U Books

I bought this book as a graphic design student upon a teacher's recommendation and it saved my butt on many a homework project when I needed to figure out how to get something done. I've since gone on to become a professional graphic designer and though I'm up to QuarkXPress 6.5 this book is still valid and has still come in handy for looking up the odd hotkey or some odd paragraph formatting.

The book is clean and concise and very logically ordered. The index in the back makes it very easy to find what you're looking for and if you can't think of the name for something you can find it easily by browsing since the book is so well organized.

Each element is plainly described and accompanied by a picture - don't let the greyscale images fool you, they get directly to the point so you can see exactly how to accomplish something.

I've seen a lot of XPress books out there, many 5-times the thickness of this book but all those other books seem to add superfluous text just to fill pages where this book gets to the point. Of all my books for design and design software, this has by far been my most helpful and most used.

Just what I needed to learn QuarkXPress!

If you're like me, and you'd rather jump into a manual than sit in a classroom, then this Visual Quick-Start is for you. This is the fourth VQS book I've bought and it doesn't disappoint. Actually, I'm a Quark Xpress power user, but needed to train some non-design trained coworkers on basic Quark usage. The simple step-by-step sections are easily digested and build on each other as you progress. Alternately it serves as a great reference is you just want to learn how to do a single task.

I bought this book as a last resort because my Computer Graphics professor told us we would need lots of tutoring in order to pass with good grades. I was totally "Quark illiterate" before taking this course and buying the book. Honestly, this book explains a lot more than a tedious 3 week course in class could. The book has taken me step-by-step through all the process of learning style-sheets and type-boxes. This is all stuff I would have never been able to learn if not for the book itself.

Elaine Weinmann's very well illustrated and easy to read/follow excersises are what any student needs to reach their goal in QuarkXPress. My copy is different in color to the one sold here, but it looks exactly like the one my professor uses.
And, because the book is not really that thick, it can fit in either a backpack or a briefcase. The only main problem I have with the book itself is the paper-back style. It will fray and dog-ear pretty fast, so take good care of this "Bible for Quark".

And...for those whom are not too sure of their Keyboard shortcuts, thank God, they put them in the back of the book.
At least I don't have to search my binder for my photocopies! That little extra is a Godsend. Especially when you are being tested on the shortcuts.

Get the book. Hope my review helped you.

I'm a graphic design student and bought this book to aid me with the learning process of Quark. I found the book helpful and easy to read. There are parts that need more work, but it explains how to do things step by step. A beginner can use this book to guide him/her through the process of making a layout and using all the tools available in Quark.

Good service, good price, the used book look new.
My uncle was with the 45th and he said the author was historically correct in his description of the men and battles in which the 45th fought. I found the book not only interesting but a keepsake for me and my family. I appreciate this indepth study of this gallant group of men.

Being a former National Guard officer and having visited the concentration camp in Dachau in a trip through Europe, I was interested in this book. The scene when the soldiers get to the Dachau concentration camp was unforgettable. This event makes us all realize how important it was to win this war against fascist and extremely racist dictators.

Whitlock does an excellent job in trying to report the facts without any moral judgements in all parts of the book. Whitlock also brings the reader to see the mistakes as well as the successes and gives his reasons. We see the events of Anzio from the level of generals, and other events from the reactions of lower level officers and enlistedmen. This book is a true testament to the sacrifice of Guard soldiers in World War II. I wish there were more books like this one on Guard units in World War II. This is an excellent book to read for the amateur military historian.

The Rock of Anzio chronicles the WW II experience of the 45th Division, a national guard unit primarily from OK, TX, and NM. This covers prewar status, the callup to federal duty, and its' prodigious battle action in Sicily, Italy including Anzio, France, and Germany. Personal remembrances of former thunderbirds (the divisions' nickname) are widely used as well as the divisional history. Far from being a dry accounting of the divisions' exploits, this book is very easily read, with many small details well covered as well as the overall strategic situation the division was facing at that time. I personally wasn't aware of the critical defense of Anzio by the thunderbirds. Battle actions are well written and exciting to read. I would recommend this book to anyone with a special interest in the Italian campaign and it is a excellent companion book to Edwin Hoyt's Backwater War.

I really enjoyed this book. It moved so well, and kept my interest from cover to cover. I have read many unit histories, and this work is the most complete. It cover the unit from activation, through all of its battles. Anzio and Dachau must get the highest praise. Anzio is written so well, I can hardly see how the US prevailed in that battle. I also never knew of the conflict between the Thunderbirds (45th ID) and the Rainbows (42nd ID), over the liberation of the Dachau Concentration camp (even having visited it). The author does a great job, buy this book!

