Iowa Books

This is a unique and very entertaining book for juveniles--especially young girls would like this. I like this because it is a story about a farm girl in Iowa--something that young girls don't get exposed to very often these days, and it's so nice to have a young female heroine whose noble goal is to grow a giant pumpkin rather than some superficial nonsense. Funny and real.

Joan Bauer, a Newberry Honor author for Hope Was Here, has another winner with Squashed. From the first sentence the reader is plunged into the tumultuous world of Ellie Morgan, and her giant pumpkin, Max. The fact that the giant pumpkin in her backyard takes up most of Ellie's time lends to the idea that she is not the average sixteen year old girl, but behind Max's 500 plus pound frame is a regular girl with all the challenges of high school. Ellie struggles with her weight, a father who doesn't support Max, and the death of her mother, not to mention Wes, the new kid at school who happens to love growing as much as Ellie.
Bauer's style allows for laughs, even when talking about serious issues, such as Ellie's most recent diet, which isn't going too well. Joan Bauer helps young adult readers to deal with their faults and through wisdom shared in Squashed, focus on the positives about themselves. Overall it's a very fun book, and one that I had trouble putting down. Squashed has 194 pages and is a relatively quick read, with a reading level of about twelve years old, though the interest level is higher, ranging from fourteen to all ages of adults.

This is one of the funniest and one of the best written teen stories I've read in a long time! As a high school English teacher, I cannot wait to implement this story into my class this fall--right in time for our annual Fall Festival! How perfect!

I loved this book with all the excitement in it like when Ellie was catching those pumpkin thieves. There was also romance like when Wes (Ellie's crush) kissed her and she kissed him back. This book had many types of emotions throughout it.
One of my favorite parts of the book were when Ellie embarrassed Sharell in front of Wes. Another was when Richard (Ellie's cousin) brought over Spider. In my mind Spider reminded me of a street dog. It said that he had dirty ruffled fur and he had no teeth so he gummed everything. The last was when Max stole the first place ribbon away from Big Daddy and his grower Cyril Pool.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes books with action like when Ellie caught the pumpkin thieves, suspense like when Cyril's pumpkin is weighed, and some romance like when Wes kisses Ellie. This book had to be one of the best I ever read and I know it will be the same for you

Ellie's whole life is pumpkin growing. On the small patch of land in the yard of her home where she lives with her widower father, Ellie tries to grow giants big enough to win the town's annual pumpkin growing contest. The fall festival is the biggest holiday of the year in town, and even though Ellie is still a teenager, she has been entering the adult growing division for years.

The problem is Cyril, a nasty and mean-spirited grower who also aims to grow the town's biggest pumpkin and has taken the fair's first-place title for many years. Ellie always seems to be second place to this despicable man, who enjoys rubbing his victories in her face. This year, though, Ellie is more determined than ever. She is confident that Max, the biggest pumpkin she's ever grown, will be a champion.

That is, she is confident until she sees Cyril's giant.

Ellie continues to nurture her pumpkin while trying to do well in school, convince her father that growing pumpkins is important, and attempting to gain the attention of the new boy at school, the president of his former school's agriculture club. It is a stressful life for Ellie, but will it all be worth it?

I liked how Ellie was able to relate everything going on in her life to growing. She used the analogy to explain everything to the reader, which showed just how important it was to her. The characters in this story were really good. I liked the way they interacted with each other and stood up for each other. I especially liked Richard and the way he supported Ellie.

However, Ellie took everything too seriously and overanalyzed everything. If she were a real person, I don't know if anyone would ever want to be around her. It also bothered me that Ellie was constantly obsessing over her weight and then overeating. Someone strong enough to do all of the work it took to grow those pumpkins should have been strong enough to go on a diet, if her weight was such an issue to her.

