California Books

Jennifer Leigh Sauer has created a masterwork of words and photography that transcends the local tea culture in the San Francisco Bay Area and brings tea culture to a larger audience. By focusing on the Bay Area, she brings the centuries old concept of tea culture to a larger American audience. Her personal adventure in mastering this subject has created more than a local guidebook. Ms. Sauer's loving attention to detail has produced a beautiful book.

Few photographers can match Jennifer's eye for photographing tea. Her guide to tea in San Francisco is as complete a snapshot as you will find for this city that embraces both European and Asian tea traditions. The Way of Tea is a delicious feast for the eyes!

The Way to Tea has lured me into exploring the diverse world of tea and savoring its pleasures. The book's captivating pictures and thoughtful text are steeped with the author's spirit of adventure and appreciation for the world hidden behind cups of tea. The book inspires an awakening of the senses and intellect --an alluring antidote to the world of stressful living and mindless consumption. The Way to Tea is a beautiful way to celebrate the New Year as a gift to oneself or a friend.

What a delightful and well thought out book for Tea House Lovers, The Way To Tea. think the photos are beautifully done and I love the way the book reads. It is a perfect size for living room tables and friends have already picked it up at bookstores as well.I was surprised at how many quality places there are to go in San Fran. A great book for visitors and locals alike! Have already given two as gifts... many thanks

This is an excellent book with wonderful photographs and extremely well written. After reading this book I definitely want to visit San Francisco and visit some of the tea houses. Anyone would miss a great opportunity to learn more about tea and tea houses and history of tea if they do not buy this book.

I've never read a book with so much substance, creativity, imagination, innocence and passion; so much so that I found my self re-reading some passages because I had to, to absorb it all -- the passion, the leaps of imagination, the super creativity of a genius grade brain, and the innovation of metaphors. The photographs play the same role as a nice bottle of wine accompanying a wonderful cuisine, it make it all flow even smoother.

I could not believe how good and hilarious was I was reading. Kalpanik made me not only feel, but also think and smile. Kalpanik has a curious mix of making complex concepts simple and make us live his life and experiences, make us laugh and yet be inspirational.

This book is a collection of three stories, accompanied with lot of professional grade photographs and covers three places--Davis (a small town near Sacramento), San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego. it also covers three different phases in his life.

He is able to sprinkle the description of these places and phases with a lot of humor, making you smile, laugh, guffaw, chuckle, snicker, giggle and crackup.

The First part is at University of California at Davis, which captures the unique experiences of a young man first time in a new country where he is a foreigner and falls in love, written when the author was 21.

The second part is fast forward to 12-15 years later by which time the author has firmly established in the Technology industry and is a Vice President of Technology in a Silicon Valley startup .He is lot more confident and self assured by then. The story humorously covers the life of a technology leader leading a team working at the cutting edge of innovation.

The third part is another 5-8 years later when the author has moved to San Diego and covers his family, including two lovely daughters. They get caught in the infamous wild fires of San Diego.

In all three parts, the author skillfully combines the colorful, vivid words with equally vivid photographs.

His journey is one of hopes and ambitions, of hard work and courage required to realizing those ambitions and tremendous power and insight. It is thoughtful, and yet he is able to infuse it with his humor very naturally!

A good read! Extremely well written and very thoughtful.

Kalpanik's style is fresh, unique, funny (in a dignified way), vivid and clever. For example, the author successfully anthropomorphizes the state of California! While I have not read another of his other books - I look forward to discovering them in the near future

Being an immigrant myself, I read it with the occasional tear in the eye and several bouts of goosebumps. Words are not enough to describe the feelings of transcendence, enlightenment and plain joy I experienced read this narrative.

Definitely a Must Read!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R333AIEHUTY4IO Writer is a risk taker, who is able to overcome being a foreign born, accented and is still able to assimilate at different places and befriend natives.

The book starts as a sweet story of a foreign born student who is struggling to adapt to a new culture, missing home and trying to find a balance between the demands of his academic life, and who falls in love. This part of the book shows us Kalpanik as a vulnerable foreign born student, a young person. This beginning provides a good background, and serves as a contrast to the rest of the book, wher we see Kalpanik as an confident executive with a carefree attitude.

