Audio Books

Easy reading,interesting,and educational.After reading Orchid Fever,I read a comment in Orchids at Home,and having read Orchid Fever,I realized that ugly,just like beauty,is in the eye of the beholder.

There's probably a good book about orchids and the recondite subject of international orchid policy in "Orchid Fever." In fact, I'm sure of it. Unfortunately, Eric Hansen spoils his effort with a lubricious, snarky brew of exaggerations, sneers, dubious anecdotes and invented suggestions.

One example can stand for a multitude of sins. Hansen attends a three-day conference and trade show of orchid fanciers, trying to set up the idea that these people are wild, crazy, risk-taking guys and gals -- not far from sociopaths is the general view. His evidence: The conferees sang karaoke and after that, "What went on in the hotel rooms after dark between the orchid growers was anybody's guess."

You could write the same thing about an Amway convention. So?

The serious issue behind this unserious book is how (or if) to conserve orchids that may (or may not) be threatened by collectors, habitat destruction or whatever it is that threatens orchids.

The antagonists are, on one side, amateurs, businessmen and independent scholars; and, on the other, academics and international bureaucrats, who are accused of self-aggrandizement and appropriation. It is not an issue just with orchids or even just about plants. It comes up concerning ancient artifacts, fossils, sunken treasure, even -- in a non-material sense -- myths and legends. See my review of "A Dinosaur Named Sue" for an example with fossils.

A friend of mine who runs an orchid nursery confirms the difficulty. Under a treaty called CITES that purports to protect endangered species, he must prove that his commercial stock (450 species) does not derive from wild-collected plants. Of course, ultimately, any orchid derives from such stock, but CITES has rules. My friend got much of his stock from his teacher, now dead. How can he prove where the teacher obtained it?

My friend could have his business shut down. In the worst instance, he could be shut up in a prison. It has happened to others.

"Orchid Fever" has obtained wide publicity and wide sales. It was aimed at the thoughtless, the sensationalistic and the lascivious, and there are plenty of those people out there. It's sad that probably the most-read book about orchids turns out to be a piece of low-rent crap.

Having no interest in orchids whatsoever, I picked up "Orchid Fever" because I have been smitten with Eric Hansen's lucied and entertaining adventure writings (see previous reviews). This book is well researched and very well salted with Hansen's devastating wit and easygoing demeanor.

We are introduced to the orchid universe via the growers, scientists, show judges, "orchid police", and so-called smugglers who turn out to be not so.

Hansen once more captivates with these loosely linked stories of orchid obsessed people and the absurdities of the power brokers so bent on enforcing horticultural regulations that end up ensnaring the wrong people.

"Orchid Fever" is part expose, part travelogue, part literary journalism, and part horticultural history. This really is investigative writing at its very best, at turns tantalizing and educational. This man has a seriously clever wit which keeps the narrative light and fluid.

Hansen's abilities as a writer are superb: he knows his craft as well as any contemporary non-fiction writer. The seven years of creating this wonderfully woven bunch of stories is very much appreciated. From the first sentence, your attention is requisitioned and not released until the last - the mark of a Big League writer I think.

As always with Eric Hansen, my highest kudos.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

"I thumbed through the pages ... Immediately I was confronted with centerfolds showing ... moistened, hot-pink lips that pouted in the direction of tautly curved shafts and heavily veined pouches." - from "Bodice Ripper", a chapter in ORCHID FEVER

A porn mag featuring your favorite XXX-rated stars? Um, no. An orchid catalogue, actually, as described by author Eric Hansen in his narrative exploration of the science, business, hobby, and collecting of orchids, ORCHID FEVER. Who knew flower breeding could be so titillating, or so lucrative? Indeed, as of the turn of the last century, orchids generated about $9 billion of worldwide business annually.

With so much money to be made, it's no surprise that the collection of wild orchids and their transport across national boundaries is so fiercely regulated, ostensibly to protect orchid populations in their natural habitats. But, of course, the cynical will recognize that it's all about the fees generated by the obligatory export licenses and certificates. Indeed, much of ORCHID FEVER is about the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), headquartered in Geneva, and its almost Gestapo-like enforcement powers, which, as Eric tells the story, have done virtually nothing to protect free-range orchids and have only increased their demand and value vis-a-vis breeders, hobbyists, and collectors.

