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David Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

David
Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad
Published in Hardcover by Grove/Atlantic (2004-04)
Authors: David Zucchino and Mark Bowden
List price: $24.00
New price: $5.95
Used price: $2.59
Collectible price: $24.00

Average review score:

A gripping read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
I picked this up to read on a month long travel trip. I ended up reading it in one sitting! Consequently, Im very glad I had also purchased a few other titles on the same topic. I really good read, disturbing and terrifying at times with a great deal of insight, but a great read.

You won't be able to put it down
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-20
This is hands-down the most compelling book I've read so far on the war in Iraq. It made me late going back to work during several lunch hours because I just couldn't put it down until I finished another chapter.

I think too many people have this image of the invasion being an absolute cakewalk -- this book will put that notion to rest in a big hurry. The soldiers faced some ferocious fighting during their push into Baghdad and Zucchino paints a very vivid picture of it.

Must Read for Cadets and Young Officers
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-15
Outstanding account of the two Thunder Runs into Baghdad by TF 1-64 Armor (5 Apr 03) and 2nd Bde, 3rd ID(M). From individual tank/Bradley commanders and Soldiers to the brigade and battalion commanders, this riveting account of the battles gives a good view of the planning and execution involved. This shows the gritty side of war at the lower tactical level, bringing home timeless lessons on the battlefield. A great addition to any military professional's library!

Excellent book on Thudner Run for either the casual reader or someone who wishes to study the invasion
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-29
Zucchino's book Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad seems to be one of teh best accounts of the 3rd IDs "Thunder Run" into Baghdad. I've recelently read a lot of literature on the invasion of Iraq, including excellent books such as One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick and Generation Kill by Evan Wright which highlight the Marine advance and feign that helped contribute to the fall of Saddam, as well as other books about the Army's advance, to include Rick Atkinson's excellent account on the 101st Airborne. However, there have been relatively few books out there that have been able to concentrate on a specific battle. That's not to say that its such a bad thing. Many of the books listed above provide incredible insight into the commander's thoughts and the experiences of the troops through the 23 day advance and even the pre-invasion deployments of the 3rd ID to camp Doha, then Yankee, etc.
Nonetheless, Zuccino's book is an excellent overview of the troubles and successes of the Spartan Brigades experiences in Baghdad, the ferocity of the battle, the trepidation and elation of the soldiers, and the brutality that goes with war and the loss of comrades. Immediatley the author is shot en-media-rez into the action during the night that the brigade receives the WARNO and then the hasty OPORD to go to battle. Zuccino then takes the reader on a harrowing adventure of the first Thunder Run which killed or wounded an estimated 1,200 enemy and then the brave decision to move the brigade to the center of the city and hold it.
But the adventure isn't as easy as it seems and the reader begins to understand the complexities of keeping this force alive, supplied, and preventing it from being isolated. Zuccino takes you to the brutal intersections of Larry, Moe, and Curly, Saddam's palace, and the staging point of BIAP, then Saddam International Airport. Zuccino's task, like Mark Bowden with the Battle of Mogadishu, was immense: to study and disseminate the pivitol battle of the war, and he succeeds magnificiently.

A different view
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-13
This book certainly has won praise by many amazon.com readers as witnessed by the numerous five star ratings it has received. True, it is written as a fast-paced narrative, and flows well. You might call it an "easy read" as a result. However, if we take it as a work of history, rather than a "war story," it has some faults. The chief flaw in this book is that it lacks context, as do so many of these modern war tales ("instant histories") we find rushed to print seemingly before the smoke has cleared from the ruined enemy vehicles in the wake of US armored columns. Mr. Zucchino unfortunately gives us VERY little background information about the reason for these runs, why they were important, how they were really supposed to topple Sadam, and what they really did. There's very little perspective from above. We get lots of shooting, good impressions of the men involved, and get a great picture of what these mostly young soldiers were required to do, but not much else to put things in perspective, esp. at the high command level. For example: Zucchino has a great description of when the task force's TOC gets hit by a missle or rocket, and the utter confusion and devastation this event caused for men and equipment. However, we never find out more details about the attack--where did the rocket come from? How'd they make such a direct hit? After the battle, did anybody in the Army figure out who fired it and were these "bad guys" taken out? Several places like this in the book make it limited in its scope.