This book is one of the most significant modern restatements of just war thinking and also a passionate defense of the old principle of noncombatant immunity. The author is both thorough and persuasive in his exploration of a very intricate subject, although some times he loses his objectivity, especially when he's treating the Israeli military responses to various challenges from state and non-state actors. Some other times he takes some sharp legalist turns whish are really difficult to follow. Of course there are many points which really impressed me with their clarity, fine logic and moral soundness: "The state that goes to war is, like our own, an enormous state, governed at a great distance from its ordinary citizens by powerful and often arrogant officials. These officials, or at least the leading among them, are chosen through democratic elections, but at the time of the choice very little is known about their programs and commitments. Political participation is occasional, intermittent, limited in its effects, and is mediated by a system for the distribution of news which is partially controlled by those distant officials and which in any case allows for considerable distortion". "Soldiers, it might be said, stand to civilians like a crew of a liner to its passengers". " I have argued that soldiers in combatcannot plead self-preservation when they violate the rules of war. For the dangers of enemy fire are simply the risks of the activity in which they are engaged, and the have no right to reduce those risks at the expense of other people who are not engaged".

In his afterword, Mr Walzer gives a chilling idea of how a population (even an unarmed one) can tear down and defeat an occupying force. "Nonviolence has been practiced (in the face of an invasion) only after violence, or the threat of violence has failed. Then its protagonists aim to deny the victorious army the fruits of its victory through a systematic policy of civilian resistance and noncooperation: they call upon the conquered people to make themselves ungovernable... They treat the aggressor in effect as a domestic tyrant or usurper, and they turn his soldiers into policemen". If you add to this recipe some dozens of IEDs daily, you have the nightmare of Iraq!

It is the best book sold by the Amazon and at a cheaper price

Walzer's historical approach to examining just war theory is, I think, the most useful way to understand morality in war. That is so because empirical facts back up all the philosophical evaluations. Walzer describes experience and draws conclusions here; he is laying a philosophical foundation and implying, if not prescribing, moral norms from which the rules have been extracted. Be forewarned, he does not cut the reader any slack. This book requires some serious attention to the author's train of thought.

Just war theory has two categories: the justice of going to war, and the justice of fighting once in a war. Walzer's discussion usefully and clearly separates the two and examines via historical events what we regard as right and wrong within each sphere. In doing this he has done the modern world a tremendous service. His logical breakdown speaks to thousands of years of tradition about what thinkers have considered right and wrong in war. One of the best outcomes of this landmark work is the complete debunking of the notion that "all is fair in love and war." That is the path of least moral resistance (or as Clausewitz would say, "friction"), yet we all know that soldiers are honored for fighting well and loathed for behaving like armed thugs and murderers. What is amazing from the discusion is the realization that Walzer knows he has to attack that age-old notion, something our collective sense of justice has historically always rejected. Yet it remains a prevailing idea for many. Originally coined by the Romans it seems (Walzer quotes them, "In war the laws are silent"), they themselves were self-consciously contrite over the fates they inflicted on the Greeks and Carthaginians. The book rates five stars for rigorously addressing this issue alone.

Some make the mistake of thinking Walzer is a pacifist--far from it. On the otherside some critics find his argument about "supreme emergency" a moral failure and a cop-out. The case of Nazi Germany is his paradigmatic case of supreme emergency, one where normal rules may be relaxed, if ever so little, because of the especially pernicious nature of state-sponsored genocide. In contrast Walzer does not see Imperial Japan, for instance, as having represented a supreme emergency, and so the atomic bombings and the fire bombings of cities could not be morally justified. Readers may want to compare his view to Paul Fussell's perspective in the essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." Walzer's argument here has lent unintended tacit support to many ideas about torturing terrorists at Gitmo and elsewhere. It's pretty obvious Dick Cheney, for instance, thinks the same relaxation of restraints would apply to Islamic terror (but the analogy seems weak). I recommend readers to Tim Challans' book Awakening Warrior for a critique of Walzer's idea of supreme emergency and a very impressive logical attack upon the recent trend toward torturing POW's in prisons outside the USA.

