Open Books

just wanted to say I loved Ms. King's book, " she's got next." it was refreshing to read about basketball written from her perspective. like ms. king, i grew up down south, which is sports-mad; but my alma mater was more of a football school. that is not to say my school's basketball team didn't have its moments; they made the final four a couple of times, plus they had shaq and chris jackson, so they did ok. some of the scenes which ms. king writes about basketball being played on the playgrounds of chicago and l.a. made me misty-eyed, they were so nostalgic. ms. king's self-depricating humor made her story more accessible and fun.plus the scenes which she coaches a youth team were also fun to read about. the urban flava comes through the prose easily. it's as if dorothy parker wrote a basketball book and tricked it out with some hip-hop beats...

This is a funny and inciteful book that looks into the life of a young lady as she moves from rural Arkansas to Chicago. Following a course that a lot of us have had to take she was lonely, bored, and generally unhappy. Eventually she remembered how much she had enjoyed playing basketball and turned to playing as a way to pass the time, meet people, develop a life.

Basketball was her thing, never with a thought of turning pro or anything like that (she admits to not being very good), but just finding a place to be.

That sounds kind of dull, but it's a story of finding oneself, of growing up. And through basketball she is able to discover things about the issues of race, class, gender, religion, sexual politics and love.

Hers was a trip that I had to take long before she was born. I can only wish that I'd had the literary skill to record it as well as she does. This is a delightful book.

I love this book! An industry friend loaned me his advance copy. I took it home and read it in one sitting. I plan on buying several copies to give to friends as beach reads for the summer and a copy for my daughter--this is not a kid's book, but King's life is an example of independence, the importance of taking risks and making hard choices, and balancing working hard with patience and fun.

King's voice is utterly appealing as well as fresh and unique. I've never read a book quite like this. Not just a memoir, almost a novel in it's narrative coherence and construction, not a self-help book yet relentlessly thoughtful, laugh out loud funny one moment and heartbreaking the next.

You'll root for King, want to be friends with her, rush through to find out what happens to her next. As another reviewer wrote, you don't need to know (or care, really) about basketball to enjoy this book. It's not chick-lit and men will enjoy it as much as women for the humor, the sports, and the lovely and brilliant author/protagonist. If you like southern literature, King's voice will fit right into the tradition for you, but the book takes place not only in the south, but in Chicago and LA as well, so city slickers will recognize their neighborhoods and neighbors and likely get a new perspective on city life.

A recent review in a newspaper compared King to Walker Percy and I hear the book will be featured in "Entertainment Weekly" magazine this summer. This book could get big, so enjoy the pleasure of reading it while it's still under the radar. Published in paperback, it's low price and great cover seem to match perfectly the plain spoken yet utterly lovely book inside.

Don't miss this one. There's not another book out there like this. A true original.

and, boy, I'm glad I was. My grown son brought this to me thinking I would love it because he's played basketball all his life and I've played with him and coached when he was younger. This a great story about the way sports can effect a life. If you've ever known the pleasure of casual play (of any game, not just basketball and not just sports) you'll find this familiar, fun, and inspiring. I'm going to hit the local Y today and shoot around and try test my powers of observation against King's amazing ability and I can't wait to talk to strangers and strange people again as we work towards a common goal (across race, class, gender, and, at times, skill), an experience I've not had in years and now hope to make part of my retirement. Be forewarned there is some explicit language, but nothing shocking or gratuitous--the author is clearly a master of the language and using just the right words at just the right moment. What gifts some of us get! To have her basketball skills and writing abilitiy. . .this writer has been blessed.

After reading this book, I have no doubt King's star is rising. Don't worry, you need know nothing of basketball to appreciate this honest examination of an individual life and the complicated interactions of humans. A joyful and hillarious read, King also examines our shortcomings and most desperate needs. The work of a philosopher, comedian, and athelete, you can't go wrong with this lovely memoir. Fans of David Sedaris and Anne Lamott will be especially pleased.

Lynley Dodd's mischievous feline is back... This time, Slinky learns how to master the doorknob... One of the great developmental milestones in any kitty's life! His partner in mischief is a parrot named Stickybeak Syd, who helps Slinky topple furniture, unravel scarves, tip over vases and generally wreak havoc. And the big twist at the end? The humans *don't* come back and put an end to the hijinks! Once again, Dodd crafts a nice, fun book, with a rollicking plot and an effective rhyme scheme... If your kid values meyhem, this is definitely worth checking out!

