Montana Books

First off, I haven't seen the movie, so this will not be a comparison piece. Norman Maclean's novella is an inspirational story, definitely poignant and touching as so many others before me have stated. This work melds nature, heritage, human emotions, and even metaphysics like none I've ever encountered. In its poetic and deeply probing style, A River Runs Through It compares favorably with the work of Robert Penn Warren, my favorite author.

I cannot think of another novel that is as satisfying in both literal and conceptual dimensions. On one hand, this is a story of a family told in a fly-fishing setting. On the other hand, this is a study of the nature of existence and human consciousness. Just as an aside, maclean's memory of the intricacies of fly-fishing and the events of 50 years prior is simply astounding. Even if he's filling in the details with literary license, it doesn't diminish his astonishing gift.

I have gleaned from this novel the concept that true knowledge eludes us, what we are left with is "a lifetime of questions." This is only one of many questions handled deftly by the author. This is a classic never to be forgotten; I wish I could give it more stars.

I am invariably disappointed by movies "based on" a book if I've read the book first. After seeing A River Runs Through It (Columbia Pictures, 1992) recently, I felt compelled to read the book by Norman Maclean upon which movie is based. Even for a clueless fly-fishing rookie like me, the book is charming in a bucolic and unpretentious sort of way. Moreover, the screenplay deliciously - and accurately - reflects the panache and élan of the print version. Prodigious chunks of the screenplay are lifted verbatim from this disarmingly simple novella of just over 100 pages, with a few minor differences.

Some Differences:

The chronology of events is slightly different. Norman's wife Jessie appears much sooner in the book than in the movie. In fact, Norman and Jessie are married by page 9 and Norman meets his insufferable brother-in-law, Neal, at the train on page 29 well after Jessie becomes Mrs. Norman Maclean. In the movie this incident occurs before Norman and Jessie are married.

Also, Norman's mother is a more full-bodied, three-dimensional character who makes chokecherry jelly for her boys and, along with Paul, was "the central attraction" of every family reunion (p. 78). Also receiving more attention in the book is the fishing fiasco with Neal, and how Neal got fried to a crisp under a hot Montana sun. In the movie, Paul's pursuit and ultimate triumphant landing of the "unbelievable" fish occurs toward the end of the film. In the book, it's Norman who catches the big fish in the Big Blackfoot River, and he does so early on - before page 22.

Additional minor differences include:

- The timeline is slightly altered from book to movie. The opening lines in which an elderly Norman recalls his father's advice to write down his stories occurs far back in the book, which opens with, "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing...."

- No mention is made of Norman attending Dartmouth or being offered a university professorship in Chicago in the book - plot devices invented for the movie.

- Norman's courtship of Jessie, a major movement within the movie, doesn't appear in the book, where the couple is already married the first time we meet Jessie.

- In the movie, both brothers seem evenly matched in their fly-fishing skills. In the boo,, Paul is "a master," his skills far superior to Norman's (see pp. 42 and 43).

- Norman's offer to "help" Paul, made while he's driving an intoxicated Paul and his girlfriend home from a night on the town in the movie, is clumsily offered while the brothers are fishing in the print version.

- Rev. Maclean's "you can love completely without complete understanding" is a comment made to Norman in the book (p. 103), not part of a church sermon, as it appears in the movie.

- Maclean's wry wit and sandpaper humor are completely lost in the movie, probably due to its thematic focus and time constraints. In print, both are as fresh and flavorful as a stream-to-skillet Rainbow trout.

Similarities:

- Rev. Maclean's teaching techniques for casting are directly from the book, metronome and all (pages 2-4)

- Paul vs. father in the Battle of the Oatmeal (p. 7)

- Paul's "shadow casting" technique (p. 21)

- Norman's clipped conversation with the Irish desk sergeant after Paul's been jailed for a drunken fist-fight (pp. 23-25) is an abbreviated but verbatim version of what appears in the book.

- Black Jack's Bar appears on page 30 and Old rawhide" puts in her swarthy appearance on page 31.

- Norman's brother-in-law, Neal, spins fab fibs at the bar about tracking and trailing otters on page 33. (However, Neal doesn't spend the night with Old Rawhide after picking her up at the bar, as implied in the movie. Instead, he wakes up at his mother's with a hellacious hangover and a couple of annoyed brothers-in law who are raring to go fishing - and tolerate the family picnic that follows.

- Neal stores his flies in a fly box; Paul uses his hat band)

- "Three things we're never late for" in Montana include church, work and fishing, a line delivered by Brad Pitt in the movie as Paul, appears on page 34 in the book.

- Rev. Maclean's comment about Paul's decision to change the spelling of the family name appears (ages 80 and 81)

- "Three more years before I can think like a fish" - Brad Pitt as Paul in the movie; p. 101 in the book.

- Rev. Maclean's musings about how to help someone who won't take help are recited by Tom Skerritt in the movie almost verbatim. (See p. 81)

- Events surrounding Paul's death, narrated by Robert Redford in the move, are word-for-word from the book (pp. 102 - 104). In print context, Rev. Maclean's subsequent question about "which hand" of Paul's had the broken bones makes more sense in the book because the author spend more time discussing casting technique and hand strength than the movie had time to develop.

