Titles Books

Intriguing mankind for millenia, the pyramids of Eqypt have prompted numerous investigations by scholars and scientists over the centuries. In this book, John Romer's most impressive achievement is his extensive analysis and masterful synthesis of these investigations, enhanced with his own on-site studies and observations. The ease and clarity with which he presents his conclusions, and the scope of the material covered, is astonishing. Many photos, line drawings, and other visual aids complement his presentation.

Even if this had been a strictly scholarly book of dry facts and observations, it would be significant enough, but Romer also brings to life the society and people that produced the pyramids, revealing them to be skilled and dedicated craftsman who created works of timeless beauty with simple tools, professionalism, and perseverance. The idea that "ancient man" could never produce such structures is quietly, confidently, and thoroughly refuted. This book is a "must read" for any layman who wants a clear and compelling answer to the age-old question, 'who built the pyramids?'

It is difficult to imagine how anyone is going to top this treatment of the Great Pyramid. Romer, an Egyptologist for more than 40 years, describes in unprecedentedly precise detail how the pyramid was designed and built. There is none of the mystical nonsense that has appeared in some books about the pyramids. This massive structure was built by humans like us who learned from their mistakes on earlier pyramids and adjusted their plans to the realities of the Giza plateau.

Romer brings out the sophistication and architectural subtlety of the Great Pyramid, and the clever alignments that made its construction possible. This was an astounding feat of planning, organization, and execution for people living 4,500 years ago. Medieval cathedrals look relatively modest by comparison.

Romer admires the dedication and skill of the stone-workers, giving the reader a good feel for the adjustments they used to make their ambitious plan work. Some of the most interesting chapters show how pyramid-builders learned from the mistakes made in building pyramids for Khufu's father.

Romer tracks down related parts of the pyramid project such as quarries and ramps. He provides intriguing sidelights, such as the huge amount of copper needed to make chisels for the masons who shaped the stone blocks.

Romer describes the pyramids as the physical residue of establishing the Egyptian state. This age was short-lived; the pyramids that followed the Great one were less ambitious, and the pyramid age soon died out.

Romer writes with style, though he occasionally dwells too much on certain features such as the "prism point."
He praises some earlier Egyptologists such as Flinders Petrie. The accuracy of Petrie's surveys, made over a century ago, has never been surpassed.

This is a large format book of more than five hundred pages. It is well illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and black and white photographs, including well-chosen photos from as early as 1865. This is not a book for the lazy reader, but it rewards those with sustained interest.

A new book by John Romer on the library shelf! I could hardly contain my excitement since his books have always had fascinating views of Egypt presented in a readable way that suddenly opens vistas of ancient Egypt and puts things in a new light, brings the people more to life than most other authors. I adore his "Ancient Lives" TV series. Here was a new and fascinating book to read - photos of parts of the Great Pyramid and views of parts of it I'd never seen in the books I had available; discussions of sources of minerals, stone and copper; calculations of awesome quantities of resources and how this changed Egypt; methods of transport and calculations of manpower needed; details of quarries; details of earlier pyramids that made it clearer how they "evolved" and were planned. This was also a frustrating book to read and I returned again and again over about 2 months - "squaring the circle" had me going in circles trying to reproduce, from the description, what was intended, and deciding he must mean circumference, not diameter; finding some of the diagrams on how the builders worked things out confusing until finally about page 364 (?) a reasonable diagram finally was clear. Frustrating because I'm sure I could explain the basic idea to my 14 year old students in about 10 minutes with that last diagram and wondering why it took so long to get around to that diagram. Fascinating in the simplicity of the overall method of control once it was clear the east field could be used as a full size planning area. As a teacher always on the lookout for things from the real world to base problems on for maths or science, and as someone used to teaching areas, nets and scale models for a technology unit, maybe the placement of the Great Step didn't seem quite so miraculous to me. I still think the book is a monumental work and should be read by anyone interested in Egypt and the pyramids. John Romer has again given a fascinating and different view of ancient Egypt and its most well known monument.

Since many illustrious and famous Egyptologists have already written their praise for this book on its cover, I shall not try to emulate their eloquent praise for John Romer's quite extraordinary book. However, as an amateur lover of ancient Egypt's history, engineering and artistic achievements, I was spellbound by Romer's quite amazing conhesion of painstaking research and found myself totally absorbed and amazed. The reader is taken on a spellbinding journey through every aspect of the building of the great Pyramid and back in time. His text is elegant and fluidly written, the pictures and diagrams most interesting and easy to understand. I loved this book.
Out of Africa. Johannesburg

John Romer has outdone himself with his book, The Great Pyramid. Highly readable, this well researched book shows the remarkable engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians. For those who will look for such silly theories as building assistance by extra-terrestrias and other rubbish, this is not the book for them. It is a book for rational, intelligent readers who admire and wish to have a better understanding of the creative abilities of older civilizations.
Greg Slater
Australia

This was an excellent, intense account of a unique king's biography. I read this book to get more info on William the Conqueror, but now I'm obsessed with Harold II. A must-read for history buffs.

