New Zealand Books

We are yet to take our trip to New Zealand, however, I'm sure we'll feel more comfortable with our decisions on where to go, what to see, where to stay, and what to do from using this Book. The book gives general price ranges for hotels, activites, and in some cases restaurants. I think the greatest resource has been the website listings within each section. The websites cover everything from airlines, to tour groups, to just general information about the country. Needless to say, We're very excited to take our trip and I know this book will be coming along with us!

I planned our entire trip using a good road map and the 4th addition of the Rough Guide. Everything regarding the locations we visited was amazingly accurate. There are good maps of all the cities as well as the areas of interest. I did not find particularly useful the recommendations for accommodations, which featured either places for backpackers or those at the higher end, with not much in between. I also did not agree with some of the restaurant recommendations. Nevertheless if you are looking for a great guide book for everything else, this one is a winner.

This book was awesome. I am going to NZ on my own, and this book provided all the information I would ever need to know about locations to visit, the people, and lodging. Great value.

After trying another guidebook, we purchased The Rough Guide shortly before we left for New Zealand. It was an invaluable companion during our travels. The reviews were spot-on, leading us to a number of excellent restaurants and good campgrounds. We even appreciated knowing that a restaurant was "somewhat overpriced but adequate" before we went in--and that description was completely accurate.

The Rough Guide covers a range of restaurants and accommodations, which is useful. Even budget travelers sometimes like to splurge (and know that the splurge is worth the money). Their evaluation of activities was also accurate.

This guide is well worth the price--and worth it's weight when traveling.

I had Rough Guides recommended to me but I am disappointed in the size of the print, I would have rather the book been larger that having to strain my eyesight to read. I'm sure the book is very informative & we will ready ourselves hopefully for a trip to NZ in late 2008.

Edith Nesbit is my personal hero. I read a review once that explained that when a reader first discovers this Victorian authoress, he or she always feels as if come across some revelation.

E. Nesbit's books are to be recommended to every child with spirit and imagination. All her books, including The Story of the Amulet were written at a time when children's vocabularies were assumed to include two and three syllabel words. Readers of modern garbage may stumble over a few long and archaic terms but for a spirited romp full of imagination, courage and magic, these books are indeed magic. Childrens literature at its best.

I liked "The Story of the Amulet", by Edith Nesbit. It is a well written and thought-provoking book. The children introduced in "The Five Children and It" and seen again in "The Pheonix and the Carpet" are back once more to finish the trio. As in "The Pheonix and the Carpet", this is a travelling book. However in this book the children travel in both time and space to search for the other half of an amulet that, when joined, will give the children their heart's desire. I removed a star for a few reasons. One, out of the five books by Nesbit that I have read, this is ranked 5th. That is not to say that this was a bad book. It's just that I thought the other ones were better. Two, I like the books where the characters are granted wishes best, as in "The Five Children and It". However, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magical happenings, time travel, and those who liked other Edith Nesbit books.

What a charming children's story! Aimed for kids about 10 and up, including me. Written in 1905 or 6, set in London, but escaping to ancient Tyre, Egypt, England, Babylon, through the magic of the Amulet. It actually tells quite a lot about 1905 London, most of it rather unpleasant. A Good Read.

This book is one really fun and exciting adventure. E. Nesbit is one of the best children's authors ever. I suggest that anyone interested start with Five Children and It, which is even better. I would recommend this book to anyone!

When I first bought this book, I had planned to emigrate to New Zaland. After I started reading it I decided to go on holiday there first and hitchhike, just like Joe Bennett.
However, reading more and more of the book, I decided hitchhiking might not be the best idea for me. So I will take a bus tour.

Where the book really proves its worth though is when it comes to describing the country. It portays New Zealand for a great nation, but also one that is desolate and for the most part empty. Sure Auckland might be a big city, and Wellington and Christchurch follwoing suit, but the rest of the country?
Sometimes you can taste the loniless of the land. All in all it made me reconsider emigrating there. And reconsider Australia and reconsidering emigration all together.

