Vans Books

Claire, a middle aged librarian works at the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico. At a poetry reading she arranged, a young woman she met once before offers her a seat and admires her looks. When a belligerent homeless woman bursts into the room, the campus police escort her out and Claire closes the door. The young lady who saved her a seat bolts from the room because she is claustrophobic.

Claire is disturbed when the young woman, who saved her a seat, a street person named Maia, is found dead in the basement, the victim of a heroin overdose. Claire feels connected to Maia and starts researching who she is, a journey that takes her to an Anasazi structure known as Special Rocks and to a commune in Taos. She learns that Maia was running from the man who abused her and Claire is determined that Maia's death will be avenged even though it means putting her own life on the line.

The heroine is a warm caring individual who hates to see a crime go unpunished. She starts a bit on her voyage of discovery because Maia could never willing stay in a room that locks from the outside. She also wonders why the victim was on heroin because she was supposedly clean. Judith Van Gieson weaves very ugly social problems into the main storyline yet still manages to entertain her audience with an absolutely enthralling and believable amateur sleuth novel.

Harriet Klausner

Librarian and rare book expert Claire Reynier is back again. In this one a young homeless woman named Maia body is found dead in the library with a page taken out from a valuable book. Maia apparently died of a heroin overdose, but Claire believes there is more to it.

She researches the illustration from that rare book that had been found with Maia's body. This leads her to artist edward girard who may or may not have been Claire's father, and then on to Taos where she finds that Maia had indeed been sexually abused and this reminds her of when she was almost abused as a child. She'd always felt bad about not turning in her potential abuser, but he was a friend of the family, as is so often the case. Now Claire is on the trail of another abuser and this time she's not going to give up.

Judith Van Gieson has an excellent character in Claire Reynier. She is compelling, compassionate, smart and believable. I really enjoyed this book and I'll be looking for more about Claire.

This unusual mystery touched me because Judith Van Gieson addresses powerful issues that are close to my heart from the power of art, architecture, mythology, books, "library as sanctuary" (the library is where I discovered this book although I have gone on a "Van Gieson shopping spree"), to my daily encounters with people that are homeless and witnessing their struggles here in NYC. The back drop of the stunning visions of New Mexico, Colorado and starry nights that hold clues was a fascinating vacation from my New York landscape and Van Gieson isn't going to leave you down hearted. There is a lot of sadness in this story but I enjoyed the leading character being an intelligent empowered woman who delves deeply into what appears to be a superficial open and shut case that reveals reflections on the universe, human nature, deep dark secrets, guilt or the lack of. The librarian turned sleuth takes the reader on mysteries both internal and outward. As an artist I was deeply moved at how much the author thought out and expressed about artists. When Van Gieson briefly contrasts artists to debate whether there is an on going attachment to one's art, I had a chuckle and a passionate internal response; for me, always. The mystery is about the death of a homeless woman by drug overdose so this is just a hint at disturbing topics addressed. This book surprised me with it's depth yet it did not depress me. I was diverted and interested more than anything on television as I sat and read this book from cover to cover. In fact this would make a good tv movie but I don't imagine any male director for this film. How Van Gieson uses art as a key to the mystery and her finely tuned sensitivity to the passion of "the artist" really was touching. I even had to laugh because I am dealing with a moth infestation here in NYC as does her heroic librarian, Claire, although she takes it all in stride. Bravo for the art homage and the touching tribute to the beautiful humanity of lost souls, sometimes found. Despite the sadness of the story -- this is an entertaining mystery and a quick read.

Today most children and some adults believe pork comes from the grocery store. Van Loon starts with the history of swine to give the reader an understanding of the animal from the ground up. I wasn't sure if I could or wanted to raise pigs, so I bought the book. By the time I finished it I couldn't wait to go get some. Nutrition is so important to raising your own meat, and Van Loon spends a lot of time describing what the impact of certain foods are on the end-product. This helped me make the descisions on what our own pigs would eat. When we took our first pig to the processing plant, they were very impressed by the quality of the meat and we were impressed by the flavor. When we took the second one, it somehow,(150 lbs of pork),was 'mis-placed'- I never got it, hmmm....I think the book was mostly to blame.