In terms of English history,not much is ever really said about Harold. Those who are looking for an informative and surprisingly entertaining work on the Monarch should look no further.

Ian Walker has left no stone unturned in the telling of Harold Godwineson and his family. Starting from his grandfather and father and ending with his grandson becoming the prince of Kiev.
After reading the book, you come away with a sense of the time that he lived in and more importantly a sense of the man. Walker is also very good at surmising how certain decisions and choices that were made having an effect on the people at the time. Case in point the effect of how Harold's contemporaries veiwed his oath breaking to William. Few historians are able to do this.

The author does love his dates and locations, but he is very thorough when it comes to extended family. Also and most importantly, he writes with a point. Instead of going off on a half page tangent, Walker writes in brief and consise paragraphs. When a major player such as William, Tosti or Harald Hardrada comes along, he writes a full chapter.

I have been looking for a book on this king for long time and this has surpassed my expectations. A definite "must-have" for English Monarch and Anglo-Saxon enthusiasts.

Everyone who takes English history probably remembers 1066, William of Normandy, the Battle of Hastings, and King Harold; essentially the date, the location and the leaders of the combatant armies. Some may remember that the fight was over the right of succession to the throne of England after the heirless death of King Edward the Confessor. A few may even remember that Edmond Halley's famous comet made an appearance just beforehand, creating great consternation that was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry. For most, Harold's reign seems almost a foot note, hardly more than an intermission before the main event of the Norman conquest. With William and his successors come castle building, classic knighthood, feudal society, all the "romance" of the middle ages. Harold is so often treated as a cipher to all of this that the true drama of this transitional age is often lost on the student. Harold is just "the loser."

Ian Walker's book brings this period more into focus. He approaches his subject by examining, not only Harold's own life and career, but that of his grandfather and father, creating a sense of the venue for the events of the Conquest. Harold is no longer just "the loser." He is a powerful and intelligent warrior, dealing as often in diplomacy as in bloodshed, able to play the chess game of power politics in a very turbulent time. He was in fact "the last Anglo Saxon king," and his time, like the withdrawal of the elves from Tolkien's Middle Earth, is the end of an era. His predecessor Edward was the last of the line of Alfred the Great, the king who had wielded the tiny Anglo Saxon kingdoms into the one kingdom of England. William and his successors would turn the island into a developing nation state striving for a place in a world among other rising nation states.

I found particularly interesting the author's approach to the period as one of a family biography. Harold was not just a famous figure in history, he was a member of an ambitious extended family. Like the Borgias in a later time and place, Harold's father and his grandfather played major roles in English political life during the years preceding the Conquest, as did he and his brothers in their own time. Walker follows these careers, because it is the net created by their liaisons that defined the period. Pull out any of these lynch pins, and the history of the era would have been vastly different. Interesting too were the careers of Harold's children, who went on to carry the family into succeeding generations of international leaders. I have often wondered what the fates of descendants of famous people have been. What did happen to Cleopatra's surviving children for instance? At least in this instance, more is documented about Harold's children which gives a sense of closure to Walker's book.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative study.

This book has enough detail and judicious use of sources to be of great use to the academic historian, while the author's lucid writing style and the sensible structure of the book will no doubt make it accesible to the interested layperson. Well done!

This is a great book for anyone interested in the mysterious and obscure events of England in the year 1066. Walker does a great job, trying to bring Harold Godwinson to life.

This book is great for every child. It really gets them to using their imagination. 4 books in one makes for a great value.

This book is filled with such imagination. It is a great book, if your a teacher or a daycare assistant, to read to the kids and have a fun project.

You have to love Harold and his purple crayon! You never know where they are going to take you. In this adventure, he and his crayon meet a king who is sad because there are no flowers in his enchanted garden. Well, Harold finds the reason for this crime and takes care of it.
Well written and in such a nice rhythm. Your child will ask questions, think up scenarios, and wonder aloud at what will happen next.

"One evening Harold got out of bed, took his purple crayon and the moon along, and went for a walk in an enchanted garden".

So begins this classic tale, which expands on numerous original elements first introduced in its also excellent predecessor, Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Harold exists in a world entirely defined by his imagination and the lines he draws with his purple crayon. These include a horizontal line - the horizon, the presence of which puts Harold on the ground, and the moon, placed in the sky, to differentiate what is up from down.

But there is a problem with the enchanted garden; "Nothing grew in it. If he hadn't known it was an enchanted garden, Harold would scarcely have called it a garden at all". To deal with the issue, the protagonist of the story decides to have a conversation with the king.

