Reno Books

This book is a must have if you were ever a part of this great little airline. If you are someone who just loves airline history then this book covers the entire history of Reno Air from inception to it's take over by American Airlines.

I enjoyed reading this book very much and am thankful it was given to me. I have had similar views about food and my own diet so I was immediately attracted to it.

Among other things I have taken away from the book is the idea that eating wholesome food is not about learning to grit my teeth and tolerate bad tasting things like vegetables and whole grains while heroically sacrificing the "delicious" fast foods and junk foods. It is about learning the truth that wholesome foods are actually the ones that taste good.

I especially liked that I felt convicted and inspired to change my eating habits. I have read some criticism that she says the same things over and over and does not provide more in depth knowledge, but for my part I don't think all the knowledge in the world will help me eat better. It is a matter of doing it, and of having the motivation to change, and I found the book encouraging and inspiring me to do so. I hope Tosca and others like her do say the same things, over and over and over again.

I dont do diets. I think most are fads and generally restrictive and unhealthy. I've been an athelete my whole life, but horrible with food. I've never considered myself quite over-weight, but I've always felt that I could stand to lose a few lbs. I read about Tosca in Oxygen magazine and was intrigued by this whole Clean Eating thing. I realize that most of it is a no-brainer in terms of what is healthy and what is not - but for me, my lifestyle is what made my habits so unhealthy. I work in NYC - the home of the Mocha Latte and ordering out for lunch. I was in the gym 5 days a week working out hard, but not seeing the result I feel I should have. On top of that I was tired alot. I bought this book and decided to give it a shot.
It's hard at first, changing everything about my daily habits - the food I buy at the grocer - forcing myself to NOT order out everyday - skipping the Venti Mocha Latte - making myself actually COOK meals!!
It's been almost 6 weeks now- and it is mostly become HABIT - I have come to enjoy grocery shopping and cooking at night - it's part of my routine. My backpack filled with the days food (I leave home at 7am and am gone till 6pm so I need to bring alot with me) makes me feel like I'm working out as I climb the stairs from Penn Station and walk the 6 blocks to my office. I've lost almost 12 lbs, my clothes fit better, my skin is clearer, my hair looks healthier and I am getting leaner all the time. All of my friends have taken notice and told me how great I look! I even quit smoking (my last vice)!!
I realize that all food plans do not work for all people - you have to be motivated, and have patience and the willingness to change your thinking.
If I had one negative thing to say about this book, its the title - this is NOT a Diet - it is a LifeStyle Change - and completely worth it!!

I have done weight watchers for years and yo-yoed, now that I'm eating clean, I'm not craving food like I was. I love how Tosca teaches and how informative she is.I feel like I'm treating my body the way I'm supposed to.

I started my road down eating clean by accident but a very lucky accident indeed!

I left the doctor's office and had gained a good deal more weight than I thought I had. He didn't say I should lose weight. As a weight lifter and someone who works out, I tend to not show extra weight like some. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't lose weight.

So on my way home, I stopped at my favorite grocery store and bought a book put out by "Men's Fitness" magazine. I stocked up on the foods it recommended (some I had never eaten before) and in one month I had lost close to ten pounds and felt great. Oh, did I mention I was never hungry? (In all fairness, I must tell you I log my calories and don't go over what I should eat.) It was a book on clean eating.

So I bought this book, "The Eat-Clean Diet" and read it all. I had already read most of the material in the previous book. But this book suggests sea salt. The first book I read recommends no salt for the most part. Of course, bodybuilders don't like salt as it tends to bloat you. I don't like much either so I still use very little but do use sea salt from time to time. With the right spices, you don't need salt.

At any rate, I found the recipes much harder to prepare and shop for than the previous book. I'm sure they're wonderful. But, I'm not a cook. So too many ingredients confuses me. The kitchen is not my favorite room.

There are not many recipes in the book. But this is not a cookbook. It basically explains the eating plan. And it's a wonderful plan! You can eat just about everything and create so many exciting dishes out of such items as plain yogurt and fat free sour cream and other things.

I recommend both the eat clean diet and this book.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet is perfect for the person who can afford expensive, organic food, expensive fish and expensive meat, or for the person who wishes for their nutrition to be the focal point of their life. It's perfect for the bodybuilder or fitness competitor, because that is what these people do for a living: they sculpt their bodies to earn a living.

However, for the average person, this book can be summed up by this: No Processed Foods, No Salad Dressing, No Soda (diet or otherwise), Nothing to Drink but Water or Tea, No Salt, No Butter, No Sauces...Basically, Nothing That Makes Food Taste Good. Oh, and NO Cream in Coffee Either. Choke it down BLACK. And no Alcohol If You Can Help It. Yeah. Okay.

