Fiction Books

This book was EXCELLENT!! I love it!

The excitement of the book kept me reading!! Even thought there was fictional parts in the book, like how Man O' War's Dam was not gentle and sweet but nervous and A LOT like her Sire. And other fictional things like how the new owner did not see Man O' War until after he bought him. Even though these things were false in the story, I think it is great and helps people learn the life of one of the greatest horses in history!! When I read the book I felt like I was there, And I love when books help you do that! I really hope they can mke more books like this on othr famous horses!

I was able to enjoy this book immensely! The details Walter Farley gave were incredible. You didn't miss a thing! You always knew everything that was going on with Man O' War. There wasn't too much detail either. It wasn't 350 pages of blah. In this book you were able to live through all of the races, dissapointment, and momentous occasions of Man O' War and his stable hand Danny. Danny was a loyal young man who more than anything wanted to be with his horse Man O' War. Any horse lover who has a special horse close to their heart or just loves horses in general will be able to relate to Danny's love for Man O' War!
I definitely recommend Man O' War as a must read for any horse lover!
I hope this was of some help for you! Happy Reading!!

This is one of my favorite books ever. I read it a few years ago (in 8th grade), and am still looking for another racehorse book like it. Farley throws you into the story of a colt and his groom. Although in real life, Danny didn't exist, "Red" did and the information on the horse and his races is true. It gives all of the history without getting boring and sounding like a History book. I think everyone who even just likes horses should read it.

It is really goood
the beginning is a little slow but then it grips you and you can hardly put the book down!
it is one of the best books that he has ever written!
If you love horses, or horse racing then this is the book for you!!

I adore this book, though it is not completely factual. Of course, Walter Farley never says it was:) It is extremely well written and I strongly recommend it to everyone who enjoys Walter Farley's books, horse racing, Man O'War, or just plain horses!

However, there are a few little facts that are incorrect. In the book it is mentioned that Mahubah, Man O'War's dam, is a gentle, good-natured mare that they bred to "tame the hot blood of Hastings". But in real life, Mahubah was noted to be a nervous, rather high-strung mare, much like her father Rock Sand. Rock Sand was very alert and nervous and had to literally have a padded stall because he would pace and kick so much they worried he would injure himself!

Second, Mr. Riddle did not see Man O'War until after he was purchased. He had an agent buy him at the Saratoga Sale.

Also, I think Walter Farley should have given some credit to Preston M. Burch and his book "Training Thoroughbred Horses" because Man O'War's entire training process was copied step-by-step from that book (which I also own).

Overall though, a great book and one of my favorites by the author. Very much recommended and enjoyed!

After having 3 children, I've read lots and lots of children's books, some over and over. This is by far, the best and my personal favorite. It is written as a poem, and has a funny surprise ending! You and your kids will love it.

All three of my boys (3, 7 & 9.5) really enjoyed this book. It magically appeared on our dining room table on Xmas Eve 2007. We read it together more than once and all gave it glowing reviews!

This is a marvelous story that tells of one Christmas tree that is far too much for just one person. The tree is trimmed, and shared, and trimmed, and shared, and trimmed, and shared until far more people than Mr. Willoby alone, along with many animal families, have a bit of the tree to add beauty to their Christmas festivities! The rhyming text makes it a fun story to read aloud to children!

I always buy a Christmas-themed picture book for my children to read to them on Christmas Eve before bedtime. I got this one for my eight-year-old who is reading on a sixth grade level. Turns out we are never too old or too advanced to enjoy a good picture book. She loved the predictability of the story, and so did my six-year-old.

This has always been my favorite Christmas Book (just edging out "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by a glowing-red nose!). I'm happy to say that I own an original first printing of both books, but it's "Willowby" that I continue to purchase, year after year, for my friends and their children.

The charm of this story lies in the "one person's discards are another person's treasures" category. The oversufficient tree that old man Willowby brings into his mansion is snipped on top to clear his cathedral ceiling, and every recipient into whose hands the pruned remnant falls must perform the same whittling fix to adapt the orphaned fir to his own, progressively more spartan, hovel. Passing from maidservant to gardener to a scavenging bear and other various critters, after smaller and smaller sprigs make the rounds throughout the countryside near Willowby's estate, the last one eventually ends up with a family of mice who just happen to live in Mr. Willowby's wall! Thus, one huge tree is inadvertently able to make everyone's Christmas a bit brighter! Joy to the world!

