Characters Books

The author presents Unicode well from all possible angles. He also explains related topics like character encodings, transfer encodings, ways to input the characters in popular software programs, font issues, portability. It is well written.

Its side notes are also interesting - explaining things like Arabic right-to-left with its contextual characters with 4 different forms; or how they mused over using one common Chinese Han character to be shared by Japanese , Koreans and Vietnamese versus including a version of each in their languages' ranges of individually separate characters.

Are you an IT professional who needs to understand Unicode and work with it? If you are, then this book is for you. Author Jukka Korpela, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that explores Unicode processing generally, but does not go into great detail on all parts of the Unicode character space.

Korpela, begins by providing a self-contained tutorial presentation of Unicode and character data. Then, the author gives detailed information about using Unicode and other character codes. Finally, he discusses relatively independent topics to be read according to each reader's specific needs.

This most excellent book guides you through the Unicode and character world. More importantly, it explains how to identify and classify characters.

I had to deal with Unicode in greater detail for two reasons. I am working on some old ASCII and ANSI text converter for the web to be able to show them in text format in a browser, rather than converting them to an image as existing tools do. The second reason is XML and the normalization of the content distributed via XML and processed or used by XSLT or DHTML apps.

I realized that the whole subject is a lot more complicated than I initially thought and the number of questions that needed an answer to move forward with what I was doing increased significantly. I was finding stuff on the web, a little bit here and a little bit there and had it one day, because progress was slow.

I stumbled one day across this book via a Google search, which returned passages from it from its Google Book search results. I found a very good answer to one of my questions and answers to some other questions that were lying around unanswered from before. I checked the index of the book to see what subjects it covers and realized that it pretty much covers all of them. So I went ahead to Amazon and bought it right there and then.

I am glad to this day that I found it and can recommend it to anybody who has only little or no knowledge of Unicode and struggles with getting a grip on all those standards for data encoding, which make it hard to keep the data within XML and text files intact across platforms and prevent your XML based application or tool from breaking because of illegal data in your content.

If you're like me, you probably think of Unicode as "expanded ASCII" and that's about it. But there is infinitely more to the subject than I thought, and Unicode Explained by Jukka K. Korpela is an exhaustive reference to all that is Unicode. And in this increasingly global computing environment, you will need to know this information...

Contents:
Part 1 - Working with Characters: Characters as Data; Writing Characters; Character Sets and Encoding
Part 2 - A Systematic Look at Unicode: The Structure of Unicode; Properties of Characters; Unicode Encodings
Part 3 - Advanced Unicode Topics: Characters and Languages; Character Usage; The Character Level and Above; Characters in Internet Protocols; Characters in Programming
Appendix - Tables for Writing Characters; Index

In concept, Unicode is real simple. An expanded character set using 16 bit encoding, and you can accommodate far more languages and symbols than straight ASCII. But the implementation is far more complex than that. Korpela starts with the basics of characters... what they are, what they mean, and the nuances involved. From there, you learn about how applications have to interpret the different encoding standards and handle things like case, sort orders, line breaks, etc. When I saw the size of the book (600+ pages), I wondered if the material was just a lot of reference tables that could be found online. Gladly, it's not... This is an exploration of everything that is Unicode, and you'd have to wade through a lot of web pages to even begin to glean the level and value of information that you'll find here.

If you have anything to do with programming or designing global software, this book purchase is a no-brainer. And even if you're not doing anything in that area right now, this is one of those reference titles that is worth having on your bookshelf and available for the first time you *do* need it. It won't take long to pay for itself...

This book is excellent. The author's writing style is easy to read and he pretty much explains everything about Unicode. It's perfect if you're working with multi-lingual Web sites or email, or just if you want to start using Unicode for all of your Web site development (something everyone should do).

The only thing disappointing about this book is that all of his examples and screen shots are for and from Windows. A reader could come away with the feeling that Mac OS X and Linux don't have as much support for Unicode as Windows which, of course, is not the case at all. The least he could have done is to mention and give screenshots of Linux's "Character Map" app and Mac OS X's built-in "Character Palette", both of which are pretty much just like the Windows "Character Map" app.

I'm surprised O'Reilly allowed a book about such a platform-neutral subject to be so Windows-centric. Hopefully they can hire someone to add Linux and Mac OS X examples into the second edition.

We have a lot of the Veggie Tales movies, this book goes very well with them. My kids love it, and I like that they give scriptural references to each story. Each chapter promotes a certain value that all kids need (adults too)!

My three-year old daughter just loves VeggieTales, and with this Bible Storybook, she is getting the best of both worlds. Each Veggie story is followed with the actual Bible story and a great message to boot. We love it!

oddly enough-even my 1 1/2 year old loves to page through this book. My 3 year old wants to read it every single night. personally-i'm sick of it but i am still happy to read it because it familiarizes stories that my son will hear about in sunday school and my aim is to have all these characters (biblical not veggietale) part of his life from an early age. just be sure you don't get confused by the "creative license" used by the authors...

