X Books

I have known Vittore Baroni, since 1976, when I met him at the University of California at Davis campus during the summer months. He was with a group of students from the University of Pisa, studying English. Durirng this time he was involved with Mail-Art,Correspondence Art, 'Communication as Art'.--and introduced me to this activity. This book is a well written history and account of Correspondence Art---the famous and not-so-famous names (myself included) in this activity, and the importance of this 'movement ' in Art History. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in communication and art.

I have known Vittore Baroni, since 1976, when I met him at the University of California at Davis campus during the summer months. He was with a group of students from the University of Pisa, studying English. Durirng this time he was involved with Mail-Art,Correspondence Art, 'Communication as Art'.--and introduced me to this activity. This book is a well written history and account of Correspondence Art---the famous and not-so-famous names (myself included) in this activity, and the importance of this 'movement ' in Art History. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in communication and art.

Keinzle's, "Assault with Intent," is a great read. His understanding of the inner workings of seminary life make this novel all the more realistic. The characters portrayed--especially the priest faculty--were reminiscent of my own experiences as both student and faculty member at a seminary. The real life foibles were treated not just with humor, but also with the respect that these characters deserved.

"Assault with Intent" was the hook for me. Since then, I've read every one of the Fr. Koesler stories. Fr. Koesler and William Kienzle have become like old friends. I look forward to the next installment.

This is my all time favorite Fr. Koesler mystery, followed by "Deathbed" in which many of the same characters return. Not only is it fun to read with its bungling murderers and richly drawn characters, the scholastic setting is especially realistic. In fact, I've been to some of the places described in the book and that makes it all the more realistic to me. Well Done!

Although "stereotyped" Super heros are no longer cool. Remember Superfriends in the 70's or 80's. Anyone that appreciates Nawlins and the Cajun archtypes,has to love the Gambit. Anyway as far as the book itself it was an X Mas gift, for my kids. After reading it, they agreed that "Gambit is the best" They also thought Gambit should of been in the Movie, not "Cry Baby Cylops"

This graphic, which reprints Gambit #1-6 (2004) is one of the best graphics from Marvel this year. The story revolves around Remy, as he takes some time away from the X-Men to return home. There, he is hired by a beautiful blond to steal infamously evil tarot cards from her uncle. But things are rarely simple for Gambit, and soon he's in trouble of every kind, being chased by the assassin's guild, jealous women, demons, and cops. Wolverine even pops in for an appearance, just for good measure.

The story is engaging and the art is beautiful, very reminiscent of Adam Hughes or Terry Dodson. Jeanty is definitely an artist I'd like to see more of. The writing is an odd mix of Claremont and Giffen's styles, action packed, character driven, and funny all at the same time.

This graphic can be enjoyed by new comers to comics and veteran collectors alike, and it
has my highest recommendations.

i agree with the reviewer below that the stories in this book are quiet, but wonderful. I wish Marvel would buy a clue and continue producing this series of trades and reprint the rest of the back-up stories from the classic X-Men series. A third volume of Vignettes would be easy as there are only 18 more stories to reprint.

X-Men Vinaigrettes vol. 2 collects the short back up stories from Classic X-Men #14-25. These are stories drawn by John Bolton- a wonderful, masterful artist- and written by none other than Chris Claremont himself. They're stories that couldn't be told before due to page limits, or the fact they're personal stories while X-Men thrives on action.

The first story is Lilandra's side of her mind meeting with Xavier, and how it affected her. It also gives a bit of back story before she flees to earth to meet Xavier and the X-Men.

Next is Corsair's story of meeting the Starjammers, but more than that, it's a tale of what happened after Scott and Alex jumped from the burning plane. It's a cool, insightful, well told story and one of my favorites in this collection.

How Banshee met Maeve Rourke and how Tom Cassidy lost her is the next tale. Perfect reading for Siren fans.

There are 3 different Phoenix stories, proving Claremont loves the character he was forced to kill. One involves Mesmero using his powers to turn Jean against the X-Men (I know, how could his powers trump hers? Phoenix was still learning how to use her power at this point). Another is a vacation to Greece story which lays the foundation for becoming the Black Queen. Finally, is a very cute story in which Banshee, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler help Phoenix regain her humanity.

Magneto's story of love gained and lost provides a pivotal turning point for his hatred of humanity.

Two stories feature storm. In one she battles her inner demons and the undead while on vacation, and in the other she's given a chance to become a warrior princess in a galaxy far, far away.

Both Colossus and Nightcrawler have solo stories in which they get to play the hero to beautiful young maidens.

Lastly, Wolverine wraps it all up with a story of what makes an animal and what makes a man.

