H Books

This book is beautifully written. The words on the page flow like musical notes. This book is a valuable addition to any home or school library and a great way to introduce children to the types of musical instruments. I love the way the book introduces the instruments one at a time and gives the vocabulary for the number of instruments in the orchestra each time a new instrument is added (solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet, etc.). At the end of the book, the author shows how all of the instruments join together to create music "that we all adore."

Great picture book to use in the classroom from preschool through 4th grade. For 3rd through 4th graders, you could use this book as an engaging tool to discuss musical terms, context clues, alliteration, adjectives, prefixes.

This is my 4 y.o.'s favorite book. We had read it to her so many times that she has memorized it. She can name every instrument and tells me which ones she likes the best. A plus plus.

I purchased this for my Kindermusik class, and the only thing that would've made it better would've been a real violin. It is a charming book, and it wasn't too long even for 3 year olds.

My just-turned-3 year old likes this book, and so do I. It has deepened his curiousity about and enthusiasm for instruments and the music they make, and it has inspired him to play his miniature guitar both as a 'violin' and a 'cello' (though he knows he needs a bow!).

I like the illustrations very much, and the verse is also fun to read.

I was very happy that he liked the book so well--when the Amazon package arrived, he was hoping for a book about excavators--his other passion! I'm glad to say he was not at all disappointed, once he saw the pictures.

This book is one of my standard gifts to families with small children. It's a great way to introduce them to poetry, music, and art. It's a great vocabulary builder, too--I've read it to my 4th-6th grade choir and had to explain musical terms to them. Fun sounds and interesting pictures to explore!

If you were to own only one volume of Lovecraft's works, then this is it. It is perfect for those new to Lovecraft. It has the most famous and essential tales including all of the "Arkham Cycle". Most other editions split his best stuff across several volumes with his lesser works as filler. Not only that, they are printed out of chronological order, revealing semi spoilers in the Arkham Cycle Mythos from one story to the next. Not so here. And it's a sleek durable volume printed on acid-free paper, a real treat for those who had to suffer through shoddy paperbacks over the years. Alot of talk has been made of Lovecraft's influence in horror but little has been stated how influential his works were to science fiction as well. Lovecraft pioneered sci-fi concepts as alien abduction, the ancient astronaut theory, and secret "aliens among us" conspiracies. He discarded many of the old terrors from gothic horror and gave us brand new ones. Lovecraft was to pulp horror what Chandler was to Hard-boiled fiction.

H.P. Lovecraft is one of the favorite authors of The Fall's Mark E. Smith. He is also one of Smith's greatest lyrical influences. This is enough to recommend the book to me!Grotesque (After the Gramme)

It's thrilling and important that the Library of America brought out an edition of Lovecraft's best in the first place.

But this is probably the finest (to say nothing of the most attractive and durable) collection of Lovecraft's best and most mature work that you can find.

Anyone who cares about supernatural fiction should have this volume in his or her library.

The Library of America has produced a handsome and affordable edition of a selection of H.P. Lovecraft's Tales chosen, edited and with notes by author Peter Straub. The twenty-two selections are from the years 1919 to 1935 and encompass the best of Lovecraft's extensive writings. In addition there is a chronology of the significant incidents of his life. The notes by Straub are detailed and are very helpful in both setting the context of the stories and explaining the sometimes obscure references that the very intellectual Lovecraft incorporated into his writings. This is an excellent collection and the beautifully bound hardcover will last for many years.

Daniel Phelan, Kingston, Ontario Canada

This collection of 22 of Lovecraft's most essential works is an must for anyone considering themselves a fan of science fiction, fantasy, horror, or just plain "weird tales". Beautifully bound and presented, this volume displays Lovecraft at his most imaginative and eloquent. Peter Straub has selected the most revered of Lovecraft's tales, and does as much justice as a one volume can do to so prolific an imagination. Truly, imagination lies at the very center of Lovecraft's best tales. A master at granting fleeting glimpses into the unknown and terrifying vistas of reality, Lovecraft has an uncanny ability to conjure terrifying alternate universes and realities, the full realizations of which are often enough to drive his protagonists to madness, or worse. Subject to some poorly conceived film adaptations over the years, Lovecraft's works continue to gain the attentions of Hollywood. The sheer imaginative power of Lovecraft, however, seemingly defies a visual representation capable of holding a candle to the images conjured by the imagination of his reader's minds. For a summary of the works of an essential American author, look no further than this volume.

