Spencer Books

Maybe it was all the hype I got from friends who'd read it and recommended it, but it seems over-rated. Gets off to a slow start and doesn't really pick up and become a page-turner until Lyra falls through the ceiling and is in real danger. However, at that point I started to have a hard time suspending my disbelief over the fact that this 11-year-old can understand what's going on, be that clever, and have the conversations she's having. It's all too perfect. Still, I must admit that I have already put a reserve on the second book from the library, because I want to know what happens, so in that respect it's successful.

I first became interested in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy after seeing the film based on it (The Golden Compass (New Line Platinum Series Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)). I found the screenplay to be disjointed and lacking, so I decided to read the original novel in order to have a better idea of important missing background information.

Lyra Belacqua is a wild child growing up among stodgy scholars at Oxford's Jordan College. She's content sneaking around slinging mud, engaging in street fights with rival schools, and avoiding any real sort of education. Her daemon Pantalaimon is her voice of reason. And here is Pullman's first masterpiece: daemons are human souls that are present as an accompanying animal; they are connected to their owner, yet have distinct personalities. Generally, a daemon is the opposite gender of its human. Only children have daemons that are able to shapshift; once they reach puberty, their daemon will maintain that form.

Lyra and Pantalaimon witness an attempted murder that would have had devastating consequences for them both, and intervene. And so starts Lyra's journey to the North; to Svalbard, a reimagined Norway that's a dangerous land swarming with cliff-ghasts, ruthless Tatar tribes, and armored polar bears. Her secret weapon is an alethiometer, the titular "Golden Compass" that allows its user to ask a series of questions in order to discover the truth. There are very few in existence, and fewer still that know how to accurately read it. Lyra is one of those few.

Along the way, she becomes involved with the gyptians, a Gypsy-like seafaring tribe, a Texan balloon pilot, a friendly witch, and an exiled prince that aid her on her quest to reach her Uncle Asriel. Richly imagined and brimming with tantalizingly complex science, Pullman's universe is, much like Tolkien and Rowling's works, a self-contained universe that possesses its own form of religion (as many have noted, Pullman's works are anti-religion, or at least anti-organized religion), history, geography, and science. The book is much more richly nuanced and imagined than the film adaptation, which does a dreadful disservice to the original novel by omitting the final chapters.

A note: if you consider yourself to be very religious, you may not want your children reading these books, as there are numerous anti-religious (specifically, anti-Catholic) sentiments within, as well as discussions of castration and scenes of at times extreme violence, including towards children. Pullman, an atheist, takes issue with the dangers of organized religion; as one character puts it, "Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling." However, the His Dark Materials trilogy is beautifully written and imagined and has much to recommend it.

The book: good book, weak ending. (true of the other books in the series, too)

The audio recording: fantastic. A cast of several different actors give truly excellent performances. It is so easy to get swept into Lyra's universe with the varied and compelling voices reading this book. In particular, Lyra and Bjorn Berneson were *perfect*. Pullman himself narrates which is a nice plus.

Now I know why I never bothered to read this book before. It doesn't at all live up to the hype. The only reason I am giving it 2 stars as opposed to 1 is because I think the animal daemon's as an outward manifestation of the soul is a cool idea. The grammar was atrocious (on purpose) in order to show how the lower class spoke, but I just found it distracting and annoying. The constant action was tiresome as well. It felt like a marathon! The best books lead up to the action or insert smaller stories within a large one in order to create a certain flow. This is what makes Harry Potter so wonderful (not to mention JK Rowling's amazing characterization). The Golden Compass lacks both.

People claim that this story is original, which I completely disagree with. Quite a few times I was rolling my eyes, especially when Mrs. Coulter explained that they cut the daemons away because they bring "troublesome thoughts and feelings, and that's what lets Dust in" (384). So really, the daemon is that little voice inside your head and dust is sin. This is a typical Christian viewpoint of the corruption of sin.

