Reno Books

I loved this book. Such a great story. It got me in the first few pages and held on to me until the last word. I hope Kelly writes more like it!

Misadventures and Merfolk is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. You are drawn in from the start and are left hoping merfolk are real or wishing you were one. This definitely needs to be made into a movie. Orlando Bloom would be the perfect Charlie. If he is unavailable, Antonio Bandaras or Johnny Depp would also be great. The market for honey would skyrocket with women everywhere making Honey Cakes. Kelly Reno is a fantastic storyteller. I can hardly wait for the sequel.

Brendan James is a travel writer. He's had one successful novel and one horrible flop. He's now on the search in the British Isles for ideas for his third novel, that will either make or break his writing career. Unfortunately, he finds nothing in these islands except sheep and his deadline has come and gone. With panic setting in, Brendan attends the Mermaid Festival in Heather Bay on the Isle of Sky.

This event celebrates the anniversary of a mermaid who fell in love with a man. It features parades and shows unlike any other festival. Although unlike other festivals, this event features matchmaking events, strange creatures, and people claiming to be the descendants of real merfolk.

Misadventures & Merfolk is a hilarious fantasy with a romantic twist or two. A great story about being at the darkest point in your life and finding a new way that you never even knew existed. A book about using the heart to make decisions and not the head. However, the best part of this book is the unique mix of characters. Some of the characters are completely normal, realistic, everyday people thrown into extraordinary situations. Others are completely off their rockers and remind the reader of that weird aunt or uncle that nobody talks about in public.

Misadventures & Merfolk is an inventive novel about a travel writer who visits the British Isles and finds a seaside town teetering on the edge of insanity. Enchanted by a local mermaid impersonater, nearly killed in a bizarre mating ritual, solicited to give an organ donation by the neighborhood church, he resolves to expose the whole truth about the bizarre town for good or ill. A wry and adventurous story of bizarre but all too human community.

When Brenden James' thoughts' on his travels around the States get turned into a book, which becomes a best seller, he never expected the sequel to be a horrible flop. Now, touring the British Isles, he is clueless as well as suffering from writers block on how to write another best selling novel which is the only way to save his writing career. After all, how much can be said about old people and sheep? When he is stranded on the Isle of Man (because his ferry sank) during the annual Mermaid Festival, suddenly, he feels the start of a story that should satisfy his publisher...

The seaside village of Heather Bay has women flocking to the town to try and find their soul mates; a young girl continues the habit of dressing up like a mermaid (started by her grandmother); and all of the local fishermen seek vengeance from "Charlie the Tuna". Then there is the cranky lighthouse keeper that wrote a novel about mermaids, the Priest who wears a close pin on his nose and... AH Yes! Story Heaven... But the longer Brenden spends in this "mad" town, the more fascinated he becomes with Christine, the local mermaid and the people of the town. How can he put his satirical view on these small town people, which would cause them harm?

Kelly Reno has written a fantastic novel. Besides that I adore the cover (Waterhouse is my favorite artist!) the book also includes pictures that give the story more of the "travel book" quality that Brenden is writing about. This story actually gives you the feeling of being in a small town overrun with tourist during a festival. I loved it!

I haven't read too many mermaid stories, so this is one of the attractions I had to MISADVENTURES & MERFOLK. I was really happy with the "happily ever after" part of the story and found Ms Reno's merfolk fascinating. Because Brenden is a total disbeliever in merfolk, you actually are discovering the culture along with him (very interesting actually!). I really hope that there will be a sequel written about Charlie "the Tuna".

Each chapter is almost its own insane event, which leaves you satisfied with the what is happening (for example the parade) and yet aching to know what will happen next. So if you have short amounts of time to read during the day this book is perfect! You can read a chapter, and then put the book down because you know what happened. However, the energy of MISADVENTURES & MERFOLK will have you picking the story back up at the first possible opportunity because you want to know what will happen next! This was so unique, and I found really enjoyable.