The action that subsequently unfolds has all the elements of a true heroic quest.

Harold draws a castle (because he knows that kings live in castles) but finds his entrance barred by a gate that has been shut. Ever resourceful, he draws a mouse that is larger than he is. As a result, Harold has been downsized and can freely enter via an adjacent mouse hole. And now comes one of my favorite lines, "He invited the mouse in too, but the mouse preferred to stay outside".

Realizing that as a pint sized person his audience with the king may be compromised, Harold sizes the stairs leading up to the throne room so that he is four and a half steps high - his usual height.

Our hero is called upon to utilize all his resourcefulness to deal with the witch that turns out to have caused the enchantment in the garden. And even after this has been accomplished, more adventure accompanies Harold on his journey back home.

But in the end all is well. Swept away on an out of control flying carpet that climbs even higher than the moon, Harold draws the fireplace and the high backed chair from his living room at home around it. The flying carpet is now a familiar rug. Harold asks his mother (who is seated in the chair) to read him a story before he goes back to bed.

This book is a true delight. I suspect you will enjoy reading it to your children almost as much as they enjoy hearing it read.

Impossible to beat the original "Harold and the Purple Crayon", this is certainly the next best thing. This story is appealing to a somewhat older child than the original story, as it is a bit more complex. It is better than "Trip to the Sky", which has an odd story line that children do not follow as well. The new books that go with the television series are weak in comparison to the books written by Crockett Johnson.

Yet again, J Ridley takes the reader on a remarkable journey, guiding you through the maze of factual background without ever letting your hand go. His mastery of the English language and notable training as a barrister make him the best narrator of the century.

Ridley is brilliant as ever. In his masterly style, he portrays both historic detail and periodic insight in such manner that the reader is captivated from the first page onwards. The ongoing battle with Lady Antonia Frazer's biography is a delight (especially when historical inaccuracies in her biography are condemned to footnotes). A book one cannot put down for a single moment.

Ridley paints a picture of a King who is as ruthless a tyrant as any 20th Century dictator. Henry VIII is shown as a ruler who forced his ministers to do his bidding and then executed them to satisfy public opinion, once his policies began to loose popular support. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including breaking with the Pope in Rome and reforming the Church in England with him as the head, when the Pope refused to grant him an annulment from his wife, who could not give him a male heir. Thereafter, Henry played Protestant and Catholic factions against each other, so that he could remain in complete control as an arbiter; alternatively burning influential Protestants as heretics and Catholics who refused to recognize him as Supreme head of the Church of England as traitors. Ridley's picture shows us a king who would stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wanted, including turning society and 1000 years of religion completely upside down! A fascinating look at the Stalin of the 1500s!

Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. When I first received this book and saw how HUGE it was (and in small print, yet), I thought I was in for a long, tedious and boring read. In other words, the kind of book that you start but it becomes harder and harder to keep reading until you finally give up way before the ending.

To my surprise, this book engrossed my attention from day one and became impossible to put down. Jasper Ridley has done a masterful job of giving us a very detailed biography of one of the most memorable kings in history. Unlike so many other books about Henry, Ridley refuses to monopolize the subject matter with sensationalistic details revolving around Henry's wives. Instead, he concentrates on the much more important religious, political and social aspects of his reign.

I think this book captures the true essence of Henry VIII--a tyrant, selfish, arrogant, and demanding. A person who in almost every instance was able to manipulate people into doing his dirty work for him. An individual who could play tennis with a subject he considered a "friend", such as Thomas More, and then easily have this bosom companion executed without nary a shred of remorse whenever it would serve Henry's advantage to do so. One of Henry's most popular practices was to sail the Thames surrounded by women and fawning courtiers while a former close advisor, friend etc. was being executed. This king was a master of disguise, making it appear that he had little or nothing to do with distasteful events and absenting himself from the controversy at hand.

The author mentions early on that, in effect, while gazing at the famous Holbein portrait of Henry VIII in all his glory, people were mesmerized by the majesty as portrayed in the painting. What they did not notice were the hard, unfeeling and pig-like eyes that were barely visible in the already bloated face. If the eyes indeed are the "windows of the soul", Henry was a very cruel individual indeed.

Although his reign was extremely productive in many ways, such as his interest in solidifying England as a naval power, the most striking aspect is, of course, the religious break with Rome. Here too, Henry waffles back and forth as the winds blow. To say this was an achievement is merely subjective; it began a period of intense religious misunderstandings which resulted in the deaths of untold innocent people who refused to accept this or that form of religious belief and worship. As such, I cannot classify Henry's break with Rome as a positive issue. I am not religious, and therefore perhaps not qualified to judge this. But the results of this action are being felt well into modern times. It is a subjective issue as to whether this extreme action on his part set his country and Europe on the right course.

