R Books

My mother first read this book to me when I was a child and I read it to my little brother later. I bought a copy for myself as an adult and have had great fun sharing with all of the children in my life. The story is a cautionary tale about the law of unintended consequences and the need to work out your differences. The best thing about the book is the hilarious illustrations. My children, my husband and I would sit together, making the animal noises and enjoying every part of each picture. (My personal fav is the elephant grabbing the startled king while he talks to his wise men.) A great book for your family!

My kids love this book. The pictures are great and the plot is simple.

For me the key lessons from the story are:-

1. That wise men (ie experts) are not always that wise.
2. Government intervention to solve a problem is not always that successful and often does a lot of damage.
3. It is sometimes far better for a government to simply find a way to accommodate a problem rather than try and fix it.

41 years later:

The cheese is government cheese.

The mice objected to the king's idea of good manners as species-centric, and rebelled.

The king blamed the peasants, and forbade them to keep cats or chase mice from their homes.

This made things worse. Peasants that could afford to do so moved as far away from mice as possible.

I can't wait for the next chapter.

This was one of my favorite books since I was a kid. The pictures were funny and the story has two good lessons in it. People should try to figure out your own problems and don't judge a book by its cover. In this case the mice. The king learned to share his home and his cheese and that's the moral of this story. I would recommended this book to my friends if they where doing this project. It is a great learning experience for kids.

One of the best books I have ever read. The message is deep wisdom that our government leaders and makers of US foreign policy would do well to internalize.

Your kids will like it too.

This book is one of my little girl's favorite books and it was a great introduction to Monet for the entire family. Our children also enjoyed the DVD version.

This is a delightful living book. An opportunity to learn a lot about Monet, his work and his life while enjoying a beautifully told story.

Fabulous book about places I have visited and loved -- I actually
know Michelle who owns the Hotel Esmerelda (she will autograph my
copy of book), and have spent many happy hours in the bookstore
around the corner (never go to Paris without visiting it), and
of course, Monet's art and home are the pinnacle. A wonderful
and inspirational book for all!

I absolutely LOVED this book when I was younger. So, if you're having doubts about your child liking it, I wouldn't...I had the doll of Linnea and I carried it around with me everywhere...and I also brought the book everywhere I could as well.

Linnea, a young Swedish girl has developed quite a friendship with the elderly Mr. Bloom, her upstairs neighbor. Mr. Bloom is a retired gardener who is the proud owner of a lovely book about the great French artist, Claude Monet. After hours and hours of studying Monet and his life, the pair begin the ultimate adventure: a trip to Paris, and where it all began! Linnea and Mr. Bloom visit the Marmottan museum to observe the many paintings of Monet. They study his artwork and how the genius painted. They learn about other Impressionist artists--many who were great friends of Monet. Eventually the young child and elderly gentleman make the ultimate trek to Giverny, where Monet lived and painted.
This book could almost be a 'fun' textbook. The artwork, both of the author's and of Monet's is absolutely exquisite. Becoming familiar with Monet's life and his paintings become a marvelous art history lesson. As an adult, I not enjoyed reading this lovely book but I learned a lot. In fact, a few days after reading LINNEA in Monet's Garden I was watching a Sex in the City episode where Charlotte was showing a group of people one of Monet's 'lily' murals. Being familiar with that painting because of this book was an exciting moment for me!

My nephew just immigrated from China and asked me to get a dictionary for him. I told him that I would get the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

I bought the dictionary when I was a student in London about ten years ago. I tried a number of dictionaries before I was introduced this one. My landlady used to show my dictionary to other foreign students as I used too often to keep in a good shape.

Well, I don't use it as much as I used to but I highly recommend it to any foreign student. You cannot afford not having it ! In fact, I bought one for my niece and I will buy one for my nephew too. I am sure that it will be the best gift for them ever.

