Maine Books

I read this book when it was first published, and recently purchased a copy for a friend. If you, like I, are interested in the Religious history of the United States I can highly recommend Fair, Clear, and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh Maine by Shirley Nelson. This is the kind of non-fiction work that would make a great movie. The author sets the tone right in the beginning of the book, with that whispered about "thing" in a family's past. The author shows how when the focus of one's faith is not God, but the preacher, something terrible usually will happen, and at Shiloh it did. This book is a good study in the cult of personality. I don't want to give too much away but will end in saying that Fair, Clear, and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh Maine by Shirley Nelson should be republished in paperback, it is that important of a book to those interested in the Religious history of the United States.

Shirley Nelson's _Fair, Clear, and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh_ is one of those rare history books that's plotted and executed more like a mystery novel than a documentary. Nelson, whose parents met at Shiloh, took an interest in the site at a young age, and thus grew up always in its shadow. Through the years she gathered as much information as she could, and reports on it all here. However, this isn't just a regurgitation of the facts. Nelson's family ties to the place give her, it would seem, a reason to write about it with more heart than most historians, coupled with a sardonic, not-quite-suppressed sarcasm that leaves the reader laughing on occasion. And when was the last time you laughed at a HISTORY book?

A wonderful piece of work. Highly recommended.

Shirley Nelson did a great deal of research for this wonderful book! She not only took her own family history, but dug into other sources to put together a complete and fair minded look into a fascinating piece of Americana. The pure faith that took believers to Shiloh comes through as well has the hardships and abuse they endured as they tried to please their leader, Frank Sanford. She did a great service to many who were still in the movement of their forefathers at the time the book was published. Many of the facts of the history of The Kingdom movement were hidden or glossed over so that present members did not understand what the true story was. This book started a lot of questioning of the leaders of the church and helped in bringing to light lies and half truths. I would highly recommend this book, not only to those interested in history, but also to those who are or have been in a cult. So many common threads run through cults. So many innocent people trying to live their faith while the doctrines they are taught to love more than their own families carries consequences down through many generations. Highly reommended reading! For more information on the history of Shiloh and The Kingdom movement see the website fwselijah.com.

The first time I herd this story was on Star Island in Main. This past Summer and it was read by a man named "Fred" The best story teller I have herd.

This book is best read with a Maine accent, and is a wonderful colloquial expression of the dry Down East humor. A fun book, and for me, a personal memory.

I own a first edition copy of this book, autographed by both the author and illustrator. It is, without a doubt, one of the funniest, most tongue-in-cheek works I have ever read. I doubt many people without a Maine background would appreciate fully some of the humor, but it is excellent nonetheless.

This book proved itself very useful for out weekend drive up the coast. Naturally, there are many places to stay or dine, but you can't list them all (in this "portable" book). However, we did need to purchase a Maine Highway Map for better directions. I wish I'd gotten the book BEFORE I made Hotel reservations!

I read a lot of travel books of all sizes, and I've traveled to Maine quite a bit. This little Frommer's guide is the best I've found for those who want an introduction to the Maine coast that they can carry around with them on their trip. On my first trip to Maine, I used it in tandem with a larger, more comprehensive book (Maine: An Explorer's Guide), which I consulted ahead of time and left at home because it was too cumbersome to carry around. (The larger book also tended to list lots of activities and places but lacked many of the pertinent details that are included in the Frommer's Guide.) The authors of the Frommer's Guide pack a lot of good information into a small volume, selecting their details carefully and reliably -- I found that all of their descriptions were on the mark, and all of their suggestions were well taken. (Without this book, for instance, I might have bypassed the spectacular Harpswell Peninsula.) You can't include everything in a little volume -- and for readers who want more, there are bigger, more comprehensive books out there. But I find myself returning again and again to this little guide every time I plan a trip to the Maine coast -- its focus is more on quality than quantity and it's extremely well organized, well written, and easy to use. It's also great at pinpointing places that are a little unusual and not overrun by tourists. Highly recommended!

This book is not quite as comprehensive as I had hoped. At approximately 200 pages, it tries to cover the most popular areas of the Maine coast. It does list prices and reviews hotels - perhaps the best feature of all. The print is also quite small in this little guide. It is indeed portable/pocket size, but you may need other guides to help supplement the information given in this book.

Even as an adult, you will enjoy reading through this book and appreciating all the witty humor associated with this five year old and all that comes his way!
Blume is an excellent writer. Like most of her books, this book is packed with dialogue and never a dull moment with five year old Fudge!

We used this book for our summer reading book club and all the kids loved it.
It was fun to read and very entertaining for our group of 9 & 10 year olds!

