Q Books

It's Heath Month in I.Q.'s classroom, but I.Q. is worried that because he can't run as long or jump as far as the other students, he won't win a ribbon at the fitness test. I.Q. the mouse is challenged to do his best - and still he doesn't seem to be able to compete. His efforts will eventually win him something different in this warm survey of a student who wants to achieve the most.

First of all let me confess to some insider knowledge of the author. A few years ago I worked in an internet and marketing communications agency alongside a certain Martin C Brown.

By day he provided both high-level IT consultancy (Mac, PC, Unix et al) and ground-level Mac and systems support to a mixed bag of Mac users - ranging from 'Power Users' to 'Just Plain Dumb Users'. By night he was obviously planning world domination of the computer book market... and he probably dashed off a few macros too that enabled him to download his awe-inspiring knowledge of all things Apple Mac straight from brain to paperback in one easy process!

Falling as I do into the 'dumb user' category, the idea of owning a computer (even a user-friendly Mac), but being cut adrift from the expert support of someone like Martin C Brown, scares the hell out of me.

So, IMHO (in my humble opinion), iMacFYI is a must-buy for every iMac owner on this planet. It doesn't matter whether you've been using a Mac since day one or whether you're a more recent convert. I've been a Mac devotee for over 15 years and I was amazed how much I learned on every page of this book. If I was a novice I reckon this book would provide a pretty good return on investment by around page 25 at the latest - and you'd still have over 250 pages left to go!

Flicking through iMacFYI as I finish this review it becomes apparent just what a great mix of hard facts, priceless info and readability this book offers. Virtually every section has a liberal sprinkling of useful screen shots, dialogue boxes, tips and notes. And the question and answer format adopted throughout leaves no stone unturned. Buy it, enjoy - and sleep easy!

The Lavettes-Torn by divorce, dissension, and warring passions, the Lavettes face their most painful truths, mirroring a nation divided in the aftermath of Vietnam. The loves that seemed inviolate, the unquestioned loyalties, are struck down in an era of broken promises and lost ideas.

Barbara Lavette -Trapped between her own heroic past, her family's needs, and the shadow of her own encroaching age, Barbara is at the crossroads. Embracing the challenge of a congressional race, going out to face war - and love - in El Salvador, she must become the inspriation of her embattled family, the microcosm that is her ultimate testing ground for courage and strength.

This eighth of Hogan's poetry volumes encompasses his beautifully-crafted responses to places as far afield as Rhode Island and California, the American Midwest, Southwest and Mexico; traveling through time to offer persona poems such as "Hair Broker, 1861" and "In the Garden of Leon Trotsky." As Sam Hamill wrote in the American Poetry Review, Hogan undertakes each poem as if undertaking "the possibility of radical transformation", and gripping examples are here, in his own journies through emotional landscapes.

"I wanted you to escape the cold silences/ expect little from stiff affections.../ But even in small doses/ the mad Irish hurt you out of poetry,"

Hogan writes in an elegy titled "Dear One", poignantly interwoven with the music of the Mexican song "Querida". For readers who've traveled with Hogan's poetry before, taken joy in his compassion and calm skill as a poet-guide, part of the new delight of IMPERFECT GEOGRAPHIES will be his exquisite mapping of language and light "sin fronteras" (without barriers), as in his "On Translating a Mexican Poet".

"...Outside the hummingbird blinks/ among blossoming jasmine/ to leap a stucco wall/ sparkling (from broken glass)/ in the always vertical sun/ below Cancer. Cerrada.//

North, ice is a silver ornament/ intricate as quartz./ In fair weather Windex gleam and slant rays/ panicked wrens/ to break their necks on. Closed.,"

one of poetry's loveliest answers ever, to "bilingual" buzz.

And throughout IMPERFECT GEOGRAPHIES, Hogan writes his ever-humble cartography for human frailty-become-strength. From "Winter Solstice":

"...so that when we sometimes feel/ little or mean or ugly/ a reservoir is there./ And how the soul is no fiction:/ there is a celestial chaperon/ who leads us if we let her/ to enchanted places;/ that the same breath/ which allows us to disfigure our lives/ can metabolize joy."

If your looking for a book that lasts, the Natures Footprints books are a sure thing. A few lines of text and lovely pictures of each animal and its footprints. The real hook for both my kids is the "follow natures footprints" pages - they never tired of following them. A great buy for any child ages 2-6.

Based on a longitudinal study of children starting in the 1930's, this book describes behavior of children at certain ages. It does not tell you how to raise your child. It simply tells you what to expect at 3 months, two years, eight years, etc. Instead of perceiving your child's behavior as peculiar or bad (and therefore punishing the child), the parent can see the behavior as normative. It enables acceptance of your child as he or she is and should be.

Inspite of having been written so many years ago, these talks are still valid and outstanding.- I am a commentator on Music on Television, and Leonard Bernstein has been, and continues to be, my model and idol in this respect.- Very recommended indeed.-

This book brought a smile to my face as I began to read it. Oh, the memories of being a Q. T. Pie. All little girls no matter what race would be inspired from this book. What a great way to develop a little's girl self esteem at such an early age.

My whole family really loved this book. We highly recommend it. It was a lovely collection of poetry!

WOW! This one has everthing. Beautiful illustrations, great pattern ideas, useable tips. Makes a great gift and is a must have for any library. If you love old quilts, this is the one for you.