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wrong cover
I ordered this edition for the awesomeE Cover. Got a really lame one instead. Pretty sheisty. Don't advertise the edition with that cover. | 0negative
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Don't Waste Your Money
Firstly, I never write reviews, but I felt I had to for this one. Before I start I feel I should give my credentials. I have spent the last three years working as an assistant to a fine art printer working on traditional print projects for numerous big name photographers.I bought this book after seeing that Mr Dewolfe teaches up at the Cone Workshops and after reading the good reviews on Amazon. That was a big mistake!! This is the reason why it is good to check books out in a store before you purchase.The book is very weak. I had read "Real World Photoshop CS2" prior to this, so I had a very good benchmark. RWP CS2 is a truly excellent book on using photoshop. Dewolfe's book is poorly laid out, repetitious (very), contradictory and gives limited examples of valuable technique. I gained nothing from reading the book and bored quickly of his preachy style. Here is an example:"The print has another dimension that I call presence. It has almost nothing to do with the technical side, but it is a matter of craft, that careful blend of aesthetic judgment and technical skill."Now tell me if that is not a contradiction. Who edited this?Another thing that bugged me is that the book feels like an advert for the line of Optipix plug-ins that he is associated with. He mentions them almost constantly (there is an advert on the last page if you missed the hundreds of references throughout the book).Please, please, check this out in a bookstore before you make up your mind. | 0negative
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Great Book
I read this book after my mom told me too and I'm glad I did. The characters and the sotry is brilliantly and movingly told. I've read some review that say this is way too depressing and it's trashy. To me this is a realistic book because the main character Delores doesn't always make the right choices. But it is uplifting you just have to keep reading until the end. This is definately one of my favourite books. | 1positive
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Wait long enough and anything becomes a "classic"
Here is the lesson to be learned: write a few dirty stories, wait a few hundred years and everyone will say you are a genius and that what you wrote is classic. Really, there is nothing in Chaucer that I don't hear in any locker room of any local gym. Why is this stuff taught in classrooms? Because tenured professors think if it is written in middle english it must be some revelation into life. The same could be said of any anecdote told by any average joe, if only they would take it just as seriously. | 0negative
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It was a great book, shows the "real story" of growing up
This book was really great. I read it my Language Arts class. I really loved the book. It was true but at the same time it was very humorous. It really appealed to my sense of taste. It shows the toils of growing up in a large family, and the natural toils of life. I would reccomend this book to any one that enjoys reading!!! | 1positive
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Julie Andrew's first children's book
This book was Julie Andrews first children's book. The story of how it came to be is almost as good a story as the book itself.Long available in paperback, this new edition of MANDY is part of The Julie Andrews Collection. It is a beautiful presentation with updated illustrations.The book is a wonderful read. I read it when I was a child, and I recommend it to others. Julie's other book from the '70's THE LAST OF THE REALLY GREAT WHANGDOODLES is also delightful.This book is perfect for a read aloud if your child is smaller, but it's also great if they are an independent reader. As an adult, I still enjoy reading it myself -- I've read it several times over the years, and it just keeps getting better. | 1positive
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I thought BB's wasn't supposed to be chick lit...
Plum, I had such high hopes. I loved your piece on GPK and always looked at Vogue contents to see if you had a feature. I was so excited to finally get my hands on your novel. I wished for single-girl-in-NYC-liasing-with-PAPs sarcasm, wit and energy. What I got was a TOTALLY PREDICTABLE piece of chick lit quite in line with the usually boring, banal, BS of other chick lits. BB did display a bit of sarcasm, which I almost enjoyed, but all of the good stuff was eclipsed by the embarrasingly bad ending, which, frankly, is offensive to the reader. I want my four hours back. | 0negative
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eight million ways to die
This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are new toLawrence Block or his Scudder novels, this is a great place to start. | 1positive
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My favorite quilting book!
I can sum up this book in one word...GORGEOUS! I purchased "Quilts From Larkspur Farm" for the great projects and it hasn't left my coffee table because everyone enjoys the spectacular photos in it. The instructions are very easy to follow due to the many helpful diagrams. If you enjoy quilting, appreciate beautiful gardens, or love photography, this book is for you. Kudos to the authors, Pam Mostek and Jean Van Bockel...when is your next one coming out?! | 1positive
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Don't get rid of it
I am a CSE major, and this is one book that I will never get rid of. As much as the class was a pain, this book contains so much application into my other classes, I would be lost without it. | 1positive
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exact
An `old fashioned' text where the notes are as important as the body. The `Method' is the `As it really was' school. The author was a German mathematician who was drawn to Mesopotamian mathematics and astronomy early in the 20th century. Where used Greek or Latin is translated. The more modern European languages of French and especially German are extensively referred to in the notes but NOT in the body.The book is much more `Eurocentric' than is `politically correct' these days. By example the `zero symbol' is attributed to Greece, thence to Egypt then to the Orient. Others disagree. This author presents data, lists and writings from the original sources ... he has received `lifetime awards' form mathematical societies but the popular press has called other authors on zero, "ball buster's"This book is a very deep investigation of the topic of the title. While not a `page turner' for most if one relishes tidbits of fascinating information on numbers, antique maths, astronomical methods and spends the time to read the notes as well as the text when they finish this book they will have a good grip of the breadth of Mesopotamian knowledge of these subjects. | 1positive
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Not the best book ever written
The book, The Sun Also Rises is not the best book ever written nor is worth reading unless you can handle boring drunks talking about one mans inabillity to "get it up" | 0negative
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Inside Windows 2000
I am a Technical Trainer and this is the only book I always take on the road with me for W2K reference (I have over 10 W2K reference books in my library, so I know whats out there). It is how things "actually are", rather than just how they are "suppose to be". Very practical knowledge, especially in the hardware/software interaction area, but you can get into subjects (like Active Directory) in greater depth if you need to. Have recommended it to my fellow trainers. Can't wait for the second edition. | 1positive
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Where's the debate...
Read some philosophy and political science. Try a real "novel of ideas" or two. Lean to think critically. Don't waste time reading or debating this turgid non-novel illustrating a non-philosophy.It's odd there's such enthusiasm and rancor in the reviews below. This work and its associated "philosophy" falls of its own weight. Its main appeal is to teenagers, either just before they enter college or in their freshman year. And that's great, because it can lead to some of them taking a real interest in philosophy and literature.Rand's philosophy has not had any meaningful effect on society, philosophy, or literature. Ranting about it is a waste of time. I wish those who enjoyed this book, for whom it "changed their lives," the best of luck as they (as many of them will) use it as an impetus to discover a love of philosophy and literature. | 0negative
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Excellent, but not typical of Marquez.
