Outdoors Books

I have been using Corbin books in my wellness / fitness practice since the early 80's. In 1981 I moved to Houston, Texas and started to manage the Tenneco fitness center. We saw over 1,000 employees using the facility a day and faced a huge challenge of moving past the 20% of the population that already kept in shape daily.

Corbin books were "real", about real efforts in real environments. I could sit down and read a little of Corbin and not only pick up tips for my coach counseling, but also ideas for group challenges or behavior change efforts.

I have had plenty of mentors along my 30 years of worksite programming and many of them I have become good friends, but Corbin is one I have never met, but highly respect for his work and what he has given the fitness and wellness field.

I have a spot on my book shelf that is "Corbin" books and I bet after you have bought this one and used it, you will go back and start like me a little Corbin library. I can't imagine a wellness practitioner without Corbin on their book shelf.

This book is completely up to date and has useful information for both the student and the non-academic consumer. The labs are easy to accomplish and give a relatively accurate profile.

Even though this books was a required textbook for college, I am glad I had to pick it up. There has been some really good information in this book. We are moving through it quickly in class, but I have already flagged some sections that I know I want to go back and read again.

I am super impressed with this book. It is packed full of great information. I'm reading it for a class and wish I had more time to thoroughly read it but what I have read so far is fantastic. I have learned a lot.

LOVE THE BOOK, GOT IT IN NO TIME!

I think this is the definitive book for "adventure ed". It is well laid out and easy to use. All the activities list not only instructions but when and how you might use them in a curriculum. It also has innovative ideas about how to use metaphors that can be adapted to a variety of situations. Karl Rohnke is, in my opinion, on the cutting edge of experential education and his first book is staple in any experiental ed library.

I think this is the definitive book for "adventure ed". It is well laid out and easy to use. All the activities list not only instructions but when and how you might use them in a curriculum. It also has innovative ideas about how to use metaphors that can be adapted to a variety of situations. Karl Ronche is, in my opinion, on the cutting edge of experential education and his first book is staple in any experiental ed library.

I have used this book at outdoor education centres, camps and in a variety of classroom applications. It provides lots of neat ideas that integrate easily into traditional curricula. I especially appreciate the philosophy and clear instructions. Definitely a staple on my reference shelf.

This book is particularly suited to the owner of a cruising yacht .The range of information within the pages is complete i.e. ; if you knew what was contained in this book you would know a lot about sailing and cruising. It covers topics such as :Hull , Rig & Rigging,Sails, Seamanship and Navigation etc. I have an origional First edition(1950),and I read it on a regular basis and I still consider it my favourite book on sailing.The plates and illustrations are beautiful.

While some of the information is a bit dated (no GPS, for instance)there is good, solid, readable stuff here, everything from sleeping bags to celestial navigation, recipes to emergency repairs. Hiscock had real hands on, been there experience, circumnavigating (with his wife Susan) several times.

Far too many cruising books are of the "Oh, cut loose and have fun" type which can be more than a little dangerous. Collections of carefree cruising stories and anecdotes. Cruising Under Sail something else, serious, proven stuff that Hiscock has collected from among the most successful cruising sailors.

Hiscock's classic text on long distance cruising has been the bible of long distance sailors for two or three generations now. What it lacks in the latest gadgets it makes up for with decades of experience and knowledge of the subject. The safety at sea section alone is worth the price. Chapters include ropes and rope work, masts and sails (cruising sails, not racing sails), accommodations and living on board, passages and navigation. Unless you already have a decade of long distance sailing behind you this is a valuable book.

This book still is valuable for sailors. The technical information is dated, but the prudent, workmanlike approach to the whole business of sailing around the world is timeless. The ocean hasn't changed much in 30 years.

It's really great to see a fine book like this one on a corner of nature that is often overlooked. It really cleared up some mysteries for me. Very well done.

This is an excellent, well-illustrated compact field guide for its specified region. While the range maps cover only the region surrounding MI, WI, MN, the nothern part of Iowa, and the area of western Ontario lying immediately north of Lakes Superior and Huron, many of the species in the guide may be found over a much wider range -- making the guide of some use to others living beyond this region. The photographs are excellent. Notes pertaining to each species' appearance and life cycle are concise. Diagrams of abdomens are clear. Phenogram charts appear with each species. The introductory chapters on anatomy, natural history, behaviour, and observation of damselflies are quite brief but contain much useful information. Certainly a useful guide for anyone interested in damselflies of the general Great Lakes region.

As a 4-H entomology leader in Michigan, this book is indispensable. Dubois follows Mead's dragonfly work with a much-need volume in the same exacting, yet accessible style. The pictures are references are terrific. More importantly, like Mead, Dubois takes great pains to write a layperson's explanation of the suborder. Thanks !

