Bridges Books

as is BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES. Also IMHO while there are many introductory texts to bridge, the more recent ones tend to be the most useful. This includes BRIDGE IN THREE WEEKS as well.

Every other beginners bridge book focuses teaching bridge via memorization. This book, by contrast teaches you to THINK. It shows you the logic that underlies the "rules" the other books focus on. More importantly, because it focuses on the logic, it does not have to "simplify" things to avoid taxing your memory. When you finish reading this book, you'll use modern bidding methods that any bridge player will understand. If you want to learn to play bridge, this is by far and away the best book to do it with. More importantly, this book focuses on building a solid core of bridge skills. When you are finished with this book, you will be able to play casually with your friends and will be ready to start improving your skills if you are interested in tournament play.

My one gripe with this book is that the suggested bridge library in the back is a bit sparse, and somewhat poorly chosen. The books on declarer play and defense are a bit too advanced, and the bidding book he suggests is well out of date and below the level you'll be at when you finish this book. Here is my advice instead:

When you buy this book you should buy these two classics as well:
Introduction to Declarers Play
Introduction to Defender's Play

Truscott shows you the basics of play and defense, but these books really go into the logic behind the basic skills, and they do so far better than any newer books. You'll be much better off if you focus on mastering this material before tackling the more advanced books he recommends.

At this point you are perfectly capable of playing casual bridge and having a good time with your friends. If you want to play tournament bridge, or you are serious about getting good, you've got a way to go yet. When you are ready to take your game to the next level, try Bid Better Play Better and How the Experts Win at Bridge.

I bought this from the discount rack at Swindon Bookstore in Hong Kong. They were probably going to dump it!!

Amazing tales from the Edo period. Get yourself some grilled eel and a plate of sushi and sashimi and enjoy yourself. That's what I did.

The Bridge of Darkness (The return of the master Assassin) by Shotaro Ikenami is a collection of four thrilling tales of murder and intrigue, set during the early seventeenth century Japan. The backdrop of the stories is the contemporary Japanese society, which was ruthlessly ruled by the Shogun, which in modern terms means a Dictator. Dr. Fujieda Baian is an accomplished acupuncuturist and is equally adept in the art of assassination. However, he is an assassin with conscience. He uses his needles to save the lives of the innocent and seal the fate of the guilty. He is assisted by his trusted lieutenant, Hikojiro, a toothpicks maker, who sometimes reminds you of Sherlock Holmes and his close friend Dr. Watson, albeit in a different way.

Each of the four stories in the book is a masterpiece in its own right and a gem in this particular genre of story telling. Although, Dr. Baian commits one murder after another, your fondness for him gradually grows as you go along. He is an assassin with whom you cannot avoid falling in love and who you will surely miss after finishing the stories. I am eagerly looking forward to reading Shotaro Ikenami's other book, a novel, namely, The Master Assassin (Tales of Murder from the Shogun's City). Unfortunately, the book is presently not available in India and I intend to procure it through the Amazon.com.

Chaz Brenchley is the prose-lover's fantasist. He first hit the American scene with his six-volume Outremer epic -- Outremer #1: The Devil in the Dust (Outremer, Book 1) -- which stood as quite the peculiar fantasy series. Mixing myriad heady themes with a vastly exotic locale and challenging, not exactly likeable characters, it didn't quite gain the overnight fan base the man deserved. Having enjoyed all six of the Outremer books myself, it was nevertheless easy to see why so many (at least so many American middle classers) failed to share my admiration.

It's an unusual fantasy, by-and-large a re-imagining of the Crusades and the trials faced by the people therein, although while most Westerners think of Merry Olde England, knights and shining armor and holy grails and little else besides whenever "The Crusades" is mentioned, the truth, however, being that England was simply where knights set off from and came back to. The actual Crusades, (i.e. the actual warfare/struggle) took place in the Middle East, and the only other work of modern fiction I can think of to placed the Crusades inside its actual, natural habitat, was the movie Kingdom of Heaven...and we all know how wonderfully that flick went down (it tanked). Add to this already-doomed-to-failure set-up a strong seasoning of poetic prose, and not just purple prose, which fantasy lovers are (unfortunately) more than accustomed to and willing to accept, but rather a high-brow and personal sense of word-play that, honestly, I've yet to discover in full outside of Brenchley's own, singular wordsmithery, and it's understandable why he's wasn't an overnight sensation.

But wait, isn't this post about Bridge of Dreams? Yeah, it is, so let's get to it: with no peer support group for my love of Outremer, over the years I lost track of Brenchley and failed to discover his newer works. Recently, however, I was once again took the plunge, this time into the author's first US-before-UK work, the duology Selling Water by the River, the first book being the outstandingly-conceived Bridge of Dreams.

