Vermont Books

Not necessarily helpful in finding the trailheads but this Long Trail map does help one keep the length of the trail in perspective and can help you match up your hikes with the legs of the LT. (So that if you (like me) are not "through hiking" the LT, you can mark off the stretches that you hike, as you hike them...)

Six housemates are sharing a condo on a ski slope in Vermont. They have never met before this ski season, so conflicts of personalities are bound to be a problem and, yes, this includes the mandatory lust/love frustrations, which begin to stir even before the central character, Eliot, makes it to the first meeting of this coed household.

Eliot is a rampant blogger, focusing on himself and his life. Ultimately, then, he blogs about anyone and everyone with whom he comes in contact, i.e. his housemates. Most of the gang is cool with it, but not the mysterious Chad, whose angry outbursts about the blog heighten the mistrust and tension in the condo. Jenny is pretty, and it seems that she doesn't have a lot of motivation to build upon skills that do not involve her physical attributes. Isis is a snowboarder, and she takes the sport extremely seriously, to the point that being friends with a skier like housemate Eliot may be impossible. Dolce is from Brazil, and is determined to show her boyfriend that she can make it on her own in a new country--thrive, even. Last but not least is Frank, the peacemaker of the bunch. Frank does his best to keep all of these different personalities from clashing, which is good, because if they are going to make it through their intended three-month stay, they certainly are going to need a referee.

This lighthearted romp through the snow is written from the point of view of all the characters, with each chapter starting in a new voice. While the majority of the work is written in traditional prose form, it is broken up with some of the story being told through instant messages, some through email, and, of course, the reader gets to peek at Eliot's blogs, to see what is causing all the fuss on the slopes.

On the plus side, it is a fun book, and I think adolescents will enjoy their time on the slopes with these characters. On the minus side, it is a stereotypical book with a forced "mystery/lesson" that ultimately doesn't resolve itself in a way that makes all the pieces suddenly pop together and make sense. Overall, however, it will get kids reading, and reluctant readers will enjoy the way the pace is broken up by the IMs, emails, and blogs.

Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

I refer to this book quite frequently to try and identify various wild flowers in my area. I wish it had more pictures of the foliage, esp when not in bloom. That is the only reason for the 4 stars.

This book is an exploration into the factors behind the suburbanization of an American farming community. When I first picked up this book, I did a double-take as I read the blurb on the cover "The story of Jericho and Underhill, two traditional Vermont communities in transition-from dairy farms to the suburbs." Since my arrival in Vermont ten years ago, I had always thought of Jericho and Underhill as rich suburbs of Burlington, and never had an inkling that these communities had been rural just a short time ago. In this book, Rawson, a first-generation New Yorker, interviews her Vermont relatives, the last generation in her family to make their living on the land.

Over the course of 3 years (1985-1988), Rawson observes the development in Jericho and Underhill. She talks with her relatives, their neighbors, and local politicians to try to understand why farming seems to be on the way out in the area. The reasons for the agricultural decline are myriad. People coming to work at the IBM plant need housing, and their demands have increased land values. Increased land values make for increased property taxes, which are a greater burden for farmers than others because farms require larger plots of land than single-family houses. Technological improvements over the past 40 years have greatly increased farm efficiencies, but require much higher capital and maintenance costs. As a result, farms have to be bigger just to break even, but bigger farms require hiring outside labor. But with large employers like IBM in town, it's next to impossible for farms to find people willing to do tough farm labor for low farm wages.

Residents and politicians alike shake their heads in dismay. They want to see farms continue to form a substantial part of the landscape, but they don't know how to successfully address the problems. Meanwhile, the farmers are getting on in years, and their kids either aren't interested in farming or they can't afford to buy their way in. As the farmers reach an age at which they can no longer actively farm, they need money for retirement, making developers' outrageous offers for purchasing their land overwhelmingly enticing. It's hard to see a way out of this quagmire that doesn't involve seeing farmland become suburbs. Land trusts make a valiant effort to save some of the land for farming or conservation, but their resources are limited.

For the most part, this book is quite well written. Rawson does an admirable job of introducing us to the people in the area, explaining their backgrounds and motivations. In a few places, she gets bogged down in detail, but mostly the story flows rapidly from page to page.

The author of this book is my sister. However, the book is a delightful, imaginative romp on a poor sidehill farm in Vermont. It describes a farmer at his wit's end for lack of money for his family. A miraculous rolling hay "tumble" or drying pile gets him out of his tough times, believe it or not by helping with the chores, and the world suddenly looks better. It's a tale that youngsters all over Vermont have loved when my sister gives presentations at one-room and larger elementary schools around Vermont.

