text,label
"Beautiful book with impressive photos and info on contemporary and cutting edge designs in prefab home. Great sampling of the most modern designs and some info about them. Could have been more detail on the homes
",1
"This is a wonderful story that can be shared with any age group.  It's about a young Asian girl who comes to America and refuses to write her English name.  Beautiful story that teaches a lesson at the end.  The pictures are spectacular and very intricate.  I love this book
",1
"From what I gather, Edward Abbey has somewhat of a cult following.  I had never read anything by the guy, never even heard of him before I got this book.  I just thought I should point that out before going on.

This book kept me reading, no doubt about that.  It has it's downsides, but overall, I'd reccomend it.  Not ""Hey, you gotta read this right now,"" but it's good if you're looking for something a little different.

This book kind of made me think.  I'm not the kind of guy who is always reading into a book trying to analyze every aspect of it.  But I couldn't help it with this story.  I thought a lot of it was psychological, dealing with the main character, his thoughts, attitudes, and what made him tick.

This is a fairly long book, but the actual story of the guy going back to his hometown is short.  The plot alternates every chapter-- one about where he presently is, and then a memory, then where he is, then another memory, and so on.  Although it was an interesting way to write the book, I thought some of the memory sequences dragged a bit.  But don't get me wrong, overall I did enjoy them.

If you're looking for something that might be able to fuel a couple of thoughts about life, this is a good bookt to pick up
",1
"One of the most interesting classical texts. If you are interested in Greek myth, legend, history and culture, you must read this series 
",1
"Left for dead by her kidnappers, Lore is found by the mysterious woman Spanner, who teaches her to survive by her wits and to live in the dark world of crime. The two become lovers, but Lore wants legitimacy and to heal from her various wounds (her past with her family, her weeks with the kidnappers), so she leaves, taking a new identity, and tries to fit in. Ultimately, Lore cannot run from her demons forever, and she must either choose to stay in the shadows or to face the truths of her past. Set in the not-so-distant future, ""Slow River"" weaves Lore's pasts and present together into an astonishingly compelling tale. At the heart of the book is the story of a young woman healing from abuse, and the science fiction aspects are simply the setting and enhancing details. ""Slow River"" is the type of book that transcends whatever genre in which it's placed: it's more than a science fiction story, more than a coming-of-age story, more than a lesbian love story, more than a story of healing from abuse. This is a book that makes one believe in the power of fiction
",1
"I have many robot books and this is the best and most informative book of all. It is easy to understand and read; I personally couldn't put it down. I wish it was twice as long while still marinating the high info density... Most authors just babble and every few pages actually tell you something; this is not the case with this book! 

The programming of a robot is everything... and behavior based programming is the only way to go. This book provides a very good intro into that very subject. The only complaint I have is not about the book but his robot simulation program on is website which is referred to in the text. It seems to be rather slow and over taxing for the PC, but being a Java app it's not that surprising.

Highly recommended to anyone building robots
",1
"The subject provided a good historical perspective on Japan's Renaissance period, post civil wars and pre-westernization. In many respects Musashi, a Ronin represents Japan's search for an identity, a country ruled by military might in the form of the Shogun, yet keeping an Emperor who they revered as a god, a god without power. This Sword Saint was a man of great prowess with a sword of wood or of steel; he was also an artist, a lithographer and an author. Yet, he was masterless, masterless in a time when righteous was measured in a retainer's devotion to his master. He was his own master, in a time when Japan had no voice, serving all, without righteous. It would take an other two hundred and fifty years or so and a world war to release the spirit of the Samurai, that being honor amongst personal sacrifice a picture painted in the person of Miyamoto Musashi struggle for perfection and personal mastery of his profession, master of the sword
",1
"I've read a lot of books on real estate sales, but this books is my favorite. Jim Remley offers comon sense ideas that are easy to implement and are being used by real agents. Everyone should read this book.

",1
"  For over three years I've been studying Buddhism and Zen. During that time I've ordered many books within the different Buddhist schools. There are many fine authors out there that explain the tenets and fine workings of Buddhism as well as Zen. I believe a solid background in Buddhism background is essential in understanding Buddha's message to mankind. However, the true ""nuts and bolts"" of Buddhism practice can be found most directly in Zen. 
  
It is one thing to know something about a religion or way of life yet it is another to be able to apply it. Ezra Bayda has most succinctly given the best instruction of how to apply Zen to one's life where we need it the most; during those moments when we are gripped with our core pain. Core pain is comprised of our anger, traumas, sadness, feelings of inferiority, etc. It is this core pain that can make our life a living hell. Ezra examines these emotions and teaches us how we can mindfully learn to transform them in a way that truly works. Instead of denying them or trying to escape them we learn that they are part of our path in life. And while it takes courage to be present with these emotions we learn that they are but old programs and often ancient belief systems that take us away from the genuine life we all deserve. 
  
At least one reader has referred to this as being like a self-help book. Yet anytime we look for truth whether it be in religion or psychology, aren't we looking for something to help us. Ezra offers us the tools to achieve transformation in our life. When I ordered this book I had hoped it would teach me how to truly apply Zen teachings to my life. What I didn't realize is that the information this book contains would exceed anything I have read in any religious book, psychology book, or college text. Another reviewer said ""Where's the Zen"" in reference to the contents of this book. ""The Zen"" is there on every page. While Ezra doesn't use the esoteric style of writing common in Zen/Buddhist teaching, his simple clearcut way of communication exemplifies the simpleness that Zen is truly about. 
  
Ezra's other two books ""At Home in the Muddy Water"" and ""Saying Yes to Life"" are excellent as well and deepen your understanding of living mindfully and in the moment. A helpful hint, read his three books in chronological order with this book first. Personally, I think that reading them in order adds to a person's understanding and that each book acts like a foundation for the next. Ezra Bayda I have not had the honor of meeting you personally yet I thank you most sincerely for the gift of your writings. I bow to you for you are a Master! There are many of us I'm sure that are looking forward to your future works. 
  
Two other excellent Zen books that teach mindful living and dealing with difficult emotions are ""Beginning Mindfulness: Learning the Way of Awareness"" by Andrew Weiss and ""At Hell's Gate : A Soldier's Journey"" by Claude Anshin Thomas. Also, the writing's of Thich Nhat Hanh, a great man who highly influenced both of these authors, teaches the art of mindful living in a very understandable manner. Good luck to you on the path.
",1
"I wish I could give this book four and a half stars instead of four; I can't quite justify five stars in my mind.  Two of the stories were definitely good: the first, ""masked Riders"" by Parhelion, and the third, ""Ricochet"" by BA Tortuga.  I enjoyed both, but was not particularly snowed by the intensity of the conflict/plot line or the main characters and their relationships.  Not so the second story: ""Hung Up"" by Cat Kane was a powerful, intense and moving story about two delightful yet flawed characters who had secrets that tore their relationship up until they were able to work their ways (separately) around the issues.  That story deserved a five stars plus rating and I wish Kane would turn it into a full length novel and develop the characters and their backgrounds more.  This book is an excellent read both for the plot line and the erotic substance.  Enjoy
",1
"This is by far my 2 year old son's favorite book and he has lots of them.  Whenever it's time to read to him he says ""toot toot"" and I know  that means he wants to have this book read to him, sometimes several times  in a row.  The illustrations are wonderful, and there is all sorts of stuff  going on if you look closely.  An all around great, fun book, I highly  recommend this book
",1
"... I really wasn't expecting a writer I would like almost as much as Howard and McKenna ... what a great find!

If you like uber-alpha, warrior, edgy good-guy hero (ex navy Seal) and a likable, feisty heroine, you have got to try this author. Read this in one sitting
",1
"I am an avid reader of books of Biblical Prophecy, and I feel that Clarence Larkin's ""The Book of Revelation"" is the best on the book of Revelation. Mr. Larkin provides charts for the student, and does verse by verse analysis of the book.  If you want to study the Book of Revelation. I would submit Clarence Larkin's ""The Book of Revelation"" as your first tool of study
",1
"It is over a hundred dollars but put it off this is the book. You won't need any others
",1
"Shakespeare's life is frustratingly beyond our sight. Aside from the plays (which, in many cases, come down to us in different versions), we have a slim scattering of legal documents, marriage and birth records, and vague secondary accounts. 

As the world's preeminent Shakespeare scholar, Greenblatt has managed to assemble all these sources and, with a healthy dose of conjecture, arrive at something resembling a biography of the world's greatest dramatist. More than that, though, this work is a biography of the age in which Shakespeare lived and wrote---Elizabethan and Jacobian London---and how the major events of this time affected Shakespeare's plays. For example, the writing of King Lear may have been encouraged by a trial in 1603 in which two sisters tried to have their father declared insane so they could take control of his wealth and estate, while the youngest daughter (named Cordell) tried to stop them---a story uncannily similar to what is considered to be the Bard's greatest tragedy. 

What impressed me the most about this biography is how ORDINARY Shakespeare seemingly was. He didn't seem pretentious or snobbish, as some people envision him. He was born to a humble family and lived frugally, despite dying a rather wealthy man.

Although Greenblatt's writing is clear and accessible, he makes the assumption that you have already read Shakespeare's plays, or at least are VERY familiar with them. I have read about two thirds of them and felt a little behind when he discussed plays I hadn't read, so if you haven't read more than, say, ten of his plays, the major ones, you need to crack open the Norton Shakespeare (of which Greenblatt is the editor-in-chief) before you approach Will in the World. 

  
",1
"This book, Styron's finest, is about redemption.  Heralded by the epigraph from John Donne, the intricately structured tale with its Marlowian manipulations of narrative points of view soon becomes so enthralling that  it's impossible to put down.  But it's also to Styron's great credit that  the novel's theme, redemption through confrontation with death and  violence, is reflected through its feverish style.  There are not many  books in the postwar era, and none in the United States, that have such a  non-moralistic but intensely moral character and impact.  Echoes of the  Greek tragedians (several times evoked in the text) and of Dostoyevski  abound.  Finally, the crucial role by the most-fleshed out non-expatriate  character, a philosophical Italian small-town cop named Luigi, elevates the  moral drama to a metaphysical dimension that most contemporary writers  don't even seem to understand, let alone approach.  It's a shame that  Styron has not received the Nobel Prize yet
",1
"Great book ....my partners therapist recommended it for him to read 
It Helps you to understand & deal with the problems
Easy to read & understand
",1
"Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action is the primary anglophone source for Habermas's writings on ""Discourse Ethics.""  Written in the early eighties, this translation, which was published in 1990, provides  a developmental perspective.  The focus of the essays moves from Habermas's  statements about the role of philosophy today, in ""Philosophy as  Stand-in and Interpeter, to his writing on reconstructive social science in  general, to his program for a discourse ethics in particular.  The final  papers address criticisms of this program.  The volume suffers a bit from  the fact that Thomas McCarthy's introduction is keen to locate Habermas's  position vis a vis various contemporary moral-philosophical standpoints,  but does not go very far toward locating the whole initiative in the  broader canvas of Habermas's overarching social-theoretic project
",1
"This book is as much about life as it is about baseball. The positive re-enforcement the book gives about accomplishing almost anything is the true message.
Whenever you or one of your players is struggling, go back to this book to refresh a slumping attitude
",1
"I'm sure most people will come to Fitzgerald through her novels, so I have to excuse myself as a first time reader who just happened to pick up these short stories.  I still haven't decided if I enjoyed the collection, but they are unique.  I thought the first story was by far the best, but after that, the quality varied widely.  Unlike a classic short story writer (someone like Guy de Mauppassant), these stories have NO resolution for the most part.  In fact, they leave you with that feeling of listening to music and waiting to shift back into the  major key.  Discordant is the word I'm looking for.  The settings take the reader all over the globe and across three different centuries.  I suspect most would enjoy her novels more (I am certainly heading in that direction to read them next), but I can't say since I haven't read them myself.  Overall, I found this collection a bit unsettling, but still well written.  I'm sure her fans will enjoy them more than I did on this first encounter
",1
"I like this author's work so much that I actually bought the hard cover since I couldn't wait for the pb to be issued.  However, P. D. James' view of life as expressed by her characters can be very pessimistic at times (a contrast to her autobiography).  In this one, there is still the feeling that the characters are going through the motions of living, never really feeling any joy--or often even happiness.  However, when Adam and Emma come together at the end, there was a ray of hope.  Please, Ms. James give us a new book ASAP
",1
"Thank you for the fast shipping of The Daily Strength books,they will make great gifts- Thanks, Rober
",1
"This book was ""required reading"" when I first started in the investment business 16 years ago -- It was a fabulous introduction to Wall Street and the stock market.  I have recommended it many times over the years, and continue to do so
",1
"Our family has enjoyed this a lot, since we take a lot of trips in our RV.  Great way to entertain on the road.  We really liked the questions about pop music and movies, also some great questions about the US presidents.  Very entertaining, clever
",1
"i learned a lot about this history. was useful for the papers that we had to do in class
",1
"Mr. Fleishman has written and clear and concise primer on Home Theater.  Clearly, from his years as a staff writer for Audio Video Interiors and other pubs, he has an in-depth knowledge of the ins and out of HT. Certainly, everyone who is interested in HT should buy this book and read it from cover to cover.  The best of all is that this volumne is updated on a on-going basis so that its always current with the latest trends and developements from HDMI to DTS 96/24.
Great job
",1
"I was shocked to open this book and find the author's words targeting the very soul of my writing. It is a book about craft, not a pop culture ""I wanna write a book"" manual.Gerard shows a great understanding of the motivation behind the need and desire to write well. He speaks to those who are willing to put effort and excellence where their pen meets the page.I heartily recommend this book
",1
"For a recently college graduate and moderate sports world observer with little experience negotiating in a business environment, this book was a pleasure to read. The concepts in this book are on or above par with my textbook on negotiation. However, I specifically enjoyed how Steinberg illustrates important concepts with stories involving the ever interesting personalities of professional sports. From establishing values to finalizing the contract, this book is efficiently organized to lead through the negotiation process. Also, at the end of each sub-chapter is a summary of the key points of the reading. Winning with integrity isn't easy in general, let alone in the ruthless world of sports agents. Leigh shares his experiences that have lead to his success in this fun and insightful book
",1
"  This book is packed full of incredible devices for any one who enjoys Exalted. The book has a wealth of knolage from the first age as well as the age of sorrows. 

     The book has a few sections in it that divide the items by uses, that is the only way i can discribe it. There is a giant amount of artifacts that have nothing to do with combat, and then others that are. There is a section on warstriders, basicly single man ""death machines"" that basicly look like Large Metal Robots. 

     Most of the items in this volume are very well detailed and all have pictures that show you what they would more that likely look like. I don't like saying that IS what they look like because, well, this is RPing people, things change by a player/GM's perception. 

      Anyway, enough of my ramblings, This book rocks and has items that range from pens to armor to boots to Royal Class Warstriders. This book is about gear in the world of Exalted.

  P.S. It looks like there is going to be about 4 more of these books. My best guess is that one will be for Sorcery, but that is just one book. If you think of anything else, post it here to give me some ideas on the other ones
",1
"This book is a somewhat linear history of the past 13,000 years across the continents.  Diamond seeks to sum up history across various societies on all the continents in a relatively short volume.  The impetus for this search starts with a question from a friend of his from New Guinea named Yali.  Yali's question was, ""Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?""

Reading the book, I think I gulped at this point.  This sounds like a classic, loaded question.  It sounds disturbingly close to why have we (Europe and its former colonies) succeeded where they have failed.  Diamond does not descend into that territory though, but he does not evade criticism for skirting it completely.  There are references to a culture's success in industrializing or condensing populations that Diamond brushes off as a mixed blessing, for instance.  The advantages of a hunting/gathering culture are not really explored outside of the remarkable sustaining nature of southeast Asia.

This history can probably be described (or perhaps is most successful) as based around environmental causation (as opposed to the racial/ethnic/social causation that the lump in my throat had been fearing).  Descriptions of climate (note: that the history begins with the cessation of the last great ice age), longitudinal or latitudinal axes, elevation and landmass differences play a strong role in determining the fate of humanity.  Still, it is interesting to look specifically at the items gathered in the title.

Guns.  Europe's refinement of this technology was based on China's innovations with gunpowder.  Today's dominant society is a product as much of what it has swallowed and thus incorporated as by what it has innovated.  As an interesting counterpoint, Japan had owned more and better guns in c. 1600 CE, than any country in the world.  Samurai rulers first limited then outlawed the technology.  Japan wouldn't resume manufacture until mid 19th century.  Obviously, there is an indisputable importance in the weaponry's influence in shaping the geopolitical world of today.

Germs.  Epidemics left people from cultures based on cities with who could resist smallpox and those dense populations more easily replaced those who didn't survive.  Smaller groups have a distinct disadvantage versus the interdependent and consequently more interchangable larger cities.  Epidemics develop out of these civilizations as germs jump over from domesticated animals (and smaller groups may not even have animals to domesticate).  Interesting note: the emperors of the Mayan and Incan civilizations both succumb to disease (likely smallpox) rather than guns.

Steel.  Technological advancement is keyed on innovations brought about by dense populations and the possibility for abstraction of responsibilities.  A hunter-gatherer culture lacks the abstraction necessary to divide responsibilities to allow for such developments as literacy and mining, as the energies that would fuel these are directed toward survival areas.  Diamond makes an interesting and controversial point that the hunter-gatherer culture may be more attuned to intelligence as an evolutionary necessity over civilized society, where the evolutionary energy may be directed at surviving these epidemic illnesses.

There are many aspects of environment that serve as limiting conditions for the development of these things.  First, there appears to need to be sustainable farming.  Many of the staples of modernity are the crops first domesticated in the fertile crescent region (where today we invade, suck oil, and force the conquered to endure freedom).  The western Asian breadbasket provided the means to bank food so that trades could develop.  As a complete side note, the Genesis book of the bible can be viewed upon through this filter as it goes into great detail how Joseph set up a system of storing and meting grain in Egypt to greatly increase the population and avoid the calamity of drought and famine brought on by sustenance farming.

Another factor in the civilizing of Eurasia is the landmass itself.  Compared to Africa and the Americas, Eurasia is mainly west-east axis versus north-south.  Movement of successes in cultivation and domestication could more easily occur because climate differences are easier on a latitudinal basis than on longitudinal.  Something like corn (maize) which was domesticated in central Americas took a very long time to make it to North America because of geography.  Llamas and guinea pigs (which could be useful for pack animals and food) never made it north.  Conversely, all those fertile crescent crops and bigger domesticated animals like cattle, horses, pigs were able to spread from one tip of Asia to the opposite tip of Europe.

To answer Yali's question, some of the answer is luck.  Africa, Australia and the Americas may not have been afforded the botanical or zoological advantages that Eurasia had.  Some other is environmental determinism, where you are helps make up who you become.  For going forward, Diamond cites transportation, communication and information advances as factors that likely will obliviate these historical forces in the future.

After word: Harpers Magazine tackles an issue that was brought up, but not as fully developed here, that of pre-Clovis Native American discoveries (pronouncements), knowingly confronting a loaded racial/ethnocentric question in a folio called ""Might White of You: Are American Archaeologists White Supremacists?""  The archaeological records supports people living in the Americas since about 9000-11000 BCE.  There are scant scraps of evidence prior to that date, but plenty of theories typically more titillating than substantive.  One wonders if the pre-Clovis discovery (especially all the business about ""caucusoid"" skulls), isn't so much about archaeology as setting up an imagined genocide to justify a documented genocide.



",1
"Although I'm not new to WWII histories, the First World War is one of my favorite historical periods to read about and one of my favorite books from that war is Alistar Horne's ""The Price of Glory.""  Since I enjoyed reading about one if WWI's most epic battles, I did not hesitate to read ""Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege"" by Antony Beevor.

In both works, comparisons are made between the battles of Verdun and Stalingrad and for good reasons.  Both battles were initiated by German forces that underestimated the tenacity of their enemy, the course of battle spun wildly beyond their commander's control, and both battles cost a near unimaginable loss of life and human suffering.

Beevor is especially keen on the amount of human agony throughout the battle of Stalingrad, which makes the book gutwrenching but at the same time the reader is unable to put it down.  From the well-documented cold, lice, and hunger that haunted Russian and German soldier alike, to the disease and desperation experienced by the Sixth Army as they were slowly strangled in Zhukov's trap, it seems that Beevor has overlooked nothing.  Unlike many battle histories that may focus on stategy or political fallout of the conflict, the emphasis on human suffering and heroism in Beevor's work makes the reader sympathize for Russians, Germans, Romanians, and anyone else unlucky enough to get caught in the battle.

Not only does Beevor shed light on the plight of ordinary soldiers, he also examines the more famous players in the battle; including a paranoid Stalin, a dreaming Hitler, a finger-pointing von Manstein, and a indecisive Paulus.  Indeed, the reader gains perspective from Rastenburg and Moscow all the way down the heirarchy to the frozen bunkers of Stalingrad.

Overall, ""Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege"" is an excellent book that is recommended for anyone interested in World War II or just any hard-hitting military history
",1
"Stewart and his crew nail it.  If you like the Daily Show, you will love this book.  If you like political satire, you will love this book.  I have the calendar on my desk where I get a snippet of the book everyday and it reminds me of what I read and I laugh everyday. 
",1
"This book was great.  It read well and never was too slow.  It was fair to both sides of the war and the leaders who fought the battles and planned the campaign.  It was complete in that it discussed the men, tactics, weapons, and terrain in the southern campaign.  Not only was this book a great souce for the southern war but it also gave good insight into the revolutionary war in general.  If you're interested in this topic and want to increase you're knowledge of the southern war, get this book.  It's informative as well as pleasing to read
",1
"I was introduced to this book while staying with a friend, and I was hooked.  I went home and bought it so that I could finish it.  I didn't know much about Buddhism before I read this book.  Ms. Boorstein's stories read a bit like the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.  She has short wonderful stories that demonstate current day people practicing  the Buddha's teachings.  You do not need to be a Buddhist to appreciate this book!  It's very inspirational.  Since this book, I have read several more books to learn about the teachings of Buddha
",1
"I have used this book for more than 5 years and take it with me on every trip to Paris. If you can't get success from these recipes then you might consider some other past time than baking. Get used to baking with weights and this book is perfect. Something as simple as a Madeleinne is created perfectly in weight measures but just a shot in the dark when using volume measurments. This book is not exactly for beginner bakers but if you have some experience it is fantasti
",1
"A recent Dallas Morning News column profiling T.D. Jakes quoted a University of Houston sociology professor saying that Jakes is ""incredible in how he's able to diagnose people's pain.  He has an uncanny ability to put a finger on the human condition."" Jakes' new book He-Motions illustrates the verity of the professor's statement.  In He-Motions, Jakes nails the issues and challenges Christian men face today in trying to fulfill their many roles and pursue their dreams.
	
Jakes writes from his heart and soul as a pastor, father, husband and entrepreneur.  In the opening pages, he describes his motivation for writing: ""I want to share what I've learned.  I want to cut through so much of the junk imposed on men today and talk heart to heart about what it means to be a man, not in some touchy-feely group hug kind of way but in an honest, soul-bearing way, which also respects men and honors the women who love them and whom they love.""
	
Jakes thoroughly succeeds in fulfilling his desire for this book.  Not only does he address male readers, but he also targets female readers who hope to gain insights about men.  Jakes' no-holds barred writing offers refreshing candor for those wanting an honest assessment of who they are and where they are in life.
	
Jakes writes about his childhood, his ministry, his family and his ups and downs in life-always tying stories to life lessons for readers.  It does not take the reader long to discern that Jakes possesses a vast breadth of wisdom and understanding about the inner workings of men in our culture.
	
Jakes writes that ""a man must value himself.""  He-Motions can help readers make great strides in finding value in themselves-regardless of their circumstances.  He encourages men to refuse to become discouraged but to keep moving toward their destiny while simultaneously enjoying the splendid moments of life's journey.	
	
The book is written as if Jakes is in the room having a one-on-one talk with the reader.  If it was in fact such a talk, it would surely involve laughing, weeping, praying and dreaming.   One such example of the conversational style is when Jakes writes about balancing family and career.
	
He writes, ""I'm here to tell you that if you don't contain your work life and segregate it from your home life, then your career will consume the marriage like a campfire blazing outside of its circle of rocks and roaring into a life-threatening forest fire.""
	
There is not an area of discussion where Jakes lets men off the hook.  He writes authoritatively about power, money and sex.  In the financial arena, Jakes commands readers, ""Stop asking God to bless an area where you refuse to obey His Word for your life."" 
	
In one relationship area after another, Jakes' writing leads the reader to self-examination, awareness, forgiveness and improvement.  His writing on subjects such as a man's relationships with his father, children, wife, other men, time, money and God is honest and down to earth.  It is also practical, as are the questions for men and women at the end of each chapter.  

Throughout the book, Jakes references the life of David to shed light on the above relationships from a Biblical perspective.
	
Jakes encourages readers that ""someone needs to know who you are and where you are at all times in your walk and life.""  This book could be an effective tool to use in a discussion or accountability group to help people grow stronger relationships.   I encourage men and women to take advantage of the wisdom and insights Jakes shares in this book
",1
"I assume the plot of this famous tale is well known, so I won't spend time on it, but in recently re-reading this book for the first time since ninth-grade English class in the '90's, I was repeatedly struck by a piercing question: how exactly over time does drama become melodrama? Will our cherished novels seem melodramatic to readers a hundred-forty years hence? How does this happen, and is there ever an end-point to it? Dickens was by any standard a literary master, and if typifying one's age is a virtue, then he does this to perfection, yet if failing to achieve a universality unhindered by time (as other writers have done) is a limitation, then in this one sense alone Charles Dickens has an Achilles heel
",1
"Goes over the problem in detail, but without excessive hand-wringing. A diversity of well selected examples, with helpful discussions and observations. If codependence and ""rescuing"" people are issues you struggle with, definitely get this book
",1
"I wrote this review because I felt that none of the reviews so far really got the main cause of this book. This is NOT a book about cosmology (as people would expect from Roger Penrose). In this tiny book, Penrose summarizes his idea that the mind cannot be understood by mathematical processes (something much different from the opinion of 99,99% of neurobiologists, such as Steven Pinker). This view is near to the Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann. The book is easy to understand and the ideas are very concise and its recommended for the ones that are interested in intelligence theories (thus, the author assumes that the reader know what a neuron is and how it works!). Some may think this is a difficult to understand book because they didn't had in mind that this book is about Penrose's point of view on intelligence. In fact, I'm not a physicist, nor a biologist, simply a high school student and I found the book very easy to understand, although I do not agree with Penrose's point of view. I think he forgot something very important. Read it and read the other point of view and you'll find what it is! :
",1
"Great book; it get's you thinking. My kids arre almost out of the nest and they are all I could ask for. Yes, I worked. But not until they were in school, almost always part time and I did not use 'working' as an excuse to not volunteer at school, sports, and generally be in my kids lives. The point is really about your priorities. Do you instinctively put your kids needs first? It's been interesting to see how things have worked out with families in our area. We have a large group of kids who have been together since kindergarten; now they are seniors. You can instantly tell which parents were connected, involved and had their priorities straight. Not all of them stayed home the whole time. 
On and off I used to listen to Dr. Laura, frequently agreeing, but many times not. What I love is that she has an unpopular point of view and she's not going to let social, financial, or industry pressure dilute her message. Yes, she's frequently abrasive; so were many people who have made an impact in the course of events in this world. If you are a parent with young children READ THE BOOK at least it will give you important ideas to agree or disagree with.
",1
"This book was recommended to me by several people as I interviewed hiring managers, HR personnel, senior-level employees, and others for my own book on the job market.  By all accounts, my own included, 201 Best Questions is comprehensive, helpful, and tactical, an important read when one is preparing for an interview.  It is not an all-inclusive resource, only interview-targeted, but for what it is, the book is top-notch
",1
"""Those who write well have more power and therefore have more control over their lives"" (p.21).  If this is indeed true then Mem Fox is a very powerful woman!  In the midst of the phonics vs. whole language war being raged in the media, this book is a call for reading and writing teachers to examine their practices and strive for truly purposeful, artful teaching.  Fox's insights into her life as a writer, teacher and mother make this a truly inspiring and intensely challenging read.  I have always believed that to be an effective reading teacher, I must be a reader, able to share my passion for books with my students, but Mem Fox points out that unless I am a writer as well, I will be unable to know the difficulties, fears, hopes and needs of my students as writers.  I plan to thoughtfully explore the forms of writing I use, examine the writing process I go through and share my writing with my students on a more regular basis.  I am convinced that we will all grow from the experience!
",1
"This volume contains 152 middle length sutras which are mainly sermons to monks on buddhist practices.  Having compared the Pali original with the translation of about 12 Sutras I would give it a high fidelity rating.  The appendix contains extensive notes which discuss the text from the viewpoint of the Theravada commentaries.  A must read for those who want to learn or study using original source material and do not read Pali.  The introduction contains valuable material on Buddhism by a Bhikkhu long ""gone-forth"".  
",1
"This book is for anyone who has ever questioned their faith, lost a loved one, or yearned to understand life just a bit more.  Sarah Darer Littman has captured Justine Silver, a confused Jewish girl, within the pages of CONFESSIONS OF A CLOSET CATHOLIC.

Justine is surrounded by her faith, but no one seems to celebrate it the same way.   Her parents have one idea, her grandparents another. And then there are all those other religions -- which way is the ""right"" way? Bewildered by this, Justine seeks answers by deciding to adopt her best friend's Catholic beliefs.  With the help of Father Ted (a stuffed animal), a secretly purchased rosary, and a ""stolen"" cross necklace, Jussy turns her closet into her own private ""confessional"".   What will happen when her family finds out?  

Littman humorously and compassionately shows the readers Justine's life as she struggles with her religious questions, her neat-nick mother, and, sadly, the death of her beloved grandmother.  Readers might not find out all the answers from Justine, but they will definitely know they are not alone in the mysterious world of religion.

Reviewed by:  Sally Kruger, aka ""Readingjunky
",1
"Tina Dirmann did a fantastic job writing about this difficult case, which encompasses motherhood, mental illness, child abuse, and matricide. Dirmann does not interject her own biases or agenda into her writing, rather she presents the many different angles of this story in a compassionate fashion. That, in and of itself is impressive, because many writers of true crime tend to lean one side or the other,get caught up in emotion, and appear unable to really present all sides of the story. Lessons can be learned from this book regarding mental illness and society's responsibility to help families who are in need of intervention. It is so sad that the extended families of these boys failed not only them, but also tragically failed their mother.
",1
"What a great book.  I have been turned off to religion due to the negativeness that surrounds it.  Watching Joel Osteen on TV and reading this book makes me love God even more.  When I think back on my life, I have truly had many blessings and I no longer need to feel guilty for accepting God's blessings.

God has always been about love, hope, faith and greatness.  He has never been about hatred, prejudice or guilt. 
",1
"Set in a German village reminiscent of Grimm's fairy tale world this book will quickly have readers under it's spell.  This tale within a tale within a tale concerns a young clockmaker,Karl, who needs to create a figure for the great clock of Glockenheim to mark the end of his apprenticeship.  Time is running out for Karl and he is fretful because has not yet made the figure. At this same time Fritz, a young storyteller is telling his latest spooky tale to the villagers.   Fritz launches in to a very mysterious tale of a prince, who it is disovered at his ""death"" is actually kept alive by clockworks rather than by a heart.  Also in Fritz's story is a stange man named Dr. Kalmanius.  When this highly unusual man is described by the storyteller an identical man suddenly appears. The stunned audience quickly leaves.  As the others leave this strange man  approaches Karl and presents him with the needed clock figure ""springing"" Fritz's tale alarmingly to life.  As always Philip Pullman creates a vibrant and engaging cast of characters who will leave an imprint on the reader's memory. The illustrations by Leonid Gore capture both the fairy tale spirit and the horror under the surface.  This is a quick but original and engaging read that will appeal to both horror and fairy tale fans.  Don't miss it
",1
"This cookbook has become one of my favorites. I grew up in SE Texas, and once I moved away, no mexican food could compare. Now I have the understanding on what differeintiates Tex-Mex and Mexican food. The recipes are exact and delicious. I love the pictures, the stories and most of all the inspiration to cook my favorite meals! Its definately a book for any Tex Mex lover, I highly reccomend it. Just try and sit and read it and not have your mouth water
",1
"Black Metropolis is perhaps the founding document of African-American studies, a classic work of sociology that still resonates today. It is a paradigmatic expression of the Chicago School of sociology, however, a  school that today stands in some disrepute, at least in some circles.  Indirectly, it was the target of James Baldwin's famous attack on Richard  Wright in his essay, Everybody's Protest Novel. The claim of the criticism  has been that the Chicago School, due to its insistance upon using a  ""scientific approach"", merely reproduces the very terms under  which African-Americans have been oppressed--a claim that has proceeded  under the warrant of European intellectuals such as Theodor Adorno. Still,  Black Metropolis is a landmark study, and, unfortunately, many if not most  of its observations and conclusions remain true today, and in fact it could  be argued that conditions in the Black Belt of Chicago have gotten worse,  not better, since 1945, the year of Black Metropolis' publication--which  lends a certain credence to the criticisms mentioned above, though perhaps  it should be qualified by saying that they are not so much criticisms of  the Chicago School as they are criticisms of American society. Since then,  as we know, we have witnessed a great shift in American public opinion away  from what some consider to be the excesses of those days; so much so, in  fact, that the work of Black Metropolis may again be regarded as a  profoundly useful book. Embodying American liberalism as it does--which  counted as a grave sin thirty years ago--Black Metropolis may possibly be  due for a fresh look
",1
"Multiple reviewers of other Washington biographies recommended this abridgement over the book they were reviewing.  I am a reader, as claimed above, but I have NOT read ANY Washington biography. I still thought the  above information might be helpful to other seekers
",1
"There is little more I can contribute to this literary masterpiece--even though the essential structure of my review is clear in my mind, it will not be able to truly capture the magnificent splendor of this work. Gustave Flaubert was a conscientious literary artist who revised and perfected Madame Bovary with care. He worked on the novel for nearly six years, during which time he rewrote the manuscript several times, often spending days perfecting a single paragraph. The result of his painstaking creativity was a masterpiece that rivals the heavens with its beauty. Madame Bovary is a penetrating psychological study of its heroine, Emma Bovary, as she struggles to find fulfillment through a realization of her romantic fantasies of love and wealth. She exists in a dream world and longs for freedom from her middle-class humdrum lifestyle. Flaubert's realistic portrait of the tragic fate of this complex woman is nothing short of phenomenal.

In perfect contrast to Emma, Flaubert introduces Charles Bovary, a proto-typical doctor who has no real talent or ambition and is content to enjoy the simple things that life has to offer. Soon after their wedding, Emma becomes disillusioned by the bumbling Charles and yearns for a romantic interlude. Flaubert represents the absolute clich� of provincial life with his portrayal of this undemanding, unimpressive, and unnoticed middle-class man. Flaubert brings all facets of human personas full-circle with the shy, well-mannered, and well-liked young man-next-door, Leon. With a slow-blossoming relationship with Emma, Leon leaves for Paris to study law. Upon his return--and with a little experience--the two become lovers. Flaubert's portrayal of this dysfunctional couple is reminiscent of tragic romances of yore. Thereafter, the degeneracy of Emma's lifestyle is evident, and she is brought to the brink of destruction.

In Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert gives us a vivid and life-like glance into the reality and the mannerisms and the customs of small-town people living in France during the mid-nineteenth-century. Flaubert's descriptions are detailed and beautiful--and paint a real portrait of the natural world he is describing. Opening with first-person narration that sometimes shifts to third-person has earned Gustave Flaubert the reputation as one of the most celebrated and influential novelists of the nineteenth century
",1
"This is a great beginners book. It's easy to read and follow along. Silver's other books are great to start out with as well. Other great starter books are ""Wicca"" by Scott Cunningham,""Witch Crafting"" & ""Book of Shaddows"" by Phyllis Curott, these authors will help you get started very well. Also I recommend ""The Witches Almanac"" by Elizabeth Pepper, this is a witches must have on her shelf. Happy readings.....
",1
"This book is without a doubt one of the best in the series of Chicken Soups.  I have purchased several of them and give them out for gifts in the hospital, get well , birthdays and etc.  There is something for everyone in  this book. What a great little gift
",1
"Rolling Stone has long been the ""Gold Standard"" for rock journalism.  Any history of rock and roll that doesn't have Billy Joel or Bob Seger is all right by me.  I need to update my copy right away!  Great job, as usual, Rolling Stone!!!!
",1
"While I consider myself a regular theatre-goer, I've always been aware of Kramer's plays and opinions, yet I haven't seen nor read either of these two plays. That changed this past weekend when I saw the revival of Normal Heart currently playing off-Broadway. This is a viscerally emotional piece of theatre and it makes one feel impassioned about what was going on in the world then and sheds a new light as to what's going on now in regards to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It's a must red if you don't have a chance to see it
",1
"This book reveiw is on a book named Last Summer with Maizon.  This book is about two best friends named Margarate and Maizon who lives on Madison Street.  Her friend Maizon was accepted to Blue Hills, a school where really educated people go.  Margarate does not want them to be separated.  Every night she wishes Maizon will not get accepted.  But when Margarate's father has a second heart attack, he dies and now all Margarate has is Maizon, her mother, her little brother Jay and the people around.  Margarete was having a rough time anyway and then Maizon got accepted to Blue Hills.  When it was time for Maizon to leave Margarate, her mother and Maizon's grandmother dropped her off.  When Maizon wasn't there with Margarate her whole life changed.  At school she was becoming popular, she was liked now.  Days passed by and Maizon still didn't call.  When Margarate went to go get her brother at her neighbors house, that's when Maizon calls.  Margarate was so excited that Maizon wanted to come home.  Margarate ran to the grandmother's house telling her the news.  Margarate said Maizon wants to come home, the grandmother says that she would go get her.  When Maizon got home it was like old times, they ran into each others arms.  They then went to their favorite spot and started talking.  Maizon said she came back because she wasn't being treated right, she didn't feel the same. So they sat there and talked and felt like old times with my best friend Maizon.  I think that this book should have gotten an award or five stars.  This book has mostly everything of real life.  It deals with best friends, for example like my friendship with Kiena.  It has separation, like my sister and me.  It has a lost loved one like my godfather and it has a lesson like when you do wrong and learn your lesson.  I think that this book should have five stars because it really relates to real life,it shows friendship and it shows and explains what happens in real life.  I like this book because it reminds me of my life, me and my friends, how we argue and lose our friendship and then gain it back with a little talking.  It reminds me of how I lose people in my family and then cry because I miss them.  If I could buy this book, I would let my whole family read it, I would make it our reference book for when we need advice or something to do.  This book is so good that all my friends wanted to read it.  It is so good that I really read it because I don't really read books and when I read the book it made me think of when my best friend Ariel was going to move and how it made me feel, and how I compare it to Margarate and Maizon.  This book is excellent, the author really put their heart in it and that they were depressed and needed a friend.  If you ask my best friend Johnniece, she'll say that she really enjoyed the book, that it should get five stars, because the author really put thought, confidence, respect, love, care and her whole heart into this book.  When I say she put confidence in this book I meant that she wrote it knowning that it will be a hit.  The author thought about the words, thought her life and compared it and started writing it with compassion.  I think that this book should be the book of the month in my school, because it shows and teaches a lesson.  With the summary I wrote I put my heart in it because when I read it, it touched my heart.  I won't want my friend away from me.  I think that I mostly relate to Maizon, because when she left Margarte was beginning to be liked, and the girl was talking about Maizon and Margarte sat there and watched and listened instead of doing the right thing and telling them to stop doing that to their friend.  I relate to Maizon, I relate to her because if people don't like me, I don't care.  If people want me out of somewhere, then I'll leave and if people love me, I love them back and that's how Maizon is.  She doesn't take junk.  Alot of people relate to Maizon.  This book is interesting and gets interesting as you read on.  This book is really a good book that shows you friendship, break-up and everything else that deals with real life.  I love this book, it is really good and I think that if most people had this book then they wouldn't be out doing the stupid and illegal things that they are doing.  This book really didn't grasp Dr. Kings dream because when Maizon went to Blue Hills, the whites were treating her bad, they saw her different.  Brenliniqua, Class 7-512
",1
"Ms. Phillips certainly knows how to tug at those heart strings!  I felt as though I were right there with Mac and Sammy Jo, feeling the emotions they felt.  This is a great story that proves that true love can happen when  it's least expected and that true love always prevails.  I recommend this  book to any romance lover
",1
"I bought this together with a ""best of"" CD, both containing a lot of songs I really wanted to play on the piano myself. That combination has allowed me to hear what Vince played while also reading through the music to see just what it is he played. Without exception, I've found the written music exactly true to what Vince recorded, including pick up notes, tricky min-maj-min progressions, arpeggios, diminished 9th chords, and what-not, and it has made some previously unapproachable passages much easier to understand. I've also been able to use the book as a sort of learning tool, getting a feel for what a jazz musician really tries to accomplish when he sits down and plays a piece. I would like to have seen some fingering indications included, and without those, I think some beginners will not be able to do much with this work. And personally, I didn't find the performance notations particularly useful (""laid back"" doesn't really convey much to me), but like I said, I also purchased a CD of Vince's music, so I already have an idea of what sort of sound I want to achieve. Other than those two minor points, I can't find anything wrong with this edition. The binding is ""lay flat"" perfect bound, so the pages stay glued together but pull away from the spine, allowing this book to retain a crisp appearance and feel even after the pages are pulled open on a music stand. Guaraldi fans and aspiring jazz pianists will gain a lot from this work
",1
"After getting and reading Primary Target as a gift, I immediately began picking up other Joe Weber books.  Defcon One, his first, was absolutely terrific.  Great plot line and characters.  The action is continuous throughout.  My suggestion is not to pick up this book to read up before going to bed because you'll never put it down.  Looking forward to reading his next - Shadow Flight.  My hat's off to Joe Weber.  Keep up the great work
",1
"This is an excellent book.  Its academic / sociological approach may put off some lay readers, but that would be too bad.  The subject, and the message, are both very important.  In many ways, this book is similar to ""The Appearance of Impropriety:  How the Ethics Wars Have Undermined American Government, Business and Society,"" but although this book is somewhat less accessible to general readers it is certainly stronger from a social-science standpoint.  An excellent book, well worth reading for anyone interested in why repeated efforts to stamp out political corruption have borne such mixed (at best) results
",1
"Through much prayer and research, I was lead to this book. After reading it I understand the four step approach and can use it in all my educational experiences for my children. I felt so much more comfortable homeschooling my children. I felt I had really been taught how to homeschool!  It is not only informative, but interesting.a rare combination in how to books!
",1
"I am married to a native New Yorker and we spent an entire weekend looking over this book and talking about many of the wonderful places it mentions, many of which we still visit today. As an extra bonus for avid cooks, there are recipes. For anyone who remembers Luchows or any of the other venerable, now closed restaurants the book mentions, it will take you back to happy times and good memories. It's an excellent book and clearly Schwartz has poured a great deal of research into what is his labor of love.
",1
"This is the best book. I was writing a book about my son who has SI Dysfunction. He is 23 years old now. I was in Barnes and Noble looking for another book when I found this. I was blown away. I never knew there was a book like this. I could have really used this book when Marcus was little. It is so wonderful. I opened it and started reading about my son. My book is called What's Wrong With My Child? Struggling With Sensory Integration Dysfunction. It is only a mother's story of how my child coped with this thing. It is not meant to be a book like Carol Stock Kranowitz's. Her book is wonderful. Anyone who has any questions about their child who has SI Dysfunction. This book is it. Shelly R. Wilso
",1
"I found this book to be very helpful. It doesn't just give you the steps to do little tasks like some of the other books I looked at; it explains the features and why you would use them, and shows you how to do things from start to finish.  It also has a lot of helpful hints that aren't related to the exercises--last night my husband installed Vista Business Edition and couldn't find a feature he wanted, and I was able to find the solution immediately in this book
",1
"Lovers of Mr. Rochester beware - in this, his second book of literary puzzles, John Sutherland turns his considerable powers of literary analysis towards, amongst other things, undoing the good reputation enjoyed by Jane Eyres brooding hero. Bronte fans, brace yourself for some idol-smashing. As in his first book of devoted to literary head-scratchers (the wonderful Is Heathcliff a Murderer?), Sutherland here sets himself out to answer some of Western literatures most intriguing questions. Though you might not always agree with some of the conclusions Sutherland comes to (we have to have a talk, he and I, about Mr. Rochesters moral integrity) as a writer he is always witty, as a thinker always innovative, and as a guide through literatures most baffling conundrums, always genial. Buy this book and I promise not only will you learn something (and, if youre anything like me, get into some very heated debates with fellow literature lovers about Jane Eyres prospects for bliss, etc.) - but youll also have a heck of a lot of fun
",1
"This book gives a thorough analysis on how public policies were the catalysts for the socioeconomic destruction of low-income communities of color in New York City. Necessary reading for those who still do not  realize that activism and organizing are important vehicles through which  marginalized communities keep in check the forces that seek to further  fragment and disenfranchise them
",1
"I just got through reading ""Harvey Penick's Little Red Book"".  I enjoyed it so much that I had to apologize about my delay in submitting a positive comment on the seller's feedback page. But the book was that enjoyable! I read the book because I was told it is a good example in marketing and business management ideals.  I don't even play golf! I was able to apply Harvey Penick's words to attitudes and approaches to life though!  He not only teaches what he has learned about golf during his long rich life, but he also teaches a philosophy in how to live one's life.  His methods of evaluating the actions of his students and sharing what he has learned in an effort to improve thier lives is obvious to me.  He refuses to use negative impressions in his teachings.  Instead, he accentuates the positive.  He educates by guiding his students instead of ""teaching"" them.  I love his ability to teach with images, parables and metaphors.  His chapter ""First Things First"" about the golfer who wanted to get out of sand traps is great!  After all, the problem is not always what you think.  I challenge anyone to read ""Harvey Penick's Little Red Book"" and share with me how they can apply his knowledge to thier business and personal lives.  Whether you play golf or not, this book is good reading
",1
"This is the BEST book written by Stephen King!  I've read it twice and will probably read it about ten more times before I die
",1
"There's no much to say about this book. Everything is already said. And it is still the best book in the field. Well done, Nancy!!!
Sead Malicevic, M
",1
"This book if very well done, it has diagrams that not only are clear but  also easy to follow, the photos are outstading, the selecction of models  are just rigth.   I will recomend it for everyone that is interesting in  Origami and as a good gift for a family
",1
"Having just spent the last few months reading all five books in the Three Musketeer series, the following are my suggestions.

1.  Read all five books in order.  The Man in the Iron Mask is probably enjoyable on its own but reading the four books that proceed it help place the story in its proper context.  Think of the Man in the Iron Mask as the dessert in a five course meal.  Dessert is great but the four proceeding course are also enjoyable.  Getting to the end of the book was especially enjoyable knowing that I was finishing a 3,500 page experience.

2.  Read the Oxford University editions.  There are wonderful end notes that help the reader keep track of the characters and events.  When you read 3,500 pages you need that type of assistance to keep things straight.  The Introductions are also very well written and help the reader get back into focus before beginning the next chapter.

3.  If you really like any one book in particular, go to the internet and purchase a well illustrated used hardback edition for your collection.  I purchased a used Three Musketeers with illustrations by Maurice Leloir.  The three hundred plus illustrations make that edition especially enjoyable.

Along with Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas created the genre of the historical adventure novel.  I have been reading these types of novels my entire life.  Beyond a doubt, Alexandre Dumas is the master virtuoso of this genre.  
",1
"This book covers all the elements of Game Theory, emphasizing intuition over mathematical formalism.  The philosophical aspects are also given a thorough  treatment.    The 8 appendices provide a more formal exposition  of several key concepts such as the Minmax Theorem, the geometry of  equilibria and Linear programming.  The book has not changed much since its  publication in 1957, but it is by no means  archaic.      Even for those  who have a modern and more rigorous textbook,  ""Games and  Decisions"" is  Highly recommended  as a supplement. There is something  for everyone in it
",1
"After reading Being Peace, I ordered additional copies for all my close friends. This book is both thought-provoking and accessible. Thich Nhat Hanh  has a way of presenting Buddhist lessons and ways of being, ways of living and thinking about ourselves and our relationships to others and the world in a style that is almost deceptively simple and deeply thoughtful. I highly recommend this book as either an introduction to Buddhist thought or as a way of enriching any life.
",1
"I loved this book. I really am into those old school ways for children and this is the book. I think we need to discipline this generation the way our parents did us. If your are a fan of Dr. Dobson you will like Bates too. I feel everyone could benefit from this book especially our children
",1
"Caine's book is by far the most practical book on acting I've read, and I've read a few.  Some are very beautifuly written, poetic and psychological, but for someone who really wants to learn something about acting for film, I would recommend this book first.  It is at times bleakly honest but highly readable.  If you've done any acting, you'll find yourself nodding frequently
",1
"Although the photographs are dated, the material is classic.  This book is a must for anyone who is involved with design or review of open spaces.  It shows how people use open space and identifies the common elements of  successful spaces.  While the elements all seem logical, the book shows how  we often fly in the face of logic when using these spaces.  The book  focuses primarily on plazas and small parks in New York City, but includes  a section for smaller cities with low rise buildings.  The information can  also be applied to parks in any size town.  This book is a facinating case  study in social ecology
",1
"I really did enjoy reading this book, cover-to-cover. It's very touching and very informative. It will change your ideas about a lot of things. The writer along with other expert contributors have done a great job bringing out all of these real moving stories. I would recommend this book for every human being who cares about other fellow human beings
",1
"This was the first Roberts novel I read.  Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed it.  I've read and/or listened to 50 since.  You can't go wrong.  Her storys are original, her characters are strong and well developed. 
",1
"Mill states here that he still believes traditional gender roles (as we now call them) are desirable, but, being John Mill, he passionatly believes in the freedom of lifestyle choice for the individual.  Hard to argue with that
",1
"Beautiful, stunning absolutely gorgeous.

A quick note to fellow Brits, this was ordered on October 22nd and arrived on November 1st and is much cheaper here than on amazon.co.uk or anywhere else in the UK!! I've ordered stuff domestically that has taken longer in the post!!
",1
"   While I am only a high school Sophmore, and I don't have a *real* job, this book has been very helpful in deciding what to shoot for doing. I've heard people call this book too vague, but they can't tell you exactly what to do; it doesn't work that way. Once you get through the personality quiz portion, the author gives a somewhat detailed description of your specific personality type (I for example am and ENFP) and throws in suggestions in the description and also give a modest list of other possibilities. I'll admit it was a bit vauger than I had hoped but it gives you plenty of room to move around and a great place to start. 
   I'm lucky I found this book when I did (and not 3-4 years into college) because I found some satisfying  career options that I would not normally have chosen for myself and they are on the opposite end of the spectrum from what I was previously considering. (looking at this run-on sentence, you will be relieved to know that none of my choices are to be an English teacher)
   Overall, this was a good book. There was a lot of filler describing the different personality characteristics that I found redundant only because I have gone over this in school a couple times. However, if you are unfamiliar with this territory, the explanations will be quite helpful
",1
"i am currently in psychology for the third time,(due to it had been too long between college classess) i think the book is informative and not too hard to read (if you have too!
",1
"A good thriller, that was very Grisham. 

Delivered on exactly what you read Grisham for.

",1
"Today, I heard Sister Prejean speak about her book Dead Man Walking and about all of the experiances that shes been through concerning the death penalty.  Nothing less than amazing.  Dead Man Walking calls upon the unjustices in the death penalty but also on the actual death penalty victims.  Many people think that death penalty victims are just plain bad people.  Read this book.  If you want to be challenged on your views, read this book.  You can't be idle on the death penalty.  Also, coming soon is the Death of Innocence.  Sister Prejean spoke on the content of this book and the stories within it.  Once again, nothing less than amazing.  A story that is priceless to hear and will influence your life
",1
"This was an astounding book about an even more astounding woman, Rachel Shilsky, a.k.a Ruth McBride Jordan.  Written by one of her 12 children, James, this book is both biography (mother) and autobiography (child).  A Polish Jew (white) who fled her oppressive surroundings in backwater Virginia, Ruth met and married two different black men and managed to raise 12 children in some extremely difficult circumstances in Harlem, New York.  Not only did she start a Baptist Church with her husband, she coped with a regular dose of racism, some significant poverty and still managed to send 12 children to school (all of whom became professionals, and productive citizens).

The book is written by the son, but the voice of the mother is registered throughout (in italic print).  She evades all queries about her background, her family, in fact any of her history, and it is not until much later that the son uncovers her history (abusive father, crippled mother) and the reader is even more impressed with the fortitude and will that it must have taken this woman to make her own life in a community that was not of her economic, racial, or religious experience.

Although the book is ostensibly about this man's childhood and his remarkable mother, it is also a fascinating glimpse of racism, religion and social exclusion in the black communities in New York in the 1960s. Each of Ruth's children experienced a certain unease about their racially `different' mother and yet each became aware of who they were and what they were about.

This book is just a marvelous read.  Full of funny and sad tales of a rather unique family life, McBride's work is a tribute to his extraordinary mother. 
",1
"First, the story takes place in the 1940s (Harold's brother is MIA in WWII, not in Vietnam, as the Amazon.com review erroneously states).  Second, the writing is superb.  Mr. Lawrence makes you feel emotions without telling you what to feel.  His characters are very real.  His setting (a small, struggling circus, traveling the western U.S.) is historically believable, peopled with 'freaks' who  suffer as sideshows, unable to find any other way to live because of the bodies they were born with, but peopled also with 'normals' who are either afraid of or cruel to the freaks.  Harold, the 14-year-old albino central character, tries to straddle both groups of people.  He finds his niche in the circus as an elephant trainer.  I am admittedly ignorant about such things, but Mr. Lawrence again makes the storyline with the elephants--crucial to the plot of the novel--seem believable.  My only complaint about this otherwise very moving book has to do with the writing at a crucial death scene near the end.  I do want you to read this book, so I will try not to give anything away here, but the writing at this important point becomes formulaic in the dying character's last words and even Gomer Pyle-like (People actuallly say ""Gosh!"").  This did detract from the impact of the death, unfortunately, but I still very strongly recommend this book.  Five stars for a book with a major flaw says a lot!         
",1
"This was actually the first Kellerman novel I read and I found it kind
of dull at first, but that's only because I didn't know any of the
situations or people among whom I was thrust. After reading a couple
earlier books, I have re-read this one and I now find it interesting.
So, I would really have to recommend that one tries to read the series
more or less in order.

This one starts out with Alex Delaware seeing a new girlfriend named
Allison. Robin has married another man after some ten (?) years with
Alex. [I haven't read the one where she actually leaves yet (unless this
is the first mention of it), but if she broke his heart ... !] See, I
had no idea who Robin was first time I read this - makes a difference.
The cuuuuute little dog named Spike makes an appearance too. First time
I read it, he was just an irritating little squirt, but now I know just
how adorable he can really be and it was nice seeing him again.

Alex's police pal Milo is a lieutenant now and can pick and choose his
cases. He and Alex are together when they come across a grisly
crime scene. A young couple has been brutally murdered and the woman can
not even be identified. Milo draws Alex into the investigation and it
gets complicated. Everything seems to lead back to the dead boy's
psychologist and when she turns up murdered too, things really start
cooking with gas!

I adore Detective Milo Sturgis. I know Alex is the star, but I can't
help it. Milo is such a great character
",1
"This is a great beginner's guide to home buying.  The advice is straightforward and the explanations are easy to understand. 

Buying a home is a scary and daunting prospect for me.  I kept getting a lot of conflicting advice from relatives, friends, and coworkers on when to buy, what to buy, and how to buy.  This is very frustrating as everyone means well, but what worked for them might not apply to me. And don't bother asking a realtor or mortgage company if you should buy--they make their living on our decisions to buy! 

So I bought Home Buying for Dummies to learn more, and it has a lot of sound and thoughtful guidance to help decide when and how much to buy...  And also how to find a good home, and then negotiate with the realtors, the sellers, the mortgage companies, and everyone else that is sticking their hands in your wallet.  

The author's advice is realistic, and he points out the pitfalls of jumping in and what trouble you can get into with the different loan options out there
",1
"I've been a skating fan for many years, and would recommend this book to everyone!  I thoroughly enjoyed the inside look at Brian Boitano's career, from start to present.   It's easy to read, so one can browse through it  like a newspaper or magazine.....but it's also stuffed full of valuable  information about the technical aspects of skating and the ""behind the  scenes"" preparation activities for competitive skaters.    The  beautiful pictures lend itself to being picked up and enjoyed again and  again!  Hats off to Brian Boitano, Suzanne Harper, and all the people who  helped create this treasure for my coffee table
",1
"This is the best reference I've seen for IT interviews.  I've seen many of these questions at interviews and at one it appeared they had pulled questions from the book.  The technology specific questions are excellent
",1
"As a Social Worker in private psychotherapy practice, I find that sometimes the work can be isolating and at times I question whether I should make more of an effort to consider the latest trends in psychotherapy. Mary Pipher affirms that the classic skills that make a good therapist such as compassion, empathy, listening skills, reframing and the ability to induce a sense of calm are timeless. Furthermore, even if I wasn't a therapist I think I would still devour this book because her writing is a pleasure to read. I highly recommend it for anyone just starting their career in therapy or those who have been in the field for decades. This book is bound to become a classic
",1
"The story is both true and extremely unique: The Author, who is an Austrian mountaineer and a SS Nazi officer at the same time,  escapes from a British POW camp in India with the goal to go through Tibet to Japan-occupied Burma, to be sent back to Germany, so as not to miss his chance to participate in WWII.  The extreme difficulties of hiding from officials and surviving the wintry elements of the Himalaya mountains make his Burma plan impossible, so he stays in Tibet.  His unthinkable achievements include storming his way into the ""Forbidden City"" (Lhassa, the capital), gaining employment in the Tibetian Government, becoming a friend of the ""God-King"" Dalai Lama - an extremely bright, knowledge-hungry teenager, and learning the Tibetian language to the degree which anable him to do live interpretation for Dalai Lana of English-language movies (""Believe me, it is not easy for a German to translate Shakespearian English into Tibetian""). 
Going with a yak through the snows of the 20,000-feet Himalayan passes, escaping merciless robbers, manouvering between border guards - make Seven Years in Tibet a great adventure book. However, the insightful and rich observations about Tibetian people, customs, culture and politics, go far beyond  any other available information on that far-away country, and Dalai-Lama's foreword to this book confirms this fact.
The peaceful and friendly life and culture of Tibet is raped by military annexation of Tibet by China in 1951. The ancient monasteries are destroyed, the Puritan-like culture is replaced by such crude elements of civilization as e.g. brothels for the occupying soldiers,  Dalai Lama twice escapes to India, and so does the Author; one third of the Tibetians die of starvation.
""Seven Tears ib Tibet"" allows us a bitter-seet inside into see a country, that lived the way how countries in medieval times lived; also, the country trampled and largely destroyed by its aggressive neighbour.
",1
"I bought this book just recently and was really touched (and cried) by the whole experience that Gus had went through. He has lost the one friend that gave him a second chance (Stephanie) and without her, he could've been out there on the street again. Overall, it's a good book to read and I always believe that man and animals can be best friends and learn from one another, this book is a genuine prove.
",1
"I really enjoyed this coloring book--as in my very early yrs., I had kaleidoscopes to play with.  I was always intriqued with the color spectrum in them.I was hoping to find more on line with the illustrator of this book.  Sadly disappointed.  Will keep looking at other book sites. By the way, I am 56 yrs. old--and I love to color.  It's wonderful therapy for relaxing and bringing back some childhood fun
",1
"I haven't completed the book yet, but so far have found it to be very insightful and enjoyable.  It begins in Genesis and continues from there hitting on the most commonly read Bible sections to the not so often or  seldom read sections.  He ends everyday with a thought provoking question  to think on through out the rest of your day. I always look for to the next  reading
",1
"I have just finished reading ""The Power of Ethical Management,"" and I thought it was well written.  In the past few weeks I have read several other books on business ethics and this one is my favorite.  It is  short and exact with great details on how to improve your corporation as  well as yourself.  This book not only can be applied to the work place but  in your life at home, family, friends, and children.  This book has helped  me greatly
",1
"This is the 3rd, and unfortunately final, chapter in the triology.  I got my husband to run out and buy it the Tuesday it was released and finished it within 2 (very late) nights of reading.  If you have read the 1st two books you will not be disappointed with this one.  If anything, it is the best in the series with 2 really likeable characters - Yo! And if you haven't read ""Caught Stealing"" and ""Six Bad Things"", head to Borders now so you can read them before ""A Dangerous Man"".  Plan on not doing anything else for awhile because these books are just too intense to put down.  Pulp noir at its' finest
",1
"This is the first book I have read from this author.  I am truly amazed at how well I enjoyed his style.  It kind of reminded me of some of the good Stuart Woods books I have read.  I plan on reading many more from Michael Connelly.  Great read, you won't be disappointed, trust me
",1
"I would recomend this book to anyone, it is fantastic and funny. It made me laugh. It really took my imagination on an adventure. You really need to read this book.

",1
"April of 1865 has been referred to as the month that saved America but April of 1861 may have been just as vital if not more so. It was during this time that Washington DC sat completely surrounded by two states that were teetering on the verge of secession. Once Virginia did leave the Union only Maryland provided the federal government with a connection to the rest of the nation and it was a tenuous connection at best. 

Abraham Lincoln was clearly out of his league in this early stage of the game and he leaned heavily on General Winfield Scott. For his part, Scott was keenly aware of the danger facing Washington and began to immediately call for any militia units that could get to DC quickly from loyal northern states. The problem was that these militia units would have to travel through Maryland, a slave state that might well consider these Yankee troops to be invaders and could easily be pushed into the Confederacy by such an affront to state sovereignty. It was also distinctly possible that these militia units might be attacked by not only the people of Maryland but also ultimately by the state militia.

In the meantime Virginia forces had seized the federal armory at Harper's Ferry and the Gosport navy yard near Hampton Virginia. Rumors are rampant in DC that the Virginia militia that had taken Harper's Ferry was preparing to move on Washington and many in the Federal City were in a state of panic. 

The questions that arise from this drama involve the decision making process on both sides and the ultimate question is of course whether Washington DC was ever in any real danger. Did the Confederacy in fact lose it's only real chance for ultimate victory during this time period? David Detzer has done an admirable job in this book of not only bringing this evolving drama to life but also of answering these questions in a clear and concise manner.

This book reads much like a great historical drama and the author's writing style is superbly readable. It is rare for the author of a history book to achieve such a sense of drama since the reader usually already knows the outcome. Detzer has accomplished this however and although I was keenly aware of what was about to happen at every turn I had a tough time putting the book down. This invigorating writing style is often derisively referred to as popular history but Detzer blows the sides off of that old mold by not only offering new information but also keen observations that cut directly to the heart of this eventful period of American history. No hero of American history is spared criticism when criticism is due and conversely even Ben Butler is praised when his actions merit it.

This is the story of those fateful days of April and May of 1861 and it is a story that is well told by this supremely able author. This book is well researched, very well written and the story is told from the point of view of both governments as well as the lowliest private in the Pennsylvania militia. It is a story upon which the fate of the United States once turned
",1
"I am a two and a half year old boy.  I go to a parent-toddler class with my mommy, and my teacher read this story to the class.  The pictures captured my interest immediately.  The storyline is compelling.  But the most fun part is the new vocabulary I've learned from it.  I adore this book and I read it several times a day at home (I memorized the text after my teacher and my parents read it dozens of times for me).  I'll never look at a squirrel the same way again
",1
"This is not the book to learn the basics of VBScript, but it's exactly what I needed; a good reference book. I got tired of trying to find syntax of commands and functions online. Now I have it at my fingertips
",1
"From the introduction of basic concepts such as likelihood ratios and predictive values to the simple table format with the always beautiful Netter illustrations, this is the ortho exam text to have.  I just hope the next edition is being planned to keep pace with new research.  Thank you to Joshua Cleland for putting this together for us
",1
"Excellent book, a good guide to improve project managemen
",1
"Decadent stories to warm you up on a cold winters night. Just the right amount of comedy and sexiness blended together for the right recipe for love. 
     ""Warm and soothing, sweet and sensual, these luxurious love stories will melt your cares away, and fulfill your most delectable dreams..."" the quote on the back of the book hits the mark.
     These stories all share a love of chocolate and chemistry. Although the stories may seem short and rushed at times, we must remember, it is an anthology and many feel that way. Each story is a nice little break from the ordinary.
     Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Lori Foster and Suzanne Forster deliver their best as always
",1
"I have not been able to put this book down since I received it.  I have always dreamed of visiting Italy, but until that time comes, I have been redecorating my home to reflect that dream.  I now have a ""Tuscan kitchen"" that makes me very happy to be in.  I bought this book for new ideas,and also to confirm that the elements in my home already are the correct ones.  I was thrilled to find these ""Tuscan elements"" such as pottery, stones, tiles discussed throughout.  And the photographs inspire me to pay attention to details.  It's all about the textures of the walls, the colors, how you display your ceramics....the pictures are beautiful.  I may not get to Italy any time soon, but this book helped bring my dream a little closer to home
",1
"This a beautiful book.  It is complete and definitive for reference to Italian Renaissance Art.  The photographs are clear and the information is concise.  I used this for my graduate Italian art history class.  I am keeping this book and will not be selling it back
",1
"This is a colleciton of seven or so stories told by a mouse to mice about mice.  It is one of those books that is simply fun to read, particularly to the wee ones at bed time.  The illustrations are quite good and the nicest thing about the stories are that they are just about as much fun for the adult to read as it is for the kid.  Very nice illustrations, well done.  Recommend this one highly.
",1
"Did we need a Gore Vidal reader? The author is something of a long-winded blowhard, commenting at length (and I mean LENGTH) on every topic imaginable. In that respect he is America's Voltaire, creating reams of comment and interpretation on politics, the arts, and religion and morals. It's hard to say where Vidal fits in the framework of 20th century criticism, as he is not a conventional leftist. Because of his iconoclasm, this collection can only inform the reader about Gore Vidal, not his times nor any intellectual or political movement. All that said, Vidal is a great essayist and a droll wit. This book is much too much for the casual reader -- stick to one of his many shorter collections instead -- but for a Vidal fan (or, say, a reader of ""The Nation"") this book is worth the time commitment
",1
"This book provides a good and clear overview of the subject of MySQL. This is a thick book that covers a lot of material. The last Chapters even provided introductions to application development with C, PERL and PHP. MySQL: The complete Reference really seemed like an actual complete reference. While it may not go to deep into every subject it does at least briefly cover each topic. Most of the focus was on SQL (Structured Query Language) though.

There were only a few minor issues with this book aside from minor grammatical errors. For one thing, you would occasionally have to modify the sample tables before you could even start the exercise. Also, it would have been nice having more sample tables and data so I could follow along in more of the examples. Frequently, my result set wouldn't quite match the one in the book. Additionally, some of the command wouldn't even execute or would return an error message. Lastly, the chapters on development were pretty useless unless you are already familiar with one of the languages.

But, I believe many of the above problems where because of version differences and the fact that I was running MySQL on windows. Although windows instructions were given as well the book examples were still more oriented towards a UNIX installation. Also, MySQL would be several versions newer on my computer. I believe that made a difference on some of the results as well. And for windows administration its better just to use one of the suggested GUI programs since many of the commands were difficult to run from the command prompt.

So, I wasn't quite able to follow along with all the examples for one reason or another. Nevertheless, there were still plenty of quality examples I could follow along in. In addition, there was still a lot to learn from just reading through the material. Overall, this book works well as a reference or for working the Chapters in order. Even though the book's user level isn't indicated I believe it provides a fine introduction for a beginner.
",1
"I affirm the positive comments of the other reviewers. I am a truck driver and dairy farmer and just finished the books on tape version of this book. I want to run away to graduate school and get at PHD in physics. I hated science in school.

I especialy recommend this book because it affirms  true learning. It really doesn't start until you fall in love with a subject and go after it just for the fun of it and for the most part on your own. Much of the book is about his love of physics and scientific exploration. He touches upon how to do education wrong with his stories about science education in Brazil and his  work selecting K-12 science texts for the LA school system. My independent road of becoming a dairy farmer affirms his thinking, and I am so glad I did not try to get an Ag degree
",1
"This was one of my first books to really read through. I fell in love with it at once and I couldn't stop reading it. It is brilliant writing! You can easily imagine everything Dahl writes as fact. I will always hold Roald Dahl in my heart as the person who set my reading heart on fire, and I have been an avid reader ever since! I still pull this book off the shelf and read it every couple of years. I am 21 and I still am enthralled with it. I now look for other books that he has written and still love his stuff. I will always be a fan, and you should be too, starting with this one! A great book - FOR ALL AGES
",1
"This is one of the best bathroom books i have read.  I bought it as a baby shower gift.  Not only is it funny but it has really helped  some of my girl-friends reluctant little poopers. 
",1
"I am ordering copies for all 23 middle school principals and the two assistant principals leading two middle school programs in the Milwaukee Public Schools system. We will use Wheatley's book as the primary resource  for our professional growth at our MPS Middle School Principals  Collaborative institute August 9-11, 1999. We are not just concerned with  reform; we seek renewal as well. Wheatley provides the basis. She notes  that Einstein said that  a problem cannot be solved from the same  consciousness that created it. The entire book is a marvelous exploration  of this philosophy
",1
"This is the book that trackers and naturalists have needed for a long time.  It's finally here and it's outstanding!  Now when I take apart an owl pellet I'll be able to determine what the owl was eating, and hence what small wildlife is abundant in that area.  And when I'm out and discover part of a skull from a mammal, bird, amphibian, or reptile, I'll be able to find what that is too.  Mark Elbrock has done it again: an instant classic, and a book that all trackers and naturalists should have in their collection
",1
"THis book helped us understand what is happening with our 13 year old daughter and how to help her.  It's been a long process but having this book has given us encouragement, patience and positive steps so that she can move ahead in her life
",1
"

Frazee's comical ""Guide for Babies of All Ages"" has a subconscious message behind the humor, meanwhile encouraging those first few steps that will open up a universe of new experiences, baby leaving the shelter of the familiar for the unknown. The roly-poly baby illustrated is tiny compared to everything around him, objects taller than him, but once he pulls himself up and begins that first, tentative journey, it is impossible to stop. Of course, there are a few cautions along the way, ""be careful of things that are wobbly; stay away from fragile stuff"". There are the usual setbacks, too-much too-soon and a tumble to the floor, followed by a howl and the effort to being again. Cleverly worded and cheerfully illustrated, this tongue-in-cheek guide is a delight, offering more food for thought than is first apparent. Luan Gaines/ 2006.
",1
"I first read about this wonderful book on one of the services that provides reading guides for book clubs.  I was intrigued by the premise, and knew I had to buy it.  This is one book that did not let me down!  I was captivated from the moment I began.  I read in greed, hungering for the next diary entry.  I completed it much too quickly, and had to re-read some entries.  I found myself wondering about some of the women.  (Many are still on my mind.)  I am so pleased that book two is in the works.  This is a book that is too good to miss. 
",1
"Trauma can occur for a wide variety of reasons. In my family across two generations there have been suicides, schitzophrenia, abandonment and childhood abuse. We are a, so called, 'normal' middle class family. No family is immune from traumatic episodes. 
I found Peter Levine's ideas insightful and helpful. His outline of the causes of medical trauma are particularly interesting. 
The chapters dealing with trauma in children help me consider avenues of assistance to help my grandchildren following the suicide of their mother.  I would like to read Levine's subsequent book about childhood trauma
",1
"The Snow Goose is a beautifully written book that lingers in the memory long after the hour or so that it takes to read.  Set on the coast of England at the time of Dunkirk, it is less about the strife of WWII itself than about its three main characters - one of whom is the snow goose - and what binds them.  It is a story about nature, love, and nobility of spirit.  To say more would be to give too much away.  But it has had a place on my bookshelf for decades, and I reread it when I need to be reminded what is important in life
",1
"This is for my daughter-in-law and she was very happy with it. It will help in her work
",1
"Dr. Amen has changed my life and the lives of several members of my family.  The stigma associated with mental illness is deep-seated and difficult to overcome. Understanding the root causes, particularly the genetic predisposition within families, is the indispensable first step in coming to grips with dealing with life-long problems.  These problems are often not adequately addressed via behavior modification or cognitive therapies because they get the cart before the horse:  they do not deal with the biological root causes.  Once those are dealt with, the learned behaviors and habitual patterns can be peeled away to create a whole new start on life.  However, without the understanding of the causes and types of underlying brain conditions, one is often doomed to the roll the rock up the same hill only to see it roll down again as we watch.  Take my advice.  If the brain pattern descriptions look all too familiar, get help as recommended.  You will become a new person, the one you were created to be.  And that is a wonderful thing
",1
"This book has a lot of insights about various ways in which the ' pace of life and learning' have since the Scientific Revolution accelerated. In other words it is a book which gives one much to think about.
The problem is that it also suggests that given the vast increase of information available to us, the vast increase in 'possible alternatives' for our attention, that we will probably have our minds moved away from the insights so rapidly as to not even absorb them.
The obvious reply to such an intense barrage upon our consciousness, is to withdraw. And when we withdraw and close out all that is accelerating around us, we begin to try and make a pace and story of our own within ourselves.
The faster we are forced to go, the slower we may need to go. 
I think a companion volume , or perhaps a contradictory volume should be written on all those human activities which might be aided by our ' going slower in them'. And along with this volume should be advice and recommendation of how to keep out of our life these seemingly endless intrusions which disrupt our living by our own rhythm. 
""Run slowly, slowly horses of the night""
",1
"This is a nice compact hardback edition of Dashiell Hammett's five novels, which he wrote between 1929 and 1934. A veteran of Pinkerton detective agency in several cities, Hammett turned his intimate familiarity with crooks, low-lives, and the seedier side of life into hard-boiled, hard-hitting detective stories. This was a time when urban corruption was the rule, and private detectives, journalists, and police officers shared information. Two of these novels, ""The Maltese Falcon"" and ""The Glass Key"" are American classics. Another, ""The Thin Man"", inspired one of Hollywood's best-loved movie franchises. Hammett's novels lift the veil of propriety from the subcultures in which they take place, laying bare violence, corruption, and pervasive cynicism. But they're not dreary. The sharp prose crackles, and the heroes stand apart from the corruption while swimming in it, steadfast in their own codes of conduct, their iconoclastic ideologies rooted securely in realism. These five novels all appeared as serials in magazines prior to being published as novels. ""The Thin Man"" appeared first in ""Redbook"", the others in ""Black Mask"".
 
 ""The Maltese Falcon"" (1930) and ""The Glass Key"" (1931) are flawless. ""The Maltese Falcon"" features private detective Sam Spade, a irresistible femme fatale, and the ruthless pursuit of an ancient gold statuette. The last pages of the book are some of the most hard-hitting and cynical in all of noir fiction. And they're brilliant. ""The Glass Key"" explores political corruption that leads to personal tragedy in an unnamed American city. Oddly, the detective is the right-hand man of a crime boss. ""Red Harvest"" (1929) features the adventures of Hammett's most popular detective, the Continental Op, in a town called Personville, or Poisonville to those who know it better. The always unnamed detective for the Continental Detective Agency finds himself responsible for cleaning up a mining town that is ruled by violence and mob warfare. The novel's opening paragraph deserves to be read several times. ""The Thin Man"" (1934) is an attempt at humor among New York's blue-blooded, cold-blooded upper crust. Hard-boiled humor is interesting in concept. But I find the characters in this novel more pitiful than funny, and Hammett's style was in decline at this point. At least his characteristic cynicism wasn't. ""The Dain Curse"" (1929) is another Continental Op novel. This one is melodramatic, absurd, and not up to Hammett's usual standards. Hammett fans shouldn't miss it, but others may find it pointless. I described the novels in order of descending quality. ""Complete Novels"" organizes them chronologically.
 
 Five novels is a lot to pack into one book. But ""Complete Novels"" doesn't resemble a door stop. It's a handy size actually. The print is not too small, but the pages are quite thin. Editor Stanley Marcus, a literary critic and frequent admirer of Hammett's work, has included a Chronology of Hammett's life and several pages of notes on the novels in the back of the book. The chronology is informative and provides all of the apparently significant events in Hammett's life. The notes are mostly definitions of colloquialisms used in the novels, which are useful. The notes also contain an introduction to ""The Maltese Falcon"", written by Hammett in 1934, in which he explains the origins of that novel's characters. It's quite interesting. For those who prefer to own these novels separately, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard hs published some handsome trade paperback editions. But if you want hardback and don't mind all five novels in one volume, this is quite a nice book
",1
"Generations of hate come together in this book.  Pete Braga killed Franklin McMichael dead in a claim of self-defense in the summer of 1952.  The next generation carried on the tradition when Gabriel McMichael supposedly beat Pete's son, Victor, so severely that he suffered permanent brain damage, rendering him with the IQ of a ten-year old.  The third generation was na?e to all this hatred when Thomas McMichael fell in love with Pete's granddaughter Patricia.  The love of his life was driven away at a young age when Grandfather Pete refused to permit their love to blossom.  While the McMichael family existed in near poverety, the Braga family thrived in power and money.

So now Thomas has a problem.  The root of all his family's hatred, Pete Braga, has been found dead.  He was murdered by someone at his home.  Thomas has been assigned the case to find out who wanted the old man dead.  Given his many enemies, the list of suspects is long.  It doesn't help that the first suspect, Sally Rainwater...Pete's personal nurse, becomes the object of Thomas' heart as the investigation unravels. 

The story twists and turns through many leads and many unexpected plot points as Thomas McMichael is determined, despite his family's hatred of Pete, to find out who is behind the killing and why.  Author T. Jefferson Parker does an excellent job in keeping the reader involved and interested in the story with his enthralling style.  

Frederick A. Babb
",1
"This is the best review of the JFK assassination that I have seen. There is still a large ""assassination industry,"" which can afford to find documents that you haven't read and charge you with ignorance if you haven't read them, and find 15 more if you read them. This gives a common-sense overview that seems quite reasonable. I trust it. I am always willing to consider other opinions, but the balance of evidence has always indicated that Oswald acted alone.

It would be nice to have a new edition of this book..
",1
"Janet Browne's far-reaching biography misses little in bringing us the life of the 19th Century's most controversial biologist/geologist.  The first volume of a two-volume set, ""Voyaging"", begins (as you would expect) with his youth in the English town of Shrewsbury under his father's care.  We meet his father - a Doctor and businessman, his brother - intelligent but unfocused, and his late grandfather Erasmus Darwin who was well known at the time for his eccentric and agnostic views.  

From his early days, Browne depicts a Darwin struggling to find himself, first as a medical student in Edinburgh, then as a student of theology in Cambridge.  Though we know better what Darwin is to be, Browne's portrait of him manages to evoke the doubt that he must have felt when faced with adequate but uninspiring career options.

But the story often returns to Darwin's love of the outdoors and of biology - a theme which underpins all of his early feints and mis-steps at life.  He is seen as a frequent hunter, and an avid collector and cataloguer of insects and beetles.  Despite this, and despite the benefit of hindsight, at times I felt some tension - finding myself unconsciously wishing to offer advice to this young man who seems adrift and unaware of the great role that history was preparing him for.  

We finally catch a glimpse of that future as he fortuitously receives an offer to travel aboard The Beagle, a vessel bound for South America on a surveying mission.  I won't spoil the rest, other than to say that Browne does an excellent job of building Darwin, showing in detail each moment of discovery upon which the next is laid, capturing his excitement about the natural world as he slowly sheds his amateur standing and gains confidence - finally attaining acknowledged scientific stature.  And yet even then, Darwin holds his boldest work out of sight of the world, privately developing the theory of natural selection out of sight of a straightjacketed Victorian society.

In tenor, it's clear that Browne, a Professor in the History of Biology greatly respects her subject.  But she does not allow him to pass through her pen unscathed.  Darwin was a man of his times and of a certain station, and held certain prejudices that the author doesn't hesitate to point out - such as his not wholly humanitarian attitudes about slavery.  She also reveals what some may find Darwin's less endearing traits such as his anti-social tendencies and his lack of any real passion for any subject but science (When approaching the subject of marriage, Darwin's priority on research causes him to discard several eligible but too learned women who, he feared, might place demands on his time).  

She does seem to soft-pedal Darwin's poor treatment of his companions on The Beagle, many of whom contributed significantly to his efforts on that seminal voyage, and whose contributions went largely uncredited and unrecognized.  (For those curious, this theme is well-explored in Robert Wright's ""The Moral Animal"")

Also, it was difficult for me to follow the various people who pass through his life and their relationship to him, more my failing than the author's I think, as she provides ample details on the many individuals who made an impact on Darwin's life.  If you do decide to read it, it might be helpful to keep a pen and paper handy for jotting down a few notes (although the author does append a fairly extensive family tree at the front of the book).

Certainly, the book is well worth reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in exactly how the theory of evolution (and the legend of Charles Darwin) was born.  I've read few biographies better
",1
"This book is a quick read and a great introduction to artificial life. It combines something of the science, the personalities and the history of this field. For general readers with some technical sophistication it  affords an opportunity to broaden one's horizons without too much of a  mathematical stretch; for computer scientists who are thinking of their own  research it can give a general idea of some of the accomplishments in the  field and a place to start delving into the original research papers.  Read  it and enjoy the future
",1
"Though I usually go in for tough police thrillers, I sometimes mix things up by reading a light, funny mystery or- like this book- a quiet, thoughtful mystery set in a small town (a ""cozy"", I believe this type of mystery novel is called).  ""Still Life"" nicely combines the easygoing attributes of a ""cozy"" mystery- quirky, eccentric characters, a small-town setting, pretty much no violence- with a little modernity, in the form of occasional well-placed profanity (though not much) and modern demographics (a gay couple is included among the main characters).

The main detective character, intelligent and interesting, owes a little to Christie's Hercule Poirot, but not everything.  The mystery itself is pretty interesting, too, though some aspects of its solution are a little broad and clunky, as are some of the explanations of why ultimately cleared characters were acting suspicious for a time.  Any shortcomings are quibbles, however, and shouldn't deter one from trying out this nicely done mystery story set in a quiet little corner of Quebec
",1
"This is a cute tale of of young girl fantasizing about an adventurous and unfettered life, not a bitter anti marriage tirade.
Her suiters are symbols of adult responsibility, which she will ultimately grow into.  In the meantime, she is having a good time.
The story is funny, the  illustrations lively and colorful
",1
"A must have for anybody interested in golf course architecture.  As great as Pebble Beach is today, you'll wonder why it was ever changed after seeing the old photos of it following Chandler Egan's work in 1929!  Buy  this beautiful book and you won't be disappointed
",1
"I loved the core knowledge curriculum.  The reason I switched my children to a charter school is that they started out teaching CK.  I also switched them back to the public school when the principal got away from CK and made it just like a public school.  

I agree that a teacher should supplement what is in the CK books to give their students a better understanding of the material.  Teaching the information exactly how it is presented in the books would be very dry.  

However CK is a great outline of what should be taught.  It covers a tremendous amount of knowledge including the fight for civil rights, all religious ideology, multicultural literature and more.  If there is a problem with the books, it is that many children would not be motivated to learn the wide variety of topics covered. For many it would be too much.  Also weak teachers would be overwhelmed trying to cover everything.   

Hence, anyone claiming that CK supports a racist philosophy has never read the books.  Also I want to point out that the reviewer who called the books racist misspelled the word.  It is not spelled rasist.  I also find it disturbing that the reviewer is supposedly a teacher.  When attending school, maybe that teacher would have benefited from a core knowledge foundation.
",1
"This book has a lot of information about how protecting wild areas works in WA and and an overview of the protections offered by the United States Government. It then provides the inspiration to get people started through true stories of grassroots projects. While the book doesn't list 1, 2, 3, what needs to be done to start a grassroots movement, that shouldn't be expected, because all people have different motivations, and this book should be used as a tool to help you understand the basics of how these sorts of movements work. A must for anyone who wants to further understand Washington state for all of its great wild places, or anyone for that matter, that is looking for inspiration on why wild areas should be protected. Plus all of the proceeds go to a great cause
",1
"""The Journals of Susanna Moodie"" poems are interesting and spare in style.  I have not gone through the whole collection, but Margaret Atwood has written a thought-provoking account (through poems) of Susanna  Moodie.  Any serious or avid poem reader should consider this collection of  related poems
",1
"This is one of the best biographies I have ever read. You can tell the authors put a lot of time and effort into this work - it's a true labor of love. Filled with beautiful photos and extensive bibliographical notes, this one is a keeper. Who knew Miss Francis was such a ""wild child""? Whether you're a film scholar or a movie buff, Lynn Kear's book deserves a special spot in your bookcase.
",1
"This book focuses on a cogent question by way of a true story and invites response from all sorts of people with pertinent experience, providing biographies of these respondents. The topic is forgiveness. I found the analysis by Dennis Prager, an L.A. talk show host, the most understanding of Christian/Jewish outlooks and Jose Hobday's perhaps the best of the Christian contributions. I am eager to discuss it with members of my theology group.
",1
"...in the beginnig of the 1930's, the Turks would have succeeded in making the whole world forget about the Armenian genocide that took place in 1915/16.
 
 Turkey did succeed in putting pressure on the US-government in 1933 though, when a movie was supposed to be made based on this book, so the then US-government again put pressure on MGM not to make this movie. A foreign government coerced censorship in the Unites States: Just imagine that! I hope the the making of the movie
",1
"If it's an animation career you're aiming for, don't set your sights without consulting YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION: HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE. Animation is now a big-ticket industry to be in offering big opportunities for new artists - but conversely, it offers far more complexities than in the past. 100 professionals from the industry provide their tips and experiences through interviews with an award-winning filmmaker, creating a comprehensive guide that follows a career from school to the real world. From networking tactics to unemployment and learning on the job, YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION is the perfect item of choice for any who dream of breaking into the business.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
",1
"The book uses cartoons to emphasize the text. It's always interesting to see what common words different cultures use to describe the human condition.  Wastes a lot of space, though.  Worth the price
",1
"This author has written ""Kitchen Table Wisdom"" which was recommended to me a year ago by my doctor..Ms Remen remembers her Zayde who died whe she was 7 and tells us all the wonderful things he taught her...She is a physician and therapist and combines the lessons she learned at age 7 with her professional knowledge..I love this book and find myself returning to it time and time again to re-read the stories of strength, refuge and belonging..this book is much more than ""chicken soup""...it is ""chicken soup with matzo balls
",1
"Jesse, 15 lives in Harlem, New York City.  He is the only child of a bright couple and his best friend, Rise is one of his biggest influences.

Jesse and Rise grew up together.  When Rise, 17 turns to crime and joins the Counts, a local street gang and insists on bringing Jesse in with him along with their friend C.J., Jesse starts to reassess their friendship.  He sadly realizes that he and Rise are traveling down different streets; the drive-by shooting of their friend Bobby, 14 has left the neighborhood shaken.  C.J., a musical prodigy who plays piano in their church also has his sights set on a different path.  It is C.J. and Jesse, a budding young artist who is quite talented at drawing who realize they have more in common with each other.

Rise and the Counts are in for a Count-down; sadly, drive-bys claim more casualties.  The Counts were described as being on the tame end of street gangs; a warring faction called the Diablos were responsible for shooting a friend; killing a cabbie and later, some members of the Counts.

Sidney, a kind and fair police officer takes the boys under his wing.  He is respected in the neighborhood and word on the street was that he was a fair man, which he was.  When Mason, 19 an older member of the Counts was busted for homicide, it was Sidney who took Rise and Jesse to the jail (""Iron City"") to see the fate in store for their former friend.  

More problems crop up in the neighborhood; Rise, seeing a chance to leave Harlem wants to call Jesse and the Counts together for a final goodbye.  Sadly, that goodbye really was the end.

This is an excellent book that reflects the city and street culture well.  The characters are fresh, cutting edge, serious and believable.  The drawings were excellent and a bonus to this book.  Jesse, an aspiring cartoonist created two West Indian charcters, a wise man and a bird.  The bird was a metaphor for Jesse and it is through this avian character that he asks questions in his drawings that Wise answers.  Myers has written many excellent books, but I think he really outdid himself with this one
",1
"When I was in the sixth grade we moved twice, and in all three of the schools from New Jersey to Connecticut to Japan I got to study Ancient Greece in the history part of the class.  I also got a lot of mileage out of having read Edith Hamilton's ""Mythology"" (I still have my mythology report with my versions of all of the illustrations).  But in all the times I got to study Ancient Greece before, during, and after the sixth grade I never got to do any of the fun stuff that Avery Hart & Paul Mantell come up with for ""Ancient Greece!: 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience This Wondrous Age.""  

This Kaleidoscope Kids volume for kids ages 7-12 not only offers activities but also a variety of information about the Ancient Greeks.  So this is not simply a book of activities that teachers can pick and choose from to give their students hands-on experiences, it is also a source of facts and stories that will supplement what exists in whatever textbook is being used.  Throughout the book there are ""Great Greeks!"" and things to ""Think About.""  After reminding young readers of the gifts that have come down to us from Ancient Greece, Hart and Mantell get students acclimated to the idea of looking at the past from the perspective of those who lived way back when.  Then the book looks at key periods of Greek history.

""Meet the Minoans: The Pre-Greeks of Crete"" looks at the culture that gave rise to the greatness of Greece with activities to make a Greek yo-yo, a Great Mother figure, a Hamster Labyrinth (without the Minotaur), and a fantastic fresco.  That gives you an indication of the sort of activities to be found in this book before we even get to Greece itself.  Other chapters are devoted to ""The Age of Heroes,"" where you get a super-short version of ""The Iliad"" and can build a Trojan Horse, ""Language Unites!"" (including speaking ""Pig Greek""), ""The Dawn of a Golden Age,"" where you can organize a pentathlon and make a victory wreath, and ""Ye Gods! Greek Religion and Mythology,"" where you can design your own constellation.

In the last part of the book chapters cover ""Classical Athens: The Flower of Ancient Civilization,"" where you get to build a Greek Temple with Ionic columns (or even build the entire Parthenon), ""Think For Yourself: Philosophy,"" where students can make a monochord or hold a symposium, and ""The Amazing Arts,"" which covers create sculptures and painting pots in the first part and making masks to make up a Greek play in the second part.  The final chapter covers ""A Wider World: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age,"" where you can start a library.  At the end, students can appreciate how being a Greek meant standing in the center of the world (as least, as far as the Ancient Greeks were concerned).  

Again, there are some key issues to be discussed to go along with the activities.  Students can debate what is the difference between a hero and a celebrity, understand why every vote counts in a democracy, and decide what makes somebody beautiful.  Learning how to press olives or how huge blocks of marble were transported across the sea, gives students an appreciation for how things were different way back when.  Throughout the book Hart and Mantell show how ancient ideas live on in modern traditions, which remains the biggest legacy of the Ancient Greeks.  

I teach Classical Greek & Roman Mythology (not to be confused with Modern Greek & Roman Mythology apparently) but I teach it online so I do not really have any opportunities to have my students engage in hands-on activities.  But that does not mean I cannot do them in the privacy of my own home or that elementary school teachers will not find these extremely useful for their unit on Ancient Greece.  Although I am suddenly reminded of coming up with the ""Sparthens"" (a.k.a. the warriors with the brains) in elementary school.  But that is another story
",1
"This book is hot!!. I anxiously awaited the next ""Grayson"" novel, after reading of course, all, the ""Falcon"" and ""Grayson"" families' stories. I honestly thought nothing could top Luke Grayson's romance with Catherine. However, Ms. Ray's story about Brandon and Faith was just that!!  I hope the next book in the Grayson saga is out very soon, because again, I can hardly wait!!  And if you have not read ALL of Francis Ray's novels(not just her stories about the Graysons and Falcons), get to reading... you will not be disappointed. 
",1
"I have never been a big fan of motivational books, because they seem so ""pie in the sky"" if you know what I mean. But a friend recommended this one to me and told me it was different. He was right. It was easy to read and in fact I didn't want to put it down. But what I really liked was the ""how to"" part of the book. After all, it's no good reading about other people's success stories if you don't know how to make your own. Also, something I thought was interesting is that the author has a website called Success Compass which helps you set goals and then e-mails you a reminder several times a day. I guess the real key to success is not allowing yourself to forget what you want, and this website doesn't let you forget. Hmmmmm . . . electronic nagging as the key to success! ;-) Hey, whatever works
",1
"It is basically a short review of the great book written by Zahn.  I recommend the novel and this as a refresher for later times
",1
"The previous review is clear about the value of this translation.  Knowing a bit of German, I can say that this translation does use shapes instead of forms for Gestalten.  the real value of the work beyond the translation, however, especially for first time readers, is found in the notes made by David Luke.  These notes are helpful for the historical context, allusions to Goethe's personal life and work, and allusions to philosophy, literature, and more ... all essential to understanding the work
",1
"This book is truly lovely--about finding friendship in the most unexpected of places. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it immensely (and you won't get tired of reading it to your kids either)
",1
"Well organized, understandable, and has a good index. Associated web site also useful
",1
"Our book club read this book for our February 2006 selection.  It was a really good book, we were all excited about discussing it.  Mr. Johnson sent us discussion questions that really made us think.

A few members felt that Denmark never loved Sierra but saw her more as property.  The book definitely has some suprises that you don't see coming.  We really enjoyed the book.

Sistahs of Ebony Pages
",1
"Originally published in the early 1900's, this book is an excellent resource for teaching young men about being their own self in a society that is trying to mold them into another copy.  High adventure on the high seas.  This book is impossible to put down. 75 years ago this was my grandmother's favorite book.  Now it is mine
",1
"When I was 21 and in my first year of graduate school, Paul Fussell's ""Poetic Meter and Poetic Form"" was one of the first text books assigned to me. When I bought the book and saw how slim it was, I snickered, ""Grad school's gonna be a walk in the park!"" 
 
 Yeah, RIGHT! 
 
 This densely packed tome is not for the uninitiated and definitely not absorbed in just one reading. On and off, over the last 20 years, I have come back to this book to refresh my memory and, usually, to astonish myself. The book's real strength, besides Professor Fussell's obvious command of his subject, and his ability to convey that command, is in the sprinkling of dozens of anecdotes by and about poets about other poets and poetry. Even at this late date in my life, I can't pretend to understand the entire book but what I do understand I admire and respect. ""Poetic Meter and Poetic Form"" is not recommended to anyone studying poetry; it is urgently required
",1
"Dr. Mark Albion is a consistent and heartfelt--seemingly lone, sometimes--voice of responsibility and truth in what's often a cynical, clutching corporate world.  I was energized by his first book, ""Making a Life, Making a Living (ML2)"" and empowered by ""True to Yourself.""

Albion builds upon the strengths of ML2 in his most recent title with practical, actionable strategies for transforming your business or career into one of real social value.  Readers walk away with principles they can start executing tomorrow, and a re-calibrated moral compass by which to measure their progress.

And Albion lives it:  While admittedly starting out with some privilege, he bravely walked away from a tenured position at Harvard Business School (simply unheard of) to follow his heart.  To this day, Albion continues to shun the easy money, and lives his life by the values he preaches.  You can practically count on one hand the number of businesspeople out there who truly walk the talk.

Whether it be the insatiable drive for ""more,"" or just the rudimentary economics of opening the doors everyday, any business can very quickly shake you free from your social moorings.  If you feel like you've lost your way, or just need some inspirational words ahead of that next challenge, ""True to Yourself"" is the book for you
",1
"Interesting.  I never knew there were so many varities of garlic and onions.  I'll be growing some next year
",1
"I highly recommend this book.  It's wonderful!  Desi Arnaz is a great writer.  He tells about his career and personel life honestly and with humor as well.  He had a great voice as well
",1
"It shows the power of God and what He wants to do in our lives if we'll simply obey Him.  How many Rhees Howells has God raised up but because they wouldn't walk with him, God wasn't able to use them.

I would say this is a terrifying book because I know this is something that God wants from every believer.  Let's walk with Jesus and see what He wants to do in our lives.

Regardless of our age or function in the body of Christ, we can all be prayer warriors.  Will you (and will I) be warriors in the prayer closet?  That's one the important questions that Jesus is asking his church in these last days
",1
"It kept me guessing till the end! I didn't want to put it down. The only part that I would have changed would have been that the one lady would have lived. Can't wait to read her next book.
",1
"Mere words cannot express how pleased I am with my copy of 501 French Verbs.  Very user friendly.  Well organized.  A gem.
I am currently working between learning Spanish and French.
Between the two,I feel that French is the more difficult language.
Now, how to speak the language.  The accent, sentence formation, idioms?
For all the beauty of this reference book, no one comes even close to equaling Behind the Wheel French for teaching you how to put all these verbs together and actually speak the language like the natives.
If you're just trying to get through a college French course requirement or never plan on really speaking the language, then 501 French Verbs is perfectly fine all by its sweet self.
However, if you do want to do more than read French literature and plan on hitting the streets in France someday, then by all means, combine this fabulous book with Behind the Wheel French CDs.  They also have a revised version for the same price that comes with a terrific book that is very instructional and easy to use.
(same price) with answers right on the same page, English translations, the whole nine yards.  Makes it very easy to learn French
",1
"This low carb cookbook gives some new twists on old recipes, and explains the mysterious ingredients, etc. that other low carb books don't
",1
"This is an excellent book. Unlike many other tutorials available on internet, it gets you started with some beautiful melodies instead of ""twinkle, twinkle, little star"". Highly recommended!
",1
"Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi have teamed up to create a book that is easy to understand and apply in the classroom setting.  The lessons can be adapted for all elementary grades and everything is spelled out for you as the teacher - including the titles of books to use.  Those familiar with the 6 Traits will find concrete examples to help develop each skill
",1
"	I think this is the best book that I have ever read. I thought that the Civil War was very, very boring but when our class started to read Bull Run I knew that I was wrong. The way that Paul Fleischman writes he would leave you wanting to read more. From the way Paul Fleischman described the characters to the words that Paul Flesichman use to set the tone of the characters he just seem to draw a cool picture of what is going on in your minds eye. Each character has a different story of the war and of life. I would suggest this book to anyone who is learning about the Civil War. It supplies you with a lot of information you might not get in  the history book and tells it in a way that makes you want to learn. This book was excellent from the first page I read. Even though this novel is very brilliant, some people might not like it. If they can not wait to know what happens to a favorite character, like one of my favorite characters Dietrick Herz. He had the funniest voice I ever heard. When Paul Fleischman leaves you hanging he really leaves you hanging. But the only way to find out the ending is to read the entire book and find out what happens for yourself. And trust me it will be worth your while this truly is a magnificent book. The best that I have ever read and if I liked it then for surely you will love it too, trust me. Before I read Bull Run I had only read books with one or two characters and this type of book was really, really new to me. I had to get use to it a little but since it wasn't very hard to read it only took a short time to adjust to the Bull Run story by Paul Fleischman. Some of the characters that I really liked was Toby Boyce because he had a good attitude on trying to learn how to use the fife. Another was Carlotta King because she had a very spunky voice in this story like how the Yankees would get rid the of the law so that the slaves could be free and be in control of there own religion and what I mean by that is they can practice there own religion. Another one of my favorite characters is Vergil Peavy. I think that he was my favorite character because of the way he sounds in the story. In the story he sounds like he's from Texas also the way how he talks about the war like they were the big war heroes. And my last favorite character is Shem Suggs because he was the lonly one who likes to talk about horses and to horses also what they are like who they should be with. Shem Suggs is the person who takes care of all the horses, that he watches pretty much like baby sitting the horses. But the reason I really really like him is because he minds his own business and doesn't talk to people about the war and the politics all he talks to are his friends which are the horces. That is the reason why I like Shem Suggs the best out of all the other characters the best because he is smart
",1
"Piglia muestra que es un explorador de nuevas formas narrativas, pero la lectura de este libro y de otros suyos nos deja ver a un autor que no se deja leer con facilidad, que es cr?tico; debe ser leido con mucha atenci?, con papel y lapiz en la mano para seguir sus tramas y personajes y eso no  es un virtud en un escritor
",1
"Clinton's old friend and key Russia advisor provides insight on a number foreign policy topics as they evolve. As deputy secretary of state, his accounts provide personal, scholarly and practical accounts. The reader might determine both that Talbott was an invaluable resource as the post-Cold War era evolved, and that in the end, Clinton was his own ""Russia Hand.""
 
 The primary theme of the book is the relationship between Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. As they address issues such as NATO expansion, the Balkans, economic difficulties, and each president's own personal troubles, a number of lessons emerge. First, great power politics takes place between human beings, not merely among structural or organizational frameworks. Second, the blending of idealism and realism is thorough and complex, they are not either-or options. Third, political, military, economic, domestic and international issues all impact each other, often in surprising ways. Fourth, watch out for the u in trying to explain policy making: in the generic Y=Ax+By+Cz+u, that u (for unexplained/unexpected) can often play a large role. 
 
 The Russia Hand is valuable to students of foreign policy, Russia and U.S.-Russia relations, and the emergence of the post-Cold War era. 

",1
"Expect everyone to maintain a peaceful hush as you read this book aloud. A sense of serenity permeates through the words and is perfectly matched by the illustrations.  The imagery captures your senses and the story pulls at your heartstrings. Grandfather Twilight is an endearing character that makes you feel warm and safe. This wonderful book is sure to appeal to all ages (preschool to an older adult).  And, it isn't just for bedtime either.  
",1
"This was my very first book for Nora Roberts, and so far it's the best book EVER.  It is THE PERFECT book.  Brianna is a wonderful, smart inn keeper with many talents and a rare kind of maturity.  I would love to be like her!  And Gray is a successful, sweet, caring, witty author that comes to her inn in Ireland to relax and start a new book.  This is no ordinary romance.  I love that it goes deep, not only into the main characters' personalities, but there is also Brianna's sister and brother-in-law, her mother, her friend, and Gray's agent.  Not to mention the wonderful scenary of Ireland described throughout the book.  The conlcusion of the book is wonderful and utterly satisfying, leaving you with a happy glow that lasts a long time!  Other books by Nora Roberts are good, but this one takes the prize.  Of the Born trilogy this one is the best and it should NOT be missed
",1
"This book is so great and touching. As a mixed race teen this book gave me hope and confidence. It taught me to honest and open. It made me proud to be me. Never has a book made me so convinced that I am great and wonderful  to be multiracial. I thank the author for this awesome book. Anyone who is  biracial should read this book. Not just once, but over and over, marking  the poems and stories that you can most relate to and read them when you  are feeling down on yourself. This is one ""must have"" book
",1
"I disagree with several of the reviews here which cite several specific points of contention as making the book entirely worthless. I think it easily earns 4.5 - 5 stars. It IS over a decade old now, and I don't think it is intended as a source for scholars of English. But, for the amateur linguist and even the wannabe linguist it is a great read. I can't compete with some of the above reviewer's scholarly points, but I don't think replacing some of Bryson's dogma with their own is worthwhile. Mother Tongue is a great starting point and very educational. ""Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words"" is also a great introduction and gets 5 stars from me.
",1
"Well, I just wanted to say that I am purchasing this to learn more about what could be, my ancestor!  Yup!  My name is Jackie Kidd.  I have been forever interested in anything that has to do with Captain Kidd.  Get this, we all have nicknames at my job and I am called:  Captain Kidd.  People think I'm wacked, but I don't care.

I think he was a good pirate, he just got caught.  I have been trying to trace my family tree to him.  Nothing is for sure just yet. But I wear my uniform well!  I have a pirate costume that I wear every Halloween.  I stand firm in my heritage, if this is who I am
",1
"This book is a comprehensive guide that presents a lot of useful information concerning intelligent design for beginners.

My rating is short of five stars due to the lack of more biological examples that refutes Darwinism on the basis of providing a poor explanation on evolution
",1
"I ordered several of these for gifts for my family.  It is one of the ""forever"" books to keep for the rest of your life. 
",1
"Cajun Cuisine is, without a doubt, the best Cajun cookbook that I've ever used.  I was born and reared in Southern Louisiana, and the recipes detailed within closely mirror the exact techniques, seasonings, and spices  that I had learned by watching both my grandmothers in their kitchens, and  how I was personally taught by my grandfather at his hunting camp.  You  CANNOT go wrong with this book!                                    Jacque
",1
"I agree with the other reviewers. This book is outstanding. If you enjoyed such books as ""The DaVinci Code,"" ""Angels and Demons,"" etc., you will enjoy this one.

Bravo to Tess Gerritsen. I am never disappointed with any of her works
",1
"I would recommend this book for boys of all ages. I thought this book was a great book, and it was very descriptive
",1
"There is a cure from your liberal disease. Take a non-partisan journey with Dr Savage and open your so called liberal mind to the truth. 

And remember Conservative and Wacko are polar opposites
",1
"Renowned artist and tarot scholar/writer Robert M. Place has produced a masterpiece in his new tarot 384 page companion book, The Buddha Tarot Companion: A Mandala of Cards. This book affords a rich unique perspective of the Tarot through the lens of the Buddhist paradigm. The companion deck comes in a beautifully illustrated box containing exquisitely designed cards that fit perfectly in my hand, a tiny black gossamer bag plus a bordered little white box with the instructions, ""Embellish this box with protective and/or empowering symbols."" Other suggestions that greet you as you begin your journey with the Buddha cards include: ""Smudge with sage to cleanse and re-energize the cards after a reading."" and ""Store your deck with stones or crystals that absorb negative energy, promote healing, or provide protective energy."" Also included in the box is a mini-book with guidelines on reading these particular cards. Both items are published by Llewellyn, who as always, have taken great care to ensure quality and aesthetics in the way the cards are packaged and presented.

Robert has done an amazing job in correlating the life of the Buddha with the Tarot journey through the cards. He describes how the Major Arcana fits perfectly with the life of Siddhartha and his journey of enlightenment. Each of the tarot trumps is a stage on the mystic's journey to enlightenment. In fact, it is Mr. Place's belief that the creators of the Tarot were directly influenced by the life of the Buddha, and incorporated archetypes into the Major Arcana based on his journey. He teaches that the ancient wisdoms were not isolated from one another. Instead, ""the classical world maintained communications with India and the ancient Western philosophers were familar with Indian philosophies."" As well, the Islamic world introduced the Christians to the life of the Buddha during the Middle Ages. ""The European Christians were enamored with the story, and they transformed him into a Christian saint - St. Josaphat."" 

I was fascinated by the titles given to the Major Arcana cards. Each of the 23 cards reflect an important aspect of the Siddhartha's personal journey to become the enlightened one, the Buddha.

Robert Place has created a deck and book that not only meets the needs of people who practice Eastern beliefs. He also acts as a mediator to help people of the Western world learn about and appreciate the noble tenets of Buddhism and its teachings for life. I highly recommend this deck - I found it very easy to follow, the graphics are amazingly detailed and artistically rendered and the companion book clearly helps you to learn to ""read"" using a Buddhist world view. 

",1
"This is for sure a great book, if you have the ability to concentrate for more than five minutes, unlike the majority of the Herd, in mean people, of today.  If your intrest lies in the substance of this book, read some other review, I'm only going to tell you that, the (1909) publication, stinks; the so called book, is more like a oversized magizine, and the print is about the size of a footnote in the bible
",1
"As a former history major and teacher I am very familiar with the history of the Crusades from the Western point of view.  They have been portrayed in literature, movies, and history.  They have been glamorized and vilified by Westerners for centuries.  Reading Amin Maalouf's rendering of this familiar story from the view-point of Arab chroniclers was like looking through Alice's looking glass at a world that is backwards from the one we know.  Here we don't have just Crusaders, advernturers, or even the evil conquerors that deconstructionists portray, but invaders, barbarians, and enemies of God Himself.  

This book is a must read for everyone who is concerned about events in the Middle East today.  It sheds light on a crucial time in history that affects the psyche of Muslims who are living right now.  Especially helpful is the epilogue in which Maalouf explains how the collective memory of the Crusades colors the way many Middle-easterners see the West.  It is not riveting, but very readable considering it is a translation.  I enjoyed it and learned a lot
",1
"We love this book!  We have made many of the recipes that have all tasted great and are healthy.  We also gave it to everyone for Christmas and they all love the recipes too
",1
"Theodore B. Taylor, the physicist who was the subject of this book died in 2004, but not before he had completed his spiritual journey from nuclear bomb maker to nuclear protester.  Even though the text of this book originally appeared in ""The New Yorker"" in 1973, Taylor was still driven to publish his own works on the dangers of nuclear proliferation.  McPhee has a very understated style (""just the facts, ma'am""), but this book is still the most frightening I've ever read.  I can't decide whether I would want him to write a sequel, because the threat of a nuclear bomb explosion is even greater today than it was in 1973.  Just ask yourself the following questions:

Is there more plutonium available to terrorists in 2006 than there was in 1973?  Yes.

Do more nations have nuclear capability?  Yes.

Can a nuclear bomb be built that is even smaller and more efficient than its 1973 counterpart?  Yes.

Are the instructions for building a nuclear device more readily available than they were in 1973?  Yes.

Do some people hate America even more than they did in 1973?  Decide this one for yourself.

John McPhee, staff writer for the ""New Yorker"" and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of twenty-seven books on subjects as various as oranges and the merchant marine, has written a nuclear explosion of a book in ""The Curve of Binding Energy.""    It's one of those books that is even more relevant now than when it was written.  Essentially, it's a blueprint of how to build a nuclear device using materials at hand, along with a chunk of rather easily stolen U-235 or plutonium.  Theodore B. Taylor, himself the creator of smaller, more efficient nuclear bombs, tells us where to steal the plutonium, how to assemble a bomb, even gives hints on where to plant it--one of the eeriest parts of this book has Taylor and McPhee exploring the now-vanished towers of the World Trade Center, trying to pick the spot where a nuclear device could do the most damage.

""The Curve of Binding Energy"" is a must read for every man, jack, and paper-pusher in the Department of Homeland Security, not to mention both houses of Congress.  I imagine the first reaction of many Congresspersons would be to ban this book, but it's way too late for that, my friend.
",1
"I bought this as I'm beginning to study Judaism in my spiritual journey.  The book is very well translated and includes recommendations for readings on holidays.  There are also pictures throughout the book from various times and locations.

I'm also very pleased with this since it's in a paragraph format (as someone who's only read the ""Hebrew Bible"" as part of the Old Testament I like the ease of reading with the paragraph format).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDE
",1
"Craig Cockran has reprized his first work with a text that is as rich as it is inspiring. Detail oriented, yet captivating and simple to read, this book belongs in the library of anyone who is invested in the QI process or just starting a QI program. The writer has once again shown a unique grasp of business and the instructional process. I look forward to the next installment from this outstanding author
",1
"A commentary on a book of the Bible will generally include the commentator's outline of the structure of that book.  A good outline can greatly enhance one's understanding of a biblical book, so such outlines are important.  Rarely, though, do commentators say much about how their outlines are derived.        

This book, which is based on Professor Lee's doctoral dissertation, describes and illustrates a method for outlining the structure of a large section of biblical text.  This method, called ""conceptual analysis"", is a modern version of form criticism developed by Lee's advisor, Rolf Knierim.

Lee describes conceptual analysis as an iterative process, where one begins by dividing a text into smaller units with coherent themes.  One then takes a deeper look to determine how the units fit together into an overall structure for the text.  Finally, the outline is critically evaluated and the steps repeated as needed. 

Lee demonstrates the method on Num. 10:11-36:13, a challenging section of text that has been outlined in several different ways.
He divides this section into 36 units, discussing with each one the rationale for his choices.  He then argues persuasively that the key unit for the organization of the section is Num. 13:1-14:45, the account of the exploration of the Promised Land by 12 scouts, the largely negative report the scouts present to the people, and Israel's subsequent rejection of God's plan to bring them into the Promised Land.  The pivotal events in this unit largely determine the form and content of the rest of the section.

Conceptual analysis is an attempt to make the outlining of a text into a ""scientific"" process, with the goal of deriving a structure from a text rather than imposing a structure upon a text.  There is no way to completely mechanize such a process, however.  Some subjectivity is inevitable, and any outline will highlight some features of a text and deemphasize others.

In my opinion, one good measure of the value of an outline is the amount of fruit it yields in insight into the text.  By this criterion, I believe that Lee's outline of Num. 10:11-36:13 earns high marks.  His outline helps give satisfying answers to a number of questions about the text, as he explains in the latter stages of the book.      

It is rare that a dissertation on form critical issues would be interesting to more than a handful of specialists.  This book is a notable exception, and I enthusiastically recommend it to all serious students of the book of Numbers.
",1
"i dont agree with the previous reviewer at all. my kids love everything in this book and if i find enough time i want to make every single toy. they are not scary looking at all. if you like knitted babes by claire garland, you ll love this one. 

there are 5 themes in this book: 
enchanted land: Princess and castle 
fairy dream: fairy and baby, flower pillow, unicorn
wild trail: cowboy and mustang
set to sea: pirate and ratty, dinghy
magical waterworld: Mermaid, fish, seahorse and crab, dolphin

there are also pages on knitting, crochet and stitching basics. 
this is probably not a book for a beginner, but if have some experience you ll want to get your needles, hooks and yarn and just get going. 
i can only recommend this one. 5 stars!!!
",1
"Sigmund Freud has done an amazing research in the field of Dreams and their meanings, you will be amazed how every single detail in the dream has a meaning (According to Sigmund Freud - not that I agree with him). And it is very impressive. Personally I enjoyed this book very much
",1
"This book covers in depth the LBO of RJR Nabisco in the late 1980s. Recommended to me by an investment banker friend that knew I wanted to go into M&A work, I decided to read it. I thought the book was excellent, but maybe unnecessarily long. The authors were meticulous in explaining everything about the deal and those involved - from the history to every single meeting and telephone conversation. The two authors never mentioned whether they were present during every conversation or not, but did an incredible job at recreating all that happened nonetheless. For someone interested in pursuing a top Wall Street job, this book is a must. For everyone else that just likes good non-fiction, this book does a superb job at representing the greed of an era
",1
"I bought this book in lieu of the 2005 Guiness Book of World Records, and I don't regret the decision at all. 

This is a huge book- 250 pages- with thousands of interesting and bizzare tidbits in categories such as ""Amazing Earth"", ""Body and Mind"", ""Wonders of Science"", ""Fun and Games"", and ""Beyond Belief"". I had never watched the Ripley's show or read any other Ripley's books before. The facts are just as fascinating as in Guiness, but they are presented in a more fun, colorful, and kid- friendly way.

This would make a great present for any kid (or grown- up kid), even for those who don't read much.

The editing isn't the greatest, and I found one fact that is repeated twice in two different sections (see if you can catch it!) but I still give it a full 5 stars!

And... the cover makes me kind of dizzy, but that's okay. ;-
",1
"I have probably close to a dozen or more people I know, including myself, that have read this and had great results removing all sorts of chronic symptoms.

",1
"It took cancer to wake me up.  I now do everything I can to inform my family and friends of the of the importance of a health lifestyle and eating habits.  This author also wrote ""What you don't know may be killing you""  These two books are great to accidently leave at a loved ones home.  They are filled with tons of improtant messages and very easy to relate to examples are given that help you understand what actually is happening to your body. My dad has gone from drinking no water to probably half of what he needs but this is a start, he will read more the next time I leave another book by accident...  This author is great! 
",1
"explodes upon the crime-detective scene. THE HUNDRETH MAN, his first book was excellent and THE DEATH COLLECTORS is as good and even better. Can't wait for the next one!

Why this is an Amazon sale item befuddles me. But since it is , grab this bargain while you can because it is a terrific novel!

The PSIT team of LAPD, Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus are faced with a dual-time mystery. More than 30 years in the past, a serial killer with a following of mesmerized women who adore him, is killed in the courtroom the day he is sentenced.

And NOW; starting with the grizzly find of a murdered prostitute in a seedy motel room...it seems as though the serial killer has risen from the dead to continue his reign of terror. Each time a new murder surfaces the killer is a step ahead and just out of reach of Carson and Harry. The touch of subtle humor adds bas-relief without taking anything away from the thread of the story and lightens it tension for brief seconds at a time.Perfect!

The murders are freakish! Disgusting! Brutal! But the two PSIT detectives refuse to give up and what finally unravels the twisted cloth of this old/new mystery will knock you out of your chair.

A truly masterfully plotted novel with two familiar and charismatic 'partners against crime'. A series to follow and enjoy. Get both of Kerley's books and double your pleasure!

Try them, you'll like them and you'll love Jack Kerley. I promise!!
",1
"I loved this book.  It talked about every facet of the stock market, but didn't go overboard with jargon.  I knew absolutely nothing about stocks and after reading this book I am ready to learn more.  It was well written, interesting, and, unlike some investing books, the author was not trying to sell anything.  This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to invest but has no knowledge of the subject.  I really enjoyed this book
",1
"I've just returned from a reading of this book by my philosophy professor, Dr. Luke Barber.  Although he only read from a couple chapters, it was easy to figure out that this book is definitely a must have for anyone who loves  life (or would like to learn how).  Containing good, useful (not to mention  funny) stories, you will be able to relate to the text easily and  effectively!  I plan on purchasing this book and I would definitely  recommend it to anyone interested (and even those that are not!)
",1
"   I read The Pig Man by Paul Zindel for a summer vacation assignment. In all, I do not enjoy reading books , but I was surprised by the humor in this book. When I was reading it, I would have to stop reading and I would start laughing. It would take a while to calm myself down.

   It first started with John and Lorraine, then a lot of strange things started to happen to them. The old man that they where trying to prank call, was actually going to give them money. When they meet him it all changed. They where worried because they lied to him  and did not know what to do. They told him the truth and became good friends with the Pig Man. They called him the pig man because his name was Mr. Pignati, and he collected hundreds of little pig statues. 
           
          John and Lorraine learned a lot about the importance of life as they grew to love the Pig Man. This sad story has to taught them how to move on after a loved one has died. 
 
           
",1
"DeYoung begins by relating how Bush pushed Powell out at the end of his 1st term, without the courtesy of even personally discussing it with him; making matters worse was the  fact that Bush didn't even know why Powell was at the White House when it came time to say ""Good Bye.""

Colin Powell came from Jamaican parents (often called ""Jewmaicans"" by American Negroes because of the emphasis they placed on hard work and education), and during his early life in the NYC area suffered little, if any, racial prejudice.  Later on, unfortunately, the insults were quite aggravating, but Powell was determined to not let them inhibit his performance.

Powell was an indifferent student in high school and at CCNY (majored in geology); however, ROTC piqued his sophomore-year interest and he soon became a standout.  Powell went on to be selected outstanding cadet, and top graduate (or very close) in every military training setting he undertook, as well as a top MBA student at George Washington University.  He also was top-ranked by superiors in almost every military assignment, leading to his being offered a White House fellowship, which in turn provided Powell with travel to Russia and China and brought him in contact with a number of influential people who were impressed enough to forward Powell onto Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State.

One of Powell's ""secrets of success"" was to enthusiastically implement all orders, even those he considered silly - Powell himself believed that doing otherwise grounded the careers of many talented others.

Unfortunately, Powell eventually crossed paths with Dick Cheney (a bit of a problem during Gulf War I; a serious problem when Cheney became V.P.).  Between Cheney's far-right bias (""out on the looney fringe"" - per Powell) and Bush II's ""disturbingly disjointed"" decision-making - per Treasury Secretary O'Neill), Powell's contributions as Secretary of State were severely limited and constantly undermined and countermanded - often with Don Rumsfeld's help.  In addition, he was often left out of important decisions, especially when out of the country.  Ultimately, Powell's credibility suffered from the inaccurate information provided in his U.N. speech attesting to Saddam's WMD.

The big question, still debated, is ""Why didn't he resign?""  His supporters believe the reason is that Powell's nature simply didn't allow anything less than 100% support.

Bottom Line:  If Cheney had not been such an ideologue (telling Bush there were no candidates good enough to run as his V.P. - ignoring Powell, and then sliding into the position himself), Powell would be V.P. today, possibly President in 2008.  Similarly, if Bush #41 had not been so stubborn and instead replaced Quayle with Powell in '92, Powell might well have become first V.P., and then President
",1
"We have now entered a second time of deep concern for the science, math, and technological education for everyone. The first one occurred after the Sputnik fiasco, when the Russians beat us in the race to reach space. The  concern now has risen due to what science groups such as the American  Association for the Advancement of Science, and educators saw in comparison  of assessments made of students in the U.S. and those in other developed  countries, such as Japan. The answer to this concern was for the AAAS along  with other groups to put out a guideline as to what constitutes scientific  literacy, and what the public in the U.S. should at least know to be  scientifically literate. As usual, though the AAAS addressed the fact that  certain groups in the U.S. were not being 'included' in the pursuit of  science literacy, such as women and racial minorities, in this their first  book they skipped over those of us with disabilities. Since this is a major  concern of mine and the area in which I do research, I was appalled to see  they neglected 'us' once again, especially as the AAAS has a separate  department dealing with the Disabled/Deaf.  In spite of this mistake, the  writing of this book has laid the groundwork for universities and colleges  as to what the teachers they train should know and be able to teach so that  our country can be more scientifically literate. With new information being  made available through newspapers and the Internet on a daily basis, it is  absolutely imperative that all adults regardless of race, gender, or  ability be able to glean the information they need from this outpouring of  information to make decisions requiring informed consent in health care,  decisions on employment (since health care is one of the top employers in  the U.S. today), and to teach their children. This book was the beginning,  but it isn't the end. More books have further elucidated what is required  for science literacy from both the AAAS and other science groups. This is  the place to start if you are an educator of any kind who wants their  students to become scientifically literate. Karen Sadler, Science  Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.ed
",1
"I was referred to this book by my midwife (Debra O'Conner) as a book that I had to read as it's content was so ""right on"" and was she ever right.  I know alot about my body.  I am a licensed massage therapist and a mother of a 3 year old that I had at home.  I spent hours and hours learning about my body during the childbirth process.  That was great knowledge to add to the physiology I learned during my massage training.  This book though, is something that every woman in our culture today should read. I now understand so much about my life and the directions it has taken!  I hope to give this to everyone I know who has a daughter.  I hope they will read it for themselves and then pass in on to their daughters when they feel the time is right.  Our culture today is so lacking in this kind of positive message.  It is women's reality and needs to be shared.  Of course it is written by a Midwife!  Thank you Elizabeth
",1
"Peter Allen takes three of the most compelling aspects of human history--sex, disease, and religion--and weaves them together in a fascinating exposition of how religious authorities in the West have viewed  disease since the late Middle Ages. His book discusses the histories of  lovesickness, leprosy, syphilis, plague, masturbation, and of course AIDS.  For each disease (and yes, masturbation was considered a serious disease  well into the 20th Century!), he discusses how sex, and the sins associated  with it, figured into the religious and popular views of illness. Allen's  book is meticulously researched (he read texts in the original French,  Latin, German, and Italian) and elegantly  written. It is a far easier read  than most academic works. Most importantly, it offers insight into how  religious and sexual  intolerance can hamper the fight against disease,  even in today's world
",1
"My husband and I recently bought a home and I really felt I needed to find some tips on being organized.  I used to be very organized (and still am at work), but with the birth of my daughter almost a year and a half ago that has all gone down hill around the house.  I came away with some really good tips for organization.  Not to mention some good tips on how to get rid of ants and various other insects and rodents.  Great book for any mom who feels their house needs a little boost in the organization department
",1
"So many disbelievers out there! I feel so sorry for you: no magic left in your dull and predictable worlds? Of course this book is on the level. While my dog Ernestine does not build art pieces as such, she's a pretty good cook and a crack shot. So why not dog artists? The review of dog art is a little species-centric, however. Most of the dog artists I know use faecies or urine to construct art, or engage in performance pieces: ""Rooting The Leg""; and ""Licking The Balls"" spring to mind. Dog culture can be appreciated by humans but is not the SAME as human cuture. So a little less chauvanism please Ms Mathison
",1
"
When someone goes to the time and effort to expose the Watertower Bible Company and Death Brokers, they get five stars from me. America is overflowing with former Jehovah's Witnesses that are now living shattered lives. So, the more such books there are saturating the market, the more likely it is someone will read just the right book that will keep them from getting involved in this End Of The World death-cult. Or help a poor suffering JW find their way OUT. 

David Reed, thank you for both of your fine books. May they be read far and wide and in between! 

Read I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED for two of the wildest rides ever!
",1
"Elaine Pagels is a wonderful writer.  Her explanation into early Christianity is wonderful.  It is definitely worth the time to read this.  She delves into the politics of the early church, the Passion, the resurrection, as well as the clashes between Gnostic and Orthodox thinking.  Too often, we forget that what we call the canon is not the only writings available.  She just reminds us that there is this whole other world of writings that did not make it into the bible for one reason or another.  If you want to get an idea of who the Gnostics were, read this
",1
"This book gives the reader a fascinating and personal look inside not just the foster care system, but why they are very much so needed.  Young Dave's life was very likely saved by being taken from his mother's home and placed into foster care.  But this book makes it clear, that despite this positive change in is life, it certainly didn't mean everything was ""happily ever after"".  Dave then struggled with issues ranging from not knowing some of the mere basics that other twelve years olds know by that age, ranging from as simple as how to take a proper bath to how to behave with proper manners.  It also gives you a good look at the struggle these hard working foster homes and parents go through.  They deal day in and day out with children coming from troubled homes, and these foster homes are in such high demand that they end up cramped to the brim.  I think many of us, myself included, are unaware of just what a struggle it is for both the foster children and the foster parents, as well as how much we need to support these people.  They are dedicating themselves to a truly needed and wonderful cause.

Thanks again Dave, for having the courage to share your beautiful story of heartache and triumph with us
",1
"The brilliant theory of General Theory of Relativity authored by Great Mind Albert Eintein, is truely magnificient
",1
"Perhaps the long shadow of Francis Parkman has discouraged historians from writing about the French and Indian War (Seven Year's War).  Whatever the reason it's good to see from the publication of several books that Americans are taking a renewed interest in the pre-revolutionary period when the British were triumphant and the Indians still counted as a political force.  

It's past time for a thorough revision of Parkman -- who was ungenerous with the Indians although I thrilled as a young reader to his descriptions of their ferocity -- for example, the ""insensate fury"" of the Iroquois.  Actually, the Iroquois were less insensate than they were astute.  

Calloway omits the bloody details and vivid writing of Parkman but he gives us a thorough picture of what happened in the wake of the English victory over the French in North America.  In particular he focuses on the frontier and the built-in conflict of American settlers, British policy, and the Indian tribes who either went down to defeat with the French or were betrayed by perfidious Albion.  They made their point, however, in Pontiac's War and by clearing white settlers from the frontier. But their  numbers were declining and they would soon be overwhelmed. 
        
This is a good book about the issues of the frontier between Whites and Indians.  In addition, there's a good account of the French movement from Canada to Louisiana and the Spanish rule in Florida and the trans-Mississippi.  

Smallchief 
",1
"Has there ever been anyone like Richard Nixon? For sheer resiliency,he stands alone in American history. No one won bigger than Richard Nixon.  And no one lost bigger than Richard Nixon. And then won again. And then lost. And won again. He just kept punching and planning and working, to eventually become one of the dominant figures of the 20th Century. 

The author of 9 books, 8 of them best-sellers, this is his first,and covers six major crises of his political life to 1962. This is serious history, but so well-written that it reads like an exciting novel. In it, you can see the raw steel of the man emerging through his discipline, beginnig with his first crisis as a 35-year-old freshman congressman,the prosecution of Alger Hiss, the darling of east coast liberals and the state department, as a Soviet spy.. The other crises have been well-described by other reviewers, but all were thrilling examples of courage (backed by preparation) under fire. Highly-experienced Washington veteran David Gergen, who worked closely with four Presidents, in his excellent book ""Eyewitness to History"" described Richard Nixon as ""the toughest man I ever knew"". In this book, you can see why.

Interestingly, his overwhelming love of country shines through as well. For example,the 1960 election was unbelievably close.A swing of only 11,000 votes properly distributed, and the election results would have been reversed. And there was verifiable vote fraud by the Democrats, especially in Texas and Illinois. Nixon was repeatedly urged to demand an investigation and recount. He refused. First,it would have greatly delayed the transference of responsiblity to a new administration. But secondly, as he wrote, ""Then, too, the bitterness that would be engendered by such a maneuver on my part would,in my opinion, have done incalculable and lasting damage throughout the country."" There speaks a Patriot.  And a Man!

Also recommnended.""Nixon in Winter"" by Monica Crowley
",1
"Anyone who reads this book would not be surprised at the runaway success of the ""Left Behind"" series, since it demonstrates that a preoccupation with Bible prophecy affects a much wider demographic than the fundamentalist subculture. Indeed, the impact of premillenial thought has extended all the way up to the Reagan White House. And, Christian or not, who hasn't heard of the term ""Antichrist"" or the significance of the number ""666""? This book presents a fairly comprehensive survey of popular eschatology, including the role of Israel, Russia, the Arab countries, Europe, and the United States. It also shows how those beliefs have changed over the years (Turkey was considered Gog and Magog before Russia was, and the Pope was designated as the Antichrist for years before Hitler and Henry Kissinger came along). The final chapter, written at the brink of the collapse of the Soviet Union, demonstrates how, once again, premillenial thought adjusts itself (or sometimes not) depending upon world conditions. This is a fair, even-handed treatment of a religious and cultural phenomenon
",1
"The Book arrived in a timely fashion.  The photograply was beautiful.  However, I found it to be a coffee-table book rather than a text book which I needed
",1
"Yes, Ben Witherington is a (relative) conservative, but don't hold that against him. Yes, he has strong opinions, but don't hold that against him, either, because they are well argued. The fact remains that this is the best overview of ""Third Quest"" Jesus scholarship I have been able to find. Admirers of the Jesus Seminar may not appreciate his critique, but it is very fair and well-thought out. One of the benefits from a book like this, besides giving interested parties a launching pad for further research, is that the different views of Jesus can help one achieve a well-rounded portrait of the Savior. No one scholar gets it right all the time (not even Witherington, with his own view of Jesus as God's wisdom), but the different insights are valuable, because Jesus is bigger than what any one person can comprehend. That should be a cause for humility (something some Jesus scholars have lacked, at least in print). I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in contemporary Jesus scholarship
",1
"This book clearly, easily teaches the 5 different ways we each relate to one another.    It is applies very well to couples; however, the principles also provide essential insight into relating with children, colleagues... anyone!  It makes an excellent group book study or a read-on-one's own
",1
"Since I received this book I have been carting it around, using it for reference ever since. I wish that I had been introduced to this book sooner in my college career; it sets a good foundation for the basics. It is also good for sparking ideas if you are stuck. Robin Williams also writes well, making it a fun, easy read (like all her books).

I highly recommend this title
",1
"Amazing. One or probably the most impressive paintor's book I have. Not easy subjects sometimes, but anyway, always beautiful
",1
"I've had this book since 1997 and I still refer to it for ideas.  It has such a unique and diverse pictorial on each page by 'grand' and 'credible' photographers.  For anyone who takes pictures...likes pictures...this BOOK is a MUST GET for you.  I have it on my coffee table and I get rave comments on it all of the time about what a GREAT book it is
",1
"Drummer Hoff is an unusual story that uses repetitive phrases and rhyming to tell the story of Drummer Hoff, the man who ""fired it off."" In this story, a group of men are preparing to fire a cannon. Each man brings something different. One man brings the barrel, one man brings the carriage, and at the every end of each stanza it says ""but Drummer Hoff fired it off.""
	This story uses childlike drawings to demonstrate the pattern of rhythm in the story. The colors are fairly bright which in turn give the story a comical appeal. The story itself doesn't have any significant moral element to it...it is just a fun book. The rhyming in this story is very catching and the pictures really make the story very humorous. By the end of the story the reader can see that the big explosion has just caused a big mess.

Children will like the flow the story and parents will enjoy reading it aloud. A good holiday gift.
",1
"I didn't discover the delight that is the Artemis Fowl series until a week ago, when I read ARTEMIS FOWL in one day.  So, of course, I had to pick up a copy of THE ARCTIC INCIDENT right away, to see if it was as good as the first.  It definitely is, and in my own humble opinion, I think I liked it even better than the first book.  There are points throughout the book where Artemis, now thirteen, shows a softer, more vulnerable side that I truly enjoyed.  Don't get me wrong, he's still an evil genius, but he's an evil genius with heart, and you can't help but love him.

Now that Angeline Fowl is out of her depression, thanks to some fairy magic from Captain Holly Short, she's sent Artemis back to Saint Bartelby's School for Young Gentlemen in Ireland.  Artemis is having quite a large amount of fun flumoxing the school's counselor, Dr. Po, when he gets an urgent message from Butler, his bodyguard/butler/majordomo--it seems that Artemis Fowl the First is alive in Russia, being held for ransom by the Russian Mafiya.

Young Artemis, of course, immediately sets out to devise a scheme to rescue his father.  It's been almost two years since Artemis Senior was last heard from, and his son is most eager to bring him home.  Before he can work out a devious scheme, though, he's visited by none other than Captain Short and her superior, Commander Root, and brought down to Haven City and into Police Plaza.  It seems the goblin triad, the B'Wa Kell, have a human counterpart aiding in their smuggling, and Artemis the Second is, quite justly I believe, suspected of being that human.

The fairies soon realize, however, that this time Artemis Fowl isn't the bad guy in this problem.  But now they'd like Artemis and Butler's help in figuring out who is behind the allaince between the goblins and the Mud Men--and Artemis is quite willing to help them out, in exchange for the fairies help in rescuing his father.

What follows is an action-packed story of good versus evil below ground, with deceptions, backstabbing, and revenge taking center stage.  As Holly, Root, Butler, and Artemis race to save Haven City from being destroyed, some of the same characters from the first book make appearances--Foaly, Mulch Diggums, Cudgeon, and Captain Trouble.  There's also a new foe in THE ARCTIC INCIDENT, Opal Koboi, to be dealt with.  

I highly recommend the ARTEMIS FOWL series to anyone and everyone.  Highly enjoyable, thoroughly entertaining, and not soon forgotten.
",1
"It's fascinating to compare my own experiences, having lived now 3 years in Germany, to those of an American from 125 years earlier.  I've been learning to speak German, and his Appendix on the ""awful"" German language was hilarious.  In poking fun at German grammar (e.g., long sentences), he purposely commits the same errors in his own writing.  The scene ""riding"" the glacier down the Alps was so funny I had tears running down my face.  It's amazing to think that it was written in 1879, when America was barely a century old, and the insights and perceptions then can be incredibly, eerily similar to either my or ""typical"" American's attitudes today.

I'd recommend it to anyone, but particularly to anyone visiting or living in Europe.  It's way funnier than his ""Innocents Abroad"", which is also a good read on travel in Europe
",1
"The purpose of Nessus is to provide an Open Source Solution for network auditing on all Unix like systems.  This book not only details using Nessus but also comes with a CD containing the program, as well as Ethereal, Snort, and Newt (a port of the program to the Windows environment).

What is a network assessment?  At its basic level it is an attempt to detect a live system and then identify the computing environment, services, applications, and vulnerabilities on that system.  Basically there are two types of assessment - internal and external.  An internal assessment is done over the local network and external is done from outside the LAN.  Nessus will do both types and the book details how to do either, or both of them.

The authors do an excellent job of detailing installation, setup, and how to interpret the results of a scan as well as various factors that can affect the report.  One of the parts not to be missed is the discussion of not only the benefits but also the potential problems of scanning your system.  Some of the vulnerability types scanned for include buffer overflows, default passwords, backdoors, information leaks, and denial of service.

The Nessus scripting language is covered in detail in Appendix A instead of the main portion of the book; a choice I appreciated very much as it allowed the flow of the book to not be interrupted by such a highly technical section.  With Open Source products there generally is no organized technical support phone number you can call of help.  So, the authors include information on how to get help via the Nessus User Community, mailing lists, and archives.

Nessus Network Auditing is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in auditing their network to find potential problems before they become reality
",1
"Compiled, arranged and edited by Sara St. Antoine, Stories From Where We Live: The Great Lakes is a delightful and enthusiastically recommended anthology of stories, essays, and poems drawn from a diversity of talented authors, all of whom are celebrating the richness of daily life and the wilds of the Great Lakes region of North America. Suitable for young readers of all ages, these memorable tales and stories are enhanced with simple black-and-white illustrations to make the land, its creatures, and the people who saw and settled upon it come alive
",1
"Having spent time negotiating sports sponsorship contracts, I have a new found love for negotiating.  In reading this book, the authors have laid out a clear and concise program in which to begin, work through and close negotiatings.  A great book for beginners and a good brush up for intermediates and pros
",1
"My son loves to read, and he adores this book.  I personally love Trapani's books--while they are not always grammatically correct (the only reason why I don't give it a 5 star rating), they are beautifully  illustrated and bring to life some of the most well-known nursery rhymes.   It will bring a smile to your child's face
",1
"Like many of the other reviewers here have already stated, this is a book to be read by everyone!  I am not a reader of westerns but I loved this book.  After 800 pages I was never so sad to see a book end.  ""Lonesome Dove"" has a little of everything, drama, action, humor, and a few love stories to boot.  There are few books that have made me laugh or cry like this book did.  By the time your are done you will have new friends Woodrow, Pea Eye, Claire, Lorena, but especially Gus McCrea.  and you will also have some new villains particularly the frightening Blue Duck.  I can't recommend a book any more than this one
",1
"I am at the mid-point of the book and will likely post another review when I am done. [...] The authors give the history and motivation and design decisions behind HLA. They also give many good examples, [...], allow you to get a really good feel for the important concepts of HLA by running an actual federation. One thing I will be looking for is the impact of the architecture on simulation performance, scalability in practice (as opposed to in theory), and how is HLA likely to evolve over the next couple decades. 
I don't know yet whether the book is enough for you to create your first federation. If you really have NO background at all in simulation, you will still get a lot out of the first couple of chapters, plus the many references to articles written on the subject, but don't expect to find the other chapters easy. Using my background in simulation systems, I can say that HLA seems to have been very well thought out, based on real-life simulation systems, and is therefore not trivial. But that's what makes it interesting, and the book so far lives up to that
",1
"Very detailed information about Hypothyroidism, Can help anyone with a low basal temperature. If you think you are hypo and your doctors won't help you read this book and you will find a doctor who will help you. Lots of knowledge about this condition. Must read
",1
"This was a required text for one of my graduate courses and I didn't expect to enjoy it much. It wasn't far into the book that I began to resonate with some of the struggles for racial harmony articulated by Perkins and Rice. 

In Chapter 1, Spencer Perkins states emphatically, ""The Civil Rights Movement has run its course, and we've gotten just about all you can expect to get from a political movement."" I, a white guy, took offense at the thought that someone would declare the struggle for civil rights obsolete. His point is well made through the development of this and subsequent chapters. The move toward reconciliation must move from race to grace. 

Regardless of your religious affiliations, if you are engaged in civil rights causes or racial reconciliation you would be remiss to neglect this ground-breaking tome.

PAX

Erik
",1
"More than anything else Alan Furst recreates the atmosphere of the early days of World War II espionage. I.A. Serebin inhabits the urbane world of Russian emigres in the Europe of 1940-1941, mainly in Paris, but also in Roumania. Serebin is recruited into what seems to be the British secret service and seeks to interrupt the flow of Roumanian oil to the Nazi war machine. The whole operation reeks of amateurism - appropriate enough at that stage of the war - brainy, careful, daring, but amateur. With one exception, none of the players know completely what they are part of - which also leaves the reader at times groping for the story line. Still Furst's prose forms the characters into full-dimensional beings from Bogart's Casablanca or Graham Greene's Human Factor. 

Highly recommended for readers with an interest in espionage or WW II
",1
"The spiritual quest made understandable.  Tolle is able to communicate new ways of thinking that are life changing, and are not so esoteric to make you say ""huh?"". I would read  ""The Power of Now"" first
",1
"Horror master Arthur Machen's crowning achievement, a still shocking compendium of interwoven short horror tales.   In late 19th century London, a scientist and an unpublished writer join forces as amateur detectives in an attempt to solve a minor but puzzling mystery which ultimately leads to the discovery of a truly diabolical conspiracy.  In the course of their investigations, the two men find themselves repeatedly surrendering their attention to a series of seemingly outlandish tales spun by an assortment of eccentric story tellers.  The stories, which all deal with imposture of some kind, are only tangentially related to each other, yet offer the somewhat bumbling sleuths important clues to the mystery at hand.  Machen builds suspense slowly and methodically, masterfully leading the reader on to a completely unexpected, gruesome climax.  Comical, tragic, sophisticated, violent, horrific, and even downright disgusting, THE THREE IMPOSTORS is a classic horror novel of sly deception and wit.    

