Coleman Books

When I first started reading this book, I couldn't help thinking that the stories being told -- purportedly by ten Southern women -- didn't sound "real." They sounded false to me, a collection of stereotypes and cliches that didn't ring true.

Half way through, I did a little checking and found out that they WERE false. That is, the book is a collection of fictionalized stories. Even the supposed narrator, a 13-year old girl Larissa, was a fictional creation. That would have been okay with me (especially once I realized it) but unfortunately they all SOUND fictional!

But even given that major flaw, I really liked the book for the recipes and the artwork. Where else would you find a recipe for Cherokee Corn Pones, Sally Lunn bread, Challah, and Banana Tea Loaf all in one place!

I love this book! It explores and celebrates the rich cultural diversity of the south, through the eyes of a young girl and ten aging women who share their memories...and their recipes. (There are twelve different versions of cornbread...yum!) As the author writes, "...the South was never only black and white, but was always a rich rainbow of ethnic groups..." So you'll find represented here African-American, North European, Italian, Mexican, Cajun, Appalachian, Cherokee and Jewish traditions.

Ziggy is a person who is lonely, subject to a sequence of minor disasters, gets no respect from others and has some manic-depressive tendencies. This would make him the sum of what we can have go wrong during a typical day in our lives. We all have our good days, our bad days, encounter people who disrespect us and are lonely at times, especially when things go wrong. Therefore, we can all relate to him as he copes with the vagaries of his cartoon existence.
Some cartoon strips give us social or political commentary, others are meant to be absurd and some are meant to reflect the daily existence that we all must cope with. Ziggy is in the category of a coping mechanism, which makes him lovable, because that is a way we can love ourselves when things go wrong.

Through a mistake, this is actually a review of Coleman's earlier novel in the same series, entitled A CALL TO ARMS.

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I have just finished rereading this novel, having purchased it several years ago and enjoyed it then.

Comparing it to several other of the Battlemech novels, I find it "a cut above."

Coleman does very well with the blow-by-blow battle scenes. He seems to have some genuine knowledge of battlefield tactics and armored warfare that adds credibility.

One welcome surprise in the novel were some excellent characters. The "mystery warrior," the beautiful Tassa Kay, is a delight. Raul, the protagonist, is better realized than in many of the Battletech books.

The gist of the story is as follows: a "loser" has failed his mech trials and lost his place in the regiment. Along comes a "double invasion" of his planet -- first, by the Steel Wolves Clansmen and secondly, by an interloper mech group, the Swordsworn. Guns blaze, the situation gets hot . . . and the "loser" is now pressed into service by his old regiment as one of the very few experienced Mechwarriors available on-planet.

Playing his cards "one hand at a time," so to speak, Raul finds himself drawn increasingly into the heart of the war. As some of Raul's commanding officers are killed, and as Raul receives some "battlefield promotions," he finds himself leading larger and larger military units, finally becoming a kind of post-facto battlefield commander. Raul is gutsy and not afraid to take chances,and he begins to turn the campaign towards victory.

Last but not least, there are two romances with two beautiful women that complicate this poor guy's life.

Great book for the plane -- keeps you turning pages. You will find better writing quality than is the case with many of these Battletech--Dark Age novels.

This book should be required reading for those who dream of sailing around the world, but whose partner does not share the dream. I may be biased because we sailed in company with Heywood and Charlotte for part of their journey, but his book reads amazingly well.

The Next Port gives excellent descriptions of the cruising lifestyle and the exotic places to visit in a small sailboat. More importantly, Heywood opens up about the adventures and problems they encountered while learning how to sail and maintain the boat. Most important is the subtle but recurring thread of his relationship with his beloved Charlotte, and how much energy he devoted to keeping her a willing partner in the adventure of his dreams.

I couldn't put this book down! What an adventure! Anyone that loves the ocean, fishing, sailing or adventure will enjoy it. High points (for the reader) are a sailfish bill puncture to the author's son's foot, the loss of the auto pilot and it's reconstruction, both on the long crossing from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. Oh, the fire in the bilge pump was interesting, as was the birth of a humpback whale at a mooring site in the South Pacific... I occasionally needed a sailing dictionary, but otherwise enjoyed every word. A personal view of the dangers, challenges and joys of crusing.