I honestly did this diet/lifestyle overhaul for about a month before realizing that this is no way to live. Let's face it; who wants to eat salad with no dressing, who wants to deny the occasional burger and fries? Tosca does have some good points; drink lots of water, eat lots of fruit and veggies, and because of this book I kicked my diet-soda habit and stated taking flaxseed, a ridiculously healthy supplement. But jeez; Tosca, on the rare occasion I go out to eat, I don't want to order a plain slab of chicken breast and plain steamed veggies with no sauce, butter or salt of any kind and then not even consider dessert. I'm going to order what I want, eat it slowly and savor every bite and stop when I'm full. My god, what fun is life if you have to plan each and every meal, pack a cooler everyday, and never eat another doughnut? Trust me; this diet is way too restrictive and frankly unrealistic. Her recipes are complicated and expensive: Parchment Baked Chicken? Quinoa? Can you even find these in the supermarket? And how much are they? I tell you, my grocery bills went up tenfold when I was eating this way. And let me tell you, LIFE kept getting in the way. I'm a college student. I go out for drinks with friends once a week or so, I go to ball games and savor a hot dog and a beer, and I love ketchup on my eggs.

You'd be better off listening to Paul McKenna, he of the "I Can Make You Thin" plan. For god's sake, eat when you are hungry (for me, it's when my tummy gets rumbly) and eat what you WANT whether that's a salad, pasta or a sandwich. Eat SLOWLY and consciously, stopping every few bites to check for saiety. If you think you can stop eating, then do so. Trust me; when you know that no foods are off limits, you'll feel no urger to binge on them and you'll feel no deprivation. I've been eating this way for barely a week, and my clothing is already looser and I'm happier than I ever was on Tosca's diet. Trust me; you don't need to be this strict to lose weight. Just watch portions, exercise, and stop eating when you're full. That's all there is to it.

Great cookbook with very delicious recipes. Recipes are not too complicated or time consuming. This cookbook hasn't left my kitchen since I bought it.

My family and I have really enjoyed trying the recipes in this book. It doesn't seem to be much of a diet book, but more of a great cookbook that sends you in the right direction to eat right with lots of flavor. Yum!!

Great book. Tons of great healthy recipes that taste amazing! Highly recommended. Very easy to make, and most, if not all, made from fresh foods and vegetables. Love it!

The Eat-Clean Diet: Fast Fat-Loss that lasts Forever!

Great inspiration for eating clean & healthy. A great motivation tool & good recipes too. Reading this will make you look at food in a whole new way.

highly recommended.

Great, full color book. Lots of great facts to understand why it's important to eat clean.

This book is very informative and well written. I think the beginning weight lifter or beginning exerciser would truly value this book. Since I'm more seasoned at weight training. I found nothing new to help me to the next level ( for exercise only). I think this book would keep you motivated if that is something that you need to keep working out.

Though I love Tosca Reno, if you've been exercising for any length of time, it's just too basic. I ended up giving this book to one of my friends who didn't exercise, but wanted to start. I would however recommend her other books on eating clean--those are great!

I bought this book to help me understand how to use the machines at the gym and to learn which muscle groups are being used with each one. It may seem like common sense to a lot of people but I needed it broken down for me, for each machine and each step, and what benefits you get from them each. This book contains work out plans (weight training routines) for beginners, intermediates, and advanced. I have not come across a book quite like it that is actually written by a woman who used to be overweight and made a transformation in this way.

I am a cardio queen and have been looking for something to help motivate me with the weight training. I do great with a trainer but not on my own. This book is really good if you want to do things on your own, step by step, week by week. I think the tips listed on each page are really helpful and Tosca lists actual pages from her own work out diary for you to see.

Highly recommended for a woman who is looking to be more serious about weight training or get started. It has helped me get motivated and I'm really glad I bought it. It breaks it all down for you and gives you things to think about when you are working out and creating goals.

This book is a great book. It has a little for everyone in it. I recommend it, lots of tips.

This book is just what I needed! I purchased it after one of the reviews here stated that the included DVD showed proper weight training form. The book itself starts by listing the benefits of weight training. Reno advises the reader to start slow with light weights and build gradually. She says to have realistic goals and make a plan. Correct form is stressed and pacing of the workout is discussed. Reno recommends keeping a weight training journal. An official "Eat-Clean Diet Workout Journal" is available, but unnecessary. You can simply use a spiral notebook and list the date,exercise, weight used, number of sets and reps. There are also sample pages from the journal in the back of the book that can be copied.

Of course Reno says to eat healthy (eat-clean) and drink plenty of water. Bodybuilding tools and vitamin supplements are discussed. There is a chapter on building ideal proportions that interested me and was the final clincher for purchasing the book. After that are charts for beginner, intermediate and advanced routines. This is followed by a chapter on each body part: chest, thighs and calves, biceps and triceps, abs, shoulder shaping, and the back. Exercises are shown with clear directions for each and their specific target. The book then goes into training principles for competition.

The DVD is 30 minutes long and is essentially a primer on weight training. It is not a workout routine (I already have many of those) but rather a demonstration of how to do 9 moves correctly. 5 - 20 pound weights are used. The moves demonstrated are: seated shoulder press, dumbbell bench press, lunges, reverse crunch (toe to ceiling for bad backs), stiff leg dead lifts, single arm rows, standing dumbbell curls, single arm triceps extension and single leg raises. Reno advises resting 1 -2 minutes betweens sets and 24-48 hours between working a particular body part. She begins with warm-up suggestions and after showing the proper form for the 9 moves, shows 8 stretches. You will need to pause the video while you complete the moves. I used a portable DVD player and found that worked well. I did find the oil on her body to be distracting. I also wish that she had demonstrated squats. However, squats are covered in the book.

