Maine Books

This cookbook is a classic in Maine. This is the fourth edition that I have owned. I keep giving my copies away because this is a must have cookbook. I have cooked almost every recipe in the book and love them all. These are good basics cooked everywhere in Maine and New England. The ingredients are simple and easy to find. I learned to cook as a teenager from this book.

When my grandmother died, I was the lucky recipient of "her "secret recipes."(Cooking Down East : Favorite Maine Recipes and Keep Cooking the Maine Way).

Everytime I make the Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake, the Fish Chowder or the Lobster Newburg (the fancy one--of course!), I am momentarily returned to my childhood.

The Red Flannel Hash is pretty terrific, too.

At last count, I had 273 cookbooks in my private collection, but these two are the ones I most often return to when I wish a taste of home. Unlike many others, they seem to spend a majority of the time on my kitchen counter, permanently dusted with flour, stained forever with tiny Maine blueberries.

If you are looking for nothing fancy-schmancy, only exemplary "home-style cooking," then these are the best you will ever find.

Thanks Nanny (and thanks Ms. Standish)

I'm a native Mainer, and these recipes result in the delicious dinner standards I grew up with. Every time I want to serve a great meal, I turn to this book first. The recipes are well-explained, the ingredients are easy to find, and the anecdotes are great- be sure to read the funny forward to the excellent Anadama Bread.

Though Ms. Standish's emphasis is on the great state of Maine, cooks from all over New England will recognize the regional recipes in this book as their own. To me, "Cooking Down East" is more than just a cookbook; it is, in written form, how I learned to cook from my mother and grandmother.

My first edition of this book was given to me by my husband 26 years ago. I have many fond memories of family dinners, deserts and favourite recipes from this book. To me it is a touch of home. Gloria Legere Mainiac in Exile in Washington State.

This book is fabulous. I work as a travel nurse and recently spent 6 1/2 months in Maine. I had never been there before and spent several hours at the bookstore going through various Maine travel books before settling on this one. I certainly made the right choice. It was a wonderful resource. I spent hours reviewing the information in this book over the course of my time in Maine. I plan to go back to Maine next summer and will take my book right back with me. The information on shops, restaurants and points of interest was valuable and very accurate.

I've spent time at the book stores recently researching books for my upcoming trip to Maine. My wife and I plan to spend 4 nights and 5 days there and wanted plenty to see and do where we wouldn't necessarily meet thousands of other travelers since I'm not too much into the whole crowd experience. Brandes' book is so well researched that you can't go wrong with it!

While other typical books that are similar, such as Fodors and Frommers, have quite a bit of information in its own right, I think that this particular Moon Handbook is better equipped to give better detail of interest whether site seeing, dining, entertainment, lodging, etc.

I recently completed a Web site for a bed and breakfast located in Machiasport (down east) and had to do quite a bit of research on the area to enhance their site. My research was conducted primarily via the internet over the course of a few days. I'm glad to say that after I received my book and compared information, everything I could find on the Web in and around Machiasport was already included in sufficient detail in this book! I would have saved myself a few days of searching.

If you want to tour Maine or already live there but need to places to explore, the second edition Moon Handbook on Maine is the way to go.

When I vote with 4 stars, that means the product was excellent. When I vote with 5 stars, it goes beyond excellence in my view and is considered best in class. This book is "THE" authoritive book on touring Maine. Excellent purchase!

First of all, I have to mention that I live in Maine. And I can tell you from experience that the beauty of Kathleen Brandes' book lies in the sheer span of coverage, which is considerable, matched with a propensity for detail, which is astounding! Even the "Native" Mainers will find much to enjoy in this book. This is a rich, dense, and completely user-friendly volume, folks!
I'll give you an example. I'm a photographer based in the Bangor area. I bought this book for my personal library which aids me in seeking out photographic areas of interest. Last week I traveled to Lubec, Maine - and I used this handbook for lodging and dining info. I located the Eastland Motel in Lubec based on this handbook, and met the proprietor - Lee Aragon - who cheerfully provided suggestions for exploration in the Lubec-Eastport-Campobello region. I mentioned to Lee that I had read about her in The Maine Handbook...and that she was correctly described by Kathleen Brandes as a "Lubec booster". Lee was tickled pink by this, and by extension, I was able to get some nice local insights that I would never have known about otherwise.
Paging through this Maine Handbook, you get the feeling that Kathleen Brandes is a scholar of "All Things Maine", and she is enjoying every minute of it. And who can blame her? Maine truly is.....well.....the way life should be.
Buy the book, come to Maine....and if you already live here, buy the book anyway! It has become something of a "state bible" for me. Can't image traveling without it.
And there is something in this book for everyone. Kathleen has you covered, whether you are single, married with children, an armchair traveler or someone who simply wishes to know more about the Pine Tree State. Longtime locals and prospective tourists alike would do well to mine this gem of a book. I have two dog-eared copies....one for home, and one for my car - enough said.

