Berry Books

Filled cover to cover with spectacular full-color photographs, Giant Perennials: Star Performers For The Garden by gardening expert Susan Berry showcases a wide variety of beautiful and hardy plants to spruce up one's garden. Basic guidelines to planting for all occasions round out this eye-catching guide especially designed for those looking to choose the right sort of perennial to match the tone of their overall garden environment. Also available in a paperback edition Giant Perennials is a splendid and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, professional, garden club, and community library Gardening & Horticultural reference collections.

I liked the fact that most of the plants in this book are shown FULL GROWN with full color photographs. Photographs of full grown plants and groups of full grown plants are very, very helpful when planning a garden or landscape. I also appreciated that each plant description indicated if the plant would need to be staked for support.
Don't buy this book without the dust jacket! The meaning for the symbols at the top of each plant description are not in the book. They are only on the dust jacket! Also, the directory pages were color coded but I couldn't find a key to determine what the color coding meant. I had to guess.

This is a fairly basic book that will help new, or fairly new gardeners select and grow large perennials. Perennials - flowers that bloom year after year - are the backbone of many gardens. However many people with small city lots hesitate to grow larger perennials, fearing they might appear out-of-scale with the size of the property. I was one of those people until I got tempted by lupins, red hot pokers and foxgloves. (Too bad, I thought, if passers-by couldn't see the house for the flowers. In fact the larger flowers make a dramatic statement and draw attention rather than hiding the house.)

So I was encouraged when the writer mentioned that she also grew large perennials on a very small lot. The perennials described in the book usually reach a height of five feet or more, and are often placed at the back of the border so they don't hide smaller plants. The writer is knowledgeable on the topic of larger perennials and the first 40 pages discuss where and how to plant, plant care, propagation, and pests and diseases.

The remaining 100 pages are a plant directory of tall perennials, nicely illustrated with color photographs. The description of each plant has all the information the gardener needs about height, spread, light requirements, and soil and drainage preferences. The writer also gives suggestions for combination plantings and offers advice on topics such as staking requirements and how to keep pets at bay.

Buy this book for someone who is fairly new to gardening. It may encourage them to take a step towards bolder and more structural plantings.

In Riverton, Wisconsin, Regina Coeli Hospital has admitted a rape victim with apparent multiple personalities. When the hospital doctor and a counselor from the nearby Rape Crisis and Domestic Abuse Center attempt to examine the patient, the young woman turns into a ferocious animal. Cate Lawson, on her first day as director of the rape crisis center, tries to talk with the animal-person, but luckily the ?host? Mandie Harwood resurfaces to take charge of her body.

Mandie explains to Cate that she was not raped, but her six-year old ?insider? Anna was raped by a low IQ person Will Forsyth. He insists he had consensual sex with an adult. Ambitious local district attorney Paul Josephson sees the case as headline news material that will give his career a tremendous boost. He goes after Forsyth with a vengeance, leaving Cate to wonder who really is the victim in this complex legal case.

MY NAME IS LEGION is an exciting complex psychological legal thriller based on a real experience author Sheila Martin Berry dealt with in Wisconsin. The complicated story line is crisp and entertaining. The charcaters, especially Mandie and her insider cohorts, and Will come across as very real. Ms. Berry packs too many emotional subplots including the tangle of Cate?s personal life into the novel. However, these sub-plots do not hinder a great main story line from providing fans of legal-medical thrillers with an insightful yet entertaining look at multiple personality disorder.

Harriet Klausner

I listened to an interview with the author on public radio. I was very impressed with her knowledge about unjust convictions and the criminal justice system. It appeared to me that she had significant and valuable experience to relate to listeners and readers. I was hoping for a book related to that subject. Unfortunately from what I can understand so far this book is about what to me is the quackery of "multiple personalities". If you like well written quackery books this might be perfect for you. But if you are looking for any kind of practical or realistic knowledge than don't waste your time. This author sounded in the radio interview that she had a lot to offer. I hope she writes a book about the criminal justice system in addition to this kind of nonsense.
Kenneth Ellman
email:ke@kennethellman.com

If you liked the movie Sixth Sense, if you like psychological mysteries, you will like this novel by Sheila Berry. It is the story of a woman with a dissociative disorder (I am still stuck with "multiple personality disorder"), one of whose personalities is raped, and a series of events that involve a rape crisis counselor going through a divorce, local police, and an ambitious prosecutor. It is, as my wife, who reads three novels a week, says "a page turner," a "good read." I liked the story. Not having treated many people of this sort (I am a psychologist), but one memorable one whom I saw for about eight years, I do not have enough experience to generalize. I stumbled over one aspect which I prefer not to tell for the sake of the reader. All the rest, including the plot development, characterization of main players, and descriptive narratives were very believeable. If you are looking this fall for a novel that keeps your attention, keeps you turning pages for the next plot development which in good writing seems natural or "organic" to the characters, this is one that you will enjoy.

