Martin Lawrence Books

I found this book fascinating. It's a comprehensive insight into what being psychic means and dispells the myth that it's a God given gift to just a few. The author also explains how becoming psychic can bring a positive aspect to your life and the world! A must read for anyone wanting to know about unlocking their psychic potential.

I found this to be an excellent book. There is so much garbage spoken about what are psychic powers but this book gives an extremely accurate overview. It is obviously written by someone who has not only researched the field thoroughly, but is himself an excellent psychic. I highly recommend this as the best book I have read on psychic development. Personally, I think it is vitally important to present the psychic world with clarity - and Dr. Lawrence does that.

Dr. Richard offers a rudimentary introduction to the many different types of metaphysical phenomena, such as the chakras, ESP, clairvoyance, divination, etc. However, the book stops short at just brief description. The title is very misleading; those interested in techniques on how to manifest these types of abilites will be disappointed, for there are none to be found. The book serves well as an introduction and explanation of these abilities, but that is all.

THIS BOOK HAS A SHORT DISCRIPTION ON THINGS LIKE CHAKRAS,ESP,CLAIRAUDIENCE,ETC. BUT THATS IT. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO TELL YOU HOW TO MANIFEST YOU PSYCHIC ABILITIES DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. THATS WHAT I BOUGHT IT FOR AND WAS VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED. SO ONLY BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT SHORT DESCRIPTIONS ON THE SUBJECTS BUT DON'T BUY IT IF YOU WANT TO MANIFEST YOUR PSYCHIC ABILITES. IN FACT, DON'T BUY IT AT ALL. ALL OTHER PSYCHIC BOOKS TELL YOU ABOUT ALL THE SUBJECTS IN THIS BOOK AND GIVE A BETTER DESCRIPTION ON THEM. THEY ALSO TELL YOU HOW TO MANIFEST THEM. SO DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. IF YOU WANT TO WASTE YOUR MONEY LIKE THAT JUST GIVE IT AWAY TO SOMEBODY(LIKE ME). :)

Lawrence Martin did an excellent job of portraying Chretien's life, including both positives and negatives. In addition to describing his drive and ambition, his fight for the 'little guy', and his years as Trudeau's firefighter, Martin also delivers Chretien's derelict youth, his occasional forays into questionable Quebec politics, and his sensitivity to criticism of his abilities.

This book ends just as Jean Chretien was poised to win the leadership of the federal Liberal party of Canada.

Whether you liked or disliked Jean Chretien as a politician, this book will provide an insightful look at the man behind the politician. Martin has provided the views and perspectives of friend and foe. It is easy to read, light yet intriguing.

-"A thorough, thought provoking, insight into a leader of great honor and prestige who has endured a lifetime of public scrutiny, all for the passion of politics"

Included in this book: INTRODUCTION/Lawrence Schimel: SONG OF THE CARDS/Jane Yolen (poetry); SYMBOLS ARE A PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT/Tanya Huff; THE COURT OF THE INVISIBLE/Billie Sue Mosiman; NEW BEGINNER'S LUCK/Mark A Garland; HOUSE OF CARDS/Don Webb; ARTICLES OF FAITH/Nina Kirki Hoffman; WILD HORSES/Charles de Lint; THE INTERSECTION OF ANASTASIA YEOMAN AND LIGHT/Rosemary Edghill; CHATTEL/Lucy Taylor; ELVIS LIVES/Nancy Springer; IN THE CARDS/Michelle Sagara West; SOLO IN THE SOPTLIGHT/George Alec Effinger; THE GATES OF JORIUN/Kate Elliott; TOWER OF BRASS/Teresa Edgerton; THE SIXTEENTH CARD/Susan Wade.