Whatever reservations anyone may have had when sampling Outremer, I can unabashedly say: Bridge of Dreams is by far a superior work. The world herein is remarkably well rendered, filled with a cavalcade of wild ideas and concepts though tightly focused upon to see a smaller, personal tale. It's about two neighboring countries: the ruling Maras and the ruled-over Sund. Maras marched into Sund long ago, due to crossing an unbridgeable river by crafting a Bridge made out of magic, out of children's dreams. The Bridge, being a bastard thing of wizardry, poisons the water it touches, and the result is an impoverished land peopled with deformed mutations, including one small boy who develops an ability that just might turn the tide in Sund's favor once again. Alternating between this particular Sundian boy and a new bride for the Marasi Sultan, the worlds of both states are explored in full, developing the characters with a leisurely, natural pace, and resulting in a sweetly slow-burn rise toward an unavoidable climax.

Brenchley isn't a pulpy writer: there'll be no cliché banter or overused metaphors here. He's quite meticulous, though also, I think, intuitive in his prose. Rhythm seems as important to him as word choice, developing sentences as crafted and unobtrusively sing-song as:

--"She had spent all morning in the temple, being washed and oiled, censed and scented, perfumed in the gaze of heaven to make her fit for marriage on earth. There had been prayers, hours of praying, herself on her knees before the altar and prayed over by a rota of indistinguishable priests while her eyes drifted where they could, her mind further."--

And so on and on, each clause a perfect counterpoint in length and meter to the last. It's a marvel how well the prose works, page after page, though its fluid qualities often find the reader slipping over lines without taking in their actual content (it's easy to be lulled into the cadence and lose the meaning). Nevertheless, an extra touch of concentration gives more than ample reward, with a story that works in every way that it should.

Perhaps my favorite part of Brenchley's dialogue style: he utilizes a clever way of packing all necessary information as necessary without having the actual speech of his characters feel forced: by switching silently between actual quotations and out again.

For example:

--"That's right," Issel insisted, "that's what I'm saying. The people he sells his blessed water to, they can go out and use it against the Marasi if they dare to, but then it's innocents who die," chance's hostages who just happened to be living in the street or passing by or selling fruit by the wayside when a patrol was attacked. "And it's the master who's at fault, twice as much at fault, because he keeps twice the distance between himself and the risk."--

By moving between actual speech and prose, without pause or breath, Brenchley fills out his characters, their motivations, their meanings, and his own intentions in swift order, and allows it to all to unfold well-told, an effortless read, easy to fall into and nigh impossible to emerge from, poignant, insightful, introspective, never dull. The best kind of entertainment fantasy has to offer.

Just do yourself a favor and have a copy of the sequel and conclusion, River of the World (Selling Water By the River), close at hand. You won't to wait long after reaching BoD's final page!

The city of Sund thought its walls made it impregnable and the use of water magic made it a very special place to live. In a day, what took thousands of years to create was broken by the Marasi who created a magical bridge that scaled the walls and let the army in. Now Sund is a place of occupation where magic is outlawed and the bridge is constantly replenished by the dreams of children who eventually die.

In Sund, Issel, liar, thief, con-man and water seller has the raw water magic in his blood though he doesn't know how to use it. He is taken in by a teacher who runs a school where the children learn how to use the magic so their heritage will not die. There are rebels who want to find a way to throw out the Marasi from the city and Issel lights a spark of rebellion in the population with an action he takes. The occupiers torture and kill many of the Sund and put their bodies on display. Issel uses his magic to form a new kind of weapon and with the Marasi government in turmoil; the Sund just might have a chance of getting the occupiers out if his life and keeping them out.

This stand alone book by the author of the Outremer novels is an exciting fantasy thriller about an occupied city and how the people who live there cope with being under the harsh thumbs of their rulers. The protagonist is an unlikely hero more of a criminal than a savior yet against his will he is taught the gentler emotions and becomes a person readers will care for and admire. Chaz Brenchley is a brilliant world builder who is a master storyteller.

Harriet Klausner

The photographs in this book vividly capture a very unique period of the Brooklyn Bridge as it was being restored in the late 1980's. The use of black and white photography, together with the unusually decorated subject matter, namely the Brooklyn Bridge draped in safety nets, make for a visually stimulating combination.

One of a kind photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge as it has never been seen before, mysteriously draped in safety nets. A a real treat for the eye.

This book is a perfect introduction to Yiddish film. Very little has actually been written about Yiddish film. Hoberman compiles the extant scholarship and couples it with astute and original analysis of the films. He brings Yiddish film away from being a novelty; he contextualizes Yiddish film in such a way as to show its general importance in mainstream film and American and European life. Yiddish movies portrayed the experience of Jews in the world; but more interesting is the effect Yiddish film had in the Americanization of Yiddish-speaking immigrants. For scholars interested in Yiddish film, this is a good first stop. For non-scholars, it is the only book you could want on the subject: entertaining, wonderful pictures and anecdotes, and interesting to browse through.

