DC Washington Books

I bought this book for my mom and thought I would do a quick read of it. I've been to Washington DC four or five times. This book has some interesting things in it if you have never traveled before. Like it talks about how to get a decent deal on a flight, rental car or train. It also explains what the Metro and the Metrobus is. It has a good selection of hotels and restaurants. I think the thing I was most disappointed about though was the reviews on the attractions. I was expecting more in-depth insights and coverages of the museums and other sites around Washington. Not paragraph blurbs. It was kinda sad and it definitely lowered the ranking for this book. I would recommend this book as a quick read in the bookstore or a library checkout book.

I guess this book is useful if you want to know such insightful things as it gets hot in the summer in Washington DC and kids are not in school, or, that it gets very cold in the winter (imagine that). Other gems include that you can take a cab from the airport to your hotel, and to wear comfortable shoes if you plan to do a lot of walking. I picked this up before a trip to the nation's capitol, and was underwhelmed with the information. Luckily one of my buddies had a different much more comprehensive guide to the Washington DC, so we opted to use that.

I've read through several Washington DC. travel guides, and this one was, by far, the worst. It's very far from comprehensive, and spent far too much time on things like "How to get to Washington, DC", and very little time talking about hotels (a negligently small listing), restaurants and nightlife (a few paragraphs). Book is black and white with no color photos, no color maps (so no different colors for each of the metro lines), actually very little in the way of maps, and no photos to speak of either. Poor. Frommers Washington DC guide is a far better investment. Even Fodors is better. Possibly the weekend section of the Washington Post would be more useful than this paperweight.

My family just returned from a wonderful trip to DC. As a mom who always researches our trips, I have bought a lot of books that help give info and advice on what to do and see on trips. This was one of the better ones I saw in the stores on DC. After purchasing it and reading through it, I found that the info was acurate and up to date. It gave a lot of tips that I wouldn't have known any other way. It saved us time and money. It was also a neat way to share info with my kids while we were at different monuments that didn't have tour guides available. I am a fan of the "Dummies" books!

I'm the editor of this book (and hired Tom Price to write it) so I know it VERY well. Mr. Price is a longtime DC resident, and welcomes the reader into his home town in a way that is both informative and funny.

Price covers a lot of ground in a book that's not a long slog: he hits the high points like the new Spy Museum, compiles lists of attractons for people who love museums, architecture, the outdoors, and gives the pros and cons of visiting our nation's capital in each season.

DC is a momumental city, and it can be daunting to fit it into a short visit, but you CAN make the most of your time there with Price's expert guidance.

There are ONLY two reasons for reading this book. One, you are forced to read it for promotional purposes. Two, you have heard about the authors aimless ramblings, and were told it WILL put you to sleep....zzzzz!
It should come packaged with a warning sticker titled, "NOT TO BE USED FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES"

If you run out of sleeping pills, read this! Delatre is the King of run on sentences. For proof, check out the 1st sentence on page 76. It's on the Hypothesis of Structural Deviance and contains whopping 143 words!!!! Wow, Edwin! Your English teacher is turning over in her grave! If she is still alive, don't let her read this. It may cause her to stroke out!

This book is for academics looking for research to quote, but certainly not for anyone who wants a practical guide on ethics in policing. Delatre presents a lot of information in an unclear and vague manner. We would be best suited with the Cliff Notes. We would probably have them, too, but Cliff is probably still in a trance over this one!

Delatre offers both sides of several arguments, but at times, fails to take a side. How annoying!

In another book I read recently on Policing, its author says that the best way to relay information is to "be clear, be concise, be gone!" Delatre is not clear, he is not concise and he is not gone! Why, because I am still try to burrow through the last couple chapters of this book.

The only way this book could maintain a respectable, steady volume of sales is if it were required reading, i.e. for a college course.

Seriously, this book could lose half its pages and be much closer to readable. Make your points, give your examples, take a stand, then wrap it up.

This book appears to be used by police academies in training police. It seems to be more of a textbook rather than a book for the general reader.

Police forces throughout the world are at risk of having certain problems. There is always some pressure for police to accept bribes. Police can also slide into habits of using excess force and some times other problems can occur such as simple laziness. One of the problems for any police command is thus to ensure that these problems are either eliminated or minimized.

