V Books

This novel merits the overused label of "classic." This is an astoundingly good read, a wonderful romp through familiar as well as not-so-familiar venues of literature.

Silverlock, the protagonist, is a cynical, heartless scamp. Through a mishap, he finds himself in the "Commonwealth" which is a place in which things happen differently than in our world. Robin Hood is alive and well, and fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham. Circe is capturing men with her magical wiles. And so on. Throughout this gorgeous romp, we see our friend Silverlock emerge from his coccoon to become a real man and a decent human being.

This review cannot do justice to what is a gorgeous voyage through the Commonwealth. No one should miss this wonderful novel. Hopefully it will soon be available on the Amazon Kindle so that I may add it to my electronic library, and have it handy at all times.

This book is a fun read if you like A) classic literature and B) fantasy. The references to classic literature throughout this book are what really makes it fun to read. The setting of the book probably inspired the creators of "the Neverending Story." The only thing keeping me from giving this book five stars is the fact that it does get rather boring in the middle due to the seeming pointlessness of the quest they go on. Basically, it's hard for me to understand why the main character (Silver lock) and his sidekick (Golias) try so hard to help someone who seems so completely self-absorbed (Lucius Gil Jones). You'll see what I mean when you read the book.

A book that is a literary puzzle, an adventure of sorts, and full of sneakiness and tongue-in-cheekness. I have read quite a lot, and when I read this, I had trouble trying to work out who was who in quite a lot of cases. I suppose this is a lot of the appeal, though, being like a really, really hard cryptic crossword, at times.

Silverlock is a fun, roller coaster ride through literature. It chronicles the journey--inner and outer--of an American cynic as he travels through the world of literature. Some of the fun is tracking down the literary characters, from Beowulf to Don Quixote to Becky Sharp. Part of me regrets not having been born in the 1950s to relish Silverlock fully; the Internet makes finding the sources of the characters effortless. Hopefully, readers take the next step and read the original sources to expand their understanding and appreciation of literature. In my opinion, the novel posits that literature is an evolving, cumulative organism. Modern (American) literature is built on the foundation of the stories that came before. The novel shows that someone can find meaning in the stories he or she encounters, and sharing those experiences--and possibly using them to invent new stories--is one of the joys of life. Anyone with respect for literature and the history of speculative reading should give Silverlock a try.

I suspect that this is one of those polarizing books: those that love it REALLY love it; others will be, at best, blandly indifferent or outright bored. I hew more closely to the second camp.

The book has notable adherents and in recent years has been hailed as a bit of a neglected gem, but I found it only moderately diverting. It was written in 1949 and so it's a bit dated (and its attitudes toward women are not the most advanced, but then again, the protagonist is by his own admission a cad and a bounder), but that's really not much of a problem.

The novel is your typical Pilgrim's Progress type of thing, and is divided into three parts, which turn out to be Chance, Choice, and Oracle, or as I see it, Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell, based on the decreasing level of quality (and the not-concidental Dantean shenanigans toward the end). It starts out strong, but the charms grow old fast, and the overarching quest in the middle section simply is not very gripping. In the final third, the book becomes unbearably didactic and wearisome, and then, rather suddenly, the words "The End" scroll across the screen.

On a side note, I found myself often contrasting this book to Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant". Both feature (anti-)heroes thrust into a strange land and both deal, to some degree, with large philosphical concerns. (In fact, Donaldson acknowledges having read this, and having plucked the titles of a couple of his novels from one of the songs within, but purports to find the book sub-par.) The major contrast, of course, is that Covenant believes nothing of what he sees, but Shandon easily rolls with all that he finds, no matter how fantastical, to an extent unbelievable of someone from mid-20th century America.

Filkers and others who enjoy making songs out of poems will like "Silverlock", as will those who excelled in high school English classes and who can pick out some of the myriad allusions. I suspect most others will find this to be much less than advertised.

I would, at any rate, recommend picking up an annotated version to get details on some of the more cryptic appearances of characters from myth, fable, and literature.

