Elliott Books

My kids enjoy Andrew Clements books and this one was no exception. My 7 year old read it and described it as funny. Based on twins who decided to be "one" in school when the other fell sick. Although they weren't able to play it out forever, it sure was fun trying. It took my son almost a week to read it but he did enjoy reading it. The story is almost believable through his writing style and teaches about friendship, honesty, what it means to be a twin and what it means to be an individual. I'd recommend this for the 7-10 year old in your life.

This was the first book my son read from Andrew Clements. He did finish it in little over a week and he did enjoy it. He did however mention that he had read a similar twins story once before. I read the blurb and discovered that it was an old standard twins acting like they are just one person type of story. I have seen it in books, movies and television shows. In reading some other reviews, it would seem that Mr. Clements has written some other better stories. The writing was good enough that my son was not bored and enjoyed reading it, so I will give the author another try.

Because kids are often fascinated with twins, they should enjoy this book. It is the story of twin brothers who pull the biggest "switching places" scheme of all time, by pretending to be one person instead of two. On the first day of sixth grade in a new town, one twin goes to school to find that there is no record of his brother (who stayed home sick that day) so the two cook up a plan to take turns going to school, doing homework, and just figuring out what its like to be an individual for the first time in their lives!

Enjoyable read!

Andrew Clements is the master of school stories. My eight year old reads his books over and over again. She enjoyed Lost and Found very much, and I found it an intriguing story that raised all kinds of interesting questions for discussion. It's a great choice for a kid's book club or class reading.

The Grayson twins find that a clerical error has led to only one of them being recorded as a student at their new school. They capitalize on this by taking turns attending school, and hiding out at home while both of their parents work. Both Ray and Jay have the opportunity to experience life as a "single" and not part of a matched set. The boys slowly realize that they are each unique individuals with their own likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses.

Clements has his own set of twins, so he is well able to portray the ups and downs of being a twin. I found this book to be captivating and fun to read. The boys do have crushes and talk a bit about cute girls, but everything is very appropriate for younger readers. I recommend this book for both girls and boys aged 8-14.

Twelve-year old twins Jay and Ray are starting at yet another new school but when Ray is sick on the first day, Jay finds out that the school has no record of his brother. For the first time, he finds out what its like to have no twin - and he likes it. He hatches a plan and convinces his brother to go along. They will take turns going to school so they can both enjoy being on their own for the first time ever. It's great at first but then things get complicated . . . .

This is a fast moving, fun book without complicated plots or characters. Great for slightly older kids wanting a short, easy to read book.

Not sure if anyone is aware of that. Same guy who wrote the books that became the movies Uncommon Valor, In The Line of Fire, etc.

I think he's semi-retired in Virginia. Not sure if he's writing anything new again.

I picked this paperback up at a book sale and found it to be a quick, easy, fast-paced predictable fun read. The chase scenes were the best with some good sex thrown in for interest, I suppose. The misspelling of some words were distracting, they used the letter f for the letter t and I tried to ignore it. It was a pretty good police procedural and quite the page turner. It might be too naive for some of you hard-boiled mystery buffs, but it was not a waste of time. I might even look for Cold, Cold Heart and compare.

james elliot is a potential talented writer, but he should not choose to write this kind of book: mobster killed their accountant for skimming, witnessed by a hooker (no matter how different she was, she's a hooker) and being chased around by them afterwards. one of the police detective (the good guys) got his own ghost in the closet. and he didn't have to source to check with the phone companies(?) like mafia (again, a ? mark) tried to rescue her from being slained by the dark force, and so on. give me a break, this kind of storyline and plot have already being written and printed at least ten thousand times. it's a format, a mode with every chapter casted. i felt very tired to read along with focus since every page looked so familiar and same-old-same-old. james elliot spent so long to produce such a cliche is but a disappointment to me. he should jump over these kind of police stuff or crazy former russian assasin's killing rampage and move on.

