Other The Books

... hold on! Cause when I opened this book, it hit me like a fist made of bricks ... marshmallow bricks, that is. Kay takes us on whirwind tour of the traditions and ceremonies of the Hawaiian culture. It's light and fluffy, heavy on good dialogue and light on cliche and racism ... which I hate. Anyway, it did get a little slow about 2/3 of the way through and the story seemed a bit contrived, but I think Kay should get points for actually finishing this story when the average writer would have realized that it was going nowhere. Easily my favorite book of all time. I give it five stars and one of my patented awkwardly long hugs.

A new version of this book is now available on Amazon published under the author's real name (M. L. Kamahele) with ISBN: 1599713284. Pease note that the old version of this book (listed here on this page) is now "OUT OF PRINT". So any versions purchased/shipped from this page are probably USED. To purchase a NEW version of the book, search for the book on Amazon using ISBN number 1599713284 or the book's full title.

It's hard to believe that every reviewer thats written a review for this book has only reviewed THIS BOOK, and this book only. I'm not saying its a bad book, it's just suspect that all the reviews come from people who seem to read ONLY this book. Also, many "Listmania" lists happen to have this book at the top while listing all the most popular teen lit underneath. Hmmm, is that a tad bit suspicious? It could be true, this could be a "cool book for any teen", just be aware that publishers and authors are allowed to write reviews anonymously for their own works. I am sure that This review will soon have many "not helpful" votes as the author and publisher seem to spend a lot of time on this page shilling. Google it if you don't know what it means.

omg this is the best book i have EVER read!!!! the first time i read it, it took 3 days cuz i could never put the book down! all this action and excitment keeps popping up page after page and i cant stop reading!!! i would reccomend this book to any other highschooler (i'm a junior this year *YAY*), but read it twice cuz you'll miss a bunch of stuff the first time probly since u hafta read it so fast. cuz then the second time i read it, i figured out all the double chapter meanings and noticed lots of hints that the author dropped that i never saw bfore

...anyway, this book rox my sox!!

Every other reviewer gave this book 5 stars..hard to believe that they all actually read it. This book has a lot of potential, most of it wasted. It appears to be self-published, and it certainly never had the benefit of an editor to correct the massive number of punctuation and grammar errors. These are so frequent and obvious that it interferes with the reading. A good editor would also have helped the author develop the characters and smooth out the disjointed storyline - there are no transitions connecting the changing scenes, no explanations for why characters react the way they do. Everytime the children go to Tutu's grass hut and "travel" to the realm of the Hawaiian gods, the action/reactions are the same. Each of those scenes cry out to be cut in half (or more) - they are endless and get boring. I found myself skimming through these praying for it to end, since nothing new or interesting was going to happen. I forced myself to finish the book, hoping (against hope, as it turned out) that questions would be answered. I wanted to like this book, as a former resident of Hawaii, but was disappointed.

Zola's The Ladies Paradise is a fine translation from the French original. The author is right on target when it comes to consumer culture in nineteenth century France. He predicted well, how big businesses would swallow up the mom-and-pop shops, and create a need for material possessions. The character of Denise was one of strong ambition in a time when women had less than half a chance of leading an independent life outside of an andro-centric culture. Denise is a young heroine in her own right, rising up from poverty to become a strong voice in the world of the department stores. She has to fight vicious rumours and unwanted affections to make it to the top with out sacrificing her own beliefs. I highly recommend Zola's The Ladies Paradise.

any one who has started a business or has worked in a business should read this book. It clearly outlines all marketing principles, sales psychology and the benefits of being in distribution rather then production. Amazing. Grow your mind and read.

THE LADIES' PARADISE is a sequel to POT LUCK (POT-BUILLE), which I read last year. Both have Octave Mouret as a central character. In the earlier novel, he was a young salesman on the make, both in his profession and with the young women in his apartment building. At the end of POT LUCK, he marries the owner of a successful drapery establishment. At the start of PARADISE, his wife has died; and Octave has entered on an expansion program from drapery into a department store named the Ladies' Paradise that threatens all the other shopkeepers selling clothing and accessories in the area.