This is a little treasure chest of wonderful stories that truly are uplifting. I really did enjoy reading this book!

I read SMALL MIRACLES, some years ago. This seems to be the same book, exactly, although, when I ordered it, I thought it was a sequel. I liked it better the first time around, when the anecdotes sounded more "golly-gee-wiz" than they do the second.

Miracles happen every day. Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal are angels themselves, bringing these fantastic stories to millions of people. Buy and read every single one of their books. Not only are they hard to put down, you won't be able to look at your life with the same eyes ever again!

A really lovely little book that helps even the worst days.

I found this unique book of coincidences to be remarkable. While the authors relate it to Jewish principles, giving a moral or rule at the end of each 'episode,' their statements are applicable to those of all faiths.
There were short, short stories, short stories and those a few pages long. But all showed the positive human spirit that exists in everyone of us if we give ourselves a chance and don't close our minds. Sometimea a bad choice becomes a great move. An ordinary act becomes heroic to those on both sides. And, almost always, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. There are no stories of coincidences that backfired, although one can be sure scores of these exist too. But the purpose is to bring joy, hope,
confidence and more open-mindedness to the readers, with the desire that they will share this with many more. A brilliant person with a promising
future suddenly gets terminal lung cancer. But the person telling it mentions some small act that was done, often out of common courtesy. And in this case, one of the six items the dying person wanted in his casket was a letter of encouragement from the teacher.

This is a book for teachers, educators and all who desire to be educated.
I acquired it for $.50 at a flea market booth, after just noticing the
colorful (but also bland) yellow cover. This is the best $5.00 expenditure
I've ever made. I'll share my copy with others and have ordered another
version. Whether you are in the dumps or feeling great, the stories will
heighten your consciousness and create more appreciation for your present lot. I am fortunate to have found it. Please consider my words. Advice
is worthless. Words from the heart can be meaningful. My heart speaks.

The Soul of Baseball illuminates what life can be. It would help anyone get past their bitterness and see that life is about what I can do today and not what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow.

Poz is one of the best writers in the business. Thanks for writing a really great book about a great baseball man. Buck's is a great American story and the way it's written makes you feel like you're on the road trip with them.

This book got to me, in a very good way.

Buck's stories are funny and poignant, and we as readers definitely learn some history if we pay attention. But even more than that we can learn from Buck O'Neil's outlook on life. He was patient, caring, outspoken in an articulate and positive way (something our politicians should learn how to do), and he had grace. More than anything else reading about Buck O'Neil was a lesson on how to live with grace.

I want to tell you the last words of the book, but I won't.

If you like baseball, people or life you will like this book.

Highly recommended!!

Sometimes a great author writes a 5-star book, and sometimes he must only get out of the way and let 5-star material shine through. "The Soul of Baseball" is one of the latter. This isn't a knock on Joe Posnanski. The decision to tell the story by reporting on a year in O'Neil's life, rather than interpreting O'Neil's history, was a brilliant judgment. The reader benefits from Posnanski's willingness to set his writer's ego aside.

Another good Posnanski decision was reporting O'Neil's occasional querulousness. Rather than seeing O'Neil as a mindless happy face, the reader sees O'Neil as someone who must work to maintain his positive approach. The occasional lapses serve to highlight the effort that O'Neil makes to bring the light into the lives of those around him.

But ultimately, the star of the book is Buck O'Neil. Not because he was a great ballplayer or manager. But because he was a decent, good-hearted human being whose attitude toward life is worthy of emulation.

I give few 5-star rankings, but this book deserves it several times over.

My son, Jeremy, always gives me good books. He doesn't just pick up the latest best-seller, but takes the time to choose something special just for me. He hit a home run with The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski. It's the story of an extended road trip Posnanski took with legendary Negro League player and manager Buck O'Neil. The lessons learned along the way are great ones for sons and fathers to share.

