Oregon Books

A good read. The book kept me guessing throughout, which for a suspense novel, I enjoy. I even bought a copy of The Oregon Project for my newphew.

This book rocks. Being an attorney, I do not do much pleasure reading, but THE OREGON PROJECT was nothing but pleasure---from beginning to end. Also, not being a gambler, I generally go with safe bets---purchasing THE OREGON PROJECT is the safest of bets---as demonstrated by the fact that 9 (now 10) out of 11 (now 12) reviewers concur---THE OREGON PROJECT IS A 5-STAR WORK.

If you missed the book signing, that's OK, but at least pick this one up, you will not regret it. Great job guys!

Andy

The cover says she's an even better writer than a lawyer. Wow. That's really scary, if true.

Considering the tin ear she has for language - the paragraphs seem written by a high school student - I'd hate to rely on Ms. Roit for any legal advice. Besides the general lack of quality of prose, the book is full of outright errors in usage: "you guys have peaked my interest", "she took to her task with glutinous longing" just for two examples.

This looks like a vanity publishing job to me. She must have gotten all her friends to write glowing Amazon reviews.

I would stay away from this one.

the book was not as long as I thought it would be. But it was good reading

Westward to Home is a great book to read about. Joshua, the boy in the story, and his family are going to Oregon in a wagon train.
Joshua writes about everything that happens in his diary.
I liked the part where Joshua and his family were fording down a river. Then his little sister almost drowned, but Joshua saved her.
One day his Grandpa took Joshua hunting and he shot a male buffalo.
The leader of the wagon train was cousin Daniel, who had no toes on one foot because of a frost bite.

I learned some interesting facts. Life on the Oregon Trail was hard, because of the bad wheather, not enough food and people got sick.
The migration to Oregon was 159 years ago.
The Indians respected the military.
I also learned that the author of this book is Patricia Hermes.

I would recommend this book for three reasons.
First, it's an interesting story. Second, it's suspenseful to read.
Finally, it's good to know, how life was over 150 years ago. It makes me
appreciate how good life is today.
Westward to Home is a great book!

Jessica Stedman, 3rd. Grade, Glenmeade Elementary School, Chino Hills, CA.

If you think you have it hard, wait until you read the book Westward to Home, Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary. Joshua has hard times all through the book. He tells you many things about his family, friends, and neighbors. This book gets sad in parts but gets better in other parts.
The book Westward to Home takes place in 1848. The people in the book are never really in one spot the whole time, but their journey should end up in Oregon. Will they make it?
I think people who like reading diaries would enjoy reading this book.

This is a story of a boy who is about to set out on the Oregon Trail. His grandpa gives him a journal to write about the journey westward, but instead his grandpa goes with him. It tells the story of a young boy traveling westward and the difficulties that take place. Many people die while they are on the Oregon Trail from illness and other things. It mostly takes place while they are on the Oregon Trail. I thought this was a pretty good story telling about the Oregon Trail.

I'm in 3rd grade and I read Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary (book 1.) When I read it, I just fell in love with it! I suggest this book to anyone who likes adventure, excitement, and realistic historical fiction.

The book Joshua's Diary is about a boy and his family who are traveling on the Oregon Trail. I enjoyed this book because it has so many wonderful details that make you feel as if you were with them. This is a very good book, but has very sad and frightening parts.

Actually, I give this 4 1/2 stars but another reviewer also gave it 4 1/2 stars but rated this book 4 stars, so my 5 stars should help even this out. Compulsive read. Finished this in two days, which is pretty fast considering I work a lot! A thriller with a sci-fi twist. Refreshing. Interesting character development. It doesn't get much better than this for casual entertainment.

