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Not credible -- a mother's false tale
Oh, what a sorry alternative to Nickel and Dimed. Here, Michelle Kennedy purports to describe her "poor choices" and descent into homelessness with three children. She'd like us to believe she was a careful, attentive mother. But she creates phony characters -- a colorful landlord, a physician's wife who decides to do childcare for $2 an hour, friendly cops. Baloney. This woman is half-crazy and married a man who was fully crazy. Now she's got four children and a book deal. Puh-leeze. | 0negative
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Easy read
The book was contrived and formulaic, but an easy read. Only recommended if you have time to kill and really don't want to think. | 0negative
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Incomplete, but worth a read
The book is written essentially as a series of stories about Einstein. The book was able to hold my interest to finish it, but barely so - many of Einstein's achievements seem a bit muted, and there aren't enough details about his personal life. Details of Einstein's personal life were casually tossed away in a brief paragraph that should have merited an entire chapter.Having said that, the book might be worth a read... based on why your reading it. It just give details about Einstein's most famous achievements.Of course what's truly remarkable about Einstein is that he lived a life so full of achievements that perhaps no biography has the space to cover the broad sweep of his life. He accomplished as much as 10 Nobel Laureates combined, so maybe you just can't fit a super achieving scientist like this in a book. | 0negative
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GREAT !!
I agree with others that a number of negative reviews are from people who do not even have the Kindle.....I just received mine about 1 week ago and can say that I am REALLY pleased with the unit. Since there are so many positive things about the Kindle, I'll just comment on the very few things I'd like to see changed. 1. Button placement: would prefer buttons be on 1 side or the other, no need for duplicates 2. Cheap case design: within 20 minutes, the case was worthless.....they have a small plastic piece that is supposed to mate with a ridge in the back cover of the Kindle....was not catching, so I tried to move it out a bit....yep, broke right off with little to no pressure. 3.Kindle store: incomplete list of books even for authors where they have a few of the authors books, so get as many books from a author as possible 4. Add the main works of the author: for example: Tolkein....do not have his main books etc. 5. Color screen. 6) Add more formats the unit can read. Now, I can say that I absolutely love the unit, as the ad says, within minutes, I didn't "see" the kindle but was deep into the book. I am pleased !! | 1positive
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Very Good
One reviewer called Robert a "wimp." I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Anyone who's gone through torture and almost died well, I think if they started to have nightmares that's normal and as someone else says makes you human. Well I guess some women could see him as damaged or a wimp, and that's fine It's why he needed a special woman to pull him out of it. I didn't like Suzanne Enoch's novella in Lady Whistledown, but this book was very very good, and she has gone up in my estimation. | 1positive
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Without Sprint Service Your Screwed
After 5k+ reviews I doubt I will get read by anyone but here it goes. Bought it Love it then wondered where my service was. Living in rural Iowa there is no Sprint service within 50 miles! Yeah no way to register or get books etc. And there is nothing in the documentation that explains the miserable Sprint network is their provider for Whispernet. I would have returned it in a flash but I thought I just had to get a better signal. Then I checked Amazon/Support. Supprise!! You are not Wireless. | 0negative
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It's getting better and better.
This is the 2nd book in the Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro series and I'm happy to say I think it's better then the first one. This time a the client is a Boston psychiatrist running scared from the mob. During the investigation they find out a serial killer is involved and the case is specially focussed on Kenzie. It's a good book, they redirect scenes from: A drink before the war, so you really get into the series. 4 stars. | 1positive
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Compicated - Not Well Thought Out
I read C.S. Friedman's first novel, "In Conquest Born" and was blown away by how good it was. It is a tour de force and I still think it is one of the top 100 SF novels ever.This Coldfire Trilogy is a bust. It has that taint where one comes up with a half-baked idea that is simply not a good one and follows through on it 100%. This sense of a a passing thought cloaked in complexity pervades the entire series. Why people like it so much is simply beyond me. Obviously there is a great deal of subjectivity in reading and liking fantasy but it is hard to believe that people who've read this series and give it 4 or 5 stars have ever read the body of fantastic literature from the last 100 years and more.The series lacks any brightness or joy and simply plods like Friedman herself couldn't wait to get to the end of it. This trilogy is the complete opposite of the inventiveness of her first novel or a fantasy series like George Martin's never to be completed "Song of Fire and Ice" If one loves fantasy you can not read this series and will have missed nothing. Being a fan of Friedman's I read the first novel years ago and only read the last 2 because I was stuck in Cairo, Egypt which is not a storehouse of fantastic literature in English.I never really cared about any of the characters in the series as, considering how much verbiage is attached in describing them, they never come across as more than simplistic stereotypes from a video game. The fact that Friedman tries so hard to do the opposite only makes it worse and she would've been better advised to concentrate on pacing instead of falling over her feet from one plodding scene that trips into the next with no suspense aside from the fact that one knows the book will end at some point. | 0negative
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Should have been a short story
Yes, yes, I know...this was based off a series of short stories. Unfortunately it should have stayed that way. The writer, IMHO, tries to be too clever by simply throwing as many concepts as he can at you and "seeing what sticks to the wall" so-to-speak. For true, post-singularity reading joy, I'd recommend the Culture series of novels by Iain M. Banks. | 0negative
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OK, there were other guys there too.
I am a paid firefighter with friends on the FDNY. First off, I am astounded that the chief managed to accomplish what he did, all by himself! Either the men he was "leading " were totaly incapacitated, or he has the biggest ego in the department! What were the men of Ladder 6 doing while this chief was "saving" them? Not being aggresive? Not being good firefighters? This chief "saved" the whole company! I wonder what the men from Ladder 6 have to say. I have been a firefighter for 26 years. I can tell you now that with this book, this chief just alienated himself from the rest of the brothers. I would not recomend this book to anyone, unless you are a young fire officer and want to learn what NOT to do and say about the men you lead and who does 99% of the work on a fire department. | 0negative
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pleased
This is for xmas so I d't know how he will like it althourgh I'm impressed with the Kindle it's self and how I can just order a book and it's their. | 1positive
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Kindle is superb!!
As an avid reader, this product really caught my attention when it first came to market. I had been researching the Kindle online for several weeks. My Father-in-law then received one as a gift & having it in hand made the decision to purchase one a no-brainer for me. It's lightweight and very easy to use the controls; it's revolutionary; it saves a lot of room in my carry-on/laptop bags; the screen has such clarity. I travel extensively for both work & family vacations domestically & internationally. I used to have a separate bag with all of my reading material that I would devour on flights. Now, just the lightweight Kindle - - with a LOT of books, newspapers, etc all in one easy to carry device. It is saving my lower back!! If only I could order books delivered to it while out of the country.....then it would be absolutely perfect! That's the only drawback that I've seen thus far. I just have to have enough reading material stored prior to leaving the states. Well, that & having to worry about my 11 year old twins wanting to borrow it all of the time. I can see that there will be two more on Christmas lists at our house! Thanks for a great product! | 1positive
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kindle observations
The Kindle is everything it claims to be and using it has changed my reading habits for the better. I am an enthusiastic user. That said, I would make the following comments:As a visual person I don't find it very stimulating - gray page, one font, pictures more tantalizing than legible. I miss those cuties wearing expensive watches I used to see in the NY Times. But I don't miss being surrounded by yards of processed trees after my morning read of the paper. I look forward to future kindles with color and images.The ability to highlight and clip and save same on my computer is one of the most valuable features for me. I was famous ( or infamous) for marking up my books and tearing out pages of newspapers - no more, I've reformed thanks to Kindle.I am not much of a best seller reader and a lot of books I want to read are not ebooks. I'm assuming that's the price I pay for jumping on the ebook bandwagon early and hopefully even less popular books in time will become ebooks. Even at $10 a book it's bit pricey for my budget but I've discovered a number of free ebook sources and with the help of a program called Stanza ( for Apple computers) converting them to a Kindle book is easy.My biggest technical complaint is that for me, a right-handed reader, the "previous page" bar and the left "next page" bar ( small in comparison) sit under my left hand when I read. These should be reversed so that a nudge of my left hand turns the page instead of going to the previous page. in other words its more convenient for me to turn the page with my left hand instead of my right but the way its set up now I too often find myself on the previous page instead of the next page.One I lost my Kindle for bout half a day - being small it's easy to do. I was quite bereft until it was found in the depths of a sofa cushion. That says it all. If you're any kind of reader I guarantee the Kindle will be your inseparable companion in no time flat. | 1positive
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One more hammer blow to the stake in the heart of a series I loved
I remember when this series was great. Not just good, not just very good, but simply great. Sure the first two books were a little rough in character and writing style. However, the characters were interesting, the setup was clever, and the A-line police work plots made an excellent framework for the B-line character development. By book three, the series had hit its stride and was simply a great fantasy series. Then, it stumbled. The sex became a larger part of the books and the characters became less and less interesting. I don't mind the sex but, as a previous reviewer has said, it's poorly done sex. There's no erotica, no sensuality, just a detailed step by step list in prose form of the steps Anita takes to screw one of her many lovers. It's a sexual flowchart and bores me to tears.Beyond that, the non-sex parts are beginning to feel tacked on to the rest of the story. The ballet here was occasionally mentioned but didn't happen until the end and frankly is a pretty thin A-line plot. Where are the detective stories that made the series interesting?I used to like the personal relationships but that time has passed. Anita is so screwed up right now she's just boring and one gets the impression that if Ms. Hamilton could find a way to get rid of Richard without screwing up the trinity, she would. I would enthusiastically recommend that she do so and let Richard eat a bullet and stop bothering the reader (and Anita) with his constant whining.What really has ruined the series for me is Anita, which is quite unfortunate as she is the main character! Where before she was a somewhat screwed up woman, always up against superior enemies but surviving because of her strength she is now an uber-powerful monster with a new major power appearing in every book. She has also become a completely selfish, rigid, and unattractive sociopath, which kind of hurts her appeal. What amuses me greatly is how all of these men fall in love with her on sight because she is (so we're constantly told) a wonderful woman who always cares about her lovers's happiness who also happens to be hot with a large chest. The physical attributes might be true, the mental ones certainly aren't. She will only accept a relationship with a man if he does exactly as he is told, never steps out of bounds, and serves whatever role Anita demands. In return, he gets great sex. That's it. The only thing that she offers is fantastic sex, which makes her into a parody of the stereotype where an attractive woman who "puts out" when needed can be completely self-involved and have men want her. She doesn't offer compassion (unless it involves some form of sex), understanding (unless it involves some form of sex), support (unless it involves some form of sex), compromise (unless on a rare occasion it involves some form of sex), or anything that raises love beyond the purely physical. In short, she better pray that the ardeur stays with her because if she ever loses the ability to bring men lots of pleasure, she'll be living in an apartment with 30 cats. | 0negative
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If I understood it , anyone can!
