This is the most useful guidebook to the Golden State that this native Californian ever has seen. Riegert packs an astonishing amount of information into this conveniently-sized paperback. This guidebook, now in its eighth edition, clearly reflects extensive exploration and research. The book begins with general material on the California coast including a brief history, weather, wildlife, outdoor adventures, camping, a calendar of events, tips on what to pack, and advice to senior travelers, women traveling alone, gay and lesbian travelers, even foreign travelers. Each region of the California coast is introduced with a brief overview and capsule history, followed by details about scenic wonders, parks, beaches, hotels, restaurants, campgrounds, sports, shopping and nightlife. The author manages to maintain a lively style throughout five hundred pages of text. Included are colored AAA-style road maps of the most important coastal areas, supplemented by black and white maps of many regions and towns. Michael Michaud, Vienna, Austria

"The Hidden Coast of California" by Ray Reigert was a godsend that allowed New Yorkers to see a side of the California Coast that the residents appreciate every day. Starting with the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon and Mr. Riegert's tips on lodgings, sights, and restaurants added up to a great vacation. Mr.Riegert's recommendations surpassed the two (2) other well known travel books. The tip to see the "La Purisima Mission" as the best of the twenty-one missions was pure gold and saved us valuable time that we alloted elsewhere. The recommendation on restaurants was absolutely priceless and the "Sojourner Coffeehouse" turned our dismal one night stay in Santa Barbara around. Our stays at both the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Parks cottages and The Asilomar Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula were on the money and gave us the chance to combine our overnight stays with scenic views. I am now waiting for the release of the 1999 "Hidden Florida" before planning my next vacation.

This guide book covers all the bases, and even includes interesting historical digests of various districts in the Los Angeles area, the high desert and the low desert. The information is organized to assist tourists on short or longer visits, includes lots of "hidden" opportunities to eat, sightsee, or shop away from the beaten path, and is even helpful for a new resident to the L.A. area, who may not be sure where to start digesting this incredible city or the landscape around it. Highly recommended.

This guide gave me all of the information I needed to have a wonderful vacation. The information was candid, and thoughtfully presented. There were many tidbits of information/ sights I would never had thought to see if it wasn't for this book. My vacation consisted of renting a car at LAX touring along the coast (stopping at places recommended in the guide) Heading down to San Diego and then returning to LAX by traveling inland and seeing Temecula etc. It was a fun filled 10 days and all I used was this guide. If you just want the basic tourist jargon, buy a Frommers guide, not a hidden one... :-)

A satire worth reading. The author brilliantly lets us know what is happening to our planet. We should be aware. Can we save the planet. Maybe if more people would read this book we'd have a chance.

From historic wineries in California's Sonoma and Napa Counties to back roads, lodging in small retreats, and dining in recommended establishments, Hidden Wine Country seeks to uncover less-traveled roads in the Wine Country - and does it successfully. Hidden Wine Country is quite an achievement for an area over-saturated with publicity: the authors specialize in finding the unusual, quality experience. Hidden Wine Country is a highly recommended "take-along" guide.

This book is intended for non-medical professionals, and thusdoes not explain things in much detail or depth. However, it explainsenough for the people who are interested in health and human physiology. One of the strength of this book is that the author tries to explain how things work in human body. This isn't just the atlas like other atlas books where authors simply list lots of terminologies of the parts with the figures (only with few explanations). Especially, I liked the way the author explains about how hormone system works. One might wonder the quality of the pictures (or the book overall) would be any good considering the price of this book, and I can say that this is a quality book. This book is published in 1999, so I guess that at least it has the most updated information regarding human body. I can hardly think of any other book that can surpass the quality/price ration that this book offers. There is another book that is complementary to this book: Atlas of the Human Body, by Takeo Takahashi. Some pictures are better in Takahashi's book (actually, many figures are better). But this book is more expensive and published in 1995. If you need only one "Know Your Body" will be the one to choose, because it has more explanations of "why/how". In my case, I bought both. Note that these books may not be intended for medical professionals, they are detailed enough to get you bored unless you are really interested in human body, health, and physiology. So, be prepared. It is like a text book reading.

This book provides a unique balance of readability and technical information. I have trouble blindly following a books' "instructions for healing" until I understand the reasoning behind it. Vayda provides a brief, satifying technical explanation of each condition, possible causes, and non-detailed recommendations. For the impatient among us, this book is short and densly packed with information in an interesting and readable form.

This guide to Maui has information on hotels, condos etc. with phone numbers for getting rates. History, maps, suggestions and tips and the most information in one book I've found. Necessity for planning and touring on your own.

Rather than watch re-runs from my treasured collection of Marjoe Gortner memorabilia, Bishop Spong's introduction made possible a startling encounter with my faith! For the very first time, I learned that a tiny child -- even a Jewish waif -- could heal a belligerent tumor. Don't take my word for it -- try reading the Apocryphal Acts of the Young Christ, then take the ever-affirming Spong Challenge! A real wowser worth every point Amazon offers!