The cradle robber is a person who kills children, because he thinks he's helping them. He stalks children who are unhappy and learns about them, then kills them. Many families just like yours suffer greatly. Kyle Sommers and his friend, Sherrie meet a time traveler and save all of these families and children. It turns out that the time traveler had came back to save his daughter from dying. So Sherrie and Kyle repay him by saving his daughter and send him back to the future. I recommend this book, because it shows how getting both of your legs amputated can change your life, how many ways children can die, and what can happen to you if you don't move on if your daughter dies.
One of the reasons why I recommended this book is because it shows how getting both of your legs amputated can change your life. Sherrie used to be very sweet and beautiful, especially her legs. She was engaged to someone and was very pleased with him. But she found out that after her legs amputated, he didn't love her anymore and he left her. Since then, she has never dated anyone until Kyle came along. She has many people staring at her and has a hard time going up the stairs. She did gain a lot of muscle in her arms though from walking with them so much around her house.
Another reason why I recommended this book is because it shows how many ways a child can die. Kyle's daughter died in a car wreck. That's the most common way a child can die. But the cradle robber strangled kids while they're sleeping. He put plastic bags over they're heads and would never look at them while they were dying, because he didn't want to see their distorted faces. Another way kids died is by a fire. He would light matches in their bedroom and would throw matches on them while they were sleeping.
Lastly, I recommend this book because it shows how your life can change if you don't move on after someone dies who was close to you. Kyle had his daughter die, like I said in the last paragraph. He never moved on and started having hallucinations about memories of his daughter. He would hallucinate over stuff like his daughter walking in and asking him to read her a book, because that was his favorite thing to do with his daughter. He was very depressed, until he met Sherrie, because he thought that it was is fault that he let his daughter die. When they were in the car upside down, his daughter kept crying for him to help her, but he too hurt, he couldn't reach back. He also got addicted to alcohol and lost his job as the head detective, because it was against the rules.
I recommend this book, because it shows how your life can change if you get both of your legs amputated, it shows how many terrible ways children can die, and it shows how you can get very depressed, hallucinate over stuff, and get addicted to alcohol if you don't move on after a loved one dies. In the end of this book, they end up saving the time-travelers daughter and send them both to the future with the promise from Kyle and Sherrie that in the future, they would be there to help with the wounded time-traveler.

This review is soley for the novel "Before the Cradle Falls." I happen to consider James F. David a superb suspense writer: "Footprints of Thunder," "Fragments," and "Ship of the Damned" were intriquing and engrossing. "Cradle" is, unfortunately, not.

Kyle Sommers is a police detective who, after the death of his daughter, hid within the bottle. Given a second chance, Sommers finds himself heading the investigation of Cradle Robber, a serial killer who murders random children in the night, thinking he is in fact doing them a favor.

But Sommers is not alone in his investigation. There is another man, who appears to have blue skin, and who knows when children are in danger. He has arrived from the future, intent on saving the children of Portland, Oregon...including his own child...

The plot is a bit ludicrous, but so were those of David's previous novels. What "Cradle" lacks is reality; while occasionally suspenseful, and at times frightening, the novel's characters rarely exceed their two-dimensional forms, and the plot is pretty predictable, not to mention cliche. Though for some it may be a brisk, even entertaining read, fans of David's previous works will find it lacking in quality. Every author writes a book of lesser quality at some point in their career; James F. David has done it with this one. While entertaining to a point, "Before the Cradle Falls" is proof that time travel and police procedural don't mix well.

I think I'm an addict. Once I start reading a James F. David novel, I can't put it down. After reading his first 3 novels (Footprints of Thunder, Fragments, Ship of the Damned), I knew this one would be edge-of-your-seat action mixed with creative plot twists, and I was right!

In my opionion, David has the perfect blend of paranormal/sci-fi and mystery/action/thriller down pat! As with his other novels, David takes a standard sci-fi theme (in this case time travel), and presents it in a way I have never read before, with interesting theories to back it up. I have no idea how scientific said theories are and don't really care. They're fun and unique.

One of the things I really enjoy about his books are the settings. Before the Cradle Falls is set in current day Portland, Oregon, my hometown. James F. David, who lives in nearby Tigard, is very familiar with Portland and uses real landmarks, Parks and businesses for much of the book. A few things are made-up (our real newpaper is the Oregonian, not the Oregon Chronicle), but for the most part, Portland is exactly as he describes it. It gives me the feeling that I could step out my door one day and see Kyle Sommers driving by in a police car...

What do you get when Sci-Fi meets Thriller? Another masterpiece by James F. David!