I'm one of those who found One Hundred Years of Solitude fascinating and enjoyable. The style definitely made it for me; Marquez's prose is misty and mythic in a beautifully descriptive way. I never lost interest in the story. It's told in an unusual manner, more like an oral history or legend than a written work. After reading it, I could see why Marquez is called the "South American Faulkner"; the style in One Hundred Years of Solitude can only be compared to a book likeThe Sound and the Fury. I have called it misty, but it's deeper than that. The haze over Macondo is analogous to the haze of memory itself. I was thoroughly satisfied and amazed by the book. For me to attempt further description of its marvelous intricacies would be to rob you of the full joy of reading it.I was disappointed, though, when I sampled some of Marquez's other works.In Evil Hourfailed to hold my attention at all, and the only novel that has even come close was Love in the Time of Cholera. Marquez was a good author and journalist, but he didn't have the consistency to maintain the style he achieved in One Hundred Years of Solitude. I would wholeheartedly recommend OHYoS to anyone interested in this book or this author, but I would simultaneously warn him or her not to expect to find another book like it. Perhaps it's best that way. | 1positive
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Painful
This was one of the most boring books i've ever read. Unfortunately i did not give up on Hawthorne after reading this novel, that was a mistake. I'd pass on this one if i were you, if you must read this for school I highly suggest getting a summary online. | 0negative
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Veeery boring and dull
I could barely keep my eyes open through this one. It's so theoretical and dry. There's nothing practical in this for parents. Maybe more so for the professionals. And I HATE the clumsy and awkward "he/she" all the time and all over the place. It's very distracting and highly unprofessional. | 0negative
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Tedious
"Tedious" is the word I would use to describe my experience with this book and that's not the experience I'm looking for. The other Cayce books that I've read on Reincarnation, Atlantis, and Prophecy were easy to read and fascinating. What I found difficult was the author's explanation of the Readings and the Readings themselves. I found myself reacting after each Reading with "Huh? What is he talking about?" Believe me, I mean no disrepect towards Mr. Cayce and his work. I just found the book difficult to digest. Perhaps now wasn't the time to read it. | 0negative
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Animal Farm
Animal Farm was a alright book, but it could have been better. It got a little boring at times and sometimes you couldn't understand what the charaters were talking about other than that it was a good book. I over-all enjoyed the book. | 1positive
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The Empress' New Clothes
Dr. Perricone developed a triple skin care program that provides a wrinkle-free skin through diet, supplements, and cosmetics. He promotes a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet which is heavy on fish, especially wild salmon, non-starchy vegetables and a limited variety of fruits. Although he considers his diet balanced, he prescribes a huge number of supplements in large amounts. And he sells a skin-care line at exorbitant prices with questionable ingredients.Throughout the book he emphasizes his medical training and makes you believe that if you don't trust his advice you prove your ignorance. He shows a series of photographs that he has taken of patients before and after they had undergone his wrinkle-free treatment. The pictures show no difference at all although he keeps pointing to the lack of blemishes on the faces. The blemishes are there, before and after. The only visible difference is that many of the patients wear make-up on the after-pictures while they were photographed without make-up before the treatment. In two patients the after-pictures show more wrinkles or blemishes than in the previous photographs. This, of course, can be due to photography, lighting, etc. but whatever the reason, the photographs do not prove his claims (namely that his diet reduces wrinkles).Perricone claims that his diet is well balanced and healthy. I wonder why he has to supplement it with such large amounts of vitamins and minerals. To his benefit, though, he does list foods that contain those vitamins naturally.Throughout the book, Perricone emphasizes the value of fish, especially salmon, which you should eat at least 5 times a week, and possibly more often. He recommends wild salmon, which is the most expensive salmon available but, according to government sources, also the least polluted. In addition to salmon he also recommends mackerel, tuna, and later on the list, swordfish - all three are known to have high concentrations of heavy metals. (And while some of them are still acceptable under US government standards, they are not by Canadian government standards.) I am not refuting that fish is healthy, but from all the data I have read about toxins in food, no diet should rely so much on aquatic animals.The Perricone diet recommends primrose and borage oils, while other authors question its use, especially the forerunner of the omega-connection Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos. She states that both oils convert in the human body to arachidonic acid, which causes inflammation.I also wonder about his meal combinations. Salmon for breakfast does not strike me as too odd, if you can afford it. But combining salmon with raspberries? Or hard-boiled egg with strawberries? Or salmon with oatmeal and blueberries? Those combinations are not created for a sane palate but from a list of food items that fulfill certain requirements: no starch, no sugar, high protein.Omitting sugar and junk food from one's diet is certainly good advice. And this alone will get results But the rest of it, I am unconvinced. Especially because the before-and-after photographs do not prove the author's point.To complete my search, I looked at his cosmetics line on the Web. Two ounces of Firming Activator cost $95 on-line! 6 ounces of Nutritive Cleanser cost $30. Both products list ingredients that are known skin irritants, such as fragrances, parabens, and according to some studies, sodium laureth sulfate. The products also contain diazolidinyl urea, which is a preservative said to release formaldehyde.I would like to end my critique with a statement Perricone made in the New York Times on November 18, 2001, saying "Promise them an unlined face, and you can sell them anything." His book, and especially his cosmetic line, reflects that attitude. He is selling the Empress new clothes. | 0negative
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Has great parts and horrible parts
Before getting this book I read the notebook that Microsoft hands out at their training class. That notebook was great but covered only 2/3 of the material. This book includes what is in that notebook and it also includes coverage of the missing 1/3 not in the notebook. That 1/3 is a joke. I am disgusted with the pathetic attempt at the remaining 1/3. Given this, this kit is over priced. Get the book by David Besch instead. It is much more focused. | 0negative
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Poor writing and lackluster storytelling
It is extremely rare that I put a book down and never intend to go back. I had high hopes for this book, but I was so disappointed after reading so many great reviews and hearing about how good it was.It starts out strong, but by about page 75 I was bored with the generic fantasy caricatures (not actual characters) and the generic fantasy setting. The last straw was a series of atrociously written pages wherein the author explains a plot point, and then explains it again, and then explains that he's explaining it. Give tween readers a little more credit. Good writing is good writing, no matter the age of the target audience, and this is not good writing. | 0negative
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The best single overview of the real-world security issues
Blessed with an extensive index, excellent organization, and a successful visual design throughout, this book is a solid guide for learning via a banquet of multiple scenarios. It will discipline users to develop first-class strategies toward the ultimate goals of basic and enhanced network security lockdown. | 1positive
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Not just for footy/soccer fans
Shannon's husband Josh writes: Fever Pitch is one of the greatest books ever written for the sports fan. Regardless of how you feel about English football (soccer), any fan of any team will relate to Hornby's feelings. This is especially true if you support a team that hasn't won a championship in a long time. I sometimes wonder if I should curse this book for what it's done to my free time. I was an Arsenal supporter before I read it, but I've now fallen into the true pit of fanatic. I wear the shirts, tape and watch games at absurd hours, listen to internet radio broadcasts, etc. Other Arsenal fans only nod and grin knowingly when I tell them about this. Fever Pitch is brilliant writing that you can feel and relate to. Who knows, you might wake up the sleeping Gunner fan inside you too. Don't worry though; they've evolved into a much better team since this was written.**Edited to correct misusage of the word "penultimate."** | 1positive
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anthropology something or other?
