N Books

If you want to hear the truth about the old days, here it is. This was a perfect example of what many people in El Barrio saw and/or did. Its so real that if you read certain passages slowly, and then close your eyes, you could actually see how it went down. This book can help you look deep and realize that we, in this day and age, have it 50 times better than our fathers and grandfathers. Lets thank our stars and our parents. Praise to you "Don" Piri.

Down These Mean Streets is the story of Piri Thomas' journey into adulthood. The book is set in Spanish Harlem in the 1940s. The author's writing style is refreshing and lyrical. He uses some Spanish words here and there(readers might find the glossary in the back of the book helpful), and kicks in a few slang words as well, which makes the dialogs that much more genuine.

Piri struggles through poverty, family troubles, and desperately wanting to belong. He fights with being a dark skinned Puerto Rican during a time when racism was strong, and trying to find his place as neither black nor white. Piri did some not-so-good things in his life, being in a gang, drug addiction, and armed robbery among other things, but throughout it all it is easy to tell that Piri is a good guy at heart.

Overall, this is a captivating story. You might find yourself wondering what you would have done faced with the same situations. I even found myself rooting for Piri at times. This book is still a very accurate depiction of "the hoods" of New York, despite being published for the first time about 40 years ago.

I was sad to have to finish the book, and in the end I felt like I knew Piri. I look forward to re-reading this book over the years. It is truly a classic. Everyone should read it. Anyone can find something in the story that they will be able to relate to.

This book really told me what it was like to live in Harlem in the 40s. The discrimination and racism is real and raw (although Mr Thomas does get a little jaded and think all white people are bad). The way he describes coming off heroin is realistic, colorful, and explosive. This whole book is very alive, as a memoir. It was funny to see the slang they used back then!

I've read this book more than a few times and have taught it to different level readers a few extra times. There was one high school student who came to me after the book was done and told me, "This is the first book I ever finished." Even if it's not the first book you've read, you'll find writing that is fearless, honest, and powerful. You won't forget it, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to share it with someone else.

Grabbed it off my english teachers shelf junior year of high school, loved it so much I never gave it back. This is an amazingly wonderful book. Vivid writing style...I could see every last detail in my head. It was like a movie in my brain. Love it.

A positively adorable book, from its hilarious and sweet story to the bright illustrations. Great for read-alouds, as kids instantly like the somewhat stuffy police officer and his whimsical dog. Excellent message.

this is the book our 16 month old picks up every morning when he wakes up and wants to read... a great story.

I absolutely LOVE this book...............I have my special copy, and I am 'over 37'........and I also give it to special people in my life. It is delicately beautiful....and....lets us all know that puppies are more human than human beings.....

I use Officer Buckle and Gloria with kindergartners when I teach my humane education classes. I found it well-written because it was "engaging" for the students, keeping the attention of the children as it moved forward to its happy conclusion. The colorful illustrations throughout the book were great for helping communicate the action. I recommend it for pre-K and K children as a way to enhance their love and appreciation of dogs! Donna Forst, M.A., Education Coordinator, Hawaii Dog Foundation

I'm substitute teaching and I just read this book to a bunch of first graders. I was cracking up laughing all the way through (the kids were a bit puzzled). Cute book and entertaining for all ages - nevermind the ages 4-8 designation. The illustrations are priceless.

First, I want to be clear that this review pertains to the CD that comes with Runny Babbit. My 7-year-old son checked the Runny Babbit book from the library, and we read it and loved it. We'd pause to figure out what the words "should be." When he received money for his birthday, he wanted to buy a copy of the book. I made the mistake of suggesting he purchase the book that comes with the CD. THE CD IS AWFUL!!! The narrator sounds like he has a head cold and should have called in a sick day, but showed up at the studio anyway. There are only 12 poems on the CD, and it only runs about 10 minutes. (I know, that's like the joke about the restaurant that served lousy food, and such small servings!!! But it adds to the feeling of being completely ripped off by the CD.) It is not worth buying!!! Just buy the book without the CD and either read it to your child aloud or have your child read it; the experience will be much more worthwhile.