Upon picking this up, and knowing that Elliot hasn't written anything since he wrote it, in 1997, I thought, "okay, it probably isn't any good, and he was a one hit wonder with Cold, Cold Heart." That is not the case. While not as good as his near-perfect first novel, this one is still way above most other entries out there. It is exciting, well-written and emotionally resonant. Once again, Elliot shows an ability to paint vivid, thrilling scenes (the nightclub attack), and create a dangerous villain with a perfect touch of dark, psychotic humor (the Cuban hitman who looks forward to polishing up his skills on a couple of would-be muggers, etc.) The most important question is, where the hell is Elliot, and why haven't we heard from him in 7 years? I suspect he may be dead, and I will try to find out.

After reading Cold, Cold Heart I thought this book could not possibly be better yet I have to admit I loved it even more. I was totally into the story and could not put the book down. Any one who loves the kind of book you have to "just keep reading" will love this. I can't wait until the next James Elliott novel. Hurry please.

If you are wondering what to read about the Celts, with little previous exposure to the subject, then you only need to know one thing: "The Ancient Celts" by Barry Cunliffe. In fact, forget about this review and just buy it now, it is that good. I am not joking! Go. Now. Why are you still reading???

Since you persist, you will find "The Ancient Celts" to be a thorough going introduction to most aspects of Celtic research and history. Cunliffe gives a broad overview of previous Celtic study, the sources and the different influences and prejudices that have wormed their way into the sources and works through history. This provides an excellent back-drop to Cunliffe's own book, and puts it into an historical context of scholarship.

For the Celts themselves, the book presents broad overviews of different aspects of Celtic society, culture, art and so on. This is necessarily brief and focuses on those Celtic peoples who are amply attested to. For those others who dwelt more on the fringes of Celtic territory, Cunliffe is rightly more cautious in the few conclusions he draws. Despite this, the treatment is reasonably detailed and will certainly give you enough to go further should you wish to do so.

This might sound a bit puerile, but another bonus for me was the ample supply of photos, pictures and diagrams that helped put a more visual facet on the text. One might think that this is a pretty banal comment, but I found it a real boon to be able to see the artifacts that Cunliffe refered to, and appreciate them for myself. The Celtic art was a classic example of this.

For those with little geographical knowledge of Europe, I have only one quibble about the book: the paucity of maps. Cunliffe uses a few geographical features, like rivers, which are less than famous. A map or two would have been fantastic for placing events in their proper location. This is just a small point which does nothing to detract from the book in its entirety.

While there are other authors out there, I would agree that Cunliffe has achieved possibly the best introduction available on the Celts. If you have not already got it ordered, I suggest you do so now. It is a great book and you won't regret the purchase.

For anyone wanting an understanding of the Celtic people, Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" is an excellent introduction, as well as a fine review for those with a foundation in Celtic history. Cunliffe gives us a picture of the Ancient Celts from 1300 BC forward. The Celts had a most fascinating and expansive culture, dominating much of Europe up until the time of the Roman conquests. Following the Roman conquests of Europe and the Celtic lands, Celtic society faced the onslaught of Christianity which crushed some of the Celtic culture and absorbed other parts thereof. Still the spirit of the Celts survives even today... for those that know where to seek it.

As a student of Celtic Theology, I found Cunliffe's chapter on `Religious Systems' to be most interesting, but as Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana has described it Celtic religious beliefs are a "fertile chaos". There is a wide array of material reflecting the beliefs of the Celts, all of which offers us insight into their spirit and none of which fully explains it. Still, Cunliffe has done an admirable job in his explanation thereof in "The Ancient Celts".

Caesar (in "Commentaries on the Gallic War") writes that the Celts were extremely superstitious. This may be the case, but I feel that what Caesar calls superstition is nothing more than the `faith of the Celts'. One never sees superstition in one's own religion, only in the belief and practices of others.

Within the Celtic society religion was mediated by the Druids. These were the Celtic priests, but much more than mere teachers of religion, the Druids were the keepers of knowledge of the Celtic people. Also within this religious class were the `Faithi' or the seers ~ those who were inspired by the Gods to understand the `otherworld'.

Today the Celtic religious festivals survive in the forms of Samain (Halloween), Imbolc, and Lugnasad to name but a few. These and other rites were officiated at by the Druids.

