Books for/about - mexico

Publisher: Knopf
Authors: Scott Smith

ISBN: 1400043875
List Price: $24.95
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Summary: the horror, the horror, the horror
This is perhaps one of the worst books I have read in the last few years. Gentle readers it is possible the stench from this tome could extend to this review.

I like a good horror story and can suspend belief on many things while enjoying a good tale. With this Piece though, from page one it was implausible and predictable. The most maddening thing was that there was no hint of resolution of the of where these flesh eating plants came from and why they have not taken over all of Mexico by now. Likewise the ruins of the title are never explained and apparently never found and what kind of idiots would wander out into the jungle with little water and a several bottles of tequila. They are billed as recent college graduates but come off as refugees from "Girls Gone Wild".

It sounds like the writer has never seen the inside of a jungle, if he would have at least read Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" or "The Darkest Jungle" by Todd Balf he might have been able to be a little more descriptive.

I read two glowing reviews of this book in two days so I felt I could not go wrong, luckily I purchased it at a deep discount, but I say save your money and buy a hammer and use it to hit yourself in the head which will give you more pleasure than reading "The Ruins".

Bill W.

Summary: Ridiculous
The opening chapters seemed promising. A group of young people head into the jungle for what they think will be a simple day trip to find a missing traveler. Knowing how the last "simple plan" worked out I settled in for what I thought would be a great read. The villain of the story is ridiculous. As more and more of the vine's evil capabilities are revealed the sillier they seemed to get. Since no one can communicate with the natives - including the author - the reader is never given any background of the vine, the ruins or the people. It's too bad the author felt the need to cross into the supernatural realm - it ruined a perfectly good story.

Summary: creepy....but not a good book
Years ago, I read "A Simple Plan" which is one of the best books I have ever read. I wondered what happened to Scott Smith and when I was told he had a new book coming out I couldn't wait to get it assuring myself he was going to write another great book.....I was very wrong.

I understood that it would be a scary book, but after the first 30 to 40 pages I found myself completely apathetic to the characters and the plot of the book. A bunch of young adults head into the Mayan ruins to find someone's brother (they barely even know the person whose brother is lost which makes the plot even sillier...why wander into a jungle in the Mayan regions to look for someone you don't know!?) I won't spoil it for anyone, but the plot gets creepier, and I found myself disinterested. The evil "thing" was silly and I just couldn't believe that this was getting great reviews from Stephen King and other writers and critics. It's an awful book. It's not scary....it's just weird and when the book ends I didn't care about anyone in the book nor how they'd meet their fates.

Skip this book. It's just not worth the time.

Summary:

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In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Authors: Nathaniel Philbrick

ISBN: 0141001828
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Summary: Geat History Great Story
Philbrick studiously relays an obviously well-researched tale of the Whale Ship Essex. This story in the 1800s was an inspiration for Melville to write Moby Dick. I think he (Philbrick) does a great job of finding the right balance of historical perspective, biography of those involved, technical aspects of the whaling business, and the human interst of the tale itself. It is an enlightening read which becomes a real page turner. I read this book and Da Vinci Code in the same summer. This book is better. It is far more interesting and held my interest and never let go which could in par be because I find tales of real life to be always more inspiring/interesting than fiction.

Summary: Philbrick makes fact read like fiction.
My first introduction to Nathaniel Philbrick was this particular book, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, which I bought over three years ago and kept it in my "to be read soon" stack. After hearing the recent reviews of Philbrick's latest, MAYFLOWER, also in my "stack," I pulled out IN THE HEART OF THE SEA and decided to read it. To say that I felt idiotic for not reading it sooner would be an understatement.

Many authors of factual-based books, regardless genre, don't have the touch to make non-fiction readable. (I noted with a chuckle the high school/college student who reviewed HEART OF THE SEA, and indicated how boring and dry it was...well, it was a class requirement, so of course it is boring and dry.) My opinion is diametrically opposed. There are a few authors that bring non-fiction to life: Roger Lowenstein (in business), Kurt Eichenwald (in business tales), David McCullough (in history), and, of course, the late Stephen Ambrose (in history). Philbrick can now be added to that list. While he doesn't present presumed dialogue like Eichenwald, Philbrick brings the story to life with titillating detail and gusto.

