Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds And Selected Fishes

Book Description

With 1,700 superb colour photographs of over 1,400 species, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes is the most comprehensive collection of photographs of Pacific Northwest marine life ever published. It is designed to allow the reader to recognize virtually any coastal organism that might be encountered from southern Alaska to southern Oregon--from sea lettuces and feather boa kelp through to the leopard ribbon worm, Pacific red octopus, spiny-thigh sea spider and gutless awning-clam. Each species is identified with photographs and includes a description with information on range, habitat, appearance and behaviour.
Andy Lamb and Bernard Hanby have spent most of their lifetimes studying and recording Pacific Northwest marine life and have completed over 4,000 scuba dives between them. Some of the species included in this volume have never been featured in print before. Colour-coded for quick reference and including a glossary and full index, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest is a must-have for serious biologists, scuba divers, beachcombers or anyone interested in marine life and beautiful underwater photography.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing production.......2007-09-19

This book is one of the most amazing publishing accomplishments I have seen. The authors and their friends have accumulated 1700 superb photographs of marine life, especially the tiny and obscure invertebrates that almost no one has even seen or suspected, let alone photographed. (Where else are you going to find photos of neon sea-fleas and parasitic copepods in the wild?) Many of the animals herein are not even described scientifically. I studied fisheries development for years and thought I knew something about marine life, but I never knew there were so many worms and snails and tunicates out there, let alone did I ever see them or photos of them. Everyone interested in nature or biology should have this book, or at least look at it, just to see what amazing things there are in the world. It is of interest far beyond the narrow confines of Northwest Coast shores.

hard to top..........2007-06-30

so I'm no expert on marine life, but I'm very interested in the subject. I got this book and had high expectations that were more than met. The photography is excellent, the organization is excellent, and the contents extensive. I really like how they tell you both the common and the scientific names, and how they have some short descriptions of behaviors or charactoristics. I actually got it for my boyfriend because he wants to study to be a marine biologist and i saw the other reviews by people who were in related fields, and they made it sound like a book that would be useful even to an expert but not only useful to an expert. And it is. He loves the book (says its one of the best gifts he has ever gotten) and was very impressed by the quality of the contents, he uses it all the time. Bottom line the book is awesome i would reccommend it to ANYONE who loves ocean life.

Wonderful Resource.......2007-06-27

This book is a blessing for us tidepool/beach explorers in the Pacific Northwest because of its wonderful, clear photographs. It saves us many hours of tedious and frustrating puzzling over technical jargon trying to figure out the identity of whatever amazing creature has captured our hearts. The volunteers at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington have already practically worn out their first copy from looking up critters and plants that show up in the tanks via the flow-through seawater system. Many mysteries have been solved, and many fascinating tidbits of natural history gleaned to share with the visitors to the exhibits. Books like this will open the eyes of a society blind to our own environment, like the Peterson guides did a couple generations ago.
All praises and cliches apply: "a picture is worth a thousand words", "greatly needed and long over-do"... Consider this a definite rave review for a timely book. Now all we need is a waterproof edition!

An impressively thorough collection of the majestic ocean life associated with the Pacific Northwest.......2006-07-10

Enhanced with 1,700 superb color photographs, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia Of Invertebrates, Seaweeds And Selected Fishes by Andy Lamb (Marine naturalist and educator) features the photography from Bernard P. Hanby (recipient of the Vancouver Natural History Society's 2003 Davidson Award for Conservation) and is an impressively thorough collection of the majestic ocean life associated with the Pacific Northwest. Featuring a "user friendly" and alphabetically organized listing of diverse fish, seaweed and invertebrate aquatic life, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest offers a comprehensive compendium of more than 1,400 saltwater plants and animals, and includes a quick reference usability with guide, maps, glossary, index, and color-coded pages for easy information access and identification, as well as entries that include the common name, scientific name, size, range, depth, description, picture, description and comments, and more. A core reference work for professional and academic library reference collections, Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest is very strongly recommended for all marine-savvy explorers of the Pacific Northwest area.

Amazing and well worth it!!!.......2006-03-09

I work for a West Coast marine lab and I purchased this both for my work and for my own enjoyment. Twenty years in the making, there is nothing close to this in terms of illustrated guides for the region. Being that I work in the lesser known of the invertebrates, I was glad to see that the minor phyla are paid just as much attention to as the more common ones. I showed my copy around the lab, which led at least four more copies to be purchased. Upon opening the cover and flipping to any page, the first-time reader is speechless at the quality of the photos and the overall organization of the work. Yes, reference books like these are a bit more expensive than the everyday field guide, but this has so much more: Common name, scientific name (and limited synonymy), distribution, special remarks on each species... Very recommended!

