Lincoln Books

The Whitney Biennial is the kind of exhibition that critics love to hate.My recommendation is to ignore thae critics, see it for yourself and buy the catalog. This is a great book for those who love contemporary art. The essays on the exhibition and on the individual artist are informative and well written. The plates are also great.

The many printings of this work, show the importance of the book in the history of the Wilderness Road. Anyone who has an appreciation for Kentucky History and genealogy would enjoy reading the account of how the Wilderness Trail began and of the pioneers who braved the dangerous passage into the new world. Mr. Kincaid describes the influence of Daniel Boone, Dr. Walker and others in the development of the Indian and animal trail that later became the Wilderness Road and the various settlements and outposts that were fed by the road. The hardships of the early pioneers are explored, with accounts of Indian and the highway men attacks on the travelers and the different stations that were founded throughout the new territory along the road and it's tributaries. The reader is given a view of the difficulties of early pioneer life, the hazards that were around them, and comes away with a better appreciation of the efforts of these early settlers. The book also brings the Wilderness Road up into later years, incuding its strategic importance in the Civil War, and giving an account of General Grant personally inspecting the route for a possible supply line to his troops in the severe winter of 1864, which comes directly from his diary.

I have seen many books with excerpts from this book. However, this book puts the entire story together in a work that has not been duplicated since. It is a standard work of any serious student of Kentucky history or genealogy. If you had ancestors who traveled this road when they entered into Kentucky, you will have a better appreciation of their contributions to our history and your family after reading this.

This wonderful book is about a boy who creates a dragon during winter to protect him from the shadows and the cold. It is also about letting go of something if by letting it go you can give it a better life. The end is tiged with sadness, but the boy is stronger for it and now is unafraid.

I found the book to be great for inter-faith families and for families who have not established a prayer tradition. The prayers in this book help children understand that prayers to do not have to be wordy or somber, just something from the heart. The book makes an excellent present for religious enducation teachers and leaders.

By far, this is the best handbook available today. I own a couple such as The Little, Brown Handbook and Chicago Style handbooks, and it is the best organized, user friendly book available. I highly recommend it to anyone.

We have been in the child care business 18 years and read 80 books a month to our children. YUK has been the most enjoyable and believe it or not,the most interactive book we have ever read. It is just alot of fun for the reader and the children.
GT Eagan, Minnesota

"Zodiac: Celestial Circle of the Sun" points out something that is true once you think about it. Everyone knows their own star sign, but most poeple cannot identify the Zodiac constellations in the night sky and the stars that form them. I know I sure could not. After the Big Dipper and the North Star I am lost. I did see Saturn once through a telescope, but somebody else had to set it up so that I could. That is why writer Jacqueline Mitton and illustrator Christina Balit take pity on me (and people like me) by providing an astronomical guide to the Zodiac. They also look at the celestial legends of gods, mortal men and fantasy creatures from which we the tradition of the Zodiac is rooted, but I am much stronger on that score.

In Introducing the Zodiac, Dr. Mitton (a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society who has an asteroid named after her and her husband Simon) explains that the Zodiac is made up of twelve of the most well-known constellations, with some of them first being recorded thousands of years ago on clay tablets. It was Babylonian astronomers who divided the band of the Zodiac into twelve equal signs around 500 BCE. Then it was Greek astronomers who adopted the Zodiac, while Greek poets and writers linked some of the constellations to their mythology.

The rest of the book devotes double-page spreads to each of the constellations in turn, starting with Aries and ending with Pisces (because when the Sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north at the equinox, the Sun happens to be in Aries). Basically for each sign Mitton does two things. First, she describes the constellation in terms of the starts that make it up. You can compare this with Balit's gorgeous full-color paintings, in which the stars that define the constellation are actually shiny silver stars stamped into the artwork. So when Mitton talks about how Aries has a trio of stars that mark the Ram's head, chief among them being a yellow giant called Hamal, you will notice that star is the biggest one in the constellation and that Balit has painted it in a yellow circle. The second thing Mitton does is to explain the significance of Aries in Greek mythology, where it becomes the magical flying ram with the golden fleece sent by Zeus to rescue Phrixus, son of the King of Boeotia.

On some of these constellations there are multiple explanations, so you can choose which one strikes your fancy the most. The mythology parts tend to come out ahead of the astronomical, mainly because Mitton and Balit do not really get to go into all of the stars which make up the various constellations, but also because the stories mix in tales from Mesopotamia to go along with the classical Greek (and Roman) myths. The order of the constellations in the book follows both of the key chronologies, whether you go by the dates the sun is in a traditional astrological sign and the dates sun is in the astronomical constellation (for Aries, for example, the former is March 21 to April 19, while the later is April 19 to May 13). This only sounds confusing, and Mitton explains how astronomical constellations compare with astrological signs at the end. If you want to know when Zodiac constellations are visible in the sky, there is a table for that as well in the back of the book.

This classic book on zoning practices in the US provides a thorough look at the state of land use regulation in the 1960's.

We purchased this title as an audio book to listen on a driving trip we took this November. It proved to us what a great president and friend we all had in Abraham Lincoln, and what he did not just for this country but for mankind in general. I read a great deal of books about history and this one truly stands out.

I have yet to read Doris Kearns Goodwins Book Titled, " The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln ". As one who has read the three volume tome of Shelby Foote on the Civil War from end to end, I need not find that subject covered in this book, and with the title, certainly would not expect to find such information. I expect this book to supply details about the well documented, and often written about life of Our Greatest President, that others have overlooked. I seek to learn from this book whether Lincoln's political genius offers us any lessons we can apply to the national politics of 2008. I offer this before I read, and return to write an actual review because I look forward to the experience, and wondered at the somewhat clueless reviews with one star on them that all missed the point of a book with this title, from such a talented author as Doris Kearns Goodwin has already proven herself to be.

