G Books

I love the entire hairy Maclary series. Very entertaining! My kids love it when I read it with a Scottish accent.

From the minute my 2 year old little boy saw the cover he fell in love with the book! He immediately learned the cute names of all of the dogs and the book is very exciting to him. We highly recommend this for a fun book.

another great kids book for kids, beautifully illustrated, great fun with hilarious rhymes which kids remember easily.

In this adventure Hairy McClary is given a bone by the butcher, but if followed home by his friends, Hercules Morse, Muffin Mclay, Bitzer Maloney, Bottomley Potts and Schnitzel von Krum - Hairy has to walk home in such a way to prevent his friends from getting the bone

Good way of describing big, small, and other concepts to kids. They can see why the dogs gradually get filtered out as Hairy takes the long way home.

Good fun for under 5 years - start reading young and they love them - learning to read them themselves. These also come in toddler style books which is good if you are intending these for an under 2 year old.

Here is another enjoyable episode from the life of the perky little dog called Hairy Maclary.
He has a friend, the butcher, who gives him a bone.
The rhyming text takes over the story of the envy of his friends whose names are listed. Children with other books in this series will recognize them immediately both from their descriptive names and the artwork which brings out the individual breed characteristics. This list decreases as the group moves around the town and encounters different obstacles.
All of this reflects observed doggy behaviour and hazards. It will be with great satisfaction that all small readers see Hairy Maclary get home able to keep and enjoy his bone.

This is a wonderful sequel to HAIRY MACLARY FROM DONALDSON'S DAIRY. In the first book we had Hairy going out for a walk and being joined by five other dogs one by one. This book starts with Hairy at the butcher shop where he receives a great big bone. As he sets out to return to Donaldson's Dairy we see five familiar noses poking out from behind a shop. Soon the five dogs are following Hairy hoping for a chance at the bone. But when ducking through an old billboard Hercules Morse (as big as a horse) gets stuck. You can see where this is going as Hairy continues his journey home.

A wonderful book told with a lilting rhyme and meter that makes it perfect for reading out loud. Hairy and his friends are the stars of a vast array of books that have long been almost unheard of here in the States. Well Hairy and friends are making inroads here and I for one welcome the canine (and feline) invasion. If you have not had a chance to read Lynley Dodd you have been missing something.

Very interesting and helpful. Just getting time to use it and am so happy I bought it. Should be encourageing to make some needed changes in my life.

I am a fan of Dr. Amen's work for many reasons. He has really opened up the science of the mind in profound ways. He is a brain researcher who attended a Christian University. His findings about the human brain will change the way we look at things like mental health, behavioral problems and as this book illustrates, even the nature of the soul/brain relationship. I don't agree with Dr. Amen on all of his conclusions (like doing brain scans on our elected officials so we can see what sort of brain problems they might have), but I have learned quite a bit from his books about the nature of how our brain health affects every part of our lives. Highly Recommended!

give us very good thought of souk

beautiful book

For the first time in my life, BECAUSE of Dr. Amen's book, my outlook on sick & suffering people, is FOREVER altered. I am deeply grateful for this book, for Dr. Amen's work, his compassion, and his graciousness in sharing it with the world. I, like most people, have expended energy on judging certain people, and groups of people. After a huge spiritual & emotional break-through while reading this book, this has changed. I have true compassion and lack of judgement for sick people, because I now understand the cause and effect: healthy brain - healthy person - healthy life. As Dr. Amen says; these people need understanding - not moral judgement. Thank you Dr. Amen, for your work that has drawn me so much closer to God and my true desire in life: compassion, love, and understanding -for all.

This is a wonderful book. Combining science with spirituality. It is very easy to understand. Dr. Amen does it again. Anyone looking for answers should read this book.

Henty, that scarily prolific writer of historical "boy's books," is splendidly fun reading and may be quite different from your expectations. Though this novel begins rather poorly, with various tortured exposition-heavy conversations and stilted dialogue, it improves rapidly and actually gets quite suspenseful in its last third.

