This book captures the essence of Tequila from the perspective of making it and drinking it. I found it especially interesting in giving the reader a glimpse into the day to day activities of the tequila business.

Lance and Sandys adventure in the land of Tequila is not only entertaining but a highly informative read on the growing world of tequila. A must-have reference guide to take you thru the various types available, written by someone who obviously has had a few! I like the tasting pyramid too.

For the tequila lover, this book is worth checking out simply for the explanation of the different ways that tequila is produced, from archaic to ultra modern. The information on the different types of tequila, the different nuances of types, basic information about traveling in the region, and the food of the region are a huge plus.

As a Bay Area local, I've always stood in awe of the breath-taking views and natural wonders of the Marin coast. Attempts to conquer and explore this piece of jewel have never been better with the aid of this Marin hiking guide. It provides clear and detailed descriptions of over 120 trails in Marin, with illustrations, maps, and level of strenuousness. Featured in each trail are points of interests, what-to-see info, plants guide, and milestones.

I found the sections on Point Reyes National Seashore particularly useful. A land in motion, the Point Reyes Peninsula is an unusual, dislocated land that long baffled geologists. The rocks of this craggy coast match those of the Tehachapi Mountains some 310 miles to the south due to the constant motion of the Earth's crust. The varied surface patterns of Point Reyes are more obvious than the normally slow changes underground. You can see streams and estuaries cutting through the landscape of folded hills and valleys. Awaiting visitors are many miles of beaches within sight of Douglas-fir and Bishop pine forests.

Whether you're impressed with the motion of Point reyes and want to explore the San Adreas fault, of just a family planning on a weekend trip to Stinson Beach, or just a ride showcasing the beauty of the Pacific Ocean in Marin Headland, this Marin hiking guide has got the info you'll need. It is one of the best and thorough guide especially devoted to hiking in Marin.

I use an older copy of this book (it only lists 121 hikes), and I have found it a great guide. Grouping trails by the various geographies of Marin County, and Appendices that group some of the hikes in the book--like a listing of all the hikes that have great waterfalls, or places to see wildflowers in a particular season--are very handy. One thing I would have liked is to see the flowers in color: black-and-white line drawings are less effective representatives of what a hiker should see out on the trails. All in all, however, it is an excellent companion as one hikes a trail, describing major sights and milestones along the hike while marking out the distances and heights one might climb. Another useful item is that the hikes can be done in parts if, say, you can't do a whole 10-mile hike at the moment. The countryside around Marin is so wonderfully varied--seashores, redwoods, great views of the Bay Area--that this would be a great book for nature-types who like to explore.

The words of 1998 MacArthur Fellow Charles Johnson's ccoupled with the poignant photographs of Bob Adelman climax in this excellent literary work that chronicles the life and legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The wonderful photographs and literary prose compliment each other beautifully throughout this masterpiece, detailing the life and democratic stuggles of King. Beginning from the early childhood of Mr. King to his untimely death,
Adelman's photographs depict a very young King with his family. It provides insight into his his upbringing and illustrates the foundation that culminates into the life of the great civil rights leader. It continues to depict his educational pursuits and ultimate marriage to the lovely Coretta Scott.

The books carries the reader through the voyage as a young King rises to prominence as a preacher, his continued quest for racial equality, and mainly
his persistent call for agapic love in conjunction with nonviolence. Also, shared in this tome is intimate photographs of King's time spent with his loving family and information about King's life that may not be well-known.

Although nearly 300-pages, this book capitvates the reader from cover to cover. All in all, Johnson and Adelman are to be commended for their efforts! This liteary piece is nothing short of superb!

Reviewed by Nedine Hunter
...

I have many photography books in my personal collection, and I have several on the civil rights movement, but this book is by far the best I have seen. The book combines the work of several photographers - including Alfred Eisenstadt, Charles Moore, Henri Cartier Bresson, plus some lesser knowns - who have been individually recognized for their own work. The photographs are a true documentary of Martin Luther King's life and death with many photos I have never seen before.

Steve Smith's book about the history of Johnson's flying Service is an exciting realistic account of Bob Johnson's flying legacy. Smith incorporates many anecdotes, historical accounts and factual information about mountain aviation. If you like to read about Ford Trimotors, brave pilots, and Montana history, you should read this book.

