Robin Williams Books

The book I purchased was delivered to my house in great condition. It was if I had just bought the book at a book store.

I generally love Lonely Planet books, so was a bit disappointed with this one. It's good as a quick reference guide, but nothing much more. It doesn't have very much background or history about some of the area's most important places. If you're going to buy only one book before traveling to the Baltics, choose the Rough Guide instead - we ended up using it almost exclusively towards then end of our trip. Also, the hotels/accommodations selection in this edition is very poor.

The authors managed to stuff everything you need to know in a relatively small book. I have been in the Baltics three times and know Latvia quite well, but this book will enrich my next trip (the relatives and locals can only do so much).
I recommed it.

I found the Lonely Planet Estonia Latvia & Lithuania book very helpful on my first trip to Lithuania. Six women traveling, we felt very safe, the maps were well written and made our daily planning easy. Time distances on the bus were accurate. Information on customs made us feel more at ease. We looked for relatives because my grandmother left Lithuania 100 years ago and found them. A bus trip to the city she was from, visiting the Tourist Information Center(as was listed in the book), an English speaking person in the office and we asked for a phone book which listed two phone numbers with my grandmother's last name. Wow, thank you Lonely Planet.

As usual, Lonely Planet guides give the most detailed information on the "nuts and bolts" of travel (bus and train instructions, locations and practicalities.) We found this particularly useful in a region where we did not share a common language with the people.

However, tourism to the Baltic region boomed in 2004 with these countries' entry into the EU, making the book's hotel listings completely inadequate. I don't fault the authors/editors for not anticipating the boom, but rather comment that, for example, with only 3000 hotel rooms in Vilnius a guidebook now needs to list a lot more hotles so visitors can hope to get one of those now-coveted rooms!

The other drawback of this book is common to most other Lonely Planet titles: the information on cities, buildings, monuments, etc., is very dry (lacks color) and is overly terse. For such information, I have come to enjoy Rough Guides which usually include enjoyable walking tours of the major tourist areas.

I cannot say enough good things about this woman's writing. She breaks the normal rules of teaching by rote, instead helps to impart a holistic understanding of the pros and cons of the technology, and thus it becomes obvious how to use it to the best effect. I have taught seminars using her books as reference materials, and recommend that everyone should own this book who uses a computer. Most people today learn technology by rote, this does not give a person the understanding necessary to face different software versions, or even different challenges that pop up everyday in the workplace. Many books written on technology are only good as doorstops, as they perpetuate the step by step learning by rote crap. This book, very thin and unassuming in it's length, get's in a user's brain like yeast and expands to help them to be able to comprehend WHY things work the way they do. I hope she writes a lot more books, especially one for Windows users, like her Little Mac Book. She deserves to be famous, successful, and prosperous.

Not counting the introduction and appendices, the content is less than 50 pages. There are excellent tips for making a document appear more attractive and some nice "before" and "after" images are provided. Some tips are obvious for proficient users, like use tabs instead of spaces for indenting. That was the case for me, and I found this book to be overpriced for what I got out of it.

I'm surprised so many people have bought into Robin Williams's edict that two spaces after the end of a sentence (and after a colon) is somehow no longer necessary. In fact, a single space in a proportionally spaced font is quite narrow, compared to a single space in a monospaced font where every character is the same width.

Typing with proportionally spaced fonts started with the advent of the IBM Executive typewriter back in the 1950's. Though the machines used individual type bars and not a unified font "element," characters came in varying widths. The machines had a split space bar giving either a wide or a narrow space. The wide space (left thumb)was used after a sentence or after a colon. The narrow space (right thumb) was used between words in a sentence, after a comma or semicolon.

I really don't care what typesetters do or don't do. I'm a secretary. When I see MSWord documents printed out where the typist has used a single space between sentences, it looks crowded and is more difficult to read, and I always infer the typist never learned the rules of typing.

I also note that I am a constant reader. I just got through reading the latest Sue Grafton mystery novel "T is for Trespass," in hard binding. So I grabbed the book to check the spacing between sentences and, lo and behold, the spacing between sentences (after a period, question mark, exclamation point or closing quotation mark) is double the spacing between words within the sentence, and it looks exactly right that way. Typesetters do, in fact, use more space between sentences than between words within a sentence, which is why properly trained typists have done it forever and still do, Ms. Williams revisionist rules notwithstanding.

The PC may not be a typewriter, but the vast majority of the rules typists have always followed still apply. What's changed is those things you couldn't do on typewriters. Underscoring replaced italicizing things such as titles of books, because typewriters couldn't shift into italics. Now, when using a word processing program, we can italicize, so we should no longer be using underscoring instead. Typewriters had hyphens, but not dashes, so, once upon a time, when typing, we had to use a double hyphen for a dash with no spacing around it, or, alternatively, a hyphen with a space on either side of it. Now we can actually use n-dashes and m-dashes as appropriate. (Though, unfortunately, nowadays I sometimes see dashes used when a hyphen is called for, such as in the middle of a local phone number.)

