Departments Books

Curious George always get in trouble. This time he gets in trouble in the fire station. I think Personally that this book is a good book, for little kids like me so, I that is why I rated this book a 3.

Like all Curious George books, George is in over his head when he causes a false alarm at the fire station. But he comes to the rescue and saves a curious puppy. He is awarded with an offical fire station hat.

I think this is a good book for kids. It has fire truck and puppy's. Think back to when you were a little kid, if you didn't want to be a fireman your best friend did.

Curious George and the Man with the yellow hat visit the fire station. Just like a child, George tours the fire station and gets his hands on just about anything. As usual, George finds himself getting into a spot of trouble. All ends well as George saves the day.

Our fire department uses this book in our kindergarten reading program where firefighters go to school and read to the children. Its a favorite of ours and the children.

This book is " adapted from the Curious George film series". The illustrations are different from the original, and even from the "Illustrated in the style of H.A. REY" both of which I feel are much better.

More of CG's adventures. My nearly 2-year old likes the book because of the puppies, fire engines, the pole etc, but he doesn't linger on the pages like the original books, looking at the details of the illustrations.

It doesn't start with the normal, " This is George. George is a good little monkey...".

I only remember the original books, didn't know about the tapes and film series, so I was disappointed. I would build my collection of CG without this book, until I had all the original and book first ( "Illustrated in the style of HA Rey") versions.

This novel is one of the most unique and easy to read novels I have ever read. It kept my attention from start to finish. When it came to crime, murder and sex, it held NOTHING back. It was very, very descriptive to say the least!!! I highly recommend this novel because it is unique, easy to read, and holds NOTHING back!!!!!!!!

This is the first novel I have ever read about a crooked Health Inspections Department. It is well written and very easy to read. If you are into crime, murder, and sex, this is the novel for you!!!! It leaves NOTHING to the imagination..... I HIGHLY recommend this novel!!!!

If you are into crime, morbid murder, and kinky sex, THIS IS THE NOVEL FOR YOU!!!! IT TELLS IT ALL!!!! NOTHING IS SPARED IN THIS CREATIVE WRITING!!!! It is well written and several segments of the novel sent chills up my spine!!! I HIGHLY recommend it for those who are into the Genre of Crime!!!!

Awkward storyline and bad grammar make this novel seem very much as if it was written by a 9th grader. Nothing very interesting here. How do these things get on Amazon??

So many people have such wonderful memories of this great store and of this great family. Others have not so fond memories. Either way, people who knew of the famous Canadian Retail Giant, no matter how they remember Eaton's will likely find something of interest in this book.
The Eaton's: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Royal Family chronicles the story of Eaton's from successful beginning, to tragic end, focusing mainly on what the private, and yet public family was like.
To Americans, this book will really give a story of Canada's own enormously wealthy family, and how they lived. We aren't just a country full of beavers and "EH"'s.
If you know nothing about this amazing store and family, or you know much, but want to learn more, this Great Book is definetely a must have.

When I was very young I was with my mother and sister visiting relatives in a big city. One day I found myself sitting in a restaurant next to a young man, Nicolas, whose wealthy father, a friend of the family, had invited us to tea. The young man made no secret of his boredom, yawning widely and frequently. Searching for a topic that might lift his ennui, I asked him: "Do you drive a car?" He smirked and, holding up a couple of fingers, said: "No, I drive TWO cars."

That is the type of hubris Rod McQueen depicts in his book about the rise and fall of Eaton's, Canada's famous chain of department stores. The four brothers who ultimately presided over the store's demise were cut from the same cloth as that long-ago Nicolas.

McQueen's book excels at guiding the reader through the financial sleights of hand performed by the various companies owned by the Eatons while the store itself marched toward its relentless demise. The author does not draw an appealing portrait of the Eatons, and most people would not dispute this depiction. However, his contempt is so blatant it detracts from what should be a more balanced account. He chides Eaton's for being slow to hire French-speaking staff in Quebec, but I lived in Montreal during the 'sixties and I recall that their catalogue order takers spoke English with a thick francophone accent. McQueen correctly shows the family coping with financial woes through excessive staff cutbacks starting in the 'seventies, but he fails to mention that this was a national phenomenon of the day, and applied to The Bay and other large stores as well. Thus began the rise of the small boutique.

