This book is tremendously entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny. At the same time, it incorporates some very serious issues for Wylie. There are some graphic scenes... my eight year old son read this book before I did and I will have to ask him what he thought about that. I am actually amazed that this book hasnt shown up on the challenged book list - I guess the "Beef, Its Whats For Dinner" people haven't gotten a hold of it yet.

I think that the people who didn't like this book may have been expecting a typical "western", which this is not.

Sunshine Rider takes off from page one and keeps you going right up until the end. The story follows the adventures of 17 year old Wylie Jackson from one mistake to the next. While constantly running, Wylie encounters many interesting characters. The story is sprinkled with jokes that are funny enough to get you laughing out loud (and consequently turning a few heads...especially if you are reading in the library). Wylie is a likable character even with all his flaws, and his narration is a lot like Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Anyone who liked that book will enjoy this one as well. I am now anxiously awaiting Moonshine Rider which I'm guessing is the sequel to this one.

I bought the paperback because it sounded interesting. I have never really enjoyed westerns but something about the premise of the book appealed to me. Since starting Sunshine Rider I haven't been able to put it down. It's a terrific book full of humor, adventure and wonderful characters. The plot is full of original events and laugh-out-loud situations. This is one of the best books I have read in quite a while. I have 40 pages left to read and am now taking my time because I don't want the book to end. You don't have to read westerns or be a vegetarian to enjoy this wonderful story. You will be amazed by this sleeper of a book just as I have been.

This book is not so hot. The cartoonish illustrations do not help one bit. If you really want to fix your bike get How To Rock And Roll by Sam Tracy.

This book helped a kid for whom things mechanical were mysterious and a bit scary. That kid took a department store bike that always rode "kind of funny" and made it a faithful steed. 27 years and many thousands of cycling miles later I just want to say THANKS!

I bought my first copy of this book back in 1974 at the age of 14, and proceeded to tear every part of my bike apart, and more importantly, successfully put it back together! I recently began riding again, and the first thing I did was to buy the newest edition, and proceeded to tear apart my bike again! This book makes it fun to work on bikes! In fact, once I had finished completely overhauling it, I was a little bummed because all that is left to do now is to ride it...

The bood is well written, funny, informative, and covers almost everything. I highly recommend it to anyone who owns a bike and is interested in learning to maintain it!

... I would have never purchased this book.
I love the idea of giving my little 2 and a half year old a universal approach to tales and stories from all over the world. I new Rudoph qualified. I had no idea that there was a monster in the story; note that it was the one thing that impressed her, and she asked me what it was.
I wouldn't suggest it to anyone that wants to introduce the idea of Santa Clauss to their child.

I was very impressed with this book . . . a beautiful book, wonderfully illustrated, containing the original story, which did not have the Abominable, or Herbie, or Yukon Cornelius, like the later movie. I remember as a child in 1951 listening to the original story on 78rpm records put out by RCA and have attempted for years to find the original story. Although I did notice some subtle differences in the words . . .the original referred to Rudolph's, er, "forehead" (Santa was too polite to call it a big red nose) . . most of the text stayed true to what I had memorized. Definitely a book not only for children, but for us baby boomers who remember the original. A must-have to hand on from generation to generation.

Yes, the other reindeer make fun of Rudolph's red nose. (I would hardly call this bigotry.) That is the point of the story: Rudolph overcomes adversity and the other reindeer learn to accept differences. Even the elves learn to accept a dentist and the misfit toys are given to boys and girls who love them. Maybe the USA reader should have watched (or read) until the end of the story instead of making snap judgements like all of the other reindeer.

SAS is powerful tool, but possesses a bizarre (to a programming snob) and inconsistent syntax. That being said, you won't be able to learn SAS from this book. However, you'll find this very useful as a quick reference to the options and canned routines. While it's not truly "pocket size," its size is compatible with my otherwise messy desktop.

The 4th edition includes changes to be seen in the upcoming SAS 9.0.

This is a good book to have available if you don't wish to take a look at one of SAS Institute's substantial publications or a reference manual published elsewhere. However, it isn't a guide I'd recommend to someone who isn't familiar with computer programming or SAS. It's best seen as a pocket dictionary of SAS programming - and it should be used as such.

I just got the 2nd edition printed in 1998. I agree with the previous reviewer who used an example about Chinese language, as I will explain later.

I have been using the SAS for some years and am curently a statistician mainly working with the SAS. Every page looks informative to me. I can learn new rules and possibilities even on the commands I have been using.

The advantage of this book for me is that it is small and highlights key information. It is like a summary book of the _SAS Language_, a thick reference book that I do not feel like browsing for leisure. The disadvantage would be same as how I feel about the _SAS Language_ book, that if we do not know what we want to know, then we will not be able to find it out. The index page is intended for experienced user.

Bought this for my daughter because the reviews said good for beginners... JEEZ! Not for kids though! I wish there were astronomy books for beginner KIDS!

This book uses terms maybe not so easy for younger people. A bit dry, even for me.

It's on the bookshelf and hasn't come off.

I liked this book because the author does a good job of explaining how to find stars and other objects in the sky. In cases where it would be helpful, he even explains some of the science behind visual observations and stars, etc. I also liked the fact that he went through each month of the year, with specific advice on what to especially observe that month.
One minor complaint: In the almanac section of the book, some tables (for finding planets, etc.) are now a bit out of date. For this reason I am rating the book four stars rather than five. Nevertheless, this book is excellent for those who want to stargaze but are not sure where to begin.

This is a good introduction of astronomy's techniques for beginers, It is well explained and concise. Including humor and acurate data, it will make you a good amateur astronomer. It works even if you are latin-american.

