Michigan Books

This book is great for those who like to go "outside the box", and get off the freeway as they head up north, to take in Michigan's unique beauty.

Beautifully illustrated with a wealth of color and black-and-white photographs, Backroads Of Michigan: Your Guide To Michigan's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures is a guide to touring the most breathtaking and scenic natural venues to be found in the Great Lake State. Backroads Of Michigan is a fairly large trade paperback, not meant to be carried in a pocket, purse or small backpack; yet its size also allows the fine detail in its illustrations to shine through, and its typeface is easy to read without a magnifying glass. The chapters are arranged by Michigan subsection, and cover everything from historical sites to river valleys to prime spots for beachcombing to state parks ideal for viewing wildflowers and much more, with maps and general directions. The text is written in a leisurely style that is as engaging to browse for pleasure as it is filled with practical information. Enthusiastically recommended for Michigan tourists and residents interested in the state's most wondrous sights, and also for armchair travelers.

In Barrier Of A Common Language: An American Looks At Contemporary British Poetry, Dana Gioia (poet, literary critic, and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Art) has assembled insightful and informative essays on British poets and poetry over the past two decades. A scholarly compilation of such varied topics as the growing disconnect between British and American poetry; fading traditions in poetic literature; and in-depth analysis of modern works, fill the pages of this astute and superbly presented anthology of criticism. Barrier Of A Common Language is a welcome and seminal contribution to academic library British Literature & Poetry reference collections and reading lists.

First of all, you have to realize Dana Gioia isn't just an average American talking about British poetry. It isn't like, say me for example. Gioia is extremely well informed and knows what he is talking about. So you get a really good collection of essays. But that is what this is, just a collection of essays that are only connected by the fact that they discuss British poets. Now don't get me wrong, these are great essays and you can't go wrong reading them, I just wish that Gioia had rewritten them to make them more cohesive as a whole, to really give us a picture of British poetry. Several of the essays were just reviews of books, and the Larkin essay was a review of Andrew Motion's biography of Larkin. Gioia would have done better to have discussed Larkin, Burgess, Ted Hughes, Amis, Dick David, Gunn, etc, like his opening essay (The Barrier of a Common Language: New British Poetry in the Eighties) and his essay on Fenton and Causley. These are well written and good essay/reviews. I just think that we would have been better served by something that was more cohesive and not just a collection of previously published essays and reviews. Still, they are good.

The books is very good.
Its reviews are pretty much right on for the 10 or so beaches that I have visited since owning this book.

My only minor suggestion for it would be to add a top 3 for each of the different sections in the book.
And maybe somehow signify that a particular beach was a top 10.

There is a top 10 at the front though.

precise directions to the beaches -excellent summarization of facilities and amenities.ratings of beaches are helpful.can't wait to revisit Michigan.

My uncle, Joe Jaffee owned the Parrot Lounge along with Al Green and others. He told some cute stories of the club, including the time he got mad at Billy Eckstine for smoking marijuana. The parrot, as legend goes, became so foul-mouthed from listening to the drunken customers, that my Uncle finally had to get rid of it.
This book is extremely well-researched; maps are included of where the spots were located, and the pictures are very vivid. There was a recent book published about Detroit's history that completely ignored the nightclubs, and this book fills in the gap. In fact, in most books that have been written about Detroit's nightclub scene, you always see Al Green and the Flame, but never a word about the other clubs and or owners.

This book is definitely a must-have for music lovers and historians alike.

Of course nowadays they would just look at you like you were crazy, but in Detroit from the 30's through the 50's they would have taken you to one of the places described in this book: Club Plantation, the El Sino, the Greystone Ballroom, the Forest Club, Frolic Show Bar, Flame Show Bar, Cozy Corner, Blue Bird Inn, Sportree's Music Bar, or any of about 90 others. This book has the maps, pictures, facts, anecdotes, and solid economic and social explanations to bring this era alive. This history has already been so erased from the face of Detroit that there are hardly even any decaying buildings left. All is empty lots with bricks sticking out of the soil; places as evocative as the service drive of an expressway. Who could know that Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, played or spent time here?