Finally, McQueen's thesis about the difficulties of retailing in Canada and of Eaton's in particular is often indisputable. Yet some unflattering latter day comparisons do not seem quite fair. He contrasts a failing Canadian mall in the small free-standing city of Sarnia, Ontario with a thriving one in Troy, Michigan. Troy, although smaller, is close to the large population of metropolitan Detroit. Also, McQueen does not address all the issues. Malls fail everywhere, and not just in Canada. Many American malls near the border depend on Canadian shoppers and they fell on hard times when Canada's dollar did.

The book is, however, well worth the read, especially as it tells the fascinating tale of the beginning of the business in Toronto that was launched by Timothy Eaton in 1869. Parts of the history could do with more fleshing out, yet despite his bias, McQueen does make his case about what happens when a store's owners stop minding the store.

To read the story of Eaton's is to read the history of Canada and Toronto in particular. What starts off as a well-researched and interesting story is increasingly hurt by the authors' obvious dislike of the family. (Whom he admits in the prologue did not want the book written) Still the book was interesting and filled with titbits that Canadians in particular will enjoy learning. The authors' synopsis that Eaton's failed because the family never took to the time to really understand retail could also have been applied to his own attempt to chronicle a business he never seems to have a grasp on.

A few years ago, the wonderful British comedy `Are You Being Served' on Public Television portrayed a delightful group of store clerks and supervisors in a parody -- some might say a documentary -- of a traditional London department store.

At `Grace Brothers' the counter clerks were superb, the floor walker was properly pompous but utterly decent, the supervisors clueless and the store owners were totally befuddled but always wonderful. It was fiction, it was funny. Had been set in Canada, it would have been `The Eaton's.'

Instead, this superb book is available. It bears out Marx's observation that all history appears twice, "the first time as tragedy, the second as farce." McQueen has written the tragedy, hopefully some clever Canadian comedian is now writing the comedy.

So, what does a Canadian book about an unknown department store offer American readers? It's the painful story of how a family can totally ruin a revered national institution through their own hubris, arrogance, indifference and plain ignorance. I've seen it happen in some businesses within two generations; the Eaton family was more typical in that it took four generations.

The lesson is that times change. In 1870, when Eaton's was just starting, store goods were sometimes expensive, shoddy and unsuitable and unreliable. Timothy Eaton realized the most important guarantee for a customer was five words, "Goods satisfactory or money refunded." Today, most consumer goods have consistent quality, guarantees are almost automatic and customers look for something different -- price.

It's why Wal-Mart succeeds; its stores are big charmless boxes with indifferent clerks and mass anonymity. But the attraction is a reputation for low prices. It's why Amazon dot com succeeds; the Internet makes it possible to combine low prices with superb service. The four Eaton brothers who ran the chain -- which once had almost 60 percent of Canada's department store sales -- were oblivious to change. They committed the worst sin in business, instead of adapting "they did as Daddy did." The title for the musical comedy of this story will be "How to Go Bankrupt Without Really Trying."

Sure, other stores collapse. Where's Woolworth's these days? Look at Sears. Add up the J.C. Penney balance sheet. In Arizona, the Goldwater stores that funded the political career of Barry Goldwater vanished. This book details, sometimes with agonizing reality, why even a national institution can be reduced to irrelevancy.

One example may suffice. Some years ago, Eaton's stocked a particular item that invariably sold out within days. To solve the problem, the item was dropped because they couldn't keep it on the shelves. Wal-Mart would have ordered more and put it on sale to attract customers; Eaton's was embarrassed by empty shelves. Add up thousands of such petty mistakes by owners who ran Eaton's on the basis of offering customers what they should have instead of what they wanted, and you have the recipe for disaster. McQueen is unsparing in this portrait of self-indulgent arrogance.