This book talks about the sorts of reasons why police become corrupt and urges police to develop morale character. One of the chapters for instance looks in part at the question of whether police should accept free cups of coffee from restaurants. On the face of it such an offer would seem a simple measure of gratitude from a member of the public to underpaid officers. The author however indicates that often in such situations the offer of even a coffee may lead to an expectation of something in return. To warn customers of the restaurant instead of giving them parking tickets. To be around if the restaurant has problems. Such a process can lead to police accepting the idea of quid pro quo's and entering into other arrangements. This chapter goes on to explain the mechanics of corruption and why even non-corrupt officers will remain silent in the face of corruption. The police force is a cohesive unit whose members will from time to time face situations of real danger. The need to depend on others can lead to officers falling into the habit of not rating so that they will have support in any dangerous confrontations with criminals.

One of the strengths of the book is that it is filled with thousands of examples in which police can face pressure to do the wrong thing. These examples are carefully chosen and no doubt would in a class setting be valuable for trainee officers.

Other chapters, obviously again intended for class discussion rather than being definitive in themselves are disappointing. One chapter looks at the question of drug enforcement and examines arguments for changing the current policy of prohibition. Although the author presents both sides of the argument with fairness there is no real discussion of the empirical reality and the costs of the policies. His approach is one based on morality and rights rather than looking at the operational problems of policing drugs and the cost of imprisonment. In addition he puts the dilemma as an either or choice between legalization and probation. He seems to be unaware of harm minimization strategies. Another chapter that touches on positive discrimination is also disappointing.

These criticisms are perhaps churlish, as the book does not seem to have aimed at being one read by the general public. No doubt a reasonable text book but not something which would contribute to the debate on how to structure police forces to deal with problems and violence.

This to-the-point book answers many of the questions that concern officers, supervisors and adminisrators serving communities today. Not a re-hashed, warmed-over version of business management theory rewritten in police jargon, as we find in so many other books professing to be "police text". This book addresses issues ("cop things") in the realm of reality (the"cop world"). Don't let the title fool you, although it has much to say about ethics, this text expands on the "real" ethics of law enforcement; the "street level" use of ethics, morals and values in relation to the reality of the job. Each chapter deals with a diffenent core subject; they can stand alone as a lesson. I constantly review portions when met with a difficult challenge. In my estimation, history will hold this text as one of the best sources of information for professional police offices of all ranks. Many agencies issue a copy of this to all new supervisors. This is one book to have in your desk at all times.

This book depicts a geniune need in law enforcement. The need to hire, train, and maintain ethical personnel is explained and stressed to the reader in a way that has been overdue. The occupation of a law enforcement offical world wide has a real need to be a true character , role model, or the public offical that can be trusted. Edwin has a clear style of writing with a no nonsense approach to describe past , present, and future occurrences of police conduct. I believe the criminal justice system would beam with pride and public trust if law enforcement would read and act on the issues and suggestion that Delattre brings forth in this fine book.

...if you are a dc metro foamer...or just interested...this is the book for you. Meaty with information on planning and execution...nicely, but not lavishly illustrated, you'll have to get your photo jolly's from another source. Great book, though!

This is a timely book about Washington D.C.'s Metro, given the current controversy about its management, efficiency and reliability. This book answers many of the questions a typical rider of the Metro would ask. However, the writer provides far too much detail about all of the decisions that went into the zoning, planning and building of the Metro. It is very easy to get distracted and lost in each chapter.

As evidenced by the numerous references, the author has been quite thorough in his research. However, the amount of detail bogs down the story, and it is quite easy to lose the greater picture. It would have served the story better to footnote most of the names and organizations. Of special note, however, are the drawings and photos from the period.

Overall, this book is a good complement to others regarding the history of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, such as "The Pentagon: A History", "Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington D.C.", and especially, "Freedom Rising:Washington in the Civil War."

In addition to the main subject, the book touches on themes addressed in other books regarding urban development, such as the "City Beautiful" movement that was popularized after the Chicago World Expo of the 1890's, "urban planning", immiment domain, "smart growth", and the boundaries between public and private interests in influencing the development of a metropolitan area. Other books that touch on these themes include Janet Jacobs' seminal work "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", as well as "Edge City, Life on the New Frontier", which devotes a large section to the evolution of the Tysons Corner area, and even "The Levittowners", a 1961 work which takes a sociological view of families migrating to Levittown, PA, a small surburban enclave of Philadelphia that was a developed by one of the nation's largest builders at the time, akin to today's Toll Brothers, perhaps.