Besides the humorous events that take place between the pages, Kelly Reno has a very different writing voice than I am used too, and I loved it. It was like watching a BBC special where everything is either insane or ...just not what it appears to be. I don't think I can recommend this book enough! I don't think anyone could be disappointed.

This book takes the reader out of time and space and into a realm of wonder. After growing up in St. Mary's County, it was astounding to see how much the mother county of Maryland has evolved through the centuries. The author, who I am proud to say is my aunt, has put together a collection of pictures that accurately represents the county in a way that makes it unique than any other county in the United States. Once the reader picks it up he or she will not be able to put it down, it is truly captivating.

This is an amazing book to have if you are from the area. The pictures are beautiful and offer an amazing look into the County, the people of the area and it's history. You will definitely not regret this purchase and it is a treasure to have. Thank you Linda. -Heather

Linda Reno, in her St. Mary's County, Images of America, has provided me a stroll through the home county of many of my ancestors. In her inimitable way, Linda has brought to life for me their homes their faces and their customs through her choice of pictures and reader friendly text. I couldn't stop reading it even when I came to the last page. I started all over again. It's destined to become a family treasure. I highly recommend it for it's sheer delight.

The pictures--all taken in the early 1900s--that were gathered for this wonderful book really bring old St. Mary's County to life. Linda's clear and concise captions are even more interesting. She not only identifies those in the old family photos, but also includes a brief genealogical sketch. The pictures of so many St. Mary's County locations, most of which no longer exist, allow us to "see" through the eyes of those who went before us. To be able to view, as well as read about, the churches, schools, barns, hotels and homes of the past give us a glimpse into the daily lives of the County's early 20th century residents.

I don't know of any other book that provides such a comprehensive pictorial history of St. Mary's County. It is obvious that Linda put her heart and soul into this project. She did a phenomenal job.

I would like to HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in the history of Maryland. So often history is just dates and faceless names, but this book brings the people and places of St. Mary's County to life. The pictures are wonderful and capture the mood of a earlier more simple time. The captions are informative and well written. Linda Reno brings considerable expertise to this endeavor. Among her many roles, Linda heads up the Maryland GenWeb for St. Mary's County and has done so much to bring to life the history of St. Mary's County, the birthplace of Maryland. Linda has written extensively on the history of St. Mary's County and yet she always always has been ready to give freely of her time and knowledge. Where she finds the time I do not know!

My family has its roots in St. Mary's County and Linda has done us all proud. Buy this book and then just settle in and enjoy a wonderful view into an earlier period in our history. Thanks Linda for a wonderful book which I hope will allow more people to share in our proud Maryland heritage.

Whatever these men have done in their lives has found its way into the thread of their works. What an enjoyable read. Saderup has his own voice where nobody would expect such rumbling sounds to become a thing of beauty. Buy it. Read it. Review it.

If we wait long enough good things will happen: justice will come. After waiting many years for good poetry it has arrived in the form of four ugly faces from Reno. Well, at least they call themselves the Reno four. Don't let the faces fool you. This poetry explodes in your soul. It is an incredible array of illusion and reality, fire and ice. The beats are dead and gone, and standing on the bones of yesterday are the words of these four poets illuminating the future world of literature. Books like this and Anthony Ziegler's "Cars and People: pissing at 60 miles and hour," are bearing the torch into the new era of literature. A must read!

S. Haddings

Anthony Douglas Ziegler (author of Cars and People, pissing at 60 miles an hour), Scott Elliott (a wordsmith), Randy Saderup (incredible artist) and Scott Shulim (a guy from the Bronx) are talented men whose paths were pre-determined to cross at some point. The years they spent in Reno, Nevada running critique groups, open mics and art exhibits were not wasted. As well as the many nights they tooled their craft with wine and wood parties, reading submissions to "The Okra-Chicken" a literary publication and travels to everywhere they could read show strong favor toward the emotional impact of these blue collar men. We often find ourselves wishing we had written or said this or that, staring in mirrors on freeways, mouthing words to songs and prose, imagining how others might see us saying these words for the first time. The work in this book is delightful as well as worldly. It is in your face and your heart. Women cannot help but hear Anthony speak in person and want to nurture him. Scott Elliott's strong vocal presence owns the stage when he talks. Randy Saderup corrals the soul with truth and sadness. Scott Shulim makes you laugh through your tears, trying to hide, afraid others may be watching you feel every word as if you gave them birth. I am indeed pleased to finally have the opportunity to encourage the purchase of this, their FIRST published work, together. They read on my KVMR public radio show many times in Nevada City, CA. Thank you guys! Great work!

