F Books

I first saw the movie version of this book about 10 years ago. I was stunned and I had to read the book. After much searching and alot of trouble I found it at a used bookstore. The search was worth it. The book takes the reader deeper into Berlin's underworld and truly exposes the heroin lifestyle for what it is, a nightmare. i also recommend the book Panic In Needle Park, if you can find it. ...

You hear how shocked people are by the extent of drug abuse in 'our day and age' and 'what the young people get up to', but here is a chilling and important book written, about the destruction of a child, before I was born. People need to know this stuff - and the reason 'H' is such an important book is because it is written from the inside out. No-one can understand who hasn't been there, and they shouldn't pretend to or try to. There is certainly no place for judgement.
I was interested by Vicky790's comments that there are websites about Christiane which might tell us about her now, 20 years on, but all I can find are pictures of the film. Anyone got any tips?

I have read this book on several occassions and I still find it shocking even as a 34 year old.

I think this book should be read in schools, and I am disappointed it is no longer in print or available in book shops.

This is the type of book I feel should be available in light of the tragic drug problem we now seem to have. It gives a more realistic interpretation of what a drug addicts life is really like and how it isn't the glamourous life some think it is.

Christiane is still fighting with her addiction now, so it is not an easy thing to escape. If you are interested there are web sites about Christiane, just use your search facilities.

... but it's the most impressive book i've ever read. all the information from the book alerts those who still escaping this serious social problem. this book deserves spending your precious time.

Any Teenager should have read this book or at least have seen the movie. This is not a fictional Story, it's the ugly Truth that most people don't want to know. Instead of pointing the Finger at the Addicts, people should get a bare impression of what they go through everyday and how easy it is to become an addict. For me, the most shocking thing about this book was, that if I would have been in that scene (Berlin 70's), I would surely also have become a junkie. This book should be read in every school, it would be actually something that we could LEARN from. Although it is certainly not a listening pleasure, everyone that is barely interested on what can go wrong should read it.

This was a required text for a design class. I found it pretty useful (in conjunction with the other text), and ended up keeping both for reference books when the class was completed.

Well written and informative. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about color.

There are zillions of books on this complex world of color.

This one is the best for all Interior Designers, students and teachers, it is written by John F. Pile, an authority in Interior Design. You will enjoy learning the Color Systems for your business, and covers the historical aspect of of the Bauhaus School of Design, and also color in Historic Interiors, including artists and personal experiences.

Michele Beatriz

As a lay person just interested in learning more about the use of color in interior design, this was an excellent book. While the first several chapters were very "text bookish", the remainder was very layman friendly. I feel more confident in undertaking color projects in my home and in conversing about the use of color with friends, who are now asking my opinions. The chapters that helped me the most were on the color wheel and color relationships. I enjoyed it and will now pursue my interest in color and design.

it's a really helpful book for designers.you can find whatever you need about colors...

Thanks for your product - it's too much good!
It's satisfy my better expectatives...


Have a good day...

The Complete Dinosaur edited by James O. Farlow and M.K. Brett-Surman is a comprehensive book about dinosaurs. There are many contributors that have written chapter for this book, so you get different writing styles and information is duplicated at times.

This book is divided into six parts and each has chapters written by the various contributors. The parts are as follows:
Part One: The Discovery of Dinosaurs
Part Two: The Study of Dinosaurs
Part Three: The Groups of Dinosaurs
Part Four: Biology of the Dinosaurs
Part Five: Dinosaur Evolution in the Changing World of the Meszoic Era
Part Six: Dinosaurs and the Media

What I found that was very interesting was that at the end of each chapter there was extensive references. So, if you find something that piques your interest you have something else to read about, to either clarify or strengthen your viewpoint. Also, this makes the book easy to use when dealing with technical material.

This book summarizes the current knowledge about dinosaurs at the time written (1997), and currently there are only eighty professional dinosaur paleotologists in the world. This book is written like professional scientific literature, but that doesn't make it difficult to read. Reading on you will find this book is not without controversy, as vigorus disagreements among the specialists over topics of contention will be found here as they hash out these sharp divergences of opinion.