I admit, I'm old school. I still spell "restaurateur" without an "n" in it when almost everyone is using "restauranteur," which didn't used to be a word. I don't think "alright" is all right. Strange as it has always been, I still spell "supersede" without a "c" in it. And I still put two spaces between sentences when typing, because a single space isn't enough, and I don't like this book for suggesting otherwise.

I did pick up one or two useful hints in this book. If you haven't managed to figure out for yourself that two spaces after a full stop (period) just looks plain stupid, then you will probably get a lot of utility from this book. As other reviewers have said - it is extremely short and light on content - you'll probably read the whole thing in an hour.

My main beef with this book is that it is very outdated. It contains solutions for many issues which are now handled automatically by modern operating systems and packages. There is constant mention of packages and keyboard shortcuts for programs that just don't exist anymore, many not even in the memories of most people (does anyone remember Ventura Publisher?)

The copyright notice at the front says 1992, and no printing date was listed. Surely after 14 years and selling so many copies Peachpit Press would have a bright idea to update this book for the present day? Different issues to examine and different ways to generate certain characters. If they had done this I would have found the book three times as useful.

This and its companion "The Mac is not a Typewriter" are so important to everyone who writes a letter, types an e-mail, designs a sign, or creates a presentation. In short easy to understand lessons disguised as chapters, the reader learns everything that was lost when computers replaced typesetters. Though most Macintosh users are professional designers, they won't need this book, but for the millions of PC users out there, this is irreplaceable. I keep four or five copies of this book in my desk. Anyone I find that is breaking these rules and willing to learn how to make their published documents better, I hand them this book to read first. Don't try to learn it all at once. Read a couple chapters and master those skills, then read the next couple chapters. This book sits next to my dictionary and MLA Style Guide on my desk for ready reference.

I have read many bad books, but this is the first of Jane Jeffry's that's been put into my hands. And it is a great example of writing so poor and predictable that each paragraph is a cringer.

The main character is an adult version of the smart-aleck child and her friends are of her type. They spend their time sniping at the cartoons who pose as secondary charcters or bitng back some smart-aleck remark that the reader has to read. There's also plenty of warm-hearted gush such as women weaned on women's magazines like.

Most silly of all is that the main character runs into person after person who want nothing more that to discuss in detail with strangers everything that they know about everyone involved.

Her readers must be semi-literates, overworked to the point at which they don't want anything but pablum.

Jane Jeffry - criminal tree murderer.

No, she doesn't work as one, but she always seems to bounce back--gracefully and easily--from the somewhat strange events in her life. Or, to put it another way, she bounces the lemons handed to her by life (which everyone knows is the way to make a lemon produce more juice) and turns them into stunning versions of lemonade, lemon pie, or whatever strikes her fancy.

Of course, the forty-something widow also has three wonderful kids, a full-steam-ahead next door neighbor and best friend, Shelley Nowack, and a to-die-for-guy, police detective Mel VanDyne. Well, maybe not quite so far on that latter, but he is a 'certified' dish, no doubt about it. Even better, he seems to really like and respect Jane as a person. High marks in anyone's book, I should think.

If you've read any of the previous atrociously-punned titles about Jane, et al, you know that she and Shelley seem to find trouble under nearly every cabbage leaf they stumble over. The most recent book was no exception, distributing corpses for Christmas. But, out of that unseeming circumstance, an unusual opportunity made itself known to Jane. Livvy Thatcher is getting married, and being so impressed with Jane's management of the Christmas debacle, she asks Jane to organize and plan her wedding. Well, Jane's never done this before, but neither is she one to let such a trifling detail get in her way.

Problem number one is the scene of the wedding. It is an old family estate--complete with tales of ghost and buried treasure--some hour-and-a-half west (or thereabouts) of Chicago; a former hunting lodge that had previously been a monastery. Disregarding her qualms, Jane plunges in, arranging flowers (you, too, will 'love' Larkspur!), food, bridesmaid's dresses, the bride's gown, and the music, not to mention assigning rooms to the stay-over guests, either at the lodge or the nearest motel. She didn't however, arrange for murder. That was problem number two, and brings Mel to the scene to confer with the local constabulary.

Problem number six or so is the semi-reluctance of the bride to get to the point of being able to say 'I do'. Not to worry. Livvy may indeed be married, but she's not going to be a wife. At least not for a while yet. An assortment of oddly-matched guests, and even more odd family on both sides, suddenly seem to swirl all around the not-so-very festivities before Jane manages to unveil the killer.