Another thing that really bothered me was this prophecy that included Lyra. The way it was worded was bad in itself. Pullman writes, "She is destined to bring about the end of destiny...If she's told what she must do, it will all fail; death will sweep through all the worlds; it will be the triumph of despair, forever. The universes will all become nothing more than interlocking machines, blind and empty of thought, feeling, life" (310). The only reason I understand this is because I read Paradise Lost. It's the same idea of Satan questioning human ignorance. Adam and Eve were in a state of childlike innocence before they ate from the tree of knowledge. So in a way the Gobblers and the church become God by attempting to prevent children from growing up...though they are far more vicious and twisted than Milton's God. Do yourself a favor and read PARADISE LOST rather than this poor interpretation of it.

I don't care about the characters in this story. A good writer will pull in readers right away with an original protagonist. Lyra is the typical girl who acts like a boy. It's completely dull. She should have some other distinguishing trait, but she doesn't (unless you count endlessly lying as one). The minor characters are simply there. The only part of the book that touched me at all was when they found Tony, whose daemon was killed. His funeral was quite sad.

Now for the more disturbing parts of the book... violence towards animals is rampant. Lyra herself confesses to killing a bird and roasting it. That's a real nice idea for kids reading this book! Another example is when Iorek cut open a seal and started smearing its blubber over his rusted armor. Then of course the battle between the two bears where Iorek rips the other one's jaw off, and then (once he's dead), his heart. Disgusting! I've read plenty of violent descriptions like this in ADULT books, but these morbid scenes should not be in stories for children.

Bottom line, this is not at all captivating. There's really no good or bad side, it's a book of gray. Young children should not be reading this, it's more for a teenage and adult audience.

I probably can't do any more justice to this books then has already been writen. Yet it seems that I am going to try. I first read this book years ago, before their was even a third book. I have recently re-read the entire series. I believe that this original is the best of the three. The charactor's are real and the world is unique. Pullman is not the type of author to hand you a happy ending on a silver platter. His charactors are very realistic. If you have yet to read this controversial trilogy then I would urge you to start.

... I am honestly flabberghasted this book has such a high rating. I had to read it for a school seminar class and I was only able to read the first half. Even that was a struggle. But I had to stop after that. I just couldn't take the drone any longer. A large portion of my classmates didn't read it and the ones that did skipped the first half and just read the second half which was apparently more interesting. But whatever; I don't even care. This book is not worth money or reading time.

After reading this book, it seems as if the fast food industry is the only industry that was able to slide through the civil rights revolution and the workers' rights campaign back in the 20th century. If you're munching on a burger from a fast food restaurant (or should I say, shack), please put it down for you're own health.

There are several things that might be in there that you wouldn't want to eat. You never know if you got the burger that has the severed remains of a worker's finger/arm/leg. Schlosser writes of how fast the assembly line is moving, putting pressure onto the workers, making them lose accuracy and precision in their jobs that they "trained" for (a few days watching a video). This loss of accuracy can lead to some unpleasant surprises when you bite into your burger.

But burgers aren't the only things that one must look out for; Schlosser also writes of an account in which a whole man fell like a vat of lard taht was still churning. Was the lard reclaimed? No. It was shipped out; the packing companies decided profit was much more valuable than honoring a man and his untimely death.

The disgusting facts don't even start at with the meat-packing industries! In the farms in where the cattle are raised, the calves are fed the remains of cows and other animals. Trash even. The unsanitary conditions also turns stomachs. If you were to take a tour in one of these facilities, the regular person is denied access to the killing level. Schlosser elucidates the scene: knee-deep in blood and feces.

Overall, this was a very well researched book. Even though I'm not an avid fast-food eater, this has still deterred me away from eating it unless I know what's in my food.

I will warn all of you future readers: this is a great book and is rather historical in content. Contrary to my common thought that this whole book was bashing the fast food industry, it really did neither. Instead he really shows how fast food originated, how it affects industry (especially industrial agriculture), and why we love it so much. Fast food infiltrates everyday life for much of the world. Read the book to see why and how this came to be. I thought it was a fantastic book and a big eye opener.

Well we all know more or less the content but I am still eating fast food. If you change what you are eating you are just fooling yourself. We all know fast food is bad, but tastes good.

