Maine Books

Nellie is a good little dog and tells a pleasant story about her life in Port Clyde. Young children can enjoy the story. Adults who have been to Maine will revel in the illustrations. Robert Ensor has created some lovely watercolors. It's a charming book.

Nellie, a wiry dog with a flaggy-waggy tail, is a wonderful guide as you explore a peninsula along the Maine coast that juts far into the sea. Nellie takes you to the general store, post office, and, of course, the Marshall Point lighthouse. Robert Ensor's illustrations beautifully capture the rockbound coast, Maine architecture (big house, little house, backhouse, barn -- all attached), lobsterboats, and the open sea. Year-round residents and summer people (cottagers, as we're known hereabouts) will recognize and adore each and every landmark. Look for the other three books in the series. They're treasures.

Sample introduced me to Maine humor which includes a chapter on choosing the proper lawn ornaments for in front of your trailer and how to give directions to uppity tourists. Think of Larry the Cable Guy with a Maine accent.
The jokes are often one-liners, but the descriptions of the local settings and characters sure are fun as he sets the scene for the punch line.
Stephen King wrote the intro for the book. Fun reading while vacationing in Maine or if you live there.

This book was wonderful from beginning to end. The stories were great, hilarious, and fun! I read the book for a book report, and as far as I know, my teacher is reading it right now! The pictures were great, and being from Maine myself, made this book much more enjoyible and fun!

Bought this book on tape for a 6 year old and fell in love with it ourselves. It's nice to have BOT that we can listen to along with kids. I wish he would write more Newberry stories

I would recommend this book for children and adults. Newberry the clam had a friend, the barnacle. He was pretty nice. On his clam birthday, he didn't have a cake or candles, so he had a big personal feast. It didn't work out so well because he got a big bubble of gas in his stomach and floated out to Blue Hill. I don't want to give away the whole story, but his advdentures were very fun to read about.
I thought it was cool how he figured out that little cells in the ocean light up.
The person who loaned this book to me, also loaned me two clam shells glued together (still able to open). A friend who gave it to her, sewed a pink clam to fit inside, and crocheted a purple muffler to go around the clams neck... This little Newberry clam was fun to have around while I was reading the book.
I wish Vincent Dethier would write more childrens books about Newberry.

This is a delightful work. The writing is superb. It is a quick read, too quick. I wish it went on for several hundred pages more. It is one of those books that once you finish it the next book you read seems flat and dull. It is about a year he spent on his farm in Maine. It is filled with wonderful, arftul, inciteful, descriptive glimpses into this world and humanity. It stirs the soul and has a way of making one want to go right outside and plant something. A great read for anyone who likes nature or great writing in general.

Henry Beston is best known for writing about his solo Cape Cod beach experience in "The Outermost House." A few years later he married author Elizabeth Coatsworth, and they bought a farm in Maine. First published in 1948, "Northern Farm" recounts a calendar year's worth of rural life in that northern clime. Brrrr.

The chronological narrative begins as the Bestons return to their snow-covered fields and ice-capped pond after celebrating the Christmas season with friends in New York. Each chapter combines factual events with entries from Beston's farm diary, plus his summary philosophical statements. And boy, does winter sure seem to last a long time! It frames the progression of the book. Thankfully Beston takes the opportunity to describe the wildlife he's able to encounter between snowstorms. An overwhelming sense of community surfaces here as well. Remember: this story takes place in a farming landscape just after WWII, before a television could be found in every living room, and when people relied on each other for help during challenging times. They were the kind of times when you left a lantern burning in the front room so that you could more easily find your way home after attending a church supper on a rainy night. "The good old days," for some.

In addition to his notes about managing a small farm and following Nature's course, Beston ruminates about international issues. The war is still fresh in his mind, and he needs to speak about it. Read in post-9/11 times, his comments strike an eerie chord of familiarity. For example:

"No age in history can afford to lay too much emphasis upon 'security.' The truth is from our first breath to our last we inhabit insecurely a world which must of transitory nature be insecure, and that moreover any security we do achieve is but a kind of an illusion. While admitting that a profound instinct towards such safety as we can achieve is part of our animal being, let us also confess that the challenge involved in mere existence is the source of many of the greater virtues of human character." (page 47, in my paperback copy)

Wow! And that's just one of his astute observations.

"Northern Farm" describes a simpler time and place that we'll never see again, regretfully. This is a book well worth tracking down. Just be prepared for A LOT of winter!

As usual, Fodor's Gold has the best in guide books for visiting away from home. My copy is well thumbed and much used (if not abused). I strongly recommend this guide and all others like it.

I am planning a trip to the Canadian Maritimes the summer of 2002. I purchased Fodors Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI guide to assist in my plans. So far, I have found this book to be a valuable resource. It is arranged first by province, then by towns/sites within each area. For example, in the Nova Scotia section, there is basic opening information about the province (its history, culture, climate, etc), then there is a large section just for Halifax. Within that listing, you find numerous places for site seeing, place to eat, to lodge, to shop. One aspect of the book I especially like is called "Off the beaten path", where you can find unusual places worth visiting. The guide is print-only, with maps, so the only thing that could make it better would be a few photographs. I would recommend this book for anyone planning a visit to the Maritimes this year.

