The full dataset viewer is not available (click to read why). Only showing a preview of the rows.
The dataset generation failed because of a cast error
Error code: DatasetGenerationCastError
Exception: DatasetGenerationCastError
Message: An error occurred while generating the dataset
All the data files must have the same columns, but at some point there are 9 new columns ({'publishedDate', 'image', 'description', 'ratingsCount', 'authors', 'infoLink', 'previewLink', 'categories', 'publisher'}) and 9 missing columns ({'profileName', 'Id', 'review/time', 'Price', 'User_id', 'review/text', 'review/score', 'review/summary', 'review/helpfulness'}).
This happened while the csv dataset builder was generating data using
hf://datasets/rootstrap-org/books-ratings/books_data.csv (at revision 07968a61100c0e92cfa010f6d9598780cdf5762e)
Please either edit the data files to have matching columns, or separate them into different configurations (see docs at https://hf.co/docs/hub/datasets-manual-configuration#multiple-configurations)
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2011, in _prepare_split_single
writer.write_table(table)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/arrow_writer.py", line 585, in write_table
pa_table = table_cast(pa_table, self._schema)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/table.py", line 2302, in table_cast
return cast_table_to_schema(table, schema)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/table.py", line 2256, in cast_table_to_schema
raise CastError(
datasets.table.CastError: Couldn't cast
Title: string
description: string
authors: string
image: string
previewLink: string
publisher: string
publishedDate: string
infoLink: string
categories: string
ratingsCount: double
-- schema metadata --
pandas: '{"index_columns": [{"kind": "range", "name": null, "start": 0, "' + 1446
to
{'Id': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'Title': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'Price': Value(dtype='float64', id=None), 'User_id': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'profileName': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'review/helpfulness': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'review/score': Value(dtype='float64', id=None), 'review/time': Value(dtype='int64', id=None), 'review/summary': Value(dtype='string', id=None), 'review/text': Value(dtype='string', id=None)}
because column names don't match
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1321, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 935, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1027, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1122, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1882, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2013, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationCastError.from_cast_error(
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationCastError: An error occurred while generating the dataset
All the data files must have the same columns, but at some point there are 9 new columns ({'publishedDate', 'image', 'description', 'ratingsCount', 'authors', 'infoLink', 'previewLink', 'categories', 'publisher'}) and 9 missing columns ({'profileName', 'Id', 'review/time', 'Price', 'User_id', 'review/text', 'review/score', 'review/summary', 'review/helpfulness'}).
This happened while the csv dataset builder was generating data using
hf://datasets/rootstrap-org/books-ratings/books_data.csv (at revision 07968a61100c0e92cfa010f6d9598780cdf5762e)
Please either edit the data files to have matching columns, or separate them into different configurations (see docs at https://hf.co/docs/hub/datasets-manual-configuration#multiple-configurations)Need help to make the dataset viewer work? Open a discussion for direct support.
Id
string | Title
string | Price
null | User_id
string | profileName
string | review/helpfulness
string | review/score
float64 | review/time
int64 | review/summary
string | review/text
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1882931173 | Its Only Art If Its Well Hung! | null | AVCGYZL8FQQTD | Jim of Oz "jim-of-oz" | 7/7 | 4 | 940,636,800 | Nice collection of Julie Strain images | This is only for Julie Strain fans. It's a collection of her photos -- about 80 pages worth with a nice section of paintings by Olivia.If you're looking for heavy literary content, this isn't the place to find it -- there's only about 2 pages with text and everything else is photos.Bottom line: if you only want one book, the Six Foot One ... is probably a better choice, however, if you like Julie like I like Julie, you won't go wrong on this one either. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A30TK6U7DNS82R | Kevin Killian | 10/10 | 5 | 1,095,724,800 | Really Enjoyed It | I don't care much for Dr. Seuss but after reading Philip Nel's book I changed my mind--that's a good testimonial to the power of Rel's writing and thinking. Rel plays Dr. Seuss the ultimate compliment of treating him as a serious poet as well as one of the 20th century's most interesting visual artists, and after reading his book I decided that a trip to the Mandeville Collections of the library at University of California in San Diego was in order, so I could visit some of the incredible Seuss/Geisel holdings they have there.There's almost too much to take in, for, like William Butler Yeats, Seuss led a career that constantly shifted and metamoprhized itself to meet new historical and political cirsumstances, so he seems to have been both a leftist and a conservative at different junctures of his career, both in politics and in art. As Nel shows us, he was once a cartoonist for the fabled PM magazine and, like Andy Warhol, he served his time slaving in the ad business too. All was in the service of amusing and broadening the minds of US children. Nel doesn't hesitate to administer a sound spanking to the Seuss industry that, since his death, has seen fit to license all kinds of awful products including the recent CAT IN THE HAT film with Mike Myers. Oh, what a cat-astrophe!The book is great and I can especially recommend the work of the picture editor who has given us a bounty of good illustrations. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A3UH4UZ4RSVO82 | John Granger | 10/11 | 5 | 1,078,790,400 | Essential for every personal and Public Library | If people become the books they read and if "the child is father to the man," then Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) is the most influential author, poet, and artist of modern times. For me, a daddy to a large family who learned to read with Dr. Seuss and who has memorized too many of the books via repeated readings to young children, Prof. Nel's brilliant 'American Icon' is a long awaited treat. At last a serious treatment of this remarkable genius that is both an engaging read and filled with remarkable insights! I especially enjoyed (and learned more than I care to admit from) Prof. Nel's discussions of the Disneyfication of Seuss - which Nel links to failings in American copyright law, "the other sides of Dr. Seuss" - all of which sides were new to me, and the political genesis of his secular morality in the WWII cartoon work he did at PM magazine. The chapters on Geisel's poetry and artwork and the link Nel makes between Seuss and the historical avant guarde alone make this book a "must buy" for parents and serious readers, not to mention public libraries. Readers of Nel's other books will find the same engaging writing style that makes the book a fun read while imparting a mountain of information and important ideas. This is simply the best and most comprehensive book yet written on the work of Seuss Geisel and what will certainly be the standard for many years to come. Thank you, Prof. Nel, wherever you are, from a reader who grew up with the good doctor and who is growing up with him again years later. Your book, written from your encyclopeadic knowledge of children's literature and the media of this genre - from scanning verse to cubist painting! - explains the power, limits, and popularity of the Seuss phenomenon. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A2MVUWT453QH61 | Roy E. Perry "amateur philosopher" | 7/7 | 4 | 1,090,713,600 | Phlip Nel gives silly Seuss a serious treatment | Theodore Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), aka "Dr. Seuss," was one of the most influential writers and artists of the 20th century.In 1959, Rudolf Flesch wrote, "A hundred years from now, children and their parents will still eagerly read the books of a fellow called Ted Geisel, popularly known as Dr. Seuss."Flesch was too conservative in his prediction. A century, and more, from today, Dr. Seuss will still be read when many authors on today's bestseller lists will be forgotten.Published on the centenary of Geisel's birth, Dr. Seuss: American Icon analyzes six key aspects of Seuss's career: poetry, politics, art, biography, marketing, and influence.In six insightful chapters, Philip Nel, Assistant Professor of English at Kansas State University, discusses "U.S. Laureate of Nonsense," "Dr. Seuss vs. Adolf Hitler," "The Doc in the Smock," "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. S.," "The Disneyfication of Dr. Seuss," and "The Cat in the Hat for President."Nel gives short shrift to Geisel's childhood and family background--and, indeed, to biography in general--preferring to focus on Seuss's writing and art, from his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937) to his last book, Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990).Dr. Seuss's breakthrough year was 1957, when he published the two books with which he is most often identified: The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!Other classic works in the Seussian canon are: Horton Hears a Who! ("A person's a person, no matter how small"), Yertle the Turtle (modeled on the rise of Adolf Hitler), Green Eggs and Ham (Seuss's bestselling book), The Sneeches (a criticism of anti-Semitism), The Lorax (a protest against corporate abuse of the environment), and The Butter Battle Book (a critique of Reagan's enthusiasm for the nuclear arms trace).His favorite work, among the books he authored, was The Cat in the Hat, for it, more than any other, taught children to read.While many of his books have a clear and powerful moral, Seuss had a horror of heavy-handed preaching. He sought to teach and ignite the imagination, but was a lifelong opponent of smug, self-righteous bourgeois moralism."Seuss was a contrarian," writes Nel, "who enjoyed challenging people to reconsider their assumptions. [He had a] rebellious imagination and a dispositional distaste for rules and regulations." His work was a "rational insanity" that exhibited "joyous anarchy" and a "lifelong thrill in misbehaving."A better subtitle for Nel's work would have been American Icon and Iconoclast.Nel tells of Seuss's early years as an advertising artist and as a agitprop cartoonist. The book, however, is not a biography; it is a serious study in the genres of literary and art criticism.For readers who want more biographical information, Nel recommends Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel, by Judith Morgan and Neil Morgan (1995), which he describes as "the definitive biography and the single best secondary source on Seuss. Any discussion of Seuss's life and work must begin with this book."Dr. Seuss: American Icon includes 103 pages of notes, index, and the most comprehensive annotated Seuss bibliography ever assembled. One learns a lot from this book; the author's lucid style makes it not only an enlightening work but a fun read.Philip Nel is the author of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide (2001) and The Avant-Garde and American Postmodernity (2002).Roy E. Perry of Nolensville, Tennessee, is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A22X4XUPKF66MR | D. H. Richards "ninthwavestore" | 3/3 | 4 | 1,107,993,600 | Good academic overview | Philip Nel - Dr. Seuss: American IconThis is basically an academic overview of Seuss poetry, art, cartoons, and the problems with the commercialization of the Seuss name and works after his death. It is not, to any real extent, a biography. Those seeking such should move on.As an academic book it leans on the dry side. It assumes the reader has a fairly good knowledge of Children's Literature and 20th Century cartoons (not the animated kind). Not a book to begin your Dr. Seuss experience with. But if you have read them to your children and are interested about the writing style (there is a good chapter about his poetry) or his art style (not as good a chapter, but still interesting).What interested me the most was the deconstruction of the recent rush to "cash in" on Seuss by Hollywood and advertisers. I think that Nel wants to come down against it, but based on Seuss' background (he started out drawing Flit ads) and the projects he approved during his lifetime; it is a tough argument to make. In the end though Nel does point out that maybe the movies and tie- ins did not have to be so... crass?The book is well researched; lots of neat tidbits are to be gleamed. Early cartoons by Seuss for PM magazine were occasionally (by today's standards) shockingly racist. It makes him a little more human and puts his latter works like the Lorax in a new light.Those in Education may enjoy this background. Fans of Seuss will enjoy the exhaustive bibliography of Seuss's many, many works. Also good list of other works about the man. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A2F6NONFUDB6UK | Malvin | 2/2 | 4 | 1,127,174,400 | One of America's greatest creative talents | "Dr. Seuss: American Icon" by Philip Nel is a thoughtful deconstruction of the life and work of Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). In this thoughtful book, Mr. Nel deepens our appreciation for Seuss as a distinctively American poet, artist and educator. The author demonstrates Seuss' wide ranging influence and argues for his rightful place among the most important cultural figures of the 20th century.An English professor at Kansas State University, Mr. Nel uses his historic knowledge to discuss how Seuss' text belongs to a tradition of great nonsense writers. Mr. Nel states that Seuss' carefully-constructed absurdist tales encourage children to challenge the status quo by gently skewering the grown-up world; elsewhere, he uses charts to show how Seuss effectively used meter and rhyme to complement his intentionally ridiculous plots and create masterful stories that have stood up well to the test of time.Mr. Nel recounts Seuss' early career as advertising illustrator and political cartoonist to help us better understand the influences that shaped his classic children's work. As an artist, Mr. Nel suggests that the term "energetic cartoon surrealism" appropriately describes Seuss' creative synthesis of cubism, art nouveau, surrealism and other styles. While Seuss' influence can be detected in modern rap music, children's books, political cartoons and more, Mr. Nel contends that Seuss would not have been happy about the manner in which his works have been posthumously marketed, opining that the "Disneyification" or simplification of Seuss' stories for marketable purposes "threatens to make 'Seuss' synomynous with the ambiguous power of global capitalism". Such commercialism would appear to collide with Seuss' desire to develop critical thinking among young people and to help us all imagine a better world.I highly recommend this book for everyone interested in gaining greater insight and perspective into one of America's greatest creative talents. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A14OJS0VWMOSWO | Midwest Book Review | 3/4 | 5 | 1,100,131,200 | A memorably excellent survey of Dr. Seuss' many achievements | Theodor Seuss Giesel was best known as 'Dr. Seuss', one of the most influential and enduringly popular children's authors of the 20th century. Giesel created not only his famous imaginative picturebooks, but a unique art and poetry, and even a place for himself in politics. Philip Nel argues that these added activities make Dr. Seuss one of the most influential people in America - certainly the most influential poet - and Dr. Seuss: American Icon provides the reader an memorably excellent survey of Dr. Seuss' many achievements. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A2RSSXTDZDUSH4 | J. Squire | 0/0 | 5 | 1,231,200,000 | Academia At It's Best | When I recieved this book as a gift for Christmas my first impression went along these line: "Oh great some professor who probably wrote alot of mumbo-jumbo that I don't want to know about Dr. Suess and I know it won't be an enjoyable read."Thanks goodness I read it nonetheless.To my pleasure, Nel hardly writes in the airy academia style with which I expected him to. In fact, he's writes so far from it, with a smart and precise style, I am tempted to revise how I feel about professor-writers. However, in accordance with his academia roots, Nel has a 100 page annotated bibliogarphy that goes along with his work, a nice shrine to prove his homework was well done.As far the actual book goes it is an excellent piece work. "Dr. Seuss: American Icon" looks at the man behind Dr. Suess not as a straight-forward biography, but rather it focuses on different areas of Dr. Suess (i.e. poet, poetry of, artist, artistic style, adult, activist, etc.) and interjects those discussions with biogrphical anecdotes. A very effective attention keeping method.If you're interested in learning more about the work and the man behind the work of Dr. Suess, this is the book that speaks to both and even more. Highly recommended! |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A25MD5I2GUIW6W | J. P. HIGBED "big fellow" | 0/0 | 5 | 1,209,859,200 | And to think that I read it on the tram! | Trams (or any public transport) are not usually the best place to read and absorb scholarly texts. But this one has accompanied me on my daily commute, and I have been absorbed in it. It is well written and comprehensive, and tells the tale of a modern author, with plenty of "Fancy that" and "Well, well" moments. Highly recommended for stationary reading, too. |
0826414346 | Dr. Seuss: American Icon | null | A3VA4XFS5WNJO3 | Donald Burnside | 3/5 | 4 | 1,076,371,200 | Fascinating account of a genius at work | As far as I am aware, this is the first book-length study of the work of Dr. Seuss, and Philip Nel has done an excellent job. If the word 'study' makes you nervous, rest assured: this is not a jargon-filled, pretentious analysis. It is, instead, a nicely written work that views Seuss from several different angles: as a poet, a visual artist, a cartoonist, and so on. Nel writes intelligently on how Seuss fits into the canon of nonsense poets, and provides good background on the roots of Seuss's visual style. Some of the WW2/political cartoon material I had read about before, but Nel covers it thoroughly. The most fascinating chapter to me deals with the marketing of Seuss, particularly since his death. Nel holds forth strongly on the abominable 'Grinch' movie (and I trust he feels the same way about the 'Cat in the Hat' film too), and gets into a very interesting discussion of the possible motivations behind the ever-expanding empire of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. (And no, I don't believe it is purely about the profits!)Two small quibbles prevent me from awarding five stars. Firstly, I would have liked the book to be a little longer. The in-depth bibliography is interesting in itself and will be a goldmine to future researchers, but I'm sure Nel could have found a few more things to say - perhaps about Seuss's gender politics. Secondly, the dust jacket on my copy was a little loose. |
0829814000 | Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches | null | AZ0IOBU20TBOP | Rev. Pamela Tinnin | 8/10 | 5 | 991,440,000 | Outstanding Resource for Small Church Pastors | I just finished the book, "Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches," by David Ray, an outstanding resource for small church pastors, as is his other book, "The Big Small Church Book." I will be rereading both regularly and referring to them often. I may have to reorder the "Big Small Church Book" as my copy is nearly worn out. If I had only two choices for resources for pastors of small churches, it would be these two.I hope the author considers focusing on Christian Education in another book. There is a section in the "Big Small Church Book" on Christian Education, but concentrating on one of the most important church functions individually makes a huge difference, as is proven by this new book. I tell all my colleagues that Rev. Ray's books are worth every dollar and more. |
0829814000 | Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches | null | A373VVEU6Z9M0N | Dr. Terry W. Dorsett | 1/1 | 5 | 1,291,766,400 | Small Churches CAN Have Wonderful Worship | Many small churches feel like they can not have great worship because they lack the resources that larger churches take for granted.Ray's list of "thou shalts" is worth the price of the book.The description of various "personalities" in the small church is both humorous, and so true.This book gives encouragement as well as practical advice. |
0829814000 | Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches | null | AGKGOH65VTRR4 | Cynthia L. Lajoy "Cindy La Joy" | 1/1 | 5 | 1,248,307,200 | Not Just for Pastors! | I just finished reading this amazing book and came away with an entirely different perspective on our smaller congregation. As a ministry leader it is easy to become depressed over what can not be accomplished, and how overworked everyone is in a small church...but we often fail to see all that IS being accomplished and how extraordinary our smaller congregations are.There are many pluses outlined in this book about what works about being smaller, and in this day of mega churches the reminder is a good one. There are some very good tips about altering worship for smaller congregations and valuing it's unique size and working with it well.For the thousands of us who find ourselves in churches with membership of 100 or less, for those who are discouraged when worship attendence is 30 or 40 during the summer, this book is such an uplifting perspective you can't help but be energized!Unlike many tomes of this nature, this is an easy read and the layperson can gobble it up and immediately put it to use. David Ray's writing style is accessible and doesn't make assumptions about the knowledge of the reader, offering explanations where needed that were very helpful.Pick it up even if you are not a pastor, you will gain something from it, I guarantee it! |
0829814000 | Wonderful Worship in Smaller Churches | null | A3OQWLU31BU1Y | Maxwell Grant | 1/1 | 5 | 1,222,560,000 | Small church pastor? This is the book on worship | I hadn't been a small church pastor very long before I began to hear about David R. Ray. If you do any reading in this area, you'll start to see other authors refer to him and a handful of others, especially Anthony Pappas and Carl Dudley (who are also excellent). But Ray is different. Reading his work, I felt as if he had actually visited MY home church. He describes some of the personalities in a church family, and I could supply their names. He lists some of the "Thou Shalts" of a strong worship service, and I heard echoes of my most recent deacons' meeting. He not only gets small church culture, he celebrates it, and he is eager to help small churches learn to get and to celebrate themselves. If you are part of a church where low-morale often coexists with feisty pride, this is a resource that will help. It offers some ways of identifying what church families with 50 or fewer need and hope for from their churches, and how to offer it in ways that are inclusive, warm, fun and authentic. Hallelujah! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3Q12RK71N74LB | Book Reader | 7/11 | 1 | 1,117,065,600 | not good | I bought this book because I read some glowing praise on an online library site. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed by page three. I always buy books in the hope and expectation of having an enjoyable read, not to criticise. However, this book is in urgent need of good editing -- though quite possibly editing alone wouldn't save it. Examples: a bed squeaks slightly and sharply in the same sentence; a nightgown hangs freely over her girlish figure and olive colored complexion; coffee aromas huddle; rumbling clouds huddle (as well as the coffee?); she prepared to sip her coffee beneath the wrath of God... cuddled within the arms of a strong breeze; (the wrath of God is a breeze?); the Columbian (stet) coffee aroma danced beneath her sculpted tan nose; the coffee bean fragrance tangoed within her body; she placed her thick pink lips against the warm cup;... and so on, all by page three. It is quite possible that the storyline is deeply moving. I'll never know because I can't bring myself to continue. Sorry. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1E9M6APK30ZAU | V. Powell | 1/2 | 4 | 1,119,571,200 | Here is my opinion | I have to admit, I am not one to write reviews on book. I do however like to read them. Some of the reviews are great, some are cruel, but the reviews on this book were absolutlely hysterical. I read this book and after watching the war of the words I couldn't help, but to jump in. I am on the good side of the book. I loved how it kept my intersted. On the bad side I have to say, there was a typo featured on the back cover and the secret to liking this book is making it through the first chapter. I have to admit I was a little curious when I read some of the reviews. They were so mean and false that it spiked my curiosity. I then like the last review noticed that the "Traveling librarian" wrote a completely ignorant review on this book. My first thought was wait a minute, that was not the book that I read. I read my copy once again and realized her entire review was fabricated. Then I knew, it was some kind of game. Maybe it is someone who dislikes the author for personal reasons, that has posted more then one awful review, or maybe this is another who is jealous, Who knows? All I know is that I liked the book, and future readers take the advice of the ignorant with a grain of salt. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | AUR0VA5H0C66C | LoveToRead "Actually Read Books" | 1/2 | 1 | 1,119,225,600 | Buyer beware | This is a self-published book, and if you want to know why--read a few paragraphs! Those 5 star reviews must have been written by Ms. Haddon's family and friends--or perhaps, by herself! I can't imagine anyone reading the whole thing--I spent an evening with the book and a friend and we were in hysterics reading bits and pieces of it to one another. It is most definitely bad enough to be entered into some kind of a "worst book" contest. I can't believe Amazon even sells this kind of thing. Maybe I can offer them my 8th grade term paper on "To Kill a Mockingbird"--a book I am quite sure Ms. Haddon never heard of. Anyway, unless you are in a mood to send a book to someone as a joke---stay far, far away from this one! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1YLDZ3VHR6QPZ | Clara | 2/4 | 5 | 1,115,942,400 | Fall on your knee's | When I first read this the I was mezmerized at the style of writting. I soon became so hooked on this book that I wanted to fall on my knees and shut out the rest of the world. Haddon delivers a portrayal of a woman that is hurt loney and abused and I think she does a wonderful job making the reader feel like the character. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | ACO23CG8K8T77 | Tonya | 5/9 | 5 | 1,117,065,600 | Bravo Veronica | I read the review directly under mine and I have to say I laughed. How can someone write a honest review on a book they read only three pages of? That was funny but also sad that people are mean enough to keep others from an enjoyable read. I loved this book. I thought the first chapter was a little long, but I read the WHOLE book and I loved it. This book is about an afair of the heart and the right to be happy. It is a glimps into the lives of those who are forbiden to love each other. This is a heart warming story. This is a first book and it had a few flaws, but this writer will only get better and better as she goes forward. It was lovely and I am blessed that I read it. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1VK81CRRC7MLM | missyLou "apple" | 1/3 | 5 | 1,130,025,600 | Wonderful | I really enjoyed the book. I believe the author did a good job at tackeling the subject of poor conduct in the church. I was reminded that we are all human, and even the mighty shall fall. Now I have to speak my mind regarding the poor reviews. I was shocked at the bahavior of "adults" What happened to respect for others. In my opinion I have to say those who wrote the mean reviews are nothing short of ignorent and without a doubt low class. Yes, there are minor errors in the book, but it did not change the greatness of the story for me. Who cares if a word on the back cover is missing an E? Did anyone stop to think that this book whent through a publisher most likely after it left the hands of Mrs, Haddon? I have to say, I am not one to leave reviews, but I just had too when I saw how this book was misrepresented. Not only was the author butchered, but those who liked the book as well were called illiterate. I agree with a fellow reviewer when I ask, how many of you have written a book? Obviously not many because you all have way too much time on your hands. I liked the book, and remember that those of you in glass houses should not throw stones. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A2GKUH6OBW7POH | julee glee | 0/2 | 5 | 1,118,102,400 | Awesome ! | This was not a typical romance read. It is deep, loving and full of suspense. This book touches on wemon's issues and it caresses the heart. By the third chapter I was hooked. I did not think the first chapted was too long. It was great. I loved it and I recommend it to anyone who wants a great read. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A2BAF61XBWSLH | Vanna | 1/4 | 5 | 1,118,448,000 | Glorious story | I loved Whisper of the wicked saints. The story was amazing and I was pleasantly surprised at the changes in the book. I am not normaly someone who is into romance novels, but the world was raving about this book and so I bought it. I loved it !! This is a brilliant story because it is so true. This book was so wonderful that I have told all of my friends to read it. It is not a typical romance, it is so much more. Not reading this book is a crime, becuase you are missing out on a heart warming story. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A6OQ83FD8E2OC | Read-Aholic | 1/4 | 5 | 1,117,497,600 | Loved it !! | I loved this book for a few reasons. The first was that I felt as if I was not reading the story, but I was part of the story. I loved the way it twisted and turned at every corner, I loved that I simply did not know what to expect. The choice of words was spectacular and just when I thought that I was in control of my own emotions, something would jump up and surprise me. I am anxiously waiting for the next book, this was one of the best romance suspense books that I have read in years. I highly recomend it. I give this one five stars !!!!!!!! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | AVRN9E6X9I6KF | Karisa | 0/3 | 5 | 1,119,139,200 | Five stars it not enough | I thought this book was brilliant. The plot was so good that it kept me guessing until the end. It worked its way into my heart and I can't help every now and then thinking about Maxwell, Heath and Julia. This is so great, I love this new writer and I can't wait for the next book. <hint, hint> A must read for anyone with a beating heart. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A2YWUISTJ728T5 | darby | 4/6 | 5 | 1,115,856,000 | A FIVE STAR BOOK | I just finished reading Whisper of the Wicked saints. I fell in love with the caracters. I expected an average romance read, but instead I found one of my favorite books of all time. Just when I thought I could predict the outcome I was shocked ! The writting was so descriptive that my heart broke when Julia's did and I felt as if I was there with them instead of just a distant reader. If you are a lover of romance novels then this is a must read. Don't let the cover fool you this book is spectacular! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | ASEIU33YVKKWW | Barbara Steinbach "A True Fan" | 2/3 | 5 | 1,124,668,800 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | This was a easy to read book that made me want to keep reading on and on, not easy to put down.It left me wanting to read the follow on, which I hope is coming soon. I used to read a lot but have gotten away from it. This book made me want to read again. Very enjoyable. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | AJV5HX8BBZKEP | jaylynn Roberts "jaylynn roberts" | 0/0 | 4 | 1,151,712,000 | Errors, but great story | I was a dissapointed to see errors on the back cover, but since I paid for the book I read it anyway. I have to say I love it. I couldn't put it down. I read the whole book in two hours. I say buy it. I say read it. It is sad, but it gives an interesting point of view on church today. We spend too much time looking at the faults of others. I also enjoyed beloved.Sincerly,Jaylynn R |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1P2KGE2Z8RTA | C. Robertson | 0/0 | 1 | 1,119,916,800 | The Worst! | A complete waste of time. Typographical errors, poor grammar, and a totally pathetic plot add up to absolutely nothing. I'm embarrassed for this author and very disappointed I actually paid for this book. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | AE5JROER4ERSO | carrie | 0/0 | 5 | 1,119,484,800 | The truth about WOTWS | I have to say that my friends at work all read this book and loved it. It was brought to our attention that there are negative reviews on this book that are false. For example the traveling librarian? We had a discussion about this book at work and the review of the traveling librarian is completely false. I pulled out the book and realized that these are lies and that someone is trying to ruin this book. The book never states that a garden is ten miles long. On page 62 it clearly states that the garden is five acres. No heartbeat of a fetus was heard at a week. How could it be? Julia was not even aware of the pregnancy at that time. The preacher never went to the house to give condolences, after reading the book once again it is obvious that he was there to fix the barn. So...on and ect... I also looked at the reviews <history> all but one of the bad reviews is writen by someone who has never reviewed a book on amazon before. Veronica Haddon if you are reading this you need to write a letter to Amazon. Someon is playing a prank on you !! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A38P0UQN2C364Y | nessy | 0/0 | 5 | 1,115,856,000 | How could someone not love this ?? | I am an avid reader and I was shocked at how hooked I became on this book. I thought the first chapter was a little long and a little too discriptive, but truth be told after that I could not put this down. I read the other reviews on Whispers of the wicked saints before I wrote this and I saw one bad review that was written by someone who admitedly did not read this book. Don't take the advice of the ignorant, this book is an absolute must for romance fans. I give it five stars !! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A16FTKP8BXKGHG | Rebecca Lover "Becky" | 0/0 | 5 | 1,115,856,000 | Luscious, hot forbidden love.! | This book was very discriptive and I actually found myself involved in the lives of the characters. If you ever get a chance to read this book, please do! I have found that the beginning of the book was a little too discriptive, but push through. The best is yet to come. You will definately find yourself wanting more. There was some parts in the book that made me HOT!! Veronica had a way with describing the places and the characters. I could actually see this story as if it were an actual movie. I really loved this book. If you are a romantic at heart and you love a great outcome, you must read Whispers of the Wicked Saints. GREAT, GREAT story!! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1N38F1DJ9H2KM | Macy Lynn | 0/0 | 5 | 1,115,078,400 | The best book I have ever read ! | I happen to love romance novels, but only if they are goos romance. I am not one who loves everything, but this made my heart rejoice. I absolutlely could not put it down. Wow what a book !! You have to read this awesome story of forbiden love. I warn you now. It is steamy. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3V4NY81KXZAUL | pen delta | 0/0 | 4 | 1,114,992,000 | Great book | This was a great book,I just could not put it down,and could not read it fast enough. Boy what a book the twist and turns in this just keeps you guessing and wanting to know what is going to happen next. This book makes you fall in love and can heat you up,it can also make you so angery. this book can make you go throu several of your emotions. This is a quick read romance. It is something that you will want to end your day off with if you read at night. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A29I6N5F8P386Y | J. serratos | 0/0 | 5 | 1,111,017,600 | The best book I've read in years !! | This is a wonderful book that will keep you guessing. It is Rare to find a book that will make you laugh and cry at the same time and still leave you wondering what will happen next. What was even more amazing about it, is the fact that it is written in such a poetic way. This is a rare find and I look forward to the next book written by Veronica Haddon. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A2ABV8FXF88O9P | Victoria | 1/5 | 4 | 1,116,892,800 | Wonderful, wonderful book !! | Just as predicted the first chapter of the book was long. I continued reading and then fell in love with WOTWS. It is heart warming and realistic. I thought it was a little depressing, but I quickly realized the writers point. There is a rainbow at the end of each storm. I did notice the error on the cover, but it only made me love the writer more. This writer is talented and she is not corporate, nor does it appear that she has a staff working for her. Her book was writen from the heart and that is what makes an American literary legend. I would rather read a book with an error then to read hollow perfection any day of the week. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1EONVY639PQDY | Sophie | 0/4 | 5 | 1,116,201,600 | Great Read | I thought this book was brilliant, but yet realistic. It showed me that to error is human. I loved the fact that this writer showed the loving side of God and not the revengeful side of him. I loved how it twisted and turned and I could not put it down. I also loved The glass castle. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A2XXVRH6VJ8S7Q | S. Steinbach | 8/8 | 5 | 1,108,339,200 | Couldn't put this book down! | Normally I'm not much into romance stories but I absolutely loved this book. This book had the right kind of suspense that made it impossible to put down. Kept me wondering what would happen right up until the end. Loved it! I am looking for anything else this author puts out. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3OS2QHEH495TD | PW | 5/5 | 1 | 1,115,856,000 | Oh please | I guess you have to be a romance novel lover for this one, and not a very discerning one. All others beware! It is absolute drivel. I figured I was in trouble when a typo is prominently featured on the back cover, but the first page of the book removed all doubt. Wait - maybe I'm missing the point. A quick re-read of the beginning now makes it clear. This has to be an intentional churning of over-heated prose for satiric purposes. Phew, so glad I didn't waste $10.95 after all. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3S5YQQWBO0LGI | N. Ray | 4/4 | 1 | 1,119,571,200 | Awful beyond belief! | I feel I have to write to keep others from wasting their money. This book seems to have been written by a 7th grader with poor grammatical skills for her age! As another reviewer points out, there is a misspelling on the cover, and I believe there is at least one per chapter. For example, it was mentioned twice that she had a "lean" on her house. I was so distracted by the poor writing and weak plot, that I decided to read with a pencil in hand to mark all of the horrible grammar and spelling. Please don't waste your money. I too, believe that the good reviews must have been written by the author's relatives. I will not put much faith in the reviews from now on! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A9L6GHJC42RRC | denpq "A READER" | 6/7 | 1 | 1,119,830,400 | You've got to hand it to the author... | I purchased this book after reading rave reviews of it included within a review of a really good book I'd read. Apparently, the author (or her friends and family) are placing reviews of good books and encouraging people to buy this book if you liked the one they were reviewing. Great marketing by the author. However, the author should probably stick to marketing and give up the idea of being a writer. This book could have been written by a middle-schooler. It is a self-published, self-edited (and extremely poorly edited, I might add), and self-promoted lame excuse for a novel. My eyes rolled constantly while reading this book. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse...it did. The best part of this book is the short length. There is no substance, no character development, and the plot (if there actually is one) is pathetic. I generally trust the reviewers on Amazon. I really feel duped for purchasing this book after reading about it in Amazon's readers' reviews. Don't waste your money. The author should have printed only enough copies for family and friends. The rest of the population should be spared having to read this drivel. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3T591DTKPYCVW | Fran "Avid reader" | 6/7 | 1 | 1,118,275,200 | You've got to be kidding! | It has been years since I've read a romance novel. If this is typical of the genre these days, I will never pick up another one. Not only is the plot contrived and juvenile, the writing shows the lack of skill expected only in a child's writing. Many of my seventh grade writing students would be embarrassed if this trash was attributed to them. "The bed squeaked slightly, but her husband was unmoved by the sharp squeaks from the bed as well as the howling noises caused by the wind that were surrounding him." Were the squeaks slight or sharp, and were she and her husband sleeping outside that the wind could be howling around him not the house? This is just one mangled sentence in a book filled with such tripe. If my criticism seems harsh, it's because I actually paid money for this book. What a waste!I would suggest that Miss Haddon go back to Junior High School and begin a serious course of writing instruction. Perhaps by the time she graduates from college she will have gained an understanding of good sentence construction, proper punctuation, and the value of using adjectives sparingly. And if she reads a great deal along the way, she might also learn how to construct a plausible plot. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1XNI3654I4ME2 | Bronx Girl | 2/2 | 1 | 1,125,273,600 | Don't try to fool us with fake reviews. | It's glaringly obvious that all of the glowing reviews have been written by the same person, perhaps the author herself. They all have the same misspellings and poor sentence structure that is featured in the book. Who made Veronica Haddon think she is an author? |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3VSJF0K4H28XK | Mary J. Daniels | 2/2 | 4 | 1,122,422,400 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | I really enjoyed this book, sure this author is just starting out, but I still really liked it. How many books have the reviewers that hated this book wrote and got published? I read a lot, and I always have. I don't usually like modern love stories, but I gave it a chance and found that I didn't want to put it down until I finished it. I look forward to reading her next book and no I'm not a family member or a friend. Just give her book a chance and you might just find that it really is pretty good. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A1KAKU5SCNNEZM | Tori | 2/2 | 5 | 1,115,337,600 | Spectacular ! | I loved this little book, I thought the first chapter was a little long, but even though it was long I loved it. This writer is a 3D writer. Her words make you feel as if you are the character and I loved that. This is a first novel for Veronica, and I am forever a fan !! |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3U1XS6XK6YUU4 | kassie | 1/1 | 5 | 1,115,078,400 | You have to read this book | I can not talk this book up enough. It was well writen and a major page turner. It was a book about a pastor that falls for a member of his congregation. It will leave your heart full and your mind pondering question of infidelity and what is right and wrong and where God draws the line. It is a must read. |
0595344550 | Whispers of the Wicked Saints | null | A3OZDTEEAF8GS9 | travelling librarian | 6/9 | 1 | 1,119,312,000 | awful beyond belief | I can't remember the last time I read such a dire book. I howled with laughter all the way through, wondering how much worse it could get - and sure enough, it got worse. If the writing is bad, the plot is ludicrous. A preacher comes to offer condolences the same afternoon that the heroine's husband is shot dead. Within moments they are having sex. The sex is not sensually treated or beautifully described - no, all they do is stick their tongues down each other's throats. The preacher goes to tell his paralysed wife. Her bizarre response - wait for it - is to stick her tongue down his throat. No wonder he veers away. The heroine runs off to work in the heart of Liverpool in a rose garden ten miles long (I kid you not). Did I mention she is dying? But never mind, she'll make a miraculous recovery. She meets another man - even though, conveniently, he's dying too, and she's pregnant by the preacher by now (and, oh joy, she hears the heartbeat of the fetus at a week... truly, a miracle)! The other man lives in castle and is very rich. Of course. They consumate their affair when she sticks her tongue down his throat. Not to worry, she doesn't have to perform this crude tonsil-tickling for long. The preacher turns up again. Everyone in the way drops dead, leaving the coast free for the "wicked saints" of the title to romp without blame or shame into the sunset.I could have kicked myself for buying this book; but I had been fooled by reading a mention of it by a so-called reviewer of The Mermaid Chair (which is a good book.) Then I checked all the other reviews done by reviewers of Ms Haddon's book (you can click on "other reviews" to see what I mean) and believe I have spotted a scam. The reviewers appear to have chosen the same half dozen best sellers to review -- each on the same day! - and in each review of these other genuinely good books they mention Wicked Saints in the most glowing terms. This is cynical piggy-back riding on bona fide books, made worse because this is a very badly edited (and badly written) self published book. I hope few people will be fooled as I was - and as Amazon has been. Be warned! |
0253338352 | Nation Dance: Religion, Identity and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean | null | AN9WUW5BG7M39 | Pink Noodle | 1/1 | 5 | 1,202,083,200 | interplay of traditions across Caribbean | from publisher:Addresses the interplay of diverse spiritual, religious, and cultural traditions across the Caribbean.Dealing with the ongoing interaction of rich and diverse cultural traditions from Cuba and Jamaica to Guyana and Surinam, Nation Dance addresses some of the major contemporary issues in the study of Caribbean religion and identity. The book's three sections move from a focus on spirituality and healing, to theology in social and political context, and on to questions of identity and diaspora.The book begins with the voices of female practitioners and then offers a broad, interdisciplinary examination of Caribbean religion and culture. Afro-Caribbean religions, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are all addressed, with specific reflections on Santería, Palo Monte, Vodou, Winti, Obeah, Kali Mai, Orisha work, Spiritual Baptist faith, Spiritualism, Rastafari, Confucianism, Congregationalism, Pentecostalism, Catholicism, and liberation theology. Some essays are based on fieldwork, archival research, and textual or linguistic analysis, while others are concerned with methodological or theoretical issues. Contributors include practitioners and scholars, some very established in the field, others with fresh, new approaches; all of them come from the region or have done extensive fieldwork or research there. In these essays the poetic vitality of the practitioner's voice meets the attentive commitment of the postcolonial scholar in a dance of "nations" across the waters. |