YES, this excellent book is a basic primer for new students and non-savvy marketing VP's. And maybe that's where some folks should get back to? Back to the basics of reporting to their COO and CEO and CFO the ABC's of Marketing, Publicity and Advertising. WHAT'S THE ROI OF YOUR PLAN?

A= Is it Authorized?

B= Was it Budgeted?

C= Will it be Cost effective?

For too long, too many Marketing, Publicity and Advertising folks have gone to their bosses and submitted proposals as high as 50 million dollars and gotten it. Six months later, the product was pulled from the shelves and the funds had been wasted.

This book is a basic, hard school of knocks which helps a creative person establish and lay out what and how and who will be responsible for budgeting and producing results. There are no shortage of great ideas, great campaigns, great new jingles and slogans coming from top agencies, worldwide - for a hefty multi-million dollar cost.

Having worked for the largest ad and marketing company in the world (which owns almost 100 companies) there are at least a half dozen colleagues whom could care less if the CAMPAIGN produced any sales results. This book puts an end to irresponsible behavior.

You can't have your income of 400k per year anymore if you can't prove the ROI or prove sales were lifted or the P & L benefited! Just because you have a great marketing idea - doesn't mean you get your requested project budget!

YES, my own family's company that we have helped created enduring slogans that MADE MONEY FOR PEOPLE like, "When it rains it pours," for Morton Salt - "Reach out and touch someone," for Bell Telephone (my Uncle Tony Galli) and others like, "A diamond is forever." These ideas and jingles or slogans with campaigns made and make money still for clients - even after 100 years they are still being used today.

What I found in Tim Berry's and Doug Wilson's book and software program is that they are holding people accountable for their proposals. And that is a back to the basics, school desk approach that most CEO's, COO's and CFO's find refreshing. Forecasting is key but so is Actual Results for Sales.

To this day, I can't erase from my mind a senior VP at a major ad agency telling me, "the 20 million dollar campaign we handled was for delivery of an excellent campaign - we have no responsibility or interest in the financial results for the client."

In this case, the client was a Fortune 100 client...

Have you ever heard of a SWOT analysis? If you have, then this book is not for you. This book is very good for an entry level book. The authors have very little successful experience in business plan writing and the tasks they include are elementary. You would be much better off reading and intro to marketing textbook instead. The textbook would cover fundamentals of marketing. I respect the authors background, but most people would be better off with a different book.

This is a great way to get your arms around doing the some times challenging task of writing a marketing plan. It takes you through the process step-by-step and it is filled with great resources, especially the current web sites it suggests. A great way to get that plan accomplished with solid coaching throughout. These guys know what they are doing!

I bought this book in the hope of a fast reference for Rails 2.x.
First complain: there's only a single, 200 pages long, chapter, splitted into several paragraphs; it ain't a severe drawback, but by dedicating to each topic a chapter would be far more usable.
This book does a good job introducing Rails: gems, scripts and the configuration are all well exposed throughtout the first 30 pages.
Troubles start when introducing Testing (why are there only examples of Functional tests?) and, after a good coverage of the console, get worst by entering the ActiveRecord paragarph: suffice to say that AR proxy's methods aren't mentioned at all, there are no examples about conditional validations (:if with block, proc or symbol), nor abstract AR coverage.
Ok, it's a pocket guide, but why the hell dedicate entire paragraphs to Capistrano and Textmate(!), when core features of Rails are not covered with the needed detail?
It's a pity, cause by adding 20 more pages/examples with the missing topics (and maybe eliminating some useless info) will transform this book into an essential reference (several 2.x features are well explained, such as named_scope and dirty objects). Sorry, target missed!

I have been searching high and low for a text that actually explains something, not just offers massive tutorials. This book fits the bill perfectly. The writing is precise and succinct. Both the author and the O'Reilly editors deserve kudos for writing this.

In short, if you want to learn Rails, and have been struggling, grab this book!

Like many who dabble with Rails, I own many books on the subject. I like this format in general, and this book does not disappoint. Rails is a loose set of tools/scripts, and this brings together the "how", with just the right amount of "why".

