I read The Winter Prince six or seven years ago and I didn't know a continuation was in the works until a few months ago. Which is probably a good thing considering how annoyingly slowly those months passed. It was not the sort of book you forget.

I read A Coalition of Lions in a day. It's a fast read and actually a good deal lighter than The Winter Prince, though that's not saying much. Though the books follow many of the same characters, the narrators are different and I thought COL was not nearly as intense. The history, descriptions, and imagery in this book were wonderful. There are some clever connections, excellent lines, and memorable moments as well.

While it deserves every one of those five stars, I couldn't conceive of saying it is as good as The Winter Prince. But this in a sort of Joseph Heller sort of way. When people tell him he never wrote anything better than Catch-22, he responds with "Who has?" My favorite part was Medraut hitting the target (well, no not really but that was great). He didn't get many lines, but I would (and did!) wait six years for him, too. Speaking of waiting, let's hope the next book is on its way to the printers.

I find the Frommer's guides to be very helpful for my trips to Ireland especially. This one is perfect if you plan on visiting Dublin. As in other Frommer guides this book starts with the "Best Of" in Dublin, how to get there and what you'll need when planning your trip. It then goes on to getting to know Dublin, places to stay, places to eat and drink, attractions, shopping and night life. Additionally, this guide includes places that you can easily visit just outside of Dublin City in Counties Wicklow and Kildare. The review continues with hours and dates places are open as well as prices for attractions, for accommodations and for dining. For each category there are phone numbers, web sites, if available, and general maps of the area. A newer version of the is book is due to come out any day now but probably has similar information only with updated prices. If you only have time for Dublin, or want to spend your time doing nothing else but Dublin, this little pocket guide is the only one you'll need!

Our Town: Images and Stories from the Museum of the City of New York presents--in the highest quality four-color and duotone reproductions--an amazing range of New York City images, from urban scene paintings, to the renowned Stettheimer Dollhouse, to the phenomenal 20th c. photography of such artists as Berenice Abbott and Edward Steichen. The essays capture glimpses of the City and its history from the widest range of noted authors--Robert A.M. Stern, Oscar Hijuelos, Hilton Als, Louis Auchincloss, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, etc. Don't miss it!

I am always seeking books that include a wide range of psychometric instruments that can be used to instruct students regarding concepts such as reliability and validity. In addition, I prefer to use psychometric instruments that appear to have some practical application for our graduates.

THE PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO EMPIRICALLY BASED MEASURES OF DEPRESSION includes a description of the psychometric qualities of 94 scales of depression. These 94 scales fit into one of three categories that include:

Measures of depression, depressive symptomatology, and depressive moods
Measures of depression for special populations
Measures of depression-related constructs

The wide variety of methods for assessing the degree of depression is nothing less than overwhelming. In addressing each instrument, the authors use the following outline:

Original Citation
Purpose
Description
Background
Administration
Scoring
Interpretation
Psychometric Properties (Norms, Reliability, and Validity)
Clinical Utility
Research Applicability
Source
Cost
Alternative Forms

The consistency of this outline is quite helpful in reviewing these instruments when students are first learning about test construction. In addition, the authors have included reprints of 24 instruments meant to measure depression. These reproductions are extremely helpful for students who are first learning about test construction.

In addition to being a wonderful tool to learn the basic of instrument construction, THE PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO EMPIRICALLY BASED MEASURES OF DEPRESSION is an equally beneficial tool for the practitioner and the researcher. In fact, I suspect that the author's primary intended audience is practitioners. Regardless, this is a wonderful volume that will be a great benefit to many.

As a side note, the publisher Kluwer Academic/Plenum has produced a similar book entitled, THE PRACTITIONER'S GUIDE TO EMPIRICALLY BASED MEASURES OF ANXIETY. It too, is an excellent volume.