HEART OF THE SEA introduces readers to the island of Nantucket in the early 1800s, where whaling was the primary, if not only, industry of any import to the islanders. At that time in history, Nantucket was considered the whaling "capital." Philbrick introduces the readers to the customs of whaleships, the ranks of the seamen, and the incredible journeys a typical whaleship made. Each journey, with little variation, took the seamen from their Nantucket familes for periods as long as three years. Upon return, they might only be with their families for a few months before the next voyage. However, given the dire need for oil provided by the sperm whale, and the riches it brought on the open market, this was a standard and fully accepted custom, not only by the seamen, but their families as well.

The story within the story provided the basis for one of the great works of literature of all time; Melville's MOBY DICK. Philbrick indicates that Melville was ardent, and somewhat transfixed, by the story of the Essex, and its ulimate plight. Of course, MOBY DICK is a work of fiction, but it is centered in fact...that being the tale of the Essex.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA revolves around the whaleship Essex, which set sail for the last time in 1819 in search of sperm whales. Now, think about this: the whale hunt was to take place in the Pacific. The Essex had to sail from Nantucket (think Boston) in the Atlantic, around Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America), and then back north to the whaling grounds of the Pacific. No wonder these voyages took years! The Essex had a number of "events" occur before making it to the South Pacific, which, in hindsight, should have given the crew a hint that this, indeed, could be an ill-fated voyage. After having some decent luck in their search for whales on their way to the whaling grounds, an extraordinary and unprecedented event took place while the Essex's latitude was approximately the Equator. The Essex was rammed by an eighty-five foot sperm whale, twice, which sent the 228-ton whaleship to it's death in the Pacific. The crew, numbering 20, took the three available lifeboats, called whaleboats, and began pondering how they were going to survive, literally, in the middle of the Pacific, thousands of miles from any known civilization. While the crew was able to save some food and fresh water prior to the Essex going under, most knew it wasn't enough to make it. Their ultimate journey from the death of the Essex to rescue was filled with hope, dispair, and human behavior none of the seamen thought they'd ever consider or engage in. This journey is heartwrenching and fantastic.

Philbrick has put together an incredibly vivid tale bringing to life the tibulations facing each of the seamen of the Essex. Philbrick has given enough, but not too much, information on whaling, sperm whales, 19th century industry, and the culture of a seamen and whaleships to give the reader a firm grasp of the time without becoming inudated with minutiae. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is an outstanding effort by a very talented author.

Summary: It's a "Can't put it down" book
Amazing account of the whaleship 'Essex' . Also an interesting history of the whaling industry itself. Hard to put this one down, though, so make sure you've got your life caught up before you start reading!