The 1995 Everyman paperback is the only critical edition of this remarkably rich book released to date, offering a scholarly introduction (by editor David Trotter) that carefully details Machen's main influences (chiefly Robert Louis Stevenson) and themes (imposture of various kinds, also derived from Stevenson).  A short text summary nicely encapsulates the narrative's various twists and turns.  Finally, a section entitled ""Machen and His Critics"" provides a welcome offering of mostly contemporaneous critical responses to this remarkable book; while many of these reviews were laudatory, quite a few passionately outraged quotes reveal just how shocking THE THREE IMPOSTORS must truly have been in its time
",1
"This book still does not address many areas I find interesting in James Brown's career but I find it a natural companion to the three other JB books in my collection: Cynthia Rose's ""Living In America: The Soul Saga Of James Brown""; Geoff Brown's biography ""James Brown""; and ofcourse, the Brown/Tucker ""The Godfather Of Soul - James Brown"". All three dig deep into this metaphysical musician's mind but this one has a stronger narrative, a bit less guarded: his late '80s fall is described in a more contrite way, for example. His scientific study of his audience is perhaps something new in his dialogue - but he broaches the subject of how music motivates women in a different way than it does men, then immediately moves on to the next thought. Even by 2005 standards his live albums contain some of the most overt sexuality, obviously directed at the female fans, ever recorded. Similarly, his admonitions to admonishes contemporary rap/hip-hop artists are eloquent but must be deemed a bit self-righteous: there is alot of ""adult"" content in his catalogue which can't be explained away as ""art"". However, fans can trace his development into more ""cerebral"" music, with more and more sensitive ballads and socially-conscious tunes being produced  from the late '60s on.
I was happy to read his description of Little Richard's assistance in his early career, but a bit disheartened when he suggested that Penniman was basically a Rock and Roll raver - I find it hard to believe that this publication brought out his true feelings about his Georgia neighbor - the influence is quite obvious and not just on ""Chonnie On Chon"". Another depressing ommission is with Marva Whitney, his popular lead female vocalist from c.'67 to '70. A recent documentary reveals that Marva traveled To Vietnam with the star but here he simply says that he was only allowed to travel with a small part of his musical backup.  
Despite the above concerns, with this book James Brown has shown the literary world that he is a writer. Ofcourse this was obvious to the musical world - just listen to ""Don't Be A Drop Out"", ""I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing"", ""The Man In The Glass"", ""I'm Not Demanding"", ""It's Christmas Time"", and ""Peace In The World""
",1
"One of the nicest things someone did for me when I lost my husband to leukemia was to send me this book.  The selections are sympathetic and inspiring.  Also, they're short at a time when the mourner really can't concentrate on long selections.  This book has helped me through the most difficult time of my life
",1
"The book is really thorough when it comes to showing how to do proper lifting techniques with the kettlebell in different variations.It's great for a beginner who is starting out.
",1
"Luc Ferry raises some very important and pressing questions about the implied praxis behind deep ecology.  Does the vision of society espoused by deep ecology depend on an authoritarian social structure?  Does deep ecology demand a level of political correctness which places its premises beyond question?   Ferry is not the first to raise these questions.  The Institute for Social Ecology, led by Murray Bookchin, has made the critique of deep ecology its bread and butter.    Of course, there are plenty of ideologues within radical ecology, but they do not make up the whole story.  Particularly glaring is Ferry's one-sided depiction of eco-feminism.  In fact, some eco-feminist work in the U.S. has been particularly sharp at questioning the orthodoxies of both radical ecology and feminism. The questions which occupy Ferry should be asked by every person who is involved in radical ecology, and many of his criticisms are on-target for a specific body of work.  But he doesn't bother to see the whole picture, and readers should be careful to read beyond the quotes cited by Ferry and to study deep ecology and ecofeminism on their own terms
",1
"The sun shines, planets orbit, corporations lie voraciously, humans consume mindlessly and Noam Chomsky - the pre-eminent intellectual of the modern era - churns out knowledge, elucidates the times and refutes the notion that it is our manifest destiny to perpetually suffer indignity.
In a wide-ranging series of question and answer sessions Chomsky tackles a myriad of seemingly disparate topics, which ultimately pertain to and concern the economic and political system and the welfare of humanity. Unlike books authored by Chomsky himself which tackle specific topics Understanding Power - The Indispensable Chomsky is the transcript of sessions traversing a decade during which Chomsky takes questions from the audience on a number of topics ranging from US foreign policy, imperialism, trade and the third world to propaganda, corporate media, solutions to the collective malaise and the march towards a more just system and society. Expounding on his legendary encyclopaedic knowledge and command of logic, Professor Chomsky manages to offer the questioners, and by extension the readers, a radical approach distinct from the boilerplate and mind-numbing discussions of the corporate media. Refuting the suitability of handling our problems by working within the system and nibbling at the edges Chomsky offers an alternative to the broken system without resorting to the expected customary answers like a broken record. 
As thoughtful and brilliant as the discourse is, the book's editors also deserve much praise not only for the compilation, but also for the easy to read format and the lively pace of the book. Understanding Power could easily have been entitled Understanding The System and is a brilliant book based on the profound teachings of a brilliant thinker
",1
"This book is great. A must read for anyone who has struggled with weight or health problems.
",1
"I suppose one of the great attributes of the internet is that it allows the juxtaposition of the good, the bad and the ugly. Where else could one find reviews of one of the twentieth century's towering works that variously describe it as a recipe for a police state, an incitement to theft, or as written by someone with no understanding of philosophy (my personal favourite - thanks Adrian!
",1
"I read Desperation and enjoyed it immensely much like i did with The Regulators also. This book is filled with suspense from page one. The book never drags in my opinion. This book though is not for the faint of heart. If you don't enjoy high body counts and gore then you will not like this book and will most likely put it down by the second chapter. But if you don't mind it at all like me you will enjoy the suspense he gives you and the twists and turns this book takes. The ending is by far the most suspenseful part. I also recommend reading Desperation first because you will probably understand it better and get a better look on what Tak is all about. The journal entries and newspaper articles are a very nice touch to the story and it lets you understand what is going on alot better also. I wish there was a part three to this but sadly there isn't. I can't choose between Desperation and Regulators because their both great but The Regulators does have the more suspenseful end to it. Although it is alot bloodier and may you even get a brief lump in your throat like i did when a tragic thing happens in the end. Keep up the good work King
",1
"I loved this book. The food was really good and fast (which is good because I have a very packed schedule). Also great if you're on a budget. The recipes have variations so I could eat different things but not have to buy a whole new set of ingrediants.

The only reason it didn't get five stars was because some of the food was really spicy (I'm from Texas, I like spicy), to the point my boyfriend couldn't eat it. I just modified the recipes and everything was fine
",1
"This unforgettable story illustrates the crazy, life-changing adventure of a seventeen-year-old boy who struggles to let go of his fading childhood and accept the phoniness of the adult world. Holden Caulfield's loneliness and lack of motivation combined with a traumatic childhood cause him to leave behind his youthful days at Pencey Prep to venture into the dynamic adult world of New York City. Holden tries to hide his youthful innocence as he mirrors the habits of other adults, going to bars, drinking, and purchasing prostitutes. However, his bickering and sarcastic attitude suggest a hidden desire to stay young, a desire he stubbornly buries beneath his new, mature lifestyle. Holden, like many others, longs to live in a place that is simple and motionless, a place where one needn't worry about the past or the future. Holden also hopes to preserve the innocence in others, such as his sister, so they don't turn out like him, depressed and regretful. Through Salinger's vibrant attitude towards Holden's experience in New York, we readers learn to stop running from our past to prevent losing our youth altogether. The Catcher in the Rye has survived generations as one of the world's best bildungsromans, not because it illustrates the fading youth and growing maturity of a memorable character, but because it demonstrates the confusion of a character as he fights desperately to protect what remains of his childhood
",1
"The book is not 'really' on Christ in the Etheric, but more several - ""unrelated"" - lectures about Etheric Life. Sometimes Christ only gets mentioned at the very end of a lecture.

The book can be summed up as an accumalation of lectures of ""cosmic life"" if you like: the spiritual life that is connected with, and influences, life as seen only from/with physical senses. 

In the book is recorded about several ""ages"" (Golden Age, Silver Age, Iron Age and Dark Age), and that how in each age clairvoyant abilities - [or really spiritual consciousness] - diminished with each age, and that the Dark Age has ended in 1899AC and that in this current Age people need to become spiritually aware again to the point where they have a ""Damascus experience"" (experience of Saul - later Paul - in which he saw Christ in Etheric form).
People who do not become spiritually aware will be bound into the Earth consciousness/sphere and could cause disturbances in the Earth.

In this light, Rudolf Steiner communicated about the brotherhoods - in Western and Eastern countries - and how they try to prevent people from developing spiritually to the point where they will be able to meet Christ in the Etheric (= 2nd coming of Christ (coming in the Etheric)... and in future times coming of Christ (i.e. manifestation/presence of Christ in the astral)).

In the book is also recorded about the Sermon on the Mount - with the Beautitudes (recorded in Matthew 5) where Jesus communicated about the development of the soul (as recorded in other books by Rudolf Steiner (sentient soul, intellectual soul, etc.)). 

In the book is also recorded about ""the afterlife"" if you like: life of souls who have passed away and are still Earthbound, and how those souls are connected to those souls that are incarnated in a physical body in Earth.

In the book is communicated about different levels in the 'afterlife' and how feelings and will are active. It is recorded about astral plane, lower devachan and higher devachan in ""Etherization of the Blood"" and later on again in ""Three Realms between Death and Rebirth"" where is recorded in greater detail how activity in those realms is connected with life of souls incarnated in the Earth and how Christ is also present there and can be experienced in Earthly life as 'destiny'... and how people are so focused on what is, or has happened, but don't pay attention to what is result of it not happening (e.g. getting delayed for an appointment, or coming ('unexpectedly') too early etc.). Destiny is at work, with Christ having its workings present in it according to Rudolf Steiner.

In the book is also located about ""the double"" and how forces from within the Earth influence it [geo-biology]. Ireland was a place where those influences where most 'healthy' for spiritual development/cognition and Ireland was the place where Christianity was able to flourish and waver out from to Europe by Irish monks
",1
"""The Great Locomotive Chase"" is the stuff of legend.  This somewhat obscure event, which commemorated the first anniversary of the first shots on Fort Sumter, could too easily be written off among Civil War devotees as a lark, a foolhardy distraction from the inexorable march from Shiloh to the Seven Days, to Second Manassas, to the three more years of bloodletting that were required in order to form a more perfect union.  But first-time author Russell Bonds does a masterful job of taking this adventure story on its own terms, telling it well, and placing it in its proper context.  The raid itself is a gripping story of intrigue, espionage, and derring-do.  And if Mr. Bonds had only told the tale itself, this book would be well worth the read.  But what sets this distinguished this book apart from so much Civil War writing is Mr. Bonds's ability to tell this gripping tale objectively, while putting it in its proper context.  The author sets the table with a relatively brief yet thorough overview of the strategic arrangement of the war nine months after First Manassas.  And by doing so, and by explaining why the Raid, coupled with the deep penetration of General Ormsby Mitchell into Tennessee and North Alabama, offered the fleeting chance to cut the Confederacy in two and thereby hasten the end of the war, Mr. Bonds gives the otherwise reckless �lan of the raiders its proper place.  Andrews and his raiders were not off on a lark, even though students of the era will have the natural reaction, ""what were they thinking?""  Mr. Bonds answers that question, and the answer, as incongruous as it may seem, reminds the reader that there was so much more to the Great War than the epic battles of the Armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia.  

If the author had done nothing more than told the story of the Great Raid, reconciling contemporary accounts that were so often embellished, this would be a wonderful adventure story, in the great tradition of Shelby Foote's narrative history of the War.  But this book does so much more.  It puts the Raid in its proper strategic context, and it tells the story of the gallant raiders after the raid itself failed.  This book will satisfy both the devoted Civil War critic and the general reader who loves a historical tale well-told.
",1
"Thirty years later and this classic remains a compelling read. This book has fueled a thousand others, setting the perspective for all those interested in the building blocks of life. It's a genes-eye-view of where we came from and how we are motivated, a science and reason-based treatise that is compulsory reading for those of us intent on learning from and about our remarkable natural history. Other books by Dr. Dawkins maybe an easier read but this is where it all started
",1
"I purchased this for my husband for a birthday gift, and it came on time and in perfect condition.
Thanks
",1
"When one begins to despair about the quality (or lack thereof) of the modern novel you come across a gem which dispels that despair for the time being. Not only is this one a gem but also it is something much more and being just over 240 pages one that I finished all too quickly. I could not get enough of it. The narrator and main character of the novel is a Mr. Stevens who is the butler of a mansion where he heads a considerable compliment of staff to keep it running smoothly. His employer, a Lord Darlington, is doing what he can to alleviate some of the supposed harsher terms of the Versailles treaty and realizes too late that he was being used as a pawn by the Germans. And what did Mr. Stevens think of this? He didn't, he maintains that wondering about what was happening would have interfered with his running of the estate. There is also the head housekeeper that he buts heads with a few times and also a few other instances which makes one wonder if she has something other that a professional interest in Mr. Stevens. You'll have to read the book if you want to know more. I read mainly Victorian literature simply because they are well written and what passes for a novel nowadays usually is not. If you get this book you will not be sorry.
",1
"This book is an excellent guide to building and managing an investment portfolio.   It doesn't promise that you'll make millions. . . but it does provide the principles and strategies you need to create an investment portfolio for long-term growth. It's intelligent, easy to understand, and practical. 
",1
"This is a very thorough, very exhaustive look at the life of the sixth president of the United States, and while it may not be as easily readable as, say, David McCullough's ""Truman"", it is certainly less dry and slow-going than most scholarly works. If you're looking for a full-life biography of Monroe, one that truly informs you on the subject and does not simply dramatize the story of a historical figure's life, this is an excellent choice. If you're looking for light reading with a historical basis, this is definitely NOT what you're looking for
",1
"This is probably my favorite book in med school so far. It is long, but very readable, has excellent pictures and diagrams, and the clinical cases are fantastic. Highly recommended
",1
"Dave Barry has written and selected an extremely humorous collection of his articles from The Miami Herald.  There is a huge margin in difference of quality in Boogers are My Beat than in his initial non fiction books such as Dave Barry's Bad Habits.  Boogers are My Beat is one of those rare books that once you start turning the pages you don't want to put down until the back cover.  Dave Barry educates his fellow man on a diverse range of topics such as why you can't use the towels hanging in the bathroom, the Salt Lake City Olympics, babies on airlines, North Dakota, Bear in the Big Blue House and cell phones to name just a few.  

His article written the day after September 11 and one written a year after, about the Philadelphia crashed plane are also included which prove Barry could have been a serious writer if he had pursued that career.  Thankfully he didn't because the rest of the book is hysterically funny as is his Carl Hiaasen style fiction novel Tricky Business.  Big Trouble isn't bad either. Check them out along with his other non fiction novels as well.     
",1
"This is a wonderful book that catches the subtle and yet glaring clashes of outlook on country and escape, grounded firmly in love and faithfulness.   It moves quickly;  I was afraid of a tragedy at the end but the resolution is quietly reassuring and poignant.  The grounding love is as much sexual as otherwise but that's understandable in view of the widely different backgrounds of Julie and Abu.  And it is not transient but deepens.   Miriam, Abu's sister, remains with me in her moving quietude, and the litle girl Lela, hand in hand with Julie, plucks deep
",1
"I started with the second volume, The Mammoth Book of More Historical Whodunnits, and enjoyed it so much that I went out and got a copy of this one as well.  I really liked the time-span of story settings, and the best part was the mystery that was written down over 2000 years ago!

Great for people who like short story mysteries, and as a lead-in to authors you might like
",1
"As always the latest compilation in this annual science fiction anthology remains one of the great anthologies as the current entries are top rate.  For the most part, the thirty contributions are superb tales from a who's who of the genre.  Especially fascinating is Paul McAuley's creative entry ""The Two Dicks,"" in which Philip K. Dick writes mainstream fiction until he meets Richard Nixon.  Other stories are well written as Gardner Dozier scores again with selections that run the gamut from alternative realties to artificial intelligence to ""animal"" intelligence that worms its way into the reader's mind.  The introduction by Mr. Dozier provides a ""Summation"" of the trends in the year, which can be summarized as ""stable"".  Science fiction fans who appreciate shorts will devour this must reading that once again lives up to its title.

Harriet Klausner
",1
"The authors have done an excellent job in explaining testing methodologies for component based software. Black Box and White Box  testing methodologies have been explained particularly well.
Test automation and automation tools are also covered in great detail. The book also describes integration testing, regression testing and performance testing quite well. Overall, this is one of the most comprehensive text books on this subject. I highly recommend it for both students and software professionals.
",1
"Definitely a wonderful book. For those following the teachings of the other books, this book provides more useful information. The path that Castaneda elucidated is fraught with controvery and extreme views (read the other reviews). I found it useful to read and judge for myself. 

What Castaneda wrote about is not fiction however it is a difficult path that very few ever advance upon, thus the angry reviews of those  calling Castaneda a fraud due to their own failure.  Its also a path that those given to fantasy and believing in their own 'specialness' jump on and thus follow blindly with no lasting gains, making up their experience as they go and making sure others hear about it.

Definitely not a path for everyone but certainly open to sober verification.  Also a great book for those looking for a well written and gripping book.

I believe Castaneda's genius as well as his contribution to mankind is yet to be fully appreciated. I am grateful for the gift of his writings and wisdom
",1
"'Google Advertising Tools: Cashing in with Adsense, Adwords, and the Google APIs' by Harold Davis is one of those specialty books that is absolutely a must have for anyone that wants to succeed with advertising on Google.  Teaching you the ins and outs of how to use the behemoth marketing tools AdSense and AdWords, this book will instantly start producing results if you stick to what this says and learn to make ads that are not only seen, but seen OFTEN.  300+ pages of advertising yum yums will get more people to pull over and take a look at your web site, and you will better understand the metrics behind what kinds of advertising works and what DOESN'T.

If you advertise with Google or want to in the near future, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book and start following the advice it lays out IMMEDIATELY.  You will NOT be disappointed!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDE
",1
"I have only read the Swedish translation of what I suppose is the ""old edition"", but judging by ""Look inside this book"", this new English-language edition incorporates much material from the old. Incidentally, the Swedish edition gives the authors name as Kallistos Ware, apparently his taken Orthodox name, while Timothy Ware is his original, given name. 

In Sweden, the Swedish translation of ""The Orthodox Church"" is the only readily available book on the history of the Orthodox Church. Apparently, its used informally as a textbook in some college classes on Church history. It also contains chapters on theology and worship.

In my opinion, the book is a necessary introduction for those interested in Orthodox Church history. Its first chapters summarize the history of this Church during the Byzantine Empire, under Islam, and in Russia both before and during Communism. Of particular interest is the authors interpretation of the Catholic-Orthodox split, usually dated to 1054. The author believes that the so-called Fourth Crusade in 1204 was the real and final consummation of this split. 

However, the book must also be read with some reservations. The author is, after all, an Orthodox Christian himself. Its safe to assume that there is a certain bias here and there. For instance, Ware denies that the Byzantine Church was caesaropapist, a very untenable suggestion. At other times, he is surprisingly ""liberal"" for an Orthodox. For instance, he paints Mehmet Fatih, the Muslim conqueror of Constantinople, as a very tolerant ruler. I also wonder about his interpretation of the Church father Cyprian. 

Even so, ""The Orthodox Church"" remains an indepensable book for those looking for a short and concise historical over-view of this remarkable Christian Church. 

",1
"I enjoyed this book for the most part. I feel the trip throught the Stargate could have been better developed but it was enjoyable to see an inside view of the workings of the ""mountain"". The main characters were all there, participating in the problem solving.  There was a writers view of the teamwork seen in each episode, and some food for thought added in as well. Is the world really ready for the idea that we are part of a bigger universe out there? I don't know but this book presents some interesting questions. I await the next book in the series
",1
"Truly the author's pen is mightier than the sword as he takes on Christmas, parents, children, evangelical Christians from Kentucky, television, Macy's, the result of a dalliance during the Viet Nam War, and ""keeping up with the Joneses"".  

This short book is much funnier than his best-selling ""Me Talk Pretty Some Day"" as the author's humorous cynicism is at its best.  One can't put it down for fear of missing some insight into the American psyche.

Three of the stories appear to be autobiographical (with obvious changes made to ""protect the innocent"") wherein the author ""tells"" the others in the guise of another.  

Regardless, Sedaris pulls no punches and will have the reader in stitches, even if there's a little guilt attached to that feeling.
",1
"Whether everything's on the level here or not I have no idea but in the neverland of Hollywood it doesn't surprise me that an ex-Mouseketeer could be drawn into the shadowy and dangerous circle of colorful mobster Mickey Cohen. It is a vastly entertaining read, however, and would make a cool movie
",1
"If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. Hard's what makes it great."" Manager Jimmy Duggan (Tom Hanks), of the Rockrod Peaches to his All-World catcher Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) in Penny Marshall's ""A League of Their Own"" (1992).

I always think of that quote when I read these ""discussions"" of the great  (and sometimes the not so great) philosophers in the Amazon reviews. On the one hand we have the ""professional"" philosophers/Ph.D'swho appreciate the difficulty of their craft. On the other hand we have the ""almost were's""/undergraduates who cannot abide the effort it takes to decipher prose that seems unnecessarily dense. And that is how it should be, else everyone would do it, and those of us with Ph.D.'s and tenure track jobs at good colleges and universities would be out of jobs and out of luck!

As for Kant, let's all be glad he's not on the job market
",1
"This book was amazing!  I'm giving it to my Dad for helping me through college!  Great gift for parents and children! 
",1
"James Moseley was the stereotypical rich orphan trust-fund kid, inheriting  millions while still in college.  He promptly left college and attached himself to a shady, Indiana-Jones-style South American graverobber. The graverobber wanted for some reason to do a book on the flying saucer myth, then only a few years old.  Moseley was sent crisscrossing the US to interview anyone and everyone who had made contributions to that myth in the period 1947 - 1954.  The book never materialized, but Moseley was left with extensive notes, and the indelible and accurate impression that, apart from a few people who had genuinely seen something in the sky they didn't recognize, and would have been expected to if it were anything familiar, the majority of the mythmakers were, as my old Grandma used to say, ""crazy as a betsy-bug.""

Over the years Moseley kept his hand in, meeting and interviewing anyone who came onto the scene in what he sometimes calls The Field, other times (more accurately) ""ufoology.""  He edited and published a long series of saucer fanzines and newsletters and still publishes one to this day.  He met everyone and he shrewdly sized up everyone. He organized many flying saucer conventions and seems to have attended most of the others.  Here's his information-packed account of about 48 years in The Field, and there is no more accurate word-picture anywhere in print in english (I've looked!) of the classic early 1950s contactees led by George Adamski, on to the 1960s abductees led by Betty Hill,  on to the growth of the crashed-saucer myth from its humble beginnings with the 1949 Scully hoax, on to the full-blown Roswell hoax of 1985 - 90, and on to the ""supernatural"" abduction stories of the 1990s.  Moseley was an eyewitness to the birth of many hoaxes, a few of which he perpetrated himself.

Highly recommended, as a true insider's look at this nearly 60 year-old and seemingly immortal myth of ""things seen in the sky.
",1
"""The Case for Faith"" is the weakest volume in a strong series. 

Strobel's format is fun and engaging. I find his books as ""un-put-downable"" as any blockbuster page-turner. 

Strobel holds a degree from Yale Law School, and he was an award-winning legal editor at the Chicago Tribune. He begins with a question: ""Does historical evidence support the historicity of Jesus? Does current science support the existence of a creator God? Does it make sense to have faith in God?"" and then travels North America, interviewing acknowledged, academic experts on the question at hand. 

Some rather shrill and not entirely rational attacks on the web  protest: ""But, Strobel's books aren't fair, because he only presents one side!"" Perhaps these individuals missed the titles of these books, titles that appear quite prominently on the covers of the books. The first three words of each title is, ""The  Case for..."" No, Strobel is NOT presenting the case *against* his topic; he doesn't represent himself as doing so. Our Christophobic media and academia presents that case relentlessly; why should Strobel waste paper and time doing that, when that is obviously not what he purports to be doing? 

Strobel's accounts of his interviews of the experts are always reader-friendly, but he never talks down to his reader. If you don't want to wade through the all too often alienating prose of too much academic writing, but want to get to the nub of the issue, Strobel is your man.

These techniques worked excellently in ""The Case for a Creator"" and ""The Case for Christ,"" but less well in ""The Case for Faith.""

There are three remarkably strong episodes in the book; these episodes highlight what the rest of the book lacks. 

In the introduction, Strobel interviews Canadian evangelist turned atheist Charles Templeton. Templeton presents a righteous, enraged case *against* God, and then, tearfully, admits how much he continues to adore Jesus, and, indeed, to miss him. This wrenching passage masterfully captures the dilemma of many who have a love-hate relationship with their creator.

In a few brief pages that serve as coda to Chapter One, which  addresses the question of suffering, Strobel's friend Marc Harrienger talks about his own pain when his wife ran over their child with the family car. This very brief account is testimony to the power of faith, even in the face of profound suffering. 

In another brief passage, Strobel tells of his friend Ron Bronski, who went from being a vicious criminal to being a Christian minister. 

These highly personal passages are what I will remember best from this book; they were the most rewarding to read. 

The formal interviews with the experts didn't do a lot for me, and some were alienating. Norman Geisler's treatment of the slaughter of the Amalakites alienated me with its coldness and divorce from human concerns. It may be true that in war, children are killed with their adults -- when the US bombed German and Japanese cities during WW II we killed children as well as adults -- but any attempt to address such killings would have to be delivered with more compassion than Geisler manages to convey. Too, there is doubt, if not complete disbelief, among archaeologists as to whether these wars of conquest ever took place (see Israel Finkelstein.) 

The chapter entitled ""Church History Is Littered with Oppression and Violence"" was especially weak, compared to other treatments of the same material. Strobel's treatment of the witch trials could have been improved with insights from Lyndal Roper's work. Strobel doesn't handle understandings of Nazism as a Christian phenomenon well at all.

The insistence that Nazism was a Christian phenomenon is revisionist and divorced from historical fact, and that should be made immediately clear as day in any discussion of the matter. Nazism was a Pagan and a Scientific phenomenon. The pagan swastika was to replace the Christian cross. Scientific approaches to what constitutes life worthy of life was to replace ""weak"" Christian ideas about humanity's unity as God's children and the value of all life. 

This is not made clear enough in Strobel's account. 

All in all, I have to say I've encountered better treatments of the question of faith in other books ... and yet, Strobel is such a good writer, and his technique is so engaging, that you could do worse than to read this book. Read the other two books in the series first, though.
",1
"So many books on the market about pregnancy focus on the medical aspect of what is growing in your wife's little belly, and not how that little thing is changing your wife and life forever! This book describes to a 'T' how this life changing event reeks havoc on everyone involved in the process, and it does it in a way that is bust-a-gut funny. Before I read this book, I was like ""what the heck is wrong with my wife?""  After reading this book, I was more like ""Ohhh, I know why she just ripped my head off... she hates the smell of carrots!""  Great book, fast and fun read, a must read for a new dad. I've bought it for every father to be, and they in turn have done the same.
",1
"Spend big bucks and hire The Boston Consulting Group to help you with your strategy . . . and what do you get?  Hardball answers that question indirectly through sharing classic strategies for achieving competitive and economic advantage employed by BCG clients.

As a result, I think this book will be most appealing to MBAs thinking about working for BCG and potential clients who want to get a sense of what the outcome might be like.

For those who are well read in business strategy, this book will be a disappointment.  It focuses on very little you haven't read or thought about many times before.  Skip this book if you are in this category.

The strategies discussed include overwhelming competitors with superior resources (Frito-Lay versus Eagle Snacks), adjusting to take advantage of what customers want more of (more variety and better delivery from Wausau Papers), threatening competitors' sources of profits (Japanese auto makers go after the Big 3's positions in minivans and SUVs in North America), copy and improve on better business models (Batesville Casket applies automotive manufacturing techniques), encourage your competitor to retreat (attack the bottom of the market first in low margin categories and move up), refocus your business model on one set of advantages (CarMax), acquire others to build your strengths while making competitors more vulnerable (Masonite International), and change the nature of competition (get to low-cost sourcing earlier than competitors, secure low-cost assets sooner and play the Wal-Mart card carefully).  

The overall metaphor for the book has its problems.  If you play to win, you are playing hardball.  Al Dunlap (author of Mean Business) was a hardball guy, but it didn't pay off at Sunbeam.

If I read past the words in the book, the concept they authors are advancing is one of being unrelenting in developing a strategy that creates a virtuous cycle of ever-expanding resources and advantages while creating a vicious cycle for competitors of ever-decreasing resources and advantages.  ""Keep 'Em Down"" would have been a more accurate title for the book.

You will find scant information in the book about newer types of strategies, new forms of technology and new business paradigms.  This book is about ""rock 'em, sock 'em"" competition among the industrial giants of the world.  

I worked as a consultant and later as a project manager at BCG in the early 1970s, and I was struck that the kinds of strategies and clients described here have changed almost not at all since then.  I do think Hardball better captures the classic BCG approach used in the early 1970s than any other book I have read published by the firm or its professional staff.  Bruce Henderson would be proud of you!

From my perspective, I graded the book down for slight inaccuracies in places such as underplaying the legal risks in these strategies (the authors seem to think scaring off competitors with ""signaling"" is pretty risk-free), misstating some of the cases (did GM really crush Ford's ability to get investment grade bonds by pushing for zero percent financing? -- it looks more like mutual suicide to me), and praising more than was due in some cases (the Japanese car companies were very late to come into North America with minivans and SUVs).  I also thought the metaphor got in the way of the message . . . rather than enhancing it.      
",1
"If you just want the latest research, go read the New England Journal of Medicine.  If you want the latest research PLUS experience, understanding, compassion, and answers to your most embarrassing questions, get this book!  

I heard the co-author, Francesca Coltrera, speak a few weeks ago. I was absolutely blown away by how lucid, informed, and compassionate this woman was. She didn't just present the book as a bible for people undergoing breast cancer treatment (though it is that). She talked about it as a a kind of lifeline--a source to go to for questions the doctors and nurses don't have the patience (or experience) to answer.

I hope you don't need a book like this.  But if you do, this is the one to get
",1
" Time to pack up my luggage (wouldn't it be nice to have a suitcase like Rincewind's?) and take off for Discworld while the rain and gloom of a January thaw engulf the northern hemisphere.  ""Guards!  Guards!"" is the eighth book in the Discworld series, in which Captain Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork's Night Watch gives up drinking and gets married (just the opposite of most folks).  I don't read the Discworld novels in order any more, just pick up a favorite and start in.

The blurbs on the back and cover pages compare Pratchett to Charles Dickens (Pratchett is better), Chaucer, ""J.R.R. Tolkien with a sharper, more satiric edge,"" and P.G. Wodehouse.  I think any author who garners comparisons with such wildly disparate writers must be in a category by himself.  Heck, Pratchett IS a category by himself.

So on to Ankh-Morpork where the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren decides, with a little prompting from its Supreme Grand Master, to conjure up a dragon.  The dragon will cause enough death and property damage (including a vegetable stand and a brother-in-law's shiny new carriage) so that when the Supreme Grand Master's nephew rides into the city with his sharp, shiny sword and slays the beast, the grateful citizens will proclaim him king.

This plot works rather well, except that the dragon decides that it wants to be king and cremates its would-be slayer.  Its requirements are simple and traditional:  one well-bred virgin per month, and all of the gold, silver, and jewels in Ankh-Morpork for its hoard. 

The new regime fires Sam Vimes from his job as captain of the Night Watch.  How he wonders, could things get worse?

Well, at least he's not a virgin and no one is talking to him in capital letters.
",1
"This is the greatest unfinished work in all of American literature, and also the best book on filmmaking ever written.  So much compassion and wisdom
",1
"The Emotionally Unavailable Man should be added to everyone's self-help library.  Ms. Henry clearly identifies and defines the problem, then prescribles manageable steps for healing.  Her energetic writing style involves the reader right from the start.  Even those who do not suffer from emotional detachment will find this book engaging.  Most may even identify loved ones who either exhibit this or who are involved with someone who exhibits this behavior.  Clearly this is a book for our times.
  
",1
"It was 8 years after I took the SATS but I still wish I had this book then just because the examples of the words are really practical and simply written
",1
"I have got to say that this is definitely the best cheesecake book ever. Initially, I was shopping around for one since my boyfriend's favorite dessert was cheesecake. I ran across this and decided to get it. Well, one of the best choices I could ever make, I think. This is an amazing book! 

Starting from the recipes which are so numerous and so varied that they have to be divided into beverage-based, chocolate, vanilla, candy, etc., even one for light cheesecakes! Honestly, deciding which one to try the first time around was the toughest challenge when starting out. Well, I followed the instructions clearly,  as well as the first section on tips to avoid it cracking and boy, did it ever come out wonderfully! I never looked back. I've baked from it endlessly for some years now, tasting practically all of the recipes included. It's gotten to the point where I may soemtimes tweak the recipe and/or ingredients a bit and it still comes out great! My family has enjoyed all sorts of different flavors and many of my family members and friends have converted and use nothing but this to bake cheesecakes also. My copy is so beat-up from use, it may be time to get a new one. Did I mention that this is also a beautiful book? Full of wonderful (yummy-looking) glossy pictures.

My only (tiny) complaint is that on occasion, some of the ingredients may be a little hard to get but nothing too major and definitely nothing's that stopped me yet. 

I do have other cheesecake books which people have given me over the years but due to simplicity, astounding variety and plain old wonderful results, this is the one I recommend the most. 
",1
"I didn't expect to ""like"" this book after reading the first 30 of 196 pages. The graphic detail used to describe a murder and the early decomposition of two dead bodies made me wonder where in the heck this story could go. And, more importantly, why would I want to read it! Where does the story go?

It's a wandering timetable. We know the two main characters, Joseph and Celice, both professors of zoology married for 30 years, are dead and the forward movement not only includes their ongoing decay, but also their eventual discovery by police dogs and the introduction of their grown daughter, Syl, as she copes with her knowledge of their death. It also goes back to when they first met, as students sharing a study house at the shore. They are an unlikely pair, and yet, they come together through mutual attraction and what turns out to be a shared tragic experience, and live--at least according to their estranged daughter--an unremarkable life. The timetable further allows the reader to relive the last day of their lives, hour by hour, from the murder back to the moment they awoke and decided to spend the day together at the very shore where they'd met some 30 years earlier. The layout of the story was brilliant, and not in the least bit confusing. 

The language (British English) is both lofty and gritty--probably not unlike Joseph and Celice. Some of the thoughtful insights about life and death are very, very poignant. For example, when Syl contemplates the loss of her parents:

""... Her gene supplies had closed shop. Their daughter was the next in line. She could not duck out of the queue. So she should not waste her time in this black universe. The world's small, breathing denizens, its quaking congregations and its stargazers, were fools to sacrifice the flaring briefness of their lives in hopes of paradise or fears of hell. No one transcends. There is no future and no past. There is no remedy for death--or birth--except to hug the spaces in between. Live loud. Live wide. Live tall.""

I thought it was a very elegant way of illustrating both the fact that life always goes marching on, and the importance of our obligation to the dead (and dying) that we live life well. The title and thesis of the book are one and the same: ""Being Dead."" Highly recommend.

From the author of ""A Line Between Friends,"" McKenna Publishing Group
",1
"A remarkable introduction to Ezra Pound.  Makin explains some of the underlying structures that order the Cantos--periplous, ideogram, fugue, the 'repeat in history'--and gives concise readings of individual sections  that helped my understanding enormously.  He does an especially good job of  connecting Pound's theory of money to his views on sex and creativity.   Makin manages to be critical of Pound while treating his ideas with verve  and sympathy;  the writing is colloquial, witty and jargon-free.  I enjoyed  the Cantos much more after reading this short, effective study
",1
"After talking to several pharmaceutical reps I know, I decided to shoot for a sales rep job myself. This book gives some very good insight into what it takes to land a job in the industry, what kind of people you'll be dealing with, what the hiring pricess is like (with particular emphasis on the interviews), and then what the job is like for people who manage to get hired. I'm very glad that I took the time to read this book because, after finishing it, I realize that being a pharmaceutical sales rep sounds like one of the most horrible careers imaginable. Obviously this is simply my own opinion, and I know there are plenty of people out there who enjoy this kind of work, but nearly every single thing about it, from the superficial way applicants are screened, to the shameless pandering that sales reps must do on the job, sounds simply awful to me. If you are considering a career as a drug rep, you should definitely do your homework to make sure it's really something you would enjoy. This book may very well convince you that you would love it. If so, that's great, and I hope you are successful. But if this kind of work is not right for you, this book can be equally helpful because you'll find out by reading it what the job is really like. 
 
There are a lot of books on this subject on the market right now, and although this one was helpful, I have to say that I think Insider's Guide to the World of Pharmaceutical Sales by Jane Williams is far more comprehensive and detailed than this one. If you only buy one book, definitely buy that one instead. But if you buy two books, Pharmaceutical Landing is a good second choice.

One more thing: There's some sweet irony about this book that I just have to report. The author goes to great lengths describing how he scrutinizes every single thing about job applicants, from their shoes to their body language. He also stresses well-written resumes and cover letters. One obvious piece of advice is that job applicants spell check everything before submitting it. Imagine my surprise, then, when on the very next page it says candidates should ""...right a short paragraph..."" about their job experiences. It seems to me that someone who is going to be as critical as this author is about job candidates ought to take the time to spell check his own book
",1
"Timothy Hart lost his B-25 over Germany in 1942 and is spending the rest of the war as a guest of the Third Reich in Stalag Luft 13.  In 1944 Tuskeegee airman Lincoln Scott arrives in camp and is promptly accused of cutting the throat of smuggler Vincent Bedford.  The prisoners demand a trial, their jailers agree, and ex-Harvard law student Hart is appointed to defend Scott, who appears inexplicably less than grateful.  

	In fact their German jailers are more helpful to the defense than either Scott or the American officers, or so it seems, as Scott's trial for murder progresses against a backdrop of class conflict, racial hatred and world war.  Atmospheric to the point of claustrophobia, a perfectly paced plot, and one of the few times I've been completely blindsided by a novel's climax.

PS--The film adaptation starring Bruce Willis is truly gagworthy, stay away from it
",1
"Another solid text from our friend Sensei Demura. This is part of his popular set on Okinawan Weaponry and well worth the cost. Portrayed in the book is weapon history, basic stances, grips, blocks and strikes. Demura also covers self defense applications against many various attacks. For all Karate and Kobudo students I would reccomend this book
",1
"A classic!  I loved Paddington as a child and I'm thrilled to have this in our CD collection.  (I'd even listen without the kids!).  Stephen Fry reads the stories very well
",1
"Not many writers can characterize children realistically. Somehow a stylized silhouette emerges and the child fades in the background and the plot or adult characters take over the storyline and the children characters end up being nothing more than fluff. This is definately not one of those novels. Carson mcCullers writes almost with artistic persicion on her two most elaborate characters, F. Jasmine and John Henry West. I really cannot think of another story, maybe, A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O'Conner, where the writer can get inside the mind of a child; evoking their unique thoughts and feelings with a sense of ease. John Henry West is one of the most well rounded and well written children I have ever read, and that is a great homage to her writing ability. 

*I first read this at ten, can see that age or older reading it. Will have a intense impact on a sensitive pre teen reader
",1
"This book is a really excellent source for anyone wanting to understand the reasons that Saudi Arabia is the way it is today. I was lucky to find my copy in a used bookstore. It does get a little tedious when discussing the business/oil aspects of the 1960's and 70's, but it's well worth it. It's a detailed history from start until publishing and that is definitely a relevant time.
",1
"Those who condemn this book for not being a long, boring list of name origins and meanings, or for stating that their name has gone out of style for today's children, are missing the point. ""Baby Names Now"" is a fun, readable guide to what people are naming their children in the early 2000s, including famous namesakes (saints, popes, presidents, royalty, music and movie stars) and what some celebrities have named their children. It's also fascinating to read how certain names have gone out of style: for example ""Lisa,"" ""Amy,"" ""Susan"" and ""Dawn"" were very popular for babies born in the 60s (and thus, my classmates), but are rarely used today. 

The book's major flaw is in not recognizing that parents name their children using the last names of people they admire, not just the first names. At one point, it reads ""Harrison Ford...is almost certainly the reason for the name Harrison's popularity"" - excuse me, ever hear of the Beatles? The entries for the name ""Jordan"" don't mention Michael Jordan, certainly a major inspiration for that name in this area. The entry for ""Jackson"" doesn't mention Michael, Janet, or Samuel L.  The entry for ""Landon"" doesn't mention Michael. The entries for ""Cassidy"" don't mention David and Shaun, so popular in the 70s when many of today's moms were growing up. The entry for ""Lucas"" - do I have to say it, fellow Star Wars kids grown up and naming their children? And come on, how can you mention the name ""Wayne"" without acknowledging the popularity of John Wayne?

Still, this is a lot of fun, and I give the authors credit for recognizing that ""Althea"" is from a Grateful Dead song. I look forward to the next edition
",1
"Finally a book to deal with all those nasty pathetic ignorant People. I bought this book as I wanted a way to get even with morons I deal with day in & day out. This book has been a Godesend to me.
All I can say is thankyou Robert M Bramson for wrting this book.
Everybody who deals with People should buy this book. Excellent for Office Workers Customer Services and whoever thinks they need it. BUY IT
",1
"If you like math, I guarantee you'll like this book! The author starts out with some very nice infinite sums from 17th and 18th century mathematics (Newton, Leibniz, the Bernoullis, and Euler's Gamma function). He continues into the 19th century with Riemann and Lebesque integrals, Weierstrass' pathological functions, Cantor's set theory, and winds up with Baire's category theorem.

Reading this book is like taking a guided tour through Real Analysis (= calculus of one real variable) with the math prof you always wished you had. Its only prerequisite is a working knowledge of calculus; the main points are explained very clearly, so the reader can skip through the book or fill in the details, and will learn a lot, either way. The book is very well written, and a great pleasure to read; I highly recommend it, for students, fans, and teachers
",1
"Some of Patterson's conclusions were a bit of a reach.
Some of his segways weren't all that smooth.
But this book is just plain entertaining. It is chopped full of stories on rockstars making deals with the Devil,lingering around after death, and backed up with just enough innuendo-ish research for it to almost be believable. Well, some of it actually believable. Patterson scribes on about various rockstar-occult alliances (in particular the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin) and uses quotes from the musicians themselves.

",1
"This is one of the best books I have ever read that captures the experience of visual impairment.  It is beautifully written and very evocative.  It will move those who are not visually impaired as well
",1
"This book captures the human spirit, at both its best and its worst.  Schwarz-Bart is a masterful author in his telling of the tale of Ernie Levy, from birth and on.  He also, shows us the readers the cruelty of nature that was the Nazi movement.  It is unfortunate that so many people had to suffer so much through history as did the Jewish people.  It is one might say not a fair trade for normal life to be a Just Man, although without them humanity would crumble, as future readers will find out their importance.  And if there really are Just Men in our world...we really owe them a great deal of thanks for taking the pains of the world on their shoulders
",1
"This was perhaps the best of Johannes Steinhoff's books, since it does not  deal with his own stellar yet tragic WW II and post war career. The  insights of the average person living in Germany are of great importance to  both social and military historians alike. Steinhoff offered this  collective testament as a warning to all of us regarding war and the rise  of a dictator. As Johannes said in an interview, ""It is always the  civilians who suffer the most, yet are remembered the least.&quot
",1
"Zig Ziglar has done it again. As an author myself of sales books,  I realize sales is about so much more than just having the 'gift of gab,' and fast talking. It's about asking the right questions and listening to the right answers. It's about not just being a consultant to others, but being a consultant to yourself. It's recognizing you are in the most honorable profession there is. Zig's theories exemplify this.
",1
"In all the talk about education issues these days, it's easy to forget that what's really important is the relationship, the energy, between students and teacher.  When the teacher closes his door and is face-to-face with thirty kids--THAT'S where it's at.  It's not test scores or textbooks or innovative curriculum--it's what happens between PEOPLE in a classroom.  This book shows that dynamic relationship between eager, active kids and a caring, active teacher.  It's not all pleasant, and successes are sometimes small, but a pervasive caring underlies it all.  As a teacher, this book reminded me that sometimes the best thing I can do for my kids is to leave all that paperwork, go for a walk, go to bed early so I can be there for them the next day
",1
"This book is loaded with the most recent medical findings and is organized as a referenced book, although I read it cover to cover. 
",1
"I've found the recipes here generally simple and easy to make ahead.  Mrs. Burros is very clear in her instructions (although I had some problems with a chocolate roll)and the taste combinations are very good.  As this book is an update of her original there are a number of amusing asides on changes in food ingredients and cooking styles between the two editions.  Not quite a ""must-have"" but useful
",1
"Stephen Hawking has crafted a masterpiece that requires only two qualities of the reader: patience and an open mind.  For those willing to take the (often substantial) time required to digest the material and accept (or even challenge) it, a awe inspiring world awaits.  This book is rightfully one of the best selling books of all time, and a must read for anyone who has any interest in the world around them
",1
"Received qickly and in great condition
",1
"Polanyi sets forth an incredibly relevant, radical, and all too plausible theory in this book.

Going beyond a mere analysis of how the market system functions, Polanyi endeavors to answer the question as to how the market came about. Polanyi's answer will not be pleasing to libertarians, he argues that a free land and labor market can only come about through government intervention, and must be sustained through further intervention. He also argues that the market ransforms the nature of social relations. Usually, economic relations were a result of social relations, under the market, it is the latter.

Polanyi attempts to show how a market for land and labor came about in Britain. His argument that government ""enclosures"" created it through dislodging the poor and turning their land into sources of economic production is convincing. However, other arguments Polanyi advances simply demonstrate a central government repealing the interventions of subaltern governments.

Polanyi's argument that there was no ""rent-seeking"" (he doesn't use that term) involved in the enactment of state intervion in the economy (""proving"" that this intervention was objectively necessary is suspect. One 19th century investigators conclusions don't serve to overturn the implications of public choice theory.

The greatest problem with this book is that Polanyi doesn't do too much to back up his arguments. He fortunately has a section called ""notes and sources"" where he lists his research material, but I'd wager that most of this is difficult to find 60 years later
",1
"The language, the words, the concepts, the illustrations, the points he brings out, everything in this book is beautiful. The metaphors he will use to get a certain point across, is brilliant, simple, creative, nimble; he dances around philosophical discussion with grace. He explains relativism, and absolutism, quite well, and puts you in the crossfire, to make up your mind; he shows you, but doesn't tell you; he offers you; he willingly gives you; The Truth.
	Buy this book
",1
"I came across this book while on vacation in a cabin in Minnesota. I read the entire thing in two days, and loved it so much I considered taking it with me!

This was back before the Internet, and it took me nine years to find a copy of it that I could buy. It was worth the wait.

These are some of the best short stories I've ever read. They are very well written, original, and gripping tales that are fun to read and reread. If only there were more writers like Mr. Ellin
",1
"With astute attention to the details of character, setting and daily life, Susan Kelly illuminates the ordinary. Pondering love, memory, faith,and responsiblity, Kelly transforms the everyday into the quintessential. This is a beautifully rendered story
",1
"Love Letters has a very simple concept: Two people reading letters they wrote to each other on separate parts of the stage. They never look at each other. But within these letters is so much humor, love, and truth that the  play will carry you away with delight.  I read this play as I was browsing  through a bookstore. I just wanted to read the first couple of pages since  I'd heard so much about it. After page three, I didn't want to put it down.  Now I'm  buying it for a friend.  Don't think this play is a sappy  collection of gushy girl talk or even romance-novel fodder. If you have  ever been in love, you WILL recognize parts of yourself in this. It always  stays true to its well-drawn characters, which is what makes the end so  heartbreakingly wonderful
",1
"Meg Blackburn Losey has written a most informative book. I purchased an additional 4 copies which were given as gifts to the parents of young children - a wise choice from the compliments I received afterward.  A must have to understand todays gifted children. There is a wealth of knowledge inside that truly will enlighten you to the children of these times
",1
"The opening of The Mauritius Command brings us some changes, especially for Captain Jack Aubrey, who finds himself in the improbable role (for him) of husband and father of twins. Unsuccessful and hapless in his domestic life, he immediately jumps at the chance to leave England and take over a new command. Off the coast of Africa, Jack is promoted to commodore, putting him in command not just of his own ship but of a small fleet. In the course of the book, Jack stretches his abilities to the fullest as the British vie with the French for possession of several small islands crucial to controlling the India trade. 

Of course, Dr. Stephen Maturin is on hand too. His facets as doctor, naturalist, and spy all come into play in the course of the novel. The previous novel, H.M.S. Surprise, involved incredible physical suffering, loss, and rejection for Stephen so it was nice to see him get a break in this installment. However, Stephen is still haunted by what has happened to him. A dark current runs through him that no doubt will resurface in future books. 

The overriding issue explored in this novel is leadership and what it means to be a good leader. Jack has to deal with two very different captains serving under him, one of whom is a silly and vain man who is kind and familiar with his men and thus beloved by them. The other is a brave commander who exercises brutal tyranny with those under his rule. The weaknesses of both men lead to very different disasters. 

In spite of the battles and some serious turns of event, The Mauritius Command involves more action and comedy and less angst than H.M.S. Surprise, making it a lighter read. 
",1
"

It's easy to realize once again what makes Garth Ennis one of the best writers in the field when reading this one. Throughout the story I was unable to predict what was going to happen on the next page. And despite Ennis making this into a rollercoaster ride he still keeps it all believable. 

Mind you, this story is not on par with the Preacher series, not much is, but it still is a story that rises far above the average comic book story. The characters are all interesting, often funny, and they'll hold your attention with ease. Not once was the story faltering. And in the case of you being a smoker-maybe at the end you'll be cured of that habit. As another reviewer pointed out this is one hell of an anti-smokers `add'.

So, if you feel like picking up a well told story with Constantine in the lead, you'll do best to pick up this one. If however, you are not yet acquainted with Ennis's Preacher than you better turn to that one. 
",1
"As China re-emerges as a dominant power in the 21st century, much will hinge on the beliefs of the people in that country when it comes to the actions it takes and tolerates around the world. Oddly, the fascism of the Communist regime remains largely in place in the era following Mao's disastrous reign, even as capitalism and other Western ideals spread like wildfire through this huge, heavily-populated, and (from a Western perspective)oftentimes strange land. Aikman does an excellent job of covering the basic bullet points of the history of Christianity in China, as well as introducing readers to the many Chinese Christians who have led or continue to lead the church in their country. On a recent trip to China, I was highly impressed by the deep generosity, humility, resourcefulness, strength, perseverance, and kindness exhibited by Chinese of all ages. This spirit hums just below the surface in the stories Aikman tells of the Christian Chinese and their faith. This spirit is also, I believe, one of the major reasons why the life and teachings of Jesus seem to so easily take root in the hearts of so many Chinese. Also, those who are concerned that a ""Christian China"" would somehow gut the land of its culture and heritage while propping up a Westernized facsimile in its place should rest easy. It seems that the faith is spreading through this nation in a very distinctly Chinese way
",1
"Digital photography is a fast-moving target, and this book manages to keep abreast of the latest changes with valuable information that's vital for anyone doing digital photography.  It explains all the key concepts clearly and completely, with lots of advice on getting the best photographs with any type of digital camera.  I would have liked additional coverage of digital SLRs, but I have found that elsewhere, and still prefer Complete Digital Photography's treatment of the broader topics
",1
"O'Hara is one of the most underrated of American writers. _Rage to Live_  builds a strong character in Grace Caldwell Tate-- her passions are handled  with delicacy and skill and her story is told with a rare combination of  affection and judgement. A good place to begin with O'Hara if you don't  know his work already
",1
"According to Charles Kimball, religion is the most powerful and pervasive force on earth.  Religion inspires humans to transcend their self-interests, while at the same time, more evil has been committed in the name of religion than any other human institution.  Using a comparative religious approach, Kimball uncovers five warning signs that increase the likelihood of a religion becoming unhealthy or evil.

Kimball argues the word `religion' is amorphous and difficult to define.  As a result, the author believes a comparative religious methodology is necessary, one that sees the similarities and interconnectedness of all religions.  Kimball, next, asks if religion is the cause of evil, and he answers both yes and no.  A religion that is arrogant, condescending, and requires adherents to ""disconnect their brain"" is problematic.  On the other hand, religion opens up humanity to a universe of purpose and beauty and teaches how to live meaningful and moral lives as individuals and in community.  Kimball seeks to discover the signs that increase the likelihood of religion becoming evil.  

The first warning sign that religion is displaying tendencies towards evil is the belief and adherence to absolute truth claims.  When conceptualizations of God are held with certainty and rigid doctrine, the propensity towards evil increases dramatically.   Sacred texts, sources of wisdom and guidance, become abused when selective readings of the text are used to reinforce these absolute truth claims.  Christianity and Islam have missionary mandates, but these become imperialistic when conversion is forced because of absolute truth claims.  Kimball argues for a ""human view of truth"", one that is dynamic and relational, allowing adherents to affirm truth without solidifying truth claims into absolute propositions.

Another pivotal point when religion becomes evil is blind obedience: when adherents abdicate personal responsibility to religious authorities.  When a charismatic leader demands total obedience, has unrestricted power, and has total control, religion is unhealthy.  Uncritical acceptance of doctrine is also unhealthy, as authentic religion encourages questions and reflection.  Strict segregation from the larger society, combined with a leader with unlimited power is dangerous.  Kimball asserts that religious inquiry and freedom of thought are necessary for responsible religious adherence.

Every religious tradition believes that something is awry on earth, while some believe that an ideal time will arrive in the future.  When adherents believe they can speak for God and wish to usher in this time, the likelihood for disaster increases.  Many Muslims embrace the hope for an all Islamic society, zealous Jewish settlers dream of a time when Israel will be returned to its divinely promised status, and the Christian Religious Right believe that America should be politically structured with Christian principles in mind.  Kimball opines those who narrowly define temporal structures of the state and those who believe they are God's agents to usher in a theocracy are dangerous.

Religion also becomes a force for evil when the ends justify any means: when one theological component gets elevated, thus becoming an end, and adherents become consumed with achieving or protecting this end.  All religions have notions of sacred space, but an unhealthy religion becomes obsessed with protecting this space.  Reinforcing or protecting group identity against an `other', or protecting group identity from within the group, are also potentially dangerous signs.  Institutional structures develop in all religious traditions, but corruption occurs when the protection of the institution becomes the end.  Kimball asserts that a healthy religion preserves the connection between means and ends.

The last warning sign occurs when religious leaders believe their struggle is a ""holy"" war.  Kimball outlines the history of pacifism to the just war theory and crusader ideals within Christianity, and he shows how each of these views were represented in the Gulf War of 1990-91.  Islam is a peaceful religion, which asks adherents to build a just and peaceful social order.  The word jihad means ""struggling in the way of God,"" but in a narrower sense jihad is understood as a struggle in a military sense - with rules similar to the Christian just war theory.  Because of socio-economic disparities, some Muslims openly advocate violent means to achieve revolutionary ends, and some leaders declare this revolution as a holy war in order to legitimize their cause.  Kimball believes both that Christian and Muslim adherents should not speak of war but of peace and that the call for holy war is not holy.

With the knowledge of when religion becomes evil, religions have a clear understanding of healthy praxis.  Faith, hope, and love should be the guiding spiritual compass for all religious adherents, so that in times of conflict unhealthy religious mechanisms can be averted.  Against secularism, Kimball finds validity in religious traditions because of the time-tested wisdom and ethical standards, and he believes that religions should embrace religious diversity.  With religious diversity Christians have three options, exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism, but Kimball believes each position has value if adherents from different faiths work together for the common good of humanity. Finally, the Middle East represents a microcosm for the world community: if peaceable solutions are not found in the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then the future for the world community and world religions are bleak
",1
"When I was a senior in high school I decided to take correspondence courses instead of attending a regular school. This was the text used for my creative writing class. I absolutely loved it and have been trying to snag a copy of it ever since. This book is GREAT at giving you ideas for how to make up your own work of fiction even if you never tried before. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in seeing where their imagination can take them
",1
"This is a charming little book.  It's very concise, profusely illustrated, and it covers the basic geometry of platonic and archimedean solids.  It delightfully summarizes the work of Plato/Theaetetus, Archimedes, Euclid, Kepler, and Euler in only 57 pages, half of which contain only illustrations.  As a model-builder who attaches no special religious significance to polyhedra, I was a little concerned when I looked at the other books in the series that this book might be about ""sacred geometry.""  Fortunately (at least from my point of view) it does not contain a word about it, except for a cursory reference to the elements Plato associated with each of the Platonic Solids.  A table at the end includes the dihedral and central angles and edge/radius ratios for all the platonic and archimedean solids--all the info a model builder needs!  This book won't impress anyone with a mathematics background, but for a layman like me, it's a perfect introduction.  Kudos to Sutton for putting this material in such an elegant and accessible format
",1
"I must say my first reaction was to be surprised at how much better Hawking is at explaining modern physics than my college instructors were.  Heisenberg's uncertainty principle was just an equation I learned.  Hawking made it seem like common sense.

Hawking tries a little too hard to be witty at times (and punctuates all of his jokes with exclamation points! just in case you missed them!), but all-in-all, this was a quite readable account of what's presently known about cosmology.  I use the term ""presently"" guardedly, as just recently there was some big finding about dark matter (it exists!), but from now on, when there are new findings in physics, I want Hawking to explain them to me, because I feel like then I might understand them.  That's why you should read this book. 

The reason you should not read this book is because you have no interest in wrestling with abstractions with which you will never interact in daily life, and would rather read about global warming or Darfur or something a bit more topical and practical.  This was still a hard read, and I feel like I grasped maybe 80% of it.  For you to decide, but for a former engineering student, this was something I wish I had read when I was taking physics
",1
"For the first quarter of the book, I thought Eugenia was (to be polite) a witch. She slowly became likeable. All of poor Cyrus's choices in clothing were so tacky. The story had a good blend of romance and mystery. After reading this book and all the talk of glass, I have a serious interest in collecting glass art
",1
"WOW, WOW, WOW. Get this book! This has (just about) everything you need to be professional. The only thing I didn't like is that most of the resources listed were geared to NYC residents, but there was good direction as to how to locate similar services in your area. I especially liked the opening that deals with how artists are helping to perpetuate their own ""starving artist"" myth, and the ways to stop that. It made me realize that I am the one standing in the way of my own success! Well, no more--thanks to Caroll--I am taking all of the steps listed. I wish my graduate school had this information available
",1
"Even someone who isn't a dedicated/hardcore fan of the Halo series can appreciate the beautiful art and all the work that went into designing this game. Worth every penny
",1
"Having read this book as well as Barnet Schacter's on New York during the Revolution, both works I find are flawed in different ways.  The likeable thing about Gallagher is that he manages to convey the story in less than half the time.  The hard thing to realize about the battle of Brooklyn is that it really wasn't much of a battle.  The author here makes some grandoise statements about a new age of citizen warfare being ushered in with the advent of this battle.  If that is so then the complete defeat of Washy's army bodes ill for that development!  

Gallagher is on better ground when he provides a nice overall of tactics and warfare in the 18th century.  He gives a good account of training and recruitment in both armies.  One of the more interesting things he mentions is that due to the two-rank line used by both sides in the Revolutionary War, casualties from musketry and artillery tended to be light.  This is an interesting point, and one not brought out by many historians of the period.  In europe stronger lines of 3 and sometimes 4 ranks were employed, which provided greater strength, but also more density.  Hence increased loss from fire.  A point well worth considering when looking at the battles of the Revolution.  Most historians miss this completely, or are not interested in it.  

Gallagher provides more of a military history in general on this subject, but he does waste a lot of time with preleminaries.  More than half of the book is spent providing the standard background for the causes of the Revolution, etc.  While certainly required for the general reader; when a book is as short as this one is it seems almost pointless.  When we get down to the battle itself Gallagher gives us not much more than Schacter does.  The British flank march completely compromises Washy's position, the outlying forces are swept away clear and simple.  The confusion of command between Putnam and Sullivan no doubt made a bad situation worse.  Washy's complete lack of strategic perspective shows up totally here.  The defense of Brooklyn, much less Manhatten itself was a foregoon conclusion.  Washy was mad to consider defending Brooklyn, much less manhatten in the first place.  He committed his ill-trained army to an impossible task.  That he did not lose completely was due more to how the British under Howe chose to wage their campaign. 

Most American authors try to put a bright light on what is essnetially a dark canvas.  At Brooklyn the Americans ran.  Period.  A few units stood their ground, in particular the Marylanders, but no one else really did.  The reason why American losses were not greater was because they did run.  Some authors try to say that British losses in killed and wounded were greater than Americans at this battle. This is true partly because the British had to attack some strong positions that held for a time until pireced by the assault.  British losses were often greater in this regard because Americans usually ran once the British bayonet began to strike home.  Still, of the 1,000+ casualities sustained by the Americans here, more than most US historians care to admit fell to British musketry and bayonets. The British loss was still well below 400.  As the great Maurice de Saxe said in his memoirs of warfare in this period, more of the enemy can usually be despatched when he runs as opposed to when he stands.  To reserve fire until the enemy line breaks was considered the most effective tactic of this period.  In that respect many dozens of rebels must have been shot down as they ran before British bayonets.  

Gallagher provides some understanding why the British did not storm the heights right away.  This has often been one of the major criticisms of Howe's victory.  Why didn't he follow up?  After marching all night to outflank the Americans, the British were disorganized, and tired.  They had also foght a running battle with a fleeing enemy.  Howe did not believe his army was in any condition to storm Brooklyn heights, memory of Bunker Hill or no.  Of course this does not explain why it was not done the following day.  If we look more closely at Howe's position we can perhaps explain his rationale.  His commission was both a general and peacemaker.  He wanted to convince the rebels to come back into the royal fold.  He could best do this by showing how futile their resistence to the crown was.  To have destroyed Washy's army in Brooklyn would have been gratuitous, excessive.  Such loss of blood would have defeated the purpose in mind.  In restrospect it is easy to find fault with this strategy, and it would prove to be the only chance the British really had to crush the Revolution in its infancy.  

The battle of Brooklyn needs to be looked at from several perspectives.  Gallagher gives us a good start, but I think a more comprehensive work still needs to address all the issues here. 
",1
"`The Savory Way' is an early (1990) book from leading vegetarian cookbook author, Deborah Madison so, as Ms. Madison has a new book on the way, I thought it was high time for me to catch up with her body of work so I can give an informed review of how her new volume fits into her other books.

Ms. Madison is a former colleague of Alice Waters and Lindsey Shere at Chez Panisse who specializes in a very general way, like Mollie Katzen and Madhur Jaffrey, on dishes that fit into a vegetarian lifestyle. Note that the term `vegetarian', especially as used by these three authors, is extremely misleading, as it is much more appropriate to say that they construct meals of everything under the sun except meat, fowl, fin fish and shell fish. Both Madison and Jaffrey make extensive use of milk, cheese, yoghurt, and eggs.

Madison's objective in this book is, in fact, to cover as broad as possible a survey of what can be done without using animal flesh. The book's title may be a bit misleading to some foodies in that `savory' is often one of the words used to divide dishes in two great groups of `savory' and `sweet'. This book in fact includes two rather long chapters on sweets.

A first look at this book shows lots of headnotes to the many recipes. The first thing you need to know if you are put off by `chatty' recipe books is that these notes are almost exclusively devoted to an understanding of the cooking involved with the recipe and how to get the best results from your ingredients. While little stories about the historical provenance of a recipe may interest many, including myself, that is not what this book is about. On top of this, I firmly agree with the blurbed opinion from Mollie Katzen who compliments both her cuisine AND her writing. Almost all professional culinary writers are pretty good, or have an excellent copy editor at work on their prose, but Ms. Madison is a food service professional who writes very well. I often wish the soon to be beknighted Jamie Oliver had a bit more talent with words, as I find his books so comforting in spite of the heavy contribution from his editors.

The very first attraction of the book is its Table of Contents, which lists every single recipe title in the front of the book. This is doubly useful in that this relatively long book divides recipes into chapters covering eleven different types of dishes suitable for just about any time of the day, including a good selection of recipes very good for breakfast. The eleven recipe chapters are:

Quick Bites with 40 pages of recipes for sandwiches, toasts, and spreads.
Salads to Start or Make a Meal with 42 pages
Soups and Stews with 50 pages of thick, thin, and pureed soups, including a new one with my favorite fall ingredient, chestnuts.
Eighteen Quick Pasta Dishes for Five and Company, 32 pages
Stovetop Vegetables, 27 pages of sautes and braises.
Baked and Roasted Vegetables, 25 pages with ratatouille, gratins, tians, and other goodies.
Grilled Vegetables and their Sauces, 11 pages with two to six sauces per grilled dish.
Down to Earth, 26 pages on Rice, Potatoes and Beans (although beans appear throughout all chapters!)
Morning Foods for Day and Night, 26 pages of Eggs and Cheese and Cereals and Breads.
Finishing Touches, 31 pages of sauces, salsas, condiments, dressings, pastes, and you name it.
Desserts, 45 pages on Fruit Dishes, Cream Cheeses, Pastries, and Custards
Sweetmeats, 12 pages on sweet pastes, peels, syrups, dried fruits, and other dessert dressings.

Every recipe I examined is relatively simple to prepare with fewer expensive or rare ingredients than you may find with Jaffrey or Jack Bishop, and great tips on understanding the recipes and the ingredients.

The appendix is just right for the occasional home cook who is lost in the forest of equipment you can find in a first rate kitchen supply store such as the second floor at Zabars. Ms. Madison puts it all in perspective by highlighting all my favorite tools such as gratin and tian pots, the mortar and pestle, a few good knives, the food mill and the pizza stone and peel. The chapter on the pantry has lots for the novice and a few good tips for the foodie, such as the fact that Mexican olive oils can be very spicy. Possibly the best items in the Appendix are the lists of dishes for special purposes such as entertaining, feeding large groups, and fitting into a low fat diet (note that for the number of recipes in this book, this low fat list is surprisingly short).

The list of sources is short with no Internet sites provided, but I recognize that virtually all of these vendors are still in business. The bibliography is also brief, but hits all the right titles, especially Joy Larkcom's excellent `The Salad Garden'.

This book is a great resource for `liberal' vegetarians who simply eschew meat. I would add this to Madhur Jaffrey's `World Vegetarian', Peter Berley's `The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen', and Jack Bishop's `The Complete Italian Vegetarian' to create a great core vegetarian library. I cannot at this time compare this to Ms. Madison's other books, as this is the first I have read, although I sense many of her more recent books have a narrower scope, focusing on vegetable dishes. I plan to review her other books in the next few days.

Highly recommended for both vegetarians and foodies in general.
",1
"These are true tales from a clinical neurologist's notebook, but this isn't just any neurologist.  Oliver Sacks, author of the justly celebrated, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1986) and Awakenings (1973), which was later made into a movie starring Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams, and other works, is a gifted writer with a fine sense of story and an even finer sense of humanity.  He has a style that is both affecting and fascinating, yet studiously objective, a style laced with footnotes and clinical observations, historical comparisons and wisdom.  Part of the power of these tales, and of all of Sacks's work, is his ability to be totally engaged and to identify with the subject while part of him is off to the side observing with scientific impartiality.  This makes for a compelling read.  If you've never read Sacks before, you are in for a very special treat.

These tales are paradoxical because ""Defects, disorders, diseases"" can bring out ""latent powers, developments, evolutions, forms of life, that might never be seen or even be imaginable, in their absence.""  It is this ""'creative' potential, that forms the central theme of this book"" (from Sacks's Preface, page xvi).

The first tale, ""The Case of the Colorblind Painter"" is about a successful artist who worked in color all his life only to became colorblind at age sixty-five, and the effect this had on his life and work.  The second, ""The Last Hippie"" is about an amnesiac man with a frontal lobe tumor that left him stranded in the sixties.  Sacks tells this sad, pathetic story with vivid detail, and characteristically ends it with a footnote, a footnote of such warmth and genuine identification that we are moved to tears.  (Don't skip the footnotes!)

The third tale, ""A Surgeon's Life,"" is an amazing account of a Canadian surgeon with Tourette's syndrome.  It is here that we begin to see the central theme of this book in brilliant illumination.  Dr. Carl Bennett, riddled with the bizarre tics characteristic of the disorder, compulsions that cause him to throw things, to touch things again and again in a ritualistic manner, to flail, jump and jerk about, nonetheless became a very successful (and beloved) doctor of surgery.  Sacks scrubs up with Dr. Bennett and goes into surgery with him, during which, miraculously, the tics disappear for however long it takes to complete the surgery.  Sacks visits him at home and meets his wife and two children, sees the dents in the refrigerator and on the walls, and comes away with a sense of how astounding the human potential to overcome adversity can be.

The fourth tale, ""To See and Not See,"" is about partially restored sight and how it was not a blessing.  This sad story illustrates how sight is learned from infancy and is largely a constructive and interpretive function of the brain.  This tale also lets us see how the world of the sightless can be rich and fulfilling beyond our imagination.
	
In the fifth tale, ""The Landscape of His Dreams, we meet a gifted artist, Franco Magnani, who from memory alone recreates his home town of Pontito, Italy through his paintings.  He has a nearly photographic, three-dimensional memory, but because of a strange illness that befell him when he was thirty-one, he cares only to re-create his Pontito, not the people or events, but the houses, the masonry, the stones, and he does so continually with microscopic and affecting detail.

The chapter ""Prodigies,"" focuses on an autistic artist, Stephen Wiltshire, whom Sacks is determined to befriend and understand.  In this tale, and the concluding tale, ""An Anthropologist on Mars,"" Sacks helps us to penetrate the world of the autistic and see it (at least in my interpretation) as an alternate view of reality, a view with its own strengths and weaknesses, a world that is just as true and valid as the ""normal"" one.  Of course severe autism is debilitating in the extreme, and even modest autism can permanently scar and alienate the autistic from society.  Yet, perhaps that is society's loss.  I even got the sense, in reading these concluding stories about autism, that perhaps theirs is an evolutionary ""strategy"" trying to emerge, that is, a different way of seeing and dealing with the world that also might work.  I would not be shocked to discover some day that the autistic, with their sometimes extraordinary gifts of memory and concentration, are melded more completely and seamlessly into our usual consciousness, and that humankind is the better for it.  Incidentally, the last tale about Temple Grandin, who is a professor of animal studies at Colorado State University, is remarkable because it is about an autistic who is completely integrated into the society, yet remains autistic.  She is the one who says she sometimes feels, because of her different perspective, like ""an anthropologist on Mars"" when she views ""normal"" people.  Sacks allows us to see why.

Bottom line: this is an extraordinary book of insight and scholarship about the human condition, written with grace and a deep sense of humanity, not to be missed
",1
"A few of my favorite painters are contemporaries of Still, so I saw it as my duty to see the Hirschhorn exhibition.  Well, I picked a dead day and had the show to myself and simply put I am now a fan.  The book is great and David Anfam's addition to the book is especially enlightening about the work of Still
",1
"Hacker's Challenge 2 is a sort of practical exam for the Hacking Exposed series. Hacker's Challenge was a terrific book for putting some incident response and forensic skills to use and practicing for the real thing. Hacker's Challenge 2 continues the tradition and should be a must read for anyone who works with network security and incident response. The style of the challenges is fairly entertaining and the plots are so engaging you may not want to put the book down. Its like a best-selling mystery novel for network security techies. It may not affect the quality of the book overall, but I preferred having the authors of the individual challenges identified as they were in Hacker's Challenge. However, you should definitely buy this book! 

(...
",1
"If you haven't read this book, I would make it TOP PRORITY! This book is fantastic! There hasnt been anything close to it yet. She is an outstanding writer and produces wonderful stories! Better grab a tissue, its a tear-jerker
",1
"I did enjoy this book as it was my first introduction to magnet therapy.  This is a topic that I intend to explore much further too.  It was very helpful and gave good information
",1
"Brilliant. Sam Harris portends the calamitous pathway that irrational, divisive thinking (religious & secular) will cause. He also spells out the necessary suggestions and goals for humans to evolve to the point where we're globally not at risk of suffering due to anachronistic prejudices
",1
"Tolstoy's honesty at his own selfish motives and his dissapointment with the true value of his accompleshments is wonderfully refreshing.   His writing is so personal and open that I don't think anyone can walk away from this unmoved.  I was dissapointed that he rejects the concept of a personal active God in the conclusion of his search
",1
"This text was assigned reading in a Psych101 back in 1970, but its themes have stayed with me so strongly I am now ordering it for my personal library.  I was born with a club foot, and experienced the power of being  different, even though my personal defect was so minor as to be rarely  noticed by others.  STIGMA gave me an appreciation of the force behind my  own shame and the reaction to my difference of others.  More importantly, I  learned about the degrees of identity-- which differences make the most  difference (sex, race, disabilities...) and the increasing intensity that  comes with breaking the most closely held norms.  A classic study
",1
"[...] 
  If you are curious about the Cambridge Patonists, Patrides carefully edited selection of texts gives you the cream of the crop! - Benjamin Whichcote, Ralph Cudworth, John Smith, Henry More et al. - material reprinted from the original texts, complete with all the archaic but fascinating English spellings. The texts are fully annotated with comparisons and 
references to a wide range of cognate works. 

 If you are reading the Cambridge Platonists as part of an academic exercise or are otherwise familiar with their milieu, well and good. You will know what to expect. I think it is worth saying something here - for the general reader. I am sufficiently 'unmodern' (or perhaps 'un-postmodernist') to
read the Cambridge Platonists because I think they still have something valuable to say! 

 Not everyone would agree with me - but, I think the portrait of Benjamin Whichcote which graces the cover of this book (and the frontispiece) says something about the sort of men we are dealing with. (The portrait still hangs in the gallery at Emmanuel College, Cambridge). There is composure in that expression. It seems to infuse the whole being of the man. It is the expression of a mind which has found calm waters,
seen eternal verities. 

  One of the papers in this book - Ralph Cudworth's, was preached as a Sermon Before the House of Commons (i.e. the British Parliament). Things are different with us today. We are no longer certain of eternal verities. It seems almost incomprehensible - now, to think that when the Cambridge Platonists were expounding their ideas in the 17th c., they were touching on matters of concern to most thinking people.
Religion and science had not yet parted company (despite being called a 'father of modern science' in school books, Issac Newton was a deeply religious man, very much in tune with the ideas of the Cambridge Platonists).   

 The great beauty of the Cambridge Platonists, is their calm confidence, their utter conviction that there are eternal verities, that Reason and Faith are complementary faculties. Thus, on the one hand, they looked back to the philosophers of antiquity (strictly speaking, they are Neo-Platonists, taking in everything between Plato, Plotinus, Ficino/Renaissance thought, even Hermeticism) - and the legacy of Christianity, while on the other hand - they were alive to the emerging 'scientific' spirit, the renewed quest to understand the principles ordering the phenomenal universe. For them, there was an Intelligent - and intelligible order in the universe. For them, Reason (capital R) still had its pre-Kantian, classical sweep. 'Reason' was not a mere idea in the head, an itching in the cranium, but presupposed the divine Nous (intellect), intimately connected with the activity of a divine energy (energeia)informing the pattern of the universe. We find them preaching against false religious 'enthusiasm' - as soundly as they preached against atheism. 

     ""Good men spiritualise their bodies; bad men do 
      incarnate their souls. "" 

     ""We are no more than Second causes; and our
      Suffiency is only in God, who is the First.
      A Second Cause is no Cause, divided from 
      the First. "" 

      - Benjamin Whichcote.   
     
",1
"We have used this book as a text for discrete math courses in our undergraduate Computing Engineering and Systems program (University of los Andes, Colombia). There are a lot of advantages using this approach instead of the classical one (e.g., people really learn to prove and learn to write correct proofs). 

However, to grasp these ideas you have to be patient and open minded. When other reviewers give 1 star to the book it is clear for me that perhaps they were expecting something magical that did not occur. This presentation of logic and its applications to informatics provides an excellent way to learn and really use the knowledge in the praxis. 

In Chapter 8 you go seamlessly from propositional to higher order logic. Sums and logical quantifications are, for example, treated in an uniform way. Maybe the type concept is not so fine explained, but one has to remember that this is an introductory book.

5 stars, of course
",1
"Here's a good litmus test to show how good a book like ""Breathing Lessons"" is--nothing extraordinary happens and yet I did not want to put the book down.  There are no conspiracies to rule the world or cover up some dark secret.  There are no car chases, explosions, sex scenes (barely even any kissing), or exotic locations.  No one changes or has an epiphany.  Almost NOTHING happens--Maggie and Ira go to a funeral and when they come back they try to reunite their son and former daughter-in-law but nothing changes at all.  To the average reader this book probably would seem really dull.  Heck, if someone told me the plot of this book I'd think it was really dull too, but I didn't want to put it down.

The reason is that Maggie and Ira are so well-drawn and so familiar to me that they seem like people I know or COULD know.  I think I could go to the supermarket and run into Maggie and Ira, that's how real they seemed to me.  I suppose ther reason is that Tyler allows me as the reader to know just about everything regarding these two characters and their two personalities just come through so transparently in the story that they don't seem like CHARACTERS acting their parts; they seem like real people.

Because of this, even though very little happens to Maggie or Ira and even though neither of them changes by the end of the book, I cared so much about them that I wanted to keep reading right through the end so I breezed through the novel in a few days.  In all honesty, what I really appreciate about this book is that it seemingly disproves almost everything I've ever read about how to write a book.  This is purely a character-driven novel with very little ""plot"" except for the death of Maggie's friend's husband that gets the ball rolling.  Everything else seems to happen so naturally as an extension of Maggie's personality more than any artificially-generated plot twists.

It's hard for me to find any real faults with this book, except for the lengthy flashback near the end that perhaps goes on too long.  Some people may call this boring or dull, but I would call it purely exceptional.  I LOVED this book and highly recommend it
",1
"Very informative but not overwhelming. Easy to read - follow and understand - color photos and solid build.
",1
"I bought this book after a recent trip with my family to Italy.  The food was so wonderful that I wanted to learn more about it.  Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.  It explains the basics as well as the regional specialties.  I learned so much!  I highly recommend it
",1
"I took a class on Sociology and Law in college and my professor kept on referring to this book.  I decided to see what he was talking about first hand and am glad I did!  This book is expertly written and thought  provoking.  This is kind of book that you take out and reference every once  in a while.  Yes, it does get boring in some parts but I think that if you  are in the legal profession or you just like history this is a book for  you!
",1
"I saw the movie in a theater when it first came out. I was a teenager and, although I believed it to be primarily a girl's movie, I did enjoy it. I've seen it several times since then, and it still has not lost its charm. When I finally did read the book, I was disappointed that the movie didn't follow it more closely. To me, these are two different stories. The Holly in the movie is likeable; the novella's Holly is a harpie who cares for no one or nothing else. (When my wife saw the movie, she remarked that Holly was, ""an idiot."") However, the book's storyline is more interesting...more haunting, and the book's ending is more intriguing. The movie ends as a love story. The book is much more. And, oh yes, whatever you may think of Capote as an individual, the guy was a damn good writer
",1
"When Tom returns W/ Huck & Jim from thier crazy escapeds in HUCKLEBERRY FINN, he's the center of fame. But when it wears off Tom begins to hanker for a new adventure. He found it, all right. Trapped in a runaway balloon w/ a mad sceintist who wants to commit a glorious suicide isn't MY idea of a leisurely summer vacation, but it gets pretty funny
",1
"Over 20 years after it was published, the story of the Israeli attempt to eradicate massive and repeated terrorist attacks emanating from the PLO (Bubba's/Jacques/UN's buddy Yasser) in Lebanon is no less important.  Interestingly, Lebanon is still struggling to rid itself of Syrian occupation.  They have gone from the vegan dictator Hafez Assad murdering opponents and journalists to the Syrian optometrist dictator murdering opponents and journalists (another killed last week 7/2005).

In this review, I will attempt to explain the story, the left-wing/doves reporter's views (and on so many levels his mistakes), and most importantly to Americans who love and support Israel, the correlation between Israel's actions and our ""War on Terror.""

First to the journalists, the main one being the left wing newspaper Haraatz Ze'ev Schiff.  As the brilliant reviewer givbatam3 points out nearby, Mr. Schiff is a member of the Israeli left/dove/Peace Now group.  This ""coalition"" consists of myopic people (with all due respect) that don't seem to understand good and evil.  Just as our great President Bush was criticized for denouncing the ""Axis of Evil"" (he forgot to mention Syria and the House of Saud), these doves conveniently choose to ignore the problems with cooperating with our/their enemies.  This is what lead to the fraudulent Oslo accords and the creation of the terrorist supporting Palestinian Authority.  It is this ""authority"" that unleashed a wave of terror on Israel immediately after Clinton helped the murderer Arafat receive a Nobel Peace Prize.  Fittingly, Arafat walked away from the Clinton/Barak  plan in 2000, which would have created a Palestinian state, which to this day (7.8.05) does not exist despite the charade of the Road Map.  The authors accuse Prime Minister Sharon of illegally leading Israel into the war in Lebanon.  Most of the books I've read about Israel seem to have been written by journalists out to discredit Sharon.  He seems to be the Donald Rumsfeld of Israel.  I don't live there so it is impossible for me to get a read on the situation, but he WAS democratically elected, so most of the voters must disagree with the left's assessment of Mr. Sharon (yes, I know his ""disengagement"" is an illegal abomination, more on that later.  Wear Orange to support the settlers.)

On page 39, Mr. Ze'ev describes Sharon as ""a cynical, headstrong executor who regarded the IDF as his personal tool for obtaining sweeping achievements-and not necessarily defensive ones-and a minister prepared to stake the national interest on his struggle for power.""  Those would prove to be the ""kindest"" words he would have for Mr. Sharon.  On page 58, he accuses Sharon of implementing a quasi-coup d'etat.

And on and on it goes.  The author also accuses Sharon of duping the American government, details forthcoming.

Later on, we learn of the ""courageous, freedom fighter"" (my emphasis) Arafat's decision to deploy all Palestinians including 12 year old boys to kill Israelis.  Of course, to this day the PA affiliated Fatah and other groups use children to murder Israeli civilians (the best non-child attack recently was the Palestinian woman who was granted permission to receive medical care in Israel who tried to kill innocent Israeli doctors/nurses using ""bomber pants.""  Great video of her discovering the bomb wouldn't activate, however US MSM {mainstream media} other than FOX refused to air it.)

On page 92, we learn of Arafat crony and current PA leader Abu Mazen's (the same Oslo and Road Map violating, terrorist supporting/enabling, holocaust denying, chain-smoking Mazen that GW brazenly brought to the White House) recommendation to target specific ethnic types of Jews for murder.

Throughout the story, if indeed the cabinet was mislead, we learn that this deception had negative military preparedness consequences.  Specifically, a failure to call up the reserves.

To his credit and unlike journalists Robert Fisk (Pity the Nation) and Thomas Friedman (NY Times, From Lebanon to Jerusalem), Mr. Schiff reminds us of the level of terror practiced by Ray-Ban Wayfarer wearing Arafat even inside his own PLO.  On page 147, we learn of Palestinians killing Palestinians that were given the chance to evacuate an area prior to IDF action.  In this episode, three children were gunned down in front of their father.

On page 149, the authors engage in a disgusting bit of analysis about the minds of IDF members.  In discussing a particularly brutal phase of the operation, the author's ask ""was it perhaps fueled by an even deeper sense of vengeance for all the harm and hatred that the Jews had suffered at the hands of others over the centuries?""  And further, ""How would the grandparents of these boys have reacted to the scene of mayhem...?""  Are you kidding me??  These members of the citizen army were probably quite sick of repeated murders of innocent Israeli citizens and committed to seeing their country living in peace.  Meanwhile, the UN, the left/doves, the media, and others seemed to downplay or turn a blind eye to Arafat's involvement in the many terrorist attacks conducted by the PLO prior to the Lebanon operation.  In my humble view, something had to be done.  Prime Minister Begin agreed with Sharon's initial plan on eliminating the terrorists in Beirut. 

Page 152 features more America bashing, culminating in an accusation that the US was an Israeli dupe.

The story of the military operation is detailed completely.  And no discussion of the Lebanon operation would be complete without mentioning the incidents in the refugee camps in Sabrit and Shatilla.  I'll leave it for the reader to decide on this operation, but in short, Israel relied on their ""allies"" in Lebanon to rid the camps of terrorists.  Most assuredly, after the Palestinians brought havoc to these people, they wanted revenge.  The result: some civilian deaths to go along with the ""clean up"" operation and a rebuke of several Israeli figures including Prime Minister Sharon.  
Folks, war is not pretty and the US faced similar choices in partnering with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.  Many to this day say that is why we allegedly ""lost"" Bin Laden in Tora Bora instead of adequately deploying our troops on the Pakistan border.  General Tommy Franks says this would not have been possible and I believe him more than the Kerry/Kedwards crowd.  Our ""ally"" Pakistan would not have tolerated a US presence, given that they were one of only three governments with relations with the Taliban.

As for the author's attempts to rid Israeli society of Prime Minister Sharon, it didn't work.  He forcefully fought the charges emanating from the investigation into the Lebanon operation.  After Yasser walked all over Clinton in Barak in 2000 and launched/restarted the intifada, Israel voted for ""Arik"" and his platform of not negotiating with Arafat.  Sadly, no tragically, he is haphazardly implementing his ""disengagement plan.""  Six weeks prior to its start, it appears the plan is not well thought out and polls show that Israelis are increasingly against it.  Moreover, turning land over to terrorist supporting Mazen will embolden those that seek Israel's destruction.  Israel expects terror gangs of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Mazen's own Fatah to immediately set up shop in the West Bank and begin terror operations.  

So looking back Mr. Schiff and Ya'ari, who was right?  Terror coddling doves such as Rabin (who at least acknowledged the danger in trusting Arafat) and Peres or Likud hawks such as Sharon (and Netanyahu)?  

Let the reader decide.  I know who I would trust with my security:  Likud members Sharon and Netanyahu.
",1
"This book is a very good resource for parents of underachievers, former underachievers, and anyone who wants to understand the success of their child. Having read other reviews by readers discounting this book and discounting human psychology itself, I was compelled to write my own review. No one blames parents, especially Dr. Rathvon they do the best they can with what they've got; mental resources specifically. This book is for anyone who knows that their child is capable of so much more. It is never too late to fix, polish, and fine tune a learning mind. Every student has the ability to achieve
",1
"While previous guides for the serial drama ""Lost"" have often left something to be desired, the book ""Finding Lost: The Unofficial Guide"" more than makes up for it. 

Nikki Stafford's attention to detail (and believe me, *all* ""Lost"" fans should have a great attention to detail) is thus far unparalleled in any other guide book. 

You name it, this guide book has it. In addition to the usual episode synopsis, Stafford provides readers with all the information they can handle, including keeping track of the appearances of the ""numbers"", discussing theories, pointing out bloopers and continuity errors, illuminating connections, and just generally proving that she has watched way more ""Lost"" than any of us. In addition to all that, Stafford gives the low-down on each of the ""Lost"" cast members, before they became Losties. 

Even if you have watched each episode of ""Lost"" 4 or 5 times, and think you have caught every little nuance and clue hidden within it, I guarentee you'll read this book and discover things you didn't catch, or never thought of. One of my favorite features in this book is the essay that details and explains everything on the ""invisible"" map that Locke briefly gets a glimpse of in season 2 during the episode ""Lock Down"" when the blast door comes down on top of his legs, and a black light switches on, illuminating the secret map. 

Bottom line, this book is a must have for serious ""Lost"" fans. It would also be a great aid to anybody who is just now beginning to get into ""Lost"".
",1
"A great read for anyone interested in cards. I managed to pretend to my friends that I knew nothing about cards before cleaning them out after reading this book..
",1
"QBQ! by John Miller is simply amazing. This little book is a grand slam all the way! QBQ strips away all the excuses and reminds us again where it is the buck is supposed to stop. If you're looking for an instruction manaual for leaders, here it is. People don't need tricks, methods, myths or secrets...what they really need is a tool that helps them step up to the plate and be accountable for their own results. One of the biggest weaknesses of the American workforce is the ability to accept responsibility and accountability for our own actions.   Bravo for QBQ
",1
"I read this book on vacation. Many years ago I read ""In The Shoes of the Fisherman"" and ""The Clowns of God."" I enjoyed both of these books but not enought to search out and read the third book in the trilogy.  What a mistake! This book contains the politics of power, the behind the scenes strugles and the fears and doubts as well as the faith and triumphs of the servants of the Vatican, as well as the Italian and international scene.  The relationships both formed, forming and parting kept me glued to the book.  The pace was fast and enthralling.  Do not miss this book. The end was somewhat predictable, but never-the-less still shocking
",1
"I'm a big Koontz fan and as is generally the case, I greatly enjoyed this story.  It was a little strange but that's to be expected from this author and genre.  That said, it starts off fairly quickly and flows well through most of the book.  It had the curious sense of near-division in that the book almost seemed to be separated into two distinct sections that were not, in my opionion, as well-connected as in many of Koontz's other books.  In addition, the ending seemed a little hasty.  Thus I gave it four rather than five stars.  That said, I would gladly recommend it to a friend as I would most any of this author's work
",1
"A well-crafted comprehensive look at the role of Islam in Turkey. The book offers some original and compelling explanations regarding the social transformation that Turkey has experienced since the 1980s. Specifically, the author mentions the role of opportunity spaces in the evolution of Islamic movements and ideas as a result of economic and political liberalization.I think anyone who is interested in Turkey, Islamic movements, and the relationship between Islam and modernity would get a great deal out of this book
",1
"Know when you can start consulting as a sustainable business. Receive a reasonable fee for your services. Be prepared for the pitfalls of operating your own business.  Hear about success stories and business strategies from  practicing computer consultants.  Learn about starting your consulting  business, marketing, contracts, client relationships, and income producing  consulting activities. This book is practical and realistic.  The author  has a negative opinion of Big 5 accounting firms
",1
"I enjoyed this book immensely.  

Remember, the subtitle is ""MY friendship with JFK, Jr."", the book is about the author and HIS friendship with John.  It's not meant to be a historical view of JFK and his presidency.

Why is it OK for Carole Radiwill to write a book about her relationship with JFK, Jr. and Carolyn but not OK for Billy Noonan? Because he wasn't on Oprah.

Lighten up. 
",1
"I am a huge John Grisham fan.  I believe the first Grisham book I ever read was ""The Pelican Brief"".  After that, I was hooked.  I admit that through the years Mr. Grisham's work has become less ""Grishamisc"" and not as entertaining as earlier works.  But, you'll have that with any author that cranks out as many books as he does.  

I first started this book by listening to it on CD.  I soon decided that it would be more enjoyable to read it than listen to it.  I was right!  The book starts out with action and pulls you in.  The action barely lets up through the entire book.  This is a different kind of action.  More mental than physical.  There seems to always be something going on and Grisham knows how to leave you wanting more at the end of each chapter.

One thing that is very different about this book than most of his works, is that there isn't really a catch at the end or a mystery to solve.  Generally, we find Grisham leading us to a thriller ending.  However, in this book, it is more of a life lesson about greed.  There is no bad guy, nobody lurking in the shadows trying to harm the main character, etc.  The book is about good old fashioned greed and how it can ruin your life.  

The characters are likeable and easy to follow.  There are not too many needless chapters or boring detail that is irrelevant to the story.  I found the book very easy to read and follow.  I always wanted more.  

Although the book has a different theme than most Grisham books, I still really enjoyed it.  It reminded me why I like to read his books so much.  It proves he write good fiction without a thriller or mystery ending.  

If you like this one, try the eariler works as well.  If you have seen the movies, it doesn't matter because the books are always better and usually different in some way.  This book would make a good movie, but we'll see if anyone in Hollywood agrees with me on that point.  

Happy reading
",1
"I've been doing game dev for a number of years now, and it's like a breath of fresh air to come upon a book like this. Clearly written, well organized, and a breeze to read through! My thanks goes out to each and every one of the authors who contributed to this invaluable tome.  I'd give this thing six stars if I could. You will not regret buying this book!!
",1
"The product was in excellent condition and the shipping was the fastest I have seen to be from regular postal service. It got here less than a week
",1
"On a recommendation from a friend, Heimgest, DCG-OR, (who rarely recommends any book), we found this book to be one of the absolute best on the subject of our Gods & Goddesses. A must read, it ranks well with both Rydberg's and Grimm's Teutonic Mythology
",1
"'The Interface Between the Written and the Oral' is a comprehensive look at the development of writing in general and alphabets in particular, oral poetry in ancient Greece and Modern Africa, oral transmission of (written) Vedas, the impact of writing on recently oral cultures in West Africa, and the impact of writing on our own abilities of thought and organization. Perhaps the most disheartening, but nonetheless informative section, deals with the counterintuitive measures that social scientists have come up with to measure the impact of literacy. They seem to be lacking in common sense. Goody, however, is full of common sense, and this book is excellent reading
",1
"I think Halo 2 is more challenging, and its espesialy fun when you invite some buddys to play multyplayer even just 1 on 1 if you get it I would also wait for the multyplayer map pack wich will give you 9 new levels My final word is I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
",1
"This is one of the finest popular histories I have ever read.  Whether it is a book about 5th and 6th century British history using Arthur as a organizing principle, or a book about the ""real"" Arthur using 5th and 6th century history as a backdrop, this book is wholly convincing concerning the reality of Arthur and the historical context in which he lived.  The book may actually be too good.  The most convincing evidence it cites -- the so-called British Easter Annals -- appear  to have been called into question by subsequent scholarship; and the link between Arthur and Mount Badon is not quite as convicing as it seeme to be when Alcock wrote the book.  In short, this masterpiece needs updating.  But a masterpiece it is.  No one who reads this book with any care can fail to come away from it without a vastly improved understanding not only of the British dark ages, but of the nature of historical evidence, scholarship, and truth.  This is a great book
",1
"Suze Orman is excellent in providing advise on all aspects of your financial present and future. It is full on tons of advise covering all avenues of your financial life. Very helpful and resoruceful
",1
"When I started reading this book, I began to cry. I saw myself over and over again. And it is so comforting to know I am not the only person feeling this way, hurting this much. I am not quite finished yet, but so far I have learned so much I didn't know and also found suggestions for coping I hadn't encountered. Now if someone could only come up with a cure
",1
"This is an excellent status report on the current state of the art on Evolution.  Some essays speak specifically about Intelligent Design and some digress into behavior and social systems.  This book will really get you up to date from only leading scientists
",1
"If you saw the show and liked it enough that you want a book of lyrics and cast photographs, then this is a book you want.  If you haven't seen or didn't like the show, I can't imagine why you would want this
",1
"This book is the equivalent of the Proustian madeleine...to read it is to recover a past long lost. Making the case for the mordant paradigm shift of US morals, ethics and literary tastes, this is the marker past which one can see the sad decline of the quality of art and life in the modern world. I cannot improve on the highly intelligent and sensitive overview given here by reviewer Big Orange ""paxbear"" and so will not review the book in detail. That it is one of only three Saroyan volumes still in print makes the case for the obsolesence of the clear heart and clear mind in today's mindlessly kinetic world. You can read this book in the time it would take you to go see MI 111 in a cineplex. Carpe diem. Read this instead
",1
"Excellent book - telling a shocking but real story of genocide on an unbelievable scale.
",1
"The book gives you the tech you need, in terms you can understand.  Calder is very impressive in his ability to impart knowledge to the layman.  Don't however, assume this is just fluff overview, because it truly is the down and dirty of how it works and how to maintain it. 
",1
"This book introduces us to the colorful world of a bygone era, that of border radio.  Brilliant technicians constructed gargantuan transmitters along the border towns of Texas/Mexico and beamed their signal into all of North America - one angry resident complained that was ALL he could get on his radio.  These stations were distinguished by their call signs that began with an 'X'. This spawned an industry of singers, politicians, preachers and pitchman the type we now see on ""infomercials"".  Mail was the barometer of the day - the more mail you ""pulled"" in from listeners the more clout you carried with stations - ""keep those cards and letters coming!""  New Federal regulations put an end to this wild world but not until the airwaves crackled with everyone from Wolfman Jack to the Rev. Ike - ""get out of the ghetto and get into the get-mo!""  This is a marvelously written treasure trove that will be welcomed by anyone interested in radio, salesmanship, and American sub-cultures and the bizarre
",1
"What if you're a runaway secret agent, really, really, really tired of the war. Then some geek tells you he's found a genuine Martian artifact leading to a spaceship. What would you do?

Annoyingly, as you set out to recover the spaceship, there's just a little bit of sabotage. And there's the war, still. And then there's the spaceship. And you uncover something of why the Martians have abandoned space as you know it.

It's Takeshi. Taking the lead. Uncovering a big secret. Trying to find a way out of war, only to discover there's been little change since the Martians left. No change, really. There's still a war..
",1
"I read everything and anything King, he is my favorite author. This short story is interesting but predictible
",1
"This is a superb book for anyone who wants to learn more about futures and options, especially with specific examples to energry trading.  It is quite easy to read and very understandable for anyone untrained in finance  jargon
",1
"More wonderful and inspiring poems. Time to be still and thoughtful
",1
"Rewind to 1992. It's the dawn of the so-called Information & Knowledge Age. Back then, I wrote a book on the need to liberate and effectively channel the creativity of all employees in an organization. The rationale: To create higher performing organizations in a time of intense global competition. With pressing needs for superior innovation. And improved productivity. Amid ever-leaner budgets. (Sound familiar?)

Flash forward a dozen years to today and IDEAS ARE FREE (a title echoing Phil Crosby's classic QUALITY IS FREE). 

This new book makes clear today that my impassioned plea from a decade ago failed to eradicate idea-stifling organizational cultures. Way too many work places, it seems, still quell expressions of innovative thinking by both frontline employees and middle managers. 

So the case for turning on the innovation spigot needs to be made again with renewed vigor. In answering that call, Professors Robinson & Schroeder offer some worthwhile and occasionally surprising and compelling contributions to this topic that is as relevant now as ever.

IDEAS ARE FREE presents an articulate case that organizations -- and individual managers -- need to unleash the *still* largely untapped brainpower intentionally and quite unfortunately held-back by employees. 

Three elements make IDEAS ARE FREE especially worthy of your time and money.

1. The authors aim their advice at regular workaday managers. Sure, they rightfully point out how organizational systems are often ""dysfunctional."" And they make the case that many corporate practices actually *discourage* creative contributions by individuals even as they try to *incent* those very behaviors. But Robinson & Schroeder don't aim their prescriptions at policy-making top executives only. Many chapters conclude with what the authors term ""guerilla tactics"" -- clear directives for simple actions that even frontline supervisors can put to work ""without the boss's permission."" 

2. The book dramatically makes the case that paying for ideas -- as part of an organization's formal suggestion systems -- is fraught with potential negative side-effects. My own corporate experience as an executive championing a newly installed suggestion system bears out the startling reality that this well-intentioned process can turn into a self-destructive minefield. (And, let the record show, I largely missed this dimension in covering suggestion systems back in my '92 work.)

3. Many interesting, well-developed (albeit occasionally dated) anecdotes illustrate the book's sound principles. They help make IDEAS ARE FREE a grounded, engaging, and palatable read.

Back in '92, I suggested in my book MAVERICKS! that, ""Managers should be asking questions like: What is the value of a useful new idea? If one good idea leads to another, where could thousands and thousands lead us? What is the cost to the organization for not tapping the endlessly renewable resource of ideas in our employees' heads?"" 

Getting to the root of the problem, I asked: ""Isn't the job of a manager to *recognize and choose* from lots of great ideas generated by fellow work associates?"" And answered: ""Unfortunately, most managers -- even those who claim they invite suggestions from their people -- subscribe to the time-honored myth that a manager's job is to *have* the ideas.""

In 2004, Robinson & Schroeder again plow many of these very same themes (and cite data that also have been around for a long time). Still, this book explores afresh the opportunities that arise from drawing out the best thinking of every employee. And it presents realistic tactics that all managers can deploy to effectively deal with these still-critical issues.

Wherever you sit in the hierarchy, read IDEAS ARE FREE to seize powerful ideas about potential gains for your organization's progress and prosperity.

Don Blohowiak
Lead Well Institut
",1
"This book is a very detailed starting point for Renaisance fans. At its heart this is a socio-economic history. The clever inclusion of climate and geographic conditions presuasively explained why prosperous Capitalism grew in some regions while others remained stagnant. Chapter 5-""The Human Unit"" was the most informative. Most facets of history are here for the reader to absorb. This is the type of book we all wished we had in school
",1
"a very, very good book to get to know the everyday life of late imperial Chinese
",1
"It seems as if it is impossible for A.S Byatt to write a bad or even a mediocre story. After this novel, she is one of my new absolute favorites and I have vowed to read everything this amazing author has written. 
I began to read The Virgin in the Garden, and could not put it down. I was enraptured by the beautiful descriptions of the two contrasting ""Elizabethian ages"" and the characters. Frederica has to be one of the most despicable, and yet intriguing literary characters in years. My breath was also taken away by the story of Marcus Potter--a haunting, amazing character that will stay with you for days. 
The way Byatt writes, she transports you to 1950s England and the lives of the Potters. I felt as if I knew these characters like family, and could almost sit down to lunch with them by the end of the book. Her style, timing, and subtle metaphors of passion and life are irresistible and amazing. This is truly a writer who will stand the test of time to become an icon in the likes of the Brontes, Jane Austen, and Kate Chopin. 
I cannot wait to share this book with everyone I know. Highly, highly reccomended. Go to the bookstore or your local library, ignore the new glossy bestsellers that try and cheat you out of your money and instead pick up this gorgeous, powerful read that new authors cannot hold a candle to. 
",1
"I am finding this book quite helpful to getting to know myself better and to have greater control over my emotional responses, or mood. The authors guide you through several approaches of specific steps you should take to get to know some of your core beliefs, which they say may be causing depression. You are free to choose the approach that works best for you, but you do need to try them all to see what works. It is quite time consuming. One of the approaches requires you to record your activities and asses your mood every hour. The instructions are clear and concice and examples provided are helpful, however it does take a true commitment. I suppose it may be fair to say that true change most often does take real work
",1
"My boyfriend bought From the Earth to the Moon, and since he is an Astrophysics student I expected that he would have enjoyed finding about people's conceptions about going to the moon at that early time.  He however summed up the book by saying that it contained a lot of basic things didn't make much sense. Well, from a layman's perspective I found from the Earth to the Moon engaging.  It goes into the technical aspects of going to the moon and involves a reasonable amount of logic, Physics and Astronomy.  Even from my scientifically deprived perspective, a lot of things in the book didn't make much sense, such as the actual method of getting to the moon, but this doesn't really take away from the book - it adds greatly to its appeal.  The book contained some bizarre bits of humour and its whimsical nature never bordered into the ridiculous. I was kept wondering how much of this was actually going to work, and what these poor souls were going to come up with next.  Compared to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and even Journey to the Centre of the Earth however, From the Earth to the Moon is noticeably less imaginative. Verne uses everyday objects and ideas to make his ideas a reality, and much unlike his other works, doesn't stray far from the earthly. Some people may feel cheated by the predictable conclusion, but all in all From the Earth to the Moon is a good read.  If you drop at the sight of f(x) = y, then this book is not for you because it involves some logical thinking, Centripetal forces and the like which may be hard to assimilate.  If you really know your Physics theory then you may not appreciate the book either because of the theoretical meanderings that may have limited basis today. If you, like me are somewhere in the middle of these two extremes then From the Earth to the Moon is definitely worth your time. 

",1
"I was a student of Mr. Clawson's, and highly recommend any student of his to use this book as a study guide
",1
"I thought I was fairly familiar with the Sanibel Island area, but this book definitely gave me new insight. The author definitely ""knows her stuff"" and has written a very informative and interesting guide. Anyone visiting Sanibel (especially first-timers) should definitely get a copy before they go.
",1
"A great book for every Usability practitioner.  Not only did I find the content of this book very informative and very useful, but in particular I liked the structure of the book and found it extremely usable.  Each  chapter contains context information at the beginning of the chapter, an   out line of the chapter, summary notes on the side bar for quick review,  sample techniques and forms, war stories, estimation of resources required  to complete each step, etc This structure makes the book one of the most  usable books I have ever used, and therefore one of the most useful  companion in designing the user interface
",1
"yo money. This book really puts it all into perspective. I like fish and gritts. after reading this book I can break doors and stuff. I am one with the universe. Gard your gril
",1
"I expected a fabbo edge-of-the-seat read.  What I DIDN'T expect was that this pomo thriller would provide a passel of top-flight management secrets to its unsuspecting readers.  From the opening pages of the book, as Wylie Jones prepares to depart on a ""business trip"" of unspecified duration, to the penultimate chapter, when a revitalized Wylie and his attentive amanuensis wrap up a deal on the Left Coast, this beach-bag zinger is chock full with the sorts of advice, hints, tips, and warnings that help to build healthy management brains in twelve ways!  Think of it as a kind of business allegory.  Wylie's cross-country odyssey is what might happen if Robert Fulghum were to meet John Gardner trundling down the road on his reality bike, set fire to Robertson Davies' beard, and then move on over to the Highway Hacienda for corn dogs and a brew with none other than Warren Buffet, Everyone's Favorite Grassroots Investor.  I totally LOVED it.  It gets my absolute HIGHEST rating
",1
"I recently re-read ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA prior to attending The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's performance of the ambitious play under the summer stars here in Boulder. Drawn from Sir Thomas North's 1579 English version of Plutarch's Lives, William Shakespeare (1552-1616) produced this romantic tragedy late in his career, around 1607, and published it in the First Folio in 1623. It tells the story of a doomed romance between two charismatic lovers, Roman military leader, Marc Antony, and the captivating Queen of Egypt (and former mistress of Julius Caesar), Cleopatra. When his wife, Fulvia unexpectedly dies, Antony is summoned from Egypt to Rome to mend a political rift with Octavius by marrying his recently widowed sister, Octavia. Of course, this news enrages passionate Cleopatra. She vents her anger on the messenger, but is quick to realize that Octavia is no real rival to her when it comes to beauty. However, Antony soon follows his heart back to Cleopatra's arms, abandoning his new wife in Athens. This leads to war, when Octavius declares war on Egypt. After Octavius eventually defeats Antony at Alexandria, Cleopatra sends a false report of her suicide, which prompts Antony to wound himself mortally. Antony dies in his lover's arms, and rather than submit to Roman rule under the new Caesar (Octavius), the heart-broken Cleopatra asks to have a poisonous snake delivered to her in a basket of figs. In the end, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA is as much about new sparks re-igniting the flames of love as new political forces supplanting old political regimes. It is a play that reminds me that it is perhaps better to re-read and understand Shakespeare than to devour one bestseller after the next.
   
G. Merritt 
",1
"Be aware that the reviews for a book are displayed not only for one edition, but for all editions under the same title.  The Oxford Philosophical Texts edition of Hume's ""Treatise"" should be the standard student edition. The Prometheus Books edition is cheap, but it does not include a modern introduction or any study notes. I recommend the Oxford Philosophical Texts version if you want or need more than just the raw text
",1
"While this book, like its predecessor, is beautifully illustrated and a joy to read, it is the presentation of quiltmaking as a shared experience among family and friends that make both these books so special.  I loved the first so much, I had to have this one the moment it appeared and it has only served to add to my list of pending projects
",1
"The cover of this book compares it to The Kite Runner, so it caught my attention.  I honestly could not stop reading as ""Yasmina Khadra"" does an amazing job of making believable and likeable characters.  He weaves a tale of how terrible situations eat away at people's humanity.

My only nit is the ending was a bit predictable.  That said, it was still a very good ending that rings true.  SPOILER:  If you wonder why she didn't come back, consider that she would not forget the face of the man that bumped into her on the street, which led to them being stopped, which ultimately resulted in her husband's death.

I honestly can't wait to read more by ""Yasmina Khadra""
",1
"""The Climb"" was written by Bourkeev and DeWalt as an answer to Krakaur's ""Into Thin Air"". While not showcasing the same prose as Krakaur's book, I feel that this is utlamitely better. My reasoning for this opinion is that ""The Climb"" seems like a much more fair and unbiased account. Bourkeev does not resort to playing the blame game; he simply tells the story as he experienced it. Krakaur, it seemed to me at least, relied to heavily on assumptions, and we all now what happens when you assume (hint: you make an _____ out of you and me) and came off as very arrogant and (for some reason) took a feverious dislike to Bourkeev and Lopsang. Thought not as well written as ""Into Thin Air"", ""The Climb"" still managed to draw me in fully, although some parts of the book are a little confusing, mainly the interview with Bourkeev about his single handed rescue of three striken climbers who otherwise would have surely perieshed. This interview was conducted in English, the only problem with that is that Bourkeev's English is not very strong! It is passable and most of the time you can understand him but in other parts it is very hard to dechyper. DeWalt tries to help by adding ""translations"" about what Bourkeev is saying but I felt the interview should have been caried out in Bourkeev's native tongue of Russian and then translated into English. To not have done this is a great injustice to Bourkeev. If you want to read a fair and unbiased book about the May 1996 Everest tragidy that was written simply to tell the truth and not to play smeer tatics and make money (as Krakaur's clearly was), read this. I really recommend you read both books, though and also check out the IMAX movie ""Everest"".
",1
"this is the first piece of writing i have read from albert camus and i found it very interesting. the character meursault is a very indifferent character who seems to be very impartial when he hears of his mother's death and kind of continues to be static untill the the second half of the book. i do not want to give the book away as some of the others have, but i feel that no matter what one person does and no matter what ones perception is, it can never match the perception of others. one of my favorite lines in the story is when meursault is talking to the chaplain about seeking redemption through god because according th chaplain ""it is not the human justice that matters but divine justice"" and meursault's response was ""it was the human justice that put me here"". no matter what acts you commit, whether they be henous, incensitive or loving, one way or another you will be judged and upon that judgement will be your sentence. it was definitely an easy read that takes the readers on a ride into the thoughts of a man who accepts the one thing he can not change; his fate. ""with this, i dont even have a chance to survive, not even a slim one""
",1
"Kurzweil opens with a very heartfelt recounting of his return to Judaism and his personal path which led him to Rabbi Steinsaltz. From there the chapters fly by effortlessly, partitioned in small chapters of which each is it's own midrash, giving each of us something to reflect upon and discuss. This is for everyone who wants to know more about not only Steinsaltz, but the beauty and wisdom of the Jewish faith
",1
"This is an extraordinary biography for, while Blumenson's admiration for George Patton is evident, it brilliantly illustrates all the sides of Patton's personality - both positive and negative. The book truly goes  beyond the popular perception of the General -and far beyond the movie- in  exploring his character and motivations. Not an overly long book, but  thorough, detailed, and very enjoyable to read
",1
"Ms. Kulp has done a wonderful job, as usual, updating her classic book on raising a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.  This book is a must-read for anyone who loves someone with FASD
",1
"Hard to figure why Sean Stewart isn't one of the most beloved writers in America, given the virtuoso performance he's demonstrated here and the remarkably sympathetic character he's created in Will Kennedy.  A combination horror/fantasy work which is as reminiscent of A Confederacy of Dunces as it is Ghosts, by Hynd, this novel is filled with so much warmth and life that it's hard to remember that this actually is a story about a man who understands that the past, too, can be a ghost, and perhaps the worst kind.

Perfect Circle is everything every other supposed 5-star horror novel featured on Amazon is supposed to be: well-written, compelling, with rich, empathetic characters and a driving force and tension all its own.

It's a wonderful introduction to Mr. Stewart's work
",1
"This book is as close to perfect as you can get. I personally like magical realism and also wanted to learn more about the recent history of India.

Worth noting, the Mistry book, A Fine Balance, while good, is basically a full on rip off of this book. If you want the original, read Rushdie. Mistry should be ashamed. His is not even a different take, it is just another take of the same image and not as good
",1
"                                Walk Two Moons
                                Sharon Creech
                                 Joan Gray 
				 Mrs. Cooper

	 In this heart- touching, heart-warming story about Sal and her past comes together binding wonderful stories of her and her best friend, Phoebe. Her grandparents take her on a road trip. Along the way, she describes her happy, sad, and beautiful stories. Touching you heart one story at a time.
	I loved this book. It was not only a good, but also a great book because, it teaches life lessons, and it's sad in many ways, at the same time beautiful. This book teaches you that life is there, you have time. It also teaches not to judge `a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins'. And to not let sad things effect you, and so much more! I love this book so much.
	If you're fifth grade or older, no matter what it will touch your heart. I would suggest it any day. It will be a page-turner from beginning to end. You'll never put it down. So pick it up and start reading it!
				   
",1
"I expected this to be dry and mechanical like lots of other math texts - too-technical proofs, homework questions irrelevant to the material, insufficient explanations for why things are the way they are. This book really surprised me because it wasn't ""mathy"" at all. It doesn't just throw proofs at you expecting you to wade thru page upon page of math notation until you understand - it gives you the intuitive side of important concepts, which means you only need common sense, not an intensive mathematical background to get everything. The examples they picked simplify rather than confuse the concepts. Each easily and naturally leads to the next. If there's anything not thoroughly elaborated, they were sure to cover it in the homework questions, by gently prodding the reader along towards the answer step by step instead of smacking them in the face with impossible problems. Homework questions supplement the material perfectly and basically leave you with a full and well-rounded impression of what the concepts mean as well as when and why to use them, not just how to plug numbers into some formula.
If anything, I'd say this book errs on the side of caution in that in some sections it could pick up the pace a little. But then again, you could always just skip the easier parts
",1
"After devouring this book, I immediately passed it to a client who is developing a speaking business. Lenny's book is full of real-life examples and practical tips for communicating  clearly and powerfully. Whether you want to speak professionally or just communicate better in your day-to-day life, this is the book for you
",1
"     After purchasing many dog training manuals and finding them not quite up to snuff, I was very pleased to finally find a book which was comprehensive and authoritative. It breaks each area of the sport down and is easy to follow.  The book is intelligently written
",1
"This is the text I love the best and it is easy to read and with the words of Jesus in red.  My only criticism in that the corners of the cover tend to bend - they are made of cardboard which is not as durable as leather, for which I would have paid more.  However, it is very good value, and the delivery was as swift as ever
",1
"Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (2/06) 
 
It's an ordinary Sunday afternoon for Odelia Grey.  An afternoon spent with her dysfunctional family means a stop at the grocery store on the way home to buy her favorite comfort food, Stouffer's Macaroni and cheese, to get the taste of her family (and her rotten date on Saturday night) out of her mouth.  And then she gets the phone call.....her dear friend Sophie, a staunch supporter, mentor and banner carrier for BBW----big, beautiful women---has committed suicide.  As she struggles to cope with this heartbreaking news, she has more disturbing news piled on.  Not only did Sophie commit suicide, she did it in front of dozens of eyewitnesses on her adult website!!!  With the emergence of more hidden facets of Sophie's life, Odelia finds it difficult to reconcile this new Sophie to the Sophie she knew and loved.  
 
As Odelia digs deeper into Sophie's life, both past and present, she comes to the conclusion that Sophie would not, under any circumstances, kill herself.  With backup help from a memorable cast of characters, Odelia sets out to clear her friend's name and in the process gains a new acceptance of herself as a fat woman in a thin society.
 
This book was enjoyable on so many levels.  First and foremost, it is very well written.  Second, it confronts the prejudice that is openly shown to fat people in today's society and gives a gentle nudge toward developing tolerance.  And finally, it leaves you impatiently awaiting the next installment in the life of Odelia Patience Grey......the best new heroine to spring from the pages of a book in years.

",1
"First published in 1936, this is the 12th Poirot book, the 3rd Superintendent Battle book, and the 2nd Colonel Race book, and has no narrator. It's the first case in which Superintendent Battle, Mrs. Oliver, or Col. Race appear together with Poirot or each other, and the only case in which *all* do so at once.

The story opens at an exhibition of snuffboxes, where Poirot encounters Mr. Shaitana, a collector with a catty manner and a knack for gossip. Shaitana deliberately cultivates a Mephistopholean pose, which at first makes him seem like the potential quarry in the case - but it becomes clear that he's a victim waiting to happen.

For Shaitana, like a few other collectors in Christie's universe, has succumbed to a foolish temptation, and begun collecting *people* - and not just people of talent or genius, but murderers. And being a connoisseur, he collects only the best: those who have gotten away with it. He amuses himself on this occasion by boasting to Poirot of his hobby, without naming names, and inviting him to a little supper party to meet his collection of ""tigers"" (Poirot having just pointed out that he himself could admire a tiger, but would do so from outside the tiger's cage, having respect for the danger.)

Poirot accepts the supper invitation, however, to find that there are seven other guests, including the three other detectives as well as four guests who are presumably the murderers: explorer Major Despard, a strong silent type; Mrs. Lorrimer, a middle-aged widow who is *very* serious about bridge; timid young Anne Meredith; and Dr. Roberts, a loud and jovial general practitioner.

Shaitana drops hints referring to four possible methods of murder, but otherwise the subject does not come up, and the guests proceed to play bridge after supper - arising from the final game to find their host dead, stabbed sitting beside the fire in full view of the players!

This is, of course, Poirot's fantasy case, as he once remarked in THE ABC MURDERS - because there is no tangible evidence against any one person more than another. There are only the people themselves, and their memories of the evening, and the bridge scores reflecting how the evening progressed. Solving the case depends entirely on being able to understand the people involved. But how to get them to reveal their true selves to an interrogator - or to uncover the crimes that Shaitana believed they'd committed and gotten away with?

Rather than following Poirot's viewpoint in third person throughout, some chapters follow Battle, Race, or Mrs. Oliver as they conduct their own enquiries into the case. Each represents a different style: Battle is a professional police officer, Race an empire-builder-type secret agent, and Mrs. Oliver a writer of detective stories. Battle, of course, has a duty to investigate Shaitana's murder, and does so in an orthodox style, cultivating an image of plodding hard work that tempts one to underestimate him. Race deals with checking out Major Despard, the explorer who's most clearly his kind of person. Mrs. Oliver, for her part, works on worming information out of not only Anne Meredith, but her roommate Rhonda (whose attitude is that Anne could've lived like a duchess for the rest of her life on blackmail if she'd been paying attention).

And, of course, there's Poirot. He's really fascinating to watch in this one as he interacts with each suspect in turn, pursuing two major lines of questioning:
(1) Describe how the bridge games played out, and
(2) Describe the scene of the murder (the elaborate collector's room in Shaitana's house where the bridge games were played).

See if you can figure out where Poirot's questions lead before he reveals his reasoning to his colleagues, and what he learned from the responses he received
",1
"This collection of plays is extraordinary.  Shepard threads tales of cartoonlike characters bound by the direst of circumstances excellently
",1
"This was the first VI Warshawski book I ever read, and it did an excellent job of whetting my appetite for more.  I think Paretsky did an excellent job of drawing me into VI's world, which is rich with unique characters.  VI comes across as individualistic and principled, and I like how Paretsky resisted clich? temptation on several counts: the complex issue of chemical responsibility is not wrapped up in a tidy bundle by the end of the book, and there is no ""obligatory sex scene.""  Not that sex scenes don't have their places, but I just hate it when I'm reading along and I can almost hear the agent say, ""Okay, author, you need to steam this up a bit right here if you want to sell this book.""  In this story, VI is all business, which is a delightful change of pace
",1
"This book is very revealing to the reader of the special aspect of being a Christian, which is being a dispenser as well as a receiver of grace.  So much of the Christianity portrayed today is the exact opposite.  We see more often the Christian faith portrayed as a religious form, political arm, and unloving attitude.  This book is a real insight into the Christian faith  of how to be a true follower of Christ who cared so much about individuals, especially those who were not self righteous, but fallen and in need of grace to restore their lives. 
",1
"Well written and fully documented. I confess that I knew very little about the beginings of Islam or its constant bloodshed.
Anywhere Islam becomes entrenched, freedom is taken away and civilizations are destroyed. Hatred is not discouraged but encouraged. Islam's world view is this in a nutshell, do it our way or perish. This book will rob you of your sleep
",1
"This book is a personal re-examination of food--what we eat, and why we eat it. In this book, Prentice examines food customs and traditions, searching for their physiological and environmental rationale.  Her primary observation about food traditions is that they are strictly tied to the seasons, and thus the continual year-round availability of our foodstuffs has resulted in loss of much traditional knowledge about what is good for us and what isn't.  In recognition of the essential seasonality of foods, Prentice organizes this book into the thirteen moons that make up the year, from the famine moon, to the sap moon, from the egg moon to the corn moon, from the blood moon to the wolf moon.  

Each chapter describes the ecology that led to the association between a particular food item and a specific time of the year.  In the chapters, Prentice discusses the nutritional contributions of the featured food items, and how her relationship with that food has changed over the years.  For example, she explains how she used to avoid milk and other dairy products, but now relishes them as a gift of love from Mother Earth.  Each chapter also includes recipes of the season, ranging from exotic dishes of non-Western food cultures, like Cardamom and Jaggery pudding, to simple directions for lost arts, such as rendering pork, or making homemade yogurt and sauerkraut.  

Prentice was once a strict vegan, who for health reasons, eventually found herself drawn to a diet which includes animal products, but not the products of industrial agriculture. There is much that vegetarians and vegans would not like in Prentice's essays, since she explains how her 10 years of vegetarianism were not healthy for her.  Having had the same experience myself after being a vegetarian for 20 years, I can appreciate the wisdom in what she writes.  While vegetarian diets work well for some, they are not appropriate for everybody.  But at the same time, diets that include the consumption of industrially produced and processed animal products do nobody any good.  We need to be willing to recognize our relation and responsibilities to the animals that we consume.

I first heard of this book when I attended a Vermont Localvore potluck at which Prentice was the invited guest chef.  I was deeply offended then at her attitude, when she announced she was going to make a salad using a recipe from her book, but lamented the lack of local artichokes or olive oil.  `How could such a person be associated with local cooking,' I wondered, `if she doesn't even have the sense to find out what the best local ingredients are and celebrate them, instead of parading the products of another region in front of us?'  I figured that a seasonal local cookbook written by a national author would be a worthless concept.  Fortunately, that's not what this book attempts--instead the book is much more about rediscovering our connection to food than about specific local recipes.

Although she has become famous for leading the concept of eating foods only from one's local region, what she urges here is really an appreciation for the products of small farms.  Thus, instead of simply cheering on local food, Prentice argues in this book that our industrial agriculture system has torn us away from one of the most essential of human traits, our relationship to the food that nourishes us.  Instead of following diets of avoidance, Prentice advocates recognizing the meaning that each item of food brings to our lives, and using food to re-establish our connection to the land.  Indeed, the only foods that Prentice avoids are those heavily processed products of industrial agriculture: refined sugar, white flour, and pre-packaged extruded junk.  Although the book contains a few recipes, it is not a cookbook, but rather a wake-up call: ""Our poor diet is at least partly a physical manifestation of a spiritual decay,"" together with some suggestions of how we can begin the journey back to healthy eating
",1
"
I am a chemistry major and so I really like this book, however when I initially started o-chem, I did get a little intimidated by perusing through this textbook. So I suggest, to people who were in a similar position as me to also have a look at Hornback or McMurry. 

The text isnt an ""Advanced"" textbook perse (after a good grounding in the basics for three days, I found this book quite user friendly), its organization is completely different to most other o-chem textbooks and its presentation of ideas is purely mechanistic. Both of which are ideally good things for chemistry majors who require the quintessential knowledge of structure and its impact on function and reactivity.

An examples is that when introducing orbitals, and orbital interaction; Greeves et al quickly go to HOMO and LUMO based discussions and their impact on bonding and antibonding.
Wade and McMurry leave this, one of the most important principles in defining nuclephiles and electrophiles till later.

A second example would be the appropriate structural implications of nucleophiles and electrophiles with respect to vacant orbitals, lone pairs and charge. These are the things used to identify em.

As such, the book isnt fragmented. Each chapter has its specific niche topic and thereofore individuals get a complete understanding of various topics and their implications on the overall organic chemistry. Chapters are well referenced so if, say you are only interested in NMR then you can skip chapters and read only those pertaining to that subject and yet still get a good understanding. Most textbooks act like a stupid monologue, miss a passage and you'd completely miss organic chem.

The chapter on reaction mechanisms is excellant, it actually is better than most primers developed in explaining this concept (i.e. Jacobs). 

However, the organization and the concentration of information within chapters may be daunting to individuals who havent had enough experience in general chemistry. Principles of structure and reactivity are assumed knowledge. 

Organic chemistry in most universities are taken by biology and chemistry majors. FOr individuals who are only doing one unit of organic chemistry; I would suggest you look elsewhere. A substitute (a less difficult but equally comprehensive textbook for people lacking experience in chemistry) is Hornback's which is renowned for its lucid mechanistic explantion of organic chemistry.

",1
"First Book I've read from Sandra Brown and it was really great. It was a page turner from beginning to end. I found the book interesting and easy reading. A well written mystery suspense that keeps you guessing until the very end. Will not be the last Sandra Brown novel for me
",1
"Wonderful writing style, not hard to understand explains most catholic beliefs and is a bullseye buy
",1
"Thirty five years ago my high school (Thomas Jefferson, in Federal Way, Washington) held annual competitions in mathematics.  They did it in the form of a test that came bound in a small white booklet, just was a few pages long.  There weren't many questions, perhaps a dozen or two (usually in the form of story problems), but they required deep thought and concentration (at least for me).  I still remember the feeling of excitement and trepidation as I took the ""white book"" and opened it to the first problem.  Several hours later I'd consider myself accomplished if I'd managed to completely answer more than half the questions.  

Ian Stewart's book reminds me of those tests.  Here's a sampling of what's inside:

1)Mrs. Anne-Lida Worm decides she wants a new couch, and tells Mr. Worm to get it for her, while she goes shopping for a new tight for baby Wermintrude.  But Anne-Lina doesn't want just any couch.  She wants the biggest possible couch that can be carried down the hall in their house, and around the 90-degree hall at the end.  What shape does the couch have, and how big is it?  This is a truly riveting story.  Will Mr. Worm solve the couch problem in time?  

2)Alberto wants to conduct tests on grapes, evaluating the influence of different soils.  He wants to conduct experiments to see how different soils and exposure to the sun affects the quality of wine.  His land is on a hillside, though, which is narrow, so he can plant only three varieties of grape on each plot of land.  How can he arrange things so that he tests all seven varieties of grapes when they are arranged so that each plot contains exactly three different species, where any two plots have exactly one variety in common, and any two varieties lie in exactly one common plot?

Sixteen chapters make up this book.  Though their titles are whimsical, the mathematical problems aren't.  Some are still unsolved.  Even though these problems fit in what would probably be called recreational mathematics, they are fiendishly cleaver with solutions, and developed insight along the way, that are at once challenging and rewarding.  Here's a sample of some of other topics discussed in Stewart's book:

How might one transport a lion, llama, and head of lettuce in a boat, across a lake, without leaving any two species where one might eat the other in the absence of a caretaker?  How can you calculate the temperature and entropy of a curve?  How can one even talk sensibly about a curve having temperature and entropy in the first place?  Suppose that you need to tile a room, and the tiles come in odd shapes.  Is there anyway to know if the tiling problem has a solution?  Can mathematics tell us things about evolution, such as whether or not evolution comes gradually or in spurts (or both)?  

This is a fun, lighthearted book, but the mathematical problems and puzzles it discusses will really make you think.  I enjoy reading as I exercise on my elliptical machine.  I get double the sense of accomplishment when I can read and workout at the same time.  Ordinarily, I can estimate how long I've been on the machine by how many pages I've read - 20 pages in 40 minutes is about average.  But with Stewart's book I had to be careful.  Several times I found that I'd worked out for an hour and only managed to cover half-a-dozen pages or so.  

If you love mathematics, particularly mathematical puzzles, then this is a book you'll really enjoy.  It has many problems for the reader, with answers at the back of each chapter.  If you do the problems and understand everything in the book, in detail, it will occupy many hours of your time.  All in deep thought and utter enjoyment.   
",1
"Excellent book, if you are interest in ancient egypt, read this book, you'll learn a lot of interesting facts about the valley of the kings, the pharaohs, etc.
",1
"Carl Hiaasen spins a tale of adventure and humor that should motivate young readers to protect wildlife and natural resources. Hoot is set in the seaside town of Coconut Cove. The plot revolves around Mother Paula's Pancake House, a fictitious restaurant chain in Florida about to build its 100th store on a parcel of land inhabited by families of burrowing owls. The developers know about the endangered owls and removed legal evidence of the owls from public records. Unwary citizens applaud Mother Paula's in Coconut Cove. 

The lone crusader for the owls is a boy nicknamed Mullet Fingers who lives in the backwoods dodging truant officers. He pulls up construction stakes and invents other nocturnal forays to stop development. Mullet Fingers enlists the help of his step sister, Beatrice and new kid, Roy. Beatrice is a middle-school soccer queen who holds her own with the boys. Roy is a level-headed kid who moves to Coconut Cove from Montana, earning the dubious title of Cowgirl. 

When you throw in a zany cop, a redneck construction boss, a sly businessman, a high school teacher willing to support kids acting for righteous causes and a bully whose attempts to squash Roy you've got a pretty good read!
",1
"I truly enjoyed the beautiful photos in this book.  Lots of ideas and details in the photos.  It would be hard for you NOT to pick up some ideas for your own home---just from looking at the photos. Well done
",1
"In this book, Dulles offers a simplistic yet useful overview of the way the church has been viewed throughout its history.  He focuses primarily on the Catholic church.  From Dulles' analysis, there are five basic ways to understand the church.  He explores how these models have been used over time, as well as their particular strengths and weaknesses.  In the rest of the book, Dulles explores some of the issues surrounding ecclesiology.  He has also added a new model which is a synthesis of the other five.  My only complaint about the book is that it makes divisions too simple and straightforward.  Rarely is there a church that fits all of the descriptions of one model or does not somehow combine several models.  The book is helpful, however, to pastors who seek to understand the thought patterns of the members of their church.  It is also helpful to congregants who desire to understand more fully what it means to be the church.  All things considered, this book is an asset to pastors, students, and anyone involved in ministry
",1
"Lately there has been a lot of talk about how great Ronald Reagan was as a president. This book shows that this is not even close to being true. Under his presidency we went from the number one loaner to the number one debtor in the world. Him and his administration sold missles to Iran inexchange for hostages and then illegally took that money to support Contras in Latin America. Under his administrations hands off approach wall street ran wild with illegal and immoral practices. All this happened while his administration held down the poor and middle-class while giving the rich more money. It is debated whether Reagan knew some of these things were happening hence the title of the book. It is a very good read and easy to fly through the whole book. The only complaint about it is the lack of an indept description of the savings and loan scandle and the dredded star wars program. Recommended for anyone intrested in learning what happened behind the scenes of this presidency
",1
"Ever since starting on the SIMPLE ABUNDANCE journey with Sarah Ban Breathnach's first book, I have longed for an opportunity to learn one-on-one from the Queen of simplicity and authenticity. We may not be able to meet Sarah face-to-face, but now anyone can enjoy a workshop  atmosphere in the comfort of her own home. Women caught up in the  day-to-day deluge of deadlines, appointments, and commitments can now curl  up with a pillow and excavate their authentic self. I highly recommend this  book to anyone who wants to savor their life instead of living in a blur
",1
"Published in 1986, Dr. Deming ""Out of the Crisis"" seems to form the basis for the transformation needed in American management mentality. Two main subjects are discussed in the book. The first is the exposure of problems and pitfalls in top management operations, the second, relates suggestions and solutions that can solve and transform the way American management operates. 14 core points are suggested by Dr. Deming to address problems in management and are supported by many examples using different scientific methods. 
Throughout the book, Dr. Deming promotes the loss of slogans that are even today being practiced by a share of the American Industry, and advocates management that is based on principles such as quality and leadership. At times, the book is not a continuous process that is easy to follow, but overall, Dr. Deming's concepts are transferred to the reader. Dr. Deming's ""Out of the Crisis"" helped me learn new perspectives about how management and employees can help in building or transforming an industry to a successful one.    
",1
"I'll be honest, I don't like fiction books.  But I've got to tell you, A Mulligan for Bobby Jobe has changed my mind.  Mr. Cullen adds so much detail that the reader comes away with a sense of actually being in touch with the cast of limited characters and the events taking place.  The twists and unpredictable turns make the book a truly unforgettable experience.  You don't need to be a golfer or a fan of golf to enjoy this novel.  Can lightning strike twice?  Absolutely
",1
"After reading many so so books on training for triathlons this book spoke to me. Being a beta type personality I loved the macro, kicked back approach he took to training. It was just what I'd been looking for. Keeping it fun.  Thanks, Bra
",1
"I did a course on quantum theory in the 1970s with John Ward who was recommended for the Nobel Prize in 1965 (Feynman, Schwinger and Tomogana shared it).  Those close to the action will know of Ward's Identity.  John (died in 2002 from memory) used Feynman's lectures as his course notes.

I must confess a soft spot for Feynman. I would have loved to have been in his lectures (buy his audio tapes and you will get the feel for his delivery).  He was truly a great physics communicator and often understated his mathematical abilities (after all he had won the Putnam Prize at some stage so he was no mathematical slouch).

His development of QED is simple to understand and that says it all about his genius.  He took the view that if he couldn't give a simple explanation then he really didn't understand the topic.  The current crop of tool polishers should heed this.

Anyone who is really serious about physics (and maths) should read the original papers and this is a classic example.  I suggest that you fill in the gaps in the derivations.  If you can't do that then you haven't really understood it.

It is fascinating to compare Feynman's approach with Schwinger's more abstract approach.  I prefer Feynman's but Schwinger does a hugely impressive job in stripping QED down to its logical (almost truth functional) essentials.

Buy this book and see how a first class mind works.

Peter Haggstrom
BONDI BEACH  AUSTRALIA
 
",1
"Walzer's historical approach to examining just war theory is, I think, the most useful way to understand morality in war. That is so because empirical facts back up all the philosophical evaluations. Walzer describes experience and draws conslusions here; he is laying a philosophical foundation and implying, if not prescribing, moral norms from which the rules have been extracted. Be forewarned, he does not cut the reader any slack. This book requires some serious attention to the author's train of thought.  

Just war theory has two categories: the justice of going to war, and the justice of fighting once in a war. Walzer's discussion usefully and clearly separates the two and examines via historical events what we regard as right and wrong within each sphere. In doing this he has done the modern world a tremendous service. His logical breakdown speaks to thousands of years of tradition about what thinkers have considered right and wrong in war. One of the best outcomes of this landmark work is the complete debunking of the notion that ""all is fair in love and war."" That is the path of least moral resistance (or as Clausewitz would say, ""friction""), yet we all know that soldiers are honored for fighting well and loathed for behaving like armed thugs and murderers. What is amazing from the discusion is the realization that Walzer knows he has to attack that age-old notion, something our collective sense of justice has historically always rejected.  Yet it remains a prevailing idea for many.  Originally coined by the Romans it seems (Walzer quotes them, ""In war the laws are silent""), they themselves were self-consciously contrite over the fates they inflicted on the Greeks and Carthginians.  The book rates five stars for rigorously addressing this issue alone.

Some make the mistake of thinking Walzer is a pacifist--far from it.  On the otherside some critics find his argument about ""supreme emergency"" a moral failure and a cop-out.  The case of Nazi Germany is his paradigmatic case of supreme emergency, one where normal rules may be relaxed, if ever so little, because of the especially pernicious nature of state-sponsored genocide.  The same relaxation of restraints would likely apply to Islamic terror. In contrast Walzer does not see Imperial Japan, for instance, as having represented a supreme emergency, and so the atomic bombings and the fire bombings of cities could not be morally justified. Readers may want to compare his view to Paul Fussell's perspective in the essay ""Thank God for the Atom Bomb.""

Significantly for current events, readers interested in the distinction between pre-emptive and preventive war will find a well articulated argument here. The US attack on Iraq was and still is often justified as pre-emptive.  That impulse on the part of the neo-conservatives who devised or whipped up the casus belli reflects, I think, a need to cloak a morally questionable war in the robes of legitimacy. There is no way that attack can be justified under the historically accepted norms of ""pre-emption."" Michael Walzer's well-thought distinction between pre-emption and prevention makes sense even in the milieu of asymmetric warfare against terror and Islamic radicalism, and it clearly shows why the Iraq war was a moral mistake from the start, regardless of its practical success down the road, if we are fortunate enough to see that. The moral precedent of engaging in preventive war will continue to haunt America long into the future. The fact that Iraq was not even on the spectrum where the fine line between pre-emption and prevention exists is a telling aspect of the overall ongoing strategic fiasco.  Where one fails to recognize the moral high ground, one is doomed to moral failure. Walzer was vocal about the run-up to war in 2003, and those who read his book would do well to find his comments about the Iraq invasion; they are edifying in terms of understanding the overall argument and where we are going in this role as the world's police force
",1
"A mind-opening look into the vicious thought patterns depressed people suffer from, this book has been more helpful to me than years of therapy *and* a degree in psychology. (Although I'm not giving up the meds just yet). I'm amazed by how clearly Yapko explains the cognitive distortions we have. The case histories he describes are priceless.
 
 On the ""negative"" side, Yapko can be just a bit condescending at times; it's clear he thinks his way is the only way. And although he mentions other theories of depression, he favors the ""nurture"" theory of ineffective learned thought patterns, claiming that only a small percentage of depression is biochemical in nature. (Maybe next lifetime he'll be a woman and get to experience menopause. ;)
 
 Yapko also has an unfortunate habit of calling depressed people ""depressives,"" which is the kind of labeling we could do without. 
 
 The most serious criticism I have is that his ""Learn by Doing"" exercises are sometimes impractical, if not downright silly. For example, to learn about perceived control, Yapko writes, ""spend a few days asking [a partner] for permission to do everything, such as 'Can I go to the bathroom?'"". (Can you imagine how much your spouse would enjoy that after the third day?) Other exercises tell you to ""interview at least a dozen people"" or ""sometime when you feel playful, experiment with trying to motivate people to do impossible things"" like flying. What depressed person feels playful? Many of these exercises would be highly embarrassing, and certainly not within the realm of a depressed person's capabilities--especially those of us who are ""older"" and have physical disabilities. However, I do plan to complete the written exercises. 
 
 Having outlined these minor drawbacks, I have to say it's an excellent book--after all these years, I finally have hope about rising from the ashes of depression.
",1
"This is an essential read for anyone who wants a deeper understand of American foreign policy. A year after this book was published, there were over a hundred reviews. Regardless of whiether one disagrees or agrees with the author, finds the author right or wrong, interesting or boring, this book is one of the most influential books, if not the most influential book that affected American foreign policy. In fact, the current Bush Adminstration's policies, George Kenan's containment, Henry Kissinger's policies as well as countless adminstration's policies are shaped or affected by this book. My area of study is the foreign policy of Post World War Two American governments, and never have I understood it with greater clarity after I read this book. It is the thread which runs through the policies of all the administrations, differing on extent. (I studied the policies first and read the book the year after). It is a fascinating book and hard to put down. The author writes in a European style (beautiful long sentences,etc.), which in my opinion makes it more eloquent and in the opinion of my co-students makes it more difficut to read. He tries to give a balanced perspective from which one can think critically. Ms. Rice and Mr. Kissinger were heavily influenced by this book. To understand them, this is a must read. In and of itself, it is an excellent book, a classic, and thousands others significantly more qualified than I have reviewed it. Look even at other reviews on this website or at well known journals for a more accurate assement of the book itself by political scientists
",1
"Harvey E. Goldberg is one of the pioneering sociologists in the study of the Jewish communities of North Africa, especially  the Libyan-Jewish community. In this present work he brings to bear the experience and knowledge of a lifetime of study and practice as a Jew to provide an overall historical, anthropological view of the Jewish life- cycle. 
He opens with a chapter on 'Being Jewish' then  considers  Birth, Circumcision, Naming . He goes on to discuss 'Rituals of Education' and then has a central chapter on 'Marriage'.An  especially innovative section is  on 'Pilgrimage and Creating Identities'In this one he opens one of the central themes of the book, the way the increased importance of the Individual in Jewish life and thought has led to more varied religious practice.  His chapter on 'Death, Mourning and Remembering' also includes a consideration of communal remembrance. This is not as might be expected his closing chapter, as he adopts the traditional teaching which he is reminded of by  one of his many interviewees, and  ends with something 'good' His final chapter is on 'Bonds of Community and Individual Lives'. 
This book is extremely well written and a delight to read. I especially enjoyed the instances where he brings in personal anecdote to illustrate and deepen a set of observations. Goldberg has a true command of traditional Jewish religious sources, and these texts form one real basis of his life. But what is especially exciting is his reading the communal variations across time in response the religious and communal demands. 
As one long familiar with much Jewish tradition and ritual I was surprised again and again by new observations and insights. Anyone who loves Jewish learning will love this work tremendously. 
I cannot recommend it more highly
",1
"Billy Collins's original voice is delightfully accessible, often blending comedy and solemnity in one poem, and always with something new to say. The playful tone of these poems can be misleading; whether he is writing about eating a good plate of Osso Bucco or his favorite museum rooms, there is  always a pathos lingering in the silence after the last line. Most  relieving is the absence of pretentiousness or haughty language. This is  simply, as Robert Bly writes in his introduction to the best American poems  of 1999, Collins's skillful ability to ""bring the soul up close to the  thing"" in every poem. Books such as ""The Art of Drowning""  threaten to change the face and purpose of poetry in the 21st century.  Let's hope there is plenty more to come from Billy Collins
",1
"In this book you get 35 projects/designs marked with skill levels needed for each project. The projects are mostly made with wire, but pearls are also used, in most of the projects.

I would say that this is a book for you who has made jewelry before and are familiar to wirework. If so It is a wonderful book! This book offer lots and lots of inspirasjon and expertise
",1
"How many times have I wished Dr. Dolittle could come visit me and just talk to my 16-year-old curmudgeon and have Rambo pass along what's got him yelling all night.....

""Twisted Whiskers"" is the next best thing.  Pam Johnson discusses a wide variety of feline behavior problems in cats' terms so we can form better human-feline cohabitation.  

Her chapters on ""Old Age"" and ""Depression"" were indispensible in dealing with Rambo.  In addition, Johnson talks about natural remedies rather than having us end up with a generation of doped-up furbabies. Johnson lists the Bach's Flower remedies and their appropriate applications and doseages for felines.  

Excellent read!  Highly recommended for new and old-time cat companions.
",1
"This is a fabulous book with lots of great stories, information and strategies on being successful in corporate America.  This is a must read for ALL corporate professionals especially those seeking to craft their own strategy for growth in corporate America!!!!
",1
"I once read an article in Horn Book Magazine (a review source of titles and articles on children's literature) that lamented the millions of poor translations of Hans Christian Andersen polluting the minds of our young people today.  The review mentioned that stories like, ""The Snow Queen"", which were originally written in a snappy vernacular, have been dumbed down and drained of all energy by their American translators.  With this idea fresh in my mind I found myself in possession of a very particular copy of ""The Snow Queen"" and I was able to test this theory myself.  Now due to the wacky nature of Amazon.com, the website has lumped together the reviews of every single version of this Anderson story.  You will see that some of the reviews refer to Nilesh Mistry's, some refer to the audio book, some to Eileen Kernaghan's, and some (God help us all) to Mary Engelbreit.  None of these, however, are the version that I am reviewing.  After careful consideration, I selected the edition retold by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Susan Jeffers.  The Ehrlich/Jeffers team has banded together to bring us every fairy tale from Thumbelina to Cinderella.  With this 1982 classic edition, they bring all the creepy and crawly elements of Andersen's riveting tale to a kind of tame middlebrow life.
	
Most people don't remember that ""The Snow Queen"" begins when the devil creates a mirror that reflects everything good as bad.  By a quirk of fate the mirror is smashed one day (the details of this accident are left unclear) and the tiny pieces go spinning into the atmosphere.  If these splinters enter your eye, everything will look ugly to you.  If they enter your heart, it will turn instantly to ice.  Got it?  Good.  Cause sure enough, two small pieces enter the eye and the heart of a boy named Kai.  When this happens he stops playing with his best playmate Gerta and instead falls under the seductive spell of the mysterious and magnificently pale Snow Queen.  Gerta goes in search of her friend but is waylaid by a variety of different adventures.  She escapes an overly loving old witch, is taken in by a prince and princess, falls into the power of a thief girl and her kin, and at last saves Kai from the Snow Queen herself.  By the end of the book, neither kid is a child any longer and their home is just as they left it.
	
Obviously ""The Snow Queen"" is one big ole story about growing up.  The idea of the devil's mirror causing someone to despise anything they see and grow a suddenly cold heart... well that's just another way of describing adolescence, is it not?  Andersen obviously borrowed quite a lot from that classic old tale, ""East of the Sun, West of the Moon"", in which another girl goes off to save the man she loves from the machinations of a wicked woman.  Heck, ""Tam Lin"" was probably an influence as well.  The best version of this particular story I ever read was by Kara Dalkey.  It was a tale named, ""The Lady of the Ice Garden"" and can be found in ""Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction and Fantasy"".  It is not, however, appropriate for children.  Kids today will probably look at ""The Snow Queen"" and instantly think of the White Witch from ""The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"".  I cannot think, however, that this is a bad thing.  
	
