N Books

Melainie is a very funny character. She has a very strong relationship with her friends. She has two friends. They fight. Melanie is very angry. She has to choose between her friends. She chooses Celia. Her other friend is very mad at her. Soon, her other friends sadness turns into revenge. In this world people have to take hard decisions in life. No ones life is perfect. Just believe in what decision you do.

As NYC's number one tour guide, I see I have some real competition with Melanie, she sure knows Manhattan. She shows us our city here in a very intetresting yet fun way. Nice going Carol, all the best!
Malachy Murray

Melanie Martin is beginning 6th grade and has many new challenges placed upon. Melanie has to find ways to deal with these daily life problems. Melanie in Manhattan has been one of my favorite books that had me laughing along.
Melanie in Manhattan is written in a diary format in the opinion of Melanie. She writes daily about her family and friends. Her best friend Cecily has become friends with the new, stuck up girl, Suze. They spend every minute together and rarely include Melanie. She feels like she's losing her best friend. On Melanie's trip to Spain that summer she met her mom's friend's son and she feels something special for him. They had many fun times together in Spain and Melanie is starting to really miss him. They send each other e-mails and keep in touch. Miguel's uncle has to come to New York for a work trip and has offered to take Miguel along to see Melanie. She couldn't believe what she had heard. She would see him once again. Together they tour New York with Melanie's family and see the great sights. Melanie starts to see the beauty of New York. Things start to change and Melanie isn't sure if Miguel considers her as just a friend or a girlfriend. Melanie likes him but she also has a small crush on Jason, a math whiz in her class. Melanie doesn't know how she feels. She has mixed feelings about everything at this point.
Carol Weston shows the fun-loving character's personality and describes the breath taking tourist attractions in the massive city of New York. Weston has put the teenage perspective in Melanie. Melanie talks and acts like an average middle school girl. When Melanie's mom leads her class on a field trip she says, "It's embarrassing having Mom stand in front of everyone like a teacher," (pg. 12.) All teenagers get embarrassed by their parents at some point or another. Like most siblings, Melanie can also be rude to her younger brother. Throughout the book she calls him, "Matt the Brat." During the book Melanie guides Miguel around New York. Melanie finds herself taking advantage of all the attractions New York has to offer like their museums and the skyscrapers. Miguel says, "New York is marvel," because he has never seen anything like it. He appreciates it the "marvel" New York more than her. As they walk through Central Park, Melanie and her family recognize all of the people enjoying the beautiful day. "Central Park is giant. You could walk all day and not get to see all of it...teams of kids were playing sports, a few mothers were jogging with their babies in strollers... we were in a park surrounded by tall buildings," (pg. 149.)If Melanie lived in a small rural town she could never experience this. She wouldn't get to walk outside late at night and see people walking around because like it says, "New York never sleeps." Melanie couldn't see people outside walking in the park because there aren't many people living in the country. Her closest neighbor would be a mile away.
The book, Melanie in Manhattan was a very funny and enjoyable book. Weston showed creativity in her format choice. She wrote the story in a diary and shows Melanie's real thoughts. She used many different fonts and ended each diary entry with an adjective to describe the entry. For example, Melanie ends with "Romantically Melanie," or "Mathematically Mel." This is a must-read book for all young girls.

Great story, love the NYC and art references. I previewed this book before I sent it as a gift and now I will pass it along to all my friends kids. Excited to read more in the series. M in M tackles real tween issues such as changing bodies, first smooch, troubles with friends in a very realistic and honest format. Wish I had Melanie when I was a kid.

All four Melanie books are funny and fun and full of interesting stories about the four places she visits (Italy, Holland, Spain, New York). You can read them in any order, although I liked reading this one after With Love From Spain. Every time I give one of these novels as a present, the girl clamors for more. So lately I've been having amazon send the whole paperback set. Melanie is 10 in the first two books, 11 in the next two, but girls older and younger seem to relate to her pluckiness--and her high anxiety. Whoever said it was easy to be a preteen these days? Maybe one reason the author's voice sounds so authentic is because she is the "Dear Carol" advice columnist for Girls' Life magazine, and real girls write to her all the time. All I know is, these books are winners and they're the kind of books kids love to reread!

