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important lesson
This textbook is not the current edition my class is using. Also the cd was missing. I do not blame the seller. It is my mistake as new to buying my textbooks online. The book was not entirely useless because basically only the statistics have changed. Compared to the the prices in my campus bookstore, this transaction was worthwhile. | 23 stars
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examples don't work
I tried to do the autoscroll example from chapter three. I started with the samples I downloaded and unzipped from the O'Reilly site. The first thing I noticed was that the picture in the samples was different from the picture in the book (no bother there), but then I noticed the picture was not really big enough to fill up the full width of the page, much less be big enough to scroll.I went to a site which had panoramas so I could find a picture big enough for the exercise, and finished writing the page. But when I tried it out, the script didn't work at all. Not being an expert, I assumed that I had done the exercise incorrectly, but when I tried the example downloaded from the O'Reilly website-- it didn't work either!!!Also, I noticed the code example in the book did not match the sample document from the downloaded .zip file.You would think they would have the bugs worked out by now: it IS, after all, the Second Edition! | 12 stars
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Very good book; unrealistic characters
I had Peglet's experience when reading this book (and "Jude the Obscure" as well). I recommend, as she does, that the reader not try to empathize with the characters; it'll make you too angry. I wanted to reach into the book and strangle Angel a few times, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who has read the book.I must point out that one reviewer has stated incorrectly that Tess was "raped." If she had been, the book would not have had the force it does. It would have just been another "victim of society" or "victim of men" book. Take a close look at Tess' confession to Angel on their wedding night.Think of this book not as an indictment of marriage and Victorian mores (although it certainly was meant to be, as "Jude" further develops), but rather look at it as the relationships of three people who are never quite able to understand themselves and their natures well enough to avoid disaster. An excellent book. But once again, don't try to empathize with the characters. | 34 stars
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If You Can't Understand this Book, Hire Someone to Manage Your Money
This one belongs on every serious investor's shelf. By Bernstein's own admission, this is the book he wanted to write. It contains his real insight. His other more recent, broader, and more basic books pale in comparison--but that's the fault of the readers, not Bernstein. I would even go so far as to say that, if you can't understand what he has to say here, you have no business investing your own money. Go hire someone who can understand it. Basic premise: since no one has any clue what the financial markets are going to do in the future, find asset classes with low correlations, divide your money among them in a way that balances your tolerance for risk with your desire for returns, and rebalance every so often. | 45 stars
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Wonderful classic and love story!
Not being a very avid reader of the classics I was quite surprised at the relevance of the story to the fiction of today, but masterfully written! As a 28 year old guy I'm not usually accustomed to picking something like this up, but at the encouragement of my wife and the audio book available I was welcome to the opportunity of reading/ listening to it. All in all I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone looking to expand their language and or their list of great books to read. | 34 stars
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Experiential Witness and Inspiring Truths
Although the book is a little too brief, the reader is begging for more at the end. He is full and experiential in his witness and enthusiasm to pursue Christ as Lord and Savior. He is inspiring and insightful in regards to living the way in which God intends. Tozer has an exciting and "pointed" style that is mildly humorous, memorable and truthful. | 45 stars
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good, but...
This is a well-written, well-plotted story, as you would expect from such a respected author.BUTPersonally, I have a problem with the story. The man character looses his individuality, becoming someone else. The (explicitly stated, too) message is that the trade-off was worth it - rather than being another unsuccesfull actor, the protagonist has become a significant political personality and can carry on realising his original's vision.This does not go well with any notion of the individual human being's intrinsic worth and I'm surprised that no one else seems to be troubled by this.Still, a very good and diverting read.The snapshots of a Martian culture are particularly memorable. | 23 stars
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A Classic with enduring presence
Struggle, survival, compassion and romance: these eternal elements will make this novel an enduring presence. Ms. Bronte must have been quite courageous to write about a free spirited woman like Jane Eyre in Victorian Era. Even though there are so many memorable scenes in this book, what stands out most is the romance between Jane and Edward. The pathos underlying this romance reminds me of the desperate love that Hunchback of Notre Dam professed towards Esmeralda. The lyrical beauty of Bronte's English enhances the appeal of this timeless piece of artwork. | 45 stars
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Grisham Gave Up!
This is by far the WORST Grisham book I've ever read (and I've read them all). Just when I think I might get a big surprise ending, I just get an ending. That's all. The plot never came full circle...characters were introduced in the beginning and played up, then never reappeared....it's as if Grisham just gave up in the middle of the book. Since I'm a devoted Grisham reader, I'll try again, but if the next one bites the dust, he won't get a third chance. | 01 star
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Some riveting, some super-boring
Since I try to read all the National Book Award winning fiction, I read this. Much of it is a chore to read: unless you have an interest in music or in Shostakovich's love life there are pages and pages which are dull and pointless. But there are sections which cannot help but excite one's interest. The account of the battle for Stalingrad, told mostly from Marshal Paulus' viewpoint, is vivid and easy reading. This is also true of the account of the SS officer who took risks trying to get word of the incredible events being perpetrated by the Nazis in the land under their domination, and of the account of the Russian general who was captured and then worked for the Germans. In other words, when Vollmann is relating things which maybe are true, the book holds one's interest. But when he talks endlessly about musical compositions by Shostokovich and his muings about his loves the effect is glazingly boring. I will admit I was mighty glad to get to the last page of this book. (The 59 pages of notes should be perused as one finishes each corresponding chapter--the notes are of some help, but there is no bibliography as such, and there should be.) | 23 stars
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J.K. Rowling rules!
I love this book! I read it over and over again! I just never that tired of it. I love when Harry leans he's a wizard . J.K. Rowling you just got a forever fan. (P.s I have read this like 20 times) | 23 stars
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Favorite Book
There is just something special about holding a book in your hands to read it and not staring at a computer screen. | 45 stars
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Loved it!
This is the first novel I've read from this author and now I want to read them all! Such a great book, an interesting dynamic! You won't be disappointed but it will leave you w/many questions. I couldn't put it down, what a great read! | 45 stars
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Bowie
The author seemed so knowledgeable on the subject of Jim Bowie. I didn't know some of the stories myself. I often wondered what went on prior to The Alamo and now I know. I would like to see the same type of Book come out about Crockett and Travis. | 45 stars
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All Smokers Must Read This Book.
If you have any desire to stop smoking, or ever feel guilty lighting up a cigarette, you must read this book. Carr takes a logical approach to changing your perception of smokers to make quiting so much easier than you can ever imagine. No scare tactics or preaching of things you've already heard from TV or doctors a million times before; just simple logic that makes so much sense, you'll wonder why you ever started the habit in the first place.So don't be affraid, you'll be so much better off after you finish this book. TRUST ME! | 45 stars
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Orientalist Bias Continues
(...) This book, just another in a longline of redundant and reductive texts he has produced, offers nothingnew. It is about as interesting as a book that blames the fall of theroman empire on their ethnicity of the romans and the belief inchristianity. That the answers like in the 'mindset' (read, geneticmakeup) of these people who are just not able to cope because theirchristian religion is backward and regressive and opposed to thecreativity being bought forward by the new emerging empires of Islam.I doubt that the latter thesis would even see the light of day. Iwould certainly not waste my time reading such reductive hogwash.Unfortunately, we live in times where a (person) like Mr. Lewis can bepublished, repeatedly, and celebrated by a handful of people becausehe published stuff about Islam and Arabs that no one would eversuggest publishing about another people, society, dynasty orethnicity. Keep looking | 01 star
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Review of The Enchanted April
I received the book in good condition and quite quickly even though coming from a distance. The book is in excellent condition and is like new.I shall certainly go to Amazon for other books I want to collect, the service was really good. I am very pleased with my purchase. | 45 stars
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Excellent Book to Improve your Physique or Stay in Shape
I bought this book for my wife about six years ago, and since then it has become her preferred reference on exercise and fitness. She has always enjoyed physical exercise and this book has helped her stay in great shape.This book is really a great tool for everyone wanting to improve their physique by increasing their muscular mass. The book is well executed, and a complete reference since you can find not only exercises and workouts but also advice on: Nutrition, supplementation, mind and psychological focus, breathing techniques, warming and stretching, rest, and recovery. Nevertheless the book could by improved by adding material on aerobic training to complement its comprehensive coverage on the topics mentioned.Each exercise is fully illustrated with photographs and detailed descriptions on proper execution. Additionally it includes complete workout solutions for full body training. There are exercises for both Home and Gym training, and this makes the book really valuable.In my particular case I also bought for me the men version: "The body Sculpting Bible for Men" and it has been most useful in helping me stay in shape for almost six years. When I bough this book in 2001 I was looking for a good reference on weigh training to increase my muscle mass and fire-up my metabolism, and wasn't disappointed at all.With the help of what my I learned from this book and another book focused on cardio training I was able to drop more than 200 lbs in about eight months, and the combined cardio and weight training has helped me keep those lbs off for almost six years. Not only I went fro size 44 to size 32 pants, but also obtained substantial benefits that included weight control, cardiovascular improvements, lowered blood pressure, and improved muscular-skeletal strength and flexibility, but also the myriad of mental and psychological benefits derived from being in the best shape of my life.In short terms, based on our experience we can recommend this book, and it's a great reading as well.Another tools you may want to consider, to complement this book and your strategies for improving your physique, boosting your metabolism, loosing weight, and even more important keeping that weight off are:- A Body Fat Monitor or Scale. This will help you monitor your progress, to assure that the weight you are loosing is fat (fat lost = increased metabolism) and not muscle, water or bone mass (decreased metabolism).- "Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss", which is another very practical, readable and insightful book, focused on how to boost your metabolism.- "The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life".- A Heart Rate Monitor Wrist Watch. This is an excellent tool that will help you monitor and control your Heart Rate in order to keep yourself in a burning fat state (increased metabolism).- "Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot" by John L., Jr. Parker. A Primer on the Use of Heart Rate Monitors for Sports Performance Improvements and general fitness. | 45 stars
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So Easy!!
