Tree Adventures at Tahoe

Customer Reviews:

great guide.......2002-10-07

I just got back from a summer in Florence learning Italian. This guide was great! Useful hints and practical information for those like me staying for longer trips, and perfect for shorter holidays (my family came for visits and this guide was all we ever needed to see the museums and famous sights). It also helped in choosing where to eat and drink and we loved the short itineraries. My only complaints are that the maps weren't detailed enough and the Tuscany section was a bit sparse, though it helped us in the right direction. All things considered, though, buying an extra map is a small price to pay for all the inside info you get from Time Out. Def the best guide to Florence.

A visitor's best friend.......2002-10-06

For a guide covering so many subjects about Florence, including ones you wouldn't find in other, more classic guidebooks, like for example Film, Theatre and Dance and Contemporary Art Galleries, I found this book extraordinarily detailed and comprehensive. The book covers Florence and Tuscany, but the Florence art and sightseeing sections most definitely gave all the places, works of art and monuments I could have wanted to see, as well as recounting amusing and offbeat stories about them together with the straight cultural background. Info about artists was fascinating and easy to read, and there was a wealth of useful and practical tips I'd never have found in other guides. The shopping section gave some amazing places that led to a true shopping spree, and the bars and nightlife chapters helped me pick out the places I'd like and didn't let me down once. The layout is stunning, and the times and address info for the shops and restaurants did the trick, despite the Italians' habit of making up opening hours as they go along. Apart from being useful and accurate, this book was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I'd recommend it to anyone but the driest, most humourless of readers.

The best all-around guide.......2002-04-11

When I moved to Florence from New York a year ago, TimeOut Florence became my bible, my first and best resource for the city. When you get to Italy, and Florence in particular, you find out that information (such as opening times and prices) tends to change often, but this guide has all the pertinent contact info - always call before you go, it goes without saying. (And buy a map when you get there - none of the guides has a good one, perhaps because Florence is a rat warren of tiny streets.) Without my TimeOut it would have taken me this long just to find out about many of the shops, restaurants, and services it lists. I highly recommend it.

This book looks fantastic until you actually get there..........2002-04-05

I took a chance on this book, mainly because there are only two true english bookstores(small though) in Munich where I reside, and I was going to Florence on a whim. I'm a Lonely Planet veteran, but with my time constraint, I wouldn't have been able to receive the most recent edition in time. Anyways...this book looked great from the beginning; almost enough to make me a convert. The book is well organized, had pictures of the important art(or so I thought), and went off on interesting appropriate tangents. However the true value of the book reared its head once I arrived in Florence. Reared its head meaning, I actually had to buy another travel guide when I was in Florence. The map was pretty useless(as many of you know, there are a lot of backstreets in Florence!) For ex. Timeout touts Vivoli as the premier Ice Cream place in Florence, yet doesn't provide the street to Vivoli on their map. Also their hours for many places are off(ex. Cibreo - the hours for Cibreo trattoria are wrong, it opens at 7pm...if you get there at 7.30, you will not eat until 9pm, I got lucky and a friend told me the true hours before I left, but when I did leave the trattoria, the queue was like something out of the Uffizi...arrive @ the trattoria @ 6.45 or you'll be sorry!), but my main complaint is the art. It appeared before I left that Timeout went into great detail with their coverage of the museums and can't miss artworks, but I was very disappointed. Most notable example was the Dome of the Duomo; the fresco is absolutely astounding; how someone/people managed to paint such a lovely fresco on such a huge awkward space is astounding. And there are so many images it is daunting. But Timeout merely says for the fresco that it is a painting of the Last Judgement. Wow to say the least. To sum up...if you don't wish to walk down backstreets, have no intention of trying Vivoli, and don't mind making reservations @ the main Cibreo restaurant(which costs twice as much), and are a less than casual fan of art, then this book is for you. I have nothing against Timeout(I may try them again for a smaller city, I realize covering the whole of Florence must be very difficult), but for this book specifically, this is my honest opinion. Hope this helps.