I like the book very much. I love it. I keep it in a saft place, I always put it away after studying. NOTE:
I've found a bug on page 1637, look at the entry "widow", (NOT window).
the entry has "-see aslo GRASS WIDOW" cross-reference, but I can't find the entry "grass widow", the nearest entry found is "grassy". I'm not complaining. The dictionary is very useful, very handy. I'm a foreign student studying Computer Science in US. Excuse my English.

This is perfect dictionary if you wanna learn english of all kinds: formal, informal, slang, literary. etc. It only uses the most common words to define a word. It defines a word in American/British/Australian/Canadian/NewZealander/Pakistani/ Indian meanings. This was the first English to English dictionary i ever used, i was scared at first, but i was tired of unsatisfactory results in English to my native language. This dictionary proved to be amazing, its easy as 1-2-3. The usage notes, wonderful pictures, other illustrations to define words are extremely helpful useful. There's simply no other dictionary like this. I recently moved to USA from Pakistan. Looking at how i speak and write/read english ,nobody can believe believe that i just moved here. Some people assume i'm born american. I even learned that word 'assume' with help of this dictionary that is more helpful than the dictionaries translated in my couple of native languages. By the way, after moving to USA, i soon bought Longman dictionay of american english with CD-ROM. :-)

Because of my eyes I bought the book with the CD-ROM. The explanations are well done and really helpful (they earn a 5). The size of the text is good for my eyes too. But the handling of the program is a nuisance.

If you reduce the size of the window the size of the frames and letters remains unchanged and you end up hiding parts of the content. If you want to use all the features you need a full sized window.

There is virtually no thesaurus or I am not able to use it.

Last but not least: when I had completely installed the program I put the book and the CD-ROM in a cupboard far away to leave my desk tidy, believing it was for ever. Unfortunately at Longman's they want to control you and they force you to insert the disk into the cd-rom player from time to time. As it happened to me, when you mostly need an explanation you may have to frantically search in your cupboards for the cd-rom.
5 for the explanations, 2 for the handling: 3 stars for the CD-ROM.

I've been using this excellent dictionary since the last 8 years. Actually, I can undoubtedly say that this is the BEST dictionary I have ever used for learning English! It's very simple and user-friendly.
Features include:

- Clarifications of the use of a word in a spoken compared to written English.
- Graphs to show the difference in frequency of the use between words in speech and writing, between synonyms etc.
- Highlights thousands of phrases and collocations in the nearest possible way.
- Color and black-and-white illustrations from the parts of a car to the sounds !
- Over 80,000 words and phrases with easy-to-understand definitions.
- Pronunciation key with the proper stress in the word syllabus.
- Signposts in longer entries to help you find the meaning that you need.
- References to other words and phrases, and to pictures and usage notes.
- Words that are often used together are shown in dark type, and followed by an example or an explanation e.g. under the word (argument) you will find (have an argument) (get into an argument) (win / lose an argument) etc.
- Grammatical information is shown in brackets, or in dark type before an example.
- Shows the difference between British and American English including: the pronunciation & spelling differences, words & meaning, differences in grammar, and differences in phrases & collocations.
- Appendix contains Tables (Numbers, Weights & measures, Military Ranks, Word formation, The verb "be", Irregular verbs, Geographical names,
- 3rd Edition comes in 1668 pages, published in 1997.

This is a full discipline for teaching English, not just an ordinary dictionary ! It's essential for your desk, especially if your mother tongue is not English.

No matter what area in the music or recording industry you are in, these contracts are absolutely relevant. I found them extremely useful for my company and have highly recommended it to others in the industry. I would suggest that anyone who needs help with contracts purchase this product, you won't be sorry.

I bought this book 2 weeks ago and I could not help myself from dropping by here and saying how i use and feel about this book. Basically it is a life saver for me, it cuts the time I use do deals and it's a fountain of information if you don't have an outside source. My thought it ..buy it!

I loved this pack ever since day one when i first bought it, it brought a while new perspective to my office and the work being done there has increased in efficiency not at my desk but at my colleagues to. Great title

This binder is very well balanced for such a low price. At first, I thought that these contracts would be cheap and of poor quality. However, you can easily customize these contracts to your liking. I would highly recommend these to anyone!