I love western novels but I have never read a western novel to beat those of the Sudden series. I started reading those novels from my early teans and to this day I never stopped for I have read those that I have over and over again. I used to have the whole series but over the years with friends borrowing I am reduced to eight - Marshal of lawless, Rides again, The law of the Lariat, Plays a hand, Takes the Trail, The Range Robbers, outlawed and Makes war. I wish I could lay my hands on the others especially Sudden, Goldseeker, Strikes back, Goldseeker, Deal or Alive, Apache Fighter. If anyone has those and to sell please contact me for I would love to own them again.

I've read all of the Sudden Books as a pre-teen and teenager back on my island in the Caribbean. Simply the best. I looked beyond some of the controversial words and focused on the storyline. Not to make light of some of the language used.
I had all of the books and loaned them to friends, never to be returned.
I am now trying to start my collection all over again and it's costing me a fortune. No Sudden novel is a bad novel.

The entire series "Sudden", by Oliver Strange is undoubtedly the best Western series I have ever encountered in any form. Its been at least 20 years since I've read a copy, but i still feel that high level of excitement that I felt back in high school when I was addicted to the series.
Unfortunately I no longer have any copies of this great novel and I would like to purchase the whole series from anyone out there who would like to sell their copies. Please email me at harveylevers@hotmail.com if you are able to help me !

I loved the Sudden series when I was a boy - and, aged 45, I still have hung on to all 15 of them. They have survived wave after wave of book culls - so they must have something special about them. I too wish some publisher would reissue them all with quality covers. I have the Corgi edition with Sudden in bold and really good cover illustrations - some of the later editions were'nt as attractive.

I have 'spare' copies for sale of Sudden Makes War (Corgi, 1963 -good condition); Sudden Marshal of Lawless (Corgi 1963 - fair condition - slightly torn pages); Sudden Rides Again (Corgi 1975 edition, good condition); and Sudden Takes the Trail (Corgi 1969 - half front cover misssing).

My biggest hero-"SUDDEN"- since i was just a kid,devouring all 15 'sudden' books from o.strange/f.christian.Funny thing ,since i left them all back home in Guyana when i migrated to New York some 27 years ago, i thought i'd be able to accquire all of them here -big mistake- didn't realize these precious books were actually published in the UK and sadly they are no longer available anywhere.In these troubled times the world need someone like Jim Green alias "SUDDEN" with his quiet cool,sobering demeanor,cocky confidence and deadly accuracy with his two tied down six-guns,shooting from the hips and one by one' slowly but surely eradicating all the varmints and sidewiners thus giving back towns/cities to the righteous, law-abiding and god fearing folks rightfully what are theirs: freedom,peace and happiness and a bright future for our kids . Any one of u "SUDDENITES" who has some extra copies of sudden, a sho' am glad to do business with u and am mighty oblige .I still don;t see the big deal with the hero 's horse name n---er ,aw shucks well lets' rename him TRIGGER or somthin . Seems like all around me i hear the n word being used so loosely by the same people who is making a big stink about a silly horse name whose storied episodes were written in a time when there was no political correctness .Lets' start a "SUDDEN" society and see if we all can be a hero and try to save these really great books from going to 'PURGURATORY ' so lovers of sudden can once more feel and re-live those glorious moments in days of old of the wild west. Methinks mebbe some publishers who've seen all these glowing reviews can find a way to get these golden oldies back in circulation if only for a limited tme so i can get me the entire collection once more and treasure them for what they really are ,just plain ole fun reading that helped build character and discipline in me .. S'long partner...

Here is a standout presentation of the ins and outs of contemporary Spanish. Examples of idiomatic usage are generously supplied, but fine points do not get in the way of the basics. Altogether an exemplary text--well-orgnized, lucid, and thorough.

When a Spanish teacher reccommended this book to me, I was reluctant to purchase yet another grammar book. However, this book is extremely detailed and is great for the advanced student. It is more than any college textbook. Keep in mind it is a book of explanations and not a book of exercises, but it does answer a lot of questions that an advanced undergraduate, or first-year grad student has.