As for the Jeffers/Ehrlich version, it's all right.  As an illustrator, Jeffers has apparently decided to make Kai and Gerta definitely children.  I guess that lowers the creepiness factor when the Snow Queen lures the boy to her sleigh and wraps him in her furs.  Jeffers really captures beautifully every diamond in the Snow Queen's dress and every strand of her white white hair.  There is the odd stylistic choice here and there, though.  When Gerta surprises the prince and princess in their bed, it is not your typical mattress affair but rather large his and her flower petals.  I can't think that they're comfortable (or even particularly practical).  The illustrations have been created, according to the book, ""using a fine-line pen with ink and dyes.  They were applied over a detailed pencil drawing that was then erased"".  As a result, the book is as soft as a colored pencil, but with a level of detail and intricacy normally associated with pen and ink.
	
Obviously I don't know enough about the original version of ""The Snow Queen"" (or, as Andersen called it, ""Sneedronningen"") to know whether or not this book is a worthy version to read to your tots.  At any rate, it tells the full story, warts and all, and will provide them with what may well be the most Freudian-toned fairy tale ever to grace their little brains.  A fun edition of a rather odd tale
",1
"Only knowing Jack Canfield from the very successful ""Chicken Soup for the Soul"" mega series, I had no idea his abilities as a motivational mentor and coach.  Although this book title seemed to be directed toward business success, the gems of this book can be used in every aspect of your life.  This lengthy book is full of words of wisdom and wit.  Lines that will move you to tears of discovery or move you to change directions.  A absolute must read book for understanding the real you
",1
"This book is NOT about ALL people. It is about gifted (in this case that means sensitive) children that are misused to feed their parents narcissism. Most children are not that sensitive and hence not suseptible to that specific abuse.

It is possible to be gifted and not be sensitive, but those traits do trend together. 

I agree that reading this book is an emotional experience for those former children, but that is a necessary part of the healing process.

This book pioneered the idea examine this from the child's perspective, and any subsequent critics need to consider this.

I heartily recommend this book for those that have been affected, and the others should give their copy to the library, grateful not to have needed it
",1
"This was an inspiring book for a horse lover and Christian.  Everything was as advertised
",1
"If you are familiar with the work of Strobel, this book will continue to impress you.  If you are not however, and would like to know where the author is coming from, I encourage you to read his previous works, ""The Case for Christ"" and ""The Case for Faith"" so that you might better understand Strobel.

Some people have condemned this book because Strobel doesn't present the evolutionary side well.  I have a few quick observations to make.  First of all, he's a journalist; he asks tough questions and, for the most part, gets good responses.  Second, everyone has an agenda, without exception.  Strobel, and those who he interviews, analyze and break down the views of prominent evolutionists and modern Darwinian scientific views.  Finally, it is clear from the outset that Strobel wants to make a compelling case for ID.  This is not an unreasonable goal.  The fact that he doesn't interview evolutionists shouldn't bother anyone, based on his obvious objectives.  If you want a book that allows evolutionists and designers to write you want to look into a point-counter point series book.  If you want to understand the current ID debate and would like to get a real good look at some of the cosmological evidence for a creator, this book is for you
",1
"The book is complete brand new and I got it very quickly after the order even with the free shipping service. In addition, the price is pretty good for the book with such a good condition.
",1
"The theory behind this important collection of essays is that ""the history of medieval power is to be sought in microcosms."" These essays demonstrate quite effectively that it can be found there as well.  Each  essay focuses on a facet of the shifting power relationships in twelfth and  thirteenth century Europe.  At issue in each are the questions of what or  who held the power to command or punish, and how that power was obtained,  kept and manifested.  This is a truly enlightening book. Of particular  interest are the essays on holding power over the truth, as well as those  dealing the formation of the nobility into a self-consciously chivalric  warrior class.  However, all the essays are intelligent and useful  explorations into the very nature and meaning of power.  Ultimately, this  book must be considered essential for any serious student of history,  casual or academic
",1
"There are so many design books, but the Graphis series always asure you the best work quality.
",1
"This is NOT a fad diet. This is a simple, straighforward and helpful guide on HOW TO EAT. Puhn's style is friendly and upfront. I read this book over two years ago, and my eating habits will never be as random and damaging as they used to be, because the principles described are EASY to implement. GREAT BOOK
",1
"this book is important for every one who has a back ""issue"".  given 5 as gifts to loved one's experiencing back pain
",1
"The book and accompanying DVD are being used in a class I am taking on Photoshop Elements 4.  Both of them make it much easier to understand what 4 is capable of and how to use the program, especially the tools.  Without instruction, complimented by 1 on 1, I would not be able to use even a small percentage of the power of 4. 1 on 1 goes step by step in 12 chapters of ""how to"" fix, enhance, organize, and share photos
",1
"I ran into this book accidentally while doing some research. Instead of glancing through it, I ended up reading the whole book. I just couldn't put it off. Content wise, the book doesn't bring me many ""light bumb moments"". However, I find it extremely well written rhetorically. While the book is easy to read, it is literarily graceful. I'd suggest everyone to read it--just to enjoy the beauty of language
",1
"GREG and TIM know what they are talking about and glad to add this book to my collection!  WALT DISNEY RECORDS deserved a treatment like this and it would make a GREAT gift for the holidays! A+++++++++++++++++
",1
"Get great information on most bridal manufacturers as well as great ways to save money, such as Discount Bridal Service. I found my dream dress at a huge discount and was very pleased with the service. A good book for  brides
",1
"The title of this book is rather deceptive in that you certainly don't need to be adventurous or daring to find this book helpful.  I do sedate landscapes and found his book an excellent guide.  Basically, if you do the least bit of original design in your work - altering an element or two, changing colors around - or if you do whole original works (but haven't actually gone to art school) this book is extremely useful.  It covers the basics of design and color with a focus on the embroiderer or fiber artist.  You can do all the suggested activities in the book in order as a complete design course, or pick and choose sections as needed.  If you wonder why some of your works look great and others look, well, not as great, this book is for you
",1
"What do you do when the world is coming to an end right before your very eyes, but no one seems to believe you?  That is the concept facing Dr. Thomas More, distant relation to the famous/infamous Saint Thomas More, in Walker Percy's novel ""Love In The Ruins"".  The United States is at a time of crisis, but few seem to understand the implications of the events unfolding around them.  It is up to Dr. More, who knows how to diagnose the problem, but not necessarily treat it, to try to prevent the chaos from happening.

The story begins on a hot fourth of July, with Doc staking out the abandoned Howard Johnsons motel in town.  In three separate rooms he has cocooned his three paramours and he is waiting for an event that he knows is going to happen; an event that could very possibly bring about the end of the world.  The novel then shifts back in time to the three previous days, tracing Doc's journey that led him to seek refuge at the motel.  The reader learns that he has created a Ontological Lapsometer, a sort of ""stethoscope of the human spirit"", through which he can diagnose exactly what ails a person's soul, and finally discovers how to treat it.  Meanwhile, there is a revolution brewing; the Bantus and love children are ready to take over what the white man has destroyed, if a major catastrophe doesn't befall everyone before that can happen.

""Love In The Ruins"" is a truly southern novel, crafted through Percy's intelligence and tempered with the same absurdity that is a trademark of great southern writers such as Percy and Flannery O'Connor.  The reader must suspend disbelief as to the events unfolding, even though they are frighteningly realistic, and not so far-fetched in this present day.  Percy's hero Doc More is an antihero on par with those of Hemingway; flawed, prone to drink, forever chasing after women who are wrong for him.  This novel is his coming-of-age, in a sense, because Doc learns what it is he wants out of life, and how to best achieve that.  Subtitled ""The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World"", ""Love In The Ruins"" is a deliciously funny and poignant look at a near-apocalyptic America
",1
"Love the idea for these books - Perry Mason - Nancy Drew - can't wait for the next one. Love the research that gets sprinkled in to make a fun book. Who's next Mike Hammer - Philip Marlowe??
",1
"As a 6th grader I think I had this book permanently checked out of my school's library for the entire year. Great adventure and suspense, a fascinating look into another culture, an extraordinarily brave girl and  her love for her dog, and a deeply satisfying ending -- a perfect  combination. I'm so glad it's still in print
",1
"Alliterative Analogies, assertively  assembled, appear aplenty, appropriately, apt and artful, absorbing attention ad infinitum. This could be a fitting summary of Abish's stunningly ""now"" novel, written almost a quarter of a century ago with a linguistic device concocted between Kabbala and alliteration. Chapter 1 is composed with words beginning only with the letter A, Chapter 2 with A and B and so on until chapter 27, when Z first, then chapter by chapter all other letters, are progressively subtracted. In spite of a scheme tracing back to the beginning of written literature, the novel tells of deeds and characters so surprisingly contemporary, they may have been culled from today's headlines: polysexually inclined thugs hide in Africa after a crime spree, with the Author in pursuit of the woman who betrayed them. Chasing after the thugs from country to country, we are introduced to a ruler queen transvestite, war and genocide, corrupted burocrats and soldiers, rampant corruption in a landscape still in hot air, where sparsely assembled people wollow in African Indolence. All is narrated with poetic detachment, in a dimension between joke and dream that implies social, political and historical commentary with what appears linguistical accidentality: it is just that the words were limited by my artifice, reader, the Author seems to smile. No harm intended. Perhaps: the scenario may have seemed so far fetched in 1974, to have been deemed the product of unabridged fantasy. Great art, when unhindered, relates to the whole of time, in all tenses. While amusing, Abish has managed a ponderous read, which meandering on through verisimilar everyday history of attitudes and practices, inserts deep philosophical reflections as light as the puns enclosing them and extends like a prophecy to contemporary events. Attentive readers will delight in finding the one slip from the add-subtract letter scheme. And wonder: was it accidental? ""In order to be perfect, all I lack is a defect"" goes an ancient italian folk ironic couplet
",1
"Though only a fraction of books have been written about the Great War when compared to WWII, there are some great ones to pick from. For instance, for a great narrative of the American involvement in World War I, try The Doughboys by Gary Mead. For a good look at the events of Gallipoli, just last year John Laffin wrote The Agony of Gallipoli, which is a wonderful brief book on that travesty of warfare. There is a great book which chronicles Verdun called The Price of Glory by Alistair Horne. The list goes on and on, whether it be Flanders, the Somme, Passchendaele, Africa, Jutland, whatever your area of interest might be. The point I'm making is, there are plenty of specialized accounts of World War I, and even several overviews of the war, but John Keegan's THE FIRST WORLD WAR, is a great source for an overall study of the war. 

This book covers it all, in brief detail. Accounts are given on virtually every facet of the war and even some of the best insight available for the events which led up to the war itself. Every aspect of the war is given its due diligence here. 

I've never been a big fan of Keegan. His writing, to me, is a struggle at times. This book is no exception. It reads somewhat like a 500 page textbook and borders on tedious at times. But as much as I dislike his stuffy British writing style, he is a virtual historical genius. His knowledge and research of the events cannot be faulted, and he writes, for the most part, without imparting his own commentary. In fact, without prior knowledge, one would hardly surmise that Keegan is himself, British.  

The big exception to that is Keegan's typically British hard line stance of not giving the American forces their just dues. In this aspect, he even contradicts himself in several places. He goes to great length to illustrate to the reader that in the early months of 1918, Germany was still very much capable of winning the war. The Western front had been bolstered by the arrival of German troops from the now defunct Eastern front. The new soldiers from the east brought with them, battle hardened experience and a mindset that they could triumph, as they had in the east. He goes on to tell of how effective German advances had been in early April, advancing a fifty mile wide front over twenty miles in a matter of days. He then follows this sort of information with telling the reader how, though ambitious and courageous, the American forces were largely inconsequential to the conclusion of the war.  When he does acknowledge American victory, it is quickly followed with excuses for the German forces. 

That said, if you're seeking information about just how American forces rallied to bring an end to over four years of war in a matter of a few months, this book will infuriate you. However, if you are looking for a good overview of the war as a whole, this is one of the best out there. I should add, the book has a quite lengthy notes and bibliography section for further study.

Monty Rainey
[...]
",1
"I had a chance to read this book cover to cover. All I can say is ""absolutely outstanding"", short of calling it a historical masterpiece in the field. Very rarely do I encounter an epidemiology or biostatistic textbook that reads so well. It is optimally reader friendly; the author appears to have such a talent in explaining some most sophisticated epidemiological and statistical concepts in such a simplified language. Yet he does not sacrifice the inclusion of some very advanced epidemiological and statistical concepts. New concepts such as causal graphs and instrumental variables are also included and explained beautifully. I strongly recommend this book to all early to intermediate graduate students majoring in Epidemiology. Established epidemiologists may wish to read this book to refresh and update their knowledge. I hope the author writes more textbooks with the same style
",1
"The NY Times Book Review linked this novel to the aftermath of 9-11, but that may have more to do with the preoccupation of New Yorkers than with the story Powers wrote. While he does refer to 9-11 early on, this book concerns environmentalism and species conservation versus wrong-headed economic development in the Great Plains at the western edge of the midwestern farming belt. It is about the struggle not to loose even more economic ground relative to the rest of America in a region that is being slowly drained of its population due to the changing scale of agricultural operations. But since it is a Richard Powers novel, it is also about much more: neuro-physiology, brain function as reflected in behavior and personality, the devotion of a 30ish sister to her less-able younger brother, her sexual relations with two very different men, and a nationally-known writer (clearly modeled on Oliver Sachs) who has a late mid-life crisis. It is about love, devotion, and doing as much of the right thing as one can do. It involves escape and return. 
Clearly, Powers should not be considered a regional writer. His books have been set entirely or partly in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Philadelphia, L. A., the Pacific Northwest, and the continent of Europe. But several books by Powers are set in the Midwest where he is based. Readers who know something of the areas in which those stories are set will gain an extra measure of appreciation for  the skillful way Powers incorporates subtle regional characteristics into these novels.
As others have said, this is probably not the best novel this writer has given us, although it is quite carefully plotted, and full of the marvelous insights we have come to expect from him. I prefer The Goldbug Variations, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, and, despite my own musical illiteracy, In the Time of Our Singing. But even when Powers is not quite at his best, he writes a better book than most novelists ever manage ever to produce. Read, enjoy, learn
",1
"Painstakingly compiled by Judy Brown (contributing writer and comedy critic for LA Weekley), The Funny Pages is an impressive and hilarious collection of 1,473 jokes gathered from the funniest modern-day comedians around, ranging from Robin Williams to Bill Cosby, George Burns, Conan O'Brien, and many, many more. The individual jokes are arranged by topic underneath dictionary-style headings. From Alcohol to Yoga and Zoos; each gag is short but sweet, and packs a punch in this chuckle-inducing, highly recommended anthology of wit, gags, and humor both classic and cutting edge
",1
"For those who endeavor to perfect fine art digital printmaking, this is the book to read.  It is a ""how to"" and so much more.  The book covers paper, ink, techniques, hand coloring and the practical application and intereaction of all of these variables.  The book is cogently written and elegantly displayed.  It is a must for anyone's library who wishes to expand their horizons in the digital printing arena.  Ms. Airey is a master of her craft and it shows
",1
"You definetly should read this book! Don't believe what the 1 Star writers are saying. They don't want you to know the truth! The Left claims that Bin Laden would never side with Saddam because of their beliefs, yet the Left is adamant that Osama bin Laden was funded by the United States. Go figure! 

We all knew there was a connection and Stephen Hayes demonstrates so with great care! There is a connection with al Qaeda and Iraq and the book explains it in detail
",1
"I think those who haven't been where Henri Nouwen was, and weren't introduced to this ""book"" then will have a difficult time truly appreciating its gravity.

Thank God for Henri Nouwen
",1
"This books offers information that will eliminate a lot of unnecessary headache and rejection for writers who are currently published and those looking to break into the freelance field. The tips and examples are great, and there are many resources for those who want to get published. In my opinion, it's essential for making the most of your writing career.
",1
"A wonderful book. You will meet many charming cats on your jounrey here that will stay with you forever. 

Although this book is only 150 pages, it took me a long time to read it. While many things made me smile or laugh out loud, far too many things made me cry and I had to stop reading and set it aside for awhile. I often wondered if I could even finish it, but I am glad that I did. It is a book that truly touches the heart.
",1
"If you are looking for ideas and techniques this is a wonderful book. Very well done
",1
"This is the second novel in the mystery series featuring Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and sleuth. A series of books that have become hugely popular, so much so that the author is now at the forefront of historical mystery writers. It was probably a stroke of genius on her part to have novels that are extremely well researched and contain all the elements  that would be and should be found in  Rome in AD70, but to have a lead character who has the vocabulary of a present day New York cop.

In this novel the hero Marcus Didius Falco has returned from the remote island of Britannia, a god forsaken place whose people are morose and surly and the weather, well the weather is best left to its own devices. Marcus has lost his heart to senator's daughter Helena but is not sure that the passion he feels is reciprocated. Why is that women he is not interested in, fall over themselves to get to him, but the one that he has lost his heart to, treats him with a cool disdain?

He has not long returned to the welcoming arms of Rome before a series of fatal accidents and things that go bump in the night convince Falco and the Emperor that there are traitors still conspiring and they must be brought to book. Falco is not happy, it seems he must leave his beloved Rome yet again, but the conspirators are serious about their plans and will not let anyone stand in their way. Will Falco ever return . . 
",1
"As a boy, I was fascinated by looking at all of the drawings and descriptions in this diary.  It gave me a great appreciation for life in the US in the early 1800s, and the fortitude and ingenuity of our forefathers.  I have found that the magic still holds, as I read it to each of my sons when they were about 8.  They still love the basic how-to descriptions which bring frontier construction to life
",1
"      This book, ""The Relatives Came"" by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Stephen Gammell, was a delight to read. I found myself smiling as I read the words that made the artwork come alive. Likewise, I found myself recollecting over the memories of the past when my relatives would come to visit. And, I felt as if I, too, were a part of this book. Having experienced growing up in a small town where you don`t see that many people, I believe that when relatives come to visit, it almost seems like Christmas. As a result, when the book expressed the joy, laughter, and celebration of family, it stirred up these memories of the past. Unquestionably, almost anyone, from children to adults, could find themselves reminiscing and longing for the fun they had when their relatives come to visit.
",1
"Gibbon's ""Decline and Fall"" is without a doubt one of the most well-written and truly comprehensive historical works concerning the Roman Empire.  From the military maneuvers of the northern legions to the intrigues of the Imperial Court, Gibbon showcases the history of Rome as it unfolded--often relying on the eyewitness testimony of contemporary writers to give readers a sense of the passions and policies of the time.  There are a few minute problems--or rather gaps--in Gibbon's work, but given that he originally published in the late 1700's we can excuse his lack of complete information.  Overall, an excellent read and a great history of such an important subject
",1
"I've been working with foals for about 18 years.  This book is well written and includes very good illustrations.  It's good for new handlers and experienced handlers (reminders of different options to use with different personalities) as well.  I highly recommend it
",1
"I read Les Miserables after I saw the opera, and it has inspired in me more than any book I've ever read.  I don't believe one could ever find a better novel anywhere.  For everyone out there--read this now!!  There is a character that will touch everyone, no matter what type of person you are.  This novel is easy to relate to, and exciting.  It also give some insight to the unwritten history of the revolutions in France during Napolean's time.  I recommend strongly to everyone to read this book, and see the opera.  It really will effect your life
",1
"As a History major (undergrad) and former high school history teacher, I marvel at Crichton's ability book after book to research a topic down to the bone then flesh it out in an utterly believable and compelling way. For this reason the Great Train Robbery is for me my favorite Crichton work, even though it may lack the polish of Jurassic Park or Congo or one of his more recent books. 
TGTR takes us to 19th century London and gives us a plausible behind the scenes look both at the masterminding of this incredible train robbery, as well as life in general in 19th century London. So often history books give names, dates, connections, but leave one with the question, ""Yes, but what was it like?"" Crichton answers this better than any book I ever read on the Sheep Enclosure Act or most any other dry text. Some of it may be fanciful, but it certainly seemed as well supported as many another full blown history text.
At any rate, I highly recommend this book for any Crichton fan, master criminal fan, or interested history student. The main character, whose name escapes me, alone is a grand study and reminiscent of a larger than life character from a Hugo or Dumas novel. Very fascinating and rapidly moving. 
",1
"    The story, Walk Across the Sea, by Susan Fletcher, takes place at a town near the ocean. White people thought themselves superior to others, especially the Chinese. Chinese were often looked down upon and shunned, mainly because of their religious beliefs. The lighthouse keeper's daughter, however, was different from other white people. Believing her father's talks about Chinese people in the beginning of the story, the girl, Eliza Jane, meets a Chinese boy around her age. After the Chinese boy saves her goat, Eliza becomes interested in the boy's behavior. Soon, she learns that everyone may not be as they seemed.
    This story was rather interesting in a way. The time of the story show how the characters act and think. The story also shows how different some characters are, such as Eliza's father and mother. (""Something moved inside me, like a sudden shift in the wind."") Eliza was also, in a way, different from other white people. She befriended and showed kindness toward the Chinese boy. (""`You'll do him no harm? I have your word on it?'"") I was also amazed by the twist of the story when the story reveals that the father truly worries about the Chinese boy.
    Of all of the stories I have read, I have never found one that was perfect. This story is no different. When the Chinese people were driven out of the village by angry white people, I could feel the same shock and anger Eliza felt. The story, however, has a few more bad parts. One boy, Amos, accidentally broke Eliza Jane's nose while trying to find the Chinese boy. Afraid that he might get in trouble, the boy lied to his father about breaking Eliza's nose. To make matters worse, Amos blames the fault on the Chinese boy! (""I had a mind to shout at him, to tell him to put her down..."") On the other hand, I did not like how Eliza acted toward the Chinese boy when they first met. When the boy yelled a warning, Eliza thought he was trying to scare her off so he could steal her goat. Therefore, when the boy was holding the goat, Eliza thought that he was taking the goat from her, when what really happened was that the boy saved the goat from a wave. Even so, that was not the worst part of the story. (""`Get you from me,' he said. `I can't be near you now. Get out of my sight!'"") As a father, Eliza's father was expected by me to listen and talk to Eliza about her Chinese friend, and maybe even understand why she was protecting him. As a result, I was shocked and disappointed in her father when he told her that he did not even want to talk to her! Thankfully, there was nothing worse than this part of the story.
    (""Terrible things can happen in this world-things you can't explain away. It's not safe here, Andrew John. I can't promise you'll be safe. But there are miracles, too-like you. And love. And glories well beyond our knowing."") The ending, where Eliza talks to her baby brother about life and the Chinese boy was my favorite part. It ties everything together and concludes the story about friendship
",1
"I intend to have the very first item in this read at my memorial service - which I hope won't be soon! Some of this was slightly dated, but always good reading. He had such a unique take on his world and such a down-to-earth way of looking at the goings-on around him.
",1
"I read this book even before it was assigned to my undergrad psychology class -- and then I read it again, and enjoyed it both times. De Wall does protest too much -- he's clearly answering his critics throughout -- but I found his curmudgeonly outbursts amusing. More importantly, De Wall's arguments for the existence of culture in animals are persuasive (not that I needed much persuading), and his use of anecdotes keep the book entertaining. I'm looking at my pet pooches in a whole new way these days
",1
"This book is very readable because it is oriented to the general reader. Chapter 1 gives his short autobiography as to why he became an anthropologist, and his experiences in Kenya. A forensic pathologist is a medical doctor trained in pathology. A forensic anthropologist has a Ph.D. and studied anthropology, specializing in the human skeletal system. Chapter 3 tells about his laboratory, and the tools used for his work. Chapter 4 has many of the cases he worked on. Chapter 5 notes that most dismemberments result from the drug trade or motorcycle gangs. The Interstate Highway System provides arteries for crimes and serial killers. (p.63). Chapter 6 discusses cases of suicide. Many people kill themselves without intending to. It is important to distinguish between murder and suicide (p.86). Page 87 tells why Florida has an inordinate number of suicides. Chapter 7 explains how forensic anthropology developed in response to murders. This chapter discusses some famous cases of this relatively young science. Page 101 tells how to distinguish between bone from rock by taste! Chapter 8 says bones are not solid and unchanging, they are constantly reshaping themselves.

In Chapter 9 Maples tells of the use of capital punishment (p.128), and discusses the various methods (pp.129-131). He seems emotionally involved. Chapter 10 informs us about cremation. Chapter 11 has Maples' most difficult and most fascinating and perplexing case. The two dead in High Springs FL were linked to a shocking double murder in New Hampshire (p.152). Page Jennings' parents made a big, fatal mistake in sending their daughter so far away after her failure as a freshman (p.164). Chapter 12 deals with the MIA in Vietnam, about 2200 compared to the 8170 in Korea. Hollywood movies created this popular image of captured men (p.187). A ""delusion"" (p.188)? Maples describes the US Army Central Identification Laboratory that identifies remains recovered from Vietnam. Page 202 tells what happened at the Executive Office Building. Chapter 13 tells of his investigation to recognize the skeleton of Pizarro, and correct an old mistake. The exhumation of President Zachary Taylor and the tests for arsenic poisoning are told in Chapter 14. Page 224 tells of his importance to those times: he backed free states in the new territories. His replacement changed his policies.

Chapter 15 may be the most historically important. Maples was part of a team that identified the bones of Tsar Nicholas and his family. Maples draws political conclusions from ""rotten, neglected teeth"" (p.259). Chapter 16 tells of the murder of five college students over two days in Gainesville Florida. Maples identified the murder weapon (pp.271-273). The book concludes with the complaint that states are not funding forensic anthropologists, who are few and far between, especially in Florida (pp.278-279). Florida is ""the most crime-ridden state in the Union"". That is a political decision for each state government. This recalls the most realistic portion of ""Quincy, M.E."": whenever Quincy wanted to do more research, his manager often said ""there's no money in the budget""!

",1
"Jmaes Joyce takes us on Stephen Daedalus' interior journey from pre-teen as son of a country gentleman to young adult who wanders the streets of Dublin, struggling with sin, salvation, intellect, ambivalence about his homeland, and his father's decline.  It is not a linear path, but then whose is?  The story is not so much about the artist as a young man, but about a young man's journey to artistic sensibility, its pretensions and exhilirations. 

Jaklak sez check it out
",1
"This book melded two things I never thought I'd see in one book.  The Salem Witch Trials and modern drug research.  Sounds a little weird at first, but Robin Cook makes it work.

Alot of mystery as well as some insight into the past of 17th century Salem, Ma make this a very engaging read.  

As with other books by Robin Cook, none of the characters is perfect which always makes his creations easier to relate to, no matter how rich, smart, etc, they may be.

Great read! Very exciting endin
",1
"This is such a Great book I have boughten copeys for all my childern
",1
"This book is simply incredible.  A more stimulating book I couldn't  imagine!  It's not that it told me so much I didn't know intuitively, but  seeing it written so distinctly in black and white really hit home.  This  is one to read if you really want to get a sense of just how dramatically  the world has changed.  Neal Gabler, tells it like he sees it and has a lot  of research to back up his views.  I love that he doesn't make judgements  or try to press an opinion on the reader.  It's left up to you to decide  how you feel about it all.  I find myself thinking of points he brought up  throught the day and seeing just what he meant by experiencing it in  ""real"" life.  The only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because I  wish it was a bit MORE in-depth.  It's so engaging that I can imagine an  entire college course being made from this book.  It is a book that's as  entertaining as it is informative, and that's the whole point
",1
"If your looking to increase your personal level of joy and harmony in life, implement the teachings of the 3 frames in this book.
Manny Padro Salt Lake City, Uta
",1
"Thankfully, this is NOT littered with platitudes and meaningless anaologies, the hallmarks of 99% of the latest-and-greatest business books. Especially since it was written in 1999, Moore's is an incredibly insightful and prophetic book on strategy for the high-tech industry. He was predicting cutting edge changes then that are coming into reality today in 2005. The book is much more descriptive than prescriptive though, and is best used as a tool to instigate discussions about corporate strategy, rather than as a checklist for strategic implementation. 

I help run an online software development company and although it isn't exactly ""high tech"" I still found the vast majority of it very helpful and the rest of it fascinating. Market shifts are demanding broadband wireless Internet everywhere--free. Companies are shifting towards web-basing software applications. All very relevant to my business.

The book is well written, an easy and moderately fast read, and very accessible by anyone who is technology-savvy enough to at least hold an email address. Yes, buy it. Buy the paperback and save money.

Short Synopsis:  In the infancy of a market, products need to be highly tailored to meet the psychological and technical needs of leading edge techno-geeks; nothing new here. When a company wants to take that product and make it marketable to the middle majority--where the biggest money sits--it requires a commitment to discipline and shift its strategy in order to do so. The emphasis shifts intially to identifying a single niche segment and creating a comprehensive, tailored product, that meets all of their needs--create the ""whole product"" by using partners and 3rd party services to patchwork the thing together. Then, stop tweaking the product. If that works, pick related niches and go after them the same way, creating the ""whole product"" for each of them. Once people at large are comfortable enough to make the paradigm shift for that market (this all deals with new, high-tech changes) and start doing so en masse, the strategy must completely shift again to a ship-first / fix-the-product-later mentality in a mad, market share scramble. At this phase, you are ""In the Tornado."" Lots of examples of successful and abysmal strategies used by high tech companies whose names are familiar to everyone, at each stage mentioned above.

",1
"I pass the exam this morning with 83 %. From total time I spend 70% time reading this book. This book is good if you have limited time to prepare for SCJP. It doesn't have boring description. The authors have done excellent job to extract out core concept from exam point of view. However, there are some typos and cds is not useful. I couldn't able to access what is inside cds. Anyway it was worth Canadian $ 55 investment. I did refer Khalid Mughal book to clear some of the funda and practice examples
",1
"This story drew me in at once because of the strong voice and the good writing. It clearly establishes a sense of time and place (modern day Madison, Wisconsin) and offers the ""promise"" of an intimate look at daily life during the last stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) from the perspective of a personal caregiver. While we learn to understand the struggles of the patient, Kate, this is more about the struggles of a college student known as ""Bec,"" as she travels an emotional path of coming into her own. Author, Michelle Wildgen, fulfills the promise.

This story is character-driven, and what made me turn the pages wasn't the story, which was, at times, a bit slow and uninspiring. With the exception of the ""blue butterfly,"" the additional sex scenes felt extraneous. Further, one can guess from the beginning that in terms of Kate's condition, there wouldn't be a `happy' ending. Regardless, Wildgen paints a very realistic picture of ALS, and definitely puts you in the room. What made me turn the pages was Wildgen's ability to make each of her characters come alive. I cared about them and wanted to see how they'd handle Kate's progressive and ultimate demise.

Bec is the narrator who learns as she goes (both how to take care of Kate and how to cook for her guests/staff/family). We see everything through her eyes, particularly as she becomes Kate's voice. The title, ""You're Not You,"" comes from Kate, as she asks Bec to speak for her in a manner beyond mere translation. The secondary characters are also well developed, including Kate's husband, Evan, Bec's roommate, Jill, and to a lesser degree, Bec's lover, Liam. Liam, a married faculty member, represents another dimension of Bec's floundering, and her search to, in a sense, pick a major. Ultimately, the story becomes a vehicle for Bec's eventual direction of career choice.

I recommend as a thought provoking read, and for the strong writing and character development. Additionally, if you know (or have known) someone with ALS, I believe you'll appreciate the author's knowledge and sensitivity.

From the author of ""A Line Between Friends,"" McKenna Publishing Group
",1
"
This is a wonderful overview of a critical sector of the western front. Across the region known as Flanders, three particularly brutal battles were fought during the First World War with a horrendous loss of life suffered for minimal territorial gains. 

This book provides enough information about these battles to be informative yet unlike many military histories it avoids becoming boring because it is not overly detailed. It also discusses the battles from all perspectives including the high ranking politicians, the often inept generals but especially from the viewpoint of the poor infantrymen who suffered incredible hardships including shelling, bombing, machine gun fire, gas attacks and wretched weather conditions.

In addition the author has a wonderful approach to writing  making the book a very absorbing read that is difficult to put down. It is a shame so many historians, including such military writers as David Glantz, do not emulate Groom's style
",1
"

As I began to read this book, I was reminded of Jack Dempsey's observation that ""champions get up when they can't."" All of us have encountered professional setbacks of one kind or another and some of them are especially difficult to overcome. Most of the examples which Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward cite in this book involve CEOs who either ""fired back""and eventually prevailed after a career setback (e.g. Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Bernie Marcus, Jimmy Carter, and George Foreman) or never fully recovered from them (e.g. Jill Barad, John Scully, Leona Helmsley, Jacques Nasser, and Linda Warnaco). The former demonstrate the importance of ""seven lessons to turn tragedy into triumph"" which Sonnenfeld and Ward recommend; the latter demonstrate the probable consequences of failing to understand and then apply those lessons on which a five-step strategy - ""for rescuing and restoring a career and reputation after a devastating professional setback"" -- is based. 

It would be a disservice to Sonnenfeld and Ward as well as to those who read this brief commentary if I were to list the ""lessons"" and ""steps"" which are best revealed within the narrative of this remarkably thoughtful, eloquent, and practical book. Each is anchored in a real-world context.  Each is relevant to anyone now embarked upon or preparing for a professional career. I mention this last point because some who consider purchasing this book may incorrectly assume that its material will be of greatest value only to senior-level executives. On the contrary, all of Sonnenfeld and Ward's observations and recommendations can be of substantial benefit to anyone who wishes to (a) avoid ""a devastating professional setback"" or (b) recover from one. 

In essence, this book provides Sonnenfeld and Ward's response to this question: ""How can I overcome a professional setback?"" To their credit, at no time do they minimize or trivialize the impact of a professional setback. (Presumably each has experienced a few of his own.) They fully appreciate the difficulty of overcoming the debilitating psychological stress of failure, the challenges of failure to one's reputation (both personal and professional), social biases about failure, and other challenges which may be unique to one's company, its culture, and its industry.  If not ""tragic"" or ""devastating,"" a setback almost always lowers one's self-esteem, is embarrassing, and has adverse financial consequences. More often than not, there is collateral damage to one's family members and/or to one's close colleagues at work so guilt also comes into play. 

Recall the Dempsey quotation provided earlier. Presumably Sonnenfeld and Ward agree with Dempsey on the importance of courage and also with me that it is much easier to summon the courage to ""get up"" when you are convinced that the situation is not hopeless, and, that you can indeed recover if you understand what has happened, why it has happened, and how you can - and should -- respond to it. Of course, it is preferable to avoid a setback in the first place. (""If `ifs' and `buts' were fruits and nuts...."") Most of us are not so fortunate and I, for one, have learned the most important lessons from failures (mine and others') rather than from successes. Whether or not a given failure is our ""fault,"" it is certainly our responsibility to take full advantage of the learning opportunity it offers, and then to make positive and productive use of whatever truth has been revealed.

It is interesting to examine the lives of ""great leaders [who] rebound after career disasters"" but, in my opinion, it is imperative to examine with rigor and candor one's own values, attitudes, and behavior - especially when struggling to understand and then recover from a professional setback which is invariably a personal setback, also. As Sonnenfeld and Ward make crystal clear, this journey of personal discovery is by no means easy. Nonetheless, it is one which must be initiated with commitment and then sustained by persistence throughout one's life. If and when setbacks occur - and they always do - the practical advice which Sonnenfeld and Ward offer in this book will enable those who absorb and digest it to understand and (yes) accept what has happened, understand why it has happened, and then leverage that wisdom effectively and productively, not only in their careers but in their personal lives
",1
"Although this book is only 20 pages long, it contains helpful information about the concept of fair trade.  Americans have so much, and it is hard for us to imagine the degree of poverty in other third-world countries.  Rose Ericson begins to introduce the subject of what fair trade means to these nations.  To us it is only a $1 sometimes, but that $1 in a poor nation can supply food for a day to an entire family.  In our hurry to accumulate material goods, we must be careful to not take advantage of the artisans and producers of these third-world nations.  Fair trade is a concept whose time has come
",1
"Consisting entirely of descriptions of fantastical cities supposedly reported by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan, Calvino's fiction is sui generis, a completely original mixture of fable and philosophy that is even more imaginative than his more critical theory-oriented ""If On A Winter's Night A Traveler."" This is the kind of novel Borges might have written. A celebration of the unbridled imagination, ""Invisible Cities"" is also, I am convinced, a secret love letter to a single city: the imaginary dream-city of Venice, a place that exists partly as its own reflection in the sea
",1
"Great heartwarming stories about a boy, 2 owls and a dog.  I recommend this for all ages.  The cover markets this as a childrens's book, but adults who like animals will love this story too.  A bird lovers' delight
",1
"This is our favorite baby book for reading with our baby/young child.  Each of our children, from ages 9 months to three years, has loved this book.  We buy this as a gift for all new babies
",1
"This book is extremely informative, eye-opening & interesting for someone thinking about getting a tattoo. I was very happy with my purchase of this title and have such a more indepth & greater understanding of what is involved with tattooing.

Great buy
",1
"This is the second book in the Wind Dancer series. The Wind Dancer being the first, which was excellent.  I almost feel as if I liked Storm Winds even more than The Wind Dancer, and I believe it's due to a more comprehensive, abundance of history.  I was absolutely and totally absorbed with this book from the first chapter until the last one.  The characters were very individualistic and intriguing.  I have to say I enjoyed the romance more between the two supporting characters:  Catherine and Francois, more than the main characters:  Juliette and Jean Marc.  I was enamored by Francois and his strength, steeliness, and sensuality.  Jean Marc was a dark, handsome man as well.  Because of the way Juliette was treated in her youth, I see why she was so desperate for someone to need her; hence her demanding, take-charge attitude to care for her friend and others.  Catherine was a delight.  She was soft, caring, and sweet, but her terrible experience made her strong and even more beautiful in nature.  Fascinating characters and historical background.  I would recommend this book to all those who love romance that isn't the typical,dull Harlequin type and a love for important historical eras.
",1
"This is by far the best dictionary on the market.  Far better than Merriam-Webster's outdated and obtuse dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary is a dictionary for the 21st century.  It is up-to-date,  informative, pleasing to look at and browse.  I would gladly pay full price  for this dictionary.  Finally, I can discard my outdate M-W dictionary.   What a joy
",1
"This is a fascinating read and my favorite of all Bacon's writings
",1
"Wow, this book should be given to every graduate entering the workforce along with their diploma. Not just about cards, but also contains business etiquette, marketing tips and techniques, and (un)common sense. Wish I had read it 20 years ago. Required reading for pretty much anybody who has to go out into the world and deal with another person
",1
"My daughter at U of M got me interested in the Rwandan crisis and was just vacationing in Canada and picked up this book by a Canadian General who was leading the UN effort in Rwanda during the genocide and what a tragedy this  was and remains. I didnt walk away thinking this guy was a great General but he had the guts and the commitment to right to stay in spite of the ineptitude of the United Nations and Cofi Anan who was in a key role at the time. The tragedy of what the free world stood by and let happen is nearly unsurpassed, probably only by the Jews extermination in WWII. If you have any interest in the world happenings and think you have faith in the United Nations just buy this and read it - we need change.
",1
"As teachers, we all get frustrated with the limited technology in our schools.  We have the equipment, but it isn't adequate for all of us to use.  Larry Cuban explores this problem in great detail, offering an explanation as to why the billions of dollars spent across the nation on computers isn't improving academic performances.  He also offers solutions as to what the nation needs to do to remedy this situation.  A very thought provoking piece!  If only our politicians would read it
",1
"The Handbook Of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols by Robert Beer (who has studied and practice Tibetan thanga painting for more than thirty years) is a straightforward reference guide to the meaningful symbolism of sacred Tibetan art. Black-and-white illustrations depict all the major Buddhist symbols and motifs, while the text offers depth and interpretation behind the meaning and usage of each. The Handbook Of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols is enthusiastically recommended for inclusion into Buddhist Studies and especially informative for connoisseurs of Tibetan art
",1
"As gifted a story teller as he is a veterinarian, James Herriot has the rare ability to bring out every emotion known to the human race with a single magical flick of his pen. Every Living Thing is without a doubt one of the crowning achievements of a master, and is possessed by a single, true trait that is difficult to find in many commercial books- every single tale is told straight from the heart. You will never fail to laugh at the hilarious tales and cry at the most poignant moments. If you're an animal lover, or even just have a passing interest in animals, this is a book you will hold on to and re-read until the end of your days. Kudos, James Herriot, you are very much missed
",1
"Addressing as it does issues of cognition, language usage and acquisition, evolutionary biology and innate versus learned behavior, this work is relevant to many of the great intellectual debates of our time.  It is very readable for the most part, although if some of the topics are new to you then you will find a few sections rather heavy going.  More illustrations would have helped here.  There are syntax structure diagrams and one very grudging, cursory sketch of the language centers of the brain, but many sections cry out for a diagram among all the verbiage.

Pinker's lively, humorous style is often commented on but I sometimes found it wearing.  He will illustrate a point with an amusing newspaper cutting, then list a few more, then add ""I could not resist some more..."" and so on.  I sometimes wished he would just get on with it.

A major problem with his nativist approach, which other reviewers have commented on, is that many examples he lists of usages that English speakers would never employ are nothing of the kind.  Most of them are conceivable and since the first publication of this book, linguists have been busy recording them in the field.  The thesis also becomes somewhat unraveled in the penultimate chapter, where he argues that 'you and I' and 'you and me' are equally correct in all circumstances, because 'the pronoun is free to have any case it wants'.  But if this is so then what has become of the innate awareness of correct usage that the whole theory is about?  If 'between you and I' sounds instinctively wrong to me and 'between you and me' sounds instinctively wrong to someone else, does that mean one of us has a mutant grammar gene?  I doubt it.

The title itself is problematic.  'Instinct' is not a word much in favor among biologists nowadays and whatever language is, it is certainly not instinctive in the traditional sense.  Early in the book, Pinker admits as much, but determines to use the word anyway, a use that owes more to marketing than to science.

Still, this is probably the best introductory linguistics text currently available.  If you are new to linguistics, start here rather than with Chomsky, but please go on to read Geoffrey Sampson's work, perhaps starting with his website, to get an alternative view.  As with most academic disputes, the answer no doubt lies somewhere in the middle.  Since Chomsky's early work, the nativists have toned down their claims considerably, while their opponents have made concessions.  On page 34 of this book, Pinker says, ""No one has yet located a language organ or a grammar gene, but the search is on.""  More than a decade later, the search is still on.  Good luck with that.

",1
"The best book on the history of World War II that I've read in a long time. 

The title has three meanings: 

1. It can refer to the gunner at the back of a bomber. The Brits called these people 'Rear Gunners.' The Yanks used the term 'Tail Gunner.' It's the most dangerous position in the plane. 

2. The last plane in the formation. This was more true in the American Combat Box than in British usage. This position is difficult to hold because it is at the end of a string and every move by the lead ship propagates irregularily through the formation. It is also more dangerous as enemy fighters can attack this ship more easily since there aren't so many guns pointing that direction. 

3. It can refer to the bombing missions near the end of the war. 

This splendid book covers all three of these meanings. In addition it does an excellent job of discussing the power and importance of air power in the defeat of Germany
",1
"quiller's guide is the most systematic color text available. it combines a deep knowledge of traditional color theories with a huge amount of quiller's personal research into how paints actually mix as colors. central  to the book is quiller's color mixing wheel for watercolors, oils and  acrylics, probably the most accurate color wheel available in any published  work (though he has a revised color wheel, available separately). he  explores the monochrome, analogous, complementary and split complementary  color schemes through many demonstration paintings and detailed mixing  instructions. he emphasizes repeatedly the importance of a strong value  composition, and careful variations in color saturation, in building the  painting. an indispensible book
",1
"My son is 9 and absolutely loves this book. We've limited it to one activity a day so that he doesn't finish it too quickly (there are only about 35 or 40 in the book). I would recommend this book for any creative child - we will definately be buying more in this series
",1
"The story is about Peter growing up with his family in North Dublin and is set in the 1960's. The tightly knit family relations with his own family and those of his extended family of lodgers, which his parents took in to supplement  his father's income, forms the backdrop to his story at 44 Seville Place. 
The pace of the book has the rhythm of the sixties. The short sentences beat out the rhythm of the sixties and keeps the tempo up-beat throughout the whole of the book. For those who have experienced Dublin in the sixties this book will take you back to that place and that time.
The metaphorical pieces were very touching and masterfully executed. One example of this technique was when Peter tries to get to grips with his emotions concerning the possible loss of his brother Frankie before Frankie goes into surgery. A joy to read. 
Da is the Sun and all the minor planets revolve around him. Peter takes to his role as Mercury the messenger with great relish. There is a strong bond between father and son.  
I feel this story should not be compared to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. A one generation step into the future in Ireland can make a very big difference in how life is experienced. 
It was  a very enjoyable read whereby the need to laugh out loud in places could not be silenced. However there were places in the book where the need to cry out loud could also not be silenced.
",1
"A pathbreaking work in women's history and the history of deviancy, this book argues (if not entirely convincingly) for a new interpretation of the history and relationship of girl delinquents and women reformers. Odem  traces the history of middle class women reformers towards sexual  delinquency by young girls through the particularly rich case history of  Los Angeles County. Noting the diverse cultures in L.A. (white, working  class, Hispanic, African-American) Odem argues that many girls who became  labeled ""wayward"" were acting out against oppressive and  repressive families who held old-fashioned and patriarchal views of girls'  sexuality. Odem also explores the eventually oppressive route that  reformers took in ""retraining"" wayward girls
",1
"This is a terrific cookbook, even for people like me who are not trained bakers. I have succeeded in making three recipes already--they work great. Have a long way to go to try a lot of other really inviting recipes. Her book also serves as a great reference for anything chocolate. 

I was quite impressed with the fact that Ms. Lonbotham pays an historical homage to Chocolate Decadence (page 42) as being a seminal contribution to chocolate lovers worldwide. Living in Berkeley at the time, I well remember what a sensatation it caused.
",1
"This is Hawking's attempt to write about complicated physics for those of us who did not do well in math and therefore did not take the advanced sciences requiring ability in math.  While still not an easy read, it it much easier than the BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME that he wrote for laypeople before this.  A person who wants to know what the current scientific thinking is about the nature of the universe will find it worth spending the time it takes to read and digest this book, as they will be reading about it from one of the leading scientists in this field.  Older teens who have some interest in sciences may also find this to be a helpful introduction to the concepts they think they want to study in depth
",1
"In this fully illustrated and remarkably brief book, Hawking provides an overview of the state of theoretical physics at the dawn of the 21st century. The often dense text is supplemented by biographical details, witty asides, and (especially) luxuriously reproduced introductions.

Hawking covers a lot of territory in 200 pages; he hopes to provide brief, non-intimidating summaries of recent concepts and new frontiers in science. There is astonishingly little text, and at times the pithiness, compactness, and occasional ""cuteness"" may work against readers' understanding; there's perhaps too much shell and not enough nut here. Some sections are so cursory that I suspect they will fail to make any sense at all to the untutored reader. (This is especially true of several of the passages on imaginary time, event horizons, and brane world models.) 

The text is aided greatly, however, by the beautifully rendered four-color illustrations. Even if the concepts presented by these drawings seem fuzzy at first, the creativity and humor fused into Moonrunner Design's artwork will attract, engage, and occasionally tease readers who might otherwise be frightened by the sight of a quadratic equation. 

Overall, then, the book might have far more value as a refresher course for the beginner rather than as an introduction for the uninitiated. Yet it's certainly conceivable that somebody new to this material might be intrigued enough to explore these subjects further. If you're looking for a book that will flesh out the concepts presented here, I strongly recommend (as does Hawking) Alan Guth's ""The Inflationary Universe"" or Brian Greene's ""The Elegant Universe.
",1
"This book started off very slowly for me.  I got pretty tired of the gender bending deception - how could she be so stupid as to think he was stupid enough to believe his charade for that long in that close of company???  Once the air was cleared, the book picked up speed and ended quite well.  I give the book 4 stars because it did cause me to shed a few tears at one point.  All in all, a very enjoyable read.  Past about the halfway point
",1
"Did you ever know someone whose life was just ""perfect"" ?? Someone who went to college, got married at age 23, found a great job with valuable stock options... Someone who settled down in a house in a nice city at age 25 or 26, started a family a year or two later, and who now seems to ""Have it All"" ?? Well, after World War II, this happened to JUST ABOUT EVERYONE in the Silent Generation, and it happen to MOST in the boomer generation, and it's happening to JUST ABOUT NO ONE in Generation X. This books speaks to members of Generation X and describes the suffering and coping mechanisms for these people.

This book, now 15 years, is about a generation that was sold down the river by its elders - Generation X. The book describes 3 young people, Andy, Dag, and Claire, who visit palm springs and tell stories of their lives and of their friends who are suffering in life. The author Douglas Coupland is actually telling stories from Vancouver British Columbia, one of the first cities in North America to be sold out to foreign economic colonizers from Hong Kong (who escaped to Vancouver to avoid the 1997 mainland takeover.) In this city, the worst 1100 square foot fixer-upper house costs a third of a million dollars, or 10 years of take-home pay for a mid-career household.  Economic success is impossible in the physical confines of the city - the system is rigged against everyone except rich immigrants and the existing upper class of blue-collar boomers who purchased homes in the  1970's and 1980's. Many aspects of the book (such as ""Reverse Sabbatical"", ""McJobs"", etc.) reflect the severe economic conditions faced by high-achieving intellectuals who go nowhere economically in that city.

In my grandparents generation, all you had to do was to go to college. In my parent's generation, you needed to go to college and become a successful professional. In my own generation, you need to co-found a startup company and be among the 10% of founders who can sell off the company or have an IPO. Do you notice something here? Yes, it's getting more and more difficult to be marginally successful in America.

Because Gen X'ers find that traditional paths to success - hard work, taking chances, saving and investing - don't work any more, they resolve to live like their parents by either living WITH THEIR PARENTS or by borrowing money endlessly and hoping for a miracle. Fiscal irresponsibility is at an all-time high, and has squandered everyone's future! 

In this environment of perpetual economic slavery, Coupland counsels Generation X'ers to break free of the traditional career models that have been rigged by their elders for failure. Coupland counsels us all to re-examine what is success in our life and how to achieve it.   This book is a call to enlist in a class warfare between gen-X'ers and their elders!  In many ways, this book is similar to ""The Razor's Edge"" by W. Somerset Maughen or ""The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living"", in other words, redefine your notion of success in the world, while waiting for our evil society to implode in upon itself, which must surely happen in the near future ..
",1
"It's an educational book to read. My child and I like reading it together
",1
"Arrogance by Bernard Goldberg is a truly enjoyable read.  Goldberg doesn't waste time trying to create a vast left wing conspiracy tied to Islam or Communism, he just presents the facts as he sees them.  As a former insider, he's got the dirt on media bigwigs, and he's not afraid to dish.  The liberal bias in the news is causing many people to flee the big three networks and turn on cable to find an escape.  Goldberg offers up several examples of this bias and then goes further by coming up with several suggestions (some tongue in cheek) for correcting this slant.  He also includes surprisingly frank interviews with Tim Russert and Bob Costas.  Goldberg's other books Bias and 100 People Who are Screwing Up America are also excellent reads.  He doesn't attack people on a personal level (although you can tell he has a bit of a grudge against Dan Rather) or use hyperbole or vitriol to get his point across.  Some books written with a conservative slant make you want to throw up your hands and give up on this country, but Goldberg's books don't have that effect.  You can tell he not only loves the country he lives in, but also the profession that he's chosen, and he has hope for the future. 
",1
"Because the ideas and strategies really work! Robert Allen gives more concrete information, real meat if you will in one chapter than these other so called financial authors do in an entire book.

I used the ideas from Robert Allen to buy my first home, nothing down 5 years ago and the value of my home has escalated BUT...the return on my investment on a nothing down deal is infinite! 

Hey...if you don't like Robert Allen, you can always read Jane Bryant Quinn and lose money with her advice. I was talking to a guy the other day in a book store who said he lost over 75% of his 401 (k) money following Quinn's ""safe"" advice.

OR...you can read those tabloid websites which are around only to attract the naive and also are out to sell you their generic junk most of which is plagerized Robert Allen ideas
",1
"The Boston based author, Dennis Lehane, wrote a great detective story with a social background so great, it is almost more important than the plot. ""Mystic River"" differs from Lehane's other books and indeed raises him to the next level as a writer.

""Mystic River"" is set in the fictional Boston suburb, called East Buckingham (the author explains it as an amalgamate of Dorchester, Charlestown and South Boston and it really feels like Dorchester), home mostly to white working class, with plenty of crime. I liked the background info especially since I could relate to it, knowing the area...

The first part, which is the base and explanation for later events, takes place in 1975, when one of the three eleven-year old neighborhood boys playing in the street is abducted by two men in an apple-smelling car, and although he comes back after four days, his life as well as his friends' is changed forever. The ways of the boys soon part, Dave (the boy taken by the men) lives a quiet life, has a wife and a son, and likes his memories of being a football player in high school. Jimmy, the ""bad boy"", after doing some time in prison settles down as a storeowner with a nineteen-year old daughter from his first marriage, second wife and their two daughters. The third boy, college-educated Sean, becomes a policeman.

When Jimmy's beautiful daughter, Katie, is found murdered in the park after a night out Dave comes home covered in blood, Sean gets assigned to the case. There are many leads to different people... But the case is difficult. Meanwhile, Jimmy and his family embark on the search of their own.

The plot is very good until the end, and psychological details as well as the insights into the society are extremely accurate. The characters are very real, especially Jimmy and Sean, who are central to the plot. Their trauma after Dave's abduction made a lasting effect on their lives - in very different ways. They are complicated, multifaceted people, very well developed as literary characters. Some side protagonists, depicting perhaps types rather than individuals (Bobby, Roman, the Savage brothers, Sergeant Whitey), are very good. I was in the grasp of this book until the end - it is not only great entertainment, but also food for thought. 

The movie based on ""Mystic River"" with Sean Penn is equally moving - recommended for those with little time...
",1
"This version of the old favorite is an interactive delight, engaging all the senses of reader and listener as they sing and play their way through the story.  Each page offers endless possibilities to captivate the interest and attention of the youngest ""readers.""  The progressive repetion of the song makes learning it fun and easy.  All the colorful digressions, especially the silly commentaries on each page, can lead to more fun & games. Wonderfully illustrated; sturdy pages
",1
"Having read most of Grisham's books, I've saved a few of his ""best"" for last.  While it wasn't a 5 star book like I'd hoped, it certainly was one of his better books with a lot of detail and of course the plot was an interesting one.

Having saw the movie years ago, I had a good idea of what the book was about:  Two Supreme Court Justices are killed, a law school student, along with many other people become curious and try to figure out ""who dun it""...only, she writes a brief and hits the nail on the head, and when the wrong people find out, she's on the run for her life!

I enjoyed the book mostly because it was fast-paced, and had a lot of detail.  So much detail and characters, I had a bit of a struggle to keep up!  Of course it was suspenseful and the characters, especially of Darby, the law school student and the reporter who starts to help her uncover the truth.  Good read
",1
"Companies that embrace work teams quickly discover a basic truth: More teams mean more meetings. Management experts laud the benefits of enlightened teamwork, but they spend much less time dwelling on the often long, sometimes pointless and nearly always inefficient meetings that teams breed. With teams fast becoming a fixture in the corporate world, meeting management, or facilitation, is becoming a critical skill for anyone with executive ambitions. Author Ingrid Bens' definition of a facilitator is quite specific - someone who guides a meeting without actually participating in discussion or decision making - but her book is filled with practical advice that any professional can apply when running a meeting. A host of charts, examples and worksheets (not to mention the accompanying CD) help illustrate her process for steering meetings without controlling or directing the outcome. We [...] recommend this hands-on how-to guide to anyone motivated to minimize the waste of meeting-creep
",1
"This is an excellent, fascinating and insightful read.  Dr Guarneri knows her stuff and has writen this book well.  She wrote it because obviously we need to think about nutrition, cholesterol and excercise, but there are deeper issues too like peoples emotions.  She believes that heart problems can be caused by the stress's in our lives and our emotions - we could litterally die of a broken heart.  Emotional events can weaken heart muscles.  You produce stress hormones when you are upset which raise blood sugars and blood pressure etc which ultimately weaken or can destroy the heart.  She talks about this in the book and on the flip side, talks about happy people too and how positive emotions and feelings do good for our hearts.  When we are happy, our hearts beat in a coherent rythym.  She says we have to look at our hearts in various ways.  We need to look at it as a pump to keep us alive but to also look at the emotional heart, the mental heart and the spiritual heart in order to keep us healthy.  
I believe she knows her stuff and she wrote this well and has made it totally interesting and it's looking at our hearts in a different way from other books on the same subject.
If you have a healthy and happy outlook on life, you will also have a happy and healthy heart
",1
"I love this book! I have read A-C so far, and this is my favorite book so far. It has a really strong plot, and a surprising ending. This crime book series is great, and I highly suggest picking this book up, or even starting with A
",1
"This book written by Don Brown is a wonderful children's book.  In this story, set in 1870, Mary Kingsley uses her childhood to motivate her travels to Africa. Mary begins the story as a child, who is taking care of her ill mother. Her father travels a lot, and is rarely home. Although Mary never attended school she loves to read and uses this to escape. Mary, now an adult travels to Africa which was a big accomplishment for a woman at that time. The book tells some of her experiences in Africa. Without revealing what happens at the end, I will tell you that Mary has many experiences in this children's book. She takes the reader through her life. The illustrations in the book help the reader visualize Mary's life. This is not my favorite children's book, but I would highly recommend this book to any parent or child. It kept my interest and it is sure to keep yours
",1
"
*** REFERS TO CD RECORDING ****

After picking up and putting down the book countless times I finally listened to this on CD. The time and attention I didn't have for the print version came easily for the audio recording. 

Guiness is an engaging and enthusisatic speaker in full command of his subject matter. He draws on foundational Christian truths, historic and contemporary references, anecdotes, and a solid business acumen. He routinely distinguishes between what something is and is not (eg; vocation, calling, surrender) in unequivocal terms. Also, he consistently makes the point that the main reason for our existence is to glorify God; everything else in his presentation simply ties-back to this truth. He explains how we get distracted, how others have, and how we can correct our path, again providing examples. And unlike the Christianity Lite trend in America that often promotes wealth without work or responsibility, Guinness is explicit about the sacrifice inherent in a Christian life, using for example the lives of Leonidas, St. Francis, and Bonhoeffer. He also speaks of the joys of a truly God-centered life.

I recommend THE CALL to anyone who is listening for their own call. It will help you distinguish between a calling and wish-fulfillment/fantasy, acquaint you with others who have heard their call, and inspire you to act. If you've already heard and responded to your call, you'll recognize Guinness as a fellow traveler. 

This 3-hour presentation was taped live at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Tx USA. The recording includes 3  audience Q&A sessions of about 10 minutes each. These were as informative as the main presentation, often reflecting the very questions I had while listening. 

Recording was produced by Wpublishinggroup.com in Nashville, TN USA
",1
"The book was less than I expected and it is brand new thanks a lot
",1
"I have read this book daily for almost 20 years. The original book, given to me in 1979 is somewhat worn and now I require a replacement. It has been and will remain my first reading each day
",1
"In Self-Hypnosis for Women C. Alexander and Annellen Simpkins have created an instrument, a book and CD combination tailored to both the novice and the familiar practitioner of hypnosis.  The Simpkins have masterfully crafted this guide to self-guidance weaving explanation and experience throughout the written and spoken words.  Provided are tools useful in addressing a wide array of events familiar to most on the journey of being human.  
	While true to its title, Self-Hypnosis for Women, offering examples of utilization directly fashioned to ""experiences"" idiosyncratic to women:  menstruation, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and menopause, the title of this work belies its more universal ""applicability"" to components of life common to both women and men:  self image; pain management; overcoming fear and anxiety, and finding personal balance.
	The book is prefaced with instructions on gaining the most benefit for individual readers.  Those who may wish to skip over the more basic instructions are advised to begin their journey in later chapters.  Those who are new to the practice of hypnosis, or enjoy viewing the history and techniques from others' perspectives are offered just that in the earlier chapters. 
	The story of hypnosis, and the modern history and research of hypnosis take the readers back to the early stages of identified systematic trancework, from Mesmer, Charcot and Freud, to the contributions of Hilgard, Hull, and Milton H. Erickson; they then procede to accompany the participant on the journey through current and future directions, including their own paths, on which they are about to embark.
	The Simpkins define suggestion as ""a process by which a stimulus is accepted and then transformed through unconscious processing into an action, experience, attitude or concept. (p.45)"" This presentation of suggestion sets the stage for an environment conducive to the development of a personal ability to self-guide.  Together, the book and  CD promote the utilization of both conscious and unconscious processes as learning tools, assisting in the transformation from less popular emotions such as fear or sadness to components of life which offers guidance and assistance.
	Specific hypnotic techniques, are explained, and accompanied by exercises which give the audience an immediate opportunity to begin experiencing and tailoring that procedure. The framework for these exercises is the suggestion of an ""experiment"" with that particular technique, creating an environment for the learner to safely attempt each new activity with no possibility of failure.  The only opportunity not offered is that of incompetence.  There is only a place to try, adjust, and retry each experiment until the reader fashions their own skill set based on personal significance and comfort.
	More than a ""bonus"" the accompanying CD is a work of art on its own.  Again, mixing explanation with experiential learning, this auditory tool incorporates fractalization as a teaching method, to assist the listener in entering and returning from graduated levels of trance exploration.  A vast canvas is provided, upon which the hypnotic partner can create motor, auditory and visual experiences with encouragement and assistance, rather than direction or interference, a respectful approach not always found in ""self-hypnosis"" recordings.
Sharon McLaughlin MA, Managing Editor, Milton H. Erickson Newsletter	
",1
"This book rocks!  Every writer on this project knows how to create an image of the Invictus.  Its just like I imagined it but better.  The Blood Oaths are incredible and will add so much to my game.  The subtlties of dress as outlined in the beginning of the story are already a part of my elysium and the book came out a scant week ago.  This book will make your chronicle rock if the invictus are your antagonists they will be much better for you having read this if they are the majority of your PC's (Like in my game)  Get it now and tell your players to do the same.  This is a must have for anyone who really wants to portray the byzantine politics of the Requiem
",1
"I took my last science course about 40 years ago and had forgotten how interesting science can be. This book is not light reading and some people will probably not get past the first few pages but I really enjoyed it. I found tons of new information on mushrooms in spite of the fact that I studied mushrooms in college (until my father decided science was not for girls and convinced me to go to Law School. Yep, those were the good old days.) You will enjoy it as long as you take into account that it is a scientific book, perfect for geeks
",1
"Everything that I've made so far has been really really good.  Recipes are easy to follow and pack up nicely for next day lunches
",1
"I am a prekindergarten teacher. This book is a favorite of all of my students both boys and girls.  The story has an important moral that all children can learn from.  The moral is to be yourself and that you do not need to copy others.  Stephanie not only does her own thing but stands up for herself.  This story gives children the courage to stand up for themselves and to be an individual
",1
"The four tales in this collection are beautifully composed; they are art, not just stories.  Each story is deep in its unique complexities.  Each one has plots and subplots and paints an impeccable image of the story upon the reader's mind.  And when I look back upon the book as a whole, upon the adventurous stories, the excitement and emotion that the author presents so exquisitely, I can't help but be extremely impressed.
",1
"I teach second grade and my class just loved this book. Chris Van Allsburg is one of our favorite authors but this is one of his best!!
",1
"I read the good Doctor's book Eat to Live and then bought China Study which he talks a lot about in this book.  Then I bought this book being curious after reading a few other books on fasting and this book wins hands down though I do feel he's being overly cautious about doing long fasts of more than 5 days without medical supervision to protect himself as people have been doing long fasts for centuries without medical supervision and doing just fine and since finding a Doctor in even a large community is rare indeed one is left to do this on their own.  

Being a vegetarian for more than 37 years I became an almost 100% vegan after reading Eat to Live and have to say that I feel great with more energy and even started reducing anti-depression med I've been taking for severe depression.  Yesterday I took my last pill! All week I've been emptying  my refrigerator in order to start my water fast tomorow.  And reducing my one cup  of coffee in the norning to none because I remember clerly that awful caffiene withdrawl healache, I'm going to do 10 days and hoping for 14.  I've done 3 day fast before and one 5 day and that was great.  

Yes, there are some flaws in both books and I wish the good Doctor would have made use of a good editor as it's not as professionally written as it could be and the recipes in Eat to Live are atrocious with too much canned foods and not healthy organic foods but I'll forgive him because he got me on The China Study which changed my life and his studies and own experience helping people get well are good and inspiring.

Why am I going on a 10 day detox water diet?  I read Randall Fitxgerald's One Hundred Year Lie and that was the catalyst that pulled it all together for me. A detox fast absolutely necessary after my years on earth and after too many years on anti-depressants

I'm keeping Dr. Fuhrman's Fasting book close by during the next 10 hopefully 14 days for support and encouragement.  

I did make the mistake of telling my coworkers that I was starting a 10 day fast though the good Doctor warned me not to.  The comments from them were typical I suppose knowing their health or lack of but I held my tongue.  Those comments are just like the stupid ones some of the reviewers of Dr. Fuhnman's books make along with other nutrituion books. But I thinkof the wisest words,"" you are responsible for your own health"" and think about my not being able to remember the last time I had a cold and the last flu I had in 1964 and smile.  

I don't intend to support the ill-begotten medical-pharmecutical industry.

The last time I went to the Dr. I promptly firedhim after his continued to badger me into getting manograms. and other tests,   I repeated that I eat well etc and he said nutrition had nothing to to do with breast cancer and I just walked out of his office forever. I'd rather read a book
",1
"This book covers the entire state in one easy-to-carry book. Whether you're looking for romantic bed and breakfasts in the Wine Country, the hippest restaurant in San Francisco, or the best beaches in LA and San Diego, this book is all you'll need. It covers hotels ranging from a beach front motel in Santa Monica to the best places to stay in Yosemite's camp grounds
",1
"This book is the best book about Baby Face Nelson, I enjoyed reading this book greatly.  Everything you wanted to know about Lester Gillis is in this book.  Every part of his life was explained in great detail; the authors did not leave anything out.  I highly recommend this book to people who are into the depression era gangsters
",1
"If you are young, under 30, this is a good guide to help you figure out your path through the minefields of trying to understand the other sex.  If you are older, this is a good refresher course on things you may have already learned (or things that you missed) in the school of everyday life.  For both younger and older readers this is a very good tool to help you understand yourself and others.
",1
"This book depicts the essence of the African American struggle and not just from a woman's prospective but from an universal one. The women and the men in this book are victims evenly. Naylor is a literary star and her poetic prose is her spotlight, which glows undyingly in this classic novel. A must read.  
",1
"I enjoyed this book,but then again I always enjoy  Sue Miller's novels.She has this way of making me feel close to her main characters.  So anyway Sue,Is Lottie Ok? Has she found contentment in life? Please write me at  Babz@aol.com.  I am about to read ""The Distinguished Guest""--I  heard it was really great!  I'll let you know. Bar
",1
"I was wrong. Ok, I've admitted it. I always thought science fiction or futuristic type novels weren't my cup of tea. While reading Conspiracy in Death I realized I couldn't have been more wrong - I love this futuristic series! 

A homeless man is murdered and the case is assigned to Eve Dallas, since it's not a random act of violence. This man, Snooks, died when his heart was surgically removed by what appeared to be a very skilled surgeon. When Dallas digs a bit further, she discovers that this crime is connected to another committed in New York City where an aged LC (licensed companion) died as the result of her liver being removed. After even more digging, Dallas discovers a case in Chicago and one abroad that were all similar. 

These were not the result of black market organ sales since all of the victims were within a few months of dying. In order for Eve Dallas to find the murderer she had to figure out why these victims were chosen. The closer she got to that answer, the more nervous very influential politicians and doctors became. 

When she got too close to the truth, the villain had to put a stop to her investigation. The best way to get Dallas off the case was to have her suspended from the police department. This was a simple procedure since there was a conflict between the patrol officer who discovered Snook's body and Dallas. When that patrolwoman was brutally murdered suspicion fell on Dallas. Stripped of her badge and weapon, the very items that have been the heart and sole of her during her adult life, she has to deal with not only the idea of not being a police detective, but also with trying to solve this crime having her hands tied. 

The main plot was interesting but the villain was predictable and no surprise. There was excellent character development and as usual J.D. Robb (AKA Nora Roberts) draws the reader into the suspense to the point of not being able to put down the book. What makes this book above average and falling into the excellent range is the fantastic subplot of Eve Dallas being stripped of her identity as a policewoman and how she must deal with the various facets of that. At times, it was more intense and more exciting that the main plot. 

This is definitely one to read, as all of the ""In Death"" series books have been. Start with the first book when reading because J.D. Robb always has a couple of instances where she reflects on previous happenings. Or you can start with the first book just because it's the beginning of an excellent adventure!
",1
"As someone who was arrested amd jailed and deported from Japan due to a  fear of flying phobia that the Japanese government refused or could not  comprehend, I find DuPont's book an important addition to helping the  public understand and deal with such phobias. I still don't like to fly,  even after my 1983 accident, but DuPont's book helped me better understand  my condition. A very important book. I hope it finds a Japanese publisher,  too
",1
"Though no book will make you a filmmaker, some will help you refine your vision.  This book, for me, added some poetry and texture to the imagery already in my mind.  Pretty much the only thing that will improve your film skills, is making them
",1
"
I've always read lots of books about singles and how to find a mate, and that rate has sped up since I'm now a Romance Coach.  But somehow I had missed Susan Page's ""If I'm So Wonderful, Why am I Still Single?"" even though it has been out since 1998, the last year I was single myself.  Where have I been, and why hadn't I seen this book?

Susan Page writes for ""involuntary singles"" -- straight, gay, male or female, each and every one of us who is single and wishes we weren't.  Relentlessly positive, she starts off right to the point with ""So why are you still single anyway?""  And then, just when we've gotten over that shock, she states flatly:""Whatever your reasons are for being single, if you want to be in a relationship, no reason is good enough.""  Then Page goes about tearing apart every good reason we've ever come up with to keep ourselves single.

Here's what Page takes on and turns around: Ambivalence (my favorite), those ""Dreadful Statistics,"" the myth of ""There are no good ways to meet people,"" and having and keeping high standards.  Then she works on developing skills in what she calls ""Frog kissing"":  Learning to say no, how to recognize true intimacy, avoiding ""commitmentphobes,"" handling the intimacy gap, and learning to say ""yes.""  And in the last section, ""Keeping It All Together While You Look,"" Page tells you just how to do all that.  

This is easily the best, most thorough, rounded and positive book about relationships and dating I have seen.  If you are one of Page's ""involuntary singles,"" this book needs to be in your library.  Five chocolate dipped strawberries for Susan Page!  This is quite a book.   
",1
"Jimmy Carter is usually considered a mediocre president at best, totally incompetent at worst. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book lists his presidential successes and goes on to show how they led to his influential post-presidential activities. We now can see Jimmy Carter for what he truly is, a human rights champion and a shining example to us all
",1
"Once I got super glue on my fingers and I tried EVERYTHING!! and I could'nt get it of so I got out the book and it gave me the soultion
",1
"My boy EJD is back, and so am I!  Keeping it real, I took an Eric Jerome Dickey hiatus.  For years he held a special spot on my shelf as my favorite author, hands down.  Then it happened...his books just weren't doing it for me anymore.  Call in change, call it growth, falling off, call it whatever, but I wasn't feeling it.  DRIVE ME CRAZY drove me crazy and I couldn't finish it.  Unheard of for me.  CHASING DESTINY came, but I let her run right past me.  However, the title of his new release piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a shot and I am glad I did.
 
Death is life.  Gideon is a freelance hit man.  In the seedy underbelly of death for hire, Gideon is know as a man of talent and business; a profitable business.  He has a goal that he is trying to reach and with this acceptance of his most recent job, he just may obtain it.  This job could put him over the edge financially and literally.  Has the hunter become the hunted?
 
Sleeping With Strangers is a smartly written, great reading drama/thriller that showcases Dickey's talent.  He blended success, style and heartlessness.  Then he added some ruthlessness, deceit and trickery.  Let's not forget murder, mayhem and steamy sex scenes.  My hiatus is officially over.  I enjoyed SWS.  Now I`m at the door, looking out the peephole waiting on the sequel to arrive
",1
"The Miernik Dossier was shockingly good. Before this, I had never read anything by McCarry. In fact, I had never even heard the man's name. I was lucky to come across a review of this re-issued work in a magazine. Now I am collecting everything by him.

The story follows an odd assortment of people, some of whom may or may not be intelligence agents, as they travel south through Europe into Africa. For the entire length of the book you will be wondering and guessing and probably changing your mind many times as to who is working against whom and trying to figure out if Miernik is who he says he is. The writers of the dossier themselves seem to be unsure. In that sense the Miernik Dossier has similar elements to a mystery or detective novel, but yet it goes way beyond that. It is also a highly compelling character study, with each of the group drawn intricately by the author so that you come to know the characters. This makes it all the more suspenseful because these people who you seem to know or possibly identify with in some way may very well not be who you think they are.

The Miernik Dossier is a highly entertaining read. True spy literature, in the vein of Ashenden, that is enjoyable for those who enjoy spy stories, mysteries or simply great writing. I cannot wait to read this book again
",1
"I, too, have an MA in American History, and I was never given reason to think about each of two questions raised by this important book. Firstly and fundamentally, what was the timetable by which the British military were expected to leave the former colonies, and, second, what ""property"" could they take with them, especially as ""property"" had a very particular meaning here in the new nation? 
Was the Revolution in large part fought to maintain slavery? That surely bears on the problematic nature of our Constitution.
The wonderfully gifted writer and historian (would that they were always the same thing!)poses these vital questions. And we are fortunate that the near simultaneous publication of David B. Davis' Inhuman Bondage complements this fine effort. So, as one reviewer suggests, it is in some ways an overwritten period, but Schama and Davis add something new and exciting to the dialogue. My thanks
",1
"As other reviewers have stated, Ludlum passed away at the time of the publication of this novel. Unfortunately, we may never know what other voice has been mingled with Ludlum's to complete this tale. Honestly speaking, I believe this to be the case because the story is actually better than I have come to expect from Ludlum. No disrespect intended, but I feel this work is actually above his standard.

There is certainly a few moments of unbelievable plotting and characterization, but who cares when the ride is such a rip. At first you think you're reading a typical espionage thriller and eventually come to realize it's more than that, much more. For New World Order conspiracy fans you're in for a treat. Ludlum et al's take on an old plot is so fresh and intrigueing you are left speechless. I'll just say this, if you have ever wondered if the Nazi's survived WWII you will REALLY wonder after reading The Sigma Protocol. God help us if there's any truth to this plot
",1
"I am an author and journalist and I have to say this is the best novel I have ever read. True to the word ""haunting.
",1
"This book was an amazing account of the Spanish in North America.  Many of  the themes that occur during this time period occur in almost every time  period and place.  Dealing with religious intolerence, slavery, econmoy,  unification, and the influence of all people on one another this book  captures everything.  Themes this book expresses about this time period are  even more evident in today's information age as more people from different  backgrounds and heritages come together on the internet.  This was a good  book to read, and made it easy to see the flaws and benefits of the past  showing what not to, and what to, repeat
",1
"The author gave many thorough and enlightening illustrations on how communication breaks down & what to look out for. After reading & self-examination, one could identify the areas for  improvement & learn  from the methods prescribed. The first part identifies the types of  relationships within the family. The second on developing God-honouring  relationships, dwelling mainly on the subject of communication. I was very  much enlightened by the types of circuit jammers within the family. Part  three expounds on sustaining Godly family relationships. It explains why  families fight & how to turn discord to concord. I am very much  encouraged & edified from the reading of this book
",1
"Pictures via camera reflect not only what the photographer sees, but what he thinks about. The most successful reflect an understanding of things as much as their image, and Jerry Thompson's exploration of the relationship between seeing and thinking in Truth And Photography provides a set of fine duotone photos to illustrate essays reflecting on working photography experiences
",1
"I've been a fan of Carol Dweck's scholarly work for years. Her work on self-esteem, self-concept, and the incremental vs. entity theories of intelligence provides some of the most powerfully useful tools I've encountered for educators and parents in their work with children, as well as in their own self-awareness and lives. I'm delighted to see this information written here in such a user-friendly conversational tone, rich with stories that illustrate the nuances and complexities of Dweck's research and ideas. I'm recommending this book to all of my graduate students (teachers and principals working with gifted learners), as well as to parents of high-ability children.

Dona Matthews, Ph.D., Director of the Hunter College Center for Gifted Studies and Education, City University of New York
",1
"This unusual love story, set with the background of war and rainy london is beautiful and intoxicating.  The characters are palpable and beautiful both in their strengths and thoughts.  
an engrossing book (i couldn't put it down, yet i dreaded the end) that should be read by anyone in search of beauty or life
",1
"I felt that the book was basically the same as the previous edition, with the exception of aromatherapy, and electric filing.  Unfortionatly no one book can give all of the information that is required about a subject.  That is what teaching is all about.  I generally supplement the material from other books, and Florida law so our students stay on the right path.  Over all I would have to say that this book was above average, and addressed many of the changes in the industry to date
",1
"There are many gorgeous photos of both the insides and outsides of public and personal spaces. I was actually surprised at the number of homes we get a peek into. If you enjoy interior design, of just about any style, you will find it here. I love all the personal libraries shown, crammed with books and interesting objects. Loved the mannequins, esp the life-sized guy sitting on the couch. I am a fan of exotic, eclectic decorating and found many examples to keep me happy with the book
",1
"I really like this series of books that range from this ""Storage"" one to ""Bathrooms,"" ""Family Houses,"" etc...  but I am giving this book a 4 because it shows alot of houses that seem to be beyond the means of most people that I know around my area.  This book also likes to tell you to build storage in every little crack/space that does not currently have something useful going for it.  I am giving it 4 stars, because it does inform you of all of the different types of devices that are currently (as of the book being published) available to help you make storage possible in nooks and crannies.  It also gives you ideas and suggestions about how you can make more use out of the storage that you already have, by redesigning the shelving to make it more attractive also.  Try not to read it all at once though, because I started to gloss over stuff just to get to the end of the book.  Take it a step at a time and it will be a great start for you
",1
"Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, is called upon to aid in the investigation of a commercial jet crash in the mountains of North Carolina.  Andrew Ryan, a colleague and romantic possible, turns up on site also when his partner in the Quebec police is listed on the flight manifest.
When Temperance discovers a foot that does not seem to come from the disaster site, things begin to get dangerous for her and those around her. It becomes a clue in a deadly mystery involving many highly placed individuals who want their secret to remain just that , a secret.
Temperance and Ryan spark reactions from each other, the question is, will it ignite or just smolder??
This novel is full of forensic science and detail that open the door to a fascinating yet gruesome world.  
Kathy Reichs has an afterword page in which she talks about 9/11 and the real disaster site in NYC where she aided in determining the identities of victims from the Twin Towers, serving on the government disaster response team, much like Temperance in this novel.......although she says the horror and emotional impact was more than she could have imagined.  The novel was written and published 2 months before the real disaster occurred
",1
"An excellent book for anyone that barbecues
",1
"i'm writing this before reading the whole book but its a collection of articles so the different chapters are discrete units under a common theme of the economies of the arab world with a good deal on the economies of their oil producing GCC members.

reading this book more than twenty years after it was published is fascinating as so many of the issues and repercussions mentioned have either come true or held true and the state of the region has not improved considerably but even regressed in many cases.

consider the following excerpt from the book that i found interesting:

""the oil states today face tremendous challenges, as oil revenues start to decline. Few expected that the decline would come so soon. Everybody knew it would come, but it was expected later rather than sooner.""

this is almost like seeing history repeat itself in real time.

worth a look if you're interested in the field
",1
"Drenched with light and clarity, this book is an empowering and practical guide to accessing one's inner wisdom. Reading Marcia Emery's book inspires joy, and the freedom of true knowledge and acceptance of oneself.       Marcia Emery's various exercises for communicating with your inner wisdom  are not only effective, but will put you in touch with an infinite source  of love and joy. Awaken your intuition - and more energy than you've ever  known
",1
" I liked the book but you also have to consider the end killer... Is that logical at all?? The senator is in his late fifties and so how old is his father? If he had the senator when he was twenty he'd have to be 77. Is it really reasonable that he's running around killing people, and setting houses on fire. It was a very unlikely twist to the end. It still was a good book
",1
"David Baldacci has a knack for writing fiction that sucks you in and holds you no matter what the story.  Part of the talent is to introduce interesting characters.   This book is no exception.  Sara Evans is a clerk working for a Supreme Court justice.  She is quite close to another clerk (Michael Fiske) who works for a different judge.  Michael asks Sara to marry him but Sara really loves Michael's brother John, who Sara has only seen once and never officially met.

Michael comes across an appeal that intrigues him (to say exactly why would be a spoiler and it is only revealed very late in the book as to exactly what intrigued him) so much that he pulls it out before it is filed and goes to visit the requestor.  That happens to be a Rufus Harms who is serving a life sentence in an Army prison for murdering a girl.

When Michael goes to see Harms, practically all Hell breaks loose and Harms realizes he is in danger himself and some mysterious evil guys from the prison murder Michael.  Apparently there was some secrets in Harms appeal that some powerful unknown men do not want known.

Michael's murder is investigated by his brother John (an ex-cop who is now a defense lawyer for the lowest of the low criminals) and he enlists the aid of Sara who was close to Michael and knows some things about Michael.  Sara is instantly in love with John and the more they start investigating the more they put their lives at risk from the unknown powerful men.  Additionally, the police start to suspect John of the murder of his brother especially when he is named as the sole beneficiary of Michael's life insurance.

Meanwhile Rufus Harms has escaped prison from some of those men that tried to kill him.  

So we have tension throughout to see if Rufus will survive as well as John and Sara before the evil guys get them.

There is a lot of good information about what goes on behind the scenes at the Supreme Court.  A good rea
",1
"In 1995 the poverty level for a family of four in the United States was $19,806. 37 million people in the US live at or below this level. Ron Sider correctly asserts that it is morally unacceptable for 37 million people to live in poverty in this country while the wealthiest people are gaining a larger percentage of all wealth. In Just Generosity, Sider presents his vision for overcoming poverty in America. And it is a compelling vision.

Sider's vision is distinctive because he acknowledges that poverty is caused by both systemic injustice in society's structures and by poor moral decisions by impoverished individuals. Both must be addressed in order to stop cycles of poverty.  

Drawing upon biblical study, Sider presents the goal of an economy of justice: ""Every person or family has access to productive resources (land, money, knowledge) so they have the opportunity to earn a generous sufficiency of material necessities and be dignified participating members of their community"" (81). Sider deals with a vast array of programs and issues like welfare, minimum wage, tax credits, health care, and education reform, showing how each could be employed in ways that encourage work, empower the poor, and strengthen families.

Sider ends with this troubling question: Do enough Christians really care? This book should be required reading for any that do.
",1
"
Since 1965 I've taught this ""truth"" based upon metaphysical studies.  Now, at last, there is scientific evidence supporting the fact that EMOTIONS CREATE FACTS
",1
"I used to draw animals and buildings years ago and decided I wanted to go back to that. And add fantasy creatures to my ability. 

This books covers drawing people, creatures and buildings. If you already having some drawing skill, this book is a great help.
",1
"Going to Barsetshire is a delightful book, and a much-needed accompaniment to the Thirkell novels.  Ms. Snowden obviously spent a great deal of time reading the 29 novels in Thirkell's Barsetshire series, and has produced a companion to the series that makes it very easy to keep track of the characters, places, and cultural references, especially for an American who is not well versed in mid-20th Century English esoterica.  I also enjoyed the writing style and the well-chosen quotes.       In addition to the book's comprehensive content is its straightforward layout and user-friendly format. This exemplary reference guide is not a flashy publishing house production, but instead keeps with the simple charm of Barsetshire in its quality and overall appearance. The original cover art, showing an idyllic Barsetshire scene, is lovely.       I heartily recomend the book to all Thirkell fans
",1
"This book was the first one I ever read about programming. It launched a whole new world of logical and complex thinking that I could never have understood without the magnificent touch that the author gives us. He applies very simple examples to explain very complex matters about programming instances adding humor and intelligence... what else would you want?
It's simply excellent. 110% recommended.
",1
"As a working mom, this was a book I couldn't resist.  Of course, I don't bear much of a resemblance to the mama in this story, but I think my toddlers (both boys) get the picture.  The comforting notion seems to resonate with them that after a long day, mama will come home to the sweet bedtime routine.
",1
"A refreshing look on software development and the many pitfalls you need to avoid.  This book should be read by everybody involved in any software project but the simplest. In my opinion, a standard work.  Nevertheless, it needs to be handled with care.  During ages, SW development managers have tried convincing their people to break out of the chaos, and plan their work.  This book correctly warns for the opposite effects of believing that planning solves everything. Some people might however read between the lines that no planning at all is the best practice. The book confirms what I and my successful colleagues found through experience and intuition: there is an optimal point of planning upfront.  Less harms because you don't know where you are going, more (too detailed) harms because it takes away flexibility and it slows you down significantly. 
New to me was the use of queuing theory to point out what we see every day: too many features, under-resourcing leads to far bigger delays than human mind can ever guess.
",1
"""This was the first sales book I ever read. And today, 10 years later, I have it proudly displayed in my library. When I speak with clients who I now teach sales skills to, I still reference it from back in my days selling copiers in 1994. Way to go Stephan!""
",1
"I knew the government was a little crooked...but when I read this....well...lets just say I dont trust the government anymore. Its a very great book, and fills you in on some information that you might have missed
",1
"Unlike most dystopian novels, which tend to focus on what may happen to government in the future, ""A Clockwork Orange"" focuses on the nature of the individual in the future. Our protagonist is Alex, only 15 years old but already a habitual criminal, roving the streets with his band of friends, taking advantage of every opportunity to wreak havoc on the world around him. The boys have no qualms about attacking the helpless. In fact, the more helpless the victim, it seems, the more pleasure the boys take in the act. The most interesting and disturbing aspect is that the boys manage to maintain a strange sort of innocence even as they commit the most heinous and violent crimes. They aren't doing any of this out of malice toward their targets; in fact, it seems to matter very little who they pick as a victim. They are creating mayhem just because it's fun for them.

Everything changes, however, when one particular break-in goes horribly awry and Alex finds himself sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder. There, though he manages to create an illusion of good behavior, we see that the experience has no real impression on his sense of morality. Then, after two years, he is chosen for a new, experimental rehabilitation program, designed to rid him of any desire to indulge in, or even contemplate, any acts of violence. As we see, however, this ""treatment"" also leaves him without any choice in the matter of being good or not. He HAS to be good because he is programmed to be. This, of course, raises the question central to the book: Does good behavior actually mean you are a good person if you have no freedom of choice?

The book can be a little difficult to get in to at first, predominantly because of Burgess's unique style. The story is narrated by Alex and thus, is written in the complex slang language, invented by Burgess for this book, that the youth of this society engage in. For example, a sentence taken from the opening chapter: ""He looked a malenky bit poogly when he viddied the four of us like that"" (pg. 5). There is no glossary, but if you stick with it, you will start to develop a feel for what most of the words mean after a couple chapters. However, if you find yourself having difficulty, a nice, comprehensive lexicon can be found on Wikipedia if you search for ""English to Nadsat"" (due to review guidelines I am not allowed to include a direct link). Unfortunately, it is alphabetized by the English equivalents, not by the slang terms, so looking up a word can be a little difficult.

One final note of interest: The original British publication of ""A Clockwork Orange"" had 21 chapters, as does the current American edition. However, when the book was first published in the United States, the last chapter was dropped. As Burgess explains in his introduction to the restored version, publishers considered this 21st chapter a sellout. Whether it is or isn't is up to you to decide, but I can tell you that the presence or absence of the last chapter makes a huge difference in the overall feel and message of the book. Without the final part of the story in place, the book offers a bleak message, implying that human nature cannot really change. On the other hand, reading the book with the final chapter in place gives us a little more hope. Beyond that, Burgess tells us in his introduction, interpretation is up to you
",1
"I am a calligrapher and I am always looking for poems and prayers to write and have framed  and then present to the newlyweds.  I was excited when I opened the book and read some of the beautiful verses. I tell you I am in a calligrapher's heaven.   My brother is a minister and as the ""wedding season"" is approaching I will be ordering a copy for him. If I could rate this book higher than the 5 stars I would.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!  
",1
"I really enjoyed this book, it wasn't completely comprehensive but did give a good overview of Buffet's investment style.  While it didn't go heavily into the analysis of stocks that I would have liked it did describe who influenced Buffet, thanks to this book I was able to pick up some Fisher and Graham and have learned quite a bit.

All in all I would reccomend this book for someone interested in a light biography of Buffet or a little insight into how he makes decisions
",1
"Reinventing the Bazaar used real-life examples to make markets understandable to any reader.  From pharmaceutical companies to the Tokyo fish market, McMillan brings markets alive right in front of the readers' eyes.  He attempts to demystify the mystery behind markets, and in my opinion, he succeeds.  Each chapter presents a new market setting which McMillan uses to illustrate his various points.  While the book has an economic undertone, the level of writing is not above the understanding of even a high school student.  All terminology is explained not only with words, but with examples, as well.  The book was enjoyable, especially if you have little familiarity with various market settings.  However, I would encourage anyone to read this book because even the experts on markets will have their knowledge enriched by this book
",1
"When I first read the title, my first thought is ""I know this, I've heard it before"".

That is how I felt. Until I read the book. What an eye opener! 

I happen to be one who rarely gets sick, and recovers quickly when I do. I also tend to opt for a healthier life style. However, there is a family history of cancer. 

In reading this book, I realized that there is even more that I need to be doing to protect myself and my family. Dr. Rapp has done a considerable amount of research and shares her findings with the reader. Research references are listed at the end of each chapter for those wanting to learn even more.

If you own a home you need to read this book. If you rent a home or apartment, you need to know the information in this book. If you golf or live near a golf course, this book is for you. If you have children or grandchildren in school, consider reading this book
",1
"I'm gonna quote a paragraph from the book, please note - in no way can this paragraph tell you anything about the book or spoil it for those who havent read it.

"" A woman left at home would close her eyes and the power of her need would enable her to see her man on his ocean ship battling pirates with pistol, her man in the battle's fray with his sword and shield, standing victorious among corpses, her man in a desert whose sands were on fire, amid mountain peaks, drinking the driven snow. So long as he lived she would follow his journey, would feel his elation and his grief, and if he died a spear of love would fly back across the world to pierce her waiting omniscient heart. It would be the same for him. IN the midst of desert's fire he would feel her cool hand on his cheek and in the heat of battle she would murmur the words of love into his ear : live, live. That was what the stories said about love. That was what human beings knew love to be.""

Shalimar the Clown was about as good as I thought it would be. It definitely isn't the best book I've read this year but I must say Salman Rushdie's writing style captivates me nonetheless. In between the most relevant paragraphs, he says things that are unique and have a true stronghold on the reader's mindset. In this book, he mentions a quote, twice, which really caught my eye. ""One doesn't know the questions of life until one is asked""

Another thing I noticed about the book is that the central character, Shalimar, is seldom mentioned. The book seems to hover around other dozen characters. Only in prison and in that one letter sent back to Kashmira does Shalimar's true character really come out. The second quarter of the book got immensely boring and I really despise how Max's character was written about. It was annoying, difficult to read, over-detailed and excruciating to read.

Boonyi was an outstanding character. So was the old witch and Boonyi's father. When Colonel Tortoise was mentioned in the book, I thought his character would prove of some consequence but nothing about yielded anything. One couldn't help but dislike Max's lack of integrity. Mythology is rather well written about in this book. Every 50 pages, a one page something would be mentioned including just the right amount of detail and words.

Conclusion -

While reading,time and again I would rage on to my friend about how superb the writer's grasp on the reader is. The writer knows his words,where to use them, he knows that he has a prodigious way of writing and he employed them better than ever. Maybe this book disappointed his core fans. Maybe it LACKED A SPARK enough to obilerate doubt.

All in all, I can say that Salman Rushdie has a wierd way of his own. His vocabulary is truly astounding. Maybe he is the most ""learned"" writer I've ever read, if not the best. Respect. 


H.S Anand
-17th October'06 12.13P
",1
"Always lively and perspicacious, this clever book seeks to solve a seemingly trivial puzzle: while historians have mustered a host of plausible explanations (weapons, diseases, horses, etc.) for why Europeans spread so thickly into North America, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina (the lands Crosby labels ""Neo-Europes""), what could possibly explain why the dandelion did so as well? The question doesn't appear so innocuous when it is pointed out that not just the dandelion, but the European housefly, and feral pigs, and a horde of other weeds, pests, crops, diseases and livestock from Europe followed suit. Quite often these organisms, even the domesticated ones, raced ahead of European explorers themselves, rapidly proliferating into vast herds and stands that the settlers themselves could not fathom. Why was this so? Why didn't, say, Australian weeds, their seeds inadvertently shipped back to England, eventually carpet the meadows and fields of Europe? To answer this odd question, Professor Crosby begins his story with Pangaea--the great supercontinent that began to split apart about 200 million years ago into the continents we now have scattered about the globe. These ""seams of Pangaea"" then forced a radical divergence in the terrestrial flora and fauna of the planet, and set the stage for the equally radical convergence initiated when European mariners crossed these now mid-oceanic seams. Crosby details case after case in each category: weeds, pests, livestock, diseases and crops. He forcefully illustrates how sudden and overwhelming the ecosystem takeover was until the suspense is too much to bear. What is the answer? He drops clues every now and then, and the most explicit one is in the form of a quote that begins one of the final chapters: if weeds are to be defined as those organisms that thrive on the disturbances caused by humans, then humans themselves must be considered the primary weed of all. Here, then is the answer: all the opportunistic fellow-travelers of the European diaspora are exquisitely coadapted to the scale and pace of the continuous ecological disequilibrium characteristic of the Old World civilizations--and they, in turn, furthered and helped generate that very disequilibrium. Together--humans, horses, cattle, pigs, rats, clover, peaches, measles and, yes,  dandelions--comprised a potent self-replicating system, dimly discerned by its contemporaries, that could not be stopped once it spilled across the seams of Pangaea
",1
"I love readding Calvin and Hobbes.  Best cartoon from the newspaper and great books. What a great imagination the writer is.
",1
"This book of eight stories by Virginia Woolf shows Virginia's mind at work demonstrating her ""stream of consciousness."" Each story flows from one thought to another asking different questions about life.  For  example, ""The Mark on the Wall"" questions the meaning of life and  existence.  ""An Unwritten Novel"" is about what people hide and  what you don't know about a person you seat next to on an  ""omnibus.""  All these stories will make you look at life in a  slightly different way
",1
"I would agree with the translator that Imitation of Christ ranks very close to the Bible. I read it over and over. It is shocking clear and concise. It forces you to examine your conscience and admit that you are a sinner and encourages you not to be afraid to carry your cross and aim, yes, to be a saint.

Thomas a Kempis's words cut to the heart and ring true over and over. In the normal state of human depravity, deception, duplicity, relativism, and excuse-making no one could write such a book without a transcendant, almighty, omniscient, omnipresent and infinitely merciful Lord.

Each chapter feeds the hungry and thirsty soul and feeds the fire to seek our Lord more and more.

I wait patiently for your return Lord Jesus for your judgement and the new heavan and earth
",1
"The Knot is an awesome book with everything you'd need to keep track of your your wedding planning.  I got this book and have been incredibly happy with it.  I recommend going to their website as well to find additional information:  theknot.com.  There is also a helpful website: createyourownweddingwebsite.com that walks you through how to create a wedding website for your special day. (that's how I found this book!)

I recommend buying this book!
",1
"Indispensable for many areas of Theological research - Church history, Dogmatic overviews, biographies, editions, and so many many other things.
A masterpiece! If I could afford it, I would give everybody who press the ""yes"" button by ""was this review helpful to you?"" a copy! :-
",1
"I love this book--it's beautiful. This book is a delightful romp through the farmyard, with goose leading the way across the pages as she chases a butterfly, causing the ruckus with all the animals. The abstract artwork truly appeals to adults and, therefore, may be too difficult for very young children to comprehend: the pigs in the muck, the kittens in the hayloft, the pigeons in the rafters all might be a little tough for a baby to distinguish. But a parent rereading the book several times in a row will appreciate seeing Fleming's gorgeous art each time. My nine-month-old son reacts to the colors with glee and my imitations of the animals with laughter--this is definitely one of his favorites. I highly recommend this book
",1
"Bailie draws on Rene Girard's theory of foundational violence as the generative cultural force, and explores its modern effects on a culture no longer enthralled by ritual or sacralized violence.  I found especially compelling the newspaper accounts of violent acts which have taken place within my own memory.  Bailie uses these along with historical accounts of scapegoating to illustrate his theory, producing a hard-hitting indictment of all forms of violence, whether isolated actions or legalized responses to a violent act.  Increasingly, I find it difficult to distinguish between an act of violence and an act of retributive justice.  I have not read a newspaper account of a violent encounter the same way since reading Violence Unveiled, nor do I react to photojournalism with my previous detachment.  The impact stays with me, despite the fact that I read the work initially two years ago when I borrowed it from a friend.  I now have my own copy, heavily underlined and notated in the margins with thoughts spawned by Bailie's excellent analyses.  Provocative and insightful
",1
"This book turns the entire concept of intelligence inside out. Seriously mind-blowing. Excellent exercise in extended mental gymnastics. You won't be disappointed
",1
"This book is beautifully constructed, concise, gracefully written, and should be of immense help to most golfers.  If you've read Ernest Jones, Percy Boomer, or Jimmy Ballard (for example) and enjoyed the insights but found it difficult to transfer the written word to your swing, try ""The Keys ..."": You will read a book that may finally lead you to improve your game.  My swing improved markedly after I came to understand author McTeigue's ""lighthouse turn"" (Lesson Two: Momentum).  
",1
"Being a flight attendant myself and looking through the SkyMall magazine countless times on long flights I can tell you...this book is AMAZING. I have never laughed so hard from a book all my life. I really want to get another one and put it in the crew lounge. I'm sure the flight crews will get a kick out of it :
",1
"This book, unlike Morris's work on Hillary, is actually worth reading, because its perspective and analysis of our 42nd president is fascinating. Though the title is a little tiresome (and becomes especially so when Morris continues to say throughout the book `Why? Because he could!') the book is a fast page turner.  

I particularly enjoyed Morris's portrayal of Clinton as one who only came to life around other people: if they were happy, he was, if they were in distress, he felt their pain. A master of reading people and changing according to their feelings, Clinton was perfectly suited to becoming a president who ruled by polls. Enter Dick Morris. As Clinton's chief poller, he also became, at one time, his chief political advisor. And Clinton needed one. 

As `My Life' by Clinton shows, the president had no overall strategy and failed to see events as interconnected. For him, each issue needed to be examined individually and with Clinton, that was a laborious endeavor:  the prez had the painful habit of considering each argument with equal weight, and therefore was extremely indecisive and cautious to take action. Result? Fiasco's like Waco, Somalia, Bosnia and Health Care reform. More seriously for the future: the loss of the Congress to the Republicans (over ten years now and counting) and the failure to stop Bin Laden.  

Morris gives credit where credit is due though: Clinton's work on welfare reform cut the roll books in half and the tough work on deficit reduction allowed the economic boom of the 1990s to take place. Also interesting, was Clinton's use of the presidency as a bully pulpit for families and education: an issue that was local politics, and therefore cost Clinton nothing in the budget but brought in massive political capital. 

Read this book before reading Clinton's `My Life'.  Why? Because Morris points out the inconsistencies and just plain untruths contained therein.  Also, Morris says that the president's autobiography is the `Rosetta Stone' that decodes Clinton. If that is the case, then Morris is certainly the interpreter.   
",1
"I just recently discovered an interest in philosophical thought, and I found myself overwhelmed by all the resources available to me.  I had no idea where to start when I stumbled across The Philosophy Gym.  Nothing could have been more appropriate.  It dives right into all the hot topics and gave me some foundational knowledge about how to approach those issues from a logical standpoint.  It introduces the reader to basic philosophical terminology as well as several of the great historical philosophers and their famous arguments.  Each topic is brilliantly presented in nice bite-sized chunks with suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter.  I couldn't be more pleased with this intro to philosophy
",1
"This book teaches poetic technique clearly while remaining friendly and encouraging.  My second-semester poetry creative writing students use this book as a text together with Michael J. Bugeja's ART AND CRAFT OF POETRY
",1
"Carson McCullers, one of America's greatest Southern writers, was often misunderstood, as many people were put off by or unwilling to  deal with her (at the time) controversial subject matter. MCCullers used the grotesque as exaggerated symbols of everyday experience. The loneliness and isolation of her gothic-like characters were merely extreme examples of feelings we all have, though magnified and intensified to the nth degree.

Tennessee Williams, in his introduction to MCCullers' ""Reflections in a Golden Eye"", posed the question (in a mock dialogue) most people asked about writers of the 'gothic' school such as Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Katherine Anne Porter and Eudora Welty: ""Why do they write about such dreadful things?"" Williams replies, "" In my opinion it is most simply definable as a sense, an intuition of an underlying dreadfulness in modern society.. Why have they got to use..symbols of the grotesque and the violent? Because a book is short and a man's life is long... The awfulness has to be compressed."" 

McCullers, unlike any writer I have ever read, pierces the heart of themes such as love, isolation, and loneliness with her lucid, poetic prose. Tennessee Williams, in Virginia Spencer Carr's biography of McCullers summed up McCullers' writing as follows: ""I have used the word 'heart', but it is not an adequate word to describe the core of Carson McCullers' genius....I believe, in fact I know, that there are many, many with heart who lack the need or gift to express it. And therefore Carson McCullers is what I would call a necessary writer: She owned the heart and the deep understanding of it, but in addition she had that 'tongue of angels' that gave her power to sing of it, to make of it an anthem.
",1
"I first picked up this book because i've always been interested in what young writers have to say. But i have to admit, even i was a little surprised. This story mind the mythicism, is a real representation of what young children's minds sometimes go through. That idea of a person you fabricated, gaining more reality than necessary. Congrats to Ms. Oyeyemi for her brilliant attempt to shine some light on this realm that few share conversations about.

She is one i'll keep in my mind for a while. If you like young writers, you should check out Charles Hedji's Fields of Discovery. I'm an avid reader once again
",1
"I'm in love with The Impressionists in general and with Auguste Renoir in particular.
 His palette is full of light; soft pink, greens and blues are a joy to watch time and again. As most Impressionists Renoir paint wonderful every day scenes, mainly outside as his magnificent: ""The Luncheon of the Boating Party"" (1881), ""The Swing"" (1876) and ""Le Moulin de la Galette"" (1876), whose careful reproductions are shown here.
 He was an artist that loved life and wanted to reflect it as he perceived: full of little moments of simple joy and relax.
 He was also a masterful portrayer as you may see from his ""On the Terrace"" (1881) in the cover of this book or ""Two Girls in Black"" (1881). 
 Another subject that attracted his fancy was the dancing couple, which he depicts with tenderness and accuracy. It doesn't matter if the dancers are from the high class as in ""City Dance"" or commoners as in ""Dance at Bougival"" both from 1883.
 At the end of his life his paintings evolve and produce for our delight: ""Seated Bather"" (1914) and ""The Nymphs"" (1918).
 His life and works are described and commented by the author with keen penetration and endearment.
 Reproductions are awesome and do justice to the Artist.
 Do not miss this book! 
 Reviewed by Max Yofre.
 

",1
"The Penguin Guide is still the best in the business.  It has its biases but you can't beat its comprehensiveness and the reviewers wide range and love of the music are evident
",1
"Never Be Sick Again offers a major breakthrough in medical thinking regarding health and disease.  I am a biochemist doing medical research at UCLA. A friend gave me this book to read, and I was very skeptical.  After reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about what it was saying.  I even lost sleep thinking about it.  After many weeks, I have come to a conclusion - the author is right.  There is only one disease and there are only two causes of disease - revolutionary!  Once you understand this simple concept, it changes everything.  If your mind is not closed to new ideas, the profound insights in this book will change your life for the better.  It will give you the power to both prevent and reverse almost all disease.  With this new understanding, from now on, I will approach my research in an entirely different way.  
C.L
",1
"Sadly, as a rule, I have no great interest in history.  But Ms. Behrman's approach brings the person of Thomas Jefferson to life in a way that appeals to all ages.  She puts personality and emotion into her writing which makes potentially dull facts, dates and events brim with energy.  This is a wonderful series and she does it justice in every way
",1
"An ex-officer in the Argentinean military confesses how political prisoners were murdered. I can't write ""highly recommended"" about this book, because it seems to trivialise those horrible events to some marchendising event. Just read it, you may not be able to sleep for few nights, but you'll get a true look into the mirror of evil regimes, supported by the United States only because they were ""anti-communist""
",1
"As Crow puts it, if it had not snowed on that Monday in March.  The snow led to a chain of circumstances with Crow bringing a homeless teenager home for dinner and a place to stay for the night.  It turns out that the teenager, Lloyd, was a witness to a crime, and that draws Tess into the case when she connects Lloyd to a news reporter.  Events disrupt her life as the case develops and federal agents demand that she reveal the name of the source.  The story starts with a narration by Crow, and alternates between Crow, Tess, and other characters in the story.  You will get a lot more Crow in this novel than in others.  The story has an interesting ending, and you can wonder if Lloyd will show up again.  You get some information along the way about Baltimore soup kitchens and the homeless, and a view of the underside of society where life is sometimes cheap
",1
"This book is pitched, at least in part, to Linux beginners. But it fails in small, maddening ways when speaking to this audience. After a lot of discussion of disk partitioning and install, page 65 tells you to run the ""man"" command in a shell session. It offers no clue that the only way to terminate a ""man"" command is the letter Q - a completely unintuitive action. So a new user can flounder forever, or at least until they get frustrated and reboot. But I don't mean to slam just this book. That same problem exists in most other beginning Linux books, even O'Reilly's pocket guide. All these knowledgeable authors seem to think that noephytes will somehow magically gain access to information that the authors have in their heads, but haven't committed to paper. 

Except for that, it's a very good book.
",1
"This book immodestly bills itself as a unique compilation of useful information for architects.  It is devided into six sections dealing with Measure and Drawing, Proportion and Form, Codes and Guidelines, Systems and Componenets, Characteristics of Materials and a catchall final section entitled a Compendium.  In turn, each section is illustrated with wonderful line drawings and quick run downs of architectural details.

I am doubtful that any architect or engineer would find this book helpful in their practice.  The level of detail their professions require cannot be found in this slender volume.  They rely on detailed, encyclopedic volumes of construction details.  

This book is meant for architectural enthusiasts and non-professionals.  I would recommend it highly for an owner who is overseeing a bulding project.  This book is helpful in translating architectural and building terms into easily understood language. This volume would also be helpful to entry level general contractors, interior designers and people trying to design their own homes.  This book is a well written introduction to an area of study that requires years of training and access to very detailed volumes of architectural details.
",1
"His first novel, THE KNOWN WORLD, won the Pulitzer Prize. This is the book he wrote first, a short story collection that I've been looking forward to reading for a long time. It was a National Writing Award finalist and a Hemingway PEN winner. 

With a pedigree like that, do I really need to review it? Sure, why not? 

When I reviewed his novel, did I mention that he has an amazing ear for dialogue? He does. I believe it shines brighter in this setting than in such a sweeping and breathtaking saga as his novel. 

These are stories that you will feel in your heart, your mind, your soul, your gut. You'll pause between each story so you can ride the wave of awe before you eagerly read the next. Jones is an amazing author. He's why we read, and he's why some of us try to write. Very few will ever reach this man's level, but the attempt is always good for us. 
",1
"The book ""Communicating Effectively"" is a home run!  The format invites an easy read with quick reference potential.  Building on the fundamentals of good communication Lani takes us around the bases and adds authentic and practical ways of dealing with issues we all face.  She brings us home again with new skills learned and a more effective game plan to approach the communication challenge
",1
"Always looking for new books on this subject as they are few and far between. This book is written by a cop who knows the business. Really like the way its written, funny at times as well as informatove, good read actually enjoyed what can be dry material. Highly recommended
",1
"This book helps me understand.  The book also helped me explain Alzhiemers to families.  I have recomended it to families
",1
"""The Player"" provided a trip back in time to what it was like playing ball around the turn of the century through the times of the first World War.  

To understand what Mathewson meant to the game itself is truly amazing.  Not only being a phonomenal pitcher with exceptional control, he realized that he was a role model for others, not only the young kids that idolized him, but the everyday american worker.  To know what he gave of himself to others off the ball field, his charity work, volunteering for WWI at the age of 37, gives us a better insight to the individual.

The book also tells of his attempts to clean up the game, before the Black Sox scandal.  He knew it was going on, tried to warn others, but no one would listen.  

A great read if you want to get a much clearer insight into one of the greatest ball players of all time.  One that is unfortunatelly forgotten by too many in today's game
",1
"This is the author's presentation of the Satipatthana Sutra, the basic sutra on mindfullness. As in all of his works he does the work of a good Dharma teacher very well. He keeps his own personality and teaching idiosyncrasies out of the way so that the student's understanding can arise naturally. There are more elaborate and academic descriptions of the Sutra available and more detailed descriptions of how to use the Sutra in meditation. But this is good basic information presented in a good manner with no frills or personal quirks. The author gives a good commentary on the Sutra and explains why he translates certain passages, but he also gives the alternate interpretations. 

This is a fine basic introduction to the central issue in Vapassana meditation. Highly recommended
",1
"Williams's ear for dialogue, his eye for character, his exploration of love, longing and loneliness are as powerful in these short stories as they are in his plays.  On occasion, the glimmer of a future work rises out of the text, such as the line, ""But the sweet bird of youth had flown from Pablo Gonzales...""
",1
"This book makes BSC theory utterly accessible.  It provides an appropriate amount of background for those who do not know BSC theory well, but the balance of the book is dedicated to implementing BSC for almost any type of company (profit, non-profit, public sector).  Niven's language is clear and thorough and his book serves as a step-by-step implementation plan for BSC
",1
"This was an amazing read. I couldn't put it down.

If you like CSI, then you will love this books. The forensics are very interesting. 

You would never guess who the killer is! I was totally shocked when I got to the end
",1
"The author not only argues for feminism, but she does so in a unique manner, and innovative approach by arguing for feminism across borders.  She compares and defines literary and national borders.  This book is extremely thorough on all aspects of Chicana feminist writing available, by engaging historical theories as well as contemporary notions.  To really grasp the experience, the author has certainly covered her basis in terms of depth, substance, truth and validity.  
",1
"I found the first book, Faerie Wars, pretty interesting so I decided to read this one. In many ways it had excellent qualities such as suspense, mystery and a bit of romance. I'll have to admit, I finished the book pretty quickly because I got hooked onto it and didn't want to put it down. There were many twists and turns of the plot, and it was practically impossible to guess what would happen next at times.
I did, however, find the ending a tad abrupt. It was such a shame to finish the book without any more information on Pyrgus, Mr. Fogarty, Henry or Blue. But overall the book was an excellent one..... it will certainly capture your interest
",1
"The ""Essential Histories"" series from Osprey could easily be compared to the Cliff Notes series.  They'll give you a nice introduction to a topic you are not familiar with, but no real depth.  Most volumns are under 100 pages; therefore, don't expect many ""man in the trenches"" stories.

This volumn is a nice introduction to a recent war, and presented a bit better than most in the series
",1
"""I have shooting pains in my upper left arm."" Said the pilot to Brian.  Brian is the main character in the book Hatchet. This book would be for someone who likes survival in the wilderness or even just survival. I like this book because I am into this type of writing. I think Gary Paulson is a very intelegant man because.....who could have thought of a book about a boy who his plain crashes into the Canadian Wilderness and.............Do you think he survived the wilderness?.........HE DOES SURVIVE THE WILDERNESS!
					Submitted by: Peanut!
",1
"What can I say? More spidey than you can shake a stick at for peanuts. If you ever wished you had the patience to cut out and neatly collect all the Sunday paper comics in a nice neat scrap book then this is the book for you. I'm planning on buying the lot and thoroughly enjoying my strolls down memory lane
",1
"This book describes the eleven-year psychotherapy process for a woman with sixteen different personalities.  The analysis process took place from 1954 through 1965.  Sybil, the subject of the book, was a child of the 1920's and 30's, and her multiple-personality disease was a result of her family's genetic history and her fundamentalist, repressed, and abusive upbringing.  Much of Sybil's struggles were due to the time period in which she lived--her family had mental illness but felt that ignoring it and focusing on other pursuits was the best course of action.  She was so denied the exploration of her feelings that she choked back all symptoms of mental illness and tried to act normal, hindering her recovery for years.

I am still in shock over the patience and dedication that was required to work with the frustratingly different personalities over a period of eleven years!  I got frustrated at the slow and relapse-prone re-integration process at the end of the book, and I admire Schreiber for painstakingly recounting the process instead of using Hollywood-style short-cuts.  Sybil's recovery and emergence as a complete, functional woman in her forties was a very hard-won victory.

During the revealing of Sybil's personalities, I really liked Vicky.  She was the all-seeing personality who know the lineage of all others.  I liked her better than I liked the backbone-less Sybil, and I wanted her to exist for this lost woman.  During the personality-integration process, I learned that all of the personalities were a part of Sybil, and such exaggerated emotion as Vicky's had to be integrated in to part of the whole Sybil.

Overall, this is an amazing book that well stands the test of time.
",1
"How would you like to have to perform your own autopsy? That is the conundrum that faces Dr. Maura Isles in Body Double when she returns from a conference in France to find that the identical twin she never knew she had has been murdered in front of her house. The investigation into the murder leads Maura to a mental institution to confront the woman who gave the identical twins up for adoption 40 years before, and also leads Maura into the chilling discovery that a serial killer has been murderng pregnant women.

This book moves quickly as Maura follows the investigation to its very surprising conclusion. It's a pleasure to see Maura team up with Dr. Jane Rizzoli-- Maura seems to take some of the hard edges off of Jane and Jane seems to make Maura a little less of an ice princess. This is an enjoyable book that you will find is hard to put down until the end
",1
"You will never look at these birds the same again - fansinating
",1
"I have purchased several biological coloring books in the past and use them all regularly in my 7th grade life science classroom.  Adolescents still need color and they learn as they are doing it!  This is just another fantastic resource for me to use with them.  Now that our state standards have changed and include evolution in more detail, I am certain that this will be very valuable
",1
"As a casual piano player and a Broadway fanatic, I was so jazzed to play some of the songs from Avenue Q. The book contains everything you find on the CD and includes a few production photos.
Of course the little details are fun, using terms like ""manilowesque"" ""Huey-Lewis shuffle"" ""prissy sonata"" and ""funky a** groove"" to describe some of the songs. Fun fun fu
",1
"Incredibly useful!  Exactly what I need all in one place
",1
"What an absolute lifesaver! As parents of two kids- (one dreamer and one dynamo) we had run through the endless ""experts"" in our town for answers. This is a priceless resource for anyone who wants to stand up with facts to experts in both the medical and the school-related fields. It gives reasons for behavior and what works ,and more importantly, why what a lot of people want you to do won't work! I have given it to each teacher/specialist who works with my children. Her advice does work and your special bright child will blossom with it. It is written in an engaging and segmented format. Be sure to read the part addressing whether or not to medicate. Perfect for carpool wait times as most parents of these bright and energetic kids don't get any other time to sit still
",1
"I have written a lengthier review of this work elsewhere. But I did want to say to potential readers that the Peggy Antrobus book is a brief and welcome introduction to the global women's movement, that as such it fills a long-felt-want, and that it is to be recommended to those new to, unfamiliar with, or who feel they should be allied with, the women's movement. It would - it will - make an excellent text for those doing women's studies, as to those doing social movement studies, whether globally or more locally. 

Summarising, Antrobus shows the women's movement as political, as recognising women's relationship to social conditions, as processal, as posed against patriarchal privilege, as beginning where and when women recognise their separateness and even their alienation, marginalisation, isolation or abandonment within wider movements for social justice or transformation.

One complaint, but which is much more widely spread than in this book alone. This is the avoidance of the word `capitalism' - even by feminists who are or were once socialists. Capitalism does not even get an index reference in Antrobus. Capitalists, mostly after all male, white and patriarchal, call it capitalism, and are proud of it. So why cannot it not be so named by feminists, who could and surely should condemn it?  This cannot be solely because of their justified criticism of the archaic political-economic determinism of patriarchal socialists. So it has to be due to either a desire to be salonf?ig (acceptable in the salons within which they have been speaking, to the funders they are dependent upon), or a restriction of their utopia to a kinder, gentler global capitalism, a global neo-Keynesian order - for which no convincing feminist case has been made. Pity
",1
"If a book makes me look forward to mid-life - I am all over it! This book was actually required reading for my course study in human development - what a find!  Here, Harvard researcher and bestselling author, Joan Borysenko, takes the cycles of a woman's life and divides them into 7 year increments. Along the journey, she also makes a great case for debunking old myths about women and aging.?That's a Big 10-4, Ms. Borysenko! I find myself constantly at odds with the ""beauty"" images that the media gives us.  I mean, come on, why 'o why are we more often rewarding people for how they look and less for what they contribute to society?  

Perhaps it's escapism - I tell myself (in effort to sleep at night).  Yet, after reading Borsyenko's, book I'm reminded that, yes, it's good to follow intellectual pursuits. And, yes, there's differences between women and men.  According to Borysenko, women are most often motivated by what they can contribute to society, family, and how to make a difference in the world.  Men tend to define themselves by their work.  Most telling!  Anyhow, I won't give away the store here - but in my opinion, if you are of the female persuasion, you will not want to miss this read.  
",1
"I've read many books on meditation and while each of them answers some of my questions, Jack Kornfield's book, A Path with Heart, answers every one save those that must be experienced first-hand in one's own time.  His  voice and advice is articulate, intelligent, humorous, open, patient and  wise.  He starts out by telling you a little about his own experience, goes  on to cover the basics of vipassana meditation and then leads you bit by  bit deep into the issues every meditator and spiritual seeker must face.   What I love most about his teaching style is that he gives gentle,  practical advice on the day-to-day, minute by minute stuff to do to  explore, commit to, love being on the path.  If my house were on fire and I  had to grab only one book on my way out the door, it would be A Path with  Heart
",1
"I teach a grade 5/6 enrichment program and am always looking for unique, stimulating material.  I have already written a fan letter to Mr. Zacarro about his Challenge Math book.  It is amazing.  Every teacher should have a copy.  I didn't hesitate to buy The 10 Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Must Know: But Are Rarely Taught and was again amazed.  It is so good!  Each chapter is a different ""truth"" about what math and science give us and the examples and stories used are interesting, poignant and relevant.  My kids love it and I hear them applying what they learn from this book to current events and problem solving. It will realy make them think. If you teach math or science to kids in grades 6 and up, you will be giving them a great gift by using this book in your classroom!  You may find yourself taking it home to read yourself at night too
",1
"This is one of Nora Roberts' best books ever! I have read everything she's written and this is now my all time favorite. I ADORE this book.  The characters are interesting and very human, the plot is gripping and the background fascinating.  Callie, an archeologist, comes to a little town in Maryland to set up a dig and ends up learning about her birth parents and reuniting with her ex-husband. What I really like about this is the two main characters already have a history before this book so its so much that they fall in love on the spur of the moment, like most romances (including Roberts).  Definitely a book I highly recommend for both the romance and the thrilling plot.  It will keep you glued to the pages until you figure out who the bad guys are
",1
"Beginning with the introduction, I was taken on a fabulous journey. These gifted authors write a wonderful narrative.  Lande's Snapshots add a lot to this impressive and comprehensive companion. They are as engaging as any short story in the New Yorker!
I found the collection of old posters designer appealing integrated with beautiful photography, as one would expect from National Geographic. 
The Guide is uniquely for both armchair and active travelers and TWO books in one. The first carefully expertly evaluates Top Ten lists on everything travel related, from Hotels to Hideaways, National Parks to International Markets.  Subjective of course. We all have our favorites.  I particularly liked a chapter called ""Ten Best Things to do on Sunday Afternoons in Ten Cities"".
PART TWO includes Literary and Historical journeys, elevating this travel guide above all others.  Ready made and travel ready. I'm on my way on the Road to Mandalay! 
The book ends at lands end, with a country-by-country supplement to best destinations. What a travel kit!  National Geographic's Ten Best of Everything is passport perfect in every way. You'll love every moment.
",1
"I read these books just for fun thinking I would finish in a few days and not think about it past that. Well I had another thing coming. I couldn't put the book down once I had started. I missed hours of sleep because of these books. If you want a book that can keep you enraptured for hours read the Artemis Fowl books you won't regret i
",1
"I had no prior experience with music playing (other than blowing some simple tunes from a harmonica) and, yet, I found this
book to be surprisingly easy to learn from.  It smoothly and concisely guides the reader through the key elements of piano playing, starting with one-hand playing, but quickly to two-hands, then chords, etc., and ending with sharp and flat notes.  It is well organized, has well thought out exercises, advices, and a diverse collection of (short) attractive tunes of increasing complexity (from Jingle Bells to Waltzing Matilda to Silent Night to Green Sleeves to We Shall Overcome to Minuet in G Minor).  I prefer it to other teach-yourself piano books that take much longer to cover the same skills, such as The Complete Piano Player or Piano for Dummies.  I particularly like that it gets to two-hand playing almost right away, which I feel is better preparation--even if it feels hard and slows the playing initially.  It may have helped (coordination-wise) that I have been typing for 20+ years with both hands.  If you are looking for a book that teaches all the essentials of basic piano playing in a thoughtful and concise way, then I recommend this book.
If you perfer a slower pace, then maybe look elsewhere.
For me, this was the perfect book to learn from. 
",1
"Once again Mr. Updike delivers an insightful story of life in suburbia and what lurks in the hearts and minds of men and women  - love, lust, betrayal, self doubt.  Villages relates Owen's life as only John Updike can.  The last chapter gets a little too long and not as enjoyable as the rest of the book, but I will certainly recommend it to all my friends
",1
"I in 1996 I bought and read All the Pretty Horses first. Laughed myself off the train seat in to town.  Bought the whole lot and read them in chronological order - re-reading Pretty Horses on the way.  Along with scenes from the Orchard Keeper, Sutree sticks in my mind - images ideas, flavours, jokes, and a personality that I'd rather see more of.  Sutree made me feel that I know this man, and could even like him.  Great fun, and deserves selfish time to read and unwind after reading.
",1
"Great Speeches by Native Americans is the model of simplicity. Though edited by Bob Blaisdell, who presumably provides the single-paragraph introductions, the bulk of the book is simply the spoken words of Native Americans from the time of first contact in North America to the present day. Their messages speak for themselves.

A number of themes and characteristics run through these selections. One is their brevity. The speakers get to the point and make it clearly. Few inclusions run longer than five pages. There is also a level of genuine (and often sad) honesty. Many selections concern the loss of tribal lands and the American Indians' efforts to hold onto them or gain just compensation, if such a thing was possible at the time. The tone is often one of resignation, but also of appeal to the better nature of their listeners. It is not possible to say if these speeches were carefully selected for this editorial theme or not, but it appears that for several centuries the native peoples viewed, rightly or wrongly, the European and later American entry into the continent as something that words and argument and demonstrated moral behavior could combat. Even among the surrender speeches of various tribal chiefs we see the notion that no speaker could really understand what their people could have done differently to avoid such conflicts.

The style could almost be considered anti-oratorical, though the simple approach is here elevated to a style of its own. One should probably consider that many of these speeches are translated into English. Nonetheless, the organization of thought and prioritization of points shows a group of people, separated by years, language, and geography who retain a clear-headed means of addressing their listeners
",1
"Started out a bit slow and built into a real action packed thriller.  Several times I found myself saying, ""Oh Yuk!""  Nevertheless the story line was fabulously interesting and you'll fall in love especially with Thomas, a down syndrome young man with a special gift.  This is another great story by Koontz. 
",1
"Let me just say from the start i worship at the alter of Richard Meier, I absolutely, love his work.  It's so clean and light and refreshing.  This book does a commendable job of showing some of Mr. Meiers most recent work, i especially like the section on his apartment towers in Manhattan, these small towers are as gorgeous as they are contriversial, and the building got a great write up in Vanity Fair a few years ago, well worth the read, anyway the text in this book is well researched and the images are first rate, let's just say that if you have any interest in Richard Meier or just great modern architecture then i believe you will not be disappointed in this purchase.  Highly recommended
",1
"My 8 year old daughter brought this book home from her school library and was excited by many of the projects. From a parent's point of view it was great to have a book with achievable craft projects which yield items the  child can be proud of and parents will happily display. I'm ordering it  now
",1
"At first, I found this book to be difficult to digest because it appeared to be heading in a direction that was in sacrilegious conflict with my beliefs as a Christian and a catechist in the Catholic Church. Yet a part of me was also highly fascinated and captivated by the story, especially since I work as a mental health professional. As I keep reading, I discovered that it wasn't sacrilegious at all but rather a story of general faith and hope, of the extent a mother would go through to protect her child, and of the intrusive nature of the media. I particularly liked the strength Mariah showed during this conflict, despite her past history of nervous breakdown. And I like the way the character of Ian evolved from a sleazy teleaetheist to a caring and more moral man. The secondary characters were all wonderful, in particular Mariah's mother and the lawyers on both side. I thought the trial was once of the most interesting parts of the story. 

As with all Picoult books, this was a deep and heavy novel which wasn't easily breezed through, but it was definitely a compelling and awesome book to read! 
",1
"After a quick internet search I found many reviews on Amazon as well as several other sites for this book and called in an order for it at my local Barnes & Noble that same night.  

Dr. Whitley has written this book in the most responsible and informative way without having to charge his readers for individual sessions!  In my opinion this is a must read not only for parents of underachievers but also teachers and counselors.  We have always tried to stress the same learning structure and goals as the teachers.  However, if at home you are on Dr. Whitley's 10-step track and the teachers are still on a reward and punishment system - the parent needs to be proactive in dealing with the teachers and endeavor to obtain their support as a united front.

Although the steps may seem to be a cumbersome process at first read and initial implementation - the constant image of ""Mr. Rogers"" in the back of my mind is quite calming and thus the process can become a destressor for the parents.  Of course, that may not be so for those parents of hard cases where the child is at the stage where he/she is capable of ""frightening"" resistance.  Obviously, professional help with someone in-tuned with Dr. Whitley's methods would be more advisable than his book!  

To me - this book is for the parents of students in 6th grade or less - and possibly 7-8th graders.  These kids still have some moldability and aren't as likely to have other serious issues that could be the source of the problem (i.e. depression).

For the grammatically correct - the substance of the content of the book far outweighs any such errors that are more the fault of the editors than the author;0)
",1
"An excellent short introduction to the philosophy of logical atomism. The  lectures should be read along with Wittgenstein's Tractatus  Logico-Philosophicus. Russell's logical atomism differs significantly from  Wittgenstein's version of the theory but both share certain key features  which make the theory distinctive. Those who enjoy ""mathematical  Philosophy"" will not be disappointed
",1
"Very topical. Easy read. Hope people in the know read this and give serious thought to the potential for something like this happening.  Gives good reason why border control should be taken more serious by everybody. Looking forward to reading other books by Mr. Bell
",1
"I have been studing leadership for over 15 years both by reading and experience.  I consider this book to be the best book I have read because it describes leadership as a learned activity.  It also says that leadership is in motivating people to do their own work in solving difficult problems. I found that as President of my congregation I was continually going back to the concepts in the book to lead it through a very difficult situation involving placement of the flags in the sanctuary.  It was very difficult to get people to do their own work and not try to step in to solve everything. (That would have been impossible anyway) I found that he described President Lyndon Johnson as a successful leader (civil rights) and unsuccessful leader ( Vietnam).  His discussion on leading without authority is new ground for me.    If you want to discuss the book with others there is an on-line book study at the Work and Worship Institute website. I found it was a good way for me to get more from the book. This is a great book with great stories of a variety of leaders in our society. 
",1
"I read this book 2 years ago, and still consider it one of the most compelling and important books I have ever read. Besides being completely absorbed by this man's life and experiences, I learned so much valuable information about Cambodia from it that I wish it was required reading for anyone traveling there. 

Blended seamlessly with the narrative you will learn of the history and culture of the Cambodians, the groundwork for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, the horrors and fallacies of life under a Communist regime, and the story of Pol Pot. I also gained an insight into Buddhist thought and daily life in Cambodia, all of which prepared me well for my trip there.

Haing Ngor's life story also helped me understand the damaging psychological consequences endured by the victims of this Holocaust, and of the difficulties Cambodians have had in trying to adjust to life in America. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, and many which can give us a better ability to analyze current international events. If you read no other book about Cambodia, read this one
",1
"This is a superb collection and a true tribute to this incredible photographer
",1
"I read an interview with Mr. Vollman, I think a couple years ago, I can't quote directly but he said he thought that prostitutes were very spiritual people.  They save marriages, they provide comfort to the loneliest, most desperate among us.  In practically the same breath he observed that they spread disease and sometimes rob their johns.

That kind of duality is at the heart of much of Vollman's writing.  On the surface, Whores for Gloria is one desperate, delusional man, so eager for even the illusion of relatedness that he attempts to recreate Gloria with bits and pieces of other prostitutes.  It isn't fully clear if Gloria herself was ever real, but regardless, it is now a quest to fill that void collage style with physical samples, such as hair clippings, as well as emotional artifacts.  The most poignant scene may be the protagonist hiring a prostitute, and wanting nothing more than to hear happy childhood memories.  The prostitute complies as best she can but, story after story, the narratives veer into disturbing material.

The hardest thing for the human to do is to hold opposite opinions about one thing at the same time.  The more intelligent and observant one is, the more painfully aware of the absurdity of this task, the more painfully aware of the mental contortions necessary to maintain the illusion of meaning.  This is where the magic lies in true artistc genius, such as a Thelonius Monk solo or, in this case, Vollman's writing.  I've never read anything that better communicates simultaneous beauty and ugliness.  And no better forum than gutter sex, which Vollman renders both repulsive and compelling.  And he doesn't do it by being overly clever.  He does it through the chaos of brute honesty.  Whatever compositional gymnastics go into the writing, the end product is very readable and deceptively simple
",1
"I was very excited to get my hands on this book.  I have been ordering this series from Amazon.co as they are released as I can get them several months ahead on their American counter parts.  I must say that I was disappointed with the beginning of the book.  First- Hem is not the character that I wanted to read about.  Second- the start is slow and the plot drags a little.  But- all is forgiven after 100 pages.  I warmed up to Hem.  I actually think that the authors writting style has improved each book and this book just feels right.  I was done reading way before I wanted to be done.  The ending is nothing but action.  I put the book down entertained and wanting more.  What else can you ask for in a work of fictio
",1
"I read the book first in its HTML form, from Raymond's site, and I felt need to buy the real book.
Its format is very appropriate and shows the best we have in Unix.
Even though I have a degree in chemical engineering, I found it to be a valuable resource for my own projects for open source development
",1
"Charles H. Kahn's account of the Pythagorean philosophical tradtion, although less than 200 pages long, is well worth reading as what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. In a concise, but intelligent, summary, Kahn traces Pythagoreanism from its semi-legendary founder through to such early modern scientists as Copernicus and Kepler. As a young academic who specialises in the Pythagorean tradition I can recommend this work wholeheartedly to scholars, but as a Latinist I must say I was disapointed by Kahn's treatment (or lack of) of this strand of Western philosophy in late Roman and Medieval thought. But, this is still the best up to date history of Pythagoreanism available in the English language
",1
"I actually discovered this book accidentally. It was in the ""return to stock"" section of my Borders Book store and I was perusing the many books people had been interested in. The summary caught my attention, but it was the first page that drew me in. Even from the beginning this book is captivating. It's thrilling, tragic, heart-breaking, and even at times so amusing. Greer has a talent for making Max seem so real. I couldn't stop reading it. It's so hard to put down! Definitely one the best books I've ever read.
",1
"This book has a wealth of information for any practitioner of yoga, from beginner to advanced.  The content is concise and practical, and the poses are sequenced in a way that allows for a gradual and safe progression in the practice. There are also dozens of practice sequences given for both improvement and how to treat common ailments through yoga.  The introduction is especially valuable, as it offers a no fluff in-depth commentary on the philosophical thought behind the asana practice.  I pick it up again and again and am still referring to it after nearly 15 years of owing it.  My copy is dog eared and loved, and was well worth every penny.

An earlier reviewer mentioned that the photos and layout were not user friendly, and only gave the book two stars, which is a shame.  This book was first printed in the mid 1960's - over 40 years ago!  It was the first yoga book of it's kind to ever be printed, and it's content is timeless and as relevant today as ever.  Mr. Iyengar even had to struggle with his then publisher to be allowed to include so many photos, as it was so expensive in those days to print such a book.  I say hats off to the man who brought yoga to the west long before it was ready.  He's a pioneer and a virtuoso of his craft, and his marvelous work should never be over overlooked just because it doesn't come in some glossy package fit for the masses
",1
"Rather a funny novel, gets off to a slow start but the end is superb. Worth reading
",1
"A great great novel! Catches you from the beginning and doesn't let go. You become obsessed and engrossed. Collins has the most gorgeous way of writing....drawing you in. And his descriptive ability is astounding
",1
"I have read all of the Karen Rose books and I continue to love every one of them.  The other reviews go into great depth explaining the plot so I won't.  The best review I can give an author is when I can honestly say ""I can't put it down!""  When I fall asleep at work due to reading all night I can tell you it was a Karen Rose book.  ""Nothing to Fear"" did not diappoint me yet thrilled me with more suspense and visual images than most of Karens books.  

I honestly can say that I wish she wrote 10 times faster so I wouldn't have to wait so long for another book to get published.  When I meet a friend or stranger reading romance I can't help but recommend a Karen Rose book.  This is my latest favorite of hers.  Keep writing Karen!
",1
"A wonderful book providing a myriad of ideas for those of us who need not only a BASIC review of knitting but an introduction to a NEW world of knitting.  Thank you Chapman Tracy for such beautiful photos, tips, etc.  I've already given this book as a gift and will continue to highly recommend it
",1
"The color tabs really help you know what section to look at. The only disadvantages of this field guide are that it doesn't document every species in North America and that the new National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition has the Blue Grouse split into the Sooty and Dusky Grouse making it more up to date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Still, this field guide has many good things.
",1
"Finally a plan that works! I have been able to keep my ideal weight, feel great and still enjoy the beneficial foods for my blood type! This book makes a difference for those out there who have had problems with weight gain or poor health. Try it!

My friend recommended this book highly [...
",1
"This cookbook is the best in my collection - and I have a lot!! The instructions are clear and the pictures are great
",1
"Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is back again in this fourth installment of Sue Grafton's alphabet series.  This time she is offered a fee to give a $25,000 cashier's check to a young man named Tony Gahan.  The check for the fee bounces and Kinsey is now looking for the man who gave it to her, plus the young man she is to give the cashier's check to.  Everything she finds out about her client is bad.  He is a drunk, who has killed several people in a car wreck, and appears to be a bigamist.  When he is found dead, Kinsey has plenty of suspects including survivors of the dead motorists and two angry wives.  This book is written in Grafton's usual breezy style, and Kinsey becomes more independent and more likeable with each book.  I would recommend the whole series to mystery-lovers
",1
"Reading late James - particularly ""The Golden Bowl"" - often strikes me as being similar to reading a novel in a foreign language whose vocabulary you have mastered but whose grammar remains partially a mystery. Anyone who has attempted this will recognise the sensation of understanding all the words, yet not understanding how they fit together. You read a sentence two, three or five times, and it is only then that you understand, if at all, the meaning of all the words combined. Sometimes the meaning never becomes clear.

""Late James"" is a foreign language, but one in which I have become more fluent over the years. When I first read ""The Golden Bowl"" some years ago I understood very little and did not enjoy it. The long, convoluted sentences, with so many things only half spoken - and often never spoken at all - seemed a vast and elaborate machine which never seemed to produce enough to justify its own existence. 

Yet now, having read most of James over the intervening years, I have become more fluent in his language, and find the circumlocutions, complexities and ellipses of the ""late style"", if not exactly crystal clear, then certainly much clearer, and even rather comforting and enjoyable. The subtle discriminations, the way James holds up to the light tenuous motives and turns them slowly - very slowly - so that their hidden facets become, fleetingly, visible; the very real portrayal of interesting characters that James reveals; as well as the languorous, unpredictable turns of a Jamesian sentence - all offer the kinds of pleasures that no other writer (possibly excepting Proust) is able to produce.

 ""The Golden Bowl"" consists largely of conversations, some continuing over many, many pages. The content of those conversations would, for most writers, comprise the details between the main actions of the plot; and for most writers, those conversations would occupy, at most, a few pages. But for James, it is the interstices between big events, the dramas, not so much of everyday events, but of the subtle daily manipulations, the unspoken victories and losses of personal relationships, which interest him and which comprise the novel. 

The subject of ""The Golden Bowl"" is the reciprocal marriages of father and daughter, to a pair of former lovers. The novel is about the tensions and deceptions, and the manipulations, that arise as a result. Who knows what about whom? Who is responsible for what actions? Who is deceiving whom, and who has the moral authority as a consequence? Ultimately, who, if anyone, triumphs, and is their victory a hollow one? These are the sorts of questions James is concerned with. 

""The Golden Bowl"" rates as a great novel - one of the greatest of the twentieth century - because of these qualities as well as its ambiguities. It is also an enjoyable novel, but to enjoy it you must first be sympathetic to the sorts of concerns James is interested in, and you also need to be conversant in his distinctive language. Both of these require - or at least I would recommend - first reading James' earlier and middle period works. For most of us, late James can be a struggle, but one which is justified by its rewards. I don't regard reading ""The Golden Bowl"" as an exercise only for academics, pretentious aesthetes or literary masochists, but I sympathise with those who do. 

Giving ""stars"" to a James novel seems a little inappropriate (he is beyond these kinds of simplistic judgements), But I have given ""The Golden Bowl"" four stars, because there are times when it strains the patience even of those who admire the writing style and enjoy the late James novels, and I prefer ""The Ambassadors"" or ""The Wings of the Dove"". Nevertheless, ""The Golden Bowl"" is one of the great novels in English and is highly recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed James' other novels.
",1
"This has been a great tool in helping my kids understand why they should not eat junk!  Highly recommended
",1
"This book provides a good research methodology which covers the
essential elements of starting and operating a small business
from scratch. The author covers the operational and legal issues
in clear English. There are references to another work entitled
""Businesses You Can Start Almanac by Adams"". Typical new businesses cited by the Adams work are:

- Traffic Control consultants
- Therapeutics
- Technical writers who translate legalese or computerese into
  understandable English
- Personalized Child Books
- Systems Integration
- Time Management Training
- Corporate Training
- Nutrition Consultant
- Standardized Test Preparation
- Manufacturers Reps
- Mystery Shoppers
- Freelance Writers
- Government Contract Consulting
- Efficiency Experts
- Outdoor Adventures
- Noise Control via Dosimeters
- Herbal Products Distributors
- Greeting Card Senders
- Graphic Designers and a plethora of others

The book is a good reference guide for anyone contemplating the
start of a small business
",1
"This book appears on most of the 'best of' science fiction lists that various pundits and critics have put out, even though it is not a very commonly known work. Does it deserve such a placing? I think the answer to that depends upon what your viewpoint is about what science fiction, as a form of literature, is supposed to accomplish. 

The idea is simple enough. A new drug, developed from the bacteria that causes syphilis, is found to have the property of greatly increasing a person's intelligence, but with major side effect - it kills the user in about nine months. The story follows one Louis Sacchetti, a conscientious objector to a seemingly interminable war, and who would already be considered to be a genius by most standards, as he is transferred from a standard prison to a facility specially constructed to see what will happen to its inmates when given this drug. The story is told through the means of a journal that Louis is encouraged, almost forced, to keep. 

As this idea is extremely similar to that of Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon (which was later made into the movie Charly), comparison is invited. Flowers emphasizes the tragedy of the hero, a man who struggles to find those bits of knowledge that will help not just himself but all mankind, up against an unbeatable problem, that of his own retreat to sub-normal intelligence again. Camp Concentration follows a completely different path, that of the essential selfishness of the individual, of nihilism, of the despair of ever being able to change humanity in any meaningful way. The inmates that Louis initially documents are apparently using their greatly enhanced intelligence to investigate alchemy as a means of providing immortality, not for humanity in general, but for themselves and the 'warden' of this prison, Humphrey Haast.  Louis, meanwhile, seems caught up in crafting new poems and a play, entitled 'Auswitch, A Comedy'. The title is indicative of something Disch does throughout this book, playing with names and titles to produce another layer of meaning behind the straightforward words, and is fairly effective in doing so. 

The tone is the primary thing here, a very dark, brooding atmosphere, enlivened by a very wide ranging vocabulary and many references, both buried and open, to other works of literature (most especially Dante), and scientific and psychological theories. Readers who are not familiar with these references may feel a little lost at places in this book - at least I did, as my breadth of knowledge in these areas is clearly more limited than Disch's. But from this tone, Disch develops his themes of the corruption of man, of his baser desires, the absolute horrors of what man is capable of, and where such capacity leads. As such, this book is almost the complete antithesis of Flowers for Algernon - that is, until the ending of this book. 

The ending of this book, I felt, rather drastically detracted from its overall message, as it doesn't seem to fit with the rest, and has a little of a deus-ex-machina feel to it. Given the many layered discourse that Disch presented in the rest of the book, which while sometimes difficult to follow, was certainly excellent writing, this ending was a disappointment.  

While this is certainly a major entry into the dystopian side of science fiction literature, whether it truly qualifies as a 'classic' will be, I'm afraid, very much a matter of opinion for a long time to come. But it is certainly worth reading, if for nothing else than to see the darker side of genius competently presented. 

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat
",1
"In HIS LAST COMMAND, Gaunt's Ghosts have returned from their mission on Gereon, a Chaos controlled planet, to Ancreon Sextus where war is also raging, in a continuation of the story of Gaunt's Ghosts. They have been changed which is frightening to those around them. They changed in order to survive on Gereon, but others think the transformation may be more sinister; therefore, they are put in internment camps and questioned. 

Finally, they are allowed back into battle as the forces attack Sparshad Mons, a step-city ruin on Ancreon Sextus, which appears to be filled with the enemy. Not many people want to listen to Gaunt, even though he is an expert warrior with sharpened senses. Nothing is as it seems as the battle progresses and Gaunt must find a way to get his superiors to understand what he knows. Will Gaunt ever convince them that what they are seeing is not really what they are seeing?