Wuthering Heights was our newest assingest reading in my language arts class. I have to be honest I almost quit the course just looking at how difficult it seemed. I had never read classic literature before and it was something new, that looked way too difficult for me. Now that I have finished reading the book, I completely understand where all the stories I love to read came from. They take the basic story line from classics such as this one, and make it simpler. However, I honestly enjoyed the challenge of coming to understand this book. I have also struck a new passion for classic literature.Emily Bronte had a magnificiant way of finding different twists to be put all over. For instance, the book starts off at the ending and does a flashback of the beginning of the novel. Her ways of connecting things make this book so you can't skip a beat or you'll be forced to go reread it. Each chapter is jam packed with details. Even ones you think insignificant have ways of tieing in later on.The true story begins a love/hate good/evil battle. It's a lesson in life and teaches you about what certain peoples values truly were. For Catherine (a main character in the story) as much as she loved Heathcliff (a servant boy who was found on the streets of London and adopted into the Earnshaw family) her decision to marry was not followed by her heart, but by what her social status would become. She ends up marrying Edgar( a wealthy man who lived down the road from Wuthering Heights in a place called Thrushcross Grange) and not knowingly sparks Heathcliff's revenge which is the story line continued through the very end of the story.To love Heathcliff is to hate Heathcliff and visa versa. He plays almost the biggest role since he is one of the only characters who is known throughout the whole book. You first meet him as a grumpy old man whom Linton( one of the narrators) is leasing Wuhtering Heights from. As the new narrator, Nelly Dean( another servant girl who had a long past with the Earnshaw family) tells of what hardships he really had to go trough. Heathcliff was an adopted orphan and he was brought into a father who loved him, a sister who really showed no care at the time ( but who would fall madly in love with him in the end) and a brother who showed nothing but hatred towards him until his dying day. Mr. Earnshaw was very partial to Heathcliff to I think that struck the hatred from Hindley ( the brother). Throughout the late Catherines life, it was a constant battle between love and money. Although Catherine marries Edgar and Heathcliff does end up with Isabella ( Edgars younger sister), their love only grows stronger. And it continues even after Catherine dies and has her daugheter, young Cathy.Both volumes of this book are so much alike. It is almost the same story just with the heirs of the deceased living it. Cathy ( late Catherine's daughter) also is in love with two men.( Hareton- son of Catherine and Edgar, and Linton- son of Isabella and Heathcliff. Although Cathy's first husband( Linton ) does die shortly after their marriage and she gets to marry Hareton too, the similarities between Cathy and her mother are so significant.As the novel comes to an end Cathy and Hareton move back to Wuthering Heights. It is very debateable on wether or not this is truly a happy ending ( becuase so much has happened before it). I think it is because I think it is finally bringing the two different worlds together as one.I loved this book and enjoyed how well Bronte brought everything together. I have found a new love for classics and am finding myself enjoying more from that time period now more than anything else. All because I didn't give up on this one book...I encourage everyone who reads this to continue reading the book. It gets hard (believe me I know) but if I understood it anyone can!--d* | 1positive
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Hope Springs...Artificial
I thought this book was frustratingly vague. It didn't seem so much a way to force the reader to use his/her imagination as it did more a limited effort on the part of the author to tell a complete, coherent story. The endless descriptions were torpid. Worst of all, most scenes ended in a total cop-out. So, whatever they desperately needed, they just seemed to find, like the cache of food when they were starving. Huh? I guess it was just easier to finish the book that way. And the ending? This wonderful family just happened to be right there when the kid needed them? With the exception of a couple of scenes (the people in the basement or the fate of the mother, for example), it just wasn't very good. If that was truly the real world, the kid would have ended up as a catamite or someone's dinner. | 0negative
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Plotless and boring
In reading this book, I kept waiting for the action to start. The characters are very simplistic and not very realistic. The main character asks all kinds of questions and steps in and saves or helps everyone. She's the perfect Aunt or Grandma figure who saves people just by showing an interest or a little love. What a shame life doesn't work that way. Just heal mental illness by giving someone a kitten. Give me a break!! I couldn't finish this book. It was just too nothing.... | 0negative
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Poor selection of books for Canada
I bought a Kindle DX. The device performs well enough, screen refresh could be better. But the biggest problem is the poor selection of books for Canadian readers. A lot of books aren't available to Canadian Kindle users. For example a lot of John Updike and Yukio Mishima novels are not for sale to Canadian customers, only Americans. And since this device doessn't support epub. I can't buy the books from other sellers.Not recomended for Canadian readers. | 0negative
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TEDIOUS
I thought this book would never end. It could have been over with in 200 pages tops. The characters were uninteresting and the story was boring. The writing was tedious and read like a romance novel. I am not passing this on to anyone, I wouldn't want to put my friends through the torture. | 0negative
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Not my cup of tea...
Not sure if it was me or the book. But something didn't fit.I found a bunch of really neat movies pertaining to this topic instead. | 0negative
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Fast Action Lively Historical
Burke Longton a wealthy American has come to Scotland to find a brother he's never met. Unfortunately before he's made any progress, he's thrown into prison on a trumped up charge. Luckily, before Burke has arranged an escape for himself he and other prisoners are rescued by a ragtag bunch led by a tiny virago female with attitude! Accustomed to giving orders, Burke is noticeably annoyed to be told to obey HER commands without question.Going by the name of Storm, she is a self-appointed angel fighting against the injustices perpetuated against the innocent and poor who out of necessity must steal food in order to survive. Having been too late to save her husband from the terrors of Scottish justice, she vowed to never let that happen and rescued as many as she could. She's walled her heart off vowing to never love again, but the arrogant American Burke Longton is doing his best to change her mind with gentle protective embraces and fevered kisses that Storm is finding harder and harder to resist.*** Storm and Burke were both compelling and likeable characters in this non-stop action page turner. The story was well written and though it portrays Storm as a `Scottish lass' her dialogs were not written with any of the Scottish pronunciations that are more customary for these historicals. However, the dialogs were sharp, witty, and the foreplay banter between the protagonists was amusing and sensual. In the quest to locate Burke's long-lost brother the author kept the pace perfectly adequate right up to the rather surprise ending while masterfully setting up the sequel for another quest in finding a missing child. Fletcher gives an enjoyable read in a very tender love story that shoots straight to the heart as Storm is finally able to acknowledge that it's okay to both love and live again. This should score well with fans and leave them all in high anticipation for Cullen's quest.Marilyn Rondeau, RIO - Reviewers International Organization | 1positive
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BLINK in a blink
Although at times this book could be quite interesting, I found it to be unenjoyable. Often I felt as though the author was talking down to the reader and wasting time explaining himself too much.Gladwell does a decent job of introducing topics and concepts, but spends too much time telling explanatory stories and not enough time expanding upon the princpals behind them. Even with my rudementary understanding of psychology I often felt like I could have written a more through explanation of some of the topics. Perhaps Gladwell has a great many accolades in the area of psychology that I am unaware of, but after reading this book I have no reason to think that he does.If you are looking for an easy read that will not rot your brain or challenge it too much, this is a good book for you. However, if you wish to delve into the workings of the human mind and read something of a challenge then keep looking. I would reccomend Dr. Viktor Frankl's <U>Man's Search For Meaning</U> as it provides much deeper analysis from the unique perspective of a concentration camp survivor. | 0negative
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Outdated & Overly complex
I didn't think much of this book. Martin uses really complicated words to explain simple concepts. He literally drowns in his own verbage. Although, many of the ideas discussed in the book are relevant and useful, they are also mostly intuitive to the average developer. | 0negative
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Sheer torture
I shouldn't be writing this, as I am apparently missing something in this book. Jane Austen was obviously an intelligent lady, had great facility with the language, was able to make keen observations, and had a good soul. But reading this was an exercise in grim duty. I could not have cared less about any of the characters or the outcome of the "plot." The one character with any potential of interest was Darcy, and he turned out to be a very dull boy. This seems to be the 19th century version of today's romance novel, written for a certain audience. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but I would rather even read Russian novels of the same century--another literary torture chamber, but a more interesting one. | 0negative
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Great Series
The DemonTech series is great. I was unsure of the books at first but I gave them a shot and found myself in a wonderfuly written SF book that is completely different from any other I have read. The sad truth is the series is finished with this last installment. It does leave you at a huge cliffhanger so unless the books sell we will never find out what happens with the story. | 1positive
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Great retired leaders should not write books.