Significantly for current events, readers interested in the distinction between pre-emptive and preventive war will find a well articulated argument in Just and Unjust Wars. The US attack on Iraq was and still is often justified as pre-emptive. That impulse on the part of the neo-conservatives who devised or whipped up the casus belli reflects, I think, a need to cloak a morally questionable war in the robes of legitimacy. There is no way that attack can be justified under the historically accepted norms of "pre-emption." Michael Walzer's well-thought distinction between pre-emption and prevention makes sense even in the milieu of asymmetric warfare against terror and Islamic radicalism, and it clearly shows why the Iraq war was a moral mistake from the start, regardless of its practical success down the road, if we are fortunate enough to see that. The moral precedent of engaging in preventive war will continue to haunt America long into the future. The fact that Iraq was not even on the spectrum where the fine line between pre-emption and prevention exists is a telling aspect of the overall ongoing strategic fiasco. Where one fails to recognize the moral high ground, one is doomed to moral failure. Walzer was vocal about the run-up to war in 2003, and those who read his book would do well to find his comments about the Iraq invasion; they are edifying in terms of understanding the overall argument in this book and, not coincidentally, where we are going in this role as the world's police force.

This is a very legalistic look at history. It helps one understand many of the words used in talking about wars.

At a lecture at West Point United States Military Academy April 6, 2006, Naom Chomsky argued, "Just war theory" literature "deserves special attention but is ultimately not very instructive about just war". "Just war theory" is "declarations of personal preference", which "never tells you anything. It doesn't tell you when it is proper to intervene, what it tells you is 'I think it is proper to intervene'...there is a big gap between assertion and argument, between surmise and evidence." "We learn very little about just war from 'Just war theory'" what we do learn is "mostly about the prevailing moral and intellectual climate in which we live." Walzer's book relies crucially on such premises as "Seems to me entirely justified, or I believe, or no doubt." Chomsky then discusses scientific studies on human behavior which is noticeably absent from Walzer's book.

Walzer uses the term "I think" at least 52 times in the book. "I don't think" 7 times. "I believe" twice, "no doubt" at least 41 times, and "seems to me" 12 times (I write "at least" because the same phrase twice on one page would be counted once.)

Walzer's hypocricy

In a book which suffers from terribly bad organization, on page 62 Walzer finally systematically lays out his arguments, stating that "Once the agressor state has been militarily repulsed, it can also be punished."

On December 29, 2005, in an interview on NPR Morning Edition ('Just and Unjust Wars' Author Critical on Iraq.) Walzer stated that the Iraq war was not a just war:

"If you are going to use military force in someone else's county...There has to be a cause of some urgency, a massacre in progress. A massacre in memory is not a just cause."

Therefore, if you follow Walzer's assertions to its obvious conclusion, the Iraq war was not a just war and therefore "the agressor state", the US, should "be punished."

But Walzer signed and endorsed The Euston Manifesto, which states in part:

"We are also united in the view that, since the day on which this occurred, the proper concern of genuine liberals and members of the Left should have been the battle to put in place in Iraq a democratic political order and to rebuild the country's infrastructure...rather than picking through the rubble of the arguments over intervention."

Therefore in Just and unjust wars, Walzer argues that "agressor states" should be "punished" but yet Walzer signs a document which criticize those who "pick through the rubble of the arguments over intervention."

Although the Iraq War is not covered in this book, Walzer's inconsistent views on the Iraq war should give serious students of International affairs pause before subscribing to his arguments. It is one mans opinion, full of statments such as "Seems to me entirely justified" "I believe" or "no doubt."

Walzer's arguments are unscientific rablings of one intellectual which are "ultimately not very instructive about just war".

Oh, how I enjoyed this historical fiction! I was taken in by this book the moment that I opened its cover. I love this author's writing style, and loved the setting of the Civil War era, in small-town Iowa. Very powerful and moving book, written as letters to a sister. Kept my attention quite well, and I found myself looking forward to bedtime so I could read this book. Has a lot of elements of a cozy mystery - no swearing or profanity, there is a murder but isn't graphic, there is good mystery, it is set in a small town. Only thing missing is the sleuth - the reader is the one who has to do the sleuthing!

