Pacific

My vacation to San Francisco lasted three weeks. I bought Golden Gate Trailblazer when I arrived and walked many miles with it as my guide. Treasured memories are Limantour and McClures beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore which I never would have found on my own. There's so much more to the Bay Area than Fisherman's Wharf and the cable cars and traffic. This book excels when it comes to organization with maps in every section and a very detailed index. I highly recommend it to hikers and walkers who have never visited this part of California's coast. Like me, you'll probably be surprised at all the places these local authors have packed inside.

This book opens up a Pandora's box of things to do and see in the Bay Area. I brought along several other books and this was the best of the bunch. It filled every day of my three week stay in San Francisco. I wasn't counting on crossing the bay to explore Marin County, but it directed me to do so on days that the fog rolled in. It seems the sun was always shining over there. The maps were extremely accurate and the restaurants very unique and well chosen. The fact that the authors are locals guaranteed lots of nontouristy ideas. They introduced me to places I had never heard of. The Presidio and walks around the Golden Gate Bridge were especially good.

For first-timers like me, especially those that tend to travel no-frills, this book is a must.

Simply said . . . wow. What a find! High on my list for seeing all the offbeat and major sites around the City and along Marin's rugged coast and bay wetlands. For years I've been the chauffer when guests come and stay. Now I just hand my friends a copy of Trailblazer and tell them to begin at trail #1, The City. For trails in the Golden Gate National Recreation area and Mt. Tamalpais, this is the most detailed book. You really get a feel for northern California and its history by reading it. Maps are A+ too.

After 40 some years of living Alaska, I am well aware of the difficulty and seeming impossibility of capturing the great land on film and with words. The true essense and spitituality of this vast offering often eludes our cameras and pens. John has nailed it. His enduring patience and impecable eye for the finest of nature glows from image to image, mushroom ice stands, an otter enjoying a meal, volcanic clouds balloning over stands of towering spruce, an eaglets first moment broken from the shell, in your face bears, all these images and much more inspire me to look harder, go further, and wait longer for more of Alaska than I have ever experienced. The photos are sparkled by John's unique style of writing. After recieving the book as a gift I spent long nights, reading and re-reading his tales of adventure with delight. My work takes me far from home and John's book gives me opportunity to share the true flavors of Alaska with those I meet on the trail. Thank you John for sharing your God given talents, I so look forward to the next book.

If you want to experience the true Alaska as few have ever done, no need to make a pilgrimage to the far north. All you need to do is read this book about a photographer's solo odyssey into the wilderness of Alaska in search of getting the great shot. The shot, that transforms photography into emotionally evoking art. The shot , that exudes the magnificence of the photo into telling the full rich story around it. The shot, that envelops the viewer with both the tenderness and majaesty of nature. John Pezzenti's journeys not only allowed him to capture this "Holy Grail' shot but unbelievably a whole book of them. In my estimation his work is unparalleled in his field. John is truely one of the premier wildlife photographers of our time. Equally fascinating to the absolutely stunning photography, is the human story behind it. John chronicles his amazing adventures on his journeys. He details his harrowing survival struggles to awe inspiring revelations with candor and humor. John presents himself to the reader not as some superhero but as an everyday person with all our human fragility. While reading John's book it dawned on me that it is an antithesis to Conrads's "The Heart of Darkness". John and Marlow both, endure the brutalities of our world in their journeys, but while Marlow is left only with "bitterness and darkness", John is left with "wonderment and light". I would like to mention that though nature has thrown John some mighty barriers in his quest, the greatest hurdle lies within himself. John is classified 100% disabled with a rare and agressive form of rheumatoid arthritis, treatable only with a mild chemotherapy so he can walk. Experience this book! The reproduction of John's work is exquisite and the price surprisingly low.

Great Book! I would recommend to anybody interested in the beauty of our 49th state. This book captures the wild beauty and grandeur of the last frontier. Buy this book, if you can!

This is a book to savor and let the information and feeling of real aloha sink in. After living in Hawaii for seven years this is the first book I've come across that catches the the magical, mystical essence of Hawaii accurately, and in true island style - with a balance of respect and humor.