A "story of the times of Hannibal" but not the story of Hannibal, the novel follows the first three major battles--all victories--of the Second Punic War: the Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae. Although Hannibal is a character and appears in several scenes, the novel centers around the "young Carthaginian" Malchus, a cousin of Hannibal serving as a captain in his army. Malchus ships out with his fellows who believe in Hannibal's fight against Rome (contrasted with the self-serving, pacifist and greedy policy of Hanno "the Great," a powerful statesman in Carthage) and demonstrates his courage and ability in a variety of actions, including the three battles above but also the siege of Saguntum, a Rome-allied city in Spain, and the perilous crossing of the Alps. In what is perhaps the book's best episode, Malchus is sent back to Carthage by Hannibal to plead for reinforcements so that Rome may be conquered, and falls into a web of suspicion and betrayal, seriously compromising his faith in his homeland. Eventually Malchus will also visit Rome, allowing the novel to contrast the dynamic and vital Rome of republican years with the leisure loving, flabby and deluded Carthage.

Henty weaves his history with his fiction in a relatively odd manner, usually relating the details of an event up front in a solid chunk of historical reporting, then back-tracking to detail Malchus' involvement within the event. This may prove too distracting to readers looking for a well-rounded novelistic treatment of the times (as might be found in Robert Graves, for instance), but it succeeds perfectly in achieving what Henty set out to achieve: namely, interesting young readers in history by making it seem real and exciting.

Everyone, it seems, has heard of Hannibal bringing his army,including the elephants,through the Alps, right to the doorstep of Rome. However, a readable account of Carthage vs. Rome is not easy to find. I've been very happy to find this fascinating historical novel as the best way to teach my two sons, ages 11 and 14, about this time in history. There are some valuable lessons for us all in the book--valor, honor, and how corruption destroys great nations.

Who would have thought that a book written in the 1800s could be so appealing today? Doing a little internet research, I have found that G.A. Henty lived from 1832-1902, and the books he wrote were historical fiction "for boys". He was called "The Prince of Story-Tellers" and "The Boy's Own Historian", which certainly may have been true, but I'm an adult female who loved this tale! The style of writing sounds a little formal and old-fashioned, but it actually helps create a feeling of antiquity, appropriate for its ancient setting during the Punic Wars.

The fictional and lovable hero, Marchus, a relative of the famous Hannibal, accompanies him on the Carthaginian campaign against Rome. I learned so much about Hannibal through this book, yet the majority of the plot involves other adventures that Marchus gets into. He has near escapes from bears, wolves, lions, treacherous tribesmen. In two instances, he escapes with the help of an elephant, and a raft in the subterranean reservoir of Carthage. This was fun stuff, and I am so impressed that this book I found, that is so old it doesn't even have a publication date in it, could be so delightful. Someone could make a great movie out of this!

G.A. Henty was a Victorian gentleman who wrote historical fiction for young people. I learned of him in reading Arthur Schlesinger's autobiography "A Life in the Twentieth Century". Schlesinger credits Henty with awakening an interst in history that was to last a lifetime. I see why. Henty's approach is to imagine a young lad and thrust him into interesting historical periods. The young man possessed of courage, pluck, honesty and compassion finds these attributes necessary to his success in the novel. Much like the Horatio Alger novels of a somewhat later American time, Henty was also conciously teaching the manly virtues. In "The Young Cathaginian" Henty pulls off a slick trick. Our young hero Malchus is a relative of Hannibal the great Cartaginian general who dared to cross the Alps to attack Carthage's great rival, Rome. While Henty admires Hannibal and presents Malchus as virtually flawless, it is clear that Carthage was a corrupt entity and that her deserved defeat was crucial to the growth of Western civilization. This is not a dry history, merely laden with moral overlays. It is also good fun. There is a lion hunt in Africa. A wolf hunt in the Spanish mountains. Escapes through the underground reserviors of Carthage. And countless vivid battles. And a charming little romance. I am glad I stumbled across the Henty output. Sclesinger is right: Henty makes history fun!