Kalpanik is an amazing writer with extraordinarily talent for combining simplicity with complexity and sophistication, writing thoughtful and meaningful material into a book which still comes out as light reading!

I've never read a book with so much substance, creativity, imagination, innocence and passion; so much so that I found my self re-reading some passages because I had to, to absorb it all -- the passion, the leaps of imagination, the super creativity of a genius grade brain, and the innovation of metaphors. The photographs play the same role as a nice bottle of wine accompanying a wonderful cuisine, it make it all flow even smoother.

I could not believe how good and hilarious was I was reading. Kalpanik made me not only feel, but also think and smile. Kalpanik has a curious mix of making complex concepts simple and make us live his life and experiences, make us laugh and yet be inspirational.

Kalpanik's style is fresh, unique, funny (in a dignified way), vivid and clever. For example, the author successfully anthropomorphizes the state of California! While I have not read another of his other books - I look forward to discovering them in the near future

Being an immigrant myself, I read it with the occasional tear in the eye and several bouts of goosebumps. Words are not enough to describe the feelings of transcendence, enlightenment and plain joy I experienced read this narrative.

Definitely a Must Read!

This book is a collection of three stories, accompanied with lot of professional grade photographs and covers three places--Davis (a small town near Sacramento), San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego. it also covers three different phases in his life.

He is able to sprinkle the description of these places and phases with a lot of humor, making you smile, laugh, guffaw, chuckle, snicker, giggle and crackup.

The First part is at University of California at Davis, which captures the unique experiences of a young man first time in a new country where he is a foreigner and falls in love, written when the author was 21.

The second part is fast forward to 12-15 years later by which time the author has firmly established in the Technology industry and is a Vice President of Technology in a Silicon Valley startup .He is lot more confident and self assured by then. The story humorously covers the life of a technology leader leading a team working at the cutting edge of innovation.

The third part is another 5-8 years later when the author has moved to San Diego and covers his family, including two lovely daughters. They get caught in the infamous wild fires of San Diego.

In all three parts, the author skillfully combines the colorful, vivid words with equally vivid photographs.

His journey is one of hopes and ambitions, of hard work and courage required to realizing those ambitions and tremendous power and insight. It is thoughtful, and yet he is able to infuse it with his humor very naturally!

A good read! Extremely well written and very thoughtful.

The book starts as a sweet story of a foreign born student who is struggling to adapt to a new culture, missing home and trying to find a balance between the demands of his academic life, and who falls in love. This part of the book shows us Kalpanik as a vulnerable foreign born student, a young person. This beginning provides a good background, and serves as a contrast to the rest of the book, where we see Kalpanik as an confident executive with a carefree attitude.

Kalpanik is an amazing writer with extraordinarily talent for combining simplicity with complexity and sophistication, writing thoughtful and meaningful material into a book which still comes out as light reading!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/REFLMMXJLP1ZT Writer is a risk taker, who is able to overcome being a foreign born, accented and is still able to assimilate at different places and befriend natives.

Wow, by far one of the best books that I have ever read. I usually do not like history because I prefer to be more proactive and immersed in today's world. But the clarity on our society's current situation that this book gives by examining the roots of the movement to capitalism is incredible and was so worth my time that I had to take a week's vacation off work in order to make sure that I could focus to read this. The writing conveys only one thing - complete clarity into the world today. It is an incredible opus; I loved it.

There is no easy answer to the challenges we humans face in organizing and creating a shared activity to enable the greatest overall productivity and happiness. The evolution of humanity during the early Renaissance years provides the explanation for where and why we are organized in this way today. Understanding this time in this way (through the lens of the economics of that time period) gives a much greater appreciation for the world today that we have constructed. The most core problems of humanity - social mobility, equitable distribution of resources, stability, and collective cooperation, have never (and may never) become solvable. This book explains these dynamics so eloquently that I wish I had time to read it again and again - much like a great adventure novel that as a kid you just wished would never end and felt a real loss once it did and you had to re-emerge into the real world around you.

Braudel is phenomenal in his depth of understanding about how society of the 15-18th centuries operated. I can't recommend it more highly.

