Libraries and Museums Books

The second book in the impressive "My World: Young Native Americans Today" series from Beyond Words Publishing, Meet Mindy: A Native Girl From The Southwest by Susan Secakuku (and profusely illustrated with the color photography of John Harrington) introduces young readers to Mindy, a girl who tells of the Hopi and Tewa peoples of Arizona. Following Mindy through her coming-of-age ceremony, as well as offering an amazing look at Hopi culture including agriculture, weaving baskets, making clay pots, traditional dances, and much more, Meet Mindy is a captivating look into a rich and enduring Native American culture.

I couldn't resist a book with my name in it, and I was pleased to find that this book was very good. It follows Mindy, a teenage Native American girl of the Hopi and Tewa tribes in Arizona, through the Corn Grinding Ceremony and the Yah-ne-wah Dance. The majority of the book is told in the first person in simple, readable language easily understood by 4th to 6th graders. A few pages at the beginning give a brief overview of Hopi history and culture, and a few pages at the end take readers through a description of a Hopi year through the seasons. The "About the Author" section starts the book, which makes for a weak beginning. Nonetheless this book is a browser's delight. Every page has brightly colored photographs illustrating the story. Not to mention, it is full of information about Hopi culture. This book will find a home on school and public library shelves.

This is very interesting book that shows that you can do anything that you want to do. Also Norman tries to teach his pet plant to do the Hokey Pokey and also say excused me after the plant burps. But before he does teach him the telephone rings and on the phone was a Natural Museum calling him. They let him know that their plants were related to the plants that when the dinosaurs roam the earth.

Michael and Norman are off on their fifth funny and exciting adventure with their amazing six-foot-tall pet plants, Stanley and Fluffy. Norman is trying to teach Fluffy to dance the Hokey Pokey and say excuse me after it burps!!!!

To be honest: several times I felt envy reading this book. Maleuvre analysis the beginning of a museum-culture in the 18th and 19th century and does this with an extraordinary knowledge of philosophy, art and literature, especially French literature. His question of departure is: In what social context surges the museum and what impact has its birth to the relation between subject and object, the artwork. That is what a museum does: Create a distance between the individual and the sculpture. From the first to the last page the book is written on a high philosophical level, combining literature (Balzac, Proust) with philosophy (Hegel, Heidegger, Walter Benjamin and others). I was reading it line by line, a pleasure that I did not have in the last months. Congratulations to the author for this brilliant opening to a very interesting field of (hopefully) other studies in the future.

this book is centred on the 19th century. it explains the logic behind museums during this century drawing comparisons with the domestic interior and the work of Balzac. So its contents refers in its majority to the culture, at large, of the 19th century and how this transformed the institution of the museum during this time. Therefore it is not a text exclusively on museums but in the cultural dynamics that shaped it during that period of time.

The book is idealy just a horror flick brought to words. Though, it gives King a chance to use his horror skills from other books and roll it into one. The actual plot of a powerful horse is a little absurd but it is all explained. Overall, the book is nothing less than the supreme.

This book has nothing to do with horror, unless you consider "fights" (for lack of a better way to describe it without going dirty) between a brother and sister. The actual tale revolves around a grandfather explaining how precious and fast time can be, and how it can get away if you are not careful. This is not Mr. King's strongest work, but it is a nice story. Save your money if you just want to read the tale, and get King's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" short story collection with this story included.

The edition mentioned here is an oversized, slipcased, and decently designed book from Knopf books. This book was originally commissioned for the Whitney Museum in New York as a very overpriced coffee table book.

This is a delightful book about books.It was prepared as a catalogue for a touring exhibition of the libraries of the Smithsonian Institution.It limits itself to covering the formation and development of the libraries,the personalities involved and a taste of some of the prized books that have been obtained since its founding over 150 years ago.
The book about the exhibition also gives a good insight into the "lore of the book" and the benefits to be derived by anyone who develops a love of reading and a love of books.
In dealing with the books;there are three parts.Part 1-Journeys over Land and sea (exploration).Part 2-Journeys of the Mind--Natural History).Part 3--Journeys of the Imagination.
Overall, a very brief but good look at some of the great books of the past.

