United States Books

I enjoy historical fiction, especially that of the Civil War era, and was not disappointed by Lynn Austin's tale of drama and romance during the 1860s. The characters Julia and Phoebe are human and likeable, and most importantly, believable. I could not put this novel down, and bought it soon afterwards in a complete set (with books one and three). It was well worth it and highly recommended.

If you only have money for one book from this series, I would recommend this one. It is definitely the better of the three stories.

I never had read historical fiction regarding the civil war before this book. This was such an interesting book, and so full of information. I loved the characters. It was really neat to see how some of the women of the time helped in the war. Men made many sacrifices during this war, but so did the women. You will not be disappointed in this book if you love the civil war era. I accidentally got this one first over the first book in the series (Candle in the Darkness), I liked this one much better.

I couldn't put it down and read it in 2 days! I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a great book.

This book was better than the first one, I enjoyed reading it very much! I really liked how Julia's character developed and Phoebe was such a likeable character. Lynn Austin is a great writer, she really knows how to keep your interest. Highly recommend this book!

This book is all you really need to go to Alaska. If you are a fan of Frommers products you will not be dissapointed. It's a thorough and accurate overview of all the basics needed when planning an Alaskan getaway.

I received the 2008 edition for Christmas...
true to Frommer's form. Great "Best of Alaska"
and "Planning your Trip" chapters...good inter-
net links and current contact phone numbers.
Nice section of "Alaska in Depth."

What more can one say about Frommer? You can't, or shouldn't, take any trip without taking along Frommer's reviews/commentary, and what to see and do books. Our trip to Alaska was just fantastic, and the information provided in it on everything from travel by cruise ship, history and what land tours to take was outstanding. I purchased the book (and others like it) from Amazon, and they all arrived in a timely manner, and the "price was right".

This book has been very informative in helping us to select which cruise line, tours and offshore excursions we plan to take advantage of while in Alaska. I highly recommend reading this BEFORE BOOKING and taking it along as a guide on your trip. It gives insider tips you may not have thought about when planning a trip. JPB

Doing a road trip via Motor Home...great explanations of camp sites, fishing, etc. Very helpful for a first time visitor for sure!

This book is a must have for all women who aspire to succeed in any business. It contains numerous uplifting career advice from women in management - a definite guide in dealing with various issues in the work place. Very informative and inspiring; I could not put it down. Highly recommended!

Interesting and concise read. I enjoyed it but my only qualm is that there are various typos and grammatical errors in the book. Maybe I'm picky because I've done a lot of proofing in my profession but it was very annoying when I came across an error...

Author and consultant Susan Wilson Solovic tells how working women can be more effective in top positions and move up the career ladder. She highlights the differences between male and female styles and cites ways that women often sabotage themselves by showing weakness and a lack of confidence in how they speak and act. Using examples and diverse quotes, she illustrates what women should do to express the power they have, which is the key to being taken seriously as a leader. Solovic challenges many overly optimistic beliefs about how things have changed for women in the U.S. workforce and backs up her assertions with recent statistics and research. We [...] highly recommend this book, which provides a welcome strategic reminder that is clearly directed toward businesswomen - though why call them girls? Oh, that's a little irony from the author or, at least we hope so.

Susan Solovic's "The Girls' Guide to Power and Success" puts it right back in our laps. We have to make the changes in our expectations and behavior. She provides the motivation and the tools.

Little has changed in the last 50 years except that there are more women in titled positions. With these titles came no change in the lack of independence from male persuasion in decision making. We're still doing it their way.

Time for women to step up to the plate, read Solovic's book and march to our own drummers.

Girls' Guide To Power & Success invites a contemplation and discussion of girls' roles in a male-dominated world, examining the characteristics of men and women and those which could help females become stronger in the business world. Tips are wide-ranging and include a variety of powerful insights.