Having lived with and loved cats, this was for me a delightfully familiar story of the playful mischief cats get into, with a fun twist at the end. I've enjoyed many of Lynley Dodd's books, especially this one and "Hairy Maclary Scattercat". My 5- and 3- year old girls have really enjoyed these.

This book is adorable. The rhyming text is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are hilarious. My 5 year old son LOVES Slinky Malinki and all the other Hairy MacLairy characters. It helps to have read "Hairy MacLairy From Donaldson's Dairy" in order to get the most out of the wonderful last page. LOVE the noses! :-)

Slinky Malinki, the cat reformed from the ways of night burglaring, is back and joined by a parrot named Stickybeak Syd. Together the two of them begin to raise a ruckus as they work their way through the house room by room. It is up to the black cat to jump and open each door. Then, togther, cat and bird play and make a shambles of what they find. But with the last door there is a sound on the other side. What can it be? The curious cat has to find out so taking a jump the door is opened.

Another wonderful story from the creator of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. Once again the author combines lyrical rhymes with repeated actions to create a fun-filled tale. Like with RUMPUS AT THE VET, this one has an open ending that readers can fill in with their own imagination. Fans of the author's books will appreciate and recognize the cameos that occur. All in all a fine addition to any children's collection. Check out Lynley Dodd's other wonderful books and see why she is often referred to as the Dr. Seuss of New Zealand.

Linley Dodd is a wonderful children's author and illustrator. This book is her best by far. Her characters are memorable and she doesn't dumb-down language. Children will learn vocabulary from her books-- bonus.
My sons (4 & 2) have enjoyed this book for years now. My 2 year old can't quite pronounce the title, but we know when he says "i-i-nky ma-inky" that he wants us to read it to him-- over and over! The mischief Slinky Malinki and Stickybeak Sid get into is just hilarious, going room to room wreaking havoc. The surprise at the end is just as fun! The rhythm and rhyme in this book is first rate, helping keep little ones interested.
Highly recommended for 18 months up.

This book really delivers on the mysterious and wonderful character Jango Fett. He is a legendary Mandalorian warrior who witnessed his whole mercenary army being wiped out by the Jedi. Beautiful illistrations. The best illustrator who could draw "Mandalorian armor" to date. A great story line, and really stresses the fact that Jango is a neutral, fearless warrior.

I do know what to say about the art work. I own every Darkhorse TPB comic and this one has the best inks and coloring of them all, getting a 6 on a 5 scale. The drawing itself is a 4 on a 5 scale, and the story is also a 4.

the story missed some oportunity here, but it does address what you are probably curious about with regard to jango.

Darkhorse be warned, I'll expect this kind of quality in the future. I have suffered through lazy editioning from you guys, most disappointingly in UNION and others.

I've read most of the Star Wars comics, and this one is among the best. Open Seasons interweaves the story of Jaster and Concord Dawn (known to Fett fans) with the events prior to Geonosis.

The story is very involving, although I wish it had been longer. A few things were glossed over pretty quickly. But it was a refreshing change from Kevin Anderson's usual soulless SW tales. I had a few "goose-bump" moments.

What can I say about the art? Like Jedi vs. Sith, some will think that it is too cartoony. I disagree. The artist captured action and emotion, and that's what this is about...telling a story through art. Personally, I adored it. I hope Dark Horse uses this guy, and fires the Sith Empire folks. Kudos also for the colors. (The lightsabers really seemed to glow!)

All in all Open Seasons is gorgeous. Buy it.

Possibly one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. Shows the story of how Jango's family is killed and how he joined the Mandalorians. Excellent story (but it felt a little short) that explains alot about why Jango is who he is. Great pictures, dialogue, everything. A great read for Fett fans.

Open Seasons is one of those comics that is highly recommended reading. This is where you'll find Jango Fett's backstory, which seamlessly ties into what little is known of his cloned son Boba Fett, and his Jaster Mereel alto ego. The comic derives its name from the four issues subtitled after the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, fall, and provides reason for Montross's animosity in the Bounty Hunter console game.

