Field Books

Please see my review of 'Dream of Fair Horses' which I believe must be the same book!

Probably the best horse book I have read in a long time. She somehow managed to get the true essence of horses and is so sad, not only the human crises, but also the realizations of the rider (Gillian Caridia) that the horse belongs to no one but herself...

This story is a true, sometimes saddening account of how a young, poor girl attains her dream of riding a refined show pony at the huge English show, Wembley. Along the way, Gillian realizes her dreams and the ultimate realities that go along with those dreams.

After reading "The Fields of Praise" I sat with it in my hands knowing I held tangible proof that the impetus which draws us to horses is as real as the sun is bright. Like a kindred soul Ms. Leitch recognizes the sun which dances within horses. She bottles its substance and sprinkles it on every page, but not before shaking it all together with life's hardest lessons. More than a tale of a horse crazy girl, this is about the death of childhood dreams. I first read it 18 years ago and to me it is a classic; what "Black Beauty" is to the cruelty and kindness of humanity, "The Fields of Praise" is to truth and beauty.

Quinn, who grew up in one of the small suburban towns that dot the meadowlands, really captures the essense of this wilderness in the middle of the megalopolis. I never knew about how many people used (and still use) the meadowlands for hunting, trapping, fishing, etc.

While other authors deal with the cultural significance of something like the meadowlands, Quinn takes the position of a passionate naturalist and friend of the meadowlands, describing in detail wildlife, regional ecology and geology, history of the area and the many pressures the meadows face today.

A must if you're a fan of urban ecology, New Jersey, or just well-written nonfiction.

To all caring and compassionate environmentalists out there, Fields of Sun and Grass, the latest offering by gifted naturalist, writer, and artist John R. Quinn, is a glorious cry of victory via a remarkable portrayal of some of the most durable and stubbornly determined survivors in the faunal and floral kindgdom.

The setting is the New Jersey Meadowlands, a wild and reedy tract located a mere six miles west of New York's Times Square. It is considered by many as nothing more than a "toxic wasteland," but is in fact home to a dazzling array of often overlooked plants and animals. While there is little doubt that many of the life forms that once thrived here are long gone, many others remain, and these are the primary focus of this book. Many, many species are discussed; far too many to list here. Suffice it to say Quinn leaves no stones unturned.

The book has three central parts, respectively called "Yesterday," "Today," and "Tomorrow." Each covers a different time period in the ecological life of the Meadowlands. There also is an "Introduction," a "Starting Point," an "Epilogue," a bibliography, an index, and an interesting sort of "hands-on" chapter called "Exploring the Meadowlands." This will be of particular interest to anyone who lives within traveling distance of the region. It gives helpful and experienced advice on enjoyed the Meadowlands firsthand through boating, fishing, hiking, and the visiting of local parks.

Quinn's text is thorough, complete, and offered in a beautifully poetic yet pragmatic prose, making the read that much more pleasant and inviting. A memorable example can be found right at the beginning of the introduction-"Six miles-and ten thousand years-to the west of Manhattan's Times Square lies one of the grandest environmental paradoxes on Earth. Here, beneath a sun often obscured by smoky industrial exhalations, a river of many bends makes its way to the sea." It is peppered throughout with the occasional personal anecdote, like the touching retelling of an experience an eight-year-old Quinn had with his beloved grandfather in the summer of 1946 called "Grandpa and the Red Herring" (page 36). The paperback version is 348 pages in length, and much to Quinn's credit, a great deal of it is made up of his thoughtful and well-researched text.

The author's artwork is perhaps the aspect of the book that most effectively haunts you. It is simple black-and-white ink sketches, but there is an emotional complexity to each that is hard to describe, yet easy to appreciate. Quinn's clever focus on the wildlife while making sure to almost always include some image from man's industrial intervention does a marvelous job of hammering the book's point home. A glaring example of this can be found on pages 124 and 125, where we see a lone kestrel perched on the peak of a weed, while in the background looms the vague but unmistakable figure of a pair of tractors and a group of hard-hatted workers. Somehow the lack of colorization adds to the feeling of both positive and negative, of humankind's destructiveness (both intentional and inadvertent), and of the wildlife's determination to go on.