David
Twenty Years After (Oxford World's Classics)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press, USA (1998-10-22)
Author: Alexandre Dumas père
List price: $16.95
New price: $7.65
Used price: $0.94
Collectible price: $22.79

Average review score:

Great book, awful editor
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-03
The Three Musketeers is one of my favorite books and Twenty Years After is practically just as good. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because the editor, David Coward, gives away the ending of The Man in the Iron Mask. He tells you what happens in the last chapter of the last book in a footnote! DON'T read any of the footnotes in the last 20 pages of the book unless you want the story spoiled, in that case just go to wikipedia.

Super Reader
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-07
As the title says, it is twenty years after the events in the Three Musketeers. The four heroes are living their lives as they wanted, but are all slightly disaffected.

Cautiously, they agree to undertake a task for the Queen.

Complicating matters is the son of Milady de Winter, who is an anti-fan of these men, you could say.

The Musketeers must learn to work together again, even if their politics are aims are not all the same.

Maturity, Friendship, Adventure
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-08
Thoroughly entertaining, "Twenty Years After" is a fulfilling sequel to a classic swashbuckling masterpiece.

Twenty Years have passed since D'Artagnan and the Musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu, preserved the Queen's honor, and brought justice upon the face of evil, Milady. The wave of time has carried the four friends down very different paths of life, and they have not been in contact for many years. D'Artagnan, looking for fortune and lost glory, offers his services to the wildly unpopular Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal accepts, and commissions D'Artagnan to unite the quartet for the service of France. What follows is a plot filled with twists, turns, surprises, and adventure. Many characters return from "The Three Musketeers," while several new characters play significant roles in "Twenty Years After." One such character, the son of Milady, has a twisted soul intent on the "revenge" of his mother.

Readers of "The Three Musketeers" who loved Dumas' four heroes for their youth, energy, and courage, will now love them for their maturity, wisdom, and honor. Undoubtedly, these are not the same four men we were left with at the end of the first book. The beauty of "Twenty Years After" is Dumas' ability to age the characters appropriately, and show the effect of time on their nature. In doing so, we see that while time has changed much, it has not changed their undying loyalty to each other.

My only issue with "Twenty Years After," and I'm surprised to find myself saying this, is the lack of a romantic aspect. D'Artagnan's love for Madame Bonacieux in "The Three Musketeers" actually pulled the reader in, making D'Artagnan's loss the reader's loss. There is no such story in "Twenty Years After," which I found rather disappointing. Despite this, "Twenty Years After" is an excellent sequel and I recommend it to anybody who enjoyed the first book.

The Musketeers are still swashbuckling twenty years later!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-23
It's been twenty years since the close of The Three Musketeers, and only D'Artagnan remains in service to the French Crown. Richelieu is dead and his protege Mazarin now holds the power behind the throne. Anne of Austria rules as regent for her young son, and civil war threatens France.

D'Artagnan is sent to bring the Musketeers out of retirement, but they find themselves at odds between the two sides in the civil unrest. D'Artagnan wants to be promoted to captain and Porthos who wants to be a baron, side with Mazarin, Athos and Aramis with the Fronduers (sp?). However, they soon find that although much has changed, their love and friendship for each other remain intact, particularly when faced with the evil son of Milady, who is bent upon revenge against those who executed his mother.

There's way too much plot to even try to explain, leave it to say that there is much adventure and derring do, from the civil war in France to the conflict between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell in England. I especially enjoyed the nail biting, sit on the edge of your seat excitement during the escape from England and Mordaunt, along with the rescue of D'Artagnan, Porthos and Athos from Mazarin (what fun!). Along with the excitement comes the humor of their constant banter and escapades making for a near perfect read.

