Bonds Books

This book has the best information of any ghost town book that I have read. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in learning about the mining camps and people of the old west.

A great book on the subject! The only reason I did not give it five stars is the lack of maps and the antiquity of the maps shown. Otherwise this book is a great source of information!

This book is the most extensive ghost town book I have ever seen or read. I believe the content is well detailed and documented. Though true of many ghost town books, I wonder if Florin's photos illustrate current conditions. Florin does not appear to leave any stone unturned in order to find historical details to compose each town's history in an interesting and many times comicial combination of text and pictures. To the book's detriment, the pictures are horrendous. Many are too contrasty, poorly exposed, and lack detail. I would have rated this book 10 if the photographs complemented the extensive research and text. If you are interested in ghost towns, it would appear that this publication could be a benchmark by which others are judged (exclusive of Florin's apparent lack of photographic expertise)

I have been to many of the locations given in this book. It is almost a shame that some of them are no longer in the same shape as when this book was originally published. I think that the research used by the author to be very accurate and makes for very entertaining reading. When I wish I was out exploring but can't go I pull this book off the shelf and it is as if I am there. The pictures leave a little to be desired but that adds to the mystery of the ghost town being described. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a thorough guide to western ghost towns. Well worth the cost of the book.

... at a great price. My boys love the books and I love that they love them.

These are a great set of books. Each item the specific animal wants always leads to another item, sounds a lot like a child doesn't it? I love how the author has recreated the mind of a child acting out the story in the form of a moose, pig, or mouse. Any of the titles would be an exception gift.

If You Take A ... books are some of the best children's stories written. The whole series is great and this set is a great value! I highly recommend it for children age 3-6.

I bought this series for my nephew, who is 18 mos. old. He loves to be read to. There is enough detail in the pictures that there is plenty to point out. I can ask him "Where's the mouse" and he can look for it in the picture and point it out. And the artwork is cute. The stories are also cute and the sentences are simple enough that once my nephew does begin to read he'll be able to read these easily enough. A bit of subtle humor though, on one page the mouse writes words on the chalk board and one of them is versimilitude...just wait until my nephew want's to know what that word means!

This book thoroughly covers all aspects of bond and bond fund investing. It is specifically for the person who wants to invest for income, for someone who is retired and needs a certain amount monthly over a lifetime, and for anyone who for whatever reason opts for a bond portfolio.

It describes all the terms used when researching bonds and it talks about all sorts of bonds and bond funds, the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Highly recommended.

Ralph does a terrific job introducing the investor to the sometimes complicated world of bonds and bond mutual funds. For any investor who is looking to round out an equity portfolio with fixed income products, or who wants to invest entirely in bonds, this book is absolutely the best place to start.

I read this book cover to cover and it was an education to say the least. Looking for income strategies, I found a foundation to build off of here.

I also give it a Aaa rating!

The best guide to investing in bond funds available anywhere!

Perfect for income investors looking to increase their understanding and income potential.

Strategies are a real eye opener!

A must-have desktop reference! Well written, incredibly informative and easy to follow. If you work in the industry, you MUST purchase this book! If you don't work in the industry, but want to learn about it, you MUST purchase this book!

This comprehensive guide offers unparalleled insight into some of the hottest topics in modern finance: from asset allocation to online trading, from broker-dealer operations to advanced portfolio management. It is a "must-read" for anyone who wants to get answers to the many questions concerning investments and modern securities markets. The book makes an excellent reference guide for everyone from a novice investor to a seasoned investment banker.

This book provided a clear overview on the world's leading financial instruments. It is a must read for anyone working in the financial services industry.

An excellent, well written, easy to read tool that is useful for the first time investor as well as the Financial Services Professional. I've been in the business 13 years, and still found this book to be captivating! Very useful in illustrating the basics to newcomers of the investment process.

Anticipating the arrival of a baby is perhaps one of life's most treasured experiences -- for the young and old alike. Rebecca Bond captures the essence of the experience with captivating illustrations and a precious story of the whole extended family pitching in to make the baby's arrival a special one. I have taken to buying this book for the preschoolers in my life who are expecting a little brother or sister. This is the book my daughter, age 5, asks me to read to her more than any other. She and I are also enchanted with Ms. Bond's other two children's books. She is a relatively new author (with this being her first book), but I have a feeling (and I sure hope) we will be seeing much more of her writing in the years to come.

