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Publishers Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Publishers
For Love of a Horse
Published in Hardcover by Severn House Publishers Ltd (1979-12-10)
Author: Patricia Leitch
List price:
Used price: $104.04

Average review score:

Captivating, and not just another horse book. 1st book in series.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-15
This book absolutely captivated me when I was younger, and I ended up reading the whole series. Leitch portrays a young girl who is, well, young-- with great sensitivity and endearment. Our red-haired heroine is sometimes impulsive, sometimes selfish, sometimes short-tempered, but always uniquely perceptive, loving, sensitive, and very, very recognizable! The horse of the story, too, acts like a real horse-- spooky, moody, and magical to eyes that know how to see it-- revealing that the author has a deep knowledge of both horses and young girls (well, I was a young girl once too, but it's clear to me that Ms. Leitch *remembers* it with a greater perception than I ever did.) There are some very nice elements to the stories, even morality and character issues, without ever becoming cliche or saccharine. The dark borders the light very effectively in these books set on the heather-and-bracken filled hills of Scotland. Judging from the characters in the books it is also clear to me that Ms. Leitch has been acquainted with at least one stodgy, stubbornly amusing Scottish farmer. This is the first in a series of beautiful stories that, in my opinion, are a must-have for any young-at-heart horse lover.

British horse story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-16
Horsecrazy Jinny Manders is thrilled when her father, a disillusioned social worker, moves his family from the city to a tumbledown ruin of an old house in rural Scotland. Her bliss turns back into dreaming when she falls in love with an abused circus mare, a spectacular chesnut Arabian, who has escaped into the wilderness surrounding Jinny's new home.

Very solid horse story (which means of course it's pretty unlikely, that's the whole point), strong action, vivid writing. British social attitudes of the 1970's lend it a slightly baffling feel to a modern American (or, probably, anyone else)

to buy at another place
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-11-17
this was an awesome book! if you are looking for another place to get it, try half.com , i found all the books in the Horseshoes series by Patricia Leitch for under $3 each. alibris also has patty leitch books for cheap.

Horse lover's heavan
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-10
This is one of the best horse books ever--one of the best books ever. This book is sad, funny, and at moments quite terrifying. This is a great book for people of all ages and it is really a pity that they are out of print. I advise anyone to buy this book--it's really worth it.

These books are magical, to say the least
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-26
This title For Love of a Horse, and the other eleven in the series are the best horse stories I have ever read - I can't believe they are currently out of print!?! This first book sets up the series, where Jinny and her family move to the Scottish highlands and Jinny rescues Shantih from the circus and brings her home to Finmory. Patricia Leitch writes in a way that lets you share in Jinny's happiness, pain, family life, and perils of growing up. The other books in the series in order are: A Devil to Ride -- The Summer Riders -- Night of the Red Horse -- Gallop to the Hills -- Horse in a Million -- The Magic Pony -- Ride Like the Wind -- Chestnut Gold -- Jump for the Moon -- Horse of Fire -- Running Wild. I am lucky enough to have read them all and own eight of them, and have read them over and over. Please reprint these(!!) so a new generation can enjoy Patricia Leitch's Jinny stories.

Publishers
German in Review
Published in Hardcover by Harcourt College Publishers (1999-11)
Author: Kimberly Sparks
List price: $76.95

Average review score:

The BEST German Grammar book PERIOD.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-25
Despite it being targeted at advanced students, I, being a serious student, learned German almost completely from this book alone. The structure of the language is stated in the most clear and concise way imaginable, and the exercises strive to enhance retention of the material in each chapter.

The only problem was vocabulary - which I fronted with looking up words in a German-English dictionary, refering to rules stated in German in Review, and creating my own vocabulary exercises. (I don't however recommend this to anyone, unless you are willing to devote yourself to practice)

All in all it's an EXCELLENT book on German grammar, and it is the BEST you will ever find, that I'll guarantee. It would be best to pair it with a vocabulary builder or any textbook you're working with right now. Or, if you are serious about learning by yourself (like I was), and you aren't afraid of grammar and repetitive drills, go for it and try learning with this book.

Excellent instruction, plenty of exercises
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-03
I lived in Germany for two years, and every morning I spent 30 minutes studying out of this book. After about a year I felt comfortable enough with my German to start learning a third language.