A simply outstanding historical novel set in the age of ancient Rome's legendary conflict with the city of Carthage, The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henty is a totally thrilling historical action/adventure tale that will rivet the listener's attention from beginning to end. Superbly and dramatically narrated by William Sutherland, The Young Carthaginian is written with detailed attention to historical accuracy and truly brings to life a long-lost time of Hannibal, the legions of Rome, and the absolute destruction of a great maritime empire. A confidently recommended addition to any personal, school, or community library audiobook collection, The Young Carthaginian is complete and unabridged on eleven compact discs, offering 12 hours, 30 minutes of an impressive, "theater of the mind" quality entertainment experience.

A beautiful (nay, sumptuous) oversized book that bedazzles with both its original paintings and its endless historical illustrations and photographs; but also an excellent introduction to the history of airships, in all countries (that the book is titled "Hindenburg" is unfortunate, as the Hindenburg herself figures into only a small portion of the book). Full but not overwhelming coverage of wartime Zeps is a plus. Both the historian and the fan of 30s art will be deeply pleased.

This is the definitive history of the Airship from it's creation to it's untimely demise and of the future.

The Hindenburg has always fascinated people and the it's firey ending at the Lakehurst is now part of aviation fokelore.

This book plots the track of the Airship and mainly focuses on the Rigid Airship and it's humble beginings on Lake Constance, it's role in the First World War and life before the Second.

As typical of Archbold's works, it is beautifully illustrated throughout and is full of all the technical data needed to understand these magnificent machines.

All nations that developed the Airship are covered and their failings are all laid out to bare. The British experience reads of arrogance and even when the great Dr Hugo Eckner offered his assistance, they turned him down. The United States pushed the envelope too far and even though they had the most modern Airships to date, sadly they too would be put off developing a transport network.

In the end it would be Germany with it's conservatisim and experience that would see out the great Airship era with the globetrotting LZ127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ129 Hindenburg, it's life cut short by that tragic day in 1937. If helium had been used, flights would have continued with the last Airship, the new Graf Zepplin LZ130 and it was used for recon flights just before war was going to break out. When the end came, it was swift and sudden and the great Airship era was over.

I have had this book for over 5 years. When I compare what I paid for it then to how cheaply it is available now, it's a no-brainer...GET IT, especially if you find one in good condition with a nice dust-jacket.

This book is intended to be a BRIEF overview of airships, with a lot of pictures. It's a nice coffee-table type book. Perhaps it is a bit mis-titled, because it deals with many other airships before the "Hindenburg." I would estimate that only 1/4 of the book deals with the "Hindenburg" per se.

This book does not go into great detail about each era, but it will talk about pre-WWI airships and Count Zeppelin, a tiny bit on non-rigids and semi-rigids, WWI airship operations, British rigid experiments (the R-100 and R-101), the "Norge" North Pole trip, the American Rigids (The "Shenandoah" "Akron" and "Macon"), and it spends a lot of time talking about the "Hindenburg's" immediate predecessor, the "Graf Zeppelin," as well as Hugo Eckener, the man who took over after Count Zeppelin passed away.

There are so many beautiful and fascinating pictures and paintings of these airships. The paintings are in color, contributing to giving the reader a good understanding of what these magnificent giants looked like.

Don't expect a lot of detail on each airship; it always leaves me wanting to know more. But again, the design of the book is to give just a brushstroke of the airship era, which it does very very well.

I am a semi-buff on airships, and I would NEVER get rid of this book. It is especially good if you just want an introduction on the era. If you are looking for a more "meaty" book on the subject, you will have to find one that deals with a particular airship or era. For German WWI airships, I highly recommend "The Zeppelin in Combat...A History of the German Naval Airship Division 1912-1918" by Douglas Robinson.

This would be the book to start with on the subject of airships. WELL WORTH THE PRICE!!!