Enter Denise Baudu, a country girl from Normandy, who moves to Paris with her two brothers after one of them has gotten in trouble back home. Her uncle runs a store called Au Vieil Elbeuf, selling drapery and flannels, but is unable to give her room or a job because business is threatened by the presence of the Ladies' Paradise across the street. Denise finds a job at the Paradise at the risk of angering her relatives.

Salesgirls at the Paradise live in a dormitory on the top floor of the department store. Room and board is part of the job, plus a token wage and commissions on sales over quota. Little does Denise know she had entered into a whirlwind of gossip and backbiting. She is made fun of by her fellow workers, but Mouret resists getting rid of her because he is drawn to her. At one point, however, two of Mouret's "spies" in management come upon Denise and a young salesman from her region who has sheepishly fallen in love with her and kisses her hand as head axe-wielder Bourdoncle watches. Denise is promptly dismissed.

As Denise finds another position in a less profitable store than the Paradise, the focus turns more to Mouret, who did not know of her dismissal. Mouret plans a large-scale expansion of the store and calls upon Baron Hartman (in real life, Baron Haussmann) to allow him frontage on the new boulevard being cut through the neighborhood.

One day, Mouret runs into Denise on the street and asks her to consider returning to the Paradise, which is just as well as the store where Denise had started to work was going under. To sweeten the offer, Mouret makes her an assistant buyer in the new children's wear department. With her enhanced status, Denise is now winning admiration from her co-workers, though some backbiters remain. In the meantime, Mouret's passion for her is growing -- despite Denise not encouraging it in any way.

There are several set pieces in the novel which are a feature of Zola's fiction. They come under the heading of giant mechanisms that grind people down. In GERMINAL, it was a coal mine; in POT LUCK, an apartment building; in HUMAN BEAST, railroads; and in THE BELLY OF PARIS, the food market at Les Halles. In every Zola novel, there are scenes showing off some giant mechanism at work crushing people under it like the wheels of a Juggernaut. In PARADISE, these scenes are highly successful sales which show a crush of frenetically spending customers and overwhelmed sales clerks as Mouret keeps "pushing the envelope" of what is possible in the apparel business. Even wealthy shoppers who came "just to look" are caught up in the frenzy and leave the store having committed themselves to buy more than what they could afford.

The owners of neighboring shops feel that the Paradise is like a hungry beast that strives to devour their businesses and put them out in the street. Which is exactly what happens. Denise's cousin Genevieve dies of consumption after her lover Colomban -- the main hope of Au Vieil Elbeuf -- runs away to chase a slutty Paradise shopgirl who is one of Mouret's cast-offs, and who doesn't even want him. Aunt Baudu follows her daughter soon after. When as the result of a series of sharp moves, Mouret buys their properties, the shopkeepers are evicted; and Uncle Baudu goes to a nursing home, completely dazed and broken.

Eventually, Denise and Mouret do hook up, but on Denise's terms. The novel ends as they announce their upcoming marriage.

I have found that the ten or so Zola novels I have read have been of a uniform high quality, such that I have difficulty recommending one over the other (though I have a particular fondness for NANA). THE LADIES' PARADISE is an excellent read and paints a fascinating picture of life in the emerging Paris department stores of the late 19th century.

The Ladies Paradise written in the nineteenth century rings true of today's consumerism. Emile Zola examines in this socialistic novel the effects of consumerism on customers and employees. The customers who are women are drawn to the items that are displayed on the tables. Octave Mouret, the storeowner, knows what women desire and sets forth to use it to bring in profits. The lace, stockings, velvet are feminine fabrics that entice women to spend money, even if they don't have it.