If you are looking for something new in the world of poetry, then this is it. Wherever these guys came from, they kept to themselves and learned how to write. I found every influence from Rumi to Neruda in their work. Sensational. From feeling the death of a spider to eating a bagel in a New York apartment, and from the touch of that first love to the laughter of birds. A must for the private library. Good work, new and fresh. Something different for this century.

LOVING MARIE by Dawn Reno recounts rebuilding a life alone after divorce. Krista Bordon-Hathaway moved from Hartford, Connecticut to Morrison, Colorado to find answers. Her best friend Marie Alonzo had died when Krista needed her most. Now she must learn who she is, and who she wishes to be.

Years of Marie's letters filled Krista's life with beauty. Marie wrote of her "perfect" life and her love for her Colorado home. But an accidental discovery of Marie's journal reveals the pain and joy concealed behind that perfect life. Her journal reveals the emptiness of a marriage gone wrong, the joy watching a child mature, and the guilt of stolen love.

As she begins rebuilding her life, Krista meets Peter Goddard, the man Marie had once loved. Her own growing feelings are tainted by the insecurity of knowing her beloved friend had loved Peter, too. Further, Krista feels torn, having left her daughter with her grandmother when she came to Colorado.

Desperately trying to raise enough money to bring her teenage daughter to Colorado, Krista can't do it fast enough to prevent her abusive ex-husband and her own mother from taking custody of her daughter. The ensuing battle for her daughter lends a depth to the novel not to be missed.

LOVING MARIE is of those gentle, thoughtful stories that touches the heart without devolving into sentimentality. Indeed, LOVING MARIE combines the quest for self identity with a love story, both with love between man and woman, but also with love between mother daughter, thereby touching three generations and revealing the true depth of emotion concealed beneath the surface. While the quest to regain her daughter takes Krista into the deepest realms of the heart, the pain and the passion doesn't overshadow the quest for self-identity, lending the novel a unique balance seldom achieved in mainstream fiction. This is one of the year's must reads, and an absolute keeper. Very highly recommended.

What a pleasure to find a new voice in contemporary women's fiction! LOVING MARIE is fresh, stirring and memorable. Great hook, wonderful first-person voice, and real, believable characters with human flaws. By the end of the book, I ended up loving Marie too. This was a real button-pusher (the e-equivalent of a page-turner.) Looking to hear more from Dawn Reno! - Anne Carter, author of IN TOO DEEP

Like Krista, we all need to escape from the unpleasant realities of life from time-to-time. This story was just so real. The abusive relationship, the innocent child, and learning that we sometimes don't know our friends as well as we think. Krista and Marie's friendship was palpable and heartfelt. I have nothing but superlatives for this story.

Loving Marie is a gripping tale of human emotions. It brings the reader face to face with the kind of friendship that transcends death, horrendous abuse that challenges the will to go on, and, finally, ultimate love that frees the spirit. Dawn Reno has written an excellent book that makes the reader pause to examine what is important within their own world and hopefully, appreciate life more. It is an emotional roller coaster ride that pulls out all the stops of your feelings and leaves you feeling exhilarated.

I've had the PDA version of this book's 31st edition and I liked so much that when the 32nd edition came out I could not resist to buy the actual book. It is a great book for a quick review of many topics. I personally complement some of the topics with UptoDate and works great.

A "must have" for the medical practitioner's library. An easily accessible source of reference at the doctor's office or while doing rounds at the hospital. The edition is very much updated.

