Berry Books

I bought this book in Montana mainly for use near my home in New Mexico, and I put it to immediate use in identifying wild plums just around the corner from me. In addition to being an accurate guide to Rocky Mountain berries and related fruits, the book is well written, and sensibly organized. The copious recipes are quite clear as well. Written by a true wild berry fancier.

Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com

The amount of information packed into this little paperback book is incredible! This is not the usual vague, dry field guide since Bob Krumm writes about wild berries from his own personal experience. The descriptions of the plants, info on where to find them, color pictures, and cautions about poisonous plants and wild animals make it possible for even the most inexperienced berry pickers to safely find these little treasures. The hints and recipes from diverse sources make this book unique - it's more than a field guide,and more than a cookbook. I love this book.

Being romantic really is everything -- and this is a great book for inspiration. If you ask me, the keys to romance are preparation, patience and paying attention. Patience and paying attention are things you have to develop on your own, but Patricia Berry's book can really help you prepare -- the right words, the right mood, the right mindframe. It's all here. If this book isn't worth it's weight in gold, it's definitely worth it's weight in fine wine and chocolates! It's a great read, and has a lot little gems that you can claim as your own (but make sure to hide it,so they don't discover your source!).

This book is perfect for everyone especially for the romantically challenged like I am. Ms.Berry says everything I wanted to but just didn't know how. There is even a page to dedicate to someone special.
This is my second time reading it, her book is a breath of fresh air.
It is one of my all-time favorites.

We read Roughing It on the Oregon Trail by Diane Stanley. 2 twins stay with their grandmother and get to go back in time to meet some relatives and travel on the Oregon Trail. A little along the lines as the Magic Tree House books but this one is a picture book. It really was very interesting and I even learned some things I did not know. Recommended for ages 5-10 years.

My 6 yr old son and 8 year old daughter paid close attention and enjoyed this book. My daughter enjoyed reading the bubble conversation; I read the text part. Nice illustrations - neither they nor the story was too dark as is sometimes a problem with historical fiction for this age. Sort of a Magic School Bus feel to it, with travel back in time.

Sally's Ride is a well constructed tale. The author's detailed descriptions of California in the days before the attack on Pearl Harbor do an excellent job of setting the scene for the story. On the surface, this is a romantic story, but dig beneath the surface and you notice that all is not as it first seems. It would have been easy for the story to slip into the realms of science fiction, but the focus is kept on the love story, without spinning off to try to explain the unusual event that happens to the main characters.

Overall, Sally's Ride is well paced. I found myself easily engrossed in the story, and the characters are very believable. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well told story, and especially one with a twist in the tail. It would make a great movie - I'd certainly buy a ticket to see it!

This was a fun book to read. It captured my attention and was hard to put down. The print size makes it easy to read also. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys romance novels that include more than just gushy romance, as there is also a mystery throughout the book that unravels at the end but still leaves you wondering.

My husband loves the book and has already made several of the projects in the book. The book arrived in less than a week after I placed the order and I was very pleased with that.

This book is great. You can combine the different patters so you can make more than are actually given. The patterns are easy - and give a great finished project

This book truly reveals the spirit of sisterhood, especially the poem on p.93!!

A charming, warm, loving, funny book, filled with great photos of sisters and stories that are both touching and funny. I'm giving a copy to each of my three sisters, and one to my Mom and aunt.

Well, it is very comforting to know that the Universe will not end in a "big crunch" and that the Sun will not run out of hydrogen for another five billion years. But jokes aside, didn't you ever wanted to ask someone who knows about life universe and everything, and get a real answer illustrated with awesome pictures? Didn't you ever wanted to listen to someone telling the story of cosmos in a clear, understandable, yet scientific language with all the terminology and the buzz words? Didn't you ever try to read about latest discovery in astrophysics just to find out that the writer either overloads you with the facts that you would never understand anyway or tells it in such baby terms that you fall asleep before finishing the second sentence? For a person who has always been interested in the secrets of the Universe but never had enough time to keep up with the scientific news, for a person who wants to dazzle his kids with explanations how the stars work but realizes that the phrase "they are very hot" no longer cuts it, for a person like myself, this book is a real treasure. What made this book so unique is author's amalgamation of skills and experience. He is a talented artist, knowledgeable scientist, and a great writer with unbelievable access to the vast graphical material some of which he probably created himself during his association with Hubble and Chandra programs. This book should be in every household. It is a fantastic reference to the world around us from Sun to the back wall of the Universe and even beyond.

