This was the first Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book that I everread, when my older brother brought it home from elementary school.After samping a large number of the series, it remains among the best.

Even at a young age, my brother and I recognized the sheer number of kitschy lines invading this book. It had us in stitches, and I'm certain if either of us mentioned the title, we'd begin to recount our favorites. One that sticks in my head:

"'I guess we can't count on you for anything, Jonah, so we'll have to count you out...' Those are the last words you ever hear."

Ah, yes, the plot has something to do with your being a secret agent who has to save the whales. But who ever EXACTLY cared about the plots? It was all a matter of racing through the book to figure out every possible twist. Who can forget the hand-wringing tension of deciding which of four or five different spots would be the best to swim to? Or whether to secretly break into the bad guys rendez-vous house, or simply knock at the front door and bluff your way in? The KGB figures in somewhere, and all the villains are ridiculous Russian stereotypes (who look in the illustrations, if I remember correctly, oddly similar to Stalin, Kruchschev, etc.). This surely did derive from the collective Cold War imagination. I believe Trotsky is even mentioned by name, totally out-of-place, showing a complete disregard for not mixing up the historical facts in young children's brains.

Oh, the flood of nostalgia! Of course, the copy my brother and I had eventually became so worn out, it had to be disposed of, and I've never seen another edition. If I ever found it in a used bookstore, I'd pay the price. But does anyone else remember this classic piece of camp? E-mail me, we'll rap about the glory days of the strange series, and its wonderful seventh volume.

These Icelandic sagas are fascinating in their portrayal of this harsh bygone era. Egils Saga is a fine example of what the vikings were up to long before Chris Columbus got the urge to sail a boat across the sea. It was a savage, violent era but still there was poetry. This is an intriguing paradox but I guess it shows how much the times have changed. The saga of Egil is a compelling one. He is both killer and poet. He is a savage and a family man. I would be lying if I said I would like to have lived through this era but it is interesting to read about nonetheless.

I picked up this book in preparation for a trip to Iceland as a way to get a feel for the country's history, so I expected to appreciate it in an educational sense. In that respect, the book did its job. However, I was also surprised to find both the plot and the writing style engaging, so though I started the book out of a sense of duty, I finished the book wrapped up in the story.

The saga follows the life of Egil Skallagrimmson, one of Iceland's early settlers, beginning with a relatively lengthy section about several generations of ancestors preceding any mention of Egil's birth. Egil himself is a morally ambiguous figure, committing his first murder at six, but displaying moments of generosity and leadership as well, and of course he's also a poet. The action revolves primarily around Egil's movements back and forth between Norway and Iceland, though there is also a section that takes place in England, with Egil acting as a mercenary in a war against Scotland. Sagas do not read like modern novels--this is more of a biography that follows Egil birth to death--but part of the saga's purpose is to entertain, and it does that well.

Two things are involved in making this saga readable: first, the skill of the translators, whose sole fault seems to be an utter inability to translate Egil's poetry in any way that conveys why people thought he was such a great poet (maybe it just sounds better in Icelandic). Fortunately, the poetry takes up a pretty small fraction of the book. More significant is the author's skill together with the distinctive features of the saga genre--namely this: the sagas are primarily concerned with people and their actions. Thus every detail serves to carry the plot forward. You won't get landscape descriptions unless landscapes are relevant to the plot. Use of dialogue is frequent and relatively natural, but the conversations are brief and always move things forward. This might sound like the book reads like an action movie (and to a degree it does), but the fact that the saga includes Egil's genealogy and stories about others in his generation in his family that result in a story that evolves from a web of motivations. You don't get much in the way of examination of Egil's psyche, but the stripped-down style of the saga and its convincing portrayal of Egil as a complete human personality makes me wonder how necessary the tendencies of much modern literature to pay so much attention to inner life as a true representation of the human experience really are.

Egil Skallagrimmson is one of the great neglected characters of all time. Poet, magician, politician, good guy, bad guy, warrior--Egil is one of the more interesting characters that you'll ever read about. It's too bad that he's known mainly to fans of Icelandic sagas. If you're only going to read one Icelandic saga in your lifetime, choose this one.

I liked this book. On the surface this book almost sounds like a cliche; love your fellow man, forgive & forget, etc. But the fact of the matter is that it passes on those very messages in an extremely contemporary and simple manner. It reminded me of Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. Heaven Can't Wait helps you, through a variety of ways, to step back, take a breath and (hopefully) be the bigger person. In a world as increasingly complicated and complex as ours, it's nice to have such a powerful yet simple reminder of what is really important in life.

In a word, amazing! Stephen captures in his first book what so many other like books have taken chapters and chapters to tell. I love it and have told everyone that I know about it, in fact it's one of my gifts to alot of people this holiday season. Definitely a must read for anyone that wants to improve on themselves, their lives, and to attain the dreams and goals that are there for the taking. :)

Using a less-is-more approach, the author captures your attention with meaningful messages and purposeful poetry. Anyone will love this book, and moreover will tell their friends.