The item was delivered in a timely manner. It was purchased as a gift, therefore I am unable to give a review on the book itself.

This book is fabulous! A must have for anybody who loves to eat and cook pizza! The recipes are easy to follow and the pictures make your mouth water. There are many unique pizza's that look fun to try as well as your basic pizza. The dough recipes are exceptional.

This cookbook is made well. It has thick pages and colorful pictures. The recipes all look delicious and have ingredients that are readily available at the market.

I am lucky enough to live close enough to the pizza restaurant owned by the author of this book. His pizza is as delicious as any pizza I have ever had. I bought the book since I am a huge fan of the restaurant and his world champion pizza throwing team. I am a novice cook but was able to make all the pies in this great cookbook come to life. Thank you, Tony, for giving me access to the best pizza has to offer.

First of all, this book is fantastic. Follow the recipes because a lot of effort went into them.
I have the habit of doing things my own way, but not this time and the results were great.
This book got me started on a wonderful path to making excellent pizzas.

I saw Tony tossing pizza on the Food Network a couple of weeks back and was very impressed by his record holding techniques. There was a part of the competition where only limited ingredients could be used and Tony mentioned the use of Caputo flour. I went to Amazon and punched in for Caputo and here was this book and I found out that Tony co-wrote it with Diane Morgan no less.

I supplied my kitchen with the necessary tools and ingredients to attempt to make New York style pizza dough.
The steps for making the dough were right-on and I allowed it to rise overnight in the fridge. My wife and I made the New York-Style Pizza sauce and also Ray's Pesto sauce while the dough came up to room temp.
The oven was heated for an hour ( with a stone inside) and then I put the toppings on and it turned out excellent!!
My wife and I knocked out three pizzas last Sunday and they all turned out great!
Now we are going to try some different flours (Caputo) and move on through the recipes in this book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in making pizzas at home even if you are interested in only a couple of types.
The introduction to each chapter is entertaining and informative.
Thanks again to Tony and Diane for teaming up to write such a wonderful book.
I know from recent experience that they are both very nice people and I look forward to heading up to Northern Ca. to stop by Pyzano's to maybe see Tony in action and to eat some great pizza.

Anyone familiar with Eugene Peterson knows the man is the consumate wordsmith. Each paragraph is a tapestry and each chapter is an experience that doesn't leave one with new information, as such, but always with something new to think about.

The focus is on experiencing Revelation - reading the book out loud and not just hearing the words or even hearing the thoughts, but striving to actually experience John's vision. Peterson believes that apocalyptic visions are to be experienced, not so much studied, and this experience should result in a life change meeting the need of the moment.

I've read several books on Revelation but none strive to bring one into the experience and into the desired life change that this book seeks. The four stars are given mainly because this is my first review and I want some "breathing room" for future reviews. Also, if you are seeking to learn what Peterson believes about what the various images actually mean, you'll find it lacking there. It's not about the particulars - it's about the whole for Peterson.

This is the best "pastoral commentary" on the book of Revelation I have read. The author has a clear overall picture of the book and has the writing skills to express what he sees. He relegates the various confusing symbols to their rightful place, ie. to high-light the overall message about Jesus. I have begun to present this book as gifts to kindred-hearts.

recommend this book because it addess the number one problem in USA Christians - head knowledge over heart knowledge - the Bible is the writen Word made Flesh and still lives among us - that we can have a personal relationship with Jesus - I have not finished the book BUT what I read has me moved to live a life to Him - if you are looking for a book on time tables about the end - this is not for you

"Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination" is the most significant treatment of the book of Revelation that I have read (or indirectly experienced through such books as the "Left Behind" series). Eugene Peterson, himself a pastor, always works from the understanding that John was also a pastor, separated from his small, beleaguered churches as he endured exile on the isle of Patmos. John was writing to communities gathered around Word and Sacrament; communities that gathered to pray and ponder the Word of God; communities that struggled to live faithfully in the midst of a society that was dangerous, decadent, despotic, and demonic.

Peterson examines the book of Revelation as a series of "last words" upon various themes in Scripture: Christ, sin, power, the Church, worship, etc. They are poetic, imaginative, pastoral, and sometimes cryptic reflections and summations of what has already been treated elsewhere in Scripture. Thus Revelation does not merely quote Daniel and Ezekiel directly, but alludes to their images (often almost literally) while setting them in the context of the Church; the person, work, and lordship of Christ; and the final triumph of God over all that would seek to oppose him and destroy his people.

