And this is not just a book of bulky knits to be made on needles carved from broomstick handles; there are all weights of yarn, and patterns for summer wear as well as winter wear. Vests, cardigans, pullovers, more.

There are not a lot of books of sweaters for beginners, so this is a welcome volume to have. But the variety and style means that this book will be one you will come back to, again and again, no matter how expert you become at knitting.

Take an independently wealthy, magnanimous old fellow and surround him with a group of close friends. Send them together on a journey of desire to explore the world about them, meet new people, and experience the fullness of life, and you essentially have the plot of Pickwick Papers. The plethora of characters Dickens introduces along the way add considerable color to the narrative, not only because they come from such a vast array of backgrounds, but because they themselves are colorful in their own right:

The first and most obvious example might be that of Mr. Alfred Jingle, the loquacious vagabond rapscallion who rescues the Pickwickians from an altercation with a feisty coach driver. One of Mr. Pickwicks cohorts, Mr. Snodgrass, receives a blow to the eye during the incident, after which Mr. Jingle is pleased to suggest the most efficacious remedies: "Glasses round-brandy and water, hot and strong, and sweet, and plenty-eye damaged, sir? Waiter! Raw beef-steak for the gentleman's eye-nothing like raw beef-steak for a bruise, sir; cold lamp-post very good, but lamp-post inconvenient-damned odd, standing in the open street half an hour with your eye against a lamp-post-eh-very good-ha! ha!" While Pickwick reads the legend of Prince Bladud by candlelight, we find this description of King Hudibras: "A great many centuries since, there flourished, in great state, the famous and renowned Lud Hudibras, king of Britain. He was a mighty monarch. The earth shook when he walked-he was so very stout. His people basked in the light of his countenance-it was so red and glowing. He was, indeed, every inch a king. And there were a good many inches of him too, for although he was not very tall, he was a remarkable size round, and the inches that he wanted in height he made up in circumference." The young surgeon, Benjamin Allen, is described as "a coarse, stout, thick-set young man, with black hair cut rather short and a white face cut rather long [...] He presented altogether, rather a mildewy appearance, and emitted a fragrant odour of full-flavoured Cubas." Dickens notes that the casual visitor to the Insolvent Court "might suppose this place to be a temple dedicated to the Genius of Seediness" and whose vapors are "like those of a fungus pit." Seated in this luxuriant ambience, we find an attorney, Mr. Solomon Pell, who "was a fat, flabby pale man, in a surtout which looked green one minute and brown the next, with a velvet collar of the same chameleon tints. His forehead was narrow, his face wide, his head large, and his nose all on one side, as if Nature, indignant with the propensities she observed in him in his birth, had given it an angry tweak which it had never recovered." A final sample from a list of worthy characters too long to mention might be Mr. Smangle, the boisterous whiskered man whom Pickwick encounters in debtors prison: "This last man was an admirable specimen of a class of gentry which never can be seen in full perfection but in such places; they may be met with, in an imperfect state, occasionally about the stable-yards and public-houses; but they never attain their full bloom except in these hot-beds, which would almost seem to be considerately provided by the legislature for the sole purpose of rearing them [...] There was a rakish vagabond smartness and a kind of boastful rascality about the whole man that was worth a mine of gold."

The book itself is a goldmine full of textures, personas, venues, and idiosyncrasies of a bygone age. These are delight to behold, as the reader is thus invited to enjoy experience and descriptive beauty for their own sakes. Plot largely takes a backseat to the development of relationships, which can be seen as a myriad of subplots contributing to a never-ending story. Numerous vignettes which are incidental to the narrative add another level of richness, and it seems clear that Dickens offers them for an enjoyment all their own. There is something of "l'art pour l'art" throughout the whole work which expresses a love of language and a love of human nature. As Dickens might have summed it up, "All this was very snug and pleasant."

Dickens' fame and popularity were forever established with the introduction of his greatest comic characrter, the immortal Sam Weller as Mr Pickwick's servant. Pickwick Papers contains some of Dickens' greatest characters: Mr Pickwick, the most interesting title character; the strolling actor Jingle and his friend Job Trotter; Sam's father Tony Weller who battles with the red-nosed Rev Stiggins; and the Fat Boy.

Memorable scenes include Christmas in the country, a Parliamentary election, and the famous court trial, which Dickens frequently recited on his reading tours.

I highly recommend this book if you've never read Dickens before. This is a must-have for Dickens fans.

There's Calliope, a one-hit novelist's muse really is one of the muses. He rapes and abuses his muse -- bad news when her ex comes to the rescue. Creepy, creepy story. Best of all, the collection includes the script to this story.

A Dream of A Thousand Cats... A charming tale that shows what cats dream of, and why those dreams will never be reality.

A Midsummer Night's Dream .. The real Oberon, Titania and Puck (and other fairies) attend the first performance of Shakespeare's classic play. Simply magical with superb art by Charles Vess.

Facades ... The life of a has-been superheroine. It takes a silly and forgotten character and makes her painfully human.

All of these stories are must-reads -- each told with different styles. What a wonderful way to sample what comics can be.

The second tale "Calliope" is much better, but is still missing that Gaiman magic. It does however, introduce us to one of Sandman's great loves and mother of his only child. It's a good story, but it's unoriginal.

The third tale is the real treat. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" takes off from a chapter in "Doll's House" where Dream tells William Shakespeare to write 2 plays for him. Shakespeare and his troop of actors perform Midsummer Night's Dream on a grassy hill in the English Countryside for the actual fairies that are represented in the play. It's a wonderful story and the art is just breathtaking.