Robert Barry's verses are easily read, and are exquisitely enhanced by the accompanying artwork -- especially the portrayal of the Benjamin Rabbit family. Too cute! While "Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree" is no doubt a children's story, at Christmas aren't we really ALL children? And what better way to enjoy one's Yuletide holiday than with a delightful, uplifting tale where everyone wins?

I loved this book! I feel like these characters are my friends. I find myself rooting for them. An excellent read! Highly recommended!

What I loved about this book was that the protagonists were very intelligent and resilient (but of course faced insurmountable odds). There was no cheesy evil god or some such like you'll see in some epic fantasy, and that is but one of many ways in which this world seems so believeable and real. Its detailed tapestry of a world in turmoil yet still beautiful is surpassed only in the emotions and depth of the characters.

This series is great, and this book is my favorite of all the others. I love the way the author suddenly switches scenes and we are left wondering what happened to the character, but then we forget about them as we become entrapped in the plot of what's going on with everyone else. Overall, this is my favorite book.

I was impressed that the Witches wasn't a one hit wonder. This second book was well planned if not a little on the slower reading side. The first book truly focuses on the relationship between Meghan and Isabeau, whereas this second book deals with the relationship of Meghan and Iseult, and Iseult and Lachlan. Again praise for the research of pagan traditions.

In this second book, Isabeau takes a bit of a back seat, recovering from her ordeal in delivering the talisman, and learning humility and obedience as a servant in the Righ's palace. There is a shift of interest to her twin sister, Iseult, whom Meghan discovered when she visited the Dragons. Iseult, raised by her faery kin on the icy Spine of the World, seems as different from Isabeau as night is from day. where Isabeau is laughing, impetuous, and headstrong, Iseult, raised by a tribe of fierce warriors in a dangerous, snowy land, is solemn and disciplined. Meghan convinces Iseult that she must leave her tribe and seek out her destiny among her mother's people. Meghan and Iseult meet up with the lost prionssa who has been hiding for years, since escaping from his brother's treacherous wife. He is a bitter young man, passionate in his desire for revenge against the Banrigh, Maya the Ensorcellor. Guided by Meghan, he and Iseult set off on the dangerous quest to unite the rebels, depose the Banrigh, and restore the Coven. To do this, they must rescue the Lodestar, an ancient magical scepter which has been locked away since the day the witches were betrayed, and which is dying from lack of contact with the royal family. The character of the prionssa is delightfully complex. Just because he's supposed to be some kind of hero to the people and to us doesn't mean they or we always like him, and it doesn't mean he always does everything right. Some people prefer cardboard cutout characters that are some kind of archetypal representation of an idea of a hero or a villan or a leader or an ingenue. And some people like characters who are made from their experiences, with a dash of nobility of character which makes them strive to overcome their experiences to be and do more. The latter should be pleased. When you finish The Pool of Two Moons, I know you won't be able to wait for The Cursed Towers (so maybe order them both together).

My boys, ages 6 and 7, love this book. The art work is fantastic, and the story is great. We have read it many times and sometimes we just look at the pictures, which are so full of detail.

I would highly recommend it.

I grew up with this book and it is still relevant. The shipping was fast and the book arrived in perfect condition.

I have all the same things to say as everyone else. I loved this as a kid, my copy was all torn apart, the artwork is stunning, etc., etc.

The story is lovely and teaches a lesson. My 2-year old likes this story because of the illustrations and the COLORS. He likes to name the colors of the goblins. Of course, he does not really understand the story, which is good, because it might be a bit scary for little kids. By the time he does understand, it won't be scary anymore, and he will already have gotten a couple years of enjoyment out of the book just based on the pictures and colors.

I completely recommend this book for all children's libraries and collections.

My children (when they were young) and I LOVE this book. The pictures are beautiful, colorful renditions. The story is one that interests young children, but doesn't frighten them. While this is not the original, full-size art book, it is a very nice printing that can be read and enjoyed many times. I have purchased many copies as gifts and all were appreciated.

I found the story disturbing and no amount of beautiful artwork is going to change that. The goblins plan to steal the rainbow colors, but the flowers beat them to it. Then the flowers lie in wait for the goblins to drown them with the rainbow colors. The rainbow is saved and turns the flowers into colorful creatures as a reward.