I tutor German at the university now. One of the main concerns my students have is that they just need more practice. The textbook their class uses provides very few exercises (almost none), so I started bringing to our tutoring sessions my old "German in Review" which provides MANY exercises for each lesson. I also soon found that this book was great at explaining concepts with which my students struggle, so we'll often read an entire lesson together in this book.

Great for Reviewing German
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-25
This book is great. The price is high but I used after not using German for several years. It's simple and straight to the point with easy examples. For a school text or just review I recommend it.

excellent, an amazing resource.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-24
I used this book while in Germany learning German. I just read through the entire thing, wrote everything down, and memorized it all. It has everything in it. I couldn't have learned German without it. But, if you don't have a firm understanding of grammar and foreign language, it might be tough, as it is a "review".

The Best I've Ever Seen
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-17
I studied linguistics in college and have studied and learned several languages to fluency. This is the best grammar review text I have ever used. It's straight forward, comprehensive, well laid out and unusually readable. The use of green ink to illustrate examples and highlight what's important is especially effective. I wish it were part of a series that included similar texts for French, Russian and Italian.

Publishers
Gifts from the Mountain: Simple Truths for Life's Complexities (BK Life (Hardcover))
Published in Hardcover by Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2007-10-01)
Author: Eileen McDargh
List price: $19.95
New price: $2.00
Used price: $1.30
Collectible price: $19.94

Average review score:

Beautiful and Reflective Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-08
The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die (BK Life (Paperback))

This is a beautiful book that quietly dances around your soul causing you to reflect on your own life. Using the metaphor of her own lifelong journey hiking in the mountains, the author takes the experiences of those hikes and connects them to the choices which fill life with joy and wonder. The book is illustrated with wonderful art that is worth the price of the book on its own. Eileen is a great communicator in person and on paper through the written word. This book is a gift from the mountain to your soul. You will want to keep it my your bedside and read more than once.

John Izzo, Author of The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die

The Tao of Switchbacks
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-21
The natural world has a knack for being able to cut all our complications and confusions down to size. And that's exactly what Eileen McDargh does with this lyrical book, showing us through observations on the backpacking trail that the path ahead is right in front of us--if we're really looking. She certainly is, finding lessons for use at home and work in the tenaciousness of a high-altitude flower, the unexpected whims of the elements, and the danger of false confidence on the downhill track. Books that shine the mirror of nature back on us often wind up stuck in the gates from triteness. Not this one. The writing is superb. I kept thinking, I wish I'd seen that on the trail. I wish I'd written that. If you love the outdoors, are a hiking fan, or just want to get some wise words from a pathfinder who can clarify decisions in work or life, check this little book out. It gets you off the bullet train and lets you see the forest AND the trees.

A Wonderful Guide to Life
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-11
I stumbled across this book through a newspaper article that was forwarded to me by a dear friend. (Kathy M. Kristof, "Spend your cash on things that are truly valuable") I was inspired by the article so I ordered the book that the article mentioned: "Gifts From the Mountain: Simple Truths for Life's Complexities"

I can say that the book was not at all what I thought it was going to be. BUT...I am very, very happy with my purchase. I call my experience with this book my happy, little accident. It came to me at a time where I really needed to have simple and clear messages to help me interpret some situations in my life. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for some insight into themselves and the world around them.

A remarkable 114-page compendium
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-05
Enhanced with full color illustrations by Roderick MacIver, "Gifts From The Mountain: Simple Truths For Life's Complexities" by Eileen McDargh is a remarkable 114-page compendium of advisory truths for daily living that would be applicable to every man and woman regardless of their situation or circumstance in life. MacIver writes with a kind of lyrical metaphor when dealing with life's demands. The result is a collection of individual wisdoms that are universally applicable and enthusiastically recommended. 'Every Ounce Counts': Hike enough and you trim the weight/of what you carry. You learn that pita bread/weighs less than squaw bread; dried apples weight less than/trail mix; ramen and dried vegetables weigh even less/than some freeze-dried entrees. you discover/you can share a tube of toothpaste. Ditto deodorant,/sunscreen, and bug repellent.//How often do we encumber our civilized life with things/we WANT instead of things we truly need?//Choose what you carry carefully./I never saw a hearse with a U-haul behind.

