Movies Books

I order this manual hoping it would provide some detail on how to use an iPod Touch, and orient me to Apple products in general (this is my first Apple product). It has provided great information, in an easy to read and understandable format. It tells how to do all of the functions with an iPod both for PCs and for Apple computers, and makes it easy to understand. It covers everything that I think is possible to do with all iPod models. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone wanting information, tips, and instructions for an iPod.

Very informative. Just what a guy like me needs to get the most out of my ipod.

If this were the only iPod book out there, it would be OK. For some reason, they apparently tried to save money on printing by using a very light, thin text. At first, I thought my eyes were going. It includes lots of good info, but you can do better with "The iPod Book," by Scott Kelby.

"The iPod Book" is a top-notch book with good pictures and good info. In addition, there is lots of subtle, and not so subtle, humor. It has about 80 more pages than the "Missing" book. You can't go wrong with this one.

Another excellent choice is "Ipod Fully Loaded." If you really want to learn how to get the most from your iPod, buy Kelby's book and the "Loaded" book.

'iPod: The Missing Manual' by Jude Biersdorfer is the perfect reference for all iPod fans, users, and geeks alike. With 250+ pages of material spread out over 13 chapters, you will learn all the ins and outs of your iPod and iTunes better than ever before!! From the basics like general usage of your iPod to learning how to use iTunes to import music and add to your library to creating playlists and working with photos and videos, this truly is a gem. Now in its 6th edition, this newest iPod book covers the newest iPod-like iPod, the new video iPod nano, and it describes what makes these newest generation players so amazing!! Full color, glossy paper, wonderful content and a size that fits perfectly in your hand (yes this DOES make a difference), this is an absolute home run of a book by Pogue Press.

If you want to get the most out of you iPod and/or iTunes and want to have fun doing so, pick up this wonderful sidekick to your Apple world and enjoy!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Very good book for the novice iPOD and itunes user. Had answers to all the questions I had regarding iPOD touch I recently bought. Even showed me how to get pictures from my iPhoto files to the iPOD.

Fuguet has uniquely captured the feeling of the bicultural individual in this haunting book. His description of Chile in the last part of the Allende regieme is right on. I was living in Santiago in those days and the book brought back powerful memories. However, the reader does not have to know anything about Chile to find this book appealing. Be warned, the book has a highly ironic bent and repays a careful reading with lots of insights.
If you have found other Latin authors a bit hard to access, you should definitely give this book a try. It is a unique and insightful description of a young man's evolution straddling two societies.

This novel of displacement really begins when teenager Beltran Soler returns for a vacation to Chile, the land of his birth - and it turns into a permanent relocation. He finds himself an outsider among his native people just as he's about to take the giant step into puberty.
And so he grows up and becomes a seismologist, believing he can protect himself from life's shaky foundations by immersing himself in the theories of tectonic plates. Then his grandfather dies in an earthquake and Soler holes up in an LA hotel and sort of comes unglued. He obsessively lists the movies of his life in an attempt to extinguish the firestorm of nostalgic that threatens to overwhelm him.
The Movies of My Life is a sly and humorous coming-of-age novel that is far deeper than it appears to be on the surface. It deals with the immigrant experience, culture shock, family connections, and contemporary family dysfunction.
It's a good one.

Fuget's second novel to appear in translation (following Bad Vibes), features a gimmicky framework that actually works well and transcends merely being cute. A somewhat clunky first section introduces the reader to Beltran, a Chilean seismologist traveling from Santiago to Japan, via LA, for a conference. A conversation with a woman on the plane, a snippet of a radio interview heard in a taxi, and the news that his grandfather has died are the catalysts for his holing up in an LA hotel and feverishly writing a memoir of sorts (which forms the bulk of the book). While it is a traditional memoir in that it proceeds chronologicallyófrom Beltran's birth in 1964 and his life in Los Angeles (Inglewood and later Encino) until 1974, when vacation in post-Allende Chile turns into a permanent stayóhis recollections are arranged in a series of fifty brief sections, each corresponding to a movie.

In each case, the movie serves as a launching point for exploring an event from his past and reconsidering it. What rapidly emerges is a picture of a man scarred by both the dysfunction and displacement of his upbringing. While in the LA, his life is relatively normal, and he grows up as a regular American boy, although as he looks back at that time, he recognizes the fragility of his parents' marriage and his father's distinct discomfort at being a father. However, the real damage comes at age 10, when this fully functional pop-culture saturated American boy moves back to Chile, where has a difficult time adjusting to the different language, social rules, and culture. Ultimately, this is a bittersweet and poignant coming-of-age story, as Beltran's friendless adolescence morphs into semi-acceptance as a teenager, and of course, his sexual awakening.

