Pacific Books

The Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in the San Francisco Bay Area covers just about every aspect of living in and around San Francisco. I mean everything! Including "Moving and Storage," "Getting Settled," "Children and Education," "Sports and Recreation," "Transportation" and everything in between, this thick book answers almost any question about San Francisco.

The introduction to the book is just as cool: "San Francisco is the land of the 49er Gold Rush, the Great 1906 earthquake, and the missionary expeditions of the Spanish; it is the birthplace of Levi's jeans and home of the railroad tycoon Leland Stanford; it is host to one of the greatest feats of engineering, the Golden Gate Bridge, and as a cultural epicenter, it fueled the hippie flower-power revolution, gave rise to Rolling Stone magazine, and played host to beat generation poets." Geez, now I want to move to San Francisco!

This guide to "America's melting pot" provides information about the local lingo, so you will not feel too much like an out-of-towner. For example, "The Haight" is the famous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, "The City," always capitalized, "is the way natives and local newspapers refer to San Francisco" and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is "the under-and-above ground subway-style train network that connects the East Bay and peninsula with San Francisco."

This guide also provides detailed information concerning the many municipalities of San Francisco, including web sites, area codes, zip codes, post offices, police stations, emergency hospitals, libraries, public schools, community resources and public transportation. The "Cultural Life" section is also pretty cool, providing tons of information about film festivals, music, theater, ballet and dance, restaurants, nightclubs, comedy, art, museums and anything else you can think of. San Francisco is one cool town, and this book is undoubtedly the perfect guide to moving there!

My husband was recently transferred from Kansas City to San Fransisco, so when I saw this book for newcomers to the Golden Gate city, I just had to have it! It is such a great buy, as it contains all of the information that we want to know before we move there. It tells the history and atmosphere of the different neighborhoods there, along with many other pertinent facts. This well-researched and accurate book with maps is all one needs to feel at home in San Fransisco!

We found this handbook to be very accurate and very helpful in our move to the bay area. The writing style is clear and easily digestible.

We visited Canada in Sept. 2007 and travelled on The Canadian between Toronto and Jasper. Finally purchased this masterpiece (via Amazon) from Powells Books. As the previous reviewers have said, it is a fantastic volume of outstandingly high-grade photos. I paid just over $100 shipped to Blighty. It was worth every penny and more! Good heavens; you can even cover up the train elements with your hand and still delight in the scenery portrayed! Any fan of railways and stunning scenery should have this book.
My copy will never be sold but passed down the family line.

If you are a railfan and enjoy seeing photos of and reading about railroads, this would be a good choice. If you are a railfan and are looking for a big, coffee table book, this would be THE choice.

The book looks only at the Canadian Pacific Railroad but that railroad stretched from sea to sea across most terrain types and through gorgeous scenery. Nicholas Morant photographed the railroad and J.F. Garden has put together this book of that effort. It is beautiful.

If you are a fan of the Canadian Pacific, you must own this book! Nicholas Morant set the standard for rail photography. Here is an incredible collection of photos covering half a century on the world's most scenic railroad. Tremendous history. Worth every penny!

I've lived in Oregon my entire life and still discovered some great insights in Mr. Eiden's humorous (and educational) review of the Northwest. I particularly enjoyed "how to order a latte." A great gift, too.

I have been around one half of the world four different times and I wish that I read this book before my travels. It goes beyond essential, consider it a manual. Gregg should go international.

Well aside from the fact that Greg makes fun of my favorite Northwest clothing outfitter, Filson, its great! I'm a newcomer but can pass for a native as I've been here long enough to grow moss on my toes and I still found some interesting facts and tidbits that I either once knew and have forgotten or maybe never knew. Anyone from California thinking about moving North should read this. We get cloudy and rainy weather, this is a temperate rainforest after all so don't move here and then complain about the weather. Get some goretex and some wool and some waxed cotten coats and get outside and do something! (like split a cord of wood! Go Fishing! Go for a hike!, Go skiing.) Contary to popular myths, skin does not disolve when wet. It is possible to be warm and comfortable when out in in the rain. The sun will come out for good by Mid July and stays out until Late September and early October. Until then work hard and save your vacation days.

The Northwest Essentials Cookbook is a superbly produced regional cookbook that offers a culinary wealth of more than 150 recipes representing a delicious spectrum of flavors and tastes. From Warm Duck and Apple Salad, Poached Salmon with Tarragon, and Chocolate Almond Apricot Cake, to Oysters Mignonette, Savory Stuffed Mushroom Caps, and Simple Rockfish Stew, The Northwest Essentials Cookbook is a welcome addition to any kitchen cookbook shelf.

I live on the northern california coast and we share many of the same wonderful foods that create the northwest flavor. This is a great cookbook, the recipes are simple and tasty. The book is broken down into chapters like salmon, prawns and crab, wild mushrooms, herbs, lentils split peas & chickapeas, and apples & pears. These are a few, but certainly not all. This is a book full of recipes at their best when you use the freshest of ingredients. I recommend!