book as vacation break
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-11
When your workaholic colleagues and friends do not let up on their all-enveloping "goal", give them a respite they may pick up and read one day - and feel different when done. Thank you Eileen for this sensory, elegantly-simple gift book of reminders for why we are helped by taking that pause and looking around. Sculling out on Richardson Bay here in Sausalito this morning, I reflected back on her wise insights.
- Kare, movingfrommetowe.com

Publishers
The Glannon Guide to Civil Procedure: Learning Civil Procedure Through Multiple-Choice Questions and Analysis
Published in Paperback by Aspen Publishers (2003-10)
Author: Joseph W. Glannon
List price: $29.95
New price: $26.95
Used price: $15.00

Average review score:

The Glannon Guide to Civil Procedure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-17
Defin. a book worth buying! -very helpful & makes civil procedure really easy to understand.

learning with MCQ's
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-20
Glannon's guide is God send. if you purchase Glannon's E&E, you must also purchase his guide to learning Civ Pro through MCQ's. It is great!

Love it!

Excellent Conditon
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-01
The book was delievered in great condition, within a moderately good time frame. It has proved very useful in my 1L studies!

Excellent guide
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-27
Glannon clearly and succinctly provides examples of possible multiple choice questions that could be found on exams. Unlike a lot of other guides I've seen...it's not confusing and it's not a chore to read through the book.

excellent study aid
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-28
Without a doubt this is an essential key to success in civil procedure. I basically outlined this book along with my class notes and got an A on the exam. Very, very, very good aid.

Publishers
God's Wisdom for Little Girls: Virtues and Fun from Proverbs 31
Published in Hardcover by Harvest House Publishers (2000-07-01)
Author: Elizabeth George
List price: $15.99
New price: $7.67
Used price: $1.61
Collectible price: $16.95

Average review score:

A little reminder for us moms too.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-11
This book really gets on the level my 4-yr old daughter. Its a gentle reminder of the fruits of the spirit. It leads to kid like discussion that helps them to understand what you expect from them as little girls. I think this book is a keeper. Somethimes when things are going rough at home we pull out this book and plant a little seed of scripture in their young heart. The pictures are lovely as well.

Amazing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-05
This book is excellent. It aligns the Proverbs 31 scripture along with daily life that little girls understand and can apply.

refreshing
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-01
It's so nice to read something to my daughter that I know is feeding her spiritually. She really connects with the illustrations, and loves to talk about what the girl in the story is doing. This book has naturally lead us into wonderful conversations about what it means to belong to God and what kind of habits we need to be forming as His children.

God's Wisdom for Little Girls
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-05
Beautiful pictures and borders. A great gift to give to parents of newborns and to preschool and primary children. God's Wisdom for Little Boys is equally wonderful.

WISDOM AT IT'S BEST
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-13
This beautifully illustrated book is full of wonderful prose and rhymes that could be read to any little girl old enough to know right from wrong. The stanza format is excellent, and if you were to work on and apply each page a week at a time (with repetitive reviews) it will turn into a lasting treasure.

Publishers
Great Chefs Cook Vegan
Published in Hardcover by Gibbs Smith, Publisher (2008-08-11)
Author: Linda Long
List price: $35.00
New price: $17.43
Used price: $19.99

Average review score:

Amazing photos!!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-02
Amazing photos! I received the book as a gift. We have made a few dishes for friends and they were outstanding. I am not a vegan but the selections were easy to follow and a nice change! Great gift of the chef in the house.

Makes Vegan Absolutely Inspiring
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-17
Almost all of us have vegan family members or friends, or maybe even have thought of experimenting with vegan menus ourselves ... but it always seemed so mysterious and time consuming. Linda Long's "Great Chefs Cook Vegan" changes all that. She includes a wide range of recipes from the simple to the complex - including breakfasts to desserts -- all of them inspiring. Every combination looks as good as it is healthful.
This is the perfect resource to have when you're planning a holiday dinner, a casual get together, a weekend with friends. It's an excellent personal cookbook as well as a great gift for a favorite vegan.

Amazing Recipes
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-13
These are great recipes by great chefs, most of whom are not used to cooking vegan recipes on a regular basis. Most of the recipes are easy to follow with ingredients you can find quite easily. I love this book and will use is very, very often and not just for entertaining.