This book is awesome and hilarious. Fudge-A- Mania is the kind of book that if you have a little brother you will understand how Peter Hatcher feels. In this book Peter's little brother, Fudge, meets a girl named Mitzi. Her dad is Peter's favorite pro baseball player. Peter tries to keep them together so he can meet Mitzi's dad. Oh did I mention they're all in Maine. It isn't a 4 star book because it is okay. But it was not as exciting as The Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing, but it is still a great book so go get this book now!

This book is very inspiring, brilliant and incredibly colorful. It showcases some of the great variety of gardens, and also points out the challenges that face the gardener in this northern most New England state. It is well designed, with many large photos, and the reading is very easy, but informative. The photos have been choosen to inspire and delight, and the captions are hardworking-explaining tasks and identifying the plants. A very beautiful piece of work!

This is a model garden book. The superb photographs provide the backbone of the book. The text is short, not filled out with unecessary words copied from other garden books as is often the case. The photos show what is working in other peoples' gardens and are replete with good ideas.

This is a fairly good and helpful book on gardening in Maine. Being a citizen of Maine myself I know a thing or two about gardening up here, for instance there is a very short season here. If you have trouble gardening, no matter what type, being herb, vegetable, spices, fruits, or even trees this book will most likely give you some long awaited answers. This book even shows you how to garden indoors for those times you don't feel like getting eaten by bugs. So if you love gardening then this is a fairly good choice, but look into some other books first.

Do you want to be a millionaire? This book is called the get rich quick club by Dan gutman. This book is about a group of kids who want to be Millionaires so they try to get a real UFO so they can take a picture of it and gives it to a newspaper reporter so they can be millionaires. But will they be rich? Will they ever get to see a
Real UFO? Well you will have to read this book to find out!
I like this book because it starts with this really weird dream
It is about... you thought I was going to tell you right?
That's why you should read the book to find out. Another
Reason I like this book is because it has this really
Exciting part that you do not want to miss. This book is
A humorous book. I shouldn't tell you anything
Else because I might tell you the secret! I recommend this book
To people who like money. I hope you enjoy this book.
If you read it!

The Not So Well Club!


Will the 5 boys get rich by selling a fake U.F.O picture or will they not get rich by
selling the picture!

The Get Rich Quick Club is about 5 boys find an idea of a fake UFO picture and they plan to sell it to get money. The boys don't make it, but they all have fun. One of the kids tells the people that the picture is fake. What will happen next?

I think the author's purpose is to tell kids to be truthful and to entertain kids.

My favorite part of the book is when the boys start the get rich quick club because the boys all try to think of funny ideas to get rich. For example, they tried to create a fake UFO picture using house supplies. The picture kind of worked...they didn't get rich, but they got famous.

I recommend this book because it is funny. It also shows kids how they can make money.
By: Julia

Have you ever wondered about UFO`s or the secret of the universe? Well there is a book with adventuresome kids who experience all of this. This great book is titled The Get Rich Quick Club. This marvelous book is by the famous Dan Gutman.
This book is all about a girl who loves money and who`s role model is Bill Gates who was the richest man in the world. Her name is Gina Tumulo and she made a oath to make her first million dollars by the time she is twelve. The problem is that she is eleven and time is running out. Then one day she goes to the tree behind her house and finds her friends Rob, Quincy, Eddy, and Teddy. They decide to form a club to make a million dollars. Then they decide to snap a phony UFO photo.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5. I would recommend this book for anyone between the ages 7 and eleven. I enjoyed it a lot. I hope you read it.

by Sean

Great book and I would give it 5 stars except it has not been updated for several years. My husband really likes having this book. It is specific to Maine and courses are organized in regions of the state. I am sure he has played many courses he otherwise might not have known existed. It is handy to keep in the car for directions or phone numbers when wanting to call for tee times.

This guide has lots of useful, descriptive information about courses in Maine. Even has information ranking the average slope of golf courses, and tidbits on golf architects who built the courses and why they did certain things. Very helpful!

You know how it is, you'd like to try other courses, but which ones and where? How do they compare, what are the highlights and particularities of different courses? Ask two different people about a certain course and you'll get at least two differing answers.

Mr. Morrison's "Guide to Maine Golf Courses" provides information on all of the state's courses. All course descriptions have the same headings, making it a simple matter to compare one course to another. Before this book came out researching an unknown course required many phone calls and brochure deciphering (ugh!). Let's face it, a golf course's brochure is supposed to make its course look GREAT, whether or not it really is. This "Guide," however, tells it like it is.

While information regarding green fees and how much time it will take to play 18 holes is very useful, probably the most useful information is the "Course Description." Here the "Guide to Maine Golf Courses" really shines. Morrison doesn't make you read though anecdote after anecdote to glean a course's essential information, he comes right out and tells you what to expect from each course, even pointing out special features of particular holes. He tells you if a course is a well-sculpted design or your basic large lawn with trees and sand pits.