Let's face it- no one likes contacts. In this business though, you need them, pure and simple. This is one of the best collections of legal contracts I've seen in a while- and I've been in this business for quite some time. Do yourself a favor- pick up a copy while you still are in business.

Janie, Eve and Faith all have a crush on Ross Gabriel, a new boy in Shadyside. They all make a bet about dating Ross. But they soon find out that dating Ross means flirting with a gruesome death. You would never guess who the killer is and the reason why he killed.

Have you read any of R.L Stines books before? Such as Baby Sitter Two, Lights Out, the New Girl, & The Step Sister and more? If you haven't, you need to. I did, it was called The New Boy it is a scary book about a couple of murders. The reason I picked this book is because it is so mysterious. Such as in different paragraphs it leaves you in suspense until the next paragraph ends. Picture at: www.amazon.com
When I read this book I could picture the Characters in my mind.
Also I would not go outside of my house because I live near the woods so now you know that it takes place in the woods.
Over all it was good because it is one of my favorite books. I love to read but mostly R.L
Stine's books.
Mostly girls would like it more than boys would because the main character is a. Even though a boy in my class named Lucas said "It was splendid". So boy's if you like scary, passionate books read this. In the story there is a girl, and the new boy likes her. He came from a school where there were a lot of murders. Its rating is 5 stars.

Book: The New Boy
Author: R.L Stine
# of pages:
Publisher: parachute press Inc.
Ibsn: 0-671-73869-0
Price: $3.99




Have you read any of R.L Stines books before? Such as Baby Sitter Two, Lights Out, The New Girl, & The Step Sister and more? If you haven't you need to. I did it was called The New Boy it is a scary book about a couple of murders.
The reason I picked this book is because it is so mysterious. Such as in different paragraphs it leaves you in suspense until the next paragraph ends.

When I read this book I could picture the characters in my mind. Also I would not go out side of my house because I live near the woods so now you now that it takes place in the woods.

Over all it was good because it is one of my favorite books. I love to read but mostly R.L Stine's books.

Mostly girls would like it more than boys would because the main character is a girl. Even though a boy in my class named Lucas said "It was awesome". So boy's if you like scary, romantic books read this. Its rating is 5 stars.

Book title: New Boy
Author: R.L.STINE
Number of pages: 150
Price: 3.99softback
Publication date and publisher: 1994, rainbow arts
ISBN: 0671738690
What would you do if your best friend got murdered? Would you solve the mystery? Would you hide? Because in this book Janie's best friend gets murdered! So solve the mystery of the new boy!

It's a perfect mystery book for you to read! My proof is that it has murders in it and no body knows who it is till the very end of the book! Janie's best friend gets murdered and she doesn't know any thing about the first one till she gets a phone call!
Don't let little kids read it! It will scare them to death because they will probably think there best friends will get murdered! They will get night mares! So don't let kids read this book if they are under the age of 9 and don't read it to them either!
Don't always trust your best friend! They might just betray you right when you turn around! They probably will act like your best friend still! Because one of Janies best friends murders her other best friends! So don't tell your secrets to them unless there good things about you!

So now what would you do if your friends get murdered? Not talk to your best friend for a while? Blame it on your friend? I know I wouldn't id just be a little afraid when I'm around them!

The New Boy by R.L.Stine is one of the best books I have ever read. I would definetly recomend this book to anyone who loves mystery books. This book is filled with thrills and suspense. The book starts of talking about a mysterious boy named Ross coming to ShadyHigh. But when he catches the eye of Jannie and her friends the soon try to go out with him. When Jannie hears about an incident that happened with Ross and his ex-girlfriend Jannie decides to do some investigating.

