Pacific Books

This is a great book for people that like to know lots of strange things about places where the live.

Perfect fill the time reading and learn at the same time book. Good for out of time guest or for one to appear as well-knowledged to out of town visitors. Also great for the bathroom office( a good thing).

I got hooked on these "Weird" books the moment they started coming out. They were just unbelieveably fascinating, fun, and educational. I had always hoped that my wonderful state, Washington, would get the 'weird' treatment, since the state doesn't always get that much attention. My hopes came true and this book was released. I snatched it up as quickly as I could. What do the pages hold for the weird and wonderful that is in Washington?.

Like all of the other books, it is broken up into chapters, each with it's own identity. You have "Fabled People And Places", "Local Heroes And Villains", "Bizarre Beasts", "Ancient Mysteries", "Unexplained Phenomena", "Personalized Properties", "Roadside Oddities", "Roads Less Taveled", "Haunted Places", "Cemetery Safari", and lastly, "Washington Lost And Found".

I have lived in this state my entire life. I knew of a few things, but not a whole lot. So, imagine my surprise and fascination when I read up on all these interesting things in my state. For instance, you will hear about the exorcisms that took place at the Monaghan Music Hall building at Gonzaga University in Spokane; The mysterious Indian princess at Pike Place Market in Seattle; Soap People of Crescent Lake; Maury Island Ufo incident; Bigfoot; Ghosts of Thornewood Castle; Bobo The Gorilla, and much, much more. Most of these I have never read or heard about in my entire life here. Reading this book was such a learning experience, and it is sure to intrigue fellow Washingtonians who may not know of this history either. Then again, it's great for anyone, locals or not. There are a few things here I am familiar with : Sylvester The Mummy in Seattle; The Troll Bridge, also in Seattle, and a few others. However, there are some things I would of liked here but are not included. How about the giant red Radio Flyer in downtown Spokane?. The supposed haunting of the Fox Theater and Davenport Hotel?. Weird Washington 2, anyone?.

The book is well written and the pictures are great, as they always are in the "Weird" books. Authors Jeff Davis and Al Eufrasio obviously love their state, and they did an incredible job of capturing the weird and wonderful here. It took a lifelong Washington resident like me on an amazing road trip of which I have never been on, and learned a lot of great things along the way. Some I knew, and some I became shockingly aware of. It's a wonderful and worthy addition to the "Weird" canon of books, and I recommend it to everyone, Washingtonian or not.

This is a great book filled with all kinds of fascinating tid bits. I've lived in Washington my entire life, and now I have a list of places to visit that I did not know about. I highly recommend this book.

Weird Washington by Jeff Davis and Al Eufrasio is a truly remarkable and valuable book for tourists,affcianados of the unusual and all those interested in the wonders of Washington State. It includes items on The Maury Island UFO Incident, DB Cooper, The Seattle Museum of The Mysteries, Mel's Hole, famous hauntings.Thornewood Castle, and even the grave-sites of Bruce and Brandon Lee. It is informative and factual, and has great pictures. Its not flaky in any way. It would make a great gift to anyone who is new to Washington or appreciates the amazing things the state has to offer.

This book has a lot of the fundamentals for selecting, purchasing and prepping several varieties of seafood. The one thing that could have been better is to have pictures of the prepared dishes associated with the recipies.

This book is probably the best cook book I have ever used. It contains detailed descriptions of a vast array of seafood along with copious information on buying and prepping each type. The recipes range from simple to modestly complex. They generally focus on enhancing the flavor of the seafood with a few well selected accent flavors. They are creative and easy to follow.

This is a great reference for cooks at any level of ability. Fundimentals of buying, cutting up, basic techniques, and cooking safety. Easy to follow recipes which are not fussy and don't loose the flavor of the seafood in the sauces, yet can be quite sophisticated. Expanded information, definitions and seafood facts which can enlighten profesional chefs and intertain those who pick-up cookbooks for leasure reading. For example, what constitutes 'white fish',who are the grazers and the predators in the ocean, and how is caviar farmed.

