Bean Books

This was my first book on cd. I usually buy the books, but since I seem to be spending more time in my car commuting, I figure why not give it a try! Boy am I glad I did. The story itself was quite interesting and was finding myself not wanting to get out of my car. The story is told by Joyce Bean and she was a great reader. I will be looking for other stories as read by her. Just gave the cd to a friend and so far she too agrees. enjoy!

Been a while since I read a Saul book. I stopped because in every book I've read by him bad things happen to the children. And usually many of them die, including the main child. I can't remember the last book I read by him, but I do remember that I ended up throwing the book across the room and walking away. It's too gut wrenching to read about the children dying. Sheesh.

But that's where he strikes you with that feeling of terror. Seems to be his trademark punch I guess.

I was going through my paperback books, looking for something to read and came across my Saul section. There in the middle was this book and it had no creasing of the spine. I hadn't yet read it. As I opened it and began to read, I reminded myself to not get attached to any of the characters.

The story is set in one of those creepy little mining communities (Amberton) that is named after the mine owners, the Ambers. And yes, people die. Children die. There is a supernatural quality with an old Indian superstition too. They believe people who disturb the mine are actually disturbing the water babies - stillborn Indian babies are placed in a cave by the mine and when the wind blows it is said that you can hear the babies crying for their mothers to come back to them. When the wind blows, bad things happen. Nice eerie feel there. Yep.

I found the Ambers to be freaky in that fingernails on the chalkboard way. My shoulders shifted up in a wince often. And don't expect the story to end in a neat little bow. That is not Saul's way. He leaves you still perplexed about what it is in the blowing of the wind that causes craziness to stir. And you get that hint of more craziness to come.

Overall it's a pretty standard Saul book. One of his older stories actually. I found a few glitchy parts in the details. In the beginning one child is 10. At the end of the book he's 9. He must have discovered the fountain of youth, eh? :P

And I'll suggest again that you get attached to none of the characters. The odds are always in favor of them dying. But the story was interesting, fast paced, and gave a nice shiver up the spine.

With the easiest girl in school and then she asks to be taken home. You think you're going to score, but Miss Easy has turned into Miss Prude. Argh!

Saul had an awesome premise in this book, and he came close to true fear a couple times, yet in the end he flirted with the trigger but never pulled it. Why, John Saul, why? The result is an unsatisfying, boring letdown of a book. I thought he was supposed to be in league with King and Koontz, but if this book is any indication, Saul owns the bush league. The murders are watered-down and PG. The significance of the wind is never explained. So many near scares that after a while you're convinced you will never darken the corner of third base, let alone home plate. Add to that the stiff characters and bad dialogue coupled with the withering suspense and you realize this is one date in need of a merciful abbreviation. Stay away.

If you are a John Saul reader, you don't need a review. You already know how good he is. If you are not a reader already, then get this book and get started. You will be hooked like the rest of us already are.

The story was awful. Just awful. Underdeveloped characters, boring storyline and just cheesy enough to make me cringe. I got this book on CD for a 15 hour drive and was sorely disappointed about 1/2 hour in. This isn't horror writing at its finest, that's for sure.

Beans is the winner of the 2008 International Association of Culinary Professionals Jane Grigson Award and was also a finalist for the food writing award.

My apologies for posting a review of my own book, but I saw no other way of getting this information onto amazon. I hope you enjoy it. Ken

This is a wonderful book that is both scholarly and entertaining, a good read as well as a valuable reference work. It consists of a series of "biographies" of beans or groups of related beans by region, including the Middle East, Europe, India, Africa, Mexico, South America, North America, and China and Japan. Each "biography" includes a description of the bean's origin and history, philosophical and political dimensions, methods of preparation, and recipes (nearly sixty in all) with many anecdotes and literary references. I never really thought about it before, but in most parts of the world beans are associated with poverty and low social status with the exception of two civilizations: India and China. In order to truly understand beans, the author resolved to eat beans every day during the book's creation, ideally a new species or variety every day. He has assimilated his subject matter well!

