Blake Books

The first thing about this book was the title, because it made me read more. And when I found out that Nick Sharratt has illustrated the book, it made me want to read even more, because I like Nick Sharratt as an author. I remember reading a book called "Don't put your finger in the jelly Nelly" which has been written by Nick Sharratt. I wanted to see how he does as an illustrator, and trust me ... he has done a fine job.

The book is about a girl called Claire, who found a wicked cat that hypnotised Clair's mum and dad.

The second thing I liked about the book was when this girl's mum and dad got hypnotised by the evil cat and started to act crazy. And the girl went to her friends' house with her brother.

Read this wonderful book to find out how Clair defeats this wicked cat and rescues her family.

Review by Mita Bhattacharya

This book is my favorite one I own, it has lots of crazy stunts like How to eat 50 hot dogs and 50 buns in 12 minuets, and it tells you step by step how to do it.

My favorite one is "lying between two beds of nails beneath more than 1,500 pounds" this one is hilarious and guess what, someone did it!

It also has funny sarcastic statements on almoist every page which is nics. e.g. on how to unlock yourself from handcufs in a moving and filled washing machine, it says when you get out refrain from getting into the dreyer.

I dont want to give away all the stunts, but there is:
-"Riding a 2,000 pound raging bull"
-"Holding live rattlesnakes in the mouth"
-"Growing a beard of bees"
-"Balancing a running lawnmower on the face"
One stunt you can try is: "ripping a phonebook in half"

Ok, thats all ill tell for now..Better buy it used, they dont make this rare gem book anymore! HURRY!

great book on one of the most exciting middleweights in boxing history.nigel benn was a ferocious fighter from england who practically dominated the middleweight division in the early/mid 90's. devastating puncher who always gave the fans what they wanted. covers benns childhood, service in army, and his classic battles with chris eubanks and gerald mcclellan. recommend for any boxing fan.

This is the book that prompted one reviewer to gush, "After Dr. Norvig's vigorous analysis, Blake will never be the same again."

Regardless of the humor or accuracy of that statement, this book is an absolute steal. Stunning color reproductions accompany the erudite scholarly explanation of how Blake used the visual medium to interpret Bunyan's work.

We meet Maggie in Sussex, in the South of England, and follow him to Wales where he takes us on adventures to the farthest reaches of the Otherworld. Maggie is a Magpie and the tale told by his `Pinky' is extraordinary. "Pinkies is wot I calls you humans," he answered crossly.

Maggie's `Pinky' found him on the ground as a baby, about to become fodder for two food seeking crows. She rescued the little Magpie and nursed him back to health, unaware of what a large amount of mischief one tiny bird would wreak.

`Daydreams' is not simply a book about a mischievous bird. It contains some rich history, both personal and of the area. It describes the sights, sounds, and smells of places I have never had an opportunity to see, but now feel I know a little at least. It contains mythological stories related by some of Maggie's various feathered acquaintances and by Maggie himself. (Although, he often seemed to make things up as he went along).

Daydreams, Moonbeams and Wings over the Common (From the Tail of a Magpie), like its title, is a long read, and I loved every page. I found myself nearing the end of my workday and looking forward to the fact that soon I would be comfortable in my chair with my cat in my lap, and Maggie filling my mind with his wit and wisdom. Maggie and his pinky split the chapters so that half of the voice is his own.

Louisa Middleton-Blake wrote a delightful book and her imagination is amazing. Visit this refreshing look at life. I suggest you make it a point to meet Maggie, an uncommon Magpie born on the Common.

Jean Sheldon

this book is a must for collectors and dealers of stoneware.The auther goes into greater detail than most books on this subject.

The absorbing true story of the experiences of Freddie Knoller, a Jew born in Vienna in 1921.

The story follows Freddie's childhood and the worsening situation and threats surrounding the growth of the Nazi regime in Europe. Eventually the situation becoming untenable and resulting in the break-up of his family following Kristallnacht when the Nazis invaded his family's appartment block and threw a neighbour to his death from a window.

At his parents' behest, Freddie fled alone with directions to take him to friends in Belgium. Here he was eventually caught and interned, with a period of imprisonment in Southern France. His experiences throughout this time are documented. Freddie was able to escape from his captors and made his way to Paris where he forsook his Jewish identity and adopted a German/Alsace identity, beginning a rather dubious lifestyle during which he would meet German soldiers at a railway station and escort them to venues of ill-repute/brothels in the Paris sidestreets.