This book is the last that Shel Silverstien wrote, it took him twenty years.When you see how this book is written, you will understand why it took him so long. After he died his family compiled the entire thing as a project of love.
I highly recommend this read, my children love it and it is eduactional. Since it is all backwords, it forces children to think about every word and how it should be instead of how it is. It is fun to read as is and switch around and read as it should be. I had to add this to my children's collection, since it is a one of a kind and Shel's final book.

This book had my son rolling on the floor with laughter. There's one poem in particular that we have to read every time we open the book. It never fails to get his funny bone. I would recommend this for children who are reading. Younger children will probably not get the humor intended.

Do you like jokes? Well I've got just what you're looking for. READ Runny Babbit. It is the funniest book ever. Instead of saying all the right things he says all the wrong things like "here is my bat" insead of "where is my hat". It is so funny. Read to find out why the book is funny. You will love this book. So READ IT! Recommended for kids who love jokes.

In a wave of nosthalgia, I bought this Shel Silvertein book. As a little kid I loved "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and the other works. This has to be the best, though.

While obviously it is a children's book, adults love it, too. It tickles the tongue and the spirit. When I took it to the office we took turns reading from it and laughed silly. It really lightened the atmosphere.

Also a warning: You will me tompelled, no cempted to wange you chords after beading this rook.

Prior to September 11, 2001, the burning of the General Slocum was New York City's worst disaster in terms of casualty rate. An estimated 1300 Lower East Side residents, most of them members of St. Mark's Lutheran parish, boarded the steamer on the morning of June 15, 1904 for the annual church picnic at Eatons Neck, Long Island. Barely two hours later, a blaze broke out in a storage compartment, possibly ignited by a carelessly thrown match or cigarette. The steamboat immediately became a floating death trap: although the Slocum had passed a recent safety inspection, the life preservers were rotted, the fire hoses were damaged, and wires immobilized the lifeboats. The captain, William Van Schaick, had also never put the crew through a fire drill. By the time the ship was beached on North Brother Island, over a thousand passengers had been burned to death or drowned. The public and the 321 survivors demanded justice, but never got it. The inspector who certified the Slocum as safe and the ship's owners, who had shied from the expense of maintaining the safety equipment, were not punished for their negligence. Only Captain Van Schaick received a prison term of ten years, but the federal parole board released him after three.

Edward T. O'Donnell has done a first-rate job in his coverage of this forgotten calamity. In addition to recounting the final moments of the doomed ship and its passengers, he explores the corruption of government officials, the callous arrogance of Gilded Age big business, and other factors that contributed to the tragedy and its aftermath. He also helps the reader understand why, considering the high death toll, the General Slocum disaster was forgotten so quickly. His research sources are impeccable: he interviewed elderly survivor Adella Wotherspoon and obtained access to a detailed scrapbook that her family maintained for years. In my opinion, O'Donnell's fast-paced writing style and attention to detail has rescued this story of devastating loss, incomparable heroism, and appalling institutional arrogance from its undeserved obscurity.

"Ship Ablaze" helps fill in gaps of history that for one reason or other our parents, grand-parents, uncles and aunts. I grew up in that neighborhood and attended the LCMS (Trinity) Lutheran Church on 9th St. and Ave. B., yet I had to wait until late in life to learn of this disaster and the long term impact it had on the area. While the congregation I belonged to was not in worship fellowship with St. Mark's, I am certain that one would find a history of humanitarian fellowship at the time. But, these would be in the old records of that congregation written in German script. We need not only researchers, but multilingual researchers, in this incident as although there were those born in America, they lived a German life. My generation was the first not to speak German from birth. When I went to Germany to live for a while, I find myself very much at home despite the fact that this was post WWII Germany. If there are researchers interested out there who are fluent in German, a place they might want to look at is the resources of the NY Public Library and Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis (records of the original Trinity on microfilm).

An excellent book about the General Slocum disaster, a 1904 steamboat fire that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly women and children on a church outing. Absolutely mesmerizing from start to finish.

