Florida Books

Nice variety of genres. Thought-provoking stories. A few stories not for children/young adults.

I am one the the group of 12 who cooperatively wrote and published this book of south Florida short stories. Living in what some call "paradise" produces a unique life experience which we want to share with those living more traditional lifestyles. You'll enjoy a tropical getaway with each story. Read them slowly, they'll last a long time in your memory.

Hopefully we will continue to hear from The Key West Co-op. These insightful writers capture the essence of what is wacky and wonderful about Key West.

I am one the the group of 12 who cooperatively wrote and published this book of south Florida short stories. Living in what some call "paradise" produces a unique life experience which we want to share with those living more traditional lifestyles. You'll enjoy a tropical getaway with each story. Read them slowly, they'll last a long time in your memory.

As a Florida native having spent some time on the rivers in the backwoods, I relived the sights, sounds, smells and excitment of discovering Florida's natural treasures with Addie and Tanner at Uncle Henry's bait shop on the Oonawasee! Melissa Forney captures with lucious details the same kinds of people and places I remember from my childhood visits to the river. Her story gives life to the REAL Florida which is rapidly disappearing. Teachers will love the story's vivid descriptions for classroom reading, along with the wonderful illustrated glossary of fabulous Florida facts!

As a Florida native having spent some time on the rivers in the backwoods, I re-lived the sights, sounds, smells and excitment of discovering Florida's natural treasures with Addie and Tanner at Uncle Henry's bait shop on the Oonawasee! Melissa Fourney captures with lucious details the same kinds of people and places I remember from my childhood visits to the river. Her story gives life to the REAL Florida which is rapidly disappearing. Teachers will love the story's vivid descriptions for classroom reading, along with the wonderful illustrated glossary of fabulous Florida facts!

In Oonawassee Summer, Addie and Tanner (two twelve-year-old cousins) are spending the summer with their grandma and great-uncle on the backs of the Oonawassee River in Southern Florida. That is where they engage in exploration, discovery, and find intrigue and adventure. Although the river is fictional, Melissa Forney's fun and engaging novel is enhanced with a wealth of factual information about jon boats, river otters, cypress trees, herons, alligators, cast nets, and other fascinating details of life in southern Florida. Highly recommended reading for boys and girls ages 8 to 12.

Oonawassee Summer is a fabulous book! My fourth grade students simply loved it! It is chalked full of knowledge about Florida and life on the river. My students' related with the book's two young characters,Addie and Tanner. They loved the sense of adventure and all the mystery and suspense. A definite must read for children ages 8-12. You will never feel the same about dangling your feet off a pier into murky river water again.

I received my book in good condition and in a timely manner. I appreciate the packaging and promptness.

This is an easy book to navigate, the text is informative, and the photographs are nicely done. I was a bit disappointed that some of the grandeur mansions where absent, but the largest, Mar-A-Lago was included, and that was appreciated. None of the homes are explored in great detail and though every home has an image, I would have liked to have seen more visuals, but as I have stated above the images are well done and the book does cover an impressive list of homes. I recommend this book as a good sampling of Palm Beach homes, but hardly definitive, maybe someone will be able to gain access at some point to some of the grandest private estates, and here's hoping they bring a camera with plenty of gig's.

This fine coffee table book is filed with wonderful photographs of a small selection of some of the finest mansions in the country. The ranges of houses from Adam and Regency, to simple clapboard, to Spanish/Moorish is excellent. The text is informative, accurate and well written. If interested in South Florida fine architecture, this book is a must.

My boss has this book to get ideas for designing custom homes for high-profile clients. I have read the book from cover to cover but every time I open it, it seems like I discover anew more pictures & details of these beautiful homes. These Palm Beach houses were built as if they were competing with one another for the title of 'most splendid work of art'. Most are not sprawling mansions or overly complicated expressions of the wealth of their owners. They are, however, fine examples of the architecture of Palm Beach summer homes of the 1920's priveleged upper class.

I love this book. Of course It would be nice if there were floorplans. And as usual one closes the book wishing he could see more photos of each of the houses. But there are many stunning photos. Kudos to the photographer. It is well worth the money and I will get it someday if I can no longer borrow it from my boss.

I must say I am biased on my opinion of this book, since the family is part of my heritage. My grandmother is the little girl named Ella who made a doll for the young boy, Hugie. I will reread this book time and time again and pass it onto my children.

Peggy Hansen

A truly inspiring book depicting life at the turn of the century in rural Jacksonville and the surrounding beaches.

Our barrier island of N.E. Florida, stretching from Mayport to St. Augustine, is changing day by day. With the rapid development of business and residential areas, our pristine land has but faded memories. Escape from your daily grind, head for the nearest beach chair and relive a wonderful true story.

