Iowa Books

This was the first book that I read by Ed Gorman and I ejoyed it very much. I thought it to be a very fast read and did not lack for excitement. The "profiler" Robert Payne is a compassionate character, but still dedicated to seeking the truth. The female characters are interesting and treated with great respect by Payne. I was not able to predict the many plot twists and the ending was great!

I usually write reviews on only very good or very bad books. This one is clearly the latter. Gorman is a pretty bad writer, with a plot with a Bates Motel-like ending that is dopey beyond belief. In addition, the two female leads (one is the narrator's sometimes lover) are two of the most obnoxious characters I have read in some time---totally unsympathetic!! Worse than all of that, frankly, is the fact that this author just loves "potty talk", in bed, out of bed, wherever!! Every bodily orifice is discussed in detail. The heroine(?) vomits on what seems every few pages. After making love she asks whether she farted all night while she slept, saying she had a flatulence problem. She also said she smelled at the beginning of her menstrual cycle. The narrator described every pee he took, etc., etc. These are not people I would invite over for dinner. What an offputting book Gorman has written!!

Over thirty ago, voodoo practitioner Paul Renard permanently shook up the town of Brenner, Iowa when he burned down sterling Psychiatric Hospital, killing over twenty people. The killings were as gross as anyone can remember. To the fear of everyone, the lunatic escaped, leaving behind voodoo symbols. Though seen once over the subsequent years, Renard was never caught.

Just when the townsfolk started to feel safe, a new string of voodoo killings occur. TV Psychic Tandy West asks her former lover ex-FBI profiler Robert Payne to help find the murderer. Instead of a simple and clear case, Robert finds a town without pity filled with individuals who want their personal pasts burned away like Renard did to humans three decades ago.

The fourth Payne tale is an intriguing thriller that stars an entertaining lead protagonist who readers will enjoy observing in action. The story line places elements of the psychological thriller inside a modern day gothic tale. When the plot veers towards a gothic, it seems to sputter, but when talented Ed Gorman stays within the psychological path, the exciting tale is faster than a SST. Overall, the return of Payne, especially glimpses into his personal side, turns this into a fine novel that fans of the series will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner

While this book does have some good information embedded in it, the writing style is poor and hard to follow. The flow of topics is also somewhat arbitrary. I was expecting better.

In The Agricultural Revolution Of The 20th Century, Don and Philip Paarlberg effectively collaborate to present the fascinating and complex story of the modernization of farming life over the last century through the development and invention of machine technologies, biological breakthroughs, marketing concepts, and the political issues affecting all aspects of farming including farming as a commercial enterprise and a social influence. The Agricultural Revolution Of The 20th Century is very highly recommended and informative reading for students of agricultural history, American history, as well as providing a basis for anticipating agricultural growth and development through the next century.

This title is by far the best reference on this subject on the market today. It is thoroughly referenced and has excellent pictures. Any practice dealing with pet, zoo or wild birds will benefit greatly by having this book on the shelf.

This book is a handy clinical reference, and should be in every exotic or avian clinician's reference library. This is probably THE most useful technical reference on this subject, and the 2nd Edition is a slight improvement from the first. Alan Fudge's Book is similar and perhaps more affordable, but this is by far a more thorough reference.

The Book of Mormon Sleuth
By: C.B. Anderson
When you read this book you might think it is pretty dumb. But after you start reading it you will think that it is pretty good. This story has it all; it has humor, fiction had some non-fiction.

The main character is Brandon. He is a teenager that lives in Utah and loves to play soccer. Brandon or Bran has five brothers and sisters. The oldest is Shauna, he has an older brother Jeff and he has a younger sister that is called Meg. But the other two do not play any certain roll but they are Danny and Kerrisa. But they all play some roll in this action packed book.

While their dad is working at a college in Orem, Utah he goes and decides to do research at his Aunt Ella's dairy Farm. While they are at the farm his Aunt decides to make use of it and starts teaching Bran everything that he needs to know about the Book of Mormon. She gets him up every day at 6:00 am teach him about a One Hundred year old Book of Mormon. After Fore weeks she gives it to him. This is where the story get Interesting.

