I was looking around for a good book when I found this book. I gave it a read and I liked it a lot! It tells how Tanis and Flint met and the relationship growing between Laurana and Tanis. It explains why Tanis despises the Qualinesti and it tells how good Flint was at metalsmithing before he retired.
It is a good mix of fantasy and mystery. I'm proud to say it figured out who the real murderer was before they tell you by figuring out motives and taking in clues. But it isn't easy! (in other words it is a good read for mystery fans)
I've read 3 of the other meetings books and am working on the other 2, But this by far is the best one of the 6. If your getting any of the meetings Sextet series don't you dare forget to get this one. This is really good. I can't believe a paleontologist and a teacher of agricultural journalism wrote this. (most other books seem to be written by people who spend a lot of their time writing...)

This story is a perfect example of how a book series can be written by more than just one author. Since Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman started the Dragonlance novels over a decade ago, fans have been enthralled by the stories of the people of Krynn. The people were thirsting for more and now they have got it! Stories from all the heroes and villians were brought into a new life. This book is just a perfect example of this. In the Legends Trilogy parts of Tanis and Flint's past was discussed, but the true story was never told. Mark Anthony and Ellen Porath have told a story that would be Flint's liking. They put the peices of Tanis's relationship with his family and his love for Laurana. Also Flint and how he came to know Tanis and the the Speaker of the Suns. Finally they gave the elves a culture and class that had not been reveiled. But with that culture it showed the dark side that the elves have. I would reccomend this book to any Dragonlance reader

I found this book very entertaining. Probably one of the more better books in the dragonlance sage, other than the ones written by W&H. It was a good read, complete with humor, intrigue, and action. The book went into the life of Flint Fireforge before meeting the half-elf, Tanis. Upon meeting, the two grew to be quick friends. But when Tanis is accused of murder, Flint has to help him get clear. I felt that the book was good. While it didnt have the most action in he world, it was still a nice read. The only thing i didnt like in this book was the relationship between Tanis and Laurana. But that is another story. Anyway, i recommend it. Buy it, Read it, Love it.

I just got the book, Grand Funk to Grace, the authorized bio of Mark Farner....for those young folks who may not realize, this man was the voice, songwriter, guitar player for Grand Funk Railroad. The front man that powered Grand Funk during the 70's. I cannot place into words the effect this book had on me. I read it from cover to cover TWICE! I have been a Grand Funk RR fan for as long as I can remember and the book made me feel like I really knew Mr. Farner and got up close and personal with this famous rock star. Thanks to Randall for buying me this book! It is very well written and a joy to read with alots of fascinating stories about Mr. Farner's life. if you dont have it, buy it, you will not be at all disappointed.

I very much enjoyed "From Grand Funk to Grace". Having read one of the longer reviews here it would seem that some folks (one in Particular) can't say enough bad things about The Author or the subject. I read the book and thought it was very well done. I especially liked how the book was done as a collection of stories
and that I could pick it up without having to think about where I left off. No wonder Mark Farner chose long ago to move to the outer reaches of Michigan. I hope he saved a few of those airport flares to protect himself from the "overbearing, long winded, negative reviewer who posted a review a few prior to this one". This book is long overdue, Grand Funk was a great concert act and loved by many and Mark Farner was the focal point of the band. If you liked Grand Funk or Mark Farner there is a lot more here than a collection of material from old fan rags such as CIRCUS. The information obtained for this book is priceless and the opinions of those who gave the interviews well expressed. I guess some fans are disappointed that the Grand Funk Drummer Don Brewer was not mentioned in always a favorable light. Hey,,Thats also part of the story!! It's all here. Conflict,emotion,adversity and redemption and even a few villains.
I would not be surprised to see a VH1 movie special or better from this book. To Mark Farner, thanks for the memories and to Kris Englehardt, thanks for writing it all down so well!!