Creative and fun characters fill the pages of this book with vivid colors. This book combines 21 Veggie stories we know from their videos and books with the Bible stories that inspired them. It is organized in the similar order as one would find them in Scripture. The table of contents even divides them into the Old and New Testaments.

Each chapter begins with a "countertop" introduction. Bob and Larry describe a current problem then lead into the Veggie story. Now we know Goliath was not really a giant pickle, so immediately after the story, the book presents the real Bible story with selections taken directly from New International Reader's Version of Scripture. Bob and Larry return "countertop" to wrap up the application with a memory verse.

Here is a list of the chapter stories and their correlated Bible stories.

The Ballad of Little Joe --- Joseph, Genesis 37-45
Babysitter in DeNile --- Miriam (saving baby Moses), Exodus 1-2
Frog Wars --- Moses (and the Exodus), Exodus 3-14
Josh and the Big Wall --- Battle of Jericho, Joshua 5-6
Gideon Tuba Warrior --- Gideon, Judges 6-7
Dave and the Giant Pickle --- David and Goliath, 1 Samuel 17
King George and the Ducky --- David's Selfish Sin (with Bathsheba), 2 Samuel 12
Esther, the Girl who Became Queen --- Esther, Esther 2-8
Madame Blueberry --- David's Heart (of thankfulness), Psalm 34
Rack, Shack & Benny --- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel 3
Daniel and the Lions' Den --- Daniel, Daniel 6-2
Jonah --- Jonah Runs Away, Jonah 1-4
The Stable that Bob Built --- Jesus is Born, Luke 2
Where's God When I'm Scared --- Jesus Walks on Water, Matthew 14
The Story of Fibber-o-loo --- The Good Samaritan, Luke 10
Larry's Lagoon --- The Prodigal Son, Luke 15
An Easter Carol --- Jesus is Risen, Luke 24
Minnesota Cuke --- Wise Advice, Romans 12
Lyle the Kindly Viking --- A Cheerful Giver, 2 Corinthians 9-15
The Gourds Must Be Crazy --- The Conversion of Paul, Acts 9
LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed --- New Life ... New Ways, Colossians 3

What I Like: The Scriptural parallels. It's great to be able to point back to the actual passages in the Bible. The memory verses are great! My kids love VeggieTales, so this book was an instant favorite in our house. The authors find very creative ways to relay lessons in ways kids can easily understand. Also, collecting all the videos can be quite expensive. This is a great way to get a lot of the stories for one low price.

What I Dislike: Initially, I was disappointed with some of the stories -- outer space, super heroes and Gilligan's Island don't belong in a Bible -- but the more I read it, the more I liked the book! The problem was my expectations. Please note this is not a Bible, but a Bible storybook. My only complaint now is with the "Frog Wars" chapter. VeggieTales did a much better job telling the story of Moses in "Moe and the Big Exit." Unfortunately, that video was released after the publication of this book.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Tanya -- Christian Children's Book Review

Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and all their friends share the stories of the Bible in a new and creatively unique way. Children will be completely entertained while learning how the stories of the Bible are relevant to their modern lives. Parents will love that their children have a new set of role models that actually understands and connects to children.

Veggie Tales Bible Storybook includes 21 stories from both the Old and New Testament. Each story is prompted by a particular situation that one of the Veggie Tales crew experiences such as dealing with a bully, being jealous of a sibling, wanting tons of presents, etc. This incident leads into a themed tale, from wild west themes to star wars, based loosely on a Bible story. The Veggie Tales characters are the stars of the show. These renditions tend to be quite entertaining in and of themselves. More importantly though, they make use of what children already know from movies and modern media and connect them to Biblical stories. Each Veggie Tale finishes up with the real Bible story and then follows up with the original lesson of the story as the characters as talk about what they learned.

Veggie Tales Bible Storybook will quickly become a family favorite that book parents and children will equally enjoy. An innovative, fun way to teach morals to children.

I first heard about this book almost fifteen years ago and then it was out of print. I was thrilled to locate a copy after all these years and the wait has been worth it! Entertaining stories and fun to read about the history of old Uncle Scrooge!

What a find this was when I purchased it as a teen. This large format book (it's pretty heavy)contains 12 full-color classic Carl Bark's stories of the adventures of Uncle Scrooge, printed on thick high quality paper. Includes biographical info on Bark's, plus background on the origin and development of each story provided by Bark's himself. Also includes some restored pages that were lost or deleted from original comics, a checklist of Bark's duck stories, and a never-before published Bark's "storybook" Uncle Scrooge adventure with great watercolor illustrations.

This is a fantastic book, covering Scrooge McDuck's life from his days in the Klondike to space travel and flying saucers. The book contains many of my favorite stories including "The Second Richest Duck" and "Land of the Pygmy Indians". There is extensive written material about and by Carl Barks giving much insight into the man behind the duck. Finally, there is a checklist of the comics in which Uncle Scrooge appeared from 1952 to 1988. All in all, this book is a "must-have" for any serious fan of Uncle Scrooge.

