Ohio Books

In Xavier Benoit's story, TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY, readers embark on a journey of one man's self-discovery as he juggles his career, romantic relationship and the temptations he faces. Malik Standish is a sports journalist about to start a new job assignment which will enable him to secure stability in his relationship with Angel Mychals so they can begin to plan their future together. This new position has him trotting all over the United States following basketball great, James Dollar in his farewell tour before his retirement. Not only does Malik get to travel with the team, he gets to experience the perks of ball players such as fine dining, great parties and lots of women. Not heeding the timely advice of James Dollar, Malik gets caught up in situations that jeopardize his job, his relationship with Angel and even his life.

Angel loves Malik, but the betrayal by her first love two years prior has left her insecure and distrustful. In Malik she has found a man who is charming, handsome and also adheres to her religious convictions of abstinence. However with Malik's new job opportunity, Angel's fears threaten to destroy their relationship and it doesn't help that her first love returns and has her questioning whether she is really over him. Angel must decide whether she wants to continue to push away the man who has stolen her heart or overcome her insecurities.

This novel skirts the edges of Christian fiction because there are inspirational passages used as well as spiritual realizations that occur for the characters. However, the author ensures the characters actions are true to the situations. The author tells the story from the viewpoint of the main characters alternating chapters in doing so. This should enable readers to relate, empathize and really connect with the individual characters, but this unfortunately does not happen. Instead of the characters jumping off the pages, they are one-dimensional and lack enough depth to garner a more emotional attachment. For example, at the most trying time in the relationship for Angel, readers don't get to struggle emotionally through her turmoil instead there is a paragraph of her not going to work and sleeping. Although this novel has a good storyline it lacked fluidity. It seemed to jump around instead of having a natural flow that led to its climatic conclusion. This was due in part to the several subplots involving some of the minor characters. Although the main characters are not perfect, Malik as well as Angel must learn from their mistakes and hold true to their faith in order to love and live a better life. The story is generally engaging, it just needs the skilled hand of an editor to polish its flow and give real conflict and feelings to the characters.

Reviewed by Cashana Seals
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I am very impressed by the arrangement of this book. Not only does this book inspire me...it blessed me with ability to relate to certain situations in the story...and then bringing everything back to the Word...I will read this book again and again...I will definitely continue to advise all race of life to enjoy a wonderful book and I look forward to Xavier's next book.

Very proud of you

This is an amazing book. It captivates you and stimulates your imagination. It has been a very long time since I have picked up a book that I did not want to put down. I could not wait to share this novel with others. Kudos to you Xavier, a job very well done.

I've read this book twice and Im still finding new laughter in each chapter.Its an easy read and it holds your attention from cover to cover.

I loved Xavier's first novel. It was everything that I could have asked for in a book. It was truely a delight for me to read and I am looking forward to seeing much more from this author.

I really like the color key. It's a must for avid gardeners, professioals and beginners.

This book is THE BEST!! My absolute favorite wildflower book for the North Georgia Mountains... and I have tried MANY. I am a professional naturalist and lead wildflower hikes all spring. This book is my bible! I carry it everywhere I go. Easy to use, lots of species covered, wonderful ethnobotany information (great "stories" to use while leading hikes). Detailed enough to get the ID right, general enough for anyone to use. Wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful book... (as are Lone Pine's other plant books covering other regions.) HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED!!

I love this book. Great photo's. Easy to use. Small enough to take along. Interesting plant lore on every page.

I purchased this book for a friend's birthday and after looking through it, nearly kept it.

I've been cataloging thousands of wildflower photos over the past six years and probably own or have "borrowed" most wildflower field ID guides that are out there. This book is easily my favorite. Why?

Easy to use: A color key w/thumbnail images for more than half of the flowers in the book makes finding the right flower much easier if you do not know which family of flowers to search in. If you do have to browse all the pages then the placement of flower photos along the outside edges of the pages makes thumbing thru the book easier than most. The pages are substantial enough to make for easy browsing too.