To this day, I don't know why I am so fascinated with the Hindenburg, but I do know that she is an amazing airship to study. Her firey crash as well as some other famous crashes (Macon, Akron, Shenandoah, etc.) are discussed, in detail, in this book. So it's not just the Hindenburg's history, but the whole history of airships in general, right down to the present day Goodyear blimp. I've absolutely enjoyed reading this book cover to cover because of the history that has been detailed throughout the career of the airships of the past. "Hindenburg: The Illustrated History" is worth getting for anybody who loves airships or history's great disasters.

Truly a great book on the by-gone era of airships. Copiously illustrated, "The Hindenburg - An Illustrated History" teaches the reader not only about the one airship that everyone remembers, but also about airships in general.

Count Zeppelin was the grandfather of the Hindenburg, but other designers are chronicled here. Germany, England, and the US all have their airship histories summarized.

The paintings bring to life an age that will never come again . . . when the airship ruled the skies.

Look for this book in auctions if you have any interest in airships.

As with all books in this series, its about big pictures and only a small amount of text. Great for browsing. I enjoyed the fact that architectural style on one page has nothing to do with the next since its alphabetical. In the top 10% of coffee table style picture books I've bought.

it was one of my favourites until i got the phaidon atlas of contemporary architecture but this book is also a good one. 500 houses over the world. quick guide to have information around the world.
ayse gokbakan yildiz, architect

I was thrilled with this book (and all the other mini-Phaidon books: The Art Book, The Movie Book, The Fashion Book, and The Garden Book -- I think that's all). It's absolutely gorgeous with large pictures on each page and just enough text to make it interesting and informative. I love the alphabetical organization that essentially randomizes all the eras and countries, thus making the diversity more apparent. And, of course, IT'S CHEAP! I love it!

This book is absolutley the most amazing book on house architecture I have ever seen. Anyone who is interested in houses and house architecture around the world should have this remarkable work.

Fascinating tour of homes, with most of the really rewarding images revealing the indigenous styles of homes across the globe, including the iglu, the long house, dung hovels, and dozens of other styles that incorporate the folk wisdom of humans across the centuries. The modernist austerities were the least interesting, even more boring than castles from the Hapsburgs. Some of the contemporary puzzle pieces were striking, and each page repaid the time invested pouring over the details captured. I wish that they would double page load, and show a representative interior of each exterior captured here.

really good book. no matter who you are, it will keep you turning pages

wonderful. inspiring. positive thinking.
one of my favorites.
a treasure.

I totally enjoyed this book. Kathy is an inspiration and I wish her nothing but continued success in the future. The book is hard to believe in some points - that so many bad things can happen to one person. It is amazing to see the metamorphasis Kathy goes through in her life and how the total of all of her life's experiences both good and bad have shaped who she is today. She's triumphant!

Kathy's severe hearing loss lead to an early diagnosis of mental retardation: she was also molested, run over, and stricken with cancer all before the age of thirty but she never lost her sense of humor. If You Could See What I Hear provides her life story and how she kept this sense of humor through the darkest of days. A powerful memoir and personal account of hope.

This poignant and beautifully written tale is both inspiring and hysterically funny! An easy read, but brilliantly written, it ties the reader to the book. Without pity, Kathy portrays herself and shows her life through wit and humor that can bring a tear to your eye without making you feel sorry for her. Instead it helps you see your life in better perspective and inspires the reader to attain higher goals. Excellent read.

Book arrived very quickly after ordering. It's a great book that provides a lot of insight. It also has a chapter for person dating the ACOA. I found that helpful as well as I'm sure people's significant others will too.

Do not hesitate to read this book...it has changed my life. This book has rated a solid #1; the best self-help book I have ever read. The reason for how I act and react are exact. This book touched every area of my life from my childhood to adulthood. My experience with alcohol? Alcohol has affected every area of my life: alcoholic parent; drunk driver killed my mother, divorced an alcoholic after 30 years; now raising a child of an alcoholic parent. I am reading this book to my child now; my question to her.."is this helping you"..her response "that is exactly how I feel"..my response..."we can't change the past, but we change the future".