These might be quiet stories, but they're well done and a treasure for anyone who is an X-Men fan.

Highly Recommended.

Baby Father is the story of fout good friends, Beres, Linvall, Gussie and Johnny. Beres throught his world would end when the love of his life Sonia walks out on him, and their daughter. Linvall finally finds a lady he likes, but a woman he done wrong in the past is out to get him. Gussie is worried about finding love before he get's too old. Johnny ends up cheating on the woman he loves, and get another lady pregnant. This book is a good look at how men try to make things right in their lives

Baby Father is the story of fout good friends, Beres, Linvall, Gussie and Johnny. Beres throught his world would end when the love of his life Sonia walks out on him, and their daughter. Linvall finally finds a lady he likes, but a woman he done wrong in the past is out to get him. Gussie is worried about finding love before he get's too old. Johnny ends up cheating on the woman he loves, and get another lady pregnant. This book is a good look at how men try to make things right in their lives

After reading Baby Father I thought that a sequel would be too good to be true. Yet I was very pleasantly surprised with Baby Father 2 as it kept the same pace as its predecessor but moved with just as much agility. The author writes so well, with such fluidity that the book was literally glued to my hand until I had read it for the second time! I simply could not take my eyes away from the pages for long enough to do anything else - my life was put on hold as I was swept into the world of naughty, wonderful characters. From what I know of black fathers this book is very accurate in some ways, although it has to be said that Patrick Augustus definitely adds his own special dimensions that bring laughter and intrigue!

This book takes you into the lives of four black English men as they struggle to "Do the right thing". There are several different voices and viewpoints that are all interwoven reagarding theses four friends. There are women in the book but most of themare minor in comparison to the maile voices. One father struggles with a new marriage and an unmageable stepson , while another attempts to sweet talk his way back into the heart and bed of the woman that has two children with. Another searches for the perfect woman after a diasterouslt brief marriage that was queckly annulled. The characters are very human and honest in thier thinking and manuevers. Many of the characthers express confusion and fickleness. The surprising turns and antics that the fellows get into are what keeps the reader intrigued.

This book has been a favorite of mine as a teacher for many years. Children are fascinated by the story, and love it when Baby Rattlesnake cries!

Baby rattlesnake wants a rattle and waon't stop crying until he gets it. Unfortunately he isn't mature enough to use his rattle responsibly. Disaster ensues. Both parents and children will love this book. The illustrations are beautiful and all families will relate to the story. Its a great read aloud book and is available in both Spanish and English.

I'm a student and this textbook was assigned for my intro to literature class. I was surprised by how much I actually ENJOYED this textbook! There is a lot of good writing in it, some great examples of literature, which made for interesting class discussions. I even found myself reading a lot of the passages that weren't assigned, just out of curiousity, and most of them were really quite enjoyable.

Overpriced like most textbooks but probably the only introductory literature anthology since Benjamin LaMott's "Close Imagining" (McGraw Hill) that I'd use a second time. It's compact yet very generous and representative. For example, you can pair "Young Goodman Brown" with "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" or "A Rose for Emily" with "Barn Burning" or "A & P" with "Araby." Most of the frequently taught poems are here, and there are more plays--from Sophocles to Arthur Miller--than would ever fit into a single-semester course. And the Appendices are priceless--more useful information than is found in popular writing Handbooks along with exemplary student essays (a particularly handy feature).

I've previously used the big Kennedy and Gioia Intro text. Not only did the binding begin to fall apart on me mid-way though the semester but the amount of material--most of it never assigned--simply added to the guilt any instructor who emphasizes close reading of individual texts is bound to feel. Also, any introductory literature course that even purports to be representative must include some examples of the most important modern genre of all--the novel. Add "Great Expectations" and "The Great Gatsby" to the course and you'll see why the shorter, more compact anthology is the only one to consider. In fact, I might even settle for a "back pocket" version.

(My experiences with the complementary (but not really "complimentary") internet site--which my students never seemed to be able to access--would suggest that it would best be ignored. Go for the DVD or a price break instead.)

Here it is, October, and my children are begging me to read from "The Beasts of Bethlehem". Even though the poems don't follow a typical children's poem meter, they love it just the same. They enjoy picking out their "favorite" animals and having me read that animal's poem. Wonderful book!!

Enthralling poems for young and old. You are touched, amused, startled, and may be moved to tears at the musings of the beasts who witness the birth of the Babe.

I was first exposed to the Logos family of products in college where we had access to it through the campus network. Upon leaving college, that was one of the things I missed the most. Now that I'm out and working in a church, this was one of the things that was top on my list to buy (well, the big boy edition was really on my list, but we have to face the reality of an intern's budget).

