Maine Books

This is an absolute must read for any Maineac like me. Highly readable. Written with style, grace, flair and humor. The total opposite of a dense historical tome. Full of fascinating history. Quite wonderful.

Colin Woodard skillfully paints a picture of Maine both past and present, identifying the nuances that make the culture so unique, while detailing the insecurities that plague Downeasters. Through the course of the book, Woodard traces the troubled evolution of Maine as both a political and social state, detailing the hardships that plagued early settlers in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and the economic disparity that have shaped the modern culture.

As a historian, Woodard is somewhat of a novice. He has difficulty weaving events together into a narrative that can be easily followed and tends to make broad leaps without establishing a proper foundation.

This shortcoming is more than compensated for by his obvious passion and interest in the subject matter. Woodard clearly understands the psyche of Maine. He recognizes that a Mainer is not an individual dwelling in a geographic territory bordered by Canada and NH, but rather somebody possessing a particular mindset... somebody that strives for the simpler things, while struggling to deal with the challenges of modern economics.

For anybody that loves Maine and the Downeast, this is a fabulous read and well worth the time. The book is definitely part history part sociology. But it's worth a look!

This book is a page turner I couldn't put down. Beautifully written, it does a thorough job of concisely telling the history of coastal Maine and, by so doing, gives us a start on the history of New England. It takes us from the earliest settlers to today, and even if one has, as I have, lived on the coast of Maine for close to 40 years, one can learn from the book. Put it together with "Islanders" by Virginia Thorndike, and you have a picture of one of the last best places on earth. Please don't let these books persuade you to move here!

is a all encompassing look at mid coast Maine, both present day and historically. It took me back to High School US history and made the French Indian wars come alive. Hear about modern day lobster pirates from of all places, "Friendship" invading a small island's lobster fields.

Look ahead for what is in store for a severely depleted fishery
then chuckle when a hidden camera reveals the secret life of lobster and captor. Great read, it belongs in your Maine libary.

After finishing the first short section, my first thought was that the book was a bit of a lightweight -- at best, a paperback to read while flying across the Atlantic. But when I got to the second section which filled in many of the historical gaps -- particularly the "why's" -- from Elizabethan England to the Pilgrims to the modern era, I realized how interesting this book really was. Anyone who enjoys travelogues will enjoy this book; perhaps you need to have visited Maine at least once or have some connection to the state, but if you do read it, you will learn much more about the history of the western world than the title suggests.

I'm a big fan of the TV series of MASH, but had not read the original book. This sequel has some funny scenes on the golf course and in the hospital. The story involves Hawkeye, now back in his home state of Maine, and his plans to reunite the 4077 MASH team there. The commentary on the local doctors and their lack of ability is scathing. The descriptions of Maine characters, behavior and speech patterns was sometimes baffling, but maybe my two summers in Maine hasn't been enough exposure to recognize the real Maine types shown in the book.
If you want Maine humor, I'd recommend The New Saturday Night at Moody's Diner by Tim Sample.

There are a lot of "MASH goes to..." books. This is the original and one of the best. The first sequel to MASH, this novel brings the characters from the original stateside. If you've read any of the other MASH goes to books (written by Richard Hooker and William E. Butterworth, though I strongly suspect except for lending his name, Hooker had nothing to do with) and were disgusted by how tedius and down-right horrible they were, don't let them put you off this book. This, along with MASH Mania, was written by Hooker himself and is every bit as good as the Butterworth books are bad.

OF THE INEVITABLE GREAT MOVIE THAT WOULD COME FROM THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK!????

I HATE THE TV SERIES MASH!!!!!!!!!

THE MOVIE AND BOOKS ARE THE ONLY MASH!!!!!!

THERE'S A REASON WHY MASH DIRECTOR ROBERT ALTMAN HATED THE SHOW!!

anyway great read.

I'm from Maine, and with only modest poetic exaggeration, Hooker gets it right. At least as it used to be. I knew characters such as he portrays--Hawkeye, the Simmons brothers, Wooden-leg Wilcox and all the rest. Only Marshall Dodge came as close to capturing the true old-time spirit of Down East.

"M*A*S*H Goes to Maine" is Richard Hooker's hilarious sequel to his classic book "MASH" and, for once, the sequel is better! Living a quiet life in Maine after the Korean War, doctors "Hawkeye" Pierce, "Duke" Forrest and "Trapper John" McIntyre are at it again, trying to establish a medical hospital while fighting the snobbiest doctors in America. Funny and very relaxing, you'll love "M*A*S*H Goes to Maine".