An amazing person as well as basketball player and coach, Don Haskins relates the history of Texas Western/UTEP basketball in a way that the movie "Glory Road" (though very good) simply could not. Even though the title makes it sound like the 1966 season is all that is covered, this book actually tells the history of Haskins' long tenure here at UTEP, from his first years at the school through the historic championship in '66, and beyond. His insights into the players, coaches, and personalities he came into contact with were enthralling, and the wonderful storytelling really makes you feel like you were there through all the good times and bad. I read it cover to cover the same afternoon I bought it, and highly recommend it to any fan of UTEP, Coach Haskins, or basketball in general. Thanks for everything you've done for the city of El Paso, our university, and the game of basketball, Mr. Haskins.

I had great service arrived just in time for fathers day and my father went to UTEP during the duration of the book so it made for a great fathers day present and the service from amazon was awsome thanks alot amazon.

Your current published reviews are enthusiastic but in some cases contain factual inaccuracies. The movie and the book are related in title and subject (Don Haskins); but that is about as far as it goes. The movie which focuses on 1966 is moving and concludes with a happy and factual ending - that is, that Texas Western won that game in 1966 --- but the movie not always true to the facts. Understandably I suppose when you try to compress a life story, even if only one year of a life, into a 2 hour or so movie. The book, from someone who played for Coach, reviewed and commented on the galley proof, and has represented Coach Haskins and the '66 team as a lawyer and a friend for 35 plus years, is "spot-on" and should be read by everyone who has ever had an interest in basketball.

As to the fortunes of 1966 team and the gentlemen representing that team so well, then and now, suffice it to say that the past 3 or 4 years have indeed been a trip down Glory Road: The team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA this past April, only the 6th team to ever be so honored - and the first collegiate team --- with the enshrinement proceedings to be held on September 7 and 8, 2007 at the HOF facility. The team has also been honored with dinner and a movie at the White House with President and Mrs. Bush; the team will be inducted in the Boys Clubs of New York Hall of Fame in October of 2007, and some of the members volunteered to take an Armed Services Entertainment Tour to Germany, the Netherlands and England in February of 2007 to entertain our country's troops and their families. Also, Texas Western's victory on March 19, 1966 in College Park, Maryland over Hall of Fame Coach Adolph Rupp and his great Kentucky Wildcat team, that included Pat Riley, Louie Dampier and Larry Conley, among others, was selected by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") as one of 25 defining moments in the 100 year History of NCAA sports.

I could go on but I think this should at least clear up a few matters and hopefully whet the appetite of prospective readers and reviewers to pause and consider reading this book, viewing the movie. Coach Haskin's story is presented in an interesting manner, containing both Coach Haskin's well known skills as a pick-up riding around story teller and the literary skills of Dan Wetzel who spent hours upon hours riding, listening and recording those stories.

It is well written and factual to a fault; and points out what people can do when they put aside prejudices, rediculous stereoptypes (blacks had no discipline, couldn't be a point guard or quarterback) and circumstances and judge people by character and performance; not color and privilege. Every one of those (then but now not so) young men -- all are still alive except Bobby Joe Hill who passed away of a heart attack in 2002 --- that comprised the Texas Western Team in 1966 had talent and skill; more importantly they had character and heart and respect for each other and their coaches and that combination took them to over the top.

Enjoy this story and share it with others - because of their courage and accomplishments, and those of others in other aspects of the 60's civil rights movement, questions surrounding recruiting, playing, starting and honoring people of color in sports today seem strangely quaint, and beyond the imagination of most people born after the '60s. But it wasn't always so and for this all of society owes a debt of gratitude to Don Haskins, the members of his '66 team, the University of Texas at El Paso (formerly Texas Western College) and the citizens of El Paso for contributing to the environment in which we now find ourselves with respect to race relations in sports.

I have the honor of being Don Haskins teammate at Oklahoma A & M, now Oklahoma State University and couldn't be prouder and happier for a very good film about a very historic Coach and athletic event. Please be advised that Don's whole 1966 team was just inducted into the new Collegiate Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri. Buy it, you will like it...!

In one of those quirky moments in the book and movie industries, the autobiography of coach Don Haskins was already "in the pipeline" before the development of the picture.