Again, I bought this for my son's schooling. Haha. This came quickly and in great condition. Thank you for the book. | 0negative
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Russian Revolution
Some reviewers have missed the point completely. Animal Farm is a re-telling of the Russian revolution (around 1917). Napolean the pig is Stalin, Snowball is probably Trotsky, Boxer probably represents the working class, the farmer represents the Czar system, the greedy outsiders represent capitalism, so on and so forth. If you are interested in history, this is a clever read. The rise of socialism, and the corruption that followed. An interesting way to make a political point, read it. | 1positive
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One of the great modern SF novels
No author of futuristic novels can hit with 100% accuracy, but we are indeed smack in the middle of the world Brunner created. The value of the book is not in the plot, which is middling to good, but in the detailed sense of a non-linear time and place it creates, in much the same way that the movie _2001_ (another work where plot was unimportant) created a sense of overwhelming awe and mystery. But what I remember most, as with other favorite books like _A Conferacy of Dunces_ and _Love in the Time of Cholera_, is a closing line of consummate perfection, the kind you cannot truly understand unless you've read what came before it. | 1positive
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Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand
Not detailed enough. Instructions don't always follow the next move. | 0negative
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Depends on your situation
I bought this along with the authors' grammar reference, which has proven an expensive mistake. The two are college level texts and probably quite good for those engaged in intellectual pursuits. I, on the other hand, teach ESL as a volunteer and was simply looking to shore up my practical knowledge of the subjects. Both texts contain virtually no such information. In fact, they assume a significant knowledge of linguistics and linguistic theory; they are literally packed with obscure jargon that I presume familiar to some set of initiates but certainly far beyond my ken. If your situation is analogous to mine, I suggest Side by Side Spanish & English Grammar and Practice Makes Perfect English Pronouns and Prepositions--much less expensive ($30 the pair I think) and much more practical. | 0negative
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EXACTLY part of the stuff wrong with this country and world
Hmmm, Ann Coulter is just as bad at representing the "right" as these dorks are representing the "left". I'm a conservative, but there are some liberals that I do like and some that I don't. If you "hate" Bill O'Reilly, there is something wrong. If you disagree with him a lot, there is something correct about that. If you drink the "kool-aid", you probably really hate yourself more than those you think you hate. Hate and nastiness is the very quality that has put this world in the hell that it is in and these guys are just throwing gas on the hate fire as does Ann Coulter. Bill is out there trying to get facts and put both sides under the microscope. Does he favor the right? Well, he favors conservative and traditional values, but so do a lot of democrats and even liberals. I also promise you that the vast majority of democrats are going to label this stuff as the garbage that it is. | 0negative
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Just like the movie!
I have seen the movie to this book. I knew what was going to happen before I read the book, but when I read the book, I felt as if I were watching the movie all over again. There are so many details that are in the book that you may not see in the movie. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in finding out what really happened in that day and age. | 1positive
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Simply poor
Mr. Album has written a story that my teen-aged daughter would be ashamed to turn into English Composition class. This book is simplistic, poorly conceived, mindless, and trite. I think maybe the wisdom in "Morrie" was clearly and entirely "Morrie's" and Mr. Albom, apparently not much of a writer based on this hackneyed attempt, was a very lucky man to have been there to record Morrie's thoughts. I strongly recommend skipping this one unless you like to be bored pretty much out of your mind. I couldn't take it, even though it's a short book. I'll say one thing though. Hype obviously sells books. That's the only thing that must be selling this awful work. We shouldn't reward Mr. Albom for this. Let him write something good, then buy it but not before. | 0negative
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Watts is excellent, but they screwed up the cassette
I have read Alan Watts now for many years. I used to listen to him on PBS in Berkeley. Watts has a fantastic and interesting style of speaking. He has absolute authority, is interesting, witty, funny, has a great speaking voice. This I knew. What I didn't know was that they simply have small sections of actual Alan Watts speaking, other than that they have some "cheesy" eastern-synth style music "droplets", and not meaning to be mean here, a person that is about as interesting as cardboard reading from, presumably Watts book. In other words, instead of spontenaity that Watts always has, this is cement...it is static. It is the anti-zen. Somehow they have made Watts writing (if this IS Watts writing..not quite sure about that) pompous and self important. It really, really, [stinks].I will search and find some tapes OF Alan Watts, and they can keep the extra stuff... | 0negative
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Yawn . . .
A coworker attended a seminar at the Chicago Gift Show recently and this book was highly recommended. I'm managing to slog my way through it, but it isn't easy. The author truly speaks as if he's back in the 1940's and does a lot of name dropping of famous people . . . are we supposed to be impressed? There's also a fair amount of bragging about how smart the people were at Neiman Marcus, how they were so innovative and how their techniques for marketing were then copied "all over the world". While there is truth in these statements, I get a little weary of hearing it repeated so often. I'm sure there's some useful information here, so I'll keep reading, but it's taking a major effort to stay interested. | 0negative
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unreadable
Did I get a different book from the other reviewers? This book is unreadable. The editor did not interview Cayce, but cobbled together Q&As from other sources. It does not flow at all, and much of what Cayce is quoted as saying sounds ridulous in this format. Seriously, I wish I had not bought this book. It's so bad, I think I should get a refund. btw - I've read a lot of other books on this topic, so it is not the subject matter that I have an issue with, but the presentation. If you really want this book, don't buy it - email me and I'll send it to you for the cost of shipping. | 0negative
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Well Written Disappointment
A very well written disappointment. I read to the last page, eager to see the storylines resolved, only to be abandoned by our writer, our tour guide; who seemed to jump ship on us. I was interested in the characters, so the author succeeded in that. But that's only half the journey. I can only guess that the characters are symbolic of extremes within ourselves, from oblivious, to bitter to codependent. The lesson might be that each extreme brings its own brand of sorrow, with a study of these extremes in character form. Or maybe not. But it takes the disappointment out of reaching the last page without resolution. I love Tyler's work and admire her skill. But if I'm going to read half a story, I'd like to pay half the price. | 0negative
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Maths health warning
I was shown this book recently by a tutee asking WTF its proof of the Heine-Borel theorem is about.I couldn't help...There appears to be but a single diagram in all of the order of 550 pages of this book, and that as a concessionary afterthought following an excruciating number theoretic proof of the countability of the rationals; to point out that the rationals can also be counted by the familar diagonal counting process.Presenting the Lebesgue integral before the Riemann integral indeed makes sense since, as the author points out in his forward, it's no more difficult than the Riemann, but not if the object of the exercise is apparently to make either as hard (the author would call it 'uncompromising') as possible. For example the student quickly learns that the Lebesgue integral forms a vector lattice space whatever that is, and too bad if she doesn't know because there's nothing in the book, leafing through it quite carefully and checking the index, which explains what such a thing, if it indeed really exists, actually <is>.Well, it's very comprehensive and seriously weighty for sure. But I suggest you buy this book off the shelf after a browse to check it's really your kind of maths book, and funny old you if it is: you must be extraordinarily 90% brilliant and what's a mind like yours doing in a book like this one has to enquire ... have a go at Russell' and Whitehead's 'Principia' for example, now there's uncompromising...Me, I think the book is quite simply dreadful, worth no more than a single star (fair, for the single diagram).I genuinely pity Dr. Stromberg's students.William Boyd[...] | 0negative
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It wuz gewd.............