If you think that all police novels are the same, then you haven't read Before the Cradle Falls. David introduces a twist that will have you second-guessing all the others. Truly an original piece that has set the bar at a new level.

But be warned: clear your schedule before you start reading. You will get sucked in, and it will be difficult to put down!

Thank you James F. David once again for reminding me how exciting reading can be.

so I could stay home in my favorite jammies and keep reading. Laura's difficult choice recalled events in my life, consequences I've had to live with. The outcome of her decision and the turmoil that followed drew me into the pursuit of Laura's killer. Equally enticing is the determination of Detective Kierzek as he searches for the truth. This deception will make you want to stay home too.

I enjoyed this book very much. The plot keeps you guessing until the end. The characters are interesting and compelling. You can't help but feel for Jonathan. I would highly reccommend this book to any mystery lover; as I have to a number of my friends. The book is easy to read, but not simplistic. The only technique that I found somewhat distracting was the author's use of flashbacks. This is a personal preference as I do not like them in any book. The author made good use of flashbacks when he did used them. I found myself caught up in the story straight through to the end. I look forward to Mr. St. James' next book and plan to go back and read his first book. Please don't take my word for it; pick up the book and read it for yourself!

What more can I say about this very talented and gifted writer. As his first book, "Moonglade", it is a book to be read by all. The storyline and his characters can be identified with so much that one tends to feel they are part of the story and the character. A little anger, fear, suspense, sadness and mystery are sure to be felt by the reader. It grabs you on the first page and your hooked, once again by this writers wonderful talent. Thank you Mr. St. James for sharing your talent with us. I'm patiently waiting for your next page turner.

so I could stay home in my favorite jammies and keep reading. Laura's difficult choice recalled events in my life, consequences I've had to live with. The outcome of her decision and the turmoil that followed drew me into the pursuit of Laura's killer. Equally enticing is the determination of Detective Kierzek as he searches for the truth. This deception will make you want to stay home too.

BRILLIANT? Where did that come from? It honestly makes me wonder if all the reviews here were done by friends or the author himself. I have to say that I struggled through this book after having read a GREAT book, Jonathan Kellerman's BILLY STRAIGHT. To me, this book was a wrong turn down a reading DEAD END. Okay, to be fair, I must explain that 1) the characters were cardboard cutouts, 2) the suspense did not show up at all, and 3) the writer's mastery of good descriptive words is non-existent. I wish this book would have come with a warning label for amature writing.

I ordered and read all of her books - they are quick reads, enjoyable, and very entertaining.

As someone who dreads reunions of any sort, I must say I was totally engaged in this one. First, I love a good, fast-paced mystery. Second, heaps of background details on all the grads
made the story for me. And third, I'd rather read about a school reunion than go to my own (ack, coming up). Heart-Shaped Box is an excellent excuse to skip your own much-dreaded event. April Henry delivers another satisfying read.

[...]Claire Montrose is just an average woman like you and me who happens to stumble upon a mystery and decides to investigate. She is not a cop, no police training, etc. This particular mystery takes place at her high school reunion, which was fun as well reading about seeing everyone again and how their personalities from high school now mesh with what they have become. I am having my 15 year reunion soon so this was particularly fun for me. I love that the book was so fast paced. Right from the beginning you enter the story without a lot of unnecessary reading. It engrossed me and kept me enthralled and there were some very funny parts as well. If she writes more books like this I will buy them and I am now looking for others as well. (But please, Ms. Henry, save the single parents!) Now if we can just get an adult version of the Nancy Drew books!

This is a classic good novel for mystery novels, a good "whodunnit" type of book. You are kept hanging until the very end as to who is murdering the girls (women now) at a high school reunion who are found with a heart-shaped box. Typical good fashion in the Agatha Christie genre, where the murderer is found out at the end, and it is often not who you might suspect.
This was my first read of April's novels, and I decided I would give it a review.
Why four stars instead of five? Well, the license plates are fine, but I have read through the other books, and while certainly license plates or some other form of paraphernalia often tends to be a serial detective's shtick (such as Sherlock Holmes phrase to Dr. Watson, "It's all elementary, Doctor"), in this case, I believe the license plates are starting to grow old. The shtick isn't sticking for this particular character, and new growth is needed. Just my opinion, but there it is.
I would also warn those that are of a religious nature that the character Logan and his mother are caught in a time-warp, depicted as one-dimensional closed-minded fundamentalists that have a lack of intelligence (Logan is feeble-minded). Unfortunately, I rather expect this from April, but I need to inform those who would read this book. Perhaps an inclusion in her books as to an intelligent, articulate person of a religious persuasion could be adapted? I rather doubt that she will heed the advice, but read and judge for yourself.