As initially stated, do not be put off by the size of this book. It will engage your attention and provide a picture of Henry (essentially minus the much touted wife leaping) that probably comes closest to what this famous monarch was actually like.

Jasper Ridley's bio of Henry VIII, if nothing else, suggests to me that executioners must have had a steady employment during early 16th-century England. In Ridley's biography, England's formative king is essentially a psychopath, and the country became Protestant, not because of any doctrinal attachment to the Reformation, but as a consequence of political machinations and goals on Henry's part. This, in fact, is one of the book's great strengths; Ridley is rare among biographers in his thorough attention to and excellent summary of the thicket of political events surrounding Tudor England, and this book does an excellent job of explaining these intricacies. Especially fascinating was the depiction of the conflict between Henry and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Henry would have probably gotten the papal annulment that he wanted to dissolve his marriage to Katharine of Aragon, if only Charles had not effectively controlled the pope and been such a bitter enemy of Henry's; then Henry would have found no need to break from the Catholic Church, and history would be entirely different! For a Renaissance monarch, Henry seems more to resemble one of the 20th century's bloodthirsty dictators in this book. While the depiction initially surprised me, Ridley backs up his claims with such excellent documentation and use of primary sources (which I was able to check), that he definitely has a point! A fascinating bio.

I loved this book. It had the pace and humor of the Bridget Jones series but with the twist of motherhood. Eccentric, fun, funny and a page-turner for sure!

I had a great time reading this book. I could really relate to it since I am divorsed. She has a very funny sense of humor and I laughed through the whole thing.

Excellent book. Entertaining, and thought provoking all at the same time with a "happy ending" to boot! Definately, a 'feel good' book.

I have to say, I couldn't put this book down. Downey is masterful at creating a flawed and lovable heroine who any mother will completely relate to. The pervading sense of chaos is almost too realistic, but you will envy her boyfriend choices, cringe at her romantic misteps, and applaud her final solution.

But calling this a romance or chick lit wouldn't be doing it justice: it is not just about romantic love. Downey's character grows as the book progresses and her relationships with her children are central to her life. The writing is crisp, fast-paced (echoing the live of her character) and literary. I was particularly taken with how she portrayed the older women in the work such as her mother, grandmother and funky aunts. They are sexy, smart and there isn't a apron-clad blue hair among them!

Brava, Annie Downey, brava.

I simply loved this book, it was funny, touching and unique. I would recommend it especially for all mothers and daughters.

This book is a follow-up to the original How Come? book. The book is broken up into four main parts: questions about the earth, animals, the body, and how things are made. Each question is answered in just a few pages and includes cartoon pictures and fast facts. There is an index at the end of the book.

This is a great book to pick up and put down over and over. All questions were submitted by kids, which makes it appealing to young readers. The questions are common ones that kids are always asking, like why it looks like there is a man on the moon and why dogs bark. Now they can find the answers themselves! It is an easy reader and the pictures are really cute. Even older students would enjoy this book because it is long so it does not look like a children's book and it answers the types of questions that kids of all ages ask. This would be a nice book for a classroom where students could pick it up and look through it little by little.

...I bought How Come? Planet Earth for my Kids and I read an article every morning with my cereal. I love the kooky cartoons and the articles make me look like a genius to my kids! It will always come in handy to know that flys taste with their feet and humming birds have the most powerful muscles in the animal kingdom...MY ENTIRE FAMILY LOVES THIS BOOK!

I LOVED this book. It's not just for kids -- though I'm sure they'll enjoy it, as much as I did. The author's choice of subject matter is excellent, and she explores each subject at just the right depth. Her breezy and humorous writing style is a joy to read.

And it's educational, too! Although I have an advanced science degree, and have been a lifelong reader in various sciences, I found myself learning something new in each essay.

I strongly recommend "How Come? Planet Earth" to curious minds of any age.

My girls love this book. They got so excited about the facts the learned in this book. I even learned so new things. Fun for the entire family. We love it

This book is awesome. It is full of very interesting information about why things around us are the way they are. It has a section on the human body, one on animals, one on the earth itself, among others.
It is written with humor and wit. I learn (and laugh) a lot as I read to my child. It is so useful for him, too, satisfying his ingenious curiosity that is so precious of children. This is the BEST children's book I have come across so far and very highly recommend it.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. Perfect condition and rapid delivery. Great service.

Since the movie The Secret came out, there is a renewed interest in what I like to call "Mind Stuff". People want to find out how they can use this Power so that they might experience a better and more fulfilling life. I've been a licensed Religious Science Practitioner for almost a decade and I get a lot of new clients and people attending my classes who want to know how they can start using "Mind Power" to create the life they want.

What I tell them usually shocks them. I tell them that they are already using this Power. And they look at me with a scowl on their face, "No I'm not. My life is a mess. I'm in a bad relationship. I hate my job. I drive a 1973 AMC Gremlin and I have .73 cents in my 401k..."