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	Mexican Everyday (Recipes Featured on Season 4 of the PBS-TV series "Mexico One Plate at a Time") Publisher: W. W. Norton Authors: Rick Bayless Deann Groen Bayless
ISBN: 039306154X List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $18.87 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: He taught me how to cook I love this guy, he taught me everything I need to know about cooking. My husband is hispanic and he says my mexican food is better than some of his family members, especially my salsas. Rick is great and I love his TV show on pbs-- his book has great authenic recipes that everyone will love. Summary: Healthy, fast and varied James Beard Award-winner Bayless approaches everyday cooking with two goals - easy preparation and nutritional balance, with an emphasis on one-dish meals. He omits complex traditional moles except for a simpler Oaxacan yellow made with masa harina and tomatoes and he frontloads the book with salads and sides, like Green Bean Salad with Red Onion and a salsa dressing or a Sweet Potato Salad with Caramelized Onions and a red chile vinaigrette. He follows this with main dish salads and soups in which avocado, lime and tomato make frequent appearances along with smaller amounts of chicken, beef or sausage. And chilies, of course. Several classic salsas - tomato, tomatillo, chipotle - preface quick meals from the grill, which include Grilled Fish in Tangy Yucatecan Achiote with Green Beans and Roasted Tomato Salsa, or Grilled Pork Adobo with Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Guajillo Salsa. Of course there's a tortilla-based chapter (Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms, Seafood Salad Tacos with Tomato, Radish and Habanero) and a few desserts (Skillet Fruit Crisp). Meat, Seafood and Poultry are grouped together and more often than not the dishes include vegetables and rice, potato or beans, continuing the one-dish theme. Tomatillo Pork Braise with Pickled Chiles, or Red Chile Chicken and Rice with Black Beans, or Jalapeno-Baked Fish with Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes require little, if any, accompaniment. "Riffs" at the end of each recipe provide preparation tips, variations and suggested embellishments, along the line of Mark Bittman's "when you have more time" feature. Luscious color photos include ingredients, techniques and finished dishes. The recipes are bursting with bold flavor and while many home cooks won't make the "30 minutes" goal, the elimination of extra side dishes saves a lot of time and organizing. --Portsmouth Herald Summary: Bringing Mexican flavors alive for a wide audience Rick Bayless created and cooked at a pair of Chicago's long-running Mexican restaurants, and was purveyor of the multi-million dollar Frontera Foods: here his detailed knowledge and experience of the cuisine lends to Mexican Everyday, which shows how to present flavorful cuisine. Recipes are featured on the new and fourth season of the PBS series 'Mexico One Plate at a Time' and bring to life the flavors to be found in a daily Mexican kitchen. From a spicy, smoky Chorizo Dressing to Rustic Roasted Tomato Salsa and Quick Cowboy Beans, Bayless provides gorgeous color photos to supplement his step- by-step easy instructions, bringing Mexican flavors alive for a wide audience. Summary:

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Mexico: The Beautiful Cookbook (Beautiful Cookbook)

Publisher: Beautiful Cookbooks
Authors: Susanna Palazuelos

ISBN: 000215949X
List Price: $55.00
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Summary: Fantastic
"Mexico, The Beautiful Cookbook" not only is a wonderful cookbook filled with authentic recipes, but also a gorgeous coffee table book showing the beautiful country of Mexico.

I received this book as a gift for my birthday several years ago. I was very excited as I am very interested in other cultures, languages and food. I was even more thrilled when my husband's stepmother (Mexican descent) told me that she hadn't seen these recipes since her grandmother made them when she was a little girl!

Each recipe is easy-to-follow. There is also a guide in the back describing unusual ingredients. With some thought, you can make suitable substitutions for those ingredients. If not, the book will have you pining to make that jump for a vacation to Mexico!

Mexican food lovers will love this book.

Summary: Gift from a cookbook swap
I received this book as a gift from a friend in a cooking club. The recipes are simplified, and look wonderful. The pictures are gorgeous and I couldn't thank my friend enough for her wonderful gift. This is an awesome cookbook, you will love it.

Summary: This is Real Mexican Food
I had many Mexican students in my ESL classes, and my boyfriend is Mexican. I have an extensive Mexican cookbook collection, personally collected recipes, and this is the book I go to over and over. The recipes are pertty easy for anyone who likes real home cooking; you may need to go to a Mexican store to find the banana leaves,epazote,chilis, etc. called for. But this food is like being invited to eat with a Mexican family.It has a wonderful variety ofcommon Mexican cooking methods and dishes. And what it calls regional are authentic; for example, when I visited Veracruz, I was served fish soup by different families and was a little upset I never got the recipes; this book pretty well duplicated the experience for me. The recipes are 100% authentic; you will not be disappointed. I have the softcover version and am going to buy the hardcover just to keep out for the pictures and keep my softcover for using in the kitchen. It's a good cookbook whether you are just starting out or are looking for something a little different for your Mexican repetoir. I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook!!!

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The Power and the Glory (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

Publisher: Penguin Classics
Authors: Graham Greene John Updike

ISBN: 0142437301
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Summary: Another winner from Greene
Like another reviewer mentioned, I have only read a couple of Greene's books, but his stories and style are growing on me. I picked this one up second-hand, and was a bit worried about the subject. I am not a religious man, and thought that the story might be a bit preachy -- I need not have worried. It is an excellent story with plenty of thinking, reflecting, and analyzing along the way. The characters captured my attention and made the book a quick read despite the serious nature of the test. Plenty of smiles and tears, well written, and I was happy to pass my copy to a friend with a reccomendation to read away.