Dan Abnett has written a sequel to a story that I think you would need to read before tackling this one. After a spell, things did become clearer and I was able to pick up the storyline. The characters were well flesh out and the writing was smooth but the story did move a bit slow in places when some of the battles were taking place.  There were many battles and a lot of dying on the battlefields. Strange monsters inhabited the land and only Gaunt knew where they came from. The monsters were fascinating in that they could not be killed in a normal way. Only Gaunt's Ghosts knew how to get rid of them.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
",1
"It is almost like dream comes true when I saw the revised, new second edition out at the bookstore.  The imrpoved edition not only has amended the errors or typo in its predecessor, but has graciously added new/updated materials in synthesis.  You may see it as an equivalent to Jerry March's Advanced Organic Chemistry but a whole different approach.  The sections on oxidations, reductions, and organoboranes are excellent.  Since organic synthesis is a broad and infinitely growing field, not a single book covers all the principles and gadgets of organic chemistry.  Use it as an encyclopedia or along with popular title like Nicholaou's Classics in Total Synthesis in order to enjoy the wonders of organic chemistry
",1
"I ordered this book primarily for the benefit of my 7 year old son. We're doing a research project on oceans, and while we have a few good resources, I felt this one, with its 3d imagery, would more likely capture and hold his attention. What I didn't realize was how thoroughly it would capture and hold mine. For me, 3D had always meant multicolored plastic glasses and headaches. Though the book was described as stereoscopic, I didn't understand what that meant. Stereography was something new for me, even if as a form of photography it is over 150 years old. 

This is not a matter of red and blue separations; the 3D results from the human eye's trick of blending 2 photos taken (simultaneously) an eye's width apart.  Photographer Mark Blum is a pioneer in the art of underwater 3d photography, and his work is beautifully displayed here.  Everyone I've shown this book to has been fascinated by it, and I fully expect that when we've finished with our project the book will find its way to permanent display in my home
",1
"I truly enjoyed Northern Lights.  Ms. Roberts ways with words are so descriptive and it kept me going with the mystery and growing love between the two characters in this book.  I truly enjoy Nora Roberts, she is an excellent writer.  I cannot wait to read more of her newer writings as well as her older writings. 
",1
"Mark L. Sirower's thought-provoking and complex book is actually a critically acclaimed academic study that challenges the reasoning behind corporate acquisitions. Pointing out that acquisitions usually devalue the acquiring companies (a loss from which they rarely recover), Sirower delves into management fundamentals and mathematical analyses to get to the bottom of merger and acquisition problems. Three detailed appendices feature plenty of financial calculations, performance measures and data from various corporate acquisitions to back up his assertions. We [...] recommend this book to those involved in mergers and acquisitions and to other readers intrigued by the inside view of this ""carnivorous quest.
",1
"Yes, it's the bible of cooking.  Its like a degree at the culinary institute.  However, its not an easy book to cook from.  Most recipes refer to several parts of the book for details on how to prepare different parts of the recipe.  So you contstantly have to page back and forth in the book.  Its intimidating for the novice who just wants to cook, but if you really want to learn about cooking then its THE book to have
",1
"Most people will say that Episode One is their least favorite of all the Star Wars films. But John Williams composure for this one is second only to the Empire Strikes Back for the entire Star Wars trilogy. This extended version is a must have, it contains all the music from the movie. The entire fight scene at the end of the movie is included and its wonderful to listen to. I wish somoone would do the rest of the prequel trilogy like this CD. A must have
",1
"Stu's wit and cleverness shines through on every page, making what could be only drab descriptions into entertainment even for those who know these tricks by heart.  If you like this, get a copy of Stuart Crump's *It's  Yo-Yo Time!* which includes not only tricks, but history, articles, and  fiction on yo-yos -- all of top quality
",1
"There is a reason this book has sold over 180,000 copies. It gets right to the point. It accompanies each strategy with a visual aid so you can get a mental picture in your head. Further, its section on analyzing stocks and commentary on the state of financial statements and the financial market are right on the money. If your just starting out in options, this book really is a must.
",1
"When John Grisham introduced us to Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a Memphis tax boutique controlled by the Mafia, the idea of an in-house firm for the mob was hilarious. These days no one, least of all our hero Scott Finn, is particularly sure that organized crime doesn't just control the firm, but also the governor's office, the US Attorneys Office and the Boston PD.

Finn, who worked and fought his way out of the streets of Southie to the thick-pile carpets of Boston's Brahmin legal establishment, finds himself back among the thugs and characters of the world he thought he left behind.  When a fellow associate and friend with benefits is killed by a copycat killer seeking to emulate ""Little Jack"" who was terrorizing the city Finn is drawn into the fray, where he acquits himself brilliantly while maintaining his place on the partnership track.

Finn even finds a new love interest in the cop who is trying, though not very hard, to put him away. And a childhood friend proves an invaluable ally as Finn attempts to clear himself and clean up the city in the process.

If it seems over the top, it is. But it is good fun too
",1
"The recipes in this book are often somewhat complex, but they are easy to follow and the results are wonderful. Braising does not aways take a long time either.  One of my favorites is Soy-Braised Chicken Thighs with Star Anise and Orange Peel - 40 minutes total
",1
"When I read Alpha Male Syndrome, I saw myself and the many ""Alphas"" I've worked with in high-tech corporate America.  In some instances I could call out the names of those I'd either worked with or had family relationships or friendships with - based on the Alpha types, strengths and risk behaviors so well defined in this book.   I found the practical tips - encouraging specific change, in those who don't seem open to changing - to be useful, hopeful, encouraging and sometimes even funny.  I may go broke sending Alpha Male Syndrome to my too-many Alpha friends and more importantly to those who work or live with them!

From soup to nuts I enjoyed recognizing and knowing myself better through the book and from taking the author's online Alpha Assessment - then following the Action Steps in the book, and updated online Alpha Tips.  I can see how and why Ms. Ludeman and Dr. Erlandson's approach to executive coaching is effective.  
",1
"Pojman does a superb job of illustrating many different approaches to ethics, providing examples of practical application of each. This helps the reader develop a critical mind, capable of reasoning his or her way through ethical dilemmas that we all face on a daily basis. Pojman is not afraid to go for the jugular on approaches in which he finds serious flaws, such as cultural and ethical relativism. The reader will find that Pojman does not adhere to one ethical theory in particular, but rather calls for reason and judgment, based on strong moral principles, in every situation. Some situtations call for a utilitarian approach, some for a virtue-ethical approach. Whatever approach he takes, however, will be based in thorough and sound reasoning. This book makes its readers want to be better people.
",1
"Halfway through it and it is very good concerning the difficulties that physicians who are married or in a serious relationships face thoughout their careers.  A good read for those entering the profession and a must read for those recently married
",1
"This was a book that finally answered my wife's questions.  She is a theologian (main stream, liberal.  Evolution is OK) and deals with science and religion frequently.  She kept asking me of my biochemical research ""is it predictive?"".  What she was asking was from my studies in protein structure could I predict the Taj Mahal?  I mumbled a great deal during those conversations.  

In this book Mayr give voice and coherence to the chaos that is biology.  It is not the science of physics, where one equation rules all.  Choices, and accidents happen, and they shape future development.  That is who we are.

I recommend this book to anyone really interested in what biology is, and what is can say about how it has arrived in this place and time.  

duke ou
",1
"Finally a book just for woman athletes!  I have had sports related injuries in the past and now I know what to do to prevent them.  I thought the information was great and presented in a concise and easy to follow manner.   I recommend this book to highly
",1
"Patriotic terrorist fighting storyline.  Exposes the political games played in Washington, that many times put our military in dangerous situations.  This book inspires me to patriotism and also deep gratitude to the Special Forces men who are so brave.  I know the book is fiction, but I can't help but feel that it is more truth than fiction.  Mitch Rapp's wife Anna is getting a little hard to stomach.  She is a good example of how an aggressive woman can nearly neuter a strong man. Again, hard to recommend to absolutely everyone because of the explicit sexual situations.  I hate to encourage my teenage boys to read it, although 95% is absolutely wonderful and inspiring, portraying men as REAL MEN. 
",1
"Perfectly simple and indistinguishable from the ""real"" Amazon - except the price. Thanks for everything
",1
"Mark Liberman and Geoffrey K. Pullum could be accused of making the best of an already satisfactory situation in publishing this book that reiterates their ongoing blog on linguistics.  But for this reader, having never visited their blog (until now), this book is a treasure trove of quips and oops and pooh bahs and evidences of the strangely twisted manner in which we communicate.

Written in a casual style that makes the faux pas revelations more cogent, the authors share embarrassingly poor writing from the media, from authors, from those in control of the country (as though the mentality of the US might somehow be reflected in the malapropisms of George W.  ...Yikes!), and yet reading this blogline of information never seems vitriolic. Criticism is one of the most substantial ways to create change and hopefully this book and blogline will focus many minds on the misuse of the English language, perhaps effecting some much needed corrections.

FAR FROM THE MADDING GERUND (didn't you always wonder why Thomas Hardy used that word in the title of his great novel 'Far from the Madding Crowd'?) is a book to pleasure the mind - and humor - and a fine resource for perusing before writing or speaking to a group of wise souls.  So maybe it is a print form of a blogline, but for those of us who tire of wading through the computer for reading, it is a complete (?compleat?) pleasure!  Grady Harp, June 0
",1
"I really enjoyed this book. I could pore over the fashions, the interior decoration - it satisfied my desire to see all the details! At the same time, I got a sense of the passage of time in Virginia and Vanessa's lives. Read as a companion to any of Woolf's novels, I think the book would also convey a sense of the writing process.

It evokes the time and place beautifully, and the text is not intrusive: the images are allowed to take centre stage as works of art in their own right.

Fine choice, Sweetpea
",1
"They are books like those written by Stephen Ambrose which keep the flame of my interest in reading of times and events of long ago burning. Some have accused Ambrose of taking too many liberties with the facts. To those I would say, Bah Humbug! This book is well written and worthy of the readers time, unless, of course, you are a ""fact-checker"", in which case the original sources, to the extent they even exist, might be more to your liking.  For Orginary Joe's, like me, Mr. Ambrose has provided a good deal of reading entertainment and information. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be transported in time and place to the high plains during the Indian Wars
",1
"This is a great book.  I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen  next and how all the mixups would be straightened out! It is a very funny  and delightful book, I hope there will be a sequel, we need to know what  happens to these people, I feel like I know them
",1
"I'm a high school freshman studying Romeo & Juliet and I cannot understand hardly any of it. I found this book at a Borders bookstore and I have been reading it and it is extremely helpful. There's a line-by-line translation that makes a ton more sense. Buy this if you're having trouble with R&J
",1
"This is a resource used by all NPs I have talked to.  Great addition to your library. 
",1
"These are all short stories, some very short; that's what he wrote. I remember reading a number of these (the science fiction ones mostly) in translation years ago. Rereading them now in the context of all his other work was really very interesting. As a collection of all his fictions, some of the items are a bit repetitive; the variations on the ""knife fight"" theme for instance. But the range of his imagination is fascinating, particularly in his thoughts about reality vs imagination and layers of reality and identity: a lot of it presages the information-based world of today, which sometimes seems to have left hard reality behind.

Perhaps the link to the internet is one reason Borges seems to have a bit of a following these days among technophiles. Is not the web exactly Borges' ""Book of Sand"" - a place that absorbs us with fascinating and unique pages of information, but when we turn to find them again, we never can? And how long will it be before an imagined ""Orbis Tertius"" engulfs entities such as the wikipedia we think we can rely on (one might suggest it's already happened - look up Tatooine, for instance...) What exactly is information when it's just a bunch of ones and zeros - everything's already been written in the ""Library of Babel"" after all!

The other fascinating thread to me was the influence of Arabic and Muslim themes; I'd never caught that before, but this collection includes a number of stories with an Arab perspective. Perhaps this is a well-known part of Spanish heritage; in any case, it was certainly interesting getting to know Borges through this collection, from the knife fights to the Arabian courts to the Immortals - not everything was great, but enough great stuff to be really worth spending some time with
",1
"This is a GREAT book. Well written and illustrated. This is one of the most hilarious children's books I've read to my child. We were laughing throughout the whole thing.

I highly recommend this book to both children and adults
",1
"Thankfully, this is NOT littered with platitudes and meaningless anaologies, the hallmarks of 99% of the latest-and-greatest business books. Especially since it was written in 1999, Moore's is an incredibly insightful and prophetic book on strategy for the high-tech industry. He was predicting cutting edge changes then that are coming into reality today in 2005. The book is much more descriptive than prescriptive though, and is best used as a tool to instigate discussions about corporate strategy, rather than as a checklist for strategic implementation. 

I help run an online software development company and although it isn't exactly ""high tech"" I still found the vast majority of it very helpful and the rest of it fascinating. Market shifts are demanding broadband wireless Internet everywhere--free. Companies are shifting towards web-basing software applications. All very relevant to my business.

The book is well written, an easy and moderately fast read, and very accessible by anyone who is technology-savvy enough to at least hold an email address. Yes, buy it. Buy the paperback and save money.

Short Synopsis:  In the infancy of a market, products need to be highly tailored to meet the psychological and technical needs of leading edge techno-geeks; nothing new here. When a company wants to take that product and make it marketable to the middle majority--where the biggest money sits--it requires a commitment to discipline and shift its strategy in order to do so. The emphasis shifts intially to identifying a single niche segment and creating a comprehensive, tailored product, that meets all of their needs--create the ""whole product"" by using partners and 3rd party services to patchwork the thing together. Then, stop tweaking the product. If that works, pick related niches and go after them the same way, creating the ""whole product"" for each of them. Once people at large are comfortable enough to make the paradigm shift for that market (this all deals with new, high-tech changes) and start doing so en masse, the strategy must completely shift again to a ship-first / fix-the-product-later mentality in a mad, market share scramble. At this phase, you are ""In the Tornado."" Lots of examples of successful and abysmal strategies used by high tech companies whose names are familiar to everyone, at each stage mentioned above.

",1
"Rarely is there a book that I can not put down, this was an exception. Quite a suspensfull page turner. Any book that can draw you in and you can visualize the characters and the scenery is excellent and this book did that. I would have given it 5 stars, but I do not like romance blended in with any suspense novel, that's just my taste.  By far,  however, one of the best books I have read in a long time
",1
"This is by far my favorite novel by Forster, and many rereadings have made it one of my favorite novels, period. In his first book, Forster shows a subtlety and lightness of touch which I, at least, feel that he lost as he  got more self-consciously ""philosophical"" in later books like  Howard's End and A Passage to India. He makes wonderful use of the Italian  settings and of Italian art, bringing them to vivid life, undermining  tourist cliches, and weaving them gracefully into his main themes.  No  other book I know balances romanticism and irony so perfectly
",1
"The book is set up with an activity for each letter of the alphabet. The activities can be used in any order, which works for teachers who want to integrate this into their existing curriculum.  The reproducibles are quality learning material, yet still entertaining for primary students
",1
"Roman, by Roman Polanski is a very good book.  It is very touching about his memories of his late wife, Sharon Tate and their short life together.  Roman lost his wife and unborn child in 1969 by the Manson Group.  He had a  very hard life in Poland during WWII.  He lost both his parents during that  time, but he grew up to be a world famous director.  The book tells about  his struggles during these times, and also during the period after the  deaths of his wife and child.  He tells about his Hollywood days of  directing, his famous friends, famous people and then what turned out to be  his downfall...with the teenaged girl acusing him of sexual contact and him  being arrested.  To avoid persecution, Roman left the United States and has  been in exile in France ever since, but still directs and has released more  movies.   But, the book is very well told, and gives a good insite on  Roman's life and his career
",1
"As with many of the ""For Dummies"" series, Controlling Cholesterol is a well-executed overview of many issues relevant to cholesterol. Author Carol Rinzler's light and humorous discussion ranges from a concise description of what cholesterol is, to many of the different approaches to lowering cholesterol and why ""target"" values for cholesterol can differ in different people. There's an especially helpful discussion on the effects of various popular diets like Atkins', Sugar Busters, and Protein Power -- pluses and minuses of each.

""Ten Cholesterol Myths"" in Chapter 16 is a great discussion that can help clear up much of the murkiness surrounding cholesterol issues and can help answer many of the questions that I am asked when treating cholesterol in my patients (in my cardiology practice). 

One criticism: Like all books about cholesterol, Controlling Cholesterol for Dummies gives the reader the impression that high cholesterol is the only way to identify risk for heart disease, as well as a means of diminishing risk of heart attack. This is patently untrue, but not really a criticism of this book as it is of the standard thinking on cholesterol. There are better ways! Nonetheless, this book does serve its intended purpose very well: educate the reader thoroughly on the conventional understanding of cholesterol.          
",1
"I DEDICATE THIS Review TO WOMEN ALL AROUND THE WORLD OF ALL COLOUR,RACES,RELIGIONS,NATIONALITY AND CREED...(ALL WOMEN ARE EQUAL,IN MY EYES....Nigel..)

In this remarkable novel,SK makes his debut.An unlikely but good book.It has a good dose of horror/suspense and it is one of the best books I have ever read...

It is simply about a teenager from Maine,named Carietta White(Carrie).From the beginning of the story we see who her mother(Margaret white)takes advantage of her,making her feel stupid and left out.Similiarly in school,Carrie is always the ""Black sheep"",she has not friends and she is always picked upon.She is very unusual and strange,at least to most people,especially the ones in the book(story).(but I would say quite frankly that I didn't see here as anybody but a normal healthy teenage girl.)

At the beginning of the story we also see that Carrie has her first period while taking a shower at school.She is laughed at and all the other girls throw toilet paper and tampons at her.This is her first big humiliation.(I am a guy,I know not much about a period,so please forgive my use of the term openly)

Anyway,back to the plot:Carrie soon realizes that she is Psychic.She starts to practice using her powers gradually.It seems as though she had the powers since birth,but the powers were dormant until puberty or at least she was unaware of it.

So,so far we see this:a very unusual girl with psychic powers and a stupid mother.
The story initially and mostly circulates around these facts but things get a little messy towards the middle and end.
Allow me.....

It is later revealed in the story that the psychic gift is sort of genetic.Carrie's mother explains alot of things,but she is still a bad mother.
(but I still can't hate carries's mother,because most mothers are sort of protective over their children)
Soon Carrie gets her first friend Sue.Sue feels sorry for Carrie and helps her to get a date for the prom.
This date is Tommy Ross...

Meanwhile,one of the bad girls,Chris,is unable to attend the prom.So,she sets up a nasty revenge against Carrie.Believe me when I tell you,Chris is a very jealous girl and if she can't have something,no one else can,especially Carrie.

So Chris arranges a trap for Carrie.(Two buckets of pig blood)
She sets it up for the pig blood to fall on Carrie's and Tommy's head while at the prom...
The plan eventually succeeds.
Tommy is badly injured.
Drenched in pig's blood,Carrie is laughed at,for the last time.She runs out of the building.She then remembers her psychic powers and decides to use it for revenge.
She starts to close all the doors.She then turns on all the water sprinklers,wetting everyone.
But with a combination of water and electricity(from the appliances)....some were electrocuted.
Eventually a fire gets started.And things start to burn!
She walks toward her home,burning everything within a certain radius of her powers.
When she reaches home her mother tries to kill her,telling her that she is the spawn of satan.She eventually uses her powers to stop her mothers' heart beat,killing her.
Eventually(this is the good part of the book),while Carrie is walking on the streets(going I don't know where)she seens Chris and Chris's boyfriend driving towards her,to bounce her.
Carrie uses her powers to diverge to car,killing Chris and her stupid boyfriend.
Sue eventually catches up with Carrie.Carrie doesn't kill her because she realizes that it wasn't Sue's falt but Chris's.
(During the battle with her mother,Carrie was stabbed,I forgot to mention it,sorry.)

So,now,talking with sue Carrie eventually breathes her last breath and speaks her last words and just,dies.(this is the sad part,I guarantee you that it would bring tears to your eyes,or maybe not)

But this book is definitely good,I recommend it with all my ""Psychic"" powers.

Enjoy.............This review was written by Nigel....

",1
"Annie Sprinkles very personal heart felt Spectacular Sex Guide inspires us into our sexual potential giving us the tools for sexual transformation. Even if we already have a satisfying sex life there are many interesting exercises here to try. I can relate to Annie's libraries of sexual experience even though I have not taken as many adventures as her. Really folks if some of us turned off our TVs and used that time to further our sexual awareness there would be a great possibility for personal sexual freedom. My favorite quote would be ""Don't worry; be horny."" Now that this wonderful book has been put on sale there couldn't be a better time to buy it
",1
"IRONWEED by William J. Kennedy was the latest selection for a book club I've recently joined.  The premise of the club is to read a novel and then view the movie (at the group meeting) that was based on the novel.  As I expected, the movie paled in comparison to the book, despite the screenplay being written by Kennedy himself.  Jack Nicholson plays the main character (Francis) and Meryl Streep is his ""wanna be"" socialite girlfriend (Helen), but this star power doesn't elevate the story beyond what Kennedy had already done in the novel.

Set during the ""Great Depression,"" IRONWEED is a great look at the underbelly of society: drunks, homeless, impoverished, and in that regard the story is timeless.  I enjoyed the characters' quirkiness and the loosely connected plots, but more significantly to me were the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and love.  The love aspect may be hard to spot, but it is there, unconventionally, in many of the character's interactions.

This favorable recommendation comes with a warning: it can be a depressing read, definitely not a happy one, and while I found it inspirational, it will not conjure any blithe emotions.  IRONWEED is definitely not a June beach read, being more apropos to a long winter night, indoor, by a warm fire.
",1
"If you know love, you know God.  If you don't - read Hafiz, and you will be on a good path to know both
",1
"I've been very critical of the fiction work of John Grisham in recent years and have said many times that he needed to take more time to write his novels to make the stories more interesting.  Well, he has taken time off of writing novels to write this interesting, if not spectacular non-fiction work of the trials and tribulations of Ronald Williamson, a former minor league baseball player implicated in a murder and sentenced to death row.  I won't go into the details of Williamson's ordeal, but I will say that Grisham has written a pretty cut-and-dried book, that probably would have been handled better by career crime writers, but is still interesting nonetheless.  He does a good job giving the details of Ron's case and what he and his family had to go through as events unfolded and Ron suffered from growing mental issues.  Grisham didn't even think about writing Ron's story until after Ron passed away, so there are no interviews to draw upon, but he does a decent job of tying it all together.  I will also say that although he is anti-death penalty, he doesn't hammer that opinion at you.  He lets the story itself do the talking.

I'm actually interested in how this book will impact the quality of Grisham's next novel, as he'll have actually gone almost 3 years between novels by that time.  Hopefully the break will result in a more classic work like ""The Firm"" or ""A Time to Kill"", not dreck like ""The King of Torts""
",1
"Great recipes that truly are quick and easy.  Low to no-fat with healthful ingredients.  I will be using this cookbook a lot
",1
"The working notes of this book are utterly staggering in their implication to ontology. What is being? Merleau answers in the manner of Lao-Tse, and alludes to something like a divine-feminine at the heart of wild perception. It was said by Sartre in his autobiography ""Situations"" that after Merleau's mother died who was like a ""goddess"" to him Merleau returned began the project anew. What is intimated in the working notes is invaluable to the true student of philosophy and life.  And in the end, Merleau returns to the very object of his study. You can really feel this descent at the book nears its end. It is, however, an ascent of the entirety of the history of philosophy to a new level of comprehension. That I assure you
",1
"Tony Kern has managed to pull together the wisdom and experience of  ""the best"" pilots around. His use of case studies of real pilots  and real situations includes examples from the military, commercial, and  geneal aviation communities. In short, the book is useful for any pilot  whether they are working toward their private pilot license or are employed  as a senior airline captain. For many pilots, it will reinforce what they  already know and practice but for many, it will provide the opportunity to  become ""old"" pilots.  If you fly, read the book
",1
"Having spent five years trying to establish an open-source software platform standard, in retrospect it would have been awfully nice to have had this book.  If you're going to compete with the big commercial firms you have to be comparable to or better than they are in as many areas as possible
",1
"Jonathan Glover's book is not quite like anything you've read on war, state terror, and genocide.  The tour of twentieth-century horrors is thematic rather than chronological, organized according to the ethical issues Glover wants to explore.  This takes a little getting used to, but it allows the author to jump, for example, from the First World War to the Cuban Missile Crisis, to see which lessons had been learned in the interim and which might be applied in the future.  The cumulative power of Glover's pointillist technique is enormous.  ""Humanity"" combines a clear-eyed (necessarily often gruesome) depiction of *in*humanity with an informed and enlightening discussion of how leaders and ordinary people can change things for the better.  As an examination of the psychological and existential origins of mass murder and genocide, it marks an advance on Ervin Staub's classic ""Roots of Evil,"" and should be of interest to any student of modern history and politics
",1
"This is a great, funny book.  It may be my favorite Jeeves & Wooster story
",1
"This book provides great insight on modern business development concepts and design techniques.  The framework provided will save hours of time spent building common libraries or frameworks.  The industry support via CodePlex and the CSLA forum site speak volumes of the value it provides. 
",1
"This book is a gem that is filled with ideas from many of THE BEST speakers in the world. What a great resource! It is my favorite book now for ideas on how to be more ""impactful"" in my message to the audience.  This reminds me of one of my other classic favorites, Think and Grow Rich.  I'm ordering another copy for a friend today
",1
"Fifteen years ago I purchased this book for the first time. Today I am buying it as a gift for my son. I feel I am giving him the gift of life all over again.  Even though I raised all my children with vitamin C added to their diets, he seems to have fallen off the ""juice"" wagon!  Linus Pauling was not only brilliant but clear and concise.  I only wish I had known he published a book on Quantum Mechanics a long time ago.  I shall purchase that too at last and maybe I shall have an inkling of what it is all about
",1
"Malphurs does an excellent job of laying out the strategic planning process step by step and in great detail.  I really appreciated the fact that he takes into account things like church patriarchs/matriarchs and other church dynamics that are often not addressed practically in ministry books.  He almost makes the process seem easy, and maybe it is, IF you are starting a new church or are in the very early stages of a church plant.  However, much of the material seems practically impossible to implement in a ""plateau'ed"" or ""downward spiraling"" church that has been around for 100 years.  The principles are easy and make sense IF you have 100% support of the congregation.  That's pretty hard to do in most of the churches I've been in that need strategic planning the most.   That's no fault of Malphurs; the book itself is a great book
",1
"His basic thesis is that a liberal empire can be a greatly positive force in the world, and that the United States is already an empire, but that our inablility to acknowledge the fact leads us to waste our opportunities to be the afore mentioned positive force. Ferguson writes that America is plagued by an attention deficit disorder and too much love of the good life. Thus, we get distracted too easily from important events overseas, and when we do try to intervene, we want quick fixes and low costs.

I couldn't agree more with most of these points. As an American, I'm greatly ashamed of our collective ignorance. I hate feeling like a foreigner in my our country because I watch the news or can find Sumatra on a map. Also, the book strikes a chord with me because of my frustration with half measures in foreign interventions. Countless times, I believe America has done more harm than good by, if you will, talking the talk but not walking the walk. If we commit to something, we need to follow through. This is as true in Iraq today as it has been in the past. We've claimed to support democracy in Latin America, but then turned bannana republics into bannana autocracies. We greatly prolonged and increased Vietnam's suffering without changing the end result at all.

With all this commonality, however, there are a few leaps of logic that Ferguson makes that I can't bring myself to agree with. Basically, he didn't sell me on the thought that the imperial model is the best way to develop the world. How are we supposed to know what is best for everyone? Won't our own biases and self interests inevitably distort even our most altruistic efforts?

When Ferguson hold's up the British Empire as a model of success, I can't help but notice that the best results came only to those places of British colonization, with horrendous consequences for each of the native populations there. And the two greatest examples of beneficial American imperialism - Japan and Germany - were already highly developed before World War II, so it probably wasn't that much of a wonder that we were able to help them return to such a state.

Even if the positive power of empire is conceded, there are important differences between the state of world during the British empire and the state of the world now. It's a concern of immunity from repercussions. In the golden age of imperialism, Europe was in a kind of splendid isolation from its empires. Not to say that there were no reprercussions, but, with the only modern navies in the world, Europe was immune to any very serious threats. On the other hand, in today's world, as an effect of globalization, power has become more decentralized in some respects. Think WMDs,terrorists, and foreign investments in the U.S. economy, for example. Can America as easily afford to make enemies in the developing world as the British could?

In the end ""Colossus"" didn't settle any agruments for me, but raised new and interesting questions. It is a book that makes you think, and that in and of itself is worth four stars.
",1
"Miller knows his subjects (the people) and his subject (their desperation) with a clarity and fearlessness that most people would prefer to avoid.  Viewing his photographs are no easier a task than living  wholly and honestly.  Skinheads, speedfreaks, Tenderloin whores, friends and neighbors.  Lucid, terrifying, and ultimately beautiful photographs from a man of the same qualities
",1
"I am fortunate enough to have met Ms. Elaine Stone herself and find her style to be that of great elegance, sophistication, grace, and poshness.  She is by far the most fashionable person I have yet to meet.  Reading The  Dynamics of Fashion as my textbook for my FM114 class I found it very  informant and recommend it to everyone, even those who are not a student of  fashion
",1
"Leah Stewart is a talented writer. I read this book after finishing her most recent novel, The Myth of You and Me (which I highly recommend). This story is dark and chilling. Olivia is a young reporter covering crimes in Memphis on a hot summer. When the body of girl is found, the case becomes eerily personal for Olivia and the lines between professional duty and personal struggles become blurred as she gets deeper into the murdered girl's story and life. The characters in this novel are deep and well developed, and the sultry atmosphere of a hot summer in Memphis is well rendered. I highly recommend this book
",1
"I found this book to be helpful as an overall general guide. It covers much of the general information needed to start and keep a saltwater tank. I was hoping to get more detailed information about different tank  environments (reef, fish-only, invertebrates), saltwater species, diseases,  etc. I would suggest for the true beginner
",1
"I'm way over the age of 13, but I just loved this book.  Interesting story and characters that I enjoyed spending time with
",1
"Roger Caras, a very talented writer and animal lover, takes us on a tour of Thistle Hill, his farm in Northern Maryland.  Anyone who loves cats, dogs and other animals will love this book.  Its gentle humor and compassion are quite absorbing.  I must confess to a certain amount of jealousy, though--I would love to have a home like Thistle Hill Farm
",1
"
        While Peter Jay Fernandez and Jay O. Sanders aren't the only actors to narrate the acclaimed Cross series, they certainly are among the finest.

	With a host of television appearances to his credit (Law & Order, Cosby)  Massachusetts born Hernandez has also made his mark on Broadway in Jelly's Last Jam and The Merchant of Venice.  His voice has a tad of huskiness, which makes it all the more appealing as Cross.  In all, Fernandez has been featured in almost 12 of the Alex Cross tales, so he well knows the characters and easily inhabits each scene. 

	To date, Jay O. Sanders has narrated over 50 audio books, and he's a perfect voice partner for Fernandez.  His experience includes off-Broadway roles in Shakespearean plays, which may account for his remarkably clear diction and easy listening tone.  The voices of Fernandez and Sanders complement one another as they bring one of the most compelling Cross stories to life.

	It's a painful attention-getter when we listen again to how Cross lost his beloved wife, Maria - she was shot down before his eyes.   Her killer was never found; the case chalked off as another sick drive-by shooting.  Now, Cross has returned to being a psychologist, his children are thriving, and perhaps he may be able to love someone again.

	However, a telephone call from John Sampson, his old partner,  changes all that.   Sampson wants Cross's help in finding a psychopathic serial rapist on the loose in Georgetown. Of course, Cross can't say no but little did he realize that this investigation would lead him to a tie-in to Maria's death some years ago.

	One more rapid paced thriller from the amazing pen of James Patterson read by two consummate voice performers.

        - Gail Cook
",1
"If you like fantasy and are not acquainted with the works of Andre Norton, then this is an excellent starting point.  Believable, heroic characters and a well thought-out ""Witch World"" combine to make for an enjoyable read.  Simon Tregarth is transported through a mysterious gate into a world populated by people and other things not people.  A struggle goes on between good and evil, and it's not clear who is winning.  (But, we know who wins in the end - ""good"", of course.)  The style of writing - more of a story that unfolds as it is read - is one strength that characterizes her writings.  That, and the fascinating settings, imaginative perils faced, and strong likable characters make this a ""must read"".  This is a refreshing hard-to-put-down story.  It does not suffer from the typical overinflated, overwordy, overcomplicated, and overcharacterized (and lifeless) features of the usual fantasy megathon offered today
",1
"An amazing resource to the odd world of Chick collecting.  Mr. Fowler has crafted an exhausting, almost overwhelming guide to all of Chick's works and articles about him.  Everything is cross-referenced to the point of where the reader is nearly overwhelmed with information.  Minute details of publishing histories and changes to individual tracts are documented down to the smallest letter.  The book (presented in a distinctive computer printout style, possibly due to its origins as a self-published work) is packed with charts of pricing info and catalog numbers.  But even casual Chick fans will enjoy the ""History of the World"" segment, which ties all of Jack's wild theories into a cohesive narrative, and a segment devoted entirely to fun trivia (there's a list of every instance of the term ""haw"" for instance).  Each tract and comic is described, and info is given on various parodies and rip-offs.  This is a must for all Chick fans (both ""saved"" and otherwise)
",1
"What a great upbeat book that still covers the struggles of a child of a divorced family, living in poverty, and being of a mixed race.  Great great read with a great ending that wasn't to unbelievable.  It left you with a good feeling even though the struggles of the children were very real.  Great life lessons as well as cultural lessons in this book
",1
"Firstly, I have not seen the film adaptation of 'Single White Female' and so this review isn't tainted one way or the other.  This book, about the stolen identity of a young woman by her psychotic flatmate, is written is very easy style.  Characterizations, prose, and dialogue are all straightforward.  I can understand why a film was made based on it since the book reads more like a screenplay than a novel.  And the book's ""feel"" is anything but original.  'Sliver' by Ira Levin does a better job of capturing the essence of life (and danger) in Manhattan for a single, white female.  Still, 'Single White Female' is an entertaining read.


Bottom line: a very enjoyable, suspenseful read that doesn't tax the brain.  Recommended
",1
"I read this book several months ago, and I still can't shake the feeling of having read a very, very good book. The effect of Yourcenar's words still lingers.

The text is an imagined valedictory letter or speech from emperor Hadrian to his successor. The emperor himself is dying, and faces a world that he is about to leave behind. He recalls his life, from being a young boy in his native Spain, to his ascension to the highest public post imaginable, that of emperor of Rome. Just as his professional career was incredible, so is the generosity and candidness of his ""confession"". There is seemingly no secret nook left untouched from his personal life. 

In the end, having cast that final weight, his conscience, from off his shoulders, the emperor is at last able to turn away from one world and face another - that of the gods.   

",1
"I received this as a gift. Very happy read .  Captures thoughts you hope your best friend has
",1
"This is a very interesting book, particularly on the early restrictionists. It gave me a new perspective on why Americans restricted immigration in the early 20th century, and gave me historical insight into today's immigration policy crisis
",1
"Having had the delight of living in St. Andrews and traveling over most of Scotland playing golf, Allan's book is the best I have seen, by far, for describing the reality of golf, travel, and living in Scotland. He sugarcoats nothing, his opinion mirrors mine, and he is interested is ensuring his readers know exactly what to expect and know exactly how to best user their time and travel dollars. Even with my Scottish experience and contacts, his book is my golf/travel in Scotland bible.
",1
"I've skimmed a number of popular books published in the last few years on the problem of sexless marriage, and this is by far most interesting contribution to date. First, there is no recommendations for drug therapy anywhere in the book. Second, the author frequently brings into the discussion a European-influenced view of some particularly American style predilictions and assumptions reguarding sex, parenthood, gender politics, and relationship expectations. 

Her fundamental premise is that eroticisim requires seprateness, and in the course of building and sustaining security, we can frequently lose the ""me"" and ""you"" in us. But even more important, she sees the very contemporary marital impulse toward an egalitarian union -- while great for chores and child care -- can be a neutralizer in the bedroom.  

You may or may not find strands of your own dilemma in her case histories, but you will not walk away from them empty handed, either. 

There are many aspects of the book which are highly nuanced, and won't survive well in the O'Reilly world of broadcast media interviews. I can just hear some producer-fed talking head asking something like, ""You advocate couples go to Vegas for swinging? Why?"" (She doesn't). So don't pay attention to that noise. This is an intellegent, respectful, contemplative work of original thinking that confronts a subject too often approached with superlatives and pabulum.

Buy one for yourself and one for your best friend -- more than likely, they're suffering, too
",1
"This was a fabulous resource for understanding the evolution of the Marian cult. The one weakness of this book is that it did not deal with the pre-Christian origins of the Marian cult. Other resources, however, cover  the evolution of the Anatolian fertility cult of Cybele into the Roman  Magna Mater and later into the so-called ""BVM"". The author does a  good job of showing the origins of various aspects of Mariology and  contrasting these developments with Christianity in the West. The author  has done a great service to those who wish to more fully understand the  syncretic process which blended Christianity with various pagan religions  and medeival political structures to create the Roman Catholic Church
",1
"The new age herbalist is a great book. It has a ton of different herbs and tells the uses of each one. They also warm you about anything dangerous  about all of the plants. Very useful book perfect for anyone from beginner  to advanced herbalist. I use this book all of the time
",1
"This book is so awesome!!! It has so much great info in it. It is a book that is so easy to read before you know it your done. It makes you really think about your relationship prior affair and after affair. What went wrong and were it went wrong at. It offers so many was to open up communication and how to talk to one another without fighting. There isnt enough things to say how AWESOME this book is. Must have for anyone in a bad situation. It has a questionnaire at the end that both partners can do and an agreement for both partners to read and sign. It helps lift your spirit and makes you think that this isnt the end of the world and that you can make it through. I have a new found hope for my marriage and a new attitude towards everything. I am looking at the bigger picture and the brighter side of things. I am alive and I still have my family and my husband. We go to thearpy and with all the great info in this book just put what we have learned into action and hopefully great results will be the outcome. Get this book you wont regret it!!!
",1
"It is, in my opinion, the second best Anne book! Its Anne's wedding! The whole thing is soaked in romance! Leslie's story is so amazing and sweet that you have to love her. Captain Jim is so sweet and perfect, you can nearly see him. Miss Cornelia is funny and Susan is great. Anne has to deal with tragedy and joy that makes the books so wonderful. The only thing I don't like, is that i wish Marrilla and all the Avonlea people would be in it a little more. In my opinion, this should be where the series ends
",1
"""When I first came to Iran, black clad women all seemed the same. Scary unsmiling servants of the Ayatollas""

Having visited the Islamic Republic of Iran in June, I was better prepared for that vast country portrayed by Elaine Sciolino in her book Persian Mirrors. I am more than grateful for this book, which alerted me to the diversity of cultures, and the general way of life so absolutely different from the Western world.
Elaine Sciolino made me so very aware of the perfect social world of the Iranians and also I am thrilled to say that once you make a friend of an Iranian, you have a friend for life.
My most treasured memories of Iran will never leave me and I thank Ms Sciolino for preparing me for that journey. 
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 11/10/05)
",1
"Why read a book from 1857 which flopped so badly as commercial literature that Melville stopped writing and ended his career as a customs official? Because this book masterfully explores the entire nature of trust, confidence and cons. Though the setting is a riverboat on the Mississippi River just before the U.S. exploded into Civil War, its insights cross cultural boundaries. 

This is not an easy book to read for several reasons. First, it is undoubtedly one of the first ""post-modern"" novels which breaks from traditional narrative storytelling. ( Another example: Dostoevsky's Notes From the Underground.) The Confidence-Man is a collection of 45 conversations between various people on the riverboat--beggars, absurdly dressed frontiersmen, sickly misers, shysters, patent medicine hucksters, veterans (of the Mexican-American War) and the ""hero"" in the latter part of the book, the Cosmopolitan. 

In typical Melville fashion, you also get asides--directly to the reader, in several cases, as if Melville felt the need to address issues of fiction outside the actual form of his novel. The lack of structure, action and conclusion make this a post-modern type book, but if you read each conversation as a separate story, then it starts to make more sense. 

For what ties the book together is not a story but a theme: the nature of trust and confidence. In a very sly way, Melville shows how a variety of cons are worked, as the absolutely distrustful are slowly but surely convinced to do exactly what they vowed not to do: buy the ""herbal"" patent medicine, buy shares in a bogus stock venture, or donate cash to a suspect ""charity."" 

In other chapters, it seems like the con artist is either stopped in his tracks or is conned himself. Since the book is mostly conversations, we are left to our own conclusions; there is no authorial voice wrapping up each chapter with a neatly stated ending. This elliptical structure conveys the ambiguous nature of trust; we don't want to be taken, but confidence is also necessary for any business to be transacted. To trust no one is to be entirely isolated. 

Melville also raises the question: is it always a bad thing to be conned? The sickly man seems to be improved by his purchase of the worthless herbal remedy, and the donor conned out of his cash for the bogus charity also seems to feel better about himself and life. The ornery frontiersman who's been conned by lazy helpers softens up enough to trust the smooth-talking employment agency owner. Is that a terrible thing, to trust despite a history of being burned? 

The ambuiguous nature of the bonds of trust is also explored. We think the Cosmopolitan is a con-man, but when he convinces a fellow passenger to part with a heavy sum, he returns it, just to prove a point. Is that a continuance of the con, or is he actually trustworthy? 

The book is also an exploration of a peculiarly American task: sorting out who to trust in a multicultural non-traditional society of highly diverse and highly mobile citizens. In a traditional society, things operate in rote ways; young people follow in their parents' traditional roles, money is made and lent according to unchanging standards, and faith/tradition guides transactions such as marriage and business along well-worn pathways. 

But in America, none of this structure is available. Even in Melville's day, America was a polyglot culture on the move; you had to decide who to trust based on their dress, manner and speech/pitch. The con, of course, works on precisely this necessity to rely on one's senses and rationality rather than a traditional network of trusted people and methods. So the con man dresses well and has a good story, and an answer for every doubt.

The second reason why Melville is hard to read is his long, leisurely, clause upon clause sentences. But the book is also peppered with his sly humor, which sneaks up on you... well, just like a good con. 
 
",1
"This book starts with the fundamentals of atomic structure and then builds on them until molecular orbital theory.  Molecular orbital theory is developed for both organic and inorganic substances.  Molecular orbital theory is used to explain the electronic structure of molecules, which is, of course, of fundamental importance to the chemist.

Bonding theories for organic and inorganic models are developed and a brief treatment is given on the solid state at the end of the book.

This is a book that I often use as a reference.  This book is versatile enough to refresh the chemist about bonding ideas in both organic and inorganic areas.  It is not a particularly advanced book, but it was a pleasure for me to read and a good book to remind me of the basics when I need it
",1
"Music and culture are discussed, not with the usual artistic focus, but with a healthy blend of science and sociology added to the mix. Is music a luxury, an art, or a biological need? William Benzon's Beethoven's Anvil explores links between music and brain functioning, using the history of music and its evolution to draw some important arguments about music's importance to brain functioning as a whole
",1
"excellent book! I would have liked to have seen the author delve into several more of the cadets' lives, but what's there is great
",1
"From the beginning of Ruby's story, through all the footnotes of life, to the burying of Bunty...we live four generations of the Lennox family.  This is not your average family, people disappear, mothers leave families, children die in mysterious ways.  

For me the best of all the little stories, is Ruby getting ready to be born. Atkinsons description of being literally in the womb is priceless.  

Two themes seem to pervade this book...poor marriages to drunks and pregnancy out of wedlock.  In the end, Ruby learns the greatest lesson of all the women in this book...you can't run away from yourself. 
",1
"For someone like myself that is new to selling and licensing art,this book is so informative. I am so glad that I bought it. It is also a good reference book to keep on hand. I recommend it.
",1
"I am so passionate about this book.  It has answered all the life questions I have ever held.  Although many people I have recommended it to have reported that they have not been able to ""get into it"" - for me, I would say it is the best book I have ever read.  
This is about the 5th copy I have purchased because when I lend it out, somehow it is not returned and I want to have a copy to re-read every now and then.  (I will not be lending this one again
",1
"I really enjoy all of Mary Engelbreit's books and my little girls do, too. We like to look at them over and over again.  This book is full of ideas from recipes, to summer crafts, to gardening, and to sewing so that you can  make your home an interesting place to visit
",1
"This book is geat for the whole family. The illitrations are fantastic and funny. It's about Pa who moved to California and sends a note to tell his familly to move to California. They take a stage coach from Missorii to California and it took 21 days to get there. There are funny people in this book. Ma in this book has a secret in the end so read the book to find out. Buy this book for the kids and it will make them smile so much that there smile will stay there. So buy this book right now!!!!
",1
"If you're intimidated by Tolstoy or Dostoevsky's long masterpieces, consider starting instead with Turgenev's ""Fathers and Sons.""  This book is of course a masterpiece of Russian literature.  It's characters and themes are timeless and absolutely relatable to our modern culture.  This is a story of family relationships, romance, and philosophy.  Highly recommended.  

p.s. When you're done here, try ""War and Peace"" or at least ""Crime and Punishment.
",1
"I am not going to go over the contents of the book, or much about Charles Bukowski, because if you are considering this book you must know something about the man and his work. I will just give you my impression of this collection of work.
No collection can ever really be complete, there are always new things to add, new commentary, newly discovered works, transcripts of records and unpublished letters, but this book does an excellent job in its attempt.
To me Charles Bukowski will always be one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century, because of the sheer brutality and honesty his work emanates. It is funny, sad, sadistic, cruel, scathing, enlightening and thought provoking. Everything I like to read. This is poetry for people who are disgusted by verse of flowers, trees and Greek mythology. This is RAW human emotion and experience smeared out onto paper. It is not perfect, and it is not trying to be. It doesn't always work, but there in lies the subtle beauty of Bukowski's efforts. the guts to try. The attempts at honesty, clearly blocked by his unwillingness to divulge everything, and his cynicism of man. 
This book has one of the most moving, amazing, and insightful poems...or anything else...ever written.  It is called The Genius Of The Crowd. If you read that work of art and are not moved...nothing will.
This collection is shocking in its beauty, and inspiring by its simplicity. Enjoy
",1
"I don't think customer Lee Kane is quite right when he says that Tag Gallagher's labour-of-love book is mainly about the films.  Gallagher's writing is spare and lean but he gives at least as much biography as the purely biographical books
",1
"I bought this book when I had my first child.  It has provided me with alot of helpful information, especially at night or on the weekend when you're not sure whether or not to call the doctor.  I have worn my original  copy out and am about to buy a new one.  Many thanks to Dr. Neifert
",1
"This one is the best of the ""Song"" series - the hero is not a rapist, the heroine isn't dumb, and the plot is actually a bit different from the others. Nice light reading - renews my faith a little in the author
",1
"This is a cleverly constructed book of several parts and a few recurring motifs. Jones, a Welsh Methodist, Everton FC supporter, London hack and Oxford (Arts?) graduate, goes to live in Parma, Italy where his beloved has established herself. He divides his book into nine separate chapters and tries to weave them together as well as his excellent English and his motifs will allow. The first chapter discusses nuances of the Italian language and he uses those nuances to propound that Italy is a much more nuanced country than England and that its culture is infinitely more refined. An entire chapter brings the nuances of Italian culture to bear on football and he waxes very lyrical about the local youth and whatever immigrants are around playing ball as the sun goes down. The football allows us to place Italian village life in our minds and to empathize very much with it.
The last chapter is an entire ode to Italy. It is written largely in  the second person and it tells of ""you"" going through the village and everything there appealing to the aesthetic in ""you"". The English is beautiful and it achieves its purpose in making you close the book with a warm glow. Mission accomplished.
The chapter on Italy's Catholic religion and its Protestant and other minorities could have done with much improvement. Italy's Catholicism is more complicated than the Padre Pio cult and the Protestants of the north surely have their faults as well. The chapter looks like it came from several previous publications he wrote.
The politics chapters build on the hypothesis that the fascist and proto communist factions are still at war with each other and that politicians like Berlusconi exploit this for their own nefarious ends. He does a good job of tying the warring World War Two factions in with the protagonists and antagonists of later squabbles. He does not like Berlusconi and his polished prose does not quite hide this fact.
My opinion of this book is that Jones sat down with his material and tied it all together into a very passable but rather superficial book which is nevertheless well worth the money being charged. 
",1
"My two boys, ages 3 and 2, both pull this book off the shelf over and over. I use it to teach the younger one new vocabulary (both in English and Spanish) and the older one to continue to practice his numbers (also in both languages), as well as colors. It's a great addition to the workbook Flip Flop Spanish, and also just for fun.., my littlest, a one-year-old girl, even looks at the pages and will sit with the boys to watch them. They're sturdy pages, full of all KINDS of things. The kind of book you find something new each time you open it. It has little lists to find items as well.
",1
"One Good Knight (2006) is the second Fantasy novel in the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, following The Fairy Godmother.  In the previous volume, Alexander and Elena organized resistance to the invasion of Fleurberg by a Dark Magician.  After the death of the Katschei, Alexander and Elena were wedded, becoming Godmother and Consort.  Then an Order of Champions was established at Glass Mountain, with Alexander as their Master, and Elena was given charge of Fleurberg in addition to her other kingdoms.

In this novel, Princess Andromeda of Acadia is nineteen years old, but is still considered a child by her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, and Chief Advisor Solon Adacritus.  She writes a report on the merchants for a trade conference and impresses both the Queen and the Chief Advisor.  After that, her mother orders redecoration of the Princess wing, appoints two ladies to design her wardrobe and jewelry, and assigns a steward to handle her affairs.

Andromeda is quite overwhelmed by this attention and augments her studies to further impress her mother.  She notices that income from wrecked ships has grown due to an increase in the number and severity of storms.  Her studies and inquiries suggest that this increase is probably due to the manipulations of a great wizard.  She reports this matter to her mother.

Afterward, Andromeda is resting high up in a tree within the palace garden when she notices a strange flying creature.  As it comes toward her, she recognizes that it is a dragon.  Then it reaches the palace and she observes that it is a very large dragon.  It flames some high architectural features, grabs a couple of animals and flies away.

The panic within the palace is phenomenal and the subsequent meeting of the Queen's advisors is very lively.  Andromeda has quickly reviewed the literature on dragons -- consisting mainly of myths and legends -- and reports to the advisors that the only known method of managing a dragon is the sacrifice of virginal maidens.  The ensuing discussion is even livelier, mostly concerning the means of choosing such sacrifices.

Queen Cassiopeia states that the only fair way to select sacrifices is by a lottery.  After the spate of crazy volunteers dies down, a lottery is organized.  Some women find ways to disqualify themselves, but others are taken by the dragon.  Rumors begin spreading that anyone who speaks out against the Queen is more likely to have a family member selected for the sacrifice.  But then Andromeda is selected.

This novel is mostly about the influence of the Tradition within the Five Hundred Kingdoms.  Andromeda's knowledge of the Tradition comes in handy at various points in this quest.

The Queen has sent to Glass Mountain for a Champion to fight the dragon, but the good knight doesn't come forward as expected.  Someone has erected a magical barrier at the border to keep out such warriors.  However, Andromeda is sort of saved by a Champion at the sacrificial site.  Andromeda convinces the knight to take her along as a guide and finally proves to the Champion that she can be a help rather than a hindrance.

They travel cross-country in the same direction that the dragon had flown, stopping for supplies here and there, and finally enter the Wyrding Lands.  They encounter unicorns and a fox along the way before meeting the dragon and his brother.  Then Andromeda learns that all is not as it seems.

Andromeda is nineteen and naive.  Then she is faced with one of the most difficult of issues:  does her mother love her.  While many events occur in this plot, this one issue is the crux of the story.  Even her interspecies romance with the younger dragon is only a temporary relief from this main concern.

Highly recommended for Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adventure, betrayal and romance.

-Arthur W. Jordi
",1
"""Typee"" is based on Melville's experiences when, as a young man of 22, he ""jumped ship"" from an American whaling vessel on the island of Nukuheva in the Marquesas Islands of the South Pacific.  It is written in a straightforward narrative manner, but it is a work of fiction, NOT a journalistic report, something that is often overlooked.  While, like ""Moby Dick"", it contains lots of factual details, mostly quite accurate as confirmed by subsequent research, it is a much more complex tale than it appears to be on the surface.

For a first novel, written when Melville was only 27 years old, the narrative power is quite impressive, as for example in his description of the escape from the ship over the mountains to the Valley of the Typee.  In the early chapters, themes of peace, beauty, and sensuality are combined with Melville's righteous indignation at the activities of Western military and religious intruders to create the illusion of an earthly paradise.  Gradually dread, loneliness, horror, and fear of annihilation come to the fore, as ""Tommo"", the protagonist, becomes convinced that he is being kept for eventual eating at a ritual cannibal feast.  He is finally rescued almost by chance, and because of conflict among the Typees.

I read the Oxford World's Classics paperback edition, which has an introduction by Ruth Blair, an Australian professor of English.  It was very helpful with Melville's historical and literary sources and the geographical and cultural context.  The chapter on ""Typee"" in ""Studies in Classic American Literature"" by D.H. Lawrence adds a further depth of understanding.  Newton Arvin's biography of Melville helps to place ""Typee"" in the development of Melville as a writer.

Highly recommended in its own right as a superb example of 19th century American romanticism, with hints of the impending metaphysical explosion of ""Moby Dick""
",1
"I read this book many, many years ago on a very long flight.  I couldn't put it down.  The philosophy is simple; live frugally, save/invest money every month, and you too can be a millionaire.  It's great advice, especially in this day and age when the younger generation wants the big house, expensive car, and everything else right NOW, with no regard to the future.  Although some of the info is dated (Enron being named as a great company to invest), and some other advice (putting new soles on old shoes) is a bit much, the general message makes plenty of sense.
",1
"A love story between a couple that does not want to bein love. Very good book, like all that I've read from this author.
",1
"I can not put into words what this journal of the truth has done for me as a African-American Male living in the United States of America.  I was introduced to this book by a man of Guyanese decent who knew I needed to read this book.  I have to admit it was a difficult read because my primary education only spoke of American History and there was no mentioning of any African-Caribbean contributors from the ""Middle Passage"" period.  Now, at thirty-nine many things are clearer to me.  ""Roots"" and ""Beloved"" are historic, well-documented treasures and need to be used in educating all children no matter race, creed or color.  To make sure what I read had some semblance of truth while in Puerto Rico I visited a sugar mill in Guanica and my heart just melted.  If you read the book you will understand my feelings.  I became angry because something as simple as not being forthwith with documented history such as this to young minds of American children lead to misunderstandings amongst the masses hailing from Africa, South America, The Caribbean, Asia, United States and Europe.  Eric Williams I know I can not thank you in person because you are no longer here physically but your spirit lives on in your books and you will always be alive everytime one more person reads your book and awaken ""Thank You""!  For everyone else read the book it will cleanse your soul and feed your mind.  Once you finish this read ""How Europe Underdeveloped Africa"" by the same author
",1
"Are you looking for a way to get your kids into the kitchen, turing out tasty projects?  I know I was--and I went through about fifteen ""kids"" cookbooks at the local bookstore before I stumbled on this little gem.  It was the only cookbook (other than The Everything Kid's Cookbooks) that would actually get a child into the kitchen.  The projects are appealing on all levels--they are easy to assemble, they are too cute for words, and they have super easy to follow pictoral instructions.  

It also has a good balance of entrees to deserts, unlike some of the family cookbooks I've reviewed. And with the desserts--like cookies--it takes one basic recipe and shows you about four different ways to use it--marvelous!  It's also pantry friendly--no star fruit or rare ingredients you don't have laying around.

Now if you're looking for a kids cookbook to vary your family's fare, then keep in mind this is a slender picture-book sized volume--you won't find more than 22 projects in the whole book.  For a good standard family cookbook, I recommmend Beyond Mac 'n' Cheese by MOPS.  

But if you are looking to get your kids (12 and under) into the kitchen to spend some time together having fun at the counter, then don't hesitate to buy this little gem!  It is my number one recommendation for children's cookbook, project-wise.

For the above twelve set, I recommend the Everything Kid's Cookbook because it is a little more geared towards meals and has crossword puzzles and fun foods that are meant to be played with.  If you are looking for a cookbook with tons of recipes that will appeal to your family, be pantry friendly *and* save you money, check out ""Cheap. Fast. Good."" 
",1
"Bob Quinn is definitely one of the most profound writers on change in this era. But his work is not for the faint of heart because he challenges each of us to start change initiatives in the place we'd least like to go -- inside ourselves. I found this an incredibly powerful book. I've used sections of it with my ""change management"" classes for several years and I know it has a tremendous impact on students, who like most managers have grown up unconsciously believing that change always needs to start with the other guy. If you want a simple formula for change, don't buy this book. Although it is full of practical, actionable ideas, ""Change the World"" addresses change at a profound level that asks readers to reflect seriously on what they stand for. It's a very difficult but rewarding assignment
",1
"Of all of Willard's books, this one was my favorite.

	Willard offers a systematic study of the nature of being, and then proposes a pragmatic approach to setting the hear back on course to purity and submission to God.  A human being, he says (p. 30), is composed of thought, feeling, choice, body, social context and soul.  He states plainly (p. 41), ""It is the central point of this book that spiritual transformation only happens as each essential dimension of the human being is transformed to Christlikeness under the direction of a regenerate will interacting with the constant overtures of grace from God.  Such transformation is not the result of mere human effort and cannot be accomplished by putting pressure on the will (heart/spirit) alone."" 

Fundamental to this project is first dying to self, taking up the cross, and living in self-denial (chapter 4).  We must then go through a process like learning a new language.  The general steps he summarizes in the acronym VIM: vision, intention, means (p. 85).  These are a vision for kingdom life, the will to do it, and the means to carry it out.

The rest of the book is structured around a look at the transformation of the mind (chapters 6-7), will (8), body (9), social context (10), and the soul (11).  The work of the mind involves being cognizant of the ideas and feelings that drive our society and our personal lives.  Instead we should be renewed with love, joy, and peace in the inner life.  The work of the will involves surrendering our will to God's, and then moving from abandonment to contentment.  Here the spiritual disciplines bring to light our duplicity on these matters.  The work of the body means realizing the over-emphasis we place on it and the need to cease idolizing and misusing our bodies.  The work of our social context involves noting the use of assault and withdrawal that characterizes our relationships (p. 181).  Lastly, the work of the soul, which Willard defines as the unifying factor of them all, is best summarized in Psalm 1.  We are to be renewed into new beings who happily fulfill the law of God.

Again, I said this was my favorite of Willard's works.  I'm not sure any of the rest of them so thoroughly transcend from the theological to the practical without missing a step.  The systematic study of human nature is all-inclusive.  He lays out a blueprint of a kingdom vision of what the human being (emphasis on being) is.  The very nature of humanity, from the state in which we find it to the place it is supposed to be, is spelled out here.  The enormity of the work is amazing for such a readable text
",1
"Paul Johnson has written a 1,000-page book about various and sundry aspects of the years 1815-1830, years in which he rightly claims to find the origins of many aspects of the world as we know it today.  Johnson's chosen foci are certainly broad: he ranges from events in politics and law to music, science, and even opium use.  While almost every page is loaded with fascinating morsels of information that will certainly come in handy when you want to impress people at your next social function, Johnson's roving eye and pen can be disconcerting: he tends to shift topics very quickly and without warning.  Also, while the book claims to be about ""world society,"" Johnson spends the largest part of his time talking about British society -- but he's found plenty of ways to range geographically from the ""western"" United States (like Kentucky) to China and Singapore.  Throughout, his prose is generally crisp and pleasant to read.  

Overall, Johnson has given us what might be the ultimate in bedtime reading: a vast book that one can pick up, open nearly at random, and learn something interesting about the past but which retains significance today
",1
"This book is a rare but insightful look into the practice of one of the New Urbanist legends. UDA began the pattern book revival a decade ago (and also has a book out describing the process of writing one.) They also are one of the pioneers of the New Urbanist revolution, which, by discarding the fictions of Modernist planning, have rediscovered existing methods and have discovered new methods of creating compact, mixed-use and walkable neighborhoods that were always the basic cellular structure of cities from the dawn of time until just before World War II. We have understood the basic principles again for some time. What this book shows are some of the mechanics of how to do it again
",1
"(3.75) The other reviews can reveal what this book is about. What I wanted to share is the extreme responses this book incited in my boyfriend and me. He alternately found himself loving the narrator, Yuriko's sister, for her brutal honesty and hating her for her malice and psychological bullying of Kazue. Meanwhile, I found myself rooting the narrator on as she spoke the cruel truth about the pitiful hopelessness of Kazue's meritocratic dreams, but a moment later I wondered if that made me a bully myself or as bitter and heartless as the narrator. Perhaps it reminded me too much of what I had seen growing up to shock me.

Then, there was the simultaneous hilarity and pain of Kazue's cluelessness. Was she a tragic figure, blind, or both? I admired Kirino for inspiring me to feel so much for her characters, even for Yuriko, who is certainly not the ditsy airhead her older sister wants us to believe she is (I also found it hard to believ she was as ghastly as she considered herself in her 30s: is it just because women past 25 in Japan are regarded as Christmas cake, as a friend from Japan says?).

My attention was quite strained by Zhang's tale of Chinese hardship (it seemed the wrong book to educate the reader about how difficult it is for immigrants in Japan), but I immediately forgave Kirino when Yuriko's older sister admitted herself Zhang's account was tedious and could be skipped (I'd recommend others to skim it as well).

Again, my patience was tested by Kazue's journal: I just kept on thinking, aren't you ready to die yet? But I see this was intentional on Kirino's part, to make the reader struggle between our (or my) wanting Kazue to just give up on life and our feeling ashamed for our coldness and complicity in her bullying. It also made my boyfriend and me think concurrently of the people we loved in our own lives who were heading towards the same fate as Kazue and Yuriko, not through prostitution but through drugs.

What did disappoint me in the end was the last chapter, which seemed a cop-out. If only an editor had suggested it was unconvincing and encouraged her that an alternative, though more shocking, would be more in line with the narrator's character, but that is wishful thinking on my part. When I give this book to others, which I will, I will make sure to discuss with them, when they've finished, what they thought of the ending.

This book could have been edited down a hundred pages (back when it was written in Japanese), but for what it did offer, I have no regrets for its consuming my attention entirely and will always look forward to further translations of Kirino's books. This book may not be the masterpiece ""Out"" was, but for anyone who has gone to an elite school on scholarship, striven to remain a petite zero, wanted to excel while recognizing how off-the-mark our values of judgment are, or wondered just how much her body could be worth, reading ""Grotesque"" is just as powerful an experience as reading ""Out"" was
",1
"   The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the number one best selling book in the galaxy for many reasons. One it is slightly cheaper than others, but most important is that it has the words'Don't Panic' written in bold letters on the cover. The story of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy revolves around this remarkable book. This story strangely begins when the earth is destroyed by a Vogon construction fleet clearing the way for a hyper space express way. The last Earthman, Arthur Dent, is saved by his best friend Ford Prefect, who is actually an alien that comed from a small palnet somewhere in the vecinity of Betelgeuse. They are soon thrown out of an air lack and rescued by the Heart of Gold using the Infinate Improbability Drive. Inside they meet up with Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two headed, three armed president of the galaxy, Trillian, an Earthwoman who Arthur failed to pick up and wnt with Zaphod, and Marvin, a parinoid android. This book tells of there amazing adventures throughought the galaxy. These adventures involve mice, an abandonded planet, a rather suprised sperm whale, and the number 42.
   I loved this book for many reasons. One reason is that it is filled with unexpected humor. Another is that it gives a good spin on life. I could always count on this book to cheer me up. Don't just stop with this book there are many others in this series.
",1
"This book is a five star book!!!! I love it so much!!! Partly becuase I like mystery/adventurous books and I would recommend this to all of the people who like mystery/adventure. It is a GREAT book about a GREAT family when everything goes wrong when Janie Jonhson decides she wants to drink milk and when she looks at the back for the kidnapped kid - she learns too much..
",1
"Immediately upon starting Dickens' ""Our Mutual Friend,"" I was struck by parallels with Dumas' ""The Count of Monte Cristo.""  Both big novels revolve around a powerful character who conceals his identity in a complicated plot to obtain social justice.  The Count deals with the darker theme of revenge.  Our Mutual Friend is an exploration of the corrupting influence of wealth.

The novel is lively throughout, as  Dickens displays his tremendous diversity of writing talents.  The tone ranges from heavily ironic criticism of upper-class politics and antisemitism, to delicate romance, to witty visual humor.  The characterizations are highly original; even those at the extremes of vice and virtue display engaging ideosyncracies.

Most impressive to me was the consistency of Dickens' plot.  Our Mutual Friend was written and published in installments, as was The Count of Monte Cristo.  But Dickens keeps his story on track throughout, never dropping a character, while Dumas' tale is full of gaps and inconsistencies
",1
"This book was a life saver for me as I opened my solo practice this summer. Without it, I would have spent countless hours developing these forms myself. The feature that allows you to customize the forms is especially nice. I recommend this for new or veteran mental health workers
",1
"I was impressed by the value and quality of this book.... Outstanding!!!!

It is all his plays and poems in one place with a nice look and feel to the book (for the price) you can't beat it.

",1
"A surprisingly tiny book. (The picture in the upper-left corner is nearly actual size.) After receiving it, I immediately looked up its dimensions in the description on this page. It says 4.7 x 3.3 x 0.6. I had not noticed that before I ordered it. The book seems much smaller than that. Not that that is a problem; it was just somewhat of a shock to find such a minuscule book when I opened the box. 

I believe it is intended to be carried with you in your pocket or glove box or the locket around your neck so you'll have a chance to pick out a few choice topics of conversation before you enter a party or whatever. 

It certainly is not intended as bathroom reading. For one thing, the pages are much too small for emergency TP use. 

Not that I am complaining, mind you. This is a gem of a book with over 200 interesting bits of trivia listed more or less alphabetically from ""The Amish"" to ""Zero"". (This is not to imply that the title of each page has much to do with the text, but who cares - the book is fun.) 

Each page has its stated ""Fact"" and a follow-up paragraph to expound on the subject.

Also, there are a number of pages randomly strewn through the book with three ""Instant Personalities"" each - little tidbits of info about famous people. (Although, Thomas Jefferson got his own page, as did Alfred Hitchcock.) 

And unlike another trivia book I purchased recently (Bla Bla), the information here is actually correct. Will and Mangesh research their topics, not just publish un-provable ""facts"" gathered from the Internet. Use the contents with confidence.
",1
"I'm almost finished reading this book, and what a long, fun ride it's been.  Wordy, and a little confusing, this book has to be taken in the right mood, or else you'll miss the humor.

The places that the main character travels to are memorable and exciting, and I found myself getting through a hefty portion, without thinking that I had ever started.

Some....no, more like most of the satire is cryptic, and hard to find.  However, I read up on the book, and it immediately popped out at me, and made alot more sense.

This is an excellent book, that I'm sure you will enjoy.  It might even suit as a read-aloud story for younger children
",1
"This book opens our eyes. Sure, we feel that we know what we should be doing. Many times we are right in our hunches. Yet, we still do not always do what needs to be done. Instead, out of either laziness or taking the easy road, we fail because it is so easy to do so. Besides, the customer will always walk in the door. Right? As this book reminds us, the customer may never be back. It is in the insight of a professioanl like Tasca that we are reminded of wehat we may already know. Again, our implementation of these rules which he explains simply, we will achieve. Another book I encourage is ""Cars and People: How to Put the Two Together.""
",1
"Anything you purchase in the Left Behind Series is an excellent read.  These books are great and very close to the Bible.  I have the entire set.  Amazon is a great shopping site and they ship fast.  I would recommend these to any Christian wanting to know about what to expect during the Return of Christ!  They are Fiction but still makes a good point
",1
"The other reveiwers have it right. After studying more than 30 titles on the craft of writing, I can say that this is by far the most useful work on developing believable and well-rounded characters that I have seen to date. The information is timely, practical, and accessible. The examples are well-organized and perfectly suited to the material. The writer can take what he learns and put into practice immediately. Excellent work
",1
"In March 2006, there are only three or four books that boast Haskell in their titles.  They are all excellent books.  But the world can benefit from more Haskell books.  In fact, we are in need of such books, especially CS1 texts.  This book is a pleasure to read.  I suspect that even math haters will not find it hostile.  Anyone learning Haskell will find the book and its companion web site a valuable resouce.  On the web site, you will find the source code from the book, such as Powerseries.hs.  You can quickly play and experiment with it; read and learn from it.  
I wish more books are as pleasant and affordable ($25)
",1
"If you're only slightly interested in the ways the evolution works, then this is it. But beware to have some knowledge about the basics of evolution before moving on to this book. There's a bit of a steep learning curve when you're not all to familiair with Darwin's brilliant theory. It also gives a nice insight in the way scientists work
",1
"These books will one day be recorded as history told before its time. While the mainstream shurgs him now, he will be required reading years to come
",1
"It opens with a tribute to H.G. Wells and ends with an homage to Jules Verne.In the middle are 18 more stories that span from side to side of the SF spectrum and, even though they might not be all in the reader's  preferences, are sure worth reading, if not thought-provoking. Talking  about preferences, I can't help mentioning Terry Bisson's ""In the  upper room"" and Damon Knight's ""Life edit"" as the best of  the lot. Look forward for number 3, and 4, and..
",1
"As a librarian and a lover of all things relating to Arts & Crafts style, I recommend this book to anyone desiring a greater knowledge of this furniture's history and design evolution.  With clear color photographs and just the right amount of text, this book illustrates the origins of Arts & Crafts furniture in England and its progression, first to our East Coast, and eventually Westward across America.  In fact, my only 'complaint' about this book is that the photographs are good enough that they leave you wanting for more.

Because of the depth of information presented here, I would not say that this is a general interest read - rather this book is geared toward those seriously interested in the history of the Arts & Crafts movement and its recent revival.
",1
"Newt Gingrich presents common sense solutions to the pressing issues of our day in a clear concise and easily understood manner.  This book should be required reading for all civics and history classes in high school and college.  If the policies Dr. Gingrich proposes could be implemented, the US would not only become the shining city on a hill, it would also become, far and away, the world's most powerful economy throughout the next fifty years with prosperity for all Americans who chose to join the ownership society he envisions
",1
"I really enjoyed this book as I do all of her Tamara Hayle Mysteries. I wasn't really surprised with the ending but I still enjoyed it and recommend that you read it. I'm ready for the next Tamara Hayle installment I hope Basil is in the next one.
",1
"Carlton Mellick the 3rd's ""Punk Land"" (a pseudo-sequel to his 2001 novel ""Satan Burger"") wastes no time in getting straight to the story.  It is set in an alternate heaven for punks, where Sid Vicious is God and you are judged for entry not by St. Peter but rather a number of gate attendants who decide whether or not you are punk enough.  Mellick's trademark off-beat humor and sideways take on religion is ever-present, along with a slew of philosophical ideas mixed with a juvenile sense of mischief.  Although it is a sequel, it stands completely on it's own.  Fans of Satan Burger will appreciate the references and the continued story of Nan and Mortician, but new readers aren't left wondering about a back story.  And anyone with even a slight interest in punk rock or punk culture will be in well, punk heaven, with all the references to punk history and culture and appearances by icons including G.G. Allin, Henry Rollins, and Johnny Rotten.  The book is also full of illustrations, diagrams, photos and lists, which help to give it a wonderful multimedia type feel. You'll find yourself torn between finishing the paragraph you're in and jumping directly over to the flier for the ""PBR Pogo Joust"" advertised on the next page.  This is a great book, a sublimely goofy sort of work that is effortlessly good but never takes itself too seriously.  Highly recommended for anyone who likes Mellick's work, but even more so for anyone who has never read any of his books.  This is a great place to discover the works of a young, groundbreaking author who is only getting better with time
",1
"I teared when I read parts of the book, but it is such an awesome book!  I didn't want to put that book down until I was completely finished reading it.  I definetely recommend it to anyone with children.  I loved it, and I plan on keeping up with my letter box to my son
",1
"This book was someone else's bookclub selection, and I think having no expectations when I picked it up really helped in my having that WOW experience that some folks report with this book and others miss. Yes, the prose needed much better editing: overuse of repetition, ""stock"" phrases, and ""hanging"" assertions that should have been cleaned up.  However, I found the discussions of brain development/evolution, similarities between certain animal behaviors and human behaviors, development of language in different animals, and the coevolution of humans and dogs to be facinating (oops, just gave away the ending!).  I found the side discussion of outcome-based audits interesting and enlightening.  I also liked Dr. Temple's recommendation that people with autism be hired for baggage checking positions.  Great idea! Although the book really goes all over the place, I found it a wonderful opportunity to engage my ""seeking/hunting"" motivation (you'll have to read the book for that one), and worth wading through the flaws to pick up the nuggets of gold
",1
"One of the things I like about this book for young readers is that the same vocabulary words are repeated throughout the series so that the kids can build on what they learned in one book while they're reading the next.

At first, I was disappointed with the series since I didn't think it did justice to the Little House series that I treasured myself as a girl.  After a few reads, however, I see that the magic of Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories shines through in this series with Renee Graef's illustrations.  How else do you explain to a four-year-old what a log cabin is really like?  I am surprised how many ""How.."" and ""Why..."" questions this series has provoked.  Regarding this book in particular, my daughter asked about a million questions about the maple syrup-making process
",1
"There is not one book this woman has been involved in that i didn't like so far. 
Many stories you will find in her book have different personalities, which i find refreshing. 
She has been involved in many science fiction projects and when i go to pick up a book with her name on it.....I know there will be something, if not everything, i will enjoy in that book.
There should be no question when you see a book with her name on it, that you should open that book and read a while
",1
"This is a straightforward description of reading and writing the Arabic script.  If you have no experience with Arabic I think you would still need to locate a teacher or native speaker as some of the letters are very difficult to pronounce as native English speakers.
However for the most part its easy to follow and would give you a great start, especially before you take an Arabic course.

If it came with a cassette with pronouciation I would have given it 5 stars
",1
"I have read every Hiaasen novel, except ""Flush"" and ""Naked Came the Manatee."" I have enjoyed reading almost every one of them [There are exceptions -- ""Basket Case"" definitely was not up to the mark, IMHO]. The best among them, in my opinion, are  ""Strip Tease"", and ""Double Whammy."" ""Double Whammy"" is funnier among the two. ""Strip Tease"" is a little more serious.

This is one novel I read once in a while whenever I get the urge to laugh out loud. Those characters are crazy
",1
"For the English-language reader Wedgwood's book, which has been in print for over sixty years, is still an excellent introduction and synoptic narrative of this lengthy and turbulent period of European history.  It gives brief and judicious biographical sketches of the major political and military actors of three generations:  The principal antagonists at the outset -- Ferdinand II of Austria and Frederick V, Elector Palatine;  the condottieri-style generals - Spinola, von Mansfeld, Tilly, Wallenstein, Piccolomini, Christian of Halberstadt, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, the duc d'Enghien (Conde); the contentious minor rulers --  Maximilian V of Bavaria, Johann Georg of Saxony; the northern monarchs -- Christian IV of Denmark and Gustavus Adophus of Sweden (and his daughter Christina and prime minister, Oxenstierna); the ""spoiler"", Cardinal Richelieu; the new Emperor Ferdinand III and his cousin, the warlord Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand of Spain; and many others.  This book is written in a traditional English historian's  prose style that is clear, eloquent and totally lacking the jargon of concurrent and later social and economic histories, while still covering these aspects of the period.  In spite of some reviewers' claims of a ""Protestant bias"" in her interpretation, the author seems extremely fair when assessing responsibility for the long-running disaster of the war, taking the position that it was the self-serving political interests of  the participants (dynasties, rulers, generals and paymasters) that kept the war going at the expense of the social and economic welfare of the vast majority of inhabitants of Germany and Bohemia.

     Although I am not familiar with this new edition (and Grafton's introduction) I emphasize that any reissuing of this book should have a brief scholarly introduction which supplies more details on the constitutional arrangements and crises of the Holy Roman Empire during the sixteenth century, with a special emphasis on the composition of the Bohemian estates and the conflicts between the estates and the Habsburg king-emperors.  The extent and internal organization of ""the Bohemian crown lands"" should also be outlined.  A succinct review of the political status of Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Bohemian Brethren, and other Protestant confessions throughout all of Europe around the year 1600 and  a note on how their status had altered by 1700 would also be useful in ""setting the stage"" for the events of 1618 and understanding the relgious-denomination consequences of the war.

     The author supplies sufficient details on the major battles, but this is not a work of military history.  As Wedgwood knows, battles were only significant in the larger view as a result of their  political consequences.  And it is in the elucidation of the underlying politics of the war (including how political prospects shifted with the waxing and waning of military fortunes) that Wedgwood excels.  In her analysis of the general European situation at the outset of the war she proposes that there were three sets of  forces which underlay and drove contemporary events.  Each was a source of conflict and each might cross-cut the others, complicating the declared interests and objectives of the dynasties and nations involved.  In brief, the forces were: (a) Religion, with three major competing factions (Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist; she notes that the conflict between the latter two forms of Protestantism was often as extreme as it was between each of them and the Roman Catholic Church).  (b)  Nationalism (French, German, Czech, etc.), which was a new force on the scene, crystallizing the idea that political entities might be defined by nationality (which here equals some combination of ethnicity and native language) rather than conceived of as polyglot territorial agglomerations brought about by dynastic interests. (c) Monarchic-constitutional issues, which were especially complicated and ambiguous within the ""constitutional"" grouping of major and minor powers known as The Holy Roman Empire (HRE).

     The constitutional problem was twofold.  Within the small arenas of developing nation states and the yet smaller ones of traditional rulerships throughout Europe (duchies, counties, ""free-city"" areas ruled by town councils and mayors) contests over the basis and extent of the rulers' powers and privileges were taking place.  Aristocrats, oligarchs and merchants had traditional corporate bodies (estates) reluctant to cede their own powers (taxation, the organization of military service) to a central authority.  The same conflict was also being played out on the larger scale of the  Hly Roman Epire, that loose grouping of special obligations and exemptions  which was the final residue of an earlier system of vassalage binding together the elected Emperor (who had been a Habsburg for several centuries) and the smaller rulerships of Central Europe.  The religious reforms, rebellions and wars of the sixteenth century had produced a system that appeared to resolve some of the potential problems through the won privilege of cujus regio, eius religio (""whoever rules, his religion [is the religion of the ruled area]"").  In the year of the war's inception, 1618, this new balance was very fragile, comprising four Catholic and three Protestant imperial Electors.   In Germany the special arrangements regulating relationships between the Emperor (resident in Vienna or Prague) and local rulers and guaranteeing a great deal of political autonomy to the locals, especially the Protestant Electors, had been somewhat codified by the Augsburg Treaty of 1555, and were known as the ""German Liberties"".  These would prove to be especially important to the three Protestant Electors at the outset of the war.

    In the developing continental war one could be pro- or anti-Habsburg based on any one of the above factors or any combination of two or three of them.  For example, a Catholic ruler (including the papacy) might seek Protestant allies in order to combat Habsburg territorial expansion in his direction or to combat constitutional changes in the Empire which affected his position adversely.  Or a Protestant power might accept the Habsburg ""program"" in any given case because it did not wish to disturb constitutional arrangements that were to its advantage (this  characterization is apt for Saxony and Brandenburg during the first twelve years of the war.)  

     As Wedgwood notes, all three considerations (religion, nationality, constitutional relations) could be and were used cynically to advance the positions and interests of individual rulers and factions.  From the point of view of rationality or predictability, political choices and commitments were often self-contradictory (e.g., a Catholic power supporting a Protestant venture; a German Liberties party accepting occupation by the army of a foreign power, etc.) or  temporary expedients that made the overall European situation more chaotic.  The war began locally in Bohemia, but its complications and consequences radiated outward as far west as Spain and England (even farther, to the Caribbean naval theater), as far north as Sweden and northeast to Poland, as far south as Italy and southeast as Transylvania; in other words, it was a European continental war with global impact.

    When the war broke out in 1618 it was over the Habsburg violation of a ""constitutional guarantee"" of religious freedom in Bohemia (the concessions stated in Rudolf II's Letter of Majesty).  And here is where individual personalities and beliefs played an important role.  Ferdinand II, who had knowingly violated the terms of the Letter soon after being selected by the Bohemian Diet as King (and therefore the first in precedence of the HRE Electors) was determined not only to expand the political powers of the Habsburg dynasty in Bohemia and elsewhere, he was firmly committed to the goals of the Catholic Counter-Reformation (i.e., re-Catholicizing all of the areas within the HRE which had become Protestant during the last one hundred years).  When he was deposed by a special convention of the Bohemian estates (the defenestration of his deputies in Prague being the signal event of this deposition), the crown of Bohemia was offered to the Elector of the (Rhineland) Palatinate, Frederick V, who considered himself a champion of the Protestant cause.  The religious zeal of these two antagonists led to extreme fixed positions at the very outset of the war.

    Given the other major conflict hovering in the background  -- the Spanish Habsburg determination to recover the now Protestant area of the Netherlands which had become the successful and defiant (Dutch) United Provinces - the war soon became international. While the entry of France and then Denmark followed by Sweden, into the war during the 1620's changed its nature and extended its duration, Wedgwood concentrates much of her analysis on the behavior of the two Protestant Electors, Johann Georg of Saxony and Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg and one Catholic ruler, Maximilian of Bavaria.  It is her contention throughout the book that Johann Georg and Maximilian in particular could have prevented the war's spread and forced Ferdinand into a compromise very early in the course of events that acquired their own dynamism once they got out of hand.  Despite their religious differences these two were always strong ""German Liberties"" proponents, and each had the same view of the Austrian  Habsburg rulers:  they should be kept for the broader protections they offered, but kept in place with respect to encroachments on the traditional rights of local rulers.  In the end both of these rulers survived the lengthy war in spite of numerous diplomatic and military reversals (Saxony switched sides and joined the Swedes for several years, while Maximilian's position was constantly and secretly supported by  his nominal enemies, the French, as their potential foot in the Habsburg camp.)  Wedgwood believes that the price of their survival was far too costly for the rest of Germany.

     Wedgwood's gloss on the changing nature of the conflict is that by the year 1635 the war had become one of great-power politics, and that the earlier religious and ideological causes were losing their ability to motivate the antagonists.  Her summary of the changes emphasizes the following:

(a)  Religion had  discredited itself as a plausible source of political programs and a legitimate cause for war.  Religion was becoming more interiorized and private, and losing ground philosophically and ethically to the new prestige of empirical and applied science (this was the era of Galileo and Kepler, with Descartes, Harvey, Hook, Newton, Huygens, etc. on the near horizon; a time of laboratory science and scientific societies.)  As the basis of a political program religion was viewed cynically by those who saw the devastation it had brought about.

(b)  For thinking men, nationalism began to fill the emotional void in public life left by the withdrawal of religion as the underlying motive for political and cultural action.  This was very obvious in France, but even true of Ferdinand III, for whom the new main cause was the construction of an Austrian-based hereditary monarchy whose additional obligations as the Holy Roman Imperial  protector of  far-flung  German Catholics were no longer perceived as worthwhile.  In the minds of both Germans and Austrian Habsburgs the Holy Roman Empire was becoming an honorific entity with ambiguous and weak political commitments in Germany.  The Elbe-North German-Pomeranian ideal empire of Wallenstein was never again revived as a dynastic program.  Austria began to move south and east (toward Italy, Croatia, and Hungary) in its expansionist aims.

(c)  The control of immense polyglot, multi-religious, mercenary armies and their huge camp followings had become a pressing matter of concern for all of the political authorities that hired them - they were neither religious nor national in their motives and aims and were in fact independent ""mobile states"" unto themselves, cynical and rapacious and often as dangerous to their paymasters as to their foes; whenever their immediate prospects for pay and maintenance looked bad, they changed sides.  The most successful mercenary generals had become mini-sovereigns.  Officers were all ""out for themselves"" and for their troops (rather than for the cause or nation of their paymaster), since without troop loyalty they had no means of personal advancement  -- the most famous commanders, Ernst von Mansfeld, Wallenstein, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, the Swedish general Wrangel, all expected (and some received) grants of territory and titles of nobility as their rewards for service. The ""national"" armies of conscripts that came to the fore in the 18th century was the answer to this problem. 

     The pace of the war wound down during its last five years (although there were several major battles fought even then), which was a period of extended negotiatons in M?nster and Osnabr?ck, with the ""final treaty"" being signed late in 1648.  For the next five years a series of conferences met at N?rnberg to implement and enforce the peace treaty and to deal with difficult problems raised by demobilizing huge armies. Many of the loans of this period, which were raised to cover the demobilization costs, were not paid off for a century.   Individual rulers such as Charles of Lorraine and the Duke of Savoy (who got nothing from the treaty) refused to vacate various fortresses for five or six years, but the war did not break out again.  France and Spain continued at war with each other, but not in Germany.  Numerous soldiers, especially officers, went into mercenary service all over Europe.   Others took to the hills as professional bandits - for the next 20 years merchants traveled through certain parts of Germany and Bohemia in armed caravans.

     Wedgwood accepts the more recent (1900-1930's) historical estimate that the population of the Imperial German lands (excluding Alsace and the Netherlands) dropped from about 21 million in 1618 to 13 million in 1648.  The number of dislocated people was also substantial.   While she acknowledges that the number of towns and villages destroyed and other ""infrastructural"" and economic losses were very large, she feels that all contemporary sources (e.g., the pamphlet literature of the next 100 years) exaggerated local losses, since all parties in the war continued to seek indemnities and restitution.  The free peasantry benefited briefly, since landowners were desperate for manpower to restore their estates  - prices fell while wages rose for a number of years, which increased the standard of living of peasants and artisans.  But within a decade of the peace treaty the landowning gentry was pleading with Imperial, royal and local rulers to impose legal  restrictions  which would re-create bonded, serf-like conditions for peasants. Town councils now became pawns and bureaucrats of  the dynastic courts of their rulers and also implemented restrictive legislations on peasants (e.g., prohibitions against mobility, domestic industry, and household craft production  -- a trend which later historians refer to as ""neo-serfdom"").   Class stratification was as rigid as it was before the war started.  There was a new, large class of mobile petty nobles and gentry seeking court-backed military and bureaucratic appointments, at the expense of town and peasant taxpayers.  

     Germany and the Austrian-based monarchy and empire were totally excluded from the international competition to establish overseas colonies and from the developing ""Atlantic trade"".   For a number of years the outlets of Germany's major rivers (Rhine, Elbe, Oder, and for Brandenburg-Prussia, Vistula) were controlled by  foreign powers, reducing Germany's commercial strength.  Hamburg was the exception, becoming the major maritime merchant city of the North Sea coast, at the expense of the other Hanseatic cities and the Scandinavian powers.  The only medium-sized German state to emerge with positive prospects was Brandenburg, soon to become the administratively efficient and militarily powerful Prussia.  The peace, while ending the ""wars of religion"",  set the stage for a long series of ""nationalistic"" wars that subsumed dynastic and religious sources of conflict.  France replaced the Habsburg Spanish-Austrian coalition as the menacing and tyrannical continental power willing to disturb the peace.  Austria turned to the south and east and Spain lost its great power status and became an economic and cultural backwater.  There was no politically or culturally unified Germany within the boundaries of the old Empire (French culture began to reign supreme) and the cosmopolitanism (its openness to outside influences) of this area during the 18th century, instead of being a source of pride over its achievements, became a source of lament for later cultural and ethnic purists of  revived German nationalism.

     Author's Judgment and Conclusions:    In terms of  responsibility for the overall disaster, Wedgwood points to the futility and self-destructiveness of sincere religious zeal in the cases of Ferdinand II and the Elector Palatine.  But, from the point of view of failures of practical (and ethical) politics, she highlights the behavior of Maximilian and Johann Georg, who could have prevented the spread of the conflict in 1620 and could have brought the war to an early end in 1635 if they had agreed to work together on a ""unified German program"" which would have forced Imperial compromises and concessions had they both stood behind it.  Between these two she sees the Saxon as the greater victim of military circumstances (pressed by the Swedish juggernaut) and therefore less culpable for the mess, while she judges the Bavarian as too subtle and too ambitious in pursuit of his own dynastic and territorial ambitions at the expense of a general settlement good for his fellow Germans, thus identifying him as the more culpable.  

     Beautiful in its style and concision, Wedgwood's final summary is also gloomy (as one might expect of a work completed in 1939, on the verge of World War II):  

     ""As there was no compulsion towards a conflict which, in despite of the apparent bitterness of the parties, took so long to engage and needed so much assiduous blowing to fan the flame, so no right was vindicated by its ragged end.  The war solved no problem.  Its effects, both immediate and indirect, were either negative or disastrous.  Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in European history of meaningless conflict.""
",1
"A quick search in Amazon books under the name ""Benjamin Franklin"" comes up with 2403 matches. Based upon that criteria, many people would say that everything that could be said or that needs to be said about Ben Franklin has been said.  Those people would be emphatically wrong, as has been proven by author and historian H.W. Brands in his work on Franklin, THE FIRST AMERICAN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Brands expertly brings this pivotal figure in American history, back to life, once more, in this book which was a Pulitzer finalist in 2002.

This book is not only about Franklin, but its pages are dotted with an unbelievable cast of secondary characters. Brands brings the friends and acquaintances of Franklin to life, ranging from Cotton Mather to Sir Isaac Newton.  The book also spans the life of Franklin from his humble beginnings in Boston to world acclaim as one of the pivotal architects of American society and government. I believe this is the finest biography written on Franklin since Van Doren's Pulitzer Prize winner of some seventy years ago.

Of course, a book about Franklin would be incomplete without also being about the creation and formation of America, as the two are intricately attached. But Brands' work here is all inclusive, giving us not only the politics of Franklin, but his creative genius, business sense and so much more we've grown to appreciate about this Senior statesman in American history. 

I have no idea how many biographies I have read about Benjamin Franklin, but this is definitely one of the best ever. H.W. Brands has a wonderful writing style with flowing narrative, meticulous detail and is one of the few Franklin biographers who successfully point the reader to Franklin's human side rather than keeping the attention on his mythical status. 

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.co
",1
"This book is a very good study into what happen to the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Mr. Capt did a Great job in back tracking by using the clay tablets that were found in Assyria which list the tribes by the name which was used by the Assyrians which is called the House of Omri. This book is very in depth and very informative. I also noticed a person left one star because Mr. Capt did say anything about the Jews. Of course the Jew's wouldn't be metioned they weren't taken into exile until 586 bce, and that was by Babylonia and not Assyria. When reading about the Ten Tribes people need to know that the ten tribes were not Jews. Over all I give five stars and it is a must have for a historian or an avid Bible reader intrested in research
",1
"I read a review of this in L.A. Weekly which said that it was ""a lot  of fun"" and entertaining in a sort of ironic way, despite the fact  that it became more slapstick at the end.  I read it, and agreed for the  most part, except I felt that the characters were much stronger and wittier  than I had expected and the author seemed more generous to them than I  would have thought from the initial satirical tone.  The ending was a  little over the top, but it was an example of the kind of senseless  fireworks these characters would have to simulate in their own lives.  All  in all, I thought it was a very intelligent and amusing first novel
",1
"This is a great book to have on your shelf. Lots of good recommendations for a beginner quilter
",1
"Abel's Island is about a mouse named Abel.  He encounters a hurricane that separates him from his wife.  After the storm, he ends up on an island where he cannot escape because of the current surrounding the island.  He tries many ways to return to the place he loves, but all fail.  About a year after countless attempts to leave the island, a frog appears by accident. Gover, the frog, becomes friends with Abel and says he will come back with people to help Abel.  Abel's plans to return were very interesting.  His methods were very creative so it held my attention.  My favorite part was when he was fighting the owl.  I found a similarity between Abel and Stuart Little. Both had to navigate water. Stuart little was successful, but was Abel?  Read the book to find out.  
",1
"You don't have to be a fan of ""old"" Hollywood to enjoy this wonderful book about a famous restaurant and its even more famous clientele.  Fascinating stories accompanied by wonderful pictures.  This is  only enhanced by the actual recipes of this great restaurant.  A wonderful  coffee table book that will start conversations about movies, movie stars  and great food
",1
"These came yesterday and I started using them right away. I was able to learn (for recognition only) 12 new JLPT3 kanji in under 30 minutes so this product is definitely worth it. Before using this I learned all JLPT4 kanji by writing it over and over again on scratch paper. That was a more thorough method but Ive decided that for now, recognition is more important than writing so WRP flashcards are a big help. 

As others have noted, they have a nice look and feel to them. All Nihongo students should have this in their arsenal. You'll definitely have an advantage over fellow classmates who waste valuable time making their own flashcards.
",1
"Richard Fortney's ""Earth"" is a survey, in mostly layman's terms, of the geological history of the Earth and how it relates to humankind.  Fortney tells the story by means of a journey around the earth, selecting a series of locations where the earth's geology is apparent, and usually the meaning of that geology was debated by scholars to a greater understanding.  

Fortney starts at Mount Vesuvius in Italy, preceeds to the Hawaiian Islands, hence to the Swiss Alps and to other locations aroudn the world.  Fortney relates the geology of each chosen location to plate tectonics as a means to explain how each terrain come to be the way it is.  This leads into extended and sometimes fascinating discussions of the former alignements of the continents in prior ages such as the ""supercontinent"" of Gondwana.  For each location, Fortney also relates the effects of the terrain on the history of the humans who have lived in that location.  Along the way, Fortney drives home the sheer vastness of the timescale of earth and its geological processes.  The dedicated reader will view his landscape with a new perspective.

Fortney is a gifted writer with a good eye for the illustrative anecdote.  Large portions of this book will be fascinating to the reader with at least some schooling in the sciences.  It turns out, for example, that the complicated geology of Newfoundland results from its origin as pieces of three different tectonic plates (North America, ocean bottom, and Northern Europe).  The descriptions of Northwest Scotland as the remains of truly ancient mountains are put into appropriate scale in part by Fortney's historical anecdotes and by his experiences of rockhounding in the often cold rainy weather of the Scottish Highlands.

The narrative runs a little long at over 400 pages, and Fortney's explanations will sometimes outrun the scientific background of the average reader.  Nevertheless, this book is highly recommended to the reader with at least a casual interest in geology and its links to human history
",1
"Abby Cooper has become my favorite amateur PI. The premise of this series, a young woman private detective who has strong psychic abilities which she uses to solve cases, is original and fun to read. Abby is a psychic, but she also has the same trials and tribulations of a normal young woman, money, sibling and romance issues. In this latest book, Abby, her sister Cat, and Abby's handyman Dave, buy and plan to renovate a house, only the house turns out to be haunted! Poor Dave, Abbey's partner and handyman, is attacked by his own chainsaw as he begins the renovation! Determined to find out what's going on, Abby begins investigating the history of the home and discovers a missing treasure with ties to WWII Nazi Germany. In order to solve the mystery, Abby depends on her spirit guides to help her on the case. There is danger for Abby and her friends from an unknown stalker and the romance between Abby and Dutch becomes more intense as they each must sacrifice some of their independence to become a real couple. Ms. Laurie has a great series going here, and I look forward to reading more Abby mysteries.
",1
"Generally, my eyes glaze over as I reach chapter 3 of most business books as they provide the mastery of the intuitively obvious. Make Your Own Luck by Shapiro and Stevenson has broken the pattern. Written in punchy conversational style, the book is a delightful combination of anecdotes and useful tools geared to help the reader up the odds in personal and business decision-making. The process of setting goals and assessing risk is broken down into discrete aspects, allowing the reader to assess his own patterns of success and failure. This sounds as if it could be tedious, but it's not. The authors know you are not sitting in a policy course. They know that you make numerous bets in any given day and do it most of the time without focusing on the decision as a bet. The book makes you conscious of those bets and gives you the groundwork to move through those bets with speed and focus. In managing investments, I'm betting on a gestalt of macro economic factors and company specific performance as well as betting on the actions of other investors. The tools in Make Your Own Luck, such as the Prediction Map, are completely applicable to the inferential analysis I use in managing investments as well as life's major problems, such as how to seat guests at the next dinner party. This book is a good read. Shapiro and Stevenson incorporate topics from baseball to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Make Your Own Luck makes you laugh, makes your think and gives you tools to improve your own lot. 
",1
"I was very impressed to find this very nice book. I've heard about a Quebecois who painted for the popular singer Celine Dion (I'm from Quebec, Canada myself), I wanted to see and I'm very proud of it. Huge ceilings and wonderful murals !  Wow. Felicitations 
",1
"This is one of the best business books I've ever read. Mr. Nocera says it took him six years to write this book, and I believe it. The amount of work that went into this book is obvious. This is an excellent piece of business journalism. The annotations and bibliography are thorough, and the overall writing and editing is top notch.

Mr. Nocera covers a rich array of elements important to the development of the financial services industry over the last half of the 20th century:

- Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
- The BankAmericard (later VISA)
- Outdated banking regulations
- Black Monday, October 19, 1987
- Jimmy Carter's futile attempts to wrestle runaway inflation in the late 1970's
- Cash Management Accounts (CMAs)
- Citibank (later Citicorp)
- Deregulation of brokers' commissions
- Growth of American consumer debt as a result of runaway inflation in the late 1970's
- America's cultural adoption of the plastic credit card from the late 1950's through 1993
- The direct marketing of credit cards to Americans and its great success
- America's worship of star mutual fund managers like Peter Lynch during the 1980's
- The ineptitude of America's elected officials to deregulate the banking industry in the face of dramatic changes in the financial services marketplace
- The amazing impact money market mutual funds had on Americans' savings strategies given the inflexibility of the banking Regulation Q that capped savings deposit interest at around 5% while interest rates were as high as 16%+ in the early 1980's
- The significant growth and influence of Fidelity Investments and its leader Ned Johnson on the industry in the 1980's
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and their impact on the growing wealth of Americans
- The rise of nonbank banks and other non-financial companies getting into the financial services arena during the 1970's and 1980's
- The pervasive impact and presence that Andrew Kahr had throughout the industry in creating new financial services products
- The pollyana-ish impact of Marshall Loeb, editor of Money magazine, had on ""middle class"" Americans and their views of investing in securities
- The amazing record of Peter Lynch despite the ever-growing size of the Magellan Fund
- The slowness of Merrill Lynch to change along with the rest of the industry in de-emphasizing commission revenue versus asset management fees
- The dramatic growth of mutual funds in the later half of the 20th century and all the billions the financial services industry makes from them each year
- Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) accounts
- State laws on usury and how South Dakota became the credit card capital of America
- Schwab's OneSource as the first 'mutual fund supermarket'
- The dramatic risks of writing naked put options in 1987 just before Black Monday and how it impacted Charles Schwab & Co.
- The impact of ""Reagonomics"" on American wealth-building
- The 1980's bull market leading up to Black Monday
- The wild success of First Deposit's First Select card as designed by Andrew Kahr and the adverse reaction to it by consumers and watchdog groups
- Paul Volcker's anti-inflation policy of ratcheting up interest rates in the early 1980's and his general resistance to deregulation of the banking industry
- Ted and Nina Wang's amazing margin calls during and after Black Monday

The author does a great job of depicting the very interesting characters that led the money revolution in the later half of the 20th century, including Dee Hock of VISA, Ned Johnson of Fidelity, Peter Lynch of Fidelity, Andrew Kahr the product development consultant, Roger Lawson of Fidelity, Marshall Loeb of Money magazine, Charles Merrill of Merrill Lynch, President Jimmy Carter and his administration, Donald Regan of Merrill Lynch and the Reagan administration, Charles Schwab, Gerald Tsai Jr. of Fidelity, Paul Volcker of the Federal Reserve, and Walter Wriston and John Reed of Citibank.

The writing is crisp, clear, and easy to read. Few books come out like this and Mr. Nocera is to be commended for this first rate work.

If you are even mildly interested in any of the items listed above, you will enjoy this book. If you find the financial services industry fascinating and/or work in the industry, you will love this book. It's a page turner!

The only drawback to this book is that it was published over a decade ago in 1994. So much has happened since then! I encourage Mr. Nocera to pick up where he left off and put out a second edition that takes his readers up through 2005.
",1
"I learned more about human resource methodology in corporations

 from each chapter.

Great summaries about corporations in the public eye.

Good case history and citing of heuristics

for running any good learning organization.

You learn the basics for Management  2000.

My professor used this book

for the University of  Phoenix.

I really enjoyed learning about the various theories and  paradigms for Modern Managers.

I found the case histories useful for analysis

and my papers.   A book for the future CIO's, CEO's and HR Directors within us  all
",1
"Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland has always been preoccupied with three very important things: dancing, dressing, and reading sensational novels. But doing these things won't get you a husband, or acquaint you with other young ladies, such as yourself. So, upon request from a neighbor, Catherine is invited to spend some time in Bath - a fashionable town, where Catherine will have the opportunity to interact with people of her own age and stature, who are not related to her. And that is where the naive Catherine meets up with the Thorpe family. Quickly becoming friends with Isabella Thorpe, Catherine begins spending much of her time with the illustrious, yet conniving family. And it is only when Catherine is rescued by Henry Tilney, along with his charming sister, Eleanor, and whisked off to their ancestral home, known only as Northanger Abbey. There, Catherine's choice of reading material - mysteries and ghost stories, that is - comes back to haunt her; for Northanger Abbey is victim to terrible noises in the night - such as creaking, and frightening winds, that leave Catherine feeling as if she is residing in a haunted place herself. The fact that the enormous house is filled with various locked doors, and a curious history only heightens young Catherine's suspicions, and makes her question what mystery and secrets are lurking within Northanger Abbey, and the Tilney family, in general.

Jane Austen has been a favorite of mine since I was very young, but it was not until this past weekend that I happened upon NORTHANGER ABBEY while browsing through the bookstore, and decided to purchase it. I will admit that, hands down, this has become one of my favorite Austen books. Catherine is an enchanting character, whose innocence, and naivete make her charming from beginning to end; while her overactive imagination leaves the reader chuckling in delight at the many crazy notions she creates within that bright head of hers. Catherine's interactions with Isabella Thorpe, and the rest of the Thorpe family are intrepid, and truly make you feel strong emotion towards those particular characters; while the charming Henry Tilney - like Mr. Darcy - makes you root for a romance to blossom between our dashing businessman, and our young heroine. A wonderful, satirical piece of fiction, that should certainly be discovered by anyone who calls themselves an Austen fan.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspape
",1
"""Doctor Livingstone I presume?"" is undoubtedly one of the most well known quotes in history.  Very few people, however, are familiar with the history underlying the meeting of Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.

This book details the lives of the two men and the historical background through which they were thrown together.  Livingstone, one of the foremost explorers of his day is searching for the source of the Nile River.  Through a combination of bad luck, poor planning, disease, weather, natives, etc., Livingstone is virtually stranded on the banks of Lake Tangyanika.

Henry Stanley, a newspaper correspondent undertakes a rescue mission at the direction of his publicity hungry publisher.  This book details that mission and the international setting under which it took place.  The perils of African exploration in the late 19th century cannot be overstated.  This book does an excellent job impressing this upon the reader.  

I found this book very similar in style and experience to Undaunted Courage (which detailed the Voyage of Discovery undertaken by Lewis and Clark) and River of Doubt (dealing with Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of the Amazon basin.  If you enjoyed either of these books, you will like this one as well.  If you read this book and enjoy it, I highly recommend the other two
",1
"Nine months ago I was hired to help turnaround a once successful business.  From day one I realized that this was a company without focus.  It's one thing to define a problem, another to find a solution.  Haneberg's book was a shot in the arm.  Just one concept -- ""Stop Multitasking"" -- would have been a major breakthrough for my team.  And, personally, the idea of doing ""One Great Thing"" has completely revitalized my approach to a huge job.  This book immediately rose to the rank of three or four ""must read"" titles in my business library.  In the couple of months since I first read it (and I've re-read it a couple of times) our department has moved far away from the reactive mode that drove decisions -- we're nailing deadlines, we're closing more sales, we're thinking more strategically across the board.  In a business and social environment that throws more at us day-by-day, hour-by-hour, this book is even more important than it would have been just a few years ago.  We're all doing more with less -- and this is a book that has helped me see order amid the chaos of conflicting priorities.  If it's true, as Woody Allen says, that 98% of success is showing up, then the other 2% is knowing how to keep your eye on the ball once you get there.  This is the manual for getting your business -- and your life -- where you want it to be
",1
"Lee Smolin is a very deep thinker and original physics theorist, ready if needs be, to question cherished assumptions. One is humbled at how fertile his mind is and how he is familiar with the ideas and the research of so many people

The book is mainly an account of his misgivings about string theory, where he initially states, as he sees it, the five big problems in physics. In this context, he makes the very important point that since the end of the 1970's there has not been a single breakthrough in our understanding of elementary particle physics and, in particular, he claims string theory does not achieve such a breakthrough. 

In making his case against string theory he discusses what string theory has given and shows how it appeared to offer a solution to some of the problems of theoretical physics. But then he builds up his case against the theory. He says that string theory does not reproduce the standard model, probably the most successful theory in physics, but even predicts particles not seen in nature. It did not predict and does not cater for dark energy, nor does it make new precise and falsifiable predictions. In particular he says string theory does not offer a solution to the foundational problems of quantum mechanics.  He also notes that here is no complete formulation for string theory. He shows though how the five versions of string theory could be unified if membranes rather than strings were assumed, but notes that this theory, M theory, still remains a tantalizing conjecture. He says hopes for a unique string theory have receded.

This reviewer would not dare to comment on his assertions but will say that any assertions he makes, are based on a very thorough knowledge of modern theoretical physics and merit the full consideration and respect of the reader. Indeed new ideas are needed in physics as Lee Smolin says. We are missing something big. There is a feeling though that we are on the verge of that big breakthrough - that something just beyond our understanding at the moment will surface through the `murk' into our consciousness and revolutionize our knowledge of nature. The clues are there. To do this, Lee rightly says that the sort of people who see through universal assumptions and ask new questions are needed. He also says that progress sometimes requires deep philosophical thinking but sometimes does not. And whether it is `lateral' thinking or a breakthrough revolution in `conceptual' thinking, new thinking is definitely required. Lee concludes his book saying that what he intends to do is just that. He chooses to start with a paper of his on the relationship between quantum and thermal fluctuation. A good choice perhaps. 

I strongly recommend that anybody who is interested in physics and the current problems and mysteries in the area to immediately buy this book, if they have not already done so.






",1
"Steven Pinker has written a fascinating account of how language works; how we, as listeners, process the sounds that make up words and sentences in a way that allows us to extract meaning. The book is clear, entertaining and very accessible; Pinker's writing style is witty and engaging.

My appreciation of the book is not only as a reader and enthusiast of language, but also as a writer; despite having been writing for years, and having studied numerous books on writing style and technique, it is ""The Language Instinct"" that positively impacted my writing more than anything else that I've read; an understanding (at least a partial one - I'm no expert) of the way your words will be parsed by the brain of your reader can be very valuable in one's attempt to write clearly and well.

I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning something new, and being entertained in the process.

Danny Iny
Author of ""Ordinary Miracles - Harness the power of writing and get your point across!"" (ISBN 1-4116-7252-6
",1
"This work will be regarded as a classic.  It is the best work to date on  the First Crusade
",1
"Alien invasion stories have been done to death since H.G. Wells gave us The War Of The Worlds so it is extraordinarily difficult to come with a new slant to this time-honored genre. Well, William C. Dietz pulls it off with Death Day and the concluding volume Earth Rise. What sets Death Day apart from most of the invasion tradition is, first of all, the invading force being made up of different races. This makes an interesting dynamic and gives the enemy character as their squabbles, in-fighting and fight for freedom (some are slaves to others) make for something new, different and engaging. Also, using racism amonst the aliens as well as the surviving human population rings a true, and tragic, note. The surviving pockets of humanity withdraw within themselves, close off their borders and horde resources. The aliens favor people of color and place them as overseers as human slaves are forced to work building alien temples on Earth. And, sadly, collaborators work with the invading force to control the humans. But the seeds of rebellion have been planted. Humans and enslaved aliens are fighting back and this first book sets up an alliance between the enslaved races. All this is interesting stuff and makes for a fresh approach. I enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. Dietz is the best SF writer working today when it comes to letting character drive the story no matter the setting. 
",1
"Before getting this book, I knew the advantages for shooting with the raw file format, but dreaded the workflow issues associated. Bruce's book changed all that and now I can't wait to shoot using raw more often. Not only did Bruce throroughly explain the advantages of using RAW, but he also tells you where Adobe Camera Raw works better than Photoshop, where Photoshop works better than ACR, and how to automate a few of the functions to improve your workflow dramatically. I can't begin to explain how much time I now save when processing raw files.

It's not a long book, but I have to say it has been one of the most helpful Photoshop books I ever bought. I'll never use my camera's native raw software again
",1
"Along with ""From Science To God"" Mr Russell establishes himself as one of the masters of spiritual reawakening.  Although this piece has more doomsday in it than his later work, it has the same hopeful message and the same readability.  

In both books Mr Russell never seems to lose the reader in scientific mumbo jumbo, even when discussing very complicated subjects.  That isn't a statement on his intelligence or research, but rather on his ability to communicate on all levels.  Neither does he offend when he deals with the spiritual aspects of his writings. In short everyone can sit around his table (well, almost everyone). 

Read'em twice.
",1
"Isalnd of the Blue Dolphins is an exciting book about an indian girl named Karana. Karana is left  behind on an island when all the rest of her tribe leaves. On the island Karana befriends many animals and survives in the uniquie ways of her tribe. Will Karana survive? Will she make it back to her tribe? Island of the Blue Dolphins is an exciting book that everyone should read
",1
"This book is fantastic.  It has changed my life and I highly recommend it
",1
"...This book is a romance, and I liked it.
My only excuse is, it's a CLASSIC romance!
I loved it, in fact. It's on my Top Ten Favorite Books list. It wasn't gross, it wasn't weird, it wasn't annoyingly romantic. I loved it. (I might say that a few more times.)
I loved Elizabeth, Jane, Mr. Bennet's relations with Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingly, Mr. Collins (my cousin cannot say his name without falling over herself laughing from what she saw in the movie.)
I can't even find words to describe how much I loved this book. I read it this summer, and I'm still at a loss for words! 
All I can say is, I'll definitely be picking up more classics. And my book of Jane Austen's works will soon be veeeery well-worn
",1
"I got this book when it first came out and read it straight away.I absoloutely loved it and highly reccomend it.Lief is trying to be a great ruler, but can't, not with the famine and death in Deltora.But with a perilious map, our heroes set out to destroy the four sisters that are causing the deaths in Deltora.An exceptional addition to the previous books and is reccomended to fans who want a little more adventure in their reading.Well done Emily Rodda!I like this book as much as all the others, this is the best Deltora series and I say it proudly, but after all, Deltora Quets hasn't finished, not yet
",1
"As mentioned, this book is amazingly compact, cramming three semesters of calculus and a bit of ordinary differential equations into just 800 pages. That conciseness also implies that much explanatory material and many illustrative examples are missing.

The authors mention in the preface that ""classifiers of calculus books would call this a traditional book. Most theorems are proved or left as exercises to prove..."" Nearly every result in this book has an accompanying proof. For those with a serious interest in mathematics, this is a useful resource. For most others, the presence of so many proofs can be overwhelming and probably is a turnoff.

Included with the book is a one-page detachable reference card containing a massive amount of valuable information, including common rules for derivatives and integrals, geometric formulas, a few conversion factors, trigonometric identities and graphs (very useful!), and more. The book also has a three-page comprehensive table of integrals in the inside back cover and a listing of geometric formulas in the front, along with a commemorative timeline and portraits featuring the deceased European males who made calculus possible.

Given all of this, I would highly recommend this book as an 800-page calculus reference text, or maybe as a text in an honors calculus sequence that expects to use the text throughout multiple semesters - then using it saves you money.

But for those who don't have a super-strong background or interest in math, those who are just taking calculus for a requirement or those who have never seen calculus before, or for those who are just plain math-phobic - using this book just doesn't make any sense. I wouldn't recommend it.

For those who are stuck with this book for a course, I'd suggest looking for another book to help you out. One possible book has already been mentioned in another review: Silvanus Thompson and Martin Gardner's ""Calculus Made Easy"", a book that dates back originally to 1910 (!). I've read parts of it, and the book looks good to me.

I'm sure that there are many other helpful books; try checking your local/university library or looking on Amazon for ideas. An extra calculus textbook that's more student-friendly might be a good idea.

As for the pages falling out, I haven't had a problem with it (I have the 8th edition), but I don't use the book all that much.

I haven't found any serious errors in the text, but I haven't read everything thoroughly, having only used the text for Calc III.

And, yeah, getting the student solutions manual would probably be a good idea
",1
"I absolutely think you should have this book as part of your collection.  The pictures come to life along with the description.  The wording is simple and sweet.  I am a first grade teacher and taught using this book.  All my students enjoyed the memory this book brings to life.  Vivid pictures and colors are an absolute gift from the artist
",1
"Pest Control is a light-hearted book which uses a fast pace and off-the-wall humor to make up for any depth problems.

Standard story. Upstart assassin bursts onto the scene, creating mayhem in the world of professional killers. Problem. Upstart assassin can't even fulfill a contract to rid a restaurant of roaches, let alone kill some of the most guarded men in the world.

The story of Bob Dillon's flirtation with contract killers is a page-turner. Not really out of suspense, because you can't imagine that Fitzhugh would subject his characters to anything other than a fairy-tale ending, but out of unabated curiosity. You want to know how in the heck Dillon and his cohorts will survive to breed another strain of hybrid bug-eating bugs. Of course Fitzhugh answers with simple and hilarious solutions which are, towards the end of the book, more and more absurd and predictable.

Overall, I'm slightly embarrassed that I like this book as much as do. Nonetheless, I would recommend it to anyone looking for an easy and humorous read
",1
"    Reminds me that conservation has been in the minds of some for a very long time.  My grandson who is four loved the story and understood the concept
",1
"The need for assassins is great - the evil keeps cranking up beyond belief as the suspense continues to buld.  What a book and what a series - more please
",1
"I read this book the first time 7 years back and left a lasting impression on me, that's why when i came across it again after so many years i felt compelled to buy it and read again. Oh Boy am i glad i bought it! Since last time i read it i have read many romance novels, many great one and many bad ones too. i thought i might not like it so much the second time around because of all the exposure i have got to romance novels since then but i was wrong. This book still made my heart race, made me smile at Joe's attempts to make Ronnie laugh and still made me sigh at that sparks of atraction flying between them. 
Joe's character was just amazing, and most endearing was his insecurities.Here was a Navy SEAL,one of the toughest possible guys, and he was insecure about his upbringing and background. He felt Veronica would be ashamed to be seen with a guy like him. He was sooooo sweet. He was so cocky, stobborn and arrogant but he was scared of rejection from Veronica. Just goes to show how a person's outward appearence rarely show what is really inside them.
i can't find any more book of this series , i am still searching for them. i know i have to read all of them.
",1
"Wonderful Text. Helps to rationalize and boost understanding on why Cubans living in Miami have such foreign behaviors in the eyes of the outsider. The author takes you by the hand, and walks you step by step. Absolutely wonderful and did an excellent job at steering clear of any bias
",1
"With relations between the West and the Islamic world worsening rapidly, a better understanding of Islam and its roots is badly needed in the West.  

One major barrier between understanding Islamic culture is the key sacred text, the Q'uran, has been little studied in the West, and until recently, good translations were unavailable.  Many Qurans were translated into the same sort of english as the King James Bible, and not a glint of the Quran's revevered poetic beauty was reflected in such translations.

Thankfully, better translations in modern English are being made by leading Islamic scholars who have a more sensitive ear to the poetry of the Quran, as well as a better understanding of the influence and appeal this text has for believing Muslims.  

Like all great works of literature, especially a poetic one like the Quran, its power and beauty can only be appreciated in its original language.  This is why Muslims often say the Quran is untranslateable, but when one hears a verse of the Quran being sung aloud with a little knowledge of Arabic, the beauty (while unfortunately not fully understandable) does start to become apparent.  

But, even in translation, when read carefully the Quran still has great beauty from a literary viewpoint.  The most beautiful part of the Quran in my view is the 'Light' surah, which compares God to a light whose glory fills the entire cosmos.  This surah has been a favourite with Sufis, Islamic theologians like Al-Ghazzali, and also Muslim philosophers as well.  

While the Quran does contain descriptions of violence and its style is often difficult to read for the Westerner, it is important to study this work with patience and try and see it as an organic whole rather than a fragmented jumble of poems.  It is in this sense the deep underlying unity of the Quran and its theology (which reflects the unity of Allah, the divinity in Islam) becomes apparent, especially in the names of God.  

A good knowledge of this religious classic is becoming indispensible in a world where Islam is becoming more important to understand from a global perspective
",1
"This book does what it says. It lists low or no cost campgrounds, they may not be where you want to go or fit your mega motorhome, that's what commercial parks are for. I don't know if it is all-inclusive but it certainly has most of the campgrounds that I know of in areas in which I am familiar
",1
"I am a huge Thomas Hardy fan, and I was not disappointed with this book. At first all the technical astronomical information was slow, but the love story started and that was forgotten. My only complaint about Two on a Tower is the ending. It seems very rushed - everything comes crashing together in about 10 pages. It wasn't realistic for Viviette to age so much and no longer be beautiful 4 years later, considering she was only 33 at the end of the story. Sir Constantine was possessive, jealous and terrifying but she still kept her health and beauty after suffering with him. The bishop was full of himself - how is that worse? A few years with him and all of a sudden she's an old woman with a heart condition? Swithin comes back and says he'll marry her, she's overcome with joy and BOOM! She dies in his arms. I also find it strange that neither Swithin or Viviette acknowledged that the boy was his. Didn't people in the village realize who he looked like, since people were already suspicious of the lovers? What will happen next, Swithin takes his son in and marries Tabitha Lark? A very good, sad, complicated romance
",1
"I have to give Philippa Gregory a big THANK YOU! for approaching this story from a different perspective from The Other Boleyn Girl.  It delves into the lives of those in poverty without straying far from the lavish lifestyles of English royalty and wealth.  Again I was attached to the characters and their struggles while learning much about the time period and historical events.  There were a few very alluring relationships between the narrator and the men she encounters creating a whirlwind of emotions for the reader but in the end, I was very pleased with the romantic outcome of the book.  So if you are deciding whether or not you'd like to read this after having read The Other Boleyn Girl, I greatly encourage you to do so, you won't regret it
",1
"An incredible task carried aout by two prominent researchers in the field. Arato and Cohen accomplished a great job in this work. The reader both will find a lucid theoretical evaluation of the concept of 'civil society' and will have a better understanding of twentieth century political philosophy. Also, the book does not only 'summarize' the basic arguments and debates about 'civil society'; but also offers a new understanding of our social and political world by their genuine model. As a researcher in the field I do really appreciate their effort and thank these two brilliant researchers for their fastidious and meticulous work.
",1
"The form of Chinese meditation called Qigong is based upon the fundamental lessons of internal Elixir Qigong - and the first step in learning this process is to absorb Embryonic Breathing theory and techniques which were long kept secret within Buddhist monasteries. Dr. Yang translates and discusses most of the documents available on this arcane process, providing a summary of the practice and an important analysis of the breathing technique which is essential to the study of this ancient Buddhist discipline. An essential key to understanding
",1
"This massive volume encloses most of the major theorists in criticsm and theory, this book is essential reading for Literary theorists and those people who are interested in reading the original texts of the greatest thinkers in history
",1
"Gaylife on the English countryside is like everywhere, you never know when your BF (boyfriend) gets bored with you. The battle with London's competitive nightlife makes you reguarly ask yourself: ""What have I to offer""? The efforts to entertain your BF are as tiresome as the question how organize your own life so it won't get dull. And once you got things fixed you yourself run into this willing guy.  The tragicomedy the Spell tells the story of four men, Robin, the ageing architect who enjoys his life together with his younger BF Justin, a witty layabout, Robin's son Danny, a georgeous body dealing in superficiality and Justin's former lover Alex, a well-mannered young man in search for consistency. To find out if they all get what they want is a truly delicious way to spend your time. The story is written out of the perspective of all leading parts and therefore very nicely ballanced. Hollinghurst is gifted with a great sense of attentiveness. His characters show many different moods caused by tiny events. Every self-assured attitude is merciless exposed. I recognized myself and my friends many times without realizing this ever before. It made me smile and reassured me. I think this is Hollinghurst's most post-modern novel. Unlike the Swimming-Pool Library's sexual odyssee this is a splintered glimps into life and how down to earth it can be
",1
"It doesn't sound like the people you list as reasons ""not"" to read this book, actually read ""this"" book. There is a big difference, in my opinion, of putting positive affirmations in your mind, versus a witch doctor. And quite honestly, it seems the positive affirmations could and should be used in ""conjuction"" with medical care. Does it say anywhere in the book to forego medical care, because you will most definitely be healed? No where. So in my opinion, one has to have a ""sound"" mind, and not view the book as a ""cure all"" for all the ills in life, but rather a positive way to ""enhance"" your life. It is just plain stupid to to avoid getting medical care, when you have a terminal illness, or any other illness for that matter. But according to what I gather from the book, you CAN use positive affirmations, and ""believe"" that you are getting well, to help keep yourself in a positive state, rather than filling your head with negative thinking that you will never get well. Studies aside from this book have PROVEN that a healthy and positive attitude and mental outlook, have done wonders for recovering patients, along with their medical care. Your review did not address any of those people that read this book, because the two examples of people you list, it is apparent they didn't read the book either, (not sure what compelled you to post here?) therefore you are not qualified, in my opinion, to critique this book, as they were using apparently some form of faith healing from a televangelist, did they prescribe drinking snakes blood, too? Anyway, this book in no way says to forgo medical treatment if you are sick, and those that do, probably won't be addressing their medical problem. Can the positive affirmations and power of suggestion help you through your medical crisis? I imagine it can, (studies prove it can) in addition to proper medical treatment. Anyway, you might want to actually read the book, instead of making comments of what happened to ""so and so"" who didn't even read it or apply it, including yourself.
",1
"Sacred Pathways is easy to read, plain, balanced, and straightforward.  The book surveys 9 different spirituality types.  For each type it identifies Scripture, historical characters, styles of worship, and dangers.  The book contains an evaluation tool to help the reader identify his or her personal spiritual personality.

As with any survey tool this book does not go deeply enough into any particular spiritual practice.  It doesn't need to.  What it offers is an excellent service to the Christian community.

For those who are trapped in a church that worships in a style predominately different from the their own, this book offers the knowledge that the reader is not alone.  There are others out there that worship in the same way.

For those who believe that all true worship looks like their style of worship this book offers a broader view of the Christian landscape.

I gave this book 5 stars because it could have a potentially life changing impact on those who have lived in a closed environment.

",1
"As someone who lived not far from Brownsville in the 1950s and early '60s, I can say this is an exceptionally accurate book.  It is well-written and is the best attempt I've seen yet at explaining the phenomenon of the changing urban neighborhood.  Not only does Pritchett provide many well-reserached, well-thought-out answers but, just as important, he raises insightful, penetrating questions.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American urban history, particularly as it relates to New York City
",1
"Let's Learn Kanji is systematic, it gives you a wealth of basic kanji knowledge (including stroke order and radicals) as well as providing space to practice AND regular worksheets/mini tests so you can monitor your progress! Often kanji books offer only examples and written explanations, or focus soley on repeated written practice. The addition of the mini tests for consolidating your learning makes this book a must have. I studied some kanji previously but found my self directed study slow. While I agree with the other reviewer that the pace seem stedious at first, I after a month I can claim some serious progress! My only concern with this text is that from time to time the mini tests do not have an answer key. All in all an excellent book for self study by motivated beginners
",1
"With beautiful photos of the range of Niki's work, this children's book enables both kids and adults to get an overview of Niki's work, especially her sculptures. This is the only book I have found that has pictures of her Escondido work-- it is a magical place and one can get a feel for it through this book
",1
"There are two different types of Larkin poem. The first type, mostly written before 1955, are influenced by Yeats and Auden and are mediocre. The second, written when he found his voice, are amongst the most wonderful works of English literature ever written.
So what was his voice? Basically that of twentieth century man - atheistic, obsessed with sex, regretting the loss of faith and the old certainties. He takes these subjects and turns them into glorious poems. But here's the really incredible thing: he uses ordinary, uncomplicated language. No tricks, no arcane allusions, just plain English.
It can't be denied that the voice is bleak, and it is too uncompromising for some. However, those who like looking into the heart of darkness will find poems which they will remember for the rest of their lives.
",1
"I was eager to read this book only to find it a terrible dissapointment.  One would think that a 'scholar' such as he would have at least a basic understanding of the Hebraic roots of Judeo-Christianity.  
It was obvious that he clearly was clueless to the known Messianic signs spoken of in the Gospels.  He is also clueless to the Pharisidical Judaism of the time..not comprehending that all of Christ's teachings were completely in keeping with true Judaism. All of which can be found in contemporary Rabbinical teachings of His time. This book, which some unfortunate readers will swallow as truth will only continue to propagate a backward understanding of the gospels.  
Like it or not..the New Testament writings are Hebraic and explain what fulfilled Judaism is.  Those who need to divorce Judaism from Christianity are offering a church which is already confused, just more confusion. It is through studying the Hebraic roots that we even begin to understand the 'difficult' sayings of our Lord; 'fullfillment of the Law', binding and loosing (the Law)..etc as well as the parables.  The delivering of the deaf mute..was a Messianic sign, because the Rabbi's knew that 'they' had to ask the said demon its name but He did not.  Lazerus's resurrection was a Messianic sign because the Rabbi's believed that anyone could come back to life during the first 'three' days after death.  Cleansing of a leper was  Messainic sign because the Rabbi's understood that it was a 'divine' punishment, that only God could lift. How else can we link Isa 53 with the 'stripes' He was to received as part of fulfilling the punishment the Law required for transgression, and yet 'minus one'. Had our Lord transgressed the Law, then the Jews themselves could have legally killed Him.  Remember Paul (Saul)?  He also does not understand John and his huge part in the whole picture, in that the Kingdom 'began' with John.  He was the 'breachmaker' as fortold in prophecy.  This is Hebraic roots 101.  
People, please study the Hebraic roots of Christianity and do not waste your time with this book. The fact that he keeps defending his position as 'not' anti-semetic, should give you a clue
",0
"I love Judith Mcnaught's work.  Her historicals are stellar one-of-kind novels that pull at your heart strings.  In my opinion all of her historicals are winners.  SOME of her contemporary works are fabulous as well - Perfect and Paradise to name a few.  There are other contemporary flops though (Remember When, Triumphant Heart, etc).  Every Breath You Take was such a disappointment.  The plot, character development, and writing was not up to par. I found it very hard to believe that a couple could fall in love in 2 days, be separated for two years and then fall back in love instantly upon meeting again.  It was really forced.

Someone mentioned it was ""amatuerish"" and I have to agree.  I think anyone could have written this novel.  I understand that the book was rushed, and to tell you the truth it reads like a novel that was written in a mad dash.

I love Judith but this book was just terrible
",0
"I love ""The number one detective agency"" series, and hoped for the same writing quality in this collection of folk tales.  Unfortunately there was no narrative flow, making the stories stilted and un-interesting.  Maybe a narrative explaining the lessons would have helped.

I suggest this book only for those interested in collecting african fable
",0
"I was trying my hardest to be creept out, but like someone said, it read like a pre-teen novel.
",0
"As a lecturer of e-commerce, I was looking forward to reading this book on the social implications of the Internet.  However, I am most disappointed with the boring and superficial way the subject is explored.  The author takes a couple of anecdotical examples to show the concequences in the shift of power that the Internet has brought about.  The result is a disjointed treatment of an otherwise most interesting topic.  I have nothing good to say about this book - money wasted
",0
"I was barely able to finish this book. Armstrong makes fun of vampires and witches, etc. by dragging in all the cheesy pop culture references she can think of. This made it very hard for me to take her characters seriously. I might have been able to swallow the idea of Cabals (giant glitzy corporations run by sorcerors; it's unclear why they don't just take over the world and have done), but Armstrong really lost me during the 20-page extended send-up of Anne Rice's vampires. This genre is rapidly sinking into self-referentialism, and Armstrong is the worst culprit. In Industrial Magic, she ruins what could have been a perfectly good story with these unfunny namechecks and rebuttals to writers who are actually better than she is. On top of that, the viewpoint character, Paige, is unfortunately named: she's as flat and boring as the pages she's written on. Her central relationship is with her boyfriend, Lucas, but their coupleship seems to revolve around the trading of sexual favors. Are we supposed to think this is cute and funny? 

Take-home project for Armstrong: next time, try putting some genuine emotion into your work
",0
"This book is similar to going to a poor movie sequel. There is nothing new and it bores you with percentages.  The title and cover are the best aspects of the book - once you open it and begin reading, it quickly goes downhill.  Save your money - I wish I had
",0
"The book is fine, except I had to skip lengthy descriptions about the dog trainer.  She's such a boring character.  She's young, but not motivated to work.  In fact, she quited one of her jobs when Macon covered her rent.  The dog training job was just a pretext for her to try to hook up with some men, and get support.  The point is that she doesn't enjoy the job, thus, a detailed description of her dog training job (which she doesn't seem to enjoy) was just a boring digression
",0
"If you like unimaginative phony crap you'll love this book.  The proposed animals within this book are utterly stupid and improbable.  An antelope that feels through the snow with its incredibly dumb looking antlers?  A DIURNAL and TERRESTRIAL mammal that for some God-forsaken reason lacks eyes of any kind?  Primates that don't evolve to fit man's niche, but instead take on the roles of otters and flying squirrels?  The thing has got nonsense written all over it.  The ""future animals"" proposed for this book were not well thought out and somebody, please find Mr. Dixon a liguist, and FAST!  Some of the names he gives these future animals are so stupidly childish that they actually detract from a creature's plausibility.  A vortex? A posset?  What jerk scientist of the future is naming these things?  Can he please be institutionalized?  I admit the pictures were well done and pre-teen children would probably enjoy this immensely.  I know I would've when I was 10 or 11, and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just that Dougal Dixon begins the book in a very advanced scientific way discussing food pryramids, chains of evolution, and ecological niches, but then converts to unscientific baloney around page 30.  All in all, I just don't think it's cut out for people over the age of 12 or so, unless you are just looking for fun and imaginative creatures.  But in that case, why restrict your mind with the laws of evolution?  Why not pick up a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual or something like that with lots of mythological and imaginary creatures?  I find that books intended to showcase the fantastic, do much better outside the realm of (somewhat-boring) science
",0
"This book is trying too hard to emphasize in being funny.  It is filled with mediocre 'funny' patters that the readers are encouraged to use, but the quality of the actual magic effects demonstrated is poor.  Balancing two forks on the edge of a glass should not be considered magic.  Once you read a few samples, the reading becomes stifling, knowing that you are not going to learn anything new that other magic books cannot teach you.  Some areas are brighter: the photos are clear, and it blends magician bios and history within.  But one can do better with other books around
",0
"I have not read the original version of this work, but the translation lacks originality and art. A beautiful story, but the writing style lacks grace and creativity. This is the only time I have liked a movie better  than the book. Do yourself a favor and skip the book. The movie is quite  beautiful and moving
",0
"When I purchased this book I expected it would be life from a particular  bacteria's perspective.  By this I mean, ""Well, today our host started  a new antibacterial therapy.  The last round of therapy was tough, but we  managed to make it through unscathed.  I'm confident we'll survive.""   Unfortunately, what I read was a scientific book written in non-scientific  language.  As a biology major in college and a medical student now, I've  read many scientific books written in scientific language.  So many that  they are pretty much all I can relate to anymore.  HA!  Actually, that  statement has more truth in it than I care to admit, but I thought this  book would be a nice change of pace.  Instead, it's a listing of  information about a certain bacterial species that I could have extracted  from Bergey's.  The book is undramatic and uninteresting.  I wouldn't  recommend it to anyone
",0
"Reviewer Alianore's opinion ""Rather too indulgent of its subject"" is a very accurate portrayal of Weir's work. I will try to add something to that near perfect review. (Note: I listened to the unabridged audiobook of ""Queen Isabella"", 22 hrs on 18 CDs).

The first half or so of this biography is mostly enjoyable, loaded with period details. The last third is the worst: Weir's fawning dedication to a glorious rehabilitation -- nay, elevation -- of Queen Isabella to the role of long-suffering, much-wronged, highly-deserving, and late-redeemed Just Queen of England.

This book is really ""subjective, rhetorical biographal dramatization"". I do not consider it to adhere to an academic standard for objective history and analysis. It is rhetoric because of the endless ""weasel words"" (and expressions) used copiously throughout: ""Some say"", ""It has been said"", ""Many believe"", ""Therefore we may assume"", ""It can be inferred"" ... this isn't just an attribute of her style ... it *is* her style comprehensively. These expressions occur many hundreds of times, commonly in conjunction with Wier's subjective analyses that present her beloved Isabella in the best possible light, always giving her every benefit of the doubt and shifting negative interpretations onto other persons.

Equally irksome is Weir's double-standard of historical psychological analysis. She is always 'declaring' for us the contents of Isabella's thoughts. Remarkable gift she has for this. Many times Weir reasonably states that modern psychological and socialogical interpretations of medieval history are inherently invalid or at least not meaningful. But then moments later she will portray Isabella's actions from a 21st century point of view ... always telling the reader how Isabella must have, might have, could have, would have been thinking and feeling about one situation after another ... often presented in a positive way that is only supported by a present-day psychosocial interpretation of 800 year old history. This isn't historical writing, it is historical op-ed, with an obvious agenda.

I don't loathe this work, it is enjoyable in many parts for its color characterizations and depth of detail. The narrator of the audio book has a wonderful voice and good pacing. But this is highly flawed in its editorial approach to historical biography. (Other egregious examples of such hagiography include Edmund Morris' ""Rise of Theodore Roosevelt"" and ""Theodore Rex"". I could not complete either of those since Morris is so obviously enthralled by his subject, lovingly lionizing him in every sappy sentence. Yuck. Really.)

If prefer more history when reading (or listening to) history. And much, much less editorial subjectivity, retroactive psychology, biased interpretation and rhetorical postulation. The only way I could enjoy ""Isabella"" by Weir is to accept her bias up front and listen accordingly, taking it with ""several pounds of salt"" as the above referenced reviewer advises.

2.5/5
",0
"I got to page 26 and gave up.  Lockes writings lack focus and are void of humour.  I read as much as I could with patience until it became clear this book was simply someone rambling on about nothing.  Save your money for something worth reading
",0
"I can attest to the author's views, because I too have precognition, telepathy, and remote viewing ability. For example, right now I see the author counting his income from the book and laughing at the gullibility of new age readers.
",0
"This book would not be helpful for children of faiths other than Christianity
",0
"Ripping off King, but with more sex, shallower characters, and a Hollywood ending. Leave it on the shelf
",0
"I found this book at a thrift store for 25 cents. I flipped though it and it looked dated, but interesting, so I decided to get it.

As other reviewers mention, it is dated -- but you gotta know that up front when you get it. It's published in 1986, when there were no (well, almost no) home computers. So you have to accept up front that it's talking about organizing papers using more papers -- but that's something we still all got to do occasionally.

So it's a system of notepads, file folders, etc. It does help you try to understand why you want to keep papers, etc, and what you can do about it. However, it does get overly complex, and really doesn't seem applicable in today's world, where there are far fewer ""homemakers"" who spend time organizing sewing and recipe files, as this book seems to be focused on.

Finally, I have to mention that it was the continual religion-related references that put me off to the book in the end. Others who are comfortable with this may not even notice it, but for me, I felt I was being preached to a bit too much to find it tolerable. Just my personal taste; I'm sure some others will disagree with this judgement, but I have to admit after enough casual religion references tossed randomly throughout the text, I gave up on the book and put it in the recycle bin
",0
"A favourite writer goes to prison, keeps a diary which proves to be an enjoyable read, then, upon his release, writes the worst book of his career. The concept of the book is good, as is the idea to blend the characters into the 9-11 tragedy. The first 20 pages flow with typical Archer style. Then the characters begin to make a series of continuously irrational decisions.

My personnal favourite is when 2 characters independantly consider driving either to Canada or Mexico in order to fly to Europe during the 9-11 grounding of air traffic. The idea that New Yorkers wouldn't know that Montreal is the nearest international airport seem laughable. While there is a direct highway to Montreal, Archer sends the main character to Toronto which reqires a least 6 different highway changes, is in the wrong direction and nearly twice the drive. Once at the border, the border patrol guard turns out to be a world class art historian who apparantly doesn't know that McGill University is in Montreal not Toronto as is claimed by our hero. The guard then remarks that he will ""meet"" a collegue of the hero when that peron travels up to the conference. The idea that only one border guard is working the dozens of eastern US/Canadian border crossings, with multi-lane checkpoints 24/7 is simply the work of a mind out of touch with reality.

Its fine to change details to enhance the plot and structure of a story, but there is simply no benefit to this sillyness.

Dan Cormie
",0
"The author makes a couple of valuable points. First, any long-term investment strategy has to take into account the existence of recurrent ""secular"" (i.e., indefinitely long) bear markets. Most leading investment advisors recommend a ""buy and hold"" strategy, but this only works during predominately bull market periods. Most studies of successful investment strategies are biased towards the recent 1982-1999 bull market, which is anomalous in historical terms. The author uses a plethora of graphs and charts to prove that ""buy and hold"" doesn't always provide the best returns. Obviously, then, it's better to pull out during the bear markets, but that's easier said than done. The author provides a very complete analysis of the characteristics of bear markets, including P/E ratio, interest and inflation rates, and GDP. The problem is that those characteristics don't always correlate with market performance. For example, this book was written in 2004 and the author predicted a bear market. Well, if you heeded his advice, you would have missed the bull market of 2004, 2005 and early 2006, especially in small-mid caps and foreign stocks. Even with high P/E ratios, a bull market can continue for several years: witness the late 90s. It's virtually impossible to time the market even if you monitor the major stock indexes on a daily basis. There is so much volatility on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis that's it's impossible to know when the market has switched directions. By the time that it is apparent, it's too late to profit. Even in the midst of great bull markets, there might be week, month, or even year-long downturns. The author says nothing about individual stock picking, beyond a general value approach. The book is all about big picture, long term trends. Another problem is that the author's predictions are based on his analysis of market trends going back to 1900. But the market (and economy) is a different beast now that it was in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. As they say, past performance does not predict future returns. 

The investment advice provided here is not useful. He suggests a ""portfolio of hedge funds,"" ignoring the fact that most hedge funds require a minimum deposit of 500K. He also recommends a ""bond ladder,"" an approach which can be easily replicated with a good bond mutual fund, and frequent rebalancing of your portfolio asset allocations. I don't need to spend $25 and five hours reading to learn that!

One thing I did learn from this book is the impact of volatility, which is often ignored in investment strategy recommendations. Volatility cuts into returns in ways that most studies do not account for. Most studies just average the returns across years, but that doesn't reflect real returns. Let's say you invest $100k into a stock that returns 35% the first year and -15% the second. Your average return should be 10% a year, right? Wrong. At the end of the first year you have 135k. Minus 15% the second year leaves you with 115k total, equal to 7% a year compounded. If you had received 10% a year compounded, your final total would be over 121k. That's 6k difference in just 2 years, and the volatility costs add up.

The book is very poorly written, plodding, sooooo boring, with tons of repetition. Just as an example, the graph showing the ""Y curve"" relationship between P/E ratio and inflation is repeated no less than 3 times.
",0
"While I realize that the majority of people thought this to be a stellar book, it reminds me of the story, ""The Emperor has no clothes"".  Yes, Choan can write a beautiful sentence and yes, the first several pages were intriguing but the switching of years was very annoying.  The ""flipping back and forth"" was not accomplished in a smooth, flowing manner.  In addition, the subject matter was incredibly depressing and the characters were so flawed that one did not even care about how their lives evolved.  The kidnapping was predictable and the ending contrived.  It would be impossible to recommend this book to anyone
",0
"My mother bought this for me for Christmas. She used the ""available new and used"" section to get it a little cheaper. She ended up paying $160 or so. When I put this on my wish list I thought that this hardcover version would be the Arabic-English/English-Arabic, considering that it was $175 and the paperback of the Arabic-English only was available for $45. As it turns out, this is only the hardcover of the Arabic-English only. So for one, my mother paid an additional $115 for only the hardcover version of a book that I could have gotten in the paperback for $45. I still do not have the English-Arabic of the Hans Wehr edition
",0
"what to write? the book is kinda story book, and gives passages after passages. if you are looking for a book that gives exercises to develop your psychic power, this one's not for you
",0
"This booklet has a lot of Warner Brothers drawings, but it doesn't delve into the specifics of creating animation very well.  I'd recommend getting The Animator's Survival Kit instead as it has tons of good and well explained info on the art of creating your own animation
",0
"The title says it all. One can do better w/ Appleyard's book
",0
"I am a big Catherine Coulter fan, but this book is awful.  You can skip all the Soap scenes, a waste of space.  Much of the dialouge made no sense and the characters were very flat.

Don't waste the $6, borrow from the library if you want to read
",0
"I have progressively become more and more disappointed with Rita Mae Brown's books in the past decade. Her early books were utterly magnificent; now, she rarely if ever deviates from her favorite (and by now, utterly boring) themes -- Southern manners, horse bloodlines, and foxhunting. Blessedly, ""Whisker of Evil"" was foxhunting-free, but suffered from a heavy-handed overload of the previous two. Rita Mae Brown would be wise to remember that there is a big world outside of her corner of Virginia, and many of us have grace, manners, and respect for others -- and we don't take kindly to being told that only Virginians understand these things. That's just simply not true.

That said, there were some delightful aspects of ""Whisker of Evil"" -- the mystery itself was great, the animal characters were adorable as ever, and I loved learning more about Harry as a person and what makes her tick. Her quitting the post office was a great (and very unexpected) twist. I liked reading more about her home and her relationships. However, the stultifying minutiae of horse bloodlines was beyond me; was this directed at a heretofore-unknown segment of Rita Mae Brown's fan base? It was so out of context in this book; certain details contributed to the horses' relationships to one another, but she took it way too far and I found myself skipping pages. As well, I almost threw the book across the room when I came across a line that stated in so many words that only Virginians have manners. This is a common theme of Ms. Brown's and it is quite frankly offensive. There is a big, big world outside of Virginia -- Rita Mae Brown should know this, she has lived in it -- but her books and characters have become so parochial, insular and snobbish that it is an insult to those of us who do live elsewhere in that big world. I would have thought these kinds of statements were tongue-in-cheek if it wasn't such a recurring theme in so many of her books over the past decade. Enough already about Southern manners (a biased perception at best), ancestor worship, bloodlines (human and horse), and foxhunting. 