"An Odyssey in Print" is primarily the catalogue of an on-going (through May 2003) exhibition at the Smithsonian Libraries. The exhibition highlights some of the rarest, most beautiful and most interesting works in the Libraries' collections, loosely organized around the theme of "journeys" -- real, imagined and metaphorical. Saying the organization is "loose" is being generous -- in fact, the organization is almost haphazard (books that reflect real journeys show up in the section on journeys over land, but also in the section on journeys of the mind) and seems to have been imposed after-the-fact on books that were selected primarily for their historical or aesthetic importance (for example, the trade literature in the final pages probably has historical importance, but it's a tight squeeze to force it into the "journeys" theme). Nevertheless, the books selected are invariably interesting and many are beautiful -- if you are a lover of books or of natural history, you will enjoy browsing through the catalogue, without regard to the somewhat sloppy curating. A brief paragraph summarizing the background and significance of each book in the catalogue is included along with very nice reproductions of one or more of the book's illustrations.

What I found most intriguing were the introductory essays. Michael Dirda provides an eloquent paean to the joys of reading and the mystique of libraries, where everything is possible. Mary Augusta Thomas, the exhibition curator, covers the history of the Smithsonian Libraries and their collections. Most interesting to me was the essay by Storrs Olson, Senior Curator of the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, who discusses the importance of the Libraries and their historical collections to the on-going work of science. It's easy to look at the books exhibited in this volume and see them only as objects, as magnificent illustrations of the book arts or historical curiosities, but Olson makes it clear that these books have continuing life and utility for those who care for them. Recommended for anyone interested in the the book arts, the history of the book or the history of science.

The story starts with a prologue 3 years earlier as Colfax & March Security need to deliver a 4th century glass art cup to their client. Cyrus Chandler Colfax hooked up with his partner of 6 months, Damien March, as Damien had high-powered corporate and individual contacts but he is not sure he trusts him. Cyrus wants his wife Katy to be happy. As Cyrus and his partner Damien are transporting the "Hades cup", suddenly Cyrus is shot from behind. While in the hospital he finds that his partner has taken all of their company's assets including the Hades cup and that his wife Katy is dead, victim of a carjacking.
In the present day we are at the Leabrook Glass Museum where the elderly owner, Tabitha, is trying to convince the museum director, Eugenia Swift to take along Cyrus Colfax on her trip to Frog Cove Island to inventory and catalogue the art collection of the recently deceased art patron, Adam Daventry. Cyrus, a tall well-built man in a bright aloha shirt, does not impress the very classy and elegant Eugenia. Eugenia finally realizes she is not going to get to go on her working vacation without him and gives in especially as on her agenda is finding out what happened to her friend and former employee Nellie Grant who she had introduced to Adam Daventry.
The Glass House where Adam Daventry lived and housed his collection is a very strange place with almost all glass walls and the very first night Eugenia chases a intruder down to the basement where Cyrus finds her and they both find the caretaker of the place dead in the wine cellar of an apparent heart attack.
From this point on more and more clues and suspects enter the picture and make for an intriguing read right to the final denouement!! The romance is also nicely done and as always JAK has plenty of humor as well. This story is a fun read and very interesting for the information on glass art as well.

My only real complaint with this story was that only a few characters had normal names. An officer with the first name Peaceful, his wife the doctor named meditation, and other bizarre names that are even strange for a soap opera. Even in the art world these names are out there and they came from the townspeople not the artists. It made for annoying reading whenever those names were mentioned, as if the author was poking fun at them or the reader.
Other than that, the story line was simple and easy to follow. I felt the author changing her style of writing during it and experimenting a little with her abilities to try and make the read more suspenseful. It worked out fine, but JAK should have either used it throughout the book, or not at all. It was near the end and frankly, most of the suspense was already over. It seemed like a weak attempt to make something out of nothing.
The characters were likable, but I never really felt the pull or attraction between Eugenia and Cyrus. Clearly they had the sex, but why the relationship grows into more is a little on the weak side. This author definitely has the ability to keep the story moving, and with a little more fine tuning and emotion, she could turn out some good works. Sadly, this book is only a mediocre read and nothing to rant and rave about to your friends.

For the first quarter of the book, I thought Eugenia was (to be polite) a witch. She slowly became likeable. All of poor Cyrus's choices in clothing were so tacky. The story had a good blend of romance and mystery. After reading this book and all the talk of glass, I have a serious interest in collecting glass art.

Another random library pick up.

Sharp Edges is about a museum director named Eugenia who is about to travel to a small island off the coast of Washington to inventory a collection of glass art of a man who recently died. She also wants to do some digging into the supposed accidental death of her friend, and the collector's lover, who died in a boating accident the day after the collector died. The lawyer's for the collector's estate want to make sure their client's death was really an accident so they enlist a PI, Cyrus, to check into it. In order to discretely investigate, Cyrus asks the museum to let him use them as a cover, and requests to travel with Eugenia. What Cyrus doesn't tell them is that he has an ulterior motive in that he wants to find an ancient glass artifact that changed his life three years earlier. Once on the island, things get a lot more complicated than they expected, not just with the case, but also with the sexual chemistry that arises between them.

