King Books

Sandy Mackinnon says it himself - 'I exaggerate, for effect'. I loved the description of the journey from small streams in the north to the tidal rivers of the south and the crossing over to France. It all rings true to my own much more limited experience of rivers and canals in small rowing boats and canoes. But this man is much more capable than you might think from a superficial reading of the book - I know this because I'm on my third reading and have no intention of leaving it there.

The only other book I've loved this much is Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, in some ways the complete opposite of this book where the main character convincingly describes the skill and expertise of Davies, the owner of the small yacht Dulcibella. A J Mackinnon as a single-hander must write of his own journey himself, so to preserve modesty and to entertain the reader he presents himself as a bumbling amateur with little idea of how to row, sail or maintain his eleven foot boat, but he still gets to the Black Sea by way of rivers and canals that would challenge any experienced sailor. His self-deprecation mightn't fool me but I'm left feeling even more impressed by the journey he describes so well.

I'm not a sailor nor intend to be after reading this wonderful adventure book but, I love adventure stories especially true ones where someone goes off on their own and let's nature do what she will.

This book had me laughing out loud as I think our boy here bit off more then he could chew at the start . seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose : ) altho he did manage to become learned about the nautical jargon thru trial and error . buy it, borrow it ...have a laugh .

A friend shared this book with me, hoping I'd enjoy it as much as he did. And I did. Being familiar with the country and the people - but not the rivers, I loved every mile of Jack De Crow's journey, laughing at almost every page at the impossible conditions that Mackinnon found himself in. As I knew they would, Mackinnon and Jack De Crow rose above it all.

I grew to love that little boat. In turn I shared with friends and family.

If you like sailing small craft and mini-crusiers and camping out, you will love this book. Most entertaining, humorous and well written.....good work Jim McKinnon !

Sandy Mackinnon sets out from Shropshire in a tiny sailboat and sails and rows himself and his small boat across England, across the Channel, and across the canals and rivers of Europe to the Black Sea.

This is a fascinating journey and Mackinnon is a brilliant and charming storyteller. Although his voyage involves many privations and even humiliations, he is always optimistic, happy, and carefree--well, almost always. Mackinnon's joy and love of adventure, people, and the outdoors is highly infectious. No one will come away from reading this book with anything less than a lighter heart and a brighter outlook on life and its tribulations. Jack de Crow is witty, entertaining, and edifying. It is one of the best sailing adventure books that I have ever read and I have read very many. I highly recommend this book to every reader whether or not you are a sailor or boater. You don't need to know anything about boats or sailing to fully enjoy this wonderful book.

I have one important and heavy dissatisfaction with the book that I must air. I almost broke ranks and would have been the first reviewer to give it fewer than five stars. Mackinnon from start to finish depends on the kindness of strangers to get him through tough spots. His journey, and even his life, is saved several times by other boaters or people along the shore who give him shelter, a tow, make repairs for him, etc. etc. He simply would not have gotten more than a few miles on his own. Of course, this is part, and a central part, of the whole story and journey--trusting to your luck and to the unanticipated and unpaid assistance of strangers. Mackinnon is basically a good natured and kind hearted screw-up. He really doesn't know what he is doing or how to do it, but goes on anyway. Well this makes for a good story as Mackinnon recognizes--no screw-ups, no stories.

But I favor a tradition that values self-reliance at least in things nautical. A watery voyage requires proper craft, charts, equipment in good order, and the ability to navigate and conduct the voyage on one's own. The only excuse for seeking or accepting help from others is dire and unavoidable life-threatening emergency. Mackinnon violates these basic principles of boating, often to his peril, sometimes to the peril of others. I cannot respect this. I believe that Mackinnon should not have made this voyage, that he was morally irresponsible, and that despite the wonderful book that resulted, the overall effect may be detrimental.

One other minor problem with the book is that readers should be aware that there are many many references to English children's literature and other works that are obscure and will not be familiar, and there are no notes or explanations. This comes off as a bit pretentious and puzzling and somewhat diminished my enjoyment of Jack de Crow.

Sometimes Mackinnon can be insensitive. He glows over the beauty and wealth of Vienna--Europe's greatest city (his description). Mackinnon describes with excessive enthusiasm Vienna's glorious history, but never mentions the most important event in Vienna's history--the anything but glorious Kristallnacht. I quote from Wikipedia: "Events in Austria were no less horrendous. Of the entire Kristallnacht only the pogrom in Vienna was completely successful. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbours." I find it hard to share his insensitive enthusiasm for Vienna.

But in the end I suppose that Mackinnon is some sort of genius, a genuine free spirit, and true eccentric and cannot be held to the same standards as the rest of us.

Reading this wonderful book gave me the vicarious pleasure of wandering the globe in the company of skilled writers who know just how to crystallize their experiences for the reader. I recommend it to any armchair traveler! (And it's a great book to take on a plane.)

