Montana Books

Very thought-out book. I believe the author may have posted new thought to B.S psychology. No real new discoveries except for his interpretations of the complexity of the human mind, some ideas I question.

I gave Mr. Goleman only one star due his lack of composition skills ... give this text to the commom layman would only produce boredom. His writing is riddled with technical jargon and complex analysis (some which have no scientific preface). I nearly fell asleep reading the book, myself. His writing style wins no awards for appeal, dynamic, or readability; otherwise, his idea and analysis are interpretations which really does not proof emotional human output - every human response differently to different situations in life.

In this book the author manages to shine some light on an interesting topic which, unfortunately, is not getting enough attention especially in schools and universities. The best thing about the book is that every claim the author makes is backed up with a scientific experiment or a practical example from the real world. The bottom line is that if you have enough experience and knowledge, you may get the job, but in order to advance, or even keep your job, you should have emotional intelligence. Some of the things in the book are common sense, but the author shows us how much they really affect our performance.

Daniel Goleman strikes again with this interesting book about Emotional Intelligence. Ever wondered why Einstein could discover e=mc² but couldn't organize his own family? This book has the answers for you.

Emotional intelligence is probably a very deciding factor in success. It is however by far more difficult to measure someone's EQ instead of IQ so you just have to trust the writings and go ahead with the knowledge. There's a lot being offered within the book and if you want to get ahead of the crowd there's even another book 'Emotional Intelligence in Action'.

The reason why I deducted one star is because something else is missing as well. There are certain people with average IQ and EQ who still excell at something because they are just 'streetwise'. Put that in the mix and you will have a very good understanding of what intelligence does.

Daniel Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence (1995) is a well written and researched study of the role emotions play in people's personal lives, and the effect that incompetent emotional management has on society. Goleman uses many individual examples to illustrate his point that emotional illiteracy (the inability to read emotions and respond appropriately) is both devastating and costly. Broken marriages, depression, domestic abuse, isolation, eating disorders, crime, alcoholism, and drug abuse are all in some way the end result of people's emotions gone awry. How can anyone possibly maintain a healthy outlook on life if their emotions are constantly getting the best of them? Goleman uses terms like:

Emotional flooding: When someone is overwhelmed by another's negativity and their own reaction to it. They become swamped with dreadful and out-of-control feelings. Their perception becomes negative and distorted. They find it hard to organize their thoughts and fall back on primitive reactions like striking back or running away.

Emotional hijacking: a neural takeover by a rush of emotions causing an outburst. "Blinded by rage", "a slave to passion", "scared to death", and "uncontrollable laughter" are examples of emotional hijackings. A person in this state loses their sense of reason, and emotions build on emotions causing a loss of control.

Misattunement: The misattuned person doesn't read his own or other's emotions effectively. They don't recognize or acknowledge their own feelings, and they're oblivious to other's emotional states. It's as if another person's feelings don't exist at all. We all know people like this. The lonely genius who only cares about others when they benefit him or mentally challenge him. The aggressive smart aleck who thrives on making others feel uncomfortable. The distracted mother whose children have become unwanted responsibilities. The driven workaholic who denies himself and represses his emotions. The misattuned person doesn't make a lot of effort to get in touch with what others are feeling, and he just isn't much fun to be with. It is possible, however, for him to make adjustments to increase his EQ, improve his social skills, and get in touch with his own emotions through emotional relearning.

Empathy is the key to Emotional Intelligence. Knowing how others feel unlocks the doors to compassion, self-control, adept social skills, and to becoming a well-adjusted and happier person. Without empathy there is no real love, and life is lived purely for self-gratification. Empathy allows us to care for others and to live with a certain degree of morality.

Being in touch with our own emotions is also an important part of Emotional Intelligence. Understanding our own intentions and feelings helps us to focus on what's really important to us, keep expectations realistic, and prevent negative emotions from controlling our point of view and destroying our lives.

Even though Emotinal Intelligence isn't a self-help instructional manual, it certainly can be helpful to learn new strategies for self-control, getting to know yourself better, improving your relationships, becoming more successful, and learning to be a little more understanding of others. All of which make the world a better place.

