Spencer Books

I really enjoyed this book. This is a concise (about 120 pages of text) and well illustrated (about 100 images) introduction to the remarkable English painter Stanley Spencer. Robinson's text provides a useful biography of Spencer's career, a good idea of his rather unconventional ideas, and short accounts of how he fit into the artistic currents of his times. The selection of images is very good and illustrates well the range of Spencer's work and its evolution over his long and productive career.
Spencer is known best for his religious paintings, notably the powerful mural The Resurrection of the Soldiers in the Sandham Memorial Chapel. A man of deep and unconventional faith, Spencer produced a large number of canvases with religious themes, usually fusing the sacred and the quotidian. A native of the village of Cookham, where he spent much of his working life, the environs of his town were literally sacred ground to Spencer. This resulted in a very personal but surprisingly effective icongraphy.
What makes this book particularly enjoyable is the revelation of the range of Spencer's art. Spencer was also an outstanding landscape painter and a superb portraitist. This book reproduces a number of lovely landscape paintings. Some of the portraits reproduced, both drawings and paintings, are stunning.

Duncan Robinson is a professor at Yale, and his book on Stanley Spencer is a fine introduction to this mad eccentric from Cookham-on-Thames. Not long ago (1998) there was an exhibit of Spencer's work that traveled the United States, and so his name in this country is not as unknown as it used to be. Whether one is familiar with his work or not, this is a well balanced and nicely printed book, with over 100 reproductions, of which at least half are in color. I keep the book handy and have given copies of it to unsuspecting friends and relatives, who then (usually) become addicts of Mr. Spencer.

For those who have never seen Spencer's work, I certainly recommend using the internet as a first step in getting a feel for what he biographical and bibliographical information (although Robinson's book is not mentioned). The main drawback about looking at pictures on the internet is that many are so small and distorted that they dishonor the works they are trying to show; still, a visual approach is more effective than trying to describe the work of this extraordinary painter verbally. The pictures in Robinson's book, in contrast, are excellent reproductions and quite adequate as a means of presenting Spencer's work. I took a copy of this book to his exhibit and was satisfied with the quality of the reproductions one of England's most important painters of the 20th century.

This is the first collection of one of the best independent comic series being published these days, which unfortunately comes out too infrequently. With its excellent dialogue, character development and almost photorealisitc black and white art, it is like a light-hearted alternative to From Hell.

Combine the Prisoner with Twin Peaks, subtract all the secret agents and a lot of the darkness and add some romance and humour and you have Strangehaven. A normal guy winds up lost and enters a little villiage in the middle of nowhere filled with eccentric characters and can't seem to find his way back to "civilization". There is a murder mystery involving a cult clearly based on the Masons which has been slowly unfolding over the years, but so far this has remained largely in the background as we get to know each of the characters and their wonderful little quirks and histories (things only really take off near the end of Volume 2).
Frankly, I would be satisfied with the series even without the mysteries thrown in given the town's interesting inhabitants and their stories. Like me, I'm sure you'll find yourself wishing you could move to Strangehaven, a village filled with the beauties and delights of scenic small-town living but without any of the boredom. However, the mystery is a nice bonus that will keep you guessing and speculating (Who is the woman in the fishtank? Is that Alan Moore lookalike really an alien? Is Strangehaven really just a small remote village?)

If you're at all interested in the comic book "Strangehaven", picking up the graphic novels is definitely the way to go. The creator, Gary Spencer Millidge, is only able to crank out the individual issues at erratic and infrequent intervals, and he's lucky if he can push out four of them a year.

Consequently, it's difficult to maintain a sense of continuity. More importantly, though, there's no critical guiding story at the core. There are many references to the possibly murderous activities of some local crypto-Masons, and mysterious cutaways to a dead woman floating serenely in a giant fishtank, but there is no central plot as such. Rather, Millidge takes time to throw the many supporting characters into the spotlight in their turn, and to develop the history of the village of Strangehaven.

In a very general way, this is like an English take on TV's "Northern Exposure", but with more of an occult flavor. That is to say, Strangehaven is, like Cicely in Alaska, a remote village peopled with engaging eccentrics who have fled (or been subconsciously summoned from) the "civilized" world. Hence, this is where you will find a man claiming to be a stranded alien astronaut, alongside a white shaman from an Amazon tribe who is self-exiled from his adoptive clan.