First off, it needs to be said that Series 3 has just been released. They're selling it fresh off of Logos' site right now. At pretty much the same price (at least at this moment). It's a leap above this, but this is actually quite good, too. There is also the chance they might upgrade you (I bought mine 2 weeks before Series 3 was release and was able to jump up for $5. Not too bad), but I wouldn't risk it. Anyways, back to the review.

This is, probably, all the library any small group leader or youth/childrens/associate pastor could ever hope to need. Seriously, it is. If you have any questions, my biggest reccomendation is to go to Logos' site and compare the different editions. You'll pick up more and more as you spend more and more, but for most people the cost/benefit intersection will be right here. And if you're looking at a set and thinking that it might be worth it for just one or two resources (like a commentary set or some original language tools), check out how much they would cost to add that to your lower priced set. If you use your head here you could save yourself a bunch of money in the end by not buying things you don't need. And money saved will equal more books later, which is what we're all looking for, right? However, if it would cost you almost as much to add that one resource as it would to jump up to the next set that contains that resource, then look at what else you're getting for the price and use your own judgement.

Once you've selected your edition of choice, then you're going to very quickly notice that most of the work in research is done for you. If you've ever spent an afternoon doing word studies one by one by looking up each word in Strongs, and then looking up the number in the concordance, consider those days a forgotten memory. Logos has the power to do that for you. In several translations (NASB and ESV both have Strongs numbers linked to their words, not just the good old KJV). So instead of the work of an afternoon, you can get it done in a matter of minutes. Or seconds if you ask Logos to do it for you. It will pick the big words (usually either the longest or the most repeated or the most significant. I haven't quite figured out how it does that yet) and give you a report based on the Strongs or one of several other concordances/lexicons you have installed. While not entirely reliable and exhaustive, this will provide an amazing head start to the study.

And that's just the word study tools. There are passage study tools that will link all the commentaries and outlines to the passage you want to study. This puts everything you could want to see from your collections right where you can get to it quickly. No more shuffling around, looking through stacks of books. Just a nice table of links that open up books right where you need them to be.

The topic browser is also a thing of beauty. Just type in a topic like "marriage" and you're greeted with passages, commentaries, books and sermons (whatever you've got loaded!) that talk about marriage. And when you click on the link, it opens right to that page. The system even allows you to switch back and forth between resources quickly and easily with keyboard shortcuts.

Also, for those of you who enjoy studying passages in different versions, Logos couldn't make it easier. When you're reading in one version, clicking on any other version automatically opens that Bible to the same passage you're looking at. If this wasn't enough, this set also includes tools that will help you compare versions side by side (really helpful if you're studying a tricky passage or disscussing the difference in translations). You can pretty much select as many versions to compare as you can fit on the screen.

Logos also allows you to take notes and highlight just like you would any paper Bible. The difference is that you'll never tear those little pages with a too-sharp pen or pencil and the margins will never get full. Bonus. Also included are a prayer list manager (I haven't really used this. Still on note cards for some things, I guess), a "hymnal" consisting of about 100 badly rendered MIDI songs (you'd be better served to find a high schooler that's been taking piano lessons. Trust me.), and one more feature that makes it even more valuable...

The Unlocker. Even after you've purchased this item, you can add to it. Located on the main toolbar is a little "Unlock Resources" button that will let you, well, unlock more resources. Logos offers special discounts for people looking to upgrade thier product to something a little more special. Those commentaries and language tools might be cheaper on the other side of purchase. Not a promise, and don't expect them to be. Also, upgrades to other editions (like Bible Study to Scholar's) are a little cheaper. Just throwing out some numbers, if Scholar's cost $1000 and Bible Study costs $250, then the upgrade might be $800. That means you'd be paying $50 more, but also that you didn't spend that last $800 until you knew you needed to.

There are only a few cautions I'd throw out there. First off, this program tends to call home a bit. Not a big deal and I don't feel like it's invading my privacy or anything, but I'd be wary of how I install this if I were in a sensitive area. Secondly, it does require a fair bit of processor to operate. Pay close attention to the minimum requirements, and then plan on exceeding them. You'll need all the help you can get (this is especially true for Series 3).

All in all, this is probably the best software out there and this is probably the best packaging of it for most people. Logos really knows what they're doing and I look forward to getting deeper and deeper into this program and, by default, the Word. But before you buy, please do check out Logos.com, it might end up saving you in the end.

This is the best Bible Study Software - Bar None.

Type in a bible reference and hit 'Go!' and you are greeted with the text in one window, and a exhaustive list of references and commentary in another.

Logos has put a lot of effort into this software, and is continually improving on a wonderful product.