Big Books

In the past couple of years I've read 5 Ralph Cotton books. When I'm done with a book I always rate it and or write my feelings on the first page. I have just pulled all of these books from the shelves and read what my comments were. All of them said it's an OK story. What amazes me is the comments of other readers from most westerns. They say "the best ever that I have read." It is obvious to me that these people have never read Robert J. Conley or Cameron Judd. .

Ralph introduced us to the ranger in "Montana Red," and it was "Classic Cotton." I didn't think it was possible, but I believe old Ralph has done even better in "Badlands." The action keeps you turning pages till the wee hours of the night. Keep it up Ralph! You've got us hooked on your writing and we now need our "Cotton Fix" on a regular interval.

Although Ralph Cotton writes the best westerns I've ever read, he has outdone even himself with Badlands. The Arizona Ranger Sam Burrak series has to be made into a movie, that is if Hollywood can do these characters justice.

After reading Border Dogs, I thought Ralph Cotton was a newwriter on the western scene. However, I see now that he has fourbooks about his ranger Sam and Maria and I plan to read all of them. Cotton does not rely on old cliches and dull plots. His characters are as real as the people we see on the news at night. His stories go farther than most of what I find at the movies. I am his newest fan, and will continue to be a fan from now on. Good work, Mr. Cotton. Keep them coming.

I've just got my copy of these books - and, I can say, without a doubt in my mind - That these books are totally usefull in everyday training and, in preparation for lessons in mma! They are Extremely complete - the variations and honesty of the techniques - simply amazes, even a pro fighter like myself!!
If i were to get only 2 books on MMA, these would be the ones to recommend - beyond any shadow of a doubt!!
Bas knows what he teaches - as he's tried it all!! And these books stay by my side during training, as an ever usefull guide to MMA!!
indeed - a Must-BUY!!

Very Sincerly, Lars "Bad Boy" Besand - of Skagen Fight Gym .dk

In this book, Bas Rutten focuses on the groundfighting and submission game of NHB. His chapters are extensive, using decent black-and-white photos to demonstrate his holds. The chapters focus on one body part or subject at a time (for example, "Escapes" or "Arm and Wrist Locks"), and most run about 100 pages long. The sense I get is that Bas really cares about making sure the reader understands how to perform the moves correctly. On the plus side, he shows quite a variety of different ways to enter in to these subs, and also shows how strikes could compliment the subs. On the down side, there is little in the way of new or different holds being shown, and the quality of the photos and print are below what I'm used to. Of course, that doesn't really take away from what's a very good book overall.

The chapter on escapes was especially good, since every escape led to a better possition and sometimes a hold. There was a nice chapter on stand-up to ground combos that I think is worth looking through. I thought the chapter on banana bag combos should have been in the first book, though. Also included inside the chapters were blank lines that could be filled with training notes.

Overall, a very good book, and a good compliment to Bas's first BBOC. The fact that the holds were given generic names could prove confusing for training purposes, but if done propperly, they are very good holds indeed, and the book provides more than enough for either beginners or advanced.

Bas Rutten's "Big Book Of Combat" Volume 2 is a perfect compliment to his "Big Book Of Combat" Volume 1. Where Volume 1 covers training and stand-up striking, Volume 2 covers all the groundfighting skills needed to compete in NHB or mixed martial arts competition. The combination of these two outstanding books will give you Rutten's complete fighting system which I find to be one of the best in the world. Both books are a must have for all students of the martial arts.

In short, there isn't a more comprehensive set of books on Mixed Martial Arts training. Bas' credentials are impeccable and he's a charismatic guy. That charisma shows through in the books.

One can quickly see where Bas's game evolved from. He's a stand up and duke it out guy but he can handle himself on the ground. In both areas, there are different ways of playing the game and Bas has his own.

He believes in having great conditioning and rightly so. His technique is largely based on conditioning, as well. He covers stand up in the full-contact karate and kickboxing vein. His ground game is very much rooted in the Japanese submission wrestling style and he covers the "Ground 'n' Pound" in good detail.

I think there are better books on stand up, ground and conditioning, but none that can bring it all together.

OK, so the game's evolved since Bas competed. So what?! This is still the best book on the MMA game.

In the summer of 1985 I spent a day roaming the Rosebud battle site with the author, Neil Mangum. I was lucky to have the "expert" on this fight interpreting the story for me.

For those of you not so lucky, I highly recommend this book. Of all the books written on the Rosebud fight this is by far the best. The maps alone are worth purchasing this book because one gets a great sense of soldier and Indian movements, in time, along with the engagements just by reviewing the maps.