Make your own choice, but we are not keeping this book.

After finishing McCullough's Masters of Rome series, I yearned for another historical fiction series to fill in the void. I assumed it was a tough act to follow, until I picked up the first book in this trilogy "Here Be Dragons". The narrative sucked me in, mesmerized me, and put in me in complete amazement of the cast of characters that surrounded me. Reading Penman makes you not only a virtual eyewitness to the momentous events of Medieval Wales, but grafts you into the families involved--so much so you mourn and grieve with the deaths as if you've lost a loved one. It's rare for books, for author's to be able to do that. Then you realize these characters were real persons that shaped history, your sense of loss and awe magnifies exponentially. She continues the trend skillfully, without letting up, in "Falls the Shadow". This final installment left me with my jaw on the floor. It's not a happy ending, but Penman's skill is in how she takes tragic events of history, vividly paints them by fleshing out the players involved so that you feel the blood that runs through their veins...you even feel like you bleed when they do. If there were a way to make tragedies beautiful, like a sad symphony, Penman has discovered it. The proof is this trilogy. Everyone I've recommended these books to has become a fellow believer.

Completing the trilogy that began with Here Be Dragons and continued with Falls The Shadow, this novel,almost impeccably historically accurate, depicts the struggle by Welsh national hero Llywelyn ap Gruffydd to maintain sovereignty for Wales against the machinations of the ruthless and unscrupulous Edward I of England.
After Simon De Montfort is defeated and killed, his charter of freedoms is destroyed and King Edward reigns supreme as England's king.
After his bride Ellen , the daughter of the late Simon De Montfort, is captured by pirates hired by Edward and imprisoned by the English king, Llywelyn takes the field against England and is defeated and forced to submit to Edward's humiliating terms.
Meanwhile Llywelyn is hindered by the three-time treachery of his mercurial brother Davydd.
These events lead to eventual tragedy for Wales and for Llywelyn and his family.
Dafydd Ap Gruffyd's execution at the hands of the English was very similar to that of Scottish patriot William Wallace 12 years later, also on command of Edward I.
Edward I was a tyrant who crushed Welsh national self-determination, tried to subjugate Scotland, and expelled the Jews from England.

The book has a glittering cast of characters, and traces the lives of Simon's widow Nell, and her family, as well as Llywelyn's family, including his vibrant niece Caitlin.
It is filled with action and emotion, as the author gets into the heads of the characters involved, making for a truly human drama.
This is historical fiction at it's most alive.
The book mends with a prophecy of the restoration of Welsh sovereignty by the Day of Judgement, that on the Direst Day of Judgement no race but the Welsh would give answer to the Allmighty for this corner of the earth.

The Reckoning picks up where Falls the Shadow ends. Edward "longshanks" the first is waiting to take the throne once his father Henry passes and is in Italy on a crusade. The de Montfort house is regrouping after the loss of Simon and Harry at Evesham - Nell and Ellen are in France, while Amaury, Guy and Bran are in Italy. Llewelyn's grandson is the Prince of Wales still fighting against his brothers to keep Wales united against the English.

SKP once again does a great job in transporting the reader to 13th century Wales and England and reuniting him/her with their favorite characters.

This is a trilogy not to be missed by any historical fiction lover! - Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning.

It has been five years since Simon de Montfort and his followers died at Evesham in their ill-fated rebellion against the English King Henry. Henry's charismatic son rules England in all but name. Simon's family is slowly rebuilding their lives. His wife, Henry's sister, Nell, is seeking a marriage for her beautiful daughter, Ellen. Although betrothed at 12 to Llewelyn, ruler of Wales, her engagement was ended by Simon's rebellion and death. Simon's youngest son Bran still struggles to cope with his guilt over failing to reach his father before Edward's army butchered Simon and Bran's older brother, Harry. In Italy, Bran's clever older brother, Guy, has married the ruler of an Italian province and is gaining fame as a soldier. On the surface, the de Montforts appear to be getting on with life; but the hatred and guilt created by Evesham will prove too strong to save all the de Montforts. In Wales, Llewelyn has reluctantly named his faithless younger brother, Davydd, as Llewelyn's heir. But Davydd's ambitions and his reckless disregard of the dangers of plotting with Edward set in motion events which will destroy Wales. Penman has written a sad, magnificent tale of courage, boldness that illuminates the inevitable clash between two cultures: the proud, independent Welsh and the determined England. She is most adept at creating the minor characters who are swept up in events not of their making: Hugh, the loyal squire to the doomed Bran de Montfort; Caitlin, Davydd's illegitimate daughter torn between her father and Llewelyn, the generous uncle who raised her. Through Hugh and Caitlin, the reader experiences the tragedy of the battle between Edward and Llewelyn. It is the human face of history that endures for the reader; the people who die; the places that are destroyed.