And I just smile at them, "Wow. You're really powerful. Look at all these things you created. You're amazing. Why don't you create some more garbage while you're at it..."

"Huh?"

What I am trying to tell these people (and you) is that we are always using this thing we call, for lack of a better term, Mind Power. In Truth, all there is, is Mind. What we want to do is to learn how to use this Power consciously and deliberately and this wonderful little book by Ernest Holmes can really cut through a lot of the misconceptions that people have about the Law of Attraction.

It's not about holding thoughts or trying to get this Power to work. It is recognizing that the Law of Mind knows how to create. You don't need to know how, just like you don't need to know how an acorn becomes an oak tree, you just need to know that it works and it works every time.

The thing I really like about Ernest Holmes is that he just throws out these amazing thoughts that almost leave you breathless because they are not only so philosophically sound but they are also quite beautiful. He says,

"One practicing this science (the Law of Attraction) is always endeavoring to conform his thinking to a spiritual ideal. He must train himself to be aware of the Divine Spirit at the center of his life. His arguments, statements, affirmations or denials are arranged to disclose the reality of this Spiritual Presence, to make It real, to feel It. There is a Spiritual logic higher than the intellect. Every person has an intuition about this and unconsciously senses its reality. In practice one consciously guides the intellect to this spiritual perception..."

That just blows me away and that's just one of the many paragraphs that I have underlined four times. Every time I read this book or even look at it briefly before a meditation or before I start my prayerwork, I am blown away by how closely Ernest Holmes listened to Inner Self...his Higher Self...his God Self.

I believe that the Law of Attraction is not to just be used for material things, but for a deeper understanding that we are Spiritual Beings now. It's one thing to manifest an unexpected $100 or get a new car, but it's quite another thing to know that you are an inlet as well as an outlet to all there is in God. And once you know that, feel that, be that you will always attract abundant situations and experiences because you will no longer be praying for abundance, YOU WILL BE ABUNDANCE, which, by the way, is who you already are on a Spiritual Level of things.

This book reminds us that we are never praying to God to change as much as we are praying to change our own minds about who and what we truly are.
We really don't need anything. I know you are saying, "But...but...but..." and believe me, I, too, have at times, a serious case of the "big buts", but when I really am clear and aligned with my Source (God) I can fully appreciate and understand what Jesus meant when he said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you..."

Not a Kingdom that's in the afterlife, but a Kingdom that is within you now...that place within you that knows Its Eternal Nature now and isn't now the accepted time to live an abundant and joyful life in EVERY aspect of your being?

This is a book full of great reminders that Life is good and the only thing that stands in our way is our thought about it and what thought has done, thought can undo. You have the Power now to change because you are the Power made beautifully manifest.

Peace and Blessings,
john "the Light Coach"

I found the textbook "Science of Mind" to be not so clear in it's concepts, but this little book helps to clarify things, and helps to give a better understanding of practicing Mind Science. The philosophies and practices outlines make for a major improvement in one's life.

I have had and used this book for 30 years. To say it helped change my life would be an understatement. I have given away many of these books over the years, this one is for my granddaughter.
Ken Ingerson

My interest in the pursuit of spiritual knowledge began long ago.
My first taste of the truth or "Good Orderly Direction" came from Emett
fox. Ernest Holmes is his apparent mentor. Knowledge always comes to the seeker and Holmes is simplicity at its best. A simple and direct map to the right road to follow. Ask and you shall recieve.

I really enjoyed this book mostly the first and second story. Over all worth getting.

"Miss Matilda's Guide to Love and Romance for the Proper Young Lady" gives three modern women romantic advise to get their dream men.

Catering To His Needs

Francesca Fremont uses the guide to find a way to crack the hard shell of her new neighbour Brent. Maybe the way to his heart is through his stomach.

Brent's story really touched this reviewer's heart. Francesca is the perfect mate for him and she has the healing touch that he needs.

Tag, You're It!

Lily fell in love with her neighbor from the moment he helped her unload her moving van. Now she just has to find a way that Ben sees more in her than a good friend and what is better than to awaken his male instincts.

This story was so funny. Ben is a genius, but he doesn't know his own mind and heart, so that Lily nearly must step on his feet to make him see what is directly in front of him.

Seducing the Duke

Caitlyn never dreamed of being teamed up with the insufferable Duke Yancey, because she doesn't want to be another notch on his bedpost of cast-offs, but somehow he is fascinating. He is determined to find out why she doesn't like him.

Caitlyn is character with whom you can easily identify. Everyone knows the fear to become just another number in a man's black book and the doubts if you can redeem a player. This story was absolutely believable.

Ms. Jaynard really knows how to captivate her readers and this reviewer is always surprised where she gets the ideas for her stories. Each of her books is always very special and IMPROPER ETIQUETTE is no exception.