I planned a trip to Ireland for my Mother, 4 sisters and Myself.
I started with "Ireland for Dummies" then read "Frommer's Ireland 2001" and crossed referenced with "Ireland from $60 a Day". I learned more from these books in 2 weeks than in all of my years as a Travel Agent and Airline staff!! Their detailed in-sight and straight-forward advice was right on target. They give prices,times, phones numbers and payment information. They tell you where to go, what to do and who to talk to. I loved their list of on-line addressess for information. Only two things were wrong with my copy. They quoted every price in Irish pounds that were useless after February 2002. I realize that they had to go to print before this change and were unable to adapt in time. The other was lack of detailed mapping. A free map was included inside "Ireland 2001" but only had some of the streets shown for Dublin. I know these will be corrected in future printings. I would recommend these Frommer's books to anyone!! They are written in plain English, yet don't talk down to you(even the "Dummies" book. It was quite humorous)

My family used Frommer's Ireland 12th Ed. extensively before, during ,and after our trip to Ireland in July of 2002. The first two chapters Best of..., and Planning your Trip... were worth the purchase price alone. All of the Best of tips we followed were excellent choices.
The large fold out map that was included served very well during our driving tour of Ireland. Using the county and town maps that were included in the local sections kept us right on track. Distances are deceptive however. It takes longer to get anywhere you go than it would appear from reading the map. The Irish road system is not built for speed ( nor comfort for that matter) so plan accordingly. It takes a long time to drive across the country, or from county to county. More could have been made of this issue in the guide. Our biggest mistake was trying to do too much.
The up to date information on Dublin was very helpful, as were the frequent tips throughout the guide on ways to avoid the summer crowds. I used the web addresses that were included for lodging and found them very helpful for checking availability and booking our rooms quickly. Don't go without it!

My wife and I traveled around Ireland for two weeks this summer, and Frommer's Ireland was an amazingly helpful tool.

Realizing this would probably be the last time we'd be traveling abroad for a while, we decided to mix it up a bit --"inexpensive" to "moderate" accommodations and restaurants in most places, with a few dabbles in the "expensive" (and even one "very expensive") splurges along the way. Across the board, the recommendations in this book were outstanding. What to see and do, where to stay, where to eat and shop.....all were presented in a very down-to-Earth way. The eye for small detail and nuances throughout the book made us feel we were getting advice from a local expert who REALLY knows her stuff.

I can't say enough about how helpful this guide was to us -- it really made our trip a memorable one. The fold-out map got us around most of the country with no trouble....once a nice gentleman in a petrol station showed me how to get my rental car into reverse.

All in all, a terrific book.

The only way I can describe this book is to compare it to music- it's sort of a cross between Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville" and poetry. It's bold, shocking, thoughtful, aching, and funny all at once.

These aren't stories that make you feel good about yourself and inspire you to go and change the world or call your closest friends up to share the joy. This isn't Bridget Jones, either- it's far too intelligent. These are stories that are honest in the best way. Elizabeth Crane writes the way you talk inside your head- lots of run on sentences, extraneous thoughts (that most authors wouldn't dare to allow in their writing), and then one pure, true statement in the middle of it all that just grabs you. Some of it is too raw, and some of it seems too blase, but I don't think that Crane is looking to engage the reader in all of her characters' lives. This book is more of a dirty friend you admire than a close, sensitive sister.

The reason I didn't give the book five stars is because there are a few flaws. Sometimes, Crane allowed her characters to go on *too* much and after two pages of the same sentence I felt like I was listening to a friend that wouldn't shut up. Ironically, that's also part of why I liked the book, too. I did roll my eyes at some of the characters (especially Hayden and Hyman) and situations, but overall this is a solid collection. Lots of quotable lines and paragraphs, which to me is the ultimate compliment for a book- it's something that will live beyond its place on my bookshelf.

Having heard this author read one of these stories,"Return from the Depot!" about a mother's return from the dead and subsequent celebrity, I assumed this was among her strongest in this collection. Well, having ingested the entire collection in one sitting, I can say that while the story was a good representative of her sensibilities and talent, the whole of the collection exceeds the sum of the parts, each story illuminating the others while maintaining its distinct place in the cosmos of the author's worldview.

Crane treads the familiar hip-sensitive female territory of Lucinda Rosenfeld and Elissa Schappel: grief and longing, laced with humor and hope over such commonplace heartbreaks as dead parents, bad boyfriends, unfortunate lifestyle choices. Yet in several stories she throws a curve reminiscent of a softer edged Aimee Bender, a fairy-dusting of magical realism, putting the pain in perspective, reminding us that with imagination wonderful things are possible, horrible things endurable, and transformation is just a dream away.

