Washington Books

What a great cookbook! The pasta florentine was a big hit. And the photos of the Washington area are beautiful.

Beautifully enhanced with color photography, Capital Celebrations is a very highly recommended compendium of easy to prepare recipes nicely organized into chapters on Appetizers, Brunch & Breads, Salads and Soups, Seafood, Poultry and Meats, Pasta and Pizza, Vegetables, and Desserts. There is even a wonderful section dedicated to "Cooking with Children". From Meatballs in Cranberry Sauce; Roasted Corn and Wild Mushroom Salad; and Shrimp in Cajun Red Gravy; to Chicken and Artichoke Casserole; Green Beans and Cashews; and Coconut Pound Cake, Capital Celebrations has dishes suitable for all occasions and dining events.

This cookbook hasn't collected dust like the others sitting on my shelves! The recipes are simple to prepare and elegant. My family and friends have enjoyed many of the recipes during the past year!

The sourdough bread pudding with bourbon sauce is fabulous!

What a beautiful and interesting cookbook! The recipes are creative and delicious and yet many of them are simple to prepare. The photographs are beautiful and the variety of foods is excellent. This is a great Jr. League cookbook!

In the great tradition of Junior League cookbooks, this is a wonderful cookbook for the cook who likes casual entertaining. Recipes are easy to follow and the book is illustrated with beautiful pictures of the food. Capital Celebrations even has a section for cooking with children. This is a great cookbook for beginners with recipes using easy to prepare ingredients. The perfect gift for a new bride or college graduate just starting out or the seasoned cooking pro.

This is a great guide for anyone tromping about in the Northwest. It combines several other guides into one that is easy to carry and easy to use. The book covers almost anything you'll venture across from plant to animal. It even includes a short section on regional geography and minerals. Must have for the backpack

Most of us who enjoy nature have relied upon "bird books" or other guides to the species at one time or another as we inquire about our surroundings. These dull but thorough reference books often make their topics LESS interesting, quelling the interests that they're supposed to serve. We look up our bird, animal or plant and then move on having learned little more than its Latin name. Ugh.

This book shines like a beacon to future nature writers as it uses every description as the basis for a prosaic mini-essay; rewarding curiosity with enlightenment, fascination and delight. Imagine a reference book so enticing to read that you can't stop reading with just one description. Instead, the object of your curiosity serves as a mere starting point in the book; the first page of what often becomes a genuine sit-down-and-read-it experience.

If every nature writer put this much love into their topics, the trails would be overrun with enthusiastic hikers. Here's hoping that the author visits your neck of the woods soon, and provides you with the same exuberant writing he's given us here in the Pacific Northwest.

I also have ordered this as a gift for several this year, including the revised edition for myself. Definitely not just a reference book but a great read also. I actually read the whole book,rather than just saving for information on specifics, when I got my first copy years ago.

Most of us who enjoy nature have relied upon "bird books" or other guides to the species at one time or another as we inquire about our surroundings. These dull but thorough reference books often make their topics LESS interesting, quelling the interests that they're supposed to serve. We look up our bird, animal or plant and then move on having learned little more than its Latin name. Ugh.

This book shines like a beacon to future nature writers as it uses every description as the basis for a prosaic mini-essay; rewarding curiosity with enlightenment, fascination and delight. Imagine a reference book so enticing to read that you can't stop reading with just one description. Instead, the object of your curiosity serves as a mere starting point in the book; the first page of what often becomes a genuine sit-down-and-read-it experience.

If every nature writer put this much love into their topics, the trails would be overrun with enthusiastic hikers. Here's hoping that the author visits your neck of the woods soon, and provides you with the same exuberant writing he's given us here in the Pacific Northwest.

A Second edition of a classic. Mathews created a field guide that is a must have for every PNW adventurer. As a park ranger I find myself reaching for it daily to answer questions. The writing is suberb and one finds oneself reading it by the fire on a cold winter day just because. I give this book as a gift more than any other item.