I so enjoyed this book. It was my first of Dallas's books and I just couldn't wait to read more. It was such a satisfying and engrossing story. The historical background was facinating as I love to learn about the civil war. The main character, Alice, was so honest one couldn't help but love her. A story of integrity and friendship, love and tolerance. Very genuine and beautiful. I love the tender and ever-changing relationship between Alice and her mother-in-law. Although some may feel there are too many events in some of Dallas's books to make them believable I disagree. That is what makes them so entertaining and delightful. This book is one of my all time favorites, and I read a lot! A true love story of dedication and sacrifice. Wonderful--I will be sharing it with all my reading buddies.

Once again, Dallas has done a great job fleshing out realistic and memorable characters, from naive, optimistic Alice to her bristly mother-in-law to uneducated, determined Annie, whose path crosses that of the Bullocks when the war devastates her home. The story pulls you in thoroughly, and won't let go until you've read to the end.

Alice's Tulips by Sandra Dallas is a story of a young newlywed suddenly finding herself running her husband Charlie's farm with his not-so-agreeable mother when her husband joins the Union Army. The story is told in Alice's letters to her sister, telling her all the happenings in the small Iowa town she now lives in. Before each chapter, there is a quote from a quilting book, as the book is somewhat centered around Alice's quilts. Soon, two orphan girls wander into the lives of Alice and her mother-in-law Mother Bullock. Anne and Joybell help Alice cope with her loneliness and bring a little more excitement to the farm. Trouble begins brewing when Alice meets Mr.Samuel Smead, the brother of her friend's husband. They casually flirt, but Alice doesn't mean anything by it. After a time of flirting, Mr.Smead becomes more dangerous, and eventually rapes Alice. After a couple of days, Mr.Smead's dead body is found, and everyone in the town blames Alice. The only thing keeping her from being hanged is Mother Bullock's good reputation, and she has sworn Alice's innocence. After a couple more years pass, Mother Bullock passes away, claiming responsibility for Mr.Smead's death on her death bed. Now, Anne and Alice are left to run the farm, but the town is starting to accept Alice again. After the war has been over for many months, Charlie finally returns to Alice and they live happily ever after.
I think this book was made very interesting by the format of the letters from Alice to her sister. The book portrayed the conflict of the Civil War well, as it showed how the North hated the South and vice-versa. It showed the very normal situation of a young women left at home to run the farm by herself while her husband is away fighting in the war. Also, Alice is confronted with many different issues, such as rape and discrimination. Times have indeed changed as rape back then was common but never discussed in public. Sandra Dallas did an excellent job in taking the reader back to the late 1700s and showing the conflicts that many people, especially women, endured during the Civil War. I learned from this book how power and the quest for power greatly creates coflict and resolution, such as the Civil War.

I enjoyed this book. With each of Dallas's books, I'm amazed at her ability to create such lifelike characters in such diverse settings. Having the book written in the form of letters is a nice change, and allows the reader to really get understand the workings of the character's mind. I've passed this book around a circle of my friends, and all have enjoyed reading it.

"Four Days of Glory," was a super read. Kreidler takes us right into the hard, lonely world of high school wrestling. It was great following these two wrestlers as they deal with all the pressures of trying to accomplish a huge feat. It's not just about takedowns and nearfalls, it's about fathers and sons, hometown hero's and an obsession with goals. Very entertaining...It's "Friday Night Lights," for wrestling in the state of Iowa.

I couldn't put the book down. Keidler captured the essence of the epic journey of both the wrestlers and their families. He exposes some of the evils involved in youth programs and with parenting yet doesn't dwell on the negatives, allowing the reader to make his or her own judgement. After reading the book a trip to the Iowa State Wrestling Finals has been added to my bucket list of sporting events to see. As a non-wrestler I have always admired the dedication and spirit of the sport and this book provided even more appreciation. The ultimate compliment I can give the book is that since finishing it I find myself checking the progress of the wrestlers as they compete in college. Kreidler really stuck it!!