Ethnobotanical info: Most flowers have a special paragraph about the historical and current usages of the flowering plants for purposes other than visual pleasure, i.e. medicinal, food, ceremonial, dyes, etc.

I'd been using Jack Carman's book "Wildflowers of Tennessee" as my "bible" for TN wildflowers but now this book with a similar name is my favorite. I still use the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers as a "family locator" because of its easy-to-use key (flower color plus bloom type) when searching for that unknown flower. One big aggravation with the Audubon book is that the details are in the "white pages" somewhere in the back of the book. The Wildflowers of Tennessee book has all of the info right there on the same page as the photo.

For newbies the color key makes this book user friendly--even though the flowers are grouped by family, genus then species (as are most wildflower field guides).

Downside? There are still many, many species flower flowers that have only a description rather than an actual photograph. However, this book is small enough to be practical in the field.

The price is great! I paid almost thirty dollars for the Carman book and it was worth every penny. I don't know how they can sell this fabulous book for such a low price.

Highly recommended. If you want to buy only one wildflower ID book for the Smokies then this is it.

This is a book I know Drew Carey would enjoy since he speaks highly of his hometown! If you are a resident or perhaps planning to visit Cleveland then this book will introduce you to the city's past and present. Great pictures as well. Nice tribute to this great city!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Mr. Grabowksi's choice of subject matter made the book interesting, and the "now" photography is beautiful. How lovely were Superior and Euclid Avenues in the past; modern structures today, in my opinion, pale against the architecture of the old mansions... I enjoyed the glimpse of seeing how people dressed and where they shopped. When is the last time you've been in a "dry goods" store? With a spot on the street to tether your horse? This is a must-have piece of history for Clevelanders and history buffs alike.

This is a wonderful gift for anyone from the Cleveland area as it goes into so many fascinating developments of the region over time.

John J. Grabowski is synonymous with chronicling the history of Cleveland as co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and writing other books on various aspects of the city.

Working on this project with Diane Ewart Grabowski has yielded a unique view of the city through its architecture from the dawning of the 20th Century to the beginning of the 21st Century.

Using archival photographs from back then and through commissioned works now, the focus is on the downtown area and some residential neighborhoods. There is text that accompanies the various photographs that adds valuable insight on the city.

What makes the book especially interesting is a person can literally "map out" a walking tour of the portions of the city chronicled to get an even better appreciation on how some areas have had remarkable change, while others have roughly remained the same.

While the book should be of particular interest to northeast Ohio residents and schools, Cleveland Then and Now is a history of the visions of developers & political leaders and - most importantly - the people who made the structures teem with activity during work hours and in the neighborhoods with family & friends.

I've been in Cleveland now for about 10 years, having moved here permanently to be with my wife. I'm always learning new things about this interesting and often vexing area. Even though I don't especially like living in the Cleveland/NE Ohio area today (this area has been hit hard economically, and it shows), this book has enabled me to learn much more about the glory, grit, and history of this interesting American city, in words and pictures. Cleveland proper was once the 5th largest American city, and the grandiosity and urban landscape and feel has been captured perfectly with the many turn of the century black & white classic photos of the downtown area, or 'Millionaires Row', just to name 2 geographical areas cited in this book! The 'side by side' juxtaposition of many of the classic 'then' pictures to the 'now' pictures, with many structures and/or buildings still standing, is eerily fascinating to say the least. If you live in NE Ohio, or go there often, this book is a MUST. You won't be able to put it down, and you will be mesmerized by Cleveland's humble industrial beginnings that helped mold NE Ohio into what it has become today! Also, looking at all the photos of people that existed 100 years ago makes you feel your own mortality as well. What is considered 'modern' today will be 'classic' or 'retro' tomorrow!

The Awakening Land trilogy of books by Conrad Richter are fascinating. A real taste of the frontier in America.

