Brian Books

Any kid who reads The Doll People and the sequel, The Meanest Doll In The World would be very excited if they knew there would be a third book. I'm one of those people, I read both of them and I LOVED THEM. I decided it was my favorite book so far (I'm only 10 so I know that won't be forever). I recommended them to everyone who was looking for a good book at the right level, I think if you are 8 or up, you would love the idea and l ove the way Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin writes and how Brian Selznick illustrates. They're all a really good team. One of the things I LOVED were the illustrations. For someone who doesn't know how to picture things in your mind while you're reading, this is the book to get in the book store. If you feel interested to read this book then grab it out of the bookstore or buy it anywhere, please. Both of those books are great!

Anntie Sarah was lost for 47 years ago, then 47 years later, Annabelle got a hold of her diary. She kept it very safe until the Funcrafts came to the house. Annabelle Doll shared the diary with the Funcrafts daughter, Tiffany, and everything in the diary they both read is a step closer to find Anntie Sarah.

By Rose

This is an excellent book with fun and adventure abound. Good reading for people of all ages. My 70 year old Father loved it, so much so I bought him his own copy. A fun read over and over.

The Doll People
By: Ann M. Martin

Book Review by: Caroline Le

Have you ever lost someone near and dear to you? Well that's exactly what happened to Annabelle Doll in this book, The Doll People. It's about a family of dolls trying to find their lost family member, Auntie Sarah, but the problem is that Auntie Sarah could be anywhere in the house and the whole family is only about an inch in height. The whole family includes mama, papa, Uncle Doll, nanny, Annabelle, her little brother Bobby, Baby Betsy, and of course Auntie Sarah. Along the way they get into a lot of problems, with The Captain (the humans cat) and getting lost, plus they can't move while the humans are around, it'll jeopardize their secret, but they also have a lot of fun too so don't worry. Personally I think that one of the best parts in the story is all the adventures they have. Read the book to find out what happens to the Doll family and Auntie Sarah. Enjoy reading it, I know I did.

Who says that you can read and enjoy children's books? This book is on par with some of the great children's literary classics like the Wizard of Oz. The author creates a world in which a Doll family comes to live unknown to the human residences around them. While the Dolls remain forever the same age, Annabelle Doll had remained an eight year old girl for a hundred years. She is on the search for her missing aunt Sarah who disappeared 45 years ago. She and the Doll family travel without getting human detection which means that they can be forever frozen in time. The Doll life is very fragile and human detection can determine their frozen state. A fear that the Doll family must have while Annabelle and her sister yearn to break free from the dollhouse that is their home. They remind me of Anne Frank and her sister hiding in the attic. They have so many rules of their own without being detected from humans. It's quite an entertaining novel for both adults and children alike. I could see an animated movie come alive and popular quite easy. The illustrations are in black and white. I don't have any complaints about the book but hope to get back into it soon enough.

Hi, I am 9 years old and I LOVED this book its about a doll that's a hundered years old and is named Anabelle who lives with her mom, dad, brother, uncle , and baby sister. While Anabelle is looking for Auntie Sarah, who has been missing for 45 years, she finds another doll family, the Funcrafts. They are newer dollhouse dolls. The Funcraft family & Anabelle's family become good friends. And the Funcrafts have modern things the old dolls don't understand, like a microwave & Bar-B-que. And when Anabelle's birthday comes around they have a party for her at the Funcraft's dream house. The dolls have to be careful that the humans don't see them moving around & talking or else they will be in "doll state" (this is where they get frozen for 24 hrs). This book would be good for girls 7-12. The words are easy to read & the story is easy to understand. It's a long book, about 260 pages, but all totally entertaining. No boring parts. If you are looking for a great book to read, get this book NOW.

