Probably the best reprints by Starscape books are the little-known Joan Aiken fantasies. Her "Dido" series is easily found, but only recently books like "Cockatrice Boys" and "Whispering Mountain" have been made available. "Shadow Guests" is the latest of these -- it isn't quite as good as the others, but still quite enjoyable.

After his mother and older brother mysteriously vanish, Cosmo Curtoys is sent to live with an eccentric mathematician relative in England. While Aunt Eunice is pleasant (though odd), Cosmo rapidly makes enemies of almost every other kid in school. What's more, strange things have begun lurking nearby, including a tadpole-like thing that fell off of his sleeve -- and grew.

Soon Cosmo finds out about something linked to the disappearance of his mom and brother -- a family curse that dooms every eldest brother to die in battle, and every mother to die of grief. Because of this curse, he is visited by "shadow guests," a Roman gladiatior, a naive Crusader... and a sinister force that threatens to kill him.

It's definitely above the average ghost story, and makes good use of Cosmo's social isolation to let him encounter ancestors who are also burdened by the curse. Cosmo is a likeable hero, who alternates between not understanding what's happening, and knowing all too well what is going on. Cousin Eunice is a nice (mathematician) twist on the usual weird relative; the kids at school often seem like their friendliness or hostility has some bearing on the story, but ultimately that peters out.

Aiken's writing is pleasant, although the pacing is a bit odd -- one minute we're reading about kids snubbing him at school or playing jokes on Bun, then we're reading about ghosts and ancient warlocks and family curses. Moreover, some of the details in the book must have passed me by, because I didn't quite understand a few parts of the ending. But the haunting (pun intended) atmosphere and mix of the unearthly and the solidly, likeably British is very fresh-feeling.

While this book isn't quite as stellar as "Cockatrice" or "Mountain," it's a solid ghost story with a pleasant storyline and hero. Well worth the read.

Cosmo applies to each person. We all have "Shadow Guests" and his illusions are like corners of mind. Aiken has written a lovely break from the Wolves series and written something very powerful. Death and love are the two components that appear to battle endlessly in Cosmo's mind, and that of his predecessors. Everybody should read this.

I really liked this book because it is a realistic story about Cosmo and his deceased mother and older brother. this book somewhat relates to my life and my grandfather because I feel that he is watching over me at all times and makes sure I get through life easily. That is what I think happens in this book and that is why I liked it so much, also it is a very realistic story so I think that is what I think makes this book a graet one.

This future orientated novel is the first I have read that describes in detail how society would reconstruct itself after severe earth changes. I have found it very helpful in my preparations for the possible effects of the Y2K computer problem.

I read this book by "accident". And now I rank it as one of the most important books one can read if one is thinking about Earth Changes/Y2K/Millenium disasters. Requiring an open mind, this fictional tale (or prediction?) nevertheless grounds itself in scientific fact: that the earth's magnetic polarity has flip-flopped in the past, and will probably do so again. What will the results be? And how should we prepare? It's a riveting, instructive, and beautiful tale. Highly recommended.

"Living is Forever" is a truly inspiring piece of work, that left me wondering about today's societal structures and their chance for survival. It's a story about a group of individuals who have the courage to accept that the present exploitation of the Earth and its resources will eventually cause it to find a new equilibrium which can sustain future life. The cleansing process is a fascinating one; one of courage, love, sacrifice and ultimately the victory of true Human Spirit. I only wish that many more thousands would read this book...

I share the view of the prior reviewer: this book made me "want to know more" and I thoroughly enjoyed it (even if it was a little predictable). In some mysteries, the mystery is all; in others, character is all. This series is about an interesting, unpredictable, absorbing character. You will want to know Sister Joan better!

Even when there are differences and problems, the women try to work things out and get through difficulties as best they can. Sister Joan can be almost too strong minded, but she also can see where she needs to work on herself and that she might be able to learn from the others around her.