Otherwise, it is a good read.

The school reunion might have gone wrong for Claire, but it sure was a treat to this reader. The mystery was excellent. I loved the way she went back and forth with tidbits on each graduate. Its just the way we do with our annual and old pictures. It was so real with wondering if you are too fat-too thin--or too wrinkled to go to the 20th. Great book.

I'm glad a used book store I go to had this old tattered book for sale. I agree it was a little confusing in the beginning with so many characters, but eventually you become completely at home with them through Guthrie's simple and beautiful writing. I experienced an exciting ride along on the wagon train to Oregon with a greatly varied cast of pioneers. The hardships, and the ingenuity of the people to overcome them are simply amazing. I don't normally pick up westerns, but the fact that it was a pulitzer prize winner caught my eye.

I thought the story mediocre at best. Why this won the Putlizer instead of The Big Sky is beyond me. Gutherie is a obviously a passionate writer about his beloved west but when it comes to telling an action story, he does not hold a candle to Harry Combs who wrote Brules or The Scout. I thoroughly enjoyed The Big Sky but found The Way West somewhat tedious. Towards the end, I was scaning instead of reading. Give me more action.

The Way West is the "epic saga" of a wagon train heading west to Oregon and although The Way West was a bit hard to get into, it was a real page-turner. At the beginning of the novel, the characters all blend together and it was hard to differentiate between them all. However, after the wagon train `hits the trail', A.B. Guthrie does a fantastic job at portraying the individuality of all of the pioneers through tone and imagery. The McBees, the 1800s equivalent to `trailer-trash', are represented as such when Guthrie makes Hank McBee out to be an arrogant, hot-headed, ignoramus. Likewise, I almost cried when the Fairman's sick boy Tod gets bitten by a rattlesnake and dies. Guthrie does a brilliant job at characterization throughout the entire novel.
In fact, it is Guthrie's characterization that portrays the prominent (in my opinion) theme of the novel, that morality is subjective and cannot be used to effectively judge character.
When I first picked up this book, I expected it to be a stereotypical western, complete with hostile Native Americans and disease-ridden pioneers. However, I found that Guthrie was very realistic about his wagon train and stayed away from typical motifs often found in westerns. Although I would probably not read it again, The Way West was an enjoyable novel and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick read.

The Way West is the second in the series of great Western novels by A.B. Guthrie. The story picks up in 1846 in Independence, Missouri, jumping off point for the Oregon Trail.

Former mountain man Dick Summers is coaxed out of farm life and back in to the saddle as the pilot of an early wagon train bound for the Willamette Valley. Summers is an American archetype - doesn't say much, doesn't get excited, knows how do the important outdoor things, he's beyond mere competence, but not braggy, even-tempered, yet underneath it, a compassionate man. Elijah ('Lije') Evans, the main new protagonist, becomes an unlikely leader of the cavalcade.

Guthrie introduces the characters that populated the Old West - big and small, courageous and cowering, mostly ordinary people. The book is excellent in historical detail - you feel like you are climbing Independence Rock along with Brownie Evans or crossing the Snake. The reader gets a real sense of the extreme difficulty of these early wagon train trips. To quote Dick Summers, "It ain't easy, but it ain't beyond doin' either."

Highest recommendation for anyone interested in the American West.

I read this book because I so loved Guthrie's' first book, "The Big Sky". This is the one that won the Pulitzer though.

I have never been taken into a persons impression of the country around them or the grief at losing a loved one or any other emotional high or low place the way Mr. Guthrie could in this story.