I believe that the `path of the Druid' and an oneness with nature is an essential element for those who would learn the way of the Celts.

Although we tend to think of the Celtics as being centralized in the British Isles, it is important to note that the Celts established settlements across Europe into even Western Asia. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that the Celts served to slow and curtail the expansion of Rome.
Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" reveals the Celtic people to be of a poetic / warrior society which contributed greatly to the development of the soul of the European nations of today. Even today in television advertisement (for travel to Ireland) we see Ireland being described as a land of warrior-poets.

In a warrior society the way of the warrior contributes to the development of religion and religion contributes to the morality of the warrior. This combination of warrior ethos and religious faith make for greater equality within the society itself.

Cunliffe states: "Women clearly occupied a more significant position in Celtic society than they did in the Greco-Roman world..." Women in the Celtic Society have had a good deal of input into the development and working of that society, and this shapes the society in ways that are simply not present in a purely male-dominated society (i.e. Arab-Muslim society).
It is also interesting to note that although Celtic society may have been overshadowed by both the Romans and later by the Christian Church there is still a strong Celtic influence in modern society.

Overall, I found Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts" to be a very interesting book, serving to build a good foundational knowledge of our Celtic heritage.

Wonderful book, Cunliffe is a well-known scholar who's an expert on celtic archeology, and has been in numerous television shows and documentaries. Wonderful author, well written, and indepth. He shows you the archeology, and what it could've meant, but leaving enough room for you to draw your own conclusions. I loved the chapter "Religious Systems" as it's very informative, and solid in the archeological record. Love it, love it, love it. I fully intend to re-read it next year to see if I re-learn what I've learned. There's just so much information in this book, that it warrants another read!

Although this book has a lot of interesting information and photos, it it so tediously written and so focused on specific archeological finds that it was very disappointing overall. There was very little "overview information" about the Celtic lifestyle. If you want a lot of archeological detail this book is for you. But if you are looking for a more general book with information about the Celtic lifestle you will never make it through this textbook-like work.

The pictures are beautiful, showing many unusual pieces, but the content is often only school-book level, with little in-depth analysis or contextualizing. I found myself wishing for more information, and a deeper, more serious treatment of the cullture, the beliefs, and the everyday life of the people.

Longtime Clements reader and I have to say, this book is just horrible. It's completely lacking all of the charm we have come to know and love from all of his other books, and I don't understand where that disappeared to. Before you say, well, maybe you're just too old for the books now, I'd just like to say that I still read Frindle and the School Story and others, and they're still as good as when I first read them, if not better.
There's almost no character interaction or character development. It's simply boring.
The cultural references also threw me off, they're supposed to be timeless stories, not stories with iPods and Gameboys and wars in Iraq. They should be happening to anyone, anywhere.
I just didn't like the tone. It's nothing like his old works. If you're a fan of the classic Clements books, I strongly recommend you spare yourself a few minutes and pick another Andrew Clements book to read, cause this one's just not worth it.

Room One a Mystery or Two is a very good story. It was a quick read that kept you guessing. Ted Hammond, the only sixth grader in his school, loves nothing better than a good mystery. He can usually solve them before the author does in the story. So he has learned a lot of tricks from the best detectives. Ted now has two real life mysteries to solve. How can he save his one room school from being shut down? And who was the girl he saw in the window of the abandoned house? I enjoyed the story and was surprised by the ending.

On another note, as a teacher I would like to use this in my fourth grade class to teach making inferences. The author does a very nice job explaining how Ted drew the conclusions that he did. Mr. Clements also showed how Ted made connections text-to-world and text-to-self. I can't wait to incorporate this into a unit next year.

Andrew Clements is an amazing author. I didn't feel that Room One was one of his best, however. It was okay. There were a few exciting parts, but it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be. It's a great mystery, but I don't think the characters are that well-developed. Again, like most of Clement's children books, it's about an ordinary kid who makes a difference in the world.

Ted Hammond is a boy who loves mystery books. He goes to a school with only one room and one teacher and three of four grades. Ted is the only one who is in sixth grade.
I think you should read this book because you have to think about it carefully. And you solve mysteries. Some mysteries that are going the right way go the wrong way at the end. Is the school going to stay open or not?