Being a Brit myself, over here in NZ for good (I hope), after around 4 years living and working here, Joe Bennett's writings struck a real cord. NZ is an excellent place to live and tour, and the real value is in its people - but like all busy folks it's easy to drift into the daily grind and forget why we're here.

The timing of world travel readers dipping into this book is fortunate, against the background of Lord-of-the-Rings-plus-100%-NZ-plus-All-Black-Rugby Domination-plus-America's-Cup-performance-plus-cheap-accomodation-and-decent-flight-prices gloss, so as to show a more down-to-earth view. Bennett's view should not be seen as cynical (as I note critics' views), and an awareness of what the book is about should be allowed to sink in.

Here is an older and settled guy, hitching around a wild and woolly land populated with interesting (and eccentric most times) and kind people, in a young country that's just recently re-forged its own identity as a Pacific Island chain the other side of Asia (or USA, depending on your persective) from the parents that abandoned it. Look at it as a view of NZ drawn from interaction with it's salt-of-the earth locals, and enthusiastic visitors. Bryson meets gnarrly Brit wit - Excellent.

The author's perspective is,at least to me, that he has spent too much time in New Zealand and doesn't really enjoy living there. If it wasn't for his dogs then he would have no real reason to stay. He hitchhikes around alot of New Zealand in search of a reason to stay. He spends alot of his book discussing hitchhiking techniques or potential rides. What he discribes of the scenry or way of life is always in a somewhat bored,sarcastic tone. I'm sure that there are Kiwis that think in those terms, but in all my trips thru out NZ, I never met any locals that were like that. They usually are quite upbeat about where they are.But to put things straight, he is an English transplant and has lived there 15 years. But what I really liked about his book is his descriptions of the details of life in NZ. Just lots of little insights into rugby, youth and travel, bits of history,local politics. Just little stuff that would be missed in larger scope books.

Having been to New Zealand twice my wife and I contemplated moving there. Residing in a country is, of course, much different from being on holiday there. This book gives readers a look at the "Land of Two Halves" beyond what's been portrayed in the movies.

Hitchhiking his way on two separate journeys (divided between the North and South Islands), Mr. Bennett is given a lift from some very colorful characters. Some hard-bitten and jaded, others silent, a few as chatty as magpies. Like Australia, the Kiwis can be a rough-hewn, industrious lot, facing hardship with fortitude and good cheer. Some of the isolated towns, pubs and hotels are downright eerie, reminiscent of places that time forgot. Decor and furniture often dates from the 1950s, '60s or '70s and accommodation can be a bit threadbare.

Where Bennett really shines, however, is in his descriptions of what it's like when he's kept waiting for hours by the road without a ride. He manages to colorfully illuminate how it feels to stand with one's thumb jutting over the asphalt, on an isolated road shoulder with nothing to do but watch a bird hopping in the grass or a horse posing stock-still in an adjacent pasture. It takes talent to make such a situation interesting but that's exactly what he does. The middle-aged author thrives in such settings, having little time for the larger cities like Wellington and Auckland. He gives them short shrift.

Anyone wanting a glowing travelogue will be disappointed. This isn't an episode of Rick Steves' Europe. It's a realistic account of what a lonely traveler experienced by taking a satchel, walking to the edge of town and putting his thumb out. He vividly illustrates how it feels to try and time storm fronts and strategize over the best approach to where you want to go versus where your next driver is headed. It's life on the road by the seat of your pants.

I quite enjoyed this tale, feeling that I gained a more well-rounded perspective on a country I greatly admire.

This book certainly looks good... the idea of hitch-hiking as a way of exploring a country and its society is clever - you meet a lot of different people and get to see parts that are not always up there on the "must see" list of tourist destinations - and, on top of that, Joe Bennett is a skilled and entertaining writer. But despite such promising credentials, it really doesn't work in the way it should.