This book has a lot of helpful information and illustrations. We had our first litter with the help of this book! I'm sure glad I had it to reference when I needed it. A great investment for anyone starting to raise pigs.

Back when I had my pet pig, Charlotte, I read through this book cover to cover, and found it immensely helpful. Van Loon doesn't treat pigs as merely something you raise for meat, although he covers the aspects of commercial use. He looks at them as social special animals in their own right. He discusses the wild pigs, the history of the pig, their behavior, and how to raise them with care. There are great pictures of Chinese Pigs and innovative ways to feed and house them. The one drawback is his regrettable refusal to believe in the high intelligence of pigs. We raise them for food, but they are the most intelligent domesticated animals, and generally considered the 3rd most intelligent group of animals (after Primata and Cetacea). But what other book is out there that teaches the language of pigs and the words they use, including how to accurately use the pig mating call, which sounds like the French "Song of Love"- "chant de coeur"? This is a book to make one fall in love with the pig, expressing to them, as I often did to Charlotte, "Chant de coeur".

This is a rather simple story at first look. But it is so very much more. It tell how two brothers living in a small cabin in the North Country, suddenly have a spat over lumpy oatmeal which effected the lives of several generations to come. I enjoyed the story, there was much to be learned here and the text was written in a nice, folk tale manner...very readable. I was very, very impressed with the illustrations. If you look quite closely at them, i.e. the illustrations, you can certainy see the influence of Thomas Hart Benton's work, never a bad thing in my opinion as I feel he was one of our countries best painters. The pictures are wonderfully executed, follow the text perfectly and are a delight in themselves. (some of these painting are actually good enough to frame for the wall, if you had the originals or nice prints). The story is a wonderful tool to open the discussion up with your child about silly anger and just where it can lead. We all know families that have been torn apart, friendship ruined, etc. by just such silly and little things. All in all, this is one of the better books in this particular genre I've read for quite some time now. Recommend this one highly.

Be sure and read this or you'll be sorry! Fun, folksy illustrations to a story illustrating the power of one small word that can be surprisingly hard to say. Two close brothers have a falling out due to "lumpy" oatmeal. The brothers never speak again and when the brothers marry and have families the feud continues...

Ebenezer and Obadiah are brothers living and working together on their New England farm. Ebenezer plowed the fields and cooked while Obadiah milked the cow and cleaned and all went well until the morning Obadiah took a bite of his oatmeal and muttered "lumps". Ebenezer was so insulted that he picked up the bowl and dumped the oatmeal on Obadiah's head. Both brothers were furious and stopped talking to the other. Ebenezer waited for Obadiah to apologize, but he didn't. Obadiah waited for Ebenezer to say he was sorry, but that never happened. And with that, the feud began and the brothers never spoke to each other again. Soon, Obadiah sawed off his half of the farmhouse and dragged it across the valley to the next hillside. Both brothers' farms prospered. They married and had children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren who never spoke to each other. They grew very, very old. Then one day their great-grandson's met at the wall that divided their properties..... Jean Van Leeuwen has written a simple, poignant, yet powerful story about how such a little thing as acknowledging a mistake and saying "I'm sorry", can change the course of lives forever. Her expressive text with its gentle message and air of sadness, is beautifully complemented by Brad Sneed's bold, rich watercolor illustrations, full of wonderful farm life detail, that pull you into the story and the brother's lives. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, Sorry is told with great honesty and wisdom and should open the door to some important discussions about pride and forgiveness.

The Speaker's Sourcebook II remains a favorite source of reference, inspiration and information for me. The author certainly pours a lot of himself in the messages following the anecdotes and stories. In many ways this is a large Chicken Soup book with ideas for application and tons of great quotes.