So it's time for silent reading in my fifth grade class and my students LOVE silent reading time. Most of them can't get enough of the books they're reading and can't wait to talk about them. But there's always the few who spend the entire silent reading time in the school library or at my personal library or trying to sneak away to the bathroom. They spend more time fidgeting than they do reading. How do you get those children to read? Well, one thing I have found that works is to put an Andrew Clements book in their hands.

Clements' books are simple and readable and according to most of my fifth graders, cool. Frindle, The Landry News, and Lunch Money are not filled with elementary student clichés. The characters aren't cheesy and my students don't find themselves saying "Come on, we're not like that" as is the case with many other books written for them. Clements' characters act and talk like real elementary students and are usually faced with real problems and this is an important part of his appeal. Room One is no exception.

One day while sixth grader Ted Hammond is delivering papers, he notices a mysterious face in an upstairs window of an old home, the Anderson's home. What spikes Ted's curiosity is that no one has lived in the Anderson house for two years. The house has sat empty and the windows have been boarded up. With nothing else going on in his small rural Nebraska town of Plattsford, Ted sets out to investigate.

I liked this book. I really did. It doesn't matter that I picked it up half-wanting, half-expecting a good mystery and didn't get one. Clements made me care about Ted, and April, and her family, and Mrs. Mitchell to the point where it didn't matter if the "mystery" to this story was solved for the reader less than halfway through the book. It's still a good story, and in the end, that's what children really want to read.

A few things I thoroughly enjoyed about the book . . . The Red Prairie Learning Center was fascinating to read about. The idea of a town, so against consolidating with surrounding communities that they've forced themselves to become what they have (a one room school with four 4th graders, one 6th grader, and four 8th graders) was an extremely interesting setting. I loved Mrs. Mitchell's character. She has many wonderful traits that only a teacher would be able to recognize. It didn't surprise me one bit to discover that Clements himself was a teacher at one point in time. No stereotypes here.

As long as you don't set your expectations too high, you'll find Room One a quick, easy, and entertaining read. The epilogue fills in the rest of the story nicely and provides adequate closure to the story surrounding April and her family. Having read most of Clements' other stories, seeing "A Mystery or Two" across this cover excited me some at the thought of a departure from his normal work, but please don't make the same mistake. This isn't so much a mystery as it is another fun (but somewhat serious), school story from Andrew Clements. And that's just fine by me.

This collection spotlights Warren Ellis and his issues with Superheroes and his consistant need to deconstruct them and in many ways ruin the image that they have had for decades. Once again we get a heavy dose of the 90's era Punisher Style clones out to prove thier way is the right way. There's realistic then there is someone with issues. I've read Stormwatch from the beginning and felt that this issue actually did them a disservice.

This collection rates low, down with Grant Morrisons Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe.

Warren Ellis starts his excellent revamp of Stormwatch here, as he totally changes the lineup, and splits Stormwatch into multiple teams, each with a different purpose.



Stormwatch needs all their firepower, when The High comes back out of his self imposed isolation, and decides to reshape society in his image.



Jenny Sparks had known him in the past, so they end up talking before the confrontation. Top notch hero fare.

Definitely the better of the Stormwatch collections, due in no small part to the Bendix character. This volume certainly questions the nature of superheroics, but the follow-through is sadly disappointing.

As becomes painfully clear, writing action is not Ellis strong point. The build up to a massive brawl at the conclusion of the "Change or Die" story arc leads nowhere, as characters fall into debates with each other over their role.

Bendix's return is teased at in the final issue collected here, but is never revisited during Ellis's run. Oh well.

I think this comic cemented Warren Ellis as one of my favorite writers. He takes the idea of superheroes as they had been for so long (Stormwatch) and played them off superheroes as they were conceived (The High's group). Each group thinks its ideas are right. Stormwatch is only interested in the status quo, and maybe some beneficial changes slowly introduced over time. The High's group sees the world as in need of fast, massive improvement, and they set out to do it.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that the 2nd part simply doesn't flow from the first. Still an interesting read, but more padding than anything else.

