G Books

The book arrived quickly and in the condition that was specified. No issues, would use this seller again.

Particularly for a budding Optometrist, this book allows the Optometrist to be acquainted with all the fine arts of optics and the like.

One of the best science textbooks I've ever read. Clearly written and interesting to read. Heavy on concepts, light on math. Diagrams are simple but effective. It's rare to see a physics book as approachable as this one. As an amateur photographer and research microscopist, I love this book. Some parts of the text are a bit outdated (remember it was published in 1986), but the vast majority is valuable information. This is a great tool for physics students and teachers.

Book arrived in great shape. Like new!!

This is the best textbook I ever had, and I sold it for some ($$$) at the end of a semester to buy a bus ticket. Very mad; I miss the book, but it's so expensive. It's amazing the way the author incorporates all sorts of literary allusions in this physics book, such as offering an interesting hypothesis on the optical illusion of the egyptians getting swallowed by the red sea while chasing the jews. Every chapter, light becomes a metaphor for so many things, the way we see, the obstacles, etc.

Reuel Parker has captured the simple essence of small, functional boats. This is a terrific read, chock full of interesting information about the evolution of the sharpie type. It includes several excellent boat-building projects with instructions aimed at semi-knowledgeable builders. (First-time builders may need an additional building resource to understand some of the finer points of boat construction.) This book will very quickly instill you with a fondness for light, simple, shallow-draft boats. Anyone who likes sailing or boat trivia will love this book.

Reuel Parker really has a hit with this book. He information is excellent and easy to understand, no elitist jargon here. He makes a wonderful case for the Sharpie's use and how versatile a boat it is. Anyone who is considering build a boat at home should read this for sure. The book contains several boat plans, and all the information need to build one is contained within.

I really enjoyed this book. The author includes everything, from the history to the modern construction of these boats. Some of the sections on construction are a little confusing for beginners. One area that comes to mind is the section on lofting, some diagrams would be useful here (other books or websites help). I have read the book several times and expect I will always use it as a reference.

This book has many virtues: It is highly readable, down-to-earth (or sea?), and covers a fascinating topic. The sections on this history of the sharpie are nicely punctuated by sea-stories, observations, and photographs of working sharpies.

I'm building my own boat. It is not a sharpie (more of a dory), but it uses many similar construction features (flat plywood sides, rockered bottom, chine log construction, centerboard, epoxy covering, etc.). Mr. Parker's book has been an absolutely priceless resource on every aspect of construction.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in small sailing craft, either for history or building your own. I'd also advise people to check out the Parker-Marine website for more information on the Author's designs.

I think the kernal of this book is the description of why plywood is a superior boat building material. (diagonal strength) I had been thinking of carvel planking as the best type of wood construction. I was wrong. Other than that, the book does a great job of describing the history of, and reason for, sharpies.

From what I read, I decided that a deeper, heavier, and stronger boat might be more appropriate for the inside passage to Alaska. Also, I'm just not short enough to spend much time in the cabin of a sharpie.

Good book, good read, and I will be buying the Ruel Parker book on cold molding.

This is one of the funniest books I have ever read... People will look at you as you laugh out loud with your nose buried in this book...
They will actually come up and ask you what your reading. When's the last time that happened.

This book is hilarious. The things he puts his family through in this tale will have you holding your sides laughing. I remember Jack as a regular on the Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin shows. He was a comedy writer for all the biggies in the late 50s and early 60s. Another of his is "The Neighbors Are Scaring My Wolf," about life in suburban Connecticuit. I read all his books when I was a teenager in high school. I highly reccomend reading anything this man wrote, he's great.

I read this book when I was 16 and I remember it still vividly in my mind in my 30's. For anyone who has ever dreamed of living in the mountains beyond civilization this is a must read. I will never for get the wolf and the bathroom scene. From the moment you pick it up you are entertained. You will not want to put it down!!!!