What a refreshing, beautiful book. The essays within are full of powerful and rich personality, which serves to give a full sensory perception of the places of which they write. There is an abandon and adventurous spirit that blows through the pages and inspires the reader not just to travel, but to really experience the places one goes, even close to home.

This book was perfectly conceived and executed. These 24 smart stories by 12 smart women cover the whole tonal range -- funny, poignant, gut-wrenching, beautiful, thoughtful, irreverant, wonderfully sappy... And the publishing concept itself was brilliant, a clever way to crack a difficult market: strength in numbers, taking power into their own hands...in retrospect it seems so obvious, but I'm sure that two years ago these women had little idea how brilliant they were being... I'm 50 years old now, and anyone who has reached my stage of geezerhood knows the value of having even one good solid friend. I attended a salon event these women put on in San Francisco recently, and I mentioned to one of them just how great I thought it would be to have twelve friends as tight as they seem to be. Her response: "Well, now you do!" And that is the feeling that one comes away with after reading their book: Twelve new friends.

This book exhilarated me and ignited my passion for travel to an even higher level than before. The courage (and insanity!) of some of these women; their appreciation for travel, culture and their unrelenting desire to soak up every bit of their experiences, inspired me to - not only travel to every destination listed in the book - but to truly appreciate the journey, with all its flaws. Because, who knows, it might make for a great story someday!

I love this book.
So great to hear all the adventures these women have.
They are all so independent. They go off to see the world in so many different ways. Each one has their own personality and way of traveling.
They go out and do all the things I wish I could do.
Way to go Ladies ...........
Thanks for the inspiration
p.s. I also love their monthly news-letters

Lots of unique puzzles to jumpstart your lateral thinking skills. Tons of fun, too!

How does one invoke an "Aha" moment? How do you lead people from bewilderment to clarity with simple drawings, letters, and numbers? Lloyd King has perfected the art of puzzles, packing them with a triple punch of outright satisfaction, humor, and surprise.

If you are a trainer or workshop leader, these puzzles can be adapted for your use. The puzzles are great for ice breakers for any group or topic or could be used as exercises to support topics such as creativity, humor, or even change management.

I have been a trainer and/or workshop leader for over twenty years and am always looking for new ideas and ways to adapt existing materials to my training needs. Let me give an example how you can adapt Lloyd's puzzles as an ice breaker.

* Find out the number of participants in your workshop or session.
* Prior to your workshop pick out some puzzles from Lloyd King's book.
* You can simply redraw the puzzle on paper for each group.
* Consider dividing the workshop participants into small groups of 5-6 people.
* Offer participants an overview of the exercise. "Each group will be given a puzzle to solve. You have five minutes to work together and solve it. You will need to pick a representative who will describe your process to the entire group."
* Allow participants 5 minutes to collaboratively solve the puzzle.
* At the end of the time period have the representative from each group come forward one at a time, show the puzzle to the entire group, and describe how they reached the solution. If the group did not solve the puzzle - open the challenge up to the entire group. Provide guidance if necessary.

Liz Lowe

I like Lloyd King's puzzles! They are challenging, creative, often very amusing, and great fun. For me, this is a 5 star puzzle collection, indeed Lloyd is a 5 star puzzler, and has been for the 20 or so years that I have known him.

This genial book is one of three books written by the master of puzzles Lloyd King. This one is his latest and maybe the best one, even if it would be rather unfair to draw that conclusion, because every one of his books is very different and unique in it's own way. Lloyd's book "Test Your Creative Thinking" is the one that made me love puzzles.

"Amazing AHA Puzzles" contains over 300 puzzles. The remarkable and amazing thing is that every single puzzle is very unique and doesn't resemble any other puzzle in the book. That shows the writers colorful and versatile imagination and creativity.

English is not my native language, so in the beginning, I found some of the wordy puzzles rather difficult. The fine thing is that these puzzles will even make you think English and learn English in quite an unique way. Therefore, I would recommend Lloyd King's books even to those who want to learn English and be better at English.

The book's wonderful illustrations show us that an amazing amount of energy and time has been invested into every page of this work of genius.

Coming from a relatively puzzle-less background, I am a recent convert to the imaginative puzzle world presented by Lloyd King's special brand of AHA! creative magic. This beautifully presented book contains puzzles ranging from the relatively simple to the almost impossible. Fortunately all the answers, with full and elaborate explanations, are available in the book so the reader is not only able to obtain emotional release if the need arises (as assuredly it will!) but is also able to gain a real insight into the mechanics of a truly creative and imaginative mind and in so doing improve his/her own creative and lateral thinking. This is a highly recommended book.

Given that this is a debut novel, the prose is remarkable, the voice unique, the insights into human behaviour and relationship profound. Mother-daughter relationships are always complicated, oft times ridden with confusing expectations, dreams of the future/reminiscences of the past, and always always the burden of aging - whether it be of youth blossoming or the prospect of death. This writer captures the emotional complexity of the relationship with great dexterity and compassion. We only hope that she continues to write yet again and again and again, many novels, many works, of which I'm sure she is entirely capable.

