Spencer Books

I LOVED THIS BOOK. I am 12 years old and learned more about the year 1861 than I have ever learned in my history classes. Thanks to Spencer. Hope she writes more time travel books. I read this book four times before I let all my friends read it. Super book!

My twelve year old niece writes better quality work than this author. At twelve she's a gifted writer. For an adult to proudly present this level of writing is self-delusion. I cannot imagine how she managed to get this book published. I read the first two chapters and then skipped to the last in the vain hope that the quality of writing would improve. It did not. The sentence structure was in the "See Spot run" vein and the characters lacked not only depth but description. The actual story line might be interesting but I certainly don't have the time or energy to waste on such a poorly written book. This book, along with money, is going into the trash.

I loved 'Two In Time'. This book has everything, suspense, action, romance, mystery and even magic! It isn't predictable like so many books have become. The characters come alive and the scenes are so real, you really do feel like you are there. I think we have an up and comming talent here in Ms. Spencer and I for one, can't wait till her next book is out.

The plot of this book requires a little thought, so it may annoy lower level readers. If you want an enthralling novel instead of a simpleton's comic book, you'll like this one. It's a very unique story with lots of twists and turns. I was hoping for more about the civil war, but I guess it's not really about that. I recommend it to anyone except children as there are some adult oriented scenes.

This is the first book I have read by Terri Spencer and I'm already hooked. I really like her writing style. She does a good job of making one want to keep reading. You keep reading because you want to find out what's going to happen to the main characters. Spencer does a nice job of painting a picture through words. I can imagine every little thing that happens and is thought. I can see the battlefield where Jennifer and Alex meet and the mansion Alex built. I know exactly how Jennifer feels through what she says and does. Spencer also does a very good job creating unique and interesting characters. The one that stands out is Raymond. He lives for the intensity in everything he does. Honestly, this is unlike any book I've read so far. I would recommend it to both males and females. This book contains enough action, of every kind, to keep both sexes happy. Overall, this is one of the best books I've ever read.

Do you like kid stories with soap opera plot twists? If you do then this is the book for you. If you enjoy reading historical fiction then this is not the book for you.

I don't know if there's gonna be one, but there should. This is a great story for it. Lots of surprises and plot twists. Some things seem to not make sense or be left hanging for a while, but by the end of the story it's cool how it all ties in together. I read it twice already and while I loved it the first time, the second time was great too because I picked up on a few things I missed the first time (just like a good movie!) I'm thinking Vanity of Vanities might be my new favorite book instead of the Harry Potter books.

Deftly written by Martin Bertram, Vanity Of Vanities is an epic tale of knighthood and the contradictory deceits of men with selfish ambitions and those who oppose them out of a sense of honor and obligation. Featuring a plot and style which is both intricate and enthralling, Vanity Of Vanities brings a more philosophical understanding of what becoming a praised knight really meant, and the almost inevitable basis of conflict arising from vanity and self-aggrandizement. Vanity Of Vanities is very highly recommended reading, especially for those with an interest in superbly crafted historical novels set in Medieval Europe.

Vanity of Vanities; what a title. As I began to read this story, the question "Why Vanity of Vanities" remained in my mind. After all, this was obviously an adventurous fantasy tale of war, heroes and villains, and beautiful maidens waiting to be rescued. Perhaps it was that last point wherein the vanity could be attributed? But not so. I continued to be drawn into this dramatic tale of great kingdoms and innocent people thrusted into a war because of the greed and ambition of one man, and I began to realize that "Vanity of Vanities" was not simply a title for a story. It was a statement of something far more profound and universal. On the subject of the title, I will say no more except that I believe it fits very well. The best new medieval epic I've seen in many years.