This book helped me to understand my problems with intimacy. It made me aware of the stumbling blocks in the way. Couseling and good books to read on the subject have been so helpful. It will take time and discernment to deal with my distrust, but I want to get well and this book helped me make a plan.

Over 20 years ago my soon-to-be-husband and I read Janet Woititz's "Struggle for Intimacy" together. I had been in an ACA group for a few months and had just met "Mr. Right" and did NOT want to sabotage yet another relationship as I had so many times before.

With this book as our "bible" we hammered out a plan for a sane relationship that has lasted, yes, 20 years. Happily! No kidding!

I have just ordered another three copies of her updated edition "The Intimacy Struggle." I think I have owned, loaned, and given away at least ten copies of these two books over the years, to friends and family.

The other reviews say it all. This is an awesomely clear and direct book, and practical as all getout. My husband and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Woititz.

Buy it.

I have read a good deal on ACoAs, being one myself and having stuggled with the issues inherent in that. All the books make the general statement that "ACoAs have problems in intimate relationships," but none of them went into the whys and wherefores. This book fixes that. It is an easy read and cuts to the chase without going in to a lot of theory, so if you want to get to the heart of the matter, this is the book.

it is surprising to find that so few people have anything to say about this book; Hardy was a giant among mathematicians and at last this book is translated in french...Although it is an old book, the younger author saw that it was updated through 5 editions in the 20th century; this book cannot truly become obsolete because it is about number theory from an elementary viewpoint; so no complex analysis, no modular forms and no proof of Fermat's last theorem either but a wealth of results that could keep you busy quite for a while. Moreover, most of the proofs are still up to date and usable in secondary school or college; most of the proofs about arithmetical functions given in this work have found a new life and home in more recent books such as Natanson's: Elementary methods in number theory (another fine book by the way in which Hardy and Littlewood tauberian theorem is proven via Karamata's method to ensure a density theorem on partitions). The main parts of the book I went through are those on arithmetical functions and series of prime and especially mertens's theorem but there is a lot to learn from it on such subjects as gaussian integers (chapter 12), diophantine equations (chapter 13), Rogers-Ramanujan identities, Jacobi and Euler theorems in the chapter about partitions (numbered 19...), Kronecker's theorem on irrational numbers and on a smaller scale e and pi's irrationality (easy) and transcendence (not so easy) in chapter 11 and of course congruences including a famous theorem on Bernoulli numbers of Von Staudt which gives the fractional part of those enigmatic numbers as a sum of picked inverse of prime numbers . Let say it again: a wonderful book.

It was always claimed that of all the mathematicians who ever lived, Hardy was one of the greatest writers. This book certainly confirms that view. From the very beginning, one thinks, "Wow, this guy REALLY knows what he's talking about." Hardy was, in fact, one of the greatest number theorists of the twentieth century. Hardy gives actual intuitive motivation for almost all of the theorems in the book (intuition is often overlooked by mathematical authors who use the confusing traditional "theorem-proof" approach), and his proofs are elegant and easy to follow. Once, I spoke to the chair of the math department at a major University (Wash U. in St. Louis) and he told me that he reads Hardy and Wright at least once a year to refresh himself on the basics. I would recommend this book to anyone who is learning about number theory for the first time, and wishes to pursue the subject through self-study.

This is an unusual number theory book in that it covers topics of interest to the authors which are not often found in the "standard" introductory treatment. My only mild complaints are: no subject index and some ambiguous and unusual notation here and there.

I agree that this book should be in the library of anyone serious about the topic, however, if you are beginning your study of number theory from scratch there are other books that may provide a better start. I would recommend Joe Roberts "Elementary Number Theory: A Problem Oriented Approach" and/or "An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers" by Niven, Zuckerman, and Montgomery.