Any woman who has ever had a love-hate relationship with their mother will love this book. It's a beautiful and touching story about how different we see a mother's "good" intentions from when we are children to when we become adults. No matter how painful the journey, in the end we see that we all do the best that we can whether we're the mother or the daughter. It brought tears to my eyes.

Mimi never tires of telling her daughter, Silvie that she is named for the king, Elvis. She once dated the king. Mimi has big ideas and intentions, but finds herself stuck in the role of mother and housewife. This is not where she wanted to be. She loves the spotlight, dressing up in her high heels and swirling around in dresses.

Silvie is dowdy by Mimi's comparison, comfortable hiding from the spotlight. Mimi is disappointed that Silvie is not more 'out there', not more like her.

Silvie moves town to get out from under Mimi's shoes, but is driven back to her mother's side when she discovers that she has cancer. It is truly heartbreaking for Silvie to see her mother who was larger than life, slowly disintegrating before her eyes.

This is a good book about mother-daughter relationships, but it was really nothing new. It's all about people finding each other before they are separated forever.

Her mother's blue suede shoes always caused a problem for young Silvie. She wants a traditional, conservative mother, but ended up with Mimi - a headstrong, independant woman whose claim to fame is her dates with Elvis. Silvie believes that she has finally gotten away from her mother's indominable clutches when she moves to New York, but when Mimi is diagnosed with terminal cancer she goes home to help her die.

Through this time together, Silvie embraces her mother. She comes to learn the important elements of her family history. Through this time, Silvie gives and recieves the important elements of her mother's life, and finally comes to accept both her childhood and her future. She learns how to move beyond her mother, yet how to more fully embrace her special qualities.

The book is an excellent read for women. It gives a remarkable portrayal of the mother-daughter bond, with all of its pain and promise. Overall, highly recommended.

With compassion, insight and elegance, Kathryn Stern's wonderful debut novel, "Another Song about the King," traces the tensions and fissures between a repressed but talented mother and her daughter, whose own life's experiences sadly reflect the disappointments, resentments and fears felt by her mother. Stern paints a vivid picture of Simone, whose mothering skills mirror the venomous pressures and arid emotional wasteland of her own childhood. Simone is so repressive and begruding of her daughter's right to a life that, at times, it appears that she could not be more deliberate in her emotional abuse. Silvie, in turn, at a very early age, deliberately withdraws from her mother and builds such an anguished anger and sense of disappointment with her circumstances that she refuses to call her mother any other name than Mimi.

The central conceit of the novel turns around Simone's teen-age "relationship" with Elvis Presley, a "date" whose scope is never completely determined but whose impact on the dissatisfied Simone grows and distorts her own ability to live as a functional adult. Simone's discontent is the central fact of her life. "For a long time, I liked being married, the routine, the security. But then it was the late sixties...and there I was in the suburbs, just planning a week of dinner and making them." The adult daughter, Silvie (whose own name, incidentally, is a semi-anagram of Elvis), understood "her discontent, the discontent of all women caught between the work of staying home and raising children and the larger work of the world."

Stern's masterful talent of characterization reveals itself fully through Silvie, a sensitive and inquisitive child who bears the brunt of her mother's smoldering fury. How should a child respond to a parent who insists the child develop her talents, but once expressed, elicits a competitive anger from the very adult she yearns to please? Silvie decides to withdraw, to finish in second place, to acquiesce to her mother. This tremendously affecting character pushes her sadness "down into that tight little bead no one could see, filling the space with emptiness, nothingness...I feared I lacked a self."

"Another Song" is not just about the evolving relationship between a mother and her daughter. This deeply reflective novel also treats the issues of insanity, suicide, depression, divorce, existential anguish and terminal illness. Never forgotten is the humanity of the central characters, and that compassion animates Stern's ability to make even a Simone a character about whom we care. This author, with a sure and sensitive hand, understands the quest all children, regardless of age, have to understand and forgive their parents.

Mine is old and worn out- wish I knew how to order it, nowhere to be found in print.

I want to echo T.C. Humphery in praising this study Bible. It is the BEST!!!! Nelson--PLEASE BRING IT BACK! P. Rasberry College Station, Texas.

I have almost every Study Bible made and this one is one of the best. It is as good as any of the other ones on my short list of the best. The others I would recommend are the King James Study Bible by Nelson, The Ryrie Study Bible by Moody, The MacArthur Study Bible by Nelson, and The Geneva Study Bible by Nelson. Nelson please republish.

I've found this Bible to be very useful in study of the
Holy Bible, particularly the explanatory footnotes and
cross referencing.

FYI - This Bible has been re-titled "The Holy Bible - Baptist
Study Edition" and is in current publication by Thomas
Nelson publishers.