Stormwatch: Change or Die reprints Stormwatch vol. 1 #48-50, the Stormwatch Preview, and Stormwatch vol. 2 #1-3. This is an excellent next step in the series, and shows Ellis becoming ever more comfortable with his characters. He responds to this increased knowledge of his characters by sending them on in an entirely new direction, but not before showing us just how messed up everything can be.

In the first story arch, we see the true intentions and background of Rose Tattoo, the betrayal of the team by one of their own, and the shaking of the team to the core. We also see a very smart storyline that further gives hints of the Authority series to come, and lets us glimpse the Doctor and Engineer for the first time, though in different forms than we are used to. The plot itself is deliciously intriguing, and keeps you turning the pages.

The second story arch is reprinting Stormwatch #1-3, and is the revamping of the team. The story and plot have their moments, but are a bit overshadowed by the first half of the book. The pencil work is more to my taste, since Jimenez took over, so that is a treat.

By this book for the first storyline alone and you will not be disappointed. It is classic Ellis and gives new layers to the characters, and hints of things to come.

Highly recommended to Authority, Stormwatch, and Ellis fans, though I think most people will enjoy it. Not recommended for younger readers due to extreme violence and sexual reference.

A sometimes interesting book in where Kalb tries to rank players, which is always an argument starter anyway and usually a bad idea - there are quite a few factual errors, which i just rolled my eyes at and overlooked, and he used too many great individual game performances to justify a player's ranking - I found myself skipping over a player's great performance in the 19XX Championship Series or the 19XX World Series because they were just individual games - I think Kalb needed to state his cases for/against players with more of an emphasis on their entire careers. His "Better Analogy" pieces on some of the players were at times insightful but I would have preferred more cross generational comparisons among different players - there are times when he compared players who he really shouldnt have been comparing and yes, there were quite a few times when he came to no conclusions with these comparisons and even more times when there was no explanation for his conclusions. Not a groundbreaking book but pick it up if you can get it for a pittance.

This book is interesting because it does what it sets out to do--start a dialogue about the subjects. However, the book is filled with errors, and the opinions are those of just one person, although a number of baseball people's opinions are cited. Who is "better" or "best" ultimately becomes subjective, of course. Kalb seems to be an apologist for Bobby Bonds, possibly because the book was published before any truly "smoking gun" was pointed at Bonds, or possiblty just to incite controversy. But to push for Binds in what seems like nearly entry is just too much. And to give great weight to MVP or performance in World Series is absurd (check, for example, Ted Wiliams). There is also a huge contradiction. Kalb suggests that Oh would have performed about the same in the US as in Japan, but he denies that same potential to early players and to those in the Negro leagues. If Oh faced less potent pitchers, so did the others. Also, Kalb does not account for the expansion of major league baseball in any really substantial way, except to assume that, because of expansion, all the weak players are gone. One could argue exactly the opposite. (For example, how strong would teams be if both major leagues still had only eight teams to field the top players? Isn't that what used to happen?) Kalb does point out that the players today are bigger, stronger, and better trained (he does not make much of better equipment, though), and then he ruins that by seeming to condone steroids and the like (just Bonds making himself the best he could be) without factoring in how someone like Ruth or Musial or Mays or Aaron might have performed on steroids.

Now don't get me wrong. This book is about as entertaining as they come for a baseball fan. The way that Kalb uses numbers to rate players in different leagues and eras is quite an undertaking. Sometimes though his arguments become transparent. I have found several examples throughout the book where he will just stop trying to cite numbers and examples and seems to be overtly subjective in his opinion. My favorite example is when comparing Babe Ruth to Barry Bonds. He argues that in Ruth's time he faced tired starters who yielded many of Ruth's HR's. And that Bonds was superior because he faced modern relief pitching and not tired washed up starters. He however also eludes to (in the same comparission mind you) thin pitching staffs and lauching pad stadiums in modern times. Not discounting Barry for that at all. If he would give me the numbers I would conclude that Barry is the better hitter. However, when he tries to put his numbers in context very often he compares what he wants to compare to get the result that he has already predetermined. There are a few mistakes as previous reviewers have pointed out. But as this review is proof to the book sparks debate. I just have a problem with the way that the analysis is done. Great book though.

