Connecticut Books

I hated this book. Had to read it for class and half the time i wasn't really sure what was going on. I don't think that half the sentances were valid english. This book is just too far from the normal novel to be enjoyed or even understood. Last time i checked novels are suppose to be written in linear form...not all over the place

"Natural History" offered a totally different reading experience. It was like 2 books in one; one printed on the even numbered pages and one printed on the odd numbered pages; one in a narrative style and the other in a newsprint/scrapbook type style (including pictures).

The story is as much about family relations as it is about a murder mystery. As Billy Bray uncovers more about the murder he slowly uncovers more of his family's secrets. The novel covers the family dynamics involved in unearthing the past.

This book is out of date and has inadequate directions. The walk to Dudleytown is not open to the public, but the book does not mention anything about it. Upon arriving to Dudleytown, (one of the recommended walks) we were harassed by a local resident who came after us to ensure our car would be towed if we dared. Upon trying to find other nearby walks, we learned the driving directions were incorrect. More importantly, the walks we did find were wonderful and not even mentioned. This book is not much more useful than a map.

Q: What are we going to do today?

A: Let's go for a Hike

Q: Where?

A: Pull out "Nature Walks In Connecticut" so we can decide.

That's a common Saturday morning conversation at our home. This book has provided us with numerous outdoor plans to fill those Saturdays. Whether you're an experienced hiker or enthusiastic novice, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will be a valued addition to your outdoors library. The suggested hikes are organized by region; western, middle and eastern Connecticut. Additionally, each hike is evaluated based on length, difficulty and little gems of nature you can expect to see (waterfalls, mountain vistas, shoreline views, etc.).

The authors have managed quite well to make this read like a guidebook rather than a geology text/roadmap. The trail descriptions include discourse on wildlife, flora, fauna and local history. Most of the suggested hikes are intentionally laid out as loop trails, so that you won't spend valuable time retracing your steps. I've found the maps, evaluations and descriptions to be fairly accurate, considering the changing face of nature. The maps are small, but useful for general purpose routefinding. I'd recommend backing them up with USGS topographic maps of the areas where you're planning to visit.

All in all, if you want to get outside in Connecticut but don't know where to go, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will get you pointed in the right direction.

In early November 2004, I ordered an out of print book, "Families of Early Hartford", through Amazon for a Christmas present. Did'nt get it.

About monthly, I received a delay message...The order will be delayed because...

Today, I was notified that the book was not available and the order would not be filled. That was somewhat irritating.

I am particularly miffed, however, when I found the same item still adverised on the Amazon site. Sound to me like a very poor way to do business.

I rated this service as one (1) star only because there was no slection for ZERO stars.

An execellent resource for any genealogist who might be searching for ancestors from the town of Hartford, Connecticut. The book has an alphabetical listing by surname of the early settlers from Hartford, as well as a comprehensive Index which makes up for the occasional misplaced name. The book details dates of birth, marriage and death of several hundred individuals, as well as information on the names and dates of birth of children. A useful addition to the library of amateur and professional researchers alike.

I took this book with me on a 60 mile trip of the Connecticut heading through central Vermont/ NH and was sorely disappointed. The maps were okay but the book lacked an all encompassing map of the entire river that would have helped in the original planning stages of any trip. The text of the book was strictly written for people interested in watching birds and not serious river travellers. The text about landmarks and towns were fluff and had a description of one town with "congenial air, pleasant surroundings, and plenty of restaurants." When I stopped, a thorough exploration revealed no restaurants. And what does "congenial air" and "pleasant surroundings" mean? How about something substantive if I'm going to stop somewhere. A lot of the text is filler, just like this. It would be nice to have listings of stores and directions within the riverside towns and not pointers on where to find choice spots to watch birds. The author of this book could have done us all a favor by labelling it "Birdwatching on the Connecticut River for amateur river travellers and lightweights." The individual maps were acceptable.

This is an admirable book, and Ann Colson has done a great job putting it together. The written trail descriptions are concise and to the point. But I recently pulled it off the shelf for the first time, looking to hike a bit of the Appalachian Trail in the northwest corner of CT, and I took a good look at the trail maps (of which there are many). There are several problems with these:

1) The contour lines are drawn at 10 meter intervals;
2) But the contour lines are unmarked -- no indication whatsoever of elevation on any map, anywhere, except at...
3) The peaks, which are marked in feet, and so are not easily correlated with the metric contours.
4) None of the many side trails are indicated for the Appalachian Trail (though they are mentioned in the textual descriptions).

I bought this book looking for a guide to the idiosyncrasies of buying a home in Connecticut. Instead, I got a short, generic book written for a national audience, with filler in 80 of its 160 pages.

More specifically:

This book does not accomplish its advertised purpose. I bought it thinking it would give me home buying information specific to Connecticut, since laws and customs on buying a home vary dramatically by state. For example, people in California rarely use lawyers when buying a house, and people in Massachusetts use strange deeds (quitclaims) that people shy away from elsewhere. I was looking for similar information for Connecticut. Instead, I got a book written for a national audience by a Colorado realtor, who franchised the book by state.