This is an inspirational and informative book on emotional intelligence; on our rational and emotional minds and why it is very important to our careers, our relationships and our destiny.

This insightful book examines emotional intelligence in an easy to follow and understand format which makes the book useful to a wide readership. The book pragmatically examines what emotional intelligence is all about and what it can achieve for individuals and organisations. The author methodically explains how the rational and emotional minds can effectively work productively together. As I go up the corporate ladder, it is critical to know how to manage my emotions so that I can relate better with others.

Dr Goleman is both a good writer and an original thinker. This is not just an academic book but also one that looks at the whole aspect of emotional intelligence to see how it "fits in" with all aspects of life. The book examines all the relevant issues and provides sound, sensible advice succinctly.

The book changed the way I look at life and relate with people. As an engineer, I used to believe in the power of logic and reasoning in all my dealings with people, be it at work, in the home and in relationships. I considered emotions as irrelevant or for those that are intellectually challenged. How wrong was I. Now that I am a bit more enlightened, from lessons learnt in this wonderful book, I am a better self. I realise that emotional issues affect the way people work, their motivation, satisfaction and productivity and affect the quality of relationships among spouses or friends. I am now a much happier and more effective manager and therefore recommend this book strongly to anyone who wants to live a happier and successful life.

I read it years ago but would totally recommend it. if you like this, try Mary McGarry Morris & Larry Brown.

A twelve-year-old boy recounts a tragedy involving an uncle and a Native American woman in this story about racism, family loyalty and the quest for justice. Wes, an attorney by schooling, is the sheriff of a small town situated near an Indian reservation. He lives under the shadow of his controlling father who favors the sheriff's brother, a war hero and doctor. Their Native American nanny and housekeeper's fearful reaction to a house call leads to an informal investigation into allegations that come to light because of it. Family relationships become increasingly strained following the woman's suspicious death as the actions and intentions of the sheriff, his wife, brother, father, recovering alcoholic neighbor deputy, and other community members conflict. How far is one willing to go to protect family, defy loved ones, obtain justice? The book is short, the writing, plain and to the point, the plot, mostly believable, but putting it in the same league as To Kill a Mockingbird is an unjustified. Although a good choice for book club discussions, otherwise average. Better: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

I read this book in one sitting. His characters were fascinating and his depiction of a the small Montana community was excellent... and almost 60 years after this story takes place, some things are still the same.

This is a beautiful and concise novel which you will want to read in one sitting. From the first sentence the narrator engages the reader in a timeless story in which family allegiances and social justice are in conflict. It is gratifying to read a book which is at the same time spare and rich. It is written with skill and economy of words. The story and characters ring true and remain with the reader. Highly recommended.

This short novel joins the ranks of a number of other fine books about adult dilemmas told from the point of view of a young protagonist. In this case, it is a 12-year-old boy whose father, the sheriff in a small Montana town, must make a moral choice that will either see justice done or allow the guilty party, a member of their family, to go free and unpunished. As I read this book, I was reminded of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." Both set in a bygone era in a small town, where the law is different for whites and non-whites, each story follows a similar course of action with rising tension and conflicts that leave a man standing alone, guided only by his own sense of the right thing to do.

Watson writes with a gentle hand, as in his other stories ("Justice" and "White Crosses"), and you come to care very much for his characters. He captures a time and place and the social life of people leading ordinary lives on a windswept prairie. It's also about a kind of loss of innocence, as the young narrator learns dark secrets about good and evil in an adult world he is about to enter himself.

And you'll find a picture of Larry Colton. I'd think 15 months would be long enough to find out Montantans can READ. At the very least he could have changed the names of minors before discussing their intimate lives.

It is written by a male.....lots of the individual basketball player's feelings were not there.....I would of liked to hear about the feelings of the Crow people.....the facts however were very interesting.

Raw telling of a tough story. Captivating, heartwarming, heart stopping; leaves the reader in awe of the young women portrayed in the book; their struggles and triumphs gritty and real. It's a page turner.

