Wallace Books

In the year 2320, Darius Calhoun is President of the United States. The men of his family have been appointed as presidents for generations; ever since Michael Calhoun solved the world's problems. Due to fatal diseases caused by pollution, in addition to, overpopulation and sexually transmitted diseases, the citizens of Earth now live in domed cities where sex has been outlawed and no one experiences emotion of any kind...except the rebels who live outside the domes who prefer to act more like humans than mind-numbed robots.

But the cost is high--they die at alarming rates from cancer and a new strain of AIDS that kills within months; not to mention that they have to grow their food in greenhouses because the soil is contaminated.

Darius is horrified when he is suddenly plucked out of his own time period and dropped into 14th century Scotland. Not only are the conditions unsanitary, he's expected to advise Robert the Bruce, the self-proclaimed King of Scotland, on war tactics, even though war hasn't existed in his time for over two hundred years.

Lara Macgregor, the oldest daughter of the lord of the castle, is a big help to Darius and they quickly become friends. But Lara wants more than friendship--she wants a mate. Darius knows that means having sex and he sure isn't about to do something that he's been brought up to believe is wrong. Funny thing is his body and mind have begun to change since Darius arrived and for the first time in his life he begins to feel and to want things he never did before.

When six other time travelers appear in 14th century Scotland they know it must be for a reason--especially when many of them knew each other at some period in time. As the war for independence in Scotland gains momentum, Darius and the other time travelers are thrust into the tumultous events that unfold and try to uncover why they are all there in the first place. When one of the lord's most trusted knights becomes an enemy, everyone at Castle Macgregor is put in grave danger...particularly Darius, who this knight sees as a rival for beautiful, spunky Lara's affections.

I can honestly say that I have never read a book like "The Ultimate Passage" ever before, but after reading it I am determined to read the rest of the books in this saga.

Since I hadn't read the first three books--"Charmed Passage", "Destined Passage" and "Doomed Passage"--I couldn't possibly have known all that transpired between the six time travelers that dropped into 14th century Scotland. Hackensmith provided just enough detail so that I could piece together their pasts, but left out plenty that would keep readers of the past three books from getting bored learning what they already knew.

Each character is so well-developed that I swear in a different place and time I could have known him and her. To watch Darius put in a position where he was forced to call into question all that he had been taught made him a sympathetic character, but the reader also encourages him to reach out for Lara's love and all it entails.

A perfect mix of historical events and people tossed together with several lively fictional characters makes "The Ultimate Passage" a must read. A complex and riveting plot is expertly delivered by Hackensmith. And Birch must be commended for her thorough research that places the reader into 14th century Scotland and the time of knights and chivalry.

My only disappointment is in knowing that this is the end of "The Passage Saga".

Action, adventure, and most of all romance make this a book you won't be able to put down. "The Ultimate Passage" by Jean Hackensmith and Kathe Birch is every romance lover's dream.

Usually the books in a saga get less and less interesting with each successive one. Not so with this saga! I don't know how the authors did it, but THE ULTIMATE PASSAGE, the FOURTH book in the "Passage" saga outdoes all of the others. In fact, each book in the saga gets progressively better. I definitely have a new "favorite" author (or maybe I should say "authors" since the trilogy is co-authored.) THE ULTIMATE PASSAGE though is, as the title suggests, the ULTIMATE in time travel romance. This book should be on the best seller lists and I really don't understand why it isn't. Imagine taking a guy from the 24th century -- where they live in domed cities and no longer have sex -- and sticking him back in the 1300's where he has to live in a drafty old castle! The authors interpretation of his horror when he's expected to have sex with his new bride is both realistic and humorous. A wonderful read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My son loves Valentines and we have gotten totally off track with holidays so we are reading the books as we get to them. This picture book is about 2 "kids" bringing Valentine joy to their neighbors. I thought it was a sweet book and my 8-year-old son loves bunnies. Recommended for preschool - 2nd grade.

I purchased this book for our library because most of the books describing Valentine's Day are boring, outdated and worn. This fresh perspective includes facts, plus gives you ideas on how to make your own valentines. To me, it is "killing two birds with one stone," but really three birds when you think how much you have enjoyed the story and illustrations!

