P Books

If you like crime, mystery, and suspense - then, you will love: A Lifetime of Vengeance.

This story is based on three brothers who truly love one another. Close friends betray the brothers and vengeance is sought out when these friends enact a heinous crime on the younger brother's wife - killing her. Mike is devasated at the loss of his wife. Pat and Joe, swear to each other to take revenge out on their friends, but Mike wants no part of it.

Pat and Joe join the military, and years later, they put their plan into action. They want to seek vengeance against their so-called friends. Pat is obsessed with seeking revenge. Things do not go as planned. Odd things keep happening. Pat and Joe are confused as they try to figure out who is in their way. Pat just wants to carry out his own justice.

As the brothers try to figure out who is behind altering their plan for justice, the two brothers are creating new enemies. As this new twist comes into play, it keeps you in suspense - wanting to learn more.

As the story unfolds, you will learn more about these brothers and things that happened to them in their life. This story is a great read.

This first book from Pete Grondin is fast paced and captivating to the point that I could not put it down until I finished it. The McKinney brothers confront the dark side of there past and manage to come out on top. This is a great beginning to a new series of books that grabs you from page one and keeps you hooked until the finish. Grondin has the ability to produce some of the most evil characters you will find anywhere. I hope his imagination doesn't run dry. This book has lots of action, great characters and a fast paced story line. If you are a fan of this genre, I doubt you will be disappointed.

P.J. Grondin has written one helluva crime/mystery story filled with intrigue, many twists and turns, and yes, romance too. The vengeful McKinney brothers have returned from stints in the service, fully prepared to carry out their evil plans, conceived more than six years before. It is against enemies, whom they thought were friends, but who double-crossed them in some business dealings. And something personal. Very personal. Readers are in for the surprise of their lives in this well-planned, well-written book which is highly recommended by this author! I am looking forward to the next installment by Mr. Grondin.

I got my "crave on" for more McKinney! Looking forward to book 2! A Lifetime of Vengeance was one of those books that read fast, you keep reading to know what happens next. Grisham and McGuire are my favorite authors and Grondin didn't disappoint me! I recommend this book!

A Lifetime of Vengeance was a thriller that kept me wanting more.
Grondin's ability to paint vivid images of the characters made me feel as
though I was part of the story rather than a reader. Many times, A
Lifetime of Vengeance made me think, "What would I do?" This is a story
that you won't want to end!

When I was teaching mathematics at a small college in the 1980's, like everyone else we were expanding our computer science department. In talking with a colleague, our discussions went to the area of programming in Lisp and Prolog. This generated some interest in me about Lisp, so we purchased an inexpensive Lisp interpreter and I read this book. As I worked through the examples, the contrast with Basic and Fortran, the two languages I was familiar with, was striking.
Despite my initial difficulties, I continued to slowly plow through the examples and began to appreciate the power of Lisp. It took some time, yet was well worth it. The examples take you through the features of Lisp using the programmatic equivalent of baby steps. Even though this edition was written almost two decades ago, it is still an first tool in the learning of Lisp.

The pinnacle of the act of teaching is to be simultaneously clear, simple, interesting, and complete. This is rarely achieved in person, and almost never in writing; "The Little LISPer" achieves it. I believe this defines what a teaching book can be. It is brief. It can be read in snippets, at any pace. It will maintain the interest of anyone who comes to learn. The reader is left ready to write Lisp code, no matter what background precedes it.

I read this book in high school in 1982; it taught me enough that five years later I aced a four-credit independent study class in Lisp (at an Ivy League college) without any further reading. Hey, I *told* him I already knew Lisp! Dr. Friedman, I hope you come across this endorsement some day; please accept my thanks for creating this wonderful little gem. (Pass the pizza, please, I have a little more to write...)

I cannot endorse this book highly enough. If you want to learn Lisp, I know of no better place to go.

...it's been obsoleted by its own fouth edition. No place on the listing for this book do I find a hint that this is the third edition of a book currently in its FOURTH edition. They renamed the book The Little Schemer for the fourth revision. Buy that book instead.