I loved the different setting and the somewhat more-than-eccentric elderly Aunts and Uncle, and all the big and little details that Jane had to master in order to produce a perfectly beautiful wedding. But--although the killer and the motive for having done so did make a certain amount of sense within the confines of the story, it still sort of came out of left field. There really wasn't much build-up in the way of clues as to just who really was the fiend. Or why. Still, though, once unmasked, there could have been no other culprit. Will Jane continue in her new career field? Stay tuned. . .

I'm a big fan of Ms. Churchill and the Jane Jeffry series, and while I enjoyed this book, I definitely didn't feel it was one of her best.

I think what threw it off for me was the whole premise of Jane being asked by a total stranger to plan their wedding, and her agreeing to it. It would've made more sense to me if Shelley had been the one planning the wedding, since she's always been presented as the "take-charge" part of the team in all the previous books, and Jane had gone along to assist her. The whole thing being set up as it was just seemed odd to me, and not at all in character for the Jane and Shelley I've come to know through reading this series.

All in all, I still recommend this series highly. This latest installment wasn't bad...it just wasn't up to the par I'm used to with Ms. Churchill.

I have bought and read all of Jane Churchill's Jane Jeffry novels in paperback. They're an enjoyable, quick read. Her style is competent but basic. There's a dash of humor, a lot of comfortable, neighborly dialogue generally unrelated to the plot, and characters that are interesting but not captivating.

My major emphasis in professionally published books is on style. The printed word is the last bastion of our rich language, and therefore correctness should be a strong consideration. Heaven knows I'm far from being a grammarian (but I'm struggling to learn after a less-than-perfect education), and there are a couple things that bother me about her books. Yeah, a "couple things." You'd think after umpteen books, someone might have mentioned to her that it's a "couple *of* things." I find this consistent, persistent error distracting and annoying. In dialogue, a "couple'a things" is acceptable to indicate a character's manner of speech, but in narrative, it's a no-no. Unless the rules of grammar have changed since I was a child, you can have a "few things" or a "couple of things," but not a "couple things."

Finally, the books should be read in order, and I think the earlier ones are better. The first books in the series have more of a mystery plot, with clues presented for readers, and a generally clever solution. Later books don't provide all the clues, so when Jane figures out whodunnit, the reader hasn't been privvy to the information prior to the solution.

A sort of Gothic romance is opened with wedding preparations, by Jane... Bad-boy-gigolo has already met and matched Daddy's girl... A monastery has long ago morphed into a hunting lodge... Jane and Shelley snuggle into a dim, dingy setting with old host Joe, an apparent "grounds guy" minus hospitality, plus grumbling growls...

It was easy for me to get into this one, partially riding on Jane's pride in being considered (and paid for performing as) an expert organizer for "party time" celebrations (as evidenced by Jane hostess-ing a neighborhood cookie exchange in the previous novel, # 10, MERCHANT OF MENACE; see my reviews and Listmania on this series).

I also slipped right into the exploration of the rambling hodge podge of the sparsely lit lodge, and the work toward warming up stark monk cells for family members' temporary residence in the ramshackle structure. The housekeeper/hostess in me activated automatically, that same woman who had once sprouted illusions of designing a B&B Inn, the one who wrote a series of articles on those luxurious old house conversions, titling the series a Bed & Breakfast Walk About. (I've dedicated one of my AOL Hometown, freebie web sites to collecting some of those articles, and I'd like to submit them as Amazon "Shorts" when/if time permits).

The lodge structure was described with just the right amount of detail; I was easily able to conjure it in my mind and settle in. Scones, anyone? Those pastries would definitely have fit in this ambiance, hot-and-flaky if the place were to be successfully caterpillar-ed into a cozy Inn, old-and cold of not. Black Jasmine tea (not green) ... with heavy cream ... would have to accompany. I wasn't sure how I would incorporate (tapestr-ate?) the monastic stark, and hunters' dead animal heads into a luxury Inn's thematic threads, but I was willing to let the decorative thoughts percolate as I continued the read. Rubbing hands together, I was in.

Wild electric rain storms, Jane wandering by lightning light through the Inn at night, running over clues, brushing by other (reclusive) ramblers, just missing a stumble over a body at the head of the stairs ...

The tapestry drew taught; dark Gothic jewel tones had been wrought.

Okay, to be true to the plot, Jane didn't actually discover the body, and that event didn't occur until morning light (page 66 in the mass market paperback).

Possibly I should admit that, before I had begun reading this novel, when I had discovered that this offering had Jane planning a wedding, my nose tried but failed a scrunch attempt. Though fantasy could be my middle name, I've never been into fancy. My current husband and I eloped in Santa Fe with his German Shepard providing the blessing, no shot guns cracked. That simple, almost planless occurrence was conceived a week prior to the "event" which was three weeks after our first date. Love had taken root rapidly, but "first sight" was more like, "How long have I known you?" That being my style, the absolute antithesis, every-which-way, of the GROOM WITH A VIEW deal, I was mildly dreading the attempt to connect with Jane's behind-the-scenes orchestration of an elaborately staged wedding.