John Quinn is no stranger to the region, having been born and raised in the Village of Ridgefield Park, which rests on the Meadowland's northern edge. According to the author bio, he has published ten other books on nature and science. A potential reader can be comforted and assured by the fact that Quinn's experience and sincerity are deeply invested into every word and every drawing. In this age of the slipshod, assembly-line product, here we find an honest and lovingly crafted work by a man who genuinely cares about what he's doing.

As a proud and concerned naturalist myself, I strongly urge you to pick up a copy of Fields of Sun and Grass.

I have come to treasure Fields of Sun and Grass - it is worthy of a keepsake box like those reserved for special shells and rocks. Mr. Quinn has created a labor of love as well crafted as any story quilt, full of fascinating animal and landscape sketches; historical reenactments on a personal scale; and easily read, well-researched passages on the human and geological history of a forsaken, not forgotten, ecological wonder. One comes away exposed to a deeply stirring portrait of the meadows that dares you not to care about their future.

L. Charkey, Co-Director, Bergen Save the Watershed Action Network (Bergen SWAN); Administrator, Hackensack River Watershed Fund

The first time I met John R. Quinn was a few years ago he was deeply involved in the gathering of stories that make up the Soul of the New Jersey meadows. His journalistic background was in control and he wanted to present as complete a picture as possible regarding the current controversey surrounding the future of the Meadowlands. At the time I was assisting the New Jersey Audubon Society by providing boat rides to conduct a migratory bird habitat inventory of the Meadowlands( published by NJAS and available to the public). We invited John to join us for a day on the River and he honored all of us by chronicling the trip in Fields of Sun and Grass. Now I can relive the personal experiences of that glorius day any time I want thanks to Johns eye for detail and his skill at turning a day of field research into a story about our adventure in the Urban Wilderness. Putting controveresy and advocacy aside I recommend this book to teachers througout the Hackensack River Watershed Everytime I take their students out on the Boat or go in to their classrooms to "talk to the children". As Riverkeeper I am contacted frequently by people who are requesting information about the Meadowlands thanks to John I have a ready reference and I have learned a lot about the estuary of the Hackensack that allows me to be a more effective advocate and a better Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan Hackensack Riverkeeper Inc.

I recently discovered this author and read all four of the books. Faye Longchamp is a relentless sleuth and I like that! The story was well written and held my interest until the very last page. Can't wait to see where Joe and Faye go from here!

Reviewed by Lynn O¡¯Connell for Reader Views (4/08)

Heroine archaeologist Faye Longchamp begins the novel by discovering an emerald on her property ¨C Joyeuse Island, which Faye had inherited from Cally, her great-great-grandmother and a former slave. Immediately, in the first chapter, Douglass Everett, founder of the Museum of American Slavery, is murdered while holding that same emerald. Where did it come from? Who would have buried it on Joyeuse Island ¨C and why? And, who would even know the emerald existed? Faye and her friend, Joe Wolf Mantooth, spend the rest of the 232 pages of this short mystery trying to answer these questions. Much of their work is tedious, as the duo spends hours in the library sifting through the many letters that emerald-owner and Confederate official Jedediah Bachelder wrote to his wife Viola during the Civil War years. Other times, their work is dangerous as Faye and Joe get attacked by pothunters and encounter other unsavory characters.

¡°Findings¡± is the fourth installment in the Faye Longchamp mystery series. As was the case in the previous three books, author Mary Anna Evans does a wonderful job of including archaeological information, art history and ethnic issues along with the core of the tale ¨C the mystery which Faye will solve. One interesting twist to this particular book is the fact that it is as much a story about love, perhaps, as it is a murder mystery. There is the strong and beautiful love expressed between Jedediah and Viola in their letters¡­there is the love between the murdered Douglass Everett and his wife¡­and, then Faye has her own budding romances.

Faye¡¯s ancestral home ©¤ Joyeuse Island off the coast of the Florida Panhandle ©¤ is the setting for this book. I commend Evans; this setting transforms the tale into something other-worldly and sets a tone which works well for this archaeological mystery.

I enjoyed the fast action in ¡°Findings¡± as well as the accurate historical information that Faye included throughout the book¡¯s 28 chapters. Adding in the well-known mystery surrounding what happened to the Confederacy gold was a nice way to give the plot further relevancy. Evans also covered some of the social issues surrounding individuals who are of mixed race, discussing Faye¡¯s biracial heritage and Joe¡¯s Native American descent. Faye Longchamp mysteries bring a nice addition to the mystery genre of a female sleuth who is both intellectual and charming.

