Drivers Books

This author uses a very interesting premise; the book is not about Dell but the people she left behind. And if love is more about the lover than the beloved, and I think it is, then we get portraits of some diverse people whose lives have been polarized by their love for a woman that seems to the reader more mythic than human. Her effect is carried to the people who try to love those that loved her, and fail because they are so lost in their grief. So far, so good. But I really wished this story had gone somewhere, that Dell's two lovers might have helped each other find some peace with her memory or that we had any indication that their lives would move forward at all. We are given opportunity, possibility for that but no evidence that the opportunity is taken, leaving these characters essentially static. Having pointed out this one flaw, I must also say that there is much to appreciate in this book. The author has unique discriptive powers. The character of Dell is powerful to these people not because she is traditionally beautiful or talented or accomplished, but because she is real. She doesn't play games or maintain any facade and her ingenuous nature is lovingly described. And back to the flaw I pointed out, I will now contradict myself by saying that I appreciated the fact that no time limits were set on these people's sense of loss. This isn't a book that wraps the story up in a neat bow by the end or even tries to resolve anything. Its a study of how a person's life can ripple through the lives of others like a stone dropped in still water. The missed opportunites and connections that frustrate in the context of this story are an accurate representation of how all of us live and that is probably the author's intent. So while I was left wishing for more, I do not feel I wasted my time. Its a book I can see myself reading again.

Carol Guess is an inspired writer, she gives all characters depth and tangibility... The book kept me entranced but at the end left me hanging, wondering so much of each person... So many questions left unanswered... Would love to enthrall myself once more into one of her Books...

Carol Guess has made an auspicious debut on the literary scene with her first novel, Seeing Dell. Extremely well written, in a lyrical prose style, the story revolves around the relationships of five characters to each other through their connection with the elusively fascinating Dell, who has died before the book begins. Guess employs the fairly unique device of presenting varying aspects of the deceased girl as seen through the eyes of these five characters. Using the first person, each of the five, in turn, speaks directly to the reader about how they "see" Dell, employing every semantic nuance that the verb is capable of. In so doing, however, Copeland, Terry, Nora, James and Maureen reveal much more of themselves and the stiflingly repressive atmosphere of the small-town USA they inhabit than they do of Dell herself. It is as though we are seeing them through their seeing her, as intriguing a bit of inventiveness as it is a locution. Guess likes to explore the variety, fluidity and ambiguity of human sexuality. She is also keenly aware of the physical, psychological and emotional links between sex and power. In their efforts to deceive each other, her characters often only succeed in deceiving themselves. Seeing Dell is a study in the intircacies and vagaries of human nature, which often make it impossible for us to come together as people. It is at once delicate yet incisive, and a damn good read to boot. -- Gary Pool, author and critic Bloomington, Indiana

Carlotta Carlyle receives mysterious photos through the mail each Friday. She finally realizes that they are pictures of a child, showing her at birth and then on each of her subsequent birthdays. Eventually the child's mother comes to Carlotta and asks her to investigate her daughter's mysterious death while she was being treated for a curable kind of leukemia. The investigation leads to a hospital where a prominent physician is in charge of cancer treatments. If this isn't bad enough, Carlotta's garbage cans are stolen from her yard, and her little sister Paolina (from the Big Sister' Organization) is
consorting with a much older man. Linda Barnes skillfully weaves a serious plot around the madcap occurrences in Carlotta's private life and the result is a very enjoyable entry into the Carlotta Carlyle series.

If you're a fan of Linda Barnes and her Carlotta Carlyle protagonist you will enjoy Snapshot the fifth installment in this series. I listened to the audio of this book and have to admit that reading would have been much better. I feel the audio is to easy to get distracted from. However, I love C. J. Critt and feel she does a wonderful job. Snapshot takes you into the world of hospitals and medicine and secrets they may hold. Carlotta is taken into this world by her customer who later cannot be found. Snapshot has many twist and turns (which I enjoy in a novel). Several people who could be the bad guy, and our old favorites Mooney, Gloria and Sam make appearances. Although they are not involved as much as in the previous novels. Snapshot will not let you down if you are looking for a good whodunit with a great protagonist.