Courtesy of Love romances and more

Improper Etiquette is done in Janice's usual style. This is an anthology of three women who find a book called Miss Matilda's Guide to Love and Romance for the Proper Young Lady - but written in 1949. Within the first few pages you are pulled into each story and enjoy the ride as to how a guide from 1949 can still apply today.

Catering to His Needs - gives us Francesca Fremont who is a caterer. She makes a treat to take to her new neighbour, Brent Gilman to welcome him. Their first meeting is anything but stellar. Even though he wants to be left alone he is drawn to Francesca. These two have spontaneous combustion down to a science. Francesca finds that Brent brings out her inner tigress, while Brent feels he has been knocked over by a sarcastic, quasi, demonic cupid. The ride that results is a hot one for the reader, because after all the way to a man's heart is through his stomach or is it?

Tag Your It - brings Lily Langford a pediatric nurse and her neighbour, Benjamin Reynolds who is a genius mathematician inventor. But even the smartest of people can be not wise when it comes to noticing what is in front of him. Lily is frustrated with trying to get Benjamin to notice her, so decides to heed the guide and back away from Benjamin. This makes Ben determined to sort out the riddle of Lily. What we do find is that both are head over heels in lust, and bodies ignite and can go from tender to flaming hot in a heartbeat. How Ben solves the Lily riddle is a terrific read but watch out it is also a hot one.

Seducing The Duke - Caitlyn Anderson, owner of Designer Women is thrown together with Duke Yancey the owner of numerous male only gyms and an entrepreneur to work together on a project headed up by the Mayor. Caitlyn is determined that even though they have known each other since childhood, she has no use for Duke. She will not be another notch on his belt. She hates everything that he stands for but as we all know there is a fine line between hate and love. Duke has feelings for Caitlyn, but has never stood a chance. Watching these two sort through the mire of feelings is enough to burn up the pages and have the reader reaching for ice. Again can the guide be right? Can they settle their differences?

This is an enjoyable read. Janice has done a super job of showing us that Miss Matilda's Guide has merits even for today. I enjoyed the ride that these couples took me on, and look forward to more from Janice Maynard in the future.

When Francesca Fremont takes a meal to her new neighbor to welcome him to the neighborhood, they don't exactly get off on the right foot. Despite their disastrous introduction, Francesca catches the eye of Brett Gilman. Brett has moved into the old fixer upper just to catch some breathing room from scandal that has his life in a shambles. It isn't long before Francesca takes the sage advice of Miss Matilda's writings and sets out to seduce Brett. The two are soon heating up the kitchen and every other room in the house.
Lily Lanford has her own guy to snag and she decides that Miss Matilda's advice to play it cool might be just what it takes to heat things up with her neighbor, Ben Reynolds. Lily and Ben are very good friends and while Lily wants more, Ben seems oblivious. Lily decides to take a clue from Miss Matilda and play hard to get, and it isn't long before Ben finds Lily simply irresistible and he wants to be more than just her next-door neighbor.
Caitlyn Anderson is thrilled at the opportunity to serve on a mayoral-appointed committee whose purpose is the improvement of impoverished neighborhoods in her city. Duke Yancey is also serving on the committee. While the two are both hard-working, highly successful business owners, the similarity ends there. Caitlyn is poised and serious, a lady through and through, and Duke is a born ladies' man, smooth, suave, and rarely serious, which thoroughly chafes Caitlyn. When these two get together, the fun - and the passion - are ever so sweet.
If you like romance with characters that are successful and sweet, and passions that are sizzling with depth, then this anthology is for you! I give it a high recommendation and hope that you'll be tempted to get your own copy!

Three modern women each find a time-worn copy of `Miss Matilda' s Guide to Love and Romance for the Proper Young Lady', copyright 1949. Flipping through the aged advice book, each woman scoffs at first, but soon each finds that Miss Matilda was right on the money when it came to romantic advice as her tips work magic on the men of their dreams...

I have read Janice Maynard previously and thoroughly enjoyed her stories, so when Improper Etiquette was offered to Ck2S Kwips & Kritiques for review, I snapped it up as quick as possible! As before, I was in no way disappointed with this author's work. Maynard has a knack for penning fun little romances that are sweet and sexy all at once. Even her novellas draw the reader in quickly, and she is adept at telling what feels like a full story without overloading the story with too much plot. The end result is always a romance that is guaranteed to captivate the readers from page one, and satisfy them with a tidy little happy ever after at the finish.

