McDonald's Books

If you are interested in Quilt History, this is a good read. It can get a little dry here and there. Nice Photos.

This book has brought some interesting things to mind when I've recently been researching Rousseau's influence on the Revolution. First off, publication of Rousseau's supposedly influential book, "Social Contract", didn't pick up speed until after the Revolution. Furthermore, it seems that he was referenced more often by those who just wanted a big name behind their argument than by someone who truly understood his philosophy. In fact, McDonald concluded, with good evidence, that the monarchists knew Rousseau better than the revolutionaries did. This book is certainly important to take a look at if someone wants to truly understand the man known as the "father of the revolution".

Joan's argument hasn't gone without being refuted by an author here and there, though, so there is more recent and up-to-date work you could look at. Also, if you just want a stylish bio that's entertaining to read, it'd be best to look elsewhere. The book is obviously meant to prove a point, not inspire interest.

This is a useful book for those who have to look into the history of human interaction with the tropical rainforest of Australia. I used it for some research in my own book on the rainforest.
Damon Ramsey, author of "Ecosystem Guides Rainforest of tropical Australia"

It's definitely easier to learn from the book by having the solutions to the end of chapter questions, however, as a whole I was not impressed with this solutions book. A lot of the problem is from the end of the chapter questions though. Many of the questions are "verify this.." or "show this equation in chapter is right..." so not exactly user-friendly learning tools. In addition, for many questions I found the solution book would just show a graph and not necessarily explain how they got the answer. I'm still glad I got it though as any supplement to chapter material is beneficial.

This is a collection of short stories from one of SFs brightest new hopes. I made notes after each individual story as I read it:

* "Gardenias" -- Fancifully written, but ultimately plotless. Interesting for the mix of poetry and prose, and the way the narrator speaks to the reader and character. Ultimately not my cup of tea, though.
* "Rainmaker Cometh" -- I believe I read this before somewhere (in The Year's Best Fantasy?). Nicely oblique tale of small-town desperation and the mysterious stranger. Well done, but we've seen it all before.
* "Listen" -- Okay, it's obvious that McDonald can write, and can write well and stylishly. But what about plot? What about a little less deus ex machina? What about a little more substance? This story is clearly indicative of my problems so far with McDonald: a lot of style, a lot of imagination, but nothing more on the ball.
* "Speaking in Tongues" -- I didn't follow this story at all. I suspect there was something that tied the parts together, but McDonald gave me no clear clues to find that something. Bleah.
* "Fragments on an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria" -- Now this is a story worthy of recommendation. Excellent use of historical and fictional, the hysteria originally unfounded except when the story rolls around and we find out, no, it is merely foreboding. The grafted-on bit with the Wandering Jew could just as well been excised for all that it does (and only served to sell the story originally, to Brian Stableford's theme anthology Tales of the Wandering Jew). It is the rest that makes this story satisfying.
* "Approaching Perpendicular" -- Poetical story about the dreams and agonies of a poet, analogous to the struggles of any artist who braves the fears and sometimes oversteps the bounds in trying to be art. Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Perfect prose-poetry, to be so ambiguous, yet allow interpretation.
* "Floating Dogs" -- Post holocaust story updated to today's foreseen technology, nanotech. As such, really nothing new said here.
* "Atomic Avenue" -- Nice idea, but seems overlong. Once again, the fine line between mood (poetry) versus information (prose) seems stretched too tightly to the mood side for a story.
* "Fronds" -- Well realized alien/human contact, with added development of Chinese/Japanese company rule mirrored in a Dr. Moreau-like Delphic (for dolphins) law. This kind of story has been done better, but not by many, and I found myself thoroughly enthralled by the world-building.
* "Winning" -- Well done tale of translating modern culture and mores and positing a prospective future. That is, science fiction. Not as clever as "Fragments," but very worthy.
* "Toward Kilimanjaro" -- Reminiscent of Shepard & Frazier's "mutant rainforest" stories, which are probably recalls of Brian Aldiss' Hothouse. There is a lot of Conrad symbolism here (which I can recognize, even though I've never read Conrad). What is it about Heart of Darkness that appeals so to the SF spirit? Interesting, but overlong to be so unoriginal in plot.

Overall, I enjoyed the McDonald collection, even though when I look back over my notes, I would only recommend half of the stories (and that to a dedicated reader of SF). He's got real style, though--a talent with words--that will prove to be useful in the future when his plots and ideas become more original than the recycled ones in these stories.

This guide book would be very useful for a first time visitor to this area of the battlefield. But for those wishing to spend more time in the Little Round Top/ Devil's Den area, or who wish for more complete and detailed guides, I recommend two other books: Little Round Top: A Detailed Tour Guide by Garry E. Adelman, and Devil's Den: A History and Guide by Garry Adelman & Timothy H. Smith

I ordered it for my son, he's taking a Journalism course. He says it's a great resource, interesting, and will keep it after the course has ended. Negative: Much too expensive.

This is a basic boring english book. There are some grammar sections that could be worked on. The example papers in the book aren't to bad though.

The stories in this collection were bizarre and macacbre. I won't get anymore of these collections.