The freindships that exist between the main characters are of a depth rarely given. I felt a kindredship with Molly and the others too; so much so that I was disappointed to have the book come to an end. Hopefully, the author will write a sequel and let us know what becomes of them from then.

Any reader who loves stories of the World War II era will appreciate this finely crafted novel. The author has done an excellent job of researching the attitudes of those who were left behind when family members had to off to fight the war. George Fowler, Molly's father is a pilot in Europe, and is declared "missing and presumed dead", an idea that Molly cannot accept.Her deep love for her father won't let her believe that she'll never see him again. This belief and how Molly interacts with her mother, grandmother, brother, and classmates is the main plot of the novel. The descriptions of the town in Maine, the seashore and surrouding woods, are vividly portrayed. One can almost smell the salt air and the aroma of freshly cut fir trees. The characters are well-fleshed out and believable. The reader is caught up in Molly's strong desire to have her father somehow return home. Will he or won't he and how will Molly survive? That question is what keeps the pages turning through the plot twists to the last chapter.

I read Janet Lee Carey's novel in one sitting--that's how hooked I was from the first chapter. I truly felt I was IN Maine, walking along the beach, the cliffs, and through Molly's house, school, and life right along with her. Unusual and memorable images are used throughout the book, my favorites being the use of the reconstructed stained glass window and the references to fires, ghosts, sea, and sky--all of which are handled with sensitivity and originality by Ms. Carey. The pace is fast, the characters believable and multi-dimensional, and historical facts are woven in seamlessly throughout the storyline. I highly recommend this book to anyone who like vibrant writing, a slice of history, and a few surprises.

I want to take exception to the so-called critical or editorial review that characters in this book are "straight out of central casting." Believable characters are drawn not only from our own experience but what the reader will also identify. Writing a book about an actual time requires actual persons to inhabit the story. I encourage readers to read this book for themselves and by-pass the critics.

When I went into my classroom one day, we were reading this book. I became blown away by the fantasticly mysterious storyline and characters that are in it.It is a WONDERFUL book, and I think that every kid from 8-16 should read it. You'd be surprised how nice it is.

"The most talked about local book of the season. Lindsey Briggs leaves her husband to be in Maine to move to Nashville and causes quite a commotion while learning valuable lessons about love, life and people."

To be honest, I'm pretty sure this is the first country song that ever made me cry. So you can guess I'm not a country music fan, and therefore identify most closely with Aunt Lily. The other character I should be able to identify with is Michael. But his characterization is perhaps the only flaw in the book, since I am baffled as to why anyone, much less the perky heroine, would even think of liking him. But this is a "chick flick" on paper, so I am genetically underqualified to pass judgment. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book immensely, and recommend it to men and women alike.
My other comment is the ending. While most readers will love it, I seriously considered skipping the last chapter. Chapter 21 closed so beautifully, I was afraid I wouldn't like Chapter 22, and I didn't. (If this is ever made into a movie/video game/interactive eBook, you should be able to choose among 2 or 3 different endings.) Two final thoughts: If you like the folk wisdom "If you love something, let it go..." this book will make you think. And if you like Jim Croce's "I'll have to say `I love you' in a song" this book will make you cry.

The road less travelled means that you delay gratification and tend to the tasks before you in life. It can also mean unrequited love. Love that is oh so close, yet so far from being fulfilled. That is how I see the novel THE ROAD TO EDEN'S RIDGE. M.L. Rose who wrote this love story is a pseudonym for Myra McLary and Linda Weeks, two friends and writing teachers. They have a knack for using words to portray human emotions. It is a love story over several generations. It is about country music and probably is a true story of a famous person in that venue. It took me several boxes of tissue to get through the novel in one night. A country song kept going through my mind the next day. Willie Nelson's song "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" could be the theme of this romantic novel. Academia on the East Coast and country music in Nashville are twin characters in the story. The ending is classic. You won't want to put the book down. These two writers are brilliant and deserve more exposure to the reading public. I love this tear-jerking,heart-warming romp in the snow, ride on a horse, intimate tale of passion and music set to both classical and country rhythms.

This is a refreshing story for anyone who believes that we have souls that might be connected and that love exists as part of that connection. Not that Lindsey Briggs necessarily believes it. "No one is destined for anyone else," she tells her grandmother early in the story. But she does call off a wedding that just doesn't feel right and heads to Nashville to pursue an old urge, and as soon as she arrives she falls into a set of friends and a life that seems to be scripted by a fate Lindsay claims not to believe in. But fate, whether one believes in it or not, is a central character in this story. Or was it merely chance that Ben McBride walked into the Bluebird as Lindsey's band was beginning their thrid song. Was it merely chance that Lindsey, in order to relax in his presence, began to talk before she sang that song, unwittingly speaking the words that connected him to her in a way she didn't know.