This book was great! I got it out of the library, but ended up ordering myself a copy to keep since it is so easy to piece, and so easy to mix-'n-match patterns! Plus, the instructive CD rom took the guesswork out of the written instructions. My blocks looked fabulous, and it was my first attempt at paper piecing. A must have. | 45 stars
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A Headache of Disappointment
I admit I'm young and have barely made a dent in the world of classical literature, but thus far, I have found that Anna Karenina is by far the worst one out there. A novel this size should be jam packed with great scenes, characters and plots, but this was just a slow ride into a very long drawn out affair.I was about three hundred pages into the book when I realized that nothing was really happening and that the characters were shallower than a kiddy swimming pool. I ended up putting it aside for something far more interesting and ended up reading a chapter here and there, until, eight months later, I have finally finished it. And when it was completed, I usually like to bask in glory at accomplishing such a lengthy tome and discuss how much I enjoyed it with friends. Not in this case. This book went straight into a pile of other stuff that's getting ready for a garage sale.I have to admit that I did like Anna and Vronsky's characters, and how their affair went on and eventually ended, however, they seemed to only take up one third, perhaps even just a quarter of the actual book. It seemed that Levin, Anna's husband and Kitty and Dolly made up the bulk of the story, characters I cared nothing for and found boring and unimportant. Hello, the book is called "Anna Karenina". Come on Tolstoy make it all about her if your book is called that. Happy to finish it, but what a rather miserable, long journey it was to get there. | 12 stars
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Best Management Book Ever
Even though ti is somewhat outdated now, this book provides excellent advice for leaders and managers | 45 stars
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1 star might be harsh, but...
I feel that I need to balance the scale a bit (There are way too many 5-star ratings for this book!). Mistry is a fine writer who creates memorable characters with great depth...however, this book left me utterly numb. I've read books about sad, depressing subjects before (i.e., other Oprah books), but Mistry definitely takes the prize. As one reviewer puts it "...what the hec else can happen to these people?? And, sure enough, worse things kept coming. Became rather funny in a sick way." This is absolutely my thought. I can remember coming to work while reading this book and telling my officemate the latest misery. He was so amused that to this day he still asks me about the beggarmaster. I'm amazed to see that so many people enjoyed this book. To each their own.... | 01 star
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Engaging, but with some minor aggravations
I was very excited to get this book home and dive in; starting on 3 scarfs immediately. A couple of issues were minor to considerably annoying:1) The photos, although very well taken, are not functional. One glaring example is the geometric scarf. There are numerous embellishments of embroidary, beadwork, etc., and not a single close up picture of these embellishments. This was extremely frustrating.2)Many of the yarns/colors used are discontinued, which although not terminal, was very disappointing.3) The "balloon" pattern scarf: Boy, did I mutter a bit on this one~ Chart symbol: blank box - knit of WS, purl on RS, 'x' in box: purl on WS, knit on WS. Not that I'm a book editor, but wouldn't it have been so nice to just have a symbol for knit and one for purl? (It's a visual; you have to see the chart).Other than that, lots of fun projects, especially the color on color scarf, which I haven't yet started, but found a great resource on the web and ordered the yarn (well, actually embroidery thread). | 34 stars
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Great textbook
I'm a student in 9th grade. I once hated math with a passion, and would often take my anger out on the textbook. However, I realized it was the teacher who was not explaining, not the textbook. So, I bought this textbook and the Geometry textbook by the same author and taught myself the subject. I read, did the problems, and can honestly tell you I have a clear understanding of Geometry and the Algebra 2 I have learned so far. The textbook has many real-life applications and examples to help someone learn the subject on a personal basis. This textbook has made me love math. | 34 stars
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Oh this book
Democracy and education is a classic book. John Dewey had revolutionary ideas in regard to education and the way that our country teaches its youth. He knew, years ago, that standardized testing was problematic, both for students and teachers! He really was ahead of his time, this particular edition of the book is really nice as well. | 45 stars
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Jon Krakauer dosen't know what he is talking about!
The author wrote this with an extreme sense of knowledge about everyone who was on Scott Fischer's expedition, which is strange, because he was on ROB HALL'S expedition !!! He makes a lot of the characters seem like complete fools, ex.: Sandy Hill Pittman, which they are not. Also, he barely gives Anatoli Boukreev (d.12/25/97-climbing accident) any credit for saving numerous lives. Krakauer was in a tent for the majority of the rescue, asleep, and he knows everything that happened? Fraid not ! For the TRUE story, read Anatoli Boukreev's book, THE CLIMB. | 01 star
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Indispensable
The dictionary came in excellent condition, just as described. It was delivered promptly, and packaged well. It is a great resource which I am already using regularly. I would recommend any Bible student to have one of these. | 45 stars
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Great
Great, I enjoyed receiving it on time ...keep up the god work... It came on time and as it was described | 45 stars
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The count
You know how it ends but it was fun to read. Well written, liked the style,Made it seem like you were eavesdropping on what was happening | 34 stars
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How to develop trust and harmony between horses and humans
Kristina McCormack translates this best-selling European book on how to develop trust and harmony between horses and humans using body language. Dancing With Horses will make an excellent companion to Almost A Whisper, reviewed above: the focuses on understanding horse psyche are similar, as is the holistic approach; but the methods are different - and complimentary. Color photos pack a step-by-step guide to this 'horse/human' body language. | 45 stars
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Not a Freeway Into The Sunset...