15 stories, 1 poetry and an intro. It was a struggle to finish this book. Five stories were OK. There was only one I really liked of those five. I don't know what I expected this collection to be, but it wasn't this strange assortment. See if you can get this used, or from the library.

the first several stories are much more traditionalistic and common, though they do have some originality to them.. that is, the ideas are wattered down, and the plots are a tad cliche.. soon though, very soon in it, some the third or fourth story, it delves into the delightful realm of mystic horror and nostalgic drama.. fairly recent as well, so you can expect that much of what we find in everyday culture is also present in the present-day tales.. a great deal of fun to read.. personal favorites: chattel, the intersection of anastaisia yeoman (sp) and light, and the tower.. seriously recommended

Delaplace, Barbara: "In the Cards", George Wilson has found a purpose sadly lacking in his day job (a lab technician running tests of impressive appearance and little value for a pointy-haired boss) and family (a brother perpetually plunging into get-rich-quick schemes). George's real talent for guidance lets him help serious clients: a teacher concerned about a child's problems, a stressed-out CEO. But when George's brother makes a colossal blunder, George must choose between violating his card-reading principles and abandoning his brother to loan sharks.

de Lint, Charles: "Wild Horses" opens in Newford with the viewpoint of Dan, dreaming of horses running free while enmeshed in the chains of heroin addiction. The rest of the story (in 3rd person) follows Cassie, a card reader in the open-air market of the Pier, beginning on the day Dan's sister Laura asked Cassie to help find him. Cassie has two decks of cards: a Tarot deck, and a beat-up deck of more unusual cards with a strange history. In her view, "magic" is a word with two meanings: one for those who don't want to think, and one for those who seek tools to deeper understanding. The story is non-linear, one thread tracing Cassie's search for Dan, another her own past - how she came to read cards through her own search for a missing friend. Excellent story of overlapping worlds, and not just the spirit world and the material world. Perception, after all, is the heart of magic.

Edgerton, Teresa: The "Tower of Brass" contains only two living things: the magician Magnus and his daughter, brought with him long ago upon fleeing persecution (or criminal charges, as the case may be). Rosamund longs for a companion other than the clockwork servants, but has no experience of consideration for living things. Then a magical accident - is it? - brings Nick to the otherwise lifeless island, with a nagging memory of having heard of these inhabitants before...(Apparently not set in the Goblin universe.)

Edghill, Rosemary: "The Intersection of Anastasia Yeoman and Light", like that of light and a prism, makes visible that which wasn't visible without those things. The narrator's reading for Anastasia at a party turns up two 5 of Cups, marking her *own* life's turning point: writing or editing? (Ironically, this story is itself poorly edited.) She thinks of conventions as a kind of Elf Hill, visited frequently, in which she sees the last author she ever expected: herself.

Effinger, George Alec: "Solo in the Spotlight" Sick, sick, sick. :) For his first official reading, the President's psychic adviser must use the First Daughter's Tarot cards - a Barbie Tarot deck. (Told from the President's viewpoint, whose significator is the King of Shoes - err, Swords...)

Elliott, Kate: "The Gates of Joriun" One of the strongest stories herein, though like the Hanged Man, it embodies in a state of suspension. The narrator, sister of the rightful heir, has always been her brother's great strength, and the usurper swore to hang her - and has found a way to fulfil his oath without making her a martyr.

Garland, Mark A.: "New Beginner's Luck" starts with a Tarot deck missing 3 minor Arcana cards, and a woman starting over after her husband's death. Of course, *bad* luck is luck too...

Hoffman, Nina Kiriki: "Articles of Faith" Brooke's family is falling apart: her sister drifting away into drugs, her parents drifting apart. But her mother holds a legacy from *her* mother: the box of cards Grandma used to use to make rather than tell fortunes.

Huff, Tanya: Cynthia, hauled away from the office for R&R by her partner, finds that "Symbols Are a Percussion Instrument". Until she acknowledges deeper meanings to things, Tarot creatures will keep appearing in her life. (The funny side of Delaplace's Tarot twist.)

Mosiman, Billie Sue: The narrator, obsessed with interpreting "The Court of the Invisible", lets her companion and caregiver go without a goodbye, so obsessed is she: why does every spread yield the Wheel of Fortune?

Springer, Nancy: "Elvis Lives" The narrator, having just left an abusive husband, is rescued by an Elvis impersonator, who carries a good luck charm: a Tarot deck in which. Gladys sees legends of rock'n'roll. But why is her friend so desperate to find Elvis? (Gladys is particularly well characterized.)