This book has become an invaluable source! I've now travelled to Maine twice and brought the book both times. Brandes provides a wealth of information, especially for those things off the beaten path. The book includes very helpful maps - on my last trip I left my Maine atlas at home and found the maps included in the book to be quite helpful. The spine on my book is really starting to see some wear - I enjoy reading it even when I'm not travelling. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are planning to travel to the northern, less populated regions of Maine.

I LOVED this book. My family and I travel Maine each year and this book is THE guide (along with the Maine Atlas). It has helped us refine our experience in Maine to a very satisfying level.

The guide to natural sites/walks/boating is still wonderful.

However, if you've been to Maine before, you know that businesses come and go with alarming rapidity. This is especially true in the Eastern Coast. Most of the restaurants listed in the guide are long gone or under different managements, so don't count on finding a place to eat based on this guide.

Henry David Thoreau is one of America's greatest literary treasures, and this Library of America compilation of his four complete, full-length books is an excellent purchase for any Thoreau fan. It includes possibly Thoreau's most famous work, Walden, as well as lesser-known (but still immensely inspired and entertaining)works. I would highly recommend this purchase to any interested Thoreau reader, as I am yet to find a comparable compilation for nearly as good a deal as this.

It was Thoreau who made me understand that writing had everything to do with one's sum total and worth as a human being, and everything to do with one's passion and sense of purpose in life. It was while reading from an anthology of his work that I first made contact with a superior being. I recognized a mind that I could be intimate with, a mind and soul of someone with whom I could spend endless hours and never cease to learn from.


Thoreau's style is cumbersome. He can be terribly dry, and his paragraphs run way too long. But who cares when passages ignite the page with brilliance, flame from the black and white of paper into the depths of one's being. 'Walden' has more profound and relevant quotes than any other book I've read. They're the purest gems to be found in the rough of a larger work. A work that I wouldn't dare to diminish, but forewarn the reader so that they have the patience and perseverance to continue.


I would like to mention a superb biography written on the life and mind of Thoreau, a biography that exceeds and exceeds in going deeper into the life and mind of this great and humane and very misunderstood man, it is called: 'Henry Thoreau -- A Life Of The Mind,' by Robert D. Richardson Jr. Mr. Richardson not only wrote a biography, he was on a mission, for he knew and believed in what his subject was about. As comprehensive, insightful and exhilerating as any biography can or should be.


The price and quality of this anthology can't be beat. Beautiful to read and beautiful to see on my book shelf. Buy it! Get to know this man of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

While reading the four books of Henry David Thoreau (1817 -- 1862) included in this volume, I was reminded of the piano sonata no. 2, the "Concord" sonata by the American composer Charles Ives (1874 -- 1954) and decided to listen to it again to complement my reading. The Concord is a monumental work in which Ives tried to capture the "spirit of transcendentalism" associated with Concord, Massachusetts. Its four large movements bear the names of Emerson, Hawthorne, Bronson Alcott, and Thoreau. The "Thoreau" movement of the Concord captured in music for me what I had been reading in Thoreau's texts, with its reflective arpeggios, long hymnlike introspective passages, distant sounds of bells, and quiet close. Ives wrote the movement, he said, to reveal the "vibration of the universal lyre" to which Thoreau had alluded in the chapter of Walden titled "Sounds". Those who love Thoreau or the American Transcendentalists should explore Ives's great musical tribute to them and their thought.

This volume is the first of two in the Library of America devoted to Thoreau, with the second book consisting of essays and poems. It includes the two books published during his lifetime, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" and "Walden" together with two books published shortly after his death, "The Maine Woods" and "Cape Cod". The former two books are philosophical and introspective in tone, even though they include much of the descriptive writing about nature for which Thoreau is famous. They are the writings of Thoreau the Transcendentalist, the Thoreau of Ives's Concord Sonata. The second two books are describes Thoreau's travels. They originated the American practice of writing about nature.