I am writing this within just a few days of one of the saddest days any comic book fan could imagine. Carl Barks has just passed on to that great Duckburg in the sky. This book is, without a doubt, the definitive tribute to a man whose genius is just now being recognized by many.

As you read these outstanding adventure stories - and that's what they are - you will come to know the technique of how this extraordinary man transcended the comic art into the realm of high fiction. Each story is written on two levels, sprinkled with humor and illustrated in such a realistic, yet exaggerated manner that allows the reader to identify strongly with the characters.

My personal favorite is "The Second Richest Duck." In this story, Scrooge, Donald and "the boys" have their true personalities come out with a richness found only in the best writings of major adventure authors and is the equal, at least, to the best Indiana Jones or James Bond story.

I read these stories to my son as he was growing up and promised him the book for his future children. My daughters now each have their own families and the stories are now read by me to my grandchildren. Truly, this tome is part of our family heritage.

I own the hardcover, coffee table edition with a signed, numbered print by Barks. I shall never part with the print, and will hand it down to my son in my estate.

Thank you Carl, for many hours of delicious reading pleasure and the exercise of my imagination. If I could rate this book an infinite number of stars, I would.

One of the best collections of comic art ever published, this superlative volume not only takes eleven of Carl Barks' best book-length Scrooge adventures, adds an original story and includes his own comments on each, but Peter Ledger's recoloring makes these stories look better than they ever have or ever will. The only flaw with the volume is that it will send you into a frenzy to read more about Scrooge...but thankfully, Gladstone Comics has all the stories still in print. Simply superb.

Very enlightening book.

This is a wonderful book. Steve Brown is a very gifted communicator and he does a wonderful job of providing an encouraging vision of the grace of God in this book.

I have read several of Steve Brown's books and have always enjoyed them. This one though really exceeded my expectations. He asks himself many of the same questions I have found myself asking after I passed the AARP age. His forthrightness and honesty was like a fresh drink of water. I have since purchased and given away several more copies to my friends and family.

Steve's book is the most honest appraisal of the Christian life that I have seen - short of the Bible itself. He writes in an entertaining manner, and the book is easily read and understood, even aloud. In one word, 'awesome' comes to mind as a description.

If you've ever heard the "Key Life" radio program, then you've probably heard the rich, authoritative, made-for-radio voice of Steve Brown, who is also a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, where his rich, authoritative, made-for-seminary voice has dispensed wisdom and knowledge to students for a number of years now --- and to his own congregation and countless audiences at seminars and conferences

Or has it? Well, yes and no. Yes, a great deal of what his voice has dispensed could be described as "wisdom and knowledge." But a lot of what he dispensed was, as he puts it, "irrelevant God words." An older and wiser Brown admits: "I was wrong. I got the words right, but I missed the tune...if we get the words right but can't sing the tune, we miss the grandeur of the song." He's singing a new song these days, one based on a faith that is "far more radical and far less cerebral" than he once thought it was.

That's good news for the reading public, because Brown felt compelled to set the record straight about his skewed way of thinking in print. Ever the entertaining author, Brown is at his best when he's vulnerable and self-deprecating, and with a title like WHAT WAS I THINKING? you can be assured that he is, indeed, at his best here.

Each chapter title betrays Brown's former faulty way of thinking. In "The Holy Spirit Is Working in a Lot More Places Than I Thought He Was," for example, he encourages Christians to quit limiting their lives to involvement in "religious" activities and entertainment and to instead engage the wider culture around them. The activity of the Holy Spirit, he writes, is not limited to Christians and the church. "It isn't where we go, what we see, and what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for the believer. It's what we bring to where we go, to what we see, and to what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for us as believers," Brown believes.

Individual chapters address Brown's once-misguided views of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, supernatural warfare, people ("a lot worse than I thought they were"), people again ("a lot better than I thought they were"), self-righteousness, obedience, love and the world; the chapter on self-righteousness alone is worth the price of the book, and then you get all those other wonderful chapters as a bonus. He concludes with this chapter: "Things Will Work Out a Lot Better Than I Thought They Would."

Throughout, Brown reveals his special brand of humor. This is a guy with a doctorate who teaches seminarians things like "how to develop a Christian mean streak" and "how not to be a weenie"; who obsesses over his hybrid Honda Accord and whether it's symbolic of his judgmentalism; who comes right out and says he likes to sin; and who admits that Monday morning is depressing because that's when he has to pray. You just have to keep reading when a well-known, well-respected Christian leader writes stuff like that.

"Keep reading" is what you'll likely do once you start, because Brown has this charming way of captivating his readers and holding them hostage. Before you realize what just happened to you, you've finished reading --- and of all things, you're thanking your captor.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford.

We used this book for a women's Bible study with about 24 women. The group was very diversified in age as well as in spiritual maturity. It was wonderful to read true stories each week and the scriptures that supported the key concept. Sharing the individual response questions at the end of each chapter helped us connect and support each other in our daily "life" experiences. Our class was also made up of women who came from different backgrounds and church affiliations. As we shared our lives and learned from the lessons each week, we began to understand why Paul Schlieker wrote, "The Church is God's people, led by God's Spirit, to accomplish God's mission." I highly recommend this study!