In the first volume of this series, Braudel sets the stage for life and commerce in the period under discussion. Volume two of Civilization and Capitalism really gets the ball rolling. Or as much as anything ever gets rolling in a Braudel book.

This is fascinating stuff. But it is not easy going. The language is straight forward, but Braudel wanders around his subject, giving us mountains of specifics and following various side currents to their ends. The basic point of the volume is to outline, first, the difference between the market and capitalism, and then to trace the creation of capitalism in the markets centers of Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Unlike many historian of this period, Braudel is more concerned with the world of finance than the world of production, which I find fascinating and innovative. If you care to know how the financiers of Amsterdam dealt with getting a ship in the ocean and bound for America or India, this is the place to look.

While not being an economic determinist, economics is at the center Braudel's work. Unlike many other economic historians, Braudel does take the time to deal with how culture (there a section on fashion in the first volume!) religion and other factors play into the shaping of an economic and social system. This makes for a deeply convincing argument when he demolishes Weber's idea of the protestant work ethic, but is less informed or convincing (and sometimes borderline racist) when he is dealing with non-western cultures.

I appreciate that Braudel didn't assume that by "civilization and capitalism" one can only mean Western Europe, but his sections on the rest of the world I found lacking. They did not have the erudition he exhibits when taking about Western Europe.

I found the book fascinating, but I think Braudel could have done with some editing. This book is not going to lay out point by point the creation of capitalism for you. You'll need to discover the steps through the examples Braudel gives. It's riveting if you're an econ and history nerd, but complicated and meandering work, which could have used a co-author (or a better team of research assistants) to handle the non western areas he covers and a editor to tease out the string of the creation of capitalism that subtly floats through this work.

There are various pretenders to the throne of explaining globalization, such as Thomas Friedman's recent The World Is Flat, but all such efforts seem shallow and pallid compared to the masterwork of the genre, Fernamd Braudel's trilogy Civilization & Capitalism, 15th - 18th Century (The Structures of Everyday Life (Volume 1), The Wheels of Commerce (Volume 2)
and The Perspective of the World (Volume 3)

I do not lightly suggest tackling almost 1,800 pages of reading, but there is simply no substitute (short of a master's degree) if you aspire to a true understanding of global trade's role in the social, political and economic history of our world. It is not a boring read--anything but, for Braudel's depth of research, breadth of knowledge and his appreciation for the limits of current scholarship are matchless. Where authors like Friedman incautiously grind whatever axe they set out, drawing upon work which supports their thesis, Bruadel is ever-cautious about drawing hard-and-fast conclusions from the data he has culled from archives' dusty pages.

What Braudel reveals is a world which has been disrupted by far-reaching trade for hundreds of years. Capital has flowed across the great oceans of our globe for far longer than most people realize, destroying local industries in favor of distant ones in the process. It is impossible to summarize such a rich, vast work, but reading even one of these volumes will give you a deep insight into the long history of globalization, and how entire industries and financial centers have been displaced time and again in the Arab Levant, in Asia, and in Europe. You will also come to understand the rise of European economic dominance, and how it cannot be so neatly attributed to guns, steel and germs, as appealing and powerful as Jared Diamond's thesis may be.

Braudel does not work to create over-arching explantions so much as present the archival facts he so assiduously assembled. (The books were written in the late 1970s; Braudel died in 1985 at the age of 83.) For example, he shows that prosperity, since at least the 1400s if not earlier, is inevitably found in those cities and regions where prices are highest. It is counter-intuitive at first--since shouldn't money go farther where prices are low?-- but the same is obviously true of our era. The most prosperous nations are those with the highest costs, and the poorest are those where prices are lowest.

At a minimum, this sheds light on the centuries-old exodus from rural to metropolis, and on the nature of prosperity itself. I recommend these volumes not just for their vast erudition but for the enjoyment gained from his unparalleled mastery of everyday life in distant lands and distant times. Not much has changed, it seems, except the speed of the ships and the communication between traders.