This is a good story. There is an honest feel to the landscape. And the gentle conversation between Ben McBride and Lilly when they are looking at the sunsert and the flowers and talking about Emily Dickinson and birds is as good as it gets. How can one not believe in love and the connection of souls.

The Road to Eden's Ridge by M. L. Rose is a complex yet riveting family saga and romantic novel.

It tells the tale of a family from Maine, primarily through the eyes and experiences of Miss Lindsey Briggs. Lindsey is a vivacious and headstrong young woman who is standing up her fiancé at the alter as the novel opens to abandon the traditional life style and follow her heart and dreams by heading off to Nashville to try her hand at country music.

"Follow your heart" is pretty much the cornerstone of this novel and Lindsey's determination to do just that serves as the prism through which the twists and turns of this novel are reflected and refined. For it is the will and determination to block out all but her dream that brings Lindsey success-and great pain and heartache, as in the process of "following her heart" she loses track of the fact that it's a world with many roads and that one's heart may be destines to travel more than one of them.

Heartache has certainly been a facet of the character of her family members and the choices they have made. The whole middle section of the novel provides context for Lindsey's agony as she learns the truth about the previous experiences of the women in her family and the choices they have made and the heartache they have endured.

In the end Lindsey must decide whether her laser like focus on her dream is (as her country music mentor and long time family "friend", legendary country music performer Ben McBride wonders) Lindsey's greatest strength or her greatest weakness.

This is a richly constructed novel with an array of likeable and well-developed characters. It is realistic in its approach to the striving and struggles of musicians on the make and working to fulfill a dream as well as to the Nashville music scene in general. Most importantly, it is an honest and engaging love story that revolves around what feels to be real people with real emotions-a rarity in this day of mass manufactured "romance" novels consisting of cardboard characters of contrived circumstances that exist merely to titillate the reader and make a buck rather than communicate anything about love or life.

This is a novel that will move you and remind you of those bygone days when your own heart was so moved and so full of aching, longing and happiness at the same time. In other words, this is what a romantic novel is supposed to be.

We were already on our way to an impromptu wknd @ the beach and I had to stop @ the library for a few novels.. I don't know why I chose this one. The book jacket synopsis really drew me in I guess.

This is a very awesome novel, loved the characters and remained unabashedly concerned with what would happen to them! The author's descriptive narrative of the New England coastline was mesmerising as was the story itself.

I am definitely going to read it again.

I enjoyed this book a lot once I got into it. I found the beginning a little slow and seemed not to be going anywhere, but I stuck with it and slowly a love story of kind developed. It was a strange love story between a teenage girl and a man certainly old enough to be her father. The book is well worth reading!

In Portland, Maine, last week with 4 friends from college days who wanted 'to shop,' I ducked into the nearest bookstore, bought this book, settled into a worn old leather chair, and nearly finished the book by the time my friends returned to find me. Thank god for the salvation of a good book!
It's difficult for authors to write about sex. Most of the time, they come off sounding either like a Victorian maiden or a sly pornographer. But Deborah Joy Corey has written a book with a goodly amount of sexual interaction - and not a single line comes across as crass, voyeuristic, prurient, or sophomoric. It's absolutely beautiful writing.
The central story is Elizabeth's, a girl with parents both frustrated by their own demons. Tragedy is something they can't cope with, and soon Elizabeth find herself living alone and going rapidly downhill in a small town on the coast of Maine. She falls into the arms or clutches (depends on your viewpoint) of a much older man, an architect from New York. He's running from his own demons and finds a kind of warped salvation in his relationship with Elizabeth - but he, too leaves her.
I won't say more - but there's redemption, temptation, salvation - and a quiet love overriding everything in this lovely book.

I don't know where this little gem of a book was hiding, but I certainly am glad that I found it. I was immediately drawn to the main character, Elizabeth and found myself rooting for her in her desire for a family life and then later on through her trials with love and loss. To me this book is about the choices we make and how everything that happens to us leaves it's mark on us somehow.

The metaphors in this novel are truly uncountable - but every one is aptly drawn. Combine that with a cast of characters that are so compelling and real, involved in a story with which any reader should be able to relate, and there are plenty of reasons why this novel should be widely read and lauded. The quote on the book from Elizabeth Hardwick, characterizing THE SKATING POND as `a love story' might lead some potential readers to write it off as romantic fluff - to do so would be to do this novel a great injustice. This is simply incredible writing.