When I was 13 years old, my family and I took a vacation to the east coast. It was the first time I had seen the ocean. What was fun about it, was that my brother and two young sisters and I could all play in the same body of water. My brother and I could body surf in the big waves without touching the bottom and my younger sisters could play at the edge in the ankle-deep water. The reason I use this illustration is because this book allows me to take someone into ankle-deep water spiritually, or take them out into the water that's 30,000 feet deep. The lessons are very practical, hard-hitting, and relevant to a believer or non-believer. This is the only resource I've found like this and I use it all the time. It's a great tool!

DLB

I highly recommend "What's Missing Inside You?" by Paul Schlieker. I have read it, highlighted it and put red stars by the most significant points that stood out to me in each chapter. The discussion and assessment questions after each chapter help bring the reader to the point of personal application. I cannot think of any area of my life that would not be touched in some way by the principles shared.

I was especially moved by the chapter entitled, "The Forgotten One", and continue to think and study about the Holy Spirit's role in my life. Now when I awaken each morning I start the day by praying, "Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me."

I have taken four different study groups through "What's Missing Inside You?" Members of those groups have used the book for groups they lead as well. Because of the powerful style of writing and the personal discussion and assessment questions, this book is well-suited for small group study. "What's Missing Inside You?" will help you impact others, whether in your home, your office or your church. I strongly believe that if you can read it, you can lead it.

With wit and vulnerability, Paul Schlieker explains why fulfillment and meaning can only be found in a loving relationship with the God who created us. Each lesson clearly articulates an important theme, illustrated with fascinating real life stories and supporting Scriptures. The Response Questions at the end of each chapter are well crafted to generate open discussion and personal discovery; and the Personal Assessments are outstanding tools to help you get honest with yourself and God.

"What's Missing Inside You?" is an excellent resource for those who are seeking answers to the most important questions in life. But it's also a fresh, compelling study for seasoned believers, going beyond doctrinal formulas to help us rediscover Jesus Christ as first love. This study inspires us to respond to God's love, to find our value and self-esteem in Him, and to follow Jesus into the corner of the world where we live and love the people we find there. If you're looking for something new and fresh and insightful for your small group, this is it.

As a Bible Study leader with 30+ years of experience I found this book to touch some key areas. We are living in a post-modern generation and this series of studies are geared directly to that generation. We need more bible studies like this one! This is one you MUST have on your shelf for Christians who need basic grounding.

great book with a story that keep you on your toes and will finish before you put it down

I am definitely a fan of Aimee Thurlo and Davide Thurlo's Ella Clah mysteries. Yes, they have supplanted Tony Hillerman for me. At last, an intelligent female Indian officer who is embroiled in this book with the closing of the uranium mines in New Mexico. For those who have the eyes to comprehend, she deftly brings in the illnesses the Indians experience because of the mining. Few people are aware of how the mining on Indian reservations contributes to their health, but also their poverty.

This book brings out the subtle effects of a near-death experience, the superstition and fanaticism of people who cannot understand that there is something beyong death. The authors weave a realistic tale of conflict between the traditionalists and the modernists that is intense and holds the reader's attention. Bettye Johnson, award-winning author of Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

I have been a Tony Hillerman fan, then I got onto the Thurlo's also like the Coel Book that I chose. Am going to order more Thurlo's because our local library does not handle. Thank you so much for your (Amazon) speedy shipping and thd books were in perfect condition.

I liked this book in spite of myself. It is a prime example of the "detective-as-target" school of mystery writing. Ella Clah not only has to cope with assorted bad guys trying to kill or maim her, she must also deal with being shunned by many of the traditionalist Navajos. Shades of Patricia Cornwell's persecuted heroine, Kate Scarpetta.

What redeemed the book in my eyes was that the Thurlos successfully mix Clah's police activities with details of the traditionalist practices of her mother and brother. The only homicide in the story is solved early. The remaining complications arise from factional conflict on the reservation. A couple of Ella's antagonists from previous books get their comeuppance. A pretty slight plot, but an enjoyable read.

Aimee and David Thurlo have added a ninth installment to their Ella Clah series. These novels take place on a Four Corners, New Mexico reservation where Clah is a special investigator for the Navajo Tribal Police. Her family is "traditionalist" and her brother Clifford is a respected hataalli, or medicine man, who at the start of the book is singing hatals. "These songs of blessing compelled the Navajo gods to bring good luck to the land the yellow dust had corrupted and give it new life. Navajo prayers were not petitions. If recited just right, it was believed that the gods couldn't fail to comply."

The rituals are part of a ceremony to kick off the demolition of warrens of abandoned uranium mines that are a danger to the population. Their demise fills the hopes of the tribe, which are vested in "NEED, which stood for Navajo Electrical Energy Development ? the Navajo Nation's first step toward a more prosperous future." The abject poverty on the Rez is palpable and the "lack of funds still took a heavy toll on the tribe's ability to provide and maintain emergency services. Police equipment was badly outdated and salaries hadn't been improved in years. Even the hospital was understaffed."