When this book came across the desk, we thought "oh gosh, another out of date, get rich quick, internet how-to primer". Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Paul and Sarah Edwards seem to have a keyboard that turns whatever is typed into gold. The duo are noted for creating inspiring, hands-on, how-to books for the small time operator with big dreams, and this one is no different. In cyberspace, where one offline line year is the equivalent of ten online years, it is very difficult to write a book about the Internet that is not completely out of date by 3 p.m. the next day. This book though is one the few that can stand the test of time (or at least still be relevant next week).

The Edwards do the usual explaining, defining and exampling, but we were most impressed with their profiles. We visited several websites that were mentioned in the book and found all of them to still be in business! In the lightning fast "up and at 'em" today "down and out" tomorrow atmosphere of the Internet this was truly a surprise. It just goes to show-if those entrepreneurs read this book and are still profiting, than maybe you will too.

Chock full of inspiring real life success stories, you'd do well to give this read your full attention.

--LiteratePlanet.com

Don't let the title fool you... this book is not about the quick, get rich internet scams that proliferate around the web. This book is for the lay person who has a bricks and mortar business or who wants to start from scratch. The internet is not going away and it is possible, with hard work and this book as a guide, to make money using the internet as a tool. Buy this book and get out your highlighter... you'll find a great deal of information that you can put to use starting today!

Work-at-home experts Paul and Sarah Edwards, the authoring team of a series of leading working-from-home books, have teamed up with Linda Rohrbough to write Making Money In Cyberspace to encourage business people to take their existing businesses online and to invite others to test the waters of starting an online business from scratch themselves. This book will open up the exciting world of online business opportunities.

Making Money In Cyberspace was written to demonstrate that a number of traditional occupations including domestic, technical, and corporate level work can be conducted online from the comfort of a home or office. The authors cite a number of occupations that just about anyone can make a living from online. Check out the helpful checklist at the back of the book!

The book focuses a considerable amount of attention to the details of designing creative Websites that will effectively market an online business operation. Building and promoting effective Websites, developing content, advertising options, payment considerations, and selecting an Internet service provider are covered. A number of actual cases studies are provided to reinforce these important issues.

Readers will appreciate the fact that the authors have expressed themselves in a non-technical manner. Anyone can pick up this book and put it to use! It will make a great companion to other books written by these authors. This is sure to be a favorite among those who love what the Internet has to offer and desire to derive an income from it! This book would also make a nice gift!

This book popularises the new portfolio management approach to managing loan portfolios.The attempt is to mark the value of loans to market. This assumes a vibrant market for securitised loans , strips etc.It is a very good introductory book an the subject which is now evolving.It should be read by regulators and those who have supervisory roles.It is easy reading not much encumbered by obscure mathematical equations
This is good value for money and should be on every credit administrator's bookshelf

The authors make for a particularly impressive team of credit risk experts and Professor Altman in particular is a global authority on the subject. The book does not disappoint, and provides a first-rate overview of the field as it is currently emerging. Of particular interest to this reviewer were the chapters on the new credit risk models such as CreditMetrics, KMV and their brethren. There are also some informative chapters on default and recovery analysis and credit migration. However, like so many financial books on the market these days, there is little guidance on the practical implementation of the various approaches described in the text. Overall, "Managing Credit Risk" is a very useful work but for this kind of money I would have expected more than just a foot in the door!

Overall this book is a good overview of credit risk managment issues and techniques. The treatment of high yield is particularly good, and much of this information is unique to this resource.

The writing is accessible to beginners, and the content is a useful reference for experienced professionals. I also highly recommend Tavakoli's "Credit Derivatives & Synthetic Structures."

In my opinion their book is one of the best values in home business books today!

As someone having helped many people start their own home business myself, I applaud Paul & Sarah Edwards for their continuing loyalty for those looking to start and run a home based business.

Paul & Sarah go into a good amount of detail for each business they recommend, they provide you with all the startup information you'll need and then add many resources for even more follow-up.

If you would like to start a great home business. Drop me a line at info@HomeBusinessSecrets.com

I would love to help you get started!

As with all of their books, Paul and Sarah Edwards have added another excellent resource for anyone who is looking to set up a home based business. My suggestion to anyone looking at getting started in a home based business is to grab all of their books. There is so much information..They are certainly the ones that we can rely on.

This book is filled with all the information you need to select a home business with knowledge under your belt. The Edwards have done all the research for you--all you have to do is choose! Once you do make a choice, you'll want to read "The Work at Home Balancing Act" by Sandy Anderson which tells you everything you need to know to successfully launch a home business, offering perspectives from both men and women. These resources are a must for your work at home library--read them and profit!

The first 162 pages of this book are great. Steele could spin them off into a short textbook. The explanations of antibody diversity, gene rearrangement and hypermutation are really very good. The rest is a little hard to believe, and where the immune system is concerned doesn't even make sense. Adaptability and variability, not hard-coding, are key to the immune response, so it seems that what he proposes--that learned responses could be passed back into germ-line DNA--wouldn't even be benficial if it were to turn out to be true considering the rate at which most pathogens mutate. But, let the experts address that question. For an overview of antibody production, this is done well.