Well, I bought this book because I wanted to answer the trivia questions on the vanityofvanities.name website (why not .com I wonder?) for the ps3 contest. I figured, the worst thing that could happen is I'd have bought another disappointing novel (which I do all the time anyways). I have to say however that I was actually quite impressed. The story is primarily about several kingdoms that are caught up in war and conquest, though there is a very good balance between the amount of fighting and the actual story. Fantasy/medieval adventure is not usually my genre (for which reason I could not in good conscience give a five star review), yet I found this to be a very exciting and mentally stimulating read. It seemed like there was a simple, easy to follow main theme to the book, yet at the same time there was more than enough substance for a serious reader to dig into. The characters are unique and real, as are the situations they face, it seems. I noticed that the author did not at any point rely on any sort of magic, special objects, or unnatural effects to bedazzle the reader. I will say that the story was very descriptive; just maybe a little bit more than necessary, but I've seen much worse in that regard, and didn't find the description to be a real burden. While there are inevitably some familiar thematic elements to the story, I thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected twists and the complexity of the conflict in Vanity of Vanities.

100

100

Having bought this book about a year or so ago, I just picked it up from the bookshelf and had a look at the current URLs of the examples provided. Given the rate of change of the web you would expect many of these example sites to be different - I found that many were no longer there - and those that were have changed their style radically. Hmmm. Not a good advert for the book!

I used this book largely as a reference and for the samples on the CD-ROM. The book emphasizes the importance of incorporating feedback from web surfers and using this feedback to customize the site as well as other applications.

The book is lengthy and does not offer many pictures; however, the advice is very sound and definitely comes from one who has been there. It is a good reference and worth the purchase for the CD-ROM.

This is for people that want to learn the basics of genetics. It is a simple book with illustrations that you can find in any genetics book that has pictures. The written material is the same drab of any genetics book. Only buy this if you need it for a class. If you are getting it for a light read, get an older edition and save some money. YOu will get the same material that way.

If you are taking an introduction to genetics course, this book is difficult to understand. It seemingly presents the concepts for those that have had previous knowledge of genetics. The chapters on Mendelian Genetics, Mitosis, and Meiosis are done well, but later chapters dealing with regulation, mutation, transcription, and translation are difficult to understand. The pictures are not very helpful, either. If this book is required for your introductory genetics course, i recommend getting another book in addition to this one.

PLEASE tell somebody to eliminate the "-P-S-" abbreviation! (Fig. 9-12B, p. 201)
For years, I am fighting this imbecile representation of phosphate-sugar chain that persists in many, many textbooks, including Klug et al.

Nobody should abbreviate sugar as S (especially after Hershey-Chase experiment explained a bit earlier). Ask the Chemistry department!
"P" for phosphate is bad enough as well; so many students do not know the difference between phosphate and phosphorus!

Also, on Fig. 10-8 deoxyriboses have two strange features:
(a) they seem to miss C5' atom completely; (b) if P here is phosphate (-PO4), as I hope, then what is an extra oxygen doing here? Or "P" on Fig. 10-8 is different P from that on Fig. 9-10?

I took this course because it is a required course for my major. After getting into the first month of classes, I started to read the textbook. Genetics is a very interesting topic, and this book displays this. It breaks down concepts for the student to understand, and has great photos and figures. There are also one to two page "stories" which relate to the concept of the chapter at the end of each chapter. These are real stories of history or happenings of how Genetics has severely affected people. There is also a review and questions at the end of each chapter. Overall, I would give the book a four star rating.

This is for people that want to learn the basics of genetics. It is a simple book with illustrations that you can find in any genetics book that has pictures. The written material is the same drab of any genetics book. Only buy this if you need it for a class. If you are getting it for a light read, get an older edition and save some money. YOu will get the same material that way.

If you are taking an introduction to genetics course, this book is difficult to understand. It seemingly presents the concepts for those that have had previous knowledge of genetics. The chapters on Mendelian Genetics, Mitosis, and Meiosis are done well, but later chapters dealing with regulation, mutation, transcription, and translation are difficult to understand. The pictures are not very helpful, either. If this book is required for your introductory genetics course, i recommend getting another book in addition to this one.

PLEASE tell somebody to eliminate the "-P-S-" abbreviation! (Fig. 9-12B, p. 201)
For years, I am fighting this imbecile representation of phosphate-sugar chain that persists in many, many textbooks, including Klug et al.

