Outdoors Books

Each wilderness area includes a high quality, full color picture, one page of background information, a list of applicable topo maps, and several hikes with route details. Whether you're planning a trip or dreaming about getting out, this book is excellent!

A good reference providing an overview of gorgeous Colorado. The book includes a description of each wilderness area and then lists 4 hikes; a day hike, an overnight, a loop and a shuttle hike (2 cars). My complaints are that the maps are poor, and there is no mention of where to camp (for backpackers this is not a problem). There is a beautiful Fielder color photo for each wilderness area providing a glimpse of where you're heading. Overall a very good book, but you'll need a campsite guide book and a good topo map ("The Roads of Colorado" from Shearer is very good) to properly plan a trip.

This book has become my "bible" for exploring the most beautiful and wild areas in Colorado from my home in Colorado Springs. My original copy of the book was destroyed when it was left in a soft-top jeep with the windows off, during a rain storm (while hiking one of the trails in the book, nonetheless). That is why I am back here to purchase another! One word of warning: the author seems to underestimate, vs. overestimate, the trail distances. Be prepared to hike an extra mile or two! This book is great!

I'm a native Coloradan. No matter what I want to do, be it a quick day hike up to a 4 day backpacking trip, this book has it. I own other hiking books, but this one gets by far the most use. I love the historical descriptions of each wilderness area. The maps are good enough to get your bearings and find the trailhead. Plus each Wilderness Area has a "John Fielder's Favorite" hike which always spectacular.

One thing, though. A reviewer below said the maps are inadequate... If you plan on anything more than a day hike, you should have topographical anyway. This is true for most if not all guide books.

As one of the few Colorado Natives, I have seen much of the state. But our local boy John Fielder has seen much more. His ratings, descriptions and maps have been 'right-on' with what I have seen thus far and with the Fielder photography, it provides a great additional perspective on the already detailed descriptions. I 've gotten lost in the book a few times just dreaming of my next outing!

Excellent pictures. Good overall introduction to Yurts. Quick read. Not a lot of stupid info.

None of the chatter, just good info on how to build yurts and gers. Forget the other larger books. Simple and to the point. Most of the drawings are freehand and not cad, but nothing is lost in the process.

It's amazing how much information is in this rather small book. You could keep it in your pocket as you built your own functional yurt. The writing is to the point and very informative. I've checked out many books on building yurts and this is the best. High points of this book for me: clear patterns, listing of materials and tools needed, time estimates for building, vocabulary of yurt parts, basic history of the people who use yurts, their various regions, and yurt variations. Get this book if you really want to build a yurt and do it right.

One of the best books I've found with concise building instructions. It also gives the historical context and more period method of construction as well. Great book for a beginner, which I am.

This book is an invaluable source of information on the history, building and use of the portable felt structures called Gers. Well researched and clearly written, the book covers all the detailed procedures needed for building one of these structures including authentic plans for a variety of sizes. There is a good glossary of terms and many helpful suggestions for the sourcing of materials.

You must try the Asparagus Pesto! By my calculations, a batch of this makes more and costs less than store-bought pesto. (Also less oily, if you wish.)

This book is easy to read and use. The information is presented clearly and it is easy to understand. This book is a great source book to teach yourself solar cooking. It is also easy to include younger children. Older children could pick it up and teach themselves from reading it. The recipes are of a wide variety so there should be a favorite for just about everyone. It isn't too "new age" as some other books on this subject. Outlines food safety issues very well with easy to remember rules and suggestions for building your own solar cooker. Easy enough for a child to do.

Just picked up the book yesterday and read it from cover to cover last night. Great opening section about how solar cooking works. I haven't seen it explained more clearly anywhere else. Great explanations on how to build your own- two types. And the recipes look wonderful. I'll be trying many of them when I finish building mine.

I must say this book is a real gem. It is small but contains some good information. Half the book is information on solar cooking and it even tells you how to build two simple solar cookers from things you probably have around the house or can get cheap. The other half of the book contains recipes for cooking with your solar cooker. Excluding the recipes, the book can be read in a few hours at most. After which you will know enough to be able to build your own solar cooker and be cooking in no time. The book also gives sources for buying a cooker should you really want to do so.

