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Great new edition
I sort of stumbled upon this edition. I read the earlier version of this work and wanted to read it again. I was happy to find out this new edition was being produced with unreleased material. True, the new additions don't drastically make this work any better, they do offer you an opportunity to read previously unreleased material written by a master craftsman. | 1positive
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A dishonest analysis!
Wagner may have acquired anti-semetic feelings but this "analysis" is ridiculous and contrived. It is hardly an unbiased scholarly work.This is the kind of stuff that keeps racism boiling! | 0negative
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Astonishing
I had to read this in book in high school and now again in college... and I hope to read it again in the future. It is a stunning portrait of secrecy and scandal, conceit and deceit, and the frustrations of being human... | 1positive
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Mary Lou
Difficult to read and follow - has all the right info but not organized in a user-friendly way. | 0negative
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A wonderfully supportive and helpful book!
This book has gone a long way in helping me to begin the long journey to coming to terms with the sexual abuse I suffered as a pre-teen. For most of my adult life, I've been reluctant to attribute any of my problems (such as depression, self hatred, unhealthy sexual relationships with men, a general disgust about myself, etc.) to being molested by my stepfather. Within the past couple of years, however, I've begun to examine my feelings about it more and more. I bought this book rather hesitantly, but ended up reading the first few chapters in tears as I read so many of my own feelings and experiences echoed by the other abuse survivors. I had thought that I was all alone and that there was something intrinsically wrong with me for feeling the way I did about myself, and it was an overwhelming relief to find others who feel the same after having similar childhood experiences. The reviews offered here referring to the "memory" issue misrepresent the focus and intent of the book. These readers seem to want to keep abuse survivors quiet to save the "sanctity" of the family. So many of us have done this for years; sacrificing of our emotional well being. They belittle the profound hurt and damage caused not only by the abuse, but by the silence as well. At the very least, this book has helped me to feel human and has given me hope that I may one day feel whole. I highly recommend this book as an invaluable resource.Addedum: It has been 7 years since I wrote the above review... I had forgotten I had written it until I ran across it in amazon's profile section. After reading a couple of the negative reviews below, I feel compelled to add something regarding the "repressed memory" issue. First, this book spends very little time even discussing the idea of repressed memories. Secondly, some people seem to be under the misguided impression that adults who know they were abused have obtained this knowledge through digging up these "repressed memories". Nothing could be further from the truth. Most sexual abuse survivors grow up remembering the abuse... these memories are not somehow buried. We grow and develop emotionally and psychologically with the knowledge that we were molested emblazened upon our psyches. This painful past shapes who we are, how we feel about ourselves, and our ability to have healthy relationships with others.This book was invaluable in my healing process... almost a decade after having read the book, I can honestly state that I have moved on from those painful memories and I have been able to realize that the abuse was not somehow my fault. If you've never been abused, you will never understand how profound that realization is. If, however, you have been a victim of sexual abuse and are searching for a way to process it and go forward, this book is a great start. | 1positive
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Drifts you into Brazil
Needless to say, John Grisham is very popular even here in Japan, too. As a non-native speaker of English, I'm a fan of his masterpieces. The elements of the adventures in this book made me foget to have a lunch break. The ending of the story is what you might expect to happen. | 1positive
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Not just for the kids
Richard Peck has a seamless manner of telling a story. He manages to strike the right note in this historical fiction. It is frequently humorous, and occasionally sentimental without ever being sappy. In this sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, Grandma Dowdel continues to make an impact on those within her sphere of influence. In this story, her granddaughter, Mary Alice, is sent to spend the school year in the country with Grandma due to the financial hard times in 1937. Mary Alice gains more from Grandma than she bargained for. When the year is up and her father has work again, she isn't so sure she wants to go back to Chicago.After a tornado strikes the town, Grandma takes Mary Alice along to check up on a few neighbors. "We left then, Grandma bustling to prove she hadn't given two hoots about Mrs. Wilcox. But I saw through that. I hadn't lived with her all year for nothing. Sometimes I thought I was turning into her. I had to watch out not to talk like her. And I was to cook like her for all the years to come. ... 'Grandma, is Mrs. Wilcox your best friend?' 'We neighbors,' she said." Grandma teaches Mary Alice how to be a good neighbor, in her own unique fashion. This is one that can appeal to all ages. | 1positive
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When your eager to pick the book up again...
When your eager to pick the book up again an wish it had not ended when your finished... that's a good book. At first I was unsure as I rarely read this type of fiction but was soon drawn into the story because of the authors ability to make the imagination come alive. The book exceeded my expectation. | 1positive
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Gammell does it again...
If you ever read the scary stories books, you'll love this, because it has the same creepy illustrations!Gammell's artwork is just amazing... | 1positive
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Garden of Lies
Althought it is a good book to read,ever noticed that Corrine and Olivia tell to different stories.For example.Olivia says that she caught Chris and Corrine in the Swan room, but Corrine tells her kids that they married on her 18th birth,then came back a week later and told her parents what they did.It is a fantastic book to read,but I get confused and that is hat recks the story.If it had been more scents,then it would have gotten 5 stars instead of 4. | 1positive
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Disturbing, gross, and badly written!
I really wanted to read this book since it made the number one bestseller list for the New York Times, so I bought this book from my local bookstore and since I was going on a flight to Dallas I thought that maybe I could bring this along. I started to read this and at first it was interesting but as you cross one hundred pages the memoir shows its true colors.The book goes into so many disturbing sequences its hard to find a spot that doesnt contain it, its wrong and its described so graphic, I immediately threw this book into the thrash can and later I could never get it out of my head because it just made me feel very disgusted.If you dont mind reading about mature topics and if you(the reader) enjoy twisted books then go for it, otherwise if you dont then your taking a risk when you start reading this book, its pretty disgusting. | 0negative
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Revolting
I don't know if such a review as mine will be published, but I feel obliged to write it. I ask the readers to skip through the reviews below and to notice a weird fact: this book has received a lot of five stars and a lot of one stars! When I saw it first I didn't know what to think, but having read this unhappy book I know. The praise it received is too "professional" to be true (have you ever read back covers?), whereas the comments posted by disappointed readers are just what I felt like writing myself. This book, and something else, is a hoax. | 0negative
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Too unfocused and all over the place
On Writing Horror is a collection of brief (mostly 3-4 page) articles by genre authors of the HWA (Horror Writer's Association), each on a different subject, not even always horror-specific. This usually does not give you enough (or in some cases, any) practical information or examples to help you hone your craft. In fact, even for free from the library, I found this book not particularly helpful. I've read dozens of how to write books over the years, and learned more from even the worst of them than On Writing Horror. I'm sure this book was well-intentioned, but it's too unfocused and all over the place. Another almost equally poor writing guide (although it's an interesting autobiography) is former HWA member Richard Laymon's "A Writer's Tale." Honestly, I don't even find Stephen King's "On Writing" that useful, as most of the advice he gives is widely available elsewhere in a more focused, helpful format without all the autobiographical stuff to get in the way.If you insist on getting a horror-specific how to write guide, I'd suggestWriting the Paranormal Novel: Techniques and Exercises for Weaving Supernatural Elements Into Your Story.It's not super-amazing, but it's a much more straightforward, solid place to start (although experienced writers probably won't learn much from it though). Or, you might try the more generalizedElements of Fiction Writing - Conflict and Suspense. I would argue learning how to write effective conflict and suspense is more important than learning how to write horror, because conflict and suspense are the foundation of any story regardless of genre, and a horror writer without a good grasp of either will create mindless gorefests at best, or total junk at worst.New writers should be grounding themselves in books like these:Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction),Save the Cat,My Story Can Beat Up Your Story: Ten Ways to Toughen Up Your Screenplay from Opening Hook to Knockout Punch,The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition,The Virgin's Promise: Writing Stories of Feminine Creative, Spiritual and Sexual Awakening, which give you various story structure templates suitable for all genres (even the ones that say they are for screenplays can be used for novels with slight tweaking). From analyzing these templates, you can break down any story (horror or otherwise), and see what makes it work, when things are supposed to happen (key events), and what the overall theme actually is.One other book I found useful, especially for its section on how to create memorable throwaway victims for your villains to kill is Raymond Obstfeld'sNovelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes. That will teach you how to write killer scenes where you can introduce the villain(s) stalking and killing some minor character(s) without the victims coming off as cardboard.You'll also need a few solid self-editing guides likeFiction First AidandSelf-Editing for Fiction Writersand probably a book like Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints by Nancy Kress. | 0negative
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Can't wait for the next book!