My late grandfather was a Thunderbird (157th rgmt, M co), and seldom talked of his World War Two days. After reading this book, I now know why. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live for days on end in a wet foxhole, always cold and miserable. Only have the faintest idea of what horrors he saw when Dachau was liberated. The stories of those days were never told by him. As with many men of his generation, he did not want to remember those terrible events of nearly sixty years ago. _The Rock of Anzio_ tells the story that my grandfather was never able to tell, a story that should be told.

For many years the world behind the Iron Curtain was a mystery. There were Sovietologists of all different kinds. One famous Daniel Bell essay gave I believe eight or so different basic ways of interpreting the Soviet Union. Hedrick Smith is a reporter and what he did in this outstanding work was to look into the ordinary life of Soviet society as far as he could. He explained then close to thirty years ago many of the anomalies of the system. And when I read the book then I felt I really was getting inside information into a hidden and highly significant world.

I cannot claim to be a student of Russian history, but I have always foudn the ironies and disconnects of Russian life interesting. I just read this book in 2004, and now understand today's headlines from Russia, and their nostalgia for the order of the brutal regimes that preceded the fall of the Soviet Union. This is, as someone else said, a classic, a must read, a requirement for anyone who needs to understand Russia. Don't worry about it being date; part of Russian culture is that they cling hopelessly to the old while being swept cruelly away by the new. The attitudes and longings portrayed in this book appear to still be the same.

I have been a student of the Soviet Union for many years, but did not come across this book until very recently, and I must say that I feel this one book does more to provide a picture of Soviet life than perhaps all the other study I had done previously.

While it is true that there is an "American bias" to this book, it isn't overpowering, and it leaves room for the "unbiased" student to draw plenty of their own conclusions. Overall I find this to be the least biased of all the western histories of the Soviet Union.

What I found most fascinating was the distinct parallel between American conservatives (who of course are anti-Marxist) and Russian conservatives of the time (where were very pro-Marxist).

As a student of Marxism, I fully understand this, but this book demonstrated it so well. In mentality, its safe to say that many of America's far right Republicans would have been among the USSR's Marxist orthodoxy.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Soviet Union, it will dispell myths on both sides.

Hendrick Smith is a New York Times correspondent that spent the years 1970-75 living in and among the Soviet people, studying both the people and the culture. As much as a westerner could he immersed himself in many aspects of their lives interviewing workers, peasants, government beaurocrats, physicists, writers, movie producers, dissidents and students. He came away with a picture of a passionate and conflicted people; at times warm and hospitible, fearful and paranoid, petty and tyrannical, cynical and apathetic, and proud and loyal. In a country where the state is in overwhelming control of nearly every aspect of their lives, where a stroke of the pen from a government beaurocrat could destroy a man's life for the slightest misstep, the Russian are hardy souls that have found many ingenious ways to cope and survive.

In a supposedly classless utopia Smith shows us a country deeply divided by class distinctions, much more so than anywhere in the west. With a haughtiness that rivals the most snobbish western aristocrat, the cultural elite enjoy a life that is completely out of reach of the common man. They get to shop at special stores, stocked to the gills with imported goods from all over the world (Soviet made items considered beneath them) while the rest of the country spends on average 22 hours a week per household standing in line for basic necessities. The blatant corruption and hypocrisy is startling, but don't you dare voice it. Smith claims that just a few weeks of this type of living would wither away the will of your average American, and I believe him.

Only a westerner living among the Soviet people could write such a book. He tells of his 11-year-old daughter, enrolled in a Soviet public school, coming home and practising military drills taught as a regular part of the curriculum, or repeating songs and slogans extolling the `Great Leninist State' and condemning America without really comprehending the meaning of anything she's saying. Soviets are taught from an early age to simply parrot the idealogical dogma that is fed to them on an almost daily basis without digging too deeply. The Russians are so used to being lied to by their own government that they assume all nations lie to their people, and the Soviet government uses this political cynicisim as an effective means of control.