A great read on two wrestlers who seek greatness in Iowa High School wrestling. The book focuses on the intensity and drive required to be the best. As someone who doensn't live in Iowa, I came away with an appreciation of how big wrestling is in Iowa. Drama, challenges and interesting characters are all here. This is one of the very few books that I will re-read.

Well written book. Couldn't put it down. Best wrestling book I've read. Accurately depicts the rabidness of wrestling fans.

Good book for any wrestler who wants to understand what it takes to become a great wrestler. Well written and honest.

Every several years many of us daydream about buying some country property on a lake or a stream somewhere, away from all the demands of our jobs and modern society in general. This book enables one to not only walk alongside someone who did just that, but to "get in his head" and experience his joys, frustrations and--finally--success as he finds a piece of country property "dirt cheap."

Not only is this a a well-written story that you won't be able to put down, but there are quite a few nuggets of real estate wisdom that have enormous practical value -- regardless of what part of the country you live in. As such, it should be required reading for every Principles of Real Estate class.

Turner's tale of his search for rural land is a fun read. anyone looking at this page and reading this review obviously has a little dream of buying a piece of land - and this book is not only full of good advice for your own search, but it's inspiring. Turner used tactics that I certainly wouldn't have though of. The books is not written like a how-to book, in fact it almost resembles a journal more than anything. But sometimes a little down to earth anecdote is nice to read before bed. It's a very fast and pleasant 230 pages that will likely leave you optimistic about your chances of finding a piece of rural land. Good luck!

For those that are looking for an A-B-C, follow the list type guide to finding cheap land, keep on looking. Though there is a list of the steps used, it takes only a couple of pages near the end. If you are too lazy to read the rest, and instead skip to the list, you will miss out on a lot of good advice.

Now for the rest of you that are smart enough to enjoy Mr. Turner's tale of how he found it, and glean the tidbits of information bestowed throughout the tale, you will walk away with invaluable information that will let you find the land that you want at a price you can afford.

This book is an excellent and quick read- I finished it in one day. Although not directly suited to my purpose, the book contains great advice on finding a small acreage (4-12) property in the country.

Most of all the book made me feel even better about our opportunities- as the writer repeatedly commented on how much easier his search would have been if he was looking to buy 40 or more acres of land. Wouldn't you know it, that is what we are looking to do.

The author has a flowing and folksy writing style, that doesn't get bogged down with too much technical real estate jargon- and footnotes are provided in the rare instances where technical terms occur. This book is in many ways much more than a book about how to buy property cheap, it is the author's life story- his dreams and aspirations for a place in the country since his boyhood.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to purchase land in the country.

The information in this book is worth the price you pay for it. I had fumbled around looking for land and only found a couple of the many tips he offers for finding and buying land. The author presents the information as his experience finding and buying a piece of land to be used as a get away and week end home. He explains why small parcels of land are more expensive per acre compared to large parcels of land.

His tips on buying land are summarized in a two page appendix. I think the one thing he left out of his summary was "get lucky and stumble across someone who will sell you land for cheap". If this was a "how to" book, it would be a pamphlet.

While not an exciting story, it is engaging. I found that I lost track of time while reading it. I have no need to be as thrifty as the author, however.

Excellent book for anyone to read. I also pruchased the teen version for my son. It is an excellent book as well.

This year our baseball team (comprised of 13-16 yr olds) decided end of year trophies would be a little juvenile for the boys. The coach let me know about this book and thought it would be a good idea to give each of the boys one for the end of the season gift. We did and it was very well received! An amazing book for anyone that aspires to do something more with their life!

Well written and very easy to read! I highly reccomend!

This book provides an excellent insight into the life of Lou Holtz and his motivational attitude on life. His dry humor will make you laugh, his thoughts inspiring, and make you think W.I.N. for those tough decisions in life.

Lou listed some great stories.

In fact that is one reason why this is a great book, because Lou is an AWESOME story teller.
Listen to the audio book as you read, Lou narrates this book very well.

Lou has lived an amazing life.
He just got it done, no matter what he does.
Anyone can pick up some great tips about being more successful from this book.

