This book covers a large variety of birds without being too complicated. The pictures are located on the ends of the pages, making it easy to thumb and find the bird you are looking for. The text tells bird features and interesting habits.

This book is the best! The illustrations and sketch's are done beautifully and are very detailed. There is a ton of information and there are 339 pages with small print. This is the #1 book for bird watchers.

This is a quietly beautiful and fascinating story--a work of scholarship and a work of love. Joanne Mulcahy has written a stunning book about Mary Peterson, a remarkable woman, and about the cultural revival that both Mary and the author played crucial roles in bringing about. It is something few Americans know anything about--and all of us should.

I picked up a copy of Lynn Schooler's book after skimming over the back cover, where the words "Alaska", "outdoors" and "Michio Hoshino" grabbed my attention. As a working photographer who grew up in Alaska (my present location is in Maine) I didn't hesitate to buy this book on the spot, even though I had never heard of it. I'm glad I bought it, for this is one of the best books I've read in awhile on ANY subject, and I do read a lot.

Yes, the book is about living Alaska, communing with nature, and wildlife photography, all of which interest me a great deal. But "The Blue Bear" is about a great deal more than that, touching on themes of friendship and heartbreaking loss, grieving and healing, insecurity and inspiration, hard work and personal reward...in short, an exceptional story of a man trying to find his way in the world and to understand his place in it. It is so well written and vividly presented that it goes beyond merely making you feel as though you were there; I think Lynn Schooler's gift (one of many, apparently) is making people feel almost as if they have met the people he writes about, visited the places he describes, and experienced along with him some of the joy and awe of nature, as well as the periods of pain, loneliness and isolation he so openly discusses in a quietly melancholic way.

The book is an interesting mixture of all of those aforementioned elements, sprinkled with interesting forays in Alaskan biology, history, culture, oceanography, the ups and downs of running a guide service, and the challenges, rewards, and hardships inherent with living in a place like Alaska. "The Blue Bear" is a book that defies categorization in many ways because it seems to be about so many different things, but Lynn Schooler writes with a clarity and depth of perspective which prevents the book from seeming trivial or glossed over. Some people are not patient with books which plunge into a section or chapter that may or may not relate directly to the underlying narrative thread. I for one do not mind these "offshoot branches" in books, so long as they hold my interest, as is the case with this book. A casual reader might think for a moment that Schooler is merely grandstanding and showing off his vast knowledge of his subjects, flexing his outdoor experience and intellect....but look just a bit deeper.... it becomes readily apparent that this is a writer who is unafraid of questioning himself or freely admitting that he is not always correct, who openly acknowledges and discusses his own faults (and we all have them) in a candid and refreshing way.

Reading this book also made me wish that I had the opportunity to meet Michio Hoshino, the late wildlife photographer whose work is respected worldwide. This is another testament to Lynn Schooler's writing. In all probability, my trails may have intersected with Michio's at different times during my years in Fairbanks while attending UAF and working on photography symposiums as a volunteer, but sadly, I never had the chance to meet the man whose work I admire very much, and worse yet, I never will. Here again, Lynn Schooler succeeds in relating his personal accounts and anecdotes of his time spent with Michio, a man who seemingly befriended just about everyone he ever met while bringing out the best in people and setting an inspiring example of living life to the fullest.

If you are even remotely interested in any of the topics or issues I have touched upon in this review, don't hesitate to buy a copy of this book. I'm betting that something in "The Blue Bear" will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

My former boss was on the USS Celeno and sent me "Bluejacket Odyssey" to read and return. I found I just could not read and return it. I had to purchase my own copy for my WWII bookshelf.

The research is unbelievable--dates, places, photographs. The appendix list of additional sources is fantastic. It's the kind of book to read slowly and go back again and reread.

I never knew about the U.S. Naval Armed Guard. I knew about the U.S. Navy for I worked for the U.S. Military Attache office at the American Embassy in Norway from 1945 to 1947; then as a civilian secretary for the U.S. Air Attache in Ankara, Turkey, from 1947-1949. But all this time I never knew about the Naval Armed Guard.