The book and movie share the title - Glory Road - which is a name of a street on the UTEP campus to commemorate the championship basketball season.

The book obviously gives a more fuller picture of Haskins and does not solely focus on the monumental victory by Texas Western College (UTEP) over Kentucky in the 1966 NCAA Finals. There will be areas "filled-in" where the movie takes artistic license with some facts/scenes to push the plot along.

The years after the title run are especially interesting, since the basketball program somewhat faded from national view as the sport became a multi-billion-dollar industry.

It is a shame that history - especially when it comes to matters of race - oftentimes become blurry as the years lumber forward. Though Haskins has always downplayed his role in what was a defining moment on the court of race & athletics, he truly deserved the attention from the national platform that propelled the book to national bestseller status.

The lessons learned along that glory road are as important today as they were 40 years ago.

GOING BACK TO BISBEE is essentially a memoir augmented by plenty of history, both natural and human. It won an award in 1992 for "creative nonfiction" and I can understand why. The conceit of the book, which is taken up by the title, is a drive by the author Richard Shelton from his current hometown of Tucson to Bisbee, Arizona, where he had spent two years of his life, newly married and a fledgling teacher, fresh out of the military, about thirty years earlier. He intersperses his account of his half-day-long, 100-mile drive with recollections of his personal life in Southern Arizona, stories of the history of the area (for example, the Apaches, the U.S. Army, and a century of mining), and sidebars on the flora, fauna, and geography of the region. The book ends with Shelton back in Bisbee, having dinner with an old friend and grande dame of the former mining town re-invented as a center for the arts.

For my taste, the "going back to Bisbee" conceit is a little too artificial and forced, and the anthropomorphism to which Shelton is prone becomes mildly annoying, especially when repeatedly used with reference to the van, "Blue Boy," in which he makes his trip. But on the whole, the book is very engaging. It certainly is a much more entertaining way of learning about Colorado river toads, Perry's agave, coyotes, mesquite, and many similar subjects than the typical natural history guide. At the same time one learns much about the destruction of the landscape by the Anglo invasion and their cattle-ranching and mining without undue preaching, and one is treated to a number of interesting personal anecdotes, some of which are genuinely funny.

Hence, GOING BACK TO BISBEE can be recommended on a number of levels, but it would be especially appreciated, I think, by those interested in the Sonoran desert and the mountains of Southern Arizona.

"And I'm going back to Bisbee, not really knowing why. Perhaps it is because two years of my life were left there, put behind me, and now I have reached an age at which I cannot afford to forget even two years out of those allotted to me. Perhaps I am looking for the spirit of a mountain I never knew, a mountain which became a crater on whose edge I lived for two years, happily, while the landscape and earth around me was being destroyed. Or perhaps it is just nostalgia. I was happy there, while the destruction went on for twenty-four hours a day, and now I want to go back" (pp. 21-22).

Richard Shelton is an Arizona writer and poet. His 1992 memoir Going Back to Bisbee won the Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction in 1992 and was selected for the 2007 One Book Arizona program. It is his love song to Bisbee, a desert city with a European feel located 82 miles southeast of Tucson in the mile-high mountains of southern Arizona. With his poet's eye for detail, Shelton immerses his reader in the landscape, flora, and fauna of the Sonoran desert as he makes his nostalgic journey (in the temperamental van he proudly calls "Blue Boy") from Tucson to Bisbee, where he taught English in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Along the way, he not only revisits the natural history of southeastern Arizona, but he reveals the beauty of the Sonoran desert, even capturing in words the scent of the desert when it smells like rain. Ultimately, Shelton's highly-recommended memoir reveals that Bisbee is as much a state of mind as a place. I should know. I have Bisbee dust in my blood. I was born and raised there. And like Shelton, I was happy there. I say read the book, and then experience Bisbee for yourself.

G. Merritt

This is a terrific book. I live in Arizona and learned so much from reading it. It is never boring and is full of information and fun stuff.
I even learned a few new words for things that happen in Arizona.
I would highly recommend this book.