Ella follows her nephew and his friend when they wander away from the crowd. She sensed the danger they were in as they played "somewhere behind a cluster of boulders several yards away." After a quiet "lecture" about learning patience and warning them about the sick land, her nephew falls off a plank and was pulled into an ever-widening hole. "He dangled helplessly over the edge, staring at her with terrified eyes. 'I'm going to fall!' " Finally, she manages to lift him up to safely. As she tried to save herself, "a wall of sand came sliding down and before she could cry out, Ella felt herself plummeting down a narrow tunnel." When she is found and rescued everyone thinks she is dead. The EMTs are no longer working on her and have covered her with a sheet. At first even her brother considered her to be dead. But after an out-of-body experience, "Ella pushes [the sheet] aside and sits up. No need for CPR ? it worked." Ella is back. But for a Navajo just "coming back" is not that easy.

Various and sundry legends, stories, myths and rituals comprise the traditional and modern Navajo belief systems. Some of these are contradictory and put Clah in the strange position of having to prove she has not been "touched" or "contaminated" or "taken over" by evil spirits. She had an experience the year before that convinced her that "she'd discovered ? skinwalkers --- Navajo witches known for their practices and rituals associated with the dead --- [who] were using [the] old mines for their own purposes." But on this happy day she was convinced that "skinwalkers had apparently stopped using this site after authorities had destroyed a few of the larger shafts."

Clifford says, "Her wind spirit has drifted. We, as Navajos, are taught that life begins when wind enters the body at birth and that death happens when it leaves through the fingertips. I've tried to convince the [traditionalists] that once the wind spirit leaves ? it never returns to the person it left behind. It waits for another to be born. So you couldn't have been dead."

To clear her path and remove the shadow of death that has now shrouded her, Ella must assuage the fears of some of her people. She must be the focus of an obscure ceremony or "Sing" that is required in the circumstances. Clifford tells her, "Only one hataalii knows the Sing you need --- hastiin sdni which means 'old man'; [so aged he] was to be in his nineties. [Unfortunately] the Singer [she needs] has gone off on a spiritual journey. He's visiting the shrines of his clan and could be nearly anywhere." Clah knows she has no choice but to go looking for this person, and the sooner she gets started the sooner the Sing can be performed.

At first she has no luck in tracking the old man down. But in the interim she's called out on a vandalism call and then an arson/murder. Both are connected to the activism of the victims who are fighting for handgun registration on the reservation. The woman who died in the fire had been in a wheelchair for years as a result of a gunshot wound. She and her husband were at the vanguard of the new legislation and obvious targets of the rednecks who saw them as enemies.

As events unfold Ella is caught up in maintaining her dignity and keeping the respect of the people to whom she feels responsible. WIND SPIRIT is a craftily written novel that is rich in Navajo history and life on the reservation. Both the lead and supporting characters are deftly fleshed out, which adds verisimilitude to the different issues that confront them throughout the novel. Tension is high when the vandals keep at their ugly mission, a hostage crisis becomes full blown, and dead bodies mount as gunshots ring out in deafening finality.

By the end of the book Clifford speaks to his sister: "I heard from the hataalii we've all been searching for. He's finished his other business and will be here today. The Sing can begin this afternoon." When he left her and she took stock of her situation she found "it was clear that she'd have her work cut out for her during the coming months [despite the cleansing of the Sing] but for now she'd restore her own inner balance and harmony by joining her family. It was time to walk in beauty."

--- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

Marti MacAlister, a Chicago homicide detective, is investigating a case, which involves a group of kids from her past and from her first novel, Dead Time. The kids are older with different problems and one is accused of murder. Also, someone from her dead husband's past is looking for him. Marti is trying to solve the murder and figure out how the other's from her past fit in. This mystery has plenty of twists and turns as a challenging case for Marti. Once again Bland cleverly brings attention to issues of the homeless, elderly and children.

You work all your life trying to make it only to see yourself passed over for jobs that are rightfully yours. At first you grin and bear it until your temper flares and you strike out in anger. It lands you in jail. You do your time and released. Now you're free. Free to avenge all those wrongs done to you. Free to set the record straight. Johnny MacAlister, the cop who put you behind bars, is dead but his widow, Marti is very much alive. Now is the time to punish her with your death sentence.
Windy City Dying is a marvelous tale of the intricate workings of a killer's mind who is set to right the so-called wrongs done to him by society and the court system. His methodical preying and elimination of his victims evokes feelings of fear as you get into his mind. Marti, is completely oblivious to the murders even though this funny feeling of something is wrong hits her now and again. She ignores it and works on a far more pressing case that takes her and Vik back into their past.
Bland does a sensational job in telling a story that has various twists and turns to the point where you are kept on edge. A man's insatiable lust for revenge impacts upon a foster child who is suspected of murder. Marti and Vik's investigation of the the child's case takes them back to an earlier time when this same child was part of a group of throw away children. Marti and Vik helped those children then but now find themselves having to intervene again.
I enjoyed the book for its intrigue, exploration of the foster care and juvenile justice system and for its showing how disparate events can be interconnected. You also get to see the situation from the avenger's point of view. On top of that you see Marti dealing with the daily challenges of family living and becoming more concerned about those children that she helped years ago. This is one of the best of Bland's books in the Marti MacAlister series.

