rituals. Traveling lady gets down with the local men. Greed destroys nature and wrecks a proud island culture.
Whatever way you cut it, this is a passionate jewel of a book. I can't imagine how many drafts the author wrote to distill her years of meticulous note-taking. Every chapter has a photo or drawing, a delightful touch that only suggests the thousands of such shots she must have taken.

Maggio's sensuous observations of the island, her candid personal impressions, and her subtle political commentary will make you think -- and sweat.

(This review refers to the earlier edition with the less hyped title.)

How a young girl of 7 years can survive on her own on the battlefields of war-torn Okinawa, 1945, is absolutely astonishing. As a history teacher in Okinawa, Japan, I have run accross a wide array of materials concerning the Battle of Okinawa, but no other book so vividly details the human side of the struggle from the viewpoint of civilian Okinawans. This is a heart-warming story of triumph in the midst of great tragedy. I often encourage my students to place themselves in the "shoes" of those whom we are studying, to go beyond just facts and figures and identify with the real people who experienced history. Tomiko Higa takes the reader directly to the Battle of Okinawa through the eyes of a child.

I read this book when I was about 11 years old, and the thought of a young child surviving on her own was baffling. If I were her, I'd have probably given up already. I lived in Okinawa for half of my life, and it's a beautiful island. The book, describes it and her life in very good detail, as a child. But, yes, it should be rated a PG-13 because if you are reading it, you could imagine graphic details on the dead soldiers, falling off the cliff.. and so on. It's a very touching story in the eyes of a child. If you just love reading books, or love true stories that will touch you deeply then this is a must for you. Buy this book, you won't regret it! It's a keepsake.

This is an incredible memoir of Mrs. Tomiko Higa's experience as a 7 year-old during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1944. At the end of the battle, after emerging from a cave with a piece of white loincloth attached to a stick, she was photographed by an American soldier. Roughly 40 years later, she accidentally spotted the photo in a bookstore. Reluctant to come forward and identify herself at first, she finally did so after reading several false accounts about the identity of the little girl. The book is short, only 127 pages, and a fast read. It is also poignant--the prose is clean, the descriptions frank and insightful, the story inspiring. Mrs. Higa begins by telling of her life in Shuri, the ancient capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom known today as Okinawa. She progresses to the landing of the American forces at Kadena, her consequent hiding in air-raid shelters, and then her moving from cave to cave with her siblings to escape the fighting. She eventually becomes separated from them and has to survive the battle on her own. Where a child of 7 gains such strength and smarts is really beyond one's imagination and the manner in which Mrs. Higa describes her experience is what makes this book so worth reading.

"Fade to Black" is the firsrt book I have read by Wendy Corsi Staub and it was marvelous! So thrilling, believable, and grabbing. Cliff-hanger chapters with a perfectly delighting and surprise ending. Of course, you'll have to find out the end for yourself. The Main character, Elizabeth Baxter, used to be the famous actress, Mallory Eden, until a stalker forced her to fake her own death and begin a new lif in Windmere Cove, Rhode Island. A man she thought she couldn't trust might have some connection to Mallory Eden's past... Wonderful, don't miss it!!!!

A famous actress disappears. Believed to have committed sucide. But in reality she has assumed a new identity to escape the stalker that had made her life a nightmare. On her own for five years in a small town Elizabeth is starting to feel safe until she receives a note in the mail saying I know who you are. All of sudden her new sense of security is ripped out from underneth her. This story brings a lot of different characters who all have a reason it seems to see Elizabeth aka Mallory dead. This book will keep you guessing until the final act.

Mallory Eden, a famous actress, disappears to a sleepy village in Windmere Cove, Rhode Island, where she becomes Elizabeth Baxter, a loner who keeps to herself for fear that the stalker that made her run away 5-years ago would find her. One day Elizabeth finds a pink envelope in her mailbox that turns her world upside down; the note inside says "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE ". Elizabeth finds solace in the arms of Harper Smith, the only person she has allowed to get close to her, but can Harper be trusted?

FADE TO BLACK is a great mystery that is well written, filled with suspense, wondering, and heart racing excitement that keeps you guessing until the climatic final act. The characters are very thought out and a wee bit strange, except Elizabeth, who I found to be an interesting and sympathetic character whose only desire is to have her life bank and feel safe in it.