I loved this book! I recomend it for everyone

The golden promise of Carrie Brown's debut novel, Rose's Garden (1998) is more than fulfilled with Lamb In Love, an affecting tale of two very ordinary people transformed by the power of love.
Choosing Hursley, a small English village as her setting, Ms. Brown again writes with eloquent grace in spare, prismatic prose - an intriguing glint here, a revealing glimmer there as she artfully sketches the emotional terrain of her characters.
Fifty-five year old Norris Lamb is the village postmaster, a position he undertakes with the utmost respect and solemnity, viewing the mails as "a marvelous system of common trust," keeping "his postal scales highly polished," and employing "a new rubber stamp frequently so as to avoid smudges."
He is also a philatelist, the volunteer organist for St. Alphage,, and a self-described "...stick whom his neighbors consider a confirmed bachelor. Terrified of women, perhaps? [....](So careful with his appearance, etc.)"
But then, on the night of the 1969 American moon landing when Norris walked outside to get a closer look at the galaxy, he saw an even more remarkable sight - 41-year-old Vida Stephen dancing nearly naked in a garden. Norris had known her all his life, "But he'd never seen her like that before. He'd never seen anything like that before." And, quite suddenly, "He is Norris Lamb in love. Lamb in love."
Vida lives at Southend House, a derelict mansion, where for twenty years she has served as nanny for Manford Perry, a retarded young man who is also mute. His mother dead and his architect father often gone, Manford is totally dependent upon Vida who is devoted to him. Never having had a holiday or ventured far beyond Hursley, the routine of Vida's life is relieved only by letters from her one living relative, Uncle Laurence, who lives on Corfu, a seemingly unbelievably beautiful locale of which she can only dream.
Old enough now to be considered a spinster, Vida is viewed by fellow villagers with pity.
"But Norris knows - he believes he alone knows - what is there to be rescued and revived. He imagines that he sees what others, lacking the wondrous prism of his passion, cannot."
The question that torments him is how he will win her.
Unable to declare himself in person, Norris enjoins fellow postmasters to help him - he pens love letters which are posted to Vida from foreign lands. He leaves bouquets of flowers on a bench that she frequents. Finally, he ventures beyond Hursley, to Winchester where he buys Vida a gift - a nightdress an intricately patterned robe of Oriental silk.
Norris finds himself emboldened by love. Not allowing "reason to interfere with the anticipation of adventure, even danger, that accompanies the matter of delivering his gift," he sneaks into Southend House and artfully arranges the robed gown on her bed.
At first puzzled then frightened by these unfamiliar attentions, Vida confides to Norris that she feels stalked. He is desolate, "utterly undone." Later thinking, "Oh, you're a bungler, Norris Lamb. Nothing but a bungler. Go on, step aside. Give it up. She won't look twice at you!"
But look twice she does, and in an unexpected way.
With a warmly wise and uplifting denouement, Carrie Brown reminds us of love's transcendency and the unquenchable strength of hope. A writer with luminous gifts, not the least of which is a painterly attention to detail, Ms. Brown has imbued the heartwarming Lamb In Love with whimsy, passion, and noble spirit

We Norris Lamb's of the earth appreciate the ordinary heroism told in this simple, but profound story. Even those of us who are handsomer than Norris have many of his foibles, although we acknowledge that his human traits are delightfully unique in their arresting hues and combination. We Norris Lamb's of the world are the very men who weep while reading this sweet tale with the loveliest of prose. We number many more than the Vida's of the world could imagine. And we appreciate and love the Vida's of the world. That is why this book must be read. In this story, from the simple and ordinary blossoms a powerful romance that, with rare exception, heretofore only has been portrayed as occurring between men and women with the build of Jeremy Martin (read the novel to understand). "Lamb in Love" reveals the miracle of selfless love transcending selfish, unromantic infatuation and obsession. I truly loved this book. It will be made into a fine movie, I am sure, perhaps starring Colin Firth as Mr. Lamb (that's just my recommendation). Now, I have said and revealed too much, so I must retreat to my post to sort the mail and admire my stamps. And I will await the movie with all the anticipation of a man waiting behind the horse chestnut tree for Vida to appear.