Corey's main character, Elizabeth, is thrust into adulthood at an early age through a double tragedy - the death of her mother and subsequent abandonment by her father. Over the course of twelve years, we see Elizabeth go through the emotional ups and downs that would easily fill most people's lifetimes. Through it all - through her yearnings for more than a life in a remote Maine coastal village can offer her - she remains questioning. She questions the life led by those around her, and she questions herself - what does she really want out of life; what can she expect from it; what does she know of love, and what does she want from it? These are things that each of us must work out for ourselves, in our own way - and Corey's lovely writing allows us inside Elizabeth's mind and heart as she walks (and sometimes stumbles, as do we all) through life.

Corey has a way of revealing the humanity and goodness that resides (I believe) in all people - even the characters in her story that are somewhat less than likable come across sympathetically, at least in some ways. The life-lessons that her central character absorbs here are never presented as set-in-stone or rigid - as another reviewed astutely pointed out, it's all about the choices we make. Those are the ones we have to live with.

I wonder if Corey set out to write such an ambitious novel, or if it `just happened' to turn out that way. Whatever her original intentions, she has written an absorbing, rewarding and entertaining novel - highly recommended.

After reading this book by my neighbor and living on Temple Stream I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Temple Stream has been apart of my life for 60+ yrs.

Like looking back at our beautiful blue planet from space, reading this book offered me a generous and moving view of a place called Temple Stream, a place I had never heard of, even after more than a half-century of living in Maine. I especially appreciate the fact that the author chose to explore his own backyard.

Traveling back through time and up and down the river and the hilly terrain around it, the author reveals a host of treasures: ephemeral plants, unusual geological formations, eccentric local characters, well-known literary figures, and his own beloveds-wife, child, and dogs. The reader feels the author's wide-ranging love and appreciation of all that he writes about, and that is perhaps the book's greatest gift. And like love, the book doesn't progress in a linear, logical fashion but rather in spirals that glow with the author's own fascination for his subjects.

This book isn't only about a stream: it's about all of us, the places we have known (but maybe not as widely and deeply as we might have!), and the ever-present web of interconnection. For the curious, for those who love history, geology, sociology, story-telling, and art--all rendered with a local spin and chock-full of everyday detail--I heartily recommend this book. After reading it, your own backyard may never look the same again.

The drama of life and death along the stream, the river as the perfect excuse for adventure - "Temple Stream" flooded me with Bill Roorbach's good-hearted sense of well being. This mini retreat from the dry surface pulled me right into the whorls and eddies of some forever-wild routes of Maine. I was as engrossed by the near disasters as well as the near miracles. The neighborly characters -- the disputes and accomadations will seem entertainingly familiar to any long-term Mainer. Once again, Bill Roorbach captures an enthralling non-fiction narrative voice.

Beyond that satisfyingly mucky feeling of wading right into the water, right in with the beavers and the gnats and the fish, I enjoyed being with Bill and his lovably eccentric friends and neighbors. I was swept away with the happiness of a baby born, and the sadness of a mentor's loss, and the simple drama of messages in bottles that (like the river) seem to transport time itself. This story from modern day Maine flows with heartfelt appreciation of a very beautiful world. I especially recommend it to herbalists, who will find the sections on rare Maine flora informative and entertaining.

Temple Stream by Bill Roorbach fills just about every requirement I have for an absolutely enjoyable and delightful read. This work is one man's story, or journey, if you will, of his life near a small stream near Farmington Maine. The author is with his wife, two dogs, eventually his newborn daughter, and a collection of local characters that drift in and out of his story. This is a multilevel work and there are bits and pieces for just about everyone. I will say right now that this book was one of the more enjoyable reads I have had over the past several years and will quite likely give it further reads in the future.

The author, a teacher by profession, and his wife buy a small place near a small stream in a small town in Maine. This is the story of parts of his life while living in this rural setting. The primary focus is the stream, "Temple Stream," and his relationship, observations and adventures as he explores the environment around him and the local history. The journey the author takes covers several years and Roorbach has quite skillfully blended these years, the side trips, his encounters with the locals and family matters together to bring us a wonderful feeling of "being there." Bill Roorbach's skill as a nature writer is considerable. While not as detailed as Edwin Way Teale's work, or Allen W. Eskert's, his writing skills are certainly better, or at least equal to. By the way, I very much recommend both these authors, in particular Eskert's "Wild Season."

This book, while certainly a full story, is actually a group of essays, linked by the common factor of the stream. I am a word junkie, and the author's use of very obscure phrases, words, and his odd syntax ware a pure delight for me. To understand what the author is doing (in my opinion, and I might well be wrong), can best be accomplished by reading the poem by Theodore Enslin, The Town That Ends the Road, which the author uses to close his work. I would recommend you go to the back of the book, read the poem first, and then read the book. It will give you a better understanding of just what the author is doing with his wonderful word play.