What is clear early on is the connection between his uncertain and capricious childhood and his adult fascination with earthquakes (events that shatter any illusion of stability, get it?). This is a bit of a heavy-handed maneuver, although the presence of a seismologist grandfather makes it all coalesce more than it might have. Throughout, moderately interesting issues of class and culture are raised, amidst this backdrop of films and growing pains. Fuget is the foremost of a loose band of younger Latin American writers who have rejected magical realism, and are attempting to forge a more real, modernist approach to literature. If this book is anything to judge by, it's a welcome change of pace.

The incredibly creative plot device that steers Alberto Fuguet's novel The Movies of My Life centers around a list of 50 movies that forms a brilliant vehicle to explore a lonely childhood and a dysfunctional family that takes us from suburban Southern California to Santiago, Chile. As Beltrán manufactures his own list, he peppers the descriptions with details remembered from his childhood and in the process, writes a touching memoir of sorts. And like seismology, he always looks deeper, searching for cracks, scanning his family for flaws and resistances. One doesn't have to be a movie buff to appreciate the beauty of Fuguet's writing (and his list) or to understand the role movies play in our lives often even without our knowing.

This is very much a book about the Latin American experience in Los Angeles, and it is a terrific portrayal of a city on the brink of change. From growing up in Inglewood to the Valley, Beltrán gives us a slice of life, that is so inimitably Los Angeles. In those days "Inglewood was a run-down, semi-industrial neighborhood, stacked with bodegas and Laundromats; an expensive, itinerant area that attracted immigrants fresh of the plane. The area was divided between newly arrived South Americans and lower class white Americans."

The Movies of My Life also serves as an ode to a movie lover. The true strength of the novel is the remarkable originality of the storytelling - the way Fuget symbolically weaves the "movies of his life" through the narrative - each movie representing a land mark event IN his life. The book says a lot about movies and the role they can play in our lives, and the movies that really speak to Beltrán are the movies that are really about him. Beltrán admits, that you can even feel a connection to a movie before even seeing it, because people tell you about it, or "because you just know that the film has sunk its claws into you for reasons you can't understand." The important movies of his life are also some of my most memorable - Poseidon Adventure, Logan's Run, Earthquake, Close Encounters of the Third kind and Jaws.

Just life an earthquake fault, his family cracks, and eventually the crack becomes a fault - his philandering father leaves; he becomes estranged from his grandparents. The Solars are in a unique position, back in Santiago, they are without a social class, and so far removed from "the place they once belonged to." The Movies of My Life is a profound, intuitive and highly original piece of work.

Michael

Alberto Fuguet, The Movies of My Life (Harper, 2003)

A trick does not a book make, no matter how interesting it is. And the trick ehre is interesting; Fuguet takes the structure of a noted director (can't remember who, because my brain is swiss cheese; Elia Kazan?)'s autobiography and turns it into the story of a family trying to make it. The beginning works very well, being a series of emails between the narrator and someone he met on a plane about why he's decided to simply abandon his career and sit in a Los Angeles hotel room writing this, and the structure is intriguing, but beauty is only skin-deep. Once you scratch beneath the surface, you find another Oprah's Book Club candidate ripe for the plucking, a dysfunctional family with no qualities to make it stand out from the rest of the dysfunctional family pack so popular in today's publishing world.

If you like dysfunctional family novels, this will probably be right up your alley. The rest of you can safely avoid it. (zero)

Now a 3rd Lt. on a small frigate (without our seeing how he stepped up), the attractive Bolitho sails far from the coast of England into the hot and pirate-infested Caribbean of yore, on a secret mission about which his captain is long mum. There's lots of sailing involved, but little hard seamanship evoked in detail. That is one reason I see Kent's novels as pitched to young adult readers. They focus on rip-roaring risks and adventure, and less on development and the texture of naval life under sail. They have an episodic jerky quality to them rather than smooth story-telling. Every now and then Kent will insert into the flow the thoughts of someone besides Bolitho, although the thoughts are about him.

In the course of chasing a variety of pirates, and traitors who have joined them, the story turns into a treasure hunt. Whether or not they find the gold, Bolitho certainly pursues a love on shore and afloat, with all the wonderful hesitations and false starts of a first true love. Bolitho also makes life-long devoted friends and allies among his crew division, although I wish Kent had shown more often how Bolitho accomplishes that rather than often merely announce it as fact. Only his winning of boxer Stockdale--whom Bolitho rescues while serving as the leader of a hated press gang, of all things--is shown in satisfying detail. On the other hand, Bolitho's staunchness, pluck, and luck are clearly shown to win over other officers, and it is enjoyable to see him grow in skill and authority under the fortunate tutelage of his unusually sympathetic superiors. I place Kent's series as wonderful naval adventure books on the third level, after Forester and O'Brian, then others like Pope, Woodman, and Stockwin. These books published by McBooks have a nice look and feel to them.