If you are beyond the beginners level, then this is the equivalent to a Grammar bible. everything you need is in this book. Contrary to the opinion of a previous reviewer, I HIGHLY recommend that any SERIOUS student read this book in its entirety. I did it and probably will do so again.

This book about Spanish grammar is very comprehensive, but I don't recommend it to beginners. This book is aimed at advanced students. The explanations are a bit technical, but the author provides "real world" examples on how each piece of grammar is used. When I say "real wordl," I refer to the newspaper articles or the speeches the author cites.

I especially like the chapter on the subjunctive. This book provides an entire chapter to it, very important. Although, I don't like how the information is organized.

For beginning Spanish students, I don't recommend this book at all. It is too advanced. I recommend "Side by Side English & Spanish Grammar." I used it when I started studying Spanish, and it taught me a great deal of Spanish grammar.

Brandon Simpson

If you were stuck on a desert island teaching Spanish for the next year, this would be the one book to have with you. There is no close second. Even if you are not the geeky, I-love-grammar type, this is the kind of book that you open to check one little detail and 45 minutes later you find yourself still poring over other bits of information. The authors' style is completely professional, but unlike so many other volumes of Spanish grammar they manage to keep explanations interesting and clear.

Perfect brief overview for anyone running meetings or participating in them. Unlike the reputation they sometimes have, Robert's rules are designed to facilitate discussion and decision-making, not to tie the group down to a set of rules. Give this a read, and you will see how cleverly and comprehensibly it sets out the entire process. Perfect for any organization, large or small. Highly recommended.

This brief is a great introduction to Robert' Rules. Easy reading. Many nuggets that I did not even find in the full edition. I recommend it to all those who are on boards and commissions and associations.

Well written summary -- this is the abbreviated version and it is very useful. Helps to have the full-up version as well, for details, but this one is a super guide.

I purchased this book for the upcoming Washington State GOP convention. I was completely out of the know at our local county convention, and this book gave me an excellent run down of what the heck happened (and how certain things happened). This book is recommended for those new to public meetings.

I am the chair of the Classified Staff Council on a very large University Campus. We use this book as a guideline for our meetings and events. I purchase them for each memeber to review if they have questions. EXCELLENT

I originally got this book from a local library along with 5 or 6 others on international adoption. I am set on adopting from Russia as I am actually from there (lived there until I was 20), and am fully bi-lingual. I read the other books first and returned them to the library quickly. And then I started reading this book. I realized right away that I would have to get my own copy of it.
I am actually going through the process independently, without an agency, and I don't think I would be able to do it without this book. I cannot believe how familiar the author is with regional offices, hotels, embassies. It's like he's worked as a facilitator in several regions before writing this.
There are some misspellings and typos in the book, and please don't learn Russian from it (just common sense, really - I didn't learn my English from a Russian :)) ), but if you want to understand exactly how your adoption process is going, buy this book. It is a reference to be used and consulted again and again throughout the process.
The book also has chapters on some former USSR republics, so if you're adopting from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and such, this is also very helpful.

This book is chock full of specific and useful information, everything from shopping for agencies to how to evaluate a child before you adopt for potential medical/developmental issues (including a list of pediatricians who specialize in international adoption) to what to put on line 12 of form I-600A. He describes the regions and gives web addresses for online information. The most recent edition is from 2004 and as international adoption rules seem to change frequently, it would be great if the author did another more current edition. It seems the changes are more 'in word' than 'deed' however, and the gist of things is much the same. As someone just beginning the journey, this book has already helped me make major and solid decisions. Maclean is honest and doesn't talk down to you. This is for parents who want to be active, engaged advocates for their children even before you've met them and has good info. about countries other than Russia as well.

This is the everything you need to know about Russian adoption in one book guide. It is a little dated right now with re-accreditation issues starting in 2005, but it is still a very relevant and important guide to adopting from Russia. I suggest purchasing this book before you choose an agency as it gives lists of very important questions to ask a potential agency. This book breaks down the Russian adoption process and walks PAPs through the paperwork they will be filing. There are chapters on everything from what to pack to how to find a good pediatrician. We pulled chapters about our region and questions to ask doctors trip one out of the book and traveled with them. This is one book about adopting from Russia all PAPs need to read.
Written by Christina Stinsa

I just adopted my son from Russia and this book made everything so much easier! It should be a must have for all prospective adoptive families!!!