Hansen illustrates his subject by traveling the world from California to Borneo to Minnesota to Britain to Germany to Turkey to France to New York and to Holland to interview the field's "horticultural extremists, pioneers, lone rangers, fantasy merchants, flower show flim-flam people, paid informers, rapacious nurserymen, international plant smugglers, pollen thieves, eccentric botanists, corrupt orchid judges, legendary growers, misfits, groupies, and camp followers". Though, as the author states, normal, balanced people are drawn to orchids, he found such only infrequently.

"Behind the cash register (of a neighborhood grocery store) sat a long shelf filled with mass-produced Phalaenopsis hybrids, selling for $19.95; every time I saw them I thought about the California orchid grower who shot and killed his partner and then mutilated the corpse because they couldn't agree on how to breed and sell these supermarket-quality house plants."

Perhaps the most engaging chapter, especially if you like frozen desserts, is "The Fox Testicle Ice Cream", in which Eric journeys to Maras, Turkey, the home of orchid ice cream, salepi dondurma, made from the tubers of the flower genus Orchis. Indeed, the chapter is so informative and interesting that a large segment of it was apparently plagiarized on a website I discovered sponsored by a Turkish-American business alliance. (After I communicated this fact to the author, he replied that it wasn't the first or last time such has happened, and he would pursue getting credit for the entry.)

When I began dating as a teenager in the late sixties, if I really wanted to impress the girl I'd buy a stalk of 5-6 orchids for 3 bucks from an elderly next-door neighbor that grew them. I don't recall that the expenditure ever helped me get lucky, but they sure were impressive in the giving. Nowadays, try buying just one on Mother's Day for less than an hour's pay. After reading Hansen's excellent volume, I better understand the orchid's mystique.

I read this with jaw agape most of the time. The main reason for this embarrassing state of affairs was the CITES ridiculousness that crops up again and again. Can people in positions of power REALLY be so stupid? Well, yep, they can, sadly enough for the thousands of plants that are destroyed in the name of "development," illegal to save by conservationists.
But the people Hansen meets are equally worthy of a jaw drop. Their passion--there's truly no other word, unless it is obsession--for their orchids simply astounded me. Wonderfully humorous, enlightening reading.
Now that I've read it nearly a decade after many of the encounters described, I am longing for an update. What's become of the CITES laws? Has common sense prevailed? What about the individual scientists and growers? Are they still as enthralled with their plants? What a terrific book, to leave me hungering for so much more!

Quick enjoyable read. Some interesting commentary on team dynamics and the social problems teams encounter. I wish more solutions/suggestions were offered.

Nice reminder on what should we do during project.
We all know these things, but often we forget on them.

I expected the book to contain practical advice. The book covered many undesirable situations and business settings. There were no recommendations made on how to improve a bad situation. The book merely reported on the bad environment. If you are in an unpleasant work environment and want to know there may be others worse off then you, you may like this book.

This book is a collection of short essays on how real people's productivity in software industry is affected. It is about human aspects of software development. There is a great variety in the material for such a small volume (about 250 pages). For example, it covers this:

1. The key to software development is people. People are not drones nor they are easily replaceable. They work by themselves and require not constant pushing, but careful motivation. If you don't trust your people you are in trouble. People are a capital investment.

2. Mind-intensive jobs require concentration, hence a private and quiet environment. Breaking the worker's flow leads to frustration and dive of effectiveness.

3. Teams require efforts to form and keep running, but the effect could be miraculous. There is nothing that could stop a running team. (Btw, I tend to call this a locomotive force myself).

4. Methodologies (the big-M ones) don't matter, same for the processes. Technologies and stuff, they never replace people who really understand and love what they are doing.

The book is of most interest to project managers or even upper level managers (may all our managers follow these advises please ?).

What can you do with the book being a software developer ? Not much, just look around and see if you like it where you work now. And take actions.

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If you've smiled ruefully at any of the characterizations in this book, it's time now to stop smiling anf start taking corrective action. ... It's supposed to be productive, satisfying fun to work.
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The second edition differs from the original book in that an all new part VI is added, a few short chapters. Written many years later in a perceivably different tone. It's not just that the authors admit in its preface

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The first five parts were written by two yongish middle-aged consultants who spent most of their time working at the project level, part VI is written by two gnarled and grizzled old consultants who now spend appreciably more of their time working at organizational levels. ... Part VI is concerned with with the design of entire organizations that include development work.
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but it is also that it is written in less confident and undoubted way. I see it as good, after all there is no universal truth, it is all just a food to the reader's thoughts.

And this is a great food too.