I'm still struggling with lisp, but this book was simple, to the point, and clear. I didnt even get annoyed by his goofy attempts at humor.

I gave an earlier edition of The Little LISPer a glowing review in Byte in 1980. It was then the best introductory book on programming, regardless of language, and I still haven't seen anything to compare with it.

The greatest strength of LISP is its firm base in the essentials of the mathematics of computability, including Goedel's recursive functions and Church's Lambda calculus. It uses a single data structure, the linked list, and a minimum of programming primitives, all with well-known mathematical properties. For those who don't know the mathematics, this base in simple concepts means that LISP is one of the easiest programming languages to understand, and at the same time one of the most powerful.

The greatest strength of Little LISPer is its easy and natural sequence of steps for introducing data types and structures (numeric, text, and Boolean atoms organized in lists and trees) along with the recursive programming structures that are natural for creating and processing them.

I have just ordered the third edition for my son who is learning programming (if he can get it away from me).

My daughter and I own the Golden Book version of this classic story but we've read so many plays on the story and versions and I have to say THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST. It's done in such a nice simplistic way and the illustrations are charming, we got it from our local library and my daughter asked to read it every night! If you are searching for the best Little Red Hen this is it!

Sturdy pages, brights colors, and great story idea. More pages than an average board book, which is nice. I'm glad I bought this for my daughter.

This is a fabulous edition of the Little Red Hen. The text is crisp and clear, the pictures are simple, clear, and bright, and the board book format is friendly to little hands! My boys ADORE this book. It makes for a great bedtime story, too!

My 17-month old daughter has loved this book for months already. It has a rhythmic text and lively pictures, plus it is about animals, which is always a hit with the toddler set.

This book has been a favorite for the last several months. My son liked the repetition and the bright pictures from the start, and as he gets older (he's now 21 months) he also enjoys naming the animals and what they are doing. There is lots in the pictures for a toddler to talk about: planting seeds, cooking, kite flying, napping, and so on. I'm not wild about the artwork in this book, but then again I'm not its target audience--the simplicity seems to work great for young kids.

Insofar as its chief topic is concerned, i.e. Stafford's personal experience as an officer aboard a destroyer escort in World War II, the book paints a no-doubt accurate picture of life aboard one of the Navy's lesser warships. But it strikes me as unremarkable unless one is into the minutiae of the Pacific Theater of Operations, as Stafford's ship saw no major combat.

That said, the chapter in which Stafford leaves his own ship and tells the story of the destroyers and destroyer escorts in the Battle of Leyte Gulf is worth the price of the book alone.

For those who are unfamiliar with the centerpiece battle of the multi-battle Leyte Gulf, its a classic case of the little guy giving the big guy a beating... and nearly dying in the process.

It wouldn't have happened if Admiral Halsey hadn't made the biggest mistake of his career. After pummeling the Japanese Central Force with his aircraft, Halsey took off after a group of Japanese carriers containing less than 50 airplanes that was deliberately sacrificed as a decoy to draw him away from the Leyte invasion force. In short, Halsey was suckered and left the invasion force nearly unprotected.

Far from beaten, the Japanese Central Force of four battleships, eight cruisers and 11 destroyers continued on toward the troop ships. Directly in their path was the task group Taffy 3, consisting of six "jeep" carriers and seven destroyers and destroyer escorts.

I've read a few accounts of this battle, and Stafford's is the most stiring, albeit incomplete as he concentrates on the destroyers and destroyer escorts as they take on the Japanese wagons and cruisers.

The damage and confusion they caused (three cruisers sunk), and the fact that Admiral Kurita thought he was up against the fleet carriers, saved Halsey from a disaster that could have been worse than Pear Harbor. Unbeknownst to Admiral Kurita, he could have broken through to the transports and sunk many of them.

Much of what Stafford writes about the battle has been covered elsewhere. However, his affinity for the destroyer escorts led him to cover the actions of the Samuel B. Roberts in detail.