Living in Seattle we wanted to take advantage of all the fresh fish available, but we had no idea how to cook it. Everything we have tried out of this book has been easy and delicious. Most of the recipes give suggestions for side dishes which makes meal planning even easier. Whenever we get fish for dinner this is the cookbook we pull out!

This book is wonderful for cooks that use seafood comes from the California coast. The recipes do not take require the resume of a rocket-scientist and yet the finished courses look, taste and smell like fine cuisine from a highly rated restaurant.

Great recipes for every day or special entertaining occasions.

This magnificient book contains some of the most impressive photographs of the West I've ever come across. Macduff Everton does with color what that great photographer,Ansel Adams did with Black and White in his majestic photographs of the West.
If one has ever doubted that Photography was an art,the work of these two photographers alone,should dispel that attitude.
I visited Mono Lake in the early morning,during the day and in the evening;and as much as I was impressed with its scenery,I never imagined the splendor that Everton has captured in these wonderful photographs.
When you look at one of these photographs,like the one on page 63 you have to be impressed with the light,shadows,clouds,forms,color,composition and all that has been captured in this photograph. Just think,this is a one-of--a-moment scene;that will change in a few short moments ,and this exact image will be lost forever,if not captured at the time.
This book will be looked at over and over again,and bring back many of the secens I enjoyed in these wonderful areas.Though,try as I did at the time,I only saw a glimmer of the splendor Everton has captured in this book. It takes skill,dedication ,patience and experience to "see" and capture these scenes in the way Everton does to share with us.
The book has top-notch paper,color rendition,printing and paper.However,this book has one weakness. The inside hinges are vere fragile and subject to breaking with minimal usage. I have already had to make repairs to my copy.

The Western Horizon honors the expansive beauty of U.S. topography west of the 100th meridian & east of the Pacific. Mary Heebner provides lightning commentary and subtle sketches complimenting her husband, photographer Macduff Everton, as he captures sites in inimitable ways. Together, they lift a creative curtain... and what a chronicle of our planet's passage they present!

Spectacular photographs are framed with informative prose-poetry re: geologic history and human wear. Many of the images are highlighted by magically addictive, cloud reflected light ... others are pure, simple zen. You gaze & graze on Earth's lines as they reach skyward. Time is everywhere. Many thanks to Abrams for yet another choice coffee table reference. Hopefully, Heebner & Everton will have an opportunity to soon grant us some more cardinal horizons. I'd rate The Western Horizon at no less than a full box of gold stars - it's a perfect book either to share or to savor alone.

This book deserves more than five stars for the unmatched color panoramas of the most picturesque horizons in the western United States.

You could visit these sites for twenty years and not see actual scenes as luscious as these. Whether you know the West or think you would like to, I suggest that you start with this remarkable book. This is the West as you've never seen it . . . but could. The wonderful photography is nicely complemented by the essays that provide geological and historical perspectives on the scenes portrayed here.

The photography is all done in 148 or 150 degree large format color panoramas. This perspective approximates what the human eyes can see, including peripheral vision. As a result, these images give you a remarkable sense of being present that is almost impossible to obtain in a book.

The reproduction quality is amazingly good, and the lighting and tones vary wonderfully from one outstanding photograph to the next. Almost all are displayed over an entire wide panorama-sized page, and many extend over parts of two such pages.

The feeling is so ethereal that it evokes the same sense of natural wonder that looking at paintings by the Hudson River School creates. There are in fact some parallels, as a few scenes include tiny people or animals in the foreground.

The book is divided into sections showing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, the Cascade range, the Pacific Northwest, and California. Although I have traveled extensively in the West for over 40 years, more than half of these scenes were new to me. I can see that I have many wonderful trips ahead of me to visit these locales, now that I know how gorgeous they are.

Here is a list of the sites:

Sand Hills, Nebraska

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Montana Prairie

Breaks of the Missouri

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Waterton/Glacier International Peace Park, Montana

Lemhi Pass, Montana

Mores Creek, Idaho

Aspen, Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Grand Staircase -- Escalante National Monument, Utah

Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Monument Valley Tribal Park, Arizona/Utah

Wupatki National National Monument, Arizona

Mount St. Helens

Crater Lake, Oregon

Mount Shasta, California

Oregon Coast

Big Sur, California

Santa Catalina, California

Yosemite, California

Mono Lake, California

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Death Valley, California

The text connects these boundless images to "a West of unlimited horizons" and the work of Turner in developing his frontier theory of the role of the West in stimulating American imagination and initiative. Even today, the book argues that the "unconstrained Western horizon" is important to our sense of taking on the new challenges of modern society.