The minute I picked up this book I could not put it down. Basketball is a large part of the Indian school systems and culture. This tells of the huge obsticles that Indians have to overcome to succeed and survive. I read this book at least once a year and am overwhelmed each time by the adversity that the Indian culture has to deal with. They are children with dreams but often do not have the environment and support they need to succeed and leave the reservation.

Writer/journalist Larry Colton went to the Crow Indian reservation in southern Montana to write a magazine story on high-school basketball and discovered something else altogether: the life-and-death struggle of a native American culture struggling to survive in a world of poverty, alcolholism, racism and shattered family values.

The story is familiar to anyone who has spent time on the reservation or peeked behind the curtain of today's native Indian society beyond that presented by Hollywood or weekend tourist pow-wows.

Colton's first-person account revolves around a 17-year-old girl basketball player who stars on the court, but off it skips school, smokes pot and has unprotected sex with a 20-something loser who couldn't care less about her -- or anything else, for that matter.

Sharon LaForge is a reluctant anti-hero, who takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride split between periods of pulling for her to succeed and hating her for wasting every opportunity that miraculously manages to come her way.

Every time the reader wants to give up, turn their back and walk away from Sharon as a lost cause, she does something to pull them back on her side -- all of this transpiring, ironically enough, within the shadows of the monument marking Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn.

This book won the Frankfurt eBook Award for Best Nonfiction Book and the Alex Award in 2001 and earned praise from the New York Times Book Review, Library Journal, Parade magazine, and Keith Olbermann, among others.

You can't go wrong here. Strongly recommended.

I really loved this book. The protagonist is Framboise, an old woman who is telling us the story of one monumental event in her life. As young girl growing up in the French countryside during World War II, Framboise had a poisoned relationship with her single mother, Mirabelle. Framboise's father has already been killed in the war, and the little family is struggling to establish a new dynamic amidst the swirl of events around them. Mirabelle is an accomplished cook with a bountiful farm, but she suffers from horrible migraines in addition to some psychological problems. Mirabelle always knows when one of her "spells" is coming, because she smells oranges, even though she strictly forbids them in the house.

Framboise and her two siblings (all, interestingly, named after foods - Framboise itself means raspberry) strike up a capitalistic relationship with a German soldier (part of the occupying force). The children provide a little information here and there about black market activities in exchange for items such as chocolate, magazines, and other products scarce in war-torn France. (Framboise always asks for an orange as part of her "payment." She uses its peel to trick her mother into thinking one of her spells is coming. This allows Framboise to not only inflict suffering on her mother, but also to gain a few hours of freedom as her mother holes up in her room, desperately trying to ward off the migraine.) The children don't really realize what they are doing. After all, the people they inform on are not killed or jailed. The soldier simply extorts them for his own goods.

And the soldier, named Tomas, ably fills the masculine void left by the children's father. In a world devoid of much affection (their mother is a brusque, busy woman not prone to displays of tenderness), the children love him. Before the end of the novel, though, the soldier turns up dead. And how he dies, and who pays the price for his death, are secrets of the novel I won't spoil here.

This book is much about mothers and daughters. Upon her death, Mirabelle leaves her "album" to Framboise - a book full of recipes, thoughts, notes, etc. By reading the album, Framboise comes to know her mother in a way that she never has before. The relationship between the two is certainly acrimonious; Framboise often refers to it as a war, trying to win this or that battle. But as the book progresses, even Framboise herself admits that she and her mother are very much alike.

Also, Harris is a master of description. She frequently writes about food - the foods that Mirabelle cooks, the foods that Framboise cooks as an adult, all the recipes in the "album" that Mirabelle leaves to Framboise upon her death. Your mouth will be watering. Have a Patricia Wells cookbook handy; you'll want to whip up some French country food.

Lastly, the novel is about secrets. It is, after all, the tale of Framboise finally telling a secret that she has carried with her for her entire life. This is where the title comes in - it's one of the secrets that Framboise has kept. Framboise tells no one, not even her siblings, of her use of the orange to trick her mother into thinking a migraine is coming. As a result, when her two siblings (and one friend) see her with one of the oranges she's procured, they ask her to share it. In order to reserve some of the peel for her secret purposes, Framboise turns her back to her siblings/friend while she "quarters" the orange. But in fact, she divides it into five pieces, hiding one of the slices in her pocket. This way, she saves one-fifth of the orange to use on her mother. The fifth quarter of the orange is the "something" that no one knows about. It is what is hidden. And for a novel filled with secrets, I think Harris chose the perfect title.