The art is gorgeous (although I do think it's sometimes hard to distinguish one blond female character from another). Millidge clearly pours a titanic amount of effort into creating each panel and the covers, and he uses a variety of artistic techniques and innovative layouts to bring forth very striking and memorable imagery.

For some reason, Millidge's work reminds me of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" (both the "word" novel and the graphic novel) and Robert Holdstock's "Mythago Wood". You might want to check those out, too.

If you have the patience to let the story slowly develop in its meandering way, and if you delight in taking unexpected side treks and explorations away from the main character, you'll find "Strangehaven" very rewarding.

People kept recommending this book to me and I kept resisting because frankly, the cover freaks me out a lot. I still don't like it. But I finally caved and bought this, and actually, I was wonderfully surprised. Seth Wolski is a great hero, haunted and driven. He shines off the page where the heroine Jamie isn't quite so lucky. She goes back forth. A lot. Even in the same scene. It gets annoying after awhile. But I stuck with it for him, and for the really well done pace. I ended up devouring this and went out to look for the author's other books as a result.

So much has changed in Jamie Buchner's life in the past two years and things seem to keep changing. She'd finally had enough of her husband's infidelity and neglect of their son so she left him. It took a year, but the divorce was final. She spent a year in Atlanta so that Andreas, their son, could be easily accessible to his father. The problem is, Derek couldn't be bothered to keep up contact with him so Jamie moves back to Cedartown, Ohio, to be closer to her family. Family that is happy to be a part of Andreas' life. Andreas is now five and he's soon going to be in school but Jamie isn't looking forward to it. Her whole life has revolved around her son since he was born and she's going to miss him. Finally going out one Saturday night to have contact with adults, Jamie goes to a bar for a drink. When a man buys her a beer, Jamie knows he looks familiar, but until he came up to her and starts talking, she couldn't really place him.

Seth Kolski moved around a lot as a kid since his father couldn't keep a job all that long. He always wanted to own his own business, but couldn't run one effectively, so he had to work for others; a situation that eventually caused problems. Two years ago while both Seth and his sister Veronica were living in Atlanta, his life drastically changed. Veronica had shown her on again, off again boyfriend, Brian Carver, that she was a werewolf. Veronica disappeared and Brian kidnapped Seth and caged him, taunting him about how he was going to torture and kill his sister. Seth went wild and through a stupid move on Brian's part, he was able to escape. To protect Veronica, Seth killed Brian while he was in wolf form. Seth moved back to Cedartown and took a job at a local elementary school as a gym teacher and has been hoping that Veronica, still missing from that night two years ago, will come home.

I love werewolves and Strength Of The Pack, although gentler than I'm used to in this genre, is a wonderful story. The coming together of Jamie and Seth is at times both beautiful and frustrating. Seth couldn't trust anyone after his time at the hands of Brian Carver and Jamie, through the folly of her marriage, found it hard to trust as well. Watching these two grow in both love and trust is beautiful. Jamie, though not all that sure of herself and too sweet for her own good, shows that she has a backbone and tenacity when it's needed. Seth, although a powerful werewolf, has never been sure of himself because of his abusive father and uncaring mother. If you want a paranormal that is more gentle than most, Strength Of The Pack is a definite not-to-miss book.

Lyonene
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I haven't read Turkey it all the way through yet, but that's because it's so well-written I have to keep going back and re-reading chapters and passages just because they sound so good. The part I have read, though, is great, with lots of tips crammed into a very entertaining writing style.

If you like turkey hunting, or if you just like good outdoor writing, do yourself a favor and buy this one.

This book has a ton of info packed into it. It tells you how to deal with different hunts and situations. Also explains the different calls that you will be using and how to use them. It explains how to prepare for the season and where/how to get yourself a bird. Over all this book is well written and has a great amount of info that will be helpfull in the woods. It is very long and will take awhile to go through but it's worth it. Good luck

Windows 2000 Management and Control was a very informative read that provides a comprehensive overview of the features of Windows 2000. It would be a good read for IT managers who are thinking about Windows 2000 upgrades.

As a consultant, I found this book invaluable in learning the fine points of Windows 2000 Server Management. I also use it as a reference manual, on-site with IT clients, to clear up their misconceptions and revise critical project planning tasks. Especially liked the clear explanation of IntelliMirror (what it does and does not do), and implementing enterprise-wide security.

