Blake Books

I'm not gonna say a whole lot, but these fine stories will throw emotions at you, that you've never ever felt before in your life. You won't even know it hit ya!!!

This book is a collection of eight short stories, some are better than others but not one is bad. The first story is about a rich Mexican landlord (hacienda owner) of "noble" decesent from Spanish ancestors. He is not the worst guy in the world and he loves his wife and children. However, he has no social conciounse and does not question his elite and privliged status which comes at the expense of so many other people. He takes his blessed life for granted, thinking it the "natural" order of things. The peons on his estate live miserable lives of drugery while he lavishes in a fine mansion and does no work. Never does it occur to him that this situation is complety unjust. He views thieves and bandits who steal from him as scum but what other option do they have, either they become theives or stay peons on some rich landlords estate. He is ruthless with these thieves who steal only a fraction of his wealth but life eventually pays him back for his privilaged existence which is founded on such total social and economic injustice. Then again, the thieves are low lives without morales but the society they inhabit contributes to them becoming so evil. This story is another tale where the morality of the main character is ambigious as is the morality of that characters adversaries. The reader feels kind of sorry for the rich landlord in this story but also feels that he kind of deserved what he got. Their are two stories about Mexican illegal immigrants who pick fruit for money in America and live harsh lives of poverty. They are exploited and betrayed at every turn, even by members of their own race. "Texas Women Blues" is by far the most distrubing piece of writing I have read from Blake because instead of tough guys killing each other in filthy ways it documents the lonely and disturbed existence of a beautiful but neglacted and abused young women. She is betrayed over and over and also has bad luck. What happens to this poor young girl, she is only 17, is sick, her innocence and ignorance is used against her as a weapon by older, seasoned, men. They misled and trap her and she is misused and abused sexually. She is never the same after this and her whole life from this point on is warped because of one horrific night. Her misguided trust in strangers and her passive nature were unwise in such a cold, ruthless world run on exploitation. Her downward spiral is a terrible thing to behold because she really was a nice, decent, intelligent girl who would have had a bright future if she had any parental guidance. But instead she is cast into the world alone and unguared and the inevitable explotation of the innocent occures. My favorite story in this book however is the Ref, I cold really relate to this story because I identified with the main character. He was always second best to this guy he went to school with, Mato. This guy was no loser but he was always a step behind Mato who won every contest they had. This two were both boxers and they both wanted the same girl. They fight for her and the other guy wins and goes of with the girl and gets to have sex with her while the guy who losses the fight goes home alone all beat up. If that was not bad enough his ambitons to become a boxer are spoiled by the same guy. He fights him three times and losses all three times. And if that was not bad enough the girl that they fought over in high school comes back into the main characters life. At this point the main character has quit boxing and become a referee, which he is good at. The girl he knew from high school and him have a relationship but one night they run into Mato, who is now a boxing champion. History repeats itself and just like Mato took the main character's girl in high school he takes her again as adults. This girl is hot but untrustworthy, she has no loyality and is always looking for the bigger, better deal. She leaves the main character to go with Mato a second time. Once was bad enough, but to leave the main character twice, for the same guy, talk about rubbing salt in the wound and adding insult to injury! However, the main character, the ref, has the last laugh, because he is officating Mato's next title defense. When Mato brings the girl with him to ringside, the main character decides enough is enough. His revenge will similtaniously distrub and satisfy you, a characteristic common to all of Blake's writing I notice. This collection is great.

Aside from a little story about an earthquake that I just didn't get, I though this book was absolutely superb. The first story, called "Runaway Horses" (I think) had more action and insight than most 500-page novels. One reviewer said that Blake loves violence. I think the opposite is true. I believe he abhors it, and that's why he writes about it with such passion. This isn't like a sugar-coated news story. Instead, it's blood and guts and heartbreak and every emotion that goes with tragedy. It's like reading Cormac McCarthy after a careful editing by John Steinbeck to make every sentence glass smooth. A+++++