The problems start with the sequencing of his journey, which is very strange. The first half of the book finds him shooting off from his home in Christchurch to the increasingly bleak far south of the South Island, before heading up the island's equally remote West Coast. Hitch-hiking through these areas, which are notorious for their sparse habitation and bad weather, is a pretty daunting task and, not surprisingly, he gets fed-up with it two thirds of the way round and heads back home. Problem is that, by doing so, he misses out the whole of the north of the South Island which is not only stunningly pretty (with often glorious weather) but which is also one of the most interesting areas of the country. His journey round the North Island is at least more logical, taking in most of the "important" areas. But by now he's clearly getting very bored with hitching (so much so that he rents a car for large sections), a problem that's then compounded by his hitting some pretty appalling late Autumn weather, begging the obvious question of why choose to hitch at this time of year?

Next up, the people he chooses to meet are pretty strange. Not everyone picks up hitch-hikers and those who do are, as he finds, often slightly odd and usually want to talk a lot about their slightly odd lives. Off the road, he clearly likes a beer or two and, as a result, spends huge amounts of the journey chatting to bar-proppers in small pubs and hotels. Nothing wrong with either activity, but as an insight into New Zealand society it's a limited and far from representative cross-section of people.

Finally, Joe's either a pretty morose kind of guy or the boredom & banality of standing by endless roads for hours on end waiting for a lift, followed by a booze-up with some fairly lonely people in a small town pub gets to him. Whatever the reason, he spends increasing parts of the book reflecting on the less attractive aspects of New Zealand life while describing uninteresting parts of the country in bad weather. Not unexpectedly, by the end of it, his & your bottle are most definitely in "half empty" mode.

Which is all very unfair. I've visited New Zealand many times and lived in Christchurch. Sure, it's small country that's a long way from anywhere and its people are continually grappling with an inferiority complex that comes from being small and remote. But it's also stunningly beautiful with, at the right times of the year, quite excellent weather and a population that must rank amongst the most friendly and interesting anywhere. It's a superb holiday destination and, for the right type of person, a quite wonderful place to live. All aspects of New Zealand that our increasingly road-weary and often downright gloomy guide fails to capture and which, as a result, leads to a very unbalanced insight into both the country and its people.

Bad news then? Well not quite, because he can write and his stories are not only enjoyable and often quite funny, but his wet & windy journey becomes, in itself, an entertaining exercise in personal endurance. And, on the way, he experiences a side of New Zealand that most miss which, in turn, stimulates him to ruminate on a number of interesting and important social issues facing the country. Just don't get fooled into believing that it's really like this because, unless you too are mad enough to decide to hitch around the place at the wrong time of the year, it's most certainly not.

If all you want to know is about design, this is the book for you. Other then that it is useless. No information on practical set up of lighting plots. The Shelly book is much better.

This is a fabulous stage lighting book - not TOO basic for experienced lighting people, not too hard for beginners. I particularly like that there are chapters such as "Lighting the Musical" and "Lighting the Play", etc, as different shows have different lighting needs - but it is not always addressed in lighting books. I highly recommend this book for lighting students or people who just need to know more about lighting to have better communicate with their lighting designers.

This book does a wonderful job of presenting the reader with a whole bunch of basic concepts and then rpidly builds on them. For any new light designer, or even experienced ones that want to try something new and different, this is the book for you. It really gets the wheels turning and the creative juices flowing.

I read this book to help learn basic lighting design. This book teaches you all you need to know and more. Even though the book has a U.K. slant(only U.K. rigging is disscued) It is very informative

This book is a good overview of lighting design and lighting tech. The writing is frank and honest, the information is well-organized. I use it frequesntly as a designer to remind myself of things I might otherwise forget from time to time, or to get new ideas for how to light for this style. It is just an overview, and while it is highly practical, I would hardly call it comprehensive. Chapter titles include: Aims in Lighting, Lighting Instruments, First Steps in Lgihting Design, Color, The Lighting Design Process, Lighting Opera, lighting Thrust Stages, Agenda for a Post-Mortem, Projection and Effects, and Light Education. This book is sort of like a letter from one experienced lighting designer to a fresh-faced lighting designer, unlike many stagecraft books. It does have the UK slant, as another reviewer mentioned, but that shouldn't be a great hindrance. If you have 10 books about lighting design, this should be one of them.