This book/DVD has motivated me to begin weight training at the age of 61 which is why I gave it 5 stars. I have purchased other weight training books such as the Body Sculpting Bible for Women, which also has a DVD, but I found it too dry and have not used it. The conversational style of The Eat-Clean Diet Workout works for me and I feel healthier already after working with the DVD.

As someone who has worked many years in Chicago journalism, I found this book right up my alley. I'm always looking for books with Chicago references--and this book is chock-full of them. The only problem is that Cummings goes way overboard trying to cram as many Chicago scenes in as possible. The lead character, Reno McCarthy must have spent a fortune on gas because he's driving all over the metro area, often in record time. First he's in Hyde Park, then Winnetka, then River North, then even Oak Brook. He lives in Evanston, but is wheeling downtown every chance he can get. Hey, these places are far apart and there is a lot of traffic to be considered. I doubt anyone could make those trips in the time Cummings allots to McCarthy.

Although the action is terrific and the characters well-defined, I thought a judicious editor could have trimmed this book by one third. There are many extraneous scenes that don't really further the mystery and just serve to get McCarthy beaten up for the umpteenth time. Sometimes a writer can't see when he has overwritten parts of the novel, and definitely this is the case here.

Still, I was glued to this book until it ended, and wondered why a major publisher did not pick this up (it is self-published by iUniverse). A few minor editing glitches are apparent, but on the whole the book is polished and well-researched.

I'd be interested in seeing what Cummings does next.

Hopefully Cummings has some Hollywood connections because this would make a doozy of a movie. Imagine a novel that focuses on crime and political corruption in Chicago without involving the mayor or any aldermen. How refreshing. Grips you from the beginning and leaves you hungry for Reno's next assignment. Can't wait.

From the first page, this exciting mystery set in Chicago grabs the reader and does not let go. It's intricately plotted, meaty and satisfying. As a Chicago area resident, I found that the detailed description of the neighborhoods really added to my enjoyment of the book. Although the plot becomes a little overly complicated towards the end and the reporter protagonist is somewhat over the top, this book is well worth experiencing. An excellent read.

So many novels written by well known people (Cummings is a reporter on Chicago radio) end up a disappointment. It seems some get publishing contracts only because of their name. But, this is definitely not the case here. This is better than most mysteries I've read recently. I'm happy to say that this book is more than a pleasant surprise and I hope it's the start of a first rate series.

This is the type of book that every reporter wishes they would have written. Cummings' love and broad knowlege of Chicago is evident on every page; one can taste, smell and feel the city and the distinctive characteristics of its diverse neighborhoods. The quality speaks for itself. The writing is careful, but not self-conscious. Characters have a real humanity, and are not simply used to move the story along. Nothing sloppy here, and the wonderful and timely plot unfolds at the perfect clip. Cummings' background in media is evident in his dead-bang insights and descriptions into the workings of Chicago radio and TV newsrooms.
In short, Cummings' debut novel, "Deader by the Lake" stands tall above the typical writing of this genre. There's no cheating, no corner cutting...not in setting, story, or character development, and the story is delivered with an economy of words that keep the pages turning.

Every other review so far lists plenty of reasons why you'll like the book, so I won't repeat them. Instead I'll mention the most prominent things I didn't like about the book.

First, I thought the setting felt forced. It seemed Mr. Cummings crammed a specific Chicago reference everywhere he could possibly fit it. Some were accurate to an unnecessary degree (such as referencing the Jamba Juice under the Wells St. elevated tracks in the Loop) while others were absurdly inaccurate (such as River North being a seedy neighborhood where one is likely to locate a male prostitute). For me, it made the reading downright painful at times, especially through the first few chapters. Mercifully he eases up on the references later in the book and it reads much more smoothly.

Next, I had some plot issues. At times it was unbelievably predictable;(Minor spoiler warning:) during a scene where Cummings described a very secure area inhabited by a less-than-savory individual, I thought to myself, "Geez, the only thing that could get to this guy is a freakin' helicopter strike!" Guess what happens two pages later?

On the flip side, the ending has a semi-surprise twist that bothered me. Red herrings are a part of every mystery story, but when the vast bulk of the plot is a red herring it makes me wonder why the book couldn't have been 200 pages shorter. I'll assume this serves the purpose of introducing us to the larger plot we'll see more of in later books, which makes it somewhat forgiveable, but still the book on its own did not sit right with me.

Overall I did enjoy it, though. The characters are interesting and believable; I absolutely adored Sunny. The plot is engaging and many of the elements are just unnerving enough to create a powerful mood without going over the top into blatantly disturbing, shock-value territory. I'll definitely read Cummings' next book, but if major plot and setting issues continue it'll probably be the last.

Darlene has dreams of becoming an Art student. She has talent as a painter and has found her passion. Randolph is a biologist, studying birds, in need of a research project to publish a paper on. Darlene and Randolph meet when she saves him from an irrational rancher with a shotgun. Upon escorting her home he discovers that she lives in a brothel and she works there too.