Niklas Luhmann's *Social Systems* was one of the more challenging works of sociology to be published in the 20th century. Challenging because of Luhmann's pointedly gnomic writing style, sure, but even more so because Luhmann anticipated the disuse that sociology would fall into at the turn of the century and radically reformulated its main concerns to avoid irrelevancy in the new age of Empire. More than Habermas, his chief theoretical rival, Luhmann achieves a grand synthesis that forces those leery of totalizing analysis to rigorously and thoroughly conceive the conditions of social order.The concepts of "hermeneutic" approaches to understanding human life and agency, beloved of those who find social facts and their attendant "reality-based community" distasteful, are here carefully submitted to a systemic critique. The target of the analysis: the complexity of social arrangements, considered not as externalizations of individual minds but as consisting of purely self-organizing arrays of information. This means dispensing with easily-observed but theoretically intractable phenomena like interaction systems in favor of conceiving society as implemented through communication: a system sensitive to formal constraints upon it and capable of working within those constraints by evolution, self-observation and other complexity-reducing gambits.The systems-theoretical machinery employed in this effort, partially derived from George Spencer-Brown's widely derided *Laws of Form* but more importantly inspired by the researches of Maturana and Varela, may disappoint: but what is undeniable is the task posed by Luhmann, of understanding society on its own terms. Whether or not Luhmann truly succeeded in formulating "society without people", the level of detail his argument reaches sets essential tasks for all forthcoming social theory. Highly recommended for all those with a serious interest in sociology; more casual readers interested in concrete consequences of the theory may enjoy Luhmann's *Love as Passion*, also from Stanford University Press. | 23 stars
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The start of the greatest epic of our time
For the last few years, critics and fans have raved over the new movie trilogy of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", but more than half of those people have not picked up the novels that started it all.The first in the series is "The Fellowship of the Ring" and intoduces us to the cast of characters that we have all grown to love.This book starts by giving us an in depth history of hobbits and their laid back ways of life and a small history of Middle Earth as well, getting us prepared for the journey not only ahead of the charachters, but ahead of us as well.For fans of the movie, you are likely not going to be disappointed. The movie follows this book well, but as always, this epic novel is much better than any flick. We get much more personal with the characters and get more in depth conversations and scenes.The book is fairly long with small fonts and lengthy chapters, but the go by fast, due to the wonderful way of Tolkien tells us this story.For all that have not read this book for school because they had to, or just for fun, you need to. This book is a masterpiece in literature and it is only the begining of a long journey. | 45 stars
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Alright
I didn't much care for the dialogue, it was off putting and a distraction. The end was remarkably anti-climactic, I would much rather read the Lord of the Rings. | 23 stars
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absolute favorite
This book will make you cry, laugh, scream, but most of all it leaves you begging for more even after its 800 or so pages. Its like a great traveling primetime show. By far my favorite book! | 45 stars
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A Very Unique Novel
Skillful shifts of narration speed along what, on the face of it, seems to be a murder mystery and from the very first page the reader is compelled by a nagging suspense. The conviction and imprisonment of Grace Marks was an actual event in Canadian history, and Atwood weaves her fiction through the gaps of historical fact. Was quiet Grace truly a calculating, murderous sociopath? "Inside the peach there's a stone," writes Atwood. But as Grace tells her sad tale, ("Perhaps I will tell you lies," says Grace), the story expands into a true work of literature. Here is the reality of class distinction and the underbelly of Victorian culture("the ladylike bums that have sat on this very settee, all delicate and white, like wobbly soft-boiled eggs"). Here is the naivete of psychoanalysis ("as if it were he, and not she, who was under scrutiny"), and the impossibly complex relationships in which people find themselves suddenly entangled ("he wants to punish her for his own addiction to her"). All the way through, the reader is forced to consider Grace's crime through the thin fabric of circumstantial evidence: "Outside the window far away there's someone chopping wood, the axe coming down, the unseen flash and then the dull sound, but how do I know it's even wood?"Those new to Atwood's work might pick up Cat's Eye or the short story collection Bluebeard's Egg. For an entirely different read to Alias Grace, and a hilarious one at that, try Lady Oracle. And I think fans of Atwood would enjoy the work of her contemporary compatriot Alice Munro(try: Friend of My Youth). | 45 stars
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Good conclusion to the trilogy, but less than satisfying
The conclusion to Robin Hobb's "Farseer" trilogy is definitely worthy of the first two books in the series, "Assassin's Apprentice" and "Royal Assassin".Yet this book left me less than satisfied. While the woman named Kettle turns out to be vital to the story, the way she's introduced seems almost like an afterthought. And the ultimate fate of Prince Verity, though interesting, was, to put it bluntly, underwhelming. I would also have liked to see that part of the storyline extended a bit - what happens to Verity after he saves the day (I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that, but I would if I said anything more)?The resolution of Fitz's and Molly's relationship is very touching, and left me wishing that it could have been otherwise. Ms. Hobb is a very good author - her writing style is excellent, but her plots need a bit more "seasoning", or sophistication. I see by the blurb at the end of this book that she's starting a new series. I hope that her stories improve with experience. | 34 stars
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Everything and a little bit more!
The Hobbit is one of the only books I can sit down and read for hours. It is one of the best fantasy books ever written. It has action, magic, and unique characters. There's something in this book for almost everyone. It even has some humor in it which is rare for most fantasy books. It reminds me of the time of Merlin, with elves, trolls, Dragons, Goblins and dark wizards. The book was very well written and is an all around great story. To me, this book is "my precious."(Quoting gollum). I encourage you to read The Hobbit | 45 stars
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Look at Mankiw's text
The content of Blanchard (3rd edition) may be all very well, but the layout and typography are such a hodgepodge as to be quite distracting and intimidating. The CD is only Windows-compatible, and judging from the description strikes me as rather more a nuisance than an asset (it might have been put in a pocket iside the cover, but no such luck). For a clearer and altogether more pleasant presentation, take a look at Gregory Mankiw's Macroeconomics, 5th edition. A quick check indicated it was perhaps a bit less thorough (Mankiw doesn't mention the problems with non-performing loans in the Japanese banking system; Blanchard does), but one has to draw the line somewhere, and there is something to be said for allowing the instructor a bit more flexibility to introduce examples. | 23 stars
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"De Mess We's In" (Amos and Andy)
To borrow a verb from Hawthorne, I was "purposed" here. Having eaten the garbage of the day's media reports, I picked up this book for the "cleansing" redux. Some bittersweet sorbet it was- here are some of the things that made me laugh.Charleton Heston played Jesus with shaved armpits.To describe our nation, he quotes Amos an' Andy, "De mess we's in"Re: Thomas Jefferson's owning slaves- "It was as though he had an infected growth on the tip of his nose the size of a walnut and everyone thought that was OK."When KV's father was dying he apologized for calling him 'Bozo.' Then about five minutes later he called him Bozo again.Here are things that made my heart stop:The average age of an American to die in Vietnam was 20. (My own son had just joined- against my wishes- the military, at 20.)If Western Civilization were a person, we would be directing him to War Preparers Anonymous....That's the kind of stuff you'll read in essays that are distressing and comforting and hilarious- if you know Vonnegut, you know what I'm saying. Personally, I like a bit more fiction, but as I said, I was purposed here, and I think you may be too. | 34 stars
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Not bad but Dallas little flat.
It's hard not to think of this book in terms of the Foundation series but it doesn't quite live up to those standards. Still a good read. | 23 stars
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Adorable
Set in Sydney, Australia in 1880's, seven children get into all sorts of mischief even though they are trying their best to behave. Ranging in ages from sixteen to one year, the Woolcot children are mostly left to their own devices. Their step-mother Esther, the birth mother of only the youngest, is just twenty and has no experience with children. Their father is a military man and expects his children to behave and only to show up when he expects them to.I have been wanting to read this book for several years. I was able to download a copy to my Playbook and read most of this adorable story in one sitting. I really don't want to start telling you about the events that happen in the childrens' days, but I can assure you that they didn't set out to get into trouble, those things just seem to happen in this family. I suppose it might have been different had they had a nanny to see to their needs.Author Ethel Turner wrote over 40 novels and has been the longest in print author in Australia. She also wrote further about the Woolcot children in: The Family at Misrule, Little Mother Meg, and Judy and Punch. | 34 stars
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A MUST READ!!!
This is the first book that I read after 10 years of being devoted solely to the Bible. I had the book for a year till I felt I was ready and it was worth waiting for. The way it is written is so comfortable yet challenging. It is like they read my 'laundry'! It seems that so many Christians have a book for you to read, and there are many good ones out there but I have yet to find one that really speaks to the heart like all his books do. I now have this book with my Bible and look forward to more. The workbook is great and highly recommend doing it with some close friends!!!!!! I did and I grew in myself and with my girlfriends in a way that was lifechanging. | 45 stars
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RUMP: How To Get Rich, Without Even Trying
Frank's DigestThe Condensed Version(So you don't have to waste your time or money)RUMP - How To Get RichPage 1:Get off your lazy behinds and inherit millions from your daddy or ask his wealthy friends to bankroll a business for you, what's wrong with you people?Page 2: Time to go pamper myself.Don't hate me because I am so pretty, smart, rich and humble.The EndThis arrogant goofball was born on 3rd base and thinks he hit a triple, just like the village idiot in our White House.These two guys are just so bewildered why everyone isn't rich, it was so easy for them, so they will have to learn the rest of us.But most people know if Rump and Bush (dumb and dumber) had not been born into privilege, they would be lucky to have a job flipping burgers, or managing a worm store, so take your book and shove it and don't let the right wing zealots steal another election for the moron or he will get more people killed and bankrupt this country, like he did every other thing he was put in charge of.And what's with Rump's hair, I would not be surprised if he spent more time having that do done, than he spent on this book.Donald, W.YOU'RE FIRED! | 01 star
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You either love it or hate it. I LOVE IT!!