Providing an overall rating for this book was extremely difficult, and writing this book review was not an easy task. This difficulty is due to the nature of "Peopleware". This DeMarco work enjoys what appears to be a solid 5-star rating, and to some degree this is a very reasonable collective assessment. Without discussing at length all of the reasons I think this book should instead be assigned less than 5-stars, I think my reasons fall into two categories: (1) the original work was penned in 1987, and due to the industry pervasiveness of many of the ideas presented by the authors, a lot of the material can no longer be considered extraordinary, and (2) the cohesiveness of each chapter and the flow from chapter to chapter is less than optimal - in other words, it is a bit choppy. Now I realize that there exist many in the software industry that can gain great strides in their respective workplaces by reading this book and understanding how best to apply the provided advice, which is why I give this work 4-stars rather than 3-stars, but I must say that I was just disappointed by all the hype about this book, from a year-2007 perspective. And simple math obviously will conclude that 20 years have passed since the original publication. The 8 new chapters added by the authors in 1999 really do not communicate many ground-shaking ideas. In my opinion, Chapter 33 is the only one of these new chapters that personally provided me any insight. And the premise of this lone chapter is simply that "the ultimate management sin is wasting people's time". The simplistic line graphs that accompany this chapter provide some substance to the discussion about project staffing, but again this chapter still seems to be geared toward individuals who do not bother to keep up with the insight shared in industry periodicals. Despite all of these drawbacks, however, there are some strong areas of the book that are worth reading by all software industry professionals. These strong areas are more comparable to the content of timeless classics like "The Mythical Man Month", "Waltzing with Bears" (also by DeMarco and Lister), or "Death March" (see my reviews for all of these books), and are worth reading even if just to provide discussion starters within your organization. These chapters include "Vienna Waits for You" on working smarter and project deadline pressures, "Quality-if Time Permits" where the authors state that "Quality, far beyond that required by the end user, is a means to higher productivity", "Parkinson's Law Revisited" on estimations and productivity, "You Never Get Anything Done Around Here Between 9 and 5", "Brain Time Versus Body Time" on understanding the work day of a technology worker, "The Self-Healing System" on process, and "Teamicide" and "Open Kimono" on team jell. Realize that there are 34 chapters in this book. The bottom line is that this book on productive projects and teams, targeted at a software industry audience - although perhaps not overly impressive from a holistic perspective - is still heartily recommended.

This book is the third out of a series covering the twins Caramon and Raistlin. This book was a great book and explains the story of Raistlin becoming the greatest mage to ever live. Great book, very hard to put down.

This book was a great ending for the Legends trilogy! It is beautifully written and touches your heart. I got really scared when Caramon and Tas went into the future and saw Caramon's corpse. The world couldn't end! But I luved the ending, where it teaches a valuable lesson: there is good in even the most evil people.

Loved the book, LOVED it, but very very disappointed that the saga doesn't continue forward from this spot. There are other books that pick up later on (much later) but naturally I'd like to see a smooth segue' into the next segment of this same tale. Oh, well...the series and this book are still well worth reading.

This book wasn't what I had in mind and I was sorely disappointed in it. I thought this book was going to have a twist to it and that Raistlin was going to be persuaded into the good side by Crysania at the end or that he was going to turn back to were he left her. I also think that the author should have gave Raistlin some love and caring at the end. I was touched by how Margaret Weis wrote that Raistlin was blinded by tears, but I was also wondering why he didn't just go with them at the first place. I think that there should totally be more love and a bit less death.
Besides this point about Raistlin, the book was OK, but I don't think it was better than the two others. I have to give props to the painter of the cover though; his paintings for Margaret Weis' books are spectacular and make everything more realistic. The conclusion was strong with emotion, but to me, it wasn't the best conclusion to fit the other two incredible books.

Test of the twins, the concluding novel in the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, is the story of "saving a soul". The story is, in my opinion actually the concluding novel in the six volume series compiled of both the Dragonlance Chronicles and the Legends. The novel effectively and entertainingly ties off nearly all of the loose ends and left me with a distict feeling of completeness.

In the author's own words, the book is about "saving a soul". The reader is, and was in previous editions, led to believe that it is Raistlin's soul that needs saving, however it is notl; it is his twins'.
Caramon, the twin, is the one who needs saving. He is Raistlin's opposite and keeping with the theme of the series, his soul must be saved by the light in order to balance the evil of Raistlin.

The authors also do a reasonable job of dealing with time travel. The pebble, Tasselhoff, is superb in his role and is easily the "best" character in the series, with Fizban coming a close second. Fizban in his limited role, almost seems as a kender himself.