This book is really useful and contains a great deal of information regarding everything an IM student/resident would like to know. It's very well written, clear and concise. It has a big drawback though: it is big and heavy enough for not being comfortably put in your pocket, since it is considered a pocket book. If this is not a disadvantage for you it is a perfect companion for quick refence in theoretical and some practical stuff

Great reference for the busy practitioner in the ambulatory setting. Gets to the gut of the issues and easy to read. Wide variety of diagnosis' and very up to date information.

Mike White has borrowed the very successful book format pioneered by Jerry Schad to produce 'Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe.' Like the original books in the Afoot & Afield series, this volume aims to provide a comprehensive listing of all the day hikes over a broad region within California and Nevada. The result is 175 hikes centered around Lake Tahoe but including the northernmost parts of the Sierra near Graeagle and extending south of Carson Pass. The hikes also vary tremendously in length, ranging from 1/2 mile nature walks to 18 mile all day treks along the Tahoe Rim Trail. All of the classic hikes in the region are described, including the climb to the summits of Mt. Tallac and Mt. Rose, the Tahoe Meadows trail, and beautiful Showers Lake. Literally everyone will be able to find something to suit their tastes in this book, but readers should be warned that White does tend to favor longer and more strenuous hikes. The average hike in this guide is about 7 miles long and includes some serious elevation gain. Nonetheless, White often offers shorter options for his routes so more casual day hikers like my wife and myself will still be able to make use of this guide.

Like other books in the 'Afoot and Afield' series by Wilderness Press, this volume includes a nice chapter on the local and natural history of the region. Route descriptions also feature occasional sidebars to highlight areas of local historical interest. Most important, this book includes excellent maps and retains two features that made Jerry Schad's original books in the series so successful. The first is that the broader region is subdivided into smaller areas so that readers can find hikes that are close to their campgrounds, condos, or casinos as the case may be. Second, each description begins with a capsule summary that quickly gives you details about distance, elevation gain, approximate hiking time, and difficulty for each trail. This is invaluable for tourists who have only a few days to spend in the area.

My last visit to Tahoe was primarily for the purpose of backpacking the Tahoe Rim Trail. I never finished the last 60 miles and have intended to return ever since. This book has further whetted my appetite. The Reno-Tahoe area is one of the most spectacular hiking regions in California and Mike White's volume is a fine addition to the books on the area. If you are planning a visit to the area, this book will be an excellent resource.

We purchased this book for a vacation in Lake Tahoe, and it provided a wonderfully complete summary of the hikes, organized by region. The summaries at the beginning of each hike give you the mileage, terrain, and difficulty rating and were extremely helpful in selecting hikes for each day. The maps are better than many other hiking guides I've seen, because they show all nearby trails in relation to each other, not jut each individual trail. we purchased a US Forest Service map, which was nice to have, but we could have gotten by just with the maps in the book.

Informatively written by Reno local Mike White, Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide is a satisfyingly in-depth outdoor hiking guide to the Reno-Tahoe region on the Nevada-California border. Intended for both visitors and residents, Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe covers general safety and practical guidelines for hikers plus in-depth examinations of more than 175 mountain hiking and mountain biking trips in the region. Routes vary in length from less than a mile to an 18-mile point-to-point challenge. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this top-quality guide for hikers of all skill and experience levels looking forward to enjoying the Reno-Tahoe wilderness.

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!

Paul Anderson has a wonderful way with words. He paints great pictures and reveals a personal side to his subjects. This is definately one of his better works.

Janet Reno is sexy. I wanted to know all about her, and this book gave me everything I wanted. Very informative. Did you know that I'm a boxer. I'm champion of my hometown of alvin, Texas.