Add on: I recently finished Christopher Hibbert's Rise and Fall in the House of Medici, and I highly recommend reading it before you go Florence as well; it will help put everything into a historical chronological perspective. I also forgot to mention that I brought along a good novel which was a life saver in some of those extremely long queues to the sites. The novel was truly invaluable. Thirdly...I want to clarify my rating; I rated this novel on its ability to stand on its own without consultation of another resource, and didn't feel that it adequately did so in comparison to the other guide books I have used. Cheers.

Customer Reviews:

A Must-Read for the U.S. History Student!.......2006-03-09

What a wonderful book! Teddy Roosevelt was brilliantly ressurected for us by George Grant in this comprehensive, yet easy-to-read work (because of the chapter lengths). Section 1 is a biography of his life; Section 2 contains short chapters on his character, and many sides to his life; Section 3 deals with his legacy.

This book gives the reader a good look a life in the U.S. during the last half of the 19th century, as well as one of the period's most beloved of heroes.

Biased -- Better Stuff Available.......2005-06-08

I just wanted a simple biography on Theodore Roosevelt, but this was pretty openly and obviously a book with an agenda. True, the basics about Theodore Roosevelt are here, but the emphasis is on spiritual faith and values. Since I read this book, I read Roosevlet's autobiography and came to realize that he is much more complex than this book suggests.

Carry A Big Stick.......2003-08-29

This is an incredible book, that truly gives you the insight of one of the greatest men that ever lived. Filled with many incredible principles to live by, you WILL enjoy this book and the excitement it brings to your life!

Errors galore in this Conservative Christian propaganda!.......2003-04-22

I've read 40+ plus books by or about TR and this is the worst, one-sided view of this complex, multi-facted man. This is as bad as the radical-left "Howard Zinn-ism" revisionist history of TR's foreign policies.

There are too many "blatant" errors to list in this mini-review, but just for starters:

1). TR did not, as the author claims, visit his mother's Georgia plantation "10 or more times". It is well documented that TR only visited Bulloch Hall twice -once as president and once post-White House. He did not have a very high opinion of most Southerners, despite the author's claims to the contrary. His wife abhorred most Southerners.

2). TR did not force his children, particulary Alice, to attend church every Sunday. Edith was the religious task master of the family and in her quiet manner usually rounded up all kids, except for Alice. Alice was a well-known, open atheist from her teen years until she died. TR and Edith had accepted the teenager's refusal to be confirmed in the Episcopal church or any other church. Their son Archie also grew up to be an agnostic.

3). TR most certainly did NOT shower Edith with flowers and jewels. He never even remembered her birthday (though he never forgot the date of their engagement and wedding anniversay). Edith hated receiving extravagent gifts from anyone, especially her husband. They did have a very happy marriage and home life but he also known for taking off on 3-month hunting trips soon after Edith would deliver another baby.

4). TR most certainly did like to attend parties and was a professional social butterfly because he knew he would probably end up as the main attraction - just what his ego needed. The author paints TR as a man who shunned social gatherings to be with his family 24/7. Definitely not true. He LOVED being around people of all and any type, though his wife certainly like to stoke the home fires more than making the social rounds.

5). TR never made any speeches about abortion. Abortion was not on the radar screen in his time. The author uses quotes that TR said about women not wanting to get married and raise families to make it seem as though TR were speaking direcly on the subject of abortion.

6). TR believed in and preached on the separation of Church and State. He wanted to remove "In God We Trust" from the US coinnage and even pushed one of the leading artists of that time, Grant LaFarge, to create a new design. The "religious right" of his time went ballistic over this decision and he later backed down. He made many speeches proclaiming that the Church stay out of the affairs of the State. Indeed, he was a strong, "old school" Christian who did preach to the citizens the value of religion, a happy home life, and following the morals one teaches to his/her children. However, he also thought a country would head down the dangerous path if a certain religion or belief were forced upon its citizens.

I would not recommend this book on TR to ANYONE.

My, wasn't that just bully!.......2003-04-20

George Grant has written a delightful book about a delightful man.