The title of Mary Emma Allen's little reference, "Writing In Maine, New Hamshire & Vermont" indicates a very narrow focus. It would be a mistake to assume that this book is not useful for any freelance writer or writer living outside these states.

Although it is true that many entries are useful and/or available only for residents of this tri-state area, the percentage of these restricted entries is not large.

For those of us who live in the other 47 states there is plenty of information that we can use. The really amazing thing is that much of this information is not found in periodicals that most of us use. like Writers' Markets.

This little volume makes an excellent addendum to any book an author might presently be using as a resource. There are lists of bookstores and contests and publishers and grants and markets, and colleges and...you get the idea. I'd be willing to bet that most of these sources are not in the average writer's Rolodex.

Sooo...what are you waiting for?

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

This book is the antidote to the sugary-sweetness of _Charlotte's Web_ or _Babe_. Perhaps you hadn't noticed that either of these two were amazingly sappy. This book puts them in perspective as sugar-coated froth.

While sometimes melancholy, this book delivers a wonderful meal of a story. This tale is sure to nourish far more - and perhaps more realistically - than any tale of talking animals.

A coming of age story for a young boy in 1920s rural Vermont, as he learns to run the farm and understand his father and his father's role. The book is a series of humorous tales and Robert's growing understanding of his world. He hunts, delivers calves, goes to the Rutland Fair, takes care of his pig, and eventually buries his father. A beautiful, funny, and moving tale. A graphic view of life on a farm might be too much for younger children. Grade: A+

This book is amazing because a boy of 12 years old has to help his father on their farm. The most shocking things happens to this boy. First he gets a pig from his neighbor, Ben, and he names the pig Pinky. Some funny events happen in this book too -- like the time, Robert vomits on one of the judges shoes at the fair. Many exciting things happen in this book that may astound you and your parents. I would recommend this book to children who like fascinating and heartbreaking stories. This book is entirely different than other books you may have read.

Sky, 8 years old and happily homeschooled!

I'd give this book zero stars if I could. It sends a message that "growing up" involves butchering pets. There is also dog abuse and a nasty pig rape scene. And this book is assigned to children? We should teach children to respect and care for animals. This book graphically depicts harming and in one case murdering pets.

What an eye opener for this generation! Welcome to the Shaker tradition of plain, earthy, reason. No frills. Where a man's word is second to his deed. I found this novel to be inspiring and humbling. Nowadays, we take so much for granted! Here is a family who earns or makes everything they have, and is gracious enough to consider themselves rich. Indeed they are - rich in faith, love, dignity, integrity, and community.
This is an important coming of age novel for many reasons. Robert Peck has to face challenges that many Young Adult readers face: increased responsibility, the wanting of worldly possessions, and death.

I bought the book because I had seen the movie. Although I enjoyed the movie a lot, I found the book to be even better - much better. this is a good and easy read!
Janet Foret Lococo

Like another reviewer here, I had seen the movie first and bought the book because I wanted the fuller, more developed story line. What I found was a completely different story. Other than the same character names, location, and the fact that Max's Uncle had died leaving him the house, the story is completely different. One reviewer here loved the line "Excuse my lips, etc." - guess what - he did not read the book, he saw the movie - this line is not in the book. Please do not expect the same story in the book as the movie.

That being said, I did find the book enjoyable. It is a good read - not quite up to Peter Mayle's previous efforts but fun. Without spoiling it for you, the ending left me a little disappointed. Like so many novels today, the author does not have an ending - they just stop without resolution of the plot lines. If you like Peter Mayle's other books, you will also like this one. If you have never read any of his books, Hotel Pastis is far superior - a beginning, a strong plot line, and a good ending. A Good Year only comes close to this superior novel.

Have you ever been to Provence? Non? Do you know the French? Non? If you haven't and you don't, then this short time with Max Skinner might not be as much fun as it was for me. Not only have I been to Provence, but I stayed in Montpelier for a month and made many outshoot trips to nearby locales, including Arles and Avignon and small villages like Saint-Pons, the setting for "A Good Year." I lunched and wined and dined as Max Skinner does in Peter Mayle's novel. I also know the English, as different from the French as can be. Knowing the English also helps in the pleasure of reading this novel. But if you haven't and you don't, this is still a great read because you will get to know Provence and its people and the ways of the English.

My introduction explains, I think, why I love this novel. No, this is not literature that sits on shelves with Faulkner and Austen. But it is a great, enjoyable few hours transported to a wonderfully sunny, pleasant place among people with a joie-de-vie outlook.