Although many of these `facts' about life in the USSR are fairly common knowledge in America (especially if you grew up during the Reagan years), Smith puts a human face on it that transforms this grey, drab, and seemingly monotonous totalitarian state into a vivid and colorful mosaic of a sincere, intelligent and deeply conflicted people with a communal inferiority complex

Although this book is now rather dated (from the Brezhnev era of the 1970s) it still sticks in my mind as a very vivid portrait of Russia and the Russians...I read it in my late teens circa 1989 or so. I didn't read THE NEW RUSSIANS until a couple of years ago. Both are excellent books but I enjoyed THE RUSSIANS more, I think. Any student of Russia would do well to read this book even today...although it's no longer contemporary/current events it still captures like a snapshot the then-USSR in the late 70s, and even some discussion of the earlier times in people's memories then--Krushchev, Stalin, etc. I found the book insightful and still relevant when I myself I finally visited Russia in 1993. Should be available at most Public Libraries...handle with care, the copies will be old.

No author to date has fine-tuned the story of O'Connor from ranch to robes as well as Ms. Biskupic. The extent of her study and interviews shows, but does not become an academic report. It is fresh and insightful, and certainly as amusing and straight-shooting as its subject.

If you are interested in the law, the Supremes, history in the making, or simply the politics of what it means to be a woman in the law, this is the book you want to read.

As an admirer of SDO for quite some time, this book opened me up to admire her even more. This book told me so many things that I never knew. It also explained her reasoning behind many of her decisions, both as a justice and in life. Worth the read.

Joan Biskupic's biography _Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice_ provides a compelling picture of the first woman Supreme Court justice and of the inner workings of the Supreme Court through four presidential administrations. Biskupic combines assiduous research with a writing style that makes the intricacies of Supreme Court proceedings accessible and fascinating. The biography is impressive on many counts, especially in how it captures O'Connor's skilfull handling of the challenges of being the nation's first female Supreme Court Justice. Throughout, Biskupic's stance is balanced, outlining the strengths of O'Connor's jurisprudence while acknowleding O'Connor's critics.

While the main focus of the biography is on O'Connor's work in the Supreme Court, the early chapters offer a snapshot of O'Connor as a driven career woman, a devoted wife and mother, and an adroit politician. Biskupic shows how O'Connor's life on the family's "Lazy B." farm in Arizona was a formative influence, even though her parents consciously separated her from the farm in order to give her more educational opportunities at a private school in in El Paso. Her father's independence and opposition to the expansion of federal powers in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, and O'Connor's experiences as a trial lawyer, an Arizona state senator, and a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals shaped an approach to law based on pragmatic, narrow definitions as opposed to overarching theoretical positions in rulings. As Biskupic shows, O'Connor's Arizonan, Western roots are manifest in her respect for the Tenth Amendment, which gives to states those powers not directly assigned to the federal government.

Biskupic is sensitive in tracing O'Connor's role as a trailblazer (though, often, in a purposefully understated way), and the biography shows how attitudes toward women have evolved from the 1950s to the present. O'Connor, for instance, despite graduating in the top 10% at Stanford University's Law school in 1952 and having been a member of the Stanford Law Review, received no offers at firms. One prestigious firm, Gibson, Dunn offered her a legal secretary position, which she declined. In an irony reflective of social changes, when Fred Smith, Ronald Reagan's White House Counsel and a former lawyer with Gibson, Dunn, and Grutcher, interviewed O'Connor in 1981 for the Supreme Court vacancy, O'Connor asked him if it was an interview for "a secretarial position." Biskupic begins her book with this effective anecdote, and the biography throughout reveals how O'Connor astutely negotiated gender prejudice in public life.

Biskupic also offers a detailed picture of O'Connor's important votes related to Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, capital punishment, and Bush v. Gore as she became increasingly the fifth tie-breaking in a deadlocked court. Biskupic chronicles O'Connor's evolution as a jurist, arguing that her role as a centrist often made her a baramoter of where the nation as a whole stood. Biskupic points out that O'Connor's legislative background as an Arizona State Senator--as a person who ran for office and thus who was directly accountable to the electorate--gave her a unique perspective in the Supreme Court with its life-time appointees.

Chapter 15, "Scalia v. O'Connor," highlights O'Connor's judicial pragmatism and minimalist interpretations, offering a contrast with Scalia's philosophically driven understanding of law on originalist grounds. In this chapter, Biskupic addresses critiques of O'Connor's decisions and legal reasoning from both the right and left. This chapter is fair in its discussion and highly informative about different approaches to law and about the role of the Supreme Court, in general.