That includes the story of how Commander Robert W. Copeland ordered his chief engineer to remove the safeties from the engines and boilers so as to make maximum speed. The steam pressure rose to 670 pounds in boilers designed for a maximum of 440, and the bridge pitometer logged 28.5 knots in a ship designed for a maximum speed of 24 knots.

You'll have to get the book, if you want the rest of the story. Believe me. It's worth it.

World War II was my parent's generation's war, and I am consistently drawn to stories of the sacrifices made by them. This is an excellent bit of history, told in a artfull but straightforward way. I highly recommend it.

Lots of histories cover the major events of WWII, but what I liked was the way the author covered small details--little "slices of life" aboard a fighting ship.

It's difficult for readers today, accustomed to the security we enjoy, to appreciate the anxiety that sailors faced. What to us seems like an inevitable victory against Japan was not such a sure thing to the men being shot at, and for that reason alone this book is worth reading.

We are planing a reunion of DE shipmates and would like to give this book to all in attendance. Our ship was commissioned 1 month after DE 343 and we went to the same locations and training. I am amazed at the details and the accuracy of the book. It came to me by chance from my children and will remain one of the most valued in my library. I hope it will be reprinted.

Way back in 4th grade I got a little book on the Battle of Midway (I think it was Ira Peck's) in a book distribution at school because the book I really wanted about making paper airplanes was already taken. I enjoyed that book immensely and began to turn the capacity for detail that most kids my age spend on dinosaurs or baseball towards the Pacific war. This book, though, which I scrounged at a used book store when I was a high schooler, introduced me to the human side of WWII. The people in the book were just plain old folks in a little ship in the middle of a big war. This book turned me into a historian, instead of just a reader of history books, because it introduced me to the concept that all history is biography. People make things happen, they don't happen on their own. You can read what happened, or you can look into why the people did what they did. This book doesn't give too much insight into the grand schemes of the Pacific War; the title says it all. It was, however, the catalyst that matured my interest in history. It is also a very fine read in its own right!

This book was soo great! I could really relate to Rachel! Stayed up soo long just to finish it! Now I am getting the 2nd!

5 starz!!!!

I read this in practically one sitting. I LOVED it! The main character, Rachel Buchanan,is a spunky, rebellious, 15 year old with a big imagination. I think any teen would like reading this book.
I can't wait to read the sequel.
My recommendations (both by Francine Pascal):
* Fearless series
* Fearless FBI series

From the title and summary of this book I was expecting a girl power, slightly unrealistic "teen-ish" book; it was quite the opposite. Although the story line is entertaining I find the parallel universe, evil-out-to-get-the-world villain out of place.

Spy Goddess is entertain but it is not a really believable book. I found it to be a let down because the storyline could not seem to decide between girl power teen fluff, and action packed superhero wannabee novel. The story constantly rotates back and forth between the two.

This novel would be most entertaining to the preteen (10-12) girls crowd, but is a definite no-way for the boys.

I picked up this book in paperback because I was intigued by the title. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. It was a story that just kept me turning the pages and I got mad when I had to stop reading because of homework.

Rachel Buchanan is a really interesting character. At first you're not sure if you're going to like her. But she changes over the course of the book. She figures things out and she's brave and not afraid of life like she is at the beginning.

She get's sent off to the Boarding School, Blackthorn Academy, and at first she doesn't want to be there. But the way the author describes the school you get so caught up in the mystery of the place that you know Rachel is going to uncover the mystery. And the characters in the first book are awesome and I can't wait to read more about them.

I'm buying the next book right away and I recommened this for anyone who likes a fast paced fun adventure story.

This was a really good read. Each chapter was crammed with witty humor and teenage follies. This is a great book for a teen reader who loves humor and suspense skillfully woven into a book.

