Elliott Books

This is a very good, thorough book. It explains music of all countries, tying the music together quite well. The music from the listening guides was very helpful in understanding what she was talking about. I just wish I could find the CD's that came with the book.

My only complaint is that she did not go into any Classical, rap, pop, or Broadway music. These are very important to world music, and I was surprised to see that she did not include them.

All in all, its a great book that has interesting and educational topics.

"Spatial Epidemiology" mixes practical application with theory to provide a critical review of methods, challenges, issues, strengths, and limitations of spatial analysis in epidemiology. Subsections of the book progress from types of data, to statistical methods, to disease mapping and clustering, then end with exposures and links to health. Each subsection includes at least one chapter presenting spatial analytical theory, one chapter providing an overview of spatial analytical methods, one chapter reviewing a particular spatial analytical method in depth, a chapter applying a method, and one specialty chapter. Authors have included equations, comprehensive examples from both chronic and infectious diseases, and extensive references to other chapters and other works for each method presented. Earlier chapters provide a thorough background discussion of data issues that will be particularily useful to novices in the field. Statistical chapters assume intermediate or more advanced experience with spatial analysis, however, provide references to background and seminal works that will allow novices to the field to optimize their learning experience. There are several chapters devoted to cluster analysis, Bayesian analysis, and modeling which are particularily useful.

Overall, this is a very useful book for researchers at any level of experience with spatial analysis. Although technical terms are used liberally, the overall text is easy to read, clear and concise, serving well as both a teaching text and a reference book.

Other useful features:

List of abbreviations - very helpful for acronyms; Color maps; Comprehensive index; References - each chapter provides references to other works that provide more detail or background on the method under discussion

"Spirit of the Siskiyous" is a rare, precious book by a woman with a keen sense of observation and perception. Not only can she translate her knowledge and insights in words, but she can also enhance her writing with drawings and watercolors that visually capture the often profound subtilities of flowers, seasons, bugs and birds. The book is one to be read slowly so that it can be enjoyed graciously. It's a small gem, one that will delight and enlighten its readers.

Description from the book back cover:

The sexy beast of the beach ... James-Steven Payton was built like a dream, handsome beyond belief -- and he was Dr. Maggie O'Leary's new neighbor! But when the gorgeous hunk climbed through her window to invite her to a party, Maggie was convinced that the man was a flake ... a free spirit, elusive as the wind and just as irresistible. When he looked at her, she melted like ice cream in the sun, but James-Steven was too devil-may-care -- too much like her father -- to be the love of her life ... wasn't he? James-Steven warned the pretty lady next door that all was fair in love and war, that he'd fight to woo and win her, but it was a real battle to get her to smell the flowers or build sand castles on the beach without worrying the tide would wash them away. Maggie adored the sizzling pleasure of his kisses and longed to join her heart to his. Could they find a middle road to travel, cherish now and still dream of forever?

Post-Freudian, post-structuralist, and postmodern: innovative and interesting. Really engaging and seems to break new ground. The new Freud and Lacan in one postmodern celebration!

Ray R. Kepley's "Tails Up!" is an epic, first-person Western that is unexpectedly rewarding for such a familiar genre. It is a complex and sweeping tale set in 1868 in the short grass prairie of western Kansas and eastern Colorado. It is an unflinching look back in time through the intimate prism of history, geography and human behavior.

After reading Harpers Weekly and other publications describing the wonders of the West, Jack "Caroliny" Reynolds leaves North Carolina seeking adventure. He gets a job with a wagon train in Kansas City, Missouri, and follows the Santa Fe Trail west. The freight wagons Jack will drive are owned by Tom Powers from Missouri. One of the most interesting things about the journey is how the vast landscape they travel through transforms from unnoticed backdrop into a fully developed character. To the very end of the story, the expansive prairie never relents. It compels every one of the other characters to adapt to it or it kills them.

Tom Powers elects to stop a few miles east of (Fort Dodge) Dodge City, Kansas, and settles in a sod house. Jack and a friend named Bid McClaine stay on to help Tom build a ranch. Of the many challenges that face Jack, Bid and the other hands at Tom Power's ranch, the one constant is the harsh and untamable nature of the environment. Life changes permanently for them when Bid buys a mule that he is compelled to name "Old Satank". With mobility comes new opportunity. Jack and Bid aren't very good at farming, barely competent at ranching, and it would seem that they only excel in adventuring and scheming ways to make money. That leads them to the hay meadows and into deadly confrontation with the Native Americans.

The final third of this story is spent with Jack and Bid enlisting into the U.S. Army as civilian scouts. Along with fifty other men, Jack and Bid soon find themselves in one of the most important battles that ever took place on the prairie - The Battle of Beecher Island on the Arikaree River in what is now Colorado. Since the story is told in the first person, many of the key details of the battle and the important players in it aren't revealed. On the other hand, the painstakingly researched details and first-person account makes this battle gripping, even terrifying at times.

