L Books

This is an excellent introduction on patent law basics. I found it extremely easy to read and understand the concepts of patent law. I will use it as a reference guide in my future analysis of patents. I would strongly recommend this book to those individuals not accustomed to reading patents.

I am Japanese. This book is the best for foreign students or professionals who begin to study US patent law. Plain English and clear points. Thank you!

By far the most useful and best written overview of patent law I have found. Very good as both an introduction for those new to the field and a review for those already involved. Good value for money.

As a non-Japanese person, I found this book to be very clear and concise. Serves as a great starting point for someone wanting to learn a great deal about the current state of US patent law.

I read this, along with many other books from amazon on patent law, in order to prepare for the patent bar exam as inexpensively as possible. Well, as they say, you get what you pay for. I ended up not passing. I used OmniPrep to prepare the second time around, and passed with no problem.

This is a very good book for reviewing for the EC-4 Generalist exam. I graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Ed. 15 years ago and am Lifetime certified 1-8. I have taught K in private and 1st in public and am seeking early childhood certification so that I can teach K again in public. I feel confident that this book will be all that I need in order to study for the EC-4 Generalist exam.

I bought this book to study for the EC-4 Texes exam. The test had some of the same study questions that were in this book! So glad I studied! And I passed! :)

THis has been very helpful in preparing me for the TExES test. I recommend it to all

Janice Nath's book is the first textbook I actually read cover to cover. I not only passed the test on my first attempt with a 284 but I learned things I hope to use in my future classroom. The book is set up in sections based on the content areas covered in the test and gives an excellent review of the overwhelming amount of information a grade school teacher needs to know to be an effective teacher. I was really at a loss to know where to start studying for this test as the subject matter was so diverse. This textbook gave me direction. I got it only two weeks prior to taking the test and read every page. If you choose to purchase the book I hope you enjoy it just as much and good luck on the test. In fact I liked it so much I just wrote my first review on Amazon so others nervous about taking the test will get the help they need. :)

This is an excellent, thorough guide to help you prepare for the EC-4 TExES. I looked at several books, but felt like this one had the best information. Though there is not a full practice test, there are practice questions throughout, which are just as (if not more)helpful. Each answer is explained fully (not only why answer A is correct, but why B, C, and D are incorrect).

Several professors contributed to the text, and I know that many others choose it as required reading for their courses.

I made a very high score on the exam, and I owe that score in part to this guide.

After going about six years without reading a traditional anatomy and physiology text, I was surprised at the advanced level that this book has reached, as compared to the texts I read during the first few years of this decade. This book offers numerous resources, from special pathological sections to online excercises. In addition, every chapter offers highly detailed diagrams and little tidbit sections to help students better understand the material. Thus, no matter what type of learner you are, this book will offer a way to learn the text that totally fits your style. For those who learn better by seeing and listening, the online material will be helpful and the diagrams in the book are quite comprehensive. For those who learn better by simply reading the text, this book provides the material in regular paragraphs, charts, and advanced diagrams. Finally, for those who are already familiar with the material, and just need a quick review, the end of each chapter has a comprehensive, but terse summary of the material.

I have found this book very helpful, it has a ton of useful information on medical conditions, as well as the general A&P information.

This is a great textbook, mind you I have about 5 others just like it so to say that this is the one I prefer to use- it's a BIG deal. It gives you the 360 of everything in a way that you can understand. WELL DONE!

I love this book. It goes an extra mile into helping students understand the concept of human anatomy. I will keep it for future references.

This text really is a fantastic resource for someone beginning studies in medicine or medicine-related fields. Clear, precise illustrations, with the right amount of detail for the first year of a course, enable quick learning of the basic principles of structure and function. It is also written very well, set out sensibly, and provides clinical correlations to remind the student how the principles they are learning relate to clinical situations. Highly recommended.

Yes, I'm biased. Despite my connection with the authors, I truly promise a fine read. It took me a little over one year to finally finish the book because of my emotional connection. It's really tough to relive some of the most difficult moments of my life. I guess you did your job--reader pathos. Awesomely done, Dad & Krissy!

This book is fabulous. A great introduction to the art and science of paleontology which is easy to follow and reads very warmly. It also tells the maddening story of a justice system gone absolutely berzerk. It is a fascinating example of how a handful of horrible judges, attorneys, agents, and other ne'er-do-wells can ruin lives. It really makes you shake you head in disbelief that this could have possibly happened in OUR country only a few years ago.

