Carousels Books

This book has to be one of the best that I have ever read. Sue Ellen Bridgers has a wonderful skill at writing young adult litertaure. As I read the novel, I found myself almost being there with the characters and truly understanding what was happening. This is a novel that I would recommend to anyone!

I did not like this book. It was too loose in some parts. I checked it out thinking it would be an okay book, but it wasn't. Some people will like it but it isn't my style. How Rob is always after Ellery is stupid. Trust me, unless you like books with no morals and loose desriptions, you will not like it either.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found Rob's struggle against himself and his family very realistic. His use of alcohol and drugs does raise touchy subjects, but provides an excellent opportunity for discussion between parents and kids. Self-resepect and family relaions are the overriding themes.

This is one of my favorite scores from the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon. If you are a musical theater major or musical theater fan (and collect complete vocal scores), this is a great score to have in your collection and worthy of study.

The music is good and clearly printed, but I bought this edition for the spiral binding as advertised - and got none - which makes opening the score flat on the piano stand very tricky, and turning pages while playing from the score impossible. So "No Thanks".

Well, as far as little tykes are concerned, this might just prove to be an impressively fun book. It's not too hard to find the guinea pig and at the end there's a flap to open in finding out what the guinea pig could possibly be doing! The pictures are colorful enough and it will keep little ones busy and happy for a little while.

A cry guinea pig slaves--er, I mean owners--often emit! :) A hard to find book about a hard to find guinea pig. Actually, she's very easy to find if you are anywhere over 6 years old. But since this ia a cardboard picture book aimed for those possibly inder 6 years old, they might be really intreagued for about 10 minutes. A cute book, about 12 pages long, scribbly looking cartoons about a piggie who just wants to stop and smell the flowers. For the guinea pig book collector, an amusing addition--but don't knock yourself out trying to find it

This early, brief Pilcher story is more interesting than the others for a couple of reasons. The setting in Cornwall has become my dream Cornwall location. The manor house in Coming Home is too grand, the houses in The Empty House not quite me either. Phoebe's house Holly Cottage is just right - welcoming, casual, delightfully sited. Yes the heroine is nineteen and falls for an older man, but the story is told in the first person, which gives it a freshness that The End Of Summer doesn't have.

There's a little social intrigue, some advance and retreat between the narrator and her love object, but a happy ending for all.

As long as you don't have an issue with the age gap between the couple, this is an enjoyable quick read for Pilcher fans, Anglophiles, and romance readers in general.

A journey back to Cornwall with its train rides, sandy beaches and coves.
A good quick read.

I love Pilcher's books but this one is not as good as SEPTEMBER, UNDER GENINI, THE SHELL SEAKERS or COMING HOME. Yes, the vividness is there, the story is well written and the characters difficult to forget, but she can do a lot better, she has proven it to us, her fans!!!

I just finished this book, and when I had read the last line, I wondered what had happened to Rosamunde Pilcher. Further--where is the meat? I checked the copyright date--1982. Her stride with the Shell Seekers hit in 1987, followed by September in 1990, Coming Home in 1995, and Winter Solstice in 2000. Sadly, I think I was reading before she became that marvelous storyteller. Everyone has to start, and this book foreshadows the descriptions and storylines she grows to entertwine so wonderfully. But not in this book. The characters are but briefly drawn, but never drew me in like the others above. I never got a picture of Cornwall or Penmarron as the other books had. I finished it as a task that needed finishing, not with the "I have to see what happens" and then, "oh, no, it's over" that her masterpieces gave me.

As a lover of Ms. Pilcher's work, I cannot recommend this one. If I had read this one first, I would never have picked up those other wonderful stories of hers. The reviews written are dismal as well...it is not "satisfying," "captivating," nor "an unforgettable journey." I actually want to forget this one. Sorry, Rosamunde. I do love your other work. I think this is a story that happened on the way to becoming a wonderful writer. Note the copyright dates is my word of advice to Pilcher readers. And if this was your first with her--go to one of the above mentioned!