Roberts offers a wide spectrum of problems, with detailed solutions, written along the lines of Polya & Szego's "Problems and Theorems in Analysis I & II". Nivens book is a solid traditional introduction.

It is fun to read Hardy and Wright though, it exhibits a style that is sadly missing today.

I have to say in closing that it would be good to ignore some of the previous reviews, specifically ones making reference to "idiots". They're unproductive, miss the point of reviewing, and exhibit a level of ignorance which Mark Twain identified years ago: "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt."

This classic deserves its reputation but be warned that it is not an introduction for mathematical neophytes. The authors take detours (which sometimes are looks ahead) from the main path of development that the sophisticate will enjoy but the novice may not be able to recognize as detours. Examples are the geometry of numbers (introduced in chapter 3), the Farey dissection of the continuum, and trigonometric sums.

The authors also present deeper material than is usually considered an introduction. Their presentations are excellent but require sophistication for the following topics among others: quadratic fields, generating functions of arithmetical functions, Selberg's proof of the Prime Number Theorem, and Kronecker's theorem.

This is a book to buy and keep provided you have the necessary mathematical sophistication.

Final note: this book nicely complements Apostol's Introduction to Analytic Number Theory.

First of all, let me say this about the one star review. Do not let yourself be infuenced by lesser mathematicians. Idiots in my opinion. To give this book one star, you must posses some special kind of mediocracy. Keep your stupidity to yourself Lucas.

No one writes like this anymore. Mathematicians like Hardy have passed. The subject has ballooned, and now you have to specialize within Number Theory. There are fewer and fewer that can posses knowledge of the entire subject of Number Theory. Remember what Harold M. Edwards said. You have to read the classics, and beware of secondary sources. Authors give their own spin on ideas. And who is to say they have a greater or lesser understanding of the subject. Furthermore, who can determine how well can they express themselves. How many mathematicians our days bother to study grammar and literature? The best example is Gauss' Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Would you rather read a book written by Gauss himself, the man that established the subject? Or by some one who learned what some one learned what some one learned over a period of 200 years? Also know what Axler, author of Linear Algebra Done Right, said about reading mathematics books. For a mathematics book, if you spend less than half an hour per page you are going too fast. The last thing i will say is again attributed to Edwards. In his book on Advanced Calculus he encourages the reader to jump chapters. A book does not have to, and sometimes it should not, be read in order. It may take some practice to see how you need to jump around, but you will find that you can maximize your reading by doing so.

There are several point in which this book excels. First, in the writing style. Second, in how many ideas it introduces. Or how good an understanding the reader obtains of Number Theory. It is invaluable to have the big picture. Third, the author has in mind the future material the reader will encounter. He knows you will go beyond this book, and prepares you for what is to come. You do not enter higher courses blind.

The writting style is representative of that of Wiles and Loiville. It will show you how your mathematical writting should be. It takes a lot of practice to learn mathematical formalism and how to write proofs. This is the book to learn from. The author is not afraid to connect the ideas you are learning to other advanced ideas and to mathematical history, unlike present day authors. If you plan to be a mathematician, you must know its history. The writting is in a mathematical sense superfluos. It does not assume you are a genius, but strikes balance between what you should know and what you should be told.

The book is successful in providing you with the big picture, and how ideas you are learning reflect one ideas you will learn or have already learned. Having a big picture of the subject, which he describes in the second chapter, lets you know what you are learning now and puts the entire material in context. Gives you great perspective of the subject. Because a great deal of branches of number theory are discussed, you are not only better equiped to choose which branch might interest you, but it eases the transition to more advanced courses, such as Analytical Number Theory.

The author from the start discusses unanswered questions in Number Theory. I know alot of professors which think that the student should not be exposed to questions that surpass his mathematical knowledge. They are the weak mathematicians. Mathematics is about exploring and breaking limits. You should know what is beyond your reach, and the reach of every one else. The questions that still stand might be answered by some one that was intrigued by the challenge of answering them when they are helpless to do so. Fermat's Last Thorem is such an example. The guy learned it at the age of 10.