Findings is Ms. Evans fourth book in her series about Faye Longcham an archeologist and Joe Wolf Mantooth her friend side kick and sometimes assistant. In this episode we go back to Faye's ancestral home off the coast of Florida to her Island Joyeuse where she uncovers an artifact from the Civil War era which of course leads to death and destruction and the ever present question 'who done it'. Well the journey to that outcome will leave you on the edge of your seat for the whole trip, and the outcome, well you'll have to read it yourself but you won't be disappointed.

Archaeologist Faye Longchamp and her housemate Joe Wolf Mantooth are restoring a plantation house while excavating a site to include the Turkey Foot Hotel on Joyeuse Island, Florida, where her family once lived.. Faye uses the basement laboratory of Douglass Everett to catalogue and store her findings. So far the top item is a stunning emerald.

However, Douglass's wife finds her spouse dying as Faye's FINDINGS lie nearby shattered and her notes gone. Faye is stunned to hear this but not as much as the shocker that her beloved mentor died. Grieving, but a professional just like Douglass would expected of her, Faye investigates the history of the emerald and more important to her who murdered Douglass. When a second murder occurs and an attempt on Faye's life fails, Joe Wolf vows to keep her safe while her Atlanta based legal friend Ross Donnelly asks her to relocate as his wife.

Faye Longchamp's fourth (see RELICS, EFFIGIES, and ARTIFACTS.) archaeological mystery is a terrific combining of Florida history with a whodunit and a bit of romance. The story line is fast-paced from the onset as Faye begins the arduous digging that she relishes. As always she makes the tale; in this case she must put aside her grief to honor her mentor as he would expect her to finish the excavation. Readers will appreciate her efforts as an amateur sleuth, a potential victim, and a professional archaeologist who relishes the past but mourns her loss while taking care of business.

Harriet Klausner

I like this book because it shows you how to deal with problems

This is a great book and is helpfull for beginers and buyers

This book tells you how to buy a horse how to groom a horse, feeding a horse, bridling, saddling and much more

This is a great book and is helpfull for people who want to buy things

I was thrust into a situation where I had to troubleshoot a 2000+ node NNM installation without any real experience. This book skipped the nonsense and jumped right to the meat of NNM. It helped me to solve all the problems and then enhance the installation quickly and efficiently. Now I need one like this for OVO. I would, and do, recommend this book to anyone working with NNM for windows or solaris.

This book doesn't give you the typical sales pitch, it is down to business on dealing with fixing, installing, maintaining, and ramping up the performance of your NNM installation. The best book I've found written for HP OV NNM on the market!

Mike Peckar, hats off to you, and please continue to properly document HP's software!

There are very few books out there with in depth technical information on network management products - IMO. The information is to the point and is an excellent reference if you are responsible for NNM implementations as well as administration.

A must for anyone who runs NNM7.X AE. Mr. Peckar, when can we expect an OVO version? My team just ordered our second copy. Thanks, -jredus

This book is a good introduction to Foil fencing. It does have some dated pictures but the information given still serves favorably for the new foil fencer. It should be clear this book should be used in addition to current lessons being taken to be able to extract the information correctly.

A simple and complete introduction to the sport. The text is a little dated but still accurate. Probably the best introductory book for the money.

This is a clearly written basic introduction to Olympic-style sport foil fencing, with good illustrations. It is much more readable than most others, and is written for a U.S. audience. Foil is the weapon most often used to teach beginners, and though I am a sabre fencer I found this book very useful during my first year.

A REVIEW BY NICK EVANGELISTA:

This book has been around for quite a while, and for good reason. It is a fine, basic volume on fencing. I recommend it.