Plus, there is a great chapter entitled, "Crook and the Custer Connection." This chapter should make all those who blame Crook for Custer's defeat eight days later on the Little Bighorn rethink their ideas.

Neil Mangum served as superintendent at the Little Bighorn from 1998-2002. During his administration we saw for the first time red granite markers on the battlefield (similar to the white ones for soldiers) for Cheyenne and Sioux warriors; Lame White Man, Noisy Walking and Long Road. On June 25, 2003 an unknown warrior marker was unveiled on Wooden Leg Hill. The next day a marker for Dog's Back Bone was placed at the Reno-Benteen Defense Site. This year, 2005, we plan to place two markers for some of the "Suicide Boys" -- they joined the fight near the very end promising to give their lives for their people.

The old wayside exhibits that stood along battle road have been replaced with modern interpretations. Most importantly, Neil's efforts finally produced $2.3 million dollars to build the Indian Memorial. This memorial stands 75 yards from Last Stand Hill. Construction began in the spring of 2002 and completed in May 2003. The Indian Memorial was dedicated on June 25, 2003 with thousands of Indians, from all tribes represented at the battle, attending.

Between the confusion typical of any engagement and the scarcity of surviving testimony, it may be that no definitive account of any Euro-American vs. American Indian battle can ever be produced. However, Neil Mangum has produced a through, balanced, and convincing book that is as close as any such work may ever come to being authoritative.

This is by far the most intriguing and accurate book I have read concerning the Rosebud. Neil Mangum's writing is accurate and a complete joy to read.

Mangum, the Superintendent of the Little Big Horn (LBH) battlefield writes a portrayal of the Crook's campaign against the Sioux that culminates in the Battle of the Rosebud 8 days prior to Custer's attack. Since the LBH is roughly 30 miles southeast of the LBH, Mangum is extraordinarily familiar with the battlefield that still looks like it did 134 years ago. The book covers Crook's earlier March campaign where he was first in the field which peaked at a failed attempt to destroy a predominately Cheyenne village which also included some Sioux on the Powder. Crook again restarts in June with almost 200 Shoshone and Crow allies. As Mangum expertly retells the battle, Crook is surprised while encamped leisurely along Rosebud Creek on June 17. Mangum notes that Crook was similarly surprised also with great consequences in the battle of Cedar Creek in 1864 where he was surprised by Jubal Early. In the description of the battle, Mangum points out that if it wasn't for the Shoshone and Crow who spotted the Sioux and Cheyenne first relatively distant from camp while also absorbing the initial attack, Crook's command may have been destroyed. The allies gave Crook's troopers a chance to prepare for the attack. Crook's forces, which included mule mounted infantry and miners, stemmed the attack but as Mangum points out, the Sioux seemed to come at Crook from three sides from the high ground to the north. After Crook seems to control the battle, Colonel Royall with his calvary battalion rolls up the Indian right so successfully, his enthusiasm isolates himself from Crook allowing the Sioux and Cheyenne to consolidate against him requiring a furious battle of retrograde movements causing the most severe casualties of Crook's forces. Mangum states that Crook was in peril with Royall's potential collapse because Crook sent off another battalion to the Indian's left in search of their village that was not in the immediate area as perceived. Only the recall of Mills saves the day but the Sioux and Cheyenne have initiated enough casualties and psychological harm to cause Crook to retire and take over a month to retrofit his command. I was at the Rosebud site in 1999 and had I read Mangum's book with the terrain maps, my tour would have been far more beneficial. The battlefield today is a State park and the modest valley that Crook stopped in on June 17 looks is framed with high hills and interesting landmarks like Conical Hill. This is a great book about a key battle that indicated that the Sioux and Cheyenne were agressive in defending their village which was overlooked by all of Sheridan's generals. This battle besmirched Crook's otherwise great post Civil War career.

My 2 year-old loves Bear and this is one of her favorite books. She wants us to read it to her over and over. We just bought our second copy because the first one we had was a pass-down from her older sisters and we wore it out from reading it to the kids so often.
I wish more Bear items were available.

My daughter has always since she was 6 months old loved Bear in the Big Blue House and so we bought her this book and she absolutley loved it. She liked identifying the foods because most of them were her favorites also.

Our toddler loves Bear and can often be looking at one of her Bear books. Before dinner each evening she wants us to read Bear Loves Food!

In this Bear book Bear talks about different types of food that he loves. He shows that a good variety of foods are just as much his favorites as others. He also introduces Pip, Pop, Treelo, Ojo, and Tutter and their favorite foods.