Maclean provides additional details about intricacies of fly-fishing and casting that allow the uninitiated to better understand and more fully appreciate fly fishing as an art form. Readers are "hooked" without being drowned beneath mind-numbing minutia or tangled webs of technicalities. Maclean occasionally waxes lyrical with poetic descriptions such as :

"It was a beautiful stretch of water, either to a fisherman or a photographer, although each would have focused his equipment at a different point. It was a barely submerged waterfall. The reef of rock was about two feet under the water, so the whole river rose into one wave, shook itself into spray, then fell back on itself and turned blue. After it recovered from the shock, it came back to see how it had fallen." (pp.16, 17)...

Below him was the multitudinous river, and, where the rock had parted it around him big-grained vapor rose. The mini-molecules of water left in the wake of his line made momentary loops of gossamer, disappearing so rapidly in the rising big-grained vapor that they had to be retained in memory to be visualized as loops. The spray emanating form him was finer-grained still and enclosed him in a halo himself. ... The images of himself and his line kept disappearing into the rising vapors of the river, which continually circled to the tops of the cliffs where, after becoming a wreath in the wind, they became rays of the sun. (p. 20)

The Story

Occasionally coarse, the story itself is gently nuanced with "four count rhythms," "roll casting," the difference between a "brook" and a "creek" or a "number four or six fly," and "setting the hook." The story moves along at a gracious pace, dignified without dragging. The text evinces a deep - albeit clumsy - bond of mutual affection and admiration between brothers. Maclean's love of his Montana roots, his knowledge of the land, its people, scenery, culture, history, and fly-fishing - are keenly weft throughout the warp and woof of this narrative. It's also clear that Norman "knew" his brother without fully understanding him.

Characterization

As in the movie, the main characters in the print version of A River Runs Through It are cleanly drawn and genuine. Drawing readers into the story like moths to a flame, each character has his or her own special kind of luminosity. These people are gracious and yet sharp, gentle but not simple. They are linked but not necessarily connected. The Maclean family is at once close and yet distant, as if they've breathed in some mysterious quality of spaciousness from the Montana skies. Mother, father, and elder brother all know that Paul is in some kind of trouble, yet feel helpless to help him.

The theme of "help" pops up throughout the book like an overnight mushroom. Norman's struggle to understand and help his brother is more emphatic in the book than in the movie (pp. 37, 38, 81). But what kind of help and how to give it are questions no one can fully answer. This is summed up sagely by Rev Maclean:

"You are too young to help anybody and I am too old, he said. `By help I don't mean a courtesy like serving chokecherry jelly or giving money.

"Help," he said, "is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly." (p. 81)

Worthwhile Read?

A River Runs Through It is a satisfying story that's been faithfully represented on the big screen. In both you can hear the river roar, smell the beer, feel the baking afternoon sun or the cool splash of water on a hot, thirsty day as you watch a fish rise and grab an expertly tied "general," feel him jerk the line and run with it.

As for the book, is Norman Maclean Shakespeare? Nope. Does he need to be? Naw. Will A River Runs Through It make the NY Times bestseller list? Doubtful. Is this story worth the read? Yep. In fact, A River Runs Through It almost makes me want to "get the horse collar off my neck," wade into the Big Blackfoot and learn how to cast myself. Almost.

A River Runs Through It is a wonderful story of life in Montana, well, really life in general. In addition to a great story, this book contains some of the best uses of the English language in the 20th century. Highly recommended.

An excellent piece of literary work. From the time I received it, I couldn't set it down.

A River Runs Through It deals with tragedy, loss, and other such deep themes, but it's impossible for the reader to distant himself from the realization that much of the tragedy and loss inflicted on the family being explored is, in one way or another, the fault of the family members. While this does not automatically make the situations any less meaningful, it does chip away at the feeling that these tragedies were undeserved or unforseen.

The patriarch of the family is a stubborn, unyielding man who teaches his children by example to ruin another's fishing spot if he has better luck than you that day. His unyielding belief in the Biblical interpretation of a young earth and the scientific evidence of an old one is resolved by a stern splitting of the difference, by averaging the ages and coming up with a "medium aged" earth theory that he lectures to his sons. And when, as little children, they refuse to eat their veggies, the father shouts until he turns red, forces the child to stay at the table until the veggies are eaten, and then gives up in defeat when the child outlasts him.

Is it any wonder, then, when his youngest child grows up to be a free-spirited, gambling, immature man who simply cannot be talked out of his self-destructive tendencies? No one ever reasoned with him growing up - he was taught, by example, from day one that the most stubborn, unyielding person always wins. He was taught to never consider the needs and desires of others as anything but subbordinate to his own. It is difficult for me, therefore, to feel much pity for the bereaved family when the young man finally self-destructs - didn't they see this coming, every moment of every day? Didn't they train the child, every day, for years to reach this eventual moment?

Yes, the story is poignant. Yes, it is beautiful and touching. Yes, it should be read. But it should be read, I think, as a cautionary tale more than as a compassionate one.

The book came in with extra features. The previous owner was a library. The book had different types of stains on it and in it. The previous readers loved to eat, drink, and read a lot. If I had a chemistry lab for my child, she could have some fun guessing what they were. Grant it, it was a used book but, I wouldn't ship a product to a customer and make them throw it away. Trash is trash, my house is not a recycling facility. You try to save a tree by buying used books that may have under lined sentences here and there or bent pages. Maybe even some highlighted sentences. But food and drink is an unacceptable bonus of bacteria in my book. No pun intended. Ok maybe just a little.

I purchased this for my daughter who is hooked on this serious. She loves the books but it ends in a cliff hanger so you have to read the next one too!!