This smart, down-to-earth depiction of convent life makes me want to be a nun. Sister Joan has an irrepressible intelligence that forces her to pursue loose ends, but also has an unshakable faith and sense of who she is. I've been waiting for years for this great series to get the recognition it deserves -- I highly recommend it

Although the Karate influence on this book is hard to miss it is still an excellent template to how self defense should be taught. If you are an instructor you can use this book as a template to helping you design your lesson plans. If you don't like a given technique then insert one that you do like following the author's method and you will be surprised at the outcome. The method of instruction and reinforcement that the author utilizes will work for any introductory self-defense course. I've read this book 100+ times and I am still learning from it.

I teach Kenpo Karate and have been active in Kenpo for over 26 yrs. The text by Joan Nelson is an excellent reference source for the lay public on self defense, but an invaluable tool for professional self defense instructors of most styles.

This book is oriented to teachers of a women's self defense course. It contains class activities, drills, standards for sucess in each technique, descriptions for performing the techniques, and safety techniques. I find this book extremely helpful for any one teaching a self-defense course. I refer to this book frequently. I am a law enforcement self defense instructor and a 1st degree black belt in judo.

When I started Class 27 of the Command College I was repeatedly exposed to the concept of a post-industrial leadership model, a new organizational paradigm for the 21st century. Over the past several months the concept of a new organizational model has been repeatedly visited, as it is throughout Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmiths very enjoyable book, Thank God It's Monday! 14 Values We Need to Humanize the Way We Work.

After laying a good foundation (with many of the same tenants as other organizational authors of the day) Cloke and Goldsmith lay out a number of self assessment steps for the reader who is persuaded to shift to what they see as the new organizational and leadership model of self directed work teams. One of the main reasons the authors see this paradigm shift is because they see work as a relationship that needs to provides personal fulfilment.

The book is packed with a number of lists and fill in the blank assessments to help the reader make the transition to a more humanized and empowered organization. The fourteen values they believe will humanize organizations, empower workers, reduce conflict and increase employee satisfaction includes: INCLUSION - involving everyone in the process, COLLABORATION - working together for consensus, not compromise; TEAMS and NETWORKS - small work teams; VISION - toward something better and worthwhile; CELEBRATION of DIVERSITY - diversity valued as a source of richness, vitality and strength; PROCESS AWARENESS - the value of process (listening, ability to work with others, ...) more then technical ability; OPEN and HONEST COMMUNICATION - and how destructive poor information sharing can be to an organization's health; RISK TAKING- and the need to trust those we work with; INDIVIDUAL and TEAM OWNERSHIP of RESULTS; PARADOXICAL PROBLEM SOLVING - willingness to solve problems with outside the box solutions that are not necessarily consistent with popular notions of the problem; EVERYONE is a LEADER - shift from a leader to everyone playing a role in decision making; PERSONAL GROWTH SATISFACTION - seeking to make work personally and emotionally rewarding for employees; SEEING CONFLICT as an OPPORTUNITY - the positive value of conflict; and EMBRACING CHANGE.

If the various concepts described in Thank God It's Monday! were applied collectively, in the manner described, and with a group of people who could work under this model, I have no reason to doubt that the workers and those who were the recipient of their service/product would see the efforts of the leader as a success. If these types of cooperative, self led work groups became a work model of the future, our work places would be very different. Creativity and employee satisfaction would no doubt increase. Customer satisfaction would likely also improve, as would profit because of a better work product and a reduction in overhead costs (less managers, less oversight, less litigation, less conflict management).

Two of the themes that Cloke and Goldsmith explore are, "Who Selects the Managers and How do the Manage," and "Who Gets Promoted, How and by What Criteria." If our organizational structures shifted along with our selection processes to those of a self managed group, our para military, hieracical organizations would no doubt change dramatically.

This text does a very good job of making a case for more humanized, employee operated work units. Even the skeptic should find himself closing the back page and asking, "Could we really be more effective and have less employee trouble and the associated costs with a model like this?" Given that possibility, I think the forward looking leader will seek out opportunites to implement the concepts communcated in the 233 pages of this publication. The transition might be difficult, and the model may not work in every police situation, but it defintely could improve our work environments and improve many of the distracting situations we deal with daily.