The artwork here is just superb. Colours shine off the page, illustrations are depthful, more 3Dish than the standard fare you get, what more could you want? I strongly believe that comics, being the visual material they are, must have the best artwork possible, to show what a standard novel can only express in words. If that's the case, Open Seasons is gold.

The dialogue is up to par. Could have benefited with more humour, but the cast worked well for given characters. Then again, given the nature of the plot, too much would have detracted from the persona of Jango Fett.

The storyline is your typical coming of age: peaceful youth avenging the death of parents and a shattered childhood, forged into one of the galaxy's finest bounty hunters. The setting is soon after Phantom Menace, Dooku recounting to his master Sidious why Fett makes the ideal prime clone for their clandestine operations. It even provides some explanation for why Dooku himself--if you can believe the old man--broke from the Jedi Order.

You see what Jango is made of here in the Galidraan debacle, where the Jedi and Mandalorians have it out. You'd get the impression the Jedi really are dependant on their saber sticks to be dangerous, as though that made any difference to the Fett. Does leaving you wondering in AOTC if script limitations hadn't necessitated Mace Windu to survive Fett.

Just a few trivialties here. Jango looks more lighter complexioned than he did on the screen. Without enough names in dialogue, it does make it challenging to identify your Mandalorian in near-identical uniforms. Most annoying, why do these people always have to be farmboys (Luke, Baron Fel, Jango, etc)? And the biggest one of all: at the end, when Jango flies across space to crash through a ship's bridge viewports, in a vacuum without breathing or decompression?!

Overall, with art quality and storyline this good, Open Seasons is one fine gift to get, and definitely worth getting.

I purchased this book based on recommendations by both Ken Wilber and David Deida. I felt that if they suggested it, there would probably be significant benefits to be had. This assumption has proved correct.

First off, I like this book because it isn't a strict "How to" guide. Yes there is a section that presents those considerations, but primarily it is a book that presents the experiences (good and bad) of a number of different couples. In reading these stories one comes to the conclusion that there really is no concrete pattern that occurs...each couple's experience is unique. This, in my opinion, mirrors the spiritual realities that I have witnessed (modest as they are).

I also like that the downsides are not ignored. One chapter in particular (chapter 10, Why Didn't Anyone Tell Us This Before?) specifically address some of the painful side effects that can occur, and offers some important precautions that should be observed. I personally appreciate this responsibility on behalf of the author.

If you are interested in the spiritual aspects of sex, I heartily recommend this book.

Jenny Wade interviewed 91 people (identified through personal acquaintance networks) who spontaneously experienced transcendent awarenesses during sexual encounters. They report these experiences were so profoundly moving that their sexual encounters paled by comparison. In fact, the sexual climax was often experienced as a distraction or even as an annoyance.

A variety of transcendent experiences were identified by her subjects, including transfiguration of the sexual partner, shape shifting, channeling of spirit awarenesses, totally being in the present moment, cosmic awareness, out of body experiences, and past life recall.

Wade writes clearly, providing the background for understanding these transcendent sexual experiences in the context of more commonly reported transcendent experiences. She illustrates each of these types of experience with fascinating quotes from her subjects.

"I was taken up beyond my body and the warmth of the sun on my skin and the clear blue sky until I went in that golden sunlight and cerulean blue. Then I shot out beyond it into the vastness of space where all was silence and the blackness lit by stars. Everything there looked clear and beautiful and cold, yet I could feel the life pulsating through it, the fierce fires of the distant suns and burning stars. It was beauty and it was love and there I was in the middle of this universe stretching forever. I wanted to stay there always. --Rachel" (p.111)

The only criticism I can muster about this book is a minor unclarity about whether these transcendent experiences as sexual encounters are ever shared by both partners. On page 141 Wade clarifies that past life awarenesses are the only transcendent experiences that couples regularly share.

While transcendent sex as a Tantric meditative practice has been well known and extensively described, Wade clearly expands the boundaries of these experiences in this groundbreaking book.

