Bloom Books

For others to make such harsh & negative reviews one can only conclude that Cakes in Bloom may very well be on to something special, and could very well be a threat to the other gateau makers. Actually, having sampled cake from one of the many frou frou cake makers, my taste buds clearly smacked of Betty Crocker, except it was far from the moist. Personally what a cake looks like outside and how it tastes makes all the difference in the world. The many cake designers using typical, decorative hard paste icing cakes for me has become a bit passe, not to forget, unpleasing to the palate. Anna von Marburg must have something that no one else has...could it be originality and taste!? Mais oui!

For the few ideas you might get from this book, it's not worth the price. You can find better ideas from many other authors. The work, as others have noted, is pretty unforgivably sloppy. I would be embarrassed to deliver many of the cakes pictured. And there's an interesting little copyright caveat that all the ideas belong to the author and are not to be used by others. Well, who would want to, anyway?

I saw this one at the bookstore and was just leafing through it and nothing really caught my eye, but I decided to come here and get some opinions on it to see if it was worth a second look; it wasn't surprising what I found. I went back and looked again to check on the complaints and sure enough, the photos in this book are pretty bad. It is true that they are set at odd angles and that the cakes themselves...many of them do appear to look sloppy.

I didn't see any cake designs that interested me anyway.

I am grateful to have this site to check up on books (like this one) and save my money although I do hope the author tries again with something better-just to balance out this dog of a book.

I have a large collection of cake decorating books and I like this one very much. The author has created a number of cakes easy to make for a fairly experienced cake maker which are extraordinarily artistic. I like her book and those by Colette more than any others. People who like perfectly crafted traditional cakes may disagree but I think these two authors are in a class by themselves.

I'm surprised at the aggressively negative reviews I find of this book! Why fans of traditional cake decorating find a book like this creative gem so threatening, I don't know.

Meanwhile, back to the book: one of the stars in my cake decorating collection for its creativity and passion and its distinct LACK of traditional, predictable work. The color-by-numbers type of decorators might find Von Marburg's style impossible to emulate (is that the threat?) but some of us welcome her addition to this genre with open arms since she alone swings the average of this art decidedly in a free-er, looser direction. She's the one extreme and Lesley Herbert is the other and we're all free to find the point on that continuum which suits us the most...

Von Marburg is not for decorators who feel that perfect piping and stringwork is the end-all, be-all. She is what French country cooking is to haute cuisine -- a whole different world and far, far more fun.

I really thought that this was a great book. I can always count on Jane to give me a fiesty heroine. I continually look forward to reading her books (under all of her pseudonyms).

I agree with "Reader from the Midwest" that Emily is a wimpy, spineless disappointment, and Jacob is obnoxious and overbearing, like Emily's whole family. This is clearly an early work re-issued, before Ms. Krentz hit her stride with strong, well-rounded women and men who are strong without being dictatorial, domineering, or controlling. Don't give up on Krentz if this is the only one you've read, just stick to those written in the 1990's (or later). I've found the re-issues of the 1980's works of popular writers such as Krentz and Linda Howard to be almost uniformly disappointing. They often have the old romance formula of controlling, unable-to-express-love, know-it-all man and feisty (but not too much!) woman, who ultimately submits to most of his demands because he "loves" her. Who needs that kind of love? Anyway, try Jayne Ann Krentz again in her modern incarnation and don't waste money on these re-issues...

I enjoyed this book, have read it several times because I love the characters and the sparkling JAK bickering. Emily is patted on the head by her whole family, but she never really gives into them or loses her spunk. Jacob is one of the Alpha males that JAK characters loves to run circles around and this is one of her better 'early' works.

Her writing is sharp, the wit incisive and I love the heart she put into this one.

Emily has been in love with Jacob Stone, corporate trouble shooter for her families international business. He once rescued her from a kidnapper, and from that moment Emily secretly kept that awe and love locked in her heart. Two years later, she decided to act on that love and Stone turned her away.
Now,three years since that bruise to her heart, Stone is once more rescuing her from danger - this time a bad engagement. The family fears the son of a competitor is using Emily to gain stock in their business. I loved how Krentz's character thought of Stone, she "thought of him in the same way she thought of hurricanes, charging lions and marauding sharks." You got to love it!!