It is filled with the struggles of a true native family, living on the edge of swampland, a short distance from where a now famous tiger prowls the TPC/Sawgrass golf course. As a reader, one feels blessed to have all the modern conveniences we now enjoy.

A truly inspiring book depicting life at the turn of the century in rural Jacksonville and the surrounding beaches.

The author did a great job helping my wife and I plan our first trip with our young children to WDW. The book made it easy to look things up in each park and evalute what might be appropriate for us to do. We took special notice of the hints he provided and tried to hit some of the many extra's that were listed. Included is an easy rating scale based on ages on each attraction.

Overall, our trip would not have been the same without this book!

I love all books about WDW, and this book is no exception. WDW in No Time does exactly what it claims - to give you the essential knowledge and understanding you need to know before you go to WDW. A simple, easy to follow format gives you the basics about rooms, the parks, attractions and beyond. It does not pretend to be anything it is not. If you're looking for in-depth descriptions of every little detail, this is not for you. However, my wife, who has accompanied me on dozens of trips since we met, picked it up and immediately said, "This is the book for me!" Plus, it has great callouts of tips and tricks, and some money-saving ideas as well. It is a fun, fast read, and one i highly recommend to first-time visitors, those who may be visiting for the first time with children, as well as those people who are looking to enhance their vacation, without having to go through a book that has so much information that it becomes overwhelming. Well done!

I loved this book! It had great information to help me plan our family trip to Disney World. I loved the Notes and Tips throughout the book. I also liked the To Do lists that were in each section. I have read other Disney vacation books and this one was fun to read, and made it easy to plan our trip. I especially liked the index cards provided. I was able to plan ahead and use them when we got to the park. I just marked which rides we wanted to go to and had a game plan when we got to the gate! It saved us from going to a ride that I knew my kids were to short to go on and them being disappointed when we had to walk away.
I would recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to Disney World.

Plan Your Walt Disney World Vacation In No Time by Doug Ingersoll is a book I wish we had had before we spent a week at Disney World and came away wishing we had done this or skipped that to make the most of our wonderful vacation. This book is well laid-out to walk you through three stages: Part 1 gives advice on how to plan getting there and where to stay. Giving basic vacation planning strategies such as how to budget realistically, where to search on the Internet, which exits to take from highways, how to rent a car, etc., this is NOT an advertisement for specific properties or businesses but names each with the price range and outlines amenities, transportation, etc. The same is listed for restaurants in the area. This section alone will save you lots of money and exhaustion and frustration once you arrive at your dream destination. In the second section you will find each area of Disny World mapped,and a basic description of each ride or performance. There are some MUST SEE notes and for each place there is a rating of 1 - 5 for each age group from pre-schoolers to seniors. At the back of the book are trip cards so you can make notes of which attractions to do and which to skip, placing these cards in your wallet for on-site use. There is a section to help you plan what to do after dark and the final section is devoted to other attractions in the area outside Disney World. Using this book before you go will assure you make the very most of your money, time, and energy on this trip of a family dream.

Clif Cormier's humble beginnings in Cajun country provide the launching of a young man who became a career Marine as well as a career newspaperman. He fought in WWII and Korea, led his men through dangers, and lived to write about his experiences with great clarity and vivid details. When he retired from the military, Cormier attended and graduated from the University of Florida and became a news reporter and later a city editor of a major newspaper. His story gives people insight into perseverance and adherance to values. He describes his travels in both the Pacific and later throughout the world. Cormier's writing makes this book a must for people who want to read about US Marine Corp life as well as life after the military. Excellent book that holds reader's interest! Semper Fi!

I read this book in one night--A very interesting look into the life of a military man during World War II, and also the typical life for a boy growing up in Louisiana during the Depression. It is well written, and has a very informative prologue. Highly enjoyable; at times sad, and at times very funny.
He has led a very interesting life; I have recommended this book to a number of people, and will continue to do so.

Captain Clif Cormier was my Battery Commander, at Hotel Battery 3rd. Battalion 10th Marines when I was a young 2nd Lt. in 1959. I found him to be an outstanding leader, firm but fair with those who served under him.

I was fortunate to recieve one of his books directly from Captain Cormier and am ordering 2 more for my children to read. It is a story of what it was like growing up in the depression and being a Marine through World War II, Korea, the peacetime Marines and what opportunities retirement can bring.

When Captain Cormier retired, his officers pooled their money (which we didn't have much of) and bought him a second hand typerwriter. We knew he would be as good a journalist as he was a Marine and we wanted to show our respect for him.

I recommend this book for all who have served in the Military,
those who love history, and those who just like a good story about a real life hero.