Nobody should abbreviate sugar as S (especially after Hershey-Chase experiment explained a bit earlier). Ask the Chemistry department!
"P" for phosphate is bad enough as well; so many students do not know the difference between phosphate and phosphorus!

Also, on Fig. 10-8 deoxyriboses have two strange features:
(a) they seem to miss C5' atom completely; (b) if P here is phosphate (-PO4), as I hope, then what is an extra oxygen doing here? Or "P" on Fig. 10-8 is different P from that on Fig. 9-10?

I took this course because it is a required course for my major. After getting into the first month of classes, I started to read the textbook. Genetics is a very interesting topic, and this book displays this. It breaks down concepts for the student to understand, and has great photos and figures. There are also one to two page "stories" which relate to the concept of the chapter at the end of each chapter. These are real stories of history or happenings of how Genetics has severely affected people. There is also a review and questions at the end of each chapter. Overall, I would give the book a four star rating.

Few books on Assemblage Art begin to encompass the scope and quality of the work in Dorothy Spencer's 'Found Object Art'. It features the wonderful and inspiring creations of 85 artists, and their work is beautifully photographed. From jewellery to furniture, sculpture to art cars, and every medium known to mankind, this collection does justice to the talented array of eccentrics and story tellers that use the worlds cast offs as their raw materials. While each artists profile includes a small statement of inspiration or intent, the focus of this book is its richly detailed and clearly presented photographs.

The only aspect that keeps this book from being 5 Star in my opinion is a poorly defined layout. Many artists get two or three pages of images devoted to their work, yet the very nature of assemblage often means that if one artists work ends on a left hand page, it is occasionally very difficult to establish that the right hand page is now a new artist. Photos are captioned by Title, Size, Materials, Date etc, but not the Artist; this leads to confusion (in my mind) more often than should be the case, for such a rich and important overview of this art form. Despite that, whether you're an artist or collector, you want this book.

Page after page of wonderful artists (one behind bars!) that found something considered old and worthless and turned it into a piece that inspires, amuses, teaches, and leaves me in awe. It's creativity at its best. Wish there were a dozen more books like this in print! Must have book for collage, outsider art, and mixed media artists.....

It may be a matter of personal taste, but I felt the book was a jumble of mostly overdone product without a sense of relationship between materials that were chosen for the finished piece. It is possible that the photography played a part in this - was color accurate? I have used a lot of found materials - many discarded and worn with much more subtle results. Where is the mystery?

The breadth of artists, materials and objects featured in this book is impressive. Ms. Spencer knows her stuff and this book can be considered a primer on "Found Object" art.

I read 'The Welkening' which is the first book in this series, and it was not horrible, but it was far from good.
When I picked up, 'Guardian of the Veil' (please don't ask me why!) I couldn't have been more disappointed. I truly don't know if I've ever read a book that I liked less than this. I read it only because I had read the first book. Once I had started reading, I wanted to stop. Over and over I wished the story would just END! I didn't stop reading because I'm just not good at quitting.

Once again, the dialogue is horrendous. The teenagers are not believable. I know it's fiction, but a good fictional story will have characters you can relate to, this story just doesn't. Problems arise in the book that are believable, but they are handled much too easily. Real-life just doesn't work that way.

'Three-Dimensional Tale'? Please stop. It's not good.

Lisbeth Neferti, her brother, Bennu, their friends Angie, and her brother Len, live in Skinner Oregon. Known as the Misfits, they have the ability to make magical trips to Welken. (see book one, The Welkening) Lisbeth is having nightmares that are so real and so horrible they leave her reeling with despair. Suddenly strange things begin to happen and the four are called back behind the veil. They love Welken, and have looked foward to going back, but instead of the peace and happiness they expect, they find Piers is in trouble and needs their help.

Guardian of the Veil has teenage protagonists, but it has a twisted plot, and a sophisticated writing style that will appeal to adults. A rich, multi-layered story that forces the characters to face their own shortcomiongs and grow from the experience. Fans of The Welkening will love Guardian of the Veil.