"Rex Appeal" is the amazing story of one of the most significant fossil discoveries in the last fifty years. The story of "Sue" the fossil Tyrannosaurus Rex discovered by Peter Larson's associate Susan Hendrickson spins a web of intrigue from the moment the dinosaur's bones are discovered. With splashy headlines and national press coverage "Sue" becomes the darling of science, then the bane of Larson.
The landowner from whom the fossil was "bought" cries foul. Maurice Williams who is one eighth Lakota Sioux had put his land in trust with the United States Government. When Williams realizes the fossil may be worth many multiples of the $5000 he was paid for its excavation, the United States Government gets involved and when that happens it makes an IRS audit look like a toddler's birthday party.
The problem for Larson is that he is not strictly a scientist, but has established a for-profit organization called the Black Hills Institute. Not to say that Larson has nothing to contribute scientifically to the study of dinosaurs. His science is outstanding by current standards. But, the government suspects that Larson has nefarious intentions and pursues him with the fury of, well, of a pissed off T.Rex.
"Sue" is seized by the FBI and the South Dakota National Guard and the ensuing legal battle is extremely one-sided, according to Larson of course. He is confronted with an over-zealous prosecutor and a biased judge. Without hearing the other side of the story it's impossible to pass judgement on the veracity of the case against Larson. But it is safe to say that the judge in the case certainly defied all logic when he declared "Sue" real estate. 65 million year old bones hardly qualify as real estate, especially if the landowner was paid a handsome sum for their retrieval.
In the end Larson winds up in prison for nearly two years, his marriage to co-author Kristin Donnan dissolves, and his Institute is nearly bankrupt. Somehow Larson manages to emerge at the other end of the tunnel a changed man. He still pursues fossils with vigor after learning what many who have gone before him could have told him, "you can't fight City Hall".
The only criticism of the book is the complete lack of any intimations about Larson's relationship with co-author and ex-wife Kristin Donnan. Donnan is a free-lance writer who covers the "Sue" story and eventually falls in love with, and marries Larson. There is nothing in the book about their affairs. Whether that is intentional or not it would have at least contributed something to the story and clarified some of the events.
In all the book is highly recommended. Larson's theories about T.Rex and other issues related to dinosaurs are well thought out and informative. This book is a must for all us amateur paleontologists who can't get off our couches to go out west to do a little digging ourselves.

This is not just another dinosaur book. It is not just another dinosaur book with some fascinating facts about T-rex. This is THE book about T-rex by one of the foremost authorities on this bad boy of the Cretaceous.

Peter Larson's intimate knowledge of this beast comes from excruciatingly hard-earned experience. While it is a recounting of the nightmare saga surrounding the Sue specimen, it is also a manifest of the current thinking regarding T-rex, its lifestyle, and place in prehistory. Despite his own grievous experiences with the legal system, there is no self-pity in Mr. Larson's book. He simply states the facts as he knows them to be, as any researcher worth his salt should.

An A+ all the way.

I found reading Rex Appeal to be highly entertaining and informative book. I learned quite a bit about the people who dig dinosaurs and about the T-Rex itself. The author's legal problems smack with pure malice by the justice department. I wondered why such a thing was allowed to go as far as it did. Highly readable book, it revealed the world of paleontology and its rewards and risks. I wonder if Judge Battey can look in his mirror and see a honest man?

Very well done. We enjoyed listening to it. The narrator did an excellent job of making the story come alive.

The book Doesn't lack for action and it is a well written book. The one thing they could of done to make it better than it is. Was have men or a man do the male readings for the book. Miss Rose did a very good job with the female parts but was lacking when it came to the male parts in the book.

This one is, in my opinion, probably the weakest Sackett story so far. I admitt I am new to Louis Lamour (relatively). I have read 9 of his books so far and I enjoy them very much and continue to read more. The Sackett series are a special lot but I was not overly excited about this particular one. It is worth reading, I guess, like any other Louis Lamour, but I would put this one off because there are many more exciting ones than this.
Still a Lamour fan

Louis L'Amour writes like a girl, and when he's telling the story of 16-year-old Echo Sackett, that's an excellent thing to do. Echo leaves her mountain home in 1840 to claim an unexpected inheritance in the City of Philadelphia, and the story is principally about her efforts to outwit and outfight the criminals who want to make sure she doesn't get back to the mountains with what is rightfully hers.