Then, as I began reading and noticed obvious Gothic tinges bleeding into the setting, I was further backed up by thoughts of trite. HOWever, any resistance to GROOM's trailing of dusty plots from bygone literary looms, any resistance from my off-beat, non-ceremonious persona was kaboshed as thoughts of a "Sugarplum Inn" fancied in. Oh! A B&B in the making? My title for an Inn was sweet and serendipitous, but how would monk-and-hunter plumbs work in? I readily and headily read onward for mix-n-match clues.

As the family and guests trickled into Jane & Shelley's Inn ... (Ah hah! Another possible B&B to cut the dust?) ... I became involved in the lusciously convoluted characters. In fact, this collection felt to be more delicately yet dangerously detailed than those from other offerings in this series. The rancid, slick, hair-tonic reek of the groom fascinated and puzzled; the bride's deadly deference to her father etched sympathy. The wig toting (toppling), elderly aunts tweaked brows; the staff played a delightful twinkle toes to a well honed tune. Actually, as I racked brain to list them, I noticed that each character had given intrigue to the nth ... charisma to a corona. I found myself wanting to fill this review by quoting the crisp passages of descriptive introduction of every person in this plot. Joe might have taken the cake, if that old "saying" would have allowed him to eat it. Who would want to take an inedible cake, I ask you. And, what about the wedding cake? You'll see, but not until the plot has heated to hot.

Which reminds me that the chef's concoctions were extensively yummy, and delivered themselves well through the days during which the staff and wedding party remained in residence. To wit, see page 51, describing the best, twice-baked cornbread Jane had ever, would ever have.

It appeared that in GROOM Jane had mastered (and was orchestrating) the many ingredients of "The Cozy." However, I hadn't noticed that adept literary conjuring until I had read over half-way into the story, and had begun enriching the bare bones (by adding pheromones) of my review.

One of the most impressive of these ingredients actually had the gall to attempt a few steps outside cozy boundaries, firing pistons toward the mood of hard-boiled P. I. Yet, that scene stayed in-tapestry, adding richness in blacks, tans, and greys. That stray-attempt, "thread-bare recipe item" involved a clue-getting lunch, featuring Mel and a couple local gendarmes, one currently employed, the other a long-retired, gravel-pit type-of-guy, with the two folding-in additional characters of charm (with Old Spice).

At that point it was obvious that Churchill was clearly a multi-faceted talent, subtly sauteing under-kernels which, in this # 11 in series, "popped" like old-country-corn in the entertaining variations mastered within this plot.

As I continued the read, what I wanted to know was would the wedding go through. At first, I wanted it to. Later, sensing doom as the character-mix began dancing to dark, dunning tunes, I changed my rhyme. Okay, I admit it. The romantic within me was secretly hoping that somehow the groom would do the (frog) croak-to-crown (prince) thing. In this setting it would be a stretch-of-a-stretch. But, what with the groom's mother and brother simmering intriguingly in the background, completing an ensemble of a quietly heroic culture clash...

Would Churchill do a mass redemption, a discriminating reprieve, or something better. Who would be saved; who 86'd? (Remember the 70's term for tossing an item into the trash?) Your choice to read and see.

Sugar Daddy Inn? Sweet & Sour Sugarplum Inn? Joe's Old Commode B&B? Butt Out & Brains Inn? Where the Deer and the Antelope Plaaaayyy (dead) ... in Monk-Studded Heaven? Well, that's the long and the short of it.

What's next, Churchill? Another pussycat on the cover? Maybe a Pink Panther, too, with daisies between his toes? New, or current cover design style? How about a jacket covered by a gorgeous, gummy oil painting of a scene in the story? (See my review of A KNIFE TO REMEMBER, a clue: bring back the artist with "GM" as signature).

Oh. A Florist ... Does What? (See my Listmania for publishing date and a link to preorder THE ACCIDENTAL FLORIST, # 16 in the Jane Jeffry series)

Here we go again. I like my flowers wild and free. Yet... maybe I can get them in a shop. Yeah, this author will somehow snag my interest, and I'll live cozily in that one, too. It's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Don't kid yourself. Jane Jeffry's style always reads easy.

Oops. I sense that surging percolation of humor bubbles. Gotta go. Cut & run!

Speaking of which, in all fairness I should warn you about reading my review of # 12 in this series, MULCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. I allowed my effervescence to runeth-over in that one, and my tongue twisted true. You'll be slurping Alka-seltzer.

Waiting for Godot's Flowering Dreams,
Linda Shelnutt

I will make this short and succinct. It has been awhile since I read this but I distinctly remember thinking that it was the best Robin Hood tale that I had either seen or read. I would highly recommend that anyone even remotely interested in the Robin Hood legend should read this book. Errol Flynn's portrayal pales by comparison!

