Classic Books

What can I say? I've read all the Pendragon books and I love them all. But this book is my favorite. I love Saangi's cocky attitude and Loor's jokes. To me there is no competition, this is my favorite book.

By far this is the best book yet! Packed with
mystery, action, romance, and revealed secrets about what a travelor is really capable of. This book will keep you entertained.

The Rivers of Zadaa is the sixth installment to the Pendragon series. I loved this book it had adventure and it has mystery in it. This book was the best of the Pendragon it gave me everything that I wanted in a book. This book starts with a tragic death then ends very surprisingly. Saint Dane has gone to the territory of Zadda were he is influencing two warring tribes now Bobby must stop him with the help of the traveler Loor.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an adventure book that is also a fantasy. This book now had to be the best because you had no idea what was going to happen next. I absolutely loved this book I just never wanted to put it down. I definitely would put this book in my top 5 of favorite books.

DJ, you keep me waiting too long. I want you pumping these books out faster.I can't get enough!!!

Hands down the best series I have laid my eyes on.

That's a big statement but I can tell you with all honesty. This is the best cookbook I've ever read, more importantly it is the best cookbook I've ever USED. And, do I use it often, YES! Here Tony Bourdain shines not only as an amusing and talented writer but exposes to us all to the REAL principal behind all great dishes, and not just French food, that good, quality ingredients coupled with time-proven methods ARE the best. I have been a cook for many years and I specialise in Italian cookery but Tony's book brought me back to appreciate French-style cookery as never before. But the country of origin doesn't matter, it's the approach. No BS! Tell it like it is. All cookbooks are, to me, guides, but Tony has the nous to say, in places, you MUST do this and that. Little details and quality advice tips that take a good dish to 'great' status. His, utterly correct emphasis on the basics like a good stock or jus, tells us that these are the real fundamentals of good cookery. And, he shows us that which is so true: all great cookery has its origins in 'peasant' food, be it French, Italian, British or Asian. I class this book and Fergus Henderson's, 'Nose To Tail Eating' as two of the most important cookbooks of the 20th Century.
William Kenneth Halliwell
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

The recipes includes are a bit difficult in my opinion (especially finding the right ingredients), but Bourdain's aim is to challenge you and not to dumb down everything, which I appreciate.

His writing style is very approachable and unlike with most cookbooks you feel like he's talking to you as he warns you to not overfill the blender when you are making soup and hold the top down tight unless you want soup all over you.

I've made one thing so far which was mushroom soup and it was delicious, so I can imagine the the rest of the food is equally so.

Classic cooking done in classic Anthony Bourdain style. If you like his TV show, you'll love this book.

This is a bible and a foundation for anyone interested in seeing good results from their efforts in undertaking french cooking. These recipes are durable and refined for someone who wants to illicit "oh wow" responses from their guests. I can't overstate the social value of enlisting your friends and local grocers and butcher for this journey. This is a book for someone with some time and love to dedicate.

I was quite pleased to receive this cookbook as a gift, but disappointed once I started cooking the recipes. Mr. Bourdain's talents as a writer are not to be denied, but it must be said that these recipes are a bit anemic and wanting. While I definitely appreciate his passion for good food, that passion doesn't seem to extend into making the actual food himself. Which is totally fine -- Bourdain's advocacy for top-quality cuisine is definitely appreciated -- but it means I'll look elsewhere for the nuts and bolts of good recipes.

This is a great book for kids, even young ones around 2.5 years old. It's an engaging story and my son loves the part where the man wakes up to find his hats gone, and looks up and sees all the monkeys wearing the hats! He asks me to read it everynight, and remembers the phrase "caps for sale."

I loved this book as a child and I love sharing it with my children.

Years ago, a unique peddler stood out from other salespeople because he carried all his goods on top of his head. He neatly stacked a bunch of gray, brown, blue, and red caps in a single pile and carefully balanced them on his head as he walked through town, calling "Caps! Caps for Sale! Fifty cents a cap!" But alas, on this particular day, no one purchases a cap. With no money to buy lunch, the peddler opts for a walk and a nap in the countryside instead. His troubles multiply when he wakes up to the sight of a group of playful monkeys in the treetop, each wearing one of his caps for sale. How will he get the caps back?