For any family who's ever experienced the joyful expectation of a newborn baby.... with all the hope and promise for the child's life.... there are 2 titles by Rebecca Bond that are SURE to please! The warm illustrations.... rooms full of books (and no TVs!).... and the tender multi-generational love for new life --- it doesn't get any better than this! JUST LIKE A BABY and BRAVO MAURICE by Rebecca Bond are the perfect "snuggle up and read-to-me" books. A word of advice: Your budding artists will want to duplicate the bright colors, textures and patterns.... Bond's art is contagious, so have the crayons, paper & paints ready!

I'm buying a second copy as a gift. Lively illustrations, fun story. This will be read to our grand daughter over and over.

I was delighted with the red-faced, charming characters in Rebecca Bond's first book. Her illustrations are bright and cheery. The story is sweet, a bedtime delight. I enjoyed this as much as my children. A must read for all little ones, and a perfect baby gift.

If you are wanting more information on the James Bond movies (background stories on how they got made, info on how various actors came to be Bond, ratings of the movies, etc.) then this is the book for you. At over 200 pages, the tome certainly isn't short on information.

The authors definitely have their favorite, and there is room for argument with some of their ratings, which makes the book even more interesting. They rate each Bond movie in a variety of areas (Villains, Women, Plot, Action, Bond, Gadgets, Dialogue, etc.)

I've found this to be a book I go back to quite often. It's great to read right before or after I've watched a Bond DVD. It illuminates some of the background on actors, producers, directors, locations, etc.

Highly recommended for the Bond movie fan.

"Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: The Unofficial James Bond Film Companion" by Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn is a very good book on James Bond info. Even though unofficial it has good information. I like it.

Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn's KISS KISS BANG! BANG! is an essential companion book on the cinematic world of James Bond. I like the way the authors choose to take 10 essential elements film by film and critique them. KISS KISS BANG! BANG! is quite insightful and interesting reading. I also enjoy the very handsome layout of the book, which only enhances the reader's interest. The book is also profusely illustrated with very unique photographs not associate with other official books on the cinematic James Bond. This is a well thought out and well-intentioned book. I highly recommend it. If you are a James Bond fan it is quite essential.

Unlike the "official" James Bond compendiums written before it, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" offers a broader, more objective view of the history of the James Bond film franchise. While the finished product could have used a polish from a real editor (there are typos everywhere,) the raw material contained here is worth the read alone. Everything from Fleming's early failed attempts to bring his hero to film, to Saltzman and Broccoli's instrumental casting of Sean Connery as the first James Bond is documented and seemingly well researched. Each film production receives it's own chapter, From "Dr. No" to "Tomorrow Never Dies" including the non-Eon produced "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again." All chapters open with production stories as recollected by the cast and crew and includes initial reviews by film critics (a real plus here) who reflect on the sexual and moral perversion that audiences succumb to when viewing a James Bond film. The authors close each chapter with a 10 point fan-boy rating system, grading everything from the opening sequence and titles to the girls and gadgets. Overall the book is a quite refreshing and insightful companion. There aren't a lot of photos in the book, but the ones that are included aren't ones we've seen before. As a fan it left me thankful that Burt Reynolds was never cast as 007, upset that "Casino Royale" was wasted as a spoof and imagining what the franchise would be today if George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton did more films and if Roger Moore did less.

This vol along with the first 5 are so great, shows passion, love, comedy, angst all in just one story.

100% recommended

I salute Kazuma Kodaka. She was able to do a beautiful job with this series. It brought a lot of my emotions to the surface. I cheered at the rescue. I laughed at the proposal. I cried at a possible break up. One cannot help but to fall in love with these characters. The extra story was good though it took up half of the book. Now, we wait for Book #7. I pray that it will come out sooner. That's a issue that has to be taken up with Be Beautiful Publishers. This is one of the yaoi series that I recommend.