In fact, if you are a writer or student of good writing or have any kind of appreciation for amazing prose like I have never found it anywhere in my life, then you simply must read this book. It's amazing that he can capture the wandering mind; the guilt and isolation, brotherhood and comradery, the follies of the heavy mind through lack of experience vs. the been there done that of the seasoned individual in an idiom unmatched.

So why the 4 stars you ask? Well should it be 4.5 stars? Frankly I wanted a touch more action. I loved the writing style . It was an experience and should be part of a true connoisseurs bookshelf. The writing was slightly better in this tome, but The Big Sky was a better story in my humble opinion.

While there is much helpful information in this book, I'm afraid the delivery is awkward and colorless and it was an effort to complete this read. If you're working on a specific project related to architectural issues in Portland, then you'll find some relevant data. Otherwise, don't put yourself through it.

This is an outstanding architectural guide, written for architecture enthusiasts and serious cultural travelers. Why did I give it only a 4 (instead of a 5)? Because it is not entirely inclusive of entries from the 2001 edition. The author, for some odd reason, has removed (or condensed) many of the entries from the 2001 edition to make room for mostly modern structures from the past six years. My simple complaint (and recommendation): In any new edition, add, but do not subtract.

Otherwise, it's nearly perfect. The small building selection (about 250 sites) is wonderful, and is a perfect balance between historic and modern landmarks. The author wrote the text with a fun, tongue-in-cheek style that is both insightful and entertaining. It really works well. The photographs are all monochrome, and there are very few, perhaps one per page, or about one for every other entry. There are a few interior shots of important public spaces. I would say that the photography meets minimum standards of a book like this, but that's about all. For those of you familiar with the Dorsey and Dilts guide to Baltimore, this book is similar in feel and format. There's a very brief introductory essay to establish the historical context, and short architect biographies inserted into the text. Mostly the author chooses to let us interpret the history of the city through the buildings.

As for the architecture, I'll leave that for you to discover. Suffice to say that Portland is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Surrounding suburbs and towns are not discussed, but that's fine since there's more than enough to keep one interested within the Portland city limit. And if you think Portland is just a smaller version of Seattle, you should take a look at this book and reconsider that conclusion.

Now in an updated and expanded second edition reflecting Portland's growth in the twenty-first century, An Architectural Guidebook to Portland is teacher Bart King's guide to the amazing buildings that distinguish Portland, Oregon as a place worthy of sightseeing. From 19th-century cast-iron front buildings to the Old Town and Chinatown to the breathtaking downtown bridges and much more, An Architectural Guidebook to Portland is sure to intrigue architecture enthusiasts, Portland tourists, and armchair travelers alike. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this blend of historic preservation and history vignettes, which features over 250 separate entries.

The book contains a brief history of Portland architecture, and a building by building look at the best, and some of the worst, buildings in downtown and surrounding areas. Anyone who has been to Portland and actually looked at the buildings knows that Portland's architecture is pretty special. There are only a few of the original turn of the century cast-iron frame buildings left, unfortunately, because they were torn down to build a freeway in the 1940s. The freeway is now gone (moved 14 blocks west, away from the Willamette waterfront), but only 10% of the buildings near the waterfront survived. The area around Skidmore fountain shows what Portland looked like then.

The book doesn't limit itself to just old buildings, though. There's a description and photo of the Henry building, the condo development completed in 2004 directly behind Powell's books. And the new Park Towers building, occupying the space across the street from the old Hamburger Mary's, is present as well.

This is a really excellent and detailed look at Portland's unique architecture. It would make an excellent guidebook for walking tours in downtown.

[Review of the second edition]

When I accepted the offer to receive and review a copy of the book An Architectural Guidebook To Portland, Second Edition by Bart King, I'll admit I wasn't waiting with anticipation for it to show up. In fact, had his request not had the line "No pressure! The book is particularly helpful as a cure for insomnia, however.", I probably would have let it pass. But much to my surprise, this was far more fun to read than I expected, and I'm glad I had the chance to see it.