If you value field guides, you will love this Time-Life edition of "The Walker's Companion" from The Nature Company. Several highly respected nature writers, including David Rains Wallace and Ann Zwinger, make contributions to this well-illustrated and highly informative text. Those names should give you a clue to the excellent combination of literary and scientific writing that makes this text a must-have reference for anyone who is interested in the environment.

This is a field guide that powerfully combines content with context in a way that makes the information about nature and the environment not only highly accessible, but intrinsically linked to the key social topics that are central issues in both science and social studies. Topics include the history of nature writing and in America, hiking tips, the study of nature throughout the ages, field identification and sketching outdoors. Ecological concepts such as food chains and pollination are concisely described and illustrated in a section titled, "Understanding Nature". Information about every ecosystem from forests, mountains and deserts to farmland and vacant lots is included in the "Guide to Habitats" section. This kind of comprehensive perspective about environment helps the reader to think about and see ecology in very relevant ways.

The format of double-facing pages per topic gives concise environmental information, making it easy to read, index and apply to the reader's world. The guide is an essential home or travel reference as well as a valuable classroom text that would be interesting and accessible for audiences from 10 to 100. The text is so versatile that I have a copy for myself and have ordered a class set for my middle school students for a wide range of class use including nature drawing, research, gardening and environmental education.

I am surprised that a book published in 1995 has had only one review posted on Amazon.It is a hard book to review,but I'll give it a try.
I rated it 5* because of the wide coverage,quality of the pictures,sketches,maps,paper,printing and binding.It is very well constructed and fairly priced.
As an avid Birder with a wide interest in all areas of nature I have spent a lot of time walking the states of the US and provinces of Canada.This book covers just about everything;but in very scant detail.There are 288 pages,a pletora of pictures,sketches,maps,and photos;but every 2 pages is a different topic.For instance,pages 154 and 155 cover Southeastern Subtropical Forests;way too big a subject for 2 pages,including half of which consists of about 8 picturss and sketches..This book is so broad and tries to cover so much,that I wonder what value it has.One would certainly not carry it in the field as a "Companion".It's too big,too heavy and no detail for any area.It is more of a catalogue than a FIELD GUIDE.
As to what this book might be useful for;I can go along with Margo,who felt it might be useful in the classroom.Even then it's use would be more appropriate at the lower grade level.It's certainly constructed to take a lot of wear and tear.
I would not recommend its use as a field guide or as a gift for someone who does walk and enjoys nature.
While the book covered so many things;I can't remembering one of the most important things about nature walking,namely the issue of trespassing;either knowingly or unintentionally.This is particularly important in areas one is not familiar with.
Here are a few signs one might encounter:

NO TRESSPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION

IF THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER THE ROAD IS IMPASSIBLE

THIS PROPERTY IS PROTECTED BY SMITH & WESSON

TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT,SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN

THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE,
BUT THE BULL CHARGES

As you can see,some of these signs might seem funny,but anytime you go on private property,it's a serious matter.If in doubt,check first.

This is a great book for any Wallace and Gromit fan who has seen the "Were-rabbit" movie. The way this book was put together would make it a great reader for children in grades 3 or 4. One half of the book is Gromit's point of view of what happened through the movie. The other half of the book is Philip's side of the story. Book includes some black and white pictures throughout which would keep a child interested in the story. All in all well worth the money and a fun little addition to any Wallace and Gromit fan's collection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I love the Wallace and Gromit shorts and movie, and this book really made a fun read for me, an adult. The author uses scenes from the movie, "Wallace and Gromit: the Curse of the Wererabbit" to write the diaries, and I was laughing through the whole book. Gromit is contemplative and witty while Phillip is focused more on the physical, thinking about which person to bite next. The book reads fast, as it is a paperback with only 80 pages.

I bought this calendar to add to the theme in our kitchen of Wallace and Gromit because we really enjoy the characters. Each month shows the characters doing something absurdly funny. Only a fan would understand the pictures each month and they are comical and add laughter to our days.