After more than 6 months, Vol 6 is finally out. The story arc which begins in vol 4 finishes with an exciting and tense climax here. Tashiro's and Jack's relationship is also given a sort of satisfying conclusion in the early part of the book. But that is not the last of this couple as there is the bonus short story, "Gun & Heaven", in the second half of the book, on how this couple met and became lovers. "Gun & Heaven" is a gripping and arousing story by itself. If Tashiro did not make an impression in Vol 5, this young man holds my heart by the end of this story. I hope Kodaka will come back to this intriguing couple later in the series, when there is a need to put in some action scenes.

For my top favorite Yaoi couple, Ran and Kei, there are some anguished, emotional and sweet moments in the hospital. Ran is still tightly strung over nearly losing Kei. They exchanged heated remarks hurting each other. Of course they made up, a deeply moving and romantic scene which ended in Kei finally proposing (remember the rings) and an erotic moment (Yup, Ran is the active one here since poor Kei is still woozy..).

Kai and Masa seemed to have drifted further apart in this vol, the tension to be resolved in Vol 7, of course.

Kizuna has everthing I wish for in a great Yaoi. Vol 6, charged with angst, emotions and passion, is no exception. Last but not least I love Kodaka's men. They are such sensitive and vulnerable characters.

Now I just have to learn to be patient and wait for the translated Vol 7 which I hope is not another half a year away. With Kizuna volume 10 released in Japan early this year, we poor fans relying on the translation from the annoying publisher Bebeautiful are at least 3 years behind. Give us a break, Bebeautiful!

Less than 100 pages of main plot! Gah! More than half the book is devoted to this side story that focuses on what really amounts to be two bit characters in the series. Neither of them existed before volume 5 and I'm not quite sure what the appeal was so big about either of them. Maybe in Japan, where this series was serialized in a magazine and people didn't have to wait 6 months between fixes (what is up with you guys, BeBeautiful?!), they had a lot more fun exploring all the new characters with the shorter pagecounts per release?

Now, I'm not saying the story about how Jack and Tashiro (Roy) first met and fell in love wasn't interesting, but I really would have preferred to see the resolution of Kai and Masa's relationship instead and seen this side story at some future date (like at the end of the series). We've been frustratingly made to wait for six volumes to see these two finally stop circling each other and again we are forced to sit down for another undetermined number of months to see any more.

The resolution of the cliffhanger at the end of volume 5 was also a bit disappointing. The entire incident where it concerned Ran's rage was over and done with in 7 pages. Sure, we got another handful of pages of Kai and Masa, but the fight was over in far too short a time. I was really hoping for more butt-kicking than we got to see.

I have to admit though, that the comedic elements in this volume between Kei and Ran were wonderful, particularly Ran's reaction, "That was it? That's how you propose?" and Kei's response, "I did take a few blows to the head." In all, the entire scene between them in the hospital before they were unfortunately interrupted by Kai were extraordinary. Kodaka has some incredible gift to use so little to show so much so well.

I feel like Kei and Ran's bit in the story has said its piece now, though, and the end of the series, once this issue between Kai and Masa is resolved, can't be much farther over the horizon, or I may just get tired of the series. There's a point when something needs to not be dragged along anymore, and I'd hate to see such an amazing series suffer the fate of a slow torturous death.

There are parts in volume 6 that will leave you wanting more, and there are parts of volume 6 that will leave you wanting more. Yeah, I said it twice. I have to so as I wait another 6 months for volume 7 I'll maintain some semblance of sanity by fooling myself into thinking only half that time has passed. A flawed logic, I know. That said, the only two aspects of this book that made me give it four stars instead of five were the above mentioned half a book of main plot and the snail pace of the release schedule. I'm off to pull my hair out now and send it to BB as a warning...

i heard from someone.. there is good story of love.. i want to read that the book! and also dvd too. .smile thank you so much

My favorite series besides Fake, Kizuna (released by BeBeautiful) is at the moment I would say the ultimate classic among all Yaoi Manga to date that has been released.
Enjouji has been kidnapped by the Yakuza and they find out who he really is which puts his life in danger. His lover, Ranmaru is sick with worry when his boyfriend doesn't return home, fearing that he is in trouble and finds Enjouji's half brother Kai, to help him locate and rescue Enjouji.
Ties of love are pulled to the extremes when Ranmaru comes to terms with the fact he may lose Enjouji forever and picks up his sword in an act of revenge for his fallen lover.
Kizuna is defiantly a title you should pick up! The translation is perfect and the art suits the storyline well. Anyone who is a fan of titles like FAKE and wanted more action should defiantly look up Kizuna.