Max Skinner lives in England and works as an investment banker and is at odds with his boss. He wakes up one day, thinking, This will be a great day. He expects to close on a big deal. Instead, his boss asks for details of the deal, then fires Max and claims the deal. But his "great day" is yet to come. He receives notification that he has inherited his uncle's small chateau and vineyards in Provence.

Thus begins Max's year as a future winemaker. Mayle is excellent in making his characters flesh out as real people, in creating visual images of the chateau and surrounds. He has the ability to put the reader right into the story, savoring the smells of wonderful food and wines.

The real story is this pleasant, daily life in Provence. The seemingly main plot is the secret concerning a special section of vineyard and how most of the characters' lives intersect concerning this one section. The number of coincidences coming together seem impossibly large, but the reader knows this is a book of fiction and that the author has ordered such events in such a way. If the reader has immersed in this world of the French, then the coincidences will merge into the flavor of a good wine. Take it at that.

Does Mayle purport to writing great literature? Or, does he give the reader a delightful and pleasant story for a few hours? Prepare a cheese and sausage plate, open a bottle of good red wine and enjoy those with this book. It will be a good few hours.

What other reviews of Peter Mayle's "A Good Year" neglect is that he comes up with some great lines. How about, "Forgive my lips; they find joy in the most unusual places." Now doesn't that sound like what (one's fantasy of) a French girl would say? There's also, "(I want) a bottle of wine that tastes like you; and a glass that's never empty." Hope I haven't ruined the book for you, but for me, I'd like to have thought either of those characters' confessions up, myself! Mayle challenges - no, he invites - us to do so, even if we haven't inherited a French chateau and vineyard. Enjoy the journey. I sure did.

I've never read anything by Peter Mayle, but a friend gave me A Good Year, knowing that I like to read books about other countries. I found A Good Year to be fun, but lightweight and fluffy.

Max Skinner is a Londoner who is struggling with a job in finance. After working on a project for six months (that he expects to reap big financial rewards), his supervisor steals his work and then fires him. Skinner goes home that day to find a letter from a French lawyer. An uncle who lived in Provence recently died and has left his chateau and vineyard to Skinner. With a 10,000 loan from his best friend, Skinner travels to the small town of Saint-Pons, hoping that maybe he'll be able to start a new life in France. He spent his summers visiting his uncle, so he's familiar with the area and the language. He also hopes to learn something about winemaking.

Mayle has an obvious love of France and his books are filled with the beauty of France, the small towns, the customs, the people, the food, and especially, the wine. But not everything is idyllic with Skinner and his new home. The chateau's wine tastes like vinegar and there seems to be some hanky-panky going on with his caretaker and the vines. There is also a question of whether the chateau truly belongs to him. It is just enough to keep Provence from being paradise.

Mayle piqued my interest enough to want to read A Year in Provence. Not only was it a best seller, but the television series based on the book was very popular. Mayle's recurring theme of foreigners living in France has obviously been successful for him. Now if only he would help us out with a little French vocabulary...

I just finished Robin Cook's Fatal Cure first published in 1993. Health care reform was a huge topic then, and surprise it is, or will be a big topic in the upcoming presdential election in 2008. The plot and characters are not developed well but the read is easy and engaging. As a physician myself, I can relate to the excitement and uncertainty of finally finishing your training to start your career, but with the economic burden of debt. Now as a practicing physician, I am acutely aware of how the economics of medicine do not necessarily mix with good patient care. Dr. Cook's thoughts on the subject are well presented in the last few pages of the novel. An old novel with a timely message.

Complete waste of time! I am done reading Robin Cook books for now..The story line for this book is so stupid I am amazed Mr. Cooks editors even allowed it to be printed..I'm not sure about the hospitals where Robin lives or works at, but in the area where I live, if just one patient died there would be an immediate investigation, but here we have several patients die from unknown causes and the characters just move along like it's no big deal..The Wilsons even allow their daughter to be admitted!!! Give me a break!! Like I said..don't waste your time on this one!!

Fatal Cure is Robin Cook's most controversial book ever written about the darker side of managed health care in America. A married couple start a hospital business where they can treat several patients in a day, including their daughter who suffers from crystic fibrosis. For awhile, it works until their patients begin to die and when a dead body is discovered is their basement, they begin to lose popularity. A very suspensful book, this could actually happen. Overall, a good book!

I enjoyed reading the book because it did have a good idea behind it. What bothered me, though, was how unrealistic the main characters' responses were to what happened to them. What got me the most was when the two characters that the family and the little girl were supposedly so close to died, they didn't even contact their families or attend their funerals! PLEASE! At least mention it in the book for 5 seconds so that we know that you have at least a slight grasp of what would really happen! No wonder everyone in Barlet hated them!!