I was very disappointed when I read this book. Usually, I like Jayne Ann Krentz's books very much, but I constantly wanted to yell at Emily not to be such a wimp. She had just managed to stand up to her family and then she let herself be ordered around by her lover! And of course this Jacob wasn't one of my favorite characters either. I think bossy men are horrible and not even heroines in romances should fall in love with them.

I can't remember the last time I was so disapointed in a book. Weak-willed, wimpy Emily Ravenscroft is the most pitiful, spineless excuse for a heroine that has ever graced the pages of any Janyne Ann Krentz novel I've read. Jacob Stone the hero (I use the term very loosely) must have used the phrase "It's for your own good" 50 times. I've rarely found a character with so few redeeming qualities. He was at once condecending, over-bearing, and so self-riteous I had trouble even finishing the book. The only thing that kept this reader turning pages was that I just KNEW Emily was going to show some backbone sooner or later. I was wrong. Time after time Emily almost spoke up for herself only to back down. I won't even get started on Emily's annoying relatives. All in all I will definately think twice before wasting my money on another of Ms. Krentz's novels. It's only too bad a zero star rating wasn't an option.

this book is only 1.50 if you buy it in a store, its not worth the shipping and handeling

Walt Whitman may have recorded one short poem on an Edison cylinder before his death in 1892. This recording presents Orson Welles reciting significant passages from the long poem "Song of Myself." In an earlier version, the poem announced Whitman's emergence as a poet--offering, in the body of the poem, the first announcement of the name of the maker of this new, fertile book.

The performance is an interesting auxilliary to a reading of the poem. Sections 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, (33), 46, 48, 51, and 52 are presented. Those who find Welles' voice pleasing will enjoy the performance for certain. It raises some of the familiar questions of melodrama etc. common when actors record poetry. Still, without a significant "authorial" performance to prefer, this is quite wonderful to hear.

Like the poetry of many, Whitman's is certainly composed for reading aloud and auditing. As we have largely lost this tradition (outside of the poetry slam), Orson Welles provides a useful instance of what it means to "sound" the text.

Reading Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," he seems to have lived a thousand years and not yet lost his innocence. The "Song of Myself" reads as a inventory of the earth's "plenty," or as a benevolent God might observe his people. Whitman is a celebrant of all things earthy and American. I believe he is correct when he says, "These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me," (354) but Whitman is certainly the first to collect all of these thoughts and record them so together and beautifully. He seems like an Eastern philosopher at times when he speaks of the cycles of earth.

He is high on life; a little too much at times, perhaps. In victory and defeat he finds joy. His candidness about his acceptance of women and men, races and creeds, seems ahead of its time.

The descriptions of the motion of life in sections 15, 31, and 33 (and many others) paints a picture of constant energy across the land and surrounding sea. He moves from line to line as he sweeps across the land, profiling the deck-hand, the paving man, the conductor, the drover, and these words are rich in images for us to imagine the era he lived in.

To read this poem in our age of instant electronic connectivity, we cannot quite carry the tune as well. So many of these occupations have faded away, we have left the fields for office space.

I always have this book in my travel bag. Hiking the John Muir trail - perfect. A cafe in Budapest - perfect. The Shinkansen train in Japan - perfect. A hammock in Costa Rica - perfect. It's tiny, beautiful, and invigorating - it reminds me of why I/we live. It's learned and raw and revealing and divine; it articulates the sorrow and glory of being human.

In my opinion, like the Bible, it is a book everyone should read once.

Mitchell did take some liberties by collating different versions of Whitman's work, but keep in mind that Walt re-wrote this poem time and time again. I have read probably a dozen versions of this peom and this is no less valuable than any of the others. Mitchell has fine taste and all the words are Walt's, and Mitchell adequately explains his reasoning in the preface. So, in contrast to what some of the other reviewers have written: If you're going to read this poem only once, Mitchell has presented a great version here.