The success of this effort would fit well with our community oriented policing efforts. Organizations would be able to easily see self directed work units identify and resolve community problems in a manner that was not only prompt, but also with a degree of creativity that our current structure likely inhibits. The success of this model could also be measured by reductions in management problems, such as worker's compensation claims, medical retirements and grievances. The humanized, self managed work group should reduces the numbers of these actions (and when they do arise they will typically be handled at the work group level) and the management time/cost required to address them.

While participative management has for some time been the mantra of leadership experts, the level to which this proposal for humanized organizations takes it, will likely push the comfort level of not only police managers but line level personnel as well. To expect that such a dramatic shift could occur quickly and without some serious transitional problems is unrealistic. However, we live and work in a changing environment. There is no reason to believe that we should not at least have a role in choosing the battles we want to fight. Would we rather have conflict over trying to keep operational a model that will no longer work with the employee of the 21st century, or do we want to deal with conflicts moving us in the direction of making work and our organizations better than they were in the 1990's?

If we choose to move forward, and retool our organizations to optimize the potential of our personnel, we will more likely be able to keep pace with an ever increasing work demand and externally imposed mandates to do more with less.

Lest it not yet be apparent, I would highly recommend this text for any manager or aspiring leader. The concepts are thought provoking and helpful, and the format of the book is such that it can be used as personal or organizational assessment tool.

T.G.I.M. provides a type of How-To discussion for the enrichment of your personal and professional life. It discussed some major issues commonly facing individuals both at work and at home: values, conflict, relationships. The underlying principles, if applied in daily life, could improve current situations making your life much more successful. Cloke did a fine job at bringing some 'real' issues to light in his enjoyable book, Thank God It's Monday.

this book is one of the greatest book that you have to read so read it and tell me what you tought. syed omar the American University in Cairo- egypt

I really liked this book, however it took me a while to adjust to the English way of talking. The female character is from London and the male from old traditions of royal titles. So the two main characters always had a lot to say, but always kept their feelings at bay. The time period was interesting and very fact based. It made you think what might happen and I couldn't seem to figure out the storyline which kept me on my toes. I was glad when all is well in the end.

This book is a book two which can be enjoyed whether you read "The Door Ajar" or not. "The Door Ajar" is about Cara's brother and the women who comes from the past to be his wife. "Time's Tapestry is about Cara. She is a modern British police officer. And she ends up back in her sister-in-law's time.

I read this book in one sitting. It kept me enthralled. I loved the sense of humour and thoroughly enjoyed a hero who was not a bully, and a heroine who was not a wuss. I plan to find as many of her books as I can.

The book is about two teenage ballet dancers. The photos are beautiful,and it gives you an inside look behind the effortless movements and glamourous costume. This book is specifically pointed towards younger readers. It's short but the photos and information are quite good. But I wouldn't recommend this book to advanced readers because they will be disappointed by the shortness of the book.

Twins On Toes is a story about how two teenage girls strive with dedication to complete their deam. This book gives a good picture in peoples minds about what serious and dedicated ballerinas devote to as a ballerina. Most people do not understand how hard it is to be a ballerina, specially to be in top-notch dance schools like them. It is something you have to start young and something you have to keep at for you too be a successful serious dancer. I read this book and it reminded me of how I feel about classes and the type of instuction. Even though I'm not old enough to be thinking about joining companies but it certainly sounds like what's ahead of me.

This is the coolest book ever! I used to read it a million times a day when I was younger and I absolutely loved all the pictures in it! This is the best book on ballet that I have ever read.

If you like your murder mysteries sans murder, this is the book for you. No one is hurt (much), and everything works out for everyone in the end. The characters' lives are as routine as yours or mine. They don't even eat anything interesting. The "mystery" is barely mysterious and the perpetrator of the "crime" is extremely tangential to the story. Her motive is pretty dippy, too. the writing is okay, but extremely ordinary. Anyhow, can't recommend this one except maybe to someone who likes reading about musicians in any fiction format.

Brava to the author who so skillfully balances life in the slow-paced, small town of Oliver, Indiana, against the sophisticated internationally-renowned Violin Competition, held quadrennially in the larger city of Indianapolis. Indeed, the author is not the only person to refer to this as the 'Olympics for the Violin'. Such competitions are a fact of life for aspiring young musicians, and the pressures are unbelievable, as a career can easily be made or broken by the final standings. The descriptions of the competition are exactly right--as are those of the young entrants.