In the fifth of Linda Barnes' very enjoyable Carlotta Carlyle series, the main character comes into her own as a PI. Although she still has a wry sense of humor, a self-deprecating streak, and daily contact with a cast of outrageous characters, this story is a serious one.

Carlotta is approached by a distraught woman, Emily, who is accompanied on the visit by her young and handsome psychiatrist. It seems that Emily's young daughter, who was being treated for a curable form of leukemia, suddenly took a violent turn for the worse and died. Emily is certain that it was due to gross negligence on the part of the hospital, one of the most prestigious in Boston. Her psychiatrist does not agree, but wishes to soothe his patient by letting her hire Anna.

Anna finds the case daunting and more than a little confusing, especially when her first forays into information-gathering result in the death or disappearance of several key players, including Emily herself. Is Anna in over her head? What exactly DID happen to Emily's 6-year-old daughter? Is there a conspiracy of silence at the hospital, and if so, which of the pompous, well-known doctors is taking part? As Anna digs deeper, she finds herself involved in a dangerous web of intrigue that threatens not only the patients in the hospital, but her own life as well.

Although this story has much more meat than the previous books in the series, it is not without its own special brand of humor and quirky characters. Carlotta's insanely nutty roommate, Roz, is her usual outrageous self, as is Diane, the impossibly huge proprietess of the Green and White cab company. Carlotta is still involved with Sam, the offspring of a well-known mobster, and no-nonsense cop Mooney, her friend, mentor, and would-be lover, still disapproves. There are also some plot-thickening incidents with Carlotta's beloved "little sister" Paolina, and her immoveable mother Marta, who has become very ill.

All in all, this book promises a new twist in the series, and bodes well for the future of Carlotta's career as an offbeat, but successful, private eye.

Maybe because I am a slow reader, but i dislike books that are made fatter and fluidier with made-up conversations and dialogue. I appreciate a succint book like this one. This is well researched. The sources at the back of the book is impressive. The author chose a chronological order, and maybe for me it would have been more fun if the book was ordered into themes, but then you would have a different book. I found interesting the beginning of the book, about bridging the class divide, of how uptown people can approach and communicate with the working class people (the driver). In the chapter of the sixties and seventies, I didn't see any mention of how the 1973 recession affected cab drivers, or the near-meltdown of the city in its bankrupcy verge.

Graham Hodges cares about cabbies and drivers past. It's easy to see -- while many writers only rely on economic studies or interviews with current cab drivers, Hodges plows through history and gives us the viewpoint of taxi drivers through the ages. He's able to paint a picture for readers of a New York hack's life.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this book is a photographed collection of taxi memorabilia published with the book, including taxi-themed post cards full of sexual innuendo and a picture of female cabbies filling in for their men during the war. He has a unique way of showing the place of the yellow cab in U.S. pop culture, making the book much more interesting than a "just the facts" history lesson.

Graham Hodges's new book, "Taxi!", is as thorough a study of cabdrivers in New York over the past hundred years as I'm sure one will ever see. Tracing the beginnings of the taxi business, Hodges takes the reader through many phases of its development and one thing can be certain...today's cabbies face dilemmas not unlike their predecessors. One assumes, through a back cover photo, that the author was a cabbie at one time. No mention is made of this in the book. It would have been nice to have had him offer his own reflections. Yet he is wonderfully good at educating us as to how the taxi industry works.

The problem with "Taxi!" is that it's just flat. At slightly over 180 pages of narrative it feels like a very long book. The first chapters deal with wages, strikes and way too many examples of Hollywood's mirroring and mimicking of New York cabdrivers. There are good stories of women who hack as well as African-American contributions, but by the end of the first half I wanted to give up. Going more or less decade by decade, there is a good chapter about taxis in the fifties. Here Hodges shines as he offers some good anecdotes...especially by Hy Gardner. But after that, the book loses its appeal.

"Taxi!" could have been a better book if it had been more fluid. A study is great but it has to be appealing. Hodges has given a deep insight about a segment of the population which has taken its hits but has fought back and keeps going.