Average customer rating:
A Very Hungry Girl : How I Filled up on Life . . . and How You Can, Too!
Jessica Weiner
Manufacturer: Hay House, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O1Z7JE

Amazon.com

For anyone who's ever despaired of making a bowline knot from instructions saying "dive into the bunny hole," or illustrations showing a plain line in figure 1, a completed knot in figure 4, and a bafflement of loops in between, here is a solution. Originally written in Italian but translated into English by Maria Piotrowska, the Morrow Guide discloses the secrets of knots for sailing, fishing, camping, and climbing, with clear instructions and 647 color photographs that take the mystery out of the swivel hitch, the grapevine knot, the knotted sheepshank, the Spanish bowline, the stopper knot, and 68 more.

Book Description

Here is an entirely different kind of knot book! For the first time, here are step-by-step instructions that take full advantage of color photography to teach the art of tying knots. Unlike illustrations in other books, these pictures show every step looking over the shoulder of the tier -- the way you see the knot as you make it. And when two or more ropes are involved, they are color coded so you can clearly tell them apart.

Included in addition are a section on decorative knots, a cross-reference list of the many applications of knots, and a detailed glossary. The Morrow Guide to Knots is a reliable and essential reference tool for all sportsmen and campers, homeowners, and youngsters as well.

Customer Reviews:

The Knot Master.......2007-04-12

Step-by-step instructions on how to tie various types of knots are paired with great photos showing the details of the knots.

Excellent reference.......2007-03-18

This is an excellent reference book for anyone needing instruction in knots. The photographs are very clear and the book is well-organized.

Great book, lots of pictures.......2007-02-22

This is a great book for those learning knots or looking for instructions on how to make many different knots. Each knot has several pictures with text to help you learn the knot. It is a very handy book for the Scoutmaster.

My only wish was that the book would have been spiral bound so that it would lay flat. So I took the book and had a spiral binding put on it!

Very helpful and easy to read........2005-08-31

This book has excellent illustrations to help learn knots. There is a brief text instruction for every knot in the book. I think the text instructions are somewhat lacking, but the fine illustrations more than make up for it. The text also gives some information on what each knot would typically be used for, which is very helpful. The book goes into great detail on fishing knots (ie tying a very large hook to a rope) which I find annoying, but could be very helpful for a deep sea fisherman.

An excellent manual for new boaters.......2005-08-09

I gave this book to a friend who just bought his first boat and he refers to it all the time - uses it for practice too. The pictures and illustrations are very clear - which is the most important part. You never have to ask "how did that piece go there?". The key is to practice a handful of knots so you can do them in the dark, or in a storm, when you really need them.

Book Description

Take advantage of the growing interest in herbal cooking with this book from a beautifully presented unique series.

Average customer rating:

To Guarendi, discipline = punishment only

Full of common sense

How to create harmony in your family

Great Stuff!

Love it.

You're a Better Parent Than You Think!: A Guide to Common-Sense Parenting
Raymond N. Guarendi
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids

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Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler

ASIN: 0671765957

Customer Reviews:

To Guarendi, discipline = punishment only.......2007-09-06

This book was given to me, so I read through it and quickly realized it was not for my husband and I. Our personal philosophy is that discipline means "instruction" or "training," which doesn't necessarily have to be synonymous with "punishment." Only once in Guarendi's book did I see the word discipline used to mean "self-control;" the other times, the word was used as a synonym for punishment -- why not just say "punish" instead?

I was especially disturbed by his "rules for a fair fight" with regard to sibling squabbles. Basically, punish your kids for telling you about a problem (that's "tattling"), punish all kids involved in a squabble equally...unless they can keep their discord out of your hearing range, in which case you will ignore it. My parents used the same "technique" and my sister and I learned to fight, threaten and manipulate to "resolve" conflict. We also learned that starting a fight was a great way to "punish" each other (as long as we didn't mind getting some ourselves) since mom/dad would swoop in and mete out punishment to all. How are children supposed to learn how to reach resolution and compromise if their parents do not teach them?

For parents who take a primarily punitive approach to discipline, this book will give you confidence in your methods. For those who think teaching discipline means teaching (and modeling) self-control and who want to guide their children to respect others and resolve conflict by practicing making good choices, I'd recommend checking out Dr. Becky Bailey's Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline: The 7 Basic Skills for Turning Conflict into Cooperation.

Full of common sense.......2007-07-07

I became familiar with Dr. Guarendi through several mothering and homeschooling books....he's great. The aspect that struck me as most interesting is how many of the "experts" give us advice that actually produces the problems we wish to avoid! And he doesn't just say this....you get real-life experiences that just about anyone can relate to. I was nodding my head all the way through, realizing I had seen such things time and again in the past. As with his book "Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime", Dr. Guarendi shows that the only thing you really need in parenting is plain old common sense.

How to create harmony in your family.......2006-03-15

I purchased this book after watching Dr. Guarendi give an interview on EWTN. I realized that even though I am a fairly consistent parent, I could work at it a little more. Once I read the book, I was shocked and chagrined to discover I was less consistent than I thought, and the main reason we had so much discord with one of our children stemmed from my refusing to completely take authority. This author believes in parental authority exercised in love, and I have to tell you that his ideas worked for us. My "problem" child is still spirited, but she also listens to me now, and close family agree that she's more pleasant to be around and even happier. As the author predicted, at first we had to discipline constantly (and this wasn't spanking for those who are worried about that), but now that she knows we mean business, we discipline less often than before we read this book, and with better results. For us, this book has been a lifesaver, and compared to many of the cases from his practice that Dr. Guarendi shares, our problems were really mild! If you want to be a *more* loving parent who can discipline effectively and consistently and calmly, get this book, read it, and then implement the ideas.

Great Stuff!.......2005-01-05

I first learned about Dr. Ray from a friend who read this book. Since then, I have purchased every one of Dr. Ray's books and even downloaded his wonderful 13-part audio series from the EWTN web site (...)This book has helped me more in my parenting than any other that I have read, and I have read several. Dr. Ray gives you a no-nonsense approach based on his premise that the one thing parents of today need the most is confidence (at least the parents who are willing to read a book about parenting, that is). What makes this book stand out is that not only will it help you in rearing your child, it will also give you a new perspective when reading other parenting books.

Love it........2004-01-09

I love Dr Ray's common sense and sense of humor! Read it!

You're A Better Parent Than You Think! A Guide To Common Sense Parenting Set {Video, Four Audio Tapes & Book}

Average customer rating:

You're A Better Parent Than You Think! A Guide To Common Sense Parenting Set {Video, Four Audio Tapes & Book}

Manufacturer: Catholic Answers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000GBKEA4

Product Description

* * * SET CONTAINS: (1) VHS VIDEO TAPE, (4) AUDIO CASSETTE TAPES & BOOK * * *

Average customer rating:

A Superb Work of Art History & Biography

Whistler: Egotist and Great Artist!

THE ARTIST BEHIND THE MYTH

James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth
Ronald Anderson , and Anne Koval
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Whistler, James McNeill | ( V-Z ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0786710322

Book Description

The myth perpetuated throughout Whistler’s life—of a witty, irascible dandy endlessly feuding with the establishment or anyone else who stood in his way—is brought up to date with the treatment of his artistic achievement and extraordinary career in this major biography. From a youth in Tsarist Russia, military training at West Point and a bohemian lifestyle in 1850s Paris, Whistler went on to embody the image of the cosmopolitan artist. His friendships with Courbet, Fantin Latour, Rossetti, Manet, Monet, Degas, Baudelaire, Wilde, and Mallarme mark him as a crucial player in the larger art movements of the nineteenth century and as a pivotal figure between the British and French art scenes. By examining Whistler’s life and work together, Anderson and Koval show this most controversial and accomplished artist to be one of the most remarkable men of his age.This acclaimed biography of the greatest American artist of the nineteenth century includes 24 pages of black-and-white photographs as well as eight pages of full-color illustrations. “Eminently readable ... will surely be considered the standard biography....”—Washington Post Book World (front page) “Likely to be the Whistler biography for some time to come ... a generally absorbing, readable, and informative book.”—ArtNews “Valuable ... does much to separate fact from fantasy.”—New York Review of Books “Extensive and fascinating”—Atlantic Monthly

Customer Reviews:

A Superb Work of Art History & Biography.......2007-01-30

As an art collector of primarily 19th Century European Art, reading as much as possible on the subject is an indespensible part of the process of building - as well as enjoying - a worthwhile collection. Not the least of the joy of this journey is becoming acquainted with the many fascinating characters who played their parts in such a vastly complex cultural drama as unfolded in 19th Century Europe.