I personally liked the parts in England the best, but I think that's because I have a better understanding of English history than French. Even after researching that period in France and Mazarin online, I still got a bit confused at times, but that is a minor issue in comparison to the rest of the story. Dumas is brilliant (as always) and his dialogue is among the best (as always). An awesome sequel to the Three Musketeers, and I am looking forward to starting the next chapter in this story, The Vicomte De Bragelonne.

Porthos Eats His Way Through Europe
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-04
It is truly amazing how many people don't have any idea that the Three Musketeers appear in more than the novel of the same name and "The Man in the Iron Mask." I must admit that for many years I was in that category myself but I was absolutely delighted to find that their adventures continued in this book and I must say that I found the exploits in this book to be almost as thrilling as the exploits in the first book.

Dumas played extremely fast and loose with history in the first book and he spends a good deal of time in this installment trying to correct some of his earlier deficiencies. Most notably Cardinal Richelieu, the great villain of the first book is in this book venerated and our heroes even bemoan the fact that they opposed him. It is also notable that Dumas is considerably more faithful to history in this book than he was in the first but don't make the mistake of thinking that this will read like a historical novel because as usual Dumas never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.

Athos, Porthos, d'Artagnan and Aramis have gone their separate ways and have completely lost contact with each other in the twenty years that elapse between the first and second book. So much so in fact that when d'Artagnan tries to put the group back together he has trouble finding his comrades. At the behest of Cardinal Mazarin who has replaced Richelieu d'Artagnan begins to search for his former colleagues so that they can unite to protect the Cardinal and the Queen from a growing revolt in Paris. He does recruit Porthos but the other two are in league with the rebels and then they face each other again when they become involved on different sides of the English Civil War.

In the end however their friendship and the deadly threat posed by someone from their past bring the friends back together and together these men are as usual unstoppable. Dumas has again provided for a swashbuckling good time and an adventure story that few authors can match. If anything, this adventure is more thrilling than the last as it takes place in two countries and even on the sea with only the occasional break so that the always-hungry Porthos can have something to eat. Anyone who enjoyed the first book will certainly enjoy this one and will do so maybe even more so than the last. These Musketeers didn't lose a thing over those twenty years.

David
Ancestor
Published in Paperback by Dragon Moon Press (2007-04-01)
Author: Scott Sigler
List price: $19.95
New price: $144.99
Used price: $36.54

Average review score:

Excellent Read - Link to pdf download
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-11
I picked up Infected several weeks back and loved it so I really wanted to pick up Ancestor as well, but was shocked at the price. After a little research, like 2 minutes, I found out it was a limited print and the only way to get it is eBay or other auction sites. Any way I found the whole book available as a free pdf download (see link below) and I'm sure glad I did.

Ancestor is an excellent read if you like the sci-fi thriller / horror genre and I thought a maybe better book than Infected. The action is fast paced and the contrary to what some are saying the dialog is well written, but does fly in the face of the FCC and is pretty accurate as to how soldiers / cops speak. There's also some sexual content that may offend the Bible carrying crowd, but again nothing out of the ordinary for most of us.

As with all thrillers some of the scenes are far fetched the ending is well out there, but if you want something totally believable head over to the non-fiction works. If you liked Infected, Amazonia, Black Order, Deep Fathom, or Tyrannosaur Canyon you'll love this book. You just have to be willing to read if from your computer (which I hate) or pay the $85 price tag for a used copy.

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/04/01/scott-siglers-ancest.html

More Sigler fun
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-18
Another great science fiction adventure novel with great characters from Sigler. I didn't like it quite as much as Earthcore, but it was still a lot of fun to listen to. Sigler does some great voices, which really adds to the fun and humor. Highly recommended.

Thanks God they didn't use Pit Bull DNA
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-05
The book is cover to cover action, spiced with science, and broiled to perfection with the flames of suspense and horror. Overall, Ancestor is a heaping helping of gory goodness that should sate the homicidal hunger of sci-fi fans as well as the mainstream horror fan.