I loved every page of this book. I felt like I was right along with her on her journey of self-discovery. I didn't want it to end and can't wait until the next one comes out! Great read! | 1positive
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Good reference for those interested in the history of Auckland
This is an extremely useful and compact book. It is about A4 size, 96pp long and with softcoversIt is a really punchy and concise book about the Maori history of New zealand. It includes lots of early pictures and maps of Auckland with the sites put it. I really enjoyed this book because it talked of things which had long gone with European settlement and the suburbs - small lakes, rivers and even mountains removed or leveled to make way for houses, streets and growth.This also has a small but good prehistory of the region (pre-European) including the conflicts, the tribes, the legends etcIt has some wonderful additional stuff, the nights of the moon which was the Maori calendar (the days were described by the moon. there is also a Maori place-name glossary in the back for auckland names and include a brief description and sometimes possible reasons for it - whether pre-european or not.There are several turn of the century pictures around Auckland. which show how isolated Auckland was then, now a city of over 1 million people.My main problem with this is two fold. Firstly I think the maps need to have the current Auckland names on them. Using the Maori names is really great, but it makes it difficult to relate it to what is there now without better references in it. Secondly I think the whole of the Gulf should have been included. There is some brief reference to it such as Rangitot and briefly Browns Island, but I don't understand why Waiheke is not included. Maori were very mobile with canoes and trading, and the island is a short hop from Maraetai - if not Auckland itself.Otherwise I think this is a great book and we will be recommending it to any visitors to Auckland. I think it is one of the best reads, and easy to follow. It is really enjoyable and has an air of authority about it as well. | 1positive
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I couldn't not put it down.
What a disappointment! Every chapter starting with "Cersei" made me put the book down. Book four took about four times longer than any of the other books to read because it kept being boring. We could basically have skipped this book and given each of these minor characters 1/4 of a chapter recap on what they did during what the cool people did.Of course, book 2 and 3 spent most of the time NOT telling me about what I wanted to read anyway, and just giving the POVs of the minor characters. Honestly GRRM is coming around to be "the great new pretender". Book 1 was great, book 2 and 3 have only been losing steam (I thought book three was building, but if it doesn't build to anything then it didn't), book 4 is a flop, and really now all momentum is DEAD if book 5 is going to flashback to what the cool people have been up to.I haven't read book 5 yet, of course, but at the end of 4 GRRM sounds like he's saying book 5 is a re-telling of 4 in the cool people POV, which is super annoying, but if it's not, it means he skipped the cool people stuff for an ENTIRE BOOK and is going to tell us about it later. Either way, disappointment.I'm drawing parallels to me putting down the Wheel of Time forever halfway through book 12 after not being able to slog through the long-awaited recap of what happened in the previous book (I think it was 12, been a long time now).Why do so many epic fantasies have trouble finishing the job? It seems like the authors can't handle closing the story and with book 5 taking 6 years, and GRRM being 63 I don't really trust him to end this properly. I plan to put this series on hold indefinitely AT LEAST until he writes the official final book, and I hear good things about it. | 0negative
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How I Stole Her Husband
How I Stole Her Husband is a very enjoyable read to anyone who has ever felt bad about themselves or is having a hard time finding a book that the average person can relate to. The characters are all unique and you find yourself drawn into every second of the book to find out what happens. I never found a boring moment where i just wanted to skip ahead because what i was reading wasn't interesting. I also enjoyed the creativity not to many books out there make you feel like you could actually be in that situation, which gives it appeal. I would definatly reccomend this book to any girl, sorry i don't think the fella's would enjoy this one. | 1positive
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Nicely written, but ultimately, perhaps, pointless
Pointless, to me, is a strong word to use, and I spent a few seconds thinking about the title of my review before I finally decided to type that word. I think one reservation I have is simply calling a novel pointless which has received so much praise, both critically and otherwise. I certainly don't want to be disregarded as someone who doesn't "get" literary fiction, but finally I decided that that was a ridiculous reason and I have no reason not to state how I really feel.Having said that, I'll go on with the review. Just before I read Gilead, I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. After reading these two novels, I seriously sat there and wondered just what it takes to win the Pulitzer Prize these days. While I found The Road extremely tedious and, quite frankly, boring, it at least had a narrative thread that was supposedly leading somewhere.Almost from the beginning of Gilead you can see that this novel has no real narrative thread, at least not in terms of a story or even much of a plot. It is written as a father's letter to his son, and that's exactly how it sounds. Just as anyone might write whatever they are thinking at any moment, so too does this narrator. There are literally passages in the "novel" which begin like this: "That suddenly made me think of something else I wanted to tell you..."While I have a broad understanding of what it means to be a novel, and the different forms and subjects a novel can use, this particular book is a bit of a disgrace. I fully believe that if this were written in a fiction writing workshop, or if it were Robinson's first novel, that it would be criticized to death for its lack of structure or narrative. But as it is, because she released a (supposedly) good novel a long time ago, and there was such hype about this one, instead it wins the Pulitzer Prize.Gilead is well-written in a quiet, subtle way, and often good prose is enough for me to enjoy a novel, even if I find the story boring. But here it just did not suffice. I suppose if pressed hard enough I might even say that it's not *that* well-written, but it is certainly literary.The real question to ask yourself is if you want to invest the time to read 250 pages which really seem to amount to very little in the end. | 0negative
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Useful for experts
First off, this book is not for someone who doesn't already know how to use templates. See previous comments by readers concerning "spawn child pages" which is a vague term not used anywhere else relating to dreamweaver except in this book. What they mean to say is "open as new from template." It took me many many hours to discover this discrepancy.The main problem with this book is that it goes through 150 pages of explaination without any examples. When they hit you with the actual hands on templates tutorial at page 151, they assume you digested the previous 150 pages and give you ZERO meaningful direction back to the relevant topics being demonstrated. The benevolent authors feel that "use methods described in earlier chapters" is enough direction for their readers, which is absolutely ridiculous.In frustration, i began searching the web and found an excellent tutorial on pattysite.com about creating nested templates that was infinitely more valuable than this book for getting started with templates. it explained the overall structure of templates in a very concise manner.After working through the pattysite nested templates tutorial, the book was a somewhat useful guide to the inner workings of dreamweaver templates. Also to be fair, the authors are fairly active on the dreamweaver newsgroups and are readily available for grilling / answering questions. (they will be hearing from me shortly)So summarizing my rant above, buy this book if you already use templates and want to learn some new tricks, skip it if you don't. This book could easily be reduced to half its size, but as we all know, that doesn't sell very many books. The common logic is that the heft of a manual is directly proportional its value... | 0negative
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I loved the book.
I loved the book. I thought that Louisa May Alcott did anoutstanding job describing Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. I likedthe book also because it described a family in poverty, andshowed the whole picture, not just the good nor just the bad.I loved the book because all four of the girls get to go fromyoung ladies to women, and they all are allowed to marryfor love, and they're not forced to marry. I cried at the partwhere Beth died of Scarlet Fever. But other than that sadpart the rest of the book was great | 1positive
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Confused
I bought this book because it was known as a classic. I don't know if you have to read it 20 times, but I was confused through the whole book. I couldn't tell the timeframe of each chapter. Maybe I just don't appreciate that each chapter was a catch 22. Oh well, I don't suggest to buy this book, though. | 0negative
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A very good start in the subject
Definetely, a must have if you want to write shareware. It's a pretty complete survey of methods and programs to protect your work.I'd also want to point out the following:1) I miss some crackmes in the companion CD.2) In a next edition, that I hope gets released soon, It should include information specifically devoted to Windows XP and stuff. The section on softice might be too large in the current edition.Let me insist, a must have.Hope this help. | 1positive
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Disappointed - 2 year wait for this?!?
Before I discuss this book, I want to say that I have read every novel Tom Clancy has written and loved them all. I look forward (for years sometimes) for his next book.This book was a real disappointment. The plot was shallow, the ending was too easy, and everything was just too simple. Going from earlier novels of multiple plots that weave together to a grand combination... this book falls flat.I recently read an interview with Tom Clancy where he discusses this book. He mentions that this is the first book he wrote without smoking a cigarette. Perhaps, like the character Jack Ryan himself, he should sneak a few to help him with his thought process.The next novel Tom Clancy writes I will also purchase as soon as Amazon.com can ship it BUT, if its like this one, it will be the last time I buy a Clancy novel until I see everyone is raving about it! | 0negative
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boring
Bill Brysons book 'The Lost Continent' sucks. I picked up this book from the library expecting it to be like his other novel, Bill Bryson Down Under. Instead, all I got was (as another reviewer commented) a hate trip down memory lane full of his gratuitous dislike for his home country. The book reads like an adolescent wrote it in high school. He talks about the epidemic of bloated women, calls each town boring, picks on each stereotype he can possibly comment on and doesn't offer much in the way of entertainment. You also get the sense he's a patriot for his adopted country, England, and doesn't have a mote of pride for where he was born. Apparently the grass is greener on the other side for this fellow. I enjoyed Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' as a resident Aussie, but this book has turned me off all Bryson. Trash | 0negative
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Bad for Business
Victor Frankl was an existentialist. The existentialists went out of fashion in psychiatry because they were equated with a `be glad you're neurotic" approach, and denial of the reality of mental illness. This was bad for the psychiatry business, although several existentialists made a living as psychiatrists.The book is in two halves; the first describes his concentration camp experiences, the second his method of psychotherapy (or rather his philosophy of life) which he called logotherapy. The first half is not irrelevant to the second half. Some psychologists, such as Abraham Maslow, with his hierarchy of needs, suggest that issues like search for meaning are just icing on the cake of life. They become irrelevant when the chips are down. A starving man does not worry about the state of world politics. Frankl's experiences taught him that the will to go on living comes from some kind of inner force that is not just an animal survival instinct.Is logotherapy really a treatment method, or should we consider this book as self-help? I think it is more useful as a book for patients than as a manual for therapists, although I hope it doesn't persuade them to throw away their Prozac. It is full of illuminating insights and I found myself underlining many passages. Some of the actual techniques described, such as negative practice for obsessive rituals are more akin to behavior therapy than insight-oriented psychotherapy. He describes several one-shot cures brought about by philosophical utterances which may have worked for him but are in the category of "don't try this at home" for less charismatic practitioners. His ideas about anhedonia and boredom are good. | 1positive
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Lift up Thine Eyes.