This is a very interesting collection -- far deeper than I think it may first appear to many readers, simply because the extreme conversational style of the stories lends itself to so fleet a reading that it's easy to hurtle right over the nasty, scarring battle going on between despair and hope -- an underlying shadow largely revealed, I think, in words, turns of phrase, rather than whole plotlines. Doesn't the best comedy always spring from horror?

For example, THE DAVES may at first seem like pure gimmick; then he calls her Jennifer and you realize that for all the quick witted comedy our heroine is trapped in a world of shallow relationships from which there is absolutely no escape -- a trap every bit a nightmarish as your favorite Twlight Zone episode. (I guess that won't make sense to those who haven't read it, sorry). Or take SOMETHING SHINY, in which your wildest dream -- a movie of your life! -- ends up proof that, as you'd always secretly feared, there's nothing to you at all ( no "there there" as they say of LA, which I think is a hidden joke in the story, since it's about the movies).

In NORMAL, a description of someone else's bad behaviour takes a last-second turn to reveal that all the intellectual and moral disdain in the world doesn't stand a chance against the emotional, physical, sexual or psychic attractions we feel. We have met the enemy, and she is us yet again.

Not for nothing is the seemingly positive note the very last -- and, significantly, the very shortest -- with GOOD FOR YOU! sounding a short and simple "I am not most people." Notice, though, that even that proud declaration only comes after misunderstanding, criticism and fear from the rest of the world.

I look forward to watching Ms. Crane develop and I will certainly read her next book(s) with great interest, I think she has a tremendous talent. Don't miss MESSENGER -- but read slowly: it takes a volume of suffering to make a page of jokes.

The Winter Prince was amazing. I found myself frustrated with Medraut when he became arrogant and prideful. He refused to ask his father, Artos, for help in battling his evil mother, Morgause. I felt helpless because I could not offer Medraut support. Luckily Medraut begins to change as Lleu begins to trust him. I love the ending where....well I won't tell you that. This book is really great! It kept me on the edge of seat. The historical attributes help me understand ancient history that had been confusing previously.

"The Winter Prince" is a beautifully written, intense account of a boy's relationships with the various members of his family and his desperate attempts to free himself from the stigma of his birth. The book is unusual in Arthurian canon because it presents Medraut (Mordred) as a decent, caring person rather than a villain. All he wants is to be loved and trusted, and when being a decent, caring person fails to earn him love and respect, he decides to hurt those who have refused to accept him. This book speaks to all the young people who are children of divorce, torn between parents, jealous of younger siblings, and needing to be accepted on their own terms.

One of the most amazing books I have ever read is The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein. The characters in this book are so real that it almost makes the reader feel like he or she could just reach out and touch them. I found myself inside the plot- being Medraut and feeling his utter confusion. He was torn repeatedly between his affection for his father and brother and his strange, rebellious devotion to his mother. The author had a very compelling way of expressing the envy and love of Medraut for his half brother Lleu, a way that seemed almost to justify both sides and bring the reader even further into the story. I had a sort of breathless awe when I put the book down several months ago. I haven't read it since then but often I am reminded of its subtle power that I am sure would make a blockbuster movie.

Arthur uses her characters to touch on a deeper sense of who human beings are. Simple things, a waiting room in a doctor's office, turns into a conspiricy. The writing is interesting, the observations are stellar, and the characters you either hate to love or love to hate.