John Haley went to war with a Maine infantry regiment and wrote down his experiences in this book. Overall, the book is an interesting account of one average soldier in the biggest war America has ever seen. Many tidbits of information are tossed out making the reader re-read them again. One such piece is a reference to a Confederate sharpshooter who was killing many Union soldiers. The person is finally killed and he turns out to be a BLACK man. This book is good for Civil War buffs, for those wanting a "feel" of what it was like to fight for the Union, and those who think that no blacks fought for the Confederacy.

for a Maine volunteer and army private John Haley was incredibally articulate. He had a wry wit and sharp sense of humour. He paints a vivid picture of day to day life in the field. Haley has a self depreciating manner that lends credibility to his accounts as you don't feel he is embellishing in order to elevate his own status. I really felt this was an honest account of the hardships of the war as well as the mundania. If you love civil war history or like myself have a fondness for Maine history you should put this journal at the front of your list.

This collection is a marvelous compilation of short stories. I first read O. Henry as an undergraduate student of American Literature and was pleasantly surprised in discovering a most incredible story teller! I couldn't get enough. I was telling his stories to my friends and they began buying his work. We started a discussion group and attracted others to our meetings. My class was absolutely saturated with O. Henry. This particular collection offers the best selection for O. Henry samplers as well as for true fans. One favorite is "Friends in San Rosario". One cannot know American Literature without knowing O. Henry.

G. K Chesterton observed, "He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head." If that is true, the O. Henry is probably the only sane man in the history of the world. His optimism and sense of providence in guiding us foolish creatures to an unexpected (but happy) ending is his enduring and endearing legacy.

This collection has the well-know favorites--"Ransom of Red Chief", "Gift of the Magi", "After Twenty Years"--plus many of the lesser known tales. This is an acceptable mixer, giving you want you want, and exposing you to things you didn't know that you needed.

So why is O. Henry so endearing? In addition to reaffirming the divine, guiding province, these stories capture a moment in time. We get a second look on the world at the turn of the twentieth century. This is the world of the Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, and the Great Gatsby. We see the trailing edge of the Gay 90's, prior to the disillusioning horror of the World War I Lost Generation. To coin a phrase, this is the carefree--even garish--dawn before the darkness.

Style-wise, O. Henry's gift is also a curse. He is an unquestioned genius of the short story. He has vibrant prose, charming characters, and a flair for ironic dénouements. Additionally, His eye for both the gritty realities of high and low society, the twisty affairs of the heart, and a soft touch for the happy ending is unparalleled. You always finish his stories with a smile.

His curse is that his stories are formulaic. Now, I admit that his formula works. But if you read more than three of his stories in a row for a week, then midway, you can guess the ending, which destroys his punch line.

So when reading this book, nibble one or two stories, then set it aside for a month, and then return. This will give you enough time to forget his formula, and experience his style fresh. With 45 stories, you will have plenty of time to savor these stories and laugh.

Being from Maine and also being familiar with the locale of this book made this even more fun to read. This is the first of Crossman's series about Winston Crisp (a retired code-breaker with the National Security Agency) which takes place on Penobscot Island. Winston unwittingly gets drawn into a local murder even though he (sort of) tries to stay out of it. Crossman does a wonderful job of bringing readers into the story with his descriptions of the island and the cold (and sometimes unmerciful) Maine island weather in winter. This is definitely a great book to settle in with when you feel like spreading your wings and trying a new author.

"A SHOW OF HANDS" is cleverly written. Need a gift for someone? I suggest this book. It suits all ages and it refreshing. After reading this sketching allegory, I'll read every book that David Crossman writes. He has a true talent of introducing you to people you can visualize and seemingly know. Winston Crisp must appear in all future books. I like this gentleman! The story is gripping, and just when you believe you have untangled the secrets, you discover that you are dead wrong, and the intrigue continues. Until the last pages, you are unsure of the culprits. Mr. Crossman has a skilled talent of giving birth to his characters. As you learn to know these colorful people on the island and their idiosyncrasies, one instantly perceives to embrace or distrust them. Could they have committed the murder? What is still to be discovered about them? Discover "A SHOW OF HANDS" for yourself before someone makes the movie!

A well written and illustrated history of one of America's better liberal arts colleges. The book is large. The black and white and colot illustrations are very good. The author has also written a very good travel book about Maine. My only criticism is that the book lacks recent photos of the campus and a campus map. The campus is usually rated as one of the 10 most beautiful in America. An earlier book about the architecture of the buildings is out of print. This book is well worth the modest price.

For those who have a connection to the College, this book offers an excellent history of Bowdoin, its founding principles, and challenges overcome. For those who have trouble pronouncing the word Bowdoin (Boe'-din), prepare to be introduced to an institution that is every bit what makes some people swear by the magic of a classical New England liberal arts education

In this book the author, who is head of archeology at University College Dublin, gives us a great insight into the current research on this period in Ireland. There is so much pseudo-history and myth that gets repeated over and over again that this book offers a rare insight into what Irish scholars actually know about Celtic Ireland. It deals quite effectively with the issue of the mythological "Celtic" invasion of people and explains the circumstances surrounding the arrival or development of the Celtic culture in Ireland.

It is written from an archaeological point of view but should also be of interest to general readers. I highly recommend it as a source for scholars of this period and readers who want to know more about the Iron Age in Ireland.

This book is extremely useful in that it is the only complete synthesis of the Irish Iron Age archaeology. It is also simple to read and illustrates to the layman the differences between Ireland and Europe during the time of the Celts. However, many people are misled by the mystical title - this is a purely archaeological book!