Others have already heaped praise on Mr. Shelton and this book, so I can't improve on that. But you must also try his 2007 book "Crossing the Yard". It is every bit as good, if not better,Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer than "Going back to Bisbee"

What fun we had tracing Richard Shelton's steps (and drive) through the Arizona desert. He's personal stories throughout this book are great. The information on the flora and fauna are very detailed. The history on this desert area itself is fascinating.

This book could save many lives if its truth were widely embraced by the corporate and academic worlds. Bullying must be confronted and addressed as the most dangerous component of potentially lethal school and workplace relationships. Ames has performed a great service with his in-depth research and analysis. His history of slavery including its modern mutated form is powerful and embarassing in its hard truth. I recommend all supervisors take a special day off just to read this book. It might save your life and those around you.

It may not be politically correct or very American, but this book really drives home some of the major problems in American society, well presented and not willing to pull punches, it may be to close to the truth for most americans

This book gives a frightening insight into the harsh policies of corporate America and the so-called "wackos" who rebel.

When you crack open a book entitled "Going Postal," you don't expect to start reading about the antebellum South. But Ames starts by transporting us back in time in service of his provocative theme - that today's rage murders in workplaces and schools are contemporary forms of slave rebellion, indeed the only possible form of rebellion in a society as decollectivized and militarized as the modern corporate United States.

In this highly original and intriguing analysis, Ames ridicules "copycat" pundits who myopically search everywhere but right in front of their faces to explain the wave of workplace and schoolyard shootings that has swept through the United States over the last couple of decades. Hollywood movies, video games, the National Rifle Association, mental illness, bad parenting - the list of potential culprits is endless. But never the "toxic culture" of the institutions that breed these doomed revolts.

Whereas initial news accounts often vilify shooters as almost cartoon cutouts - mentally imbalanced, trench-coated racists or kooks - Ames offers in-depth portrayals, so we come to know them as ordinary human beings oppressed and stressed to the breaking point by a ruthless corporate or school environment. Attempts to profile individual offenders fall flat, Ames argues, because the offenders are potentially anyone. As evidence, he catalogs the widespread sympathy for many of the shooters among their former coworkers and classmates. One would never see such sympathy among victims of serial sex murderers, he points out.

Instead of profiling the individual rebels, Ames profiles the institutions. Shootings, he argues, happen in corporate environments rife with alienation, surveillance, mandatory unpaid overtime, and humiliating and degrading layoff rituals, where managers consciously harness fear to increase worker stress and insecurity. Sites of school shootings, meanwhile, are brutal environments where students undergo horrific torment only exacerbated by Zero Tolerance crackdowns.

This book is meticulously researched and brilliantly argued. It's too bad that Ames couldn't find a better publisher, because the technical quality is extremely poor and the copy editor must have been on an extended coffee break. I understand that his first publisher bailed after 9/11. But the typos, overly small text, and poor binding are all minor, superficial flaws that should not stop you from buying and reading this fascinating book.

PS: Coincidentally, and unbeknownst to me at the time, the latest rampage was underway, at Northern Illinois University. Although some other shooters have left written explanations or made posthoc statements (all included in Ames' book), this case is unusual in that killer Steven Kazmierczak co-authored a scholarly journal whose prophetic thesis almost exactly parallels Ames'. For more on this, you can see my blog entry of Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day), at forensicpsychologist.blogspot.com.

Mark Ames must have had some hardened life. He gets it right on the money when he describes the institutional torment that leads to destructive behavior. In the end, when the institution takes everything including truth, compassion and dignity, the rational response is rage, murder and rebellion.

This is a well-researched book, put out by someone who spent a lot of time researching and documenting the pattern. Ames' unlikely connection between slavery and the working man is made convincingly, with slavery occasionally being the more humane of the two.