An anecdote at the end of the book reveals O'Connor's personal style. In an interview with Biskupic, Clarence Thomas recalled O'Connor's congeniality and even the subtle impact this had on the court . O'Connor had attempted for a number of years to convince the other justices to eat lunch together after listening to cases. Although Thomas and other justices initially resisted, prefering to work on cases, he and others later relented. Thomas remarks, "Now, you have a group of people who really enjoy other's company." Biskupic argues that such tact helped lead to O'Connor's ascendant role in the court.

Biskupic's biography chronicles O'Connor's own life and provides a view of the day-to-day dynamics of the Supreme Court, including shifts in the court with retirements and the investitures of new justices. The biography, while telling many important stories affecting American law and life, maintains a clear argument of O'Connor's unmistakable influence.

This is a most engaging portrait of a model justice in the common law tradition. Justice O'Connor is a true American icon of humble and hardworking origins rising to the heights of leadership based on character, critical thinking and an ethic of service. Her good will and civility toward those with whom she disagreed is an example to follow. The narrative is well informed, nuanced and flows steadily in a current that merges national, judicial and personal events in the judge's life most artfully. A wonderful book about a wonderful lady and an excellent Supreme Court justice. It is the likes of Sandra Day O'Connor that make one proud to be an American. And though I've never (yet) voted Republican she is also one more beautiful reason to love Ronald Reagan.

Biskupic picks up where Justice O'Connor left off in her joint biography (with brother Alan) of growing up on the Lazy B ranch in southern Arizona, and includes O'Connor's decision to pursue law studies at Stanford ("to make a difference," and as an outgrowth of a professor contending that an individual had a responsibility to the community).

After graduating from Stanford, marrying, and living in Germany with her husband while he competed his military assignment, Sandra Day O'Connor eventually settled in Phoenix. Failing to find employmente commensurate with her education, she started a law firm with another attorney, had three sons (took off five years to raise them), joined many community boards, helped/led several major Republican political campaings, became an assistant State's Attorney General, was appointed to a legislative vacancy (and subsequently elected in her own right), and became President of the State Senate.

Upon William Rehnquist's nomination to the Supreme Court, Sandra O'Connor undertook considerable effort to support him, including contacting fellow Stanford classmates, U.S. Senators, and newspaper editors, as well as making supporting speeches. Afterwards she left the State Senate to run for a vacant county judge position (won).

Several years later O'Connor was appointed by Governor Babbitt (Dem) to the state Appeals Court, and then had the opportunity to spend some time vacationing with Chief Justice Burger.

O'Connor's having grown up on a Western ranch seemed to make her more attractive to President Reagan, who had made a campaign promise to appoint a woman to the Court. Her prior abortion stance (voted to end an Arizona law prohibiting it) threatened to torpedo her nomination, but supporters (including Senator Goldwater) managed to quickly move the process forward and overcome opposition.

The remainder of the book details O'Connor's actions in a number of Court cases. (It was somewhat comforting to read of how sharply she honed in on issues while on the Court - I had a brief experience before her in her County Court, and was amazed and even intimidated by her sharp questioning even then.)

Finally, while I have the highest regard for Justice O'Connor, it was disappointing to read of the large role played by politics - even in our judicial system, and especially the centrality of the abortion issue. I was also unhappy to read about O'Connor's political comments (wanting to retire while a Republican was President), her dancing around the abortion issue, and key role in the 2000 election.

No real surpises or shocks to anyone who knows the history of the corps; but if you aren't familiar then it is a great overview. The pictures, MOH commendations, and other sidebars are also excellent. A copy of this should be on every coffee table in America.

This book was placed in our local library in memory of Staff Sergeant William J. Daniels, United States Marine Corps.(Ret.). It is the best book I have ever seen on the Marine Corps and proud to have placed it there in his honor.
Signed: Robert Morgan

There are a number of books on the Corps, but this is one of the best, professionally prepared and well produced books I have seen. With that in mind, it seems odd that the one and very serious error, as was previously mentioned, is the Birthday of the Corps. As the author, researchers, or producers should have known, the Corps of US (or Continental) Marines was born on November 10, 1775 and we (Marines) will celebrate 231 years of proud service to this copuntry in a few days.

The remainder of the book gives a clear, precise and detailed account of the history and equipment of the Corps, without getting bogged down with specific elements of that history. Should a reader wish to look further on a portion of history, as noted, there are many more detailed accounts of specific periods, battles, etc.