A wonderful timeline account of the rags to riches story of the engine that drove Grand Funk to top of the music world in the early 70's.Mark Farner is not your typical rock-star.He is a man's man who even though he made millions,had fame,and many tests and trials through shady managers and agents and IRS troubles,has today kept his feet on the ground and lives a righteous existence through his born-again faith.Today Mark is a rock-patriot,spouting values from our forefathers and living a life through Christ.He does early Grand Funk songs,Christian,and positive-message music at his shows.The book tells how he came from humble beginnings,many humorous tales of growing-up experiences,and his musical influences as well as many never before told stories of life with Grand Funk Railroad.Included are many never-published photos of Mark's life.A must have for any serious fan.

Most people know this book is a classic -- but it's unfortunate that it's thought of as a book about investments, when investments are really only a small part of the phenomena Mackay covers. We have all heard about Dutch tulips a million times over -- it is therefore much more interesting to read Mackay's chapters about popular slang expressions, or about superstitions, or about quack medicine. There are great micro-histories here about the comings and goings of fads, both those contemporary to Mackay and those that preceded him.

While Mackay's points about the irrationality of crowds are useful for the investor, these "lessons" about Dutch tulips and other financial manias are cliches today. You need not read this book to find out about them. This book's true value lies in its comprehensive history and analyses of other fads, hoaxes, and "manias," most of which have, fittingly enough, been forgotten today.

This is it. If you want to know how many times the world has been gripped by madness then look no farther than the reprinted edition of MacKay's classic. Written in that wonderful Olde English style of the early 19th century, MacKay takes us on a tour of the world's most horrifying manias - up to about 1840 anyway.

I particularly liked the chapter on witchcraft and witch hunts since it told me everything I'll ever need to know on why seemingly intelligent groups of people band together to banish or murder innocent members of society - just because they are different. Another engaging chapter deals with millennialism - the fear and dread that grips society at the end of each millennium. If you thought the end of the last one brought turbulence, you should read what happened a thousand years ago.

This book is often quoted by stock market pundits and talking heads as if it were a treatise on irrational behaviour in the financial markets. In fact, it is much more than that. It deals with irrational behaviour and mass stupidity in all walks of life. Five Stars.

Goodness knows how many times this book has been reprinted, but it is a classic, it recounts many of the strange and popular freakish and delusional things that crowds have got up to over history. Tulip-mania, witch-hunts, fortune-telling, south-seas bubble. Its fun, fascinating and easy to dip into for a quick read as each chapter is really independent of the others. I re-read parts of this recently having just read Elaine Showalter's very controversial recent book "Hystories". Showalter's book is as much about modern psychological 'hysteria's' (as she calls them) - things like Recovered Memory Syndrome, and Ritual Abuse accusations which she seems to liken very much to popularist crowd behaviour . And while you may or not agree with her, I think it is interesting to read her book after this one. Still if you just want a bit of light read, then this book is definitely right up there - and it is always so much more fun and comfortable to be able to laugh gently at the patent ignorance of these poor deluded historical crowds!

Literary forgeries are a fascinating topic. The Mark Hofmann case has all the characteristics of a CSI episode with the additional fascinating exploration of the unique subculture of document collectors. Worrall has chosen the forgery of an Emily Dickinson poem by Mark Hofmann as his starting point.

Unfortunately, his material runs out by about the second chapter, and he reverts instead to a summary of Mormon culture and Mormon history. Obstensibly, this is to give a background to the forger, Hofmann, but I have the feeling it was simply a way of adding another 10,000 words.

I was unhappily forced to this conclusion because the summary is so incredibly inaccurate. As a comparison, check out Lindsey's The Gathering of Saints, which is critical of the Mormon church and of the Utah Mormon culture but is also sympathetic to the bind in which the Mormon leaders found themselves. Lindsey, an intelligent reporter, is sensitive to the conflicts within a religious community and within human beings, and he perceptively illustrates how the Mormon values of both obedience and education will inevitably clash.

Additionally, he never makes the mistake--as does Worrall--of thinking that Mark Hofmann's forgeries and his brutal murders gain legitimacy simply because they hurt the Mormon church. One gets the impression from The Poet and the Murderer that Worrall admires Hoffmann, whatever he might say to the contrary.

In conclusion, the book was a disappointment. I was looking forward to an in-depth examination of Hofmann's Americana forgeries and instead found myself reading a mishmash of anti-Mormon literature. It isn't simply that such religion-bashing lacks class, it also makes the rest of Worrall's research suspect.