It was at this time, during May 1941, that he witnessed the beginnings of the brutal round-ups in Paris of his fellow Jewish civilians. He was chilled as he stood back and watched with revulsion at the zeal and almost religious enthusiasm that Jews were brutally and ferociously rounded up, irrespective of their age, sex, health, age or frailty. What sickened him most was the revelation that those doing the dirty work here were not Germans. There was not any SS or Gestapo personnel to be seen. It was the ordinary French gendarmes that were doing the dirty work of the Third Reich here in Paris, just like others did throughout Eastern Europe, the Ukraine etc.. The French gendarmes were the `flesh and blood' part of the Nazi killing machine in Paris, wilfully and enthusiastically arresting their own people, for no other reason than that they were Jewish. Knowing full well what end awaited their victims.

Freddie eventually came to the attention of the Gestapo himself and fled once more, joining the Resistance where he served until he was betrayed to the Germans, probably due to his intimate confessions to a French girl.

He then describes his journey in a cattle-car to Auschwitz, where the horrors of daily existence are examined in some detail.

As the Russian forces approached Auschwitz from the East, Freddie and his co-prisoners began a death march in the opposite direction. His comrades who stumbled and fell, and even those who stopped and bent to tie their laces, were shot in the head and thrown into the ditch alongside the road.

During a brief rest stop on the march, Freddie discovered that the prisoner next to him had died or frozen to death during the interlude. He noticed that the prisoner wore the red `F' triangle patch on his rags, which denoted him to be a Frenchman, probably a communist.

Knowing that ANY class or category of prisoner received better treatment than those wearing the Jewish `Yellow Star/Shield of David', Freddie replaced it with the red triangle which he tore from his dead companions rags. Freddie believed that this patch might ultimately save his own life.

Indeed Freddie's treatment by his captors and fellow prisoners did improve as he again forsook his Jewish identity. The death march was followed by periods in Nordhausen and Bergen Belsen concentration camps. Freddie witnessed countless episodes of brutal and sadistic treatment of his fellow inmates. Callous public executions being commonplace. As the Nazi regime crumbled with the approach of Allied Forces, Freddie witnessed the lowest ebb of humanity when cannibalism occurred in front of his own eyes. Two prisoners tracked another who was staggering in a `drunken-like' stupor which preceded death. As this person fellow to the ground in death, his `fellow' inmates pounced on his body, cutting away lumps of flesh with a knife. They then cooked the `hacked-off meat' over a fire behind a barrack block

Not long afterwards the camp of Bergen Belsen was liberated by British Forces. However, the prisoners were too weak to celebrate being on the verge of starvation. Dead bodies were everywhere and the British soldiers made the SS dig mass graves for the prisoners who had died in their `care'.

Having restored his Jewish identity and then interviewed by a British Reverend Freddie revealed that he was from Vienna. The shocking reply informed Freddie that the Germans had declared Vienna to be `Judenfrei'...free from Jews and that the city was now occupied by the Russians. Freddie's parents, who had refused to see the personal threat to them from the Nazis in Vienna, had been gassed at Auschwitz during Freddie's own imprisonment there, unknown to him.

I picked up this book from the bookshelf of my boyfriend a few years ago and couldn't put it back down. The main character is a man who is reconstructing a historic building using traditional mortise-and-tenon construction. His lady love is a psychologist who is trying to understand the entertwined minds of a pair of siamese twins. The man is convinced that the twins are evil, so very contrary to the goodness and purity of his square joints. Both man and woman are passionately and completely devoted to their subjects, which dominates their lives as extensions of their personalities. Out of this tension, the story unfolds with exquisite imagination and architectural detail. It is, for me, unforgettable.

This is an incredible story written by an excellent author. It's very exciting and it tugs at your heart strings as you are brought into the world of Lee Blake and his friends. I hope there is another book by this author. He is a very talented man.

I am almost through with this book and could not put it down. If you want some real insight into Princess Diana, this book is the one! Diana totally speaks from her gut in this book. The book is sad though because it truly shows insight into her loveless marriage and her lonliness! I wish I could get Ms. Hanger to analyze MY dreams!