The Boater's Weather Guide by Margaret Williams

Weather is an important part of fishing, especially when out on a boat. The Boater's Weather Guide (Margaret Williams, Cornell Maritime Press, ISBN 9780870336249) is a concise and wonderfully illustrated guide for both learning about weather and learning how to predict it when fishing on a boat. Whether inland on a lake in a rowboat or offshore out on the open waters in a pilothouse, weather is an important part of fishing.



Weather: Climate, Temperature, Humidity, and Clouds

The first part of Boater's Weather Guide can be described as a great teaching guide on the fundamentals of weather. Knowing the basics of meteorology and the forces behind weather will help determine and forecast what you think the weather will do. Relative humidity and precipitation are explained, as well as air masses and different kinds of storms. Inside the chapter on clouds, Williams includes a thumbnail view of 17 different types of clouds which are based on the three basic cloud forms: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus.

How Weather Affect Boaters

Wind will have an effect on the ocean by the fact that if there is no wind then there are no waves, and the day will be glassy out on the water. The Beaufort Scale was created by Sir Frances Beaufort in 1805 and it is still used today to look at the surface of the oceans to estimate the strength of the wind. Williams gives the full chart and explanation of this scale, including what the wind speeds and their effects at sea for each number are, which goes from 0 (glassy and flat) to 12 (hard hitting waves and hurricane force winds).

In the book, it states that according to Coast Guard statistics, 63 percent of boating related fatalities are related to weather, so getting a handle on the weather is important such as watching not only the forecasts before you go out but also the tell-tale warning signs when you are out in the water. Among the weather instruments the author talks about and describes are barometers, thermometers, anemometers, wind vanes, and psychrometers.

Book Overview and Chapters

The Boaters Weather Guide is divided into two parts: Forces that Shape Our Weather; and Weather and the Boater. The first part gives an overview on weather forces and explains their relationship to each other. Important topics include: Climate and Weather; Highs and Lows; Heating and Cooling; The Earth's Wind System; and Fronts and Storms. The second part shows how the weather directly relates to boaters of all types, including fishermen and recreational sailors. Chapters include topics such as Handling Heavy Weather; Coastal Patterns; and Weather Planning for the Offshore Voyager.

For those that are into charting weather forecasts, included are examples of different weather logs and explanations of different weather map symbols. All in all, this book makes an excellent reference tool for not only boaters going out in any type of water, but for weather enthusiasts who enjoy tracking and predicting weather trends at home.

Book Information:

• The Boater's Weather Guide by Margaret Williams
• Cornell Maritime Press, a division of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
• ISBN 13: 9780870336249
• Paperback, 160 pages, with black and white photos and illustrated charts.

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher and any opinions are my own.

Recipes for Fish and Seafood

 

Not so much a review as a sharing of a recipe from a small 1920s cookbook. Recipes for Fish and Seafood was published in 1927 by the United States Fisheries Association. Read the whale steak recipe on my Foodie Friday blog entry on Old School Pastry.

Get Started Series: Baking

There are quite a few beginning baking books new but the Get Started series by Doring Kindersly takes the approach of starting small and ending big. Get Started: Baking begins with this note:

Build Your Course: This book is divided into broad sections that allow you to build a three-stage course in baking. All areas are covered, from quick cakes to artisan breads, with recipes that increase in difficulty to develop your skill set and offer new challenges as you grow in confidence and experience.

Read the full review of Get Started: Baking, and see examples of how the recipes are laid out on the Pastry Sampler blog.

 

Get Started Series - Preserving

Preserving foods is more than keeping them in storage in a way that prevents spoilage; it is an art form, too. Putting the two together can be a rewarding experience in more than ways than one. Get Started: Preserving is an excellent guide to learn the basics of preserving foods and provides different recipes encouraging the reader to experiment with something new.


Read the full review for Get Started: Preserving on my cookbook blog, The Cookbook Papers.

Gritty Romance: White Trash Beautiful

This isn't a fluffy fairy tale read about one lucky girl meeting an up-and-coming rock star. Instead it is a hard read with genuine hurt and forgiveness.

Cass is a beautiful young girl who is the epitome of white trash, and is involved in a cycle of abuse she can't seem to end.

Read the full review of White Trash Beautiful on my romance book blog.