All of the books in Conrad Richter's trilogy are superb. I am a descendant of people just like these, at the same time of Richter's story, and I spent much of my childhood there in Ohio living a way of life that is nearly gone. The past of my people became so rich, real, and alive through the writing.

Great book. Great trilogy. Recommend to anyone, male or female, young (14 and up) or old. I read the trilogy many years ago. While homeschooling, I had one of my sons read all three books and write a book report on each one. He was in the 9th grade at the time. At first, he rebelled against the setting the books were written in, preferring a more modern or sci-fi theme, but soon became engrossed in the details of the lifestyle of these early Americans. Especially the fact that they were totally self-sufficient. He was amazed. The details in these stories are accurate and believable. I read where Mr. Richter took stories told to him by people old enough to remember the actual events or those who heard the stories passed down from their grandparents, and wove them into a remarkable epic that is cohesive and believable. I recently purchased this trilogy for my mother-in-law as a birthday gift.

Though not as historically interesting as the first of the trilogy it certainly merited its award.

Richter loses no time establishing THE FIELDS as a direct and strong descendant of THE TREES. With no time wasting, he recreates the forest and Sayward's battle against the "big butts," those mammoth trees blocking out the sun.

Her relationship with her man, Portius Wheeler the lawyer, seems at first to strengthen: seven kids in all, and a childhood tragedy once again accepted. We readers wonder how she can stay so strong, so calm. But she does. And so does her brood.

But Portius weakens and succombs. Sayward takes the blame, but again shows the inner strength to go on. The ending of book two carries on the development of their little community, and also shows the intensity of her love for her family.

Don't miss it.

by Larry Rochelle, author of DUST DEVILS, GHOSTLY EMBERS and ARROW.

When I began work on my own book on ghosthunting in Virginia and the District of Columbia, this was one of the resources I picked up for inspiration, and I have to say that it more than met my expectations. This handbook contains firsthand accounts by the author of his visits to a wide variety of haunted public sites -- including hotels, restaurants, and cemeteries -- and is well written, nicely detailed, and often amusing.

On a more personal level, I was pleasantly surprised by a number of things. One was all the ways my own travels and writing endeavors intersected with the author's adventures in this book, including my stay at the clearly-haunted Hilton Netherlands Plaza hotel in Cincinnati. Another was with what a similar approach Kachuba and I had taken in our respective works and how, with much less tweaking than I would have assumed, almost any of the chapters in my most recent book, Shipwrecks and Lost Treasures: Great Lakes, could have been spun as ghost stories.

It is also nice when an author continues to do what he does best, so I was pleased to see that Kachuba had also written a Ghosthunting Illinois (The Haunted Heartland), and will have to check it out next.

Review by Lee Prosser - leep@ghostvillage.com
Ghostvillage.com review

A fascinating look at ghosts and hauntings in Ohio, this is one book not to be missed. In fact, I found I had read it twice before I reviewed it simply because of the interest it generated within me as a reader! This book will grab your interest and hold it, and thanks to the concise and clear writing talents of John B. Kachuba, this is one book about ghosts you will savor re-reading many times over.

In addition there is a travel guide to ghosthunting, a section on visiting haunted places, and a ghostly resources entry. A brisk and entertaining introduction sets the pace to this well-crafted book. Ohio is covered by sections.

With over thirty ghostly sites to read about, there is something for everybody in this book. Among the numerous interesting entries, check out Fort Meigs, Main Street Cafe, The Lofts Hotel, Taffy's Main Street Coffee, Woodland Cemetery, The Castle, and the Inn at Cedar Falls. An enjoyable afterword concludes this fine ghosthunting book.

If you like reading about ghosthunting and stories of hauntings as much as I do, then this book will give you many repeated hours of reading enjoyment. I highly recommend this book to anybody seriously interested in the lore of ghosts. Excellent reading!