Finally Book 5 is here after such a long long wait! Bebeautifulmanga.com, the publisher, just takes too long to get Kizuna translated. Book 5 continues the story arc from Book 4. No sex scenes here but the great story line, well developed characters and of course the presence of my favorite Yaoi couple, Kei and Ran, more than made up for it. Kai seems to have matured in Vol 5. About time, as I never like this bratty character whom I always feel should not be paired up with Masai. Tashiro and Jack, another couple, chip in with hints of their intriguing pasts.
Kei has disappeared and Ran is sick with worry. Ran finally finds his beloved Kei but can they escape. Ran is about to kill to revenge and protect the man he loves. Will Ran lose it..and that is how Vol 5 ends.., with a cliff hanger.
I have all 10 volumes (to-date) of the Japanese version of Kizuna though I do not know a word of Japanese. Just looking at the pictures is enough to keep me pulling my hair in frustration at the slow pace of the translation of Kizuna.
Well, I last heard that Vol 6 will be out in April and I really hope Amazon will not take too long to secure Vol 6.
Believe me from what I can gather from the pictures of my Japanese version, Kizuna just keeps on getting better and of course more hot scenes!

It's painful to wait between volumes of the English release of Kizuna.

If you're unfamiliar with the series, Kizuna is one of the most popular Yaoi titles around by the fabulous Kazuma Kodaka. It's drawn in "shonen" style, which is how men's comics are often drawn. Hard lines, shadows and angry rough looking fellas. Most Yaoi is drawn in "shojo" style, with softer, more feminine attributes. This makes Kizuna very unique among Yaoi titles, though it really shines in the quality of the writing.

The storyline of Kizuna revolves around two lovers, Ranmaru, a former kendo champion and Kei, the illegitimate son of a Yakuza boss. Kei's half brother, and legitimate heir to the clan, Kai, is also mixed up in the two men's lives and causes a lot of trouble for Kei, Ran, and his personal bodyguard and pseudo-suitor, Masa.

If you are new to the series, you should probably go back and start with volume 1; volume 5 picks up in the middle of some heavy storyline, and you'll be lost if you don't already know what's going on. In fact, I was lost because it has been so long since volume 4 (though there is a "story thus far" at the beginning to jog one's memory with).

Anyway, this volume is packed full of action. Yes, action. Not the sexual kind. Kei has been kidnapped and Ran has finally gotten worried. He enlists Masa's help and then joins up with Kai to find him. Kai, for his part, escapes the watchful eye of his bodyguard, Tashiro, who himself is distracted by a former acquaintance. Kai is really taking a role of authority in this volume. He breaks from his dependency on Masa and works to help his half-brother with the man they both love.

The volume ends in another cliffhanger, so we'll all have to wait for volume 6, whenever that will be, to find out if Ran has totally lost his mind, or if he is just really pissed off.

As with Kizuna fans, there are many people that you want to get together. Ranmaru and Kei, in this one the happy couple spend an not so privet honeymoon where Kei greww up. Kai and Masa came along (thou Masa was there casue Kai asked him to be) Kai and Masa's relationship has started to take off in the wonderful inn. And Kei and Ran get to have thier honey moon.

This book just keep getting better and better kei and ran are the two main people for me but masa and kai are interesting also. i can understand why kei is upset with his brother he is always spoiling things for him. but he doesn't want any one looking at masa he is a very selfish boy! the shower scene was very hot i like seeing ran's face when he is in the heat of passion the face turns even on and when they lay flowers on the grave of Kei's mother it's funny the way masa and ran seem to gravitate toward each other it's like it's done on purpose but it's so inocent but the brothers think otherwise. it's funny watching kai get jealous and upset with ran who is supose to be the on he is in love with. when it comes to masa no one is spared his jealousey he is like a little boy who wants all he sees no matter what! i love this vol and look forward to the rest of the series. the sex is hot and the story never lets you down it just makes you eager for the next vol.