The Believer's Study Bible is the best Study Bible that I have ever had the privilege to use. The book introductions, study notes, and charts are most helpful in clarifying things that might otherwise be difficult to understand. I've shared information from this Bible with students in my Sunday Bible Study Class. I've given this Bible as gifts to friends and to my husband, who is a pastor. All agree that this book contains a wealth of good, useful information that is normally found only in reference books. I have used other Study Bibles, but always return to The Believer's Study Bible. In fact, my own Bible is well worn and in need of a new binding.

I strongly urge Nelson to bring back this Bible. There is none that can compare to its quality in information anywhere!

BLOOD EVIDENCE is the second book in Mel Odom's NCIS Series. Once again, we follow the investigative team under the leadership of Commander Will Coburn. When their current case is linked to the death of a Marine captain's daughter who was murdered 17-years-ago, they follow their leads all the way to Washington D.C.

BLOOD EVIDENCE allows us a closer look at some of the members that make of Will's team, seeing both the personal and professional struggles that these strategic players deal with.

A great thriller with twist and turns that keep you turning page after page. Again, not a romance book by far, but a great read for those of you who like suspense.

I checked out Paid in Blood, the first NCIS book by Mel Odom, and really enjoyed it. So I stuck it out for part 2.

Plot:
Will Coburn and team intervene on a girl's kidnapping. This leads to the discovery of a whole lot of drugs and a 17 year-old corpse of a Marine with the charm of a teenaged girl who was kidnapped and murdered about the same time. As the team digs deeper, they learn that the two mysteries (the girl's murder had never been completely closed) may in fact be intertwined.
Also, Nita is feeling overwhelmed with being a mother and a wife. She longs for the simplicity of life before marriage and tugs away from her husband, Joe, and her daughter, Celia.

Good:
Again, excellent mystery! I am impressed with how Mel Odom is able to take a particular incident (a teenaged girl's kidnapping) and have it lead to the real mystery (the 17 year-old corpse of a Marine). You certainly won't be board, trekking through North Carolina in pursuit of Bryce Ketchem or digging through the archives on Haskins or seeing through the eyes of Congressman Ben Swanson.
Also, the characters are diverse and real. You can feel Will's pain at his divorce and Nita's longing to get out of her trapped marriage (more in a bit). Shel, Remy, Maggie, Estrella...they are all people, not just names thrown in just because. They all serve a purpose--and if they aren't needed at a particular time, Mel Odom doesn't feel like he has to bring them up constantly (something many authors should take a hint from).
When I first started writing this just a little past the half-way point, I had some serious issues with Nita's marital problems. First, in this time, Joe was far too perfect. He really doesn't come off as a character, merely as a litmus test to show how bad Nita was being. Nita is full of rage; Joe is perfect, understanding, continually loving, always forgiving and wanting to work things out. However, I had to highly amend this review after I finally finished the book. He starts getting peeved at how Nita is being so selfish and even says so when she asks him not to let Celia, her daughter, call her. He is not afraid to be blunt and tells her to leave them alone. This change from perfect being to human being was great.
Lastly, Nita's reuniting with her mother was absolutely awesome. I won't spill the details, but the whole exchange was an ultimate climax for Nita and a turning point as well.

Bad:
If the first one gave you the heebie-jeebies at the forensics, don't expect this one to be better. In fact, it may be worse. Several people die rather violent deaths. One man receives a glancing blow to the head. A dead man is found in the lake. A woman's injuries from a hit-and-run accident are brought up. Mention is made to what happens when someone is shot point blank in the base of the head (and this is rather disgusting, in my opinion). These rather graphic descriptions made me cringe and almost gag as I was reading.
Other things that bugged me:
1. Will's children bug me. First, Wren, Will's seven-year-old daughter, knows way too much about baseball. I don't care if she watches it on television. There is no way that someone that young knows maneuvers and call outs as well as she does in the book. It's cute, but unrealistic. Second, Steven falls into the stereotypical teen category. I wish for once that people could write teens not as moody, rude beings but as actual humans with feelings and concerns (especially in favor of parents). I mean, Will was constantly surprised that Steven seemed to care about him. Duh! What teen doesn't!
2. Mel Odom's editor should be fired. He missed or glossed over several huge mistakes. "Maggie" is referred to when it should have been "Nita" (page 80). It is unclear whether the "husband" Laura is talking about is her ex-husband, Ben, or someone else (i.e. Chloe's dad or whichever husband she is currently married to) (page 160). He has Nita telling a cowboy "Merry Christmas" then mention something about Spring (May or June, I believe) while I think there is another reference to March (or at least snow)! What time of the year is it? Just decide and keep to it! My last beef is a major one: Will is talking with Haskins' widow and says, "You mentioned Mason" (Page 415). First off, I poured over the entire previous exchange. "Mason" wasn't mentioned once between Will and Cindy (widow). Mel Odom probably made a change and his dumb editor never saw the gap. It was very confusing and ruined the whole effect that the scene was trying to play on.
3. The whole David Horton almost-affair thing went from understandable to weird. I was okay with it until his wife approaches Nita. First off, this guy is an absolute jerk. Mrs. Horton should have left him in the dust years ago--kids and all. Second, this husband is fooling around--and he doesn't even bother to hide the fact he's fooling around by telling Mrs. Horton about Nita? "Honey, I was trying to cheat on you and this lady decided not to and hurt me. Wah!" Please. And then to make matters even weirder, Mrs. Horton goes to the same church Joe does. Please cue "It's a Small World". Lastly, this whole thing explodes into NCIS--but how? Does David run to his superior officers and say, "You got to punish Nita because she wouldn't sleep with me and I tried to make her and she hit me?" Does Mrs. Horton call Nita's boss, Larkin, and say, "You got to watch out for that ME of yours--she steals husbands"? I wish Mel Odom had left the whole stupid thing to be only between Joe and Nita. The incident (and her wanting to leave) could still have impacted NCIS without the whole "It's a Small World" thing playing in the background.
4. Practically everyone in the book is described as being fit for their age with the exception of the creepy politician, Ben Swanson. What's up with that? Not like I don't expect Will, Shel, Remy, and Maggie to be fit, but why must the lawyer, Wardell, Estrella, Nita, Joe, and practically every other character be described in this way? Take a look on the street, and you will notice far more people that are not fit than are.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Alluded to or non-existent. A woman is almost raped. Other times, sexual situations are alluded to (Congressman Ben Swanson has had extramarital affairs, Chloe's dad is not mentioned to have ever been married to Laura Ivers, etc.). Violence is pretty extreme (as mentioned in the beginning of "Bad") and ranges from shoot-outs (typical fare) to attempted rapes to hand or gun fights or hit-and-runs. If you are even the slightest bit squeamish, do not read this.