Peterson downplays the "future foretelling" that is so prevalent in many works by some interpreters and popularizers of Revelation. He believes that an overly literal "timetable" reading of the book distorts its message, flattens its poetry, and ignores its deep pastoral heart. On the other hand, Peterson never simply "explains away" or dismisses some of the difficult, often bizarre imagery of the book. Rather he strives to show how John, a faithful theologian, pastor and poet of the Church, used those images to grip the imagination and strengthen the nerve and the faith of his hearers.

Peterson's writing is both "meaty" enough for most pastors, and accessible enough for most interested laypersons. It is the one treatment of Revelation that I have unreservedly and enthusiastically recommended to both categories of readers; AND it is one of the few books that I've underlined lengthy passages and dog-eared just about every other page. Not only that - it's one I return to for the sheer pleasure of reading it.

I'm not sure I would have said that you could read and understand Revelation as a "devotional" book, but with Peterson's insights I can now say it. Revelation is a wonderful study and adventure as you take along this book as your guide. You will find that it will inspire you to prayer, worship, devotion, repentance, and hope as you read through Reversed Thunder.

Everyone needs to have this in their library not for the didactics but for the amazing devotional that it is. I highly recommend this read.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak - her real name - provides an excellent introduction of what DNA can and can not do in Genetic Genealogy.

Anyone starting their "Roots" research effort is advised to buy this book. It will help you save money by allowing DNA to focus on your line and not someone elses. Read the book for more details!

As a DNA-surname research group administrator, I tend to buy every book, VHS, or DVD I can find regarding the use of DNA research in support of traditional genealogy.

Of the 12-15 books I have purchased so far, Megan Smolenyak's touchstone reference work continues to be the one I reach for when I have a question myself.

Easily read and understood, this book makes complex concepts readily accessible with clear illustrations, definitions, real-world examples, and authoritative references when needed. I am not naturally science-minded, but as a good researcher, I want to be able to use every tool in the box. This is my go-to book for that purpose.

Buy as many DNA books and tapes as you want, but your DNA library will not be complete without this classic introduction to the concepts involved in genetic genealogy.

I highly recommend it!

CHT in Virginia

Excellent book for the beginner who wants to understand DNA Testing and how to use it for Genealogy.

This publication is a "must have" book for anyone desiring to utilize DNA
to augment their genealogy study.

Even a decade ago, "genetic genealogy" barely existed as an almost science-fictional idea. Now, it's one of the most debated topics in our field and thousands of family researchers are involved in projects to identify ancestors through DNA analysis. (I'm in two projects now, myself.) It's a rather complicated subject, though, and for those (like me) who barely scraped through high school biology, the more books for beginners, the better. Smolenyak is a well-known genealogist and lead researcher for the PBS Ancestors series and Turner has become one of the principal popularizers of genetic genealogy on the Internet. The important point is that both have been pursuing family research since the days of manual typewriters and paper library catalogs, and that's the perspective from which they approach the discussion. They explain very clearly why DNA analysis can tell you only who your ancestors *aren't*, not necessarily who they *are*, and the strategic differences between researching your father's and your mother's lineage. They lay out the options and limitations among uncovering ethnic origins (what about that Indian great-grandmother?), global origins (Eastern European? or Scandinavian?), "deep maternal" ancestry (the "daughters of Eve" thing), and even African tribal origins. How do you set up a family or surname research project, attract participants, ensure their trust, and analyze and publish the results? And what do all those numbers in the lab report mean? This is very much a practical book and I strongly recommend it, perhaps in conjunction with Thomas H. Shawker's _Unlocking Your Genetic Heritage_ (2004).

Walking in Victory is a must read for any believer at any level of maturity. This book lays out some amazing truths from God's Word in a clear and easy to understand way. Mr. McCallum does an excellent job explaining how we can have victory day to day because as you will see in the book, Christ has already accomplished what we were never able to do. We have a new identity and learning about this new identity will change your life! This is also a great book to go through in a small group and study guides are available at [..].