Thoreau's most famous book, "Walden" describes the two years he spent living at Walden Pond, near Concord, from 1845 -- 1847 on a tract owned by Emerson. Walden is deservedly an American classic, as Thoreau reflects upon and attempts to simplify his life, to appreciate it for itself and for the everyday, without the strains of commerce or the pursuit of wealth. It is an eloquent study of learning to be alone with and content with oneself.

Thoreau wrote the first draft of "Walden" while he resided there and also wrote "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" which in 1849 became his first published book, enjoying little success at the time. This book describes a trip Thoreau took with his brother and there are many detailed observations of people, places, and plants and animals. But the book is full of detailed digressions on literature, philosophy, the Greek Classics, friendship, and Thoreau's religious beliefs. This book shows the large influence of Eastern thought on Thoreau. It is filled with allusions and quotations from poetry on virtually every page. It is a joy to read.

There is little overt philosophising in Thoreau's latter two books. But both these books made me want to leave, at least for a short time, my life in the city and to run and visit the wild places Thoreau described. In "The Maine Woods" Thoreau describes three trips he took to Nortwest Maine -- its forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains, in 1843, 1853, and 1857. It includes detailed descriptions of rugged camping, in the rain and sun, on water and on land. The higlight for me was Thoreau's discussion in the first essay of the book of his climb on Mount Ktaadn, with Thoreau's description replete with both actual description and ancient Greek and American Indian symbolism.

Thoreau's final book, "Cape Cod" describes three visits in 1849, 1850, and 1853 (A fourth, later visit to the Cape is not included in the book.) This is Thoreau's only book which features the ocean and the seashore. It describes a rugged place, but the tone is leisurely and humorous in many places as Thoreau takes his reader on a thirty-mile "ramble" over the Cape. Thoreau introduces a memorable character in his chapter "The Wellsfleet Oysterman" and draws a picture of a lighthouse, no longer standing, on the Cape, "The Highland Light." Reading this book made me want to walk the sands and dunes that Thoreau walked and described over 150 years ago.

As with all volumes in the LOA series, this volume is lightly annotated but includes a valuable chronology of Thoreau's life which helps in approaching the texts. Transcendentalism and naturalism both have played critical roles in the development of American thought and you will find them both here. And if you enjoy Thoreau, I encourage you again to approach Ives's masterpiece, the "Concord Sonata" and meet Thoreau realized in sound.

Robin Friedman

While every artist is tied to their time and place, this is especially true of Henry David Thoreau. To me, Thoreau has always seemed like a beautiful and tender plant that could only exist in a specific time and place. His world was rich enough to allow him to enjoy nature rather than see it as something to tame. Yet it was also rural enough to leave him natural space to enjoy as if it were wild.

It also seems to me that Thoreau's writing is more beautiful and observant than penetrating and intelligent. It is more about the senses than analysis. I think this is why it appeals so much to young people of so many generations and why he became such a symbol for the Back-to-Nature portion of the Boomer generation.

This volume contains his most influential works (the essays and poems are collected in a companion volume also from the wonderful Library of America): A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, The Main Woods, and Cape Cod. So much has been written about these works that I can't think of anything specific to add except to encourage their being read. However, I would encourage adults who remember reading them in their youth with such enthusiasm to read them again from the vantage point of mid-life. I think they will find somewhat less to be enamored of in the content, but they will appreciate his sheer power of writing more.

The total collection is more than a 1,000 pages and includes a chronology of Thoreau's life, notes on the text, relevant maps of the areas covered in the book, more notes, and an index.

I would like to publicly thank Henry David Thoreau for teaching me this:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -Henry David Thoreau

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

Just as I expected. It's a very peaceful book to go wondering through. Makes you feel like your in Maine.

Frank Chillemi has done a stunning job of capturing the essence and beauty of Maine coast lighthouses and windjammers. Through his magnificent photography, each picture captures a special scene in time and mood. The photographs are mostly full-page size, with a short description below. Each scene, in my opinion, is so beautiful it could be framed. I highly recommend this inspiring book for anyone who is not only interested in photography, but also one who appreciates the beauty of tall windjammers, lighthouses and nature. Frank Chellemi, through his photography, will take you to places that you might not otherwise see, at the most beautiful times of the day.