Simply put, I loved this book. John Kachuba has a gift of description. I felt like I was in these locations with John while he was telling all of these stories. As a ghosthunter, I love reading about other paranormally active locations. Now I'll have to include all of these locations to my list. John is a brilliant writer and I'm already anticipating his next book. If you ever have the opportunity to listen to John tell some of his "ghost stories", I urge you to do so as you will be missing out if you don't.

Ohio resident John Kachuba has documented 31 tales from every corner of that beautiful state. I only wish this book had been available during the years I drove there frequently to visit my daughter attending college in Ohio's heartland. I had no idea I was passing by so many fascinating and creepy places.

In addition to the great writing (Kachuba teaches writing at the college level), what really makes his book stand out among the ghost books I have read is its inclusion of only haunts that are open to the public. You can visit every one of these places. In fact, you could use this book as a guide to the state and spend a very intriguing week or two investigating each site - staying in the haunted hotels, eating in the spooky restaurants and taverns, and touring a variety of ghost-filled historic buildings featured in this collection, if you dare!

To ensure you have no excuse to wimp out on an Ohio ghost excursion, Kachuba includes regional maps and clear directions to each site. To make sure you know when you're at the front door, he adds very nice photos of each building. Then, just as you may have pumped up your courage to venture forth, he scares you good in a warning from his "Afterword," written by notable paranormal researchers and demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Maybe armchair traveling is the best kind, after all.

Georgiana Kotarski,
author of Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not only is John's writing style captivating, it is extremely descriptive. I felt as though I was able to almost picture myself at each of the locations. There was much history in the book, and John described each location with exciting detail, and dignity.
I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Kachuba at Ghostock 4 in Savannah, Georgia in February, and he has a warm, friendly personality.I look forward to meeting him again, and I can't wait to read one of his other books.
Cindy

JONATHAN KNIGHT DOES A GREAT JOB TAKING US THRU SOME GREAT AND EXCITING YEARS DURING THE MID TO LATE 1980'S CLEVELAND BROWNS SEASONS. HE REALLY BRINGS BACK SOME GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD NOSTALGIC MOMENTS. WE START WITH THE DISASTEROUS 1984 SEASON WITH THE RELEASE OF GOOD GUY SAM RUTIGLIANO AS HEAD COACH AND IS REPLACED BY MARTY (SHOT AND A BEER) SCHOTTENHEIMER. FROM THERE THE BROWNS PEAK UNTIL 1986 WHEN THEY HAD THEIR BEST TEAM OF THIS ERA LOSE IN THE FAMOUS "THE DRIVE" GAME. FROM THERE THE BROWNS WENT DOWN HILL A BIT EACH YEAR BUT STILL REACHED THE PLAYOFFS. AS A RESULT OF BAD DRAFTING, IDIOTIC PLAYER JUDGEMENTS AND THE CONSTANT INTERFERENCE OF BIG MOUTH ART (THE LIAR AND BS'ER) MODELL THE TEAM WENT BELLY UP. WITH THE RELEASE OF BERNIE KOSAR THE ATTENDANCE WENT THRU THE BASEMENT. AND WITH THE HIRING OF BILL (PRE NEW ENGLAND) BILICHICK THE FANS STAYED AWAY IN GROVES. POOR ART, HE WANTED A NEW STADIUM BUT WANTED THE TAX PAYERS TO PAY FOR IT. NOT GETTING IT HE LEFT AND THE RAVENS WERE BORN. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL BROWNS FANS. A GREAT READ.

Very well written account of a great era in Cleveland Sports history. I had moved back to town in the time frame and was so excited to have the Browns back in my life that strongly. A great group of guys. Really is a shame they were not able to take it to the next level, but in the end, truly, the experience is way more about the journey than the end result. To Earnest Byner.....a quote I once heard from Julius Erving after he had lost to Kareem and the Lakers for the second time and lost in the champioinship for the third time...."In order to be great, you have to DARE to be great, and I will continue to dare to be great." I think of that qoute when I think of his experience in those years.