I built a panel cooker in about an hour or two following the easy instructions. The next day I cooked a meal with it using a recipe I modified a bit to work with the cooker. It turned out better than I thought it would to be honest. I have cooked several dishes using the cooker now and everything has turned out great. I personally find the food to be of better quality than the typical high heat cooking usually done on stoves and ovens.

Most recipes can be adapted to be cooked with sunshine so you are not limited to what is provided in the book. As the book says a general rule is a conventional recipe will take about twice as long to cook in the solar cooker. I found this to be about true, though it might take just a little longer but doubling the time seems to be about right.

If you are interested in learning how to build a solar cooker and start cooking with one then I recommend getting this book. It keeps things pretty simple and easy while still giving you the information you need to start cooking good meals with free energy from the sun.

I usually preview my books by borrowing them from the library to see if they are worth buying. This is one that I chose for my personal collection.

I also checked out "Cooking with the Sun" (by Halacy and Halacy), which had some good introductory information and interesting-looking recipes. However, as soon as I got to the list of supplies needed for actually building their solar oven (plywood, fiberglass insulation, 1/16" thick aluminum or iron sheets, double-strength window glass, etc.) I gave up. My tools are limited to hammers and screwdrivers, and I didn't even know what some of the required items were, much less what to do with them.

This book, by contrast, has wonderful, step-by-step, illustrated directions on how to make a solar oven (box cooker) using simple stuff I have at home (cardboard boxes, newspaper, aluminum foil, turkey oven-roasting bag, Elmer's glue, etc.). There are also simple-looking directions for making a reflective-panel cooker.

I love how this book caters to the average Joe (or Josephine) who wants to cook with solar but doesn't want to spend a bundle to get started. The book gives lots of recommendations for improvising inexpensive options in cookware, explaining what works best and what doesn't work so well (and why!). For example, two dark 9" cake pans held together with large binder clamps (those things used in offices to hold large quantities of paper together) can work just as well as an expensive enameled dutch oven.

Its all about fun.Having a smile on your face while turning pages Laughing out loud to the constant sounds of shhhh. A dozen times I have read the story of "12 hats through LaGuardia" and a dozen times I have cried with laughter. Its a story I could relate to, its a story that makes you feel you were there.How about that cover, all I could say is my hats off to Mr.Simendinger

A book written about the truly important things in life - friends, fun, and making memories. Ted Simendinger brings all of us into his most interesting world. I have not found many works that have been able to keep my complete attention during a five-hour flight or under an beach umbrella. This one does.

I'd like to say the book was good, but I can't. It was great! There's no need to cuddle up and prepare for a single sitting to knock this book out. It is best served up just as it was written, in short bursts of reading and longer bursts of laughter. The real-life pictures this book paints will have you envisioning being there as they happen. Be prepared to laugh and reflect on the memorable moments of these stories and be reminded of your own. Easy, fun and worth the time to get away.

I found this book to be clever, funny, easy-reading, and very satisfying. I could not out it down, as the short stories where highly amusing. The stories about the NO Bats league were great. I read this in one sitting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to laugh out load.

Mr. Simedinger writes with a warm hearted style that makes you feel as if you know the characters. I particularly enjoyed the Tcktman and The Mattes Bros. The book was thoroughly entertaining and had me laughing out loud. Pure enjoyment! Makes a great gift!

One of the best cruising guides around, definitely the best for Maine. Well written, organized and easy to use. Great sketch charts and all of the info that cruisers (not tourists) really need, as well as a good bit of local color.

Whether it's your first trip cruising the Maine Coast or you've sailed here for years, you'll find this your second most valuable resource ( nothing beats a good set of charts [and radar when the fog rolls in]) because when you need to decide where you are going to drop the hook for the night the charts won't be nearly as helpful as the Tafts' years of experience. Where to go, where not go, how to approach the anchorage, what to see ashore are all combined with slices of history and dry witted anecdotes. A bit of advice to the summer cruiser-- equip your boat with mosquito netting if you want a peaceful evening in one of the most wonderful places in the world!!

Please note that the authors of this book are Haft and Curtis Rindlaub

CGTTMC is only slightly less essential for succesful Maine crusing than charts and tide tables (and beer, of course). In addition to being incredibly comprehensive, it's also beautifully written... so one can still vicariously experience Maine's spectacular coastline when the boat is in the hard.