This book was excellent. It provided detailed information about the history of the domestication of several members of the Fabaceae. I would suggest it to anyone interested in domestication or beans in general.

I loved Kurlansky's COD and very much liked his SALT. I found Foster and Cordell's "CHILIES TO CHOCOLATE: Food the Americas gave the World" fascinating. And I love eating beans, from garbanzos to black beans to lentils.

So, I like the genre to which "BEANS: A History" belongs as well as the subject itself.

However, I found myself wondering, "What is the point the author is trying to make?" or perhaps "What is the direction of this book?".

The table of contents implies that this book is focused around a "bean by bean" approach. However, only the chapter on soybeans seems to fit that bill. None of the other chapters seem to be a coherent discussion about each bean (or group of beans). Instead, the chapters seem to meander around, seemingly without direction, excepting for the author's fixation on the historical association between the eating of beans and being poor. Honestly, it seems that well over a third of the book is dedicated to making this single point, with endless quotes to support it, often obscuring the boundaries between chapters.

What I craved in this book is closely approximated by his final chapter, which is on Soybeans. Here he starts with its known beginnings, how and why its use morphed over time and varied from place to place. He discusses (but does not fixate upon) its role in society. He gives interesting facts about its biology. At the end of the soy chapter he does, alas, wander off-topic into a confusing discussion about the pros and cons of genetically modified foods -- an interesting topic, but one that should be reviewed by someone more expert and not discussed parenthetically as it is here; similarly, he meanders briefly off into the field of medicine, where mistakes are definitely made(including confusing the findings of scientific medical studies with non-science based/unstudied proclamations), and he sometimes contradicts himself.

Finally, the recipes seem strewn in almost randomly. Sometimes they illustrate points, but other times not. Some interesting from a cooking-in-your-own kitchen standpoint, sometimes from a historical standpoint, and sometimes ????

In the end, I was rather disappointed by this tome. There are interesting nuggets to be dug out.... but I would like more from my reads than that.

Steven Mlodinow

We are a bean eating family, where beans are consumed 3-4 times per week in some form. We used to go to the Bean Festival down in Tracy, CA so we never get tired of eating or learning about beans.

Which makes this book one anyone who loves food archeology, or bean cuisines should at least read if not own. No it doesn't cover everything about beans, but it covers enough to make it worth a read.

After all how many Americans know that virtually every culture has some type of bean dish? Or that beans as a food source goes back thousands of years?

Well to tell you the truth I heard great things about this book but I was a bit disapointed.
The characters were made well enough, they were there, but, you really did not get to know their inner selves at all. the book had no thoughts, simply actions, whichn rreally left you clueless to exactly what kind of people they were.
as for the rest of the book....I couldnt finish it. I got to page 77, and let me say there was a fightscene that had extended almost the entire way there. it was still going when I stopped reading, so I cant tell you exactly how long it was... but wow...it was just to long.
I suggest you steer clear of this book, but hey, it might just be your type anyway.

...by far. If you must read one Eberron book or series, read this one. If you intend to read them all, read these last, or you won't enjoy the other series as much, as they pale in comparison.

I want more!

I just finished reading The Binding Stone, the first of Don Bassingthwaithe's books I have read. Wow, it was really good.

This story had you hooked from the very beginning and by the end you just couldn't walk away from it ... everything stopped until I finished the book ! You can't say better than that !

The only thing I was disappointed with was the character Adolan who was so likeable was killed off so early - I was gutted ! However, the other character's were so well defined and different from each other and the plot so exciting one was forced to move on ! Author Bassingthwaite does a great job not letting out too much information, just drip feeding it through so even by the end the characters still have their mysteries. Plus the villians are so convincing.

I am looking forward to reading the next in the series ...

Just finished The Binding Stone and let me tell you, this is one great book. I like adventure stories like this one and it didn't let me down. The action is great and the characters are ones you want to root for. Great Job!!

If you like this book, might I suggest another I've recently come arcoss. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly reccomend it.