0802841899 | The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today | null | ARI272XF8TOL4 | Christopher J. Bray | 74/81 | 5 | 955,411,200 | Ecclesiological Milestone | With the publication of Everett Ferguson's book on ecclesiology, another milestone has been reached in the scholarly presentation of the distinctive theological perspective of Churches of Christ. The book is divided into six chapters, each roughly sixty to seventy pages in length. Within each chapter, Ferguson neatly and systematically outlines his thoughts and arguments. The first chapter, entitled "The People and the Messiah: History and Eschatology," deals mainly with background issues. It examines the Old Testament teaching on the importance of covenant and the meaning of the phrase "kingdom of God" in its relationship to an and distinction from the church. Ferguson enters into the New Testament and ecclesiology proper via a consideration of Jesus as Messiah, including a careful exegesis of Matt. 16:13-23, where he concludes that the "rock" of Matt. 16:18 is not Peter, but the fact of Jesus' Messiahship. Ferguson's analysis of Matt. 16:13-23 is insightful and carefully articulated. Within this section, he gives attention to "the gates of Hades will not prevail" and concludes with some interesting yet encouraging insight. In the second chapter, "The Church and Her Lord: The Nature of the Church," Ferguson deals with and focuses on three images, "people of God," "body of Christ," and "community of the Spirit." A peculiar feature in this chapter is placing the discussion of the word ekklesia last rather than first. The latter would seem more appropriate and would seem to set the stage for the chapter, especially for a work of biblical ecclesiology. This great section will open the eyes of the reader and renew his focus of church. That is to say, this chapter correctly puts Christ as the head of the church and gives Him His appropriate place. The third chapter concentrates on, "The Church and Her Savior: Salvation and Church Membership." Essentially this section covers soteriology, which determines ecclesiology, but it is not ecclesiology itself. His full treatment of the nature of sin, the meaning of the cross, and the human response to God's saving work is only loosely linked to his topic of ecclesiology. This is not to say that this section is uninteresting or uninformative because it is quite helpful for a fuller understanding of these matters. Far more important is the content of Ferguson's soteriology. Ferguson is strong when it comes to the necessity of baptism. A few statements will give the reader an idea of his position: "Baptism is the time at which one is incorporated into Christ and so becomes a child of God" (pg. 170); "Baptism is a `calling on the name' of the Lord" (pg. 180); and, "Baptism is the appointed time at which God pronounces forgiveness" (pg. 183). He concludes: There must be an objective necessity about baptism, or New Testament writers could not speak of baptism in the way they do" (pg. 185). How refreshing! In our world of relativity and ecumenism, people need to hear Ferguson's words, especially those in Churches of Christ. The last three chapters move into a more familiar territory for a treatise on the church. Chapter four, "The Church and Her High Priest: Worship and Assembly" is a great section for anyone interested in the dynamics of worship. Here, Ferguson begins with a type of etymology as a way of introduction, concentrating on both the Greek and English words. This introduction to the subject sets the stage for the entire chapter. Worship is a hot topic today, thus chapter four is rather applicable for our day with all the differing views. This section is multitudinously faceted and exhaustive. "The Church and Her Bishop: The Continuing Ministry" is appropriately the title for the fifth chapter. In this section, Ferguson again touches on some hot topics in the church. It is unfortunate however that he only briefly deals with the debates on miraculous gifts and women's roles. Ferguson advocates a cessasionist position on miraculous gifts and a complementarian position on women's roles, but leaves the reader thirsting for more information and a more comprehensive treatment of the issues. In a day where these two in particular issues are so widely discussed and debated, one would think that they might have received a little concentration. Again, this is not to eradicate what was accomplished in this chapter because it was insightful and obliging, especially given the fact that his discussion on deaconesses was amazingly insightful and well balanced. In chapter six Ferguson adequately covers, "The Church and Her Teacher: The New Way of Life." In this section, he includes an unusually prominent consideration of ethics and a very healthy discussion of the importance of Christian fellowship and its concomitant, church discipline. One last thing that must be mentioned about this chapter is Ferguson's section on unity. Although this section is brief, it is significant and insightful. Ferguson lays out the various aspects of unity and does so in just a few short pages. It serves as an excellent conclusion to a monumental work. Of course, any reader is free to take issue with some of Ferguson's conclusions. For example, the distinction that is made between the temporary and permanent endowments of the Spirit still awaits additional clarification, and there will be those who will score Ferguson, despite his disclaimer, for his synchronic rather than diachronic approach to the New Testament writings. This is a courageous book. Its Reformed-Restorationist slant that the proper doctrine of the church entails a return to the faith and practice of the apostolic church is unmistakable. There are numerous nuggets of exegesis and important points of emphases that make this book worth reading. It is astounding that Ferguson deals with so many facets of ecclesiology in a one-volume work. Not only that, but he also includes a helpful subject index as well as a number of bibliographies. Just a glance at his copious footnotes and it is clear that this book is well researched and well documented. This book should be one that every minister, church leader, and ministry student is required to read and ponder. |
0802841899 | The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today | null | A36TPZSH8LBT1 | haskell | 2/3 | 5 | 1,311,465,600 | Early Christian development of the Church | Everett Ferguson approaches the subject of early christian development with quotes from their early documents in their own words. Ferguson gives us a peek into the minds of early Christians and puts it together in a form one can understand today. The only criticism is that he can get too technical and detailed at times. With patience his writing is able to be followed by a serious student of the subject of God's church. I highly recommend this book for any serious student of the subject! |
0802841899 | The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today | null | ANX3DDV12ZRRU | GodsBreath.wordpress | 2/3 | 4 | 1,289,952,000 | An Excellent Presentation of the Beliefs of the Mainsteam chuches of Christ | This book is a continual resource. It is so biblical and so simple. Dr. Ferguson's candid honesty is transparent to the bright shining light of Christ's words for His glorious Church. |
0802841899 | The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today | null | A2H2LORTA5EZY2 | Edward E. Howe | 3/5 | 4 | 1,266,192,000 | Christ is Lord | This is a very useful and thorough text book. I would recommend it for anyone who wants an in depth study of the Lord's church. |
B0007FIF28 | The Overbury affair (Avon) | null | A2GERYVE64DIPL | lisamac | 0/0 | 3 | 1,313,366,400 | Overbury | Full of intrigue and a good overview of the court of James 1 and the key players. Provides a good general history of all the facts of the case. |
B000JINSBG | A Walk in the Woods: a Play in Two Acts | null | A15A5KPP3AL76U | Vinny Wolf | 0/0 | 5 | 1,361,491,200 | meaty and fast | This play was excellent. It's very smart, intellectually and morally meaty, and fast. I highly recommend it. Especially good material to ponder for people who in today's age can still think of the US or any country as being moral and right and good. |
B000JINSBG | A Walk in the Woods: a Play in Two Acts | null | A2HF2IYAYUH8P8 | Shirleyann Costigan | 0/0 | 4 | 1,357,862,400 | Surprisingly delightful | This is a fast read filled with unexpected humour and profound insights into the art of politics and policy. In brief, it is sly, wry, and wise. |
B000JINSBG | A Walk in the Woods: a Play in Two Acts | null | A3V0MK4KOD61KO | porsche driver "porsche driver" | 1/3 | 5 | 1,243,728,000 | A walk in the woods | This is an old play I saw on stage many years ago. It still brings a laugh at times. But also a reality check at other times. Truly a great play. Glad it's still available. |
0895554224 | Saint Hyacinth of Poland | null | null | null | 3/3 | 5 | 984,009,600 | Review from the Publisher | Tells the wonderful story of how St. Hyacinth and his fellow Dominicans planted the Holy Catholic Faith in Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and all over Northern Europe. Many were the remarkable events in this Saint's life, including the raising of the dead! For children ages 10 and up. 17 illustrations. 189pp. PB. Imprimatur. |
0895554224 | Saint Hyacinth of Poland | null | A1IVIK8YJRIQWU | Nov 10 "Tom" | 2/2 | 4 | 945,648,000 | A miracle on every page! | Who was Saint Hyacinth? The story starts with a chance meeting in Rome where he witnesses (the future) Saint Dominic raising a man from death. From that point the book is one miracle and amazing encounter on Hyacinth's journey across North Europe. He raised the dead, walks on water, fled the invading Tatars from a Cathedral carrying a 500 lb. Statue. All thoughout he dispenses his own brand of spiruatilty and humility. The book reads liks a combination of a self help book like the One minute Manager and the excitement of the Raiders of the Lost Arc. Kids will love this book to be read to them. They will never forget Saint Hyacinth. I know I never will. |
0963923080 | Rising Sons and Daughters: Life Among Japan's New Young | null | null | null | 2/2 | 4 | 936,144,000 | Wardell's book is a pure delight. | Steven Wardell's book is a pure delight and I've recommended itto friends of all ages. In Rising Sons and Daughters, we learn thatJapanese young people are preserving their country's tradition of respect for their elders while also creating their own identity as Japan's "Generation X". Like our own young people, they are bombarded with some of the excesses of "Western culture" - Clothing fads, rock groups, a culture of shopping, etc. What they seem to be developing, however, is a healthy hybrid of old and new that retains a firm foundation in good values. The Ando family members are wonderful, memorable people and Stevern Wardell writes poignantly about their lives and hopes of each of them. |
0963923080 | Rising Sons and Daughters: Life Among Japan's New Young | null | null | null | 1/1 | 5 | 935,884,800 | A fascinating insight into the life of modern Japanese teens | I thoroughly enjoyed Rising Sons and Daughters. I don't know of any other book that looks at Japanese society from the point of view of its young people poised as they are between their parents' age-old Japanese culture of restraint and obedience to the will of the community, and their peers' adulation of Western culture. True to form, the "New Young" of Japan seem to be creating an "international" blend, as the Ando family demonstrates in this beautifully written book of vignettes of the private lives of members of this family. Steven Wardell is clearly a talented young author, adopted for some of his schooling into this family of four teens, and thus able to view family life in Japan from the inside out. A great read! |
0963923080 | Rising Sons and Daughters: Life Among Japan's New Young | null | A3NIQK6ZLYEP1L | Michael Valdivielso | 0/0 | 4 | 1,239,667,200 | Almost a day by day view | Steven Wardell went to Japan without reading any of the hundreds of books about Japan. He went without any idea of how Japan would treat him. So what he writes seems to come to us without much editing by any pre-made belief. No filters are between us and the experiences he had day to day. All the details about school, family life and learning the language comes to us without any forethought.Compared to other books on Japan this is raw, unmolded, information and is full of insight that I doubt even Wardell realized was amazing for such a young writer. I would say that this is a must for anybody planning on going to Japan for ANY reason.Did find some humor in the fact that Wardell felt the need to explain everything, even what a corn dog was, and that when he met other exchange students one complained about how the Japanese, and I quote, Couldn't even speak English good, end of quote. Couldn't even speak English GOOD? Neither can the exchange students it seems.All in all, you need to get it. Used, paperback, in hardcover, any version you can. Just get it. |
0854968350 | Muslim Women's Choices: Religious Belief and Social Reality (Cross Cultural Perspectives on Women) | null | A2OP3N8OXCQEZB | Lyta | 6/8 | 5 | 1,121,385,600 | Excellent | This is an excellent book. It offers the opinions of a diverse sample of real Muslim Women with very different attitudes. It will not appeal to those who don't want to listen or who want an anti-islamic feminist political tract. The value of this is that you hear the opinions, educated and not, of the real people involved.Most of the time, the real voices are ignored and what is presented in the name of feminism is non-muslim american female TV personalities yacking endlessly on about the lives and experiences of people they really don't know and don't want to know.What must be understood above all else is that if you wish to change a society or a culture, you must at the very least understand how the people in that culture who disagree with you think. That is what this book does so well. I may not agree at all with the opinion of every woman in the book, but I at least understand how they think after finishing it.What many will never understand is that Islamic Society has changed and is still changing. But it can only change by consensus from within. No amount of cultural imperialism from western countries is going to change anything for the better.There is also more than a little hypocracy. For all the lectures about the veil from American Women, few of them stop to think about why they are themselves forced into certain choices. A veil isn't great, but its a whole lot more confortable than the pantyhose that many Western women must wear effectively as a condition of employment. One wonders at a certain point if its the veil itself they object to or that as constrasted to their money-driven appearance decisons, the veil has a meaning beyond the secular. |