May he who crosses the Abyss of Egolessness be armed with this knowlegde. Light anf Love to All.Thelema, Frateri Soroaeque Mei | 1positive
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Revisionist History and Disappointing
I have some concerns with respect to the credibility of the book: "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. I felt that I had to "second guess" most of his evidence, because it was ambiguous, incomplete or false.Firstly, Diamond uses the term "Eurasian" to describe cultures and societies, when the term is usually used to describe a geographical landmass or tectonic plates. Throughout the book, he uses the term "Eurasian" when it supports his hypothesis and replaces the term with European or western Eurasian to support another part of his thesis. He doesn't separate Europe and Asia to explain societies and cultures, even though Europe and Asia contain different religions, cultures and languages but separates "North Africa" from "Sub-Saharan Africa" even though they are part of the same continental landmass and have more commonalties. On pg. 161, Diamond attempts to explain his reasoning behind using the broad and vague term "Eurasian", when he states that: "my use of the term "Eurasia" includes in several cases North Africa, which biogeographically and in many aspects of human culture is more closely related to Eurasia than to sub-Saharan Africa". I believe Diamond confuses contemporary North African culture with the cultures that inhabited Northern Africa from 10,000 BC to 8th century AD. For example, from pre-dynastic to the mid-late stages of the Ancient Egyptian civilization, the ancient Egyptians had contact and traded with cultures in Ethiopia (sub-Saharan Africa). The Ancient Egyptian and Amharic language (Ethiopia) belong to the same language group which is Afro-Asiatic, and also belong to the same sub language group, which is Semitic. Diamond makes vague generalities in supporting his thesis and fails to engage significant evidence that challenges his thesis.When studying the development of different cultures and the spread of food production and technology, he alters the definition of different terms to fit his hypothesis. Any hypothesis can be supported if you constantly change the variables you are testing. I found that part the most distracting. He does this with the terms "North African" and "Sub-Saharan African", terms that carried little meaning between 13,000 BC until the 7th century, but are used to separate the significant accomplishments of Ancient Egyptians (Africans) with other Africans. On p. 92, he states that: "the availability of domestic plants and animals ultimately explains why empires, literacy, and steel weapons developed earliest in Eurasia and later, or not at all, on other continents." That statement is false, since written records of the Ancient Egyptian (African) language have been dated from about 3200 BC, making it the oldest and longest documented language. The Sumerian language, as Diamond claims is the oldest language, developed around 3000 BC. Furthermore, a recent archeological discovery has suggested that some Gerzean pottery with early hieroglyphics located in Egypt could have originated since 4000 BC.Ancient Egyptians were also the first to develop mathematic concepts (ie. Decimal system) and science (ie. astronomy, medicine) during that time period as well, and significantly influenced Greek science and mathematics. Diamond does not mention any of this and I believe that he leaves out significant achievements by non-Europeans to support his thesis.Throughout the book, Diamond also poses the following question in the background: "Why were Eurasians, rather than Native Americans or sub-Saharan Africans, the ones to invent firearms, oceangoing ships, and steel equipment?" But Diamond doesn't engage the most basic question relating to the motives of these cultures: Did Native Americans or Sub-Saharan Africans have a need for firearms/oceangoing ships? More to the point, did the Native Americans, sub-Saharan Africans, and other so-called non-Eurasians, want firearms/oceangoing ships? The answer would have forced Diamond to research the cultures and religions of Native Americans and Sub-Saharan Africans in more detail, rather than explaining it with geography and/or food production.Also, he does not include the significant accomplishments of Ancient Egypt, including papyrus, an early form of paper, that originated in Africa not Europe or Asia. On pg. 190, Diamond states that: "Continental differences in axis orientation affected the diffusion not only of food production but also of other technologies and inventions." It is known that Ancient Egyptian technology including scientific/medical discoveries traveled along the north/south axis towards the Middle-east and eventually to ancient Greece. Diamond doesn't mention any of this, which further questions the credibility of the book.Another problem with Diamond's style is that he seems to negate the influences of Non-Europeans, specifically Africa and China, to the current Western hegemony, ie.) gunpowder from China, natural resources from Africa, by either not mentioning them at all or underemphasizing their importance. It is quite likely that without the influences from non-European civilizations that current Western hegemony would not exist today. He also makes outright false statements such as in p.247 when he states that: "Delivered in grenades, rockets, and torpedoes, those incendiaries played a key role in Islam's eventual defeat of the Crusaders." According to historical records, there is no evidence to suggest that grenades, rockets and torpedoes were used during the Crusades.I agree that the domestication of plants and animals could predispose agriculturalists to further development, however geography and domestication of animals and plants alone is insufficient to support his thesis without explaining the role of the people and societies occupying the geography. Geography might be a factor to explain how Western Civilization became the dominant civilization in the world today, however European civilization did not arise in a vacuum. Regardless of the probable geographic advantage of Europe and Asia, factors such as political intentions, morals, ethics, religion and culture all served to explain why some civilizations were determined to expand and build empires through conquest, while others did not.Jared Diamond is an evolutionary biologist and biogeographer by training, however he deals with subjects that he is not qualified to address, such as history, anthropology, archeology, and sociology to name a few. Diamond claims that his theories offer an alternative explanation to traditional racist dogma, however I believe his theories do just the opposite. By stating that Europeans developed into the dominant civilization by "chance" or "luck" with respect to geography, strengthens racist theories that European civilization was "destined" to become the most powerful.My criticisms have nothing to do with "political correctness", but rather I take issue with Diamond's style of revisionist history that does not emphasize the influence and significance of non-European civilizations towards current Western civilization. While reading the book, I was constantly second guessing the facts of Jared Diamond because they were either inaccurate or ambiguous. | 0negative
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Yuck!!!!!!!
This book was one of the worst books I have ever read! I had to read it for English class in eighth grade. If it wasn't assigned literature in most places, no one would ever read this book. It was incredibly stupid and boring. It was hard for me to read because it was so BORING! I almost fell asleep reading it. The ending was horrible, too. If you really want to read this book, then feel free, but if you're looking for recommendations, you won't get one from me. If you're really into historical fiction only because of the history in it, then this book is for you, but that's not how I am. All in all, for me this book was one of the biggest wastes of my time and I do NOT recommend it to anybody. | 0negative
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Nefer The Silent
Although the begining of the book decieves you into believing that the book is full of suspense, it turns out to be quite boring. The only action in the whole book is in the very begining and in the very end. The plot of revenge which is talked about though out the whole book is never carried out and leads right into the sequel. I found the book to be confusing because of the many characters. There were so many characters that it was hard to keep up with it. For example they would talk about Ardent(one of the main characters) in one chapter and not talk about him until three or four chapters later. That made it hard to remember what was going on. Not only were there too many characters, but most of them were boring and led boring lives. The only character who was semi-interesting was Ardent.The only reason Ardent was better than the rest was because he was the violent one in the book. Other characters included Nefer(who had everything handed to him on a plate), Mehy, Sobeq, and several other characters. Nefer became the over seer and Mehy planned revenge on the place of truth, and Sobeq was one of the many guards at the Place Of Truth. Another confusing part in the whole book, was that once the characters reached the Place Of Truth, they changed their names. This made it hard to keep track of who was who and what their names had changed to. All in all, the book was boring. The middle of the book consisted of everyone just trying to get to the Place Of Truth. In the end of the book Ramses dies, Nefer becomes the head over seer, and a wise woman reveals to everyone that she sees "trouble" for the Place Of Truth and the book ends. This is where the sequel begins. After reading this book(which is the first in four), I can say that I will not be reading any of the sequels. | 0negative
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Smiling for the /r/ sound???
Not so sure I want to teach my child to smile all the time to produce the /r/ sound...I myself do not produce an /r/ sound smiling. I was told in order to produce an American retroflex /r/ sound your lips must be forwarded and round , but in this book, the author wants you to avoid using this method. Instead, she wants you to smile to produce the /r/ sound. Most sxperts I see on Youtube.com produce the American retroflex /r/ by lips forwarded and slightly rounded. Here are some links below showing this method:(...)(...)(...) | 0negative
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Move Over Tom, Christopher Moore needs this spot !