Tough read! Iacocca attempts to attack politics using business principles. The diatribes and laced discontent for the current administration defuse his message of the nine qualities of leadership. When I purchased the book, I thought it was on business leadership. Instead, the book bashes President Bush and skips leadership.However, great leadership as he points out does not put blame on others, but Iacocca squarely puts the blame on President Bush (whom I do not support) for everything from 9/11 to the auto industry woes. Many items rightly so, but does blaming and complaining convert us to be great leaders. I am afraid not.The nine C's of leadership are great, but disorganized when presented as one crosses into the next type. In addition, none is fully developed. Iacocca has the premise for a great leadership book, but fails to deliver. | 0negative
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The screen and connectivity make the device
After using the device for a few hours, I have to say that the e-ink technology makes the device. I keep hearing the argument that you can do more on a laptop/iPhone/PDA/etc...but these people have obviously not seen or held an e-ink device. There is NO eye fatigue. Reading with the Kindle is just as comfortable as reading a sheet of printed paper. That fact combined with the connectivity and quick downloaded content make this the eBook I have been wanting for years. I have bought a couple of books from the Kindle store and they both downloaded within 30 seconds.Color me impressed... | 1positive
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First time Lescroart reader
Searching for a new book, the readers recommendations strongly liked this author---so I gave it a shot. Overall I found the book a very good read; good character development, personal interaction between the parties, a compelling "who done it" and I agree with one writer who states that the courtroom scenes were the best. I am definitely going to purchase another of his books for a comparison read. | 1positive
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Stellar on part 1, quite good on parts 2 and 3
I had read Singularity Sky a while back. Not bad, but not great either, IMHO, so I ignored Stross for a few years.On a whim, because I had heard so much about it, I paged through the start of Accelerando at the library. And ended up checking it out right away. Part 1 reads like a punky, sassy Bruce Sterling, updated to reflect 2005 tech culture and memes. With memorable characters like the despicable IRS dominatrix and the AI cat. Gotta also love a book that openly criticizes the likely impact of us boomers' entitlement programs on near-future economies.Once the Singularity gets truly and well underway, in parts 2 and 3, Accelerando becomes a bit less gripping. Partly because the big-picture techiness is explained more directly and repetitively, rather than inferred from the story. Partly because some things aren't developed very well. For example, what they find in the big cosmic router in the sky was confusing and somewhat of a letdown after all the buildup. I loved Field Circus' imaginative take on interstellar travel though.Nevertheless, the book remains highly readable, has a nice conclusion and some truly interesting ideas. Like, postulating that super-high-tech civilizations will descend into parochial isolationism rather than explore their surroundings. Not sure I buy all of that, but it is logical and well explained. And I appreciate Accelerando's relentless optimism about the future, which is in refreshing contrast to all the copycat dystopian SF out there. | 1positive
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One day I read a boring book
Giant Redwoods, a fascinating subject dulled by the lackluster writing style of this book. I thought I had read a chapter twice only to realize that it began with the same sentence as an earlier chapter. "One day in the middle of October 1987..." Both chapters then went on to describe people who were tree enthusiasts, had fear of heights and a penchant for Dungeons and Dragons.Some info added nothing to the tale like the 3 pages about selling knives to the country club set, boooring. I bought this book to learn about the trees but got a lot of boring nonsense throughout.When the Dyerville Giant fell it wasn't explained why they still wondered what the height of the tree was. Isn't the height of a tree lieing on its side the same as when it is standing? Seemed like a missed opportunity much like this entire book. | 0negative
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Difficult, but worthwhile read
Elizabeth Edwards has been in the news lately and frankly I knew nothing about her except her cancer diagnosis. I checked the book out from the library expecting the book to be mostly about her battle with cancer, but it's not. I really enjoyed reading about her family history - she has strong parents who produced this very strong (and very strong-willed) daughter. It was difficult to read about her grief after losing her dear son, Wade. She visited his grave every day for many months and read to him from the Bible and all of the books on his school reading list. Her memories are very tender and her dealings with others on the grief forums on the internet are compassionate and supportive. Perhaps the portrait she paints of Wade is a little too perfect, but certainly forgivable.Elizabeth and John are immensely wealthy - a fact she certainly doesn't play up in her book. When you learn that 800 people come to their annual Christmas party at their home, you get the idea it's not a small house they live in! I only mention this because it struck me that no one is immune to tragedy. Money cannot buy health or immunity from pain. It can help one build memorials, create foundations, and memorial scholarships in loved ones names, but it cannot bring a loved one back. Rich and poor are alike in this regard.I got a little bogged down in all of the names, too, but I think she just wanted to include as many people as possible in her book. I hope the pharmaceutical companies will discover some new drugs to help her in her battle with cancer so that she can raise her two beautiful young children. I do support pharmaceutical companies (sorry for being a little bit political), because they help people like Elizabeth. | 1positive
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Thanks Amazon!
Before I ordered this product, I read a lot of the reviews about the Kindle...I took the "good" and the "bad" and that's how I learned to use the Kindle the right way! I definitely hold it differently, so that I don't press the "prev page" button or the "next page" button. I don't mind the screen going to black as it turns to the next page. I use my Kindle all the time... I can't say enough about the product... I'm sure they will come up with new & improved features, but I just couldn't wait, until I could carry more than a few books with me at all times. Thanks Amazon! | 1positive
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Grammar made fun
However much I learn about usage, style, and grammar, details continue to baffle me. "That" vs. "which," capitalizing after a colon, titles that begin with "a" or "the," when to spell out a number, possessives of words ending in "s". Efficiently and humorously, this book answers these questions and many more. But don't expect an exhaustive guide. Rather, expect to spend some casual time getting better acquainted with these ideas. Like Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, you can pick this up, have fun with it, and learn a few new tricks in the process. I found some information that stuck with me, some information that hopefully will some day, and some information I already knew, which her writing made enjoyable anyway. If that sounds good, give this a try.I have two small complaints about this book. First, the "Satan's Vocabulary" chapter. Casagrande's humor and readability barely wavers for most of the book, but these last pages are tedious. Second, it took me a few chapters to pick up on Casagrande's angle, which is something like this: Grammar snobs are nasty people, and Casagrande will help you outwit them by improving your grammar. Defiance through submission, kind of. In the typical chapter, she'll introduce a rule that grammar snobs mercilessly insist on, bemoan what meanies the snobs are... and then tell you how to follow the rule. It can feel convoluted, or even patronizing. Casagrande claims to oppose grammar snobs like Lynne Truss, but despite Casagrande aiming her ire at people who insist on grammar rules rather than at people who defy them, I see little difference between their projects. But who cares? This book is still fun and useful. | 1positive
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kindle does not work
sends me in circles "tweet share that you have finished this book" and back again. so what am i suposed to do next? | 0negative
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intriguing idea
What a strange role reversal. The men are pampered, raise the children, give the comfort (kissing the booboos), and generally have the soft hearts. They wrap their arms around the female's neck and seek comfort and strength by cuddling into her body. I know. . . it sounds so feminine. You wouldn't think you could become involve in such a novel. You wouldn't think you could picture a such a man attractive, yet, you do.In this strange world, based in a time period similar to the 19th century, men are EXTREMELY rare. Whole groups of sisters that can number as many as 10 to 30 women will share a husband in order to have offspring. The results would be another huge brode of girl siblings, with the hopes of perhaps one boy (more than that and the family was considered lucky and rich). The women guard there men by keeping them hidden away from any other woman not a sister or mother under guard. Meanwhile, the women are the ones who rule, work, fight, and labor.Jerin Whistler's family is one of the lucky ones. He may have over 25 female siblings, but he is also the oldest of four brothers, too. His sisters protect their commodity with all their force. He and his brothers are their only chance of purchasing their own husbands to share in the future. Because the wealth of four brothers, they will be able to split the sisters in two to three groups. Each group sharing one husband they will get after selling or trading a brother for. Jerin will be coming of age for marriage in only a few months (he'll be turning 16!) when a stranger is attacked on their land. With the elder sisters and mothers gone, it is up to Jerin and a younger sister (for protection) to bring the stranger home and out of danger. Little do they all realize, she's also a princess, and her and her sisters will change all their lives.I could not put this novel down. I started reading in the evening and the next thing I knew it, it was four in the morning! | 1positive
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Good Writing, Awful Story
If you include the truly awful title, The Scent of Shadows, is a pretty lame story about a girl with mysterious powers who comes into her own, after nearly being killed by the bad guys who can smell her psychically or some such hogwash. This was excessively violent and I completely lost interest when the heroine stops by a comic shop to do 'research'. I've done tons of research in my life, and none of it was gleaned from comic books. My recommendation is, don't bother with this. There are plenty of good books, or even just better books out there and you don't need to use of precious seconds of your life with this drek. I only give it two stars because the writing was good. Plot and storyline were ludicrous, even for fantasy--or whatever you call this stuff. | 0negative
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Isabella exonerated
Alison Weir who managed to rehabiliated Mary,Queen of Scots from charges of murdering her husband, does it once again for Isabella who spent much of history as a fellow murderer of her husband, Edward II. Alison Weir wrote a highly entertaining, interesting and well researched book on Queen Isabella's life and deeds.Alison Weir make a pretty strong and williful case for Isabella. History haven't been kind to this wife of Edward II and Weir audaciously tried to portaryed Isabella in a positive light whenever and whereever possible. The key element of her effort to exonerate Isabella from her most henious crime, murdering her husband, Edward II, Weir emphasized strongly the Fieschi letter which explained how Edward II escaped from his captivity and lived as a hermit-monk until his more peaceful death (instead of the red hot poker type). Much of the Fieschi letter and other elements around it appears to be highly speculative in nature and it can be twisted in almost any direction you want. Weir twisted it in her favor and perception of Isabella's exoneration.The book read well and most readers should be convinced in Weir's favor. My only complaint would be that Weir goes out of her way to soft-pedal Isabella's numerous sins and her failure to see that politics may have something to do with Edward III's correct behavior toward his mother after the fall of Mortimer. Some readers will find some of Weir's explanations to be bit too incredulous and speculative.Weir with all her efforts, still can't explained the fact away that Isabella, by all logic, committed adultery with a King's enemy,committed treason, broken her marriage vows and was a tyrant, spendthrift and betrayer of her son's legacy. Blaming it all on her lover, Mortimer is a cheap way to go.Overall though, this is a great reading book, probably geared mostly toward readers who have a good background on English history of this period to be effective. I would highly recommended this book since it does opened out new territory. Believed it or not is up to the reader. | 1positive
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Fantastic!