I loved this book, I vaguely remember these Browns teams as I was only about 10 years old, but I knew how much they meant to people around me. Reading this enable me to learn how this team connected with the city and how much heartbreak there was. I couldn't pt the book down wanting to relive everybit of the history.

I purchased this book on a lark right when the 2006 football season began. As the Browns started their all-too-familiar path of on-field ineptitude and losing, I decided to pull this book out for a read.

Thank goodness I did, as it made me remember how good things used to be for those few years in the 1980s. The author did a great job of describing the games and providing insight as to what was going on within the team, organization and community at the time.

A wonderful read that took me mind away from another abysmal season and reminded me why I love this team.

I love this book (as well as "The Kardiac Kids", also by this author). As someone born and raised in Cleveland, I've followed the Browns since the early seventies. The Schottenheimer era, along with the first year of Bud Carson's reign, contained some of the most exciting (and heartbreaking) Browns games I can remember. I still have a lot of VHS tapes of those games, which I occasionally get out to re-live the days when the Browns were a real contender.

Mr. Knight's book begins with the last part of Sam Rutigliano's reign as head coach, when the Kardiac Kids were becoming a memory and the team began to return to the losing ways of the mid seventies. We learn how Rutigliano was fired and replaced by Marty Schottenheimer and how the team acquired the players whose names would come to represent the newer, better Browns: Kosar, Slaughter, Dixon, Golic, Byner, and so many others.

There were a lot of classic games in the late eighties, and Knight takes us through all the important moments - the 1985 divisional playoff in Miami, the thrashing of the Bengals at Cincinatti in 1986, the Steelers games, the Oilers games, the great playoffs against the Jets in '86, the Colts in '87, the Bills in '89, and, of course, those nightmarish Broncos.

When the games are really big, Knight's coverage is quite in depth. For example, we read Nev Chandler's own words as he describes Kosar's touchdown pass to Brennan in the '86 AFC Championship for the radio audience: "... he's firing the home-run ball for Brennan... turns one way, turns another...HE'S GOT IT AT THE FIFTEEN! TEN! FIVE........" I still get excited at that! For a moment anyway, we were going to the Super Bowl!!

Besides the game action, we also learn a lot of what was going on behind the scenes - the death of Don Rogers, the issues that caused Schottenheimer to leave for Kansas City after the 1988 season, Kevin Mack's drug addiction, and how the bottom finally fell out in Carson's second year.

I can't praise this book highly enough for the true Browns fan. Pick it up and enjoy the great memories. It will help to hold you over till that sweet day when we finally, someday, get another contender in Cleveland. And when we do, I'll be cheering as loud as ever!

I remember checking this book out at the local library and reading it cover-to-cover at least 4 times when I was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen. That was around 10 years ago, and I still remember bits and pieces of it. It was that good. Now, I suggest you pick up a copy of this before more people discover how good it is and it becomes a rare/collecible item. Highly recommended if you like reading non-fiction about tornadoes.

I own this book in its original printing. This book is so good I will not loan it out in fear of losing it. I am an avid storm watcher via Internet, etc. This book is like being there! I'm glad to see they have broght it back into print. A must read for anyone interested in severe weather and survivor stories.

I have read this book several times over the years, and it holds my interest all the way to the end each time. It reads easily and quickly, and yet gives great detail to the horrific events of Friday, May 31st, 1985. This book is even more important to me because I live about 43 miles away from where the nearest tornado hit- Newton Falls, Ohio. If you are a severe storm and/or tornado buff, or just want to learn more about this particular tornado outbreak, this book is for you.