This is a wonderful story about relationships -- among friends and among family. It is funny, touching and gives a great picture of life in Louisiana (which is very different from life in "the South") and of friendships that last from age 3 to 73 - and beyond. It reminded me of the relationships my mother had (and still has) and those I have (and still have) -- and those I wish I still had. In this day when we are all so far flung, it's nice to see what close friendships bring. | 45 stars
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a must read
I think this book is amazing and everyone should consider reading it as it could benefit everyone. This book has a very interesting and valuble insight into intutision, it's not one of those hippy 6th sense "feelings" books, it's all about facts. | 45 stars
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Angieville: COLD COMFORT FARM
I heard about COLD COMFORT FARM for the first time while I was on study abroad in London my sophomore year of college. Some of the girls in my group were chatting about the film adaptation of it one night and I listened in as they laughed and laughed and quoted perfectly hilarious lines that had me itching to watch it myself, particularly given the wonderful cast, which includes Kate Beckinsale, Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell, and Stephen Fry. One of the girls had actually read the book itself and told me I should make sure to start there before viewing the movie. So, when I ran across a lovely used copy on sale for a pound in an Oxford bookshop, I pounced on it and stashed it in my suitcase to read when I got home. You see, I had some inkling of how homesick I would be for England after I left it and knew I would need some good reading to get me through the transition back to the States. Originally published in 1932, COLD COMFORT FARM was Stella Gibbons' first novel and a cracking good one at that. With a wonderful and quite shameless panache, it parodies the dark and angsty rural novels popular at the time, particularly the works of Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, and D.H. Lawrence. Several of their novels are actually referenced in the book itself and anyone familiar with them (fans or not) will appreciate the light touch Gibbons takes while poking fun at them. I am curious as to how many of you have read, or at least heard of, this novel. It is an absolute gem and one that never fails to bring a smile to my lips.Flora Poste is in some difficulty. Having been meticulously educated to within an inch of her life, she finds herself unable to support herself when her parents die rather suddenly, leaving her penniless and homeless. After temporarily moving in with an old friend, she sets about writing a sheaf of letters to a host of distant relatives, inquiring after the possibility of moving in with them until she can come up with a way of taking care of herself. Though she receives numerous and downright alarming responses from various and sundry relatives, it is the last one that catches her eye. And for good reason.***The last letter was written upon cheap lined paper, in a bold but illiterate hand:"Dear Niece,"So you are after your rights at last. Well, I have expected to hear from Robert Poste's child these last twenty years."Child, my man once did your father a great wrong. If you will come to us I will do my best to atone, but you must never ask me what for. My lips are sealed."Child, child, if you come to this doomed house, what is to save you? Perhaps you may be able to help us when our hour comes."Yr. affec. Aunt,"J. STARKADDER."***Against her friend's probably wise wishes, Flora immediately decides to go and live with the Starkadders at Cold Comfort and see what exactly Aunt Judith means by "her rights" and if they might include something practical like oh, say, money. Or a house. But when she arrives in Sussex, it is clear that it is she who has something to give to her bizarre and backwoods relatives. And so, in true Flora style, she rolls up her sleeves and goes about setting things to rights. What follows is one the most hilarious romps I've had the pleasure of encountering.There's no resisting COLD COMFORT FARM's charms and that's all there is to it. It's really too funny for words. I can't imagine anyone being able to stay away from such a place and such people after reading that letter. From Flora's tribe of mad family members (all held under the imperious thumb of Aunt Ada Doom), to their hysterical habit of always referring to Flora ominously as "Robert Poste's child," to the poor cows Adam is forever milking who go by the names of Graceless, Pointless, Feckless, Aimless, and Fury, it seems everywhere Flora (and the reader) turns there is another hopeless case just begging for her refining touch. And so she romps about the countryside, meddling in other people's affairs, fending off suitors, and all the while tamping down her dismay and befuddlement at everything from their nearly incomprehensible accents to their insistence that there is a curse on the farm itself. Something to do with old Aunt Ada having seen "something nasty in the woodshed" when she was just a girl. That's right. The whole thing is a perfect riot. Here is one of my favorite scenes, in which Flora encounters her cousin Reuben for the first time:***"Will you have some bread and butter?" asked Flora, handing him a cup of tea. "Oh, never mind your boots, Adam can sweep the mud up afterwards. Do come in."Defeated, Reuben came in.He stood at the table facing Flora and blowing heavily on his tea and staring at her. Flora did not mind. It was quite interesting: like having tea with a rhinoceros. Besides, she was rather sorry for him. Amongst all the Starkadders, he looked as though he got the least kick out of life. After all, most of the family got a kick out of something. Amos got one from religion, Judith got one out of Seth, Adam got his from cowdling the dumb beasts, and Elfine got hers from dancing about on the Downs in the fog in a peculiar green dress, while Seth got his from mollocking. But Reuben just didn't seem to get a kick out of anything."Is it too hot?" she asked, and handed him the milk, with a smile.The opaque curve purred softly down into the teak depths of the cup. He went on blowing it, and staring at her. Flora wanted to set him at his ease (if he had an ease?) so she composedly went on with her tea, wishing there were some cucumber sandwiches.After a silence which lasted seven minutes by a cover glance at Flora's watch, a series of visible tremors passed across the expanse of Reuben's face, and a series of low, preparatory noises which proceeded from his throat, persuaded her that he was about to speak to her. Cautious as a camera-man engaged in shooting a family of fourteen lions, Flora made no sign.Her control was rewarded. After another minute Reuben brought forth the following sentence:"I ha' scranleted two hundred furrows come five o'clock down i' the brute."It was a difficult remark, Flora felt, to which to reply. Was it a complaint? If so, one might say, "My dear, how too sickening for you!" But then, it might be a boast, in which case the correct reply would be, "Attaboy!" or more simply, "Come, that's capital!" Weakly she fell back on the comparatively safe remark:"Did you?" in a bright, interested voice.She saw at once that she had said the wrong thing. Reuben's eyebrows came down and his jaw out. Horrors! He thought she was doubting his word!"Ay, I did, tu. Two hundred. Two hundred from Ticklepenny's Corner down to Nettle Flitch. Ay, wi'out hand to aid me. Could you ha' done that?""No, indeed," replied Flora, heartily, and her guardian angel (who must, she afterwards decided, have been doing a spot of overtime) impelled her to add: "But then, you see, I shouldn't want to."***And that is just a small sampling of what you find inside this slim, delightful novel. The parody is masterful and the whole, twisted plot just gets zanier and zanier right up to its dramatic, fitting, and perfectly folded hospital corners conclusion. Highly recommended for Jane Austen fans in need of a good laugh. | 34 stars
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For the journey
I really enjoyed listening to this while on a road trip. It will keep coming back to you in small ways. Now I am reading her other stories. Just what we need in this world today! | 45 stars
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Cultural icon
The world would be a better place if everyone in it read this book and understood it! | 45 stars
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Ok, but...