Bear Loves Food is one of our favorites and I am sure it can be one of yours too!

My 8 month old loves Bear in the Big Blue House. She enjoys looking at the pictures in this book. The pictures are bold and colorful. It shows bear with all of his friends talking about food It is a very warm book for any child. I would also recommend "Bear Loves Water". My daughter is just amazed by this book.

It would be called the "Smart Thinking" song, because that's exactly what into putting together something like this. This book combines seven "Bear in the Big Blue House" titles into a single hardback book. Some are based on episodes of the television show, others are original stories.

There are seven stories in this one: "Best Friends," "Mystery at the Big Blue House," "The Big Blue House Call," "A Surprise in the Mailbox," "Two Can Share, Too," "Spring Has Sprung!" and "The Way I Feel Today." I can't fault these choices --- they're all wonderful selections from the library of books from the series. The only change made is that the pages are renumbered so that a single table of contents for the entire book is used --- a quick reference to find the place of each story.

I'm glad to have this book -- in hardcover it's more sturdy than the paperback single versions. Most of the illustrations are the photos of the characters with the props and sets drawn in, but two stories are only drawn, even the characters. I much prefer the photo style, but I expect this won't matter to everyone. (My preference would be for all-photo, as if it were the TV program, but they don't seem to do that except for some cover art.)

The stories and illustrations in this book are sure to delight those, both young and old, who love "Bear In The Big Blue House". All the favourite characters come to life when my nephew and his wife read the stories to their two littlies.

My 2 year old loves Bear and loves this book. The language is age appropriate and still manages to put a "big" word in here and there. The artwork is lovely and the stories are episodes of Bear. We usually read two per night, I have to limit him.

I highly recommend this to all Bear-Fans!

OK-I haven't read it 500 times but it IS consistently on the list of favorites. It has a bit of a thrill without getting too scary. Lavish illustrations.

I work in a daycare. This book has become the favorite of every child I have read it to over the past two years! I even enjoy it and never tire of reading it to my two and three years olds. Some of the children have even memorized parts of the book and repeat it out loud when I get to that part of the book. I have given this book to numerous children over the past two years and I will continue giving it to my beloved daycare kids.

In this story, which is told in rhyme, a small mouse insists on teasing a cat, while the cat is lounging on a hammock, drinking ice water, and generally minding his own business. A chase ensues each time the mouse begins the tease and the mouse scampers back to his mother to save him. By books end, the mouse has learned that it is not wise to tease. This book is extraordinary in its illustrations. My 3 year old son never tires of this book. It is a well read bedtime story. Highly, highly recommended!!

I learned of this book when I purchased another book and Amazon recommended it. What a sleeper! I had never heard of it. My 3 year old son laughs everytime we read it. The mouse insists on teasing the sleeping or relaxing cat, who then pursues him. The mouse runs to mommy to protect him. However, during the last chase, mommy cannot help and the mouse has to figure out how to save himself. There are some real slapstick scenes which my son loves. The cat has his nose tweaked, the cat falls off of his hammock, typical three year old humour. Highly, highly recommended!

What an excellent book for chemists and non chemists alike. Written in a well-done 'British' fashion, the book contains language that flows well and keeps the reader interested.

As for the content, the book is an indispensable document of facts, biographies, and stories behind the development of all types of explosives as we know of them today. This is accomplished by tracking the events caused and experienced by the inventors and scientists of the time.

There are a few mistakes here and there, some dealing with basic physics, but more along the lines of a first draft error that appears accidental.

Overall? I loved this book, both as a chemist and an 'energetic person'.

The book is a thematic history of explosives. The largest coverage is for gun powder detailing the history of its use in guns, bombs, rockets and mining. Then the further advances of explosives are covered up to and including nuclear explosives.

The author presents a technical work easily understood by this non-chemist. He also gives the very human background of the various inventors and users of the explosives.

What was most interesting to me is the fact that many of our most famous chemical producing companies started with the production of explosives.

Also interesting was the history of the development of safe explosives both for war and for mining purposes.

The book is well illustrated and easily accessable for the layperson and for the professional.

THE BIG BANG a History of Explosives was written by George I Brown, and not by Adam Hart-Davis. Adam Hart-Davis is an exceptionally fine presenter, with the BBC. He has a programme called LOCAL HEROES, and is an ex professor of a university, in the UK(I'm sorry I can't remember which one). Adam Hart-Davis writes a foreword of one page long. Mr. George Brown wrote the other 256 pages, and a wonderful piece of work he wrote. If you want to kill people, then your looking @ the wrong book, move along. Other than that the Title says it all really.