My one quibble with the book has to do with its indexing. All major (and many minor) subjects are listed, but some of the more obscure ones are not. The book contains a lot of great "color" information in sidebars and boxes; these are generally stumbled upon and, because they're not always indexed, can be hard to find later without flipping through the book.

And flipping through the book is NOT a good idea, because you'll invariably stumble upon something fascinating and start reading whole sections anew...

After sailing tens of thousands of miles in the Americas and Caribbean and using dozens of cruising guides I can honestly say this cruising guide is unsurpassed. It contains detailed information about anchorages, approaches and services available in an easy to use format. With numerous anecdotes and historical stories this book is a pleasure to just sit down and read.

Today I have bought my second copy of this delightful book. After buying a copy for my own home I had to come back and purchase a second copy for a family member for Christmas. Any dog owner would find a bit of joy in sitting down with this witty book. The way Paul describes the art of Brinks the dog and creates what could have been disasters into masterpieces is something that is truly clever.

I got word of this book through the grapevine. Loved the cover, so I picked it up. Then, I enjoyed this one from the first page up until the end. Now while I don't have a dog myself, there's plenty of friends of mine who do. As I was reading up on and viewing Brinks' "artwork," I could picture every dog owner I know going through the same experiences...and then getting a nice laugh out of it

Amelchenko's words mixed with Brink's pictures creates a perfect combination of entertainment. This one's a perfect stocking stuffer, or a perfect coffee-table book. Any way you choose to use it, definitely pick one up.

Having just lost our sweet, slobbery dog, Shamus, I was delighted to read about another sweet, slobbery dog, Brinks. Maybe I missed the artistry of the Shamus' slobber but through the eyes and heart of Paul Amelchenko, Brinks is a true artist. Mr. Amelchenko's observations are delightful! The book demonstrates how to turn a negative into a positive by looking at it with love. I hope we will read more about Brinks' adventures. Mr. Amelchenko and Brinks have a special bond apparent to anyone who reads this book.

Anyone who owns a lab or is a dog lover will enjoy this book. Brinks is a gifted artist. His in depth observations of each creation will bring a smile to your face with every page. His owner has the gift to share with the reader the humor he sees in everything Brinks does. His obvious love for his dog is evident in every page. It is just a delightful book.

In all honesty I must preface this review with the fact that I've been a friend of Paul's since our days at the University of Miami, so when I heard he was publishing something I knew I had to get it. Even when we were in school, Paul was extremely creative and this book just proves that he hasn't lost the gift. How anyone could look at dog slobber on a window and come up with the idea for a book is beyond me, but not only does Paul do it, he does it in such a way that anyone who owns or has owned a pet will get a chuckle.

This book is a definite buy for anyone who loves animals, especially with the generous donation of a portion of the profits to animal charities. Also, with Christmas right around the corner I would recommend this as a gift for anyone who is an animal lover. ZAX

The Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual is a must-have for any San Diego Padres fan. Author Geoff Young, proprietor of the excellent blogs ducksnorts.com and knucklecurve.com and also a contributor at The Hardball Times, has hit a home run with this second version of the Annual. Building off of last year's stellar freshman effort, Geoff added player dashboards and a brand new chapter on the Padres minor leagues. The latter is the best new addition to the Annual giving Padre fans a nice synopsis of the Padres' minor league system by position. It makes it easier to follow the minors for us prospect watchers.

But perhaps the most enjoyable part of this year's Annual was Geoff's account of his trip to Cooperstown for Tony Gwynn's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A 12-day trip of almost constant driving, Geoff traveled the length of the country watching minor league baseball and visiting old friends while dodging state troopers and rogue semi-trucks.

Be sure to check out the expanded Padres' Best By Position and the Kevin Towers Trade register. From the looks of this season, the Padres will need more of Towers' trading acumen.

You won't go wrong with the 2008 Baseball Annual.