SMARTISH PACE remarks on "Egan's brave choice of form in a time when the designation 'new formalist' threatens to pigeonhole her work. But no formulated phrase can pin Egan's poem to the wall." This is true, as is the fact that it is language itself and not theme or narrative that draws us in to these poems and holds us there the way, as Egan herself writes, "he held me--a lover's lie, a dying friend, /the nights too drunk and dark/ for any arms but his to understand."

Not just brilliant, not just sensual, Moira Egan's "Cleave" is the rare art through which words express something seemingly inexpressable. Beyond mere categories, beyond mere emotions, she captures experience itself, by turns glorious, bland, and miserable. And this conclusion I reached before I even reflected on the collection's structure, a helix of the semantic idiosyncrasies that a single word is capable of serving up to us. As Moira Egan puts it in her poem "Love & Death," "How else to express the brazen philosophy, the teleology of flesh beyond love, the ontology of sex that can lead to death?"

In case you couldn't tell, I liked it--a lot.

I was delighted to find Moira Egan's book after enjoying her poems in magazines like Poetry, West Branch, and Literal Latte. She truly writes for the heart, the brain, and the rest of the body all at once. Cleave will not only please fans like myself, but will also introduce her witty, deft, and thoughtfully accomplished poems to a new crop of lucky readers.

"Poets are born, not made" they say and Moira Egan is one. (And the daughter of one.) They also say "true art conceals artifice" and that magic is no where more present than from cover to cover in the master-crafted poems of Cleave. BUT--and this is the part I love--every once and a while she coyly lifts the skirt of her craft to reveal a far more broken and beautiful world than any well-behaved surface could withstand. That is the push, pull doubleness, the seduction of Cleave.

Moira Egan is one of the few neo-formalists whose lush, exquisitely crafted, risk-taking poetry evokes words like "juicy" rather than "fusty." Rooted thematically in all the major meanings of "cleave" (including the seemingly opposite "adhere to" and "divide"), Egan's poetry's rich language explores both meaning and sound with intellectual and artistic profundity, yet manages to speak to a reader's human-ness and (I'll just go ahead and dare to say it--)to GIVE PLEASURE. YES, EVEN ENTERTAIN.

--Clarinda Harriss
Professor of English, Towson University
Editor/director of BrickHouse Books, Inc.

I bought DIRT CHEAP, REAL GOOD for a weekend trip to D.C. and I was blown away by the thorough research the authors had done on thrift shops in the area. They not only tell you where to go, but also include information about what to expect in terms of price, selection, and even atmosphere. The writing is lively and fun, and the book is illustrated with photos of many of the stores. This book is a gem for true connoisseurs of thrift stores and American popular culture.

Dirt Cheap Real Good Rocks. I was visiting some friends in Philly and my friend was wearing a cool old IZOD(I had been dying to find some IZODs and Le Tigre vintage shirts). When I asked him where he got the shirt-he pulled out Dirt Cheap... and we spent THREE full days on tours of the Philly area thrift shops! I cleaned up!(now you can find some of those shirts on my ebay site) There were also cool insights to local eateries!! Now I have one in my car and have circled the next several trips.. They need to write one for every part of the U.S.!!

we used Dirt Cheap this weekend on a trip to Philly - these girls know their stuff! i got a brand new thrifty couch at one of the stores listed in the book, and we ate breakfast at carman's country cafe in south philly, which was delicious and really really fun. i highly recommend Dirt Cheap Real Good.

I read this book assuming that, after 9 years living in the DC area, I would find summaries of my favorite haunts, and maybe scoff at outdated listings for a few that had closed. I did not expect, and was very happily surprised, to find mention of several newer shops, including a few nearby I didn't even know existed!

The book was obviously very thoroughly researched, and I'm sure they had a blast writing it. (Now, if only I had thought of it!)

You may purchase this guide looking for some stores to stop into, but what you'll find instead is the makings of a thrift vacation. The authors outline great roadtrips to surround the highlighted thrift stores, so you'll know where to stay and eat as you thrift your way around the mid-atlantic region. They even throw in some other activities besides thrifting in case you go into bargain-hunting overload. It's a pretty genius idea and a totally original take on road-tripping. I highly recommend picking this book up for a new perspective. Plus, they do give you all those great stores to stop into.