Posnanski, an award-winning sports columnist for the Kansas City Star, chose not to write a biography of the irrepressible O'Neil, even though the story could bear to be told over and over again. Instead, he penned a moving memoir of the year he spent with the then-93-year-old O'Neil as he toured the country promoting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City and the memory of those men who played the game in the days before whites and blacks could share the field. The trip takes them everywhere from Nicodemus, Kansas, to New York, New York, and O'Neil has a fascinating story to tell at every stop.

He talks about Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Josh Gibson, names that will always be enshrined in baseball's collective memory. But he also tells the tales of forgotten men like Dan Bankhead, the first black pitcher in the major leagues, who would have been a great hurler if he hadn't been afraid to pitch fastballs inside against white batters.

The key theme of the book is Buck O'Neil's spirit-lifting embrace of the best in every person he met. Despite years of back-breaking struggle, O'Neil never turned bitter, never condemned anyone for their prejudice, never had a bad word to say about the often ugly conditions the black ball players endured. Even when he failed to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Buck O'Neil refused to be angry about it. To make up for the egregious mistake, the Hall awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award after his death.

The lessons Posnanski drew from his experiences with O'Neil are well worth telling and the book he created from them is well worth reading.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

Read it, buy it, love it! If you love the movie and want to look smart to all your friends who vote and go to college, bust this out and shut their smug faces with it!

It's like the movie, but for the type of jerk that reads books too.

Granted, it's more of a guide to life for people that have had their lives turned upside down by falling into a vat of toxic waste, but a guide to life nonetheless. More importantly, you no longer have to bother jamming a DVD into your DVD player (or a tape into your tape player if you want to watch it the way it was intended to be watched), because you can just pick up the book and read the words. Yee haw.

when i was in the fourth grade i talk my mom into renting the toxic avenger and that may be the reason iam a film maker today. and the novel is a must own if your a fan of this movie it adds so much more to the back ground of the story and after you read it the next time you watch the movie you will like it more ( if thats possible) do Lloyd and your self a favor and buy it

I think that Lloyd is a very talented and gifted writer. He also is a very nice guy. I think anyone that buys this will be very pleased and very glad they made this purchase. I loved it. Great work!

Lloyd Kaufman is at it again. Only this time he's leaving the imagination part up to the fans which if your a Toxic Avenger fan your gonna have one helluva time with this novel! This book is brilliant, not only does it provide a novelization of the legendary film, alot of pressing questions are answered. Tromatons? Tromaville? Its all in here. READ IT SUCKA!!!!!!

This "little" book has a huge message: a message of compassion! The book has become a classic - it is a highly recognizable work of self-acceptance and self-awareness. The book offers a much needed normalization and de-pathologizing of the daily struggle over eating. It offers a humanizing, healing experience that soothes the wounds of overeaters' self-loathing. It has much to teach - in the way of letting go of the dieting perfectionism that creates problems as it tries to solve them.

Pavel Somov, Ph.D., Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices for Overcoming Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008)

This is a fabulous little book. It's a series of fifty very short advisory essays all about how to love yourself when you hate yourself. Specifically, Roth's work deals with compulsive eating, and this is her focus here too, but unlike some of her other work, this book is clearly meant to be more broadly applicable to any and all situations in which one might find oneself swimming in a sea of self-hatred. Roth is a humorous writer. She has a similar sort of wit as Anne Lamott, who has written the introduction to this book. Overall I found this book hilarious and moving. I stayed up all night to read it.

No matter how many times it happens, I'm always amazed when I find that there are other people in the world who go through some of the same things as me. This book really did it, it really showed me that I'm not alone in the frightening world of body-image. By the time I finished the second chapter, I had decided that I was going to get this book for my best friend for her birthday, and by the time I had finished the sixth chapter, I realized that I was going to buy it for every single one of my girlfriends for their birthdays.
This is a really amazing book, and the author really knows how to talk to women who are in need of reassurance as well as a little shove (or a big one) in the right direction.
I suggest it for women of all ages who struggle with any sort of body/self-image, no matter how long that struggle has been going on.