This was actually my first L. J. Smith book ever. My roommate was reading it when I was 14 and so I picked it up. It wasn't until I was finished that I realized it was a trilogy so it definitely can stand alone but is much better if read last.
The first one was awesome because it introduced the characters and each of the characters got a chance to really show through their true personalities. Except for discovering Gabriel's weakness as a result of over exposure to the large crystal from Book One I really thought #2 was boring.
But #3 was just the best. Kaitlynn has always seen guys look at her w/ desire b/c she's so beautiful but she'd never admitt that she was beautiful b/c others always feared her at the same time due to her visions. It's totally understandable that she'd then hook up w/ the first boy who ever gave her notice w/o fear or any hidden intentions. However, there's always this pull between her and "the bad boy". Lisa Jane does such a great job of showing how we all feel at that point in our lives. When we don't know what we're feeling or what's right. And you fall in love w/ "the bad boy" because you realize the pain and betrayal he experienced that made him who he is but that he's still basically good. And then Rob is like a perfect gentleman, the nice one, the reliable one - but no passion. So it raises the question can you truly be "in love" with someone whom you have no passion for?
This book had a perfect blend of action, danger, suspense and guilt-wrenching plessure so that anyone can enjoy it.

Kait decides to go against her friends and pretend to be a memeber of the dark psychics. Lying to Gabriel, and telling him that she came back for HIM and HIM alone, she begins to get more than she bargained for. And that includes the fact that she begins to fall...for Gabriel. So, when the end comes, which will she choose, Rob or Gabriel? Light hottie, or dark hottie?

Okay, okay, so the fact that Gabriel is totally hot spiced this book up A LOT! But, it WAS a great book. See? Look up top...FIVE stars. THAT is NOT what this book deserved. If i could give this book 10 stars i would do so in a heartbeat.

Gosh Lisa has done it again! This is the third of the Dark Visions Trilogy.

Gabriel has left the group and teamed with Mr.Z. When Gabriel fails to claim the crystal from the group Kaitlyn senses his weakness torwards her. So Kaitlyn takes it upon herself to destroy the evil crystal and help him at the same time. SO she heads off and pretends to team with Mr.Z as well. But what she didnt expect were the new house guests occupying the old house and her newly discovered love for Gabriel....you do the math!
This book was SO good I cant even explain it in words. I mean this book had my heart racing at times. And the ending was absolutely PERFECT I couldnt have asked for a better book!!!!!!!..... Oh yea Kaitlyn's big DECISION was ummm...well I think Kaitlyn's choice was pretty uh......interesting.

I mean the character Gabriel alone is more than enough reasons to buy this book! Only in my dreams would I EVER encounter someone half his character!
So PLEASE buy the book, buy the trilogy. But no dont stop there buy ALL her trilogies. No as a matter of fact buy ALL of L.J Smith books she's brilliant! Trust me Im pretty picky about my authors And she's at the very TOP of my list!!!

'The Passion' is the conclusion to L. J. Smith's 'Dark Visions' trilogy that began with 'The Strange Power' which introduced us to five teenagers brought to the Zetes Institute to enhance their psychic abilities only to find that the man in charge has plans to change them into a psychic 'swat team'. The trilogy continued with 'The Possessed' in which the five of them (Kaitlyn, Gabriel, Rob, Lewis and Anna) were on the run from Mr Zetes in their search to find a mysterious house from their dreams where the Fellowship lived, a passive Utopian society rich in psychic powers thanks to the power of a large perfect crystal. However, their strict rules of conduct meant that one of their numbers - Gabriel - was forbidden to enter their dwelling-place. Blinded by their goodness and ridgid purity Gabriel summoned Mr Zetes and his band of 'dark psychics' that had dogged the teens on their road trip across the country, and together they destroyed the great crystal, leaving only a shard that was placed in Kaitlyn's care. With the Fellowship disbanded and Gabriel reverted to the 'bad guys', the teenagers only hope seemed to be to destroy the Institute from the inside - by using their crystal shard to destroy Mr Zetes own crystal.