Whatever happened to characters like Celeste Chalfonte
",0
"At the young age of 25 Julie Barenson loses her husband. Shortly after he dies, a great dane puppy is delivered to her home with a note from her late husband. This part will give you the chills ... nice touch.  She names him Singer, and despite her frustrations with his size and clumsy mannerisms they grow to love each other.   After a few years of trying to get her life back together after her tragic loss, Julie begins dating 2 men--Richard, a handsome charmer who wines & dines her, brings her lavish gifts and professes his undying love very early in the relationship. The other, Mike, is a simple down to earth country type whose idea of a date is a burger, Doritos & a couple beers at the local watering hole.  So who would you choose? Ouch! I'll stop there with the comment that this could have been such a compelling story.  Instead, we are faced with trite, boring, repetitive dialogue throughout, scatterings of viewpoint shifts and a very predictible plot.  I cannot believe this is the same author who wrote The Notebook, one of my all time favorite novels. I'll have to admit the ending brought on a gush of tears.  In conclusion, Singer not only saved his owner but the book as well.
",0
"I tend to like just about anything that Brubaker writes.  While I'm not as excited about his Marvel work as most others are, I have enjoyed his runs on Captain America and Daredevil.  His work outside of Marvel has been great; Sleeper is one of my favorite series over the last few years.  In general, Brubaker had not written anything that I genuinely disliked.  Then came 'Deadly Genesis'.

In short, this is a weak story with several plot holes which makes a mockery of a franchise that already has a history of reworking established continuity to poor results.  To what end?  Another Summers brother who is completely disinteresting, another story in which Professor X acts like a jerk, a dead X-Men (for absolutely no good reason), and some horrible reworking of existing long running history to cram it all in which now require secrets to have been kept by several key characters for the last 30 years.

I want to think that this story was driven by editorial mandate.  Unfortunately, this is the second instance in which Brubaker has went back and altered Marvel history from long ago.  In Captain America, he made it so that Bucky never really died in World War II.  This initially rubbed me the wrong way, but the story itself was done well, and the surrounding plots were good, so I begrudgingly went along for the ride.  I was still able to enjoy his entire run on the book.

His attempt to revise history doesn't work nearly as well here.  The key difference is that Bucky had been considered dead for so long that there was very little continuity to adjust.  He hadn't been written into any stories during all that time, so it was very easy to go and insert an alternate history for him.  In 'Deadly Genesis', Brubaker inserts events into key storylines from 30 years ago.  In order for them to work, the reader needs to believe that several key characters has kept these events a secret from that time forward.  It just doesn't work.

To make matters worse, none of the characters' motivation for anything makes any sense at all.  Characters are keeping secrets, and other characters are upset with that, and through the whole you never understand why.  It's as if Brubaker had an end goal in mind, and simply crammed in any plot device necessary to get from point A to point B - even if it required characters to act contrary to their nature or the story didn't make complete sense.

That aside, another difference between the two is simply that this series is not written as well as Captain America.  They overall plot doesn't make complete sense and the characters are presented fairly shallowly.  Reading it was more of a chore than an act of enjoyment.

The interior art is nice, though not great.  Unfortunately, the book falls so short on story alone that the art warrants almost no consideration
",0
"I admit, I haven't finished this book.  A friend recommended it to me as I have been having problems with insomnia.  I was interested in reading a book about women's health issues and this one sounded intriguing UNTIL she started in with her tarot cards, interest in astrology and angels.  Granted, I am not a firm believer in just ""the hard facts"" but its really hard to believe anything this woman writes after it is clear that common sense isn't alternative enough for her!
",0
"What I learned in this book could have been placed on 1 page.  Sure, business life is a challenge and your competitors are not your friends, but this book did not deliver on facts and details.  I don't see much difference between this book and the guru-books
",0
"McMurry's text is a very friendly, gentle intro to  organic. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read, but it doesn't teach you what you need to  know.  Explanations for important mechanisms are usually very brief, and the  problems included are usually very basic and general (the spectroscopy and  synthesis problems, in particular).  If you're looking to become a chemist,  this is not the book to learn from. I'd recommend  Vollhardt and Schore's  textbook, or any number of sophomore-level texts that will give you the  skills you need to approach complicated problems more successfully (i.e.,  on exams or out in the industry)
",0
"This novel comes off like a high schooler wanting to write about the movie and music industries.  In between the entertainment biz cliches, the author can only think to put various assination hits.  some of the characters are interesting but not believable, and they  certainly can't make up for the braindead plot.  Read some of his other novels and skip this one
",0
"While it may have been well written, this book is disturbing and disgusting to put it mildly. If you or anyone you know are pregnant, or contemplating or trying to have children, do not read this book! This is one book I can honestly say in retrospect, I would rather have failed the test on than ever have read
",0
"I read this book for a book report, and because i could not choose another one i could not stop reading it. Because I was forced to read this book I now have the knoledge and misfortune of this pathetically boring story. The steriotypical characters hurried through the story full of excuses. 1 star for one very boring book
",0
"I was extremely disappointed with ""After Midnight"".  The author, his widow, has written the book from her own life's perspective, and there is sadly little about the true Brad Davis.  His homosexuality, or perhaps bisexuality, is mentioned only in passing, and anyone in New York or Hollywood that knew him will tell you that this was a huge part of his life.  I guess a book written by his wife can't be expected to delve too deeply into this area, but even other interesting details - his drug addiction, his acting technique, etc. are only minimally suggested here.  I wanted to put the book down after two chapters, but kept waiting for it to get interesting.  I suggest the publishers retitle the book ""My Life with Brad Davis - The Saga Of A Wife Kept In The Dark"", or something similar, to indicate to readers that this book is about Susan Bluestein, and tells very little about Brad
",0
"Talk about taking the joy out of an experience.  I read this book prior to a week-long trip to Venice.  This book quite simply accomplished none of its objectives.  It is a poor ""guidebook"" and is poorly written and uninteresting in terms of a travelogue.  The history and art of Venice are covered better in books from those genres.  The only upside is that it is short.  Yuck, what a waste of time.  My advice is:  get a novel about Venice if you like novels, a guidebook if you want that, an art book, or a history book.  At least you'll get something out of those--this one tries all of these and fails.  Actually, in terms of a travelogue, ""Vendela in Venice"" far surpassess any other Venice book I have seen.  Although I originally bought it because it is considered a children's book, it is not dumbed down at all and adults will enjoy it...
",0
"Having read a few Bosch books already (The Closers and Lost Light), I realized that I should probably start at the beginning to get better insight on how Bosch became the Bosch I was reading in the later series.  However, I was very disappointed with this book.  One of the most irritating aspects of this book was the grammatical errors (mispellings and such).  I found 3 or 4 in the first 50 pages (before I stopped reading)!  I thought it was ironic that Connelly was thanking his editor at the beginning of the book, because it did not seem that anyone was editing this book.  Also, I found the book to be too gritty.  It lacked the emotion and soul that I found in the later books.  It seemed that Connelly was trying too hard to make Bosch fit this certain mold, but then transformed the character to be more likeable in the later books that I read.  So it was disappointing that this book could not hold my interest because I just finished reading The Narrows and loved it, and will probably pick up some other Bosch books and just read it out of order.  Connelly's writing seems to be getting better and better, which should explain why I didn't enjoy this book and couldn't finish it.  I gave it 2 stars because it might have gotten better and maybe I was too impatient.  This is one of those series that seems like it is better to read out of order
",0
"My blood was boiling as I read other customers' rave reviews of ""The Prince of Tides.""  Whoever considers this thesaurus-scrubbing, self-indulgent mess of cliches a literary masterpiece has no sense of language and literature.  Someone was even audacious enough to compare Pat Conroy to Virginia Woolf.  What a joke!  Woolf's writing is brilliant, original, and real.  She cuts to the quick, whereas Conroy slathers his story in cloying metaphors and trite descriptions.  One can almost see Conroy congratulating himself on each simile and metaphor as he writes, not caring how superfluous or artificial his language is -- nor how unrealistic it makes the story.  I laughed out loud at some of the words he puts in the characters' mouths.  In the real world, nobody is as self-concious and self-reflexive as the characters in this book.  They do not speak in reams of figurative language.  I cannot even get into how inconsistent and impossible the characters are, especially the children.  Also, Conroy caricatures both places and exaggerates the cultural gulf between them.  (I make that claim as a Southerner who lived in NYC for four years.)  It's one of many, many flaws in this ridiculous book.  Read it if you like sensational stories with mass appeal (John Irving, etc.), but avoid it if you have any respect for the English language and for real American literature (Cheever, Plath, Hemingway, Cather, etc.).  Don't be fooled by all the fools out there. 
",0
"Well, the fact that I'm writing a review about this book, while it's sitting open on my desk next to my computer, open and not being read, might be some evidence of how I'm enjoying this book. This book just goes on and on in complex an unclear language about a subject which shouldn't be so difficult. This book is not clear or easy to understand at all. Every sentence is awkward and followed by a footnote, and the masses of footnotes together take up half of EACH page (!), making this work look like a research project for a PhD publication. I have the casebook in this series, and sometimes it seems reading the cases alone will bring more clarity. And it turns to be true! This book might be good if you're advanted-contracts and want to know every little detail, or as an advanced reference later on, to look something up like in an encyclopedia. Some concepts, which should be pretty clear just get too in-depth coverage in this book. It's too complex for a first-year student. Sometimes it starts describing the different views out there, and then there's a jumble in your head as to what the law really is. I wish the author used his own knowledge and fluid language more than footnoted ideas from other authors.
",0
"Just wanted to quickly say I haven't finished it yet, I am only on page 20  but already this book seems very overrated. The author dives straight in talking about going beyond the five senses to achieve spiritual consciousness, but this is nothing new and we are not even given any background on how the author developed his views. Instead, he strides arrogantly forward as though he is the ultimate, conclusive authority on spirituality, and it's very aloof and, actually, not an enlightened approach at all! I've just started the chapter on Karma and it's really starting to smell like just another mish mash of other people's opinions clothed as quasi-originality. It looks like I'm going to continue reading with a very cautious, vetting attitude toward the text. The fact that this was a bestseller only serves to show how genuinely interested people are to develop their spiritual consciousness - and how easily authors such as Zukav can cash in on their hopes and fears. Hey, that's the material world for you!
",0
"Very seldom do I give up on a book; I gave up on this one after several attempts to finish.  I have read Barbara Delinsky in the past and have enjoyed her books. I remember the fascination with the Peyton Place/Grace Metalious hoopla in the 50's and 60's so I was expecting to enjoy this story.  It is dull and tiresome.  
",0
"The information contained within this book was extremely out of date with a strong emphasis on steroids. It is a shame there are not more current and useful books for pet owner out there on this widespread problem.
",0
"Though this book does present all the necessary information for learning about abnormal psychology, it's the dryest, most aesthetically difficult to read textbook... especially if you happen to be studying the material online/through independent study.  The publisher needs to redesign the book and/or you need to have a better online course professor. It feels nearly impossible to be interested in this material (which is interesting in itself) if you have to read the textbook front to back on your own without any instruction.
",0
"So this page-turning thriller was on the best-selling list for a gazillion months and put Catholic and fellow Christian faithful in a defensive uproar. I'm fairly well read and, yes, I've earned a few bucks with my prose. I'm also a sucker for historic tales, ancient folklore, mythology and Old Testament characters who lived for 800 years and begat like rabbits. OK, I decided, now that it's in paperback, I'll give it a read. What I concluded was this: Those who found The Da Vinci Code an affront to their faith could have could have ended the argument before it reached the level of theological debate by countering that Brown's work is a literary steaming pile. I read page after page, waiting for the moment when I would start to give a rat's ass about The Da Vinci Code's protagonists. What a bunch of twits. Langdon is a leading authority in the obscure field of symbology (I don't know if I spelled that right, but I'm not about to go back in that book and check it). Apparently, there are enough people in the world who crave more symbology that Langdon's books sell better than Brown's, entitling him to the academia equivalent of rock start status. Sophie is effectively portrayed as a cuddly French chick who's easy on the eyes -- someone a man might make a hit on before the first 300 pages if he wasn't a dipwad like Landgon. She's got some inner deamons that make her interesting enough, but she's been isolated from folks like you and me in a cradle of artsy culture so high-falluting most French probably couldn't tolerate it. And then they hook up with that insufferable aristocratic British snob Teabing. From cradle to some approptiately haught estate near (but, of course) Versaille, this memeber of the Royal Lucky Sperm Club has never had to lift a finger to earn buck or a pound or a Euro. So he's been free to pursue his fascination with Bigfoot rumors about how the Priory of Sion, Opus Dei and those cool Holy Grail Knights from the third Indiana Jones movie have contrived through the centuries to keep the lid on damning evidence that Jesus made a baby girl and God had originally intended women to be in charge of everything. Or something like that. Oh, I forgot, Teabing's crippled so I should feel bad about talking bad about him. Anyway, this trio of prententious intellectual clods sit around do what pretentious intellectual clods do -- make lofty, self-affirmed pronouncments about how the world's going to turn upside down when this cat gets out of the bag. The point is that these characters aren't very approachable and Brown does little to convince me that this secret will destroy Christian faith as we know it. Hell, it's been more than 100 years since Darwin presented pretty clear evidence for evolution, yet the Christian faithtul still pack churches around world. But back to how bad this book is. Trite doesn't begin to describe some of the wincing turns of phrase. I would give you some examples but, like I said, I'm not going back in there. One of the more laughable scenes of upper-crust idiocy occurs when Langdon and Sophie meet up with Teabing in his metrosexual parlor. By now, Sophie and Langdon have somehow eluded the grasp of professional killers several times, been on the run and are exhausted. With a straight face, Brown describes how Sophie's delirium is sated by a spot of tea and her hunger is satisfied by... crumpets. Yes, crumpets. Hell, Teabing, shut up about your conspiracy theories, roust your beligernet butler and have him fix these people something to eat. Offer Langdon a stiff drink. I sure needed one at this point. By now I'm pulling for the albino. Then they escape the jaws of death yet again and, naturally, high-tail it to England on Teabing's private jet. I hoped maybe Teabow would turn back upon discovering he'd left his Grey Poupon behind. I stopped reading it about 30 pages later when it became clear that the Albino wasn't going to get a chance to wack any of these intrepid protagonists. I don't know how it ends. I don't care. However, there were plenty enough nuggets of research on the subject to entice me into watching a few nice documentaries laying out this whole conspiracy on the History Channel and Discovery. Who knows? You might like it. This is just my opinion
",0
"Suggest for all genuinely interested in this topic , to refer to Rabbi David Berger's book , The Rebbe , the Messiah & the Scandal of Orthodox indifference 
",0
"I'm a big Nora fan, but I couldn't even finish this one. By the fourth chapter I began to skim. WAY WAY WAY to much detail for me. Which made it boring and slow. Testing and corrosion, is it fake, is it real ...blah blah blah. ENOUGH! I did however enjoy the side story about the brother (I forget his name). But thats it folks. Unlike ALL the other reviewers, I hated it. I say PASS on this one. But as you can see, I'm in the minority
",0
"We have to use this book for the college class that I'm taking and it is a horrible book. I often find myself looking for help on the internet rather than going to this book. It is poorly organized, I have to go to the index in order to find something I specifically need because the book isn't in any order. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Find another there are many more
",0
"I have been slogging through this book for weeks now, it was a terrible shock to the system after John Julius Norwich's excellent book on Byzantium.  The book lacks any narrative thrust, often stopping and retreading events slightly out of chronological order and frequently bringing all forward motion to a halt by describing the intricacies of some bureaucratic office or another.  The one consistent thing throughout this book is the author's obvious agenda to ""set the record straight"" and prove that the Ottoman empire was far superior to its ""barbaric"" European contemporaries
",0
"Seven Times The Sun is not for everyone. It could be a springboard, offering times of the day and night where parents might want to incorporate some kind of rituals to provide their children with a stable and balanced life. But the songs, poems and traditions offered in Shea Darian's book are hokey and contrived at best, cumbersome and artificial at worst. None of the other reviews indicated the religious or spiritual aspect of the book. Darian is a minister, and all of the poems and songs have a subtle religious bent. True, parents should teach children to be thankful for all they have. But I'm just thankful Amazon has a customer-friendly return policy
",0
"I read Bill Bryson's ""A Walk in the Woods"" and laughed hysterically at many parts of the book, and through the rest was either duly entertained or pleasantly educated (for the ""educated"" aspect, Bill interlaces the book with fascinating factual tangents).

I started into ""In a Sunburned Country"" with similar expectations, and especially since I have always longed and planned to visit Australia.  To state that I was disappointed is a severe understatement.  After reading this book I now have little to no desire to visit the ""land down under;"" my only hope is that I will completely forget what I read in Bryson's book so that I may one day look forward to and enjoy visiting Australia.  (Senility be merciful and consume me hastily!)

My best estimate is that Bryson was commissioned to write a ~350 page book about Australia.  During and / or after his trip, his creative sense must have taken a vacation of its own.  I have rarely struggled so much to get through a book as I did with this one.  Bryson even stooped so low as to use an urban legend as a ""story"" relayed second-hand from one of the Australians he ""met.""  Such a stunt makes me question if any of his accounts are real in any of his books.

The only saving grace to this book was the educational tangents.  These, at least, provided for some interesting reading.

After comparing notes with another person who ventured to read another of Bryson's books (""I'm A Stranger Here Myself"") after she read ""A Walk in the Woods,"" it would appear that ""In a Sunburned Country"" is not the only snore-fest that Bryson has churned out.  Perhaps he isn't a ""one hit wonder,"" but I for one am not going to waste my time or money finding out.

So, if you are looking for the same caliber of writing that Bryson provided in ""A Walk in the Woods,"" look to another author or prepare to be greatly disappointed. 
",0
"There is one thing that every cookbook author can learn from How To Cook Without A Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know By Heart, by Pam Anderson (not the big-breasted one), and that is the art of the highly marketable title.

For starters, this artful moniker really plays on the single gal's fears about never being able to put together nutritious, attractive, varied, affordable, and delicious meals for her future family every single night of the week. You want your kids to be armed with more than some simple carbohydrates when you send them off into the big bad world.

So the plus side of this book is the title. That's where it ends. The big idea here is to help the reader become a non-cookbook-consulting cook by: a) teaching basic cooking techniques that are conducive to variation, and b) suggesting mnemonic devices for said cooking techniques. Sounds interesting so far, right?

Well, the problem is that almost all the recipes rely on ""canned low-sodium chicken broth"", which I think is a bit of a weird ingredient. It's even included in the salad dressings. Other big hitters include: heavy cream, butter, and sour cream. Do people really eat like this? Regularly?

Why not make the Easy Fruit Parfaits for a quick and sweet ending to your meal? Just take a tall glass, drop in a few spoonfuls of sour cream, then a few spoonfuls of brown sugar, and some berries. Repeat until the glass is filled.

Crikey. Sour cream, brown sugar, and berries?!? Wouldn't it be just as easy to put the berries in yoghurt sweetened with a little squirt of Greek honey? Am I totally off base thinking that this sounds much more appetizing? Or, if calories are no object anyway, why not pick up some Baskin Robbins' Rocky Road on the way home from work? That's easy AND it's worth the internal havoc it will cause.

Oh, and here's a sample mnemonic device that I can't not share, it's that good:

""Cook tender vegetables with garlic and oil,
Then toss in some pasta that's fresh from the boil.""

Pure genius, right? Right. 

In a way, the author was right - I CAN cook all these things without a book. But why would I want to
",0
"I've seen much better photos/articles on Dylan and would not suggest this particular work. I will be selling my copy in the used section. 
",0
"If you've read anything already about these techniques - writing it down, visualizing it, tithing - this book offers no additional insights. And despite his ""Official Religious Disclaimer"" at the beginning of the book, it is packed to the rafters with the author's own religious dogma. If you share the author's religious outlook you may like this book, but otherwise it makes for very tedious reading
",0
"Melrose Larry Green's book is full of quotes.  Quotes and information used to back up points are good things.  He appears to have researched by surfing the Internet, watching television and legally incorporating the opinions of others.  This is all fine and acceptable.

The problem with ""Why the Clintons Belong in Prison"" is when the author (cut and paste expert) attempts his own narrative, which is sporadic, jumpy and poorly edited.  His points are not linear, and show the author's attention deficit.  With a proper literary team, this book could have been something of note but unfortunately it feels like a ""hit and run"" report and reads like a one-sided sensationalized talk radio program.  
",0
"This is the worst novel that I have ever read by a major author.  I have read a couple other Alex Cross novels and I did not find them to be awful at all.  They weren't very good but they kept me turning the page.  While I was reading this dreck I began to get a sense of Patterson's work ethic.  He sets a goal for himself and does not stray from it.  One maybe two chapters per day I suppose, and when his muse is on vacation for a couple of months this is the result.  Not a snowball's chance in hell that this would have been published if it weren't written by Patterson.  I'm done. Don't waste your time.  Really
",0
"This is a good book for serious health nuts that have the time and energy to make simple easy recipes with a million strange ingredients that you've probably never heard of. If you plan on making lots of baby food with kelp and sea weed then this is the book for you
",0
"While this book is a good attempt at placing statistical topics necessary to toxicology in one spot, the mistakes are inexcusable.  Many formula are incorrect as well as text referring to the wrong tables or data. Therefore, one begins to lose trust in the information presented.  Be careful if you use this book
",0
"This book was a huge disappointment. Not only wasn't it funny to me, it has absolutely nothing funny for kids. Too bad its not worth the return shipping charges. I threw it out
",0
"I love fairy tales!  I was so excited to see the author of Beauty had another retelling.  Spindles End has me very confused.  I am plugging through it and hope when I am done with it a second time I can give it more stars.  I would not recommend it for younger readers
",0
"I have read 3 books of Ann in last 3-4 months and no doubt loved it, but not sure If I am reading same info in different books with different titles from her.  

I guess I am not buying this title and anymore of her unless it has way different contents... 
",0
"I love Heinlein.  I think that he has a unique voice and perspective in the world of science fiction.  I find that his plots and ideas are inventive.  Even this story was inventive in many ways, like some of the business ideas in regards to the new source of energy in the first chapters.  However, I found this book as a whole to be very boring.  Much of this is due to the lack of fully fleshed characters.  The ""main"" characters of each section of the book aren't fully realized at all.  I wouldn't recommend this book unless you picked it up for free and were really, really bored
",0
"I thought this book was supposed to help you construct a very useful and pretty small house on a budget.  I was wrong.  Instead, it is about not too big houses where you spend tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, on all kinds of architectural extravagances.  Perhaps this book could have a subtitle:  How to spend a million dollars on a 1,500 square foot house.  If you are looking to build a house efficiently and cheaply, this is the wrong book
",0
"I enjoyed the parts regarding the S.S. Valiant, but the later part of the book simply didn't work for me. Except for Picard, who we of course know quite well from the series, the other characters were flat and uninteresting. We never find out what is motivating the alien attackers and they are the cardboard cutout enemy-of-the-week, boring. The whole ""adversarial"" situation with the 1st Officer also just struck me as odd and wrong, and was just not developed correctly or fleshed out beyond being another cardboard enemy for Picard
",0
"I will not lash out against anyone, and I will not use specific names of individuals or organizations that replace the search for truth with a situationist relativism based on vainglorious, ostentatious egotism. That said, let me merely point out that the absence of necessary historiographical context makes Jesus of Nathareth's solutions extremely difficult to accept. First off, it doesn't do us much good to become angry and wave our arms and shout about the evils of Jesus's morals in general terms. If we want other people to agree with us and join forces with us, then we must provide a trenchant analysis of Jesus's codices. The key point here is that Jesus's older analects were deluded enough. His latest ones are undoubtedly beyond the pale. Jesus's peuplade appears to be growing in number. I indisputably pray that this is analogous to the flare-up of a candle just before extinction yet I keep reminding myself that Jesus has found a way to avoid compliance with government regulations, circumvent any further litigation, and violate his pledge not to condemn innocent people to death -- all by trumping up a phony emergency. His desire to control your bank account, your employment, your personal safety, and your mind is the chief sign that he's a slaphappy caitiff. (The second sign is that Jesus feels obliged to force me to undergo ""treatment"" to cure my ""problem"".) 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into Jesus's ravings, but they don't seem to serve any purpose other than to destroy the natural beauty of our parks and forests. Jesus's pr?is are Pyrrhonism cloaked in the rhetoric of truculent, noxious feudalism. That's pretty transparent. What's not so transparent is the answer to the following question: Does Jesus's oversized ego demand that he condone illegal activities? A clue might be that every time he tries, Jesus gets increasingly successful in his attempts to have a serious destabilizing effect on our institutions. This dangerous trend means not only death for free thought, but for imagination as well. 

Jesus's eccentricity is surpassed only by his vanity. And his vanity is surpassed only by his empty theorizing. (Remember his theory that the cure for evil is more evil?) Jesus of Nathareth has an agenda -- a political, social, and cultural agenda. And that's all I have to say.

",0
"Let me see how many books can I write to preach to the choir about the same thing. She must of got dumped by a handful of Liberal boyfriends (what intellegent person would want her) and now she's trying to get back at 'em. Can't wait for the next ""I hate liberals so much and here are my reasons why"" book. She should join Fox she would fit right in
",0
"This book contains reproducible mini-books, bingo cards, flash cards, some word search puzzles and fill-in activities.  In my opinion, the fill-ins are a bit too challenging.  I even had trouble with them.  The only thing in this book really ""worth it"" that I couldn't make as well myself, are the mini-books.  The mini-books each contain several different sight words, so they seem to me to be more effective for review of words the student has already learned than in the initial learning of them
",0
"Need I say more than the above title suggests? Okay, so the upside of this book is that it has important life lessons and epiphanies from the voice of experience. There are some touching moments in this book, but even then there is still something the author is lacking. I saw the movie when it was in theatres and I have just finished reading the book. I liked the movie soooooooooo much better than the book. The movie was funny, entertaining, touching, personal, and sad at times. The book did not captivate me at all. I had trouble staying focused. Considering Beverly Donofrio's credentials--a bachelor's degree in English from Wesleyan University and a master of fine arts in creative writing--her quality of writing is very poor. Her quality of writing is more like someone who has only a highschool education, if even that. And not to go off topic, but since Donofrio has a master of fine arts in creative writing from a top notch school like Columbia U, then why doesn't she write about something else besides her getting pregnant in highschool and how that has changed her life? I mean, after all, the MFA is in creative writing, meaning she should be more creative rather than just write autobiographies all the time. She has only wrote 2 books--Riding in Cars With Boys, and Looking For Mary, both about her getting pregnant at a young age. If you liked the movie, just leave it at that. Don't bother reading the book unless you enjoy getting disappointed. And if you're interested in a novel or autobiography about teen pregnancy, then go to the local library. Don't get this one. There's other novels covering the same subject that are far superior to this one. 
",0
"I only needed this for school a little while back. Now I am marketing in Hawaii at a resort and realizing this book taught me little to nothing. Have fun with it if you please though
",0
"I found this book vacuous and jejune.  And frankly, I met the author (without knowing who he was) and he tried to pick me up, and I've never heard such a pile of cr.. in my life.  And I'm not even close to beautiful.  So good luck with his advise
",0
"I so do not understand all the rave reviews on this book. I read it recently for a book club selection, and let me tell you, If I didn't have to read it, I would have put it down after the first twenty pages, and never picked it up again. I found it to be dark, depraved, disgusting, and depressing! An examination of love in all it forms? Hardly! These characters were just plain goofy. I finally figured it out towards the end of the book, these characters were so miserable because they were lost spiritually. They were looking to other humans to provide them with true love, and that is just barking up the wrong tree. I am giving it one star only for the rich use of language
",0
" There are just too many errors ,of interpretation,omission and commission,in this book to justify purchasing it.In this review we will concentrate on Rima's(R)handling of the work of J M Keynes.On p.84,R's claim that the Physiocratic concept of hoarding is ""surprisingly suggestive"" of J M Keynes's idea has no supporting evidence to back it up.On p.133,R claims that Malthus had developed a principle of effective demand,a la Keynes.What Malthus expressed was an uneasy feeling and/or intuition that Ricardo's deductive,analytical system of market self adjustment to a global optimum was overlooking(or assuming away)the possibility of insufficient aggregate spending.Nowhere does Malthus ever systematically present a theoretical counter to Ricardo.What Malthus does is express some reservations in an exchange of postal letters with Ricardo.In chapter 20 of R's book, she attempts to deal with Keynes's theory of effective demand and Keynes's discussion of involuntary unemployment which follows directly from his theory.Keynes worked out the mathematical details in his chapter 20,titled ""The Employment Function"".R should have simply reprinted that chapter in her book,replacing her chapter 20 with Keynes's chapter 20.R's Figure 20.1,discussed on pages451-454,directly contradicts Keynes's analysis
",0
"Horrible book.  The racist continues his trend of substandard writing
",0
"Many reviewers compared this novel to Jurassic Park, saying it was a better book than Crichton's. What absurdity. I am not saying that JP is an awesome book, but it was far better than Tyrannosaur Canyon.

Tyrannosaur Canyon is a fairly intriguing story, but poorly executed and VERY poorly ended. It's as though Preston suddenly realized that he was going to have to get his characters out of the predicament he had put them in, and didn't know how to do it. The ending is too fast, too unlikely and too unrealistic.

The book closes with a theistic comment by one of the characters, which I believe is Preston's way of attempting to belong to both camps, having his science AND being religious.

Overall, I had high hopes for this book and I am sorry to say that in the last 100 pages, I was greatly let down

",0
"I have several dummies books, from how to build a PC to CCNA.  I had to read this rediculous book when I worked for a very well known DSL provider on the East Coast.  This book was trivial, assumes that you are completely mindless and plugs certain products and services shamelessly.  Yes, I agree, Hot Bot is a pretty good search engine...but it is not the only one out there.  This book has technical incosistansies throughout and is basically a really really long advertisement.  Easily the worst dummies book in print, and Im not being a jerk, I love dummies books, Ron Gilster rocks, but this is absolute crap.  You can honestly get more informed with a magazine
",0
"I'm the sort of guy who has a bit of trouble adapting to normal life. I'm still bemused and puzzled the mechanics of toilet-flushing. My wife (may she rest in peace) bought me this book as an anniversary present last month before she was tragically torn apart by a rabid pack of alligators at a Wyoming nature preserve. Anyway, life moves on.

Much to my disappointment this book did not teach me everything I should know how to do. ""But Fred,"" you might be saying (and I'll be saying ""Fred isn't my name, idiot!""), ""how do you know what you should know if you don't know what it is to begin with?""

Ah, well, let me explain. See, if Tchikavoslky taught me one thought, it was this: I know nothing.

So it is with this deep insight into my own mind that I came up with the following Things I Should Know, based on what I currently do NOT know:

1. How to start a hurricane. This is very important.

2. How to kill a man with a toothpick. What if you met a hitman at a fancy restaurant and found out your were his next victim? Scary.

3. How to run a nuclear powerplant with a one-man army. I don't want to be the next Homer Simpson!

4. How to raise children. I've raised ten and still haven't figured out what a diaper is.

5. What a diaper is. I don't know, my wife used to talk about them a lot.

6. How to drive. Sure, technically we're supposed to learn how BEFORE we get our driver's licenses, but like many people, I just got a fake one when I was 12 and have been driving since then. I've been in over three hundred vehicular accidents and been charged with five counts of manslaughter, so I figured it might be good to learn how to drive.

7. How to stalk a celebrity. You just never know.

8. How to put on underwear without leaving stain marks. You fellas know what I'm saying!

9. How to make coffee. People ask me to all the time, and because I don't know how, I just take some warm water and pour mud in. Thankfully no one's noticed my inadequacies yet, but I'm sure soon enough they will, after another person dies of food poisoning and internal infection.

10. How to kill yourself. I don't want the aliens to get anything out of me when I'm taken hostage. I saw it in that Tom Cruise movie, and it was sure scary!

So with these things in mind, I'm severely disappointed by this book, and feel it is mis-marketed and stupid.

Please, Barbet Schroeder (or whoever the author was), write a better book next time
",0
"I generally like Elmore Leonard, this is the twelfth book of his I've read, ranging from his Detroit crime capers, to his L.A.-set Chili Palmer stuff, to some of his Westerns. Other than the terrible ""Be Cool"", this is probably my least favorite of his books so far. Set in the years between the end of World War I and 1934, the story follows Carlos ""Carl"" Webster from boyhood to manhood as the son of a wealthy pecan farmer rises to became a hotshot U.S. Marshall. The story takes place in the dusty Midwest, mainly around Tulsa and Oklahoma City, as Carl faces off with various wanna-be desperados seeking to make a name for themselves.

Carl is a somewhat vain, cocky lawman, with a keen sense of what kind of quote will get him in the papers. His main foe is the son of a wealthy oil man, a no account young man who has everything he needs, but whose selfish nature and appetite for stirring things up leads him into Carl's path. Mixed into this are kinds of period details, from prohibition to Will Rogers shows to Klansmen vigilantes to ""True Detective"" writers to striking miners to mentions of various real-life bank robbers Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, and Bonnie and Clyde Barrow. 

Despite all this background detail, the story itself failed to engage me. There are none of the clever twists and turns that characterize Leonard's best work. There's a good guy, a bad guy, and an inextricable outcome whose resolution is surprisingly undramatic. In fact, about halfway through the book I realized that the ""real story"" wasn't going to kick in -- I was in it! And unlike many Leonard books, the supporting cast of characters isn't particularly memorable. Even Leonard's trademark strong dialogue is mostly missing, subsumed by his attempt to stick to period speech. Ultimately, one gets the feeling that Leonard was most interested in capturing the vibe of the period, and perhaps didn't spend nearly the same amount of effort on the actual story. That said, the Depression and its effects are surprisingly absent from the story, given the time and place. All in all, unless you're really really into the whole '30s gangster thing, not worth the time.
",0
"As a fervent admirer of Peter Bart's previous books, The Gross and Who Killed Hollywood, I was extremely disappointed with this one.  I feel he sold out by flacking for Peter Guber, whose exploits were richly detailed in the book ""Hit and Run"".  There's really nothing new in here, and you'd be well advised to avoid it
",0
"I wasn't aware the only swords that existed and were noteworthy enough to grace the pages of an Encyclopedia were European. Seems to me much is left out by ignoring the Eastern blades
",0
"I have read a bunch of poker books and play regularly.  There are a lot of good books out there, Dan Harrington's the very best, but this isnt one of them.  Too much ego here and not enough helpful information
",0
"After reading the delightful Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this sequel was an absolute let-down. The novel begins with the great Glass Elevator breaking through the ceiling of Charlie's (formerly Wonka's) chocolate factory and rocketing into orbit around the Earth. While beyond the reaches of Earth's atmosphere, our heroes---Charlie, Grandpa Joe, and Mr. Wonka---must deal with the malleable and voracious Vermicious Knids (pronounced ""K'Nids""), aliens which resemble unfrighteningly hostile figs or turds with eyes. Far worse than these beasties, though, are the insufferable old folks whose twenty-year stint in their shared bed has made them less than useless. Charlie, Joe, and Wonka, with no help from Charlie's folks or other grandparents, save themselves and a US spacecraft from the clutches of the Knids and return to the Chocolate Factory, where the old timers stupidly overdose on youth pills, returning them to infancy or beyond. Charlie and Wonka race around trying to help these ancient parasites, who respond to this assistance with the thanklessness the reader comes to expect from these oldsters. At the end of the novel, the geriatric brigade finally leaves the bed when they have a chance to meet the President.

In short, these three are the most tedious, spiteful, unredeemable characters I've come across in children's literature and I hoped that they would be eaten by the Knids or the Gnoolies or even the Oompa-Loompas as I read this book. As it is, they (unlike the awful kids in the Chocolate Factory) learn no lessons and persist in their curmudgeonly parasitism from the first page to the last. Their presence throughout the novel rendered it a chore, rather than a joy, to read.    
",0
"From the cover and a quick glances at some of the colorful photo filled chapters, this book seem promising at first. But the cliched saying of never judge a book by its cover has taken its toll. This book provides marginal advice on how to -potentially- make a profit from the wonderful world of digital photography, however, it fails to give any real world working model on how this can be accomplished. 

Most of the marginally useful advices and sales model, i.e. pricing structure on stock photos, are based on the author's own personal preference and experience, rather than taking into account the wide breadth of pricing methods that exist in the real world of photography.

This is a great book for amateurs that are trying to break into the business of selling their prints from an outline or a strict table-of-content perspective of the available methods and channels of distribution to target, e.g. card stock, stock photo, art fairs, etc. 

Most of topics cover seem to be more 'theoretical' than actual real-world hands down information and the author seems to expend more time, energy and care in expressing his disdain (with a condescending overtone, might I add) toward enthusiastic amateurs that aim to make it big and quick. His favorite recurring adjectives for such amateurs includes, but certainly are not limited to: prima donnas, pretentious, and pretend aficionado. Heller may be a [self-aggrandizing] professional photographer, but anyone with such high caliber should be more helpful, than pompous or supercilious. Remember Heller, you were an amateur at one point too.

Further more, Heller likes to take a seemingly interesting idea, get your hopes up and then tell you why you shouldn't pursue it because the odds are just too high against you.

Bottomline: If you are serious about licensing your photographs for use, then this book does not really cover the core foundations that you need to get your feet wet. On the otherhand, if you want to take a look at what you can do to -potentially- make a profit from your hobby, then this book basically gives you an -general- idea.

I'd give this book a 1-star for the lack of usable information and the author's cockiness, but it does contain some interesting theories and sales model to warrant a 2-star rating
",0
"The fatalistic view of Conservativism is expressed by Kirk even before the first chapter concludes as he states, ""[Edmund] Burke, could he see our century, never would concede that a consumption-society, so near suicide, is the end for which Providence has prepared man"".  But wait. The Conservative Mind was first published in 1953, the mythical golden age of America with Ward and June Cleaver and Normal Rockwell. Meanwhile, Burke, a contemporary of the 18th century is pining for the 14th century. What a depressing ideology to think that we always live in the worst of times.

There are certain ideological threads that carry throughout the book including a belief in the stratification of society. Voting should be the privilege of a small minority rather than universal democracy which Kirk saw as contributing to a degradation of society. Kirk writes, ""What men really are seeking, or ought to seek, is not the right to govern themselves, but the right to be governed well"" but what he offers is a lack of true representation. The author pines for the days of the aristocrat and although he defines the elites by wealth, intellect and lineage he clearly includes race and gender. Is it so surprising that Kirk lauds some of the worst racists in American history like Nathanial Bedford Forrest whom he describes as `magnificent' before quoting his racist vitriol? In a particularly galling move he referrers to pro-slavery advocate John C. Calhoun as a `defender of minorities' and praises John Randolph for, among other things, opposing doctrines of racial equality. Kirk goes on about Calhoun's support for states rights but his support only extended to southern states as he supported the Fugitive Slave Act which forced federal officials and law officials in Northern states to return runaway slave under penalty of $1000 fine. He supported laws that would make it illegal for northerners to even protest slavery. For Calhoun states rights were nothing more than a self serving attempt to keep slavery safe. Kirk shows his own racist stripes when he refers to northern `anti-slavery agitation' and supports Calhoun for choosing racial preservation over liberty, although Calhoun has an extremely warped view of liberty. One wonders if Kirk could even fathom the supreme irony in stating the Calhoun mounted a `strong protest against domination by class or region'.

Another thread is his desire to see the reunification of church and state. The duty of the church is to keep the unclean masses in line. Quoting Samuel Coleridge, the author makes it clear that the truth or falsity of the church is irrelevant; it is an institution that must be preserved as the primary means of social control. Sounding like the inspiration for disgraced Chief Justice Roy Moore, Russell Kirk urges that, ""state and church ought never to be separate entities, true religion is not merely an expression of national spirit; it rises far superior to earthly law, being, indeed, the source of all law"". Kirk sees a difference between the faulty laws of man and the laws of God but never draws a distinction. I have to wonder if, like the modern Reconstructionist, Kirk wanted to see the laws of Leviticus imposed including executing homosexuals and blasphemers. He never explains how one might recognize a law of God besides using prejudice.

The third thread would be Kirk's anti-intellectual (or perhaps pro-stupid) stance. He refers to human reason as `puny' and `impotent' and claims that we find the mind of God in prejudice and tradition. `Prejudice', he writes, `is of ready application in the emergency; it previously engages the mind in a steady course of wisdom and virtue, and does not leave the man hesitating in the moment of decision, skeptical, puzzled, and unresolved'. Actually what he is advocating is for the general population to turn over rational thought to the church and those higher up the social chain. Citizens are encouraged to exhibit awe and veneration for God and those in higher stations and authority.

In order to grab the golden fleece of populism Conservatives have lately had to abandon overt stratification although veneration of wealth is certainly still evident. Like Calhoun the support for states rights remains a complete faade. I found Russell Kirk's salesmanship of Conservativism generally repellent but recommend the book because it remains a fairly enlightening view of an ideology that continues to thrive to this day.
",0
"This book is undoubtedly very good value for a birding handbook (certainly by European standards). But the physical packaging is a total disaster. It has a ridiculously rigid spine and tiny page margins. It is difficult to read text near the spine, and virtually impossible to keep the book open on a particular page. The most unuseable book I've ever experienced
",0
"The author is reusing a similar plot device than in ""Twisted"":  a somewhat obscure reference material that shows up late in the book and clarifies everything. That is a poor strategy for a mystery novel, because the reader expects to be given clues so as to be involved in the logical process of solving the crimes.
The narrative in general is not Kellerman at his best, either. The characterizations are so shallow that one wonders all the time why the characters act like they do. 
A small part of the book talks about Brazil, and Kellerman simply invents a couple of Portuguese words making them sound Spanish:  (""favilla"", ""favillitos""). One wonders how much of the author's research is similarly fictional.
In sum, a book carelessly executed
",0
"This entire book reads like an 8th-Grade Research paper.  From an uncountable amount of grammatical and spelling errors to numerous repeated sentences (literally quotes retyped word for word, pages apart), it's difficult not to get irritated while reading this.  The information on Weezer is great, but often times the author veers away from focusing on the band and gives too much information on things that even the most obsessed fan won't care about.  Unfortunately, this appears to be the only book on Weezer out right now, so if you want to learn more about the band in book form this is all you've got.  I suggest just browsing around their official website, because it's obvious that's where the author got quite a bit of his information.  Don't waste your money
",0
"I was rather disappointed in Mr. Peterson's work. He dwells much too long on trying to convince us of ""the problem"". Nearly the first half of the book is spent on statistic overload!  Even after wading through the  numbers and graphs, I am still skeptical of his conclusions and would  caution readers to do further research.  Certainly the Baby Boomers are an  aging bulge in the population of the US and will create some challenges.   However, the author fails to mention the ""echo boom"" (baby  boomer's children which are equal in number) and he glosses over the impact  of the huge young immigration population that comes into the country every  year.  Both of these facts will ""soften"" the impact of the  ""Gray Doom"" that Mr. Peterson tries to create.  I just don't  anticipate the tremendous problem of which  he tries to make us aware.  But  I did find interesting the apparently huge impact that abortions and birth  control will have on our future. Another disappointment was very little  discussion of aging trends and buying habits. Despite these shortcomings, I  enjoyed parts of the book and it stimulated thinking about the future and  the impact of aging populations
",0
"If you don't know much more about Woodrow Wilson than an overview of the important events of his life, this book isn't going to help much. There's very little political analysis, almost no attempt to portray what diffiulties Wilson needed to overcome, and no passion at all in the writing. Actually this book feels a lot like a high school term paper that someone knew they had to write and just wanted to turn in for a passing grade. Auchincloss talks a bit about the two Wilsons (one good one bad) and hints at Wilson's dependance on women, but neither of these positions is fleshed out or used consistently. Maybe Woodrow Wilson's life is just too large for a book this small
",0
"The text is OK and the way the story is cut up in frames and assembled is competent, but the drawings are the work of a hack, often tacky and always styleless and garishly colored. The costumes and settings are totally lacking in imagination and carry no semantic weight. The attempts to create a visual equivalent for the musical leitmotifs of the operas are too literal and very much in the spirit of a mechanical translation from opera to comic book. An affront to connoisseurs of either opera or comics or both. Only valuable as a kitschy curiosity
",0
"I must say that this book does has a lot of pictures in it showing the aspects of Shakespear's world and plays. They are very good and intertaining but I must warn you that the book has a whole chapter with illustrations (in detail)of people having sex. The book is probably very good if you like reading text books, and don't mind these pictures, but I was just too grossed out. If you are teaching Lit in college and/or studying Shakespeare, this is probably the book that you should use, but you should flip through the book first (i.e: library, book store) to see if that is what you want on your book shelves.
",0
"I'll put my opinion first, so there won't be any doubt in your mind.  I don't believe that you can write useful books about national character.  Is there really such a thing as ""national character""? People are  just too different, too unpredictable. How well can you predict the  behavior of the people closest to you ?  How well can you predict what  people in your own country will do ?  Would every Italian, if they could  write well, have written the same book as Mr. Barzini ?  I seriously doubt  it.  So what we have in THE ITALIANS is one man's views on the conglomerate  nature of 50 million Italians.  After reading it, I felt even more strongly  that such books, though possibly entertaining, are a waste of time.  An  informative book about unicorns--but do they exist ?   Anthropologists have  been concerned, for many years, in getting the ""inside view""--the  view of a culture as seen by the person within it.  While Barzini is  indisputable Italian, he tries to visualize Italians as seen by foreign  visitors, then explain to those of us not lucky enough to travel there, why  they are as visitors see them, or why they are not as foreigners may think.   This is not a successful gambit.  Cultures are based on many general  factors--like history, socio-economic patterns, religion, family,  etc.---but the specific results are just that, specific.  Barzini covers  many topics--the importance of spectacle and giving an illusion of  something rather than actually having that quality; the family vs. the  state; Italian modes of achieving success; the north-south split; Sicily  and the Mafia; and last, the tragedy of Italy's long domination by  foreigners.  But nothing really connects.  There are only superficial,  scattered impressions, nothing very concrete to grasp.  The reader is left  with a handful of stereotypes.  Barzini is at his best when describing the  lives and modus operandi of particular characters in Italian history.   These sections were well-written and interesting.  But his portrayal of  Italian ""character"" is fuzzy, contradictory, and ultimately,  unconvincing.  Finally, if you are a lover of lists, you will thrill to  this book, because there is a list on nearly every single page.  Myself, I  got pretty tired of those lists.  If you want to know something useful  about Italy, read another book.  If you just want entertainment, which  might support any stereotypes you have about Italians, then this book could  be for you
",0
"I bought this book and also Last Night based upon the gushing reviews you see above.  Who are they kidding? The main character is a cad.  It is far from ""a tour de force"" in erotic anything. His short stories in Last Night are only marginally better. Your time is better spent with other authors
",0
"Waller should win an award for the most times reprocessing the same book and making money from it.  Come on.  Show some imagination
",0
"Let's make this clear... I won't put any more effort into writing this review than the author spent on the book itself. So this is going to be short and sweet!  This book is a glorified magazine.  Worth $14.95 - tops.  The pitfalls of bookbuying online, I guess.  You never know what you are going to get.  Anyways, most the book comprises photographs that actually discourage me from bothering with infrared.  The text portion, however brief, is nothing more than a bland introduction to infrared.  The uninitiated might even be led to believe that Kodak and Konica are the only game in town in infrared films.  Throughout the book the author treats these two as the ""Coke and Pepsi"" of infrared films.  I'm going to look elsewhere for a good source of info on this subject and suggest you do the same
",0
"Although I am a psych student with a pretty good GPA, I find this book difficult to understand. The difficulty seems to come from the authors' desire to condense as much information as possible in just a few hundred pages. This leads to a cryptic language, where some terms are defined only once and some sentences become a string of such words, a thing which ,personally, frustrated me
",0
"Mr. Shirley sneaks into Iran, hiding in the box of a truck, where he should have stayed.  He spends 3 or 4 days in Iran, most of it trying not to be seen.  He walks around for a few hours. He speaks to 3 or 4  truckdrivers, 2 or 3 shopkeepers, and a few assorted others, from which he  assembles a complete picture and understanding of the Political and Social  infrastructure of Iran.  Along the way he explains, on just about every  other page, how the CIA is a complete failure in every facet of it's  existence, how all the career people in it's employ are arrogant idiots who  are devoid of all compassion and intellect.  He explains each of the Cia's  mistakes, along with his explanation of what they ought to have done. He  is, of course, ex CIA himself, having left it because no one there  understood anything about anything
",0
"Ok, you guys.  As I have stated, this book let me down!  It practically ends on page 195, and there's still 65 pages to go!  My advice-Don't even start it.  Also, I tried The Killer's Cousin. I wasn't pleased with that, either.  So, my conclusion: If you're looking for a good read, don't expect Nanxy Werlin to fulfill your needs.  If you need good, suspenseful stories, try Lois Duncan or Caroline B. Cooney!  One great, outstanding, wonderful book: Swimmer-Graham Masterton
",0
"I love Mr. Koontz and have long read his novels...Watchers, Intensity, Odd Thomas and so on but this was dissappointing, not to mention just plain depressing. And come on with the corny slap-stick banter between the characters! Okay okay, we know the 9 year- old Leilani has a high IQ but REALLY! She speaks like a 50 year-old rocket scientist and cracks jokes with every sentence? These characters were too unbeliveable for me to get into. Therefore, I put it down after 350 pages of this twattle. Koontz has done much better in the past.

Lastly, let's keep dogs out of your next few novels, please? It's getting a bit old. How about a smart cat or raven for your next novel, maybe mixed with some more down-to-earth folks that speak like real people do?
",0
"I agree with the last reader.  I didn't finish this book, it was SO boring.  NOTHING happened.  And the characters were annoying.  I read a lot of books that aren't action-oriented and like them.  But this one was  awful
",0
"
This is a complex and detailed history chiefly of Cuban exiles in South Florida and the influence they have been able to wield regionally and internationally with and without the help of various U.S. administrations. In that sense, it is the story of two cities - Miami and Washington - and two peoples - Americans and Cubans.  

I have an objection, though, with the stone-hard style in which this volume is so meticulously, even gorgeously at times, written. Didion strives to be so achingly academic that there is little real heart to this book and, worse, the result is a cold, humorless, colorless story that is at times an unappealing example of ideological abstractions and alphabet soup. 

The author, in her conspicuously clean and parenthetical prose, apparently is so charged by the subject of her research that she has forgotten there are people on the other end - readers. It is, in that sense, a boring little disaster of a book. 
",0
"Firstly, let me say the research Nicholas Lardy has conducted is commendable and a welcome addition to the existing literature. His data sources are vast and highly informative.  The major limitation of this  publication is that the central argument is biased. Lardy selects those  data and pieces of existing literature which support his own view. As a  result, major sections of the literature concerning financial reform in  transitional economies are simply ignored or brushed over.  Lardy's view is  the typical Western, dare I say ""American"" argument. Primarily he  uses financial criteria to evaluate the economic performance of China's  state banks. This methodoloy is extremely poor - particularly in the  context of China's trannsitional economy. Financial criteria are a horrible  guide to both internal and allocative economic efficiency. If anyone would  like elaboration on this point feel free to email me.  In summary, Lardy's  book is informative and makes for interesting reading. However as a piece  of economic analysis, its usefulness is limited. The major reason for this  is a total lack of economic theory(as indicated by the previous reviewer)  which has resulted in a poor methodology
",0
"I was intrigued by the title, which supposedly links Jedi wisdom to Christianity.  Well, after 60 pages or so, I have got the feeling that the Staub is trying to wrap Jedi in Christian cloth and failing at that. The author speaks of the difficulty in leading a Christian life.  But, I say that any religious life (be it Christian, Islam or otherwise) is hard because it turns the back on the norm or the conventional. 

I am convinced that Yoda is a Zen master; the Force is derived from Tao, not God as interpreted by the orthodox religion(I am purposefully leaving out Christian Mysticism, which is another beast altogether.). A better book on the subject of theology in Star wars is ""The Dharma of Star Wars.""
",0
"Why use 1 word when 12 will bewilder the reader and make the book that much thicker.  I can not believe that a qualified editor reviewed this book.

The wheat to chaff ratio is horrendous.  You can go whole paragraphs without coming upon anything worth knowing.

I can only hope that the actual CISA exam questions are not written as poorly as the sample questions within this book.

If you value your time, do not buy this book
",0
"This was a hot mess, it was so boring I couldn't even finish the book, I passed it on to my cusion, and she said the same thing, I just gave the book away. My hopes were all high from Flyy Gryl, but thats the only good book that Omar written. I was so upset by this that I actually wanted to write Omar Tyree myself and ask him what the hell was going on. I mean when you write a bad book chances are that no one is going to want to read the next book. I hate reading a bad book because I feel it is just a waist of my time, and I could've done somthing better. Omar, you owe my 4 hours of a good book
",0
"F this self-help industry crap. Quasi-astrological poppycock at its worst. I can tell this book clamps on to the mind and squeezes it to death merely by reading the cliched title. Humans are far more complex than the hack Man-Warrior/Female-Maiden title what's-his-name gives them. And remember, this ""doctor,"" is quietly making mucho mucho bucks off your poor purchase. Your goddamned ancestors never needed a book to run their lives, so why do you? Let's push all the life coaches off cliffs and put the self-help industry to the torch. That's a great start to a sane life
",0
"I bought this book this weekend as we're doing the pre-five in a Row w/our preschooler and I don't much like it. I've got a mother w/borderline personality disorder and who doesn't observe personal boundaries of other's what-so-ever (if I need a break away, she hunts down my poor husband, all my relatives and friends- ugh) and so this book just kind of made my stomach turn as I could see her reading this to me and justifying her 'stalker mom' mentality. 

In the end, I think if a person is from a semi-normal household w/proper respect for a child's boundaries and need for space away from their parents, then this book is okay. I just find some moms are too smoothering- even ones w/o personality disorders- and this book doesn't send a message about love as much as 'I own you'. I like 'Mama Do You Love Me?' better for explaining to a child a parent's unconditional love.

'Good-Night Moon' by Margaret Wise Brown, however, is by far my children's all time favorite book. I was reading that one to them ineutero and still every night before they go to bed. They love it and so do we as parents. But this one even creeped my hubby out and he's from a fairly 'normal' family.
Take it w/a grain of salt
",0
"I have no personal experience with 12-step programs nor do I have dominant addictions (other than book and DVD buying!) but I am a psychologist who has seen a lot of people and their stories and regularly deals with smoking, over-eating and love addictions in particular. I was hoping for some new ideas to assist clients.

This book takes a rational-emotive type approach to conquering addiction and on that level is fine for those wanting to look at that approach. I also found some of his reference to research of how people recover also quite useful BUT he seems to have quite a personal, and often over-generalised, attacking crusade against 12-step programs. 

Some of his concerns about possible problems and misunderstandings many people can have with 12-step programs were valid and useful. Similarly I welcomed his questioning of the disease model that has people always defining themselves as an addict and powerless.

However he has to keep coming back in every chapter to go over and over the evils he sees in 12-step programs  - and in very derogatory judgmental language. He often even implies they are all deliberately manipulating and exploiting people. I got very uncomfortable with his imputing these motives to everyone.

There appear to be many genuine people of good intention in these movements (and many who clearly seems to get a lot out of them and have recovered). 

I would have rather he had used his own rational methods rather than resort to such abusive  language. He could have suggested modified views and tools, and alternatives to consider. I can't imagine that he would lure anyone away from the 12-step programs he criticises by attacking everything they have been standing for. However a gentler exploration of limitations and evidence and suggestions for alternatives may have opened up a welcomed middle ground
",0
"As a student of urban development and politics, I can confidently say that this book is a forgettable work of a parochial mind. Davis offers a hardline Marxist view of Los Angeles that, by employing simply economic analysis, does not allow for the intricacies of the city's problems. Class warfare plays a much smaller role in the sprawl of Los Angeles -- anyone outside of the ISO should be discouraged from reading this baseless drivel
",0
"This is one of those books where you actually feel embarrassment for the author.  The book is poorly researched, poorly written and, well, words just fail me.  While I am not a great Herriot fan, I do have to give him his due - the man could write well and could tell a good story (isn't that what authors are suppose to do?) but this guy Graham Lord, I suspect, has problems feeding paper into his typewriter!  The intire book is such an obvious ploy to make some money on the shirttail of a ""dead"" and popular author, it is rather nauseating.  Shame on the publisher for accepting such shoddy work!  I did finish the book though (thank God I did not purchase the thing) because each page became worse and worse and I could not stop, thinking with each turn of the page ""well it just cannot be any worse than that last page/chapter.""  How wrong I was!  If you must read the thing, borrow it or check it out of a library.  I would hate to see a person waste their money, and I certainly would not want the author and his publisher to be rewarded for a work such as this.  Herriot's life, warts and all, could be such a fastinating subject.  I do hope someone will turn out a good study of him eventually.  We certainly did not get it here
",0
"This has to be one of the worst written books I ever read.  I can't believe there are so many ways to say the same thing. So far, Danielle Steel has found a way in the first third of this book.  I just can't read the rest of it. Generally, if a book isn't very good I can suffer through.  This one has gotten on my last nerve.  I had stopped reading her books because they had become so predictable.  But, I don't think I will be reading anymore of her books.  It's an insult to Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown for her to be ranked with them
",0
"I was optimistic when I saw the title, but you know that old saying, ""Don't judge a book by its cover.""

The author has a FEW legitimate ideas, but any google search could come up with the same information in greater depth and better accuracy.  She condemns saving animals from shelters and actually encourages people to breed animals to increase the pet population.  She is no more a pet lover than I am a supermodel.  Her ideas are based solely on MONEY.  Even if it encourages starting a puppy mill (euphemistically referred to as a dog breeder).  

Early in her book she mentions the titles of a few other books she recommends (I have chosen not to seek them out), but she says don't spend your money on them, just go to the library and check them out.  If you insist on reading this book I give you the same advice.  DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK--CHECK IT OUT FROM YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY!  Then do google searches to get more in-depth, accurate information about any of the four decent ideas she did have, or come back to amazon.com and find a more specific book that can actually be of use.

Oh, and by the way, the world is already overpopulated with unwanted pets.  Encouraging people to add to the problem is morally reprehensible
",0
"I thought this book would be great and was really looking forward to making some of the recipes, but I have to admit I'm disappointed with the recipes and with what I've baked from it so far.  I was surprised that so many of the recipes called for vegetable shortening instead of or in addition to butter.  I know the book itself explains that shortening is used to achieve a certain texture, but I have read in other baking books that shortening is a crutch and doesn't deliver the flavor punch of pure butter.

So I was a little skeptical, and then reading through the recipes, although they are very clearly written, there aren't a lot of extra tips on technique or anything for individual recipes.  The book already assumes a level of competence.

I made three recipes from the book: the essential chewy sugar cookie, the essential chewy chocolate chip cookie, and the Fudgy Brownies.  All three recipes tasted delicious, so I can't complain there, but the brownies came out a little tough for my tastes, and both the cookies spread too much -- way too much, and I even refrigerated the dough for the sugar cookies. I consider myself to be an intermediate baker and have made these cookies from other recipes in the past with better results, so right now I'm wondering if I should even try any more of the recipes in this book or just give up.  I think it's okay for a ""base"" cookie recipe book, but you would need to look elsewhere for better techniques or to tweak the ingredients
",0
"This is the latest in a never-ending series of books trying to generalize non-business world (eg. sports, armed forces, girl scouts, religion, NASA, etc.) management techniques to the business world. 

Most, possibly all, are of little value because of major differences. 

1)Members constituting the varying organizations are motivated differently, and face greatly significantly different situations. What does eg. a fighter pilot or football coach have in common with a pharmicist, nurse, professor, financial analyst, etc.? I have no idea. 

2)Key success factors vary from one business to another. For Merck, it may be speed of developing new drugs, getting through FDA approval, and motivating physicians to use them. For Nucor Steel, it undoubtedly rests much more on low-cost production. Again, what does either have to do with fighter pilots - little, if anything. 

One is better off reading books from similar situations - eg. about Wal-Mart (if you are in retailing), about Allied-Signal or G.E. (if you are managing a conglomerate), and about New York Community School District #4, as managed by Sy Fliegel, if you are in public school
",0
"I hate this book. It is extremely boring and it is way too long.  There are too many characters to keep track of and many of them are extremely similar. Do not read this unless forced to. I like to read, but this nearly put me to sleep.  avoid at all cost
",0
"This book reads like a horror novel.

By allowing her dogs (as well as another one in her care) to roam freely throughout an urban area crisscrossed by busy roads, the author demonstrates her utter disregard for the animals' welfare.  Not to mention the antisocial attitude she displays with her total inconsideration for her neighbors, and for the countless strangers kind enough to phone when her lost dogs seek refuge on their doorsteps.

Oh, and let's not forget the dozens of shelter dogs killed because their potential adoptive homes were filled by the plethora of puppies spawned by the author's choice not to spay and neuter her animals.

This book moves at a peppy pace, and might have been interesting (albeit morally reprehensible) if the author's ""observations"" actually provided any insight.  But those eighteen-wheelers on the Alewife Parkway veered closer to poor Misha than the author's whimsical interpretations stray within range of scientific evidence.  Case in point:  She is so clueless about the reality of canine behavior that she inadvertently allows one of her dogs to kill another one's litter of puppies.  Oops!

Any genuine dog lover (or any human with an ounce of compassion and common sense) will despise this book.  A previous reviewer hit the nail on the head: If ""feelings"" are your road map to life, you might enjoy this book.  If you regularly take your brain out for walk, forget it.  Calling this a meaningful book about dogs is like calling ""Jonathan Livingston Seagull"" the definitive text on marine fowl
",0
"I purchased this took and then found that it was just a reprint from several decades ag
",0
"just to make the plot work.  Not very realistic.  If you want a realist cop character, try Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch.
",0
"In seeking to develop my own grant writing course, I reviewed 20 books on Amazon.  I was sold on this one by its extremely high Amazon.com Sales Rank...probably the highest of this category.

Nevertheless, I was shocked and taken aback by a comment on the introduction page, that harkened back to my eighth-grader days: ""You'll learn that in grant writing you especially need to cultivate two abilities: meeting deadlines and following directions.""  

Despite the obvious comprehensiveness of the materials presented in the book from Ms Burke-Smith's experience, I don't know who's responsible for the talking-down attitude presented here.  

This is my first EVERYTHING title, and I don't know if all EVERYTHING titles are like this, or if it's from award-winning business writer Ms Tremore.

All I know is after getting such an Introduction, what reader would wish to proceed into the book's depths with that kind of attitude by one's hoped-for mentors?
",0
"This is one of Kellerman's poorest books.  When you FINALLY get to what is going on, it is ridiculous.  Don't waste your time on this
",0
"I am a big fan of the Missing Manual series. Previous books have given me lots of insights into my installed software and have made my computing time much more efficient. I therefore approached this book with much enthusiasm. Office is such a gargantuan program, with tons of bells and whistles, that Microsoft itself estimates that most users  take advantage of less than a third of its capabilities.

However, the book is a major disappointment, because of its many mistakes and poor organization. Most of the mistakes are ones you can work around--for example, on page 8 the topics covered by appendixes A and B are reversed--but the sheer number of such mistakes makes reading the book a major distraction. Every few pages I find myself going to the Missing Manuals web site to report yet more errata, such as incomplete or wrong instructions, figures that do not agree with the text or figure captions, incomprehensible writing, seeming confusion between the Mac and PC versions of the program, etc. And I agree wholeheartedly with a previous reviewer who complained about the inadequate index.

It looks as though O'Reilly Publishers did not do an adequate proofing of the book, but instead rushed it out as soon as possible. That is too bad, because I will now be much more hesitant to purchase another Missing Manuals title
",0
"The writing was not what I expect of Andre Norton. Too many gaps and information that is disjointed. Whether this is a consequence of collaboration I don't know. I felt this should have had a strong editor to point out where things should be tightened. For example - at the start we know Kirion has sent people to capture his sister. The book covers over 2 years, but you hardly hear of this again. I cannot imagine the sorcerer would just have let it drop.
I am a long-time fan and retired children's librarian. Sic Fi & fantasy is my favorite genre, but this one I had to push to finish. Unsatisfying.

",0
"How can a best-selling author like Simon Winchester take an event as exciting as the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and turn it into a tedious snooze-fest? One answer: write as if you had just discovered an adjective mine and were free to throw in extra descripitive terms on every line until listeners scream for an end to florid phrases. Another: strive to break the record for most clich?s in a single paragraph. Finally: write about events in 1906 as if no one but Simon Winchester had ever before thought about their consequences -- thus, everything in this tedious narrative becomes about Simon. Simon and the raccoons; Simon on the failing American economy; Simon attempting to reproduce American accents. This is a CD set for avoiding
",0
"I picked this book up at my public library because I had put it on my reading list a while back when I saw that the President(!) of the United States George Bush read it while he was on vacation too.

I went to my local cofee place and got a MEDIUM regular cofee flavored cofee but in a LARGE cup (so theres room for plenty of milk which I like and also you only get charged for a medium even though its in a large).  Anyway I am reading this book and it seems okay but then this guy with a laptop bumps into my chair where I have rested my cofee which is not at all my fault because thats why the chair has a little ledge there.  So then this guy says he is sorry but that doesnt exactly unspil my cofee if you catch my meaning.  And he offers to pay for a new cofee but it doesnt really matter its the principle of the thing.

Anyway then he leaves and I notice my copy of the book has cofee spilled on it not just my pants as I thought previously.  So I'm not about to read a book with cofee stains all over it so I take it back to the library.

Now here I have to point out that I had a little incident a couple weeks back with the librarian and long story short they lost a book about a fireman that I returned and made me pay for it but not without a fight.  Well you better believe that same librarian who yelled at me is watching me now whenever I go in there and she sees that cofee stain right off when I turn the book in.  I explain that its still perfectly good and you can still read it and it wasnt even my fault and maybe they should get the $8.50 from the cofee house they made the cofee not me.

But you can guess how this ended up.  I am down another $8 dollars and change (I paid the .50 cents in pennies I got from the place I keep pennies in the car which got me a cross look since I counted them out one by one but it was worth it).  And I never finished the book since it was ruined.

But! I liked the parts I read ""okay"" and if the President likes it I guess it gets FOUR STARS only I made it TWO STARS because I only read half.  Maybe I will read the second half later if that librarian retires and then I will come back and give this book it's missing TWO STARS if it ends well.

Lesson learned is life is not always fair but you ""keep on keepin on"" like they say
",0
"While the author does go into detail about numerous topics and informs the reader about what is necessary to survive.  What I think the books lacks is the detail necessary on all of the major topics.  An example would be that he describes how to build a leanto for shelter, but doesn't go into detail on how to tie the structural members together.  He just tells you that you need to tie them together.  What if you don't have a shoelace to use?  What other alternates are there?  This book would be great for a teenager who goes camping and may need to build a fire, but it's not enough for the serious camper
",0
"Please be aware that this book contains very explicit information about every topic of sexual nature. Read this book yourself before giving it to your child. It discusses oral sex, anal sex, how to use and purchase condoms, masturbation (for girls and boys), etc. When the author discusses Exploring Your Own Sexuality, she says that if she had known about masturbating sooner she would have straighter teeth, as she would have stopped sucking her thumb. The cover of this book gives no clue to the depth of information covered within. It is in no way appropriate for a girl under the age of twelve. For many parents even the age of twelve would be inappropriate
",0
"This book sucked because its like an autobiography of some idiot who knew nothing about what he was doing...his book is mostly life-stories...and stupid ones at that...some teeter the line of racism, he emphasizes attempting to hex some evil ""fat black woman"" and he demonizes some other young brothers later on in the book, i see most of the reviewers overlooked the fact that this guy was kind of out of line with his emphasis on ""race"". 
And besides that, his 2 or 3 spells and such are old and tired...and there is no ""self-initiation"" for the type of Voodoo he's talking about...

i am sorry but this book was a waste of time and money, i came away from this little book knowing not one single solitary grain of anything worth knowing. If you looking to learn about Voodoo or Vodun this book will not help. 

His title is also misleading because ""Voodoo"" ussually refers to Hoodoo and ""Vodun"" ussually refers to the religion but this author isnt talking about either one....he's just running his mouth on and on and on as if his life-experiences are even worth tellin.

This book is a great example to why people of a foriegn back-ground to African based religions should not write books about it as if they could really know but so much.....this was a terrible book that this sorry author made about a system he obviously knows nothing about
",0
"If you want to believe an illusion, go for it.  Some readers say he is well informed.  Whoa.  This guy talks about science without any credentials to do so.

If it makes you feel good to believe that the US is bad, the environment is collapsing, and we need socialism to survive, then this is the book for you.

If you are open minded but want truthful facts to make your own opinion, find another source.

Waste of money
",0
"As a dad, I was really looking forward to a book on potty training to help me with my 2-year old. This book is lousy though. Why?

1. Stupid Writing. I got pretty sick of constantly reading all the sappy, ""witty"" remarks. ""Dancing the Potty Mambo""? Give me a break!

2. Stupid Advice. This book keeps telling you to talk to your kid like he/she is an adult. I'm sorry, but a 2-year-old just cannot comprehend a long drawn-out explanation of why you want them or don't want them to do something. How about just saying, ""Don't do that!"" or ""Hey, you want to try this?"" That seems to work just fine for me. Why give your kid a doctoral dissertation every time you want them to do something? What's wrong with just telling your kid what to do (nicely), and expecting them to be obedient? 

3. Repeating Content. This book kept repeating itself OVER and OVER. Okay, I got it already! I strongly feel that the author wanted to push this book over the 200-page mark when all that needed to be said could probably have been accomplished in about 50 pages (or less).

4. Too Many References. This book constantly refers to other chapters. I once counted 6 different references to other chapters on one page. I am not kidding! Huh? Is potty training really that freakin' complicated? All I want is some general ideas on how to go about it, how to get started, and a few good tips. I don't need all these detailed references. (Nor do I need the phrase ""Potty Mambo"" repeated to me ad infinitum.)

Here is all I wanted to know:
-How do I get started?
-What do I do?
-How often do I need to try it?
-Should I go for pullups or just keep him in diapers for the moment?

Maybe this book got to all of that, but I quit after page 60. I just couldn't take it anymore. After hearing the phrases ""Stay Positive"" and ""Potty Mambo"" repeated to me for the umpteenth time, I had to quit. I returned this book and got my money back.

If I were to say anything good about this book, I would say that it has a few good tips, surrounded by about 180 pages of filler.

Potty training still looms ahead. Will I be successful? Probably. But to this book I say, No Thanks
",0
"While ""Talk to the Hand"" is inescapably mediocre in comparison to ""Eats, Shoots & Leaves"", a book I found amusing, though not up-to-par to its New York Times Bestseller status, this book does have its moments. 

However, I was uterrly bloody appalled at the rudeness of Lynne Truss in presuming to make a comment that, despite whatever way she meant it, ended up sounding like she thought gluten intolerance was a choice. I find it interesting that she, or at least her editors, did not further investigate the disease (which, indeed, gluten tolerance is) before publishing such a degrading remark. 

Oh, yes, bloody well sorry, Ms. Truss, for invading your rude, stay-home-and-bolt-the-door causitive world with yet another irritation which, I'm sure, someone created just so you would have to sit in a restaurant and listen to someone else get special treatment for a fad diet. Let's just go and, well, obliterate a genetic disorder! While we're at it, we might as well just make the lactose intolerant drink milk. If it pleases and thanks you, Ms. Truss, we celiacs will eat cake. (Oh, bloody hell, did I just say ""please""?)

Despite the fact that Lynne Truss makes this world out to be such a horribly rude place, I have to wonder if she's experiencing the effects of projection. In explaining how rude we humans are, it was necessary for her to be quite rude, as well. It is not simply the celiac remark to which I refer: I also found her supermarket incident, in which a kid shouts at his mother, ""I want that one, YOU EFFING BITCH!"", among others, a bit offensive.

As a member of both the gluten intolerant community and the younger generation so responsible for this rudeness, I was often thoroughly appalled by this book. No, my friends and I don't usually hold doors for each other, but, in general, I thank and get thanked in return for a money lend or a coffee downtown. Frankly, I find myself more often in the perpetual motion of manners with my friends, as well as strangers, than in a cycle of rudeness which includes swearing for the sake of swearing and no regard for others. I can safely say that all of my friends ignore their cell phones if we are having a conversation, or, if they must answer, they apologize profusely before going outside to talk so they do not offend the people around them.

I have to argue that we are not a select group. In today's world, one sees what one expects to see; one is treated as one expects to be treated. Ms. Truss, I believe, would find that perahps if she simply lowered her expectations slightly and gave out all the respect she possibly could, she would be surprised to find that, when people are rude, she cares less because she knows that she, at least, is doing her best not to be. If she did this, maybe she would be less likely to jump all over people who are rude because she would not be so worried about her own behavior.

My last complaint is this: ""gluten crap""? You would think that such a sophisticated, eloquent (as she is dedicated to proving) person as Lynne Truss would have been able to find a better word to describe gluten than the third-year, am-I-not-so-cool-and-bitchin' (?) style word ""crap.
",0
"I had to take a look at this book just like I did Rachel Shteir's previous book ""Striptease"" to see if the online reviews were true. Sadly, they were. Like ""Striptease"", this book was full of typo's and appeared poorly organized and written. One would think that Ms. Shteir would have learned from her previous book--which also had similarly poor reviews. I wonder why Gypsy Rose Lee paired up with her. I can only guess at Ms. Shteir's fascination with this topic: my guess is that she wishes she could be a stripper herself (or maybe she is). I base this in part on a meeting with Ms. Shteir a year ago when I invited her to write about a professional conference I organized and presented at: she wore a very low-cut blouse as she interviewed people. I'm no prude but this was highly inappropriate and distracting people told me. On top of that, her article was chock full of misquotes, errors in fact, and adopted a perspective that nobody who attended the conference could relate to. Oh well, I can only hope that Ms. Shteir's next project will be more accurate and also that she will make clear her real interest in her subject matter. Gypsy Rose, I guess we both made the same mistake: trusting someone like Ms. Shteit to help us tell a story who didn't have the heart or the skills to pull it off
",0
"I got really disapointed when I received and read this book.  It provides advanced techniques that a regular woodworker would never use.  The parts that woodworkers use the most are vague.  I'm not intereset in making violins or boats.  I need techniques to bend wood, to use joints for curved surfaces, to  build equipment and fixtures to bend wood and so on.  This book lacks of the practical guidelines to do so
",0
"The amount of violence in this book is excessive over relatively insignificant motives.  I had a hard time believing all this was happening in 1948.  I am not questioning Mosley's portrayal of racism.  However, I did a little research into just how violent place Los Angeles was in 1948, and the answer is not very.  There may have been poverty, racism, alcholism, but L.A. county seemed pretty safe; the late 1940s had some of the lowest homicide rates since as far back as one researcher was able to find, 1827!  Mosley may have been more familiar with L.A. of the 1970s and 1980s and just assumed that it had always been that way.  Throw in speakeasies, gangsters hijacking liquor trucks, and one gets the impression that Mosley is confusing the 1948 with 1928.

I am not so pedantic as to insist that fiction be historically accurate.  But many, many people hail Mosley for depicting a dark side of life/era/place that had not been shown before.  From what I can tell, he has simply combined stereotypes from the 1920s and 1970s (I guess those years average to be about 1948).  Mosley is depicting a fantasy world of his own creation.  However, I doubt he ever tried to pass it off as authentic, and I hope readers realize that it is not.

Easy Rawlins in this novel falls into the rather weak, but unfortunately large, group of fictional detectives that actually accomplish little detecting.  A detective actually solves a mystery using his own intellect; that is interesting to read.  Detectives in less skilled hands solve mysteries via  confession.  Easy does solve one of the murders on his own, but just about everything he ""solves"" is simply confessed to him.  I find that extremely dissatisfying.

Mosley has packed the book with violence, but seems to know very little about violence himself.  None of the fights are well described.  Easy, for being a self-professed ""killing machine"" can't actually fight worth a damn and is surrounded by guns but does not apparently know anything about them.  They are either big or they are small.  He does not come of as being hard-boiled, but rather a pathetic braggart

Mosley does show signs of being a very good writer.  But I think he is too far over his head in this genre to come up with something exceptional.  I imagine that his work must have improved, but this effort is nothing to get exceited over.  And again, I don't obsess over accuracy, but a little bit of research would have gone a long way in firming the foundation of this novel.
",0
"I was very disappointed to discover that this book had a homosexual character. This is absolutely inappropriate for a young adult book, and unless a parent has read the reviews that mention it, said parent would have no clue as it sure isn't mentioned anywhere on the blurb in the book.

I usually am more aware of what my daughter is reading, but this time this particular book slipped under my radar.  She told me that it had a reference to a gay character, which I took to mean just a passing reference, but when I read the book, it was treated more seriously than I thought, even going so far as to have the two girls kiss.

It is inexcusable, both on Ms Pierce's part and on Scholastic's.  No matter what the author's personal beliefs, it is irresponsible to have this type of content without a warning to parents. I believe that as a parent, I'm the one responsible for what my children see and do, but it sure helps to have some type of information so I can make an informed decision.

Anise Hollingshea
",0
"I had high hopes for this book. There are too many parts that feel self-serving and pointless. I felt like I was reading the author's autobiography rather than reading a book on innovation. The material on IDEO could have so much better from a content perspective but it stopped short of providing practical information to the reader. I found the preface by one of the author's former professors to be the best part of the book. I would not recommend buying this book
",0
"I have read several of Hiaasen's books and loved them.  They were very funny.  This one is not.  It is an endless description of naked strippers.  I found the main character, Erin, to be very unappealing.  She is just so stupid.  Her problems are all of her own creation.  And she is not funny.  I think you have to be a man to like this book.  I, as a woman, just found it exceedingly boring.  I kept waiting for it to get funny.  It never did
",0
"I ordered the book from them on Nov1. On Nov 15 I called and they told me they didn't have it. The money was returned by Amazon
",0
"While I think the basics of the book are good, I don't like how fat-free items are treated as always being the best option.  I did much better on the South Beach Diet, where good fats in moderation is emphasized as well as natural foods.  Fat is what makes us feel satisfied.  After years of trying to diet by limiting fat, it was a revelation to me I could lose weight without feeling hungry and deprived.  An omelette made of egg whites and fat-free cheese is not at all satisfying and not necessary.  Secondly, many foods are altered in a negative way to make them low-fat.  I just noticed this week that Cool Whip lite has high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oil as two of it's top ingredients.  This can't be better for you than actual cream.  I also prefer the book ""French Woman Don't Get Fat"", which emphasizes enjoying food by eating smaller portions of good, natural food when it's in season.  The pleasure of good food makes you stop thinking diet and start thinking about lifestyle.  I feel that the G.I Diet is oversimplified and written to appeal to an audience that has never thought about eating right before.  I think this book is  about the mechanics of healthy eating when the cause of overeating is a lot more complicated.  It certainly can help get people on the right track, but I think there are better books available. 
",0
" Clearly the tens of millions of fouls who read this racist crap fail to see it for exactly what is; an endorsement of Ethnic cleansing. If the tables were turned and a Jew, or a Muslim wrote a series in which anyone who disagreed with Judaism, or Islam was BRUTALLY MURDERED than the same fundamentalists idiots who take such disgusting pleasure out of this garbage would go simply ape s**t. I do not know what is more pathetic the fact that there are actually fundamentalist Lunatics out there who write this truly unforgivable racist garbage, or the large number of dimwits out who eagerly wait to throw their money away on each installment of HATEFUL FILTH!!
",0
"This is a tough review to write because I felt the authors made a good effort in the writing of the book and explanations of the Spring Framework. Writing a book is no small feat, and technical books are a special beast.

With that last statement in mind, this is were the book sadly falls short. For one, the source code available online is a significant rewrite of the books' code. The authors explain ( on the publisher site ) that this is because they learned better ways and techniques to implement the samlpe application after the book went to print. 

While improvement is always good, this presents two problems. 1. The sample application is now out of sync with the material. Not a good thing for those trying to learn, as you require more effort to study in tandem with the book. Also, and this is not to disparage the authors skill, but I buy books because I am expecting experienced, if not expert advice. If a small, sample application needs rewriting, perhaps they should write about something else?

Further down this road, the sample application has errors that prevent it from compiling. I suspect that the final build file was not tested, or it was a case of ""well, it compiles on my machine"". There were several dependencies that required changes to the build file so it could be compiled. Thankfully, I use Eclipse and imported the project. Eclipse immediately informed me of missing dependencies, which I resolved by getting those jars on the build path and in the build file so they would be deployed in the war archive. Examples are:

jakarta-commons/collections, and several core Spring jars relating to DAO and database access.

For an experienced developer, familiar with ant and a good IDE, it was not a lot of trouble to get it running, it just did not give me a good impression.

Bonus info for anyone switching the database out to postgresql: First, no matter what DB you swap in, you'll need to change a few hard coded references in the build file. I made property variables which I placed in build.properties. Then you will need to change the class User to something else ( and of course anything in the app that references it. ). Another great reason to use Eclipse. 

Why you must change it, is User is a reserved keyword in postgresql and you will get databases errors because you can't name a table User
",0
"I am sorry to say that I thoroughly disliked ""Of Human Bondage.""  I know it is on every must read list for fiction (which is why I decided to read it) however, I just wonder how such a boring story can continually be relegated to such a hallowed position in literature?  Not only did I find it dull but I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the main character's perception of women!  I'm not a feminist in the least but most of the female characters were described in such pathetic ways.  ""Yellow teethed""  ""Sallow skin""  ""Dirty Hands""  ""Tear stained over powdered face"", it goes on and on.  I wondered if the author was uncomfortable women?  I looked online for some information about Maugham.  To my surprise I found out that Maugham was bisexual.  He did marry and have a child but for most of his life it sounded like he was involved with men. In no way can I say this substantiates or confirms the tone of the book -- but in some way it answered my question or concern.  

Instead of this book I'd recommend the following classics:  Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Madame Bovary by Flaubert.  At least in these books, maybe the female characters are not the most virtuous but the characters are written with such sensuality that even though they might not be described as gorgeous they are brought to life in the pages by the author with a kaleidoscope of words that makes them multidimensional -- good or bad.  
",0
"The novel, A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly, is a very realistic portrayal of the life of a teenage farm girl, bound for a great future.  Jennifer Donnelly relates to Mattie Gokey, the lead character, in a way that they bother grew up in rural side of New York.  Donnelly attended the University of Rochester before she wrote her three novels and one children's book. Her novels include, The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, A Northern Light, and a children's book, Humble Pie. All of her novels include a very popular romantic theme and her book, A Northern Light, has also been introduced in Europe under the title A Gathering Light.
	A Northern Light reflects a lot on the issues of wealth, education, love, and murder.  The combination of those themes makes for a novel that anyone is able to read and relate to.  As you read this book, you feel like the main message is the traditional clich? of following your dreams no matter how hard they are to achieve. But as you read further, you realize that it's a lot about hardships, strength and love.  On the first page of the book, Mattie is imagining a perfect day at the Glenmore hotel before she so disappointingly tells herself, ""I believe these things. With all my heart.  For I am good at telling myself lies"".  From this quote, you can see the type of person Mattie is, and it gives a foreshadowing to the events that would take place throughout the novel.  The events typically consist of let down after let down for Mattie and her hopes for her future.   
	This book is written from Mattie's point of view which really helps the reader to get to know her better.  It adds a different element to the book that wouldn't be there if it wasn't written from Mattie's point of view.  It lets you get inside Mattie's head and feel the emotions that she's dealing with along with her true thoughts and feeling towards situations.  Mattie is truly troubled girl who works so hard toward what she wants and yet there is always something holding her back. She's stuck in a farming town where education isn't as important as having a prosperous farm and a family. As you read this book, you just want to tell Mattie that she needs to take her own future into consideration and stop worrying long enough to have some faith.  She is a selfless giver who is willing to do anything and everything to keep her family and her farm doing well.  She deals with extreme guilt for wanting to leave her father after her mother died.  She has to learn that the promise that she made to her mother to always take care of her family includes taking care of herself as well.  Royal Loomis enters Mattie's life at a very unconventional time when Mattie's unsure of what she wants to become and she has to chose between his love and the life she's always wanted.  Mattie deals with her teacher, Miss Wilcox, leaving town.  Miss Wilcox was Mattie's role model who was living the life of an independent poet with a car and a royal lifestyle.  The life Mattie wants.    
	This book is intended for a female audience because it deals with issues that sometime only a girl could understand.  It's a fairly easy read so it is more for adolescents than adults but not for young children.  The issues that it deals with are issues that children may not be able to appreciate as much as teenagers who are about to go to college and leave their families.  A Northern Light is full of valuable lessons, but most of all it's just a good book to get lost in.


		

",0
"I really want to like Thich Nhat Hanh's books. I want to because people I respect like them, because I believe in the value of mindful living... but the truth is that I didn't find this book very helpful.

I have real and continuing struggles with Anger and this book while interesting in a round about way is, as others have mentioned, not directed toward the problem of anger. It is a mindful living remix.

I'm going to keep searching for a great TNH book and when I do I'll recommend it. Good hunting
",0
"I have introduced many of my ELL, high school students to Lois Lowery and the depth of her characters. She is a brilliant writer and capable of inspiring fierce passion in her readers as they encounter shocking details of her utopian worlds. I was anxious to read this companion novel and had planned to share it with my class this January. Although the series is written for 6th graders and older, this book's simplicity, in its message, language and writing style will inspire no one.  I am sadly disappointed
",0
"I have reviewed all 31 chapters of psycho-babble in the book (and the epilogue too).

A very ""nice"" read. Indeed entertaining and yes, funny in many ways. They also use doubtfull suggestions -  like bringing ""doughnuts"" because people like them !?

They also ""demystify"" some ""myths"" about teamwork. (I do not know where they got those Myths from) - another fragment of their imagination, I suppose.

This ""business"" book is more of a ""romantic novel"" about something relating to ""teams"", full of anecdotal references (very life-like) - but totally unsubstantiated, wanting us to ""believe"" that indeed, ""teams things"" are like they describe it.

From an entertaining point of view - very. From an academic point of view - null. For a business person - if you have time to waist, have fun.

It is interesting to note that they got a UK award for their book. (for entertaining I suppose). I guess this is a way of promoting the book. Good marketing technique.
",0
"I'm not a cosmologist, but Stephen Hawking's Universe was so simply written it is essentially condescending.  The language is akin to the level one would read in a newspaper.  Moreover, the pictures are second rate pre-contact lense Hubble knock-offs (despite being published in 1997), and the book has very little to do with Stephen Hawking.  Sure, he wrote the foreward and did some editing, but it lacks the wit and wonder of a Hawking work.  Naming the book after him and putting his picture on the front is misleading.  I AM a chemist, and despite this, Filkin's descriptions of Chemical discoveries left even me guessing because he was attempting to dumb-down ideas that aren't dumb-downable, and didn't include diagrams which would be helpful for anyone trying to understand the concepts (like neutrino capturing or particle acceleration).  If you want to learn some cosmology, read ""A Brief History of Time"" or ""A Short History of the Universe"".  These are simply written but informative works that won't leave you waiting for substance
",0
"A gold sticker on this book's cover reads ""WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE.""  Don't be mislead. The sticker must refer to the author not the book.  While he no doubt received the prize, after wading through the work I can't believe it was for this piece of work.  I found the book exceedingly boring, a chore to read every step of the way.  As the Iberian peninsula physically separates from Europe, several unengaging and underdeveloped characters (the most interesting of which was a dog) wander from one destination to another with meager purposes, certainly none I cared about. While the book may have been intended as an allegory for Portugal's relationship with the rest of Europe and the European Union, it failed to strike a chord.  I'll chalk this book up as something only a Pulitzer Prize judge would love
",0
"I purchased this book based on the mostly glowing reviews from other reviewers and I am very disappointed. The Arabic fonts used are SO small that, at times, it is actually quite difficult to make out the letters. Definitely, NOT a book for people who are new to the language
",0
"This is a nearly verbatim rendition of the Grimms' story, and it's hard to understand why Zelinsky would use his talent to illustrate it for children. Even harder to figure out is how the American Library Association could award its Caldecott Medal for distinguished American picture book for children to any rendition of this dreadful tale: The king threatens to kill the miller's daughter if she can't spin gold from straw. Rumpelstiltskin saves her life by spinning gold for her, but extracts a necklace, a ring and, on the third night of spinning, a promise of her firstborn. She then marries the king, whom Zelinsky depicts as young and handsome. When it comes time for the queen to hand over her newborn, Rumpel agrees to relent if the queen can discover his name. She sends a servant to follow him into the woods and discover the name. So the king, though he looks good, is greedy and brutal. The queen is a victim who agrees to give over a future infant to save her own life, and then depends on an anonymous, unrecognized ""servant girl"" to save the child. And Rumpelstiltskin, shown as physically unattractive and (the message seems to be) therefore bad, is the one who saved the future queen from execution and then relents on the payment he bargained for. A weird, twisted story that offers nothing for kids, illustrated with Renaissance-style pictures that accentuate the perversity by making the bad guy look good and the guy who saved the damsel in distress look bad
",0
"I was at the airport, getting ready to fly out to Cali and I found this book in the airport gift shop- I thought what a stroke of luck I had getting a Stephen King title at such a juncture... I'm a huge  fan.
Despite the fact that I started and finished the book exactly as the plane took off and landed, I was sorely disappointed.  Much ado about nothing would be an overstatement
",0
"Myths are important, but they should not be labeled history.  1.  George Washington was not a great guerilla leader; he commanded conventional forces who fought in lines--just like the redcoats. Washington thought militia and irregulars were undisciplined and unable to face regular troops.
2.  Ronald Reagan did not begin the nuclear ""disarming"" of the Soviet Union.  Eisenhower and Kennedy tried, but (LBJ?) Nixon and Carter were able to bring the ABM treaty, the SALT treaties and he START treaties to a point where both sides began cutting back their nuclear arsenals.  Reagan did have success with theater wrapons in Europe, but the ""big nukes"" that could end civilization were already being cut back.

This is an interesting book about Reagan and Peggy Noonan, but some of the history cited is WRONG
",0
"I had never read a Danielle Steel book before, and decided to give her a try, given that she is so popular and has so many books published. I was pretty disappointed. I agree with the other reviewers that the plot is unrealistic; however, if a book is unrealistic but well-written and engaging, I would still like it. I think the biggest problem with this book is the author's excessive repetitiveness. Yes, I get that this character is really cold and unloving---that was already covered 50 pages ago! In addition, character traits could have been better conveyed through situations, rather than simply stating, ""so and so was a devoted mother"" and repeating this fact again and again and again. These flaws in the author's writing kept me skipping through whole sections of the book. This book did not leave me wanting to read more of Ms. Steel's books. It is an ok book if you like romance and very easy, repetitive reading.
",0
"this book sucked. all the other people in my book group and I hated this book. there is only a stupid plot about a pig running awa
",0
"I bought the book after a practitioner used this technique on me. However, the information provided is too extensive and confusing, listing far too many ""points"" in the body with corresponding healing touches to keep track of them. The body map listing them is in the first part of the book, so you have to flip back and forth to see what the author is referring to. I also thought some of the miraculous healing claims a little outrageous. The way this system originated is also a little murky. This is a better book for people training to learn this practice than for the lay public
",0
"This series may be good for a laugh. Some of the writing is engaging. 

But the premise is absurd. 

WHY, in this day and age, should anyone accept the world-view of the Bible? A book that tells us to buy and sell slaves, stone our wives to death if they accept some other tribe's beliefs, and subordinate our minds to an absolute despot up in the clouds of Mt. Sinai? 

In a sense, Bible believers have been ""left behind"" since the 1700s Enlightenment. Tom Paine's ""The Age of Reason"" showed the God of the Bible to be a cruel, vindictive monster. And what did Thomas Jefferson call the book of Revelations? ""The ravings of a madman."" 

Read this series, if you like. Enjoy parts of it. But make no mistake: to take any of this seriously, you have to regress to a prehistoric world-view, before men learned to think, to ask questions; before logic or science -- a time when dazed, superstitious primitives believed stars could fall to the earth, if they didn't grovel humbly enough to their supposed god. 

Do the absurdities and contradictions bother no one? When the ""sheep"" are raptured up to heaven, their clothes are left behind. So heaven is a nudist colony? 

The basic contradiction, of course, lies in using worldly action (some of it exciting) to proselytize for the unworldly, the supernatural. 

But why should we care whether any of the ""good"" guys gets killed? And why should THEY mind -- won't they go straight up to heaven? That's what they WANT, isn't it? Why even lift a finger against the ""bad"" guys -- didn't Christ say, ""Resist not evil""? 

Worried about who will win? ""God"" is infinitely powerful. So Jesus (who is 1/3 of God -- or something like that) is sure to win when Armageddon rolls around, in book 12 of the series. And the ""sheep"" -- the believers -- will happily worship him, looking just like the pictures of dim-witted, bovine people you see in the tracts Jehovah's Witnesses leave at your door. 

The going price for a used copy of ""Tribulation Force"" is one cent. Does that tell you something? 

Actually, the story-telling is worth more. The basic premise is worth less. Perhaps it averages out
",0
"All throughtout this book Alex Delaware and his police friend Milo never stop ruminating over every new fact they uncover.  They have endless discussions on how a new tidbit might fit into the overall picture.  The reader longs for the pair to actually do something.  In the end the author walks away without even tying up all the main strings.  That is really dirty pool after making the reader wade through all the yakking.  I read and enjoyed several of the early Alex Delaware books and then quit looking for new ones, now I know why
",0
"The book appears to give comprehensive coverage in terms of the number and type of entries included.  However, on the Atkins diet, the important measure to monitor is the ""active"" carbohydrate mass which may  metabolised and which excludes roughage or fiber.  The inclusion of such a  measure in the book would greatly enhance its value and utility
",0
"This book is more of an advertisement for Scoblete's other books, his writing buddies other books, and his golden touch craps siminar. This book gives no mention of how the reader can acomplish dice control, which is the reason I bought this book. The book is rather a collection of stories. Scoblete tells of people he met playing craps but he forgets to tell how to play craps. It would not surprise me at all if the characters in the book are made up, especially the Captain, the authors ultimate craps hero. I couldn't even finish this book. It was boring and repeated the same type of uninteresting stories all the way through, and left the reader with no knowledge gained. If you are interested in a good casino book I recomend something by Avery Cardoza or a book published by his company
",0
"What a chore this book was to read.  If it weren't for my OCD about finishing books that I start, I would've read the first couple of chapters and then given up.

It seems like a wannabe-suspense, but it's not.  It seems like there might be a love story in it, but there's not.  It feels like there might be a creepy angle in it, but there is not.  What I can gather about this book is that the author thinks she's going to connect all these people with different circumstances and perspectives together by one tragedy.  She tries to make a connection, but falls WAY short.  Read Vinegar Hill - that one was worth it.  Pass Midnight Champagne by
",0
"The sub-title of this book is very misleading. It does not contain ""an action-oriented approach"" to raising your self-esteem - unless you count sitting down with pen and paper as an action. The book is centered on sentence completion exercises where you write the beginning of a sentence at the top of a page (""One of the things I dislike about myself is..."", ""One of my emotions I have trouble accepting is..."") and then complete the sentence with whatever comes to mind. For some unexplained reason each sentence requires its own sheet of paper; and there are a lot of them, so be prepared to go through a lot of paper.

Sure, completing sentences technically counts as an ""action"". But if you're like me, ""action-oriented"" implies some sort of cognitive-behavioral therapy that gives you exercises to go out and do in the world, not sitting alone and writing out your thoughts. For someone with social anxiety the last thing I needed was more solitary introspection.

Branden gives examples of breakthroughs that his patients had doing sentence completion with him in therapy; but alas, the practice helped me in no way. Your mileage may vary, but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone
",0
"Surely I'm not the only one who found this book totally [bad].  The only thing it made me wonder about is how it's possible to write such a thorougly BORING book about such fascinating women.  The writing is just dull and full of the author's biases and prejudices, which just aren't nearly as interesting as the subjects themselves.  It's written in that old-school feminism (negative, no fun) tone that thank God feminism has since moved beyond.  My advice:  find another book about women mystics not filtered through Flinder's lens
",0
"I must say I enjoyed the book, but the ending was so sudden, with so many things left hanging, that I was disappointed.  I wish one more chapter had been written to clear up- how did Manderly catch fire, what did they do when they got to the burning house, and how did they pick up their lives. All we had at the ending was ashes. Also, the narrator, who never gives her name, was sometimes very odd- hiding behind doors in her own home, sneaking food, hiding behind chairs. The book is worth reading, but I wish that, instead of spending so much time describing the trees and the sea, Du Maurier had written a better ending.
",0
"I do not recomend this book because the author gives poor explanations. In chapter 5, he explains steady state error for unity feed back HORRIBLY. He says the value of c(t) must be infinite or nonzero, but doesnt bother to show why. This book needs more work making concepts clearer and making less assumptions. 

Its not all bad, but its not 5 stars everyone else has given it. I have read good textbooks, this isnt one of them.
",0
"This book was written so long ago, but has been re-released with a new cover. It contains racist terms and old fashioned dialog. I wished I had been more aware and had bought a more updated history of New Orleans.
",0
"People have been trying for years to prove that the founding cause of the Universe is natural occuring harmonies. These theories are usually the occult disguising itself as science. If these theories are correct there needs to be a 'fundamental' frequency (a demiurge style 'god of harmony') to begin the resonance. No such thing exists - see Scientific American, August 2005 'Is the Universe Out of a Tune?
",0
"Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Neal Stephenson's books.  The historical content he winds into his plots is engaging.  However, I have been working with the micro computer since before the command line.  Neal, you have the title wrong.  In the beginning was the Monitor.  No doubts in my mind.  My right hand is still trained to enter octal codes on a keypad at lightening speed!  The Command line came much later, more like the coalescence of matter in the Universe when clumps of useful things needed some impactful gravity.  The Monitor was there before the clumps and after the octal toggle switches, address load and register load momentary switches.  The Monitor got the human fingers attached to the computer once and for all.   So, 2 stars because the title is just wrong
",0
"""The Island of Lost Maps"" is the story of a petty crook named Gilbert Bland who stole rare and irreplaceable maps in the '90s.  Posing as a researcher, Bland would enter rare-book collections and slice old maps out of antique atlases with a single-edged razor.  Then he would sell the maps to unsuspecting -- or at least unquestioning -- dealers.  Before being busted at the Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, he had stolen more than a half million dollars' worth of maps.

""Island"" is the first book for author Miles Harvey.  In the book, he tries to pull together enough material on the crime and map collecting to create an appealing 350-page book.  He is only partly successful.  I found the material on Bland's crime fascinating.  However, Bland as a subject does not fill the entire 350 pages because his life is dull.  Unfortunately the author inflates incidents and descriptions to pad the text.  I found myself skipping pages to get back to the crime.  There is some interesting stuff about map engraving in the age of discovery and modern mapmaking. But as a true crime book, it over extends itself.  It would be a more interesting book to read if it were shorter and more focused
",0
"I'm the sort of guy who has a bit of trouble adapting to normal life. I'm still bemused and puzzled the mechanics of toilet-flushing. My wife (may she rest in peace) bought me this book as an anniversary present last month before she was tragically torn apart by a rabid pack of alligators at a Wyoming nature preserve. Anyway, life moves on.

Much to my disappointment this book did not teach me everything I should know how to do. ""But Fred,"" you might be saying (and I'll be saying ""Fred isn't my name, idiot!""), ""how do you know what you should know if you don't know what it is to begin with?""

Ah, well, let me explain. See, if Tchikavoslky taught me one thought, it was this: I know nothing.

So it is with this deep insight into my own mind that I came up with the following Things I Should Know, based on what I currently do NOT know:

1. How to start a hurricane. This is very important.

2. How to kill a man with a toothpick. What if you met a hitman at a fancy restaurant and found out your were his next victim? Scary.

3. How to run a nuclear powerplant with a one-man army. I don't want to be the next Homer Simpson!

4. How to raise children. I've raised ten and still haven't figured out what a diaper is.

5. What a diaper is. I don't know, my wife used to talk about them a lot.

6. How to drive. Sure, technically we're supposed to learn how BEFORE we get our driver's licenses, but like many people, I just got a fake one when I was 12 and have been driving since then. I've been in over three hundred vehicular accidents and been charged with five counts of manslaughter, so I figured it might be good to learn how to drive.

7. How to stalk a celebrity. You just never know.

8. How to put on underwear without leaving stain marks. You fellas know what I'm saying!

9. How to make coffee. People ask me to all the time, and because I don't know how, I just take some warm water and pour mud in. Thankfully no one's noticed my inadequacies yet, but I'm sure soon enough they will, after another person dies of food poisoning and internal infection.

10. How to kill yourself. I don't want the aliens to get anything out of me when I'm taken hostage. I saw it in that Tom Cruise movie, and it was sure scary!

So with these things in mind, I'm severely disappointed by this book, and feel it is mis-marketed and stupid.

Please, Barbet Schroeder (or whoever the author was), write a better book next time
",0
"This book was great.  I especialy liked the chapter where Bill sticks a falafel in his co-worker's hoo-hah.  Priceless
",0
"Ms Milton admits to her anger at humanistic psychology, so she attacks without understanding.  She does not seem to grasp even some of the basic concepts of the people's work she denigrates.  Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one example. I have spent a great deal pf time studding humanistic psychology and writings.  I have had the pleasure of being trained in group therapy with Carl Rogers, and William Coulson as instructors. Any one who really studies these writers will see how bad a job Ms Milton did presenting them.  She should have let her anger subside before she wrote the book.  Her bias is extreme and obvious. So consider this when reading the book.  No doubt Ms Milton will have a new career appearing on the conservative religious programs.  I am sure Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell have or will book her to speak out against the evils of humanistic psychology
",0
"The book is well-written.  Most parts of it I can agree with.  But there is a crucial mistake in Parson's message --- oneness likes to play separation.   I can say clearly that oneness does not play separation.  Duality/ego is simply a mistake/illusion caused by mind-evolution.  Saying that oneness plays separation is giving reality to this illusion.  Also, his message that we can not do anything still gives one a feeling that one is under the ""mercy"" of something, and this is clearly very dualistic.  Without ego, both doing and not doing are actions of oneness, to intentionally emphasizing not doing is a mistake.  There are many illuminating sentenses in this book, but be aware of the neo-advaitan trap.  In my life, it was understanding, especially of the process of ego-illusion-image helped me to come to oneness.  The one who is doing the understanding is still oneness.  There is no duality in doing and not doing.  At right this moment, you can chose to continue to read this review or to stop.  Of courses, you make choices in daily life.  If you really understand what is meant by ""nond-duality"", you will not make such statements such as ""there is no choice"".  
",0
"A good friend of mine insisted I'd read this book, because she knows I love exploring the spiritual aspects of life. 

In the end I was very disappointed.  Not in the writing or the exploration aspects of the book, but Michael Crichton's whole attitude.  He would spend a chapter sharing his learnings and his eye opening experiences, only to revert back to his arrogant, narrow-minded attitude once again for the next chapter.  How can anyone claim they've learned anything in life when nothing they learn from it seems to sink in?

Sadly, this book left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.  I have no desire to read any more of his books
",0
"Frankly, this book brings nothing new. We already know everything there is to know about Jackie and Diana don't we? I sincerely regret having paid such a high price to read what I already knew! I found the book ""Mrs. Kennedy"" much much more interesting
",0
"The author of this book, Warren Wagar, is apparently a professor of ""Future Studies."" I certainly hope he has long been fired from that post. ""A Short History of the Future"" was  written in 1989, but the writer is so ignorant of politics, and so WRONG, to be blunt, it reads as if it was written in the 1940's. Orwell's 1984 is more on the mark than this. 

He shows barely any creativity in his ""predictions"" and clearly was barely even aware of much of the contemporary political developments of his time. The fact that he assumes the Soviet Union will continue plodding along well into the 21st Century is incredibly naive. The fact that he assumes the nation's socialist economy system would survive equally long is similarly bizarre. Did he read the newspapers? Did he pay ANY attention to that Gorbachev fellow and the path he was bringing Russia down? 

And honestly, did anyone really expect that Germany would remain divided into two states until time immortal?  Or that Latin America and Africa would remain dictatorships forever? Or that black rule in South Africa would not occur until 2014?

If this book had been written 30 or 40 ago, it would be excusable. This book is just sloppy. He doesn't even do a good job describing how his corporations take over the world. Everything is just described in these overly flowery sweeping generalizations. Like ""and then the capital lords seized control of the governments and made the state wither like an autumn rose."" That sort of thing. 

The author is clearly an ""ivory tower"" academic who believes history can be predicted sorely through dry Marxist theory and analyzing dubious vague ""trends."" The fact that this book became horribly dated something like three years after it was published is quite a strong indictment of a man whose entire job was devoted to predicting the future.  
",0
"I am proud of the fact that I hold two degrees like many women. Do I work? No. I have chosen a different path. I have no children, married later in life, and gave up a wonderful job of two decades to care for my ill husband. Do I feel that I have no confidence nor respect? No.
And from whom or what is this respect supposed to come from?  
Caring for your family has nothing to do with any of this. I admire women who stay home to care for their families. When you have love, who gives a hoot what anyone else thinks. Personally, I find this book a little depressing, and I won't read it
",0
"Investment Banker with a conscience, Ben Hartman, and special agent Anna Navaro's plot lines and bodies soon become intertwined in their quest for the secrets of Sigma, an elite cabal with roots in Nazi Germany that is bent on world domination. What starts out as reasonable and entrancing enough genre pulp becomes sheer Bond by the end, but there's no denying Ludlum has a gift for keeping the heat turned up from page to page.

If you are new to espionage fiction and have even slightly literary sensibilities, run don't walk to writers like Alan Furst, Graham Greene, or even John Le Carr?. But if strong characters aren't a necessity, you are able to suspend your disbelief, and you are lusting for pure literary sugar, you probably won't be disappointed.

Ludlum is a great author for those who typically spend hours in front of the television and tremble in anticipation at the release of the next Hollywood blockbuster, because he provides essentially the same experience in written form.  He is a master of the wildly oscillating plot line, but barely approaches apprentice status in any other literary area.  I found myself cringing in embarrassment for the author at many points, but to his credit I was compelled to continue turning the pages until I had reached the end.  It's like candy, you can't stop eating it but feel ill once it's gone.

If you are a die hard Ludlumite I admit this is my first foray.  Please point me to a better example of his work if one exists, otherwise I'll invest my time elsewhere and catch up on Mr. Ludlum by proxy when the next ""Bourne"" film comes out
",0
"I really thought I would be able to learn about the Philadelphia Project from this book, considering the title. However, the actual project doesn't make an appearence until the last chapter. The entire book focuses on ideas that may or may not have contributed to a project that may or may not have taken place. 
This book was disappoiting to an extreme.
",0
"This book is outdated for the 21st century. The basics are there and in great detail but most of the information is useless for today
",0
"This is a tough read.  He gets so bogged down in the details that I forgot what I was reading about
",0
"god forbid i be so bold as to trash a classic.  and yes, maybe because of all the raving reviews from my friends and from the book's great reputation, i entered it with high expectations. - which the book however did not satisfy.  yes, it is a good comedic parody of the upper class of the time, a lampoon of the courtship ritual, and of course oh so witty, blah blah blah, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.  the main character was likeable, but that aside, i found it completely insufferable to read through, and absolutely painfully boring.  every subsequent event from the very beginning could be predicted, let alone the ending.  not that anything really ever happens - the entire book could be summed up with, ""then they walked and talked and had tea and walked and talked and had tea, walked and talked and had more tea, then got married and lived happily ever after.""  the entire novel was a headache of girly gossip and mental drama.  it would save more time just to watch a chick flick.  so if you're interested in the relationship fiascos of fictious characters, witnessing the agony over who's going to marry who (even though the reader could already predict the happily-ever-after match-making light-years in advance), then this is the book for you!!  if not, then i suggest picking up some dan brown.           
",0
"Other reviewers have taken pains to outline the ""plot"" of this baby boomer bodice ripper. Suffice it to say author Kathryn Harrison, scrupulously adhering to some private conviction that ""more is better"" , offers estrangement between identical twins, loss of a child, incest, paternity confusion, mid-life crisis and spiteful erotomania as it crops up in the life of one understandably confused New York shrink. This reader was aching for the hero, Will, to book himself onto Jerry Springer while feeling immensely shortchanged by lines from Ms Harrison like ""It's just...it's...What is it? Will doesn't have a word for what he feels."" (Perhaps the character lacks the emotional vocabulary to communicate with the reader: the author, however, should not. In any case, those are lousy, lazy sentences among so many examples.)
In addition to being insufferably, cartoonishly silly, the book is wounded by a dreary internal structure. Bad things happen to Will-the-shrink, Will then regurgitates them at length to HIS shrink, then buttonholes his wife to regurgitate what happened, what he thinks happened, and what he thinks about what his shrink thinks. 
As for Ms Harrsion's ""famous"" sex scenes. They practically lie on their backs, fondling their adverbs and panting for Penthouse approval: ""She's unbelievably wet and tight and impossibly, almost unnaturally, slippery.""
""Envy"", by the way, is Ms Harrison's 11th book and she should, by now, be getting things more right than wrong
",0
"This is, without question, the WORST book ever written on one's financial life.  To begin with, it's useless: ZERO information, ZERO new analysis of old information, ZERO advice, ZERO interesting anecdotes.  Additionally, it's rambling--meandering from summaries of old data, to poorly written schmaltzy 'new age' feel-good blathering.  What exactly is this guy's point?   No way to tell. 
Seriously, this book is SO BAD that all the people who allowed their names to be associated with blurbs on the cover have, in my opinion, lost all remaining credibility.  
What a waste of my $16 and 4 hours. 
I want my money and time back.
",0
"This book was so badly written that I just couldn't help writing my first review on Amazon. I NEVER bothered writting reviews.

While I fully respect the authors' decision in providing the book online under the Creative Commons license, and while I do not doubt the sincerity of their intentions, the book is a total f*ck up. And f*ck up is an understatement.

The book:
1) Is unorganized :-

I felt I was being bombarded by information from all directions. One moment I was getting ready to test a simple ""hello world"" module, and the other I'm suddenly faced with a some strange esoteric block diagram showing ""how function calls and function pointers are used in a module to add new functionality to a running kernel."" with strange function names that were not mentioned and do not get mentioned for the rest of the chapter. How the hell did I get here? It just pisses you off and breaks your thought process and leaves you clueless and frustrated.

2) Is upside-down:-

I read chapter 3 (Char drivers) and I compare it to real device drivers and some things just don't match. The book seems very theoretical because the ""real"" device drivers call some other functions that are not mentioned at all. After digging in the kernel source files and googling the internet I realize that in the ""real world"" there is a whole driver-model and generic objects and what not. Reading the source code documentation and some online material I actually understand how the ""real"" drivers work. I still don't understand the stuff in the book. I start wondering whether there is any mention of the driver-model  and I find it in chapter 14 !!!!!!! The driver model seems, in my opinion, the first step to understanding how ""real"" drivers work and I find it after 14 chapters of utter nonsensce!! Not only that, the authors decide that ""many driver authors can ignore the device model entirely"" and ""The complexity of the device model makes it hard to understand by starting with a high-level view""... surpisingly it was easier to understand from online sources and the source code documentation than trying to read chapter 2 in the book!

3) Is sadistic:-

One thing I really hated was the carrot-and-stick approach the authors chose. First they give you a small tiny taste of a topic   which finally seems relevant and just when you feel you're about to reach somewhere, they do a complete u-turn and throw all kinds of irrelevant off-the-topic rubish that leaves you sorry you were so shamefull as to expect any better. You end up confused, annoyed, and duped. Like in chapter 2 when they presented the code for the ""hello world"" module. OK fine. Seems easy enough. You naturally assume that this is an invitation to write the same code yourself. HAHA WROONG! The book suddenly does a ""make hello.c"" without showing you the content of the makefile. It leaves you out to dry with your uncompilable-""hello.c"" and goes on describing IN DETAIL seemingly random stuff. You are left wondering whether the makefile must have been something too obvious to bother noting down and you start wondering whether to try to create a simple makefile or continue reading the chapter ""as-is"". I chose the former. HAHAHA WROONG AGAAIIN! I ended up compiling my whole kernel source tree because of something they decide to mention only 7 sections later.(At least they mentioned it?!)

In summary.. I'd suggest you buy the book.. and (as ""./Documentation/ManagementStyle"" for another book says): ""NOT read it. Burn it, it's a great symbolic gesture"".

I don't think anyone could have done a better job at making a worse technical book. If you come across any online material that ""recommends"" this book, *QUICKLY* discard that material too .. without thinking.

This is a -5 stars book. It has affected me personally
",0
"I love other Preston/Childs books so I thought I would love this one.  I didn't.  It is completely predictable.  I was sure that the author would give it some interesting plot twists, but there were none.  And parts of it were ridiculous:  the length of the entombment, the amount of the treasure, the manner of transport, etc.  The only character I really liked was the monkey
",0
"  Great book, of course, but for this edition Oxford used a computer to justify the  type. On every other line you encounter three or four spaces   where there should be  only one. It may not bother most readers, but I'm looking for another    publisher's edition
",0
"No intellectual can afford to be unacquainted with the immortal John Dewey and his ""experimental school."" Who would dare criticize the education legend inseparably linked with the irreproachable rhetoric of ""progressivism?"" I would.

Dewey's conception of the child as learner assumes that the uneducated mind is essentially capable of directing its own knowledge by a spontaneous inquisitiveness stemming  from nature study. This he then expects to blossom into a more expanded consideration of the various academic subjects with the teacher merely facilitating transitions and answering the child's self-posed questions. The problems in Dewey's model begin with his science fair-meets-museum-meets-playground-meets-lecture hall school design: the model is untested on any large scale and the cost plus upkeep is prohibitively expensive. Classes are small and require several specialists and non-reusable materials. As if kids didn't have enough problems with the basic skills set already, Dewey would have them heavily involved in shop and home economics. Even more outrageous in Dewey's model is the premise that we ought never force students to study what they do not like. Their own intellectual prejudices reign supreme and by implication, teachers are discouraged from evaluating against solid standards. Experienced teachers know that kids can easily hide their shortcomings even when required to study their weak subjects, and that remediation is hard to implement before they slip further behind. How could Dewey's recommendation to cater almost exclusively to the child's intrinsic likes NOT further disguise and exacerbate low performance?

Deweyism of course, like many other off-the-wall theories of education, denies Behaviorism when it refuses to acknowledge psychological patterns in man. It depicts formulaic teaching and learning as fundamentally faulty and generalized curricula as harmful to student individuality. Nothing could less representative of the quality research conducted, particularly Project Follow Through: the great skeleton in the student-centered advocates' closet. I'd personally like to see Dewey's updated plan for seamlessly moving kids, who come into class with their ""natural inquisitiveness"" programmed by TV, rap music, and other pop media, into colonial American history, calculations of hyperbolic asymptotes, Tennessee Williams, and the ""plus-que-parfait"" tense. But of course, such leaps of interest are unnecessary if we utterly throw out the old-fashioned academic corpus along with the old-fashioned school system.

90% of students in high schools today report that they do NOT feel adequately challenged. Maybe the answer doesn't lie in yielding to children's lack of intellectual discipline but in tapping their potential to control that uninformed caprice. Dewey's ""progressivism"" relies upon the contradiction of allowing uneducated mind educate the teacher on its own education. From the absurdity of it, I can only conclude that sane people latch onto this school gedankenexperiment to maintain an escapist fantasy in light of dismally high drop-out rates, lowered standards, and social discord. But a radical solution is not necessarily synonymous with a good one
",0
"The stationery is cute and colorful, but the pages are very cluttered. While the envelopes have spaces to write addresses and put return labels, the pages are too colorful and bold. A ballpoint or ink pen doesn't look good on the paper.
",0
"I saw the TV show made, so I wanted to check out the full story. 
It was a disappointment, but my wife loved it. So there you are one against, one for it
",0
"I loved the first Carole Matthews novel I read, ""For Better or Worse"", and picked this up in an airport hoping to be entertained once again. It kept me entertained while on a three and a half hour flight, but only because I didnt' have anything else to do. I am the type of person who has to finish a book once they start but it was really hard for me to even pick this one up again after getting off the plane.  

I totally disagree with the premise behind the whole thing and found it completely pointless. There were no redeeming qualities and few parts in the book even worth mentioning. To me, Matthews expects you to feel sorry for a woman whose married lover decided he needed to be with his wife and kids instead of leaving them for her. I think this is a horrible/unrealistic messgage. 

If you want to read something good, pick up a Jane Green novel instead. 
",0
"I have the first edition of this book and had problems with recipes, some I knew were wrong and could figure them out. I heard from the publisher and there were more than 20 mistakes which were fixed in subsequent printings. So if you are buying this do not get the first edition!!
",0
"I purchased this book several months ago. During that time I've tried several of the recipes - the French Lentil soup is very good. The chili and corn biscuit casserole was unappetizing. The chili was so-so and the corn biscuits were too heavy to my taste. The recipe for Mushroom, French Lentil and Chestnut Ragu says to ""see Glossary"" for the chestnuts but there's nothing in the glossary regarding chestnuts. It wasn't until I read another recipe (Smoky Chestnut and Sweet Potato soup) that chestnuts were discussed. The Mediterranean Salad sounds good on paper but was lackluster. Far too much red onion (which my guests mostly picked out). Although a number of the recipes are relatively simple there are several with very long lists of ingredients that take too much time and too many utensils to prepare. As someone who works full time, a 20-ingredient recipe holds very little allure, no matter how good it sounds. I had trouble finding some of the ingredients. For example, the author specifies several different types of squash which I haven't been able to locate at any of my local grocery stores or farmer's markets.  The book is organized in menus which are not listed in the table of contents. If you're looking for a specific recipe you'll have to spend some time with the index trying to locate it which is not convenient. The author definitely has some good ideas but this book probably will sit on my bookshelf more than on my countertop
",0
"At first glance this is a great book. However, once you've read it a few times you begin to notice the bottles of coke that feature in almost every illustration. The author, illustrator, and publisher should be ashamed of themselves. We all know that kids are exposed to lots of advertising on TV and at the movies, but do we really need to start worrying about product placements in children's books as well? This is a clever book and I was looking forward to sharing it with friends and exploring the other books in the series. The greed of those involved with this book have changed my mind, however
",0
"I did not like the book Adam of the road because it tells you a whole bunch of stuff about the characters before it gets to the story and by the time you get to the story you forget about the characters. I also did not like the fact that the book talks weird and it says like thou father I shall bla bla bla
",0
"Ann Coulter is unbelievable in her unrelenting hatred of anyone not in aggreement with her warped sense of reality.  To her there is no middle ground.    I am an educated, well travelled adult who while born in the United States, spent a good portion of my childhood living overseas and consider myself to be fairly open minded.  To be called a communist, a traitor, and an enemy of America just because I don't buy into the ultra conservative mind think is an insult to the freedom that this country was founded on.

I have never in my life considered buring or destroying a book because of it's evil, until I read this one.

Be afraid, be very afraid of these people
",0
"I'm trying to figure out what the appropriate subtitle for this book should be and I can't decide among the following:

    * Travels Through Guilt with the World's 33rd Richest Hippie
    * The Mind of an Empty Suit
    * A Self-Important Revisionist History
    * How I Learned to Hate Myself and Love the Third World
    * Memoirs of a Cold War Paperpusher

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins is an exclamation point riddled history of a few financial manipulations of the Cold War by a man who had no stake in his own ambition.

The first thing you notice about this account is that it is written by a man who thinks he was sitting on top of the world, when in fact he was just a cog in the energy industry. If you are credulous enough to believe that the debts and revenues associated with the energy business is indeed the core principle of the global economy, then the moral outrage of this book makes sense. But there's a whole lot to swallow.

On the plus side, it's a fast and somewhat entertaining read. Otherwise it is a exercise in the slow revelations of a kind of self-loathing that takes about 20 years to surface.

One of the things that I've had in mind as I was reading this screed was the sense of geography as destiny. As I look at the 20th Century, I think of most of it focused on the economics of . Perkins was one of the people who made the truth a narrative of economic exploitation. He falls in love with Socialist charismatics in Latin America, rues the lives of poor peasants, and bemoans the basic nature of corporate capitalism without ever acknowledging or even understanding the basic nature of socialism.

Perkins is a perfect example of a cultural relativist. a perceptive reader can see how much he hates his hometown and parents and idolizes romantic ideals associated with revolutionary rhetoric. But you can't imagine that he even had the temerity to read Marx, Weber, Engles, Friere or anyone. Back when I was a bit more blackified, I referred to such people as culture vultures. If it's indigenous, it's good. But you'll never see him once talk about infant mortality statistics, literacy rates, crime rates or even inflation.

I discovered a bit too late that this book would teach me nothing about the business of foreign direct investment or the workings of the World Bank except that he saw it as evil. Technically, you'll get a great deal more insight reading Wikipedia. Basically, Perkins assumes that his game was the only game on the planet, his company was smack dab in the middle of it and that it was all being subtley directed by the CIA and NSA and that this is, was and always will be the American way. You really get a foggy view of the Evil Empire of America from Perkins, who resembles nobody quite so much as a cynical wanker who is too soulless to quit the game. It's a confession all right.

By the time I got 2/3rds of the way through, reading the book began to become annoying. The incredible vacuity of this man was staggering. There are no personal relationships in the book worth speaking of. He found loyalty only to his bosses worth mentioning. It is a stunning revelation about his character that he never once had a kind word to say or any personal quality worth mentioning about his staff that stands out in memory.  We learn that he took one of his charges (female) on a yacht cruise to some isle in the Caribbean, but that when he got there, he was so sickened by his guilty conscience that he banged his head against the coconut trees.

If you want to understand something about the life of an economist and high finance, the best book I've read is My Life as a Quant. If you want to understand something about the life of a reluctant spy, the best book to read is Larry Kolb's Overworld. If you want to get well-written account of a man who was too spoiled to find himself while being a toady in the economic hardball of the Cold War era, then this is your book. But it's nowhere near as good as, say The Quiet American.

You can imagine that Perkins, who is a great admirer of Graham Greene, might have had aspirations to be such a character as Greene might pen. He is earnest to tell such a story that would portray himself thus, but he is to honest to consider himself heroic, and I suspect that he'll be working off his guilt for the rest of his life. In that regard, 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' is (now prefaced and extended in the paperback edition) a blueprint for American liberal guilt. If there was ever someone who truly believed that global warming and a host of other blowbacks are destined to doom America to a well-deserved kharmic smackdown, it is John Perkins. He has always been a citizen of the world pretending to be a patriotic American, down to the repetitions of his undying faith in the words of Thomas Paine. You'd think, being a pseudo-economist, that he'd have some room in his heart for Alexander Hamilton. Ahh but that would mean that he'd have to admire courage.

I didn't want to be a harsh judge of Perkins. I thought I might learn of an extraordinary life, one of conviction and then epiphany. Instead I learned of a small yapping dog who was always on a leash he lacked the spirit to gnaw through.  Someone who would tell us in the end that we should use less oil and that 'corporatocray' is evil. This book has been a disappointment in many ways. I may well be very happy to read Thomas Friedman after this.

Good parts?

Yeah there are a few. He speaks about a few South American presidents who might have been contenders. He gives a few details about Saudi Aramco. But compared to Larry Kolb's fascinating and detailed portraits of Daniel Ortega and Adnan Khashoggi, this is Romper Room. If Perkins thought he was an agent... don't make me laugh
",0
"If you like physics, this is just an interesting book. It mostly discusses, at length, two ideas: emergence and reductionism. Doesn't sound like much, and it isn't, but at least it gives you a different point of view on the world. Unfortunately, from this point of view to the horizon is not that far. Mr. McLaughlin almost calls the present theories (like string theory) science fiction, easy on science (because of the scales and energies involved, he seems to think they are not provable; I don't have the knowledge to discuss if he is right or not), but he doesn't offer much of an alternative. He even comes close to saying that deeper levels of understanding are not possible, or not practical. 
Well, even if he is right, which I hope he isn't, between can't and science fiction, I prefer science fiction. Tomorrow I'll read a bit of string theory, and shake off the depressive mood left by this book
",0
"I'm a Zone diet believer - but this book is a serious letdown.  Two major problems with this worthless book:
1. Almost all of the recipes involve *far* too much preparation - the title is *very* misleading.
2. I find it hard to believe that anyone actually prepared these recipes, and thought they were *good*!  Most of the meals are horrible due to the *huge* proportion of vegetables.  I mean, an omelet with over 3 cups of asparagus??
",0
"Main Pro: an additional unbiased source of information in an area where there is not nearly enough
Main Con: too few products reviewed  

As a first time mom (and a compulsive researcher) I found this book most helpful as a cross reference with other sources (Baby Bargains, Girlfriend's Guide to Baby Gear, and reviews in babycenter and at amazon).  I will say though that I found myself trusting the advice of Alan and Denise Fields and of Vicki Lovine more than that of the authors of this book.  When reading through BB Bargains and Girlfriends Guide I felt more keenly that the products were being judged by real parents who thought about parents' needs; Consumer Reports seemed a little less thoughtful and definately less comprehensive.

Getting ready for a baby is a behemoth task.  The sheer amount of stuff you need-- clothing, bedding, furniture, strollers, car seats, feeding devices, toys-- and the myriad of choices that exist for each item can be very overwhelming.  And because there are so many crib manufacturers, stroller makers, etc, no single superstore like BBRUS or Target can carry all of the ""major"" brands.  It would be impossible to register at any one of these stores using only the recommendations of Consumer Reports' book.

Now perhaps not everyone enters parenthood quite as clueless as I was about baby gear.  And if you have friends and family who can share enough information with you (and better yet stuff!) about these products, then you probably don't need any of these books.  But if you are the kind of person who wants to know all of your options and who works to get the most for her or his money, you'll need more than this book.
",0
"I'm a Wiccan who formally practices within a traditional Gardnerian coven, but practices eclectically within my private practice. I read this book because I had heard that it was recommended to my local library by a Christian; purportedly, Wicca's Charm was written by an impartial writer. Immediately, you realize that this isn't true. Catherine Sanders has a clearly stated agenda: that Wiccans are simply misguided and  misunderstand that what they long for is offered by Christianity. 

I could write a long review debating the merits of Sanders' arguments. Instead, I suggest that you consider this if deciding whether to read this book which Sanders claims to have thoroughly researched. She relies on the writings of Margot Adler, Carol Christ, Starhawk and Phyllis Curott (with barely a nod to Scott Cunningham and Ronald Hutton) to draw many of her conclusions. Yet, missing from her notes are such writers as the Farrars, Merlin Stone, Raymond Buckland, Isaac Bonewits, Patricia Crowley, and the Matthews, to name just a few outstanding contributors to Neopaganism's base of knowledge. 

Too often, Sanders relies on the statements of young Wiccans she interviewed who come across as silly and naive. In another case, she bases her thesis that women's spirituality (e.g., Goddess worship)is misguided and that Christianity fits the same spiritual needs that women are seeking via ONE speech that she heard Margot Adler give shortly after 9/11. 

Sanders requests both Christians and Neopagans to read her book with an open mind. A fair request. But as you're reading, closely check out her endnotes and analyze for yourself if this book was truly researched with objectivity in mind, or whether Sanders limited herself to sources that would support her belief that Christianity has everything that a Wiccan desires. One needs to go no further than to consider that as Sanders attempts to persuade the reader that Christianity has always embraced the value of women that not once does she analyze the epistles of Paul.
",0
"I love how many people like to say that Lawrence Walsh was a Republican. Funny. He was an Eisenhower Republican WORLDS REMOVED from the conservative movement. And let's face it: he stink bombed George H.W. Bush at the end of the 1992 campaign when Bush was gaining ground on Clinton. I'm not saying Bush would have won if Walsh hadn't indicted Caspar Weinberger on the Friday before the election, but Walsh made a next-to-impossible task unattainable for Bush. Bush got him back, of course, by pardoning Weinberger on Christmas Eve, 1992.

The beginning of the book was interesting to say the least. As it wore on, however, it became a prosecutor hoping to go down in history whining about Republicans. Let's face it: people in power tend to be corrupt. They have protection the rest of us don't have. This wasn't just true about Reagan and Bush; it's true about Clinton and whoever you wish to name. About halfway through the book, Walsh concentrates his fire on the guy who was VP at the time, GHW Bush.

I also find the fact it was endorsed by a number of liberals interesting to say the least. I guess when you can't beat a guy at the ballot box, you impeach him or at least try to.

Right?

Not worth the investment of time or money - but does have some good historical information inside.
",0
"This collection of poems, tho representing a fine breadth of Dickenson's works, is in final assessment a crime against the poet's great talent.  As is freely admitted in the introduction, the editor, Mr. Higginson, ""worked on the mechanics of the poems by smoothing out the rhymes and meter, changing the line arrangements, and rewriting the dialect of the local area.""  This is a free admission of the book's guilt, having adulterated Dickenson's original poems in both content and form.  Gone are the nuances and passions that make Dickenson one of the best American writers.  Gone are the premeditated dashed and capitalizations that add depth and intensity to the poems' meanings.  And, worst of all, gone or altered are many lines that contribute to the unique vision of the artist.  As Thomas H. Johnson says in the Introduction to ""The Complete Poems of Emily Dickenson,"" A representative mid-nineteenth century traditionalist was being asked to judge the work of a wholly new order of craftsman . . . which he was not equipped to estimate.""  Do yourself a favor and avoid this text.  Instead, find one that is true to the original poems, one which preserves the intent and stylistic genius of the author, and one which will give you the full and lasting effect of Emily Dickenson
",0
"This was the first Collin Wilson book I read.  He has probably read a lot to write this book, but to anyone at least a little into the occult it is clear that he have no idea what he is talking about.
If you are interested in this matter (the occult knowledge) as something you would read about but never, ever try to verify if it is true or practice anything, maybe this book is ok.
But if you are serious about it and really want to know what true and what is fake, please stay away from this book.  He is so wrong about even simple things that could have been verified with just a few months of practical experimentation.
",0
"I'll reread any of Lipman's books multiple times - except this one.  Boring and disappointing finish
",0
"Obviously, from all the reviews, this book appeals to many people.  I am not one of them.  Perhaps it's because I don't care for science fiction.  I found the writing stilted, the footnotes distracting to the point I stopped bothering with them, the story boring, and the ending (covered in the introduction) to be a Twilight Zone cliche.  If, like me, you want to read the book because it has some connection to bicycles and cycling you will be disapppointed. 
",0
"Don't bother buying 'the wonder of girls,borrow it from a friend cause it will only make a turn around the office with many a snicker.I couldn't think of a girl I grew up with including myself who needed constant reassurance or had more 
trouble with math than boys.I agree with the other review about we grow our own brains and make connections.Infact,research 
shows if you give any child a chance at spatial tasks,the child
improves.Girls often are given dolls .,so how can a girl 
develope spatial ability playing with a doll? Go fig!Gurian 
doesn't tell the reader anything about experience and environment ~ instead he is vocal about fixed brain function which of course leaves a child in a narrow subgroup.Girls are all lumped into one.I wouldn't let your daughter read this book,'it might give her a bad case of low self~esteem and leave her wondering about herself as a woman.Gurian wants women in 
second place at best.Teach your daughter to believe in herself not some pop psychology from a questionable author bent on messing with her success
",0
"I had great expectations of this book but the more I read the worse it got. For a person who is supposed to be an 'Orientalist' he sure does hate his subject. Under cover of being a scholar Lewis promotes his neoconservative ideology as serious learning. This ideology is the guiding force behind the troubles in the Middle East today. Powerful people listen to Lewis and follow his advise on how to deal with the Muslim world. Unfortunately this advice comes from a person who has made it a lifelong mission to destroy and defame the very subject he claims to be an expert of
",0
"Many of the columns were interesting . . . painting a picture of a vast right-ring conspiracy that Hillary Clinton first brought to the public discourse.  But it seems that most of these pieces are obsolete, without any interest either as themselves or as a theme.  Does anyone care about Texas state politics in 1989, or Phil Gramm's problems as a senator or as a presidential candidate?  Someone should have gone through this and culled out what was obsolete .. except that that would probably have left less material than would make up a book.  Just going through a bunch of previously written columns and passing them off as a book may be a cheap and easy way to publish something but it is an inadequate read
",0
"When I found ""Hour Game"" in paperback at our local library's monthly book sale, I thought I had hit pay dirt.  But I cannot believe that this author who wrote such gripping gems such as ""The Winner"" and ""Absolute Power"" could turn out such a dog.  Long, boring, and confusing.  I fear that Mr. Baldacci hired an ""aspiring young writer"" to ""help"" him crank out a quick book. I cannot pass this book along to my friends -- I couldn't do that to them.  It will be tossed into our blue recycle bin.  What a waste.  What a shame.
",0
"This is a nice small book to take along in the car but I don't think the pictures are animated enough. My 19 month old son doesn't seem too interested in the book
",0
"First of all, Ike is doing the very thing that Tina always said he would do. Ike Turner will never admit to what he did to Tina. Tina stayed around him for so long because she promised that she would never leave him like ""all the others."" Ike took advantage of her. Tina her self said she cared very much for him. Cher even had seen what was going on and tried to convince Tina to leave him. Even the girls that danced with Tina on stage had whitnessed what happened.


Tina did not write her autobiography to promote her career, she herself said that she did not want to talk about what happened but the public kept asking her what had went on. So she released her autobiography in 1986, well after her come-back in 1984.

While Ike can try to deny it all he wants, the truth is he violently abused Tina! And considering the person Ike Turner is, I would expect him to do no less than to lie and make a pathetic-excusse of a come-back!!
",0
"As a complete newbie to XML this was a good starter.  As I got deeper into XML I found several mistakes/deficiencies in the book, and sometimes the author just flat out seemed to not know what he was talking about.  For instance, the claim on page 86 that (#CDATA) is a valid DTD element content definition is flat out wrong.  His description of Schema element declarations (pp. 114-115) teaches that using globals/refs is the only way to define complex elements, and is inappropriate for his example.  He makes no mention of globals at all, leaving the reader confused.  I have ceased to trust this book as a valid source of XML information
",0
"I have read this book, Mr. Moon's ""Divide and Quit"", Mr. Khosla's work, ""Stern Reckoning"" amongst others on the subject of the Partition. Ms. Butalia's work is so saturated with her personal opinions and idealogy, that it almost ceases to be a work on history than the airing of one's thoughts and mindset. Almost a diatribe, if I may. I will agree with what john_galt_who has written. I think he has hit the nail on the head. I did not consider this book worth either the money or the time
",0
"His fragmentary thoughts are difficult to follow. There is some wisdom here and there, but not worth the headache you'll get trying to decipher what is going on in his head. Here is an example:
""If you say your own name to yourself at such a moment, it will seem utterly alien. You will then understand the sacrament of baptism."" Huh?

At first, I thought his writing may just be over my head, but after re-reading most of it, I realized it was just bad. It's like the whole book was written when he was high or something. Some very good ideas, but most can be found in other, better written books.
",0
"This book explains very well the growing paranoia of modern parents. This is a resolute attack against parenting determinism. It is regrettable, however, that the author's references are not more ""scientific"" than those he reproaches to parenting determinism advocates of using. Moreover, he is not far from praising spanking, which is ""proven"" very bad for children
",0
"It's hard to imagine this book being of much value even for a true and complete novice to prospecting.  Written with blatant self  promotion in mind for other Garrett products there is little if any substantive information on panning that could not be reduced to 4 or 5 pages with a couple of diagrams added.  Would appear author may have been paid by the word given the tedious repetitions found throughout.  Truly basic and nothing new here - spend your money elsewhere
",0
"I picked this book up a couple days ago with a few others, hoping to learn about America's prison system.  I think our prison system is horrible and I was hoping that this book would give me some more information on the topic.  Unfortunately, in the first twenty pages of the book, Elsner claims that America imprisons 704 people per every 10,000 citizens.  If you do the math, that equals 7% of our population. 7% of our population is greater than the population of the State of New York.  According to this author, there are more people in prison in this country than live in the State of New York. 

Before you get too worried, let me reassure you that this is not the case.  America imprisons 736 people per *100,000* citizens (as of 5/06), or .736% of the population.  This is the highest rate in the entire world, so there's no need to move the decimal point to make it seem more dramatic. For comparison, Stalin had .771% of his citizens imprisoned in the Gulags during the height of the Purges.  Again, there's really no need to exaggerate America's rate of incarceration. What disappoints me is that this error is not simply a typo on one page, but is repeated several times.  Apparently the author actually believes we imprison 7% of our population, and the editors at Prentice Hall think that makes sense as well, as do all the luminaries who glowingly endorsed this book on the back cover. 

Personally, I can't take anything this author says seriously if there are errors so blatant a novice in the subject can them pick out, on the first twenty pages no less.  If a subject as basic as prison population is exaggerated by a power of 10, how do we know the rest of the book isn't off by a power of 10? Elsner makes prison reform advocates look like the bunch of uninformed dreamers conservatives like to imagine.  Don't buy this book
",0
"I actually know where Trieste was before I read this book.  Unfortunately I have never visited the city.  I wanted to read this travel book about this famous city, but after a few chapters, I wondered where the book was going to.  After the final chapter, I still do not know what the author's intentions was with this book.  Perhaps I don't read too many travel books.  Obviously the city means a lot to the author, but she did not express it clearly in her writing.  I was scratching my head at the end, and wondering what I read.
I learned a little about the city, but not in relation to the amount of time I spent reading this short book.  The city of James Joyce and Maximillian.  The imperial port of the Austo-Hungarian Empire.  The meeting point of Slav, German, and Latin Empires.  One of the ending points of the Iron Curtain.  This city breeds interest and yet the author took us on a round about journal that confuses the reader.  I am sure the author's other books are good, her last one was not the greatest. 
",0
"I did not read the book but I did look it over carefully.  I was hoping it would be a clear step by step guide to using IBD to apply the CANSLIM method.  There is so much information in the paper that it is not easy to apply all the techniques in an efficient manner.  There are almost too many choices and directions possible.  This book is not a step by step guide nor is it all that clear.  I did find it to be unnecessarily wordy and vague.  It just seems to go over the whole paper in a long winded fashion but does not get down to the nuts and bolts of ""Smart Investing"" as I was hoping it would.  Refer to William O'Neil's books for better guidance about how to invest.  Also, if you are a subscriber, there is a large amount of useful information on the IBD website at Investors.com
",0
"At least this author mentions the ""mockery"" strategy Martha/Mdiddy tried to use to ""fog"" the public. The ""real issue"" of whether Martha/Mdiddy committed the crimes, and lack of an effort to encourage an answer to the question ""DID MARTHA STEWART"" lie, demonstrates some complacency. Is it this complacency Martha/Mdiddy and her pr team try to encourage and promote? Is it the ""greyness"" of white-collar crime that Martha/Mdiddy was trying to play on? Is society the ultimate judge about a person's guilt or innocence? If so, what has Martha/Mdiddy been judged?
Be ""thoughtful""
~Shaw
",0
"This poorly executed story drags on for too long while the town waits for the return of Sister North. In the end, we really don't care if she ever returns. The ending is cliched and predictable. A waste of time
",0
"What a complete and utter waste of time.  Its obvious how these guys got dubbed the nutroots
",0
"You can breeze through this book in under an hour -- I just did. While it makes for a suspenseful, albeit entertaining, account of what happened that infamous night, Damore relies too heavily on witnesses' accounts and police remarks (often little more than Kennedy bashing). By now, most of us can accept the facts: that EMK drank way too much and drove off a bridge, subsequently leading to tragedy. DUI accidents happen every day, chillingly often to average people. The fact that this happened to one of the greatest Senators in the history of the United States only reaffirms this. ..
",0
"This book is typical for many of its kind, just a man-hating drivel from feminists...and otherwise good for nothing
",0
"I am not a student.  I wanted to read The Great Gatsby but I had no one with whom I could discuss the story.  I decided in a momentary lapse of judgment to supplement my reading with the Cliffs Notes.  Unfortunately, it was full of grammatical errors and what I found to be very superficial commentaries
",0
"Unfortunately there are not much words to loose. Poor writing together with the fact that practically all facts were lifted from Cameron's 'Conversation with Wilder' which is highly recommended btw, make this book forgettable. Why going through the whole exercise of publishing it is quite a mystery
",0
"Reading this book ten years after it was written made it very hard to get into it. For one thing, the author still talks about the USSR and East Germany, and those countries faded away so long ago that the whole book seems dated. It's hard to suspend disbelief and imagine this book was really written far in the future.
",0
"This book is not about India or Indians.  Shallow characters.  Non existant plot.  A dismal end to a not terrible beginning.  Unlike one of the other reviewers, I was unlucky enough to buy this book - what a waste
",0
"Let me say right off the bat, I am a skeptic, but still I loved author Gary Goldschneider's first two books from this series: the Secret Language of Birthdays and the SL of Relationships.  But this one, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF DESTINY is a bore.

Rather than offering two pages to each birth date, as Birthdays did, or a half of a page as Relationship did, this book gives the reader a short 1/4 page paragraph that allegedly sums up the destiny of those born in each of the 48 personology periods. This information is so general and by the way so boring that it could relate to anyone if in fact you don't fall asleep reading it.

For this reason, I do not recommend THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF DESTINY. 

-- Regina McMenami
",0
"Way too much unusable information.  I kept waking up throughout the book, hoping to get to the parts about day-trading I could put into practice.  (It never happened
",0
"I bought Bead Fantasies and Bead Fantasies II at the same time after reading the positive reviews; I wish I had looked at these books before buying. There are pretty motifs that I will incorporate into my beading projects but I find the small typed directions overly simplistic and the diagrams are too small. I'm glad this isn't my first beading book or I would feel totally discouraged from trying any of these projects. I won't be buying Bead Fantasies III.  The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving and Coraling Technique remain my favorite beading books.

",0
"After reading A Fine Balance I couldn't wait to read another book by this author. I then read his third book called Family Matters which was good but I was disappointed as it by no means compared to A Fine Balance. I just finished Such A Long Journey and found it to be okay but very slow moving and downright boring in some spots.  It is my least favorite of the three books by this author. It's hard to believe that someone can right a book like A Fine Balance, which was magnificant and one of the best books I have ever read, and then turn our stuff that is, at best, average.   
",0
"There were so many continuity errors and spelling problems in this book that I had to stop. Trying to follow two-dimensional characters are difficult enough.  I was just looking for a good fiction book that contained gay themes, characters or both.  I got the gay but not the story
",0
"I have listened to a bunch of Dean Koontz books. While listening to the second one I saw so many similarities, which really turned me off. And this flaw continued which each book I listen to, which caused me to be reluctant to buy this book. However, most of the stories were pretty good so I stuck with him.  This is not the case with this book.  ""Cold Fire"" is absolutely horrible.  I so regret purchasing this book.  It is so bad that I have decided to swear off Dean for looooooooong while.

