Maine Books

The Good Life

Scott Nearing, Helen Nearing

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dated, redundant, and inconsistent but a fairly good old book. 3 out of 5 stars.
13 of 23 people found this review helpful.

From what I've been able to piece together Helen and Scott must have been a couple of outcast university professors that were scorned for their anti-establishment (socialist?) teachings. I think they must have been what would later become beatniks (and later hippies).

Throughout their book (actually 2 books) they forecast the social disintegration of the US.

They believe people should only work 4 hours a day and play the rest of the day. To me they actually seem lazy.

They say that when they feel a cold coming on they do as the neighborhood dogs and cats do, they quit eating until they feel fit again. To me, that's a very silly way of treating a cold. When animals quit eating it's because they don't feel like eating. They don't say, "I must be sick so I shouldn't eat." Ridiculous.

They preach about not using animals for food or labor. They also refer to milk as a food not for adults but for baby animals and talk about being vegetarians. Then in one chapter they talk about 3 girls down the road that regularly deliver milk to their house (contrary to their teachings). There is also a photo of them using horses to plow a field and another photo of Helen driving a pair of horses (two more examples of them not following their own teachings) on a snow covered road while she's riding in the wagon or sled (can't tell which since the picture is taken from in front of the horses). ??? Were they hypocrites? Did they eat shrimp cocktail and prime rib on Sunday afternoons?

There is a lot of information that is repeated in the book.

This book is way overrated. It's more of a 'do as I say, not as I do' book. I got very annoyed at the often repeated refences to America's 'disintegrating society'. (Here were are fifty years after the first of the 2 books were written.)

I felt that they may have been frustrated by not being able to establish a large following (as prophets?) so they could create a large commune. Instead, people seemed to come and go from their homesteads.

It seems to be more of a treatise against capitalism and self motivation than for homesteading and self sufficiency. They simply wanted to barely get by. Were they lazy? (People that visited were talked out of working more than 4 hours a day.)

I'm reading it for the 3rd time in 25 years and it is enjoyable to read. There are much better books out there for those considering homesteading. If you are considering homesteading then read some books that are more up to date and don't have such political influences.

This is a fairly well written and somewhat entertaining book (actually 2 books in one) but it's worthless as a reference book for homesteaders.

Editorial Review:

This one volume edition of Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life brings these classics on rural homesteading together. This couple abandoned the city for a rural life with minimal cash and the knowledge of self reliance and good health.

A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Absolutely terrific and important work 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Please disregard the 2 stars in the rating. It is a 5 star book. The system automaticaly put 2 stars and would not let me change it.

I can't say enough about how wonderful this book is and how much I enjoyed reading it. This book would be a wonderful gift for anyone in the medical profession. It is a fascinating account of an amazing woman facing the challenges of life in early Maine as well as the every day facts of life necessary for survival. She contributed immensely to life itself as she was the midwife to hundreds of, if not more, women and the birth of their children.

For myself, I used it as a genealogical tool because that is the area of the country where all of my ancestors came from. It is facinating to know the trials and tribulations as well as the joys of our ancestors.

Priscilla Paul
Memphis

Editorial Review:

Drawing on the diaries of a midwife and healer in eighteenth-century Maine, this intimate history illuminates the medical practices, household economies, religious rivalries, and sexual mores of the New England frontier.

The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean (P.S.)

Trevor Corson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A GREAT book about noble creatures of the deep 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is fantastic; a great read, very informative and a real page-turner. Total E-Z read too. Recommend it in hardcover; you'll want to keep it on your bookshelf forever.

Dad loved it! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My father saw a review of this book and asked for it. He loved it! He's in a nursing home and tells everyone who visits him about this great book and how fascinating it is - he had me buy more to send as gifts to friends and relatives.

Just a common couple 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We are not lovers of lobsters to eat or science wise, they are ok but not an absolute favorite to eat. However, in July we met the authors Mom at Seawall on Acadia National Park in Maine. She told us about her sons book, she was a good salesperson. We are reading it together for a hubby/wife time together - and we are surprised how it is so well written, very interesting for a subject that I wondered if I would even finish two chapters of, but it is engrossing even for those with a medium interest in learning more about Lobsters, Lobstermen, etc. Insightful too.