In addition, I personally was able to make an instant connection with this writer which is always a good thing. Our lives have been quite alike in many ways, our backgrounds quite similar. I have been absolutely addicted to streams (we call them creeks here) since I was a very young boy and still am. We have a small stream that runs behind our house that I have been exploring for the past 25 years. Like the author, I spend the majority of my wonderings and poking around with my dogs, whose company I much prefer over most humans. The on the spot study of natural history has been a life long habit for me and I verge on being a fanatic as to birding. The author and I share the same attitudes in many ways, have the same outlook on life in general, and where it not for the time and geographical differences, I swear we dated the same girl in college. I found this wonderful. This is just me though. There is no doubt in my mind that if you enjoy a good read, you will enjoy this one, no matter your background.

This is a wonderful and delightful read. If you enjoy good nature writing, fresh, non-judgmental views of our environment, great word play, and interesting observations on human nature, you will most certainly enjoy this one. If this is any indication of Roorbach's skill as a writer, I plan to search out his other books.

Often the journey is more important than the destination, and that's the sort of journey author Bill Roorbach traveled in writing this delightful book. In 1992 Roorbach and his wife bought an old house on the banks of the Temple Stream in rural Maine. Their occupancy of the house was frequently interrupted by career needs, but they always returned to their stream-side home with joy and relief.

The Temple Stream rises from a well-hidden artesian spring (sorry, that COULD be seen as a spoiler) on Day Mountain in Avon, my town, and gathers influence on its trip through Temple to join the Sandy River in Farmington, and from there to the Kennebec River, Merrymeeting Bay, and the Gulf of Maine. In the 19th century the stream drove dozens of mills -- sawmills, gristmills, fulling mills. Products of the mills were consumed locally or shipped downstream, bringing wealth back upstream. All that industry washed away when the railroad came, providing a means for raw ingredients to be transported to central mills. Roorbach refers to this change as "the true down-trickle of economics" (p. 14).

Fascinated by the natural history of the region, Roorbach formed the intention of traveling the full length of the Temple, by canoe and on foot. He began this project in the summer of 1999 and completed it at the winter solstice in late 2000.

Temple Stream: A Rural Odyssey is the story of that quest, interspersed with his personal history, the history of the local settlements, and a Pandora's box of the rich environment around the stream. Roorbach observes the beavers and describes their impact on the stream; consults a field botanist for more detailed understanding of the flora of the region; calls on his lifelong interest in bird-watching; and grows in appreciation of our watery planet through a chance encounter with an elderly hydrologist, found barefoot in a flood pipe with her long skirt rucked up. Local characters and customs are whimsically described, some of them "composites;" I won't meet the Thoreau-quoting giant Earl Pomeroy or the mad house-sitter Mrs. Bollocks on my errands in town but their ways are familiar.

All these characters, all the small renewals of nature, even the birth of Roorbach's daughter are presented in a gentle and contemplative style and loosely marked off by solstice and equinox. There are no real denouements here, but if you've ever lost yourself for a while in a stream and wondered where it's going, this book may bring you some of the pleasure it brought me. If you have any interest in memoirs of rural life, I recommend this book to you.

Linda Bulger, 2008

William G. Williams does an excellent job of blending real life accounts of the Gettysburg Civilians to create an educational and compelling novel. Included in the book are photos of some of the civilians whose stories are being told, as well as a map of Gettysburg to help familiarize yourself with the areas the story takes place in. Many books have been written about the Battle of Gettysburg, but this is a great way to get an understanding of how the families and storekeepers were affected by the battle that literally took place in their backyard!