Echo, every inch the lady, has spunk and smarts enough to go with the knife she calls her "Arkansas Toothpick." Being a Sackett, she also has a lively sense of her family history. As in most L'Amour books, the Sackett ethos -- help your kin at any cost -- is on full display here. I also enjoyed the book because it includes a free black man and a gallant city boy, not to mention serious villains. Their adventures, and reactions to them, are true to the time and place of which they're part.

It's also worth noting that the moral code that suffuses this book -- the idea that doing good deeds is like scattering bread on the water -- is L'Amour's version of what author Catherine Ryan Hyde would famously call "Pay it Forward" many years later.

In short, on the river or off of it, Echo Sackett is good company, and not just another pretty face. She reminds me of a family friend who ignored the unspoken navy blue dress code to interview for an elementary school teaching job wearing a lime-green skirt and matching Eisenhower jacket. You'll enjoy this story even if you haven't had the good fortune of knowing a young woman of such character.

Echo Sackett is one of the few women mentioned of the family. She is young, but she is a better shot than her brothers. Echo is also a strong female character who still aspires to be ladylike and not masculized.

But she still knows to "expect Higginses" when she finds she is due an inheritance and travels alone to retrieve it. Fortunately, being a woman is an advantage in a world of men who will underestimate her abilities.

I admire L'Amour for writing such a strong, young female character. Girls may become interested in reading westerns after their introduction to Echo Sackett.

This book will really help you know and understand the different types of worship that people experience. Like the "love languages" many have learned about, I would say this explains the various "worship languages".

This book is valuable in both self discovery and in communicating with other Christians. When speaking with others they give clues to their dominate pathways thus, an insight of where they are 'coming from'.

If you are trying to find a way to connect better with God, then this little guide may point you in the right direction.

Thomas provides a keen analysis of the various pathways we use to relate to God. He also provides insights that all believers need if they are to be tolerant of other peoples pathways. This is a much needed resource for those experiencing a disconnect due to changing worship styles. Traditionalists can better understand those desiring a contemporary experience and "Contemporaries" would be well-served to seek understanding of the validity of the traditionalist's preferences.

Having already read Thomas' "Sacred Marriage," I had extremely high expectations for this book, and I would say that they were largely met. Gary Thomas manages to write in a style that is both intellectual and personal, challenging the reader to ponder at a deeper level than many Christian books while never allowing his style to seem distant or arrogant. It's a tricky balance, but Thomas manages to strike that balance.

"Sacred Pathways" sets out to establish the reality that Christians do not naturally connect to God in identical ways and that this is not only acceptable but part of God's plan. It's the type of message that many of us need to hear, as we play the dangerous game of comparing our spirituality to other esteemed believers and realizing that we don't measure up to them. Thomas instructs us to consider that we are not meant to try to mirror anyone else's walk with God. Rather, we need to identify how we have been created and head down that "sacred pathway" with all diligence to "cultivate and grow" our relationship with God.

Thomas managed to tell very personal stories from his own life about every one of the nine sacred pathways, while managing to explain which ones came more or less naturally for him. This articulates the crucial point that though we may be bent toward one pathway more so than another, none of us have the right to ignore any of these sacred pathways as somehow irrelevant in our lives.

One particularly commendable component of Thomas' writing is his respect for the history of the church, and he constantly refers to our spiritual predecessors to gather their thoughts from the past centuries on so many different topics. What a refreshing approach to contemporary Christian writing! How much richer would the spiritual vitality of the church be if we were able to better learn from the past two thousand years of collective wisdom and experience?

I look forward to reading more of Gary Thomas' books. I would recommend "Sacred Pathways" to any Christian interested in learning more about the diverse ways that God has created us to seek after Him.

I can not get enough of Burton Silverman and this book was just what I needed.
I just flip open a page and study how he pulls it off, great painting that is.
I have not read the whole book, just little bits here and there.
But I sure have looked at all the pretty pictures and so should any one who likes B. Silvermans work.
Barry

You will have to admire the works of Burt Silverman presented in this well designed compilation of his work. I have followed his work for years and he's just one of those magical craftsmen that makes me just shake my head in wonder when I see what he can do with a paint brush. He is certainly one of the best artist of our age. If you love art in the realist format, you will be well pleased with this book and with Mr. Silverman's work. This one is a "keeper".