I don~t know if this is Rosamund Pilcher~s first book or what, but I have to say that I was disappointed by it.

I picked it up at the library and when I opened the first page sitting in my favorite chair in my living room I was filled with anticipation...thinking I would have the same experience with this particular Pilcher book that I have had with all the others that I~ve read. Ahh, not to be. I found all of the characters lacking in development, whiny, and just not likable at all, with the exception of Charlotte. The description of the Cornish countryside wasn~t up to par with The Empty House and Coming Home, though nothing can ever compare to Coming Home. I had a hard time visualizing Phoebes house and her garden. I didn~t even get a full picture of Lily Tonkins. To be honest, I didn~t even like the characters names.

If you have never read a Pilcher book before, do not start with this one. If you do, I think you may never want to read another.

The book has several major flaws. I cannot recommend it.

First, it is full of typos. It appears the book had no editor, or at least no competent one. On the first page I opened to, I found two obvious typos in a table that didn't have much text to start with, and a problem with "its" vs. "it's"--an inexcusable error for any competent writer and editor.

Second, the book uses $, $$, $$$, etc. to indicate campground pricing, but nowhere could I find any key to what these numbers mean. Expensive to one person is cheap to another person, and expensive in one country may be cheap in another. So with no key--or at least no findable key (and I checked front, back, at the start of chapters, as footnotes, and everywhere else I could think of)--the price information is useless.

Third, I mainly was interested in the book for Norway but the author focuses only on southern Norway--the region between Oslo and Bergen, mainly. While these regions are fantastic, so is the rest of Norway and any book on camping should include the entire country. (I have stayed at wonderful campgrounds, in a tent, throughout Norway so hoped to use this book to find additional ones along the coast and up north.)

Very disappointing book. I haven't gone further into the book as these three major flaw areas are significant enough to have my questioning the author's abilities.

This books says it does Eastern Europe, too. But it leaves out most of it only doing as far as Hungary. There was no way to tell about these limitations before buying it and so I'm very disappointed since I wanted Romania and Bulgaria too. And, of course, there is no Russia or other Baltic places. Phooey!!!

After reading Camping Europe my husband and I decided to try it. We decided to go to Italy. It worked out great. We followed her suggestions on what equipment to take, how to pack, and how to take our bikes. It was much easier than we anticipated. We didn't realize how sophisticated campgrounds were in Europe. They are very popular with Europeans. It was lots of fun to meet people from so many different countries. She gave lots of helpful hints on how to drive in a foreign country. Getting directions from locals wasn't hard even though we didn't speak their language. Her written directions and the maps made finding the campgrounds easier than we thought it would be. We loved her ideas on what to do. She also gave directions on how to go to fun out of the way places that you couldn't go to without a car. It was wonderful to have our bikes and our a bike rack. It was so cheap and fun to camp that we are going back to Europe again next year. Every country she writes about sounds like lots of fun so it is going to be hard to decide. We met a few Americans in the campgrounds. Several were having a great time using her book too. Too bad more Americans don't know how easy and fun camping in Europe can be.

We love to camp and think it's a great way for families to be together. I read about the book Camping Europe in a popular budget travel magazine. The campgrounds sounded so inviting that we thought we'd at least try it once. We had a great trip! We chose The Netherlands and Denmark because many of the campgrounds listed rented bikes and we like to cycle together as a family. We rented a car and took our tent like the book suggested. It made the trip very inexpensive compared to other ways of traveling. Our son loved playing with the other kids at the campground's play and swim areas. We enjoyed meeting other parents and relaxing with them. We found the things recommended in the book to do interesting and fun, particularly since there were driving directions on how to get to them. Campground lists usually just give an address. The book gave detailed directions on how to drive to them. We would have had a hard time finding them without the book. I highly recommend the book and camping as a wonderful way to enjoy Europe.