Lastly, if you would like to explore the idea of completely planned communities, such as Greenbelt, MD, which was a product of the New Deal era, consider reading works dating back to the Utopian movement of the late 1800s, such as Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward", and the ideas of Robert Owen, who created an experimental enclave in Scotland, and attempted to establish one in the U.S. as well.

In the end, as I read these diverse works it helped me shape my own ideas regarding the public/private balance over land use and development. It's an interesting journey that enhanced my understanding of the issues, but yet I still feel overwhelmed by magnitude of the issue. Perhaps we will indeed evolve to the types of cities imagined by Isaac Asimov in his "Foundation Series" of books.

I moved to DC in 1981 and watched the colorful branches progress from hash marks to solids. There are quirks in the system; this book answered many of my questions. Particularly interesting are the failed attempts in the 1960's to carve expressways throughout the district and later, the design evolution of the glorious system to replace the road plan.

This is a wonderful history of the DC Metro System. This subway has provided the underground infrastructure to relieve mis-guided highway construction that threatened the District. Metro has provided the impetus for development in the Dupont Circle, 7th Street, and New York Avenue corridors. When the new basebal stadium is constructed, it will be served by 2 Metro stations and new development will occur there.

Good Night Washington DC is an excellent book for anyone who would like to help children learn about the beauty of the nation's capital. The book covers all the best sites in the city with charming text and beautiful, sophisticated illustrations. Good Night Washington DC makes an excellent gift for anyone with young children, baby showers, birthdays, souveneirs etc.

Our children love the Good Night series of books and we all have great fun at bedtime looking for the mice and balloons. Washington DC is one of our faviourites.

There is a misspelled word on the seventh page. This is a children's book. Need I say more?

The Good Night... series are good books for young kids to read or to have read to them. It includes basic words and gets the kids interested in different travel locations.

A poor sequel to the "Good Night America" original, and a great disappointment. Bad illustrations, uninspired presentation and choice of subject matter. Don't bother with this one.

The complete idiot's guide to DC is for complete idiots. It gets the facts wrong about DC, is insulting to the city, and is marginally useful as a guide for tourists. Read the Michelin, Rough Guide, Ulysses, or Lonely Planet instead.

Great book. The Idiot series for traveling is good no matter what location you choose. Use this book in conjuntion with a google map to really figure out where to stay, eat, and visit. Good reading.

I compared this guide to three others and found the Complete Idiot's Guide to be much more useful for my family. It was nicely organized with very up-to-date, easy-to-understand information for the D.C. novice. The handiest feature is built-in, full color maps -- a D.C. features map in the back and the rapid transit system grid, drawn by color, inside the front cover. It makes this book a definite "take-along" when touring our nation's capital.

This book would be very good for a first time visitor to Washington. If you are going to go and need a guide...here it is.

I spent several years in Vermont and still go back as often as I can. Mamet captures much of the simple magic about the state and its people. The chapters are disconnected fragments, but that is fine. The impressions combine to give a good picture of life in this curiously unspoiled place.
I have read 3 volumes in this National Geographic Discoveries series and have just ordered 3 more. They are short, insightful and written by some of the best writers out there. The whole series is worth a careful look. If they sold them on subscription, I would sign up. Someone good is doing the commisioning here.

I live just north of Mamet's hometown of Cabot, Vermont, and know many of the places and some of the people in the book (I've never met Mamet himself). For most of us who live in or close to the Northeast Kingdom, it is a beautiful, but gritty place to make a go of it. There is much to exult about and much to damn. Mamet's take is mostly dead on. While some of the book romanticizes life here, other passages criticize both himself (directly) and others (obliquely). I found myself agreeing with much of his analysis and many of his honest portrayals. Those inhabiting the right fringe of the political spectrum might find some of Mamet's opinions distasteful, but they have it coming.
Although the word "vide" was used too often, I like a book that stretches one's vocabulary. Keep a dictionary close by if you buy this book. I also like a book whose whole is greater than the sum of the parts and that reads, at times, like poetry. The evocative black and white photos help capture this unique vision of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. I look forward to rereading this book.

