Massachusetts Books

While researching handmade laces of the eighteenth century for a grad-school project, I came across a small reference to Ipswich laces in an article from the early part of the twentieth century. I was totally intrigued by the idea of there being a handmade lace industry in New England. I had previously believed everyone was too puritanical to make lace (in seventeenth-century Massachusetts, there was a prohibition on the wearing of laces.) Further research led me to this fascinating little book.
The author clearly has a passion for the subject, and she follows that up with some very good research on multiple aspects of the industry, the society at large, the women who made the laces, the women who wore them, as well as the identification and characteristics of the various types of laces made there. She includes primary source documents (a report on the industry in Alexander Hamilton's papers, as well as original receipts and account books) , visual sources (portraits), and lots of original artifacts ( pillows, prickings, bobbins, finished laces, and surviving garments on which they were used.)
Definitely worth reading by anyone interested in American history, textile and fashion history, and lace and lace-making enthusiasts.
Well done!

In Lady Lightkeeper, talented author Nikki Leigh has crafted another riveting tale that will yank at every string in your heart. Loss is an inextricable part of life for the people of Misty Cove and Lizbeth has experienced more than her fair share. We learned in Widow's Walk that Lizbeth will not let adversity steer her off course.

As Lady Lightkeeper opens she awaits her beloved William's return from the sea, unaware that she will be tested in ways she never dreamed possible. Now, with two young children, she must forge a new life. The ever-loyal and loving Sara is there to help and support them even after a rift develops that tests their affection. Lizbeth's independence has always been a source of both admiration and rebuke amongst the townspeople, but it becomes clear that her tenacity and determination make her the right person to be the next lightkeeper, rather than the more experienced southerner in their midst.

Intertwined with Lizbeth's story, is a colorful cast of characters. These include the secretive assistant lightkeeper and the acid-tongued Ida who seems to have a hidden agenda where Lizbeth is concerned. In Leigh's expert hands their secrets unravel logically and meaningfully, leaving the reader feeling rewarded for having spent time with Lizbeth and the people of Misty Cove.

Mr. Kattelle and Mr. Halprin take you back in time to where America remembers it's neighborhood resorts. Like the Catskills and Adirondacks of old, Images of America Lake Boon recalls a simpler time of leisure. Where being together in a magical place in a magical summer time is all we ever longed for. The images are wonderful. From the boat parades of 50 years ago, to ice fishermen and the oddest fun events that entertained folks of all ages. If your a "old times" buff, this book is for you. Lake Boon MA is a jewel just 30 miles from Boston.

A refreshing look at the Mayflower landing takes the shape of the voyage itself from the perspective of a sailor. The author was a sailor and describes the ship, the navigation and the voyage from the first sighting of land to the final anchoring in Massachusetts Bay. The book is very well researched.

Each turn of the page reveals another exceptional view. It's easy to take gorgeous landscape photos of New England in Autumn, but Richard Creek goes far beyond that. The lighting, cloud conditions, reflections, and seasonal conditions bring out the most in each photograph. I want to frame each one and hang it on my walls, or better still, visit each place and hope to see and capture a similar moment. I hope Mr. Creek follows up with a series of other states.

As a landlord in Massachusetts, I find this book absolutely invaluable. I refer to it often, and the standard forms included with the book alone are well worth the price of admission. An absolute must for anyone looking to own rental property in the Bay State.

I was very pleased with the book that I ordered.
It arrived quickly and was in the condition that was said.

John Howe has written a marvelous book on an important subject, one that resonates in the early 21st century. He argues that in the revolutionary era there was a profound change in discursive practices that mirrored the politics of those dramatic times. It had been assumed that language was "fixed in meaning and exact in expression, its vocabulary and grammar based on timeless standards, its meaning existing apart from the shifting currents of historical change." Howe has done the scholarly spade work necessary to demonstrate that the Federalists changed all that by fashioning a language "whose grammar and vocabulary were understood to change over time, whose meaning derived from its immediate historical context, and whose purpose was to facilitate rather than restrain political initiative, thus serving the needs of an unfolding future." Anyone who has ever mulled over the challenge of recovering the "orginal intent" of the framers of the Constitution will find this book richly rewarding, for Howe is a superb scholar and a gifted writer in his own right.

Just hold this book in your hands and you can feel the dedication and energy that went into preserving the history of the Lawrence Police force. Full of pictorials of officers past and present, you can see the changes in the uniforms, equipment and in the city in which these Heros Wearing Blue have dedicated there lives to. I would recommend this book to anyone that has a sense of patriotisim as much as this author has.

Oh boy, if you were raised in Lawrence like me, you have got to have this two volume set. The memories are awesome. I've written my own little book of memories about good old Lawrence "A Summer with Charlie" now on Amazon. But with my book you have to make up your own imaginary pictures. This book has it all - The Old Palace and Broadway Theaters, the corner variety stores, those old immigrant faces that you grew up with, the parades down Essex Street, the rows of tenement houses, the labor strikes and the mill disasters, the good times and the bad times, the cobble stone streets, the buses, the bakeries and breweries. I just start looking at some of those faces and names and I'm gone - back to the 50's and 60's.