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Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family (Fork and Spoon Field Guides) (Fork and Spoon Field Guides)
Published in Perfect Paperback by Mancala Publishing, LLC (2007-06-15)
Authors: Pamela Gould and Eleanor P. Taylor RN CDE
List price: $16.95
New price: $10.64
Used price: $10.65

Average review score:

Not what I expected, either!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-18
I read the reviews before buying this and thought it would be great. My 3 yr old is overweight and I needed some ideas to eat more healthy. If you already know much about eating healthy, a lot of the things in this book you will already know. I really bought it for the menu items to cook things she would enjoy eating. There really weren't very receipes. If you are buying it as a cookbook, I would think twice. It did have some good tips, but it isn't a book I'll be using every day to help think of dinner ideas.

Excellent system!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-19
My daughters and I have really enjoyed this book. The book's "field guide" approach makes it easy to read and understand. My ten year-old makes the snacks with the recipes provided. We love this hassle free system to feeding the kids! Thank you!

LOVE this book!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-27
I found this book while looking for some healthy recipes that my kids (2 & 4) would eat. It turned out to be much more than just recipes- it has changed the way our family eats- for the better! It has an easy to follow six-week plan, which I think is brilliant, because you can gradually add in healthy items and the kids don't even notice that they're eating healthier. The plan is also very flexible- you do what works for your family. I don't want to completely ban treats, but I know that for the most part we are eating healthy, so I don't mind us having some special treats now and then. It has some great recipes in it, too. I just think it is a great book for any parent to have and I highly recommend it! My family is well on it's way to a healthier diet and the kids enjoy the food, too.

An asset to any family and every kitchen
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-01
This book is an absolute asset to any family and of course to every kitchen! This is the book to get for all those who are bogged down in the never ending cycle of work, home, extra murals, not knowing even what to shop for half the time, tired and bored with food and no new ideas on getting your family back on track and eating the way you should be eating. I have two kids, I work, I run a business, my schedule is never ending and I'm totally out of food ideas. This book has been so refreshing in its non-judgemental and realistic approach to improving your lifestyle and eating habits and getting into a routine and situation that just works! What I would suggest is that if you're looking for recipes as well, to also go ahead and buy a couple of practical kid friendly cook books to draw inspiration from. Go for something that is easy and doesn't require any drawn out preparations - just something to grab and go and cook up in less than an hour. There are some really great recipes in Feeding the Kids, however I feel that more is more and only serve to add to the variety, making life even easier! Meal planning although it can take some time initially is also something to really go for! Buy yourself a journal and spend some time - even over the period of a week or so, preparing a month or even two weeks worth of menus. This way you can photocopy and paste recipes into the journal and have everything you need on hand when you go shopping and are ready to cook. With two weeks worth of recipes and meals you just recycle when you get to the end of it and probably go several months that way too! I found books like sneaky chef and deceptively delicious to be a waste of time and energy - get your kids into the real deal! Quite honestly I think they probably gain more from V8 or fresh smoothies made from real fresh fruit that hasn't been cooked up to hell and gone, pureed and then recooked - probably leaving all the nutrients behind anyway!

Fantastic book!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-11
As a Mom who doesn't enjoy fancy or complicated cooking, I highly recommend this book! The recipes are easy and the menus offer great ideas for pulling together balanced and nutritious meals and snacks. In addition, the nutrition information is presented in a logical, easy to understand way! This book has really turned my family's poor eating habits around!

P
Fly Fast...Sin Boldly
Published in Hardcover by Addax Publishing Group (2000-12)
Author: Bill Jr. Lear
List price: $27.95
New price: $74.99
Used price: $69.59
Collectible price: $95.00

Average review score:

Fly Fast... Sin Boldly - Autobiography of the Son of Bill Lear
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-24
Normally Bill Lear Jr. is described in books about his famous father THE Bill Lear (Learjet) as somewhat a playboy who crashed a lot of planes. Perhaps this is the curse of having a famous father? Bill Lear Jr. has his own say here and comes across a bit of an a@#hole but he did fly a lot of high-performance aircraft, starting from an early age. His experiences doing the early air shows and air races are worth reading about. It was a different time when business deals were a bit loose and so I will give Bill Jr. the benefit of the doubt. Even his military experience is notable. Later in his career he seems to have become a successful aircraft and avionics salesman. Like his father, he had problems/opportunities with women and I lost count after wife #3. I find it a bit strange that he writes very little of his relationships with his children. All in all, a good read about a pilot with opportunity and balls.