First of all, "K", whose review also appears here, misspells the author's name--it is "Klaw". The author, who died recently at 84, was a life-long journalist and historian of journalism with a distinguished career at Columbia U and UCBerkeley. Unlike "K", I was not required to read this book, but sought it out after a serendipitous visit to the historic Mansion House of the Oneida sect in the central NY town of that name--where the action was set. This book is a well researched and well documented account of the rise and fall of founder John Noyes's Utopian world-view and of the hundreds of Americans connected to it and to him. This experiment in Utopian living was the foundation of the Oneida Community silver flatware company, among other interesting connections. Klaw's annotated bibliography is extensive, giving one everything one might want to know for further reading and exploration. As "K" reported, the book is an absolute page-turner! The Oneidans had a lot of good ideas, along with some truly bizarre ones. Read the book and then visit the historic site, which is open to the public and also rents rooms for overnight stays, in the town of Kenwood, near Oneida NY.

OK, I admit that I was requred to read this book for my American History class...but once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down! Claw uses lots of primary sources and gives a very sympathetic depiction of the rise and fall of the Oneida colony. Claw has depicted Noyes as a man with a very strong sexual magnetism - but flip to the middle section and check out a picture of this guy. Yuck!

I found the first third of the book pretty boring - the descriptions of John Noyes' childhood and early adulthood are particularly bland. Keep reading though, because the last 2/3rds of the book are mindblowing. Who knew that feminism and Christianity could co-exist? I really enjoyed the books' description of everyday life at Oneida, and the sexual politics that made the community so unique. This is not exactly a summer beach read, but it is definately a thought provoking analysis of one of America's more interesting religious "cults".

I just read this book in little over a week and I am a slow reader. Michael Crichton is a very good writer and this book is an easy read. It picks up a few years later after Jurassic Park. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was nice to read more about the dino behavior. Overall all a good fun read - you will be satisfied.

This book fell far from the tree when compared to Jurassic Park. I started reading it and had to put it down because it didn't hold my attention much but a few years later picked it up again and finished it. Just not as intense of Jurassic Park and seemed a little forced.

Show me the right way to live life. That's the moral of this one.
Ian Malcolm has always been my Favorite Crichton character. He exhibits the true thinking mind.
It's a must have.
(^_^)

Dino somewhat disappointment.


Especially if you are going to take the title of a classic novel with a straight face, also about dinosaurs, etc., and come up ordinary.

It appears that not content to just mess up with the original Jurassic Park there is a second site with such beasts, and they, too, are restless.

Throw another crew together, complete with a couple of kids, and do it all again, just not as well.

An ok book but, but not in the same league as the first.

There are many fine reviews already listed so I will be succinct. This book is a sequel to Jurassic Park. We join the cast of characters six years after the dinosaur island park disaster in which humans fought off genetically engineered replicas of prehistoric animals. One survivor of that attack is now a member of a group who returns to the area, another island called Site B, and meet up with the remaining dinosaurs. The book does have strong language and violence. Even though it fills like you are reading 'Jurassic Park' again, it is worth reading.

This is pure propaganda and misinformation to create hate. Robert Spencer is openly Islamophobic racist and don't know basic facts about Islam and Muslims. The reason why this book was written was to make money.

Readable and recomendable. drop the miths and bring us facts. Very interesting to understand many of the world's current problems.

After spending four tours in Iraq and just getting home from the last one, I can say that what is said in this book is correct.

There is no more the rising threat, but the threat that has already risen and is here in the US.

I suggest you, the reader, understand that Islam is more a tribal/political system than it is a religion. It's about control and who can gain it. I know there will be critics saying we have done the same. But the US has evolved and surrounds itself with life - or rebirth. Islam is engulfed in death and chaos.

Buy this book and read it to your children - educate them - Islam is worst than communism could ever dream of being. I also suggest the book, Because They Hate, Islamic Invasion, and Hostage to the Devil to see - or at least read - what US military personnel are experiencing in defending your rights here in the US.

I read through a couple of pages of this book. Then I went online to see what the actual translation of the verse : Quran(2:214) says;

"Or do ye think that ye shall enter the Garden (of bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? they encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of Allah." Ah! Verily, the help of Allah is (always) near!"