Paul

This is an excellent read! You won't want to put it down and it will make you do some self examination.

I have been a reader of the Detective Houseman series since I discovered "11 Days" in 1999. I love the regular characters and the description of life in a smaller town (versus Los Angeles). Mr. Harstad has a great gift for writing truly page turning and in this book scary moments which caused me to turn on some lights while reading late into the night.

This is a muder mystery with what seems like a supernatural twist. I love that his characters are finally just people who are not the over the top creations of a Jeffery Deever (has it's place and time in entertainment). I look forward to each new novel as a visit with old friends (Carl. Sally, Lamar et al.)

I am a retired police officer, having served for over 33 years in large and small jurisdictions. I was surprised when I began Harstad's book. I thought to myself: " This guy is one of us or sure has a great insight". While the story is fanciful, it was very well written and "gripping" throughout. I paid close attention to the language, the actions, the thought processes, the insertion of humor (sometimes of the 'graveyard-type) and case development. All these things were right on the money. I have and will recommend Harstad's books to other officers - active and retired. I also recommend his books to you if you are interested in both a well written, interesting tale as well as a peek into how "cops" think and act. Both thumbs up!!

Donald Harstad writes books in the first person, with alter ego Carl Houseman narrating the story that he's involved in. The result is a book that sounds like it was written by a veteran of Iowa law enforcement, which is of course what Harstad is. This is an interesting technique: there's no attempt at beautiful prose (James Lee Burke comes to mind) but rather a mundane as-it-happened reportorial style that's authentic feeling. Sort of like a hand-held camera in a movie during a chase scene...you think you're actually there, or hearing about it from someone who was.

In this installment, Houseman is first called to an apartment building where a very strange peeping tom is making trouble, then begins to investigate a strange killing in an even stranger house in Nation County. The killer at least appears to be a vampire, or he thinks he's one anyway, and several other participants believe he is also. This leads to much humor, dark and otherwise, and to several interesting plot twists.

Harstad's weak point, if there is one, is that his plots sort of meander at points, and this one does that halfway through the book. Things get bogged down in his mundane recountings of radio conversations (which he creates using the "ten" codes that they actually use on the radio in Iowa) and various procedural things that go on around a homicide. At times it can get excruciating waiting for something to happen, but the characters are interesting and the dialog's good.

I enjoyed this book in spite of the shortcomings listed above, and would recommend it.

"Code 61" by Donald Harstad will startle your senses and stretch your imagination, an unbelievable tale of the heartland so well told you will believe every word. Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is summoned to a crime scene, a purported suicide and every aspect of the area surrounding the body screams deception. When a young woman reports that the peeping-tom at her window is very pale and has fangs, perplexed
officers can find no ledge for anyone to perch upon. Then the autopsy proves murder with startling information that involves the small town and surrounding area police officers on a "vampire" hunt.
Harstad's greatest writing talent is his ability to place his readers into the midst of a case and take them step by step through to its final conclusion. Once you have read one of Donald Harstad's novels you too will be a fan.
Beverly J Scott author of "Righteous Revenge" and "Ruth Fever." Reviewer for Intriguing Authors and Their Books at http://www.funeralassociates.com/authors.htm

With the title it has, I would never have even picked up this book if my sister-in-law hadn't given it to me because it is set along the Mississippi like KEEPERS OF THE RIVER. Yes, it's a vampire story but don't expect a real one. Too bad. I think the story would have been more intriguing if the vampire turned out to be genuine, but I suppose the author didn't want to risk leaving the mystery genre. With the hope of finding a Midwestern Dracula, I waded into a maze of technical police stuff but was carried along by amusing dialogue and a most likeable cop, Carl Houseman. He is an unique and engaging character. Unfortunately, the others are not so readily pictured and the ending was rather anticlimatic.

A thoroughly enjoyable and motivating read. This is a remarkable collection of exclusive interviews with the best American sports coaches of the last 40 years. The author has packed a voluminous amount of wisdom, inspiration and facts into what amounts to a road map to a good life. "How to Succeed in the Game of Life" is a brilliant compilation of advice that offers inspiration at every turn.