Guardian of the Veil is a delightful book - well written, engaging, thought provoking. The characters are wonderful and the language beautifully descriptive. It is a page turner and leaves one thinking about the various themes well into the night.

In Skinner, Oregon live four teenagers Angie, Lizbeth, Bennu, and Len; they don't fit in and are proud of the fact. In their neighborhood the veil between their world and Welken is so thin that they are able to travel there when summoned. Became part of Welken when they willimng helped defeat the evil one Morphane. While there they are able to change into animal shapes, Lizbeth an ox, Angie an angel, Len a falcon and Bennu a falcon Their work there was given the blessing of Solion the being who is everything.

Now they are called back again but they don't know what there mission is and they can only transform partially into animal shapes. The young ladies get separated from their male peers leading to separate adventures. The females learn that Mary and her Cutters want to take over Deedy Swamp and surrounding areas; while Len and Bennu learn that Fetagar and Tremlings want to do the same thing. Now the Misfits have to figure out how to stop them and to do that they have to figure out four cryptic lines that are spoken to them over a period of time.

The characters make GUARDIAN OF THE VEIL very special. The teens are youths with problems like a grandmother who has Alzheimer's and a mother who is an alcoholic but they succeed in not allowing their personal issues to affect their responsibilities. In fact, the problems help make them stronger warriors and the battles help them deal better with their family issues. Readers will care about them and hope they succeed in all their endeavors.

Harriet Klausner

Momo has won the swim meet and with the revelation of Sae's true nature everyone has seemed to rush to her side. Now Sae is left on the outskirts with all the classmates picking on her because of her repetitive lying. But Momo doesn't have everything she wants, not by a long shot. She can't quite bring herself to forgive Toji for believing Sae in the first place, and this distrust leads her to tell him no when he asked her out again. Meanwhile, Kiley is still being very friendly with Momo, so much so that Momo begins to develop knew feelings towards him that she can't quite explain.

Suddenly, Toji comes to school with a new buzz cut and this shocks everyone, especially Momo. When she asks him about it is obvious he is hung up on her, and this makes her agree to try again. They spend summer vacation together and when they return to school everything is changed. Momo is Miss popular, Sae is being mistreated like Momo used to be, Kiley is his old self, but now Momo realizes just how much she misses him, and Toji and her are still trying to warm back up to one another. When Momo takes pity on Sae and helps her out in gym class Sae becomes a puppy dog, and this leads to a bizarre occurrence at a modeling shoot where Sae attracts the attention of a gorgeous young man who believes that she is the "wounded deer" she used to be so good at portraying and that Momo is the "lion"... Sae soon begins to slip back into her old routine, and this causes quite a stir around the school.

I love this series... love it love it love it... *gush*... ok, that being said I am glad that we are getting some personality back from Sae, even if it is her devilish side... it just doesn't seem right when Sae is begging and scraping up after Momo.. She should be scheming and plotting. The relationship with Toji is heading right where I thought it would, but I wonder if Momo is going to end up with Kiley, seeing as how she keeps fixating on him and Toji is such a pushover...he has the personality of lukewarm soup, while Kiley gushes character at every opportunity.. I'm just amazed that Momo liked Toji for as long as she did because, from where I am sitting at least, Toji is not all that. He's good looking, but the substance is not strong, or at least is not exerting real personality just yet... I guess I am still a tad annoyed at him for mistreating Momo so badly because of Sae's word of mouth. Given the two choices, she should choose Kiley, at least he's not a wet blanket.

Read this series. It's oh so good.

The story revolves around a girl named Momo, who has a problem with getting tanned skin, and a love triangle between the guy she has a crush on and the cutest guy in school. It sounds simple but sometimes simplicity is key. I personally think the animation is beautiful and original and all the characters have their own unique personality.

I'll admit I didn't like Peach Girl at first. The art style annoyed me as well as the characters when it was being featured in Smile. After my cousin bought a few graphic novels the series grew on me. Peach Girl isn't the manga for everyone. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's new to Japanese comics. But if you know all about manga and are looking for another new series give this one a try.