Anderson creates a very "human" view of our Attorney General. He address many 'rumors' and puts them to rest, rather well. This book is far more educational than One might expect, and delves into the relm of politics. Anderson defines The A.G. as a social reformist, and I think he made a correct assessment of her life long pursuits to make this country a better place. Anderson will have you cheering and praising Janet Reno. I was well pleased with this work.

this book provides analysis of weak or failed states in Africa, based on thorough on the ground research and solid historical work. i bought it for my phd dissertation into democratization and violence, but its relevant for any comparative politics/historical work on Africa. precisely because its so well grounded in actual politics, it adds to some of the classic and recent theoretical studies on Africa, while remaining accessible to any one trying to understand what is happening.

In the midst of my research on timber Liberia, I was told that the only person who really knew what was going on in West Africa was William Reno, assistant professor at the University of Florida. When I called him to ask for information, he told me about the book that he published just this year. I tracked it down in the library, and was very relieved (after much fruitless searching) to find a readable and informative explanation of the politics of so called "weak states", along with four case studies on West African Nations. Reno's book provided by far the most comprehensive and readable explanation of the modus operendi of this region.

The first two chapters, entitled "The Distinctive Political Logic of Weak States" and "Africa's Weakest States After the Cold War", outline useful background information on the unique political systems in place in sub-saharan Africa. Reno does an excellent job of balancing his political theory with hist! orical examples. The next four chapters, which subsequantly cover Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and DRC (formerly Zaire), provide detailed analyses of the economic and political situations in these countries. Reno places the factions, the foreign business partners and the conflicting European vs. African interests in a solid context. On Liberia he writes, "The way we think about Liberia is strongly influenced by images of chaos and random violence.... In fact, war in Liberia has followed a clear logic. Warlord pursuit of commerce has been the critical variable in conflicts there. Stongmen have used commerce to consolidate their political power within a coalition of interest among themselves, businesspeople, and local fighters"(p.79).

Reno has combined information gleaned from his travels, dozens of interviews, and unique primary documents to provide a cohesive picture of the West African political system, a challenge of sorts to the conventional World Bank wisdom! that would have all "weak states" conform to its! idea of economic viability. He places in context the confusing behavior of rulers of weak states, with their tendency to avoid bureaucratic efficiency and free market enterprise, to the chagrin of first world observers. Reno writes, "Rulers who face threatening internal behavior intentionally cripple the arms of the state, which weakens the agencies that outsiders prescribe as the best means to mobilize resources to alleviate pressure form the international economy, such as debts, balance-of-payments imbalances, and instruments to enhance state revenues"(p.19). The behavior is necessary, he writes, in order to keep local strongmen in check. The conclusion that he draws from this may cause one to ponder; "The joining of political struggle and accumulation-- even as a violent Kalashnikov lifestyle of protection rackets, forced labor, and fencing of stolen goods-- is as much a candidate for a Weberian capitalist style of life as is a Protestant ethic or a Japane! se way of doing business"(p.30).

Rather than criticising from afar, Reno writes from the vantage of a frist hand observer. His ideas are provocative and well stated, valid for both the ignorant student (myself) and the seasoned researcher.

Drawing upon fieldwork in a number of troubled regions, Reno has produced a compelling and insightful examination of political realities within Africa's war-torn states. A valuable alternative to the more common hand-wringing and finger-pointing of most African political appraisals.

One of the best books out there for people like me who are 'food challenged'. I have a myriad of health problems from indoor to outdoor, chemicals to foods...and when I found this book it was a real blessing. They cover everything. The recipes are awesome, the helpful guides are something everyone should carry around and get to know. A must for everyone who wants to better their knowledge and health. ;)

Overwhelmed by how to eat with food allergies? This book takes an easy, straight forward approach to buying, cooking and eating for a food allergy-free diet. Not everyone has the same food allergies, so these folks have substitutions right with each recipe. No need to second guess or hunt through other books trying to figure out what would work instead. They don't focus just on the major allergies (wheat, sugar, dairy, corn, soy, yeast). They cover a wide range of allergies. And their recipes are good. There's also a section that explains what food substitutes are out there and how to prepare them. For example, instead of wheat, there is oat, barley, rye, kamut, spelt, amaranth, teff, quinoa, etc.