Hall Reviews

Advanced Unix Programming

Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall (1988-03-01)

Author: Rochkind

List price:

Average review score:

THE book to get for UNIX programming

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-29

I am a systems administrator professionally, but I have a need to know the inner workings of UNIX that only seems to be covered in programming books. Specifically relating to certain system calls and interprocess communication methods.

This author has forgotten more about UNIX than I will ever grasp. While this book is dedicated to programming applications in UNIX and understanding the operating system's function calls, I am finding it to be a very handy reference for advanced system administration as well. The book is worth the price just for the chapters on process communication, in my opinion.

I really like the author's writing style. He gets down to business and covers the material without adding a lot of needless fluff or by making the chapters overly wordy.

The book is designed to server as a reference and is well-indexed, which is refreshing to find these days. It's very easy to find a topic you need as not everyone will need the amount of depth covered by each chapter in full.

I wish there were more UNIX books out there like this one.

Informative

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-08

The book is good for beginners. All you need to know to get started with Unix/Linux programming.

A very useful reference

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-24

I bought this book in order to get an overview on what primitives I have available on a unix system for doing system programming. I found the book to be very useful for that purpose.

I use it occasionally.

I also found my peers lending it from me again and again.

To summarize: useful.

The best UNIX programming book that I know of

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-17

What's more to say, the title say's it all... Buy it!

Good Coverage

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-28

This is an exceptional introduction to Unix features that most people won't see in every-day programming. The feature that Rochkind starts with may be the most problematic: portability. There have historically been dozens of Unices (sp?), all slightly different from each other. Even today, there are a number of different implementations in use, with small but maddening incompatibilities between them. Rochkind not only addresses the more common ones, he shows the standards-based ways of dealing with their differences.

After that, Rochkind goes over read/write/open/close/ioctl again, dealing with [a]synchronous subtleties that can mean a 100x difference in performance, backed by code samples and timing measurements. The rest of the book deals with multi-process applications, including communication and distributed processing issues. That includes process groups, interprocess communication (with all its system-dependent weirdness), sockets, and signals.

This isn't for the beginner or for the kernel developer, but never meant to be for either. It is a good, readable introduction to protentially tricky parts of the Unix API. I recommend it strongly to anyone building their own library of Unix references.

//wiredweird

The Adventures of The Black Hand Gang

Published in Hardcover by Prentice-Hall (1977)

Author: Hans Jurgen Press

List price:

Used price: $11.07
Collectible price: $34.00

Average review score:

I've found more of this series!!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-21

I love these books just as previous reviewers have already stated. On abebooks.com you can do a search and there are 2 more Black Hand Gang Mysteries. The BHG and the Mysterious House and the BHG at Breezy Lake. You have to buy them from German sellers (but I'm pretty sure the books are printed in English).

'Where's Waldo?' pales in comparison

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-11

When I saw my first Where's Waldo book, I was screaming 'foul!' in immitation of this classic. I can't make new memories past three hours following my accident so I can read this book for days with the same enthusiasm as the first reading (so I'm told). Do the same to grandma and grandpa!!

Why is this Out of Print?!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-04

I was recommended this delightful book by my cousin who had read it years ago with his now grown up children. It is a series of mysteries solved by the Black Hand Gang who make use of their keen powers of observation. There are illustrations with clues hidden in them, and you solve these mini mysteries to move ahead with the story. This combination of "Where's Waldo" and your standard whodunnit is tons of fun with children (age range 5-9).

The Black Hand Gang mystery book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-22

I read this about 25 years ago and re-ordered it online recently...as a blast from the past. It is a great little book, which I am sure inspired me when young to get into reading more and to look at my surroundings a bit more closely, and see a bit more mystery, fun and adventure in life. The book is now doing the rounds of my brothers and sisters and only once they are finished solving the clues will it pass to my neices and nephews. This is a definate item for my family heirloom box. Like other reviewers I would strongly recommend illustrators / writers / publishers to try to revive this form of children's clue-finding picture mystery story. Try to get a second hand copy and see for yourself why I am raving over a kid's book.

I love this book!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-27

I've had this book since I was a kid too and like some of the reviewers, I gave this book to my son to read. He enjoyed it as well. I was hoping to find other books like this one.