The Connecticut edition has a total of two pages on Connecticut, covering the rules on realtor-customer disclosures. Left dangling: Are most Connecticut buyers pre-approved for a mortgage? Is it customary to waive contingencies when making an offer? How binding is an offer in the state? What type of information does Connecticut require sellers to disclose to buyers? How are the customs different in Fairfield County, New Haven or Hartford? You won't find out here.

This is a slip of book at 158 pages, with half the book taken up by filler. The authors start counting page numbers from the first page of the book. So, pages 1-16 include the table of contents, acknowledgements and prefaces. An introduction and a historical section that's not relevant to today's homebuyers take up pages 17-36. Pages 37-122 are the meat of the book (that's 85 pages out of 160), geared towards a national audience with copious real-life examples taken from Colorado and none from Connecticut. The book has two appendices, on pages 125 to 138. The first is a generic, non-Connecticut, sample purchase contract. If there was one place where Connecticut-specific information would have been handy, it's here. The other appendix is a glossary. The authors save the best for last: pages 139 to 156 are BLANK (for "notes"). That's over 10% of the book. The last two pages are an order form for more books (no thank you).

Shapiro and Deshaies use college essay puffing techniques like oversize font and strategically placed blank pages. Also, the authors start each chapter with testimonial paragraphs from satisfied clients from their realty business. The testimonial paragraphs don't contain anything useful, and make the book read like advertising for its authors.

If you want to spend about twenty dollars for generic, non-Connecticut information, you're better off buying a generic, non-Connecticut book like Homebuying for Dummies, which I bought at the same time as this one. That book has 328 pages of useful information written in an engaging style. What it doesn't include is seventeen blank pages at the end for "notes."

I'd be genuinely curious to hear from Ken Deshaies (the main author, a Colorado realtor) or Lonnie Shapiro (the Connecticut sub-author) if I'm missing something here.

This is NOT a "book" and in my opinion it should've been listed as a *pamphlet* not a "paperback". If you know your birds well enough (you wouldn't need this), it would make a decent quick-reference guide. But if you're looking for any detail (at all) about the species of birds in CT, their habits, diets, etc., then this is NOT for you. I do find it handy when I notice a new bird because it's easy to scan quickly, but for any informative detail, try elsewhere.

The Editor's Review of this "not a book" paperback book called it an indispensable guide. I'd consider it so dispensable as to be tempted to toss it in the garbage.

First, it is NOT a paperback book. It is a laminated, folded card (very large, but still a card) with side view illustrations of many species of birds along with their genus and species name. There is no other text whatsoever. First, I dislike illustrations of wildlife very much. Photos are much more reliable. From this card you cannot possibly tell the difference between a House Finch and a Purple Finch, for instance. It would be useless for identifying many other birds as well.

Unless you already know birds fairly well and simply want to carry this card along in your pocket (because it's probably waterproof and you could write on it with grease pencil or dry erase marker), then I recommend you find other reference material.

The author claims to be a life-long resident of CT. Wrong! She lived in L.A. while searching for a husband. To write about life in Connecticut is very strange for someone who grew up in Greenfield Hill (Ffld.) and got a free education at Fairfield University. The author never spent a single moment actually going to the locations mentioned. She collected marketing information from each attraction and just did some editing. It's sad. Connecticut deserves better than to have promotional hype dribbled by the writer of childrens books. The author should stick with what she does best, make up fantasy stories for the little ones. You are better off buying the AAA Motor Club Travel Guide than to waste your money on this lemon in it's third re-write. Save a tree, don't waste your money. Visit Connecticut and experience it's treasures on your own.

I did not find this guide very helpful. The binding was of poor quality and the book fell apart after only a few days of use - travel guides should be durable to last at least a week long vacation. The information was not all that useful either.

Trying to navigate across the state with this is impossible. Rather than a standard atlas - where the end of the page helpfully says "continued on map xx", this is organized alphabetically by town - and in many cases the map doesn't even hint at where you should look as your road runs off the page. Strangely, although owned by the same parent company - American Maps uses this poorly organized way, while Hagstrom Maps are easy to follow and use.

This is full of great info on Connecticut and although its 18 years old now, its still fairly relevant and still accurate. Its very readable and is an absolute must for every active Connecticut citizen. It's like a phone book for our state government.

However I give it a poor rating because the so called "League of Women Voters" which published the book is actually not "non-partisan" as they dishonestly claim.

They are in fact VERY PARTISIAN and speak at every hearing either for or against every kind of bill you can think of. They are unusually good at hiding their support for liberal legislation. They won't go out and talk to the papers; they just act as lobbyists inside the capital where you can't see them. I don't know how they get away with calling themselves "non-partisan" when they clearly aren't.

I got into an argument with one of these chicks via email about proposed campaign finance changes on the federal level they favored and help get passed. I thought their legislation was a terrible affront to First Amendment free-speech rights.

These ladies are not who they pretend to be.