However, it presents the story of the Marines with gusto, like the burning of Washington by the British during the War of 1812, when Marine gunners and riflemen from the Barracks and the Navy Yard held the British advance, causing them numerous casualties, allowing the Continental Army to withdraw. One of the few buildings not destroyed by the Brits is the Marine Barracks at 8th and I, and is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the city. A Royal Marine officer refused to burn the building out of respect for the gallant stand taken by the American Marines in their desperate attmpt to defend the city.

The book itself is well produced and handsomely presented, and for the price, a solid bargain, certainly for any Marine, or anyone else interested in the history of the Marine Corps.

My husband enjoyed this book so much. It is well written, the research well done and the photos awesome. He appreciated the chapter on the war in Iraq as well. It made a great gift on Valentines day including a Globe & Anker cake *grin*

I own several of the more popular table top books about the Corps,the ones with emblems in the center of the cover, but this one is really superior. First that needs mentioning are the outstanding photos of the artifacts, items that you would see in a museum. Also the text tells the story in enough detail to allow the reader to gain a good knowledge and appreciation of this historic institution. The book is well put together and really an attractive edition. Also it tells the Marine Corps story right up to our current war on terrorism. What really made me buy the book was when I saw 3 photos that were taken of Harrier jets of the Bumblebees of VMA-331 aboard the USS Nassau during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. I was a member of VMA-331 during that cruise. In fact I ran into the author, Col Chenoweth, one day in medical triage, as he was headed out to take photos of the air ops. In the book, there are two standard deck shots of the jets on the ship and then there is one of a pilot in his jet preparing for takeoff. That pilot was Captain Manny Rivera USMC of New York who was lost in an aircraft crash soon after that picture was taken.
That's all it took.

She's Just Another Navy Pilot: An Aviator's Sea Journal is absolutely one of the most authentic and personal accounts of what its really like to wear Navy wings of gold. Reading this book, you'll be there when she's about to land on a pitching deck... It's an absolute page turner. You'll love it.

This was a great book! Open, honest and to the point. There is no sugar coating here, just straight simple truthful writing. I recomend it to anybody who wants a dose of reality about trans-gender issues in a hostile environment.

I was recommended this book when I shared with a friend my interest in the Air Force and Army. I never read much, but this got my attention. Her discription of life at sea, and all the little things she had to deal with, that civilains never think about on land. The author made it easy to understand her emotions, and her life style. It was an excellent resource to how woman were integrated into the Navy, and how difficult it was. It was facts, and also her opinions as she lived through it. I loved it!

Before reading "She's Just Another Navy Pilot", I knew about the author from Jean Zimmerman's "Tailspin: Women at War in the Wake of Tailhook". I had seen her letters of rebuttal to reactionary editorial in the San Diego Union Tribune, and to unfavorably slanted articles in Newsweek. I knew her name as a successful Naval aviator and very credible advocate of women in her profession. When I received her book from Amazon, I opened it immediately, and did not put it down until I had finished it. What a fascinating autobiography of a most extraordinary person! Loree Draude Hirschman was one of the US Navy's first female fighter-pilots to transfer to fleet combat operations. She describes the early opposition to women in the jet-jock community and the sometimes open hostility she encountered. She details her first deployment, in which female aviators were isolated and ostracized. By the end of that cruise, one had been killed, another grounded for poor performance, and another had turned in her wings. But with perseverence and dignity, the majority of the sixteen women in the pioneer group had succeeded. By her second deployment, female aviators had already begun to find acceptance -- especially after one new F/A-18 pilot won the "Top Nugget Award" for best score in qualifications. (Loree herself earned placement in the Top Ten.) I hope this book will be read by opponants of female aviators. The author exposes the distortion of fact they have presented to the public. Yet she is refreshingly frank about problems which still exist in the gender-integrated Navy. I hope her book will be read by aspiring pilots in search of a role model. Her descriptions of flying and the flight deck are vivid, and make the reader feel right there with her. And her pride in her Naval service is inspiring, even though she relates her accomplishments with modesty.

While books like Jarhead become best-sellers, this
well-written account of a female navy pilot has remained
hidden from the mass market. And that's our loss.

Loree Draude Hirschman, daughter of a Marine general,
joined the aircraft carrier Lincoln as an S-3 pilot, and thereby made history. That year the Lincoln was the first West Coast based ship to depart with an integrated male-female crew. Hirschman flew jets off the deck of the carrier and brought them back -- a test of skill and professionalism. And she describes, in detail, life aboard a carrier, where the frustrations come more from living under a microscope than from battling with the enemy.