There is a lot of general information contained in one easy to navigate location. I do recommend it highly, especially for one who is just beginning the adoption process. The only problem is that things are changing so fast, that even though the book was recently updated, it is already somewhat out of date.

This is the true story of Brother Andrew and his work in smuggling Bibles to those Christians oppressed by communism. There are many moments of miraculous interventions by God and Brother Andrew's touchingly transparent story will bring a tear to your eye and inspire you to appreaciate the freedoms we have and to help those who do not, even if only in prayer. This is one book that will not dissappoint!

I read this book atleast once a year. It is the most exciting and inspirational book in my library.

This book was hard to put down. I first learned of Brother Andrew by listening to a CD of the life of Corrie TenBoom. He was a friend of hers and introduced the CD.

The book God's Smuggler is, (and I hate to use this word loosely as it is overused) awesome in the respect that God answered him so many times directly. His answers were direct miracles from God. It is also amazing to read how he managed to get in and out of Russia so many times unscathed. Great reading.

This book is gripping. I started reading it one night and finished it the next afternoon. This is a great story and testimony.

This book by Brother Andrew was Excellent. The story of a European Christian and his attempts to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. Plenty of action and suspense, combined with a motivating personal story. Since its the story of a mans life its also a fairly easy read.

This is an excellent inspirational daily devotional reading by Max Lucado. He speaks directly to you and always manages to inspire me.

I searched for a book that would give me the necessary words to start my day right and this is truly it. I like to do a short meditation before I leave the house each morning and this fits the bill just right. I'm always amazed how often the daily reading seems to talk directly to me.

I am a manager in a faith-based organization and this is a great book to use for daily devotionals with staff.

Max Lucado has a special way of using words to touch and stir the soul and this devotional is no exception. He touches your very soul in this little devotional which is a great addition to any Christians daily reading schedule. A little Max goes a long way with his thought provoking and touching the very deepest places of your soul. A must read and add to your library.

Very nice daily devotional. Full of lots of helpful insights into God's plan for our lives.

I had an original post WWII copy of this book and gave it away when I moved from W.Va..... Boy, was that ever a mistake!!!! I needed a copy for an event here honoring the Veterans, and so I was very pleased to see this one in print..... Bill looks at war from the dogface's perspective, and I'm quite sure there's a Bill Mauldin in Iraq somewhere.... but he's tied to the Internet and I'm not sure if we'll get good pen and ink sketches outta him now..... Bill had the way of seeing the ironic, the humerous, and the just plain sorry, in the average G.I.'s battle to survive....... I'd recommend it to school teachers for a look at WWII (AND I'd hustle up some of the last survivors... that first hand look isn't going to be with us much longer).............the Students would actuall LEARN something useful!!!

I am very satisfied with my purchase.The book itself is a pleasure to look at.The drawings are just as funny as I found them as a kid.The writing itself is new to me,but superb.It will allways be among my favourit books.Again marvellous

Indispensable depiction of the face of the Second World War. War and the pity of war. The humour is in the pity.

It's a gift, the ability to draw, to have perspective, to create, to be able to portray human misery as humor, for a reader to see the image and words and turn to laughter. Bill Mauldin had this gift that gained prominence in a time of war where talents rise to their greatest heights or sink to their lowest depths.

Truth is portrayed in humor or the humor isn't funny. Sergeant Bill Mauldin, an infantryman, barely twenty, and serving in Italy picks up a pencil and anything he can draw on, and begins to sketch two characters named Willy and Joe, two, brave, disheveled, irreverent, likeable and crusty infantry soldiers that give meaning to the names infantrymen were referred to as: ground-pounders, dogfaces, legs, and grunts. Mauldin portrays their grim and grimy existence with fatalistic pictures and captions--or grunts. One called "Breakfast in Bed" finds one of them waking up under a cow's utters, or the one where both are in a rain-filled foxhole and Willie touches Joe's shoulder saying, "Joe, yesterday ya saved my life an' I swore I'd pay ya back. Here's my last pair o' dry socks," or with rain pelting down on a scrawny dog facing the opening of their make-shift shelter, one of them says: "Let'im in. I wanna see a critter I kin feel sorry fer." My all-time favorite is a drunk German staggering toward a hidden Willie and Joe, holding a bottle of schnapps, unaware that he is wandering into American lines: "Don't startle `im, Joe. It's almost full."

