I get teary every time I read this with my children. It is a wonderful story and teaches a great lesson in sharing and giving something love so that someone else can experience that joy -- and how wonderful you feel for having given it away.

On his way to the circus, Danny makes a new friend. The meeting leads up to an important decision. This tender story pulled at my heart strings as well. I'm sure it brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it.

Lively illustrations accompany the tender story. Definitely a must for any little boy or girl's bookshelf.

This set of books wonderfully illustrates the values of putting others ahead of yourself and the joy that can come from making others happy. The illustrations are engaging to children and the stories hold their attention. I have used these three books with children from three years to twelve years of age in a childcare setting and was very pleased with the way they held the children's attention and at the discussion generated during and after the story.

This book holds your interest until the very end.

Easy to read and enjoyable.

This book has lots of suspense as well as displays a sense of humor on the part of the author.

Keeps your interest right till the end.

The author is a friend of mine so of course I have to try, as reading is not one of my favorite things to do. Honestly! When I started "The Clone" I had a hard time putting it down, it keeps you going until the very end! Great reading! - with a great ending! Keep up the good work! Looking forward to the next one! If you can keep my interest up, it's got to be a 5 star book!!

This book should really be titled "The Complete Guide to One Man's Opinion of the Rolling Stones." Granted, you can hardly expect someone to discuss all the Stones' records without having some opinion; however, Hector's tone is fairly pretentious and almost always snobbish. Worth reading for hard-core Stones fans, but the Appleford book is much more detailed, and it isn't so painfully clear how hard the writer is trying to impress you with his critical voice.

(As you may have guessed, I disagreed with about 50 percent of what this guy wrote.)

This booklet published before the Rolling Stones release Bridges To Babylon serves the purpose of outling each of the Rolling Stones songs and a summary of their recordings. A very detailed description of each track is given. Helpful for those debating whether to purchase a particular recording. Yes, there are some slight biases. However, the author does not make his opinion too overbearing. A nice pocket size booklet for Rolling Stones fans.

This book is another in the Omnibus series. Great little book packed with information from the beginning to the present. Most every Stones song is covered. Very thorough.

Starting with the alphabet, first they tell you to pronounce e with the "eh" sound, then they say "ee". In the middle of following along with the text on page 2, tape one, side one, it vanishes, only to reimerge on page 21 -22 which is titled tape five! Words are pronounced that are not in the text as well as type-o's. THIS IS JUST THE FIRST TAPE! If you're a dimwit like me, this IS NOT for you. Look elsewere.

I learned to speak so much practical Italian from just the first tape of Complete Italian for Dimwits that I was able to communicate with native Italian speakers. This is an exceptional course and method and I highly recommend it.

'Language Dynamics courses are the only courses I know of that are truly dedicated to effective and immediate communication in the target language. Academic courses often reflect the literary interests of professors, many of whom never had the experience of learning the target language as a second language. With these courses, you can hit the streets after every lesson knowing you can say more than you could yesterday'.

I really can't read this book. The text does not flow like Asimov's books. It reads like something else. It is a littlke too fast paced, with too little dialogue and I think there is not enough reflection on the background and the possibilities.

The basic premise has got something wrong with it. It's not tied in too well to other things.If Asimov would use any of these ideas,he would offer some explanation. Asimov also, by the way,often had some short third person narration interspersed in

his books and this is totally missing.

Robert Silverberg expanded a few Isaac Asimov stories into books and he did it in keeping with Asimov's style. Robert Tiedemann is no Robert Silverberg. If Asimov had been alive, I don't thinmk he would have approved of this, except if he decided not to care

I give it two stars because at least this is a try. Also, I only have this book,not its predecessor.

Tiedemann recently resurfaced with this, his second attempt at new robot mysteries. And again, he's done an impressive job.

Asimov's original robot novels were generally straightforward. While not predictable by any stretch of the imagination, the mysteries themselves were fairly simple. Tiedemann has taken Asimov's "universe" but made the mysteries more complex and expanded the scope of the setting to fully explain political situations, alliances, development of society in settler and spacer worlds...many of the things Asimov himself never fully developed. This all amounts to a fairly complex mystery novel set in Asimov's vision of the future.

The novel is not without problems. One criticism I had of Tiedemann's first novel still holds true - two of the main characters have an extensive past together yet Tiedemann makes no mention of this fact. Some of the ideas in Chimera also come across as a bit far-fetched in the context of the setting that Asimov established.

All-in-all, Chimera is an entertaining read. If you're a fan of Asimov's original robot novels, its definitely worth picking up. If you've not had exposure to the originals, however, start with them.