I think this is the year as a reader, as a watcher of television and news, that I've finally reached my endpoint as concerns human disasters. I've always been interested to an extent of this type of story...if we weren't newspapers would not fare well. But I started picking up more of these books after the making of the movie, Titanic, and it's about 7 years later, and I am pretty sure I've had it. Nothing about the writer's abilities, just between the constant onslaught of real life disasters with the hurricane season now ending, the tsunami of last year, constant reportage on this ridiculous war in Iraq, and normal everyday life, I cannot take on any more sorrow and of course, the stupidity and greed that goes with these stories. I didn't even finish this one. If you like this genre, and this type of reading doesn't depress you deeply, as it did me, then this book is for you.

This is not the 'ostrich' burying it's head. It's rather I decided to stop rubbernecking in this manner. I don't do it when there are fires or car accidents, so I don't know why this should be anything different. If I am interested in it from an engineering or scientific view of things, as occurred with the 1927 dynamiting of the New Orleans levees, then I'll go for the history. I know this stuff happened, and where it is absolutely necessary to know more for family research or whatever, fine, I can look it up online. This is not the type of reading that I consider as being of benefit for me, nor is it entertaining to read about the needless deaths of so many. There are other things I'd rather do and read than books of this genre, though it is obvious that as with true crime, this is a popular genre which will not be going away soon.

Karen Sadler

This disaster has been hidden from historical references better than anything I've ever come across. Over 1,000 people die horribly, mostly women and children, and the following has occurred:

The 2004 Microsoft Encarta DVD Encyclopedia makes absolutely no reference to this event.

The book "New York Times Page One" does not show this as one of it's important front page dates.

The book "Chronicles of the 20th Century" (1300+ pages) only makes mention of the ship's owners being found negligent, not the event itself.

The largest loss of life from a single disaster from 1904 until 2001 and they can't mention it! Thankfully, this book does it justice and brings the hidden truth to light.

If your a Java 2 developer then you need this on your bookshelf. It contains an enormous amount of useful information, examples, etc. for all the classes in java.applet, java.awt, and java.beans. You gotta have it!

The 1.st sentence of the preface says: "This book is intended as a reference rather than a tutorial". Well for an experienced Java programmer this is certainly true, but for a novice who has just grasped the fundamentals of the language and starts to write down his first lines of code this book is an excellent tutorial. Every class has a description and practically every method of every class has its example code where nearly every line is documented, with links to related methods. Looking into these examples one can quickly learn tips and tricks smoothing the learning curve a lot. The Chan's book is miles ahead, in my opinion, the unuseful example codes one can freely download from the Sun's internet pages, full of magic words comining from blue skyes not documented at all, where one has to figure out what any of them is useful for and where you are on your own. One more time: what I say is true for a novice; the senior Java programmer may feel at his ease with the API's documentation of the Sun's JDK.
My last warning: since in Java things change often this kind of books goes into obsolescence quicky. For instance: my copy is the 5th edition (October 2001) and it lacks completely the new Collections class framework.

This book really helps with a huge amount of information and examples for all of the classes in java.io, java.lang, java.math, java.text, and java.util. Wonderful reference book!

This is required on every Java developers bookshelf. It is a wonderful reference.

I strongly recommend this book to all Java users of all levels because no other book describes all classes of java.lang, java.io, java.net, java.util, java.text and java.math packages better. Every class, every method and every exception is explained by very understandable language with good and useful examples. There is no Java language problem you cannot solve with this book.

This book is absolutely amazing. My mother got this book for me when I was about 17 and just really starting to bud out and become an artist. Dan's work was absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring. His colorful life and tragic death spark something in you to go out and change the world.

This is a dense, rich book of images and words left by Dan Eldon, one of those brilliant, outsized people who burn through life like a flare and are gone. He surrounded himself with beauty and horror and tried to both record and to make some sense of his experiences and the constant, jarring disparity between the extremes of life.
If you love photography and art or are just drawn to precocious brilliance and the intense energy of people who are present in every moment of their lives, you should own this book.

After seeing this book in a Borders store, I decided to buy it. I couldn't put it down, page after page offers so much of the author, yet offered so much to the reader. It makes your own imagination soar again, and as a fellow photographer, it gave me a kick in the butt I needed to start shooting again. The vision of Dan Eldon was not only through a lens, but through his heart as well. He accomplished a great deal in a short life, and definitely contributed to the bettering of our world. His photographs of Africa, combined with the scrapbook like additions of text and objects could be considered a new form of documentary photography. I strongly urge anyone who is interested in travel or photojournalism to get this book and have it transform your outlook on life.

