Park Books

This novel convinces me, were I in need of convincing, that Percival Everett is the most devious, unscrupulpous, and altogether brilliant writer of comedy in America. Hell, he'sprobably the best writer of anything.

This is an immensely enjoyable read. Once I cut it open, I could not put it down. Everett's main character, Rhino Tanner, is so detestable, you end up actually accepting him simply because he revels in his own distorted and destructive ideas. 'Comedy with fangs'? I totally agree.

I have not read any of Everett's other works but I will now. Grand Canyon Inc. is hilarious--a wild mad-cap romp following the life of red-blooded American, Rhino Tanner, hunter, developer, man's man, and a complete moron. This somewhere between Vonnegut and Voltaire satire chronicals the rise of a shallow mad-man entrepeneur who wants to develop the Grand Canyon. He rides through life on a raft of lies and destroys everything beautiful in his path. Read this book--it is short, brilliant, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Weller's prose and photography make this book an often-visited favorite of mine. His emotive musings fuse with incredible photography to give a sense of place to a destination that may seem desolate to some, but which teems with unique and tenuous life.

The first thing that struck me about this book was the depth of Weller's exploration of Great Sand Dunes National Park. His images feature all seasons, a wide variety of subjects, and capture the many moods and emotions of this national treasure. As you delve into the book and read Weller's essays, he takes you on a virtual journey through the wilderness of the park - you can practically feel the sand in your fingernails and eyes; feel the rain of a summer storm; and step out of your home into an entirely different world. I highly recommend this book, both for its photography, and for Weller's writing.

Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light And Shadow is a collection of essays and photographs by Boulder, Colorado-based nature photographer John B. Weller and showcases the landscapes of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The truly breathtaking, full-color images of sand dunes, tracks, and wildlife are perfectly complemented by the brief reflective pieces describing the author's journey and experiences. Great Sand Dunes National Park reveals captivating beauty amid shifting sands and seasons; it is exceptionally easy to lose oneself in the panoramic interplays of light, shadow, sand, and natural life. A "must-have" for nature and environmental photography collections.

I'm 28 and went to Bertrand's Island only a few times before they closed.

Most of my memories were "visiting" the closed down park with my buddies, as we road our bikes around the ghost town.

This book brings back many memories and I only wish they had some pics of it after it was closed but still standing.

The condo's there now do NOT do this location justice.

If you remember the park, get the book.

Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Kane for sharing their extensive compilation of photos and memorabilia from Bertrand's Island, and publishing them in a book for us all to enjoy. I have fond memories of visiting Bertrand's Island when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's, and of hanging out there as a teenager in the 70's (unfortunately, I missed Peter Frampton). Old fashioned parks like Bertrand's Island, with their rickety wood roller coaster, tunnel of love (Lost River), and gas powered go-carts are now a thing of the past, but the Kane's book brings it all back to us in vivid detail.

An excellent review of the old NJ amusement park that everyone loved before the days of Six Flags, Action Park and the multi-million dollar mega parks. My Grandfather owned one of the rides at Bertrand Island and I have hazzy memories of going there when I was very little. Not big enough to be remembered by historians, this is a slice of NJ life that can be forgotten very easily. An excellent book.

In this monstrous collection of work by George R. R. Martin, you'll find a wide variety of short stories in a number of different genres, including horror, SF, fantasy, and mystery. Most of the stories are from the late 70's and the 80's and nearly every one of them is powerful in its own way. The book is broken up into groupings by genre and there is a brief introduction for each section by Martin himself, giving detail about his life and his motivations for the stories he presents.

Martin is a master at capturing human emotion and thought processes on paper. From innocence to sadism, the characters in these stories cover an enormous range of behavior and feeling. Some characters you'll hate, some you'll love, and of some you'll not be sure what to think. The way Martin describes them though, they all seem very lifelike, making them either more frightening or more pitiful or more lovable, depending on what character you're reading about.

My favorite stories of the book include Sandkings and The Hedge Knight, both of which are available in other collections. There are a number of good stories here that are no longer available however, and I'd consider this book vital to the collection of any Martin fan.

You won't want to read this whole collection at one time (~1250 pgs), but it is perfect for a pick-it-up-now-and-then kind of treat between other books. Don't rush through it, take it nice and slow and enjoy each story for the maximum gratification.

You can't keep the Championship title forever. Just ask Ali or Tyson. It may be sad, but its true, G. R. R. Martin has replaced Tolkien as the ruler of the fantasy world.

After reading The Song of Ice and Fire, it was clear that this man knows how to write...He has put together the greatest series ever..yes (Gasp!) its much better than the Lord of the Rings...This series should be the next think Peter Jackson Considers...