There were a couple of things that I really liked about this story. The geographical detail and simple truth in the characters were very appealing. The language the author uses in narrative to describe the area where I grew up is spot on.

The language the author used in the dialogue is sometimes difficult to read because it is in dialect or even spelled phonetically - as the author believed the characters to have actually spoken. It makes their creative combinations of curse words all the more potent as period-appropriate punctuation.

The three pieces of the story could stand on their own as separate novellas. Together, the story is very good, although long at 466 pages. The ending was abrupt. It left me wanting to know how the characters grand plans for a cattle ranching operation of their own grazing Texas range cattle on western Kansas short grass prairie would have turned out. That's a testament to the strength of the characterization and energy in its plot.

Unfortunately, we'll never get to read that last component of the story. The author, Ray R. Kepley, died Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007, in his hometown of Ulysses, Kansas, at the age of 99. He wrote "Tails Up!" when he was 70.

Definitely worth a read!

Setting the stage: As a sales professional with five years of outside sales experience, I had documented successes and I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting to the second interview stage in the pharmaceutical industry.

This book gets your mind in the state of successfully EARNING your next job - not passively hoping something or someone will GIVE you a job.

After reading this book, I have to say that I'm VERY happy with the contents and messages contained within.

Like all the Interview books out there, this book also describes the following:
1) How to fix your resume & cover letter to be more focused.
2) How to find jobs and what to do afterwards and good common practices during the interview process itself.

But most importantly,
3) Practice tough interview questions and learn how to turn negatives into positives.

What I like most about this book is that it is a quick read - not weighted down. It was concise yet made the process of resume writing and interviewing easy to understand. It is well written and divided into relavent chapters. It helps you get the important and basic things done correctly, and then your natural talent and personality can carry you the rest of the way. Good chapters on preparing for the interviews and then following up.
While I was in the "hot seat," the questions triggered responses suggested in the book that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. I walked out of the interview feeling that I had nailed it. I've looked through many books and found this one to be the best if you are only looking for one book. I give this book partial credit for helping me find my current job. For under $15, this book is a MUST HAVE for anyone looking to get into pharmaceutical sales - or sales in general.

BACK OF THE BOOK SYNOPSIS:

MR. FEBRUARY
NAME: Tux Bishop
CAME: Private Investigator
AIM: Find a suitable wife and settle down
DAME: Not woman-in-jeopardy Nancy Shatner!

Tux can't explain how he knows trouble is stalking a beautiful stranger. He just knows. He figures he must be destined to protect the unwilling Nancy Shatner, but he can't be destined to marry her! No red-blooded Texan relies on fate to find a woman. That, Tux will do on his own. Just as soon as he can keep his mind - and his hands - off Nancy....

MAN OF THE MONTH: Born under a wild Texas moon, this man of the month is a confirmed Family Man...he just doesn't know it until Nancy rounds him up!

I picked up an autographed copy of this first novel by the author of various other books. It's been quite a while since I read a whole adult book, fiction or nonfiction. I'm an elementary school librarian and deal with challenging material daily in a brave new world for young people, esp. in a public school setting. I've had to wait for a trip out of town to have the time to read this captivating work by Savannah's guru of the homeless. I keep reading and rereading the first few chapters, so my review and rating is based on only a portion of this book. But Elliott's writing makes me smile even as I write this. As a resident of Savannah for the past 15 years, and an activist parent against the political lunacy exhibited by various members of the public school and library boards, the outgoing county commission chair and a former mayor, I love this book. It is the first real taste in book form of the Savannah I have to come to love and hate and is bound to be a hit movie, if handled properly. The racial, religious and economic class systems, the drug culture, and the altruistic rebels that are all a part of Savannah's worst and best of every year are here to savor, digest and forever be stuck in your mind and heart. If it sounds like a wonderful meal, well, The Breakfast Club, on the author's Tybee Island, 17 miles east of downtown Savannah, is forever a sensory memory associated with this pageturner. It's where I bought and began reading my first copy as I consumed an indescribably delicious Mediterranean omelet and pecan waffle. I'll let you know later this year if the rest of the book holds up to the beginning. I can tell you the bottom line mentality in healthcare delivery that the author so vividly describes was something I was all too familiar with well before I moved to Savannah, GA.

This book is a great resource for travelers and townies alike. If you'd like to skip the increasing abundance of chains in the Twin Ports, this is a great read. My only complaint is not the fault of the authors - the constant turnaround on dining and entertainment establishments makes the book out of date, even though the publication date is 2003. All the more reason why you should use this book! Patronize small local businesses!

With all that being said, the Tips for Travelers, Outdoor Adventures, Architectural Adventures, and Arts & Culture sections are perfect. If you want to live like a Duluthian (and who doesn't?), this book is a must-have.