By living with the end in mind, the authors have indeed provided us with a much-needed practical checklist for living one's current life to the fullest. Here we have the practical side of facing our mortality. We cannot expect any single book to cover the fullness of life, especially for those of us who want to consider what the afterlife may bring. So, by heeding the call to start the "final" journey, you will not only gain the sense of practical security that this book offers, but also continue the journey of living that leads to the possible embracing of more than one's mortality. For, as much as this book treats of what we need to face, other books and movies provide us with more information about what we want to face.

I am 75 years old and, frankly, have been procrastinating for years about doing those things necessary to prepare my family for that time when I won't be here. The book, "Living with the End in Mind", is absolutely an inspiration to take that action. In addition to the point by point instructions, which are easy to follow, the book invokes in the reader a true spirit of awe concerning the trevail the writer, and husband, have undergone during this period of their lives. Their effort in publishing their story and guiding others in the handling of their preparatory duties is astounding. We all should take a lesson from their experience. They, truly, are to be commended for their support of the total community.

As a father of a one year old I find my self thinking about the legacy that I would like to leave for her and the lessons that I would like to impart to her. This book provided inspiration and an easy to follow roadmap. After losing a mother to cancer and having a father living with cancer, I am well aware that we have no guarantees in life. I will refer back to this book often in the years to come and will share it with friends.

KRAMP ERIN TIERNEY - Devoted and beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. With total faith that God causes all things for her ultimate good, Erin joined her savior on October 31, 1998, following nearly five courageous years with breast cancer.

Inspirational message and invigorating writing style. I will recommend it to all the people I care about.

This well-researched, entertaining and readable book makes a subtle omission. While laying out a convincing case for the wolf origins of domestic dogs, there is little discussion of how early canines migrated from their beginnings in Asia to every continent. The early chapters shift focus from stone age times in Europe to the civilisation of Ancient Egypt, where, the author states, exotic dogs such as Basenjis were "imported" from Africa (overlooking the fact that Egypt is in Africa). How did Asian wolves become African Basenjis? And how did wolves come to Australia?

Unfortunately, Africa is not mentioned in the book's index, making an indexed study of "The Lost History" difficult.

After getting past the very unpleasant history of Man and Dog..., well it wes never truly finished. But the book is an excellent read and has a place on your book shelf. She presents some interesting modern potential actions that us dog people can take, too. Last chapter and the one on war-dogs was the best.

this is a wonderful book about dog orgins, i read it several years ago, and bought my own copy, a delightful read with lots of information.

I'm a dog lover and thought I knew everything canine. Apparently not! This book is chuckfull of information and trivia. I especially enjoyed the chapter on US Army dogs and how unfair the US government has been to them. A must read!

The dedication of Mary Elizabeth Thurston's book says it all. She dedicated this book to her grandmother, who taught her the importance of spoiling dogs. This is a person who knows the love of sharing their life with their dog, and writes about dogs from her heart and soul. I think the chapter that stirred the deepest interest was the Dogs of War. These brave dogs and their handlers have often been forgotten, but in Thurston's book they are not only remembered, but truly honored for their contribution to the freedom we enjoy today. Thank you for writing, not just a informational book, but one that shows how much our lives are intermingled with our canine companions.

In another book called The Commanding Self Idries Shah says that the desired effect of these Teaching stories depends upon someone not knowing the intended effect. And this in a Teaching narrative that next tells us that the person he said this to, an editor for one of his books, then asked for an introduction explaining the intended effect of the stories. If you don't think thats funny, you probably won't like this book. There are no explanations here, no descriptions of spirituality, or theories about personal development. What is here, is very finely crafted Teaching stories and narratives that Shah collected from both oral and written sources, adding some of his own when "Sufic comprehensiveness demanded it". The stories are beautiful, challenging, disturbing, and often banal. And then one reads them again and finds that they are none of these things; that those were simply some of your own personal reactions to them. This book is a remarkable acheivement; a mirror for what can't be written down.