I'm sure you've read the plot synopsis by now, so I'll skip it and get to the real review. This book is a long, contrived, boring piece of unrealistic drivel. This guy went to Harvard? It reads like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, except you figure it all out much quicker. The characters are underdeveloped and frighteningly unrealistic (not to mention just plain stupid. It took them 400 pages to figure out what was going on? Maybe they went to Harvard, too). Evidently, in Dr. Cook's world nobody ever utters an obscenity or does anything risque or more involved than "making love." We get pages and pages about a man having an affair with his business associate, been when it comes to the pivotal moment the experience is summed up in two words. Sounds like Cook is as prudish as his main characters. Skip this book unless you enjoy mind-bogglingly bad literature (a la "Mystery Science Theater 3000", perhaps). This is my first, and last, Robin Cook novel.

Carla Neggers sometimes writes books that grab you from the first few lines of the first chapter. The Waterfall is one of those books. I am now ordering and looking forward to her next book "The Widow", read an excerpt of it in the back of The Waterfall, can't wait to read the book. I most always would recommend Carla's books to anyone who enjoys her type of writing, romantic suspense.

**Disclaimer** My review is of the abridged audio version.

Most of the time I can find something redeeming about a book. But there are exceptions . . .

This book really re-defined "bad" in a whole new way. Histrionic women that give us girls a bad name, completely unbelieveable actions by the characters, phony affairs, odd revenge motives . . . the list is unending.

And let's not forget the dead bat on the bed as an aphrodisiac?????

Suspense is great, but it needs to be based on some plane of reality. (Anyone believe that the Senator wouldn't have requested at least one photo of the supposed "affair" before buying the whole thing, hook, line and sinker?)

Romance is great, but it needs to be believable between the characters. (Barbara and the villain? Even the lead couple - what is the basis?)

Women are emotional (hey, we could even be described as mercurial at times), but most of the time we need some provocation before going stark raving crazy and falling into the arms of the nearest available good-or-evil stud muffin. (Apparently none of the women in this book ever matured past Madison, the 15 year old.)

So, fellow readers . . . pretend this book is a waterfall, pretend it's a psychotic good-guy-gone-bad, pretend it's a dead bat on your bed . . . STAY AWAY!

I enjoyed this book. I get tired of some reviewers who give every book a 5. To me it needs to be the best book you have ever read to be a 5. I really enjoyed this one. Some parts didn't ring true but I really enjoyed reading about parts of the country I know nothing about. Not a whole lot of romance in this book but I am tired of other books that throw in the "sex just to sell" angle. I really liked both leading characters. You leave the book with a good feeling. You really can't ask for more than that.

I really enjoyed this book and had never read books from this particular author before. The book was so great, that I have been searching for some of her other titles. I would definitely recommend this book. I couldn't put it down!

Sometimes when you try a new author you are wonderfully surprised. Sometimes when you try a new author it's a struggle to get through every page and you throw the book away without ever finishing. This book falls into the second category.

When widow Lucy Swift's family is threatened, she won't go to the local Sheriff. (Sheriffs are usually the ones to see when you find bullet holes in your dining room walls.) Lucy somehow just "knows" the law can't help her. She has a father-in-law who is a senator. She won't go to him for help either. Why you ask. Her indecisive, wishy-washy parenting has brought criticism from the father-in-law in the past. She's too weak to risk more advise from the senator so she has to keep the threats a secret from him.

Lucy takes a little trip to Wyoming to ask for help from Sebastian Redwing, a friend of her deceased husband. Sebastian ran a security company until he killed a bad guy. Later he finds he didn't really kill the bad guy, but just the thought has sent him into a neurotic state of seclusion. Anyway he's a surly, rude, misogamist who's hiding out in a hut without running water or electricity. (Seems like he could have used some of that money he was saving on electricity to see a psychiatrist about his social problems. Maybe going without bathing and wearing dirty underwear is his idea of psychic healing.)

Turns out Sebastian wasn't such a good choice in the help department. First thing he does while skulking through the woods looking for evildoers is to tumble off a cliff. Of course this requires Lucy to take care of him. Ah, what woman could resist falling for a mean-mouthed guy with poor judgment, serious psychological issues, and a concussion?

For everyone who thinks rude, uncommunicative macho-men are romantic as heck, get this book. Personally, I like my men with a deep appreciation of the finer things in life like hot showers, electric washing machines, and good reading lamps. Doesn't hurt if they actually want to say a few words to me now and then either.