Im not saying I liked it, cuz I dont like admitting I like things my mom gets for me, so' Ill just say this...it wuz uuhhhh o..... k. Ok, there I kinda lyked how the book had 284 pages in it and it felt like I wuz reedin a 100 page bewk. The ending wuz pretty kewl, if I do say so myself.... | 1positive
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Great Travel Books: A Vagabond Journey Around the World
Great Travel Books, A Vagabond Journey Around the WorldAmtrak train from Penn Station NYC to Rochester, NYAugust 19, 2007Homepage: http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.comGreat Travel Books page: http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com/greattravelbooksA Vagabond Journey Around the World- This is the classic, seminal work of Harry A. Franck, who was life long traveller and writer. Of his twenty or so books that describe his travels through nearly the entire planet, this is his first and, and in my opinion, best. The travels that make up A Vagabond Journey were undertaken when the author was young, adventurous, and not yet a professional writer. In this book, Franck describes rather than explains; show rather than tells. Simply put, he wrote this book from the hip, with the seeming intention of documenting his experiences and impressions of the world as he found it- and nothing more. His focus seems to have been more on travelling the world than writing a book, which I feel is a necessary recipe for compiling a good travel book. Travel first, write second. This book is about adventure- pure and simple. It is about the simple human urge to GO , to walk over the farthest hill. . . just to find that the only thing there is the journey over the next hill. In fact the journey that made up the book was started as a be. From the Forward of Explanation of A Vagabond Journey Around the World:Some years ago, while still an undergraduate, I chanced to be present at an informal gathering in which the conversation turned to confessions of respective ambitions."If I had a few thousands," sighed a senior, "I'd make a trip around the world.""Modest ambition " retorted a junior, "But you'd better file it away for future reference, till you have made the money.""With all due respect to bank accounts," I observed, "I believe a man with a bit of energy and good health could start without money and make a journey around the globe."Laughter assailed the suggestion; yet as time rolled on I found myself often musing over that hastily conceived notion. Travel for pleasure has ever been considered a special privilege of the wealthy. That a man without ample funds should turn tourist seems to his fellow-beings an action little less reprehensible than an attempt to finance a corporation on worthless paper.A rebellion against this traditional notion suggested a problem worthy of investigation. What would befall the man who set out to girdle the globe as the farmer's boy sets out to seek his fortune in a neighboring city; on alert for every opportunity, yet scornful of the fact that every foot of the way has not been paved for him?Were I permitted an avocation it would be the study of social conditions; what surer way fo gaining vital knowledge of modern society than to live and work among the world's workmen in every clime? In the final reckoning, too, an inherent Wanderlust, to which, as an American, I lay no claim as a unique characteristic, was certainly not without its influence.In this way, A Vagabond Journey Around the World was born.What I find to be most impressive about this work is that Franck did not bother trying to educate his audience or finding obscure little historic anecdotes to ensure that his book would be regarded as a work of literature. No, he simply wrote through the lens of his own experience and nothing more. All assumptions about the lands and people that he travelled amongst must be made through this record of experience- through the man himself. Franck was a man who wrote; the author cannot be removed from his words. A Vagabond Journey is a pure testament to the Wanderlust in all regards; I bow down and defer to it as a classic. This book is a joyous celebration of the Road. This is the tale of a true Vagabond Journey Around the World.It sets my feet a walking. . . with a smile on my face.I wish for all travellers to read it. | 1positive
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Simple, relevant, enhancing
From the several books I bought here on Amazon about the theory of relativity I only recommend this one as it was written in an admirable fashion.The theory of relativity in this book, however, is presented only at the last two chapters of the book. However, it was worth to read Max Born's introductory chapters despite their lack of excitement. At first I could not understand why I had to go through the laws of classical mechanics, optics, and electrodynamics in order to fathom the theory of relativity. But as a reader one can only benefit from the information regarding these laws, although I believe that Max Born should have written more extensively about Einstein's theory, perhaps from a more neutral perspective. However, I enjoyed the chapter about the Newtonian world systems, in particularly the perception of time and space as absolute terms. But the most interesting part of this book for me, however, was `Mathematics and reality' and `The failure of Euclidean Geometry' which proved to me that Einstein was more of a philosopher than a mathematician. The bold assertion that the axioms of mathematics in general and geometry in particular are not conclusive in their theorems, despite the proofs in regard to the classical laws of mechanics impressed me beyond measure. I felt as if my entire physical reality has been dictated to me by some tyrant teachers in my schooldays. The classical law of inertia has failed to be constrained by logic, whereas the theory of relativity challenged the old perception of space and time with quite a success. Moreover, the four dimensional world is a sheer reflection of our myopia, as it is presented in strict coordinates. Suffice to me, and without provocation intended towards mathematicians, that the physical reality cannot be described by mathematical equations simply because of the law of motion. It is the same with time, and in this book it is illustrated through hypotheses of an imaginary clock situated on Jupiter to be compared with a clock on earth. Furthermore I really enjoyed the principle of equivalence. Here gravitational law in regard to stellar bodies and inertial mass made me realize that Einstein's theory is in fact connected to the cardinal principle of equilibrium. However, the contradiction of inertial motion and gravitation reminded me of the discussion in regard to black holes. As both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are right about the behaviour of matter in regard to black holes I had to accept the fact that they are both right also in regard to additional velocities and in regard to inertial motion and gravitation. My point here is that oddly enough, one should have dismissed the theory of relativity as mere abstract because of lack of substantiality in comparison with classical mechanics. But because both classical mechanics and the theory of relativity are part of our physical reality, and since they are both correct, in regard to the truth, (logic or not logic), in conclusion I am impressed with the flexibility and the wholeness of the relativity theory. I understand Einstein's challenge of the mathematical dimension, and I respect his theory more than I respect the rigid laws of classical mechanics. Nevertheless, I refuse to utterly dismiss the classical laws of mechanics, for it will be equal to lose grip with our simple understanding of our physical reality. All in all, I believe that Max Born wrote this book with the same view. But the theory of relativity is more than correct, it is fascinating, it is mind blowing, it is enchanting and captivating, it is enhancing and intriguing. Therefore it triumphs over classical mechanics and over mathematics. I therefore recommend the reader to read first the last two chapters and only then to read the book all over again. Einstein's theory of relativity is the exciting facade of science fiction. | 1positive
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bad book binding
horrible book binding, it fell apart in one week of *careful* handling.the book content is great, though, highly impressed with Sr Gutierrez | 0negative
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Hemingway achieves in 127 pages what most can't in 1000
Before reading this book I was not a reader who looked for deeper meanings of books, but rather tried to take them at face value. This book changed everything! Ernest Hemingway's simple sentences managed to enchant a teenager who rarely cares to read. The enormity of what Hemingway does has been replicated by few in history. THe struggle of the old man against himself makes each of us examine more closley our own existence and helps us face the challenges that each of us are faced with. Hemingway is classic, and I would suggest that one would take the time to read this great work of American art. | 1positive
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A Disappointing Story on Many Levels