Average customer rating:

I am a Marine Biologist and this is the best book for the West Coast - Period!!
A timeless classic
A Slightly Defaced Masterpiece
Still & always the classic
The standard field guide for the Pacific Coast of the USA

Between Pacific Tides
Edward Flanders Ricketts
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0804712298

Customer Reviews:

I am a Marine Biologist and this is the best book for the West Coast - Period!!.......2007-02-23

This is a timeless classic, very readable as the author puts you in a place (rocky intertidal or a mudflat) and then describes the animals you will see. It is written with a wise eye and wry humor. The long lived sea anemone in Scotland that was done in after 80 some years by the "ineptitude of (we suspect) a botanist".
It is more specific to central California, but still useful in Southern Calif and the northern coast as well.

A timeless classic.......2005-11-27

This is an amazing book. It was a landmark in its time, and is still useful today.

A Slightly Defaced Masterpiece.......2004-08-18

This book, as it was written, is a masterpiece of natural history. It is a contribution to humanistic biology that has style and description that is uncrippled by the invidious academic flatulence of the professional "scientist". It makes no pretensions. It was written by a man fascinated by the tidal seashore and the animals found therein. Read it and read it well.
Then read "Beyond the Outer Shores" by Eric Enno Tamm an unconventional biography of Ricketts that does full justice to the man and the myths.
Having gone through these impressive volumes I hope you will join me in despising Stanford University Press for what they did to Ricketts before his death and for allowing David Phillips to desecrate his memory in Edition Five.

Still & always the classic.......2003-07-13

This is probably THE serious book to have if one is going to immerse oneself in the California intertidal. Originally produced by Ed Ricketts (of Steinbeck/Cannery Row/Log From The Sea Of Cortez fame) the book has been upgraded, revised, re-edited by a plethora of "co-authors" since Ricketts' untimely death. It still retains much of Ricketts' then-revolutionary Habitat focus, which will either work for you (it does for me) or annoy the hard-core systematists out there. This ISN'T a light book to lug into the field or a light book to read -if you are just day-tripping The UC Press has a number of smaller & more accessibly illustrated field guides that I would reccomend, But if you are seriously into mmarine Bio and have some time on your hands along the California Coastline, you owe it to yourself to get this book. Even here on the Coast of Maine and twenty years removed from the West I still fid myself referring to it...

The standard field guide for the Pacific Coast of the USA.......1999-05-19

I can't believe that someone else has not reviewed this excellent guide to the intertidal biota of the Pacific Coast. This book has set the standard for reference guides to marine life along the Pacific Coast, as well as other locations. It is much more than a field guide -- though it also serves that role. This book describes the intertidal zonation patterns of the Pacific Coast as well as the ecology and aspects of the natural history of the organisms that live there. The book contains good taxonomic references as well. This is the book that many of the country's marine scientists cut their professional teeth on. If you are interested in marine biology, the diversity of life, or the ecology of nearshore habitats, this book is definitely for you. The main strength of the book is the logical organization by type of habitat and vertical elevation on the intertidal zone. The main challenge of a book like this is to remain up to date, which the publisher has managed by producing revised editions on regular basis. This book is a must for any field or arm chair marine naturalist!

Average customer rating:

Great Fiction
yeah, I'd recommend it
Fiction, Fable, Fantasy
What a fantastic ride!
From interest to anger

Life of Pi
Yann Martel
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151008116

Amazon.com

Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."

An award winner in Canada, Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Book Description

Winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional-but is it more true?
Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It's a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God.

Customer Reviews:

Great Fiction.......2007-10-17

Fiction is so homogenized these days, its boring. Not so with this book. Its refreshing and reads more like a non-fiction set of events than a novel. Loved it.

yeah, I'd recommend it.......2007-10-10

I kinda would like to rate this book a 4, because there are a few things I didn't like. I didn't like everything getting 'over-explained' in the end. That wasn't necessary. It was like the author didn't think the reader was smart enough to keep track of what was going on. That did a real disservice to the book.

And I didn't like all the start - I mean, too much opinion that seemed like an rookie blog.