A bigger difference than between this book and "History of Greek fire and gunpowder" can hardly be imagined. "The big bang" is written like a history book and therefore much easier to read that professor Partington's book. It describes the history of all explosives, from black powder to the H-bomb. It is surprisingly complete. The book treats, among others, black powder, smokeless powder, cordite, ballistite, nitroglycerin, dynamite, gun cotton, TNT, ANFO, picric acid, safety fuse, detonators, the A- bomb and the H-bomb. It is clearly an historical account, not a recipe book. The writer not only describes the technical- and chemical aspects of explosives but also tells the story of the persons, production methods and companies that have played a role. Also he gives information on the application of explosives in military use, mining, demolition and quarrying and on all the problems that have occurred in the course of time. Even the "gunpowder machine" (predecessor to the steam engine) is mentioned. Obviously the writer is from Britain, which shows in his discussion of the patent controversy between Alfred Nobel and the British government concerning the production of Cordite. Generally, however, he takes a very objective position. The writer has also placed the development of explosives in the broader context of social development and a number of interesting facts are mentioned. It seems that the publication of the Balfour declaration (which led to the founding of the state of Israel) was very much due to the fact that it was a Jewish chemic (Chaim Weizmann, the later president of Israel) who found a solution to the shortage of acetone in England during the First World War, thus helping the war effort. Acetone is essential for the production of Cordite, the main propellant for the British guns. Also controversial characters like Fritz Haber and Robert Oppenheimer feature in this book besides large industries like Dupont de Nemours and Kynoch. The development of explosives is not only important to the war industry and mining but also plays a vital role in the realization of important, prestigious public works like canals, tunnels and railroads. The explosives industry stands at the basis of much of the modern chemical industry. All in all "The big bang" is an excellent book to learn the history of this very specialized and sometimes controversial subject.

Love this book!! We checked it out from the library and now my 2 year old refused to read anything else. He has also gotten so much better about sleeping in his big bed since reading the book!

Poor Jed. It's time for him to graduate from sleeping in a crib to a really, big bed, and he's just not ready for this dramatic step. When everyone in his family -- parents, sister, aunt, uncle, grandmother -- all join forces to persuade him, he remains resistant. It's not until they prove how comfortable the new bed is that Jed becomes proprietary. This is a delightful rhyming tale with perfect illustrations, and a comforting message to boot.

Jed hates the idea of a new big boy bed. He clearly prefers his old crib instead. Laurie Friedman's adorable rhyming book makes the decision to finally change from a crib into a bed...such fun! I think every kid trying to decide whether or not they even like the idea of such a move...will love reading about Jed and his determined-to-help family. From the delightful dialogue...to the
charming illustrations, this book makes BEDtime extra special.

Meeting Jed was a great experience for my toddler. A stubborn sleeper, much like Jed, she didn't want to sleep until she met this new bedtime buddy. Mrs. Friedman's insights in this book mix humor with a profound ability to get to the core of the matter. Her phrases are wonderfully put and my child was able to walk away with quotes from the story. The illustrations match the easy flow of the words and inspire a wonderful reading session between parent and child. Bravo to Mrs. Friedman!!

I really enjoyed the short version from the excellent anthology REVELATIONS (1997) and loved how joe took
this and made a great novel. This would make a great movie
someday!

Very interesting short novel written in Joe Lansdale's unique style. This story takes place in 1900 in Galveston Texas. Lots of characters for a short novel and the main character changes his name from Lil Arthur to Jack. It's boxing and a hurricane. Lots of excitement.

Joe Lansdale writes many different kinds of fiction - horror, westerns, mysteries and more "serious" novels like The Big Blow. He excels in all genres. There is a lot going on in this short novel. The two events central to the story are the great Galveston, Texas hurricane of 1900 and a fictional, I presume, prize fight between the famous black boxer Jack Johnson and a white ringer from Chicago by the name of John McBride. These two events track each other to their own respective climaxes. The novel is packed with well-drawn secondary characters and story lines that all fit together very nicely. Lansdale could easily have expanded this book to at least twice its actual size. The fact that he didn't do that demonstrates remarkable self-restraint as well as good judgment. Regardless of the genre, Lansdales stories are always gritty, insightful and humorous. Racism, prejudice and other consequences of ignorance are underlying themes of most of his work. Most importantly, Lansdale is a master story teller. The Big Blow exhibits all of these qualities. I recommend setting aside a few hours in order to be able to read this book in one sitting. The book is hard to put down.