The Marriage Mistake (Marriage to a Billionaire #3) by Jennifer Probst

The Marriage Mistake is number three in the 'Marriage to a Billionaire' series by Jennifer Probst, and it is an entertaining read. After graduating college and earning her MBA in Italy she comes to America to learn the ropes at her family's vast bakery empire, and Max, her crush since childhood, is appointed as her mentor. Only Max doesn't recognize Carina - instead of a quiet, shy girl, a confident and overtly sexy woman is with him instead. With Carina protected her whole life and allowed no real contact with men, she is a walking dichotomy of sex and innocence.

Read the full review for The Marriage Mistake on Hot Enough Books, my romance book blog.

Good Housekeeping Grilling, and a Salad Recipe to Try

Good Housekeeping Grilling covers all the basics to grilling, including purchasing one for the first time. A full explanation and description of the different types of grills are included in the foreword: gas grills, charcoal grills, and electric grills. Safety is always paramount when fire is involved, and the book has a good section on the basics of starting a fire and grilling rules for safety.


Read my review on The Cookbook Papers, and try the recipe for Grilled Shrimp, Corn, and Tomato Salad from the book.

Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love; Recipe for Sea Bass with Soy Glaze

Best-selling author Cristina Ferrare brings to life simple recipes in a colorful way in her book, Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love. Her cooking show on the Oprah Winfrey Network by the same name features special guests, giving viewers a glimpse of simple entertaining and home cooking, celebrity style. More than 150 recipes are listed in the cookbook, and many are featured together with color photographs of the finished product.



Read the full review on my Cookbook Papers cookbook blog, as well as try the recipe for Sea Bass with Soy Glaze and Cucumber Salsa.

Cooking Mexican: How to Cook with Authentic Mexican Recipes

Cooking Mexican is a short and simple cookbook with easy to recreate Mexican recipes. It begins with a very brief history of Mexican cooking, and the flavors and spices that make up much of the cuisine. It is a very short read focusing on classics to add to your recipe box: Beef Enchiladas, Pico De Gallo, Steak Tacos, etc.

Read the full review on The Cookbook Papers.

The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook

The Old Sturbridge Village Cookbook has many old-time recipes that are based on classics from historical cookbooks such as The American Frugal Housewife, by Lydia Maria Child (1829), American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons (1796), and A New System of Domestic Cookery, by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell (1807), among many others.
Read the full review on The Cookbook Papers.

Awakened by Brenda K. Davies

Came across this as a freebie, and was new to this author. Easy story to read although somewhat predictable, but had a better than average plot to others of this genre. I liked Liam and his friends were likable, too.  Sera cries a lot, and tends to repeat herself. I don't know why but the term mousy comes to mind even though she wasn't overly timid. The whole plot revolves around the notion of one's true love and soul mates (paranormal). 


Read the full review on Hot Enough Books.

California Guide: Great Saltwater Fishing

If you're looking to go saltwater fishing in California, Ray Rychnovsky's book, California Guide: Great Saltwater Fishing, will help you out with both locations to fish at and what to fish for.


There are 15 chapters in the book besides the introduction: Great Fishing; Best Fishing Each Month; Best of the Best (Northern California, Southern California, Statewide); Redwood Coast; North Coast; Great Fishing Off San Francisco; San Francisco Bays; Monterey Bay Area; Central Coast; Santa Barbara and Channel Islands; Los Angeles Area; South of Los Angeles; Long-Range Fishing; Dozens of Great Game Fish; and Keeping and Cooking Your Catch.

Read the full review on Have Fish Will Cook.

Dessert Designer: Kids Baking and Dessert Cookbook Geared for Grades 3 to 9

Dessert Designer by Dana Meachen Rau is a fun, simplified baking book that is easy on the kids.

Bright pictures with easy-to-execute designs, the recipes call for little actual baking and focus on the decorating. Each chapter works on a different subject: Cupcakes; Cookies; Candies; and Cakes. This book focuses on ready-made purchased commercial items or plain cupcakes and cookies that are decorated. Examples of recipes include themed cupcakes, Oreo-style cookie projects, and quick candy projects that require no stove-top cooking - just putting different candies together.

Read the full review here, and try three free projects shared from the publisher.


 

Isle of Shadows by Tracy L. Higley

Book Trailer:

Enslaved in a World of Money and Power, Tessa Dares to be Free. Raised as courtesan to wealthy and powerful men, Tessa of Delos serves at the whim of her current patron, the politician Glaucus. After ten years with him, Tessa has abandoned all desire for freedom or love, choosing instead to lock her heart away.