I will admit, after reading the sound and sometimes sexy advice Miss Matilda's guide gave our three heroines in Improper Etiquette, I find myself hoping against hope that a copy will land in my hot little hands one day soon! I believe Ms. Maynard has heard that wish from more than one fan since this book was released... LOL

~Catering to His Needs~

Francesca was known for both her warm sticky buns and her warm heart. Determined to give her new neighbor Brett a taste of each, she inadvertently causes him to fall off of his ladder while working on his house. But the scowl on his face couldn't just be from that little mishap, could it? There had to be some deeper reason behind his unfriendliness... Still, Francesca can't stop thinking about her hunky neighbor, and resolves to break through his unwelcoming façade with a few home-cooked meals, thanks to Miss Matilda's handy little guide.

Brett Gilman moved to the remote town of Camron to get away from the public eye and recoup. Company is the last thing he wanted - until he met his beautiful and hard-to-discourage neighbor. Her cooking may have gotten his attention, but it is the woman herself who has stirred his long dormant libido...

With her simple, homespun charm and her collection of man-pleasing recipes, it was easy to see why Francesca quickly won both Brett's and our hearts. As unassuming as she is tenacious, her selfless nature ensured that Brett could not easily run and hide as he had hoped when he moved to Tennessee. Her sweet, nurturing personality was the perfect balm for his wounds and did more for his soul than her cooking did for his stomach.

Brett just broke my heart when we met him. Obviously in pain from the moment we met him, it was not long before we discover the betrayal that has left his heart bereft. Watching as Francesca did not allow his rudeness to dissuade her, I wondered if I would have been able to forgive his brusque manner as quickly as she did. But Francesca never wavered, and soon she wriggled her way firmly into the hole in his heart, filling it with more love than he could ever imagine.

~Tag, You're It!~

Lily has had a crush on her neighbor since she first moved to Boston. He helped her unload her moving van the day she arrived across the street from his 2-story house, and they'd fallen into a kind of informal friendship ever since. But Lily is ready for more, and Miss Matilda's advice seems just the thing to stir Ben's male instincts to hunt and capture... With Lily being the prey, of course!

The typical clueless genius, Ben has no idea what has come over Lily. All of a sudden she is missing their daily runs, gallivanting with strange men, and cooking dinner without inviting him over to join her! Every instinct inside him is raging to claim her and stake his territory, though the logical side of him knows he isn't cut out for a long term relationship and Lily is most certainly wife and mother material. But somehow all of his logic goes right out the window when it comes the lovely Lily...

This story made me laugh out loud more than once! Ben reminded me of the clueless Professor from Gilligan's Island, never noticing that the most beautiful woman on the island had eyes only for him. Ben may have been different in that he noticed Lily, but it is also certain that he took her presence in his life for granted, and underestimated his own reaction if she were gone. Miss Matilda must have known a Benjamin or two in her own day, because she had him pegged to a 'T'! The very first time Lily tries Miss Matilda's advice on Ben, his reaction is immediate, shocking Lily with its unexpected predictability. (Yes, I know that should be an oxymoron, but trust me it fits here! Lol)

Lily is the perfect woman for Ben, able to anticipate his needs, his shortcomings, and most importantly - his desires. Having insinuated herself subtly into his life over the last year, her sudden absence jolts him into action, much to her delight!

~Seducing the Duke~

Serves her right for daydreaming during an important meeting. Because that is the only way Caitlyn Anderson would allow herself to be teamed up with the insufferable Duke Yancey. Well, that and because the mayor asked, of course. Truth is, she wanted to dislike Duke, but she couldn't help being drawn to the handsome business owner - and that is what scared her most. She was not about to become another filly in his stable of cast-offs...

Duke couldn't be more pleased to be paired with the beautiful Caitlyn and is determined to make the most of his chance to spend time with her. He isn't sure why he seems to rub her the wrong way, but he will use every seductive tool in his arsenal to change it...

The story of Duke and Caitlyn spoke to that woman inside me who loves to be chased! And I identified with Caitlyn in more than one way - her fear of Duke's player past and doubts about their ability to have a future together are palpable. Duke's persistent pursuit is ultra-romantic, and his reaction when disaster strikes stirs the heart like nothing else.

Duke is a man I could fall for, and Caitlyn is a woman I could easily call friend. The two together were a wonderful match and I enjoyed every moment of this story!

According to my opinion this book is well written and well organized and also quite short so that you are not lost in details.

This is a very short resume of Standard Model, but well written,
the misguidance here, is the title "introduction" ... this text
is not for beginners.

This book is an excellent introduction to particle physics. The chapters are short, clear and very readable. As the previous reviewer mentioned, there are a series of reasonable exercises at the end of each chapter with answers provided in the back of the book. Many concepts that field theory or particle physics books leave mysterious or have a difficult time explaining are clearly laid out in this book. I would judge it superior to Griffiths particle physics book, and if you are looking for a nice supplement to serious study of quantum field theory, this is it.

In this second edition the authors have upgraded their book to incorporate recent discoveries in several areas including:

o the successes of the theory of strong interactions
o the observations on matter-antimatter asymmetry
o advances in neutrino physics, especially as it has become clear that neutrinos are not mass-less
o the theoretical concepts from the electromagnetic and weak interactions of leptons and quarks to the strong interactions of quarks.