This inexcusably out-of-print novel is a wonderful case of high word craft simply applied, in the ancient & honorable ways, to spinning a wise sweet funny tale. Hilarity builds steadily. Country-raised readers will recognize both superficially normal & fabulously eccentric neighbors with deep glee. Lifetime city/suburban dwellers will learn astounding facts about the peculiar potential (it is not always out here, but might be) variety of human & dog life in the sticks. Can a mere good story ever perhaps assist us in temporarily saving ourselves from some of our own most glaring/abiding/destructive idiocies? Perhaps. This could have been an early storytelling aim, one suspects, no matter how things have lately veered. Every college/university literature or writing prof in Indiana & dozens of nearby states might want to consider doing what academics can occasionally do to breathe practical life into a grand book. As a model for telling, Binding Spell is unsurpassed, worth triple the best how-to & ten times the dreadful manual of style. Elizabeth Arthur is an alert & happy & demanding & kind human animal paying very serious attention & weaving what she knows/discovers into an arresting tapestry. Or carpet. Or rug. This is 98% of the game. As lit, the book will help the mix, resist pointless shred analysis/criticism immaculately, provide nice balance against the sometimes overwhelming drone of arrogant abstraction, & elicit some student writing poured directly from student hearts. Think about this. & grin.

I am planning to be an exchange student at the University of Canberra and of all the travel books I read, this met my needs the best. The book was honest about student discounts and the quality of youth hostels. The features I liked best were the planned walking tours of cities and the special attention to "Fun and Free" attractions. The author writes in a clear, friendly, engaging manner, I feel I know what to expect from Australia after reading this book.

I just got back from a 3-week trip to Australia during which I used this book constantly, though my version is from 1999 and I don't know what version amazon.com is selling right now. I visited many of the places Frommer's recommended and stayed at a few of the lodgings listed as well (specifically, the Sydney Central Youth Hostel and Springfield Lodge, both good choices if you are on a budget and want a place that's clean and comfortable). Some people I travelled with part of the time preferred my guide over theirs (a Fodor, I think) so much that I let them borrow it after I flew home and they stayed behind. If I could change one thing, I would color-code the seperate chapters- it was difficult to locate things in my edition since everything was printed in black or red. Still, this book was extremely handy for me and I'm glad it was the one I chose to buy.

With all the real-life adventure stories on Antarctica, it seems difficult to imagine that a work of fiction could be as enthralling and as entertaining as the real thing. In most cases, truth is infinitely stranger and more interesting than fiction. The quality and lyrical tone of Arthur's writing sold me however. THe main character, MOrgan Lamont, has an obsession to recreate the tragic Scott expedition, and the author does an excellent job of imagining the obsession that all explorers/adventurers have. TRacing the character's life culminates with the actual recreation of the SCott expedition and an enthralling adventure story with a decided feminine touch to it. THe book's only weakness is the author's occasional diatribe on matters totally unrelated to the story, such as the Gulf War. THe book certainly adds to the Antarctic literature (fiction and non-fiction) and will be enjoyed by fans of serious literature and fans of the adventure and antarctic genres.

One of the survivors of Scott's ill-fated South Pole expedition called it The Worst Journey in the World. In Antarctic Navigation, Elizabeth Arthur introduces us to a young woman obsessed with reproducing that journey as completely as possible. It is a journey to a harsh and seemingly alien landscape, "the highest, driest, coldest place on earth," yet home to unique wildlife and a wild beauty. Morgan Lamont tells her story from its very beginning, with her birth and the childhood that led to her consuming passion with Antarctica and Scott. These early chapters are heartbreaking and peopled with quirky, fascinating characters who later share her South Pole expedition. Along the way we're brought into many of Morgan's pursuits and opinions, from quantum mechanics to the remake of "The Thing." While much of the journey is exquisitely rendered, the author, like her protagonist, makes choices that make the trip longer and more difficult than it has to be (at nearly 800 pages). But the complex and flawed Morgan Lamont is well worth knowing, and the effort of the journey is amply rewarded.

It has now been several years since I read this remarkable book. Every now and again a book reaches out to you from its place in the store. Each time you wander your favorite bookstore, your eyes and hands go to that certain book, and if you are lucky, you give in to an inexplicable urge to buy and read that magical volume. Antarctic Navigation was such a book for me. I could not put the book down from the moment I began to read it, and it has opened a new world to me. Arthur's compelling story, her wonderful characters, and her beautiful voice are unforgettable. I look forward to revisiting the book. But beyond that, I discovered a near mystical attraction to the Antarctic and have continued reading what I can about that mysterious place. Maybe its the busy, urban life that I lead that leaves me with a longing to experience, even vicariously, the grand solitude of the Antarctic, but whatever the explanation, I expect the interest to be lifelong.