This classic story, reissued in a new hardcover edition, does not grow old with its humor, ingenuity, and charm. Underlying the story is an important set of economics concepts related to buyers and sellers in the goods market. If the demand for caps had been a little stronger, the peddler may have been able to avoid this whole predicament, but therein lies the book's merriment. Caps for Sale gets top marks for delivering a story with substantive content that children will enjoy and remember.

This is one of the few books I remember my elementary school librarian reading to us during my childhood. I loved the story of the multi colored caps balancing on the peddler's head as he walked through town yelling "caps for sale!" Then to find that as he napped, his caps disappeared. Looking around for them post-nap, he discovers a band of monkeys in the tree wearing them. He tries to get the caps back but each time he yells at the monkeys, they just ape his actions. Finally they throw the caps down and he continues on his way selling his multi-colored caps. I highly recommend this book for all children. My daughter is 2, almost 3, and she also LOVES this story. She finds the monkeys funny - especially how I imitate their actions.

This makes the top ten list out of all the great picture books we read to our kids when they were young. I never tired of reading it. So simple, symmetric, even musical. The story? How does the peddler get the monkeys to give back all the caps they've stolen from him and carried up into the tree? Okay, I'm the publisher of One Monkey Books, so call me biased. But try this one on your three or five or year old, and really get into singing, "Caps for sale! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!" It's been around for ages already, and this book will still be there when your kids are having kids. Nutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1

This book is deeply moving, inspiring and challenging. Thomas a Kempis lays out what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus, not just an adherent or a church-goer. The simulated conversations with Christ in the book are especially powerful. Aside from the Bible, no other book has touched and moved me like this. Highly recommended reading.

Why claim trinkets when you can read one of the best devotionals on the market. I use it to keep my daily life in check, to remember to have the right focus and to live what I believe. This is the top of the charts for a "Christian" work. Brother A'Kempis was a great instructor and a wise disciple. So much of todays mediocre fluff is twisted by society, self centeredness and lazy Christianity where the thinking is done for those who don't see the value in meditation and self examination. Next to the Bible, this is my favorite work.

This wonderful book was written by the priest Thomas a Kempis in the 1400's and is very reminecient of the Apostle Paul's writings by encouraging readers to live a simple spiritual life. It recommends that peace is found in the heart of the humble and that in overcoming the ego you overcome the world. Joy is found in a quiet conscience and you are only happy when you have done what is right. This may also be the original source of the advice to choose the less of two evils. It also warns that pleasure and desire carry the seeds of sorrow. This book is spiritual focusing on living the inner life and not getting entangled with the world. A must read for all Christians or anyone on a spiritual path.

This book was originally a handbook for monks, by a monk. It never was designed or written for the layman. Since it was written, it has served as a kind of guidebook for laypeople. But to take it as a guidebook for us is incorrect. It was by a monk, Thomas of Kempen (Germany) for monks. It should not be judged according to what we think it demands of US.

This is not a review of the book per se (just got it, have not read it yet), but thought I needed to share this. Book arrived with another book (a textbook) in the usual Amazon box, each laying side by side. It was left out in the rain for most of the day by the local carrier until I brought it inside. The entire box was soaked and ruined, tape fallen off and box literally gaping open, all of the paperwork inside was falling apart in pieces and soaked, my textbook was completely ruined (soaked through, wavy wet pages etc - got returned), yet this book was absolutely dry - not a trace of even a microdrop of water - perfect condition. Take away whatever message you want...

Hey...what do I really need to say here? I mean, this is Edgar Allan Poe we're talking about! It's an excellent collection of his stories and poems. Many people are of the opinion that Poe's works are all rather macabre. Although many of his works do fit into that category, he was also a brilliant satirist. For example, I recommend his short story, "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether". Quite hilarious, and very witty. Poe was a highly educated member of society, and was also the 'inventor' of the modern detective mystery with his short story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." His incomparable literary style has gone unequaled to this day. For those already familiar with Poe, I suggest you read him again to have a fresh look at his works. For those who are NOT familiar with his works, you are missing out BIG time! Poe having been homegrown right here in America, we can be proud of his literary achievements. Check it out.