A Very Intertaining Book By a Fascinating Writer
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-03
Owning and flying a WW II P-38 Lightning at age 17 is just one of the many episodes of his life that Bill Lear vividly brings back to life in this autobiography of his life. His knowledge of all aspects of aviation, his insight into life and relationships, combined with his great sense of humor, make this a book that is hard to put down once you start reading it. The only thing better than reading about his experiences is to hear him tell about some of them in person and I feel fortunate to have been able to experience that.

Non aviation enthusiasts will enjoy this book as well as aviation enthusiasts. It is a great gift idea and everyone of our friends who have read it have enjoyed it.

Fly Fast Sin Boldly
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-04
A friend loaned me the book. Having been in the aviation field all my life I found the book to be very entertaining. If you are merely an aviation Buff or involved, like I am, you will relate to much of the story. It's a fast read with hilarious anecdotes.

Living History
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-02
A book that once you pick up you can't put down. A wonderful insight into Aviation and the adventures of a truly remarkable man.

A cool book, written from a cool guy !!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-02
A great book from one of the coolest guys I know!!
It is a "must" for anybody, who has something to do with aviation.
I would appreciate it, when this book will be continues published.

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The Golden Ass
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press, USA (1994-07-21)
Author: Apuleius
List price: $58.00
Used price: $72.96

Average review score:

My favorite classic
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-08
This is easily my favorite Classic work of literature. Unlike many of the other classics, such as the Odyssey, Iliad, Aeneid, and others, this book kept my attention the entire time and I couldn't wait to finish. Robert Graves does a tremendous job of translating it into an easily readable version.

great valentine's gift
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-06
book includes the original story of Cupid (Pysche). perfect gift for lovers possessing a sash of intelligence.

An enjoyable and enduring classic
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-23
Apuleius' The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses, is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. Composed in the second century, this picaresque work tells the tale of Lucius, a man whose curiosity in magic and indulgence of sexual pleasures leads him to accidently transform himself into an ass. What follows are the various trials and hardships he endures as well as the tales he hears throughout his travels. It is not until the intervention of the goddess Isis that Lucius is transformed back into a man, and he devotes the rest of his life to her cult.

Apuleius' storytelling is lively, witty, an often sexually explicit. Indeed, many forms of fetish are showcased within the pages, including beastiality. More often than not, the novel indulges readers in their guilty curiosities while also providing hilarious and adventurous prose, with a splash of red-streaked violence thrown in for good measure. However, despite being written nearly two-thousand years ago, what may shock the modern reader most is how approachable and familiar is not only the humor but also the sentiments and sensuality of these Roman characters. It is not difficult to imagine Lucius' world.

The Golden Ass offers readers a romp through ancient Rome through the eyes of a contemporary while also entertaining. It is also a highly revealing documentation of religion and magical belief in Greco-Roman polytheism, and contains the only complete description of the initiation into a Mystery cult. The true essence of the novel is that it is a fable culminating in the religious transformation of the individual and the embrace of salvation (soteria). However, the pagan salvation was not one of the afterlife, but of this life, and involved changing one's perspective of the world and also of life and death. The ass in the ancient world was seen as the most base of animals, an utter slave to its desires, and Lucius' transformation at the end should be read as symbolizing his overcoming of those passions.

The Golden Ass is bawdy and shocking, but also intelligent and satisfying. Graves' translation is fluid and easy to follow. The prose is as enjoyable (and perhaps rewarding) to read today as it no doubt was nearly two-millennia ago.

Humor. Sex. Adventure. Magic.
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-21
Everyone should read The Golden Ass, especially this translation. Just reading it can deepen a person. It's one of those books to be treasured and re-read every few years, finding new insights and humor. The Cupid and Psyche portion is rousing and sly and stands alone. I've given copies as gifts over the years and notice my friends still hang on to them long after.

A wild and entertaining romp of a novel
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-07
This is certainly an entertaining reading experience and Robert Grave's translation makes this 1800 year old novel come to life for modern audiences. The book is full of stories within stories, a device that I found very entertaining and reminded me of the best works of A.S. Byatt. The story within a story approach allowed for multiple wild digressions of the most fantastic types. Stories of magic, murder, rape, incest, poison, bribery, theives, beastiality, orgies, homosexuality, and all other manner of hair-raising encounters populate the multiple stories within stories.

Yet there is certainly a strong central theme and storyline in the plight of poor Lucius, the attorney turned into a donkey. The world and humanity are seen anew through the eyes of an ass.

The book does take one major departure with the longer story of Cupid and Psyche, skillfully told. The book ends with another change of pace when Lucius devotes himself to the gods, especially the goddess Isis/Diana/Artemis, the White Goddess.