This is a great little guide for this region. It has very clear photos of both males and females of the species that occur here (adults, no larvae). Additional photos show variants or distinguishing features. There is a key to the three families at the beginning, but not within the families. There are black and white drawings of the tips of the abdomens, a great feature but it should have been in colour!
Range maps do not extend beyond MI, WI, MN & w. Ontario. Charts show abundance through the season. A table lists suitable binoculars. A checklist is provided, along with notes on behaviour and morphology.

This is the most comprehensive and informative book I have ever read about the creation of any of the Disney parks. Randy Bright tells the story of how Walt Disney came to re-invent the amusement park industry with ideas starting in the 30's.

Although this book is unfortuantely out of print now, if you love the Disney parks, this is the book for you.

The book (in true Disney fashion) is overwhelmingly positive, but it doesn't leave out interesting stories from the formative early years. For example, you can read about the opening day disaster (fondly remembered as "Black Sunday"), when twice the projected number of people got in. Or how, one day shortly after the park opened, a gas leak threatened to blow up Sleeping Beauty castle while reporters watched.

Most importantly, the book takes great care to introduce to us the people that were instrumental in designing the park. Practically, all of the attractions, new and those that are long gone are described, and fondly remembered.

Lastly, this book is simply the best collection of archival photographs that I have.

Good Luck in finding a copy.

This is by far one of the best books written about a Disney themepark. If you can get your hands on this one, it's a best buy!

Randy Bright has done a wonderful job capturing the early years of the park. Fantistic pictures. A must for all Disneyland collectors. he gives the inside story of the park's history from concept to around the mid 1980's.he talks about everything from landscaping to why each realm has it's own style of garbage can. A truly great book.

Randy Bright does an excelent job giving the reader and inside glimpse on the inspiration, design, and execution of "the happiest place on earth." He takes you on the journey of how Walt Disney and his creative team of Artists, Story Tellers, and Engineers carefully crafted one of America's greatest icons.
The story is carefuly told and documented with many photographs of the park from its earliest concpetion to the finished product. Take a journy into the imagination of The Disney Organizaion and see how they created an true american icon.
This book is rare and hard to come by but it is well worth the read.

I think this book was great. It was so great because it told a true story of courage. I recommend it to anyone who wants adventure.

"Distant Fires" was published in 1990 and is the true account of a summer canoe trip from Duluth Minnesota to Hudson Bay Canada by two men in their early 20's. More than anything else, this book speaks to the modern charisma and abilities of the author, who planned and accomplished the journey, then, wrote such a wonderful and humorous account of it. Chapter by chapter, the reader is taken to the water, along the route, and into the perspective of the adventure. This book is testomony to what's in the future and beyond the horizon. It cannot be over-recommended for young and old. Thank you Scott Anderson for sharing your uncommon knowledge and insight of "Distant Fires" on earth and in our lives.

This is an astonishing book about two young men who want so much to have a great adventure experience before they get too old and can't go. So, they set out in their canoe to recreate an adventure 50 years ago, by Eric Sevareid, to canoe 2000 miles, from Duluth, Minn. to the Hudson's Bay. Every step along the way they encounter adversity, bugs, hardship, danger- yet they press on with a determination and will to complete this task, and win. They do so with much humor and dry wit. I found myself laughing out loud in many places. Where else can you read about two young men moving at the speed of a canoe paddle, going upstream, battling headwinds, eight foot waves that could easily swamp their canoe, rapids, portages through dense growth, beaver dams, and of course, mosquitos, mosquitos and more....?

It seems that they must have never been dry or warm over this journey that took them over three months to complete. But they never lost their sense of humor and never gave up, even though the odds were immense.

I greatly reccommend this book. It reads easily, and will be an excellent choice for young as well as older readers who enjoy a good travel adventure. It is a wonderful inspiration to all who read the book.

This is the book I read when I feel "displaced" from wherever the Air Force has me at the present time. If you are familiar with the outdoors lifestyle of northern Minnesota, this book will refresh any memories you have of trips up "The Shore" (north shore of Lake Superior) or the Boundary Waters. The author is a Duluth, MN native who tells his story of an extended canoe trip that started at his home and ended in Hudson Bay. The reading is light, and is enhanced with a lot of local color humor.

I loved it. I have referred to it many, many time for my sled dogs' problems, and it is a great source of information. It covers just about everything you need to know for mushing, choosing a dog, making supplies, running them, etc. I would reccomend it to anyone who is an experienced musher or a beginner.

This is an excellent book for beginners as well as professional. It is the most detailed and updated book on the market. Covering finding the right dog, proper gear and how to use it (detailed photos) quality of food, daily care, medical needs, breeding, training, recreational, distance and sprint racing. I reccommend it to ALL beginner mushers.