According to this book, slaughterhouses are unpleasant places to work, and often injury-prone. Eric Schlosser relates some anecdotes and statistical data to back this observation up, among others of similar obviousness.

It's interesting, to read about the meat packing industry, or the development of mass-produced frozen french fries. I'm glad I did. But what all of this does *not* amount to is a savage, or well-developed, indictment of the fast food industry.

Instead, Schlosser presents a world with almost an endless supply of villains, only a few of which are actually a Wendy's, Subway, or Burger King. The meat-packers promote line-speed over the safety of their workers; agri-business colludes to keep the prices down of their growers; scientists design food-additives with unpronounceable (and, therefore, scary) names; advertising agencies target our children; machinists design equipment that increase efficiency, making work more and more unskilled; governments work in collusion with private industry, opening up our schools to advertisements; etc. Perhaps the meat-packing industry has developed in the way it has to take advantage of the fast food industry's explosive popularity and subsequent demands. And, yes, Schlosser makes the point that fast food execs could "insist on changes" in their supplier industries (and, in fact, sometimes they do). But on the whole, the problems that Schlosser finds in these industries are general problems that can be found throughout nearly all large industries, and the world over.

He finds a young, un-unionized work-force. He finds robberies and crime. He finds unsanitary working conditions. He finds communities changing, and losing their one-time local identities. He finds workplace injuries. He finds the threat of disease. He finds poverty. He finds incompetent government bureaucracies. He finds greedy executives, and children swayed by targeted advertising.

But these are not problems of fast food alone, and they cannot all be laid at the doorstep of Ray Kroc. Indeed, often fast food comes out more of the hero in this book than not; it provides higher quality meat than our school's cafeterias and employs the young and minority workers who might not otherwise be able to find jobs. The fast food companies, themselves, wind up curbing the worst excesses of the industries that market to them. And because they are so sensitive to market pressures, we find that McDonalds spearheads efforts to "go green," or eliminate genetically modified food, even when not prompted by social campaigns or legislation (even if Schlosser never feels that they go far enough).

I'm sad to hear of the rancher who commits suicide due to market pressures working against independent cattlemen such as himself. But the connection between that rancher's depression, and Carl Karcher's decision to expand from Hot Dog carts to restaurants is... slender, at best, and probably, actually, non-existent. In the end, the litany of problems that Schlosser identifies in this book are often horrible, I'll agree, but they are problems that are endemic to large-scale human organization, in both the public and private sector, and the reality of modern-day economics. (And some of the "problems" aren't even really problems, such as the racial integration of Colorado Springs and other mid-west communities, brought about by the low-skill job opportunities presented by McDonalds, et al.; Schlosser links such immigration to rises in crime, etc., but that seems to me to be a fairly close-minded attitude, and close to bigotry.)

This is a well-written and fascinating book, filled with tid-bits of history that I wouldn't have learned otherwise, and I enjoyed it enough to give it four stars. But, as an "expose" on the fast food industry, it falls short, and cannot reach to the fifth.

These novels are addictive. I have read this whole series several times, and eagerly await the release of the next every time I finish the last!

I've not read a book with an ending so satisfying and complete, yet incomplete at the same time. When I finished Outlander I immediately started Dragonfly in Amber. And I am very glad I did. I don't know that I'll be able to do all six books, but I may give it shot.

Life will have to go on without Jamie and Clair at some point though. They are by far the most endearing couple I've ever had the pleasure of discovering. I will miss them very much.

I recently purchased "Outlander" after having read it previously. I bought two copies and gave one to a friend. It is a swashbuckling adventure of epic scale. Diana Gabaldon is a master at transporting her readers into a world of dashing heroes and heroines and diabolical villans. Added in is a mixture of greed, power, scorcery, romance, sex and time travel all set within an historical backdrop in Scotland. The "Outlander" series will keep the reader totally entertained and enthalled as well.

My wife was missing this one volume to this collection. Got it for her birthday & she absolutely loves it & now she's got the full collection too!

I was leery at first about this book after I read some of the reviews.I have now read it and I really enjoyed it. I am a plain guy, married 30 years and enjoy science fiction.
This book had a lot going for it. I think both men and women will like it. I am going to get the second book as soon as possible!