If you like historical fiction, especially fairly light fiction, you'll like this book.

If you are a fan of nautical fiction, you will be disappointed. Alexander Kent goes into very little detail about the mechanics of a ship.

My father introduced me to Horatio Hornblower when I was in junior high and I've been a fan of Napoleonic-era sea yarns ever since. C. S. Forester is still the standard against which I measure later creations, and Alexander Kent stands up very well in that regard. I always try to work out a birthdate for the main character in such a series, so I'll have some idea of the future course of his history and what real events he's likely to bump into. Hornblower was born in 1776, Jack Aubrey around 1770 (I think), and Richard Bolitho in 1756 -- which pretty much takes him out of the later Napoleonic period except as a very senior officer (the last book in the series is set in 1806). Things were quite different at that relatively early period as regards press gangs, construction of ships, international politics, and lots of other factors, which adds to the interest. Specifically, Bolitho is eighteen years old and a newly-appointed Third Lieutenant aboard the Destiny, a frigate armed for war during a time of peace, whose captain is frothing to lay hold of a would-be revolutionary hiding out in the Caribbean. Which provides plenty of room for Bolitho to develop his naval and leadership skills, to become infatuated with another man's wife, and acquire friendships that will last a lifetime -- especially with Stockdale, who will later become his cox'n. The prose is workmanlike and the author spends almost as much time delineating the characters of Captain Dumaresq, First Lieutenant Palliser, and Second Lieutenant Rhodes, all of whom are interesting, and which greatly increases the reader's enjoyment.

I've never written a book review before but this novel has truly inspired me to act.

Stand Into Danger is an imposition on the public.

Mr. Kent uses his fairly extensive knowledge of nautical terms and 18th century british naval life to weave a tale of ever devolving complexity in which every plot twist can be anticipated with a yawn or a scratch of the head.

The 18 year old main character is a junior officer who seemingly succeeds at everything from defeating the captain of rival ships (in single combat) to winning the fair lady despite there being more experienced, successful and senior officers at hand.

The cookie-cutter-stereotype cast of characters exist only to make 3rd Lt. Bolitho have someone to interact with when he's not saving the ship. They seem to have no existence beyond this.

Bolitho faces certain death on several occasions only to be inexplicably rescued by a sailor he befriended, time and time again. The plot makes no sense literally or historically and reads more like some mission of 007, ignoring both nautical tradition and british naval hierachy.

While I enjoy suspending disbelief for the sake of a good adventure, I found it impossible to not guess what would happen next at every turn with this book. Mr. Kent just makes it all too obvious. When I reached the climax of the book,I put it down. I found myself unable to continue or care what happened next. There was no suspense and little adventure.

I recommend that you give this series a miss. It simply isn't worth the time.

My family physician brought my attention, in the first place, to Patrick O'Brian's series of books about the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey of the British Navy in the days of wooden ships and iron men.

I was not new to naval fiction. I cut my teeth on Howard Pease's stories of the merchant marine, which inspired me, directly, to ship out at the age of 16 on an 8,000 ton freighter, in the "black gang," as a fireman. Subsequently, I joined the U.S. Navy on my 17th birthday and eventually I built my own ketch-rigged sailboat, the "Wild Goose," and sailed her on the Pacific with my family.

I am somewhat of a connoisseur of naval fiction, especially as it relates to sailing vessels. The late Patrick O'Brian was a master of the genre, and his details of square riggers sailing rig and of life aboard vessels of the late 18th century were unsurpassed. Many of his actions were taken directly from admiralty records.

Alexander Kent is more of a storyteller, and he does not depend so much on detail of the sailing rig. He is more interested in the story, and his stories are superb! He keeps you reading far into the night to see how it comes out. I would read the books through in one setting, if my schedule allowed. My doctor recommewnded this series, also.

Like O'Brian, Kent (a pseudonym) follows the career of a single extraordinary seaman, Richard Bolitho, from Midshipman on to command. Bolitho began his career at the age of twelve, although the series pick him up at 16, a seasoned midshipman, in the first book of the series (which I have reviewed) "Midshipman Bolitho," in which he is assigned to a 74 gun ship of the line, the Gorgon. "Stand into Danger" picks him up as a third lieutenant on the Destiny, a frigate.