Perdita Miggs, seventeen years out of university, considers herself "not unhappy" and looks on her absent-minded professor husband, Perry, with a mixture of love and despair. Perry, who has barely achieved tenure at a small college, has--amazingly--obtained a major grant to study the fauna of Loch Ness in Scotland. And so, the couple pack their things and prepare to go. Then, by further amazing coincidence, the guide he hires for their explorations turns out to be Andrew Macgruer, Perdita's old flame and one true love from her university days. Andrew was once a promising academic but has left wife and career to roam about the highlands, taking yankee "monster hunters" on memorable tours. Well, that's the apparent plot, but there is another, hidden plot, which I won't reveal, of course. You'll have to read the book. Let's just say that nothing is as it seems.

As the apparent plot and the real plot unfold, many more characters are introduced including the Loch Ness "monster" herself--the dinosaurian creature who lives below the surface of the loch and who makes brief appearances but only to those who are prepared to see her. All the characters have their own painful dilemmas to resolve, their own struggles with love and loss, and the reader must suffer with all of them as they work out their own redemption, or at least, resolution.

I wanted to love this book. I really tried. I must confess it was a difficult read. Author Corrigan writes in a high-flown literary style with long, rambling sentences, basketfuls of adjectives, stilted dialogue and a smattering of Scots dialect--all obstacles to easy reading. The characters talk to each other in long acadmic speeches about the nature of love, loss, memory and the possibility of redemption. It took me the first half of the book to get hooked into the story. Still, it's a profound book and worth reading. Don't consider it a romance novel, but an extended meditation on the real meaning of love. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

I tried real hard to get through this slow and meandering story but was not able to get past the half way point. The book starts out promising, the story appeared intriguing and the characters also seemed interesting. I think the problem I found with the book is that it had way too many characters with their own side-line stories going on in the background. If the author had stuck to the story of Perdita and Perry, bringing in the love triangle twist with Andrew and for added fun the loch ness monster quest, it would have been plenty. But to add in all the other stories of the other smaller characters, it made it too busy and meandering. Some parts were interesting, some parts written very beautifully and these points made you want to continue, then a slow part or a lot of little boring parts came and they seemed to overwhelm and take over the rest. I felt the book was losing focus by the time I got midway. At the halfway mark I was so bored and I felt that I simply didnt care about any of the characters, they were lifeless and very flat, and I found the story going so slow it wasnt going to be worth the journey. Plus you'd think that a Loch Ness monster story would be a little riveting and exciting...sorry folks. this book falls short of the mark and falls rather quickly.

Did I read the same book as everyone else? Five solid stars? This book alone has made me rethink my reliance on the review system. The only reason I even finished it was to find out if I was right about the husband's motives. I was. This book was predictable, and I never cared much for Perry or Perdita, and only mildly for the other characters. I wanted to care about these relationships, I just didn't. It was flat, and boring, and another reviewer was right when they said there was too much literary fluff. Towards the end when I was only skimming for the important parts, I could skip pages at a time. Scotland is pretty and "home" for Perdita, we get it. I was excited to read this book, it just didn't pan out the way I wanted. It was NOT similar to Outlander, which is one of my favorite books. It did not have the intricacy of storyline, nor did it evoke the same response with its characters. I believed the love in Outlander, and while I can appreciate what the author here was trying to do, he just didn't really make any of it believable. I will say the writing was pretty, but that only counts for so much. Somewhere in there should be a plot and characters that the reader cares about.

The Poet of Lochness was an absorbing read, with rich prose, romance, and several layers of mystery underlying the basic love story. To fully appreciate the outcome, it is necessary to "suspend disbelief" regarding several plot lines along the way. If you can do that, I think you will be best able to appreciate the heartwrenching beauty in the message of this novel.

Now you know -- I write comments in the margins of books. The books I like, that is. My copy of THE POET OF LOCH NESS is filled with jottings that I wrote the second time I read it. The first time I was far too engrossed to waste time writing "Exquisite" (page 94), "Integrity, simply stated" (page 112), an exclamation point on page 158 (next to the underlined phrase "with the dour disapproval of two Presbyterians watching a church burn").