I use this book constantly for speech writing, letters, invitations, etc. The book is indexed well and contains many anecdotes and quotes from business people. Great for the work environment. Buy it!

If I were stuck on a desert island with one thousand sales people, this is the only book I would need. I have used this book so much that the cover is falling off. The book has a wide depth of topics that are easy to reference. The stories are sometimes profound and sometimes very funny. If you are a trainer or a speech writer, and you do not have a copy of this book, stop reading this and order it now. You will thank me later!

This book is absolutely amazing, although it is geared towards the professional baker. There are great photographs of some of the decorative pieces, as well as helpful charts and tables. There are recipes for a number of unusual breads, as well as how to form animals, letters, woven bread baskets, wagons, and many other unusual and impressive breads. This is a great book for anyone interested in the nitty-gritty on bread-making and bread-shaping.

This book is an excelient book for both professional and student bakers. Not only does the book introduce the basics of bread baking, it also goes into the chemistry aspects of baking. This wonderful book offers a number of fasinating pictures that show many diffrent folds, rolls and techniques of developing dough. I highly recomend this book for someone who is interested in becoming a professional baker like myself.

If you are a seasoned bread baker, manager or owner of a small neighborhood bakery, this book is a must-have. It has hard to find information that will be extremely useful to you. This book is a valuable reference for professionals.

The first 30 pages is formal information on bread making techniques and ingredients in the professional bakery (e.g. base temperature calculations).

It has almost 50 recipes for specialty and flavored bread. These are extremely profitable, as they represent bread you can charge more for. If you are already doing standard breads, you should be able to do all the breads in this section without any additional difficulty. In addition, they will allow you to present good variety to your customers. The recipes are geared for about a dozen loaves, just about right for a neighborhood bakery.

It presents about 2 dozen different bread shapes that you can mostly apply to breads you are already making.

The second half of the book is devoted to bread sculpture, for those who feel artistic or who need a start for a professional competition.

Do you love the writings of Ken Kesey? Buy this.

Do you want to relive a magic moment in the past, or want a better understanding of what the spirit of the 60s was all about? Buy this!

Do you want to laugh, cry, and have a great time? Buy this!!

Spit in the Ocean #7 brings to a conclusion a project Ken Kesey started more than a quarter of a century ago. In 1974, he laid out plans to self-publish seven issues of a literary magazine by this title, each issue to have a different theme and editor. By 1981, six issues had appeared, but the leader of the Merry Pranksters was ready to move on to other ventures.

Now, two year's after Kesey's departure at age 66, his friend Ed McClanahan has edited that final issue of "Spit," appropriately all about the man who gave the world so much joy. There are contributions from famous names like Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe and Larry McMurtry, but there's also lots from others who were touched by Kesey's boundless spirit and zest for life.

There are letters, interviews, memoirs, song lyrics, photos and more between these covers. I bet Kesey would have loved it. If they could have somehow included a DVD and scratch-and-sniff, he would have loved it even better. This book does a wonderful service in keeping alive the spirit of the writer, painter, filmmaker, jester, teacher, activist, wrestler, leader and lover of life named Ken Kesey.--William C. Hall

Only two reviews for this (well, now three)? How unfortunate. A lovely, insightfully odd, and sometimes twisted tome. Good reading for this distant admirer of the thoughts and processes of the time, the place, and the man.

This book is loving remembrances of people who knew Kesey. Halfway through the book I forced myself to slow down, because I did not want to finish the book so fast. I wanted to savor the innate wisdom and humor of Ken Kesey for as long as possible. The world is a richer place because of his passing through it, and this book shares some of his life with us. He truly fought the good fight. His spirit is carried on by the many friends he had, and I thank them for sharing with us.