This is my first encounter with author Carrie Brown, but I doubt it will be my last. I do most of my "reading" on audio cassettes because I have a long commute each day. Not only did I love this poignant love story, and the author's superb way with words, but the reader, David Rintoul, gave one of the best readings I have ever heard. He captured the ache, the passion, the delight, the stuffiness, the ordinariness of Norris. And each of the other characters, with their

wonderfully distinctive accents, came very much alive for me. I felt as though I knew each one of them by mid-book.

I have "re-visited" the village and its folk twice now, and probably will again. I will be very much disappointed if there is not another Norris/Vida/ Manford novel. And if there is one, I do hope Rintoul will be the reader. There can be no better one!

I just finished reading the 9th edition of Leigh Robinsons's super, excellent, definitive tome on being a Landlord or Landlady. I had bought and read his 3rd edition in 1981 and found that to be excellent. I have used the Rental Application form from that book hundred's if not thousands of times. That earlier edition is worn out the back is broken and the pages are dog eared. I was long over due for a new copy. There are many, many updates from the earlier version, and the book has grown from 270 pages to 494 pages! The latest edition has over 60 forms made and revised over the years by the author, a hand-on landlord himself.

This book is a tremendous value, filled to the gills and them some with useful, practical, down to earth advice from somebody who actually is a landlord. Leigh Robinson knows his stuff, there is no question about it. If you are currently a landlord/lady then you should run, or trot to your keyboard and order this book from Amazon.com. If you think you might want to become a landlord/lady then this book is recommended for you also.

One example contained in the book is having escrow accounts for the tenant's security deposits. I have personally used this for years even though not required by state law. The bank I use does not charge me anything to set up the escrow account with a separate sub-account for each tenant. Even people sharing one place have a separate individual sub-account with interest accruing to the tenant. Another example from the book is the landlord/lady's car. You can drive your Mercedes, Porsche, or BMW, just not to your rental properties. Personally I like a 1982 Cordoba, but a beat up car or pickup truck will do. The reason for this is many tenants think that all of their rent ends up in the landlord/lady's pocket. They forget about mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, supplies, etc.

The author recommends that no appliances be furnished. Usually for houses we don't provide any appliances except ranges, but supply refrigerators for apartments. Very rarely would we supply washer, dryer, air conditioners, etc. Leave that to the tenants, this reduces repair bills and responsibility. One owner that I talked to had a refrigerator fail and the tenant claimed that the owner was responsible for spoiled food.
Since then that landlord does not provide any tenant with a refrigerator, and therefore is not responsible if the appliance breaks or for food spoiled.

The author notes that 50% of tenants have pets and discusses at length the pros and cons of renting to the pet's owner. Coin operated laundry is also discussed with the author's recommendation being that you only provide if there are 16 people or 12 bedrooms in the building. For smaller building than that it is not feasible to provide that to tenants. Leigh Robinson's recommendation on page 273 for wording on a section 8 lease could save thousands of dollars. In my opinion this book is invaluable and worth many more times the asking price. There is no better book on "Landlording" and I think I've read most of them. Buy it, enjoy it, use it, and profit from it.

This book covers everything I wanted it to, and even all the stuff I didnt think of. To make it very simple; buy the package deal where you get this and NOLO'S Lanlords Legal Guide and your done. I am just beginning as a landlord, and these books have saved me hours of searching on the internet. Not to mention that this book is written in a style that makes it fun to read. Truly worth the money.

I read this book for a research paper and was surprised that I became interested in becoming a landlord. It is clear and understandable. It offers all the necessary forms for tenants and also ways to document property condition, remove tenants, etc. A must for landlords!