This is an aweseome calendar! The pictures representing each month are well staged and so interesting to look at. They came out with a 2007 calendar which I sat on wait for months and it still never became available. This one however shipped right away. If you compare the pictures Amazon had online for the months within the 2007 calendar, this one is much better. They must have hired a marketing guru who knew how to showcase the characters in funny situations that were not only interesting but true to the characters. Great for use as a calendar or for the collector. 5 Stars!!!!!

There is no way around the fact that there is no such thing as too much Wallace and Gromit. This wonderful little book should be a film! It has all the Wallace and Gromit modis operandi that we know and love.
As much as the rocket to the moon to have cheeze, this story with the submarine was so enjoyable. More Wallace and Gromit, please.

You'll want this one just for yourself though it makes a great gift too!

This story reminded me of how precious a child can be...and how children truly are a "dream." I loved the book, and I can not wait to share it with my nieces and nephews!

I found this book to be very enjoyable. It is a book that as an adult you must remind yourself the target audience and what they might enjoy. I appreciated the lessons that were brought out using the fictional characters of our youth. I think that children will enjoy this flight of fantasy and also will get its point. A must read for every child and adult that has been adopted

Jackson J. Benson has in this volume produced a superb literary biography of one of America's most underrated writers. The book in many ways reflects some of Stegner's own qualities as a writer. Stegner, in his biography of John Wesley Powell, BEYOND THE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN, emphasized that it was a biography of his professional, not personal, life. Although Benson does not neglect Stegner's personal life, the stress is very definitely upon his literary, academic, and environmental work. Benson does let us get to know Stegner the person, with his own quirks (he dislike of the sixties and youth counterculture, his love of Vermont, his avoidance of extremism, his love of community as opposed to rugged individualism), but unlike many modern biographers, he is not intent upon baring Stegner's inner life, warts and all. Benson, like Stegner, strives towards balance. In this he succeeds admirably.

Stegner vividly emerges in this biography as a profoundly principled, disciplined, committed, and morally courageous individual. The product of an impoverished childhood, later recounted fictionally in his semi-autobiographical novel THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN, Benson chronicles Stegner's drive to become a writer. In a sense, the book covers an uneventful life. Stegner did not do a great deal beyond write, teach, and speak out on a variety of environmental issues. Benson explores his friendships with mentors such as Bernard DeVoto and Robert Frost, to friends both famous and unknown, to students such as Ernest Gaines, Wendell Berry, and Ken Kesey.

Although primarily focused on Stegner's literary output as both a fiction writer and historian, Benson deals extensively with Stegner's work as a conservationist. Of all the major writers of the past century, Stegner almost certainly was more involved in environmental causes than any other. He did this not only through his writing, such as in his great biography of John Wesley Powell, but in his activities as part of the Sierra Club and in numerous environmental efforts, including working briefly as an advisor to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall.

Most of all, this book created a portrait of a writer and human being worthy of respect. Stegner emerges as a good man, someone the reader would have enjoyed knowing. At this point in time, I have read only Stegner's book on Powell and ANGLE OF REPOSE, but between those two books and this excellent biography make me want to read a great deal more.