Forty Years of the life of A Hunter, is the hunting autobiography of Meshach Browning and was written in 1859. Browning was an incredible frontiersman and hunter. He had built a reputation as the best hunter in the northwestern section of Maryland. His hunts sometimes took him across borders into Virginia (now West Virginia) and Pennsylvania. A well-known writer of his day, urged him to write his hunting biography.
Born in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1781, Browning eked out a living for himself and his family of twelve in the Maryland wilds. Whitetails provided him with meat for food and hides for clothing. His hunting shirts were always of buckskin and, in fact, he was usually referred to as "Buckskin" Browning.
The deer also served as a source of income. In his day, venison sold for 12 ½ cents a pound and, what he did not use for his family, he sold. The money earned from the deer and bear allowed him to build a small farm at Bear Creek Glades and to later establish a gristmill. Deer hunting was Meshach's favorite pastime and his income as well.
His woodland exploits were, by modern standards, phenomenal. The sheer numbers of bear, deer and turkeys that he harvested for food and income are almost unbelievable. However, Browning had many witnesses to his exploits in the forests. He was described by those who lived near him as "entirely free from vice; honest and direct as any man could be and greatly respected."
He was especially fond of bear meat and killing bears was almost a duty to him. He had to carry everything on his back for his hunting forays. He reduced his load to the barest essentials: salt, bread, rifle, powder horn, bullet pouch, hunting knife, punk, flint and steel for fire-making and a tomahawk. It is remarkable that, in a lifetime spent in the wilds wrestling with bears and huge antlered deer, he never suffered an accident. But he was clawed several times by bears as he wrestled them with only a knife. And he relates two instances where he wrestled with huge antlered deer - once getting gored terribly.
Browning tracked white-tailed bucks for days and days as he traveled the great virgin forests of hemlock and white pine. In that respect, he is reminiscent of Philip Tome in his pursuit of elk in north central PA. He spent many a night in the woods under the worst weather conditions, rising to continue his hunt the next day.
To understand just how good Meschach Browning was, I quote from a foreword written by his great-grandson: "Approaching upwind, he generally succeeded in getting close enough for an effective shot with his flintlock rifle, the accuracy and penetration of which were so uncertain that he was obliged to get close to the game and deal a fatal first shot, if possible. If he failed, his specially bred and carefully trained dogs took over the battle and when necessary, he settled it with a thrust of his knife rather than risk another shot which, in the confusion of the fight, might kill a dog.... His dogs were exceedingly courageous, active and powerful."
Aside from Native Americans who MAY have used the spring mating season of turkeys to take some of the male gobblers, Browning was the very first man to call in tom turkeys during the spring.
And brook trout were so abundant that he barely mentions fishing. He and his children could catch foot-long brookies by the hundreds and preserve them for future use. The trout were so many - and so easy to hook - that he sounds bored with the whole process of fishing.
Again, his years of hunting are almost beyond belief. During his hunting career he shot 1,800 to 2,000 deer, 400 bears, 50 panthers and scores of wolves and wildcats. The wolf, panther and wildcat scalps were turned in to local officials for their bounty. The deer and bear he used to supply his family and then take the excess to market.
If you wish to go back to the 1790's to the early 1800's in America's wilderness to get a real look at what life was like on the frontier - if you relish hunting stories - I can highly recommend Browning's book, Forty-Four Years Of the Life of a Hunter.

I was told about this book from a guy I worked with who was a decendent of Meshach Browning. The book inspires how hard times were back then and how honest people used to be. It is an amazing piece of hunting history that every hunter (and non-hunter) should read.

Outstanding look at life in early 1800 western Maryland. Meshach's memoirs are compelling and makes one marvel at what the difference between our 21st century life and that of our early pioneers. Great read for a look back into the lives of our ancestors.

One of the best first hand accounts of early frontier life as seen from the eyes of an honest man that I have read. No poetic license taken, or glorification. Great Read.

I have been collecting and reading the Foxfire series for several years now and I consider them as some of the best reading that I have found.I think that they are a direct link to our mountain heritage as well as American history. I have learned many skills and lost arts from these books and I would highly recommend them to anyone who has such interests.

It's a great deal of fun to read about the historical needs and solutions of the Appalachian people that applies as well to my own history. There are great reminders of a simpler and maybe happier life.

Both my husband and I enjoyed this book. He is from W.N.C. and enjoyed reading about areas near where he grew up. I liked it also, having lived there for four years.