0854968350 | Muslim Women's Choices: Religious Belief and Social Reality (Cross Cultural Perspectives on Women) | null | ATDE9JYCPI0L1 | Alyssa A. Lappen | 0/0 | 2 | 1,109,808,000 | Oh dear | I was excited to find a book ostensibly about Muslim feminism, but this volume did not live up to the expectations.One essay, among other things, describes the veil as potentially liberating. It doesn't begin to explain how or why.Another, on Muslim women in Cape Town, claims that Muslim women there are separate but "more than equal." Gee whiz, what a disappointment.I had expected and hoped for at least one Muslim feminist condemnation of gender apartheid. But there is not a single one in the book.I'm surprised it didn't have an essay extolling the virtues of female genital mutilation.--Alyssa A. Lappen |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A252PRC1XBMTQJ | Joy Higgins "Wordweaver" | 8/8 | 5 | 1,143,763,200 | Fun to read and easy to understand | Although written with script authors et al in mind, Dramatica for Screenwriters is the perfect companion book for Dramatica: A New Theory of Story.Using witty and easy to understand examples, the author takes you systematically through the process of turning a meager idea into a full-blown, grand argument story via Dramatica Theory definitions. With a slight mental adjustment, the tips and advice in this book fit the novelist's dilemma as well as the screenwriter's. If you are exploring the world of Dramatica, you need this book on your shelf. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A38FACH4R3BB6V | Richard Hierro | 5/5 | 5 | 1,143,676,800 | A must have | Sorry for any mistake I could do here, English is not my first language.While Dramatica is a powerful tool for building a story, it is complex and sometimes overwhelming. Armando Saldaña-Mora found a way to demystify Dramatica and give a lot of practical advices and principles for creating a story with Dramatica."Dramatica for Screenwriters" is easy to understand, fun and thought-provoking. The only drawback is that this book is not useful if you do not know the Dramatica Theory or do not use Dramatica software. Now, if you're a Dramatica user or if you plan to seriously evaluate the software, it is a must-have. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A2JCSLVBZ1BZ46 | David I. Salter | 8/10 | 2 | 1,207,353,600 | Thoroughly Confusing | I purchased this book based on the other reviews claiming that it "demystifies" the Dramatica theory and software. Unfortunately, I found the opposite to be the case.I've made numerous attempts to get my head around the principles of the Dramatica theory, with the intention of finally being able to put to use the rather pricey Dramatica Pro software I bought years ago. Both the software itself, and the book of theory explaining it ("Dramatica: A New Theory of Story") are so riddled with specialized (and somewhat proprietary) jargon that I've long counted myself among the number of users for whom the effort to grasp the principles involved outweighed the potential benefits. (And BTW, I'm no newcomer to the basic premises of story structure; I've got an MFA from a respectable film school, and have worked for many years as a film editor.)I'd had high hopes for "Dramatica For Screenwriters", figuring it would serve as a practical layman's guide to understanding and using the software. Unfortunately (there's that word again), despite claims in the author's introduction to the contrary, a few pages in the jargon begins coming at the reader hot and heavy, and unlike in "Dramatica: A New Theory of Story", which I already found to be too opaque, here much of the jargon is not even explained in a cursory manner. Reader familiarity is assumed, which would seem to defeat the purpose of the book in the first place. So the reader is left with a bit of a Catch-22: if you need the book, you probably won't understand it, and if you can understand the book, you probably don't need it. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A1PYZR7NRX62CN | Tim Rohde | 1/1 | 5 | 1,344,211,200 | Practical Guide to a Complicated Process | Dramatica is a pain in the ass to learn. The main book is dense, repetitive, dilatory and slow. DRAMATICA FOR SCREENWRITERS is the opposite! The writing flows easily. It's directs you to the easiest possible paths for getting started. It encourages you to take action and walks you through it. It provides good theoretical guidance without getting bogged down.This is the book that should come with the software for everyone, not just screenwriters. It gives anyone who reads it the ability to jump into A STORY and get it done. Once you've gotten A STORY done you can use Dramatica to alter it for it's media (you may need the main book to get you there). You can also get more stories done with it. Dramatica is not intuitive software. You need to use it from a number of angles to get the hang of it. DRAMATICA FOR SCREENWRITERS gets you there. The main Dramatica book doesn't. READ THIS BOOK FIRST. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A32ZQ5DEXBL60Z | Jeffery Cotton "Jeffery Cotton" | 1/1 | 5 | 1,297,728,000 | Even as a fiction writer, I found this book invaluable | I think the hardest thing for people coming to Dramatica the first time is understanding that the theory and software are not designed to write your story for you (or tell you what your story is about), but rather to tell you, based on the way you answer all the hundreds of questions, what the best storyform or context is from which to tell your story in the way you want.[...]I did the work to know the theory, but "Dramatica for Screenwriters" really helped me understand it. Even though I am a fiction writer and not a screenwriter, I found that most of this book applies to any kind of fictional world building. I highly recommend it.Don't buy the book thinking it's going to take the place of doing the work of getting to know the theory. It assumes prior knowledge. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A2KSXSRTMD3ZJ4 | Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt | 4/6 | 5 | 1,143,504,000 | Good structure makes good bones for story | Beauty is in the bones. This book gives your story good bones, and you end up knowing why. It is a clear explanation of how to do the structure of a story so the end product is a top model. You have to supply the writing, a big commitment, but you won't have the feeling when you're done that something is incomplete or wrong - and all your work goes to something which misses the mark.We have all seen too many movies where the verdict is "Interesting!" To a writer, this is deadly. It means that all the work of director and actors and film crew, editors and producers, went for naught because the starting place, the script, had the final flaws buried in its pages. Use this book and your story will have a coherence and an internal logic that will be solid and subtle - and when you put on it the forensic anthopologist's 'layer of flesh,' what will stare back at you will be a thing of beauty. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A9MBRG3MYS472 | joanne flowers | 0/0 | 5 | 1,360,972,800 | LUV IT | A really good book to go with the software an excellent guide I highly recommend . . . . . |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A1X1CW1GXKC50V | Thomas Eno | 0/0 | 5 | 1,359,504,000 | Armando is Great | This is the way to get a handle on the incredibly complex yet useful theory of Dramatica and its program. At one time I almost went crazy trying to figure out how to use it with my writing and finally gave up, until I found this book. Armando is a genius. |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A1H4HMVBMQFUGR | jaidi "jaidi" | 0/0 | 5 | 1,323,302,400 | Finally the investment pays off...! | I am finding out that my 10 years old copy of Dramatica may be worth Something. I know about Armando from early adopters and listserve participants. I have poured over many times my dogeared notes of Instant dramatica before....Then I got distracted but knew this book was coming...That was 2005...but I am starting with this book now.I am at just part 3 of the book now and I am already feeling like a skilled storyteller.Thanks to Armando for sharing invaluable wealth of PRO information getting me back on the road....And restoring my belief in usefulness of Dramatica..... |
0918973031 | Dramatica for Screenwriters | null | A309DQ3THGNXD | Stefan Mueller "Werbe-Texter" | 0/0 | 5 | 1,300,665,600 | Awesome - wanna use dramatica? You definitely need this book | It's just awesome, even better than what you can read online about using dramatica of Armando. If you want to use Dramatica - and don't want to get lost eventually - you really, really, really need this guide to get to some point you can call your plot really a plot. This book just makes you very, very happy. For it will boost your efforts to really WORK with dramatica. I only wish we had had that book ten years before. So I do highly recommend it. Even if you aren't a native speaker like me, having german as my mother tongue. I would never have made it with the DRAMATICA SOFTWARE if I haven't had this book. Believe me. It's worth every Cent (I payed in Euro). Though I tried very hard for roundabout 2 years I was coming to fail with Dramatica 4.0. This book saved my ass. Let it save yours too. It's making me happy. Thank you so much, Armando. Greetings from Germany, Cologne |
1858683092 | Mensa Number Puzzles (Mensa Word Games for Kids) | null | A1AYN4J7T43M11 | "dirtpile" | 4/4 | 3 | 981,417,600 | Made me wish I was Einstein. | Not much I can say about this book... It's full of VVVery difficult number puzzles... at least for me. Okay, so I don't get 'A's for my grades at school, but I think that even you might find it a little difficult. The way I see it, you will need lots of paper, patience and time, say 30 minutes or so to solve even the easiest of these.Why? Because basically, you are asked how many combinations can be formed from such and such. Example: How many ways get 31241 by adding prime numbers only? This is not really what the problems are like in the book, they are far more complicated than that.For me, it's just too much. I can't even do 1 single problem. I can't even look up the answers because uses some sort of a legend that I can't understand. But if you have an above average intelligence or are mathematically gifted, you will probably find some obscure short cut to the problem a la Gauss. For the rest, forget it.Word of warning: these are purely number problems. I can't tell if logic will help or even plays a part in this book, but the problems are NUMBER problems. |
1858683092 | Mensa Number Puzzles (Mensa Word Games for Kids) | null | null | null | 1/1 | 4 | 1,015,718,400 | Numbers Puzzles Galore | This is a good book if you like numbers puzzles.It contains different types of puzzles such asgrids, sequences, logic and many others.They can be difficult at times; with a littlepatience, they can be solved. |
0792391810 | Vector Quantization and Signal Compression (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) | null | A1CHPTJILEAL74 | Jean | 5/5 | 5 | 949,536,000 | The most complete book on vector quantization | An essential book for researchers and engineers working on vector quantization. It provides a (nearly) exhaustive description of the available VQ methods, with analyses and discussions. The book concentrates on VQ, so don't buy it if you're not interested in that only. Most math tools explained. Could be a little bit outdated on some aspects -> things are moving fast in the field. |
0792391810 | Vector Quantization and Signal Compression (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) | null | null | null | 0/0 | 5 | 934,848,000 | This is a very good book for students and engineers. | Many useful concepts of digital compression can be found in this book. It is easy to read and understand, especially for students and engineers in EE. |
0792391810 | Vector Quantization and Signal Compression (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) | null | A30DX2BO4Y4NLU | Moosh | 3/5 | 3 | 1,113,609,600 | Comprehensive but marred by poor printing | This book appears to be a "print on demand" style book which manifests itself, in this case, as a poor quality hardcover. Some of the text is laughably bad, the few images near the end look like they are snapshots from a black and white TV screen, but most bothersome is the "muddy" look of the text. The price seems a bit steep for such a poor quality print. That said, the actual content is very comprehensive. One of the authors (Gray) is co-creator of the now commonplace LBG (Linde Buzo Gray) VQ algorithm. Fortunately, the quality of the content shines through the terrible printing. |