Dog Driver by Miki and Julie Collins is a book all who have ever wanted to drive a team, who are driving a team, or who have drove a team should have. It has something for everyone.

While considered a 'beginners bible' it has much to offer the established dog driver. Any dog drivers who feel that they dont need it are the ones who do need it.

The Collins Twins are probably the two best known dog mushers in Alaska who arenot on one of the competitive racing circuits, they are known for their competence and ability in getting a dog team from point A to point B . This book is a distillation of their experiences in a wide range of situations, and they have presented it in a clear and straight-forward manner.

They cover the topics in a thorough and effective manner, from getting started to trekking and racing. If sled dogs are your interest, you will want this book.

Although the title implies that the book is for the "serious musher", it should properly read "any musher". Topics include nutrition, training, health care, distance and sprint racing, camping, breeding, buying, skijoring, etc. Each is dealt with in a practical and understandable manner.

IF YOU ARE A DOXIE FAN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!! IT'S TRULY RIGHT ON TARGET!
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS AND WONDERFUL TEXT.

This little book is BIG on laughs for anyone who owns a Doxie or who loves dogs in general. Excellent photography and true-to-life snipets of what the famous Doxie's are all about. Great reading for all ages. Highly recommended.

How can you go wrong with a photographic book about dachshunds?
Author Melissa Sovet has captured the long and short of the spirited breed. There are photos of doxies with bling, doxies being naughty, as well as doxies being charioted by working dogs.

If you love doxies you need this book!

If you love Dachshunds or know anyone that does, this is the book to get or give as a gift! The pictures are absolutley adorable and funny - puppies, different colors, different poses, costumes - very sweet!
The text, written as a "doxie" describes the dog very accurately and uses several quotes in just the right places.
A great book for "Doxie" lovers and a great little "pick me up" book for anyone else!

Dr. Beach's Survival Guide is a terrific book that really hits the mark! The book is small, informative, easy to read, and adroitly uses simple but effective diagrams and charts to relay concepts to the reader. I would think that this guide is a "must read" for anyone contemplating a beach vacation. The book addresses widely-held beach mythology and clarifies many misconceptions about beaches, waves, currents, common beach dangers (such as sharks, etc.), and a host of other related topics. Seldom can you purchase such a wealth of information at such a reasonable price. This book should be on every out-doorsman's bookshelf!

This is another excellent book from Dr. Beach, one of the country's foremost authorities on coastal processes. This book is a fine introduction to the hazards at the beach. His chapter on rip currents is especially interesting and informative. Anyone who ventures onto the beach and into the water should read this section in order to recognize the telltale signs of a rip current.

If you're a regular beach-goer like I am, this little book is a gold mine. Although not big, it's filled with interesting information about beaches, sharks, and other things that can mess up your beach vacation. While the shark section is a real eye-opener, its all the details about how beaches really work that I liked most. Who would have thought there would be so much to know about our favorite summer vacation spots? I guess if anyone would know about beaches, it's Dr. Beach! This is a great little book that's now a permanent part of my beach gear.

This book is full of interesting info and useful tidbits about the dangers and hazards of going to the beach. Some of this I already knew, but much of it was new. For example, when I was growing up in L.A. as a beach bum, I learned that you can spot riptides by standing on the cliff or getting a little elevation, such as by climbing up a lifeguard stand, and looking for a triangle of white water pointing out to sea. They could be anywhere from 50 feet wide to hundreds of yards wide, but they were detectable if you knew what to look for. I also learned that most sharks don't like the murky water where the waves are breaking and stirring up the sand, and to head for that if there was trouble. Better yet, just get out of the water. I learned how to recognized each shark species by their fins and which ones to get out of the water if they appeared, such as bluefins, which are also known man-eaters in addition to the infamous great whites. Interestingly enough, technically great whites are only "man-biters" rather than mean-eaters. They usually bite humans by mistake looking for seals, their favorite food, and so spit it out. Of course, that's not much consolation to the person at that point. Some of these attacks are because a swimmer in a wet suit looks a lot like a seal with their dark, blubbery skin. It's also probably not a good idea to decorate the bottom and sides of your sea kayak with pictures of seals, as I saw once. :-)

Having been at the beach many times and body-surfed some pretty big waves occasionally, I've had a few harrowing experiences myself. I once had the experience of being in an undertoe that actually pulled me underneath the water, but only for about 5 seconds. It was still a little scary. One time I stupidly tried to ride an 18-foot wave and almost got killed because the wave was what the Aussies call "a dumper" and it smashed me on the bottom. You should avoid fast-breaking dumpers because of that. I think the biggest wave that's safe to ride for most people is probably about 10 feet, unless you've got a belly board, which can outrun the break. Wearing one swim fin (yes, only one is needed, because it's inconvenient to have two fins on) is a trick experienced body-surfers use, that's also helpful for catching waves. Back in the 60's, I saw TV footage of this crazy guy belly-boarding 30-foot waves at Waimea. Talk about guts.