Captain Clif Cormier was my Battery Commander, at Hotel Battery 3rd. Battalion 10th Marines when I was a young 2nd Lt. in 1959. I found him to be an outstanding leader, firm but fair with those who served under him.

I was fortunate to recieve one of his books directly from Captain Cormier and am ordering 2 more for my children to read. It is a story of what it was like growing up in the depression and being a Marine through World War II, Korea, the peacetime Marines and what opportunities retirement can bring.

When Captain Cormier retired, his officers pooled their money (which we didn't have much of) and bought him a second hand typerwriter. We knew he would be as good a journalist as he was a Marine and we wanted to show our respect for him.

I recommend this book for all who have served in the Military,
those who love history, and those who just like a good story about a real life hero.

Hogan's voice is unique, poetic, fluid, and very rooted in nature. In both POWER and SOLAR STORMS, she explores the complexity of relationships with our own culture, the natural world, and the spirit world, creating rich and multi-dimensional stories. Both of these books have been beautiful experiences for me that leave me wanting to share them with everyone. All my friends will be receiving POWER for their birthday this year.
Kaya McLaren, author of CHURCH OF THE DOG, ON THE DIVINITY OF SECOND CHANCES, and HOW I CAME TO SPARKLE AGAIN

Of all Linda Hogan's three novels, this is her finest, with a mesmerizing lyrical voice, a young Native American narrator who is coming of age in a time when tribal and environmental law are in conflict. This story of Omishto, the One Who Watches, the endangered Florida panther, a hurricane which reveals family and tribal truths -- is elegantly told and a real page-turner. The courtroom drama at the center of the book, is more fascinating than that of Snow Falling on Cedars (David Guterson's recent bestseller). And I found the descriptions of place, people, and Native American vision and a rebirth of a culture of both panther and tribe to be deeply inspiring. This is one of my all-time favorite novels, and I bet it will be a classic.

Ms. Hogan has woven a tale that is a tapestry both complex and deceptively simple in focus. For many, this story could be told with other than Native symbology, from the point of view of living honestly and the struggles within the lives we inhabit, be it home, work, family, neighborhood, or, most importantly, self. She illustrates with reverance how deeply connected we are to all of creation and how, when we seek meaning in our lives in indifference to all of creation, how separate and fearful our beliefs can become. This is carefully illustrated by Ms. Hogan through the duplicitous nature of many of the characters (not unlike any of us) interacting with the young woman of this story. The fear Ms. Hogan exposes throughout the telling of this story is that which is held in many hearts when confronted with how we have moved from living with respect for life to the group-held belief and reality that being human is separate and above the rest of creation. This book tells of old ways which compel a young woman to herself, which is, in my view, both particular to this story and potentially to any reader that "sees" similar to that of the young Native woman whose story this book reveals. Ms. Hogan speaks of that which is authentic, sacred, and true. The book has much to say, but it also draws the landscape of the Florida swamps with its heat and searing presence indelibly in the readers mind. The book confirms the truth of life as an immutable force larger than any of our efforts to ignore it. I am grateful to have read her work.

In this story, there is a storm, a panther is killed, and there are two trials--one in a courthouse about the death of an animal protected by the Endangered Species Act and one among the Taiga elders, who abide by the old ways, on whether the killing was conducted in accordance with tribal law. We experience these events through the eyes, ears, body, and mind of 16 yr old Omishto as she accompanies her adult friend and "teacher," Ama, on a journey she knows is wrong but inevitable, experiences the chasm between the old and new ways of living for the Taiga people, and seeks to understand her own place in a chaotic and dying world. Linda Hogan's masterful writing led me to read this book with my heart, not my mind. This story is an exquisite masterpiece.

Great beach read. Can't wait until the next book. Quit the day job and get to writing Tom!

Mike Garrity has retired from the police force due to the recent removal of a brain tumor he refers to as "Bob." When A-Plus Investigators offers him a job as a private investigator, he is reluctant but decides he must move on with his life instead of obsessing over when or if the tumor will return. While attending a cancer support group, Mike becomes close to Debbie Watson, who is also a cancer victim. She reveals a secret to him and asks for his help with a personal matter. Mike agrees and his new career begins.

Death is a prominent theme in Prodigal Son. In addition to Mike and Debbie's health problems, Mike takes a case involving a teenager who died of a drug overdose. He has been retained by the child's father to disprove that it was a suicide, as the police have classified it. While investigating this case, Mike is constantly reminded of his own mortality and sees death all around him. The author does an incredible job of personifying death by showing it as a human predator lurking about and waiting for the opportunity to take action.

The book title is a reference to the Bible passage in which a son was lost and has since been found after realizing the errors of his ways. Cavanagh deftly gives the reader insight into Mike's past relationships with his two ex-wives and his teenage daughter and the lengths to which he would go to make up for the past. His thought processes are realistically portrayed and serve as a reminder that people should treat others well because someday it will be too late to atone for one's mistakes.