Brian Corrigan shows an uncanny ability to get into the mind of a woman. If you don't believe me, see Chapter 32. When Perdita admits to never having tried to understand men, Meg repies, "I consider that verra wise. It's a bit like making up your mind no' to disembowel yourself."

Wit tempered with compassion. Insight peppered with humor. Corrigan is a real winner.

Brian Frazer has written a funny, touching, wonderfully memorable book that I'd recommend to anyone who asked. One of the most impressive things about the text is how it starts with a great momentum that never lets up (not an easy thing to do). Most memoirs leave me cold--they tend to fall prey self-pity or self-congratulations. Frazer avoids the traps, and leaves us with a great memoir.

He's a REALLY talented writer and I look forward to whatever he comes up with next. A fan.

Between his honest and touching recollection of what life was like for him growing up and the vast range of therapies he experimented with in search for some solid self-help, he is not afraid to reveal his humanness and make fun of himself. I love books that involve a serious subject and yet are infused with so much humor that they reassure you that it is okay to be vulnerable, kind of like Dry by Augusten Burroughs. I have tried many alternative therapies myself but Brian Frazer's willingness to try unorthodox approaches was impressive and the outcomes were hysterical. This book was not only entertaining, but actually could be useful for people suffering from anxiety who seek alternatives to medication.

If you're the kind of person who's almost disappointed when it turns out your headache doesn't actually signal a brain tumor, or that your stiff neck is not the result of viral meningitis, then here's an aspirational book for you! Author Brian Frazer is one sick guy. He acquires obscure ailments, conditions and disorders with the ease of a web millionaire accumulating Russian mail-order brides. And boy, is Brian ever angry! Funny, but angry. Apparently, his rage pilot light never goes out. Turns out he grew up in a clan of kooks, and the effect on Brian was nature vs nurture in an internal war that still rages today - much to the delight of his vast retinue of acupunturists, yoga gurus, Kabbalah coaches, Indian nutritionists, etc. One of my favorite aspects of this well-written quirkfest is the child-like trust he places in each new "healer", even in light of their quack credentials. Brian's genuine desire to calm his unruly brain and body, along with the comedic self-awareness of his excesses, helped counter my amused horror at his bizarre outbursts and episodes. Brian's rudder appears to be his forebearing wife, Nancy, who tolerates his various quests with saintly mildness. "Poor Nancy!" was my unspoken refrain as Brian's full weirdness unfolded. The funniest thing was when I tried to discuss the memoir with my husband after I'd finished, but it was like we'd read two different books. I'd enjoyed the tale of an ultra-intense fellow who embarks on ridiculous procedures to control unrealistic amounts of stress brought on by seemingly nothing at all. By contrast, my husband found it to be a highly-relatable account of a can-do guy ingeniously coping with everyday problems. Now I'm wondering who I married.

From the very first word to the very last punctuation mark, I was smitten with Brian Frazer's book. And by smitten I mean obsessed. Give-this-lady-a-restraining-order obsessed. I couldn't put the thing down. I dog-eared, highlighted, underlined, astrisked, did spontaneous readings for my illiterate seven-month old -- who, by the way, loved loved LOVED Chapter 7: Laminating... and every single thing that came out of Nancy's mouth, if we're making a list. Bottom line, "Hyper-chondriac" is the funniest and most honest account of the consequences of childhood. A must-have for everyone who has been a child or who has had a parent. David Sedaris and Anne Lamott, watch your backs.

HYSTERICAL.

Such a creative and imaginative writer. The scenarios he comes up with are AWESOME. I sometimes find myself thinking "oh my God, is he living in my head?!?". His humor and ridiculous stories have actually helped me past certain things in my life and have helped me to realize that i'm not insane (not certifiably anyway)!!

I love, love, love this book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The third book in a series of stories involving Duluth police and politicians. The book delivers rapid-fire action from beginning to end. The plotline is a series of different stories or subplots that the author intricately melds together. I especially found it interesting how the author works current events into the book which makes it near impossible to put down. I almost thought I had the ending figured out too...happy to read that I didn't.