As you can see it is impossible to read any of the books out of order as 'The Passion' starts right where the last one ended. Kaitlyn decides to abandon her boyfriend Rob and best friends Anna and Lewis to return to the Institute, in the attempt to both convert Gabriel back to the white hats and find the dark crystal in order to destroy it. She successfully infilterates the Institute and finds herself surrounded by enemies - not only is Gabriel a tad suspicious of her, but there is also her ex-mentor Joyce Piper who betrayed them, Mr Zetes's daughter Lydia, and the malevolent Mr Zetes himself. As well as this are the 'dark psychics' of Mr Zetes former group: John 'Jackal Mac' MacCorkendale, Laurie Frost, Paul 'Renny' Renfrew and Sabrina 'Bri' Jessica Gallo (where does she get these names?!) Along with the new faces comes a new range of psychic abilities such as astral projection, psychometry and dowsing.

Other plot strands include the love triangle between Kaitlyn, Rob and Gabriel; the continuing destruction of the Fellowship; Rob, Anna and Lewis's quest to help both Kaitlyn and the comatosed Marisol of book one; Kaitlyn's struggle to find acceptance among the dark psychics; the dark psychic's deadly missions, and of finding Mr Zetes's very first students...

A fault however, is that L. J. is far too preoccupied with looks - so much so that it begins to get ridiculous, as are her long-winded descriptions on how beautiful Kaitlyn is; silly descriptions such as "a medieval witch princess against the dawn" and "eyes that people called witchy, smoky blue with darker blue rings in them". At one point Kaitlyn actually stands in front of the mirror and thinks to herself - "I look extremely witchy. Like someone who might go walking down the street like this, barefoot, hair wild in the breeze, singing strange songs." Please! It's a bit much. Likewise the simile for Rob as a 'golden, avenging angel' is too overused.

All in all, fans of L. J. Smith should be satisfied with this concluding novel to the trilogy. Unlike her other books it does not deal as much with supernatural qualities (such as vampires and witches) but many of her trademark features are there such as her famous love triangles. For once her heroine chooses the 'bad boy' - quite unprecedented in L. J.'s history (Cassie chooses Adam over Nick, Elena chooses Stefan over Damon and Jenny chooses Tom over Julian). The dark psychics were interesting despite their wackiness - I hope everybody noticed they were symbolic opposites of the original five (two boys, two girls in each group with Gabriel as the fifth member of both). The story wraps up quite quickly for a swift happy ending, but all loose ends are tied up and readers get the standard happily ever after they were hoping for.

In this excitiong conclusion to The Dark Visions Trilogy Gabriel has left and joined up with Mr. Zetes. But Kait knows this isn't the real Gabriel. So she decides to save him. She leaves the group and pretends to team up with Zetes. But while there Kait starts exploring her feelings and realizes she is crazy in love and holds a deep burning passion for...Gabriel. Can Kait save the day? And who will she chose? Rob or Gabriel? The light or the dark?

Kaitlyn definately made the right choice!!! This was my favorite of the trilogy. It was AWESOME! Make sure you read this and all of L.J.'s other books.

First published to great controversy & acclaim some 40 years ago, R.R. Laing's ferocious, heartfelt cri de coeur is even more relevant today. Technically it's psychology -- but in truth, it's a poetic, prophetic work in the tradition of William Blake. Laing's horror & outrage at the needless suffering inflicted on humanity by The Normal Man blazes from every page, and he demands that we face our own inner darkness rather than gloss over it.

Many will disagree with his assessment of schizophrenia ... and they may well be right in a literal sense. We've certainly learned that it has major biological origins. Yet in the modern zeal to medicate rather than analyze, to smooth over wounds rather than delve into their roots, we do ourselves a grave disservice by ignoring its psychological & social components. It's a symptom & reflection of the times, I suppose -- the 1960s emphasized community & social responsibility, as well as the importance of the individual; the contemporary attitude is all too often one of fitting in & getting with the program. If time & science call into question Laing's medical diagnosis of schizophrenia, his philosophical & moral diagnosis remains terribly potent.

How much have we really advanced since the book's publication? We see the same Normal Man calmly talking of pre-emptive wars, of acceptable civilian causalities, of torture as rational policy ... and it's Laing's anguish & compassion that are called crazy. If he were alive today, he'd undoubtedly be even more appalled by what passes for civilization. The dumbing down of the past decades, the push for blind, unthinking obedience, the Pavlovian appeal to patriotic buzzwords -- all this would sicken him. As it should sicken us. What to do in the face of such despair?