What a super idea - take the information from the many diaries, journals, and first hand memories and turn it into a novel of sorts. With all of the facts and documentation at one's fingertips - and that is NOT including the computer/internet - one would think that this book would be an engulfing read filled with the sort of descriptions to literally take the reader back in time.
Unfortunately, Mr. Williams did not do his historical homework. Pretty much all he did was embellish a bit on the original words of the diarists, with an accent on 'A BIT'.
To have the idea turned opportunity, as Mr. Williams did with literally hundreds of books readily available, I must say I was sorely disappointed in the outcome.
First off, DESCRIPTION. There is very little to be found. He writes of the citizens entering their homes with little thought of what the rooms of their homes may have looked like; the kitchen, bedroom, cellar, even the houses themselves.
There is also very little insight to how these folks might have looked - what they wore, how they carried themselves. I mean, if you're going to write it out in story form then give us a mental picture. And there seems to be more telling of, rather than playing out, the scene. Pretty simplistic.
The other thing that really bugged me was the language usage. Again, how folks spoke at that time is readily available in a multitude of books, including original period novels as well as writer's guides for those who write period stories and novels. For example, in 'Days of Darkness' Mr. Williams writes, "...I recognized him as a recruit in Bell's Cavalry whom I knew, so I said, 'Hello, Bill, what's up?'" Hmmmm. Hello, Bill, what's up??? I don't think so. If one were to jet back in time and greet someone in that manner they would surely have been looked upon quite queerly (in the 19th century sense of the word). 'Hello' was not a greeting as we know it to be. That did not come around until a number of years after the invention of the telephone. And "what's up" is from the latter half of the 20th century.
Maybe it's because I avidly study social history that I notice these sort of blunders, but if one wants to write an accurate historical novel, then one should do their homework.
On the plus side, Mr. Williams does a good job in the telling of the events of the summer of 1863 in Gettysburg, which is why this book received a "3". And, as another reviewer commented, it would make a wonderful movie.
For those of you who would like to read the story of the Gettysburg civilians as told by those who were there, may I suggest "Firestorm At Gettysburg" by Slade and Alexander, and "Days of Uncertainty and Dread" by Gerald Bennett. Both books are as gripping as any period novel out there.

This book is a great read for someone who wants to have a citizen's perspective on the battle at Gettysburg. Even though I know a lot about the battle, itself, I learned that the town actually changed hands several times. The Civilians did not see Blue or Gray, but real men who were wounded, starving or just plain scared. I was especially taken by the knowledge that at times, the Union held the front porch of a house, while Confederate soldiers occupied the back porch, with the interior of the home being "no man's land". A great edition to any Civil War Historian's library.

I read this incredible and rare perspective on the great battle and came away with a rather astounding cinematic vision for its telling. This author has chosen to invite us into a glimpse of farmland simple life interrupted by ghastly warfare that changed all the lives of its citizens forever. How often do we think of that concerning the Civil War battlefields? Amazing take. I bought one for a friend immediately afterwards. This absolutely MUST be a film someday!

People tend to think of the battle of Gettysburg and consider the famous fields such as Pickett's Charge, Wheatfield, Little Round Top and Culp's Hill to be the history while the civilians in town shared their own battle. The entire town was littered with sharpshooters, Confederate soldiers, the wounded and prisoners. The Gettysburg people were basically caught up in this fray and this book demonstrates the horrors and hardships that these people witnessed. Personal accounts are placed together in almost a novel-like format which places the reader quite easily within the action itself. Stories such as housing the wounded, losing a home, sharing food with the soldiers caught up in battle and witnessing the bloodshed are among the many stories within this great book. It is a must read for those looking to understand Gettysburg completely.

This book gives you all you need to know about travelling to Acadia. It covers biking, hiking, kayaking, and just about any other "-ing" you might be interested in.

The maps help out anyone not familiar to the area, too.

I think it's a great, well-written book that will aid anyone planning to visit this part of Maine.

Discover Acadia National Park: A Guide To The Best Hiking, Biking, And Paddling by nature photographers and outdoor enthusiasts Jerry and Marcy Monkman is a comprehensive, informative guide to the scenery, wildlife, trails, trip-times as it showcases the resources and sights of the beautiful Acadia National Park of Maine. Difficulty gradings, maps, and straightforward information make Discover Acadia National Park the perfect guide to learn which hiking trails are best for the interests of every reader. A fold-out hiking and biking map is included in this book enthusiastically recommended for anyone planning an outdoors expedition to this splendor-filled preserve. If you are planning an outdoor adventure in the Acadia National Park, beginning planning your trip by browsing through the pages of Jim and Marcy Monkman's Discover Acadia National Park!

This book does offer lots of informative descriptions of many hiking trails, bike rides, and paddling trips in Acadia. It describes not only selected carriage roads, but also some often-overlooked fire roads and other dirt roads. And the map which comes with it is, like all AMC maps, outstanding; it is even printed on waterproof, tear-proof tyvek. However, I would like to point out quite a few flaws of this book:

1) The book is overly large to carry with you on a hike
2) Confusing verbal descriptions of trail locations can be difficult to locate on the included map. Ideally, each trip should contain a thumbnail map, or at least be coded to the central map.
3) Long verbal descriptions should be condensed into a cue sheet for each trip. Although the park is well marked, presumably the point of buying the book is to follow a route suggested by the author.
4) A little more subjectivity wouldn't hurt. The book has lots of information but could use some more opinion. Again, the point of buying a book is to get a viewpoint from an "expert."
5) The book is by no means "comprehensive". "Comprehensive" means "every trail in the park." This book is selective, not comprehensive.