This novella has one of the best opening lines of all time, and classic Lansdale: "On an afternoon hotter than two rats (making love) in a wool sock, John McBride... arrived by ferry from mainland Texas to Galveston Island, a six-gun under his coat, and a razor in his shoe". The rat metaphor (he doesn't use the term I did--if I quoted him directly, this review would get tossed) did it for me.

Be advised that this is a novella. 153 pages, very large margins. Not saying it's not worth picking up, or reading, just warning you in case you were gonna take it to the beach expecting a long read. The story is set in 1900--it originally appeared in a shorter version in the uneven collection Revelations --and covers five days, broken down by times (4 PM, 10:21 AM, etc. ) rather than chapters. A young black man, Jack, has beaten a white man in a boxing match at the Sporting Club. The townspeople are none too thrilled about a white man losing to him and hire McBride, a vicious and successful fighter, to face off against him, offering more money if McBride will kill him. Meanwhile, the storm of the century is brewing, a dangerous tropical storm blowing in from Key West. Will they even make it to the match? Will the townspeople the book follows live through it?

This is classic, wonderful Lansdale. We spend a lot of time with McBride, who is entertaining but not a likable guy. In fact, most readers will probably want him dead for at least three different reasons by page 20. Jack, his opponent, is not a saint, but he's fighting for his dignity in a racist town. Yes, the characters are racist--the n-word gets thrown around quite a lot-- but it's the characters, not the author,using the term and it's not exactly out-of-place for the location and time period. Offensive, but sadly realistic. We also follow a young couple with a baby, who have to keep moving to higher and higher ground as the flooding worsens... soon they're up to the second floor of their house, with their valuables and their poor scared horse. If you have a phobia of deep water or drowning (I do) some of the scenes, such as the description oft he furniture below them thumping on the ceiling, grating against the floor on which they stand, will make your blood turn to icewater. Actually, they'd probably make anyone's blood chill, phobia or not, especially when Lansdale follows some very unlucky men stuck out at sea on a fishing boat (shades of The Perfect Storm, but remember this story was first published in 97, way before the movie). No matter how bad off you think you are, you'll be thanking God you're not in their shoes.

Lansdale is that most rare and enjoyable of authors to read in that he fits all my criteria for an author who I'd spend my last 20 bucks on to read his latest: a great writer AND a great storyteller, plus this man writes with style (see the fornicating rat description). There's no-one like him out there. This HC may be pricey for the word count, but it's so well written I felt that even though I finished it in one evening, it was worth every penny.

Another great series of books for RL Stine. These keep kids attention and have them coming back for more. If you are trying to get your kids into Chapter books, then get these. They are entertaining and funny and most of them if not all are worth AR points. They are a fun read, so good your little will probably have it read before the end of the day. That is a great accomplishment for a child to read a chapter book in less than a day. These are super funny, cool, and entertaining and all the kids LOVE them.

I got this book back in 2005 when the series started. Personally, I think this is a very good book if you enjoy mysteries and smart stories. I think this book is a great start for a book series because you keep wanting to read on and on when you start to read it. In fact, I finished this book just in TWO days because I enjoyed it so much. As a fan of this book series for two years, I really recommend other kids to read this wonderful series. It has a lot of very funny and smart scenes.



The series is basically about a fourth grader named Bernie Bridges who got sent to a boarding school called Rotten School. There in the campus, he often gets in trouble. Also, he has a huge crush on a girl called April May June, so he often tries to get her attention and impress her. There are two dorms for the boys-"Nyce House" and "Rotten House". Rotten House is where Bernie and his friends stay at and Nyce House is where Bernie and his friends' enemies stay at. The two sides have a rivalry, so they often compete against each other in events.



That's basically all I can tell you right now because I don't want to spoil anything for you.

There are not enough good books out there for boys to read & spark there interest, but these did it. They loved the characters & their funny names. They were begging me to buy the rest in the series & I did. Try these out, you won't be disappointed.

This is the first in a new series from beloved children's author R. L. Stine of Goosebumps fame. Bernie Bridges wants Sherman Oaks' fancy new watch. How will he get it? He challenges the residents of Sherman's residential home to a pie eating contest. They will pick a representative for them and Bernie's group will choose a person to represent them. Of course, Bernie has a secret plan. Will it work? You will have to read the book to find out. The Big Blueberry Barf-Off will appeal to most school kids between 8 and 12 years of age. A departure from the Goosebumps style it is a good read filled with descriptions of the gross and messy stuff children that age like to read about while still providing an interesting story with plenty of twists and turns. This series should appeal to boys where other titles often fail.