Taylor, Lucy: "Chattel" spent the war as Thorne's slave, at last seeking sanctuary among a witch's tarot cards, but she deliberately leaves him a path to follow. (Somewhat reminiscent of Bradley's NIGHT'S DAUGHTER or MacDonald's THE WISE WOMAN, but without a sound rationale for either Thorne's second chance or the tests he fails to pass.)

Wade, Susan: 24 years ago "The Sixteenth Card" shattered Miranda's life as a sniper numbered her mother among his victims. Returning to Austin to research a book on paintings of the Tarot, Miranda begins seeing alternate versions of her childhood self in her old haunts; a "Randy" who apparently never lost her mother, her younger brother, or herself, continuing the life lost at the turning point of her mother's death. But can Miranda change her own past - and what will happen if she does? (A stronger story than "Anastasia Yeoman".)

Webb, Don: The narrator often delivered packages to kindly old Rosa's "House of Cards" (an occult shop) until ex-employee Juno began siphoning off the shop's lifeblood to start up a competing store. But just how far has Juno gone?

West, Michelle Sagara: Shelagh Brentwood's husband withdrew into catatonia when their child died in a car crash for which he was responsible. Now a "Turn of the Card" - a deck she made for him in happier times - offers the hope for his return, his only connection to the world. (Alternates between his viewpoint, hers, and a caregiver's.)

Yolen, Jane: "Song of the Cards" As for several Greenberg anthologies of this period, Yolen's contribution is a poem.

This isn't an easy book to work through. It doesn't artificially simplify the field, doesn't give us the One True Method for task analysis, doesn't adopt One True Strategy for Instructional Design.

Instead, the book surveys a wide range of alternative approaches, provideas many references to different segments of the literature, and plenty of interesting insights.

I'm a Professor of Software Engineering (who also has a Ph.D. in Psychology). I focus my research on the teaching of software testing -- as a field, we are still in the early stages of curriculum development. The equivalent of a full semester in testing will soon be an ACM/IEEE requirement for a B.Sc. in Software Engineering, and so we need curriculum development in testing NOW. I find this book useful in my work and as a thought-provoker that I lend to my graduate students. It doesn't tell them what to do. It gives them enough information (and pointers) to help them think about why they should prefer one alternative over another.

The information contained in this book is very practical. Also, in contrast to some other task analysis books it is very readable. It does have some minor errors as another reviewer has pointed out. But I feel that the information contained is very good and I highly recommend this book.

If you are put off by silly grammatical errors and absurd typos, then don't buy this book. It doesn't appear that anyone edited or proofed the material before it went to print. I bought the version that was copyrighted in 1999. I'm not sure what the authors were thinking, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't about their readers. I decided I could use it in my teaching, but probably not as the authors intended.

Although the collection represents a wide spectrum of sub-genres (cozy, hardboiled, etc.) it seems that only very typical specimens of each type were chosen. It does not seem the editors looked very far and wide for stories. There are some damn fine tales in this book, but the collection as a whole is neither ground-breaking nor especially interesting. Fans of business-as-usual mystery will love it. More demanding readers who like to see the genre push the envelope a bit more will be underwhelmed.

As usual the G and G (great goldies) team has put together a powerful anthology consisting of thirty-nine tales from 2001 that run the mystery-crime-thriller spectrum. Obviously all the inclusions have seen print elsewhere, but not under one tome before this compilation. The contributions for the most part are excellent depending on the reader's taste, but none are terrible regardless of palate. In addition three articles report on the general state of the genre during 2001 and four country specific reports (Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and Germany) furnish insight into the trends. THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES, THIRD ANNUAL COLLECTION, VOL. 3 provides the audience with a delightful slice of some of the year's better short stories.

Harriet Klausner

I have recurring dreams where I'm on a rock or a raft or some sort of lifesaver in the middle of raging rapids and objects are floating by me. For some reason I feel duty bound in my dreams to grab each of the objects, like I'm a character in a video game or something. I think I'm grabbing everything, but it gradually hits me that I'm not. I usually wake up at the point where I've grabbed and missed for something I really, really need. My dream, of course, is a metaphor for books or authors I miss during the year.