Octavian Country day school's seventh grade field trip is a camping experience on lake placid with the Briarwood boys! Massie opens up her own kissing clinic when the truth is that she's never kissed in her life! She lies to her "class" about kissing Derrington and he catches her in the act! Of course, this means a breakup! Later on they make up and Massie gets her first kiss! The pretty committee gets expelled when Kristen sees her mom getting a little to close with her teacher and runs off in tears towards the woods. Of course the rest of the pretty committee follows and when they all return that's when they get expelled!

This is my favorite book of all the series! I love how in the beginning they make a list of clothes to bring. I read all the clique books and so far this is my faV!

This book is all about a trip to Lake Placid. On this trip the girls from OCD and the Briarwood Boys go together, and everyone has their secret crushes. Before the trip Massie(the leader of the "pretty committee") starts M.U.C.K. This is Massie's Underground Clinic for Kissing, but she has never kissed anyone before. Then on the trip problems start occuring.

Kristen's parents can't afford to pay for the trip and when Massie, Alicia, and Dylan ask to pay Kristen declines. Also, in The Invasion of the Boy Snatchers, Claire kissed Josh and now Cam isn't talking to her. Will Cam ever forgive Claire? Will Massie get her first kiss? This page-turner is a great book and I would reccomend it.

Irving Stone makes you feel you are right there: in Ghirlandaio's studio, in Lorenzo's Garden, in the Pope's apartments, in Michelangelo's marble. I have seen the movie many years ago (and enjoyed it greatly) so when I saw the book in a friend's house borrowed it. When -after three years!- she really wanted it back, I could not help but buying it. You can read it over and over again, also as a text book of Italian Art, with an encyclopaedia at hand. Actually, that is the best way to fully enjoy this book: you travel to Florence, Rome, Bologna...at the feet of the masterpieces.

Having not painted since 1995 due to life's hurts, I needed to read something that would bring back the passion I had for my art. This book is doing the trick. I can't put it down and wish it would never end. I'm starting to paint and The Agony and the Ecstasy is the best read for me since Gone With The Wind. Michelangelo had so many gifts from God that I feel sad we all don't use it like he did. Since we are all gifted this book will certainly make you realize not to waste time with our modern stuff and start using the gifts God has given us. This is a must read and a classic.

I'm a high school English teacher, and I would never assign this to students to read. Nor would I recommend it to any adult except for those who are doing academic work about Michelangelo or those who are art historians. Michelangelo's artistic gifts are obviously amazing and worth knowing about. And the Renaissance time period certainly is important and interesting. However, the author exhausts his readers by seemingly including every single detail he gleaned from his obviously thorough research.
As a result, the story just goes on and on without any ongoing internal or external conflict to sustain interest. Maybe this is because as a whole, Michelangelo's life did not present an underlying, complex struggle. It was just a bunch of little struggles, each with the very same dynamic -- trying to do things his way, dealing with difficult popes and Medicis. His "great loves" are just slices of life along the way, for whatever reason: maybe the historical record does not give reason for much embellishment. I also felt like he never really conveyed an authentic, thoughtful sense of Michelangelo's inner world. It felt thin and simplistic, portrayed through the objectifying lens of Stone's reverence.
And the names! It was so frustrating to come across dozens of new people every few pages, most of whom were never mentioned again. It became impossible to figure out which ones I needed to pay attention to, which alone would have been a struggle because so many of the names are so similar to each other.
However, I guess all of the seemingly faithful details are an honor to someone worth honoring, so for this I give it two stars. Historical fiction can be so powerful. Here, though, a bit too agonizing.

The feelings and emotions of one of the greatest artists of all times is reflected in this excellent book. Take it with you on your next trip to Italy.

This book is fantastic if you want to immerse yourself in the daily life and culture of an artist in Italy living 500 years ago. The insight into the artistic process is very well written and you get a true sense of what artists were subjected to by way of maintaining themselves in the world. Read it to get yourself into the mind of an artist.

That said, it is a biography, so there are no shocking twists or big reveals like you will find in great fiction. I don't know why other reviewers seem to fault the book for this. Yes, it can seem rather banal compared to modern fiction, but it's not modern fiction. Is it the best written book in the world? No. It could have done with some more editing for one. It's still a good read.

Wow, I love Halo and all, but this book is boring and full of typos. What the hell? Mr. Nylund should slap his editor. There's a grammatical error in almost every chapter.

Let me preface by saying that I usually do not read books. I never played Halo 1 or 2, but have played Halo 3 and was caught up by the excitement. That being said, I never truely appreciated the story and the need to 'finish the fight'. I decided to buy the 3-pack here at amazon (Fall of reach/flood/First Strike) kind of like a filler to get to $25 to get free shipping. A best buy I have made in a long time. I liked First Strike the best, followed closely by Fall of reach and then The Flood. My suspicion is that since the Flood was a narrative of the 1st game, it followed the flow of the game (lots of fighting) thus perhaps why it was 'not as good'.

I soon got excited to see what happened in Halo 2 (still have not played it), but got Ghosts of the Onyx 1st. This book (again in my opinion) is the best so far. It hardly has Master Chief or Cortana, but fills in a lot of the story (and of course leaves a 'cliff hanger' at the end unrelated to the main Halo story arc, thus having me 'wanting more').

I remember when watching Star Trek, Battlestar galactica, etc. I always wondered what the stories some of the other star ships might of had, or wanting to know what the exploits the 'other' Jedi had in star Wars, as all of them likely had excitig stories. This book is similar in that it follows the 'life' of Kurt as he is the main star. It gives more details on the Spartan program, and particular the Spartan III's. It also re-unites the remaining surviving spartans II's (except for Master Chief and 'Grey team --> Cole Protocol). It also sheds more light on the fore-runners, and the civil war that the covenenant are having.