This book has lovely photography throughout. The cupcakes look yummy to eat but they are lovely to look at too in their own right and the photographs are beautiful and some are the kind of thing you see on greetings cards, so the way that the cupcakes are presented is very good too, and adds to the decorative appeal.
I don't cook but some of the recipes sound easy so maybe even I could attempt some at some time. I really think I prefer looking at pictures of them to actually eating cupcakes, unless they are loaded with soft cream icing and a layer inside as well, making them even more yummy, but I just love the look of them. Which I know is not really the reason to buy a cookery book, but then with cupcakes, they are so much used as decorative pictures now, I have seen them pictured on all kinds of things, from clocks, to shopping bags, to coasters and tins, as well as birthday cards, so obviously I am not the only one who recognises their visual appeal! ;-)
Some of the recipes also really are for delicious sounding cupcakes with indgredients you wouldn't normally think of associating with cupcakes, as I always thought they were just small sponge fairy cakes with a layer of hard icing on the top with a glace cherry to decorate, and though they look very nice and are the ones I have seen used the most as decorations, they do not make my mouth water, but some of the recipes in here, do.
Highly recommended. A beautiful book of luscious photography as well as yummy recipes and for people who do cook, the recipes were very easy to follow. Another bonus too of course for those who cook, is that you can make sure that the finished product contains no nasty ingredients like trans fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils that is nearly always included in shop bought cakes and that ingredient alone is so bad for people. Making your own can be much healthier. As long as you don't overdo the eating of them, obviously!

The book arrived in excellent condition. I was a little dissappointed in some of the recipes. I think I was looking for a book with big and different recipes. I do like the book but will still await another to quench my interest.

This book is loaded with pictures of beautiful cupcakes that are easy to duplicate. There is a wide variety of creative ideas that are not only pleasing to the eye, but pleasing to the palate.

This is a great start for a 1st time author. Can not put a genre on this, horror? yes but alot of fun and imagination. Haven't found a crypto-zoology fiction section in any store--but the creatures in the book(if it IS fiction) would make a fantastic start for the section. The animals are wonderful,scary,and believeable. The people should be afraid and should get the hell off Dare Island. Hey did I hear that one of these things washed up on some beach recently????Yeah it's true----maybe we should be VERY AFRAID----way to go BLAKE

A cautionary tale that runs the fine line between creationism and evolution, idyllic Dare Island becomes the setting of cataclysmic events that show what lengths the earth will go to maintain the balance of nature and the species upon it.

From the opening scenes of a growing friendship between two adolescent boys, it builds to an unimaginable climax that leaves you wondering why Dare Island and when the rest of the world will begin to find these unidentifiable masses, called globsters, washed up on its shores.

The next time you are beachcombing for starfish and shells, if you happen to see the tracks and the splitting of sand dunes as if a bulldozer has come out of the ocean, don't bother to run. It will already be too late ...

I enjoyed this book but would caution for younger readers due to violent content.

The Dare Island Enigma by Blake Templeton-- a highly imaginative thriller that will keep you turning the pages. You cannot second-guess this story as it raises some interesting questions in regards to major gaps within the evolutionary record. Often dark and unsettling (as a good suspense/horror story should be)you will be in for a fascinating journey!

This book really didn't do anything for me. It was violent for a romance book.

When I began reading it I was bored but it helped me understand the rest of the book. But soon it got better, and better, and better, I didn't want to put it down, and once I finished I wanted to read it again. I've read this book 7 times and will be sure to read it again. Felicite and Colonel Morgan are great together and to spice it up her adopted brother Valcour is just what set the book off. Valcour always lusted after Felicite, but Felicite never knew, she loved Valcour like a brother and over-looked his evil ways until they turned to her, he almost raped for if it wasn't for her maid Ashanti who interupted just in time and poisened him. Unfortunately Valcour killed Ashanti. But that's only the middle of the book what's before it and after is what will intriuge you. If you'll just take my word on this and you'll see the value of this book, I wouldn;t lie to you. This is truly a great book, it should of been a BESTSELLER

I feel a great deal of nostalgia toward EMBRACE AND CONQUER. I first read it when I was twelve years old. It was my very first romance. I've read it so many times since then that at one point I probably had entire scenes memorized. This is simply a classic of the genre.

I don't think I've ever run across a better villain than Valcour. He was an unapologetically evil slimeball with no redeeming qualities. But there's something about him that makes him more than a cookie cut-out. There's something that makes him the Darth Vader of the romance genre without Vader's later redemption. When you are imagining Valcour speaking, think James Earl Jones with a French accent.