This final novel in Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh trilogy chronicles the last throws of the Welsh resistance to English takeover. The beloved Prince of Wales, Llewellyn ap Gruffudd leads the charge in a final but futile attempt to unite the quarrelsome Welsh to the common cause of defeating the English invasion. He faces down Edward I, the brutal English King who will stop at nothing to make England a complete island nation. Meanwhile, Llewellyn's double-dealing silver tongued brother, Davydd, is the wild card in this equation and changes loyalties whenever the wind blows.

Sharon Kay Penman has created a fast paced, emotional roller coaster. The characters are complex and multifaceted. She brilliantly gets inside their heads to portray how each is convinced of the justness of their cause. There is war, killing, and horrible brutality, yet none of the characters are portrayed as either saints or devils. They are simply human.

The Welsh trilogy begins with Here Be Dragons, follows with Falls The Shadow, and ends with The Reckoning. Individually these are some of the best novel's I've ever read but in order to appreciate them to the full and understand the complexities and depth of the characters, you must read them as a trilogy.

Excellent! 10 out 10! The true story of Sailor Moon! If you're into Manga and Anime, I would recommend this manga 100%. Sailor moon is full or Romance, Adventure, Drama and More. If you like sailor moon you might also like Revolutionary girl Utena another Manga written by Naoko Takeuchi.

I am so sad that Sailor moon products are out of print. This is an amazing story. I love the Manga and the Anime. 200 episodes wasnt enough!

The whole series is very mysterious and keeps you on the edge of your seat. When you're reading this series all that goes through your mind is "What's the Golden Crystal?" 'Who's Helios?" And most of all "Is Darien gonna be OK?" Finally the last book of this series! IT's wonderfully written and drawn as I said before. It teaches you little lessons that you don't realize until you need to know these lessons. (Does that make sense?) If you read the previous books of the SuperS series you should really get this one to find out what happens in the end. It's so sweet and happy!

This is my absolute favorite out of all the Sailor Moon mangas. I love the Supers series to death, and this is the perfect ending. I've got to say that the main reason this one is my favorite is because of the artwork. It's stunning, to say the least. Ms. Takeuchi pulled out all the stops on this one. No matter how many times I read Supers #4, the picutres never fail to make me stop and say, "Wow". It's certainly not lackin in plot, either. This is where everything comes together, and every twist and turn is compelling and credible. Every element of the ending to Stars is satisfying. This little book, in my opinion, represents manga at its finest.

This is a wonderful volume. Bunny/Darien, Usagi/Mamoru, Serena/Darien are my favorite couple. I loved both the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version is my favorite and the English version is great. I use both the Japanese names, Usagi and Mamoru and the English names Bunny and Darien. In this volume, many events occur. Bunny and Darien awaken and have lots of romantic moments together. Soon, they must face more challenges. Bunny and Darien are girlfriend and boyfriend and eternal lovers. They must face a huge challenge when a secret about Bunny's past is revealed. Bunny is worried, but Darien comforts her. Darien protects his true love, Bunny. Darien tells Bunny to lend her his power. Darien tells her they can conquer this. Darien and Bunny kiss. As they kiss and hold hands, the energy of their love and power saves them. Darien and Bunny's kisses are so loving. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask kiss and have lots of loving, romantic kisses in the series. Soon, a secret is told about Bunny and secrets are revealed as Bunny and Darien discover new things. Find out what will happen in this volume. Bunny and Darien are the best couple. Usagi and Mamoru are the best couple. Serena and Darien are the best couple. Usagi/Mamoru and Serena/Darien and Bunny/Darien are all the best couple in ever version.

This is another great collection of Sandman stories which anyone who is a fan of the series should read. My only complaint with this collection is that the stories start out very strong but the ending is a bit of a flop. I am glad that I read it since this does contain events which will probably be of greater importance further along in the series.