Just a note to parents out there - these books are not as innocent as they might appear from the cover. They are about at a level with modern American soap operas - pretty bad. No actual drawings of sexual organs but lots of pictures suggesting sexual activity; boys talking about taking a girl's virginity; intended rapes - including gang rapes - that are prevented at the last minute by the entrance of the hero; girls trying to win boys over by offering them sex; misunderstandings galore in which the boy has sex with the wrong girl or the girl wakes up in a strange bed. Even if you don't object to your daughter reading something with so much sex in it, you'll probably object to the antifeminist portrayal of girls obsessed with catching the right boy and using sex to do it. The heroine and hero do try to stay above all this and true to each other, but they still involve themselves in vengeful plots to teach the bad girls lessons. It's only natural that preteen girls should be curious about dating, etc., but these books give a really false and bad impression of what sex, love, and life are all about. People might say that this type of book is just for fun, but there's a lot of fun stuff out there that also makes you think and grow as a person: books and movies that deal with social-sexual issues in a more moral and responsible way and lead to an appetite for better and better literature. Sex is, after all, a major theme in literature. But the "Peach Girl" series would only develop a taste for more of the same, or worse.

This textbook does a pretty good job of making the information clear. The writer does a fairly decent job of keeping a motivated student's attention. The only issue is that the tone the author takes is at time too smarmy. He also alludes way too frequently to his family for comfort... I feel like I know his kids, and that kind of creeps me out.

Either way, when paired with good lectures, the material is pretty easy to follow.

This textbook was much better than I expected. It is very well laid out, and full of relevant important psychology information. As an introductory text it is exceptional. It is engaging and readable, and makes learning less tedious. The topics covered are not only interesting to Psychology majors, but important for everyone. Not only does the author touch on the history of pyschology and the important people in psychology, it also has psychology information and research that is up-to-date and applicable to modern day living.

I chose this text for my Intro to Psychology class and have taught with it three times so far. The majority of end-of-semester student reviews of the text are highly favorable. There are always a few students who feel the way the previous reviewer did, but out of a class of about 85 students, that's a small percentage. On the whole, students indicate that they find the text to be accessible, fast-paced, and grounded in real world examples. I have no complaints!

I am currently a college student majoring in a humanities area. Traditionally, I have been weak in areas involving scientific knowledge (and psychology is a life science as well as a social science discipline). Unfortunately, I had to use this dreadful textbook for my introductory psychology class. It is undoubtedly the worst textbook I have ever used, not because it isn't comprehensive, but because of the author's erratic and ultimately irritating writing style. Mr. Rathus insists on making annoying and unnecessary jokes every few lines or paragraphs - the subject is boring as it is, don't make our misery worse with stale jokes! In addition, he crams so much information in the paragraphs in an unsophisticated and rushed style, particularly with chapter 2 (biological psychology), that I was left with the headache of trying to sort out what exactly was important and what wasn't. Beware if your teacher uses the database of test questions that apparently come with this text - the questions test tiny, seemingly insignificant details instead of the more important, broad general concepts of psychology. I hope that other professors use other introductory psychology textbooks. I would undoubtedly *not* recommend this.

Catherine Spencer has out done herself with this one. She has taken the "secret baby" story line one step further to make it even more intriguing and exciting. I couldn't put this book down.

Five Stars to you, Catherine Spencer!

I loved Catherine's Spencer's newest book. As usual, her characters are intelligent, interesting and real. The romance is sensual and sensitive and no one writes better dialogue than Ms. Spencer. All of her books, this is one of my favorites!

In The Secret Daughter, Catherine Spencer does an excellent job of sustaining tension while the family secrets drop one by one. The hero's realistic, yet unpredictable reactions keep the pages turning through the treachery, deceit, and finally the remorse of a well-rounded villain. In the world of secret baby stories, this one stands out!

everything about this story is very predictable,and you know what that means BORING!