There is plenty of action in both stories. I have the third book in the series, now, and have the fourth on order. That should tell how much I like the series.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

Being a fan of movies, both good and bad, when I saw this book at my local library I thought it'd be a fun read. I was wrong. Bad Movies We Love is an idea that's ripe with potential, but this book never lives up to it. It's very dated, which isn't an unforgivable sin seeing as how it was published in 1993, but content is very poor. Most of the book is spent on trashy dramas, romances and big-screen soap operas. The book almost entirely ignores sci-fi and horror movies (home of the greatest bad movies ever made), while devoting entire chapters to Sharon Stone and Troy Donahue. A lot of the themes that they divide the chapters into are negligible, and half of the movies listed could have fit in virtually anywhere.

The chapters themselves are arranged with the films in alphabetical order, frequently creating a situation where the authors refer to a movie that they haven't even discussed yet. And the writing itself is just dull -- they make the same tepid commentary time and again, over and over. Really, how many times can you read the same joke about a film killing off someone's career? And for that matter, how many times can the same actor kill off his career?

This is a bad book, but not a bad book I love.

Written by a couple of L.A. guys for Movieline magazine: Stephen Rebello has authored two previous books. Ed. Margulies was Executive Editor of the national film magazine in 1993. The movie stills on the cover and in the photo section are great, seeing the stars when they were young and in their prime.

Some of the movies I did like: Marjorie Morningstar, Grease, Half Moon Street, Vertigo, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Jazz Singer (Neil Diamond), and Ash Wednesday (?). I agree that Play Misty For Me was bad. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Buy Nick Clooney's THE MOVIES THAT CHANGED US for a really good book about some of these same films.

Anyone who's willing to write about Shelley Winters' HUGE bloomers in the underwater sequence of the Poseiden Adventure gets a snap from me!

UPDATE: Why oh why can't they update and reprint this for us? Mine's old and yellow and the pages are falling out from so much use. Last night we had it handy during our viewing of MOHAGANY, a movie that was everything I hoped it wouldn't be!

Would love their "take" on SHOWGIRLS which may very well knock VALLEY OF THE DOLLS down a notch but not MOMMIE DEAREST.

This book is an absolute riot. The authors takes on these movies are great. What makes the book better than the standard bad movie review is how they trash movies you think might be good (like Fatal Attraction). My only complaint is there are sections with too many references to old (50's) movies that I have never heard of. Otherwise it is hilarious.

"Bad Movies We Love" is a great how-to guide in finding cheesy/hammy movies. Authors Edward Margulies&Stephen Rebello classify them in different categories. "Slay it with music" deals with Hollywood's worst musicals. "Bad Movies A Go-Go" is a treasure trove of psychedelic cheesefests. "No,but I saw the book" shows that not every movie based on a novel is automatically good. "Slip us a Mickey" is devoted to Mickey Rourke while "The Stone Age" is dedicated to Sharon Stone.

"Bad Movies We Love" isn't deep reading. It even takes on "Valley of the Dolls","Fatal Attraction" and "Butterfield 8",the soap opera movie that earned Liz Taylor an Oscar. It's fun reading,and a how-to guide in finding bad movies that are fun watching.

I received this book fast. I was quite impressed with its excellent condition. Great buy

I have used "The Carbohydrate Addict's GRAM COUNTER" for years and decided to get a new copy. The GRAM COUNTER has information on calories, carbs, fats and trigger foods. I ordered "The Carbohydrate Addict's CARBOHYDRATE COUNTER" and was very disappointed to find that it has only carbohydrate information. Now you have to purchase three books to get the same information that the 1995 version gave you for half the price.

I love this handy and compact carb counter! There are more than 4,000 food comparisons in this book that are in two user-friendly formats: alphabetical, and hi-low comparison charts. What's also great is that this book provides carb counts for eating out--including chain restaurants like Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Subway. Even carb counts for medications like cough drops and syrup are included!

The introduction includes a Body Mass Index (BMI) Chart, Range of "Desirable" Weights Chart, and an explanation of carbohydrates.

Sections include:

Beverages
Breads, Crackers, and Flours
Cereals
Combined and Frozen Foods
Dairy
Dining Out (Asian, Deli, Italian, Mexican, etc.)
Fast Food
Fruits
Gravies, Sauces, and Dips
Meats
Meats, Processed
Medications
Miscellaneous Foods
Nuts, Beans, and Seeds
Oils and Fats
Pasta, Whole Grains, Rice and Noodles
Poultry
Salad Bar Choices and Dressings
Seafood
Snack Foods and Chips
Soup
Sweets
Vegetables
Vegetarian Choices

The alphabetical charts compare items by letter. For example, under Sweets: Donuts you would find listings starting with Apple Fritter and ending with Sugared. In the Hi-Low Comparison Chart, however, the chart begins with the lowest carb count (Crueller, plain) and ends with the higest carb count (Jelly Stick).

This carb counter has it all, and I highly recommend it to those who are on low-carb diets such as Atkins, South Beach, and Curves For Women--as well as those who just want to lower their intake of carbs.