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues -- 3, Another Roadside Attraction -- 2, Still Life with Woodpecker -- 2, Skinny Legs and All -- 1, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas -- 1, Jitterbug Perfume -- 2.These are not ratings, they are how many times I have read each book. Get it, I am a Tom Robbins fan! Tom, Tom, Tom, what's the deal? Switters is an interesting enough fellow, I love the use of "vivid", the settings are interesting enough, meeting the "blue nude" was a stroke of complete "Tomness", but WOW, as a whole FIERCE INVALIDS FROM HOT CLIMATES is really lacking. I kept waiting for the novel to jell. It never did. I would have enjoyed another 100 pages to bring things back together. The wind-up of the book was sloppy and amateurish -- I have come to expect SO MUCH MORE from you! What a let down after waiting so long for a new book. And to think I bought it in HARDCOVER! | 0negative
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Shades of Black
I am a teacher and I used this book with my students. They loved it! They enjoyed the pictures and they were able to read the book independently (great for beginning readers). | 1positive
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Great book!
Very happy with this book! Great information to help you become more self sufficient. | 1positive
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After 55 years of SF, this is top rung.
I saw these books on the bookstand, but the BEMs on the cover put me off (Bug-eyed monsters to you uninitiates.) A trusted friend told me these books were the best SF ever and I scoffed. Then "Hmmm," I said. Now, I've read them all twice and am waiting dry-tongued and itching-eyed for the next... and I've never waited so long with no let-up in my addictive book craving. Mr. Gerrold knows more about just about everything that I know about than I ever will and he stuffs it in his series and makes me gobble it up with the hair on my neck standing straight up. The next of the series was promised by the publisher for 1990, sort of hinting it was the final volume. David, take a lesson from Robert Jordon who's only 80% the writer you are. Don't wrap it up. I'm a typical guy, judging from the other reviews, and I'll read 5 or 6 more in this series if you'll provide them and keep up the quality. These books are a psychological, sociological, ecological education by way of twisted gut reactions and bleary-eyed mornings from reading all night. Come on, DG, stop acting rich and get to it. | 1positive
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Not suitable for the beginner
Mr. Schiller has a PhD, but his book does not reflect much quality control went into its composition. There are missing figures, but yet referenced in the text. The book lacks an index. Several words are abbreviated, but there is no apparent explanation for them. I get the feeling this book went from first draft directly to publication. The hefty price is not justified. I am glad I only borrowed it from a library. The one purpose of the book seems to be to promote Excel spreadsheets he has created to track the OEX; and their prices are equally inflated. Why must you, Mr. Schiller, sell them from Spain? Isn't trading the OEX sufficiently profitable by itself? | 0negative
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Best Bedtime Book!
This is the best bedtime book. I bought this as a gift for my new nephew. I read this book to my son for years. Thes best! | 1positive
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Oddly Disjointed
I read this book twice before reviewing, allowing about a year between readings. The first time I had just seen Wicked and thought I was just disillusioned at how little the musical resembles this book. But the second time I truly realized - I just don't like this book!The primary reason is that the narrative feels so disjointed. This book feels more as if it is a collection of short stories about one character, rather than a novel. In each chapter we are just coming to be interested in a supporting character or characters, when BAM! the story jumps forward x years and the nearly interesting characters are never seen or heard from again, or show up in such limited and uninteresting capacity that it makes little difference. After the second time of this happening I realized that this book was more a little series of vignettes about Elphaba, rather than a cohesive whole.I also felt like I never truly understood the protagonist. There were a few times when her motivations were clear, but overall I had little concept of what she was really thinking and feeling about the world. I needed to be able to better identify with her in order to sympathize with her. Her characterization also feels uneven - her eventual behavior at the conclusion of the novel seems completely random.I understand that there are a lot of "morals to the story" in this book and that it wants to study issues of prejudice and morality... but for me, there also needs to be a good strong STORY to back that up. I just didn't find that here. I need to be able to get invested in the characters, particularly the main character. But the supporting characters were constantly being whisked away, and the main character never seemed full realized.I did love GM's other book "Confessions of a Wicked Stepsister" | 0negative
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Mostly historical interest -negative reinforcement training
Whew, what a lot of controversy and name calling this book has generated! If you don't like it, you're a namby-pamby wimp, and if you do, you're a sadist. Koehler was a brilliant negative reinforcement trainer. His method absolutely, positively works if carefully studied and correctly applied. Dogs do learn fairly well by attrition and they will work to avoid punishment. In addition most of today's dog trainers, including "Uncle Matty" and his ilk, use methods based on Koehler's, although generally they aren't as good trainers. If you're a dog trainer, this book is of interest from an historical standpoint. HOWEVER, there is no reason to train a dog using these methods today. Positive reinforcement methods such as clicker training work far better and are better suited to the vast majority of dog owners and dogs. The best dog training book I have read (and I've read most of them) is The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. The disadvantages of Koehler are 1. The methods are too harsh to use on a dog younger than six months of age, and it is much better to start training as soon as you take your puppy home. 2. The problem behavior section is deservedly termed cruel,and Koehler is very guilty of anthropormorphism here - dogs are not capable of spiteful planning in their bad behaviors, that's a human trait. We need to remember that behaviors such as digging are only "bad" from the human point of view. A person might beat his dog in anger, but a dog won't soil the rug to get revenge on his owner for being left alone - that's absurd, and in that sense all dogs are "stupid." Even Koehler method classes do not advocate the bizarre tortures outlined in this book to address behavior problems. 3. Certainly it is better to train your dog so it is reliably obedient than to put it to sleep for bad behavior. And certainly it is better to give a dog one "meaningful correction" than to nag it constantly with irritating half-hearted tugs and prong collars etc. BUT that doesn't mean that there are no other options. I would with confidence pit my dogs' heeling amidst distractions and off-lead recalls against any dog trained by Koehler or Koehler-like methods. They would certainly do as well or better, even though they've never had a collar correction. 4. In short, been there, done that, found a better way. | 0negative
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Thought-provoking and inspiring.
Moving, brief first-person accounts of severalwomen's encounters with God, or struggles to findGod. Not sanctimonious. More faith-orientedthan mysticism-oriented. Worthwhile for a readerquestioning or wishing to deepen his/her faith. | 1positive
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An excellent book, an excellent read
I believe this book is a must-read for everybody. The background information in the story is very thorough while managing to not be revealing. By the end of the story pieces of the plot that may have initially seemed jagged fit together and leave you with a powerful message about the superiority of an imperfect world to a perfect one and the tendencies of human nature. The unfolding of the plot was very well crafted as well as the the conclusion of the story and its illustration of the strength, courage, and humanity each of of us possess. The result of these constituents is a superior piece of literature and a must-read book for everyone. | 1positive
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There's no such thing as impartial history
I've read lots of history books and I can tell you that there is no such thing as impartial history. By the very fact of choosing which events to describe the historian shows his biases. That being said I'd say that neither the Mexicans, Americans or Native Americans come out looking very good in this rather depressing account. Anyway, Sides does a good job of pulling it all together, my only criticism being that it was a bit long. I would have have edited it a bit more tightly. | 1positive
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Cotillion ages like a fine wine -- it gets better and better each time you read it
I own 2 copies of Cotillion. The original one I bought for 25 cents at a used book store 35 years ago and this Harper Monogram reprint which I bought when it first came out. I like the cover on this one because it is just how I pictured Kitty and Freddie looking.Lots of people have described this novel superbly.Kitty's escape from her nip-cheese guardian to London in the hopes of enticing "cousin" Jack to finally come up to scratch and marry her. Her scheme that embroils the dim-witted but kind dandy Freddie into posing as her fiance. (The scene at the inn between Freddie and Kitty when she "proposes" to him is very funny.)Their arrival in London and Kitty's introduction to Freddie's parents, his dim-witted but beautiful mother and his intelligent but sarcastic father (who finds he has underestimated his own son and heir).Freddie's scatter-brained sister, her horrid taste in clothes, and her silly flirting while her husband is overseas on a diplomatic mission.Kitty and Freddie's tour of London, using Kitty's guidebook. His later complaint to his father that the Elgin Marbles were a scam because they were all broken.Kitty's kind-hearted meddling in the two love affairs of her friend Olivia (met in a shop) and her "cousin" Lord Dolphington. Freddie's efforts to keep Kitty out of trouble, mostly not because it makes him look bad but because he is kind-hearted and does not want her to get hurt.Kitty's slow disenchantment with Jack and her growing appreciation of Freddie, whom she tells eventually, that he has address which is more important than what Jack has -- good looks, intelligence, but a foul temper and not much else.As far as the appeal of this novel compared with other Georgette Heyer novels -- please see my comment/rebuttal to Jessie B. Sackler's review (her review is dated January 7, 2003).Basically, as you age, you will appreciate Freddie as a hero more than Vidal in "Devil's Cub"...please read my rebuttal to Jessie. | 1positive
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Can we say - RUSHED TO PRESS!
When I started studing for the Cisco CCNA exam. I started with the older 640-507 book, and then purchased this book to make sure I had the latest info. I have to give kudos to the author who makes everything easy to understand - but you can easily tell this book was rushed. The testing software is useless. And the book has MANY inconsistancies. I took and passed the CCNA test today. I was totaly unable to use this book for my last minute studying and resorted to the old 640-507 book.In short this author is awesome so DEFINITELY get this book but! WAIT FOR THE FIXED REVISION! | 0negative
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It takes you away from this earth
This is not an easy reading but keeps you going because you are trying to constantly find out where you are with the characters. | 1positive
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Move over Mooney !