A friend who lives near Cabot just sent me a copy of this and it is divine! I couldn't resist reading it to my husband in bed since we're both from Central Vermont although now transplanted to Massachusetts where there are a few more jobs. We finished it in one weekend night and were disappointed it was over so soon (not my husband's typical reaction to a book I like, trust me).

I've read some of Mamet's other books (of course, I've seen more than a couple of his movies, too) and this is my favorite, by far. He writes well as you would expect.

"Aren't those Vermonters cute ?" "Aren't I profound ?" This collections of anecdotes, snippets, and name dropping sure doesn't sound like the people of Cabot, Vt., that I know. In Tom Wolfe's 'Bonfire of the Vanities', Wolfe left out writers. Keep watch on Mamet. If this book really expresses his thoughts, he should self-ignite soon.

We recently bought our first free standing home on 1/4 acre in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. My original plan was to 'garden every inch', but I soon realized that was not a 'plan'. After going through several volumes and magazines in the library, I came across this book.

Its beauty lies in the fact that it helps the begginer to PLAN. The gorgeous pictures helped me decide which plants I like visually; the icons let me know immediately which plants do well in shade, sun or both; which are drought tolerant, which attract bees, which are scented, which are native; the list seemed endless. I also like the fact that the book includes water plants, trees, grasses and shrubs with the usual fare because we are fortunate enough to have dogwoods in our yards and now I know how to take care of them.

The reference guide includes contact information for area garden centers, including one about 15 minutes from where we live.

I hope readers can find a guide like this specific to the areas in which they live.

The best recommendation of all: after 3 renewals from the library, I finally decided to BUY the book - I'm definitely going to use it this spring and always.

Aside from providing a list and pictures of popular local plants, this book provides little useful information about individual species and their cultivation. Much of each one-page species description is pure boilerplate providing generic information on planting that is repeated over and over again throughout the book, rather than being stated once in a section on cultivation. Truly disappointing.

I like that this book is specifically about the area in which I live. There's lots of good info here. I wish there had been more flowers listed, though. I wanted to find a smorgasbord of pretty, interesting and different flowers from which to choose. (I'm not looking to plant trees, so I just skipped over that section.) I think this book is a pretty good resource for neophyte or relatively new gardeners in the Mid-Atlantic.

I bought this book so we could plan for our first trip to DC this summer. I have a ten year old son. I have really enjoyed this book. It lets me know what thing he will like and possibly dislike. It has been helpful as there is so much to do and we only have 4 days. We want to make the most of our visit and this is letting us do that by helping us choose the best things for us to do.

I bought this new book because it was the most recently published and sounded great. It is not great for a number of reasons. First, it is heavily weighted toward trips with tweens and teens rather than younger children. I was planning a trip with children 6-8 years old. Most of the recommended places are recommended for tweens and teens. In fact, had I not known better from friends, I would have skipped the International Spy Museum altogether, because the guide recommends it for "older tweens and teens" and makes it sound beyond the understanding of a younger child. Having now been to the museum, I can see that tweens would be able to take advantage of many things they have there that younger kids can't really do, but it is a GREAT spot for younger kids. There is PLENTY there that they can enjoy. It is very fun for the whole family, actually, and was my husband's favorite spot we visited.
Another reason the book is not great is that it includes paragraphs on virtually every page of "Smart Stuff" for kids (mainly addressed to tweens and teens again), which is little tidbits of info or quizes that may be interesting. I think that may be helpful for a family with super bored kids or a family that is super boring and cannot otherwise provide information to their children, but it is (a) mostly for older kids, (b)not all that interesting, (c) really bulks up the book to the point that it's a pain to carry around with you and (d) apparently takes up so much space that important basic information is omitted.
This leads me to my next complaint: When planning our visit to the Air and Space Museum, I consulted the book. It gives very little information but says that the museum is so large that you need to plan your visit in advance because you simply cannot see it all in one day. Hello!!!!! That's why I bought this guide book - - to plan my visit! The entry on Air and Space doesn't even list all the galleries/exhibits in the museum or highlight the "greatest hits". They could have done that in two short paragraphs, and that would have been the most useful information. Instead, they include more "Smart Stuff" and a list of kids books to supplement learning on the subject. Great to have that, but not at the expense of the information I need to actually plan a visit to the museum.
In sum, this book frustrated me. It was somewhat helpful, yes, but unless you are going with older kids or have taken your kids before, it's not exactly what you need. I'm not sure there is a better guide that is up to date, but this one needs major improvement.