After going through so many visibly successful "slimming phases," Winfrey has arguably shed more pounds in the aggregate than the ill-fated Donner Party, and her directives should not be taken lightly. I myself followed this wonderful book's program for several weeks before my second wedding, and was able to wow my betrothed with a slender new physique in time for our romantic yet financially disastrous trip to Petit St. Vicent. Sadly just like its esteemed author, I fell into a subsequent bout of severe gluttony that rapidly erased my hard-won gains. However I took heart in Ms. Winfrey's own phoenix-like dieting program, convinced that one day success would again be mine. I found the quiet example of Winfrey's co-author, a Mr. Bob Greene, to be no less inspiring. Greene is an object lesson in tenacity and dedication as he daily addresses the Sisyphean task of being Ms. Winfrey's personal trainer.

I read this from cover to cover in a few hours. Oprah was so honest about her life and weight struggles that I cried at some points--I could relate! Her story at the beginning of the book shows that she is not on a pulpit or out for a quick buck--she has lived it, walked the talk and actually finally got the fat off for good with Bob Greene's help. Bob then talks about the 10 steps--which are covered one for each chapter. At the beginning of each chapter is a paragraph or two about Oprah's thoughts and experiences with that step. She is honest about weight loss for life being tough work. She hates drinking water as much as I do! Bob and Oprah have made this an incredible book, one that will change your mind, make you realize that you can actually get the weight you want. It is a proven way to go--Bob has been a personal trainer for years

For years I've struggled with my weight but now I feel I've found the answer! Oprah and Bob Greene's book is THE BEST! It's still a struggle day by day but now I know the best way to go about things and how to approach it, rather than being on diet after diet, year after year! My son has special needs and has been ill all over Christmas. I find I comfort eat when there are difficulties but writing it all down in my journal does really help! I too hate the water still and have to "force" it down, but force it down I do and I hope to reap the benefits soon. I've only just started my connection but I can "feel" this is the answer and can't wait for the coming months and for my lovely slim strong body to be set free from under all this gross clinging fat! Here's to Oprah and Bob - a million thanks!

This review speaks only for the book's format and NOT for the accuracy of its information.
Good Points
·Complete for the title area. If it's west of Highway 1, it's included.
·Clear narrative. Text gives mileposts and includes highlights and cautions
·Rating scheme with best season for the trail. The scenic quality is numerically rated and trail difficulty factors are provided to include seasonal changes in the trail. Provides Pt. Reyes microclimate info by season that may lead to choosing one trail over another given the month or local weather
·3-D trail maps. NOT topo maps, but some may find that these maps are easier to read
·"Best Trails" summary. Assists the hiker with limited time in the area for making trail selection based on eight criteria
·Naturalist section. Almost half the book has black-and-white plant and animal identifier illustrations and other naturalist info
Weak Points
·Currency of info. Publishing date is 1997. Trail conditions have changed.

·Lack of precise topo info. So, what do you need? Easy-to-read 3-D slanted terrain maps or overhead topo maps with elevation lines and numbers?
·No GPS waypoint info. Many of us now have handheld GPS receivers and want waypoints for trailheads, trail intersections, and scenic points as a minimum requirement
Summary: With the exception of lacking topo and GPS info, this book would be the only resource one would need for Pt. Reyes.

This is probably the best all-around guide to the Point Reyes National Seashore for any outdoor enthusiast. It features wonderful in-depth trail maps and descriptions for 37 hikes in the area, arranged by trailhead. In addition to very specific trail descriptions and maps, detailed information is presented on the difficulty, terrain type, and seasonal recommendations for each trail described.

But there's more! The book is packed with information about the history, geology, flora and fauna of the area, including black-and-white illustrations. Sections on exploring tidepools, precautions and general area information make this a very complete guide that would be very helpful to any visitor to the area. It's small enough to take along on your travels, but don't let that fool you - this guide covers just about everything you'd need.