As a retail employee, I have dealt with customers who don't have the money to buy the items but want to get it. I am a customer who buys what is displayed because I think it is going to be an investment. I can relate to small stores like Uncle Baudu's. Businesses like his struggle to stay afloat amongst corporate expansion. They entice clients with their sales and bargains--things that I look for when I shop. Small stores can provide what the big stores don't have. One way or the other, the consumer can get some sort of balance. Working at both a community store and a corporate store, one thing that matters most to customers is service. Customers want to be treated with respect and they expect sales associate to be enthused and answer their questions; even if it is trivial.

Denise Baudu, a simple country girl, arrives in Paris to get a job at her uncle's drapery shop. To her disappointment he doesn't have a job for her because his store is losing customers to the Ladies Paradise. The mall provides goods that are cheaper than the small shops and have a selection of fabrics not only from the mother country, but imported from Asia. He suggests to his niece that she get a job there.

The store fascinates her but she does feel some betrayal towards her uncle. Her uncle's business, along with the small stores, are struggling to stay afloat. With the expansion of the mall, these stores are forced to close because they can't compete with them. Uncle Baudu's hopes of his business staying for the long haul are shattered.

Denise is at first, shy and awkward. She is the target of cruel and malicious slander from the employees including assistant buyer Madame Aurelie. Zola unfolds the lives of the sales employees. The money they make in retail isn't sufficient to support them. The women take to prostitution. Claire has three men supporting her material needs. Pauline befriends Denise and suggests that she get herself a lover to support her financially. Denise doesn't take that advice because it is not in her interest to be a prostitute. She is determined to keep herself and her family together without falling apart which makes the women envious of her.

The novel is centered around an actual person Aristide Boucicaut who founded Le Bon Marche which remains today at the center of Parisian culture. Denise is believed to be the model of his wife Marguerite. Zola puts into a social perspective that exists til this day.

After reading the book for an art class I was suprized to find out that I actually enjoyed the book, it had quite a twist to the department store/love story. I think Zola's description of the scenes were wonderful and helped me use my inmagination better. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes learning about Paris bourgeous life and the mechanical system of the department stores. Definitly a good read.

I love the selections from Ovid in this book! I like the slow start, using words very similar to their English equivalents, and the series of exercises that follow the selection. I even enjoy the discussion of etymology at the ends of the chapters.
My only complaint is the lack of answers at the back for the exercises. I'm trying to learn Latin on my own, and having the help of seeing answers would make my task somewhat less daunting. Still, taking enough care, and looking back at the examples and reading excerpt, I think I'll learn Latin well enough to read it on my own. Eventually.

I learned Latin using Wheelock's textbook, studying with an engaging instructor. That is an excellent text but, as many have noted, it is very dry. This book is more entertaining: less philosophy and more blood, sex, and other agreeable topics. Can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a great book to learn latin at your own pace. I have been studying it for almost a month now. The explanations are clear, and the examples meaningful. I highly recommended it for anyone who wants to learn some latin.

I found this book very useful and, if I were learning Latin from scratch as a youngster I expect it would have proved more interesting than the volumes I did work with. Of course, being American, the declensions are in the "wrong order" but this is a minor nuisance. Interesting exercises and additional information on Roman life and mores, mythology and magic.

Goldman's text is wonderful for someone desiring to learn Latin on their own. From the second chapter onwards, all the readings consist of revised excerpts from Ovid's Metamorphoses. As you are taught more grammar and vocabulary, she gradually introduces more and more of the original into the readings until you are reading what Ovid actually wrote. And although there is no answer key, the excercises (of which there are plenty) are usually of just the right difficulty: just hard enough to help you in learning Latin, but not so hard that you can't figure them out on your own.
I would also recommend the accompanying workbook, which is a little more difficult, but does include an answer key.