Angelique: The Road to Versailles

Published in Hardcover by G K Hall & Co (1997-06)

Author: Anne Golon

List price:

Used price: $47.25
Collectible price: $69.00

Average review score:

3 more volumns?

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-29

I always wondered if there were more then 9 volumns, did I understand correctly that there are 3 more volumns which were never translated into English???? Also, is the Rd. to Versaille a book which is not in the series of 1-9? At one point someone reviewd it as book 2? Please email me at quetin@gmail.com

Historically accurate & Wonderful Story-Great Book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-13

Anyone who reads Angelique will always say it was wonderful. The romance, adventure, history and suspence were one of a kind. I only wish it was available in reprint so we could have the whole set in our library. Please inform us about the book and author.

Brilliant

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-27

In the second book of the Angelique series, following the death of her husband Joffrey de Peyrac, Angelique is in the Parsian underworld, at the Court of Miracles. A fascinating glimpse into a sordid world of beggers and thieves, this is a much darker, but maybe even more brilliant book than The Marquise of Angels. Wonderful, fascinating book, more of an on the edge of your seat suspence thriller than the previous book. Alot of great, heartbreaking emotional scenes, and also many happy ones. A fantastic book.

Historically accurate, wonderful adventure, romance

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-13

Anyone who reads about Angelique will keep the book always. I've kept my volunes for years. I wish I had them all in hard back. The book is very hard to put down. I've read it over and over. Great..

Amongst the best historical fiction

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-08

The Angelique series written by Anne and Serge Golon will rate amongst your favourite books (if you can get hold of these rare books). I started with paperback versions, but have since started collecting the hardcovers and have recently acquired the last hardcover I needed to complete my collection. The last 3 books in the series have not been translated in to English yet and there are stories of people learning French as a language just to read the last 3 books in this series. It is beautifully written and set in the period of the reign of the Sun King in France. The authors have done their research and I have been fascinated at the accuracy of the authors' description of historical characters in their books. Highly recommended if you like historical fiction or if you enjoy any story with REAL heroism!

Custom Knits: Unleash Your Inner Designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques

Published in Hardcover by STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book (2008-09-01)

Author: Wendy Bernard

List price: $27.50

New price: $17.21
Used price: $19.75

Average review score:

Wonderful projects

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-06

I saw the book and could not wait to get my own copy. I am current working on 2 projects out of the book and have the yarn for a 3rd. I love all the project and see myself doing and completing 90% of them. Great book! And the author has given you alternatives to the patterns which is refreshing. A book worth the price. Enjoy.

Custom Knits

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-04

I love this book! The patterns are well written and there is something for everyone in here.

I love top down sweaters!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-30

Wow, I have been reading Wendy's site for a few years, so I was really anticpating the release of this book! What fun. I love top down patterns, and I love the idea of modifying patterns. I fully recommned this book for anyone who loves to knit top down, you will not be disappointed! Oh . . and the patterns come in all sizes, and I mean ALL SIZES.

My idea of a perfect knitting book

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-23

I love the patterns but even better are her explanations of improvising your own designs. Beautiful photos, great patterns, mostly sweaters.

Learn to Design from the Top Down

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-23

I love buying craft books, especially knitting books. Anyone who purchases books from Amazon will eventually receive an email asking them to write a review. In the past, I've only written two reviews. I wanted to warn people about two books I returned the same day I received them in the mail. Well, this is my third book review. Wendy has written a book about sweater design that is interesting to read, not filled with just charts, and speaks to me in a straightforward manner without being condescending. If you want to understand how to create your own top-down sweater designs you should consider buying this book.

From beginning to end, Wendy provides clear explanations on how to measure and knit top down sweaters to fit your form. There are directions on how to make a dress form out of duct tape, a T-shirt, and fiberfill. That would be a fun exercise to do in Knit to Fit class! Wendy's straight forward writing helps you understand the basics of design. Explains how to consider fiber content, weight, and gauge when substituting yarn. Explains how to read a schematic and compare it to the picture. The sweater designs have clean lines and the patterns are a starting point for you to add your own ideas.