I must say, that there is some very fine artwork, with bone of skeletons, muscle structure and complete complete fleshed out dinosaurs giving the reader a full grasp of what a dinosar looks like from the inside out. Also, questions as to what dinosaurs ate, how they raised their young, and the question that was the turning point that made the movie Jurassic Park... can we isolate dinosaur DNA are just some of the many questions that have answers in this book.

All in all, the technical jargon is at a minimum and there is a glossary of terms making your reading much more fruitful. I found the narrative easy to read and the information from this book to be exceptional.

This is a great intermediate level dinosaur book. It has a lot of details, but not enough to prevent non-experts from following it. It has 43 chapters divided into six parts. The chapters were written by experts in the individual subjects. This has the nice feature of making the chapters fairly independent, however it also makes the presentation a bit disjointed at times.

The first part deals with the process and history of discovering dinosaurs. The history of science isn't my favorite topic, so I just skimmed this part and can't really comment on it.

The second part describes the tools and techniques used to study dinosaurs. This includes excavations, the study of bones, taxonomy and cladistics, morphology, biomolecular techniques and exhibiting dinosaurs. There is a lot of interesting information, this material is fairly fundamental to the study of dinosaurs. Some of it is pretty easy to follow, some (like data management techniques) is a little more difficult to follow (for me anyway). None of it is prohibitively difficult.

Part three is a collection of chapters covering archosaurs, early dinosaurs and the various dinosaur families. Given that they were written by different authors, there is no consistent format for the chapters. I would have liked to have seen more material on how the families are related to each other. On the whole, I liked the level of detail.

Part four describes dinosaur biology. It contains a fascinating set of topics. A partial list of them is: plants in the Mesozoic, dinosaur diets, dinosaur dynamics, dinosaur eggs (covered in a nice amount of detail) and dinosaur paleopathology (a topic that doesn't often seem to get covered in this level of detail). In my experience many of these topics are somewhat neglected (either covered only lightly or not at all), this, and the quality, made it my favorite part of the book.

The fifth part deals with dinosaur evolution, including the way their environment changed thru time. It concludes with a discussion of dinosaur extinction, presenting both gradualist and catastrophist arguments.

The final part is one chapter covering how dinosaurs are portrayed in the media and how they are perceived by society.

Although the book had many authors, the quality is uniformly excellent. I generally liked the selection of topics. I wouldn't consider this an entry level book, but it's definitely readable by non-experts, I enjoyed the level of detail.

This book is very dense and covers almost anything related to dinosaurs. It is clearly intended to non-pros but it does not lack scientifical value. However, because the book was written by many authors you'll find some chapters less well written than others and some information is duplicated. My advise is to not hesitate to buy this as your first dinosaur book.

Do you want to get "into" Dinosaurs? This is the place to start. The Complete Dinosaur is a comprehensive introduction to what is currently known about dinosaurs and how it is known. From the history of the earliest fossil hunters to dinosaur biology, paleogeography and even an overview of dinosaurs in the media throughout the years.
The book is organized into chapters, each of which contains a deep look at its subject and yet is perfectly readable by laymen (such as myself). Even though many contributors wrote for this book, there is a sense of cohesiveness through the entire book. At a massive 768 pages, it is a very long read but seldom does it get tedious except perhaps a few chapters on dinosaur biology that get a bit too technical.
The book contains abundant references at the end of each chapter and a huge index a the end so it serves as a very useful reference on your library.
Other books that compare to this one are "The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs" edited by Greg Paul and "Encylopedia of Dinosaurs" edited by Phil Currie, both renown paleontologists. "The Complete Dinosaur" is more comprehensive than the first one and is arranged in a more readable format than the second one which arranges its articles in alphabetic order.
The only weakness of the book is its age. Written in 1997 it is probably due to a revision given that the fiels of paleontology has been progressing by leaps and bounds in the last few decades.