Excellent book
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-02
There's non-stop action, remote islands & bioengineering gone horribly wrong...what more could you want? This one was hard to put down (or turn off if you listen to the pocast) because there was just so much happening all the time. I was riveted throughout the book and I still wonder if the end is really the end. I hope not!

Xenotransplantation, intrigue, and an incredibly climactic finale
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-03
Sydney Chapman, CIA agent, arrives at the Novozyme facility at the end of the meltdown. Novozyme, attempting to create an animal lifeform with human-type organs for transplantation, had broken down from a deadly virus that has jumped species and is fatal to humans. CIA director Longworth orders Chapman to wipe out all traces of the facility, and go after the three remaining facilities working on similar projects; Monsanto, Genetron, and Genada. Longworth insists on eradicating Genada first.

At Genada, three brilliant scientists believe they have discovered the key to xenotransplantation. Dr. Lin Jiandan (known as Jian) is an overweight, fifty-something Chinese woman who's genius has created the computer that can manipulate the genomes. Jian also suffers from horrible nightmares, night terrors she cannot escape from. Dr. Claus Rhumkorrf and Dr. Claudette Overgard are Jian's partners. Genada is owned and ran by brothers Dante and Magnus Paglione, Dante being the brains and Magnus the muscle. PJ Colding, Chapman's former partner, now considered a traitor, runs the Genada facility on Baffin Island in Canada. When Chapman's imbedded agent makes his move, the entire facility, along with the cows already implanted with embryos, evacuate on a massive C-5 aircraft piloted by Sara Purinam, heading for the island of Black Mantiou in Lake Superior. The C-5 is a fully equipped lab, and the island an isolated and heavily armed fortress. Keeping the island prepared is colorful caretaker Clayton Detweiler and his son Chris.

Time is running out for Genada. With the competition closing in and the CIA on their heels, Genada's future rests on the scientists and the embryos maturing in the cows. But Jian breaks down, with dire warnings that things are not what they think they are, and something is horribly wrong with the experiment.

Sigler has an extraordinary talent for attention to detail in his novels. While breathtakingly exciting in plot, he never misses the mark with his amazing ability to create fully fleshed characters. A character-driven story with a fast plot is always a not-to-be-missed reading opportunity. Sigler began his writing career using podcasts, gaining so much popularity that his novels were put into print. Sigler is now one of my favorite authors, and I can't recommend his works strongly enough. Don't miss his other works; Earthcore and Infected, and coming soon, Contagious. 'Ancestor' has the bonus of a short story added on, called 'Iowa Typhoon', an interesting but brief tale. If I could give this book ten stars I would. Though out of print, its definitely worth the used book price. Enjoy!

David
Swallows and Amazons (Godine Storyteller)
Published in Paperback by David R Godine (1994-09-01)
Author: Arthur Ransome
List price: $14.95
New price: $6.45
Used price: $2.91
Collectible price: $14.95

Average review score:

Classic adventure story!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-16
I can't believe I missed out on this one as a child... but it's just as good coming to it as an adult. The perfect lazy Sunday afternoon book to read. Adults can also escape to the wilds of Lake Windemere (Lake District), to sail up the Amazon, do battle with pirates and search for buried treasure on Cormorant Island.

The year is 1929 and story is about four children - John, Susan, Titty and Roger (in age order) - who are holidaying on the shores of Lake Windemere with their mum and baby sister, Vicky. The children are an adventurous lot and love sailing in their boat, the Swallow. Towards the end of their holiday they persuade their mum to allow them on an adventure for a week. They're allowed to sail across to the island not far away and make camp there by themselves.