This book is relatively worthless. Not only does it try to cover too much territory by doing all of Europe, it strays from it's intended purpose as a camping guide book. Most area descriptions are only a short paragraph long and have more info on area attractions than on the campgrounds (just check out all the activities listed in the index, unfortunately insufficient detail is provided for the activities as well). When I want info on area attractions I consult dedicated guide books such as Rick Steve's.

As such only 1 or 2 campgrounds per area are covered (typically w/ only 1-2 sentence descriptions) and no info as to the size, quality, costs and exact locations of the campgrounds. No attempt is made to distinguish or recommend certain campgrounds; nor is any particular area covered in enough detail to give you a range of campgrounds to choose from. I found more campground info through local tourist organizations and the internet than I found in this book.

This book is a fun ride. However, if you've read a lot of celebrity bios, you'll be turned off, as I was, at how MacRae appropriates various anonymous and ancient showbiz stories as her own personal experiences.

For example, she has a lover defending her to a foe by saying, "What she has, you used to have. And what she has, you can't spell." Nice line, but it's from a movie.

The whole book has a goofy, made-up quality - even more than the usual Hollywood autobiography. Rather than trying to paint herself as the innocent waif (as June Allyson tried to do in her autobiography), MacRae bends over backwards (a-hem) to sex up her image.

With a huge grain of salt, it's a fun, juicy read. And I wouldn't trust one word of it as far as I could throw the publishing house.

The pictures in two photo sections tell the whole story of Gordon, Sheila and family. I have selected some interesting items about Hollywood instead of the typical movie couple in the Fifties. He made four movies with DoDo Day: "Tea for Two", "The West Point Story," "On Moonlight Bay," and "By The Light of the Silvery Moon." She was a bit old for the perrenial boyish MacRae. They were asked to pose for an Easter Seals poster with some 'handicapped' children. She refused on religious grounds that she was a "Christian Scientist and they don't believe in cripples." (Hear that, Wink M.) Gordon was insulted and cursed this Girl-next-door character "She's giving my religion a bad name." Oh well, in her older years, she always had to be filmed through a special filter to obliterate her wrinkles and aging process, the big phony. I loved Gordon in "Carousel" and "Oklahoma." He was fabulous and such a good singer.

Movies are tricks of the eyes and the makeup artists. There's a quirk in how we see that allows a series of still pictures to spring into motion. In pursuit of that optical illusion, fortunes have been made; lives devoted to it, and some ruined. The trouble was if you couldn't tell what was 'legerdemain' and what was 'real,' (magician from the magic); Sheila appeared as the magician's assistant and eventually got to know all the tricks.

They were in Hollywood during the blacklisting and has some interesting things to reveal about the prophetic Ronald Reagan. Also, when she was named as "Mother of the Year" her marriage was a shambles and they were on the verge of a divorce. Sounds like Debbie and Eddie, a typical Hollywood couple. Of all her affairs, I was shocked that Frank Sinatra was one! She had moved here from England and kept a tinge of the British accent; I guess that's what intrigued him as I don't think it was her singing. She was pretty and talented during the Sixties, but after the divorce, things went downhill for them both. Such is life, but especially for the woman.

"Oh, by the way, I was once married to ...."; now can I tell ya all about my life?" There. Do you feel like reading this superficial analysis of a Hollywood marriage run amok? I didn't think so. Typical, feminist retro-look at the past when Sheila was a part of the dinner club circut power couple come unglued. Trivializes the highs(1950's),depicts the 1960's as the rise of a multi-talented what, dancer/singer, when groups were in vogue?Granted, survival was key here, but I wanted to know more about the golden-voiced Gordon MacRae and what became of his gifts that, among other things, launched her. Not to be. Ended up being about as interesting as a Matt Helm bedroom farce,with the reality glossed over and the reality of what once was unrevealed.