I love this book and refer to it often when I feel the need to take an outdoor adventure in Acadia. While it aptly describes every trail in the park and comes with an impressive 4 color map , what sets this guide apart is its descriptive narrative of park features. It's sidebars and little factoids about the area's history, flora, and fauna give the reader a deeper understanding of the place he or she is hiking, biking, or paddling through. It makes for much more interesting reading than the typical "turn left at the trail junction." Visitors new to the area will also appreciate the book's listings of campgrounds, museums, gardens, whale and puffin watching tours, etc. Tons of great info packed into a reasonable size!

I've used this book on a couple of trips to Acadia. It's best feature is the detailed pull-out map in the back which shows all the major hiking trails. This is a great book to study BEFORE your trip. It has very detailed descriptions of hiking and biking trails and paddling and sea kayaking trips. It's great to pick out the activities you want to do, but this detailed nature makes it less useful on the trail though. It's too wordy and too bulky. (Take the map with you though!) It would be better if it had more pictures of the different areas. It's also missing mini-maps of each hiking or biking trail. Instead, you're left to pull out the map and try to follow along based on their descriptions. It would be great if this book were split into two, one for hiking and biking and one for paddling and sea kayaking, each in color with more pictures and terrain maps. Until then, there's still a lot of great info in this edition.

Celia Thaxter tried poetry and fiction, but it is hardly a surprise that this book carries her mark on literature today. A woman possessed by the beauty of flowers, she planned and nurtured her garden year after year on a windswept island off the Atlantic coast of Maine and New Hampshire. Her friends and visitors included a small group of distinguished artists and authors. To those not terribly interested in flower literature, An Island Garden will impress anyway by the sheer passion and stamina of the author.

This book is well-written and has beautiful color illustrations by Childe Hassam. It will appeal to gardeners especially, and also bird-lovers and those who are smitten with the coast of Maine. It comes in a slipcase, with an attractive gold-embossed cover and an introduction by Tasha Tudor.

Reading An Island Garden by Celia Thaxter has become a yearly ritual for me, to inspire and prepare me for yet another hopeful year of gardening. Ms. Thaxter's intimacy with the pleasures and plagues of each variety of perennial, biennial or annual she grows (mostly of the old-fashioned varieties) is astounding. This book has become a guidebook for me in replicating an old-fashioned "grandmother's" garden. Her poetic descriptions of her "flower children" and fervor in protecting them is both endearing and amusing. At times, it seems as though she is joking when she describes the lengths at which she'll go to ward of the pests which threaten her Island garden. Reading an Island Garden will bring you back to the gentle times of the Victorian Era and is especially perfect seaside or verandah reading. This is definitely for people who love their gardens and consider them as human as a member of the family!

In the closing years of the Nineteenth Century, Celia Thaxter (1835-94) lived on Appledore, one of the Isles of Shoal off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Contemplating the lovely garden that she had created there, she decided to write down her thoughts and share them with us. Taking the form of a yearlong calendar, she walks us through her experiences in her garden, as she tends it and protects it throughout the year.

This is an absolutely wonderful book! Celia obviously loved her garden and all of the green growing things around her. This love shines through the narrative, such as when she wrote, "He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters this world with a passion for flowers in his soul."

As I said before, this book covers a year in the life of Celia's garden, but is not written as a simple chronology. Instead, the book covers Celia's work and her thoughts, moving from advice to poetry with a wonderful casualness. The boxed edition of this book is handsomely decorated, with Childe Hassam's illustrations setting just the perfect tone for it. This book makes a wonderful gift for the gardener in your life, and I can't recommend it enough!

Sorry folks, Tasha Tudor didn't write the introduction to this fine book. Allen Lacey wrote it. That doesn't detract from the book, but it does correct the listing above.

The illustrations are photoengravings of the original stone lithographs. Stone lithographs (chromolithographs) can take up to 30 stones to reproduce the color of the original. Chromolithographs, like wood engravings, are an original art form in and of themselves. They are, naturally, the size of the book itself, and not meant to substitute for the original paintings.

This is an exquisite little book, issued in a slip case, and makes a nice gift for those interested in the asesthetics of gardening.

This book is in the best traditions of the great storytelling - it could have been written by Robert Louis Stevenson. A lyrical tale of the Maine woods with a page turning plot and whimsical and almost magical encounters between homespun characters. A recommended read for anyone who enjoys good writing and a good old-fashioned yarn; and eminently suitable for intelligent younger readers.