This book saved my marriage. Everything that I had been trying to say for years was finally said by an expert and not me. My spouse was able to read and understand through the book and he was not able to argue about what the book said, like he would have done had it been only me saying those things. I also learned a lot about my own destructive habits (lying was one of my big ones... "Are you mad?" "No, I'm not mad, everything is ok" when in fact it wasn't).

My suggestion is that you read it together, or have one person start reading it and writing comments into the book as you recognize yourselves in it. Then when the other partner starts to read it they too should write comments into the book as well. Later you should both go through it together to read the added comments and use those as talking points.

I also feel that if your marriage is in really bad shape that you read this book first because you HAVE to stop the "love bank withdrawals"... they are causing your marriage to go bankrupt. Once you have a handle on your withdrawals then your deposits (His Needs Her Needs) will finally be able to accumulate to the point of causing positive change. You can make as many deposits as you like, but everyone knows from life even that if you don't control your withdrawals that you can easily overdraft your account.

If you are struggling in your marriage, READ THIS BOOK!

This book is written so it is very easy to understand,no overload of hard to understand words. It has great ideas and solutions for marital problems. You will find much help in it. I can't wait to read HIS NEEDS, HER NEEDS: BUILDING AN AFFAIR PROOF MARRIAGE.
I can highly recommend this book!

Extremely practical guide to save a troubled marriage. Well worth the read and thoroughly recommend - even for the sake of improving your marriage.

After 8yrs of dating and 4yrs of marriage, our relationship had become...well, boring. Our date nights, if we had them, were typical dinner and a movie. Something was definitely missing. A church marriage counsellor recommended this book along with The 5 Love Languages. It is a must read for BOTH spouses. Do not expect results with only one partner reading and/or applying it!

If you are thinking about buying this book or any other relationship book - do not delay! Dr. Harley's books (including His Needs, Her Needs) have been very helpful to my marriage following a crisis. He makes excellent points that somehow seem to reach both of us and explains things in a way that both of us understand without either one feeling hurt or attacked. It is a terrific book, and I believe anyone who reads it and adopts it in their marriage will see improvement.

This yarn reminds me of something I read in Carl Sagan's Cosmos book about hypothetical life-forms that could possibly exist in the atmosphere of a gas giant planet. This story goes even deeper into the 'what if' of such an idea. Zahn's writing is fast-paced, and the complexities of the plot make this a real page-turner. When I bought the book I wondered how dramatic life could be in a herd where all the creatures seem to do is eat, sleep, mate, and fight off predators. But this author has woven so many hidden agendas into this story, mostly surrounding the Qanska's interaction with Manta and his with the humans that you're kept guessing about what's going on right up to the last minute.

I've enjoyed Timothy Zahn's work for almost a decade now; I think his Star Wars novels are the best ever written in that universe, and his original space operas are zippy, exciting, and innovative.

My only quibble: Too often, it seems that about a hundred pages into a Zahn novel, his characters stop being the incredibly realistic and intriguing folks they've been so far and become flatter, more familiar, and less interesting.

That's why Manta's Gift surprised me so much. Not only does this book run from page one with a kind of non-stop manic energy, but the characters Zahn creates are both consistent and consistently alien. This is a weird, wonderful glimpse into the sort of society that might be buried beneath Jupiter's clouds, a culture alien enough that I never knew what to expect but human enough that I cared deeply about the characters. If you like stories with both a brain and a heart, check this one out!

I picked up this one at a used book sale at the local library for next to nothing... not because reading the back cover (or the front cover for that matter) grabbed my attention (because they most certainly did NOT), but becuase I knew Timothy Zahn from his work on the Star Wars "Heir to the Empire" trilogy and had really enjoyed his writing. Turns out, it was a very good pickup that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Unlike a lot of contemporary sci-fi, this one actually DOES make an effort at including science into the fiction, and Zahn does incorporate several creative and thought provoking ideas and concepts into the life and ecology of the Jupiter that he creates.... (as odd and implausible as some of those ideas and "science" may be, they should at least make the reader step back and say 'hmmm, interesting'). Zahn succeeds in giving his story an "old school" sci-fi feel to it that a lot of newer entries into the genre seem to be lacking.