This is a great adventure for these intrepid explorers. They discover a retired pirate, camp, bathe in the lake, fish and cook for themselves, and are threatened by a rival group of bandits, the Amazons (otherwise known as Nancy and Peggy). All in all a great week of fun and adventure is had by all - brilliant to read about, although there are very few children who'd be allowed to do this now! Inspired by the author's own childhood holidays at the south end of Coniston in the Lake District.

A book for all young people.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-05
This wonderful book was written about 75 years ago, but is still extremely popular today. It is ageless. I first read it as a nine or ten year old and have read it several times since then. The last time I read it I was in my late 50s or early 60s. Every young person should enjoy it immensely as a fictional story. But there are many moral and ethical issues that are slyly inserted into this novel. The biography of the author and how he came to write this book, which was the first in a series of 9 or 10 novels, is a fascinating story in itself.

Reading aloud
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-15
The Swallows and Amazons series was one of my favorites when I was a child. The story, set in the Lake District of England where Wordsworth and other great poets grew up, is a gentle adventure tale about children camping out on an island and rigging a little sailboat. It is slower paced than children are used to today. But I think a sensitive boy or girl would find it reassuring that the children solve their own problems of navigation etc.

While it didn't bother me as a child that the language was distinctly British, as I'd been prepared by the Winnie the Pooh stories, and Wind in the Willows, I would recommend Swallows and Amazons as a bedtime story to be read aloud by an adult reader. The reader could then explain the language. A map of the UK would help too, as the story is set in the Lake District.

An adult storyteller might be interested in a biography of the series author, Arthur Ransome, who led an adventurous life - including work in the Soviet Union and marriage to a Russian woman.

Enchanting and Realistic
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-27
Enchanting
It's hard to explain what makes this book so charming: The writing, the way the children and their relationships with each other are shown so clearly and believably, the very real adventures they have, the sense of place....but listing those traits doesn't do the book justice. It's also really funny in places! Ransome creates a world that is clearer and lighter and more enchanting than the one most of us live in -- but he's also written a realistic book. The Lake District DOES look the way he describes it, and there could be children like the Swallows and their friends the Amazon pirates.

The books are for all ages, and I think they are also inspiring and a good influence! They make me want to have adventures -- and they encourage parents by example to let their children have them. The parents in the books are responsible, teach their children well -- and allow them to adventure on their own. They can do that because they've taught the children to have good judgment and be responsible.

Arthur Ransome's own favorite in the series was WINTER HOLIDAY, which I also loved. Once the original characters leave the series, it loses its interest (for me, anyway) -- children who enjoyed the first books will also probably like Blow Out the Moon by Libby Koponen and all the E.Nesbit books.

A Treasure of My Childhood I Want My Grandchild to Read
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-10
About 60 years ago I read as many books from this series that I could find in my local public library. I had passed through a phase of devouring the Dr. Doolittle fantasy series (so damaged by the motion pictures using that title - how could they cast tall lanky Rex Harrison in the role of a short cuddly grandfather-like figure?) Another series in which, as an American boy fascinated by warplanes during the Worl War II era - I went on to become an aerospace engineer - I was enthralled, was "A Yank in the RAF", which I don't think would translate to the 21st Century very well. But the series that made the most impact on me was Ransome's Swallow family. As with Hugh Lofting's Doolittle, the author's drawings enhanced the books.

I have not visited there yet but I plan on touring Britain's Lake District (I don't think I was cognizant of where the tales took place, except I knew the children were British. They liked to drink ginger beer; in the US we had a ginger ale drink, but not ginger beer and I was curious to have some.) I have long wanted to live somewhere that would allow me to experience the thrill of mastering the small sailing boats of the story. The closest I came was living near the Pacific in California and near the Potomac River. But the boats in those regions were larger and not terribly accessible. I did go sailing with friends and tried to sail on my own in a marina with a rented boat (a too narrow and crowded venue for a novice just learning to tack and unfamiliar with how to dump wind from the sail when being carried in the wrong direction.) I have gotten to taste ginger beer. I have also used the children's means of including coded messages in their letters in the form of dancing stick figures around the page's margin (the secret was to ignore other parts of the figures and concentrate on the positions of the arms, which were standard semaphore code.) I introduced the code to one of my daughters when we were in the "Indian Princesses" organization. (Is the name and programs of that organization offensive to American Indians? I'm sure its founders weren't sensitive to the fact that American Indians still existed.)