I think the book was excellent and would never have survived so many centuries if each age did not find the human condition to be much unchanged despite the wild and wooly tales encountered here.

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Right ho, Jeeves (A Herbert Jenkins book)
Published in Unknown Binding by H. Jenkins (1934)
Author: P. G Wodehouse
List price:
Used price: $15.00

Average review score:

Love and scheming
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-22
If there's one thing Bertie Wooster should never do, it's make elaborate plans to bring estranged lovebirds back together.

And he demonstrates just why in the second full-length Jeeves novel, a screwball disaster saga that sees Bertie confidently trying to fix people's lives. Of course, things go horribly wrong, and Wodehouse's arch, nutty look at what happens next is an absolute gem.

When Aunt Dahlia summons him to Brinkley Court for a prizegiving, Bertie sends his newt-fancying friend Gussie instead -- especially since Gussie is enamoured of a girl staying there, the soppy Madeleine Bassett. But when Bertie hears that his cousin Angela has broken off her engagement to Tuppy Glossop -- and his aunt is in need of money -- he rushes down to assist all his relatives and pals by advising them to feign such sorrow that they're unable to eat.

Unfortunately his plan falls through, and they manages to enrage the cook Anatole to the point where he storms out. Even worse, the prize-giving is a disaster and the wrong people end up engaged -- and pursued by homicidally angry exes. Only Jeeves' formidable brain can somehow save the day -- and Bertie's behind.

P.G. Wodehouse made a pretty good living off of spoofing the upper crust of England, and the subtlely intlligent servants who bail them out. "Right Ho Jeeves" is a prime example of his writing -- some small mistakes rapidly balloon out into a crazy tangled mess, which only an intelligent manservant can rescue Bertie from.

Much of the book's charm comes from its complex plot and series of disasters (such as Tuppy's homicidal rampage). And as usual, poor Bertie finds himself the object of young ladies' affections -- in this case, the appallingly goofy Madeleine thinks he's madly in love with her, when she's not rambling about fairies and bunnies. If there's a flaw, it's that Jeeves' final solution is a bit limp.

But Wodehouse's writing is what really makes the book timeless. It's arch and wry, whether he's describing basic actions ("He leaped like a lamb in springtime"), or goofy dialogue ("But if you were a male newt, Madeline Bassett wouldn't look at you. Not with the eye of love, I mean").

Jeeves and Bertie are the perfect comic team -- Bertie is proud, goofy, and not terribly bright, while the quiet Jeeves is a towering intellect with wry wit. And they're backed by a colourful, small cast of nutty aristocrats, schoolboys, sharp-tongued aunts and cousins, newt-fancying fish-faced men, and a girl who talks about how "every time a fairy sheds a tear, a wee bitty star is born." Yech.

"Right Ho Jeeves" is a hilarious, tangled farce of love, money, jealousy, dinner jackets and the mating rituals of newts. Absolutely priceless, from start to finish.

Baccarat and Milady's Boudoir
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-03
"Right Ho Jeeves" was first published in 1934 in the UK, though was first published in the US under the name "Brinkley Court". The book is set in England and features Wodehouse's best known creations : Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. Bertie is the book's wealthy, good-natured and rather dim narrator. He's a member of the "idle rich" and, rather than having to work for a living, lives off an allowance provided by his uncle. He spends much of his time in the bar-room of the Drones Club, is fond of the occasional wager and has an appalling dress sense. Luckily, Bertie has Jeeves, to look after him. Without Jeeves, Bertie's life would be a mess : he makes an excellent hangover cure, his bets usually win and is intelligent enough to rescue Bertie from nearly any situation. He disapproves of Bertie's more garish items of clothing, and will - occasionally - take it upon himself to deal with the offending item.

The book opens with Bertie's return from Cannes, having spent two months on holiday with his Aunt Dahlia, his cousin Angela and Madeline Basset - Angela's best friend. Arriving back at his flat, Bertie is surprised to learn that Gussie Fink-Nottle has been a frequent caller in his absence. Gussie, an old school-friend of Bertie's, is something of a reclusive character : he doesn't drink, looks rather like a fish, prefers country life to the city and is a noted newt-fancier. Gussie has apparently fallen in love, and has - wisely - taken to visiting Jeeves for his advice on how to win the young lady's heart. However, following a disagreement with Jeeves about a white mess jacket purchased in Cannes, Bertie decides to take over Gussie's case.