Ms. Casey squanders a unique opportunity to provide insight into the strained relations between white sharks and humans. While she seems to enjoy breathlessly relating her fascination with the sharks, she fails completely as a science writer. Basic knowledge about shark behavior and conservation is inexplicably missing, much of it written up over the years by exactly the scientists she is supposedly profiling. The conflict between the cage divers and the scientists begs for a thoughtful analysis--it was the catalyst for the troubles at the Farallones, and the underlying issues have profound implications for how we treat endangered wildlife--yet Ms. Casey skims airly over it. [...] | 0negative
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good read
Older text, but very timely. Would suggest reader purchase other titles by Sally. thoughtful and productive ideas on our enviroment. | 1positive
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Innovative look at war's effect on men who actually fight it
When we play chess, what is always the first piece we sacrifice to achieve victory? The pawn, of course. The front line soldier that is always expendable. I am not that great a chess player but in my somewhat lacking strategies, I have even often used my pawn as bait to try and draw out my opponent's "more valuable" pieces into a trap. Nevermind what happens to that poor pawn.In this Civil War novel, Stephen Crane invites us into the mind of just such a pawn. We see that he is not a mindless toy soldier, but an enlightened young man full of optimism and bravado, with family and friends back home and dreams of glory. We also see that as he is exposed to the dreadful realities of combat, he is all too human. He experiences fear as he turns and runs for his life, and senses a crushing shame at realizing his buddies stayed behind to fight. The burden of his shame is so oppressive that he can't deal with it in mundane terms and mentally creates an alternate reality in which HE is the hero because he retreated while his friends are the failures for foolishly staying behind to die in vain. But by a twist of fate, his misfortunes are reversed and he discovers courage within himself that he feared didn't exist. Crane shows us this by taking us into battle so that we witness how this mortal young man deals with the stress of combat and finds inner strength by focusing on his task and nothing else, not even the possibility of his own death. We even see the "pawn's" hatred for the "king", as he inwardly fumes at the arrogant general who insultingly refers to him and his companions as "mule drivers". Next time you watch a Civil War film and you see soldiers topple over by the hundreds with each volley fired by the other side, remember this example of the nameless infantryman who, despite not being a celebrated general in all the newspaper stories, is indeed a human being with dreams and desires and intelligent thoughts who has to be the actual one to lay all that on the line by fighting the battle.Kudos to Mr. Crane, who wrote this book despite being born after the Civil War, for having a keen ear to the stories of the common footsoldiers who, as veterans, gave him a vivid glimpse of what it is like to be sent into battle by men on horses who didn't really care whether they lived or died. | 1positive
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If you are a Japanese reader,,
If you are a Japanese reader, I recommend Ikuo Kameyama's recent translation (2008). It's easy to read. It's a great book. No question about it. | 1positive
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Painful Screed
In this "Classic" defense of religion (Christianity in particular), Apologist-in-Chief C.S. Lewis offers a stunning smorgasbord of flawed premises, tortured logic, and non-stop non sequiturs. From a master wordsmith, jabberwockey. | 0negative
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A poorly researched genealogical guide for Swedish research
I read this book from cover-to-cover and examined every sourceused. I donot recommend this book for use as a tool for finding Swedish ancestry. The card catalog at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah or at any of its branch libraries would be more helpful. | 0negative
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Favorite novel ever written
I, like several other people who responded, have half a brain and taste in literature and therefore greatly enjoyed this novel. Not only does it have excellent plot, amusing dialogue, and a happy ending but it also lends a great amount of insight into this time in history. I am 18 years old and have read this book several times, surprisingly enough before any films were released, and can honestly say that it was my favorite novel ever written. Obviously those who only gave it one or two stars are more at home reading such low class literary works as Stephen King novels, which certainly have more excitement but don't actually require any real thought. I don't believe that the responses of such people to real literary works would really have any true value in my opinion since they quite apparently have no real intelligence or taste in literture whatsoever. My advice to such people would be to avoid real books and to stick to what they are actually capable of understanding. | 1positive
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Excellent Book for those attempting to learn the secrets of the Samurai World
My son loves this book. I bought it for him and he is always trying to understand the deep and profound passages. | 1positive
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Book from the heart~
I recently finished reading this book and when done, I sat back and thought...THIS is a book about feelings. It is not a story, it is a means of conveying from the heart, exactly what commitment, respect, honor and love is ALL about in marriage today. With the actions of marriage today, so much of what Jan Karon has written about has been lost during the hustle and bustle of a wedding, THE plans, THE moment, THE schedule of events. Jan Karon has reminded the world about THE feelings, THE commitment and THE life of a marriage. I think it was a most enchanting presentation of the realities of marriage and a wonderful book presenting issues and feelings that a bride and a groom SHOULD be concentrating on as they enter into a most sacred of trusts and sharings. This book would make a WONDERFUL gift for a bride to be...a book to be shared with her daughter on her wedding day. Nothing is wrong with Jan Karon....everything is perfect with the writings. What is needed with this book is to take a big step back...and let your eyes open wide for your heart to see~ | 1positive
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A real disappointment
Both Kentucky Rich and Kentucky Heat were terrible. The dialog and the characters were totally unrealistic. I won't be reading the third in this lackluster trilogy. In fact I have been disappointed in the last few books Fern Michaels has written and I won't be reading anything she writes again. | 0negative
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It's a classic!
It was really interesting to read the original text after seeing various adaptations in film for so many years. Dickens definately had it all together. | 1positive
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Spirituality of Imperfection
Simplly the best book I have ever read! I ordered several to give to friends. | 1positive
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Fuzzy photocopy
This Book s not typeset and is an unreadable fuzzy photocopy image of the bookWe returned it immediately. | 0negative
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Fantastic
This book is THE bible for poster art. Fantastic collection of art, with great interviews and history accompanying. Obviously a lot of hard work by a lot of people passionate about poster art. Highly recommended. | 1positive
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The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau
This is a superbly and colorfully illustrated book on Whales, a part of the Whale, Dolphin, Shark 3 book set (ISBN 0884860175) remarkable effort by the Cousteau Society Staff. In keeping with his fine work with his National Geographic films Cousteau brings us yet another informative and illuminating glimpse of what we know so little. | 1positive
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A good insight into the nature of sin & hell
While C.S. Lewis wasn't an apostle and the things that he writes are not equal to biblical truth, the insight that he has into the nature of sin and of what "hell" really signifies is great.The metaphorical situations and sensations described in the "The Great Divorce" are a clever way of illustrating spiritual truths in modern language and cultural understanding. For example: His description of hell as an insubstantial place, constructed by the very people who inhabit it, vs the "real" world that God has made. Or that the people in hell don't really want to leave because of their unwillingness to set aside their old, self-centered ways of being/thinking and because of the pain they experience when beginning their approach to Heaven.These are at once simple and powerful ways of describing precisely some of the facets of hell as outlined in the New Testament. Obviously it lacks other pieces, such as the final annihilation, but Lewis's assertion that people who "end up" in hell were in fact there their entire lives is an interesting, and I think accurate way of describing their predicament.A short, easy read that'll leave you with a greater understanding of the Christian view of sin, hell, self-centeredness and divine love. | 1positive
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From the darkness, the light always hurts our eyes.