Anyhow... This GIANT book (1280 pages) contains many of Martin's earlier works that are all but impossible to find since his earlier compilations are all out of print and one has to look for old Asimov and Analog Magazines on Ebay to find all these stories... Good Luck finding his other elusive work "Songs the Dead men sing" which runs for $200...Fortunatly, most of the stories from "dead men" have now found there way into this mammoth tome...

What makes this Book great is that it has works for all types of fans... there is Sci-Fi, Fantasy, suspense, Comedy, Satire and just pages and pages of brilliant stories and novellas....All with GRRM's sad and yet beautiful themes as only he can do...

Never has a book made me Cry in one story and then have my heart racing in fear in the next...Joy, sorrow and intrigue on every page...so much so that it leaves the reader wondering how one man could produce such magic...

Buy this book... it may cost a fortune but i assure you the vast treasures inside are worth the price...

George R. R. Martin, recently acclaimed author of the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, revisits his past works in this massive compendium.

Before bursting on to the popular scene with A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin had a well-respected career in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror--namely, short stories. And his short stories are, in my opinion, the best I have ever read. Raw human emotion and spirit are given life in the pages of his stories. Never before has an author instilled in me such powerful emotion and passion. Such is the strength of Martin's prose.

Similar to A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin's stories transcend the boundaries of genres and cliches to become something truly timeless and worthy. For readers already familiar with Martin's past, this book contains numerous never-before-seen stories and screenplays, as well as wonderfully entertaining asides by Martin himself.

And for those of you who have never read Martin beyond A Song of Ice and Fire, I promise you this: a vast wealth of wonder and awe and passion await you in the pages of this tome. Dive in, and you will never be the same.

This book is a most entertaining look at the high school establishment. Extremely comical dialogue, but also realistically portrays the way teenagers talk and feel. A must read for every high school student and their parents, especially if their child is not a part of the "in crowd" or the high school football star. Would make a great gift book for high school grads this spring.

This book is a most entertaining look at the high school establishment. Extremely comical dialogue, but also realistically portrays the way teenagers talk and feel. A must read for every high school student and their parents, especially if their child is not a part of the "in crowd" or the high school football star. Would make a great gift book for high school grads this spring.

What do you call a bimbo who wears short skirts and winks at all the jocks? THE FUTURE HOMECOMING QUEEN! A jock hears a pig grunt and gets romantic ideas. Hear about the high school science teacher who tried to clone a gorilla and got an all star football jock. HE'S NOW A RESEARCH DIRECTOR AND COACH AT A MAJOR UNIVERSITY! The fourth greatest story ever told! A good, lighthearted read!

Mr. Miles has captured the essence of Harriman State Park in his magnificent guide. As a life-long resident of Rockland County, which incorporates the eastern half of the park, I have hiked many of the trails. Yet with Mr. Miles' guide in hand, it's like hiking each trail for the first time! Of particular interest is the author's detailed history of the "forgotten villages" which were absorbed into the Park, and are slowly fading from memory. Harriman Park with it's 50,000+ acres is a wonderful treasure of natural unspoiled beauty only 40 miles from the greatest city in the world. Mr. Miles has given his readers a magnificent passport to this treasure!

Harriman State Park (NY) is about 30 minutes outside of NY City. The main areas get crowded on late spring, summer and early fall weekends, but hike into the park a mile or so and you will find excellent and challenging trails virtually all to yourself. The Harriman Trails, A Guide and History gives the hiker many interesting facts on the trail they are contemplating hiking. It also gives the weary hiker the distance to the trail head ;) Great book. Too bad it's out-of-print. I was going to buy another one because my copy is dog-eared and worn.

Mr. Miles has captured the essence of Harriman State Park in his magnificent guide. As a life-long resident of Rockland County, which incorporates the eastern half of the park, I have hiked many of the trails. Yet with Mr. Miles' guide in hand, it's like hiking each trail for the first time! Of particular interest is the author's detailed history of the "forgotten villages" which were absorbed into the Park, and are slowly fading from memory. Harriman Park with it's 50,000+ acres is a wonderful treasure of natural unspoiled beauty only 40 miles from the greatest city in the world. Mr. Miles has given his readers a magnificent passport to this treasure!

Braeking the state up into sections, the author does an excellent job of describing and presenting the various highlights of each. Equal treatment is given to popular and off-the-beaten-path areas, with sufficient detail for each. It made my recent visit more enjoyable!

This book was a wonderful guide to the areas of Montana we traveled through. There were several things we would not have seen if it hadn't been for the suggestions in the book and some excellent restaurants we wouldn't have stopped at if they had not been recommended by the book. We plan to get another "hidden" book for our next trip.

