Florida Books

Anyone who's ever visited the Gulf side of Florida, away from the sights of Orlando has seen the wonderful "hammocks" or wooded swampy areas that cover the more rural side of the state. The twisted trees, saw palmetto, draped in Spanish moss are evocative of a time when Florida was a wild land populated by farmers, ranchers and fishermen.

Rawlings writes the story of two orphans Luke and Allie, living in the hammock and how they survive the difficulties of scratching out a living on the land. The story then takes a turn to add drama by mixing the country orphans with wealthy landowners and their own difficulties.

This is one of Rawling's more rare novels, and her ability to evoke the natural world is as sharp as it is in "The Yearling." The story is a good novel, but I especially love it because when I drive through the citrus growing areas of Florida, the scenery comes alive through Rawling's description.

When Jacob Neusner compared the achievment of Jose Faur's Golden Doves with Silver Dots to Judah ha-Nasi's Mishnah (compiler of Jewish Formulas) and R. Moshe ben Maimon's Mishneh Torah (codifier of Jewish Law)he was certainly not making a hiperbole.

Though I am not an expert in rabbinics myself, I must say that R. Faur's explanation on 2nd c. rabbinic exegesis is yet the best I have seen anywhere in 20th century Jewish literature, perhaps the only one in existence ever.

It is a brief, yet an immensely dense book, that anyone who applies its features will gain important understanding of Jewish tradition.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand Judaism in its most pristine form. For the students of Jewish Law, it will bring brilliance to the texts they have already studied in ways they never thought before, in the very ways of the Sages who formulated the oral Law. It is a most wonderful sifting net in this world of clouded realities.

Jew or non-Jew, you got to buy it!. DR

I love this series. Good night Florida is as good as all the other ones. It's a great way to teach your children about different places around the world. It also makes fantastic gifts for people with kids.

Es el cuento de una niña hace diez años que halla un perro en la tienda Winn-Dixie. Lo llama a Winn-Dixie. No es un cuento de el perro pero un cuento de ella aunque el perro juega un grande parte.

Pienso que todas niñas se gustaría mucha esta libro. No soy una niña y me gusta mucho este libro. Soy un hombre viejo. Este libro es muy facil a leer. Mi español no es muy bueno pero no tengo una problema. Aun mi esposa lo se gusta. Tuve que leerlola. Es tambien una pelicula en ingles. No sé si hay una versión con subtitulos en esañol.

Si tiene un niña que se gusta a leer, este es el libro por ella.

There wasn't a grasshopper in Florida that I couldn't identify with this field guide in hand! The book includes stunning pictures and detailed information (on preferred habitat, life history, whether the species is common or rare, etc.). I do not have a background in entomology, and I was able to easily follow this guide. I recommend this book to anyone even casually interested in grasshoppers.

I hope all Iranians and anybody interseted in roots of current problems in the middle east,and British's destructive role in the region will have a chance to read this book.

Speaking as a student of R.J. Schork's at the University of Massachusetts (2 decades ago), I can affirm that this writer has a long history of making the dust of antiquity come alive in a fascinating way. What he says tends to stay with you for years and years. Definitely get this book!

As an avid collector of Florida postcards, I was delighted to add this book to my collection. It was a great way to find out about postcards I still needed to locate -- always one of collector's biggest challenges! The ilustrations are good considering that most are of linens. More color would have been nice, but it would probably have increased the price a great deal. I recommend this book to Florida postcard collectors and anyone interested in Florida in earlier times.

Although I've only had this book a few days, after several glances and skimming more than a few species accounts I can say with confidence that this reference perfectly compliments Roger Conant's field guide. Since Conant's guide (which is also a five-star book), many taxonomical changes have occurred, rendering Conant very useful, but out-dated in several cases. Bartlett's new guide introduces many new findings based on DNA analysis since Conant's work. Nice to have some work done on sorting out some of the Desmognathus sp., "Jordan's" complex, etc.

I do have one criticism, however. The distribution maps are quite 'hoaky' in appearance. Very blocky. The range maps in both Conant and in Petranka (Salamanders of the United States and Canada) are much better, but for the new species even these poorly drawn maps are still a big help.

Because of the attractive lay-out, nice color photos (each illustrated with at least one photograph), and new up-to-date information, I give this guide five stars. Highly recommended.

What a great book. I learned so much and I even live in Florida... Great reference, too.