Joan Spencer is an amateur violist who loves and lives her music. But that is not her entire life. Widowed, perhaps too young, she was left with two young children and the necessity to earn a living. Now her children are more-or-less out on their own, and Joan can resume her own life. And so she does.

A big part of her new life is Lieutenant Fred Lundquist of the Oliver police force. As much as she loves him, she wonders if she can cope with being the wife of a policeman. As the story of the vanishing violinist unfolds, intruding even to the little town of Oliver, Joan comes to realize that time is more important than anything else, and she mustn't waste whatever time she and Fred can have together.

This well-written book will appeal greatly to lovers of classical music, whether knowledgeable about it or not (and kudos to the editor who didn't dumb down the many musical references!) as well as to mystery novel fans. Women of a certain age will also like this book, along with the clear-headed Joan who hasn't lost her common sense. She is such a genuinely nice person I'd really like to have her for a friend. You might, too.

In Oliver, Indiana, Joan Spencer and police detective lieutenant Fred Lundquist plan to marry soon. Her happy daughter Rebecca informs Joan that she is engaged to marry violin expert Bruce Graham. Joan meets her future son-in-law when he competes in an international event in nearby Indianapolis.

However, at the convention site, someone steals a precious Stradivarius from one of Bruce's more talented rivals. Subsequently, that same individual soon vanishes. The police suspect Bruce is involved with the missing violin and person. This, in turn, places a cloud on the joyous occasion of meeting her daughter's future spouse. Since Rebecca insists her fiancé is innocent, Joan begins to investigate. Joan quickly learns that beneath the veneer of civilized behavior the contestants harbor deep rooted grudges and jealousies. This makes several of them prime suspects, at least in Joan's mind to commit both crimes.

The fourth Joan Spencer Midwest cozy is a wonderful mystery that retains the charm of the three previous novels due to the delightful lead protagonist. The support cast adds to the overall feeling of being at a musical competition. The mystery is fun, but the lyrical description of the musical competition is simply heaven, thus confirming that Sara Hoskinson Frommer is a virtuoso.

Harriet Klausner

Sister Joan is given permission to go into London for a reunion with 9 of her classmates from art school. Unfortunately 3 of them are dead and the untimely deaths seem to be more than a coincidence. The group then agrees to come to the convent which Mother Dorothy has opened for retreats. Several of the members of her class seem to have changed since their school days, and Sister Joan is curious about this as well as the deaths of her classmates. She finds that some of the reunion group have lied to her about their past, so she does her usual amateur sleuthing to find out what ties the deaths together. This is a bit of a departure in that people from the outside are brought into the cloister and is a nice change of pace.

This is a fair-to-middlin' cozy mystery about a reunion of the art class students from the school Sister Joan had attended twenty years previously. There's not much to separate it from your average British cozy mystery, and therein lies the problem. The first couple of Sister Joan books by Ms. Black were striking and memorable, with their description of Sister Joan's internal struggle to maintain a balance between her spiritual obligations and her worldly curiosity. That issue has been given short shrift in the last couple of books, including this one. I fear this series is running out of steam. I would have given it 3.5 stars if that were allowed; Amazon needs to provide more flexibility in its rating system.

The mystery of Sister Joan's is amazing. As she reunites with her classmates, Sister Joan tries to solve the mystery of why out of 10 only 7 people came up.
The story is amazing and well written, you will love Joan from beginning to end.

not very good but it's a quite nice book

this text reflects a cohesive and layered reflection of the issues surrounding the japanese internment of world war II. gary okihiro's text reminds us of the stories we need to hear and the history we need to learn. he also gives us key insights into the japanese american experience. joan myers' pictures are technically superb and support the themes that infuse the text. both elements, pictures and text, reveal the emptiness and silences that remain in the echoes of the camps.

Joan Myers has used B/W photography to present the most compassionate history of Japanese American internment on the west coast of the United States. Her images are constructed with exceptional sensitivity. Her technique is flawless.