Windjammers, Lighthouses and Other Treasures of the Maine Coast is an exceptional piece of photographic literature anyone with an appreciation for the sea and the beauty of the northeast can enjoy. The book is a compilation of the author's photographs that have been taken during his travels along the north shores of Maine. The photos in this book vary from timeless, nostalgic images to captured moments of nature's awesome beauty.

I recommend this book to anyone with an affection for the sea, those who enjoy nature photography, general photo enthusiasts, and/or anyone that simply wants to be taken away by stunning and compelling images this book has to offer.

The most difficult thing about photographing the Maine coast is not having enough film or enough empty space in a memory card for those who use digital. In just about every nook and corner, there is something to capture: a scene with boats, lighthouses, the ocean in its glory, birds, and people earning a living in eth fishing industry. Maine is a state with natural beauty, history, and at times a glimpse of life as it used to be, though it is still a reality in this amazing northeast state. Yet with all the diversity, we often see the same scenes just captured by someone different. If you want to find some unique and beautiful images, Frank Chillemi's WINDJAMMERS, LIGHTHOUSES, AND OTHER TREASURES OF THE MAINE COAST is just the book for you.

Chillemi, who offers photographic tours of the Maine coast aboard a windjammer, captures these beautiful vessels as well as the many lighthouses along the Maine coast. While he includes some of the famous Maine lighthouses: Portland Head, Nubble, and Pemmaquid, he focuses primarily on the mid-coast area of Maine and offers interesting shots of lesser known lights. He also captures the beauty of sail with his windjammer shots.

I first saw this book when I was visiting Maine and decided I have to take a photographic tour with the author/photographer, hoping that under his tutelage I may get a few good shots too. I am sure I am not the only amateur photographer who has seen the book and decided the same thing. I haven't looked at the price of a windjammer tour yet, so maybe I will have to put it on hold for a while. One thing I do know, friends and family members who love Maine will be getting a copy as a Christmas or birthday present and I'm sure that once seeing this book, you'll love it too.

Those with even the most casual interest in the schooners and lighthouses of the Northeast will find this book fascinating. For those with a keen interest, the book is an absolute "must have".

Having experienced sailing aboard a windjammer with Mr. Chillemi on one of his photo workshops, I can say with some degree of authority that he has a passion not only for photography, but also for the tall ships and lighthouses that dot the beautiful coast of Maine. Chillime has masterfully captured the grandeur. To loosely paraphrase an earlier reviewer, one can almost smell the salt air and wet canvas within the pages of this book.

Great seller and great book for the series WJIII student. It has case examples that are essential to put the pieces together from testing to recommending accommodations. I used this text to give presentations in class and to figure a lot of things out on my own. If you are in a program and you feel you are own your own learning the WJIII you need this book.

I already had the book, but this cd was recommended as you could actually cut and paste the recommendations, etc. It is a fantastic resource and worth the money.

I found this book very helpful in developing strategies and interpreting data from the WJ-III. It's a great tool for anyone who assesses children or adults.

Thanks. Book arrived. Great condition, fast service. Am happy with it. But I was under the impression it was supposed to come with a cd... ?

This manual is extremely useful when preparing for PPTs and when you are writing reports. I have found the new forms very useful. I would recommend this manual for every special education teacher.

I really enjoyed this cookbook - it had a wide variety of recipes that were both time consuming and quick. I also liked the commentary about the Riggin along the sidebars.

Born and raised in the Ozarks between the Missouri and Arkansas rivers; we didn't think we would find anything in this ocean cookbook that would excite us. Just goes to prove that hillbillys are sometimes (but not often) wrong.

For instance last week the cookbook was used to prepare some great "tailgate" dishes; our guests were impressed. But we had to tell the truth, its Annie's book. Two guests used our computer to log on and order the book.

Along with barbque the book's dishes appear in a hillbilly's dreams.

This was a happy surprise in my Christmas stocking this year, after my mother ran into the author at Barnes and Noble. I'm so glad she snagged me a copy, since I'm not quite sure what I'd do without this cookbook in my home.