Larry Bird is truly one of the greatest that ever played the game. With the help of Ervin "Magic" Johnson, he not only managed to resurrect the Celtic dynasty, but also the entire NBA, which was teetering on the brink of ruination. Now, we get to hear the man behind the legendary exploits on the court. This book not only tells of his career and accomplishments, but also gives a truly touching account of where he came from, where he's been, what he's been through, and what it took to become possibly the most legendary, if not talented, athlete ever to step on a basketball court. This is an inspiring, breathtaking story, and is deeply motivational. Bird is a living example that a combination of hard work, self-sacrifice, never-say-die ethics, and a selfless sense of team play, whether in a sporting venue or in ANY situation life has to offer, invariably leads to not only success, but also excellence. Recommended reading for all aspiring athletes, young people, and anyone else in need of inspiration.

The heart and soul of a champion: his life, his career, and his game. To understand basketball, you have to understand Larry Bird. Arguably the greatest all-around player the game has ever known, he led the Boston Celtics from the basement to three world championships, collecting three NBA Most Valuable Player awards along the way. Yet, despite these massive accomplishments, Bird has rarely talked to the press, and much about the man has remained a mystery. Now in Drive, the long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealed a side of himself, and of basketball, you've never see before. Larry Bird grew up in the small town of French Lick, Indiana. His family was not very well off. Infact, they would occasionally stay at his grandmother's home. When Larry was twelve he found that he had a God-given ability to play basketball. He knew he was blessed and knew he had to do something about it. Everyday Larry would practice, practice, practice. Shooting foul shots, threes, it didn't matter, he just love the game. Even when he broke his ankle he would still shoot free throws every day. Larry's father committed suicide when Larry was still young. This broke his heart, but he knew his father did what he thought was best for the family. Bird was a celebrity on his High School basketball team in French Lick. The population of the town was only 2,100, but 4,000 people attended his last HS game. After high school he enrolled at Indiana, but never played, dropping out and then hitch-hiking home. He waited a year to be eligible to play at Indiana State. He brought respectability to the Indiana State program which ended in losing to Magic Johnson's Michigan State team in the NCAA Tournament Title Game in 1979. Larry left Indiana State with a career scoring average of better than 30 points a game, fifth all-time in NCAA history, and a 3-year school record of 81-13. Larry was named the 1978-79 Sporting News Player of the Year and won the Naismith and Wooden Awards. He was the number six pick in the 1978 draft by Boston, as a junior, but he joined the team a year later, because he chose to stay in school for his last year of eligibility. His stellar play in his first year led to his Rookie of the Year selection in 1980.

We all remember his ability to hit the remarkable shot and don't forget his commercials with Michael Jordan where he makes the unbelievable shots. NBA players probably still have nightmares of his smooth jumper that would fall with deadly accuracy from ten feet or twenty feet. There may never be another with such a consistent sweet stroke. However, the legendary Celtic charm could not jump. He was slow, uncoordinated, but if you gave him a locomotive to pull he could do it for you. I'm not saying he was buff or strong or anything, I just mean he was a workhorse. He would not give up. Bird's all-time stats are an impressive: 21,791 points (11th. all-time), 1,556 steals (8th all-time), 0.886 FT Percentage (fourth all-time), 8,974 rebounds, 5,965 assists and 897 games played. He has a career 24.3 scoring average to lead the Celtics all-time list. Larry Bird was a successful player due both to talent and hard work. He was usually the first Celtic to arrive on game day when he would practice hitting jump shots for hours from everywhere on the floor, including dozens of free throws. This effort and ethic of work that he showed is an example I would like to follow. After reading this book I thought to myself, am I going to play varsity this year, and I going to achieve this goal and be able to dunk on DEC. 20 this year. Birdman has gone from a small town gangly country boy to an impressive person and player. The time he put in, the commitment he showed to his team. He played his entire career with the Celtics. This shows me how a player should be, faithful to your duties, contracts, and other commitments. He didn't just give up on basketball after his marks forced him to drop out, he prevailed and continued basketball and then went to college.

As his marks were so poor this shows me another basic fundamental to make it far in basketball, grades. Although my goals say I will play at college level, I will never be able to achieve this without the proper grades to do so. Academics are a very important part of my future.