She probably pays more attention to details a woman would notice -- and enjoy reading about. For example, pilots work crazy hours, yet the mess officer was adamant that no cereal would be distributed after 10:30 AM! Four women in a cramped stateroom have to work to get along, especially when one brings her "boyfriend" home, in defiance of the rules.

Hirschman was ideally suited for her role. She knew how to be one of the boys and she genuinely enjoyed navy life. She has moments of doubt and despair, but overall she cares about her crew and manages to make a tough situation seem easy. I suspect she left only when her husband became medically disqualified; otherwise she'd probably be on her way too becoming an Admiral.

This is the first Louis L'Amour book I have read so I can not compare it to any of his other books. This story makes me want to read more L'Amour books. I like a book that can tell a good story in less that 200 pages, I don't want read books by the pound. It reminds me of the old term "pocket book" because they can fit in your back pocket and can be read and enjoyed in a short amount of time. The main characters are likeable and the villians are people that need killing, what more do you want in a Western.

Loved this book, told in the first person this is Matt Brennan who rides into town and into trouble - there are two ranchers who are fighting a smaller third holding who is between them, they want his land and water rights. Within minutes of getting to town both men tell him to join their crew - he refuses both and goes out to see Ball, on the third place - but not before he has fallen in love with the woman of his dreams.

If he is going to set up house he is going to need some assets behind him, he likes Ball, the old man caught between the two ambitious ranchers, and he makes a deal to be a fighting partner for the spread. Between the two of them they think they can make it work.

This is about much more than settling the problems of three men out for power - Brennan has to make peace with them all, but at the same time he has to sort out the huge man, Park, who is the current suitor for Moira (the woman Matt has fallen in love with) but there is also something sinister in Parks past - and in his current dealings. There is also something going on with a crooked lawyer called Booker who seems to be instigating trouble in the background.

Brennan resolves all so that peace can reign in the valley - and its really well done. This is a resolution that I didn't expect but like all of L'amour's books, there are some complex relationships based on loyalty and respect rather than black and white.

Louis L'Amour wrote many, many westerns and in my opinion this is one of the best of them. The story line is very cohesive and involving. The characters are rich and well developed. As always L'Amour weaves a rich and very detailed landscape, with a lot of attention to details. The plot was intriguing and kept you guessing right up until the end. Just a very, very well written story!

When I tell people that I love Louis L'Amour I get some pretty weird looks in return. To my friends I am known to read quite a bit of heavy history and biography and it seems odd to them that, given my normal reading diet, I could find anything good to say about such "light" reading as L'Amour. Still I find L'Amour's talesmithing abilities to be without peer.

L'Amour wrote with a distinctive style and filled his stories with action and intrigue. No, his works are not the extremely violent works that typify modern westerns like UNFORGIVEN or OPEN RANGE. But then L'Amour wrote in a time when such graphic action would not have been readily accepted.

With all this in mind, I loved SILVER CANYON, a tale of vengeance, lies and, as with virtually all of L'Amour's stories, of the good guy winning in the end. The tiny western hamlet of Hattan's Point is a sleepy town until the day that Matt Brennan seems to bring with him a heated, all out war that involves practically everyone in town. Matt makes friends and enemies with equal ease. He also finds the love of his life and is in hot pursuit despite her being the daughter of one of the main combatants in the feud.

Who will win out? Read SILVER CANYON.

THE HORSEMAN

When it comes to reading Louis L'Amour the modern western fan is faced with having to take things in context. Remember that L'Amour's works were primarily written in the fifties and sixties and, as a result, have a certain "dignity" about them that no longer applies with the westerns of today, especially those on the big screen.

Take SILVER CANYON for example. There is plenty of action here to be sure but it is painted much more subtly on L'Amour's canvass than, let's say, on those of Larry McMurtry or on Clint Eastwood's or Kevin Costner's movie screens. Frankly L'Amour or his readers would not have tolerated the graphic, raw, often harsh violence of today's western s offerings. It's still there he just expresses it in ways that are less bombastic. For example, instead of saying, "the bullet smashed into my elbow sending blood and bone flying everywhere..." L'Amour offers, "I felt a tug at at my sleeve..." even though it is apparent to the reader that the first version is still what happened.

L'Amour wrote with a clear sense of nostalgia and romance about the west. He was much for the kindred spirit of John Wayne and John Ford than of McMurtry, Eastwood or Costner.