I heartily recommend this book.

This is a popular book--though it was more popular in Europe than the States. It begins with a mystery. As the mystery unfolds, it reveals character and culture. The main action of the book is told as back-story. A middle-aged woman returns to her native community in rural France. The story is wonderfully atmospheric. The atmosphere is created through an infusion of delightful food and wine and snippets of WWII era French culture. It is no doubt a popular book with the Martha Stewart crowd. But there is a more sinister story, the real story involves Nazis and a community lynching. The story itself is unique enough to keep the Better Homes and Gardens aspect from overwhelming the narrative.



I think the only thing that kept this from being a great book was the author's reliance on mystery. She holds back information. And though this technique did move me through the narrative, and the author did eventually deliver on her promises, I could not help but wonder if the strong mystery aspect was not in someway making up for something the book lacked. I hate to refer to that old American classic, Gatsby, but I will. Where Fitzgerald used the mystery only so long as it was necessary, letting the device fall away to reveal a narrative driven by characters and their actions, there is little beyond the mystery in Harris's novel. Once the mystery is solved, the novel ends.

After reading Chocolat (before the movie came out), I wanted to try another of Joanne Harris's novels. I picked up Five Quarters of the Orange at an airport and was impressed. The story is woven into a compact and powerful book that looks at life in Nazi occupied France. In the small village of Les Laveuses, you discover the small town life that stills continues even with Nazi occupation: farms, harvest, the change of people to the seasons, love, hate, gossip, etc.
Framboise Dartigen narrates this story, both from a child's perspective and as an elderly woman. The two stories slide back and forth and give a vivid and powerful feeling of what life was like on that small farm and in that small village. The interactions between the family are drawn richly and with precision. An incedence when Frambouse is younger drives the family from the town, and she only returns many years later and under another name. The story unfolds to reveal the secret but not to the very end of the book.
The story is dark and the amounts of cruelty between siblings, mother and daughter is drawn with a sharp, slicing knife. Harris' writing uncurls slowly, like the pealing orange on the cover, the sights, sounds, and smells from her wonderfully chosen words draws you in. I must admit that the book does slow a little in the middle but gets it upward momentum back again towards the end. Many who loved Chocolat may be turned off by the dark tone of this book, yet it is Harris' skill at words and character development that really lend you to appreciate the story that is being told. I would recommend this novel for both the beautiful and ugly imagery it conjures.

An adroit, mesmerising novel. I could not put this down, so astonishing and gripping was this story and Harris's subtle, impactful writing. I wanted it to go on forever, couldn't wait to get to the conclusion; the sign of a great book.

Despite beautiful and sensuous prose, this is not an easy read. It demands perseverence from the reader but in the end patience is rewarded: it delivers so much. Its structure is composed of two parallel tales, one set in the present and one comprised of 40-year-old memories of German-occupied France. Harris pulls no punches as she examines the actions and motivations of people living in times that often demanded troubling compromises ... and worse. Few are spared. The role of the good mother is turned on its head. A cold eye is cast on the myth of the noble Resistance. Provocative questions are raised about the innocence of childhood. But the stories inexorably move towards their united climax to show how wisdom and love require acknowledgment of the truth, which sometimes is slow in revealing itself. The ultimate message of "Five quarters of the Orange" is that wisdom and love have their own schedule and it's never too late for either.

Meg Cabot books are an easy read. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the Heather Wells novels. If you like light reading, good characters and some mystery; these are for you.

This is a cute chick-lit book with a side of mystery. Heather is a former pop singer who caught her fiance with another woman and whose mom ran off with her small fortune. She's now working as an assistant director of a residence hall at a college and is doing her best to leave her past behind her. I really like the fact that this girl isn't a whiner and is getting on with her life on her terms. She's no longer a skinny young pop star and is living in a rented brownstone owned by her former fiance's gorgeous brother who dates size 2's and whom she has a hopeless crush on. When two female students die under mysterious circumstances in an elevator shaft, Heather is frustrated at the lack of the police action and takes matters into her own hands and starts snooping around putting her life in jeopardy as well.