I am very reluctant to buy books based on RPG worlds, movies and the like since the books themselves have a sort of mass produced cookie cutter feel, with bland characters who are nothing more than representations of their character class and/or if you know the rules of the game, you spend the whole book trying to figure out what spell is being used, what class skill let's them do that? Not so with this book.

I picked up on a lark as I'd been out of D & D for years, right when Forgetten Realms started, due to lack of interest. Eberron's setting was interesting to me so I gave this book a shot. First, the author's writing style is praiseworthy. The descriptives are good, his vocabulary excellent and sentence style varied. I mention this to show the writer isn't some mass production hack. Second, the book involves three characters whose backgrounds are all Eberron specific, so you get a flavor for how these races and classes work in this universe. Third, the book does an excellent job giving a sense of tension as the heroes are chased relentlessly and are forced to escape rather than win every battle. Fourth, the heroes screw up and don't perform every task with perfection. Fifth, the villain(s) are well written, complex and you actually dislike them rather than being ambivalent about the outcome.

My only quibble is that two of the characters in the party hate each other from an event that happened years before during a war that shaped the current Eberron setting. I think they become allies a tad too easily, in spite of the circumstances, to really seem proper. If you've had a 7 year desire to exact revenge, I think it would be hard to put it aside so easily. I'd have liked a little more conflict between the characters from that standpoint.

Other than that, I think this book is well worth the read.

It's true, I always enjoy a Barbara Delinsky book! She's someone I read sort of off and on. I run across one of her books, read the back and usually end up buying. And often, their short descriptions on the back does not do them justice! Wonderfully, each of her books is quite different from the next.

Most women enjoy a great romance book, I am no different. Although, I prefer one with substance, a little more than the Harlequin's. Thus, Commitments is a great romance novel! It's got a steamy love affair, one that floats right off the pages. But it also has a story behind that love, one that I found inspiring, on many levels. Redemption, forgiveness, courage, commitment, unconditional love, dedication...the two people in this story have them all!

If you haven't read Barbara Delinsky, I'd recommend picking up one of her books. This one would be a good one to start, I also enjoyed Coast Road, Vineyard and Lake News.

What happened the book overall was good, but boy was I disappointed by the end. I felt that Ms Delinsky got tired and wanted to wrap up the story, The ending will make you wonder what
did the ballatine files contained, did sabrina have a girl or boy and what about the antagonist Geer did he get his in the end.I've read several of Ms.Delinsy's books and this was about to be my favorite if not for the end, she left so many potenial story lines loose and I felt cheated out of a potential good book

Of all places, I found this book when cleaning out my storage shed ~~ and this book is really a light read and a welcome break from my normal reading.

Sabrina Stone looks like a society wife ~~ all glitter and glam only to show Derek McGill that she is a woman made of substance. And their love story takes you from the top of a Manhattan rooftop to the farmland in Vermont. There are murder, intrigue and steamy sex scenes written in this little book.

If you're looking for something to read while taking a break from house cleaning, painting or any of those tiresome chores, this book is one I would recommend. It's not the deepest read of the year, but it is fun!

I remember reading this book of Delinsky's sometime ago and recall that it was an overall pretty good read. Sabrina Stone had married a little too hurriedly, and not wisely at all. When her son Nicky was born with many special needs, her husband of course, couldn't handle it at all. So Sabrina struggles along taking care of his needs on her own most of the time as her hubby is never around.

Meanwhile, she meets a reporter, Derek McGill, to whom she is very much attracted to. It is a shock later, though to learn that Derek was unjustly convicted of murder and sent to prison.
Sabrina however, with unconditional love for Derek, visits him in prison, and falls in love deeper and deeper unbeknownst to Nick.

As the book moves on, there is some mystery to be solved about some files that will help Derek's case, and Sabrina tries to help him all the way. The ending is unclear here, but Sabrina sticks with Derek no matter what. Some people have problems with her commitment to this man in her family.

I enjoyed the book very much.