This is one of those cookbooks that you don't know if you should put in your kitchen with the rest of the cookbooks, or out on the coffee table so that everybody can enjoy it. This book features wonderfully sophisticated home-cooking style recipes, breathtaking photos from the J&E Riggin, the Maine Windjammer that's currently cared for by the author and her husband, and oodles of stories about the Windjammer, their voyages, their history, and the ideas behind these recipes. This cookbook has the feel of a family journal or photo album, which is really a great feeling that is lost with a lot of cookbooks. So often these days when you buy a cookbook, it feels like the recipes featured in it are made once or twice in a test kitchen before getting a rubber-stamped approval to be shown in their mass-produced cookbook. But you don't feel that with this book. You know that these recipes were made dozens, maybe hundreds of times to hundreds of hungry people before being collected and featured in a cookbook that feels like should be a personal family cookbook, not something you can just pick up at a bookstore. I love that feel.

There are a ton of recipes in this book, not different versions of the same ol' meals that you can find in any cookbook. Unique recipes, ones that I've never seen on paper other than from my mother's handwritten recipe cards. Recipes like German Apple Pancakes, Roasted Mushrooms and Artichoke Sauce, Nectarine-Blueberry Bread, Ginger Shortbread, Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pork Pot Pie, Lemon Lobster with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Wassail Bowl Punch... I could go on and on. Amazing. And this recipe book is a "from scratch" book, which I think is such a blessing, because there is nothing more frustrating than buying a cookbook with 100 different ways to prepare a can of "cream of chicken" soup and a can of refrigerator biscuits. This is a cookbook for cooks, and those of us who wish we were. We need more cookbooks out there like this.

There is next to nothing wrong with this cookbook. The only observations I have made is that sometimes I need a little more description on the making of a recipe (for example, a notation the dough will be runny, lumpy, etc) as there have been a recipes that I made where the consistency or appearance wasn't quite what I expected. Also, it is obvious that some of these recipes were reduced from a recipe that made more servings for more people, so some of the seasonings and ingredients have to be tweaked for a more intimate setting. No big deal, just something to keep in mind.

I love this cookbook. My favorite recipes thus far include the German Apple Pancakes, Pork Pot Pie, Rita's Double Toffee Delight, and the Wassail Punch. Even as we speak I have a batch of Double Toffee Delights filling my house with its delicious aroma. Every time I use this book, I remember Maine vacations, fine meals, happy memories... It's the best investment in a book I think anybody could make.

This cookbook is a must-have for anybody. I can't say enough wonderful things about it.

I was really glad to receive this cookbook as a gift as I have found it great fun to use. I think the layout of the cookbook was very well done as well as the color of the pages. . not something you see very often in a cookbook. The pictures are really beautiful and catch the feeling of the sea. I enjoy the margin notes in each section as well as, for example, in the Meat Section, Anne's description of the dinner menus she serves on board or under Yeast Breads her suggestions on proofing, flour vs water, etc. I found these very helpful. My one suggestion would be that if you weren't familiar with yeast breads, you wouldn't know how hot the "warm water" should be. Possibly if a temp. was added indicating that the "warm water" should be 105/110 it might be helpful. Also, after you make muffins some indication on whether they should be left in the pan or taken out. I loved the Blueberry Lemon Bread and so did some of my friends and especially Dana's Maple-Dill Dressing . .yum-o! I like to be able to make quick and good meals and this tops my list.

This is one of the prettiest and most colorful cookbooks I have ever seen. On top of this, the recipes are wonderful, easy to prepare and different. The personal observations of the author add interest to the book. I recently had the pleasure of sailing with Captain Anne and the crew of the J.&E. Riggin and can attest to the fact that her cooking skills are outstanding. This book is well worth the money.

If you are from or are familiar with this area of the Texas Hill Country, all the details ring true. If you are a long time fan of Ben Rehder's then you will love this one. The man can't write a bad book!

This is a great light fun read. If you loved this book also check out the author C.J. Box and his Joe Pickett adventures which also follow a game warden based near a hunting culture small town filled with eccentric red necks, corrupt officials and other fun characters, his books are set in Wyoming. Both even have similar author photos complete with dogs and bucket hats or whatever they're called inside the back covers. Open Season (Joe Pickett Novels) is the first novel in that great series, check it out!

Bone Dry the sequel to Reheder's first novel Buck Fever picks up at the start of the next year's deer season from when that novel ended. It is important to note that you do not need to have read Buck Fever to enjoy or get the most out of this novel. Other than a reoccurring main character, game warden John Marlin, as well as other eccentric county residents who appear in each novel such as local rednecks Billy Don and Red. This series of fun adventures set in Blanco County Texas can be read in any order.