The last one, "Facade", doesn't include Dream. Instead it focuses on an obscure super-heroine of the 60's and how she longs for a normal life which is granted by Death. It's a moving story, the kind of super-hero tale that only Neil could write. Super powers may be great, but being a normal person would be much more appealing sometimes.

All in all, Dream Country is not the best collection of Sandman stories, but "Midsummer Night's Dream" is the single best Sandman issue and actually won a slew of awards. It's worth checking out for that tale alone.

Second in the Sandman comic book series, The Doll's House is much better than its predecessor, Preludes and Nocturnes. I find that with most Sandman stories, you read the whole thing just going "wow, this is really cool"...and then just when you thought it couldn't get better, at the end Neil Gaiman suddenly ties it together and leaves you absolutely breathless.

The Doll's House is probably the most disturbing Sandman, along with P&N, but it's also one of the most beautiful, one of the best. It features the first appearance of Dream's sister/brother Desire, and the story of Dream and Nada, and this guy called the Corinthian who's going to a Cereal Convention. There's something kinda weird about his eyes. You'll see...

The memoir, which is largely a tribute to her mother, chronicles Ilyasah's life from her father's death to her mother's death. She begins by mentioning the Little Family (her father's family) kept their distance in early years and how her immediate family was largely sustained by members of the local mosque, close friends, her mother's relatives, and high profile celebrities who showed her mother kindness and support in a time of need. Despite the generosities of others, it was her mother's resolve and personal sacrifices that kept the family together. She rehashes childhood memories of private school, summer camp, sisterhood bonding, and coming of age into adulthood. She speaks of her first kiss, her juvenile experiences with prejudice/racism, her loss of virginity from rape, the many career changes, and the loves of her life--one of which was an NBA player that she thought she might marry. These memories are simplistically and rather briefly written in a matter-of-factly type manner-almost like it's a series of flashbacks. The only exception is the heart-wrenching section where Ilyasah tells of her mother's battle for life after the fire set by Ilyasah's nephew, Malcolm, Quibillah's son. I felt her pain through the pages of the novel and my heart goes out to her family.

With the exception of a few events, I found Ilyasah's life to be quite ordinary and found myself wanting to learn more about the "holes" in the novel. For example, she mentions that she never had visited her father's gravesite until she was an adult in college. In fact, she did not know the gravesite's location upon arriving at the cemetery and just wandered around until she found it. I suppose I wanted to know why they never visited his grave as a family unit, even for Father's Day (considering all attempts made by her mother for a 'normal' mainstreamed life). The only explanation offered was that it would be too painful for her mother.

I found it equally extraordinary that her mother hires a home tutor to supplement their private school education ensuring they are properly and completely taught African history, Arabic, etc. but then Ilyasah admits to having to learn of her father's political ideologies, beliefs, and struggles by taking a humanities class on Malcolm X in college. It is only then that she comes to truly appreciate and comprehend his influence and effect on society. Surely since her father has his honorable place in American history, it almost seemed almost like an injustice to neglect this part of her heritage for so long. Despite what this reader thinks, I am sure Mrs. Shabazz, or "Mommy" as she is referred to throughout the book, had her reasons. I am not second-guessing her [Mrs. Shabazz] judgment, just asking for clarification that is not readily apparent in the book. Ilyasah tries to explain by stating that her mother taught them that he [Malcolm] was "Daddy" at home, nothing more and nothing less, which is totally justified.

I, too, was disappointed that the book concludes at Mrs. Shabazz's death because I ended up have more questions than when I started about Ilyasah and her family. I wanted to learn more about the Little family, Quibillah's FBI encounter (conspiracy to assassinate Louis Farrakhan), her sister's lives, and Malcom (the grandson). From my understanding Ilyasah is working on a second novel about her parents, perhaps my questions will be answered in the upcoming body of work. ...

This is the story of Tree-ear who is an orphan in Twelfth-Century Korea. He has lived under a bridge near a small potters' village and has been raised by Crane-man, a homeless widower. Crane-man has raised Tree-ear with love, teaching him those lessons needed for survival. Eventually, Tree-ear longs to become a potter. One day, Min gets a chance to provide a service for the village's best potter. It is a service which could eventually bring about the fulfillment of his dreams, but which could do just the opposite.

There are two real strengths to the novel. The first is the historical aspect. Park did a wonderful job of recreating Twelfth-Century Korea. Also, the relationships depicted are apt and insightful. I only had one small problem with the book. One legend related in the novel is a Masada-like story of a mass-suicide. The "bravery" of the women who chose death over a rough life is lauded. The message sent in that story is never refuted, and I've never liked that message or thought that it should be a strong message sent to children. Nevertheless, that isn't the primary message of the novel, and the novel very good, though not great. If you like this novel, you will probably also like Yang-fu of the Upper Yang-tze.

Although not style-specific, this book is more aligned with Chicago than with AP but is a useful accompaniment to either. It is logically arranged, well indexed, and easy to fill up with flags and highlights.

I don't know any editor who wouldn't agree that this is a must-have.

In a headline, should both words in a hyphenated compound be capitalized? Words into Type lets you know. Does one acquiesce "to," "with," or "in" something? Words into Type has the answer. Should a noun before a gerund always be possessive? Words into Type is ready with reassuring guidance.

As this edition of Words into Type approaches the end of its third decade, portions of it may seem quaintly out of date. Other books can give you a more current account of the printing process, for example. But for matters of style--tables, footnotes, typography, copy editing, and much else besides--no other book gives better guidance than this underappreciated volume.

As an editor, my reference shelf is brimming with style guides, and Words into Type is the most dog-eared among them. A professional writer or editor would make do with nothing less.