This book is very much a fluff filled confection with a little mystery thrown in but the likable heroine makes it easy to turn the pages and I'll probably read the 2nd book in the series if it falls into my hands.

If you are a teenage girl then this book might be a cute if a bit shallow story that you'd enjoy. The characters are one dimensional, and weak. There really isn't any grown up kind of 'romance' and it's undefined as to who Heathers romantic interest really is. This book is not what I'd consider adult and Heather sounded and acted like a 16 year old girl not a 28 year old woman.
I gave it too stars because it has some clever quips in it. It wasn't so horrible that I turned it off and didn't finish it. One of the stars if for it being a good teen book.
I think Meg Cabot should either make her adult women sound and act like adults or stick to writing for teens. I won't be listening to any other books by her. By the way the reader Justine Eyre was a great reader with a very nice voice. But even with that it was still a teen book.

I'm a big Meg Cabot fan, and this book actually made me love her even more! This book is the start of a brilliant series that I think almost all women should read. Her wit had me laughing out loud and I had to put the book down and call my friends so I could tell them what just happened. Amazingly written and hilarious.

Meg Cabot writes books with strong female characters who get confused once in a while, yet manage to do the right thing by the end of the day. This pattern continues with the first of a series about former teen star Heather Wells, in Size 12 Is Not Fat. Heather is a confused adult who finds work in college environment so she can go to school for free. While there, she discovers a dead body and becomes an amateur sleuth. Each book in the series uncovers a little more about Heather's personality and aptitude for solving crimes. Hefather also has recurring relationship issues, which develop with successive stories. I also liked the book because I work on a college campus and once was a hall director. It amuses me and brings me back to when I was in my 20's. Luckily, I never found a dead body in the elevator.

This is probably the best book I've read in a long time. As a dedicated Darwinist and Baxter fan, I grabbed this book the second I saw it. The stories stretch from the far past of Pangeae into the far future of New Pangeae and the ultimate destruction of Earth. I immersed myself in the characters, from lowly Purga all the way to poor, lowly Ultimate. My favorite concepts were the Hunters of Pangeae and the sky whale creatures. The entire book was like a wonderful painting of humanity's history as a species and a culture.

My only complaint is that at times the stories were hard to work through and I found myself rushing to finish them, this soon stopped when I reached the final three stories about humanity's descendants. Creation-scientists shouldn't read this; their blood pressure's high enough as it is.

I picked this one up on a whim, and found it to be one of the best I've read in a very long time. The level of geological, archaeological, and other scientific detail, and the creation of character and plot from the dust of the past reminded me of the early books of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, and of Raptor Red, another great book. Baxter is a good scientist, and a great storyteller!

"Evolution" is an inspiring tale of plausible speculation in the framework of current scientific thought about human development. Many reviewers have commented on the broad scope, so I will instead comment on the inspirations I took from the book and some of its most memorable moments.

I had never grasped the real time-scales that evolution involves. Early in the book, Baxter points out carefully the differences in cognitive development between us and his characters. Through a careful series of traceries, he depicts just how slow brain development was in pre-history. When a character finally realizes he can crack a nut between two stones, Baxter points out that it took 25 million years for that idea to develop from the idea of beating a nut against a tree.

Another major lesson I take from the book is the fragility of archaeological evidence. Baxter plays with that fragility, asking the reader whether there would be any record whatever if dinosaurs used wood tools. Good question! The evidence we have of prehistory is extremely small, very much like the view we see of distant stars through a telescope. Baxter makes the point that for everything we can see, there are many things unseen.

All in all, one of the best hard-science-fiction books I have ever read, in the same class as Harry Harrison's masterwork "West of Eden".

one of the most imaginative books I have ever read. Well writtten, fast
moving and rich with images that make you feel like you're there.