What Raymond Moody did for our understanding of death, Jenny Wade has done for sex -- namely, to show how sexual encounters between ordinary people can vault them into the realm of the transcendent, unleash powerful forces of spiritual transformation and ultimately lead to God-consciousness itself. "Transcendent Sex" is a superbly written work, with many fascinating stories of extraordinary experiences that can be spontaneously triggered by sex, and also demonstrates that many of these experiences are no different in form and content from those that are deliberately sought through a variety of spiritual practices. In addition, there are practical guides -- and warnings -- for those readers who would like to cultivate such episodes in their own sexual life. The author deserves a great deal of credit for bringing these experiences to light and showing how sex itself is not merely a hedonic delight that pleasures the senses, but can also become a means of spiritual awakening. A heaven-breaking book.

Caught this book out of the corner of my eye in the store, read the back and took it home... Had never seen or heard anything like it, and I'd love to find more info in this area.

If you've never had an "Experience", you may not get the message, but for those that have, it'll change your understanding of it. I wish I could sit down with the author.

She's done it again! In Transcendent Sex, Dr. Jenny Wade relates the experiences of people just like you and me who have touched the divine, not by meditation or yoga or drugs, but simply by making love. Often these folks didn't even plan on having a transcendent experience, it just happened!

In her first book, Changes of Mind, Dr. Wade showed how consciousness develops over our lifetime and more importantly, how these discrete stages of development, she calls them MindSets, persist and shape our interactions at work and in other relationships. In effect we don't just have one `mind' inside our head, but several--each with it's own values, strengths and weaknesses--some more `evolved' than others. Gaining access to the higher states was thought to be a path reserved for the devoted practitioners of the mystic arts, but now she presents the stories of ordinary people having truly extraordinary experiences which transcend their day-to-day conscious minds. For some it reflects attainment of a higher state of awareness.

Why is this book important? I don't want to spoil the pleasure of your experience of sex, but if one of these invitations to glimpse a world beyond the limits of your bedroom comes unbidden, it will be comforting to know that you are not losing your mind, but in a way finding it. If these transcendent insights occur to one partner and not the other, you now have a basis for a deeper understanding of each other and the wonder of the universe by reflecting on the perhaps similar experiences of others.

As with Changes of Mind, Dr. Wade shows her uncanny ability to tease a taxonomy out of what some might leave as a collection of interesting but disparate tales. Using her familiar metrics of sense of self, sense of place and sense of time, she sifts the ninety or so interviews into groupings that not only enhance the reading, but also facilitate a quick reference should something troubling occur.

On that note, I should paraphrase Dr. Wade's admonition: not all transcendent experiences are welcome and some may be downright unsettling. While this is not a `How To' book, she does give some pointers on being open to the experience and also some advice on dealing with the darker aspects. Above all this is not a book about Sex or a guide to better orgasms: if pressed, I would say it's about the boundless spiritual energy that we all possess. It is a phenomenal book!

This is a remarkable book, based on Maureen Crane's many years of acquaintance with homeless older people. It throws light on the pathways which lead to homelessness, and should be required reading not only for policy makers in this field, but all those interested in the vicissitudes of the human life course.

This definitive scholarly work on homelessness among the ageing will be of use to practitioners, planners and academics in the United States as well as United Kingdom. Synthesising current literature on homelessness and homeless elders from America, Europe and Britain, the book complements available research on the poorest, most vulnerable, and marginalized among today's elders. Using dispassionate social science this ethnographic study argues for more compassionate treatment of a group of ageing people barely noticed in public policy.

Drawing on 10 years experience of working with the elderly homeless, Maureen Crane, has produced a book that will be of immense value to those who wish to understand more about this growing social problem. Regardless of the many and varied reasons why some older men and women become homeless, Maureen Crane's book demonstrates that the pathways out of homelessness all involve basic concepts of social justice: namely that the elderly homeless are entitled to access the same levels of housing and aged care services that the rest of the community takes for granted.

Although ageing persons are an important and growing segment of the homeless population, they have been largely ignored by service providers and policy makers. Maureen Crane's book will remedy this situation. Bringing together unique and long experience as a clinician, advocate, and researcher working with older homeless persons in London, Dr. Crane offers a comprehensive, compassionate, and insightful look at this population that is rarely found in other texts on homelessness. This book is destined to become the standard reference for anyone interested in aging and homelessness.