Rob is still dealing with his mother's death when he signs on for a hiking and camping trip. The other five teens on the hike have varying levels of experience and enthusiasm about hiking, but their guide, Harvey, is enthusiastic and knowledgeable enough for all of them. He explains that as long as he has a compass, he'll be able to get them where they are going.

Shortly into their trip, though, Harvey dies. Rob wants to follow the rules of the wilderness and stay where they are so they can be rescued more easily. He is overruled, though, and soon finds himself dragged along with the others, who feel better when they are moving toward the rescue they imagine is nearby. The group quickly becomes lost, wet, and injured.

Rob feels guilty about his part in their predicament. He feels like he should have been strong enough to make everyone stay at their camp, and he feels like he should have made smarter decisions to keep them all safe. His main concern now, though, is making sure that they get rescued before they starve to death.

I liked the survival aspect of this story, and the things the group did to stay warm and to keep alive. The characters were pretty weak, though. None of them really seemed like an actual person to me; they were all just vague cliches--the arrogant dumb jock, the frail beautiful girl, the tomboyish motormouth. Even Rob, the narrator, didn't really stand out. He somehow seemed distant from his own story.

Take It Easy
by: Joe

David Hill did such an outstanding job at writing this book that
whenever you pick it up, it is hard to put down.

This book Take It Easy is about a boy named Rob and the past month in his life has been so rough for him because his mother had died. Well, his
dad thought that he would do some good so he sent Rob on a hiking trip to New Zealand to get away from his troubles. Halfway through the trip the group leader dies and it is up to the teenagers to make it out of New Zealand al ¡ive. So they all decide to split up in different groups and go search for help. They had no luck finding help and they were starting to panic because they were running low on food supply.Then one day Rob wandered off by himself when he noticed a helicopter come to his aid, and the others were found not too long after that.

David Hill had really good discriptive writing like, Rob looked at the faces around him,shadowed under parka hoods, or pale and strained,with damp hair lying heavy across their skulls, eyes half-closed and vague. Another good use of description is, The sunlight had crept a quarter of the way down the bush on the far side of the valley. Tiny insects danced on the air as Rob sat on a boulder and tried not to think about what was to come.

I really enjoyed this book, although the end was fairly easy to predict. I would recommend this book if you like reading about getting lost in the wilderness.

This book really relates to real-life situations and how different people react to different problems. I though the author did an excellent job of vividly describing the characters and their personalitys. This was a great book!

I started reading and couldn't put it down, I finished it in 1 day!! Very good book!! Must Read!

I highly recommend this book. I have used it this year with my fifth form (year 11) English class. My class is the 2 Year School Certficate class - I suppose their English ability would have to be defined as below average. They enjoyed the novel, and more importantly it held their attention - the death, near death and Carl's annoyingness! It was also easy for them to identify, talk and write about aspects like characters, themes, climax. Audio tapes of the novel are available from Replay Radio in NZ.

Cushla and her books is a heartwarming story of two parents who are devoted to raising their daughter with significant disabilities. Even though these disabilities stunted her physical and cognitive development, her parents were determined to give Cushla the best quality of life. Cushla's mother introduced books to her at a young age and read to her on a continual basis. As Cushla aged, the constant exposure to books increased her cognitive development began to recognize words and pictures, and simply developed a love for books. However, several aspects of the story were presented in a textbook manner that made the reading often tedious and disengaging. Overall, the book has a strong message and is very informative.

Cushla and Her Books is a remarkable story about how a family of a young daughter born with significant developmental challenges followed their instincts. The story reveals the slow, but sure progress that Cushla makes and demonstrates the positive impact that her early and continuous exposure to books had on this development. This is a beautiful story about the power of human spirit.