In WINDY CITY DYING, Marti McAllister's job as homicide detective in Lincoln Prairie forces her to go back to Chicago, where her husband, also a cop, was killed five years earlier. It seems that one of the men Johnny McAllister helped to put behind bars has an agenda to avenge the wrong he felt was done to him by the system, by the world, and, namely, by Johnny McAllister.

Marti and her partner Vik are also reunited with a child from one of their previous cases. Marti and Vik found Jose Ortiz, along with several other throwaway children, living in a library not long after Marti relocated to Lincoln Prairie. Now Jose is accused of murdering his foster sister. It's always tough when kids are involved, and Marti and Vik set out to do what they do best: get the bad guy, whether it's Jose or not.

Once again Eleanor Taylor Bland brings the life of Marti and her family to awesome characterization. Her characters are like old friends; consistent people as real as can be. In WINDY CITY DYING, Bland takes the characters to a new level, a feat for which she should be applauded.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

For fans of Detective Marti MacAlister, this latest in the series is a gratifying read - sure to keep the determined reader up in the wee hours of the night. Marti has moved on from the death of her first husband, but unknowingly someone from the past has it out for the deceased cop Johnny McAllister.

Bent on revenge and fresh out of prison, Adrian Quinn still feels he was innocent of his horrendous crimes. One by one he hunts down the people he feels were responsible for his downfall (guilty verdict). Since Johnny has long been deceased, he turns his destructive plans towards Marti, her new husband and their children. Adrian's crimes leads Marti and partner Vik back to an old case from four years earlier involving neglected children. One of the children is now a suspect in a murder case.

If you have not ready any of the books in this series by Eleanor Taylor Bland, this book serves as a great introduction to one of the stronger female detectives in the literary world. Detective Marti MacAlister has never appeared larger than life. At times her tough side comes out when dealing with criminals, the men in her field or any injustice. On the flip side, her vulnerability is easily relatable when it comes to her family. All around a very likable heroine.

Prairie Hills homicide detective Marti MacAlister doesn't pay any attention to the notice saying that Adrian Quinn is being released on parole because she doesn't know the felon as it was her dead husband Johnny who was one of the arresting officers. Johnny never spoke about the case to her. Marti has made a very big mistake not paying any attention to that notice because Adrian plans to take revenge on everyone responsible for being incarcerated.

His diabolical plan begins when he breaks into his defense attorney's home killing a person he assumes is one of his children, but instead murdered a foster child. The other foster child is blamed for the killing. Marti and her partner work the case not realizing that this murder has nothing to do with the girl who was killed. Their investigation takes them down many false trails while Adrian kills or severely injures many people, including two Chicago police officers. Marti doesn't realize until it is almost too late that she is scheduled to be his last victim before he takes off for Mexico.

After reading WINDY CITY DYING, every reader will understand what a police officer has to put up with and the fear they feel every day they go out on the streets not just to themselves but too their loved ones as well. Part of the story is told from the killer's warped "logical" point of view. Adrian feels no guilt or remorse for what he is doing, including killing innocents who had nothing to do with his being sent to prison, because he believes this is his divine right.

Harriet Klausner

Terrific casting - top-drawer firepower! - on all voices except Tigger, who alas is over the top and irritating, but one ignores it in favor of the wonderful rest. Clever use of the actors as both narrators and characters. Stephen Fry as Pooh is perfect and Geoffrey Palmer as Eeyore is revelatory - after nearly 50 years, I finally "get" Eeyore!

I really cannot imagine how anyone could ever dramatize Pooh any better. Do not believe any negative reviews out there--this is the greatest. I have it because my sister and her kids love it and gave it to us. They have bought a second copy in case anything happens to the first as it is the FAVORITE on all car rides or even around the house.

You will love this audiobook as much as your kids do(unlike alot of kids stuff out there!) as it perfectly captures the gentle, playful, whimsical, loving tone of these stories. It also captures the funny English-isms which preschoolers LOVE (kids really get a kick out of wordplay and are fascinated by new words at this age)Put it on at 5:00 pm or on a long car ride when the kids are going banannas and you won't be disappointed.

These are WONDERFUL tapes, as is the first (Pooh Goes Visiting), especially for anyone who loves the real Pooh and is disgusted by the Disney version (talk about repellently cutesy!). Now, Tigger's voice here--that does hit the wrong note. But we (post-grad educated) grownups and our four (2 to 8 year old) children think Piglet's and Eeyore's voices are priceless, and Owl's and Rabbit's and Christopher Robin's and others' are just right,too. Over the last few years these tapes have been the most requested of the car-ride playlist, for which we parents are grateful because they're as much fun for us as for the kids. By far the best Pooh tapes I've heard.