Special preview note:

I have to say these reviews confuse me because I see nothing about Stephen Mitchell in the book I hold in my hands. I don't know where the reference comes from at all, so I am going to write as if I don't know what the reviewers are using as a reference to Mitchell... and now I see, those reviewers were reading an entirely different version of the book - so if you are interested in the Dover edition, my review stands. If you are looking at the Shambala edition, what I say still stands, for the most part... except I haven't read the Mitchell edits and now I understand some of the disdain! And it makes me VERY curious, would like to read both versions side-by-side.)

From the preface: This dover edition, first published in 2001, is a unabridged republication from the first 1855 edition of "Leaves of Grass."

I sat here, today, re-reading some of the sections I had highlighted from my first read of this epic-length-poem. I wondered, "What would the world be like if each of us took the time to write a 'Song of Myself' according to our own witness of the world we live within?

Walt Whitman does exactly that in this poem - he doesn't seek to be understood, he doesn't seek to please the reader, he is simply being present to his world and then capture his meandering path into words and serve it onto the page.

Then it is up to us, as the readers, to take our spoon-fuls of Whitman and savor each one.

There is much to be learned, experienced, enjoyed, discovered in these words within this very slim volume. Savor each one and consider writing your own song.

Now I am off to begin mine.

I really like Examples and Explanations (e.g. CivPro and Contracts). But this book wasn't useful to me at all. It feels more like a survey article in a newspaper than a helpful commercial source.

My professor said that only commercial source that was any good re Constitutional Criminal Procedure is the book by Lafave and Israel.

The E&E series can be a little uneven. (The Civil Procedure book is better than most Civ Pro casebooks for actually learning Civ Pro; the Criminal Law book has some outright errors.)

This one's better than average--not a substitute for doing your regular reading, but good for exam review. My only complaint is that many of the "examples" are real cases, so they don't test you much if you already did your other reading.

I just used this book to help me study for my CrimPro exam. I thought it was very, very helpful, but only because I had read my casebook and attended class all semester. Unlike Glannon's CivPro E&E (which is a MUST-BUY for any 1L), this book would not have been valuable if I had opened it during the semester; it was only valuable before my exam as a review. It does not provide insight into why the Supreme Court decided certain things; it simply gives us the rules the Court spat out with a miniscule amount of justification, if any. Your casebook and professor would likely discuss the reasons why the Court decided the way it did and why the concurring or dissenting justices reasoned the way they did.

Thus this book does not give you a complete view of Criminal Procedure. But that is not what we are supposed to expect from study aids and supplements such as this. For what this book is supposed to be, a supplement/complement to the work you've already done, it is excellent. So make sure if you buy this that you are buying it for the right reasons. If you need a book explaining CrimPro in detail, then you should probably read your casebook.

I do have to say, however, that the hypotheticals are excellent and give you a good feel for what kinds of essays you might encounter on your exam. They allow you to walk through your analysis, exactly how your professor would expect you to, from start to finish.

I am a fool for the E&E, I never take an exam without going through an E&E first. So I bought this book without a second thought, opened it up and was pretty bummed to find out it only covers investigative procedure. My class is adjudicative procedure, and I'm not going to find any damn help from this book. If your class is the same, I wouldn't buy this-- get the Advanced CrimPro Nutshell instead.

This supplement is a must. It will save you time and energy. Bloom and Brodin give clean definitions for 4th amendment, 5th, and 6th. A friend of mine who passed the July 05 CA Bar (on the first attempt), used this book as her sole preparation for criminal procedure essay section. The checklist located in the appendix will ensure that you will not miss any issues.

This book is very insightful, like other reviewers I do not agree with a few things, but over all the book is filled with interesting and historical views on Angels, dreams, resurrection, and religion. I really enjoyed the section on near death experiences, and Freud's ideas of dreams were a bit strange but I am not well read on Freud's psychoanalysis work however sometimes I wonder if he was drinking a bit too much Absinthe. I am also far from anything of an expert on Judaism, Islamic Sufism or basically any other beliefs outside of Catholic or Christian, so the chance to learn a bit on all of them was a wonderful opportunity. The last section there was some part that he brought up the fact that some religions predict the end of the world, like Millerites and Jehovah's witnesses by the way how many times did they predict the world was going to end? I have to ask them the next time they come to my door. Over all I have to say what a wonderful book.