This is the best tornado book that I have ever read. This incident happened about 50 miles from my hometown which makes it more exiting yet.The author's chronological story from the start to end keeps the reader's interest through out the whole book. I am currently looking fo a copy of this book

This is truely the best tornado book I ever read. I lived not far from several of where these tornadoes struck. An F4 tornado just passed south of my hometown, Warren PA, and struck Tionesta and Northern Forest County, killing 7. I found out about this rare, yet fascinating outbreak in PA. I recommend this book to be read by any tornado enthusiast.

Very well written book with lots of good hikes. Great when you are looking for someplace new to walk. Descriptions are clear and accurate. I haven't gotten lost yet!

If you are poor with directions like me, this is an excellent book. I bought it in anticipation of the upcoming hiking season, vowing (YET AGAIN) I was going to hike with my kids this Spring. I found the book informative, to the point, and very easy to follow. I never realized what wonderful treasures we had available to us in the greater Cleveland area. What a great read!

Well, found this most interesting, as I thought I'd find new paths and new directions and that is just what happened. Startled to find things indicated or new things about paths and hikes I was familiar with, already took these and then a new bit of information about them. Unexpected, but nice. Very good style, very personable - voice of the author - easy to read, follow, and enjoy, which I very much have. Helpful and to the point. Like it much. Easy to follow directions, paths, maps, and found it a pleasure to read and use. Half the time I keep it in my car. Real pleased, and have already told any number of friends about it. Thanks.

I'm a Cleveland native and grew up right near the Metroparks. I spent my summers in swimming pools, but after reading the book, I realize I've missed out on a great deal of what the area has to offer. I also learned that it's not too late to strap on some hiking boots and explore the parks! As the editor of a regional newspaper, I'm no stranger to non-fiction and 60 Hikes is THE nature book to buy. 60 Hikes was an easy read that made sense to me. I'm inspired to get up, get out and take a hike!

What botanical wonder diapered Native American babies and served as an emergency field dressing in WWI? Give up? Sphagnum moss! Facts like these are plentiful in Diane Stresing's excellent hiking guidebook.

Trails are rated by difficulty and include easy-to-follow maps, drive-to directions, terrain types, distances, hiking times and nearest restrooms. Detailed descriptions discuss unique flora, fauna and interesting local and geological histories.

This book will fire up even the most timid explorer. Light and compact, it slips into a backpack for thumbing on the trail.

This guide was invaluable as our son searched for a school he knew he would be welcome in. We used various guides to narrow and refine our search for a school. This guide definitely played a significant role in our son's choice of schools, and he was very pleased to end up being admitted to the Advocate College Guide's #1 rated school: the University of Pennsylvania.

I am lucky enough to go to a school which made the Top 100 and am quoted in the synopsis of my school. As co-president of our Undergraduate Gay-Straight Alliance, I plan to use this book to bring to the administration's attention areas in which the school is lacking and work to improve those areas. The book also has a lot of information for High School students selecting a college, administrators at colleges looking to better support LGBT students, and student leaders looking for help in planning events. If you are at all involved in higher education and want to make your school better for LGBT students, buy this book, read it, and loan it to everyone you know.

This guide is obviously the first of its kind, and the author did a great job on researching various schools and providing useful information which comes from faculty and students. However, because the author's attempt to balance the schools between geographical regions, some schools were left out. For instance, the top 20 are not actually the supposedly most friendly ones, but the most friendly ones in each region. Also, like other college guides, too many schools were crammed into one small book, but I guess I can't really complain, since every single college guide was like this. Overall, it's defenitely a great college guide, and a great progress for LGBTQ students.

This books time had come years ago, and I am SO glad to see that it is finally here. Alas, it's too late for me as a college graduate, but I like to know that future college students will know what to look for when picking a colle or university. This is a must for any HS guidance councelor or therapist or doctor or...well...anyone! It's a great tool and easy to use and understand!

This book is great for those looking at their university of choice and administraitions to see what they need to do for their LGBT students. As someone stated before, I wish this information was available years ago. However, it will help me as I research the university I plan to work in as an administrator or academic.