Overall:
When I first started writing this, the bad was outweighing the good. The editing was bad and Nita's home situation got in the way. After finishing the entire thing, I was very impressed. I loved the mystery and was moved to almost-tears during the Nita and her mother scenes (and I am not a crying person!). The plot was a little confusing (but is mostly explained in the end), the editor should have been fired, Nita's home life was a little overdramatic in the beginning, and the descriptions of autopsies and injuries was disgusting, but this was a fun way to spend the time. What makes this better than many other action stories is that this has character--real people doing real things. A good follow up.

This is the second book in Mel Odom's series on the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. The head of the team, Will Coburn, is separated from his wife, and he is trying to spend more time with his children. But he is called away to rescue a teenage girl who has been kidnapped. In the course of the rescue, they stumble on the corpse of a Marine who has been missing for 17 years. Inside the pants cuff of this Marine, they find a charm from a girl who had been murdered 17 years ago, supposedly by a serial killer. How did the charm get there? Is there a connection to the serial killer? The investigation leads the team into twists and turns in the plot that made this story a page turner that I could not put down.

The medical examiner on the team, Nita Tomlinson, has become an expert in forensics, but she finds the roles of wife and mom to be stifling. She grew up without a father and with a promiscuous mother who drank too much and often abandoned her, and Nita has no feel for how to act as a wife and mom. She feels compelled to visit her mother, with whom she has not talked in fourteen years. Though hurt feelings remain and the relationship is strained, Nita and her mother move one step closer to understanding one another.

The pacing of this novel is excellent, and the characters are so real they come to life. I also enjoyed the many details about how the criminal investigation and forensics jobs are conducted. This is the work of a master story-teller who seems to get better with each novel.

I enjoy the NCIS Novels by Mel Odom. His characters are human...forgiven but not perfect...at least as long as they're on this earth.

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Commander Will Coburn lost his marriage due to the demands of his job. Now, he hopes he won't become estranged from his teenage children as well, but his job puts a huge responsibility on him. He must first lead his team to track down an apparent kidnap victim--a teenage girl with problems of her own. While investigating the kidnapping, though, Will and his NCIS team finds evidence of another crime--a long-ago murder of a marine. Since the marine was still in the service when he was killed, this is definitely NCIS business.

The more Will pushes the investigation, the more layers he peels back. But there's political pressure for him to back off, especially when the Will turns up evidence that a long-solved crime might not have been solved after all. The victim's step-father is now a congressman who's very much in a position to make life miserable for Will and the entire NCIS. Meanwhile, one of Will's most important team members, pathologist Nita Tomlinson, is desperately trying to protect herself from pain--in the worst way possible.

Will has his faith to turn to, but Nita long before rejected faith. In fact, it's her inability to live up to the trust her husband puts in her that frustrates Nita most.

Author Mel Odom delivers a high-quality thriller. Although we can guess the identity of the criminal at the heart of Will's troubles fairly quickly, Odom delivers plenty of twists and turns as Will searches for the evidence that will let him go after even the most powerful. Odom's experience in criminal investigations shows through clearly, allowing him to involve us as readers in the case--without ever sounding like he's giving us lectures.

BLOOD EVIDENCE is published by Tyndale, a religious publisher, and faith is an important element in the story. Odom walks the balance carefully, however, making the story enjoyable as a pure thriller for those who may not be as firmly rooted in faith as Tyndale's normal audience. Resolution of the Nita subplot does, however, sometimes get a bit heavy on the faith side. I appreciated, however, that Odom was careful to let us know that the powerful congressman was a member of the conservative party--evil lies in men, not in particular institutions.