Contents:
Introduction; Downtown; Cultural District, Government Center; Yamhill; Old Town - Chinatown; The Pearl; Northwest; Southwest; Southeast; Northeast; Downtown Bridges; Glossary; Photo Credits; Bibliography; Index

Portland has a very rich and colorful history from the early days as "Stumptown" to the present. And going into old historic sites fascinate me, as I can often "feel the past" when I imagine what things must have been like back then. But reading a book where someone waxes eloquent about the finer points of Romanesque versus Richardsonian Romanesque doesn't do a thing for me. Fortunately, this book is *far* from that. King divides up the city into some basic areas, and then covers approximately 20 to 30 buildings of note in each, ranging from the late 1800's to buildings that are due to start in the upcoming year. The first difference I noticed is that his choices are not all "excellent" examples of some style or architect. In fact, a number of his choices were voted "ugliest building in Portland" by various panels. You may not necessarily agree with the opinions, but he's not afraid to point out both thoroughbreds and nags. And he does it with a sharp and cutting sense of humor. Each selection usually has a short inset or sidebar that contains an interesting factoid that brings the building's history to life. Even the glossary is worth reading (yes, I was *that* hooked!). My favorite was probably the definition of portico... "A covered porch. There are many different styles. You do not care." It's not often I laugh out loud when reading. Especially so when architecture is the subject matter. This was a definite exception.

"Serious" students of architecture might feel that King doesn't treat the subject matter with the reverence that it deserves. To that I say, get a life. But for the average person who goes to work in downtown Portland every day without noticing the rich history around them, this book is a true gem.

Simply put, this is an absolutely outstanding novel. It was my first exposure to Kate Wilhelm and I was quite impressed. The story is interesting and retained my interest to the end, so much so that I have already ordered other Barbara Holloway novels. Wilhelm's describes her characters well, and her writing never intrudes. We immediately take a dislike to the bigoted primary victim. Our sympathy for the accused, a badly disfigured, but highly talented editorial artist, builds as the story develops. The legal machinations are intriguing and the plot unfolds in a believable way. The resolution of the mystery may surprise many readers, and if you become fully immersed in the story, the novel's post denouement conclusion may bring empathetic tears of happiness.

One Note: The number of important characters is probably slightly more than one might expect, e.g., in a cozy mystery, and the reader may need to make a few brief notes to keep all of them clearly in mind if completing the novel will extend over more than just a few days.

Barbara Holloway takes on yet another difficult, unusual case. But this time her father is on the same case. Different suspect. Can they sort out their relationship enough to remain father and daughter? Or will the lawyer in them both make life unbearable as each tries to make their case for their client?

Fantastic character development and descriptions.

In this mystery,Kate Wilhelm uses a disfigured man as the main suspect for a murder and as the story unfolds she makes us aware of how much importance society places on looks.I thought this was an unusual premise for a murder mystery.As always her books are suspenseful,surprising and this story also has a happy ending.I highly recommend this author especially if you love the Pacific Northwest.

As usual, Ms. Wilhelm created a great story, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the mind guessing. However, it smacked of bias.

The character of the murdered man, Gus Marchand, is flat. He's just a bad guy. He calls himself a Christian, but he is a hateful, bigoted, controlling man who demeans his wife and beats his children. There is no other side to this man, no balance, no reason for why he is such a person. It is as though Marchand has no good feelings about anything or anyone, and everything he has ever done is bad. Towards the end of the book, Barbara Holloway blames Marchand for everything, even the murder of a woman by her lover who feared he would be exposed, because "Gus Marchand was a zealot who was determined to impose his belief system on everyone around him."

In fact, anyone clearly identified as a Christian is painted with a broad brush of bias. The wife is a weak-willed woman willing to submit to Marchand's domination of the home and abusive manner towards those in the community who don't share his beliefs. The pastor of the Baptist church Marchand attended saw Marchand as a good, honest man who never lied, a hero in the home, and at the end of his testimony in court, he appeared the buffoon as he loudly launched into a prayer to protect the daughter from the devil. Many of the townspeople, who were also members of Marchand's church in the rural Oregon town, blindly followed along with his hateful rhetoric, and were too often just stupid.