This is a book that will appeal to all baseball fans and stat junkies. My own personal opinions on that overall list aside (I am a diehard Giants fan, but I don't think Barry Bonds is that best overall player). The first review here basically states everything one needs to know before buying this book. However, I have a problem with some people saying that certain facts Kalb states in the book as false. The record for most runs scored in a sub-.280 season by Schmidt IS the record. Records in baseball now are generally called as such based on every game played post 1901, when the two league system was invented, thus beginning the sports' modern era. The rules were completely different before this time, and even after, certain things were not changed until a few years later. Hell, when Nap Lajoie set the record for average in a season, he did so in a year that foul balls were not considered strikes, and this was after 1901. Thus, Schmidt holds the modern day record, which, except in a few instances (Cy Young, Cap Anson, to name a couple), is what players today are judged by.

When we are comparing players in a sport that has such a rich and diverse history as baseball, one must take into account that era in which the players played and rate them based on how they compared to their peers. How many homeruns would Aaron have hit had he played in the launching pad in Atlanta for a larger portion of his career? Would Ruth have hit 700 homeruns playing in a less condusive park to his particular talents? How would Ted Williams final career numbers have looked had he not lost five years in his prime fighting in TWO different wars, and would he finally, without argument, be considered the greatest hitter who ever lived? How about Johnny Mize and Hank Greenberg; would their numbers be even more impressive considering they also lost three-four prime years in a war? And honestly, why is Alex Rodriguez ranked so high and Manny Ramirez so low? Ramirez has just slightly better career stats in most every offensive category in fewer career at-bats. Defensive skills aside, does that really rank Ramirez, that man who will set the career mark for RBI, 60 spots lower than A-Rod?

One gripe I have is that the list, even the final twenty-five spots he summarizes at the very end to make up the best hundred, he only includes one NPO player, Sadaharu Oh, deservedly so, but what aboout Shigeo Nagashima? I can name at least eight other Japanese leaguers who deserve to be on this list.

READ THIS BOOK and make your own arguments.

This is a great book for any baseball fan. What Kalb writes about current players Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martinez is timely and places them in proper historical perspective. I bought this book for three teenaged fans, and they all loved it, too. Be prepared when the debates start about which players are best.

Reading this book I could see my neighbors, my community and elected officials. Fast, funny, and if I wasn't living in the South I would swear this was fiction.

Not only is this a delightful and informative read, but it is also beautifully designed. Trailer Park ingenuity is often merely dismissed or laughed off, but this charming book presents the reader with the wisdom and ideas that have been developed over the years by a very resourceful segment of our society. There is much to be learned from them!

This is the cooki-est and most hilarious book I have read in years. what an eye-opener and a great surprise on trailer trash culture. this book takes on a fantastic journey in a culture that most of us europeans know so little about or have so much disdain for.
Highly recommended.

Another reviewer notice that some of the material bears an erie similarity to several Web sites on the topic. Without leveling a charge of direct copying one way or the other there is some VERY similar writing online. (Students, Authors and Publishers take note: Google knows everything...)
While I realize that this book is a sometimes sucessful attempt at satire it also has several gross fabrications made up so that they could be satirized or simply add to the page count. Com'on reality is so much richer than fiction and much funnier to satirize. YAWN.

Cracker Ingenuity provides an incredible escape from the Sex in the City everyday of $500 handbags and $12 cosmos. P.T. Elliott and E.M. Lowry remind us that we need not cry "super" every time our shower drains slowly, that in fact human ingenuity not only exists but would enrich our lives were we to exercise it instead of suppressing it in the money for labor market of the post-industrial city. As a return of the repressed, the authors demonstrate that there is something to be said for a house that rolls and for decorative lawn ornaments. Yes, in many places (like where I grew up) a person would be arrested for lawn ornaments, but that is exactly what the authors provide is a possible alternative everyday for the programmed life of pedicured French bulldogs and cars parked neatly in garages. P.T. Elliott follows up her 100 Proof with another humorous, enlightening winner.

i bought this book.
i recommend you not buying this.
didn't like it's content at all.
didn't help me in anyway.