Pila has his information down through study, homage to his teachers and direct experience. This is a book about much more than Hawaii for those that have eyes to see and perception to perceive beyond the words.

Pila brings the hidden stories of creation - ancient Hawaiian style - out for us to experience. Much of what he's talking about goes far beyond any particular race or place.

I have given this book as a gift and encouraged others to buy it, (I manage a bookstore). I've received wonderful feedback on same. It's deep, fun and interesting to read, the type of book one doesn't want to end.

This book is a blessing that can and should be read and experienced on many levels.

Aloha and blessings to you, Pila, for your gifts of Aloha and more.

Would you please tell Pila Chiles that his book "The Secrets and Mysteries of Hawaii" is a wonderful journey for the mind and spirit. It gives not only the Aloha flavor, but touches the soul. We have purchased 25 books to give to our relatives and friends. If you want to visit Hawaii, this little book is a MUST!

Pila's book is a real calling to the soul. I have owned this book for seven years and still refer to it often. Pila has a way of getting to your heart and reminding you of things and a culture long forgotten. I finished this book in one reading. It really helped me thru my healing process. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Hawaiian culture & history or anyone going thru their healing process. Although I have never been to Hawaii Pila has a way of making you think you have been there many times before. He also has a lot of insight into the human psyche. It's jsut such a great book I can't say enough about it.

Having never been to the island of Kauai before, Kauai Trailblazer was exactly the type of guidebook that I needed to help plan two weeks worth of adventure in the Garden Isle. My main desire was to snorkle the beautiful water. With it being my husband's first time in Hawaii, I wanted him to see all of the amazing fish that I had told him about. Kauai Trailblazer pointed us in the right direction and we ended up snorkling the most amazing coves! With the book in hand, we hiked beautiful trails that led right up the sides of cliffs to amazing waterfalls and romantic pools. Having an interest in history, Kauai Trailblazer was also able to direct me to museums, landmarks and ruins. Our time in Kauai would have been less fruitful without the help of this book.

I've lived on Kauai for thirteen years and consider myself a local. This is the only book I can really recommend to those who have never been here before. A testament to good travel writing. You can flip through the Best Of category, find somewhere you'd like to go and bam, hit the trail. When I'm stumped on where to take visitors, I always turn to this book. Mahalo to these adventure specialists who really know our island and portray it with so much aloha.

We made a great discovery, this book Kauai Trailblazer. We bought our copy at the airport when we arrived and it served us well. It was wet and soggy four out of the seven days so we gravitated to the dry side of the island as they recommended and stretched out walking long miles of beach. Right away we found out why this island is known for its rainbows.

Two must do's are kayaking the Wailua River and hiking the Black Pipe Trail in Waimea Canyon. The directions for the maze like trail to Waipio Falls were excellent. We were guided through all the paths twists and turns and ended up immersed in big open landscapes that are beyond words. We kept pinching ourselves. We've blown up many of the photos we took to preserve the memories. Our vacation was very energizing, a once in a lifetime experience.

My only advice is to read it before you go in order to strategize and prioritize. Over and over again it seemed nightfall came way too soon.

If Hollywood is looking for a new action-adventure subject, they need look no further than the war patrols of the USS Tang. Join Richard O'Kane aboard the Tang as he weaves a tale of suspense and action better than any work of fiction. Under his command, the Tang ranked fourth in the number of tons of Japanese shipping sunk. We get a rare "periscope liberty" look over the author's shoulder as he tracks his prey across the vast Pacific. Whether rescuing a record number of downed fliers or launching torpedoes from the very center of a confused and sinking Japanese convoy, his no-nonsense style and matter-of-fact delivery leave no doubt that this man was - in every respect - a true submarine commander. This book provides one of the truly great depictions of the kind of heroes who served in World War II, especially those in the "Silent Service."

After proving his metttle as the Executive Officer on the USS Wahoo, Dick O'Kane revolutionised submarine warfare in his own way on USS Tang. During its limited lifetime, Tang sank more ships than any other US submarines and would have sunk more except for its demise by one of its own torpedos. A great read and a thorough description of life in a US WW2 submarine.