Everyone who sees these photographs will agree that it would be horrible if these sights were ever to be spoiled. We are fortunate that government policy began to preserve these lands beginning in the 19th century. With today's challenges of pollution and visitors, perhaps even more will have to be done.

Reading and looking at this book is a spiritual journey, not unlike a peaceful meditation. If your spirit is troubled at all, I suggest this book as a balm that you can always use to ease your discomfort.

Live with beauty!

Wow. What a wonderful book that amazes me, everytime I open the cover. Everton seems to have complete control over the dynamics range in all of his photographs. Dark clouds yield to lighter, fluffy clouds, down to a light horizon, and a rich, dark lower 1/3 of these exposures. Add to this control his use of a tool that has limitations, at Noblex 150 panoramic camera.

Everton also captures locations that have already been widely photographed before, but with his own signature. He adds a new face to Calf Creek Falls in Utah. A must have book for your table.

I noticed that the writing on the front flap of the book jacket claimed that the images are large format panographs. After taking a close look at the first few images on pages 1-10, I came to the conclusion that these are panographs taken in 135 format not the medium format of the 120 or 220 types. Everton's notes of camera and film on page 7 confirmed my assessment. It is interesting that he departed from the usual practice of his peers by choosing the colour negative film Fuji NHG II rather than its sibling, the transparency film, Fuji Velvia 50. Though it does not have the punchy colours and high contrast of Velvia, NHG II gives softer colours in highlights and more shadow details. With negative films, mastery in controlling exposure is only half of the accomplishment, mastery in making prints is essential for bringing the final image to the masses. Everton said he developed his prints in a rental lab. If so, his craft is well done. The contrast control of each image is good with no lost of colour saturation and shadow details, even for heavily overcast landscape such as the one on Lemhi Pass (p56). About half of the images was taken at a time when a storm was approaching. Some even have a clearly visible rain curtain (p33,49,62). The panograph of the Great Sand Dune Monument (p62) is a real visual treat. The land and sky were connected by a rain pillar over the sand dune on the right, illuminated by the emerging light. The highlighted strip of the desert floor formed the visual anchor for the reader, guiding my eyes to start the journey from the lower left-hand side of the image then wander into the distant storm-covered horizon. The smoothness of the dunes form a visual contrast to the roughness of the storm clouds above. It is rare to see a rainstorm in a sandy desert let alone under such magical lighting. Capturing fleeing moments like this calls for great patience and skill on the photographer's part. The panograph of Lower Geyser Basin is my second favourite (p49). The steam pillar jetted out of the geyser is the force within the deep earth whereas the heaven is owned by the menacing storm dumping torrents of rain from above. I couldn't stop asking if this image was taken on Planet Earth or near Mount Doom of Middle Earth in Tokkien's fantasy. My other favourite is the panograph of the Lower Calf Creek Falls (p72). Here stillness and transquility was interrupted by the gushing waterfall. The branches of the two trees at the foreground formed a perfect arch that frames the waterfall. This is a stage built by Nature where we are invited to sit in front and be immersed in the sound of moving waters.
The map next to Everton's preface showed not only the places where the images were taken but confirmed the warning that American wilderness is an endangered specie. The rest of the writings is simply an eloquent elaboration of this urgent issue. This book is another quality publication from Abrams Inc. I give it four out of five stars.

A children's book that's as educational as much as it's entertaining, whose poetry is catchy and illustrations breathtaking. It doesn't get much better than this. The fact that my five-year-old granddaughter was absolutely mesmerized by the tale makes this a true winner in every sense of the word. As any parent and grandparent knows, it's nice to find a quality book to read to a youngster that will calm them down before bed. This certainly fits the bill. I was looking for something special for her and I liked the fact that the animals described were whales, deer, eagles, puffins, and even salmon - wild animals we are familiar with here in the Pacific Northwest. Imagine my pleasure to discover that the author is from my hometown! This is very highly recommended for children from 3 to 103!!!