I give the content 5 stars, but it's so densely packed with information at times the layout is too busy, so I gave it a 4 overall.

This is a very basic knitting book. it is a great book to buy for a new knitter as the patterns mostly use garter stitch (all knit rows). As an experienced knitter it is impressive to see how effective the old garter stitch can be. It works really well for home accessories, and doesn't require the purchasing of expensive yarn. In fact, the more basic the yarn (like string and cotton chenille) the better. Unfortunately Erika Knight mostly uses Rowan yarns. Rowan yarns are gorgeous but expensive, particularly when you need large quantities to make a throw rug. Detailed yarn specifications and hints for substitution would have been great.
I would buy this book for a beginner knitter, particularly who doesn't feel inspired by knitting scarves. Despite the photography which really is quite minimalist and appeals to adults, I think the patterns are great for children who are learning to knit. Using garter stitch squares and some funky coloured yarn they can make baskets, cushions and even blankets.
Overall it makes a great present for a new knitter. I'm hoping to inspire the person who will recieve this book and will package it in a string basket (made from the pattern in the book) with a set of needles and a ball of string.

This book is the EXACT same book as Erika Knight's book: Comforts of Home, simple knitted accents. "Simple Knits for Easy Living" was produced for England's market while the "Comforts of Home" was produced for the United States market.

I was very disappointed in the book and thought it lacked creativity. It's definitely TOO basic for an advanced knitter. Not at all worth buying.

This is an excellent book containing a variety of knitting tips and patterns for useful pieces for the home, such as blankets and cushions. It is a worthwhile investment for any knitter interested in creating useful and attractive objects for themselves or as gifts or heirlooms.

The templates are simple to code and work well.
The book can be downloaded for free online.
The download version is 2nd edition, whereas this
is only the 1st addition.

An excellent, concise book for the iterative solution of linear systems by a entire plethora of current researchers in the field. It not only quickly introduces the various iterative methods, stationary and non-stationary, e.g. Jacobi, SOR, Gauss-Seidel, Conjugate Gradient etc, but briefly analyses them in terms of current research whether unpreconditioned or preconditioned. In addition it considers other more specialised techniques involving domain decomposition and fast solvers. All round excellent although the book is available for free from the website. Definitely worth it.

This is a nice book for a person to get a good overview of iterative methods. The detail is often lacking, however the book is a good introduction to the field. The authors are some of the biggest names in the field and the book shows some insight into the theory and application of iterative methods.

I first checked this book out from my library because my husband and I wanted to get the most out of our four days at Disneyland with our two young children. This book had all the little details that we needed to know! We followed the suggested game plan and got on the most popular rides with hardly any wait times. And I loved knowing where some little out of the way resting spots are. I think everyone who is planning a vacation to the Anaheim area should read this book. It is filled with fantastic info.

There are some good hints here, but do not be mislead by the title. For a complete book on Disneyland and California Adventure, I highly recommend Birnbaum's Disneyland Resort 2003, Expert Advice From The Inside Source. Birnbaum's Disneyland is updated annually and published every year.

I was swept away with the various concepts and theories that Mr. Berry wrote about. Although some had a "Star Trek" like feel to them, I felt that his ideas were very promising, and the way that he proposed them were both intrigueing and informative. I look forward to reading any of his works with the same enthusiasm.

The author describes the work needed and the idea behind using black holes as space travel devices. A major hole in this theory, not unlike the time machine postulated by Frank Tipler Jr., is that we must first overcome the problem of inertia! Certainly a non-trivial problem in itself. The book describes the project needed to build an "Iron Sun", out of ferric dust in the neighboorhood of our solar system. Borrowing heavily from Von Neumann, he describes a construction device capable of reproduction that could be turned loose some 1 light year away (another trivial event!) and left to push together a self-contracting pile of iron dust that would collape into a ten-solar mass black hole. He goes on in some detail to describe the problems that this might create, physically and politically, not to mention economically. Also is a rather sketchy version of how two holes could be build and an Einstein-Rosen Bridge be somehow built between them, the science is hazy at this point. There is no mention of quantum effects such as non-locality that could account for this action. Even though, I enjoyed the book throughly and recommend it to anyone intereted in black holes or engineering projects in space.