By sheer coincidence, the object of Gussie's desires is none other than Madeline Basset - who, after the trip to Cannes, has returned to Brinkley Court (Aunt Dahlia's stately home). Bertie sends Gussie off to the stately home in question - though his motives aren't entirely noble. As well as spending time with Madeline, Gussie will also be delivering a speech at the local grammar school's prizegiving day - a job Aunt Dahlia had intended for Bertie. However, when word comes through that Angela has brokern off her engagement with Tuppy Glossop, Bertie and Jeeves race off to the countryside to offer their support. Naturally, Bertie's attempts to ease smooth things over land everyone in a great deal of bother.

A very easy and enjoyable read.

cure for the blues.
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-09
got the blues? melancholia got you in its grip? the prospect of death got you down? jeeves to the rescue! nothing like a good wodehouse read to cheer one up. problem is, the man wrote just short of a million books, and not all of them are good. so where to start? right here, with this book. of all the wodehouse books i've read, this is my favorite, the most consistently entertaining. just what the doctor ordered to smash you in the funny bone and get a smile going on the old face.

Classic British Humor...Hysterical!!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-24
If you love Monty Python, Faulty Towers, and the like, you'll love RHJ. The glowing reviews on this page are spot on. This is timeless stuff. And Cecil's reading (if you incline towards the recorded version) is terrific. Laugh out loud funny. I adored every moment!

Very good, sir.
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-13
It is rare that I derive such pleasure from a book, but Right Ho, Jeeves, gave me a delightful surprise. Not only does Wodehouse make an art of the satirical novel, but in the process wraps the reader up in the witty speech of Bertram Wooster and his strange arrangement of friends, family, and butler. Bertram, or "Bertie," as he is commonly known, stumbles through the entire novel with the idea that he alone must bear the weight of being the sole aid to his friends' problems. Despite several attempts at a kind reprimand from Jeeves, his personal servant, ("I beg your pardon sir... What I intended to say, since you press me, was that the action which you propose does seem to be somewhat injudicious."); Bertie continues to give it his best. Among other things, Wooster implements the best intentions while attempting a match between old friends, but with little success: "All he had to do was propose." "Yes, sir." "Well, didn't he?" "No, sir." "Then what the dickens did he talk about?" "Newts, sir."

Despite the playful banter, colorful characters (such as a sensitive French cook), an inept yet lovable narrative voice found in Wooster, and of course, Jeeves, behind all is an incredibly clever satire on the "upper crust," so to speak. Although, admittedly, many readers cannot associate directly with the early-middle twentieth century, one cannot help but feel the idle, privileged and somewhat clueless lives of the English aristocracy seep from the pages of Jeeves. Wodehouse does a wonderful job of capturing the lives of people who have nothing better to do then dabble about ridiculously in the lives of one another.

Indeed, Wodehouse does much to reflect the over-privileged lives to which Bertie and company cling to so humorously. However, what might have become a novel filled to overflowing with hilarity and drama is brought back down to a more substantial level with the constant subtle humor and patronization brought in by Jeeves. "Jeeves, don't keep saying `Indeed, sir?' No doubt nothing is further from your mind than to convey such a suggestion, but you have a way of stressing the `in' and then coming down with a thud on the `deed' which makes it virtually tantamount to `Oh, yeah?' Correct this, Jeeves." The nature in which Bertie and the rest are virtually ignorant to Jeeves' little jibes such as this shows clearly the statement of Wodehouse, how the aristocracy is too self absorbed to notice even the slightest. In short, this is a wonderfully clever novel, which keeps the pages turning with quick wit and snappy humor. I highly suggest it.

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The Moonflower Vine: A Novel (P.S.)
Published in Paperback by Harper Perennial (2009-04-01)
Author: Jetta Carleton
List price: $14.99
New price: $10.19

Average review score:

Just one of the best books EVER
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-17
A friend of my Mom's gave me this to read when I was about 14. I was just in love with all the characters and didn't realize the story was a little mature for me. Luckily my Mom loved the book as well. I gave it to my 15 year old daughter last summer so it's 3 generational.

The characters are so beautifully defined, the story gentle yet dramatic, the scenery is as real as my own yard; it is just a perfect book. How sad Ms. Carleton never wrote another.

I was so hopeful Oprah Winfrey would discover this when she was doing her original book club!

Summer story
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-09
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I am a librarian and have read many books. When I read the reviews already written, one I thought I must have done myself, and yet I didn't. I also read this book in the Readers Digest condensed book while a teenager, during a hot summer in the country in Oregon. I think I related so much to it because it was weather-wise, the same. Lazy summer days, reading. I read it again every summer for years and need to get back to it again. I agree, the people were very realistic, from Mathew the father, who as a teacher falls in love with a student, to Callie who falls into the situation she does, as a result? I think so. What a wonderful family story.