Ignorance and propoganda has no boundaries these days. Wake up people and do some research before you start buying lies and ills of an upset jerk.

Fantastic and eye opening book!! When i was young, i was taught in Catholic school that we were brothers and sisters with Jews and Islam. But as i have gotten older, i started to discover the Islam part was totally incorrect. This book bring it all together to show the truth about Islam and how it compares with Crhistianity. the other gives a fair account, even telling where Islam is good, but that sure isnt often.
The biggest "truth" i found in the book was the subject of lying. Jesus taught that if you lie, you speak from the devil. God Cant tell a lie. But Muhammad stated in the Koran that lying is ok if it promotes Islam. The other eye opening thing was how Muhammad hated the Cross and banned it. Only the devil hates the cross. Both those convinced me that Islam comes from the devil.
This book should be required reading in high school to take a serious look at Islam. We all need to wake up before its tooooo late....After reading this book i would die before ever being "FORCED" to convert!

Who would believe a mini-series about a woman living in the Stone Age could be so fasinating. I for one would not had not a friend insisted I would enjoy these books. I am now reading the fourth book in the series and my friend was on the money. What a wonderful writer.

Wow, this book comes alive with the reading aloud on this book CD. I read the other books in the series but this is so easy to listen to and I can listen at any time.
I would recomend this book on CD to any one who likes to read but doesn't have the time to.

Awesome research of this time period. Description of daily life very vivid. Sexual content is NOT for children, though describes a unique view of family life. Ayla is one of my favorite women who can do anything!

What a mixed group of reviews! This, however, ranked as my favorite in the the series.

In this series I felt each book has been better than the previous one...until Plains of Passage. I feel that the novelty of these characters and pets and wonderful inventions are beginning to wear thin. I don't want to read any more paragraphs that begin with Jondalar saying "Ayla, my Ayla!" and how she was the first, and only, woman that could 'take his all' (reference to the huge size of his 'manhood'). I did enjoy this book but it's becoming a bit hard not to poke fun at all the repeated sex scenes and wonderment from the different peoples that they encounter. I loved the first three books in this series but now everything seems to be repeating on itself. I liked the anti-racist tones of these novels but feel a little uncomfortable at the authors obvious admiration for people that mother-nature has made beautiful/tall/well endowed/blonde/naturally gifted etc. At first we rejoice in these things because Ayla and Jondalar were both given a tough time in previous novels, and we cheered them on. But now in Plains of Passage, they plod along doing the same things and the novelty's wearing thin. But still worth a read. (flip past any paragraphs beginning "Ayla, my Ayla")

This is a great book to read, It makes you think about your management style. It does not take long to read an should make you a better manager at the same time. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a manager.

I just reread this great little primer on management and found it just as helpful as I did fifteen years ago. While its concepts are simple, they are also quite effective IF managers (including teachers, parents, and front-line supervisors) would implement them correctly. The three secrets of one-minute goal setting, one-minute praisings,and one-minute reprimands are based on sound behavioral principles and are bound to work as long as certain guidelines are met. For instance, goals should be realistic and specific, praisings should be sincere and immediate, and reprimands should end with a bit of encouragement. I love the idea of managers walking around trying to catch people doing things right. What a refreshing idea!

Read the book and apply the principles in your home, office, or factory. While the three guidelines won't solve every human relations problem, they offer sound, practical advice that will lay the foundation for effectiveness.

Great book but really doesn't go far enough. I wish there was more. I guess its on to the next version.

I bought this book for my husband and he found it very useful. He's already implementing these ideas at work with some very positive feedback. He gives this 4 out of 5 rather than 5 out 5 for it's slightly patronising prose.

do you want a summary of this book?

Stupid kid: "Hey Mr. Manager, how about you teach me some managing stuff to manage people"

Manager:"you want me to teach you some managing stuff to manage people with"?

Stupid kid: "yeah i want you to teach me some managing stuff, to manage people with"

Manager: "allright, ill teach you some managing stuff to manage people with"

Stupid kid: "you mean to tell me you'd teach me some managing stuff to manage people with"?

Manager: "i dont like repeating stuff, ill show you some managing stuff to manage people with"

*repeat thought out the whole book

if you are in idiot and you think books like rich dad poor dad are good books, then prepare for a heart warming story

if not, dont waste your time like i did, this bs could have been written in a greeting card