New characters who add to the storyline of Bone Dry include Inga, a smart supermodel quality blond Volvo driving conservationist. Inga isn't afraid to fill a hunter's ute with bullets. A nerdy even more extreme environmentalist Thomas Peabody is her travelling companion and determined to win Inga's favour by proving he is dedicated to the cause with even more and more dangerous stunts in the name of the environment.

Witness relocation mafia man Sal and his dim-witted son Vinnie who now run a tree clearing business also add to the fun. Fans of the Hollywood's horse in the head scene will be pleased with a scene created by Vinnie in this book which is the catalyst for a number of events putting this once powerful underworld figure in danger of being discovered. Smedley a morbidly obese US marshall who is a good but lazy and not to bright man assigned to keep tabs on Sal, Sal's housekeeper and poor immigrant Maria who Sal fears has the powers of a witch complicate the situation for this mafia family but add great enjoyment for the reader.

A lazy incompetent former big city cop will learn the hard way that city tactics don't work out in rural Texas nor does trying to force a confession as he investigates the shooting of a local hunter. An of course game warden John Marlin is the glue that holds this fun story together.

Read this series, it's good!

i didn't hesitate to pick up ben rehder's second book when i saw it and was not disappointed.....this book was even more fun than the first one.....peace mary

If you enjoyed the outrageous humor in Buck Fever about cross-species sexuality and good old boys poaching deer, you will be thrilled with Bone Dry. The talented Mr. Rehder has added more targets for his humor, made them funnier and further developed the excellent goofballs, Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock.

In Bone Dry, you will find Italian mobsters mixing it up with the local Texas drunks, a supermodel who uses her looks and her scent to save endangered species, lots of brush-busting and scams galore. In the middle of all the resulting mayhem, John Marlin, the Lone Ranger of game wardens, finds himself running the investigation into a hunter's suspicious death.

The book combines a satire of the Godfather, a Carl Hiaasen-type story about Texas, an excellent police procedural, lots of environmental lessons and a love story with enough irony to keep your eyes blinking with surprise for days. It's a remarkable, guffaw-inducing achievement.

Save this book for the next time you really need a good laugh.

I recommend that you also go on to read the latest book in the series, Flat Crazy, which is even better than Bone Dry.

I listened to the audio edition of this book and my comments pertain to that edition.

I read the first book in Rehder's Blanco County series last year and enjoyed it. When I got the chance to listen to the second on audio, I jumped at it. If possible, I liked the second even more than the first.

If you love the zany Floridian adventures of authors like Tim Dorsey and Carl Hiaasen, you will probably want to take a side trip to Blanco County. As those authors do, Rehder throws a bunch of semi-competent crooked folks (in this case including a Mafia family in hiding), a few well meaning folks (this time around it's a couple of tree-huggin' types trying to save a rare bird from all the brush clearing going on) and in the middle of it, a bemused decent good guy trying to sort out all the events. The center of the Blanco County novels is game warden John Marlin, who does his best to stay sane and sort out the string of bizarre events.

He has his hands full in this second book, as some bodies turn up, others go missing, and that's in between the eco-terrorism, county jail hostage stand-off, Marlin's personal life going to hell, and oh, yeah, opening week of hunting season. Rehder does a fine job of juggling multiple plot lines and a huge cast of supporting characters while keeping all the threads moving toward a neatly wrapped up conclusion. I could often see where the plot was going a few chapters ahead of time but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride nevertheless.

The unabridged audiobook is competently read (I'm sorry I don't have the name of the narrator). While nothing was particularly gained or lost by listening to the book rather than reading it, I didn't have to put the book down to do chores like washing dishes--as long as you aren't listening in places where people will give you strange looks if you occasionally laugh out loud while listening.

I recommend this book and the whole Blanco County series to anyone who likes a light, funny mystery, particularly fans of the Carl Hiaasen style.

Tabitha King is a Maine native who really knows first hand what life in small town Maine is really like. In the character Reuben Styles she portrays the life of rural Maine, where the everyday real people live and work. Reuben's life will take you on a ride through a part of rural Maine that the travel bureau would never lead you. Don't expect lobsters and lighthouses

Tabitha King is a truly brilliant novelist. I cannot thing of a book that I can recommend more than this one. Read it!