But, I did recommend the book, and I wanted my Mom to read it and talk to her about it. So, what does that say? I don't do that too often. So, I gotta give it a five.

Read it and tell me what you think. :)

Fiction, Fable, Fantasy.......2007-10-10

Yann Martel's Life of Pi is at the least, a first rate adventure yarn. Even the simplest reader needs just to suspend a small amount of disbelief to join in the fun. There is enough texture to the writing-detail of place and experience-that the book is almost cinematic. You could imagine this being filmed as a simple 'survival in a lifeboat' story.
What makes this such a wonderful tale is that each little piece-the man-eating island, the orangutan, Pi's wonderful real name, is jolting and provocative. It's hard to hear the stories without connecting them to some other fantasy or alternative reality.
At the end, Pi's rescue and redemption are really nothing more than the technique of fantasy applied to the story itself. I'm sorry for the folks who were disappointed that this wasn't one kind of book and I hope they get a chance to experience the pleasure of it being a very good fable, fiction and fantasy.

----Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the slightly fabulous bang BANG: A Novel

What a fantastic ride!.......2007-10-07

A great book should not only answer questions, but lead us to ask questions about the very nature of our lives: our perceptions and beliefs. This book delivers all of that and more. Life of Pi is an amazing literary journey that carries the reader through the life of a young boy as he experiences life and becomes a man, a postmodern bildungsroman. It's all here: relationships with parents, God, nature, humanity, love, adventure, a quest for meaning, and a survival story. This is the stuff life is made of!

Martel is an apt storyteller, and this tale drips with allegory, symbolism, and skillful description. I didn't want it to end. I felt so connected to the story and characters, unlike any story I've read recently. I'm so grateful for the journey. Wow.

From interest to anger.......2007-10-05

This book plays on the reader's gullibility. I was willing to believe up to the man eating island. Then I just got upset. Is this book supposed to help me find God or is it supposed to prove that I am gullible enough to believe in a "better" story? Where do you find 16 year old boys who spend pages philosophizing on tigers while their own life is in great danger? The Boy Scout in my enjoyed the survival story of Pi, but the amazement of survival becomes overshadowed by things that don't add up. It made me lose sight of the meaning of the story. Then part 3 comes along and I am more confused about which of two unbelievable stories I am supposed to believe. It reminds me of Jesus' parables where even his direct reports couldn't understand. It leaves me asking "Why?". Why don't you just give me a story that clearly supports your point?

Probably More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast

Average customer rating:

Dynamic Dating
Review - Probably MoreThan You Want To Know About Fishes Of The Pacific Coast
Fish are Funny!
Buy this book.

Probably More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast
Milton Love
Manufacturer: Really Big Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0962872555

Customer Reviews:

Dynamic Dating.......2007-05-09

Dr. Phil's trademark humor is incorporated into this book about dating. You'll learn how to choose someone with qualities you admire.

Review - Probably MoreThan You Want To Know About Fishes Of The Pacific Coast.......2006-02-26

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to learn about common fish local to the California area. Its a scientifically structured field guide chaulked full of quips and funny little anecdotes. So if you want a good laugh while learning a huge volume of information (even the meaning of each fishes scientific name!), then i suggest you get this book. Dont forget to read the other information in this book like the 'preface' and even the copyright page. Youll never know where youll find the next laugh in this book.

I have worked briefly in Milton Love's lab personally and he is even funnier in person. He is one of the few people ive had the chance to meet whom after i walk away laughing i realized that i actually learned more than i did in a regular class. He knows an enormous amount of knowledge about fishes which is why i also feel this book has merit. Plus he references Ted Pietcsh, who if you have read the news discovered the world's smallest fish as released in January 2006.

Fish are Funny!.......2003-03-15

Without a doubt, the funniest taxonomic work on Ichthyology you will ever come across- and extremely and extensively informative to boot. Even the preface is a delight to read, where Love discusses the intelligence of fish (stupider than the stupidest mouse to ever live), if fish sleep, how their names relate to Communism, if they will harm us emotionally, and Love's relative intelligence when compared to other marine biologists. Then he goes through, fish by fish, all the main species off the Pacific Coast, from BC to SoCal. (If you're looking for fish from the Gulf of Alaska, you will be disappointed.) He begins with Myxini and Petromyzone, moves to Chondrichthyes, and then onto Osteichthyes. (Hagfish, Lampreys, Sharks and Rays, and Bony Fish- for fish are actually four different creatures, as separate from each other as Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals are from each other.) Each section looks at the identifying characteristics, distribution, anatomy, commercial fishery, and extra tidbits, still with that trademark humor. And then there's a bit of the parasitic at the tail end of the book. Perhaps my favorite line: 'Your average hagfish can take a bucket full of water and almost solidify it with slime in a few minutes. (I don't know about you, but that makes me proud to be American.)'