This book is a perfect introduction to Yiddish film. Very little has actually been written about Yiddish film. Hoberman compiles the extant scholarship and couples it with astute and original analysis of the films. He brings Yiddish film away from being a novelty; he contextualizes Yiddish film in such a way as to show its general importance in mainstream film and American and European life. Yiddish movies portrayed the experience of Jews in the world; but more interesting is the effect Yiddish film had in the Americanization of Yiddish-speaking immigrants. For scholars interested in Yiddish film, this is a good first stop. For non-scholars, it is the only book you could want on the subject: entertaining, wonderful pictures and anecdotes, and interesting to browse through.

I love this book and I hope that the author writes a continuation to this book. Where he actually tells of Annie Harding and Stewart Andersons trials and blessings to come. Like, if they had a baby or if she went to college and how Annies father and mother turned out.

This book is nice, easy reading. There's nothing difficult here. It reminded me of a cross between "Little House on the Prairie" and "Christy". It's your basic historical Christian family novel, with a good message. Don't think, however, that there's no storyline. You are taken into the lives and homes of the characters and you feel their struggles. There are even some good guy/bad guy themes involved, for those who lean toward elements of literature. If you're looking for an enjoyable Christian novel that you can finish in a few days, you'll love this book!!

This book [THE BRIDGE OVER THE MAIN] is a book that keeps your interest till the last page of the book. Every chapter is exciting , it captures all your feelings. Even the two back pages Olypia and Stan. Also the back cover.

This book was written by my grandfather. It is his account of World War II, having been through it while still a child. It contains many topics that are not regularly discussed when talking about the war, including the fact that people from many nations were used as slaves in small farm communities, and were the property of regular people. However, many showed kindness to my grandfather, proving that not all people involved in this war were evil, or followed the ideals of the government. The way in which it is written allows it to be read and understood easliy.

I started this book and couldn't put it down! It's been along time since I read a book non stop and saw the sunrise.

Two young ladies from 1825 and 1994 switch places in time. Well researched for authenticity in the 1820's and hilariously told. Ms. Hiatt is a wonderful storyteller. A fun read that has the reader thinking and enjoying at the same time! Marvelously resolved!

I have improved a lot after I got this book. It's very good for advanced players.

For Intermediate Plus/Advanced players.
Perhaps 350 problems in 24 chapters covering all aspects of defense. You will be exposed to many types/categories of defensive problems. Such as:

- opening leads
- signaling
- inferences from bidding (shape, HCP)
- counting the hand (shape, HCP)
- avoiding end plays
- 2nd hand High
- Ducking
- Giving Declarer a losing option
- Carding technique (pinning/smother play)

Many of the hands took me several minutes to think about.
Not that I could do that at the table, but it helps focus you on what the correct thought processes are.

Very worthwhile book

I will think of this book the next time I find a ring lying on the ground! Like a genie, if I could rub the ring and be transported into the arms of a man like Tynan of MacBrahin, I'd barely notice the culture shock and likely wouldn't care.

This is a wonderful historical that is thoughtfully written in a clear and riveting style that pits today's woman with yesterday's hero of legends we all dream about. What manner of man in ancient history would not be embarrassed by a mere lass saving his life? It's supposed to work the other way around.

The book is a must read, with the characters containing a subtle underlying humor that can't fail to intrigue you. I highly recommend this book. -Lee Emory

Fans of LOVE FROM THE ASHES and BEST BUDDIES will recognize Denise Agnew's rich voice in her latest novel, BRIDGES THROUGH THE MIST. In this novel, Agnew's characteristic spirit and passion shine through with intense clarity and ingenuity, providing a captivating read.

On the day before her wedding, Alenna Carstairs found her fiancé in bed with another woman. When she threw a hissy fit back at the law office where they both work, she was fired. Alenna had nothing left to lose, so she left America behind for a once in a lifetime opportunity at an archeological dig at a dark Scottish castle with a lurid past. As she scrapes away dirt, Alenna unexpectedly discovers a lovely garnet ring. She places it on her finger, returns to digging, and moments later she realizes that her surroundings have radically changed. A horse and knight loom out of the mist and nearly trample her.

Thrust into the fourteenth century, Alenna confronts the societal restrictions enforced by the time. Her independent, outspoken nature refuses to yield as demanded, gaining her the attention of the knight, Tylan of MacBrahin. A sexy, powerful man, she feels unaccountably attracted to him, almost as if they have known one another before. Indeed, feelings of deja vu that began at the archeological dig quickly confirm a world she has somehow known before, right down to the appropriate moment to curtsey to the castle owner's Baron.

Unfortunately, the very spirit that attracts Tylan also attracts the attention of the Baron, a man capable of unspeakable evil. Tylan finds himself irrepressibly drawn to Alenna, both by feelings he's kept long hidden, and determination to protect her from danger she doesn't understand. Nevertheless, he desperately tries to resist his feelings, as he has vowed never to become involved with another woman, believing he is cursed after what happened to the last two women in his life.

Lovers of time travel romance will delight in BRIDGES THROUGH THE MIST. Agnew has a remarkable ability for story telling, making the reader a participant in the story. She doesn't shy away from the taboo; yet she presents shocking events with grace and insight, creating a believable, beguiling tale of romance.