Finally, Kizuna returns its focus to the loving relationship between Kei and Ran. I am absolutely satisfied with this new volume and I look forward even more to the next volume. I'm even happy that BeBeautiful seems to have picked up the pace with their releases from last year's painfully slow schedule, and a top notch job they did. I'd have to say that this is the publisher of yaoi that I respect the most for quality of localization into English, even if they are the slowest.

Ah, fan service. It seems Kodaka took notice of its absense as of late. She gave us a small taste of it in volume 6, but that was not nearly satisfying enough. Having been denied any real graphic depictions for several volumes, Tashiro and JB in the last volume not withstanding, we finally get to see the newlyweds consummate their relationship on vacation.

Kei finally heals and we get a wonderful scene with his father and his now husband. The lovebirds get a free trip to a hotspring from the aging yakuza boss which the two men use as their honeymoon destination. Kai of course, who is still having trouble dealing with his feelings for Masa, forces himself along and the standard angst and interruptions of Kei and Ran's alone time ensue. We're in a place with that relationship that satisfied many of my expectations by the end of the volume, but there is enough left over to hold my interest into volume 8. We also get to learn a whole lot more about Kei's childhood and his mother, and Ran finally makes a decision about his prospects in kendo thanks to some goading from Kei.

A lot of people don't like Kai. I can understand where that comes from. He's completely immature. I don't understand though, why people seem to think that Masa is not a good match for him. Masa is just as messed up as Kai is. They deserve each other. One spastic spoiled brat and one stoic brooding jerk. They balance each other, and when they don't they at the very least cancel one another out. Volume 8 promises to give us the best taste of this couple's relationship.

For fans of Kizuna, I have to say this volume is wonderful. Don't waste time wondering whether or not to get it. I know I will be waiting happily for the next installment myself.

After the heavy story arc in Vol 4 to 6, the romantic Vol 7 is a great change in pace. Vol 7 finds my favorite Yaoi couple, Ran and Kei, on their honeymoon (remember Kei's proposal in Vol 6). Of course, Masa and Kai are along for the ride. Being interrupted constantly by a mercurial Kai is certainly not the couple's idea of a honeymoon.
Ran and Kei are into some pretty hot coupling here. The scenes in the hot bath and hot spring, on the tatami are darn erotic. Kei, just recovered from his ordeal, is at his most randy self and Ran...Well Ran may "seems" reluctant on the surface but certainly not shy in anyway. Meanwhile poor Kai is trying to get the moody Masa to reciprocate.

On a personal note, I never understand why Kodaka pair the intriguing Masa with the bratty Kai. Maybe I am bias as I never like Kai while I am all for Masa. I know I am the loner in this opinion.

For those of us into romance, Vol 7 is certainly worth its weight in gold. There is also a touching revelation of the 2 brothers' past when they first met.

Looking forward to Vol 8 and let's hope Bebeautiful does not dally too much.

The story of Lena Baker, the first and only woman to be executed legally in the state of Georgia, needed to be told.
Lena was an impoverished Black woman who lived in Cuthbert, the seat of Randolph County, in southwest Georgia. She lost control of her life because, in addition to her station, of two facts. A prominent white man insisted she be his mistress, and she was dependent on alcohol.
When she killed her oppressor in self-defense, she was tried for murder. Did she receive a fair trial? Was her case given an adequate investigation? Was she assigned a competent defense attorney?
The exploration of these questions makes Phillips's The Lena Baker Story an absorbing one, but even more engaging are the minute details the reader learns of small-town, Southern life in the 1940s. We are told what is playing at the movies. We know that one Cuthbert resident drove all the way to Eufala, Alabama, to buy her pet bird cherry cokes. We know what most folks had for dinner.
This book is highly recommended for its general appeal and to any student of the history of jurisprudence, of the civil rights of Blacks and women, of Americana, or of Georgia history.