The last thing i will say about the book is this. Number theory has one scope. Namely, prime numbers. This book make it clear that the purpose of number theory is to determine the properties of numbers. It discusses the limitations of mathematics in attaining answers to Riemann Hypothesis, Fundamental theorem, trancedental and irrational and algebraic numbers, and so on. The book is, in my opinion, an expansion of the section on unanswered questions. And in doing so many more questions are asked and analyzed. There are prime numbers, and nothing else.

This book has all there is for the novice and experienced
investors ... . It has all the information relevant to the world of investments, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, indices ....
All presented in as simple way as possible to the man in the street. Yet in it's own way I would think even the expert money
managers will hate to give this book a miss!

A must read for anyone wanting to know what investing is all about.

As a financial planner, I am always skeptical of how to books. This book was a huge surprise! There is no fluff or selling. It is straight forward, educational and easy reading. I would recommend that any of my clients read this book to reinforce basic investment principles.

In a dynamic market, with so much noise, investors can get confused and make big mistakes. IA gives clear guidelines that are appropriate to all investors. The author's concise, entertaining writing style is easy to follow and retain. I was surprised at how simple he made some very difficult concepts. This always indicates knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.

Anyone who picks up this book will benefit but only if they apply the principles. An A+ to the author for his wonderful effort. Thank you.

I was surprised how quick paced and understandable this book is to read. Investment strategies can be very dry. But this book is a fast read and I learned a lot from the author.

I have never been able to stay in the market when it got rough. But this book showed me why I need to stay in, even when all the bad news tells me to get out. More important, I learned that if I use a wide allocation of funds, I will actually have less risk. This was a real eye opener for me.

I am very grateful the author took the time to write this book. It will change my entire approach to investing. Now maybe I will actually achieve my objectives. Thanks

A believer in a buy-and-hold approach to mutual funds investing, I am trying to develop an efficient asset allocation plan. I have read useful and informative books such as Bogle on Mutual Funds (by John Bogle) and The Winning Portfolio (by Paul Farrell), and while they provide readers with what they consider model portfolios, I was frustrated by the lack of information on how those asset allocation pie-charts were actually derived. If you are the type of person who prefers to learn how to catch fish than to be given one, then Investment Alchemy provides you with a tangible starting point, and it does so in mere 130 pages.

By perusing this book, you will have a concrete idea of why an efficiently diversified portfolio should minimize the risk (volatility), thus yielding higher returns. Think of Portfolio A and B having $100 each to start with. Portfolio A grows 10% in the first and second year, while Portfolio B grows 19% in the first and 1% in the second. While the average return rates for both portfolios are 10%, the Portfolio A shows higher balance at the end of the second year. The authors' idea of building an efficiently diversified portfolio centers around this concept. You will then learn how to combine different asset classes to develop such an efficient asset allocation plan without having to be too theoretical.

I recommend this book to any mutual fund investors who are trying to establish his/her own investment strategies over a long haul. A basic familiarity with mutual funds and some statistical concepts (such as correlation and standard deviations) will make the reading easier.

Picture a story involving a snarl of relatives and lovers tangled in a web of misunderstandings. If tragedy ensues, you have your standard soap opera. If, on the other end, the results are more comic, you have a P.G. Wodehouse novel. I can't really judge soaps, but it's probably safe to say that they range from good to bad. With Wodehouse, however, the quality is almost always dead-on-great, and never more so than with his Jeeves and Wooster stories, as Joy in the Morning once again demonstrates.

As the novel opens, Bertie Wooster has just emerged from being in the soup once again. What this soup was and how he escaped it is the story that follows. In this case, Bertie is coerced into going to one of his least favorite places, Steeple Bumpleigh, home to his dread Aunt Agatha. (Is there a more terrifying figure in comic fiction than Agatha?) Her husband, Bertie's Uncle Percival, needs Bertie to participate in a ruse that will help cinch a business deal. It is not a job that Bertie relishes, and the only the assurance of Aunt Agatha's absence allows him to screw up the courage to make the trip.