In The Wheels of Commerce, Fernand Braudel deftly blended history and economics with the result that neither suffers. His goal in this book, the second volume in his Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, was "to analyse the machinery of exchange as a whole, from primitive barter up to and including the most sophisticated capitalism" (21). In the process of examining this machinery of exchange, Braudel also proposed an ambitious thesis concerning the origins of capitalism. The book itself is a monumental work, an impressive combination of statistical analyses and illustrations from primary sources.

Braudel's first two chapters, "The Instruments of Exchange" and "Markets and the Economy," investigated the role of circulation. In chapter one, he concentrated on the mechanisms by which goods (and money) were traded. Braudel explained that markets and shops were at the bottom of the world of commerce. Markets took place once or twice a week, and shops were open everyday. Fairs, the wholesale markets, were on the higher level. Participants traded large amounts of goods and settled their accounts at the end. Braudel pointed out the importance of fairs in the development of capitalism: "The fair itself created credit" (91). If one merchant had a negative trade balance with another merchant, he would either offer a bill of exchange (a promise of payment on another exchange) or defer payment with interest until another fair. Additionally, these bills of exchange could be sold to a third party if necessary, introducing speculation. The trading mechanisms of the fair were eventually consolidated into the large exchanges of cities like Amsterdam and London, and eventually these exchanges grew into the stock markets. Chapter two investigated the manner in which merchants engaged in trade. Braudel stressed the importance of trading circuits and the use of paper (especially in the form of bills of exchange) for profitability. One of the key ideas in this chapter is the role of distance on price. Price was not set solely by supply and demand, but was also affected by the distance the product had to travel. His insight into system was helpful. "Any capitalist market has a series of links in a chain, and somewhere near the middle there is a point higher and more remunerative than the rest" (193).

The next two chapters, "Capitalism Away from Home" and "Capitalism on Home Ground," dealt primarily with issues regarding production. Chapter three dealt with what could be considered the lower world of production. One of the key issues that Braudel explicated was the role of fixed and circulating capital. The fixed capital that was invested in production was tied up in equipment and other items, while the circulating capital was more liquid and included wages. Braudel also investigated the role of land in production and capitalism, noting: "The great landowner was not a capitalist, but he was a tool and a collaborator in the service of capitalism" (271). He also focused on the peculiarities of production in these pre-industrial years. In chapter four, Braudel investigated the higher world of production. His explanation of the development of banking practices, which would fund production, was illuminating, as was his discussion on the development of companies from private family business to joint stock companies.

Though the book focused on capitalism's development in Europe, Braudel integrated discussions on other geographical locales as well. Braudel did not present Europe as arriving at its capitalist system in a vacuum. He noted the role that other cultures had in aiding the formation of the European model, not just through trade, but also through Europe's adoption of foreign innovation. However, Braudel surprisingly downplayed the importance of double-entry book-keeping to the emergence of capitalism. He asserted that the practice did not spread quickly and was not universally adopted, giving notable examples (574).
Even though successful merchants were found all over the world during this time period (especially in Islamic lands that provided them with a favorable status), full-blown capitalism developed first in Europe. Braudel attempted to provide an explanation as to why this was the case. His thesis regarding this matter is the raison d'ýtre of the book. Braudel believed that three conditions were necessary for the emergence of capitalism. The first was a "vigorous and expanding market economy" (600). Braudel noted that many regions fulfilled this qualification. The second necessity, which hindered many prime candidates, was a strong hierarchy was necessary. This hierarchy encouraged the accumulation of wealth. Landed positions were not hereditary in India, China, and Islamic lands making the nobility's position precarious and the accumulation of wealth difficult. Braudel only mentioned two areas that fulfilled these first two necessities: Europe and Japan. However, Japan closed herself off to world trade, the third necessity. Braudel noted, "Long-distance trading ... was the only doorway to a superior profit level" (601). Braudel's case is a compelling one that must be addressed by anyone investigating this topic.

The Wheels of Commerce is immense, but immensely readable. Braudel portrayed for his reader a heady, exciting Europe, one in which the prime goal was to spend money faster than it could be made. However, even during his descriptions of the dizzying pace at which money was circulated, Braudel did not lose sight of his objective. His scope was large, but he remained precise in both style and purpose, obviating the befuddlement of the layperson (which I confess to being). The book is a balanced work, exhibiting a variety of historical methods. Braudel made extensive use of statistics and mathematical models (the book contains a plethora of charts and tables), but he also included numerous narratives regarding business practices of the time (demonstrating an astonishing knowledge of the primary sources). Because of the attention with which he supported his claims, historians of all stripes can admire this book.