If you have anxiety, 360 pages of info is overwhelming. Usually anxiety is not that complicated. Start with something simple that gets right to the point of reducing your anxiety (I did the program at selftherapy.org and loved it). Then if you want to become an expert, read a book like this.. highly informational, but not all that practical.

I love the dummies series. Despite thier name they are typically a well written, well researched and balanced resource. The authors of this one included a comprehensive look at anxiety with a wide variety of interventions to suit many people. Helpful without being dry or preachy, it's great for clinician and self-helper alike. A must-have for your bookshelf if you work with people with anxiety or have anxiety yourself.

This is NOT a self-help Book. If you want a Self-Help Book, do your research and buy one. This book is a REFERENCE book about anxiety disorder. and is a GOOD ONE~!

Abolsutely one of the worst self-help books I have read. There isn't any structure, and it's not simplistic. The advice given is helpful but the authors then reverse the whole deal. Its like one chapter says this will be helpful, and then another chapter says it wont. It just goes all over the place and you cant really follow what the authors are trying to get at.

A book I highly reccemend for anxiety and depressive related disorders is "Feel the fear and do it anyway" Much more simplistic, easier to read and get thru. And much more cheerful.

I also dont like that these authors have seperated anxiety and depression from one another. I guess they do have a new book coming out that combines them both. It will be interesting to see if they have learned anything from their last two failures.

But for someone that wants quick and easy advice, this book is certainly not for them. I'm afraid that this book of jargon will make it more confusing.

Laura Van Wormer's books have the ability to keep me interested from the very first chapter. Usually it takes a few chapters to "get into" the story, but not with her books. I feel bad when I finish her books because I hate to leave the characters. "Just for the Summer" is another book that holds your attention from the beginning right to the end. Keep up the good work Laura.

I'm now fairly addicted to van Wormer's books, but this just doesn't live up to her previous work. I was never that interested in Jessica, which may be the main reason Talk didn't make that big an impression on me. I know the author can weave a much finer story and I'm just waiting for something more and a continuation of Cassy and Alexandra's lives. Maybe, Expose will fit that bill. But Talk is okay.

Laura is not a very strong writer, and her characters are annoying at best. However, the story does improve after the first 200 pages.

I read Talk after I read Expose, and now I'm in the process of ordering more of Van Wormer's books. Talk was a great story. I appreciate how Van Wormer develops her characters, and how likeable yet diverse they are. The lead character, for instance, is a recovering alcholic. Her love interest is a possible suspect in the mystery, and "Alexandra Eyes" has her own secrets. When Jessica is kidnapped, she ends up rescuing and helping one of her kidnappers who was badly injured. I didn't feel compassion for him until the end of the book, when the plot comes together. And as for Leopold ... well you'll have to draw your own conclusions. It's an entertaining read. I want more.

I recently read "Just For The Summer" by Laura Van Wormer and thought that that novel was horribly slow-moving and dull. But I later learned that "Just For The Summer" was the novel where Mrs. Wormer began her transition from romance to romantic suspense. So I decided to give "Talk" a try. I was very happy that I did because it was great. Talk show host, Jessica Wright, is being stalked by an obsessive fan. He sends Jessica threatening letters and notes promising to be there for her "always". It starts to get way out of hand when this stalker kills Jessica's secretary, Bea. Next Jessica is kidnapped at a local party/ function! It is up to her lover and friend, Will, her producer, Cassy, the FBI and local police to try and save Jessica before her life is claimed buy a nutcase who will do anything, absolutely anything, for Jessica! I already have Expose, Mrs. Van Wormer's next romantic suspense novel, in my possession and I'm looking forward to reading it greatly!

Brad Stonecipher

I don't say these words lightly, but STREET FAME by Bestselling author K. Elliott is by far my favorite read of 2007 so far!

The characters come to life and rise off the pages in a way that they become people you see on the streets, your neighbors, even those close to you.

