After I read Yew & Non-Yew, I finally understood why my colleague shook her head ruefully when I told her I had planted wax begonias. My colleague is a horticulturist at an arboretum. I had transgressed a gardening rule I never knew existed. Now that I've read Yew & Non-Yew, a hilarious book which spells out all those rules, I'll never do it again. I recommend this book to anyone interested in gardening. My friend the horticulturist called it "quite a hoot."

As an American expat in England, I was beginning to understand some of the never-changing ideas of English gardening. "Yew and Non-Yew" made these things quite clear. While not one to tuck gnomes into my landscape, I did wince to read that hanging baskets containing a few -- gasp! -- IMPATIENS would be viewed with disdain by our British gardening neighbors. But the book travels well across the Atlantic to our gardens in the colonies. It is hilarious through and through. And telling as it charts the chasm between gardeners who would put plastic furniture on the patio and those who would use only old bricks for the parterre. Every chapter is a hoot. You'll read and re-read these pages.

A stunning compilation in words and pictures, focussing on the arts and culture of the Mongols. Filled with sumptuous full-color plates of thankas and artifacts in museums and collections worldwide, this book traces the rise of Tantric Buddhism within Mongolia and the tremendous transformation in Mongol culture as a result. Featuring some of the finest sculptures to be found within the Buddhist artistic tradition, those created by the first Bogdo Gegen Zanabazar, among a multitude of other examples of the heights to which the Mongolians raised tantric art.

If you don't know Irish detective Peter McGarr, this terrific novel from 1989 is a great introduction! Where else but Dublin might you find a James Joyce scholar dead, and McGarr and the Murder Squad of the Garda Siochana reading Ulysses, and occasionally Samuel Beckett, in an effort to understand what led to his death? Including brief quotations from Ulysses in this novel, Gill locates the action in places which are significant in Ulysses, talks about Finnegan's Wake, and even discusses "the novel of competence," represented by Joyce, as opposed to "the novel of incompetence," represented by Samuel Beckett, making these esoteric subjects comprehensible and intriguing.

Dublin throbs with life here, in the pubs, on the streets, in the university, and at galleries, the Shelbourne Hotel, and St. Michan's church. The action is robust, with many fights, fractures, and a few hospitalizations, as McGarr and his detectives concentrate more on justice than on the niceties of procedure. The characters we know from earlier novels are further developed here (and continue into later novels).

As always, Gill includes lively and wonderfully droll conversations--the teasing and byplay one expects of close and caring relationships--both at home and at the Garda station. And when Det. Hugh Ward and Det. Ruthie Bresnahan finally discover each other, one of the highlights of this novel, their scenes become both hilarious and steamy. Gill's excellent satire (the Beautiful People at a book-launching), his wonderful sense of the absurd (the murder victim's wife bringing the victim home, laying him in bed, and contacting McGarr only after he starts to "go off"), and his uncanny ability to create quirky and likable characters make this one of the best novels in this remarkable series.

This was my second selection in the long list of Mr. Gill's books. I started with his next to last book and now know some things about his characters that I would not have found out going in the opposite direction. But even with that said, I find myself entranced by the characterizations in these two books. I have become quite comfortable with the repeating case of characters and I enjoy my time with them. The murder being handled sometimes seems secondary to other issues in their lives. While I did have some trouble keeping the three potentially villainous women in this novel clear in my mind, it was nevertheless a fun read. I have always avoided the reading of Joyce's Ullyses, but Gill makes an excellent case for my reconsideration of that decision. He also brings me back, clearly and strongly, to all my memories of my one trip to Dublin and certainly encourages me to return. All in all this is a fine story, well-researched and with characters well worth remembering.

Witty, engrossing, full of good writing, the novel is a relentless pleasure.

The City of London : A Photographer's Portrait is a book about the feelings of an artist. You can like London or not, but if you have an idea about it, you may be interested in seeing London by the eyes of a photographer.

IM AN ASSISTANT IN THE FACULATY OF ARTS IN CAIRO UNIVERSITY . STAFF MEMBER IN THE DEBRTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND I WANT BUY THIS BOOK(ON THE GOVERNMENT OF RULERS)

it has a few good tips, and is greatly entertaining. I strongly reccommend this a present to all you gardening friends