I learned to read by listening (again and again and again and again) to a pair of well-loved and well-worn LPs of the Pooh stories read by Maurice Evans. I always considered them the finest Pooh audiobooks ever recorded. Up until now! Now there's this wonderful series of fully-dramatized adventures of Pooh featuring a brilliant cast of wonderful British actors: Stephen Fry ("Jeeves and Wooster") as Pooh, Geoffrey Palmer ("The Madness of King George") as Eeyore, Judy Dench ("Shakespeare in Love") as Kanga...and best of all, the *incomparable* Jane Horrocks ("Little Voice" and Bubble from "AbFab") as a squeaky, alarmed, and altogether adorable Piglet. You don't have to be a kid to appreciate these fine recordings (and there are plenty of adult Pooh fans out there who will *love* these versions). Accept no substitutes: this is simply the finest Pooh audio series yet created, beating by a *far* distance the Alan Bennett and (ugh!) Charles Kuralt versions.

These four tapes will find a permanent place in your collection. They represent an amazing dramatization of the two Pooh books (including all the stories in their original order) by this talented group of British performers. My favorite is probably Piglet -- Jane Horrocks's amazing Piglet is really understated. Every endearing "Oo-ooh-oh" makes me laugh and want to listen again. I also adore the quiet, loving rendition of Pooh by Stephen Fry and the wonderful curmudgeonly Eeyore of Geoffrey Palmer. But I love everybody involved here (except Tigger in his entrance, which is a little strong) and am delighted to have discovered them. If for some reason you only want one or two of these tapes, the same recordings are available on four separate tapes, starting with "Pooh Goes Visiting." If you are a fan of Pooh, by all means try these wonderful tapes!

This book works on many levels:
1. OK, if you just want a good read, Clancy tells the story of his growing up with his long suffering mother, Jennie, in a humorous, compelling, self-deprecating and insightful way. He evokes urban life in the poverty-ridden Depression many would have liked to forget, but which, for Clancy, seems to have been the most alive time of his life. But aside from that -
2. History
(a) A must have for the Chicago Historical Society library. A detailed description of life in one particular Chicago neighborhood in the 1930's Depression and WWII years. Clancy describes life as a working-class, street kid where the neighborhood and his fellow adolescent (by today's standards fairly harmless) gang members are a whole world and all a guy needs.
(b) Also a must for students of Jewish American history. An on-the-ground, day-to-day account of what it was like to be a very secular Jewish American kid at the time and how he, his mother, their friends and their world tried to define their Jewishness.
(c) For political history you get mother, Jennie, and usually absent father, Leo, who are both hard core labor organizers with a commitment forged by the often life or death pre-WWII American labor movement. It is also a reminder of when America had real Socialists and real Communists, who were bigger enemies of each other than of the capitalists.
3. Sociology/Psychology
(a) Jennie, a Russian immigrant, ostracised by her Communist, New York family when she ran off with the faithless socialist, Leo. Single mother of an illegitimate child working as a seamstress and covert union organizer to support herself and her child. Clancy thoughtfully observes and analyzes the stresses and social pressures his mother and similar women of the era suffered and how these shaped Jennie's, and their, characters.
(b) Clancy also tells, again with much self-deprecating humor, the effect all this had on him, not only growing up but how it shaped his future life, and how it is still shaping the next generation, his son. (See also Clancy's novel, Zone of the Interior, based on his experiences with psychiatrist R. D. Laing.)

Clancy Sigal's seeringly honest portrait of his lefty mother, Jennie, and himself brings alive a time now lost forever to Ipods, computers, and cell phones.

Clancy's childhood as the sidekick of a passionate labor organizer mother often working undercover, slipping into town and skulking out when the jig is up is both hair-raising and thrilling. Even when she settles temporarily in Chicago, a secure home life is not an option for his mother, Jennie, and his on-again, off-again father. Jennie's commitment to lifting up the plight of exploited workers while bringing up Clancy is the ultimate juggling act. Lots of dropped balls but a virtuoso performance nevertheless. Clancy was mostly left to his own devices, a street kid whose aspirations were hardly more than rough and tumble fun with his little gang of misfits balanced with an instinct for survival.

Ultimately, Jennie was his salvation even after he left home because she had implanted in him a moral compass more powerful than any microchip that always corrected his course throughout his crazy life journey. He's a lucky boy/man.

This book is a tribute to an extraordinary mother and a rollicking good read at that.

This is Clancy Sigal's best book. His work has always been autobiographical from his novel Going Away (the ultimate 'road' book for my generation of politically aware readers who shunned Kerouac 's egowanderings), to Weekend In Dinlock, his account of Yorkshire miners. In his latest, a memoir, Sigal gives us a funny, moving memory of his relationship with his mother - a fantastic character - set in Depression era America. It's an account of an education that is unsentimental and and profoundly moral. There isn't anything like it around. This is a real book of virtues.