About the only part of the novel that I did not like was the limited definition of magic. The term casting of a spell means nothing more than it says, more details are needed.

I would recommend this novel and series to anyone looking for an easy, fun, engaging read!

Sheep in a Jeep is a fun book using rhythmic wording. The pictures are humorous. My disappointment was with the small size of the board book. No where did it say the miniature dimensions of the book. I prefer board books that are in the larger format of 8x11.

I was first introduced to this book when a friend's toddler received it for Christmas. He loved it. That was 5 or 6 years ago. Recently we found it at the library and my boys loved it so much that we bought our own. My 2yo son loves it and even the 4yo still asks to read it. It's a keeper!

Our school district had a paperback version of this book (not cardboard) as a part of the reading curriculum for the kinders and it was so cute I had to buy it in order to keep it at home. The facial expressions of these sheep are too adorable, the sentence structure is kept simple, and it rhymes. Plus, the kids love it :^).

As a Jeep owner, when I saw this book at my library's book fair - I just HAD to get it for my toddler. A year later, we still love reading it. The rhymes are great and so memorable that we find ourselves using some of the lines whenever a mishap occurs in our daily lives. Whether you're a Jeep owner or not - this book is a MUST have!

Good basic rhyming vocabulary with plenty of humor. Nicely done lesson on consequences of not focusing on the task at hand. Good clear illustrations. Good to hear now with lots of sound effects and to read alone later.

Colonel David Hackworth was a soldier's soldier. Born too late to see active service in the crucible of WW II, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Army as soon as he could. Often credited as being the most decorated American soldier of his era, Hack was well-known within the U.S. Army for his courage, honesty, and derring-do exploits.

Hack ranks right up their with the U.S. Marine's Chesty Puller and Gregory "Pappy" Boyington as the sort of officer who is a pain in the a** to have around in peacetime -- but who is exactly the sort of leader you want when the bullets start to fly. It is impossible to read about Hackworth's battlefield experiences during the Korean War without getting a lump in your throat for the privations those poor guys suffered. (Many U.S. Army units were airlifted from the States via Japan directly into combat in Korea, still wearing their Class 'A' uniforms -- totally unprepared for the Korean winters and the raging fighting they found upon landing.)

Col. Hackworth's Vietnam experiences are fascinating, too. As he rose in rank he displayed an uncanny ability to call a spade a spade, and his dismay with how the war was being fought eventually led to his being personally cashiered out of the Army by the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army!

Buy this book and read it -- you're in for a real treat! Hack was the real thing, and his demonstrated courage and abrasive honesty make him worthy of study and appreciation by both junior and senior officers throughout the armed services.

Captain Michael L. Pandzik, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired)

Great book! Hackworth was a true warrior stud. He was the essence of an instinctual soldier and was quite lucky to have survived so many brushes with death. I did find his conclusions interesting as he was not entirely correct. He became a liberal after Vietnam and predicted things that did not happen with the USSR, Central America, and more. He did give great insight into how bungled the Vietnam War was and what could have been done to "win" it.

Excellent Read......... Highly Recommended ... 5 stars

About Face chronicles the experiences of the youngest colonel serving during the Vietnam circumstances. The book itself begins in February 1951 with Hackworth facing the enemy in Korea and is divided into twenty-three chapters. About Face follows David Hackworth the length of his military journey from the days when as a young soldier nick-named 'Combat' he charged into the face of the enemy along a path to near ruin at the hands of disgruntled superiors. The work includes maps, author's notes, a foreword by Ward Just, an Epilogue and an Appendix including a Glossary, Index and final notes.

About Face is a well written page turner presented in language clearly understood by the typical reader. The book is certain to interest those who have any link at all to the Vietnam situation faced by so many men and women from our country. The book helps to demarcate what happened, when and to whom.

I first read About Face written by Col. David Hackworth during the late 1980s. I found it particularly helpful in helping me...a woman with little knowledge of anything military, understand better my children's dad, a land based Viet Nam combat vet and the problems he had to deal with before his death.

As the wife of yet a second Viet Nam combat vet, special forces, I suggest this book for anyone who wants a better understanding of the debt of gratitude and respect we citizens owe those who served during the action in Vietnam and those who willing to serve in The United States Military today.

Molly Martin
Reviewer

This book was an inspirational read. Even though it takes forever to read this book, it's well worth the time. Hack's experiences shared in this book changed my outlook on life, and my outlook on human interaction/organization.

I would recommend this book to anyone, as I'm sure his experience can be applicable to anything you will ever have to deal with in life.