Recommendation: If you are really into Hofmann or literary forgeries, pick up the book at the library and check out the first couple of chapters about the Emily Dickinson forgery. Remember, the facts are suspect, and I wouldn't trust anything Worrall has written about Emily Dickinson herself, but the provenance of the poem is pretty interesting.

A well researched, carefully written book that covered much more than I expected. What did I learn? Mark Hoffman is possibly the smartest psychopath in history. Emily Dickinson remains as always a mystery, (perhaps this helps to explain our fascination with her), the Mormon church includes in it's development corruption and many inconsistencies, which is not so different from other world religions. Trusted names in the auction business cannot be trusted, and frequently, renowned experts in historical documents can't tell a fake from the real thing. In Emily's own words, "A little madness in the spring, is wholesome even for the king...."

Simon Worrall deftly takes a small crime, the forgery of a newly discovered Emily Dickinson poem, and spins out a delicious tale of a master forger, and his all too often deserving victims. Lovers of literature will be fascinated by the painstaking descriptions of the art of forgery. Worrall takes us behind the curtain of the quirky world of rare manuscripts and books. He helps us see and feel how an artists' soul is reflected in the singular stamp of her handwriting, and how a master criminal strives to imitate the act of creation. You'll never look at a signature the same way again.

I loved Worrall's blistering indictment of the blustering and deluded Mormon church, a favorite target of the brilliant forgerer, Mark Hoffman. One of the joys of this book is its colorful villains, the twisted forger, the double dealing auctioner, and, of course, the Morman Church. The church's bumbling efforts to bury its ridiculous past make for entertaining reading - especially after NBC's snow job in the Olympics.

I read this book simply because it is nearly impossible to find solid novels centered upon hunting. It has always intrigued me that though millions of Americans hunt, very little quality fiction embraces the subject. Reasons? I don't think it has anything to do with the media stereotype of hunters as illiterate rubes, because well-studied statistics generated for marketing purposes demonstrate that most avid hunters have degrees beyond highschool diplomas. Rather, I believe that hunting is an exceedingly difficult topic to realistically render into good fiction. Anyone who hunts, as does the author Mark Sullivan, knows that the hunt is a visceral experience. Those of us who hunt, whether we admit it or not, have chosen to unroof instincts that, while at the very core of human existence, lay utterly dormant in most modern folk. There is precious little writing after which a hunter/author can model his or her work. If this book seems to beat the old hunter-as-psychopath-man-as-most-dangerous-predator/prey bit to death for the umteenth time, it's likely because that's the only well-established formula out there. I think Mr. Sullivan's characters seem a bit wooden, and the scenes a bit disjointed and clumsy, precisely because he is struggling to break free of this tired storyline. I hope he tries again, because he's really onto something.

I picked up this book on a whim, and I'm glad I did. This is a fast, engrossing read. The mystery was fairly easy to figure out early on, but it was interesting to see the characters process the clues and find the answers. A very strong female main character didn't overwhelm the story but pulled it all together. A fair amount of violence is involved, so if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one.

I picked this book up because it had a great cover (hard cover). I bought it because it sounded interesting and fun. You know what I was right. This is a wonderful book. I do not feel that this is a "guy" book. The main character is female, just different from most females. Diana is a strong and powerful female lead. The kind that you have to have in a book like this to make it work. I think that Mr. Sullivan did a great job in working out the plot. I was totally engrossed in this fine piece of work from the beginning. OK the author did mess up with the scalp thing. But some times that is a part of the fun. Finding a mistake that everyone missed and they get paid the big bucks! (No pun intended.) This did not take away from the story and was not important to the plot. So you are forgiven Mr. Sullivan for one little bitty mistake. I'm looking forward to more by this wonderful author. Keep them coming, Mr. Sullivan. I highly recommend "The Purification Ceremony.