a problem is the absence of common sense. There is a happy ending because the virus or whatever it was, mutated into something benign. But as my father pointed out a long time ago, so what if one of many many individuals of a certain species of virus mutates into something nicer? It does nothing to lessen the virulence of the vast majority of that species. If the original virulent strain burned itself out by killing all its hosts and then was successfully quarantined, that would make a sensible almost happy ending.If you want good "hard" science fiction with a human element, try early Heinlein instead.(pre 1963) | 23 stars
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Balanced treatment
In Celebrating the Sabbath, Ray emphasizes the true significance of the Sabbath. It is a wonderful gift from God. The author's style in straight forward and the illustrations are helpful. A key element of Ray's work is its tone. He does not beat the reader over the head. Instead, he concisely and convincingly discusses the meaning and importance of the Fourth Commandment for the Church. The subtitle of the book, " Finding rest in a restless world," epitimizes Ray's message. This presentation is not polemic but pastoral. Even those who do not agree that the Sabbath principle extends to the church age will receive benefit from this book. | 45 stars
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Awe-inspiring
Nobody needs me to say that "Catch 22" is one of the great novels of the 20th century. It's incredibly powerful today, and it's hard to imagine the impact it must have had when it was published more than 50 years ago.The book strips away any pretense about the glory, intelligence, or fairness of war. It shows the cynical, base motives of the most human of actions: violence. It highlights the absurdities --- the utter contradictions --- that each of us face every day in our lives.The thing that struck me most about "Catch 22" on what's probably my fourth reading is that it's so densely packed. There are entire paragraphs that you need to read again and again because they have a remarkable perspective about the human condition. But then you struggle to remember them 10 pages later because of the new ideas that Heller has raised. One technique that Heller has mastered to create this density (for all I know, he invented it) is absurdist statements: "The Texas turned out to be good natured, generous and likeable. In three days, no one could stand him." There are hundreds of these passages in the book.Heller also uses rare adjectives and adverbs throughout the text, often paired with a more familiar word. Again this adds to the density of the reading, even as you turn to an online dictionary for a definition.The book is also memorably grueseome and sexual, sometimes together. The bomber pilots lead a warped life, and so even their leisure is warped. They're whoring and cheating as much as possible, usually out in the open because they simply don't live in a just society any more. As an old, starving Italian woman explains to Yossarian near the end of the book, when he asks her why Military Police destroyed her whorehouse: "Catch 22 says they have a right to do anything that we can't stop them from doing."Just when you think you're going to like someone or that the book is going to be fun, Heller slams you with a wounded or dead pilot or a child prostitute. It never stops.Basically, you become like Yossarian, the protagonist, in that you want to just scream at the top of your lungs that everyone and everything is crazy, and that we need a new crop of adults to come in and change the situation. Yet, because it's war and human nature, it will never happen. | 45 stars
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incomplete version
I love this book and re-read it nearly every year. I just downloaded the free version to read on my new kindle. There are 4 paragraphs missing in chapter 1, at least one word in chapter 2... And that's as far as I have gotten. So the item loses a star for being incomplete | 34 stars
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A Must Read
A fantastric story, what an adventure,found it very hard to put down. All WWII and history buffs will love this book. | 45 stars
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Legacy to the World
Max Skidmore has a very intelligent view and an understanding for what he is writing about. These books are a great learning tool that will only make oneself that much smarter. | 45 stars
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Not so good....
Just try to pretend the series ended with book six. You're really not missing anything. | 12 stars
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Far above the rest
I read a lot of fantasy. I usually tend to stay away from the big names in the fantasy genre. Tolkein was a bit of a bore - though I suppose it might have been a different story if I bothered to read Lord of the Rings before the movies came out. Likewise, I gave Robert Jordan a try and lost interest about halfway through book one of Wheel of Time. Somehow a month ago I ended up stumbling upon George R.R. Martin, who I'd heard a lot about and finally decided to give him a shot.A Game of Thrones puts to shame every other fantasy book I have in my collection.This is a book that feels real; it feels like the story is one that could actually happen. It's a bit like reading several books at once. Gone is the cookie cutter, "Good vs Evil" archetype that so many fantasy books fall back on. Everyone has their flaws, no body is perfect, and like real life, often times the difference between right and wrong is all a matter of perspective. There are so many different story lines intertwined and all of them are relevant and interesting. And there's a lot of suspense, unlike many other fantasy stories where the good guys always prevail. In the world that Martin creates, anyone can die, whether it's a nameless peasant or one of the major players. And you know, there was one point where it was a tad depressing, but for the most part, wow, what a breath of fresh air.I'm not a fast reader and I have a lot going on in my life, so this book took about a month to read. But unlike my usual mentality of, "needing to conquer the book and add it to my book shelf", I savored this one. I didn't want it to end. Alas, all things do come to an end. I can only hope the next book is as good.5 stars | 45 stars
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Greatest book by the only true realist
Most see George Carlin as an extremely humorous comedian. After reading his book, not only do i see him as that, but also as the world's only true realist. He sees everything excactly how it really is. No BS. Some of the book has no real structure; but rather, is a collection of his thoughts. But that makes his book all the better. I've seen his live performances, and although they are great, he expresses a lot more about himself and his views in Brain Droppings. I recommend Brain Droppings for anyone who has an open mind and is not afraid to see reality for what it really is. | 45 stars
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did I actually read it all?
This book seemed like a glimpse of someone's hectic everyday life. I am amazed I finished it. I enjoyed the author's writing style (some great imagery and thought connections) but the story never amounted to anything. The characters seemed like aquaintences-I knew some details of their lives but I never really cared about them or about getting to know them. The relationships of the main character (her name escapes me) were of interest at first, but again never amount to much. Her relationships with women were strong, her relationship with her husband, disconcerting. The book felt like it was building to something but it never peaked. Can I assume this is the author's comment on life?If I were to turn back time, I wouldn't read this book but would pick up another by this author. I will consider reading other work of hers in the future. | 12 stars
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The world's favorite story?
I suppose many literary critics would put (say) Dante & Shakespeare on the A-team, and writers like Somerset Maugham on the B-team, while writers (actually, teams of writers) such as Alexandre Dumas would be shoved onto the C-team...maybe even worse!But somehow we have to reckon with the fact that this is the most popular story ever told, and the most widely-loved novel in the world. If it's not exactly the #1 champion, it's sure among the front-runners. It's simply a sprawling, thrilling tale, which reaches out and touches most people right where they live: "Boy, if I had a million dollars, I'd show them!" "The Count of Monte Cristo" turns this theme into a sometimes savage, sometimes heart-breaking tale of the revenge of an innocent man wronged, but the theme can also be treated as high humor ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") and surely is not unknown to music (see Madonna's "You'll See.")Anyway, I'm not going to even summarize the plot --- not even going to try. I'll just say this: if you haven't read this book, put it on your list. It's a superb tale from a master story-teller!Highest recommendation! | 45 stars
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Great Desk Resource
I'm a tax attorney and I have this book as a desk resource. It is a great general text on a variety of tax issues. This book has helped me find the quick answers to countless "simple" tax questions. | 45 stars
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Oh what a tangled web we weave
Althea Vail is used to getting her own way, after all she usually got it. When she arrived on the doorstep of the brownstone though she found that she would not be catered to just because she was attractive and rich. Archie let her in only to annoy Wolfe. When the allure of both a large check and an intriguing problem was dangled in front of him even Nero Wolfe fell to the temptation. Althea's husband had been kidnapped and although she was determined to follow the kidnappers' instructions and deliver the ransom she wanted Wolfe to expose the kidnappers if her husband is not returned unharmed. Lured by the prospect of remaining at leisure for most of the year Wolfe agreed to take on the task. Little did he realize that he would soon be put to a great deal of inconvenience and acquire far more clients - and retainers - than he ever imagined.The Nero Wolfe series bridges the gap between a straight detective story and the cozy genre. The problems are complex and intriguing, laid out fairly so the reader has as much chance as Archie to beat Wolfe to the solution while incorporating the cozy elements of recurring secondary characters, ongoing subplots and humor.This is a usual Nero Wolfe adventure, we are treated to several rounds of verbal sparring between Archie and Wolfe, witness Orrie, Saul and Fred in action and even to see Wolfe forced to leave his house on a moment's notice. Fans of the series will delight in Wolfe forced out of his routine as much, if not more, than the intriguing problems that Wolfe and Archie are faced with in this one. Those who are new to the series would be able to enjoy this one but those who have at least a passing familiarity with this series will enjoy it more. | 45 stars
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Incredible contribution to Freedom
First off, this is an absolutely fantastic book. Short and concise, this book is a powerful tool in shaping your mind to get your liberty back that we all deserve. This book is not for the liberal or progressive but it's a great lesson in history of tyranny. I especially loved the first half of the book with it's wisdom in politics and what makes politicians tick. It even brings up Social Security and it's long term prospects... not good. In summary, this book could have been written today and it's never been more important to read than right now. | 45 stars
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Great expectations
Great expectations was a wonderful book about not giving up even when things get hard. Pip is extremely sweet and mischievous. This book starts out slow biut once you get into it, it gets really interesting. | 34 stars
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GREAT REFERENCE BOOK
this book is filled with photos to help identify early antique furniture, a great reference book to have. does come with a dust jacket, and first edition is 1952. | 45 stars
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Great pictures.