I read it years ago when I was a teenager. I remember it to be the funniest book I've read then and is still in my top three funniest. I am buying it now at age 35 for a camping trip this May. I'll spend the evenings reading it again. If you like McManus, you will love this. Yeee-haaa

This book is hilarious. The Douglas family moves far into Canada for some privacy, much to the dismay of wife Reiko, who likes to grocery every day rather than every six months. I can still envision the two seater airplanes delivering theDouglas furniture strapped to their wings. This book and its companion piece, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY HASHIMOTO are both wonderfully entertaining. I would love to read both again.

All the Snappy books are great, but my daughter (she's only 4 months old) really likes this specific one and one other one, Snappy Little Zoo. The nice thing is that the author wrote a pronunciation guide at the bottom of each page in this edition- some of the dinosaur names are a little complicated.

The Snappy books are generally great, but this one surpasses all the others - what ingenuity, who constructs these pop-ups!?

Our 2 year old son received this book as a birthday present from his Nana. We all enjoy reading it and looking at the pop up pictures of the dinosaurs. The bold colors ad cute pictures keep him busy for hours. He even tries to repeat the dino's names! And with a pop up book to go with any occasion I 100% recommend this book to everyone with children.

This is a great book! Each page has a different dinosaur, rhyming text, the dinosaur's name and a pronunciation key for the names. The pop-ups are first class (as always with Snappy books)! A favorite in our house!

My two year old son and I love reading this book together - the pop-ups are very colorful, imaginative and informative. We have some of the other SNAPPY books as well (colors, numbers, opposites, bugs, farm animals). My husband and I enjoy the books as much as my son! My son loves to point out different colors and really loves the wonderful pictures. It's a great book for the car as well - it keeps my son busy - he always seems to find something different with each turn of the page and giggles in delight .

I came across this book at a Pamida drugstore of all places, so thank you Pamida book buyer. As a fan of Hurston, I am thrilled to have this beautiful labor of love by her niece. To have a CD of Hurston singing and talking, to hold in my hands copies of her letters and manuscripts tucked throughout this cleverly designed work of art, it just brought tears to my eyes. What an amazing and wonderful tribute this is. I may not know much about the black experience, but I can tell you that great literature leaps all racial boundaries and brings us that much closer to understanding each other. Thank you Lucy Anne Hurston!

An unusual but delightful collection about Ms. Hurston. Listen to her sing and talk. The book is beautiful. Her works are wonderful for everyone--not only women.

This is really great addition to my library. I have several of Zora's books. The pictues ,copies of handwritten notes are great. I really feel more connected to Zora with this edition. Great as a gift!

This is sheer magic. Just magic. For teachers of Hurston, it's a fantastic opportunity to hook students further into the life and times of Hurston and the fascinating (albeit simulated) feel of working with primary documents.

Lucy Anne Hurston, the neice of Zora Neale Hurston, in a collaborative effort with the Estate of the great writer, has produced a beautiful tribute to her aunt and also a collector's item for fans of Zora Neale Hurston. Not only does it include biographical sketches of the famous author, but also live interviews, as well as a CD of folk songs sung by Hurston.

The pages of this book are rich in heritage, painting a kaleidoscope of her life. Touching on her childhood, her days attending Howard University, and of course her writing, the reader is able to see that even though Zora Neale Hurston wrote about memorable characters, she too could have been one of the characters she wrote about. Because of the replications of original letters, maps, photos and writings, the reader is given a more detailed account of her life, told by someone who knew and loved her. Each of these are in pull-out sleeves and envelopes, easily removed from the book to allow closer inspection upon, or displayed vividly on the full color and black and white pages of the book.

SPEAK, SO YOU CAN SPEAK AGAIN is a fascinating keepsake of a writer who means so much to not only the Harlem Renaissance and to African-American readers and writers, but also to literature as we know it. Through this collection, readers are offered an intimate portrait of a literary legend.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

This book review all common technique of statistical methods - from t-test to factorial design and regression. Also, it also introduces non-parametric statistics. Detailed examples in each chapter are helpful to read the book.

This was the core text for both semesters of my graduate level statistics classes back in the '70s. The text was very understandable and the examples were most helpful. I am now an MD doing clinical research at a medical school and this is STILL the best statistics reference I've ever come across. ...

I found the writing clear and easy to follow. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an excellent introducory text in statistics.