GCCV breaks the glass ceiling!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-11
Linda Long has created the book I know I have dreamt about--along with scores of other dreamers.
That Linda was able to get this group of uber star chefs to return her call, I cannot imagine. (Well, I can--I know Linda!). But seriously, that she got these incredibly busy chefs so enthused about creating the exquisite vegan meals is remarkable. No doubt these chefs learned a thing or 2 along the way and so will you when you get your copy. Linda's photography is magnificent. I almost licked the pages, but instead, I set about making the meals. YUM is what I can say, as did my lucky guests.

I had the good fortune to test a few of the dessert recipes, and knew in advance we were in for a treat. But what a treat! This book is a truly a must have, and it is the perfect gift for every occasion. There is something for everyone. Non-cooks can simply look at the photos and drool. New cooks can follow the very clearly written recipes and are assured of delicious results. And those of us who like to spend lots of time creating restaurant quality, multi-step recipes will have a ball too. There is no reason not to get this book into your hands immediately!

Fran Costigan
More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally
www.francostigan.com

Great Chefs Cook Vegan by Linda Long
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-18
I'm not vegan, BUT, I love what my sister "Linda" has created in her first cookbook! Her photography really is amazing and she has come a long way from her "brownie camera" days! Her hard work and strong will to accomplish this absolute yummy cookbook, makes me want to give her "10 Stars+"! I actually will try to make some of these appealing recipes. I'm so proud of you, "YOU GO SISSY"!

Publishers
H. P. Lovecraft: A Life
Published in Paperback by Cooper Square Publishers (2004-01)
Author: S. T. Joshi
List price: $22.95

Average review score:

A great, but biased work on Lovecraft's life
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 23 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-09
Wow, this must have been quite a few hours of work for Joshi! The fonts are below even standard book-fonts, AND I hear it's an abridged version but still the book is almost 700 pages. But don't get me wrong, in many ways I wish it was longer. The book is a fine introduction to Lovecraft's life, and to most Lovecraft-readers, probably quite enough in itself. It chronicles on an annual basis, highlighting and describing any interesting incidents or activities revolving around Lovecraft and his circle of friends and family that happened over the years. There's not much to say about this, its very good and solid biographical work by a fine devotee of Lovecraft; S.T Joshi. Its not often reading a biography makes me sad, but reading the final chapter on Lovecraft himself "The end of one's life" made a certain Norwegian man quite sad. Apart from some points I'm about to take up, I have no doubt that this is a biography that Lovecraft himself would have approved of. It could have been more detailed in its description of how the various fiction came to be, and more analysis of this area, but it IS after all a biography, so that was of course Joshi's prerogative.

Now to the bad; as a little background to the author of the book, he is in fact an immigrant; an Indian living with a miscegenating Euro-American female. This explains why he constantly abuses Lovecraft for his conservative and racialist views. He conjures up non-sense frequently when talking about this subject; somehow concluding that theories about race and miscegenation etc were definitively debunked by the "scientific work" of Franz Boas. This is of course complete nonsense, like Kevin MacDonald has shown in his excellent work "The Culture of Critique". Franz Boas had specific racial reasons himself for carrying out his campaign against the use of "race" in academia, and the reasons for this were far from what the Western standard of science represents.

So even though I highly recommend the book, I wish Joshi could have been so intellectually honest that he admitted in the book that his status as a non-European immigrant himself has biased him, and made him write the book with an extreme liberal and secular slant. So if you manage to ignore this part of Joshi's book; you'll have on your hands an excellent and well-written account of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and a good introduction to his writing.

Definitive biography of HPL
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-03
Joshi is the foremost student of Lovecraft, and in this volume he has written the unsurpassable biography of the man whom Stephen King himself called "the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."

For myself, I can only say it's been a long wait. I first discovered Lovecraft at my local library in eleventh grade. I picked a book decorated with some macabre illustration off a twirling bookstand, checked it out, and rode my bike home with the volume tucked under my arm. That evening I sat with it in the big white reading chair in our home's living room. The first story I read was "The Picture In the House."

I was hooked.