Brian Freeman's 3rd outing after last year's Stripped, take Stride and Serena Dial, his paramour from Las Vegas, back to Duluth. Though conflicts of interest prevent Stride from directly investigating the murder of his former partner, he nevertheless becomes involved. Meanwhile, Serena, adjusting to life in the frozen north, has put up her shingle as a PI and is hired to act as an intermediary for a blackmail drop for a prominent local lawyer. What starts as two disparate cases converges into one before diverging into three (or at least it appears to be three).

I enjoyed the interaction and subtlies of the characters, who are well-drawn and interesting, especially the pseudo love-triangle between Stride, Serena and Maggie. This is a well-crafted thriller/mystery with nice twists and surprises. I deducted one star because Freeman tried too hard to make the apparent 3 cases connect. Some of it, especially the "2nd" climax, appears confusing and hard to follow but nonetheless still satisfying and rewarding. Freeman will need to work hard to top this one.

Another fantastic book by Brian - - i cannot wait for the next - each one is better than the one before - truly talented writer...elle

This was my first brian freeman book ,no way will it be the last. It was a very good book filled with many twists and turns. I emailed the author to tell him I loved the book and got a very quick response. He seems very nice and said his new book will be out next feb. Look for it it's called "In the dark"

This is my first and certainly not my last Brian Freeman book. What a great book with many plot twists. I truly enjoyed this book. I am now going to purchase his first two books and be always on the lookout for more books by Brian Freeman. If you like to read Patterson, Cromwell or Hoag you will enjoy this book also.

The third book in a series of stories involving Duluth police and politicians. The book delivers rapid-fire action from beginning to end. The plotline is a series of different stories or subplots that the author intricately melds together. I especially found it interesting how the author works current events into the book which makes it near impossible to put down. I almost thought I had the ending figured out too...happy to read that I didn't.

Brian Freeman's 3rd outing after last year's Stripped, take Stride and Serena Dial, his paramour from Las Vegas, back to Duluth. Though conflicts of interest prevent Stride from directly investigating the murder of his former partner, he nevertheless becomes involved. Meanwhile, Serena, adjusting to life in the frozen north, has put up her shingle as a PI and is hired to act as an intermediary for a blackmail drop for a prominent local lawyer. What starts as two disparate cases converges into one before diverging into three (or at least it appears to be three).

I enjoyed the interaction and subtlies of the characters, who are well-drawn and interesting, especially the pseudo love-triangle between Stride, Serena and Maggie. This is a well-crafted thriller/mystery with nice twists and surprises. I deducted one star because Freeman tried too hard to make the apparent 3 cases connect. Some of it, especially the "2nd" climax, appears confusing and hard to follow but nonetheless still satisfying and rewarding. Freeman will need to work hard to top this one.

Another fantastic book by Brian - - i cannot wait for the next - each one is better than the one before - truly talented writer...elle

This was my first brian freeman book ,no way will it be the last. It was a very good book filled with many twists and turns. I emailed the author to tell him I loved the book and got a very quick response. He seems very nice and said his new book will be out next feb. Look for it it's called "In the dark"

This is my first and certainly not my last Brian Freeman book. What a great book with many plot twists. I truly enjoyed this book. I am now going to purchase his first two books and be always on the lookout for more books by Brian Freeman. If you like to read Patterson, Cromwell or Hoag you will enjoy this book also.

The third book in a series of stories involving Duluth police and politicians. The book delivers rapid-fire action from beginning to end. The plotline is a series of different stories or subplots that the author intricately melds together. I especially found it interesting how the author works current events into the book which makes it near impossible to put down. I almost thought I had the ending figured out too...happy to read that I didn't.