Maureen Crane has undertaken research on older homeless people for a number of years. She has now brought together her own empirical studies with the work of others. This book presents a new perspective on an important neglected subject. In a clearly written account the complexity of the issues is shown. This book should be read not only by those interested in ageing but also by everyone concerned with social policy and with social exclusion.

This is a small gem for our time. I don't often buy books for my adult kids, but this one is an exception. In more than 30 years of preaching to them, I've never communicated the heart of Christianity so simply, clearly and effectively as Del Brown does here in just a few pages. It belongs with Marcus Borg's "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time" for its path-breaking significance for people seeking a fresh, credible approach to Christian belief and the life-transforming way of Jesus.

As a former fundamentalist Christian I wish that this book had been available to me years ago. Clear and concise as well as informative and thought-provoking, Del Brown's latest book is a must-read for those seeking to understand just what progressive Christianity is all about.

Delving into the historic roots of the Christian tradition he embraces our past and provides compelling reasons as to why the future of the faith needs to be grounded in what came before. We are formed by this tradition that, he says, "can provide insight, hope, and transformation today to the entire human family."

Chapters that talk about "the Bible as our foundational resource" and "the incarnation of God in the entire creation" will transform your perspective of progressive Christianity and give you a new hope for humanity.

"What Does a Progressive Christian Believe" is life-affirming faith-empowering, and truly educational. At the end of each chapter, Brown provides "Points for Reflection," which highlight the main points of the chapter and serve as a launching pad for further study. Adult religious education study groups would benefit greatly from their use.

Indeed, anyone who is interested in learning more about progressive Christianity, it's roots and it's future, should read this book. I highly recommend it.

What Does a Progressive Christian Believe?: A Guide for the Searching, the Open, and the Curious

I can't count the number of meetings I've attended in which people struggle to make sense of the current broadening of the Christian climate. Liberal, conservative, moderate, fundamentalist -- many Christians know more about what they don't believe than what they do.

This book leaps right into the fray and provides some very simple reasons for a Christianity that eschews the worst of the Christian Right, while articulating some problematic assumptions of classic liberal theology.

And while labels often form the least comfort for the perplexed, Del Brown does a masterful job in getting to the heart of a serious and compassionate faith.

I don't doubt that the balanced theology in this book represents the future of major sections of evangelical and mainline Christianity. For example, when dealing with the old theodicy question, Del Brown weaves Process and Open theologies in with the traditional view of God, and uses the concept of incarnation to make a winsome case for an active faith even in the face of terrible human suffering.

If you're "not that kind of Christian," but dubious about "progressive" being anything really new, I recommend this book. It has helped me to grow in my personal faith and grounded me deeper in my Christian ideals.

Dr. Delwin Brown's latest effort, What Does a Progressive Christian Believe? is nothing short of brilliant. Brown offers Christians a third option - one that does not fall into the trappings of religious fundamentalism or religious humanism. This is an excellent introduction for anyone desiring to learn about Progressive Christianity as well as those seeking a better way to follow Jesus of Nazareth in this new post-modern era.

We need this book! It's a terrific corrective to the kind of Christianity that's dominated the airwaves in recent years.

In a brief systematic theology, Brown offers a Christianity that "charts a different course" than liberal or conservative Christianity, a course that embraces the rich diversity of the biblical narrative and the public witness of the church.
In seven points, he retrieves the value of the bible, affirms the presence of God entwined in all of creation, and breathes life into the creeds (imagine that!) He grounds a view of humanity in the Genesis story of co-creation and the twin commandments to love God and others as ourselves.
Love is the key to his treatment of sin, and he give us a refreshing correctives on centuries of bad preaching. Sin he rightly portrays as a failure to love "loving too much or too little any part of the interconnected web of life"; and sin's clever strategy of deception, subtle self-deception gives rise to the structures that plague our world: racism, consumerism, militarism, etc. But there is good news: salvation. And salvation, of course, is not located on the other side of pearly gates, but available here and now in our world where God is "working through all the processes of the creation to bring it to the fullness and health made possible by love." And we are part of the process, as the church, "the community of those who seek to serve God's healing work in the world."
One succinct way to express the value of this book is to point to a phrase that prefaces several positions descriptive of progressive Christianity: "There is a Christian reason for..." What follows is just that, the explicit Christian reason for, say, respecting diversity or working for economic justice or caring for the planet or making peace valuing the common good or or being open to other faith traditions. Brown gives us reasons by taking us into the biblical record and the early church's rendering of that narrative to offer compelling reasons that comprise a sound theology. This is what takes this book beyond one more expression of liberal ideals or a philosophical theology that would ignore the particularity of Christianity's biblical heritage.