I don't know what that other guy is talking about; this book is a masterpiece! From start to finish, it's a true work of art for children and adults alike. From the catchy little tune it plays when you press the button to the wonderful story that is written within, it truly is a great book. My child loves this book! He is always whistling the tune it plays and reciting the witty rhymes as he walks through the house. I can tell that he has really been touched by this wonderful little book. A++!!

What a great idea. The cover says, "Let your light shine! A story about helping others." And then quotes Matthew 5:15-16.

After that, it all goes wrong. It is a board book, so it is meant for toddlers and preschoolers. The writing doesn't make sense. Kids aren't taught what a light house really does. And they never tie in the idea of how Jesus and his love are light a light house and how we can be a light house for others. The text rhymed, but it wasn't very good.

Now, my kids liked the lighthouse that lit up and played music, but that's just about it. The story just didn't hold their interest. Or mine!

This is a book about Papal politics and Marian visions. It is a great blend between dogma and true religion that is spiritual in nature. Steve Berry captures very well the nature of all his characters and you get a clear idea about the way in which they think. I think the character of Valendrea is illustrated very well and you really get a sense of the kind of man he is just by reading about his day to day interactions. The whole Fatima and Medjugorje visions are described well. The way he has handled explosive debates ranging from marriage of priests, women priests and abortion is done very well and it all comes together well in the end. The only one wish I had was for the protagonist Colin Michener to remain in the church and rise to the papacy some day and also for the actual victory and naming of the one who will become pope. I do not wish to reveal any details, so go read it.

An excellent and easy read. Most anyone that likes the author, Steve Berry, will enjoy this. He is one of my favorite authors, along with Harlan Coban. He is consistantly very creative working with documented history and incorporating facts into fictional fun. Highly recommend.

pretty good story! i really enjoyed the concept and the books fast pace! looking forward to reading more of the author's works, thumbs up!

I liked most of the book. Some of it is pretty stereotypical in its depiction of the outsiders (non-Italians) being good guys and the insiders (Italians) being the bad guys, but someone has to be the good guy and someone has to be the bad guy or there would not be a story.

I was a little disappointed that the third secret was revealed at the end. It won't effect the enjoyment of the book very much if you know what the third secret is. Basic the third secret is every liberal American catholic's wet dream. Birth control and abortion is OK, so is homosexuality, and presumably non-marital sex of any kind, as long as there is some kind of love in the equation, and women can be priests.

If you buy into the idea that religion doesn't need to take a moral stance, than I guess you will appreciate the third secret. personally, i think the book would have been better off without revealing what the third secret was.

Even so, it is a good read, even with a few flaws.

Colin Michener is secretary to well-loved Pope Clement XV, and lately he has become concerned about the pope's behavior. He seems obsessed with one of the secrets contained within the Vatican's Riserva, a special room filled with historic documents available only to popes. In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, and Clement XV keeps entering the Riserva to read the documents related to the apparition. Clement is an old man, in failing health, and many believe he is not long for the world. His chosen secretary of state, Cardinal Alberto Valendrea, has big plans for his own papacy, just as soon as the annoying current pope is out of the way. He believes Clement is far too liberal, and Valendrea wants to advance his own highly conservative agenda, not to mention his plans for personal glorification. He will allow nothing to get in his way, and if a few inconvenient people have to be murdered along the way, they're just martyrs for the cause. On errands for the pope, Colin finds himself in Valendrea's sights, and also finds himself conflicted when the one woman he once loved reappears at critical moments. She's been hired by Valendrea to find out what Michener's errands for the pope are all about, but she finds her loyalties shifting back to the man she once loved, even though he once left her for the church.

This is a very well-researched novel with plenty of intrigue, but I find that my suspension of disbelief does not translate to religious matters. Catholics or people with an interest in religious practices will likely find a lot of fascinating subject matter in this book, but I fear it was wasted on me. Despite this, however, the book did hold my interest, and the final third was filled with gripping suspense. One big flaw that annoyed me for most of the book, however, was that the reader was left out of the loop. This is one of my least favorite plot devices. Everyone in the story seemed to know all about the Third Secret of Fatima and why it was so shocking, but the author didn't bother to let us in on the details until near the end. That's just bad form. If the protagonist knows, I need to know. Rather than making me want to read faster so I can be caught up to speed, this tactic makes me lose interest in the story. Why should I care what's driving these people to do all the things they're doing if I don't know what it is?

Religious differences and that point aside, however, this was a pretty good book. I'm sure some would find the things I did not care for quite fascinating. Steve Berry isn't the best thriller author out there, but he's a solid writer and his books are fairly well-plotted and worth reading.