This book (and the entire series) is a must-have for anyone interested in hard-rock mining in the Pacific Northwest. It is filled with not only technical information, but stories about the people who toiled in the mines as well. It is cliché to say, but it was hard to put down!

This book has launched many an adventure for me and my friends venturing into the woods to find that elusive adit, and has also fostered a new and very fun hobby as well - "Mine Hunting". I highly recommend it!

I love exploring old mines and tailing piles. This book showed me how to get to some of the best old gold mines and tailing piles I have ever prospected with a metal detector.

I just finished reading this book. I wasn't aware of the interesting history behind the old mines and mining camps I have come accross in the mountains of Washington State until I read this book. Now I am an athority on the subject and can't put the book down. This book should be a text book for every high school student of Washington State history.

This is a great book I have used it a lot to find the mines we take trips to the mines, so if you want help to the mines we a lot of gear and HIGH lift trucks to get there. please e-mail me at 2975@2die4.com or ICQ at #59209002

I have read many books on mining in the northwest, this is the most accurate. With this book I was able to follow the paths of the miners before me, it's amazing. The book provides so much information on a particular mine, I have to read it several times just to absorb the information. I have traveled to many of the mine locations in the book and never been disappointed. After reading about the history and exploring for myself, I can't wait for the second edition to be released. Most mining books talk about history yet never lead you to the magical place. With a GPS and a good compass, I have experienced a overwhelming respect for these writers. For once, I'm a kid again exploring the mountains for buried treasures. I have visited many of the historic sites this year, thanks to these writers I have truly experienced God's Country.

i loved this book. i felt as though i was right there with him and his family through every phase of their lives. this book had everything going for it, sadness, chaos, happiness, tragedy. it was so personal and you just felt as though the author let you in to share with him.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it for it is a story of survival from the ashes of the Holocaust. This book is also an excellent book club selection that will spark much thought and conversation.

Joseph Berger has written a story that needed to be told, but he has included too much extraneous material about his own life. Much of what he tells reveals what it was like growing up as the child of a refugee, but who cares whether or not he dated in high school?

The best parts of this book were those about his mother's life and about how she managed in the United States as a refugee. Berger's writing is more journalism than story telling. He's got all the facts, but none of his descriptions flare above the mundane. His mother's reminisences are far more artistic, and reveal more than the words on the page.

My father's story parallels Joseph Berger's in eerie ways...they were both at the Schlactensee DP Camp and the Landsberg-Am-Lech DP camp...Berger's mother's story of her youth could be my grandmother's, from an unpleasant step-mother to the flight East to Russia. My father was born during my grandparents' refuge in the USSR, and crossed illegally with his family into Poland after the war ended. I have always been close to my grandparents, but this book brought clarity and insight into topics they don't generally discuss...the duality that immigrant survivors (the displaced persons) felt between their new lives in America and the tragedy and loss left in Europe. When I look at my grandparents' happy faces at family occasions---graduations, weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthday parties---I wonder if the events make them remember times similar back in Lithuania. Berger's story, beautifully written and researched, is a must-read.

This book resonates on many levels. It is a compelling and vivid narrative detailing the acculturation of Holocaust survivors in New York City, specifically, during the immediate post-war period. But this is no dry text. You feel the bewilderment of these brave souls as they desperately try to make a home for themselves in their newly adopted country while, at the same time, deal with the perpetual anguish of searing, catastrophic loss of family, country, and hope (or faith, or optimism). This is all presented through the lens of the author's memory in a series of poignant vignettes, capturing just the right detail to press itself into your heart, time and time again. From the particulars of these experiences, it deepened my understanding for what my own mother went through when she immigrated -- she is considered a Holocaust survivor because she experienced Kristallnacht in Vienna, but she was fortunate enough to have come to America pre-war -- and strengthened my compassion, empathy, sense of kinship and profound respect for all survivors of catastrophe due to war, or abuse, or illness, etc., who have nonetheless managed to make reasonable and productive lives for themselves. So...get the book and treasure it!

