I admit, I had high expectations when I started reading _Happy Endings_; I'd just finished Geras' stunning Egerton Hall trilogy, which I devoured in one weepy night. Geras has a knack for writing straight from the heart of a teenage girl; she seems to recall this perfectly, as so few writers do.

This talent shows up in _Happy Endings_, an earlier novel, as well. Unfortunately, the heroine, Mel, doesn't have as juicy a plot to work through. Here's the premise: Mel gets a part in a community-theater production of Chekhov's _Three Sisters_. She is instant friends with Clare, the sweet and worldly stage manager, who is recovering from divorce and finding love again with the director, Chris. But when Clare goes out of town, Mel suspects he is having an affair with an actress, and starts meddling. Alongside this plot runs the story of Mel's own romance with a "mysterious" boy who won't talk about his home life, but this mystery is quickly solved, and the relationship between him and Mel is never looked at deeply. They kiss in the prop room. That's about it. Mel's heart is more engaged in worrying about Clare's love life than her own. It feels like Geras wanted to write about Clare but decided to write from Mel's point of view to make it a teen novel, and so both Clare's and Mel's stories lose some immediacy.

The final disappointment came at the very end of the book. See, the beginning of the story featured Mel, homebound with a broken ankle, reminiscing about the production of _Three Sisters_, and the broken ankle is talked about enough that I expected its breaking to be a major plot point--like maybe the catty actress tripped Mel to take over her part, or something--and at the end it turns out *SPOILER* that the broken ankle is basically irrelevant to the story. It just seems to be a device to get Mel on a couch where she can sit and write. *sigh*

All in all, it's a pretty good book, but it can't hold a candle to the Egerton Hall books. Look for _The Tower Room_ and its sequels.

My expectations were very low for this book, becuase it started out slow, but once you get into it, its a really beautiful story. It depicts the life in the theater, and the hardships and stories that you may never know are going when the curtain falls. Although light reading, the book really captures the unity people find when they all share a common goal. This book is real-- it does not necessarily end with "comeuppance" and shows us that not all things were meant to be. A definite book worth reading!

A beautifully written novel for young adults. Geras explores the magical world of the theatre with fresh characters and heart-warming understanding. Never preachy yet very intuitive. I've read it every summer since I turned 15. I never tire, and always laugh, cry, and am constantly surprised at the beauty Adele Geras finds in the everyday.

This book contains nice photographs. However, the prices of pieces are unrealistic. Some quotes seem extremely low and other extremely high. The author doesn't mention the condition of the piece when quoting prices The greatest factor the effects the price of pottery is the condition of the piece. A price should never be given without a discription of the condition of the piece. The book would be a nice reference for a novice collector. But price information should be ignored.

This terrific book traces the history, manufacture, and various styles of the traditional Comforter Spaniel made in Staffordshire, England during the 19th century. It is a comprehensive study with substantial text and beautiful illustrations, and it is written in a style that keeps the reader turning pages. As a collector and dealer, I have found this book to be extremely useful - I can't keep enough copies in my store, and I keep it at the top of the stack on my coffee table at home. This is a perfect reference and a perfect gift for anyone who appreciates the primitive beauty of the well-known Staffordshire Spaniel. Be sure to check out its companion text, Staffordshire Animals, by the same author and publisher!

This book, the only one I know of that deals specifically with Staffordshire Spaniels, is an invaluable reference for collectors and dealers alike. It offers a wide range of over 285 superb full-color illustrations, descriptive captions, and suggested values that reflect various market and regional trends. The book is packed with important historical and production information. Sections on reproductions and tips for collectors round out this comprehensive and informative study. This is NOT just another Staffordshire picture book or boring catalog of image after image. This specialized book offers so much more. The author's writing style is reader-friendly and touched by the sense of fun that Staffordshire collecting is meant to be. Synonymous with Staffordshire figures, Spaniels are the quintessential Victorian decorative accessory -- no Victorian interior is complete without at least one pair, and no collector or dealer's library is complete without this book! Enjoy!