0792391810 | Vector Quantization and Signal Compression (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) | null | A29Z0B2L367ZO | David Jimenez "DJ" | 1/2 | 5 | 1,227,484,800 | Great reference book for its topic | It seems somebody was complaining for the printing quality. This is not a calculus book. If you take most theoretical books, and certainly most Springer's book, they don't have nice full color Barney images. This is technical (mostly theoretical) stuff. There is, in my opinion, no problem with the printing at all, clear, quality monochromatic printing.With respect to the contents of the book, it has almost everything you may want to know about Vector (and even Scalar) quantization and Signal compression. It was a great help while I was writing my doctoral thesis. Gray is probably one of the most respected authorities in the field. |
0792391810 | Vector Quantization and Signal Compression (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science) | null | null | null | 0/3 | 4 | 928,195,200 | large volume,not enough proof, introductory, good organizati | It seems that authors have pictures unrelated to content of the text repeatedly printed. It does not cover major topics, such as .gif/ graphic file compression. On the positive side it is well-written, organized, multiple equation in some chapters, descriptive in others. Very little mathematical proof. |
B000879GGE | A husband for Kutani | null | A2HDZHLMT3L5IO | Laurence Bush "horror critic" | 0/0 | 5 | 1,141,603,200 | Unique Weird Orientalia from the 1930's | Exotic tales of the Orient from the 1930's. "Dr Shen Fu", a Weird Tales magazine reprint, is about the elixir of life that grants immortality at a price. If you're tired of modern authors who all sound alike, this is the antidote for you. Owen's palette is loaded with splashes of Chinese and Japanese colours. Marvelous. |
0908968000 | Gold and greenstone | null | A3Q7EWPN8MK8MS | Rob | 0/2 | 5 | 948,585,600 | "Gold and Greenstone" Barry Crump | A great New Zealand book writen in the true Barry Crump way |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A1KZ0RDJZQSY4O | sayock | 27/29 | 3 | 1,090,368,000 | No "Insider" Secrets | If you are someone who is fairly new to the law school admissions process and haven't done much research on what it takes to get into law school, this information might seem very helpful and insightful to you. However, as someone who has read several other books (Richard Montauk's "How To Get Into the Top Law Schools," Robert Miller's "Law School Confidential" and more) and done the necessary research on the internet, this book brought very little new information to the table. Perhaps the most unique thing about this book is the "15 essential factors"...unfortunately, many of those 15 factors--though essential--are things the average person applying to law school--particularly top law schools--doesn't care about and might cast aside even after reading this book.I do agree with her that many pre-law advisers are ill-prepared to advise pre-law students and don't know nearly as much as they should. However, if the info in this book is the information she provided other pre-law advisers with, then it's nothing that the advisers nor the students couldn't have come up with themselves or elsewhere. I still say Montauk's book is the best on law school admissions out there, regardless of what schools you're interested in. HIS book is the one with all the insider secrets in it. Wright's book is just a very broad overview of the admissions process, in my opinion.The one thing this book totally has in common with Montauk's book that is very disappointing is that they do nothing to help minorities know what the admissons process will truly be like for them or how to handle it. For that, you have to look up books by Evangeline Mitchell. Most books have a tendency to treat everyone the same, as if all the information applies to them the same, and that is deceiving.In conclusion, if you feel pretty well-informed already about admissions or are looking for an extra bit of information that might give you that edge or illuminate your particular situation...this book is not the one for you. Only if you really know very little about law school admissions might this book be worth it...but I'd still say it'd be best to go with Montauk's eye-opening admissions guide. |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A2Y6KQPZUZP1MM | T.Bird | 6/7 | 2 | 1,121,126,400 | Not an "ultimate guide" | Firstly,I enjoyed the format and tone of the book (how the author addressed the reader). However, I did not feel that she imparted any insider secrets that the book promised to reveal. If you are just starting to research law school, and do not know all the requirements of admission, then this book may be a tremendous help. If you have done your homework and are looking for an edge when it comes to admissions, I recommend some more topic-specific books. For example, books on how to write your personal statment, books geared specifically towards LSAT preparation (Powerscore books were the most helpful for me), and there are some websites with great advice geared towards aiding the individuals whom you are asking to write letters of recommendation. Yet, for those new to the entire affair, this book can definitely clarify the requirements for you. |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A79QZ7YQFIXG6 | Adam Glickman | 5/6 | 5 | 1,129,075,200 | Everything my advisor SHOULD have told me! | My advisor never asked any of the right questions or gave me the kind of information that would have helped me with my plan to study law. While looking for books on the LSAT I found this book and it really helped. It told me everything that the best advisor would have told me. It really helped me evaluate how I felt about law school and how to properly prepare myself. The last time I went back to my advisor he was shocked at how much I knew. I feel really good about my applications and think I have a really good chance of getting a "big envelope". |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | null | null | 9/12 | 5 | 1,066,176,000 | Exactly what I needed. | This book answered all my questions about getting into law school in a plain and straightforward way. It was easy to read, and clear in its explanations. It even answered many questions I hadn't even thought to ask. The stories that are included in its "Tales From the Trenches" are really interesting, sometimes funny, and really help you to know how to avoid mistakes you might otherwise make. It's much more help than any other source I have found. The only thing it doesn't do is have a full LSAT prep course, but it does give you examples of the questions, and tells you how you can structure your own preparation program. Buying this book actually saved me money by helping me choose only to the right law schools for me, and by giving me a way to evaluate LSAT courses.(It turns out that a lot of expensive courses are not as good as you might think!) The appendix alone is worth the cost of the book. It has information on all the law schools sorted by the "15 Essential Factors" for picking law schools as they are outlined in the book. It makes it easier to sort through all the schools to find the right ones to apply to. This book really gave me confidence that I will get into law school. I can't wait to get my "big envelopes"! |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A142FRLMOAOLC7 | JudgeJoe | 0/0 | 4 | 1,356,998,400 | It works | What can I say? It works. This helped me when applying to law schools. A great guide to utilize. Cutting a great score on the LSAT is just part of the equation to get into law school. |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A3AJA5ADM3Q8LM | stargazer | 7/12 | 5 | 1,090,886,400 | THIS BOOK SAVED ME OVER $100,000.00!!! | Boy am I lucky to have found The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission. I picked it up because a friend recommended it to me as being the best book for the law school application process, and was she right! When I got the book I skipped right to the chapters on the admission process and found the whole thing very informative and encouraging. It let me know that even though I'm not the best student, there are plenty of schools that I would definitly get in to, and it told me how to make my application the best it could possibly be. I am sure that I would have gotten into at least a couple of the schools I had picked to apply to. However, lucky for me, before I sent in my applications I decided to read the book again. This time I started with the first chapter "Should I go to law school." Guess what? Being a lawyer isn't what I thought it was! I mean, this book told me things about what lawyers personal lives are like, and what their average work day is like... stuff that I had never gotten anywhere else! This chapter convinced me that I would not be happy being a lawyer! Not only did this chapter save me from the expensive application fees... it saved me from spending the next three years wasting my time, and tuition money, pursuing a degree that would have put me in a job that apparently isn't right for me at all! Thank you Mrs. Wright, you saved me $100,000.00! I definitly recommend that EVERYONE read this chapter first! Don't go to law school without it!!! |
0974289108 | The Ultimate Guide to Law School Admission: Insider Secrets for Getting a "Big Envelope" with Your Acceptance to Law School! | null | A22WHL8P1DONEK | Carlo A. Taboada Jr. | 0/1 | 1 | 1,214,265,600 | Nothing you don't already know | If you have even casually looked into applying to law school, have already read everything there is in this book, do not waste your money, seriously!! |
0809080699 | The Repeal of Reticence: A History of America's Cultural and Legal Struggles over Free Speech, Obscenity, Sexual Liberation, and Modern Art | null | A18YY5TBNSDW3O | Bartleby | 29/29 | 5 | 899,164,800 | Great treatment of the defeat of reticence by exposure | Using a quiet, restrained writing style that is a pure pleasure to read, Gurstein chronicles the one-sided battle between the party of exposure and the party of reticence. She is on the side of reticence and writes with the pained nostalgia of a Southerner describing aspects of the War Between the States. Guerstein knows that reticence is a lost cause; she asks only whether it should be.Gurstein makes a quiet case for the reintroduction of taste, judgement, and sensibility into our public lives. This is a common theme these days. What is uncommon is that she derives her "argument" (always presented with the greatest of civility) from the distortion of privacy that somehow led from Brandeis's great legal work on privacy to the transformation of social man to private men and women and eventually to the public dissemination of all sorts of private matters. This is innovative and intriguing.Reticence should emerge from the coordinated behavior of civilized persons; it should not be coerced by legislation and litigation. It is thus especially appropriate that Gurstein never hectors or lectures. Instead, she paints such a delightful alternative portrait of life, far from morning talk radio, nightly real tv, and ever-present commercial messages in nearly all media, that she inspires the reader to aspire toward at least some aspects of reticence.I felt that Gurstein did not define reticence early enough and failed to take advantage of the opportunities to add more detail as the book progressed. I assume that the party of reticence acquired useful knowledge over time, such as after its (happily) failed efforts to prosecute the publisher of Joyce's Ulysses. But these reservations are minor.My most serious concern is whether the domestic party of reticence has foreign (and sometimes not-so-foreign) counterparts in governments that have successfully enforced taste through stern rule of law. I would have appreciated a treatment of these cultural (or anti-cultural) forces. Althoug! h very difficult, such an effort would have greatly sharpened my understanding of the tenets of the party of reticence and its role in our society. Gurstein surely knows that the mere existence of such potential counterparts to her domestic party of reticence may chill further inquiry; after all, she records numerous instances in which the party of exposure has dangled straw men for talismanic protection from true debate. It would be very useful if Gurstein, accounting for the human rights of those oppressed by governmental regimes, could make a better case for the human rights of those increasingly oppressed by the party of exposure, whose methodology of oppression is vastly different. The incremental personal losses to the party of exposure do not lend themselves to the same degree of drama, but possibly, over a sufficiently long period of time, they can present, cumulatively, a meaningful loss of freedom.Henry James wrote that the words, "summer afternoon" were the most pleasant in the English language. Take a summer afternoon (or two) to read this euphonious essay for a refreshing breather from the cacophony of Howard Stern, Don Imus, and their local knock-offs; follow-up news stories on Viagra; Judge Judy; infomercials; network news; and the culture of money, sex, power, and fame hustled by the print and electronic media. |