Within the year I'd read every story Lovecraft wrote excepting one--"Herbert West: Reanimator". (I finally got to that earlier this year.) I became, in a way, obsessed with Lovecraft. I wanted to know who he was, so I read Frank Belknap Long's Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside. The stories and poetry I was writing at the time became increasingly colored by (or downright imitative of) my hero. Somehow, the man infected my consciousness in a way no other writer--before or since--ever has. I guess it's because in so many ways my inner life has been--with some important exceptions--a parallel to Lovecraft's. I see him as a kindred spirit.

That being the case, it's hardly surprising I relished--nay, wallowed in--this biography. It is detailed beyond imagining. Here we follow Lovecraft on his walking tours, street by street. We see his grocery lists and menu items. We read his letters and amateur publications. By the end of this text you will feel you have lived and breathed right alongside the old fellow and slung arm-in-arm with him through his nightmare worlds. No one could have done it better than Joshi, and it is doubtful anyone ever will. If you are a fan, this is a must read. If just curious, the lengthy detail might be off-putting, but you may find yourself a convert by the end.

Most likely the definitive Lovecraft biography
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-25
Unlike De Camp in his earlier biography, Joshi doesn't consider HPL to be a failed version of what he might have been had he at various key points in his life been just that little bit more commerce-minded: instead he accepts Lovecraft as he was and goes on from there. I think Joshi brings out what it is about Lovecraft & his work that continues to fascinate today: the curious fact that an erudite, scholarly autodidact should, from an early age, have been so caught up in a melodramatic 'pulp' aesthetic that for the rest of his life he focussed the entirety of his self-expression - emotional, intellectual and philosophical - through that aesthetic. Hence Lovecraft's stories have, even at their most garish & mechanical, an (admittedly sometimes near-subliminal) intellectually rich underpinning, and it is this bleed-through of a higher aesthetic that lifts them above the acres of hackwork that surrounded them when first published in Weird Tales, (try reading even a 'best of' by those other writers today!), gives them a psychological curiosity, and has given them their unexpected longevity.

Joshi's analysis of the 'Cthulhu Mythos' is, I think, exactly right: he defines the Mythos (not HPL's coinage, of course), as 'a fictional technique' for presenting Lovecraft's philosophy - which Joshi defines astutely as 'an anti-theology' which makes manifest (as we see with the cultists in Call of Cthulhu) the delusive nature of all religious belief, and asserts the meaningless of human existence in a vast, uncaring, mechanistic universe.

This analysis justifies what would otherwise be an excessively lengthy exploration of Lovecraft's political and philosophical beliefs, given that he published no significant writing on those subjects, and was only considered a great thinker by his friends and epistolary correspondents. It also highlights the unalloyed perversity of August Derleth in imposing a Catholic-inflected cosmology onto Lovecraft's atheistic vision. How strange that he was so fascinated by HPL & his work, but couldn't accept what Joshi rightly points out is its absolute core!

Joshi manages to address various differing opinions in the world of Lovecraft Studies without becoming pedantic or petty, and takes trouble to credit other researchers and academics for their insights.

As a biography this book is full of interest, and Joshi's pursuit of detail is relentless - occasionally to the point of obsessiveness, it has to be said, but some of the details he uncovers are highly revealing. His account of Lovecraft's death I found surprisingly moving, but I did not, as I did on finishing the De Camp biography, regret his life - except in the single matter of his clinging on to racist beliefs and self-diminishing prejudices.

I have very few criticisms. There are no photographs, and I think the cover is horrid - & certainly is not a good likeness of HPL. Occasionally Joshi is so aesthetically aligned with his subject he indulges him (as he does with certain of his amateur endeavors); occasionally Joshi is over-definitive in his judgment of the merits of various yarns. I think he slightly misses the mark at various points when he comments of (eg the denoument of Herbert West) that HPL must have been sending up his own style to *intentionally* comic effect. This, I think, is not quite right: rather, it seems to me, he allowed his discipline to slip, and reverted to the garish style of the Argosy yarns that he had read as a child, the style of which had so fundamentally informed his entire notion of the form of aesthetic and psychological self-expression that he could never quite discard it. Lovecraft knew it was a failing on his part, but sometimes let it off the leash regardless. I'm sure he never thought of his verbal pyrotechnics as anything other than, on sober reflection, accidentally funny.

Aside from those very modest quibbles, I found Joshi's judgments & assessments at all times perceptive and thought-provoking, and his 'Life' a highly-readable achievement in biography.