Happy Reading!

I'm a self admitted Robin Hood fan. For some reason I love everything to do with this legend and Delve into every aspect of it when I find a new story.
This is my favorite fictional version of the legend so far. The characters have very distinct personalities, taking the well known characters in new directions, and the background is very believable. You really feel you are there. Despite bad reviews saying it wasn't "accurate" enough, I say: "It's a STORY!", and a good story at that. Accuracy is not a focus point in fiction, and even with the changes Park Godwin has made to the timeline, the world itself is very accurate.
Overall my favorite character in the story has to be Marion though. Far from the sterotype of damsel in distress that she so often gets shoved into, in this version, she's very self reliant and strong. In the sequel, she even gets to chase off some Normans on her own. Have to love that.

Parke Godwin is one of our finest writers of historical fiction, and "Sherwood" is one of the two books which firmly cements that reputation (the other being the masterful "Firelord"). This retelling of the Robin Hood legend is a smashing success on virtually every level.

Forget Errol Flynn, green tights, and "Good" King Richard. Godwin, with his characteristically thorough knowledge of historical setting, places his story at the advent of the Norman Conquest, almost a hundred years earlier. The wealth of historical detail provides both form and distinctive flavor to the tale; from the contents of a wayfarer's wallet to Saxon battle tactics, you are there! This works to great effect, and raises both the situational and emotional stakes of the book tremendously; indeed, William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda are characters of considerable importance, and by the end the reader will know them as well as any of the heroes. Godwin's Robin is no laughing adventurer; he is a pragmatic man who believes in simple justice, who is driven to become a hero by his need to protect his people and his refusal to accept laws and edicts "that ent right". Marian, far from a fluttering noblewoman, is strong, competent, loyal, and brave. The words 'loyal' and 'brave' also apply to Robin's nemesis Ralf Fitz-Gerald, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and this is one of the book's most fascinating (and satisfying!) aspects. We watch Ralf's story unfold right along with Robin's, and I found myself developing a real sympathy with this good man who does bad things. Not wishing to spoil the story, I will say no more about plot or characters, except to mention that Godwin's slightly unorthodox takes on other familiar names - Little John, Will Scarlet, Much, Friar Tuck, Alan-a-Dale - are no less riveting than his principals.

This is a perfect blend of historical accuracy and high adventure. Godwin's characters are real people, caught up in extraordinary circumstances and set on paths they never dreamed of. Along the way, there's courage, betrayal, blood, pain, romance, and glory. Read this book, and savor it. The Robin Hood legend might have really started this way; and if it didn't, it should have!

This is a decent try at a gritty, morally complex work of historical fiction. Godwin has done his research; that he invents Saxon resistance in a specific place seems inconsequential to me, given that we don't know *everything* that went on during the period. He makes at least an attempt to portray mentality, which puts him ahead of most medieval historical fiction writers.

There are some issues, though. Godwin's writing, especially in the early part of the book, is often grammatically vague. His fight and action scenes are insufficiently structured, thus confusing. His constant identification of the Saxons with the land conveniently ignores the fact that the Saxons themselves came as invaders. The text sometimes tries too hard to be meaningful.

Characterization overall is competent. I found Robin, in his more ignorant, loudmouthed, horse-eating moments, annoying, and tended to prefer Ralf.

This is a reasonable book, I'd say, but no masterpiece.

This book has a lot of ups and downs. From the start, it is clear that the author has done a huge amount of research on the time period (the Norman invasion of England in 1066), which helps most of the time to lend a real air to the story. Unfortunately, this occassionaly got a bit awkward when I as a reader wasn't as familiar with the history and lost track of what was going on.

The first hundred-odd pages of the book are very difficult to get through, switching once in a while briefly to a first person segment so you could see inside a characters head, or sometimes covering a few years in a few pages, so it feels like you are reading a history textbook.

Once you get past those first hundred pages, though, things really get going. Unfortunately, most of the characters aren't as real as the rich setting they were placed in. The most sympathetic character, Little John, is the one whome we see the least, Ralf, the bad-guy, seems like the good guy, and Robin is just running around making spontaneous random decisions. Other than those and Father Beorn, the characters are pretty if not dull, at least static and predictable.

In this regard, the book is somewhat like a Tom Clancy book. The author has the characters in there as a necessity, but he loses sight of them somewhat in favor of the story, the action, the big picture. The reader really gets a feel for what's going on all across the country all the time, the overall motivations if not for individuals then for the decisions of an entire population, and a feel for how life was lived in eleventh century England.

The reason I didn't give this book a three was that it kept me interested and informed. After getting through those first hundred pages, the book really doesn't want to be put down. If you enjoy history, I recommend this one, but if you're in it for the swords and sworcery, I'd skip it over.

I had purchased this book not realizing it covered an earlier version of the operating system (I'm on OS X 10.2), but it was still helpful.