Delinksy is always interesting. I have read almost all her books. In my opinion, this is not one of her best, but it is still a good book and will keep most readers interested throughout the duration. She gets better and better as time goes on. Her later books are all wonderful. One can see how her writing has improved when comparing early books such as "12 Across," "Bronze Mystique" and some of her early Harlequin stories to her later novels. If you have not read her before, start with "For My Daughters," "Suddenly," Vineyard" or "Coast Road." This is a good one to check out at the library, but not necessarily to spend money buying and keeping.

This is a very nice book of recipes. So many mouth watering recipes to choose from...I am very glad I purchased it and I plan to try 90% of them!

I found this book very useful and informative on preparing dishes with beans. It covers preparation for all beans you would find in your local supermarket.
One subject the book covers is gas. A lot of people find beans very tasty and filling but find the gas too embarassing if not repulsing to the point where they will never eat beans again. This book covers the topic and even tells you what to add to any bean recipe to alviate the problem without changing taste. I personnaly knew this could be done but wasn't totally sure until I bought the book. Although everybody's body is different, it worked for me.
The only reaon this book gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because although it talks about all beans and how to soak them, most of the recipes call for "canned beans," rather than cups of soaked beans that you would have prepared. This I found confusing at first. With a little common sense and reading however, you would know that 1 15oz can of kidney beans is the same as kidney beans you soaked and cooked.

For the beginning bean eater, this book has it all. The recipes are quick and easy, as well as delicious. I took the Crockpot Vegetable Chili to a party last night and it got rave reviews. Haven't gotten the nerve to try the Blueberry Bean Muffins yet, but they're next on my list!

I ordered this book because I really like to cook and love legumes and my pressure cooker. Perhaps I should have looked elsewhere.

The recipes in here are nicely put together with the nutrition information and there is quite a bit of information on legumes. However, I found that there were too many Southwestern Chili type recipes for my taste. If you like to make chili and lots of Mexican and Southwestern inspired dishes this might be the cookbook for you. That is not to say that there aren't some Mediterranean and Caribbean inspired recipes but it just seems that the Tex-Mex and Southwestern flavors beat out the others.

Also, I happen to loathe margarine and avoid it at all costs. I love to cook and would much rather use less butter or a combination of canola oil and butter or olive oil or even an olive oil spray -- anything but margarine. Not only does this cookbook call for margarine specifically, but diet margarine. In the same vein I understand that the author is an M.S., R.D. but I really don't think there is a need to use Fat-Free Dressing for everything. I also didn't like that one of the recipes called for onion soup mix. I have never purchased onion soup mix and try my best not to purchase lots of processed foods. Thus, I get very uneasy when a cookbook uses these types of ingredients.

One more irksome tidbit was the fact that there weren't any recipes or mention of other beans such as the anasazi, adzuki, flageolet, cranberry to name a few.

This cookbook might not be the best cookbook for someone looking for a wider repertoire of legume recipes than your Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook can offer.

With 150 recipes, including a handful of bean-based desserts, this book will last quite a while before you run out of ideas for bean-based dishes. From a simple black bean dip to Hoppin' John, this book leaves no excuse for not including beans in your diet.

this one is one of my favorite novel from the series... if u like murder/fantasy.. u must read this one and the darkwoodmask.. both of them are very good and the characters are great... must read,.

Just finished this book. It was pretty bad. I had such high hopes because, I love fantasy books and I love mystery books, so I just figured this book would be right up my alley.

First, what I liked. I did like the banter between Wren and Torin. It was pretty funny. I liked how the initial mystery was just the tip of a bigger mystery. And I liked Col, I guess.

Other than that.

Cutter was a completely forgetable and cliche character. Wren wasn't even a very good detective. Col was probably better. What the heck did Wren figure out anyways? To all the people who thought he was like Sherlock Holmes, ask yourself that. He didn't deduce anything correctly. Hell, Cutter and Col were far superior to Wren in terms of figuring stuff out. And I sooooo wanted Wren to be a good detective. And I also agree with one of the other reviewers, we needed to know a bit more about the villian. One page of motivation? ****SPOILER**** Basically, he said, I hate you guys.