I would recommend that you not finish this book. The foundations of the book, with it's historical, geological/biological background, are interesting: Baxter builds upon true science and tries to give interesting reasons and logic to the development of life.

However, I suggest that you just stop reading once you get to the modern era, as you will probably be disappointed with the change in tone of the book otherwise. Without the historical scientific backing to make his story believable, Baxter fails to use a rigorous logic and science and the story becomes inplausible.

The next section talks about the shortcomings of the books final chapters, and as such may reveal things about the story (the chapters are all relatively independent, however, so there isn't really much to spoil):
If enough humans survived to split into at least 4 different species, enough would have survived to rebuild civilization, even if they didn't remember any of their technology and had to start from scratch. Baxter doesn't give any reasoning for the change, and seems like he just wants to gloss over the current period of Earth's history. After arguing for the benefits of brain size for all mammals during the 'tough times' of the ice ages, it is difficult to accept that humans would give up the feature that made them the dangerous predator in Earth's history.

I feel the biggest mistake on Baxter's part, however, was trivializing the events on Mars. I expected that he would talk about the posibility of a machine ecosystem, evolving along the same lines as a biological system, over millions of years. However he glosses over the possible story and has them fly off on fusion drives they somehow invented in a few thousand years. I believe that this part of the story deserved a few chapters instead of the few paragraphs it got, and would have been a much more satisfactory ending. Either that or an exploration of humanity's more likely path of evolution: where we control our own genes and progress.

Overall, the ending seems like a few chapters of detritus tacked on to a solid 80% of a book.

The names in this book are boring and really quite ridiculous. We didn't like any of the names in this book.
I wouldn't recommend it. If you want to look through it, go to Barnes and Noble and browse. Not worth the $$.

While it didn't show me any names I liked that I haven't heard before, I did like the lists of what is popular, and it categorizes names in tons of ways, so it's kind of a fun way to look for a name. We still haven't chosen one yet, but we'll keep poring through the book.

I am an avid Amazon shopper, and I was disappointed with this book. It's just pages of a bunch of lists of names. A lot of names are repeated in different categories. I would recommend the book, Baby Name Wizard.

I liked some of the ideas that the authors presented, but overall I found the way that they broke up the book to be confusing. The names were not listed alphabetically, and in several cases I would read one section, and have some of the same names from earlier listed in another section. I will definitely be searching for another book to help me find a better variety of names with more organization.

This is the brand new edition of Beyond Jennifer & Jason, just published a few months ago. All the popularity lists in the books are updated and the information is guaranteed new -- and even ahead of its time! Unfortunately, it can be confusing knowing which edition is the latest one. But also know that even though styles in baby names do change, it happens gradually -- and you're choosing a name to last a lifetime, not just for a few years. Also look for our other new books Cool Names for Babies and coming in March 2007, The Baby Name Bible.

After a bit of a slow start (too much detail about the initial discovery, I think), this one is a real page-turner, and I could not put it down. I love Evans' descriptive style and his plot is rich and well-developed.

I was particularly impressed by how he got into Sarah's head in terms of her reaction to the breakup of her marriage. I've been through a similar experience, and trust me, her rage and hurt is right on the money. I was also impressed by the development of the Abbie storyline.

Wonderful book, albeit somewhat depressing. I like that he didn't completely sell out with a happy ending - rather, he left the reader with the sense that these people will eventually be all right.

How good is this novel? I absolutely loved it, devoured every page in fact. Evans writes extraordinarily well about emotions, conflict and redemption, particularly from a female point of view. It is something that has always blown me away about his books. His female characterisations are always superb and I can totally relate to them, something that puts his books several notches above many by his contemporaries.

The novel's plotline of the disintegrating marriage of wealthy Long Island couple Sarah and Ben Cooper, the fallout from their separation and its disastrous effect on their young adult daughter, Abbie, is fascinating. Fuelled partly by her searing anger at her father for leaving their family and as an in-yer-face rebellion against him, Abbie falls under the spell of the sinister Rolf, a member of the Environmental Liberation Front, a domestic eco-terrorist group. Amongst other activities, Rolf torches SUV dealerships as a protest against "bourgeois capitalist pigs". Abbie, awed by the older man and angry at the world in general, starts to accompany Rolf on his torching missions. When one in Denver goes disastrously wrong, resulting in the death of a young man, Abbie and Rolf have to go on the run as they are wanted for murder. The resulting impact on her family and friends is devastating and Evans writes about this beautifully and in a way that is so sympathetic that I felt their pain with them. Interestingly, the story is told in reverse, a plot device that is remarkably effective.