Anyone who deals with customers will benefit if they read it on the basis, "Do we do that?" I've seen the Eaton attitude in a dozen or more family businesses, run by owners who have the emphasize "We've got the money to pay the bills" instead of responding to customers' wants. When anything replaces customer satisfaction, the business is headed for decline.

Eaton's did it, going from the most revered department store in Canada to bankruptcy within a generation. Anyone can do it if they follow Eaton's formula of elitist indifference to customers -- it's not patented. Many people will do it, even without reading this book. Some who want to avoid it will read this book. An old saying nicely expresses its value, "A smart person learns from his mistakes, a wise person learns from the mistakes of others."

I can't come up with the words to describe how bad this book is. It's completely full of typos, spelling errors and duplicate facts/phrases (on the same page even). Worst of all there are many errors in the answer sheets and practice tests so you never really know if you've studied the correct facts. I cannot imagine that anyone proofread this book before going to press.

Skip this one, it's seriously not worth the time to pick it up and there are better study guides out there.

I bought the book for my son to study. He is preparing for many firefighter exams at different stations.

I purchased this for my son to use to study for the exam. He said it was helpful to him and he passed the exam. I did not read it myself, so I can't offer any further info.

This book contained all of the different types of information and questions I needed to study in order to do well on my fire exam. In fact, the questions in the book were generally more difficult than those found on the fire exam itself and the book contained reams of information which, while dull to read, came in very handy in some of the oral components of the exam. I showed the book to an experienced Firefighter and he recognized many of the questions in it right away.

It is also a more proven sleep aid than Ambien can ever claim to be...

A newer creepier verison of A Chrismas Carol. Kenny as Scrooge. And a biker,a ghost(the one on the cover), and something else as the three ghosts. Ending leaves you kinda hanging. But It's an okay book. If you like R.l.Stine, then read this book.

I recently was in the cast of A Christmas Carol and as opening night and the holidays rolled around I was looking for an appropriate gift for the kids in the show. I got this book for each and the reviews were terrific! Each one told me how much he/she loved it. It kept them all busy for several days during their off-stage time, both reading and discussing with eachother. It was a fun comparison to the Dickens which they now knew so well. I say get both and start your own Oprah style book discussions with the "juniors" in your house.

Kenny Frobisher is the meanest bully in Shadyside Middle School. One day he was stranded at Dalby's Department Store. This is the funniest part, he keeps on shouting and shouting. When Kenny gets out,the store is locked. Now Kenny is alone, until three frightening ghosts[scariest ghosts in FEAR STREET] comes and will wish him a SCARY CHRISTMAS.

I think this book is preety good. Every chapter ending and paragraph ending were cliffhangers. But some parts were BOR-ING. Overall, I give this book ****.

As others have noted, Hilary Spurling really hits you over the head with the unsavory reputation of her subject, Sonia Brownell, "The Girl from the Fiction Department." While seemingly a friend's generous attempt at salvaging what she could, it seems to me that she might have downpedaled how awful most readers think Sonia is. At least then she wouldn't come off as sounding so defensive.

When all is said and done, it sounds as though Sonia did a heroic job protecting the estate of George Orwell, but it might well have done just fine without her. She never quite lived down her status as the woman who married Orwell in extremis, and she never will, not as far as I can see. My hat is off to Hilary Spurling insofar as her loyalty to pal Sonia, but I think she went about it the right way, and after a while, you get tired of hearing about Sonia's beauty and distress and boyfriend after boyfriend, for a short book it has many longueurs. There are tidbits about the famous (Marguerite Duras, Lucien Freud, etc) and these perk up a sad story. But the reader longs for the unadulterated vemon of something like David Plante's memoir of the difficult women in his life. If you want to read a good book by Spurling, about another of her neurotic friends, read IVY instead.