The definitive book on Cherokee Herbal Medicine is availble to the World. I can give away all my other plant medicine books because this has all I will ever need, it is a masterpiece. Generations of people in the future will be so grateful that this knowlege has been set to paper especially the Cherokee People. This book is the culmination of more than 30 years of learning and research, gifting the World with crucial knowlege that could easily have been lost forever. Wah Doh | 1positive
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401 Old ways to bore your kids.
This book is way too outdated for our hectic, electronic, urban life. I don't recommend it, it doesn't take into consideration that we don't live in a farm and that our kids watch television and surf the web too. I have to say that I only read it briefly and decided it didn't apply to me. | 0negative
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A manual on teamwork.
No family friendly firm here, where the weak and useless can add to cost by needing days of to look after sick mothers and poorly feeling cats - work or go is the message.A lesson in focus and commitment that every firm that wants to last should note. I hope that my competitors continue to drive up their overheads by allowing their people to come and go as they like, and that they never read this book. | 1positive
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World Literature
In 1931 the author herself took part in the voyage depicted in the novel. It lasted for one month and according to her she didn't exchange half a dozen words with anybody but kept taking notes all the time. Then she let the material rest for ten years, took it up again and worked on the book for about 20 years more - the result has become world literature. Is it still of interest today?Porter draws a picture of pre-war society, especially of Germany, for it is a German ship bound from Vera Cruz for Bremerhaven and the passengers in the first class are mainly Germans, almost all of them nationalist and anti-Semitic, narrow-minded and arrogant, so that there are lots of reasons for conflicts. Another explosive element is the gender-specific behaviour of men and women of that time. Relentlessly pungent, sometimes desperately comic Porter characterizes gender-typical behaviour of that time. And it becomes clear that her own emancipation experiences lie at bottom, especially in the case of the American Mrs Treadwell. In a grandiose scene the latter beats up the drunk, sexually roused, repulsive Texan Denny with the sharp heel of her sandal. Last, but not least, there lies immense fuel for conflict in the social and religious differences. But even if the satire is no longer of topical interest and sometimes luridly and grotesquely exaggerated, many of the attitudes and ways of behaviour in a somewhat different form have lived on into our times and you always get a universally relevant picture of human society. For, firstly, apart from the Germans there are also other nationalities, other social classes present - indeed you have a downright political and social microcosm -, and, secondly, the passengers in spite of often being drawn as caricatures are always recognizable as human beings by being multi-faceted characters who are in most cases also suffering from their own shortcomings. The only Jewish passenger on board (Löwenthal), by the way, is presented as an especially repellent character equalling his opponents in arrogance and contempt.The vital element in the book is the realistic, caustic style of the author revealing her attitude of profound disillusionment. What is especially admirable is how she can put herself into men's shoes and see the world from their points of view. Doing so she oscillates between the points of view of the omniscient author, reported speech or interior monologue. Also the protagonists comment and characterize each other permanently so that the reader is elevated into a superior position wondering : why is there almost never any real communication possible? Must every society be like that? What should/could/must be different? | 1positive
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Basic Book
Este libro es muy básico, ademas de antiguo es de 1978 y no vale la pena comprarlo, existen otros mas modernos que presentan metodos en analisis mejorados. | 0negative
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Disappointing & Predictable
That Patterson is a gifted writer is unquestionable. That the word pictures he creates describing the characters, however, leave no doubt who wears the white hat. Patterson paints with too broad a brush, falling back on over-used, tired stereotypes...radical right wing, far right, etc. How refreshing it would be to see a writer use equally descriptive phrases as far left or radical left wing describing the other side! Could it be then, that most writers belong to this group?Therefore, I take umbrage with those who claim Patterson portrayed a balanced view of the abortion issue in his book. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Patterson's political agenda shines through and much of the information he portrays as fact, is as fictional as his characters.Overall, the book is as predictable as it is disappointing. | 0negative
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Must be read and expirienced
I have never found the motivation to write the book review even when I came across a good one. This book changed that. More significantly it has changed myself or better yet helped to discover the lost one. This is not just a motivational, self-help material that tries to bring the best in you. Rather it is like discovering the simplest things and seeing them in a different, simple, true light. All of these principals are brought by Rav Laitman in easy to follow format and yet it is easy but not oversimplified. I felt like the mystery was unveiling in front of me. How could the life to so simple and you could appreciate it seeing the genius of the simplicity and perfection. This book is a must read for anyone who has not found the ultimate joy in life in its current state. Not only I recommend this book but I urge you to buy it. | 1positive
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Hard to get into
The book was is a let down, because you are excepting one thing and getting another.The main problem I had with this book was the author didn't set up the chapters. The title said one thing and you end up reading about something complete different and for me this was the reason the book was so dry.It wasn't until the fiftieth chapter did I start getting into it and that because I was really trying. The author also jumps back and forth on topics that you can't keep up, it almost enough to make your head spin. The only to really understand this book is if you know something of the "Wizard of Oz" besides the movie. | 0negative
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blah
This book was not at all what I expectted. I didn't even get past the first 30 pages. I was hard to follow and just not at all what appeared to be. | 0negative
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11 is an unlucky number for the reader
I was a big fan of Patricia Cornwell, until the last precinct. I know you are going to have to read it to continue the werewolf story line but read it fast so the pain doesn't linger.I think some authors lose it with their character development and this one is lost to fantasy. The plot line leads us closer to the middle earth than it does to Richmond and the ending appears to be forced like she hit the number of required pages.So I know you will have to read it....just be quick and get the pain over with and go on to another author. | 0negative
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Well Defined Characters - Very Weak Ending
This book left me wanting, unsatisfied, and thinking of half a dozen better ways to have ended it. The characters are well defined, even likable, and the theme is thought prevoking. The story is built on a house of cards that collapses from a weak ending. | 0negative
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New book looks used
The book is wonderful but in shipping or otherwise the books (3 copies) that we give away as gifts were dirty and looked used (but purchased as new!!Not happy!! | 0negative
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This book is boring!
My fiance' and I were required to read this book by the chaplain who is performing our wedding; though very FEW points are valid, the book overall is quite boring and extremely outdated! I would not suggest this to any couple. We were unable to relate to any of it, and found many of the stories irrelevant and cheesy. | 0negative
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An Infomercial that YOU Have to Pay For
Like his other books, this offers some information, but is woefully shy on useable details except when it comes to the "Schneider Approach." For approximately $40,000 Jerome will set you up in little known jurisdiction like Vanuatu or Nauru in a bank that will cost you plenty. The question is, what can you do with it? For the vast majority of offshore investors, an offshore bank is very expensive and only useable for those who want to conduct actual global banking business. Translation - If you are an international banker with an experienced team, a correspondent bank and millions of $ behind you, a bank makes sense. For all others, it probably doesn't.I have found many better books on the market for those who are looking to venture offshore. | 0negative
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Useless
Simply drop the idea of buying this book. Buy Polya's books which are really useful in giving the right guidance for aspiring problem solvers. | 0negative
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**SPOILERS**
No, seriously--there are spoilers ahead. In this review, I plan on discussing everything of relevance that happens in Tribulation Force, so if you wish to remain unspoiled, you should stop here....Alright, then; we begin."Everything of relevance?" you ask. How am I to discuss everything of relevance that takes place during this 449 page monster in the space of a review on Amazon? Well, the answer is simple (and sad): basically nothing happens during this novel. Or, to be more specific, this is what happens during this novel: Rayford Steele (cheesiest name ever?) and Cameron 'Buck' Williams (I suppose William 'Buck' Rogers was already taken) both get job offers from the Antichrist. They both want to decline the job offers, at first, but eventually come around to the idea that they have to take them. Also, Chloe and Buck eat cookies.That's it.That's the novel.Or, rather, that's 398 pages of it. In the last fifty pages, the authors shoot us ahead eighteen months and everyone gets married (one of them to a character who we've only met through a slip of a paragraph), WWIII breaks out, and a major character dies.Huh?! It's enough to make a person wonder why the authors didn't set the majority of this novel during the latter, more exciting events, rather than give us hundreds of pages of characters hemming and hawing about their career decisions. I suppose it's because the authors have no idea what they're doing.Not only are the plot non-existent, the characters flat and uninteresting and the writing cliched and bloodless (not to mention the complete lack of any kind of descriptions--it's all dialogue floating in a vacuum), but the authors seem clueless in even those areas that they're supposed to claim as their particular expertise.From p. 54, these are the words of Archbishop Mathews (who will soon be elected Pope) while discussing the possibility of the end of the world: "I'm not sure. I don't take the Apocrypha literally, but there are dire predictions of what might be yet to come."It's just sad. LaHaye and Jenkins mean "Apocalyptic literature" here, or something to that effect. The *Apocrypha* are something else, entirely. I don't think this was just a typo, either.... I think that this reflects an ignorance on the part of the authors about any