This is the story of a man's quest for truth in art in spite of a country's infatuation with its new found Modern Art. I found the book to be BEAUTIFUL, COMPELLING, ILLUMINATING, and INSPIRING...filled with IMAGES OF the LOVE that Mr Silverman has for his subjects, his kind & curious Humanist "take" on the World, and his incredible volume of awe inspiring work. He has crossed the barriers of "illustration" showing us that Art is Art when "spoken" by the true voice.

Most people who would buy this book are already familiar with Burton Silverman's paintings. The book is no disappointment; the reproductions are large and sensitive to color nuances, on heavy paper, and there are a lot of them. There are short essays by Silverman about each painting which show an honest, contemplative mind at work. It's not a how-to book; there's no pedantic bloviating, just a humble, intelligent man describing the circumstances behind each picture. At first I pegged Silverman as one of those East Coast types who paint their Greenwich Village friends sitting still with expressionless faces and vacant stares. It all seemed too academic, lacking action and vigor, like most modern art. But his understanding of color and composition is undeniable, and the personalities he depicts grow on you. They are of the type of person who can be found in artist's lofts, in front of Folger's coffee cans full of paintbrushes, wearing sweaters and spectacles, New York academics and intellectuals who go to poetry readings, listen to Public Radio, and fret about the fate of the Rosenbergs. He's a world traveller, so he has other types of people, too, but he seems to know all of them personally, and doesn't just paint anonymous models. Though his work is a little tame compared to the kind of entertainment industry stuff I'm interested in, commercial illustrators could learn a lot from Silverman's penetrating eye and calm, balanced judgement.

Just a few lines (as I chose to write below) to be an 'unhelpful' review.

My fingers wiggle when seeing the drawings. My nerve cells tingle trying to process/digest/analyze color combinations in the paintings, and half of me trying to get off the chair and get to the easel to "mix 'em colors".

Some body, catch me! I am falling... in love.

The LRRPS did. Time and time again the long-range-reconnaissance-patrols went out to "see" and not be "seen", and sadly, some individuals wouldn't return home.

This is fantastic series of books covering the history and evolution of the LRRPS/LRPS/RANGERS during the Vietnam War.

Rey Martinez, Kenn Miller, and Gary Linderer interviewed a great number of the surviving members of the LRRPS/Rangers to bring their history alive. While some members were able to tap into their memories, others wouldn't touch the pain from long ago. The authors did a terrific job bringing the histories together for a strong narrative.

If anything, I found myself wanting to know more! What were they thinking? What were you feeling? I'm sure much ended up on the "editing room floor".

The "SIX SILENT MEN" books are a very honest account if the units actions. They're packed with adventure and daring. While reading their books, I was filled with tension and dread, other times I had to laugh aloud, and a few times I became misty-eyed. You feel for the teams as they "will" themselves to become invisible while on patrol.

Don't be mis-lead by a negative review. The reviewer misquoted the book. This I know since I pulled my copy off the shelf and checked the text. The reviewer claims the authors are liars --- NOT SO. A great number of books on the Vietnam War are written very honestly, and the publishers do "Fact Checking" before publishing these books. Read the review by Harold Nealy, who was a LRRP! His testimonial supports this fine series. If these books were embellished tales, then Vietnam Vets who served in the LRRPS/Rangers wouldn't hesitate to post a review here and let the truths be known. As you see this isn't the case.

I have never met a veteran who has panned these books. Never.

If you enjoyed this series, I would also recommend Jim Morris' WAR STORY, John Plasters' SOG, James Rowe's FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM, Larry Chambers RECONDO, and Leigh Wade's TAN PHU.

I had the honor of meeting Kenn Miller, Jim Morris, and John Plaster (and other Vietnam Vets) two years ago. They freely answered my questions. I was going to `buy a round' when one of them said, "Put your money away kid." I was 33, and that gathering was enjoyed by all.

Read the books. You won't be disappointed! God Bless and Attack life!