Laing reminds us:

"Yet if nothing else, each time a new baby is born there is a possibility of reprieve. Each child is a new being, a potential prophet, a new spiritual prince, a new spark of light, precipitated into the outer darkness. Who are we to decide that it is hopeless?"

The Bird of Paradise is there, hovering in the darkness, waiting for us to join it & soar into the heavens ... if we can only break free of the chains of normality. Most highly recommended!

Not sure about schizophrenia as a strategy to deal with untenable circumstances. Outside of that, this is the most profound book I have read in my life. I have been reading it on and off for 13 years

I had this book years ago and lost it; The Politics of Experience should be on everyone's shelf and is the perfect antidote to isolationist approaches to mental health. The interaction of people, families and communities, and how that interaction affects the participants' mental health, is important to remember in in our travels through life.

Schizophrenics often--not always--have a sensitivity for the Unconscious and what might be going on the mind of the other as well as themselves,but few of us ever get to "hear" it. In the very first three pages Laing gets into the mind and mind- reading of interpersonal relations of the schizophrenic ;eg" you can only experience the fact that I am experiencing your experience..."
this goes on page after page, also in Knots (another book by him). NEVER have I been so engulfed by the thought process; one knows, as he reads these lines, that "he is there" (with the schizophrenic) and knows it unforgettably. Harry Stack Sullivan also struggled with capturing that inner world, which he often shared, of the schizophrenic. Read this book and be introduced poetically into another reality.
Martin J.Kaplan, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist

Ravings of the mad have been metaphorized as "cries for help." Ronald Laing's '67 opus Politics of Experience could be similarly cast as the doctor's cries for help, were one compelled to do so.

Drawing foremost from fellow Scotsman John MacMurray, who insisted that philosophy was only the product of @least two people in relation (& never the product of platitudinous Cartesian contemplative solitude), & then from his own acquired capacity to talk to the designated mad, Laing issued this stinging rebuke of diagnosing & treating selected scapegoats: the invalidation, mystification (the word is Marx's), & finally execution of experience, for the purpose of maintaining social order.

After MacMurray, Laing & assorted colleagues waded into Sartre's last philosophical tome, the octopus-like Critique of Dialectical Reason (which @the time was available only in French), an arduous examination of how the varieties of human groupings appear & are recognized as such.

Lest Laing be construed as a muddle-headed humanist, he knew that although the time was ripe, lepers were not yet kissing saints: in Sartre's terms, no genuine reciprocity.

Despite the general acceptance of schizophrenia by professionals, media interpreters, & the lay population as a bio-genetic anomaly, no one has yet connected THIS particular chemical imbalance with THAT particular objectionable behavior. To his eternal credit, Laing resisted the easy answers with which most of us are so readily mesmerized; the product of what he called "incautious extrapolation."

I already knew the general story. The seminary I wish to attend is where Fr. Eugene Hamilton studied for so brief a time. Truth be told, it was odd to see names of people I know!

When I saw the book, I had to buy it. This account of a man's life cannot truly be summerized without doing it great injustice. What I can say is that the love I felt radiating from the accounts in this piece of literature give me even greater respect for this priest, who only lived as a priest for three hours on earth, but is now a Priest Forever in heaven!

I reccomend it to anyone, but especially to those considering the priesthood.

I loved this book. However, it would be a little difficult for the non-Catholic to understand with all the talk of feast days, rituals, etc. Father Eugene was a wonderful man who accomplished more in his 25 years than many accomplish in their lifetime. I would encourage anyone who can handle a very sad story to read this book. It will strengthen your faith incredibly!

this was a very moving fantastic book. This guys faith is awesome. I got many copies of this book and sent them to my friends. I highly recommend this.

I have read and re-read this book several times and I only bought it two weeks ago!