We just planted a butterfly garden and this makes it fun to see what the caterpillars will become and whether the butterflies are common in our region. | 45 stars
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Ahead Of His Time.
The foundation is setup to secretly monitor mankind through its darkest hours. It reminded me a little of Orwell's 1984. In placing humans away from the central government on a planet with few resources. They are forced to develop quickly. This is a novel more about political machinations than about action. The contradictions in human nature are here to analyze. The characters use guile, spirit, & cunning to survive. Some 80% of the book is dialogue & the character development is a bit shallow. Nonetheless, Mr. Asimov portrays the future in poignant & diverse ways. The predicted conflict makes the story of galactic history entertaining, especially since this was written in 1951. Some 7 years before Sputnik was launched. The author deserves praise for his imagination that was well ahead of his time. | 34 stars
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Public Domain
Note that this work is in the public domain, and that fairly handsome PDF editions are freely available online (as well as audio readings, for those so inclined.) | 23 stars
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5 stars for an academic approach.. otherwise:
This book focuses on an academic approach to communication.Unless one is interested in abstract concepts of communication, this book serves no practical purpose. | 34 stars
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Classic Sci Fi Fun
Somehow John Carter manages to go to Mars, and when he gets there, he finds out that he is physically stronger than the warlike martians that happen to dwarf him in size. He uses that strength, and the convenient fact that the also telepathic martians can't read his mind, to dominate a clan of green martians and win a beautiful, conveniently human, princess. Then he saves the world a couple times just for kicks, all while running around naked, because no one on Mars wears clothes.The cover says it all. It was an easy read, adventurous, fun, and all the blatant inconsistencies and false information can be happily ignored because it was written in 1912 by the author of Tarzan, so keep it in perspective. | 34 stars
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Cold Blood
Capote brings this story to life. I like how the book is written like a novel and for people that are interested in the Clutter murder case this book is a must read. This is a great book overall, even if you are not interested in the Clutter case. | 45 stars
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What a wonderful book!
A friend of mine recommended this book to me, and I am SO glad she did! I really enjoyed reading about Norton. What a extraordinary cat he was! I've since learned that Norton died in 1999. I'm so sad to hear that.If you want a book that will make you feel good, you must read this book! I guarantee you'll want to get a cat just like Norton. | 45 stars
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This book scared even me--highest praise for the author.
I was sitting up in bed reading this book in the middle of the night with my cat stretched across the foot, sleeping. When I got to the part about the strange,evil appearance of the resurrected cat's eyes, I felt an urge to peer over the book at my own feline. Sensing that he was being observed, he half-opened his eyes to reveal the his third eyelid. For those not familiar with cat anatomy, this is standard equipment, but even when you're used to it and you're NOT reading Pet Sematary, it's mighty weird looking! I almost dropped the book and fell out of bed!And the book gets scarier from there! I wouldn't change a thing, except I would have loved to have known exactly what had happened in the past to make Pet Sematary what it was. Evil spirits conjured up by aboriginal sorcerers? From which tribe? Why were they conjured? Was there a vendetta? Between whom and whom? How were the bad spirits driven underground? Is there an anthropologist in the house? But then again, when your loved one is back from the dead and coming after you with intent to get medieval on your buttocks, does it really matter? All you need to know is: Run!P.S. Mr. King, if you're reading this, I hope you are up and running very soon. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. Take care. | 45 stars
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older book but still very good info
another ceramics book every serious ceramics artist/student/instructor will benefit by having in their library of knowledge. Analytical, concise, pictures and diagrams, and deals with a wide range of topics and technical data. | 45 stars
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strong beginning....then tedious tedious
The Moonstone is composed of several narratives by different characters who tell as much as they know about the mystery. The first narrative of the overseer, over one third of the book, was great fun. His idiosyncrasies and droll way of looking at the other characters was quite delightful. The tale itself was unfolding in a way that continued to whet one's interest as more and more unexplainable and outrageous developments occurred. Unfortunately, to my way of thinking, the book lost its momentum with the second narrative. This part of the story was told by a Miss Clack, a hypocritical self-righteous meddler. Wilkie was all too successful in depicting this contemptible character. Although she presented a different angle on the plot, the story lost its previous charm for me, and never regained it. Tedious prolongation of the suspense and what I considered to be an unbelievable resolution resulted in disappointment. The book may have historical interest as being a pioneering manifestation of the detective novel, but, for my money, is far inferior to the Sherlock Holmes stories, which were cleverer and much more compact. Due to its reputation as a classic, I had expected something with more depth. If the author had only carried through on the promise of the first narrative, I think it would indeed have been a great book. | 12 stars
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Terrible sequel
Lousy sequel to the great book "Peyton Place". The original was well-written with interesting characters and situations. This book is the exact opposite! For one thing one character goes through a complete name change! Allison's stepfather is inexplicably named Mike Rossi here--he wasn't in the first! The original fascinating characters are now caricatures and boring ones at that! Allison MacKenzie becomes an annoying obnoxious young woman. Her book gets published and she takes trips to NY and CA. Here she falls in love with a married older man--a DIRECT steal from the first book! Constance, her mom, has no personality whatsoever and Mike is WAY too nice and friendly to be believable. Selena Cross AGAIN becomes a victim in this book for no reason. Betty Anderson is dragged back in too and we go through in one murder and a death in a vain attempt to liven things up (it doesn't).Metalious didn't want to write this...and it shows. However it was in her contract to provide a sequel to "Peyton" so she had no choice. She knocked this off in two months and it lacks everything that made the first one so good. Skip this and just reread the superior original. | 01 star
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Unconscious of it All
This story is about the emergence of identity. Stephen Dedalus's consciousness is front and centre in the book as Joyce weaves together important vignettes from his life that all contribute to his hero's artistic realization. Language, as always, is vital to Joyce's understanding of how humans develop.For instance, the first segment of the book begins with a fantastic childhood story that showcases Stephen's diction and syntactical choices--without his awareness of this fact. I enjoyed the subtle things about this part. For instance: Stephen sees his father's glasses only as "glass that his father looked at him from behind." Also, Joyce starts out the book's tacit use of Dante by rendering the regional pronunciation of "Auntie" as "Dante." That's how Stephen hears it, and that's how we do too. Another great moment is when Stephen is at boarding school and hears the gas vents "singing." He's unaware of his artistic potential, but Joyce is pointing us in that direction already.But Joyce is not here to help us read. Rather, he wants to show us the ins-and-outs of a young boy's mind. That's a difficulty I can't blame anyone for having with his writing in general. It's something you either have to accept, deny, or shred, and then you can decide whether to read him or not. However, even if you go through those steps, you're already doing something that Joyce wanted in the first place. He's tricky that way.In my honest opinion, a lot of people will love or hate this book. It's got dark colours throughout, gets murky when Stephen feels bad, but shines when he's on the verge of realizing himself. Joyce is destabilizing form to parallel the ups and downs of a young man's social, intellectual, and religious maturation. It's poetic that he chooses to write in this way, and particularly so for a young man. My advice is to read "Portrait" for a window into an early revelation in 20th Century English literature. If you 're happy with that, see what Virginia Woolf does with this style, and you won't be disappointed in the slightest. | 45 stars
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Pride and prejudice by Austen,Jane
Good book lots of features i like the characters and the setting of the story i thought it was awsome to read and it had great imageination | 45 stars
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Coulter can't spell, either
maybe the reason that Ms. Coulter could not find the terms "athiest liberals" or "athiest left" when she searched the NY Times, is because the word is spelled "atheist". (see J. Coney comment below)As usual, righteous-wingers are illiterate and seemingly incapable of forming a logical, coherent argument without resorting to the usual trite name-calling ("communist", "terrorist-loving", "anti-American", "troops-hating", ad nauseum) designed to short-circuit and bypass any thinking processes. | 01 star
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This book will give you night terrors, guaranteed!
