The basic reference book every cottage owner needs.

The Cottage Bible is a compendium of information -- a savvy how-to book, an essential collection of trouble-shooting and problem-solving tips, a reliable guide to all manner of flora and fauna, and an indispensable manual for getting the most out of your home-away-from-home.

Gerry Mackie and Laura Elise Taylor offer valuable information and welcome advice on the following topics:

• Buying a cottage
• Weather prediction
• Lake health and water quality
• Shoreline erosion
• PH and acid rain
• Swimming essentials
• Maintenance tips for a safe well
• Aquatic organisms
• Septic systems
• Fishing essentials
• Building a dock
• Living with wildlife
• Light, heat and power
• Closing the cottage
• Building a sauna
• Winterizing boats and motors
• Boating essentials
• Ice safety
• Rafts
• Repairing burst pipes.

Packed with detailed illustrations and chock full of everything a cottage owner needs to know, The Cottage Bible is an essential year-round reference.

 

Gerry Mackie and Laura Elise Taylor

Gerry Mackie's profile page

Laura Taylor's profile page

An encyclopedia of facts and fancies for those lucky souls who own cottages.

Star Phoenix (Saskatoon)

This 360-page reference book is one that every cottage owner can use.... Its 1200 colour photographs and illustrations add visual information and beauty to this essential collection of cottage knowledge.

The Cottager

For almost every question anyone might have about cottage life, this is a fun reference.... Perhaps the eingle most important bit of information in the whole book is on page 188: the recipe for the skunk odour remedy that includes peroxide. It really works.

Escarpment Views

The Cottage Bible is beautiful enough to grace your coffee table, but behind that pretty cover it's packed with useful information about cabin ownership. The book's friendly style strikes a healthy balance between savvy problem-solving tips...and getting the most out of your cabin experience. New cabin owners will reap a greater confidence, a working vocabulary and an ace-up-their-sleeve with this book as a reference.

Cabin Life/Cabin Living

Mackie creates a book brimming with information and beautiful illustrations. From the experienced cottager to someone looking for their first seasonal property, The Cottage Bible enables you to enhance your cottage experience.... A long time cottager, [Mackie] knows his audience and the result is a book accessible by all.

Sideroads

Whether you've recently decided to take the plunge or your cottage has been in the family for decades, this is one book your cottage should not be without.... The Cottage Bible is all its promises it to be and more.... [It] will soon become the most indispensable resource on your cottage bookshelf.

The Muskoka Sun

Cottagers, prepare to worship [this] must-have guide.... This book is invaluable: it gives you all the information you need to make decisions on what sort of property suits you when purchasing a cottage or what to expect if you're already the proud owner. No topic is too small for writers Gerry Machie and Laura Elise Taylor.... The authors cover all aspects of owning a cottage in great detail.

The Toronto Star (Metro Ed)

If you have a cottage, you'll want The Cottage Bible. If you don't have a cottage, you'll still want this book from the Boston Mills Press.

Inside Toronto

The complete guide for any cottage goer or owner... The book is filled with striking colour photographs from cottages all over Canada and is broken down by subject for easy reference.

Canadian Living

Very well done. It covers everything from how to deal with blood suckers to how to fish and how to care for a cottage.

Muskoka Today

I can see how this book got its title. It has information on a wide variety of subjects. You can find out about building a dock, closing camp for the winter, living with wildlife, water and septic systems and toilet problems. I wish we could have had toilet problems at our camp. A toilet would have been a luxury. And our water involved a pail and a lake.

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal

This soft-cover delight is replete with colour photos and useful graphics... It is a primer for urbanites yearning to be at one with the wild, while clinging to civilized comforts.

Winnipeg Free Press

A compendium of how-to and a collection of problem-solving tips, this book covers everything from buying a property to lake health and water quality, and looking after the septic to building a dock.

The Leader Post (Regina)

The Cottage Bible is the answer to every cottager's prayers. Once in a while a new book comes along that we wished we had long ago because of its value as a source of information. The Cottage Bible is just such a book. It is well-designed, very user friendly, and just chock full of information. It answers all the questions a cottager has probably wanted answers to and many more that he or she never thought of to ask. It's a book to have handy in a prominent place at the cottage, because every member of the family, and visitors too, will enjoy dipping into it.... Each page is a gold mine of information.... It doesn't matter where the book falls open, you want to begin reading -- the pages have so much appeal.

Muskoka Magazine

Jam-packed with information ... An essential collection of trouble-shooting and problem-solving tips.... This is a book that belongs on every cottage bookshelf ... Truly comprehensive in its scope.

The Chronicle-Journal (Thunder Bay)

Everything from buying a cottage to identifying insects.

Vancouver Sun

The book makes great cautionary reading for anyone considering a cottage purchase. It's also full of solid advice for even experienced cottagers. And even for the old salts who know it all, The Cottage Bible is the perfect coffee-table tome. Weekend guests who pick it up and leaf through will appreciate -- if they didn't already -- just how much work their hosts have undertaken to provide that cherished getaway.

The Globe and Mail

Practical, comprehensive, environment-friendly advice, from how to build a dock, to tips on swimming safety and making s'mores.... Recommend[ed] without hesitation, particularly to novices.

The Gazette (Montreal)

This book is both a how-to and a collection of trouble-shooting and problem solving tips.

Carp Magazine (Toronto)

For those lucky enough to own a waterfront cottage, this is the ultimate reference book.... it's an all-in-one must-have for any cottage owner.

Times-Colonist

For those lucky enough to own a waterfront cottage, this is the ultimate reference book.... It's an all-in-one must-have for any cottage-owner.

The Ottawa Citizen