Snedecor first wrote this excellent elementary applied text while at Iowa State (late 1940s or early 1950s). When Bill Cochran arrived in Iowa he helped out with the revision. It was very popular and was revised by Cochran many times even after Snedecor died.

Well written and often used in elementary courses this book is also a good reference source for statistical methods. Empahsis in applied statistics in those days was in agricultural experiments and that is the reason statistics was prominent at Iowa State University in those days.

Snedecor first wrote this excellent elementary applied text while at Iowa State (late 1940s or early 1950s). When Bill Cochran arrived in Iowa he helped out with the revision. It was very popular and was revised by Cochran many times even after Sndecor died. Well written and often used in elementary courses this book is also a good reference source for statistical methods.

True to the topic, it transports you right there. Historical and old, but still current.

I thought this book was one of the best books Ive ever read it describes how people feel and view the world from inside themselves but can never express this externally or even realise they are thinking these things themselves.

For me It depicts how inadequate we all are men and women, when it comes to Love, and expressing it and sharing it. it flumoxes us all, Its too big for us, "the chickens had more sense"....pass the worms please.

Written about a South African farm. this book depicts the story of a family and how they interact throughout the book. The most striking dynamic in the book is the relationships of the women in it. It portrays female existence in a realistic light even for today. The story has a lot of character to it, and I would recommend it highly for teachers who want to teach about feminism.

Although I had to read this book for a college class, I would read it again in a second, I feel that I can only gain more and more from this book through rereadings. Its plot is at times disjointed to the style of the author and the message she is attempting to convey, so for those who are looking for a strongly Dickensian or "feel good" read, this is most likely not the book for you right now. But for me, from an analytical and heartfelt standpoint, the subtlety of the book and its beauty and its truth made me tear up a little bit. I'm currently writing a paper on Waldo and his artistic and personal growth throughout the novel, so maybe I'm a little biased, but although Lyndall is an incredibly interesting and advanced character, I think Waldo is often glossed over as merely suffering from a religious crisis of faith, and, being a man, not deserving of attention in this novel of the "New Woman". But Waldo ultimately reaches a place of amazing peace and understanding, and the lives of Waldo and Lyndall intertwined together is truly beautiful.

"Story of an African Farm" is a difficult work to describe. It must be read several times, and carefully pondered before all of its secrets are unlocked.

Ostensibly, the book revolves around the lives of three children (and, later, adults) who live in the Karroo plains of South Africa. The main focus, however, is on two of the characters - Waldo, the earnest and deeply curious son of the German farmkeeper, and Lyndall, the beautiful, outspoken and rebellious orphan who suffers all her life for her ideals.

The book itself is semi-autobiographical. Waldo represents Schreiner's journey from fanatical, childlike faith to bitter skepticism, who reaches a watershed of sorts when he hisses to Lyndall 'There is no God - none!'. Lyndall, on the other hand, embodies Schreiner's frustation with her station as a woman - barred from the upper echelons of society, and her inability to find a mate who is both her intellectual match and willing to accept her as an equal. "I want to love", she whispers to the grave of Waldo's father, "I want something great and pure to lift me to itself."

There are many other themes that flesh out the subtext of this extraordinary book - the tragedy of solitude, that ultimately, all humans are alone in the cosmos. "Dear eyes", the dying Lyndall whispers to her mirror, "they will never part us."

Readers who expect a narrative will be dissapointed. What narrative there is serves only to undersore the book's many themes. Often, the flow of the story is out of sequence, or devoid of context, and deliberately so. Roughly, the book is divided into three sections - the first introduces us to the characters as children, and reveals their innermost thoughts. The second, and shortest section is entitled "Times and Seasons". It is somewhat of a summary of what has gone before, dealing mostly with Waldo's journey from Christian fanaticism to dispairing atheism, and foreshadows some of what is to come. The third, and longest section, covers the lives of the characters as adults, and is by far the most powerful, and moving piece of the book.

The reader who is looking for mindless action is advised to pick up the latest Tom Clancy novel, or whatever passes for literature these days. Those who are willing to put aside all preconceived notions, and have their cherished beliefs challenged are invited to read this book. The search for truth is endless. But this book is a perfect place to begin.