Peter Loon is mainly an adventure story about the travels of a young boy whose mother has sent him to find someone he's never met. The time predates Van Reid's Moosepath League series; however, this story is just as full of interesting characters, twists, and marvelous tales. Despite the roughness of the time and place, Mr. Reid treats the reader fairly gently. The land essentially is another character and it appears to me that Mr. Reid is very fond of Maine and it's history. I was never bored.

I have enjoyed all the books by Van Reid. Its very much like a flash back to a simpler time, when the right thing was the right thing...

After the success of his "Moosepath League" trilogy, Reid turns his unjaundiced eye on a little-known aspect of an earlier period in Maine history - the struggle in the early 1800s between homesteading, hardscrabble farmers and the rich absentee owners, who had been granted huge tracts of wilderness by the English.

Peter Loon is 17 when his father, Silas, is felled by a tree while helping Peter clear land for a farm of his own. The night before Silas' funeral, Peter's otherworldly mother, the beautiful and "touched" Rosemund, wakes him to demands he go on a search for an uncle he has never heard of, Obed Winslow. As the reader knows and Peter does not, Obed was Silas' best friend, who left after he lost the contest (literally) for Rosemund's hand.

Peter has never been further than a few miles from the little settlement carved out of the forest and at his lyrical, easygoing pace, Reid explores young man's welter of feelings, embodied in his familiar forest surroundings.

"Peter heard the breent of a nightjar nearby and thought he caught the glimpse of something wing past a fleeting pool of open sky. He had no idea what he was about, walking the woods in the middle of the night, but he did not find them unpleasant, at first, these immediate sensations.

"It was not long, however, before another reality of life, as he understood it, imposed itself - and that was the fact of uncanny things in the forest, the knowledge of curious and perhaps malicious disembodied minds lurking in the darkness between the trees."

Fretting about the family left behind, curious about the unknown world ahead, Peter's agitation is reflected in his surroundings until he lays down to sleep at the foot of a tree. Awakened by a dead deer, he appears, to the hunters, to spring from the belly of the beast, and thus begins an odyssey which opens his eyes to a greater section of humanity than he ever expected to encounter.

Taken up by an itinerant and well-read preacher, a wise man, Peter crosses paths with zealots using religion to further evil intentions, fair maidens in need of rescuing, angry farmers fomenting rebellion, rich landowners oozing contempt, liquored-up rabble rousers, coquettish girls with not enough to do and one fiery girl who does exactly as she pleases. He discovers class and the huge gulf between rich and poor - his perplexity at the notion of a picnic is particularly funny - and learns that good or evil resides with the individual and not his place in society. He discovers romance, and discovers it again. He has his eyes opened and retains his innocence.

Although more archetype than individual, Peter is an endearing character, who learns to rely on the core of integrity within him - along with his handsome looks and quick, if naïve, mind. As seen through his fresh eyes, the world is a chaotic, beautiful, violent, new place.

Beautifully written, this is a humorous, graceful, old-fashioned novel with a touch of Tom Jones and a whisper of Huck Finn. A fine beginning to a new series for Van Reid.

What a shame that the Publisher's Weekly review quoted on this page was so wrongheaded. And what a shame that I allowed it to keep me from reading this book for more than a year! It is almost as if the reviewer expected a romance novel and when it turned out to be something different the reviewer couldn't shift gears. What a shame!
"Peter Loon" is romantic, but in the old fashioned sense, that of an adventure. What hints of romance there are in the book are realistic and touching.
But it is the adventure that carries this book! It reminded me of something by Robert Louis Stevenson and that is no exageration. In particular "Peter Loon" reminded me of "Kidnapped." There is the beginning of the book, where the young man is looking for an uncle. There is the similarity in that both young protaganists come under the mentorship of an older wiser man. In Peter's case it is the extraordinary Parson Leach, who is one of the most fascinating charcters I have encountered in fiction lately. Also linking this book with "Kidnapped" in my mind is that both find their young wanderers stumbling into a civil rebellion. I loved "Kidnapped" and must go back and reread it after all these years. I loved "Peter Loon" too.
Made to choose, I would pick Mr. Reid's Moosepath series as my favorites, but this slice of eighteenth century adventure is exciting, evocative, and uplifting. The mistical scene when Peter is traveling the northern by forest and finds himself in the middle of a herd of dear is worth the price of the book. More people should read it and learn from Parson Leach about how to confront a dangerous situation with true Christian principle. Not to worry, the book is not preachy, only powerful.
It will be a long time before I let a bad review keep me away from one of my favorite authors. Sorry Mr. Reid. And thank you. My faith in your skills is unshaken. Beautiful cover, too.