Family, faith, rebellion; secrets, love, independence; and time
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-05
I have re-read this book probably more often than any other book in my adult life. The story unfolds in rural Missouri over the first two-thirds of the 20th century, but its themes and its allure are timeless: family, faith, rebellion, secrets, love, independence, and time. Matthew and Callie Soames raise four daughters: Jessica, Leonie, Mary Jo, and Mathy. The book tells their stories one lifetime at a time, starting with the oldest daughter, Jessica, who introduces us to her parents and siblings and their life growing up in the Ozarks. Then we meet Matthew, the father, whose inner life and story -- and whose foolish heart -- are a far cry from the stern schoolmaster who rules his home and his daughters' lives with an austere and lonely love. ("To his daughters as they grew up, Matthew Soames was God and the weather." His character has often reminded me of the father in Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays.") Mathy, the youngest daughter, is the family's most vivid and most tragic character, a free spirit who flies a little too close to the sun. Leonie is her father's daughter, but also a child of her era, and through her Matthew is ultimately reconciled to Mathy.

But each lifetime is only a piece in the puzzle of the Soames family until Callie, the strong, understated matriarch, who keeps the hardest secret of all; not until her story is told do all the others finally come together into a whole portrait, even though each story before hers seemed whole enough on its own. The book's title comes from the flowers that bloom for one night a year in the Ozarks, when the family reunites to watch them bloom for such a short season. The last chapter of Callie's story, when she suddenly finds herself an old woman and the reader suddenly discovers that half a century has passed with the Soameses, is one of the most penetrating insights into aging that I have ever read.

"The Moonflower Vine" contains as many tragedies as a family could normally expect in half a century, but not too many, and overall it is an affirming and empowering novel. But its saddest fact doesn't appear in the novel at all -- that Jetta Carleton, whose literary debut is a masterpiece, never wrote another book. "The Moonflower Vine" was an overnight sensation when it was published in 1962 -- a Literary Guild selection, and a Reader's Digest Condensed Book in 1963. But four decades later, Jetta Carleton and her book are nearly forgotten. Jetta Carleton Lyon lived a full and happy life, moving in 1970 to New Mexico, where she ran a small publishing company until her death in 1999. "The Moonflower Vine" was reprinted by Bantam in 1984, and by Buccaneer in 1995.

My grandmother collected Reader's Digest Condensed Books, and I discovered "The Moonflower Vine" as a child at her home years later (in the same volume with "The Shoes of the Fisherman" by Morris West). Soon afterward, I had to read the whole novel. A quarter century has passed, and I still can't pick it up without reading it again. And I never put it down without a catch in my throat.

The Best Book I Ever Re-Read
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-17
I found this book in 1969 and have probably read it dozens of times. I actually wore out my first copy and was lucky enough to find a second. I love the way the stories intertwine, but you don't realize it until you read it the second time. I become a part of the Soames family each time I read it. Jetta Carlton may have only written one book, but it's a book not to be missed or forgotten.

Gentle and charming
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-10
Yes, it IS a "girls" book and yes, it IS a slowly paced book but, for all that, I found it to be utterly charming and the characters to be so real and wonderfully drawn. These aren't namby pamby,goody-two-shoes people but all too real with their faults and flaws, yet they are so thoroughly likeable that you'll want to read slowly.Matthew, a mainly self taught school teacher and Callie, his warm,intelligent, yet illiterate wife, raise their four daughters in a tiny farming community, with firm yet loving hands.It's almost a tragedy that this was M/s Carletons only book as she writes with such warmth and compassion for human weaknesses. It's a feel good book that I've just reread after buying and reading it in 1965...knew that I'd want to read it again one day!

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On the Edge of Nowhere
Published in Hardcover by Crown Publishers (1966)
Author: James Huntington
List price:

Average review score:

Alakan Sized Life!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-10
What a great read! Awe Inspiring, Alaskan all the way. Does not get more raw than that! I grew up in the bush hearing tales of the good old days. This is a story worth every word.

Wonderful Read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-04
I spent time in the village of Huslia and actually taught in the school Jimmy started there. I met Jimmy's brother Sidney, who also wrote an awesome book, SHADOWS ON THE KOYUKUK. This is a beautiful, but harsh country where survival was not a given. This is a marvelous book..... unforgetable........ a must-read for a lover of adventure and the wilderness!

Exceptional story!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-19
Recently, I have been fascinated by Alaska and the people that inhabit(ed) its interior. The life of Jim Huntington is to be admired by everyone. This book was a fast read and a real page turner. It is more adventurous than many fictional tails I have read. Excellent and should be read by everyone.