Jason Brown writes wonderful short stories. In this collection, he is able to capture perfectly and insightfully the nuances of adolescent experience. BUY THIS BOOK!

Full Disclosure: I attended Bowdoin College with Jason Brown, and we had an acquaintance or two in common. I read a profile in the Bowdoin Magazine and then bought his first book, which I loved.

This collection of short stories was dynamite. Dark and powerful, all its stories revolve around the fictional town of Vaughn on the Kennebec River. I would almost call it a novel about Vaughn told from all sorts of angles, from the aging widow to the neglected children. I was particularly impressed with a story about a logger on the last pulp run down the Kennebec.

These are stories that stay with you. I read the entire collection on the train between Boston and Lawrence -- after each story, I would stare out the window looking at the double-deckers in Malden or the stark outlines of abandoned mills.

I look forward to his novel.

Just for kicks, compare the map of Vaugn in the collection to Jason Brown's hometown of Hallowell, Maine.

Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work: Stories

Although all of the stories in Jason Brown's second collection are set in and around the fictional town of Vaughn, Maine, the emotional territory of the stories is far-reaching. Many of his characters are moving through life in quiet turmoil--enduring, defiant, proud, foolish. Brown's deep compassion for these flawed characters makes each of their struggles palpable and affecting. We feel the stories viscerally, which is how Brown seems to write them. This is writing from the gut. The best book of stories I've read in years.

Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work: Stories

This is a fantastic collection. Read Brown's "Trees," in which the woods stand as a watchful, powerful central character. All of Brown's stories are like those woods: deep, dark, and full of secrets, a place you're drawn to again and again.

It would be tough to write a better collection of short stories than Brown's first, Driving The Heart, but, damn, he did it. I swear on my best dog's grave that Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work is one of the best books of fiction I've read in a couple of years. If you love short stories as much as I do, you'd be nuts not to buy this book. Forget that bestseller trash, and buy something worth the money.

This is great! I never tought I'd read a novel with so many references to computer games, and to think that I even have played ALL of them is insane! (Yes even the most obscure game, I've played it!) The story is also a great read if you don't know about games (I asked my wife what she thought) even tough you might miss out...

Gaming rules, and C. Brookmyre, if you're ever on Rubi-Ka, come see me as Agna, Biola or Thesau ;)

I raced through the 500 pages of this book. It was really funny, witty, and quite a good look into current pop-culture in the UK. Brookmyre the author is able to make you laugh out loud. If you are looking for something that will tell you about life in the UK in an interesting and funny manner this is your book. Read it -- it's just good!

CB has produced another fantastic read. Maybe the references are a little parochial, but so what - use your imagination. IMO dry humour works anywhere - if you've travelled beyond your state/country who can't relate to PJ O'Rourke's rantings. CB manages this with a little more subtlety which makes his reading well worth it. His books capture the reader from start to end - which is quite annoying, I've read the fecker dry and wait for his next.

'Big Boy' is fantastic - the losing virginity chapter is laugh out loud funny. Of course I relate to the Glasgow setting (being a glaswegian and ex-QM member), but the characters translate country/cultural divides. Read it for feck sake and kick yourself out of the 'King of The Hill' mentality.

DB

Christopher Brookmyre has taken a topic that has become present in the forefront of everyone's consciousness, presented a story in which he has managed to inject numerous humorous anecdotes and still been able to end up with a relevant reminder of how easily our lives may be touched by terrorism.

The title A BIG BOY DID IT AND RAN AWAY is reference to the way terrorists operate with the suggestion being that their acts of terror are nothing more than cowardly attacks by bullies who haven't got the guts to meet their enemies face to face.

The book starts out with a series of terrorist attacks that take place in various parts of the world and can all be attributed to a single man who is only known as the Black Spirit. Each of the attacks was simple yet untraceable and devastatingly effective resulting in the loss of many lives. The disturbing fact for the British Police Force is that the intelligence gathered by MI5 indicates that the Black Spirit's next attack is likely to occur somewhere on British soil.