I first read Henry Mitchell in the Washington Post when my husband was receiving cancer treatment at NIH in 1982, and when I realized that his columns were collected in The Essential Earthman I immediately bought a copy. I have subsequently owned (and loaned out and thus lost) two or three more copies. As each planting season arrives I remember how much I've missed reading Henry's wisdom, and I berate myself for having loaned out (and lost) those books. So for the sake of upcoming generations of gardeners (and the old hands among us), would someone please reprint this valuable book? It's a book to read in the depth of winter and the heat of summer, in a spacious country garden or a tiny city yard, for beginning gardeners and old timers with permanently-stained hands. There never has been anyone quite like Henry Mitchell on gardening, or on life, for that matter. Grouchy, opinionated, funny, informative, brutally honest--his words will never go out of style.

The two books I have read cover to cover as gardening advice and as literature are this book and Christopher Lloyd's Adventurous Gardener. I have shelves of gardening and horticultural books.
It gives you more each time you read it.

I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.

Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT!

Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses.

This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.

Dear Publisher...please reprint this book. I love Henry Mitchell. I was one of the 'blessed' because I actually read Mr. Mitchell's columns (both of them) for years. I live in the Washington DC area, and subscribed to the Post. Those of us who gardened locally were twice blessed because he was not only one of the best garden writers ever, he struggled with the heat, humidity, and high winds that attack us from all sides. Whenever I am in my garden I think of him. When I look at my Japanese Anemones I remember he said "Once you have them you'll always have them." There have been times when I thought for sure they were goners, but they always survived. When I see a little plant struggling under a bush, I remember him saying, "One of these days I'll have to crawl under there and pull it out." When I see a fish tank, I think of him and his horse trough. I miss him.

My original copy of "The Earthman" is in shreds. Why?

I have read (and re-read) The Earthman for more than 20 years. Every time I returned to The Earthman, I had a patient, passionate teacher by my side.

With Henry's guidance, I matured. I learned to accept the rains that turned my garden into a sea of mud. I learned to accept the dogs who had a deep need to explore and "investigate" my treasured plants.

Henry is my friend and mentor. I cannot imagine life in the garden without him.

I love every one of JA Jance's novels.The JP Beaumont and Joanna Brady series are my favorites. I have thoroughly been gripped by every one.

Failure to Appear J.A. Jance does it again in this 11th J.P. Beaumont mystery novel. Unlike most of the previous books, this one starts out, not with a crime, but with a personal mission. Detective Beaumont ("Beau" to his friends and associates) has left his Seattle home area to look for his runaway teenage daughter in an artsy community in Oregon. Of course, as anyone could have expected, violent crime soon intrudes.

For those who are familiar with this series, you can be assured that it is true Jance writing: characters who act like real people; a fast-moving story; plenty of self-deprecating humor; and a sterling protagonist who is all too aware of his not inconsiderable faults.

For those who are not familiar with J.P. Beaumont or Jance's Joanna Brady, who appears in a separate series, you have the pleasure of delightful discovery to look forward to. There are lots of books in this series. I've read 12 so far (and a bunch of the Brady ones, too) and I have yet to be disappointed with any of them.

If you're one who likes to start at the beginning of a series (which I think is not a bad idea with this one, for a number of reasons), the first is "Until Proven Guilty". However, if this isn't important to you, you can't go wrong with this or any of Jance's books, if you're in the mood for a fast-moving mystery novel with a bit more than usual in the way of character development.

My Wife reads these, and loves them! Looks like another all nighter to me!

In "Failure to Appear" lone-wolf Seattle homicide detective J.P. "Beau" Beaumont finds himself a fish out of water surrounded by family in southern Oregon and on the outside of a murder investigation.

Quite often, when a mystery author tries to fit so much of a protagonist's personal life into a book, the plot drags to a halt and the investigation into the crime is treated superficially because the focus is on massive character development. Jance manages to keep things moving at a fast clip and provide a mystery that is as multi-faceted as her lead character's personal difficulties. Beau has a lot to deal with in this book: a daughter who starts out a missing person and winds up pregnant and about to be married, a re-married ex-wife and her husband, a new girlfriend, a murder suspect that awakens painful memories, the siren song of a bottle of MacNaughton's, and a couple police officers out to nail his hide to a wall - not to mention the book's three murder victims or the loved one Beau loses in the course of the investigation.