I'm an experienced PC user and I switched to Mac because Mac users rave about it's simplicity, etc., and eventually I want to venture into graphics. Having taken some graphics courses, I found the Mac much easier in that regard.

However, for the longest time after purchasing my laptop, I was frustrated because I couldn't figure out anything. I'm computer literate and I was previously working on a supposedly more difficulty system. But it was the Mac that seemed difficult and foreign to me.

Finally I figured out how to burn CDs, and it rekindled my interest in my laptop. After that, I returned to this book and perused for some tips. The information helped fill in the knowledge gaps, and now I'm loving my laptop.

I like Robin Williams's writing style because it is straightforward and informative. I don't have to go to some other source for background information first. I had read one of her other books (required text for a class) and decided that she would be my information source for these things.

It seems the other reviewers of this book missed the point of the book. It is *not* a book for new beginners who want to learn how to use a Mac; as stated clearly in the information at the top of this page and on the back cover of the book, it is aimed mostly at mobile computing. We assume you bought an iBook to connect on the road, and the book is filled with tips and tricks on how to do that. I beg to differ with the reviewer below, but this information is *not* superficial. I can't tell you how much time we spent finding out all the tidbits of computing on the road and all the little extra parts you need. I don't think it's quite fair for a reader to complain that the content of a book doesn't have what they want if they didn't bother to read the cover or the accompanying information before they bought it. I have written a large number of books for beginning Mac users about the applications and the OS and did not feel it necessary to write it all over again in this book because that is not the purpose of this book!

Well written and concise, this slim volume packs well to carry on the road with you when you need a handy quick reference--especially for iBook features you don't use often. The chapter on connecting to the Internet while on the road is especially helpful with step-by-step instructions to make the whole process as painless as possible. (Let's face it: when you're living out of a suitcase, anything that eliminates aggravation is a blessing!)

I first got introduced to the Little Mac books in college when we had to get The Little Mac Book 2nd Edition for a class I took. Of course I was blown over by the casual way Ms. Williams addressed all the topics.

The Little iBook Book is for the person somewhat familair with Macintosh systems, not for beginners. It can accompany The Little iMac book which helps a *lot* with the basics. To those saying it's not elaborate enough - if it covered EVERYTHING, the book would be about a billion pages and cost in the realm of $60 or so.

This book is a great way to get re-introduced to Apple (such as myself) and a grat way to learn a iBook... I highly recommend it.

First of all, a beginner is a beginner, and this book states on the back that it's for beginnerish to advanced. To me that is everybody. Secondly, the real point is that people don't want to buy five and six books to learn how to use their computer. Sure that may be good for a writer of several related books, but for the consumer it just means more money spent. They've already spent all that money on a computer, so they want a nice book that tells them as much as it can. The only reason I bought this book was because it was one, or maybe the only, of few ibook books available at the time. Believe me, if "The ibook for Dummies" had been out at the same time, I never would have bought this book. "The ibook for Dummies" covers much more information, presents it in the familiar and fun "dummies" format, and costs merely a dollar more. The "Little ibook Book" is not a bad book, but it may not be the book for you. There are many other ibook references out now, and if you are still in the market for one, then my best advice is to compare them carefully before you buy, and choose what's best for you.

As a typesetter in a large corporation I found this book very helpful when I recently had to organize our fonts on 12 computers. It clearly explains the difference in the various types of fonts and how to use them properly. It also covers in detail all the different type management software (ATM, Suitcase, etc.). After speaking with several designers, it appears that fonts can be the single biggest nightmare and this book would be an asset to any designers library.

I bought Robin's book aobut 2 weeks ago and I have read it over and over. I found that the book was not helpful in getting my fonts organised. I am left with fundamental questions unanswered and a lot of frustration. I am still looking for a book that will show me how to sort my fonts what to keep what to throw and how to do it. This book has some good back ground informationon the benefits of ATM, and the history but what about open fonts, and master fonts? It's dated and not helpful.

"He who dies with the most fonts wins," is a fact of life for a lot of desktop designers for print and the web. However, having tons of fonts of every weight, format and variety gobbles up lots of system memory, and corrupted or conflicting fonts cause crashes. This book tells all on how to get your collection under control, and keep your fonts organized, in good shape, and zipped in place for when you need them. This book is also well written, and will keep you alert and interested, which is most refreshing because I've found many how-to design/computer management books must be read with toothpicks propping up your eyes. It's also just the right length, concise and everything is clearly, not condecendingly, explained. It's a must read for any Mac designer, from the newest newbie to the most advanced.