If what you want, is only what you knew or others before you knew, then don't bother reading this book. However, if you are willing to obtain useful information, some wisdom, and discernment, even at the cost of losing that comfortable zone sometimes refered to as complacency, then you will find somethings worth noticing in this book. Not too long ago, the Holocaust was ridiculed as being ridiculous, when too few knew it to be the awful truth. And so it is again. The effects of warnings, or simple ignorance, either way, its your choice. Even as it was then. | 1positive
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Wrong style and downright annoying
Rarely do I ever read something that I actually end up hating after one chapter. However, this book was one of the few that does not get a good review from me. I found almost everything about the way this book was written to be absolutely frustrating and downright annoying. The way the information is presented does not fit the content and the author herself came across as conceited and arrogant. There were also parts of this book that were just completely irrelevant to the content and had I been Ms. Ehrenreich's editor I would have had them removed because they detracted from the actual content.The idea of this experiment, for a lack of a better word, is a novel one and I admire her for actually going through with it. Nevertheless, when she compiled this book far too many parts of it completely bothered the reader. She makes references to her college level education and her PhD as if these things actually matter when working a minimum wage job.For the sake of keeping this short all I can say is that I was sorely disappointed in this book, as was the rest of my Modern U.S. History class. It could have been a lot better. | 0negative
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Ugh
I was extremely disappointed with this book It was not nearly as intriguing as the first book. It also painted Mark Twain as this whiny, boring man. I think it is a pretty big task to recreate the character of Sam Clemens and PJF did very poorly in my opinion. I skipped chunks of the book because it was so pointless and didn't even bother reading the ending. | 0negative
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Thought provoking work
Imagine that you are happily married to a man for thirteen years. Imagine that you are the mother of his only child. Imagine that your husband is admired by the majority of the small town in which you live for his heroics as a volunteer firefighter, his patience as a Little League coach as well as his work ethic and devotion to his wife and son. Imagine that one day his picture is aired on national t.v. as a suspect in a rape and murder that occurred fifteen years earlier. Imagine that your son's best friend sees the program and calls the authorities and tells them where to find the man they're looking for. Imagine that the police show up on your doorstep and arrest your husband for this heinous crime and your life changes in an instant. If you are Ethan Ford's wife, Jorie, you don't have to imagine...it has become her reality. A reality in which everything she thought was real is being questioned and she never imagined the reality in which she's living.This book was almost impossible to put down right from the beginning. In the first two parts of the book, excitement gains momentum as a stunned circle of family and friends are affected by the past of one man. Some people will stand by him with the claim that he is a repentant man who has been an asset to society for more than a decade, while others will believe that a man's past must be answered to and accounted for. Alice Hoffman's writing suggests that one person's action do not affect only that one person and whomever he acted against but that his actions have an effect on every person whose life he touches from that point on. Blue Diary is more about how Ethan Ford's actions affect his family and a community than how his actions affect himself; and whether or not a person can change so much that he can deny his responsibility in a crime he committed as a different man.In the third part of the book as the characters come to accept the turn of events and how their lives will be changed because of them, we question along with them how well you can ever really know a person, if a person's past should be considered when passing judgment in the present, if you are capable of forgiving the past, if a person's gifts to society in the present can erase the sins of the past or if that person's sin is forever and always a non-negotiable part of who they are today. | 1positive
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Typo on the first page? Really?
Look for another copy. This one has a typo on the FIRST page. "...keeping nothing back but the beaings [sic] of the island..." | 0negative
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Only Two Stars for the Penguin Edition
It's a fantastic book, of course, and it certainly doesn't need me to praise it as millions have done before. It's probably one of the most unique things ever written: the only book that could be considered both completely a children's story and completely a book for adults. The only problem with the Penguin edition is that it's grossly over-annotated. For scholars this may be very helpful, but sadly enough a lot of the notes are either irrelevant to non-professors or provide critical instead of historical or biographical commentary which, in my opinion, ruins the greatest delight of the book: AAIW/TLG are highly interpretable and symbolic stories, but unfortunately the commentator is always interrupting like a nagging pedant before the reader has a chance to reflect. Once again, both stories well deserve their status as true English classics but another edition might be a better choice. | 0negative
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A book you can buy by its cover!
This book is as good as its cover and its cover is t-e-r-r-i-f-i-c! From the cover, and most importantly when you dive into the wealth of information within the book, it is clear that storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss know storytellingis fun in its appeal and a powerful tool for learning. They've improved on an award-winning book that explores methods and merits for teaching storytelling to children. Their generosity and intelligence make the second edition with its DVD even more inspiring.The DVD alone is worth the price of the product with its unobtrusive camera work and delightful music. We are in the room, not watching from afar. The DVD also introduces us to the most engaging children and adults. Kids have clearly strengthened their public speaking skills and enhanced their self-esteem. In a world gone mad with teaching to the test, this project attests to value of humanizing learning, and building a learning community in the classroom and beyond. Turn off the sound, you can see the success of this work in the faces of kids and administrators alike.Carol BirchStoryteller | 1positive
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AUTHENTIC CATALAN FOOD mmmmm
I am a Catalan person living abroad, and sometimes it is difficult to explain friends that Catalan food is something different to what everybody knows as Mediterranean food, since being totally Mediterranean, it is not Italian nor French. This books discovers the authentic taste of Catalan food, that, as the author says, HAS TO BE DISCOVERED. Try it and enjoy your meals. I can say that CATALAN FOOD IS ONE MILLION BETTER THAN ITALIAN AND FRENCH. It keeps simple and accentuated flavors with simple raw materials, but obtaining an PERFECT COMBINATION.CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUTHOR, and please continue plublishing thousands of more recipes of Catalan food. | 1positive
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Pass on this one
First, this is only the first half of "Little Women." Yes, this is the book originally published under that title, but usually it is bundled with the sequel, "Good Wives." This volume only covers the period up to Meg's wedding.Second, this adaptation has taken all the color out of the work. The descriptions of the girls and their friends are missing, as are descriptions of their clothes, home, etc. Alcott herself wrote (ch. 1), "...young readers like to know 'how people look.'" I question the decision to leave out the descriptive passages as they are some of the most interesting writing, especially to younger readers. | 0negative
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religious based book
I would not have purchased this book had I known how much of it is religion-based. Personally, I did not find this book helpful. | 0negative
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Eat or be eaten
"The aim of life was meat. Life itself was meat. Life lived on life. There were the eaters and the eaten. The law was: EAT OR BE EATEN."This best sums up life in the Wild of the frozen Arctic tundra. Jack London presents the compelling story of a wolf (1/4 dog, actually), from his birth in a forgotten cave in the vast tundra, to his final home in a sunny California farm of a prominent judge. Yes, this is the story of a wolf, yet it is not humanized, although London presents his story from a human perspective.White Fang becomes property of three different owners, and his fortunes change with each. White Fang's demeanor and character depends on his owners. If he is treated kindly, he responds with kindness. If he is treated with respect, he offers his due loyalty and respect. However, treated with brutality, he turns into a monstrous fiend that will destroy any living creature. It seems as if London is trying to make a comparison to human society, for the environment will shape humans, and those who are nurtured in a rough, cruel environment, will turn into a heartless criminal in the end, as personified by an escaped convict in the novel's climax."White Fang" starts out with high excitement, as two seasoned sleigh-mushers and their dogs are fighting for their survival as a famished wolf pack closes in. This short story introduces the reader to White Fang's soon-to-be mother, and is a self-contained story in itself. The rest of the novel deals with the offspring of the leader of that wolfpack and his exploits from the Yukon to California.This is a book geared toward older children, although readers of any age will find this book enjoyable. London foregoes the flowery prose of many of his contemporaries, and uses a short, simplistic style. He does not skimp on the action, and provides vivid details and scenery to supplement his tale."White Fang" is essentially a mirror image of "Call of the Wild." In the latter, a dog starts out in a judge's farm in California's Santa Clara valley, and eventually ends up running wild with the wolves in the Arctic. "White Fang," of course, is nearly the opposite, as he goes from the Tundra to a judge's farm in California's Santa Clara valley. Perhaps there was some subtle connection between the dogs in "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild" that London was implying.Overall, "White Fang" is an easy, insightful read into the natures of both man and beast, from the untamed Wild to civilization. This should make the short list of any reading list. | 1positive