For all the science and creativity though, the story really succeeds becuase the characters are interesting and sympathetic, the plot is fast paced and exciting, the book is not easy to "figure out" 200 pages before the finish (i.e. there is suspense), and the writing is sharp and clear. This one MORE than met my expectations, and I'll be hitting more of Zahn's work when the next opportunity presents itself. In my opinion at least, that's pretty high praise for an author, and this book was well worth the read.

Over the last six months i have reread Manta's Gift over four times. The book takes place many years in the future in the atmosphere of Jupiter. The plot is nothing amazing as far as Sci-Fi goes, but the potreyal of the characters and situations are beautifuly written. One of the more interesting points of the book is the Culture Clash that takes place between the human mind of Manta and rules that govern an inherent prey race, vs a hunter race like humans.
One of the things that set this book apart is Zahn's style of "tricking" you into thinking the book is almost over. Time and time again he brings up situations when most other authors would leave the book off there.
But at its heart, the book is a timeless story of culture clashes mixed with despairing romance unlike the happy endings found in most books today. Zahn combines his knowlage of science with an extremely creative imagination to creat a fantastic read, highly recomended

Timothy Zahn is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He has a knack for developing characters and story without pausing the fast-paced action that usually occurs in his novels. And having said that, Manta's Gift is not exactly an action novel. This book is more about the "human condition"; what makes a man a man? Can a man be someone/something else?
The mind of paraplegic Matt Raimey is reborn into the body of an alien Qanska living in the skies of Jupiter in order to help humanity and the Qanska understand one another better. There are, of course, ulterior motives for both species, and that is one of the themes of the book. The other is Matt's ability/inability to cope with his new existence. Will he be a human in a Qanska body, will he become a Qanska, or will he become a tool for one species to use against the other?
This book was sort of a slow read due to the limited action, but I was never bored and needed to know what was going to happen next.

This is very funny stuff. I remember getting this book in college. It's still just as funny or perhaps more funny today!!

Kliban was definitely one of the best. I discovered his work in used book stores and was hooked the moment I saw it. What started was a manic tour to find all of his books. Next was convincing everyone I knew at the time that Kliban was a genius. Some bought, some flinched.

Kliban's work would have no home in today's "funny pages." It's entertainment for adults (he began his career with Playboy magazine) and his work is scattered with obscenity and nudity. None of it is gratuitous. One thing that heavily separates Kliban's work from other cartoonists' is its depth. Social commentary mixed with metaphysics mixed with surrealism. When he's funny he's gut-wrenchingly funny. When he's profound he's deeply profound (not many cartoonists' work can be called 'profound'). He also uses the pun in a way I've never seen before. He either goes over the top and makes you gag(e.g., "Why do you hang out with that sadist?" "Beats me!"), or is very subtle and hilarious (e.g., A buffalo saying "I never met an Indian I didn't like, with the possible exception of Kahlil Gibran"). His work is nonsensical, absurd and funny.

This book includes classics such as "The Birth of Advertising", "Patron Saint of Crullers", "Contaminated Pork Bldg", "The Hairy Family Singers", "Continuous Eye Persons", "Philosophers Looting a Small Town", and many others that defy description.

Kliban's closest equivalent in cartooning must be Argentina's Quino. If you're a fan of Kliban, most likely you'll appreciate Quino's work (though some knowledge of Spanish is helpful).

Sadly, a lot of Kliban's work is difficult to find these days. His "safer" books like "Cat" are readily available, but his more edgy work seems to have nearly vanished. Perhaps someday if mainstream humor revisits off-the-wall absurdism Kliban's work will be appreciated for what it was.