One of the best books on the life of a true american warrior.

Once again Eve tracks down the sadistic bad guy. Ms Robb has a superior talent. I am glad she decided to share this talent with the rest of the world. I hope she continues in this matter.

As ever with the Death series JD Robb rocks. All the favorites character are here and continues to draw you into their lives. You feel invested and entwined in their lives as Eve & Company continue solving crimes and making you care.

Another winning book in the "...IN DEATH" series, this one finds Eve fighting for justice for the lower class citizens of New York.

After finding a street sleeper dead in his crib, his heart surgically removed, it doesn't take Eve long to figure out that there's some type of conspiracy involved within the medical community. When the threats become personal and Eve is forced to hand over her weapon and her badge, her personal life takes a turn for the worse.

This is a very emotional Eve & Roarke read, and highly recommended!

Great read and kept you guessing until the end. I also found the medical side of this book rather interesting. It is definitely something we could encounter in our future so not only was the story amazing, but it also addresses some of the current issues we have now in a more futuristic setting. Great book!

Enjoy!
-andrea

Someone is killing the homeless of New York, in the year 2058, and removing their body parts! As Lieutenant Eve Dallas unravels the mystery behind who is killing them and why (affectionately known as the "sidewalk sleeper murders"), she is forced to face an adversary who will stop at nothing, including framing her for murder, to get her thrown off the case. Torn between a love for the job, a pursuit for the truth, and fighting to keep the one thing that she REALLY loves, besides Roarke, her badge, Eve is stripped of everything, and for the first time in the series, we see Eve really vulnerable and hurting (even too sad to spare with Summerset, who we all know she has a love/hate relationship with). With her true friends support, Eve continues her journey in discovering the truth, no matter what the consequences. And we all learn how really important her careeer and badge are.

If you love the "in death" series, you will love this book as well. You even get an opportunity to see Dr. Mira, Feeney, McNab, Peabody, Baxter, Webster (old lover of Eve's), and Commander Whitney. And I finally find out how Trueheart and Dr. Louise's characters are introduced into the "in death" series. [I must admit that I have not read the series in order, so finding out these things is always helpful]. I highly recommend this book.

The story is so cute and supports interaction and elaboration on every page. There is so much to look at in the pictures you notice something new each time you read it. So sweet. Every child should have this book!

This sweet story is one of my 19-month old daughter's favorites. I have been reading it to her since she was born and it's one that I can don't mind reading again and again. The rhyming lyrics and animal sounds are fun, and the pictures go well with the story and have lots of details. It is also a good bedtime book. I lower my voice at the end as the animals get ready for bed and then have my daughter say "night night" to all the animals on the page where they're sleeping in the barn. She points to the moon on the last page and then she just seems to know it's time for bed!

Although I never read this story as a child, I bought it for my daughter. She has loved hearing it from the time we started reading to her (around 4-6 months old). I recommend adding this book to everyone's home library. The illustrations are great, the story is catchy (I can recite the story without the book).

I got this for my son at 9 months but he didn't get into it until recently. He loves the illustrations and the animal sounds in the text. Next best thing to Buenas Noches Luna

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and the animals are truly very cute. My daughter likes pointing to the different animals. They all get ready for nightime in the barn - its just the sweetest! Highly recommend.

This book took me 2 hours to read and gave me practical information on how to create the life I want. It is one great story (I love stories ~ facts are boring) with many exceptional lessons weaved in. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to grow as a person and likes to read books written in a story format ~ it's excellent!

Misti Burmeister
Author of "From Boomers To Bloggers"
www.InspirionInc.com

A good book. It's a quick, worthwhile read. In a nutshell, it's How to Succeed in Business in a style very similar to Dan Millman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior. It touches the heart and gives hope that you can becomes simultaneously an amazing person and amazingly successful. And unlike the original Peaceful Warrior book, it does give a blueprint.

I don't find it to be 5-star mostly because it is so brief and simplified. (Silly me, the size of a book doesn't determine it's value, but I can't get past that emotional reaction.) Then again, I suspect it's one I'll reread a few times and as I internalize it's teachings, it may earn that last star over time. If you've read a lot of self-development literature, much of the book won't be new or surprising. But even for me, who has read a lot of this genre, one or two lines stood out as clue-by-fours of "oops, I TOTALLY do that." For me, clue-by-fours (ie, an insight that smacks you upside the head) usually make any book worth their price.

I still wish it were a little longer -- just to elaborate on the how-to of changing some of the negative habits into positive ones -- but overall, worth it.