Henry James' work, Washington Square, is simply a love story with psychological undertones. In it, the main character Catherine Sloper falls deeply in love with a handsome suitor, Morris Townsend. The irony here is that Catherine is a plain girl who possesses a "poor dumb eloquence." As well, besides possessing great wealth of her own, Catherine has an enormous inheritance from her deceased mother. Conversely, Morris is a handsome, debonair suitor whose financial situation may only be described as relative poverty. His charm is enjoyed by almost everyone but Catherine's father, Dr. Austin Sloper. Suspicious of Morris' motives, Dr. Sloper accuses him of marrying Catherine for her fortune and vows to remove all inheritances in her name should the union occur. These circumstances create a bitter relationship between father and daughter, as Catherine must eventually choose between her family and fortune and her lover. In her struggle, however, Catherine gains an admirable strength of character, which is central to the message of the story.

As examined through a brief plot summary, Washington Square contains no clear-cut revelations in its message. Upon careful investigation of the characters, however, it seems that James wants the reader to decide whether Morris' love is true or not. In other words, in terms of the main character's conflict, should Catherine have chosen her father or her lover? In the end, James has Catherine choose neither, thus carefully creating a plot that can be scrutinized from different perspectives. With each of Morris' actions, it is unclear whether he does it out of love for Catherine or out of greed for her money. The author achieves this effect by judicious word use and careful insertions of flaws in the characters of Morris Townsend and Dr. Sloper.

Washington Square was a novel I read for school after having visited Washington Square itself many times. Having said that, although it's an excellent read for literary analysis, it's also a rather dry novel. For a student wanting to complete a literary analysis and enjoy a good book at the same time, this is not good news, thus the 3.5 stars. However, its strong points are the psychological power and the keen insight James has on human nature. Read it for those things, if anything.

This relatively short novel is a wonderful way to become acquainted with the writing style of Henry James.Washington Square is much more accessable than some of his other works.
The plot revolves around a young woman who is living in Washington Square with her widowed physician father and his sister. The daughter Catherine is not considered particularly attractive by her father so that when a handsome young man begins to court her the father is imediately suspicious of his motives since Catherine is his only heir.
The tension between the father and his daughter is offset by the bond that the Aunt develops with the young man .

James allows us to perceive the motivations of each of these primary characters and we come to recognise that Catherine is in fact in danger of being deceived. The father who is not a very sympathetic character is insightful enough to do what is necessary in his view to prevent this.

The characters are all well concieved and remain true to type throughout the story.

A bonus is the setting of old New York and the scenes of a growing city are vividly drawn. Imagine a time when moving "uptown" meant moving to what is now the Village.

Overall I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it

This book by Henry James is as different as can be from his longer works, but it has its own charm. The charactization is quite complex for a novella. It's just unfortunate that Catherine is so unredeemably staid. I realize that quite a few women chose to live a life alone in those days, but she seemed quite plodding to me. She does develop into a spinster that seems to enjoy that state. And Morris is quite the cad, but we the readers are never in any doubt as to that. The doctor father is another story, He's so right-minded that it's difficult to imagine anyone could be that stubborn. And the widowed aunt is a treasure - silly, manipulative and oh so romantic. This novella is written like a play since there are only four main characters, and most of the action takes place in the house on Washington Square. I really think this book looks deceptively simple, but it is not as simple as it appears. I enjoyed the story.

Compiled by an experienced mind, this "Biochemistry" by Lubert Stryer may seem a little pricey, but it is worth investing on. Its everyday language is comprehensive, generously illustrated, and presents details using a concise format. The book was designed for intermediate learners; although that its aura appeals to both beginners and advanced students. The sequential organisation of each section makes self-teaching an easy task. There are also revised chapters with overviews of Developmental Physiology and Genetics. It is a very fine text.

Stryer's biochemistry is a very well-known text in the field. This book contains hundreds of topics but the author explains them so concisely and understandably. It may not be a good text book for a beginner to start learning some biochemistry language ( I recommend Lehninger's for this purpose) but for someone in the field, this text can serve you more than a simple reference. I hope the new edition of this text will come up soon and I am quite sure that Stryer will do a great job editing his creation with many new concepts this edition does not cover. Overall, this text deserves an five-star comment.