Summary: A poweful exploration of human frailty
Great fiction offers readers windows into the shortcomings of humanity and in this venture, Graham Greene stands as one of the 20th century's great exemplars. Yet of this profile author's work, The Power and the Glory stands out for its excellence.

A convert to Catholicism, Greene wrote a number of novels in which his faith played a central role. However, it is a testament to his insight that he saw religion not as a path to human perfection, but rather a way to understand and accept human frailty. The Power and the Glory follows an unnamed "Whiskey Priest," in a southern Mexican state following the revolution. Catholic practice is outlawed. Priests must either marry or face a firing squad. The protagonist, a drunkard and wallower in self pity, flees from the authorities, all the while musing about the absurdity that if they catch him he will likely be canonized a martyr.

The nemesis to this flawed priest, a patriotic zealous lieutenant who sees faith as an instrument of persecution, also stands out as a character both complex and compelling. To his great credit, Greene never offers pat resolutions or easy answers. Rather readers must face grim reality and understand that man's state remains one of perpetual imperfection.

Summary: Powerful, Glorious
First published in England in 1940, The Power and the Glory deserves its reputation as one of the great novels of the twentieth century. It comes close to being a perfectly realized work of art.

An unnamed priest is on the run in a revolutionary Mexican state that has outlawed the Catholic religion. All the other priests have fled, been shot, or forced to renounce their faith. The last practicing priest is hardly an exemplar of the breed; he's overly fond of brandy, and has fathered a daughter by a woman from his last parish. Feverish, shabby, and scared for his life, he forces himself to hear confession and dole out the host to the spiritually ravenous peasants he encounters in his wanderings.

As the priest wanders the state, he experiences a stripping away of his past identity. First to go are his dignity and social standing as a pampered parish priest. He misplaces his bible and over time loses the other ritual paraphernalia of his vocation. His shoes, pants and shirts wear out. He's constantly hungry, at one point fighting a crippled dog for a bone with a little meat left on it. Because his very presence brings danger to the villagers he's trying to serve, he can no longer take pride in the high price he pays for being God's remaining messenger. He realizes that martyrs aren't made from men like him. In the end, even the hope of final absolution and God's mercy are closed to him. Greene forces us to consider the following question: if you take away all that normally props up the sense of self, what's left that sustains us?

What the priest receives at his lowest points are the twin gifts of freedom and compassion. Locked in a crowded jail cell (in one of the great scenes in English literature), he realizes that he has nothing left to lose. The dogma he had been clinging to melts away, and his heart swells with compassion for the undesirables who surround him. Without illusion, he sees the particulars of his surroundings with new clarity. And he realizes that "when you visualized a man or woman carefully, you could always begin to feel pity." The fallen priest does what Jesus did: he goes so deeply into his humanity that he transcends it. Through suffering, he achieves in his fallen state the miracle and the mystery that eluded him when he adhered to the strict teachings of his faith.

The priest's nemesis is a soldier who is tasked to track him down. This unnamed Lieutenant feels a fierce, abstract love for his countrymen, even though he's willing to take and shoot hostages from the villages he suspects of sheltering the priest. The Lieutenant is determined to stamp out all vestiges of Catholicism in the state because he sees the church as complicit with the large landowners in oppressing his poor countrymen. He wants to give them real bread, and is enraged by their perverse insistence on receiving the ritual host that symbolizes the body of Christ. He's an intriguing character, a man filled with love that's fueled by hate. By the end of the book he begins to understand that even if he achieves his goals in furthering the revolution, personal peace will elude him.

By the evidence of his writing, Graham Greene was extraordinarily clear-eyed about humanity and decidedly secular in his personal behavior. Why was he obsessed with the rigid dogma of Catholicism, to which he converted as a young man, and why do so many of his major novels deal with worldly men tormented by their religious faith? His novels and autobiography provide some clues. Greene seemed to view life as a dark and painful progression - one reason he wrote with such insightful particularity about rural Mexico. He used Catholicism the way people use Elavil, Paxil or Zoloft, to keep at bay the despair that comes from feeling the human condition too intensely. At the social level, he distrusted man's ability, absent God, to make clear the human mystery and to relieve the sources of human suffering. He would have agreed with Kant that "out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made, no straight thing can be built."

