Florida Books

All four stories in this contemporary edition of Barbour Heartsong Presents anthologies kept me glued to the pages! This is a great book of inspirational romance fiction, filled with all the good things that make a reader happy - strong characters, obstacles to overcome, great beauty and happy ever after relationships. From surviving and helping after hurricanes to the secret islands of the Florida Keyes, this book is well worth your attention as Tess, Kristen, Mary Kate and Ann balance careers, love and great moral standards to achieve happiness. A great read!

This book is a must for every Flordian and Florda visitor who wants to explore the "inside" of a fascinating state. The authors provide a short, but very interesting summary of the geography and geology of the state as well as of the biology of plants and animals and their habitat.
I personnally liked the section on "parks and reserves" which provides insider recommendation which are not found in any other Florida tourist guide. My family and I have explored several of the recommended sites and have truly found some of Florida's gems. The book is full of links to other interesting web-sites and provides telephone numbers for many information sites.
About 400 pages are dedicated to the identification of plants and animals in Florida. The plants and animals are classified as "native" and "non-native" ("native" and "introduced"), which I found very interesting. Further information about clasification, ecology and behavior and conservation status is provided for each organisms. The habitat and the region of occurance is clearly described.
This is the best book about Flroda's nature I ever came across and I would like to highly recommend this volume of the "Ecotraveller" to anyone coming to visit or live in Florida. - This book truly highlights the gems of wild Florida.

Having recently moved to Florida from New York, I wanted to take the time to explore a little but didn't know where to start. This book does a good job of describing the many different areas to see and things to do all over the state. Good maps and brght pictures are all through the book. Now I have plenty of places I want to go see if I could only find the time........

There are a vast number of guide- books devoted to Florida. Some are very helpful others you might as well save your money, as the information contained is nothing more than what you would usually receive from the travel department for the State of Florida.

However, it is not very often when you come across a travel guide- book that recognizes that it is not only sufficient to list and describe lodging, dining, attractions etc, you have to provide the reader with a sense of place and history.
Once you are armed with this background material, the traveler is better prepared to appreciate the moment of the place and the local inhabitants encountered.
It is the presentation of these elements that the visual guide- book Insight Guides Florida excels.

Teaming up with the expertise of the well-known Discovery Channel, the guide devotes considerable space to the history, people, places, and culture of the Sunshine state.
The introductory chapter lists the decisive dates of Florida followed by an overview of its history from the time of its earliest inhabitants about ten thousand years ago to present day sun worshippers.

A section devoted to its people provides the reader with an understanding of the mosaic that is Florida. We are given very useful insights into the African Americans, Cubans, Yankees, Crackers i.e. someone with strong roots in the South hailing from the extreme southeastern part of the state, who have contributed to the development of the state.

Feature sections indicated by yellow bars at the top of each page inform the reader about festivals, food, sports, sunken ships, space at the Cape, and theme parks. There is even a humorous short essay written by Florida-based Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dave Barry, on how to survive a Florida vacation.

Insight sections key the reader in on Florida's amazing weather, unbeatable beaches, Miami's art deco and South Beach, ecology of the Everglades, the living Coral Reef and exploring Kennedy Space Center.

The places section divide the State into five geographical areas, Southern Florida, the East Coast, Central Florida, the West Coast and Northern Florida. Essential facts and must see attractions are highlighted with a general sprinkling of side- bars. The latter providing interesting tidbits of information and tips. An example, "W.D. Chipley, the man who brought trains to Pensacola, dubbed the city `the Naples of Florida.' He told northerners that in `winter and summer,' its healthfulness is marvelous, except during epidemics."

Insight Guides Florida is a beautifully rendered book with its design, sturdy paper, and its extensive use of rich photographs that effectively brings life to the people and places it describes. In addition, the various contributors' evaluative comments make the book a very useful resource before and after a visit to Florida.

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures.com

When someone says the word "Florida", most of us think of sandy beaches, Disney World and the other theme parks, palm trees, and the Everglades. Did you know Florida has caves where you can walk about, and see beautiful stalactites and stalagmites? Did you think Florida had small waterfalls and high sand ridges, or that it is one of the largest subtropical forests in the world, or that it was part of Africa long ago? Florida also has many types of life zones, including tropical forest, savannah, dry canebrakes, swamps, and the largest freshwater springs anywhere. These and many other fascinating, little known facts, and places, are shown in this book.

The text is well-organized, by region, and easily readable. The four-color photos, using both 35 mm. and large format cameras, are simply breathtaking. This book is the single best book about Florida's geology and ecology that I have read. Whether you are actively planning a Florida vacation, or whether you live in Florida, you should read this book to learn more about the fascinating, off-the-beaten-path, natural marvels that abound all over this great, green peninsula. You will never regret it.

I ordered this for my nephew who lives in Sebring. He had not seen it and loves the book. Pat

Del Marth and Martha J. Marth's FLORIDA ALMANAC first appeared in 1975 and has been published as an annual reference ever since, providing Florida natives and visitors alike with a popular blend of local history and color, facts, and travel guidance. Details on forests, state parks and recreation will prove of special interest to tourists, while statistics on crime, government and banking all will provide excellent basic facts for researchers. A fine multi-faceted tool is FLORIDA ALMANAC in its latest rendition.

This is a wonderful guide to finding our Cuban heritage in Florida.This book is bilingual and starts with a brief Cuban History as it relates to Florida and then moves up through the state starting in Key West. There are 14 pages of important Cuban sites in Key West, Then there are 12 pagesof Cuban must see places in Miami along with the wrtten Cuban history . Tampa and Ybor City has 10 more pages telling of the fasinating Cuban history that took place there. The last 12 pages are devoted to the rest of Cuban Florida.
At the end of the book there are several pages devoted to Cuban Fetivals and events in Florida and a section on Florida Cuban Culture.
All in all this is a great 63 page guide to finding the locations and history of important Cuban sites and happenings in Florida

Fascinating recounting of Dimock's nature adventures in Florida in the early 1900s. A.W. Dimock was a prominent New York financier who was three times a millionaire and three times wrecked on Wall Street in the 1800s - 1900s. That tells you right there he was a different sort of bird, which makes for interesting perspectives. He was also an adventurer, and one of his expeditions took him to Florida, which is the subject of this book.

It's a charming recounting of an old Florida where things that one could do without the least concern or disapproval would nowadays land one in jail. He tells of such things as hunting manatees for capture, shooting or harpooning alligators and crocodiles, harpooning dolphins, and even digging up loggerhead eggs (and eating them raw!). Of course these things cannot and should not be done today because of the problems relating to man's overpopulation and over-hunting. But still it's fascinating to read about how it was way back in that completely different time.

The book is filled with photographs with interesting captions. Start out by looking at them and reading the captions and you will be hooked on reading the whole text of the book. He writes with a distinct 1900 or so writing style and with a good bit of wry humor, which makes for entertaining reading. (Similar in a general way to Daniel Streeter's 1926 book "Denatured Africa", which describes a big game hunting trip in Africa way back in a completely different era. I found Streeter's book after Hemingway refrered to it in "Green Hills Of Africa". I highly recommend both of those books as well)

Gregory Hansen's study of Richard Seaman is a fascinating book that takes us into the world of a little-known artist. The book's analysis of Seaman's place within Florida history and culture is very intelligent and insightful. What makes the book so enjoyable to read, however, is that Hansen allows his subject to speak. Seaman's tall-tales are entertaining for any reader. Hansen displays a real affection for his subject that is unusual and refreshing for a study from a university press.