The author is not bad, but it looks like he's never read a good mystery. Pick up some Agatha Christie or Doyle, it'll blow your mind. Imagine how cool the book would have been if Wren 'wrapped up' the case at the end like Poirot or Holmes and came to the correct conclusion USING CLUES THAT WERE AVAILABLE TO THE READER. That would have been awesome.

Don't buy this book.

While this book is as action-packed as others in it's genre, it also has a quality that's missing from most WotC novels. The mystery presented in Night of the Long Shadows is deep enough to not be obvious (at least obvious to me) and the characters are all likeable and endearing. I was reminded of the interplay between Bruenor Battlehammer and Regis at some points. As an avid gamer I had my doubts about Eberron but books like these are helping to bring me around. I hope I get to read more of Paul's work in the future!

The Night of Long Shadows is a fantasy novel, replete with elves, dwarves, half-elves, hobgoblins and Eberron-specific creatures such as Warforged and Shifters. It is also a noir mystery in the finest tradition of Dashiell Hammett, with (literally) backstabbing damsels, a famed Inquisitive and his trusty, if cynical sidekick, and an anti-hero who seems happier in the dark alleys, handing out black eyes and broken jaws at the whim of his employer, a halfling named Tiel (who reminds me of Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas, without the cuss words!).

Thus, do the plans of dwarves and half-elves go astray, when Wren, a famed half-elf inquisitive (re: detective) is called to the brutal murder of a professor at Margrave University. The only witness is Torin, Wren's dwarf sidekick, who places Cutter at the scene of the crime.

Cutter is a human bruiser with a dragon tattoo and twin blades taken from the leader of a band of elves who had enslaved him for three years. His primary goal is to save up enough money to run off with his girlfriend Rowan and begin a new life, away from the nastiness of Teil Boromar, the leader of a crime syndicate trying to advance to the literal top of Sharn, City of Towers. These three are the story's main characters.

Wren and Torin are to Eberron as Holmes and Watson are to London, England. They are constantly bickering and are rightly accused of acting like an old married couple (Torin's wife supposedly hates Wren, who seems positively terrified of her). The humor doesn't get in the way of their abilities, and Wren shows himself to be intelligent and carefully observant. Torin keeps Wren in line.

Mr. Crilley expertly balances the humor with Wren's professionalism, Torin's stoicism and Cutter's dark need for vengeance and destruction. Make no mistake, this isn't a book for kids under 10. There is a LOT of blood and guts spilled. Torture, while occurring off stage, leads to messy results and a powerful, emotional message is told as we see our characters face death and attempt to overcome it, or at least move beyond.
This is, at its heart, a dark story of redemption...and it is a very good one.

The mystery takes the characters from the seediest underbelly of Sharn to its highest towers, with a shadowy warforged intent on destroying any "softskins" that he happens upon. Prison breaks, leaps from burning towers and the sky literally falling are just some of the obstacles that Wren, Torin and Cutter must face in order to discover what's happening.
At no point does the author telegraph what's coming, making the mystery a real-time event, just as it is to the characters. We learn as they do.

What keeps this book from being a full five star novel is one major quibble I have, which some people might not agree with, but for me, is something my mind couldn't get past:

There are characters that appear out of nowhere and, in the course of one or two chapters, either disappear, never to be seen again, or die. In one case, the "convenient" characters have a long past with our heroes, but serve little purpose other than to assist our heroes with one goal...the final outcome of this sequence bugged me a little, but no to such a detriment as to make me dislike the story. It just seemed too convenient to me that they should be there for just this one event...and then be gone. I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THEM!! And that, also, is a mark of an excellent writer, that such short-lived characters should engender such a reaction.

Aside from this one issue, the rest of the novel is nothing but a fun, frightening romp into the land of black-and-white noir (a la The Maltese Falcon) and pulp fiction (Indiana Jones, the most recent and obvious incarnation).

The story (and the mystery itself) is solid, the characters are emotionally fulfilling and interesting. Mr. Crilley's writing is smooth and easy to read (minus a glaring computer glich that repeated an entire paragraph - it's good to know that neither writer nor editor are to blame...these things happen from time to time...but it was still a noticeable speedbump in the flow of the story). He knows how to write good action sequences and how to tell a complicated mystery without making it seem complicated.