The thing that will most stick with the reader is the Welsh Flourish with which Grove writes. In fact, to add to that flourish, a pronuciation key is provided at the end (and is in fact integral to enjoying the book).

Storyteller follows the travels of a young 6th century Welsh bard named Gwernin. Gwernin starts from his home with a companion and proceeds to wander the country getting room and board where possible in exchange for his storytelling prowess. Along the way he encounters a variety of noble people, renowned bards, and charlatans.

Although one may wonder about the integrity of the interactions between Gwernin and the people he encounters, the integrity of the setting is not impeached. In fact, it is clear that Grove has spent many loving hours investigating 6th century Wales and wishes to convey that to her readers. Additionally, it is clear that Grove has a penchant for the bardic arts and likewise wishes to bestow that upon her readers.

Storyteller will give readers an excellent insight into Wales of the sixth century. Furthermore, they can garnish some fun and easy to re-tell stories by reading this work.

The travels of Gwernin Storyteller, bring you into the myths and history of 6th Century Britain in a way that captivates the reader. It is a fascinating read, with each chapter being able to stand on it own as a story. I highly recommend this book and it's sequal, "Flight of the Hawk".

Storyteller is a series of tales chronicalling the adventures of Gwernin in his journy to become a bard in 6th century Wales. The reader will get a sense of both Gwernin the young man experiencing these wonders and dangers for the first time, and also of Gwernin the old man, looking back on his life, telling us of his triumphs, and of his youthful stubornness and folly. One delights in Gwernin's successes, but also can enjoy cringing with his embarassment. With true understanding of human nature, Ms.Grove has created a character anyone who has been through adolescence can relate to, yet firmly rooted in his own time. Throughout one gets lost in the mindset of that early century. The country itself becomes a character as it comes to life through Ms. Groves lyric prose, rich in well-researched detail. Each chapter gives a tasty mouthful, the perfect treat to devour before bed-time. I eagerly await the next instalment.

G.R. Grove's book "Storyteller" is sort of difficult to categorize. It's historical fiction, but a sort of whimsical fiction which is told in the tradition of the Canterbury tales. The book is a collection of individual tales, wound by the bard Gwernin. As he travels about telling his stories chapter by chapter, the wider story is revealed of his travels around Wales during the middle ages. You are introduced to an evolving, colourful cast of characters that Gwernin meets along the way, as well as those who accompany him on various adventures. As they travel, the reader hears stories of legendary England, including tales of King Arthur. You follow Gwernin through various life-experiences, and even as he falls in love.

I sort of expected this book to be much like the required reading of my High School AP English class; a chore to read and hard to retain. However it was not. It was a pleasure to read this book. Storyteller is an extremely friendly read, with a well-researched foundation, and a light-hearted tone. There is no doubt of the author's knowledge and expertise on the historical material in this book; however it is not presented in a burdensome or pretentious manner.

I confess that this style of book would not normally attract me as a reader. I tend to shy away from historical fiction. I find that more often than not, this genre is simply written as a means for an erudite author to show off his/her knowledge of historical subject matter, and the story, no matter how good, can be completely obliterated by the profusion of archaic terms and facts. Storyteller has shown me that this isn't always the case, and that sometimes a good book is just a good book. G. R. Grove is clearly an excellent writer. I can't find anything to criticize about the author's style or voice. The first paragraph will snag you and you will be engaged throughout. Then you will be dropped off at the last paragraph wanting more. Luckily, she has provided us with a sequel, which I will be reviewing soon.

I have been given no choice but to give "Storyteller" a full five medallions (stars). It is not run-of-the-mill work by any means. It isn't what I normally read, but it has me looking forward to the next installment. I recommend this book to anyone who just loves a good story; for there are plenty of those to be had in "Storyteller."

I immensely enjoyed this book because of its excellent historical content and the blend of tale and fantasy which makes it so much fun to read. The life of the bard portrayed in the stories is well based on historical research and the tales he tells and experiences have the right blend of myth and life that I think a person living in that time period would have believed. I am looking forward eagerly to the next instalment. Gwernin is a very realistic character and I believed in him absolutely. As for the brushed with faery he experiences, he would have believed their reality even if they were dreams for the early Welsh lived much closer to the land of myth than we do today. I think fans of both fantasy and historical novels will find this book to be a wonderful read.