While on the Farm this in crazed lunatic is after Bran's Book of Mormon. This mans name is Dr. Anthony. He steals it once but the police dog catches him. When the police take him to the court house he escapes. And all of a sudden three states are after him. And to make it worse his parents want to go on vacation. While they are on vacation he is determined to keep it safe with him.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I can honestly say that I would recommend this book to any body.

This book is not a bad book. It is sort of wildly thought out and not really down to earth. I really like how the author encorporated solid gospel principles into it though. It's one of those books that you decide you aren't really fond of it but you cant put it down because its a bit intreguing. I would recomend this book to a younger teen.

As a native of Iowa, I read this book with a tear in my eye and a laugh in my throat. It brought back many fond memories of my own childhood in a small farm community. For anyone from a small town this book is a must read.

This book provides an apt description of small-town living in Iowa. It tells the story of a town/county that is both a farming community and a commuter community, caught between the past and the future. The most interesting part of the book for me was the story of Ruby Wingert's "ghost". I grew up in Tipton, the county seat, and as a child I had to walk past her home to get to my best friend's house. I was always terrified of the place -- a creepy, run-down Victorian -- as were most of the other children I knew. As an adult I took a tour of the home, after it had been beautifully restored, and found myself wishing I could live there. Now I'm even more fascinated by the place, wondering if it is, indeed, haunted by Ruby.

If you are interested in this book you might also enjoy "Bird, Kansas" -- a book that's been on my shelf for years, so I'm not sure if it's even published anymore.

I picked up this impressive book, leather bound, gotta be good. Being a long time fan of Iowa sports I had a good idea what to expect. Some guy who thought he knew my school better than I did. Some people will try to make money out of anything. If you care about sports... read a magazine that's all i got to say.

A chronological 100 plus year history of the University of Iowa in intercollegic athletics. This is the best book (perhaps the only book) devoted to the history of Iowa athletics. All sports are represented. Presentation of material follows a chronological year by year review of major athletic events starting from the end of the 19th century through the 1998 season. If you're a Hawkeye fan interested in Iowa's intercollegiate sports history, this is the only book of its kind. As a special feature, an Appendix at the end of the book lists all Varsity Lettermen and Letterwomen and the years in which they received their Letters.

Exquisitely written, this book is superbly articulate advocacy in defense of the fundamental components of traditional liberal education. This advocacy of 'tradition' is all the more special coming from one of academe's leading true Liberals. As President of Dartmouth Universty, Freedman took on the hate-speech of Dartmouth's right-wing journal and made it stick. He held a similar position at the sometimes underrated University of Iowa, and was ombudsman and also law dean at the Universtiy of Pennsylvania. He truly knows whereof he speaks, and our policy makers would do well to heed his exhortations.

"Liberal Education" initially appeared promising. After an interesting chapter on the history of college presidents, Freedman discusses the current and future states of higher education. As expected he passionately defends liberal education and intellectualism. I was stunned, however, when in the middle of the second chapter (p. 42), he defends tenured faculty by drawing on the following statistics: there are perhaps "200,000 faculty members" at significant research universities and colleges in the United States, a country of "280 million people." He concludes that such faculty "make up less than .0001 percent of the nation's population." He repeats this assertion in the following paragraph, indicating that this was not simply a typo. He makes no small mistake: it is the equivalent of standing in Chicago and stating that Boston is about a mile away. Freedman attempts to mislead the reader (he uses these numbers to argue for academic freedom for a small proportion of the population); as my expertise is limited, I cannot tell if he has made other such mispresentations of facts, but one such significant mistake is enough to make me distrust the remainder of the book.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

Hmmm, looking at the comments page on the author's website, it appears that only positive comments are posted.

Seriously, this is a major flaw in volume 1 of the book (I have not yet read volume 2). The tone of the book is too positive, too one-sided. It feels more like a propaganda piece than an unbiased review of the facts. It lacks a healthy scientific skepticism.