I guess this book does what it is intended to do (provide Carb counts), but I had one disappointment and one criticism...

My disappointment is that this really is only tied to the Hellers' Diet in spirit only. For example, some of the Hellers' "good" veggies have a higher carb count than some of their "bad" veggies; so if something in this counter book is lower carb than a "good" food, it doesn't necessarily make it a "good" food. I probably would've taken this book to the store with me if it had the Hellers' good and bad lists, too. As it is, I just kinda flipped through and said "huh" a couple of times; I don't think I'll be going back to it very much.

My criticism is that many foods from around the world - especially veggies - are not included. I found the listed foods rather mundane. We have a fantastic grocery in the area that carries an amazing selection of produce; if the nutritional information is not listed in the grocery (common for these 'exotic' items), I'm pretty much forced to pass on them. I was hoping this book would help me with that, but it doesn't.

This is the BEST carb counter handbook I have ever found. It lists all foods I can think of (broken down by groups) both in alphabetical order AND in High / Low comparison.

Even if you are on a strict Atkins Diet, this book will serve you better than the Atkins handbook. More comprehensive and easier to use than Atkins. (I have both books.)

Did you know that Champagne has zero carbs? The Atkins handbook DOES NOT list champagne at all, but the Carbohydrate Addict's Counter book DOES list it. Just one of MANY examples where the this handbook beats the Atkin's handbook.

I lost my copy of this book and bought Atkins to replace it. What a disappointment Atkins handbook was. (And I'm even on the Atkin's diet.) I'm SO glad I found my copy of this handbook!

A lifesaver and an excellent investment!

This was my first Evan Hunter read...and now I'm hooked. A friend passed it along and I couldn't put it down! That was two years ago, and I'm still talking/raving about it! It's exciting, but easy to read!

I'm a big, big Ed McBain fan from way back, though a bit leery of the author when he puplishes under his real name. If you set aside the graphic sexuality deplicted and gratuitous profanity, there is little left in this book. The police and district attorney machinations are very routine and the relationship difficulies deplicted in the prinicipal marriage are trite. The resolution of the affair is also a bit rushed and convenient. Not one of his best works under any name.

Three things stand out in this novel - wonderful characterization, sure knowledge of crime syndicates and an eroticism that threatens to approach soft porn. The story is simple - a mobster falls for a married lady whose husband, a district attorney, happens to be in the midst of an investigation of said Mafia guy. After Andrew rescued her daughter from drowning, straight-laced Sarah falls for and plunges into a dark, forbidden affair with a man 6 years younger.

She is consumed by the passion even as her marriage to her hard working, dull, good husband & father drifts slowly apart. She is suddenly desired & wanted & all her pent-up lust is released. At the same time, hubby is moving in for the kill by planting wire taps around the place and sure enough, one night, he hears his wife with another man - the one he wants. The ending is bitter sweet but faithful to the book - in fact, it is quite logical.

Sarah steals the show with her wistful longings, motherly concerns, spousal obligations and deep needs. The happy go lucky character of the criminal is well described as well as the day to day grunt work of the law enforcement team. Altogether, a great read.

What a fantastic book! One thing I've noticed about Evan Hunter's novels is that he is able to write about female characters in a way that is utterly convincing to me, a female reader. I still have a little difficulty getting to grips with the fact that Sarah could have been written by a male author!

The novel is more 'adult' than Ed McBain novels generally are, and this is worth remembering if you don't like that kind of thing, but this is a great book, and a very good read. Very highly recommended.

Forget the background of the mob story, although it is interesting, and realize that this is just a thrilling book about a woman having an affair. I couldn't wait to find out what happened and read the last 250 pages in one day.

I enjoyed this book so much because you could look at it from so many different angles. First of all, since I am a married male, I looked at it from Michael's point of view. His wife is cheating on him and I wanted to see what he would do when he found out. Then you could be Andrew, the man who seduces Sarah, Michael's wife. What are his motivations? Then you want to know what motivates women cheat on her husband (or a man on his wife). Thinking about that can be both chilling and thrilling.

While I liked this book a lot, I think it had a few weaknesses. Hunter does not do enough at the beginning to establish that Michael and Sarah have a great marriage or even a good marriage. I think if he had spent more time convincing the reader that these two shared a strong bond, then what had followed would be that more devasting. We know Sarah has an affair, but to be able to know exactly what she was betraying would have made her betrayal that much worse.

Also, it seems that Sarah gave herself to Andrew rather easily (not a spoiler). I guess that Andrew was charming and handsome, and that was all it took for Sarah to give away her life. Again, it would have been better to know specifics in her life with her husband that she was very unhappy with. Instead, we just get veiled references to the fact that he was working a lot.