An excellent overview from a fan about the Padres' 2007 season.
Not into baseball, no problem. There is a chapter about his roadtrip to Cooperstown to attend Tony Gwynn's induction into the Hall of Fame.
Like baseball but not into sabermetrics, this is the perfect book. It uses only the easiest one to look into how the team performed in 2007. The players' stats are graphically displayed using 'dashboards' so one can easily look at them and compare how each player did. It's quite clever. There are also graphic comparisons between each player's performance compared to the league's for each position. Quite neat and informative.
Curious about the minor league players, they are in there too. To top it off, there is an interesting look about how the home/road performance of the team are affected by the Petco Park. Quite an eye-opener.
There are also chapters dealing with overlooked players from the Padres' past and the balance of Kevin Towers' history in his tradings. Yup, quite a lot of information goes into this book. It's well written and honestly thought out. So, what's missing? Well, a few pictures of Tony Gwynn's induction would have been nice even in black and white. Ah, now I'm just nitpicking. That's how good this book is. Go get it. You'll not regret it.

This book is a "must have" for any Padres fan, and is excellent reading for the Sabermatricians among us.

Geoff reviews the Pads' 2007 season, profiles each player with unique "dashboard" graphics, gives a detailed review of the team's farm system, and analyzes each of GM Kevin Tower's trades. Plus, he gives an amusing "blow-by-blow" account of his adventurous trip to Cooperstown to see Tony Gwynn inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Geoff's day-by-day immersion in the Padres allows him a unique perspective into the team and its players. He is brutally honest about their successes and failures, yet entertaining and insightful throughout his book. I learned a lot about the Pads, and loved every minute of it!

My only wish is that similar publications were available for other major league teams...

Highly Recommended!!

If you are a Padres fan and believe that you spend too much time following the team, well Geoff has you beat. Geoff Young is the host of a long running blog where diehard Padres fans review every game. No tidbit of information is too small, no trend or even potential trend isn't worth a rigorous statistical examination and discussion.

In his second Ducksnorts Annual Review Geoff doesn't only breakdown the team, he breaksdown the organization. The book contains a review of the 2007 season, player commentaries, minor league reports, selected pieces of obscure team history and a very funny diary of his trip to Cooperstown for the Tony Gwynn Hall of Fame induction.

In his book, as in his blog, Geoff demonstrates that one can be keen observer of the game as well as a passionate fan. Ducksnorts already is a must-stop destination for any Padres fan on the World Wide Web and the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual should be by everyone's favorite chair for every game.

If you're a Padres fan, fanatic, or committed junkie, you need Geoff Young's Ducksnorts Annual. Geoff does a fantastic job debunking the common misperceptions about the San Diego's under-covered Padres.

If you need to know about that random reliever in AA, The Annual's got you covered. If you want to know how Khalil fared on the road in 2007, The Annual's got you covered. If you want to know the Padres REAL strengths and weaknesses, yes, The Annual's got you covered.

Geoff is articulate, intelligent, and (as seems to be a prerequisite for baseball writers these days) has an esoteric interests in rock music. Get The Annual, you won't be disappointed.

Gordon MacQuarrie passed away more than 50 years ago, but his stories are as fresh and relevant today as when they were penned more than half a century ago. People will still be reading and enjoying these stories a hundred years from now. This book contains a collection of 19 of MacQuarrie's best short stories spanning his prolific career. They are about fishing (mostly fly fishing) and hunting (mostly duck and deer hunting) in his native northern Wisconsin. If this is any evidence of what impact this book has had on me, I've fished all my life, but I've never fly fished. I'm now going to go and buy a fly rod and try it this year! These stories really are amazing, after reading them you'll want to spend the rest of your life out in the woods. MacQuarrie apparently based many of his fictional adventures and characters on real life incidents and people. Each of the stories center around the fishing and hunting adventures Old Duck Hunters Association, Inc (the Inc stand for Incorrigible). Hizzoner, the quirky and often irascable chairman, and the author travel around Wisconsin often in friendly competition, occasionally scheming to out-maneuver the wife, but always enjoying life, companionship, and their outdoor adventures. I think that MacQuarrie has perfectly captured the image of what we would like each of our outdoor adventures to be, even if they do not often live up to this expectation in reality. This collection rates as 4.8 stars in my view, rounding up to 5 to give GM the benefit of the doubt. It is better than similar collections by Gene Hill (which are also good but tend to be more introspective). The only reason that I give this 4.8 is that as good as they are, these stories are not on the same planet as Ruark's `The Old Man and the Boy'.

Just reread this old favorite of mine. His characters are masterpieces of excellent writing and his storytelling is an art. May GM's works live forever!