Dream is sulking, until his sister Delirium motivates him to help her look for Destruction, their brother who has abdicated his Endless responsibilities.

On the way, through the various people they meet, and reflected in his servants and helpers, we see Dream's thought processes begin to change and mellow, even more so after he finally gets around to dealing with his son, Orpheus, after such long neglect.

Read this series! I read these when they were published as individual comics and revisiting the series has been a joy. Read them in order if at all possilble. I wish Gaiman had the time to write another graphic novel series.

I thought Season of Mists was my favorite The Sandman volume until I read Brief Lives.

Brief Lives absolutely has it all--drama, action, comedy, romance, and philosophical ponderings. It focuses upon Morpheus rather directly--unlike other volumes where sometimes he exists within the stories only peripherally--as he helps his sister Delirium track down their brother known as Destruction.

Destruction is part of The Endless. The other members of The Endless are his brothers and sisters Destiny, Death, Dream (Morpheus), Desire, Despair, and Delirium. He long ago abandoned his post and family, choosing instead to exist on his own terms. Addle-brained Delirium unusually makes up her mind and decides she wants to reunite with her favorite brother. She is very surprised when she manages to enlist the aid of her brooding brother, Dream, especially after all her other brothers and sisters refuse to help her.

Dream accompanies Delirium on quite a journey as created by Neil Gaiman who makes brilliant use of legend and mythology, both preexisting and self-manufactured. They finally find Destruction, but things don't go exactly as expected and incredible possibilities are revealed.

I love this volume so much because something happens to Dream that hasn't really occurred in the previous volumes--he changes. While always dynamic in dialogue and appearance, Dream was not a character who seemed to evolve. I enjoyed Lord Morpheus just as he was, but now that Gaiman introduces a changing Dream, a Morpheus who suddenly empathizes with mortals and family members, he becomes all the more fascinating.

Furthermore, the afterward by Peter Straub was absolutely riveting. Brief Lives was enthralling on its own, but Straub's afterward analyzing the volume makes it, and the intricacies of Gaiman's artistry, all the more impressive.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

This is one of my two favorites in the 11-volume "Sandman" series, which has proven Gaiman to be a genius storyteller. Three centuries ago, Destruction -- one of the seven Endless, who existed even before the gods -- abandoned his responsibilities, left his realm, and went off to do his own thing. Essentially, he ran away from home. Not that the world has lacked for destruction since then, but he's not behind it, anyway. Delirium, who has roughly the persona of a three-year-old combined with a drugged-out-flower child -- but is a very sweet person for all that (well, . . . not "person" . . .), misses her big brother and tries to find one of her siblings to help her look for him and convince him to return. Dream (the Sandman) finally agrees to accompany her, but for his own reasons, and the quest brings in a number of innocent bystanders (who suffer, as bystanders do), as well as an assortment of ancient but now out-of-work deities. A number of neat ideas are tossed out casually, too, like the notion that a few thousand people still exist on Earth from the very earliest days of civilization, or even from the dawn of the species.

Bernie the lawyer, killed by the collapsing wall of a derelict building, tells Death, "I did okay, didn't I? I lived fifteen thousand years. That's a pretty long time." To which Death, a pragmatic sort who resembles a Goth girl, replies, "You got what everybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime. No more, no less." Great stuff.

The Truth Seeker as CD audio book I received as a present. Due to ill health I now can't read very much for very long. For someone who has been a bookworm all her life this was very difficult, but audio books have come to my rescue. Mum listens to them while she is doing housework, and my sister has them on in the car during her 40 minute commute to work, & back.
Dee Henderson is a favourite author in our house & we particularly like her O'Malley Series, of which this is number 3.
It has been abridged fairly well & Matilda Novak is a good narrator - a big plus for me where audio books are concerned! Also there is music in lots of places to give atmosphere; & sound effects - fire blazing, sirens, airport tannoy, doorbell tone, phone ringing to name a few - which help to bring the story alive. Enjoyable to listen to over & over again!

Book three in Henderson's O'Malley series. Lisa O'Malley is a forensic pathologist. Quinn Diamond is a U.S. Marshal. They find their lives intersecting both personally and professionally as they investigate related murder cases. The mystery element is juxtaposed against the real-life touches of humor and family. Lisa's journey to Christ and her romance with Quinn form intriguing supblots.