I love my Kindle. It's simple, easy to use,convenient, up-to-date and fun to read on.I had been looking at purchasing a Kindle forover a year but was hesitant because I am a bittechnologically challenged. I finally jumpedin and bought one and have had no problems whatsoeverwith using it. It always elicits questions fromobservers in public places.....what a great wayto meet fellow readers and show it off. | 1positive
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Heresay
'Jim Morrison-Life, Death and Legend' by Stephen Davis isn't a book, it's a compendium of suppositions, heresay, rumors, inuendo and fiction. One can only assume after reading this that Davis was able to defy the laws of physics and construct a time machine and travel back to observe every obscure moment of the life of Jim Morrison.Jim Morrison's teeth chattered as he drank a dozen beers? Jim Morrison drove their rented Puegot sedan at a relaxed pace southward toward Lyon? Jim gets thrown out the back door of a bar and leans up against the wall for half-an-hour? How the hell would Davis know any of these things without being there to observe?And where oh where did Davis come up with "mystic heated wine"? Really? Mysticated wine is always what I've heard. And, on 'Roadhouse Blues', Hey everybody..it's "Do it Robbie..do it!" Robbie?..as in Krieger, that guy who was The Doors guitar player. After reading this drivel I am really looking forward to re-reading John Densmore's book which is the best ever written on the subject of Jim Morrison and The Doors. | 0negative
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ONCE MORE
Yes...once more, Leonardo da Vinci is responsible for another amazing invention, the Shroud of Turin. If you know anything about the camera obscura, you know it did not use film and chemistry, therefore, a negative image was never produced, thought of, conceived of, discovered, seen, known, or other wise captured; in the mind of man; in this century; Amen! I do not need to read this book to know it is exploitation at it's best. | 0negative
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Loved the Dangerous Lord and His Cover!
This was a great read from beginning to end. The passion between these two lovers was intense. The Viscount came across as a bit too pushy and arrogant at times, but I guess he has to be or he wouldn't be an elite member of high ranking society. It was good to see the heroine grow into a more confident and bolder woman that will perfectly match her hero. The chemistry between the two was fantastic and their growing love for one another was brilliantly paced through the book.This was a charming read and none in the least bit boring. | 1positive
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This is by far the worst book I have ever suffered through
I think this is probably the worst book I have ever read in my life. I purchased it at the recommendation of someone, not even wanting to buy it, but thought maybe I'd give it a try to give this person honest feedback. I can't even bring myself to talk to this person, I feel I will never trust their opinion on anything else ever again. This is absolutely the worst writing ever. Horrible, horrible writing. She is constantly using parenthesis to explain herself, good writers don't need to do this every few sentences. She stops, if you can say stop because there is no flow to her writing, and says things like "let me explain something first" and "if you must know" and goes on about how she doesn't have time here to explain something, but why even bring it up at all? You sure do have the time to tell us you're not going to tell us.Besides the bad writing she tries to describe things and people and make herself sound really hip but she comes off as a lame, pampered, yuppie girl who doesn't know what's cool besides what the media and her lame brain has told her is cool. She also shows us through her lameness that she's never had any real life experience so she had to go off and do some cool things and meet some cool people in order for her ego to feel credible and justified. She is SO whiney. "oh, cry cry, I'm so broke, by husband won't let me sell our mansion in Manhattan so I have to rent an apartment on the upper eastside" or some other such drivel. I just really don't feel like having to suffer through the book again to get those facts completely straight.This whole book is supposed to be about how enlightened she has become yet even at the end through her bad writing she displays how unenlightened, snobby and elitist she still is. There is a part where she is with the medicine lady and someone comes in asking for help for their "god awful constipation" and the author writes: "I was thinking, Sing it a little louder, honey, and we can all dance to it..." What? You're the lame, rich, healthy, my-poor-suffering-soul whiney white lady sitting all day with the medicine woman in Bali, and you're complaining about hearing people with real physical ailments coming in for help? Guess traveling for enlightenment doesn't teach tact, class, or compassion.Eww. This book was so lame I can't even pass it off to someone for fear they'll actually read it. I only forced and struggled my way through it to make sure I would find nothing redeeming so I could absolutely bash it to the person that recommended it to me. Richard, the character from Texas, says a few interesting things that she captured alright, but that's about it. Do not waste your money on this piece of junk. And if you find it for free pass it up anyway, please don't waste your time and energy on this. | 0negative
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I Love my Kindle!!!!!
I just got my Kindle and I love it. I am already on my third book in just one week!!! I love the ease of downloading the books and how well you can read the Kindle in low light or bright sunshine!! Amazing!! I have looked at other electronic readers but you must take my word, this one is in a class by itself!!! It really does read as if it is a book in your hand versus an electronic gadget!! Amazon, you have really outdone yourself!! I love it!!! | 1positive
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Very little actual substance to this 'novel'
If all you want is heaving sexual tension and blatant sex with little - in fact minimal substance to the story, then this is novel for you! Personally, I feel cheated. | 0negative
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The best bookcase I've ever owned
I've had my Kindle for approx. 6 months, and the negatives are few in number and insignificant in daily use. The positives are many and significant in daily use.I know that I'm reading faster, better and a greater number of books(ideas); because of the font adjustments, device accessibility and library portability.The search and bookmark features are helpful research tools beyond imagination. For example, type a keyword and see immediately the context in which you've read it on the page of the book(s) in which it is contained.And the ease of PDF convertibility makes the topical--- well, topical and available.Above all, I'd much rather buy SD cards than bookcases. A model economic analysis would be--- Savings: book cost+bookcase+Prime Membership. Investment: original price of Kindle+SD Cards.I'm no expert on the marketing of books, but there have been a number of books without Kindle editions that I've foregone, in order to buy Kindle editions of books on a related subject. I've got to believe apriori that the market will increase the number of ebooks available, especially in an economic downturn. Will I duplicate the paper books I have with Kindle editions? Only rarely. Will I continue to order paper books? Yes, however, it won't be many. From me, furniture stores, network television and UPS will see less business. | 1positive
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Kindle
Ive had my kindle for almost 3 months now and it has made such a difference in my reading experience. I love it. A week or so after receiving my kindle I saw a vertical line in the center of the screen. I called the support team and they sent me a new one. So no complaints there. My overall experience with my kindle has been wonderful! | 1positive
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Delightful pulse of NYC
I have read this book and loved it. I loved the characters and the way the settings introduced the complexity of the characters. I look forward to more by the authors. {Hurry and get writing ladies}Please continue the story line or introduce us to some on the west coast. I have become a fan. The authors are young women who are living lives worth sharing. It is not an unsubstantiated pop "hood" novel. Oh no, it is worthy of your attention. It has more to offer...laughs, mystery and drama, trouble surmounted and lives on the rise.If you havent read this one, go now and get it...!!! if you love RHOA, or DHW you'll be intrigued by Gotham Diaries.Sincerely, A true reader from the N.O. | 1positive
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WOW! Pleasantly surprised! Love it!
i did not know this kind of gadget even existed. Stumbled on it by accident, I love it. Took less than 20 minutes to acclamate my self moving around the screen. The download are lightening fast. I can buy audible for the lazy eyes days.Wish it has a back lite, but other than that it is a terrific addition to my gadget world! | 1positive
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A great antidote to the Ellroy virus
Walter Mosley has staked out an interesting patch for his books: a black detective who served in WWII. His picture of LA (and the US) 40-50 years ago is, I am sure, familiar to blacks my age, and likewise strangely foreign to whites. This came home to me when I read *Bad Boy*, which brings the time forward to my own adulthood.I'm a contemporary of Brawly Brown, and as I read about Easy being rousted because he sat in a car too long for a couple of white cops' taste, his honest and hardworking friends scrabbling to keep a few steps ahead of poverty in a city that sounds like the first circle of Hell, all the intellectual platitudes of the Civil Rights Movement become vivid realities.Mosley's corrupt, racist LA of the Sixties is no surprise. But he makes it real in a way coffehouse conversation can't, and he communicates his moral outrage the best way possible, by letting us do it for him.It's an odd comparison, but Mosley reminds me of Tony Hillerman in his essentially moral perspective and his commitment to teaching in the attractive guise of adventure. | 1positive
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i would pass
i have read jodi thomas and loved her. this story is lacking the spark that is her trademark. i do not recommend this one! | 0negative
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Garbage
Leads people down the wrong path and is all New Age material that will lead the reader away from the truth; that being the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They don't like to hear it, but Jesus is the only way to heaven. No matter how much of this stuff they try to convince us there are other paths, they are all sadly mistaken and lives are being lost eternally when this stuff is accepted as truth. | 0negative
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"Reviews" prior to Nov 16th are not valid
Please note that any 'review' prior to november 16th, 2006 is invalid as the book has only now been shipped. I made a pre-order a month ago and only today received notice from amazon that it's on its way. While I don't discourage authors from remarking on their book, nor comments from the online previews, it's important to note that no actual reader has in fact reviewed the book _in hand_.yes, we're all looking forward to turbogears. I'm sure I'll love it too, but let's not get carried away just yet. For the authors to give themselves 5 stars seems unnecessary. If authors wish to comment, amazon should allow them to do so, but without a star rating.I'll review again in time, and if I enjoy it I'll up the star rating accordingly. This is in fact THE POINT of having a star rating, not for authors to make a blog entry. Therefore this 1 star will balance out the 5 stars made by both authors here. Otherwise these star ratings lose their usefulness for us, y'know, the paying public.thanks | 0negative
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Gregory at her BEST!
This is Philippa Gregory's best novel yet! Not many writers would bother to go so deep into the lives of the women who changed the course of history. In a time when women were thought of as inferior and bothersome, Gregory opens the eyes of the reader and makes them realize that without Kathrine of Aragon, or Anne Boleyn, or Jane Seymour, or Anne of Cleves, or Katherine Howard, or Katherine Parr, Henry VIII would not be remembered as he is now. He would not be that infamous king who tore his own country apart for the lust of a woman. It was the women in his life that made him famous(and the same goes for many other men in history). That's what I like about Gregory, she makes these people real, she turns them back into flesh and blood before our eyes. She makes them laugh, love, and cry. She gives them humanity. This is not just another one of her fantastic triumphs as a writer, but full proof of her knowledge of the human nature. | 1positive
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Loved it!