His discovery in the desert, the Bristle-thighed Curlews, is an important one and he has found his project. Darlene becomes his research assistant by day, continuing her night job, and Randolph agrees to help her look into attending college classes. The birds are big news though and the Feds get involved in protecting them and their environment. The locals aren't happy about this and eventually conflicts arise.

A fence is put up by the Feds and the locals retaliate by vandalizing government vehicles. Darlene's presence as a bird watcher is noted and threats are made against her. Whose side is she on anyway? The locals need the fenced off road and donýt like being told what to do. A fire is started in the brothel and Darlene finds herself in a position to start her life over.

With nothing to lose but her reputation, she finds Randolph and persuades him to let her stay in his guest room. Will the two ever break through the stigma of her past? She begins her career as a college student and finds she is truly talented in painting. Her life is changing for the better. But someone at the college knows who she is and threatens to expose her. In the process he could destroy Randolph's career. And the Curlews are nesting amongst bulldozers and angry ranchers. Will the rare birds stay with their nests?

With a plot surrounding an artistically talented [...], a prudish professor, a town up in arms and an evil-minded schemer, the author has created a very interesting tale of life lessons. A view that is not often shown, Marjorie Knorr introduces us to the world of the oldest profession. An entertaining read!

This book was a surprise. Don't know the author but she writes very well indeed. Her dialogue sizzles. Her characters are real. Darn good read.!

My friend passed this book on to me and though I expected little, I really enjoyed it. Sometimes unexpected pleasures are the best. Great salty dialogue and real characters. Real menace too. Had me right until the last page.

Okay, I'll admit, Knorr can write. But there's more to romance than craft.

I don't like realistic romance. I want my girls pure and my heros handsome and manly. This one breaks all the rules. It was shocking! A romantic lead who was a whore? It's unseemly, I tell you! Romance is for maidens, notý notý well, ladies of the evening.

And the male lead, what of him? A brainy geek? I want Fabio as my protagonists, not some pencil neck with stuffed birds in his bedroom. Give me good old Danielle Steele any day!

Keep your fresh and shocking realism. Give me escape.

This is just an enjoyable book from start to finish with a bit of instruction on the way for those of us who know next to nothing about Nevada, such as the struggle to keep private land, the strange but legal brothel industry, and some very interesting birds. The characters are well defined and quite likeable - most of them anyway. Every story needs some villains. It contains much humor, and the reader will learn the meaning of entomophagy! I was greatly entertained by this book.

As a student I have found this to be an exelant plan for saving valable time.

i go to school and need real help managing the hourzzzzz it takes me to do homework and schedule time to keep up with projects like electornoics and science. this was reccomended to me by a friend and it has some real good tips. i learned how to schedule the end of the semester stuff that always gets me in trouble and maybe i'll get better grades because i can finish stuff now.

I'm married and work almost 60 hours a week. It's been insane to try to get more things done, but reading this book helped me put things in perspective. I got great tips on organizing my office, learning how to stop interruptions, and dealing with the electronic pauses in my day. I highly recommend it. You don't have to have children to feel stressed, and though I was surprised at the other comments, I feel that the book was quite valuable to me. Maybe people with kids should look for something more specific to the home?

I have a family, work part-time, do charity work, try to squeeze in a few minutes for my wonderful friends.

I don't have spare time aplenty. I thought this book would be helpful, but it wasn't.

The ideas recommended were common sense, and worse the writing was wordy, dry and not at all engaging.

I realize this book is nonfiction, but even nonfiction should offer interesting language, and words, and delightful anecdotes.

This book had none of that.

In my opinion this tome should have been called THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO WASTING TIME.

As a literture Student and Poetry Author. writing the for school on line magizine, as well as independent poetry contest. Working on several projects at the same time for my world novels class and creative writing class. Keeping a part time job and trying to have a home life is very hard when your at school four days a week from 8 am. to 9pm. This book has showed how I can organize my time better, and how to judge which things come first. I've had to ask myself a hard question, just how bad do I want to reach my goals. And was I willing to make some sacifices in my life to reach this goal. Once I had answered these questions the decision was easy. But if one is not serious about what ever their trying to do, if that person is not willing to make the sacefices to obtain it. Then they really dont want it nor need it or really care if they can save time and make their life a litle bit eaiser. This Author should be praised, and I hope she writes more on the subject.

Sometimes I like to read a children's or young adults' book. It reminds me of the times when I trotted over to the local library without a worry on my mind, collecting a total of five books and being able to return them all read the following day. Vacation was a wonderful time for me. Nowadays, with all the busyness of work and everyday life filled with all kinds of responsibilities, it's a relief to be able to pick up some light reading and return to that time when you were young, small and still full of lively imagination.

The Secret Portal is one of those books that make you believe in magic again. The story is simple: several schoolboys discover a portal to another dimension. They make friends with the locals, are confronted with a nemesis and together try to vanquish the forces of evil.