Years ago, studying this book clarified key areas of the Christian life, helping me to finally get my own walk with God and ministry going. Victory lies in a believer's full acceptance before God based on Christ's atoning work on the cross. It's by understanding and focusing on this truth that Christians are able to develop lives of zeal, ministry effectiveness, and slow growth toward true holiness. Aside from the Gospel message itself, this concept, my identity in Christ, has been the most important lesson I've ever learned, and I haven't found a more sound explanation of it than in Walking in Victory. Now, I rely heavily on this book in mentoring students, and I'm able to see in them the fruit that is born from an informed and enthusiastic grace-focus.
The content matter, perfect for the scholar or new convert, is masterfully presented and extremely useful. McCallum skillfully mixes careful Biblical exposition and interpretation with down-to-earth application and insightful observations of human nature to create a work that is both provocative and practical.
I highly recommend this book to all believers who want to begin their walks with God on the right foot, who wish to deepen their appreciation of their identity in Christ, and who seek to help ground others in the firm foundation of grace.

Books like Walking in Victory are invaluable because they directly use and teach the Bible. This book is a guide to the crucial concepts in Romans 5-8, concepts that every Christian needs. The interpretation is accurate and the application contemporary. McCallum writes in an easy to follow, to-the-point style that is, as other reviewers have mentioned, very useful when trying to help a new Christian. On the other hand, because these concepts are straight from the Bible, long-time followers of Christ will be consistently challenged.

I really like this author's body of work. I've read all his non-fiction. He's very objective and can sound a little bit like notes from a lecture. But it is also emotionally productive, without the bells and whistles, unlike many Christian authors, and has genuine feeling and vulerability to appeal to anyone's subjective sensibilities. This book is my favorite from this author. He wrote that walking with God is about tranformation by the Spirit, not a change of behavior. The author makes points about principles and leaves the reader in charge of how to purpose God based on teachings from the Bible. This message is biblical and encouraging to anyone who has accepted Christ but doesn't know what to do next. This book is not a self-help book. It's not a method plan. Many Christians love the book of Romans and should really take a look at this book as extracurricular. This book is not a substitute for reading the Bible but a companion, conversation piece, the result of the word of God in the author's live - which the author states could happen to anyone who wants a personal relationship with God through Christ.

If you've never understood God's acceptance and grace fully, this is a book you would definitely benefit from! McCallum obviously put a lot of thought into how he could make these deep truths easier to understand and apply. Personally, I love the tables sprinkled throughout this book. They do so much to make things clearer, and are a great resource for group bible studies!!

Some of the many tables found in this book:
<> Comparing Biblical and Modern Love
<> How the Means of Growth (Prayer, Word, Fellowship, Ministry) work together and affect one another.
<> Our Old Self (in Adam) vs. Our New Self (in Christ)
<> Living under the Law vs. Living in Grace

I am in the process of learning how to bake and I thought the recipes were very easy to follow. They turned out great!

The cinnamon and sugar muffins are to die for! Great cookbook, lots of variety, and easy to follow.

I love this book! It has soo many yummy sounding recipes. I've only made 4 so far, but they have all turned out exceptional! I've tried the cranberry orange muffins, orange nut bread, raspberry sour cream cake and the blueberry muffins. They were all soo good, I didn't even share them with friends...ahemm :)
I bake from this book without hesitation..I'll go so far as to say I'd even bake untested recipes for guests from this book. I am confident they'll all turn out good.

When you open this book, you will want to make everything in it! Just about every recipe is accompanied by a photograph. The instructions are clear and concise, the recipes are clearly well-tested. Everything I have made has been a success, including the Blackberry Muffins, Apple coffee cake, goat cheese and tomato muffins, and macadamia coffee cake. A wonderful little book that the home cook will actually use.

All I can say is WOW!! I can't recommend this book enough! Recipes are easy to follow, no fancy-smancy never heard of before ingredients and best of all; most recipes only make 12 muffins. So for people that don't have an army to feed, it's nice! I recommend the awesome Blackberry muffins, which are my favorite to make. Every recipe I've tried has come out great, and the muffins freeze well too. BUY the book, you won't be dissapointed! Happy baking :)

I have used this book and it has proven to be a highly resourceful Visual Basic and SQL Server book, that I am anxiously waiting for the release of Beginning VB.NET Databases by the same author!!!.