Photo Gallery:
http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com/custom-knits-gallery/custom-knits-gallery/

Chapter 1: Understanding Your Style, Size, and Fit So You Can Make Sweaters You Love to Wear

Chapter 2: Top-Down Raglan Sweaters

Chapter 3: Top-Down Set-In Sleeve Sweaters

Chapter 4: Round-Yoke Sweaters

Chapter 5: Designing on the Fly

Chapter 6: Unleash Your Inner Designer: Elements to Alter and Starting from Scratch

Special Techniques section reviews Backward Loop CO, Kitchener Stitch, Intarsia Colorwork Method, Short-Row Shaping, etc.

Provisional Cast-On - Explains when and why to use

Nowhere to Hide

Published in Paperback by Clocktower Books (2000-12)

Author: Joan Hall Hovey

List price: $17.25

Used price: $49.54

Average review score:

Review of Nowhere to Hide

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-12-16

Currently living in Canada, Ms. Hovey chose to set this novel in Evansdale, a small town in Maine and home to psychologist Ellen Morgan Harris. Counseling others on problems she knows all too well, Ellen battles her own childhood demons and a predisposition to alcoholism. These, she can handle. It is grief, often underestimated as a prime motivation, which brings her to the attention of both law and outlaw. First, the premature death of her husband knocks her off balance. Then the contemptuously brutal murder of her beloved little sister, her last bit of home and hearth, drives her into a hard-edged and relentless pursuit of her sister's killer. She and the killer seem to have little choice as they follow their respective fates: the prey turns predator and the predator can't stop, even when self-interest would dictate otherwise. Hovey's realistic and understated prose carries the reader along faster and faster to a conclusion that both relieves and saddens...so many lives and so many scars. Hovey's characters are so believable that the reader closes the book after the last chapter as though returning from a visit to Evansdale. Readers who find a restrained description of terrifying events all the more chilling may see Nowhere to Hide as more thriller than mystery. In any case, we have reason to exult over Ellen's triumph and mourn her losses, in equal measure.

"...YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN.." Inscriptions Magazine

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-11-07

"...makes the reader glance nervously over her shoulder when the house gets too quiet. Start reading this book on a Saturday morning. That way, you'll have all weekend to read it, since you won't want to put it down.

Martine G. Bates Inscriptions magazine

"...a chiller of a book..."

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-30

Joan Hall Hovey is a mistress at description and in bringing characters alive. The reader always has a feeling of place as well as being inside each person's mind. Ms Hovey even teases the reader with the first name of the killer, but this reviewer can guarantee that the reader will know the chilling things that go through the killer's head and still not know the true identity.

This is a chiller of a book, and falls in the `I don't want to put it down' category. Unless the reader has very strong nerves, this is NOT recommended as a bedtime story.

Reviewed by Shirley Truax

Don't Turn Off All The Lights When You Go To Bed

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-22

This book is right up there with the greats, in my opinion. While I think the author could have started off with more action, then perhaps after hooking the reader, gone back to the beginning, it still nonetheless is an excellent read. Once it heated up, I couldn't put it down. It was enthralling, captivating, and I was anxiously anticipating the ending. Ms. Hovey did such a remarkable job with the keeping the reader in suspense and caring about the lead character's fate. I recommend this story without hesitation. Ms. Hovey has a refreshing writing style, which I found to be clear and to the point, and as I stated previously, an absolutely marvelous ability to keep the suspense turned up high.

Synopsis: The story takes the reader into the world of orphanage girls and the depraved persons who either prey on them or allow others to. In this story, two sisters who survive life as orphans, grow up to become professionals. The oldest, a psychologist; the younger, a singer. Unbeknownst to them, the younger sister is being trailed by a sick person from their past. When she is murdered, the older sister, Ellen, finds solace in her best friend, who also happens to have spent some time in the same orphanage. As Ellen's life begins to spin out of control, she takes up the habit which killed her parents: drinking. Her best friend, Myra, who also doubles as her patient, on occasion, has been having weird dreams of which Ellen has been trying to help her figure out for the last year or so. However, after finding out about Ellen's sister's murder, the dreams come back with a rage. Myra is concerned about them, and even asks Ellen what they could mean, but Ellen is too caught up in her own nightmare to really concentrate and focus on their meaning. After Ellen challenges the murderer to come after her a police officer is assigned to protect her. She develops a great rapport with the officer, and when things seem to be less intimidating and the killer makes no further move to contact her, she convinces the officer of her safety and need for solitude. As if right on cue, all hell breaks lose and the reader is panting to keep up with the events in the story. Ms Hovey does an excellent job of fanning the flames of suspense and thrill, page after page until the very last word.