Best of all, he has created two iconic characters, Wren and Torin. Let me just say that the final sentence of the novel absolutely made the entire book emotionally satsifying for me.

I enjoyed The Night of Long Shadows, but Mr. Crilley ended the story in the best possible way, and realizing how it could have ended, makes it that much better.

Highly recommended for fans of mystery, fantasy and good writing.

I've only started reading Eberron books with "The Inquisitives" Series, and this was a very enjoyable read for me. I'm not really familiar with D&D, so a few elements had me asking around for clarification, but overall, I loved the pacing, the dialogue, and the action. While the dialogue flowed perfectly, I could have used a bit more description when it came to scenery, objects, and characters.

There were some laugh-out-loud moments, and I would love to see a series of books featuring Wren and Torin.

Looking forward to the rest of The Inquisitives books, and more from Paul Crilley as well.

I was given this book as a Christmas present. I recently found time to read it and was very surprised at how fasinating I found it. I felt the characters were very real and I was sad when the book ended. Believe me, the things Linda Nichols wrote about in this book does happen in real life. This is not "hard to believe" fiction!! If you want a good read, this is it. I will definitely read more of Nichols' books.

I picked up this book while out of state and finished most of it on a four-hour flight. The storyline was riveting, the characters concise and the dialogue believable. It seemed to me that some of the issues in the book were brushed over somewhat, but not every book delves into the deep issues of humanity. The ending was rather "happily ever after" but don't we all like to read a book that ends that way every now and then? Over all, a great read.

This is the first novel I have read by Linda Nichols.....I plan on reading all of them now. This story captured my heart from the first chapter. I felt for all of the characters in the book and it left me with a warm heart when I finished. Do yourself a favor -- read it and ENJOY !!!!!!

I did not like this book at all. I thought everything was far fetched. I can't imagine real people living like this. It certainly did not inspire my faith one iota. I read it for book club and most of the women in the group enjoyed the book, but felt the situations were all a little contrived. No other reviewer has mentioned the fact that the mother kills herself in the book. How can that make it a great book? Of course that part of the book was very realistic. I must be honest and say that I was very depressed after losing my mother very suddenly, so I read the book with a heavy heart. I loved Ms. Nichols book "At the Scent of Water" and have sent my copy to friends out of state. Therefore, I know she is a great writer. This one just didn't do it for me.

I read Nichols' If I Gained the World a couple years ago, and that's why I wanted to read this one. The beginning started strong, with the old lady praying, but then it switched viewpoint, and switched, and switched...until I didn't really know what story I was following and who to care about. I ended up not really caring about anyone at all, just observing as I read. It was hard to get into it, and still halfway through, I wanted to give put it away. I skimmed a couple chapters until it came close to the end again.

The storyline itself has potential; young girl goes wrong and wants another chance. Some parts were good, but it took me awhile and a bit of patience to find them. The symbolism of the Sparrow was a nice touch too. However, I found it hard to believe that Bridie could go from the meth world into a nanny position so quickly and easily. She was too perfect at it, almost Marry Poppins-like. There wasn't a lot of struggle with the lifestyle change, only the guilty conscience. The end was too tidy, and IMO did not deliver the building suspense that it seemed to be leading to. It was a bit anti-climatic, and then everyone lived happily ever after.

For the Christian audience, I know that many will just love this story of faith and redemption, which is the target audience. So I give it a few stars for meeting that audience. But for an overall story, I was disappointed.

I have owned this book for about nine years now, and every summer when the garden really starts to produce it comes back off of the cookbook shelf. Some of my particular favorites are the Fresh Cream of Tomato Soup and the Eggplant Minestrone, which both freeze well if made in large quantites. The Chocolate Zucchini Cake is also very good. In fact there are a lot of good recipes for zucchini and who isn't looking for zucchini recipes when they grow them - one or two plants produce so much. My mother got used to this book when I still lived at home and helped my father grow a garden. Now she has to keep borrowing it to make her favorites. I have also shared some of my favorites with other family members and cowokers who have all been impressed with the variety and quality of the recipes.