It's impossible to keep up with everything that's going on in the world of literature. Even if you want to limit yourself to a particular genre, something good is going to get by you. Time is a problem, distribution is another and some time word of mouth doesn't reach its intended target. That's why those "Year's Best" anthologies are required reading, particularly in the mystery genre. There's no way to keep up with everything and, even if the market for short stories is shrinking, there are enough of them --- and they are hard enough to find --- to make it virtually impossible to keep up with all of them.

A particular favorite mystery favorite of mine is THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES. It's only up to its third annual edition, but is already staking out a claim in the genre as being indispensable. Editorial chores are handled by Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg, both of whom are legends in the anthology arena. Between the two of them they burrow into every cranny of the genre and come away with treasures.

THE WORLD'S FINEST is not merely a collection of short mystery and crime fiction, though it would be worth the price of admission on that basis alone. There are a number of essays included, dealing with The Year 2001 in Mystery and Crime fiction, a Yearbook, the state of the art in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Germany and Fandom. There's also a list of the ten best novels that is quite interesting, both for what is included (TOTAL RECALL by Sarah Petretsky) and what is not (what happened to THE JUDGEMENT by D.W. Buffa?). The list of course is, at least to some extent, subjective and part of the fun of it is finding one (or two or three) books you missed. And, when you're done having fun with all of that, there are the stories.

One of the joys of this anthology is finding names you know and love, while finding others you've never heard of. In the former category, there is Ed McBain with "Activity on the Flood Plain" which, on the surface, doesn't appear to belong in this collection at all. What begins as a story of a beleaguered artist dealing with a nattering nabob on a planning and zoning board takes a left turn near the conclusion. And, yeah, it definitely belongs in this volume. Jeffrey Deaver is included as well, with "Beautiful." This marks the first time I have ever been able to guess the conclusion of a Deaver work and it did not diminish my enjoyment of the story, which concerns a woman who finds an effective, if drastic way, of dealing with a stalker. Lawrence Block is represented by a thoughtful piece entitled "Speaking of Greed," a classic tale of a card game held among a very, very diverse group of gentlemen. There are also great, great stories by such well-known figures as Ruth Rendall, Max Allan Collins, Donald Westlake and Joyce Carol Oates, who is quietly demonstrating a versatility that has been under-appreciated as she demonstrates in "Tell Me You Forgive Me."

But what about the unknowns? Well, there are plenty to talk about, but I'll limit discussion to one who was a new face, at least to me. Dick Lochte is not an unknown, but I was totally unfamiliar with his work until encountering him with "In The City of Angels." Reprinted from FLESH AND BLOOD, an under-appreciated anthology of erotic mystery stories edited by Max Collins and Jeff Gelb, "In the City of Angels" combines equal parts of lust, greed and danger to create an atmospheric, contemporary Los Angeles, written the way Chandler would have if he'd have been born in the 1970s. It is the last story in THE WORLD'S FINEST and for good reason: it would have been a tough one for anyone to follow.

THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES: Third Annual Collection is an absolute must for both the seasoned and casual reader of crime fiction. Leave plenty of time to revisit your favorite authors and to find some new ones. Very highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

A simple clear and enjoyable read, with particuar emphasis on asthma. Stephen Holgate and Martin Church have produced a book which puts across simply all what is needed to be known by any student interested in Asthma

This book has excellent pictures and tables, however it lacks in depth and substance. For example, in the atopic dermatitis section, there is no discussion on differential diagnosis/other clinical conditions to consider. The drug allergy chapter has a nice chart for drug desensitization, but the chapter lacks a good discussion on any of the most important drugs...IE the PCN drug section is skimpy at best. And for some reason, they don't even have devoted chapter on food allergy. Overall, I am disappointed with this book. This book is best applicable to medical students and residents. In my opinion, it will not fit the need of Allergy/Asthma/Immunology fellows or practicing staff. I highly recommend "Pediatric Allergy" (also from Mosby) which is an excellent resource for Pediatric Allergy. Patterson's Allergic diseases is also good reference.

The "political activist," obviously a poorly-educated person and a person with an agenda which forbids unbiased appreciation of another person's point of view, provides a misleading review of this book, which is a solid introduction to its subject-matter. Do not be fearful of divergent views which do not toe the party line. Enjoy this book.