This book is and awesome book in which I give five stars to. It was well worth my time to read and I hope to read it over again. It has inspired me to do my best and anything is possible if you work hard enough for it

This book truely is a great basketball book. Obviously written by one of the NBA's greatest players, you get to be in the mind of Larry Bird, and see for yourself what he was like, from his point of view. The book spends the majority of the time on his NBA because of the success he had as a player. I really liked the fact that Larry gave his respect to his opponents and their fans, and that he didn't write from a egotistical stand point. There were only two things that I think could've been better the book, the first was that it didn't really talk too much his work ethic in his high school years. It did mention it occasionaly, and obviously we know he had a great work ethic, it just didn't mention it much. The other thing was the Indiana State-Michigan State rivalry. Again, it mentioned it, but it didn't talk about it that much. Overall, I loved the book and I think you will too! Read it!

Shelly's Frankenstein is pretty well understood to be a flawed work, an amazing first attempt by a young author while also being a classic of literature. It is hard to say how I avoided reading it for so long but was surprised to find my friends negative attitudes on this book. Classics though must be read, so I devoured this over the course of a weekend and found the book quite enjoyable, however, at times I found some of its problems nearly overwhelming.

The first problem Frankenstein has is that it is (as far as content goes) really a short story. I can't imagine it needing more than 60-100 pages, but Shelly inflates it to over 200, and for no discernable reason. The expanded length leads only to additional passages where Frankenstein himself is lying unconscious for months, or needless travelogue scenes which only serve to detract from the story. It might also be said that after 100 pages of melancholic whimperings from Frankenstein the reader has probably lost all sympathy toward the character. There are also certain plot elements that seem to repeat themselves a bit too often, but I the appeal of these elements will be based upon the reader.

Ultimately, Frankenstien seems a great story that you occasionally feel compelled to skim through. There is a certain sloppiness (I am still not clear what happened to Edward--the only surviving Frankenstein, but I do know something about some of the townspeople mentioned in a letter which have NOTHING to do with the story), but when you put all that aside, the very heart of Frankenstein is an enjoyable read. The monster is a sympathetic one and I found myself glued to the pages as he first illustrated how he came to understand the world around him.

Unlike Moby Dick which should never be abridged since so much of its irrelevance seems the primary point of the story (I often consider Ahab and the whale merely a sub-plot in Ishmael's life), Frankenstein could do with some good editing. Despite Frankenstein being a relatively short book to begin with, even 200+ pages feels a bit trying when all you are reading about is landscape and Frankenstein fainting.

Frankenstein is part of our literary heritage. Halloween would not be complete without images of a large green monster wearing bolts in his neck. However, the origins of this monster conceal a horror far greater than the character popular culture has embraced.

For me, it is not the actions of the monstrous laboratory experiment that frighten me, but the act of the monster's creation itself. Mary Shelley created a novel that places the act of creation into the hands of one man, an idea which eliminates the necessity of the female sex. Technology has usurped the need for male-female partnership. What a horrific idea!

Dr. Victor Frankenstein was terrified of female power. His feelings of torment concerning his fiancee, including a particularly unsettling dream passage concerning her, led him to strip the female sex of child-bearing responsibility. If a single man can create another man then natural laws no longer apply, the male and female of a species no longer live in symbiosis.

This is the fantastic premise behind this classic horror novel. Some of the writing is crude; one instance in particular is when the monster teaches himself to read after conveniently finding a satchel of books by the side of the road. This is an example of the inexperience Shelley had as a writer; however such breaks in the story are minimal and should not overly detract from the reader's enjoyment. This is a wonderful book.

Mary Shelley's classic book has often been regarded as the first science fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has referred to it as the first novel of the Scientific Revolution. It should be required reading of any college or college-bound student. The version I read was the original 1818 edition. In 1831, Mary Shelley made a number of changes (but, nothing of great import; for example, in the 1831 version Elizabeth is no longer Victor's cousin). I did read the author's new introduction to the 1831 edition however. This introduction is well done. In this novel, written in the epistolary form, a young (age 21) student at the University of Ingolstadt, Victor Frankenstein, discovers the method of imparting life to inanimate tissue. He uses his skills to construct a creature and to give it life. The creature's and Victor's lives are intertwined and the reader can detect much of Mary Shelley's early life as well. Her mother (i.e., her creator) died a few days after her birth. The female act of creation and its results is an aspect of this novel. Others have pointed out that this is a true female novel. Although, the monster "inspires loathing" in all who see him, I came to the conclusion that the real villian in this story was Victor Frankenstein. He allows his own creation to control him.