A perfect title. Great recipes AND extra little stories about the recipe's history or special ingredient. It's what makes a good recipe beloved. You can almost see Ruth Allman in her kitchen making her sourdough soft ginger cookies with the wind howling outside. It makes me think these recipes were handed down within my own family. Focus is on ingredients that travel and store well and those that suit Alaska's climate: lemons, cranberries, prunes, and pumpkin in winter and oh those fresh berries in summer.

I received this cookbook from a friend several years ago and it has been in continual use since then. The recipe selection is not exhaustive, and that's the good part. You don't get lost in all the recipes, but this book contains some gems. The Vagabond Blues Blueberry Coffee Cake is one of my favorites with its satisfying lemon-ricotta cheese filling. The author includes some basic recipes (e.g., rhubarb pie, lemon meringe pie, and lemon squares) that are the best I've tried. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves baked goods. Ms. Eppenbach, I wish you would write another.

This is a wonderful coffee table type of book which covers the artist's Alaskan watercolors that have been reproduced in prints, posters or as serigraphs. The works shown cover thrity years from 1966 to 1995. In total there are 335 full color prints covered. The book also contains a well written biography of the artist with photos of her at work over the years. If you are a Munoz fan you will love this book. Highly recommended and well worth the price.

I got this book since it focused on the Southeast region, thinking that meant it would have more information than other guides. It's not the case. Despite it's hefty size, the book is laid out in such a way that there is not much text on a page, and the book is shy on details.

The author appears to have had the cruise ship audience in mind when writing. The style throughout is narrative, and there are decent basic overviews of the region's history, plant life, crafts, and wildlife. There are also chatty anecdotal overviews of each locality. A few useful tips are scattered throughout, such as "Bring good raingear," "Bring binoculars," and "Now may be the time to invest in a zoom lens."

If you are planning on staying overnight, either in town or out of doors, the book is next to useless. There is very little information on camping, the maps are limited to town centers, the list of hotels and B&B's has no annotation whatsoever that allows you to pick and choose, the references to restaurants and outfitters is anecdotal at best. And the narrative style of the text lacks useful subheads and the ease of use of a reference book.

The book is black and white throughout, with no color photographs.