If you enjoy true submarine books this one is a must
have book. An absolutely great book, told by the
Captain of the Tang and one of the best sub books
written.

South Pacific Journal was definitely worth the day I spent reading it. This story is about a brother and sister, Jacob & Sarah Levine. They are separated by unusual circumstances, but Jacob finds out about Sarah through a phone call, a fax and a trip half way around the world where Jacob finds a priceless treasure. The tale is skillfully woven and drew me in on the first page and release came too soon at the final sentence - so sweet was the journey from cover to cover. Rarely would I expect to find such a seamless story line and so strong a purpose in any book, especially by new authors. Believability, passion and God's loving mercies were echoed throughout this gripping tale. As page after page of masterful storytelling unfolded, I cried, I hoped, lost hope and found it again. Finally, if you've ever wanted to introduce someone to your dearest Friend -- let this book help you. They'll be glad that you did... Bernie Siegel said in one of his books, "Tell a story. No one is offended at a story." Thanks Nancy & David French. Your story will find it's way into the hands of some of my loved ones this year so that the Story will never die....

I just finished reading the wonderful story South Pacific Journal by David and Nancy French. I recently started reading Christian fiction as I am so sick of the filth in secular reading. This story made me smile and cry and praise the lord all at the same time. It was beautifully written and the characters all seemed alive to me. If more of our young people would read these kinds of books maybe the world wouldnt be going to hell the way it is!!. I hope these fine new authors will publish another story soon. I will rush to the bookstore to get it!! May God Bless all who reads this wonderful book.

I don't believe I've read a more compelling book! It was purchased from a bargain table as something to read while recovering from a foot injury. The therapy for my soul and mind was worth far far more than the few dollars I paid.
So many times I've been disappointed in the quality of "Christian Fiction." Not so with "SOUTH PACIFIC JOURNAL." The characters are believable and very interesting. Descriptive passages place the reader on location in the South Pacific. I've never read such compelling "flash-back" passages. Even though the narrative left many unanswered questions about the characters (What happened to the lieutenant? How did Sarah try to contact her family? When and how did she return to Manila?) I feel as if I really know the characters personally. I hope David & Nancy French write a sequel.
My gratitude goes to the authors for such excellent writing and to the publisher for printing this book.

I'd like to start out with my favorite quote from Michael Modzelewski, "Sometimes you have to lower your standard of living to reach a higher level." I have sailed the inside passage via cruise ship 5 times and every time I read "INSIDE PASSAGE" brings back all the wonderful memories and magical moments I have experienced in this wild and untamed wilderness.
Michael lived with killer and humpback whales, bald eagles, Kwakiutl Indians on the surrounding Islands, Tuffy the cat, Cottonwood the ridgeback dog, and my favorite raven named Blackie! On page 59 is a hilarious story about Blackie!! Michael lived in Will Malloff's 12x34 ft. home with no t.v., indoor plumbing, electricity,no car or grocery store. No traffic jams,pollution or noise of any kind, and all you can eat fish in the sea was the trade off! You will learn what Michael needed to do to survive 18 months on Swanson Island.
This is one of those books you read over and over and underline everything. I'm going to close with another of Michael's quotes,
"I touched the whale; she touched me; and what passed between us changed me forever." Reading this book and meeting Michael changed me forever. This book inspired and motivated me to take some risks in life, to travel, and to dream big because dreams do come true,look at Michael's!

After reading Inside Passage,I felt my soul was baptized by the beauty of Alaska and the author Michael Modzelewski was the minister who administered the baptismal ceremony for many poor polluted souls. My outlook of life has been changed since then. Every day and every minute I live is full of beauty and purity like Alaska's blue sky. I would like to live in inside Passage every summer!

Michael Modzelewski is transparent in INSIDE PASSAGE. The northern wilderness glows and shows through him, as he give shape to nature with amazing words. I've read this book 4 times now and each time I am dazzled by his heartfelt experiences.