Difficult mixed bag - comprehensive but needs editing
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-13
The good: Until S.T. Joshi's book, the only serious, widely-available biographical information on HPL apart from his letters was 'H.P. Lovecraft; A Biography' (1975) by L. Sprague de Camp, which left many gaps and open questions. Joshi's book fills in the gaps and then some. It is the closest thing we have to a definitive Lovecraft bio, and if you're a Lovecraft scholar of any seriousness, you'll eventually need to read it.

The not-so-good: While Joshi's book reads like a rigorously well-researched first draft, I wish he'd consulted a manuscript editor before publication. This massive, expensive and ponderous 708-page book could perhaps be edited into a more readable and reasonably-priced 300-page book, with another 100 pages of small print endnotes, merely by removing Joshi and his scholarship from the foreground and replacing them with Lovecraft. For example:

- Joshi includes himself in the story, using the first person pronoun on nearly every page. "I..." this and "I..." that. While Joshi is likely the world's foremost Lovecraft scholar, and I appreciate his excellent and exhaustive efforts as a researcher, I did not plunk down such a hefty cover price to read about his adventures in scholarship. Easily 200 pages of this 708 page book are about the adventures of Joshi, Lovecraft scholar. That information belongs either in a short appendix or separate article. He'll print a quotation and then add, "To this analysis there is really very little to add...," or "I don't think I can add much to this," or "That last remark may be a little sanguine, but let it pass," seemingly for no other purpose than to firmly return the spotlight, which had momentarily alighted on Lovecraft, to himself. On nearly every page I felt that trapped "captive audience" feeling you get with professors who use class time to speak at length about their personal lives. Surely by now it has become standard practice for biographers to not include the personal "I" in their biographies, at least when they've never met the subject.

- While most biographies focus on the subject and relegate sources and disputes to footnotes and endnotes, Joshi foregrounds the sources and points of contention, which has the odd effect of almost burying the subject. You'll often read four paragraphs of sources and conjecture containing a single sentence of actual biographical information. If Lovecraft did X, but there's some dispute, I'd prefer the main body to say "Lovecraft probably did X," with a small-print footnote citing sources and contentions. I paid to read about Lovecraft, not Lovecraft scholarship. I often feel like I'm being punished, forced to read 708 pages to get 300 pages of information.

- As another reviewer pointed out, Joshi frequently expresses his personal opinions in a tone suggesting that he believes them to be indisputable fact. Especially disconcerting is Joshi's careful habit of never missing an opportunity to denigrate Lovecraft himself. A tiny sampling of Joshi's descriptions of Lovecraft and his work includes: clownish error, clumsily, embarrassing, paranoia, pompous, pseudo-philosophical, trying to do too much, moping, overly given to histrionics, painfully inept, pitiable wish-fulfilment [sic], a pretty sorry excuse for a story, offensive, dubious and pathetic. It's almost as though, while Joshi must have some respect for Lovecraft, he is careful to constantly place himself "above" Lovecraft emotionally. I can sympathize with Joshi, who as a serious scholar must sometimes find himself exasperated by uninformed intellectuals who still underrate Lovecraft's genuine contribution. However, I feel that the body of a biography is not the best place for Joshi to distance himself from Lovecraft's sillier decisions. If Joshi dislikes something, surely he need not bolster his personal opinion by inflating it into a grandiose pretend-fact by pompously lecturing the reader as to what we ought to despise or where to place our "well-deserved contempt."

Why are Joshi's opinions in the book at all? Doesn't he trust his readers to form our own opinions? Almost once per page I felt some resentment at being forced to play captive audience to Joshi's unwelcome editorial opinions and emotional self-positioning in order to gain access to his excellent scholarship. Toward the end Joshi finally provides his editorial rationalization, introducing the topic by slamming previous Lovecraft biographer de Camp with: "[de Camp]'s schoolmasterly chiding of Lovecraft [is] ...galling." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Joshi goes on to claim that "passing value judgments... is the proper function of any biographer." Excuse me? As with all of Joshi's most dubious assumptions, he provides not a single citation or justification for this opinion, but merely states it as fact. Many (perhaps most) professional biographers would strongly disagree. I couldn't help bursting into incredulous laughter when Joshi finally declares, "...on occasion one feels as if Lovecraft is having some difficulty shutting up."