Characters not associated as Christians were real people, humans that showed compassion, felt pain and anger, had high principles but demonstrated flaws, and so on. So much was well-written: one felt ill for the hatred and abuse Alex had wrongly received over the years. Unfortunately, it just appeared to have too much bias against one group to suit my tastes.

I concur with the reviewer who noted Wilhelm's one-demensional treatment of Christian characters, as opposed to the depth with which she treats characters who either espouse no religion or are not identified as belonging to a particular religious sect. It smacks of intellectual laziness to take the easy route and ridicule those whose deeply held religious beliefs placed them at odds with (in this case) the education establishment. While it's true that nobody is perfect, and it would be just as unfortunate if Wilhelm had attributed perfection to these characters, the story would have been far better had the Marchand parents and other Christian characters been painted with more than one color.

Those considering the unabridged audio version of this book might want to make another selection. I'm not sure whether Marguerite Gavin always narrates like this, or whether she was just having a bad day, but her work is alternately jarring, grating, and outright bad when it comes to her (mis)pronounciation of well-known Pacific Northwest geography. One such example is her pronounciation of "Willamette," which will drive anyone familiar with the Northwest, the Willamette River, or Willamette University up the proverbial wall.

Rudolph Terry Shappee grew up along the coast of Oregon during the Depression and the World War II years. His family lived in 19th-century fashion not from choice but because of poverty; they were poorer than the Waltons but just as happy. Shappee, a retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer who served in Vietnam, wrote this memoir to show a consumer-oriented modern society that family harmony can exist under dire circumstances. His family worked in the fisheries while living at Newton's Corners. The neighbors helped each other, particularly a young couple who were seperated by the war when he was called to service. During the 1950s, the Shappees moved to Warrenton, where Rudolph spent the majority of his childhood. Both of his parents decided that a better life existed for them if they left the fisheries and canneries and worked for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Tillamook, Oregon. "Making My Way" resembles many of those nostalgic memoirs of family life, a la "Cheaper by the Dozen," "Chicken Every Sunday," and "The Egg and I" which were a staple of publishing in the post-World War II decade. The charm of this book is that it reminds a present generation that it wasn't so long ago that America was not so prosperous, that most people accomplished things without electronic tools, and that social organization was prized as a necessity and not a sentimental idea.

This is a well written account of a young man's journey through the 50s. It would be a quick read for anyone interested in fishing, the Oregan coast, or reminiscing about boyhood adventures. A true tale of Americana!

"Making My Way" is a nostalgic trip back to small town America of the 40s and 50s. Feels good when high tech and millennium headlines furrow the brow. Shappee, born in 1939, soaked up character, backbone and indelible memories in Warrenton, Oregon and other towns along the magic coastline. In this memoir, Shappee shares personal memories of his family, of early homes and chums. His dad was a fisherman, gone for long periods, so mom did the raising. In his teens, Shappee got to help his dad prepare the boat for long runs to the Columbia River and the Pacific. One home sat across from the general store and gas station at Newton's Corners, a pefect spot for curious, young eyes and ears. The author shows what really brought indoor plumbing home. "The biggest bear I had ever seen," had trapped his mother in the outhouse. A flashlight and screwdriver helped young Shappee discover a forgotten, boarded-up library in one house; including books with pictures of body parts! We ride along as the boy gains his sea legs aboard his father's boat in heavy seas, and smell the printer's ink during his first newspaper days on the hometown Columbia Beacon. All

Terry Shappee gives us a child's view of the rich tapestry of life on the Oregon coast in the forties and fifties. There, despite the hardships and financial struggles of his family, he learned the values he now teaches us in Making My Way. Mr. Shappee presents a collection of memories that reveal more about him, and ultimately all of us, than the great issues and worldwide problems that fill so many of the books in our bookstores and the television screens in our homes.

Reading "Making My Way" is like glimpsing into a later day Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn, or walking down one of the streets in "Cannery Row". The story takes one back to a time not too long ago, but a time that might be forgotten. You see life in the Northwest at a time when the world was going through one of it's most trying times. You are able to share a young man's life growing up in those times. This should be required reading for all school children. If it weren't for stories like "Making My Way" our past with all of it's good qualities would be lost. A must for everyone who wishes to experience those bygone days. -- Sam Younghans, Actor/writer 4/10/99

kylight Howells, Private Investigator, isn't exactly a split-personality. . . He's more of a multi-personality. Sky has several facets of himself which he becomes by donning various disguises. Dennis, for example, is a computer nerd and math expert and just by wearing Dennis' glasses, Sky can solve complex mathematical problems and break into computers. These six personalities are very handy for a detective and Sky wears them all--including Lulu--with an ease that is nearly scary.