Written in a very easy language, it's still intriguing enough to capture older readers. It's adventure in its purest form. Perspective jumps from the good guys to the bad guys, which might spoil the fun for experienced readers who like to discover the plot by means of little hints, but this technique elevates the humour, which is also waiting at every corner. Small and seemingly unimportant scenes turn out to be key events in the story.

Throughout the book, magic is the most important player. Not only the visible magic involving spells and potions, but also invisible magic. The way people cling to each other and do everything in their power to protect each other. It's a tale about friendship, working together, being unprejudiced against appearances and lineage. I certainly hope readers won't be prejudiced against the simple idea, because there is so much more behind this story worth discovering.

Late to first year orientation, Jack Gray runs into Earls boarding school just in time to be assigned to the smallest room, a converted storage closet. He and his roommate, Simon Bentley, soon make friends with Dean Leonard, a boy with bottle-thick glasses and James Bond, not the spy, but a victim of parental humor. The four friends suffer the expected first year trials, bad food, boring teachers, and bullying second year students. During a restless, homesick night, Jack hears voices coming from behind Simon's dresser and discovers a portal to another dimension and another school, the Human Race Studies Academy, or HURASTAC.

Beings of all kinds, including Martians, ghosts, vampires and angels, study mankind at HURASTAC. Jack makes friends with students from the academy and with the help of a budding witch, the four Earls students explore HURASTAC's dimly lit halls. It's a wonderful adventure until a vampire slips though the portal into the human world. Unless the friends, both human and otherwise, act quickly, even the strongest magic won't be able to stop him.

THE SECRET PORTAL reminded me of the Harry Potter series. The setting bounces between the mundane world (Earls) and a magic world full of amazing people and creatures (HURASTAC). Though the events are fantastic, the
relationships ring true. THE SECRET PORTAL confronts issues important to real children, making friends, resisting bullies, and circumventing authority. Finally, like Harry Potter's J.K. Rowling, the author, Reno
Charlton, uses humor as well as imagination to captivate young readers.

I enjoyed the characters in THE SECRET PORTAL. The human students are realistic and sympathetic. I particularly liked Dean, the bullies' primary victim. The otherworldly students are a lot of fun. Jeebies, a wacky gnome, adding a great comic touch, while Gladstone Gore, is not only a vampire, but every kid's worst nightmare of a teacher.

Reviewed by Carrie Masek

"The Secret Portal" By Reno Charlton
Publisher: BeWrite Books; UK
ISBN: 1-904224-22-9
Illustrated by Sarah Langstone
Genre: Children's Illustrated

The story opens as Jack Gray stands on the steps of Earl's boarding school, waving goodbye to his parents. The slight twelve-year old is about to enter the huge building, not realizing that he's about to embark upon a fascinating adventure. Once in his new school, with his new roommate and having his tea, Simon, Jack feels a bit more at home. Simon is a likable fellow, although always complaining. Their room is tiny and Jack learns it was once shut off as a storage closet. Now, however, it has become a bedroom. It is also something far more - a portal into another dimension. That night, while trying to sleep, Jack hears voices coming from behind his dresser. Moving it, he discovers a blue light, which promptly transports him to another room in a faraway school for monsters! A minute later Simon tumbles in, victim of his curiosity as well!

The monsters in the room - two ghosts called Jonah and Jemima, a witch named Clarissa, a little gnome who goes by the name Jeebles, and Orka, a boy from Venus, are in the Human Race Studies Academy which is a school to learn about humans. Jack and Simon find out that they must not be discovered in the monster's school, but their curiosity gets the better of them, and they find different ways of visiting. The same goes for the monsters, and soon there are clandestine visits back and forth between the two schools.

However, there are some monsters who can cause great harm to the humans. While in their own dimension, they are helpless. But in the human's world, they can finally do what they've dreamed of - hunt and kill humans! The portal in the wrong hands can be a disaster and that is what happens in this story.

Charmingly illustrated throughout, the book is fast moving and full of likable characters. Children who love Harry Potter and the Witch and the Wardrobe will certainly enjoy reading "The Secret Portal".

Jennifer Macaire, eBook Reviews Weekly
Author of 'Time for Alexander'

Great fun! Very highly recommended

Jack Gray and Simon Bentley quickly become friends when they both arrived at Earls Boarding School a bit late, calling unwanted attention to themselves. They also share the dubious honor of being assigned the smallest room in the boarding school - room 13 had previously been a storage closet, which might explain why no one had ever noticed the room's unusual qualities. Behind the chest of drawers lies a secret portal to another school.

The students in the fifth dimension are bit unusual, as Jack and Simon soon discover. Some live on other planets, are vampires or witches, and some are not even alive! But when a dangerous vampire discovers the open portal, he plans to use it for his own diabolical purposes. Now it is up to Jack, Simon and their new friends to thwart the evil plan.