Sometimes sticking too close to the way something was originally done is a good way to damage a new piece of work. Tiedemann doesn't seem to make that mistake in Chimera. Instead, as in Mirage, he updates the basic material, bringing it more in line with contemporary information about nanotech and AI. He takes what Asimov did and makes it his own.

More than that, though, he's done a thoroughly excellent job of creating fully-fleshed, believable characters, real people with real problems. He places them in a fast-paced thriller plot that flows logically and answers questions both about the action of the story and the larger issues nesting within the Robot universe Asimov created. Rather than do a straight imitation of Asimov's style, he has written his own kind of narrative, matched to the content of his storyline.

The creation of Bogard in Mirage was a masterful twist on the 3-Law scenario. Tiedemann continues to play with the limitations and implicit possibilities in Asimov's original structure in this book.

The Caves of Steel in Chimera are both creepier and more plausible, the psychologies of the various habitues matched against each other in elegant dialogues and plot twists (as in one character's surprise visit to a Spacer party in the open air!). Tiedemann displays a deft hand at depicting the inner realm of the human condition, a trait he displays much more fully in his own original novels.

More! More!

When compiling a work of this sort, the author must necessarily choose what balance between number of entires and substantiveness they want to have. The more entries there are, the less thorough each entry can be. This work seems to go too far in the number of entries it includes. It's useful if you need to know a sentence or two of information about an obscure boat or officer or something like that. However, such inclusiveness only leaves room for a few hundred words or less on major people and battles. Since the majority of people are more interested in the larger people and issues, this limits the usefulness of this work.

I found Boatners book (hardcover)at a garage sale about 10-12 years ago. I placed the book in storage and rediscovered it just before a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. I highly recommend this book to the novice just getting started on the battlefields of the Civil War or the old pro who needs to refresh or jog their memory. Anyone that must have small details of any battlefield, troop placement and or commanders that lead them, locations of assults, you name it, this book is a must. Take it with you as you walk the lines of battle, its invaluable!

Useful to the serious or casual student of the Civil War. Clarifies troop movements and provides backgrounds on key organizations and personnel involved with the war effort. I always keep it handy when reading anything to do with the War and it always helps me understand even the most confusing aspects of troop movements, weaponry, etc. A standard in the field.

Having been a manager at a large company, I can see how this book would be beneficial for managers at large companies that are doing acquisitions. But from the perspective of a manager at a smaller company that is being acquired, this book was not particularly helpful.

This thorough, detailed book focuses on the misunderstood aspects of merger and acquisition management. Timothy J. Galpin and Mark Herndon clearly have vast experience and draw on case studies to illustrate their suggestions. They provide sample surveys and integration flow charts to guide hands-on planning, and offer practical advice that you can apply in real-world situations. Not all of these ideas are new, nor do the authors claim them to be. Instead, they apply the most relevant ideas from management and psychology to M&A. The authors hammer home an extremely consistent message: You must communicate. They present their ideas clearly, even though the book is often wordy and uses a lot of passive voice (alas, business prose). Nonetheless, this is actually a very dense book and the authors are careful not to waste the reader's time. This is essential reading for virgin M&A managers, and we at getAbstract think that even experienced acquirers may find much to learn.

There is already an abundance of resources on the subject of M&A, especially those available on the WWW. If you are looking for a single-volume source, this is probably one of the best. The authors devote 14 chapters to virtually all aspects of M&A. In process, with clarity and eloquence, they explain the "Watson Wyatt Deal Flow Model" which, after appropriate modifications, can be applied to almost any organization involved in M&A negotiations, either as a buyer or as a seller. The final chapter, all by itself, is well worth the cost of the book. In it, the authors suggest various "keys" to M&A success. They then provide:

Resource A: Sample Task Force Charter

Resource B: Integration Planning Template

Resource C: Executive Summary of Watson Wyatt Worldwide's 1998-1999 Mergers and Acquisitions Survey

What we have here is a single-volume in which two experts on the subject of M&A seem to share everything they know about the subject. Even if your company is not currently a buyer or seller, its senior-level executives should read this book. Why? Because you just never know. Perhaps sooner than now anticipated, your company will be courted by another...or it will be attracted to another company as a prospective acquisition. In either situation, this book (and the "Watson Wyatt Deal Flow Model" it discusses) will be invaluable.