I left government service recently, after watching three supervisors fall prey to love-hate dependency-based work relationships. All of them eventually succumbed to rage. I spent time speaking with other office employees, both former and current, who lost their emotional balance and faded into oblivion, whether fired or effectively incapacitated. I had to read this book to understand the dynamics behind this less-than-rare phenomenon. Ames' validation is a double-edged sword. What is frightening is the notion that this oppression occurs frequently, but is never documented until someone commits mass murder. Ames notes in his book that rebellion occurs with great infrequency, as the unknown is always more frightening than the known, however unpleasant.

"Going Postal" is a must-read book, although it is less gory than it is reflective. Ames is an excellent historian and consolidator of relationship dynamics. His ability to interview his subjects and pick up on the details -- sometimes even humorous in a macabre way -- makes this a facinating documentary.

A book every woman needs, especially if your journey is personal power development. It's not just the interviews that empower and connect us it's the authors thoughts which make this SUCH A GREAT BOOK.

I have found this book to be GREAT!, just what I need to tell my students. Very good bits of info that almost everyone can use. If you are a fighter even better, you don't have to get into scrape to learn this. I will recomond this title for all of my teachers and students.
toma the old one 4th Level Aikido Teacher and USAF-WR teacher and Canemaster teacher.

If there was ever a book that says "you can do it" this is it. The women were real and Fawn seemed to be able to bring out what is real in their lives. Women are women the world over and she shows that success doesn't always come easy but it can come to any and all with determination. Amazing stories and amazing women, the most exciting thing to me was the women are like almost every woman I know. Hope she writes something again soon. This book gave me a lot to think about and compass for my own path.

When Oprah told how inspiring this book was, I ordered it immediately. Thanks, Oprah. This is the most uplifting, powerful book you've turned me on to.

The author's human touch makes you a part of the experience of learning from such great women leaders. I truly felt like I could do ANYTHING after I read Hard Won Wisdom, and that's a good thing because my company is on the verge of layoffs. Fawn Germer's book reminds you that smart women survive and prevail in the toughest moments. This book changed so much about how I view myself and the possibilities that exist for me. You'll see.

I was given this book as a gift and wasn't intentionally reading it as a Self Help book. I found that I couldn't put it down, pulled out my high-lighter as I was reading it and started highlighting and starring as I read. Fawn didn't simply interview and tell a story. She wove the lives of these exceptional ecletic women telling of their trials and tribulations, their perserverence, and the outcome of their lives because of the choices they made during adversity as well as good times. The reader could easily identify with each concurring that we are the ones that are responsible for
following our own dreams. The dream may not become a reality but we are stronger and have grown from our efforts. This is a
great gift for friends of all ages as well as a perfect
graduation gift.

This book is beautifully produced, with a nice variety of types of homes presented.

I got this book so I could get some decorating ideas for my own house here in California. I found the book to be helpful in what I needed it for. It shows good interior design ideas for houses in Hawaii that could easily by used in other parts of the world. I love the Hawaiian styles and I am working on recreating them in my home.

This book transported me back to those years when I grew up in Hawaii and was exposed through friends and parties to so many of these kind of houses. I see Hawaii house decor being such an accumulation of all that is good about Hawaii - reflection of its spirit and early settlers and Hawaiian aspect. I live in New Zealand and decorate ALL my houses with a strong Hawaii/South Pacific/New Zealand flavor - this book has given me such inspiration for my next house. If you grew up in Hawaii or love the spirit of Hawaii this book is a must. I was thrilled when I received the book and as I am about to start a new adventure with a house I am going to incorporate so much of what I see and read in "The Hawaiian House Now" - It is not just a book with nice photos it is a book with some great information on all that is Hawaii.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was well written, well researched and contained a wealth of beautiful photographs. The author captured the beauty of simplicity. The Hawaiian House is a wonderful coffee table book.

Whether your style is contemporary, traditional, or eclectic this book has something for everyone. I've gone through it again and again, and each time I've seen something new or gotten an idea for something I can do in my own home.

This book and the references it makes, particularly to websites, will give you accurate and fun information about getting to the highest point in each of the fifty states. There is useful general information about hking, and each of fifty descriptions is excellent. If you buy the book and join the club, you will have something to do on vacations for years to come.