I know many are 'unhappy' that it is not centered around master chief, but we all know what he is doing in halo 2 and 3. I want to know what else is going on in the Halo Universe and with the rest of the Spartans and this book does a great job in that. I think Cole protocol will be a 'similar' and outstanding book as well giving us stories of the other spartans. I just got Contact harvest in the mail today. can't wait to read it.

If the other Spartans are not dead, then they must be engaged in other tasks. Spartan 117 cannot do it all alone. It's good to know the others are fighting. Kurt Ambrose rocks!

I missed Master Chief.
I wish our heroes were less prone to dying, yes, powerful enemies and weapons but we out think them.
This is a real page turner, I am sorry it was not twice as long then I would have had four days of reading pleasure.
More Halo, PLEASE.

I've arrived at my next stop along my reading rampage this summer with the Ghosts of Onyx. After thoroughly enjoying the first 3 books of this series, I read this book once again.

In Ghosts of Onyx, the situation for humanity is a rather bleak one. There are just a handful of John's (The Master Chief) fellow Spartan II's left and they are fighting a losing war on two fronts against the Covenant and a civil war against the Rebel colonies.

Section III, responsible for the original Spartan II's creation, once again devises up a plan to create a new , improved breed of Spartans (Spartan III's), in an effort to somehow balance the tide of the war just a bit.

A top secret operation is underway at Onyx to train these new Spartans using a familiar Spartan II face. The main question is will it be enough to stop the Covenant forces or will it just buy time for another fight, another day? This question is answered in the book and once again Forerunner technology rears its head on, you guessed it, Onyx. This turns into an arms race between humanity and the Covenant both seeking a desperate edge to turn the tide of war against one another.

The ending is a real trip though and of course is a cliffhanger doing what any good book does, making the reader wanting to immediately want a continuation of the story. Unfortunately, the next Halo book I'm reading I'm told has no Spartans in it, so we will all have to eagerly await when the story is hopefully continued in another 5-6 months.

This was a very quick, however, moving read from Elizabeth Berg. While I have been fortunate enough to not have experienced a death of a loved one from cancer, I feel that Berg did a wonderful job of portraying a very deep and meaningful friendship between Ann and Ruth. Berg truly has a gift for tapping into human emotions, and her eye for detail is amazing. My one gripe was the very stereotypical character of L.D., a sarcastic, rough lesbian with unshaved legs. It's a character that has been written so many times over, and Berg's imagination seems to have been lacking in that respect. However, I'd definitely recommend this as a heartfelt novel.

Anyone who's ever loved someone with breast cancer should read this book. It's a novel about friendship, foremost, and what makes life so important to be shared with friends and family. I couldn't put this book down, and it moved me in a profound way. I sobbed for awhile after I was done, but I loved this story. This is the book that had me searching for more family/friendship dynamic stories by Ms. Berg.

I really, really loved this book. And I read ALOT of books. My sister gave it to me after she read it. She had pre-menopausal breast cancer, was cured - and 15 yrs. later developed bone cancer. It's in remission... and we're able to talk about death - and life - and this book reminds me again that we all need to ENJOY life. We're ALL dying. Sometimes it takes being given that "death sentence" to really do what you want, to be yourself, to live each day like we all should be doing - but usually dont. Its a book about female friendship, love in marriage, and different types of women.

To reviewers who said the characters didnt develop - the book was not that long; but i thought they were developed well, and if you know women you can imagine them and know how they are. To the reviewers who said they ate too much junk food!? She was dying. There was no cure. Dont feed me bean sprouts when i KNOW im going within months! (Also, this was a fictional story.)

I read the book in a day and a half. I would recommend it to women for sure. I dont have alot of female friends, but i still loved reading about the friendships and relationships. Enjoy!

It requires a unique respect for love and friendship to wholly relate with the characters in this novel. I have experienced an unprecedented friendship myself with one woman since my youth, and reading this book reinforced my feelings on the salvation of female bonds. The truth is, the book was not at all sappy, but depicted the reality in some life situations: divorce, discontent with male counterparts, humdrum of every day common life; Ann, the protagonist of the novel, could only escape these facets after she met her best friend Ruth, and remained at her side during Ruth's last breathing moments as memories with Ruth danced in her head. They were the sisters each never had, and we all know a sisterly bond is paramount to all. The truth is, men will never be able to relate to a book such as this, in which women place their true friends in front of their husbands and children during moments of desperation to identify themselves. Men could never share this connection depicted in the novel with women or with men due to social mores, and therefore I pity those men who read this book and simply never understand it. I recommend this book to anyone who has experienced any sort of strong bond with another woman, or if you have not, then to a woman who has never felt the necessity to share a bond with another woman. You will be convinced otherwise.

Somewhat dragged out, belabored but certainly a good story of loyalty and friendship as well as courage.

This book is not what it is hyped to be, Not very informative and not what I thought it would be.

From what my husband and I have read so far, there is a lot to learn from Dr. Phil's Relationship Rescue. We also bought the workbook to go along with it and would highly suggest that people do that as well. The two resources put together are wonderfully productive. Just don't expect a "how to get your spouse to change" book, this is a book designed to help you better yourself. You realize what you are doing wrong so that you can begin doing the right things. Eventually, your spouse will come around based on your actions. The old proverb that goes something along the lines of kill meanness with kindness definetely applies here.