A Chiller for a hot night

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-09

Joan Hall Hovey's Nowhere to Hide, is a fast moving suspense thriller, that will keep you up all night to finish it. Ellen Morgan, who is still recovering from the untimely death of her husband, is shattered when her younger sister is brutally murdered. Her pain soon turns to rage when she realizes that this man has killed before and will probably kill again and that the police seem unable to catch him. When the evening news wants to interview her about her work as a psychologist, she uses the opportunity to challenge the killer and sets into motion a series of events that will leave you turning all the lights on and locking your doors as you breathlessly await the outcome. Ellen and her sister grew up in an abusive home with alcoholic parents that ended with her sister living for a time in a local orphanage. Ellen senses that the answers she seeks my lie in the old orphanage but before she can really begin to look into her theory, the killer strikes again. As Ellen races to discover the identity of the killer, she finds that in order to live, she has to confront a past she has tried very hard to put behind her. Hovey has created a disturbing look into the mind of a serial killer that will send chills up your spine.

Paradise Lost: New Edition

Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall College Div (1962-01-01)

Author: John Milton

List price: $44.00

New price: $6.89
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $44.00

Average review score:

Enthralling

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-05

Unbelievably inspiring. I challenge you to compare his reading with any one else's or your own in your head. He makes it alive. Not perfect, mind you. You'll find yourself suggesting to him in certain spots that he missed the meaning by putting some emphasis or other on the wrong words. Nevertheless, you know you couldn't do better overall. A real treasure.

Perfectly good recording, incomplete text

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-21

Great for a long drive or while driving cross town in Manhattan. You can debate the issues of suffering with Milton in your head.

Sure do wish it were the whole work.

Excellent resource

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-05

Contains extensive information in the introduction that is lends an understanding to anyone reading any of Milton's work. This particular version is very inexpensive, and contains everything one would need to understand PL. Excellent!

Review of the Buccaneer Books Library Binding edition

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-05

My review is of the library binding edition released by Buccaneer Books. It is a very plain and small volume which is wonderfully bound. It contains nothing but the poem itself (including the prose arguments) with the original spelling and punctuation. That means no notes, commentary, or introduction, so if you're looking for lots of in-text help, this isn't what you want. The Fowler, Hughes, or Norton editions are all laden with helpful material like that. But if you just want to experience Milton's masterpiece alone, this is a lovely edition. I found that the book could be purchased much more cheaply if I ordered directly from the publisher's website.

Zenith

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-20

Milton in Paradise Lost unfurls a morning star banner heralding the cosmic story of the fall of angels and men in language eminently civil. I am sure that Homer and Dante were Milton's schoolmasters yet Milton almost exceeds them in the slendid language and poetry of this epic creation. Philip Pullman said "No one, not even Shakespeare, surpasses Milton in his command of the sound, the music, the weight and taste and texture of English words". This is a poem of majesty and sublime lyricism as in Milton's description of Mulciber falling:
"from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summer's day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star".
Each book of Paradise Lost is introduced with an argument, or summary. These arguments were written by Milton and added because early readers had requested a guide to the poem. Milton's purpose in this masterpiece is to tell about the fall of man and justify God's ways to man. When the angels battle in heaven at one point they pull up mountains and hills and throw them at each other: "So Hills amid the Air encounterd Hills Hurl'd to and fro with jaculation dire, That under ground, they fought in dismal shade." After their coup attempt in heaven Satan and the other rebel angels are lying stunned on a lake of fire. Satan rises from the lake and makes his way to the shore. He calls the other angels to do the same, and they assemble by and above the lake. Satan tells them that all is not lost and tries to cheer his followers. Led by Mammon and Mulciber, the fallen angels build their capital and palace Pandemonium. They decide to get at God through his new creation and Satan sets off on this mission. In reading Paradise Lost the poem reads the reader while being read. What I mean is that Milton lets his readers go awry in their affections and he corrects and instructs those misreadings as well as anticipates them. In this way the poem becomes a live text with meaning apprehended through the interplay between the peruser of the poem and the text itself. Milton allows the reader to subjectively question the justice of the current religious paradigm and then leads them back to the perspicacity of deity. Ultimately Paradise Lost is Milton's paean to a vast pattern in the universe, the disruption of that pattern by rebels, and the weaving of those rebellion threads back into an ever more beautiful tapestry.

