Brandon Books

So, yes this is a good trade paperback. All of the Josh Blaylock written GI joe stories are great. But what are these sellers thinking by making the price 149.94?!?!? A little excessive and greedy. Just go to ebay

This trade paperback begins with an almost X-files like storyline. A young boy is abducted from a school playground. The GI Joe team is sent to investigate consisting of Cover Girl, Spirit and Snake Eyes. Why the Joes are investigating a kidnapping in the first place is kept as a mystery by the Jugglers, those ultra high-ranking generals who love to yank the Joe's string. This is strictly a need-to-know basis mission and as of right now, the Joes don't need to know. They find the boy was something of a prodigy, reading books on philosophy and drawing strange schematics in crayon. Soon the Joes learn of another attempted abduction and discover that this autistic boy looks exactly like the one who was abducted.

It turns out that there are several of these boys, all who have been placed with adoptive parents years earlier...they are all clones of the most fearsome Cobra villain Serpentor. Serpentor has long been thought dead at the hands of Zartan, but Dr. Mindbender was able to make several clones, some just children, others teens, and one a full adult. Serpentor is joined by several other renegage Cobra operatives including Firefly, Zandar, Dr. Mindbender, and others as they assualt Cobra Island and take Cobra Commander prisoner. Soon Serpentor's forces begin attacks on major cities world wide.

Several Joes, including Snake Eyes, have also been captured as they tried to protect the various kid-clones. The Joes are planning a rescue mission to free their missing comrades while Cobra, now being led by Destro, put together their own mission to rescue Cobra Commander. Destro even orders his men not to fire on any Joe member. All-out war breaks out as Joes battle Cobra and Cobra battles Cobra, including a face-off between Cobra Commander and Serpentor!

We really have two stories going on here; the first half of the book is, as mentioned, right out of the X-Files with the abductions of strange boys who look exactly alike and even make similar drawings. I was waiting for Scully and Mulder to show up. This was a very different setting for the Joe team as plain clothes investigators working with local law enforcement and I enjoyed that aspect of the story. The second half of the book is primarily one chaotic battle as these three diverse forces meet, all with different goals in mind. The pace is frenetic and before you know it the story was over and you were left wondering what happened. It all climaxed a little too quickly for my tastes, especially after the very deliberate pace of the first half. Still, it was great to see Serpentor back in action and we're all left with the fate of the kid-clones unresolved, setting the stage for a possible sequel. As usual, the art by Tim Seeley and Brandon Badeaux was fantastic as was the colors. This story also featured many Joes who haven't popped up in a lot of the other Devil's Due stories such as Cover Girl, Lady Jaye, and Rock-n-Roll, and others.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

This book turned out to have (pretty much) exactly same page-by-page content as ISBN 1563894963 (The book titled just "Gen 13"). Which I already own. Don't do the mistake I did. (The only difference as far as I can tell is the cover, and the fact that some of the tilted two-page spreads are instead the right way up, and on one page only.)

Karaoke No More, a book about the formation of the musical group (boy band) Westlife, is a MUCH better book than I expected. I am a big fan of the group, and have always been curious about its early days. I've owned their first single as IOU for a couple of years. But.... this book SEEMS like it would be an angry tirade about how 3 of the original 6 were booted out of the group just as they were on the cusp of success. I was prepared to read nasty stuff about those who STAYED... but, it turns out that the book is actually rather even-handed. It is written by one of the guys who produced that IOU (pre-Westlife) single, and has a very authentic feel.

I will say that the book has a bit too much about life in Sligo, Ireland, and about the author's own musical past, but I just skipped ahead when the matters got too tangential. One certainly feels for the guys who didn't make the cut. Westlife has gone on to be the 4th biggest grossing boy band of all time!!

One observation. That IOU single ("Together Forever" and "Everlasting Love,") is very amateurish sounding. If this is the best the people in Sligo who originally helped the group could come up with, I can see why Sean Filan's parents would say "This is just plain unprofessional." And seek out Louis Walsh, famous producer of Boyzone. Still, a VERY good book and I would say essential to any hardcore Westlife fan.

this book is good for those who are in teh senior year or first year of gradute school.gives insight(though not extensive) into the many tools which are used by a materials engineer in his research.....should be coupled with a lab experience so that the reader will appreciate the book's content.Overall,recommended for beginers.

The Kim family is getting ready to move. Everyone is busy packing except the
girl in the family named Annie. She doesn't want to move. She likes her yard, neighborhood and friends. There is one last box to move and in the box is a surprise! It's a puppy to take to their new home!


What did you like or not like about the book?

The book is part of the green light readers series. Young children will feel a since of pride when completing the book. There are very few words per page and the story moves at a fast pace.

The book is great for readers who are learning to read on their own. The story ends but not the book. It has a craft idea and discussion questions to ask after reading. I think would make a great read aloud for families who might be moving soon.

This is a book by an author that knows her stuff! Not knowing the oil business I found the insights technical, but interesting and you quickily warm to Bailey and friends. Left me wanting to go find a horse and a big wide plain to ride...

This book had a great underlying proverbial theme to make us think about how we look at life. It left you feeling nostalgic at times and fascinated at others. What keeps us from giving up? Blair Buchanan, the main character, makes you feel like there actually might be a purpose to this crazy game called life.

This book is one of the best bar novels I've ever read. It reminded me of
"Don't Stop the Carnival" (by Herman Wouk), which I purchased as an
out-of-print copy. Here was the story of a middle-aged New York agent who
exits the rat race and heads for the Caribbean (fictitious Island of
Amerigo) to start a new life in paradise. He buys a hotel (Gull Reef Club)
and begins to renovate but is stymied by oft-times comically tragic
situations that turn his life upside down. Things in la-la land don't work
like they do in the First World and the locals are as warmly endearing and
they are indubitably infuriating. By the end of the story, Norman Paperman
(main character) is packing his bags and heading for the airport.

"Pleasure Island" is a cautionary tale of similar beach-bar ilk. It too is
written with a literary style and makes a point, albeit more philosophically
and with an afterglow of optimism. Here is the story of a foreigner who
arrives in tropical wonderland and tries to run a bar, build an island home,
and even sojourn in his girlfriend¹s village home. But all these short
episodes end in debacle, leaving our young adventurer wondrous, as reality
infringes on the promise of an idyllic dream world.

The main difference between these two books is that "Pleasure Island" is an
illustrated novella, capturing the bar world in the fewest possible words,
while "Don't Stop the Carnival" is 400 pages long and requires true grind to
read from cover to cover.

"Don't Stop the Carnival" (although dated) might be compulsory reading for
anyone wanting chuck it all and move to the Caribbean, but "Pleasure Island"
should be compulsory reading for anyone wanting to live, start a business,
and/or get married to their local mermaid in the go-go dancing "islands" of
the Pacific. Even seasoned bar-goers will find humor in nuanced narrative
and sprinkling of funny one-liners.

Given that Herman Wouk's novel became a musical with lyrics by Jimmy Buffet,
I could see "Pleasure Island" morphing itself into film, perhaps as a
fantasy (aka "Lost Among the Mermaids") or even as a dark comedy (aka "Dr.
Strangelove - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bar.")

Chang's text was my choice for my General Chemistry course this year. It includes very basic material, which is very helpful for heterogeneous courses or courses where students have limited background in math or chemistry.

There are some odd mistakes in the text, but they are primarily when Chang editorializes and do not involve important facts or concepts. For instance, Chang states that water in the ocean has the same chemical structure as water on the ice caps of Mars.

Chang intentionally avoided presenting a great deal of real-world examples or applications, but he does have a short historical or biographical sketch at the beginning of each chapter.