Readers who enjoy the magic of the Harry Potter series will discover a new set of unusual friends with magical abilities and unexpected happenings in THE SECRET PORTAL. Invisibility potions, shape shifting, and magic spells gone awry do not even begin to describe this fabulous read. Readers will chill the overcoming of bullies, the antics in the classroom, and the humor that binds this unusual cast of characters. In addition, Author Reno Charlton writes with a clear, concise, and light-hearted style that makes for delightful reading. This marvelously entertaining tale will delight young readers and the young at heart. With wonderful illustrations and a fast paced story line certain to entertain, leaving readers hoping there will be many sequels. THE SECRET PORTAL comes very highly recommended.

Cindy Penn
Senior Editor, Amazon top 50 Reviewer
eBook Specialist, Midwest Book Review

Jack Gray and Simon Bentley quickly become friends when they both arrived at Earls Boarding School a bit late, calling unwanted attention to themselves. They also share the dubious honor of being assigned the smallest room in the boarding school - room 13 had previously been a storage closet, which might explain why no one had ever noticed the room's unusual qualities. Behind the chest of drawers lies a secret portal to another school.

The students in the fifth dimension are bit unusual, as Jack and Simon soon discover. Some live on other plants, are vampires or witches, and some are not even alive! But when a dangerous vampire discovers the open portal, he plans to use it for his own diabolical purposes. Now it will up to Jack, Simon and their new friends to thwart the evil plan.

Readers who enjoy the magic of the Harry Potter series will discover a new set of unusual friends with magical abilities and unexpected happenings in THE SECRET PORTAL. Invisibility potions, shape shifting, and magic spells gone awry do not even begin to describe this fabulous read. Readers will chill the overcoming of bullies, the antics in the classroom, and the humor that binds this unusual cast of characters. In addition, Author Reno Charlton writes with a clear, concise, and light-hearted style that makes for delightful reading. This marvelously entertaining tale will delight young readers and the young at heart. With wonderful illustrations and a fast paced story line certain to entertain, leaving readers hoping their will be many sequels. THE SECRET PORTAL comes very highly recommended.

There is much to appreciate here, such as the detail of the case studies -- the Memphis case in particular, brings us back to an earlier era in our nation's history.

But the broad themes of the book strike me as its greatest weakness. The analogy between Reconstruction in the period just after the Civil War on the one hand, and the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s that Kousser calls the "second" Reconstruction, is lame.

The very first sentence shows some of the problems with this book. "Institutions and institutional rules -- not customs, ideas, attitudes, culture, or private behavior -- have primarily shaped race relations in America." If he took that sentence seriously, it would lead him into a definitional swamp, analyzing the different but overlapping meaanings of all the words used there, discussing which one is "primary" and for what reason. He does not take it seriously enough to get us mired in that swamp, but it remains a weak opening.

The best book in this field is David T. Canon's, RACE, REDISTRICTING, AND REPRESENTATION.

The anonymous reviewer's comparison of Colorblind Injustice to David Canon's book is misplaced. Although both books are good and address the issue of minority voting rights, they raise very different, though, equally broad questions. Canon asks who is represented in majority-Black districts, while Kousser is concerned with the impact of the court's voting rights decisions for minorities and the country. It is like comparing apples and oranges. I strongly recommend Kousser's book. It is historically grounded and makes quite plain how institutional arrangments systematically limit the political influence of minority voters. Kousser writes extremely well and quite vividly. I especially recommend it for courses on Black politics and parts of the book (chapter one, for instance) for instructors who provide supplemental readings in their introductory American government courses. In the past I used the late Frank Parker's book Black Votes Count to follow our discussion of the civil rights movement in my courses on Black politics. Parker's book is a case study of the legal challenge to Mississippi's long efforts at suppressing the Black vote. It is especially useful because it shows how the state of Mississippi discriminated against its Black citizens not only in its past but very recently through the 1980s. Kousser's book does the same but covers more ground to include California and is current.

Shaw v. Reno is at the heart of Colorblind Injustice: Minority Voting Rights and the Undoing of the Second Reconstruction, historian J. Morgan Kousser's closely reasoned critique of the Court's recent rulings on the constitutionality of "majority-minority" congressional districts-districts created for the purpose of ensuring adequate minority representation in the House of Representatives...

Colorblind Injustice is an angry book. Kousser is convinced that in a series of recent decisions, beginning with Shaw v. Reno, the Rehnquist Court has destroyed the hard-won gains that African Americans have made in political representation. Kousser considers those decisions to be bad law, bad history, and bad public policy, and he hopes "to set voting rights policy straight by getting its history right" (p. 2). In the pursuit of that ambition, he has written an exhaustive study of the recent history of voting rights, a study so carefully researched and intelligently reasoned that it will probably become the definitive work on this subject...

Kousser begins his analysis with a celebration of the achievements of the Second Reconstruction, a period when "the Court's willingness to protect the rights of minority citizens or let Congress do so, along with the stable majority of experienced and sympathetic members of Congress from 1954 to 1994, allowed judges, Congress, bureaucrats, and interest groups to improve federal protections [for minority rights] gradually and pragmatically" (p. 53). In Kousser's eyes, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been central to this process of minority protection, especially Section 5 of that act, which requires states that had prohibited black voting in the past to submit changes in electoral laws to the Justice Department for approval...