Please order more, Amazon.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-19
I think I bought the last eight copies, so please order more, Amazon. I teach high school in the Alaskan bush, and it is extremely difficult to find books that my non-readers enjoy reading that also have academic value. This book, and "Shadows on the Koyukuk" by Sidney Huntington, Jimmy's brother, have given my students insight into the transition between traditional Native culture and current native culture with its White influence and inclusion. My copies are going into the Alaska History tub of materials from our district resource center, to be shared by the other schools in our district. We will need more copies.

Great reading
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
Jimmy Huntington wrote the best read I have seen in awhile--not too flowery, just basic truth. I loved it!!! Bonnie

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The Peebles Principles: Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur's Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business, and Creating a Fortune from Scratch
Published in Kindle Edition by Wiley (2007-04-13)
Author: R. Donahue Peebles
List price: $24.95
New price: $9.99

Average review score:

This is how you buy real estate
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-18
A mentor told me about this book about a year ago. As a business owner, I regularly have a list of books to be read. When I got to this book, it was about controlling the supply or controlling the demand. Without either one, you don't control the deal and your chances of remaining in the deal are minimal.

Peebles talks about his personal experiences of having the right people in your corner or "politiking". From Congress and Senate members, to local government, to environmentalist, you never know who you will need when it comes to landing commercial real estate deals. No matter what road blocks or obstacles get in your way, persist... Your persistence speaks volumes about your character.

Ensure you are going into deals with the right people. Some people can cause you more harm than good. Above all else, do not be afraid to be an entrepreneur. Your vision for a project may bring the "nay-sayers" on board with you. Use everything to your advantage: the media, your political connections, your constituents to win great deals...

Great book!!

Loss + Perseverence = Personal Growth
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-07
Having recently taken a job where I need to understand the complexities of commercial real estate deals, I purchased this book after seeing Mr. Peebles on CNBC's Squawk Box and am glad I did. More than just discussing the technical aspects of the deals, the stories of the downsides were particularly riveting -- a side of the journey that you'll rarely hear from most successsful business people. It's a great story of perseverence and growth, and an important read for aspiring entrepreneurs. I'd also recommend it to business students and anyone facing a career crisis.

Short and sweet
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-02
The book had good case studies for and advice for both entrepreneurs and business people in general. His Principles and Ground Rules are good advice from the real world. I found a couple of typos here and there, but it was a good quick read.

The Peebles Principles
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-14
The book has a lot of motivation on how to utilize people that come in play with your life in a positive way. It shows you how to be creative in making real estate deals to your advantage.

Great book for those who want to become real estate investors.

Great Stuff
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-12
The book is awesome. I first skimmed it at the bookstore but after getting home without it I decided to go back and purchase it because there were so many lessons in there that needed to be mulled over and studied again.

So many other books of a similar ilk don't go into the details that Mr Peebles does and his lessons could apply to many businesses, not just real estate.

P
Strangely Enough
Published in Hardcover by Oak Tree P (1972-06-26)
Author: Carroll B Colby
List price:
Used price: $49.50

Average review score:

Super Ghost Stories and Mysteries for Kids and Adults
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-11-03
That's so funny about the whistle and the dog. I just got myself a copy of the book from a used book store and have been reading it again after 2? some years. I remembered all the little details and the stories. I just read the whistle in the night and I got freaked out. My favorite story is the one of the white dove. This is a great book for young adults and teens. It is truly a classic.

Any book title is made better by an exclamation point, STRANGELY ENOUGH!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-19
As everybody has said here, if you were a kid in the 1960s or 1970s and read this, you remember STRANGELY ENOUGH!, strangely enough! It's like THE POCKET TWILIGHT ZONE.

But everyone here had the Scholastic edition, which proclaimed on the cover that it was the (ABRIDGED) version. I find myself wondering how many more stories were in the original, un-abridged, 1959 version.

Of course, some of the stories are just urban rumors, some were later shown to be hoaxes, but they're told well. Reading a random story from this book is sort of a virtual spooky-story-told-round-the-campfire. Short, two-page stories with an illustration that really gives atmosphere.

I came across a strange (and completely apocryphal) reference to this book in the recent Michael Chabon book of essays, MAPS AND LEGENDS, where it's referenced as part of a shaggy-dog story.