I love this book! I have always used these principles in my business practices but, I had to learn the hard way. The school of hard knocks. I wish every young adult, and every aspiring business person could read this and see truly what it takes to make it in this world. Your paychecks are always a direct reflection of the value that YOU add to the world! What a home run these authors hit! I applaud you and I cant wait to read more inspiration from such great minds!

All the advice we received as kids and young adults about early birds getting worms, the golden rule (he who has it gets it) and power dressing for success falls by the wayside in the face of the simple advice found in The Go-Giver: Find a way to be of service and magnify the effect through others. Duh! What's so complicated about that? So, why do so few people know it, and why do even fewer actually paractice it?

Look at the real success stories around us, the people who live well rounded lives and who are loved and respected by everyone, and you will see that they are living the principles taught in this book. 'nuff said.

The Go-Giver is a great parable, it reminded me a lot of the Greatest Networker in the World. A wonderful easy to read story of joyful service. When we serve others we cannot help but serve ourselves. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in the business of life.

I must say this is one of the most light-hearted, hilarious books I have ever read. The story is of a world that one really may not get to see these days.. Go ahead and buy it..

In todays day and age of Steve Erwin and Jeff Corbin who go around hunting for animals, it is easy to forget where it all started. With people like Gerald, and the London zoo. In this book, he collects animals, deals with his demented siblings and his long suffering mother who has to raise four kids and fend off the advances of a really persistent Colonel who gets increasingly vulgar and `grabby' when he drinks. This is a rare story that combines a humorous story with humorous writing and I once caused passengers in a flight to turn around and give me strange looks, so hard was I laughing.

My Family and Other Animals is a bare-bones story in terms of plot. The Durrell family goes to Corfu, lives through what could be termed as a soap opera, and leaves. It's humourous, but not particularly challenging.

However, the older Gerald Durrell utilises vivid vocabulary over and over when describing the setting and people of Corfu. Fifteen-letter words that paint a crystalline picture are used frequently, relieving the never-ending roller coaster that is the life of the Durrells.

Overall, this is a highly entertaining book that will keep you engaged for the week or so that you will spend reading it every spare second you have.

This book is absolutely, brilliantly funny. The wit and unique characterizations are woven with great descriptions of the animals and plants of Corfu. That Durrell can hold the attention of readers who have no interest in biology simply demonstrates what a fine work this is. Gerald's depiction of a larger-than-life expatriate family on a larger-than-life Greek island is a tremendous celebration of life. The variety of different Greek characters parading through this book rivals the variety of Corfu's flora and fauna. Absolute great read!

Gerald Durrell was not only a naturalist and a gifted writer about his beloved animals, but a loving brother and son whose descriptions of his family and their foibles will keep you laughing all the way through. This is one of those books which I've reread so many times I've lost count, and which I've given to many friends who needed cheering up. Always works, too!

I have a 12 yr old son that has been going through some rough times at school with wanting to do well, but being teased for it. Junior High is/was/will always be a tough time. My son and I read this book together and then discussed anything we felt needed discussing. He started to feel "normal" knowing that a lot of people were experiencing the same things as him, even celebrities like Will Smith, someone he looks up to. I HIGHLY suggest this book to boys of any race. Thank you Hill Harper!!!!

I bought this book for my 17 year old son. I suggest anyone with a teenage son, good or bad purchase this book.

I picked this book up because it was chosen as THE Best Book for Young People by the American Library Association for 2007. That is quite an endorsement. I had never heard of the author or seen his TV show.

"Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny" was outstanding! I wish I could put a copy in every single young person's hands. While the title implies that the book is especially relevant title for young black males, anyone would find this book inspirational.

I loved hearing about Hill's grandfathers and family life. The way he described what could be learned in a single-parent household was so lovingly described and unusual to hear. I also respected how vulnerable the author made himself by sharing his mistakes. The stories create incredibly powerful and interesting lessons.

This is a great gift to give to any young man between ages 14-20.

This book is easy to read. It's a must for any young man (not just black men). I read it before passing it on to my son. I then purchased for several other young men as well. I would HIGHLY recommend these life lessons.

I'm an old, wait, middle-aged white woman and I found great insight in this book. I bought a copy for my son, my daugher, my nephew--and I'd like to see a copy of it on every library shelf in this city. Harper's advice on choosing friends is the best I've ever read. And the chapter on growing up in a single-parent household is empowering. Read this book! It's worth five times the price. WISH THERE WAS A SPANISH VERSION.