For many years, Morgan and Felicite were the archetypical (sp.?) romantic couple for me. Despite Morgan's enforced domination, Felicite retained her independent spirit. Despite the rape of Felicite and forcing her to be his mistress, Morgan never came across as a brute. It was probably because Morgan thought Felicite used sex (or rather, her sexual appeal) to lure him into an attempt on his life and therefore he felt justified in using sex to punish her.

EMBRACE AND CONQUER may not appeal to the modern reader. With the rape and enforced sexual domination it is a throwback to the seventies and early-eighties (when the book was written). But give it a try. If you're willing to tolerate the older and outdated forms of this genre, you'll find a treasure in this novel.

For me, EMBRACE AND CONQUER will always remain special. If I could give it ten stars I would. Thanks for introducing me to romance, Ms. Blake!

Recipes revolting beyond belief include the Royal Breakfast for the BFG, Hot House Eggs, The Hotel Breakfast from BOY, Hornets Stewed in Tar from JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, Pickled Spines of Porcupines from JAMES, Doc Spencer's Pie from DANNY CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, Phishlets from GIRAFFE THE PELLY AND ME, Plushnuggets to go with GIRAFFE, Strawberry Bon Bons to go with BOY, Tummy Ticklers to go with GIRAFFE, Boiled Slobbages to go with JAMES, Glumptious Globgobblers to go with GIRAFFE, Toad in the Hole to go with GIRAFFE, Willy Wonka's Whipple-scrumptous Fudgemallow Delight to go with CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Hot Noodles Made From Poodles to go with JAMES, Hot Dogs to go with JAMES, Grobswitchy Cake to go with THE BFG, A Plate of Soil with Engine Oil to go with JAMES, and twelve more! Kids will love reading and eating in this dreadful combination volume. Also check out other recipes at www.cookingupreading.com

I own this book along with the orignial Revolting Recipes. While the premise of the book is lots of fun and may encourage kids to get into the kitchen, the recipes themselves are quite disapointing. None that I've made have turned out well. Magic Green Crystal: into the garbage. The Whipple-Scrumptios Fudgemallow Delight was a pain to make and it tasted awful. Many of the recipes have missing or vauge directions, such as Pishlets' "Spoon into the baking pan and spread evenly", but they don't say what size baking pan nor how thin to spread the mixture. Do I use an 8x8 pan? A 10x17 pan? There's also a lot of recipes that I'm just unwilling to try because I'm suspicious of the ingredient combinations, such as Plushnuggets (puff pastry with bananas, maple syrup and OLIVE OIL). Other recipes just seem impractical for their ingredients (amber sugar crystals??) or portions (Bean's Cider: 4 apples, pureed and strained to make 1 mug cider). It's fun to read through though, which is why it does get 3 stars, and may very well entice a reader to go pick up one of Dahl's other books from which the recipes are based.

These recipes are presented in classic Roald Dahl style. Each recipe takes its name from Dahl's books such as Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight and Spitsizzlers. Quentin Blake, who illustrated many of Dahl's books also lends a hand to this collection so the reader truly relates to the material as if these were the recipes that Dahl spoke of in his books. Also, each recipe starts out with a quote from the book that served as that recipe's namesake. The author is careful to note that several of these recipes require an adult's supervision as they are listed as part of the ingredients in those recipes that use heat. This will be a clever addition to the cookbook collection that may even inspire the reader to look into Dahl's books serving as the inspiration for these recipes.

I found this while searching for clean, authentic hip-hop for my first grader. He loves the beat but radio lyrics are too risque and "kid" hip hop is a little too sugary. This sounds like the radio but has totally clean lyrics, that are educational to boot. Not that I'd consider it an alternative to school - but he does enjoy following along in the book and reading the historical support material, so who can complain.

I get a kick out of some of the lines myself, so we both enjoy listening. I also like that it gives a deeper perspective on much of American history. Overall a great product.

Not since "School House Rocks" has a teaching tool been so useful in reaching history students across America. As a teacher, I have used the "Hip-Hop Approach to U.S. History" with great success and educational outcomes. The CD is a great supplement to the history curriculum, with a different perspective of historical events that is not usually found in our current history books. Catchy, historically critical, and very easy to use, this book and CD will enhance any student's insight into U.S. history. Listen to O.D.W.M. to get a good sense of what Flocabulary is all about.