Except for her mild endorsement of grunge (why have we spent hundreds of years designing typefaces that are both readable and beautiful only to have a generation of" designers" design deconstructed faces that are likely to be used only once in a lifetime), Robin Williams is probably the most articulate and literate writer on typography around, digital or traditional. She is sensitive to those qualities that have somehow been lost on those who have been brought up facing a monitor rather than a type book, type case or drawing board. Too many people in business have been led to believe, and accept the idea, that a typist is automatically a typographer/designer. Every designer who has grown up on the computer should have all of her books at their side, along with Strunk & White, Fowler's Modern English Usage, Roget's Thesaurus and a good dictionary.

Although the Amazon editorial review calls Williams a Mac expert, it doesn't make clear that this book is pretty exclusively Mac-oriented. Some of it will be useful to Windows users, but there are surely other, similar font books on the market more useful for Windows users. If I had realized this before I started making notes in the margins, I would have returned it.

The art work is nice but I always felt that Cassandra Cain (Batgirl) should be prettier. The nose is bit too big in this graphic novel. The change of character from "destruction daughter" needs more explanation probably from the coming issues.

Very quick and easy read, some of the previous books are handy to have read before this one. It just seemed very short to me. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of it, but I had just read "Robin: Unmasked" in the same weekend and it seemed to have more of a storyline

The boy wonder is framed for murder. It's the end of infinite crisis and the beginning of a new year and he's framed for murder and Robin must use his detective skills to prove his inn-o-cennce. Oh yeah, Batgirls' personality change is explained in 'Teen Titans: East' also a very good story.

At the start of Robin: Wanted, our young hero is being pummelled by blows from an unseen assailant, not depicted; all we see are the hits to Robin's body. This seems a bit of a 'cheat' to hide a killer's identity, although the flipside is that it makes us identify with Robin's suddenly disjointed point-of-view. He is ambushed so quickly and effectively that he is thoroughly confused , and unable to to identify his attacker in even the slightest way. Actually, this technique seems reminiscent of films where a stalker or killer is always depicted in shadow, or partly obscured, or running away in the distance, until that moment when the lighting is finally helpful and the killer is revealed. In the case of what's happening to Robin, though, we have a fairly prolonged fight where effort must be taken to show that Robin is not a careless amateur who can't detect a single clue about who is in close, clobbering him. This is achieved by having Robin's vision hampered by floodlights, and some smoke, so that Robin ends up looking quite proficient at holding his own in a difficult situation. In the end, the feeling of a 'cheat' is cleverly negated; the plot demands that neither Robin nor the reader easily discern the identity of the attacker, but I would say that fights that go on for three pages where we don't see one of the combatants--just black streaks of motion like hostile wet-paint--are not very exciting to look at. Interestingly, when the ambusher later goes on to attack and kill a petty criminal named Annalea, we see more of the attacker revealed--a leg, two hands gripping Annalea's head and preparing to Do The Twist. And since the killer's identity is successfully hidden then, I don't know why Robin couldn't at least have been shown to be fightingg a human being, not deadly ink smears.

Next, two invasions of two near-impenetrable fortresses for the price of one. Robin is forced to infiltrate a Gotham City Police station in order to retrieve a Batgirl costume taken off the body of a girl he is accused of murdering, so he can search it for clues that will help clear his name. Later on, it is also necessary that he sneak into super-secure Blackgate Prison to break out the notorious David Cain, so he can hand Cain over to the person who has framed him and is threatening to execute a hostage Robin cares for deeply. Both of these incredible stealth missions go a long way in showcasing how talented Robin really is, especially Robin's effectiveness against an army of cops who suddenly become aware of his presence in their own building. Robin's technique for eluding not only regular police officers but also an elite, organic, free-range, hickory-smoked, Cajun (sorry: forget "organic, free range, hickory-smoked, Cajun"; I've been reading too many slick, trendy product labels at the grocery store lately, and I apologize. Just: elite) team of SWAT personnel specially trained, armed, and armored to subdue costumed-types a lot tougher than a non-powered Batman sidekick, is not entirely original. But still fun to watch. Inevitably, we see at least thirty cops outsmarted by one guy, which can strain credibility, but always makes the hero look so good.

The finale of the first story: Robin confronts the person who has framed and manipulated him, and so the mystery is solved. The lesson here is that things are often much simpler than they appear, and sometimes all the complicatedness is designed to hide the obvious. Readers not hoodwinked will still be treated to a tense stand-off between Robin and yet another small army--this time they're assassins not cops--and then a terrific fight, this time with no combatants obscured by tricky lighting or artists not drawing them in. Robin's best bit here comes from quickly deducing how to take out a whole lot of highly-skilled foes really fast, with one splendid maneuver.