An inviting cover, but with so many other recipe source options, I'd put this one on my "B" list. The lack of illustrations makes for a very boring read and difficult to visualize the hoped for end result.

My mother in law gave me this book when she found out that we had a membership in a community farm or CSA. That's where you pay a fee up front at the beginning of the season for a "share" of what the garden produces. This book is very handy for coming up with ideas for things you have a lot of, but it also has a lot of good info about preservation and how long certain produce last under different conditions. In that sense it's not just a cookbook, it's a reference book too. And the zucchini enchiladas are pretty popular at our house!

I love the *idea* of this cookbook. It presents chapters organized alphabetically by garden vegetable. Each chapter includes notes on growing and harvesting the vegetable, yield information, a few nutritional notes, information on storage, freezing, cooking, basic preparation, and complementary herbs. The freezing information is perhaps the most useful, in my mind. The one truly great piece of information I got out of this cookbook is that you *can* freeze and then reheat potato dishes, as long as you don't thaw them first; most cookbooks will just tell you that you can't do this. (However, it doesn't give any instructions as to which sorts of dishes work well for this and which don't--and believe me, some work *much* better than others. Let's just say that if you want to freeze potato dishes, freeze ones in which the potato is in as mashed and creamy a state as possible, with few chunks.)

The recipes themselves are all over the map in terms of quality, and lean very heavily on fatty dairy products to make them flavorful--which means that they won't be very useful to vegans or folks on a diet (two major groups of people who are going to want to make heavy use of vegetables in their diet). Most of them also don't use a huge amount of the vegetable in question, and don't state whether they freeze well or not (and if they do, how to alter the cooking instructions for the frozen dish), which means that these recipes aren't any more useful for the cookbook's stated purpose than those in other cookbooks. The only advantage is that in here they're organized by vegetable, and, well, that's what an index is for in other cookbooks. You'd be better off with a copy of the Joy of Cooking--it covers all the vegetables as well, and the recipes are of much more consistent quality.

Speaking of the recipes... Some of the recipes have blatant mistakes in them (like the recipe that called for WAY too much salt--our best guess is that it should have called for one *teaspoon* instead of one *tablespoon*). Others just don't taste very good; rarely have I found a cookbook with such incredibly mediocre recipes. Because of the way the recipes are written up, sometimes it's tough to tell which groups of ingredients go with which instructions. Although the recipes look incredibly simple, sometimes that's because they under-explain things or leave out steps, which means that the kind of cook who'll appreciate having simple recipes will probably have problems with them.

This book is a great concept, and it saddens me to have to give it such a poor review. But it just doesn't stand up to real use.

This book is a treasure-trove of ideas about what to do with your garden bounty. It goes far beyond tomatoes, with recipes for everything from asparagus to zucchini. The book has a chapter for each common garden vegetable, and the chapters are in alphabetical order for easy reference. At the beginning of each chapter is a brief description of the vegetable, notes for growing and harvesting, descriptions of yield, storage, freezing, and cooking instructions, and suggestions for complementary herbs. Then come about 15 recipes for each vegetable, including soups, appetizers, salads, main dishes, side dishes, and desserts.

The authors are obviously great and creative cooks. The recipes use basic ingredients, and do not call for processed or convenience foods. There aren't many recipes in this book for fancy occasions-most are for simple good home cooking type of meals that don't take a lot of elaborate preparations or require exotic ingredients. The gardening advice isn't quite up to the level of the cooking notes, however. For example, the authors instruct readers to discard the entire cabbage plant after harvest, but you can actually get some baby cabbages by leaving the plant in the ground and cutting an X across the stalk. Alternatively, one way to store cabbages is to pull the entire plant up by the roots and hang it in a cool, dry place. In the corn chapter, the authors recommend extending the corn season by planting corn with different maturation dates. However, corn is wind pollinated, and it is one plant where this year's harvest will be affected by mixing varieties, so if you're going to try to grow several kinds of corn, you need to keep them at least 100 feet apart. That's kind of hard to do in a backyard garden. In short, this is a great cookbook, but for gardening advice, you'd do better to look elsewhere.