Six Dinner Sid (PENG)

Published in Paperback by Prentice-Hall (1994-04-01)

Author: Inga Moore

List price:

New price: $25.40

Average review score:

Fantastic story!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-12

Sid is a favorite at our house! Even when my daughter is in a foul mood, by the end of Sid we're all laughing again. The pictures are extraordinarily expressive and the story is endearing. We've even taken to call one of our cats who likes to overeat Sid!

The benefits of openess and flexibility

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-28

My kids and I both love this book. The art is pretty without being distracting. Sid is drawn very expressively, and as a real character, without being a talking animal. The message of sharing, openess, and flexibility are important and come in handy in our lives.

Six-Dinner Sid

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-20

The book, Six-Dinner Sid (Aladdin Paperbacks, purchased in 2008) included an advertisement for Cheerios printed on the inside back cover of the book. So every time you read the last page of the book, your child will see an advertisement from a cereal company. No, thank you. We prefer not to have advertisements in our children's literature.

A Delightful Cat Story

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-26

This is a delightful story of a friendly cat! My students like to listen to this book over and over again!

A perfect polyamory fable

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-24

Sid likes six different kinds of dinners, being scratched six different ways, and he sleeps in six different beds. He's just that way!

And... when everyone talks to each other... everyone knows, so no one minds.

An awesome polyamory fable, great for kids and adults.

Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns

Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall PTR (1996-10-13)

Author: Kent Beck

List price: $59.99

New price: $48.26
Used price: $37.97

Average review score:

Great for understanding why smalltalk code is written like it is

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-13

I have just recently started looking at smalltalk and like many people (being used to c++), when starting out in smalltalk, just going through the code didn't actually tell me much about anything, it's hard to find where anything is actually being done. After reading this book this task was significantly easier, the reason is simple, after going through this book one gets a much deeper understanding about why the code is split the way it is and gains a real insight into why this is a better approach than the usual C++ style with 100-200 lines of code methods. Kent Beck's writting makes the book a very nice read, must admit i was actually sorry when i finished it.

The Zen of OO

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-17

I wish more Java/C#/C++ programmers would read this (and maybe even learn Smalltalk) so that they can appreciate the weaknesses in those languages and possibly in their practices that they might not even realize today. I certainly did. While Robert Martin and others have offered up some of the canon of good design for contemporary developers, this little gem really reveals the "feel" of good OO.

Missable

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 28 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-31

I'm always looking for ways to make coding work better, at any level from nanosecond arithmetic operations to decade-long enterprise operations. I didn't find much of use here, but there were a few good points here (very few). Let me start with those.

The "Execute Around Method" pattern is good idea, applicable far beyond this Smalltalk context. The Beta language has "inner" inheritance, which makes the idea easy, but most other languages lack a good mechanism for undefined logic between matched operation pairs (open/close, setup/cleanup, etc.) "Enumeration" is another good one, enshrined as "Visitor" in the Gang of Four book.

Most of what's left is either trivial or Smalltalk-specific and face it, Smalltalk is mostly a cult language with nearly no commercial significance. The Smalltalk pretty-printing and variable-naming rules, fatuous at best, are just not applicable to most langages. Some of Beck's "practices" are language features (like 'super'). Other "practices", like the long chapter on Collections, seem to describe standard library classes and messages. Yet others (e.g. Type Suggesting Parameter Name) correct language defects - Smalltalk chose to give up the error detection capability offered by variable typing. Beck tries to sneak it back in with variable naming conventions sort of like Microsoft's old Hungarian naming. Some of his suggestions are just dangerous, like that one that says a constructor should "half-way construct an object in one place, then pass it off to another to finish construction. (p.23)" This distributes an object's setup responsibility across its client classes, leaves unusable and incomplete objects floating around, and causes subtle exposures in multithreaded systems - I'd rip out any code I saw built this way.

The good news is that no new trees died to make my copy of this book - I got it used, and it's returning to the used market. At least my conscience is clean on that account, no matter what I'm doing to the poor guy who buys this book next.

//wiredweird

Real OO, not just for Smalltalkers

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-29

I wish I had read this book when I started getting into OO programming. This is OO to the max, at maximum granularity.