This book has a good ending I guess. Sarah was a frustrating character because I was never truly sure why she totally abandoned Michael and surrendered to Andrew. I guess it was nothing Michael ever did, it was just that Sarah was a bad person.

I plan on checking out some more books by Hunter/Mcbain to see if they are as good as this one.

This was my first CSI: MIAMI serialized novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I have to say that Max Allan Collins, the author who writes the majority of all CSI titles, seems to have a better understanding of Horatio Caine than of Gil Grissom. The character descriptions were much better than some of those I've read in the regular CSI novels.

FLORIDA GETAWAY has a case that starts in Las Vegas with the regular CSI team and then spreads to Miami and Horatio's team. It's a well-developed case and a pretty darn good plot. Definitely recommended for CSI and CSI: MIAMI fans!

I was glad that I bought this because CSI Miami is my very favorite show on TV right now. I love A&E right now because they play episodes randomly throughout the day and every evening. I really thought this book read very much like the episodes play on TV. The author even made sure to mention Horatio's sunglasses, which he takes off and puts on at least five times per episode.
I generally liked most of this book. It was a little strange to read all of the swearing and foul language because it is censored on TV, but I suppose that if the show were on HBO or whatever, it would be perfectly normal. It is evident that Max Collins did a good deal of research and collaboration, because the characters sounded and behaved exactly as they would on the show, and he didn't take any liberties or try to compromise the characters simply because it is his original story. I appreciated that.

The book CSI Miami, Florida Getaway, is a thrilling murder mystery. When a murder escapes Las Vegas and then finds him self buried in the Miami Beach dead, you know the story is going to be exciting. Max Allan Collins made this story to capture the adventures side of his readers. When you find your self in the Miami heat, remember the book you never wanted to let go of.

I love the CSI: Miami TV series, and was thrilled to see it in novel form! This is a fine book and a fine mystery. Max Lucado is a pretty accomplished mystery writer himself. I could not believe all that Lucado has done as described in the author's bio at the end of the book.

The story is about a weathly hotelier who has almost surely murdered his mistress/girlfriend. He is slipping through Gil Grissom's fingers. Gil Grissom? Wait a minute, I thought this was CSI Miami. Yes, it is somewhat of a crossover book. There is more than one murder. Interesting characters include a sexy female Cuban nightclub singer, the wife and stepson of the hotelier, and three aged, retired ex-mobsters from Jersey.

My only complaint is that the CSI team characters talk in the same clipped, stilted dialouge as the TV shows. I thought the purpose of a novel was to bring more depth to the characters, to expand their TV profiles.

All in all, an excellent read for CSI/Mystery/Crime lovers.

Even as a pure C.S.I. Las Vegas fan, I picked up this book for a quick read. I've never really enjoyed watching the Miami series, but to my pleasure I enjoyed this book immensely. However at the end, I felt that there was really no resolution to the various aspects of the book. It really gets good, and then all of a sudden BAM, its at the end. You're left with many questions. On the whole, I enjoyed meeting the Miami cast in print, and now may enjoy watching C.S.I. Miami, having a bit more background information on the cast.

I am really surprised that this Charmed book got such a high rating from most reviewers. It started out good but once portals started opening up out of nowhere and transporting the witches back in time, it just lost its appeal. Not every Charmed book needs time travel and this one did it unsuccessfully with no build up.

If you want to read a good Charmed book I suggest "The Legacy of Merlin" and "Pied Piper" first. Save your money on "Date with Death" - get it at the library.

This is the second book in the series that i have read. It is a AWSOME book. Paige's search for a lover is so similar to what i am going through. (Only, my dates aren't demons ha ha) Also, The sisters'comidy side come out in this book and will have you Laughing out loud at some points. The book is packed with comidy, action, and some romance. Enjoy it I KNOW I DID

I also recomend the other charmed book i have read, Mirror Image

this book is way to similar to the book before it in the fact that paige finds a guy, likes him then he turns out evil. plus the fact that she doesnt listen to her sisters this books rings to many bells for me. but if you've never read a charmed book before this is a good book

date with death is to similar to the book it follows' garden of evil' when paiges' boyfriend turns out to be evil, and paige doesn't listen to her sisters.
even the fact that paige feels left out from the group rings a bell. this is a good charmed book if you haven't read all of the others, if you have you might find it to similar.

With Phoebe and Cole planning their wedding, and Piper and Leo planning a family, Paige is feeling left out and lonely. She feels that it's finally time for her to find a significant other that will fit her and her life perfectly. So, on a whim, Paige signs up for Kiss.com, an online dating service, and soon she is flooded with responses from eager guys from all over San Francisco. But, soon Paige begins to realize that even though she's going out, each date leads absolutely nowhere. Soon Phoebe and Piper realize that Paige isn't actually going "out" on dates, but, rather spending her evenings in a catatonic trance. Soon Paige's "dates" begin committing evil acts, as does Paige, only her evil acts are aimed at her sisters. Now Piper and Phoebe have to try to stop her using only the Power of Two.