I have always enjoyed reading a celebrity's autobiography and Sheila MacRae's was no exception. Having been born long after the success of MacRae's famous husband, Gordon in 1960, I was unfamilar with his films as well as Miss MacRae's credits as an actress. Through this autobiography, I read with great interest as well as great sadness, over a man and woman who were deeply in love, but destroyed by Gordon's alcoholism and excessive gambling. The bright spots are MacRae's close friendship with Lucille Ball, some revealing insight into her friend Cary Grant's love life, and the Hollywood parties attended in their heydey. After reading the book, I emerged an admirer of both Sheila and Gordon MacRae.

I was using this book for a school project on the Circus Maximus, and it barely had anything! For the size of this book, that was very dissapointing. I also could not find the publishing group, year, or place that it was published (thats why I looked it up here) In my opinion, it had too much information on things it didn't need.

This was a fun read, and a nice glimpse at how the Romans really lived, what everyday life was like. Quite useful.

It was pretty good. Dealt with everyday life of Rome instead of the history of Rome. Had some interesting facts. Fast read.

This book is adorable. The idea of showing a carousel starting and getting faster and faster through still pictures is very creative. I used this book with 4 year old children and they loved it.

My daughter & I are big fans of Donald Crews' "Freight Train". I bought this book because my daughter loves to ride the local carousel & I thought that Crews would deliver again. However, most of the pages in this book are just a big blur! They go from slightly blurry to extremely blurry. I realize the illustrations are supposed to capture movement, but it looks as though the speed is that of a roller coaster rather than a carousel. I would have loved to see close-up illustrations of the children riding the carousel & just more creativity in general. Don't buy this book. Get "Freight Train" instead!

This book is the continuation of the storyline developed in the three earlier books, "The City In the Stars", "Terror on the Moons of Jupiter" and "The Alien Probe." In the previous two books of the series, Tom and his friends Benjamin Franklin Walking Eagle, Anita Thorwald and the robot Aristotle discover an alien probe on one of the moons of Jupiter. It was sent by the Skree, a species inhabiting the planets of the Alpha Centauri system. They are locked in a war with the Chutans and the probe is a call for help.
Aristotle is able to decode the messages in the probe and with that knowledge; Tom is able to build a ship capable of interstellar travel. In this book, Tom, Ben, Anita, Aristotle and the mercenary Kate take the ship to Alpha Centauri to learn about the Skree. Shortly after they arrive, they are intercepted by a Skree ship and then are attacked by the Chutans. Tom assists the Skree in defeating the Chutans and they all travel to the Skree capitol city.
Once there, they learn that the Skree are buglike and the Chutans are humanoid. This creates problems and Tom and his group are held prisoner. From this point, the story totally generates into even greater absurdity. Tom manages to terminate the Chutan occupation of a major Skree city using only eating utensils and there is the ridiculous inclusion of the brilliant and childlike Chimmies. They are a species controlled by the Chutans.
This story ends with the mention of a subsequent book, "Tom Swift: The Space Fortress." I can find no mention of this book on Amazon and given the poor quality of this one, it is easy to see why nothing further was published. This is science fiction at its' worst.

Tom Swift develops a hyperdrive and goes to the aid of his space friends. He looks like their sworn enemy, but helps his space friends defeat them in the end

Falcon, at age 13, is reluctant to face the reality of her life -one that is filled with magic, dragons, witches and saints and all things of fantasy. But when her Aunt Emily (who is over one hundred years old) suffers a heart attack, the reluctant Falcon must rely on magic to save her aunt's life.

When Falcon, Aunt Emily (as her young self) and Allie Cadwallader-Newton (who has been a time traveler) go back in time to New York City in the year 1903, they must rely on old friends to find their way home. Along the way there are grand adventures, difficult choices and a surprise ending.

Luli Gray's Falcon and the Carousel of Time will intrigue and challenge the imaginations of children between the ages 10-14. It was a fun read but had an ending I didn't expect - and still don't know how I feel about. However, I recommend this book.