religious beliefs that are not their own. (And, frankly, any Christian worth his loaves and fishes owes it to himself to be aware of the various Apocryphal literature floating around.)Or, how about these words, coming from an important, revered Rabbi (Tsion Ben-Judah, p. 332): "[T]he idea of Jesus having been the Jewish Messiah is thousands of years old. His very name is as profane to the Jews as racial slurs and epithets are to other minorities."This is simply asinine. I know that LaHaye and Jenkins wish that Christ was so important, to everyone in every culture, that Christ's very name could draw such reactions from even those who "reject him." But, if LaHaye and Jenkins had gotten out more, and actually made some Jewish friends over the course of their lives, they would realize that Jews don't exactly recoil, vampire-fashion, from hearing Christ's name. Rather, most of them don't really care about Christian beliefs about Christ and are content (and secure) in their own faith. And, to suppose that Jews might equate Christ's name with slurs and epithets... is just such a gross insensitivity to the real, actual racism and prejudice that the Jews have suffered in recent history that... I just don't even know how to comment on it further. I'll just say that I think Mel Gibson might be comfortable in LaHaye & Jenkins' world.It isn't simply that LaHaye and Jenkins don't understand other faiths, they don't understand their own that well... take this sequence of quotes from the righteous pastor Bruce Barnes. Note that these two quotes are from the *exact same speech*:"Does God speak to me audibly? No. I wish he would. I wish he had....But he wanted me to accept him by faith, not by proving himself in some more dramatic way than simply sending his Son to die for me. He has left us his Word, and it gives us all we need to know." (62)"During these seven years, God will pour out three consecutive sets of judgments...[t]hese judgments, I believe, are handed down for the purposes of shaking us loose from whatever shred of security we might have left. If the Rapture didn't get your attention, the judgments will. And if the judgments don't, you're going to die apart from God. Horrible as these judgments will be, I urge you to see them as final warnings from a loving God who is not willing that any should perish." (64)Uhm... excuse me? God wants us to accept him by faith, and not through some dramatic display (like simply talking to us... like... he did with Moses, Abraham and the other Patriarchs... and... Christ)... but the Rapture is a final warning, designed to get our attention because God is loving and "not willing that any should perish"?Right. I understand that Christians are often comfortable with "inconsistencies" where most non-Christians fear to tread, but to have these conflicting sentiments in the exact same speech is simply breathtaking. To Mr. Barnes, I would say: I don't begrudge you that you don't know what you're talking about, but please wait until you have a clue before preaching; and, to Messrs. LaHaye and Jenkins, please wait until *you* have a clue before publishing.Beyond that, the core message of their religious faith seems to be "accepting Christ" and "becoming a believer." But this fiction shows nothing compelling about Christ's message, or what it even means to "believe in him." In this series, "believing in Christ" seems to be something that you say in order to get a ticket into Heaven/avoid Hell. It's like a mantra or a totem, and seems to have no deeper resonance in anyone's life than a shirt you wear with a logo on it, or a button with a slogan ("I'm Saved! Ask Me How"). People are converted in the space of a few minutes, or over the course of a conversation. It's like... "Well... I've been a non-believer all my life, but I guess you make a good point about the Rapture and all. Okay, fine--I believe in Christ. Now I'm saved," and then everyone else is like, "Yay! Welcome to the fold, brother!" It's just excruciatingly superficial. I'm no Christian, myself, but if I were one I think I'd be horrified to see my deep, guiding beliefs treated so dismissively and so casually.Apart from all of these problems, both technical and philosophical, I also must report that the series has no dramatic steam. The "heroes" are, essentially powerless to do anything throughout the course of these books, due to the authors' beliefs in predestination and prophecy. For instance, examine this segment (364):"'I wish I could be of more help,' Buck said....What he wouldn't give to expose Nicolae Carpathia....And though Buck would oppose him, anyone without Christ would never understand or agree. Besides, Scripture didn't seem to indicate that even Christ's followers would be able to do more than simply bear up against him. The Antichrist was on a course foretold centuries before, and the drama would be played out to the end....Buck took comfort in the assurance that the end had been known from the beginning..."You see, when I entitled this review "Spoilers," I actually had three things in mind: 1) That I would expose the "happenings" of the novel, and show how this is essentially a novel of fluff; 2) That the technical and philosophical problems--that the authors are weak in ability and understanding--spoil the the story and reading experience, and; 3) That the author's reliance on prophecy essentially spoils the overall arc of their story, because if the heroes know how everything will turn out in the end, it saps the narrative of most of its drama.We know that Carpathia will win for a short while, and then will ultimately lose (we even know when it will happen). We know that, if any of our "Tribulation Saints" die, they will go to Heaven. In short, there's very little on the line for our heroes. All they really have to do is wait. (And as for going out and converting others, apparently it's already preordained how many will be converted, and who, so it's unclear what's required of any one person to fulfill God's plan). There's just not much for anyone to do to stop the Antichrist, or anything, because all of our heroes know that it is impossible to stop him. This is kind of unlike other drama because... well... there can be no drama if our characters aren't trying to achieve anything important.And that's why LaHaye and Jenkins keep our story to Buck and Chloe flirting while eating cookies while the Apocalypse is threatening to break loose around them--because the Apocalypse can't be stopped and everyone knows it.This is a series in deep, deep trouble, two books in (with ten to go). I'm one of those unfortunates who finishes what he starts; you can look for my reviews for the next books in the series as I get to them. But, not being Christian myself, I must report: I have no faith that things are going to improve.One Star.(P.S. We never did address the idea that Buck--world-renowned, thirty-year-old, jet-setting, New York-living journalist--is a virgin... but no matter: it's dismissed with nary a thought in the book, so why should *we* pay it any mind?) | 0negative
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Should be Zero Stars
I am totally opposed to censorship, but this book at least should come with a big warning on it, "Pure unsubstantiated drivel"! The author's premise, that AIDS is manmade, the world is just full of conspiracies to keep the truth from us, etc, is simply not supported by any evidence. And his comment that AIDS can be transmitted by such contact as handling the sheets of patients, or by insects such as mosquitoes and bed bugs, just isn't true. If mosquitoes could spread AIDS, every person in the USA South would now be infected.This book is a cruel, poorly presented, lie that uses the suffering of people in order to make money for the author, in my opinion. | 0negative
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A Very slow but thorough potential view of Roman life!
Its really hard to give a review on this because, although interesting at times, this book reads like an encyclopedia. I liked it....I think.....at least a little. Ancient Roma ploitics could be riddled with action and to a point this tale had action but it was all verbal which seemed tedious. I loved Fatherland by Harris bu have been less thrilled with all his other works so far. This didn't live up to the hype and my expectations. | 0negative
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I was expecting a poetry book!!
I was expecting a workbook full of poems, instead there are a handful of poems and the rest are activities and coloring pages about the themes of the poems... which are great, but I wanted more meat... I was expecting poems along the lines of the "Goose on The Loose" and Bob Books. I guess I should have read the description more closely!! If I wanted a coloring book and activity book, I could have gotten one for far less than $10...Maybe I am being too harsh, I will surely get some good use out of it as rainy day activties with my kids that will help reinforce some phonics. I guess it just wasn't what I expected. | 0negative
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Far Under Par
I was told by a classmate that this book was inspirational, funny, and a great read. Also, former raving reviews caused me to buy it. However, I was very disappointed and did not even finish the whole text because I couldn't stand one more cheesy metaphor about her haphazardous life. | 0negative
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Title Misleading...But everything else is great!
The only reason I say the title is misleading is in the fact it sounds like it is JUST for parents....I learned so much about the stands the Church takes on the hard subjects. Being specific, easy to read, and down to Earth, this book tells how to answer hard questions from your kids and from people who aren't Catholic who wonder why the heck we Catholics do what we do-such as praying to Saints. This is the best baby present we received, but like I said before, this is not JUST for parents. I highly recommend it to converts, teachers, and especially to persons with nonCatholic spouses. BUT if you are a parent, the book is a must have. It doesn't matter what ages your kids are, they will always have questions-this will help give you the confidence to answer them all. | 1positive
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Unquestionably Divine and Maybe the Greatest
No one quite says IT for our times, our crazed and fallen times, like Ramakrishna. OM HARE. The one book I know of on this site ... my soul cannot seem to do without. Perhaps, because I know of no other book which gives such clear, detailed, and comprehensive instructions for bringing oneslf to a state of peaceful fulfillment (given in penetrating, simple, benign, and eloquent generosity, by one whom from universal, ongoing testimonial actually attained such a permanent state of being). An awesome read. | 1positive
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-Holden +Phoebe
Hated this book. This '"coming of age" book was unfathomable to a teenage girl. Why is this the standard, and beloved book? I felt alienated from the main character and his trifling saga. Worst book I had to read in high school. The only character I cared about was Phoebe--who would have made a much more interesting read for me. Her pain of dealing with her stupid brother was more real than the rest.Good news, though, is this book is increasingly less relevant to 21st century high schoolers. It's becoming a quaint view of the 60s to them, No kidding, | 0negative
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A Favorite
I can't add much that hasn't been shared in other reviews. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott introduce us to four remarkable characters: sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. Alcott wrote the first volume in two and a half months. That blows me away. The two volumes have been combined as one since 1880. Read Wikipedia for more information, especially the "Autobiographical Context" that shares information about Ralph W. Emerson. | 1positive
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I just couldn't get into it.