Highly recommended.

The gorgeous pictures of these fascinating quilts are an inspiration to get to work on my own creative ideas. I am always amazed at the diversity of the human creative spirit and especially the way people use fiber in making art.

This is a wonderful book to spark your creativity. It was reccommended by Amazon when I bought another quilt book and I'm glad I bought it.

This book is exactly what I hoped to find. It is filled with beautifully illustrated quilts & embroidery with step by step details on design, construction and how it was embroidered. Sandra has detailed her quilt design process giving the reader a clearly demonstrated understanding visually & textually of what inspires her quilts and then firstly how she gets them out of her head and onto paper & then translated into a quilt. Sandras use of sumptuous fabrics showing us how fabrics are combined, moved around and translated into images is wonderful. The embroidery is textual & three dimensional and the magic is nothing you see seems unachievable. Highly recommended for teachers, students and anyone wanting to take their quilt making to a new level.

It was a gift for my Mom who wants to create more inspired quilts. She loves it and is off and running with new ideas and techniques for creating her own designs.

This book along with Sandra's contemporary quits has been inspirational to me. These two books have almost become my bible. I can look through them time and again for ideas and they help to spark my creativity. There are a variety of techniques to make your quilts more interesting and diamentional. This book was well worth the money and would make a great contributional to anyone who is interested in art quilts to their own personal library.

This is a wonderful book of popular songs in Spanish, which my triplet boys latched onto immediately. The songs are very engaging, and each page has lovely artwork. I speak Spanish, and my boys were born in Spain. I have been trying very hard to help them maintain a little Spanish, and this book has been very helpful. It doesn't come with a CD, but you can easily learn the tunes of the songs if you know how to read music. And even if you only speak rudimentary Spanish, I think it's possible to learn the songs and enjoy them.

This book quickly became the boys' favorite bedtime routine. I hear them singing the songs during the day as well. I highly recommend it.

I love the colorful pictures in this book and that it has music to all of the songs. It is a wonderful book and my baby loves when I sing to him!

Beautiful pictures, and easy-to-follow tunes. A must-have for anyone who has children whom they are introducing to Spanish, and very useful for us adults as well!

My family enjoys this CD a lot. Mr. Orozco has a wonderful voice to listen to and the lyrics are fun and interesting. One song "Paz y Libertad" is emotionally touching. It is easy to learn Spanish listening to these elegant songs. I bought the other CD, Diez Deditos as a gift for a friend's family and they like that CD too.

This is an excellent book full of poems and songs. All are beatifully illustrated. Our 2 1/2 year old spends a lot of time just looking at the pictures and humming the tunes. Songs are easy to learn, fun to sing, and many have hand signs.

This book of songs is really helpful whether you are trying to emmerse your child in Spanish (as we are), or just exposing your child to a different culture and sounds.

P.S. Don't forget to buy the companion CD!

Dr. Plaut's book is informative, easy to read, and helpful. His direct, no-nonsense approach to treating asthma is reassuring, particularly after being newly diagnosed with asthma. His book has enhanced our ability to communicate with our son's doctors about his symptoms, prescribed medications, and signs of improvement. We are grateful for this comprehensive resource.

This is a tremedous book for anyone that thinks they might have asthma or if they actually have been diagnosed with asthma. My 22 month old was recently diagnosed with asthma and even though I'm a college graduate I was having some trouble making sense of all the medications and reading the signs when he was having trouble since he's too young for a peak flow meter. This book covers it all in great deal and teaches you how to really manage your asthma whether you can use a peak flow meter or not. A wonderful book and worth far more than the list price. The author is actually an asthma specialist and indicated you can get the information in this book from your doctor, but it would take 10 hours. It would be difficult for you to remember and you would probably not want to pay for it! I think that is a good description of this book! It goes along exactly with what my doctor has been saying, only presents it in an organized manner along with some forms in the back to keep a daily diary and treatment plan. EXCELLENT!!!