Game of Life is an insightful book on the thoughts of many of the world's best known coaches. It provides a biography on each of the 34 coaches (which I recommend reading first to gain a better appreciation of the field and achievements of each coach) and asks them a number of questions that can relate to both on the field and life in general. I have gathered a number of relavant quotes that I will use both personally and professionally. A highly recommended read for sporting buffs and managers.

After buying a copy of this book for both myself and my father I was thoroughly impressed. The book was both an easy read yet very informative. I gave a copy of the book to my father, who is not one to read a book, and he was so taken back by how interesting he felt the content was. He picked up the book in the morning and had it finished by mid afternoon. He must have called me 15 times to tell me how inspiring he felt it was and how he was amazed at "all the tricks it taught an old dog"...He thought he had heard all there was to hear about inspirational quotes. We were both pleasantly surprised with how well written the book was. Both my dad and I would highly recommend this book with two thumbs up.

Having read only excerpts, I was shocked to read that Tony Dungy was hired as head coach by the Indianapolis Colts in 2002 by owner Robert Irsay. Irsay had been dead for five years (longer than that mentally). Hopefully the rest of the book does not contain such shoddy information.

This book went through various questions about succeeding in life and listed all the responses from each coach. It was interesting but somewhat repetitive in that many said basically the same thing. I enjoyed reading this book because it had a lot of good advice from a lot of successful coaches. The advice I remember most is to work harder than anyone else, never quit, always be honest, do your best, failure is opportunity for a comeback, and be passionate about what you do. All of them agreed that making a lot of money does not mean you are successful, but money can be a by-product of being successful. The last chapter included short summaries about each coach. My favorite chapter was the one of their favorite quotes.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in philosophy, or who is looking for some advice or inspiration about success.

Karen Arelttaz Zemek, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry"

I am not much for history, but I really loved this book. It's a very interesting mystery, but it's also interesting to see how much the criminal justice process has evolved over the past 100 years. For example, in this case the closing arguments took longer than the presentation of all the evidence. The defendant held her granddaughter on her lap during the entire trial. The newspapers concluded she committed the murder because she didn't act "feminine". I love true crime books, and this was a really good one as well as a change of pace due to the historical nature of it. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I bought this book because of my love of true crime. What I came away with was much more than a story of an ax murder in 1900 Iowa. The author's paint a vivid picture of the dismal life and the hardships of the wive's of farmers during this era, and the farmer's themselves, as they weave their story with true accounts of the actual investigation and trial.

Midnight Assassin is an easy read and real page turner. What I wasn't expecting was the portrait of desperation, fear and isolation that made this book so much more than a true crime story. "Little House on the Praire" this was not and is a must read!

This book was of extreme interest from beginning to end. I love true crime stories, so the legal and moral aspects were the reason I purchased this book, but I found a secondary reason as soon as I started reading it. I am also interested in genealogy and my ancestors came to Iowa the same time as the Hossacks and they lived less than 45 miles apart. The authors' descriptions and stories of their lives and the everyday living of the farmers of the area were amazing. I felt like I was there, experiencing their lives, and their trials. Whenever a book can make me feel as if I am actually there, while it is happening, it is well worth the read.

Excellent story told here, with a mix of history of farming life in the midwest in early 1900s, law, civil rights and the mystery of the murder. It keeps your interest with the who-done-it story line and the tease of incomplete information coming from crime scene research and from the witnesses at the trial. I recommend it.

This is a well-written book that casts the reader back into the lives of prairie farmers at the beginning of the 20th century. It shows the dark side of Little House on the Prairie.