Hidden Montana appears in its third edition to cover inns, tours, drives, and outdoors explorations throughout the state. From Glacier Park to Yellowstone, this is packed with lesser-known byways. Recommended.

My husband & I just returned from a fantastic trip to Big Bend National Park. We used this excellent, handy, easy-to-use book as our primary resource for deciding what hikes we were capable of taking in the park. The book proved very useful in showing numerous shorter, easier hikes that older people like us with foot and back problems could take as well as longer, harder trails for those who want them and are able. It also gave very interesting, accurate, readable, and useful descriptions of such matters as how to drive to the trailhead and whether parking is available there, some things (mainly scenery & geological features) one is likely to see on the trail, trail length, elevation gain, trail traffic etc., to allow use to decide which trails would most interest us. Further, it contains some useful black and white photos. And it provides some information about neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park which we also at least drove through. Thanks in large part to this book, we were able to enjoy some the best hiking of our lives despite our current physical limitations. I only wish we had visited the park a decade ago or more when we could have done some of the more strenuous trails described as well. I would recommend this book for virtually anyone planning a visit to Big Bend.

Gives a great synthesis of hikes of all levels in the park. Well-organized and thus very easy and quick to use.

It does the job it was purchased for, ie finding trails in Big Bend National Park

I was captivated from page 1. I'll never think about belly buttons the same way again. Cook really got into that obsessed killer's mind and portrayed him very believably. The buildup to the ending kept me reading with my breath held. My interest was sustained throughout. Al Cook is an excellent writer with a masterful touch for the mystery genre.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (8/07)

Gary Blanchard meets Penny, the love of his life, through a computer dating service called "Human Inventory." He knows she loves him when she wants to watch him bowl. After all, bowling is a boring game to watch.

The couple is on the trip of their lifetime. They stopped in Reno to get married before visiting several National Parks. What they did not know was that they were not going alone.

Alfred Ward is obsessed with his former high school mate, Penny. He is also obsessed with bellybuttons. Women have never been attracted to him; he blames all his tribulations on his outie. From peeping in her window, he knows that Penny has the perfect innie bellybutton and flat tummy to go with it.

Someone has been sending notes to Penny, scary notes. She has no reason to suspect Alfred. When the notes and calls had not stopped the growing relationship between Penny and Gary, Alfred knows more drastic measures will be necessary. He will stop at nothing to win the love of his life, not even murder.

What ensues is a dynamic and amusing adventure as Alfred follows the newlyweds from National Park to National Park.

"Honeymoon For Three," by Alan Cook, is a delightful tale! Mr. Cook has an amazing talent for creating suspense and tension in his plot. Alfred is insane. Penny is sharp and a quick thinker. Cook uses engaging supporting characters, like Don, Rowanda and Mattie, throughout the scheme, to enhance the storyline. The scene at the wedding chapel is one of my favorites. Cook does a beautiful job describing the National Parks, including bears. I recommend "Honeymoon For Three" fans of mystery and suspense.

The creative mind of author Alan Cook certainly has few rivals--his stories are cleaver, different and always entertaining to the highest degree. His latest novel " Honeymoon For Three" is no exception. This book is full of high-energy suspense with a plot that will capture the reader's attention.

Cook has a creative touch with how he developments each character in his stories. They are not some cardboard cookie cutter mystery genre stereotypes. Each of them come alive and catches your imagination and attention no matter how big they play in the plot. This is the authors' signature strength and separates him from the hordes of other small market writers.

The book takes you on a journey across country with a honeymoon couple and a insane and obsessive stalker. It is a tale that is both unusual and scary and well worth spending your time reading this book. "The American Authors Association" gives this book its highest rating of FIVE STARS!

Hotline Heaven is a work which must not be read solely for its story, although the plot is most interesting and well-crafted. Instead open the novel to the first page and relax into the poetry which Ms. Park infuses with a personal magic into the voice of the female narrator. Here are articulations from the loneliest and most fragile dimensions of the human spirit which emerge in the darkness of a sleepless night. Ms. Park has a very rare ability to produce a story which begs to be read several times for the pleasure of both its beauty and its insights. To truly savor its richness, one must approach it with some experience of the uncertainty and unexpected beauty life has to offer. I await the next world she will create with great anticipation.

This book deserves a very careful reading as Ms. Park displays a rare gift for the articulation of inner landscapes of loneliness, hope and reconciliation. The book has layers of meaning which are woven together through the poetic and evocative talents of its author

I was moved and heightened by Frances Park's novel "Hotline Heaven". Turning each page, I can only compare it to rising higher and higher to another plane where only the inspired go.