Raymond Ash is a bored English teacher suffering the sleep deprivation that comes with living with a 3 month old baby with colic. One day while sitting in Aberdeen airport imagining what it might be like to just chuck it all in and jump on a plane out of there, he is startled to see his room-mate from his college days walking through the terminal. The reason for his surprise is that the guy had died in a plane crash 3 years ago. From this innocuous sighting, Raymond is about to have a very bad couple of days and a whole new appreciation of how fortunate he was to have led such a boring life.

The main storyline is set in Scotland with much of the dialogue spoken in Scottish slang for an authentic (although at times hard to understand) feel. We are slowly led towards the terrorist's target and the "against all odds" attempts by an unlikely bunch of "heroes" to avert a full on disaster. Along the way, Christopher Brookmyre has a habit of punctuating his story with a constant stream of asides, anecdotes, character introductions and histories. These interjections are both amusing and entertaining but they tended to break the flow of the story and occasionally made it a little hard to follow at times.

This minor inconvenience is offset by the enormous wealth of background information we get about each of the central characters. Whether it's an explanation on how a low-level marketing guy with a failed attempt at a rock career could become a deadly international terrorist or an interlude to reminisce about Raymond Ash's school days, Brookmyre has a flair for executing with an entertaining delivery. One thing's for sure, thanks to the plentiful supply of anecdotes throughout, we know all of the central characters inside and out. We care about them, we can identify with them and we can understand how they're feeling during the more stressful scenes. And believe me, towards the end of the book there are plenty of stressful moments.

When the finale takes place, it's inside a large complex and was rather reminiscent of some of the Matthew Reilly books that rely on action at all costs and a suspension of disbelief to ensure that a wild ride is had by all. It's a complete change to the way the first three quarters of the book was written, but it certainly entertained. One problem I had was in the convoluted description of the layout of the complex and where all the characters were in relation to one another. This part was crying out for an illustrated layout to be included a la Reilly or Clive Cussler.

For anyone who enjoys a humorous mystery that makes light of the more serious global concerns we face today, Christopher Brookmyre's A BIG BOY DID IT AND RAN AWAY is extremely satisfying. I have heard him compared to Carl Hiaasen both for his humour and his more serious underlying themes and I would have to agree with the comparison. A small warning about the extreme profane language used that may offend some readers.

The definitely guide to Derby. This offers much more explanation and information than the online documentation provided by Apache. But what do you expect... it comes from the minds at IBM themselves.

However, unlike most of IBM's publications and documentation, this is actually readable and informative. You don't have to wade through a series of unknowns and missing pieces of the puzzle in order to figure out what IBM was trying to actually get at.

This will not only help you define and work with Apache Derby, but also make your applications lighter, faster and easier to deploy.

Apache Derby is a very promising package that is being freely offered, as both source code and binaries. This book is an aggressive promotion of its virtues. The authors stress many things about Derby, or its IBM sidekick, Cloudscape.

Derby addresses a persistent need amongst many Java programmers for an easy to use SQL database. Often, a Java programmer has only cursory expertise in coding for a full database like IBM's DB2 or Oracle. Best usage of these often requires you to be a DBA.

By contrast, Derby comes as a Java JAR file, and can be plonked into your programming environment just as any other JAR file. The book explains in depth how to then interact with Derby, at the level of your Java source code. You can see that you get a pretty powerful engine. Including features like stored procedures and user defined functions, that let you optimise for speed.

Speaking of speed, that is perhaps the biggest possible drawback of Derby. It is run as Java bytecode in a jvm, which is not quite as fast as a package compiled into native binaries. The book seems to deprecate this aspect, but you should be aware of it.

You might find Derby useful enough that you don't have to migrate to a full database like DB2. The book stresses that the code you write to interface with Derby will also do for DB2. There is a potential problem here for IBM, if it loses DB2 business to Derby. But maybe it feels that if it never promoted Derby, then sooner or later, an equivalent product would come along.

Obviously, to use Derby, you still need to know basic SQL statements. And some understanding of how to develop related tables to hold your data. The text is not meant to teach you these skills.