Excellent book for travel to BC. We have used other Moon Books on travel and have been very pleased with all of them

This was the first of the Moon books I'd ever used and I was very impressed. There was a ton of useful information on general Canadian travel, but the bulk of the book is devoted to the various regions and the best of what there is to see and do. In places like Vancouver, where there are lots of museums, he discusses these; on Vancouver Island he tells all you'll need to know about water activities; in the Okanagan Valley he chooses his favorite wineries, etc. I'd been to BC previously, but visited a few great spots that I wouldn't have found without this book. The author concentrates on 3 or 4 places to stay and a similiar number of restaurants in each town and he has obviously done his research well as I couldn't find fault with the recommendations that cover all price ranges.

Also importantly, the book is very well organized and the maps were very helpful. I also liked the thorough bibliography.

I know of no better book to my home province of British Columbia than this Moon guide. On my travels as a semi-retired geologist, I also carry copies of the Lonely Planet and Frommer's book and have reviewed both of them and others at Amazon.com, but Moon Handbooks British Columbia stands alone for its usefulness. The other books have their good points, but this one encapsulates everything one needs to enjoy the wonders of the province, whether it's their first trip or they live here. It covers every single corner of BC and is thorough and up to date.

The Moon guide is cleverly written and arranged to appeal to all budgets. The bulk of the text relates to towns and parks of BC, with informative coverage of everything from museums to fishing opportunities and wildlife viewing. Each section ends with details of the best places to stay and recommendations for dining. If you're camping out or RVing I'd suggest also getting a campground guide, but the Moon book suggests at least one campground in each town, each of which the author has obviously visited. Motels are also detailed, and over previous editions I'm yet to find fault with the author's choices. Ditto for bed and breakfasts and restaurants.

In my opinion, thois is definitely the best allround guidebook for British Columbia

This is indeed a terrific guidebook for B.C. Previous editions, however, included Banff and Jasper National Parks, which admittedly are in Alberta, not B.C., but are usually included in Canadian Rockies travel itineraries. There's no excuse including Yoho (which is just over the border) but not Banff and Jasper, except to sell more books. So this is not an improvement.

I've used Moon Handbooks for years and they are simply the best! I have the Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Alberta, and now the British Columbia book, and I've never been disappointed. These books include the usual stuff, such as lodging, restaurants, and recreation, but they also include local history and cultural information that makes them far superior to most guides. Buy a Moon Handbook that covers the state you live in--you will be surprised at how much you can learn. If you're going traveling, they are indispensable.

I buy one of these for all my new puppy families. It's complete, updated, lots of photos and very helpful information about the breed and dogs in general. A must for every first time Cavalier owner!

Great book to have before purchasing this breed of dog. There are alot of things people need to know before finding a breeder for Cavalier King Charles.

This book by Norma Moffat is excellent! I decided to buy another Cavalier puppy as a result!

D. Woods's Amazon Review of this book describes this book very well. We've lived with Clive, our black and tan Cavalier, for two and a half years, and haven't found one error in the book. The author is clearly an experience breeder, and describes this type of dog very well in easy to understand language.

I'm writing this Review to emphasize a point the author makes; this breed gains weight very easily, particularly if the dog is castrated or spayed. It's partly the pleading eyes and loving personality, but it must also be in the genes. Clive and I take three to five mile walks a couple of times a week, and yet he can put on two pounds in a week.

Our vet suggested that slowing Clive's eating would help him maintain a healthy weight. We tried putting rocks and later tennis balls in his food bowl, but he quickly learned to extract the impediments and scarf down his food. The Brake-Fast Small Dog Food Bowl looked like a joke gift, but in fact it is amazingly effective.

Clive has to work for at least a minute to work around the prongs and finish every last morsel. The bowl can be put on a mat so it won't move, but it takes him even longer to eat when he pushes the bowl around our kitchen floor. We've also added a bit of egg white and microwaved the bowl for a few seconds to "glue" the food in place. The result:

Brake-Fast Small Dog Food Bowl: $[...]

King Charles Cavalier Spaniel: $[...]

Watching Clive growling with frustration as he pushes his bowl around the floor: Priceless

This is an excellent well rounded book written by someone who really knows and loves the breed. It is a hardcover with 144 pages of good information and great photos. If you are new to the breed and are getting only one book, this is the one to buy. It covers almost everything you can think of, although doesn't cover breeding much because serious breeders and exhibitors discourage people from breeding dogs, which they believe is best left to the people who know the breed standards and health concerns.

Crwon Me is a funny and insightful novel about a kooky kid and even kookier classmates. It had me in stitches. Kids will love this!