The Doctor focuses on The Reader, and hammers away at making the point again and again that it is The Reader, not their partner, that must embrace change and improvement. It's a strong book. I laughed at how he puts into light how good my relationship is by his standards of trouble. My reasons for buying and reading this book are the same as anyone's for buying a self-helper: uncharted territory and the wish of self-improvement.

My only concern is that this book would most likely never help those who are the ones who really need it. It makes strong points to this itself: You cannot control or change other people. And those who need this book are probably not smart enough to even consider reading it or seeing the need to change and modify themselves.

Thanks Dr. Phill. I am glad I read your book. It is strong and helpful.

Dr. Phil just lately has been known in the Middle East through his program "Dr. Phil". I got to know Dr. Phil from quite some time.

This book is, as its name, a rescue procedure that the couples should follow. It starts with an inventory that each partner should do alone; evaluating him/herself independently, what were the weaknesses, how did I contributed to the failure/success of the relationship.

Then the real work begins..!!! Where the couple meets together and reviews the result. They should apply certain communication techniques. It is really very effective. At the end, the couple should agree and maintain certain techniques throughout the way.

It is not a book that you read for educational purposes, it is a life curing surgery.

For the best results, both couple should have the interest for the rescue. My advice, maintain the passion throughout the way, try to influence your partner if he(she) is not the driver for this process. It is a surgery...but very effective...

Wish you all the best while reading and applying this book...!!!!

"When you own your relationship, you must hold up the mirror to look at yourself. You will finally realize that whatever your partner is doing, you are either eliciting, maintaining, or allowing that behavior." ~ 97

It is difficult to work on your relationship by yourself. That said, Dr. Phil believes you have a lot more control than you think. By analyzing your relationship you learn about the areas that need improvement. The book begins with a questionnaire of sixty-two sentences. You choose true or false then instantly find out if your relationship is in distress.

It takes quite a lot of time to answer all the other questions including sentences you complete and analyze. You may think you have a pretty good relationship until you see what the test results are. This book may even temporarily make your relationship worse, especially if you try to get your partner to take any of the tests. The 17 page family history evaluation did seem a little over the top.

This book requires you to make a commitment to making your relationships work. It is an extremely detailed program designed to improve your relationship in a matter of weeks. You learn to agree to disagree or to argue more effectively. You develop relationship skills instead of relying on the feelings (infatuation) you felt at the start of the relationship. Dr. Phil then delves into the dark side that can sabotage a relationship.

Dr. Phil completes the book with questions he thinks you might want to ask him and then in conclusion he writes a separate letter to women and then to men. For the most part this book is complicated yet engaging. The tests are fun to take if you have the time and they do reveal aspects you might not uncover in a more casual conversation. Dr. Phil takes on all the difficult subjects and puts the ball in your court. In one sense it can be discouraging to work on a relationship by yourself and on the other hand your partner might actually get involved in making the relationship work. "Relationship Rescue" is one of the most intense relationship books I've ever read.

~The Rebecca Review

I'd never heard of Alexander McCall Smith until a few months ago when a friend recommended The Ladies # 1 Detective Agency. After reading it and becoming intrigued with Precious Ramotswe and her life in Botswana, I was eager to read the next book and find out what happened to this clever lady detective. Tears of the Giraffe was equally enjoyable, and I found myself chuckling aloud at some of the situations described by Smith. For instance, the scene in which Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is caught "red handed" as he and the children are finishing a photo session is amusing. So is the image of the unscrupulous maid getting her just desserts.

The author brings in some serious situations as well, and the reader will find her (or his) heart involved with the American woman in search of her son. Then there's the moral dilemma of the butcher and his fashionable wife and child. Precious and her secretary-turned-detective shrewdly solve these and other cases, and the developing love story between Precious and J.L.B. adds a delightful side story.

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I've read four in this series and this is the best one. I recommend it. Sometimes you have to trick white folks into reading about Africa. This does the trick. I love the humor and dialog and philosophizing. And I'm in love with Precious Ramotswe, a most precious lady.

Second book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

Newly engaged Precious Ramotswe continues to solve local mysteries as she negotiates her relationship with master mechanic Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Watching them decide where to live, the matter of the engagement ring, and the surprise arrival of two foster children is gently humorous and true to life.

Absolutely wonderful. I especially recommend the audio version.

This was the first book in this series that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is exciting but relaxing to enjoy, and there are so many subplots that make it truly fun. The gentle, eye-opening descriptions of a truer Africa were fascinating to me. I heartily recommend this book!

In this second book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Mma Ramotswe is newly engaged to her friend Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Her fledgling detective business in Gaborone, Botswana, is doing well, and she takes on several new cases, including those of a cheating wife and a son who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She also learns that her secretary, Mma Makutsi, has some detecting talents of her own.

What is quickly becoming one of my favorite aspects of the books is the subtle ways the author provides small morsels of cultural information to the reader. Although chances are small I'll ever be fortunate enough to visit myself, I feel like I'm slowly getting to know Botswana.

I am still in the process of reading this book but what I have read so far is really great. I am looking to travel to Alaska in 2009 and a travel consultant I have been talking to recommended that I read this book.

The book really gives a great insight into the ordinary every day Alaskan lives which has just made me want to see Alaska even more.

I recommend this book to anyone whether you want to see Alaska or not. It is just a great read.

We've been to Alaska twice and are planning our third trip soon. This is an extraordinarily capturing and surprising place. Our trips there avoid the touristy cruise ship or resort hotel thus allowing us to stay in towns much like Jenkins did during his 18 months there. This style allows you to be with and enjoy Alaskan residents.