There are a few nits that could be picked (Oregon vanity plates don't have 8 letters, for instance), but the quality of the rest of the book more than compensates. All in all, a great read.

This was the first Jance book I encountered. I decided to read it because it takes place in the town I live and work in. As much as I enjoyed reading about the places and cities I know well what I really enjoyed was the character of JP Beaumont. He is an ordinary man (a Seattle Cop wih an extraordinarily inherited fortune) who is caught between his work and his family. The characters seem very real and Jance's writing gives them a life and humanity that appeals strongly and makes you really care about them. The story never lets up either and you will find yourself hard pressed to put the book down. I have read every book Jance has written now and she is always on the top of my list of series that I am waiting for the next installment of!

Even though tomes have been written on the American presidents, Dr. Smith manages to bring fresh insight as a result of painstaking research. ( It could serve as a model for any student looking to document his research) The book is not "light" reading....but the author writes with clarity and with as much impartiality as humanly possible. I found his distinction between the ways that these presidents' faith shaped their policies to be thought-provoking. This book provides a strong framework from which to examine the coming election season.

I encourage you to set aside a block of time each day as you loose yourself in the history and faith of each of these men. It is full of interesting faith facts that just a history of these presidents would never touch. I must confess it took me time to read and digest this book, but well worth the time. I look forward to reareading this book in order to grasp new facts that I did not glean from the first read. I would love to see it used in school class rooms everywhere. The research, notes and excellent writing of this work is outstanding!

A first-rate work in which eleven presidents are analyzed in terms of their religious beliefs and their actions. Solid framework of analysis. The work brims with new details, broad understandings, and sound and judicious conclusions. Impressive, varied bibliography. The copious notes, alone, are worth a close read. Sparkling writing and sound organization make this a page-turner.

Gary Scott Smith's Faith and the Presidency is fascinating to read and weighty in substance. Full of personal details drawn from the lives of various presidents as well as important observations about public policy and religious impulses, Smith hits the sweet spot between bold, exciting claims and strong supporting evidence.

I was particularly persuaded by the book's observation that the foreign policy of presidents more readily reveals their philosophical commitments because the U.S. presidency has greater latitude abroad than at home.

This is a book worth reading from cover to cover. Smith hits a home run with this exceptional book. A tour de force!

If you are looking for fresh information about the role of faith and religion in the lives of some of America's greatest presidents then I highly recommend purchasing Faith and the Presidency.
The author, Gary Smith has done his homework. His research is very thorough and his style of writing is clear and free of technical jargon.
I thought the book presented a balanced view of democrat and republican presidents; and the author covers each president's religious affiliation without bias. After reading this book I finally understand why religion is such a hot topic during every presidential election.
Reading about Abraham Lincoln and how his faith helped him address the crises of the civil war is the best I have read to date.
Students, teachers of history, religious leaders and those with a love of presidential history need this book to complete their library. A must read for 2007!

Just finished reading this book and had to share my enthusiasm. Wonderfully descriptive - the storyline consumed me and I couldn't put it down until the end. I was transported into the mystery of Bethany O'Brien's life and loved every minute of it!

I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it. Ms. Zuzolo is the Scherezade of the third millenium. I can't wait to read her next book in the series!
What makes this book so special is that, in addition to an action-packed story line, the writer exposes us to a new and relevant culture stemming from middle eastern folk-lore and actual writings from the Koran.

Came across this book by chance, to my advantage. It's a real winner. It's got something of everything in it and it's really well written. Highly recommended.

This is a fantastic odyssey about an unsuspecting young woman whose life is completely transformed by a seductive genie! The historical references and research done by the author is amazing. "Genie" is unlike anything I've ever read and I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique thriller with lots of twists and turns!

This book was recommended to me by a friend & I'm so glad they did. It was awesome, so now i'm recommending it to others. There are no boring parts to this book and the ideas explored in it stay with you long after you're finished reading.