Cushla and her books is a recommended read for people working in the special education field. It helps you to understand what a person with a severe disability has to go through on a daily basis. Seeing how Cushla developed throughout the book, you were always in suspense of what would happen next. This book showed how the support and strength of a family can really make a difference in the life of a child who has severe disabilites.

Cushla and Her Books is a motivating story of the dedication and devotion of two parents determined to provide their child with the best life possible. The writing style of the book is presented in a textbook manner instead of as a recreational reading material. The descriptions of the books Cushla read were not intertwined with the supplemental material provided in the middle of the book, which lead to some confusion for the reader. Overall, Cushla and Her Books is an informational, as well as an inspirational story, of the success of a young girl.

Butler's first person account of her developmentally delayed granddaughter's progess, largely due to an immersion in quality literature from her earliest days, will convince you that it's never too early (or too hopeless a cause) for books to expand and enrich the life of a child. Inspiring. Written as Butler's thesis, so the emotion is backed up by research and knowledge.

I bought the second edition under the misleading impression that the contents will be updated, even though the conclusions may still stand. Instead, I have a book that's 95% same as before, plus some random afterthoughts on the main thesis that the Habsburg Monarchy self imploded because of losing the war, and not from the rampant nationalities conflict in an age of nationalism. If you want to read Sked's work on the Monarchy, just buy some second hand first edition.

And if you want a refreshing look at European history, look no further than Paul Schroeder's majestic The Transformation of European Politics.

If the book has a theme, it is that the Dynasty and the Empire were not in irreversible decline and the fall, brought about by defeat in WWI, was not inevitable. Why the title then? Well, towards the end of the book, in a couple of chapters added to the second edition, Sked admits that the title was chosen by his publishers and not by him.

My main reason for contributing this review is that I don't think it is clear from other reviews here that Sked's book is not a narrative or comprehensive history of the Habsburg Empire from the Congress of Vienna until its fall. It is rather a series of essays which reflect on other historians' treatment of some of the major themes in Habsburg historiography. These are interesting, challenging, occasionally repetitive, but are not, and do not pretend to be, a substitute for a general history of the period (such as C.A. Macartney's great work).

First let me say that academically the book is both readable and factual in its content. But I found the book troubling for two reasons. First, Professor Sked writes like an English Lecture. He poses questions which he answers with his own opinions, many times taking other authors opinions to task. Those that he doesn't agree with he speaks of as liberal or extreme or having "missed the point". Secondly as this is a Second Edition,
it should have been brought up to date with information that has been developed over the last twelve years.

As an example of his inability to rewrite his own words (which he takes as sacrosanct) there is an aside that refers to the USSR and the eastern european satellites. He makes a referral to what would happen in eastern europe if the USSR were to go multi-party, hinting at chaos on the terms of Yugoslavia. Where has he been for the last ten years? No chaos, some nations in NATO and others being accepted into the EU.

Lastly, he shows a pronounced weakness in his understanding of military matters. In his discussion of the failure of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution, he dismisses the treatment of other nationalities in the Hungarian Crown Lands as being self-defeating but not disasterous. He especially discounts the Croats. Napoleon, not a bad general, described the Croat Cavalry
as the best in Europe, both for their bravery and ability to endure hardship. He used them as his scouts for his intelligence services and gave them credit for helping to secure many of his victories. They would not have won the was for the Hungarians, but they could have been a thorn in the side of both the Austrians and Russians. Instead the helped to defeat the Hungarians at every major battle.

Reading this book is informational, but you must be prepared to spend a lot of time searching around Professor Sked's opinions and biases to get to the facts.

This text is truly invaluable for students of the Habsburg Monarchy. It's major strength has to be that it is analytical in style, providing explanations for the decline in fortunes of the Habsburg Monarchy. It is also innovative in that it provides a new perspective on the last century of Habsburg rule. Sked's book is an extremely readable text, which is accessible for all. An added bonus is that it provides a background to the historiography surrounding the Austrian Empire. Even if you do not agree with Sked's conclusions, it will certainly give you something new to think about, and is a useful antidote to the more traditional interpretaions of the Habsburg decline. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough!