OKAY WHEN I READ THAT SISTER SOULJAH WAS COMING OUT WITH PART TWO U KNOW I HAD TO READ THIS BOOK AGAIN! I ALMOST FORGOT HOW GOOD IT WAS.THIS BOOK DESERVES MORE THEN 5 STARS LETS JUST HOPE PART TWO IS BETTER! I KNOW SOULJAH CAN DO IT.

UNLIKE SOME HOOD CLASSIC'S THAT HAVE COME BACK OUT WITH SECOND AND THIRD PARTS AND THEY TURN OUT TO BE TRASH I HOPE WE CAN ADD THIS TO THE BEST SELLER LIST!

CANT WAIT FOR PART TWO!!!!

Words cannot describe how I feel about this book. I read it a year or so ago and could not put it down. The writing style, the creativity of the characters, the issues ... everything about this book was excellent! If I could give this book ten stars I would. If you have not read this book, go to your local bookstore and pick up a copy today!

Great book I bought this as a gift for someone and they loved it. I personally picked it because I was impressed with this book as well

this is just the best book i have ever read.........i haven't read this book in a long time but it til has an effect on me......i mean you really felt all the pain that was in the characters........it was just felt so real and hood......this book will show you why that life is not the life to live............everything that glitters is not always gold.........simply put, this book is the TRUTH!!!!!!

This book blew me away when I read it years ago. I was in awe of how well written it was...and to be written by Sister Souljah? Amazing. Some say Sister Souljah is nervous about writing another book. There is no need to write anything else. In my opinion, this one is the best fiction I have read. It's that good! Thank you Sister Souljah! Your royalty checks should still have lots of zeros and commas. ;)

I read Dune before and was very confused by the story at first. Maybe that happened because I read much too quickly. Then I recently re-read it and was immediatly drawn into Herbert's world. His creation truly is epic. It's obvious to see how it has gained so much attention. Herbert creates a world filled with political strife, internal problems and real mental dilemmas, particularly in Paul Atreides as He delves deeper into the Muad'dib persona and continues on throughout the later books.

Dune is a great read for sci-fi fans and anyone who enjoys a riveting tale of adventure and loyalty.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gave this book to my brother as a present for his birthday.
He was looking for the books of Frank Herbert in the same layout, so he was pleased to receive the 6 first books of the Dune saga and started reading immediately.

If you have never read this book, here it is...

Dune... Arabs in space, some of whom are on drugs.

Okay, I'll be a little more explicit for the simple folk...
Humanity devolves back into tribalism/feudalism, with attendant problems of religion and war.
Dark, cultish, historical hodgepodge, all in sci-fi drag.

If that sounds like something you would enjoy, go for it.

The movie was beautifully done, however. Even Frank liked it. Only problem with it was the story.

This is one of the best science fiction books of all time. Many of the concepts contained in the story (including, wierding way) are also found in the Star Wars films (the force) which occurred many years later.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in science fiction or good fiction as a whole.

The book is excellent.

When I started off reading Dune 3-4 years ago, I gave up about 200 pages in just because it seemed too complex to me at the time. Years later, I came back to it again because the summertime is quite boring with no job/school.

Suffice to say, not only did I understand what was going on a lot better, I actually loved the book in the end.

Dune is set on a planet known as Arrakis, which happens to be the gem of the interstellar empire that House Atreides and Harkonnen are in. As it turns out, Arrakis is the sole source of spice/melange that is vital for traveling the galaxy as it helps to sharpen psychic powers and vision for pilots.

Recently, the control of Arrakis has been shifted from House Harkonnen to House Atreides. House Harkonnen does not want to give up its source of wealth and power quietly and plots to make matters very turbulent for House Atreides on Arrakis.

The Baron, head of House Harkonnen, plots to rid Arrakis of the Atreides anyway he can and eventually sends the young heir to the throne (Paul) into the hostile desert sands. Paul meets the Fremen (sand-people) during his time in the deserts and ends up, no thanks to the Baron, surviving and goes about biding his time until he can somehow convince these people to fight with him to get his rightful throne back on Arrakis.