Sometimes he thinks he might be overdoing it a bit, but the multi-personality thing takes back burner to his real problem--tap-dancing. Yes, Sky is a problem dancer, and hasn't been attending his meetings regularly. At any moment, with his resistance this low, he could duck into an all night karaoke tap club and--well, let's just say that the results wouldn't be pretty.

On top of it all, he's got work to do. He's trailing his high school nemesis to see if he's cheating on his wife and while still in the middle of this case, a lovely blonde bombshell of a computer programmer needs help with a murder case. Seems that some disgruntled nerd is killing computer program "documentalists". Her brother is a prime suspect and she wants to prove his innocence and find the real killer. Soon the killer becomes a serial killer and Sky--and the rest of him--must find out the whys and whos.

This is a very witty novel, with some sidesplitting read-out-loud happenings (the first use of the juicer, for instance, still makes me laugh). The mystery is not nearly as interesting as Sky's detecting and the solving of the case was a bit lame. Despite all that, I enjoyed it, passed in on to Stoney and refer it to anyone who likes their mystery to be slightly wacky and a whole lot of fun.

This is an incredibly ingenious and quite funny novel. It's one of my favorites. Its uniqueness would probably be appealing to many. I've read quite a bit of critically acclaimed science fiction over the years (including Maureen McHugh's 'The Lincoln Train', 'China Mountain Zhang', and 'Nekropolis', as well as Amitav Ghosh's 'The Calcutta Chromosome') and enjoyed this novel just as much, and possibly more, than those, which are pretty impressive but usually not as inventive!

It's also really refreshing to discover some science fiction with a sense of humor, since much of the field tends to be rather "doom and gloom" or horror-themed.

Ray Vukcevich's fiction is so off the wall it's astonishing. Hilarious, outrageous, ingenious fun.

From time to time, Ray Vukcevich's "Man of Maybe Half-a-Dozen Faces" pops up on my Amazon.com recommendations list. It sounded interesting and funny; and had the benefit of having been compared to Lethem's "Gun, With Occasional Music". I decided to try it.

I wish I hadn't. It might still seem interesting and funny if I hadn't gone and ruined everything by reading it.

Brian Howells, the protagonist in this erstwhile comedic mystery is a disturbed fellow who dresses up in different outfits in order to a) disguise himself while sleuthing, and b) give voice to his different personalities, such as Tag, "The Average Guy", Dennis, the computer expert and Lulu. He also is addicted to tap-dancing and has no friends other than those he consults over the chat rooms and Internet news groups. He's hired to track down a killer who murders bad documentalists, those who produce incomprehensible computer manuals.

"Who am I and what do I want with you?" shouts Brian upon meeting his newest client. This pretty much sets the tone for the whole novel - it's funny, but pretty inane. What client would continue and hire someone so obviously disoriented and mentally ill? The only way I was able to make sense of this book and not to throw it across the room was to imagine it taking place in an alternate universe, one where our accepted definitions of Multiple-Personality Disorder don't apply and where illicit tap-dancing parlors exist like turn-of-the-century opium dens.

In the end, that just wasn't enough. Vukcevich thinks himself way to cute and clever, but his story just isn't smart enough to carry one through the inconsistencies and annoyances of his narrative.

The next time it pops up as a recommendations, I think I'll just click "Not Interested" and move on.

Really funny book that deserves to be on the shelf of all the Dirk Gently fans out there. One man: six identities = great fun -- and a really well-equipped private eye. If you wondered about the passions of documentationalists (or tap-dancers!), this will reaveal all. Vukcevich is a premiere modern surrealist, with one eye on the punchline, and one foot dangling off the wire. Read everything he's written. With any luck, there'll be a sequel to this...!