I should note from the start that I only listened to the nine stories on the CD audio edition, so my comments only reflect roughly half of the book's contents. I have to say that they were a bit of a disappointment overall. One would expect a collection of mystery stories to have some, well, mystery... Instead, the stories are heavy on atmosphere, emphasizing it over plot, and sometimes there is only the slimmest connection to crime at all. Roxana Robinson's "Face Lift" for example, is a curious inclusion by any measure. I'm not any kind of genre purist, nor am I big fan of whodunits, or traditional mysteries-but it seems like the editors were going more for stories with cachet (either a name literary author such as Russell Banks or Joyce Carol Oates, or a name source publication like Esquire), rather than actually finding mysteries that are great reads. I'm also not one who likes to puzzle out the endings to mysteries ahead of time, but I had the endings spotted halfway through the three most "traditional" mysteries of the nine on the CD (which were also my three favorites as it happened). The only story to make me somewhat interested in reading something else by the author was Peter Robinson's "Missing in Action", which had an interesting WWII setting and a light touch. Still, one out of nine isn't a great success rate, and if the other eleven stories are of the same ilk, I'd have to recommend skipping this year's collection.

Penzler and Block sold out to the literary establishment on this one. Or maybe it was Michele Slung. Anyway, it seems like they chose any story--no matter how pointless and uninteresting--with a crime in it that appeared in a 'literary magazine'. Trying to brown-nose some credibility perhaps? Anyway, don't read this if you're looking for a good mystery of crime story. Try Gorman's 'World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories'. This one's a waste.

"The Best Mystery Stories of 2001" is a strange collection. Because it was edited by the great Lawrence Block, I expected it to contain a fair number of good hardboiled stories. Alas, that is the one subgenre that gets the short shrift in this collection. I noted that many of these stories first appeared in literary magazines, which may have something to do with why so many of them are written with flowery prose and are a tad shy on gritty street realism. There is also a decided absence of big name mystery authors, with long time great Bill Pronzini being one of the few icons in the collection. As soon as Pronzini's story, a first rate "Nameless" dectective tale, begins, the level of excitement rose for me. Jerimiah Healy is also in this collection, but his Cuddy short story is fairly pedestrian. Big name T. Jefferson Parker delivers "Easy Street," which is among the best in the collection. The others were a mixed bag for me, and I found some of them, like Roxanna Robinson's "The Face Lift," to barely qualify as mystery stories.

Overall, this collection left me wondering. If these really are the "best" mystery short stories being produced today, then the genre could definately use a good jump start.

The Best American Mystery Stories of 2001 is a compilation of 20 short mysteries and is edited by Lawrence Block. These stories are a mixed bag by such writers a Joyce Carol Oates, Russell Banks, William Gay, Clark Howard and a host of other writers-the majority of them who are pretty much unknown. The stories are not your typical mysteries and I was a little disappointed in this respect. I missed the point entirely of The Face Lift by Roxana Robinson, and I'm not sure why it was even included with this group. Some I liked more than others including Lobster Night (Russell Banks), Blood Sport (Thomas Lynch), Missing in Action (Peter Robinson) and The Book of Kells (Jeremiah Healy).

What I really enjoyed about The Best American Mystery Stories was the introduction by Lawrence Block. Block recounts the history of short story writing in America. At one time, there were many venues for short stories, and short story writers were very well paid. The short story also allowed many writers to sharpen their skills before tackling a lengthier and more ambitious novel. I listened to this book on CD, and I especially liked those stories read by Block. He lacks a smooth, newscaster-type voice, but his gravelly tone was perfect for these mysteries.

With any collection of stories, some are bound to be stronger than others. I just felt that some better selections could have been made.

The other reviewer was right, very chatty tone but nothing that would prepare anyone for a forex trading experience.

This book reads more like a pamphlet than an actual book. If you're looking for anything beyond the most basic introduction, look elsewhere.

I agree with Ed Ponsi the author of some good Forex dvd's when he said "This book is a refreshingly honest work that contains no hype or promises of easy money. Instead, Marilyn covers all of the bases in a truthful manner and gets right to the core issues that determine success or failure in the Forex market. This manual will serve as a much needed eye opener for those who have been 'blinded by the hype. I am happy with what I got out of it.

This book starts off with a factual error on the first page of the introduction and goes downhill from there. It is not true that individuals were able to start trading in FX only in 2000. What about the futures market? Other errors abound, like the assertion that no other market is so "schizophrenic." There is no evidence and none offered here that the FX market is more volatile or choppy than any other security. As for the section on swaps, there is no mention of the underlying money markets that determine the swap rate. The tone is chatty to the point of cutesy, which is annoying. The writer is obviously an amateur in both trading and in FX. The section on technicals is lifted wholesale from other sources and offers no insight, while the fundamentals section is laughably brief and context-free. A waste of time.

I bought this book on a whim because I was frustrated. Incredibly, I couldn't find any information on how to figure out the swap rate. I have 3 big forex books on my shelf and they wax eleoquent about technical analysis, the Bretton Woods agreement, how to make a fortune, and etc. - but do not explain something as fundamental as figuring the swap rate - or even why there is such a thing! I tried Googling for it, and got tired of trying to sort through the deluge of irrelevant and mostly commercial results. So when I read "swap rate" in the book description here at Amazon.com - I bought it immediately with expedited shipping!

When I recieved the book, I quickly found the answer. The author made it easy to understand. Then I got curious about the rest of the book, and sat down and read it in one day. I really like the author's no B.S. style of writing. She covers the really important stuff in a concise, easy to understand way. She includes personal anecdotes from her own trading experience which made it fun to read. She does not try to tell you how you can beat the market every time and get rich overnight by using her secret trading system - (like so many other books and web sites). I find it refreshing to read a book like this that takes little of my precious time, yet gives me the essential tools I need to help me find my own way to success.