A sub-plot to this book is the fact that Paul Atreides is much more than a mere overthrown duke. He is the product of a plan by the Bene Gesserits, a class of humans highly trained in the psychic arts, to breed one of their own that can see into depths of the future and mind far better than any of their typically female members can.

This book was a real joy to read. Sometimes it was tough getting bogged down in all of the characters and places, etc. However, it was not as difficult to read the second time around and I thoroughly look forward to the reading of the second installment in Dune Messiah.

The three volume set shipped included two copies of "The Two Towers" and no copt of "The Fellowship of the Ring". Having dealt with amazon customer support before it was easier just to have their mother buy the absent copy at Wal-mart.

What can I say other than it is an awesome book, I could not put it down

I first received *The Lord of the Rings* as part of a boxed set, complete with *The Hobbit,* for Christmas in 1985. I also received a boxed set of the first four *Dune* books. I was 13 and in 8th grade.

Like many 13-year olds, I loved *The Hobbit* but I thought *The Lord of the Rings* was simply awful. For one thing, the plot was not immediately obvious to me. (Keep in mind that at the time my enjoyment reading primarily comprised Doctor Who novelizations and Choose Your Own Adventure books.) Instead of the short chapters of plot and dialogue to which I was accustomed, Tolkien provided page after page of exposition, describing the local color and history with any "action" provided almost as an afterthought. And then there is what may have been the biggest problem of all with *The Lord of the Rings,* the scores of strangely named characters and places, some of whom are central to the story and others of whom are purely peripheral and which is which is unclear. I mean, sheesh, who names their two main villains Sauron and Saruman, names that differ by only one syllable?

It should be here noted that while I loved reading at age 13, I was also not the best reader. Memories of reading what I managed to of the trilogy consist mainly of reading a single page over and over and over again just to follow the main thread of the story. Somehow I managed to finish *The Fellowship of the Ring* and made it a few dozen pages into *The Two Towers* before I threw up my hands and abandoned Tolkien to the realm of "authors I think are overrated." I still have a vague recollection of giving a a pretty worthless presentation on the first book in front of Mrs. Fox's English class, the same class I was in when the Challenger exploded. (I also have an even vaguer memory of reviewing some disposable piece of genre SF called Dushau (Dushau Trilogy, No 1), but that's another story.) In short, I never thought I would ever read this book again, and considered all those folks who worshiped Tolkien to be little short of fools.

Fast-forward sixteen years. It's Christmas time in Champaign, and I'm attending *The Two Towers* with my coworkers, mainly because the bosses gave us cinema tickets for the holidays. As the movie begins to unfold, I remember those few dozen pages that I read at 13, and I slowly begin the journey of reappraising Tolkien. While I agree with those who urge reading the book as well as simply seeing the movie, I think that in this case I could not have done the former if I had not done the latter. Peter Jackson's trilogy allowed me to familiarize myself with the overall story arch (something that was hard for me to do from within the perspective of the novel, at least at first) and also helped me to handle the enormous cast of strangely named characters. (Finally Saruman and Sauron were decidedly distinct characters in my mind's eye, and the logic behind their naming, based as it is on Tolkien's invented languages, became more apparent.) So in fall of 2007 I finally decided to give the damned book another chance, mooched the one-volume "trilogy" (apparently Tolkien always considered it one big novel) through BookMooch, chose it over the New Testament for 2008's "big book" (sorry Mom), and devoured it in January, 2008.

In short, I loved it, particularly the exposition and the bizarre names for characters and places. Strange, huh, how the passage of time will do that to one's sensibilities? The very features of the novel that I found off-putting in 1985, I found absolutely ingenious in 2008. The names and locations in *The Lord of the Rings* all figure into a much-vaster cosmology and narrative history, and this becomes more apparent when the reader peruses the voluminous appendices. All the details that seemed arbitrary and distracting from "the action" were in fact anything but arbitrary, deriving as they did from a comprehensive mythology (of a world that did not exist until Tolkien wrote it into existence!). Take for example the appendix on the "translation" of the text explaining why Tolkien chose English words like "elf" and "dwarf" and "halfling" to "translate" the "original" Elvish words. Apart from the implication that there is really an original manuscript written in Elvish, this appendix also implies that the "elves" in this story aren't really elves, the "dwarves" aren't really dwarves, etc., but that these are the closest analogs that the translator could find in fantastic literature.