How else could you know about Detroit musicians like drummer J. C. Heard who fanned out across the country, blending their talents into the bands of Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and many others?

You might read this book to see how the Detroit influence added to the influences of New Orleans, New York and Chicago to the world of jazz.

Or you might read it to find out why Detroit is where it's at in its own musical history.

Or if you lived in Detroit, you might read it to understand the significance of the mute things around you, through which maybe you drive to work each day.

But man, read it!

This book is a must-have if you're visiting Michigan with small kids. It is better than expected. There is great variety -- different types of hikes for different ages and abilities, even backpacking. The maps are good, and each hiking adventure is well described with all the information you need. Much more than hiking -- also camping and backpacking, as well as fishing and boating options. Many of the hikes are great for adults, too, who are just beginning to hike or backpack.

Get your kids out-of-doors! Jim's books are all good - but this one fills an important niche, and does so just perfectly. It's really not comprehensive, as Michigan offers some excellent day-hiking, and much of it is appropriate for kids. But there's more than enough to keep you and young explorers busy, and Jim's excellent notes on each hike will help you decide which to try first. Kids over 9 or 10 (especially those already very out-doors oriented) might be bored with many of these. But that fact is part of what makes the book so valuable. These hikes are actually the harder ones to find - hikes that are especially appropriate for really young kids (and perhaps their weary or indoorsy parents). The trails are short, sweet, and especially entertaining.

This is a great collection of essays from the blogosphere covering tech topics and some integrating tech into very funny stories.

This is written pretty much as the who's who amongst bloggers for 2006-2007.

Great bedtime reading.

Superb collection of tech essays with some emphasis on the information technology/internet side of things. Nicely touches on the human element (social networking) and the changes that connected computers have brought to this aspect of human behavior. Very funny in parts.

This book contains twenty six essays on black culture and how it has moved from Africa to the United States and from there to the world. It is specifically oriented to the performing arts, loosely defined to include everything from gospel music to sports to television series. The contributors are an eclectic mix of scholars (mostly), critics and practicing artists who express their own views about black culture.

The writers, like people everywhere offer a diverse set of views from their own perspectives. In these times the influence of Black culture in areas like popular music and sports that even these writers have a hard time defining things like Black Music. Music for instance that started as black has found homes in other cultures as diverse as Gospel groups in Australia and Broadway.

This book could be used for readings in Black studies, or by anyone interested in the differentiation in Black performing arts.

This is not a collection of essays celebrating the tremendous influence of black culture around the world.

Instead, as Tricia Rose states in the Foreword, "The traffic in black culture to which this volume is dedicated is tethered to the trafficking in black bodies on which these cultural exchanges are based. They share several disheartening characteristics: similar trade routes, unequal forms of exchange, and often, a soulless focus on capital gain." But she adds, "Despite the troubled ground on which these traffic patterns are set, a good deal of black culture emphasizes sacrifice for the larger good and a steadfast commitment to affirmation and confirmation against relentlessly long odds."

I suspect that if the 26 contributors - an international and interdisciplinary mix of scholars, critics, and practicing artists - met together in a room, they would not reach consensus on exactly what constitutes "black culture" or "appropriation" or "authenticity." But therein lies the book's strength; there is no company line here, but rather a dynamic, thought-provoking discussion.

Racial "hybridization" and public perceptions are a common thread, as in Caroline Streeter's "Faking the Funk? Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and (Hybrid) Black Celebrity."

Others explore the commodification - or "trafficking" - of black culture. It is not addressed as a simple matter of whites exploiting blacks. As Kennell Jackson notes in "The Shadows of Texts: Will Black Music and Singers Sell Everything on Television?" the sort of collaboration taking place between black artists and television ad creators "reminds us that in late capitalism black cultural material often travels in commercial contexts with collusion of the makers of cultural products."