Born Sonia Brownell in 1918, the subject of this book is believed to be the inspiration for a character in George's Orwell's book, 1984. Apparently, she has been a figure of controversy since her death in 1980. Her curious life decisions - including her marriages to a dying Orwell in 1949 and later to an openly homosexual man, and her lawsuit against George Orwell Productions - have sparked charges that the literary editor was a gold-digger.

Spurling combs through Sonia's papers at the George Orwell Archives as well as unpublished letters and other sources to disprove this well-established notion of her subject. In spite of her obvious bias, the author succeeds in creating a fair portrait of the former Mrs. Orwell, one that doesn't hide her subject's flaws but puts them in context of a long, at times trying, life lived.

The opening pages reveal an early source of Sonia's pain: she lost her father at a very young age. While living in colonial India, her father died under mysterious circumstances - some now believe the death was a suicide. Later, her stepfather turned to drink and nearly died of emphysema. These early hardships, coupled with stiff social competition at a traditional and elite Catholic school, give us insight into her scorn for religion, her tendency to seek philosophically absolute positions and into some of her guilt later in life.

The second chapter chronicles Sonia's early life and times with literary and artistic circles, namely her involvement with the Euston School of painting. She became a frequent subject for the artists in her neighborhood. Because of her seemingly cocksure personality and her unwillingness to pose in the nude she became known as "the Euston Road Venus". A long series of affairs with lovers and her somewhat clandestine trips abroad with multiple men are enticing parts to her story and give the impression of a fiercely independent, if susceptible, woman.

Because I know little of art and literature from this time period the material is less accessible to me but the book is well-written to the degree that one need not be all too well versed in this work to appreciate the story. It certainly doesn't hurt that the subject of the book is a truly fascinating, eccentric person. Nearly anyone interested in 20th century British art or literature, as well as the lives of modern literary figures, will find this short biography a satisfying read.

This book was terrific! A glimpse into a very fascinating period, in world events, art and literature through the life of someone at the epicenter. Ms.Orwell went through many different "periods" over her lifetime: this is a really long view of life and I found it both fascinating and reassuring.
I am a painter who is extremely interested in the Euston Road school, and I was absolutely riveted by this new perspective on them all, from the point of view of Ms. Orwell's involvement with them, both as friend and art critic. Something I had only very vaguely remembered mentioned in the (very male-oriented) literature on that school. In fact, I casually picked up this book, somewhat interested in the cover photograph, leafed through it and saw the illustrations by William Coldstream, and then had to read it.
This book is written by someone partisan to Ms.Orwell, in part to correct what she believes is a misrepresentation of Ms.Orwell in the past. I had no idea at all that Ms. Orwell was held in disfavor by many previous Orwellian biographers, but it didn't matter to my enjoyment of the book. There is something very satisfying in the way Ms Spurling "makes her case": it is very convincing and makes you wonder how many other people looked down upon in the annals of history could have used an erudite and talented friend to come to their defense.

"The Girl from the Fiction Department" is a slim but effective biography of the woman who seemed to be at the epicenter of 1940s literary London.

While Sonia Brownell never wrote any books herself (and is primarily known for having married "1984" author George Orwell on his deathbed), her life does have a certain fascination, and author Hilary Spurling (the biographer of the criminally underrated novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett) does as much as she can to indicate that, had Brownell not had the misfortune to have been born a) a woman and b) a Roman Catholic, she might have amounted to something in the literary world. In other words, this book belongs to the "Minor Characters" school of literary history (pioneered by Joyce Johnson, the one-time girlfriend of Jack Kerouac): instead of writing about the men who write, write about the women who hang around the men who write, because even though they never wrote anything worth reading, they nevertheless slept with people who did, and that makes them interesting in their own right -- right?

I've never been too sure about this thesis, but the fact is that Sonia Orwell was a pretty interesting person in her own right, and her life makes for absorbing reading, even if only on a gossip level.