Editorial Review:

In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the reader onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods

John J. Rowlands

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Cache Lake Country: Life in the North Woods 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I found the book enlightening and informative. Thank you for the opportunity to enjoy and learn from this book.

Paul Schmitt 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A good book but I didn't think it was as easy to read as friends lead me to believe. A tremendous amount of reference material, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Editorial Review:

Over half a century ago, John Rowlands set out by canoe into the wilds of Maine to survey land for a timber company. After paddling alone for several days he came upon the lake of his boyhood dreams. He never left. He named the place Cache Lake because there was stored the best that the north had to offer - timber for a cabin; fish, game and berries to live on; and the peace and contentment he felt he could not live without. This book exemplifies the American notion that what is most worth finding lies far from the tracks of civilization, and that what is most worth doing demands resourcefulness and wit. Here is folklore and philosophy, but most of all wisdom about the woods and the incentiveness and self-reliance they demand. The author explains how to make moccasins, barrel stoves, lean-to-shelters, outdoor bake ovens, sailing canoes, and other useful gadgets.

A Year In The Maine Woods

Bernd Heinrich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Bernd Heinrich does it again 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I've read several of Heinrich's books and have never been disappointed. Some reviewers compare him to Thoreau, favorably or not. While in certain places he does evoke thoughts of Thoreau, that is not what he is trying to do, contrary to what some reviewers seem to think.

As a word-class biologist and naturalist, Heinrich approaches his story of life in the Maine woods from two vantage points. First, as a scientist/naturalist, and then as a long-time resident of the area of Maine he calls home. The two themes are interwoven with a seasonal view of life in his cabin.

Unlike Thoreau, who was an amateur nineteenth century naturalist and literary philosopher, Heinrich has the advantage of being both a keen observer and a trained scientist, albeit one who grew up surrounded by nature before receiving his academic research training as a physiological ecologist. While some might find the detail he presents in places to be too much, those who really wish to learn about combining the powers of observation with scientific insights will be richly rewarded.

I must take exception to the reviewer who termed this book an "ego trip".
Heinrich is hardly parading his vast scientific knowledge for the sake of seeming erudite. The man has garnered numerous scientific and literary kudos, for both his research and nature writing, so I suspect he hardly needs to engage in an "ego trip" by trying to ape Thoreau. In fact, given his vast knowledge of biology, I would say that he strikes a good balance between telling a personal story and presenting scientific facts and insights in the context of his experience.

Having spent a few years in the area of Maine that Heinrich loves and writes about so well, I think that he does a wonderful job capturing both the nature and the lifestyle of rural Maine. If you are the type of person who enjoys taking walks in company of expertise, you will enjoy this book.

Editorial Review:

Escapist fantasies usually involve the open road, but Bernd Heinrich’s dream was to focus on the riches of one small place—a few green acres along Alder Brook just east of the Presidential Mountains. The year begins as he settles into a cabin with no running water and no electricity, built of hand-cut logs he dragged out of the woods with a team of oxen. There, alone except for his pet raven, Jack, he rediscovers the meaning of peace and quiet and harmony with nature—of days spent not filling out forms, but tracking deer, or listening to the sound of a moth’s wings.Throughout this year when “the subtle matters and the spectacular distracts,” Heinrich brings us back to the drama in small things, when life is lived consciously. His story is that of a man rediscovering what it means to be alive.

The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier

Colin Woodard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

More Than Meets the Eye 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

After finishing the first short section, my first thought was that the book was a bit of a lightweight -- at best, a paperback to read while flying across the Atlantic. But when I got to the second section which filled in many of the historical gaps -- particularly the "why's" -- from Elizabethan England to the Pilgrims to the modern era, I realized how interesting this book really was. Anyone who enjoys travelogues will enjoy this book; perhaps you need to have visited Maine at least once or have some connection to the state, but if you do read it, you will learn much more about the history of the western world than the title suggests.

Editorial Review:

This lively book reveals a little known culture that predates the Pilgrims and has remained true to the earliest version of the American Dream: an egalitarian, self-reliant republic. The self-sufficient lobstermen of the Maine coast are models of environmental prudence: at a time when the fishing industry is in crisis, they have conserved the bounty of their waters, even as the once-humble lobster has become a coveted delicacy. How denizens of the coast achieved this balance, even as they withstood assaults from everyone from French raiders to rapacious land speculators, makes for a “stellar informal history ... a primer for conservation and the effects of bad politics” (The Kingston Observer).