I smiled all the way through this book and laughed out loud a dozen times. I had no idea what an irreverent and hilarious wit Detroit Mayor Coleman Young was. Fortunately for us, he was unrestrained by any concerns about political correctness. This is a thin little book but it's a hoot and would be a bargain at twice the price!

This book will have anyone,with a sense of humor(or any other kind of"sense"),doubling over in laughter!! I'd already owned this book for years,before a swindling relative"relieved"me of it...So I was delighted that Amazon,had this book for sale!! Mayor Coleman Young,was an intelligent as well as entertaining politician,who defeated the odds,and became the first black mayor,of a major U.S. city!!His unique perspectives on life are perfectly reflected,in this collection of his outrageously honest quotes...In order to really appreciate,this controversal and candid man(And what he's been through,and WHY,he thinks how he thinks,and says the things he says)you've got to first read his autobiography,aptly titled:"Hardstuff:The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young"which is available(for a bargain price)right here on Amazon..My two favorite quotes from"Quotations"are when being accused of talking about racism too much,Coleman astutely replied:"When I see racism,I talk about it." "I've done that ALL,my life."I HOPE to STOP,talking about it." "Do you know,WHEN,that will happen?!?" "When I don't SEE any more racism."and when asked about his putting blacks in key positions in City Hall,he responds:"That means more at the TOP for blacks."(because)"There aint no shortage of blacks out there behind them garbage trucks!" Buy the book to hear his HILLARIOUS(yet true)response to an elderly Japanese Interpreter(on a visit to Japan)who informed him that there were many Japanese words,that have differing meanings,depending upon the tone in which they are spoken.His(crazy)response,when asked to follow a Japanese host,who had donned a kimono,and performed a 400 year-old warrior dance,with a spear and fan,will have you in TEARS!!!His logical(and TOTALLY true)response to being accused of being paranoid,is NOT to be missed!! You also MUST,read his PROFOUND view,against accusations that Afirmative Action is simply"reverse discrimination." His totally logical and intelligent response,when asked if Detroits'crime problem,was directly related to its' large black population,caused me to(audibly)say"AMEN" His(fact-backed)quote about blacks(violently)confronting whites,in order to achieve equal rights,should be REQUIRED reading for all ultra-militant blacks!! Sound Advice:ORDER THIS BOOK TODAY!! YOU'LL THANK YOURSELF!! Because,you have NO IDEA,how HARD it was for me,to just pick TWO"favorite"quotes,out of the ENDLESS,remarkable "sound-bites"in this WONDERFUL book!!!

I just read "Rebirth" Vol. 2. It was extremely good. "Rebirth" is a classic story of "well-meaning scientist and very attractive daughter accidentally resurrect ancient vampire and team up with novice exorcist to help vampire lift evil curse of evil sorcerer of light." The story is a little cliche for vampire manga, but the art is very good and most of the lines are pretty well written.

The problem is that, as with all good manga, it grabs you and makes you sit there with your nose to the paper, glued to the story, for an hour or so. At this point, you flip through the omake (extras) at the back, put down the book, frown, and head back to the bookstore to dish out more money to see how it turns out. I suppose it's worth it, because as manga goes, "Rebirth" is pretty cheap. My reccomendation is either to not buy it at all or to buy all the volumes of it that the bookstore has. If you read it, you'll like it, but you'll also be spending a lot of money. Borrow it from a friend if possible, but "Rebirth" is worth your money.

John, Pan & Miwa(? the rich girl--I forget her name other than it means fox) put in a cameo at the temple--comparing the groups--dark(Pan & Deshwitat), light(John & Millenear) & good-for-nothing(Miwa & Remi). This series is getting interesting(ok, a bit predictable--the light magician is evil, the dark magician must save the world). Shades of Bastard!(no, not as consistantly funny & Dark Schneider is the coolest dark magician turned hero around) & others with an eye to role-playing fantasy games, the art & story are cool enough to be entertaining. To defeat Kal, Deshwitat must learn light magic(ok, I'm reminded of the cold spells bit against Efreet in Bastard, but that was a one-shot & this is basic to the plot for our hero to learn)(Yeah, Rett Butler's reminding me of Gara the Ninja Master so far in personality). There's a bit more back-story & we see what Kal's been up to while Desh has been sealed up for 357 years.