A terrific story well told. I don't know when I've ever read such a robust and intimate description of the tensions in a relationship between a strong sexy mother and a hormone-soaked adolescent boy. Although the background is exotic - Chicago in the turbulent shoot-first days when cops, criminals and union activists fought in the bloody streets - anyone who has ever dealt with an teenage boy will recognize the minefield of emotions Sigal reveals. Besides drawing a pungent likeness of a remarkable woman - his mother - he makes his own street gang life accessible to the reader when he talks about why he cherishes his lawbreaking friends from the old neighborhood. It's a vanished world today, and yet it's strikingly here and now. Good writing too - loose, easy and graceful. I'm a long-time fan of Clancy Sigal's memoirs-as-novels (GOING AWAY, ZONE OF THE INTERIOR). This is memoir that just happens to read like a novel.

Clancy Sigal made me fall in love with his mother Jennie in his unsentimental memoir of a sometimes violent and crazy life. She's the mother I wish I had: passionate, irreverent, protective and smart. The pain and love Sigal feels for his mom hits you like a punch in the gut.

Dynamite scenes of young, street-tough Clancy's roller coaster life with his mysterious and powerful mother are punctuated by glimpses of his current relationship with his 10 year old son Joe. Together, they invoke the spirit of Jennie as they visit her grave, throw a baseball around or jog together, and she, in turn, surrounds them with her tough, maternal love. She lives again, through Sigal's gritty and ironic style.

Capone gangsters and cops-on-the-take are a normal part of the lives of this compelling mother-and-child team who, as they travel from city to city, often take false names. Always on the edge of the law, forever skipping out on landlords and creditors, they're a magnificent reminder of what it takes to stay alive in hard times: guts and guile.

This memoir led me to Sigal's other books: Going Away, Weekend in Dinlock, Zone of the Interior (re-released this year - an insanely brilliant semi-fictionalized account of his time with the famous/notorious `anti-psychiatrist' R.D. Laing) and The Secret Defector. Do yourself a favor and discover this provocative author - funny, authentic, political and deeply moving.

See my review for The Woman Who Found Grace - the first book finished and I immediately wanted to read the next two. Now all we need is the fourth and it's a box set I know lots of people would enjoy. Maybe Christmas next year!

A note I sent to the Authoress:

Bett,
I meant to tell you a few weeks ago that I had completed "Woman Who Knew Too Much." I have "Moon" on order now.

I'm not qualified to write a book review but just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed this book. One of the few I've read from cover to cover. I am familiar with the Pecos river down here in our part of the country and your description fit so perfectly. I could see, hear and smell it vividly in my mind as I read. I really enjoyed the charactors. Loved Kit, and naturally, Cord. Sheriff Juan (Sam Elliott) was great, as well as, Metz and Marguerite. I could just visualize how sorry Jaz was and why no one could really miss him. The cats flying in all directions when startled brought a verbal laugh. My wife just looked over at me and wondered "what in the world........". I felt like I was on the back of the horse with you when we went to Jaz's shack. I saw and smelled all that stuff too. I was sad about Jones. (Old Yeller?)

My norm is getting up between 3:30 and 4 am each morning, pouring a cup of coffee and go to the computer to tend to emails. Well when I got the book, I would have the coffee, read about an hour or so, then go to the computer. Toward the end, I couldn't wait to get the computer stuff done and go back to the book. It would make a great movie.

Looking forward to "Moon".

Kenn

The author has a real talent for creating place--you feel the storms, sweat in the heat, and choke on the dust of the southwest. Plus she has created some unique characters with original motivations and insights and her plot, though complicated, is entirely believable. Whoever said the heroine doesn't appear until well into the book obviously didn't read it very carefully--and the revelation of who the heroine is is part of the fun of the book--a thinking person's mystery novel--

I read The Woman Who Rode to the Moon last week, and am about 1/2-way through the sequel. I'm enjoying the characters, but the writing and story are a bit uneven. The author keeps shifting voices, detailing the story as observed from different points of view. This works better at some points than at others.

I'm not averse to the style. In fact, one of my all-time favorite books, Patience and Sarah (Isabel Miller) does the same thing. But I don't feel it's especially well handled here. The voice shifts are abrupt and the story, when told from Cord's point of view, often becomes confusing.

It also seems like the book can't decide if it wants to be a heterosexual feminist story or a lesbian story. There are allusions to lesbian attraction, but all of the overt sexuality in the book is straight. It seems like it's trying to attract a lesbian audience, but afraid of offending the heterosexual buying public.

Mixed feelings from me. I enjoyed it very much in parts, and was put off a bit in others. Overall, a positive 4 star review, and I felt it was worth reading the sequel. But it never quite felt like it delivered on the promise I initially felt.

Great Mystery! Lots of fun. One step beyond the traditional woman sleuth; mystery novel. A new great character and a unique storyline. I enjoyed the mystery of the woman working behind the scene; lurking in the shadowds. And a woman who knows and enjoys all her electronic toys and gadgets. Do not miss"THE WOMAN WHO RODE TO THE MOON" A thinking woman book. Enjoy