Columbia Reviews

I bought this book 3 years ago and totally love it.The plant info and the photographs are beautiful. A lot of the info comes from Natives and give the readers information on what the plants can be used for like remedies for toothaches etc. The photographs, over 1000 of them, are all done in colour and are absolutely beautiful. I would have paid 3 times the amount for this book. A must for the outdoorsman.

Awesome insight into the political landscape of British Columbia! Well worth a five star rating!

I enjoyed reading Jerry Gold's lively book of interviews. It is hard to understand how anybody could be so silly as to start a small press. What impressed me however was to see the range and depth and the money that can be made by publishing cook books, especially. You get a good cross-section of the intellectual and non-intellectual milieu of the northwest -- with all its paranoia, its utopianism, its peculiar optimism. I especially liked the interviews with Jean-Louis Brindamour, David Brewster, Dan Levant, and some of the older figures, whose interviews span decades, and give a sense of whole lives. Some of the younger people interviewed, especially if they grew up exclusively in the northwest, don't have as much to say. The book seems especially good from the viewpoint of understanding what makes publishers tick, psychologically. I liked the book and I'd personally rate it a ten, but I think the average book buyer might be a bit baffled by the reason for its existence. I see it as a very good oral history of a very interesting profession.

It's unlikely this book will be of much interest to anyone not living in the Tacoma area. Just the same, it is a colorful portrait of the city that used to be, the dreamers and scheamers who came so close to creating the west coast's hub city from scratch. The story of Tacoma's rapid rise to prominence, and its equally swift and steady decline is not only facinating, it delivers a valuable lesson on what still happens today when civic cheerleaders go blind with optimism.

This book is a must-read if you want to amuse and/or bore your fellow Tacomans with antecdotes on street names, unusual buildings, et cetera. Perfect fodder for Tacoma's burgeoning barstool-pundit culture.

Ralph Edwards of lonesome lake is a book about carving out a life for ones family in a remote wilderness. This book is such a contrast to our technical world with cell phones, internet, e mail "Big Box shopping" malls. Our lives are so full but really so empty. I felt an extreme feeling of sadness after having read this book. Ralph Edwards and his wife are now dead after having lived a hard but full life. We all struggle through life with different goals and yet we all have to face death. I felt the sadness of Ralph Edwards when he realised that he was too old to be independant and look after himself. This book has to make us all stop and concider what we are doing and what is the purpose of life. What could possibly be more important than these questions?

Jo Ann Roe has written a magnificent book, adding considerable information and insight on Ranald MacDonald. In addition to the biographical content, she added valuable scope by describing and explaining the context, for instance the Japanese forces at play at the time of MacDonald's arrival, the gold rush in Australia and British Columbia, etc. Thanks to her lively style, Ranald MacDonald becomes very present to the reader. It is a remarkable historical research.

Meg Strathmann (and her colleagues) put together a wonderful reference book that is a must-have item for anyone doing work on the reproductive biology or larval biology of marine invertebrate animals along the Pacific coast of the North America. This book is also a great source of reference material for invertebrate biologists anywhere in the world.

This book includes information about methods, and hints about culturing and maintaining marine invertebrate larvae. It also contains published or unpublished (but documented) observations on the reproduction and development of marine invertebrates of the northern Pacific coast.

The book is divided into chapters devoted to different invertebrate phyla, including methods for culturing their larvae, as well as information on the timing of spawning and development of as many Pacific NW species as have been studied.

The book, published in 1987, is now approaching its 15th year in publication. Even though some parts of it are slowing slipping out of date, this book remains the best reference book on this topic.

Absolutely top notch reference material, 5-stars!

Alan Holyoak Dept of Biology Manchester College, IN

Rick Hansen was pushing his wheel chair around the world when my son had a spinal accident that left him tetraplegic. Rick Hansen's story gave him goals, attitude and encouragement. He is now completing an MSc in marine ecology and is starting to live alone. This book - in our family - was one we were glad to find when we needed it

We planned our honeymoon out of this book, and boy am I glad that we did. The places in here are all splurges, but it's money well spent. Jacuzzis, balconies, and all sorts of romantic touches. This book never steered us wrong. Plus it's a delight just to look at the photos, and dream of trying more spots.

Here we have the, I think, ultimate guidebook to driving British Columbia. Condensing the rich possibilities into a single book is an overwhelming task, but is successfully accomplished here. Some of the drives listed are difficult to get to, especially the ones in Northern BC, but they are exhaustively documented and obviously well researched. I am planning to take many of the drives this year, at least the paved ones. I now have a good idea what to expect. The author takes great pains to mention other side roads that contain hidden wonders that await you, as well as the ones that might be not worthwhile. All in all, this is a very handy guide I have studied cover to cover, and have mined for information about this beautiful destination.