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Theology wars
This book is not basically about fundamentalism at all. It is, above all, an attack on biblical scholars who are familiar with liberal works, often accepting some of their conclusions, but refusing to bow down to the liberal project and so not hesitating to openly reject many of their more ridiculous findings. This really upsets the author. In this book he does not argue the liberal position but merely seeks to discredit those other scholars. One way to do this is guilt by association: he calls them fundamentalists. He primarily addresses the issue under the heading of biblical inerrancy. For others to use the word "fundamentalist" as a kind of swear word is one thing; that a linguistic expert should so drastically widen its meaning is not just ironic, it's inexcusable.Since, by and large, he does not argue the liberal position but presupposes it to be the correct one, he greatly limits the audience for the book. It will only be of interest to liberals of like persuasion, but even they may find it heavy going.For those who understand the fallacy of liberalism, it is an offensive book. For its central attack is on those who have delved into liberal views and brought out what they believe to be of some value from the mountains of rubble. Rather they should be commended. They have to suffer attacks from both sides. Not that his targets are all close to the very middle; they represent a wide range of positions.If you are looking for a good book to help you understand fundamentalism and its rise, especially the American form, I recommend George Marsden'sFundamentalism and American Culture (New Edition).There are important things that need to be said about inerrancy, and there are corrections that need to be made concerning the way many Christians, including published scholars, treat scriptures. But those who make the historical critical method rule over all else have nothing worthwhile to contribute. There is simply no understanding of the prophetic nature of scripture, or of God's purposes in it, so they miss the whole point of scripture.You can get far more from one page of the works of many of Barr's targets (Charles Hodge, George E Ladd, John Bright, D Martyn Llyod-Jones, etc) than from whole commentaries that are little more than wild speculations on authorship, dates, literary forms and the like, derived from the liberal "scientific" approach being used in a totalitarian way (not that I am accusing Barr of this). | 0negative
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Disappointed
I love many Linda Howard novels. But this one was not very exciting and was slow to move along. I will say that the plot was interesting = about the future and Linda was very detail oriented. But this book lacked substance to reach out and touch you, or affect you in ways some of her other novels do. This book is the easiest book to put down that I've read in a very long time. I wish I hadn't purchased the hardcover because all it's worth is firewood to roast some marshmellos. | 0negative
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Simple Grace - Living a Meaningful Life Author Inspired by Gift from the sea
Simple Grace: Living a Meaningful LifeThe number one gift of inspiration. After reading Gift from the Sea I was never the same (for the better). If you love this book after reading it you'll see how she inspired my book: Simple Grace - Living a Meaningful Life. www.bethjannery.comand thank YOU for reading. | 1positive
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Failed effort with a foolish plot
I am constantly searching for new authors who create quality efforts and sadly this mom/daughter team is not one of those. The plots are unbelievable and the characterizations are stale. The cop who eats too much, the computer geeks, the strong yet vulnerable women, the grizzled local sherrifs, etc. ad nauseum. One aditional gripe...no woman who is 100 pounds overweight is sexy even if she "showed a lot of cleavage and a lot of plump, delicious leg". This is amateur hour at its best and shows how easy it is to publish bad books today. | 0negative
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Great for class
What's scary is that the same tactics used in 8th grade Humanities also worked in my college English classes! | 1positive
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Even answers too!
This book was pretty much useless. Yeah, this book definitely sucks. Examples are sparse and not very helpful. The problems are also ridiculously tedious. Only reason I gave it a 2 was because it also had even answers in the back. | 0negative
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To remember this story is to remember my life.
When I turn out the lights, as I am wont to do in the late of the evening, I find myself to be someone else. I feel as though I am suddenly taken aside and caught in a war. Fighting not with my home country, or even for myself at times. Even when I am at my lowest, which can be quite often, I see an image of beauty that holds me right. A 'nurse' to my mind and spirit. Throughout the night my mind returns to this story of passion as depicted by Ernest Hemingway. I feel as though I were the one running away from the Italian army and seeking a quiet place to just feel the warmth of Catherine, my life. I am Henry, for A Farewell to Arms is so well layed upon my mind, I remember the story as it were my own past. May I never forget | 1positive
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Meh
I understand that this was an influential book in its time. Maybe it was so influential and its precepts adopted so fully by protestantism that it now seems commonplace and unremarkable. Whatever the deal is, it's difficult now to understand why it was so influential. The main points are uninteresting, the writing is not engaging in the slightest, and large sections of it can very charitably be called "unenlightened" (such as most of Part 2, which treats women as passive enjoyers of male protection/paternalism and compares Ethiopans to "vile persons"). On the upside, it is an extremely quick read if you're used to all the "thees," "thous," and outdated spelling. Also, if you're interested in history and the historical squabbles within Christianity, this book will give you a pretty stark example of what the protestant mindset was in the late 17th century--the good and the bad. | 0negative
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Growing up watching Rickey in the Bay area...
I really liked watching Rickey play ball for the A's. He was a great ball player, not a great storyteller. The book is decent, but I would not recommend it to anyone other than the most die-hard Henderson fan. | 0negative
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boring
this has got to be the most boring book i have ever read, & maybe that is because i am younger & it was written in 1932 but it was horrible i didn't understand a dang word.. i am very dissapointed too i was really looking forward to this book .. | 0negative
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A HEARTFELT AND EDUCATIVE NOVEL
Silent Battlefields is a wonderfully written and creatively endowed novel; one that punched me in the gut and openned my mind; phenomena that each of the main characters experienced throughout the novel and that kept me rivitted to the nexus of occurences and each character's evolving process. I found that as the novel progressed each character's questioning of the meaning of their life and, ultimately, the meanings of life became both more complex and richer. As the novel unfolded each character seemed to be closing the circle of meanings in their past and current lives while understanding the belief that both their personal reality and the realities of life's meanings change over time.The Author's creative brilliance was evident throughout the novel, but never more so than when exemplified by it's beautiful ending. An ending whose beauty illuminated both the cost/reward ratio of the Silent Battle each character carried on within themeselves throughout the Novel and the difficult but sometimes necessary distinction between love for one person and love for humankind. I believe this novel would make an intrigueing and emotionally provocative movie. | 1positive
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Loopy cubed
Jung is loopy. Jungian psychology is loopy. Jungian psychologists are loopy. It surprises me that people take this stuff as seriously as they do. Maybe there's a good Jungian explanation for that too. That said, Jung was, in my opinion, the Wagner of early psychology, and, like Wagnerian opera, there's a lot to be learned by mulling over some of the ideas presented therein. But remember, Jung was more of a Romantic philosopher than a psychologist. Colorful stuff. Just don't take it too seriously. | 0negative
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No one should leave childhood without this book!
