Spencer Books

This is a great find, either for a teacher in a classroom setting or a family who wants to broaden their exploration of some fantastic children's literature. The book takes plot lines or ideas from some great kids' books and creates child-friendly recipes to accompany them. Many of these recipes are easy to make in the classroom with a crockpot, toaster oven or microwave. From chocolate moose muffins to accompany "If You Give A Moose a Muffin" to unfried worms to accompany "How to Eat Fried Worms," the smartly-written recipes are a joy in and of themselves! It's like a trip down memory lane of some of the best books from my own childhood, plus it offers me some unique ways to explore these old favorites with my own kids. A real winner!

Whoever owns the rights to this book is doing themselves a disservice. Mr. Raiport's overview of the Russian Olympic team's psychological training tools is indispensable to athletes and athletics.

Find a way to get it. Read it. Pass it on.

It's 1962 -- the United States of America and the Soviet Union are flexing their respective muscles regarding the missiles in Cuba, as the entire world holds its collective breath, waiting for World War III to break. But in the small town of Whitebridge, the villagers are soon caught up in another game -- that of the murder of a young school mistress, and the kidnapping of a young girl...

When the body of Verity Beale (a school mistress at the extremely exclusive King Edward VI Grammar School) is found in a pigsty (the back of her head bashed in) DCI Charlie Woodend and his sidekicks DI Rutter and DS Monika Paniatowski are called in to investigate. But almost from the first something about the very personal manner in which Verity Beale's body was disposed of, coupled with the strange manner in which news of her death affects the people who knew her in Whitebridge, warns Woodend that something out of the ordinary is up. For a school teacher at a very posh school which guards it's reputation jealously, Verity seems to have had the reputation of a good-time girl. Certainly her colleagues seem to have had a not too high opinion of her. Trying to form an idea of what kind of person Verity was, Woodend institutes a search into her background, but comes up with very vague and unsatisfactory answers. It's almost as if Verity Beale didn't exist before she came to Whitebridge! However, before Woodend and company have even started their investigations properly, one of the pupils at the grammar school, Helen Dunn, goes missing. Fearing that she may have been kidnapped by a pedophile, Woodend is ordered to abandon his investigation into Verity's murder in favour of trying to rescue Helen before it's too late. With the memory of another case in which he failed to rescue a kidnapped girl, Woodend is nothing loath to take on the kidnapping case. But it isn't too long before our canny detective is wondering if the two cases are connected in some way. Was Helen kidnapped because she knew something about Verity's murder? Or was Verity murdered because she had stumbled onto a plot to kidnap Helen? With the life of a young girl in the balance, Woodend puts his career on the line one more time, esp when it becomes clear to him that someone with a lot of power is muddying the waters and blocking both investigations...

I think that Sally Spencer's DCI Woodend seires is probably the best in police procedural books around. Not only is each mystery novel steeped in the feel and culture of the period, but each book has been a page turner. Cleverly paced, and with really interesting and gripping plots, each novel has been a gem to read. And a personal plus for me, each novel has (so far) not become terribly entwined with the personal lives of the police officers featured. Nothing against getting to know more about the detectives and their personal lives, but of late I've come away with the feeling that (sometimes) the personal aspect has more or less kidnapped the mystery plot so that you're not always reading a murder mystery that is really stellar.

On the other hand, "The Red Herring" was a brilliant read that will keep you guessing for quite a while. Some aspects of the mystery at hand was (I'll admit) easy to guess, but denouncement of the chilling whole, quite took my breath away. Why this authour is not winning award after award for sheer and consistent brilliance, is a mystery to me.

This has to be the best book on reflexology on the market! Why is it so hard to get hold of? I haven't seen it advertized anywhere but as a student, its invaluable as a study aid. Please promote it more. The author's writing is eclectic and wide ranging and all of the book is informative and helpful. Please ask her to write another!

This book and it's companion (Blind drills) are my favorite retriever training books for the intermediate to advanced retriever. The books include endless drills to improve your dog's performance. With all these different drills, each training session can be unique and such keeps the trainer and the dog from getting bored.

Further, I have read nearly every retriever training book out there, and I think that Mr. Spencer's writing style is bar none the best.

If you're serious about carving a rocking horse, this is a book you really should read. Margaret Spencer is quite a lady.

This little guide is the best choice for beginners and children. Book gives the reader an idea about what rocks and minerals are, where and how they can be found, and some information about major minerals and rocks. All the pictures are hand drawn illustrations, so that they are not very detailed but still OK for kids and beginners. (I liked it when I was young!)