It is especially good at introducing the reader to the plight of many farm wives in that era. Through the trial of Margaret Hossack for the ax murder of her husband, we get a feel for the isolation and desperation of these women. The man a woman married was her whole lot in life. It was strictly the luck of the draw for her. If a husband turned out to be cold and abusive, as it seems Mr. Hossack was, his wife had little recourse but to suffer through it to the end. Although Margaret may not have suffered in complete silence, since there was ample evidence of how often she had rushed to her neighbors to complain of her husband's foul, dangerous moods - there was little anyone else could or would do to help. As this book keenly points out, the code of being a good housewife and a "lady" constrained women to their places and prevented others from interceding too effectively. The book poses the question - Did Mrs. Hossack ultimately engage in self help?

The book's other purpose is to juxtapose the lives of two women situated very differently in 1900. On the one hand, there is Mrs. Hossack, confined to her meager, loveless life on the prairie. On the other hand, there is Susan Glaspell, the liberated young reporter who covered Mrs. Hossack's first trial. I would have liked to have read more details about Glaspell's early career as a crime reporter in a man's world. But perhaps that would have been spreading the content of this book too thin. The author does circle back at the end of Midnight Assassin to provide a follow-up on Glaspell's writing career. Trifles, the play Glaspell eventually wrote, based loosely on the Hawkin's trial, has a heart-wrenching conclusion. It's worthwhile reading this book for that dramatic take on the caged lives of these farm women alone.

I found this book to be a good combination of in-depth yet accessible information about Chinese astrology. It gives what I've found to be quite accurate information about the various animal sign of your year of birth, while getting more detailed with information about the other influences under which you are born. It's quite easy to read and follow, and entertaining as well. I would definitely recommend it. (And Lau should rewrite those awful placemats you find at the Chinese restaraunts. For years I thought I was a dragon but I'm not!)

I have only recently been elightened by the wisdom of Chinese astrology and I found this book to be very honest and real. There seem to be certain elements in Eastern astrology which are missing in the "Western" version: together they seem to make a person feel more "whole"! The knowledge of being an Earth Boar, for instance, has brought many insights about myself (and how I relate to others): it has given me invaluable insight into the way others perceive me. Before, I simply thought of myself as a wild, roaming happy-go-lucky Sagittarius. But the combo of Sag/Earth Boar is much more enlightening and satisfying (because it hits home): happy to know that I'm more grounded than I previously thought: a rather naive, fun-loving humanitarian type who sometimes eats and drinks a wee bit too much (!) Well, if the shoe fits....

Most Chinese kids grow up knowing from a very early age what sign they are born under. If you lose your temper, it is attributed to the yang side of your nature; if you don't get along with your mum, it is because your signs conflict; if you succeed in school, it is because you are born under an intelligent sign, and so on. Under Theodora Lau's guidance, feel free to delegate all responsibility for your actions - she provides a very good summary of the "basic" attributes of each sign as it is understood by the (Chinese) person on the street, and also combines it with the western signs, for added interest and familiarity with Western audiences (and perhaps also explains why people born in the same year are not clones of each other!) She also touches on how the hour of your birth will result in more refined differences.

The main charm of this book is the sprightly manner in which she deals with the subject, amusing and readable in turns. One can almost believe it is a mirror she is holding up ... how very flattering ... one wonders if she has the wily pen of a Monkey, or the charm of a Snake ...

I think the Chinese have developed wonderfully sophisticated systems of Astrology, Feng Shui, and Healing among other things. I'd never come to this opinion from reading this book, however. I found it to be simplistic and shallow in it's content. The delineations are more surface descriptions minus compassionate, psychological insight. If I had flipped through it at a store or library first I would most definitely placed it back on the shelf. Sorry, it just wasn't for me.

This is the best book I've read on Chinese Horoscope. I've had this book for over 10 years and have constantly brought an updated version of it because all my friends were borrowing it and then kept it for themselves. The introduction of the book is extremely important. Most people just read their horoscope based on the animal they are under, but not realizing that there are many factors that will influence their personality. It's all described in the front of the book. For example, your year, month, hour and even place of birth will influence your personality. You may be born under the year of the Boar, but if your month, hour and place of birth is ruled by the Rat, you will have some personality trait of the Rat. Finding elements of fire, water, wood, earth and metal that influences your personality is also very important. This book describes all of these as part of the introduction of this book.