In closing, I hope this book is re-released soon with S.T. Joshi's presence as a character, editorial opinions, emotional self-positioning and research experiences either cut entirely or summarized in an appendix or endnotes. Then it wouldn't hurt to have a professional book doctor rewrite with an eye to smoother prose and readability. THAT edition will be the definitive Lovecraft biography.

painstakingly informative
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-06
Clocking in at 654 pages, this sprawling biography will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the horror scribe -- along with some things you'll wish you hadn't discovered, like how Lovecraft was a more zealous racist than was the norm in his day. Joshi is long-winded, for sure, like the grandfather who, when you ask him how the light switch turns the lamp on, proceeds to tell you the history of electricity, starting with two sticks being rubbed together. You'll be hard-pressed to remember all the details afterward, but the story of Lovecraft's life is smartly woven, divulging the world as viewed through the writer's eyes and those around him. Like a criminologist apt at identifying with a killer, Joshi truly seems to understand his subject down to the crumbs on his coat.

Publishers
Hand Tools
Published in Paperback by Lyons and Burford Publishers (1993-02)
Author: Aldren A. Watson
List price: $21.95
New price: $14.50
Used price: $12.49

Average review score:

Woodworker hand tools explained!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-25
I love this book. I have read some of the chapters two-three times now and get something more each time. As an amateur woodworker, I don't fully understand what each tool can do yet dream of outcomes that the masters create. This book explains in simple terms the what, how and what should be for each tool, be it a hand plane, chisel, hammer, etc. Most of my other woodworking books that speak of tools only touch on how to sharpen and maybe adjust but not the how it does it and how it should perform. This book heads to the top of my stack to reach for when I need some tutoring on a particular hand tool.

best buy in a long time
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-29
This is a beautiful book, the moment I read the first chapter I was wishing I'd bought the hard copy so I could put it in pride of place on my bookshelf.
I loved the illustrations, which are on almost every page and give exactly the right amount of detail in a way that photos can't. But the best part is the author's wonderful writing style, which really conveyed a sense of the timeliness and pleasure of woodworking. Even when describing such mundane things as taking measurements, the author has a great knack of focussing on the human aspect of the process, the decisions that need to be made and the emotions that the wrong and the right decision evoke. This, to me, is the reason working with handtools it is such a satisfying pastime, and this book wraps up all of those experiences in a really beautiful way. Top marks.

Useful and Enjoyable
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-22
Just beginning my adventure in woodworking, this book has done exactly as it claims in the back cover. It feels like I have a readily available experience woodworker in my pocket whenever I have a question about a tool. The explanation is clear like a craftsman would teach his apprentice, and because of this, the obvious question of what tool should I get first and what tool should be my next purchase is easily answered, without actually saying. The drawings make the book almost timeless, not dated by photos, and the diagrams are reminiscent of the technical sketch you may see on a drafting table. I purchased other books along with this, but keep referencing back to this book to answer my questions about what tool do I need for the next part of the job. The writing is easily explanatory and conversational at once, and is quite enjoyable to read. You can either read it in a linear fashion, from front to back, or you can choose the tool you have questions about (from the Table of Contents) and move directly to it to have your question answered.

Free bench plans if you've never built a workbench, are included. This is a book that could sell itself if you had a chance to open it up.

I Love This Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-20
I don't gush over books very often but this is one of the best investments I have ever made. The illustrations are startling and the writing is clear and unadorned.

What Watson does very well is assume nothing with regard to his reader. He neither panders to the "old pro" nor is condescending to the "rank amateur." He just talks about how to use hand tools, how to think about hand tools and how to appreciate hand tools. I don't think there is a person doing wood working today who would not find something in here that makes them say "Oh, yeah..., that's a good idea."

I have spent quite a lot of money on the Taunton woodworking library and I value them highly. They are good books. But this one is the first one I pick up when I am just spending a few minutes sitting down or before drifting off to sleep.

One caution - this book is about "hand tools" and does include chapters on tools like "hand augurs" which very few of us use, however I have to admit I am tempted to buy one just because of the obvious pleasure this guy has in them. One of my quirks I suppose.