These cartoons show the comradeship that soldiers developed for each other that would last a lifetime. Each man knew each other better than his own family or spouse ever would, and they could see the good and the bad in everything. They would carry a wounded lieutenant back to safety because he wasn't a "salutin' demon," or curse the Germans as vile, evil Nazis for scuttling a large keg of cognac before their retreat. These soldiers were miserable without being despondent. They were scared without being cowardly. They complained about their predicaments, but carried out their mission as American soldiers always do--attacking silently. The viewer cannot help but feeling empathy and admiration for soldiers who sometimes spent thirty months "in the line."

Mauldin goes further than just making us laugh at the miserable existence of two men trying to stay alive. His real success is that his humor defines the very best and most humane in the human character when it is engaged in its most destructive behavior. It is also timeless. Seventy years later, civilians and servicemen can still see the gallows humor in Willie and Joe's death-defying predicaments.

"Up Front" is Mauldin's account, of what he was doing when he created a particular drawing, why he made sure to include medics, engineers, chaplains, and even Tommies. The writing is matter of fact, well-written, and interesting, but without fascination. That was saved for the cartoons. The author is explaining each one in his text. It's the drawings and the captions that make this book a winner and a conversation piece.

Bill Mauldin died January 22, 2003. Willie and Joe occupying a foxhole filled with water and several cubic feet of complaints, live on.

Think about this the next time you put on a pair of dry socks, and marvel at the simple pleasure of just how good they feel.



May 26, 2008 Memorial Day (observed)

In Memory of the Fallen and all our Gold Star Mothers--especially today.

Of course, this is not a novel. It's a collection of cartoons as they appeared in the Armed Services newspaper Stars and Stripes. The cartoon began to appear in 1944 as the invasion of Europe was underway and millions of Allied troops were fighting their way through Italy and France and into the heart of the third reich.
After a few false starts, Mauldin settled on two characters, Willie and Joe-infantry men. Willie and Joe (who were barely distinguishable from each other) were concerned with all the things that veterans said concerned them during the war. Lousy food was as much of a concern as enemy artillery, fear of cold, wet feet as annoying as the fear of death.
The cartoons, and Mauldin's self-effacing recollections together form a kind of narrative that is at once immensely personal and deeply historical. Mauldin was a pioneer. It was ten years before Cornelius Ryan The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Dayturned personal narratives into history and almost forty before Ken Burns came along.The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Mauldin was, in effect, the only war reporter who was relatively uncensored. Since his cartoons carried no strategic information, his only worry was the military's possible perception that he might be lowering troop morale with his swipes at the brass and the rear-echelon. Fortunately, some American sensibility that 'it's good to laugh at the boss even if the boss is us' prevailed.

Up Front was one of the few books that my parents kept by their bedside. This is the book that helped the post-war generation remember the war as it was fought by the men who did the hard work. A quiet masterpiece.

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel

A Letter to My Sisters: The Way Out
I am indeed invigorated and ready to proceed into the future. This book helped me to break away from the bondage of things that had been sitting in my way for a while. Thank you Lady Beth for sharing you revelation.
A Letter to My Sisters: The Way Out

This was one of those really excellent experiences. Shipping was done within the days specified. The shipper sent notification the book had been shipped and the book arrived within a week. Above and beyond expectations!!

Great Amazon Seller! Would buy from again. Received book exactly as described in great timing.

Don't you just love Beth Moore?!? What an inspiration Beth is to ALL Christian women across this world. God has used Beth in such an awesome manner - don't you wonder what it's costing her? To whom much is given, much is required. This book flows just like her Bible study with the same title. This book will help you to find areas in your life where you are being held back and weren't even aware you were being held back! There are so many things that we as humans accept as just a part of normal life. Beth shows us in biblical terms why that is just not true! Just because it's a common 'side effect' of living in this sinful world DOES NOT mean that we have to accept it in our lives! I strongly urge you to find a church in your area that offers Beth Moore Bible studies. Read this book - it will set you free!!!

Several of my friends and I are using this book for an e-mail small group Bible study. It is well suited for that with its short chapters and review questions.
I ordered 3 items at exactly the same time and had to pay 3 separate shipping charges. I probably would not do that kind of shopping again.