The disk supplied with the book (contains the database to work the exercises) will not easily install on Windows NT. I have contacted the author (via e-mail) and the database manufacturer for more installation instructions but have not yet received any help. Without the information on the supplied disk the learning process is less than complete.

First, I should mention that I got this book in Dec. 2000 and had no trouble installing the disk on Windows98. Hopefully the problem pointed about by another reviewer has been resolved. Incidentally, I find the SOLID server very easy to set up and use, with a simple but friendly user interface. OK, now for the book. It is very clear and includes numerous detailed examples, along with step-by-step discussion as to why the syntax works the way it does. This is particularly helpful when grouping, subqueries, joins, etc., or combinations thereof are involved. Sometimes he'll solve a problem in more than one way, which is good to see. Occasionally, too, like a good teacher he will have a snare for the unwary and go on to say, "Wait, this isn't working the way intended," and use the pitfall as a way of bringing home a point. Another thing I like is the adaptation of Backus-Naur Form that he uses in specifying languages -- if you've never seen BNF before (which included me before reading this book), that may sound a little daunting. Actually, it makes correct usage really clear. One more thing to mention about this book is its excellent range of topics without bogging down on them. In addition to covering the core keywords "select", "from", "where", and so forth, he talks about imbedded SQL (which I rely on heavily when I use VB or work on web pages), stored procedures, and what ODBC is, to mention only a few extra topics. Finally, the translator should be commended for readable, fluent English.

I ordered this book through amazon.com when there where no reviews-- took a chance and did it ever pay off. So now i'm writing a review for the next guy who is looking for a good book to get HANDS-ON sql experience with. You should have some understanding of relational databases and a basic understanding of sql to get the maximum from this book, but that's not necessary, first time sql self-teachers stand to benefit greatly from it also. I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to gain further understanding of SQL and relational databases.

The Coast of Maine book is good if you're a first-time visitor to the state. I recently bought this before going to Maine for a week and found this book very helpful. If you're going to be driving a fair amount, then you'll like this...it provides information about the interesting things to do in the major coastal towns and areas in between. This book is lacking in a couple of areas, however. First, the hotel and restaurants listed are few in number and don't provide the best selection, although it is a start. Second, the maps aren't very helpful if you're going to do a lot of driving and provide only a relative idea of your location. I would recommend getting a AAA map of Maine to accompany this book.

That said, this is still a very useful book. Most of the other books on Maine were too focused (e.g., only lodging, or only lighthouses, etc.). This one at least gives a good overview and identifies both the common and less well-known things to do.

My family and I recently visited Maine and in preparation we purchased Great Destinations The Coast of Maine Book to get an idea of what we wanted to see. I found this book to be very clear and concise. It was extremely helpful in giving us an overview of what we wanted to see and do whilst in Maine. The coastline was as beautiful as the book depicted and I would recommend buying this book and also visiting this tremendous State.

A basic introductory text. Geared towards users of ISDN as a help text on installation and purchase. You'll get some understand of the technology behind ISDN but not much. The book itself says it is of an "introductory" level and I have to agree. This book won't serve as a reference book.

Buy it, read it, toss it. Don't buy it if you already know something about ISDN.

If you are clueless about ISDN the way I was before I read this book then this text will be very usefull to you! This book will help you lay the foundation of knowledge necessary to understanding ISDN.

Not being a member of the the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) I find myself a little at sea with this material, but for an outsider the book does present some interest in that Nibley is a respected Mormon scholar who advocates that the Book of Mormon (Hellaman 13:33) quotes Book of Enoch. As such Nibley is one of the main points of reference for the many members of LDS who respect the Book of Enoch. However in reading outside this book one finds that other Mormon scholars (notably Kent Jackson of BYU) reject both the Book of Enoch and Nibley's arguments.

As to the book itself, it is probably of very limited utility to anyone with an interest in pseudepigrapha - anyone wanting to know about Enoch outside the LDS context would go to an academic writer (Nickelsburg, Vanderkam) or editor (Charlesworth) - but it does shed light on why some Mormons consider Book of Enoch semi-inspired. Personally I find Nibley's evidence for traces of Enoch in the book of Mormon extremely weak - nothing more than a very vague similarity. The first translation in English of 1Enoch, by Richard Laurence, was published in 1821 but was not widely available in America - and appears not to have been known to early Mormons.

This erudite study includes essays discussing various Enoch texts, their suppression and loss, and more recent recovery, and even more recent appreciation in New Testament and Judaic studies. He includes essays on The Book of Enoch as a Theodicy (justification of the ways of God to man), a wide-ranging comparison of the themes of the Enoch literature with some of the oldest Egyptian, Greek, and Babylonian myths. Finally, he extensively compares the contents of the recently recovered Enoch texts from Ethiopia, Qumran, Slavonic, etc. with the Enoch material produced by Joseph Smith in 1830. Altogether mind-expanding and provocative.

The photos are superb and the text interesting; if the title were "Common Garden Butterflies of the United States" I'd give it 5 stars. The existing title is very misleading, however. Only the most common U.S. butterflies are included and coverage of Canada is neglible.

bunt@duke.usask.ca

I checked out several books from the library to complete my research on a butterfly garden for my backyard. This one book was the best, most informative, easiest instructions I found. I had a small area to work with, and 2 years later my butterfly garden is a beautiful sight to behold, and my personal treasure to work in and with. It's design follows Mr. Mikula's basic instructions, and to date we have had several different types of butterflies visit our garden. What a joy. Thank you, Mr. Mikula!!