The story of Father Eugene Hamilton is an inspiration to all Christians every where and I still shed many, many tears while absorbing the incredible testimony of faith by this Godly young man.

This is a book worth treasuring and reading over and over again and even though it merits 5 stars all the way, I only wish there were more testaments from people who knew him...to make the book longer!!

This is perfection in every way......like Father Eugene....who should be canonized!! This man was truly a saint of GOD! That's why God called him home just as his life and vocation was beginning.

Don't miss this one!!

I just finished reading the book... WOW!!!! What an amazing accounting of Fr. Gene; I was really moved by this and INSPIRED more than I could have ever been before reading this, the words of the Holy Father sent to Fr. Gene in hopes of his recovery, "Tell him I LOVE him with my whole heart - in toto corde" that is the true priesthood, embodied in one word, 'LOVE', it couldn't possibly be described any other way - Fr. Gene chose to use Cardinal Cooke's definition - a priest is: a Servant, a Victim, a Brother, a Listener, a Friend. I am very greatful for this story and will never be able to thank my Priest enough for giving me this book.

One of the best books I've read in months. Character developement was superb. I just couldn't put it down. An ending that left me hungry for more. I can't wait for the next one! Highly reecommended.

I found this novel very easy to read and enjoyed the storyline and the character involvement. In spite of the fact there were many characters, I did not find their introduction confusing and as the story evovled, the intertwining of each into the story was well done. Looking forward to Dr. Comunale's next effort.

Great Book. I highly recommend it to everyone. The characters are wonderful and unforgettable. The portion of this story on Ellis Island brought tears to my eyes. If you haven't read it--get it and read it tomorrow.

This is a brilliant first novel. I couldn't put it down. Couldn't wait to find out what happened to the characters. Looking forward to the next one!!

R.A. Comunale provides just enough action and just enough reflection in this story of friendship through the years and careers of multiple likable characters. The plots begin in childhood, twist and turn through the last century, and resolve (or not) in the current decade. A fast read that has left me wanting for more. A great gift idea for yourself and for others.

Riding With Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch: From the White House to the RanchThis is an excellent book and I enjoyed reading it. It was very well written and interesting reading. Very good book.

I had personal reason to buy this after seeing the author on C-span Book TV since I knew people close to one of those mentioned in the book. Can't say who or how it got to her, but after reading it got a nod and wink. Think you'll do the same.

Barietta lets us into the inner circle outside Reagan's 'kitchen cabinet'. He paints a picture of Reagan that allows one to understand the essence of the man; his connection with the individual, and as such, the people. The author's allegiance to the President does not cloud the reality of the relationship between these two men. Despite the professional connection, Reagan had a way, I summize, to bridge that barrier and maintain a bond that is clear through the author's typewritten words.

This was a wonderful look, and the personal side of a great man. These are truly memorable moments from John Barletta, written in an honest, detailed and interesting manner. Well worth the read.

John Barletta, through his insight and understanding, with a rock-solid foundation of character and integrity, has connected with President Reagan as few others ever have. Reagan's inner-core and genuine goodness, plus our personal contact with him and the guidelines and special bonds we forged with this uncommon man were granted to a few of us who were privileged to spend those rare moments at his side while his core values transferred, as if by osmosis, to our minds and our hearts.

Barletta's view and understanding of Reagan is exceptional and true. His pleasant,easy-to-read, conversational style of writing is reader-friendly and gives the reader a "you are there" "eyewitness" feeling. The author had to come away from each experience with RR feeling more and more as if he were part of Reagan's extended family; an almost brotherly connection for the two of them.

It sure did for a few of us who were there at the beginning of RR's political career, like Edwin Meese III, Wm.P. Clark, Lyn Nofziger and Tom Reed.
What a pleasure NOT having to wade though pages of footnotes and notes to get to the meaning of this remarkable book. Not necessary when the author is intimately aware of his subject, as Barletta is. No nonsense, fabrications or embellishments in this book; just the facts--- beautifully explained. Thanks! Curtis Patrick, author, REAGAN: WHAT WAS HE REALLY LIKE?