Brian Freeman's 3rd outing after last year's Stripped, take Stride and Serena Dial, his paramour from Las Vegas, back to Duluth. Though conflicts of interest prevent Stride from directly investigating the murder of his former partner, he nevertheless becomes involved. Meanwhile, Serena, adjusting to life in the frozen north, has put up her shingle as a PI and is hired to act as an intermediary for a blackmail drop for a prominent local lawyer. What starts as two disparate cases converges into one before diverging into three (or at least it appears to be three).

I enjoyed the interaction and subtlies of the characters, who are well-drawn and interesting, especially the pseudo love-triangle between Stride, Serena and Maggie. This is a well-crafted thriller/mystery with nice twists and surprises. I deducted one star because Freeman tried too hard to make the apparent 3 cases connect. Some of it, especially the "2nd" climax, appears confusing and hard to follow but nonetheless still satisfying and rewarding. Freeman will need to work hard to top this one.

Another fantastic book by Brian - - i cannot wait for the next - each one is better than the one before - truly talented writer...elle

This was my first brian freeman book ,no way will it be the last. It was a very good book filled with many twists and turns. I emailed the author to tell him I loved the book and got a very quick response. He seems very nice and said his new book will be out next feb. Look for it it's called "In the dark"

This is my first and certainly not my last Brian Freeman book. What a great book with many plot twists. I truly enjoyed this book. I am now going to purchase his first two books and be always on the lookout for more books by Brian Freeman. If you like to read Patterson, Cromwell or Hoag you will enjoy this book also.

If there is ever one word to describe this book, its powerful. What a concept...that suffering is never meaningless, but a vehicle of purposeful intent and that we, as eternal souls, planned to use certain challenges to foster growth not only for our own souls but for the sake of our soul group and the universe at large. Putting it into a context like this, suffering has a whole different meaning.

According to the book, those around us also plan our lives intertwined with ours and all decisions are made out of love, no exception. I now think about my own challenges and those who have played a key role in my own personal growth and look upon them with gratitude and not judgment, including the "villains" in my story, because they fostered the most growth out of me. I am only now beginning to see the perfection of life. Aside from clarity, this book will bring healing and infinite comfort to those going through extreme suffering in their lives by learning there are no victims in this world.

Part of me picked up this book to find comfort for my own inner wounds. I cried when I read the words "Only the courageous plan fear" for I knew, that was what I intended to heal and have been working on it for years, having them dissipate one by one.

It has been a long time since I closed a book and felt warm, comforted and knowledgeable. The author takes you by the hand and guides you through this information with compassion, grace and great wisdom. I just cannot fully express how wonderful this book is. It is absolute perfection and if I could, I'd give it more stars. If there is ever a book I'd recommend, it would be this one!

I absolutely love this book! I knew that we had pre-planned our lives before reading it, but it explains it so well with people's stories to show you examples. I really hope I can get my friend to read it as I think it will help her to understand the reasons for some of her challenges in her childhood and now. EXCELLENT BOOK!

Wonderful reference book for anyone researching reincarnation. Answers many question as well as raising them.

Courageous Souls: Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth?Best book I have ever read on the subject of Pre Birth Planning. So well written and easy to relate to. It has brought great healing to my life and I continue to explore all possibilities. It has certainly given me a better understanding to life and knowing that everyone is on a journey to better their soul. A must read for anyone on a spiritual path to healing.

Everything always makes sense when you can see the big picture. This book provides a glimpse into why events we perceive as "bad" happen, through a varied collection of individual cases.

Our lives in this "reality" are just learning experiences, to expand our awareness of ourselves, we agreed to before we arrived on the planet.