Buy this book........1998-07-21

If you have any interest at all in the fishes of the Pacific Coast, this is THE book. I recommend it to the students in my Marine Biology class as one of the most accurate and fun (!) works they will find. The information is up there with the classics by David Starr Jordan, whose books are now collectables. Dr. Love, who is legendary in the world of Fisheries for his research and publications, has added his distinct sense of humor to the usually dry descriptions of fishes. If you are interested in Marine Biology of Fishes you need this book.

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Revenge of the Whale
Revenge Of The Whale
A Review of Revenge of the Whale
Revenge of the Whale
Revenge of the Whale

Revenge Of The Whale
Nathaniel Philbrick
Manufacturer: Audio Bookshelf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0976193205

Customer Reviews:

Revenge of the Whale.......2006-04-27

This book is an interesting book. In this book the main characters are Thomas Nickerson a cabin boy aboard the whale ship Essex, the first mate Owen Chase, and the captain George Pollard Jr. This book starts out in a place in New England called Nantucket. Then as the book progresses the rest of the book pretty much takes place on the sea.

This book is an interesting book because it is interesting to learn about whaling. One thing that amazed me was how dangerous whaling could be. It sounded not only dangerous, but a job that required a lot of skill. If you like whaling stories this is the right book for you. If you are a person who likes survival stories this is a great book for you. Also if you like stories that take place at sea this is also the perfect book for you. This book was adapted from the National Book Award-Winner In the Heart of the Sea. So, if you like the book in the heart of the sea I would advise this book.

~ Nico

Revenge Of The Whale.......2006-04-27

The book that I read was "Revenge Of The Whale" by Nathaniel Philbrick. I thought that this book was ok because it was very suspencful,scary, a little of humor, and gory. I discovered reading this book that I feel bad about what we have done in the past to the whales.
This book is about a crew member on the boat Essex his name was Thomas Nickerson. Thomas Nickerson is the cabin boy on the boat. The fact that he got a chance to fo whaling was the most exciting thing in his life. He is also the youngest crew member and also the youngest out of the few people that survived the attack of a sperm whale. He is far away from home in the middle of the ocean with nothing to eat the only thing he had was a little boat the big sea and hope. Will hope help him though? How will he survive?
This book makes you feel as if you are standing in the eyes of young Nickerson. Very adventuros book filled with suspence, action, and sadness. This nook is very simular to "I The Heart Of The Sea." I would recomend this book to somone who likes scary books. I hope you like this book and have a fun time reading it!

~Kiersten

A Review of Revenge of the Whale.......2006-04-26

"All aboard the Essex," with George Pallard as your Captain. The crew members will be staying out on sea for almost two years. The crew of the Essex is sailing, looking for whales, but having a little trouble with that until they spot a Sperm whale. Little did they know that that whale could cost the crew their lives.

The Sperm whale has attacked their ship and forced all of the men to divide up and live for two or more months on little whaling boats. The crew is left with only 3 pounds of hardtack a day and only half a pint of water. All the men are struggling to stay alive, there is soon cannibalism and not enough water to keep the crew living. None of the men know what is going to happen next.

The author gives alot of detail with his writing. There are parts in this book that i did not like very much; the starving, the blood and gore, and the act of cannibalism. I also felt
bad and sorry for what happens to the crew aboard the Essex. You would enjoy this book if you like true stories out on the sea. If you like survival stories, you would also like this book. It was a long ride aboard the Essex but now they are coming home.