It's impossible to sum up this diverse collection in a few paragraphs. Suffice to say I think it provides much food for thought to anyone interested in cultural studies, African American Studies, vernacular culture or the arts in general.

The book came out too early to address Dave Chapelle's rationale for terminating his show, which he summed up to Oprah as discomfort over "the white guy laughing." Here's hoping the second edition includes something by or about him, since it would be a perfect fit.

Women have held an important place in the history of archaeology. Sadly, many these women have been all but erased from scholarly discussions - such as the role Getrude Bell played in founding the Baghdad Museum. That is, until now. The biographies gathered in this volume are an inspiration for modern adventurers, female archaeologists and even your 'ordinary' woman. These pioneering Victorian women helped shape our 21st century, Western understanding of the world and their voices can now be heard.

The book Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists contains the biographies of twelve female archaeologists who worked and achieved great success in the field of archaeology before, during or after World Wars I and II. Although this book examines only female archaeologists, these women were not just the top female archaeologists of their time. Instead, these people (who just happened to be female) were among the top, pioneering archaeologists (male or female) in their fields and their knowledge, research, excavations, and methods have added significantly to modern archaeology.

This book is multileveled. The contributing author's describe in various amounts of detail important contributions, excavations, and personal research undertaken by these archaeologists before, during, and after the war years. Since, much of this work is either unpublished or underpublished, such information is a fascinating slice of little known archaeological history.

Furthermore, this book also examines how women of the time felt and dealt with important life changing events and issues such as the tragedies of war, suffrage, marriage, and family. Many of these views and answers are entertaining, somewhat shocking, and extremely enlightening.

Moreover, this book also gives insight into the way archaeologists lived, worked, and died during the early years of this field. In these days, when many complain about the poor wages and working conditions of archaeology or the needless destruction of archaeological sites, it is interesting to note how far the field of archaeology has really come in the last one hundred years.

Peter Blum served as the official Strohs historian for many years and this book shows the depth of his knowledge. What is truely remarkable is that his knowledge was not limited to his former employer. Reading this book, one truely gets a sense of Detroit's unique and bumpy history of beer. For my Pfeiffer Beer web page, I contacted Peter for research. Even though it was just prior to his passing, he was very generous with his time and even helped me find some of his original source material. I asked him if he had to leave anything out of the book due to space and he replied that "It's all in there!" So, you can trust that by getting this book you'll be exposed to all that Mr. Blum had to offer on the subject - and that's quite a lot! Thanks Peter.

Detroit has had breweries in its history! Blum, an exec at Stroh's for many years, is an authority on the history of Stroh's and its competitors. Anybody interested in breweriana will find this an invaluable guide to ads, labels, and other collectibles from Detroit-area breweries. (The Stroh company provided many of the beautiful color illustrations used in the book.) Oh, that Motown were still Strohtown!

This is wonderfully informative and well written book! It takes the reader on a fascinating journey of the mysterious House of David, and allows you to take an exciting ride into the lives of a rare and wonderful group of individuals that very well may have accomplished more than any small group in America. The book is on display at the House of David Museum and is used as a reference guide for those that stop in for a visit or to learn more about this fabulous religious colony. Mr. Adkin lived in the area of the House of David, and had the fortune of becoming familiar with many of those that still survived at the House of David Grounds in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The book is the best to date in regards to telling the complete, unbiased story of this great piece of American history!

This history of the House of David is objective, informative, and very well documented. The author conducted interviews with members, ex-members, and people who were in one way or another had interactions with the group and has many first hand stories included in the book. I enjoyed reading about all the things the group was involved in, made, invented, and the impact they had on the surrounding area and America as a whole.

The pictures included in the book enhance the text by giving faces to associate with some of the people involved in the group.

A fascenating history of one prophet, two cities, and the many good people who lived the religion. Well done, Mr. Adkin!