The characters in The Book of Reuben take on a life of their own. Reuben is an imperfect perfection. He takes life on its own terms and does the best he can do with it. He is highly moral in an immoral world when ironically the "religious" characters are the most immoral. I came away from this book and from One on One, aware that that they were written in raw, nuts and bolts language, but still seemed to reveal an underlying etheralness. The allusions reveal wide reading and living and experiencing that make the books richer. The books are well worth reading!

i truely enjoyed this book as well as all the nodds ridge books. tabitha king has a talent for well developed characters that you can really care about.reuben styles is a complex well rounded character. i would recommend any and all of tabitha kings nodd ridge books, and im hoping for more. i want to know what happens to reuben next.

As all of Tabitha King's Nodd Ridge stories, this one was captivating and beautifully written. Lovers of series books will enjoy these stories as each one continues where a previous one left off, or adds rich layers to an already full and well developed cast of characters. The reader ends the book wanting to know more, not only about the lives of the main characters, but also of all the periferal ones as well. A must read for series and Maine fiction readers.

This book is not just for the 4 to 6 group. My daughter is almost two and has loved it and learned from it since the first time it was read to her. Lots to look at and learn from in each wonderful illustration. It must have been originated from some wonderful childhood memories of Maggie Smith's.

This is a counting book with a progressive story about one family's trip to Maine (they pack one baby, two dogs, three bicycles, pass four smokestacks, etc.). The pictures are great. My three year old doesn't remember having been to Maine, and asks for this over and over because of the story about the family (there is a dropped ice cream cone, sand castles, etc.).

I have 2 children, almost 5 and just 3. We've been reading this book for a year now. They absolutely love it. It never gets old, because it's cute (illustrations) and silly/whimsical (writing). My kids love to point out all of the funny things that happen in the book -- the doggies getting in to the fresh-baked pies and eating their own ice cream cones, slimy smelly slugs on the front porch steps, the baby filling a shoe with blueberries, the brother throwing seaweed at the sister and more! It has helped my children recognize numbers in a really fun way -- by taking a summer vacation with the family/pets in the book! This book is especially meaningful to us as we have a speical connection to Maine -- we visit relatives (grandparents, aunts/uncles and first cousins) on the shore in Maine a few times per year, including a 2-week trip every summer. This book reminds us of the best of Maine while we read it all year long. Enjoy!

Every time I read this book to my children (which is often), I feel an overwhelming urge to call a travel agent and book a vacation in Maine. With delightful pictures and remarkably few words, Maggie Smith does an incredible job of capturing the joys and adventures of a family trip. Far more appealing than most other "counting" books, this one will leave you with dreams of fireflies, and a yen for blueberry pie.

My family and I are preparing to move to Maine in two weeks. I happened to see this wonderful book by chance while at the library. It has gotten our 3 year old very excited about our upcoming move and where we will be living! I love the illustrations! We plan to order a bunch of them to give to friend's children as a momento of their visit to Maine.

Frances Hesselbein is currently editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader quarterly. Previously, she served as CEO of the Girls Scouts of the USA and then as chairman and founding president of the Leader to Leader Institute, formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management. Her published works include this book as well as The Leader of the Future, co-edited with Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard; The Leader of the Future 2, co-edited with Goldsmith; and Be*Know*Do (an adaptation of the U.S. Army's leadership manual) to which she and General Eric K. Shinseki (USA Ret.) co-wrote the Introduction.

In his Foreword to this book, Jim Collins observes that Frances Hesselbein "grasped a central paradox of change: the organizations that best adapt to a changing world first and foremost know what should [begin italics] not [end italics] change. They have a foxed anchor of guiding principles around which they can more easily change everything else. They know the difference between what is truly sacred and what is not, between what should not change and what should always be open for change, between `what we stand for' and `how we do things'...Equally important, she exercised the discipline to say no to opportunities that did not fit the central mission." This brief excerpt from an uncommonly insightful analysis of Hesselbein's numerous and substantial contributions to knowledge leadership help to prepare the reader for the 19 essays that follow in which Hesselbein shares what she has learned about leadership that understands the importance of knowing that leaderships is much less about what one does, and much more about who one is.