Allan F. Whitney

I bought this book as a gift for my friend. She loved it.I was so glad I was able to find it here.

Edgar Allan Poe is regarded as the undisputed master of the gothic horror genre. This collection contains all his published works, faithful reproductions from the orginals, that have made him famous. With stories like the the Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell Tale Heart and poems like The Raven, this books is a must have for any Poe fan or any one who is new to Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favorite authors of all time. I recall reading the 'Tell Tale Heart' as an 8 year old and getting hooked. I read most any work of his that I could get my hands on, in the process inspiring in me a love of literature and mystery. I loved his works so much, many years later I coupled my biology major with an english minor just so I could have an excuse for reading during the busy college days. This work compiles the literary works of an absolute genius into a beautiful, must have volume. It would be a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys Poe and even for the child who shows growing signs of getting into video gaming...maybe catch the kid before its too late!

Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, died October 7, 1849.

What is it that makes an author famous? I don't mean famous in the sense a news article reports that "Jack Greylea's novels sold 15 million copies last year," but in the sense that he is thought of as being profound, and seminal. That he is quoted, and scholars analyse his works, and he is looked upon as being the original voice of his style, or the font from which many imitators have drawn inspiration.

Edgar Allan Poe is one such. The very hint of his name calls up images of midnight graveyards, of crumbling mansions lit by wax candles, the home of strange and tormented aristocrats, till the description "Poe-like" can draw as vivid a picture in our minds as "elephant-like."

Yet his output was not great. Basically a short story writer and poet, he produced only one full-length novel, which received more censure than praise, and which very few people today can name. Without wishing to run him down as an author (what he did, he did well, but what he did well, was to be Poe) he was a limited writer, and all of his works over twenty-two years can be contained in one thickish book.
So what is the secret of Poe, whereby a scanty writer becomes the cult-centre of a world of horror that carries his own stamp? It lies I think in two things.

Not to place these two in any order of importance as regards his continuing fame - I leave this to you - but I would say....
Firstly, that it was his choice of subject and execution of it. The mournful, weird and macabre, in which man becomes little more than an instrument of darkness, and that usually the worst darkness, that which wells up from within, whose black light shows us as being not the pawns of evil, but the source of evil itself. But to seize on this idea - or any other idea - as inspiration is nothing, merely the starting point from which the quill hits the paper. It is in the execution of his vision that Poe's genius emerges. Not with a great deal of subtlety, nor a much complexity, but with great and disciplined fixity on the horror of his intentions, Poe moves relentless to the nasty culmination of his stories, and they come to us with all the rawness of unconsoled misery. His art was that of the short story writer, and as such he wrote little, but when reading Poe a little is more than enough.

Secondly, that Poe more than any other author is identified as a man with his works. An orphan and an outcast from his adopted family, overly sensitive and reckless, he lived wildly, lied readily, lived in poverty, married strangely to his thirteen-year old cousin, was widowed miserably, and finally died mysteriously at age forty, from uncertain causes that speculation has named as anything from drug addiction to murder. As if this were not enough, his works were controlled after his death by his executor, who attempted to blacken his name. More than any other author that I can readily think of, Poe was his own tormented, tragic hero, and his oppressed characters were him.

In the nineteen-sixties, several of Poe's stories and poems - The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of the Red Death, The Raven, The Tomb of Legeia and others - were made into popular, low budget films, cementing Poe's reputation firmly into the mythology of modern horror movies. It's common of course for movies to be nothing like the original written work, but all of these are based on not on fully worked out novels, but ideas that Poe dealt with in comparatively few pages.

Incidentally, the principal actor in many of these was Vincent Price, whose tall, mournful frame instantly springs to mind as well nigh inseparable from Poe's weird gems.

My mother used to read me this story as a kid. I always liked it. As I got older, I began to appreciate it even more for its subtle humor. The story is unique and the illustrations should really be admired. I just bought it for my 2 year old and she seems to enjoy it as well. I highly recommend it.