- - - -In my heart, my palate, my stomach, memories of home and thoughts of wanting to visit the Seattle area! I really feel good about the support Greg Atkinson gives his recipes in the way of stories, personal experiences and appreciation of the people, places and tastes in his life. This book is a great experience before, during and after meals, for singles and families alike! I'm giving it to my friends!

I was so pleased with the transaction and the book. It was a great transaction with fast shipping and super packaging. Thank you so much.

As an information junkie, I'm always turning to the Internet for fast and up-to-date information for my garden design business. This book has replaced my computer for first-glance information. Debra provides significant editorial value in this reference, which I find dog-eared and well-used in a few short weeks. A must-have for any gardener in the Northwest, and a brilliant gift for a gardener new to the area.

It's a Northwest garden enthusiast's dream come true! Stephanie Feeney has outdone herself and compiled information in this edition I will refer to again and again. The list of nurserys to visit is complete with directions, business hours, the types of plants they sell and what they specialize in, e-mail addresses, and any other helpful information that may be of interest. I especially appreciate the geographic locator in the very back that breaks down locations by region that makes planning a garden outing a breeze. I even found a few nurseries in my small town that I didn't know existed. Other chapters include organizations that help gardeners, clubs, foundations, societies and volunteer opportunities, education, gardening with children and young people, internet gardening, publications, professional services, gardens to visit, shows and exhibits, and the list goes on. And it's all written in a friendly personal manner.

I would probably rate this 4.5 stars if I could, but I like it enough to round up. This is an excellent way to learn about the city. The book is divided into chapters that cover neighborhoods. It doesn't focus on the hottest new restaurants/clubs, instead it gives you the feel so that you have a basis for exploration. As the title indicates, this isn't the right book for a weekend tourist but it is great for new Seattle inhabitants.

Amazing breakdowns of the neighborhoods - color maps, lists and locations of businesses and more. Nice glossy pages and more info than a short-term visitor could ever use - we bought it as a relocation guide and it has paid of in dividends for us! It helped us decide on which neighborhood to live in, helped us find businesses and services, and showed us fun places to eat and hang out. Use it for visiting but remember that it is also a fantastic book full of info to help you move to Seattle!

I gave the book, 'Not for Tourists' as a gift and it was received with much interest and delight. The book is very informative, covering various districts in and around Seattle. The information is very detailed and acurate, with good readable maps, great information about the many areas that it covers and a fun book to browse through. I've lived in Seattle for many years and it was great fun reading through this delightful book. I will be purchasing 'Not for Tourists' for my self.

Fresh out of Yale, McClintock went to Montana in 1891 as an employee of the forest service. He ended up living with the Blackfoot tribe and learning their way of life. One elderly chief, Mad Dog, adopted him and taught him tribal culture and rituals so that someone would write them down. This book is the result.

The bison were gone and the Blackfoot economy lay in tatters. Still, McClintock's band was following his traditional seasonal movements, keeping the Sun Dance, and trying to live as they always had - - even as everyone realized that their way of life could not survive in the face of the white man.

McClintock serves as a very sympathetic scribe for the tribe. He was clearly a good listener. One Blood chief in Alberta told him that he had vowed never to speak with white men again, and yet he ended up adopting McClintock as a son. Because the tribe trusted him, he was admitted into a tribal society, invited to participate in rituals, and so forth.

Through most of the 500 pages in this book, McClintock takes a very fair-minded approach to both the Blackfoot and to white society. He often notes how tribal norms, such as sharing, are superior to the behavior of more "civilized" peoples. He takes both Christianity and tribal religions seriously.

Oddly, all this falls apart in the last chapter, where he endorses destructive policies that take away tribal land, convert the Indians to Christianity, and force assimilation on white terms. This chapter contradicts the tone of the rest of the book so deeply that I can't imagine what he was thinking when he wrote it.

Aside from that last chapter, this is a fascinating record of the tribe's traditions at the last possible moment that the tribe was still living its traditional life.

Walter McClintock was a young man who came to the Blackfeet Country at about the turn of the century. He was a trained scientist who could use a camera and he kept careful notes. This is not a romance novel nor anthropological interpretation. McClintock was simply there and made friends well enough to be accepted. He recorded stories, rituals (also took photos), and daily incidents as well as much natural history. He was really there and he is an honest and graceful reporter.