The essays originally appeared over a period of three years, 1999-2002. After re-reading them, Hasselbein observes, "I found that I believe even more passionately in the whys [of leadership]: the values, the principles, the beliefs that define who we are, what we believe, what we do, and how we work with others, our fellow travelers on a shared journey to leadership in an uncertain world." In this volume, of all the challenges that CEOs face, she identifies those that have little to do with managing the enterprise's tangible assets (important though as they obviously are) and everything to do with monitoring the quality of leadership, the work force, and relationships.

More specifically, the "`how to be' leader knows that people are the organization's greatest asset and in word, behavior, and in relationships she or he demonstrates this powerful philosophy...builds dispersed and diverse leadership - distributing leadership to the outmost edges of the circle to unleash the power of shared responsibility...holds forth the vision of the organization's future in compelling ways that ignite the spark needed to build the inclusive enterprise...and [meanwhile] knows that listening to the customer and learning what he or she values - `digging in the field' - will be a critical component, even more so in the future than today."

My take on all this is that Hesselbein fully understands and appreciates the value of "know-how." Her key point (if I understand it) is that effective leadership can be provided only by what Bill George characterizes as "authentic" people: those who consistently demonstrate the values, the principles, the beliefs that define who they are, what they believe, what they do, and how they work with others. As George describes them, they demonstrate "the highest integrity, [are] committed to building enduring organizations...have a deep sense of purpose and are true to their core values...have the courage to build their companies to meet the needs of all stakeholders, and recognize the importance of their service to society."

Both Hesselbein and George are convinced, and I wholeheartedly agree, that the greatest leaders are those who develop and then sustain authentic leadership at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. Moreover, they are determined to be "good citizens." As Hesselbein explains, they believe "that the community is as much their business as is the business of their enterprise. They dedicate the same commitment to this job, the same forecasting, planning, marketing, and mobilization of energy and initiative, that they dedicate to building the enterprise within the walls."

Make no mistake about it: These are formidable challenges that Hesselbein poses to those who aspire to be leaders. "All the how to's in the world won't work until the `how to be's' are defined, embraced by the leaders, and embodied in every action, every communication, every leadership moment." Indeed, she continues, there must be "leaders of character at every level, leading the organization and the community of the future." Some may view that challenge as "unrealistic." It isn't. Others may view it as "idealistic." It is...and that is the most important lesson all of us can learn, not only from what she has written but from what she has been and continues to be.

Frances is a special and extraordinary role model who shares her insights and encourages others to reach for their maximum leadership potential. The creativity within her advice is engaging and inspirational. This is a great book for young leaders and those who are developing goals and a vision for their career and personal success.

Hesselbein on Leadership should be on all leaders "must read list". Frances has taken the multidementional, quantum complexity of leadership and given timely gifted guidence in language and concepts that are understood by the intellect in addtion to being rocognized by the soul.

Her thoughtful and thought provoking words are a call for the action of "being" not just "doing". Every sentence rings with truth and power. This is a book you will return to again and again.

This book was first mentioned to me at a Leadership presentation at one of the not-for profit organizations I serve, and then again a short while later at a UCI Graduate School of Management presentation by a local executive. This is a delightful small book filled with some good advice, pithy sayings and leadership insights. Hesselbein lives up to her reputation in this compendium of essays on Leadership. I rather like books of essays because often each chapter, or essay, stands on its own and can be read or re-read as the need arises.

Hesselbein writes in a clear and conversational manner that makes it easy to understand her point. But one should not be lulled into complacency while enjoying her most readable style for the insights to be shared are important and many. She points out with great understatement that "Leadership is a matter of how to be rather than how to do it." She offers as whole new way of organizing our enterprises as she explains "Managing in a World That Is Round." This book will find its best use for those managers looking for a metaphor or simple explanation to share with others in the organization such complex topics as organizational change, behavior, and interaction with the environment. It will be on my reference shelf for a long time to come.

Frances Hesslebein is one of the world's greatest leaders. In fact, Peter Drucker (no "easy grader") said that she was the most effective executive that he had ever met.
_Hesselbein on Leadership_ is a compilation of her wonderful essays (largely from the journal "Leader to Leader").
In a world where many leaders have gone for the "quick buck", it is gratifying to hear from someone who is interested in "doing what is right".
Her writing, like her leadership, is direct, honest and to the point. Unlike some leaders who specialize in slogans, she is someone who only writes about what she believes in and is willing to live.
Her work has the unique quality of being both timeless and refreshing.