Prodigal Son is an action-filled novel with numerous plot twists that will keep the reader wondering what could possibly happen next. The manner in which the book ends offers an excellent opportunity for a sequel. I am eagerly awaiting more works from this talented author.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Ex-cop/ex-husband Mike Garrity is back on the job, this time without his sarcoma sidekick Bob (at least for the time being.)

Living tumor-free is the good news, but there's no shortage of bad news, including a support group with potentially fatal side effects, a killer hurricane, dubious development deals, and quality time in fast food parking lots.

Cavanagh continues to make the most of the street cred he established in Head Games. Locals will enjoy the passing references to Orlando peculiarities such as our civic asparagus and the political quagmire of Parramore.

When a trio of hurricanes slashed across the center of the state a few years ago, we gained an unofficial state motto: Hunker Down. By all means, hunker down with this fresh, fast and funny Florida mystery.

Former police officer Mike Garrity plans to recover from surgery to remove a brain tumor (see HEAD GAMES). However, he considers the advice of his friend Jimmy Hungerford of A-Plus Investigators to become a private investigator as the cases are simple yet will keep him occupied.

Before he can decide whether he feels ready, Mile attends the funeral of teenage suicide Victor Madrigas, a classmate of his daughter Jennifer; the late teen's grieving father Ben believes his son was murdered and after pleading with Mike that he will pay him to investigate, Mike agrees. Mike and fellow cancer survivor support group participant Debbie Watson are attracted to one another. They spend a night together. Her prognosis is very serious so in the morning she begs Mike to find her son she gave up years ago for adoption. Mike agrees. Finally his former wife Cam informs him she is carrying his child. Meanwhile after absorbing the shocker of being a father again, Mike finds Debbie's son, Jonathan Dennis, but his roommate Steven Schumacher keeps Mike from meeting him. When Mike breaks into their apartment, he is greeted by Jonathan's corpse and soon afterward jailed on suspicion of murder. Out on bail, Mike is shocked as Debbie is missing.

Mike has enough on his plate with the cancer, but in some ways he agrees with Jimmy to get back to work soonest so as to avoid a self pity party; all those who care about him will drown him enough with their misguided sympathy. Thus by taking on the two cases, he becomes a role model while the audience obtains a hectic incredibly fast-paced investigative tale as Mike not so gaily and readers quite happily wonder what's going on.

Harriet Klausner

This book was a Goddess send. It helped me so much dealing with negative people and influences. I recommend to anyone who has alot of these issues and cannot figure out why? This book has some really good material that was very helpful to me. Very helpful I cannot believe the changes it has made for me.

I am a pragmatic individual, not into magical or unseen things, but after I was attuned through Reiki 3, I found that there is a need for protection and grounding against negative energy and those that would drain or use you. An interesting read, I found the exercises and advice extremely helpful. Whether you believe in things unseen or not, it is essential to psychically protect your family and yourself from outside negative influences, energy and evil. This book is a positive tool for change and empowerment.

Ms. Stein's Essential Energy Balancing Process is fantastic. I was skeptical at first, but went into the process with an open mind and heart. The energy shift I experienced during the process and for a long time afterwards was like nothing I have ever felt. The incredible joy and release that accompanied the process is well worth the work to learn. All I can say is, don't knock it until you've really, TRULY tried it. And remember, even if you THINK you're open, if you aren't really, you won't experience a darn thing. That is not Ms. Stein's fault - that is your own. She gave you a divinely inspired tool. Use it. This book is not optional, but mandatory reading (as are all the Energy Balancing books) for personal/spiritual growth and enlightenment. It is probably impossible to describe the beauty of its affects - you really just have to experience it for yourself.

Blend a coverage of psychic protection plans with an overview of how to heal through psychic energy and you have Diane Stein's Reliance On The Light, a title which will appeal to both healers and lay readers. Chapters tell how to identify negative interference in lives and how to psychically protect oneself.

Mr. Simon has outdone himself with this exceptional piece of work - not only a great read full of lots or great pictures, but an excellent historical resource that you'll refer to again and again! Nowhere else have I found such a comprehensive history of our local area...

I found this book to be a fascinating and informative read

It was so nice reading a book that was about what is still home to me even after not living there for 15 years. Some of the people in there are people I knew when I was a child.It made me real homesick.Love to Aunt Mary she was friends with my Grandmother.

Only a person who has been there and done that could capture the rhythm and color of the growth of South Florida. Sandy Simon has put together not only the history of the area, but the feel, even the smell of the past 100 years. Marvelous! It deserves to be on everyone's bookshelf.