The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to the Cosmos is an informative and engaging read that is more like a personal tour through the Universe with author Dana Berry as our guide. Backed by stunning images, we begin our tour in our own solar system as Barry guides us from there as we pass by the Alpha Centauri system, monstrous black holes, star clusters, and meteors as we drift towards the moment of the Big Bang and the creation of the universe. Barry is an excellent guide and you don't have to know a lot about science/astronomy (or even like it) to be awed and amazed at the wonders of the universe and our place in it. Besides offering an amazing tour Barry also discusses the possibility of life in the universe (how should we communicate with aliens?), spaceflight, how our universe may not be the only one (there may be up to nine others co-existing with ours), the ultimate fate of humans and our home planet and how the universe may one day all end. Though earth may be but a small planet that orbits around a rather average star in the suburbs of the Milky Way, it is still awe-inspiring to learn more about the wonders of the Universe and both its possible origins and ultimate fate. Through astronomy we learn a little more about ourselves. I highly recommend Intimate Guide to the Cosmos to anyone, its engaging and informative and a enlightening read. Here are the chapters:

Chapter 1 - Our Place Among the Stars
Chapter 2 - Earth and Environs
Chapter 3 - Is There Life in Outer Space?
Chapter 4 - Other Planets, Other Suns
Chapter 5 - The Milky Way and Beyond
Chapter 6 - The Starry Messengers
Chapter 7 - The Big Picture

I managed to get an advanced, autographed copy of this book from the author Kit Berry at last weekend's Halloween Festival. Unfortunately for the Kit, I couldn't stop gushing.

The story of Sylvie, Yul, the Magus and the community continues in this the third book of the Stonewylde series. This third book does wind up the major plot line involving the three main characters, but still leaves some questions which will allow for the next two books. I expect I will read these in one sitting, as I did with the first three novels.

Kit Berry is certainly a talented writer, allowing the reader to revel in the atmosphere of the Stonewylde community for a few blissful moments before taking up the narrative. The author also has the knack of being able to provide a backstory simply and, almost subtlely. This allows the reader to understand the consequences for the behaviour of certain characters without the need for long explanatory notes by the author. This allows the storyline to continue at a cracking pace.

There are some developments in this book that may leave some readers disturbed, certainly I did a bit of skimming over the sections when Sylvie is in the rooms of the Magus - not because the writing was lacking, but because the situation was more than a little uncomfortable and given that I had guessed a certain "twist", it made it even harder to read. It might not affect all readers this way, but it did me.

I still have the same small quibbles I did when I read the first two books: I don't agree with the supposed "ancient" nature of the festivals used by the Stonewylde community, given they are based on wic(c)an beliefs, but this won't be a bother to 99% of the people who read these books; and there are some unanswered questions left, though this time the main plot has resolved itself and the reader is not left totally on a cliffhanger. Mind you, the latter is placated by a note from the author at the back of the paperback copy - there are more books in the series.

The books are aimed at the young adult market, but don't let that fool you. Adults of all ages will derive enjoyment from this book, just as the first two. Certainly, the Stonewylde community is pagan, but readers of all denominations will still revel in the community and the characters that Kit has created.

Go out and read all three books: "The Magus of Stonewylde"; "Moondance at Stonewylde" and "Solstice at Stonewylde". You won't be disappointed.

Dark, mysterious, spellbinding... book 3 of the Stonewylde Series is definitely the best to date, and I love them all as you'll see if you read my other reviews.

The series are full of folklore, wildlife, pagan rites and natural magic, with Yul drawing on the magic of Mother Nature and the Earth, and the shining Sylvie drawing strength and magic from the power of the moon. The gripping story of Yul and Sylvie fighting for the well-being of the manorial and village community of Stonewylde is gripping in its intensity and beautifully written throughout.

In book 3 Yul and Sylvie face one of the darkest moments in the history of Stonewylde, the run up to the winter solstice at which the prophecy that Mother Heggy made sixteen years ago might come true... or could even fail... It all rests in hands of young Yul and Sylvie, who are fighting against the dark force of the Magus.

I've loved these 3 books and in a way I wish they ended here, as the author originally intended, but apparently there are another 2 to come. That said, I'll be the first to rush out and buy them when they're published! I can't recommend them enough - easy-to-read fantasy for ages 12+.