Omens of Millennium is a consistently enjoyable, delightful work. Bloom is especially insightful when discussing Freud, and in his focus on the relationship of Enoch and Metatron. I don't agree entirely with everything Bloom says, of course, but still, this has been an enormously influential, important and loved book for me. I highly recommend it.

Harold Bloom, as I imagine most everyone reading this review knows, made his mark with a work of almost unbelievable insight and genius, The Visionary Company. In it, Bloom effectively disemboweled and laid to rest the dried up "New Criticism" and "Neo-Classicism" that was in the ascendant at the time. He did no less than knock T.S. Eliot off his critical pedestal: a dragon-slayer indeed! The Visionary Company took its title from a line in a Yeats' poem referring to several poets (some, like Lionel Johnson, of exquisite merit) who shunned material success and followed their own visionary and masterful style of poetry and ended up dying young, drunk and destitute. (L. Johnson, for example was such a classical languages genius that he was offered a position at Oxford when he was barely over 20! Instead, he decided to pen his masterful poetry while drinking himself to death. He died after falling off a barstool at around the age of 30).- The full line from the Yeats' poem is "I would be one with the visionary company."-But the reader will take note that neither Yeats nor Bloom consumed himself with his genius in such a way. This, in Bloom's case, is somewhat unfortunate (I'm not going to delve into Yeats here.). After The Visionary Company, his prolific works can be graphed onto a parabolic downward swoop ending with this book...In the middle of said swoop, you can find works such as The Western Canon which, while idiosyncratic and a touch pompous and presumptuous(understatement?), still makes one catch one's breath at times at the profundity of the insights contained therein....But OK, first of all, Omens of Millenium is not truly Bloom's book at all, but a kitschy rip-off of The Gnostic Religion by Hans Jonas (Note how many times Jonas is mentioned in Bloom's book.). The problem is that Jonas was a painstaking scholar and wrote as such, and most readers will find him inaccessible to some extent, just as some readers found The Visionary Company. SOOO, Bloom solves everything by writing this nice little book relating Gnosticism to Western literature...Right?....Wrong!!...Bloom himself is guilty of what he dismisses the New Agers and such for: ill-informed boot-licking of the mass culture's obsession with all sorts of ridiculous things.-Sorry Harold, if you can't take it, don't dish it out.-My advice to readers is just to go back and read any of the great Romantic poets. They and the Gnostics are essentially the same on a spiritual level, and the writings of the poets are much more beautiful.-But please go ahead and check out Hans Jonas if you really are interested in the historical and technical aspects of this fascinating worldview.

While I disagree with Bloom on a great many topics, his opinions are always thoughtful and challenging. Such is the case with this book which, to me, represents an acme of such thought before the millennium. His ideas, of course, are far more refined and careful than your average streetside shaman but a proof of the point that all such thought on angels, resurrection, and magic is superfluous; the trophy of our imaginations.

In early 2000, after the roaring crashes of worldwide electronic mayhem, the second coming of Jesus, and our long awaited deliverance from the mire of this world we should reconsider the prophetic tone of this work. Just kidding. As we all know, January 1, 2000 was no different than any other day nor will there be any supernatural interventions into world history. World history has been, is, and always will be a history of geology and protoplasm engaged in the evolution of species. The quote from Durrell that opens Bloom's book is terrible and true--there is no supernature behind all this hubbub. Shall we then drift into our wildest imaginings: ancestral mythology, Christian sci-fi and the like? Or shall we create a new philosophy of man?

Find out Bloom's answer by reading this interesting book.

Omens of Millennium is a personal and erudite synthesis of Gnosticism, Hermetism, Sufism, and Jewish Kabbalah (and Emersonism). Prof. Bloom writes with the conviction of a "believer" and the rigor of a disinterested scholar. I first read this book three years ago and since then I have come back to it in many occasions. Omens of Millennium is a wake-up call to Knowledge. The book also introduced me to the extraordinary works of Hans Jonas, Mose Idel, and Henry Corbin.

