Every spring, paddlers from around the world migrate to eastern North America in pursuit of the massive early season flows. b.EAST follows some of the most committed and accomplished on this journey. With challenging, awe inspiring whitewater, b.EAST takes you on a though provoking ride that offers a window into the soul of the sport.

Known internationally as "the Bible of canoe building," Canoecraft is back, and it's bigger and better than ever. The best-selling how-to guide has been completely revised and expanded, and master canoe builder Ted Moores again infuses the pages with the experience and wisdom acquired over almost three decades. His step-by-step instructions, generously illustrated with new photographs and diagrams and incorporated into an accessible fresh design, will allow even the beginner to create a reasonably priced classic. North America's leading builder of woodstrip/epoxy canoes, Moores is a longtime teacher of wooden-boat construction as well. With students who have ranged in age from 11 to 87, Moores has discovered that all have been motivated by the same dream: to build something beautiful and functional.

Canoecraft is the road map to that dream. In it, Moores offers comprehensive instructions for the first-time builder and, with the second-time builder in mind, includes a larger variety of canoe plans -- five of which are brand-new. In this edition, each plan is presented as a traditional table of offsets. Moores has also added a series of builder's tips and new techniques and an entire chapter on carving a paddle, the perfect accompaniment to your handcrafted canoe. His message is straightforward: When good materials are used and simple steps performed with care, professional results are sure to follow.

Whether your goal is to build a general-purpose recreational canoe, an efficient modern tripping canoe or a full-decked fast-cruising canoe with walnut veneer, Canoecraft can help you make it happen.

#1 New Release in Alcoholism and Christian Self-Help Memoir and Portrait of a Family at Its Worst and BestSome memoirs shock. Some entertain. Some take us places we're afraid to go. A rare few move us. Once in a blue moon, a book does it all. This is Risking the Rapids. Dysfunctional family. Risking the Rapids opens with the shocking death of O'Garden's older brother, which prompts her and other relatives to seek closure on a journey through the remotest spot in Montana. Described genially as a river "float", a harrowing journey unfolds. This wilderness trip is contrasted with O'Garden's account of growing up with her six siblings in a clashing Catholic family. Alcoholic father, mean mother, Catholic guilt. WCCO-TV personality Don O'Brien was well-known in the Twin Cities and in Minnesota. Whether forecasting weather and trading wisecracks with the anchor on the nightly news, pitching for sponsors, or hosting a Saturday night movie, he was a man people trusted. In private, Don O'Brien's family life was a far cry from what his fans saw on TV. Little by little we see the corrosion: nightly martinis shared with his wife Betty, an undemonstrative and icy-hearted mother. The neglect. The poisoning of self-esteem. The rigidity demanded by the Catholic church. Competition. Cruelty. All packed into ordinary days and nights as a sensitive girl comes of age. Anxiety and danger. The children vary in their response to the profound anxiety sown in the offspring of alcoholics. One brother bites his fingers to gangrene. One relentlessly bullies the author, who begins overeating compulsively. One severs all ties with the family. Danger mounts as well on the Montana raft trip, when unusual river conditions swell and speed the waters. Both stories build with escalating intensity to excruciating climaxes. If you read and liked books such as The Liars' Club, The Wounded Heart, Coming Clean, Change Me into Zeus's Daughter, or Remember Me As Loving You, you will want to read Risking the Rapids.

A recreational canoeman in his native Texas, Rick Sparkman thought he knew all about the sport when he moved to Nova Scotia in 1981. The swift, cold rivers and streams of his new home adjusted his thinking in the most personal way: he got dumped. That's when he started learning to paddle in earnest. Woodlands Canoeing explains the fundamentals of recreational canoeing in the woods of the Maritimes, New England, and anywhere else where the waterways are small, the water is swift and at times shallow, and canoeing varies with the seasons. It's a guide to safe, comfortable recreation for those who already canoe a little and want to know more, as well as for people experienced in canoeing on lakes or on the more predictable rivers described in other canoeing books. Woodlands Canoeing outlines the advantages of various kinds of equipment and describes canoeing and camping techniques in words, photos, and drawings, mixing practical information with anecdotes drawn from Sparkman's years of family canoeing. Throughout, Sparkman concentrates on having fun, even when the expected summer shower becomes the tail of a hurricane or the canoe has to be inched over rocky shallows where only a few days earlier there was plenty of water. Keeping warm, dry, and well fed are crucial to Sparkman's pleasure, and Woodlands Canoeing contains hints for packing, instructions for making camp, and recipes for delicious and satisfying meals. Because of the region's volatile climate and variable water conditions, Sparkman has learned how to canoe delightfully in all weathers, and in Woodlands Canoeing he passes his hard-won knowledge along. An enthusiastic winter canoeist, he even explains how to achieve this feat safely and -- believe it or not -- in comfort.