It's very good Books with good Price and (Wrox Press)

OK for beginners who want to know some of the innards of SQL server, but there are two major faults. One is that newbies to networkable machines will find themselves crushed under the weight of networking and communications jargon that the author never explains, and Win98 machines can't handle half of the book. Second, the last third of the book for some 200 pages has nothing to do with VB: the samples are written entirely in XML, DHTML, and a mere snippet of VBScript. There are better VB tools for creating Web apps that can handle big datasets and ActiveX, whereas XML has enfuriatingly slow performance and an unattractive and inflexible interface that looks like something pounded out on a typewriter (remember those?). 5 stars for the first two-thirds, zilch for the remainder.

I had to learn SQL programming with Visual Basic 6 in about a month's time for a project. This book taught me everything I needed to know to deliver the application. Everytime I came across a stumbling block in my code or in SQL Server 2000 I found the answer in this book.

This book will make you feel that you not only know how to make Visual Basic talk to SQL Server, it will make you feel you know more than the basics of SQL Server itself. Previous to reading this book I had no idea what a stored procedure was, or how a query works in SQL Server (I had worked extensively with Microsoft Access, and these skills were not necessarily transferable to SQL Server, though many of the concepts are similar). Now I know my way around SQL Server 2000. This book fulfilled a dual purpose.

There are chapters on Database design, SQL Server installation, SQL Server security, Querying, Stored Procedures, the SQL language, IIS, and XML. Most of the book is taken up with what developers do everyday: the storage and manipulation of data. Over 300 pages of the book is dedicated to data in general, and how to get the most out of it using VB and SQL Server.

If you need to create a VB6 (there is no discussion of VB.NET since the book predates it) database application using SQL Server, this is the book to start with. Its bulk pays off.

This is an excellent introduction to SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic 6.0 developers. I used this book and Robert Vieira's Professional SQL Server 2000 Programming (Also by Wrox) to study for the Designing and Implementing Databases using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 exam (70-229). The 2 chapters on XML were especially good. Thearon does his best work when he works solo and this book is one of his best. I have his SQL Server 7 book and both books are well-written. I really like the "Hardware Tracking" tutorial that he follows for most of the book. This tutorial will also help with your Visual Basic skills. I have learned several new VB tricks just by following along. I hope that Thearon writes a Beginning SQL Server 2000 for Visual Basic.Net Developers.

Received this book within a few days of ordering. Like new condition. I am very satisfied with this purchase.

It is an awesome book. I stumbled on to Karen Kingsbury kind of accidentally and it was one of the best things I have ever done. She is an excellent writer. This book must be read after One Tuesday Morning.

Great. A must if you have read One Tuesday morning.

By: Jeffrey W. Bennett, author of Under the Lontar Palm and ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual
What can I say, I love a great story that has a great ending. Okay, for a guy, this story provides great role models. Karen Kingsbury demonstrate the great things that can happen when men take the lead to keep Christ in the forefront of their families. We all can benefit from heroes and we never know where we will find them. I'd say they can be found inside the pages of Beyond Tuesday Morning within the characters of Clay, Eric and Jake.

Karen Kingsbury did it again. Another fantastic story. Another, I can't put this book down until I finish it. I loved it! Great Christian fiction!

This storybook accurately paraphrases all the major stories in the Bible, making them accessible for very young children. The questions at the end of each story are an excellent way to review, and teach children biblical truths. The pictures are beautiful!

My three-year-old son and I love this book. We read several pages every night at bedtime. There are a couple of questions at the end of each story and I'm always amazed that he can answer every one! We've already gone through the entire book three times after receiving it a few months ago. My son is really getting to know the Bible and he enjoys it! The best picture Bible I have come across for preschoolers.

Bought as a gift to a new mother. Beautiful illustrations, short stories, thoughtful questions for little children to consider what they've just read! I used with my own children to begin their foundation of Bible knowledge.

Used an original of this book with my children and found it very good. So good that I am now buying for my grandchild. Like the edition with realistic pictures so much more than the one with cartoon like figures.

Like some of the other reviewers, I grew up reading this book. I have a 1977 printing, as well as a recent one. The old copy was only recently returned to me and I was happy to marvel over some of the beautiful scenes depicted in this book. Truly, they are some of my earliest mental pictures of God and faith stories, particularly the image of God on the very first page, but many others as well.