The Foxfire books are a wonderful thing and we are so lucky to have them. Many of the ways, crafts, planting lore, animal lore, and as the book says "affairs of plain living" are preserved here. This particular volume includes oral histories of the Great Depression, CCC Camps and their impact on the local areaa and ecomomy, folk art, chair makeing, and of special interest to me, gourd art. This is a wonderful recording of life the way it was and probably never will be again. The book is quite well written and has faithfully recorded even the dialect of these wonderful people, from which so many of us sprung. That is a big part of the charm of these works. This book includes actual interviews with folks from that region of the country which I am sure are long dead now. Their knowledge would be completely lost without works such as this. Another generation or two and it will all be completely gone. This book will cetainly be of great interest to those, like me, who are interested in the depression era and in the CCC in particular. Thank goodness we have recordings such as this. Recommend this one highly.

France a la Carte (especially the introductory paragraph entitled "A Day to Remember") is wonderfully refreshing and an exceptional piece of writing. I reccommend it to readers of all ages.

There is a feeling that you get when you read certain works of literature. It's a feeling that fills the empty chambers of your heart and makes you truly feel alive. This is the feeling that I got from France A La Carte. The opening paragraph entitled A Day To Remember was one of the most emotionaly stimulating display of words that I have ever come across. Sitting around a table in the library, my friends and I were able to come to terms with the chaos of the teenage world in which we live. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a heart. And be sure to read the introduction- A Day To Remember.

I innocently walked into the library of my suburban high school, seated myself at a table, and discovered this incredible book, entitled France A La Carte, by Richard Binns, laying there. Just waiting for someone to open it. As I turned to the introduction, I read the most breathtakingly wonderful paragraph I have ever read in my life. It was called A DAY TO REMEMBER. Since that moment, life has never been the same. "Why is it that some hours of our life fix themselves so vividly in our memories?" Finding this book will certainly be an experience to remain embedded in my memory for the rest of time. To be savoured whenever my human spirit needs refreshing.

I loved this book and everyone should read it. It has a great section called "A Day To Remember" which EVERYONE should read, because it is one of the greatest literary works ever. I srongly reccomend that you read that 1 paragraph. Thank You for your time.

This is a freelancer's book written by a former freelancer now editor. As such you get an insider's view on what is needed to be a successful freelancer. There aren't a lot of hints for improving your writing or picking subjects or any thing like that. The author assumes either you have the necessary ability and talent needed or you'll learn soon enough that you don't. Instead the focus is more on what to do to get in the door and stay inside. That is getting the attention of the editor and once you do get it how to keep it. I'll give you the main tip in two sentences. Do good work. Write what the editor asks for, write it well and write it on time. The author goes into more detail and explains more of how to do it. Not a bad investment if you're looking to get into freelancing. I give it a B+ on the StuPage Reviews.

If you are a writer that wishes to get your work published but need a tool to help show you how---this book is for you! Every writer should have this in their library. The author, Bonnie Hearn Hill, makes points in the book that are VERY important to a freelance writer. Well written, easy to read--I couldn't put the book down!

Highly successful author Bonnie Hearn Hill begins this book with an important distinction: "The process of creation, exhilarating as it can be, is distinctly separate from the process of publication." In this easily readable guidebook, Hill offers specific tips about the creative side of writing. However, she focuses most of her attention on "the business of writing."

Readers will respond favorably to Hill's mission: To save other talented writers from the mistakes she made early in her career when she pitched her materials to publishers. You will welcome her candor. She admits her early blunders, and tells us how to avoid them. Enriching her readability, her keen sense of humor surfaces and resurfaces throughout the book.

At the end of each chapter, she lists rules writers should follow to become consistently paid writers. Concluding the book, she repeats the rules-all 112 of them.

Her advice covers: proper letterheads, query letters, how to follow up with the editor who has held your article too long, using the Internet judiciously, and much more that relates to getting the free out of freelance.

Good news: Knowing that she has excelled as a nonconformist at times, she encourages readers to exercise poetic license with her proposed rules. After all, "None of this means you have to write a paint-by-number piece." One of her views as an iconoclast: Query letters may just delay a decision, rather than speeding up the decision by sending the manuscript itself.

Had I bought this book two decades ago, my submissions to editors would have generated a much greater percentage of paid acceptances. I recommend The (Expanded) Freelancer's Rulebook enthusiastically.

Thanks to the tips and suggestions in this book, I regularly freelance for magazines and newspapers. The pracitical advice and sound rules have actually had editors asking me for articles. My byline on the stories has even helped to promote my own book. This is a great book for anyone looking to break into the freelance field.