That these 1,000+ pages, with all their hyper-detailed exposition, are merely the tip of the iceberg of Tolkien's invented world, makes the novel all the more amazing. This really is a masterpiece of storytelling and myth-making. I can understand now why so many people love this book. I think I'm now one of them.

I recently purchased the single volume illustrated version of the Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Illustrated Edition). This is probably only for the (at least) semi-fanatical Tolkien fan.

I had owned a set of soft cover individual books (all four: Hobbit, Fellowship, Two Towers, Return) that were published in 1964 (before I was born), and they had, unfortunately, deteriorated, both from age and rough use (read in the bathtub, at the park just before a rain shower, jammed in a briefcase to be read at lunch, etc.) I thought about simply buying the new individual paperbacks, but researched and found this illustrated version, published in 1991, on the 100th anniversary of Tolkien's birth.

The bad news: this thing is massive! Holding one giant volume and actually reading it presents some problems.

That being said, this is THE version of the story, presented as Tolkien intended it: "One book to rule them all" to paraphrase the master. The size of the book emphasizes that this is the definitive work of twentieth-century fantasy. The red sash bookmark is classy. The illustrations are nice, and add an excellent counter-point to the words. To again paraphrase Tolkien's critique of his own work, "I only wish there were more [illustrations]." (Of course, there are plenty of books out there with a great deal of artwork, enough to satisfy just about everyone.)

In the end, this is like buying your mixed drinks in a bar, and insisting on top shelf alcohol. A real devotee can appreciate the difference, but to the average person is it really worth the extra money? As a bit of a Tolkien fanatic (I have read the story about fifteen times in the last thirty years), the $40+ bucks was worth it, even though I could have purchased a whole new set of the four in paperback for at least $10 less.

For each potential buyer, take the advice of Galadriel and look inside yourself. If you don't get that reference, this is probably not for you. If you do, and are nodding your head as you read this, call now and have your credit card ready!

Chuck Hinton

When this edition was printed back in 1991, it was at the top of my Christmas List. The pictures are really something; in those days it seemed almost axiomatic that there was no one fit to illustrate Lord of the Rings except (maybe) Tolkien himself. Lee proved that thesis wrong, which is a great achievement.

At the same time, preparing and typesetting a new and definitive edition of Lord of the Rings, especially one with color plates, seemed like an obvious opportunity to include some of the elements that Tolkien had wanted from the beginning: Fire Letters for the Ring, leaves from the Book of Marzabul. Instead this edition doesn't even have a fold-out map. So as an edition of the text, it is a definite let down.

Eugenides attempts to make too much of too little plot and he shrouds this shortcoming in lengthy (and sometimes impressive) research ability. The Desdemona/Lefty backstory, while interesting, is not at all important to the purpose or direction of the novel and this reader feels as if the entire opening 200 pages could have been dropped to make this a much better read. As much as Euginedes feels like he needs to write a very lengthy, epic novel, he does not succeed but for the fact that he won a pulitzer as a result of such a poor year for fiction. The book is not terrible on the whole but it is not entirely engaging as popular belief would suggest.

I expected so much from this book! People at my book club RAVED about it. I trudged through it, expecting it to get better, and it finally did--in the last quarter of the book. Why did I have to trudge through 350 pages of Greek history to get to the meat of the book? I don't get it, and I certainly don't get what makes this book Pulitzer-worthy.

I can't believe this book is a book club selection for my library. It's a long boring rambling ridiculous story that I attemped to read 2 years ago and could not even finish. Why does it still keep popping up?? I think its fame alone is keeping it famous, though its actual content is not worthy. I guess it has become a fashion item, with the momentum of any arbitrary, mindless fashion trend. Let's break this trend and stop making our kids read this thing! There are better books to read.