What I am about to type concerning this book will be rather political, so I should make it clear at the outset that the author himself has no political axe to grind. He is simply examining and refuting some common misconceptions about the last century of the Habsburg Empire and the causes of it's fall. If that is what you are looking for, you could not do better than to read this book. This is *the best* book on the subject in English, bar none. If that is your interest, **buy it**, without reservation. Alan Sked's political opinions appear no where in it's pages, which are full of hard facts and strong historical thinking. It is in every way a model piece of historical scholarship.

The reason I see this as a very political text is that the history of the fall of the Habsburgs has been put to ideological use for a long time now. The Habsburg Empire was dismembered by that crusading moralist professor, Woodrow Wilson, in the name of "Democracy", "Progress", and other "enlightened" ideals for which he was willing to kill and send others to die.

It has been argued that the fall of the Habsburgs was a kind of bellwether, proving the inevitable progress of modernity and modern politics over the face of the whole Earth as a reactionary dionsaur of an empire finally died under the weight of it's own anachronism and decrepitude. The author of this book disproves that thesis totally. He demonstrates definitively that the Habsburg Empire was not weak or inept, and that in fact it faced it's worse crisis in 1848, and, having survived that, was viable as a political unit right up until the end of it's life. There was no mass longing for democracy, no mass discontent with the ancient Monarchy of the House of Habsburg, no demand for "national sovereignty" or "self-determination" on the part of the many nationalities of the Empire. They were fiercely loyal to the Monarchy right up until the end of it's existence. The Habsburgs fell, not because of the "turning of the tides of history" against them, but because they picked the wrong side in WWI. Period.

The fact that this is so undermines most of the cherished myths of the modern West. It proves that history has no inevitable current ending up with us, since it shows that the way history turned out was in fact the result of the individual choices of men, rather than the effect of some kind of powerful underlying trend that men could not have shaped. It proves that democratic gov't's are not the only ones capable of being seen as legitimate in the eyes of their people and that a nation of highly cultured and relatively wealthy people (the Austrians) could happily and freely choose to live under a radically different form of gov't, namely a hereditary monarchy. It proves that a powerful multi-ethinc state can be built, if ethnicity is carefully divorced from political power and protected (the Empire of the Habsburgs was virutally a microcosm of Europe in it's vast ethnic diversity). It proves that religion can be effectively joined to gov't - the Habsburg Empire was a confessional Catholic state until the end.

In short, it proves that the supposedly axiomatic modern truths about how politics just has to be are really just so many lies. There was, once upon a time, a strong, viable, multi-ethnic, confessional, hereditarily monarchical empire, that was a living force in world politics right up until the First World War, and that only ceased to be so after it was deliberately destoryed by the victors of that war, who sought to impose their ideology at all costs on the conquered, even if it meant destroying an ancient state and everything that was based on it. We know the results of this well: the wellspring of nationalisms this created has turned the Balkans into a killing field, and it left no strong power in the Germanic world that might have checked the Nazis after Germany itself was raped by the vitorious Allies; thus, the dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire cleared the way for Hitler and every horror to follow him in Central Europe. This was the price foreigners were made to pay so that professor Wilson could "Make the world safe for democracy". No amount of foreign blood is too much, apparently, for the ideals of a progressive intellectual.

Very informative book. Appears to have been well-researched. Lots of specific information.

Looking forward to following this guide to New Zealand.

Full of great information! The one thing it lacks is detailed maps of areas covered in the chapters. Considering that, it is still a great buy!

I am already planning my trip based at the book and it is does a pretty good on job at describing the places and best sites to see..

I'm used to the Fodor's Guides, so this should be another great trip I am planning and will revert back with the comments after the trip. But like I mentioned, I used it before and that is the main reason of why I keep going with Fodor's again...