Just on a side note, ""The Bad Place"" is the first DK book I read and it was very entertaining.
",0
"  This is a book meant to be enjoyed by children under the age of 10.  Young teens and adult readers will be disapointed. Wish I never wasted the time of day reading it. Glad it was borrowed from the library and not purchased or I'd demand my money back
",0
"Not a great deal of new insight here. I did learn a bit more than I knew, however, about Meade's failure to pursue at Gettysburg. Mr. Boritt is the editor and author of one essay; other essays are by four historians: Stephen W. Sears, Mark E. Neely, Jr., Michael Fellman, and John Y. Simon. (Alan J. Jacob
",0
"Cruel, horrible story with a typical Barr convoluted plot. The abuse of children, evil ranger poising as a dead ranger, freaky religious sect, dead animals on the bed, and lost children were all too disturbing and disgusting to me. I've read many Barr books, and my biggest complaint up until now has been that sometimes there are so many characters, it's hard to keep them straight. In this book, that was the last of my worries. I didn't even finish it, I was so turned off
",0
"I can tell you first hand how Amazon makes easy money. I am a formal seller here at Amazon. Not a big seller,but an honest one with a 5 star rating and zero claims.However Amazon allows dishonest buyer's to do chargebacks months after a purchase and then has nothing in place to assist seller's in getting their merchandise back. Sounds like retail fraud to me!! I wish there was a lower rating to give to this website.They are truly at the bottom!
",0
"After reading this book, it was apparent to me that the author was implying that Nixon was a dark and grumpy man who needed his image repackaged.  McGinnis boasts of Nixon and his PR teams ability to hide the ""true"" Nixon and to trick the public into voting for his image.  He proclaims that the real Nixon was the one that the country saw debating Kennedy on TV in 1960.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  First off, Nixon won the 1960 election but did not contest the results for the good of the nation.  All historians admit that JFK had help from Daily in Illinois and LBJ in Texas.  Furthermore, in the 1960 debates, Nixon had a high fever and was recently out of the hospitable and JFK's staff broke into the basement of the studio and turned up the heat to make him sweat! If anyone decieved the voters with his image, it was JFK using his dramatic but bubbly rhetoric and not backing it up and JFK the family man and the idealist.  JFK exploited the Missile Gap, had numerous affairs, assassinated Ngo Dihn Diem, wire tapped Martin Luther King, screwed up the Bay of Pigs, and had ties to the Mafia!  Now, I could be wrong, but JFK's campaign sounds like a true selling of the President.  'Selling of the President' has little credible content but infact is a good historical document that portrays Left Wing propaganda of the 1960s
",0
"I worked with the author in the Narcotics Section of the Chicago Police Department.  Please do not let the author's perception of the truth sway your opinion about the Chicago Police Department and the men and women who serve proudly.  The author claims that the Narcotics Section and its policies were a leading contributor to his decline.  I think not.  He thrived on these practices and used them to his advantage.  All we saw was a selfish and immature young man who thought of himself first.  If the author thinks that only the Commander of the Narcotics Section was disgusted with his drug usage and failing his urinalysis, he is dead wrong.  We all were.  If you read this book, please do not indict all of us because of one person's jaded stories.  
",0
"The best thing about this book is its table of contents. In second place is the preface. And then it's all downhill. If you want to buy a list of topics in electronic communications, with brief summaries that explain absolutely nothing whatsover in any great (or even little) detail, and you really have no other use for your hard earned $100.00+ dollars, then please go ahead and buy this book.

If however, you value your cash, and would rather buy a book that rather than insulting your intelligence, at least attempts in good faith to teach you something, then please, don't fall for the marketing ploy of the title ""RF Microelectronics"". Because there's very little ""RF"" and even less ""Microelctronics"" in this text. Here's a taste of the marketing ploy from the very first line of the preface:

""The annual worldwide sales of cellular phones has exceeded $2.5B.""

Do I see dollar signs in your eyes? I thought so. Don't fall for the trap. If you want to learn a thing or two about RF electronics theory as well as detailed explanations of what the job of each individual component (like a capacitor here or a resistor there) in a communication circuit is, then buy:

Modern Electronic Communication (9th Edition) by Gary M. Miller.

The Miller book's 9th edition is coming out soon. Even with 992 pages of text, it costs only $60.00.

I believe Razavi's book should never have been published because frankly, it's not a book at all. Why it's still in print (though stuck at first edition for nearly 10 years), is completely beyond any sane person's comprehension
",0
"Though the concept of sharing real life problems experienced during pregnancy is a great one, the author is extremely biased toward hospital birth managed by OBs. 

At one point, the author actually defends episiotomies... she seems to blindly accept every procedure her physician pushes upon her, and she looks at him as being responcible for the outcome of her birth. It was both infuriating and saddening.

If you are looking for a book to make you laugh a little, this is cute. If you are looking for a book that might actually aid or assist you in making informed choices concerning your pregnancy or birth, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU!

",0
"I have never been a fan of Danielle Steel's books and have only read a couple in my lifetime, and those many years ago.  I'm not sure what motivated me to pick up Toxic Bachelors -- extreme boredom? insanity? -- but I slogged through it last night and have to say that it confirmed all my bad impressions of this writer's work.  Actually, I think I was a little surprised by how awesomely bad it was.  The writing was completely repetitive and superficial, and I rather felt that I was reading a treatment for a novel rather than the novel itself.  It read like a poor book report:  ""...and then he did this, and then he did this, and after that he did this, and then he laughed.""  We are TOLD that the bachelors -- who struck me as commitment-phobic, a little neurotic, and fairly immature despite their (middle) age, but not necessarily toxic -- are decent, likable guys, but we never really see too much proof of that.  When the ""proof"" does come, it's so ham-handed as to be laughable:  Charlie's eyes well up with tears when he meets a young girl who was abused by her mother, and so we know that he truly does have a loving and compassionate soul and untold complexities to his character.  Yeahsurerightwhatever.  Most of the story is told through narration, with little bits and pieces of ho-hum dialogue.  The author adopted a third-person point of view, but there's certainly nothing omniscient about it, and the reader is never sucked into the head of one of these characters.  Throughout the book they remain about as interesting and dimensional as paper dolls, and their interactions with one another always struck me as being fairly unbelievable.  THIS is how men behave and relate to one another?  I find that hard to believe, considering that none of the men I know run around telling each other how much they love one another and how important they are to each other.  

I liked the female characters of the book initially.  They all seemed to be strong, capable, independent and emotionally healthy women.  But my opinion of each diminished greatly toward the end of the book, as each woman seemed all too willing to disregard her personal boundaries and put up with extreme schmuckiness from her man.  And the conflicts Steel generated amongst the couples seemed ridiculous:  mountains out of molehills.  For instance, Gray, the 50-year-old artist who has always been phobic about family, refuses to meet the ADULT children of the woman he's been with for several months and whom he claims to love.  Nevermind the fact that he's known about the ADULT children since the very beginning.  Nevermind the fact that the ADULT children live in England and Italy, while Gray and Sylvia are New Yorkers.  Nevermind the fact that they have their own lives and are independent, self-sufficient ADULTS who maintain their relationship with their mother through frequent phone calls and less frequent face-to-face visits.  Evidently Gray can't see beyond the fact that they are ""kids"" and therefore ""family"" and therefore not to be tolerated.  Sorry, but whatever sympathy I'd developed for Gray by this point disappeared altogether when confronted by this monstrous display of immaturity.  Dump the weenie, Sylvia.  You can do better.  The other two guys had similar displays of gross ridiculousness, and of course everything was wrapped up magically, with sudden capitulation, as if the men had just suddenly come to their senses.  

Considering what little time and effort was spent on these characters, their conflicts and resolution, I have to wonder why Steel even bothered writing this book.  And why I bothered reading i
",0
"It's surprising to see how much the front and back cover promise only to find out how little information and substance it actually delivers.   The book is very basic providing mostly very general information.   The chapter on shift levers is particularly incomplete with outdated examples and few details on maintenance and repairs.  The book may suffer from trying to cover both road and mountain bikes and doing a poor job with both.   Certainly won't purchase another book recommended or endorsed by Bicycling Magazine
",0
"Eugene O'Neill's play ""Long Day's Journey Into Night"" is a Pulitzer award winning, autobiographical play about his family. I must admit that though Eugene O'Neill is considered by some to be the father of American Theater, I did not enjoy reading this play. The Tyrone family's insane dysfunction with their constant bickering and apologizing was very annoying and frustrating to read. I also disliked the fact that after four acts of continuous yelling and tension O'Neill offered no conclusion. The day in the life of the Tyrone family gets progressively worse until it finally peaks and the play just ends. No happy ending, no hope for the future, just despair. ""Long Day's Journey Into Night"" is a wholly depressing read that I really could have done without. However, after learning more about Eugene O'Neill's background, and the extent to which the play is based on his life, I began to have a greater appreciation for this play. O'Neill did lead a very hard life, therefore the frustration and despair I felt while reading this play demonstrates O'Neill's talent to engage his audience and to convey the emotions of the characters in a very real manner. While O'Neill's depressing end did not satisfy my craving for a happy ending, it was appropriate for the play as Eugene's own family never got a happy ending. I did like the clever way O'Neill showed the Tyrone family's desire but inability to forget their troubles through the dialogue. At the beginning of the play the audience is presented with a normal, loving family. The audience soon however, gets the suspicion that something isn't quite right, and that the family is tense. Slowly the family's skeletons are exposed through arguments between the family members, but the characters always feel regretful for bringing the subject up. Thus showing that no matter how hard the Tyrone family tries to pretend that all is well, their skeletons are always with them and resurface to continually remind them of the truth. Although I still believe ""Long Day's Journey Into Night"" to be thoroughly disheartening to read, the reader's emotional response to this play leaves no doubt to O'Neill's exceptional writing. 
",0
"It was a mistake to buy it. Only few pages were interestin
",0
"Apparently the difference between a criminal act (theft) and moral redistribution of income is 1) who you steal from (stealing from the wealthy, of course, is moral -- according to Rawls and Bolsheviks), and 2) who receives the loot (the non-wealthy makes it moral), and 3) who commits the act (the state/society, of course also makes theft moral; example - taxation), and 4) your intentions (redistribution of income). To look at this another way, if your neighbor breaks into your house and steals your money, that's a crime (unless your neighbor is poor -- which would then be moral and Justice, according to Rawls' formula). If the community comes into your house and steals from you, it's legal and moral Justice, again, according to Rawls. Because, according to Rawls, if, before you were born, you were to vote with everyone on how physical world society should be structured, you'd vote to have the state guarantee that everyone was equal, or they would be compensated somehow for being born (unjustly) less-equal. How? By compensating those with less by stealing from those with more. So those with more would be like oh, say ... a milk-cow who gets milked to serve those with less. So those with more would become a resource, or state-owned slaves to those with less ... because ""society"" (the Robin Hoods and Rawls of the world) deemed this as moral Justice. Rawls does not take into account those who are willing to take on risk, entrepreneurs, students of life who work to earn an ""A"" vs. students who earn an ""F"". He points out that many people are born into difficult situations through no fault of their own. True. But that does not implicate those within society who are born into better situations as the cause, nor are those who are born into better situations responsible for making up the difference. Forcing the ""wealthier"" ones to be accountable for the unfairness within life and pay the bill isn't Justice or moral. It would simply be an unjust law. Some people see Rawls' theory as a blueprint for a future generation utopia (like the Bolsheviks envisioned Marxism). I see it as an insane blueprint for slavery, and a powerful dis-incentive for earning personal reward and merit. In a sense, this book is an argument against the individual. It sees the world through a blurred lense where the author only recognizes masses of people -- he doesn't recognize any individuals (unless they were born as victims). Curious. How do you experience life ... as a group-mind (an oxymoron if there ever was one), a collective? Or as a unique, isolated, independent, individual? There should be societal incentives to help each other. Okay. But when it is forced (theft of property always implies force), it is no longer an issue of morality or justice -- it's simply a law. Without personal choice being involved there is no morality as an issue, by definition. Transforming advantaged individuals into mules forced to carry the burdens of the world is a definition of justice for whom?


",0
"I have read other books by Alesia Holliday and enjoyed them so I looked forward to reading this book.  Unfortunately, I could not get any farther than the first 25 pages.  I even tried diving in further into the book to see if it got better and I still could not read more than 5 pages without turning away.  The best I can do to pin down why I dislike it so much is to say that it tries too hard.  No character seems to even approach reality.  They are all, including the main character and her love interest, over the top
",0
"This book is for readers with little or no knowledge of recent debates on energy security, global warming, etc. as well as related technological advances in fields such as hydrogen and fuel cells. The author contributes little to previous books on the subject, such as Rikin's book on hydrogen which is much better researched and just as accesible to the general public. If anything, the book's original contribution is to discuss how energy and environmental issues can be addressed using market mechanisms. In doing so, the author comes up with some interesting case studies, but it's quite obvious he is biased toward the same tired free-market ideology that is endlessly promoted in the pages of The Economist, which happens to be the author's employer. Moreover, there was little effort in integrating the various chapters. Overall, a very disapointing book. The author should stick to journalism
",0
"Children love to follow instructions, step by step, and this book has an over abundance of unnecessary and inefficient steps that can make a simple recipe that would normally take 20 minutes to prep, drag on for hours. Any adult, who cooks like this doesn't cook often, cooks professionally or spends most of their waking hours in a kitchen.

For example, who in a modern home kitchen cuts a stick of butter, melts it in a pan then pours it into a (plastic, microwave safe) mixing bowl? Great, now there's a pan, a knife and a cutting board to wash! It is a children's cookbook, so why not cut down on time spent with knives, stovetop flames and inevitable messes by just melting the uncut butter in the plastic mixing bowl with the microwave?
  
Nice pictures, large font, recipes are great, but (in my opinion) obviously written by someone working in a fully staffed professional kitchen, not a home. 
",0
"      What is remarkable about this onetime best-selling book -- which could well be described as a coming-of-age-without-coming-of-age novel -- is not that Fitzgerald produced it when he was all of 24.  Nope, the amazing thing here is that the same writer produced ""The Great Gatsby"" a mere five years later.  

       ""This Side of Paradise"" is a mess: it is as uneven, affected, feebly pretentious and relentlessly immature as its hero, the tiresomely self-conscious young Minnesotan-gone-to-Princeton Amory Blaine.  (One suspects, in fact, that had Fitzgerald abandoned his muddled third-person narrative altogether and rendered the work instead as Amory's diary the result would have been considerably more readable -- or the book's structural and methodological flaws considerably more forgivable, at least.)

       That the novel was a roaring success upon publication in 1920 -- it was to prove the most popular book, in terms of sales, ever produced by its author -- presumably speaks to the public's recognition of something new and revealing in it.  Okay, Amory Blaine may well have been the original Jazz Age prototype; and the drinking and shameless smooching (etc.) that he and his prep school and Princeton friends indulge in at various points in the novel were probably, one can accept, a revelation to see in print (and likely a titillating one) for an American audience raised on McGuffy's Readers -- and ready for some sort of Great Departure after the Great War.  Welp, here it comes:

       ""On the Triangle trip Amory had come into constant contact with that great current American phenomenon, the `petting party.'
       None of the Victorian mothers-and most of the mothers were Victorian-had any idea how casually their daughters were accustomed to be kissed.""
 
To the reader at a remove of some 80-plus years this is, of course, very small beer.  What was alarming frankness in 1920 tends to read now, in the best cases of the Paradise narrative, as unalarming quaintness. While this is not exactly Fitzgerald's ""fault"", so to speak, it is also true that the use of ""shocking revelations"" of this type -- scandals specific to a place and time -- represents a risk a writer takes: the march of history may or may not reveal something lasting and/or universal in such episodes.  In any event, the price the reader pays here, in slogging through the meandering narrative which surrounds Amory's adventures in quaintness during the nascent Roaring Twenties, is very, very high for payoffs of such modest proportions.  I mean, come on: 

""For years afterward when Amory thought of Eleanor he seemed still to hear the wind sobbing around him and sending little chills into the places beside his heart.  The night when they rode up the slope and watched the cold moon float through the clouds, he lost a further part of him that nothing could restore; and when he lost it he also lost the power of regretting it.  Eleanor was, say, the last time evil crept close to Amory under the mask of beauty, the last weird mystery that held him with wild fascination and pounded his soul to flakes.""

Yikes.  I don't care what New Generation you're talking about, can a flake-pounded soul really represent much of an innovation to anybody?  (Can it represent ANYTHING to anybody?)

       There are things to like, even admire, here and there in Paradise.  Fitzgerald gets off a few of the wonderfully epigrammatic lines that were to become a trademark (e.g., ""They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered."" ""Sometimes I wish I'd been an Englishman; American life is so damned dumb and stupid and healthy."" ""It's better to leave the blustering and tremulo-heroism to the middle classes; they do it so much better."")  And the political incorrectness of some of the narrator's observations is, in its now-curious way, refreshingly, bracingly funny: 

""Slowly and inevitably, yet with a sudden surge at the last, while Amory talked and dreamed [which is about all Amory ever does-MHT], war rolled swiftly up the beach and washed the sands where Princeton played.  Every night the gymnasium echoed as platoon after platoon swept over the floor and shuffled out the basketball markings.  When Amory went to Washington the next weekend, he caught some of the spirit of crisis which changed to repulsion in the Pullman car coming back, for the berths across from him were occupied by stinking aliens-Greeks, he guessed, or Russians.""

Nothing like a little wretched refuse to remind you there's a war on, I always say.  

       Anyway, most of the novel consists of young Amory's elaborate ponderings -- romantic, philosophical and egotistical -- which are as forgivable as they are forgettable.  I've forgotten them already. At some level, in any case, Fitzgerald himself had to recognize the ridiculousness of this pompous character -- who was, of course, a not-very-disguised version of himself.   For how else, if not as commendably self-deprecating irony, are we to take this observation? 

""Amory was in full stride, confident, nervous, and jubilant.  Scurrying back to Minneapolis to see a girl he had known as a child seemed the interesting and romantic thing to do, so without compunction he wired his mother not to expect him, and sat in the train and thought about himself for thirty-six hours.""

       In the end, in any event, one comes back to the initial Fitzgerald vs. Fitzgerald comparison with something like gaping wonder.  In Paradise almost nothing works: form, content, narrative stance, dialogue, character development, pacing -- you name it, it's a problem.  Yet in Gatsby, five years later, everything works -- everything.  If there is to be a Great American Novel, it will have to supplant Gatsby for the honor.  While it is hard to see how Fitzgerald got from point A to point B, the fact is that he did -- and without point A the journey could not have begun. So while ""This Side of Paradise"" hardly deserves a place in the national literary canon, it surely deserves our respect, and indeed our gratitude, for what it led to.
",0
"  While it's certainly true that there will always be a gulf between reality and words, communication between reader and writer is nonetheless very real and potentially profound, thanks in no small part to empathy and the imagination. Deconstructionism, by denying presence and instead proposing unlimited differences between signs, dismisses any connection between readers and writers and turns language into a hermetic system separated from the outside world which is, of course, inhabited by people who read and people who write. This is exactly what makes deconstructionism so empty and hypocritical: It rejects traditional metaphysics while adopting a pseudo-mystical position which regards language as some unstable and solipsistic alien creature independent of everything and everyone
",0
"If you are a Christian, this book isn't for you. It is full of blashphemy, concluding that we must ""... forgive God"" and that we must love God ""... even if He isnt perfect"". Kusher even has the will to say that ""...God would not be God..."" without our love for Him. At one point he reduces God to an aminal saying that in the garden of Eden, when God said ""...let US make man in OUR image"" he was speking to animals and creation. Kusher explains that God created the world, and in the next paragraph that we came by evolution.

  Since when was God in need of forgiveness? Isnt it that ""... God so loved the world"" and it wasnt us that loved God? I have no words in describing this book. It is full of error, because it does not base it self on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All this book does is frees you from the thought that you are a sinner, and that it isnt your fault, and that actully you are a good person. Why do bad things happen to good people? Wrong question. There are no good people in the world in the first place. "" for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..."" The world is in sin. The world DOES NOT HAVE GOOD PEOPLE!! Only by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ you are made righteous. I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ to stay away from this book. It hasnt helped 4 million people, but it lied to them. Kusher, please turn from your ways and come to Jesus, then will you understand the life question ""WHY""
",0
"I read this book after watching the brilliant movie version of ""The Hours.""  If that's your motivation, don't waste your time.  My English teachers will cringe when I say it, but this book, well, sucks. It may well be great literature, but the characters are not engaging, and if it was Woolf's motive to out-do James Joyce in chronicling a day-in-the-life and in writing a stream of conscious narrative, she doesn't pull it off.  Again, the characters and the internal mental life simply don't have the power that ""Ulysses"" has.  Reading Woolf is necessary for a good eduction.  I recommend, however, that you read ""To the Lighthouse"". I may still be motivated to read the book version of ""The Hours"" given how great the movie was.  But my taste for Woolf is all done now.  
",0
"Unfortunately, this book is the sign of what passes for humour these days. Even though it may have been remotely funny (sometimes the author comes close to being bearable), the book never actually tries to be. 

Humour is supposed to be smart. However, this book gives us the worst case of dumb
",0
"When I discovered the existence of this novel, I was enthusiastic and intrigued. Unfortunately, my hopes were more or less dashed as I trundled my way through the 382 pages. KLEOPATRA focuses on the famous queen's early years - a period of time of which we have no record - and the intrigues that haunted and led to the demise of any semblance of a family (something she may have compensated for in adulthood). What I liked: 1). The spelling of Kleopatra/ Cleopatra with a ""K""- it really does emphasize that Hellenistic connection; 2) Kleopatra's strength of character- Essex's general characterization is appropriate and it's easy to see what Kleopatra will become. 
Although the novel is a noble attempt by Karen Essex, it just didn't work for me. The character of Berenike as an Amazon seemed a bit far-fetched. And although I loved Kleopatra's love interest (I won't give away his name!), I felt it was a bit far-fetched as well, almost as if Essex was pressured into a love story from the publisher or something. Kleopatra's Dionysian rites were also a little hard to believe, as was Mohama. There were also scenes of random sex that were a bit... unnecessary. Overall, although Kleopatra was a strong, believable character, she was in the minority. The novel as a sort of back-story to the Queen of Egypt didn't work as it was weighed down by the elements of fiction! At least the sequel is better. For fiction that works, check out The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George.
",0
"I haven't done this in awhile, but I don't think I could review this piece any better than the other reviews I've read about it. It's pretty average, however filled with nice bits of knowledge. They didn't seem well-researched in some areas. Here are the interesting parts of reviews from the other ""critics"" that I agree with...

""they go into lengthy history lessons about the origins of the characters when two sentences...would be enough."" - John Gallant

""Biased against superheros(sic)"" - Christopher Ritter

""I found this book to be tedious, lacking in charm, badly researched and wildy inaccurate in some areas."" - C.P. Halliday

""I picked up this book."" - Lawrance M. Bernabo

""Their belief seems to be that Donald Duck was the best comic book ever..."" - M.G. Bloedorn

""Pretty boring."" - BernardZ

""...a black hole is hypothesized, lending a faint respectability to the premise behind Green Lantern's abilities."" - Peter Vinton Jr.

""...this book will not satisfy full on fans..."" - James N. Simpson <---gave it five stars.

""a chance to laugh about the heroes I still love and that mean so much to me."" - Reviewer

""Man, there's a whole 200 pages of this pooh-poohing, cranky-old-maid kind of stuff!"" - Mark Alfred

""They were even putting words into C. Darwin's mouth."" - Aaron Spriggs

""Mildly entertaining but not great"" - Reviewer

""When the man (Dean Koontz in this case) writing the introduction says he doesn't read comics, I began to get worried."" - Ivan A. Wolfe

""I agree with an earlier poster."" - Reviewer

""Almost every chapter tells you why the superhero is impossible."" Plastic Larry

""the authors give us a more plausible (given what we know now) origin for the Hulk, involving steroids and fluorescent gene modification."" - J. Draper Carlson

""this book is not mean spirited or nasty."" Reviewer

""Superman's powers break the laws of science. Ooh. Stop the presses."" - [...]

""interesting."" - Rick Hunter

""The Science of Superheroes,"" - Reviewer
",0
"Boring, tasteless and unoriginal. Photographer has an obvious fixation...which has kept him from paying attention in many cases to contrast, tone, and line. One star for the big you know what, the real model here. I'm sure book has its merits, but they aren't artistic. Putting my copy up for sale
",0
"I couldn't finish this book after readng ""Fairytale.""  Misfit insecure Caucasian male falls for Asian stripper/prostitute after she listens to him talk about the odor of his sweat in the outdoor markets.  I thought possibly this story reveals a lot about Olen Butler.  He wrote about this relationship with such relish, he sounds to me like a P.C. Caucasian who is drawn in patronizing fashion to the ""otherness"" of Asian people and doesn't see them for what they are, just wants them to appreciate big strong white man.  I thought it interesting that in the story the woman never mentions to the man that she already has a young son living with her mother.  So she was not honest with him.  But Olen Butler wrote about her as if this stripper/pros. was wonderful, the kind of wife any man would want.  I shook my head and thought, ""You have issues.""  Probably if she were Caucasian he would not want to get near her for fear of catching something.  After this the other stories just did not appeal to me
",0
"It starts out like Laura Bush's Rules for Driving, but skydives after the opening pages, in which the then 17-year-old Laura kills a young man with her car, who just coincidentally happens to be her boyfriend!  

My interest in the book sharply dove after that, as it appears that coincidental killing is the most appealing thing about Laura Bush
",0
"There are no doubt a few nuggets of wisdom in this book, but they are buried too deeply in bureaucratic gibberish to be worth digging up.  This book has no bibliography, no index, mediocre footnotes, no serious useful conclusions or strategic summary, and a disturbing combination of American-centrism (on page 71: ""In the Asian continent....(t)he first driver will be the future U.S. role in Asia."") with a lack of intelligent presentation.  There are exactly three figures and seven tables in this 336 page book, when there should have been at least 30 tables and figures illustrating specific sources of conflict in relation to specific countries.  The World Conflict and Human Rights Map (8 pages of graphics and 8 pages of fine print) out of Leiden University does vastly more to inform than does this book.  This book should never, ever have been published in its present form--I venture to say that if it were condensed to 150 pages and properly edited, with graphics and good synthesis, it might be worthy of a second look.  Time is the most precious commodity in the world--RAND managers and editors need to get serious about how they present possibly useful information to experts who want to know what RAND thinks, but cannot spare the time to get past cumbersome undisiplined--even lazy--preparations.  The topic of this book is extremely important--those who would invest their scarce time and money in doing research in this area deserve better from those who put together this book
",0
"Many words - few practical tips! This book did not give much more (-valuable-) information than I already had found out by reading the manual delivered with my pocket computer. 
After reading the book I still had to search for web communities, where some of my questions could be answered. 
My expectations when buying the book were mainly focused on the need for practical hints concerning how to manage tasks, contacts and appointments. Unfortunately, in my view, these important and basic issues were treated too superficially.    
",0
"This novel could not hold my interest.  I am an Anne Perry fan, but could not get into this book.  I couldn't really bond with any of the characters and the plot was uninteresting.   I'm really disappointed, because I was looking forward to a new series by her.  Joseph and Matthew lost their parents to murder and Joseph lost two close friends to murder, yet there didn't seem to be much emotion.  Maybe Ms. Perry tried to tell too many stories within one story.  In reviewing the book, it's hard to pin point exactly why I didn't like this book. I would skip this series and read the Pitt series.  
",0
"I thoroughly enjoyed the author's earlier work on how the Irish saved civilization.  But this book was a disappointing compendium of Greek myths, legends and history that never reveals a plan behind the book.  Taken in its subparts, many sections are engagingly informative in an elegant if sometimes pretentious prose.  Yet the author ambles from here to there in a disjointed narrative with interesting nuggets but little insight.  Where's the big picture?  The author attempts to wrap it up at the end with a sentence about the Greeks' ""variety of human response, lightening quick transmutations, resourcefulness, and inexhaustible creativity.""  

A subtitle like ""A Greek Treasury of Personal Vignettes"" might have been more descriptive and merited another star. But it falls short as a ""hinge of history"" with impoverished and even maladaptive connections (FDR as Solon - really?) to the modern world. I am sorry to not recommend it.
",0
"I really love to get these for my wife, surprises are best when I give them to her, and she enjoys all of them from this great author, but she and I were not happy when I thought I found another of this super special Portal Series :-(.  Having a new cover is nice but its a new publisher with nothing more than marketing in their minds, really hated to say this but we all know her books are super great, just know this is a reprint before you guy and like others, get a little ticked its not new after you fork over the cash and get your hopes up!

Peace everyone :-)
Jeff 
",0
"I have written software for development projects for 30 years and I have managed several projects. Martin Fowler has extraordinary insight, and I enjoy reading his papers for the gems of thought I find. 

The main lesson I pick up from this book is: Break your large project into projects sufficiently small that you can sensibly abandon Refactoring for each of the small projects.

Refactoring works well in some cases, I suppose. Refactoring works well for some people, I suppose. I'm skeptical, though. Fowler filled the book with page after page of the detailed Refactoring method applied to a problem he acknowledged as too simple for application of Refactoring. He assures us that Refactoring may overload small projects with methodology, making it unsuitable for them, and it works really well for larger projects. I suspect, however, that the burden it imposes enlarges as the job enlarges. Fowler gives me no good reason to think otherwise. If I'm to risk this methodology on a large project, I want to see it perform well on a smaller project first.

Fowler conceives methodologies that attract zealous disciples. In the case of Refactoring, the methodology may succeed for its attractiveness rather than for its practical utility
",0
"Other reviews have homed in on the frequent nit-picking and general vindictiveness of this book.  I agree with these criticisms, but I'm not going to revisit them here.  The deeper problem lies with the Ayn Rand Institute, which only gives scholarly access to persons guaranteed to toe ARI's party line.  As long as the Ayn Rand Institute refuses full, unconditional scholarly access to Miss Rand's papers, any biographical efforts produced under their aegis will not be taken seriously by anyone who respects proper academic practice.  Nor should they be. 
",0
"The author has her narrator(""Cinnamon"") spend most of her time comparing herself to the fascinating Scarlett,in a game of wish-fulfillment one-upmanship. Even though she's calling the shots,as it's her book, Scarlett still comes out miles ahead. Perhaps it was only that way for a certain strata of society,but there WAS once a beautiful world of chivalry and gallantry and bravery and even some idealism-even if misplaced-just as there has been throughout the ages in other societies,such as ""Ivanhoe"" presents.The story may have been one-sided,but it's the side MM chose to tell,and there's kernel of truth in the ""myth"" of the Old South,as in all myths.

 Margaret Mitchell has nothing to fear from this silly so-called ""parody"",which is really a subconscious-or not so subconscious,in fact-effort to knock from her pedestal,that epitome of heroines-Katie Scarlett O'Hara and the wonderful Melanie Wilkes.As if Rhett would ever give any other woman a serious thought-he was obsessed with Scarlett.That's why he turned to women like Belle Watling.And to imagine Mammy killing the male babies,when she had been devoted to Ellen O'Hara from Ellen's childhood.Thank goodness this book isn't a pimple on the fanny of the classic GWTW,because what it is a a travesty-and not even a well-written or engaging one at that.GWTW will still be read and loved for all time,like the classic it is,when this book is selling for a quarter at garage sales.I didn't even pay that,thank goodness-the woman gave it to me,and I read it and burned it with the rest of the trash.I'd give it a negative star if there was such a rating.Ludicrous and laughable-try again,Ms Randall,and try to get over the jealousy of Scarlett and Co. Again,Margaret Mitchell need not fear,LOL
",0
"Do you know how clever Alan Trachtenberg is?  I mean, do you really, really know?! Because if not, this book is for you.  Trachtenberg's book is only superficially about Indians or Americans, it is about the obscure conections he can draw between unrelated things--because he is very clever, you know. In so far as this book has a thesis, that it is it
",0
"First off: I'd like it better if we had 1/2-star options. Judas Unchained really doesn't deserve a 2, more a 2-1/2 or 2-3/4.

I have a love/hate relationship with Peter Hamilton's books. He's very adept at introducing interesting technology and making a faster-than-light society plausible but, as with a lot of these hard-science, libertarian SF authors, he badly needs an editor. I was skipping over multiple pages of irrelevance in both this book and its prequel, Pandora's Star. He also has far too many ""main characters"" who (despite 800+ pages) never seem to come alive. They all speak with essentially the same voice. And when he tries to individualize someone they come off as badly stereotyped '60s era hippies -- come on, does anyone seriously say ""dude"" in the real world much less the imagined future of the 24th century?

And why is Hamilton so obsessed with sex with young (or rejuvenated) women?

Hamilton's treatment of virtual immortality is hit and miss at best. On the one hand, the innate conservatism of an immortal civilization is well developed, represented and believable. On the other hand, the dynamics of the relationship between ""old timers"" and ""first lifers"" is unsatisfactory. In four centuries, for example, NO ONE has even attempted to unseat Nigel Sheldon from his position as head of the Sheldon dynasty? Perhaps the Commonwealth's continual expansion is the safety valve but even here, the government (controlled the eternal heads of these dynasties) controls it. Another point that is brought up briefly is why would anyone want to live forever if their life didn't change -- I mean the characters of a novel (almost by definition) are dynamic, go-get-'em types but most people just plod through their lives and then die. Why would anyone want to do that for lifetime after lifetime?

The aliens are OK. The problem with them (and this is true of nearly every SF story) is that they tend to be one dimensional -- they're all of a singular type and all too often they really do just act like human beings with weird make up. (This is a problem in fantasy stories, too.) On the plus side, I do tip my hat to Hamilton for not allowing the humans to save themselves with an alien ""deus ex machina."" Ozzie's adventures in ""Wonderland"" (i.e., the silfen paths) do bring him to the adult silfen and he does find out the origins of the Dyson barriers but the knowledge doesn't really help anyone defeat the Primes.

Overall, if you started with Pandora's Star, you probably should finish the journey with Judas Unchained. If you haven't started down this ""silfen path,"" I recommend Alistair Reynolds, Tony Daniel or Iain Banks. They write similarly grand space opera but are better at it than Hamilton has proven himself to be to date
",0
"A serious snooze fest.  Of course, if you are a huge Kim Newman fan, you'll be pleased; literally every other story in the book is one.  If you must read this book, check it out from the library; at least that way you won't be wasting your money
",0
"This book was very boring. Details in a book make it interesting but the extended details in this book made it nausiating.  This book had a very interesting plot and many good ideas but the way it was writen didnt appeal to most of the students in my school that read it. A poll was taken and about 73% of the students in the school liked this book. What does that show about the book?
",0
"I am reading this for a college course called ""History of the American City"". This book is a typical 'college texbook' in that it is FILLED with numbers, dates, percentages, figures, numbers, oh did I say numbers, dates, figures, and years, oh and plenty of numbers... The brilliant,dilligent,honored, and esteemed scolar of a  woman that wrote it sure knows her numbers, facts, years, etc... I, on the other hand, am absolutley hating it and foolishly I have allowed the drop date to pass, so I have to read the book or fail the class. I am getting nothing from the book regarding any kind of understanding of any of these cities , unless I am willing to spend years interpreting the multitude of data the book heaps upon me. Needless to say, from (attempting)reading it I am getting a headache and don't really even have the time to write this review. I say that if even one person is deterred from reading this expose' of numbers, names, dates, figures, facts, percentages, orders, years, dates and more numbers, dates, facts, figures (are you getting my drift yet?), it will be time well served though.--- AVOID--- THIS--- BOOK.
    please -- Find another book. Maybe if people told the truth about THIS BRAND OF WRITING,more professors might have to teach and people like Ms. Abu-Lughod wouldn't continue to  make money off of writing books such as this, and folks like her might have to write to COMMUNICATE!!!!, like the rest of us.Thank you for taking the time to read this.
  OK, I have to say it: This sucks.

 
",0
"Richard Fawkes' writing is stilted, his phrases repetitive, and he doesn't convince me at all that he knows anything about the military. Don't waste your time or money
",0
"Amazing how a writer can attempt to make an immoral organization, the corporation, look moral. Only someone like Al Capone could sympathize with this group on the Oregon. How can anyone justify having the sort of firepower as is on the Oregon. The US apparently is willing to finance the group, but the US also financed Sadam, Noriega, ... Unfortunately, in this sense it is too much like real American policy, which absolutely disgusts me (the ends justify the ends no matter how many bodies are left behind, as long as they are not righteous Americans). The characters are clich�, there is no suspense since everything goes as planned, and anyone in the crew can just about do anything, including being a successful rock band. It makes me look back on the Dirk Pitt books and wonder about Dirk's morality
",0
"Unless you are interested in reading one chapter after another plugging Bear Spray, don't waste your time.  The stories are all re-hashed versions of nearly identical situations; Man goes into the wilderness-Man sees bear-Man uses UDAP Bear Spray on bear-bear retreats.  This book is one long advertisement for UDAP!!  My book was actually misprinted, missing 50 pages right in the middle.  Initially I wanted to return my book for a complete one but, after reading the rest of 223 pages, I didn't want to waste any more of my time with this ONE story
",0
"I am Vietnamese and I grew up in New Orleans during the 80's and 90's when the first waves were settling down there.  I hate to tell this to everyone on this site but this book is the worst piece of fiction ever written.  Like many books written by someone who does not belong to the culture that he writes about, the book takes great liberties with the imagination and presents the stories from the viewpoint of the writer and not the actual people.  The Vietnamese characters in the book are portrayed as backwards, uneducated, and simple.  Further, the stories are depressing and very few of the characters seem to have any success. If you actually grew up in New Orleans during the time that the Vietnamese Americans were setting root during the 80's and 90's, you would know that by and large, the community pulled itself from nothing to become quite successful.  No real Vietnamese American thinks or acts like the characters portrayed in this book.  I repeat - no Vietnamese American thinks or acts like the characters portrayed in this book.  The book repeats many of the fallacies that I have noticed in other books written by predominantly caucasian male authors about East Asian Culture.  There always seems to be 1) an asian prostitute 2) caucasian guy with asian bride 3) asian male in an emasculated role 4) asian people as backwards and simple.  Quite sad.  This book reminds me quite a bit of Memoirs of a Geisha, though that portrayed Japanese culture in a better light.  By the way, the lady on which ""Memoirs of a Geisha"" is based and written about was quite upset at the author of Memoirs of a Geisha and did not feel that it portrayed her life or her thoughts in any way at all.  Regardless, if you really want to find out about the Vietnamese American experience you should really read a book written by a Vietnamese American
",0
"just awful

save your money, this book is not worth it. The pictures are dull and lifeless, boring composition. Mann hasn't captured anything here but a bunch of worthless photos. Any 10th rate amateur photographer could have done better.
",0
"""...minus several million for good thinking...""
- Zaphod Beeblebrox, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

The above quote (and the score I've assigned to this book) aren't in reference to the text or the author, but to the publishers. Why anyone with the brains of a sea urchin would cross Professor Hawking as they seem to have done is beyond me.

Briefly, save your money and buy THE ILLUSTRATED BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME instead of THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, even if you're a compulsive Hawking completist. Alert readers should notice that Hawking doesn't hold the copyright for THEORY OF EVERYTHING, and attempted to block its publication. It was originally titled THE CAMBRIDGE LECTURES: LIFE WORKS, and appears to have been drawn from some recordings of lectures given by the professor years ago. (See the professor's web site for details.)

The ""vanilla"" (i.e., not the ILLUSTRATED) THEORY OF EVERYTHING consists of an introduction, seven lectures, and an index, without *any* illustrations or diagrams. Out of curiosity, I compared a library copy of it with THE ILLUSTRATED BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME.

Unless otherwise noted, each of the 7 lectures corresponds to a chapter of the same name in BRIEF HISTORY, in some segments only with slightly different paragraphing and punctuation (and occasionally the kind of spelling errors that creep in when one transcribes audio narration to text, if I may speculate as to the cause).

I don't understand why anyone would prefer the less polished text of THEORY OF EVERYTHING to THE ILLUSTRATED BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME, which not only has updates for new areas of research, but has been revised and rearranged to explain things more gently to the layperson.

""Ideas About the Universe"" is essentially an extract from ""Our Picture of the Universe"", the first chapter of BRIEF HISTORY, with about one sentence's worth of drift per paragraph.

BRIEF HISTORY's version of ""The Expanding Universe"" has a more gradual introduction to the methods of measuring distances to nearby stars, and explains technical terms that may be unfamiliar to the non-scientist, such as luminosity.

THEORY OF EVERYTHING really shows its age in ""Black Holes"" when compared to BRIEF HISTORY, as Hawking has not been idle in that area over the years. The illustrated edition of BRIEF HISTORY has had a fair bit of interesting material added to ""Black Holes"", especially regarding cosmic censorship and naked singularities (Hawking having made a few *more* bets on the subject with Preskill and Thorne, although he paid off the Cygnus X-1 wager).
 
""Black Holes Ain't So Black"" lacks major blocks of clarification/explanation added by Hawking to the version in BRIEF HISTORY.

BRIEF HISTORY's version of ""The Origin and Fate of the Universe"" goes into more detail: about the kinds of particles that are predicted to have come out of the big bang, and what sort of results we'd expect to see today if the predictions hold, and the scientists who first put forward these theories. BRIEF HISTORY also contains a much longer version of the ""open questions"" section, leading more gradually up to the discussion of Guth's development of the inflationary model.

""The Direction of Time"" corresponds to BRIEF HISTORY's ""The Arrow of Time"" (which is worth picking up just for the picture of the keeper of the U.S. cesium clock). BRIEF HISTORY goes into more detailed examples to explain what Hawking means by the psychological arrow of time, with the simplest kind of ""computer"": an abacus.

""The Theory of Everything"" mainly corresponds to BRIEF HISTORY's more modestly titled ""The Unification of Physics"", which is much more up to date (string theories are still covered, but a lot more work has been done in that area over the years). The tail end of the lecture corresponds to the ending of BRIEF HISTORY's ""Conclusion"".

--

In summary, this is interesting stuff, but THE ILLUSTRATED BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME does it better
",0
"As many have stated before me the book starts off with great promise for people who like historical fiction, however midway it turns into a romance novel.  I give it 3 stars for holding my attention.  A good beach read that can get you thinking (a little) about a time past.  The one star is a mistake and I cannot seem to change it.   3 ***  stars
",0
"This book has major shortcomings; Stein's obsession with character over plot, for one (Martin Amis said, ""I used to sneer at plot until I wrote a novel that had one, titled NIGHT TRAIN. It was HARD and I used stay awake at night hoping I wasn't leaving any holes.""), another being his obsession with ""show don't tell"" (Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is probably the greatest novel of the 1980's and it's almost entirely ""tell"" and very little ""show."") And the passages Stein includes from his own novels as examples of good writing were actually examples of terrible writing! (A taxi ""disengorging"" its passengers is categorically bad writing.) And Stein admits he rejected Frederick Forythe's THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. I wouldn't read a book by Dick Rowe about how to make it in the music business (Rowe famously rejected the Beatles from Decca Records). Stein excuses himself that he was going by only an outline, but then Rowe was going by just a demo tape. Better writing books are out there
",0
"How can a best-selling author like Simon Winchester take an event as exciting as the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and turn it into a tedious snooze-fest? One answer: write as if you had just discovered an adjective mine and were free to throw in extra descripitive terms on every line until listeners scream for an end to florid phrases. Another: strive to break the record for most clich?s in a single paragraph. Finally: write about events in 1906 as if no one but Simon Winchester had ever before thought about their consequences -- thus, everything in this tedious narrative becomes about Simon. Simon and the raccoons; Simon on the failing American economy; Simon attempting to reproduce American accents. This is a CD set for avoiding
",0
"This was the only Bertrice Small book I could find in the gift shop of an airport.  That should have been warning enough not to buy it.

Rosamund was an unlikeable character.  She left her 3 young daughters so she could ""make love"" constantly and then was oh-so-superior with her maid when Annie did the same!  I guess being a rich, snotty noblewoman means you're not held to the same standards of behavior as the mere household help.

I found the love at first sight meeting to be flimsy and contrived.  Small's readers are smarter than most, so I'm surprised she expected us to swallow it.  Like some other reviewers here, I thought it was more lust than love.  It was clearly a mid-life crisis hook up for Patrick.  And if Rosamund truly loved Patrick, she never would have left him when he was ill, memory loss or not!

Not planning to read either ""Rosamund"" or ""Phillipa"", the other books in this series.  It was hard enough getting through this book, let alone another one with her uppity daughter.

The good stuff?  Getting to meet Patrick Leslie again.  But it was heartbreaking to witness his grief over losing his daughter Janet decades ago.  If you've read ""The Kadin"", you know that Janet eventually returns to her home, but only after Patrick has died
",0
"""The Burning"" was a big letdown after reading Bentley Little's masterful book, ""Dispatch"".  I seriously considered that this book might be written by someone else while Bentley was ill and couldn't write.  Who knows.  I love this guy and can't tell you how disappointed I was.  While one of the top 5 horror writers working today, Bentley Little seems to be hit or miss with his stories.  I simply just did not enjoy reading this new release.  It seemed that he was throwing way too much random horror at the reader and hoping some of it would stick.  And, with everything he was trying to do, none of it - not one moment - was scary!  Shadow creatures performing random oral sex, creeping fungus, talking voices in the microwave, deformed goblins peering in windows, skeletons climbing out of mud pits, tunnels filled with moving corpses, and a runaway ghost train crashing into the White House was just too silly.  It reminded me of his previous work, ""The Return"", another disappointment containing silly, bizarre, and unrealistic situations.    

The scenes of horror during the first third of the book were described during the daytime hours and lost its scare value, suspense, and atmospheric quality.  The book had many problems that pulled me out of the story.  One of those problems was how ridiculous it was that the police would allow a field trip to a tunnel of bodies that had just been discovered earlier that same day. Bentley needs to do what he does best, which is to come up with a gimmick, focus everything on that single idea, and continue to build suspense around it using his original and obsessed style of storytelling.  It worked with ""The Store"", ""The Association"", ""The Policy"", and ""Dispatch"", just to name a few.  Let's hope he gets back on track with his next book.
",0
"This is the worst textbook I have ever bought for any class!  It is a huge waste of money and super frustrating to read.  This book is horribly written.  The explanations are boring, drawn out, and unclear.  The early chapters draaaag on forever.  The later chapters get a little better, but they state a lot of obvious or useless information.  I have spent hours and weeks studying from this text and learned very little.     
",0
"i would like to know what kind of a wuss needs to use a stradegy guide for a FIRST PERSON SHOOTER!?  i mean, they're pretty straightfoward - walk forward and kill all the bad guys you see!  how hard is that!?  Halo is an awesome game but it's REALLY not hard to figure out what to do!  i mean you'd have to be a complete MORON not to know what to do or where to go.  it tells you more than once what to do during the game - you got that extrememly annoying Cortana yacking in your ear pretty much non-stop, tellin' ya what to do.  but anyway i'm done ranting at you wusses
",0
"For years, I had heard the Akashic Records being touted as the unwritten spiritual book of life, that included every event, every living soul who had ever taken a breath from the beginning of time through eternity. The subject was beyond fascinating, as my limited mortal mind could not grasp the enormity of such a body of knowledge ""existing"".
However, I took it on absolute faith that this was so and recently endeavored to find the quintessential book on the subject. Knowing of Mr. Cayce's tremendous psychic following, I assumed this book would enlighten me and others. I excitedly bought a new copy for myself and sent another to a friend.
After trudging through the first 68 pages, I felt lost and befuddled. The writing and text are difficult to follow and not at all in ""layperson's"" language.
Perhaps this book is meant for an experienced psychic mind and intellect, one who understands the language and is willing to muddle through the long-winded case histories to discover meaning and relevance.
My friend confessed she had read a mere chapter or two, then set it aside.
Pie Dumas
Author & Life Coach
",0
"Had long looked forward to finally reading this ""acclaimed"" novel.
There are brilliant and imaginative highlights in the book, although finding those bits is like looking for light in a black hole , a lot of work for very little result. I truly believe this is a book that would be more interesting if one increased their medication level way past the recommended daily dosage.
 Mark
",0
"i did a fast skimming through this book and noticed that for an Essential Monster Movie Guide, it certainly doesn't praise or hype the genre that well. this book comes across like it was written by an elitist who's too good for horror. nearly every movie/special gets a low rating and i can't understand why a book like this that could've been a good companion to the horror fan would be so anti-horror as a whole. horror fans, in general, want to be be entertained and or scared...i for one don't want logical stories and things that make sense IF it detracts from the entertainment factor because typically what makes sense and uses logic in horror is BORING. it gets 2 stars from me because it offers a diverse selection of films and includes mini biographies of horror legends like Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, etc. But for a horror movie book, the writers certainly didn't help their genre by bad-mouthing it so much in this book
",0
"I tried reading this book but found it so turgid and poorly written that I put it down in frustration.  It reads like a translation from another language by an academic bureacrat. The theme is interesting, the execution poor.  Cannot recommend
",0
"The book starts off ok with a good introduction of the various API's  and is ok reading up untill chapter 6 ""Programming Linux Audio"".  This is where the book fails terribly.  None of the audio samples will compile and the information about OpenAL is just plain wrong.  First the function used to open a WAV file is no the corerct function to use for linux.   The author uses the win32 version.  This is just the start of the openAL errors.  Minus one star!

Second the book's two websites (one of which no longer exists (Loki) ) contains no errata and no way to contact the author.  The only information is avalible is a zip file of the books sample files (which do not compile of course).  Minus two stars!

Ohter things about the book that did not work for me was the fact that the author uses C instead of C++.  While C is still used for game development , most programmers are attempting to migrate to C++ and OOD.  Books released about 1950 should reflect that!

Second the author uses Tcl as a game scripting engine.  While I can agree to a point (based on the fact of the easy of implementation)  the author should have used a common scripting engine such as Lua.  (although the author does mention at the end of the book that Tcl was proably a bad idea.

Third the author should have introduced Autoconf very early in the book instead of waiting untill Chapter 10.

The main thing that I liked about the book was the good intro to programming with Linux in general.  The topics of linux debugging and Makefiles I thought was good (assuming you have experince in these areas on other platfoms).

Also the coverage of SDL was a pretty good intro. 
",0
"I was expecting this book to be a great story, but very disappointed. I cannot believe the publisher allowed the author to publish this book as it is. The book is insipid and dull,  has no flow, no story, or no plot. Let me present an example. I have read many insightful Newsweek articles by a writer Allan Sloan. For example, Sloan describes a Sprint merger event in this way, ""If talk is getting cheaper, why did MCI WorldCom pay $115 billion to buy Sprint? The once staid phone companies have launched a merger blitzkrieg in an effort to emerge at the center of the wired world. Can regulators handle the complex new order.....""  It has a clear logical axis, and has a force to attract readers into it. 

But Jeter describes it like this,  ""The merger announcement of WorldCom and Sprint spurred building activity around Worldcom headquarters as real estate developers readied for economic prosperity. The real estate inventory swelled with new planned unit....."" It always presents off-center, trivial detail which makes a reader bored. 70% of books are consumed to described a dry and dull fact, like ""the merger of company A & B raised the stock to $X"" etc. There is no insight here. 

But unfortunately, unlike Enron scandal, there is no other book that centered on the Worldcom scandal. You would get much better comprehension by collecting articles in Newsweek or Business Week, if you have LexisNexis or EBISCOhost.
",0
"Probability and Random Processes can be easily approached with grace and elegance so long as the professor and/or writer possess such talents.  All too often Albert Leon-Garcia comes across as a total wacko in the possession neither
",0
"I have a hard time understanding what it is that I dislike about the novel. I dislike it almost as much as the movie.
I have been a loyal follower of Smiley and some more after that. Once the Cold War was over, JlC had to look for a new realm. I tried to follow him, but gave up with the Kaukasian troubles, forgot the name of the book.
Maybe it is this: JlC's trade mark, his USP, is the evilness of the other side. With the KGB & Co., that worked perfectly. His readers were willing to stay with him and believe him.
Now he is transferring the KGB style to all sorts of other badies. I think it does not work any more.
It is not that I trust the pharmaceutical companies enough to not be like here insinuated. I do not.
What I do not like, I guess, is the artificial mood of intellectual suffering from the evilness of all kind of conspiracies. Tess in this story seems to be the normal do-gooder who falls foul with the baddies. That is more ok in the book than in the movie. (There, for my eyes, Rachel Weisz does herself discredit.)
What is absolutely not ok is the surrender of command by the narrator mid way. JlC gives up on trying to keep a believable storyline and declines into darkest conspiracy allegations
",0
"I have a hard time believing that the author has ever seen an episode of TNG. I had to force myself to finish this book it was so bad. By far the worst Star Trek book I have ever read.  If you want a good one read 'Federation' and stay as far away from this one as you can
",0
"If this man took a the time to know the history of U.S. involvment in Panama he would know that it was the U.S. that put Noriega in power in the first place.it was also the U.S. that killed the previouse leader of Panama,Omar TorriJos.Who apposed U.S. control of his county.
 The united states has used Panama for its own gains without regard for the freedom or rights of the Panamanian people since the take over of the country by President Roosevelt in 1903.
One of many good books about the truth of Panamanian History is by John Perkins ""Confessions of an Economic Hitman""
",0
"This book, up to the very end was very good. With out a doubt a three star book maybe three and a half.  The end is what ruins the entire thing. Don't worry I'm not going to spoil anything. I'll just say the ending stinks out loud!

This story is not really horror, its SiFi. A adventure/drama/SiFi. It really should have been about 100 to 200 pages longer. Everything in it was really cool and fun to read but it just seemed rushed. And somethings were not really dove into thoroughly enough. The writting was dead on as always and character development was good.  This book just needed another couple hundred pages to go from a barley average book to a great book
",0
"The plot in Final Analysis is trite and overused and the characters are flat and stock. Tedious and painful to read
",0
"One tiresome, heavy-handed simile after another; agonizing, descriptive detail that unnecessarily prolongs action; simplistic, trite phrasing and dialogue -- characters constantly express vague but contradictory emotions in the same sentence, an obvious effort by the author to provoke interest or conflict which falls flat; routine characterization; a sentence or two slipped in during a scene or an unexpected circumstance placed at the end of a chapter meant to build plot and suspense read as forced and predictable; proofreading errors; fragmented, poor sentence structure -- this book is amateurish writing all the way around.  I cannot fathom the reasoning for the quality of the professional reviews which this work received.  I cannot understand the lack of proper editing.  I am an avid reader and approached this book with much enthusiasm, so imagine my disappointment when I was ready to put the book down a couple of pages into the Prologue!  In fairness to the author (and with a hopeful attitude), I forced myself through the first 70 or so pages, however with each turning page I found myself reading along just for sport, my mind constantly drifting and more and more incredulous (and annoyed) with this juvenile effort. What could have been a fascinating read due to the intriguing premise is instead a colossal waste of time. 
",0
"If you are looking for a book that does a cover to cover job of bashing western civilization with complete and obvious bias, this is it.
",0
"I was really looking forward to both the book and the movie. Unfortunately I think both are very much overrated. Character development is non-existent. We're supposed to believe that the haunted, passive, timid character Dave was an all-star shortstop in high school? The book had a great premise and good beginning, but went nowhere interesting. The handling of Dave's character relies on cliche and we never really get insight into the book's most intriguing character.
",0
"I had heard of the importance, and significance of ""The Education of Henry Adams"" for a long time. I finally determined I needed to read it.

I acutally read it twice, and found less in it the second time than the first. 

I am sorry  I missed the greatness of this book. I am sure there was something wrong with me, but I found it to be incredibly unimpressive. 

Perhaps this came from the fact that Henry Adams was not a likeable man. He was famous for holding court in his home near the White House, and making caustic and negative comments about every President who lived there. 

Granted, he lived in Washington at a time when there were plenty of second-rate occupants of the White House. But the thought of people wasting their time trying to please  a blue-blooded snob like Adams depresses me. Why did anyone bother? He lived in an atmosphere of snobbery, sharp-tongues, clever remarks, and brilliant conversation. The world went on without him, truth be told, and he contributed less than the people who walked by his house each day. 

He was a very good historian in his time. But who reads his books now? Not very many. In short, his own work was not as long-lasting as he would have wanted it to be. Maybe the influence of some of the Presidents he mocked lasted longer than the published and purchased work of Henry Adams.

""The Education of Henry Adams"" does not have much real information. He got education in one place, none in others. Surely, the suicide of his wife provided some very painful education for Henry--but he wrote nothing about it in his book. 

When Eric Sevareid wrote ""Not So Wild a Dream,"" it was compared to ""The Education of Henry Adams."" That was meant as a compliment. Oddly, I think Sevareid's book is much, much better. Sevareid wrote of America, the common man, the war, and what it all meant to him. Adams needed to get out more. He did not see America--not the America built by the common citizen who put it all together, and defended it.  I gained a trememdous amount from Sevareid. I cannot say the same for the work of Henry Adams. 

Again, a lot of this might be me. Perhaps I read the book at a bad time. Maybe I needed to read it a third time. I do not know. I do know I do not think this is a great American classic. Forgive, please, my ignorance.
",0
"Too much wrong information in the text. Photo captions = hit or miss.  Altogether: unreliable. Take your needs elsewhere
",0
"Alexander Pope was not of the Romantic period, and any book that thinks he was can be no guide to a GRE Subject Test.  This alleged prep text splits hair in nanometers over interpretive questions, asks for identification of the most obscure passages, and frequently explains why B was the right answer, and why A, C, and D were wrong, but leaves that status of E wholly to the realm of mystery.  The practice test sent out with the GRE registration is different in scope, clarity, and difficulty.  I actually tore out a chunk of this book with my teeth in frustration.  Don't buy this book.  Don't even steal it.  Spend the money on deluging the publisher with demands to remove it from the shelves and issue written apologies to anyone who ever suffered themselves to use it
",0
"I was hoping the book would be good.  most reviews are.  However the topics are not really covered at all, more introduced.  It was like talking to a drunk bloke about sports, most points are important and relevant but its presented in a way that makes it confusing.  They openly admit they dont want the book to be rated on the quality of the english.  Just as well, long rambling thaughts that don't form conclusions.  Not what I wanted or needed.  It actually manages to take the fun out of reading and texas holdem all in one go
",0
"I had high expectations for this book, but I was disappointed.  It concentrated too much on digital systems, rather than broadening the definition of noise to cover the natural environment.  I lost interested in the last 1/3 of the book, and couldn't wait to finish
",0
"The content of this book is adequate, but the layout leaves much to be desired.  The only way to find a chapter is through the table of contents.  Pages are not labeled with chapter information, such as which chapter that page belongs to.  The content is often broken up with cases and excercises that divide paragraphs in half. This makes it very confusing to follow the flow of the book.  You can be reading along and jump into a case or excercise without knowing it and become very confused.  If the authors and publishers would rework the flow of the book, I would rate it much higher
",0
"The first novel written by Stephenson, and it's a satire on college dorm life.  Pointless, rambling, and bizarre.  It's a good thing he's improved his writing over the years, as this one stunk
",0
"Save your time, money and patience.  This may be the worst book I have read since the equally monotonous, predictable Stone Barrington novel ""The Short Forever"".  Wow, this one stinks.  Like others, I put up with the shallow characters, ludicrous dialogue and endless parade of showers, boobs and guns to figure out whodunit.  Unfortunately, this book had an ambiguous ending that seeks to be clever but is instead is just stupid.  Who on earth did kill Vance?  And come to think of it, who gives a damn?  I don't what women did to Stuart Woods but he sure seems to hold them in complete contempt.  Every female character, save for Isabel the maid, felt compelled to practically rape our handsome hero.  Each is flawless and gorgeous but also all are dumb, vacuous, self-centered and thoroughly unlikeable - hey a couple are even truly psychotic!  The only normal female character who spared Stone, Mary Ann, unfortunately has a room temperature IQ.  I am hardly a prude, but I lost count of how many women either Vance or Stone made love to in the course of one short novel and felt the need to take a long hot shower to rid myself of the feelings of filth.  Mr. Woods either lives in a world of complete ignorance or the reading public is a lot less discriminating than I thought
",0
"There is no doubt that Antonia Fraser's ""The Journey"" is written in the author's usual wry, witty and highly engaging style (although I must say that I never before heard of sex described as ""lugubrious."") There is also no doubt that Fraser has done a great deal to redeem Marie-Antoinette's shredded reputation by accurately describing her as being compassionate to the hardships of the French people. The book is full of vivid detail which makes it very readable. However, I was disappointed to see that Fraser resorts to many popular misconceptions. For one thing, why does Fraser act like Marie Antoinette was the only princess to be sent away from home as a teenager to seal a dynastic marriage? What about Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (Catherine the Great) who was also a young stranger in a foreign land? This sort of thing happened all the time - it was what being a princess was all about. I was glad that Fraser did not fall into the myth of Louis XVI's impotence/ phimosis and surgery and all that. She simplistically portrays him as being asexual, which was not true, because he told his aunt after consummating his marriage that he enjoyed ""it."" But never has any other biographer subjected the reader to the spectacle of Fersen and the queen fiddling with  primitive prophylactics while consummating their grand passion. I must say, it is a first. Fraser insists that Marie Antoinette slept with Fersen for many years and yet gives no solid proof, while at the same time maintaining that she was a woman of high moral character. I usually do not think of a woman who is shared by both a lover and a husband as having a high moral character, but I guess Fraser does. Oh, well. It is such romantic fantasies that turn this book into more of a soap opera than a serious biography. I found it absurd when Fraser insists that the tormented queen of France was ultimately a martyr for the cause of the socialism and democracy which the French people now enjoy. If the queen had had her way, her descendant would be reigning today, and that is just the reality of it. For a better study of Marie Antoinette's relationship with her husband, I would recommend Vincent Cronin's ""Louis and Antoinette."" As for better biographies of the queen, let me join some fellow reviewers in the hope that the works of Delorme and Bertieres will soon be available in English
",0
"""Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks.... Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."" 
-- Albert Einstein. 

What I'm getting at here is that you can propogate anyone to look bad, that's easy. When you have two sources contradicting each other so heavily, you may want to consider the source; i.e a protestant british author writing over fifty years after the fact, vice a prominent and liberal jewish figure who lived through the holcaust and has no biased motive to either slander or praise the beforementioned institution.

Or maybe Israel Zolli, chief rabbi of Rome whose conversion to Catholicism immediately after the war was prompted by the church's reaction to the plight of the jewish people. 

This book is extremely propagated and heavily editorialized. It is important to read a work like this however, in order to better understand the manipulation of truth and half truth in the author's motive
",0
"In the grand tradition of Rational Corp - this is an overpriced book from Rational Corp to complement its overpriced software. I must commend the HealthCare example in the book that is described in fair detail.  The book's website is empty and does not supplement the book's content - only contains a link to order the book and an email to contact the authors. If you have to buy it, buy a used  copy or read the free marketing stuff on the Rational website
",0
"I agree with the reviewer who said this work is boring. It seems Roth is trying to glorify Philip Roth and not the characters. He goes on and on describing the overwhelming feelings zuckermann has for ""the swede"", without letting us know who the Swede really is. Roth should let the characters tell the story or try to use less erudition in his narration.
It gets to the point where the reader loses interest in finishing the book. I loved the plot against american because it was more character based than philosophizing about about the historical context of the times
",0
"The Venona Secrets is a deceptive book. It tries to pass itself off as an objective portrait of Soviet spying in the US, but by the time the reader is a third of the way in it becomes apparent that the authors are more interested in smearing ""Liberals"" than in painting a true portrait of their subject. Although the information the authors provide is interesting, the biased and heavy-handed way it's presented negates whatever scientific value it might have. For example, the authors insist that J. Robert Oppenheimer was working for the Soviets (they call this a ""fact"") yet they present absolutely no proof that Oppenheimer was anything more than an idealistic, naive man who couldn't keep his mouth shut and whose only contribution to the advancement of Communism in America was money to the CPUSA. The book is full of these so-called ""facts"" with little to nothing to back them up. The authors praise Joe McCarthy and claim in the last chapter of the book that he was barely a factor in the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1940's and 1950's, ignoring the fact that MCCarthy capitalized on fears of Communism obscenely and was wrong far more than he was right about who was and was not loyal. McCarthy's methods of terrorism and hypocrisy in running hearings that could have been chaired by Stalin are completely overlooked, as are the innocent lives he destroyed in his smear campaign. The authors also praise Senator Henry Jackson as some sort of all-American crusader against Communism, not even mentioning that all of Jackson's anti-Communist attacks were motivated by his virulent anti-Semistism and hatred of blacks. Overall this book is nothing more than an indictment of Liberal ideology -- one can simply hear the disdain for Liberals dripping from the authors' prose -- and should not be given much credence by scholars not interested in right-wing propaganda who want an objective account of Venona. The authors have sacrificed their credibility for their Conservative agenda; they deserve not to be taken seriously
",0
"I received my Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from one of the best U.S. universities, and for more than thirty years was teaching and researching in the field of solid mechanics.  Before starting the reading of this book, I was in the agreeable mood with the author's that machines can never be human, and that AI will retain (if not forever) for a very long time its name - unreal.  But, now, I am dismayed.  The author unsuccessfully used 450 pages full of topics in mathematics and physics to support his point of view, making simple topics sound difficult, and making diffcult ones look impossibble.  The inclusion of his strange tilings is strange.  All in all, the book does not make sense. Moreover, his 'Note to the reader' (which is patronizing, arrogant and deceiving), and his Prologue and Epilogue (which are at best cynical) should have warned me not to venture any further.  I cannot help feeling sorry for myself and for several other readers; and most of all, if this is the author's usual way of communicating his ideas, for his students.  Luckily, I did not buy this book; for one person, who could not stand reading through it, dared me to finish his unfinished endeavor
",0
"I am absolutely furious about this book. I quit reading about half-way through.

I read it through the section about It's a Wonderful Life (chapter 13). In that chapter, I found three mistakes - not minor details, but major, provable points, including misquoting Zuzu and misquoting the inscription in the book in the last scene - within four paragraphs. If Eliot's work is that shoddy in four paragraphs, how can I trust the rest of the information in the book? 

Avoid this at all costs!!!!!!!!!
",0
"I was looking for a book to make elegant, simple and practical bags.  This book has is all feathers and beads, nothing that I would ever give to someone as a gift!  I was very disappointed. 
",0
"I might have been expecting too much, but I was disappointed with this book. I did not learn anything on Dark Magick per se. The first half of the book is about a variety of subjects like, Goths, Vampires, Lost Souls, the Collective Unconscious, Dark Deities, Satanism and some other stuff. The second half is about Magick, but it sounds more like High Magick to me. Where's the Dark Magick
",0
"As I sat here writting this review my rating dropped from a three star rating to a two star rating, and I now realize that all of my malice and discontent could have easily been diverted if the book were titled ""Drawing People: A Technical Guide for Beginners"" and mentioned nary a word about the clothed figure. Then if I had of stumbled upon this book it would have been an added bonus that the author took the time to outline some basics on clothing and drappery, instead of a full out disappointment. Not that I blame the author solely, most of the blame lies at my door. I was so overjoyed in finding a book that proclaimed it was specifically about drawing the clothed figure, Brune Hogath's book aside (another devastating disappointment), and that it was written by a professor from the Academy of Art, a school that I am still deciding on attending, that instead of going my normal route (ordering the book through the store, checking it out in person, and then ordering it online so I could get a fatty discount) I impulsively bought the book, only reading the book synopsis and barely glancing over the customer reviews (which all looked favorable). Now I realise my folly, and am yet determining whether I'll pay for it (i.e. keep the book).

I guess what all of my harping boils down to is the lack of content instead of the quality, for I can easily discern Bradley is an excellent artist with years of knowledge garnered from experience, and I'd say that experience shows equally in all areas, not just clothing but in setting up a composition and following through. The problem is, at least in my opinion, that this book is supposed to specifically address clothing, and it doesn't for the most part. Roughly one fourth of the book pertains to clothing, the other three fourths talk about: 

            how to properly hold your drawing implement, how to properly position yourself if you are drawing                                 from a live modle, maintaing a daily sketchbook, researching your subject matter, the relationships between       the head neck and shoulders, drawing hands, drawing feet, drawing eyes, and a whole slew of other. . .I wouldn't say irrelavent, because they are relavent, but not neccessarily the most important topics pertaining to drawing the clothed figure.

A refernce guide on clothing should discuss a plethora of clothing materials, and Bradley does on one page with chicken scratch detailing. It should outline some of the rules when dealing with how clothes tend to fit people of varying body tips, again something Bradley discusses on one single page. The differnce between water logged clothing and dry clothing, she didn't bother mentioning that. How pants typically bunch up while you're walking seen from the head on, profile, three quaters, and back view, another topic she failed to mention. Some examples of evening/ formal attire vs. day clothes, how clothing reacts when the subject is in motion, how jackets restrain your actions and bunch up, the effect of wearing multiple layers at once, achieving that perfect windswept look, and all manner of other topics that should appear in an artistic clothing refernce guide.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on Bradley, after all she does mention in her preface that there aren't a whole lot of books pertain to drawing the clothed figure, and compared to the standard ""how to. . ."" books she's leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. Oh yeah, that's another thing, she doesn't outline any steps on how to achieve a realistic rendering like- first start out with a cone pointing upward then draw a sphere at the bottom/base. The sphere represents the weight of the gathered cloth so the stress lines originate from the tip of the cone and travel down the length eventually enveloping the sphere. Note the ripples. -or some junk like that. Back to me not being to harsh on Bradley, I guess in reading she is/was a professor in the arts I thought she would have some understanding of the common impediments modern day artist face when depicting clothing.

For all who have read this drawn out rant, two maybe three people, and think I'm all talk, trust me if I had the skills I'd come up with my own series of ""How to draw. . ."" books and address all of my issues. As is I'm pretty good at drawing dynamic figures, but the second I add clothing they become flat, lifeless caricatures and I don't see this book as alleviating my shortcomings much. As is my own artistic habits (drawing from magazines, online pics, and occasionally stepping outside of my cave to draw people in motion) are a match for the few helpful hints in this book. You're better off doing what you've always done plus artistically drapping to a wall or over a piece of furniture from time to time then buying this book.

If you do know of a book that addresses even half of the afore mentioned topics, if you could write a review mentioning them, somehow recommend them to me or whatever I'd be eternally in your debt
",0
"I dont take neither stance on Religion nor Science with these comments.

I have read the book and I have to admit that it was marketed and was presented brilliantly. It has one goal... Sell, sell, sell.

If you are after useful, quality, informative, knowledge to gain... well you wont find it here. Im so shocked to even see that when you check the back cover of the book it actually says ""non-fiction"".

The author is a talented story teller...... add a few statistics here and there, a dash of scientific key figures, mix it with life's controversial unsolved mysteries, a few more dash of historic events and famous people, add and link a few references here and there, and WALA!!!! you have a best seller.

Isnt that ironic! it is a ""New York Times number 1 best seller"" 
It was an interesting read though.
",0
"I was hoping that Miller would turn his talents from the dark side and we would see how well he could reproduce a Classical Epic.  What we get is a blood splattered ""300 Lacedaimons in the Hood"".  The Spartans are presented to be a buch of Homo erotic Rastafarians.  The Persians rather than the Noble Middle Eastern Autocrats presented in their Art are drawn by Miller to resemble African American Gangstas with piercings and Skin art everywhere.  I was looking for Xerxes to have a grill and whitewalls on his chariot.

If you were into ""Sin City"", you will love this mishmashed version of the Classical Tale of bravery and sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds
",0
"I love mysteries set in WW II and like old time radio so I couldn't wait to begin this one. The ""hero"" is a junior varsity Tom Joad but,OK, I was game.  The cast of characters that seemed to number in the low 80s and be interchangable ""baddies"" and ""goodies"".  They were hard to keep track of without a scorecard but there is no quit in this reader and I pushed on. Then when we got to the Jersey shore, I found out that in 1942 with America fighting for it's life against fascism, and losing, our hero knew why.  All the servicemen were bullies (A drafted station employee) or morons (the Coast Guard beach patrol).  The 4F ""hero"" was the real McCoy however.  Although not actually mentioned I bet he wished that dratted ear injury hadn't kept him from joining the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  He was moderate enought to think Marxism had some problems; the murder of 10s of millions of Ukrainians and the Nazi-USSR Pact probably and I say probably, didn't elude our observant literary genius.  He was also a 1975 era feminist; all those plucky WW II women throwing off the handcuffs chaining them naked to the kitchen sink had his unhesitating support.  Most big businessmen, probably wearing spats and silk high hats, were the bad guys needless to say.  I wondered how someone could write such a truly awful book.  I couldn't finish it and it's a point of honor for me to finish all books.  Then in the bio it all became clear.  The author was a flack for former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder of Colorado.  I'm still haunted by her rictus grin and constipated, Quaker schoolmarm expression that said ""somebody, somewhere is having fun and I want it to stop now!!!""  Anyone who could stand to work for Pat could write this book with ease
",0
"I bought this recording with high hopes.  What better complement to reading Shakespeare than hearing him, right?  Well, not with this recording.  The cast is made up of ""distinguished actors,"" the insert proclaims, but it's obvious that these actors haven't done Shakespeare since they were in junior high school.  Nor have they improved since then: none of the actors has any feel for the Shakespearean line.  The speaking is stiff and mechanical, and half the time it sounds like a Monty Python farce!  When there are no visual effects to distract us, low-quality acting really sticks out.  For audio recordings, you need the best voices.  Too bad Arkangel didn't realize this.  My advice?  Grind up these CDs and use them to fertilize your nasturtiums
",0
"I didn't expect this series of books to be laid out the way they are. I am disappointed that the ""notes"" are simply a glorified glossary arranged by chapter rather than alphabetical. Key points from the book are not bulleted or organized based on content presentation, rather key terms are defined and that is all.
",0
"This book is perfunctory and extremely shallow. Russell's reductive reading of the tradition shows little insight. However, it is amusing at times, hence the star
",0
"What could have been a hilarious, informative account of breaking outlandish old-fashioned laws and getting (or not getting) in trouble for them turns out to be no more than the story of a couple of clueless young British guys (I think the author is around 23) wryly making fun of America's perceived backwardness. Sometimes it just seemed like they were trying to do things and, when they couldn't, they outright gave up on some great chances. The Swedish girls in Frisco: WHY include it if it didn't come to fruition and, furthermore, involved no lawbreaking??? I'm still wondering why they included their 2-page tour of Hearst Castle when it was little more than a miniscule travel log (cool, Hearst had Greco-Roman statues in his poolroom).

They don't get arrested and they don't really accomplish anything. Too bad
",0
"Despite the description and synopsis on the books cover this is NOT a computer crime novel. In fact with the exception of about 20 pages total the novel quickly looses its snazzy cyber crime appeal. In the first few pages we're introduced to a dark haired female hacker but just as quickly she's gone and the book spirals into Japanese gangs, corrupt police, horribly bland and indistinguishable characters, and it just sucks from then on out. The story is good albeit incorrectly marketed. The characters however have no identity! They all sound the same, with the exception of the Japanese characters. Sadly the book lacks serious writing talent, very little character development, on what could've been a good story. One positive note perhaps is that the descriptions of Japanese culture, etc. are really good. Perhaps this is due to the authors departure many years before from England to Japan. My advice: spend some time abroad again
",0
"I bought this book because I was looking for some alternatives to PB&J.  Both of my children are now attending peanut-free/tree-nut free schools.  This book has lots of ideas, but too many of them are variations of the peanut butter sandwich. 
",0
"K, besides the late arrival, the whole book was written in terminology in which I had to read over and over again before I understood the meaning. Its not like the book came with appendices right? Anyway, I do not know whats the huu haa about the book. It seems pretty fictional. Coming from a Muslim
",0
"This is one of the worst-written programming books I have seen yet.  I'm sorry I bought it.  It appears to be written by a man who knows quite a bit about finance, and dangerously little about C++ programming.  Duffy's review correctly describes the main flaws.  

I would add that (1) The book is not structured to build upon OO, GOF Patterns, or STL design principles; (2) The code does not follow even basic C++ coding conventions; (3) The images (screenshots) are agonizingly UNREADABLE; (4) The code listings are in ITALICS using a variable-pitch font [is COURIER font code listing so difficult to include in a $100 book???]; (5) No over-arching component object model is suggested ANYWHERE in the book.

Some of the efforts at brevity are just plain WRONG or even DANGEROUSLY WRONG to teach beginning programmers.  For example, Pg 19 Data Types section:

----------------
int - holds integer numbers up to a little over 2 million, for example, ""int I = 2000000;.""
long - same as int.
----------------

WRONG, PROFESSOR!  This is not only a syntactically incorrect example, but a just plain wrong assertion.  If the reader does not know how to determine the (platform-specific) size of an ""int"" or ""long"", then the author has only served to confuse the matter further!

Furthermore, I consider it a ""cheapskate"" tactic to ask readers to pay for the code from this book in electronic form (particularly when the book's code listings are so sloppy).  That said, I would not use the code, even if it had been supplied for free ... but it *might* have been interesting to have something to play around with...

Have any of the reviewers actually USED any code from this book without substantial refactoring?

The only use I could see for this book is for intermediate-advanced fin-techs, who want to review a few general algorithms for selected derivative calculations (futures, forwards, etc) ... but just be prepared to squint and suffer through reading the code
",0
"This series is a travesty. I understand the feeling of loss when you finish a beloved series, but let Laura, not MacBride, have the last word on her family's experience. So much in his books rings false: the clumsy historical allusions, the narrative voice, the potty humor . . . One of the greatest things about Laura Ingalls Wilder's work is the way her voice advances in maturity as she, the main character, grows: Big Woods is written for little girls and Happy Golden Years for young women. MacBride doesn't manage this and talks down to readers. There is a tiny thread of Laura in these books, but not enough to do more than frustrate her fans. Sampling is for rap, not fiction.
",0
"I'd never read Berry before, but as far as I can tell, this brief collection of six essays and lectures sticks to familiar territory. However, it's probably not the best entry point for people who are newcomers to his realm. There are two related problems with the book: one of presentation, and one of tone. The problem with presentation is that the pieces are so short that there's no room for specifics. So, while one might be more or less in accord with the broad strokes of Berry's vision, there's no detail to back it all up. The problem with tone is that from the very first page the reader feels like they are being lectured at. Of course, some of the pieces are lectures, but there's a certain condescension that runs throughout the book. It comes out when Berry uses certain words such as the three As of ""appropriate"", ""authentic"" and ""adequate"". When these are used ( as they often are), there he's obviously made some kind of value judgment, but the reader is never let in on it. The end result of the two flaws is that the reader feels like a hectoring argument is being made without any supporting logic -- which ultimately smacks of preaching to the choir.

Which is unfortunate, since I tend to agree with Berry on a lot of things (though not his anti-abortion stance). Small farms are good, agribusiness is bad, stewardship of the land is good, extraction industries are bad, treating the body as an organic whole is good, and things of that nature. Alas, he has a tendency of making sweeping assertions and accusations that are far too simplistic and shrill to be useful. Two examples from the first 15 pages will suffice to illustrate: ""This is a world in which the cultures that preserve nature and rural life will simply be disallowed."" and ""Communists and capitalists are alike in their contempt for country people, country life, and country places."" 

Berry also succumbs to the trick of creating straw men to counter his theses. For example, in one essay, he claims that conservationists are people who want to simply preserve land in a pristine, untouched state, and that's all. While there are certainly some conservationists who feel that way, they are a small minority of a a much larger community who actually is in almost total accord with Berry's views on stewardship and land use. It certainly doesn't help matters that his view of small-scale farming appears to be heavily tinted with rose-colored glasses. His claims that modern agribusinesses has rendered the small farm economically unviable sounds like a reasonable proposition. However, it ignores the fact that, historically, small scale farming ran on the thinnest of margins, was subject to all kind of external instability (weather, vermin, etc.), and operated on only slightly better than a subsistence level. In farming, cash is scarce, that's why people abandoned it in droves whenever the opportunity presented itself, such as in WWII, when all those defense-industry factories were opened in California. (Of course, in Berry's vision, you don't really need cash, because you barter for everything you need from your neighbors.) 

Berry's exhortations to create small-scale communities is worthy stuff, and even in cities people are creating this. The growth of CSAs, farmers markets, and the like in the past decade is a tangible indicator of this. However, to achieve the large scale results Berry seeks requires a more rigorous roadmap than what is provided in this slim collection
",0
"I picked up the audio book from the library, and didn't know by the title and author's name (my first Jance book) that this was chick lit. I don't feel this book was something I would've started had I known. It started real well, and Ms. Jance knows how to reel you in with her writing. Midway it got off track for me when the the protagonist started blogging  about her unfair release as a new anchor, and then about her friend who died of ALS, and then came the long responses to the blogs. It just got sickening to this reader and made it hard to stay with what could've been a decent suspense drama.
",0
"On our beloved Kay Scarpetta and the illustrious Ms. Cornwell?  Having been an avid fan of her novels from the very beginning, I simply cannot help but ask myself....is she really writing this stuff?
Very slow in the beginning, I began to fear a repeat of the struggle that I endured to finish Blowfly.  However, this novel does begin to pick up momentum...but not until the reader is halfway through, and certainly not until this author had left me sufficiently disgusted.  The storyline finds Scarpetta summoned home to the scene of the crime...Richmond, Virginia, where her previous employer seeks her assistance in unwraveling the mysterious death of a young girl.  So Scarpetta---with Marino tagging along of course---heads back to Richmond from her new home in Florida to offer assistance; only to find that her old building is being demolished...and that the new one, under the leadership of Dr. Joel Marcus, is sloppy regarding policies and procedures.  The demoralization of her former staff by Dr. Marcus is also unnerving to Scarpetta; and clearly he resents her intrusion. So why has he asked her to come?
Meanwhile, Lucy, as head of The Last Precinct, is once again up to her ears in nonsense.  For such a brilliant, successful young woman (as readers have always been lead to believe), why must Cornwell insist on making her so completely stupid in her literary life?  In this tale she is once again romantically linked with a narcissistic sociopath who also happens to be her employee.
Worse than the weak storyline, and the fact that this novel is just all over the place, is the author's disturbingly sterotypical portrayal of African-Americans throughout.  Drug dealers are black, they're dead of gunshot wounds, and most ludicrous of all is in one instance Cornwell references a dead young man's ""conspicuously large organ.""  Are you kidding me?  The trash collectors are ""big dark men"" and of course in an upscale neighborhood, the ""old black woman"" must WORK in one of the houses.  The author's unbelievably narrow-minded, stereotypical view of other races is disturbing at best, and frankly makes one think that she may just be as stupid from a common sense perspective as Lucy.

Read only if you must, but frankly there are better ways to spend your time.


DY
",0
"I agree with some of the negative reviews that the Junie B. Jones books often use language and depict behavior that are less than desirable.  My son, who is a pretty sensitive boy, didn't like Junie B. Jones because he thought she was rude.  I would much prefer that my kids read books with kids who, though they may get in trouble from time to time or may make mistakes, are generally nice people.  We did love the Magic Tree House series, both for the adventure and the personalities of Jack and Annie
",0
"Anyone with intelligence can see that Ann Coulter is not attempting to make any meaningful or objective analysis of politics.  She is using inflammatory marketing to stir up the emotions of the most die-hard, flag-waving conservatives.  Until this attention-seeking labeling of other Americans as 'good' or 'bad' stops, there will never be true understanding of the complexties of American politics or foreign policy by the general public.  I don't agree with Bush's war and I didnt vote for him.  But he's not a 'bad person'; he did not invade Iraq because he is 'evil' or 'stupid'.  I can appreciate both sides of an argument; I can avoid generic categorizations.  I would never watch any news, liberal or conservative, that had a clear political bias.  Why can't Ann Coulter arrive at this same level of common sense?  Well, she wouldnt sell as many books; she wouldnt be on TV.  It has to be ""Liberals Hate America"" or ""The Conservative Nazi Agenda"".  We have the duty as thinking Americans, in the most advanced free country in the world, in these modern times of massive amounts of free information, to STOP PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS GARBAGE.  Get the facts and stop relying on a figurehead to spoon feed you your opinions
",0
"This book is pretty much useless if you're looking for info on how to build a dulcimer.  Only about 60 pages of it actually talks about dulcimer making/repair.  The rest is a long winded history/bio of Homer Ledford.  Some of that is a bit interesting from an historical/cultural perspective, but the author beats it to death.  Homer wanted the book to be just on how to build and care for a dulcimer; the rest was the author's idea.  Dean Kimball's book on dulcimer making is better, although still lacking in some areas.  This book has no patterns or plans, few useful photos, and is weak in what instruction it does provide.  There are a few useful ideas but not worth the price of the book
",0
"Let's face it--if you want to get a non-fiction self help type book published and sold today, you better have a completely original idea--or make it controversial and provacative.  I would hope that Ms. Bennetts' opinions are written for this purpose since they are so extreme.

I am a college educated stay at home mom of two small boys.  I am proud to be doing that and to be defering to my husband to support me/us financially in this mutual decision.  I feel it's a personal decision to stay home and try not to be judgemental of others, but to me there is no career worth giving up taking them and picking them up from school everyday, helping in their class, having simple chats after school, and most important being very present in their young lives.

Does that mean I'm sitting back fat, dumb and happy, expecting 100% to live the fairy tale so I can turn stupid and dependent on him for my every need?  Of course not.  Our relationship is solid, his job is as stable as one can be, we have good life insurance and a lot of it. Here's an important one--we live within our means!  We don't have two leased cars and a house we can't afford. 

In addition, while I have ""given up"" my career to raise my kids full time, I have a lot of skills, drive, and no doubt that in that worst case scenario I could provide an income when and if I need to.

I CERTAINLY would hope no one would give up the opportunity to stay home because of these so called realistic fears.  Look, if you want to be a working mom by choice--knock yourself out.  But don't look for excuses to justify it to yourself and others by saying you're doing it in case of the worst.  THAT would be a bigger ""feminine"" mistake
",0
"I was so upset after I finished reading this book.  I wish it wasn't updated and they just kept it in its original version.  If you are looking for a historical information of how the samurai lived and their values, this is the wrong book.  Read Bushido: The Soul of Japan.  The Code of The Samurai really felt like The Code of the Japanese Business Man
",0
"This book looks like it was written by someone who works in their own garage as a hobby. There is no real technical data in this book-- no hint of professionalism.
The photos are black and white and most of the time they don't really show what the book is talking about. There are no torque specs. Little detail or warnings on how things are done.
With the quality of this book, you're better off saving the $30 and pulling the jeep apart yourself to see how it works
",0
"More like a diary of some of Tom's successes (and he has had many) but only a few anecdotes.  Buy one of TJ Cloutier's books (or Slansky's) for much much more insight
",0
"A book full of heartwarming stories from country stars, singers, writers,  and listeners, or so the back of the book said.  As I read some sentimental  stories, and some down right boring stories I questioned how more than half  of these stories got into the `Country1 edition of the Chicken Soup series.   I loved about three stories, liked about ten, and was puzzled by all the  other entries
",0
"David Fromkin's ""Peace to End All Peace"" is simultaneously a comprehensive and very flawed work. Many of the reasons for it being one can be found in the other.

Fromkin attempts to examine how the modern Middle East (extending as far as Afghanistan and some sections of Central Asia) was created during and after the First World War. Obviously, in order to do this, the fall of the Ottoman Empire in that war must be considered.
This is where Fromkin's unusual methodology comes into play. Focusing on the European political machinations to resolve the ""Eastern Question"" in their favour, the sorry tale becomes one more of Churchill and TE Lawrence than of the Arabs and Turks who were also involved in the process. Admittedly, it was the Europeans who wielded the whip hand in deciding just where the borders were to be drawn, but reducing key figures such as the CUP Triumvirate in the dying Ottoman Empire (and Kemal Ataturk in Turkey immediately thereafter) to the status of supporting players ultimately skews the focus of the book too much.

Never let it be said that this is a simple story to retell. A complex web of national and personal political interests in both Europe and the Middle East combined to make the region what it is today, and any study of all of these will be faced with the need for convoluted explanations. The problem that Fromkin has, however, is that he does not make these very well at all.
The story is told in a roughly chronological manner, which means that we jump from place to place and meet a bewildering array of characters. Ultimately, the only real result is confusion on the part of the reader, who is constantly flipping backwards to see who the latest figure to make an appearance actually is.

Additionally, Fromkin frequently confuses his readers with references to geographical features which are not well-shown on the maps provided. Indeed, one map (showing Enver Pasha's advance on Baku and his campaigns in Central Asia) is laughable in the extreme. The legend explains that the direction of the arrows is the direction of the various advances - which would be significantly more useful were the arrows in fact arrows, and not equilateral triagles.

Where Fromkin does well, however, is in his use of purely European sources. It is perhaps unusual to say this of a book intending to tell the story of the modern Middle East, but I have considerable doubts about the depth of his research into the Middle Eastern aspects of the events in question. In terms of Europe, however, his research seems to cover the major bases of exactly what the key figures believed and did.

Ultimately, ""A Peace to End All Peace"" is a difficult and not particularly rewarding work. A diplomatic history of Europe during the Great War can be written much better than this, and a history of the development of the Middle East following that conflict already has been (the chapters in Margaret Attwood's ""The Peacemakers"" or William Cleveland's ""Modern Middle East"" both easily outshine this)
",0
"Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, and others in the Pre-Trib circle, such as Ed Hindson, Tommy Ice, Chuck Missler, etc., continue to put forth the same deceptions that Hal Lindsey popularized decades ago.  The notion of a pre-tribulation rapture is foreign to scripture, it is foreign to the teachings of the early Church, and it is grooming the Church for destruction through ignorance and lack of preparation for what is really coming.  These men are novices and not prophecy ""experts"" or ""scholars"" by any stretch of the imagination; they are those who tickle the ears of gullible Christians.  Why continue to be deceived?  Tim Cohen, in his excellent book, The AntiChrist and a Cup of Tea, provides biblically sound and testable evidence to show that the coming AntiChrist is known NOW.  Not only that, the same author (Tim Cohen) has now put out the strongest presentation on the whole issue of the rapture EVER offered to the saints of God in Christ: The REAL Rapture.  If you really want to know the truth about the timing of the coming rapture, then you need to hear Tim Cohen's The REAL Rapture (based on a volume in his forthcoming ""Messiah, History, and the Tribulation Period"" series (see Prophecy House's web site for details on these items)
",0
"You get your money's worth here--there are a ton of CDs in this audio book. Unfortunately, I found Bryson's prose (which I enjoyed a lot when reading silently, as I have done with his other books) to be greatly irritating when spoken aloud. To me, he sounds kind of 'affected' in parts, and sometimes there is a sort of ""moist"" sound when he pronounces words. Hard to describe until you hear the CD, but trust me on this one. I think a lot of the positive reviews on here are for the book, and not the CD. I would stick with the written word on this one. 
",0
"Some of the stuff in here was really screwy. It's not a handbook to the ""Food and Mood"" book by Elizabeth Somer, which is what I thought it was when I bought it. It's a separate program entirely. This one is too woozy and non-Western for me. Very little hard data to back up what they say, just kind of fruity and flowery
",0
"I had somewhat forgotten how Greg Bear wrote.  His descriptions of the  Jart are so obscure and long-winded, the reader may as well just turn the  page.  I found it annoying that Greg Bear attempted to invent even more  words in this book than Eon.  My largest complaint however resided in the  high number of typos, duplicated words, letters dropped etc that made the  reading even more disruptive.  It really looked like there had been global  replacements as the same errors were repeated.  While I'd admit that an  author is more concerned with flow, plot, and technical accuracy - the  editor should review with a little more care to the fundamentals
",0
"Overall, I found this book disappointing.  In its defense, its basic thesis of the movement of Jewish American Orthodoxy towards the `right' (more closed and intensely religious) is interesting, and I am sure accurate, and Heilman's analysis of its evolution is insightful and well-researched.  However, I was extremely bothered by the lack of any attempt to portray Hareidi society through the prism of its own value system, or in fact any attempt to understand their values at all. Heilman accepts his own world view as absolute and obvious to the reader, and in this context denigrates a society with an entirely different set of goals and aspirations. Examples of this include his assumption of the primacy of feminism and the worth of secular culture.  Hareidi society has its own worldview which, although too complex to elaborate on here, has valid and very real reasons for its hierarchy of values, reasons which Heilman completely disparages or ignores.  (For an example of a book that is not written by a religious author, yet is able to appreciate Hareidim from their own perspective try ""Real Jews"" by Noah Efron).  In general, I found his view of religion as a mere sociological construct (i.e. a defensive reaction to the Holocaust) to be grossly insensitive to the Hareidi intense religious belief founded on thousands of years of tradition. 
The latter half of the book I found a pathetic attempt to draw conclusions from insignificant pieces of information.  For example the juxtaposition of poster A condemning something to a poster advertising B implies that poster A is condemning B as well.  Or two posters (put out by the same company) advertising two different types of music indicates that the community is embattled over the appropriateness of one type of music.  
In conclusion, although I eagerly awaited this book and found a fraction of it interesting and intelligent, my overall impression is negative due to the authors biased approach and manipulative use of insignificant information.
",0
"The author is a journalist, but he seems straight out of the Chamber of Commerce or a right-wing think tank. Like business elites, the author basically does not particularly like democracy. In his view societies should be run by elites from several areas - even authoritarians if needed. He is a proponent of constitutional liberalism, based on laws, rights, especially property rights, separation of powers, with much of that power being held in unelected bodies, and most of all free-market capitalism. He finds that set of conditions to be far more important than the exercise of democracy. His low regard for democracy is easily seen in his minimal interest in the manner in which a society of laws is created or even its exact nature and who benefits. Most in the West do care. Rights and legal systems are not neutral: the manner of construction determines relative winners and empowerment. 

Though the author's real target is US society, he looks at the results of democracy over the world. And of course, he finds plenty of examples where democracy doesn't work. A country in the grip of fanatics will invariably elect and support leaders who are little concerned with rights and legalisms. But it is ridiculous to imply that those situations have any bearing on democracy in the US. 

In the US, the author is most concerned with what he calls the democratization of society over the last fifty or so years. In actuality, he is focusing on mass culture that is spread through mass consumption as vigorously promulgated by globalizing capitalism. In this era, elites in finance, business, law, banking, health care, various media, etc have likewise been swept up, in fact are the driving force, in a money-first culture. He contends that such elites once had an ethos of service and basically kept our democracy on track via subtle pressures on the masses. It is simply a cynical misrepresentation to hold that massive shopping at Wal-mart and the like represents democratic empowerment. The actual test of democracy would be the ability of a community to stop the Wal-mart juggernaut. 

He especially decries direct citizen actions. He is correct to observe that referenda and initiatives have had unintended consequences, often being usurped by special interests with deep pockets. However, he little notes that citizens have taken those routes due to the unresponsiveness of legislative processes. It's hard to take seriously the stance that the robber barons of the late 19th century, and their heirs, should be viewed as elites who kept our democracy on course, after bribing entire state legislatures as well as members of Congress to accumulate vast sums. If citizens had actually been democratically empowered, such distortions of the political process could have been prevented. The theme that cash sanitizes crooks is as American as apple pie. His view that such unelected bodies as the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve Board prevent illiberal democracy is also questionable. Who could be unaware of the politicization of those bodies: the embarrassing handling of the presidential election of 2000 or the cheerleading role of the Fed during the stock market bubble of the late 1990s benefiting financial elites? No, rule by elites has very frequency distorted and usurped democracy, not buttressed it. 

If the author put journalism first, instead of being an apologist for 21st century capitalism, he would note the death grip that corporations now have over our society and the political process, actually foiling democracy. First and foremost that control is solidified through the mass media and the education system, distorting and muting all challenging ideas. It is not surprising that Americans have been unable to mount any significant challenge to this latest version of laissez-faire, free-market capitalism that is involved in such harmful developments as free-trade agreements, worker visa programs, massive immigration, out-of-control energy policies, broken health care systems, huge cutbacks in various safety net programs, massive redistribution of wealth upwards, the gutting of our manufacturing base, etc. The list could go on. Informed, empowered citizens would not permit this system of corporate rule to exist. The US most decidedly is not in a state of too much democracy, but is in the throes of democratic failure, which election hoopla very conveniently disguises periodically. This is the story of democracy that the author chooses to ignore. 

It is surprising to see the fairly high ratings of this book. Americans are supposedly fiercely democratic. Yet here is a book that clearly advocates elite rule, even anti-democratic generals if need be. The book is really worth reading only to see the willingness of some to contain citizen empowerment. 
",0
"Communism is one of the most evil ideologies in human history, responsible for the extermination of 100+ million people. This book (which started it all) holds at least much of the blame. Communists were and still are a threat to the free world, and communism is a slave system. Some ""intellectuals"" actually support the tired mantras of Marx's philosophy, whether because they are insincere or simply pedants who haven't seen enough sunlight, I don't know. In any case, if they ever step foot in the real world they would take note that communism denies private property, and is totalitarian and slave-driving (the government owns everything, including you). And the deaths caused by communism are hardly necessary to bring up. Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin (of course), etc etc...who are these people kidding
",0
"Not to be disrespectful but are you people for real? I can't believe this book is getting 4 and 5 stars. There was nothing good about this book. A bunch of people in the book did not even matter, Bill Kendall's wife, the new anchor man Pete whatever his last name was, the boss Yelena, Eliza's boyfriend, the priest, even the soon-to-be-president and his wife, I mean what's the point in even mentioning them? They were not involved in the main events. She didn't even talk about what happened to them at the end. The judge is the only one that matters, and she didn't even write about him all that much. Really disappointing. As I said I don't mean to be disrespectful, but to give this book 5stars, you must have read either bedtime stories all your life, or not have read anything. 
DON""T WASTE YOUR MONEY that's all i have to say. sorr
",0
"I've read great reviews about this book so I finally bought it because I could not get it at my local library. Never ever finished the book - it was god-awful. Badly written, incoherent story - it jumped around - JUST PLAIN BAD..
",0
"I really didn't enjoy this book.  I am half Italian-American, and I've read a few books about growing up in an Italian-American family in an effort to learn about my roots.  I have also read several books about 2nd generation Americans struggling to find their identities while caught between what is ""normal"" and their immigrant parents.  I normally enjoy such books, but not this one.  I know that life wasn't always a bowl of cherries for these familes, but this book makes it seem as if it was absolutely horrible.  Yet, I couldn't find anything about the daughters' lives that are really that bad or even different from many people's lives in this country.  Where is all the anger coming from?  I really don't know.  This book is dark and depressing.  Some say it is funny at times, but I didn't think so.  I couldn't even bring myself to finish it
",0
"I was really looking forward to reading ""Ever After"" when I saw the favorable quote on the back cover by  Larry Gelbart. But the book turned out to be a VERY cursory glance at the past 25 years of musical theater with remarkably little insight. Here are the three things I learned from this book: (1) Mega-musicals are almost always artistically corrupt; (2) Andrew Lloyd Webber is the anti-Christ; (3) The only innovative musicals to arrive in the past 25 years started Off-Broadway (mostly at Playwrights Horizons and Lincoln Center). Most of the hundreds of shows mentioned in this book get one paragraph each, with very few illuminating details. Here's what the author says about ""Carrie,"" perhaps the most famous recent Broadway musical flop: ""Carrie, of course, was an instant classic, a monument in the pantheon of failed Broadway musicals. Adapated by Michael Gore (music) and Don Pitchford (lyrics) from the notorious Stephen King novel (and even more notorious film), this $7 million musical celebration of prom vengeance and bad taste materialized at the Virginia Theater on the 12th of May, 1988 and was gone by the 15th, touching all who saw it with a timeless reverence for its indelible, monumental ineptitude."" Does that really tell us very much about this musical? Did Barry Singer even see the show? You sure wouldn't know it from this description. And just what, I wonder, makes King's novel ""notorious"" or the movie ""even more notorious""? Almost every show in this book rates that brief a mention, but somehow Singer finds time for an entire chapter of Lloyd Webber-bashing where Sir Andrew invites the author to a cocktail party to show off his newest female singing discovery. The chapter sticks out like a sore thumb, if only because it has nothing to do with the rest of the book, but also because it's one of the few times that Singer goes into any detail. Aside from a few interesting Sondheim quotes, this book is a waste of time.
",0
"I know all this stuff seems like a good idea but have we forgotten GHB? That was supposedly the fountain of youth a few years ago and now no one hardly even talks about it. Let me let you in on a little secret, GHB turned out to be a very addictive substance and in fact a handy little trick to get a girl naked without any problems like dinner movie or even her knowing you for that matter. Like HGH, everyone jumped on it before all the data was in. Please put your money away and be safe. A pretty face isn't worth the trouble this could potentially cause. And lets be realistic at 60 you really won't ever look 20 again and the weight you would have lost will be the money leaving your pocket book and not the fat from your thighs. Work out, do yoga, and eat a healthy vegetarian diet and you can't go wrong. Also, when i stopped eating sugar the cellulite also disappeared and so did those extra pounds
",0
"I found two paperbacks at work, which were both thriller series, both written by women, both having two word titles with the first word being ""Blind.""  One of the two I found exciting and satisfying, and eagerly read it.  That was not this book.

At first, I thought it was just me.  Unlike others, I found it easy to get into the book.  But I found it too new age for me.  Between Eve talking to her dead daughter to the creepy Aldo to Jane's connection with the murdered Cira, I decided I didn't need to read the whole novel and checked to make sure Jane and Trevor survived.  

Maybe this wasn't Iris Johansen's best book.  But I'm not going to be trying any of her others, based on this one
",0
"I don't know why it won the National Book Award.  This book is very slow, & very boring.  Where is the action?  I forced myself to finish it
",0
"Some photographers think what's erotic is what's hidden and left to the imagination. Two Thirds of the pictures in this book are fig leafed with shadows or clothing, leaving plenty to the imagination. Think of playboy magazine in the 1950's or Vogue or Madamoselle magazine today.  Many of these are stylistic, but not very erotic.  One in three of the photos in the book are erotic, not afraid of nudity. Don't make the investment in this book if you want high level eroticism. Instead get ""Shaven Angels"", ""Natural Beauties"", ""100 Naked Girls"", or ""Crazy,Sexy Girls"". 
",0
"We absolutely loved ""Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"" (I highly recommend it) but this is nowhere near as good.  Most of the story is just rehashing the original book, with a little politically-correct ""let's ship the extra food to the hungry"" thrown in.  Lame
",0
"This book made me feel like I was being patronized. They said the same thing over and over. I wish I hadn't bought it
",0
"The book reads like a shallow, way too long magasine article.
The shop seems to specialize in self help books, so there's hardly a literary feel to it. The style too is annoying.
For example, she writes that ""her dad wasn't big on books"".
I would have expected a slightly ""bigger"" vocabulary then that
",0
"The author is an owner and operator of a tutoring center. He is not an expert in auto mechanics.  As he points out on the back cover the pictures and the concepts were for teenage boys and the accompanying graphics are of poor quality.

If you actually want to learn anything substative of autos this is a poor poor choice. You are better of visiting the automotive section of www.howstuffworks.com or some similar website to learn more with better graphics and for free.

I bought this book long time ago and finally had the time to look at it and I regret it
",0
"True, there are many controversies raging about copying DVDs and copyrights. I suspect we are in a transition zone with all this and ""the industry"" will figure out how to help people love and cherish their DVDs rather than simply calling everyone a pirate. Having said that, I can also understand why an author of such a book wouldn't want to ""say too much"" about this controversy, especially if he his looking over his shoulder at ""the lawyers."" I was trying to think of an analogy to express my disapointment in this book (and this isn't a good one) but it goes like this: You want to go to Israel and you buy a book on ""Israel for Dummies"" and you search for something, anything on the controversy of the wall they are building. But instead of finding a discussion of the controversy you find a few off-handed quips about ""There's a wall going up and it's causing some controversy. 'Nuff said."" 
""'Nuff said""? Hel-lo? Were dummies out here, that's why we bought the dumb book! 
There might be some useful information for some people, but I was sorely disappointed
",0
"It is a very dry book and hard to stay interested in.  I am barely able to stay awake while reading it.  It does have some interesting things
",0
"It's a bad idea to create a character-driven sci-fi when your characters are this annoying.  The majority of Children of the Mind consists of inane dialogue between characters that are impossible to care about.  The characters are so one-dimensional and predictable that you already know what they'll say before they say it.  Peter says nothing except smart alecky remarks, Val spends the whole book whining loudly about not being a real person, Novinha is as crazy and hard-headed as she's been for the last two books, and Ender spouts off a bunch of trite, up-with-people garbage every chance he gets.  Somehow, Card even managed to make Jane more irritating than my ex-girlfriend during PMS.  The only decent characters in this book are Miro and Wang Mu, and they aren't nearly enough to save the story.

I admit it: I only made it a little over half-way through Children of the Mind.  I couldn't take the dialogue anymore.  That's not to mention the ridiculous plot, which centers on two children warping around the universe, engaging in philosophical discussions with caricatures of Japanese and Polynesian culture, in an attempt to avert a war between species.

If you're that curious to learn how the Ender Quartet concludes, do what I should've done from the beginning: find a plot synopsis somewhere and save yourself the pain of reading this garbage
",0
"One star is too generous!  AAARRRGGGH!  I am still mad about this book and I read it 3 books ago!  I loved Ted Dekker's ""Three"" and I enjoyed Peretti's children's books I read with my kiddos, so I was looking forward to the arrival of a collaboration.  But it was utterly silly!  If I start a book, I have to finish it.  Okay, that's my own fault, but I had to MAKE myself read this to get it over with!  I wanted to burn the book when I was finished to make sure nobody else I knew ever read my copy.  
The ending?  Well, ""Shoo!  Get out of here!""  was embarrassing!  Shame on you, Frank and Ted
",0
"This was required reading for my British Literature class. It's the only novel in the class that I struggled with and only struggled from boredom. It is entirely possible that I just do not understand the genius that is Forster, but I did not enjoy this novel. A lover of Forster or Modernist writing might enjoy it more. It must be a classic for a reason.
",0
"The author shows she is obviously making a transition from poetry to prose with this novel.  Her sentences are long and wordy, and her numerous metaphors make little sense in their context.  She goes to great lengths to describe many little and unimportant details, causing the actual story to suffer from lack of content.  Her descriptions of life in general seem unreal - she describes things and events in a way that no person would do in the circumstance.

The storyline is decent in some places, but it is generally hard for the reader to follow.  Many times, I had to go back to read paragraphs and pages again to realize where the author was going.  It is true there were many points in which I wanted to stop reading all together, which is a rarity.

I was altogether disappointed in the book.  I thought it would be decent, from all the literary awards it had won, but it really was just pages of fluff and poetry disguised as prose
",0
"I got this as both a book and an audio file.  I had waited to read it and was surprised by both the enthusiasm of the content and its author, but also by how he snuck in some odd biblically unsound thoughts (e.g., I gasped when he suggested Christ went to Hell...what Bible passage evidences this?).

I agree with how he suggests the enemy is out to deceive us and keep us asleep...but wonder if I go further how much more Eldredge will slip in of his own peculiar biblical misintrepretations.  Where were his editors when this was being written?  Why take sensible good sections and mar them with oddities?

I havent read all the reviews here but as one of those ""conservatives"" frequently mentioned in them I have to admit I may not even finish this book for fear of what else Eldredge has slipped up on.

I did appreciate his story about Daniel and the ""delayed"" angel...but am left wondering if I need go deeper into researching that as possible misintepretation too.

What a shame this book is turning into such a questionable venture for me.  We are at war as the author suggests and we must guard the source material well..the Bible well.  So far...I may join others and ditch this valiant attempt to energize Christians and return to the Word itself.

I wonder if I can get a refund
",0
"Mark Furman cab be a brilliant detective but he is not a medical examiner. This is the same guy who almost imediately solved the OJ murder case while at the same time being shown to be a racist by his previous interview. One big plus and one big minus 
resulting in a not guilty verdict. Mark has been shown to be a liability in anything involving ethics. He can add nothing to the Terry Schiavo story.
",0
"I've been following BPRD since the very beginning and feel that I can say with all sincerity, that this series gets better and better with each new story!  The TPB's are absolutely the way to go if you don't frequent comic stores (which I do).  So do yourself a favor and purchase all of the TPB's, kick back in an easy chair with a stock of time set aside, and enjoy these bad boys to your hearts content
",0
"i'vc had this book since i was 7 years old. i loved the awesome photos of echanis doing his thing. if you like the elaborate and complex, then this is the knife fighting book for you. there are simpler ways of ""getting it done"", but few are more fun to try. and, by the way, if any of you are curious as to how he died, he was killed while ""training"" in nicaragua. hmmm . . 
",0
"More Than Human is one of those books that has garnered high praise from the science fiction community because of its strong prose and original ideas.

The writing is often compared to that of Faulkner but I wouldn't make that connection having read a few of Faulkner's works.  Sturgeon uses many of Faulkner's narrative trademarks (i.e. streaming conscious, first person perspective of low IQ individuals, disorienting changes in first person narrative) but I didn't feel the net effect really compared to say something like As I Lay Dying.

I love science fiction books and the readers in general love the genre which is why they want it to be taken seriously.  This results in undue adulation and comparisons to mainstream books.  More Than Human is slow, dated and not what I would describe as genre transcending nor would I recommend it to others.  So the idea might of been original in the 50's but topics like telekenesis, ESP, computer-brain babies, and self produced morality and ethos have all been tackled more successfully in other science fiction classics before (Asimov) and since.  This book rarely set off that wow! button in my head or kept me turning pages.  This book simply did not have enough meat in it to make it anything more than mediocre at best.

In 1953 there were 5 Hugo Award nominees for best science fiction book (Determined in a retro hugo award ballot in 2004)  The Retro Hugo awards are fascinating because the voting (in this example) takes place 50 years later so the impact of the book on society can't really be ignored.  Besides More Than Human, the far superior The Caves Of Steel, Childhood's End, and Farenheit 451 were among the other entries in a banner year for classic sci-fi.  Needless to say, More Than Human did not win (Farenheit 451 did and rightfully so)

Bottom Line:  I wanted to like this book and it doesn't surprise me that others give it such high praise.  These are probably people that don't read other genres enjoy congratulatory wankfests
",0
"Oh, how I wanted to love Devon's book! He was such a charming rascal in ""Wicked..."" and such a bore in ""Sinful.."". There was no meat to this story. The back of the books summarizes it nicely. What would have made a better short story in an anthology was dragged on for over 300 pages. I admit I only made through about half before skimming and realizing it wasn't going to get any better.

There's no sizzling tension, the love scenes weak, and the mystery is predictable. I had such high expectations for this Boscastle book since Drake's was brilliant and Devon's character seemed such a lovable rogue.

Not a keeper for me.



",0
"I read this book with an open mind.  I am familiar with the tremendous criticism that has arisen from claims that survivors of child abuse may use their backgrounds to claim some sort of privileged status.  In a few cases, I think this criticism may be legitimate; in other cases, not.  So I was interested to see if there were perhaps legitimate reasons to criticize survivors of the Holocaust or their advocates in the Jewish community.  

(Note:  I am not equating child abuse and the Holocaust.  I am saying that when people speak up about terrible things, there is often a tendency to see them as whiners who are shirking their responsibilities.  All things do not have to be equally terrible to promote this societal reaction.)

I didn't find anything in this book to convince me of that.  What I found was to me an unconvincing and highly subjective summary of the Jewish reaction to the Holocaust, in which the author claims that it did not become a big deal until a long time after it was over, and that it was made into a big deal for illegitimate reasons, but this discussion is so subjective and brief that I was not persuaded to adopt his point of view.  

The bulk of the book consists of complaints that Jewish organizations unfairly extorted money from countries such as Switzerland.  The argument becomes fairly technical here and evaluating it is beyond me because I have never read the reports (""audits,"" etc.) to which the author refers.  But I think that focusing so narrowly on money misses the point.  I expected to see a general discussion of the ways in which the author alleges that an emphasis on the Holocaust caused some Jews to ""play the victim card,"" and what I got was a very indepth discussion of several fights about money about which I have no way of determining the truth of the author's allegations.

To me it seems obvious that the Holocaust was a terrible atrocity with devastating consequences for the Jews, and many lives were destroyed or damaged as a result.  It seems reasonable to me that the Jewish community would insist that society recognize the destruction and damage, and to the extent that this book detracts from this, I think it is unfortunate
",0
"I am not sure why the author thought he had something to offer on this subject.  There was no original thought or useful lessons on the topic that was promised by the title.  I read this book because it was the subject of an on-line book club for public health leaders but will be much more discriminating in the future regarding the purchase of books that are recommended by this group.
",0
"I wonder if Jance wrote this just to get a movie credit based on her novel. One cannot help but be suspicious of writers who shift gears in their careers and write in a Tom Clancy or John D. Macdonald style just because that's what film-going audiences like. I do not think this is a bad thing, but I, like some of the reviewers here, are so fed up with clich plots that just borrow from i.e., Macdonald's ""Cape Fear,"" or use that tired Native American romanticism that certainly sells the box office tickets through the roof. As for her writing style, she really should stay away from those scenes where character developments have not fully grown. What we're left with are people who are one dimensional like both the Walker parents, Davy, his fiancee, and to some extent, Lani, who just never convinced me that she had the fire of the budding Medicine Woman. Her male voice is very forced machismo that is typical of female writers who are testosterone-challenged. The men in this novel just weren't credible when they spoke. I kept seeing Jance speaking for them. So we're left with a high-concept piece that is still waiting for Hollywood to call and possibly star Penelope Cruz as Lani Walker. What's the Tohono O'otham word for ""2 thumbs down?&quot
",0
"The daughter of a prominent Boston doctor is dead, apparently from a botched abortion (which was illegal in the late 60's).  Dr. John Berry's friend, Art Lee, is in jail for the crime, which he says he didn't commit.  So, Dr. Berry sets out to prove his friend's innocence, and runs into cover-ups and lots of secrets.  But there are many doubts, such as was the girl really pregnant, and did Dr. Lee actually perform the surgery, and why is Dr. Berry so interested in finding the culprit?

For Michael Crichton's first novel, it's not bad, but nowhere near as good as some later ones.  The plot is marginally interesting, but it was hard to keep characters straight and the dialog didn't sound very natural.  Dr. Berry (who just takes the whole work week off to investigate) talks more like a cheesy ""private eye"" than a doctor.  Also annoying was the use of footnotes and endnotes to explain various medical terms and concepts - nice to know but annoying to look up
",0
"""Col Mike Martin"" raised in Iraq, speaks fluent arabic.........

The Taliban are Pashtoon, they are not arabs, they don't speak arabic, they don't even like arabs very much. They are a totaly closed tribal society. I spent a year living and working with the Pashtoon in 2005 in Helmand Province. There are no members of the Taliban who are not Pashtoon. The other ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the Tajik and the Hazara, are opposed to the Taliban.

Mike Martin would not have the correct family, clan and tribal ties and background to carry this off.

Sorry, but Forsythe has dropped the ball on this one.
",0
"The Scientific Method applied to this book:

1) Form a hypothesis:  Great managers do something differently than mediocre managers.
2) Conduct an experiment:  Interview 80,000 managers.
3) Analyze data: ???this step is missing???
4) Draw conclusions: Write this Book.

With the exception of the ""12 questions"", the authors make no attempt to back any their conclusions with the results of their study.  They make several insightful statements, such as ""many managers say they would like to define the right outcomes.""  However, they do not even attempt to tell the reader how the study led them to this statement.  Did 90% of the managers interviewed state this?  Did 60% of the great managers state this while only 10% of the mediocre managers did?  Does ""many managers"" mean 100 managers?  100 managers seems like ""many managers"" at first, but considering 80,000 were interviewed I 100 managers is a negligible amount.  The entire book consists of several rational statements that are not supported by their study.  

It seems to me that after conducting a huge study to find out what great managers do differently, the authors found almost no common trends.  However, since they put a lot of money and effort into conducting the study, they needed something to show for it and wrote this book.  If Buckingham and Coffman didn't claim this book was a result of ""the largest study of its kind,"" I would say it offers some decent advice;  however, since it does make this claim, I wish they would have back up their conclusions so the readers would be able to determine how valid they are.  
",0
"Talk about self-absorbed...I guess the ego and the love of self this man displays are essential to success in business...I thought the man made some good points, but few are helpful to anyone in the real world (or outside  the newspaper business).  Nausea sets in after the second chapter.   Neuharth will die an old, lonely, rich man.  Respected by many, hated by  nearly all.  Luckily, I didn't have to sit through this entire book.  I put  it down quickly
",0
"This book is poor. It 's not ""philosophical"" in any sense because it's not logical and it's not supported by the majority of music scholars today. Reimer contradicts himself at every turn; he doesn't understand what Langer is really saying; and. his absolutist notion of music is completely out of synch with what most scholars argue about music today. Reimer just mouths a lot of fluffy, feel-good nonsense
",0
"Having read Detective Comics #471-479 in the 70s done by this same creative team, I picked this up, hoping for more of the same. What a let-down! 

I have to ask - What Happened!?

The art on those erstwhile 70s issues was the finest, most detailed art I'd ever seen in a comic-book. I think that was due mostly to the inking of Terry Austin. When he was working on X-Men, he gave John Bryne's pencils that fine detail as well.

Has Austin done a 'Gil Kane' and given up his nib-and-ink to work with marker-pen? This Dark Detective series shows none of the fine-ness of his previous work. You only have to compare the 'flash-backs' of this series to the original Detective Comics issues to see that something is wrong.

Maybe Austin or Rogers are getting older, but the artwork is very basic, and lacks the sheen they used to produce. The art sometimes actually reminded me of Bob Kane's early work.

The story also is a little unbelievable. It portrays Bruce as a love-sick puppy and just doesn't ring true. 

Also, the lettering is - well, it's been hand-done, by Rogers I surmise, and is quite uneven. It should have been done by computer.

I'm sorry - I SO wanted to like this, but it's nothing like the calibre of work that this creative team produced in their glory days of the 70s. 
",0
"It takes indeed some real power to get so many five-star reviews for such shallow writing.  This book is a very poor way of handling thw well-known concept of paradigms and paradigm shifts.  If you are at all familiar with these concepts simply forget buying this book as (just because you paid money for it) you will naturally be inclined to read it and this will be a total waste of time and energy.  There are so many books on creativity, innovative thinking and innovation; look for them.  This is a book on nothing: was it a busines book on business models?  Was it a cookbook for personal development?  What was this for god's sake, apart from being an insult on iltelligence
",0
"I was very disappointed in the content. There were not enough color plates and transparency in the color was lacking. Many of the instructions were used with black and white sketches and plates. Many of Kautskys subjects and scenes appeared to me to be ""pre watercolor career"" pencil sketches which I recognized.

Dark somber and sparse in my opinion
",0
"There is only one 100% whole grain bread recipe in this book.  Most of them are less than 50% whole grain.  If you want healthy bread recipes try ""Breadtime"" by Cheney or ""The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book"" by Robertson.  Every recipe in both of those books is 100% whole grain.  I doubt that most people considering a book titled ""Whole Grain Breads..."" are looking for recipes that contain just a small portion of whole grain ingredients.  With that being said I thought the book had some good recipes and was well written.  Therefore, I am willing to give it 2 stars as opposed to none. 
",0
"Good Lord, people must be busier than I thought. If you haven't been allowed to even think about your future after retirement, then maybe you will get something out of this book.  For the rest of us, this is drivel
",0
"First off I'd like to tell you that this is only the second Star Wars book I've ever read, 'Jedi Search' being the first. I actually liked the first book, it drew upon the Star Wars lore well and was a decent read. However, this book made me groan in so many places that I felt almost compelled to create an account here to have a little rant about it (BE WARNED, THIS MAY CONTAIN A FEW SPOILERS). Thusly:

How much of the book was wasted with overly long descriptions? It reminds me of a 'Little Britain' sketch where a woman author is dictating her new book and starts reading the Bible out to make up the space! I don't mind the story being 20-odd pages shorter if it comes to the point!

For some bizarre reason the author seems to have taken every opportunity to 'ground' the story by CONSTANTLY relating to the Star Wars films. For example, when Wedge and the scientist go to that forest-resort planet and meet the alien ambassador there, he says something along the lines of: I was actually in the cantina in Mos Eisley when Luke met Han and Chewbacca, little did I know the brush I had with history there.... GAHHHHHHH!!! WHY!? HOW DID HE KNOW!? it didn't need it!! *bangs head on desk*

He does this throughout the two books I've read so far!! how about the will to stick your own neck out and come up with something new without 'proving' that it's true by telling the readers that it was from a certain scene in one of the films?

Then there's Admiral Daala. Made an Admiral because of her brilliant military skills and quick thinking.... so what is she doing in this? she's reviewing recordings of speeches given by Tarkin over military tactics and following them to the letter and losing! It's only the end of the second book and she's down to 1 star destroyer! She should live up to her reputation and at least have a few successful campaigns before the inevitable happens. (i.e. the rebellion win)

He then goes on to waste an absolutely brilliant idea, that of having a Jedi Academy (the point of the trilogy!). There's so much that could have been done here - new and original training for the Jedi, but no - he has the Jedi go two-by-two into the forest (holding hands?) to *sense* things... it's meant to be a sci-fi series! something could have been done to make this SO much better!

I was incensed to find that Luke was actually made 'boring' in this book. Part of my motivation for starting to read the series in the first place was to see how Luke had grown. It all started very promisingly in the first book, having learnt that Luke had turned to the dark side and come through it all with the love of his friends and was now more powerful than ever! (cool! I thought). It got to the stage where I'd dread coming back to the Jedi parts of the story because he was so dull.

The other trainee Jedi needed serious character development (they were 1 dimensional!) - entering every scene with Luke surveying them noting how well they were progressing just wasn't good enough.

As other reviewers have said - one of his students goes rogue, somehow gains the knowledge of building a super-lightsabre (great idea btw!! we need more of that!) then is discovered burnt to death in his quarters... and Luke just meditates about it!? *grr*

Okay all that being said it was 'okay' and on the strength of the first book I will be reading the next book (it's like a car accident - you've just got to look!).
",0
"Extremely difficult to dig through the excessive examples in order to find the relevant theorems and results. Because of this, the problems at the end of each chapter become exercises in tedium, as more time is spent searching for the necessary theorems in the text than in actually working out the solution. 

I do not recommend
",0
"Maybe it is me but this novel was about as exciting as watching the grass grow.  It is the first mystery novel that I have read by a female author and I hope that it is not representative of the gender.  But, by the reviews here, all by women, I can see that Jance writes to that crowd.  Her readers seem to like being taken down the aimless boring pass of relationship drible. If you want to spend 10 pages with the main character sitting and talking about nothing in her mothers house or on her friends porch talking about their health than this book is for you.  It is amazing that Jance can start great with the murder scene and then 200 pages later start uncovering her first clue, the insulin bottle.  Jance gives no indication that Oak Vista or the stranded stranger are even remotely related to the story. Do not start this book it is absolutely a total waste of time.  If you want a good mystery read Coben, Crais, Patterson or Michael Connely
",0
"""The Other Boleyn Girl"" and ""The Queen's Fool"" are two of the best books I've ever read--and I've read a LOT of books, especially about this period, which especially fascinates me. They were gripping to the end, and my involvement with the characters was complete--true masterpieces. So whenever a new book by Philippa Gregory comes out, I buy it, hoping to have the same experience, and lately have been sorely disappointed. ""The Virgin's Lover"" fell flat, and now I am trying to read this book but not finding myself engaged, must give it up. One reviewer suggested the books were being written too quickly--that is always an easy guess, however it depends on the writer. Anthony Trollope, for instance, was able to turn out amazing book after amazing book with incredible speed. That may or may not be the case with Gregory. I know, as a writer myself, that there are times when the work flows out, feeling almost as if it's channeled from another source, and times when it's harder, more mechanical. The more challenging situations are those when I'm not entirely convinced or in love with my subject. So to me, neither of these books feels as if they spring from a natural impulse. They feel forced, constructed. I'm going back to Trollope
",0
"This is another piece of lowbrow anti-German propaganda dressed as historiography.

The book is a mess of primary, yet selective and biased historical research, simplistic psycho-babble, ridiculous sociological-anthropological speculation, pathetic organization behavioural theorising and last but not least, absolutely third rate military history. The author is hell bent on proving that there is a German Sonderweg from the founding of the Second Reich to Hitler, that the vaunted German Army is nothing but foolish automatons predisposed to atrocities and mindless offensives.

All in all, cheap trash billed as history.

",0
"Not even worth finishing this book!  This author does not know enough to even write this book!  I have personal connections with Blackwater and I know not one of the employees is even close to what he makes them out to be.  It is a one sided story not based on facts, which it what most writers do, but purely fiction!  The only few misfortunes Blackwater has had is what he bases his book on, not the postive stories that I hear about everyday.  Don't waste your money
",0
"I read some raving reviews about this book, but I admit, I was quite disappointed.  Factual, I'm sure, but it lacks details and tries to touch on too much without going into any depth.  Many other pregnancy books go into further detail
",0
"I am a Jew living in a college town in Mississippi for the past 5 years. I was born & raised in the North. I think Evans should rename his book ""Fiddler on the Roof in the South"". His book is a very nostalgic look back at Jewish history - as it was in the past here. It's very much: the southern Jews were all so happy, they all fit in and were accepted, etc. He does cite a few instances where they had problems - but these usually involved us 'Yankee Jews', like the instances when a few (Yankee)Rabbis in the South fought for civil rights. 
Evans should realize that times have REALLY CHANGED HERE! The evangelical Christians in my town (which is most people here) harrass me like crazy - 'I am praying for you!' 'Have you read the words of Jesus, who was a Jew like you?' 'When will you come to my Church'. Blah, blah, blah. Thank God for the minority of Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians and a few others who live here. They are the only ones to accept me for the way I am, and the way I will stay - a Jew. 
I want all who are reading this to realize that I am only speaking for my experience. Jews who reside in cities in the South have told me that they have had far better experiences, and that they cannot relate to what I am saying.
But I do want to ask Evans a few questions:
1) If things are so great for the Jews in the South: Why have you lived in New York for decades now???
2) Why don't you at least write either a new Forward to the book, a magazine article, etc., contrasting some of the ways in which the lives of Jews in the South have changed over time (for some of us at least), primarily due to the rise of the evangelical Christians?
I read Evans' books before I moved here, and nothing much he describes in his books is my life here. For a Jew who really cares about her/his religion living here is depressing; it is practically Jew-less; and, at best, the majority of a certain denomination of Christians here ignore me. (By the way, I am planning to move to a city!)
By the way, don't bother writing to me to tell me that I am ""wrong"", or to invite me to things like the Bible Study at your Church. Believe me, with all the praying for me that is going on in this town, and all the myriad attempts to convert me, if it hasn't happened by now, as they say in these parts, it just ain't gonna happen
",0
"I typically do not read stories like this, but a neighbor had lent it to me and I figured I'd check it out.  The plot isn't bad, but the dialogue is another story.  The writing was so unbelievably awful that I had to fight myself to finish it.  Phrases like ""God damn, Oh god, etc..."" were repeated over and over again. I got really sick hearing about Tess's cute freckles and Jimmy's movie star looks/sex drive.  The majority of the story line between Tess and Jimmy has them arguing over a one night stand.  It was 300 + pages of pretty bad writing.  I'd strongly recommend taking a pass on this book. Not worth your time unless you are looking to take a mini-break from Harlequin romances...
",0
"Let me get myself straigh here first. I have always been a fan of the Artemis Fowl series even though its started to fall into ruins. I loved the first one, and it was a wicked twist to the standard fairy tale stuff i ussually have to plow through, with the protangonist antoagonizing the fairies, instead of saving them from some kind of ""evil"" foe. Also the fairies were pretty cool, and had all of the problems of normal people such as sexism. They were high tech and armed with laser guns. Unfortunately the author put Artemis on the helping side of the fairies which took out some of the pizzaz.

Now let me rewiew this particular book. ITs a horrible read. who in their right mind would read something about a twelwe year old kid who investigates mysteries with no new innovative concepts?
no me. now add the fact that this mystery is completely absurd, i mean seriously a ""barbie"" doll girl who gets kids expelled from school just because they're boys. How old is the author anyways? two years old? well obviously he's not married thats for sure. I always thought that these books were aimed at 13 and 14 year olds, not four year olds. Anyways enough of that, the author also proceeds to put in someothing about a talent show and other garbage abouta possesive father. I read Colfer because he writes futuristic books, that are predominetely fantasy not preschool level books about an obssesed teen ager who doesn't even solve robberies, instead he investigates some dumb boys vs girls war.

All of the wicked humor is lost, there is no action whatsoever, the main charecter isn't a genius with wicked humor, and the book reeks of drawn of bits from the others. Heavily downgraded, adn obviously the worst parts. DO NOT EVEN READ THIS THING. get some other artemis fowl books, or read Alex Rider,. thats a very good read.
",0
"Let me start by saying that normally I'm a big Popcorn fan. I read any article that she's quoted in. I've read ""The Popcorn Report"" at least twice and loved it. The same for ""Clicking."" Great book. They're part of my permanent library.

So I was more than disappointed after the first few chapters of EVEolution. I hung in there as long as I could, but the male bashing that pervades the early part of the book overwhelmed whatever golden nuggets were in its way. I just couldn't tolerate reading any more.

Perhaps her comments about or against men are warranted in some people's view, but I didn't see how they fit in with the intent of the book. The comments seemed gratuitous and unnecessary.

So hopefully her next book will be better.


",0
"I'm a big Nora fan, but I couldn't even finish this one. By the fourth chapter I began to skim. WAY WAY WAY to much detail for me. Which made it boring and slow. Testing and corrosion, is it fake, is it real ...blah blah blah. ENOUGH! I did however enjoy the side story about the brother (I forget his name). But thats it folks. Unlike ALL the other reviewers, I hated it. I say PASS on this one. But as you can see, I'm in the minority
",0
". . .uninspired and unsatisying. The writing style is Austinesque, but the insipid plot and shallow character development are definetly not. Margaret's motives and emotions are obscure, and the author's assertion that her ""heroine"" has wit and intelligence is never illustrated by word or deed. Quite the contrary . . 
",0
"Will somebody please tell me what the appeal is? Yes, I know it's a classic. But it's a really, really boring classic. The prequel to Charlotte Bronte's, Jane Eyre, is the story of Bertha Mason's childhood whose literary conceit is to tell us why Bertha went nuts. It's also a didactic dinosaur relic of the 1960s that traces the source of her madness to the fact that they didn't like little French girls in Jamaica. Racism, sexism, and classism drove Bertha `round the bend. There. I've saved you the trouble of reading it. Now re-read Jane Eyre instead
",0
"I love to read great books like BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley or FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD by Thomas Hardy. I love THE AENEID by Virgil, THE ODYSSEY by Homer. I read both long versions of LES MISERABLES and THE HUNCHBACK OF NORTE DAME by Victor Hugo. I read THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE by Gibbons and gained much knowledge from doing so. I LOVE TO READ.

But GREAT EXPECTATIONS was a GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT! I was somewhat amused until chapter ten where I felt the book became psycho-babble. I was also disappointed in TALE OF TWO CITIES. I could not endure the first two chapters! Dickens did a fine job on THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. But I will NEVER read another of his books
",0
"I think its not wise to refer to only one source here is one of the testmonies:

""I was born in Israel (Palestine then) to a well-known Jewish religious family. We are living in Israel for many generations; well before the Zionists infiltrated the Middle East. Jews and Moslems always lived in peace in Palestine until the Zionists came from Europe, massacred the Palestinians (Dir Yassin, etc.) and forced them to run away from their lands and get locked into the refugee camps across the borders for almost three generations. 

Studying in a Jewish religious school in Tel Aviv, I was taught that the 'bad Arabs' conducted pogroms all over Palestine killing Jews. My family told me the opposite: we lived in Palestine in peace for generations with our Moslem brothers. When the Zionists started their pogroms (Dir Yassin), the Moslem acted in revenge and started their own pogroms, killing Jews. However, our Moslem friends actually saved the lives of our family by hiding us in their own houses at a risk to their own lives. ""
http://www.rense.com/general54/thank.htm

you can make your search with many of the Anti-Zionism Jewish organization all over the world.
",0
"This is my first Ludlum book and it is sure to be my last.  The plot is preposterous because of Ludlum's limited understanding of economics and history.  Once you realize that, all interest in the story falls away.  It starts off plausible enough...and the blurbs on the jacket imply some ""weapon"" more powerful than a mere 270 million dollars!  Hitler gained power because of the alignment of a number of situations that made the ground fertile for his brand of megalomania.  Some spoiled, rich American brat and his fortune would hardly make a difference to the currents of history.  I know that this is only supposed to be a work of fiction, and it is all in good fun, but the plot-concept needs to be much more believable to hold my interest.  If you don't need logic in your fiction, it's interesting enough as a cloak and dagger story, but it falls far short in the historical (and economic) fiction department
",0
"Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz is a story about an American girl who grows up in China. She spends a good part of her life wishing she could be in America, where she belongs. WHen she's not doing that, she's
corresponding with her grandmother,
trying to make friends with some young chinese children,
and learning british culture in school.
	As you can see, Jean Fritz would be an excellent storywriter had she made it up. However, this story is an autobiography, and is in almost no way fictional. Jean Fritz is an excellent storywriter anyway, though. Jean Fritz describes the setting as if her pen were a plane ticket. Her story line makes it difficult to locate the plot, or even understand the full story. The autobiography is punctuated by emotions. All in all, this is a fine educational history text, but is not, in my opinion, a fitting storybook
",0
"This book was a huge disappointment. Sue Grafton and Kinsey meander all over California but come up with nothing of substance. The author spent more time describing the decor of a hospital room than explaining the murder motive. The characters and their actions are bogus and contrived. For example, Kinsey becomes emotionally attached to a young prostitute she met two days before. It doesn't work because it isn't real. It is Sue Grafton bending her characters into grotesque positions as she tries to force a plot into this dull mess. The story makes little sense as we try to follow the seemingly interminable clues and innumerable side characters. When it was all over, I still didn't know why the murders had been committed. 
Save your eyesight! Do not bother picking up this book
",0
"Was given this book as a freebie--someone must be buying up copies.  For an Austinite, this adoring account of the life of a hasbeen fifth-string techno-celebrity is a little embarrassing in its breathlessness--kind of reminds one of the courtiers who saluted when Louis the XIV's chamber pot was carried by, except this isn't the Sun King, guys.  Get a life, or at least an authentic artist to swoon over--all of Garriott's stuff was strictly derivative.  Now that we have the real Lord of the Rings to watch, who cares about cheap imitations
",0
"I'll start with the positive:  The main character is a classic hero in every sense of the word - tall, good-looking, smart, humble, etc.  The story was engaging and made for a quick read because it was easy to follow, carried the reader along and crafted as to have no wasted words.  In short, it was a competent work of fiction. 

That's where my praise ends, because this is the type of work that contributes to our national problems by feeding false stereotypes and radical agendas.  Sure, it's a work of fiction, no one is going to take it seriously, yada yada yada.  But that's not true, is it?  So many people in this country believe that this the plot of this book is plausible and even to be encouraged - - just look at the reviews to find the believers.

Alright, here are my problems with it:

First, politicians are corrupt and will sell-out anyone to maintain power, but that's not true if you're a conservative farm-boy elected despite your honesty from a midwestern state.  In Term Limits, Vince Flynn just beats you over the head with the ""power corrupts"" mantra - he doesn't show it in the actions so much as just repeats it like the chorus of a bad rap song, yet from the lips of the Marine Combat Veteran Congressman who is our protagonist.  You know what, though?  There are people in politics on BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE who really want to do what's right, who really are trying to make a difference for the positive, for this nation and the citizens.  In this book, however, the public is a tool to be used and treated as if they aren't smart enough to make good decisions.

Second, murder is a viable answer.  This repeats another mantra that conservatives repeat often - that they do the hard fighting and living to protect this nation and its freedoms so that the liberals can live in their fantasy-land.  Come on, get real.  This book touts a Special Forces Unit as being so committed to the Constitution that they are willing to murder high-level politicians and threaten the president with assassination if he doesn't balance the budget.  And, they get away with it because it's really the right side to be on.  Murdering our leaders is the answer according to Vince Flynn.  Murder solves the obvious weakness that we have as a nation, that being elections.  Elections apparently just get in the way.

Third, the balanced budget.  For years and years - until the time this book was written - conservatives cried about the budget.  The book makes it the central theme.  Balance the budget and make us fiscally responsible.  It's important enough for a military coup supported by the protagonist of this novel.  A Coup!!!  Yet, when the conservatives did take power, despite Vince Flynn's prescient forecasting ability, they ran the deficit into uncharted territory and didn't flinch.  Even when confronted by this atrocity of fiscal irresponsibility, they claim that NOW!!!!! the deficit isn't a big deal, that it's really just a function of the percentage of GDP and we ought to all forget about it.  This book starkly reveals the disconnect between conservative priorities of the 90's and the realized result nearly two presidential terms later.  It's like looking back in time to a parade of nit-wits.

Fourth, the good guys don't do bad things.  The Special Ops team kills only who they want and never any innocents - just the politicians.  The bad guys leave a wake of messy slaughter and civilians whenever they use murder as a tool.  Flynn spends way too much time making this point and beating the reader over the head with it . . . killing is good when only your target dies . . . but whatever happened to that oh so famous, though shalt not?

- CV Ric
",0
"I hope the ending is illogical at least and is fiction. If thoughts are that powerful, they need to be resrained earlier. I don't know who survivied but he might feel very guilty about the others earlier and question if he had to survive. Logic can be quite painful when left alone, but sometimes it has to be
",0
"I have no idea how this book has received the ratings it has so far. I am a Lead Software Verification Engineer and am a perl programmer (for 10 years now) and found this book a complete waste of time and money. It has zero new ideas. The book tells you how to write standard tests for perl (this could have been accomplished in 2 pages). I love the format of the book. Please look elswhere if you wanna learn about perl or testing or perl testing
",0
"I was reading about my son.  It all sounded familiar and the concepts and suggestions made good sense.  Really talked about a framework of letting the decision making (and the consequence of their decision) remain with the teen. Then half way the book screeched in a new direction.  All of a sudden the book went from experienced practitioner point of view to subjective parent point of view.  When it comes to sex the authors don't want you to leave the decision with the teens, they want to take that one back, which weakens the premise they present.

The authors danced around abstinence while never taking a really firm position - which I would have respected, if not agreed with.  Then in the middle of that chapter one of the authors invokes Christ into the conversation/solution.  If I knew this book was written in context of a particular belief system, I wouldn't have spent the $22.  I would have wanted to know that in advance.  Tripping over this midbook has completely disappointed me and diminished the content and message of this book.

Buyer Bewar
",0
"First off anyone who gave this book five stars was employed by the publisher to up the rating that simple. I mean look at some of them they are so cheesy one of them actually refers to the author as Mr. Miller who is he brown nosing for sounds like a greeting card they are so ""textbooky"" and insincere. The book itself is almost entirely filler on how to read music (which half the music books in Borders are or they are just giant scale books that are reemed out like saw dust totally useless,  which leads to the great difficulty on how to actually find an explantion to this jargon and then someone comes along and says they have an answer that will make things clear but then they fall short)  up until half the the book and many times periodically things are just repeated terminology loosely defined such as hook which is just recording industry jargon not theory. Book never goes into the physical principals that would actually explain some things in it as to why the notes themselves are in the order they are such as acoustics, never got an answer as to what a whole step or a half step was by the way and when I asked many teachers and questioned them they knew nothing or gave a circular answer defining it themselves without an outside reference only to find that they were just parroting it all along. The problems with this is everything is assumed in the entire field. I recommend the only book that I have found that made some sense to me called Fractals in Music by Charles Madden much more organized and assembles things from the very beginning working into more and more complex shapes and structures.
",0
"When I found ""Hour Game"" in paperback at our local library's monthly book sale, I thought I had hit pay dirt.  But I cannot believe that this author who wrote such gripping gems such as ""The Winner"" and ""Absolute Power"" could turn out such a dog.  Long, boring, and confusing.  I fear that Mr. Baldacci hired an ""aspiring young writer"" to ""help"" him crank out a quick book. I cannot pass this book along to my friends -- I couldn't do that to them.  It will be tossed into our blue recycle bin.  What a waste.  What a shame.
",0
"I first read this book back in the mid-80s after watching the miniseries starring Gary Cole as Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald.  The miniseries absolutely riveted me, as did this book.  But upon repeated readings, I began to pick up inaccuracies and errors. I found that the book, rather than answering questions about this case, caused me to question more and more. 
Joe McGinniss, while never a stellar writer to begin with, was eventually exposed as the worst kind of writer, twisting facts and quotes to serve his own purpose, which was to sell his theory and therefore, his book.  I have nothing against Mr. McGinniss forming his own opinion as to Dr. MacDonald's guilt or innocence, but to omit certain facts and blatantly lie about others and misquote principals and research in order to further your own propaganda is sickening.  
If you want Joe McGinniss' theory on how and why the murders happened, with no regard to the cold hard facts and legal evidence, pick this book up.  If you want to read about the case, with all the facts in place both supporting and questioning Dr. MacDonald, do as other reviewers have suggested and read ""Fatal Justice"", a far more in-depth review of the case and evidence and form your own opinion. 
",0
"For the most part, the author seems to have pretty  good information for the time of the book's printing, but for anyone who wants to read this book on purely scientific terms, be warned; there are several places where the  book goes awry, for example: the author states that tracks of tyrranosaurus  indicate that it was a solitary animal, occasionally hunting in pairs.  Problem: no  tracks of a t. rex have been discovered to date, a decade and  a half after the writing. Aside from that and a few other points, though,  the book is good reading
",0
"I personally do not see how this book could have won a Newbery medal. While the author portrays sibling rivalry effectively, that is about the only positive aspect of this book. The fact that the teenage girl protagonist has a crush on an elderly man is disgusting and is presented as not only being acceptable but understandable. Sara's family is also unsupportive to her sulky and jealous attitudes. Her grandmother is a busybody and consantly antagonizes the family. Sara's twin sister gets all the attention and love, leaving Sara starving for parental care. Finally, Christianity is portrayed as harsh and judgemental. This book could possibly be acceptable for adults but never for children and I would not recommend it to anyone. I wasted my time with this book: please don't waste yours.
",0
"A subject of eternal fascination especially for basketball ""nuts"" who grew up in New York.   We idolized the terribly tarnished CCNY ""Wonder Five"" who set an unbreakable record by winning both the NIT and NCAA titles in 1950 (it can never be repeated because of the way the tournaments are now scheduled). This book is a fictional addendum to Rosen's non-fiction treatment of the original basketball ""scandals"", as he outlines in his NPR interview. Unfortunately there are glaring albeit minor errors -- Broadway and 43rd Street cannot be on the east side of Manhattan; Madison Square Garden has been on 23rd Street, and is now above Penn Station; in between it occupied the block bounded by 49th and 50th Streets and Eighth and Ninth Avenues.  These errors are particularly galling in a book by a New Yorker who played at Hunter College, and they undermine the author's credibility and care in writing. Since this is a fictionalized account of a real occurrence, the game of who is this really is inescapable.  Hence it is most unfortunate that Rosen in his interview avers that some players who were not prosecuted went on to pro careers, and ""a couple are in the Hall of Fame.""  This tarnishes by inclusiveness such stalwarts as Bob Cousy (Holy Cross, '49), Dick McGuire (St. Johns, '48), Bobby Wanzer (Seton Hall, '46), and Frank McGuire, the legendary coach at St. John's, North Carolina and South Carolina
",0
"Imposible to do so with no item received
",0
"Save yourself time and buy any book by Greg LeMond (Greg Lemond's Complete Book of Bicycling) or John Howard (John Howard's The Cyclist's Companion) -- they are both far better writers, well-rounded bicyclists, and honorable family men -- good role models for all true cycling athletes, young and old alike.  Lance Armstrong is good at chronicling his many bicycling events and achievements in this book, but what is notably missing from this text is the experience of a genuine champion.  Lance Armstrong would sell his own grandmother's last pair of socks in order to succeed -- leaving his family behind in order to pursue his one-dimensional goal of winning the Tour de France.  He sold his wife and three helpless kids for bicycling success and he degrades the sport and his wonderful family by publicly flaunting his association with a pathetic and desperate rock singer ... yawn.  Better to settle down with Greg LeMond's wonderful book for real depth, excitement, and rich experience and learn how to become a well-rounded cyclist and a real champion cycling athlete and family champion as well
",0
"Once upon a time I was given a vanity-published book to review. It was an illogical mess, full of breathtaking non-sequiturs. While reading ""Iron John,"" I couldn't help thinking of it. The vanity book, however, was at least entertaining.