In several places, it even abuses the research findings. On page 32, for instance, it states "AP kids get ambitious". This is a clear mixup of correlation versus causality. What was measured was simply a correlation of AP students with advanced degree seekers, with no causality implied. It would be more accurate to say, "Students who have taken AP classes are more likely to seek higher degrees." And even more accurately, "Students seeking higher degrees are likely to have taken AP classes." More telling, from a social policy point of view, increasing the number of AP students will not necessarily increase the number of people with advanced degrees.

In any case, it is much more likely, I submit, that the students taking AP classes are already ambitious.

Such errors, along with other linguistic twists, serve only to increase distrust in the research, which needs every ounce of credibility it can get. And personally, as a strong supporter of AP classes and gifted education in general, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I am hoping that critical readers of this book won't be too annoyed by the tone.

P.S. What's up with the "Writing Consultant" listed in the credits at the back of the book? I'm tempted to believe that none of the three principals listed as authors actually wrote any of the text.


Ok, I've read Volume 2 now, and I'm happy to report that it is very good. It contains a collection of scholarly articles on a variety of aspects of educational acceleration. It is much more concrete than Volume 1, and more appropriately cautious when the facts dictate it. I can't change the star rating, otherwise I'd up it to a 4.

If you are interested in acceleration (grade skipping) for gifted kids, you MUST own these books. BUT...don't buy them. If you search for "A Nation Deceived" and go to their website, they will send them to you for free. Or you can download your own copies immediately. I prefer holding a book, so I ordered the free copies.

I have 2 sons who skipped grades, and this book gave me great research-based ammunition. I'm a teacher myself, and I had never read the research on acceleration until the idea came up for my oldest son. The research is indeed eye opening!

I don't know why the first reviewer gave this a 1-star rating. Maybe he/she was protesting the price,since you can get it for free. Certainly it wasn't because of the content.

Get these books! You won't be sorry.

Though her preference would be to stay home in Southern California, literary agent Charlie Greene agrees to accompany her adopted mother attending a funeral in Myrtle, Iowa. Charlie has not met this side of the family that has never accepted adoption as a source of viable kin. Still, Charlie would do almost anything for her mother, biology professor Edwina Greene, including meeting the extended family even in this backwater.

Once there, Charlie realizes she has an opportunity to uncover the identity of her biological mother, but instead ends up at Gentle Oaks Nursing Home. Though elderly, the patients seem more than senile than the average geriatrics. Most of the senior citizens act petrified in mind and body leaving Charlie to wonder why society allows people to live with what appears no dignity, hope or thought. Apparently someone agrees with Charlie because someone begins killing the residents. Encouraged to uncover the truth, Charlie begins to investigate what seem to be euthanasia killings.

The latest Charlie Green mystery, THE RAMPANT REAPER, is a strange eccentric amateur sleuth tale. The story line centers on what to do for the aging especially when the mind goes and the body is not lagging far behind. However, Marlys Millhiser's efforts to use humor to diffuse the seriousness of the topic come across as iniquitous because the cast including the heroine is nasty. Fans who don't mind an ensemble of misanthropes will enjoy Charlie's sleuthing and the insight into a problem that society would prefer die away.

Harriet Klausner

When her mother asked her to go back with her to Iowa, Charlie Green had wanted to refuse. Iowa and the family there meant nothing to Charlie--noting but the people who had made her mother's life miserable. Still, she couldn't abandon her mother to her ruthless relatives. Charlie goes to Iowa.

Myrtle, Iowa is something of a mystery itself. The town is supported largely by a home for the aged--where, curiously, people go to die but...

Author Marlys Millhiser delivers a quirky and thoughtful mystery. ...

THE RAMPANT REAPER includes knee-slapping humor, but is occasionally hard to follow and sometimes loses track of the mystery completely. As I was reading, I couldn't help wonder if Millhiser is having current problems with her own aging relatives. Perhaps so, because REAPER seemed unable to make up its mind whether it was intended to be a funny-quirky novel, or a thoughtful examination of the way America treats its aging, and saddles its women with these responsibilities.