You will be please with the level of information needed to plan your trip and help you out during the journey..

Way to go...

i used this book on a recent trip to new zealand, and for the most part it was great. my one complaint was with a restaurant recommended by the book in auckland that turned out to cater to large tour groups and served expensive sub-standard food. but on the otherhand, another restaurant recommended (joe's garage in queenstown) turned out to be a highlight of the trip. so, as with all guidebooks, i think the information has to be taken with a grain of salt and it's better to get a second local opinion. the maps and general local information were very helpful for navigation and for deciding what to do each day. worth it overall.

Better than most, but less informative and readable than the Eyewitness Guides. (The one on New Zealand is being updated now for an August release.) I think more guidebooks should start incorporating that format into their titles---sacrifice a few details for more showcasing of locations worth noting. Still, this is a sound source for information and it's one to keep with you when you travel. In one or two instances, I found information in Fodor's that was ONLY in Fodor's and nowhere else, so the research is obviously extensive.

An excellent biography of Lucy, the author put much time, effort, and research into it including conducting interviews with people who knew and had contact with Lucy. It is particularly excellent in covering Lucy's early years, Her trip to Europe and Australia and experiences there, and Her early acting career days to the early days of Xena. There is ample information not found elsewhere easily about Lucy from Her high school years to the time She began the Xena series. Marc stresses how everybody knew Lucy was so incredibly beautiful and gorgeous, that She was very determined, capable, and courageous, and that She and Garth were tempting the fates by having incredible Hot Sexxx in Australia (if not earlier). Great descriptions of Lucy especially Her younger years before Xena. Very lovely and sexy pics including of Lucy showing off Her famed Delicious Perfect Feet and Toes and one on the cover with Her Amazing Incomparable Breath-taking Mouth-watering Erotic Arousing Luscious Voluptuous Mesmerizing Heavenly Sexxxy Perfect Cleavage :) and Awesome Arousing Erotic natural Orgasmic and Sexual look Oh My God Yes Lucy! :) The book helps us know and understand Lucy better and also Her difficult times before being very successful as Xena. It also describes Her early relations and later marriage with Rob Tapert. There is some information in the book I have not found anywhere else. It also helps interest and arouse readers about Lucy. Overall I very highly recommend this book to all Lucy and Xena fans, and everyone else as well. Oh my God Yes Lucy! :) Oh God I Love Love Love and Desire Lucy So Much Forever Everywhere Always! :) Oh God I Love You Lucy! :)

Forever Devoted :) to the Sweet Sweet Sweetest Erotic Angelic Barefoot Heavenly Sexxxy Perfect Goddess Lucy, :)

David Kashfi Who Loves and Desires Lucy :) So Much Forever Everywhere Always :)

Shapiro's incessant corny joking really jars the reader from enjoying the interesting biographical facts about Lucy Lawless' rise to fame. Reminded me of Milan Kundera, the way this writer just could not keep himself out of the limelight and let his character/s shine forth.

This book showed me the real person behind, Xena, the warrior princess. I love the way, it started telling about her from the begining of her life to the present, and the way it capture, the experiences and advantures of her life. I especially love the way she,never gave up on her dreams to become a actress. Also the way she never let the new found fame go over her head. I admire that, she stays down to earth. This is a book well worth reading.

THE LESSONS IN THE SERIES REALLY TOUCHES MY HEART, I EVEN CONVINCED MY FAMILY TO WATCH XENA. SHE IS VERY FLEXIBLE IN THE ROLES AND THE WAY SHE ACT IS VERY INSPIRING AND IMITATING.

Most of the pictures in the book werent colored and the colored one were the worst pics of Lucy Lawless I've ever seen. The picture on the cover isn't clear and isn't a picture worth putting on the cover. He should use better pictures. The writing style was a little boring, but it contained good info, except it doesnt explore the friendship between Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor even though in the back it said it does.