Eldon's story of the war-torn Somolia is as much an artwork as it is an engaging story. This "book" is a reproduction of photojournalist Dan Eldon's journal from his travels in the most impoverished regions of Africa. Part insightful reading, part artistic work, this book should be on anyone's reading list who wants to know more about the world we don't see everyday, and it truly makes one think about all we have, and all Eldon lost...5 out of 5 starts easily!

I bought this book upon it's release in 1997. I can remember allowing the contents of this memoir to captivate me for hours on end. I lent my copy to a friend shortly thereafter and subsequently forgot about it. I recently ordered a replacement and I must say, this book is even more compelling than I ever remembered. Dan Eldon was a profound visionary, an articulate statesman and a devoted caretaker. As a Reuters photo-journalist, he traveled the world and served as a dipomatic embassador to many, yet his life was taken prematurely in a stoning riot in Somalia. He experienced more in his brief 21 years than most of us will over an entire lifetime. A MUST HAVE.

Namaste John. Kasto Cha??

You have made all Nepalese indebted with your incomparable deeds. You are true hero in our hearts. Yes, we salute you from the core of our heart.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. John Wood does what all of us dreamers out there imagine we could do: quits his excellent job at Microsoft to do his part in saving the world. Wood's style of writing is so smooth and easy to read, he never bores you. If you're at all familiar with the inside workings of the Microsoft company (my boyfriend interned there, so I am), you'll get a good laugh here and there when he talks about someone like Steve Ballmer and some other inside jokes. I highly recommend you read this book if you have any interests at all in poverty alleviation and humanitarian aid.

There aren't too many people who can mock Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates. John Wood certainly did that with humour and fairness. Besides gaining insights on life at Microsoft's top tier and life in China as an expat, you will gain the most important perspective ever. That is life as a child in a less fortunate country.

This is a gripping book about a Social Entrepreneur and his work. Share in Wood's experiences, triumphs and setbacks as you read through chapters worth its weight in gold. At the end, I took to heart his message. And that is testament to the content and writing.

Thank you John for your work, and your work at RoomToRead.org.

I read John Wood's "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", shortly after reading "Three Cups of Tea" and hearing Greg Mortenson speak. I found each book fascinating in its own way, but John Wood's tale was so instructive. His expertise in setting goals and finding solutions and funding sources spoke to me. I head up a small charitable agency that works with refugees and Woods' insights and suggestions are invaluable.
What a way to go if you bring business skills like Woods, or if you are an amateur like me. Read, enjoy, learn and apply your new knowledge/
John McLevie

great read about taking chances, following your heart and making a difference. if this story doesn't inspire you to reach out and help your community, you probably are too self absorbed. better written than three cups of tea.

I haven't actually read this book in many years but it was a favorite of mine as a child. I remember my mother reading it to me night after night after night and then taking a trip into Boston to see all of the places mentioned. It's a great story and the illustrations are beautiful. I now use it as a gift for new moms to read to their children.

Prior to a planned trip to Boston, I purchased Make Way For Ducklings for my grandchildren who were three and a half and five and a half at the time. Their mom was running in the Boston Marathan. Knowing that we would be taking them to the Public Gardens and they would see the "ducklings"..this was a perfect history lesson written so well for little ones and adults to learn...Highly recommended

This book is simply sublime. I had it as a child, got it for my own children over 25 years ago, and now am buying a copy for my new grandson. Everything about this book is wonderful!

This classic picture book details the lives of the Mallard family in the Public Garden of Boston. This is an excellent read for kids of all ages, and is a good introduction to Caledecott books.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard explore all the nooks and crannies of Boston and the Back Bay, before settling on the perfect place to raise their family. A true love letter to the Boston of 60 years ago (complete with Irish cops!), it is a classic that speaks to people from everywhere, and families worldwide, on the love and nurturing that parents show for their children.

I haven't read past the fourth chapter and I have talked about this book to my clients, friends, and family. I initially intended to give this book to my 22 year old sister after reading it, but now, I plan on buying a copy for her and about 15 other people. While some people might think that the only thing making the book successful is the target market - obviously it's a smart route to take. If that one negative reviewer had done any research they would know that women are not only the most uneducated in making financial decisions, but they are also the sex that has been proven to live longer and need that education. Basically this is an awesome book and I plan on celebrating it as essential part of making women feel comfortable when dealing with financial situations.