A fine novel with assimilation of immigrants (When they still did that) Family problems and a lead character which has the problem of being a hermaphrodite. It may sound silly but the whole story is loaded with Soul. Having grown up in Detroit on the East side it was all understanding to me with Indian Village, Grosse Pointe, and all of Detroit featured as background. It seems to a point like every familys story with a little more thrown in. I highly recommend this book. You will not waste your time reading it.

I enjoy reading this novel, but it would be a lot better told from a different (consistent) perspective. The mingling of 1st person narrative with an omniscient narrator jars me from my belief in the story. Also the characterization is pretty loose and 2D. These are not very convincing people - they're more like minor characters on television. For a much better book with some similarities in the story line (immigrant families, race mingling in the lower classes, a period covering the early to the late 20th century)I recommend I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb, which is an amazing book and far superior to this one, which is more dependent on its gimmicky hero/heroine and basically just a fun read at best.

Having grown up in Quincy, Mass., I learned about John Adams at a young age (the birth places, the church, "Peacefield" -were everyone's first school field trip). It was probably that that made me love history. Very young I then read everything I could about John Adams, Abigail, John Quincy. As an adult, this was a perfect continuation of that education. I LOVED reading this book. It was so full of information, but read like the best written novel. It was so much fun to read!

John Adams was one of the most pivotal characters and longest lived of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. But what makes this book possible is the immense volume of letters he wrote though out his life time... letters to friends, family, co-conspirators, rivals, foreign powers, enemies, politicians, soldiers, and scholars. He may be the most prolific writer of the period, possibly any period.
David McCullough uses this mass of writing to bring insight into the formation of our government, foreign relations, politics, culture, world events, etc...
John Adams is an exemplary character, he was called 'incorruptible' by friends and foe alike. But his integrity, unmatched by but a few, pales in comparison to his passion and love for his country, friends, and family. This book is full of insights, quotes, personality development, and history.
Adams was so in twined with the characters of the day, that no study of the American Revolutionary War would be half complete without it.
Along with John Adams, his wife ,Abigail, also stands out as one of the greatest minds and characters of the ages. Her involvement in both world affairs and home life is amazing. Their love and commitment for each other stands as one of the most powerful love stories ever written.
Buy it, read it.
Thom Boswell

This book has a lot of history that you don't hear about that make this book more enjoyable to read.

I've never enjoyed a biography more than this one. The portrait that McCullough paints of John and Abigail Adams left a great impression on me and an appreciation for the sacrifices that they and others made to give birth to our nation.

I was really impressed with the way that McCullough let John, Abagail, Jefferson and others speak for themselves. The amount of primary sources quoted at length is massive but never daunting, and McCollough is helpful in getting past the colloqualisms of the time (I had no idea a "pip" was a sore throat). Abagail impressed me more than John through her own words. The only drawback was that the narrative style at times was more anecdotal and less analytical. But eggheadism aside this book is truly a masterpeice, and so enjoyable to read. It affirmed my love of history and my love of reading.

I picked this book with trepidity. Having read scores of biographies from succesful sportspersons, I did not expect this one to be any different. They struggle, they compete, they succeed. I started reading this purely based my wife's strongly recommended this.

And it just did move me completely!


Once I started reading, there was no looking back. This is gripping cover-covcer. I guess the cycle races are such. We get so involved in the sport. Whern Lance talks about Cancer, it is not in absurd medical terms or over-simplification. He did carry me long - thtough his journry. I could vicariusly experience being with him in the ward in Idianopolis or at the Finish line of Tour De France.

A narrative style that takes the audience at a leisurely pace, keeping the reder hooked and attached to the strory.

Truly inspirational. A day after I finished the book, today, I am shaving my head for a cause - cancer patients!

I had a meeting with VP in the company and as I got in his office you can sense he was a Lance fans. I'm not! Maybe for his way to act that he so well describe in his book! As an ex-athlete my self I could not hide my opinion about Lance. It was a nice and healthy conversation. Few weeks later I had another meeting with the same VP and as I walk in to his office he gave me this book as a present, knowing I'm an avid reader.