This is a superb book to understand the excitement in biochemistry and to understand its relevance to human health. Stryer's book presents biochemistry in a completely different manner. Instead of traditionally presenting one topic after the other, it presents each chapter giving a representative molecule or system for explanation and characterization of the material in that chapter . For example, heamoglobin and myoglobin for explaining the three dimensional structure of proteins, lysozyme and chymotrypsin for explaining enzyme action, and a host of others. Each example is critically chosen, considering its role and function in life and metabolism. This makes the matter very interesting and practical. Paralleling this are given descriptions of diseases and biochemical disorders as well as historical perspectives. The last part, molecular physiology, gives a lucid exposition of the fundamental biochemical processes in living organisms. In fact, the whole point of view in the book is a physiological one. The book is unlike Lehninger, which is essentially a traditional textbook. Even though Lehninger is good as an introductory book, Stryer is, in my opinion, the book to read if you want to learn biochemistry as a discipline which should be viewed as an exciting excursion into human metabolism and life.

Being a fan of Mario Batali on the Food Network, I had high expectations for this book. His shows always made Italian cooking look simple. As a beginner cook, the title sent visions of me making Italian dishes for everyday meals. Unfortunately, many of the dishes use hard-to-find or rather expensive ingredients. Some of the ingredients used: rabbit, venison, saffron, etc. I have tried several of the dishes (mostly pasta) and they turned out quite well. The recipes I tried are mostly strong-flavored and tasty. If you love pasta, I think you'll like this book.

If the Carne section (which is where most of the meat dishes reside) used more of the common meats like beef, chicken, or pork I think I would have rated this cookbook much higher.

A small gripe: the recipes do not show which page the photos are or that they have photos at all. That makes the photos harder to find and in fact, it's quite easy to assume that the recipe has no photo at all! That's too bad considering that photos often help in deciding which of the dishes to try.

Mario Batali's Simple Italian Food is one of my new personal favorites. As the online Italian cooking host @ Bella Online, and a collector of cookbooks, this one is definately one I would recommend to anyone interested in Italian food. Batali's book is not only full of amazing recipes, it is fun to browse through with pictures and illustrations on almost every page. His pasta recipes are almost all worthy of being used while entertaining, and he adds just a few surprise ingredients here and there without spoiling the traditional simplicity of the recipes. Well worth the money!

I'm a bit of a loss to read the less than stellar reviews of this book by Mario Batali. Yes, Mario uses some not-so-common ingredients... but if you want not-so-common food, you try your best to find those ingredients (hint: you can find hard-to-find ingredients pretty damn easy over the Web)... besides, there's
a common alternative to practically every ingredient that Mario uses.

So far I've tried about a dozen recipes... *all* with stellar results. The artichoke/pasta and the calamari recipes are particular favorites. And while I was skeptical about the quick tomato sauce that he describes early on (hey... its *so* different than Marcella's quick sauce), when I tried it, it was amazingly good, especially for a 30-minute sauce.

And... yeah... it does take a little practice to make your own fresh pasta. Overkneading/overrolling can make fresh pasta pretty tough. If you can't... you can always stick to Sicilian dishes. Sicilians prefer dried pasta. :)

This is a good book (unlike other junk like Emeril's book... Emeril is a circus clown not a cook). Besides the simple (they *are* simple) recipes, you really learn quite a bit about simple Italian cooking that you can leverage in your other dishes.

I grew up with the Guinness Book of World Records, and loved it. I'd devour each new edition, from cover to cover. I love facts and inane trivia, and the Guinness Book was made for people like me. The "Guinness World Records"- what these books have become- is not the same book. It is mostly pictures. I give it two stars because some records are still present. But the new format of the book seems to be so filled with pictures that there is no room for many important records, and hence much is missing. Small black and white pictures aren't as pretty, but they allow the reader to find what they are looking for. Now, when I want to find a record, I go back to 1998, as I still have that copy. If I want to see pretty pictures and the occasional updated record, I'll look at these newer editions.

This review refers to the 2001 edition.

I love reading this book then running around asking my friends to guess about the most interesting records that I found. Guinness has almost no competition in this field, and there's little wonder why. No one can possibly do world records better and the Guinness name is much more widely associated with world records than with the beer.