I will introduce this series to my precocius 6 year old grand daughter when I think she is ready.

David
How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With
Published in Hardcover by MJF Books (2001-03)
Authors: Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil
List price: $8.98
New price: $3.15
Used price: $2.41

Average review score:

raising a puppy
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-02
This is a very solid, practical manual with good, specific guidance on raising a pup to be obedient, manageable and secure. The behavior or a dog can be a joy to itself and its owner or a disaster and this book will show you the steps to raising a pet you can love and enjoy and one that will be happy and safe with you.

A MUST for all new puppy owners!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-07
This book is a MUST for all new puppy owners! It will tell you when to do what with your puppy so you can raise a puppy that you will be happy to have around and proud to own. Also great for all breeders- it goes into the first 8 weeks as well and what should be done to raise well adjusted puppies.

easy and understandable
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-12
i thought this book was easy enough to read. it explained everything you needed... gets straight to the point and has good explanations of your puppy at a certain level or age. im planning to get a puppy and after reading this book, i know a lot more about how to take care of one. i feel ready.

A MUST READ for puppy owners!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-03
This book is invaluable in the way it describes each stage of the puppy's development (both physical and psychological). It eqips you to answer the age-old question: Why is my puppy behaving this way???

Also, after reading this book, you will understand why you should always purchase your pup from a breeder ... and NEVER from a pet store.

Best of Its Kind
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-16
This is the best book I've found on raising a puppy. Especially helpful is the week by week detailed description of what a new owner may expect developmentally from the puppy, and what the puppy needs for each stage of growing. I've given this book to every new puppy parent I've known!

David
Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne (World War II Library)
Published in Audio Cassette by Random House Audio (2001-09-25)
Author: Donald R. Burgett
List price: $9.99
New price: $9.98
Used price: $0.50

Average review score:

Seven roads to a great read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-07
This is a "pick it up, and cant put it down" book. Bold and honest in it's writing and also pays respect to the other units involved in the bastonge battle. This rates as one of the better books I have read with regard to the Bastonge battles. The freshness and clarity of the accounts shine through, having been written shortly after the battle and make this book a good read. The hand drawn maps showing company movement supports the written work well. A must read. 5 stars. I will be reading more of Don's work

Best of Burgett's 4 books
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-21
This is the best of the 4 books that Burgett wrote (and all are excellent). This book does a fantastic job of summarizing just how outnumbered, outgunned, under-supplied, and exhausted the 101st was at Bastogne. After reading this book, I've got a new interest in the Bulge and will be buying more books on the subject.

This is an excellent book, the kind you can devour in an night or a few days. I agree with the other reviewer that this book would be worth of 6 stars.

seven roads to hell
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-21
all four of his books are great first person accounts of his military service as a WW2 paratrooper.a very easy read.

A Very Personal Account of Hell
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-11
This third of Burgett's four books about his experiences in the 101st Airborne during World War II reveals a young man (19 at the time) at what could be easily seen as his finest (or worst) hours. The author gives this book an intense personal touch that is missing in many accounts of this unit during its defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Burgett takes the reader into the hell he lived through, vividly describing the shortages of basic military necessities such as weapons and ammunition, the incredible struggle for Noville in the early days of the battle and the withdrawal back to the main lines, and the difficulties of being ready to fight after coping with the harsh winter of the Ardennes and the lack of sleep, food, and water.

But what really comes through most clearly in this account is death. Burgett sees much of it in just a few weeks. He sees close friends (the "old men" of his company) and replacements die in what seems to be a random pattern. He takes the lives of German troops without a shred of remorse, yet almost shoots a fellow paratrooper who shot a prisoner of war.