The book is aimed at the graduate student in particle physics. It has a rigorous mathematical structure. After all, the Standard Model is basically a mathematical theory that describes the interactions between leptons and quarks.

Throughout the book there are many references to open questions that likewise reflect the state of the Standard Model.

This book is about the experimental facts and the theoretical principles that lead to the construction of the Standard Model lagrangian. It is NOT about calculating scattering crossections. Some of the problems ask you to calculate decay rates but only at tree level and the fields are treated like classical fields not operators, with the exception that the fermionic fields anticommute. There is a 12-page chapter on quantizing the fields and renormalization but I find it rather sketchy so don't expect to understand a lot from it if you don't already know it.

You should have some background in varying lagrangians otherwise the book will frequently seem difficult to you. The authors obtain symmetry currents corresponding to a symmetry of the lagrangian not in the standard way of Noether's theorem. Their method is entirely correct but it took me long time to understand because they didn't explain it with enough details the first time they used it (section 7.1, page 65). I think that will throw off the horse many readers.

The style is wonderfully concise which makes the logical structure easier to follow and there isn't the usual fluff `to motivate' things that are simply put guesses like the principle of local gauge invariance. On the other hand, some places definitely need more detailed explanations like signs of certain quantities or the symmetry currents I mentioned above.

The treatment of the Dirac equation and spinors is the least messy I've seen. The way they obtain the nonrelativistic limit of the Dirac equation with EM field is again the best and least messy I've seen.

The book has nice appendix on the groups of the Standard Model which covers what you need to know about SO(3), SU(2) and SU(3) in a very efficient way. There are about 5 problems after each chapter most of which have a solution outline at the end of the book.

Things I understood from this book:

-- why time reversal, space inversion and charge conjugation of fields are defined in a way that previously seemed to me quite arbitrary
-- how demanding local gauge invariance necessitates introduction of gauge fields which leads to interaction terms
-- how local gauge invariance can't be proven, it's just a guess that has worked so far hence it's called `principle' (my own interpretation)
-- global and local symmetry breaking, Goldstone bosons and Higgs boson
-- how the Lagrangian densities of the electroweak and strong interactions were constructed from the experimental input by demanding local gauge invariance and guessing the symmetry group to be SU(2) and SU(3) correspondingly
-- what's Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix that mixes the quark fields and how it arises
-- how symmetries of the lagrangian density lead to conservation numbers
-- how neglecting some terms in the lagrangian leads to effective lagrangian and effective theory
-- how to work with the terms in the QCD lagrangian where different matrices multiply different indices

The pictures and story are great. I read it with my fourth grade class and they really enjoyed it. We discussed personification and onomonapeia while reading the story.

I bought this book because I liked these authors' style. I enjoyed the tongue in cheek humor that came through in this story. Often in reading children's books I can predict what will happen but not here- I looked forward to turning each page to see what would happen next- and was often surprised- chuckling with each new turn of events.

I purchased this book because it had such an intersting title: JACKALOPE. Simple, yet mysterious. A jackalope is an imaginary (well, maybe not totally imaginary) creature that has the body of a jack rabbit and the horns of an antelope. This book is "the absolute truth" about what happened to the jackalope. The story is narrated by a crudgy old armadillo who sits in a lawn chair.

Basically, there once was a jack rabbit named Jack who wasn't happy being who he was. He wanted to be a fierce and frightening creature. One day he wished upon a star and his fairy godrabbit appeared and gave him the horns of an antelope. But there was a catch, but Jack was so excited, he didn't listen to what the catch was.

This is a hilarious story that mixes everything together from American tall tales to classic fairy tales. There's a little bit of Cinderella, Pinocchio, the big bad wolf (coyote) from Little Red Riding Hood involved. There's also a touch of Aesop's fables and a magic mirror that is probably a cousin to the one in Snow White. All of this and vegetable jokes and witty wordplay. Plus, some really clever illustrations. Tack on a false ending and some scientific facts about jackrabbits, antelope, and horned toads and you've got yourself one mighty fine story. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a great story, age doesn't matter.

I had to laugh as a read this book to my daughters. It teaches a wonderful lesson to be happy with who you are, not who you think you want to be. I loved the ending... enjoy!

The sister duo who produced this book obviously had lots of fun--with word play, corny jokes, rhymes, and borrowed bits and pieces of classic tales-a fairy godrabbit and a magic mirror that admonishes, "I don't just reflect, I need your respect." They tack on a false ending plus an old-fashioned moral: "Like yourself as you are."

They set out to tell the TRUE story of that unique Western creature--the jackalope, a jack rabbit with antelope horns--and pull it off wonderfully with an irreverent attitude and silly illustrations.