I tried to read this book twice and just couldn't. It didn't hold my interest, my mind kept wandering to things that I could be doing. When I took it back to the library for the second time, I thought I was the only one that felt like that, but our library manager said he had felt the same way. I had really wanted it to be great, because the Cival War times are so interesting to me. | 0negative
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Hated it
I had some change in my pocket and I was passing a bookstore and decided to go in for a look. I had every intention of buying a book and when I saw a number of James Bond books in a row, I decided to buy Casino Royale as the reviews on the back were rather convincing. I read 2 chapters... I find it difficult to ...enjoy such a boring, pointless in some parts, story. | 0negative
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Blech...
I genuinely enjoyed the story of Alexandra and Douglas Sherbrooke's stormy relationship, and how the finally settled into a decent couple. So it came as a complete shock to find that the qualities that drew me to them (their tempestuousness, spark and vigor) were completely devoid in this novel. Their children were equally as tepid; the only calling cards were their handsome good looks, which we were constantly reminded of. For every good Coulter book, there is an equally bad selection, and unfortunately this is one of the bad ones. On the plus side, it does set up the potential for a good Coulter book to come next. | 0negative
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Could not put it down!
Great book, for kids or adults. I love a book that constantly keeps me wondering what happens next, gets me to laugh out loud once in a while and occasionally surprises me. This book had all that. | 1positive
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Interesting work
The story being told here has been covered by others, namely in `The Samson option' and `Israel and the bomb' however this book not only updates the story regarding the Yom Kippur War but also explores the characters involved, it is a story worth telling again and a brilliant examination of the personalities of Ben-Gurion, Peres and others. Most familiar with Israel today will be surprised to learn that France was Israel's closest ally in the 1950s, when America opposed Israeli policies. This book serves as a good account also of the nature of Israeli reasoning regarding the bomb. This is not a dramatically biased book, so most readers should be able to stomach it, since most people are incapable of reading anything about Israel if it doesn't fit their ideological love-hate of the country, but this book should sidestep this to some extant, unlike `Samson' option it isn't basing its logic on the question of why Jews should or shouldn't be allowed to develop nuclear weapons by using Biblical analysis, rather it is a modern fair book examining how Israel obtained the bomb. Israel, alone among the many nations who covertly have attempted to develop nuclear weapons secretly(Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, Libya etc...), did not sign the non-proliferation treaty, so as to remain `ambiguous' and thus not in violation, unlike other hypocritical nations who sign the bogus treaty and then build nukes. Ironically the very same people that condemn Israel's possession of nukes are the same people who condemn America for daring to invade Iraq because of WMDs, in there view Israel possessing WMDs is tantamount to the `holocaust' whereas Iraq or Iran pursuing the same objective is merely for `national defense and sovereignty and combating colonialism'.A good read, fair, however it is a mostly popular work.Seth J. Frantzman | 1positive
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Pleasantly Surprised
REVIEW: I received a copy of this book by accident. I decided to read it anyway since I am a "thinking" personality type and the book looked easy to read. I was expecting the book to read like a hyped-up mass market self help book. I was pleasantly surprised. I found the book very practical, easy to read, and genuine. I picked up a good deal of useful information and helpful methods. These include understanding (within the brain) what makes things seem funny to step-by-step thinking procedures.De bono writes very simply and even when he explains theoretical concepts the explanations are not technical. There is some tendency by the author to regularly cite his many other books and to use his own made up words and acronyms. I found the citations to the other works authentic and not overt plugs. Similarly the use of coined terms and acronyms seemed very practical and not driven by ego as I've noticed with many authors.STRENGTHS: Very practical methods and ideas to improve thinking, easy to read, short chapters. Optional practice activities and not too technical or academic.WEAKNESSES: Some might not like the regular use of coined terms and acronyms. Only cites his own books. Some things explained too briefly.WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Anyone interested in improving their thinking. | 1positive
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Have seen better
The Clan of the cave bears is a great book, I could not put itdown while reading it. Then I started reading this book. I wonder if the same person wrote these two books ! The book started alright, then Ayla met jondalar, and the rest of the book was about sex. | 0negative
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Classic Book!
Classic!! Thorough!! Really nothing more to say about this book.If you decided to buy this book, then I'm sure you already know what this book is about and how classic it is.Help me a lot for understanding and programming for the Mie scattering. | 1positive
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A BOOK FULL OF NONSENSE AND FICTION
What an odd book. It is so fully of empty speculation, completely fabricated incidents, theological nonsense that I finished it first wanting a shower, and second doubting if Albino Luciani had actually ever been pope. Seriously, this is perhaps the only verifiable fact in these (almost) 400 poorly written, wretchedly edited, repetitious, absurd pages. The entire book seems to have been fabricated out of whole cloth in order to "prove" that Luciani (John Paul I) was an ultra-liberal who was going to overturn the Church's traditional teachings on homosexuality (with which the author seems obsessed) and the ordination of women. He was even going to sell off the Vaticans real estate holdings in Rome and kick the Old Testament out of the Christian canon!I would doubt anything contained herein besides the most rudimentary facts (which are much more engagingly and reputably presented elsewhere, most notably in a lovely little volume titled "The Smiling Pope" by Raymond and Lauretta Seabeck, which also contains numerous real writings by Papa Luciani). If you are interested in unraveling the "mystery" of John Paul's sudden death, the book "A Thief in the Night" by John Cornwell (hardly the Vatican stooge Gregoire makes him out to be) is still an excellent, superbly documented, exquisitely written source.Granted, the death of Luciani, who was a conservative when it came to doctrine, though perhaps relatively moderate on most social issues, was a terrible human tragedy, and a real blow to progressive, pro-Vatican II forces within the Church. His would have been, perhaps, a much more flexible, decentralized, and humane Church than that which his succesor, John Paul II erected. But if you want a clearer understanding of his place in the history of faith, then STAY AWAY FROM THIS WORK OF ABJECT FICTION! Better to consult one of the books noted above, or to find a used copy of Luciani's own under-apprecated masterwork, "Illustrissimi", in which the humor and warmth and supple mind of this good man come through clearly. Better, too, to wait patiently in joyful hope for the apprearance of a real, thorough, reputable biography of John Paul I, a humble and sincere servant of God who touched the world (and changed the Church) in spite of his extremely brief tenure as pope. | 0negative
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Boring!!!
Well...I thought this book was boring. I read the first two chapters about Robin and Teal in the first book, and skipped Phoebe because the storyline was so repetitive for each girl. Well, this book wasn't repetitive, but I thought it was sick and boring. I don't like reading books about people getting "tortured" and the coffin part was really disturbing. So was the fact that they had to use diapers. I like V.C. Andrews, but I think she had, and this ghost writer has, a very sick mind. It's always incest, torture, girls locked up in attics, molestation, and other crap. I admire their talent, but I really thought that Midnight Flight was incredibly sick and boring. | 0negative
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audio books
These audio books help children that are having trouble with the written word. I also use them in the car, so each trip we hear more of the story. The kids love them and I think it makes them interested in reading. | 1positive
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Of Mice and Men
This is a great read, nicely written with an engaging story and characters. I would definitely recommend this book for intermediate readers. Paints a vivid picture of depression era people and life. | 1positive
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as tired as the author looks in her terrible backcover photo
I loved her first few books but this one was awful. I'm tired of reading about the same old villains. Can't she think up some new ones? The title Blow Fly suggests that we might learn something interesting about time of death from the study of blow flies but no, we just hear about the same old baddies. Try a Fly for the Prosecution, a nonfiction book about time of death and flies. | 0negative
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A treasure find
I bought the book used at a great price and I am so glad I did. It really is a wonderful book for the purpose, pointing out the details the masters used to call forth the specific response the painter wanted to invoke in the viewer. Answers so many questions it could take a lifetime or more to discover on your own. Priceless. | 1positive
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Violent and pointless
Ilsa J. Bick strikes again, slipping in a trashy, violent, and overly graphic plot, and slapping the Mechwarrior title on it. | 0negative
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Should be classified as romance drivel
This book is a low level romance story written with every cliche. I read about half of it as I found it supremely boring and not what I had expected. I was stuck on an eleven hour flight and it was my last book available on my Kindle. A great disapointement. | 0negative
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Disgusted
Being a Greek myself I was incredibly disgusted and offended by some of the claims that were made in this book. The broad generalities were ridiculous. Not all sorority girls get drunk have sex and are anorexic. In fact over 20 of my 50 members do not drink and we're not even allowed to have scavenger hunts because it is nationally considered "hazing".More offensive than the picture she paints of sorority girls was the fact that she shared so many secrets about ceremonies.A great deal of the information she acquired are things that we in our sorority have NEVER written down but has been passed down for over a 10o years through traditions and secret ceremonies. I was upset to see some of these things written down in a book that bashed the greek system.I'm not saying all greeks are perfect but to conclude that most are like the ones in this book is just upsetting. | 0negative
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To Kill a Mockingbird - Great intellectual book
To Kill a Mockingbird is an interesting and complex book. The main character, Jean Louise, is well characterized as a young, inquisitive girl. Their are many twists and the real climax can be hard to find. The writer included several very convincing false climaxs in the book. The way it ends is not definitive and leaves you wanting a little more. This is helped along by the fact that the beginning states just a little of what happens later. This is the only thing that deters me from the book. It is a great intellectual book that requires much thought. Although that deters some people more than others. | 1positive
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Great book, would read it again and again.