This is a fantastic book! The acrylic illustrations are very realistic, the rhythm of the story has a nice flow and is easily read aloud without being too rhyming. We began reading this as a library book and decided we couldn't live without it. The story goes through "Where do I sleep?. . . I'm a baby ___" for each of the dozen animals and ends with a little boy and a bed full of stuffed animals. This is one of my favorite books.

I just purchased this book after hearing the illustrator speak. The pictures are bright and soft, the text musical and sweet. It just won the 2002 Pacific Northwest Book Award. A beautiful addition to any picture book library.

This book is absolutely one of the most beautifully illustrated children's books I have seen in a long time. The pictures capture the attention of both young children and adults alike. The clever story is also easy for kids to understand, while at the same time, educational. My kids love this book, and it would be a wonderful addition to your collection!

I appreciate a change from the usual cast of children's books characters (cat, dog, cow, horse): this book features otters, bats, foxes, anemones, eagles, and so on. The poems are great: the author rounds out the lines without useless filler words such as "very," "really," and "quite." Soothing verses and gentle pictures make this an excellent children's book. If you're from the Pacific Northwest, you must add this to your collection; if you're from anywhere else, you'll want to.

Very comprehensive and up to date. It fills a niche for the San Diego region.

Wow--this is a great book! It shows lots of wineries in Southern California and is a great reference tool to the wine novice and the connoisseur. Highly recommended for travelers to the San Diego and Southern California areas.

Reading this book on a cold, rainy day in winter had me dreaming of future sun-filled days spent touring these wineries with good friends and great picnic lunches. I especially liked the desciptions and photos of the wineries that gave me a feel for the experience ahead. It is nice to know what to expect, as anyone who has followed signs down dirt roads to basement wineries can attest. We will be taking a wine trip to San Diego soon! Kudos to the author for sharing her enthusiasm (and directions!) for these wineries.

We visited some of the wineries described in this book a number of years ago. After reading the book we realized that we missed quite a bit. We are not wine experts. This book gave us a lot of imformation on the wineries, the wine country in general, how to enjoy the wine tasting and how each winery handles wine tasting. We are planning to visit this area again, in the near future, and we will definitely take this book with us as a very useful guide.

This book is a very comprehensive and accurate book about the Temecula Wine Country. This I know because I have been living in the area for about 13 years and have limo toured the wine tasting areas many times. Make this one of your next purchases, immediately. It's great.

This book gives all pertinent information regarding many bars in L.A. The descriptions of setting and atmosphere are accurate and it even provides history and interesting stories and facts about L.A. bars. It provides a variety of different bars in L.A., from the most trendy, hip places, to the divey hole-in-the-walls. I've been to most of these places and frequent some, but this book makes me want to try each bar mentioned!

This was probably the best guide to bars I have seen for Los Angeles. The writing is witty and the choice of bars is great. My only complaint is the layout. It would be cleaner to list the bars in the appendix by area and attractions, rather than just one big list. If you live in L.A., this is a great book to own, if you want to discover a few new places.

Frank has put together a great selection of bars from Santa Monica to Pasadena. He loads each review with little tidbits that are seldom known by even the most travel worn Angelenos: Irish commanders leading Mexican troops past the current day Molly Malone's, the biggest sports bar in the world on Santa Fe Street (which unfortunately closed at Prohibition), and Walt Disney's first studio...just down the street from the Ye Olde Rustic Inn.

It's a good book to have laying next to your Zagats guide when planning an excursion to a new part of town.

THis book is a great trail map for bars in Los Angeles. Mr. Mulvey is a truly likable man with a genuine interest in the semi-lost tradition of decent dives. The format of the book is convienent and has within it, a lot of interesting facts and anecdotes. If you are interested in bars, or if you aren't, this is the book for you. It will bring you up to speed about what's cool in LA.