Once you get past the introduction and into the actual stories, this is a reasonable enough compilation of vampire stories. Unfortunately, the 'introduction' fails to introduce the collection adequately; it looks more like an essay on the topic "Vampires in fiction as subversion of the Oppressive Male Patriarchy: discuss"... The purpose of an introduction is to introduce the stories that follow it; the closest Ms. Gladwell's introduction comes is to occasionally draw on examples from the stories to support her own points.

While sexuality is a major part of the mystique of the vampire, Ms. Gladwell does her readers a disservice by concentrating on it to the exclusion of all other considerations; also, by treating the stories as supporting material for her essay rather than the other way around. In comparison, Christopher Frayling's anthology 'The Vampyre: Lord Ruthven to Count Dracula' has a much more balanced and informative introduction.

I loved this book. It strikes the gothic romantic in all of us!!

For a time-constraint working person, this book is easy to read. Every chapter is a story of a woman in different scenerio and the challenges she faces. I related to most cases easily with my own personal working experiences, and also some I know others experienced in the workplace. For those scenerios I have not encountered before, I now have the tips on my hand to tackle them. Dr Adele talks about working towards that 'inner circle' and tips of how to get around challenging situations like if your boss steals your idea and how to stand out among the boys' crowd. In the book examples of assertive responses were given to each scenerio, indicating tact of words. Her approach is positive, assertive and powerful. She emphasises building winning relationships with management, improving coworker relationships, and encouraging ambition and risk taking. During networking sessions in an outplacement program, people were asked if they will participate in office politics. Some would totally shun it. This book has taught me how work constructively into a good working relationship with the management, a skill that could be mastered, and could possibly enhanced my profession. I believe more examples could be drawn to append to the book. Perhaps a readers' corner for everyone to throw in their own experiences that might extend the book's intention. I would recommend this book for anyone who needs a quick shot in the arms.

Dr. Adele Scheele's book addresses several specific obstacles that most working women face. In fact some of the chapter titles are virtually identical to articles she has contributed to for "Working Woman" magazine in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

She succinctly focuses on several work-related issues that most of us have experienced at some point. What's good about the book is that she doesn't waste time in getting to the crux of the problem; there's thankfully not too much background info given in the intro to whatever issue she is focusing on. Her ability lies in the way she grabs your attention and keeps it while going about the difficult task of explaining the strategy involved. Dr. Scheele is also quite frank in telling how NOT to deal w/a situation and why. She has keen insight into the way most women think and would react. She explains why reacting the way most would is dead wrong, hurts credibility or is often viewed as sour grapes.

The only thing wrong is that she shorts some issues like ageism. Her advice is good but not the answer entirely. It needs more substance; more suggestions, more ways to combat it effectively and intelligently.

I love the way she describes more than one path a conversation could take and more importantly how to adjust your response accordingly. Ideally you can still come out looking like a winner.

Another wonderful thing about the book is that it covers loads of topics - lesser authors would have us reading at length about each problem discussed. She doesn't waste time. Book is a few years old and still offers viable counsel.

The book offers a great chance to practice each tool in the Photoshop software by reading each chapter's practices. The texts are easy to understand for whom wants to learn Photoshop at home. The Bonus CD contains many photos for you to make practice and to create your own works.

I once bought a Photoshop 5.5 book for the web by another author, thinking it could help me get some productivity out of the software. I didn't get much out of it that I had to scour bookstores for an alternative. Too bad my initial $39.99 went to waste. If I had only found this book first...

The contents are well-filling, especially for a beginner. But it isn't just for beginners--in depth discussion of Photoshop's and ImageReady's features fill the pages. Illustrative examples with step-by-step guides, tips and proven techniques make this an indispensable reference for beginners and for digital art professionals, as well. Layers, filters, paths, animation,web features, customizations, and many other essential topics are discussed with clarity. Additionally, the CD attached complements the book's content well.

I finally found a book that's worth my money and worth vouching for.