What Jenkins did was is to involve himself far more deeply than our experiences and that made this book remarkable for us. I liked his writing style as it made for a comfortable read. Yes, there are errors, but they are few. What's memorable is that each of his chapters highlights some adventure or someone's personality. It's been some time since I finished it and yet I still think back on this work and recall much of it. Peter Jenkins left a series of images in my head that are going to be there for a long while. My only regret was that we missed Hobo Jim. An interesting guy (check out his web site). He will be on our agenda next trip.

I'm on the Amazon site as I am ordering some copies for friends. Looking for Alaska is a terrific book and a must read for any of you with a sense of wonder for the wilderness. It is easy to not only tout Jenkins's book but Alaska as well. Destination and book are tops.

I read this book before a trip to Alaska, and admittedly, ours was only a small boat cruise in the inside passage, so I knew I would experience only a part of Alaska from a tourist's vantage point. I wanted a bigger view of this remarkable state and hoped Jenkins would deliver that in this account of his family's 18-month residence in the state. It did - most of the time. I felt Jenkins took me to places I would never be able to go and gave me a true sense of the state. His was a journey based on the day-to-day interactions, discoveries, struggles and surprises of one who intends to know a place and its people more deeply. Jenkins creates a vision of the landscape and the people, and in its richest moments, this book is almost as good as the real thing.

But - it is too long (editing would have cured this), and poorly written (editing would have cured this as well). More than once, I puzzled over sentences that I wanted to correct. When speaking of the caretaker near a family living in the bush, we read this about the neighbor's disposition: "If the current one, Dave, was a bit grumpy one day, he'd try to tell Mike and Pete how to snow-machine the winter trail, except he'd never done it." Or this for example: " In the early morning, the kids' chores began. Eric wanted Mike and Pete to go across the lake about two miles. I went along to help; we were going to retrieve some doghouses to keep the team in."

I am quite willing to labor over a complex but beautiful sentence to get at the essence, but his is just plain bad writing. Too many examples like this slow the pace and distract the reader. At 434 pages, strenuous editing could have achieved more with less.

That aside, when Jenkins lets the landscape and the people speak for themselves, the reader gets a sense of the real Alaska. On the whole, I enjoyed it and felt it prepared me for the little bit of Alaska I was about to see. Just allow yourself enough time to wade through the verbal bush.

I have thus far reviewed more than 100 books. Of the 112, this is only the third audible book review I have thus far posted. That should tell you this book is special - it joins my review of Stephen King's On Writing and T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom as the best in its class. At surfreviewandreport dot com I will name this book as the 2006 Audio Book Extraordinaire - Bill Anderson.

Initially I found the monotone a bit of an annoyance. I wondered, "Why didn't he inject some emotion?"

Later I figured out why. Peter Jenkins correctly chose to have his words, not his voice, emphasize the the beauty and freedom that once predominated America and now exists only in Alaska.

I found his inclusion of brief statements by those whom he visited and of the honey-rocket to add unimaginable value! A literal stroke of genius!

Hobo Jim - I have been fortunate to listen to some of his music before. He reminds me of a cross between Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen and John Denver, seasoned with a dash of Arlo Guthrie and and of Phil Ochs. Aside from those guys and Sam Hinton, no other musician I have ever heard has made me so proud to be American nor more frustrated at how often each of us falls short of our potential to improve our world. Oh, but I digress. The little bit of Hobo Jim's live voisterous audience yodeling was far too short.

I do have two serious complaints: This book is far too short. I could listen to six months of this adventure. Also, it needs more interviews and sounds of Alaska.

Yes, the included audios of people and nature made this book my absolute all-time favorite audiobook. This book also is in my Top-10 list for books on Alaska and also for Adventures In The Far North, and it probably will be in my Top-10 Adventure Books list.

I found myself swelling with pride to hear that people in Alaska live a lifestyle intent on the old values of people and nature without the trappings of prejudice and demands for conforming to other's expectations that permeated America during the 50s, 60s and 70s, yet that also does not vilify or censor those who are not politically correct.

In other words, it seems Alaska is what America could have been if only we'd possessed the need for a honey-rocket and a rebellious Che-inspired balladeer who yodels and sings songs of heroism about guys named Redington.

Confused? Get download the audiobook and get listening!

The most remarkable thing about Peter Jenkins is how he got so many "real" Alaskans, often a highly reclusive lot, to open up to him and tell their life stories. Granted, his residual fame as the author of "Walking Across America" opened a number of doors for him, but very few people could, for example, trustingly follow a bush veterinarian and his family to the shores of frozen Chandalar Lake, fit in with them so well and paint such a vivid, affecting portrait of their lives. Mr. Jenkins is not only a good storyteller, but he also is a quite extraordinary collector of stories, due to this sense of trust that he seems to engender with his subjects.
In a genre rife with either "carpetbagger" authors who don't really get Alaska, or with indigenous writers lacking top-notch skills, Mr. Jenkins finds an effective middle ground. He did actually reside in Alaska for a time, and tried to live as the locals did, so he at the very least scratched the surface of what the place is all about. And, while he made a few silly factual mistakes, and his prose is not the most sparkling I've ever seen (I actually think that his daughter Rebeccah is the more lively and interesting writer), he is nonetheless effective in communicating the stories of those Alaskans whom he genuinely admires. Another five years or so up North, and I think he'd have truly gotten it right.