I have found Dr. Tom Plaut's Asthma Guide for People of All Ages a crucial resource as we learn about our daughter's asthma. Dr. Plaut explains asthma physiology, medications, and devices very clearly. The tone is friendly and positive. The patient stories are like a support group, giving a window into other people's experiences. Some of the stories made me count my blessings! Others illuminated issues I hadn't really thought about, but that were in fact affecting my family.

These features alone would make the Asthma Guide for People of All Ages a good buy, but Dr. Plaut's book goes beyond physiology, treatments, and personal and family impact to address two important areas many people are likely to be struggling with, and which are valuable no matter what treatment you use. It explains how to understand and respond to your individual condition; and it encourages you to take an active role in your own care.

Some doctors take a one-size-fits-all stance--"this is how I like to treat asthma," in the words of one Procrustean family practitioner we consulted. In contrast, Dr. Plaut's approach provides information and reasoning to help you to understand your particular situation. It also teaches the skills you need to identify your own personal best state, to spot your own triggers and symptoms, and to know when you need to take action to prevent further trouble.

Again, too many physicians expect the patient to blindly do whatever the doctor says. This gets my goat. Dr. Plaut's book stresses the importance of working together with an experienced physician instead of just carrying out instructions. He shows how this enables the individual or family in the trenches to handle asthma care calmly and competently in a range of situations.

Family members are encouraged to work cooperatively instead of hierarchically with one another, as well as with their physician. Dr. Plaut recognizes the common pattern where, when a child has asthma, one parent takes on the job of being the asthma authority/caregiver, and he explains why this is not a sustainable long-term plan.

In harmony with the overall emphasis on shared knowledge and responsibility, there are also chapters on dealing with asthma at school or on family vacations--where the knowledge and responsibility of people outside the immediate family become important. The school chapter has very interesting and enlightening sections on applicable laws and common indoor air pollutants--as well as on how a typical teenager might behave during an asthma episode in school!

I recommend Dr. Tom Plaut's Asthma Guide for People of All Ages to anyone interested in learning how to be an active, empowered partner in their own asthma care or that of a family member.

My son's pediatrician recommended that I read this book. Having been recently diagnosed with asthma, we were exhausted from running from doctor to doctor (for 6 years) with no answers about his "cough". We were told to do everything from "ignore it", or just give "cough medicine" so we wouldn't have to listen to it anymore. Before I read this book, I felt very out of control with regard to my son's asthma. I cried after every doctor visit because I was so utterly overwhelmed by the technical lingo and all of the different medications and when/why I was giving them. Once I started reading this book, I cannot believe how much sense everything made. I knew what questions to ask, what terminology to use and more importantly, I felt in control. My son's pediatrician even commented to me how I was asking all the right questions, and how much of a difference he could see in me! I am not as stressed when my son was experiencing a "flare-up" and I even now understand WHY I am giving each medicine and what it does to help him.
I would HIGHLY recommend reading this book for anyone who wants to know more about asthma.

I have read a number of books and articles on asthma. This is by far the most comprehensive, up to date and it is easy to understand, too. I checked a copy from my library but it is so good that I am going to purchase it for my personal reference library as well as my child's school nurse. This book even has short section explaining cough-variant asthma, which is what both me and my son have...this is a little known type of asthma which in my case was mis-diagnosed for 35 years.

Bobby Salton knows she can't take her sadistic husband's abuse for another day. So at the beginning of the story, she takes her little daughter Penny when the monster isn't home and runs. Driving away in her half-working car, she finds refuge in a rambling house on the Connecticuit shore.

Hired as a live-in companion to Alma Ogilvie, Bobby helps the retired headmistress regain her independence.But Bobby's battered appearance also has a startling effect, especially on Eva Rule, Alma's niece, a successful author.

Three very different women grapple with dreams of haunted pasts, and yet form a tenuous bond. Just as they begin to look to to the future, the past catches up with them. Bobby's husband, for one thing, is still on the run looking everywhere for Bobby.