Tommy "Fatboy" Dupree is the perfect example of someone who is a good person caught up in a series of bad situations--- and sees the light at the end. The book rivals anything by Sidney Sheldon as it reveals a suspensful tale of betrayals, love and redemption.

And the dialogue is so real and believable--- full of lessons that all of us can relate to and apply to either ourselves or someone we know.

For example: "There has to be more to life than this. (p.37)" "You gotta be a man and money don't make you a man. (p.209)", "If you're going to be a drug dealer at least be smart about it. (p. 53)" and my personal favorite: "People are ruining their own lives with the decisions they make. (p. 210)"

Conversations Book Club has chosen STREET FAME as the book it will feature later this year, with a forum as well as open discussion hopefully with the author.

Tommy, JoJo, and Twin were best friends from childhood. Now, they've moved into drug dealing. When Twin turns a thief onto Tommy and JoJo, the two lose all of their ready cash--and realize they need to make a score. But the Drug Enforcement Agency is aware of their activities. The DEA contacts Twin's girlfriend, a white stripper named Jennifer, and pressures her to cooperate with them. One of the agents seduces Jennifer, reasoning that he wants to help her escape from the life she's created for herself.

With their major supplier in jail, Tommy and JoJo fall prey to a scam, losing even more of their money. Only by moving from cocaine to extaxy do they see a chance to recoup their losses. But the pill business seems like a good one and using Jennifer and one of her white stripper friends as mules works--the police don't go after white women nearly as much as they do black. When Tommy meets a beautiful woman whose father is a major real estate investor who promises to help him go straight--if only he can come up with a million dollars in investment income, Tommy thinks he has a chance to get out of the drug business before the DEA catches up with him.

Tommy, JoJo, and Twin push their luck, trying to get just one more score--the score that will let Tommy walk away from the drug business, marry his beautiful lover, and escape to California. But the DEA has other plans. The DEA doesn't care that their enforcement efforts are destroying as many lives as would the drugs they are attempting to control. And they'll do whatever it takes to bring Tommy and his friends down.

Author K. Elliot captures an authentic feel in this fast-paced caper novel. Tommy, with his adoptive father in jail, accused of a rape he didn't commit, and with his major ambition in life to enjoy his fishing, is a sympathetic character despite his two-timing his long-time girlfriend (who is also two-timing him). Elliot helps the reader understand how drug dealing can seem to be the only option, and how ethical black and white blurs to gray in the world of drugs and drug enforcement.

STREET FAME provides an intriguing look into today's urban drug culture. Warning--STREET FAME contains language and sexual situations that will be offensive to some readers.

Street Fame was a great read. I could not wait to see what the ending was going bring.. It was a page turner. I think that this would be a great read for all high school students, boys especially. It will make you think! If you are dealing in drugs or have been approached to do it for someone else think before you act. Think before you act. It's a lesson to be learned. You do the crime you do the time.

Street Fame hit it on the head. This is the only story I've ever encountered where a man's dick saves his life. This book touches on all the major issues of a hustler tryin' to fly straight. To see if Tommy makes it out, despite the competition, betryal, lies, sceemes and paper chase; check out Street Fame, its definitely a worth while reading adventure.

Tommy "Fatboy" Dupree has some serious problems. His main problems are named Twin, JoJo and Nia but Tommy foolishly thinks that Twin and JoJo are his best friends and that Nia is his faithful girlfriend. The writing is on the wall but for some reason Tommy can't see it. How can someone as naive as Tommy be a key player in the North Carolina drug game?

Tommy's reign on top is about to come crashing to an end mainly because he's not watching his back. The friends that he think are in his corner already have the knives out preparing to feast. Tommy is trying to get up enough capital to get out of the game with the help of Alicia and her real estate mogul father. But with Tommy's team working against him it's gonna be next to impossible. His downfall is inevitable but at who's hands will he fall to?

Street Fame was a quick enjoyable read but personally I thought that Tommy was way too gullable to have achieved that much success in the game. I enjoyed the cameo from Dream Nelson from K. Elliott's first book Entangled. But hands down J-Black was definitely my favorite character and I would of loved an entire book about his larcenous exploits. {Hint-Hint Mr. Elliott ;) }