Beck's style is clear and concise, the patterns are understandable even by a non-senior Smalltalker like me.

Milestone for Your Programming Life

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-30

SBPP has changed me. Kent Beck has changed me.

SBPP shed a new light on my previous knowledge of "patterns" in computer programming. I was deep in the DP tar pit. SBPP saved me. SBPP changed almost all my thoughts on programming. It has changed what I value, and how I pursue it.

Kent Beck says that he is not a great programmer but just a pretty good programmer with great habits. Build great habits with this book. Read and reread this book every morn.

If you have studied DP, this book will open your eyes to the wider world of patterns. You will think about DPs quite differently after this book. You will be able to escape from the bad effects of DP abuse.

If DPs were nouns, verbs and adverbs/adjectives, SBPP are articles and auxiliary verbs. SBPP are used much more frequently than DPs. When you learn a language it is very important to learn more frequently used words first. It could be less efficient(or even dangerous) to learn "appreciate" before "thank (you)".

--JuneKim

The Spy Wore Red: My Adventures As an Undercover Agent in World War II (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

Published in Hardcover by G K Hall & Co (1988-08)

Author: Countess of Romanones Aline

List price: $21.95

New price: $50.00
Used price: $9.97

Average review score:

An all time favorite and a MUST read!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-27

The Spy Wore Red is one of three books written by Aline Griffith Romanos who worked as an undercover spy during WW II. I discovered this book in a used book store in 25 years ago, read it several times, bought her other two books, The Spy Wore Silk and The Spy Went Dancing, gave them to my family to read; then went out and purchased them in again! I have read them more times than I can count over the years, and they are definitely in my top ten list of favorite books. This is not a book that will take you days to read, and, one you will recommend to your friends!

I don't believe a word of it, but what a hoot!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-03

I don't buy any of it, not for a minute. But, this is a much more enjoyable read than several of the so-called "thrillers" I've read recently. Just suspend your disbelief, dive right in, and be swept away!

Amazing autobiography

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-12

Aline, Countess of Romanos has written a spectacular book. I had to keep reminding myself that I was reading an autobiography and not a work of fiction. Aline is an agent for the OSS during World War II. She blends into Spanish high society and manages to complete her mission and introduce the reader to the thrills and chills of being an undercover agent. She also gives us a glimpse of Spanish Aristocracy, bull fighting and the inner workings of a nineteen year olds dilemma of befriending people who may be targets of her investigation. I have read all of her books but like this one the best. It is full of action, drama, and even a touch of romance. I have recommended it to all of my friends.

Great books

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-20

I have purchased 4 books by Aline Romanos. I absolutely love them. The fact that there is truth behind the story and that she really was an upper-class lady as well as a spy excites me. I find myself wishing I lived an adventurous life. She has a talent when it comes to recreating her life and exploits. I could not put it down!

A counterfeit spy

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-28

The most respected historian in the field of espionage, Nigel West, studied all of Aline's spy books marketed as nonfiction and concluded "...all four of Aline's books should be regarded as fiction, and nothing more..." Read "Counterfeit Spies, Chapter 3, by Nigel West, 1998.

The Tall Book of Christmas

Published in Hardcover by Harpercollins Childrens Books (1980-09)

Author: Dorothy Hall Smith

List price: $9.95

Used price: $21.97
Collectible price: $34.50

Average review score:

Wonderful

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-13

This was the favorite Christmas book of my childhood, and remains the favorite with my children too.

The Tall Book of Christmas

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-08

great story book for children. reprint of original from 1950s. recommend as holiday reading with children.

Same Old

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-12

the book is okay, the stories are short, and the drawings aren't that great, a lot of the drawings are in black and white too

Christmas treasury

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-12

This book is a must-have for your children's Christmas story collection, a great choice for snuggling up at night during the holidays with your family. It's filled with lots of classic tales about Christmas, and some that have been faded in the cultural memory, but which are well worth sharing. My children particularly enjoyed the tale of the Babushka, searching for the little child who was born on Christmas night. There is a wonderful variety of stories to choose from, and a well-rounded treasury to appeal to both boys and girls alike.

Best ever!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-27

The Tall stories are really cute and creative. I'm glad to have discovered the book.

Hall Books