This is a great book. Many of the stories had me laughing out loud. I didn't find BAD DIRT as 'bleak' as CLOSE RANGE and POSTCARDS. I almost didn't read it, because I found the two others listed above as just too much hardship and deprivation. I kept repeating the word 'bleak' about Annie Proulx's writing, until I read BAD DIRT. Give it a try, you won't be sorry. | 1positive
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I Didn't Know That Reading a Book Was Hard Work!
I can't believe how easy reading has become! It's easy to get to my reading material, and it's easy to prop it up on a table or hang onto it in my hand while I recline in bed. And I don't need to locate a pen or highlighter so I can jot down a note or highlight a portion of the text. If this sounds dumb to you, then you probably don't own a kindle. I love to read. I always have. I just didn't know how much effort and time I put into it until I purchased the kindel. I was hooked an hour or two after unpacking it. It was so simple to learn, that I downloading my first book within minutes - a book I was currently reading, and was about 1/4 way through. All of a sudden I was doing more reading, and it was easier...and it felt just like reading the actual book. And it took so much less space and effort on my part. I forgot to mention that I look up words all the time in dictioneries, and I google for information on places and events. Now I just click on the word and get the definition on the kindle in no time at all. Geeze, I could go on and on, but I expect that I have made my point: I love my kindle! I now have several books on it, and I love it that I can switch reading material with my moods, and again, it takes almost no effort on my part. The kindle is apply named, as it feeds my love for reading, making it an easier, more pleasurable experience.I was skeptical about getting one, and now I wonder what that was all about. I can hardly even remember what reading was like before kindle. Thank you Mr. Amazon.com. Good job! | 1positive
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Sick and twisted
I was very upset by this book. I stopped reading it after three chapters. Norman Mailer is a deeply disturbed, dirty old man. The book had less to do with Hitler than with Mailer's bizarre imagination. While no one would dispute the fact that Hitler was a horrible man, Mr. Mailer mind seems to dwell in a sick and twisted world. This book does nothing to enlighten us. It is demeaning to the human spirit. I benefited not at all and felt that if I had continued reading I would be "dirtied". | 0negative
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Happy Happy
I love my Kindle! It's easier to hold than a heavy 800 page book, downloading is fast and so easy.Showing my Kindle to others has generated great interest. I know of one person who will be buying one for her mother for Christmas.What a great product. I wish I had bought one sooner. | 1positive
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This is the best book I've ever read (heard)!
This book is just fantastic - it is unbelieveable to me that anyone can see the world in such realistic, glorious, detailed, contradictory complexity and get it all down on paper. I listened to it on Audio Book which probably makes it easier to "get" all the descriptive scenic, plot, and character details. When I have the time I will listen to all 13 CDs again. I haven't finished yet - am just starting the 13th CD. I wish I could give this to everyone I know for Christmas. For me it hits just the right combination (harmony) of notes of the good and the bad and the beauty and the pain etc. in life. I can't wait for the movie. Now I'm going to go and see if I can find "Cold Mountain" on Audio Book. Listening to 13 Moons has put me in the mood for Christmas - and anything else life cares to throw at me (Note: I'm speaking figuratively, God)! | 1positive
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Kindle-shipping
I have bought 2 Kindles and ordered a 3rd for my daughter as a gift. The first 2 for my wife and myself arrived in 2 or 3 days. The 3rd one was ordered on 9-19-09 with an arrive date of 9-26-09 and I have still not received it! After calling they tell me shipping has been held up and If I don't have it by Friday Oct 2nd they will ship out another. I am very displeased! We do Love our kindles but we won't be ordering anything else that has to be shipped!Kindle: Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) | 0negative
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Not a good book on the subject.
This book is quite the mixed blessing. Inside the front cover it says that the book will teach you:, "What to trade, how to trade and how much to trade." Now I don't expect the book to give me specific investment or trading ideas, not only because they would quickly be useless but also because that's not the aim of the book. But this book does little towards helping you find out how to do those three things.It seems to me that whomever designed the cover for the 2009 edition did not read the book or consult the author. For instance from pages 299-302 there is a reprint of the "Foreward to the First Edition." In it Charles Faulkner correctly described what that edition(and for the most part the 2009 edition) entailed. This seems to contrast with what the cover and inside flap say the book contains.Another thing that I didn't like is that most of the advice seemed to be based around things like "believe in the trend trading and absolute returns." That in and of itself is fine to say and also say many times but in this book its said a bit too much. I get it, Trend Trading works. I get it that people seem to discount it even though they should keep at it. But please don't keep telling me that over and over again.I may be nit-picking but it seems like the author contradicts himself. Sometimes he says to follow the trend but sometimes he says you should remain nimble. Take this last paragraph with a grain of salt because it's just something that bothered me and probably not something of use.Are there positive points? Sure! If you want to get into the lives of traders then this book does quite a good job of letting you know about the lives of the people who follow this strategy. So after reading this you might think a better title would have been "The Trend Trading Life," or "The Lives of Trend Followers."Finally, and much like in the book, they save the best part for at the end. It seems like the most useful information and data is in the appendixes. Shouldn't appendixes support and supplement the main text and not be more useful than the text itself? Maybe it's just me.All in all, two and a quarter stars.Plus: Good view of the lives of Trend Traders.Minus: Not much in the way of useful guidance or information. | 0negative
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Based on the Stanford Prison Experiment
Dr. Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment is probalby the one of the most quoted studies in the field of psychology. To fully appriciate the book one should read the study […]. I gave this book a low rating for the following reasons:1. The original study was questionably designed. The only prison "expert" he brought in was a convicted felon. He worked with the local PD to a very limited extent but his study does not mention having anyone directly invovled that actually had corrections experience. Hard to adequately design a study like this with only the experience of a convicted felon.2. No instruction was given to the guards on how they were to behave. Corrections staff are not given a billy club, mace and sent to work. They are given training, however rudimentary. Prison guards are not given movies to watch and told to emulate that behavior. In the experiment one of the "guards" modeled his behavior after movie characters, even earning himself the nickname "John Wayne". Most importantly, prison guards do not make up their own rules unlike the prison guards in his experiment. Expecting people to be responsible for the welfare of human beings without proper instruction is a receipe for disaster, as his study proved.3. His study had no effective safety measures in place. By his own admission it took Christina Maslach confronting him (she was not associated with the experiment) to make him realize that his study had gone awry.In short, an improperly designed study is more likely to give false results.There are other issues I have with this study and his apparent inability to keep his personal views out of his research but will not go into them in the brief space provided here.Summary: If you want to read this book check it out from the local library. If you are dead set on reading this book I would strongly encourage reading the original study and some of his other associated writings in order to put this book in context. | 0negative
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Best in the series
This book was fascinating since it was told from varying points of view. Having read, with mixed opinions Phillipa Gregory's other works, I found this to be the best. Told from the viewpoints of Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, it offered a sympathetic look at the women of that era and was well researched. | 1positive
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Not nearly his best work
I've liked almost all of Harry's books, but when I finished this one, it seemed a little fishy to me. So I mailed the three books in the series so far to my Dad to read, since he knows more about WWI than anyone has a right to if they weren't actually in it. That turned out to be a mistake, as he read them all over one weekend, called me on the phone, and spent about five hours of long distance time venting and rattling off this huge laundry list of how and why what Turtledove presented in his book couldn't possibly have happened (even assuming the differences between Harry's world and ours). It seems to me if you're going to write alternate history, it should still be realistic enough not to give a historian fits.I also agree with what one other reviewer wrote (and this is the part that bothered me when I first read the book) in that the characters and story all seem coerced and stiff, like the events in the novel are being forced to fit a mold.And I agree with what just about everyone has written - the sex scenes are poorly done. I like to see romance bloom between characters - but I didn't see any of that.Personally, I think Harry is spending too much time concentrating on his Colonization story. Maybe he should have waited until the Great War series was done, so he could devote some more time to researching the war. | 0negative
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Paris Garbage
This is junk. Since the end of the Soviet Union, it appears that "swarthy" Arabs are the new evil which the - guess what? - handsome, dedicated, sensitive-because-his-true love-died, intelligent, military-minded white guy has to single-handedly defeat and, of course, save Western Civilization from the narrow, evil-yes, "evil" again-tentacles of Islamic terrorism. And, as is the case these days in this whole genre of trashy spy novels, "Islamic" MEANS "terrorist." And our Golden Boy does what we expect him to. This is so trashy and predictable, I feel Ludlum ought to pay us all back. Don't waste your time. | 0negative
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not his best
This novel is almost incoherent with a terrible and totally unsatisfying ending.Baldacci has been cashing in on his first and best work "Absolute Power" for far too long. Time to get a real job? | 0negative
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Amid the horror, there are still gifts
After reading this book, my right to complain about anything has been nullified. What a heart-breaking description of a no win situation. Luckily part way through the book after reading of unspeakable human to human interactions, there is a section describing the people in the Veracruz area of Mexico who go out of their way with every train to give gifts to the migrants as they fight their way to the US."Enrique is stunned by the generosity. In many places where the train slows in Veracruz - at a curve or to pass through a village - people give. Sometimes twenty or thirty people stream out of their homes along the rails and toward the train. They wave. They smile, they shout, and then they throw food.""A young man, Leovardo Santiago Flores, throws oranges in November, when they are plentiful, and watermelons and pineapples in July A stooped woman, Maria Luisa Mora Martin, more than a hundred years old, who was reduced to eating the bark of her plantain tree during the Mexican Revolution, forces her knotted hands to fill bags with tortillas, beans, and salsa so her daughter, Soledad Vasquez, seventy, can run down a rocky slope and heave them onto a train."Read this book and you will view the developments in Alabama with a new perspective, no matter what you thought before.flag | 1positive
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This book is brilliant - five stars+ !