Another lost cult classic!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-17
While in the midst of a LONG overdue cleaning of my basement the other night, I happened upon a box of belongings that my mother had foisted upon me at one point in time when my parents were cleaning out THEIR basement in advance of a move from my childhood home. Amidst the random belongings in this box was an old dog-eared, yellowed, tattered copy of "Strangely Enough" that I had unknowningly saved. I too, cherished that book fondly and had long assumed that I had lost it forever. I eagerly began flipping the pages, rekindling the memories of the forgotten stories contained within, when suddenly my heart skipped a beat and a weird chill went down my spine - it was almost as if I were in the middle of my own version of a story contained within this book! Why, you might wonder? Just one week prior to my basement-cleaning venture, I had been in the midst of telling a bedtime story to my five year old son. Recently he had started to enjoy stories that had a more mysterious/creepy tone to them and I had started adjusting my stories accordingly. I told him a story about a man who discovered a cave one day while playing on a stretch of a beach, and within the cave he found a small pile of clay balls, of various sizes, and without thinking much about it thought that it would be fun to try and 'skip' the clay balls on the water. After exhausting his supply (or so he thought!) he returned home. Later that night when taking off his shorts he found one of the clay balls remaining in his pocket and on a whim decided to chip away at it, upon which he discovered that contained within the clay ball was a small diamond. YIKES! what else had he thrown in the water? Anyway, why am I telling this story? I had NO IDEA where I came up with that kooky story that night, and a mere week later I find a box in my basement containing the book "Strangley Enough" and upon examination I find that the story of the mysterious clay balls was in that book! How funny. In any event, like the other viewers, if you are reading these reviews, you are most likely familiar with the book. I saved it (thank goodness) because like everyone else here, it left an (obviously!) indelible mark on my imagination. I too, acquired mine through SBS while in elementary school in the early 70's and still cherish it to the day. Like others, I assume they were as equally enthralled by the TV shows that mined this stuff endlessly (The Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Kolchak the Night Stalker, and more recently - the X Files.) It's great stuff, indeed relatively benign by today's standards, but nonetheless worth tracking down if you can find it. As for me, I fully intend to read a story from my tattered copy (held together with a splendid matrix of brittle yellowed cellophane tape)to my son at bedtime each night. If you're of a like mind, see if you can locate a copy of "The Blue Man" by Kin Platt, another book from this era that would appeal to those who are fond of Strangely Enough. "Fortunately" enough, it appeared that I had the foresight to save my yellowed, dog-eared copy of that book as well. Thanks for sharing your memories!

Perfect for Young Readers
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-02
I too read this book when I was quite young. I'm 50 now and am still remembering it. Spooky but not too scary for young readers.

C.B. Colby & Strangley Enough a great book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
I fondly remember ordering Strangley Enough from Schoolastic Book Services in 1970 and somehow I managed to hang on to it. It's loaded with the neatest short stories covering a little of everything from UFO's, Hauntings, Sea stories, that will cause goosebumps and The Battle of the Cheeses that will get you laughing. Now I'm 53 and last summer the girlfriend and I sat on a park bench while I read her Strangley Enough. She was instantly hooked and we have a new hobby. She liked it so well she ordered a few copies from Amazon to give friends for Christmas. The stories are short 2-3 pages. We now have a collection of "spooky story books" and have a great hobby to do together of just sitting down and reading and having a chat about the stories. CB Colby's Strangley Enough is our favorite. It's amazing the book is as old as it is, my copy is dated 1959 It's a great book for anyone from Jr. High to Baby Boomer age. I or the girlfriend and I highy recommend it for your enjoyment.

P
Virtual LM: A Pictorial Essay of the Engineering and Construction of the Apollo Lunar Module: Apogee Books Space Series 47 (Apogee Books Space Series)
Published in Paperback by Collector's Guide Publishing, Inc. (2004-10-01)
Author: Scott P. Sullivan
List price: $29.95
New price: $89.99

Average review score:

A True Engineering Marvel!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-29
The Lunar Module (LM) is an incredibly complex engineering marvel that was used as a temporary home for 12 astronauts on the harsh lunar surface. It was also a landing vehicle and a launch vehicle. As an engineer by education and experience I find this vehicle breath taking.

It is fascinating to see the complexity of all of the systems on the LM. Extremely well illustrated, this book provides an excellent overview into the work that went into developing the vehicle. One can see by the sophistication of the LM that the training necessary for the astronauts to competently operate it was serious business. Even more amazing is that this is just the high level view of this marvel. Each of the systems: Radar, propulsions, life support, instrumentation (and more) have many more layers of complexity!

This book and Virtual Apollo about the command and service modules (also written by Scott Sullivan) are both worth the read for anyone interested in the space program or engineering marvels, or both!