John Eldredge refers to ""Iron John"" liberally in his book ""Wild at Heart,"" and because I considered that a ringing endorsement, I purchased a copy. I can't tell you what a chore it has been to finally finish reading it. The hardest part was not flinging it away in disgust about 17 times.

It's one thing to write a rambling tome full of obscure references; it's another to publish it. That people can slog through it and call it ""profound"" and ""important"" is baffling; what's even more mind-boggling is that people claim that this book ""spoke"" to them. I think it's a case of ""I'd better say I understand it, or people will think I'm not erudite."" Well, let me be erudite about it: ""Iron John"" is a big, steaming pile of New Age crapola. Don't say I didn't warn you
",0
"After anticipating the arrival of this book (that I ordered some time before publication after hearing of it), I was disappointed.  Although the subject is timely, the writing style smacks of academia and therefore, will not appeal to the mainstream (reader).  Because I'm tenacious by nature, I finished the book, but found my mind wandering throughout because it simply did not hold my attention.  Too bad - it could have been inspirational
",0
"Do you like romance novels? Do you call your dogs your babies? This is the book for you. The thriller aspect of this book is far overshadowed by the romance portion, and the annoyingly repetitious mentioning of the dog could possibly drive most readers over the edge. This was my first Johansen novel, and it most certainly will be my last. Two stars for actually wrapping up the story without leaving too many loose ends. 
",0
"This novel about a community in some desert village is written with the simplicity of language that one associates with old myths, and underlying the story are indeed echoes, sometimes close and sometimes rather distorted, of ancient myths.  God is allegorized as Gabalawi, the remote and mostly unseen owner of the estate of which the Children of the Alley are supposed to be his heirs.  The central character in each of the five stories is up against the selfish and oppressive overseers who dominate the estate and its inhabitants with the help of their retinue of gangsters.  The first of the stories evokes that of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the story of Cain and Abel; the second that of Moses and Pharaoh; the third that of Jesus; the fourth that of Muhammad.  

Then there is a fifth story, in which the central figure, a `magician',  is presumably a scientist.  He tries to discover the secret of Gabalawi  He fails to find it, but in the process he is  instrumental in the death of Gabalawi `who had been easier to kill than to see'. It makes no difference: the scientist, who has invented a weapon of great destructive power, is forced to put it at the service of the new overseer, and the Children of the Alley remain as oppressed as ever, though they remain hopeful that one day `magic' will put an end to their suffering.

Subtle the book is not, either in content or in style; and in my view is far too long and far too repetitive.  The overseers and the gangsters in each generation have different names, but as individuals they are indistinguishable one from another.  A large number of the characters are perpetually angry or violent.  They mostly `shout', `scream', `shriek', `yell', `cry' or `sneer', which becomes rather tiresome. 

The literary quality of this novel is, I think, greatly inferior to Mahfouz's rightly famous Cairo Trilogy which has contributed to his having become the only Arab to have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.  But it is a courageous book for an Egyptian to have written: it has been banned in Egypt;  its allegories enraged the Islamicists and led to an attempt on the author's life.
",0
"i love danielle steel! i`ve read ALL of her books so far.but secrets was a big disappointment to me.as far as i am concerned,ms.steel tried to change her style of writing in this book more to the kind of judith krantz or jackie collins (some explicit ""parts"" i didn`t like at all).simply NOT the danielle steel we like. the story itselfs is ok(gives the readers some ""insights"" behind the scenes of hollywood)but....
some of her books i`ve read over and over again. i am not going to touch secrets for a second time,however
",0
"I can see how instructors would be enthusiastic about this book, but unfortunately it will in no way help the student develop their ear training. Here's the problem. The book and CD basically outlines a METHOD of ear training, it is not ear training itself. For example, for each step of the book there is one and only one example on the CD. It is just that, an example, not a training. So, there is one 14 note ""lesson"" on intervals and from this you are supposed to magically learn how to identify all the major intervals. I don't think so. However, if you were an instructor then you could use that example as a starting point to develop your own lessons and work with students in recognizing intervals. You could spend a month on variations of that lesson itself since that's the core of ear training. In fact, if you're an instructor you can use the whole book as a blueprint for a year long curriculum from recognizing intervals to recognizing chords. 

By the way, the CD itself mostly uses really dull organ patches. The idea may have been to eliminate timbre as a distraction. However, since one of the goals of ear training is to distinguish timbre from tone, this is another example of how this book/CD in itself won't be of much use to students.
",0
"AGELESS BODY is Deepak's attempt to neutralize the word ""old"" as in old age.  The writer has a knack for making common words, like ""body, ""mind"" and ""self,"" into profound concepts.  His technique is to overlay his abstract ideas with suggestive experimental studies.  But ambiguity in interpreting these studies abound.

	If you like poetry, Deepak may be your read: ""The billions of changes occurring in our cells are only the passing scenery of life; (P. 36)""  Or try to interpret this one: ""The emptiness at the core of every atom is the womb of the universe; in the flicker of thought when two neurons interact there is an opportunity for a new world to be born. (P.40)"" 

	At times he attributes to cells and DNA a creative intelligence to direct their own construction and at other times his designer is invisible.  He would make a great spokesman for the current hocus pocus over ""intelligent design.""  He can't accept the growth of any cell, even a plant cell, without an intelligence involved.  He mentions and attacks evolution only one time on P. 115, asserting that the growth of a cell could never be a random process.

	Deepak ends up in the very same thought circle as every other writer who tries to explain life in scientific terms: Intelligence is a self organizing entity and every cell evolved is only intelligence having a conversation with itself.  Whether your word game tosses in the word ""quantum"" or not doesn't change much.  What a solipsistic thought; what a solipsistic world.  I wonder if his readers who actually experienced the oneness Deepak speaks of wouldn't, after awhile, go insane
",0
"This book should get 0 stars; speaking as an artist myself, the theories laid out in this book are ridiculous. The basic gist of the argument seems to be that the work completed by the old masters was just too difficult to have been done without the use of optics, etc. To me it sounds like the desperate argument of a man who did not have either the talent or the determination to attain the skill of a great master, and therefore spent years constructing an elaborate excuse.

Admittedly, I could not even finish this book; after reading for the nth time a line of shaky, circumstantial evidence like ""all artists know that the ellipse of that collar is very difficult to draw, but there are no correction marks, therefore optics must have been used,"" I could not even stand to keep reading! On the contrary, all artists who have spent time and dilligent effort in becoming technically skilled know that although that ellipse may be difficult, after a few years of daily drawing and painting it becomes second nature, and could very well be drawn naturally with minimal correction.

That is just one example... the book is filled with flaky examples such as those - Hockney claiming ""this is too good to have been done without optics"" or ""this was too difficult to have been done without optics"" - and I found myself thinking over and over that the man simply must not have been disciplined enough in his own art, if that is indeed what he thinks. And, modern artists must remember this: nowadays, the work of the old masters seems very difficult because in modern times artists get nothing like the education or practice time had by the old artists, for many reasons. Superior art education is very hard to find, and there are many distractions in the modern world (TV, computers, having to hold a 'day job', lack of patrons, etc.) and therefore modern artists usually lack discipline and do not live and breath art in quite the same way that the old masters did. Therefore, most will never attain the skill of the old masters. But that is certainly no reason to assume that the old masters could not have done what they did without the help of technology!

Some of the other examples used as 'evidence' refer to 'odd' proportion, perspective, etc. in otherwise masterful work. I am surprised that this author (and those readers who are artists) apparently does not realize that throughout history, great artists did NOT necessarily strive for EXACT realism - even nowadays, photorealism is not necessarily considered great art by many artists, because after all we are ARTISTS not cameras! The point of realist art is to ACCENTUATE the reality, not to copy it! Therefore, many inconsistencies in proportion, perspective, etc. evident in old masters' work are not 'oddities' or 'mistakes', but purposeful exaggerations or adjustments to benefit the composition. 

All that being said, I think this book may even be harmful to the budding artist, since it may cast doubt in the mind of the art student that he or she can build the skill necessary to paint in a masterful way without the help of 'trickery' or technology of some sort. Instead, an art student should be encouraged to build skill, discipline, and self-reliance - because THAT is the true secret of the great masters
",0
"This book expounds endlessly on how best to limit the impact of people on the backcountry in the very best traditions of the Sierra Club.  It's more of a philosophy book than a ""how to"" book.  If anyone wants to  learn how to backpack and/or camp, he would be better advised to buy the  several books by Karen Berger and Chris Townsend, in particular The  Backpackers Handbook
",0
"I did not finish the book (I got about 70% of the way through before I realized I could not bear to read one more page).  Maybe the remaining part of the book would have been better, but I doubt it.  This is the first time I can ever remember not even having even the slightest interesting in finishing a book.  The characters were flat and plot went nowhere.  Please - there are million of books out there.  Spare yourself, and find something else to read. Anything.
",0
"Ivalooshun is skary. i red the bibel. the bibel saez ivalooshun is bad. ivalooshun shud go away. i red wer sumwun saed the werld goez arund the sun but that is a lie. luk in the ski and yu can see the sun goe arund the werld. monsters is skary to. monsters shud goe away
",0
"Book goes over a lot of information in a very short time, but not much of that information is worth anything unless you're building a circle-track or drag car. Took the hit and ordered Stanforth's Competition Car Suspension
",0
"The only good thing about this book is that it was short. Even in writing about a great man with incredible contributions to our country, Gary Hart repeats himself over and over and over and over again. OK, the Monroe Doctrine is important, I GET IT!

I read about 2 or 3 presidential biographies per month and I cannot remember a book as bad as this. If you want a quick view of James Monroe, you can read the first chapter and skip the rest but this book is not good for more than that
",0
"After reading the trilogy, I was left wondering what the hell happened? I have just read all 3 of the His Dark Materials trilogy and what was a strong start in book 1 and 2 is utterly demolished in this clunker.
   Pullman allowed his eagerness to bash religion to completely destroy an engaging story - one of the most creative stories I've come across in 20 years of reading fantasy. There isn't even a remote chance of a sequel to fix up this mess. If you look up `anticlimax' in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of this book. From first page to last, time is wasted on boring characters, while all the good ones are either killed off, or just MIA for the entire book. Spoilers ahead.
  What about Lyra and her parents? Somehow, she never knows what happened to them and after all she has been through is supposed to be content with going back to school like a good little girl? She never even confronts them to try and understand their motivations. And Will just goes back with Mary Malone to her apartment so they can figure out how to avoid the cops. Over a cup of tea, naturally. And that's it for him.
In addition to all that, this book doesn't even seem to be connected to the first two. None of the characters resonate they way they used to and instead of being good friends, Will and Lyra fall in love and have sex at the tender age of 11 or 12 . . .  all in the last 30 pages. What happened to the story, for cripes sake?!  And what happened to the `temptation'? Was choosing not to stay with Will her way of not succumbing to it? The whole premise is just so lame to start out with. As an earlier reviewer pointed out all the windows that were opened for centuries didn't endanger the universe, why not leave one open for 60 or 70 years to give Lyra and Will a chance to know each other. The flimsy reasoning behind this is just as contrived as their sudden and immediate love for one another. Supposedly, they had more than gonads going for them, they survived death together!
  Pullman didn't feel like thinking it through, he just wanted a gut wrenching ending. In addition to that, he wanted to mock the reader by taunting us with the `reality' of knowing that nothing they did in the trilogy has any hope or meaning. All of Will and Lyra's efforts are futile, kind of like - guess what? religion for the rest of us morons. 

After having the reader go through endless pages on the mulefa-elephant aliens or whatever, ultimately the characters the reader wants to know about disappear with barely a whimper. Iorek Byrnison, Lee Scoresby - instead we get page after page about Mary Malone the Disaffected former Nun. Pullman all but pants in his eagerness to give the finger to anyone of us who believes in Him or anything for that matter!
  This is NOT children's literature, it's a hate ridden manifesto that is more suitable for adults who at least have some way of maintaining some sort of perspective throughout this sloppy mess. It's totally dishonest to sell this as a children's book, or even as a competent work of fiction. All of the painstaking work of the first two books is undone with this one.
 
We never get closure on Lyra's parents.
We never really understand what Dust is and where it comes from.
We never see Will reunited with his mother.
We get a lame battle where `god' dies and no one even knows why or how.
Lyra and Will fall in love, but have to `sacrifice' it so that all the windows to other worlds can be shut forever, with only flimsy reasoning behind it.
The mulefa and Mary Malone's work together amounts to nothing, everyone just goes home. Presumably, Will goes home, although we never see it. All that yearning after his mother and so forth . . .nothing.
The major enemies are killed off too easily - and what about Armageddon? What happened to the Fortress and all the rebel angels and . . .you get the idea. It all just sort of disovles.
Mary forgot to be the Serpent, or else I missed that in one of the countless pages on the mulefa.

Another reader pointed out:
"" Phillip Pullman could have written a masterpiece with this series. Instead, the story falls flat under the weight of the author's own agendas and mockeries. What a waste of time. I can't believe this book actually won awards. It stopped being thought-provoking and started being inane and silly.""

 It would have been better if Lyra had just awakened one morning and it was all a dream. Instead, relearning how to read the alethiometer will somehow enable her to build the Kingdom of Heaven in the course of her lifetime. Absurd.
This was one of the most disappointing and infuriating reads of my life.
",0
"A bunch of junk.  Not any of the really meaty excersises.  An excuse for the auhor to make money
",0
"If you adore the intellect and see in it the only way to the highest, purest, and most divine knowledge, than this is your book--but it isn't mine.  Page after page of speculation about the higher realms open only to  a mind freed from the crude considerations of the flesh....I kept hoping  that Plotinus would realize his vision and disappear before finishing, but  it didn't happen
",0
"Camenson definitely has experience in this career with many ""career books"" to her credit.  However, there are better books out there on writing with more information. This book follows the same old tired format that VGM books are 'not so' famous for.  The internet has more info for a lot less money
",0
"This book is total self-propogating hogwash.  Garbage. Save your money, and your life, avoid this book like a big mac
",0
"The plot of this book was interesting, and it could have been a good book. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The main problem for me was that the hero is dispicable, and the heroine has absolutely no self esteem! Even many of the the secondary characters are weak, miserable people!

The story starts when the hero finds himself drawn to the heroine even though he considers her a ""dirty little nobody"". Once she gets a makeover and is actually beautiful, he begins pressuring her to become his mistress even though she is an innocent marriageable female by regency standards. Because she is the daughter of a ""cit"", he can't imagine why she has any reservations about the deal. He says charming things to her like ""how much do you think your virginity is worth anyway"". Now that's romance! 

Meanwhile, even though she is unbelievably insulted by the hero many times, she finds herself drawn to him too. For me their relationship was sort of like an abuser and his victim. She never stood up for herself, and you felt sorry for her.

Of course the plot twist involves a mystery about her parentage... only its not really a mystery because almost everyone knows the hero is a Dukes granddaughter, including her. In fact just about the only one who doesn't know is the hero, which provides the dilemma. He would of course be willing to marry her if only he knew she really wasn't a nobody!

Will anyone tell him? Will he wise up and offer to marry her even though she isn't good enough for him? Will she give in to her desires and become his mistress since he doesn't think she is good enough for him to marry? Of course it all works out, and he actually proposes to before he finds out she actually is good enough for him. Ugh!!!

This could have been a good book if the ""mystery"" had been handled better, and the characters were written differently. As is, it is a sad regency tale
",0
"I didn't like the only other Dean Koontz book I've ever read, Watchers, but I enjoy reading Kevin Anderson's stuff so I thought I'd give Koontz another try because I'm a reasonable person and I understand that not everyone can like everything by an author.  On to the review:  I realize that this book was initially meant to be a screenplay but I think the authors would have been wise to rewrite it instead of just tweaking it a little when the movie deal fell through.  The dialog is mind-numbing and predictable.  Every time there was a car scene I could guess what kind of conversation would be held.  ""You drive too fast!""  ""Are you my mother?""  Over and over and over.  

The idea was good.  A modern-day Frankenstein . . . or rather a Frankenstein that had never died and had made it to present day (yes, I know, Frankenstein was the doctor, not his monster.  But you get what I'm saying.).  But the dialog read exactly like a movie script would, or like a play.  This book had so much potential but the authors' laziness in not rewriting the entire thing after the movie wasn't made cost it dearly
",0
"Typical Feinstein (""A Season on the Brink"" excepted).  Quick, gossipy, superficial, fawning, etc., etc.  This book is about the 2002 U.S. Open Golf Championship at the Bethpage Black Golf Course, a New York State Park course on Long Island.  The subtitle, ""Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black,"" is used here as a figure of speech, meaning ""behind the scenes.""  (""Inside the ropes"" is normally used in the context of a professional golf tournament to refer to the actual playing area itself -- spectators are separated from the golfers, caddies, officials, and other chosen few by thin ropes that tell the spectators how close they can get to the action.)  Feinstein's purpose is to give the reader a look at the unfolding of a golf tournament from its conception to its completion.  We see U.S Golf Association (the organization that conducts the tournament) leaders in action and learn something about the logistics of putting on a golf tournament (e.g., 4,850 people willing to volunteer their time so that the professional golfers and U.S.G.A. can have a huge payday), about random qualifiers and random competitors, and about the resurrection of the Black golf course.  Yet the book does not fulfill its promise.  My guess is that Feinstein's indebted to too many golf people for both his past and anticipated future lifestyle to offer the kind of critical insights and analysis I had hoped for
",0
"All the reviews so far sound like personal friends of B.W. who are puffing the book. The book is simple and would require more information. So why not just go buy a book with more information.
",0
"Well  After I received the book I have to say I was quite disappointed because I am one of those people who gives great importance to presentation in the books .After I read the reviews I thought I was going to get a book with lots of nice photographs and various nicely set tables .It turned out that it was just like an encylopedia with lots of recipes and couple of boriiinggg pictures .If you are a visual person like me who likes to read cookbooks when you go to bed DONT BUY IT.The other important thing was that many important ingredients were missing in the greek food that was presented 
",0
"I forced myself to finish this book before I reviewed it, and being through with it now, I feel as though I've learned very little.  I had so many problems with this book, or rather the way of writing, mostly stemming from the completely pompous arrogance of the author, that this was a difficult read.  In his defense, he is, in MOST things, very thorough.  My main and overwhelming problem with this book was that the author was arrogant enough to believe that he could relay what Leonardo was (or as he sometimes put it ""must have been"") thinking or feeling.  While I give Mr. Bramly credit as a man very much versed in his subject, in my opinion, that still gives him no right to use what I understood to be a faithful biography as a place to put forward his own views.  Since he himself stresses that Leonardo's famous notebooks contain little to no personal thoughts or feelings, he has no basis for those statements and they are only his overconfident postulations.  In the instances that there is a controversy over some area of Leonardo's life, the author is very good about stating that there is a dispute regarding the matter, but only puts forward his OWN opinion, and his reasons why he believes what he does, without explaining the opposite side of the matter.  In this manner, he forces his thoughts on the reader without leaving them any choice in the matter.  Sentences beginning with ""I think"" or ""In my view"" are not uncommon.  He also makes certain assumptions about the reader, referring often to other artists' works with the assumption that the reader is as knowledgeable as he is about them.  Also, he occasionally goes into great detail regarding a painting or drawing of Leonardo's, often drawing attention to coloring or texture, without ever showing it, though the book has many drawings and paintings throughout.  The author is an undoubtedly intelligent, well-learned man, very erudite where Leonardo da Vinci is concerned, but entirely overbearing in his writing.  Overall, unless you are well versed in the Renaissance artists and don't mind being pulled out of a book by the author's VIEWS, then I would HIGHLY suggest staying away from this one
",0
"A little outdated, quite a few beers here aren't made anymore. Beer reviews are always personal opinion, and you'll read a bunch of people complain in these reviews that this guy doesn't know what hes talking about. I'd ignore what they say, everybody has their own preference.
Think about this before you buy this book:
1) Why do you need to hear what somebody else things of beers?
2) its very out dated... 5 years is a long time
",0
"After reading all the author's books so far, i realized he is repeating himself. In all his books (including the ones which Myron Bolitar isn't present) there are the same elements in the plot: disappeared person who might or not be dead, mobster guys who might or not be involved in the plot, the hero gets beaten by mosbter guys and is always saved ""in the last minute"", someone wealthy and with lots has interest in the plot but no one knows for sure. As the plots became being built upon the same structure, the suprise is getting less and less after each book.  Being someone who started liking mistery books after reading all Agatha Christie's ones, and because each book of hers is completely diferent from the other, i look for the same originality in other mistery books.

Of course the book is good for a first time Harlan Coben reader. I just didn't like it that much because of the repetitions, which make very easy to guess the final, spoiling the suspense of the reading
",0
"Was not impressed.  Narrow scoped, personal reflections, applications limited.  I also read the male companion book Wild at heart and was also not impressed
",0
"I am not a right winger whatsoever, am against our involvement in the Mid East but did read this book. I can't say it better than Alan Dershowitz who commented about Chomsky's writing in general: many people buy his books and the page that is folded down is never greater than page 16
",0
"While the book covers some interesting aspects of mid and high model rocketry, it is not as comprehensive as other books and dated given the advances in the hobby of the past years.  If you are looking for a book to complement your model rocketry library, this will be a useful addition.  If you are looking to take the step from basic model rocketry into mid or high power model rocketry, there are other books that better describe ""how to"". 
",0
"As a beef eating Hindu I am very much interested in finding how cows became holy for Hindus and beef a forbidden thing to eat. I browsed through this book in a book store and found it to be very disappointing.

First, it appeared to be intended more for creating controversy than for informational purposes. It clearly had a bias which turned me off.

Second, I am generally up-to date on current issues and remembered that it did not generate all that controversy as mentioned on the cover of the book. There were some rumblings but nothing of the sort described on the covers (""the government of India demands be ritually burned"").

Later I searched on google with the book title and words ""ban"", ""government of India"" and found no news reports relating any government of India attempts at banning this book. There were no reports on ban by Allahabad High Court either. All I found were book reviews on the book and other articles written mainly by political commentators known for their leftist opinions. 

Third, I found some material on internet on how the author misinterpreted much of the scriptures to support his conclusions.

It basically left me disappointed and I am still searching for some reliable and accurate material on this matter.

",0
"I bought this book before my first trip to Austria. I had a 
sinking feeling while reading it that it was mostly a 
pastiche of unusable generalizations. That turned out to be
true. What shall we do with a paragraph that tells us that
Austrian women are strong-minded and independent and 
organize their homelife well, although many go to work?

This book might have some value for a person who had never
left their english-speaking homeland before and needed to 
be warned that people are sometimes naked in the sauna
or at the beach. It also provides some amusing anecdotes
about language (especially viennese) and useful info about 
festivals.

Mostly, though this book was good for reading aloud to
Austrian friends. I would quote it as an iron-clad 
authority when their behavior didn't quite match the 
book's version and thereby amused them tremendously.


--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN
978160164000
",0
"This book is written from the viewpoint of a flaming socialist with the attitude that anything white or European or is overly valued in American history textbooks.  Loewen does have many valid points about what history textbooks omit, but the degree to which he is clearly slanted to the left is ludicrous.  ""Lies My Teacher Told Me"" could have been an amazing book, but all it did was aggrivate me and motivate me to write a 23 page paper debunking half of what the author wrote, much to the dismay of my idiotic Sociology professor.  The only reason I didn't give the book 1 star is because the overall intent and effort put forth were good, but the book as a whole is just far too biased
",0
"Is that those who read it and believe it, believe they actualy have girlfriends!!! Come on! admit it you are guys who wear black sabbath t-shirts and live in your parents basements. You also believe that you can get control of you live by chanting some spells from a book made to get your money.  Look, go get a hair cut, take a bath and loose 10 pounds and you will probably get that girl friend that you talk about.  Oh by the way the Necronomicon is fiction! . . except for the real copy that is in my basement, in my parents house where I used to live when I was 15
",0
"Let me first say that once upon a time I liked Larry The Cable Guy.  After reading this book, I now think he is one step above slime. To be fair, some jokes ARE funny and some stories ARE enjoyable and amusing.

He is anti-PC which is totally fine with me and even goes as far to pick on some appropriate targets like Rosie O'Donnell, Michael Moore, Barney Frank, Barbara Streisand, and ""that fat girl from the Dixie Chicks"", among others.  No problem there in my opinion. That is the entirety of the positive things I can say about the book.

The rest is just babble, often repeated over and over again, that even Larry lovers will find annoying.  A couple things that really bothered me.  The first is his constant and unrelenting picking on and making jokes at the expense of ""retards"" and Down's Syndrome children.  He must use the term ""retard"" at least fifty+ times in the book.  This is appreciably different than making a joke about, say, Michael Moore.  Moore made the decisions and taken the actions in his life to make him an apt target for jokes.  The Down's Syndrome children did not. My opinion of Larry The Cable Guy dropped to zero or below after reading his attack on ""retards"".  He also racially sterotypes in the book.  Many of these jokes can be funny if taken in context and at least those people can respond.  The Down's Syndrome kids can't.  Larry, I can only hope God (in whom you so mightly believe in according to your book) grants you a ""retard"" child to love and care for.  Then, I would like to read your next book. I suspect you would gain some sorely needed wisdom very quickly.

The second theme in the book that came through loud and clear is that Larry is a fraud in many senses.  He plays the good 'ol Bubba. He ain't too bright and he ain't ever changed since he left the farm.  His ""celebrity"" - his word not mine - has not gone to his head. OK, Larry. Why then the better than thou tone throughout the book - including speeches and lectures, including serious topics such as abortion?  Why do virtually every one of your stories and jokes involve putting someone else down?  Why the unrelenting references to your ""celebrity""?  The terms ""meet and greet"" and ""after-party"" were used over and over and over, as an example.  Do you really think your fans have ever been to one of these events or even know what they are?  Well, you are wrong.  They are mentioned constantly to remind everyone how big of a star you have become.  That's Hollywood-speak my country, fart loving, nose picking friend.

Overall, this book is a true disappointment and Larry The Cable Guy is a true moron (see doesn't that sound better than ""retard"").  

My Father always taught me there are two types of dumb people.  Those who are dumb and know they are dumb.  And those who are dumb but are so dumb, they don't realize it.  The former category usually shuts up (knowing they are dumb).  The latter category normally rambles on and on like some drunk in the gutter. The first group is obviously smarter than the second.

Larry The Cable Guy falls smack dab in the last group.  The fact that he has stumbled into some sense of success is fueling his rambling and babbles in this book. Make jokes, Larry, and forget about your opinions on say abortion and the like.

Unfortunately, Larry can't see the obvious.  Like virtually every celebrity he cites and makes fun of in the book, he has become exactly one of them.  A thin layer of ""Good 'Ol Boy"" on top, covering a core of venom and ""celebrity"". He plays the role pretty good until one gets under the sheets.

My suggestion: Don't buy Larry's act and, by all means, don't buy the book. 

",0
"I wonder how long it will be before Frost's literary stock is devalued as much as it deserves to be. These are trite and banal poems that do not ring true or sincere. Frost seems distant from both his poems and the reader. What he has to say is obvious and unoriginal. How he says it is on the level of a hallmark greeting card at its best; at its worst, it is no better than a limerick. Posthumous revelations about his horrific cruelty to others and his shrewd creation/manipulation of his celebrity image as the New England farmer-poet only confirm that there was something seriously wrong with this man and his poems that an earlier generation missed. How earlier generations could find genius in such obvious observations is astounding.
Bad poetry from a twisted man
",0
"The author really just could not hook me.  A lot about food but not sure what else
",0
"I did not find this book very helpful. There is an entire chapter dedicated to which expensive pots are the best to ""invest"" in (it seems the pricier the better, and I mean several hundred dollars, I  actually went to stores and priced the recommended brands) and what kind of  fancy kitchen gadgets are needed to create gourmet meals.  I am not a  professional chef, just a simple housewife that enjoys preparing simple,  good-tasting meals for my family, the recipes here seem to be  time-consuming and complicated.  Not much money to be saved here
",0
"Cryptic and confusing muddle of mush. If this is the ""new style"" of writing, we are in trouble folks.
",0
"For all of you looking for that favorite book ""The Silly Book"", join my club (not literally).  The book that has the ode to Boodleheimer was written by Stoo Hample not Babette Cole.  I have been searching for this book for years.  Good luck everyone, and let me know if you find an extra copy for sale
",0
"This book is offensive to at least one of the two genders, though it's hard to say which. It suggests that a man whose brain was transplanted into that of a sensual woman would become a wanton harlot, more or less. Whether that's more insulting to the male brain or the female body, I'm not sure, but the book portrays neither gender realistically.

I like Heinlein, and the first 100 or so pages of this book show a lot of potential, but after that the book descends into vapid sexual morass, and it's not even particularly good at being that.

The gender-swapping theme has been a common one in fiction and film in the last 30 years or so, but Heinlein joined the ranks of the many authors and directors who treated it as a chance to write pseudo-enlightened erotica instead of literature. More's the pity
",0
"I was quite disappointed by this book, I was expecting something with more professional level content. It's all very amateur however, the artwork used in the examples is sub-professional at best.
I was hoping that the book would deal with some of the specific Pre-Press issues relating to comics artwork, but the chapter there was frustratingly slight. You would be much better to buy a a more general pre-press book.
The quality of the packaging and printing were also quite poor for a book that cost this much
",0
"Tedious and inane come to mind. It is written as a first person narrative consisting almost entirely of a stream of disparaging comments about everyone else written in a ""catty"" pseudo-feminist style, rambling descriptions of Egyptian archaeology - real or imagined - thinly veiled racist comments about the ""ignorant natives"" of Egypt and inept sexual innuendo. The book is very slow moving and the plot seems forced. The characters do not come across as real.  Very disappointing. Leave this one on the library shelf
",0
"A little about golf and 'inside the PGA tour'... Plenty of gratuitous language 'n ornery Texans... Mostly about Dan Jenkins' views on relationships with women... Forced a couple laughs
",0
"As a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, I can definitively state that this book does not cover everything that needs to be covered or in any depth whatsoever. I got this book based on the glowing reviews I found here, and I'm at a loss as to why these reviews would have recommended it.

The most aggrevating part about this book is the subtitle ""An Integrated Approach to Security in the Organization."" The book not only lacks effective security integration techniques, it doesn't seem to address the entire organization where it tries its half-hearted integration.
",0
"I am a Jew living in a college town in Mississippi for the past 5 years. I was born & raised in the North. I think Evans should rename his book ""Fiddler on the Roof in the South"". His book is a very nostalgic look back at Jewish history - as it was in the past here. It's very much: the southern Jews were all so happy, they all fit in and were accepted, etc. He does cite a few instances where they had problems - but these usually involved us 'Yankee Jews', like the instances when a few (Yankee)Rabbis in the South fought for civil rights. 
Evans should realize that times have REALLY CHANGED HERE! The evangelical Christians in my town (which is most people here) harrass me like crazy - 'I am praying for you!' 'Have you read the words of Jesus, who was a Jew like you?' 'When will you come to my Church'. Blah, blah, blah. Thank God for the minority of Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians and a few others who live here. They are the only ones to accept me for the way I am, and the way I will stay - a Jew. 
I want all who are reading this to realize that I am only speaking for my experience. Jews who reside in cities in the South have told me that they have had far better experiences, and that they cannot relate to what I am saying.
But I do want to ask Evans a few questions:
1) If things are so great for the Jews in the South: Why have you lived in New York for decades now???
2) Why don't you at least write either a new Forward to the book, a magazine article, etc., contrasting some of the ways in which the lives of Jews in the South have changed over time (for some of us at least), primarily due to the rise of the evangelical Christians?
I read Evans' books before I moved here, and nothing much he describes in his books is my life here. For a Jew who really cares about her/his religion living here is depressing; it is practically Jew-less; and, at best, the majority of a certain denomination of Christians here ignore me. (By the way, I am planning to move to a city!)
By the way, don't bother writing to me to tell me that I am ""wrong"", or to invite me to things like the Bible Study at your Church. Believe me, with all the praying for me that is going on in this town, and all the myriad attempts to convert me, if it hasn't happened by now, as they say in these parts, it just ain't gonna happen
",0
"Wow! I read all these great reviews and thought this would be a great book. Luckily, I got it out of the library & didn't buy it. I liked it at first, but then the situations got more & more implausible. Then I was reading it just to laugh at it. Some of the sentences in the book were completely ridiculous too. If I had the book here at work with me, maybe I could quote a couple descriptions that just had me rolling my eyes. Not a well written book at all in my humble opinion. Glad the rest of you enjoyed it anyway
",0
"This book is very dissapointing. Sure, this book is full of information, but does not know how to teach. This book is not completely written in step by step method. Before you actually start touch your project, you are fed up with information. I even found a couple of mistakes in earlier chapter. DVD comes with this book, but this DVD is not a lesson project like Apple Pro Training Series. Not useful.
If you are beginner and start studying DVD Studio Pro 4, don't by this book! You're going to waste your money. Buy the one from Apple Pro Training Series, which is much better, easy to understand.
",0
"Excellent , how to technical reference, easy to read and understand, a must have book for those interested in biodiesel, and / or waste vegetable oil
",0
"By chance before picking this up I had just finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers, and was struck by the similarities and differences. It's a great ""compare and contrast"" pair, as an exercise for high-schoolers.

Both are written as first-person accounts by teen-aged girls and are roughly contemporary. Heart published in 1940, and Castle in 1948, both about life in the 30s. 

Both families are poor. In Castle though, there is never any question that the girls might go off and get jobs. This is supposedly because they ""don't know how to do anything"". So instead they sell off their belongings and get by on scraps of bread and the odd bit of butter. How charming! They are ""eccentric"", which seems enough in the author's eyes to exempt them from the expectation of supporting themselves. Only Stephen the handsome young son of the late housekeeper, enamored of Cassandra, does work and gives the family his entire salary. But he is of the class that is expected to toil after all. Even he is rewarded in the end--able to avoid labor with an easy job similar to that of step-mum Topaz--striking poses.

Unlike the looming and grinding poverty of Heart then, the poverty in the Castle never amounts to more than a lark--educated folks playing at being poor until they're rescued by romantic circumstance. Not so in America where Mick Kelly, who didn't know how to do anything either, went off to work at Woolworth's, and to a life of little hope.

In Castle the solution comes in the form of that classic deus ex machina, the inheritance. Two dashing young wealthy Americans one of whom has inherited the castle, show up just in time, with their chatty modern mum. They throw money around and talk too much, in the cliched extravagant American style. Most of the remainder of the novel consists of Cassandra and her sister Rose swooning over one brother or the other, with an eventual romantic result that assures all the characters of economic well being.
 
It's all so very charming, bourgeois, and harmless. If your life is hard don't worry--a man will show up to rescue you!

The reviews for this novel in Amazon are overwhelmingly positive. Smith was obviously talented. Her writing is elegant and a pleasure to read. I wish she had given Cassandra a little more ambition.
",0
"As far as style goes, I found this pretty boring from what I saw in the bookstore. Glad I never bought it, Races of Eberron is much better, as it has three great races (fourth isn't so hot) including one Living Construct type.

In fact, from Races of Eberron I made one Changeling Druid who has near complete Cold Adaptation and Heat Adaptation (from environment series), and a Warforged Monk which was effective against lycanthropes.

What can Races of the Dragon possibly give you? Flying creatures? Firebreathing creatures? You could be better off with weaked-down angel or better yet just a birdfolk race (like Raptorans in Races of the Wild, which by the way also has more variety with its Catfolk).  As for firebreathing, a feat could probably give you the whole fire-eating/fire-blowing act and save you the whole freakish thing of having weird blood. 
",0
"I didn't have especailly high hopes for this book. I think there has been a gradual decline in the quality of HH books over the years, and this one brings it to a new low. Basically, it's waaaaaay too long. At 850 pages, it's a monster read, and a slow one. That's not always a bad thing - sometimes if you like the characters it's nice to just hang out with your friends for page after page. But not here. Why is it necessary to describe in detail the exact movements of a treecat using sign language? For several paragraphs? More than once? Why are we given pages of liturgy for religious services? I think I'd be in a very small minority when I confess that I quite like the 1662 Prayer Book, though I can't quite work out why it would be revived in the distant future when it's been out of use here for decades! Maybe it was easy to cut and paste, and got the word count up.

And then there's the space combat - a strength of the series, especially the first three or four. But there's the rub - there are only so many ways you can describe a spaceship blowing up. By the 11th book in the series I can't be the only person out there whose eyes are beginning to glaze over when we get to the battle sequences.

But the big problem - spoiler alert! - is the way in which Weber solves the love triangle we left the last book with. Honor loves Hamish. Emily loves Hamish. Hamish loves Honor and Emily. What to do? It turns out that there's an easy solution. After about 400 pages of agonising (not to mention most of the previous book) it seems that Honor can marry them both. A bit outre? Seemingly not - apparently such arrangements fall well within the accepted norms of Manticoran law and custom. (Although we've never had a whiff of this before.) But what really gets me is that the reason it didn't happen about halfway through the last book is that (get this), gosh, no-one thought of it. It seems that no-one ever told Mr Weber that if you shoot someone with a gun in Act V, the gun better have been hanging on the wall in Act I.

All-in-all, I can only say, please Mr Weber. It is time to bring the series to an end. Please do it soon
",0
"[the above is an actual quote from the book]

I don't usually read romances, but got this one at the library.  I thought: Thriller.  Hijacked plane, navy seal...all the right stuff.

And the beginning was promising.  Stan fixes everything, and has a human side to him that was compelling.

Then the plot hit the fan!  As a thriller it stunk.  The highjacking was interwoven into the plot weakly, as an after thought.  The romantic ""tension"" between the protagonists was forced and irritating.  The dialogue is mundane.  The message that horniness leads to true romantic (Sam and Alyssa) love is rubbish.

The only worthwhile character was the highjacked girl, and I think it was brave of the author to not have her come out unscathed.

The historic (WWII) componant was interesting.

But overall, I kept asking who the audience is for this book.  Not lovers of thrillers like me--and I wonder, do romance readers even care about a highjacked plane, or was that just getting in the way of wondering whether Teri will ever tell Sam that she loves him!
",0
"I don't really understand all the reviews about Sun Tzu's work. People saying that this one or that one is closer to the original; are there really that many experts in ancient Chinese out there. How can anyone say which is the best translation unless they are personally familiar with the original, in the original Chinese, and if that the case they should write their own version
",0
"I had to read this book for a political theory class in college.  After talking with several other members I was happy to find out that I do not have the reading skills of a third grader...Benhabib goes out of her way to use vocabulary words that most educated people are not familiar with.  The book is also not organized well.  In order to really understand this book you will have to read it while taking notes.  Points that could be grouped together for arguments are scattered throughout entire chapters and even the whole book.  Benhabib may have used her vocabulary and lack of organization as tools to hide that the points she makes are not very well argued.  Throughout much of the book Benhabib is trying to shoot down the theories of John Rawls and other theorists to support her views on migratory rights.  To be honest, I disagree with her views and admit that I might have found her organization and vocabulary more tolerable if I agreed with her.  Still, I do not have a problem with her making these claims if she did so logically.  Much of her work is based on telling the reader why other people are wrong and she will use theories she supposedly already disproved in one arguement to justify her later arguments for disagreeing with other theories.  

In short, I do not think anyone would want to read this book for pleasure, or intellectual curiosity.  If you have to read The Rights of Others for a class, I extend my condolences.
",0
"Not easy for any beginner to use. Unless you knew exactly what kind of silver you were trying to identify i.e. English, Scottish, Irish... etc, it was a bit confusing. Marks are black & white, some not showing very good clarity and everything is in extremely in small print. If you just want to sort through tons of marks and dates, this may be for you. If you want information about your piece, pass it up
",0
"The author writes a book that does give you a mental workout while giving valuable insight into the theological/philosophical foundations of the emerging confession. There is value in that. I look forward to reading part two, the liturgical ideas section. The emerging church is keen on praxis, but the theological underpinings of this book in part one reminds me of past mistakes within Christendom, which I had hoped we were past. 
Here are some things that I am amazed do not occur to the others reviewing this book, which it might help to know:

1. Rollins does not think it's possible to really ""know"" much theology with ""certainty."" In fact, to claim to have religious certainty is to hold an ""idolatrous"" view of God that is more our idea of God than really who God is. This is because it is virtually impossible to be objective for us humans, and because in his view, God was not all that interested in presenting much of Himself in any sort of nailed down way.  The irony I could not miss was the dogmatism with which he himself expresses his own views.
He is very certain of his interpretations of ""perceptive thinkers like Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx,"" Eckhart, Augustine, etc... and is very certain that his interpretations of the scattered verses from Scripture are correct. I found his use of proof texting for his ideas to be really, really, faulty. As I'm reading along I kept jotting in the margins all the times what he said was a really pretty clear misunderstanding of the New Testament. So, be prepared for a frustrating read if you know the Bible's basic content.  He is certain that no one should be certain, but him. Ok, to be fair, he is not certain if Christianity is true, and says so on page 44, but he is certain that he should not be certain of Christianity. Nor, I guess, should you. With his view of ""critique of ideology"" how can he be so selective of what he is certain of. This seems like a self-defeating ideology. 
So strong is his disdain for ""knowing"" with any real certainty that he would do away with apologetics as if it were no longer appropriate to try to base our beliefs on reason at all. I was reminded of the case Francis Schaeffer made quite well regarding those who do not have any reason to believe something is true, but who take a leap of faith and believe it anyway. Rollins needs to reread his Francis Schaeffer, in my opinion. 
He says the church is not to be about giving answers, but helping raise in people: questioning. Indeed, given his views, how could he provide answers? This book may look deep. I propose, it is merely muddy.

2. He redefines age old terms. Orthodoxy is no longer about the content of what one believes, but how loosely one holds it. Certainty of revealed truth is dangerous, misinformed, idolatrous. Heresy is now a cute little thing. It has come of age. He says people will think his views undermine Christianity. We are to just take him at his word that his views won't do so, but he does not really make affirmations to give any reasonable comfort and any one would, I think, see the writing on the wall.
 
3. He seems to think the emerging church is the only hope for unity or evangelism in our time among post moderns. After reading his views I wonder if it is possible for post moderns, those like himself, at least, to even understand the gospel. He has not. How can he be a bridge? To be a bridge one must have footing on both shores. Christianity IS based on real events with real content that has been passed down, not without mystery, nor without debate, but in a very real and tangible way. he cannot be a bridge to something by changing that thing to something else.
 
4. He is right to be kind to people of other religions and to try to learn from them. The problem that is huge, and no one seems to notice, is that he seems incapable of learning or appreciating the Christians who are in other camps. He considers fundamentalists,and by logical extension many evangelicals, to be pharisees and the true heretics in his new definition of the term, heresy. I kept thinking, what kind of ""fundamentalists"" is he so angry at? He blasts the whole of that group and by extension most evangelicals, making generalizations that are misleading. Very unobjective. Unkind. Very divisive. Yet he thinks only his views can bring unity to Christendom. I can see his views bringing unity to all religions, but it will never bring unity to Christendom. He seems oblivious to the amazing amount of unity that now exists in Christendom. Times have really changed in the past 20 years. He is either unaware or has a different kind of unity in mind. 

5. He makes God hopelessly difficult. God wanted, it seems, to speak in a plain brown wrapper...the common language of the people, the dust of humanity, the lowly donkey ride, the obscure but simple truth of the simple gospel. Rollins has wrapped God up in Nietzsche and while disdaining ""human reason"" as the means of knowing God has turned the living Christ who said ""I am the truth"" into an enigma of mental gymnastics that is so complex only man could concoct it. God's message is simple. It's clear where it needs to be. It hints at huge mystery beyond what is stated. Rollins makes it nearly all enigma, hinting at some possible truth out there from a winking God, who says out of one side of his mouth something is important and that we will be held accountable for knowing and obeying it, yet Who has been unwilling or incapable, given man's weaknesses, or His own lack of communication skills, to articulate it in such a way that a person can hold any theological content soundly.
If, as Tickle says, this is the Christianity of the 3rd millenium, then the Chrisitan faith is about to become the irrational man's religion, the anything goes religion, and following generations will have to deconstruct today's extreme and irrational over-reaction to fundamentalism. Peter, I can learn some stuff from you, and I'm sure some of my perception of what you were trying to say was likely lost in transmission. As it stands now I cannot agree with you on several points. Your views trouble me. Nothing against you personally.  Forgive any kind of perceived condescending tone. I hope to enjoy the rest of your book much more, though, it will for me be an upper story with out a first floor. Regardless, if it inspires I'll come back and add a star. hmmm
",0
"i tried reading it, and made it about 3-4 pages.  i'm pretty sure that's a bad sign.  i seem to recall mr. sedaris writing about his mother's bedpan or something.  the impression i instantly got was ""BEEP BEEP!  PRETENTIOUS YOUNG WRITER PEDDLING SO-CALLED BAD CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES FOR FAME, MONEY AND SYMPATHY.""  guess what, mr. sedaris?  i don't give a (expletive deleted) about your so-called bad childhood.  millions of people have bad childhoods and don't play the sympathy card.  check out augusten burrough's books, they manage to have humor and touching moments without this kind of pretentious style. 
",0
"Yet another offering from the Kinkade art product assembly line. Pass on this -- Read real books and buy real art instead
",0
"I had never read any of  Vernor Vinges books before, but i had heard he was an excellent author, so I thought I would try this.  Boy, am I glad I bought it used on Amazon for about only $4.  I simply had no idea what was going on in this novel. The plot is unintelligible. I dont know what the Bioweapon  the jacket refers to is? I dont know what ""the Rabbit"" is.  I see that numerous other reviews here, did not know what was going on either. I do not understand how someone could write so incoherently. 
The concept of someone who had Alzheimers getting cured & entering a future society is great - but it never goes anywhere.  The only reason I did not fall asleep, was that I was trying to figure out what was going on, but I did could not  even finish this book
",0
"What this is: an epic adventure. It would be imappropriate to review the WOT series when speaking of the Prophesies of the Dragon book; it's also not really a supplement akin to, say, The Monster Manual for D&D--the only extra skills, feats, backgrounds, etc are those directly related to NPCs in the campaign. What Prophecies is designed to do is take a party of characters through their first six levels of adventuring, which correspond roughly to the first six books of the series of novels. The players are allowed to play a key behind the scenes role in the story of the novels and cameos have been scripted for many of the book's key characters. It's a really ambitious undertaking; players have to be given a compelling storyline, feel like they're making a difference in a campaign that covers over a year of game time, without letting them change what happens in the novels.

Does it work? I am currently GMing this adventure. On paper, it looks really good. Some of the scenes, especially in the later parts of the story, look exciting, moving even. Faile's cameo is perfect, for example. In practice, though, it's been an extremely frustrating experience. First, the early encounters (as pointed out by another reviewer) are unnecessarily difficult and add nothing to the plot. As things progress, the authors presume too much on the goals and motivations of the players. There is one chapter, for example, where the introduction says something along the lines of, ""Upon entering the city, the players will want to find (a certain NPC) as soon as posible and will definitely want to investigate the actions of (another NPC)."" The players in my campaign knew they wanted to talk to one of these guys eventually, but the other one was off their radar completely. Throughout, I've had to improvise ways to keep them approximating the plot line of the campaign and by chapter 3, they're feeling very manipulated.

The campaign assumes the party wants to do nothing more than hunt down dark friends and expose evil plots and will take great personal risk and go through great hardship (including, at one point, a monthlong trek through a winter wilderness without adequate provisions) on the chance of thwarting same. Characters with any other motivations (say, a character modeled after Mat or Nynaeve in the books) will feel forced into situations unnaturally. There has been more than one point where one of the players saying, ""I *think* this is where the plot wants us to go.""

So, in conclusion, while this adventure is excellent in its dreams and scope--and it's definitely better than something I could have designed myself--but it will fail often fail as a game. If you are intending to run a WOT campaign, buy this adventure, read it so that you thoroughly understand its scope BEFORE you even let your players make up characters. The characters need to be created to fit the story or the story won't work
",0
"I'm sorry I wasted the money. I can see by the reviews you either love it or hate it.  I'm not squeamish by nature, but this book is one continuous torture fest which not only targets human victims, but animals as well.  Three quarter's way through, when I realized this indeed was the premise from beginning to end, I started skipping these parts (which got me to the last page quite quickly). I was bored and disgusted with the author.  I believe he had a sick fetish and lived them out through these pages. In the end my eyeballs got six-pack abs from rollng around so much.  This book is going on my ""Do Not Lend"" shelf as I value my friends and wouldn't consider them subjecting them to such gory nonsense. 
",0
"I thought that she was going to explain to you how to invest in rental properties without going into deep debt for yourself. However, the truth is you need money to invest in real estate. So, there's really no way around it, which made her book redundant. She just gave examples of 3 people with 3 different investment strategies. In the end, the one with the most number of rental properties ended up with the largest profit growth. I really did not find the book useful for someone looking to invest in rental properties.
",0
"No, not really. Since this novella first appeared in Harper's some years back and then was the prologue in Underworld, this makes the third time it's appeared in print. And while it is brilliant, why buy this when you can buy Underworld for about the same price
",0
"While I only am a little over half way through this book, I'm finding myself hating Will.  He's pathetic and boring and not at all a character that I can cheer for.  This book has been a tedious read overall.  I keep pushing through because I feel like it has to get better, yet so far it has not.  I'm happy that I checked this out from the library, so that I can return it and not have it collect dust on MY shelves.  The only reason why I'm even writing a review is that I'm so shocked about all the positive comments this book has received thus far.  I looked on Amazon to see if my thoughts were shared by others; I'm surprised that they are not.  I usually like this genre of fiction, but in terms of this book all it is is a bunch of whining and self-loathing
",0
"Cooper's book is yet another warm and fuzzy management guru text --- from yet another management guru who never served a day as a real manager, of a real company. It contains all sorts of motherhood and apple pie stories --- along with trite sayings such as ""When you find a back door that's open, close it"" or my personal favorite ""Use the lanterns of your life to help light the way."" If you're looking for an inspirational book, one with a solid basis, forget this one. You'd be better off reading the daily horoscope
",0
"Being a second generation member of this so called ""cult"" and having parents that went through the same situation as the author, I can say that he must have too weak to fulfill his duty to god and true parents...It's very sad when a member must leave. By sacrifcing you are able to develop a stronger relationship with god. Hope this helps..
",0
"This book provides excellent information about what rheumatoid arthritis is, how to distinguish it from osteoarthritis, etc.

However, I don't want to live with RA, I want to recover from it. As such, this book offers no help in this regard. It tells me about drugs that I can take and splints that I can wear to help me from becoming completely disabled, but offers me no hope of recovery.

In contrast, the book ""Conquering Arthritis"" by Barbara Allan, is the well-researched account of someone who took charge of their health and fought to recover from the disease, to get their life back. And succeeded! I'm well on the road to recovery myself by applying the principles in her book. Now that's a book well worth spending your money on
",0
"I found it to lean very heavily towards a hierarchal view of the relationship between men and women.  Men are to rule, and women are to submit to that rule.  The authors appear to see women as perpetual children who need to be under the continual domination of men, rather than as adults who deal with men on an adult level.  I suggest anyone who reads this books should also read ""Discovering Biblical Equality.""  It gives another view of how the Christians world see the role of women
",0
"I am in the planning stages of a new business venture. I have never written a marketing plan before and needed some insight and advice as to what tactics work and how to write the plan itself.

This book reads like a list of useful one-liner marketing tips and examples of how the author's friends have used them.  It is not a how to book on writing a marketing plan, and it does not go into much depth as far as how you might accomplish the things that he recommends. 

The most annoying part of this book is that every other page contains an advertisement for you to join some 12-week commitment mailing list that the author has created.  He entices you by saying that you will receive additional tips and information for 12 weeks.  

HELLO!!! McFLY!!! Didn't I just buy your book so that I could learn your marketing insights?  YES!  So then why do you make it seem like I just paid for the teaser information, and that the good stuff is behind the curtain that requires me to become a pawn in your marketing career?  My price of admission stops at the price of this book, and it should not seem like I'm only getting half of the story that I paid for!
",0
"This is not a book I would recomend for anyone serious interested in rune casting. It tells nothing of the history of runes and it seems if the writer figured out what tarot card closely matches each rune and then wrote the book based off that info. There are much better books out there for rune casting
",0
"This book can be very damaging if you approach it with the idea that it is absolute truth.  As some readers have complained, this is not really a ""Christian"" book because the focus isn't on Christ, it's on YOU.  

A Biblically centered way of dating would put the focus on loving other people unconditionally, the way Jesus would, and not on trying to ""find the perfect spouse.""  The whole premise of the book is rather un-Christlike:  making yourself enticing enough to the opposite gender that someone would want to marry you.  It's rather selfish, really, when you consider the words of John the Baptist: ""Christ must become more, I must become less,"" as well as the warning in Song of Solomon ""Do not awaken love until it so desires.""  

Shouldn't our primary goal be to glorify Christ and not search for earthly shortcuts to fulfilling our desires?  Finding a spouse is not like science nor business which have clear procedures or even guidelines.  Hearts can be broken, and therefore authentic, Christlike love must take precedence.  I don't mean to sound accusing, but this book borders close to the type of manipulation that the world cleverly calls ""seduction.""

My brother humorously commented that the book also tries to turn you into a ""poser."" This happens when 'forcing yourself' to be more masculine or feminine in order to entice the opposite sex.  You have to ask:  What kind of people are you trying to attract...people who are enticed by your masculinity/femininity or people who are excited about you for who truly are?  I personally would rather a lady be attracted to me for my fruits of the spirit than my looks or personality.

It is a combination of both action and faith that is important.  Faith to set the situations up.  Action to knock em down
",0
"In 1980 Michael Weiner saw the publication of Weiner's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine, which states the medical benefits of marijuana [7]. However he recently stated that the chemicals in marijuana make it too dangerous to be used as medicine. On his program, he strongly cautions against the recreational use of marijuana, occasionally devoting his show to ""marijuana horror stories"" and its claimed potential to ruin lives. He has authored a number of other books on various herbal medicine topics under this name. More recently, Savage's books are political in nature and published by WND Books, a partnership between the conservative website WorldNetDaily and Thomas Nelson, a publisher of Christian books.

In January 2003 he published The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture, his first book under the pseudonym Michael Savage. The book quickly reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list earning Savage, as noted above, a commentary show on MSNBC. The controversial book directs attacks at ""media bias"", the ""dominating culture of 'she-ocracy'"", gays, and liberals.

Critics have faulted Savage for making a number of assertions in the book that he often fails to substantiate with facts or resources. Exacerbating this condition is the fact that the book itself has no index. The book is divided into two- to four-page sections, many of which are near-exact replicas to columns he published on the conservative site NewsMax.com.

In January 2004, Savage published his second political book, The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military. His newest book, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder was released on April 12, 2005. Both of these books contained citations of nearly every assertion made, contrary to ""The Savage Nation.""

In January 2006, Savage announced that he would be releasing a new book, The Political Zoo, in mid-March. [8] The book will contain satirical profiles and cartoons of different people in politics as animals in the ""Political Zoo"" including one of Savage himself, who will be portrayed as the zookeeper. Savage has remarked that the book will be ""easier to digest"" than his previous political books.

Books as Michael Weiner
Plant a Tree, New York : Collier Books, 1975 
Bugs in Peanut Butter, Boston : Little, Brown, 1976. 
Man's Useful Plants, New York: Macmillan. 1976. 
Earth Medicine, Earth Food, New York : Macmillan Pub. Co., 1980. 
The way of the skeptical nutritionist, New York : Macmillan, 1981. 
Nutrition Against Aging, Bantam books, 1983. 
Secrets of Fijian Medicine, Quantum Books, 1983. 
""Vital Signs"", Avant Books, 1983 
Getting Off Cocaine, Avon Books, 1984. 
Maximum Immunity, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1986. 
Reducing the risk of Alzheimer's, New York : Stein and Day, 1987. 
The Complete Book of Homeopathy, Garden City Park, N.Y. : Avery Pub., 1989. 
The Herbal Bible, San Rafael, CA : Quantum Books, 1992. 
Healing children naturally, San Rafael, CA : Quantum Books, 1993. 
Herbs that heal : prescription for herbal healing, Mill Valley, CA : Quantum Books, 1994. 
The Antioxidant Cookbook, Mill Valley, CA : Quantum Books, 1995. 
[edit]
Books as Michael Savage
The Savage Nation, WND Books, 2003. 
The Enemy within, Nelson Current, 2004. 
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, Nelson Current, 2005. 
The Political Zoo, Nelson Current, 2006. 

Michael Alan Weiner was born to a Russian Jewish family [1] in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. Michael Savage earned a Bachelor's from Queens College in education and sociology. He taught high school for several years in New York City. Following that, he earned two Master's degrees in ethnobotany and anthropology from the University of Hawaii. He then received a Ph.D. in nutritional ethnomedicine in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley. His thesis was titled Nutritional Ethnomedicine in Fiji. Savage spent many years researching botany in the South Pacific, and has a background in alternative medicine. He has stated he was a liberal at one time and never served in the military.

Weiner was a friend of openly gay beat poet Allen Ginsberg, offering to arrange readings for Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1972. [2] Some of his letters to Ginsberg are held in Ginsberg's archives and one of those letters describes an encounter with a young Fijian man. [3] Savage denies writing the letter and called it part of a ""smear campaign"" by ""gay fascists"". [4] Savage also once posed naked for a photograph with Ginsberg while swimming in Fiji. [5] Ferlinghetti views Weiner's reincarnation as Michael Savage as ""total opportunism,"" the crowning achievement of someone who was ""always looking to make a fast buck"" and ""always trying to think up new schemes to get famous.""

Michael Savage began his radio career in 1992 on San Francisco's #1 news/talk radio station KGO, first doing fill in work for other hosts, then getting his own show on the weekend. Two years later he was given a weekday show on KGO's sister station KSFO where he shared airtime with a liberal talk show host. He chose his ""nom de voix"" in ""the Tonga Islands in the 1960s. I stumbled upon the name of a [19th-century] shipwreck who was locally infamous -Charles Savage. His exploits were legendary,"" he said. ""So the name was bouncing around in my head."" At the time, his slogan was ""To the right of Rush, and to the left of God."" On January 1, 1995 he was given his own show during the drive-time hours. The show quickly became a local hit. In 1999, he came to the attention of the Talk Radio Network.

On January 17, 2000 he started doing an additional two hours of radio which was broadcast nationally. For the next eight months, Savage would spend a total of five hours a day just talking. His national experiment was a success, and on September 21, 2000, he stopped doing separate shows, beginning a full three-hour national show. After just one year, he was in 150 markets. By 2003, he was in over 200 markets and is currently the No. 3 radio host in the United States.

In June 2003, he had a salary dispute with his flagship station KSFO who refused to renegotiate his contract. He was off the air for three weeks. On July 1, 2003 he began his show on a different station: KNEW in San Francisco. Since that dispute, he speaks badly of KSFO and of ""Vanity or Pretty Boy"" Sean Hannity, whose show replaced his on the station. Savage also speaks pejoratively when referencing his fellow talk radio hosts or individuals with whom he disagrees (see List of Michael Savage neologisms).

As of 2005, Savage has between 8 million and 10 million listeners per week. This makes his show the third most widely listened to broadcast in the United States.

In 1996 he applied to be a dean at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. When he was not granted an interview due to lack of qualifications--less than two years of experience in radio, with a Ph.D. in epidemiology and nutrition science--Savage filed a discrimination lawsuit that was eventually dismissed. The position instead went to China scholar Orville Schell who, according to Weiner, was less qualified than himself.

Savage was hired by MSNBC to do a one-hour show starting March 8, 2003. On July 7, a mere four months later, he was fired for making anti-gay remarks in response to a caller, later identified as prank caller ""East Coast Bob.""

Savage was doing an ""Airline Horror Stories"" piece, when Bob called into his show to talk about undercover security guards smoking in the bathroom. His next words were ""Half hour into the flight, I need to suggest that Don and Mike should take your show so you can go to the dentist because your teeth are really bad"". The words after ""should"" were bleeped out by a MSNBC exec, which would make one believe that the caller was actually making lewd comments about Savage's sexual orientation. Savage asked if he was a ""sodomite"", to which the caller answered ""yes"" . Savage then said to the caller: ""Oh, so you're one of those sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig, how's that? Why don't you see if you can sue me, you pig. You got nothing better to do than to put me down, you piece of garbage, you got nothing better to do today, go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis. Now do we have another nice caller here who's busy because he didn't have a nice night in the bathhouse who's angry at me today? Put another, put another sodomite on....no more calls? I don't care about these bums, they mean nothing to me. They're all sausages."" [6]

Before the show was canceled, MSNBC was replaying his show during primetime hours Saturday night; many believe the show would have been canceled even without his comments, and that MSNBC was simply looking for an excuse to dump the program due to pressure from special interest groups. Others point out that MSNBC has had poor programming and ratings performance for a long time and that many talk shows of all different political stripes have come and gone quickly on the network.

",0
"This dictionary is just another long-winded, pretentious, unreadable, high-brow attempt to legitimize anthropology. The authors of each definition are more concerned with impressing their peers than giving the average person clear insight to cultural anthropology. If you are struggling through a cultural anthropology class, and are looking for a dictionary with clear definitions, forget this book
",0
"Thriller and mystery readers like to guess along with our protagonists when we're reading a story.  We like to look for clues in what we've read to help us unravel the plot, and find out who did it and why the crime was done.

John Grisham cheats us out of that fun.  The villian of this book isn't introduced until there less than 75 pages left, which means that when you get that far, you realize that everything you read before then wasn't valid. To have some red herrings in a thriller is fine, but to have 300 pages of chases and red herrings?  That's bad.

Read another thriller instead of this one, one that plays by the rules
",0
"I finished it because a friend recommended it, but had she not, I would have quit after page 20. I wasn't interested in the story or writing. I didn't find the story grotesque; I've read a lot worse dealing with the various topics in this book, but I just didn't find the protagonist very interesting. He went a bit nutty at the end and it is understandable given the situation.  We learn about why he had to stick so tenaciously to his religious beliefs, to redeem himself. His actions didn't seem out of line, either during the war or during the plague, given his dire predicament and previous behaviors and experiences.  I know this is a great example of a book written in second person, and perhaps for that it is worth reading.  I wouldn't pick it up for enjoyment or leisure
",0
"This book is best used for viewing its selection of Master Drawings many of which are superb. However, its written text is filled with multitudes of factual errors and pseudo-intellectualizations. It should be noted that this book was not written by Hale; it was written by one of his students and lacks the quality of Hale's classic, ""Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters."" Instead, this book loses itself in unimportant, erroneous anatomical minutia which will baffle, confuse, frustrate and ultimatly demoralize the motivated reader. It greatly misses the mark in both clarity and presentation of important anatomical theory
",0
"The author dwells too much on knife fighting rather than the knives.  I found the book to be a disappointment
",0
"IM not sure where to begin with this review, its not that the book was poorly written, quite the opposite it was a very good piece but it lacked any sort of luster or appeal. It was quite infact extremely boring, by page 300 I could not wait for it to be over and this is weird because up to this point I have LOVED the gunslinger series, they were all very good from front to back. There is way, way, to much about Susanah and the whole thing about her having this baby and it dragged and draged, maybe this series is showing its age im not sure but one thing is for sure it was no Wastelands or Wizzard and Glass. It was a far fetch from those titles and it had barely any excitement. It got to the point where I had to try very hard to pay attention and often I would find I had read a page and not remebered what it was about and had to read it again. Im giving this book 2 out of 5, very poor story line, poor plot however it was written well I can only hope that the next book is better, cmon King give me the feeling Wastelands did, BLOWN AWAY!! rather than tired and exhausted
",0
"What a disjointed mess, talk about cashing in on fame.  All he did here was take a bunch of columns he wrote in the paper and called it a book.   I could have done better with the letter to the editor section of the paper.  I was not that enamored with Liar's Poker and this book has done it for me with this author.   It was just that the articles were not that relevant any more and his writing is not that good
",0
"The book was long and boring. To many and way to much descriptive details. I regret ever purchasing the book. Had to really fight with my self to finish the book. I'm glad it's over
",0
"I picked this up because it's considered a classic and I knew it had been made into a movie.  I tend to think that if a book is made into a movie, then the book must be pretty good.  Not so with Howard's End.  The plot in Howard's End doesn't progress much outside of an early death and later marraige.  You have to have some interest in the characters, but they just weren't very believeable.  None of characters convinced me that they could be people from the real world.  I kept waiting for someone to say anything that might border on being interesting, but everyone babbles on and on about nothing of any substance.  The story is clearly dated and doesn't hold up well so many years later.  Living in today's world, it's hard to understand what attracted Margaret to Henry.  There definately is an audience for this book.  I'm just not a part of it
",0
"Ch.9 - Heated Moments - graphic details of a girl starting her period. Writing makes it seem that a girl's period is something wrong
",0
"I had to buy this book for a class.  It is an extremely boring read and I struggle to keep myself awake while reading it (as does the rest of the class I am told).  It does tell you about Dreamweaver though and I suppose that is its purpose.  One thing that I do not like is the way the author is constantly bashing Internet Explorer and other isp's.  His personal opinions are a real turn-off and unnecessary
",0
"As a young woman I was appauled by Gurian's lack of respect for
women as human beings.What makes me the most furious is his 
shadowy writing which can lead a young woman to think she is 
only worth something if she squishes herself to allow the 
boys and men to take the lead in life.The resounding message is
girls and women are potentially inferior and cannot because of 
our hormones make important contributions to society beyond 
traditional roles.I don't remember ever being taken over by 
hormones and rendered down to a emotional bundle of primative 
chemical reactions he believes all females to be.
I agree with posters about this bridge brain foolishness.Gurian
is a master at twisting words around and you have to read his 
books being mindfull of his tricks.His book is full of agenda.
",0
"  I m not a big fan of communism, nor of Stalin. But I cross checked the facts mentioned in this book with facts in some other books I have read on similar subject and found that author Edvard Radzinsky is strongly biased against Stalin. In the entire book he seems to give no credit for anything to Stalin nor to his leadership qualities during the course of Second World War. Dont waste your money on a propaganda book. Better to go for an unbiased account from a neutral observer, thats what Biographies are supposed to be
",0
"I love Peterson's Guides, but the birds of Mexico is severely lacking.  The art certainly holds up to the standard set by the guides to North America, but unfortunately, it can only be considered complete if you tag along two other Peterson Guides.  Perhaps a good addition if you wish to complete your collection of Peterson Guides, but otherwise, buy Howell's or Edward's Guides, both of which far outshine this guide when considered alone.  Howell's is certainly the most complete, but Edward's guide is a bit handier in the field
",0
"Alright, for those of you who say Rand is criticizing works for false ideals, or lacking in substance, I say this: who is Rand to say what the absolute greatest ideals are?  Who is Rand to say what substance is?  You've got to look at her bias, first.  Realize that Rand never takes into account anything not related to personal freedom.  As if outside factors never matter; and maybe they don't, for her.  Maybe her life in an oppressive Russia did nothing to form who she is today.  But I doubt it.

Though I believe personal choice plays a huge factor in determining who we are and how we live, outside influences do affect a person.  But she doesn't.  Thus she condemns all works that are not driven solely by the individual as crap.  All books that are not driven solely by the individual's sense of reason: don't read, cause it will lessen your IQ.  

Any work that portrays or is driven by an emotion she doesn't find worthwhile or cannot understand, she condemns.

Rand, at least as portrayed in what I've read of her work, is unfeeling toward anything but what she wants.  And this is carried over into this book in what she criticizes.  They cannot hold a little or a fairly large amount of quality, they are either good or worthless.   The pieces of art she says are empty ARE empty, absolutely.  They don't fit into her paradigm thus have nothing to offer.  Nothing to offer her, that is.  

How is a completely selfish person supposed to write a critique of history's best books, telling OTHER people (with different wants and ideas and all the other funtions of an individual) What they should read?  Truthfully any criticism in this form, like a list I saw detailing the 100 best literary works in the world, is elitist crap trying to close people's minds toward books that a certain group deems lesser than others.  They have their bias like anyone else.

I say read in variety.  Observe art outside of Rand's choice of art.  Take in all you can, with an open mind, then start pondering whether you agree or not.  If you then agree because YOU agree, then I say great.  Its the basic individualistic response that Rand seems to forget to address.  She says question society, but by my line of inquiry.  She says be an individual, but only I know the basis of who you want to be
",0
"Why in the world would anyone publish a writer's bread and butter notes to his agent?  Besides the money, I mean.  There are a couple or three interesting fulminations against this publisher or that editor, whom Heinlein feels did him dirty.  But in the main this body of correspondence is of zero interest to any but the most complete worshipers of the sf master.  Just enjoy the stories, and nevermind the workaday business of how they got published
",0
"I started reading this book hoping for the best.  In turn, I found that my hopes weren't fulfilled.  The beginning half was intriguing and kept me wanting more.  After the tone changed, the book became bitter and boring.  The characters lost their flare, and the whole book lost personality.  The book became dull and lost appeal to me.  The book's writing style, in the beginning, was original and fun.  Following the death of Little Red the book slowly fell apart, leaving me tempted to stop reading the book. If someone asked me to recommend a good book, this would not be the one
",0
"This book is nothing more than a chaotic brainstorm session with no pertinent information at all. You could save yourself time with a pen and some paper and a group of friends because thats all this author did. Book doesnt SHOW you how to start up any of the ideas it just lists them. It also has a plethora of grammatical errors and is almost as if the editor didn't even bother to read it before sending it to the presses. It is a complete waste of time and not worth the ninety cents it costs to buy it used.
",0
"I like the idea that Michael Lewis wrote this book/article to defend a man whose coaching techniques are clearly out of style in todays world of my child this and my child that. Having said that I did not like this book:

1) the writing was chopping and hard to follow at times. i had to re-read many sentences to understand lewis' point. 

2) the story lacked the depth of lewis' other wonderful books - where's the who/why/what that lewis used to moneyball (and others) educational - i wanted the story behind the story. 

3) who were all the pictures of? i found them distracting... 

i'll continue to read lewis' books bu thope the next one is bette
",0
"I am extremely dissapointed with this new edition of the text and have one advise only: If you own 2nd ed., do not indulge in this new edition for even the errors (spellings for one) are xeroxed onto the new edition.

Therefore, for a review of the text itself, you may, without any compunction, refer to 2nd ed.'s comments, of which there are many
",0
"Ethan Mordden's editors have allowed him to ruin what could possibly have been a good book.  This is the worst of his books on the various decades of the Broadway musical as the faults of the seventies book have widened into gulfs.  His political ramblings (often just slightly right of Ann Coulter and making as much sense) seep through the book, dragging it down.  The French people are slammed a number of times, along with the ACLU, Burt Lancaster (apparently, according to Ethan a good friend of Stalin) and the left in general, while the author defends Bush (and it does take some looking back over the page to figure out how he fits all this into a book on musical theatre).  The author's train of thought wanders like a bitter old man  all over the page in search of a target, any target.  It is often hard to stomach.  The truly sad fact about this is that the author often has quite cogent things to say about a particular musical and when he does stick to that, it can actually make one want to look at the work again.  An editor should have cleaned the work up before before allowing it on stage to greet its public.  The author is capable of better work
",0
"""The Other Boleyn Girl"" and ""The Queen's Fool"" are two of the best books I've ever read--and I've read a LOT of books, especially about this period, which especially fascinates me. They were gripping to the end, and my involvement with the characters was complete--true masterpieces. So whenever a new book by Philippa Gregory comes out, I buy it, hoping to have the same experience, and lately have been sorely disappointed. ""The Virgin's Lover"" fell flat, and now I am trying to read this book but not finding myself engaged, must give it up. One reviewer suggested the books were being written too quickly--that is always an easy guess, however it depends on the writer. Anthony Trollope, for instance, was able to turn out amazing book after amazing book with incredible speed. That may or may not be the case with Gregory. I know, as a writer myself, that there are times when the work flows out, feeling almost as if it's channeled from another source, and times when it's harder, more mechanical. The more challenging situations are those when I'm not entirely convinced or in love with my subject. So to me, neither of these books feels as if they spring from a natural impulse. They feel forced, constructed. I'm going back to Trollope
",0
"My husband is Icelandic, and unfortunately this book was NO help at all... It's perfectly fine for the traveller, but in trying to live everyday life, conversing with new family members forget it. I would have liked to have seen a more comprehensive grammatical section, something that was laid out in something easy to look at and understand. If you are quite serious about learning this language I would honestly recommend saving the 20 bucks and buying the bit more expensive Colloquial Icelandic.  For me at least, it's quite easier to understand, has complete grammatical charts in the back, as well as a fairly decent dictionary...  Again, if you are only learning for business trips and such, then this would be a good option... For those of us actually moving there, her book is not so good..
",0
"Watson and Crick pilfered the data of Rosalind Franklin (unbeknownst to her) and her data then led them to their ultimate discovery of the double-helix nature of DNA. Instead of acknowledging her with praise, Watson goes on to belittle her and cast her in dark tones without understanding the context in which she was working (ie, a woman working in male-dominated science n the 1950's) -- a classic case of reaction formation. Maybe a brilliant man but with poor insight into human relationships
",0
"I have read several of Hiaasen's books and loved them.  They were very funny.  This one is not.  It is an endless description of naked strippers.  I found the main character, Erin, to be very unappealing.  She is just so stupid.  Her problems are all of her own creation.  And she is not funny.  I think you have to be a man to like this book.  I, as a woman, just found it exceedingly boring.  I kept waiting for it to get funny.  It never did
",0
"OK I havent read it yet, and it will take some effort to do so. The pages are yellowed, they are cut uneven(A first for me to witness!!)
I have ordered 3 books on chinese issues, and 2 have been scams. OK, there's a lesson there somewhere - buyer beware, especially concerning chinese items!!!
Their economic strategy revolves around/ begins with CHEAP MATERIALS!
BUYER BEWARE
",0
"The book is obviously well-researched and the chapter on The Riders was interesting.  However, the author included a lot of details that just really didn't matter-as if he threw in the entire contents of his research rather than sifting out the relevant facts.  The photos and illustrations that he used were illuminating and contributed to the educational value of the book.
My professor was able to bring Dr. Schrag to talk to our class.  He was a good lecturer-keeping the class' interest with humor and introducing us to new ways to look at photography and the Metro.  If he could make his writing style more like his teaching style, I think he would have much more success as an author
",0
"Before I bought the Pasajes series, I was relieved to see the (then) mostly positive reviews.  However, I really feel like the overall review score of 4.5 stars is very, very misleading.  I would not, in good faith, be able to recommend this series of books for learning Spanish.  

This series of books was VERY confusing and EXTREMELY difficult to work with.  Some of the many issues with using this series of books to learn spanish:

1) the concepts are not clearly explained (they invented a ""new"" english word for one) and the exercises are excessively complicated and do not give you enough practice with the vocabulary/concepts to feel confident using them.  

2) Frequently, new words, phrases and concepts are introduced in the middle of a lesson about something else, via a footnote, with no further explaination provided!!  This is SUPER frustrating and distracting!

3) Using this series of books is very cumbersome, the books are not well coordinated with one another, and do not appear to reinforce each other's concepts or vocabulary.

I'm very sorry, but these books are just terrible, and 4.5 stars is not at all reflective of the quality of these books... Using this series of books has taken ALL the fun out of learning Spanish, which I used to enjoy.  If you have the option to use different books, take it
",0
"Perfectly in keeping with the imperialist ethos that he so proudly and loudly espouses, Boot has foisted upon us a book that rests entirely on the labors of others.  

Lacking even the slightest trace of shame, he plunders concepts and ideas from anyplace in the intellisphere he chooses.  As a result, there's nary a new thought nor insight to be found anywhere within these pages.

Even more pitiably, like a renegade third world nuclear scientist trying to ""sanitize"" his clandestinely-acquired apparatus of any markings that might possibly identify its source, Boot assiduously scrubs away any subtleties and nuance that the original thoughts may have possessed.  One wearies quickly of the Manichaean results.

And like any ideologically-driven but technically inept would-be nuclear (or social) engineer, he fails utterly in his attempt to enrich his raw material even minimally, succeeding only in rendering it more toxic and hazardous than it originally was.

Why, even the title itself has been purloined from Alistair Home's 1977 underground classic, ""A Savage War of Peace""!*  Considering that Home's tome arrives at essentially the opposite conclusions from Boot's, this is irony most profound.

It is scarcely surprising, then, that recent history has thoroughly discredited the philosophies and policies so ear-splittingly trumpeted in Boot's book, thus rendering moot any lingering interest one might have had in perusing it -- unless one wishes to take counsel for the future by ruminating upon the Ozymandian ruins of Boot's espoused belief system.


* Recently reprinted and highly recommended!

",0
"First let it be said that this book leads you to believe that he hikes the whole trail... He does not. He hikes less than a third. You dont find this out until 2/3 through the book, which is right about when the book goes from passibly bad, to an ill effort to fulfill a contract. 

My conclusion on this book is that he was contracted to hike the trail by his publisher, could not, and stuffed the remainder of the book with verbatum history lessions and whole cloth inserts of useless statistics. 

As others have said in this review forum. This book can be snide, highschoolish and down right mean. I fail to see the ""wit"" in his endless negitivity and bashing. 

This book has a few funny parts, but I cant help but feel that it is a huge exageration of real events, and is mostly contrived fictional accounts which he uses to air is nasty comments. It is so unbelievible in places, that you know you are on an imagined tangent. 

Dont waste your money or time. I am so happy I bought it for 25 cents at a yard sale!
",0
"First of all, I did not exactly 'read' this biography. Instead I purchased the CD version which I distilled via my car sound system every morning on my way to work (I have enjoyed countless biographies of great american figures this way, and still been able to read many more technology related books).

I had great expectations from this book, having recently enjoyed three biographies of Lincoln. I have to confess that I was sorely disapointed. I found the research of Mr McCullough to lack the kind of details that I have enjoyed in biographies from Walter Isaacson, Richard Carwardine, or Doris Goodwin. I do not seek a beautiful story in a biography, but rather a reliable source of facts that I can use to form my own opinion of a character. In this context, I find Mr McCullough's use of superlatives or long emotionally charged sentences to be a distraction from the subject matter of John Adams and his contribution to America. I also enjoy direct quotes from letters, speaches, autobiographies, as they help me refine my impressions of the context (the period, the relationships to contemporary characters, ...) surounding a promonent figure. Usage of the English language in politics has dramatically evolved since Mr Adams' time, and I missed 'hearing' the voice of John Adams. Instead, this biography felt like reading a translation where the personality of the translator overshadows the personality of the original author. Finally, having read other biographies of the founding fathers, I was disapointed to find so little about the complex relationship between Adams and Franklin.

All in all, my lasting impression is that Mr McCullough did a great job at bringing John Adams and the early American Revolution to the masses through a very appealling product that may however leave readers asking for more historical details and less emotional opinions. Had I known that, I might have passed on this biography and instead explore Mr McCullough's fictional work
",0
"I echo the comments of the previous reviewers.  Don't waste your money.  Not only does this book present a tedious repetition of facts and stories already well known to even a casual U2 fan, it can't even get those facts right!  The book states that Bono's father dropped the family off at a Catholic Church before driving himself to another church.  This contradicts the correct statement on the preceding page that Bob Hewson was Catholic, while Bono, his mother and brother were Protestant.  In the same paragraph the Dublin neighborhood of ""Glasnevin"" is misspelled ""Asnevin"".  The hearing aid shop from which Bono took his name is misspelled, and perhaps most galling of all, the author can't even get the full name of Larry Mullen, Jr. right!  And this is just chapter one!  

I have to agree that this book was simply thrown together to make a quick buck and therefore not worth purchasing.  I would suggest skipping this one and purchasing Bono: In Conversation With Michka Assayas, which includes a pretty good account of Bono's life from the man himself. 
",0
"Now, I enjoy Victorian adventure fiction as much as the next person -- in fact, probably more than the next person, since the average ""next person"" hasn't ever read any. Tales of derring-do, adventures to unexplored distant lands, lost civilizations, great artifacts, etc. -- that's all good stuff. What's not good is this book, which is tedious in the extreme. On the surface of it, Haggard's followup to his hugely successful (and infinitely better) ""King Solomon's Mines"" has all the elements: a dynamic duo of scholar-adventurers (one of whom is descended from pharaohs!), a mysterious message from the past delivered by a dying man, an expedition to Africa, and a supernatural being who knows the secret of eternal life.

However, despite this promising laundry list, Haggard's execution leaves a great deal to be desired. A friend described it rather aptly as ""a book with a lot of story, but not a lot of plot."" Which is to say that in my edition, some 320 pages are filled without much happening. There is the initial mysterious set-up, the journey to dark Africa with the usual physical trials and tribulations, the heroes' conveyance to the ""lost city"", and then... and then things kind of grind to a halt. Lengthy descriptive details, lengthy internal ruminations, lengthy rambling speeches, lengthy everything -- but very little of consequence occurs until the very end, when the heroes make a dangerous journey to find the eternal fire which grants nigh-everlasting life.

I suspect much of the problem stems from the book's origin as a long-running serial in the Gazette. As I understand it, serial writers of the time were paid by the word or by the installment, and thus, it was to their advantage to spin their plots out as much possible -- hence the unhealthy ratio of action to words. Judicious editing could reduce the book to 1/3 of its size without any loss of note. Of course, as another friend pointed out, it's probably best to read the book is small chunks -- just as one would have done with installments. Spreading out one's reading of it over a period of time, he suggests, may serve to conceal the book's rambling nature. In any event, there are some nice scenes here and there, such as the moonlight battle between crocodile and lion and another involving human cadavers used as torches, but those are about all I'm likely to recall from this book in a year. 

Of course, as is noted in the introduction to my edition, Haggard lifted the main elements of the plot, and even the the true name of ""She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"", from several earlier adventure novels by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, so one can't even give him much credit for imagination. I suppose the book is worth reading by those interested in literary representations of the prevailing xenophobic sentiments of Victorian Englishmen: racism, anti-Semeticism, misogyny, fear of miscegenation, etc., but as entertainment for the modern reader, it falls woefully short of the mark.
",0
"If you want the why and the wherefore ... stay away.  Informative to general audiences, it provides little scientific support for its contention.  With the wealth of information out there, this was not the critical review needed, nor was it terribly informative about any particular statin-caused effect
",0
"Casual book browsers who stumble across Braden's book, ""The Isaiah Effect,"" might undoubtedly be drawn to the implications of the title: that there exists some mystical, unifying code which is only now being fully understood through modern techniques, research, and understanding. I, as one such browser, had briefly read about the so-called ""Bible Code"" which computers have now enabled man to explore and thought that the subject of this book might be related. With my interest piqued at the title and the book description, I delved into the pages expecting to learn exactly what encompassed Isaiah's ""precise instructions"" of prayer. I wanted to know exactly what Braden claimed to have stumbled upon.

What I found in this 250 page foray into countless subjects was nothing other than a pastiche of new-thought concepts. The mixing of religions, for example - a sort of pick-and-choose spirituality which has slowly been creeping its way into the mainstream for decades - is recycled over and over again, drawing from endless sources of gnostic gospels and other lost books. In only one chapter does Braden actually begin to describe in detail verses from the book of Isaiah. Instead he relegates the books of the Essenes to positions of higher authority and prominence.

In the brief pages in which Braden actually does discuss Isaiah, his conclusions speak nothing of a decoded lost science. His basic premise of ""The Effect"" is that people can alter their futures by the choices they make in the present. Such a revelation is not a new interpretation of Isaiah at all. Any student of the Bible and Christianity knows that all the prophetic books of the Old Testament are records of God warning Israel, and the world, of turning away from Him.

To Braden's credit, his discussions of the effects of prayer in today's society are commemorable, albeit somewhat misguided. I agree with him that people in today's society need to turn away from the petty details of life with which they've surrounded themselves. However, I believe Braden over-emphasizes the role of feelings and emotion in prayer. He fails to discuss how humans, and their emotions, are extremly fallable and can change as quickly as the winds in his anecdotes.

Braden wants desperately to believe that the true power of prayer is to be found in all the lost science which he has uncovered in ancient texts. In the process he fails to recognize that the blueprint for prayer has been known to man ever since he was created. Humbleness before God and the filling of the Holy Spirit are the true keys to prayer - not cosmic emotions and human feelings.

A disappointing read
",0
"I am an elementary school teacher previewing this book in order to find a developmentally appropriate text for a study of religion. I am not religious and I strive to take a learner's stance and a scholarly approach to any unit of study that I present to my students. Betsy and Guilio Maestro have written other fabulous books on several topics; books that I have made available to my students for their research because they were accurate and presented without bias. This particular work unfortunately is neither. Their gesture was genuine and gracious, an example of the tolerance they wanted to promote. No deity need take offense; all were included in the pantheon of possibilities. It is however filled with inaccuracies and contradictions and finally a statement of belief by the authors.

Though written as an overview of many of the world religions, this book culminates in a doctrinal statement of the confusing theology of religious pluralism, the view that no religion is objectively truer than any other. One point ought to be obvious, though: Everything can't be true. 

The religions mentioned are like oil and water; they can't mix because they represent opposite and competing concepts. An appeal to their similarities doesn't help. We would never say aspirin and arsenic are basically the same just because they both come in tablet form. It's the differences that are critical. That's true in all areas of life, especially the spiritual.

If God exists, He's either personal or not personal. He can't be both. If God is merely a cosmic energy, why ask His blessing? He can't hear or respond. If He's a person, then He's someone, not everyone.

This book is not as much a story of religions as it is a recipe for religious stew
",0
"This book is a disappointment.  It provides little insight into the life or personality of Robert Redford, the actor or the person.  The book is basically a chronicle of the movies RR has directed or in which he has appeared as an actor.  But even as a filmography the book fails.  The reader learns little about the creation of each movie or the relationships among the actors beyond the anecdotes that have been repeated numerous times on TV or in the press.  In addition, the authors have the annoying habit of consistently putting down Robert Redford with snide remarks.  There must have been something about the actor other than his white teeth and good looks that made him an international superstar.  For sure, it must be difficult to write a biography of such a private person as Robert Redford.  However, it is the responsibility of biographers to gather information and gain an understanding of their subject, and if they can't do so, then there is no book
",0
"This books starts with such promise but I find it hard to believe that the people who wrote the glowing reviews were actually able to slog through it! Minutiae-fest
",0
"I originally had to read this book for a History of Rock and Roll class at the University of Cincinatti. I found the subject interesting, and the professor gave wonderful lectures. I had good expectations about this book going in, but those quickly soured as I read it.

It seems correct, at least, about the social problems of the different eras and their relation to rock. Not that such is a particularly daunting feet.

However, it is rife with laughable fallacies. For instance, it calls David Bowie, amongst other glam rock bands of the era, metal. It futher goes on to call many pop bands of the 60s and 70s rock, when they have no guitar work and no bass line at all, such as the Carpenters.

I really had a good laugh when they called Bad Religion hardcore. Bad Religion is about as hardcore as Elvis is rap. Further massive genre confusion consisted throughout the entire book.

I also noted several drastic misinterpretations of songs. For instance, it claims 'Thunder Rolls' by Garth Brooks is about domestic violence. Its about infedility, not focusing on violence at all, but rather the emotional ramificationsof being cheated on.

The writing is also rather dry. Many times it is merely a citing of the names of band members as well as constantly describing minor changes in bands lineups which are of no true consequence. It also tends to list off songs which have no impact on any giving band's successes or failures.

After reading the book in completetion, I really had to question the earlier passages about older rock and blues (50s to 60s) that I had thought were true. In the end, I felt that it wasted my time and money and possibly misinformed me more than anything
",0
"Mr. Haqqani's views about his mother country are very dubious. The only question I have for the author as he served in some very corrupt governments as their partner...What has he done for his home land? Nothing!!! This book in waste of time.
",0
"Temperance Brennan is an American forensic anthropologist .The author is a anthropologist in real life and I feel she gave to much detail as to body parts & conditions ,& locations in the book , and in about the 3rd chapter to much time and space is wasted talking about ""Gabby "" including in detail where gabby lives and details that surround the outside of Gabbys place & How Gabby and Tempe were friends from GRad to man parts in life . Book was not for me I dropped it at the 3rd chapter .
",0
"Not that great. A far better read is ""Sun, Sin And Suburbia: An Essential History Of Modern Las Vegas"" by Geoff Schumacher. 
",0
"It's disturbing to see how many mistakes I found just browsing through this colorful, attractive book.  Though the state bird of Alabama is known locally as ""yellowhammer,"" you will not find that name in any field guide!  The accompanying picture was no help either in identifying what turned out to be the Common Flicker. Other state birds were listed by uncommon, incorrect, misleading names too.
The 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City is represented by a nice picture and writeup, but with a glaring misspelling in its headline--""In Memorium"" should be ""In Memoriam.""  
Claremore, OK is misspelled as ""Clarmore"" on the map.
These errors leaped out at me just flipping through the pages.  This is very disappointing and makes me wonder what other misinformation this book contains.  Adults have some knowledge and experience against which to measure what they read; schoolchildren who may be learning facts for the first time need the facts to be correct
",0
"The best out of three guide books I looked at, and a must for the first trip to the big island. 
",0
"I also bought the hype of NYTimes Best Seller.  Goes to show you some people have really bad taste.  The story was promising and could have been exciting without the awful dialog.  It seems like the author was being paid by the word - too much repetition, entire scenes which added nothing to the story, etc.  I would NEVER purchase another book by this author.  Glad it's over and this ones in the trash can...  Charli
",0
"Margaux with an x is about a young lady who seems to have it all. Beauty,Popularity and can do about anything without getting into trouble at home. Yet she is not happy she holds a dark secret that happened to her when she was young.She is tired of every boy drooling over her and wanting to date her and most having no content to them.  She has a gambler as a father and a mother who just watches television all day. Her life takes a different turn when she meets Danny. He is the total opposite of all the guys she has dated. He is a year behind her in high school he is thin and is not shapely, yet they both start a bond with each other. The book was interesting but after awhile I got tired and could not keep up with the constant bantering and sarcasm of the main characters
",0
"   This is a difficult book for  beginner-level  spanish language students.  I kept it b/c I understand that it is one they use at the immersion course I will be taking soon in Mexico.
Probably will not use it before that or subsequent
",0
"I bought this book for my CCNP recertification.  I ran into a bunch of stuff on the exam that was not covered in this book or was in greater detail than was covered by this book. I used Sybex books before on my original CCNP certification and I passed.  If I try to recertify, it won't be with one of those books.  I'll use Cisco Press.  Live and learn.
",0
"Being an engineer in the aerospace industry I was highly interested in this book based on my experiences from the vantage point a ""hard industry."" I personally believe that it's in our long term interests to maintain a strong manufacturing base because that's the foundation of real wealth, not legal services or newswires. So this book sounded like the perfect source of information to explain our current economic situation, give an assessment of how bad or how good it really is, and suggest ways to improve it. Oh, how very, very wrong I was . . .  

This book started off strong, . . . for about four pages. After that a litany of tortured logic, un-sourced assertions, facts taken completely out of context except for the author's subjectively added adjectives, Orwellian double-speak, sleight of hand arguments, flat out ridiculuos statements, contradictory assessments, and even emotional vitriol coalesced not so much into an argument for industry but one for eighteenth century mercantilism with perhaps a sprinkling of far left George Soros on top to serve as an update for the twenty first century. 

Even a broken watch is correct twice a day though, so there were some good points in the book which buy it the 2 star rating. These include: 

- Manufacturing provides a large source of proprietary knowledge which both improves productivity and serves as a barrier of entry, creating an industry with a large base of high paying jobs, provided it's run right. (A big if.) 

- High wage nations can still compete effectively with low wage nations in manufacturing by being capital intensive. 

- Americans need to save more and our education system needs to produce more engineers and technically oriented graduates. 

- There is some excess in the financial services and managers of publicly traded companies take too short term a view, leading them to sell the company upriver in the long run because of a personal temporary short term gain. (i.e. Enron)  

A scholarly, fair, and comprehensive book that focused on the above would be extremely interesting and useful. This is not what you'll get in this book though. Instead you'll get:

A begining section about postindustrialism, things like the internet, information technology, financial services, etc., the things that make the services based economy. In three chapters the author simply sets up straw men by taking the worst examples of post industrial advocates, instead of presenting a comprehensive picture of the post industrial argument. Not being satisfied with this he proceeds to beat the straw men, set them on fire, and piss on the smoldering remains. This is where vitriol even comes out, where he equates the post-industrialists to people incapable of even thinking. If someone has to go to this extreme to make their argument, they probably don't have one. Most telling he leaves the final assessment of the value of the internet to a feminist. To me, this would be like leaving the final assessment of how good a bicycle is to, oh, I don't know, let's say a fish.

A middle section extolls the virtues of manufacturing. This is a bunch of hand picked anectdotal stories and there's no overview of manufacturing in the world or its real impact on economies at large. This is the kind of subject that screams for reams of data, charts of GDP growth over time, pie charts of the breakdown of economies into services, manufacture, agriculture, etc. You will get none of that. There's little value except in reassuring the obvious, high wage nations CAN do manufacturing. Many of these cherry-picked anectdotal examples still don't quite dove-tail with all his claims about manufacturing though! You also know you're being left in the dark with a plethora of CYA disclaimer statments like ""while Industry_X has certainly had its share of problems recently . . ."" at the begining of a section.   

A final section basically amounts to an attack on laissez-faire, free markets, and the concept of free trade. George Soros and a bunch of other lefties, with Pat Buchanan thrown in for ""balance"", should be listened to instead. 

The worst part of this book is the author's lack of an ability to make any sort of coherent argument. Examples of twisted thinking abound:

- A post-industrial ""industry"" grows five times over in a certain period. The author then goes onto explain how this is not really real growth but something that in reality is bad. Later he proves how great a manufacturing industry is because in the same period it grows a whopping 60%! Self contradictory evaluations of the performance of services vs manufacturing is common and always falls down on the side that the manufacturing industry is far far better than the service industry even when all the standard economic indicators suggest otherwise. The author's challenge to the reader seems to be ""who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?"" 

- He rips into American post industrial industries as being labor intensive and vulnerable to low wage nations because Americans are no smarter or more creative or more anything than laborers around the world. Later he talks about how great German manufacturing is because Germans are so much more diligent than the rest of the world's workers. 

- The only facts he presents - and they are surprisingly thin and overwhelmed by mere assertions - are always modified by his subjective opinion and never put in context. When describing service industries ""paltry"" $50 million revenues, ""only"" 60,000 jobs, ""disappointing"" 24% of revenues from foreign sources is common. But when describing manufacturing ""a very high"" $6 million revenues, ""a good mix"" of 1,500 jobs, and similar glowing assessments are inevitable despite the number to follow. A number in and of itself means nothing. The fact the author leaves out any head on, direct comparison between industries is telling. 

- Official figures are the ultimate source of information when they agree with what the author believes. When the official figures don't agree with him, he finds some loner who does and then barely explains how this time around the official figures are somehow wrong. When attacking his straw men though, he accuses them of ignoring official figures and quoting some loner.  

- Gems of Orwellian double-speak sentences include examples like ""Solar is already a fully competitive source of energy in remote areas that do not have grid electricity. (pg. 184)"" I.e. it's competitive where there is NO competition! And ""Even in Singapore, one of the freest societies in the East, the savings rate was successfully boosted by a system of forced savings . . . (pg. 229)"" That's not very free if it's FORCED is it? (His defense of solar is one of the most hilariously pathetic eight pages I've ever read and really is worth the price of the book. He capstones it with the ""most encouraging"" observation that solar cells have gone from producing one third of the energy used to make them before they wore out - that is consuming more total energy in their manufacture than they eventually make!- to now producing three times as much energy as required to produce them before they wear out. Wow, what an achievement. Any ACTUAL power source converts many thousands of times the energy used to manufacture it before it's internal workings wear out, but whatever . . .)

- Americans are dumb and the only successful American companies basically blundered into monopolies on standards. The American economy, despite the statistics, is in bad shape. The Japanese instead are eight feet tall, can read people's minds and see through lead. The Japanese economy, despite the statistics, is in really great shape. This type of persistently biased characterization makes you question everything he claims, and eliminates any value or truth he might actually have in his arguments. The author basically can't get out of his own way.  

- He always attacks opponents of his viewpoint by claiming that they don't put numbers into context, are using twisted logic, making mere assertions instead of quoting facts, etc., apparently oblivious that these are the very same tactics he himself uses!

- He claims Boeing is no longer a good company because 30% of components in a Boeing aircraft are now made abroad vs. 2% in the 1960's. This is actually because foreign manufacturing for those components happens to be better and cheaper. America isn't doing that badly in aerospace by the way. The author fails to mention that 50% of the ""European"" Airbus is made in America. This is an example of free trade actually distributing production to where it is most efficient. 

The list goes on and on to ridiculous proportions. You'd have to buy the book to see them all because there's at least one thing an alert and critical reader can find highly questionable on each page. 

All in all, this book was way off the mark and a highly squandered opportunity. It's really a mercantilist argument, and the only common thread that I could see in all the author's cloudy reasoning is that nation's should do everything in their power to export more than they import no matter what. It's NOT, unfortunately, a book about how to revitalize American manufacturing in a globalized world.
",0
"""Our attention is the most precious resource we have,"" says Shenk. Well...I'm not sure everyone would agree.  But this is the way he would like to slice the whole matter of information technology, the media,  etc., etc., and that's fine.  Shenk's standpoint is amazingly isolated and  will make sense only to an elite ensconced in the same high fallutin' mix  of punditry/technology/leisure time he is.  Information overload, or  ""data smog"" as the author terms it, is certainly a relevant and  important area to explore, but Shenk, in is privileged world, really can't  nail down what might be so detrimental about it.  His examples illustrate  just how removed his is from the vast majority of American society:  minute-by-minute news reports diluting the quality of info and the ability  to sort it, not feeling so apt to respond to your friends' email because  you get too much, the end of patience? As he represents it in ""the end  of patience,"" data smog really ain't no big woop--it's just some tacks  on the erogomic seats of a pampered minority into which Shenk seems to fit.   Where's the politics, I wonder?  How does this trivia fit into the lives  of Middle Americans or working people?  To the point, Shenk might benefit  from a step or two away from his computer.  Rubbing shoulders with the  common folk might hip him to serious problems like acne or Monday Night  Football
",0
"I think in retrospect I wasted my time on this one. It had a great premise that indulged me into buying this book but who knew dark days lied ahead of me. As I read through the last chapters trying to uncover the mystery, I kept on hoping that there would be something more to it, something more enigmatic, a brilliant twist but I was left with despair. My major problem with this novel was there were not enough, in fact hardly anybody whom the reader could suspect as the possible killer. And bringing out a totally new character at the very end to describe the proceedings only shows a lack of respect to the mind of the reader who had been guessing until now about various other possibilities. I will never touch this author's book again! A mantra for reading thrillers is in believing the hype and read the best of the best-Dan Brown
",0
"This book is pure fiction, nothing more. The problem is that is presented as fact - albeit little known fact.

I won't repeat the good points made by some of the other reviewers, except to say that I also concur with the criticisms of the book. 

It makes for difficult reading.  It really is not worth the effort, as you will not have any worthwhile information in the end. In fact, if you are a historian or scholar, stay away from it
",0
"I bought this audio CD set at the Borders store, without the opportunity to preview the narration. Had I been able to do so, I probably never would have purchased it, let alone paid full bookstore price for it. But I needed an audiobook for my long drive the next day, so I relented. 

Lesson learned.

The audio quality is very insonsistent, at at times very poor, having been transcribed from the original audiotape recording. 

While the author is obviously greatly informed on the historical and geopolitical details of the Middle East, it does read very much like a history text. With the amount of detail presented, and the wide scope of coverage from one end of Europe reaching into the former Soviet states and beyond, one immediately feels the need for visual aids (maps, timelines, etc.) as guidance. 

The reader's narration is monotononous, with a very constant cadence which dulls the senses. Each sentence sounds the same as the last. This has the unfortunate effect of rendering each piece of information presented as no more significant than any other, and so all of the events seem to be lost to obscurity. After a while, the narration becomes little more than background noise. No information is retained by the listener
",0
"I've seen better high end audio books. I'm certainly not a member of the aforementioned ""Scientific School of Audio System Performance Analysis"", the only instruments that can accurately measure sound quality are the ones on either side of your head. I listen to what my ears tell me sounds good, and generally, tubes sound good. Which is why this book is sort of a disappointment, you'd think that out of 80 projects there'd be at least one tube phono preamp, but unfortunately there are no tube amps, just a few rants about how tubes don't produce enough power. Who uses more than a watt anyway? Even the transistor amps presented aren't much better than what you could get from Rex or Circuit City, similar schematics could probably be found on the internet for free. Go ahead and buy it if that's the sort of thing you're into, but if its tubes you want, try Morgan Jones' ""Building Valve Amplifiers"", it doesn't have many schematics but it covers  in great detail the layout and contruction of tube amps. Good schematics can be found on the intarnub
",0
"Ms Wilson needs to make up her mind whether to write a book of Literary Criticism or a biography.  The book suffers from too much critical analysis of Sassoon's poetry and not enough about his life.  Either he was an extremely boring and prosaic poet or Ms. Wilson needs to delve deeper into his intellectual and emotional development - really his cricket exploits and his hunting prowess does not lend anything to the very essence of his life.  Ms. Wilson's prose is turgid and repetitive. An extremely disappointing work
",0
"I know that as a wolf-lover I am a bit biased, but I would still like to say that this book is stupid and incorrect.  You see, in this story, three children are left alone.  A wolf disguised as their grandmother tricks them into letting him in, because he wants to eat them.

Unfortunately, that's where this seemingly charming book starts going downhill.  This is just another stupid book that, summed up, says ""Wolves are evil, ugly beasts who attack people!!  We have to kill them all before they gorge themselves on our children!""

Yep, the wolf is depicted as evil in this book.  Why couldn't they make it something that actually hurts people, like a bear or a mountain lion?  Ignorance, that's why.  The wolf is also depicted as stupid and easy to trick in this book.

See, near the end, the children try to trick the wolf by telling him he can become immortal by eating gingko nuts.  They plan on luring him into their trap, to get rid of him.  The wolf instantly falls for it, which is lame.  Wolves are among the most intelligent and perceptive animals on Earth!

It's practically traditional to make children's books with wolves as villains, and the Chinese seem to loath wolves, but this book crosses the line.

Don't let your kids read it unless you want them to think wolves are savage, stupid, man-eating beasts.  If they already think so, you'd be neglecting mankind's need to know things even more by letting them read it.

In other words, it's a terrible book.
",0
"Chris Bohjalian is a gifted stylist, and it pains me to give this book such a low mark.  It's hard to say much without giving away the plot, but I found the plot contrived and manipulative -- too clever for its own good.  The book started strong, but as the main character became more disassociated with reality, I became more disassociated with the book.  I finished it, but it was a struggle
",0
"I don't know what to say about this book. It is the single worst book I have ever read in my young life.  I feel like I've witnessed a horrible tragedy and am at a loss for words to describe it.  I would say at some point in the book, maybe about halfway, every line of dialogue, every characterization, every plot point, is absolutely terrible.  This book is truly an offense to literacy, and I cannot understand how a publisher of any merit or author could publish and print this trash.  I can only imagine that Robin Cook either allowed a child to write this book,or was chronically drunk while writing it. Either that or he has lost his faculties altogether. I have read children's essays that have been better written.
While it would take a novel to explain all the problems with this book, the highlights are:
-knowing the mystery 50 pages into the book and being forced to painfully watch the dumb characters discover the mystery
-cliche mania with lines like, ""I going to get to the bottom of this mystery"" and when the character's discover something, giving each other high-fives.
-racist remarks about blacks living in harlem about how they like to steal televisions, own guns, and play basketball.
-stereotype characters such as mafioso that like to eat spaghetti and named dominick and vinny.
-incredible suspension of disbelief when the heros, nyc coroners, fly off to africa on a moments notice because they want to finish their case of a dead body. (also paying for their friends to come too)
-wandering around the main installation easily where the evildoers are working, and asking questions, and getting answers to them real easy.
-incredible annoying characters that make inappropriate jokes. (i.e. making sarcastic remarks to a guy holding a gun on them)
-the book spirals into total madness in the last 50 pages to a beyond implausible ending. I got a sense whoever wrote the end of book was on sleeping pills when he wrote it.
If anyone thinks this book is better than two stars, they need their head examined.
",0
"Pretentious and boring, too clever for its own good, the only good chapters in this book are the ones about Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ, and there's not enough of that.

And this was the Michael Glenny translation
",0
"I've read and enjoyed all the StarFIST novels. This is one of them in name only. It starts like a typical Starfist novel and even ties in some references to Charlie Bass and high level politicians but there the similarity ends.

I never did figure out what the author's point was except perhaps to rake in some quick cash. The men of the FIST are hard working, hard fighting Marines who trace an honorable history back to the US Marines of the 19th & 20th century. These ""Force Recon"" marines are a ruthless bunch of screw-ups who could trace their ancestry back to the Waffen SS.

Rather than root for them I soon found myself rooting for the opposition. They invade a fellow member of the confederation, screw-up their primary assignment, fail to get the info they were sent for, kill allied soldiers and airmen, murder helpless civilian prisoners, and assinate the leader of a confederation allied state.

Someone should remind the authors that Recon is about getting accurate, timely, information. It's not about blowing things up.

I really wasted my money on this book, I definitely won't be the first lemming off the cliff the next time these authors have something to peddle.
",0
"I have enjoyed many of Mark's novels (Do You Know That I Love You is my favorite of the bunch), all the time recognizing his severe limitations as a writer.  

Every character in every Roeder novel speaks with the same voice--all of them, and though his dialog is usually age appropriate for his teen characters, his narrative passages invariably sound as if they were written by someone decades older.  There is frequent repetition and redudancy; characters never say anything once if they can say it two or three or four times (though he has definitely improved since his mediocre first novel Ancient Prejudice, which had the unfortunate distinction of glamorizing teen suicide).  His characters always (and I mean always) mate for life, which is a beautiful romantic ideal, but ultimately can get tiresome (gay teens are no different from straight ones in their need to play the field a bit before a lifetime commitment).  

All that said, at his best (DYKWIK, A Better Life, Keeper of Secrets) Mark Roeder writes a compelling and often un-put-downable story.  

But in Outfield Menace, the bad most definitely outweighs the good.  Did Mr. Roeder do ANY research into the time period???  The fifties are certainly a good setting for a gay teen novel (if only as an educational experience for contemporary teens, who don't realize how impossible it was to be gay at that time), but if you want to set a novel in the fifties, don't have a lead male character with a ponytail.  No one, but no one, wore a pony tail in the fifties (and certainly not in a small midwest town).  Don't have characters use anachronisms like ""fifteen minutes of fame.""  And most of all, don't have characters behave and think in anachronistic wasys.

Mark Roeder illustrates the dangers of self publishing.  He has apparently made a name for himself (and some money I'd guess), and I must confess, I've bought his novels (glutton for coming out stories that I am) but no legitimate house would publish his novels, at least not without major editing and rewriting, something that a self published author (especially one with an apparently inflated self image) goes without.  

There has been a renaissance in quality gay teen fiction this past year or two.  Major publishers have put out such superb young adult novels as Totally Joe, M or F?, The Hookup Artist, Rainbow Road, Boy Girl Boy.  Read them, if only to see how these truly outstanding (and published by legit houses) novels could teach Mark Roeder a thing or two.  

If you must read Roeder, then stick with his better novels and avoid this serious misstep.  Memo to Roeder: if you want to write about a time you don't know about, do your research
",0
"Gerd Ludemann writes, ""historical research shows with definite clarity that Jesus was not raised from the dead...we must acknowledge...a worldwide historical hoax"", (190). A summary review of his treatment will be sufficient to demonstrate that his conclusion is preposterously more forceful than even his strongest individual argument can support.

Three streams of thought permeate ""The Resurrection of Christ"": gospel writers each reworked tradition so as to embellish, invent, or explain away; Peter and Paul experienced hallucination and ""vision"" experiences proceeding from self-deception; belief in the supernatural is for the ignorant and unscientific. Each of these bespeaks either erroneous assumptions, or avoidance of two hundred years of scholarly response against counter-Christian polemic. 

In his chapter ""Translation and analysis of the Early Christian texts on the Resurrection"", Ludemann applies a pattern of subtexts which he titles ""purpose and tradition reworked"" (re. Gospel writers), and ""historical elements"". In the former he charges the gospel writers with adding to early tradition simply to reinforce their individual apologetic, or perhaps (he intimates) to cover up some element of embarrassment. For example, Ludemann asserts that we may conclude that Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Jewish Council (which condemned Jesus), but that Mark (earliest gospel) ""likely"" invented notions that the same was waiting for the kingdom of God and had become a disciple of Jesus. But Ludemann needs to discredit such notions, for all four gospel writers record Joseph as the rich council member that buried Jesus in his own tomb. Ludemann's case will be much weaker if Jesus is actually buried in a tomb that could be checked later to refute resurrection claims or appearances. Ludemann gets carried away with himself when he, in tabloid fashion, suggests that perhaps the gospel writer is trying to ""disinfect a tradition...of a dishonorable burial"" of Jesus. This is entirely ad hoc and enjoys absolutely no support from the texts he purports to analyze. Ludemann goes so far as to accuse Matthew, Mark and Luke of being anti-Jewish! (Refer to the ridiculous Appendix 3).

Is Christianity a ""history of self deception""? Ludemann invests in the rather high-risk prospect of hallucination; for the burden is on Ludemann to successfully argue against several strains of evidence for the physical appearances of Jesus available in the New Testament. That any explanation can be posited does not equal all explanations are equally valid. Ludemann simply fails to evince that we ought to prefer hallucination as that which is best attested to by the various strata of available evidence. 1 Corinthians 15 is the New Testament text historians consistently refer to as central to the discussion of Jesus' multiple appearances. Even critical scholars date the creedal portion of the text (vs. 3-5) to the early 30's AD. The discussion advances from death to burial to resurrection, three physical events. Also, the post resurrection gospel narratives speak of Jesus eating and offering his body for examination, as well as being hugged! Ludemann though, convinced that he has dispensed with those gospel narratives after the fashion mentioned above, and prejudiced by his atheistic presuppositions, introduces hallucination. What accounts for these hallucinations? ""Peter's vision is an example of unsuccessful mourning"" (165). Paul's ""event had a character of light and, like the vision of John, happened in the spirit, i.e., in ecstasy"" (47). But Paul does not report ""I was in the Spirit"" as John does (see Revelation 1). John is deliberately conveying a non-physical experience. Paul is not. When Paul does have opportunity to convey an actual ""in the spirit"" experience, he does so in terms appropriate to that experience (2 Corinthians 12:2). So we have record of Paul's ability to intentionally differentiate between the physical and the purely spiritual. Ludemann employs his fanciful tendencies beyond credulity when he engages ""modern depth psychology"" to explain Paul's conversion from zealous persecutor of Christians to ""Apostle-in-Chief of a new program of salvation"" (170-171). So, we may more accurately adduce historical veracity from a study of Paul's subconscious state, than from the widely accepted facts of Jesus death, burial, empty tomb and appearances! 

Ludemann's examination of history fails for he maintains a priori rejection of the supernatural. Historians look for the best explanation of the evidence. Yet Ludemann writes, ""Who decides at what point of historical study a `theological explanation' ought to begin"" (201). This is rife with misunderstanding. One need only confirm that an event occurred in history, regardless of theological implications.  Also, simple and sophisticated philosophic arguments conclude that theism (thus supernaturalism) is an entirely logical proposition. Yet Ludemann quotes another author, ""[the disciples] believed in phantoms; ... imagined that they were surrounded by miracles; ... took no part whatsoever in the positive science of the time."" (175). This ignores the New Testament textual evidence that initially Jesus' disciples did not believe the resurrection had happened, and in other places they marveled at his many miraculous works. Even their primitive sense of science informed their lack of expectation for such a miracle! 

Ludemann is exactly right when he agrees with Paul that if there is no resurrection, we should abandon Christianity. Sadly, he reaches the wrong conclusion. Self deluded by a proliferation of ""one can imagine"", ""seems to indicate"", ""likely enough"", and ""one thus suspects"" reasoning, Ludemann boasts ""accepting my perishability gives rise to a truer Easter vision"". (210). May the reader decide otherwise
",0
"Man, oh man, I think this is one of the worst books I've ever read.  If I could give The Thanatos Syndrome negative stars, I would!

Seriously, half way through, I came to Amazon to see how bad other people thought it was.  Boy was I shocked to see that almost all of these reviews were positive!

I found the book bizarre, unfocused and poorly written.  The volcabulary repeatedly seems misused.  The plot is not reasonable given the safeguards that US funding agencies have in place with regards to human experimentation.  The physics, engineering, psychology, medical chemistry and biology are uninformed and unrealistic.  Characters are introduced as though they will be important to the outcome, only to have them dissipate.  And so on.

The characters don't even seem like real people.  For example, the main character recognizes his cousin by seeing her ankles - and only her ankles - flashing below a curtain, and yet he is apparently unaware of what degree of cousins they are.  How could someone know a person that well, but still only have a vague idea of how they were related by blood?  Or:  one of the more reliable male characters blows duck hunting calls at women he finds attractive - as though he really thinks this will attract them.  C'mon, if the guys a nut (and anyone who tries to seduce women by talking 'duck' to them is nuts!), write him as a nut the whole way through, don't make him the cornerstone of reliability at the book's climax!

The book's title isn't even explained, for crying out loud.  Thanatos means death in Greek, I believe, but I could never understand what the author/editors/audience thought was dying.

I won't read this one again, nor will I look for anything else by Percy Walker. 
",0
"Very politically manipulative primer that only gives 5/8 of the story. I add 1/8 because the author does acknowlege some of the huge problems caused by unbridled global capitalism, but then quickly glosses them over basically saying that these effects are unfortunate, but that free global trade is best for everyone in the long run. There is a lot of interesting incidental information as various terms are explained, but too often this reference becomes a one-sided sermon for free trade. These are the same deceptions that Robert Reich started pushing under Clinton. Repubs kept the song going without missing a beat. Most of both Dem and Repub reps support neoliberal policies - the rich get richer in both parties. Feel free to read to learn about terms, just be aware that the author is leading you down a highly biased path
",0
"I tried, I really did, but I couldn't get beyond 100 pages.    I love Iris Johansen books but it seemed she had no joy in writing this one, almost as if she were forced to do so.  It contained none of her usual style.  The dialogue was choppy and boring and nothing made you care about the characters.  I'm still a fan and hope the next book is written in more typical IJ style. 
",0
"A little less psycho babble and a bit more logistical information would have suited me better.  Ms. Cantrell spends the majority of the book being a relationship/marriage counselor, and though it's true issues become larger in smaller spaces, there are more issues for women cruisers than just their relationship dynamics.  As I said, practical logistical information would have suited me better.
",0
"""Ha ha ha hah ha hah!""  That's Stirling laughing all the way to the bank.  Or at least I hope that's what he is doing.  But sadly I suspect he more likely feels his Wiccan/SCA/DnD-infused vision of a post-apocalyptic society is a reasonable, nay, likely path we'll follow should selective physical laws break down.  Quick!  Stop me!  I feel the need to wave my sword, sing a Gaelic song, and break out my cauldron!  The genre requires we make a leap of faith.  And as a fan of the genre, I do so willingly.  But having made the leap, it is annoying at best to be forced through this ""Tolkein as faith"" drivel.  But as I will likely read the entire series (remember, I love the genre) I have to hope that Stirling leans towards the ""thanks for the buck buddy"" and is himself laughing at us all.  But a picture is worth a thousand words and his mug on the inside cover tells me he believes this nonsense!

My recommendation?  Read the book.  Laugh a bit.  Maybe laugh a lot. But do this with the library's copy, not one you paid for
",0
"I couldn't read past the second chapter.  Roberts is just perpetuating the same old stereotypes about Muslims.  It really steamed me that she used a verse of the Quran out of context for the title page of ""The Bitter"".  ""Your wives are your fields, so go to your fields as you like"" isn't meant as a justification of sexual abuse and has never been interpreted as so by real scholars of the Quran.  I'm not going to finish this book, because I'd rather not be reminded of how much I am viewed as some sort of exotic, oppressed ""other"" type of woman, thanks.

",0
"A pamphlet would have accomplished what this guy said in the entire book!  I wanted to strangle him!  Repetitive, condescending, overly simplified and so BOOOoorrring!!!  Here is the nuts of it all:  Pick a stable stock with a narrow spread between bid and ask.  Buy 2000 shares and then sell it 1/16 higher right away.  Everything else is simply preamble... over and over and over.  Hope I saved you 20 bucks
",0
"'Introducing Postmodernism' is a good source to gather names of philosophers, architects, artists, anthropologists, linguists, and everyone in between that have been somehow connected to PM. The problem, and it is a big one, is that this style of tour de force writing does little to contextualize all these diverse disciplines. Sure, if you only have half an hour to read up on PM, you can whip through this book and go on with your life. But if you're wanting to really absorb the phenomenon, and perhaps go on to read more, this book is NOT the place to start. Check out David Harvey's 'Condition of Postmodernism.' This will rip the top of your head clean off! It's much more weighty (in every sense of the word), but your understanding of PM will vastly improve, and will better prepare you to go on to other important writers of the 'genre'
",0
"I can't give this book more than two stars, and that's being generous. 

Mr. Hall does present some interesting ideas, but unfortunately, his editors have done him a huge disservice. Here are the first three sentences of Stage I, on page 23; 

Essentially what we have now--nanoscale science and technology--including the ability to image at the atomic scale with scanning probe microscopes, and a very limited ability to manipulate, that is, by pushing things around with the same scanning probes. A scanning probe is essentially like feeling something with a stick. Because you have a computer behind it, you can touch it in a very close grid of points and produce a picture.

I made it through the first fifty pages, and it didn't get any better.  

I don't know if Mr. Hall had a final read before publication, or not, but someone should have stopped this book from being published until it was properly edited.








",0
"I am leading a Christian study group using popular films.  I was hoping this book could help me use film to illustrate some Scriptural truth.  Unfortunately, the author was much less interested in a Christian message than to make sure he took every opportunity to insult the ""church.""  I know that churches have problems and hurt people, but it is not as common as this author seems to assert.
He seems very angry at the church (and for some reason, all of western culture - especially America.)  Living in N. Ireland could make one suspicious of religion I assume, but despite his claims to be a Chrisitan so concerned about commmunity, he seems to enjoy tearing down more than teaching and building up.
It is a good study of film (not movies - he definatley comes from a critical point of view and not that of an average person) but not very useful in the context of the church.
That's my take anyway.  God bless
",0
"I admit, I haven't finished this book.  A friend recommended it to me as I have been having problems with insomnia.  I was interested in reading a book about women's health issues and this one sounded intriguing UNTIL she started in with her tarot cards, interest in astrology and angels.  Granted, I am not a firm believer in just ""the hard facts"" but its really hard to believe anything this woman writes after it is clear that common sense isn't alternative enough for her!
",0
"If you are interested in cheap tricks rather than substance, this is the book for you. There is no easy way to learn Japanese. There are easier ways, but no easy ways. Where is the beef? Not here
",0
"You all like misogynist comics
",0
"This is just another attack by organized medicine on Alternative treatments and therapies, in particular chiropractic. Dr. Rosenfeld comes across as biased, ignorant and at times completely malicious in the information he provides. His assertion that he ""loves chiropractors is disingenous at best."" He prefers non-specific manipulation by a doctor who can also prescribe (toxic) drugs. He lists warnings about chiropractic that are extremely rare, occuring one in many millions, and suggests that these are common occurances. He fails to mention that the practice of (Allopathic) medicine is the third leading cause of preventable death in The United States, which is the very reason we need more practitioners of the so called ""Alternatives"". If you want good advice, start by avoiding books on alternative medicine written by medical doctors, especially this one!!
",0
"Art is a young man fresh out of college, and has a curious set of friends: Arthur, an attractive gay man; the enigmatic Phlox with whom Arthur works; and the distinctly odd hedonist Cleveland. Art is uncertain of his sexuality, being torn between Arthur and Phlox. Cleveland is a threat to the stability of anyone with whom he comes into contact.

""The Mysteries of Pittsburgh"" was a well-received, yet while at times I found it entertaining and witty, in truth it's a very bumpy piece of work in which the characters don't really convince. The plot is unconvincing from the first, and descends into absurdity towards the end. In summary, it reads very much as a first effort, perhaps an experiment, but I found it baffling that anyone could consider it a mature piece of prose.

G Rodgers 

",0
"One at the front: The really own words of the master are excellent. One must make sure that only 43 sides of the only 7 x 5 inch small book are interviews with Bruce Lee. The rest consists of interviews with the former  interviewers. However, as a paperback this book costs not really a fortune.  But the words of the master are absolutely worth-while, as already  mentioned at the beginning
",0
"I too read the TA for Tots to my 3-5 year-old 30 years ago.  She loved it a lot so I've been looking for it again, this time for my grand-daughter.  Even though the title is different from the original one I knew, I purchased it and  read it as soon as I received it.  Bottomline: this story is _not_ the original one and I don't like it at all.  Other than showing stereotypical Happy Prince and Princess fairy tale characters (which I can live with up to a point), I saw bunches of red flags when I got to the evil witch, drawn with a full-blown ugly face ""who was very clever and devised a very wicked plan"".  Unhappy because there are so many happy warm-fuzzy people around she freely starts giving away cold pricklies.  Without enough warm fuzzies (we read earlier) it puts people ""in danger of developing a sickness in their backs which caused them to shrivel up and die"".  Ouch.  So instead of embracing the wisdom of old women, here we have another story that villifies them (OK, I'm a psychotherapist also and know all too well how these images affect us all).  No, it's not funny, and there is no way I would introduce this book to any child.  The book also does not do a good job of showing clear examples of what warm fuzzies and cold pricklies really are, as the original book did.  Too bad, for using images of ""warm fuzzies"" and ""cold pricklies"" is an easy way to introduce feelings and consequences of behaviors to young children.  I am returning the book.
",0
"Eliot Cohen has an impressive background in policy work (OSD) and academia (Naval War College and Harvard).  I had high hopes for this book because I thought his experience with the military combined with his academic work would produce a focused and well-grounded work.  I was disappointed.  I never really bought his argument that political leaders can lead war better than generals.  He seemed to cherry pick leaders than fit his mold.  I could not believe that someone who works so closely with the military would generalize military leadership in such a stereotypical way.   

The article might have made a good article in a foreign affairs journal, but the author seemed to fill out the book with a lot of interesting but not really relevant historical stories and facts.  The Lincoln chapter providing nothing that has not been stated numerous times in more detailed and focused work.  The Churchill chapter was the best. Cohen obviously has extensively studied Churchill.  His sections on how the historical view of Churchill have ebbed and flowed over the years was well done, thought not rally tied to the focus of the book.  I learned the most from the Ben-Gurion, since I knew the least about him.  

The book may be useful to an undergraduate class studying political leadership or foreign policy, but beyond that the book unfortunately offers little that is new or of great interest.   
",0
"I was quite surprised and disappointed with this book.  It is not at all a horror story, not at all mysterious, really it was very boring.   Normally I enjoy Koontz books.  
",0
"Just know this book has you developing code in the SDK, not Visual Studio .NET.  If anything that should turn you away from buying this.  

Any .NET programmer WILL be working with Visual Studio and not an SDK.  

The SAMS teach yourself C# in 24 hours was completely written for VS .NET, so I am confused as to why this book was not.

Get another book as this one will be only of use for terminology and OOP theory.  It was a waste on Money for me.
",0
"""The End of Democracy"" (2003) is the best answer to this theory
",0
"This book was given to me by my cousin who thought I might find faith after hearing the eulogy I gave at my father's funeral a year ago, in which I professed that I do not know if there is a God or not, but that the best we can do is be good people.

I am agnostic, in that I am fully aware that there is no factual evidence that God exists and that there is no evidence that God does not exist. To be clear - if there was, I am pretty sure it would be widely publicized.

The gift was a loving gesture and I am sincerely appreciative of it.

However, I have several issues with the book. More than I can possibly iterate at this point.

This book does not even mention agnosticism. As the author was educated at Yale, I am sure he must be aware of agnosticism and chose to omit it from his book. I can only presume that it was omitted with a reason, perhaps it was too hard to explain in the face of his assertion that there is evidence for God (see below - all circumstantial and requiring leaps of faith).

Without getting into too many specifics, the evidence he uses in the Case for Faith comes from obviously Christian sources - which are surely biased. This is equivalent to reporting on terrorist acts by only interviewing terrorists. Certainly one's reporting would be validating reasons for such atrocities. To be clear I am only drawing this distinction to make the point - a true investigative reporter would look to include both sides of the story and present facts as opposed to opinion. Had Strobel intended to provide a balanced view, he would have used non-christian scientists and believers of various faiths.

Strobel's statements portend to be fact, but are generally lacking any actual evidence and in some cases are easily determined to be incorrect. 

A couple of examples are 

1) His statement that Buddhism says there is no God (various sects of Buddhism believe in gods, state there is no Creator God or do not take a stand on the matter) and 

2) His statements on lack of evidence for evolution - specifically macroevolution (which is fairly well supported by actual evidence and observation - and believed to be accurate by 99% of biologists). 
 
Regarding evolution, there is actually evidence for macroevolution - although he claims there is none. This is where I have serious problems with the book. In my opinion, the book is more for current believers who need/desire to strengthen their faith, which I believe is a good thing. However, his information lacks factual support and evidence, which to me is a bad thing. I believe that most of the people who would read it would not get to the point of questioning the information in it. If one were to question it, one could easily find their faith destroyed if the information one held to be true (and which subsequently was the basis for faith) is found to be false. 

He states that there is evidence for intelligent design; however the evidence he offers is only theory in the colloquial sense - i.e. a guess. The Theory of evolution is a theory in the scientific sense - i.e. supported by on observation and evidence.

Another example is when Strobel quotes ""...when it comes right down to it, the only person or thing I know of worth my faith - the only one supported by the evidence of history and archaeology and literature and experience - is Jesus."" 

The Buddha (meaning one who is awake), or   Siddhartha Gautama (his real name), was an actual person, supported by all of the above listed proof of Jesus. Mohammad was also an actual person supported by all of the above. 

His 3 reasons for disbelief in reincarnation (for regular people):
 
1) If James loses 3 pounds, he is still James, if he becomes a grasshopper he is not James - because he is not human
2) Support for past lives - such as memories, are explainable by psychological explanations, lucky guesses, or demonic possession
3) The only expert on this question, Jesus of Nazareth, said it doesn't happen. 

To respond:

1)	To believe in resurrection, one must believe that there is a substance which makes us who we are that is not tied to our earthly form. It is not tied to being human, but to existing.
2)	How do you discount the possibility that reincarnation exists by asserting that demon possession exists - there is factual evidence for neither.
3)	To be in line with this reason, one must already accept the divinity of Jesus and that the resurrection actually happened. 

His arguments for the truth of the resurrection (below) are weak and offer no support for the fact, only that people claimed it happened. We should not confuse the fact that Jesus existed with the belief that he was the son of God and specifically that he was reincarnated.
 
Here are his proof that God exists: 
1)	God makes sense of the Universe's origin
2)	God makes sense of the universe's complexity
3)	God makes sense of moral values (his argument is - if there are absolute moral values then God must exists God makes sense of the resurrection (see proof below).
4)	God can be immediately experienced.
 
To respond:

1)	Theories can be used to explain phenomenon that correlate to reality, but are not truly an explanation of reality. One still must take a leap of faith to believe his assertion. While it may explain questions about the universe - how do we know it to be accurate? Put another way, there are other explanations that could wrap up the universe - additionally, one presumes he is speaking of the Christian God and discounting other belief systems.
2)	See my first objection. Same point.
3)	Science believes in hard observable facts being the basis for making assertions. The basis of scientific fact is that it is able to be recreated by anyone. To take the leap from the fact that there are widely accepted truths to being proof of God requires faith. He gives examples of ideas that most of the civilized world thinks are wrong, and uses them as the basis for absolute moral values. He omits that moral values have changed over time and are evolving. While I do believe that things are wrong, one can easily recognize that they are not always absolute...for example, it is not ok to kill, unless you are in danger - or the other person killed others (presuming you believe in capital punishment).
4)	His example here is that you cannot prove the world exists...fair enough, but one can prove there are universally experienced events that we can demonstrate over and over again. For example, we can do a physics experiment and everyone involved will see the same results (barring psychological conditions). While we may not be able to prove that the world exists, we can confirm common experience, which is essentially what the world is...the ground on which we all interact - whether or not that is created in the mind (the example he gives for how the world may not exist is that all of the world may only be in our mind).

Proof Jesus was resurrected:
 
1)	The location of Jesus' burial was widely known and agreed on.
2)	The Sunday after his crucifixion the tomb was empty, which is agreed upon by many (or all).
3)	Various groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus alive again.
4)	The original disciples suddenly and sincerely believe that Jesus was risen from the dead - even enough to die for this belief.
 
 To respond:
1)	This is fact and Jesus did exist. Not sure how it relates to his divinity.
2)	This could be explained in several ways, hard to use this as proof of his divinity. One can suppose it is, but it takes a leap of faith - this book is supposed to explain how to have faith - but continually requests we make leaps of faith.
3)	Writings of people who claims to experience Jesus can hardly be taken as fact. Other religious text would claim the same about their prophets, gods, etc. 
4)	The disciples had a vested interest in proclaiming the divinity of Jesus. This is not actual evidence. This is equivalent to stating that the bible is true because it says it is true.

Additionally, Strobel chooses which parts of the bible are literal and which are metaphorical. In dealing with ""Objection 5"" Strobel notes that the descriptions of Hell in the bible are metaphorical. It is hard to discern how someone can pick and choose which parts of the bible are literal and which are metaphorical. It is convenient to do so when your explanations support your understanding. I am not sure how you justify doing this.
 
He states that only one religion can be right or God is schizophrenic. One supposes his assertion is that Christianity is the one true religion or God is schizophrenic. This again is a leap of faith. One must also presume that the various religions are not human error in interpreting God's message.

My stand is this, we do not know, and to have faith is great, however by creating a context in which one can have faith by providing erroneous and undeniably false/biased information, a false faith is created. 

Faith should be born out of one's desire and belief system. One should not need to discount others because of their faith. To me, doing so indicates weakness in their faith - not strength.
",0
"I wanted to like this book but was very disappointed that all it included was a mish mash of Vanity Fair articles from 1990-2002 with follow up paragraphs that appear to be right out of People magazine
",0
"For those of you who have not yet read this book: this book is about a white-wannabe black girl who pays way too much attention to her friend's puberty. I have never read a worse book in my life. This book is shallow, boring, and completely pointless
",0
"The book jacket for ""The Ruins"" offers a can't-miss premise:  a group of post-grad American tourists at play in Mexico jump at the chance for a little adventure among Mayan ruins but find but then find themselves in unimaginable danger.  It's the stuff of great Summer thrillers ready to be taken to the beach.  But 319 pages later, the reader is left to wonder whether or not the publisher put the wrong book in the jacket.  

Almost immediately, you'll notice that Smith's writing is as dense as the jungles that make the setting.  However, despite the endless stream of words, his descriptions are often threadbare.  Plus, there are no chapter breaks, which eventually pushes the pace until it feels like an assignment to continue.  

Next, the characters themselves begin to fall flat.  There are only really two couples to keep track of, and yet it's difficult for the first third of the book to distinguish them.  There is little to keep you interested in what they're doing or why they might be doing it.  Smith's attempts at developing these four as characters come in fits and spurts.  This seems obviously haphazard and hurried - the author is jamming in backstory whenever needed to explain characters' actions as if he were patching leaks in a dam.  By the end of the book, the foursome seems to be as disinterested in each other as the reader is in them.  

And for the readers who are hoping to discover something of interest in the setting such as Mayan mythology or archeological lore, forget it.  Aside from language barriers with the locals, there is no reason why this fantastical story couldn't have been set in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, the Saharan desert, or anywhere else.  The danger posed has nothing to do with Mexico, archeology or mythology at all.  

Ah yes, the danger posed.  Well, I can't say much at all because anyone could give away the entire book with one line of explanation - that's how thin the plot is.  The numerous other reviews that fault this as a short story masquerading as a novel are exactly right.  Suffice it to say that when you do realize what the danger is (and you'll realize it well before any of the well-educated characters do), it's a real eye-roller, as if to say ""I read this many pages for THIS?"".

By the time the story concludes, it's more irritating than suspenseful.  The characters take so long to blithely undertake any course of action at all that you'll start rooting against them.  Eventually scenes of gore start piling up in an obvious and lazy attempt to interject some action, but even aside from being misdirected, it's too little too late.  

This book could have been an adventure, a supernatural thriller, a survival tale, or a horror screenplay.  It could have even taken the high road as an examination on people's reactions to situations of extreme stress:  some take the lead, even enjoying the challenge, while others whither into a shell of hopelessness.  But none of the possibilities ever come to fruition in this disappointing effort. 
",0
"Erickson, a notorious communist and bogus half baked historian is not to be trusted with his works, all based on bogus, doctored and unrelaible Soviet semi fictions intended to advance the cause of Bolshevik invincability.
",0
"I must agree with my 1 star friend. This book doesn't deliver. It spends all this time talking about things that we could grasp just by looking in the help section of the program. It goes over basic things several times and makes it sound very complicated when it is totally simple. This book is good for people who have alot of time to waste and money
",0
"I would very much like to know the names of all the songs contained in this book BEFORE I decide to buy it.

How may I access the ""contents"" page listing all the songs in this book?

PETER de NIES
",0
"I recently decided to become vegetarian, so I got this book to read. I was very disapointed. I think this book provides good information about nutrional and meals, yet is written in a boring, scientific way. This book may appeal more to parents of vegetarians and vegans and adult vegetarians, than to teenagers. This book contains a lot of recipies, and some of them sound good, but most of them are far more complex than a teenager would be willing to cook. I would reccomend this book to parents of teenage vegetarians, but there are better books written for the teens themself. This book also has so many negative quotes including a whole page of someone making fun of vegetarian food and rambling about how they hate tofu. I don't think these are nessecary in a book for vegetarians, there is enough of that without reading about it. However, if you seriously want to research about being a vegetarian this book won't hurt, it is just a dissapointment
",0
" This book doesn't even deserve a star. I just fell upon it, on a bookshelf with loads of old books in my house. I'm nearly 17 years old, and perhaps this book is the kind that you appreciate as you get older, but honestly, I don't see myself enjoying this book even in 20 years... I've read so many reviews raving about how 'poetic, sensual, wonderful' it is and what a talent the person is...sorry I don't see it!

Anyone can write a bunch of sex stories. I didn't see anything poetic in the writing...it was plain. As for sensual and arousing? Hardly. It was crude, and vulgar. It was sex, sex, sex... and presented harshly, with none of the sensuality, the sweetness, the gentle pleasure one likes to associate with sex... it was boring, repetitive, and I'll admit disturbing.

What was the point of the story where the Hungarian whatever forced himself on his adolescent children? Or the raped little boy? It was just weird. There's just the sex, and no development of any points she may be trying to make. It's kind of just left there...unfinished... unsatisfying. Frankly, it was so distasteful (VULGAR), I was shocked. And I'm not religious, puritan, conservative or any such thing...quite the opposite, I have an open mind. But this book left me cold
",0
"This book really wasn't at all what I was expecting, or what the title would lead one to believe. The subtitle, ""In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea,"" makes it sound as if this will be a biographical account of the life of Grace O'Malley, with supplemental information on other historical female seafarers. Not so. The first two chapters are devoted to the famous pirate queen herself, and Sjoholm only provides the skimpiest bits of information. I knew almost nothing about Grace O'Malley going into the book, and I know little more than that now. The other women included are discussed in even sparer detail, and most of them aren't even real historical figures, but legendary story characters and mythological creatures like mermaids. She even talks about Pippi Longstocking! Not what I was expecting at all...

""The Pirate Queen"" is actually devoted far more to Sjoholm's travels in search of information on female women of the sea than it is to the information itself. I learned more about Sjoholm and her own life than about the women she supposedly set out to study. She describes the inns she stayed at, the weather, the tourists she met, her own childhood, the abundance of ""personal bath mats"" in northern European hotels... almost everything but Grace O'Malley and her cohorts. In fact, the primary underlying theme in the book seems to be how the author came to the decision to change her last name from Wilson to Sjoholm; a story which, to be quite honest, I really couldn't care less about. I bought the book hoping to learn about interesting historical figures. It turned out to be a travel memoir, and a comparatively uninteresting one at that.

This is a shame, really. Sjoholm includes just enough information on the various historical women she mentions - Grace O'Malley herself, Bessie Millie, Janet Forsyth, Christian Robertson, Eliza Fraser, Isobel Gunn, Betty Mouat, Freydis Eiriksdottir, Skipper Thuridur, Trouser-Beret, Alfhild, the ""herring lassies,"" and numerous mythological characters - to whet my appetite, but then fails to deliver a full, satisfying portrait of any of them. She raises more questions than she answers, and I'd need to buy numerous additional books to find all the missing information. You may also notice, given the names, that nearly all the women mentioned are northern European in origin. Sjoholm entirely omits women seafarers active in other parts of the world, such as the famous pirates Anne Bonney and Mary Read who, though from Europe, sailed the Caribbean.

As for Sjoholm's writing style, the book is an easy read, but not a very enjoyable one. Sjoholm's writing is given to an abundance of nearly nauseating metaphors. For example: ""The lava fields looked like vanilla cake batter poured over thick jumbles of dates, walnuts, and chocolate chips. In the sun the moss could also look like lemon yogurt spooned generously over granola"" (pg. 222). Flowery, gratuitous, and often ridiculous images like this are to be found in almost every paragraph... peppered throughout the book like poppyseeds in a muffin, you might say... It's not the worst book I've ever read, but I do wish I'd spent my money on something else. It doesn't deliver what it promises, and there are plenty of more interesting and informative books out there to pick up instead
",0
"Am I the only person that felt this book was twisted, disjointed, and something was just not working?  The beginning was great but the second half left a lot to be desired. This could have been a great story, the author veered off track or something
",0
"Do you feel different from people around you?  Do they resent your ingenuity?  Have you been kept from achieving your full potential by tradition-bound brutes who live only for base needs?  Do you long for the company of others like yourself, who, tragically but inevitably, are biologically destined to wipe these shorter, darker subhumans from the face of the earth?  Congratulations!  You are either in the aryan nations or the Clan of the Cave Bear fan club, possibly both!

(I exaggerate- you could be a nineteenth century English settler in Australia, or a Boer in South Africa, or maybe you just like Larry Niven, but that's beside the point)

I can forgive Auel for the historical inaccuracies in the book.  In the late 1970's when she did her research, we didn't have the genomic tools to reconstruct the lives of Neanderthals, and even now enough controversy persists to keep the discussion page lively over at Wikipedia.  Ultimately we'll never know for sure what the paleolithic was like, and Auel's is if nothing else a vivacious fictional suggestion.

Similarly, her bloated, almost puffy writing style is excusable in a first-time author, though one wonders what parasite infected her editor.  I haven't read her more recent works, but I imagine she has probably improved.  Even with the pendulous sentences Clan is not unreadable.

What infuriates me is the casually racist subtext of the story, nowhere critiqued or even acknowledged.  The story reads like a near-literal historicization of Helena Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine on the fall of the ""aryans""- who interbred with ""subhumans"" introducing the world to, oh I dunno, domination by the unworthy, blind tradition, suppression of the individual, all the hallmarks of the book's neanderthal culture.  Of course, even in this the blond-haired blue-eyed Ayla is innocent, overpowered by a brutish thug.

Against this master narrative, all the admittedly interesting side notes about plant-based medicine and flintknapping make no impression.  I would recommend anyone interested in paleontology take a trip to a museum or cruise the internet, and give Auel's books a wide berth.

Also?  Enough rape scenes already
",0
"We went to a book siging to get this book. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if the book was going to live up to the hype. T.O. graciously signed books and all proceeds went to charity. I was surprised this book was so well written. My four year old wants me to read it over and over again. He doesn't like for me to read to him but he loves this book! It is the perfect book for children. Its not too short but not too long. I have read this book at least 10 times in the past 3 days. I would recommend this book to anyone with small children. It is great book for little boys because of the football theme. However, the lesson is something everyone can appreciate. Great Book
",0
"I am soooo glad that I checked this out of the library and didn't pay for this garbage. I really should of listened to the reviews on this book before I wasted a day reading it. Actually, about half-way through I skimmed. The first couple chapters weren't bad, but the rest was just awful.

Gracie, her ex-husband, her friends...they are the most pathetic, shallow bunch of fakes I've ever read about. What's even worse is that's the authors real life (maybe not the divorce part, but the rest of it). 

In the end, all I have to say is DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!! I should of listened to the others, but I didn't, and now I regret that I wasted so much time when I could of been reading something worth while.
",0
"Paul Ehrlich may understand butterflies more than most of us do, but he definitely does not understand how the real world in general and the human society in particular works. He just does not seem to have sufficiently organized brain cells to think realistically about the world.

This book starts with the bold statement that ""he had understood the population explosion for quite some time"". Nevertheless, the whole book proves that it's not the case. All his reasoning is based on the worst possible extrapolation of the worst imaginable short-term trend. His assumptions therefore include the ""intelligent"" assumption that there won't ever be any technological progress in the future; the climate will evolve in the worst possible way, and so forth. It's not surprising that he predicted that there would be mass starvation in the U.S. in the 1980s, and even when this was shown to be complete nonsense, he repeated the same prediction for the 1990s.