This book not only entertains, it educates as well. The tales and vignettes in it are called Teaching Stories because teaching is precisely what they do. They teach the reader how to escape from the confines and limitations of usual, normal thinking processes. They do so by showing the reader to himself or herself, reflected in the actions and motivations of the characters in the tales. The reader can learn how to operate more free of bias. The effect is similar to suddenly coming across riches, the riches buried within ourselves. Repeated readings reveal more layers and depths, each guiding the reader to greater understanding and freedom. 'The Magic Monastery' is, for these reasons, quite a catch.

About Sufism, it has been said that "in the West it's become very complicated because spiritual authority is understood on the wrong levels."

Shah's delivery is often times directed toward certain constructs of the ego within this reader's psyche. Painfulness is almost always imminent because he is capable in pointing out the fractures of this reader's brittle comprehension of Life. He points out how I can be my own worst enemy that keeps me from taking necessary steps needed to live a healthy and fulfilling life. In this sense, his tone can, in some instances, become characteristic of a stern father, a strict sensei, or a tough coach helping me steer clear of self-imagined obstructions. These moments aren't really ever pleasant, as they tend to turn my insides, and I feel singed. But, with some help, I am able to understand that this is an essential prerequisite for transformation in the Sufi way; therefore, I choose to understand these types of stern approaches in terms of "tough loving" that help bring equilibrium to my egoic ratios (inflation:deflation), and step in the direction of freeing myself of myself.

The Sufi stories within the Magic Monastery are, for me, the best times of diligent reading and mindful inner listening. I definitely become more aware of any inner voices compelling reactions and responses. Self-punishing? or self-rewarding? You make what you want of it.

Do you want to get to know yourself? That's what I did. Each of these stories is an opportunity to discover another aspect of your personality. Like me, you will find stories which you will like or find amusing, perhaps others that will annoy or startle you. Each is a mine of possibility that enriches with subsequent readings. Spend time with Idries Shah... and get to know You.

Here are 157 pieces of literature, most on a single page. Each one is like a room in a monastery; not the one in the title story, which is the product of the illusions of the greedy, but a genuine, inner one. Some rooms have windows through which to see the world around us more clearly. Some rooms have mirrors in which to see ourselves more clearly. Both windows and mirrors are specialized to help us see subtle things that we would otherwise miss. Then we realize that the windows have become mirrors, and the mirrors, windows. A handbook for inner work.

I have really enjoyed this book so far. It has been an easy and interesting read.

This is one of those books that I regret not having when I was beginning with cognitive behavioral therapy. The authors synthesize all the crucial information to help therapists make CBT work. Readers will dramatically increase their comfort, confidence, and outcomes with delivering CBT. I used this book with graduate students I supervised and they loved it!

As a clinical doctoral student in psychology, this book was very helpful in presenting me with clear theoretical background in working with a variety of clients. I found the bibiography especially useful since it helped me to further focus on certain populations that I could try CBT with as my theory of choice.

Although this book is by no means an in-depth review of cognitive behavioral therapy, it is a great resource for new practitioners and those looking to learn cognitive-behavioral techniques for the first time. The author does a good job at describing a step by step approach that includes everything from assessment of an individual to terminating therapy. Overall, this book is a great resource for graduate students, but may be too simple for more advanced practitioners.

Much more practical that Dr. Beck's "Basics and Beyond" work, this book breaks down the CBT process into bite-sized pieces so that even the most novice of practioners can get their head around this highly effective, yet complex mode of treatment.

The authors are cogent in their explanations and illustrations of concepts. This book is the perfect introduction to CBT and will allow the practioner to benefit from more advanced resources, such as those offered by Dr. Robert Leahy (resources I highly recommend).

First class resource. A must have.

One would not think that a book on Marilyn Monroe by Gloria Steinem could be any good. However, this book is that and more. A picture book published in 1986, with photogrphS by George Baris, both the text and the pictures are quite good. That is a rare combination. The pictures were taken in summer, 1962 by George Barris and continue all through the book. These pictures were never shown in close to their entirety before, so that was the main reason for the existence of this book. The photographs, especially the beach ones, are some of the best ever taken of Marilyn, looking relaxed and very girlish in the last summer of her life. She does not look like she had any problems at all, much less the ones she had. The photographs did need a showcase, and this book is a more than adequate one.