I found it very interesting, is not a science book...I think this book is perfect if somebody wants to know anything about the climate change

Tim Flannery, well-known for his writing on the unique ecology of Australia, turns his attention to the pressing issue of global warming with "The Weather Makers". As the disappearance of the southern winter rain belt hit home in 2006, Flannery deservedly won an Australian of the Year award for exposing the continent's shameful record on greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Weather Makers" begins in a quite slow fashion with a look at past climate changes and how they have occurred. Flannery, in a very scientific manner, gives a very detailed account of how the Earth's climate evolved, and how scientists gradually found out the role of carbon dioxide in making the Earth habitable by increasing temperatures. He looks at these things in quite revealing detail and the goes on a journey through geological and human history to illustrate how humanity developed in an era dominated by long periods of very cold weather in which most of the unusually fertile land of Europe, North America and New Zealand was covered by glaciers. Flannery then looks, in very close detail, at how coal and oil were formed and shows, in remarkably simple and legible language, how fossil fuels form and explains why they are so rare in comparison with the present demadn for them. He also shows, in quite simple language, how they burn and why they vary so much in their usefulness as fuels.

It is the last half or so of "The Weather Makers" that is really revealing and something that must be read by global warming sceptics and especially by those who are in doubt or overtly nervous about action. Flannery shows, contrary to popular belief, that climate moves as carbon dioxide increases from one metastable state to another, and that the changes - like the 40 percent drop in Melbourne rainfall in October 1996 - are quite abrupt and, as we are seeing in Australia today - extremely liable to be disastrous. his illustration of the declines in rainfall over southwestern Australia are especially noteworthy. Flannery also does a marvellous job of showing how species, especially in tropical mountains that are effectively cool "islands", global warming has already driven extremely old species like the golden toad to extinction through chaning the level of the cloud layer. The very fact that such species have become extinct should, of itself, be enough to quash notions - still popular amongst the most fertile sections of modern humanity - that global wamring is not real.

Flannery also writes an excellent section titled "The Great Stumpy Reef" about threats to the Great Barrier Reef from global warming and coral bleaching.

The last part of the book, which looks at the Kyoto Protocol, is however clearly the weakest part of the book. Whilst I do not question Flannery's point that there are a large number of vested interests controlling politics in Australia and the US that prevent public ratification of the Kyoto Protocol regardless of its ineffectiveness, I am still critical of Flannery for his failure to recognise that - contrary to conventional wisdom - Australia and the Republican states of the US do not belong to the same culture as the rest of the West. Rather, they retain a value system that disappeared from Europe a hundred years ago and from Blue America, Canada and New Zealand in the 1960s and 1970s. I myself have no doubts that Australia would not refuse to take the most radicla action on greenhouse emissions like eliminating car travel and coal power were it not for a rapidly growing and socially ultraconservative bloc of voters become the dominant force in its politics. Flannery, in contrast, never looks at public opinion in Australia beyond the stereotyped liberal view that the public is less conservative than government.

The rise of parties like One Nation and Family First in Australia, and the number of conservative, climate-sceptic sites on the web form the US, should be proof that public opinion is actually more conservative than Flannery would like to believe. He also does not consider the serious question of what an increasing ultraconservative Australian public will think when rainfall declines in Melbourne and Perth become even worse than they have already.

He also does not look at whether international bodies' failure the greater ecological vulnerability of Australia (which he ought more than anyone to have known about) idea of assuming equal reductions for all countries as the right way to reduce emissions radically wrong. I myself believe Australia should have been internationally targetted long before any efforts at dealing with any other nation's emissions were even considered.

Nonetheless, for all Flannery's failures on the cultural front, "The Weather Makers" is still a most impressive read packed with infomration to arm yourself against the climate change sceptics and to harden your views if you are in doubt.

A few weeks ago, while visiting South Australia's Yorke Peninsula (the place where European settlers have cut the native mulga forest to plant wheat and barley... and later discovered that it does not always rain enough to grow wheat and barley), I stopped by a local public library looking for an interesting Australia book. As my luck had it, I picked two, from the same shelf: Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers", and Tim Low's "Feral Future: The Untold Story of Australia's Exotic Invaders". It turned out that these two books - both well written, well informed, and covering environmental subject of concerns to Australians as well as people worldwide - complement each other in some ways that neither author may have planned.

The heart of Flannery's book is a martyrology of species that have already gone extinct due to the climate change now in progress, or those likely to do so as the climate change (warming, reduction in precipitation, fog, or cloud cover) continues. As a biologist closely working with many rare and endangered species, and, on occasion, having a chance to discover a tree kangaroo species just to see it become extinct within a few years, Dr. Flannery no doubt is in a very good position to appreciate the danger brought by climate change to many plant and animal species, as well as the tragedy of their loss to the mankind.

As Tim Flannery's accessible and well-presented analysis of many extinction (or threatened extinction) cases shows, the extinct or doomed species are mostly those that are already on their last legs, due to the natural or human-induced causes. Some of them have lost most of their habitat during the last ice age, others during the warming that followed the ice age; some were extirpated from many areas when the Aborigines came to Australia with the spear and the firestick, others were helped to their grave by Anglo-Australians' bulldozers and ploughshares. As Flannery correctly emphasizes, it is the reduction and segmentation of suitable habitats that makes many plant and animal species especially vulnerable to climate change, as, with the wheat fields and housing estates in the way, they can't easily "move" from the northern to southern parts of their geographic province anymore.