User's Manual for Woodworking Hand Tools
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-11
Watson has written a clear and concise user's manual for woodworking hand tools. He includes many of the basic hand tools that are overlooked (such as the brace and drawknife) in other hand tool books. I got more information out of Watson's clear drawings than I did from the beautiful photographs in Garrett Hack's "Classic Hand Tools" book. This book is meant to be kept in your workshop instead of on the coffeetable.

Publishers
Hands-On Bible NLT
Published in Hardcover by Tyndale House Publishers (2004-09-10)
Author:
List price: $24.99
New price: $14.50
Used price: $10.50

Average review score:

Excellant interactive Bible for kids and teachers
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-01
This Bible has great projects that help reinforce the history and lessons. Great as a kids Bible or as a teachers resource.

Hands on Bible
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-13
Bible in great condition. Was delivered very fast. Wanted it for a Christmas gift and received it in plenty of time. The child that received it loved it so much and will be using it in Sunday school and Awanas. Thanks so much for this product:):):):)

Great Bible for Children
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-06
Hands-On Bible (Bible Nlt)This is a great easy to read Bible for Children-The helps are great and go with our Group Literature.

Quick Service
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-01
Thanks! I got it when you said I would and it was in good condition.

Hands on Bible
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-10
This is a great bible for older elementary aged children. The captions and activities are very interesting. If you want your kids to READ the bible, you need to give them one that will hold their attention. The Hands On Bible will do that.

Publishers
The Honorable Imposter (The House of Winslow #1)
Published in Paperback by Bethany House Publishers (1987-01)
Author: Gilbert Morris
List price: $11.99
New price: $0.50
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $11.99

Average review score:

Great book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-06
Gilbert Morris Books are wonderful, with romance, history and a spiritual uplift and reminder that exceed most books I have read.

Great Start to the Series
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-08
I have been a huge Gilbert Morris fan for a long time. I seemed to have read every other series he wrote besides his most famous one, The House of Winslow. I am most drawn to his books due to the fact that he likes to take historical events and add to them. His knowledge or rather maybe just the research he puts into each book is what makes his books all the better.

This book is just the beginning of Gilbert Winslow's family line. Gilbert joins a group of religious separatists in order to find out some information for a very high Lord of England. While the group's strict ways surprise Gilbert he comes to have a strong connection with some of them. Will Gilbert betray the group that seems to accept him as one of their own?

I absolutely loved this book; it was a great start to the series. I did not seem to want to put the book down, but to continue reading so that I could find out what happens next.

Follow Gilbert Morris as he spins the tale of Gilbert Winslow and the beginning of the New World!

Recommended with reservations
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-11
In this book a young man is hired by an English lord to spy on the Separatists living in Holland, particularly to discover the whereabouts of William Brewster, one of the leaders of the religious dissenters. Gilbert Winslow's task will lead him to travel on the Mayflower, and have to determine where his loyalties truly are. This is book 1 in the incredibly prolific House of Winslow series

This book is . . . nice. Not especially challenging, thought provoking, or whatnot, but nice. I like history, don't mind the religious undertone, good times had by all. Morris is a Christian author, but I've found that his stuff is generally not the `religion shoved down your throat repeatedly" variety, and since I'm a sucker for the nice romantic stories it's a win-win situation. So I would recommend it with reservations

Don't Start Unless You Wanna Be Hooked for Life
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-02
This book kicks off one awesome series. Gilbert Morris may be a bit long winded at times, but his characters are interesting, the history's cool, and the plot twists sneak up on you.

Gilbert Winslow sets out to spy on the Puritans, loses his heart and more to a Puritan and becomes a better man for it.

This is a great book...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-18
This is a remarkable story. It is full of history and I learned a lot about the ways of life of the puritans from reading it. You will meet the characters you find in your history books in a way you never knew them before! I read it very quickly because the characters were so well developed and the plot exciting. The romance was wonderful, but this isn't a romance novel so it wasn't overdone. This is the first book in the House of Winslow series and it tells the story of young gilbert winslow who takes on a job as a spy to turn in one of the leading puritan pastors. It follows his journey on the Mayflower and the lives of the settlers. This story is captivating, simply put. Will Gilbert be able to turn in the innocent man even after he has come to love the Puritans? Will he go back and Marry Cecily and forget all about dear Humility? Everyone should read this book.


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