One of the things I generally haven't liked about Krentz's books is that the suspense is a much bigger factor than the romance. Not that there isn't romance, but it tends to be more of a background issue. I like the romance to be more in the forefront. So though I've liked the books of hers I've read, I've always wished the romance got more attention. The same is true for Sharp Edges. I just did not feel a connection between Eugenia and Cyrus. They made an interesting couple, but I didn't have an emotional bond with them. They were just kind of there.

I think part of the problem with this book was that I didn't exactly like Eugenia. She was your very typical snob who sees anything below her standards as crass. I have a hard time associating with that mind set. There was one line in the book where she refuses to go to a cafe because it probably served greasy hamburgers. It just made me shake my head. I tend to like characters who are more average.

As for the story itself, I did enjoy that. The plot was interesting, with enough twists and suspense to keep you in the story. I didn't have any trouble finishing the book, but as has happened with other Krentz books for me, it just did not tweak any of my emotional strings. It was pretty much only the plot that kept my head in the book.

Rating: 3 / 5

This book could have been better, tighter, but it wasn't. The ending was especially disappointing.The main characters, Eugenia and Cyrus were too different and I never believed their relationship was more than sexual companionship and a limited business partnership. For a director, she seemed way too impulsive and irrational. For an owner of a multi-office investigation company Cyrus seemed too much on a one-man unit. I liked the idea of them living together in the end, giving themselves more time, but I did not need a marriage to tie up the story. I wanted the relationship to simmer a bit longer before they made a lifelong commitment.
I love art and antiquities which is one of the reasons I like Krentz as she often uses art and antiquities in her plots. I have seen ancient Roman glass. I was very upset that Krentz did not share Eugenia's reaction when she saw the actual Hades cup. Where was that moment of excitement when she saw the real thing and knew what Cyrus has said about its beauty was true? What about the sparks when Eugenia and Cyrus looked at the cup together? We do not even know how the cup got from the condo to the museum? And what was Tabitha's initial reaction when she learned of the cup? When she learned of their romance? And who was Damien really? Honestly, Krentz could have cut out Rhonda and Joshua (who cares about them anyway?) and spent more time developing Eugenia and Cyrus. This book seemed to be rushed at the end, I agree with another reviewer who suggested Ms. Krentz slow down and give us a complete and satisfying story.

This book is a wonderful and colorful example of what the first Lady chose to wear for her official duties in the US and abroad. Until one sees the pictures you are unable to appreciate the beautiful designs, fabric, and colors that made up Mrs. Kennedy's wardrobe. Just such an enjoyable book.
Lucinda

This book is the bomb for Jackie Lovers- the clothes are fantastic and the stories behind them bring them to life. You realise that they are quite severe and plain ( altho beautiful) and how she really brought them to alive and made them sparkle. My favourite clothing book EVER.

Oh let me count the ways I adore this book! It has large pictures in full color of Jackie's dresses and the details about the occasion she wore them to. I really like how it shows one dress on each page letting you take in the beauty of each dress rather that multiple pics on one page. I think it is a superb buy if you enjoy pretty things like I do. Perfect coffee table book.

Beautiful photographs of the dresses, suits, coats, hats and gowns worn by Jackie before and during the White House years. Descriptions of the fabrics and the construction of each garment reveal the thought and attention to detail that this most stylish of our first ladies gave to her clothing. No fashion victim was she. It is clear from the narrative that Jackie had a perfect sense of who she was and a definite idea of how she wanted to look. Amazing when one considers she was only 31 when she entered the White House. Truly deserving of her iconic status.

Presented as a fashion journal, this book is surprisingly insightful of Jackie's personality, charisma and intelligence. It is a presentation of her poise and strength as an influence on the nation (and the world,) both politically and artistically. Personally, looking back on those years, I am able to see and understand the changes within our society based on the Kennedys aesthetic. I highly recommend this book as a review of the times when we as a nation were in Camelot.

I purchased this book for my 3rd grade son to read and he loved it. Here's what he thought of the book in his own words: "It is a cool book. It is funny,adventurous and exciting!"

Im obsessed with the future and when i read this book i loved it right away.The ideas on anti gravity discs were cool(letting people fly!)And how Sam,Fred and Joe met their great grand daughters!I love to read books on the future and this book is great!I reccemend this book to anyone who likes reading future books.