I thoroughly enjoyed SILVER CANYON, a tale of revenge, deceit and, as is the case with all L'Amour tales, of ultimate white-hatted triumph and justice. Matt Brennan rides into the sleepy town of Hattan's Point and awakens the flames of a smoldering range war. He discovers friends, fiends and meets the girl of his dreams. Like all other L'Amour pieces reading SILVER CANYON in the correct mindset is absolutely essential. If you do you'll find another L'Amour western masterpiece.

Douglas McAllister

This book captured the special feelings about Walloon Lake that only one who had spent all one's life there could know. I was surprised to see that Ms. Rosewall was not closer to my age (63) as she enjoyed so many of the places that I did, which unfortunately are no longer there. One of the reviewers compared it to Lake Woebegon, but to me, there is no such similarity. I still feel the same way about the lake when we visit. The lake itself is a memory bank.

Sparkle Island is a touching recollection of multi-general stories that hark back to a slower paced yesteryear, when life was filled with tales and all one had to do was sit back and listen. From Ernest Hemingway Sat Here, Lost in the Lake, and A Boat is a Hole You Pour Money Into, to Gimme That Old Time Religion, Cheap Thrills, and I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Memory Today, Ellen Rosewall's short stories and vignettes are entertaining, occasionally insightful, often humorous, thoroughly engaging, and highly recommended.

For anyone who has returned to a summer place year after year "Sparkle Island" is a must. Ellen Rosewall lets us inside her own family and her own world. It is very refreshing. I visited Walloon Lake two summers ago and it was exactly the way Ellen pictured it.

For a died in the wool Buckeye, it was hard to imagine that a book about a place in that State up North that we all love to hate could be so warm and wonderful. Ellen Rosewall's special spirit and keen insights, however, clearly illuminate the joys of love, life and Wallon Lake. Being invited to share her obviously close, loving and spiritual family in such an intimate way, made Sparkle Island a truely heart warming experience!

Sparkle Island is a wonderfully crafted, winsome revery of summer. The stories evoke summers from my childhood and gave a West Coast gal a taste of mid-west wonders. This read aloud book had me alternately howling (Bats, And a boat is....) and touched by the sweetness of shared family treasures. Our first read of this wonderful book of essays was on a boat. We joined Ellen Rosewall's family as we drifted through our own Sparkle Islands. Read this book aloud to everyone!

I could not put this book down. Finnamore brings the utter angst, grief and full gamut of emotions one experiences when getting divorced in this wonderful memoir. I look forward to reading her novels and wish her the best.

incredibly spot on in terms of the emotional rollercoaster of an unwanted divorce, I cracked up on the "obligatory trip across the ocean" and many other escapades. I managed to skip the sex with the ex but otherwise it was a perfect mirror. Read it and laugh!

Shame on you Suzanne Finnamore, in your first to memoirs you didn't share with your faithful readers the huge red flags that were waving in your face about your husband "N". Thus, some of us justifiably felt a little cheated ourselves when we found out about these omens after the fact in your latest memoir of divorce, "Split". That aside, you did a superb job describing the horrors and heartbreak of betrayal. You made us laugh and cry and feel joyful at your survival.

But now...enough about you, okay? You are such a terrific writer, I can imagine that your fiction would be sensational! Funny, pithy, insightful, deep...how about a whole story based on characters modeled after Betty Lady and Christopher? Make something up...enough real life already.

One Friday evening, Suzanne Finnamore's life splits wide open. She stands in her kitchen in black cigarette pants, checking her lipstick and anticipating the weekend when her husband strolls in the door, gives her a kiss, grabs a martini, and, very soon, delivers the life-rending blow.

He states it simply and explicitly, "I. Want. A. Divorce." After telling his devastated spouse that he deserves happiness, he packs, puts on his best blazer and is out the door.

What about her? Both the reader and the soon-to-be-former wife wonder.

Split is painful and enlightening to read as Finnamore recounts her despair and eventual recovery. (She assures us in the preface that both she and her son are well and happy, so I'm not giving anything away.) What is delightful and riveting about the book is that Finnamore is a fine writer with a quick and insightful sense of humor. What could be bleak and discouraging turns out to be quite the opposite.

The heroine (and she is one) may lose N, as she designates him, but she gains insight from her more-than-delightful mother, Bunny. The morning after the leave-taking, Bunny shows up with a fifth of Jack Daniels and a half-gallon of butter pecan ice cream. Now there's a mom! Bunny isn't the only one to stick by Finnamore. Her friend Lisa is always there for her and never, ever, there for N. Lisa is wise. She knows just when to reveal some difficult truths and when to offer moral support.