Although this book was written in the 1960s, it is, still, very relevant today. This book was recommended to me back in 1983 or 1984 when I was in the military. I bought it with a number of other books. It took me twenty years to read it. I should have read it alot sooner; but, the rigors of life and the fact that a good many other books I bought kept pushing this one further back on the reading list. I grew up in the streets of NYC and saw his life being played out in a number of guys and gals I hung out with at that time. I didn't get caught up in the drug scene nor in the gangsta scene but, like the author, there was a lot going on outside the walls of the house to keep me outside nearly all day. Yeah this world was much newer for me then rather than now but I had to see what was going on within and without my neighborhood. As a parent looking at my kid, I know this world is new to them, which I can't shelter them from. As my kids look at me as their parent, they are constantly telling me to get out of their way. I want to see what is going out there. This only helps me to keep life real for them with a dose of non-reality here and there. Fortunately for Claude Brown, the street made him wise and through his book some of us can reminesce about those days and explain to others what urban life was like for us and how it made us what we are today. For others who have not experienced this urban lifestyle, take the book for what it is and re-evaluate your own experiences in hopes of passing on a reality check of your own life to your children.

This is an awesome book that I highly recommend to all young men trying to find their "way". It can be a little harsh, but it is about life in the inner city and a young man becoming a man.

Claude Brown's slightly fictionalized autobiography recounts his childhood and early adulthood throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Manchild in the Promised Land also documents the changing atmosphere of Harlem and the people it affected. Brown tells stories of himself as a hell-raiser, involved in theft and drug dealing, and spending time in juvenile detention centers like Wiltwyck and Warwick. He was able to establish a feared and respected name for himself both among the streetwalkers of Harlem and the inmates of the reform schools. Lacking formal education (resulting from years of playing hooky) and idolizing the criminal elements around him, he seemed to be heading down a short road of vice and danger.

Only after Brown moved to Greenwich Village shortly before turning twenty was he able to begin viewing Harlem with a more objective eye, and see the factors that led him down the downward spiral he had been traveling. One of the main reasons Brown believes he and his friends were wrought with such violence and recklessness is due to the mentality imported by their parents from the South. The thing that mattered most to them was fighting: for one's money, girl/family, and manhood (Brown 260). He feels that that rural mentality had been brought to a crowded city life that was not only incompatible with the setting, but also destructive. He laments, "it seems as though if I had stayed in Harlem all my life, I might have never known that there was anything else to life other than sex, religion, liquor, and violence" (Brown 281).

As a youth, Brown excelled in these very base attributes. It wasn't until the introduction of heroine, or "horse," as it was first introduced in the early 1950s, that he feels Harlem truly became unable to cope with their values. Instead of young men fighting for honor, they were killing and robbing for money to sustain their overwhelming addictions, introducing more guns into the neighborhood with desperate people wielding them. He witnessed his friends begin to fade away into scratching, nodding junkies. However, by this time Brown was able to leave and slowly break away from the crumbling Harlem he once knew, watching from afar many of the individuals he once hustled with fall victim to the crimes they themselves would perpetrate.

Many opted instead to stay in Harlem and live the street life. He attributes this to the attitudes of whites outside Harlem and the racism they encountered. To live a "clean" life usually meant to work for a white man who underpaid, referred to them in a racially derogatory manner, and made them perform the most labor intensive tasks. When it came to these prospects, most understandably chose the life of a self-employed drug dealer in Harlem over the self-effacing menial work elsewhere, despite the danger (Brown 287).

Where some people turned to drugs or religion to deal with these problems, Brown found his calling through more established and secular means. Education and music became outlets for him to express himself, gain a self-pride through non-criminal means, and eventually lead to a promising career as a lawyer and author.

One of the things that make this autobiography interesting is its use of language. Brown writes in a notable street dialect, however, the language itself evolves with the character. For instance, "cat" slowly comes into use around page 67 and is used throughout, though it receives less use towards the end. More notably, on page 109 the young Claude begins idolizing a street pimp named Johnny: "To Johnny, every chick was a b*tch. Even mothers were b*tches." And so on page 114 Brown writes "Jackie was a beautiful black b*tch." From then on women are regularly referred to as "b*tches" until the character matures enough to treat women with more respect, and Johnny's spell seems to have completely worn off by the time Brown falls in love with a fellow student. Likewise, the sentence structures become less erratic and grow in sophistication as the book goes on, using less slang chapter by chapter when he begins to change. This seems to be by design.