I have never seen such a disgusting, violent, lurid, horrific plot put into print. I didn't finish this awful story and will recommend it to NO ONE! I had night terrors after the first 100 pages! I have told our local librarian to put a warning label on this one. Not even Stephen King or Dean Koontz create such evil. I hated this book and advise everyone to steer clear....yuk!It's hard to believe that publishers are so desperate to sell their wares....I'd be ashamed to have anything to do with such dirt | 01 star
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The Greatest Example of Victorian Era British Literature
Having recently read and enjoyed Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, I decided to up the ante by taking on his somewhat longer and more challenging David Copperfield. Already having sampled the writing style in Great Expectations, I found it somewhat easier to get into the flow of the story, and what a story it is.Young David Copperfield is raised by his widowed mother Clara and their devoted servant Peggotty, both of whom care for and love him very much. His life rapidly changes however, with the marriage of his mother to the loathsome Mr. Murdstone and his sister Miss Murdstone, who move in and take over the household, including the care and instruction of young Davey.From this point, we are introduced to a wide variety of richly drawn characters as Davey makes his way in the world. This novel is quite simply one of the greatest works of literature ever penned, widely acclaimed to be Dickens's finest. I found it to be fascinating, both with respect to the characters, the story and the historical underpinnings.There is really no "story" here, as the book simply follows young David from his earliest years, through adolescence and into young adulthood. Along the way, he experiences great joy, heartbreaking loss and countless adventures set against the rich and detailed backdrop of Victorian England. Such characters as Uriah Heep, Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, Steerforth, Emily, Ham, Agnes Wickfield, Dr. and Annie Strong, Dora Spenlow, Thomas Traddles, Mr. Peggotty, Miss Dartle and countless others create an indelible impression on the reader as they drift into and out of the tale. | 45 stars
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Mastering spanish
The book and workbook has been very helpful, but it did not come with the Audio CDS. | 23 stars
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Yoga and a great senior sleuth
Kate Kennedy attends a dinner for Swami Schwartz, founder of the Palmetto Beach Yoga Institute. Swami drops dead because someone spiked his double espresso with cyanide.Kate is recently widowed and fairly new to retirement in South Florida. Her ex-sister-in-law Marlene lives in the same condo building. The two of them decide to try to figure out why he was poisoned.Their investigation leads them to a cryogenics firm where you can have your head frozen for $30,000 or your whole body for $128,000.There is a plethora of suspects. Can they figure out who did it and why without putting themselves in danger?I really enjoy this series. I think Kate is a fun senior sleuth. The escapades that she and Marlene get into are very entertaining. It is a fun, fast read! A great cozy mystery.For those of you who might not know, she has also written the Ghostwriter series as Noreen Wald. They're great fun too!I highly recommend this book!Please check out www.mysteryloverscorner.com | 34 stars
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Finally someone who understands
It was a tragedy to finish this book and learn that there were no others by the author. This is one of the most insightful and thought-provoking books on feminine psychology that I have read - I needed to go back and reread it to assimilate the wonderful revelations she gives. The book is easy to read yet profound in the content and after being disappointed by so many other books on Jungian psychology (as they address the female), the author seems to illuminate the darker side of the feminine and also honor the beauty and purpose of women simultaneously. It's a must read for any women on the individuation path. | 45 stars
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Interesting concept, but very strange book...
I can't decide if I liked this book or not...The concept is interesting (even if it doesn't remotely match the cover synopsis!), but the actual story was so eerie and disturbing, I never developed a connection to the heroine, Brehan. I was left with the very unsatisfying feeling that the hero Erth deserves someone far better than Brehan. She just seems too emotionally damaged to ever love him the way he loves her. That said, the story did intrigue me, and I'll probably read the sequels if they are ever published. My motivation won't be to revisit beloved characters, though...instead I'll be hoping Brehan will fight off her "evil side" and turn into a character I can root for...Be forewarned, this is NOT a typical futuristic or fantasy romance. Perhaps if the cover had actually reflected the real story, I would have been better prepared for what I found inside. | 23 stars
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A shameful attempt to justify the unjustifiable
A book that ignores reality, and then some. The propaganda contained in this farce of a book has long been pulverized by works such as Marilyn B. Young's "The Vietnam Wars", Jerry Lembcke's "The Spitting Image", Noam Chomsky's "Rethinking Camelot" and chapters 5,6, and 7 of Chomsky and Edward Herman's "Manufacturing Consent". H. Bruce Franklin's scholarly work also exposes Lind's book for the drivel it really is. The American invasion of Vietnam was an absolute atrocity which no amount of rationalization can explain away. | 01 star
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Over-rated
Henry Miller's acclaimed `Tropic of Cancer' was a scandalously provocative novel when it was first published in France in 1934, though it has hardly maintained any of its initial shock value. However, that is not what is primarily disappointing about it; the novel also isn't very good, contrary to popular opinion. Miller sets out to portray a group of American expatriates in Paris and their various sexual exploits and feeble attempts to be artists. His writing is not very compelling, nor are his characters. At best, `Tropic' can be read as a kind of time capsule of the 1930's, when artistically oriented bohemians thought free love and sexual-backstabbing is cool. However, it certainly doesn't hold up to a number of far less ambitious books about the period, including Hemingway's `Moveable Feast,' or practically anything by Gertrude Stein. Through a new fusion of sex and artistry (not even coming close to the technical virtuosity of Joyce), Miller somehow found a niche for himself in the cannon of `great' literature. New readers of the book will probably be disappointed. | 23 stars
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Outstanding!!!
"To Kill A Mockingbird" is a must read. What a well-written story and a great lesson comes from this book. Readers of all ages will fall under it's spell. After 50 years it is still one of the BEST! | 45 stars
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Not on Par
The publication of this book was delayed for 1 year and I was in torture loving Carolyn's other books as I do. To say I was disappointed when it finally arrived is being kind! When I want recipes for great food I go to Martha but from Carolyn I expect recipes for living a VISUALLY beautiful upscale life involving interiors and flowers. With this book (really more of a cookbook and she has a COOK), she "dumbed down" for the Shabby Chic crowd and Martharized her offering for the rest of the public. My eyes teared over A Passion for Flowers. I put this one on the shelf and never looked at it again. I rate all her other books 5+ each! | 01 star
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Unparalled Magnificene...
It may not be typical De Lint, yet it definetely is his work. A wonderful story which stretches all imagination. Don't let whatever misgivings you have about this being a science fiction story deter you from reading this. The first few pages may be a little slow-paced and bewildering, but you'll never regret enduring those first pages. THRILLING rise to the climax though the fall from the climax is a little too steep for my liking, it should've stretched longer. Nevertheless, a fine, enthralling must read... as all of De Lint's works. | 45 stars
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A Saint speaking out from Old England
This was an amazing book. It was difficult to read as it is of any wholesale murder and suppression of a people. I had never been able to study the effects of the anti-catholic legislation and brutal suppression of the Church in England. I had alway studied it from the Irish perspective. I think that Saint Edmund Campion lived for as long as he did because he spent 10 years in Europe. Otherwise, he would have had a much shorter life, like Man-of-God Father Michael McGivney. He was already well-known in England for his writings, and oratory as a student and Deacon at Oxford University.I was struck by a few items in this book. The first was Queen Elizabeth I's remark to her bishops and clergy as she neared death, calling them "hedge priests", meaning not being actually ordained and shooing them out. The other was the shear emptiness of the English people's lives created merely to satisfy the political and power ambitions of the English Government and ministers as opposed by the people at large who were generally sympathetic and preferred to remain Catholic. Evelyn Waugh commented about the Queen's Government doing all that it could to "removing the people from the Sacraments of the Church so that it would die out in a generation" was quite striking and saddening to picture. How desolute were their lives already, but to take away the one thing that they had for hundreds of years? Mr. Waugh also points out the destruction of the abbeys and great places of learning, "...that flowed to and from Europe, suddenly cutting off England from the rest of the Church", and the greatest minds and service of the monks and priests of the Church from the English people.In Ireland, it was well known to us in America that there were safe houses and secret rooms to hide the priests and the vessels and vestments for Mass. I was surprised that this also occurred in England. I think that in many areas of history, Americans hear an "anglicized version" of the event and we see that prejudice in our books and common history.I highly recommend this book. It can be painful to read, but should be read. I would recommend some research first on the creation of the Church of England by King Henry VIII, and the Penal Laws, the Law of Supremecy, and the Catholic Faith in England first. This system of suppression remained in force until the middle of the 19th Century! There is a whole litany of English saints and martyrs that have been lost, but are waiting to be rediscovered by you. | 45 stars
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Whatever happened to the guy who replaced Peter Parker as the geek in high school?
