Virginia Books

Recently, I visited Monongahela on vacation with my wife. What a truly fabulous place, rich in flora and fauna. And we used this book to guide us through. Each trail description (choose from 30 day hikes and 10 overnight) offers commentary on scenery, trail condition, difficulty, accessibility for children and solitude.

West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest is the mid-Atlantic's best kept secret. Sure, there are a few popular destinations, like the Dolly Sods, but there are so many other places to go in the "Mon". But with over a million acres of land, it's hard to figure out exactly where to go. That's where Mr. Molloy's new book comes in. It has there and back day hikes and overnight loops. It rates each hike and then gives a running narrative of the trail you are on. What is really nice, in my opinion are the concise directions to each trailhead, saving time and getting me to where I really want to be, and that is on the trail.

I just got back from a hiking/camping experience I'll never forget. I'd never been to the Monongahela, or "Mon," as it is known, but when I saw this new hiking book I thought I would give it a try. The first hike, to Rohrbaugh Overlook, in the Dolly Sods, stunned me. Have you ever just known you were in the right place at the right time? That's how I felt, while looking over the Red Creek Valley surrounded by rock outcrops jutting from green forests. After a little national forest camping, I headed down to the Cranberry Wilderness, enjoying Molloy's Middle Fork overnight backpacking loop. The Middle Fork Cranberry River flowed clear beneath stately yellow birch trees and when I got up to the highcountry, the scent of spruce trees provided an aromatic backdrop for a night beneath the stars. Unfortunately the work bell rang and I had to return to Pittsburgh, but with 31 other day hikes and nine overnight backpacking loops in this book I shall return to the "Mon" many more times. This is a very useful and interesting book... perfect for anyone considering hiking in this area!

A beautifully told story about a girl who is emotionally running away from the recent death of her beloved mother and about how life won't let her. The tension between what the reader knows the main character, Dil, is doing and what she believes she is doing makes this wonderfully poignant and rich. Lots of other great characters including Dil's charming best friend Cub, her colorful grandfather, and her increasingly distant father who has his own wounds to heal. The farm country setting and animal focus make this broadly appealing on a whole other level. Highly recommended!

I just finished Dog Gone and felt compelled to write a review. This book moved me in a way I hadn't expected. Having been raised in the South, it was great to visit it once again through the sights, sounds, and characters the author uses to tell the tale of a girl struggling with the loss of her mother and the possible loss of her beloved dog--who may or may not be doing something harmful to the local farmers' livestock. Like an engine leaving the station, the tension slowly builds in the story until it races past you and you can no longer put the book down. Then, the climactic scene in the driveway, leaves you breathless and teary-eyed as the main character's realization or what has been and what will be smacks her and you, the reader, in the face. It was a powerful moment and speaks to the great command this writer has over her craft. This is a gripping, must-read novel for school-age children and adults. Kudos to Cynthia Chapman Willis. I can't wait to read her next book!

This is a wonderfully written story about the love of a dog by a girl who has just undergone a tragic life experience with the loss of her mother. Very insightful with a happy ending ! A perfect life experience for those 9-13 year olds who are the target audience of this new author. I would definitely recommend this book !

The Dynamic Dominion is more than a history of the rise of the GOP in Virginia. It takes up where J. Harvie Wilkinson left off and serves as the definitive political history of Virginia through the early 1990's. Unlike Mr. Wilkinson's book, which was dominated by statistics and voting patterns showing the changes that occured during the Byrd Machin tenure, Mr. Atkinson includes a wealth of material that was derived through interviews with actual participants in these events. This is simply THE BOOK for anyone interested in post World War II Virginia politics, as well as those interested in southern politics.

I too look forward to an updated version of this book, especially in view of the GOP taking the state legislature. But I think a real challenge would be to unleash Frank's clear talents on a biography of Henry Howell, who many credit with being the political force that caused the Virgnia democracy to tack far enough to the left to allow the GOP to become competitive in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Mr. Atkinson is a partisan Republican. He is upfront about it in his author's bio on the book's dustjacket, which mentions his numerous positions in the GOP. At times one senses his partisan glee as he chronicles the rise to power of the Republican party in the Old Dominion from the 1960's, when the Civil Rights movement and the administration of LBJ (who carried VA in 1964)identified the Democratic party with extreme liberalism, until the early 1990's, when Republican stock continued to soar statewide and nationwide. For the most part though he maintains objectivity and gives his readers a gripping account of this very important political transformation.