Burgett does not portray himself as a hero--only as a man doing his job. He was very good (and I would also say lucky) at what he did. His story is not the nice neat narrative found in many accounts of the Bulge. It is dark, chilling, and brutal. It makes one wonder what men like him endured--both during the war and the many years since. I highly recommend it and the others volumes about his time in the 101st.

Great book, buy the series of 4
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-10
Donald Burgett gives a great view of WWII through the eyes of a 101st airborne paratrooper.

David
City of Thieves: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by Viking Adult (2008-05-15)
Author: David Benioff
List price: $24.95
New price: $13.46
Used price: $13.70
Collectible price: $28.95

Average review score:

Radchenko!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-07
This was an excellent book. Well written, the characters were beautiful and entertaining. It tugs at your heart, your courage and your honor. I can't recommend this book enough. I wish some things didn't happen, but I guess we knew it was going to the whole time didn't we? Don't even think about it, cancel all your days appointments, start reading the book and you won't put it down until it's over and you'll be glad you read such a fine story.

Excellent!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-06
One of these rare books where one feels lucky to have read it!
Engaging prose, subtle dark humour, brilliant descriptions of
characters; just beautiful! Do not miss this one!

Awesome.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-05
Benioff nailed it. Great book. A reviewer on this site suggests, "City of Thieves is the reason you read fiction." Agreed.

It feels good to get ahold of a good book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-14
This wasn't the best I've ever read, but it was one of the most absorbing. The characters were, however, pretty flawless. The identity of the grandmother was pretty predictable but maybe it wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger. I read it in one sitting, it was very fast and never dull.

City of Thieves
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-30
It is WWII and Lev Beniov is a 17 year old Jew who has stayed in Leningrad while his sister and mother fled for the Russian countryside for safety after they are invaded by the Germans. Lev is caught looting a German paratrooper's corpse with some of his "friends" by the Russian army. As they all try to run away Lev stops to help the girl he likes. The girl gets away and does not even look back to see if Lev is safe. Because of his kindness, Lev is captured by the Russian Army and is taken to the Crosses prison, awaiting certain death because the penalty for most petty crimes and basically any crime now is execution. While awaiting his fate that night he meets Koyla (a Russian Don Juan and a cool customer) in the adjoining cell. Koyla is an alleged army deserter. As the night lingers on they talk until they both fall asleep. When they are awaken in the morning they are taken to a palace raided by the Russian army to see General Grechko. There they are thrown together and propositioned that in exchange for their lives and a ration card they need to find one dozen eggs for General Grechko's daughter's wedding which is in one week. There are no eggs to make the wedding cake. Due to the German invasion, food is very scarce. There are dead bodies everywhere due to starvation and the freezing Russian winter. It's an extremely harsh life for the Russians particularly now.

This book follows Lev and Koyla in their search for the eggs behind German occupied Russia. They encounter crazy, horrific people and impossible situations in their seemingly fruitless search since there is no food anywhere. Even the strays have disappeared. Will they live to see freedom?

This book is an enthralling and interesting read, I could not put it down.

David
Path of the Fury
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Baen (1992-12-01)
Author: David Weber
List price: $7.99
New price: $1.90
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

three heads are better then one
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-25
Tihs book is awesome. It takes a gentically altered human, altered to be a eilite commando. Who sees her family wiped out by pirates. Injured and bleeding she is joined with an enetity from Greek Mythology.
She then steels a new state of the art A.I. warship whos "personality" invades her mind. Now three people sharing the same mind. But pirates beware, three minds are certainly in this book better then one and look out because here they come. Edge of you seat action packed, takes a bit to warm up. But after it does, it is all go, go, go. Oh I hope there is a sequal in the wroks.

Fury
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-19
I've been reading SciFi/Fantasy for 50+ years and have thousands of books in my library. There have been a relative few such as Lord of the Rings by Tolkein or Ender's Game by Card that I couldn't put down. Fury is another such.