This is only the third CHARMED book that I've read, and I'm not disappointed. I find Paige's chracter to be a shining star in the series, as Phoebe and Piper have become so lovey-dovey with their significant others. Paige's character features sarcastic, yet fun, dialogue that fans of early-day Phoebe will relish in. A must-have book for all CHARMED fans.

Erika Sorocco

This book is a true masterpiece of modern film novels. It immediately captures the heart and mind of the reader with the characters exploits on the 1st page. Based on the 2005 film KING KONG this novelization tells of how a struggling vaudeville actress Ann Darrow journeys across the sea to the mysterious Skull Island to film a motion picture.

On the way she will fall in love, face many dangers and meet Kong, a massive prehistoric gorilla with whom she forms an uncanny connection. Christopher Golden masterfully tells us the story of the movie. The movie's screen play is captivatingly designed from the 1930s edition by Peter Jackson, Accademy Award-Winning Director of THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. Filled with many great characters including Carl Denham an obssesive movie director to Ben Hayes, the first mate of the ship VENTURE, this is a book to be treasured for ages.

KONG IS KING!

THE BOOK KONG IS OKAY. USUALLY I LIKE A BOOK BETTER THAN A MOVIE. THIS BOOK WAS THE CARBON COBY OF THE MOVIE WHICH I WASN'T THRILLED WITH. I EXPECTED MORE ESPECIALLY AFTER LORD OF THE RINGS.

King Kong by: T.R.

The book King Kong was written by Christopher Golden who has also

written novels such as Stones Unturned and The Borderkind which is due to

come out in March 2007. King Kong takes place in both New York city and

on the uncharted Skull Island. This book is set in the time period of the

great depression (1929-1930). In New York it is easy to guess that the

time period is the great depression but on Skull Island it is not so

easy. On Skull Island it would be easy to assume that you were in the

past, specifically prehistoric times, simply because of the prehistoric

animals that inhabit it. However both New York and Skull Island are both

set in the same time period.

King Kong has many main characters. The main characters include

Ann Darrow, Carl Denham, Jack Driscoll, Bruce Baxter, and King Kong. Ann

Darrow is a down on her luck Vaudeville actress who is working hard

trying to make a living in New York. But Ann also has a more complicated

side to her, she wants to make money but she is not willing to

become "some floozy" to make the money she so desperately needs, which

is how she meets Carl Denham.Carl Denham is a spoiled movie producer who

is used to going on jungle experiences to make his films. Carl is a film

maker that cares only about producing the film and will stop at nothing

to achieve his goal. Carl is an adventurous entrtepreneur/film maker that

is often self centered. Jack Driscoll is an experienced playwrite that

has volunteered to write the script for Carls new movie. Jack is a very

serious no goofing-off guy, which is probally why he writes mostly

serious drama, but he is also a loyal friend which is why he gets stuck

going on Carls adventure that leads them to Skull Island. Bruce Baxter is

a matinee idol, but his carrer as one has been dwindling, so he turned to

Carl, hoping that Carls new movie would be just what his career neaded.

Bruce is an experienced actor, but he feals threatened when the movie

starts focusing on Ann and not completally on him. King Kong is a

gigantic gorilla thought to only exist in mythes. On Skull Island he is

like a king, lording over all the creatures and squashing any that oppose

him. King Kong is not completelly mean however, when the natives offer

Ann Darrow to him he falls in love with her and ultimately sacrafices his

life for her.

In King Kong there are also a lot of character that aren't main

characters but do contribute to the story. Some of these characters are

his film crew (Preston, Herb, and Mike), Carls financial investors, and

the crew of the Venture. Carl's film crew also share Carls obsessive

dream of film making but not to the same foolish extent as Carl. Preston

is Carls personal assistant, he is completely loyal to Carl and will do

just about anything he asks. Preston grew up rich and joined Carl because

of his love for the movies. Herb has been with Carl from the begining and

is Carls camera man and one of the few people that trusts Carl with his

life. Herb is also extremely loyal to Carl, he is "willing to hang from a

tree" if Carl requests it from him. Mike is the sound man. He has been

with Carl as long as Herb, but still doesn't completely trust Carl and

can often be heard mumbling things under his breath. Carls financial

Investors are the rich men that contribute money towards Carls films in

order to get something in return. They are extremely rich and appear to

not care at all about anyone but themselves. The crew of the Venture are

all outcasts in their own way. They have all been excluded from their

societys and taken to the sea.