Ferdinand is a bull who listens to his own heart. He does not bow to 'peer pressure' and try to be someone he is not. The story is not really about bull-fighting, but about self-acceptance and the acceptance of others for whom they are -- even when initial expectations are not met.

I completely forgot about this book until one of my students had me read it. Such a classic with an important message about staying true to yourself even if you are off the beaten path. The Spanish culture and charming illustrations only make this all the more likeable.

What a lovely classical story of peace. Ferdinand is a peaceful bull who loves to lie in the meadow and smell flowers. He gets stung by a bee at exactly the wrong moment (when the bullfighters are coming to pick a bull to take to the fights). So he is, of course, carted off to fight, since he is obviously the feistiest bull in the field. When he gets to the ring, no matter how mean the bullfighters are to him, Ferdinand just lies down and smells the flowers on the ladies' hats. This is such a beautiful story of peace and hope. Even though bullfighting is not promoted or accepted in the U.S., I think this is a beautiful classic story and I do recommend it for all ages.

the book and the cd were in good shape and the story was
similar to the one i knew when i was a child but not the
same. i was looking for a copy of the one i knew in the
early 50's, it was fun to listen to and it was funny.
there is another story of the flying mouse at the same
time, that i am looking for.

I can't say it much better than the previous reviews have already. I wanted to read something on this subject and was led to this book. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the topic. Broad in scope yet detailed in its descriptions of the soldiers, units, and battles in this massive offensive. This is an excellent jumping off point to begin studying the Battle of Arnhem. Well written and exciting to discover.

A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II by Cornelius Ryan gives one of the best accounts of General Montgomery's ill-fated plan and operation to turn the German northern flank on the Western front during September 1944 of World War II. Montgomery hoped to push into the heart of industrial Germany. It was his plan for personal glory to end the war in 1944.

This narrative non-fiction work by Cornelius Ryan brings together the objectivity and insights of a historian with the narrative style of a novelist. Ryan brings historical events to life in a style like Stephen Ambrose. Ryan's writings keep your interest. He gives the experiences of the individual soldiers and Dutch resistance members. He tells the story from all sides. The roles and effects of these operations on the civilians unfortunate enough to be caught up in events are included. I was shocked to learn of the horrific communication issues among the British. I felt Ryan was placing blame for those problems at the feet of the Americans. From reading Ryan's work I found a dramatic lack of urgency on the part of the British. An example is after the 82nd had secured their main bridge objective which included tremendous sacrifice the British simply camped for the night brewing their tea while their fellow countryman were still encircled and dying in Arhen. I was disappointed that Montgomery was not slammed for this operation. From the account Montgomery is lucky he wasn't relieved of command or sacked on the spot.

I recommend the book, though at times I found the reading and story too slowly unfolding. It is one of the all time classics of World War II and should be in the library of every military history buff.

excellent book. i remember seeing the movie when it first came out and it blew me away. this book remains my favorite all-time military choice. if you can get your hands on the paperback, i suggest it. the paperback has more detail, but this book is truly remarkable even if it has been condensed a bit. cornelius ryan was a fantastic author. this book tells about a military campaign that is usually overlooked due to d-day and the battle of the bulge. i think this military campaign needs to be remembered due to the heroism of the men involved and cornelius ryan brings out that heroism as if you are actually seeing the battle unfold. great military literature.

excellent book. i remember seeing the movie when it first came out and it blew me away. this book remains my favorite all-time military choice. if you can get your hands on the paperback, i suggest it. the paperback has more detail, but this book is truly remarkable even if it has been condensed a bit. cornelius ryan was a fantastic author. this book tells about a military campaign that is usually overlooked due to d-day and the battle of the bulge. i think this military campaign needs to be remembered due to the heroism of the men involved and cornelius ryan brings out that heroism as if you are actually seeing the battle unfold. great military literature.

One of the best-written WWII accounts of war, focusing on a disastrous Allied military operation near the end of WWII, I am absolutely flummoxed as to why this classic is now out of print. With millions sold, did no publisher think this great book might continue to generate interest?

As many here have already noted, this book is a must-read. Pick it up from a online seller or go to your local used bookstore, but don't miss this fine dissection of a huge strategic misfire.