Some people say that divorce is harder than widowhood because the jerk keeps showing up. Both are the loss of a relationship; mourning must be done. Finnamore casts her successful journey to recovery in terms of the classic model of loss, moving forward across the stages from denial through anger, bargaining, and grief until finally arriving at acceptance. And she does it with good nature and understanding.

Consider, for example, a few of her entries: "Ten Simple Yet Elegant Tips for Divorce;" "Change the locks;" and "When confronted with a practical question regarding fairness to your ex, err on the side of lifetime vendetta." Clearly, these are from the "Acceptance" stage.

While anyone who has been part of an ending relationship, whether through divorce or otherwise, will appreciate Split. The audience is not that limited. All readers who enjoy a skillfully written memoir will relish this book and be looking for more Finnamore to delight in.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I am in the midst of an unwanted divorce. Suzanne absolutely nails the feelings of those of us left behind in the dust of our husband's quest for eternal youth and "happiness" - their happiness, not ours and our children's. If you want a glimpse inside the emotional trainwreck that is divorce, but with humor and style, read this book. It may help you wade through your own divorce or help you understand women in your life who have been betrayed by their spouse. It is a quick read - I read it in two hours without stopping.

My children have enjoyed reading this series several times.

Imagine traveling at light speed and traveling to any planet you want. Or having a beam sword/light saber that's indestructible, not even the best of the best could beat it. In "Star Wars Episode 2 Attack Of The Clones" by Patricia C. Wrede all of this is reality but in your mind of course. It's a book of action, adventure, excitement, and fun. Imagine you had the power of the whole galaxy.

On a planet called Naboo there was a young kid called Anakin Skywalker, chosen by a Jedi knight obi wan from the republic academy. Anakin was born to be a Jedi. He was the chosen one. So Obi Wan trained him for years. Soon he was set on a mission to protect the queen Padme. But really he was on a different mission to find his lost mother. Also to become a Jedi knight. But if he failed his quest to protect Padme he would never become a Jedi knight. He felt miserable because Obi Wan would not let him pass and also fight a real battle as a real Jedi. But he was just as miserable because he thought his mother was died. So he traveled to Naboo to hunt down the kidnapers of his mother. Accomplishing his goal he did. He destroyed all men and women of their kind. But to late he was, his mother was dead, hanging from a rope in one of their huts. After returning to his mission he felt that he failed his mother. But Padme was happy for him because he found his mother died or alive, as long as he finished his quest. Just then Padme reached to kiss him and that ended in an affair. When he returned to the republic and heard that he accomplished his mission they decided to night Anakin a full Jedi knight. His life was complete. Besides for his mother but when he married Padme his life was like he had a whole new family.

In this book there's a lot cool action. One of my favorites are when Obi Wan went to find the mastermind killer, the bounty hunter. When the bounty hunter tried to run from Obi Wan, but Obi Wan took this little tracker that Obi Wan put on his ship. So then obi wan took his ship and they started a high-speed plane chase. Back and forth through asteroids and shooting missiles at each other. Obi Wan knew he had to fire back but his real mission was to find out where he was going. So he did dodging missiles and asteroids but he made it. The bounty hunter was going to count Dooku the evil mastermind.
The theme of this book is that a young child that was chosen to be a Jedi knight. Trained by Obi Wan he was told to be the best of the best. But Anakin knew there was more in life then being a Jedi. He had to find his real family. So this book is really about a kid going to for fill his destiny.

If you read this book your imagination will grow farther then the galaxy. That's why you got to read this amazing book; also if you want fun, adventure, and excitement well this book has it all and even more. So in my opinion I rate this book 4/5 stars and I think it would be great for ages 9 to 13.

this book was awsome i rate it a five and above this is a must read book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the book Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones you will find Jedi fighting the dark side. My favorite parts are when Jango Fett and Obi-Wan fought on Komino. Also, the execution and the war on Genosis. Finally, I like the light saber fight at the end. I recommend this fictional book because this book is adventuresome, unpredictable, and shows exitement through out the novel. If you want to find out more read this book.

Starwars Episode 2 was an action/lovestory. The setting of the story was were the Jedis tried searching for the bad guys all over the galaxy. The main characters in the book were Obi won Kenobi ,the Queen and all the Jedi masters. My favorite character is Yoda because he was a very good Jedi master.My favorite part of the book was when all the Jedis fight against the clones.I would recommend this book to children betwen the ages of 7-13 because it is very cool and action packed.