Charlotte's Web is a terrific book to use when your child is ready for read-aloud novels. What a life time memory this will create for you both as you read chapter by chapter aloud. It has a perfect theme of friendship to encourage so much dialogue. Don't let your child leave childhood without it in his/her memory! | 1positive
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One of the best AT books
As an AT section hiker, I could relate to Rubin's descriptions. He paints the trail life and fellow pilgrims better than several other AT books I have read. Maybe not funny like Bryson's overhyped work, but much more satisfying. His wrestles with job and marriage commitments were central to his trek and add, rather than detract, to his story. Highly recommended. | 1positive
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Buy the Real Things
If you're an avid reader of Reader's Digest Condensed Books, you might like this collection. Otherwise, go to your library's self-help section and check out the real things for a better taste of each book before buying them. With 50 Self-Help Classics you're getting the author's take on each publication and so you have to remember that his opinion is prevelant throughout each chapter. Having studied some of these texts in grad school, I found some of his opinions (although valid) lacked depth and understanding. It's easy to tell which books are his favorites and which ones he added just to come up to a total of 50. | 0negative
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Quality is an illusion
While cultural pundits try to convince you that some literature is better than other literature, the truth is that all art is relative to individial tastes. Thus, it doesn't make any sense to think that a novel like this one is really any better than say, Michael Crichton or Stephen King. Aesthetic standards can't be grounded.Thus, don't listen to anyone who tries to distinguish between "serious" works of literature like this one and allegedly "lesser" novels. The distinction is entirely illusory, because no novels are "better" than any others, and the concept of a "great novel" is an intellectual hoax. | 0negative
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Exceptional Harlequin Historical......
This is my first book read by this author, and it's also her debut novel. As a long time reader of Historical Romance, predominately in the Regency period, I sometimes feel like I've seen it all, read it all. I was pleasantly surprised by this authors "fresh" approach on this Marriage of Convenience storyline.Both the hero and heroine brought baggage into the relationship, and though each had their insecurities about each other, they faced each crisis realistically and positively. There were no "flighty" arguments, no "misunderstandings" that weren't rectified and talked about together, and when mistakes were made, apologies were given. Like in the real world.I enjoyed that their love grew from fondness and friendship, that it was a sweet love, not the "I'll die without you" drama so prevalent in most romance. I applaud the author's thought to run with the idea that the heroine enjoyed her intimate times with her husband, and even when she thought he MAY have been seeing his pre-marriage mistress, she thought "why should I deny myself intimacy with my husband".My only issue with the story was the TINY bit cliche' ending with the story's "villain", but I can overlook that, and it brings in the thought of future connected books. The "former love" is the hero in a future work,The Proper Wife (Historical Romance). All in all, an enjoyable, fresh and more "realistic" Regency romance that I highly recommend.4.5 stars | 1positive
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Why they call him the Menace.
Dennis the Menace was arguably the greatest single panel comic strip of all time (sorry, Family Circus fans). This book reprints every panel from the first two years of the strip's existence. Sunday pages are not included, since those are not single panels and wouldn't fit in the book. This is great stuff; really funny. If you like Dennis the Menace, you'll love this book. | 1positive
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Year of Wonders
I really loved this book until I reached the last few chapters. The majority of the book is well written and has wonderful character development and historical information about the plague and its affect on a small town's population. However, the last few chapters read like a gothic romance novel. It could be an entirely different book. Despite the disappointing ending, I would recommend this book to my friends. | 1positive
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Objective-tastic!
Objectivism isn't philosophy folks. It's like, "Philosophy for Dummies." My first day of my Social Sciences class at college, I, having read AS, I piped up and said that Smith's "Wealth of Nations" was similar in a few aspects to Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand's views on objectivism. They looked at me like I had just thrown up all over the floor. No one who has anything to do with academia takes crap like Atlas Shrugged seriously, and if you asked them to belt out a list of philosophers, Ayn Rand might make the top 1000. Anyway, Rand does an... alright job of synthesizing some broad ideas, but another thing that bothers me is that it's not very good writing. It's not awful... it's just mediocre, and trudging through over a thousand pages took it out of me something fierce, like having to read 3 da vinci codes, only, you know, less action-packed.Anyway, don't delude yourselves into thinking Ayn Rand is a philosopher, because she's not. She's an AUTHOR. | 0negative
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Simply terrible
I am a big fan of Hemingway, and For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms are two of my favourite novels, but this book was simply terrible. Firstly, there was no plot. I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing did. Secondly, the dialogues between Cantwell and Renata are boring and highly unrealistic. Realism has always been Hemingway's strength, but he seems to have lost it in this novel. And finally, the whole effect is extremely boring. There is no story, no action, no life.I couldn't wait for this book to end so that I could read something interesting instead. My advice to you is - read a lot of Hemingway, but don't touch this one. | 0negative
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Better than Daddy's Boys
What I liked about the stories in this book is that they aren't only about the sex. They're hot and have plots, which you don't often see in erotic fiction. There wasn't a single story in this book that didn't hold my interest.If you liked Daddy's Boys, you'll love this one. It's way better. | 1positive
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Splendid
I loved this classic! A little long but well worth it. Something I will read again and again. Wonderful book. | 1positive
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I did my research paper on this book
I love this book. I love this book. I love this book. It is a story of human nature. I think we all know people like the characters herein in real life. Wuthering Heights is the apotheosis of the classic. I know two people, very close to home like Catherine and Heathcliff who never reached union in this life. There are so many undercurrents to be picked apart in Wuthering Heights. I chose the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine for my research paper. But there was the weather, and how it mirrored all the actions of all the characters in the novel. This is one of my favorite books. | 1positive
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Poor - Drawings very dark
I LOVE Dore's drawings. He is one of the absolute masters, and the Dover Book of his biblical illustrations is wonderful; however, I cannot say the same of this book. Yes, the drawings are Dore all the way, but they are dark - very dark - for the most part. The front panel is the opposite of what one sees inside. Almost all of the prints are gloomy and dark. Thus, I cannot recommend the book. | 0negative
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not a good book for interior work
I got this book to get info on redoing the interior of my sailboat. In Casey's Hull and Deck Repair he makes a reference to this seek out information on headliners and interiors in his book "Canvaswork and Sail Repair". Without thinking about it i ordered the book. I could not find one reference to headliners in this book. I guess the "Canvas Work" in the title should have given it away. Ive now learned how to make enough canvis tote and duffel to supply the entire U.S Navy, but still have a poor looking interior! | 0negative
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A Communitarian pusher
A clue as to where and how the West would be roped, harnessed and destroyed. All in double speak. His vision not ours and not America's. | 0negative
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Nicely done, what a strange story!
Time travel, everyday life as a librarian, marital struggles and human foibles, childhood rites of passage, this book really puts it all together. Ms. Niffenegger's love for her characters is just irresistible and the story is fascinating. It will be interesting to read her next project! | 1positive
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Ella Enchanted
If you are looking for a good book to read this year you need to read Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. This is the best book I have ever read!!!! So buy this book from Amazon today. Do you have an Amazon account, if not sign up today! | 1positive
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Disappointed
I was hoping to see a variety of beautiful beadwork, there was no variety whatsoever. Every piece was the same. And none of it was even jewelry. I have been a serious Beader for 14 yrs and always enjoy any book on beading whether it's instructive or one like this, just pictures to get inspiration from. There is nothing inspirational in this book. Don't waste your money even if it's selling for 1 cent | 0negative
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Directory of Football Defenses
Unfortunate that this is out of print. It is an excellent book about all defenses. It lists odd and even defenses and the strengths and weaknesses of each. Particularly valuable is a position by position list, and their basic alignments and keys. I've used it for high school, but you can see application to just good teaching at all levels. I "loaned" mine out and can't get it back. Well worth the time to look for it. | 1positive
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