Brownell worked at Cyril Connolly's "Horizon," the great British literary magazine of the 1940s, and either knew, befriended or had intimate relations with many of the great writers and artists of the period, many of whom she inspired. From Francis Bacon, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Lucian Freud to Michel Leiris (whose works, hitherto unknown to me, I am now decidedly curious about), it seemed that Brownell knew or slept with just about everyone worth knowing or sleeping with during that time frame, and Spurling makes a convincing case that it was Brownell, and not the sybaritically indolent Connolly, who really kept "Horizon" going during its glory days of World War II, when it really seemed to many literate observers as if the magazine was the only thing keeping the torch of culture lit during Europe's painfully protracted Gotterdammerung.

Among the many authors intrigued by Brownell was George Orwell, already suffering from the tuberculosis that would kill him, and he immortalized Brownell by using her as the model for Julia, the heroine of his last novel "1984." He also fell in love with her, and clutching at the straws of romantic love (never overly reliable at the best of times), he persuaded her to marry him in the delusional hope that it would keep him alive: it didn't. And while this transformed Brownell into (as many people maliciously called her) The Widow Orwell, it also gave her the responsibility of looking after his estate, editing his works for posthumous publication and generally complying with his wishes (among them the wish that no biography be written), which Spurling believes she did far more conscientiously than her abundant detractors have been willing to admit.

In most of the Orwell biographies you read, Sonia Brownell Orwell doesn't come off very well, usually being portrayed as a golddigging slut, and Spurling's portrait is a praiseworthy attempt to redress the balance. She even advances the claim that looking after Orwell's interest in the long run not only made Brownell miserable but eventually killed her. I'm not so sure about that, but I will admit that Spurling makes Brownell seem like the thoroughly fascinating person she must have been in life, and this slim volume is definitely worth reading to find out not only who she was, but why she's worth remembering.

While it does have some helpful ideas, most citations are four to twenty years old (with more of the latter). As a result, some of the advice given is questionable, as the research cited to support it is very out of date. I realize some organizational "truths" remain as true today as they were two decades ago, but there have been many changes in the academic scene since, and many changes in the typical job of the department chair.

Some generic advice from a series of papers and presentations. Nothing all that new or useful.

This book on Managing People is outstanding; I urge you to order a copy, put it somewhere nearby. That way you'll be able get your hands on it quickly. Just make off with a copy, if you must, though I warn you not to touch the Provost's copy, which is presuming that he or she has one, and I find that not too difficult to imagine! This is a book you're sure to use time and time again. It's that good.

Dr. Russell Smith

This is a valuable book and whether you're a dean or a department chair--or for that matter, anyone who "manages" people--it needs to be somewhere you can get your hands on it immediately. Its contributors offer some useful, practical advice not found in enough books that are written primarily for educators.

Mr. LeoGrande has written a 590 page book with an additional 182 pages of notes and index. Only a university with a great basketball program such as UNC (the publisher) could afford to humor such a person. On the book cover, it states Mr. LeoGrande is an employee of "American University" yet doesn't bother to inform me about this school. Is it well-known like Harvard or MIT? At any rate he knows how to go on and on about his chosen subject.

LeoGrande's academic analysis of the U.S. military involvement in Central America is the best account yet of the U.S. foreign policy towards Central America during the Eighties. Although, his focus is on El Salvador and Nicaragua, it is the painstaking assessment of the relations of the U.S. and El Salvador during the 1980s that makes this book valuable to its readers. Regarding El Salvador, the theme of the U.S. foreign policy was simple: support the Salvadoran military to stop the marxist-led FLMN guerrillas even if the military's death squads engage in massive human rights violations. The book should be useful not only to those interested in Central America, but also to those who live with, work with and do business with Central Americans in the United States. The Civil War in El Salvador displaced over 1 million persons, most of whom fled to the United States. During the Salvadoran Civil War, about 60,000 people died. The children and grandchildren of Salvadorans who were able to make it to the U.S. should find LeoGrande's book as an excellent introduction to the reasons why their forebears came to the United States. LeoGrande's book is informative, engaging and insightful.