I read it during the long flight back home! Great inspiring book! Never did read a sportsman biography but this one is worth each single word.

You learn something new every day! I guess I learn something more about a great individual and athlete!

PS - I have a colleague that is fighting a similar battle and I gave the book to him because sometime other peoples words are better then your.

Both my wife and I are currently cancer patients. The book gave us the courage to believe that we can beat cancer. Lance's book is a must read for anyone who has cancer or if you have anyone in your family going through cancer treatements. It is a great mix of athletics and the will to survive and what it takes to accomplish both. Get it and read it!

A frank and honest portrait of one mans struggle. This is not a 'wow, aren't I great' book, but one that shows the awful journey people have to take and what gets them to "over come the odds".

The achievement of the subject of this entertaining read is his amazing recovery from cancer which was followed shortly afterwards by spectacular sporting success. The book is undoubtedly compelling, and was simply, clearly and strikingly written.

Even if you're not into cycling you will love this book.

Whether or not you are a fan of Lance Armstrong, this book is incredibly helpful. Helpful for getting a grip on the implication of testicular cancer diagnosis and treatment. Also helpful for tackling the mental battle that comes with this disease. It is full of hope, and an important read for those diagnosed with Testicular cancer,and their significant others.

The beggining of this book is a little obscure. It takes place in our everyday world, which at first was a little confusing, for the main fact that I expected it to be in a diffrent world all together, not one so familiar. But when Lyra and Wills' life intertwine the pieces start to make sense. "The Subtle Knife" really puts these two characters to the test. As a reader you are trying to figure out Will and Lyra's fate. What is great about this book is that it leaves you with questions on every page. At the end some questions are answered and some are not. it is definitley the ment to be the transition between "The Golden Compass" and "The Amber Spyglass".

Pulman's are some of the best audio tapes out there. He has an entire cast of readers, and reads most of it himself. There are musical interludes between chapters, and they are incredibly easy to follow. I have taught gifted children with the Golden Compass, and have read the others with my own child. A hearty THUMBS UP! to Pulman's audio CDs.

This book has already recieved an exorbent amount of reviews. It deserves no less. Although, this series has raised some controversy lately the basics is that this novel is well writen and unique. The worlds that Pullman has created are unlike any others. The characters are solid as well as the writing. If you have already started the trilogy then perhapse it is a given that you will finish it to it's conclusion. If you have yet to begin then now is a great time to do so.

I could not stop reading the Golden Compass; I read it at one sitting, fascinated by the plot twists and fantasy environment. Although it had a satisfying ending, the promise of a sequel was strong. I couldn't wait to read the next book. I advise having the entire series in hand before you begin the Golden Compass.

Warning: this does not let the reader stop at the final page. You definitely need book 3 before you settle into book 2 or you won't sleep till you have it!

Like the fantasy worlds of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, Philip Pullman creates a world both modern and antique, a alternative to our known history. It is an appropriate fantasy for younger readers, but the blurring lines between fact and fiction will appeal to older readers as well.

Remember: THIS IS A FANTASY SERIES. Don't let some blinkered bigot intrude on your enjoyment of these great books. To say more would reveal one of many twists in a tale that will not unravel.

Book 3: The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3)

His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) (His Dark Materials)

The Subtle Knife is Vol. 2 of a trilogy, following The Golden Compass and preceeding The Amber Spy Glass. It is an involving tale with many characters and a variety of locations, but it is not for the faint of heart. Torture, death, fear and suffering abound.

Lyra and Will, both about 12 years old, seek to find and fulfill their role in the war against the "Authority". Thay have supporters in their struggles: armored bears, allied witches and angels, and an intrepid balloonist, among others, but they battle against a hoard of antagonists including adults, witches and angels who support the "Authority", soul-eating specters, and their own fears and insecurities.

The book is well written and beautifully produced in the audio version. The voices are clearly differentiated, so there is no question about who is talking; the voices fit the characters; and they are the same voices throughout the 3 book series - no confusion there.

If you like the dark side of fantasy, I recommend the entire series. If you try to jump in with this book, you will be sorely confused.