The terms "author" or "writer" do not apply to Mr. MacQuarrie. He is an artist. Reading "Stories of the Old Duck Hunters" will first transport you to your favorite duck blind, with the early morning sun glowing through the morning mist, the winter chill misting your breath and numbing your fingers. Then you will find yourself in the middle of the old Brule river, the cold water swirling around your waders as you try to tease a crafty Brown from behind a rock with a worn no-name brown fly.
MacQuarrie's wonderful story telling will cause you to laugh with joy, sigh with nostalgia, tense with apprehension, and bring the occassional tear to your eye. I found myself many times gazing of into space as I reflected upon my own experiences, the book momentarily forgotten in my hands as MacQuarrie once again made some connection to my thoughts and feelings. If you love the outdoors, and especially if your idea of a perfect day involves the frigid, wet, muddy, foggy self-torture device known as a duck blind, you must read this book.

I told my wife that if I am ever in a coma clinging to life, she should play these tapes. I can't say enough about MacQuarrie and his story telling ability. No one can describe better the experience of huddling in a pre dawn duckblind as wings whistle overhead in the darkness. Nor what it's like to feel the sure pluck of a brown trout at your fly during a spring rain. You will feel the glow of the woodstove and relish the ache in your arms that comes from rowing your boat back to the cedar cabin on a North Wisconsin lake. MacQuarrie's literary voice, the subject, and characters of his stories make my heart ache for a time that I was born too late to experience. Buy this trilogy. If you are a hunter or fisherman you will never regret it. If you aren't but take time to listen to these stories, you might find yourself looking at old shotguns, bamboo flyrods, and bluebill decoys in a different light. You might even find yourself in sleeting rain on a North Lake someday as wings whistle overhead.

Collection of short stories dealing about hunting, fishing and life. MacQuarrie was one of our finest outdoor writers and had a way to put how many outdoorsmen really feel into words. A must read if you have any interest in the outdoor lifestyle.

A wonderful work by Mr. Bahto. A must read for any serious golf architecture student. The photos and drawings are amazing. The chapter on National is worth the price of the book alone. Great read.

The "Evangalist" should be sufficient to re-direct the path of contemporary golf course design from its current preoccupation with window dressing and waterfalls to the structural soundness and strategic integrity inherent in Macdonald/Raynor's work. Devotees of this book will require hospitalization the next time they hear the hot architect of the day say that he doesn't want to adapt old principles when there are "so many new strategies yet to be developed".

Not QUITE the usual coffee-table sized book, this rich volume taught me more about golf course architecture - really, the thought behind a thinking-player's course - than anything else I've read. Yes, it's a professional biography of one architect, with a lot about his protege, Seth Raynor, but MacDonald was the consummate perfectionist, studying the subject and contemplating his creations perhaps more deeply than anyone else.

The result of his research and reflection was a career marked by the quality rather than the quantity of his work. His courses are timeless, incorporating a similar "menu" of classic holes modified and improved to fit the local terrain and prevailing conditions.

Bahto's account of MacDonald's life and work is refreshingly frank and conversational. He makes no attempt to gloss over MacDonald's cranky arrogance, perhaps because such a temperament is so often linked to genuis. In my opinion this gives the text extra credibility, as do Bahto's wonderfully precise schematic diagrams of so many of MacDonald's creations.

My only complaint is that the quality of the photographs is very uneven and often poor. It's a shame that the publisher couldn't have waited a year or two and sent a professional to shoot the holes with a high-res camera in good light. I wouldn't have wanted to see calendar-style glossies, but I would have enjoyed higher contrast, less grainy photographs to match the clear and illuminating prose.

Despite this minor quibble I'm giving the book a top rating, for it illustrates the Purpose behind deliberate, elegant - yet always playful - golf course design at its highest level. If you can, give this to someone who loves golf and takes it seriously. It would be a wonderful way of showing them how much you appreciate their passion for the game.

This is an awesome review of C.B. MacDonald but is mainly a book about the road to creating the National Golf Links.

Of course, there's a healthy dose of Raynor as well, but this makes complete sense. Whereas MacDonald would create the course designs and plans, Raynor would most often turn around and handle the course development.