Lisa O'Malley is a forensic pathologist who has a difficult time with Jesus' resurrection. Quinn Diamond is Marcus O'Malley's partner in the U.S. Marshal's Service. He's been trying to get Lisa to go out with him. Unfortunately, pursuing Lisa is going to be almost impossible because he's already asked out her other sisters!

Their paths cross when the cases they are investigating become intertwined. I love how we get to continue to follow the O'Malleys we already know and how we are able to get to know the others before we read their stories. I wish my family was as close as theirs is.

The other O'Malley novels are: The Negotiator, The Guardian, The Truth Seeker, The Protector, The Healer, The Rescuer. Each is a wonderful read!

I loved this series! I wasn't sure about reading a Christian Romance but this is so much more. Dee Henderson has a way of making you feel as though they are the real deal and you are right there with the O'Malley's. You'll laugh, cry, and everything in between. Enjoy!!

Women are missing.

Amy Ireland disappeared twenty years ago without a trace. For U.S. Marshal Quinn Diamond, it's a case that has never closed. He's still searching--determined to learn the truth.

They are turning up dead.

Lisa O'Malley is a forensic pathologist; mysteries are her domain. She has worked crime scenes in Chicago for years. Examining a sea of evidence, the connections between victims are so faint they they fade into ill-defined wisps as she searchs for a pattern.

Lisa O'Malley is running out of time.

The threads are pulling Lisa's and Quinn's cases together. And where they intersect there's a killer who will stop at nothing to see his secret remain buried.

And now she's missing, too...

Quinn wanted Lisa's help. He never planned to put her in danger. She didn't expect him to invade her heart...or his God to change her life. And while Lisa understands death and darkness all too well, she's about to discover love and the Resurrection.

I had an original post WWII copy of this book and gave it away when I moved from W.Va..... Boy, was that ever a mistake!!!! I needed a copy for an event here honoring the Veterans, and so I was very pleased to see this one in print..... Bill looks at war from the dogface's perspective, and I'm quite sure there's a Bill Mauldin in Iraq somewhere.... but he's tied to the Internet and I'm not sure if we'll get good pen and ink sketches outta him now..... Bill had the way of seeing the ironic, the humerous, and the just plain sorry, in the average G.I.'s battle to survive....... I'd recommend it to school teachers for a look at WWII (AND I'd hustle up some of the last survivors... that first hand look isn't going to be with us much longer).............the Students would actuall LEARN something useful!!!

I am very satisfied with my purchase.The book itself is a pleasure to look at.The drawings are just as funny as I found them as a kid.The writing itself is new to me,but superb.It will allways be among my favourit books.Again marvellous

Indispensable depiction of the face of the Second World War. War and the pity of war. The humour is in the pity.

It's a gift, the ability to draw, to have perspective, to create, to be able to portray human misery as humor, for a reader to see the image and words and turn to laughter. Bill Mauldin had this gift that gained prominence in a time of war where talents rise to their greatest heights or sink to their lowest depths.

Truth is portrayed in humor or the humor isn't funny. Sergeant Bill Mauldin, an infantryman, barely twenty, and serving in Italy picks up a pencil and anything he can draw on, and begins to sketch two characters named Willy and Joe, two, brave, disheveled, irreverent, likeable and crusty infantry soldiers that give meaning to the names infantrymen were referred to as: ground-pounders, dogfaces, legs, and grunts. Mauldin portrays their grim and grimy existence with fatalistic pictures and captions--or grunts. One called "Breakfast in Bed" finds one of them waking up under a cow's utters, or the one where both are in a rain-filled foxhole and Willie touches Joe's shoulder saying, "Joe, yesterday ya saved my life an' I swore I'd pay ya back. Here's my last pair o' dry socks," or with rain pelting down on a scrawny dog facing the opening of their make-shift shelter, one of them says: "Let'im in. I wanna see a critter I kin feel sorry fer." My all-time favorite is a drunk German staggering toward a hidden Willie and Joe, holding a bottle of schnapps, unaware that he is wandering into American lines: "Don't startle `im, Joe. It's almost full."

These cartoons show the comradeship that soldiers developed for each other that would last a lifetime. Each man knew each other better than his own family or spouse ever would, and they could see the good and the bad in everything. They would carry a wounded lieutenant back to safety because he wasn't a "salutin' demon," or curse the Germans as vile, evil Nazis for scuttling a large keg of cognac before their retreat. These soldiers were miserable without being despondent. They were scared without being cowardly. They complained about their predicaments, but carried out their mission as American soldiers always do--attacking silently. The viewer cannot help but feeling empathy and admiration for soldiers who sometimes spent thirty months "in the line."