This book is well written with lots of cultural and historical information as well as a lot of humorous comments that kept us laughing. The Volcano National Park quit selling this book because of all the "inside" information it reveals that they don't want travelers to know about. It took the authors over 2 years to put this book together, not 6 weeks like most other Travel Guides. These folks live here and know the ropes! The book has broken the Big Island down into geographic sections with sights, places to stay, dining(prices ranges and ONO recommendations), and beaches for each. It also includes sections on activities, and adventures such as snorkeling, scuba, whale watching, etc. We found that a lot of roads were not marked, but this book lays out "secret" beaches, how to get to them (mile markers), and even tunes you into how not to get "taken" by the locals. Example: When visiting the Green Sand Beach, the locals try to charge $5 for parking and make you walk the 2 1/2 hike. The authors tell you they do not work for the Dept. of Hawaiian Homelands and have no right to charge this fee (also, there was an incident where signs were posted to keep out-Private Property, but the book revealed that you CAN use the road to get to the beach. Without that information, we would have not ventured down that road!) They highly recommend that you rent a JEEP to get around the Island. Invaluable advice! Sure saved us a lot of walking! Throughout the book, there are sites marked with "A Real Gem" Icon, "Diversion Alert!" and "Not to be Missed!" signs. The maps are accurate, the pictures are plentiful and vivid; and we found the information true and accurate. The only thing we think needs updating is the section on Saddle Road. The authors make it sound like the road from Hell, and try to discourage you from using it. We found this road to be in better condition than most of the others and we found a few other "sights" along the route. We noticed a lot of other traveler's with this same book. Before going on our trip, we purchased Hawaii for Dummies and Hawaii the Big Island (and older version, of course!) This book blew them all away and was the one we referred to the whole trip. In our opinion, this book was "A Real Gem!!!" Now we are planning a trip to New Zealand and wish these authors had a "Revealed" book for it.

We can't thank you enough for our wonderful, informative trip to the Big Island. Your book was absolutely a "must" for us. Especially helpful were the use of mile markers and maps. We loved your humor while writing and appreciated your honest opinions. Volcano Nat'l. Park is doing a disservice to their visitors by not selling your book within the Park. However, I did notice that most places outside of the park had your book available.

It is hard to decide which one of your "must see" and "real gems" pleased us the most because we loved them all. However, I must mention the delight we discovered when we got to the Queen's Bath north of Ai'opio Beach. We thought we were in heaven when we found the "scads" of turtles you talked about at Ai'opio Beach and then we came to the Bath! We were the only ones there and since we had our bathing suits on we couldn't resist the opportunity to go into the refreshing cool water and enjoy the solitude.

On our next visit to Kauai we will definitely purchase your other book.

Your book never left our hands while sight-seeing. Thanks for all of the time and effort you put into publishing a book that is a "must" for anyone going to the Big Island. Your talent of writing was our gain and we applaud you.

It was amazing how many folks were carrying/reading this book on the Big Island! It is as simple as this: If you are going to the Big Island of Hawaii for an "active" vacation, get this book. Best 10 bucks I spent all vacation! Easy to use maps, tour operators, hikes, snorkels, food, its all here with a comical spin! There are so many things to do and see on the Big Island, this book is essential to get the most out of your personal holiday. They don't mess around with places to avoid either! This is a refined work, exceptionally written and organized, it was extremely helpful when weather conditions forced a change of plans.

There are a myriad of books available today on prayer. Many of those books are shallow theologically and draw little if any from the rich heritage of the Church. Foster's volume combines a knowledge of church history's classic devotional writers with a freshness appealing to the 21st century.

Foster describes various forms of prayer, dividing them into three general categories: inward-focused prayer provides us with personal transformation, upward-focused prayer offers us intimacy with God, outward-focused prayer places us in the ministries that God would have us fill.

Don't let the title fool you. This volume is NOT just another book on what some persons may call "prayer lite." Foster presents a solid work that is grounded in the theology as well as the history of the Church. I recommend this book highly to all persons desiring a serious treatment of prayer.