Kingdoms of Kalamar is a campaign setting from Kenzer & Co, the makers of the Knights of the Dinner Table. This book however, although aimed for the KoK player, is most useful for a regular D&D player. Why?
- a lot (I mean a lot) of new feats anybody can use
- several variant core classes like the Gladiator or the Infiltrator that can easily be used in other campaigns
- new prestige classes (like the Golem Master)
- canons (holy books) for Kalamarian faiths. They are written up very generically, so they can easily be used in FR/GH or wherever
- new equipment: poisons, alchemical items etc
- a lot of spells
- how to make rulers more powerful
- gaming rules for clerical hierarchy

The book suffers from some errors, mostly editing and playtesting. The art is sometimes irritating and some 'crunchy' bits have already appeared in other books. I, however have found this book to be of excellent value.

Another in the line of excellent books from Kenzer, this book has a lot to offer. It gives you more background on playing characters in Kalamar, including some more information on playing various demi-humans. For those who want still more rules, they have some new classes (we have a very effective Brigand in a current campaign) as well as some new spells, a comprehensive list of clerical domains and a whole lot more. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great book with tons of information that you can put into any D&D setting. It is geared toward Kalamar, but is written so generically that you can insert the information contained in this tome into any D&D campaign.

Classes: This book takes the Dungeon Master's Guide's advice and takes the initiative to create variant classes. These range from more specific versions of a class with cool abilities (like the Gladiator and Shaman) to classes that combine existing ones into exciting new classes that are much different than the old ones (like the infiltraitor). These classes are as flexible as the old ones and are fairly well balanced. Also are new prestige classes that cover specific jobs (Mariner, Muse) and a few of the many orginizations on Tellene (Sentinels of Providence, Alliance Merchant).

Feats: Absolutely tons of new feats in this monster. New types of feats like the Enhanced Familiar feats (which give your familiar better abilities like a higher intellegence or the ability to speak) and regional or race-based feats which you can only take at first level help shape your character to exactly what you want and brings the game back to roleplaying.

Religion: This book details the canons of each church. Although these are specifically related to Kalamar gods, they can be adapted to fit any setting. In addition, this book gives ideas on how clerics can advance through the church and very basic game rules like time spent and how to advance to the next level and what you get at each level.

Other rule stuff: The equipment section isn't too terribly exciting but it does give a shot at pushing the edge. Included are (some) new weapons and rules for slaves. The most exciting part is the new alchemical mixtures that will get you thinking of your own and are all interesting in their own way. Their is repeat in the domain section, but not a large amount. The new spells are kinda cool, but what is really nice is the scalable spells. These are kind of like Wheel of Time spells where you choose the level it is cast at.

At the end: The white pages. If you are thinking telephone book when I say that you are on the right tracks. In these are a comprehensive list of all feats and spells (divided up by class) in all official D&D products and where they can be found. These can then be copied to use as a spell sheets. Also back here is a gigantic Place of Origin table. Only useful if you are playing Kalamar but it is non-obtrusive and only takes 7 pages.

To close, this is a great book for all D&D players and DMs alike. If you don't have it yet, I recommend you pick one up.

If you are an avid reader of business self-help and motivational books, which I am, you should pick up any of the Mission Possible series. I recommend Volume Three with Stephen Covey, Deepak Chopra and others. This book is not a deep study of one particular business topic. Instead, each author tells their story of success from their own perspective while focusing on their particular business expertise. By the time you're read all twelve authors, you've got a plate full of new insights and inspiration. I like the intervew format. It's a quick, easy read. Great for airports and soccer practices.

If you are looking for that special holiday gift, Mission Possible, Vol 3, is it!! The various authors provide meaningful guidance about life, living, and inspiration. It is a quick read, that you will want to read and reread.

The latest volume of the book, MISSION POSSIBLE, was one of the most uplifting and positive reading. I am currently living with an incurable disease, and the sharing of all the authors in this volume were very inspiring and let me know the Truth of my being, That I am truly whole, perfect and complete already, right where I am in my Path on this planet.
I have also heard two of these renound speakers, in person, and in my opinion, they indeed "walk their talk". I am greatful on this special Thanksgiving.