I know that I am just a lowly Amazon.com reviewer and that the things I write make little to no impact on the wider world around me. Even so, I feel hesitant to read and review a children's book when I learn that it is some perfectly nice author's very first novel. They must be so proud. To have put all that effort into a title. To watch it grow beneath your fingers and become something new and different. To have it molded and shaped by a variety of editors, friends, and advisors. To have it published by a big ole publisher like Holiday House. Then, finally, to watch it ripped into tiny shreds at the hands of some two-bit Amazon.com reviewer who probably wouldn't know the next great kid's book if it came up and bit them on the ... well, you get the idea. After reading the first half of "Crown Me!", these were my thoughts. I found myself worrying. How was I going to write a review of this book when it so obviously still needed work? To my utter relief, however, the second half of the story more than made up for the first. So while this is not the best children's book of 2004, and while the author probably has a ways to go before she can be said to be the next great voice in kiddie lit, there's promise here. Real promise.

Some kids want run for President when they grow up. Then there's Justin Davies. He doesn't want to just run for President. He wants to BE President. And now, thanks to his history teacher Mr. Bailey, he has a chance to be the next best thing. King. When Justin and his rival Andrea Carey are pronounced King and Queen for two weeks, they're both delighted. Sure Mr. Bailey keeps saying that this'll teach some kind of a lesson to them all, but all Justin can think is that this is the perfect way to get the attention he needs for an eventual run as fifth-grade student council president. Problem is, being a king isn't all it's cracked up to be. His friends keep getting mad at him when he won't favor them, he keeps making impossible promises that he can't keep, and now the school bully, Badger, is challenging him to a joust. It ain't easy being king, but somebody's gotta do it. Justin just needs to learn how.

When I first began reading, I felt I recognized the author's voice in this book. It sounded oddly familiar. After a couple more pages, I realized that lay is a dead ringer for Bruce Hale (author of the oh-so popular "Chet Gecko" series for younger folks). Take out a couple of Gecko's bad puns (and give them all to "Crown Me!"'s bully villain) and you've got a mighty similar writer on your hands. Lay is a bit too prone towards putting bad or corny jokes in the mouths of her characters. The bully spouts overused phrases like, "I'm going to punch you into next week" and "I'd be just as happy to squash two wimps for the price of one". When you begin the book, things like this are particularly prominent. Justin, our hero, is not especially likable and his friends are even less so. It's mighty difficult to believe that he would still want to be friends with them when they repeatedly betray him, get mad at truly tiny slights, and cowardly abandon him at the worst times. The first few chapters of the book were so depressing, in fact, that I had to make myself keep reading.

Then it got better. Once Lay's really into the story, the writing becomes crisper and the satire sharper. By the time Justin's campaign for fifth-grade presidency is in full swing, Lay somehow manages to give the book the thrill of an actual election. Kids reading this book will honestly be on the edges of their seats as they wait to hear the final verdict. I also loved the character of Willie, Justin's unwanted knight errant and remarkably adept campaign manager. Any scene in which a kid shows his love of presidential advisors by keeping a picture of Orville Freeman (Kennedy's secretary of agriculture) on his desk has my instant love. There are still loose ends left dangling by the story's close (we never learn what happens to the ficus that Justin and his dad continually forget to water) but these are small enough that they shouldn't distract from what ends up being a truly satisfying close.

The obvious pairing of this book would be with, "The Kid Who Ran For President" by Dan Gutman. Also consider giving it out with fellow first-time novel, "Donuthead", by Sue Stauffacher for another look at a kid dealing with dangers and insecurities. "Crown Me!" isn't going to garner too much attention, but it's bound to be adored by those kids who sympathize with Justin and his quest. Lay has an accessible voice and a fun plot here. She's bound to win some fans with this book.

Children's books beg for the gifts of vivid imagination and delightful reading. Kathryn Lay's book, CROWN ME!, has both of these gifts and more. When immersed in the life of Justin, a 5th grade political hopeful, young readers will be entertained while inadvertently learning about attitudes, dealing with others, & politics. Ms. Lay's story, written in 1st person, is presented in a suspenseful and entertaining manner. I congratulate her on a great idea and wish I'd thought of it first.

I LOVED the book! I picked up the book because it looked good and it WAS good. It was funny and serious at the same time. It was funny because of what happened with the characters. The fifth grade class really got into the idea that Justin and Andrea were King and Queen. It was serious because Justin really finds out what it is like to be a leader.
Buy it! It's the best book I ever read!

Justin is a confident, smart, and ambitious 5th grader with great political aspirations. When he and his academic rival are selected to be the king and queen for a class history project, the royal couple's delusions of grandeur threaten both of their campaigns for class president.

Kathryn Lay's delightful middle-grade novel is quite funny, with a charming mix of characters who aren't always what they seem. Cleverly titled chapters add to the fun.