There are a myriad of books on the subject of prayer. Many are guides to prayer, also called "how-to" books on prayer. Others are compilations of prayers in scripture (such as the prayers of Jesus or the prayers of David). Many Christian readers may have one or more of these on their bookshelves. However, when one reads PRAYER: FINDING THE HEART'S TRUE HOME, there is an immediately discernable difference present within it's pages. As you move through the book you can sense a depth of wisdom and intimacy with God present in author's life. The book is so profound that is is difficult to read more a few pages in one sitting. This isn't to say that all of the concepts taught within are difficult, although a few are. Rather, it is that the depth and meaningfulness of the pages are so intense that it takes the thoughful reader much time to digest, wrestle with, and assimilate the beautiful wisdom within them.

A highly recommended and deeply challenging help and inspiration.

I am an avid reader; but, this is the only book I have ever felt so strongly about that I wanted to express my opinion in a review. I realize that a person's reaction to any book says as much about the reader as it does the book. But I cannot imagine anyone who is genuinely interested in the topic of prayer not feeling satisfied that they got a great exchange for their time and money in this book. It helped me tremendously.

I think most of the reviews written before have said enough about how well this book bring out the brutual nature of the Japanese captivity. I believed that Gavin Daw did an excellent job in this book and it probably a must read account for everyone.

To most Allied POWs, their treatment at the hands of the Japanese must be shocking, unthinkable and utterly humilating. It was also quite deadly as well. The book revealed all this very nicely and with shocking details. Its not for the weak of heart here. These men were taken prisoners by an troops who don't believed in surrendering as long as their nation was at war, thus these Allied POWs were often looked upon as cowards, unsoldier-like or subhuman insects by their captors. And they were treated as such. Looking back on Japanese own military history, their many civil wars they fought against each other, I would considered it as a near mircle that they took prisoners at all!!!! I think what really hurt the POWs was that the Pacific War was a racist war, where both sides have basically reduced each other to a subhuman level and thus, the Allied POWs were treated as such. Such as Henry Wirz, infamous commandant of Andersonville, no longer look at his Union prisoners as human beings, Japanese captors did the same and result was a horrifying sense of holocaust of the Allied POWs during the Pacific War.

A great book overall, a book that will preserved the horror of war for the men who experienced it and for folks like me to learned from it. Man inhumanity to man, whether bayoneting a helpless, straving POW or firebombing a grade school from high above, there are no rules in war!!!!

This book should be required reading for all Americans. So many people here think WWII was a glamorous, "good" war, when in fact it was horror and brutality beyond imagination. Perhaps the movie 'Private Ryan' will wake up some Americans to the horrors of war, but Daws' book shows that the war against Japan was infinitely more barbaric. The evidence of the Japanese atrocities against Americans, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Dutch, Australians, and British is INESCAPABLE! Compare the mortality rates of Allied prisoners in German POW camps to those of the Japanese camps. I have studied military history for many years, and this is the most horrifying account of brutality I have ever read. It is criminal that because of the emphasis on the Nazi Nuremburg trials, many war criminal Japanese were able to escape justice. Even more perverse is the fact that a number of these war criminals now hold prominent positions in Japan today, and DENY JAPAN's ATROCITIES! Many Americans may have heard the words, "Bataan Death March," but until you read Daws' account, you HAVE NO IDEA what those Filipinos and Americans suffered at the hands of their Japanese captors. This book will make any free person wake up and realize how precious life is. This book has BEEN NEEDED FOR 50 YEARS!!

This work is one of many I have recently explored in my quest to understand the experiences of my Father-in-Law as a survivor of 42 months captivity at the hands of the Japanese. The author has done a great job at pulling together many of the stories which echo the feelings voiced by many of the USS Houston survivors (of which my father-in-law is one). The research is excellent and the insight is crystal clear.

I strongly recommend this work as mandatory reading for all aspiring servicemen and women, as well as for all those politicians out there who are eager to send our men to battle. War and the outcomes of war are never as planned. Misconceptions regarding the enemy and the society we are fighting can lead to huge blunders on both sides.

Warning however, this book is not for the faint of heart. The truth it portrays is hardly pretty.