The text is surpisingly good for something that was written expressly for a photo book. Usually, in those cases, the text is neither good nore relevant. Mariyln Monroe and Gloria Steinem are an unlikely combination, but that does not mean that it diod not work. It did-fabulously. Gloria Steinem does a insightful job oif writing about Marilyn's life, and who she was. Gloria Steinem, although the queen of feminists, is not overbearing here. Marilyn Monroe was no feminist, but Gloria Steinem recognizes that, and interprets Marilyn Monroe from a feminist viewpoint without going overboard. She could so easily have overdone things as Mailer did in his book. This is Marilyn in a different light, but one that suits her. The comments are enjoyable to someone who is not remotely intetested in anything feminist. This is a good book, not just a curiosity that raises eyebrows.

i loved this book "marilyn " because of the most beautiful pictures of marilyn, these pictures were the last pictures ever taken of marilyn and they show the real true beautiful person and that is norma jeane and the glamor beautiful star marilyn monroe. these pictures show two people one the shy , beautiful, loveable, true, norma jeane and the funny , glamor, beautiful, free, loving marilyn monroe, but it really shows the true norma jeane in these pictures. this book is for the marilyn fans like me, but i am more than a fan of marilyn's , marilyn is my idol my icon and she is real . i reccomened this book to whoever loves marilyn. this is a collectible. what i did not like about this book is the author gloria she says marilyn had killed herself, which i DO NOT BELIEVE , which i beleive is not true, but i ignored that , but the pictures are amazing.

This is a beautiful photo expose' of Marilyn just six short weeks of her tragic and untimely death. As the first reader/reviewer has stated, this book was written with references to the stars' sexual abuse and family history, which lead to her emotional problems dating from adolescence. Gloria Steinem wrote this work without any 'bias' to this movie legend. I found her writing to be sensitive and understanding throughout. George Barris' photographs are as beautiful and will forever be timeless images of this very remarkable screen star of the 20th century throughout the next millenium. This book should be considered a "must have" for the Monroe fan and collector.

Gloria Steinem explores Marilyn's life through an empathic and feminist perspective in one of my favorite Monroe biographies. Ms. Steinem respectfully addresses the Marilyn's life within the context of her era and retrospectively. She also addresses the impact of Marilyn's childhood sexual abuse and family history on her functioning. Marilyn would likely be proud of this intelligent, compassionate, historical and cultural treatment. I place this book in league with biographies by Carl Rollyson, Graham McCann and Fred Lawrence Guiles. Of course, the timeless photographic images by George Barris accompanying the brilliant text are refreshing, delightful and touching. Steinem truly strives to understand Marilyn, celebrate her strengths and re-evaluate her for our times. Marilyn seems "to speak" through Steinem's insights and in Barris' photographs.

Having recently read the axe-grinding Marilyn Monroe "biography" by Ted Jordan, finding this gem by Gloria Steinem (with beautiful photograhps by George Barris) was such a relief. Whether kind or unkind, most Marilyn biographers are men; it makes sense that a woman (and a feminist) would have a much different understanding of her. Steinem pays much attention to the remaining Norma Jeane personality in the grown Marilyn, a little girl who was abandoned, abused, shuffled between the orphanage and foster homes, and married off at 16. This, Steinem writes, explains much of Marilyn's troublesome behavior: she still had the insecurities of Norma Jeane, but tried to get the love she needed by being the sex symbol Marilyn.

This larger sized paperback is split into chapters, for example: "Norma Jeane," about her childhood and background, and "Work and Money, Sex and Politics" about Marilyn's battles with the Studio, her marriages, and her affairs with powerful men. Each chapter is a complete essay unto itself. And the accompanying photographs, most taken by George Barris the month before her death, show a natural, cavorting, and thoughtful Marilyn at 36 years old.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone curious about the REAL Marilyn Monroe. In truth, she had many realities, but I think that Gloria Steinem captures the most important one.