After reading Before Women had Wings, I hungered for more from Connie May Fowler. I found Sugar Cage to be a deeply satisfying follow-up. The novel, told in many different voices, takes us on the unforgettable journeys of a diverse cast of characters, all of whom reel the reader into an intricate tapestry woven by Fowler. Startling descriptions of Hatian voodoo rituals were among the most vivid scenes from the book, whose magical conclusion leaves the reader spellbound. A mesmerizing novel, Sugar Cage, like Fowler's other work, has left me hungry for more!

SUGAR CAGE weaves the story of such disparate people as Inez Temple, black maid to rich folks, Patrick Lackley, finicky mortician, and Charlie Loonie, front-man schmoozer for a local band. The women in this book will steal your heart -- especially the dear-hearted Inez, Charlie's loyal wife, Rose, and the magical Soleil Marie Beauvoir. The story is often dark and sad, but the mystical ending will inspire and uplift you.

For a first novel, I found the writing astonishing. Anyone who can make you care about so many contrasting characters (and make it easy to follow the thread) is a born writer. I adore a novel that pulls you in from the very first sentence . . . SUGAR CAGE does that.

Inez Temple is working as a maid in a cheap tourist hotel on the South Florida coast when she meets Rose Looney. A Haitian woman with an ability to "see' the outlines of peoples lives, Inez sees in the sugar crystals in the bottom of a glass Rose has drunk from the outlines of a cage and knows early on that Rose and her new husband, Charlie, and their friends Junior and Eudora, and their children, are destined to be trapped in many ways in the years to come.

15 years later, Rose knows this as well. How she struggles to find her way through her broken marriage and try to save her only son from the same fate in the midst of all the "bars of the cages" society and life confine her within--poverty, racism, sexism, cultural snobbery and so on, is at the core of this unusual tale of life in the melting pot that is South Florida.

The mysticism gets a bit out of hand at times-and stretches credulity it the process, but this is a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent novel.

This was the type of book that you can never put down. I read it all in one night. The best part about the book is the way the author displayed each character individually. It then ended up showing how each of the characters were uniquely linked togeather. It's a book that I will always love to read again and again. I would most definitly reccomend it.

Connie May Fowler creates intimacy for the reader and all of the books characters. By bringing first person to all the characters we get to know more about how people choose the decisions they made and what motivates each one towards the life they choose. I really enjoyed the way she was able to keep the story progressing thorugh time but also using other's perspective on what occured or is occuring at the moment. Also the influences of Haitian voo-doo help add new depth to Florida southern culture. And gives new information to the reader about pagean religion and the intellegence and beauty it brings to the characters of this book. I felt her pride or her willingness to explore and place in a positive light Haitian voo-doo. I think the main essence of the book for me was that everyone needed to listen to thier own voice. And once they steered away from that is when thier lives turned towards unhappiness. The realness of coming to terms with our demons and releasing ourselves into our own strengths was what I felt Fowler was trying to get across. The beauty of how she used everyones perspective instead of one main character and narrator is what I enjoyed the most. I enjoyed being able to be sypathetic to everyone's life and the way they had/have chosen to live it.

Mm, this is a beautiful, wonderful little book! It is a collection of little stories of a very small girl and her small grandmother going adventures on their little island in Sweden. So full of green things and little bites of happiness. The grandmother is oh so clever and says so many poignants to the girl. The girl is wise too. So full of joy.