Leogrande documents the strong role the United States played in El Salvador and Nicaragua during the civil wars in these countries. He apologizes for excluding Guatemala because that would make his necessarily long work even longer. The actions of all players - the CIA, State Department, National Security Council, the Sandinistas, the Contras, the FLMN (Salvadoran rebels), the Organization of American States (OAS), and many others - are presented in a detailed narrative which illuminates the extraordinarily intricate background behind the headlines. As such it shows the tremendous power, resources and determination the United States has for controlling events south of its border. Though lengthy, I found this book extremely absorbing for I experienced history coming alive on its pages. Leogrande has produced a valuable work which will no doubt appear on any major bibliography on US policy in Central America.

Excellent book. LeoGrande tells us a disturbing tale that would be fodder for nightmares. And it's all too true.

That these people were once in charge of our government, and today are not sitting in jail is appalling.

This is a very outlined version of most religions you may hear or read about.
It has helped me on several occasions when I needed some information when reading the paper or listening to the news.
It really tries to be unbiased/non jugmental and factual concerning the sensitive topic of religions.
In some instances I wish they would have elaborated more, but again it tries to be non-jugmental so that limits the scope a bit I'm sure.
Do you know the diffrences between Catholics and Baptists?..Protestents and Lutherians?..This book will help with those groups core diffrences.
As a reference book I rate if 5 star!!

The contents of this book were published in 1978, then copyrighted and reprinted by University Press of the Pacific in 2001, without update.
In at least the case of Wicca, the material is badly out of date and incomplete.
[...] During the 1980s, Selena Fox of Circle Sanctuary assisted the Pentagon in rewriting the Wicca section, and it is that revision which has circulated among Pagans. This book is not -- repeat, NOT -- the chaplain's manual in which that revision appears.
For a reprint discarded Army instructions, it was extrememly overpriced.

If you are a nontraditional religion, (Such as Wiccan) this is the book to have to show your CO what's up and defend yourself from attack. I recommend it to all, as well as NCOs who want to be informed.

Well I was a little disappointed when I opened up this book. It is a good synopsis of most all the religions practiced by Americans; not just Christian, but including Wicca, Satanism, and the American council of Witches. The purpose of the book seems to be to give the commanding officers guidelines about letting theirs soldiers practice little known religions. But it does not address common chaplancy issues.

There has been a lot of controversy in the military in recent years concernong acceptable religious practices, especially for things like Wicca. The military brass needed to know if their soldiers really praciced a certain holiday, or if they were just gold-bricking. This book addresses that issue really well.

However, the book is not very useful for me in my civilian volunteer chaplancy (I am a Southern Baptist by background). I have been asked on occasion to perform certain Catholic rites; but I have had to decline, mostly due to ignorance. If I ever encouter a dying Catholic who wants to confess, would I have to say "Sorry"? What does a general protestant service consist of? This book does not address these kinds of chaplancy problems.

For what it is, the book is preety good. If any supervisor or manager needs to make decisions about an employee's demand for religious time off, this is the book to have. But it does not help the average chaplain address common cross-denominational issues.

I own several excellent books on compass use and "orienteering."
The Army version "Map Reading and Land Navigation" is the simplest and most straightforward explanation of how to get around with just a compass and a map. If I were teaching teenagers (Scouts, etc.) how to use these tools this would be my choice of text.

Soldiers need to know how to read maps accurately, how to navigate, and how to understand all manner of maps, compasses, celestial navigation and more. So does the outdoorsman. For the military and the outdoors wilderness trekker, U.S. Army Map Reading And Land Navigation Handbook provides basic instruction on grids, scale and distance, reading overlays and using navigation equipment. A 'must' for any who might need basic survival skills.

Study orienteering with the handbook used by the U.S. Army. This guide is perfect for any outdoorsman or for teaching Boy Scouts how to use a compass.

Found this book confusing. Maps are illegible which makes the text irrelevant. It covers way too much detail all at once instead of progressing through steps. Covers alot of info and data useful only for those in the military. May work in conjunction with a lecture course, but by itself I would be surprised if anyone learned only from this book. I am new to this so maybe it's just not for beginners.