In the story Ann Darrow finds herself in the midst of the

depression, with Vaudeville closed she tries to find an alternate way to

earn money. When Carl meets her she has just turned down a job offer,

taking this opportunity Carl offers her a leading role in his newest

movie. When Carl gets Ann and all his cargo on the Venture he sets off.

His boat leaves just as the cops, sent by his financial investors get

there. On the way to Skull Island Carl works on his film. Ann and Jack

are also falling in love with each other but neither want to admit it.

Unfortunately for Carl the captain of the Venture Captain Englehorn

recieves a radio transmission alerting them that Carl is wanted by the

police, Englehorn attempts to turn in Carl, but a freak fog storm causes

them to land on Skull Island any way. As Carl continues to make his film

on the shores of Skull Island Bruce Baxter notices that his role in the

film continues to lessen. Just as he voices his complaint an enornous

roar comes out of the jungle further in the island. When they go to

investigate they find a village inhabited by natives.

I recommed this book for any one that enjoys adventure books and

has plenty of time on their hands. Christopher Golden gives excellent

acterization and explaination in this story, which makes it an excellent

adventure story. However you would need plenty of time to read this book

because it has close to 400 words. Over all this is a really good book

for any tean to young adult.

Similar to the movie Kong doesn't appear for well into half of the book. For a book titled King Kong there wasn't enough King Kong in it. I actually enjoyed Kong Reborn more. Despite that there are a few extras the movie didn't have making this book a must read for any Kong enthusiast.

While the book itself is an enjoyable read if you look at it with today's values, it has completely destroyed the original story of King Kong. Although the story is set in the 1930s, it has definately been influenced by a contemporary view of society. Gone is the innocence of the 1930s. Carl Denham is a hateful character in this revision of the classic original, so much so that Captain Englehorn (who himself is more concerned about money than about his 'friend' Denham) attempts to strand him on Skull Island. Jack Driscoll, who is a snooty playwright instead of being the ship's first mate, has some sort of bond with Denham, but there is no way to see why. The way the characters are portrayed here, you don't feel any connection with any of them. There is no one that I want to see survive! It's hard even to feel sorry for Kong himself in this version. A 2 for the book as a stand-alone, but it goes into the minuses for killing what was so special about the King Kong story.

I've read a few books in my time. Good ones, bad ones. Some that were neither -- you know what I mean, gentle reader, both good and bad at the same time. Sometimes a book will start out good and end up bad. Sometimes, and I find this is the more rare phenomenon, the book will start out bad and then pull a "U-Turn" and end up good. That may in fact be my favorite kind of book.

I was a teenager in the 80's and I loved these movies. This book outlines all the "Teen" movies in the 1980's, from "Porky's" to "Can't Buy Me Love" It was a fun trip down memory lane and I enjoyed learning some lesser known facts about the movies and actors themselves. A must have for affecionado's of the 80's. Includes smaller versions of some of the most popular movies original movie theater posters.

I can sum up my review of this book rather simply: don't buy it, but do read it; borrow it from the library instead.

A fun romp through the fabulous Brat Pack movies of the 80s, Bernstein's book is a little too short on analysis, a little too full of plot, and offers tantalizing teases of trivia and behind the scenes information but never delivers a whallop punch. It's fun, light reading, and entertaining enough, but it doesn't truly serve as a reference material to the subject, and as such, I wouldn't recommend it as something worth purchasing for your book collection. By all means, take a copy out from the library and spend a fun weekend flipping through its pages -- I wish I had done that, instead of spending money on a copy that now gathers dust on the shelves.

I always like reading Jonathan Bernstein's column in "The Guide," and this potted history of teen films from the 1980s is in that league. It suffers from the odd inaccuracy, and his habit of relating the ENTIRE plots of movies is a mistake, but since books about teen movies are far thinner on the ground than books about '70s movies...what the hey. (Favourite quote: "(Charlie Sheen) provided years of laughter and entertainment. Moving on to an entirely separate subject, his movies have included...")

The recent late-ninties teen movie explosion has proven one thing - that what comes around - well you get idea. This book is a fabulous survey of what went before, concentrating on lesser known films which haven't had so many column inches, and others which were extremly popular but need some kind of retrospective look. Its a wonderful read, each page offering a new type of nostalgia. Plus - its incredibly funny, with Bernsteain bringing the same wit he offers in his fortnightly column in 'The Guardian Guide' to a subject he obviously loves. I've a couple of reservations. Apart from the glossy posters in the centre the illustrations are not much better than those found on a video box and often fail to illustrate the prose with much accuracy. Also, there is no bibliography or index, so finding writing about a favourite film can be a chore. And a few cast lists would be nice. But I suppose that's what The Internat Movie Database is for . . .