I think the research and the writing behind this from Bahto is most excellent + no sugar coating. Simple honest unbiased delivery of what happened and how, but even more importantly you will "know" the National.

Picture wise, I thought the historical pics were very interesting. However, I thought it was rather difficult to match up any "pre" and "post" pics for any of the changes that took place to any of the holes being described. Furthermore, there were several recent color pics that were repeated in various sections. Unfortunately, I didn't think several of the pictures conveyed what the text was trying to explain at times. Few angles were used to show by pictures what was making each and every hole so special.

Other than that, I highly recommend this book for its content. Very well done overall. Above all, the description of each hole and how they work together to create a seamless golfing experience is the best I've read thus far. The supporting hole drawings help as well to complete the course visualizing. I just think I could visit the National tomorrow and would be as ready as possible to play it from a course management perspective. You just sense you'd know what to look out for and appreciate.

There's also a strong review of the Yale course and I think the Lido review, although brief, was most interesting. What a course the Lido must have been to play.

Excellent.

The "Evangalist" should be sufficient to re-direct the path of contemporary golf course design from its current preoccupation with window dressing and waterfalls to the structural soundness and strategic integrity inherent in Macdonald/Raynor's work. Devotees of this book will require hospitalization the next time they hear the hot architect of the day say that he doesn't want to adapt old principles when there are "so many new strategies yet to be developed".

Shipping came within a week, even with the supersaver shipping. would use them again.

This work is the Gold Standard to which all other Exercise Physiology books are measured. I was introduced to the Second Edition of the book in an entry-level class in Graduate school. To this day I find it a necessary reference from my library.

Personally, the most useful information to me is on Energetics as it pertains to athletics, training adaptations, exercise testing and prescription. I use this information to help me decide how to train athletes from different sports. But, there is so much more than that in this book. Metabolism, Ventilation, Heart and Circulation (including CVD) is all covered thoroughly.

I especially like Brooks' approach to physiology. Brooks, likes to examine physiology by studying the rate-limiting processes. And to a coach, like me, finding weakness and improving that weakness is crucial to winning. Another topic I enjoy is Brooks' take on the misnomer of Anaerobic Threshold and Lactic Acid.

It's an extremely well-organized, well-written text. It's easy to read and a challenge at the same time. Brooks makes you think and delivers difficult information in a way that is easier to understand than other textbooks.

Eric Swannie, MA, ATC, CSCS

I would have to agree with most experts in this field, that Brooks did a smashing job when writing this text. His chapters on bioenergetics are superlatively done. Outstanding graphs, analogies ,coupled with an eazy to understand vennacular. The chapter on bioenergetics is extremly lucid when explaining the esoteric aspects of coupled energy metabolism and muscle performance. Brad Nindl from (Penn State University) and Dr. Paul Arciero (Skidmore College) still utlize his text, and often refere to his chapters on energy metabolism and exercise. Many of our lively discussions and research ideas were spurred by Brooks text. Not only does this text service as an outstanding learning tool, when learning the basic concepts of exercie physiology, but acts as a catalyst for innovative ideas for new research. The references are all up to date, providing eazy access to "cutting-edge" researchers. His chapters on cardiovascular physiology are well organized and follow the same lucid format of the previous chapters, however, i wish he included information on the newer developments in cardiovascular physiology and exercise, such as the work being currently conducted on signial transduction and on the dysregualtion of the sacroplasmic reticulum during CHF etc.. Overall i would recommand this textbook to any serious student, scholar, physician or allied health professional who is wishing to futher their understanding of this fastinating subject. I am currently using his text as a major ref. for preparing for part I of the USMLE!! Yours In Great Learning

There's no other quite like it - Brooks' is the best there is...

I received both my B.S., and M.S. in Exercise Biochemistry from Univ. of Mass, and Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, respectively. My former advisor studied under Brooks at Berkely (He received his Doctorate there). In any event the approach our department undertook towards exercise biochemistry/physiology was at the cell and molecular level. Brooks text was central to the program. What is great about the book, is that it explains complicated biochemical processes in easy to understand language and places it in the context of applied physiology. The book stacks up to classic texts like Molecular Biology of the Cell (Albert, Bray, Lewis), and many of the classic biochemistry texts. In my opinion it is far superior to texts by McArdle & Katch, or Textbook of Work Physiology (author escapes me, for now).