Mark Minasi's book--comes in the kit--is superb. The "Seminar" is *not*. [You can buy the book on its own: ISBN: 0782126065; price US$34.99] Firstly, the 3 "bonus" CDs don't work at all (tried getting them to work at home & elsewhere with help of knowledgeable people). I've been caught out making a decision to buy on the strength of just *one* 5 star review. (Possibly a reviewer keen on the "First Reviewer" prize?) For buyers outside the USA, be aware that the video tapes are in 'NTSC' format. Since I live in Australia, I would have to pay for them to be converted to the VHS-PAL system, or buy one of those rare (& expensive) multi-format VCRs. Buy Minasi's book, not this gimmicky "Seminar-in-a-box". The <> comes with it's own 2 CDs. The "Seminar" is priced at US$89.99. Don't pay an extra US$55 for a boxful of false promises. Replies from SYBEX regarding straightening out the matter have been time-consuming, and as yet (a week+ later) inconclusive. They addressed the matter of the tapes; ignored the matter of the non-working 3 "bonus" CDs altogether.

If you"re basically new to computer(tower) insides, but you consider yourself mechanically inclined, this is the greatest 90 dollars you will ever spend. The guy from Austrailia said he had many problems with the added visual devices. I would like to comment. I'm in U.S. I had no problem whatsoever with the 2 VHS tapes. I had no problems with any of the 5 total enclosed instuctional CD's. The CD's require you to use QuickTime 4.0 to view them, which is included on 2 of the CD's. It's a snap with any current computer. I already had QuickTime on my computer anyway. This guy(Minasi) speaks clearly in laymans terms and if you have a pen and paper, you will be removing and installing parts in your computer in No Time.

I must say, I was a bit apprehensive when paying the large sum of money I paid for this book, however, all my fears were dis-spelled after reading through the first two chapters.

If you're looking for a comprehensive book to learn PC upgrading or maintenence, give this book a try. Manasi presents the material in a logical, easy to understand format, that is a pleasure to read.

If you're serious about learning or supplementing your upgrading skills, this book is all you need.Highly reccomended

This book is good in reviewing the technical aspects of creating treatment plans and developing diagnoses. For a book about the art of listening in psychotherapy, read Inside Therapy, for which Irvin Yalom contributes a foreword and discusses the concept of creating "a new therapy for each patient."

I found this book very helpful. It is clear and concise. It offers practical interventions along with short term and long term treatment plans. I wish it were available in the Spanish language.

I have found this book to be an excellent companion when doing case reviews with managed care companies. As many in the field know; providing clear, concise and measurable short-term goals are the key to getting our patient's treatment authorized. This book will give you all the correct buzz words you need and cut down on the time taken on the phone with these companies.

I was very disappointed with this book. It just goes on and on talking in abstract terms. There are no pictures or diagrams, just a lot of mystical stuff disguised in technical terms. Maybe somebody with advanced experience could sense what these guys were talking about, but I couldn't.

Reeder and Meyer have put together an excellent resource for more individuals who have been studying aikido for several years. Rather than discussing individual techniques, the authors focus on general principles that are applicable to a wide range of aikido techniques. While I agree with an earlier reviewer that the question and answer format does get a little tedious by the end, the book remains extremely clear throughout.

As the cover states, the book is based on studies with Hiroshi Ikeda Sensei; both Reeder and Meyer have been students of Ikeda Sensei for a number of years. Having seen Ikeda Sensei myself at over a dozen seminars and camps, I found this book to be a wonderful printed summary of Sensei's teachings. That makes the book even more valuable, as it can be used quite effectively as a way to continue working on the principles Ikeda Sensei stresses in his seminars long after you've seen him in person.

I've read the book twice in its entirety over the past two years, glanced at it for specific things numerous times, and will probably start my third cover to cover reading soon. This is one of the most valuable and useful books in my library.

I have studied aikido for more than 2 years, and have read many books on the subject. This is among the best I have seen. It may whet someone's appetite for aikido if they have not previously practised, but its greatest value is to those who are actively practising aikido. It provides few details of specific techniques (which are very difficult to convey accurately in written form anyway), but discusses with great clarity the main aikido principles. The value of this is that it allows one to develop an understanding of those aspects of training one should pay attention to in order to improve. One can concentrate on only one, or at most two aspects of a technique while it is being practised. Meyer and Reeder guide the student in choosing the important aspects to attend to. One can move from book to training and back again repeatedly, creating a deepening spiral of understanding over time. Simple concepts can be understood on an intellectural level quickly, and yet take a lifetime to embody. If the practitioner uses his or her attention wisely in developing the correct 'feel' for aikido, a competent instructor can easily correct the technical problems that always occur. I highly recommend this book.