Lela Bond Phillips's recounting of this once forgotten miscarriage of justice is a gripping story well told in its sparse yet lively style covering barely 120 pages. While others would have padded the book with trial transcripts and other ephemera Phillips sticks to the facts of the case painting a warts and all portrait of Lena Baker, the accused murderer and her relationship with Ernest White, the victim. Phillips is unsparing in the depiction of the events leading to the murder as well as well as providing background information on all the major characters as events unfold. Phillips does an outstanding job of explaining how the standards of crime scene investigation and forensic evidence of the era were not as rigorous as they are now and points out the inherent contradictions in the testimony and evidence presented at trial. Phillips studiously avoids making judgments and is careful to point out that readers should not use contemporary standards to judge the characters and their actions. The unflattering and unemotional depiction of an interracial relationship gone wrong in the Jim Crow South has the potential for overwrought prose, but Phillips keeps that in check, largely due to her writing ability (she has an MA in English). In fact her style of writing is well suited for historical writing even though here she is writing out-of-field.

When printed in 1998 this book generated renewed interest in the case and efforts to mark Ms. Baker's grave and obtain a pardon from the Board of Parole and Pardons was undertaken. Those efforts bore fruit on August 15, 2005 when the Board posthumously pardoned Ms. Baker. The pardon is a small consolation as she was electrocuted 60 years ago in Georgia's electric chair; the only woman to be put to death. This book is highly recommended for those interested in exploring the Jim Crow era of the South, Georgia History, and real life crime stories. Phillips's style of writing is very enjoyable and this book is a lively page turner that will give you a better understanding of the times.

(The following review is taken from The Eufaula Tribune, Joel P. Smith, Triibune publisher) The Lena Baker Story, the story of the first and only woman to be executed in Georgia, is almost as fascinating as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The plot centers on Lena Baker, 44, who had never known anything but the pangs of poverty, and gristmill owner Ernest B. Knight, a white man 23 years the African-American Baker's senior. They had carried on a love-hate relationship for some three years --"The kind that usually ends in one of the parties being harmed." It began when Lena was hired to care for the mill owner while he recovered from a broken leg.The trashy affair isn't exploited, but it dramatically raises the question, was justice served even though the slave woman-locked in his gristmill and not allowed to go home -- confessed to killing him?....I found the well-researched true story to be a page-turner....The book is divided into three parts: Lena's life, the trial and the execution. If the story line doesn't have appeal, the life and times of the shooter and the gristmill owner do. It's a delightful, graphic depiction of this bygone era, encompassing politics in Georgia, including neighboring Quitman County. Georgia's own gubernatorial debacle is included, when Ellis Arnall and Herman Talmadge both claimed to be governor, sitting 20 feet from each other in the executive suite, carrying on the business of Georgia....Much history and life of the times are skillfully incoorporated into the book, such as the founding of Andrew College in 1854 to bring prospective wives to Cuthbert for the young men attending a local Baptist academy. There's the tale about the old woman who took her cats in a croaker sack with her when she went downtown to shop foor groceries. then Mrs. Luci Moye made a daily trip in the late afternoon to Eufaula to buy her pet parrot, Polly, a cherry Coke, following her "racous litany of 'Polly want a cherry Coke.'" The story doesn't have a happy ending, though. The Cuthbert Times, a local newspaper I bought years later and edited, crassly reported on her death on page one: "Baker Burns."

The story of Lena Baker, the first and only woman to be executed legally in the state of Georgia, needed to be told.
Lena was an impoverished Black woman who lived in Cuthbert, the seat of Randolph County, in southwest Georgia. She lost control of her life because, in addition to her station, of two facts. A prominent white man insisted she be his mistress, and she was dependent on alcohol.
When she killed her oppressor in self-defense, she was tried for murder. Did she receive a fair trial? Was her case given an adequate investigation? Was she assigned a competent defense attorney?
The exploration of these questions makes Phillips's The Lena Baker Story an absorbing one, but even more engaging are the minute details the reader learns of small-town, Southern life in the 1940s. We are told what is playing at the movies. We know that one Cuthbert resident drove all the way to Eufala, Alabama, to buy her pet bird cherry cokes. We know what most folks had for dinner.
This book is highly recommended for its general appeal and to any student of the history of jurisprudence, of the civil rights of Blacks and women, of Americana, or of Georgia history.