Finally, the student of economic history should not overlook one of the finer aspects of The Wheels of Commerce. This book contains over 120 excellent illustrations from the 15th-18th centuries. The pictures, which vary from woodblock prints to oil paintings, depict the lives of those involved in commerce at the time. Not only do the abundant illustrations make this book a more attractive read, but also they provide the book with a certain level of completeness, giving the reader more tools by which he or she can comprehend the emergence of capitalism in Europe

I don't even LIKE history or economics...but I love this book.

In the course of researching some historical background for an English Lit paper, I ran across two of Braudel's books -- this was one of them.

It was so fascinating that I read the entire book (even though what I needed for the paper was a few pages); and then I went ahead and bought my own copy, plus others by this author.

I couldn't set this book down. He literally goes through every possibility, facing years of uncertainty, and still keeps trying - and graduates college and law school in the meantime. I cannot imagine going through what he went through in Kenya, then coming to the US as a safe haven, and facing such a drawn-out, uphill battle simply to stay.

His story is not always easy to read but it is very engaging, even if, like me, you are not a lawyer or law student. David Kenney Ngaruri and his friends and colleagues in this book are very inspirational.

This is an eloquent and heartbreaking tale of one immigrant's journey throught the U.S. Immigration system. It reads like a John Grisham novel although the story is sadly true. The author, a 7-foot tall Kenyan, was a political prisioner in Kenya for his role as a labor organizer. He faced imprisonment and torture and was ultimately able to escape Kenya via the promise of a basketball scholarship in the United States. In his quest for political asylum in the U.S. he encouters heartless judges,corrupt officials, State Department bureaucrats, a beautiful "witch", kidnapping rebels, interpid law students and a dedicated and brilliant law profressor (his co-author). I couldn't put it down and felt a mixture of outrage at the U.S. immigration system while in awe of the power of the human spirit to overcome the most dauting of odds.

My copy arrived yesterday; I may not get to read it until our beach vacation this summer. But the photo of the two authors on the inside back flap of the dust jacket may be the funniest author photo ever! It will be hard to wait until this summer to read it.

This is an amazing book that makes plain the unbelievable complexity of immigration law. Anyone with an interest in immigration policy should read this book.

For those of you looking for a good summer read to take to the beach, or just a great book to snuggle up with on a rainy day, I highly recommend opening up the pages of Asylum Denied. It is both informative and inspiring as it tells the story of David Kenney Ngaruri, the political asylee who struggled to stay in America. Although the book is currently being passed around law schools, as the new go-to-guide for asylum law, I am sure it will not be long before it makes the bestseller stands at nation-wide bookstores or grabs a spot on Oprah's booklist. Asylum Denied, written by two authors, the above-mentioned David Kenney Ngaruri and Philip Schrag, the professor of law at Georgetown University, serves both as a law manual and as a heart-warming story of adventure, perseverance, and love. Unlike most law-related books, it reads very smoothly and catches your attention from the first page. Even if this is not the usual type of book you read, I urge you to give it a try. If the face on the cover of the book is not enough to convince you to read it, then I hope this review will.

Fabulous book, hard to believe this is the author's first work! Each page reads like a conversation with a good friend; it has that easy cadence and believability. I'm eager to read more from this author.

I have long been fascinated by issues related to addiction and alcoholism and have read several books (fiction and non-fiction) on this subect; Beach Glass is definitely one of the best I've read. The indepth portrayal of people in the throes of and recovering from various addictions is amazing. It is great the way the author can realistically create characters from all different backgrounds (gay, straight, male, female). And I loved the way she wove the details of the locations (sounds, sights, etc) into the story. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether you are in the addictions counseling field or not.