Wallace Stegner wrote about ordinary people trying to make sense of day-to-day existence. He wrote with an extraordinary clarity of description and dialogue that is best matched by the clear, keen air of the Western high country where he grew up. The reader will find no hyperbole in his books and no gratuitous violence or sex. He or she will find sorrow there and the ways of handling it that humans use to try to make sense of it. His books are explorations of the canyon lands of sorrow and of the ascent to the connections with other humans that require the forgiveness that makes our best solace in the face of regret. Professor Benson senses these themes and uses them as organizing principles in presenting Stegner's works as they map his life. The book is balanced in its presentations with no room for heroes, anti-heroes or villains of the stock variety, a reflection of both the author's scholarship and his subject's own approach to characterization. Jackson Benson's book, too, is the harvest of ten years research done carefully, using many contemporary sources including interviews with Wallace Stegner himself before his premature death after an auto accident in 1993. Professor Benson's writing style is fluid, clean and selfless as he gives us a portrait of a man who chronicled changes in America between the last of the frontier cowboys and the invention of cyberspace. It is the picture of a writer of the American West whose themes apply equally well anywhere on the globe that humans inhabit. This book is a fine introduction to Stegner's work for those who have never read him and a delightful comment, containing both criticism and appreciation, for those who have read Wallace Stegner and will enjoy a conversation with another, most astute, reader. It is another dip into the complexity of Wallace Stegner's fiction, essays and biographies and into the meaning in them that can be described as their author once described mountain streams: always running, always there. by Thomas Beresford, M.D., University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Henry A. Wallace has been so scouraged by his ill-fated 1948 run as an independent candidate for the United States presidency that he is often forgotten for his key role in many, many other greater causes and efforts. The McCarthy era which decimated so many other careers may have been the great undoing of Vice President Wallace, but Russell Lord does a great job in getting inside the history and lives of the three generations of Wallaces in Iowa -- with a beautiful inset story of George Washington Carver's time with them -- while remaining remarkably objective in the days, perhaps, of a more honorable vintage of insider journalism. There is probably not a better life history of the intriguing young inventor of hybred seed corn as we know it today.

This is one of the most insightful books you can find about one of the wisest American political leaders of the last century, in great part because Henry A. Wallace (like his father, Henry C.) was never really a politician as much as an agrarian activist, writer and organizer -- all of which stemmed from his interest in plants as a scientist.

Biographer Russell Lord gets inside the workings of Wallace's Department of Agriculture and his other Washington venues as Vice President during the FDR years with brilliant inclusion of comments by both Franklin and Eleanor as well, recognizing Wallace as a pragmatic, thoughtful scientist rather than the red-baited 1948 Progressive Party presidential candidate he is seemingly only remembered by in history. Lord's review of the fateful 1944 Democratic National Convention, and Wallace's stirring speech on equal rights and equal pay in quite moving.

Mr. Lord also delves deep into the family roots of this fascinating progressive thinker who proved to be so many decades ahead of his time, detailing the early symbiotic relationship he shared with fellow scientist George Washington Carver, whom Wallace credited for his own remarkable scientific achievements in hybridizing sweet corn, etc. Mr. Lord also clearly maintains an objectivity which makes this, in my opinion, one of the best written political biographies (about any politician) in critically analyzing Wallace within the context of his times and challenges.

Excellent book. You don't have to agree with all what is said there, but it can make you think differently. One of the books where if you do not read between the lines, you are loosing a lot of the content. The story is secondary. And definitely, this is not the book you would read or even want to read in one day.

Overall, it's an extraordinary accomplishment. Together with Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, one of the best books out there.

"The Wisdom of the Sands" is a collection of Saint-Exupery's very personal reflections published posthumously as a series of parables. The rhythm of his lonely, compassionate, and mystical voice in this work enraptured me. The work concludes with the most profound and moving essay on friendship that I have ever read, one that far transcends his well-known fable "The Little Prince." His reflections on loneliness will resonate with anyone who has struggled with not succumbing to despair, and who has instead found God and love and compassion at the far end of this struggle.

Saint-Exupery weaves his great love for the vast, lonely, and empty Saharan desert of his youth that he crossed many times in the 1920s pioneering airmail routes for Air France with personal reflections and understandings of the Biblical mysteries that transpired in this same corner of the earth thousands of years ago. He returned to the African desert in the last days of his life, where he was based as a P-38 reconnaisance pilot in a world that had turned ugly and that ultimately, I believe, broke his heart, based on the sad voice that resonates from these pages, one trying to make peace with the earth and with life before he dies.

This collection, along with Dag Hammarskjold's "Markings," are my two favorite books, and both are very similar in nature though distinguished by their authors' personal voices and souls and writing style. Both document the spiritual journeys of two lonely European men in this century in a very personal way. Saint-Exupery's soulful reflections on the nature of love, friendship, loneliness, community, and duty are words I turn to again and again and that have grown with me through the years and acquired new meaning as I have matured.