~Morgan

Revenge of the Whale.......2006-04-26

Revenge of the Whale is a book about the "Essex", a whaling ship in the early 1820s.
Thomas Nickerson is a 14-year-old boy that lives on the small island of Nantucket, right off of Cape Cod. He decides that he is going to go on his first whaling journey on the "Essex", under the command of George Pollard jr., the Captain, Owen Chase, the first mate, and Matthew Joy, the second mate.
After a series of unlucky events, Thomas Nickerson, Owen Chase, and a few other crew members find themselves in the middle of the Pacific ocean being attacked by a Male, 80-ton Sperm whale. The whale rammed the "Essex" twice leaving it on it's side.
Once the rest of the crew comes back from the whale they were hunting, they decide to try and sail for any land. Once they gather what provisions they could find, they set sail in three small whaleboats.
George Pollard jr. and Owen Chase decide not to sail to the closest islands, the Society Islands, in fear of cannibals, and instead sail South then East, to get the South American Coast. The boats soon start to run out of food, and the only way to survive may be to consume their fallen comrades.
This Book is a true story of 20 sailors and their struggle for life at sea. I thought this book was very interesting since it was a true story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic and intense survival stories.

-by Alex

Revenge of the Whale.......2006-04-26

Average customer rating:

A Wonderful Introduction to An Intimidating Cuisine
One of the Best
A great Pan-Asian book for home cooks
Fast and Fun
best

Terrific Pacific Cookbook
Anya von Bremzen , and John Welchman
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1563051729

Book Description

The Pacific is the Mediterranean of the 1990s. Its where the new ideas in food are coming from. Its hot, light, fresh, exotic, and energetic. Its Thai, Vietnamese, Australian, Malaysian and Indonesian. Its Chinese-influenced, Indian-influenced, Japanese-influenced. Now Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman, award-winning authors of Please to the Table, present the terrific pacific in over over 260 glorious recipes and dozens of essays on spices, markets, pantries, techniques, and cultural traditions. Terrific Pacific is for people who've come to love the citrusy flavors of lemon grass and kaffir limes; who want to use more chilies, ginger, cilantro, spice rubs, and pastes; who are curious about curries. Visiting four-star chefs in Australia and roadside vendors in Penang, tea houses in Singapores old Chinatown and home cooks in Vietnam--wherever the culinary melting pot bubbles--the authors offer a spectacular marriage of flavors. And in an age of great treats, terrific pacific desserts stand out for being both simple and exotic. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's HomeStyle Books, and the Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service.
52,000 copies in print.

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Introduction to An Intimidating Cuisine.......2006-07-15

I love to cook, and have a number of cookbooks. Over the last four years, I have turned to "Terrific Pacific" 9 out of 10 times. Most Asian cookbooks are too frequently focused on one style, assume you know everything about the mysterious, or unfamiliar ingredients cited, and don't make you feel the recipes are accessible. "Terrific Pacific" is, in my opinion, a new classic. If you are interested in Pacific Rim cooking, this is a great place to start. You will develop a comfort level with fresh, interesting ingredients, and an appreciation for clean, lovely food from the other side of the planet. With a new vocabulary of ingredients, I have also had fun changing/developing recipes of my own. Kudos to Anya von Bremzen.

One of the Best.......2003-09-25

I've been through a lot of Asian Cookbooks but this is one that I keep comming back to for new and orginal reciepes.

Asian Fusion is the Theme, particularly Southest Asia. Thai, Indonesia, Phillipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Fusion Recepies from Australia and New Zenland dot the pages as well as receipies that are had to classify other than really good. They blend ingredients and techniques for some awesome dishes.

The book is more or less organized by theme and ingredient, finger foods, poultry, deserts, salads, soups etc.
In addition to the organization of the book the receipies are organized in a reasonable fashion as well. To many cook books haphazardly organize the steps and ingredients so that you miss something or do it out of sequence (oh, I was supposed to boil this first).

This is not a book for beginners though. The reciepies here are generally moderate to very complex and are generally not the sort of thing you throw together at the last minute. Not to say they don't have some quick and easy ones but the theme is more towards those with gormet inclinations and farmiliarity with Asian cooking already.

One downside to the book is they assume you have access to an incredible variety of ethnic ingredients. In Austin we have Asian Markets and Central Market (an awesome store that specializes in gormet ingredients) but from time to time I find myself unable to locate something needed for some dishes. I've learned some substitutions. Also some of the reciepies can run up your food bill a bit. They are best left for those yearly special occasions.

Still its an EXCELLENT cookbook. Every time I get bored I go back to it and find something new and interesting. Its just loaded with great stuff. Buy it, you won't regret.