Blackburn's book shows the tremendously rich life that's possible for the characters explicitly because they are in recovery. Life's trials were realistically approached and the characters were able to make it because they found community with one another. They seem to get to the point where they know they may not be "normal" but they understand that they are better than normal because they face life's challenges by sticking together, being their weird and wonderful selves and doing the hard work of living a concious life.
Blackburn has an incredible gift for placing you right there in the story. At moments I got little chills. There were suspenseful scenes that kept me reading when I should've really gone to bed already. Her ability to point out the absurdities of life cracked me up. And as the journey was coming to a close and the pages dwindled, I was able to really feel the sadness of the main characters as the story was coming to a close.
I would recommend this book not only for those in "the tribe" of 12-Steppers but for anyone who has had to deal with issues related to life changes like leaving home, having close friends get sick and die and all the craziness of relationships from tempting flirtations to just realizing it's time to end a relationship. I suspect everyone could relate to something in this book.

When a customer asks me 'What book would you recommend?', I ask them at least 20 questions before I even hazard a guess. Then I suggest a book that I feel most relates to their particular situation.
Gleefully, Beachglass is a book I can recommend with reckless abandon to anyone who walks into my store. ANYONE who reads this capitaving tale will be entertained and indeed educated about the recovery side of the deadly diseases of alcoholism and addiction.
I loved this book!

I could not put this book down. Delia tells her story in the present and in flashbacks. In the current time, Delia is holding the hand of her best friend while he dies. Kleenex alert!! Delia and Timothy walk this path together in an agony of loss and triumph. We meet Delia some 13 years before as a physically and emotionally bankrupt 17 year old. She comes to rehab as an 89 pound, half dead druggie/alcoholic. Faced with the choice to live or die, Delia makes the courageous leap to grab life. In the rehab Delia meets a delightfully quirky and human cast of characters who will become her friends and guides as she learns how to live a sober life. This book is gritty and sweaty and unflinchingly honest about what it is like to be in recovery. It's a story about how Delia learns to live and to embrace all the scars and challenges that polish and grow her into being a beautiful and unique piece of art, like Beachglass.

I have been intrigued with the idea of having a meal at The Brown Derby since the first time I saw Lucille Ball dump a plate of spaghetti (a classic Derby dish, as it turns out) on William Holden's head. Alas, the era of The Derby is long gone, but this book, Brown Derby Restaurant takes you on a journey back in time when stars table hopped and coveted having their famous faces caricatured to grace the walls of these distinctive restaurants. That's right, there wasn't just one "Derby" but many different versions of the original, which is something I did not know until I read this book. I'll let the next reader of this book discover for themselves all the different incarnations of "The Derby." That was quite interesting, because they were all so different from one another and completely different from the original. The photographs of the celebrity patrons are wonderful and its fun to see them out socializing and not in character.
In the text recipes from the restaurants are included. I found these recipes to be quite ordinary and not very imaginative, but then you have to realize the era and the clientle. Just because Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy (Native Montanians), Carole Lombard, (Indiana), Clark Gable, (O-o-o-ohio!), and Robert Mitchum (Connecticut), were glamorous moviestars, in the end they were simple folk who probably just wanted a decent pork chop. At the Derby restaurants, they could do that. I wouldn't go out of my way to reinact any of these recipes unless I was babysitting a finicky toddler. All in all, this was a real page turner though and my husband enjoyed it as well.

I have a Brown Derby "LIVE AT CHARLEY BROWN'S" ink stamp in good condition from the legendary club.
This item is circa the 1960's/1970's.
Anyone interested in this item email me at rxeno@radiox.net.

A priceless photo collection of Hollywood Stars that have never been released or seen since the 1940's and 1950's. The photos are from the late Sally and Bob Cobb's personal photo collection and some photos were taken by Geroge Hurrell. The stories are captivating, heart warming and a part of Hollywood history that is a must for movie buffs and the novice a like. Clark Gable and Bob Cobb spent many years together, hunting and fishing. One night after the kitchen at the Durby was closed, Bob mixed a salad together made mostly from left overs. Since that night the famous salad has been referred to as the "Cobb Salad". The story that best describes the Cobbs is the one story about the WWII soldier..very touching! A great gift or a nice coffee table conversation item!