I loved the book! Both of my parents and grandparents moved to "DEEtroit" from Kentucky to work in the car factories. I saw a great deal of my family and self in the pages of this book. The personal accounts of the "hillbillies" jumped off of the page at me! Sounds corney....but "this book spoke to me!" I never knew that such a massive amount of people (hillbillies) came north to escape the poverty of the south and how they struggled in the north. I grew-up thinking it was something unique to my family. My family came from Clay and Knox counties KY! The south did rise again...and no one noticed! Thank you for writing this book!

This book is designed for the scholar, the student and the discriminating, intellectually curious reader. The oral histories which Berry has recorded and published bring these people seeking a better life into sharp focus. He couples their stories with exhaustive research and statistics to give a well-rounded view of the white migration from the south to the more industrialized (and more upwardly mobile) north and midwest. This book counters some of the myths surrounding these southerners. They are definitely not lazy, shiftless, stupid or immoral. They simply are seeking the "American dream." In the process they helped transform this nation.

I can speak directly from experience (as a working illustrator and concept artist) that the bold and visionary work of Rick Berry lit the path for my own artistic trajectory. I would not be where I am if it weren't for the influence of his work.

I increasingly find that Berry's work is a testament to what can be achieved with a simple image. From "double memory" through a career of stellar illustrative works, and now tackling fine art, he has remained consistent regardless of venue. Rick Berry is truly unfaltering in his pursuit of excellence. The book is deceivingly modest (and by far my favorite of the Sparrow series), but shouldn't be taken lightly based on those physical dimensions. This compact book functions as a keyhole into his awe inspiring studio. This book thankfully reveals he hasn't lost his love for visceral figurative works, authoritative command in his paint handling or the mystical narrative qualities that seem to sneak to the surface ... he's only taken it to another level. The metaphorical mingles with the literal, the gestural weighted equally with the representational, and the miraculous coexists with the mundane. Trappings of genre or commercial pandering have been stripped away ... the images are honest, direct, and potent.

Over the years, Berry has provided an indelible mark in my mind of what art should aspire to achieve ... and no matter how morbidly short I fall of that mark, at least I know the mark exists. Whenever in doubt, I thankfully have this book to remind me where I am. It's compact and good for travel ... a perfect compass for when I invariably lose my way.

-Brandon Kitkouski

Sparrow: Rick Berry (Art Books)

For more years than I care to remember, I've been a fan of illustrative art--especially that to be found in the old pulp magazines, primarily (at the start) the science fiction and fantasy pulps. (I'm responsible, largely, for "Pulp Culture, the Art of Fiction magazines" and "Science Fiction of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History.")

What's always struck me is that once an illustrative artist develops his own unique style, he seldom varies from it. Virgil Finlay, Hannes Bok, Frank R. Paul, J. Allen St. John, Hubert Rogers, Kelly Freas and Michael Whelan can be recognized at a glance. In a larger sense, so can N. C. Wyeth for his paintings for children's books, J. C. Leyendecker in his covers for Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post and his ads for the "Arrow Collar Man," Maxfield Parrish for his advertising art and huge murals immortalizing fantasy fables.

But all of the above--and I respect and love them all--once they perfected their style, never changed. There is only one artist I know of whose artistic ability has changed and grown as he matured. Richard Berry is self-taught, painted covers for science fiction and fantasy paperbacks, invented computer artistry practically single-handed ("Necromancer" by William Gibson), painted atmospheric illustrations for books by Stephen King, and is now creating an impressionistic, emotional art that is vastly different from anything out there--but is conceptually intriguing and emotionally moving. Every one of his paintings is unique, everyone one is different, every one is surprising in concept and execution. Berry's style is...lack of style.

"Sparrow" is a slim volume containing the best of Berry's recent paintings, all of them of museum quality. From the dynamic motion of the figure in "Frost," from the thoughtful figures in "Forsaken" to the speculative look on the face of the young man in "Quiz" to the lonely motorcycle in "Nailhouse Row," Berry has accomplished what I never thought an "illustrator" would.

Berry has transcended "illustration" into the field of fine art. His work should be sold in upscale galleries and in auctions at Sotheby's. He's one of a kind and I doubt very much that you will ever see another like him.

This slim collection of his paintings is exquisitely printed and an unbelievable bargain for the price.

--Frank M. Robinson