Lobster Chronicles, The: Life on a Very Small Island

Linda Greenlaw

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 59 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Declared a triumph by the New York Times Book Review, Linda Greenlaws first book, The Hungry Ocean, appeared on nearly every major bestseller list in the country. Now, taking a break from the swordfishing career that earned her a major role in The Perfect Storm, Greenlaw returns to Isle au Hauta tiny Maine island with a population of 70 year-round residents, 30 of whom are Greenlaws relatives.With a Clancy-esque talent for fascinating technical detail and a Keillor-esque eye for the drama of small-town life, Greenlaw offers her take on everything from rediscovering home, love, and family to island characters and the best way to cook and serve a lobster. But Greenlaw also explores the islands darker side, including a tragic boating accident and a century-old conflict with a neighboring community. Throughout, Greenlaw maintains the straight-shooting, funny, and slightly scrappy style that has won her so many fans, and proves once again that fishermen are still the best storytellers around.

Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Invaluable reference, and well-told to boot 5 out of 5 stars.
65 of 66 people found this review helpful.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain did history a great favor by recording the events that happened on Little Round Top during the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. Thanks to him we have an eyewitness account of the 20th Maine's valiant defense of the left flank of the Union army. Rich with rhetoric, this account is packed with emotion and feeling.

The narrative is very short, only 29 pages, but there are many pictures and an appendix that make it well worth the money. Many well-known histories have drawn on Chamberlain's account of this part of the battle, and Michael Shaara's novel even quotes some of Chamberlain's lines. This primary source is highly recommended for anyone interested in the civil war, not just the die-hard historian.

Up-close and Personal 5 out of 5 stars.
45 of 47 people found this review helpful.

Though at times difficult to read due to the flowery style of Chamberlain's rhetoric, this book is an exciting insight into the thoughts, feelings and experiences of someone who lived through the Battle of Gettysburg. This is more than an account of the battle, this is a window into the emotions and motives of why these men were willing to risk their lives for an ideal.

Rug Hooking In Maine: 1838-1940

Mildred Cole Peladeau

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Ground breaking history of Hooked Rugs of Maine 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book is a serious study of Maine's Rug hooking tradition. It is well researched and the stories flow easily and informatively. Color photos and paper quality is excellent. Worthy addition to any American textile/rug library.

Editorial Review:

This fresh and scholarly look at a century of rug hooking in Maine demonstrates the significant role non-woven rugs have played in American decorative arts. True Waldoboro rugs are explored in detail and the myth of "Acadian" rugs is explained. Edward Sands Frost manufactured preprinted burlap rug patterns in the mid-19th century that spawned competitions across the country. By the 1880s, summer visitors helped organize cottage industries that turned Maine's rug-hooking talents into income producers. The Arts and Crafts movement in America led to new and exciting styles of rug patterns in Maine, and by the early 20th century, artists pushed the craft of rug hooking in to a fine art, with Marguerite Zorach's designs among the prominent examples. This lavishly illustrated book has over 250 color photographs that highlight the extraordinary story of rugs created throughout Maine and eastern Canada, including popular maritime designs by men of the seas.

The Story of Sugarloaf

John Christie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Loafers' Dream 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

" Outstanding ". I grew up at Sugarloaf and my Dad knew all the players in the book, including the writer. I remembered some of the best times of my life when reading this. I gave a copy to my Dad and he wept. He is 92 and wishes he could still ski. It brought back great memories for Dad and my Mother.

part of my family's history 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I've been a sugarloafer since 1964, the year I was born. Though out my life. I have heard the stories of Amos Winter,transporting my Mom and Sisters(filliettaz family) up the access road in old army ambulance. Seasons tickets for a family $60.
Skiing has always been part of my life, now with this book were able to connect both generations of skiers. thank you MR. Christie

Editorial Review:

This is the dramatic story of the development and history of Sugarloaf ski resort from its beginnings as a hand-cleared path to an international ski and golfing resort of world renown. Many colorful people of international prominence are profiled, including Emile Allais, Jean Claude Killy, Billy Kidd, and Les Otten.