Any kid who reads The Doll People and the sequel, The Meanest Doll In The World would be very excited if they knew there would be a third book. I'm one of those people, I read both of them and I LOVED THEM. I decided it was my favorite book so far (I'm only 10 so I know that won't be forever). I recommended them to everyone who was looking for a good book at the right level, I think if you are 8 or up, you would love the idea and l ove the way Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin writes and how Brian Selznick illustrates. They're all a really good team. One of the things I LOVED were the illustrations. For someone who doesn't know how to picture things in your mind while you're reading, this is the book to get in the book store. If you feel interested to read this book then grab it out of the bookstore or buy it anywhere, please. Both of those books are great!

Anntie Sarah was lost for 47 years ago, then 47 years later, Annabelle got a hold of her diary. She kept it very safe until the Funcrafts came to the house. Annabelle Doll shared the diary with the Funcrafts daughter, Tiffany, and everything in the diary they both read is a step closer to find Anntie Sarah.

By Rose

This is an excellent book with fun and adventure abound. Good reading for people of all ages. My 70 year old Father loved it, so much so I bought him his own copy. A fun read over and over.

The Doll People
By: Ann M. Martin

Book Review by: Caroline Le

Have you ever lost someone near and dear to you? Well that's exactly what happened to Annabelle Doll in this book, The Doll People. It's about a family of dolls trying to find their lost family member, Auntie Sarah, but the problem is that Auntie Sarah could be anywhere in the house and the whole family is only about an inch in height. The whole family includes mama, papa, Uncle Doll, nanny, Annabelle, her little brother Bobby, Baby Betsy, and of course Auntie Sarah. Along the way they get into a lot of problems, with The Captain (the humans cat) and getting lost, plus they can't move while the humans are around, it'll jeopardize their secret, but they also have a lot of fun too so don't worry. Personally I think that one of the best parts in the story is all the adventures they have. Read the book to find out what happens to the Doll family and Auntie Sarah. Enjoy reading it, I know I did.

Who says that you can read and enjoy children's books? This book is on par with some of the great children's literary classics like the Wizard of Oz. The author creates a world in which a Doll family comes to live unknown to the human residences around them. While the Dolls remain forever the same age, Annabelle Doll had remained an eight year old girl for a hundred years. She is on the search for her missing aunt Sarah who disappeared 45 years ago. She and the Doll family travel without getting human detection which means that they can be forever frozen in time. The Doll life is very fragile and human detection can determine their frozen state. A fear that the Doll family must have while Annabelle and her sister yearn to break free from the dollhouse that is their home. They remind me of Anne Frank and her sister hiding in the attic. They have so many rules of their own without being detected from humans. It's quite an entertaining novel for both adults and children alike. I could see an animated movie come alive and popular quite easy. The illustrations are in black and white. I don't have any complaints about the book but hope to get back into it soon enough.

Hi, I am 9 years old and I LOVED this book its about a doll that's a hundered years old and is named Anabelle who lives with her mom, dad, brother, uncle , and baby sister. While Anabelle is looking for Auntie Sarah, who has been missing for 45 years, she finds another doll family, the Funcrafts. They are newer dollhouse dolls. The Funcraft family & Anabelle's family become good friends. And the Funcrafts have modern things the old dolls don't understand, like a microwave & Bar-B-que. And when Anabelle's birthday comes around they have a party for her at the Funcraft's dream house. The dolls have to be careful that the humans don't see them moving around & talking or else they will be in "doll state" (this is where they get frozen for 24 hrs). This book would be good for girls 7-12. The words are easy to read & the story is easy to understand. It's a long book, about 260 pages, but all totally entertaining. No boring parts. If you are looking for a great book to read, get this book NOW.

C. S. Lewis is not only one of the 20th century's finest minds, he's also amazingly perceptive of human behavior. This well-written description explains so clearly the four kinds of love and with such accessible illustrations from real life. Most eye-opening for me was the chapter on "affection" where I began to understand for the first time why we moms think we are so misunderstood; in actuality, our "affection" (storge) for our family has gotten out of hand! You'll need to read in order to understand. I highly recommend this book.

