I am a fan of Tim Bowling's poetry. I was a bit apprehensive about reading his first novel, Downriver Drift, after having enjoyed his poetry so much. I was not disappointed. Living in a British Columbia fishing community for 14 years, I found this book enlightening and engaging. I was most intrigued with the theme of the book, which is the Fraser River. We learn about the life of a fishing family--parents, Kathleen and Vic, their sons Corbett and Troy and young daughter Zoe. Kathleen maintains great pride in the lifetyle of her fishing family through good times and bad and she teaches this to them. The entertaining subplots add to the interest of the novel and show small town pastimes. We come to know the butcher and other unusual characters who live in Chilukthan. This is a truly British Columbian novel, not to be missed.

This book has good detailed descriptions on every exercises and also has info on reps, restance training and how to recover from a workout. The exercise routines are a little out-dated.

I liked reading this book but I don't know exactly how scientific some of the terms are; like when he calls people who jerk the weights around for high reps "pumpers." I usually refer to them as time wasters because they are injuries waiting to happen. The book does present you with modern training methods, but if I have to recommend one book.....Steve Reeves' new book "Building the Classic Physique" is still the best.

For those who want to learn an extensive set of exercises for each muscle group, this is the book. It illustrates every exercise it refers to and indicates the muscles affected. Moreover, the descriptions and illustrations are almost always on the same page for easy reference. Very useful for learning your set of routines and as a reminder before a training session.

Evocative imagery transforms the simplest topics: canola fields, coins, chinese take-out. Compositions about Keats and Hazlitt, snooker and snowy owls. In the midst of the overall good-quality poety, there's an occasional perfect line. I really liked it.