Anyone who is interested in old Hollywood must read this book.It is not only filled with pictures andrecipes, but nostalgia and history ofbygone days.Robert Cobb, not only owned the BrownDerby, but also owned a baseball team.The Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League was in existence from 1939to 1957. The Los Angeles Dodgers cameWest in 1958 and the Stars were gone.The book was co-written by Sally Cobb,widow of the owner. Her personal thoughts and love are written throughout this book. I personally ama collector of old menu's and a historian regarding the Pacific CoastLeague. I certainly was fascinated andwrapped up in the book.

Who today could know anything about the Brown Derby restaurant and not immediately recall what generated its legendary fame? Was it the food? The service? The décor? The clientele? Of course it's a given that all these were truly exceptional, yet none adequately explains how any Tom, Dick, or Harry from Kalamazoo would be so well acquainted with the name of this particular restaurant. After all, they were not patrons. For us non-celebrities, the Brown Derby probably entered our world through the hilarious exploits of Lucille Ball in the television situation comedy "I Love Lucy" in which she starred along with husband Desi Arnaz. Who can forget Lucy's attempts to be "discovered" by a studio executive, or to get a closer look at William Holden, at the Brown Derby?

If you lived in greater Los Angeles at that time, you might have heard live KNX 1070 News Radio broadcasts at noon from the Brown Derby, and the question of the day would always be, "Tell us, George, who's at the Brown Derby today?" That was how Lucy knew which celebrities were at the Brown Derby. And, because Lucy knew, all of America knew: this Brown Derby restaurant was the stars' favorite gathering place.

So, what's the point of this review? Simply the sad fact that "George," the maître d', radio announcer, friend of Robert Cobb, and the central figure to all the famous patrons at the Brown Derby restaurant, is no where to be seen in any of the multitude of celebrity photographs in the book. It had to be the most deliberative, vexing, and laborious part of Mrs. Cobb's work in producing this incomplete book to find enough photographs that somehow did not show a trace of Mr. George Aguilera among the celebrity patrons. It was no oversight. Word is that following Mr. Cobb's death, major differences arose between the Head Waiter and Mrs. Cobb as to business practices, and that Mr. Aguilera took an uncompromising stand in favor of maintaining the renowned level of quality, rather than to expand the tourist element, and in so doing, risk losing the exceptional level of service of which he was justifiably proud to offer his friends. This book is testament to the bitter parting of ways that resulted. How ironic then, that Mr. Aguilera's face, commonly seen on Brown Derby advertising billboards that said, "Go see George...," appears nowhere in this book of photographs. Nor will you find any evidence that the man who announced to the world the presence of his famous dining guests, his friends, was ever there himself. I rate this book as missing at least one star.

You gotta love Stienstra,a lifetime of info on hundreds of fishin spots

This book is a must have for anyone fishing in the state of California. I wish Tom would write one for every state. I don't fish any body of water in California until I look it up in this book. However, I agree with Alex. Tom really should write more about SHORE fishing. We don't all have boats.

When I first moved to California 9 years ago I picked this up and have worn out my copy. A tremendously helpful reference that has introduced me to some of the most wonderful fishing spots I've ever enjoyed. There are many more I've read about that I can't wait to try.

I've seen a number of California fishing books but this one is simply the best. Whether you are flyfishing or using spinning tackle, you want to know the lay of the land, where to fish, when to go, how to get there, who to talk to. This book answers all those things. It is an excellent comprehensive introduction to the fishable waters of California. Excellent maps, directions, and local guides/services for further advice. It breaks down all the areas of California into discrete geographic segments then gives detailed information on the area.

It is clear that Stienstra is an experienced fisherman whether it is on the fly, lures, or bait. This book is for the true fisherman and covers all the offshore, inshore, and freshwater fishing available throughout California. I cannot recommend this book enough. There are so many bad books on fishing and flyfishing, where the authors spout on and on about their theories and thoughts. This is a book that is more like a reference guide and is an essential resource. The author is very well versed in freshwater and saltwater fishing and the writing is straightforward, with opinions registered when they are needed.