At times the book has the tension of a good thriller, along the lines of Advise and Consent or The Manchurian Candidate. Certainly Atkinson presents to us a genuine cast of characters and a series of ups and downs, successes and failures, conflicts and confrontations one would find in a novel. There is the collapse of the Harry Byrd machine in Virginia, which in election after election had delivered the state solidly to the Democrats; there is the election of Virginia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Linwood Holton, a man decidedly not a conservative in a very conservative party in a very conservative state; there is Mills Godwin's agonizing decision to quit a lifetime of membership in the Democratic party and become a Republican in order to stop "wildman" Henry Howell's ascension to the VA governorship; there is Richard Nixon's wholesale attempt to convert scores of conservative Virginia Democrats to the GOP, an effort killed, of course, by Nixon's own Watergate; there is the promise of good things cut short by the tragic deaths of Democrat Sergeant Reynolds and Republicans Richard Obershain and John Dalton; there is John Warner's campaigning for the U.S. Senate with that Hollywood apogee of glamor, Elizabeth Taylor, by his side; there is the appearance of Chuck Robb, as though a white knight upon a steed, to rescue the Democrats from yet another ignominious defeat at the hands of the GOP, and on and on. Atkinson's spares no detail in this very lively account, which portends good news for his party, less good news for us remaining Southern Jeffersonian Democrats.

Atkinson's title is a prescient one. In politics, as in much else, Virginia IS dynamic and changing all the time. One would welcome a sequel from Atkinson, or at least an updated edition of this fine book, in light of the election of Republican majorities to the VA legislature in 1999 and the more recent election of Democrat Mark Warner to the governorship, which some observers attribute in part to internecine warfare in the GOP.

In 1945, the Republican Party of Virginia was basically dead, having only four members in the 140 member General Assembly - two in the Senate and two in the House of Delegates, but in the last 50 years, the GOP has risen to a status of parity with Virginia's Democrats, who have been the majority party since Reconstruction. The Dynamic Dominion is an excellent account of the early history of the Republican Party's rise to preeminence in the Mother of Presidents. Mr. Atkinson goes into excellent detail about the events that helped to shape the future destiny of the party, especially those following the controversial 1978 State Republican Convention, in particular, the death of US Senate Nominee Richard Obenshain (whose name is still very much revered in Virginia Republican politics today) and the eventual nomination, candidacy, and election of John W. Warner, who was given invaluable assistance in his campaign by none other than famed actress Elizabeth Taylor. I would suggest that Mr. Atkinson's work be made required reading in political science courses at colleges and universities all across the country.

Loved it. Wished I read it before I saw the movie, that way I would have had a purer vision of the play.

This is a great modern play. I loved all the references and word games

I'm directing the play in The Netherlands. Never had to dig so deep as in this play. Did the play before, and now I did some completely new discoveries. What about this: I think Nick is the only true victim. May change that opinion the next rehearsel: 'Woolf' never stops amazing!

As an airline employee and aviation enthusiant I love this book. I have finished my fifth reading of it and I keep discovering more insight. I can read it for hours and slip away from present existence to Alexander Frater's world. Truly one of the greatest books for those who love airlines and different cultures. Wonderful.....

this book is currently available in paperback from amazon.co.u

This is excellent and one of those rare books that you can read again and again. Alexander Frater writes about a journey he made using modern air transport that retraces the original route of Imperial Airways (predecessor of today's British Airways) on their pioneering route from London to Brisbane, Australia in the 1930's. Not only is it an extremely interesting travelogue but it also is highly informative in a historical sense. There are also many funny and poignant moments that he relates from his journey. The only downside is that unfortunately it is currently out of print

(. . .) I highly recommend this book to any student or fan (what's the difference, though?) of Faulkner's writings, and especially to any writers out there, and most of all, any Faulkner teachers. Faulkner is asked any question you can think of in this book, from certain meanings in his, "The Bear", to the long time controversy about the order of sections in "The Sound and the Fury", to the Adlers in "As I Lay Dying", all the way to why he prefers the Old Testament to the New. He even puts down Henry James in this book, and talks about his greatest influences on his writing, his favorite books (such as Cervantes' Don Quixote) and even puts in some good advice to aspiring authors, and how they should take writing, and even advice on how to write in the traditional Southern Gothic style. Truly a magnificent book that deserves top priority to any fan or teacher of Faulkner, or any writer in general! A masterpiece!!!