. . .but with a totally unsatisfactory ending.

The premise: a renegade group of US soldiers are going to stage a biological attack in the US in order to bolster the need for a strong military and bring to the fore the need to protect against terror. The victim: the young daughter of an officer with connections with (but not part of) the conspiracy. Although written in 1998, the plot is extremely timely, in light of the events of the past year.

Like his first novel, the criminal investigator involved in the case is a woman with a seriously messed-up private life. Such a convention is rapidly becoming stereotypical, and this might be off-putting to some readers.

For this reviewer, however, the book was weakened by an unsatisfactory ending and the use of children as victims, which I find distasteful.

Admittedly, the only reason that I read Carl's first book is because his daughter Jessica is a good friend of mine, and they were very excited about it. While it was a good book, I didn't think it was particularly extroardinary. Then, when Dust to Dust came out, I read it again for the same reason. Except this book was even better. It really made me think, and question certainties that I've always held as true without giving them a second thought. I enjoy his writing style, and know him to be very dedicated and committed to his work. He truly writes from experience, and I can tell you that "Wendy" and "Gordon" are actually real people, and the experiences in the book are definitely related to them. This book was amazing, and I encourage everyone to be on the lookout for his next novel, "With Evil Intent".

I was amazed when I read Dust to Dust. I read it once and found myself rereading. I never do that. If I get confused by a book, I throw it aside. In this case, I reread the entire book a second time. That never happens. This is a great book! Deep with plot twists. Deep with meaning. Separates the seasoned reader from the child.

This is the second time I've written a review of Dust to Dust, primarily because I think it's an underrated book, and I don't understand why you would decide not to print a positive review. This is a novel in which the author astutely portrays the world we live in. You say, I don't want to read more about the world I live in and hear about each day. Fine. But when a writer can capture that world and make an insightful social statement at the same time, it's rare. In this book, people are going all sorts of different directions. Even when they're talking together, there's tension and distance between them, so there really is no such word as "they" in the novel. Characters are never reconciled with each other. Like the world. Dog eat dog. In the middle of everything is this cool Kathryn Stanton, who is trying to make sense of the absurd. How many days have I felt like Kathryn at the end of the day--drained, disoriented, stunned by the absurdity of my surroundings (especially by the lying, cheating, arguing, finger-pointing and manipulation by a world of Bill Clintons and Ken Starrs in our government). Yes, C.N. Bean is a writer to keep your eyes on! Great book, despite it being a challenging read. Deep!

The only reason I finished this book was because I had spent $8.99 buying it. I found the style of writing distracting - for example, "He and she sat down." Has the author never heard of the word "they"? There was just one too many spelling mistakes, which only drew attention away from the somewhat muddled storyline. I had too many questions when the book ended - perhaps I wasn't perceptive enough, but who was the FBI leak? Not a bad enough book to be included on your summer holiday reading list, but if your reading time is limited, pass it by.

I loved this book. I immediatly felt like I knew the characters. I was heartbroken when Eugene was killed. I was apalled by the things John did to his family and "friends". I loved the tenderness and true love that Pam and Cutter had for one another. I loved that Cutter rose up from being a street kid to a success. I truly loved this book. And I just picked it up by chance while milling around the books at Target. I will definitely read more of Barbara Delinsky's books.

This was a wonderful heartwarming story of a family. Easy reading , I could not put it down until I finished it. Barbara Delinsky is an excellent author and I enjoy all of her books.

What else can I say. I have never been disappointed with a Barbara
Delinsky book. Enjoyable! Excellent.

As far as I have got in the book, it is excellant. Of course I love Barbara Dalinsky's work.

Tamara

It is very irritating to purchase a book---and this is the more expensive hardcover!!!! --- and then find out it is a reprint. So, beware!