Of course, there are complications. For one thing, Percival's ward Nobby has fallen for Boko Fittleworth, and while the love is mutual, Percival - whose consent is needed for their marriage - has nothing but loathing for Boko. A scheme is needed to win over Percival, and Bertie will be recruited to play a part. Also at Steeple Bumpleigh is Florence Craye, an ex-fiancee of Bertie's who is now engaged to the easily jealous policeman, Stilton Cartwright. An argument and a misunderstanding will find her re-betrothed to Bertie and him a target of Stilton's wrath.

Bertie is a well-meaning but not-so-bright fellow who tends to get into trouble through accident and the manipulation of others. Left alone, life would be easy, but there are too many who force Bertie's involvement. Fortunately, there is his valet, Jeeves, who is able to solve nearly any problem.

The joy of reading a Jeeves and Wooster novel is Bertie's delightful narration with its unique enhancements to the English language. This is a book that is pure fun with no great insights or deep characters. It may be fluff, but it is five-star fluff and a great diversion.

This is a great, funny book. It may be my favorite Jeeves & Wooster story.

It's a given that Wodehouse's plots are completely outlandish or, in the words of another reviewer, like musical comedies. And yet somehow I have found a certain plausibility or coherence within the outlandishness of other of his books, such that I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief. In this case, I felt that the plot devices were weaker than usual, however, and in fact it took me a while to get through this one as a result.

The basic plot elements have been summarized elsewhere, but I will give one example of what I mean, to wit: Bertie's uncle by marriage, Uncle Percy, stands opposed to the marriage of his ward, Nobby, to one Boko Fittleworth. The plan to get Uncle to change his mind involves Bertie verbally assaulting him, to the point where the uncle must be "rescued" by Boko, who just happens to be in the vicinity (outside the uncle's study, for example). Uncle P. will then realize what an upstanding chap our Boko is.

Even within Bertie's cocooned world, this is weak, nor is it the lone instance of evidence that Wodehouse was not at his peak with this one. Still, he does charm readers as usual with Bertie's commentaries, a brilliant mix of goofy slang and highbrow poetic references, often in the same sentence. For better stories, I would recommend "Leave It To PSmith" (5 stars) or "Pigs Have Wings" (4 stars).

Joy in the Morning, also published under the name of Jeeves in the Morning, is perhaps the best of the Bertie and Jeeves novels. I can think of no higher praise for any book.

All the elements for a successful Bertie and Jeeves novel are here: love affairs go off the rails, imperiling Bertie's status as a bachelor; Bertie's actions to right things fail; and Jeeves comes to the rescue. In addition, there are some special features: Bertie's Uncle Percival, Lord Worplesdon, the second husband of Bertie's Aunt Agatha (the one who, as I recall, "chews ground glass and conducts human sacrifices at the full moon") makes his only appearance in the Wodehouse oeuvre, as I believe is also the case for Boko Fittleworth, whose actions go awry just as often as Bertie's.

It's all held together, of course, by Bertie's extraordinary narration.

I have read this book perhaps a dozen times, and I still laugh aloud at least once on nearly every page.

P.G. Wodehouse could write a phonebook and make it brilliant. But this story is so incredibly good that words fail me. He weaves farce upon satire upon mystery upon suspense upon hilarious premise and delightful payoff until the reader is dizzy with laughter and awe. The usual suspects are here: Bertie Wooster and his butler, Jeeves, plus frightening debutants, pompous authority figures, shrill relatives, troublesome children, and yet another pleasant English country village...pleasant, that is, until Bertie & Co. come along. Wodehouse was the absolute master of the English language, of humor, and plot construction. This book is as good an example of his mastery as there is. My only regret is that the reading experience passes by too quickly.