This is the second copy I have purchased as a gift. Also I have one that was a gift to me. The book is outstanding for the hiker/traveler. My copy is dog-eared from all the attention it gets. It is well organized and accurate in its descriptions and directions.

After thru-hiking the AT, my wife decided she wanted to go to the highest point in at least the continimerous 48 states (plus Hawaii as a reward). I bought a membership to the Highpointers Club and a copy of this book. We've used it to summit 13 states so far including easy drive-ups like Florida and Arkansas as well as challenges like Colorado (second highest point in the lower-48) and New Mexico.

While the book isn't a detailed hiking guide, it does contain information that is absolutely necessary to reach certain highpoints, especially those on private property. Additionally, the book contains a list of local highlights and interesting sites to see.

P.S. Our favorite highpoint, so far, is Kansas' Mount Sunflower!

Highpointing is a great way to see all 50 states and get a little exercise (or a LOT of exercise in some cases), and this book is the perfect guide. I have climbed 22 Highpoints and own 4 Highpointing books. I would definitely consider this my favorite of the 4. I would still recommend owning more than one Highpointing book, but like I said, this is definitely my favorite. This one also seems to be the quickest revised and the best kept up to date. Though I suppose you can always get updates on highpointing very easily off of www.highpointers.org.

Excellent guidebook. Provides everything you need in a few concise pages for each "mountain": Location, directions, summary statistics and comparisons, maps, alternate routes, nearby attractions, and human interest. The hiking distance and vertical elevation charts for each route are instantly helpful. The absence of errors is truly amazing for a book category that is continuously travel directions, distances, and routing. This book is so reliable that I have occasionally gone into the backcountry without procuring the mandatory real map. I own many dozens of mountain guidebooks--this may be the best for quick lookup of needed information! It is even a very convenient page size for fitting into a day pack. The authors have made these journeys a much simpler task compared to the days of the Frank Ashley book.

While the story chapters in the book are individually interesting, they somehow don't make a whole. The book feels choppy, as if it needed additional narrative to make if flow more smoothly. I expected, based on other reviews, to become immersed in the life of a narcotics officer. Just a average read.

I truly enjoyed this book. Paul Doyle's experiences were something that needed to be put on paper and published for the world to see. Although the names and the places may change, the core root of the drug world remains the same. In reading this book I found that other than the bell bottom pants and silk shirts, the happenings of the underground drug world are in so many ways similar today. The difference being the technology used and the way the intelligence is gained. I bought this book at a fair where the author was present and signed my copy. I spoke to him for a few moments and told him that I worked for a police department in a neighboring town and that my husband was also a police officer. He suggested that I read it and have my husband do the same. This book was a real page turner and I wasn't able to put it down until I was finished. I was truly impressed with his compassion for people which can easily be lost in the investigative and enforcement field. He points out that he actually had to become 'one of them' in order to take some of these criminals down. It was a different day and age. God Bless Paul and the guys that he worked with. It's not a job for the meek and mild.

Paul Doyle delivers edge of your seat excitement. Poignantly related, this warrior served as an undercover drug agent in the seamy sixties and seventies, in Boston's most rag-tag blighted neighborhoods.What is most refreshing is the lack of moral ambiguity in this narration.While remaining compassionate to the true victims of drugs- the addicts themselves, Paul Doyle mercilessly hunts down the perps on the top of the food chain, the major dealers and manufacturers- in an effort to staunch the flow of the drug epidemic.
I really enjoyed the book, my hope is that if it does get made into a film that the director has as subtle a touch as the memoirist.

Read this book at the advice of a friend and it is a must read for every caring American. Opened my eyes to the sacrifice some people are doing on our behalf and opened my eyes to a life most of us cant imagine. These folks do it for us and then in the end the Author takes us on a learning experience about where the drug money goes and who is behind it - the terrorist connection. He also lets you know the solution to cracking the incredible drug problem in this country lies in our families and not in Washington. Read it

Excellent. Didn't want to stop reading until I was finished the book.