The 25 Best World War II Sites: Pacific Theater is a guide for travelers and tourists to exploring World War II historical sites, battle sites, monuments, and museums throughout what was once the Pacific Theater. 500 individual points of interest, enhanced with detailed histories and maps, tips, travel information, suggested hotels, and more fill the pages of this excellent and highly recommended travel guide specifically designed for anyone seeking to visit (or revisit) and learn more about the important events and places of World War II while vacationing or otherwise traveling through the regions comprising the Pacific Theater.

Chuck Thompson has compiled a great book on World War II sites in the Pacific. After living in the Phillippines and visiting several of the sites described in his book, I can definetly state that the descriptions in this book are 100% accurate. This is a must have book for anyone travelling in the Pacific.

Chuck Thompson has done an excellent job in THE 25 BEST WORLD WAR II SITES, PACIFIC THEATER of informing and recommending, to war buffs and casual travelers alike, the best World War places to see including Pearl Harbor on Oahu, the route of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines, and the original Bridge on the River Kwai in Thailand.

Hundreds of points of interest are revealed in the book, and Thompson provides comprehensive directions for each site, including detailed maps, guides to hotels, insider tips and photos of the sites.

This was the first book I've read by Chuck Thompson and I am definitely interested in checking out some of his other work because of the throughness of his research and the objective tone throughout.

Ever consider traveling to the real Pacific battlefields of WWII? If so, this is the essential travel and history reference for 25 of the best sites in the 20 million square miles of the Pacific theater. As this book proves, even for those who only dream about travel, it is still an impressive reference to the history and sites today.

25 Best Pacific Site
Author Chuck Thompson draws from his vast travel experiences to present the best sites of the Pacific. He begins the book by explaining the criteria for rating the 'best' sites of the Pacific, by three equally important criteria: historical significance, the amount of attractions at a give site, and finally on its merits as a travel destination (services, natural beauty, desirability). Although subjective, it is a excellent rating system. That includes Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Battan, Tokyo, Tarawa, Saipan, River Kwai, China, Alaska, Hiroshima, Corregidor, Singapore, Peleliu, Marshalls, Guam, Okinawa, Leyte, Solomons, Papua New Guinea, Manila and Nagasaki, to name a few. The final chapter covers North American Pacific WWII sites - including museums and memorials, and general details on auxiliary sites that are more difficult or expensive to get to, such as: Burma, Indonesia, Eniwetak, Midway, Wake and Iwo Jima.

Travel Guide Reference
A chapter is devoted to each of the 25 locations, complete with sites of interest and detailed maps. A one to five 'star rating' system rates each site, in terms of its interest level. Although all sites are important, the star system helps travelers with limited time, or budgets choose what they will want to see. Also, Thomoson draws upon his own travel experiences and suggests the ranges of time required to see the WWII sites - everything from a single full day in some locations, to several days in order to reach all sites.

Well Known & Obscure Location Details
Each chapter covers a wide range of both well known sites, and more obscure ones. For instance, in the Ohau chapter, the natural importance of Pearl Harbor Memorial is fully detailed, but also, lesser known sites, like the "Natsunoya Teahouse" where Japanese spy Takeo Yoshikawa conducted much of his surveillance of Pearl Harbor. Also, lesser known and out of the way sites, like the barracks, airfields and forts of signifigance. Each details any special permissions, limited access, contact information, entry fees and other related information.

More Than A Travel Guide
Author Chuck Thompson has done more than just write a travel guide book, in the traditional sense of the term. Each chapter begins with an informative, concise and well researched historical summary of each of the 25 best sites. Also, a list of suggested reading & references related to that location, that includes history books, veteran memoirs and reading.

For those that dream of exotic Pacific travels, and even those who have already been to some of the 25 best sites, this guide book come highly recommended, and a worthy addion to your history library too, for prespective on the wartime sites today. After completing the book, any reader will be tempted to travel to one, or all 25 of these sites - as soon as possible!