This book was a gift for my husband. He already knew most of the information and didn't seem very interested in it. I too am a golfer (taught him everything he knows, lol) so I started reading it and found some areas that had some good tips. My advice, DON'T give this book as gift! The female author had some good tips for women and information on playing with men and how to get started. If you are relatively new to golf, buy it for yourself.

Many never get around to enjoying the sport of golf until later in life - due to the perception that golf is an "old man's sport". Those who start late however will see it is not as easy as it seems and there is indeed a physical and mental toll to the game. "Tee to Green: A Guide to Golf After 50" is there to help those late adapters get started, and may help a few seasoned veterans get a bit of a refresher course. "Tee to Green: A Guide to Golf After 50" covers subjects such as understanding these new challenges, setting reasonable goals, and building and sustaining an enthusiasm for the game. It's highly recommended for its titled target audience (Starting Golfers over 50) and deserves a place on community library sports shelves.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

At last, something tailored to my age group and adult learning styles, and offered with a healthy dose of the realities of life and learning. Personally, having struggled to learn golf since retirement, this seems to be a super useful guide, not only technically, but also in de-mystifying some the 'softer' sides of golfing as well. Thanks Goodness that David Goslin also wrestled with the same challenges as I do and chose to do something with that information. I once was in a golf clinic with Mary Beth McGirr, so I know she is an excellent teaching professional who can really help one's game. The 'hints' from the pro are straight from her teaching techniques. I plan to review this often as I continue to strive to improve my game!

Bob Fudge was an authentic cowboy. He helped trail cattle from Texas to Montana. He was a cowboy for a number of cattle ranches in Montana. Later, he had a ranch of his own in southeastern Montana. My father knew Bob Fudge and my sister remembers him. When I was a child, I remember overhearing several conversations about Bob Fudge. I have read about him in some accounts published as diaries or newspapers. All accounts of him describe a person who was gentle and generous. Apparently, he enjoyed telling of his adventures. Jim Russell wrote this book to record the stories that Bob Fudge told. Some are pretty exciting. However, everything in the book that I have been able to correlate with other sources is true.

Bob Fudge lived in the "real" Wild West and that is what the reader will find in this book. There are Indians. There are stampeding steers. The cowboys care for the cattle, ride on roundups, and drive the cattle to a railhead to be shipped. There is danger and lives lost. Wildfires, unbroken horses, freezing cold, and flooding rivers were all part of a cowboy's life. In winter a cowboy might be unemployed or living alone at some outpost on the ranch. It was in many ways a difficult life. Bob was working at twelve years of age and was breaking horses by the time he was fifteen. On the other hand, the people who populated the west were mostly good people; they helped one another as necessary and made good friends. Bob Fudge lived the cowboy's life, enjoyed it, and told about it.

We have read and reread Bob Fudge and feel like we have that "personal trail drive experience" with each reading. Bob Fudge may have been one of the most important characters in the history of cattle drives from Texas to Montana. As a ranching family, we appreciate the struggles and stories shared in this book. If you enjoy the cowboy life coupled with true history, pick up this book. We have given several copies as gifts over the years and our friends feel as we do. This book echoes the cowboy life and you feel the sense of the elements of nature and dust in your nose as you read the book.

This is a GREAT book for helping me study for my CDL. This should help my career change go more smoothly.

I used this book and red twice. There is a lot of information, definitely you can use them. However, I think that you need learn some more materials to pass your exams and drive safely. For example the interactive tests CDL COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE MANUAL offered by AplusB Software Corporation on Amazon, would make great set. The CDL COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE MANUAL, visualised software application helps you to be focused on the information.

Pros: Great for stats, A decent amount of good pictures. Coverage of older rally cars, drivers, etc... that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere. That alone is probably the value of the book. The focus on drivers is a great idea.
Cons: So general, it will never please you are looking into a particular rally subject. Too much talk and pictures of fans.
Overall: Unless you are a die hard rally fan, this book probably wouldn't appeal to you much

Never since reading Reinhard Klein's Rally Cars have I received so much information on the WRC, expecially as how the authors have traced it chronologically. The writing is excellent, the photos magnificent works of art, and in addition to the Cars the feature on the Drivers and their records makes this a keepsake for any rally enthusiast! Well worth the investment!