A book requiring remarckable courage in the orthodox scientific climate of today, given that Darwinian evolution is generally accepted and most views contrary are considered virtual heresy. The possibility of the passing on of acquired characteristics from a parent to an offspring was first proposed by Lamarck some 200 years ago. This new book suggests from experimental evidence gathered over decades that it is possible for immune functions to be passed from parent to offspring this prceeds via retroviruses being able to infect sex cells such as sperm and ovum. Certainly not an unreasonable possibility and given the strong evidence shown in the book not to be passed over lightly. Although the technical details of the biochemistry involved are at times heavy going the authors attempt to alleviate this through a useful glossary and explanations when necessary. Not easy to follow but worth the effort. The book certainly asks some major questions of accepted dogma.

Once again this book highlights that just when the accepted authorities are fixed and comfortable in their domain along comes something to surprise them and everyone, nature just can't stop being creative and interesting can it.

A book based on new scientific knowledge, not vague old ideas. The authors put forward precise statements and hypotheses about inheritance of acquired immunity. I find it very instructive for its vulgarization of molecular genetics and of the functioning of the immune system, which is not easy to find elsewhere. I also like its openness and its boldness, which will certainly be attractive for all inquisitive minds.

This book has less to do with slavery and more to do with the quest for middle-class status in England. For comparison, one should also read "ROBINSON CRUSOE" by Daniel Defoe and "PAMELA" by Samuel Richardson.

It is hard to rate a book like this...

You must read it if you're even considering it and once you've read it, you should pass it on to someone else. Life dishes us a lot. Life dishes out some people more hardship than others and sometimes we get the opportunity to give ourselves and those we love a chance at a better life. Not only does this book tell a wonderful story of a man who found strength most of us never realize we possess, but in doing so - has proven the power of language, written and spoken. The world can be full of possobilities in even the most impossible situations - to say nothing of the horror we inflict upon each other...but that's another story.

In fact, there was never any african slavery inside Britain itself. i.e. England, Scotland and Wales. But this book highlights how the British went to the Caribbean islands like Jamaica and Barbados; claimed it for themselves; and from there imported slaves from Africa to grow sugar cane. Equiano was one such slave who worked hard to buy back his freedom. He eventually walked the streets of London as a free man, but he became a sailor who was once again subjected to slavery once he left England - even as he travelled and worked on his ship - much to his disgust. Slavery existed in the British Empire but was not tolerated at any time within Britain itself. For that you'd have to study the Roman rule of Britain before the British Empire was established.

This is a great book. As someone just begining to think about a home business, this book was very informative. I had had a general idea of what I might do, but this book helped clarify it and even gave it a name. It also gave me some other ideas to toss around. Beyond that however, the book was great in letting you know how to get started, some of the pitfalls to watch out for, and an overall sense of what it takes to start a home business. The only down side I found to the book was the constant references to other books by the same authors to get more detail information on any given topic. It was very frustrating when I didn't have the other books. But I guess their sales tactic worked since I bought two more of their books! I haven't read them yet, but because of this book I am looking forward to it.

Finally a making money at home book that is worth buying! This is an outstanding, easy read loaded with ideas for everyone. The 100 computer-based businesses listed each come complete with resources to follow up on in addition to what to expect in the area of salary. Paul and Sarah Edwards seem to really have a knack for communicating what so many of us are looking for. Of course the book contains all of the important money and business issues as well. I highly recommend this book as a "one-stop-shop" on the subject.

This was a great, informative book! If you are thinking of a home business, or already have one in action this is the book for you. I work from home, but what I got was added ideas that I can combine with my already existing business.

There are 100 ideas for computer based business. Each one has idea's and resources to help you get started. I found the explanation for each was very detailed and if you have any creativity what so ever you take it and go from the idea's listed.

This really was a very useful and resourceful book!

Positives: First I thought the book was very good in that it was very explicit in its examples. Most books have enough ambiguity so that running the examples is cumbersome. Not so in this book where instructions are explicit, examples have no typos and screenshots are useful. I also found the content interesting - it shows you the inner workings of MFC. Finally, I applaud the authors for trying to write a smaller book (only 140 pages compared to 1000 pages for most programming books).

Negatives: The book does not use the Visual C++ wizards. The author states this up front. But who would actually use Visual C++ without the wizard tools? I think after showing the information about MFC the author could have then shown how to do the same things with the wizards.

This is a good book, but some of the code has bugs in them.

Reading this little book (only 163 pages!) is the best way for a complete novice to get started learning MFC. The examples in the book are clear and easy to understand and all code is carefully commented line by line. No black magic anywhere. After reading this book you will understand the basic principles behind MFC.

The book of course only covers a small part of MFC. The authors do not cover Wizards and the Document/View architecture. So after reading this book you must read some other book that covers those topics. There are lots of them. You will find a dozen in any book store.

But read this book first. Otherwise Wizards and Document/View apps will just seem like black magic. This book will give you a solid foundation that helps you understand what you are doing.