I didnt' like this book. It flip flopped around and got confusing and I got frustrated.

The Time Warp Trio (Fred, Sam, and Joe) warp into the future. In the year 2095 they end up in a museum, the same museum that they were in, except in the future. They try to get back to their own time (1995). They run into some weird people, such as director Green and Uncle Joe. The problem in this story is that Fred, Sam, and Joe can't find the book. The book is the thing that allows them to go into the future and past, like a time machine.

This book is awesome because it is the only one I know of that goes into the future. In the past you already know what happened because you can just look it up in some history book. But the future is unexpected. I thought that the idea of the going into the future was great. This book was the first time warp trio book I ever read, and then I read some more because it dragged me into the series. If you like time warping I think you will want to read 2095.

The situation is a familiar one to children's librarians nationwide. A wide-eyed youngster walks in, clutching the latest "Captain Underpants" edition to its chest. The child has read through every Dav Pilkey book out there and the parent is desperate to keep them reading something... anything! So what do you hand a child that has gorged his or herself on a steady diet of fart and poop jokes? Jon Scieszka to the rescue. As an author, Scieszka has attempted to gets boys to read as much as possible. Checked out www.guysread.com if you don't believe me. Now none of this is to say that "Captain Underpants" is strictly a guys book. Of course it isn't. But boys do make up the majority of the readers and finding them additional material is nigh unto impossible sometimes. That's why I love "The Time Warp Trio". No, they're not too smart. No, they won't make your child an instant Honor Student (not on purpose, anyway). These are just books that slip in tiny bits of factual information along with interesting plots and storylines that are fun. And "2095" is just one of the many.

As our story begins, our three heroes Fred, Sam, and Joe are facing a deadly Sellbot, 100 years in the distant future. A quick flashback to the past and we see how they got in that difficult position. As always, the three boys have a magic book that usually drops them in unknown time periods for no apparent reason. Fortunately, Joe seems to have found a solution to the problem. The boys, for the first time, are able to tell the book what year they'd like to go to. And what time period could be more fun than a quick shoot to 100 years in the future? Once there, however, the guys bite off a bit more than they can chew. They have to escape enraged curators, dodge sellbots, learn how to levitate, and order $151 pizza slices. The real question is, will they ever be able to make it to the past again alive?

Admittedly, this is not one of the stronger "Time Warp Trio" titles. Unlike some of the previous books, Scieszka doesn't plumb this rich material for all it's worth. The future looks like every other "Jetson" inspired flying car fantasy. Also, it's clear that the author hasn't much hope for future medical technologies if his heroes are convinced that they'll be dead 100 years in the future. Shouldn't they have done 200, just to be safe? The plots a little jumpier here than in the other books and some lines of though are a little too frantic.

But honestly, we're not debating the merits of a Shakespearean sonnet. We're talking about good crude fun. The kind of book that comes up with an amazing array of ways to describe the act of vomiting in a somewhat classy manner. Now, if you're kid has already fallen for the Time Warp Trio books and you're looking for OTHER boy series reads, I'm rather partial to the "Sidekicks" series by Dan Danko. Otherwise, stick with this trio and you'll be just ducky. Good for those kids that yearn for reading matter that's more silly than cynical.

This is an interesting story about art theft, in general, and specifically the theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream. I found the interworkings of undercover police work fascinating. However, it is not as the story of the recovery is not as fascinating.

The subject was very interesting and it will probably be made into a good crime movie, but the writing was average and the plotline jumbled....

Starting out with a detailed recounting of the 1994 theft of Edvard Munch's iconic painting entitled "Scream," the book ends with its recovery. Sandwiched in the middle is a lumbering tale about Dolnick's hero, a Scotland Yard cop of American British lineage, who specializes in art recovery. Dolnick is a fine writer; his dialogue flows and his descriptions are colorful and paint a good scene. His research and grasp of the art theft world and its motley crew is complete. He enthuses so much over his hero that it weighs down the story to the point where the structure of the book compares to a canoe; sharp at the ends and bulging out in the middle.

The Rescue artist is a swift and exciting book that revolves around Charlie Hill, an unforgettable (and quite real) detective on the hunt for missing masterpieces, in this case Edvard Munch's classic "Scream" stolen from a museum in Oslo, Norway. Dolnick writes crisp, well-turned sentences that pull the reader along. I felt like I was reading a good, long magazine article, like in the New Yorker. At times the story jumps and shifts around too much, and I had to backtrack a couple times to pick up what was going on, but this is really good stuff, entertaining as can be. Highly recommend.