How could it be possible to adequately describe such a powerful -indeed, magical- account of a young man's time with the Blackfeet in the early twentieth century, a time when much of the Old Ways still lived among the Blackfeet people. I have owned or or another edition of The Old North Trail since 1970, and have ever since then been entranced by McClintock's unselfconscious limpid prose style, his descriptions of a summer snowstorm, or a grand encampment of the Blackfeet, the way Indian people in northern Montana prepared and stored food for the coming of winter, or the simple, deep, and everlastingly real relationship with a culture which was even at that late date still indescribably precious and beautiful. Both a superb travelog and a microscopically observed anthropological account of life with the Blackfeet, this book is an extended love letter to the Indian people with whom Walter McC lived. As I write this review I'm transported back to my early twenties, a California surfer just out of college, immersed in a hot deep bath, reading The Old North Trail at sunup in Inverness, Scotland, and forgetting where I was, so completely did this book cast its spell. This is one of the very, very few books with which I am still in love.

He leído este bellísimo libro en español "Mas Grandes que el Amor". El contenido de este libro esá mas allá de las palabras. Es increible la terminología extraordinaria usada por el autor al explicar el descubrimiento del virus del SIDA "AIDS" y otras plagas que han atacado a la humanidad. Es tan Celestial como Madre Teresa creó una clinica de amor para los moribundos víctimas de estas plagas, con personas sin muchos conocimientos médicos, y aún asi, pudieron curar el alma de estos moribundos antes de morir. Un libro de similar contenido: Médico de Cuerpos y Almas" "Dear and Glorious Physician"

My father gave me a copy oth this book about six year ago. I was captivated by the way individuals around the world had a positive impact on each other. i am thinking of the young priest who was gravely injured, but found that he could connect to others through praying for them. The work of Mother Theresas sisters, the scientists studying AIDS, it was truly a human mosaic. The intertwining of people who may never have met! Truly, "No man is an island."

I must have read this book 4-5 years ago. And it left such an impression that after all these years...I realise that I have to reread the book and write this review. For everyone who have read ths review, my advice is to read the book, I will not give away the suspense. But the interactions of the characters, the emotions protrayed and the reality of it all will definitely strike a chord in everybody's hearts. For once, I am so disappointed that the book is out of print, because, it should be shared by all readers young and old. It not only opens your mind, it makes you see things in a perspective you never knew existed.

This book is wonderful. There are places pointed out in this book that are not pointed out anywhere else. If you are going or live in DC please buy this book and use it as you walk around.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!! i love learning about the little trivia type things. And this one is full of them. Now I just want the same thing for other cities.

What a great book! It is refreshing to read a historical guide that doesn't take itself too seriously. On This Spot brings the sights and history to life for us transplated Washingtonians. While the book can be used as a walking tour guide, it can just as easily take you on a tour through history from your living room. Makes me feel like I am in Washington again!

A fabulous retelling of pioneer history without the unnecessary dramatization. Story created from actual journals written by the pioneers. Shows what real pioneer women were made of. Can't recommend it enough.

The first two-thirds of this book tells of the overland journey of a young woman, Nancy Kelsey, and a group of pioneers who leave Missouri heading for California. Their journey is exciting and full of danger and hardship. It is the story of a specific group of people, and their story is unique in many ways. But, in other ways, it is a familiar story that we have come to know from books and movies over the years. What I found most interesting about this book, is the final one-third of the story. After arriving in California, rather than finding themselves in a land of paradise, Nancy and her family instead find themselves caught up in an extremely turbulent time in California history. Anyone familiar with California history will recognize the names of the extraordinary men this "ordinary woman" comes across: Vallejo, Barryessa, Sutter, Fremont and Bidwell, to name a few. Many of these men come across as a little less stellar than what is written about them in the school books. And the violent actions of Nancy's husband, his brother and several of the other settlers were disturbing to read about. A very interesting, very informative, and very well-written story.

In 1841 Ben Kelsey, his teenage wife Nancy, and their infant leave Missouri for California. Instead of heading southwest down the Santa Fe trail, the Kelsey trio takes the shortest route, a straight line through the Plains, the Rockies, the Great Western Desert, and the Sierra Nevada range. This path happens to be the most dangerous between the threat of Indians and hostile climate.

However, Nancy's arrival frightens the Spanish Dons who control much of California. They realize a woman with a baby crossed the desert and mountainous barrier that previosuly isolated them from the Americans and their Manifest Destiny propaganda. Over the next few years more Americans arrive until a rebellion breaks out with the Anglo newcomers rallying around the Bear Flag (made from Nancy's petticoats). California is about to start a new destiny led by intrepid settlers like Nancy.

AN ORDINARY WOMAN is an extraordinary historical fictionalized biography that is must reading by fans of the sub-genre. Internationally renowned for her historical novels, Cecilia Holland scribes what will be acknowledged as one of her best works in what is clearly an incredible career. Using real accounts including the heroine's own letters, Ms. Holland paints a picture of an era in flux. Though the obvious worship of the real Nancy by the author becomes a bit overbearing, all the characters seem genuine as their motives and lifestyles bring depth to the tale. This fabulous recounting of a period in American History will provide much acclaim to Ms. Holland.

Harriet Klausner