Smokey Dalton leaps off the pages as a smart, moral, and meticulous black detective, who's as real as you and me. The depth of character and plot here is astonishing. And to set the mystery against the backdrop of the 1968 Sanitation workers strike in Memphis is just fascinating. I have never read a more authentically feeling historical mystery. All the characters are well developed, and dialogue is fresh, and the mystery unravels quite naturally. Smokey Dalton takes on an unusual client--Laura Hathaway--a white woman who is curious about her dead parents' past. In addition, her mother's will leaves Smokey $10,000. Intrigued, Smokey, years ago, accepted the same amount from an anonymous source. The book really works because Smokey has a personal stake in this case. What he finds out about Laura's parents will also lead him to uncover his own troubled past. Simply brilliant!

This mystery introduces us to Smokey Dalton, a black private investigator living in troubled Memphis in 1968. Due to the colour of Smokey's skin and the period this is set, the racial issues dealt with are bordering on explosive. This is a remarkable work of fiction that integrates a factual event, that being the days leading up to the assassination of Martin Luther King, jr. It captures the tensions of the day with remarkable clarity and gives us an insight into how the black community of Memphis may have been affected.

The actual mystery part of the story involves a white woman, Laura Hathaway, who walks into Smokey's office one day, demanding to know why her mother would leave Smokey a bequest of $10,000 in her will. Although Smokey doesn't know her or her mother, he has always wondered about a mysterious benefactor who anonymously donated the same amount of money to him ten years ago. Laura decides to hire Smokey to find out about her family background, what secrets they were hiding and how he is involved in it. The results are shocking for the two of them.

This is a private investigator story with a difference; thanks to the time it is set and the fact that the protagonist is black. These two unique factors presents hurdles not faced by the majority of private investigators we read about these days. It's a powerful debut novel that has introduced us to a particularly likable, ethical character. Nelscott told us a great deal about the background of Smokey Dalton, making us sympathetic to his feelings and reactions, yet when I finished the book, I felt as though I wanted to learn more.

This book is one of the best novels I have read this year and has the well-deserved distinction of having been nominated for the Edgar Award for best mystery. The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale is good but I consider Ms. Nelscott's novel to be better.

Her main character is Smokey Dalton, a jack-of-all-trades who also finds work as a private investigator in Memphis, Tennessee. We learn that he was a former school classmate with Martin Luther King, Jr. and he is as happy as he can be living his life. Unfortunately, his world is about to be turned upside-down when he meets Laura Hathaway, who flew all the way from Chicago to look for him. It seems her mother left Smokey an inheritance for $10,000 and she wants to know why her mother willed him that money. He later discovers that Laura has a lot of questions regarding her mother and she hires Dalton to investigate. What Dalton discovers is a sinister connection with Ms. Hathaway that will change their lives forever.

The story takes place during the late sixties when Martin Luther King was active with the sanitation strikes occurring in the South. Dalton experiences prejudice, hatred, violence and turmoil throughout the entire book which in the end will only make him stronger.

Ms. Nelscott does an excellent job in developing this character that keeps the reader entranced to the plot. There is also a story of a little boy whose mother abandoned him and his brother is contributing to his possible delinquency by involving him as a drug courier and making him cut school. Dalton does his best to try to save this boy.

There is so much I would like to say about this book, but it is better if you read it and make up your own minds. You will be glad you did. I am also looking forward to reading Smokey Dalton's next book SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS which is now available.

As a mystery author with my debut novel in its initial release, I was fascinated by A DANGEROUS ROAD. Kris Nelscott has set her novel in Memphis in the days surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. She takes this factual historical mystery and superimposes her own fictional historical mystery on top of it. A intriguing technique in itself, but she doesn't stop there. She introduces a strong potential series lead in Smokey Dalton. In this book, a wealthy woman named Laura Hathaway wants to learn why her mother left Dalton some cash in her will. Dalton realizes this gift is the second significant contribution to him from the Hathaway family. Previously, an attorney delivered him a check from the Hathaways but refused to tell him why. Soon, Mr. Dalton and Ms. Hathaway join forces and launch their joint investigation against the backdrop of a city divided along racial grounds in one of the most chaotic eras of recent American history. Excellent book.

(...)I just want to urge you to find "A Dangerous Road" and read it. You'll be convinced that Kris Nelscott has debuted with a winner. More than "just" a detective/mystery novel, Nelscott has given us real literature about a tragic and heroic figure. If you are tired of waiting for the next, long-overdue installment in Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series, this is the book that will distract you from your misery.

I'm lucky. I learned of Kris Nelscott and this book only recently, so when I finished I was ecstatic to learn that the second installment, "Smoke Filled Rooms" was out in hardback.

Let me give you a clue as to how much I enjoyed this book: After reading "A Dangerous Road" in paperback, I immediately ordered the hardback edition for my library and then ordered "Smoke Filled Rooms" in hardback, too. Most of you devoted readers will understand that such a gesture is high praise indeed. Now I have Smoky Dalton's continuing adventures in my bag, just waiting for the moment I open it and read that first sentence.

All I need now is a visit by Nelscott to a local book store so that I can have my already treasured copies of the product of her art autographed and given a place of honor next to Mr. Mosley's novels (in hardback).