I had to read this for my AP English class. You'd swear Amanda was looking for a gentleman caller for herself, not her own daughter! But, overall, I enjoyed this book. | 1positive
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Dangerous Stuff
Dear Tina,I am a Certified Addictions Counselor, and someone recently lent me a copy of your book The Real Thirteenth Step. I found it interesting, but a bit misguided. You mention several times in the book how people are put off by 12 Step programs because the person is always "recovering" and never "recovered". There is nothing further from the truth. I can understand you thinking this way if you were relying on heresay, but I'd assume you would have done a bit of research before making this statement. In the forward of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous it states that the purpose of the book is "To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recoverd....." It doesn't say, precisely how we are recovering. On page 17 it states, "Nearly all have recovered". It doesn't say, nearly all are recovering. When I hear someone with longterm sobriety refer to themselves as a recovering alcoholic, I feel sorry for them. For, if he has worked the steps, etc....he has recovered. It says so in the book. He is not, however, cured. Just like we have recovered from the flu, we can still get the flu again. All we have is a reprieve until the next flu comes on.If one reads the Big Book thoroughly, he will understand that Alcoholics Anonymous teaches balance in one's life, and does not intend to become someone's life. On page 19 of the Big Book it states, "We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs". It basically demands we get out into the real world.However, there is a certain danger to your book. You claim that after someone has worked the steps, they should be able to leave Alcoholics Anonymous and not have to attend meetings. In most cases, this sentences a person to relapse. But even more important than that, if all the people with longterm sobriety leave...what happens to the newcomer? A person with no sobriety needs to see it works for people with one year sobriety. A person with 16 years sobriety needs to see it still works for people with 25 years sobriety. If everyone were to follow the advice given in your book...there would be a lot of people dead of alcoholism. I'm an addictions counselor. I know this to be true.Charley Warady, CAPCertified Addictions Counselor | 0negative
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Arkin is a traitor
"Intelligence?" That's what every office pogue says he did. No matter. Some of those ops are still current. To reveal their existance is treason. | 0negative
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Loved since childhood
Captures the magical aspect of fantasy from times before vampires and werewolfs. Tolkien is a mastermind of detail. The images painted in your mind are vivid thanks to his great interpretation of detail. | 1positive
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Saxon Home Study MEETING Book...NOT Textbook!!!
Can't believe this item is still listed this way...Just bought it...very disappointed! Will try to work with Amazon further to correct problem and listing. | 0negative
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Disappointing
Too few photos/diagrams. Many rather cryptic text-only descriptions of positions. | 0negative
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Worth The Journey: To Oz And Back
Marketed for readers nine and up, this first offering in a planned series is a very enjoyable read. Both the children and adult characters are presented as being human with realistic problems and mannerisms. While some of the parents depicted as less than ideal, none are just over the top stupid as is so common these days in novels and the media. In this novel, no one talks down to another character, which is also a refreshing change of pace.The novel is well written with plenty of clues to go along to help the reader decode the mystery. The Asperger's syndrome is handled well and with compassion. The Duchess has her limitations but at the same time, because of her situation she has unique talents that are celebrated in the novel. With more books on the way, if they are done as well, this should be a wonderful new series. | 1positive
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Snatching freedom from the jaws of sacrifice
Written thirty years ago and published in the U.S. for the first time in 1994, Berger's novel describes one day in the life of a man, 64 years old, who decides to claim his freedom.As the story opens William Corker has left his invalid sister and decided to move into rooms over his employment office. A bachelor, he sacrificed marriage and all his other potentials to care for, first, his mother, then his sister, crippled with rheumatism.The narrative moves between Corker's plans and reminiscences and his young assistant's observation of the change in his boss and the momentous change in his own life - he has just lost his virginity. Interspersed are paragraphs from the various people who come in seeking employment - a vigorous, middle aged housekeeper Corker fantasizes employing for himself; a young, snooty woman who demonstrates Corker's naivety and optimism while casing the joint for her boyfriend; and an elderly impoverished housekeeper terrified of being put in a home to die.Corker is ebullient, proud of himself and feeling daring. Alec, his assistant, is by turns suspicious and excited. Unable to quite overturn the habits of a lifetime, Corker sacrifices his visions of the blowsy housekeeper and tentatively decides on the elderly one - who's asking less than half normal wages. But he vacillates while Alec fumes with the impatience of youth, helping Corker shove furniture around upstairs and dreaming of his girl while he listens to the old man go on about art and travel.The tone is wistful and ironic with a hint of acid. The story builds to a climax which seems certain to end in disaster, what with an ongoing robbery, the entrance of the querulous sister and the addition of some unaccustomed alcohol. A trifle wordy but a poignant and humorous look at the contrast between sacrificed hopes and youthful incomprehension. | 1positive
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We're Duned
This book completes the Dune prequel. It's not bad until you consider it in comparison to Frank Herbert's work against which it pales. As the story wound down, I kept wondering how the storyline was going to be reconciled with "Dune". The result was unsatisfying in the same way that a TV show resolves a cliffhanger with one of those scenes where it all gets explained away.Frank Herbert was one of those science fiction writers who explored the intersection of politics and technology with a savage intelligence. Dune is just one example, The Jesus Incident or The Dosadi Experiment are others. The prequel lacks the imagination of any of these books. As I said, on one level it's not bad. The story moves along and the characters are sympathetic or despicable as called for by the plot line. But "Dune" it ain't. | 0negative
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Best Montana Vigilante Read Yet
This recitation of Montana Vigilante activity is the best yet. I've read Dimsdale's book (a painful read of newspaper articles that were collected and published later as a book by Dimsdale's son) and Nathaniel Langford's "Vigilante Days and Ways" (much easier to read than Dimsdale's and a worthwhile view from an insider), but Allen goes beyond them to compile data from private journals, court transcripts, etc, that truly brings the story alive. Further, Allen's writing explains the politics, private asides, and observations of many of the citizens of the time. A thorough explanation of how the State of Montana was sliced off Idaho Territory is intertwined and highly relevant. | 1positive
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weak philosophy, weaker plot, will give you perpetual headaches...
After reading this book,to claim that any work by this man would be the next step after James Joyce is ludicrous and basically impossible to claim for any sane mind. Unfortunately the author of the former review is likely to be the author of the book as well. Sad for him.First of all, John Ryskamp is not well versed in any of the topics he is touching upon within the context of this pseudo-novel. His so called disproof of relativity does not contain a tinge of intellectual contribution. I would like to see him discussing his view in a paper published at Arxiv database or some noteworthy journal like Physical Review Letters other than the customer reviews of amazon. If you would like to see a serious discussion of special relativity, you start with Anajibidan Das's work 'The Special Theory of Relativity : A Mathematical Exposition'. Moreover there is Misner-Thorne and Wheeler's seminal work which is incredibly cogent in delineating what the space-time fabric is all about.With that said, if a person who is apparently unable to define what a point in space means, embarks upon disproving relativity, he does not prove to be ridiculous only; he becomes pathetic. Making things worse, a recent experiment at MIT by David Pritchard et al. showed with extreme precision that E=mc^2 is accurate. This equation is a direct result of the theory of special relativity.Finally, there is only one American author who has accomplished something so that his name is worthy of mentioning along with Joyce, and he is Thomas Pynchon. But even he is very far away from reaching the literary genius of Joyce. American culture is still immature to produce another James Joyce. Moreover, being a competent author does not allow one to trascend his name to someone like Joyce automatically. For that, a pure genius accompanied with immense cultural sophistication is required with a commensurate output. Both of these traits, however, as you can construe when you read the text, something this author heavily lacks. Dont waste your money on this pseudo-novel.P.S.: I have no affiliation with the author and I am generally generous with my ratings. My lowest rating is 2 stars since I respect the honest work/creation of an author even if I have a real dislike for him/her. But this work stinks, there is nothing to appreciate in it. | 0negative
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Very, very enjoyable
As one of the set books on my university course I found Slaughterhouse Five to be the most enjoyable of the lot (so far)...At heart, Slaughterhouse Five is sf but rated highly on anybody's list because it's not just sf. It's genreless if you like. The point of narrative is constantly changing, the main character, Billy Pilgrim, timetravels to the extent of knowing the time of his own death. Of course, Slaughterhouse Five's theme is war, more precisely the impact of war on the minds of its survivors (Kurt Vonnegut in the driving seat). And the mix of realism with humorous sf makes Slaughterhouse Five one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a while. But it. | 0negative
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Stupid book
this book is soooo stupid....what plot did it have? No mystery, no nothing!!! Just a bunch of writing!!! NOTHING LIKE HIS FIRST COUPLE OF BOOKS...... | 0negative
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Insightful description of every relationship
Definitely a book that begs, "buy me as a gift". And I will, my best friends birthday is today and she will receive this book when next I see her. There are quotes worthy of posting throughout. My favorite? "If we can keep each other laughing, we can keep each other sane." | 1positive
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