Other information included in each course's description include: Facilities available, Earliest Tee-off Time, Directions, Designer. This book deserves to be grass-stained and dog-eared, and kept somewhere in your golf bag.

Many people come to Cape Cod every summer, but so few know much about the cape. I'd recommend that if you're one of the many people who rent a Cape house in the summer... bring this book along with you. You'll love it and you'll see the Cape differently and perhaps... find yourself walking in the footsteps of Thoreau.

I live on Cape Cod and have been working my way through Thoreau's footsteps chapter by chapter - what a fun time and an absolutely fascinating read. Thank you Adam, you have captured the Cape in a way most visitors and locals only dream of experiencing.

By reading and using this book, not only you'll know each footsteps that Thoreau took in Cape Cod, but you'll discover his personal experience and the growth that took in Cape Cod. If you are living in Cape Cod, this book is a MUST HAVE book. You will be able to discover the beauty and richness of your land. And with this book, you can take a profound journey with Henry David Thoreau that will refresh and recreate your life. Buy this book and take a trip with Thoreau!

When Phil Conkling came out with the first edition of Islands in Time he more or less created a genre of Human Ecological writing that was actually of use to a wide audience. Mixing history, geology, ecology and geography with a healthy dose of the story-tellers whimsy the book has become something of a cult classic for many of us in the Archipelago. Unfortunately the second edition is a bit of a step backward. It's big. too big. The first edition fitted comfortably in a daypack -this seems aimed more at coffee tables. It's chatty, and I think that a rather savage editor would have worked wonders. We get a bit too much of the "and-then-Raven-gave-a-thump-as-she-ran-over-the-puffin" style of writing & it tends to distract us from some really good stories & the solid history/natural history that shone so clearly from the first edition. That being said, if you are only going to take one book with you Downeast & are going the whole way Downeast, and can't find the first edition, get this.

I'm just finishing my first read of this book, and all I want to do is go back to the beginning and read it all again. This book is filled with people, history, nature, fascinating anecdote, gorgeous prose, introspective rumination, and too much rich information to even begin to digest in one reading. Conkling is a scientist comfortable with an amazing array of subjects and he is also a humanist and pretty-nearly a poet. I have a tendency to fall into the bleeding-heart environmentalist category, and while not offending my sensibilities in the least (he loves nature with a passion), he opened my eyes to many valid coastal points of view among the lobstermen, fishermen, and others. I changed my mind about a number of things while reading his book and I love Maine even more as a result of reading it. Lovely, informative, fascinating book! I'm one of those English-major types and a writer, and Conkling has not only increased my respect for science but has shown me how beautifully the arts and sciences can blend in a thoughtful, productive, earth-changing way.

This is a beautiful book--I'm sorry to see that no one has commented on it yet. It gives a wealth of information about the geology, ecology, and ecosystem of coastal Maine, but even better, it's written in a style that often verges on the poetic. Can't recommend it highly enough.

I read this book while joining my students on a two week-long kayaking expedition along the coast of Maine. After our guide recommended the book and I couldn't put it down. A great read for a novice to the Maine coast who wants to get a good feel for the history and culture of the islands. Best when read while traveling from island to island! The author is a bit biased towards the state of Maine, as the reader will note is the opening chapter. However, after spending some time there, I can understand why! Enjoy!!!

Although less comprehensive than the McLane's definitive series, and less ecological than Phil Conkling's Islands In Time, Caldwell's book fills in a gap for the lay reader in introducing us to the early English settlements and exploration of coastal Maine. Written by someone with a clear love for cruising the Archipelago, one gets some nice vignettes of particular islands that leave one hungry for more. There are also many good stories here that are worth repeating, and some lovely pictures drawn from a variety of sources that capture different aspects of the coast. Caldwell is to be complemented on his cheerful breezy style that keeps one interested from start to finish, and makes on reach for the chart to see how one can follow his wake in summers to come. I find that I have accumulated several editions of Caldwell & make sure to keep them close to hand, at the college, at home, and on the boat.

What was one day to become the United States of America began with the first European explorers arriving on the islands off the Maine coast in their search for a passage to Cathay and East Indian wealth, and continuing with small European fishing boats arriving to ply the waters off the coast of Maine. In Islands Of Maine: Where America Really Began, the late newspaper columnist Bill Caldwell examines the original Mainers, the Native Americans. Then surveys the first European settlements, founded long before the colony at Jamestown or the arrival of the Mayflower Pilgrims. Rich in lively anecdotes, and ranging from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay, Caldwell reveals the islands as the first settlers saw them and how these islands transformed into flourishing trade hubs, fishing harbors, and tourist destinations. From the Vikings of a thousand years ago down to life in the 1980s, Islands Of Maine is a fascinating, informative, enthusiastically recommended regional American history.