My 7 year-old daughter (1st Grader) and I started reading Starlight Laser Express at night before bed. I was a little leary, since she never wanted to read other adventure books like that because they scared her. She immediately fell in love. She eats her dinner as fast as she can and skips TV. She can't wait to find out what J.C. is going to do next.

The story of J.C. is not only adventurous, but educational as well. My daughter has learned more about geography and European history in one week (from the book)than I learned in all of grammar school. The book is full of intrigue and excitement.

Jan Frazier's writing is wonderful for any age group. If you have concerns whether or not the book is too "old" for your child-don't. Some parts take a little bit of explaining, (e.g. who Adolf Hitler was) but it has made her learn so much. I have enjoyed the book equally.

We are already anticipating the next book in the series.

I am 12 years old and I loved this book. It was one of the best books that I ever read. It's about a girl named JC Van Winkler who finds a ghost in her computer. I didn't want the book to end....I can't wait for the next volume in this series!!

What an amazing adventure -- or rather adventures -- J.C. encounters as she travels at the speed of light through time into the past world of European families with histories that need revising. The author captivates the reader with fascinating scenes straight out of European history while capturing the imagination. The heroine is as real as any character in literature, and her adventures make the reader move at the speed of light through the pages of amazing trials and triumphs.

This book is exceptionally easy to read for a stat book. It is very straightforward with practical examples and an emphasis on "how to" with just enough -- but not overwhelming -- theory. Some statistical bakcground is definitely helpful, but the basic principles are presented simply enough that a novice shouldn't feel too uncomfortable.

If you are responsible for designing, reviewing, or interpreting environmental sampling and the resultig analytical reports, then BUY THIS BOOK, READ IT, DO THE EXCERCISES!

You must have some background in statistics to understand it, so if you don't have that, take an introduction to statistics course. Otherwise go play in another sandbox, you'll be outclassed in this one. ;-)

This is a "must have" book for anyone in the environmental industry....I can't believe this is the first review...

As a beginner hunter I have found few sources for pratical, useful understanding of the art of still hunting deer. I read this book during deer season and was immediately able to put wisdom from 100+ years ago to use. Prior to reading the book, I missed my first shot on a deer and was amazed that the chapter "The First Shot on a Deer", described my experience so well and helped me understand why it happened. My non-hunting friends have enjoyed reading the book with its almost conversational style or writing. I believe this book will be a resource and an enjoyable volume for many readings to come.

This book is probably the best book on stalking game I have read so far. To be a more effective hunter read and understand this book.

First published in the 1880s, this is the first book ever written on American field sports. It helped inspire the craze for literary stories of hunting (carried on by Charles Sheldon, TRoosevelt etc.) amd was considered by both those men the best book ever written on the still-hunt. Written in the second person, it walks the reader through the process of learning to look for, stalk, and eventually shoot at deer, while drawing moral lessons on the evils of hunting "the wrong way." Van Dyke was esp. concerned with hunting techniques prevalent in places such as the Adirondacks at the time, shooting deer while swimming in water, etc., and his encouragement of sport by and for gentlemen helped set the stage for widespread prohibition of working-class and subsistence hunting techniques. Charming, gorgeously written, and immensely entertaining, this is a great book marking one of the most important turning points in how Americans thought about hunting and what it meant.

I've read a number of project management books over the years, and very few of them fit at all in a product development environment. This book fits and matches product development very well. In fact, in my opinion, it is the best basic project management book on the market currently for application in product development. This shouldn't be a surprise though since Mickey Rosenau understands project management practice in the field of product development. Beware of the other authors who claim that they understand product development and then apply a traditional approach to project management. Project management in product development is different, and a traditional approach to project management doesn't work in product development. Stay away from the traditional management approach and get this book instead.

Excelent Book. Direct to the point. I have recommended this one to other project managers and they agreed with my opinion.

Easy to get, easy to undertand.

Best Regards

Rolando Ramos
Bogota-Colombia

Excellent book, a good guide to improve project management