Not only a well-written hypothesis lacking emotional impact, it lacks theological impact as well. Had Jesus up and married and gave birth in India, He might have had the foresight to design and develop the world's first atomic weapons -- and drop them on the unsuspecting readers of this book. Not one for Dr. Strangelove, Bishop Spong nevertheless offers a satisfying substitute.

Coming across this title provides the reader with a clear pattern for adolescent faith development. Resources filling in the blanks of Jesus' adolescence aren't generally helpful. But this one is! The sense of incarnational reality is available to the reader as the author develops his argument not predicated on the life of an individual but rather a generation in which Jesus lived, and moved, and had his being. The consciousness of faith in the maturation of Jesus of Nazareth helps the reader's understanding of the Gospels not in a secret, gnostic way but in the natural unfolding of an integrated faith. Rev. Canon James Irvine

When reading this book cover to cover, I found it lacked a climax and character development. It was also particularly lacking in plot.

As a reference, this is a great book. Just don't try reading it cover to cover like me. It's best used to just thumb through, or to look up a particular area of travel.

I recently had the opportunity to test and verify some of the information in this book by embarking on one of the routes. I found the mix of information and history informative.

The book is durable and convenient in size to take along with you. And, seems a good value for the price. I plan on keeping this book on hand as a good reference for when I next take a road trip in Northern California.

I used this book for a drive from the Bay Area up to Sacramento. We would have taken I-80 if we'd not read about CA 160 through the California Delta. The book also came in handy for a day trip down California Highway 49, with very specific instructions about where to turn and what to see. It would be nice to have color photos of each sight (Dorling Kindersley style) but otherwise this is a great companion.

From lesser-known pocket beaches and family-owned wineries to sporting adventurers and English country pubs in out of the way places, Richard Harris & Ray Riegert's AAA Hidden Highways Northern California outlines both the human and natural wonders to be found off the beaten path in California. Packed with maps and destination-oriented travel advice, this takes a well-known region and offers new twists and turns.

A great little appetizer, filled with flavourful pieces of advice and snippets of common sense that we can all use in our daily dealings with the world, most of which are taken from Buddhist sacred texts.

One wonderful example of this is, "What would Buddha do about that coffee habit?", to which the response is: "Our country is full of sickly-looking, skinny people, just because we don't drink tea. Whenever people feel weak, they should drink tea (Kissa Yojoki)". In that simple piece of advice, we're told both a common sense and medicinal answer to that coffee habit (the author tells us that tea is healthier than coffee, which is truthful). The author expands on the passage, giving a short interpretation of the lesson including "...When we have to have something, the truth is that thing has us. Ask yourself who is master, who or these things you 'need'. If it's not you, something is wrong". It's passages such as this that make us stop, and think "oh yeah...".

To a serious scholar of Buddhism, this book may lack substance and true contextual meaning, and may leave the some readers gasping like a fish out of water, reaching for a more substantial main course. However, it does successfully bring Buddhist teachings into our daily lives, and can be a great tool for living a simpler, better life.

When I picked up this book on a lark, I wasn't sure what to expect, I just thought it was an amusing answer to the ubiquitous "WWJD" slogans. Flipping through it, I was initially disappointed at how simplistic the advice was.

However, after I put the book down for awhile, and then came back to it with no expectations, its simplicity was what seemed to be its charm - short, one-page advice regarding everyday problems that can be extrapolated to other areas of life very easily. Take this one, for example:

"What would Buddha do when he can't resist having dessert?"
Metcalf quotes a few lines from Saraha, Dohakosha 64, and then gives his own paragraph of interpretation, which includes reminding us of oneness and interconnectedness - "don't wolf the chocolate; think of the labor that brought it to you. When we really experience our desires and fulfillments, we realize oneness with the Buddha way."

For the beginning, such as myself, this little book is useful to remind us that Buddhism can be lived all day, every day, even when it seems like there's just no way about something. For the advanced readers, it might help when he or she is struggling with a problem like one named in the book, and needs a point of reference to help them along the way.

Overall, I would say it's not a book to be read front to back, so much as it's a book one refers to in times of need; it's not a book that will clearly teach someone "how to be a buddhist," but it will offer waypoints along the path. For an excellent introduction to buddhism, try (and don't let the title scare you off) _The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism_ - that's an *excellent* starter for those wishing to learn about almost every element of this path.

This is a remarkable little book...and quite handy in the confusion of today's world. It brings light into our problems with 101 answers that make a lot of sense. It also makes us look into ourselves, and helps bring out the patience and compassion that is in our hearts. Each question, whether about road rage, lust, burnout, or noisy neighbors, etc., is followed by a short quote from scripture or someone like the Dalai Lama, and then followed by several sentences from the author. Most of it applies to the negative situations we find on a daily basis, and gives the simple solutions to deal with them. A small portion of the answer to "What would Buddha do to win over an audience ?" is "When we tell it like it is, it will bear good fruit in all people, though we might have to wait awhile". Franz Metcalf tells it like it is !