Margaret Mahy's charaters think in unusual and compelling ways. Johnny, Bonny, and Sophie are no exceptions. This is a beautiful book that will touch anyone who has ever been haunted by her or his past.

The text of Molly's (she is 13) review follows: "I don't know why the boy was always drunk. It really bothered me that he drank constantly. How could Sophie survive on moldy crackers and rotten milk for two years? I think that would kill her.."

On the fifth anniversary of his sister's death, 19-year-old Jonny Dart is looking for someone. He is drunk and beat up and searching for someone he has not talked to in five years but with whom he shares a moment he cannot forget. He is searching for Bonny, the only other witness to his sister's death. He manages to stumble through the streets to the house where her parents live.

Drunk and bruised and bloody is not the best way to show up at someone's house asking for their daughter's address, so instead they have a friend take him to the nearest main road where he can catch a taxi home. But Jonny never makes it to the taxi. He wakes up the next morning on the traffic island where he was dropped. Sick and disoriented and with little memory of the night before, he begins to wander.

"Suddenly, with childish horror, he saw another movement in the [storefront] glass...Something rippled towards him... another inhabitant...A stunted person in a long coat was pushing a supermarket cart along the diagonal opposite to the one he was taking. A moment later he made out a short, thin old woman wearing a hat like a crimson chamber pot without a handle. Strands of grey hair hung around her ears... He hesitated and stood completely still so that the old lady could walk past him, but instead she cam right up to him, staring at him, smiling, as if she were waiting for him to begin a conversation. Jonny remained silent. In the end she was the one who spoke first. `Are you the one?' she asked."

And so the first of many small events of fate or destiny or some strange supernatural power occur to pull Jonny Dart into Sophie's surreal world of missing memories, mistaken identities, misplaced people and a world out of time.

Jonny thinks he will just follow Sophie to her home, to make sure she gets there safe, but when she invites him in for a cup of tea (which she never remembers to put the tea in) he is sucked into a world which to Jonny is both repulsive, fascinating, and strangely comforting in its disorder. He is immediately assaulted by the smell, the possible sources of which are too many to sort out: Sophies many, many cats that share her house, unwashed dishes, wet bedsheets, perhaps the dead bird in the pie plate which has occupied the refrigerator for who knows how long or maybe it was just Sophie herself. Nothing is as it should be in Sophie's house. Cheese is in the soap dish. The pigeonholes of the desk are occupied by an assortment of eggshells, orange peels, an old toothpaste tube, a crochet-covered coat hanger, and hair curlers. The only food to be found is the tea-less tea and several opened bags of cookies. But the "as it should be" world is something Jonny longs to escape, or maybe it's that he's never felt a part of it, and he feels a strange kind of comfort and safety in the unnatural order of Sophie's house.

More than once, Jonny decides to leave, and more than once something prompts him to return. He becomes Sophie's reluctant yet self-appointed protector, and the forces that pulled him into Sophie's world of lost memories lead him at last to Bonny and through his own haunting memories.

I love this book. I bought it for myself this spring and I'm giving it for a Christmas present. Mahy always writes with a powerful emotional impact. It's true her stories have some hints of real life sadness in them. But those touches are the reason why the efforts and triumphs of the hero or heroine are so satisfying and triumphant. Mahy's books aren't just for young adults. I'm no young adult, nor is the person I'm giving the book to for Christmas. This story is one a mother could enjoy reading with her daughter. There is so much to dicuss in this story of a kid on a drunk who shows compassion to a stranger. When we realize the stranger has Altzheimer's we know the woman could have been our own grandmother. The terrific story has more impact that a hundred lectures on kindness.

This is an amazing portrayal of the relationship between a ninteen year old "loser" and an old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Margaret Mahy's young adult books are all wonderful, but "Memory" stays with you long after you have read it. Mahy manages to put magic into her novels even when not dealing with magic. When she does deal with magic, it seems natural and everyday. Try her novel "Changeover" if you want to see this in action. This is a book that you can read as a young adult and reread as an adult and it hasn't lost anything.