Faulkner, I think, understands more clearly than anyone else the craft of writing. That's why I bought this book, to enlighten myself on some of his opinions as to the direction, goals, and duties of literature. This book works because here Faulkner is at his most candid and while his responses to the students' questions are indeed eloquent, they at least do not sound rehearsed. And this is not just a book of Faulkner's thoughts on literary craft. Here we see his opinions on all facets of life. Faulkner was such a successful writer because he concerned himself primarily with telling engaging stories in ways no one has ever tried before, and he humbly acknowledges such. Beyond his novels, this is the first book you should add to any Faulkner library.

I must say, that when I first picked this book up, I was a bit skeptical. It was wrapped in plastic giving me no idea of what was in it, and it was by some publishing company I never heard of. But, being an impulse buyer, I paid for it, and brought it to a coffee shop where I continued to read and read, on the way home, while watching television, and even when I went to bed, and did not put it down until I read the whole thing. As a writer and fellow fan of Faulkner, I highly recommend this book to any student or fan (what's the difference, though?) of Faulkner's writings, and especially to any writers out there, and most of all, any Faulkner teachers. Faulkner is asked any question you can think of in this book, from certain meanings in his, "The Bear", to the long time controversy about the order of sections in "The Sound and the Fury", to the Adlers in "As I Lay Dying", all the way to why he prefers the Old Testament to the New. He even puts down Henry James in this book, and talks about his greatest influences on his writing, his favorite books (such as Cervantes' Don Quixote) and even puts in some good advice to aspiring authors, and how they should take writing, and even advice on how to write in the traditional Southern Gothic style. Truly a magnificent book that deserves top priority to any fan or teacher of Faulkner, or any writer in general! A masterpiece!!!

I was skeptical at first, but I removed some stains that I had long given up on with tips in this book. Well worth the money.

If you have ever had to actually toss out a perfectly good garment that you loved with lots of more life left in it just because of a stain that resisted every attempt to dissolve it, this is most definitely the book for you.

Packed with information and illustrations, The Field Guide to Stains will help you remove more than 100 different types of stains, and the information is divided up into sections by type for easy research while preparing laundry.

The Field Guide to Stains: How to Identify and Remove Virtually Every Stain Known to Man is well-worth the investment, because potentially it will save you a fortune on even one favorite garment that you won't have to needlessly replace.

I love this book!

I have not been this pleased with a book purchase in a long time! I read a piece in The New York Times that sparked my interest and purchased Field Guide to Stains. And let me say, that the stain removal techinques I've tried really work! What's more it's an interesting read and the close-up photos of the stains are not only hilarious, but very useful for identification. This book will get a lot of use around my house.

This book of poetry is like a gathering of old friends. Virginia Pritchett's collection of 58 poems touch on who we are, the surprises and beauty of nature and the memories we share. There is understanding, as in "Having a Poem", "..Poems, like infants/help us know more/than we thought/we did". There is the hummingbird in "Courtship in Air" that "..helicopters/straight down/for a long/colorful kiss".

And in my two favorites, there is humanity: in "Memories", "I have warmed myself/beside your fire/too many times to fear/the winter of my loneliness../Outside my door/memories are stacked/ like logs/to bring you near", and in "By Yourself", "when you live alone/you live with/ silence/..always there/to welcome you back home/ fold you in a warm embrace/and share/your innermost thoughts". Who can't relate to that, and be the better for it?

The poems are reachable and remind that, with a little imagination, within each of us is an image or a feeling waiting to be expressed this way.