Paths of the Fury
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09
Excellent fast paced book, top notch story, hope he writes another one soon!!

intresting concept
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
very well written, which is the most important thing, u can get invloved in the story

Path of the Fury
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-19
Great, fast paced adventure as I've come to expect from Weber's tales. Unfortunately, Amazon's webpage led me to believe that it was a sequel to Weber's "In Fury Born." They are, in fact, the same book - one in hardcover and one in softcover. Buy one or the other and enjoy!!

David
Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
Published in Hardcover by Ten Speed Press (2007-05)
Author: David Lebovitz
List price: $24.95
New price: $15.51
Used price: $12.50

Average review score:

Great well rounded book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-29
I decided to purchase this cookbook after buying a new ice cream machine. After reading the reviews I thought to give it a try. This is a great source for everything related to making your own frozen desserts. The additional sections on toppings etc. was a great bonus. KC

Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-24
If you love to make ice-cream and enjoy all kinds of unique flavors then this book is for you!!! I've made so many different flavors and each turns out like magic!!! Never store bought ice-cream again!!! Love this book!

I love this book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-11
Granted, ice cream recipes are all variations on a certain theme... but Dave Lebovitz has taken the trial-and-error out of figuring which variation makes the perfect chocolate ice cream, and which is good for fruit sorbet. I've tried 7 recipes from this book so far, and all of them have come out brilliantly. Buy it!

Perfect Scoop on the Perfect Scoop
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-04
This is an awesome book of recipes for ice creams, sorbets, sherberts, granitas and misc. other things that have to do with ice cream. It is a well put together collection and the author's writing style is not only interesting but downright fun...almost as fun as tasting the finished melting masterpeices that he describes. This book gives you all the essentials, the basic must-have ice cream recipes and then it goes on to include recipes that are imaginative and sound absolutely sinful. I really like that most of the recipes don't require ingredients that are hard to find or never heard of. I also like that the author tells you when to use specific high quality ingredients that make a difference in the end product and that are actually worth your time and money to use. These recipes are simple yet elegantly luscious. This book has expanded not only my waistline but also how I think about the possibilities of frozen confections.

ice cream
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-03
This is the best ice cream book i have ever read. I have enjoyed making the different kinds of "ice cream". Lots of information to help understand the ingredients.

David
Warriors: A Comprehensive D20 Sourcebook for Fantasy Role-Playing Games
Published in Paperback by Skirmisher Publishing (2003-07)
Authors: Michael J. Varhola, Paul O. Knorr, Sharon Daugherty, David L. Thomas, and Luke Gygax
List price: $19.95
New price: $2.25
Used price: $1.99
Collectible price: $19.95

Average review score:

A Great Addition to the Genre
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-03
Warriors is a great addition to the fantasy roleplaying game genre and a boon to anyone seeking resources that can be used to realistically and compellingly expand the capabilities of combatant classes. I ahve used this one in my own game and been very pleased with it.

Great resource for DMs
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-28
As a DM, I am always looking for new material to make my games more 'realistic' and different. This book is an excellent resource to spice up the warrior class. I am looking forward to purchasing more material from this company.

Full of interesting ideas
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-20
This book is full of intriguing ways to flesh out warriors, fighters, and even paladins, rangers, and barbarians. Suddenly, you have a huge number of options to help breathe life into your medieval or fantasy army, or even the local thugs in the streets. The book has a definite historical flavor, which I like quite a bit. I enjoy the references to ancient times, as well as African and Asian history. The prestige classes and the concept of subtypes gives the normally rigid warrior sudden flexibility. Skirmisher has done a great job of turning out a book that I will actually use, instead of something that will collect dust on my bookcase.

Nice!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-20
This book is great for any DM. Both amateurs and veterans will find this book able to help them create quests and their DMing ability.

extra realism !
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-08
This is a great book to add that 'extra' realism to D & D. Varhola's history and writing background, added to the obvious expertise of the other authors, lets the players add a level of realism and history that makes a good game far better //


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