But when Glaucus meets a violent death in his own home, Tessa grasps at a fragile hope. Only she knows of his death. If she can keep it a secret long enough, she can escape.

Tessa throws herself on the mercy of the Greek god Helios, but finds instead unlikely allies in Nikos, a Greek slave, and Simeon, Glaucus’s Jewish head servant. As Simeon introduces her to a God unlike any she has ever known and Nikos begins to stir feelings she had thought long dead, Tessa fights to keep her heart protected.

As an assassination plot comes to light, Tessa must battle for her own freedom—and for those to whom she has begun to open her heart—as forces collide that shatter the island’s peace.

Amazon - GoodReads

I've always loved historical fiction, and Tracy L. Higley did a fine job of setting the reader right in the middle of Ancient Greece during the period between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. And while it is marketed as Christian fiction, it didn't come over that way for me. The main character is a courtesan and she tries to hide the death of her current lover. Because of the crossover elements, it has potential to reach a much broader audience.

Tessa is both strong and, to me, fragile. She was raised to be in the profession she was in, and her beauty made it easy to accept it. Isle of Shadows had action from the beginning all the way to the end and the fight between two brothers; one who loved her and one who would do anything to completely possess her.

The imagery of the time period was great and the way Higley interwoven suspense with historical light romance was satisfying. It was fast paced and I look forward to more of her work.

Book Info:

• Isle of Shadows by Tracy L. Higley 
• Thomas Nelson; 2012
• ISBN: 9781401687441
• Paperback and ebook formats

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher and any opinions are my own.

Brilliant Deduction: The Story of Real-Live Detectives by Matt Kuhns

Book Trailer:

Everyone can name a famous detective or two. Sam Spade, Hercule Poirot, Columbo; and, of course, the Baker Street gentleman whose renown surpasses all the others. But all of the familiar great detectives are fictional. What about the real world? Haven’t any real-life detectives ever demonstrated a little greatness of their own?

Indeed they have. Brilliant Deduction: The Story of Real-Life Great Detectives reintroduces these figures whose lives were every bit as remarkable as the literary figures who have supplanted them. The forty-niner who accidentally detoured into a half-century career as a crime solver; the famous London P.I. who dazzled Europe with his genius for mysteries, but may have been the biggest mystery of all, himself. These men and their peers once filled headlines with their exploits, winning tributes and sometimes stirring controversy, but fascinating the public either way.

Yet today, nearly all of history’s real great detectives are forgotten, even as crime drama and mystery stories remain as popular as ever. The contrast is something of a mystery, itself. Brilliant Deduction summons witnesses, reviews the evidence and presents its theory of the case, all in entertaining style and witty, lively language. The first broad study of famous real-life detectives in decades, Brilliant Deduction should instantly find favor with fans of mysteries, true crime, and any thoughtfully written nonfiction.

Amazon - GoodReads

They say truth is always stranger than fiction, and it is also usually more interesting, too. The fictional characters Sherlock Holmes and Poirot are both engaging detectives with memorable stories. But they are all fictional and nearly pale in comparison with the lives of historical detectives. Brilliant Deduction by Matt Kuhns explores the real life detectives in history who have made such an impact on the field of investigation.

Kuhns explores the lives of these historical detectives: Eugène François Vidocq; Jonathan Whicher; The Pinkertons men; Ignatius "Paddington" Pollaky; Isaiah Lees; William Burns; and Ellis Parker. The different biographies span nearly two centuries, and it is fascinating to learn about how they went about their work, and why solving crimes became so vital to them.

Their lives are at times tragic and full of obstacles but each had an instinctive and deep desire to solve mysteries. They are as interesting as any fictional character you will read about. Knowing these individuals made the history books and inspired others makes them even more engaging.

A great read, for both mystery and history buffs as Brilliant Deduction combines the two. It is highly recommended for those that think those fictional characters are the most dynamic detectives around. And I'll think about the generic word 'Pinkerton' a little differently when I watch another Western. I now know who the real men were.

Book Info:

• Brilliant Deduction: The Story of Real-Live Detectives by Matt Kuhns
• Lyon Hall Press; 2012
• ISBN13: 9780988250529

Author Info:

• About the Author: Matt Kuhns

Disclosure: This book was provided by the author and any opinions are my own.