To write an historical biography book as vastly complex as this, any author is challenged with fairly and accurately depicting the artist, his many dealers, critics and patrons, as well as friends & family. Then, placing this cast within the flow of the larger social, political, and economic trends of the period. A lot of balls to keep in the air without confusing the reader.

Like any other group, we can visualize the quality of the results of such authors as falling into something akin to a bell curve. A "normal distribution", if you will. And as one would expect, only very few place at the far right portion of the curve. This book is one of those rare gems.

Even when compared to the well written biographies of J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, Mary Cassatt, and Renoir this volume stands out.

The depth and quality of the research is unsurpassed, in my opinion.
As is the authors brilliant handling of the daunting task of selecting and organizing all that material into a flowing narrative that informs, holds the attention and entertains.

James NcHeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth rings all those bells clearly and harmoniously. In fact, of the many art historical works I've read the only one which stands on equal ground is John Rewald's outstanding work: The History of Impressionism.

If you're looking for a sometimes exciting, humorous, and honestly told story of a visionary artistic genius who, despite his character flaws, produced some of the finest art of the 19th Century? This book is a must read.

Whistler: Egotist and Great Artist!.......2005-06-10

James McNeill Whistler is perhaps best known for his "Arrangement in Grey and Black", also known as "Whistler's Mother." Except for art historians and perhaps some interested art collectors, his "Nocturne in Black and Gold" (which I like) is little known to the public. The furor that the later painting caused (including Whistler's suit against Ruskin over the latter's criticism of the work), seems odd to us now, but it nearly ruined Whistler, who won the suit but went bankrupt in the process. My own impression is that Ruskin was the biggest egotist in this contest, but both were pretty obnoxious. Whistler was famous during his lifetime for being arrogant and egotistical. However, at least he had something to be arrogant about- he was a genuinely great artist; an artist who influenced later artists such as Picasso, Rothko and probably Matisse.

Ronald Anderson and Anne Koval have, in a meticulously researched book, given us a full account of Whistler and his times in "James McNeil Whistler: Beyond the Myth". Whistler's triumphs and failures, as well as his sometimes tragic personal life are all here. His wife's death from cancer was particularly touching and his devotion to her spoke well of him, despite his other faults.

This is also a very interesting period in the history of art as Whistler went one way and Gauguin and Van Gough another in diverging from the impressionist's methods. Whatever can be said about Whistler, it must be noted that he had an impact on art and this is about as much as can be said for any artist. That he had major flaws is not contestable, but his great contribution to the development of modern art is (I think - as a somewhat informed layman) also not contestable.

This is a good book for those interested in the development of modern art from Impressionism. There are several other recent books on Whistler, which I have not read so I cannot compare them, however I recommend this book highly based on its own merits.

THE ARTIST BEHIND THE MYTH.......2004-04-17

This life rendering of many faceted artist James McNeill Whistler is fine reading and a treasured contribution to the annals of art history.

Taking the best of Impressionism and Realism, Whistler's uniquely individual treatments of color are unforgettable. We think of "Nocturne In Blue and Gold," his muted yet powerful study of London's Old Battersea Bridge.

Born in Massachusetts in 1834, Whistler spent part of his youth in Russia. For a time he lived in Paris, where he was an adherent of Courbet's. Later, he settled in London, becoming a friend of Oscar Wilde's and a visible "dandy" of the art circuit.

Whistler's intriguing personal self seemed to belie the public persona he assiduously created. English art historians Anderson and Koval have, indeed, revealed the man behind the myth.

- Gail Cooke

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