If the reader is interested in a fast pace and action, then this book will not satisfy. The basic story is not a lengthy one. The digressions into background matters provide useful peeks into assorted issues, such as thievery, forgery and the art world, but go on for too long and should have been condensed. I found myself impatient for the story to move forward. The sheer number of delays and digressions bordered on comical.

A man named Douglas Merson has been shot in the head in Kristi's town. She doesn't recognize his name and she has never met him, but police officers show up at her door to ask her and her parents about this man. He is in critical condition at the hospital and can't tell them anything himself. Kristi and her parents are puzzled that the police would ask them about this man they don't know, but then they find out that this man has kept an extensive file on Kristi, including newspaper articles and photographs, since she was born.

Kristi's parents think she may be in danger. The police detectives tell them to wait until Douglas Merson has been moved to a private hospital and is able to talk again and he might be able to clear everything up. But Kristi can't wait. She worries about this man and the reasons why he would have kept such records about her. And, when she visits him in the hospital and realizes she likes him, she becomes concerned about his safety. Could the person who tried to kill him once try again? Why would he be a target? And by visiting him, is Kristi making herself into a target, too?

I liked the reasons Merson had for keeping a file on Kristi, and the amount of time that it took for anyone to make the connection. I also liked that Merson was not entirely good; he had a dark side which added depth to his character. The ending, however, was a real cop-out and a disappointment.

I have not rated this book yet... I need to finish it first! However, since my name is Douglas Merson, how could it be anything other than excellent?

This book is called Who are you? and it starts about a sixteen year old, Kristin Evan. Kristin goes to school. Kristin is an only child beause her parents had problem having her and could not have another child. Kristin parents work on different peoples incomes. Kristin has a friend named Lindy. On a sunday nigt two detectives goes to Kristin home. The police detectives tells Kristin and her parents that a man Douglas Merson has been shot in his home, it means nothing to them. It becomes significant when they get told that mr. Merson has kept a secert file on Kristin for years. Suddenly Kristin finds herself trying to discover who he is and why has he introded in her life. Then Kristin finds out where he is at and is in a hospital. Then Kristin goes and visits him, she learns that he is proffessional artist. Mr. Merson wants to help Kristin pursue her to go to art school.But her parents never understood her passion and want her to do something practical.Mr.Merson has been offering the piece that has been missing in her all along. Mr. Merson acts nice because he wants to be her grandaughter but she is not.

Have you ever read a book that got you on the edge of your seat ? Well, I have. The book is called Who Are You? by Joan Lowery Nixon. This book is about a man named Douglas Merson that gets shoot in his home. Once in the jaw and once in the shoulder. Kristi Evans, one of the main characters, heard about it by two police detectives that came to her house. She didn't think anything about it until the two police detectives found a file with pictures and information about her. She then wanted to see Douglas Merson, but the police detectives said that she couldn't see him because he was in intensive care. So, she and her best friend Lindy break into the hospital room to see him. Do they get in trouble? Who is Kristi? Why is there a file about Kristi? Who shot Douglas Merson? Does he die? Who is the culprint of this crime? There's a huge twist at the end. Read this book to find out.

Ok, i bought this book b/c it had soo many good reviews and it was a part of LOTS of those "get this book and buy Who Are You? at a discount!" thingys, so i figured it was supposedly some sort of featured item, that was really good. Plus, from what i had read in the reviews, the idea of a man "stalking" her sounded interesting. (i know, really creepy feeling, but i don't care) Well, i read it with high hopes. I enjoyed it none the less but i've definately read better Nixon books.

In the book, Kristi Evens and her family are told that a man named Douglas Merson has been shot. It doesn't meen anything to them until they found out that he has had a secret file with everything about Kristi since her birth. She suddenly finds the urge to know who he is and why he has a secret file on her. Unfortunately, the attempted murderer (who no one knows who or why they did this, Mr. Merson seemed to be kept to himself a lot) isn't satisfied with the fact that he didn't die, they still want to finish him off. But once Kristi finds a little too much about him and his aquantances, it doesn't only become a fight to save his life, but also, her own. Who is this person who is trying to kill Mr. Merson, and why does Mr. Merson have so much money, without an obvious job? And most important of all, why does he have such a strong interest in Kristi?

The ONLY problem i have with this book, is the ending. It seems, as someone has mentioned in other reviews, that someone forgot, or merely didn't want to finish the ending, so instead some editor or someone just stuck a rather BAD paragraph, compared to the rest of the book, and Nixon's writing as a whole, on the end and said "there, done!" Overall, though, it was a pleasurable book.