The four-part "Skin Deep" storyline in "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a tale that bring's Peter Parker's past together with Spider-Man's present. Collected in Volume 8 of these trade paperback reprints, the story is written by J. Michael Straczynski with pencils by Mike Deodato, inked by Joe Pimentel and colored by Matt Milla, the flashback sequences are penciled by Mark Brooks, inked by Jamie Mendoza, and colored by Brian Reber. The contrast between the past and present might be too much, but you have to admit that you can tell them apart as you go along.The story begins with Peter late for school and substituting for another teacher and dealing with an unruly student. That he looks out the window and sees Charlie Weiderman. Sudden we are back to when Peter was in high school and Charlie became the new kid in class. You see, "The unwritten law of the classroom is that the school geek only gets a break when and if an even bigger geek moves into the neighborhood." You guessed it: Charlie is that geek, and when Peter finds he is no longer low man on the school totem pole, he makes sure he has nothing to do with the new kid. Peter was ashamed of what he did that day, so when Charlie shows up to ask a favor he is more than willing to listen.Charlie wants to get a big military contract for coming up with a new type of body armor. It would have to be from some kind of porous polymer compound that could cover every part of a soldier but still let oxygen breath through. That last part is what is stumping Charlie, along with something to absorb the energy of the incoming bullets. Charlie thinks the answer could be vibranium, the expensive natural material found only in the kingdom of Wakanda, soif he uses Peter's name as a reference when he goes to an interview with Tony Stark. Peter agrees and Charlie thanks him, saying that he has always been a friend. But when Peter remembers high school he knows that he was anything but a friend to Charlie.Stark gives Charlie a check, rounded off to the nearest hundred thousand, basically because Peter wrote a letter of recommendation. Peter shows up to help with the experiment but discovers Charlie is taking a dangerous shortcut, and if you do not know what is going to happen then you simply have not read most of the previous 514 issues of "The Amazing Spider-Man." Peter walks away from the experiment and once again we have a new supervillain for Spider-Man created by an explosion tampering with science. Peter tried to help, but no good deed goes unpunished in his world and Charlie still wants Peter's help, or else he is going to kill him and everyone around him.Stracynski maintains the present and past threads of the story line throughout the four parts of "Skin Deep," and while I am not sure what I think about going back and rewriting that part of Peter Parker's past, it certainly makes sense to be reminded of the geek that was left behind when the radioactive spider bit him. This is not a great storyline, but it is solid enough and after "Sins Past" (Volume 8) it is certainly a breath of fresh air. Besides, "Skin Deep" ends with a major change in the life of the Parkers and anything that sets up Aunt May taking on Wolverine is a good thing in my book. | 34 stars
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Book is not arrival with poor Amazon customer service
Book was not arrival. I contacted to the Amazon customer service and they said item sent out already calling me to wait. now, it was over one year, the item was still on it's way. Customer service did not follow it up like refund or re-sending, I paid for item for nothing. it was very poor servicing by the Amazon' Customer service. | 01 star
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A Timeless Tale-A Tale of Two Cities
I first read this book in my 7th grade history class and fell in love with Dickens and with history at one and the same time. Tale of Two Cities is timeless in it's impact, no matter the period of history in which the reader may live. It is a Tale that haunts and hauntingly calls one back time and time again! | 45 stars
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A low-level intro to procedural graphics coding concepts.
This book is for experienced programmers who want to understand the fundamentals of procedural graphics generation. This book is not for artists looking for practical applications of procedural texturing and modeling concepts.The authors cover a very large array of topics in the field, including many pertinent code examples, mostly in the RenderMan shading language. It focuses on the groundwork of the field from the first texture maps in the 70's onward, with a cursory mention of the state of the art at the time of publication.Representative text:"The particular kind of fractal we're building is called fractional Brownian motion, or fBm for short. fBm is characterized by its power spectrum, which charts exactly how amplitude relates to frequency. Oops! Pardon me - I'll knock off the math.""Long ago I gave this idea the wonderfully unpretentious - not! - moniker "generalized Impressionistic texture," or GIT for short. (We need more TLAs - threeletter acronyms.) The GIT matrix generator system takes the form of a time-varying swarm of color samples in a color space, usually the RGB color cube." | 23 stars
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Good book!
I am nine years old and read Little Women recently. This book is very poetic. I like the way the four girls are each interested in different things; for example Meg is very motherly, Jo is a tomboy and loves to write and do plays, Beth is shy and thoughtful and Amy is good at art and is very concieted. Some parts did go a little slow. It's very realistic because the girls do have some fights and act very much like sisters. Their father is at war and they are not very wealthy, but throughout the book they learn that they love eachother and have good times without money. They realize that without a lot of money they are really very lucky and also realize that there are others with money that don't have as much family love as they do. I think you will really enjoy this book. | 34 stars
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Reminds me of my childhood
I remember having a very small version of this book in the house when I was small. I think my sister has it now, so it's survived about 40+ years. I remember reading this book and wondering how could the tiger turn into butter. | 45 stars
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AMAZING AND LIFE-CHANGING
This book truly can change your perception of life. The more lives the character lives through, the more comfortable and relaxed you become about your own life. Simply amazing. | 45 stars
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A Caress of Twiilght Review
A Caress of Twilight is Laurell K. Hamilton's latest installation of the Meredith Gentry series. Merrideth, also known as Merry, finds herself trapped deeper in the problems of the faerie court and her lover's lives. Balancing her assassin cousin, evil aunt, competitive lovers, and a full-time job is just another day in the life of Meredith Nic-Essus.There is a great sense of urgency as Merry must produce an heir to the throne with one of the royal guards before her psychotic cousin is able to. She must also face the fact that everyone around her will live for eternity and her mixed blood damned her to a mortal life.Being a long-time reader and owner of Hamilton's books, I have found her works to have become increasingly racy , but the content of each book is still full of the womanly spunk and determination in which her readers desire. She has really outdone herself this time. Magic and mythical creatures dominate the story with a more organic and magical feeling than the Anita Blake series.The development of characters is done with excruciating detail which makes each of them all the more tangible. The terribly evil Queen, "Darkness" Doyle, and Frost are among some of the characters that one can get a real feeling for. There is a character for everyone in this series. Hamilton's vivid writing style and developmental nature never make a single moment dull or boring. The next book in line is eagerly anticipated. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read the Anita Blake novels or who has a love of mythical lore. | 45 stars
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Learning to question
Much has been written about Heinlein's ideological purpose but for this review, I am going to ignore it and focus solely on the book, on merits. A caveat: keep in mind this book was published in the 1960s so adjust your time context accordingly.The vanilla science fiction tool is to stage human encounters with aliens and then play out the interaction. In a twist, Heinlein has a pseudo-alien look at humans. Valentine Michael Smith (VMS), though human, has grown to adulthood in such alien circumstances as to be effectively an outsider with no experience of human beings or Earth. The circumstances of his growing up on Mars and learning his unusual abilities are glossed over in the book as they are but a device: the focus is humans as they appear to this star-child.And childlike he is indeed, in the best sense of the word as he tries his level best to understand the human systems of religion, superstition, social customs and so on. You do not need to agree with Heinlein's views (some of which are pretty dated and annoying) to appreciate this look in the mirror. Just as a child's favorite question is "why?", so too VMS encounters human relationships, the seamier side of organized religion, the numerous taboos and fears of humanity and asks "why?". The enchanting part of this is that the "why?" is not judgmental but only an attempt to understand.Sure, the book can be annoying at times when Heinlein gets carried away and the ending is in many ways a contradiction to the rest of the book. For all that, this is not a book to be missed. The best way to approach this book is neither as science fiction nor philosophy. Enjoy the story without reading between the lines, but do learn to ask "why?" yourself, just as VMS does. | 34 stars
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Not recommended
There is very little actual information in the book. My 4 year old wants to know WHY, HOW, WHEN, WHERE for everything... this book is very short and has very simple drawings. Did not meet our needs. | 01 star
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