Have you ever picked up a book, and become so intrigued, you hated to put it down? I think it took me 3 days to finish it, on lunch hours, bedtime, and breaks during my busy workdays.

I am an avid reader, and enjoy literature from most any genre. Forgive me, you die-hard classical fans, but I was particularly fascinated by the Da Vinci Code. And at Spencer's suggestion, I started reading the prequils to that book, including "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", (by Baigent, Lee & Lincoln), and I subsequently was bestowed a visit to Rosslyn Chapel, that summer, to see for myself what it was all about! And now it is a movie, [2006].

Likewise, Spencer's book, "Romeo and Juliet Part VI, Romeo & Juliet Have a Son" had me clutching the darned book, at times, taking me on one incredible journey after another. He is a gifted writer, make no mistake. An accomplished wordsmith. And he has his P.H.D. for a reason. You will see.

But, wait till you find out who the son is. Do you recognize who that is on the front cover? (Clue: Idolo) . . . I'm getting off track . . . You must read it from cover to cover! Do not miss any of the content! TV y Novelas just broke the news, sometime this morning . . . so hurry and read this book, so you know the scoop. . .

Want to read more from him? He has written several other books on the subject matter contained in Romeo y Julietta VI, but none are in print, to date, I don't believe. I'm sure that is only a matter of time! They are waiting on publishers, I believe . . . And what a movie this would make!!!

Conde Nast would give this a 5-star / 5-diamond rating, if they could travel inside this book. I actually took a mini-vacation, just reading about some of these places, and found them totally enchanting!

Sidenote: Brad and Anjolie were equally awestruck with one of the beautiful settings, described in the book, if you've read any of the entertainment news, [ early 2006]! One of the most important revelations of the plot was revealed at Lago Como, Italy).

I recommend you try it! You get a great bang for the buck!

Note: I have been a newspaper critic, in my illustrious past, and I would love to knock this book, but trust me, I could not!

The book has an extremely interesting plot with murder and suspence, but it is the timeliness of the topics which deal with genitic manipulation, human cloning, and other social issues that make the reader think about the future and what the future holds for mankind.

What makes this book so interesting is that the author seems to believe and presents in the novel the idea that man is one in spirt and this is how time travel could possibly work. In other words, the author allows the reader to believe that all of mankind past, present, and future beings are all one spiritual entity and that everyone because of the non-existance of time is everyone else.

It is, indeed, a book well worth reading not just for the plot, but for the thought-provoking issues presented about our future.

After reading the book, I realized that it would make an excellent book for students to read not just in literature classes, but also in sociology classes. It would make excellent thought provoking discussions for classroom debate.

This is the first Chief Inspector Woodend/Sgt Bob Rutter mystery and it is definitely the best of the series. This dark and intriguing novel is set in the early 1960s and makes for very compelling reading.

When the strangled body of teenager Diane Thorburn is found, the local police force decide to ask for 'outside' help -- just in-case things go horribly pear shaped, the people from Scotland Yard will get the blame and not the local force of Salton. Chief Inspector Woodend, also known as Cloggin'-it Charlie, is sent to handle things. Woodend is not exactly the flavor of the month at Scotland Yard; in fact more than one of his superiors hope that he will really fail at his task, so that they will be able to justify getting rid of him altogether. To this end, they have provided him with a new sergeant, Bob Rutter. Rutter is part of the new guard: a young man of good education, who believes that investigating crime is a matter of employing the various scientific skills of observation, evidence and criminal profiling. He is appalled at being teamed up with Woodend who prefers using old fashioned investigating skills, local knowledge/gossip and Charles Dickens's novels as a guide.

But as the investigation takes flight Rutter begins to see why Woodend's ways garner results. Because this unfortunate murder seems not to be the first of its kind. Before long, they discover that over the years there have been a spate of unfortunate 'deaths' -- all of teenage girls and going all the way back to 1942. Woodend and Rutter seem to have a serial killer on their hands! There seems to be no dearth of suspects; and the people of the town with their own secrets to protect are reluctant to come forward with useful information. And Woodend and Rutter begin to fear that they may run out of time before the killer strikes again.

This was an engrossing mystery that maintained its grip on me till the very last page. The later mysteries in this series are good too, however "The Salton Killings" is definitely the best of the lot and is a treat that should not be missed.