A great Pan-Asian book for home cooks.......2003-04-10

I'm a cookbook junkie, and I have dozens of books I just look at and never actually cook from. This isn't one of them. It's stained and dog-eared, from trying exotic but not terribly difficult recipes like Pot Roast with Asian flavors, stir-fried spinach and a terrific pineapple upside-down cafe with rummy, coconutty whipped cream. A great way to cook Asian without resorting to fattening, take-out-style recipes. The small sections about markets in Southeast Asia and such are also good...they make you want to try this food in person!

Fast and Fun.......2000-06-04

I've been making Thai Drumsticks for a Crowd for potlucks for the last two years. They're a real draw on a table full of tahini and tabouli! These recipes are easy and the authors descriptions are engaging. Not for people who are looking for serious ethnoculinary books, but easy to dazzle with.

best.......2000-06-01

I own about 200 cookbooks; this is the best.

Pacific Intertidal Life: A Guide to Organisms of Rocky Reefs and Tide Pools of the Pacific Coast (Nature Study Guides)

Average customer rating:

Excellent ocean guide!
great entry level guide

Pacific Intertidal Life: A Guide to Organisms of Rocky Reefs and Tide Pools of the Pacific Coast (Nature Study Guides)
Ron Russo , and Pam Olhausen
Manufacturer: Nature Study Guild Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0912550104

Customer Reviews:

Excellent ocean guide!.......2004-07-11

Pacific Intertidal Life is a very comprehensive guide to tidepool creatures found on Pacific beaches. The guide covers: chitons, mollusks, sea stars, urchins, and many more abundant residents of the intertidal zone. The illustrations are accurate and provide superior identification as opposed to photographs. The book will cover the void for landlocked ocean lovers, including desert residents like me. This may also help amateurs progress to the full fledged Peterson, Audubon, and Simon and Schuster guides. Though it is small, the guide contains many various species of the intertidal area, including tidepool fish. It is easy to carry along with you on a long vacation for quick reference. The book is geared toward everyone. Whether purchased by an amateur or a marine biologist with more expertise, the guide will serve each person well in the field.

great entry level guide.......1999-04-28

Inexpensive guide with black and white drawings and descriptions of 50+ organisms common to the Pacific coast. Kids found it east to use.

Managing Turbulent Hearts: A Balinese Formula for Living

Average customer rating:

Behind the mask
The Real Bali
Just read the first 30 pages - that is all you need to know.

Managing Turbulent Hearts: A Balinese Formula for Living
Unni Wikan
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0226896781

Book Description

How do Balinese manage to present to the world the clear, bright face, the grace and poise, that they regard as crucial to self-respect and social esteem? How can the anthropologist pass behind the conventions of such a complex culture to recognize what is going on between people, in terms that convey their own experience?

Wikan's study of the Indonesian island of Bali is an absorbing debate with previous anthropological interpretations as well as an innovative development of the anthropology of experience.

"This is indeed an important book, a landmark in studies of Bali and one surely destined to have major theoretical impact on anthropological research well beyond that famous Indonesian island."—Anthony R. Walker, Journal of Asian and African Studies

Customer Reviews:

Behind the mask.......2005-11-02

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Wikan dispells the idealized exoticism spun by previous ethnologists such as Mead and particularly Steve Lansing and Jane Belo. She shows us the real Bali, rarely if ever glimpsed by tourists, in which life is a constant struggle to protect oneself from evil magic, while maintaining one's personal appearance and attitudes to avoid being shamed or stigmatized.

The book begins with a narrative of Wikan's personal experience with a Balinese co-worker. As the girl laughed and joked about her beloved fiance's sudden death, Wikan found herself witnessing the truth behind stereotypes of Balinese grace and serenity. Instead of genuine peacefulness, she realized she was looking at a mask, enforced by peer pressure and especially by spiritual terror concerning evil magic. What appear to be natural actions are actually contrived postures enforced by social and moral mandate.

Most tourists never get out of the relatively affluent region of South Bali, which is both more fertile and more modernized. Wikan did her studies in northern regions, where Western influence is scantier and where there's a good chance that one is actually seeing something at least closely resembling original Balinese culture, values and attitudes.

Negative emotions cause physical discomfort and imbalance in one's personal energy, and also in the energy of people around you. This can lead to illness or demonic possession; the only way to put the energy flows back in balance is to forget what happened, and to stop caring. "What counts," Wikan says, "is to try not to feel" (p. 189).

