Blake Books

A nice introduction to dolphins for young readers. The author, a well known underwater photographer, blends scientific knowledge with his personal experience as a diver. I loved his description of how adult dolphins teach their young ones to hunt fish. We learn what echolocation is and how it helps dolphins to see and experience their environment. And since echolocation can also be felt by a diver, Howard describes what that is like. We learn why dolphins jump, why they follow ships, how their swimming differs from that of other aquatic mammals and fish. And we see that dolphins naturally like to play and even invent their own games with strict rules.

It's a wonderful book with beautiful photography

I saw the film CHOPPER, starring Eric Bana, and I was Amazed by the Story of Mark "Chopper" Read! I found this Book first, the sequel to the Bestselling Austrailan Hit biography. I Devoured it! I don't really read much about True Crime, But here was a unique and original voice, And this guy was not even in Jail when I was reading it! I was Blown Away! It keeps me on the Straight & Narrow. Hey Parents! Have a Smart-alecky Kid? Give 'em this book for Christmas, it'll change their Gangsta view of Crime & Criminals!

Dr. Harding's book, The Magic of Christmas/Christmas Unwrapped/X-mas Files is a fantastic and well researched book. Word to the wise. The Magic of Christmas is identical to Christmas Unwrapped and the X-mas Files by the same author. The publisher, for some unknown and absurd reason, republished this book under three different titles with three different publication dates.

The overall theme of the book is excellent for showing the Amanita muscaria mushroom/shamanic origins of the Christmas story and even goes into some archaeoastronomy.

Much of this same information has been revealed by James Arthur in Mushrooms and Mankind and by James Bursenos in The Resurrection of Santa Claus - (republished) Shaman's Drum Issue 68, 2005. Dr. Harding was probably the first to discover the information, and probably the last to go to print with it. James Arthur (2000) uses many of the same associations in his book (with no references - plagiarism?) and radio shows that he very likely took "some" material from Harding. Harding's book(s) are far better and more readable than James Highfield - The Physics of Christmas (1998), etc., which bases much of the work on Harding, though strays off numerous times into unrelated material.

However, save your money and only buy one of the 3 different versions of the book. I'm glad I needed extra Christmas presents, but I was actually looking forward to reading "further" research by Dr. Harding, not the same book under three different titles. I'm very disappointed in the deceptive tactics of his publisher not informing the public that they're all the same damn book. They don't even appear to be different editions. Same material, same page numbers, same everything page for page.

Buy it, but only buy one.

In this, the third volume in the Anita Blake, vampire hunter, series of books, the author does not disappoint the reader. Anita, our intrepid vampire hunter, is once again called upon by the St. Louis police to assist with some unusual murders. It appears that someone or something is killing humans in the city, and it appears that it may be a renegade pack of vampires that is doing so, hell bent on challenging the power of Jean Claude, the vampire that reigns supreme as Master of the City.

Moreover, Anita is footloose and fancy free, notwithstanding her attraction to the Master of the City, when she meets Richard Zeeman, a hunky junior high school science teacher. The only thing is that Richard has a secret that may impact on how Anita may feel about him. Their budding romance, however, is never the focal point of the story. Rather, it is a sustaining and tantalizing backdrop to the adventures of Anita, as our feisty, tough talking heroine tries to save the city of St. Louis from a fate worse than death.

Once again, the author holds the readers' interest with her richly detailed alternate universe, where vampires, werewolves, zombies, and other monsters are part of the landscape and live side by side with humans in a somewhat uneasy alliance. The plot is fully fleshed, as are most of the characters, and the dialogue is crisp and snappy. This is a fun, fast-paced series of books, and I look forward to reading each and every one!

Ten cleaver cockatoos lead the absent minded Professor Dupont through a zany adventure, covering every room of his old house. Young readers will delight as they spy the birds hiding in unlikely places. Parents will be thrilled as well, as the children count, and recount the elusive cockatoos. The illustrations are exceptional, as we have all come to appreciate in the work of Quentin Blake.

The Amazon tag says "Conservative Party Peel," but the true title is "The Conservative Party from Peel to Major" (earlier editions end with Thatcher and Churchill). Apparently it has never been published in the United States, although it was widely available in bookshops in London as recently as a couple of years ago (and it appears to be available at Amazon UK). The lack of a United States edition is a shame. Nobody better understands than Blake the grand tradition of the conservative governance in Britain. He his chief claim to fame is a biography of Disraeli which, after 40 years, has surely taken its place as a classic in the form. He was for many years Provost of Queen's College, Oxford. This book (which began life as the Ford Lectures at Oxford in 1968) is in part a history. But it is much more: it is a meditatation on the meaning of conservatism and on the task of governing. In a time when conservatism in the United States seems to have lost all coherence -- and when the Conserve Party in Britain has declared itself broke -- we can well use the stimulus of such a clear thinker and elegant writer.

Adrian Bailey loves his country, its people and their food. This must be true, given his loving approach to all in this book. Much more than a book of English recipes, the book paints a picture of British life in another time. Yet, as Bailey points out, the food lives on and can be had here or there. He stand with Kenneth Roberts and Lawrence Sanders as an author who can force you to put down the book and head for the kitchen. For those who wish, there are recipes, good ones, along with fascinating pictures. But the plain text alone is worthy of a king's time.

This is a really spectacular book. Training was made alot easier with using this book. Hard task were brought to the surface and made alot easier. I would recommend this book for the beginner and the advanced computer users. University of Kentucky uses this book in trainings that they give to their employees so that must make it a really great book. GO UK!!@@

The Corpse in the Snowman (published 1941) is among the best Nigel Strangeways mysteries. It is one of the few stories in which Nigel's remarkable wife, Georgia, one of the three most famous women explorers of her day, actively joins him in the investigation. Also, his long term friend, Inspector Blount of Scotland Yard, is assigned to the case.

Nicholas Blake penned The Corpse in the Snowman in 1940, apparently just before major British-German engagements began, certainly before the Luftwaffe bombing of London. At one point Charlotte Restorick of Easterham Manor even asks, "I wonder when the war is really going to start in earnest".

Nigel and Georgia are asked to come in midwinter to Easterham Manor under the pretense of investigating a psychic incident. Shortly after their arrival, the rather notorious, strikingly beautiful, Elizabeth Restorick is found dead by hanging. Nigel uncovers evidence of murder, and he soon finds himself once again working with his friend, Inspector Blount of Scotland Yard.

The Corpse in the Snowman is a first rate puzzle with sufficient red herrings to supply a fish market. Nigel as usual focuses more on psychological elements while the plodding, yet superbly capable, Inspector Blount compiles physical evidence. Nigel weaves one theory after another, only to have them unravel as new information and evidence emerges.

The conclusion to this well-crafted, psychologically complex mystery is logically consistent, entirely fair, and not unreasonable, and yet the psychological motivation (and some of the science) is now less convincing than it would have been some seventy-five years ago. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this classic British manor house mystery and rank it among my favorites.

Cecil Day-Lewis (Nicholas Blake was a pseudonym) authored sixteen Nigel Strangeways mysteries spanning three decades (1935-1966). Day-Lewis was professor of poetry at Oxford in 1951-56, and a lecturer in the 1960s at several universities. He was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

For readers interested in the war years I also recommend another Strangeways mystery, Minute for Murder (1947), one that is more biographical as Cecil Day-Lewis actually worked in the wartime Ministry of Information in London from 1941-1946.

Baking your own bread has never been easier: John Blake has taken the mystery out of breadmaking, giving us a simple formula to create the widest possible bread choices. A true cook's choice!