I originally checked this book out of the library. I loved it so much I bought a copy and am reading it again. I also purchased two copies to give to good friends. This book may or may not help me to loose weight, however, it is so uplifting and encouraging it has really helped to change my attitude towards food and not to be so self-loathing.

I read a few books by Geneen Roth, including this one, in the beginning of 2003. After reading them, I gave myself permission to stop "dieting", and allowed myself to eat the food I like, thinking that if I didn't feel deprived that I would eat less and lose weight. I also kept away from the scale. The result was I gained 30 pounds in 9 months, before stopping myself from this upward climb. Its taken over 4 years to lose those 30 pounds. To this day I still regret reading those books. While I don't think its healthy to obsess about food and counting calories and body image, I do think we need to be careful about what we eat.

Great children's book. It's a fun way to encourage and read with your child.

This books is wonderful! I am using it in small groups at work and the kids absolutely cannot get enough of this book. I bought all titles in the series! Great for paired reading among siblings, parents and children, and friends!

Our students really love all the books in this series. They frequently choose them to read to each other during free choice time. I would really recommend this book to other teachers as a great source for oral reading practice!

My seven year-old grandson introduced me to Mary Ann Hoberman's work. He loved reading to and with me. I'm a volunteer reading tutor and I use her books to teach first graders to read. They love it.

I highly recommend the books by Mary Ann Hoberman to excited kids about reading.

Judith Hays

I love Mary Anne Hoberman's "The Cozy Book", it is always a great bedtime story. So, when I found this title on Amazon, I couldn't resist. My son is 7 and enjoys reading, so this was perfect for us; he reads to me, I read to him, and we read the last verse together. The stories are cute and short, good if you only have a few minutes at the end of the day. The emphasis on reading is an added bonus.

I have used these books since Access 97. Absolutely invaluable to learn how to do anything you want. Don't expect it to cover what's in help, they go where help doesn't.

Is there going to be a 2007 version?

This book has everything you will need to creat Access based applications. A ton of great advice and clean coding. The index is very useful and well written.

I purchased this 2 book set in hopes of advancing my knowledge of Access and VBA. I could not find any useful information on functions such as DateAdd, DatePart, Nz, DLookup, DSum, DCount, etc. These are major parts of Access and are very useful once you learn them, but the Developers Handbook does not even cover these functions and how to use them. Or if it does, you can't find out where by searching the index. I've yet to find any information I'm looking for in these books.

It has already been said, Simply the best! I'm finding more and more Web sites/threaded discussions using or pointing to the code found in the Access Developer's Handbook and VBA Developer's Handbook.

The ShellBrowse functions alone to be extremely helpful.

Thanks to Ken, Paul, and Mike

I am a software developer and have been in business since 1982. I have never gotten more bank for my buck than with these books. I didn't think Access was worth a flip for program development until I bought these books. I have since developed a vertical market package for the seafood industry that sells itself by demo. Thanks Ken, Paul and Mike.

This has rapidly become my 22-month-old granddaughter's favorite book. We all love the charming and beautifully designed popups, especially the last one, "all colors". A bit fragile, but that just means it is a teaching opportunity on how to take care of fragile, beautiful things.

This is one of the best pop-up books and is very well made unlike others I've reviewed. Our 10 month old LOVES to open flaps and these are quite easy to open. She also likes to tear, so I have to be quick to move on the the next page =) The colors are bold and very beautiful and just pop out at you. Very beautifully done! I wish there were more pop-ups like this one since our daughter loves to interact with books and is always looking for a flap or something to touch or move. She loves this one over and over again until she pushes it away.

Every color has a different way of popping up! My daughter loves this books, especially the green snake and black and white penguin pop-ups! Fantastic book for interaction and visual learning.

Pop ups were disappointing. Very basic. Good book for teaching colors to young children.

We bought this book two years ago, I fianlly packed them in my daughter's keepsake box. We loved these - they are simply beautiful.