Claude Brown's personal accounts are no doubt fictionalized to some degree, for his characters go on exhaustive speeches several times, and he certainly didn't tape record them for every word. However, Brown's intentions are to present Harlem and its difficulties in approachable and creative ways. To allow readers (such as white-suburban-me) an inside look into the ways of urban life it invites an understanding and, hopefully, sympathy for the situations of the junkies, prostitutes, and drug dealers that we pass on the street. He shows them in a way that cannot be easily neglected, in intimate, personal relationships that reveal the influences and regrets that have placed them in those situations. These factors were not unique to the 1940s and 1950s. They existed before and do so today. Brown allows insight into the hardships while telling an encouraging tale of one who made it out. By personal drive and education, through art and self-expression (as this book is), he shows that the situation is not dire, but attitudes must change before the world will follow.

I can't believe I didn't write a review for a book I read 10 years ago. This is one of my favorite books. It was this one book that drew me into reading books and becoming a book lover. One of the best books I ever read. Highly Recommended!!

I was able to find this book relatively easy, based on a few keywords. My boyfriend started reading it several years ago and was unable to complete it. The storyline stuck in his memory and I bought it as a surprise for him, because over the years he mentioned it occasionally. Thanks for making the lookup so easy!

This was the first of 2 books I read as I prepared for WLS. As my surgery date approaches (10 days) I feel confident about my outcome because I researced my doctors and made myself knowledgeable of what to expect. This book did the last part. It is easy to refer to and after finishing, I went back and high-lighted parts I felt I would need to refer to later. The part I liked best was the way the chapters were outlined at the beginning of each. If you needed information later and couldn't remember where you read it, you could look on the first page of the chapter and see what it contained. Written like a information book should!!!!

Wow - this was one of the most comprehensive books I've found. Excellent resource that I still use often.

WLS is a big decision and you can't possibly get all the answers from your surgeon's office. There is just too much to know. Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies provided information on almost every topic pertaining to WLS. I felt as though my decision was ultimately a very informed decision. The testimonials from post-op patients were inspiring.

This is a well-researched, quick and easy-to-read primer on weight loss surgery. It outlines the pros and cons of the various types of surgery, offers help in selecting a surgeon, tells you what to expect at each stage of your recovery, and even has some post-op recipes. There are sections on the emotional as well as physical changes you'll experience and suggests ways of handling non-supportive as well as supportive friends, relatives, and co-workers.

I only wish I had read this prior to my consultation with my surgeon. I would have had a lot more and different questions to ask him. If you are even just thinking about WLS, you should read this book.

This book was amazingly helpful for information regarding weight loss surgery. It was practically my bible all the way through the surgery and right after. I listened to everything it had to say, plus my dietian, and i immediatly got apporived and moved right into surgery. A good buy if your serious about weight loss surgery.

This is the very best book available on concurrency. It covers all the Java 5.0 paradigms and goes from the explanation of volatile/final/mutable/immutable to advanced topics like re-entrant locks.
The best part about the book is Mr Yuk an icon to denote really bad thread unsafe code examples and comparison to different implementations that are correct -you will see from the first day onwards the mistakes that you have been making in your existing code. Very practical; Good explanation, lots of sample code.

Close your eyes look no further and get this book -you will not regret it.

An awesome book on concurrency that all Java programmers ought to read before embarking on anything more complicated than the primordial Hello World application.

This was a solid book to gaining an understanding of Java concurrency, especially the new concurrency features introduced in Java 1.5

After reading this book you will probably thank God that you haven't been using threads, but with that being said this book contains all the information you need to start writing code that walks the straight and narrow path.

This is "the" authoritative book on java concurrency. However, apart from some java specific items, the book is an excellent source on parallelism in general. Do not even try to implement parallelism without "reading and understanding" this book. Highly recommended !!!