Great book for the average fisherman who didn't grow up in Mt. Shasta, Calif. Tom raves about the fishing in Lake Siskiyou, not realizing that the dam ruined some of the best stream fishing I have ever seen. Of course, that was 30 or so years ago. Still, around that area, and I'm not telling where, there are still native trout in small streams located on the Mt. Eddy side. When I say native, I don't mean real native. Those Mt. Eddy lakes and streams were planted years ago, mostly by the CCC. In fact, my father, Eugene Babcock, planted the Mumbo Lakes Basin by mule train when he was with the CCC. I'm now 56 and those easy hikes into the Mumbo Lakes Basin are now hard hikes. If you head to Dobkins or Durney or Eddy Crater lakes without proper gear and physical fitness, you are headed for trouble. Otherwise, this is a great book with true fishing guidelines for Siskiyou, Modoc and Plumas counties. Tom, quit giving away my favorite fishing places.....

Cliff Babcock

California Ghosting is a fitting continuation in Mr. Hills supernatural genre. So far the trio I've read keep me on the lookout for the next William Hill release. Dawn of the Vampire, Vampires Kiss, California Ghosting. Vampire Hunters is next on my list, Mr. Hill will have to write fast to have the next book available before I have finish it.

Have already read the book twice and recommend it for readers of all ages. Mr. Hill has a command of the English language and has an exciting writing style.

A visit to Ghostal Shores is worth the price of admission. My favorite aspect was the characters. They were realistic and full of life, even the ghosts. California Ghosting is a nice twist on the haunted house theme, blending action, suspense, mystery and romance at a fluid pace that keeps moving faster and faster. I could clearly see the characters and the resort. This would make a great movie!

As the characters evolve, and the plot thickens, California Ghosting creates an entirely enchanting environment for a who-dunnit. Point Reyes has been thoroughly researched and times gone by have been totally recreated in the now. The ghostal characters can be vividly imagined, due to the extensive descriptions of each individual personna and their lively intereactions not only the living, but with each other as well. Mix these ingredients with a dash of romance amongst the living, a sense of humor, and supsense, and there exists a novel that will keep you reading.

William Hill's "California Ghosting" is a well-rounded mix of mystery, suspense and fantasy, filled with interesting individuals. Even if I wasn't pulled along nicely by the plot (and I certainly was), I would have kept turning pages just to see what the people (and ghosts) in the story would do next. I particularly liked some of the subtler elements, like the interactions between some of the "fully-fleshed" ghost characters and various two-dimensional, "real" minor characters . . .

This is our bible for all our rentals. The disc has all the forms you'll need, backed up by the part of the law that applies. If you have rentals in California, this should be your guide to staying out of trouble.

I have been a landlord for 12 years. Every few years I purchase a revised version just to be sure that laws haven't changed that I should know about. This book is a must if you have rentals in California. It is very easy to understand, it has all the forms you may need on CD and can be referred to quickly when questions come up. I feel I am a better landlord because of this book. I have also loaned it to my friends when they felt that their landlord had not be treating them fairly. They also found it very helpful. I wouldn't be without it.

I read through the book before renting my place, and it provided me with very useful tips on the legality of various aspects of renting one's place. It also had templates and forms which were very handy, in drawing up a lease, issuing a receipt or generating a checklist. I would recommend this book for any landlord, whether you are renting out one house or multiple.

If you're in the real estate rental business in the state of California you need this book to start out, survive, and thrive in this business. The NOLO books are written by lawyers for lay people.

The "California Landlord's Law Book: Rights and Responsibilities" covers all ground and gives you more than a legal or business understanding of real estate rental (rare but detrimental scenarios and important topics are discussed, such as Discrimination, Self-Help Evictions, Landlord's Liabilities for Dangerous Conditions and Criminal Acts, etc.)

This law book also contains all the forms you will need, both at the end as apendix and on a CD. The book is very thorough and every new edition stays abreast with the latest rental law changes in California. The only downside (unavoidable) is that every so often NOLO publishes a new edition thus somewhat outdaing previous ones.

This was the only book I needed to become a landlord in California. With the included forms on CD, I was able to easily create a lease for my tenants and feel confident that I was doing everything legally. I read the relevant sections of the book and will keep it on hand if any rental problems show up. I am very satisfied with the book selection.