Wanted also contains a whole other adventure for Robin, as he and his enemy, the new Captain Boomerang, search for a bomb that was activated long ago by the Joker--we're talking a very loooooong-range plan on the part of the Crime Prince of Clowns--a bomb that is not where it is supposed to be. Someone has moved the bomb just when, after many years of merrily ticking away, it is about to go off. Robin's crime prevention is impeded somewhat, by some study-time with his new tutor, by some quality time with Bruce Wayne, and by his squaring off with Boomerang in a flurry of thrown projectiles issued from both sides. But eventually Robin and his new, barely tolerated ally start breaking into various old Bat-foes' hideouts, looking for a naughty, dirty bomb ready to count down and go boom. This is a fast-paced romp, handled fairly lightly despite the bomb threat, as our heroes battle booby-trapped villains' nests, not the villains themselves. The mayhem-festooned room that actually hosts the bomb is especially entertaining, given the nature of its single-minded...occupants.

This bit of retroactive plotting--the Joker having planted a bomb way back in the Englehart/Rogers, Joker-fish days, that no one knows about til many years later, when its boom is about to find its ka--is fairly contrived. But the slice-of-life subplots, and the inclusion of the despised Captain Boomerang, help dress it up nicely.

The British East India Company is one of the world's most famous: founded in 1600, it began as an Asian spice trading company and ended up running Britain's Indian empire. Given its importance it's amazing to consider that The Corporation That Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational is actually the first coverage of the company to reveal its history and social record. College-level libraries strong in either world history or business will find this an intriguing discussion.

If you are interested on knowing how evil a big corporation can be this is a great reading. It can impress more when you fully realize all of that was before the XX century. It address some of the most important issues a corp got evil. Sadly I don't think the book's conclusions on proposals of social responsability could fix the problem of the perverse corporation behaviour. Another organizational tool is needed but is not addressed in the book.

Very well written, which is a rare accomplishment on somewhat dry topics. Brings forward or reminds the reader that graft and corruption is not new to modern business and government. A company that conquered a nation literally and with its private army. A good read.

I got this book because I'm taking a software class in a computer lab entirely full of Macintosh computers. I'm a veteran computer user, but I felt clueless. I didn't understand the Mac vocabulary, and I couldn't do basic things like find the power button, rename a file, or see what was on the hard drive. I still don't know how to page up and down using the keyboard.

This _Little Mac Book_ was wonderful. It told me the name of the Mac browser (Safari), helped me use the "Dock" (Mac's version of the Taskbar), explained the weird extra keys (the one with the funny symbol works similarly to the Windows Ctrl key), and it gave me the vocabulary to find my way around what to me was an entirely foreign computer. (A Mac "alias" is the same as a Windows "shortcut").

I think this is a great book. Naturally, it's meant as an introduction to Macs, and doesn't go very deep into the details. You'd have to look elsewhere for that. But for an introduction to the Mac computers for newbies, this book is marvelous. I recommend it.

I usually like Robin Williams' books but I am reallly disappointed with this one. I can't even find anything about the expose feature which is one of the main new features for Panther. If she doesn't cover this, I am wondering what else is missing. I really feel like I was cheated out of my money. This book might be useful to someone who isn't familiar with Mac OS, but it won't help anyone looking for new features in Panther.

The Little Mac Book, Panther Edition by Robin Williams (©2004), paperback, 196 pages, illustrations, index, chart of accent marks (2 pages).

Ms. Williams introduction to her book sets the tone for this superlative book when she says: Òhere is a ÔlittleÕ book again with just the very basic information to get you started using your new Macintosh. Of course, being little means there is a lot less information! This book should get you started and keep you going for quite a while.Ó

This book is the very best basic introduction for the beginner that wants to learn Mac OS 10.3 Panther. The author describes in detail with simple correlative illustrations that clarifies her explanation of the Macintosh operating system. The book follows a basic logical progression that presumes the reader knows nothing or very little about the Macintosh operating system.

This is the book, in my opinion, that should be used initially in primary and secondary schools for basic instruction of Mac OS 10.3 Panther. If an interested reader needs more detailed instruction and information, after finishing this book, they should purchase Ms. Williams sequel paperback books written with coauthor John TollettÐ The Robin Williams Mac OS X Book , Panther Edition (712 pages) and Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps (488 pages). This last paperback book gives detailed information and instruction about Macintosh entertainment applications such as iPhoto, ITunes, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and the .Mac account and its diverse tools.

This is a wonderful little book for anyone who has lived at Kings Cross and has been curious about the areas once glorious past before it lapsed into, well, .... The tales of life amongst societies elite, the family situation Robin Dalton was priviledged to belong to, are both funny, enlightening and educational. This is a world long gone but Daltons frank recollections bring the past vividly to life. [Regarding the aunts]...the numerous anecdotes, hilarious and unbelievable today, merely reflect a time when society women, and indeed society, marched to a very different drum. The attitudes to money, as something vulgar that ladies would never discuss or handle, are amongst my favourites. I had a relative of this era and society level and the book really brought stories from my own family into context. The book is well recommended, its short but the historical information it imparts,admittedly in a very narrow context of family life amongst the top 1%, is substantial.