I highly recommend "The Divide" to one and all and I have awarded it five stars. The novel is a triumph, and I look forward to more novels from this gifted writer.

This is one of the best books i've ever read. I couldn't put it down.

I think this is one of my top ten books. It is fantastic. It has everything in it without the mushy stuff.

Nicholas Evans knows how to write family drama. A solid story about the relationships of a family. The story begins in the present with a gruesome discovery and then the reader is taken back to the past where the main story unfolds leading up to the present again and solving the mystery of the earlier discovery. We get to know each family member intimately and share their desires and anxieties. In my option, the story lacks some of the rugged energy of the author's previous books, but it is still a good read.

James Lee Burke is one of my favorite authors. His work is good and easy read. However, this book was not easy for me to relate to as I am not from the south, nor do I have experience with some of the lingua that was used. This did not detract me from the story which was excellent!

James Lee Burke, who is almost a neighbour (I live across the state line of the Bitterroots, in Wallace, Idaho) just gets it. He writes sentences you want to shout aloud, and draws a description you can just step right in to. This is a man who loves words and does not use them unnecessarily. Bitterroot puts the Neo-Nazi (Neocon?) cancer in a clear perspective, but the battle is not about guns. It's about souls. One minor technical point: in Wallace, we had 4 whorehouses, not just the one.

This is a first read of James Lee Burke for me in Bitterroot! It is a very powerful book told mostly in the 1st person. The characters were well drawn, I could envision them all. His bad guys were never to be forgotten and you want them gone!!!

I will certainly read some more of this books. His English is intelligent and usage is even and succinct. Wonderful read. This book makes you think! I put him right up there with my favorite authors: Dennis Lehane and Robert Crais.

I enjoy James Lee Burke. I suppose I'm a bigger fan of the Robicheaux series than BB Holland, but I'll take it. He always tells a good tale, and always with his capturing, flowing style. Sometimes he gets his characters into situations that I don't like...when Maisy goes off on her dangerous night out in the biker bar...I read quickly through that section fully expecting the author to have it end badly for her...but wait, well...read it. JLB and I are roughly the same age, so with any luck when he can no longer see to write I won't be able to see to read, and I would consider that good timing. Many more James, please.

"Bitterroot" by James Lee Burke, is another in his Billy Bob Holland series: Billy Bob being a former Texas Ranger, currently an accredited Texas attorney. After a few Texas adventures/misadventures in earlier Burke books, Billy Bob hereby begins his part of the year relocation to Montana, as did his creator. Mind you, a reader can't easily distinguish between Billy Bob, and Dave Robichaux, Burke's New Orleans detective. Only difference I see is that Billy Bob is more accepting of the supernatural. Furthermore, as a rule, I prefer the Robichaux books. Burke is a New Orleans man, and his language in describing his native turf, is frequently superb, deeply-felt. Descriptions in the Texas and Montana books, while very good, just don't rise to that level.

At any rate, Billy Bob goes to Montana to help out his old friend "Doc" Voss, who's getting himself into trouble. Of course, Billy Bob being the man he is, he helps Doc get himself into deeper trouble. Add to the stew Wyatt Dixon, just released from jail in Texas, and Montana-bound: he's got some issues with Billy Bob. Then there are some mafia types, some bikers, some environmental nutters, some pedophiles, a downbeat sheriff, an Indian or two, Billy Bob's short-term love interest. A gold mining company dumping cyanide into a river. Billy Bob's illegitimate son and private investigator, up from Texas. A famous, alcoholic writer, and his famous, beautiful, cocaine-sniffing actress wife. Also some feds, still looking for instigators of the Oklahoma City bombing of the federal Alfred P. Murrah building, and some of the militias at which the feds are looking.