I have read this book for a class, and was particularly unimpressed with the positions on civil rights (Chapter 11). Although the focus of this chapter(as with other chapters) was never how the authors personally felt about various issues and policy areas, reading this chapter alone would not tell you that. Ironically in a chapter about discrimination and stereotypes, there are plenty of generalizations.

Even though the authors grasped the idea of African American equality, they remark that "The creation of a more favorable public perception of efforts to alter the status of women is perhaps impede by the fact that the National Organization for Women (NOW) is regarded by many as being outside the American mainstream and dominated by extremists"(371)The authors then try and backpeddle by assuring readers that "In general, most major women's organizations do not take a negative stance against men"(372)The idea that the two verbatim quotes can actually be included in a professional allegedly netural work is beoynd disbelief.

Furthermore, the subsection on Disability is prefaced as victims. It fails to acknowllege that each of these subgroups (like women and African Americans) also had a role in their own respective struggles.

Key legislation and court cases concerning disabled children's right to a free appropriate public education is omitted, and the authors snidely reference "claims of learning disabilities"(378) Considering that the authors are teaching at public institutions, one must wonder what planet they have been living on for the past 20 years.

Gone completely is a discussion of the Asian American and Chicano rights movement. Native Americans and GLBT rights are squeezed in as an afterthought, which is particularly ironic given the current very visible presence of that movement.

I sympathize deeply with any student who has to read this textbook and urge you to do further research when you get to Chapter 10. I urge professors and faculty (if they have not do so already) to look for another book. While my public policy class turned out fairly well in spite of this book, others shouldn't have to repeat the same path if possible.

The study guide was kind of useful, but it often asked pointless questions about details with which we were completely unconcerned in my Intro Microeconomics class. Also, it often gave the wrong answers for multiple choice questions, resulting in such inaccurate assertions as "The statement that firms in competitive markets are price takers means that average cost equals marginal cost at the minimum of average cost." It contradicted the book as well, defining the long run average cost curve as the straight line running along the bottom of the short-run curves when in actuality such a curve is the minimum average cost curve, and it bizarrely defined the real product wage as the marginal product divided by the product price. This last error wasn't exactly a typo, because it appeared twice. I can only imagine how many microeconomics students this study guide has misled and confused.

A very nice book , given by a famous Economist, is suitable for some aggresive students who are fearless to meet challenging. This book caould help you a lot. The examples focus on 97 Asia FC are crucial to form economic ideas.

just a few facts about this book- from someone who knows, i live in victoria and know the priest from the book. michelle is a real person-but she is crazy and the doctor just wanted to make money off a book. this is what the priest from the book told me anyway. although if you are from victoria and reading this book it is kinda creepy when they talk about thetis lake, the malahat, rossbay cemetery, and the secret tunnels under victoria, well not so secret, all victorians know they're there!

I pastor a church in the Dallas Texas area. It never ceases to amaze me how much satan will attack these writings to cover up his activities. My wife grew up around satanism and was an SRA victim growing up. She went on to practice witchcraft, but came to Christ around the age of 29. I assure you this book and others like this are very real. This is a must read for any Christian as we move into the end times.

J. Boyd

True? Fiction? I don't care. I have read every book on the True Crime shelf and watched every video on the Horror shelf. Nothing scared me like this one did. Anyone who says they weren't scared is a Satan worshipper.

If not for this horribly-written piece of fiction masquerading as truth, we never would've seen the "Satanic Panic" that gripped both the US and UK in the early 80s, resulting in homes broken, families destroyed, and innocent people ruined w/minimal evidence..even US media, normally derided by a vocal minority as being "too liberal", devoted considerable airtime to this phenomenon, particularly Geraldo Rivera (though he later apologized for his role in fanning the flames).