0809080699 | The Repeal of Reticence: A History of America's Cultural and Legal Struggles over Free Speech, Obscenity, Sexual Liberation, and Modern Art | null | A29LG535LJRITI | Edward J. Uecker | 0/0 | 5 | 1,357,776,000 | Rochelle explains It All for You | Wondering what the hell has happened to the moral aspect of modern American culture ? This book is a lucid, well argued explanation of the simple fact that we have become so totally focused on our individual RIGHTS that we have completely ignored, and even mocked, our personal and public responsibilities. The final response and indictment of Robert Ringer's best seller, LOOKING OUT FOR #1. This is a great time for anyone who is disgusted with the boorish state of American media, politics and discourse in general, to clear their heads for the substantial challenges that lie before us not only as Americans, but as human beings. A great book |
0553763121 | Overcoming Hypertension (Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Preventive Medicine Program) | null | A3TQFPF0QGVSJV | Woody "Woody" | 2/2 | 5 | 1,352,073,600 | A must read for anyone with blood pressure issues | Books by Dr Kenneth Cooper have been a tremendous source of guidance for me for over 30 years.When I first started being affected by the stress side effects of working too hard and too long in the 70's I started exercising. At the time jogging/running was becoming quite popular, so I took that up. I like to read so I read the Jim Fixx book on running which led me to Dr Cooper's book "Aerobics" (a term he coined), then to "Aerobics Program for total Well Being...", which became sort of a bible for a long time. After retirement I quit smoking and started going to a doctor. Found to be out of shape - again - I looked up Dr Cooper and saw his book "Start Strong, Finish Strong" which I absorbed like a sponge dropped in a bucket of water. Joined a gym and started the prescription of 55% aerobics, 45% strength and have never felt better. Now I've got one doctor trying to tie me down to hypertension drugs. That diagnosis was contrary to my own readings, so I'm in the middle of a complete cardio workup. (The initial stress test results were great, waiting for the in depth analysis.) When I saw this book it was a gotta have.In this book Dr. Cooper very thoughtfully presents all factors in a very helpful manner with a goal of controlling blood pressure without medications, but points out factors that could make them necessary. After my first reading I feel like I can more intelligently discuss the stress test results with my cardiologist, then better deal with my general physician.I would hardily, strongly recommend this book for any person who has had a too high blood pressure reading. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | null | null | 36/37 | 5 | 949,104,000 | Real Alaskan Sourdough | Ruth Allman has written an excellent book about Alaskan sourdough history and provided very tasty receipes. As a resident of Kodiak,Alaska I have been lucky enough to get some of Ruth Allmans sourdough starter. I have tried her receipes and all I can say is , wow! San Francisco look out. You get a real sense of the struggle of the pioneers with this book, and the way she describs the receipes, you can just imagine spreading the butter and jam on the bread. My favorite receipe is the hot griddle cakes with fresh strawberries. As Ruth says, the art of mixing the batter with air, and the timing of slopping it on the grill is a skill learned over time. The Baked Alaska with sourdough waffles (which by the way is how it was actually first made) is a dessert from heaven. This is a book that every sourdough making Alaskan owns. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | AC58Z72OB2DDX | Gary W. Marian | 29/30 | 5 | 945,734,400 | True Alaskan cooking | I have been using this book since 1988, the eighth printing, and I can honestly say it is the best sourdough cookbook I have seen. The recipe's are easy to follow and the history lessons are entertaining as well. Ms. Allman has written a really fun book and I do mean written. The entire book is hand written ! Truly an Alaskan cookbook. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | A3CNQIKVTG9QYO | MERRIBETH NORD | 25/28 | 5 | 982,972,800 | Cheechako to Sourdough in 190 Pages | My poor dogeared, stained copy of this book came to me by way of my dad and brother after their trip to Alaska in 1989. Dad acquired some starter in about 1959 that its guardian said had been going since the days of the 49ers. I know it's been bubbling since then. All Dad made, though, were bread and rubbery pancakes. He, unfortunately, didn't buy a copy for himself, although I'd give anything to have him make another meal of them! You see, that's the magic of sourdough, the romance, the stories, the memories! I've not yet been to Alaska, but Ruth Allman has taken me from Cheechako to Sourdough by generously sharing her recipes and her stories with me. I read this book just for the enjoyment of it sometimes. We had her waffles this morning. I made her Flower Rolls recipe into Danish rolls for my famously fussy father-in-law. What better tribute could I make to this cook and her book than to say that he loved them! My two year old son and I will make a little fire in the woods and bake a sourdough version of bannock in Dad's old Dutch oven this week and make some memories of our own. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | null | null | 10/11 | 5 | 1,087,603,200 | A Cookbook Every Baker Should Own | I found a copy of this cookbook at a local used book store and mixed up a sourdough starter the following day. It was bubbling away the next morning and I can't wait to try it in a few more days...The directions in this book are simple to follow. The anecdotes and history provided are entertaining. The recipes all sound delicious! I'll be working my way through many of these, starting of course with the sourdough hotcakes and bread. The handwritten format just adds to the charm of the book. If you're interested in learning to make sourdoughs, this book will give you all the information you'll need. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | A2UMP9TJTJ6A6B | happygardeningmama "happygardeningmama" | 7/8 | 1 | 1,310,169,600 | Cannot recommend | As a former Alaskan, I didn't want to have to do this. But after repeatedly attempting Allman's recipes and having to throw out 8-10 cups of flour and miscellaneous ingredients nearly every time--and then comparing to Ed Wood's recipes which work flawlessly, and Lisa Rayner's very excellent Wild Bread: Hand-baked sourdough artisan breads in your own kitchen, I can't help but notice that their recipes work, where Allman's fail.I'm not a novice baker. The only thing that worked reliably was the pancakes recipe, but that can be found other places as well.If you are looking for reliable recipes and concise information about starting a sourdough and maintaining it, I recommend any of Ed Wood's books, even his very old ones. Lisa Rayner has written a fabulous tome in Wild Bread. But pass on this book.While some of the historical vignettes were interesting--not enough so to warrant the cost of the book. Check it out at your library if you must. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | AC2TK7NHKB5C0 | Kiki B. "The Shepherdess" | 4/4 | 5 | 1,236,643,200 | The best sourdough book around | For those of us who would prefer to use sourdough starter as the sole leavening agent in making breads, this cookbook is very helpful in getting us "started". There are some receipts calling for the addition of yeast, and baking soda is often added not so much to leaven loaves as to create a chemical change which dampens some of the sourness in a very sour pot of starter. Overall, this book gives some of the best history of sourdough from a lady who knows first-hand the importance of an active sourdough starter, and will get any beginner started off making some very good breads, rolls, breakfast items & desserts. There is even a section at the end for making various products from the wild berries grown in the Last Frontier (for those of us who are able to utilize lingonberries & such)! Even for those who don't care to do a lot of baking, this book has a great deal of interesting information about Alaska & its pioneers - a great read for celebrating our 50th year of Statehood! |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | A22T74YNRM8NTK | Heddlemaid | 8/10 | 5 | 1,107,820,800 | Worth buying just for the waffle recipe | Make the most sublime waffles - crispy outside, creamy inside, and with a flavor that beats anything else. So good that my children want them even as plain unheated leftovers later in the morning. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | A2E0GB5QZRX2JZ | Linda Pool "cookbookaholic" | 5/6 | 5 | 1,244,851,200 | A Bit of Heaven | I got this book because of all the interesting stories and sourdough tidbits that it contained. The stories were informative, a fascinating look at history, and most of all - FUN! Then, because she made it sound so easy and delectable - I decided to try making sourdough and see what would happen. I had to go back and forth in the book a little to make sure I was doing everything correctly - the Sourdough Hints in the back were very helpful. Well, it's been a week since I mixed up the starter. The sourdough smelled "sour cream sour" and it looked OK. (I was glad not to see little black fungus or other such nasties growing on the surface like the last sourdough I tried to make 20 years ago). So I made the Quick Sourdough Bread today. I figured that was a good place to start since I didn't want to take time for the 2 risings that the regular Sourdough Bread recipe called for. It rose nicely in the pan. It smelled good. But I did take it out of the oven 10 minutes early, because it was a deep golden brown and I was afraid it would be a rock-hard loaf if I waited the full 45 minutes. I brushed butter on the crust to soften it a little (still paranoid about the possible hard crust) and waited for it to cool. I sliced it. My husband and I had one slice. Then we had another. (And, yes, then we had one more with black cherry jam!) Oh My Goodness!! I haven't had bread that tasted that good in a LONG time!! My husband put it this way, "It is a slice of Heaven!". I agreed wholeheartedly - better than candy, cake or cookies! So take it from a person who has hundreds of cook books and probably thousands of recipes and has cooked all sorts of bread for the last 30+ years - this book is worth getting. It made the best bread we have ever eaten and now I can't wait to try some of the other recipes in the book. Four thumbs up. |
B000NKGYMK | Alaska Sourdough | null | A7VSVB6Z0JHOV | C.J. Whale | 1/1 | 2 | 1,349,654,400 | Imprecise Recipes Make Bad Bread | It's quaint, I'll give it that. The handwritten style and illustrations are reminiscent of, perhaps, an early scratch draft of "The Moosewood" done with a sharpie instead of a nib and ink. But the recipes for bread are poorly assembled.Any bread maker knows how the proportionality of ingredients is key for bread. I've tried two of the four bread recipes so far and neither have performed well. One recipe calls for 8 to 10 cups of flour, which I halved, and so attempted 4 to 5 cups. At 3 cups, my dough was full. Okay, yes, great variety of atmospheres and starter consistency, yes, but the next recipe was like that too. And my sponge has not raised a mm in 24 hours. Perhaps it's too cold in my kitchen? Nevertheless, don't expect this book to even hint at how long a rise will take.And what kind of sourdough calls for baking soda or commercial yeast? The kinds in this book!I'm not claiming to be an expert on bread, but I've made two loaves a week for 2 years now, with a lot of success with other cookbooks (America's Bread Book, The Bread Book, My Bread); I think this one is lame. I'm glad it's my housemate's and that I didn't pay for it. |
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