B. Kliban is a pre-Larson cartoonist with some similar traits. Kliban is much more cerebral, however. My college roommate had this book and "Tiny Footprints" and I was hooked. "Soup to Nuts" is a classic.

The B. Kliban book, "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head," was the most original, funniest and thought-provoking cartoon series that I've ever seen. For humor value I also like New Yorker cartoons, but they are locked in a kind of workplace suburban conventionality that seems less original than Kliban, and anyway they use multiple authors for their body of work.

A "predecessor" of Gary Larsen? Having had Kliban's book and then seeing Gary Larsen's series, Larsen's work is clearly derivative of Kliban, sort of like J.K. Rowling coming after J.R.R. Tolkein.

The book is still funny and mind-stretching, and my original 70s paperback copy is falling apart, so I'm taking the trouble to track down another copy.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned this book is at the top of the heap of original cartoon humor and actually represents a new way of looking at everything in terms of parody from the early 70s on. Buy it if you dare.

This was my roommate's book and I read it back in the 70's. It was so hysterical we used to laugh until we thought we'd wet ourselves. I sometimes think about funny cartons/sayings and I'm still laughing about it 20+ years later. I'm amazed I remembered the name of the book, but I did, so here I am. I'm ordering it today. I'm going to keep it at work, and when things get me down, I'll look at the picture of the "Wonder Weiner Works" and I know it'll put a smile on my face.

Used to listen to this on tape and wanted to replace it with cd so I could listen to it in the car. If you want to get a taste of life in 1660's London, this is it. The written diaries are also fascinating but fairly hard to read, so Kenneth Branagh helps us out here. Anyone interested in English history will be very pleased with this diary. If you don't yet know who Pepys is then, for sure, you need to buy this. I've listened to it at least twice over the years and alway hear something new with each listening. Highly recommended!

I chose to listen to this book because I felt I "should" be better acquainted with what can arguably be called the most famous diary in history. I looked upon it as a chore that would improve my mind.

I may have, indeed, improved my mind but it turned out to be no chore! What an absolute delight. I've read many historical novels that weren't half as exciting, funny and fascinating as this book. I kept having to remind myself that this man REALLY lived through all these things -- the plague, the great London fire, the machinations of the court.

Plus, his willingness to expose in frank (and sometimes bawdy) detail his personal life, health, sexual dalliances, etc., brought *him* as well as his times vividly to life.

I doubt if trying to read through the actual diary would be as much fun, but the editors' careful selection of entries culled out the best bits while never losing continuity.

And what more can I add to the praise of Branagh as narrator? The man is a phenomenal talent and shows it in this book. Never over-acting, he manages to convey a perfect tone (for instance, just the hint of a whisper at the more personal parts, as though Pepys was confiding in us).

All in all, this book convinced me that improving my mind doesn't HAVE to be tedious.

Of course it is not the complete Pepy's diary but is wonderful to listen to while on long drives. Kenneth Brannagh as the reader brings life into the English language of yesterday. I wonder if a movie is in the offing.

Samuel Pepys' Pepys' Diary is an outstanding classic which comes to life in audio cd format, narrated by Kenneth Branagh whose background in film and direction lend to a vivid narrative indeed. Pepys' classic has lasted centuries because it records in vivid descriptions the bygone world of 17th-century London life: this vivid written word in turn translates well into audio and brings a rich history to life.

I loved these tapes. I concur with the reviews that they are addictive - better for a long country ride than a harried rush hour. Then let Pepys (Branagh) be your witty and engrossing travel companion.

It obviously helps to be familar with the Restoration to enhance your enjoyment of these diaries; though many with even a general background will still find them entertaining. Highly recommended.

Maya Angelou's book "Phenomenal Woman" is a celebration of women regardless of race, creed, or color. The poems contained between the covers of this small but powerful book articulate the strength and beauty of womanhood. I display the book on my coffee table along with other books. My twelve year old niece read the book and fell in love with it. She has asked me to buy a copy for her.I will buy a copy for her and my other nieces and nephews.