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys deliciously witty historical romances with depths to the characters. Every word is a gem, every scene is gripping.The hero, Saint, is simply adorable. He is cynical, sharp, charming, and inwardly a hopeless romantic--which makes him, in this simple reader's opinion, the epitome of a romance hero.Suzanne Enoch is a master storyteller, in a totally different league than her contemporaries. Her sex scenes aren't very graphic, but they are hot and the author gets the point across.This book is a solid keeper, and one that I can see myself re-reading again and again. I wish other authors could write regencies the way this talented author does. So many do it, but so few succeed. | 1positive
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I couldn't really get into it
I'm always looking for a good paranormal romance. Heck, I'm always looking for a good romance period. What really caught my eye was how Christine Feehan, Linda Howard and Sherrilyn Kenyon appeared to really endorse this story. Actually, I probably needed only one of those authors to really endorse a story and I'm all over it.This story didn't really do it for me. For a number of reasons actually.1. For starters, I love paranormals, but the "Demon" stuff really threw me. I just couldn't see them as sexy, no matter how you twist it. However, I was prepared to get over that.2. Are we sure that Christine Feehan didn't write this book? Jacqui Frank appeared to really "borrow heavily" from the Carpathian series. From "the words to bind a lifemate to the safeguards on the house" were eerily reminiscent of things I've read in Christine Feehan's stories. Finally,3. I just had problems getting into the story. What state or country were they in? Was it in England or New York? I couldn't really tell. There was talk about likening Jacob's house to the English countryside, but nothing definitive. Plus, was the demon world, in "our world," or was it another realm entirely? Nothing ever was said about this.I was really confused reading the story. I think it was just poorly written. | 0negative
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Really cool ; excellent ; real fab
I feel that this book helps me to realise that this some - times things like this really do happen.This story makes you go off and be Yolonda or her brother.Who says this isn't real.Am I stupid or mad to think that this is the twentieth century.I just think this book is marvellous and puts you in the picture.I don't really know who the genius is.Yolonda or her little brother.It could be any - one but in real life the genius is the person who spent hours planning,writing,re-writing,re-writing,re-writing and re-writing this book twenty times.It's the person who was given the talent and wanted to be the author of Yolonda's genius CAROL FENNER !!! | 1positive
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Another disappointed reader
I agree with the less-than-stellar reviews. This indeed appears as a rush job, and I'm sorry to write that, for I thoroughly enjoyed the author's previous works (_Shield of Three Lions_, _Banners of Gold_, and _The Book of Eleanor_). The characters who return to continue the story (Alix, Enoch, Bonel, et al) are a bit older, sadder, and very much the wiser. Interestingly, Alix is suddenly no longer the still-childish young woman we saw at the closing of _Banners_; in the opening pages of this story, she seems to have aged a decade.Which brings me to the timeline of this novel. Another reader noted the confusing pace, leaving one to question just what events happened when. I tried to place certain events based on the age of Alix's children (her son by King Richard, daughter by Enoch) -- e.g., this child cuts a tooth when that key event occurs. Also confusing, as previously noted, is Alix's "til and fro" journey throughout Britain, a frantic attempt to obtain her son before the nasty King John can get his clutches on the young lad.Regarding Alix's relationship with Enoch, throughout the book broad hints are dropped that they still care for each other. This is especially true on Enoch's part; recall in _Shield of Three Lions_, he told Alix he'd never leave her, "...[o]r my heart would breist [burst, break]." Even in _Banners_ there are signs he will not give up on Alix. (I still wonder what became of the Scot -- supposedly another MacPherson -- who told Alix he'd seen Enoch slain in battle. If Enoch got wind of that...)And there are numerous questionable items, resulting in my raised eyebrow or even a spoken, "WHAT...?!" Yes, I agree with artistic license -- to a point. When a certain event takes place, e.g. Alix's being asked to take down notes during baronial meetings (these notes form the basis of Magna Carta), I had to question the plausibility of her actually being present at these meetings. Sure, it's a fine *idea* to have the lady present, but would/could that really happen in the early 13th century? Yet it again puts Alix in the midst of the you-are-there, history-making hot seat.While this is a fascinating era to study, _Prince of Poison_ is a real let-down. I simply didn't get immersed in this story as I had with Kaufman's other works, especially _Shield of Three Lions_. Perhaps it would have been just as well to conclude _Banners of Gold_ with an epilogue, in which Alix reunites with Enoch -- a tense, and perhaps frosty, meeting, preferably with a tinge of hope. | 0negative
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Disappointing
I purchased this novel the day it was released because I had SO loved the author's previous work, ATONEMENT. Unfortunately, this book was a total diappointment. Though the beginning is promising, the plot is SO contrived and unlikely that I felt cheated at the end.This one went to the used book store as soon as I finished it. | 0negative
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Read Mcluhan's Work in Its Originality First
Most people would agree that Marshall Mcluhan is the truly innovative, visionary character in media research. After Mcluhan, although there have been people trying to establish a different kind of theory or methodology regarding media research which is intended to be independent of Mcluhan's influence, their efforts seem to be fruitless. Most of their work becomes expansionary (and sometimes redundant) explanations of Mcluhan. We can discern from such a phenomenon that Mcluhan is indeed the master of modern media theory, and hence his work and ideas are requirements for those who are interested in this particular subject (as well as other sociological studies).Therefore, I would recommend people to read Mcluhan's work in its originality first, try to develop their own way of critical thinking about media, and then apply the methodological approach to the study of the new medium, the Internet. I think Paul Levinson did the same thing in this book.The writer did a lengthy analytical examination of the influence and potential of the new media whose development is instigated by recent enhancement of Internet related technologies. On the one hand, by adopting Mcluhan's media theory (tetrad, discarnate man, acoustic space, decentralization, global village¡K, etc.), the writer is able to come to the conclusion that the Internet will eventually become "the medium of media." On the other hand, the writer falls short of drawing evidence from other sides of the story such as technological, commercial, social, and governmental influences on future development of what he terms "the medium of media." Therefore, although the writer's optimism concluding that most people will benefit from the forthcoming growth of the Internet industry is encouraging enough, one may judge it to be a little too simplistic and naive. | 0negative
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Kindle is outdated technology
I think one thing that is funny, is the kindle 2 seems extremely outdated. My sony psp can is great for ebooks, i have been using it for 4 years now. (psp was released in 2004, 5 years ago) It has backlighting, color, I can change the font, size and color of the text and background. (kindle doesnt do any of these) It reads pdfs, .txt and word documents. I have wireless internet browsing, photo viewing, mp4 video, music, and games.I read about three novels a week on it. I prefer a black background with dark yellow text. I can read for 8 hours on it and my eyes never get tired, and i can read it in the dark (again not possible on kindle) When i checked amazon a new Kindle 2 goes for $359!! What am i paying for? A non backlight, no color screen, with limited wireless capability? The price is insane to me, At $150-$200 less than a kindle i can have a psp with 5 times the functionality.It makes me laugh to think people are actually buying this outdated technology. I am guessing though they will keep buying it, as the media is repeating constantly how it is "revolutionizing" ebook reading. More like bringing it back to the late 90's if you ask me. | 0negative
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no DRM, please
I'd really like to have a kindle, but unfortunately I won't buy one until it's DRM free. | 0negative
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Disappointing
I was very much looking forward to this book, and in me the author had the benefit of a reader who was already essentially convinced of the correctness of the thesis. However, the book read like a rough journal that Dennett had been keeping in preparation for writing "Breaking the Spell," rather than a complete and well-organized exploration of religion as a natural phenomenon. The approach seemed far too colloquial for such an important topic, and sprinkled with too many of the authors musings.The one aspect of the issue I thought he treated fairly well was the epistemological problems inherent in making religion an object of scientific inquiry; our inability to know what a concept like "god" means to each of the billions of people across the planet who claim to believe in him makes for subject matter that is much more plastic and variable than scientists are typically comfortable making a focus for study.If you're dead set on reading this book, I highly suggest having read one of the more focused authors treating the question first, such as Boyer or Wilson. | 0negative
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Emma - Noteable for dubious reasons
There is one principle reason that Emma is remembered. It was written by a woman. If Jane Austen had been a man, her works would be regarded as banal and inconsequential works of little literary merit. The work is impressive considering that Austen came from a culture that repressed women (a characteristic that most female authors share), but beyond that it is a poor work.There is a profusion of works of greater literary merit by women than what Austen offers, Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein", Kate Chopin's "The Awakening", Alice Walker's "The Color Purple", "Nectar in a Seive" by Kamala Markandaya, or a very fine piece "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston. All of these works have better characteristics than "Emma", and prove to be superior to all of Austen's writings.Trust me, "Emma" is a waste. | 0negative
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Don't listen to the haters!
When starting the Inheritance Cycle I read a ton of reviews that said that Paolini stole from authors like Tolkien and even the great director George Lucas. This provokes a sense of mystery in me. As I read the entire series, sure, I saw how these great creators had "influenced" Paolini, but I never saw evedence of plagiarism. My point being...don't let the haters spoil your experience with this series.On to the book. I loved the character development, plot, and the non story book endings. Once I started Eragon I literally could not put the books down. Paolini set the hook, reeled me in, netted me, and took me to the taxidermist! I was effectivly a trophy that reminds him of another satisfied reader.I highly suggest this series to anyone and everyone!To Christopher Paolini, I hope that you continue to write incredible storys that we as readers can't put down! | 1positive
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This book really covers the subject
Barry Glassner really knows what he is talking about. I lost 32 pounds eating Irish potatoes!!! I also avoid organic food like the plague. I do know something that he doesn't mention. It costs as much to get a new pesticide on the market and takes at least as long as it does to get a new medicine on the market. Therefore any agriculturalists who are still in business use pesticides as little as possible because every time they use one it subtracts from their bottom line.I also think he has a very valid point about diets causing obesity. At least the diets that try to forbid you from eating certain foods. When I started losing weight I wasn't forbiding myself anything. All I was doing was trying to eat more of the fruits, vegetables and whole grains which are healthy for you and trying not to stuff myself. | 1positive
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Book was wrinkled
The book that I bought was new, and was a gift for my husband's boss. The book cover was bent and it certainly didn't look new. | 0negative
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I love my Kindle but it has some issues, LOL
When I first received my Kindle, I was unsure I wanted to keep it. I travel alot on business and always visit a bookstore in whatever town I'm in, I buy more books than I can carry and then have to go through security with a bagful. Now with my kindle I can buy the same amount of books without having to carry the same load, so for me it's a keeper. The issues I have is that just like a cell phone you can come across a dead zone. Amazon also doesn't always have the books that I want available, but they may already be on sale in a book store. I read quickly and can go through a book in one day so I am alway shopping for the next one. On the plus side when they do have the books they release them ealier than the bookstores. | 1positive
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The author's plan is not the only way to get in shape and lose weight!