The book was like picking up the readers digest. The stories are short enough that one can pick it up in a few spare minutes and enjoy an enteraining experience from a designated drivers life. It has been written in language that can be enjoyed by all ages and no one should find offensive. The variety of stories ranged from commical, to bizzar, to sad. I feel most people in todays society would be able relate to one or more of the experiences of the designated driver and would find this book enjoyable spare time or bedtime reading.

This collection of funny (mostly) and entertaining stories centered around driving drunks home from various bars is just plain fun to read. Mr. Lord's stories are of the type you would hear sitting next to him in a bar, sipping coffee and talking. From the story of riding a Harley home (with the biker's "old lady" on the back) to the tale of the Chief's mysterious medical condition, the laughter keeps sneeking up on you.

Yet, each of the stories offers a snapshot of the human condition -- the type of snapshot that resurfaces, lingers, and helps us understand ourselves and each other more fully.

Each story is short (six to ten pages), entertaining, and smoothly told. That makes this the perfect 10-15 minute read just before bed.

This is a great book for anyone interested in baking as our ancestors did it, or experienced bakers looking for a general reference book. However, due to its age, a great number of the recipes aren't very specific, or require that the baker know how much 'enough milk to make moist' is, or how hot a 'quick' oven is. Some quantities are a bit odd, too. How big is a tumbler? The recipes from this book that I have tried have all come out well, but that is going to be dependent on the ability to understand them. If nothing else, the book's worth reading to see what people ate, and to see the occasional ads, like the one boasting of all the phosphates and nitrates a certain cereal had!

the book seems to be very intresting and elaborately explains the concept.

The Girl's Guide to Winning a NASCAR Driver ("Winning") was a humorous, easy read through. I personally think Allison's The Girl's Guide to NASCAR ("GG2N"), is way better. I actually bought "Winning" after reading "GG2N" . I am fairly new to NASCAR (just got into it within the last year). I was hoping to find out some more information about NASCAR in this book.

"GG2N" was very easy to read and broke down the sport to make it more understandable to use newbies. Plus had funny "tongue and cheek" side notes that made the reading entertaining (i.e. cutest rear end in NASCAR, who would be the perfect date).

I was hoping more of it would be in "Winning". However, if focused upon what was appropriate attire at NASCAR races (like common sense doesn't tell you that). It does give a very brief description of NASCAR's history, but nothing like in "GG2N".

If you are someone who is interested in finding out about how the wives and guys of NASCAR met, then "Winning" is for you! It also gives you hints for where to get driver autographs (again for those individuals who like that sort of thing), and how to get pit passes. "Winning" does have some interesting recipes that I might eventually try out for NASCAR theme parties. Also if you take it as the satire it is, it does have some general words of wisdom when dealing with guys in general (not necessarily NASCAR/sports ones).

However, if you want a fun guide to read that breaks down stuff in NASCAR for us ladies, definitely get Allison's The Girl's Guide to NASCAR book! "GG2N" gives a nice breakdown of NASCAR's history, gives information about the cars on the track, and gives an awesome breakdown (including maps) of the different race tracks.

So "track" it down - buy "GG2N" or "Winning" depending on your "driving" goals! You'll be sure to get the "checkered flag"!

AS ALWAYS LIZ ALLISON HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER GREAT BOOK. I REALLY ENJOYED THE BOOK AND ALL THE LITTLE ANTIDOTES THAT ARE INCLUDED. I AM AN AVID NASCAR FAN AND LIZ HAS INVITED ME TO ANOTHER ASSEPT OF RACING AND COMBINING BOTH MY PASSIONS, THAT BEING READING AND NASCAR. GUARANTEE A GOOD READ FOR ALL FEMALE NASCAR FANS AND READERS YOUNG AND OLD, SINGLE OR MARRIED. KEEP UP THE WRITING AND CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT.