Ann Sutton (1)

These are set up very much like the other Audobon guides, but are habitat-based instead of specifically plant guides, with the result that their plant sections (like all their other sections) have to leave a lot out for length. This magnifies all the problems with a photo-based, color-organized book, and they have almost entirely very showy species, and mostly species that are specific to the region the guide covers. (Also, looking at the different ways the appearance-based system has to be twisted for different kinds of creatures means that switching from plants to insects to birds requires learning a whole new system.) I mostly throw them in the car for long-distance road trips where I'm trying to minimize the number of guides I carry (which is kind of silly, because they're bricks and I could probably pack my entire collection of Golden Guides with less space.) They are pretty useful for writing, though, if I want a quick check as to what sorts of things I might be able to throw in for local color.… (more)