Pretty easy read and insightful into the ordeal these nine men and their families went through. But... it could have been so much more. Goodell simply justs organizes their comments and adds a little info here and there. I would have prefered to have read an account researched by an author where he took those interviews and created a mesmorizing narrative. What it is now is an okay book that you can read in a day. But what it could have been would have been a gripping story that made you feel like you were in that mine with them or waiting in the fire station with friends and family hoping for the miracle that came. Also, the pictures left a lot to be desired. The diagram of the mine was helpful but most of the pictures were of rescuerers not mentioned in the book or faint photos of the men as they came to the surface. Also I kept having to look back at the jacket to connect who was whom because the author used nicknames but the diagram had real names. Otherwise an okay book so I give it 3 stars. The story of the miracle itself is worth 5 stars.

To anyone with doubts that there is a God and that HE does perform miracles - this is a MUST READ. In their own words, the 9 miners tell the story of what it was like to be trapped over 200 feet below the surface with water rising all around them. A very emotional book.

I suppose everyone who uses Smalltalk should have a copy of this book, even if it's just to sit on the shelf, though you will of course get more repect if you have the older out-of-print version (S.80- The language and its implementation).

There are two problems with the book for a Smalltalk user of today:

1) The book was written a long time ago, and Smalltalk pioneered a lot of concepts in programming languages and IDEs, so very often the terms used for various things are not the terms we would use today; This makes for a confusing read at times.

2) The book is not very helpful from a practical point of view, if you are a new Smalltalk programmer struggling to get to grips with the class library because nearly every implementation these days has a plethora of non-standard extensions which obviously aren't covered, so what you are left with is a guide to the language syntax, which of course famously fits on one page of A4, and a brief look at some of the standard collection classes.

Bottom line: Buy this book to help Goldberg and Robson, because we owe them, read it, then go back to your implementation's help pages.

"Smalltalk/80 - The Languaje" is not only a clasical book, it's a very modern book. Most of the content is incredible actual and very funny to read.

You can't say "I know Smalltalk" if you don't read it.

This is a good book for anybody who has little sisters or brothers who bother them. It will make them understand that the little kid just wants to be like the bigger one. I liked this book because I liked how the two sisters fought and what they did to each other. I especially liked the wild ways the big sister got rid of the little one. It's a funny book to read.

here is a real history in the art of decoy carvings.one can pick it up and see just how far we have advance in the art of carving decoys.one has the ability to see the different stiles, and ways the artist has come to copy feathered friends.being a carver myself, it was very enjoyable reading.very informative.

There was chaos in the cemetery of Elvis internment. Riots at Rudy's mortuary! And then there was that nasty business of Eva Peron's globe-trotting body.

This is the perfect Halloween Coffee Table (or Coffin Top - if that's how one decorates for the Holiday) Book. The author tells tales of two dozen dearly departed and how they got there. At The Beginning of each End, she gives "Vital Statistics" varyingly including age at and cause of death, survivors, previous "close calls," and "Last Words" ("I'm so bored with it all" Sir Winston Churchill, "I'm going into the bathroom to read" Elvis Presley) There are other headlines at the time of death, concise and interesting bios, and, of course, details of funerals and send-offs. It includes many glossy black and white photos.

The book notes questionable cause (or perpetrator) of death for Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luther King, Jr. but then ascribes JFK's death to the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. When Pigs fly! And, speaking of pigs, Muppets sang at Jim Henson's memorail service, at which no one wore black. Reviewed by TundraVision

Great book on funerals of some legendary people. In particular I remember the one about the funeral of Jim Henson. I wish it had a tad more photos (there were a lot but I like tons) but it's great for anyone into funerals and wants something on their cofee table..

Call this 'Death and Burial Rites of the Celebrated'. This is an interesting take on the funeral rites of many famous people. I won't go into detail because this has already been done more than adequately in the first customer review. I was particularly fond of the manner in which the material was presented. I felt that the written accounts of the funeral rites discussed within presented a verbally visual sense of being there.
The subjects discussed were from quite diverse levels of celebrity. The information presented was in some cases as much reflective of the historical time frame during which they occurred as well as the individuals being honored.
This was a very interesting exhumation of information long buried and forgotten.