This work is all that is to be expected from a sequel to the first "Six Silent Men". I was not let down, as I so often am, with some of the small unit contact books. This work was all that I expected. The action was close to non stop. The depictions of contact were thrilling and heart stopping. I was with and rooting for the teams all the way. This book, as was its precursor,is top notch. After having read circa 110 books about this subject, you may take my word for this book's being an interesting read.

I highly recommend any & all of Gary Linderer's books; all are packed with great recollections of our brave fighting men in Vietnam, and are fast reads. Once you start this book (Vol 3), you'll find it very hard to put down. Reading Vols 1 & 2 are not necessary, as each is a stand-alone account.

I have enjoyed all of Mr Linderer's publications, and can recommend this one as well without hesitation. You won't be disappointed!

Excellent piece of writing from a guy who served with the team. As a UK reader, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the 101st LRRPs/Rangers in Vietnam.

...This book is, as well as the others by Linderer an interesting recollection of his own experiences as well as experiences of others. Spend the bucks and you won't get disappointed. Try reading his other books to get a good sum of what he and his teammates experienced during Vietnam.
Don't let yourself be blamed by such [bologna]. I mean, the war is long gone, Linderers and Chambers books are a recollection of their feelings, thoughts and experiences. Truly and honestly written. The way I understood it, this book and the other books aren't a recollection of commo details or other things. These are facts of men fighting a war not REMFs ... spitting on a good job and being jealous about what they could do. So buy this book or the others by Linderer and you will understand a lot more.

A young girl, Skye Dancer, has to live with the torment of losing her mother at an early age. Raised by her father, Skye is lonely, drawn to once place to seek comfort. Lake Odawa brought peace to Skye. She never knew why.

As time passes, Skye encounters a man named Charlie Crane, "prospector." Skye had an eerie feeling when around him, but never knew why. She never knew Charlie abducted her mother, and held her captive in a cave. Charlie is a killer, someone who is not pleasant to be around.

Ms. Pinord did a fantastic job, plotting and revealing secrets in Skye Dancer. It is a page turner, one that I did not want to put down. It is very suspensful and will make you want to read more. Just when you think you have reached the ending, Ms. Pinord slips in more a little more suspense.

Author Lila Pinord uses the pages of Skye Dancer to spin an eerie tale. Her descriptions of the old man, a recluse, Charlie Crane leave you looking over your shoulder at every person with watery eyes and coveralls. The backdrop of Washington State and misty-gray Lake Odawa create the perfect canvas as your mind draws the pictures. The pictures turn into a story that leave you anxious, sad, and terrified all within just a few pages. I recommend this book. Be prepared to read it straight through. You won't want to put it down.
P. J. Grondin

All I can say is WOW. I finished this adventure tale in two readings. Lila Pinord's writing style is so descriptive that I found myself watching the story unfold from within the covers of the book. I felt that I was walking, talking and walking with the characters as well as sharing their fears, anguish and joys. I actually feared the morbid behaviour of serial killer Charlie Crane throughout the entire novel. The ending was spun with adventurous twists and dangers that lurked behind every bend. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I actually shed a tear at the warm family ending. After reading this suspenseful tale, it will be a long, long time before I walk in the woods alone or enter a cave again.

Lila Pinord is a wonderful lady who looks and is one of the sweetest persons on earth...who just has the ability to scare the reader to the point of sleeping with the lights on for a month...
In each of Ms. Pinord's books, the Native Americn culture is almost a character. Indeed Ms. Pinord was raised on the Quinnault Indian Reservation in Washington, and grew up learning what most cultures have forgotten to do to their descendents, their cultures' history.
In Skye Dancer she creates one nasty villian, Charlie Crane. He is this creepy man who hangs around Lake Odawa...he gives everyone the creeps..
One day. long ago, a beautiful young Native American woman, Jessie Dancer, disappears. In those days, sometimes women were taken from other tribes as wives, but she didn't have that fate. Charlie Crane confused Jessie with a long lost woman in his life. He tries to make a home with Jessie - but she fights and will not talk to him.
She then switches tactics and starts to be nice, and tries to run away only to be thrown into a pit like an animal.
Years later, Jessie's oldest daughter Skye becomes a part of the solution to the mystery by the help of her friends and the love of her mother.
The ending is one of the most beautiful and spiritual I have read in a long time.
Love and spirit comquer evil - may take a while...but...
An excellent read - all of Lila Pinord's books are excellent.

take... one part of a picture book - like description from someone who is obviously in close contact with Mother Nature, two parts of devilish wrong doings, experienced and vividly explained by blood related women, three parts of instances where the native American gift of `envisioning' adds to the mystery, four parts of cold blooded killings from a man who calls himself a ...WHAT?...a Prospector... and countless parts of spine tingling chills and you end up with a wonderful, scary, well told tale.

