THE RUSTICATOR’S JOURNAL, edited by Tammis E. Coffin, Friends of Acadia, Bar Harbor, 104 pages, $14.95.

Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Historical. Picturesque.

Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park are captured in rich, panoramic form in “The Rusticator’s Journal,” a collection of essays, photographs, and drawings depicting Maine’s most famous and scenic of areas.

The rusticators were the island’s early tourists. Artists, scientists, and explorers sought the outdoors life, and the 19th century provided time free of commotion on the island — a time that would, however, soon pass.

The journal is the ambitious project of local authors, photographers, and artists and provides readers with a splendid account of the many island treasures. From the mysterious cloud caps over the Porcupine Islands in Frenchman Bay to the story of Duck Brook Bridge, this is perhaps the finest compilation to date of the wonders of Maine’s most glorious natural spectacle.

Proceeds from the sales of the journal will benefit Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit group based in Bar Harbor, geared at preserving the uniqueness of the island.

This is a must-read, must-have addition to any library or home that calls Mount Desert Island its own treasured place.

THE WINNER WITHIN: A Life Plan for Team Players, by Pat Riley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 271 pages, $22.95.

Few, if any, basketball fans in New England fail to recognize the name of Pat Riley in sports circles.

As the former dreaded coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Riley’s name evoked fear and hatred in the minds of hoards of Boston Celtics fans, who witnessed firsthand his coaching expertise in guiding his teams to dominance in the 1980s.

When Riley took over the reigns of the New York Knicks three years ago, he posed an even bigger threat to Celtics faithful because his team played in the same division — the Atlantic — that had once been ruled by Larry Bird and company.

Riley embarks on a new project and reveals the secrets of his success in his latest book, “The Winner Within: A Life Plan For Team Players.” Riley is the consummate professional: articulate, well-spoken, immaculately dressed, classy, and, above all, clever.

Clever? You better believe it. Riley’s axioms for self-control and self-discipline transcend sport, and his services for enlightening others on his management keys are in demand around the world by corporations such as AT&T, ARCO, and Toyota.

“The Winner Within” is a book about winning. It is a book about leadership. And, perhaps most importantly, it is a book about personal growth.

Riley is a team player, and his capacity to draw the varying forces of human nature together to form a successful unit on the basketball floor is a public representation of his ability to perform that same interweaving in all elements of his life, personal and professional.

Given time, “The Winner Within” could rank right up there with “Think and Grow Rich,” Napoleon Hill’s classic, and “The Richest Man in Babylon,” the age-old doctrine of saving and investing money, as a true bible in management circles of all kinds.

THE TUNNEL BENEATH THE SEA, by Ruth Sargent, Windswept House Publishers, Mount Desert, 74 pages, $9.95.

Want to embark on an adventure? I mean a real adventure. Not one of those trite, visit-a-haunted-house type trips, but the genuine article that includes such things as Civil War secrets, a hidden tunnel under the sea, rare books and documents, and ghosts — real, live, spooky ghosts.

Well, you’re in for a treat if you pick up a copy of author Ruth Sargent’s “The Tunnel Beneath The Sea.”

Sargent, renowned for such classics as “The Littlest Lighthouse” and “Mayflower’s Voyage To Freedom,” has again penned a winner.

A children’s story by nature, this one starts out simply as a summertime adventure for Mary and Jeff and ends up with all manner of discoveries for the inquisitive pair of yearly visitors to Stern Island.

Sargent’s famous “salt-tipped” pen will not disappoint as readers follow the investigative duo from the safety of their island summer home to the fogbound shores off Forbidden Reef.

Ron Brown is a free-lance writer who lives in Bangor.