I bought this book exclusively to research some social and historical characteristics of County Roscommon Ireland in the early 19th Century. My ancestors lived there around the time period on which the book is focused. This gave me a lot of helpful information in understanding why my ancestors may have left Ireland in those days to come to America. But I am not a scholar. So I wasn't afraid to keep a dictionary nearby as I read this well-written soft cover book.

The book provides an exceptional overview of the state of life in Roscommon in the period just prior to, and during, the famine years.It is, as usual with Maynooth Studies, well researched and chock full of statistics. Particularly interesting to me was the evolution and data relative to "Whiteboy" and Molly McGuire activity in Roscommon and environs.

I like this series, but of the ones I have, this is not my favorite. The recipes I have made from this were all pretty good. My problem is that many of the ingrediants were not available in my area and it eliminated some of what I could make from the book. There is a large variety of salads and there is also a glossary and chart in the back for extra help. Even though I couldn't make some of the dishes, I would still recommend this cook book.

The Australian Women's Weekly series of cookbooks is outstanding. The recipes are fairly easy and quick to make, and are often new and different. Most importantly, they are all delicious.

This cookbook is called "salads", but that just means it's food that is served cold. There are a lot of main courses, such as Thai style beef style and Couscous with lamb meatballs.

There is a photo of every dish and this helps with knowing how to chop things, as well as with final presentation.

At the moment, this is my favorite in a great series of cookbooks.

Tightly written allegory with enough adventure to keep even junior high boys interested, yet enough detail and imagery for adults. The book was absorbing and challenging; delightful to read without talking down to the reader! I'm planning on using it to teach my 7-9 graders how to analyze, interpret, etc.

The book The Shining Sword never gets old. Its combination of good characters, exciting plot, and griping action make it a simply good book. But the aplication for the Christian life is amazing and cannot be forgoten. The book is and has been a help in many times of need. Based soley on the Bible and strong Christian teaching, the book can help Christians walk after God, and non-believers find the King who loves them so. It explains Jesus and the powers of evil beautifuly and easy to understand. Yes, so may say its a kids book, and it might be aimed for them in writing style, but, much like the Chronicals of Narnia, it is very aplicaple for the adult Christian.

The text brings back fond memories of essay writing in school. All the timeless advice about how to write a concise article is here. Exemplified by passages from a wide variety of short stories, some of which must surely get any reader's interest. The main idea seems to be to transition the student from being a passive reader to becoming a writer. Part of this involves training the student to read a passage more analytically. With some purpose in mind.

There are many exercises. Some are quite short, involving just writing a sentence or few about a topic. To gently get the student into the act of writing, without having her churn out an entire essay off the bat.

With selections from writers as varied as Asimov and Dave Barry, this book has something for everyone. I used it as a writing text to teach my eighth grader at home. It has excellent writing prompts, grammar and punctuation lessons, pre-reading hints, vocabulary, and great questions about each prose selection to point out HOW the writer achieved the effect he/she wanted. I highly recommend this for homeschoolers and others who just enjoy good writing.

This is a very entertaining book about this groundbreaking saxophone stylist. However, the analyses of his recordings are kind of nonsense. The author himself isn't a musician instead of a devoted fan? The author does not compare the Hawk with other players of the era very critically, ie. based on musical facts. Still, a very readable book.

John Chilton IS a professional jazz musician as well as a Coleman Hawkins fan (who could not be). Another reviewer has criticized the criticism for not being critical; I wish to criticize him! First off as a pioneer, Hawkins had NO contemporaries at the start of his career. Few reviews are gushing with praise, there are plenty of recordings that are (dare I use the word) criticized. What makes this book so great is the thoroughness: nearly every detail in a HUGE catalog of recordings is discussed. Many of the recordings are obscure and often out of print, yet I could only find a few he missed. I've had a great time reading his thoughts on a track and then going back and listening for the points mentioned. I've read many jazz musicians' biographies, this is my favorite. While it adequately covers the personal details, the focus is on the music. If I had any criticism at all, it would be that it's maybe a little too unemotionally scholastic.