I might be off here or there on my measurements but let me tell you; the ingredients are what count.
In Skye Dancer, Lila L. Pinord has brought together the right recipe for a story I can only describe with words previously used by reviewers: creepy and hair - raising.

I enjoyed this tale very much, however; and I can NOT recommend it to be read....in the dark with JUST a reading light...

Rebecca Lerwill, author of 'Relocating Mia'.

Snow Moon Rising is an intimate glimpse of the seasons of Mischka Gallo's life. From her happy childhood, in spite of social injustice and bigotry against the Roma people (derogatorily referred to as Gypsies), Mischka maintains her innocence through her mid-teens. Only later does reality harden her. She displays a zest for life and heroic strength, believing that, "Everyone should feel the love, enjoy the exhilaration life afforded... [O]ver time she came to realize that each soul needs its own private place and solitude to nourish both joy and pain" (p. 2). It is this optimism that allows Snow Moon Rising to inspire us, rather than let us be defeated by the malice Mischka faces.

Many fictional stories are based on the atrocities of Hitler during World War II, but Lori L. Lake uses an uncommon perspective, telling the story from the Roma and German point of view, and then adding a refreshing twist. Without gratuitous sex or violence, Lake succeeds in writing an emotionally charged, action-packed, and authentic story. Her tight, crisp narrative flows seamlessly as Mishka, at eighty, recounts her life's experiences to her fifteen-year-old grandson, Tobar. As the events unfold, it's easy to imagine her world. Mischka says to Tobar, "I don't want to end your childhood with sad stories, but remember, after darkness there is always light. Just like after the moon disappears, the sun always rises" (p. 5). Throughout Lake's novel, the theme that resonates most isn't the bleakness you might expect, but rather, is hopeful.

The relationship between Mischka and Pauline Stanek (Pippi), as friends and lovers, spans seventy-one years. Pippi is the sister of a wounded AWOL German soldier, Emil. The Roma clan adopted Emil when Mischka was a child, and he became a beloved cousin of Mischka. It is through Emil, that Mischka and Pippi meet for the first time. The connection and kinship they feel is immediate. The two young girls make a vow to remain friends, forever bonded by heart, spirit, and soul. It seems theirs was an unlikely union, considering that homosexuality was considered a sin and punishable by death and both women end up on opposite sides during the war. Pippi knew Hitler to be the madman that he was, but what choice did she have when the Third Reich summoned her and ordered her to serve at a labor camp? One wonders how many unwilling German guards and soldiers were as much a victim of the war as the prisoners.

Snow Moon Rising is a page-turner because Lake carefully balances the storyline, choosing only the scenes that move the plot along. The immediacy and transparency, as the story unfolds, allows the reader to engage both emotions and intellect. The reader not only understands the horrid situation--but also feels deeply along with Mischka, her people, and Pippi as well. The narrative summaries don't lecture, but rather convey feelings, making the scenes compelling. This reviewer imagines what it must have been like in Mischka's camp: the sounds, the smells, the tastes. Even though written in English, you feel like they are speaking a foreign language, without having to sift through a lot of cumbersome dialect. The Roma and German phrases add to the story and set the tone for readers who are fluent in any language.

One would think it depressing to be Mischka in those days. A Roma woman was like chattel without civil rights; however, to watch Mischka before she was forced into marriage, and later, thrown into a concentration camp, she was the light in a dark world. She maintained her dignity in the face of inhumane treatment as her means to fight the enemy. The way Lake captures the heart of this admirable woman is the reason Snow Moon Rising reminds this reviewer of a photograph. Mischka thinks, "Memories surfaced, and pictures rose up from hidden recesses, not in the sepia tones she so often remembered, but stark, bright, vital, and as colorful as modern photographs" (p. 5). This is a fair description of how Lake tells, and shows, Mischka's story with clear and vivid detail, which remain bright despite her often dismal surroundings.