Darren Shan has talent in taking the horrible and face-first macabre and combining it with stunning emotion. For example, this first adventure of Grubbs Grady who comes home to find his family murdered in the worst, most undescribable (yet Shan describes it anyway) imaginable. Which really has to suck. I applaud Shan for keeping the emotion and insanity in keeping with the fast-paced plot of wizards, demons, and a good game of chess.

I am a teen reader and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. The premise for the story is very original what with the whole chess thing (certainly different from anything I've read). It didn't take long for the action to get started and several unexpected twists kept the story from being too predictable.

Be advised though; this story is NOT for those who are easily disturbed and do not appreciate graphic descriptions of gore.

Lord Loss is an exciting fantasy/horror story, filled with suspense that left me wanting to read more. After his parents are killed by the demon master, Lord Loss, a teenage is introduced into a world of demons and magic by his uncle. I think a lot of teenagers would enjoy reading this book. Darren Shan uses every word in the book to describe the characters, the thing around them, and their feelings. The story is completely unpredictable and I was left reading chapteer after chapter, The characters are realistic and I can relate to what they feel. I gave this book a 4 out of 5. It is one of my favorite books because of how the story is told which so much detail in every sentence.

Demonata
Book 1: Lord Loss

This story starts off with this one kid and his family who absolutely loves chess. They play a game every night and they are the best of the state and know one can beat them. Grubbs (Grubitsch) Grady doesn't get why his family has to play chess so much. He doesn't get why it's so important to the family, but soon, very soon he will find out the truth.
Grubbs family went out of town to a ballet Grubbs spends the night at his aunt's house for the night. But Grubbs was too curious to let his family treating him differently unnoticed. He sneaks out of his grandma's house to see what id really going on.
He finally gets to his house and his parents vehicles are still there. His front door was unlocked so he went in. The whole house was unusually cold. Every chess set that was in the house was broken and skewed around the house. The only light on in the house was in his room. Grubbs never learned what curiosity killed the cat meant until now.
When Grubbs opens the door to his room all he sees is blood stained walls and the demon artery eating his sister alive and the other demon Vein chewing alive his mom.
That's just the beginning, if you like horror books and demons and werewolves, this is the book for you. There's a lot more to this book than what you just read and it get's much, much better than the beginning is.
This book comes close to being just as good as the Cirque De Freak, but it's not quite there yet.

First book in the Demonata series.

Grubitsch "Grubbs" Grady goes to live with his Uncle Dervish in a creepy old mansion after his parents and sister are torn to shreds by an evil demon named Lord Loss and his familiars, Vein and Artery. Grubbs witnesses the gory scene, but escapes by tapping into a magical ability he never knew he possessed. Once in his uncle's house, Grubbs learns more than he ever wanted to know about the Grady family curse, which involves werewolves, demons, and chess.

i thought that i got this item right on time. i was given an estimated date and it came on that exact date. the condition of the item was great. no problems!

I recommend this book for everybody: children and adult, mother and father, employee and employer.

It's for any occasion in social life: relationships, communication, celebrations, Job, Travel, Leisure...

I was not disappointed with this purchase. It's really a veritable encyclopedia of social standards. There is a large (large) section pertaining to wedding etiquette, but plenty of useful, pertinent, information pertaining to other arenas of social interaction. The material is presented in a pleasant, straightforward (not condescending )manner. I especially like the thumb indexing.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to look up topics and find answers to my etiquette questions. This book covers so many topics that I had not ever thought about. And it is current with all the new technology (text messaging, cell phones, etc).

In a time when Blackberry email seems to prevail, it is refreshing to find this excellent source for etiquette in today's world. It has something for everyone, in every situation. I have gifted several women in their 20's and 30's this book -- often as an engagement present -- when they first become aware that a thing called 'etiquette' existed and voiced many questions. No longer can we depend on each generation to pass on the 'right thing to do' to their offspring, in a time when families often don't even sit down to a meal, together, on a daily basis. The book covers a full spectrum of circumstances and certainly takes into account an appropriate place for, yes, even the email fans. It is an excellent source for everyone at every age, and has kept up with the times so as not to be left on the library shelves as a historic keepsake.