Not since reading all of Michener's books have I been so enthralled with a book. William McGee does a fantastic job of putting the U.S. Naval Armed Guard on the map. It's a great read. And all of it true. World War II was so sad.

I live in Seattle, WA and this book contains tons of useful info on all the resorts within a day or two drive. I particularly like the write-up on Mt. Baker and the yearly legendary Banked Slalom Event. George Dobis, owner of Mt. Baker Snowboard Shop, is definitely a must visit if ever in the town of Glacier, WA (17 miles from the Baker ski area). Bring him some Coors beer and you will be friends for life! Great Book Jimbo and Sean!

Breathes There a Soldier is a fitting tribute and in depth look at what our soldiers went through before during and after World War II. This is a story of teenagers and twenty somethings plucked from all walks of life and shipped to far flung military camps in the U.S. for extensive training and finally combat. The memoirs of Robert Heatley describe in detail what it was like to be transformed from a citizen to a soldier while retaining what aspects of civilian life that he could.

The story of the 81st Infantry Division is not unlike any other military unit in its preparation and ultimate departure for battle, but the grueling schedule of nearly two years of stateside training takes its toll as 45 members of the Division were killed before even seeing a shot in anger. Fed into a war planning pipeline the 81st "Wildcats" with a proud lineage back to World War I trained from Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona, California and Hawaii.

The memoirs show an unbending devotion to country, family and fellow soldiers, bonds that were surely tested by spending four years away from home and under very trying circumstances. During his combat duty in the Pacific while witnessing the horrors of war and fighting for his life and others, Robert Heatley learns over time that not only has his father passed away but his mother as well. Upon his return home after the occupation of Japan he learns that his childhood home and all possessions are gone, having been foreclosed upon by a bank.

We owe this man and others like him a debt of gratitude. Where would we be today if Robert Heatley and millions of others like him did not answer the call to duty. He offers four years of his life and endures relentless training and the hell of the Pacific in places such as Peleliu. This island battle has received little notoriety, but is referred to by experts as one of the worst battles in the Pacific campaign. Surviving this and several other invasions he comes home to nothing.

The book is an intimate look at the life and times of an American, combat infantryman, and devoted father. Nice job Larry and thank you for your service Robert Heatley.

I was the transcriptionist for Brothers Beyond Blood, by George Sharpe, M.D. When I started to work for him, he only wanted a "hard copy" version of the letters he and his wife, Alison, had written to each other during WW-II. When the work started, I knew there was something that spoke to everyone and encouraged him to "flesh out" the letters into a narrative. The tapes he provided stunned me in their detail and emotion. Two people caught up in the vagaries of war. A baby at home, Jeanette. The single-minded determination to survive and "come home." The boredom, exhilaration, and gut-wrenching fear. New Guinea and its natives. The fall and subsequent rise of the Philippines. The men who served: the "Brothers Beyond Blood." I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you're a child of a WW-II Vet, you need to read this book. Deb Martin-Bruels

Lederach's work stands at the forefront of the emergent field of conflict transformation study. A professor at Eastern Mennonnite University, he also has extensive field experience. In "Building Peace", he focuses upon the necessity of constructing relationships across multiple social levels, de-emphasizing the role of political elites, and instead focusing both upon mid-level elites (bureaucrats, intellectuals, "influential" persons) and grassroots-level activism. He also stresses the need to develop long-range objectives, to delink expectations of short-term results from questions of involvement, and the need for implementation of training programmes to create what might be termed a "culture of peace" within the society: trained mediators indigenous to the society. In doing this, the hope is that the "parachute" problem of credibility (the idea that mediators are dropped from the above---IGO/foreign gouvernment, etc---and have no particular attachment to the conflict) may be reduced, and transformation of the conflict may be initiated.

Lederach's work is exceptionally lucid, and he draws upon a smorgasbord of substantive examples. Highly recommended.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to start a business in HAWAII that doesn't have much actual expriences. The book content is very simple and easy to follow. I like the pratical approach of the author. I would strongly recommend this book for those who want to get down to the points. If you don't like those book with fancy, complicate theories & concepts then this book is for you.