The beach that's the king of the riptides is Sunset Beach in Hawaii. Many people have died there because of rips, and it's capable of pulling you under, too. Once it pulled 3 surfers under at the same time, who unfortunately drowned. One thing to remember is if you "wipe out," be sure to tuck and roll up into a ball. One thing that happens to tourists and neophytes at Sunset is that when they go "over the falls," they don't tuck and then get slammed face first into the bottom, breaking their necks. This happened recently to a young couple that was on their honeymoon, and it's happened a number of times to inexperienced swimmers and body-surfers before. So be careful about that.

Speaking of getting pulled under, I once had the idea for a little invention, a small oxygen cylinder that would weigh maybe 5 or 10 pounds max but that would contain enough air to allow you to breath for a few minutes, if you were going swimming or body- surfing, especially at a potentially dangerous beach like Sunset. Not sure if it would be practical, but I never did follow up on it to find out. But there were a number of times when I wiped out on a big wave and didn't get to take a full breath before I got slammed under, and then I got held down for 20-30 seconds or so, or had to stay down that long because of other breaking waves, and I was almost out of air a couple of times before I was able to surface, and that would have been nice to have.

Another odd fact is that the reason why your feet itch after a day at the beach, at least on western U.S. beaches. It's not because of the hot sand and the salt water. It's because of the pieces of jellyfish, especially man-'o-war, that wash up on the beach, and can still irritate your feet even after days on the sand.

Well, if I haven't scared you off completely from going to the beach again, this is a great little book to learn about all the hazards and dangers. Good luck and happy beach-going!

This is my favorite grilling booking. I have about a dozen recipes marked in this book that I want to try, but I can't get past the "Forbidden Nights Moroccon Pesto Chicken" because it is so good I don't want to try the other chicken dishes. I'm a pretty serious foodie who loves to cook but has given up beef and pork and is moving towards a nearly vegetarian eating and cooking philosophy, and I swear this recipe is the one thing that's keeping me from giving up chicken altogether! I literally get cravings for this chicken recipe, like I get cravings for good quality dark chocolate. :0)

The "Hot Lips Chili Butter" for grilled corn is great, as well. I like the fact that the recipes are unique...not your average, run-of-the-mill grilling standbys. I've made a few of the dishes for dinner guests and they're always impressed. Besides having wonderful recipes that anyone can tackle, the book is cute and clever and has my favorite cookbook feature...it's spiral bound, so it lays flat! If you love to grill, this is a great little gem for your cookbook collection.

An excellent book for men also.
Flavorful recipes with common ingredients.
Quick and easy to prepare

I found this boook at some random store and picked it up because it looked fun. I decided to use it as a theme night for my cooking club. I belong to an all girls coooking club and all of our husbands always operate the grill. This gave us some awesome confidence as we stoked the charcoal and made a three course meal. It was such a blast and we loved the campy smore sundaes as dessert. We are planning a You Grill, Girl II club this summer because we had such fun with this book. Just reading it and laughing at all the fun food titles and wording was worth the purchase. Enjoy!

I don't cook a lot of fancy, labor-intensive food. I like being imaginative and speedy in the kitchen, and I usually figure I don't need a book that is going to have me go through 40 steps just to cook a pice of chicken. But despite my wariness of cookbooks, I now own all of Karen Brooks' (and her different partners') food and cocktail books. I never thought I'd be such a fan of...cookbooks? Yup. "Dressed to Grill" is as fun to read as it is to use. When it comes to barbecue, women have traditionally taken the roles of preparing side dishes and smiling as they chew charred pieces of red meat. Well, this book makes tending the flames extremely accessible to women, from the basic how-to's and the tips on buying grills to the de-emphasis on meat (and a great low-fat chapter). The snappy writing and graphics that are the trademark of Ms. Brooks' books are present again here. Just broke up with a guy? Look in the "Bonfire of the Miseries" breakup chapter for recipes like Jerk Chicken with Grilled Bananas, Who's Sari Now?, and Chauvinist Pig (all delicious recipes). And for the absolute best version of a classic: Forget Caesar: A Bang-up Cleopatra Salad. The recipe for Campy S'Mores Sundae with toasted marshmallows is super-easy, tasty, and what the authors call "An urban girl's idea of a Girl Scout campfire dessert experience."

Whether you're cooking for one, entertaining friends, or trying to give a guy some tactful advice on how to take barbecue to a whole new level (tell him to try the Hot Girls Spice Rub - the recipe, not a spot in the red-light district) you should own this book. Yeah, being so effusive about a cookbook may seem weird, but only until you read this one.