His faith helped him as a writer as well, providing a counterpoint to his keen reporter's eye and elevating the dilemmas of his characters to a higher moral plane. Catholicism, used as the argument for faith in the universal struggle between faith and unbelief, put a tension and a tensile strength into Greene's novels that would have been missing otherwise. In some of his other Catholic-themed novels (A Burnt-Out Case, The Heart of the Matter, the End of the Affair), the tension between faith and unbelief sometimes feels grafted on to the plot. In the Power and the Glory, these warring elements are beautifully, seamlessly fused in the person of the priest and the battered Mexican state through which he wanders. Which is, perhaps, the major reason this book is considered his masterpiece.

Although Greene needed faith, he needed even more to reveal the truth of the world as he saw it, which is why he didn't use his gifts to become a great Catholic apologist, becoming instead one of the greatest English-speaking novelists.

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	Rand McNally 2006 The Road Atlas & Travel Guide: U.S. / Canada / Mexico (Rand Mcnally Road Atlas and Travel Guide: United States, Canada, Mexico) Publisher: Rand McNally & Company Authors: Rand McNally and Company
ISBN: 0528957988 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $15.72 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 4 Reviews: Summary: Well done but not as good as in the past This is better than the lower cost Rand McNally Atlas. What we didn't like is that in prior years, their was more coverage of sites of interest in each state. Now, there are just some suggested regional tours in the front. The book itself is of high quality and easy to read and use. Summary: Spiral-bindings make all the difference! This is a road atlas designed for use while actually in a car. The spiral-binding is a must for ease-of-use. And, Rand McNally isn't one of the biggest names in map-making for nothing. An excellent product. Summary: Rand McNally 2005 Road Atlas and Travel Guide: United States, Canada, & Mexico Excellent, easy to use. I don't have to hold it open to view a page since it can be folded over. Makes it much easier to read while in a vehicle. Summary:

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The Hummingbird's Daughter

Publisher: Back Bay Books
Authors: Luis Alberto Urrea

ISBN: 0316154520
List Price: $14.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Ran the Gamut of Emotions From A to Z
I would have to place this novel among my top 10 favorites; definitely toward the top of my list.

Urrea provides a great spiritual message that often left me feeling serene and content. The novel excites, entertains, saddens, frightens, but most of all, made me laugh. Given the deep content of the story, the author was also excellent at finding the humor in the most unhumorous situations, making sure that I never took the characters too seriously and reminding me that even the most amazing people are simply human.

Summary: Superb Story Telling
Urrea presents a gripping, humorous, and fluid story. Many of his characters are superbly realized. Thomas Urrea, for example, seems as if he could have appeared in one of Marquez's works. Yet, some of Urrea's characters do not seem fully realized, and some of the historical details seem tacked on.

Summary: Great summer read
We read the book in a book club. All of us gave it 5 stars. Reminded us too of Llosa, but it is a sweeter story. We talked about the book for hours and read our favorite parts from it: stunning prose. The conversations seem very real, and very useful to get a picture of the characters. Both genders are painted very intensely in this book, which made for a wonderful balance. Please read.....

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Woodall's North American Campground Directory, 2006 (Woodall's North American Campground Directory)

Publisher: Woodall's Publications Corp.
Authors: Woodall Publishing Corp.

ISBN: 076273941X
List Price: $23.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Woodall's NA Campground Directory has got it all
The directory is great. You can find all the campgrounds in the area by looking up the city name. It tells you all the facilities available at the campground. You can find the phone number, web site information...anything that you need in order to make reservations.

Summary: campground directory
this is a very helpful directory. we do a lot of camping and it will be very helpful as to choosing what camp site we want to go to.

Summary: It's Just A Tool ...
Highly informative but far from comprehensive. Does not include information on many National Forest and State Park campgrounds. Ratings do not necessarily correspond to "desireability" (which is in the eye of the beholder). Best advice -- use for general information, but check things out for yourself and don't be afraid to go on down the road to a park that may not even be listed.

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