Although that's probably not Flannery's conclusion, it seems to me that in many cases the impending loss of these species, while tragic for the world's genetic diversity, and for those small areas where these species do find the refuge now, their extinction won't affect the ecosystems as they currently exist throughout most of the world: there, these threatened species have already disappeared.

As the global temperature inexorably rises, what is coming to replace the doomed species and the ecosystems that they form? As Flannery suggest, many areas of the world are on the way to simplification or "uniformization" of sorts: the reindeer's and lemming's tundra may be replaced by the expansion of the moose's and squirrel's taiga forest; the polar bear's ice-covered Arctic ocean - with a seasonally ice free cold sea (similar to today's Bering Sea perhaps?); Amazonian rainforest, with a savanna of sorts. And to get a better idea of who *is* likely to survive in the new hotter world, Tim Low's "Feral Future" makes a good companion reader. It is all about creatures whose habitat, instead of shrinking (often, due to human activity), expands (often, not without human help). Widely adaptable, these species are likely to survive in the changing world, and likely even to benefit from the change sometimes, replacing the species that are losing ground. Forests of lantana and mimosa instead of the native species; rats and racoons instead of tree cangaroos; starlings and mynas instead of the native birds... this is what we are likely to see more and more, with or without climate change.

Read the two books together and think of what the future may hold. It may not be all that unpleasant - if, after some millenia, the climate stabilizes again, the now-worldwide starlings or racoons may undergo a new wave of speciation, developing new narrow-ecologic-niche species, replacing those that are disappearing now. It's probably not the first time this happens, on the geological scale: there must have been other global extinction events, followed by the appearance of new narrow-niche species, descending from the adaptable wide-nice survivors.

But in the present day, perhaps though the conservation biologists could pressure governments into funding captive breeding programs, to save some of the particularly threatened species for later reintroduction in the suitable environments - wherever those may be. Maybe we should be prepared to grow a new Great Barrier Reef around Tasmania, too :-)

This was a wonderful read for me during a week I spend in the woods on retreat. Although not as "spiritual" as I would have expected, it still resonated with so much of my being in the wilderness. Contrary to Dr. May, I have spend numberous years with such times. I just thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, his honesty and humor, and the awareness that this was his last book before his death. I cried at the end of it!

The Weather Makers is a great over-all, general look at global warming and climate change. Easily 5 stars, the highest rating, for its reasoned, common-sense guide to a complex subject, which largely avoids partisan politics and alarmist reactions. Of more than 30 books I've read on the subject, this is in the top three, the other two being "With Speed and Violence - Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change" by Fred Pearce; and "Hell and High Water - Global Warming, the Solution and the Politics, and What We Should Do" by Joseph Romm.

This book shows what some study of top realtors can tell us. It's a great read and packed with information.

Gary Keller's book is a great introduction to the industry. It is helpful, not only from an agent's perspecitve, but also from a consumer one as well. Real estate is certainly a complex subject and it is certainly important to understand the workings of the industry especially if you are an investor making many real estate transactions. For teh agent, it provides a proven real estate model in which to set up your business.
The book takes the overall view, looking not at too many specifics or specific situations, but more of the overall picture on how to create your business plan from day one.

Having a business mission to link the corporate employees, residents and schools in my area, through my publication, anything about the business of real estate interests me.

So, when Masoud Riazati, a San Diego Keller Williams Real Estate Broker, offered me a copy of this book, I gladly accepted his offer.

From the first page, all the way through, I related to this book, and have profitted, during my reading this book.

"The Millionaire Real Estate Agent," is a great follow up to "The Art of Selling to The Affluent" by Matt Oechsli, because they are both thorough, entertaining, fun, focused upon the reader embodying a millionate mind set, and they both are written in a style that makes you, the reader, feel as though the author is having a face-to-face with you, as questions and "light bulb moments," arise.

Also, having read "The Millionaire Next Door," Stanley, and "Think and Grow Rich," by Napoleon Hill, it's great that Gary Keller has taken the step-by-step approach to guiding readers to acquire the millionaire mind set.

Charts in Keller's book are also so easy to follow, and worth adapting into your office Operations Manual, as a guide to keep you on course, towards your $1,000,000 net income goal.

The only challenge that I had in reading this book was asking myself, "If real estate agents do listings to be successful, what does listings equate to, in my business? Am I already doing the equivalent? If so, how do I quantify this into expected revenues?"

Usually, I like to power read through non-fiction books, while I take copious notes. And I like to reread great non-fictions, until there is nothing left for me to gain from them. But, "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent," was different.

There is so much to learn from this book, about being in, and growing your busines, that I wanted to savor ever "ah ha" moment. And there were many of those moments for me, in this book. This is definitely a book that I will reread, again, because by creating the systems in this book, I will be ready to go to the next business level.

I recommend this book to anyone who is in, or plans to be in business. This is also great for those who are in leadership positions, working for someone else.

I am a real estate agent. This book hits the nail right on the head. You take what you want and need and leave the rest. A must read for any real estate agent or anyone thinking of becoming one-especially in this down market.

If you want to read a book on how to spend a million dollars, without making a single dime, this is the book for you. Keller spends a great deal of time showing you how to blow money, but he offers you NO program for earning money. If you are new to selling real estate, you need to learn how to prospect for new business, qualify customers and clients, present to them, close the sale, service the customer and close the transaction. This book does not tell you how to do any of that. Amazon has much better books available to you: Ray Smith's "Master Blueprint for Real Estate Sales" or Dave Stone's "Training Manual for Real Estate Salespeople", both out of print, but available, are way better choices for you!