Why does he - and people like him - continue to produce predictions that have been humiliated so many times by the actual course of history? It's because of their religion. Maybe they don't call it a ""religion"", but it is a religion nevertheless. Jehovah's Witnesses typically believe that there is going to be a judgement day. Because it did not occur in 1918 and other years for which it was predicted, they are a bit more careful and vague in their predictions nowadays. Malthus had done very similar errors as Ehrlich, but you may think that in the 20th century, people could know more than Malthus knew many years ago. But Ehrlich does not know more.

In some sense, even Karl Marx himself could be viewed as a producer of catastrophic predictions. Marx predicted that something wrong would occur with capitalism as such, and it would be globally replaced by communism. (This is what I call a truly catastrophic prediction.) Marx was wrong, of course, because he completely misunderstood the magic power of the society and of the market to improve things that need to be improved and its ability to self-regulate and accomodate to new conditions. Ehrlich is repeating all errors of Marx and many other errors, too.

But other people who have a different kind of a religious belief that we must simply be approaching a judgement day can't learn from Jehovah's Witnesses mistakes. Of course that Paul Ehrlich's reasoning has nothing to do with rational approach to important questions. (Bjorn Lomborg may be an example of a person who tries to solve very similar questions - namely these speculative questions about the long-term food problems - rationally.) Ehrlich confuses the total amount of food available today and the total production of food; he does not understand that the efficiency of agriculture can increase much like the population or even more; he does not understand that the growth of the population in the developed world would be naturally reduced if it became difficult to feed children, and so forth. He just does not understand the ""invisible hand"" of free markets and the visible hand of scientific and technologica progress and the power of human decisions.

His reasoning could easily be proved wrong if he simply tried to make similar predictions about the past. But it was not his main goal to find a realistic prediction for the future. His goal was to write down pseudorationally sounding justifications of his religious preconceptions that would impress many people who are not exactly smart.

The similarity between Ehrlich's predictions of mass starvation and the recent predictions of catastrophic global warming is not just a superficial coincidence. Find the book ""Boiling Point"" by Ross Gelbspan at this website - one of the silly recent books about the climate change disasters that expect us. Among the 15 mostly positive reviews of the book, you will also find a 5-star review by Paul Ehrlich of Stanford himself! The global warming alarmists continue with the traditions of Paul Ehrlich. It is still the same pseudoscience and people will apparently always believe this kind of stuff because there are only two infinite things: the Universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the Universe
",0
"I bought this book and was sorely disappointed. Nothing specific. Just lots of references to self analyzation to see what you think you want to do. You could do this yourself without a book
",0
"I started reading this immediately after the last REH compilation and there could not be a greater difference in story telling. While REH was first and foremost a story teller, Pressfield uses one of the absolute worst devices in his recount of a grandson of his grandfather's remembering his conversations with a client who knew the famous Alcibiades. This, as previous reviewers have mentioned, creates a large gap between reader and story. But why do this? Why use such a crappy method of story telling? I guess it pads the book with unnecessary dialogue. All in all, it's a slow, uninspired, day dream story. So crappy that I felt it necessary to write this review echoing previous harsh reviews.

I want my money back
",0
"As a former student of Ms. Morris, I will state that she and William Morris were quite emphatic about keeping the teachings sacred and authentic as taught by Grand Master Takata. Her history is to this day accurate
",0
"This book is very disappointing, as is most of Gunaratna's work on islamist terrorism. It's the sort of stuff governments and many of the public want to hear, ie. bin Laden and AQ are everywhere, responsible for every terrorism attack and all regional terorist groups (such as JI) are AQ franchises - total bollocks. The book lacks solid and verifiable reserach and is written by a ""scholar"" who spends most of his time doing alarmist media commentary
",0
"This year, 60% of college entries will be female.  Look at this spring's honor role listings.  Last year, 78% of honor role members in my community were female.  Schools are fails boys - not girls.

If you wish to waste your time on a politically correct diatribe that is full of anecdotal and subjective pap, then get this book.  If you want to really improve the quality of education, there are thousands of reads better than this
",0
"I recently read Robert Monroe's first book, ""Journeys Out of Body"" and found it to be a disappointment - it was just weird. As I noted in my review of that book, I had hoped that the author would discuss his use of sound, for which he is allegedly noted. As I purchased this book at the same time and had nothing else to read, I thought I'd give it a try. 

The book did start out with a brief discussion of some of his ""research"" and I thought that, perhaps, this book might actually have some real substance. That belief; however, quickly disappeared. By the time I had reached the half-way point in the book, nothing remained but a schizophrenic quagmire of incomprehensible gibberish. How does total garbage like this manage to get printed?!

There are those that claim that Monroe was a highly left-brained individual who delved into the realm of the creative right-brain. If this book is any indication, one can't help but wonder if Monroe was missing his entire left hemisphere! There is nothing logical or, for that matter, even coherent in the babble spewed across the endless pages of this book. It would have been worthwhile if Monroe had actually described his experiments and resulting data in a scientific manner. Instead, he chose to spew his incoherent ramblings about his own, personal, dream experiences: these wander so aimlessly, from paragraph to paragraph, that one can't help but wonder what real point, if any, he was trying to make.

The really sad thing is that I had really hoped to find a genuinely scientific study of his work - I was actually quite interested in the topic. Having now been subjected to two of his useless books, I'm amazed that they're still in print. This is pseudo-science at its absolute worst.
",0
"An elf appearing to Harry Potter warned him not to return for a second year to the school of sorcery. The Chamber of Secrets, he said, had been opened and a  monster is lurking. Harry goes anyway and is the only one who can hear the monster, challenge it and save students who have been ""petrified"" by the monster. Age group interest: early teen. I wanted to see what all the rave was about. Lots of action, not much morale.

Trish New, author of The Thrill of Hope, South State Street Journal
",0
"terrib
",0
"This book disappointed me after reading Martins letters. Although this book provides a very different angle on value investing and has some useful ideas the writing style is poor and lacks clarity. There are much better books on analysing companies I suggest Financial Statement Analysis by Martin Fridson and Fernando Alvarez.
",0
"I must have missed something about this book.  I can't believe that Minority Report and Total Recall, two movies that I did enjoy, came from this author.  The stories seem to be missing something.  Perhaps, this version should not have been the first works by this author for me to have read
",0
"The only redeeming points of this book are the few conversations that the author has with his uncle. The rest is just quotations from other books. There is enough original material here for about a chapter and a half. The author was set on making a book out of it so he just padded it with things that other authors had said. 

I read it to the end though. Probably because the author has a very nice writing style. He is probably a good playwrite though I have never read any of his plays. He just didn't have enough material for a book here. I'm surpised it got published
",0
"Read the Microsoft documents, white papers and manuals on the Microsoft web site instead.  This book offers no easier approach to understanding than the techno-drill available from Microsoft.

Who writes these reviews anyway?  I can't believe anybody really liked this book
",0
"I am ashamed to say I read this entire book. I kept hoping it would get better but it didn't. It is filled with typos and poor organization of thoughts and topics. Clarkson actually spells Mel Gibson's name wrong several times throughout the book, and refers to Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner as ""Dormer"" for several pages! He jumps back and forth from one movie production to another making it difficult to follow. Lastly, he relies on the accounts of people who had met Mel Gibson at one time but who had either a personal or professional conflict with him. In the retelling of these conflicts and what went down, we hear one point of view only - and generally that is the view of someone who is harboring bitterness and resentment towards Gibson, so their accounts are slanted and untrustworthy. The best part of the book is the end for two reasons: Clarkson finally gets to Gibson's most recent project, The Passion of the Christ. The subtitle and the picture on the back of the book gives the impression this project will be a major focus of the book, but after 300 pages of reading, I was still waiting for the subject to come up. I have to say I felt that this was the only well written part of the whole book - thoughtful and interesting. The second reason the end is the best part of the book is that it was finally over. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I can't help it. I highly recommend reading the book about the making of the Passion of the Christ - you can learn a lot about Gibson there - but I cannot recommend this biography
",0
"I enjoy reading sports fiction with my 10 year old son.  The descriptions of this book suggested it addressed important themes which transcended basketball.  However, as I read the book, I found the treatment of those  themes quite superficial.  In addition the book was bawdy.  While it may  accurately reflect locker room mentality,  many readers may not find that  mentality entertaining.  It is not an appropriate book for children
",0
"The characters are uninteresting and 2-dimensional, the dialog hackneyed. I have no idea why it's on the New York Times Bestseller list. It was more of an obligation for me to finish this book than anything else. Don't waste your money
",0
"A 600+ pages tour of Flash MX buttons and menus... with just a couple ridiculously elementary  ""tutorials"" thrown in. Makes me think of somone who had to write a flash book and has never done anything with it but figure out how the user interface works.  You won't find anything useful in here, that is about CREATING something with Flash. As for me I am never gonna buy a book from this author again, and I am probably also ditching the whole ""savvy"" line as well.
",0
"The photo presented here is a bit too bright and the faces are not that orange in this paperback edition's cover. However you can get a feel for the checked floor and how after opening the pages of The Doorbell Rang you get an eye sore with the blue checkered tablecloth in the kitchen with the blue stove and red appliances. The mother and daughter are both redheads and there is a black cat that hangs around during the story that takes place in the kitchen. 

With just twenty pages my seven-year old breezed through the book in six minutes. The favorite character in the book according to my son is the cat and watching where he was throughout the story. The Doorbell Rang begins with a Mother placing a plate of cookies on the kitchen table for her son Sam and daughter Victoria. "" I've made some cookies for tea, said Ma"". The children each took six cookies comparing the look and smell of these cookies to Grandma's.

By flipping through the pages of the Doorbell Rang it looks like the kitchen table got bigger, but upon further inspection the same number of chairs are there, but more kids around the table and fighting over the seats. The cat is making his way around the kids to receive pats on the head and attention. More kids arrived bringing a bicycle and a doll carriage and the table shows each kid with one cookie. It is hard to tell if the cookies are on white plates or that is just part of the checkered tablecloth. The serving plate is clearly empty at this point and all the kids turn to see the latest bell ringer. Meanwhile over at the stove the steam is continuing but at a larger pace and it looks like fresh water now in the orange pail. 

The final arrival for this story is Grandma, with a large cookie sheet type tray carrying freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. All the kids leave the table to greet her and the cat ends up alone on the kitchen table. Not very sanitary as far as I am concerned and my son noticed no napkins or drinks at the table. The dirty floor was bothering him as well and he wondered why the kids never took their shoes off for that is something we all do upon entering our home. 

 The portrayal of the Mother and how the stove was not being attended and having the cat on the table bothered me. The kids not stopping to wipe their feet or hanging up their own belongings and no one washing their hands before having a cookie and who knows how many times the kids each touched one of them. 

At least the kids were dressed nice and the bucket of water never spilled and the Mother finally sat down. For a new reader this might be a fun read but for more than one read I highly doubt there would be interest. There is a lot of repetition with the arrival of new kids and then the sharing of the cookies while comparing them to each child's Grandma's cookies. There are roughly two to four sentences on each page. The good news is that my son did not ask for any cookies after reading this
",0
"I was expecting new and interesting ideas from this book, but was disappointed.  If you truly have no idea how to find a sales baseline for your business or don't know how to track trends, this book is for you.  If you are like me (you know the basics but were trying to find a more thorough approach), I wouldn't buy the book
",0
"Less a view from afar or broad exposure of solitude from the human condition, this book more aptly excerpts the author's personal conflicts with human relationships.....a one-on-one wrestling match with the Self with no spectators and no judges. The book is a good read for academic analysis, but not so fun for venturist philosophy
",0
"In his recently published history, The Whiskey Rebellion, William Hogeland attempts create a revisionist history of the late eighteenth century Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania. What Hogeland accomplishes is less history and more diatribe in the vein of Howard Zinn. He has an axe to grind, and by the end Alexander Hamilton is the devil incarnate, and those who openly contemplated secession and committed acts of violence against property and people were just trying to bring the American Revolution to its necessary conclusion.

The accusation that Hogeland comes back to again and again is that Hamilton incited the rebellion. The argument is that because Hamilton's patently unfair whiskey tax was the impetus behind the frontiersmen's resistance, and his unreasonableness in enforcing the tax and issuing writs for the arrest of those who refused to pay the tax caused the rebellion.

The problem with Hogeland's argument is his scholarship, or lack there of. He almost never offers a direct quote, especially when accusing Hamilton of malfeasance. Instead, Hogeland offers his summary of primary documents with nary a footnote. The reader is expected to accept on faith the author's interpretation at face value with no way to check the facts except a ridiculously useless bibliographic essay at the end. Not all of this is Hogeland's fault. The new trend in historical works intended for the popular market eschews scholarly footnoting, opting instead for endnotes that provide little more than an opportunity to name drop. Even Doris Kearns Goodwin, a legitimate scholar, is guilty of the succumbing to this new endnote craze.

Ultimately, this is the main problem with William Hogeland: he is not a scholar. He is a magazine writer with an agenda, and no scholarly background to legitimize his preposterous conclusions. To read some radical agenda into the actions of the Pennsylvania farmers is the very worst revisionist history, because there is no basis in reality.
",0
"Grisham's worst book by far.  90% of the story is preaching to the reader that homeless people just have bad luck and are good guys.  It would be ok if that was woven into a good story, but it is not. 

For great Grisham read The Firm and The Partner.  For very good, read Runaway Jury and Pelican Brief.  All of these are page turners.

Street Lawyer is a stomache turner.  Really bad.  What happened
",0
"I was intrigued by his ""The End of History."" I thought his  ""Trust"" was a brilliant book and used it extensively in my  masters thesis and doctoral dissertation. I only hope this latest book is a  disruption in an ongoing chain of good books. In the end, ""The Great  Disruption"" is a down right silly book. It has a lot of usefull data  but Fukuyama's humanistic ideology clouds it all. All his empirical data  and any real understanding of history undermine his polly-anna conclusion:  that things just have to get better because people are ultimately good.  Fukuyama proves that the moral consensus -- the social capital -- of the  earlier era has been wiped away. That crime has sky-rocketed and that the  apparent drops in recent crime rates are only the result of high  incarceration rates and lower percentages of younger men. Then he turns  around and wants us to believe that disfunctional behaviour has dropped  because people are naturally gregarious and have a natural inclination to  rebuild social capital. He doesn't bother to deal with societies -- like  Ethiopia -- that have never been able to build up enough social capital. He  doesn't really look any further back in history past about 1950. His  generalizations about the 19th century merely show how little he has taken  into account the big picture of history. He thinks (based on his ideology  of human goodness) that things just have to get better. If he had studied  Pitirim Sorokin for a really big picture of history, he would know better.  People can come to a similar optimistic conclusion as does Fukuyama but  they will need to be much better grounded in history if they are going to  make generalizations about long-term historical cycles. For that, I would  recommend Robert W. Fogel's ""The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future  of Egalitarianism."" Fogel, a Nobel prize winner, has all the optimism  of Fukuyama but with the history to back it up
",0
"I'm an electrical engineer and in the Telecomm buisness. I've read a lot of books on communications and this has to be one of the worst, luckily I didn't pay for it. The writing is poor and it doesn't commuicate ideas clearly. There is better books out there on the exact same subject
",0
"I am a fan of Tanya Huff and the series of books with HEnry and Victoria.  But this one is not it.  While Henry is there he is such a minor character. The main character is Tony Foster a homosexual street kid who tanya should have left on the street.  I was totally bored and read the book through because I was hoping it would get better, then i was happy when it was over.  The plot idea was great, but it was not developed well and left me wanting for something more.  I was expecting Henry to be a major player like he was with Victoria, but no, he is relegated to Tony's homosexual vampire lover who helps Tony out.
  Disappointing. Dull.  I won't read the rest of this series, The Tony Foster series.
Hey, Tanya, how about a series of Henry Fitzroy, I would read that
",0
"Seems amidst the turbulence and brouhaha of that James Frey fiasco, anybody who now pens their auto-bios have to first be as famous and beloved as Billy Crystal.  But then they can only put out the cotton-candy Coney Island fluff as '700 Sundays' is.  

Granted, the book is based on Crystal's highly-praised Tony Award winning theatrical performance about time with his father and relatives when growing up during the 50s et al.  But it's nothing more than an appetizer to fill in and/or tide one over during the day and night Kaddish.  Yet in ripping a page out of Billy's book, it's not hard to imagine how that rapid-fire exchange between him and his agent went.  It probably went something like:
 
""Hey, bubby, how about writing a book talking about your 700 Sundays with your pop?""

""Well, I'm not a writer per se.  I just jot down a few notes here and there, and then go out and perform the material on stage.""

""So here's a few blank pages of paper; write down what you have.""

""It'll only be 45 maybe 50 pages at most; and it sounds and looks much better than it reads.""

""Don't worry, bubby, I know people who know people who...you get the idea...at the publishers.  Here's their recipe: They'll take your 50 wholesale pages and spread `em out across 180 retail pages.  'How?' may you ask!  Well, they'll cut `em in half, then cut `em in half again.  And using big ink letters so even grandmas can read it without their glasses; surround it by a whole lot of white space; toss in some pictures at different angles from your family album -- Slap it all together between two hardcovers...It'll be just fine.""

""Yes, but...""

""Don't worry.  Consider it like a vintage bottle of Mogen David 20/20 wine, aged a few months before it makes it to the shelves of your favorite corner liquor store hangout.  In this case, the local bookstores.  Oh, and make sure you give `em just enough to whet their taste buds; leave `em wanting more and thirsty for more.  People'll drink it up.""

""Yes, but...""

""Don't worry, Face.  Everybody loves ya.  Just toss in a few tidbits from your routines about Satchmo and Mantle, you'll be all right.  Don't forget now, we've got the sequels all lined up for ya too. Y'know `700 Mondays;' then `700 Tuesdays' and so on.  Yes'sir, I can see it all now:  We've got the lock on all those 700 days of the week shtick.  Oh, and we'll do some holiday editions too, starting with `700 Hanukkahs!'

""You're still friends with that kid, Adam Sandler, back from your SNL days, aren't ya?!  Yes, so we'll get you and him together to come up with new lyrics to that Hanukkah song of his.  It'll be a great collaboration.  It's good to pass down the ladder to them other kids climbing up once you've made it. Y'know God blesses and doesn't forget those things by them who do.  Yes, ok, so we'll go ahead from there and do `700 Passovers!'

""And it'll be an annual event too, dont'cha know.  Just think, when people see Chuck Heston...may God keep a special place in heaven for him...when people see Chuck Heston and The Ten Commandments, they'll be thinking about you too, Billy.  Yes'sir, we'll have em crying and laughing every year on Passover, you'll see.

""Oh, and holy of holies, out of the deal we'll get `700 Yom Kippurs!'   You'll see.  But this will be only for our people, Billy, you understand.  So you might have to dig deep to get material for it.  But that's what authors do, they dig deep.  But you already knew that, right?  Can you dig it, man?  I knew that you could.

""Yes, but...""

""Don't worry, Face, everybody loves ya!  Your books don't have to be earth-shattering or thought-provoking or anything like that.  But hey listen, with a book deal, a books-on-tape deal, and who knows even a movie deal, we'll turn your little leaden bits into golden nuggets.  Mark my words we will. 

""And say, since you haven't had a hit movie in awhile...no offense...we're going to get Martin Scorsese to produce and direct your life story.  Yes, it'll be something like 'Pinch Me I'm Still Jewish: The Billy Crystal Story' in widescreen and all that jazz.  It's what everybody in Hollywood's doing right now.  Yeah, no use waiting until your dying or dead already, Billy - God forbid.  No, siree, bubby!!  

""So Scorsese will do the movie on the cheap, because God knows the man deserves an Oscar already.  You know it, I know it, we all know it, Billy.  And not just an honorary or lifetime achievement either, but the really big one, see!  And just imagine, wouldn't it be something if you were hosting the awards ceremony and handed Marty his own Oscar?!  Yes, well, we can schmooze on about all this stuff later.

""But for now, with the books and everything, you'll be a one-man franchise, yes you will!  You'll be on the New York Times Best Seller List from now until forever!  It'll be great!!""

""Yes, but...""

""Oh and well, I didn't want to say anything just yet, but, okay, here goes: There might be plans to expand everything too!  Listen, bubby, I know somebody who knows somebody who...you get the idea...over at the networks.  

""We can do a little Chris Rock in the neighborhood sort of thing.  We'll put a kid who looks and acts like you - about as tall as you - into the neighborhood that you and your family lived in, see.  

""And it's going to be a period piece too!  We'll introduce all the new kids to the stars of yesteryear -- y'know, Cantor, Jolson, Jessel, Durante!  Throw in some goniffs and shiksas that the cast can work off of every week -- It'll be fun!  

""Chris Rock is great.  But you can be greater too.  Listen, Face, we'll make it a celebration.  Something like 'Growing up Mazel Tov!'  Maybe we get 700 shows out of it.  Maybe less, maybe more, but people will still love it anyway.  You'll see!""

""Yes, but, well, I'm not really a writer/author.  I'm an entertainer, so why would I want to do any of this?""

""We could make a couple of dollars!""

""Okay. I'm in!""

And so it went and so it goes.

Final analysis: A So Not Looking Mahvelous, Better Luck Next Time, With All Due Respect, Sadly Not Recommended Book. 

",0
"Am I the only one who didn't get a complete book? At first I noticed there was some poor editing - lots of typos. But then after page 180, where page 181 should be (Sleep chapter), it goes back to page 117 (Discipline chapter that I already read). It continues to repeat pages 117 to 180 (a whole 63 pages duplicated!), then picks up again on page 245 in the middle of the School Days chapter that I don't have the beginning of. I'm completely missing pages 181-245 (67 pages).

Other than that, good for a few laughs and a handful of ideas
",0
"I didn't know why I chose to read this book. Anyway, it was disappointing, really. The book was slow, and it was too long for a story of its type. I mean, I think the book could go on without some of the parts. When I was reading it, I only thought of putting it down because it's making me go crazy. I thought the plot was shallow, but Taylor's self-conflict was even shallower. He kept on blaming himself about his father's death well then it's really his fault! He was a coward. If you don't believe me, go on and read about it... although you might get bored getting to that part because it's towards the end. And I hated it when this stupid conflict got in the way with his relationship with Denise. He was acting really immature! He should have at least thought about Denise but he was too selfish. It really sucked.

And yes, I know that this is supposed to be a romance novel... but I kept on looking for that love factor althroughout the book. And what did I find? NOTHING. Oh, what a waste. It's like Sparks tried very hard to make the situations in the story seem romantic but as a reader, it didn't really capture the whole essence of what romantic situations should be like.

If it hadn't been for my HRR (Home Reading Report) I wouldn't have finished reading this at all.

I guess I'm saying this because I'm not into this genre. Love stories are fine but this one... nah
",0
"I enjoy reading books of trivia and fun facts, but I didn't even make it through the first chapter before I put this book down in disgust. Almost every entry had to do with sex or male endowments. As I was flipping through the book, I found x-rated pictures and drawings that I would hate to have to explain to my children if they were to pick up this book. I never would have bought this book if I had seen it in a bookstore, and I regret throwing it in the trash before I could see if I could get my money back
",0
"I loved the earlier Nevada Barr mysteries, with their depiction of national parks and natural dangers.  I wasn't as happy with some of her latest efforts, but still hadn't given up on her.  Now I'm not so sure.  This latest novel started off well enough although the idea of two severely traumatized girls should have been a clue as to what would follow. The idea that they were from a polygamous Mormon sect was a red herring.  Perhaps it was Barr's attempt to show us how these girls were abused even before they met evil incarnate. The scenes where Anna realizes who the real villian is and her interaction with him and the poor tortured third traumatized girl went on for over 60 pages. Each scene was more disturbing the one before it. I found myself skimming the pages and still am not sure how she resolved all the loose ends. But I have absolutely no desire to re-read the end of the book and find out.  I wish I could say that I would read another Nevada Barr novel because I so thoroughly enjoyed the first ones. But after reading this disturbing, somewhat convoluted story, I would think twice.  If I did pick up another Anna Pigeon novel, I'd make sure I had something else to read if the story took another dark turn. I would certainly not stick with it to the end.
",0
"The paper version is a real touchstone for the practice of all manner of applied mathematics.  The CD-ROM version belongs in the discount bin.  Here is why:

1)  The CD-ROM is edition 5; but edition 6 has been out for 4 years.

2) The DynaText software, which is needed to read/browse/search the book, is showing signs of age.  It works fine on the computers of a decade ago but not necessarily on the machines of today.  See the review of J.F.Groote.

The product is advertised as working on Macs but will not work on most Macs.  Specifically, it does not seem to work on either G4 or G5 hardware with OS X, even under the so-called ""Classic"" mode.  I believe that the problem is that the browser is shipped as an executable that requires a specific architecture.

It is usable under Windows, but you might need to use one of the backwards-compatibility options to run the installer.

It will not apparently run under any form of Linux, the most recent (and rapidly becoming the most popular) transmogrification of Unix.  Again, DynaText is put on the CD-ROM as a binary executable; if you are not using SunOS 4 or 5, Solaris or SGI IRIX 5.2 then you can not use this product
",0
"The joke here is that Krugman is convinced he can write.  He ends his little intro with the smug assertion that ""maybe economists can write after all,"" offering himself as proof.  (Krugman cannot write well, but he has mastered the clumsy, undistinguished style of a bad lit professor---the kind of tenured mediocrity that dominates academic publishing---an accomplishment he's very proud of.  To use his own favorite ""emphasizing"" gimmick: Krugman stinks---full stop.)

The punchline is that shortly afterward, The New York Times hired him.  It was a match made in middlebrow heaven.  (I should add that I do like the substance of Krugman's newspaper articles, if not the style.  An enemy of the current White House is a friend of mine.)

As far as the economics go, he's pro-NAFTA and pro-""free trade"" just like all establishment economists, and completely unwilling to critique the real forces at work in international markets.  Don't waste your time
",0
"I seem to be in the minority, but I did not enjoy this book at all. The main character is, of course, the ""only female to ever survive becoming a werewolf"" but this was only the start of her amazing speshulness. I felt the plot got swallowed up by the author's need to self-insert and 'play' in her world, and the only reason I finished this book was that I was on a plane and had nothing else to do. The plot fishtails several times, and isn't all that interesting to start with. In short, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth concerning the author in general, and will likely skip her books in the future
",0
"This is a decent book on photographing artwork -- but not the the most comprehensive.  The strengths of this book are that Mr. Saddington (1) discusses the use digital media, and (2) makes the process of photographing artwork very user-friendly by providing great visual references throughout.  The user-friendly aspect is the book's strongest selling point, especially for artists who are new or novices at photography, or visually oriented (i.e., no patience for reading instructions that come with few or no pictures).  Mr. Saddington's book provides pictures of what makes a bad negative exposure/photograph, and provides a concise explanation for these results, and does the same for an example of a good negative exposure/photograph.  He also provides illustrations of setting up equipment and artwork for photographing.  The weakness of this book lies in the general details provided ... unfortunately, Mr. Saddington provides a limited amount of helpful hints and leaves out specific details for for problem shooting ... I base this opinion on my comparison of this book with a book called ""Photographing Your Artwork"" by Russell Hart.  If you buy Mr. Saddington's book, I'd recommend supplementing it with the purchase of Mr. Hart's book.  The two books complement each other.  Where Mr. Saddington's book lacks in details, Mr. Hart's book fills in the information gaps.  On the other hand, Mr. Hart's book is very text heavy and has very few illustrations ... so if you're a visually-oriented person, Mr. Saddington's book would easily compensate in the area of illustrating this very important process.  Again, Mr. Saddington's book is decent, but it should be used as a supplemental reference, especially for the visually-oriented person
",0
"I agree with the above comments...all one sees is a black cover.  The book looks/sounds interesting, but there is no table of contents or example of what is inside the book.  This book needs to present more information if you expect one to buy
",0
"I have been a fan of Sue Henry since her first Jessie Arnold mystery.  I was looking forward to reading her lastest adventure, but was very disappointed in this outing.  The characters were one-dimensional.  After discovering who the ""bad guys"" were I needed to reread part of the book for clarification.  Sue Henry has a very annoying habit of foreshadowing at the end of many of her chapters.  ""...they hadn't a notion just how decidedly things could - and would - change in the next few hours.""  Even the relationship between Alex and Jessie seemed stilted.  I realize it is difficult to create plausible mysteries for a civilian like musher Jessie Arnold, but this book tried too hard and accomplished too little
",0
"I read this book on a suggestion from a friend, before I read ""Reviving Ophelia"", because she wanted to see if I would be as dissapointed with it as she was. I was more so. While there are some outstanding essays in this collection, the bias of the editor clearly stands out. There is no one for the outcasts to relate to. There was no musician, nor was there anyone that dealt with an alternative religion. There were no essays from people who had a different relationship with their parents than she had. The sections are poorly named and divided. All in all, it is an unworthy book to be associated with the original. Some girls it may ""make feel less alone"", but for me it only accentuated the differences. Definately take out from the library before you buy it
",0
"I thought it was me until I read several other reviews of Predator.  Ms. Cornwell can do so much better than this disjointed mess.  If she's going to continue the Scarpetta series, she needs to get back on track, creating characters that we care about.  I finished this book as quickly as possible just to get it behind me.  What a disappointment
",0
"This breviary is disappointing to Traditional Catholics! Novus Ordo Catholics will be right at home with this but if you are a Traditional Orthodox Catholic who favors the Roman Rite and who has been traumatized by the profanations inflicted by iconaclastic innovations, this is the same ole same ole Vatican II ""stuff.""
",0
"Mark Twain once said that (and I paraphrase)the definition of a classic is something that everyone wants to have read and no one wants to read. That is my experience with this book. For some reason, A Tale of Two Cities never made it onto any of my high school reading lists, and I figured it was one of those books I should have under my belt. So I picked it up. What a slog! A book that might have been fascinating due to its French Revolution subject matter was a mass of rambling descriptions and melodrama. We were supposed to shed tears for Sidney Carton, a character who you barely get to know, and root for Lucie Manette...the highly unrealistic paragon of unspoiled goodness. The only thing I liked about this book was how Madame Defarge knitted a list of people on which she planned to take revenge. An admittedly cool concept. Maybe this book speaks to another era, maybe it's past its prime, maybe I don't have the required literary sensibilities, or maybe I couldn't relate, but A Tale of Two Cities bored me to tears.
",0
"I am a GIGANTIC James Brown fan, I have 100 albums, 130 singles, I've met him 5 times, seen him live over 100 times since 1971, had lunch with him in NYC, and I am the 'Paul' in the JB section of Gerri Hirshey's nice history of soul music NOWHERE TO RUN, but if this book was written by James Brown or if he even had much to tell the writer, I'll eat my refrigerator. It is so full of errors that it is laughable. One of the most glaring errors was when Mr. Brown 'supposedly' said, ""SAY IT LOUD was where funk started"" or something to that effect. That is so ridiculous. James Brown would NEVER say such a thing! Any student of funk knows that COLD SWEAT was the quintessentional funk piece and it is not even mentioned in the book!!! The style of Mr. Brown's sentences that are attributed to him sound NOTHING like him. I have no idea why this was put out. The other 'autobiography' written over a decade ago was more relevent and much better written, THE GODFATHER OF SOUL by JB and Bruce Tucker. Someone, (Alan Leeds?) needs to write a 600 page comprehensive biography of Mr. Brown with much more detail.
",0
"I lived in France. I know plenty of fat French women. And French women who drink hard liquor every day. And French women who drink coffee more than just in the morning. 
French women don't have the market on thinness by any means. People all over the world have guilt about eating and learn bad habits. The author starts out trying to be objective but her arrogance comes out loud and clear as the book goes on. And her dropping of French phrases here and there throughout the book are downright annoying.

Nothing new in this book. Eat less, exercise more.
",0
"Dr. Hawkins first book, Power vs Force was interesting and presented a useful way to dowse using kinesiology.  However, he began to venture into misapplication of this method, and has now gone off on a tangent where he seems to wish to delude himself into thinking he has developed a fool-proof way to judge the level of consciousness of any entity, concept, or construct and the truth or falsehood of any statement.  There are serious logical, philosophical, and practical flaws in his work, and his attempt to quantify matters that aren't quantifiable leads to meaningless data that probably matches the bias & beliefs of those carrying out the muscle tests.  This book is a good example to present to show how people can deceive themselves and misuse muscle testing and dowsing techniques.  The actual technique is worthwhile, but much of what Hawkins presents in the book is utterly meaningless and invalid.  The levels of awareness that can be tapped into with dowsing are wise enough to NOT let us ask just anything we wish to and be able to receive accurate, valid answers.  
Hawkins explores issues about media, politics, religion, spirituality, history, philosophies, healing arts, entertainment, and more, and reveals his own gross ignorance on many matters.
He seems unaware that many of the people he trusts in politics and media are professional gangsters, liars, and two-faced sociopaths.  He has a negative view of conspiracy theorists, many of whom are genuinely determined to find the truth and don't resort to Hawkins' misguided shortcut attempt to identify truth.  Hawkins also fosters confusion with his description of his muscle test method, as it really has little to do with applied kinesiology, but is a form of dowsing where the muscle is directed to remain weak or strong in lieu of muscle response moving a pendulum or rod.  I hope Hawkins gets to reconsider his current efforts...consciousness and spiritual research are vital endeavors and there are others doing useful, responsible work in those areas.  For now I'd encourage Hawkins to recognize that 911 was in part an inside job, many conservative politicians and pundits are corrupt frauds, and the overall maturity of consciousness in America is not greater than the rest of the world
",0
"This book is poorly written and even more poorly edited. The back cover states ... ""every subject is given background and basic exercises to allow beginners to figure it out."" It is a great statement, but it is unfortunately not true.

Page 6: ""So what formats can a script be saved as? There are three main kinds of script files: regular compiled script, which is the native AppleScript file format, and scripts saved as plain text or as applications. On top of that, OS X added a new option for saving compiled scripts and script applications called ""bundle."" Bundles are folders that appear and behave as files. You can read about them in Chapter 23."" - I guess bundle is not a ""main"" format? Why is there a distinction between main formats and, for lack of a better term, minor formats? I have no idea. 

Page 35: ""Every class has a super class.""
Page 40: ""We saw that objects belong to classes, and classes may have subclasses and super classes."" - Which sentence is correct?

Page 43: ""When you work with an application that doesn't support the whose clause, you have to settle for slower, clumsier repeat loops."" - Repeat loops are not explained earlier in the book. There is no reference on this page to the repeat loops that are explained extensively in Chapter 11, pages 321-343.

I wanted to like this book, but I do not. I look forward to a revised first edition or new second edition of this book, because it does have potential to be great. However the next edition needs more polished writing and meticulous editing
",0
"I was interested in Dante's thoughts on hell, religion, and the afterlife as taught by the Catholic church at the time of its writing.  What I got was a detailed political history of Medieval Italy.  This book is great for the first few chapters, but then it becomes a repetitive saga.  Synopsis of the each chapter of the Inferno: Go to next layer of hell; describe in 20 words or less the torture found there; make fun of some political opponents, Catholic church officials, and so forth; prepare for further descent.  In my opinion, this book resides somewhere between the 21st and 22nd layers of hell.  Canto three pretty much has it right.... 'Leave all hope, ye that enter
",0
"I forced myself to finish this book, though it was touch and go in several places, just so I could feel able to review it fairly.  It seems I liked it even less than reviewer Ms. Trieste ""CF"", below, but I am in general agreement with her points.  There are just so many things wrong with this book that even the grating ""famous names"" don't really stand out for me.  Let's see, where to begin:  the naive political ranting, the unspeakable dialogue, the corny love interest, the wholly implausible technology, the absurd coincidences, the distractingly disjointed structure, the proliferation of minor characters, the talky explanations of the detective's thought processes, the total incompetence and corruption of the police - I can't go on; it's hackneyed and poorly written, and that's all there is to it.
",0
"The author gives vague advice, the ""calm down"", ""be objective"" cliche  advice. If you don't believe me, I'm literally quoting him.

Although the author tries to make his book seem original, as you can read, it's not merely about imagining yourself in positive circumstances, but mixed with the generic advice I mentioned. This is not something revolutionary, this is rehash. Save your money and go imagine yourself in a positive situation, you don't need to read hundreds of pages to do it, or spend $ on what to imagine
",0
"Isn't it frustrating when a book spends a lot of time building up the problem-to which you say, ""Yeah! yeah! That's me!"" and then gives you no answer, or a weak one to which you say, ""No duh!"" I'm afraid this book is one of them. The title is misleading because you assume he will help you find the life you've only dreamed of, or at least point you in the right direction to get started! But I was left depressed after reading it because it basically says that God gives us desires that we can't have on earth so that we will long for Him and Heaven. I don't believe that's the abundant life Jesus promised. So I went to the Bible. (I should have gone there first!) I looked up every time it talks about desires and got my answer. ""Delight yourself IN THE LORD and He WILL give you the desires of your heart!"" Ps. 37:4 So I set out to seek Him. I started reading ""Knowing God"" by J.I. Packer and began to get answers to all my questions about desire! I hope you'll find them too-in Him
",0
"This book does cover alot of information not needed for CLEP, but it does give you a great guideline on who and what to study for clep and good examples on what questions will look like for the actual clep.  
I wanted to ensure I was prepared for the clep, so I purchased this book and disregarded the other 2 comments.  Although, they were right about the obscurity, this book still taught me alot.  
You don't necessarily need it, but if you want to be prepared, this book will not hurt your bank account that much. I also recommend The Complete Itiots Guide to American Literature (5 stars, check out the reviews), and the Internet.  That is all you need
",0
"I started reading this immediately after the last REH compilation and there could not be a greater difference in story telling. While REH was first and foremost a story teller, Pressfield uses one of the absolute worst devices in his recount of a grandson of his grandfather's remembering his conversations with a client who knew the famous Alcibiades. This, as previous reviewers have mentioned, creates a large gap between reader and story. But why do this? Why use such a crappy method of story telling? I guess it pads the book with unnecessary dialogue. All in all, it's a slow, uninspired, day dream story. So crappy that I felt it necessary to write this review echoing previous harsh reviews.

I want my money back
",0
"I have read all twelve of these books and hoping there will be more. The language is pretty graphic but they are so funny you can usually ignore those words. These books can cause you embaesment, since I read where ever I have to sit and wait and you burst out laughing people do stare and wonder if you are losing it. Please we would all like to see more of these
",0
"How can a best-selling author like Simon Winchester take an event as exciting as the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and turn it into a tedious snooze-fest? One answer: write as if you had just discovered an adjective mine and were free to throw in extra descripitive terms on every line until listeners scream for an end to florid phrases. Another: strive to break the record for most clich?s in a single paragraph. Finally: write about events in 1906 as if no one but Simon Winchester had ever before thought about their consequences -- thus, everything in this tedious narrative becomes about Simon. Simon and the raccoons; Simon on the failing American economy; Simon attempting to reproduce American accents. This is a CD set for avoiding
",0
"As my brother said when flipping through this book, ""If girls start acting like guys then what do we need them for?""  Why should you pretend to be someone or something you're not to get a guy?  If someone dumps you because you like mushy love songs, cry at sad movies, like babies and puppies, or because you have embarrassing girl products in your medicine cabinet, he isn't worth it anyway!  And why on earth would you sleep with someone who didn't love you enough to want you around the next morning?  ""Think Like a Guy"" doesn't guarantee you a perfect relationship anymore than The Rules or Stop Getting Dumped or Mars and Venus or any of the other ridiculous relationship books that have been popular over the last few years.  Be yourself.  If a man can't deal with that, then he isn't the right one for you
",0
"Two huge problems with this book. One, this self righteous club is leaving clues to a killer and ""traveling and learning"" when they already know his identity, so I guess he can keep on dismembering women until the psychiatrist figures it all out and then gets teary eyed over his new special wine glass. Two, the city of Los Angeles functions as a character in Kellerman's other novels and adds alot of realism to the novels. This thing drags on in some unnamed, nondescript city
",0
"The professionals in the law field in this book aren't the type of lawyer or law professional most people want to become.  I understand not everyone becomes a six-figure-paid lawyer right out of law school, but this book is ridiculous.  It shadows a guy who wants to only be a law clerk?  Give me a break
",0
"This is one of the silliest books I have read for a long time. It could be categorised as belonging  to the same genre of ""action fantasy"" as a number of Hollywood films.

Examples of the rules of reality being abandoned:

The action takes place in the middle of Antarctic winter, and the author even notes at one point how it's pitch dark outside, yet there are scenes on the ice that play out as if the characters could see each other.

People spend minutes in freezing water, yet pop out none the worse for the wear.

Two close allies of the United States attack a US installation on no better motivation than a claim that a ""spaceship"" has been found there, shouted once through the radio.

A 12-year-old girl goes through hours of commando troops shooting at each other in a closed facility without getting hurt physically, nor, apparently, mentally.

A prototype airplane that has been buried in ice for over ten years, but that works perfectly on the first attempt to fly it.

The stupidity goes on and on, but that's perhaps enough to give a taste. There are perhaps people who do not care about any of this, but I don't enjoy books whose author doesn't have one bit of interest in any sort of realism
",0
"  Is the main goal of EVERY male evo-psy writer to attack feminism? Here's an experiment for you: Juxtapose the ideas in this book and, say, Pinker's Blank Slate with those of,I don't know, ANY two female evo-psi writers and watch the incongruities jump off the pages. It's f%ing comical. But guess what? The females' books are way better thought out and accurate while the males' are a lot of wishful thinking. Hmmm....aging, successful man writes that lovely young lasses and aging, successful males are made for each other.  That men are wired to treat sexually liberated women like s@&%, and to fawn over repressed,chastity obsessed airheads. Whatever
",0
"The product I ordered was not actually for sale!  Don't post an product if you don't have it in stock
",0
"The only misstep so far in a wonderful series.  I was so eager for the book, I got a copy of the British edition, before it got to the US.  But I was disappointed.  Somehow this just just doesn't get off the ground.  Could Davis be tiring of Falco?  It seems to me that she is.  Maybe it's time to DO something, Lindsey!  Make some real changes in tbe characters' situations or kill them off.  Real dullness in the supporting cast and plot, and the main characters (besides Falso, who always has a life of his own) pall
",0
"I cannot believe this book had such a high number of positive reviews. I have read some bad books in my life but this one is one of the absolute worst!I am amazed that all the references to CHILD murder and rape can be overlooked by the rest of the reviewers
",0
"I ordered this book after reading the rave reviews and the who's who of public school using this format.  Nowhere is it advertised or even mentioned that this is a Christian book, espousing Christian dogma and assumptions.  I'm surprised this is acceptable for use by Government funded public schools.  Furthermore, there is a lot of non-scientific rhetoric in the book that eschews logical debate and exposition.  I'm very disappointed and consider this to be false advertising.  
Some of the parenting tips are common sense that I didn't think needed to be reiterated.  A person already interested enough in buying a book would already have the basics down.  I was looking for more than that.  The advertising led me to believe that the book would be about language manipulation, how to speak more effectively with children to ease the learning process.
There is false logic in some of the parental mistakes.  An example is always attributing ""hovering parents"" to ego issues, that a parent ""needs to be needed"".  Some hovering parents are survivors of abuse and can't see the lines between normal risks and when a child is in real danger.  False assumptions leads to false conclusions.  
I gave this  2 stars with the thought that someone who is so out of the loop and a danger to their child may read this book-at least could adopt some common sense.  But it isn't helping my family. 
",0
"This book was so simplistic. I was quite disappointed. You get the impression his main goal was simply to reassure people that they are normal after all. A worthy goal, but when discussing something as complex as sexual fantasies I really think one should try to pursue things to their limit. He really held back from delving into any dark territory. His explanations for why someone enjoys certain things left out quite a bit. He always managed to put a happy, positive spin on everything, which is nice, but life isn't that simple
",0
"Book is totally disorganized.  Beautiful pictures, but no way of researching values.  The price list is in the back organized by lot no & auction no.  NO reference to the illustration of the marbles in the front of the book, no way to look it up.  Starts out promising, then becomes a total jumble.  Totally impossible to locate anything.  Too time consuming, and then still no resolve
",0
"If you have Kids or Grandkids, who think about politics & like ""SF""; give them this book!

It was One of the many Heinlein Works that helped ME grow up.

It is the BEST & MOST IMPORTANT of his ""for KIDS novels"".

I ment to give it 5 Stars!!!!
",0
"I have always been a prolific reader and rarely do I come across a book for which I can find no value, no redeeming qualities. But I must extend a hearty congratulations to Julia Barrett for writing the most astounding piece of horse excrement I have ever had the misfourtune to purchace. Teachiing my cat to walk repeatedly over my keyboard would produce a work of more sense. If you are like me and just have to read it - just because you're obsessed with Austen - Buy it used for 45 cents and then burn it
",0
"Though I am not a Vogue reader, I picked up this book out of curiosity to see what Anna W's splashes in the tabloids were all about.

While the subject is only mildly interesting to me, the author's prose reads like a 300+ page deposition against Anna Wintour from everybody who had/has a major or minor gripe with her. It's a heavy and boring read.

Gossip, if one can get over oneself and admit that it is entertaining, should remain light and diverting. In this book, it is difficult to garner much sympathy for the subject or its author, much less derive the slightest enjoyment from it. I was very happy to put it down. 

Perhaps this lackluster effort will compel someone else to attempt a better job. But then again, when that time comes, Anna Wintour may be have disappeared completely from public interest
",0
"I looked for an introduction to the basics of Office automation and bought this book.  Every example code I tried was incorrect and the examples are just all trivial.  Samples from the MSDN was just as good as this book.

If you only need a rough overview what technologies are out there, this book is OK.  But for any real programming it is not very useful.
",0
"I was very disapointed with this book. It's a large volume of just opinions. The profile is somewhat useful, about 20 pages of good stuff, but the rest could be trashed
",0
"As a follower of the Celebration story for many years, I was greatly disappointed by what I thought would be a new and interesting perspective on the model town.  It was nothing of the sort.  The book had the feel of  so many pages of anti-Disney propaganda, and the repetitiveness of a bad  serial.  The authors of Celebration U.S.A. clearly made up their minds  about Celebration long before signing off on a mortgage.  Lacking in the  detail needed to illustrate Celebration's experiment with the tenets of  neotraditional style, the book offered splashes of cliched generalities  such as ""a return to the past"" and ""recapturing tradition.""  It soon became  some sort of mantra exhorting Disney's ownership of the town, the rules  imposed on property improvements and maintenance, and, interestingly, the  attention the town received.  Most tactless of all was the shadow of  mockery cast on every description of residents, conversation with  neighbors, and interaction with people doing what the authors SHOULD have  been doing: giving the town a chance
",0
"Filled with bizarre generalizations, and the most pretentious phraseology I've seen in years, this book has the dubious honor of spotlighting all that has gone wrong in academic research in this country in the last 20  years.  Jodi Dean shows an appalling lack of understanding of the workings  of culture, history, politics, or even writing style.  It seems she should  have spent more time with Turabian's Manual for Writers, than surfing the  web or watching Sienfeld
",0
"This book is the same as ""Teach Yourself Origami"" and ""Origami, the Art of Paper-Folding"", just with another cover to make you think it is new, also in the webside they describe it as a book of David Brill, it does not contain nothing of him, not even his name mention!?!?
If you have no origami book, it could be good for you, other wise beware!!
",0
"I was raised in Virginia and never understood the details of the Battle of Yorktown. Now I see the big picture and how all the regional events in the glorious cause fit together. Immediately after finishing this book I returned to Yorktown with an entirely different understanding. I could relive the battle as if I had been there during the war. It was fascinating! I never learned this from history books.

Male Age 60
",0
"How many times can you wear out the same story line. Kahlan lost, Kahlan found, Kahlan lost again, Kahlan found again. Or Richard lost, Richard found, ohp...Richard lost again, Richard found again. Goodkind has run out of ideas. He should put the Sword of Truth series down and move on to something fresh.
",0
"Definitely not one of his best! SLOW SLOW SLOW...  But at least this character had some realistic difficulty learning a foreign language, unlike the hero of ""The Partner"" who learned a little known Spanish dialect perfectly by sitting in a hotel room listening to cassette tapes for 2 weeks
",0
"If you've read anything already about these techniques - writing it down, visualizing it, tithing - this book offers no additional insights. And despite his ""Official Religious Disclaimer"" at the beginning of the book, it is packed to the rafters with the author's own religious dogma. If you share the author's religious outlook you may like this book, but otherwise it makes for very tedious reading
",0
"The first novel of Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series is not, actually, that terrible a book. It's by far the best in a not particularly great series, actually. What made it almost impossible for me to read is that the basic premise, the set-up, is one of the most grotesquely, ridiculously stupid things I've ever read. 

Princess Meredith NicEssus has fled Faerie, in fear of death at the hands of her aunt, Andais, the Queen of Air and Darkness and ruler of the Unseelie Court. High profile fae in this world are major public figures, like rock stars or the royal family of England. The sudden disappearance of one of the Unseelie royals is a very big deal indeed. Every news media in the world reports the story....and it never goes away. We are told solemnly that reports of Princess Meredith being spotted are right up there with Elvis sightings. Meredith's image, the story of her mysterious disappearance, is everywhere. I mean, neolithic pygmies living in deepest Africa know who Meredith is, and what she looks like. 

Meanwhile, Princess Meredith has disguised herself as a mortal private eye. Thing is, she hasn't disguised herself very much at all. Her supernaturally pale skin is now humanly pale skin. Her fae red hair is now human red hair. Her facial features remain the same. And with everyone on the planet wondering where is Princess Meredith, for years on end, no one recognizes her. Let me hasten to add, there is no magic involved in this, they honestly simply don't recognize her. And the crowning touch to this masterful disguise, the name chosen for her pseudonym to hide the fact she's actually Princess Meredith is....wait for it....Merry Gentry. 

Jesus wept. 

And for years, none of her co-workers, no one who knows her, says to themself, ""Hey, wait a minute, that women who looks almost exactly like Princess Meredith....Merry Gentry....Princess Meredith....oh my God, Merry Gentry is Princess Meredith!"" Nope, she's just incognito, baby. 

At which point I almost threw down the book and said, ""You have GOT to be kidding me."" It's absolutely amazing to me this made it through the editing process. Do Laurell Hamilton's editors do anything other than rubber stamp her writing? Given her past six or eight novels, including this one, I'm tempted to say: no, actually
",0
"This book is terribly organized.  I'm not sure what happened in writing this book, but it seems clear that Professor Jones did not compile this in the chronological order that it is printed in.

My main complaint is that rather obscure concepts/people/events are repeatedly referred to, and then only later does Jones bother to define them.  (I would almost prefer that he not define something at all, rather than offering a definition 100 pages after his first reference to it!)  The fact that the book has an index only further infuriated me - clearly the author/publisher knew where all these terms were located throughout the book, yet did not bother to offer a definition in the appropriate/first reference to the concept.

Examples are numerous, but here are a few:
**robe nobility: referenced on pages 139, 152, 183.  Defined? (pg. 183)
**sans culottes: first referenced on page 189, defined on page 231.
**Louis-Sebastien Mercier: referenced on pages 11, 138, 178, 189, 200, 204, 212, 213.  When did Jones provide information (that he was a ""journalist, dramatist and observer of Parisian mores"") on just WHO Mercier is?  Page 215.

Aside from that, there are some plain old errors.  One such is in the text box on Saint Genevieve.  Jones mentions that she negotiated with Frankish military chieftains in the 570s and 580s.  She died in 512AD, so the negotiations seem improbable.  (470s & 480s would be correct, but I should not have to figure that out.)

The redeeming quality of the book is that if DOES offer information on Paris if you are willing to sift through the above mentioned annoyances.  And Paris is not such a bad subject
",0
"Oh dear. This is another book like the horrible ""Who Moved My Cheese?"" that attempts to manipulate grown adults by treating them like children.

Like the aforementioned ""Who thinks my cheese stinks?"" (or whatever it is called), I saw some people in the organisation where I work trying to sneakily weave it into the corporate culture and it lasted about five days.

It's all about making work ""FUN"". Yep, work can be ""FUN"". Tell that to the folks who work in hospital waste disposal. Or maybe those who deal with animal cruelty cases.

Of course, it's just great ""FUN"" to deal with children who have just had their parents killed, or folks who just lost their kids.

Because that's what work is - ""FUN"" - or so this book would have you believe you can convince your workers.

Of course in the examples I have listed above, it doesn't really work too well, because this is really about getting people in perceived lower-end occupations like factories or call-centres to believe their mind-numbing daily tasks can be ""FUN"".

Myself, I do have some ""FUN"" at work, but probably like many people with more than one brain cell, it is based on having a laugh with my co-workers about the sheer absurdity of where our work life often takes us.

You can call this cynicism, which is probably how it would be viewed by people who buy into this dumb ""Fish""-style ""WORK MUST BE FUN"" philosophy. I'd call it black humour, but it keeps people sane and makes difficult work more bearable.

As to the title of my review - this method of making the workplace ""FUN"" in a forced way is very useful if you have employees that you wish to isolate and marginalise.

First immerse people in the cult-like atmosphere and tell them that they are now to regard work as ""FUN"".

Second, let them know that they now ""CHOOSE"" their attitude - if they are unhappy in any way (regardless of them doing their work well or not), they are ""LETTING THE TEAM DOWN"" and not complying with the obligation to ""MAKE WORK FUN"".

Third, while the majority of victims or workers, however you choose to view your prey, swallow the ""WORK IS FUN"" message and display the behaviour of sea lions clapping to get a mouthful of FISH, you can point to those who have shown a small streak of individual identity and are not HAVING FUN AT WORK and use the Enron-style message that they ""just don't get it"".

In this way, the resistant individual can be said to be ""incompatible with our mission and values"", ""bad for morale"" or just ""out of step"".

In this way, the ""FUN-LOVING"" workers, who have now taken on the costume of ""FORCED FALSE FUN"" can be set against them.

Of course this will compound their unhappiness and isolate them further until they are totally marginalised and can be tossed on the scrapheap or forced to resign.

This book is useful then, if you wish to convince idiots that their ""WORK IS FUN"".

Just don't try it on a group of people with a brain between them who might take their work seriously.

They might tell you to stick your ""FISH"" where the sun doesn't shine
",0
"Each story has a different author...however they all use the same verbage.  Their either all friends or the same person.  I do not like this book nor does my husband
",0
"I bought this book, the paperback version. The text is good, it describes all his letters and tries to do a lot of explanations too. However the prints of his paintings are not that impressive.  They are very dark prints. Go for some other book if you want to see the corect colors of his paintings
",0
"Maybe I am not smart enough for this book, it certainly isn't for the novice!!

I ended up more confused than educated
",0
"ANOTHER HYPROCRITICAL NUT. THESE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS LIKE  ARE LITERALLY SCREAMING JESUS,WHILE CUTTING YOUR THROATS, NOT UNLIKE THE JIHADI FUNDAMENTALISTS. THE ONLY THING IS THEY CANT DO THAT NOW  AS  THEY USED TO COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS BACK BY ENSLAVING AND LYNCHING BLACKS,KILLING NATIVE AMERICANS,AND SHOWING THEIR CHRISTIAN LOVE FOR THE JEWS- BY EXTERMINATING THEM. HOPE OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS DONT HAVE TO LIVE IN A CHRISTIAN SAUDI ARABIA. THIS IS WHAT THESE WHACKOS ENVISION
",0
"It is fiction of course. It can not be otherwise for what it contends may happen is IMPOSSIBLE! Many reviewers are upset. Upset perhaps but they should not be worried. The Church is protected by Christ's promise that it will not err. Any person of faith sees this book as FICTION. It is a poor attempt to disguise Greely's left wing theology as fiction. The message to those liberals who find ""hope"" for their cause in this book: IT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. Recommended reading: ""Women Priests And Other Fantasies"" Greely and his followers are delusional
",0
"I have 50 pages to go and I can't wait to finish this boring waste of time. Very predictable, sappy, sweet and quite meaningless.  I give it a minus 1
",0
"If you like Redon for his vibrant color, look for another book. Dream symbolism and spirituality that inspired Redon's imagery are the main topics of this book. Most of the many examples are black and white drawings. However, the real magic of Redon is his use of color in his mature works. This was not adequately represented. 
",0
"Flynn offers up a fast-paced, if unbelievable story.  Unfortunately, character development is paper thin and clearly portrays Flynn's political preferences.  Characters, like Rapp, with a military background are guided by clearly defined ethical principles, have all the answers and are always showing those good-for-nothing politicians how the ""real world"" works.  Meanwhile, Flynn's politicians (the majority of whom are Democrats) seem only concerned with public opinion and the next election.  While there are grains of truth in his characters, Flynn consistently goes for the cheap, partisan stereotype.  I was looking for a well-developed political/military thriller.  I'm still looking.
",0
"It was difficult to stay ""tuned-in"" to this book.  A few good ideas, but nothing new or different.  It is not a book that I would recommend, however, I might try to listen again -- just to see if I missed the point.  I certainly would NOT give this book as a gift
",0
"Honestly, I thought the book was just plain boring and repetitive.  The author's main point, although interesting, seems to me like it would fit into an essay.  Also, the particular print of the book that I purchased, has a dog on the cover, I was very much expecting the book to center around dog behavior.  Instead, I felt I little duped. Most insight into dog behavior came from previous third person experiments/theories or anedoctal accounts of ""My Friend's dog Fido, one day did this...""  I hardly think that what one dog did can be generalized to the whole dog population.  I mean, the author doesn't even have a dog!!  I suspect that I, who have had a lifelong history with dogs, have more first hand experience with dog behavior than the author. 

I don't recommend this book to all the dog lovers out there.  Now, if your ""thing"" is cows....  Get this book!


",0
"This book gave me insight into German culture. It is no wonder 
there was a Holocaust with children's books like these. Max and Moritz are adventurous children and they are caught. Being caught isn't enough. They are ground in a flour mill for punishment. Not even that suits the miller. he feeds their remains to the ducks. It instantly reminded me of concentration camp victims being cremated and then turned into soap. This story will forever give nightmares
",0
"The unbelievable awfulness of the prose makes Dan Brown look like Borges in comparison. Naming characters ""Guard One"" just shows you don't even try to care. The plot is so hair-brained that just thinking about it gives me a headache -- I just learned, to my horror, that there are two sequels to this that turn the entire thing into a treatise on the end times. I'd have loved to see what a capable author could have done with the premise, but it's been ruined forever by... this. Somewhere, Baby Jesus is crying
",0
"While this book is a good reminder to high school students and their parents of the kinds of illiberal attitudes extant on many college campuses, I cannot recommend it to other readers. The author unfortunately perpetuates the right-wing-Republican-only stereotype believed by many outside evangelical Christianity. She battles as much for her political leanings away from gun control and in favor of all Bush administration policies as she does for the truth claims of the gospel. Indeed, in reading some of the chapters, it is difficult to see that she has any concept of a Christian worldview that might veer in any part from Republican platform positions. This is really too bad, because she makes many good points and appears to be courageous in her positions. I would not have begrudged her political point of view at all, had she made a clearer distinction between that and her theological position
",0
"If you are looking for a ""feel good"" book about baby boomer retirement, this book may have some value for you. But if you are looking for specific in-depth how-to, this book isn't the answer. Each segment-work, dreams, travel-is short and doesn't address many relevant issues.
For example, regarding the work chapter, the author postulates that there will be a work shortage and companies will hire baby boomers to fill the gap. Well, that is speculative with globalism. Those jobs may be outsourced. Most are low paying. Many of my highly qualified friends are unable to find jobs despite retraining. Yes, there may be Wal-Mart jobs but is this your retirement dream? The work chapter sounds a lot like most ""Do what you love"" books. But doing what you love is often best as a hobby not to furnish needed income. These and other issues facing boomers who want meaningful work into their 70s are not addressed. I could pick apart other chapters in the same manner
",0
"In the name of science, you will try to prove with propagande;
if you really want to decode how junk scientifics manipulate the world: go http://nomorefakenews.com and do not buy this junk BOOK
",0
"I have studied the tarot for nearly 5 years and keep an open mind whenever a new book appears on the market.  Edain McCoy, who has written some wonderful New Age material, strikes an off-putting note in this one.  The spreads are certainly imaginative and are perhaps insightful to her own method of tarot interpretation, but convey confusing and ambiguous directions to the reader who is trying to understand her card placements.  In several of her spreads she conveys that a card's placement at a certain point in the spread ""may or may not"" mean some karmic element at play.  The whole exercise of creating a spread is to pinpoint with a degree of accuracy the situation you wish to define.  Therefore, when a card ""may or may not"" mean something, that interpretation could significantly change on whether you ""may or may not"" interpret it that way, leaving the interpreter open to rationalizing a card's meaning.  Tarot cards are intuitive, not rational, and their meanings can best be intuited when their placement is clearly defined without ambiguity   It is difficult to have it both ways and I found working with these spreads difficult.  Imagine doing a Celtic Cross reading and the first position ""may or may not"" be the root of the issue.  These spreads speak very clearly to the author, but not so to the reader.  I rate it 2 stars for depth and insight into Karma and past lives, but the explanations are too ambiguous.
",0
"Normally I like the entire ""female power"" thing but frankly the ""this is wrong"" or ""evil"" part of that storyline is really old.  In an era where girls do try out for and get placed on ""boys"" teams, these issues seem outdated.  Likewise rules were recently changed in Indiana (not even slightly a liberal state) that says any pageant receiving state funds cannot discriminate on the basis of sex or gender.  I know, this book is from 1999, but we are living in a conservative backlash politically and this is still happening, changes are happening.  Overall I felt the book had a very negative view of the gender roles and did not do anything to suggest they should be different.  Even the disempowered girl who creates the initial problems with her ""magic"" is empowered through a pageant and her cooking.  How much more gender role enforcement can we have?  Really, with a strong female lead, shouldn't a Buffy universe story do better than this?  In general the feel of the relationships and lingo between the main characters was fine but not particularly outstanding
",0
"...if you're in the bathroom with time on your hands! I must admit that I did finish this book and was glad that the ordeal was over.  Puzo (like Leon Uris) definitely lost the touch near the end of his career and this book is no exception.  In just a few hundred pages, President Kennedy II is shown as a tyrant, a socialist, a reactionary, a humanitarian, a political bumbler, a visionary of USA utopia, a man who would kill a few thousand citizens to save himself from impeachment, a liar who can beat the ultimate lie detector, a dear and loving husband/father, etc....how many characters must one man be?  And what's this odd sub-plot of a former-Mormon/Hollywood oddball who on a whim (in less than 10 seconds of consideration when the opportunity presents itself) decides to kill the president of the United States.  Once again another character with fourteen different personalities!.  Puzo even got his basic facts wrong about the Mormons (he should have stuck with the Catholic Church). I would hate to be washed up on a deserted island and find this book washed up on the shore next to me! I would go crazy reading it again
",0
"This book has too many errors. There is nothing more frustrating than to follow the steps outlined and find out it does not work because they did not Q&A the examples.

ie. They ask you to select a field from the table, but the field does not exist. The stored procedure does not include it.

You would have to know how to write SQL to correct this
",0
"This is one of the dullest chick lit derivatives of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and their adventures, or misadventures. It is full of misery, poorly developed characters, and is so formulaic that I predicted the outcome after about 50 pages, at which point I could no longer stomach these ego-driven, falsely sweet dolts. Don't waste your money
",0
"Same ole same ole, just another way for her to make a buck. Shame
",0
"I was really looking forward to reading this book since I am both a brain researcher and a professional musician. First it was highly disorganized and rambled from subject to subject without any real framework. Much of what the author spoke of was not related to how the brain processes music but speaks to the way research is conducted. Even this was sparse at best. He attempted to explain the elements of music so that the majority of people could understand it. However it became too watered down and even lost me. Lastly the author was entirely too self congradulatory as to his own accomplishments. Pushing the envelope of science should be  award enough. For these reasons I can not recommend this book
",0
"The text gets 5 stars for the orientation, organization, and the on-line resources for the text. It describes exactly what you would want in an Applied Corporate Finance course. Unfortunately, I have to deduct 3 stars because the text contains too many typos and smple calculations which I specifically want my students not to make. This has been frustrating for my students, as well as myself. However, I am confident that when this problem is cleaned up, the book will be among the best Applied Corporate Finance text in the market. I strongly recommend a new, corrected edition
",0
"Old fan as I am, this one (and quite a few of the later ones) was a huge disappointment. Badly written, obvious plot, even more cartoonish characters than usual. Time for Cussler to retire methinks....
",0
"A useful book that provides a good summary comparing differing Accounting Standards and approaches between countries.  However, it is not worth the price.  It is supposedly written for later year undergraduate and masters accounting students.  It is more suitable for general second year accounting students.  Plus, as I am working with a multinational European bank in Japan, the book is, rapidly becoming, out of date.  There is none of the simply but incisive commentary which can be found in other books about the differences and outcomes of general accounting principals drawn from different countries
",0
"I have read Baldacci's first four novels and have immensely enjoyed all of them.  This one, however, is just awful.  Not only the character's dialogue but even the story itself is written like a really bad detective movie.  The only thing I can think of to compare it to is this :  There was a series of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons where Calvin imagines himself as a private detective and they are written like the old detective shows, with lame lines like ""The gun was loaded, and so was I"".  That is exactly what this book is like, except it goes on for 400 pages.  There isn't a single interesting character in this book, in my opinion.  You just have to slog your way through the book to get to the end.  It's the Bataan Death March of novels.  I hope this is an aberration - I'll certainly give him another try since the first four novels that I read were so good.  But one more stinker like this one and I'll drop his name from my reading list
",0
"This is for beginners, it's filled with useless forms, and it provides very little information beyond a common-sense and reasoned approach to real estate.  Surely there must be better resources than this
",0
"I did not find this book very helpful when it came to identification. It did help with classification and mapping
",0
"If you think you'd find a lot of unrelated platitudes interesting, then you'll enjoy this book.
",0
"This book is for the diehard Dave Navarro fans only. The only reason I gave it 2 stars was that the use of  instamatic photos in the book is creative. The text is nothing more than diary entries by the guitarist. Neil Straus approached writing The Dirt with Motley Crue is a much more creative way which kept me interested. This book  falls short unless I would have been inclined to want to see things Dave's way. I grew restless of this pretty quickly
",0
"A very broad list of questions with high level answers. I wouldn't buy this book if I were looking for a deep framework to handle this topic
",0
"I do agree that books containing racist positions should not be given to children without a strong and fully aware comment. But I simply cannot stand to buy a sanitised version of a book without being aware of it. This is called censorship, and it gives me the creeps. As a parent, I have had enough real life opportunities to prove racism wrong to my children. So to realise that somebody has been cheating on me, trying to do my job so that I did not have to explain how society has evolved, how difficult it has been for minorities to be recognised and respected is just a fraud. this review is about the Harper collins Edition , edited by Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissak, illustrated by Michael Hague
",0
"Never in my life have I been so outraged by what I have read as by the drivel spouted by Dr. West in this book (in his Translator's Note), and by the use of `unponderingly' and ""the Thinkery"" (among other things) in his translation of The Clouds. I also read his translation of Plato's Apology of Socrates, and found it grossly inferior to Jowett.

Four Texts on Socrates is not a book to be tossed aside lightly: it should be hurled with great force. (Apologies to Dorothy Parker.)

Not only are the translations themselves inexcusably inept, almost everything that he writes in his Translator's Note is wrong.

The Clouds is a play, not a scientific or mathematical treatise. As such, it has characters and dialogue. A `modern' translation of a play must be something that could be presented on a stage and make sense to a `modern' audience. If a character is supposed to be bizarre or out of the ordinary, one does not make him spout drivel such as 'unponderingly'; one gives him a `shtick', which is a theatrical term. It's more or less a running gag associated with a particular character. You create, through clever ways of speaking or odd ways of stringing his words together, a characterization. He could be made to speak like a parody of William F. Buckley or the Star Wars character Yoda. As it stands, West's text cannot be presented as a play.

It is neither necessary nor useful to coin such nonsense as 'unponderingly'; indeed, it is inexcusable. It conveys neither humor nor cleverness. It comes off simply as stupid. The translator of a play must know something about theatre and drawing characters, which Dr. West obviously does not. To state it bluntly: The translation of plays should be left to people who understand theatre and characterization, and who are creative. Dr. West doesn't have a creative bone in his body.

In regard to his translation of Plato's The Apology of Socrates, the translation by Dr. West is both original and good, but the parts that are good are not original, and the parts that are original are not good. After all, when one has the work of such a brilliant predecessor as Benjamin Jowett to follow, the temptation to do something entirely different is strong. But it must be resisted. If Dr. West had merely lightly revised Jowett's great work, he would have made a contribution to learning. Alas, he did neither. 

The version by Jowett is clearly superior. Here is a short excerpt:

""And I must beg of you to grant me a favor: If I defend myself in my accustomed manner, and you hear me using the words which I have been in the habit of using in the agora, at the tables of the money-changers, or anywhere else, I would ask you not to be surprised, and not to interrupt me on this account. For I am more than seventy years of age, and appearing now for the first time in a court of law, I am quite a stranger to the language of the place; and therefore I would have you regard me as if I were really a stranger, whom you would accuse if he spoke in his native tongue, and after the fashion of his country: Am I making an unfair request of you? Never mind the manner, which may or may not be good; but think only of the truth of my words, and give heed to that: let the speaker speak truly and the judge decide justly.""

Compare West's inept version:

""...I do very much beg and beseech this of you: if you hear me speaking in my defense with the same speeches I am accustomed to speak both in the marketplace at the money-tables, where many of you have heard me, and elsewhere, do not wonder or make a disturbance because of this. For this is how it is: now is the first time I have come before a law court, at the age of seventy; hence I am simply foreign to the manner of speech here. So just as, if I really did happen to be a foreigner, you would surely sympathize with me if I spoke in the dialect and way in which I was raised, so also I do beg of you now (and it is just, at least, as it seems to me): leave aside the manner of my speech--for perhaps it may be worse, but perhaps better--and instead consider this very thing and apply your mind to this: whether the things I say are just or not. For this is the virtue of a judge, while that of an orator is to speak the truth.""

""Speaking...with the same speeches I am accustomed to speak""? How utterly inept and repetitive! Didn't he even proof-read? One doesn't speak with 'speeches', one speaks with words!

It is obvious that Dr. West never read his version aloud as a test of its appropriateness, which is surprising, because this work is supposed to be a speech. Dr. West's version is clearly not suited to speaking aloud, whereas Jowett's is. In West's translation, Socrates is a clumsy, repetitive, and inept speaker. Needlessly so. If you want to read a good translation, see Jowett's 3rd edition (1892).

Why does Dr. West believe himself qualified to make translations? Nothing in his work suggests that he is competent in any way to do so. This is not the work of a scholar, but that of a bungling hack. These translations are travesties. How does work this nauseatingly bad get published?

NOT RECOMMENDE
",0
" Clearly the tens of millions of fouls who read this racist crap fail to see it for exactly what is; an endorsement of Ethnic cleansing. If the tables were turned and a Jew, or a Muslim wrote a series in which anyone who disagreed with Judaism, or Islam was BRUTALLY MURDERED than the same fundamentalists idiots who take such disgusting pleasure out of this garbage would go simply ape s**t. I do not know what is more pathetic the fact that there are actually fundamentalist Lunatics out there who write this truly unforgivable racist garbage, or the large number of dimwits out who eagerly wait to throw their money away on each installment of HATEFUL FILTH!!
",0
"This is where ordering a book through the internet is a little disappointing, as you can't browse the book before purchasing it.  ""Camping Activities for Kids"" is very light on the  ""activities.""  It does a good job of laying out items that should  be brought along on ones first camping trip, but falls short on suggesting  outdoor activities for kids.  The activities that are suggested are a  little simplistic.  For example, ""laying sticks apart from one another  and pretending it's a river, and then have the kids jump over it and  playing golf with sticks and using pine cones as balls.""  I was hoping  for more endepth activities.  If it's your first time camping this books  okay, but if you've camped for awhile and your kids are a little older the  book falls short so look for something else
",0
"There's nothing unique about this text - all the topics & discussions have been well covered in other basic textbooks on Corporate Finance, Mergers etc.... 

The discussions lack depth. The whole concept of Corporate Strategy has been miscontrued by the authors.... The link between this and Financial Markets is very ambiguous & blur!

FYI I'm a businessman & hold an MBA in Finance from an international university
",0
"Susanna Rowson's ""Charlotte Temple"" is not the first novel and certainly not the last to deal with the topic of the morally fallen woman. Poor, pitiful Charlotte finds herself in the midst of an immoral and unforgiving world where one transgression sends her on the road to permanent ruin.          Rowson encases her heroine Charlotte Temple within a world of virtue and vengeance. Charlotte has no possible means of escaping her inevitable fate because the author/narrator makes it clear from the onset that she has written this story as a lesson to young woman. She has no real interest in Charlotte as a dimensional character. Charlotte simply serves as a symbol of lost virtue and symbols do not have real emotions or feelings.           ""Charlotte Temple"" was written in 1794 and became one of the first best sellers of the newly formed America. A morally abhorrent woman who pays for her sins almost always guaranteed a best seller in the eighteenth century and now ""Charlotte Temple"" has been rediscovered and published in a Scholarly Press edition.          Was this reclamation of Charlotte really necessary? In the past twenty years, feminist scholars have rediscovered authors and texts that have gone out of print or been totally ignored by the literati. Authors such as Anne Plumptre, Frances Burney, Aphra Behn, Sarah Fielding and Charlotte Lennox have been dusted off and given new literary lives. Feminist scholar Cathy Davidson has taken Charlotte Temple in hand and aims to join Rowson to the above list of rediscoveries.          Unfortunately, Rowson does not warrant such treatment. Rowson has a flat, humorless approach to the fallen woman story. Unlike Burney's ""Evelina"" or ""Camilla,"" Rowson does not imbue her narrative with needed levity.  Her pedantic iron-fisted preaching smothers the modern reader in a moral morass that confounds rather than illuminates.           In many of the fallen women stories, authors would use the genre as a subversive technique to criticize the patriarchal structures. Rowson does engage in such subversion within the novel. She seeks to preach to the young women who may fall victim to the unscrupulous man -- in England and America, it was not considered altogether lady-like to read a novel, so Rowson would be preaching to young women who had already transgressed.          Rowson does not criticize men within the novel. She does not censure Montraville for taking Charlotte as his mistress, impregnating her and abandoning her for a wealthier woman. When he believes that Charlotte has becomes his best friend's mistress, he does not believe that she would soil her reputation even though she has ruined her life by engaging in an illicit affair with him.          He aims to enact revenge upon the friend for acting ""dishonorable"" against her. Yet if he had not acted dishonorably towards her, she would not have been reduced to a penniless, pregnant ex-mistress scrounging the streets for food and shelter. He never takes responsibility for his role in Charlotte's downfall.  Rowson had the perfect opportunity for savage criticism of the patriarchy with Montraville but she fails to take it.           Instead, Rowson places the blame for Charlotte's ruin on the women within the novel. When Charlotte leaves the safe bosom of her morally upstanding family, she enters into the deviant world of the female who fail to protect her from licentious men.          Madame Du Pont errs in judgment by hiring the morally loose Miss La Rue. Madame Du Pont sets Charlotte's downfall in action. Rowson does not punish the ignorant Madame Du Pont by killing her, she ends up an hysterical mess after the Montraville/Charlotte ""elopement.""          Miss La Rue, the woman who pushes Charlotte into the arms of Montraville, must be punished for being a promiscuous woman. She ends up poor and begs for her last scrap of food. She ends up dying painfully as Rowson takes the opportunity to lecture her readers on the improper behavior of loose women.          Why would modern readers want to read this? I do not think any intelligent would reader would want to subject themselves to the depressing experience of reading this novel. At 125 pages, it seemed to progress at such an excruciating pace. No character has any shadings. There are no subplots to divert the attention from the static Charlotte. Rowson does nothing to keep our interest.          Unfortunately Rowson has become a heroine to feminist scholars for her feat as the first American woman to have a best-selling novel. That accomplishment is noteworthy as literary trivia, but it does not make for engaging reading
",0
"Turn of the century continues to serve a most useful purpose, months after I gave up on it. I have a door that rattles if it's not wedged open and T-o-C is just big enough and heavy enough to do the job on its own. I struggled, oh how I struggled to try and even begin to understand some of the characters. I stirred the pages wildly while I waited for the plot to thicken. I fought against closing eyelids while the book became heavier and heavier. I searched my abridged guide to good grammar to see if I had missed a couple of chapters explaining that sentences after all don't need a subject, a verb and an object - or even a permutation of two out of three. I left it on the front doorstep hoping somebody would steal it. I offered it to my  neighbor so he could jack up his car. I considered lighting the fire with it. I wondered whether, if I took just a few pages a day, I could eat it and get rid of the evidence. I offered it to my mother-in-law for Christmas. I took it scuba diving with me instead of a weight belt. And then, eventually, voila! The rattling door! What a fine tome T-o-C is. Another few hundred pages [...] and I could have used it as a sea anchor for the Titanic
",0
"I didn't see the other reviews until after my copy arrived. Having now wasted a weekend reading this book, I have to agree with everyone. The topic sounds great, the book isn't
",0
"This book (I believe) is one of Lem's earlier stories and it reads like so-so pulp sci-fi. Fiasco (a true 5 star science fiction novel) picks up the idea of contacting a new world and does it so much better. I suggest reading this only if you are a Lem completist (I've read all of his stuff except 2 books)
",0
"It's a long read, the characters are boring, and the ending makes no sense at all.  It is neither funny nor thrilling. It's just plain dull
",0
"""Tourists are learning that the image of the terrible Turk is false, created to a great degree by it unfriendly neighbors. Turks are quick to remind visitors that, surrounded by Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Greece, they're not living in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood.""

This is a direct quote.

It sounds like they're trying to say that the surrounding countries are painting an incorrect negative image of Turkey. Which is amusing, since he listed both Greece and Armenia there, which were both targeted by Turkey. Either this writing staff has no idea what they're writing and is just happy to sell books, thinking no one will double check the info, or they're Racist and opinionated. Either way, I wouldn't trust the info in here even as a rough guide on where to go.
",0
"This book offers more information about Santa Claus than it does the gods/godesses associated with the Winter Soltice.  The craft projects are cheesey and the recipes terrible.  Save your money and do a little research yourself and if you want recipes or craft projects pick up one of those special Christmas magazines for ideas you can adapt for a pagan holiday theme.
",0
"I did not enjoy this book at all because it was writen in a very distracting fashion.  While it was unique, it was too hard to get into.  I also really hated the story, it was also too confusing to follow, to strange to enjoy, and to boring to care.  I totally hated this book and it was near torture and a waste of time to read.  The only reason that I read this was because it was for my book club.  The reivews, by the way, in the club were 50/50.  Some loved it, the rest of us hated it.  There was no in-between.  I would only recommend this book to someone who is into odd literature or to English majors, I'm not sure who else would like it
",0
"I admit that I tried to read this twice and failed both times.  I got to around page 20 or so.  I'll probably try again.  However, if you're an adult who has already read other philosophies I would suggest attempting to read it just so you'll know what Objectivism is about.  I wouldn't suggest it for teens that haven't had any prior readings, though.  Objectivism is about the self and about ""reason"", and it can be heady stuff for someone who has no real experience in anything else. 

The strange thing about the tone of the writing is that it comes across as venomous.  I assume that's in my head, but judge for yourself.  Her caricatures of ""The Witch Doctor"" (who controls others from a spiritual perspective) and ""Attila"" (who controls by brute force) are actually interesting.  Wrong, but interesting.  Since Objectivists rely on reason alone for their survival (or think they do, anyway), it's rather surprising the lack of logical thinking early in the book.

My suggestion is to attempt to read it without dismissing her out of hand (she's not wrong on everything), or swallowing it all without using your own critical thinking skills. Judging by previous reviews, it seems there were plenty of both kinds of readers.

If you buy into it, you can get a feeling of superiority over others in a kind of pseudo-intellectual way.  If you don't buy into it, however, you're evil (either the Witch Doctor or Attila) and probably just too stupid to ""get it"".  

Why I didn't finish it yet...
I just couldn't get past her ignorance of history, frankly.   If you're writing a work of fiction, the historical innacuracies don't matter, but this isn't supposed to be fiction.  I like history and most people don't, so it probably won't bother most people. 
Also, while she denounces religion, Ms. Rand has no problem hopping up to the pulpit herself.  Like all other religions and cults, the world is messed up basically because people don't think like she does. 
",0
"Good book on deal structure, but if you want a valuation number, check out ""Unlocking the Value of Your Business""
",0
"Nothing in this book was usable for me.  Okay, very little.  If I was trying to write the next _Ethan Frome_, then this book would be perfect.  Instead I write sci-fi and fantasy.  I was looking for tips to improve my description of things; this book recommends describing different things.  Too much emphasis on metaphor (which is a wonderful tool but a tad obvious).  If you want to write in a way people might actually communicate, this book might be a waste of your time.  HOWEVER, poets and pure-literary writers might find it more useful than I did
",0
"Should Martha Rules have included any information regarding her going to prison as a ""business decision""? I would have been interested in reading about the pr strategy used in this ""criminal spectacle"" designed to make the question of Martha/Mdiddy's innocence a moot point. Are honest business practices being pushed to the side? By normalizing, generalizing, and minimalizing Martha/Mdiddy's crimes, are we loosing our morality? How important is integrity to a leader...former CEO of a company?
Be ""thoughtful
",0
"Sorry, this guy's voice gave me the creeps. He sounds like a preacher. Who can meditate without the ability to respond positively to the  leading   voice
",0
"I am not going to repeat other reviewers discussion of the lack of character development.

My issue is with the lack of basic research.  One incident has Hawke's Zodiac being fired upon by a French Patrol Boat's missile.  Bell uses the Harpoon missile as the weapon.  The French have their own very effective ship to ship missile in the Exocet.  Very unlikely that the French would use an American made Harpoon.  Later in the novel, Hawke is taking off from a carrier deck in the latest VTOL aircraft, the F-35.  The catapult fails and Hawke is put in grave danger.  My problem, this is a VTOL aircraft, which the author goes to great lengths to mention and describe.    Why would there be a ""cat shot"" at all.  VTOLs are designed for vertical takeoff and then transistion into level flight, which, again the author describes.  Also this scene has nothing to do with the story.  Just another ""Saturday Cliff Hanger"" episode.

This is my second attempt at a Ted Bell novel, ASSASIN being the first.  There are too many other writers out there than give a sense of believability for me to waste my time on this type of thriller.  I believe the author has the ability to create a very good novel.  I wish he would cast aside the unbelievable and go with something a little more creditable
",0
"Doesn't this author know that peanuts are notoriously high in Omega-6 fatty acids? How can you base a book on a high omega-6 food when we already have 20 times more omega-6 than we are supposed to? This is yet another fad diet book--aren't we tired of these yet
",0
"I love dogs but if I had wanted to know the ins and outs of dog obedience training, including the different levels snd sub-levels, I would have bought a manual. I wanted a mystery with fully fleshed out characters and a plot that kept me guessing. I got neither. The characters were neither likeable nor substantive. Except for the cop next door, I have no idea what they even look like or what, if anything, they care about besides dogs. The plot was predictable and the action stuck in first gear. Maybe the series inmproves after this book. I'm not taking that chance
",0
"I'm on page 110 of this book. The book has 220 pages. I'm half way done and the author has not as of yet given me 1 valuable peace of information to help me forgive the person I am angry with. I bought this book because I have a lot of anger in me and the preface and reviews from other well know authors sold me on it with the belief that this book would help me. But, it is having the opposite affect. I feel I was duped into buying it (because of the promises in the introduction and the glowing reviews). Part 1 tells us what a ""grievance"" is. It tells us, and tells us again, and again, and again. The thing is  I ALREADY KNOW what a grievance is! I KNOW I'm angry at someone, and I know it's not healthy, I know to forgive would help me.... I didn't need that to be explained to me over and over again for 59 pages. All that reading did was make me dwell and think MORE about the problem AND increased my anger because of the book itself. When I reached ""Part 2"", entitles ""Forgiveness"" I thought FINALLY.... but all Part 2 has done is repeat what is in part 1 and what is in the introduction - how great the study was and how much it will help me. There are some great reviews of this book here at Amazon and if this book helped some people that is great. But so far I can't agree with any of the positive comments. I have a great degree of respect for Stanford University, I went to high school across the street from Stanford and have taken classes there, but it pains me to have such a great school's name attached to this book. Is it fair of me to write a review of a book I have not finished? No... but I'm afraid to continue reading it. I'm already angry and to buy a book that I thought would help me, only to find it frustrating me, I don't feel is not all that fair either......
",0
"This book devotes from 4 to 9 pages to every American president. Each individual section includes a brief summary of the president's successes and failures while in office. The ""secrets lives"" aspect includes a description of his temperament, character and personal habits. For example, John Adams is said to have been vain and irritable, while Frankin Pierce is depicted as an alcoholic. Also much oddball trivia is mentioned, such as that George Washington had dentures made of hippo bone rather wood. 

The biographical information is at least somewhat educational, especially on the lesser known presidents such as Millard Fillmore and Zachary Taylor. But most people who study history will already known much of what is written here. The truth is that O'Brien is not an actual presidential historian with scholarly credentials. But rather a freelance writer who apparently just read a few  books, such as ""The Reader's Companion to the American Presidency,"" and then gathered together the bits he thought would be the most scandalous and entertaining. Also O'Brien provides no original research and some of what he reports as being factual is still subject to debate among scholars.

However, what I found most disturbing about this book is O'Brien's tone and attitude. His so-called ""humorous style"" is basically a series of lame wisecracks and insults directed against the various presidents, especially those he dislikes. For example, he jokingly suggests that Andrew Jackson had ""some unknown frontal lobe damage"". I have no problem challenging the policy decisions of a particular president. In fact, I disagree with much of Jackson's presidential agenda, especially his bigoted policies directed against American Indians. However, I also think it is possible to have political disagreements without resorting to the sort of cheapshots that O' Brien uses. Overall, I found the book to be juvenile, mean-spirited and overly negative. There are many better researched and well written books on presidential history out there. So don't waste your time on this one.  
",0
"This book has a volume number - it is one of a series of monographs that have been published.  I am looking volume 231, but since you don't mention the volume number I don't know if this is the volume I'm seeking.  I will go elsewhere for my purchase
",0
"I was eager to read this book, but after reading it I was left completely flat.  The rest of the iceberg?  Hardly.

Smith barely gives us more than what we could get from reading Sports Illustrated, or any Minnesota sports page.  He admits he's not a fan of football, but for the majority of the book leisurely describes the most basic parts of his football career.  

This book is touted as: his full and complete story.  So we learned he was watching Ren & Stimpy during his NFL Draft.  Wow, are these the types of meaty stories that we want to read?

How about telling us more of the inside details...  How did Smith deal with people who wanted to be his friends or girlfriends only because he was a star football player?  Who were his friends that he could trust, and when did he need that trust?  What thoughts enter your mind as you look to hire an agent?  What was he doing when he was ""goofing off and missing class all summer"" which led to one of the most covered stories of his time at Ohio State?  When, and why did he begin using pot?  If football is not ""smart"" enough for him, why doesn't he study and break down some of the coaching process that is more mentally challenging?  What happened to plans for medical school?  We know the stories of football; those are the parts of the iceberg that have already been documented.

I also felt Smith wrote this book as if he is defending himself from all of America.  Who is attacking him?  Why does he feel the need to explain why he was paid so much?  Highly paid athlete stories are, sorry for the pun, a dime a dozen.  He tries to compare his sitting out for more money to a scenario for the average guy.  The truth is, many people will take a job for 5% less than a co-worker because yes, they value things other than money, and yes, they are happy to have a job.  

Leaving the grammatical errors to the other reviewers, it felt like I was reading an average high school creative writing project.  'I did this, I did that, I went to bed, next day.'  Half of his quotes are from the wellspring of deep philosophy: pop music.  Smith notes ""less than 50 percent of Americans read at a 10th-grade level"".  Well, this book certainly won't tax the reading ability of too many people.

One lesson from this book is that Smith had opportunities to swallow his pride, take some coaching, and come up with a better solution.  This book is another one of those times.  He should have hired an editor or writing consultant who could give guidance.  Build the characters; help us feel their stories.  Instead, Smith felt it necessary to go alone to get to the raw emotions.  Sorry, but compared to other autobiographies, this was not an emotional book.

I'm sure Smith is all the things that Mike Gutter says he is, such as: thoughtful, honest, trustworthy, dependable, passionate...  but I felt that some of the best stories that would demonstrate these characteristics were left out of this book.  

Instead, we are still looking for the rest of the iceberg.
",0
"Someone gave me this book as a gift -- why, I have no idea. This book is about as intelligent as a TV sitcom, about as funny as a TV sitcom, and generally at the level of a TV sitcom. I found it neither funny, inspiring nor interesting. It is, in the final analysis, proof that any book that purports to be about ""strong"" or ""outrageous"" women will immediately sell thousands of copies, regardless of the piffle between the covers, and is thus a triumph of marketing over everything. Probably best for teenaged girls who don't read much. It's no worse than TV, I guess
",0
"This story should have and COULD HAVE been really good. It presents a great concept, but the story is just so poorly crafted. It is VERY sexist, the prose is stiff, and the plot is dull. I will concede that it was interesting at times; it kept me reading, but I really didn't get much out of it. I can only praise Heinlein for including the ""intelligent conversation"" which takes place after the press conference, where there is a great explantion on why the English language is so difficult to learn. The whole story is just very odd. Do read it though. It's a title to read if you wish to be considered ""well read."" Despite its faults, Valentine Michael Smith will be a character in literature that will never be forgotten, just as we will never forget Atticus from ""To Kill A Mockingbird.""
",0
"One of the Spotlight Reviewers says that by combining two great characters--Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone--Robert B. Parker has doubled our fun.

Quite the reverse.

He has cut it in half.

The characterizations of Sunny and Jesse are enormously feeble; and the the rest of the characters are no great shakes, either.

Sunny's Irish Mafia uncle is a cardboard cutout.  Suitcase Simpson has three funny lines and is heard from no more.  The villains--Buddy, Erin, Missy, Gerard, Moon--are little more than vague names and stereotyping.  Spike is relegated to a scene and a half.

Oddly, the only interesting character is a very minor one: Eddie.  But he only stays around for 10 minutes

Even the plot is tissue-thin.

The love-story is lame; the sex-scenes boring.

Worst of all, who should appear but (Christ!) Susan Silverman, from the Spenser series: one of the dampest and most wooden and least interesting characters in fiction.

As with ""Cold Service"" and some others, Parker is just coasting with this one.

He is capable of far better.

",0
"Despite the fact that Hanegraaff's name is the bigger of the two on the front cover, only the first 40 pages of this very small book are worth reading, and they are the writing of Paul Maier.  His research is helpful, but so limited in scope that you wonder if he wasn't given a week-end to write it and come up with as much as he could.  Every topic needs futher information.  A lot more could be said, and Maier seems to be the kind of scholar who could have done a lot more.

Hanegraaff contributes 29 pages of defense of the historical Jesus which is an even more surface-level reworking of information covered much better elsewhere.

That said, I would give this book to someone who isn't much of a reader but for whom The Da Vinci Code has raised some questions.  It isn't much more than a collection of scattered soundbites, but that may have been a good marketing strategy when there is already such a proliferation of secondary literature on what was only a piece of pulp fiction
",0
"I can not stand this book. I can't even finish reading it. Kevin J Anderson can not write original Star Wars books at all. The only thing I have ever seen with his name on it that was entertaining was the Dark Lords of the Sith comic book. Everything he writes is unoriginal and lacking in story. He seems to have some obsession with Death Stars and world destroyers because all he seems to put in his books are those. Darksaber, Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, Champions of the Force, heck even the IG-88 story he wrote for Tales of the Bounty Hunters had the Death Star tied in (IG-88 transfers himself into the Death Star...what the heck?) Seriously, this book is not worth it. Try Timothy Zahn or Michael Stackpole. At least they don't always use Death Stars. And while Zahn's last 3 books are based around Thrawn, the original Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command, when Thrawn first appeared, was not him dry humping the same concept over and over
",0
"I simply do not see any point in mixing Crime Fiction with Crime and Punishment. 

",0
"I was the commander of my highschools AFJROTC Rocket Club so my godfather bought em this book it is very informative but if you are just building basic este kits then this is way to advanced for you as it was for me and the other cadets in the club but if you are really into rockets this book is for yo
",0
"The humor is definitely not in the book - reviews and summaries use the word ""hilarity"" however, I did not come across any situation that I would classify as even funny,  not to mention hilarious.  I thoroughly enjoyed her first novel, Pink Slip, however, this one seemed depressing.  The two main characters appeared to have no respect or show any outward love toward each other until the very end of the story.  The plot seemed to be very SLOW - the whole story took place in a matter of days, but really, nothing took place in the book.  All in all, they bought a house.  I would pass on this for better reads elsewhere
",0
"Unfortunately, for all the name brand that this book conveys, I think the cover seems to be the most intriguing part.  There are much better ways for book peddling and the fact that a firm such as McKinsey allowed their name on the title of a book for the sake of a few sales, boggles this readers mind.  The subject matter seems to be along the lines of the bull session with all bull and no session.  No actual quantitative analysis is used throughout the book, and if anything more than an encyclopedic definition is learned from this book, I would be astounded.  Save some money and go search online for some basic books on beginning valuation.  By the way, those giving 5 stars either can't read English very well or are shills for McKinsey
",0
"If you can learn to dance by reading a book whose recommendation was to hold your partner and ""move to the music"", then you may find ""Kaizen Event Implementation Manual"" useful. This book talks about the history and terminology of lean manufacturing and does go into detail about team member selection. After that, this book shows blank forms of some of the data analysis forms often used during a kaizen event, but tells you nothing of how to complete the forms and analyze the results. Nor is there any ""road map"" or guidelines for conducting a kaizen event itself. There is information about how to contact the author in the event that you decide to hire him to ""fill in all blanks"" in person. The book is simply another info-mercial where in this case, you are paying for the advertisement
",0
"City of the Dead can't really be called a zombie story.  It's really a cheesy action novel that just happens to have beings called zombies in it.  The zombie aren't really undead like in the Romero movies, but are corpses possessed by demons.  

I really didn't find any part of the novel scary and it doesn't seem like the author was trying to make it scary.  He seemed to take the route so many Hollywood scary flicks take and just tried to gross out his readers through descriptions of the decayed bodies of the demons.  

The action is clunky and not very exciting.  His hero's are constantly stopping to argue about things like how Jim's ex-wife raised their son while being hotly pursued by hundreds of demons.  There are too many parts that require suspension of disbelief: a military Humvee could never catch an Explorer SUV, the hero's escape a fire by climbing across a ladder to the neighbor's house with the demons somehow not noticing, they're being chased by dozen's of demon vehicles on the road but second's later after crashing they have somehow lost them.  And I have to ask why Keene included the descriptions of Necrophilia in the novel.  

In the end City of the Dead reads more like a cheesy Schwarzenegger/Stallone/Norris movie than a horror novel
",0
"I have an Amazon bookmark that advertises Ludlum's book ""The Sigma Protocol"". It says ""In Ludlum's latest, an ordinary man battles a global conspiracy."" Well gee. That's the plot of THIS book as well. Come to think of it, that's the plot of every book by the man that I've read. A 'vast right wing conspiracy' is set to take over the world. They have small armies, a lot of money and a plan. This time around, a group of military men (naturally) plan to foment terror, and use the chaos to implement their vision of the world (laugh not - millions in the Middle East and far Left believe 9-11 was something along the same lines). Enter ""ordinary man"" Joel Converse. He's a Vietnam vet and P.O,W. who thought he had left that life far behind. It's up to him to save the world. He will survive certain death several times (the bad guys always seem to think they need him alive, and they just HAVE to explain their conspiracy to this total stranger). He will find love, and he'll visit several European cities to boot. Of course, a suspension of disbelief is essential for many novels (how else would you believe that a Nazi and an Israeli are on the same side?), but Ludlum's cliched stories are further worsened by the fact that he just couldn't write. His dialogue writing is always tedious, and sometimes just painful to read. Action scenes are generic. The only thing he could do right is character background, but that's not enough to save this. ""The Aquitaine Progression"" might make a half decent TV movie, but to endure 700 pages is just too much
",0
"The information is sketchy and factually incorrect in some places, and the book would appear not to have been proof-read - for example the botanical names are mis-spelled in several different ways.   There are much better  books on the subject available
",0
"Ugh. I did not even try to finish the book. It is full of sexual content. Not recommended for anyone who likes clean literature
",0
"What should have been a fascinating book, at the very least as a voyeuristic experience, fails to deliver largely due to its poorly written pages. The text stumbles along from incomprehensible link to allusive derailment, making the mistake of huge chunks of repetitive material which inevitably detract from the fascinating subject matter. Perhaps more of an editng disaster than an author's failure.....at the heart of which lies a story deserving a more coherent telling
",0
"Herf applies a very simplistic test to determine the Nazification of both Germanies: did they side with Israel in the Middle East version of the Cold War or did they not? The trial against Paul Merker in the East, which had as its background East Germany's reluctance to pay reparations to expropriated Jews, serves as his prime evidence for the continuation of things Nazi in the GDR. But both of these arguments completely ignore the Marxist ideology underlieing the rationale of the East German leadership and bypass more complicated issues of political allegiance. Moreover, they totally eclipse the East German cultural discourse on the Holocaust, a discourse that was decades ahead of discussions in the West and still proves to be more sophisticated than most that is being written in Western academia.
",0
"this joke book suks. if i can give it any star i want, i would give it a -10 stars. i never actually bought it, but i borrowed it from a friend. i needed a joke book for my anouncements on the intercom every morning, and it only lasted 3 days and i ran out of good jokes. some of the jokes arnt appropriate and most of them dont make sense. if your gonna buy a joke book, dont buy this
",0
"This book was written in the '80s was copy written in 1990.

It has a folksy tone and some technical information.

Unless you are buying your church's sound system at a second hand store, this book is going to leave you wondering what might be available today.  For example: ""CD recorders are under development"".

",0
"This book is the worst book ever. I didn't know there could possibly be a book this bad. If you are required to read this book like me, i feel bad for you. Do NOT read this book for pleasure because it is not a pleasant book. It is painful to read. If you are STILL thinking of reading this bad book, DON'T READ IT!! take my advice.
",0
"Yet another historical novel into which a lot of research and work was clearly put, but the result is dissatisfying largely because the author doesn't know how to write.

My single biggest objection to this book is the constant and annoying use of the author's alternative grammatical rules.  Comma splices and run-on sentences are not, and never will be, acceptable to me.  Occasional use can be overlooked, but Shaara peppers every page with them, tacking four or five or more predicates on to the same subject.  The effect is so glaringly obvious that it becomes difficult to continue reading.

The following example is made-up, but it is a good imitation of how Shaara writes:

""He turned in the saddle, rode toward his headquarters over the ridge, refused to look back toward the man receding in the distance, focused instead on the day ahead, forced himself to confront the bigger problems at hand.""

One often finds whole paragraphs composed of several run-on sentences in a row like this.  The result is a book that reads like a rough draft, or maybe not even that;  it reads like a collection of notes preparatory to writing a rough draft.  I don't understand how authors get away with publishing such half-finished work, and I don't understand why readers put up with it.

Another problem is the lack of convincing characterization.  Everyone is vaguely noble here, with the exception of a few complete cads.  Washington loves his wife and longs for peace and home.  Cornwallis loves his wife and longs for peace and home.  Greene loves his wife and longs for peace and home.  I think you get the picture.  Few characters stand out on their own.  Even Lafayette is just another young officer.  The author assumes that we already carry our own perceptions about the major characters and will plug them in at the start of the book.  And Shaara's attempts at making his characters witty never work.  The result is a cast of characters that is tedious and dull.

Beyond that, I'm doubtful about the author's device of switching focus among the various characters in each chapter.  It's fine when we leap across the Atlantic and jump into Franklin's mind.  But the rest of the time, it doesn't work well.  I find that I sometimes have to flip back to the start of the chapter to remind myself who has the focus.  Either I'm a lazy reader (and I'm not), or the device isn't working well.  In addition, this device constrains the author to keep the narrative focused almost entirely on Franklin in France, and Washington, Green, Cornwallis and Howe in America.  That means that we get only glimmers of the happenings in Parliament and the royal court in England, and the continental congress in America.  In effect, this novel is really about Washington's military camp and Howe's dinner table, which makes the narrative unbalanced.

Some aspects of the story are interesting.  I enjoy reading about Washington's maneuvers, and the repeated frustration at coming up with an empty bag and finding that the British have eluded him.  I learned a fair amount about just where the various forces were, and when.  But I wish now that I'd just bought a decent beginner's history on the war.  Most of the book, as literary fiction, left me cold
",0
"Having so much enjoyed the first two volumnes in this series, I was not prepared for this turgid list of self improvement. Yes Clive is well read, English and Italian, yes he does know the difference between a Donatello and a Michelangelo, but do we need to know every book he read in the two years, every painting he saw and how it moved him. The simple answer is no. Unfortunately it takes 250 pages to find out.
The story of how a drunken extemely funny youth becomes a sober mildly funny old pseud
",0
"""Dark Tort"" was inoffensive and certainly not painful to read, but for a novel that's supposed to be part of a quirky, light mystery series, I found things a bit leaden.  The book took forever to get past the opening scene where the body was discovered, and when we finally do move beyond that scene, a huge tangle of clues and suspects quickly built up that slowed things down even further.  

I do admit that it also doesn't help that I'm one of those people who can't suspend disbelief and have to ask, ""...so she's an off-site caterer yet she continually runs across dead bodies whose murderers need to be identified?""  But, that's just me.  Oh, well... many of the recipes did sound good, though I doubt I'll get around to making any of them.

This is one of those reviews where it's probably best to just say that if you liked the previous entries in this series (which I personally haven't read but suspect aren't much different than this one), you'll likely enjoy this installment, too.  The rest of us can just wait for the latest Robert B. Parker ""Spenser"" novel for our light mystery fix.

 
",0
"I know that no book can cover every topic, but this book left a lot out. It went into great detail about what I should do if I got some pretty rare diseases, but barely touched on the subject of Morning sickness, which is much more common. 
And some of the information was just plain wrong. I trashed the book when it made me freak out in the 20th week because I couldn't feel the baby move. It advised that I should call the doctor. When I did, I found out most women don't feel it move until 21 weeks. Unfortunately I found this out after I had cried my eyes out thinking something was wrong.
I would not suggest this book to anyone
",0
"Having been a fan of Antonia Fraser for many years, I highly anticipated her biography of Queen Marie-Antoinette, but have been very disappointed in that she often chooses the sensational over the factual. She depicts Marie-Antoinette's mother Empress Maria Theresa as heartless and calculating for sending her daughter to France at age 14 to get married, but arranged marriages were the norm; the empress was not doing anything out of the ordinary. What startled me most is that Fraser not only insists on Antoinette having an affair with Count Axel von Fersen, of which there is little concrete evidence, but goes onto maintain that Axel used condoms to keep the queen from getting pregnant. It seems to me that Marie-Antoinette loved children so much; she came from a family of sixteen where children were valued and her more liberal sister Caroline went on to have eleven children or more. She was also a devout Catholic and using such devices were unthinkable, unless one was a prostitute or dealing with prostitutes. In this case Fraser is applying the morals of some British aristocratic ladies to a queen of France. If Marie-Antoinette had been caught in adultery, it would have been considered treason; she would have been sent to a convent and had her children taken away from her. With all of her enemies at Court, that was not a risk she would have taken, if she had been so inclined. On a smaller scale, Fraser makes ridiculous assertions about Marie-Antoinette dyeing her hair - in all the pictures that I have seen of her, her hair looks grey from either powder or premature age; I have never read any first hand accounts of her dyeing it. Not that that is a big deal; but it makes me wonder where Lady Fraser's life ends and where Marie-Antoinette's life begins. I found it offensive that at the end Fraser interprets Marie-Antoinette's death as some kind of sacrifice for the cause of democracy, when she believed in monarchy and wanted her little son to be king. Especially, since Marie-Antoinette's murder was followed not by democracy but by dictatorships and Napoleon crowning himslf emperor. Sadly, there is a lacuna of decent biographies of the queen in the English language. One can only hope that the works of Bertieres, Chalon, and Delorme will soon be translated and published in English. Fraser's book does have some interesting details (aside from those which flow from her imagination) and it is much more sympathetic to the queen than Lever's travesty
",0
"This book places too much emphasis on spending money instead of eating...well if we all had money to burn that would be a wonderful lifestyle.  Read ""The Fat Fallacy"" instead, it provides much more practical information
",0
"Same old GW bunch of ridiculous opinions. I thought this one might be better, but no...

Now even pine isn't good enough - it has to be 100 year old pine
",0
"There's a ton of paper in this book, overboard, in my opinion. Wading through the pages in search of a hike is downright laborious.  I've taken quite a few of the Sierra hikes and the information hasn't been detailed enough to really give me a feel for what to expect on the trail. They miscalculated the mileage and sometimes the elevation. I think it would be a better book if they chopped out half of the listings and concentrated on the truly best hikes in California
",0
"This book is a small bundle of common knowledge wrapped up in an insulting amount of hyperbole and hucksterism (and very bad English).  Just how many times can you claim a technique will improve your workouts ""by a factor of ten"" or is the most valuable breakthrough ""in history"" before you lose all credibility?

In the first 30 pages, winnowing out the fluff, I read this:

1) Fad diets, bulimia, and steroids are bad for you.

2) Gaining muscle and losing fat are biologically distinct processes, so they require two classes of exercises.

3) It's good to concentrate your attention on the particular muscles you are using during weight-training routine.

4) Creative visualization and self-hypnosis can help you reach your goals.  (OK, I'm a bit skeptical about this one.)

In other words, this book has taught me nothing of value that I didn't already know.  Looking ahead in the index, I can see much more of the same.  I'm afraid I've been had.

I bought this book on the strength of Amazon reader recommendations.  Please don't make the same mistake.  Look, to gain muscle, lift weights every other day and eat lots of protein; to lose fat, do cardio on off days and watch your total calories.  If you're already doing those things, don't bother with this book.  I was looking for more specific tips, but I didn't find them here, and neither will you
",0
"I must agree witht he reviewer who commented about the book being written by committee.   The narrative is choppy and lacking not only key details, but also historical background.   Because it's an autobiography, I don't necessarily think that it's fair to damn the book for being self-centered; it IS about him.   I do feel, however, that the book needs better editing and a bit more self-examination.   
It's an okay addition to one's list of books about Everest expeditions - which I must admit, I've developed a morbid fascination with after recently re-reading ""Into Thin Air"".   I wouldn't, however, use it as my primary source for information or impressions
",0
"The writing was very disjointed in my opinion.  I had to read and re-read many sentences to figure out what the author was trying to say.  It was a struggle to read. No likeable characters.  I made it to the part where it was introduced that Madeline slept with the ex-husband and current wife.  Give me a break!  I moved on immediately.  Too many good books waiting for me to waste time on this absurd tale
",0
"The premise put forth in the title is supported by some keen insights into ""leadership by Calling"" and comparisons to it with ""modern leadership theory.""  Les Csorba writes about the danger of pursuing results without compassion; a point with which I agree. Unfortunately, some of the examples he chooses are questionable...  

After warning about the danger of weak character in powerful leaders, Csorba chastises German Chancellor Schroeder for turning back on some promises to George W Bush regarding the war on terrorism and then goes on to deride him for his four wives.  Meanwhile he praises Jack Welch for going from Neutron Jack to a gentler Jack (which Jack says he would abandon if needed)while still making the ""tough"" decisions that got the ""results"" for the shareholders.  Jack can change is mind and go back to compassionless results... OK.  Also, there is no mention that Jack was getting results with his personal secretary whilst the wife was at home...  

Unfortunately the theme in Csorba's examples becomes one of bashing the mistakes of Democrats and forgiving the sins of the Republicans.  He does sprinkle in some condemnation for a few wrong-minded Republicans in a meek attempt at balance.  It's a shame that he turned this into a politcally tainted work.  It started off so well.  

It started off well even though it will turn off readers who are not people of faith as faith is central precept to this book.  It also started off well even though he chose to make George W Bush the role model for how to be a trust-able leader.  Unfortunately this conservative/political bent turned an even harder right from there and kept going.  It kept going to the point that I could no longer plan on sharing this book with some folks I know who really need it. They would simply say its a Bush-ie/right-winger book and dismiss the valuable and otherwise soundly argued premise.  Too bad.  Csorba almost had a classic instead of a politically tainted leadership manual.

I say this even though I am Republican, am one of the few folks who would admit they were voting for Bush BEFORE the election, am a person of faith, and tend to find the Dems an easy target.  But this book was supposed to be about so much more than Republican politics.  Too bad
",0
"Easily the worst textbook I encountered during my undergraduate years.  Unfocused, sparse, and almost completely lacking example problems.  Riggs touches briefly on lots of topics and treats none of them completely, leaving the reader lacking any notion of how process control actually works in real life.  I'm not a big fan of the book by Seborg et al. either, but if you have to choose between the two, go with Seborg
",0
"This is a very popular book, which is sad because it's highly biased. She provides evidence, but only uses the 10th that corroborates her story.

Christian study maybe, Christian fact, VERY loosely
",0
"OK, I know I'm going to get hammered for this; once again, there goes my reviewer rating. But I just HAVE to be honest: this is a terrible story. OK, being that it's Shakespeare, it's prettily told, but it's still a HORRIBLE story, and I can't imagine why otherwise sensible people like it. Perhaps they feel that Shakespeare is telling it tongue-in-cheek (it IS a comedy, after all) and poking fun at the system of fathers marrying off their daughters without any concern for whether they want it or not; that would almost make it tolerable, if I could believe it. But given that it IS a Shakespearean comedy, we must assume that the ending is supposed to be a ""happy"" one, and the situation at the end is far from pleasant. Or perhaps people believe (I've heard this claimed in all seriousness) that Kate has actually ""triumphed"" at the end, having figured out how to manipulate Petruchio so as to get her way subtly and underhandedly. Even if this were true, I'd hardly consider it a ""happy"" anding, and personally, I see little evidence of it.

No, what we actually have here is a story of a strong woman (some people seem to like it simply because there IS a strong woman to be found in it) being married against her will to a scheming golddigger who ""Tames"" her by blatent if indirect spousal abuse (he doesn't beat her, simply starves her and sleep-deprives her, as well as forcing her to wear muddy rags until she behaves exactly as he wants, up to and including winning him a bet by lecturing her contemporaries on their duties as obedient wives. Her spirit may or may not be broken, depending on how the part is played, but the fact remains that she's forced to BEHAVE as if it is, and that's not a message that should be bruited about in a ""comedy"". This is absolutely the WORST of Shakespeare's plays
",0
"Bill, when will you just die?

if you read this feel free to email me
evan.fett@gmail.co
",0
"I only glanced through this book, yet my first impression is that it is a hodge podge of unrelated research without any attempt to analyze or comment on the results or even the quality of the research conducted or of the tools applied.

I can, however, write about one of the editors, Mike Shaw, who made no attempt whatsoever to 'find the evidence' when assessing us as parents.

He works as a Consultant Child Psychiatrist in London, England and seems to specialise in offering his services as an 'expert witness' and trainer in the legal aspects of applying medical recommendations under the Mental Health Act. 

We had our children taken away on the grounds that they were ""at risk of neglect"". Mike Shaw was called in as an expert witness to interview us and make recommendations. Yet the reports that he submitted to court were unbelievably sloppy and ill researched. Under cross examination, he was vague and inarticulate and could provide no concrete evidence to support his assertions and recommendations.

Luckily for us, he was so glaringly incompetent that we were allowed to repeat the process with another expert psychiatrist.

I don't know about his co-editors, but if his work is anything to go by, the material that he collated in this book can only be equally sloppy and prejudiced.

Here are some extracts from the psychiatric report that he submitted to court.  Judge for yourself whether you can take anything this man does or says seriously.

Evidence-gathering.
""On 9.8.02, I interviewed Mr & Mrs Orman [2 hours]
""On 21.8.02, I met the family at Trent Park where I spoke to Mrs Orman alone [40 mins], witnessed contact [1 hour] and spoke to the children without their parents [20 mins] [and] I interviewed the foster carer [2 hours].

Observations.
""Mr & Mrs Orman were friendly and co-operative throughout.[...] Mr Orman showed insight [... but] wasn't concerned that his actions may have disadvantaged the children. The couple were very robust in refuting the [welfare's] account, which they claimed was full of misunderstandings and misinformation.

""Contact took place in the park[...]The parents and children seemed happy to see each other; they chatted in animated style. [...] I wasn't aware of either parent criticising the authorities in the children's presence 

""[Interviewing the children] The children seemed attentive [...] but answered ""don't know"", fell silent and looked at each other when I asked them questions [...] Erin related [a Simpsons episode where] Homer [...] had lumps coming out of his head because he kept his anger inside. I found myself wondering whether this was an oblique reference to concern about Mr Orman's temper but guessed that such an interpretation would be dismissed. [Note. This is submitted in court as an evidence-based legal document!]

Conclusions & Recommendations
""[...] I observed Mrs Orman as shy and anxious while Mr Orman was very pleasant but forceful. [...]

""Mr and Mrs Orman say they have an easy affectionate bond with the children. So it is surprising that the foster carer finds the children uncomfortable with physical contact. [...] I think there is some insecurity in the children's attachment to their parents. [Note how this directly contradicts his own observations in the park.]

""Were Mr Orman to be caring for the children on his own, I would be concerned about his sensitivity to their needs. [...] Asked whether he had any regrets, Mr Orman didn't take any responsibility for the deprivation and disruption suffered by his children going into care. [...] Erin [who was 8 at the time] needs a parent who can stand up to her without losing their temper, and support and advise socially. I suspect Mr Orman would find this difficult.

""My concern about Mrs Orman managing the children on her own would be a recurrence of her illness. [...] I wonder whether Mrs Orman has the strength and patience to handle these very challenging [sic] children. 

""[...]The children seemed very happy and natural with their parents during the contact I observed [sic] and the contact records make reference to the children wanting to go home.

""[...] returning home is likely to further retard the children's social and emotional development. [...]

""These children have very little capacity to protect themselves from what is essentially emotional deprivation and possibly abuse. [...] it is most unlikely that either parent can protect the children from any harm that the other parent might cause. I also find very plausible Ms [Charlotte] Curran's suggestion (... [in] her [written] statement) that Mr Orman dominates his wife.

""The children did not express a wish to return home when they spoke to me, but it seems safest to assume they would prefer to be at home and would be alarmed if that was not possible. [..] I believe the children need a long-term placement away from home with experienced foster carers. [...] contact should be gradually reduced.""

Mike Shaw's answers under cross-examination painted a dire picture of our mental competence and subsequent parenting abilities, but he was unable to point to any specific evidence that he had acquired in his 6-hour investigation. Yet he remained adamant in his conclusion that the children should be removed from the family indefinitely and contact gradually reduced until no further contact be allowed, so that the children could lead a normal and happy life. He could not comment on government statistics that show that 70% of all children placed in long-term foster care end up as delinquents.

Our children were eventually returned to us after we underwent a convoluted process to prove our competence as parents beyond a reasonable doubt; and the case was eventually closed.

So much for the scientific and critical appraisal of our family by a man who regularly provides expert legal evidence and trains psychiatrists in making competent medical recommendations that supposedly satisfy basic human rights conventions
",0
"I was disappointed in this book.  The art and techniques illustrated are of the type one might expect to see on a TV Craft Show.   I would instead recomment Robert Wade's watercolor book.    
",0
"check out page 67 of the book for a basic reason why this book is useless:
an entire page of a ftp session downloading openldap.  huh?  How is this helpful?  getting the right version of BerkeleyDB and installing it, or installing and configuring OpenSSL would have been far more helpful to me.
This is another book composed mostly of cut 'n paste from the man pages, header files and varous scripts you can find with google.
Discussion on basic topics such as replication skips over key steps, examples for many issues are not provided or are hidden in the book.  I use LDAP at work and I used the O'Reilly book to instal, configure and use OpenLDAP.  I have yet to find a question that Deploying OpenLDAP can answer that I can't get faster with google
",0
"Good, but it simply wasn't actionous enough. I don't mind having no action in a book (otherwise how else could I love Foundation so much?), but Children was a book that NEEDED to have action in it. Unfortunately it didn't really. Too much philosophical babble that I had to re-read to get it. Slightly reminiscent of Card's later Shadow series with the sheer amount of internal monologue. Too much about Jane, not enough about the pequeninos and barely anything about Ender, which annoyed me. To my shock Ender's death did not really impact me in any way, beyond--""Huh? Wait...Ender is dead?"", so little was his role in the book. He probably talked for only about twelve pages altogether.

EDIT: From now on I am never giving a book that I halfway like two stars again because each time, I receive the urge to change my rating to three stars.  Just keep in mind that while it says two, it means three
",0
"As I read this book, When Madeline Was Young, I felt as though I was lost, wandering through a forest, searching for something - a beautiful butterfly, a perfect flower, a mystical cottage.  But there's nothing there.  It's just a forest full of a confusing tangle of leaves and vines and nothing mystical at all. And that's how this book is written.  It is a tangle of thoughts and words, spread from the first page to the last.  Nothing special at all.  

I've read all of Jane Hamilton's books.  I loved The Book of Ruth.  Adored A Map of the World.  They were both wonderful and I will always have positive comments for them, but I doubt I will ever buy another book by Ms. Hamilton.  It's not that I want a ""formula"" book.  But I do want to read something that I can relate to and I don't relate to this at all.  

I don't like Mac, the narrator.  His mother is just plain strange and not endearing or believable at all.  I can't stand Buddy, his cousin.  The rest of the characters I barely know and, quite frankly, don't want to get to know.  Perhaps I've changed since her first book came out.  Perhaps the author has.  But whatever the differences, my love of Jane Hamilton's books has ended.  Sadly
",0
"This book was fun to look at, but not really usable. Lots of stylized drawings and self-aggrandizing tales by the author and not a lot of realistic how-to. Also, the explanations about skin care were clearly not written by anyone with a science or medical background.
",0
"
This is a complex and detailed history chiefly of Cuban exiles in South Florida and the influence they have been able to wield regionally and internationally with and without the help of various U.S. administrations. In that sense, it is the story of two cities - Miami and Washington - and two peoples - Americans and Cubans.  

I have an objection, though, with the stone-hard style in which this volume is so meticulously, even gorgeously at times, written. Didion strives to be so achingly academic that there is little real heart to this book and, worse, the result is a cold, humorless, colorless story that is at times an unappealing example of ideological abstractions and alphabet soup. 

The author, in her conspicuously clean and parenthetical prose, apparently is so charged by the subject of her research that she has forgotten there are people on the other end - readers. It is, in that sense, a boring little disaster of a book. 
",0
"This book was on a very interseting topic. The author took time in studying this topic. It was about the impending world oil shortage. That is the time when we, the world, will run out of oil. It tells you about Hubbert's analysis of the time or year when the world will run out of oil. They then talk about a lot of other things like where oil comes from. Then they talk about where oil is. They also talk about drilling for oil. They say it takes people over 20 drills to find oil. sometimes it will take even more time then that. Then they talk about the size of oil fields. They also reexamine Hubbert's analysis later on in the book. Rate plots is brought up because the more people driving the less oil we will have in the future. They talk about the future to fossil fuels and discuss elctricity and natural gases. They also talk about how much we already have so when oil runs out we need to think about all the stuff we already have. Hubbert was a brilliant man. some gas companys tried to make him stay quiet but he didn't want to he told everybody. The author was ver knowledgable and I could tell he knew what he was talking about.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody unless they are very smart and want to know about the impending world oil shortage. I say again the author took time in studying this topic but that was his downfall in that he went into to much depth and made it boring. When you read it you can tell the author knew what he was talking about but he got to much into detail which is very boring. I gave it a low rating because I have a short attenion span so it was hard enough for me to make it through this book
",0
"Blind Items has the same writing style as at least one of Rettenmund's other books (Boy Culture).  He goes on for pages and pages to describe something that could have been said in two paragraphs.  Kind of reminds me of the articles you read in the Sunday magazine section of your newspaper.  If you like this writing style, Rettenmund's books may be for you.  Personally it drove me crazy and I set the book down after the first few chapters
",0
"Updike failed to hold my attention throughout the story both because of its utter lack of suspense in any dimension and the inconsistencies in his character development.

As other have stated, you know from page one that the final page will involve an Arab, a truck and a bomb.  The lack of anticpation must therefore be compensated for by something else - perhaps excellent writing, interesting character development or original insights.  Updike fails to deliver on all three counts.

One particularly slipshod literary technique Updike uses is the phrasing he gives the title character Ahmad.  When Ahmad speaks, it is in the voice of an intelligent, thoughtful foreigner.  His phrasing captures very well the cadence, vocabulary and grammar of a well spoken non-native speaker of English.  Curiously, Ahmad IS an American, raised in New Jersey by a thoroughly American mother.  So, what influences created this stilted phrasing?  Updike is trying to somehow comvince us that a Jersey teenager speaks like a Pakistani or Egyptian immigrant.  There is no need for the technique and its inconsistency with the character's life is grating.

Updike also relies heavily on ethnic/religious stereotypes.  Sterotypes often have some basis in fact but generally make for uninteresting literature.  However, in Updike's case, the stereotypes make little sense at all.  For instance, a high school counselor's entire personality is attributed to his ""Jewishness"" both by himself and by others who opine on his personality.  This is particularly curious given that the man was not raised as a Jew and, in fact, his family had rather adamently turned away from the religion two generations earlier.  So where does all the Jewsih influence come from?  Likewise, Ahmad's mother's personality is often linked to her Irish heritage.  Yet there is no evidence whatsoever that her Irish background (which could have been many generations ago) has influenced her one bit.  The reader is left once again to wonder what motivates the stereotype - other than simply poor writing and careless character development.

Another out of place literay technique involves the inclusion of fairly lengthy passages from the Korna in Arabic.  Obviously, few Western readers will understand Arabic and it seems meerely pretensious for Updike to include the original language rather than paraphrasing or translating the passages.  What comes across is an attempt by the autohr to show he has done his research.  If that is truly the point then the reader must wonder why the passages are reproduced in Western script rather than Arabic script.  After all, the Koran is not written with Western phonetics in mind.
Ultimately, the book leaves one wondering why such a lightweight, poorly constructed piece was released by such a skilled author
",0
"I was so disappointed in this book. I don't find a closeness to God in the pages. Instead it seems intellectual. It contains beautiful sounding prayers that are more like poetry than speaking with God face to face. Even though it contains prayers from across the ages it seems to keep me distant from the personal God I seek. And though the author's prayers are included too, I feel the same about them. I expected more from Richard J. Foster
",0
"My paperback copy fell to pieces after ten days! It is full of nice photographs but when the individual pages are lying in a chaotic heap on the floor it hardly matters how pretty the pictures are or how intelligent the text is, does it
",0
"The worst book I've read (actually, I was listening to the audiobook).  The characters are completely unbelievable and the book is so repetetive that I found myself YELLING at the tape player, ""I KNOW, I KNOW ALREADY"".  I couldn't stand the torture anymore, I didn't even finish it.  I have enjoyed some of DS's earlier work, but will not buy another
",0
"A generation before there was a Left Behind, there was The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson. This is the book that broke the dispensationalist view of the end times into the consciousness of America. A phemomenal best seller, it was a watershed event in the growing Christian publishing industry. For many Christians, their first reading of this book was an energizing event that shaped their future. A generation later, many of its former supporters now see in its pages a complete misreading of Holy Scripture, sensationalistic attempts to correspond Biblical prophecies to current events, and an unhealthy enthusiasm for seeing the world obliterated.

So why bother with what can easily be written off as paranoid millenarianism? Well, while many have outgrown its simplistic approach to world events, it still resounds for much of the Church and this is shown in the continued audience for books by Lindsey and other ""prophecy pundits."" While it is certainly true that Tim LaHaye has replaced Lindsey as the popular voice of dispensationalism, it cannot be denied that Left Behind was made possible by this book.

Part of the commercial success of both authors has to do with their placing the dispensationalist view in a popular book form. For LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, it was the pulp novel. Back in 1970, Lindsay and C. C. Carlson did the same with a popular genre of their day - the sensationalistic expose. Like most books of this type (e.g., The Bermuda Triangle, Chariots of the Gods?, The Philadelphia Experiment, The Population Bomb), it is written in a breezy soundbite style that is long on conjecture and short on facts. Like most of these books, it was a peculiar period piece of American life at a time when the fabric of the nation seemed to be coming apart at the seams. Like most of these books, it is laughable in retrospect.

If the book were out of circulation and I were reviewing this for historical purposes, I would almost be tempted to give it a free pass as a kitschy period piece...sort of a fundamentalist lava lamp. The original was so over the top and written with such enthusiasm one could almost have forgiven the fact that the authors got everything wrong. After all, it was the 1970's when wild conspiracy theories, distrust of any traditional authority, and predictions of impending disaster were all the rage. When viewed within a time frame that produced predictions of a soon to be ice age, a UFO invasion, a famine around the corner, and California falling into the Pacific Ocean, the authors' claims of the coming Armageddon look downright trendy.

However, in the intervening years, the revisions of this book just kept piling up. Make a bad prediction? No problem, edit the book with the old gaffes removed, add a few trendier predictions, and release it as a new book. Lindsey, now well into middle age and hurtling towards his golden years, still clings to the long discredited dispensationalist hypothesis (Carleton's contribution is more stylistic) despite his failed scenarios. Lindsey's original view was that the end times events would take place in the 1980s (he even wrote a book The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon trumpeting this belief). Well that didn't pan out, so he then jumped on the Y2K bandwagon (another of his books was Planet Earth 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive?). Oops, wrong again. First communism was the main source of evil in the world but more recently it is Islam (a more recent book is The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad). When one bogeyman falls, he is quick to insert a new one in its place.

Between the failed predictions, the hilarious misreadings of the original languages, the bizarre correlations between apocalyptic symbolism and modern military technology, and the hysterical pleading for contemporary events fulfilling the Biblical prophecies ""right before our eyes"", it is not surprising many of those energized by this book became convinced of the imminent end of all things. This trend continues to this day for the many followers of dispensationalist worldview as they are perpetuated in the many novels based on dispensationalist beliefs - notably the Left Behind series of novels.

If you can find a copy of the original version from 1970, it can be interesting in much the same way as a Brady Bunch episode - not for its merit but as an example of a particular moment in the consciousness of the fundamentalist subculture at a particular time. Just as many Catholics have vivid memories of nuns and the Baltimore Catechism, fundamentalists of that era will never forget this book and the movie A Thief in the Night.

However, for the reedited version here presented as a guide to interpreting biblical prophecy, it is best to pass. For all its success as a cultural marker, its usefulness in properly understanding Biblical prophecy is basically nil. For this, its original purpose, The Late Great Planet Earth is completely worthless.

",0
"It was amazing when i read this, how self centered and morally wrong this man was. It makes me sick to my stumach to read it. This was nothing more then glorifing his looting and murdering in cold blood. If you have a chance skip this one and read somthing like ""Company Commander"" or ""Band of Brothers"" somthing worth while
",0
"Alright, so her childhood was a bit different than your average white middle-income childhood. 

Should this motivate anybody to write a completely non-imaginative, devoid of any insights book? 

Don't be fooled by the exotic side of it. A poor writer can ruin a story, regardless of the exotic locale. 

If you were expecting to find an ""international"" jewel like Jhumpa Lahiri's ""The Namesake"" or Zadie Smith's ""On Beauty"", you will be greatly disappointed. 

If you are into Africa, read something that has more than the exotic place to say for itself. Ben Okri's ""The Famished Road""  (booker prize winner) or The Palm-Wine Drinkard and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Paperback) 
by Amos Tutuola  will be much better choices.
",0
"This is a nice book but it does not contain Provencal style interiors!  I am not sure how the author came up with that title since anyone who is interested in French country will not find it here.  If you are truly looking for Provencal decorating ideas-this is not the book for you.  CONFUSED!!
",0
"That so many people gave this book five stars really concerns me. Luckily, I bought this book used, otherwise I might be kicking myself for paying full price. Between her utterly uninspired ""devotional dances"" to things such as sex, wisdom, and the ""Sticky One"" (a term she made up for the astral body), and her constant blabber about masturbation and rubbing your juices all over everything to ""anoint"" it, I was unimpressed, to say the least. However, driving on a trip a friend and I got a lot of laughs out of flipping through this book. It's very, very amusing if you don't take it seriously. The thing that makes me sad is that she's just using her sexuality to sell a feel good waste of paper with absolutely no depth. There's nothing evolutionary about it, unless you consider being a wanton, idiotic freak ""evolutionary"". If this is what humanity is evolving into, I am frightend
",0
" Ed Klein is really so desperate in his attack that he can't find any one person who will use their names in the attacks against Hillary! 
   What a lot of misinformation and outright lies. To actually accuse Marian Wright Edelman of using children for her own ends is short of criminal, and to insinuate that Chelsea was the result of a rape, even though on the next page he discusses their fertility search to become pregnant, is disgusting. 
   I should have known what to expect when the first two words in the book were Monica Lewinsky! 
",0
"Noam Chomsky has thrived greatly in this great country of his, yours, and mine - the United States of America.  He has made millions of dollars teaching, lecturing, selling his books, and investing.  His world-wide fame in psycholinguistics is well-deserved.  His infamy is merited for his lack of loyalty to his own Jewish ethnicity and the U.S., in spite of the fruits he has received by being a citizen of the United States.  He has repaid this country in bile with his incredibly biased analysis of American foreign policy.  He goes way beyond a balanced multiculturism, when he always ranks the U.S. and Israel as foremost among the terrorist forces in the world now, and even in history.  His distrust of any authority, benign or otherwise, is reflected in his dogmatic and unexamined support of the ""underdog,"" even if that underdog is a suicide bomber or a major terrorist organization such as Al Queda or Hezbollah.  

Yet since 1955, hypocrite Chomsky has worked for the ""overdog"" Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has actively and enthusiastically participated in the development of weapons of War and mass destruction, and continues to this very day.

Chomsky trumps his own potential for gifted analytic objectivity with his simple hatred of the United States and the Jewish State.

If he were not so attached to the freedom of making money, earning the adulation of the American Left, and freedom to express himself, he might be able to give more direct and personal support for our enemies and his friends by taking up residence in North Korea, Iran, or Syria.  Let us hope he retires outside of our homeland that he hates so much, the United States of America.  

God Bless America, which will continue to give Chomsky the right to speak, teach, and make lots of money.

Raybo
",0
"One of the blurbs I read on the book jacket compared this book to Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm. No way!. Those two books were edge-of-your-seat reading experiences. This account of a kayaking expedition is just plain boring. The action doesn't start until about halfway or more into the book and even then, the cliched writing and deification of Balf's subjects make this book very hard to get through. Unless you are a serious kayaking fan, I would not recommend this book
",0
"I read this short novel because I greatly admired Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning ""Killer Angels,"" and because I'm a baseball fan.  The novel feels more like an outline or first draft than a completed work about an aging pitcher.  It's a bit shallow and predictable in its plot.  The characters are what one expects in all too many sports novels and short stories.  The feel or atmosphere just isn't quite there.

Any baseball fan will see flaws in the book right away, flaws that distract and damage the work.  Shaara sets most of the novel in Yankee Stadium with the Hawks playing the Yankees.  Why the author chose to have one real team against a fictional team is unclear.  The Hawks apparently are from Atlanta, but an Atlanta team, Braves or Hawks, whichever, would not be playing the Yankees interleague on the next to last day of the season.  Finally, when a visiting pitcher goes out to warm up before the game, he does so in the semi-hidden bull pen down the left field line in Yankee Stadium--not on the mound on the field.

This book was published posthumously and Mr. Shaara perhaps never had a chance to polish his prose--prose that was excellent in ""Killer Angels.""  It's unfortunate.

There are glimmers of interest in the book, but not enough to recommend it to baseball fans or fans of the author's other book
",0
"Sedgwick's character is a perverted boring loser.  Worst book I've ever read--well, almost read.  Talentless.  End of story
",0
"I bought this classic novel on cd thinking it would hold the interest of my 2 grade school boys, who enjoy books on cd while driving to and from school.  They did not like the narrator's snobby french accent nor could they understand many of the words.  This is a great cd for high school or adults but not children.  A bust for us. 
",0
"Disappointed. As an English teacher, I expected a more compelling and less hokey use of Whitman.  The first story, of the deformed Whitman loving boy, was utterly unbelievable and the continuity was incredibly challenging
",0
"Does not show you techniques rather it just shows pictures!  After buying this book- I was very disappointed since I thought it will show me makeup tips and tricks, rather it just shows displays of women's faces.  You will waste your money on purchasing this book
",0
"I agree with a number of previous reviewers. Grimassi stretches a poor understanding of historical context to fit into what he bounces between ""wicca"" and ""witchcraft"".  Wicca is not an old religion, indeed it is not much of a religion at all. It has always lacked definite theology (what is the saying about ask three wiccans what they believe and you'll get four answers...) and Grimassi does more damage than good by presenting historical materials is non-scholarly lights. In fact, the book is poor on all accounts. From confused terminology to ""chopping"" of source materials. This is a waste of money
",0
"I have yet to use an actual phrase from this guide, but... it is good for re-charging my batteries when I have to write a review and feel uninspired.  After reading through some ideas in this guide, I usually find I can then find my own words to say what I need to convey.  The fact that all the phrases are positive, I see as a good thing because I feel it's important to have a positive attitude toward the associate you're reviewing.  If there are challenges in the persons performance, the manager should have been working with the associate on that throughout the review period.  I would recommend this book but only as a way to inspire the person writing a review to come up with their own way of phrasing... rather than use the phrases in the book. The people we manage deserve more than ""copy/paste"" reviews. 
",0
"The advice in this book is solid and appropriate for most kids. However, the writer's attitude is judgmental. If you are buying this book, it's probably because your child's eating has not gone as smoothly as you'd like. For most of us, a lot of our parental self-esteem is wrapped up in this issue. So it just makes no sense to act as if it's usually the parent's fault - why alienate and beat up your target audience???? Plus, while I'm sure that some parents contribute to kids' eating issues, plenty of kids are just born more sensitive! If you can read between the lines and get to the take home message without letting her attitude get to you, more power to you - otherwise, go elsewhere.
",0
"This is definitely NOT one of my favorite books about stocks.  The title of the book is a little deceiving, the author talks a lot about option instead of stocks and half the book is about stock splits.

Chapters 1-4 are about general info, such as you must buy and sell to make money, don't hold for a long time. You must research the stock before purchase, EPS must increase every year.  I didn't find anything in those chapters that I didn't already know. 

Chapters 5-10 is all about stock splits and when to purchase the stock as well as when to sell. Once again, the author talks about the obvious; buy when you hear that stock is splitting and sell after the split before the after split dip.  

Chapter 11 gets into more advanced trading techniques, the bull put spread.  This is not something that I use or will use in my trading. 

Chapter 12 is the concluding chapter 
",0
"I really feel stupid about ordering this book. Why did i do it?. The story is that Stacey is moving Back to New york
",0
"This book was written in 1982, updated in 1995. It has a whole section on cameras, which isn't useful since most of them are outdated. Doesn't even mention digital cameras. Since it specifically discusses the mechanics of cameras, I found this book to be disappointing.
",0
"Ok, this book IS funny, THE FIRST TIME YOU LOOK THROUGH IT!!! Overall, i would not recomend this book because it's one of those books, that you'll just look through one time, and one time only! Yeah....there are a lot of positions, but they are all repeated in the book like five times, with different names! And another thing, there are a lot of positions that are not even posible, and some only with a giant swing, or how about a horizantal or verticle pole...yeah many people have those in their houses. BUT SERIOUSLY, THE ONLY POSITIONS THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DO, ARE THE ONES THAT YOU KNOW ALREADY! !
",0
"I respect the message of ""The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce"" but it seems rather odd to call the ramifications of divorce ""unexpected.""  Those of us who have been through the hell of divorce know full well the problems our children face as a result.  Staying together for the children is one of the most damaging concepts of all times.  The author knows this and does present it in a way that eases my frustration a little bit.
I know many people who have divorced and not one was due to not being ecstatically happy all the time.  They fell apart due to abuse, infidelity, and just plain incompatibility. 
What I feel matters most for children is for them to feel loved and cared for by their parents.  When you have two parents who both love and share in the lives of the kids, most hardly notice whether or not they live in the same house.
When you have a parent who refuses to makes the children a priority, who constantly disappoints, hurts, and replaces the kids, there will be damage, no getting away from it.  However, is it better for this type of parent to have daily access to the kids, seemingly with the other parent's approval?  I hardly think so and will challenge anyone who differs in opinion.
It is impossible for any of the children of divorce to know if their lives would have been better had their parents stayed married.  This is  a major flaw in  the research.  I didn't see any statistics for custody or parental involvement which makes a huge difference. I don't think divorce is the answer for every marital problem but when it happens, you have a responsibility to make your children a priority and alleviate their fears.  When you put your own personal interests ahead of the kid's, whether it's divorce or starting a new life afterward, kids will suffer.
I don't like 'studies' like this, they're misleading and potentially damaging.
",0
"I find it difficult to give a self-help book much credibility when it is filled with spelling errors, grammar errors and printing errors.  I would think that someone who cares enough to write a book to help people could at least care enough to check her work
",0
"For the most part, these people whom the author thought are prominent Jews are either ignoramuses  as regards to Judaism and our heritage (especially the 2 Supreme Court Justices, who probably never heard of the concept of tzeddek) or are not even Jewish at all. A waste of time
",0
"""American Buffalo"" was recommended to me by a fellow thespian because he thought this was raw and fantastic.  It is indeed raw, but not at all fantastic.  The dialogue is very choppy and I felt out of the loop with it - as if I missed some great detail.  Perhaps this is a play that needs to be enjoyed when seen performed, rather than just read. I do not recommend
",0
"I'm very disappointed in this book, although some information IN it is valuable, it will take a long time to read the entire book cover to cover. It is an excellent Textbook but not a handy guide to flip to on a regular  basis and find ideas for what you need. Although broken into sections, they  are not readily found or visible. One must search the information needed as  in a research assignment. The reproducibles are MAINLY for elementary  grades. This was not stated in the very short and brief summary of it's  contents, on-line. Although the price was reasonable, I'm not pleased with  the way the book is organized & printed
",0
"This is a first person account of a trip to the arctic in the 1860's narrated by a Civil War deserter.  Within the first few pages, our hero enlists, pilfers letters off battlefield corpses, deserts, is injured in NYC draft riots, ends up in New Bedford, MA and signs up on a sailing ship without ryhme or reason or knowing where it was going.  The book was downhill from there.

Page after page described ice and the crew's interminable struggles to get through.  Getting through the book was nearly as interminable.

The reader never gets to know the narrator enough to empathize with him, or really understand him at all.  Thus, his struggles ring hollow and he evokes no sympathy during his struggles.

There are elements of fantasy in the book.  Not enough to make it a fantasy, but enough to steer a reader off course.  The scientist on the mission is after a warm Garden of Eden in the middle of the Arctic.  He is mad or it's fantasy, it is hard to know until the end.  There is a fantasy interlude when a character who has three hands (the most likeable character in the book) describes how he got his third hand.  From that yarn comes the title ""Rope Eater"".  The title really has nothing to do with the book, other than rope eaters and the crew members suffered pain.

Besides the tedious turning of the plot, the characters lack any development.  Only the three handed man and the captain, both tangential characters, had any depth whatsoever.

This book seemed to be an attempt at adventure, but not enough happened between the interminable accounts of ice to build much tension.  It never developed the aspect of the deterioration of the characters - mentally and physically - it just happened.  Although the reader knew the characters must be suffering, it never came through the over-writing.

As one might expect, the crew's mission to find the warm Garden of Eden in the arctic was pointless.  So was this book.  It was a disappointment.

",0
"I'm a fan of Dave Barry, I enjoy his column, I enjoyed some of his books in the past, and I bought this one with great anticipation. Boy was I disappointed! The story is meaningless, the characters are not interesting, the events are mostly dumb and the dialog is uneven and unfunny.

Do yourself a favor, do not read this book! I can't believe anyone recommends it
",0
"There was nothing in this book that our association hasn't covered nearly every week.  I was very dissapointed.  It offered little tidbits like ""a postgame review can help you learn from experience"".  Don't we ALL do ""postgame reviews"", even if it is simply going over the game in our head on the drive home?  I certainly do.  No, I'm not he best umpire in our association.  I would rate myself as somewhere in the middle.  The book offered me nothing new, nothing that our association doesn't talk about constantly.  Buy a Childress, or save your money
",0
"Book contains many useful lists / charts / comparisons to define giftedness.  Many helpful hints about raising a gifted child.  Main criticism is that the book is more about raising children in general -- and  may push those with ""normal"" kids into thinking they have gifted  ones and down that track -- when they should not. Gifted kids are the  exception, not the norm as this book makes it seem
",0
"Yuck.  This book was totally boring.  Well, maybe you'll like it if you're, like, 7 or 8 years old or something.   Not only is it totally boring, but poorly written.  Which surprised me because Ann M. Martin is  certainly not a bad writer!  I'm really glad she left the BSC and started  writing a new series about them.  The BSC books are soo boring and  childish.  Please- a hard to handle babysitting adventure is when the dog  runs loose for 2 seconds.  Don't waste your time reading the BSC books.   They are all pretty dumb
",0
"I am so sorry that I bought this book.  It is unfortunate that you do not have a Penguin or Everyman's Library edition.  First of all the book is too large to read in bed.  Secondly, whoever did the proofreading should be fired.  There are so many typographical errors that it really upsets and disturbs the reading.  If the postage were not so expensive from Israel, I would return the book to Amazon
",0
"This is the worst book of Shakespeare criticism I have ever read.  Bloom makes no attempt to link one paragraph to the next.  It reads like 30 years of lecture notes piled together haphazardly, handed to a graduate student, and entered into a computer over a weekend.  He contradicts himself several times.  I donated my copy to the library as soon as I was done reading it, so I cannot cite the pages where the contradictions occur; but several times I recall reading a passage where Bloom had just said the exact opposite a few pages earlier.  To make matters worse, he even says the bard contradicts HIMself.  He points to supposed paradoxes regarding Hamlet's age, stating that his seeming age does not jive with textual evidence that would put his age at about 30.  Apparently the point is that if Shakespeare contradicts himself, so can Bloom.  Bloom ignores the obvious conclusion that Hamlet is a slacker.  He has not grown up yet.  That is why his parents tell him to come home from school and not to waste his time as a professional student when he should be learning how to run a kingdom.  Some of the book's observations are interesting, but they are glossed over and presented as a random jumble from Bloom's notes.  Interespersed between the passages scribbled down from Bloom's lectures are outbursts where Bloom reminds us that Shakespeare is without any question whatsover the greatest writer, in verse or prose, who ever lived.  Bloom is a great critic when he still tries, but in this book he was not even trying
",0