With an impressive bibliography at the back of the book, Lake's extensive research is rewarded by the vivid and heart-rending account of what life was like for the Roma "Gypsies" during WWII. Snow Moon Rising is easily Lori Lake's most accomplished work to date. The novel has already won the Alice B. Reader's Appreciation Award 2007 and is nominated for numerous other accolades. Fans of fiction containing historical truth will cherish this novel, and it would be a fine addition to any library.

Popular lesbian author Lori L. Lake has always been the consummate craftsperson, but she comes of age in this haunting, terrifying and ultimately splendid novel of the persecution of the Roma people in Nazi Europe. Although the protagonist, Mischka Gallo and Pippi Stanek share a love that lasts for decades, this is not your typical lesbian romance. Lake has her eyes set this time on a higher plane, and she realizes it in one of those rare lgbt novels that deserves the label, "literature," and that will have you alternately shivering in fear, crying with the pain of the oppressed which she so vividly captures, and laughing with delight at Mischka's indomitable spirit. Solidly researched, with come-to-life characters and the sort of detail that says, "You are there," this is the kind of writing that transcends labels.

Victor J. Banis, Author of COME THIS WAY

Lori Lake has a gift. It's not so much about constructing sentences that call attention to the writer. No, Lake pretty much vanishes behind her prose. And that's a good thing, especially in this compelling historical love story that spans two World Wars and the horrors of the Nazi "work" camps. Lake creates two indelible women, Mischka and Pippi, who, from the very beginning of the book, creep into your heart and stay there, making Snow Moon Rising nearly impossible to put down. It's obvious Lake has great love for her characters and the magic she works is that she transfers that love to you, her reader. Lake has written a moving story that transcends genre and touches our hearts and minds with a very universal message about the persistance of love and human connection, even in the face of terrifying odds.

This is not the most tightly written novel you'll buy, but it has a big heart and I, for one, take my hat off to any lesbian author who's willing to write more than a cheesy romance. I won't describe the plot , since other reviewers have already done that, but I will just say that I felt very drawn into this story. It's quite a long one and should be read over a few days so that there is time to take in the full detail. But Ms. Lake writes with great feeling about the plight of the "Gypsies" during World War II. I was really touched by the enduring love of Pippa and Mischka and the honest account of their history with all the fascinating insights into the Roma culture. People often forget this was a whole population that also fell victim to the Nazis. This book is not a romance. It's a rare exception amongst the books normally published for lesbian readers, a strong story about human struggle and right and wrong. There are fancier books out there set in this terrible period of history, but most of them do not have lesbian characters. This one does and it is well worth your time to read.

Mischka Gallo was born with a vivid spirit--and that's a good thing. Her life is anything but easy--first growing up among the Roma in a traveling caravan in Poland and Germany, then marrying an abusive man, being sent to a 'work camp,' and finally coming to America with little more than her name. Mischka's spirit refuses to be cowed by circumstance or by man. She meets the love of her life at a young age but it takes many years for her to accept that this love is beyond anything she's familiar with.

Pauline "Pippi" Stanek is a meek woman on the outside, but a fighter inside. She first meets Mischka when her brother marries into the Roma clan. Though Pippi is a few years older, the two become instant friends. Due to Mischka's vagabond life and Pippi's more traditional one, they don't see one another often, but when they do, their friendship remains intact.

The story is told through a series of remembrances and begins with an elderly Mischka talking to her grandson about his name, Tobar, and about the importance of family and tradition.

Mischka's life is not an easy one. The Roma are looked down upon, feared, and in some cases despised, but held true to their traditions and to one another. This is the heritage Mischka wants young Tobar to understand, and in the telling, she reveals much about her own beliefs. Mischka tells about her own youth, remembers her marriage and her family, and doesn't gloss over her difficulties. She embodies the idea that one can triumph over any adversity.

Pippi and Mischka's most poignant meeting is at the work camp. Pippi is 'drafted' into service as a supervisor because she is an exceptional seamstress, while her childhood friend Mischka is a prisoner. Mischka and the other women she befriends here find subtle ways to survive.

The title comes from the Roma way of naming the months. The Snow Moon rises in November--a time for rituals to banish negativity. Snow Moon Rising is a love story, but not your typical love story.

Armchair Interviews says: A story where hope, sense of family and love shine through.