I was disappointed, upon giving it a more critical overview as an adult, to realize that the paraphrase is terrible in some points. The one example that stood out to me so starkly was the Wedding at Cana. "After a while they needed more grape juice for the people to drink." Grape juice? Also, the author's use of the word "minister" in place of "priest" and "church" in place of "temple" is affected and sounds like it came straight out of a contemporary Baptist Sunday school lesson. Additionally, I find it baffling that, among so many beautiful art depictions on most of the story pages, there are a few images that seem to be photographs of actual people. Specifically, Ruth and her mother-in-law (page 72 in the old version) and Ruth alone on the next page. I might be wrong about how the images were created, but those two really stand out in style from the rest of the book.

I give this book a 3 star rating for the pictures alone. My favorites are the cover (baby Moses being rescued by his sister), God in the darkness on the first page, Jacob's ladder and the angels, The Nativity, Jesus walks on water, the Transfiguration, the Shepherd on the cliff with a sheep, and the Agony in the Garden.

The book lost 2 stars from me because I feel the wordings and translations are lacking, although I appreciate the childlike phrasing and intent to bring the truth of God's love to young people. I also am disappointed in the lack of consistency of quality among the images.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to see justice is done in the courtroom. If the town burns down because of it, so be it." Those words were spoken by Roy Black, the author, who shares with readers his passion for defending the criminally accused. In this book, he tells the story of four trials. In one, he represented Luis Alvarez, a young cop who shot a black man which caused a large riot in Miami. Another case involved a bartender who faced death for murdering his girlfriend. In that case, Black dissects the botched police investigation and shows how to take apart a prosecution's case built on circumstantial evidence.

Throughout the book, there are many insightful practice tips for defense attorneys. For example, Black instructs for cross-examination that "although jurors needed to understand that the detectives had failed to do many things, I didn't wnat to transmit the impression that 'my client's guilty, but the cops blew the investigation and so they didn't prove it."

All four cases in the book read like great mysteries. Whether you are a defense attorney or not, you are sure to thoroughly enjoy this book.

Roy Black once said, "The kind of cases I handle are the ones people can't afford to lose." On the eve of yet another notorious public figure facing penitentiary chances, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis made the call, "Get me Roy Black." And why not? Mr. Black has attained legendary status as one of the top legal minds in the country. From his days battling in the PD's office in Miami to his rise as Miami's `super lawyer' , Black's deft handling of the media makes for a formidable one-two punch when you combine his PR skills with his presence in the courtroom. Francis knows he's in for the fight of his life. The government has tattooed crosshairs on his back for the last ten years, and he knows he's facing the end of his rope. Who wouldn't hire Black?

This book encapsulates all that is Roy Black. Delivering gut-wrenching stories of trench warfare, he said, "My cases are World War III to me. I don't take prisoners when I go to trial." Attorneys make their living through words. And this book is a testament to that. Written for the everyday man, the style of writing is brief, easy to read, and compelling. It's as if Black is masterfully telling his stories to a jury. And once again, he wins them over. Highly recommended.

Do you sometimes wonder why anyone could possibly want to defend the scum, the losers, the obviusly-guilty-because-the newspapers-said-so? Well, if you think that way you will find a very good answer in this book. Roy Black describes four different cases which seemed impossible to defend, yet he did and did it well. He lets you in on what it's like to be on the defense side of the aisle. His writing style is smooth and flowing and each of the cases was so interesting I found it hard to put the book down. For me this was one of those books you can't help but read fast because it's fascinating, yet want to read slow so it lasts longer. For any True Crime genre fan, this is a MUST read.

I really enjoyed "Black's Law." He tells four different seemingly story-like narratives about four different cases. He discusses in detail every aspect of trying a case from research to voire dire. If you are interested in either legal strategy or just in a good story, you should read this book.

A great book. Written by a expert in communication. Each case brought you into the defense, you believe in the actions brought forward to give not only a legal defense by our constitution but to see a inocent person never is incarcerated,if that ever comes to pass. I would hope Mr. Black will write more, he is able to take a very complicated subject and break it down to a laymans understanding.