Anyone who believes that the Balinese are happy art-obsessed spirits living in a relaxed paradise of beauty and splendor should read this book for balance's sake. Most anthropologists who study Bali seem to have focused on the gods, institutions and rituals to the exclusion of the Balinese people's own concepts about themselves, their thoughts, feelings and personal way of handling the vicissitudes of life.

The Real Bali.......2005-10-18

All I can say is that anyone who has any deep understanding of Balinese culture will greatly appreciate this book.

Just read the first 30 pages - that is all you need to know........1999-06-11

This is one of the weakest anthropology books I have ever read. The book starts out fairly strong in the first chapter, describing misconceptions of the the West in viewing Balinese society and explaining the importance of Bright Face for the both the individual and all of society. Wikan should have stopped there. However, she felt the need to repeat herself for several hundred pages in a meandering discussion. My advice: go to the library, read the first 30 pages, then put it back on the shelf.

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific

Average customer rating:

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific - 2nd Revised Edition
Great book, don't expect any captive system info
the best reference ever!
The greatest SPS coral reference at hand
Verons Coral of australia and indo-pacific is by far the beo

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific
J.E.N. Veron
Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0824815041

Book Description

The first reference of its kind, this book represents good biology, well-founded systematics, accessible biogeography, geological history of corals, and one of the finest collections of coral photographs to be found anywhere. Hailed as the single most important reference on reef corals, this book is useful in describing corals in all areas of Oceania and Southeast Asia. It provides a means of identifying almost 1,000 species of coral, a reliable nomenclature, up-to-date information on distribution and abundance, and authoritative notes on structure and biology.

Customer Reviews:

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific - 2nd Revised Edition.......2007-05-16

The first reference of its kind, this book represents good biology, well-founded systematics, accessible biogeography. geologial history of corals that can be traced back over five hundred million years, and one of the finest collections of pictures of corals to be foun anywhere. Hailed as the single most important reference on reef corals, Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific is useful in describing corals in all areas of Oceania and Southeast Asia.

This title received the Australian National Awards Whitley Medal for Best Natural History book in 1988.

About the Author: J.E.N. Veron is one of the most imaginative and productive of contempory coral reef biologists and has been working with corals for more than twenty-five years. He first became interested in coral taxonomy after taking up SCUBA diving as a hobby while teaching general zoology and genetics at the University of North Queensland

Great book, don't expect any captive system info.......2000-08-22

This is a tremendous book that will certainly dominate my coffee table for years to come. It might be useful when referring to various species (e.g. when buying mail-order) but it does not contain any aquarium care information- a task that is best left in another volume. If you are interested in the subject, however, I highly recommend this book.

the best reference ever!.......2000-04-01

This is the greatest coral book ever written! It is a masterpiece and includes some of the best underwater coral photography ever published. It is mostly a pretty version of Dr. Veron's 5 vol scientific journals, and is a little hard to see it's true use in the reef keeping hobby, because it talks about corals strictly out on the wild reef, but if you take the requirements of the animal in the wild and apply it to your home aquarium you can not fail. This book is also the best for identifing all of those mystery stony corals you have in your tank. There is not one stony coral on the reef that this book does not discuss. If you have stony corals or plan to have them in the future then this book is a must have on your list. The price tag is a little high I know, but worth every cent. The great pictures alone make it a great coffee table book and worth the price right there,if you love corals don't pass this book up!

The greatest SPS coral reference at hand.......1999-10-29

Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific is by far the best reference for coral reference on the market today. This book is for the serious Reef Aquarium Hobbiest or Marine Biologist. While this book does not give reference to aquarium conditions, it does provide the reader with a comprehensive review of the major SPS corals not given in any other puiblication that I have found. If you are are an SPS reef aquarium hobbiest. You need this book

Verons Coral of australia and indo-pacific is by far the beo.......1998-03-10

Corals of Australia and Indo-Pacific is the ultimate resource for stony (SPS) Corals I have found to date. I am a reef aquarium hobbiest and I use Verons book almost exclusively to identify species of aquarium coral. The book is also extremely helpful in requard to the taxonomy of the SPS.

Alaska's Seashore Creatures: A Guide to Selected Marine Invertebrates (Alaska Pocket Guide)

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Alaska's Seashore Creatures: A Guide to Selected Marine Invertebrates (Alaska Pocket Guide)

Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0882405160

Book Description

Meet Alaska's fascinating spineless wonders. Contains color photos, illustrations, and details on over 50 marine invertebrates.

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