This is another hollow novel by a boring author. I was gifted Girl Anatomy but perused through this one day at my local library, for the hell of it, figuring if Miss Bloom had a second novel out, she must have grown as a writer.
Boy was I wrong. I started reading and found same old story, tired, shallow, narcissistic.
I am shocked when I read like 4 or 5 stars as her average on here. This book is worst than the first one. Stay away from it. Read literary fiction, folks, because while it may not have the fun girl power allusions of single modern culture, it is actual substance and good language

Rebecca: contractions are YOUR FRIEND. Study them! Use them! Love them! You won't be sorry! See? 'won't be'! There's an example! You can do it!

laying on the nightstand was a dog eared copy of "Girl Anatomy" by Rebecca Bloom that my girlfriend left behind one day - with an initial fear of emasculation put aside - i was curious of the chick lit genre and began to read - - to my surprise i never put it down and have since become a devoted fan of anything Rebecca Bloom writes - - with her latest novel "Tangled up in Daydreams" - i identified with the main character Molly and her search for independence and personal growth told through tales chalk full of description and characters that felt honest and familiar - - making this a truly cathartic read for myself - - - i anxiously await book number three...

I loved Tangled Up in Daydreams and strongly recommend this book to anyone who craves a little girl power... or a break from their own troubles. It is an intensely moving story about a woman trying to come to terms with the reality that her journal writing, rock star boyfriend is not the flawless hero she had fantasized about as a little girl. The story is told primarily from the perspective of the main character Molly, who is an LA hipster with a creative flare and a wonderful ability to reflect on both her blessings and her burdens. The crisp descriptions of Los Angeles and Sun Valley, Idaho add a unique flare and capture the moment superbly.

Rebecca, you need a new editor. Pervail? It's PREVAIL. And "Should I stay or should I go now?" That was not the Who. I have never read a book with such jarring writing-- are we in the past or the present? Please pick one.

That aside, the story is pretty bad, too. Is Molly a tough LA girl or a wussy mama's girl from Idaho? Make up your mind, Molly. By the end of the book, I still don't like you or your loser boyfriend.

That said, I still had to read the whole thing, because I had to know what happened at the end. I guess that's why this book gets two stars instead of one for readability.

I was very disappointed to learn that this version was CENSORED. They've omitted some original material. That was why I wanted the "Table Talk". It's supposed to be the REAL Martin Luther. Very disappointing!!!!

From one of the greatest thinkers of all time. We owe so much to this man, that we ought to at least consider what this document tries to teach us. This of course does NOT reflect this group entirely, for there are GOOD people in ALL groups. However, we must study this book and draw from it the warnings that GOD has given us through Marin Luther. A GREAT read even if you are not religious.

This book is perhaps the most candid look we have into the life and thoughts of Luther. It has its spiritually inspiring moments but for the most part is just good solid Luther logic.

If you can get past the fact that the Protestants are just as delusional as the Catholics, it is interesting reading and a nice slice of history. But you have to be a history buff to enjoy this type of work.

Martin Luther never ceases to amaze and inspire me with his brilliance and insights. This edition is so poorly edited, however, that there are mispellings throughout and some sentences have not been corrected for grammar. Since this work is in the public domain, you would think that the publishing house would have spent the minimal expense to edit it. It makes great reading but no thanks to the publisher.

This is a wonderful book for all, but would be especially great for home schooled children to give them some formal art lessons.

Great book!

This book was not helpful at all. Lessons are outdated and half of it is actually a cookbook.

I purchased this book because it was recommended by my homeschooling curriculum. I had misgivings because the grade level is listed on the cover as grades 5-12, but my daughter is in grade 3. Since I've purchased it, however, I have used it just about every week. There are a great many ideas which can be used as-is, or can be adapted to different ages. It is really geared more towards a classroom, but most of the activities can be used with just one or two children. I frequently lead our weekly co-op, which has 7 children ages 6 to 11, and this book has been absolutely fabulous for that setting. I will probably keep this book for years to come, because there are so many recipes and activities.

this book is one of the best books i have ever undertook, what makes the novel so amazing is the critics who dislike the book, are just like robert cohn in the novel, "they just do not get it" If anyone is looking for a book that is rich in history and mindblowing if you want to take the time to read and understand the book, than definatly go with this one, i promise you will not regret it.