Virtual Apollo: A Pictorial Essay of the Engineering and Construction of the Apollo Command and Service Modules: Apogee Books Space Series 30 (Apogee Books Space Series)

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

A look at the insides, not just the pretty exterior.
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-22
This book is how I'd like to see a lot of other aerospace subjects covered. It gives a vivid and easy to understand perspective of all the little ins and outs to the subject. The level of detail is unprecidented outside of an engineering office. The autor obviously has a love affair going on with autocad.

I always wondered what the heck is behind that flat panel on the back of the LM ascent stage. Now I know! And you could too if you buy this book.

Great Buy for anyone interested in the Lunar Module
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-01
This book is great! The renderings are very thorough. My one regret is that I wish there were more photographs of the items that were rendered. But this being the internet age, you can find most of those on the web!

An engineer's bedtime reading
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-16
"Virtual LM" provides a detailed pictorial explanation of the Apollo Lunar Module and its "baggage" - the ALSEP packages and Lunar Rover. Carefully drawn color-coded diagrams explain the structure and systems of the Lunar Module, showing detail from several different angles. If you have an engineering bent, and love (or need) to know how things work, this is the book for you. If you want an overview of the Lunar Module - this book gives you more detail than you will ever need to know.

The guidebook for the first steps.
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-07
The Apollo Lunar module was born from the concept that a single lunar vehicle would be too large for any rocket booster concepts at the time. A man named John Houbolt persued an idea that if 2 vehicles could rendezvous in lunar orbit vs. trying to build a complex lander and orbiter in Earth orbit, a single, smaller launch vehicle could do the mission.
NASA bought into the revolutionary idea in 1962, and the race to the Moon began in earnest.

Scott Sullivan has produced a beautiful testimony to the first manned spacecraft to land on the Moon. This book will be "must buy" for all the engineers that will build the new Orion Lunar Lander. Sullivan shows in beautiful illustrations what was put and where on this ungainly vehicle that was never designed to return people to Earth. His masterful use of pictures and text pulls back the foil, so to speak and lets the reader discover the simplicity that allowed the eagle to land. He shows the differences between each LM, and where they put the car!!!

An excellent companion to HBO's miniseries-"From the Earth to the Moon".

P
1964 H.S. Yearbook
Published in Hardcover by Rugged Land Books (1974-07)
Author:
List price: $2.50

Average review score:

the kernel of truth makes this corn worth popping
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-27
I purchased a copy of this book when it was first published and laughed myself silly over and over again...what makes it so funny? It perfectly captures the absurdity of yearbooks of an era long gone by: group class pictures taken at such a distance as to render the faces tiny specks with names like "Lotta Zits"; pictures of teachers in their classroom situations: the shop teacher smiling widely at the camera next to a student whose face wears a very surprised look because lower down in the picture his fingers have been separated from his hand by the band saw they are ignoring while the picture is taken! The fun goes on and on--a description of the class trip to D.C. wherein the author takes every opportunity to use the adjectives and adverbs based on the school's mascot the kangaroo. And who could forget the mottoes accompanying the Senior Pictures: the leering face of the school "bad girl" over the phrase "I guess I missed that period!" I haven't seen this book since I loaned it to a friend in the early 1980's yet the material is fresh in my mind. Please, please bring the book back into print so that we fans can share it with a new generation.

The funniest thing I've ever read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-08
If you have any knowledge of the sixties then this book will have you crying and your sides will ache from all of the laughter. I have shown my old copy to a half dozen people and everyone of them had the same reaction. You can read this book for weeks and still discover something new each time.

Please Reprint!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-14
Will the world listen to the plea of thousands and reprint this masterpiece of 60's parody!!! I cannot face the future without seeing Ms. Armbruster one more time! Also, I need to see the Dacron, Ohio newspaper parody too! Please, dear lord, to see the joy in my teenage children's eyes as they read these wonders for the first time would hearten my soul forever!!!

All Time Comedy Sensation
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-30
I've had at least a half-dozen copies of this Yearbook over the years and they've all been swiped. Thankfully, it looks like we'll soon have it in print again!

This is easily one of the funniest books I've ever seen in my life. Meticulously fashioned after a real yearbook (right down to the ads and classmate autographs), the National Lampoon yearbook is a comic masterpiece to be enjoyed over and over again.
I'd read that it was so successful that Hollywood wanted to make a film of it, but the Lampoon humor was a little risque for a high school setting. So they moved it to a college setting and that's how we got ANIMAL HOUSE.
Fans of ANIMAL HOUSE will spot familiar names in the yearbook: Larry Kroger, Coach Vernon Wormer, etc.

I can't wait until I get another copy--and I'm hanging on to this one!
Definitely CHECK THIS OUT!

BACK IN PRINT
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-23
This book will be republished in fall 2003 with an addendum - where are they now? I can't wait...


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