A very absorbing book and hard to put it down.

3 women...3 pasts...3 futures...what will happen to Bobby when Joe finds her? Or will Joe find her? Bobby and her daughter are being abused by Joe, Bobby's husband, they ran away to get away from the abuse. Bobby found a job as a "care-taker" and she nurses an old lady named Alma...who loves children. Alma's niece, Eva, is a writer and quite good...until she stopped writing about things she love...so in the end...will Bobby and Penny be able to stay away from Joe? Find out for yourself and read the book!

There's nothing superficial about the female characters in this book. Starting with the little girl, Penny, and moving to the eldest woman in the story, each unique character is described with increasing depth and detail. The same cannot be said for the depth of the male characters, but at least the good guys outnumber the bad. Be prepared for some VERY realistic perspectives on domestic abuse from every possible angle: the victims, the abuser, the children, and the friends.

I read this book in two days. It was well-written with execellent character development. I highly recommend it, but don't start it unless you have plenty of time to read, you won't want to put it down!

I really enjoyed reading this book from the first page to the last. Not only did it capture my attention immediately,but I connected with the characters as though they were my friends. I couldn't put it down!
I'm really tired of reading trivia. I don't feel justified in taking the time to read a book if I don't learn something. Charlotte Vale Allen set the stage in "Dreaming in Color" so we could identify the atrocities of abuse from the perspective of each character (including the child, Penny).
Kudos to the author. Not only did I learn something, but I will be more understanding of abused women in the future.

This story was a real page-turner, and one of my top three favorite Cooper Kids Books. Trust me, YOU WILL NOT WANT TO PUT IT DOWN!

Archeologist Dr. Jacob Cooper and his two kids, Jay and Lila, land on a mysterious island in search of a missing missionary, who was rumored to have drowned in the area. They meet a man who declares himself the missing man, but from his strange actions they suspect something is wrong. And what about the mysterious "curse" on the island?

What happens next is for you to find out.

Also check out The Tombs Of Anak and The Deadly Curse of Toco-Rey, books three and six in the Cooper Kids Series. Awesome books!

This, in my opinion, is the best of the series by Frank Peretti. I would rate this 10 stars if I could. It is a mixture of Indiana Jones, Hardy Boys, and Accidental Detectives. It is the most exciting of the Cooper books, yet it isn't scary, and it isn't gruesome. I reccomend this book to anyone over 10, because it is pretty intense.

Escape from the Island of Aquarius by Frank Peretti

In hopes of finding a missing missionary the famous Cooper Family were sent to locate and retrieve him. The family consists of the father Dr. Cooper, the daughter Lila, and the son Jay. The search began when a crew on a vessel found a dead body in a raft, looking thoroughly they found a note of the missionary, MacKenzie and a stone tablet with the symbol of Aquarius. Reaching the island they were greeted by a stranger with a mask yelling at them to leave. Following his trail they were led to a village, there they found MacKenzie ending up leading all the villagers. Not convinced by MacKenzie's charade the Cooper family investigated by sneaking by his hut, and learned of his impersonation of the reverend. Overall I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 because the personality of the book curves from bad to good too quickly.

This was the best in the series! It was really, really suspenseful. I like how it ties into the coming end times-about how the antichrist (no capitilization needed here,) will deceive people to become his followers, making them think he is a god or something, although he isn't a god at all. This is a wake-up call. We do not know when the rapture is becoming! In this book, the Coopers are trying to escape from an island that is literally tearing lose from its roots! But with the dangers from the tyrannical leader of the island and earthquakes, will they escape? And who will listen to the truthful message that they have to bring? Will they rescue the people from the tyrannical leader? And is this leader the kind missionary they expected to find? The suggested age level of these books is ages 10-14.

It's Frank Peretti's brilliant novel writing skills...condensed! It's a super-cool family of archeologists--minus a mother--who investigate phenomena in the spirit of Indiana Jones, only with a Christian perspective. A nice alternative to the gore and junk in the Indiana Jones movies.