I'm in the midst of planning my first backpacking trip in Washington State this fall. Of all the many trail guides that I've picked up over the past month, this is my favorite. Rick deeply cares about the country that he's describing, and isn't afraid to speak out on the issues that matter to me. Knowing how he feels makes it easier for me to judge his opinions about a given trail. I've seen other guides that don't get around to mentioning heavy ORV or horse traffic on the trails that they cover - that's not the case with Rick. His writing, as mentioned in another rating, remind me a lot of Manning's. It's excellent, as are the photos by Ira Spring.
Even if you don't plan to hike the Stevens Pass region, the book is still an excellent purchase because of the insightful comments regarding the Wild Sky movement. Keep 'em coming, Rick!

I love all the Spring hiking books - the 100 Classic hikes, the Alpines Lakes version, and so forth. This book, unlike the others, offers several lower altitude hikes that are accessible in April and May (depending on the winter's snowfall). I strongly recommend it if you're frustrated with looking for hikes for the "shoulder season." The book has the usual good commentary, though I prefer Harvey Manning to Rick McGuire, and good pictures.

My only complaint is the authors' recommendation in the forward that hikers not bring their dogs but instead strike out cross-country and off-trail if they wish to hike with a dog. The dog may not miss the views, but the people certainly will, and many hikers are not skilled / experienced enough to successfully and safely hike off-trail.

Most hiking guides are simply lists of trails with driving directions and trail descriptions. Anyone with a map can write one of those, and they're fine if you just want some exercise.
This book is interesting even if you're not looking for a trail. There is a lot of information about the natural (and political) history. The author clearly understands that you will have a richer experience if you hit the trail with some appreciation of what you'll see (and hopefully want to protect).
I liked the the invitation to try "off-trail" hiking. I really enjoyed the authors opinions on the Forest Service. I'm tired of guides that avoid controversy in the interest of sales. I was reminded of Harvey Manning.

With so many hiking guides out there that seem like recycled knockoffs of the old classics, it's good to see one written by someone who actually knows and cares about this area. Good to see that Mountaineers Books hiking guides still have a pro-environment point of view. The author clearly has opinions, and isn't afraid to state them. In the introduction section alone he manages to say more interesting things about the forests, fish and wildlife of the Cascades than you'll find in many entire books. And it's nice to finally have the whole of Hwy. 2 covered in just one book; hopefully they will manage to get it protected.

Well worth the money you'll pay for this book

Well worth the money you'll pay for this book

This publication has been my "Hikers Bible" for many years now. As some of you already know, there is not much information out there on this subject. Craig Martin has created a concise, easy to read list of places to the footpaths of New Mexico. Complete with maps and photos. A book I keep in my car!

This book, as the title states, lists 75 hikes that are in New Mexico. I found this book to be very useful in planning our family camping trips.

I particularly liked the fact that at the start of each hike was some information that can help me rule out or count in a hike with very little reading. For example, it will provide: distance, elevation, elevation gain, interesting points of the hike, maps that I might want to have, the difficulty, the best season to hike this trail. THe maps also are very useful.

My only comment would be that the pictures are black and white and many of them can be left out with very little loss since they don't add much to the text. (in otherwords, they are flowers, chipmunks etc.)

An excellent resource for someone who might be interested in hiking New Mexico.

As a former resident of the Bay Area, this book defently takes me back there. The pictures are just wonderful. Bob Cameron included almost every city in the Bay Area. I highly reccomend Above San Francisco to anyone who love great cities and great photography.

The aerial photography is beautiful, as is the Golden Gate Bridge. Cameron presents his book very beautifully. I enjoyed this book very much. I enjoyed beautiful sunset photographs, The Bay Area, the bridges, I enjoyed every beautiful photograph in this book. The First thing I liked was the Gate Bridge (Golden Gate Bridge) And the sunsets second, then the Bay Area and of course the Way Robert Cameron did his photography.

A new look at San Francisco. Mr Cameron always manages to find new ways of looking at familiar objects. With Herb Caen's writing, this is one of his best books.

This the first of at least 12 of Cameron's "Above" books.He has set the standard for any aerial photography/coffee table books. With each new edition he finds interesting, stunningly beautiful shots-each one worthy of the "Above San Francisco" calendars he also publishes. With so much beauty and so many tourist sights in everyones favorite city, "Above San Francisco" is the way to see this unique city and the entire Bay Area.