Can't forget L.Q. Navarro, Billy Bob's former Texas Ranger partner, whom he accidentally gunned down while the two of them were having fun killing drug dealers in Mexico, leaving playing cards in their mouths. For a dead guy, L.Q. sure has a lot to say. So it's quite a stew, some of the ingredients being readily recognizable to regular readers of Burke; some of the ingredients being readily recognizable cliches of the genre.

Still, Burke's writing is brawny. He gives this line to Cleo Lonnegan, short-term love interest: "Pacifists in Montana get about the same respect as vegetarians and gay rights advocates." He describes the atmosphere of the state: "Montana was filled with ghosts. Those of Indians massacred on the Marias River, wagoners who died of cholera and typhus on their way to Oregon, the wandering spirits of Custer and the soldiers of the Seventh Cavalry, whose bodies were sawed apart with stone knives and left on the banks of what the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne called the Greasy Grass."

Finally, despite all the criticisms of the book that I've just leveled, Burke is able to build to a strong emotional climax. And his sucker punch knocked me out.

A brief prelude to my review is in order. One of the things that drew me to this series were the 5 star reviews for Erikson's later works. There are two reasons why reviews can get better as a series continues. The first is that the author's writing can get better. The second is that people who aren't interested in an author's style of writing might drop out after a book or two. I'm of the firm impression that the reasons for Erikson's better reviews for later books is because he writes more confidently in later books.

I read "Gardens of the Moon" and had many of the complaints that I'd read in its reviews. The author throws scads of characters, places, races, etc at the reader without explaining much. The plot meanders. Erikson doesn't describe non-human races particularly well. However, as many readers also mentioned, the book picks up midway through and ends well.

"Deadhouse Gates" is almost a carbon copy of the above. The first thing for people thinking about starting this series, to know about this book, is that except for a small number of characters generally playing a much reduced role, there's little overlap with "Gardens of the Moon". You have to learn a whole host of new characters, places, races and politics.

The good news is that the plot is much tighter overall, and while I can't really summarize "Garden of the Moons" plot, I could do so with "Deadhouse Gates". I'd prefer to not have many spoilers here, though, so I won't. Yup, there are side plots in abundance which often feel again as though a party of D&D characters suddenly decided to do something else for a bit, but the main plot makes itself known quickly and it continues throughout to a series of almost breathtaking payoff scenes near the end. One thing that Erikson does exceptionally well is to create an almost movie quality image in the reader's mind for his epic moments, and he's gotten even better at it here.

Again, as is the case in Gardens of the Moon, most of his characters are pretty static, in that there's little character growth except what's forced upon them, but there are more memorable characters. The pace of the book actually feels a bit more plodding than "Gardens of the Moon", but whereas the former was more unfocusedly frantic, this was a more coherent read and one that I recommend.

This book is so amazing! The scope itself is huge. I see why people say it's like George RR Martin, except the area involved is bigger. You get to see every main character and supporting character's personality in many different situations, and you never know what's going to happen, to whom, and when. One minute your liking a character and BOOM! their gone! Or a bad character seems not so bad after all, and a good character suddenly deciding to do wrong! Awesome, awesome, awesome!

I'm thoroughly impressed by this series. It's sprawling, imaginative and just plain big. The plot is very even, that is, it proceeds at a breakneck pace throughout. No complaining here about how "nothing happens" in the series. The dialogue is snappy and the humor appropriately dark, to match the mood.

It still can be confusing, but not as much as if you require answers to every question and demand to know the minutia of every detail. I haven't really connected with any of the characters yet, however the finale to the chain of dogs march (and the subsequent events) had me deliriously stunned.

If Erikson devotes the time to flesh out some of the characters a little more so they actually appear to have their own voice, instead of being relegated to just another point of view to push the plot forward, this series will trump all that has come before. Truly impressive.

I gave up 100 pages into Gardens of the Moon, so can't say how good this one is. If it's as confusing as the first one, well...I guess 3 stars is about right. I couldn't turn off the star rating feature, so 5 was what I put in.

Author Steven Erickson really can write. Please keep the books coming. I highly recommend it. Very rich characters...