Maya angelou is a jewel. Her poems rich deep inside your spirit. My daughter really enjoys these tapes.

Whether you are tall, thin, heavy, young, old, beautiful, ugly; we are all our own phenomenal woman!!!! Each of us has our own power within ourselves to shine and be our own wonderful person. Maya Angelou's own life, reaches within and brings us to this point with her words.

I heard Oprah recite the title poem at her workshop and had to have it. It is a great little book and would make a nice gift for a 'phenomenal woman'

What a wonderful collection of poems celebrating women. This book of four very soulful, strong, empowering poems has quickly become a favorite. I would recommend this book as a gift for any woman. Or better yet, buy it for yourself - you won't regret it!

In one word WOW! You have to have this book, Matt explains things in simple terms and makes using PSE easy to use.

Bill

MATT KLOSKOWSKI DOES AND EXCELLENT JOB. VERY EASY TO FOLLOW! MATT'S HUMOR IS A DELIGHT. THE EXAMPLES MAKE IT EASY TO LEARN.

THE ONLY NEGATIVE IS THE BINDING ON THE BOOK. IT IS OK SO FAR. BUT I USE A BOOK HARD, I AM CAREFUL. BUT MYEXPERIENCE WITH THIS TYPE OF BINDING IS NOT GOOD. THEY SHOULD USE A SPIRAL BINDING.

This is a wonderful book. I have had it now for almost a year and use it constantly. It reads like a recipe book, which makes it extremely user friendly. I use it alone and in conjunction with "Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual".

I echo the comments from everyone else. This is the best choise book to buy to learn how to use this product.

I have uesed this book more than any book I have on photoshop. This is my seconed copy. My first I gave to a friend. Everyone who sees this book wants it. Mat makes everything so easy, you will wonder how you ever did with out it. I give this book five stars. I would love to give it 20 stars,but they only give me five. You will be working in elements and photoshop like a pro in one day. Debbie

This is one of the most enjoyable and most readable books I've read on any aspect of astronomy. It does show that some planetary astronomers are a bit more human than they ought to be, putting fame ahead of knowledge, but at least they're fussing about something that might conceivably be useful (but hardly, right?) and not about how old Time is, or how to convince me that there is no center to the universe although 'it did so start with an explosion!'. Much of astronomy, and all of cosmology, is just a big boondoggle for smart graduate students and their mentors, but at least the ones Ken Croswell writes about are almost 'down to earth'.

I generally liked this book. I will mention here that the author does tend to write in all the politics amongst the different astronomers and their institutions, making these people real and their discoveries intriguing. However, the bitterness he dotes on gets tiring in some places. Also, he writes to keep you in suspence and only a few times does the anticipation get annoying.

This is an excellent book on the given subject, covering the history of the search for other planets in a technically proficient but accessible way. Croswell frequently brings in the scientists involved and lets us hear what they have to say. Since the search for planets has often been controversial, this makes for exciting reading sometimes, as two leaders in the field take turns taking potshots at each other.

Mostly, though, it brings more of a human face to this arcane endeavor. Croswell also takes pains to explain how the search is progressing and how so many false alarms have managed to take place over the years.

Again, an excellent book.

Planet Quest is a great book for all you armchair astronomers who want to learn more! I am not an astronomer or even an amateur astronomer, in fact, Planet Quest is only the Third book I've read on the subject but my interest is growing. Planet Quest is very easy to understand because all of the scientific jargon is followed by words and explanations that beginners, like you and me, can follow. Read this book, you won't be disappointed!

Ken Croswell's book, "Planet Quest" is a must for anyone interested in the search for planets outside of the solar system. The book reads well, telling a fascinating story from the beginnings of speculation about the existence of alien worlds right up to the present when information is coming to us all the time about strange new worlds around distant stars. Anybody with an interest in the possibilities of life elsewhere must read this book.