I'm not a history buff, but I fell in love with this book. The author did a wonderful job describing how Lincoln built his cabinet with his political rivals, the complex relationships between the men and dynamic personalities... I learned a great deal about Lincoln's presidency, Civil War and the various leaders from that era. It's a great read!

Regardless of your political affiliations, if you are a political junkie and you want to see how great political minds work, this book is an absolute must-read...especially before Obama takes office.

While there are hundreds of biographies about Lincoln to choose from (and several good ones at that), this book examines Lincoln from the perspective of his diverse and often combative cabinet. All of these men were great leaders in their own right, and Doris Kearns is very good about detailing each of their lives and how they built their political careers during the years leading up to the Civil War. And it's precisely this examination of each cabinet member, in parallel with Lincoln's rise in politics, that helps explain Lincoln's true genius as a politician.

A lot of people thought that Bush 43 was going to be a fairly adept President because of the immense amount of experience and knowledge his cabinet had. But just having a smart staff in the White House doesn't mean the top executive is still going to make the right decisions. And there's not a finer book on Amazon.com that demonstrates the RIGHT WAY a President employs his staff than "Team of Rivals."

Seriously, you must read this book, before Jan. 20, 2009...it'll give you a lot more insight about the inner workings of the White House than any pundit or news show can give. Eat your heart out, "West Wing!"

This book shows the value of used bookstores because it demonstrates that, if you want the best book on a subject, you may need to go back awhile. Back to the point where the scholarship on that subject reached its peak, when the last really important piece of information had been found yielding an appropriate portrait of the situation. You can find these perfect books (and cheap!) with some patience and they'll look classy on your shelves to boot. Think Joseph Quincy Adams' 1923 `Life of William Shakespeare'. What comes AFTER this point are the silly alternate theories or painfully focused studies of certain components of the story or, as in this case, the assembly of facts which had never been reported before because they lie outside the sphere of relevance. These books are written and published for the same reason new versions of computer programs are released - there's an industry that still needs to be fed after you no longer need anything from it. As with Conrad Black's FDR, you can find out in this book what song might have been playing when someone who was never really a factor in our hero's life danced with someone who lived in the town next to the famous figure's sister's birthplace. Data? Yes. Information? No. On a positive note, Goodwin doesn't seem to have stolen it from anyone this time and, if you know someone who loves all things Lincoln there is value here. Your friend had better be obsessed however or this book will just get tiresome.

I thought the book was great. I hated to end it! Definitely a read for entertainment!

I am currently going through three (3) different books; all three (3) of which I have borrowed from the Library; & which I received prior to ordering Lincoln Lawyer; & just late yesterday afternoon, renewed them all. I can only say in the past I have enjoyed ALL legal books/thrillers, regardless of the Author, unless the book contains smut. If an Author has a good plot, he does not need to add smut. Do hope you will be able to receive suitable reviews from others. Hopefully, another time I can be of assistance. M.

This is a review of the Audio Book. It was a little boring at first, but it quickly got interesting. The narrator does an excellent job - the characters are easily distinguished without over-doing it. This is the first book by Michael Connelly I have listened to, and I plan on listening/reading to more.

Normally I listen to these on my lunch break, and get through 1 hr a day. This one was an exception - I started Sunday and had to finish it Monday. I really did not want to put this down. One thing I also appreciated was the limited use of language and sex.

I won't get into the plot because other reviews have already done it a lot better than I could.

Mickey Haller is not your ordinary attorney. He isn't sitting at his desk waiting for clients to approach him. Mickey is driven around in his Lincoln Town Car and usually drums up a little business along the way. His clients are mostly on the seedy side and they too, are usually driving around town.

Although Mickey's father was a respected attorney, Mickey receives little respect from his colleagues. They know that most of his clients are the scum of society. They are repeat offenders and often people who have no desire to stay on the right side of the law. This is the story of a lawyer who deals mostly with customers who are probably guilty, but need an attorney to get them through the trial. Mickey knows that the most terrifying client he can ever have is the innocent one, because he will really have to defend him and not just make a deal! Seems like Mickey might just be facing that dilemma.

Mickey Haller is an intricate and interesting character. It was fun to get into his head and he's someone worth meeting again in another of Connelly's stories!

Michael Connelly takes into the life of a criminal defense lawyer in a way you've never experienced before. The result is fresh, surprising, and continually fascinating.

Mickey Haller isn't your usual criminal lawyer: He's mostly concerned that he not be hired by an innocent client. Why? He's not sure he would know what to do.

He lives the kind of high-profile life that prominent defense attorneys aspire to: public notoriety, a trophy home, great car (one of four Lincolns he bought to get a discount), and a chauffeur (a client who owes him money). Beneath the exterior, life isn't quite so good. He can barely afford the home; he's been divorced twice (but is still friendly with both ex-wives); and he has no personal life. Hope springs eternal. He feels like a good-paying defendant could solve all of his problems.

As the book opens, that fond wish seems likely to be fulfilled when Harold Casey asks for Haller after being booked for aggravated assault, gross bodily injury, and attempted rape. Naturally, there are some problems, starting with Casey's snooty family lawyer, and whether the case will be pled or go to trial (there's not much money in getting a plea agreement). As usual, Haller insists on using his own detective . . . and what he finds out makes him wonder. Before long, Haller is looking into earlier crimes . . . and wondering some more.

By the middle of the story, you'll wonder what Haller has gotten into . . . and how he can possibly deal with it.

Before it's over, The Lincoln Lawyer combines a crime story, a courtroom drama, and a police procedural into one delicious tale.

After you read this book, your only regret will be that Michael Connelly doesn't write more courtroom dramas featuring defense lawyers.