In Kousser's eyes, progress came to an end with the Supreme Court's ruling in Shaw v. Reno that two sprawling congressional districts, which were carefully drawn to ensure that they held black majorities, were in probable violation of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law...Like Javert in Les Misérables, Kousser is relentless in the pursuit of his quarry. He devotes 250 pages of text to careful historical analyses of white politicians' successful attempts since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to reduce or deny minority representation in Los Angeles, Memphis, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. Kousser then spends the remaining 150 pages of his book explicating his thorough and scathing critique of the Rehnquist Court's decisions on the constitutionality of the majority-minority congressional districts that state legislatures created in response to Justice Department pressure. In Kousser's eyes, the Rehnquist Court-usually by five-to-four votes-has (1) ignored the relevant historical contexts of the cases it decided, (2) made bad law, and (3) defined central concepts in these cases in a manner contrary to their clear meaning. Shaw v. Reno illustrates all these problems...

Often Kousser's critique of the Rehnquist Court is so extreme and his use of language so hyperbolic that they weaken his credibility. For example, a reader of Colorblind Injustice, ignorant of the Court's history, might conclude that only the Rehnquist Court-and its racist predecessors-made decisions that were "abstract, formalistic, and factually incorrect" (p. 466) and substituted its own public-policy preferences for established judicial precedent...

When Kousser ends his book by comparing the Shaw cases with the Dred Scott decision and Plessy v. Ferguson, arguing that they "all buttressed a seemingly uncertain white supremacy" (p. 465), he goes too far. Dred Scott asserted that African Americans had no "rights which the white man was bound to respect" and that "the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the constitution." Plessy v. Ferguson upheld racial segregation and contained the cynical and racist observation that "if one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane." Whatever the shortcomings of Shaw v. Reno, neither its reasoning nor its impact is comparable to those ugly, vicious, racist judgments...

Historically, African Americans and other minorities have made their greatest political gains through the formation of interracial coalitions. The abolition of slavery was a biracial effort, as were both Reconstructions. After World War II, African Americans in the industrial states of the North and West shrewdly exercised their voting rights in a manner that led to their courtship by politicians of both major political parties. Black votes often decided the outcome of state and national elections, as they did in the 1948 and 1960 presidential races. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed, civil rights leaders and congressional leaders of both parties were present in what was a truly biracial and bipartisan celebration.

COLORBLIND INJUSTICE is a magnificent book with mighty themes. Built upon historian J. Morgan Kousser's two decades of work as an expert witness in voting rights cases, enriched by his rigorous state-of-the-art political analysis, and supported by massive and precise documentation, this powerful work will fundamentally alter discussion of race and politics in modern America. Most significantly, it convincingly refutes currently-fashionable talk about the benefits of eliminating government protection of the political rights of minorities. Kousser demonstrates, for example, that several supposedly "colorblind" 1990s voting rights decisions by the United States Supreme Court have been unfairly partial to the Republican Party, unjustly biased against the interests of African-American voters, contrary to the original intention of the relevant laws and constitutional amendments, and revolutionary in overturning well-established precedent. He also demolishes the underpinnings of the advocacy of supposedly "colorblind" racial policies by Abigail and Stephen Thernstrom in AMERICA IN BLACK AND WHITE, a "benchmark" conservative study of 20th century race relations. One central subject of COLORBLIND INJUSTICE is the relentlessly-political process by which state legislatures decennially draw congressional district boundaries. In 1991 the federal Justice Department, implementing the 1982 amendments to the federal Voting Rights Act, pressed states to create districts according to criteria that allowed minority politicians and voters to play a fairer role in the process than ever before and to increase the number of black-majority districts. Minority representation in Congress grew, but in no state did white representation fall below the white portion of the population. The Thernstroms have condemned the Justice Department's 1991 effort and have urged the Supreme Court to prohibit any minority preferences and to forbid any reference to racial classifications in drawing districts. Such "colorblind" policies, they claim, will reduce racial divisions and will foster racial healing, harmony, and equity. But the Thernstroms fail to deal with crucial political realities that Kousser demonstrates conclusively, realities that render the supposedly "colorblind" Thernstrom proposals unfeasible and unjust. For example, the Thernstroms and the Supreme Court implicitly assume that state legislatures adhere typically to "traditional race-neutral districting principles," thereby creating compact non-political districts that embrace natural communities. Kousser demonstrates instead that congressional redistricting has continually been an inherently-political no-holds-barred pushing and shoving process in which contending politicians relentlessly gerrymander in political party and protecting the interests of powerful incumbents. Moreover, since blacks vote solidly Democratic, politicians pursuing such partisan and incumbent benefit will inevitably and always give painstaking attention to race, vying fiercely to arrange a politically advantageous allocation of the predictably-Democratic black voters among districts. Typically Republicans will strive to pack most black voters into a very few heavily black urban districts, thereby "wasting" many black votes and keeping them out of suburban "Republican" districts. Typically white Democrats will seek to spread the black vote around into several contested districts, keeping it below 50 percent in each district so that black candidates cannot challenge white Democratic incumbents, but also carefully placing black voters where they can be useful in helping to defeat white Republicans. Neither white Republican nor white Democratic leaders will really want to allow minority voters the opportunity to elect the candidates they most prefer. The Thernstroms' notion that "colorblind" Court decisions can cause politicians to draw districts without reference to race is unrealistic. Court prohibitions will merely drive the inevitable partisan and incumbent-serving racial calculations and manipulations underground and out of sight, rendering them more unfair and more disadvantageous to the black voters themselves. Only in the 1991 redistricting, under the supervision of the Justice Department, was the ubiquitous political manipulation of race constrained in a way that allowed black voters a fair chance to elect their preferred candidates. But, starting with Shaw v. Reno in 1993, the five-member conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court has ruled some but not all of the 1991 black-majority districts unconstitutional. The Thernstroms have applauded the Court's direction, but have urged it to be more consistent and to go further--to declare unconstitutional any attention to racial classifications in drawing districts. Instead the Court has muddled along, and Kousser meticulously demonstrates that the muddling five-member conservative Court majority, all appointed by Republican presidents, has rendered a series of inconsistent decisions that are at once partisan (pro-Republican) and anti-minority. For example, the Court majority has condemned partisan redistrictings as racial in North Carolina and Texas, where they had been designed to aid Democrats, but it has endorsed equally partisan and racial redistrictings in Ohio and California, where they had been designed to aid Republicans. Also the Court majority has unfairly applied a "compactness" requirement to black-majority districts, but not to white-majority districts. If Shaw v. Reno and similar decisions stand and govern the 2001 congressional redistricting process, Republican strategies for advantageously manipulating race will be legal, Democratic strategies illegal. The entire process will be less open, more furtive and devious, less accessible to minorities, more vulnerable to anti-minority gerrymandering, and more often thrown finally into the hands of state and federal courts, which tend to favor conservative Republican interests. The five conservative Supreme Court justices sanctimoniously claim that their 1990s decisions adhere to a principle of "colorblindness" derived from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. But as Kousser observes, their commitment to "colorblindness" has "collapsed when the interests of the Republican Party were at stake." Moreover, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were originally designed for the express purpose of protecting blacks against a palpable prospect of anti-minority discrimination and anti-minority party maneuvers. The conservative justices misread and misuse those protective amendments when they find in them only an abstract "colorblind" principle and when they invoke that principle not to protect against, but in fact to foster a continuing palpable prospect of anti-minority discrimination and anti-minority partisan gerrymandering.