I always try to read and keep up with the latest diet and exercise info out there, just trying to stay informed because I don't need to lose weight. Basically, I think the author has good intentions. I have his "Business Plan for the Body" and this book is basically a rehash of that, except with recipes, spelled out calorie plans, and a new strength training routine.The problem here is the "this is the only time-efficient, healthy way to lose weight and get the body of your dreams!" tone the author takes. It is NOT the only way, nor is it the most efficient way.I am at my absolute best weight and body condition doing the exact opposite of what the author recommends--lots of light cardio (walking), not obsessively counting calories, and getting my strength training doing lifting and carrying in my day-to-day living around the house. It fits my lifestyle, is efficient, enjoyable, and something I can do for the rest of my life.To illustrate how "bad" cardio is, the author tells a story about when he taught high-impact aerobics classes for hours and would wolf down huge quantities of food afterwards because the classes would make him hungry. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the author was gaining weight simply because he was eating too much. It wasn't necessarily due to the cardio itself. Instead of writing all cardio off as useless, maybe he should have tried cutting back on the length and intensity of his cardio, substituting walking instead of the joint-killing sessions he was used to doing, and observing if his appetite decreased accordingly and his body condition improved. Just a thought.Basically, to lose weight and stay in shape, you have to find what works for YOUR body. Some people may get results from following the author's recommendations. Others won't. If his plan works for you, great! I personally could not live this way, constantly monitoring what I eat and obsessively counting reps and worrying over the weight I'm lifting. | 0negative
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I was upset by the King interview
Larry King did an interview with one of the people instrumental in "The Secret" project. King asked him about people "attracting" consequences to themselves (through vibes or some such hocus pocus). King specifically asked the guy if Jessica Lundsford attracted her murderer. The Secret guy answered that each of us attracts our own outcomes and that there are NO exceptions. This is just plain upsetting and callous in view of what happened to that child. I will skip "The Secret. Bad "vibes." | 0negative
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Too expensive
TOO EXPENSIVE! We pay almost $400 for the device & then $10 for each book? Talk about price gouging! & we purchase the books only from Amazon?W/ the price you are charging, I think I'll wait for one on Ebay, Version 2, lower device/book prices OR competition that are much more affordable. I want & need one so badly (severe arthritis), but this is too much to ask anyone to purchase it for me. Let me know when they fall below $100 & offer many more books @ much lower prices.Great idea, too high a cost. Please work on lowering the prices so more people can & will read using this device. | 0negative
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Good For File 13
I generally don't read fiction, but thought that I'd take a chance on fiction written by the son of the famous conservative, William F. Buckley, Jr. In the process of reading "Boomsday", I decided that if the story is to be populated by lying, cheating, adulterating, fornicating, and other forms of reprehensible character, and then to be topped off by people liberally using God's name in vain, this was just going too far. So, at about page 86, I dropped the book. I got fed up.Yes, I'm unapologetic in "confessing" to being morally conservative, and this book sets a good example for how not to write decent fiction -- by my outlook. I'll stick to books like "The Brothers Karamazov" and the like.Only fiction with some redeeming value is worthwhile my reading time, and Buckley's novel "Boomsday" didn't make the grade. | 0negative
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Stunned That This Made The Booker Shortlist
In many ways, On Beauty is similar to White Teeth. It's laugh-out-loud funny and contains marvelous descriptive passages. In the end, however, the similarities the novel bears to White Teeth work against it. Reading On Beauty, I got the feeling that I'd already experienced much of what unfolds. And I had--in White Teeth. For example, a character named Jerome falls in love with another family in the same vein in which Irie Jones and Millat Iqbal fall in love with the Chalfens. Zora, by the way, seems nothing more than a smarter version of Irie. Also, Smith describes the beauty of Zora's love interest, Carl, in the same manner she describes Millat's beauty. And, as in White Teeth, On Beauty's religious characters prove themselves hypocritical. But the similarities don't end there. In, On Beauty, Smith even borrows a line she devoted several paragraphs to in White Teeth--"What you looking at?" While Smith's commentary surrounding this question is hilarious in White Teeth, it should have been left out of On Beauty.The novel's similarity to White Teeth does not ruin it. Its many flaws do, though.The dialogue is disastrous. At one point Roxbury resident Carl asks Zora, "Am I meant to be grateful?" This is a British phrasing. An American would say, "Am I supposed to be grateful?"Smith particularly fails at her attempt to incorporate Black English Vernacular into the text. Sometimes she nails it, as is the case when a character named Levi asks, "Where they at?" Other times, she stumbles, such as when Levi asks, "Who you on the phone to?" "Who you talking to?" or "Who you on the phone with?" should have been used instead. Also, an abundance of black characters say "I be." This wouldn't sound strange coming from an old black Southerner, perhaps, but, coming from young blacks, it does. Even uneducated young black urbanites speak a more standard form of English than this. Even the blacks on UPN shows speak a more standard form of English than this. Then there's Kiki, a middle-aged black woman with Florida roots, who speaks consistently inconsistently. At the beginning of the book, she tells her husband, Howard, "Your life is just an orgy of deprivation." But later she remarks that the sun "done set." It's unlikely that the same speaker would have birthed both lines. I was similarly startled when Carl, an uneducated rapper, who utters sentences such as, "I be a college a man now," has no difficulty writing lengthy papers for the music department of upper-crust Wellington College.Often, the black American characters are stereotypes. All of the women have large breasts and backsides and use the words "baby" and "honey" gratuitously. At one point we meet LaShonda, a young woman who calls Levi "baby" a half-dozen times in the span of two pages. Of course a girl with a "ghetto" name such as LaShonda must not only have a "big old booty," she must also be an unwed mother of three on the prowl for a new baby daddy. It's also apparent that Smith believes all black Americans refer to each other as "brother" or "sister." Maybe during the Black Power Movement. Not in 2005.Kiki's weight is also problematic. While Howard cites Kiki's 250-pound frame, in part, for his adultery, black urban men won't stop hitting on her. Shapeliness is said to be valued in black culture, yes, but 250 pounds is not shapeliness, it's morbid obesity. Reading On Beauty I am puzzled as to why celebs such as Star Jones and Oprah Winfrey weren't sex symbols in the black community when they were at their heaviest. There's also the fact that there are no consequences for Kiki's weight gain. In real life, middle-aged, overweight black women suffer from hypertension, diabetes, joint-pain, back pain, etc. Kiki, on the other hand, does yoga.The novel includes other inaccuracies about black Americans. At one point, Kiki says, "We got black kids dying on the front line..., and they're in that army 'cos they think college has got nothing to offer them." Actually, the military's promise to pay college tuition is the main reason young people of all races, blacks included, enlist.Smith's description of Kiki's and Carl's palms is also wrong. The two are described as having rich-brown palms. Blacks, even dark-skinned ones, have palms that fall into the pinkish-beige range. Smith makes the opposite mistake when describing Kiki's areolas, which she describes as pinkish brown. In fact, a dark-skinned black woman would have dark brown areolas.While not all of what Smith writes is wrong, it isn't necessarily good. She uses an abundance of adverbs and adjectives, many repeatedly. How often can someone be called fatuous? There are also redundancies such as, "He nodded mutely" and non sequiturs such as, "Kiki restrained herself. Instead she opened her purse and began searching through it for her lip-gloss." Huh? Instead of what?Character development is also lacking. Choo, the main Haitian character, is nothing more than Smith's mouthpiece. His sole purpose is to inform the reader about Haiti's plight. Then there's Victoria Kipps. Worshipped for her beauty, Kipps turns out to be a walking cliche. She may be stunning, but, guess what, she's dumb! She may be promiscuous, but, guess what, she's easy because sex is all men want from her. Sigh. Katherine Armstrong, a character who makes an inexplicable cameo (as does Helen Keller), is eerily similar to Lee Fiora, the protagonist of Curtis Sittenfeld's novel, Prep. Like Lee, Katie is from South Bend, Ind. There, she was the brightest kid in town. But, surrounded by New England preppies at Wellington, Katie is overwhelmed and, thus, painfully shy. Ring any bells? It's also problematic that Smith features other minor characters such as Doc Brown, her rapper-brother's stage name in real life. This choice uproots readers from the fictional world and places them into the real one. The same thing happens when the reader encounters a poem written by Smith's husband mid-novel. The rap lyrics and poetry used in the novel should reflect the characters who authored them. How can this occur if Smith gives fictional characters credit for verse composed by real people? This move also led Smith to make another mistake. When Carl recites the lyrics of Smith's real-life brother, he refers to Mc Donald's as Macca D's. No one in the States calls McDonald's Macca D's. Amercians say Mickey D's.In closing, read On Beauty if you're a Zadie Smith fan or if you'd like to see how she tweaked Howard's End. Don't read it because you've heard it's a good book. At best, it's mediocre. I give it two-and-a-half stars. | 0negative
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Forget it!
This book is Exhibit A why Amazon ratings are to be taken with a grain of salt. I went through this book in about an hour. The reviewers who trashed this book got it right. I never heard of the author before I read this book. I suspect that the book's success and complimentary Amazon ratings is in large part due to his celebrity as a TV actor and host. Those who gave the book high marks are novices to real estate & flipping properties. If you interested in flipping houses, they are far far many better books on the market than this book. Corbett's book would be at the bottom of the stack.There's far too much BS, too many war stories, and far far too much repetition in the book. Some of his graphs must have been used 8-10 times. There is no index in the book probably because the publisher/author don't want you to realize how much repetition in in the book. Much of the author writes is common sense. There's very very little on how actually how to find buyers and acquire houses. The book should be entitled How to Renovate Houses. | 0negative
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have owned this book for years. i dont know why
this book sucks. i put it out for sale each time i have a garage sale, and no one even wants to buy it for 10 cents! maybe i should sell it on Amazon? | 0negative
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On a different note...