That said, the book itself is poorly written and often laughable (check out the alleged poetry supposedly from Satan himself)...not only that, but I question the motive for writing it, considering how Smith and Pazder became an item - despite both being married @ the time - and later wed...can we say "conflict of interest"? While Pazder is now dead and I hate to speak ill, his "recovered memories" technique has long since been discredited, leaving one to speculate as to whether or not he put these wild ideas in his patient's head. Besides, the evidence is overwhelmingly stacked against the "victim" here:

- She makes no mention of having a sister...yet one was located, and strongly denied all accusations made (as did her father)
- Despite the length of some rituals described in the books (some for weeks at a time), school records show no periods of extended absences
- A friend of her first husband (Doug Smith) said that she never showed any signs of emotional distress, etc. the whole time they were married
- One reviewer, elsewhere on this page, offered testimony to Michelle's apparent mental instability

Why do you think, once these revelations came to light, Smith-Pazder stopped giving interviews? Could it be because she had no leg to stand on anymore?

And to "a reader" (notice how those who defend these wild tales always remain anonymous? What are they hiding?), your arguments don't hold water...for starters, Laurel Wilson/Lauren Stratford/Laura Grabowski was exposed as a fraud way back in 1989, resulting in her alleged "true story" (Satan's Underground) being pulled from print, for many of the same reasons Smith-Pazder's story was debunked (no extended absences from school, history of mental problems, unmentioned relatives who quickly denied the events she described, etc.), to say nothing of her 1999 attempt at posing as a Holocaust survivor. Ditto Mike Warnke, whose career's been dead in the water since 1993 following a hard-hitting expose.

Speaking of which, it's not just the non-Christian sources you mentioned who are debunking these liars...Cornerstone magazine, a Christian publication, wrote the articles debunking both Stratford and Warnke's claims, and if you read their interview w/Anton LaVey (pays to know thine enemy), you'll see that true Satanism is far more subtle and nothing like what the Smith-Pazders of the world want you to believe.

As for your quote from Hitler (whose religion you mis-stated...he was a Christian, if in name only), I've got one for you from that great showman, PT Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute".

I'm astounded that this appalling and dangerous book is still in print; the publishers should be ashamed. This piece of fiction was dredged out of the mind of a disturbed young woman by her psychiatrist. Dr Pazder encouraged Michelle to believe her fantasies, thus damaging a disturbed person even more.

(They married after he was cited in divorce proceedings. In Britain that would be called professional misconduct; I don't know if that applies in the States.)

I call this book dangerous because it almost single-handedly sparked off the urban myth and moral panic of so-called "Satanic Ritual Abuse" spread by a small number of Evangelical Christians in the 1980s. Parents were falsely accused of abuse, and children were torn away from their families by over-zealous social workers who had been taken in by this dross, some not being returned for several years. Almost no one in authority has ever apologised.

If you want to know the truth about "Satanic Ritual Abuse", read Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism by Gareth J Medway, or Speak of the Devil : Tales of Satanic Abuse in Contemporary England by Prof Jean la Fontaine, who researched and wrote the British Government's official report on the subject.

Then throw Michelle Remembers in the rubbish bin where it belongs.

"Slightly Chipped", by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone is the second offering on what is supposed to be their continuing exploration of the world of book collecting. However, just as in their first book, "Used And Rare", the topic of books serves to provide these people with a continuous stream of targets for abuse. Please do not take to heart their description of what it is like to collect books nor of what type of people you will likely encounter while doing so.

To give you an idea of how far this book routinely strays from the alleged topic, what follows are direct quotes. The first takes place at a gathering at a library amongst a small group who are present to learn about very rare books. Any one of the volumes could be the subject of an entire book, but books are just a tangent in this brief and shallow memoir. While they do not hesitate to name the person they describe, and also list his occupation, I offer just a fragment out of the respect for privacy they show no concern for. "He was the kind of person whom Hollywood casts as the computer junkie who uses the Internet to lure young women to his apartment for.................." This is what they choose to describe as books from nearly a millennia ago are passed around the table. A book by William Morris is part of the evening's discussion. Mr. Morris produced some of the most prized limited editions of the late 19th Century. Here, that is almost a footnote when compared to his personal life, which rambles on for pages.