Based very much upon the late (and yes, great) Tove Jansson`s own family experiences on an island in the Finnish archipelago, this magical, elegiac, very funny, yet - despite its title - autumnal book, subtly draws the reader into the seemingly mundane lives of six-year old Sophia, whose mother has recently died, and `Grandmother` (who could almost be a humanised character from one of Jansson`s immortal Moomin books), as they potter and squabble around their small, idyllic island summer home.
Sophia`s `Papa` never speaks (never? Hm...) but is a silent, prosaic presence throughout, while Sophia is (as her name implies) wise, as well as temperamental, and Grandmother dispenses brief, ironic snippets of wisdom and can be just as prickly. They are a double-act; and, like all the best double-acts, rely on each other - at least for the grateful reader - to each `complete` the other. One feels Grandmother learns from her granddaughter as well as vice versa.
This is a beautiful, thoughtful, unsentimental, deceptively straightforward meander through the summer months with three generations of a grieving family each determined to hang on to their individuality. There are also the occasional - and rarely welcome - visitors.
If I make The Summer Book sound more than simply a light read, it is because even Tove Jansson`s children`s books (of which this can hardly be said to be one) have a tough melancholy strain to them, and a `message` of independence and personal integrity as the sanest way to be.
In its modest, breezy way, this is a great little book. One to treasure.

This book was given to me by an uncommon friend and I enjoyed it very much. It is about the friendship between a grandmother and her young grandaughter who live on a bit of an island in Finland (?). The beauty and treasures discovered in the quiet lives they lead, finding joy in simple things and loving each other besides those petty annoyances of personality (they are very much alike). There are many "huggable" humorous moments. I think of one in which they trade cats--their cat is indifferent to the grandaughter's overtures and the one traded was much more warm and cuddly, but then (and I quote from the book).

"Hunt! Do something! Be like a cat!" And then she started to cry and ran to the guest room and banged on the door.
"What's wrong now?" Grandmother said.
"I want Moppy back!" Sophia screamed.
"But you know how it will be," Grandmother said.
"It'll be awful," said Sophia gravely. "But it's Moppy I love."

As a child, Tove Jansson lived in summer on islands in the Gulf of Finland, and later she and her partner Tuulikki Pietilä lived on a small island called Klovharu. Jansson wrote many children books, including the Moomin series, and ten books for adults.

The plot of the most famous of her adult novels is very simple; an elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter Sophia spend the summer on a tiny island exploring and talking about everything but Sophia's mother's death and their love for each other. They wander, pick flowers, watch storms, take an occasional trip in a rowboat. The 22 short episodes make a remarkable whole; "On an island," thinks the grandmother, "everything is complete."

Sophia has a nightmare of luggage floating away in moonlight, "all the suitcases were open and full of darkness and moss". The loss of Sophia's mother haunts them both. Their comments make the book come alive.

"'When are you going to die? ... will they dig a hole?' the child asked amiably."

"Sometimes people never saw things clearly until it was too late and they no longer had the strength to start again."

"No well-bred person goes ashore on someone else's island when there's no one home. But if they put up a [No Trespassing] sign, then you do it anyway, because it's a slap in the face."

"Only farmers and summer guests walk on the moss ... The second time it doesn't rise back up. And the third time you step on moss, it dies."

Sophia wants to go swimming. "She waited for opposition, but none came. So she took off her clothes, slowly and nervously. She glanced at her grandmother - you can't depend on people who just let things happen. It's deep, Sophia thought. She forgets I've never swum in deep water unless someone was with me. And she climbed out again and sat down on the rock." Her grandmother notes that Sophia is afraid of deep water.

The interaction between Sophia and her grandmother is a clash of wills, Sophia stubborn, impetuous and supportive; her grandmother wise, unsentimental, on the edge of exhaustion, dizzy, fearful of losing her balance "the balance between survival and extinction was so delicate that even the smallest change was unthinkable".

Nonetheless, "It was just the same long summer always, and everything lived and grew at its own pace."

The book has been a major best seller in Scandinavia since it was first published in 1972. Thomas Teal has produced a wonderful English translation. This new edition from NYRB Classics is beautifully printed and bound. This novel captures a summer growing "at its own pace."

Robert C. Ross 2008

I rejoice that this short work has come into print again, though it's rather sad that it took the author's recent death to prompt the publishers into action. I'd read an extract in a guide to the top 100 books of the twentieth century and was surprised and disappointed not to be able to get my hands on the full edition.

Jansson has an inate understanding of the wisdom and skewed world-view of children, and manages to capture the fragile - and ephemeral - friendship which can exist between the very old and the very young. There is a freshness about her style which never teeters into whimsy. A rare achievement indeed.