The first chapter also makes various cogent points about the advantages of using Derby. With sometimes unintentional hilarity. A passage says the intent is not to besmirch Microsoft. But despite this pious protestation, it proceeds immediately to do just that. By opining that Microsoft's SQL Server has a 5 year lag between upgrades - Server 2000 and Server 2005. While Derby has source code available, and a much faster cycle for introducing new capabilities.

Apache Derby is the only open source, pure Java RDBMS database and APACHE DERBY-OFF TO THE RACES comes from IBM's own database experts and tells how to make the most of Derby and its commercial counterpart IBM Cloudscape. Learn how to support development efforts, install Derby on both Windows and Linux systems, how to understand how programming languages interact with them, and build sample applications step-by-step: everything is here to learn the fundamentals and troubleshoot virtually any problem.

If you've ever been curious about using or integrating Apache Derby (or IBM Cloudscape) into your project, here's the book you'll need... Apache Derby - Off to the Races by Paul C. Zikopoulos, Dan Scott, and George Baklarz. Very well done...

Contents: On Your Marks... Get Set... Go!!! - An Introduction to the Apache Derby and IBM Cloudscape Community; Deployment Options for Apache Derby Databases; Apache Derby Databases; Installing Apache Derby and IBM Cloudscape on Windows; Installing Apache Derby and IBM Cloudscape on Linux; Managing an Apache Derby Database; Security; SQL; Developing Apache Derby Applications with JDBC; Developing Apache Derby Applications with Perl, PHP, Python, and ODBC; "Your Momma Loves Drama" in JDBC; "Your Momma Loves Drama" in Windows; "Your Momma Loves Drama" in PHP; "Your Momma Loves Drama" in Perl; "Your Momma Loves Drama" In Python; Web Site Contents; Apache Derby and IBM Cloudscape Resources; Troubleshooting Hints and Tips; Index

Derby is one of those technologies that has remained "under the radar" for awhile. The Cloudscape database from IBM was released to the open source community under the name Derby, and basically those two packages are the same core code. Cloudscape has a few more add-ons and support from IBM, but if you learn one you learn them both. The authors do a very good job here in helping the reader to understand the architecture and benefits of having a small-footprint embedded relational database system in your application. The start of the book lays the groundwork very well, and establishes the "why" of Derby. But rather than remaining a high-level overview, they dive into the core of the software, showing how to install it, work with it, and how to secure your data. The real value comes when they take a sample ticket application ("Your Momma Loves Drama") and shows how Derby can be integrated the application in a number of different languages. Even if you don't necessarily know Perl, PHP, or Python, you should be able to follow along enough to extrapolate how the concepts can be applied to your platform of choice. After reviewing this book, I've got some ideas on how I'd like to play around with this...

A very solid addition to your programming bookshelf. Between this book and the online resources, you should have everything you need to master the Derby/Cloudscape software.

I graduated from high school and in my IB Psychology class we used this book. It is the best psychology book out there. It's easy to use for advances and beginning psychology students. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

As the Californian listed before me on this page, I have used this text as part of a College course (IB/AP) while in my Senior year of High School. The writing style makes reading quite fast, but Glassman ensures the reader a true grasp of both the overriding essence and various nuances of each perspective. An excellent resource!

William E. Glassman's textbook "Approaches to Psychology" (3rd edition) is an invaluable book for anyone hoping to learn about psychology. I am a year 11 IB student currently studying Psychology and I have found that although this textbook tends to lack when it comes to pictures and diagrams, the content is not only detailed but direct. Other textbooks devoted to Psychology have been more difficult to read, as the majority of information is provided in a roundabout manner.

One of the outstanding aspects of this book is the layout. The IB student is expected to be competent at explaining the historical and cultural aspects, methodologies, theorists etc. for each of the perspectives. This book makes this much easier to accomplish and studying is much more productive!

I highly recommend Glassman's book to anyone with a genuine interest in Psychology.

I'm in high school but enrolled in a college level Psychology course. So far, we've used about 5 different text books and I think this has been the best. It's easy to understand, brief, and to the point. This book has a overview of the five perspectives, which is vital to understanding psychology. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to know the basics but not too terribly much detail. It's been a real help preparing for the IB and AP exams I'm taking this spring!