Although I am still unwilling to give up my expensive haircuts, On My Own Two Feet really made me take a step back and look at my spending and saving situation. It inspired me to make some changes and think about my spending differently.
This book is perfect for all of those ladies out there with little interest and/or time to study the nuts and bolts of personal finance. It gives you straightforward advice and explains the bare essentials of what you need to know - no more and no less. Want to know exactly what portion of your salary you should be saving? What type of fund to put your retirement money into? This book tells you flat out. I highly recommend it!

I read one review that said this book didn't say anything new and I would have to say that I completely disagree with that. Perhaps it did not bring up anything new for that person because maybe they have a better handle on their finances, but for someone who doesn't and who has not received any financial advice this is a fantastic book! I have my finances pretty under control and grew up in a house where i was made pretty financially responsible from a young age, but being young and dumb in college I forgot a few things that this book reminded me of. The section on investing is great and will be new material for most people who read it. It is a very clean and easy read and everything is explained in plain english. Come on ladies, get your financial act together and stand on your OWN TWO FEET!

I absolutely LOVED this book. I saw this book in my community library a few months ago, and liked the cover, so I decided to check it out. Little did I know it would change my life! It changed the way I looked at budgeting, and taught me many different things--HOW to save your money, WHERE to save your money, and WHEN to save your money, among other things...and made it all easy to understand. I am 16 years old, and am going to college next year, so this book will be a great help to me, especially in the budgeting area. This book will be a lifetime finance companion for me! =)

I really didn't have any expectations when I read this book. I expected a boring book about finances, which I would probably only read half of-- and with stuff I could not understand.

Boy, was I wrong.

This book changed my life-- for the better! I owe this book everything... it explained to me what my PARENTS couldn't explain... and that's because no one ever told them!

I FINALLY understand money. And I'm giving it as a gift to everyone I know-- regardless of gender.

This is the most life-altering book I've ever read! There's not a better one on Amazon.

This product was extemely helpful in getting me ready for my twins. They were born 11 weeks eary and I was much more prepared for the NICU and what the care would involve for the hospital stay for my boys. I would suggest others with multiples or complications read it.

This book was full of useful information that helped me feel more calm after learning my niece would come early.

This was a very good book. It helped my daughter and I better understand what was going on in the NICU and with my grandson and why things are done a certain way. It lets you know the criteria that your baby needs to meet before he or she can come home. It also talked about Kangaroo Care, which the NICU my grandson was in, never metioned until we brought up the subject.

The down side was alot of the book also pretained problems with multiple births,so we could skip alot of pages that didn't pretain to us.

All in All I would recommend this book to preemie parents.

Pros: great information about what to expect, comprehensive data on outcomes and risks, talks about all stages (antepartum, delivery, NICU, early childhood, etc).

Con: 578 pages!!! And every chapter repeated some information from other chapters. The foreward suggests reading only the chapter that relates to you, and warns you against reading the whole book, but what a dumb suggestion - Of course I want to know everything! So I read the whole book, which repeats itself about 30%. For nervous fathers-to-be (and mothers too), reading almost 600 pages to get 200 pages worth of information is not worth it. My wife read the Dr Sears "Preemie" book (much shorter) while I read this one and she liked it. I was worried I wouldn't even get a chance to finish it before the baby came, which just piled on more stress - just know what you are getting in to when you buy this book.

If I had to make a recommendation - FIRST read one of the shorter books, if it doesn't answer what you want to know, THEN buy this monstrosity.

My baby is a micro-preemie that was born at 24 weeks and 1 day gestationally. He is now 28 weeks gestational age. The NICU loaned me a copy and I pretty much devoured it.

This book was wonderful in letting me know what to expect and where my preeemie was developement wise. He has had two surgeries (for a collapsed lung and PDA) and the book helped to calm my fears and inform me of the process. The book seems to cover every issue, even when the preemie goes home and what the future looks like for him/her.

I would recommend this to any parent with a preemie.