What a great tool. While I don't expect the songs to ever make it to the American Top 40 they are adequate and have a good beat. They have actually made it fun (or dare I say easy) to learn history!

kids like this book better than adults. Its a bit "nasty" but thats Mr. Dahl.

A taste of her own medicine . . .
George is alone in the house with Grandma. The most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her grouchiness. A special grandma medicine, a remedy for everything. And George knows just what to put into it. Grandma's in for the surprise of her life -- and so is George, when he sees the results of his mixture!

George's grandmother is very mean. She never does anything for herself. In this book, George's grandmother lives with George. His mom is not a stay-at-home mom. She works, so does George's dad. So George is left home with his grandmother who is rude, selfish, and very very mean. George gives her medicine with a little twist.

This book is a good book for people whose grandmothers are mean. I loved this book because it was funny. I think you should read this book because it's a fun book and George and his grandmother fight a lot. Will George make his marvelous medicine again?
I hope you grow into George's Marvelous Medicine.

A well organized, well written book. I have been a nurse for 17 years and whenever I ever hear of a healthcare worker murdering those who depend on them so heavily, it just blows my mind! It just defies everything you were taught or learned.
HOPEFULLY, the medical establishment has learned something from stories like this, and have ways to police it more QUICKLY than they did Shipman's case.

This is the best book by Wensley Clarkson that I have ever read! The writing is so detailed and so well organized, that I had a very difficult time putting it down!

Clarkson relays the story of Fred Shipman who, in 2000, was convicted of 15 murders; deaths that occured on his watch as their doctor after he induced their untimely demise with overdoses of morphine. Although convicted of only fifteen, it is believed that Shipman is responsible for more than 350 deaths.

In addition, Clarkson does a marvelous job of giving readers an inside view to Shipman's family and tries to relay to the reader how, despite they are still living, they too are victims of this horribly depraved man.

I highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy true crime. Not only is it entertaining, but will serve as an eye-opener into how one should never place one hundred percent trust in their doctor.

The only reason that I am giving 4 stars is because the author did not list all the victims of Dr. SHipman's unsuspected reign of terror in Lancashire. In his long career, he probably killed at least 200 victims--men, women, children, for no apparent reason until he was stopped by the law. Sadly, I cannot stop thinking about all the victims who had dreams to see Israel, cruise, grow up, or old with their loved ones in Lancashire. Dr. Shipman was supposed to be respected and trusted with their lives; he killed his beloved patients without such motives at all. The book is an easy read unless you're trying to find out the victims and give them a proper memorial. This book is for those victims and their families! Maybe we can learn from what happened in Lancashire!

A book my husband loved as a child and one our children enjoyed just as much!

I loved the McBroom books as a kid. Unfortunately, I didn't have the books anymore. So, now that I have my own kids, I decided to buy these books. The stories are still there and I give them a rating of 5 out of 5. BUT!!! These are not the hardback books that I used to have. The hardbacks had better pictures and larger print for kids to be more entertained with and easier for them to read. If you haven't read these before, then I highly recommend them. If you are buying for your kids to read, get the hardbacks if you can find them.

I read this book in grade school and I couldn't put it down. Sid Fleischman is the best tall tale writer ever born. If you are very imaginative, than this book is for you!

I have recently fallen in love with all of Evelyn Christenson's prayer books. She is truly a leader in the American prayer movement and her insights come from years and years of experience, depth of wisdom and insight, and from much time spent with the God she so dearly loves. A Journey into Prayer is yet another fabulous, unforgettable, and thrilling look at how prayer can change us and the world we live in! I was reminded afresh of how IMMEASURABLE & INEXHAUSTIBLE the riches of God are! Some books are so fun to read over and over again for spiritual refreshment, this is one of those books. I can't say enough good about all of Evelyn Christenson's books. She practices what she preaches, and her writing is simple yet sharp and concise.

Styled as a devotional that I read every night before I pray. Easy to understand, wonderful advice. I bought a copy for my whole family.

Evelyn Christensen's devotional breaks down the complexity of prayer into precious nuggets that offer sustenance to both the new Christian and the more experienced pray-er. She addresses prayer "closets" for personal praying, praying in groups, spiritual warfare, and many more. This is my favorite devotional on prayer, and I'm so disappointed that it isn't available from the publisher any longer. I have purchased it as a gift before, and the receivers loved it as much as I do.