I received a Kindle as a gift because I do quite a bit of reading and I'm always carrying around several books at one time. Initially, even the thought of an electronic type of book was a HUGE turn off. However, after reading an article by Amazon CEO Jeff B. in either Time or Newsweek I was intrigued. In other words, I'm not a gadget collector and I'm definitely a hard sale in this particular area.In nutshell, this device and the idea behind it far exceeded my expections. The print is clear, it could be enlarged and I can have access to many fine books directly from the device. While there are some shortcomings as outlined in many reviews, it is highly usable, user-friendly and even revolutionary.If you are someone who is turned off by the idea of electronic books, I would give this device a fair trial before dismissing it. The convenience of being able to carry the equivalent of hundreds of books around on one thin device with the ability to access many more is a dream come true for me. I can imagine that in a few years, it could literally be possible to access anything that has ever been published in seconds! I also appreciate that Kindle books are discounted and at the rate I read this offsets the initial costs.Imagine having one of these devices at a beach or during your commute. The ability to subscribe to magazines and newspapers is also a strong value add. While I agree that there are some things that could be improved, I don't agree that the Kindle is not ready for prime time. It is consumer ready and I haven't found there to be any major shortcomings of any kind. I would never be without one of these again and I find it far superior to other products and really appreciate the ability to highlight, make notes, etc. | 1positive
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A genius for synthesis
Malcolm Gladwell has a genius for synthesis; in "Blink," he weds the research of experimental psychologists to big, pressing "real world" problems, such as preventing police brutality, or making employment standards sensitive to an applicant's true merit rather than to, say, gender or race. For example, he reviews Claude Steele's research on self-stereotyping to explain how individuals sensitive about gender, race, or even height may have difficulty behaving in a way inconsistent with those stereotypes. Or, he describes how how psychologist John Gottman has been able to predict with 95% accuracy whether a couple will remain married for another 15 years based only on their facial expressions observed over the course of an hour's argument.Here's a great example of what I mean by synthesis: he describes research on how decisions made in a very short time (split seconds) cause people to rely on hard-wired or stereotyped associations (say, between the race of a victim such as Amadou Diallou and the likelihood of the thing in his pocket being a gun). The effect is exacerbated when people make decisions in groups. Then, he carefully breaks down the events of the Diallou shooting - multiple decisions about Diallou's intent, threat, etc, followed by his shooting in a hail of 41 bullets-all of which took only 7 seconds total. He makes a compelling case that Diallou's death was in part due to the close quarters in which the decision was taken (leaving only a few yards and a second or two between cop and victim), as well as to the number of cops having to make the call. He even provides a tentative solution - police officers who patrol alone are less likely to get into this sort of trouble, because they are more cautious and give themselves more time to "override" these mistaken and stereotyped associations.For the "layperson," Gladwell makes lively and relevant experiments that would, if we read them ourselves, might appear obscure and clinical. For the psychologist (among whom I include myself), it's a bit of a thrill to see that hours of toil in a lab can have some real impact on how important real-world decisions are made.I do have one very small beef with the book (it could hardly be smaller): I think the subtitle ("The Power of Thinking without Thinking") is misleading and undersells the book. It makes it sound like lightweight self-help that is universally positive about the power of instantaneous thought. In fact, the book is quite balanced on the subject of when and whether "thin-sliced" thought results in better or worse decisions.More than anything, though, I admire Gladwell's taste: he has a knack of identifying great illustrations, the great psychology that supports them, and making a crystal-clear connection between the two. Again and again I found myself thinking "you know, a good experiment for him to illustrate this concept would be so-and-so's," only to find that specific example on the next page.I know of no journalist who commands the respect of social scientists to the extent Malcolm Gladwell does, and I expect this will be the average reader of "Blink" will feel the same respect for this fascinating book. | 1positive
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Worst Book Ever!!!
I had so many people recommend this book to me but I hated it! Gave up on it in India. Just failed to get me interested. | 0negative
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A Tale That Just Wasn't My Cup of Tea
I finally finished Emma after months (yes you heard me right) of reading. I lked this book but I didn't adore it.I think the characters were well done. My favorites were Mr. Woodhouse and his germaphobic ways...as well as his distaste in people getting married and leaving their cozy little lives. I also liked Harriet Smith because she had a simple and almost innocent way about her...the way she blindly followed Emma and molded the desires of her heart according to Emma's approval. I felt a connect to Harriet in that way...especially thinking back to high school...the popular girls trying to get you to think a certain way and telling you would make a good boyfriend.Emma Woodhouse is a likeable character. She is a matchmaker who gives up on the hobby due to her matches never fall for each other and drama is the result. The secound half of the book is about Emma finding out her own heart.The reason I only gave two stars was because to me this was an okay read. I saw some of the new movie and the theme interested me...so because it was free on my Kindle and because I wanted to try a sophisticated and chic lit type read...I read it.If you can keep up with drama and who likes who...and if you enjoy a well written novel with a long letter thrown in for the juicy details you crave...than leave the gossip behind and stick your nose into one of Austen's lesser known novels. As for me I prefer Dickens and anything with a bit more action. | 0negative
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The characters did not evoke compassion or passion from me.
I read this book last year for my AP English class. That was the ONLY reason that I finished this book. It was a huge task just to finish a page of Wuthering Heights; it was almost impossible to complete it. I enjoy characters that I can care about. I like to be able to really feel like I want something for a character. If that happens, then I want to finish the book; I want to know what happens to the character. I found with Wuthering Heights I hated Catherine and Heathcliff. I wanted them to die. I was supposed to be sad when things went wrong in their lives, but instead I was so happy. They were selfish, cruel, horrible people and I wanted them to DIE! Was I really supposed to like these selfish people? Since when is love a selfish thing? This is supposed to be a marvelous love classic, but where is the love? Love isn't just about what makes oneself feel good. Love is a kind, caring, sharing thing. Catherine and Heathcliff were selfish, cruel people. They deserved each other simply because they would make each other miserable. | 0negative
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Love this book!
Suzanne Sommers is exactly correct. I highly recommend this book. I have friends who have taken bioidenticals (Sottopelle) and love it. | 1positive
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Short and Exquisite
While this is certainly one of Dickens' shorter novels, that does not stop me from considering it an exquisite masterpiece. In all honesty "Hard Times" (1854) is full of chilling passages and convincing characters such as Thomas and Louisa Gradgrind. There is not one single dull moment. Also, every chapter is full of striking images. In addition, the suspense and dramatic irony are well placed. To be sure, many of Dickens' full length books such as "Dombey & Son" (1848) and "Bleak House" (1853)are exquisite as well. But, don't let the thin length of "Hard Times" fool you. It is a masterpiece and one I highly recommend! | 1positive
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A Christmas present home run
I bought my wife the Kindle for Christmas. I had a lot of trepidation about the wonky, high tech book being a dud. I shared my reservations with friends who know how much of a book lover my wife is..they thought I should consider jewlery.When I saw that there were many classic titles available free, and another stack of books cropped up in our home, I decided to take the risk.When she opened the package I had to explain what it was she was holding, "it's simply an IPOD for books". From there I just let her go through the "new product" experience on her own...no more "coaching" or "selling" from me....As soon as the family left she curled up in her reading chair and had the Kindle up and running and she was reading the electronic manual (hey, she's a reader). Her immediate response was "cool" and "its easy". She quickly shopped for and downloaded a book. By the next day she had downloaded free content on her laptop and downloaded it to her Kindle. She was hooked but I was curious if this was the cool factor or was it really a change in the way she reads.Its now a couple weeks later and she doesn't read books anymore. She feels strongly that content available on her Kindle will get read, those books that aren't, wont. She plans on taking it to book club so she can make sure the title is available before she votes for a book.She takes it everywhere and reads in short moments and loves being able to pick the type of reading she wants at that moment. Classic fiction, cheap fiction, literature, etc.So, she loves her present, I am a hero, and neither of us care about the technology...its just a really great way to enjoy books. | 1positive
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Globalization and Gender in the early 1700's, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and Bodice Ripping
Kingston by Starlight is Christopher John Farley's reimagining of the legend of Anne Bonny, notorious female pirate of the Caribbean. The book offers a variety of perspectives on life for a woman in the early 1700s, as well as a fascinating take on the circumstances that could have propelled Anne Bonny to hide her gender and join the crew of Calico Jack Rackam. Kingston by Starlight is no "Pirates of the Caribbean" but we may imagine Johnny Depp in Calico Jack's role. Indeed, the novel shows an excellent understanding of the politics and world economy of the time, and the cast of characters of the pirate ship in particular is a study in the benefits of globalization, writ small in the economy of a pirate ship. More parallels may be found in Edward Said's excellent essay, "Jane Austen and Empire," even though Said was writing about a later period in history, and in the pirate romance, "The Windflower," by Laura London. | 1positive
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The book of the dead
Well written and entertaining but the crime itself was a bit disappointing. Glad Diogenes got his comeuppance in the end. | 1positive
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Emerald City
I initially heard the author interviewed on NPR and was struck by the story he was telling. Reading the book months later has made me even more impressed with the author. "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" provides the kind of background information regarding the War in Irag you are unable to get from American media. I thank the author for providing such a readable book that kept me riveted and appalled at our government and its ignorance and mismanagement of all aspects of this war. This is a very important book! | 1positive
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interesting
i was made to read this in high school and hated every word of it...how could i like a book where i despised every character, right?? then i read it again in my mid 20's and i still despised every character...but absolutely loved it! it's now one of my fave novels and i've read it many times over. i think the style and subject matter is a little beyond the reach of most teens and it's a shame it's offered to them as it has probably put many off trying many of the classics later in life. | 1positive
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Cheap Literature for Lazy Readers!
If you like cheap literature and you are lazy reader this is a great book. Easy to digest! There is no profound literary education in this work. Cheap literature for cheap readers!!!! | 0negative
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