In this book, Dr. Cooper and his kids visit the island mission of a missionary by the name of Adam McKenzie. However, it seems that things are amiss on the island. Their friend has become a patron of local myths and superstitions, and become involved in native rituals. Dr. Cooper is suspicious, and carefully investigates. What he encounters is not at all what he expected! With his life, his children's life, and island parishioners' lives at stake, the Coopers must all rely on Christ to help them Escape From the Island of Aquarius.

For the parents: This book doesn't contain as much death-and-skeleton type creepiness, but some more bizarre events that before. Still, as I said in my other reviews, I read them as a child, and loved them. I'd recommend them for any kid 10 or older.

Fiction First Aid, by Raymond Obstfeld, is packed with practical, no-nonsense tips for troubleshooting a manuscript that "needs something." It's organized simply, with chapters about plot, characterization, setting, style, theme, and the writer's life. Each chapter has sections describing symptoms, the ailment, diagnosis, and treatment. Because the author's approach assumes that the reader has already written a manuscript, I wouldn't recommend Fiction First Aid as the very first "how-to" book for a novice. But this one is high on my list of favorites.

I was looking for a writing guide that dealt more with plot and characterization as opposed to really technical issues (grammar, syntax, etc). My grammar is fine, but sometimes I need a reminder as to why my character isn't working or the plot is flat.

Instead of teaching about why a sentence seems off, it tells you why the story seems off.

This book is easy to read, well conceived and incredibly helpful. Obstfeld knows his stuff and he writes from the perspective of one who has been in the trenches and knows what writers need to know. Highly recommended.

I've read many other fiction writing helping books (2!), and I can solemnly swear that this one is the best. Instead of destroying your dreams of being a writer by constantly reminding you that writing is a hard business to get into (as if I didn't know that), it offers you hope. The author obviously is experienced at writing fiction, as he teaches a class. This book is well garnished with many interesting and helpful anecdotes. The problems he adresses are things that I've been concerned about in my writing, but had not been able to find answers to in other books. It's written in a very easy to read and noncondescending manner, and has good eamples. I wholly recommend this book!

I'm an editing book junkie, and this is hands down the best one I've ever read. It gives specifics on trouble spots and what to look for, and actually tells you how to fix them. So many books I've read just advise of what to do, but never show you how. I read through the pages thinking, "I do that. Yikes, I do that too." My work has improved trememdously since I read this book. I think every writer who wants to polish his work or give it a final once over before submission should read it.

My 5 year old would read this book every time we went to the doctor's office. A must have for little firemen!

First of all the pictures are well painted. Our son who is not yet 3 can finish the sentences from memory for each letter as we read together. This one was well worth the purchase.

This book is a great ABC teaching tool for children fascinated by the big red fire engines racing past. Learn some of the key terms and aspects of what firefighters do to save lives.

Young children will enjoy learning about the very exciting and dangerous aspects of being a firefighter. With the imagery and vivid colors, children will certainly get the message that fires are serious and dangerous business that should be left to professionals (and trained volunteers). It is a great book to approach the topic of fire safety with young children.

This is a really nice book to learn about firefighters. The pictures are bright. The fire is really vivid and a couple of the pages might scare really young children. It would be a good tool for teacher's to use during Fire Prevention Week.

My almost three-year-old son Devon loves fire engines. He gets so excited whenever we're out and one goes roaring by, siren screaming. He loves books too and he already knows his ABCs, both upper and lower case and this book shares the credit with a few others and his loving and attentive parents for giving him this gift of the Alphabet as such an early age. He'll be reading by Kindergarten.

In addition to being a very good ABC book, this book tells the story of firefighters fighting a fire, something guaranteed to hold the interest of any little boy (and a lot of little girls too). All of the letter pages have beautiful, action filled illustrations that seem to draw Devon right into the book. No wonder he can sing that ABC song so well.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training