These people cannot even visit a bookstore that I know well, without adding this bit of irrelevant mean-spirited commentary on Torrington CT. ".thus providing the grimness and depressedness of Torrington for that much longer". Canton is described as, "hardly a town at all", and they quiz the owner on why he is located in such a difficult location. Our authors have moved to Fairfield CT. since their last book, an area that allows them to name drop the famous and wealthy, one of whom had to change homes because the light at The Yacht Club shone into his bedroom. What any of this has to do with books is beyond me.

Collecting books is a wonderful hobby. Shop owners generally will spend vast amounts of time, sharing their knowledge and love of books. I have been present when booksellers have taken a personal check for several thousand dollars on the final day of a show, from a person they never met, hours before they were to fly across the Atlantic to their shop in England. As a group, book collectors and dealers are wonderful people who share what Author Nicholas Basbanes has called, "A Gentle Madness". The authors do not enjoy this state of mind, rather, like the title of this book what rests upon their shoulders may be slightly chipped, however a large portion remains firmly in place.

In "Used and Rare", the Goldstones wrote lovingly about their journey of discovery and adventure in the pursuit of a good used book; the book chronicled their descent from merely used book shopping to used book obsession. I rated that book 5 stars - and it deserves it. I like the Goldstones have become a bookaholic. But, in "Slightly Chipped", we see the other side of the Goldstones and those that have followed the same path. Obsession is never a good thing in the end; moderation is a much better goal.

In this book, the Goldstones find themselves behaving a bit badly at times during their quests; especially, when they are with some friends they introduced to the sport (so to speak). And here in lies the problem with this book - it reads like an obsession; not just the pursuit of books, but also in the pursuit of writing about the pursuit (they follow this book with at least three more about this obsession).

Now I admit that I might have become a bit jaded since the first reading of "Slightly Chipped" more than seven years ago (but, oddly, I wasn't in my review of Used and Rare which I read around the same time). Recently, I have re-evaluated my own obsession with books; I now question some of the very principles I have operated under for the last 20 years of book collecting. I question the need to own a copy of every book I have ever read - let's be honest with ourselves, not everything we read is good, some is down right bad; but in the end, even some of the books I have enjoyed and were good books are not necessarily worthy of owning for all time - always needing more bookcases, the ever more challenging task of moving them, the friction caused with a loved one who doesn't quite share your obsession, only your love of books.

So, my new found liberation from the obsession of book collecting (don't get me wrong, I can't get rid of a lot of books and still amaze my friends and irritate my loved ones), has me looking at this book as the glorification of taking a love too far; and thus, I find it flawed. Furthermore, I have lost the desire to read the Goldstones' later books.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

I bought this book eagerly anticipating a journey into the world that I love. It transpired to be my most annoying purchasing dissapointment in quite a while. If you know anything about rare books, if you are in any way shape and form a bibliophile, then leave this one alone. No sooner do you start to read the text block than you realise there is nothing here that is based upon scholarship; everything is superficial. The book has so little substance it is clearly a book for people who are not book collectors. The Goldstone's have churned this out too soon after "used and rare", without too much thought and an apparent belief that everything they say is of interest, it is not. The annoyingly gossipy descriptions of book related matters (such as the Bloombsbury set's "who slept with who") is simply pathetic. I found myself skipping over paragraphs because the story line was so inevitable. My impression is that the Goldstone's had read the "gentle madness" books of Basbanes and were trying to do something similar. Unfortunately it didn't come off, this one is a real dud. If you havent read any of Basbanes yet you have a real treat waiting for you; go and type his name in the search box, enjoy.

If you like name-dropping and looking down your nose at honest helpful people, you might like this book. The Goldstones seem pretentious and obnoxious. Too much of the book is filled with discusions of fashion and restaurants. I was hoping they'd talk more about books.

The book is a disservice to book lovers. I wish someone would write a book about book collecting that was infused with a love of books, rather than this blather. Save your money. Buy books by Nicholas Basbanes and John Dunning and John Baxter and Robert Wilson and Paul Collins instead.

Having first read Used and Rare I was disappointed in the quality of this work. This collection of essays is too disjointed, never really focusing on anything for long enough or maintaining a single theme. While the stories themselves are entertaining it just isn't on par with the rest of the Goldstones work. Having later read Out of the Flames I must say that the Goldstones need to stick to one topic per book and not to try another collection of essays without a common thread between them.