CS Lewis does a wonderful job defining the four Greek words for Love. I would recommend this book most highly to the man (women are less likely to make this error) who thinks he needs no friends. Lewis shows the importance of friendship to a good life.

It Is One of those books that should be sitting on a coffee table. It defines the various types of pure love: agape, venus, and storge to name some. It truly defines where the 'heart' is and perhaps defining the brotherly love, the parental love, or the true love...



Susan Saige

This is in my opinion C.S. Lewis's best nonfiction work. The premise has been done before, but rarely with the sort of insight given here. His overviews of Affection and Friendship are much too often overlooked and glossed over as unimportant, but here they're given a status they really deserve.

The section on friendship, and the idea that people are bonded through mutual passions, and his grim statement that people who are just looking for a friend will never find one, was spot on. Friendships are formed as an extension of a passion for something bigger than the individual. A mutual cause drives people, whether they be sports fanatics, a tribe pining for survival, or art critics.

The pitfalls he explains for the loves such as lust, bigotry, elitism, etc. are self explanatory, but it's also practical. Friendships are exclusive by their very nature, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with such a thing. Eros is most certainly exclusive. He emphasizes that we can't be friends with everyone, love everyone with Eros, but we can love everyone with Charity, the final section of the book.

One could write a book three times longer and not come close to the depth portrayed in this little book. Strongly recommended.

Within this work, Mr. Lewis is quick to point out the inherent difficulty with regard to the concept of love facing individuals whose native tongue is English. That is, it is easily recognized that there exists an extreme deficit when one applies the same word to describe the sentiment shared with one's spouse, as well as their favorite food. In such extreme cases of difference in terms of the word's application, clarification is hardly needed and might be written off as an embellishment about that which one feels about, say, strawberries or chocolate. However, other instances are more difficult to write off as a poor choice of words; such as, love for friends, family, a spouse, and God. One must surely agree that the sentiment in each of these instances of love can exist and be experienced in significantly different ways. While love is the umbrella under which all of these sentiments rest, they are, as far as most people can tell, very different things. That being said, it is lucky for the reader that Mr. Lewis, almost immediately, circumvents the language barrier and begins to illustrate the foundational understanding which must be apparent for further exploration of the concepts of love to proceed. For those who have struggled with this, even the simplest concept of love's significance, as this reviewer has, the first chapter alone is worth the price of this work's purchase.

Building upon a necessary base of knowledge, Lewis begins to explore the nature of love beginning with that love which might be the gray area between the words love and like, or either of the two, as spoken in the English language. Lewis continues his endeavor by tackling what people often consider the more significant forms of love such as friendship, erotic love, and the love of and for God. While no attempt will be made here to convey the significance of the final chapter regarding actual Love in fear of diluting a brilliant message, each of the chapters leading up to that point share common threads. That is, Mr. Lewis illustrates the difficulty which can be had with love in any form if left to our own devices. This illustration is achieved in the author's typical fashion of profound analogies and appeals to common experiences. One can be certain that while this recognition of the volatility of human love is of extreme importance, it is the overriding concept that only by surrendering these loves to Love that one can achieve happiness, solace, and purity in Love which makes this work unquestionably valuable to those that are fortunate enough to read it.

Over all I'd give the material a 3, but if you like this guy's stuff then this is the purchase for you.

Beautiful Book! The binding and high quality of the paper and printing would have made Douglas proud... this is the way you should remember this extraordinary and hillarious set of books. I bought two copies for my daughter and myself. I'll be ordering more for Christmas presents - what a great gift for all of my slightly crazy friends.

Buy this and you will not be sorry.

Excellent printing and binding quality for the price. Looks like a treasured heirloom of classic literature. Most people who saw me reading this thought I was reading Shakespeare or a Bible until I told them what it was and gave them a closer look.

This is really a Deluxe Edition, love the perfect size of the font! Elegant cover and a touch of distinction on the golden edge of the pages. The only inconvenience is that's just too heavy to carrying it on your handbag all day long, but a book like this, you should keep it at home!

Excellent book, looks amazing and a great read. Only problem was the packaging scratched some of the leather.

All in all it made this hoopy frood happy.