Some poetry is hard to understand and reading it becomes work not pleasure. Other times it's written like a greeting card with flowerly sentiments and no surprises. Ms. Pritchett's work, on the other hand, is beautifully balanced. It invites the reader in with clear evocative images and speaks of everyday life, yet it doesn't give anything away for free. Meanings and possibilities unfurl in a delicate way that causes that thrill of discovery I so treasure from poetry. Very satisfying.

After reading A Fine Thin Thread I feel like I've known Ms Pritchett all my life. 'Not Old Enough' reached deep into my heart pulling at threads I thought safely tucked away. 'Someday' echos even now, somewhere just behind me and 'Messages and Machines' replays the last time I heard my daughters voice, sill there although the machine is long gone.

The book is dedicated to her daughters. Perhaps now, I know them too.

Excellent! Very clear instructions for many different finishes. I highly recomend this book for all handweavers.

This is a classic book that every weaver should have in his/her library. Clear instructions on many finishing techniques from fringes to lace edges, braids to bag handles. A real collector's item.

A great reference book for handweavers filled with finishing techniques to make your creations unique. Instructions are clearly written and illustrated, accompanied by lovely full color photographs. While some of the techniques may be time consuming to perform, the end result is worth it. This book is a standard for the weavers bookshelf and due to become a collector's piece - Interweave Press has recently announced they will no longer be printing it

Colonial Williamsburg... sets a high standard for illustrated books on gardens, the Colonial kitchen, and the decorative arts in the occasional books it publishes.

The latest from CW's presses is Susan Hight Rountree's "From a Colonial Garden: Ideas, Decorations, Recipes" ($24.95). The first section introduces the reader to the formal but colorful gardens visitors can admire in the restored area -- but these gardens also serve a practical purpose as succeeding sections attest...

The book is strong on weddings, offering a winter reception at the Williamsburg Inn or a summer ceremony at a James River plantation. Ms. Rountree... also uses garden materials to make gifts, wreaths, table decorations, and other items throughout the year. The section on Christmas is especially useful, and readers will want to remember to consult the book in early November, before the holidays, for fresh ideas.

This not primarily a cookbook, but Ms. Rountree includes recipes for seasonal dishes to round out her sections... As with all CW publications, this new book upholds the benchmarks of taste and style readers have learned to expect, and will rate a place on the bookshelf of gardener, cook, and home decorator.

-Ann Lloyd Merriman, editor, commentary/books
"Between the Bookends," Richmond Times Dispatch

The newest entertaining and decorating book from Colonial Williamsburg combines touches of elegance with moments of fun and fantasy.

The 212-page book, "From A Colonial Garden: Ideas, Decorations, Recipes" is divided into chapters that take you through the seasons and many special occasions such as weddings, bridal showers and rehearsal dinners. There are 287 color photos and 24 illustrations to guide you every step of the way.

Best of all, most of the projects are simple to create... For example, veggies such as colorful peppers are used to create a zesty-looking centerpiece on the nail-studded wooden cone that's typically covered with apples and sprigs of boxwood...

One of her easiest and sunniest table arrangements is perfect for a summer picnic or cookout. A partially hollowed-out watermelon serves as a container for a bouquet of zinnias, rudbeckia, coreopsis, apple mint and rosemary...

Rountree says the chapters on ideas from the spring garden are her favorite sections because they encourage you to use so many fresh flowers. "I'd like to see more people doing that," she says. "Fresh flowers are so many places these days--in the markets or you can grow your own."

A chapter on garnishes from the spring garden also features Rountree's garden pet--the Cheshire Cheese Hedgehog... English folklore says it's a sign of good luck when you find a hedgehog in your garden. The book features an easy cheese-based recipe for making the hedgehog. "I've had such fun with him, he'll be in every book," she says.

--Kathy Van Mullekom, Daily Press
Newport News, VA

How charmingly and seamlessly does Susan Hight Rountree translate 18th-century entertaining style into the 21st century! This delightful addition to her past best-sellers will be enjoyed by not only professional designers but talent-challenged amateurs like myself who need guidance as we try to duplicate the classic Williamsburg look. The "how-to" directions are clear and the beautiful illustrations are lavish, promising success with all the enticing projects--family celebrations, garden parties, weddings, gifts and holiday decorations. A wonderful complement to every decorating library!