Be cautious ... this edited version is a research and study guide ... it is not the full text of the book!

This book is horrible. I cannot see how so many people enjoy this sensless book. It took me three weeks to get through 15 pages. Ernest Hemingway may seem wonderful to others, but to me, he was a drunk who smoked Cuban cigars. The character Jake, resembles Hemingway in a very distinct way. This book has taught me a great lesson. Never to touch one of Hemingway's books with even a ten foot pole, ever again! I advise anyone to stay away from the drunk. I give this story no stars even though I had to in the column above.

Can it be said that there's no place like home in all instances? This group of post-war youth prove this enticing theory wrong. Home is where the comfort lies, not the heart.

Jake, Brett, Bill, Robert, and Mike form a group of friends traveling wherever their consience leads them. Growing restless when they keep themselves in one situation for too long, this mess of human regret lives for the moment. They travel to the week long Fiesta in Pamplona, where they find nights of drinking and days of somber realizations, uniquely tied hand in hand with bullfighting.

As is true with most Hemingway novels, a man and woman's relationship with one another is used as a mode of depicting his views on life. Lady Ashley (Brett, disguising herself with a title as she does with short hair and hats and various other men's traits) stars as the diva without a cause. She wanders the streets of Paris in search of a good night in bed, which is all the war has left her with. As was done to the rest of war-participating America, Brett was stripped of compassion, of desire for love, and was left with a hollow lust. This lust was never to be filled but was continually in search of completement. This is what drew Brett to Pamplona with Mike, her haughty, yet understandably grounded, fiance.

Perfectly depicting the result of Brett's search for completion, Robert Cohn follows Brett to the Fiesta and likewise follows her every move. He is a former lover whwhich cannot seem to tear himself from the idea that she was once his. By his continual snooty comments, and the fact that Brett could find pleasure in him and not Jack (sexually hindered by a war wound) every word that comes from his mouth is the subject of Jack's narrative scorn.

Easily understood is Jack's disattachment from the world which took away his "manliness," especially when this is that which would attract the one thing in life that he values, Brett. Jack's love for Brett is obbsessive and ultimatley dooming when he sacrifices his remaining link to disillusionment, bulllfighting, which is his last escape from the chaos trailing the war. In an effort to please Brett, he gives access to an able-bodied matador, the object of her lust. After losing the trust of a community held tight with respect by Jake, he is left with the same Brett, just a little more contented than she was five minutes ago.

In my careful opinion, Hemingway has reconstructs a world ignored by many, but remembered and endured to this day. In a time of confusion and distrust in the reality of human emotion, this group typifies the actions of self-indulgence and disparity which characterize this generation. Instead of merely a drunken party with some good fights, some bullfighting, and plenty of sex, the novel depicts with pity the lost generation and all their woes.

For all those opposing the seemingly endless stream of war literature, it's fair to say "Give it up, already!" With unforgetable stories like these, how can we complain about a generation willing to share their tales of dedication to one true thing, in a time of great confusion. Their sacrifices will live forever in us and our decisions. Respect this and you can understand any Hemingway novel that is thrown at you.

I was looking for more of an ice-breaker type of activity, to help the team know one another better. The book was more about a team working together to complete a project.

Whether the team with which you work is in a large or small business, in a non-profit organisation, or in a community group, you'll find this book a wonderful resource. As the introduction says "Nearly every significant accomplishment in human systems today comes from the cooperation, positive energy and learning that result from a real team effort." Appreciative Team Building explains the power that results from positive, appreciative questions. Using the strategies, suggestions, sample interview guides and 48 'starting point' questions provided in this book, you can help your team to shift from conversations that are problem-saturated (as they so often can tend to be in our current society) to conversations filled with new creativity, hope and possibility. Also clearly explained is a step-by-step process of Appreciative Inquiry that you can use to guide your team to achieve its own and its members very best potential. Highly recommended!

The book was fabulous! I found it really helpful - it is conceptually right on and it is a great and useful tool - Bottom line it fires up both sides of my brain!
Susan Copple
HR Director
Hewlett Packard Company