Mauldin goes further than just making us laugh at the miserable existence of two men trying to stay alive. His real success is that his humor defines the very best and most humane in the human character when it is engaged in its most destructive behavior. It is also timeless. Seventy years later, civilians and servicemen can still see the gallows humor in Willie and Joe's death-defying predicaments.

"Up Front" is Mauldin's account, of what he was doing when he created a particular drawing, why he made sure to include medics, engineers, chaplains, and even Tommies. The writing is matter of fact, well-written, and interesting, but without fascination. That was saved for the cartoons. The author is explaining each one in his text. It's the drawings and the captions that make this book a winner and a conversation piece.

Bill Mauldin died January 22, 2003. Willie and Joe occupying a foxhole filled with water and several cubic feet of complaints, live on.

Think about this the next time you put on a pair of dry socks, and marvel at the simple pleasure of just how good they feel.



May 26, 2008 Memorial Day (observed)

In Memory of the Fallen and all our Gold Star Mothers--especially today.

Of course, this is not a novel. It's a collection of cartoons as they appeared in the Armed Services newspaper Stars and Stripes. The cartoon began to appear in 1944 as the invasion of Europe was underway and millions of Allied troops were fighting their way through Italy and France and into the heart of the third reich.
After a few false starts, Mauldin settled on two characters, Willie and Joe-infantry men. Willie and Joe (who were barely distinguishable from each other) were concerned with all the things that veterans said concerned them during the war. Lousy food was as much of a concern as enemy artillery, fear of cold, wet feet as annoying as the fear of death.
The cartoons, and Mauldin's self-effacing recollections together form a kind of narrative that is at once immensely personal and deeply historical. Mauldin was a pioneer. It was ten years before Cornelius Ryan The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Dayturned personal narratives into history and almost forty before Ken Burns came along.The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Mauldin was, in effect, the only war reporter who was relatively uncensored. Since his cartoons carried no strategic information, his only worry was the military's possible perception that he might be lowering troop morale with his swipes at the brass and the rear-echelon. Fortunately, some American sensibility that 'it's good to laugh at the boss even if the boss is us' prevailed.

Up Front was one of the few books that my parents kept by their bedside. This is the book that helped the post-war generation remember the war as it was fought by the men who did the hard work. A quiet masterpiece.

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel

This coffin box Set Is a great addition to a collection of vampire Memorabilia . Open the lid (flap) to see who is inside. you can pick who is in the coffin, One is the child vampire and the other a dark haired male vampire.

Anne Rice is the best modern writer on vampires. I have read them all and she rocks. The coolest scenarios and she reads like an intelligent airport paperback book writer. Her writing goes down easy like a comic book. I have written a book on vampires too if you are interested. It's called Seamus and Emer. It's available on Amazon so take a look. Good Luck! Bye Bye!

... a fine set of Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. What a refreshing point of view and burning light to see vampires in. Rice gives us vampires with feelings - why shouldn't a vampire feel joy, pain and regret? Yes, bottom line is they are merciless killers, but this is the all-too often typecast image of vampires that Hollywood likes to betray. These immortals don't just sweep in with a dramatic flare of their capes (most of the time they don't even wear one), kill then leave - we experience their agony, hunger, happiness and turmoil before and after each kill. Anne Rice gives us so much more - imagine YOUR fears, regrets and hopes from your lifetime spread over an eternity. Would you really want immortality? What is right and what is wrong? Good and evil? The devil and God? Leave your humdrum life behind for a while and bury yourself (literally) in a world of fascinating, real characters in sumtuous, historic or sordid surroundings. Enjoy, but remember to put the lid back across when you're finished...

I would have preferred to have been able to buy these audio books on cd; however, they were unavailable. Since I had read them all so long ago, it was time to delve back into them. Buying audio books to bring on vacation, was the perfect idea! (I didn't have to worry about getting any suntan lotion on the pages!)

I knew about Anne Rice, but I had never read any of her books before. I read Interview With The Vampire, and I couldn't put it down! It's one of the best books I've ever read. Now I'm reading the whole set. It was great!