Grisham has mastered the craft of telling a good story, but seems to lack the artistic spark to tell a very good one.

This straightforward story of rags to riches to rags is so predictable beginning to end that it actually kept me reading intently in expectation of something, some big plot twist, some mystery, some surprise, until the last page.

The realization that the creative spark never fired left me flat.

Grisham has to do better.

I think Grisham has lost his edge. If this was supposed to be a thriller,comparable to his early work, it fell short. I kept thinking that any moment there would be a surprise twist or something to make it a Grisham worthy read. There is no depth to the characters, the plot was predictable and kind of boring. As others have mentioned, greedy lawyers are kind of a given in tort law, no? I am glad I borrowed this from a friend instead of purchasing it. I have really enjoyed The Firm, The Pelican Brief, Backstreet Lawyer, even the Summons and the Testament. This one - not so much.

This was a great, classic Grisham novel. But what I liked most is the insight into the class action law suits that now seem to be so prevelant in today's society, whether its the tobacco suits or the suits against drug companies. Grisham does a fantasic job of getting you into the mind of the character and feeling his struggle between making a buck and the ethical delimmas that go along with it.

I think I was expecting something different when I first read this novel. However, in the vain of "The Firm," this book is way above average. It has similar elements: the young atty who has nothing, wo is immediately tempted by all the riches in the world. It even has the fun element of "revenge" against the arrogant girlfriend who dumped him and snide competitors. Also a huge education on our country's broken tort class-action system. Highly recommended; educational and fun.

Mass tort lawyers are the men who win billion-dollar class-action settlements from corporations selling bad products, then rake fantastic fees off the top, with far smaller payouts going to the people harmed by the products. Clay Carter is a burning-out lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in Washington, D.C., when he catches the case of a teen who, for no apparent reason, has gunned down an acquaintance. Clay is approached by a mysterious stranger, who says he represents a megacorporation whose bad drug caused the teen--and others--to kill. Thus begins the life of a tort lawyer. It's been a while since I have read a "great" Grisham, but this one was pretty good.

Really enjoyed this book and I am placing orders for the next 2 that follow. This was the first "serious" book that I have read in years (since college) and I must say it was great. I endured a few late nights as I didn't want to put the book down. I just finished the book and I am sad that I don't have the next one to start reading right away.

I became a David Baldacci fan while reading The Winner. I don't remember what caused me to pick it up. I'd never read him before, and I guess I was looking for new authors. It didn't take me long to realize that this was a master story teller. I savored that book as one might savor a fine wine.

The Camel Club is another edge of your seat tale that takes the twists and turns that Baldacci weaves into the story so cleverly. He does something new this time, at least from the books I've read. He reveals some of the villains early in the story; he just doesn't reveal what they are planning to do. The concept is a fun change in his story telling.

This is my first Baldacci read, and Camel Club was enjoyable enough to pick up more of his books. One of my favorite genres is the political/espionage/thriller, and this has a good balance of technical info, action, and character development. You do engage with the characters and that allows you to get past some of the wordy or improbable parts.

Unfortunately this book suffers from a common fault of many writers in that Baldacci rolls out a lot of the worn out political talking points for texture rather than actually creating real back story. One character is angry because his army unit was decimated by Agent Orange; another character loved "Ronnie" Reagan but thought Jimmy Carter was the best president ever; the American invasion of Iraq turned Baghdad into a "constant fireball," etc.

Just skip over the political commercials and you will enjoy this book. It's a great beach read.

The Camel Club is cool. They're an odd group of conspiracy theorists, led by Oliver Stone, on a quest for the truth.

Baldacci weaves quite a tale that keeps your attention and is full of twists and turns.

I thought this was a great mystery thriller with a bunch of interesting characters.

This is the first Camel Club novel. The second is The Collectors and the third is Stone Cold.

The overall low rating of 3 stars has motivated to do my part to bump the ranking up. The Camel Club is a compelling and enjoyable read. I finished and immediately ordered the next book in this series.