This particular edition is no exception to the general Guinness excellence. The illustrations, records, and presentation are superb and easy to read. The listing is also easy to navigate, making it easy to show your family and friends your favorite records. Buy this book today!

Guinness Book of World Records (Dad gave it to me) was always one of my favorite books to read when I was a kid. It inspired me to become a Guinness Record holder.
Give this book to a kid and you might just start a storm of imagination in the child.

I just returned from a month in India, traveling with both the Lonely Planet (9th ed.) and Rough Guide (3rd ed.) If you are considering a long trip across the breadth of India, I would strongly suggest taking BOTH books. The Lonely Planet is great for practical details (train times, phone numbers, etc.) but spends too much space reviewing individual restaurants and hotels. Even though the book tops out over 1000 pages, the sections devoted to actually explaining the sights and the wonderful culture and history of India are very short.

In contrast, the Rough Guide spends much more space discussing the background and culture of individual locations, and is packed with lots of interesting details not found in the Lonely Planet. The RG spends less space on restaurant/hotel reviews, which was perfectly fine - I'd rather know more about the places I'm visiting than worry how much chicken shahjani costs at some particular restaurant.

The tone and approach of the books are different too - the RG takes a much more optimistic, romantic view of India, while the LP is often so terse and cynical that it doesn't really inspire you to visit many wonderful places.

Get the LP for the listings. Get the RG to appreciate the beauty of India.

This edition of "Lonely Planet India" is better than the previous one, which was very very good itself. Despite the immensity of India and the numberless topics and regions that therefore have to be covered, the authors have done an excellent job indeed. Some weaknesses are inevitable, and this is perhaps why this is not one of LP's masterpieces, but it is indeed inevitable for travel guidebooks to be the better, the smaller the region they cover - this is why this book should perhaps be complemented with the individual LP guides to different Indian regions. But in itself, this book does cover most of what a visitor will need or want to know. And in a place that is chaotic and tough for foreigners like India, this may indeed be an essential tool for the less experienced travellers. The coverage of places to stay and eat is absolutely excellent, not just for the major cities but also for minor towns and sites (the authors would indeed seem to have been on every single square foot of land in India !). The section on permits and other legal matters is of immense value to anyone, and well up-to-date. And of course, the sections and special chapters on history, culture, religion, are extremely well written, great for the traveller and the armchair reader alike. Even though the best discoveries are those a traveller will make herself / himself, this guidebook is surely a great tool and help in anyone's discovery of this wonderful land. All in all, a masterpiece despite its limitations. A weakness is of course that things being as they are in India, information is subject to change, and some may have become out-of-date by the time this book was printed. But this is of course inevitable, and it simply means that - as in any country - a traveller should not rely on only a guidebook, but make a considerable effort to grasp as much as possible of current circumstances on her / his own.

When Lonely Planet India first appeared in 1981, it raised the standard for all India guidebooks in the comprehensiveness of locations covered and the detailed information useful to independent travelers, especially those on lower budgets. Twenty years later, it remains the guidebook I personally rely upon most, despite my familiarity with India from extensive travels since 1980 researching my historical novels such as India Treasures. I first learned about that wonderful nonprofit home-stay organization Servas from a Lonely Planet guide, which led to many of our best experiences in India, including lasting friendships. Although my wife and I aren't backpackers, and we're probably mid-range in terms of the amount we spend on accommodations and food, the book is extremely helpful. It's the most up to date and highly detailed regarding such information as transportation options within India, the scams travelers can encounter, and a wealth of other tips too numerous to get into in a brief review.

Given the India guidebook's thickness and weight, I've found it convenient to cut it into sections and only take the parts with me for the regions I plan to visit. It's still desirable to get supplemental maps for any city or region one plans to spend much time in, as the maps in the book are usually pretty minimal in terms of detail. And other guidebooks do indeed have useful information this one doesn't (browse the travel shelves in your favorite bookstore to find the additional guides most suitable for your own interests and style of travel). I also advocate reading the better novels set in India, to experience insights into daily life that guidebooks can only hint at.

No single guidebook on India can be all things to all persons for all occasions, but this one surely comes the closest, especially for travelers who don't have their arrangements taken care of on organized tours.