While focusing on Episcopal Church, this book has a much broader application to Christianity in the Western world in general. The focus on the Episcopal Church is very timely, however, in connection with the Bishop Gene Robinson situation. Reno is critical of both the more conservative (fundamentalist) brand of Christianity, and also of the more liberal brand. Both positions, he argues, view the Church as being in ruins due to sin. Of course, the conservatives and the liberals have very different understandings of what the sin is that has brought about the ruins. Both sides attempt to distance themselves from the ruins, which is the main temptation criticized by Reno. Conservatives try to create enclaves of "holiness" while liberals try to change and fix the world by escaping from the past. The central paradox or irony of liberalism, however, is that the liberal drive to change the world masks an underlying refusal to be changed by God. In my view, Reno is one of the most helpful and insightful theologians writing today. I highly recommend this book.

Reno writes with panache, clarity, and skill. He has also left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church, calling into question whether he would still make the same arguments today that he has in this book.

In THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH Dr. Reno challenges us to face the gospel and to recognize that our greatest difficulties with faith come, not from science or postmodernism per se, but from our own human reluctance to change, more particularly, our reluctance to be changed. In addition to this, Dr. Reno looks deeply at some of the problems facing the Episcopal Church and offers some suggestions as to the causes and possible solutions. Reno spends time critiquing the now common role of Bishop as a priest with a theological chip on their shoulder ordained not to defend the faith, but to be "prophetic," or in common language, to push for their own agendas. This is a very timely assessment when considering the recent appointment of +Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury. Williams, who is a wonderful writer and thinker from what I have read, shares many of the same criticisms of modern culture that Dr. Reno does; however, Williams is known to be a liberal on certain issues, such as ordination of homosexuals. What is interesting is that Williams has made it clear upon accepting the appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury that his role is to defend the faith as received and not to push his own agenda. In this way Williams-known to be opposed to the ideals of John Spong- seems to represent the type of bishop Reno champions.

We recently had the honor of having Dr. Reno speak at our university and after speaking with him in person I recommend his book with even greater enthusiasm.

The two previous reviews make several good points which I won't revisit here. Russell Reno has taken a tact in this book which is the antithesis of the via moderna- modern way. Mr. Russell, using the panorama of redemptive history, challenges the modern views of exegesis which are bound by the propensity for both the unique and technique. His basic premise is that the typology of Church history is a people and savior who are perpetually struggling amidst the ruins. As our saviour was called to a prophetic ministry in the ruins of his day, so too, we are called. Mr. Reno also hearkens back to the practices of the Church Fathers- exegesis and bible study - as sources from which the "wheat" of the Church may be nourished. Summarily, this book is not a mere recapitulation of the writing which already exists on this topic, but approaches this topic from a fresh and novel perspective. Tolle Lege.