John Rossetti Deerfield Beach, Florida

This is a great book because it shows you exactly what you need to know. They get to the point effectively with every topic. I like the real world questions being answered. Like client side or server side cursors. And topics on how to write the more efficient rs object. The only problem I have with this book is the writers lack of expertise with other databases. Like MS SQL server, and Sybase SQL server. Getting information on pitfalls with other database platforms would be invaluable. They kind of tickled us with the Oracle info, I want more now.

Awesome book for somebody wanting to learn more about ADO/ASP/Database Interaction. I was dumped into the middle of a project with very little ADO knowledge and this proved extremly helpfull through my journey. I have recommended this to all of my friends interested in the subject and countless others who ask me for good books.. Definitly worth every penny!

I first bought this book for the RDS part since I've been working with ADO since it got out. I tought I knew ADO and even though I knew a lot about it, I've learned as much about ADO than about RDS with this book!

Good for any programmers working with ADO, as always, Wrox made it possible for beginners to understand the book and for experienced programmers to learn new stuff.

Another must by Wrox and I'm waiting to get a hand on the "Professional Ado 2.5 Rds Programming With Asp 3.0" that should be coming out soon.

In an age when we have not much time to read one short book from cover to cover, few long books will ever be good enough to read twice; David Copperfield is one of them. It has, perhaps, the most unforgettable cast of characters ever assembled in a work of fiction: Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, Aunt Betsey Trotwood, the Murdstones, Mr. Dick, Peggotty, and, of course, David Copperfield himself.

The story is simple enough to start. David's mother marries a man, Murdstone, who makes life hell for her and young David. David has the courage to rebel against the tyrant and is sent off to boarding school and later to a blacking factory. For readers who want to compare childhood rebellion to authority in the movies, Alexander's defiance of the Bishop in Ingmar Bergman's great movie, Fanny and Alexander, is equally dramatic and sad.

David runs away and finds his Aunt Betsey Trotwood, who takes him in and supports him, with a little help from her wise/fool companion Mr. Dick. This is story enough for many novelists, but it is only the beginning for Dickens. David has yet to meet one of the great villains in literature, that "Heap of infamy" Uriah Heep. Uriah's villainy is terrible because it is hidden under a false pretense of humilty and service to others. The final confrontation between Heap and Micawber is one of the great scenes in literature.

None of what I have said answers the question, Why read this book more than once? The most important answer to this question for the nonacademic reader is "for the fun of it." From cover to cover this novel gives so much pleasure that it begs to be read again. We want to revisit David's childhood and his confrontation with the terrible Mr. Murdstone. Mr. Micawber is one of Dickens's great creations and anytime he is part of the action we can expect to be entertained. When we pair Micawber with Heap we have the explosive combination which results in the confrontation mentioned earlier in this review.

These brief examples only scratch the surface of the early 19th century English world Dickens recreates for the reader. Some other of Dickens' novels like Bleak House may be concerned with more serious subjects, but none lay claim to our interest more than Dickens' personal favorite "of all his children," that is, David Copperfield. Turn off the television, pick a comfortable chair, and be prepared to travel along with David Copperfield as he tells us the story of his life.

Oh, I loved it! I finished David Copperfield, finally, of but an hour ago. Oh, that is such a wonderful book! I hold Charles Dickens in a sort of reverence. He has the fascinating ability to spin a web of the most spendidly horrible (here, I refer to, the remarkably AWFUL Uriah HEEP) and the most splendidly excellent (here, I refer to, the exquisite and good-natured Agnes) characters, and then he completes his tale by adding the most unforgettable of ALL people, a main hero, such as David Copperfield. Never have I been so attached to a work of fiction, and I have read a lot. Oh, the things David so heroicly endured, turning him into a most superior man! I love the story! It's most powerful. It moved me to tears and sent me into fits of laughter so many times I can't count them on my hands. And I felt such rapturous joy when Agnes and David professed their love for each other that I could hardly contain myself, and here started to laugh and cry at the same time; and I felt such overwhelming sorrow over the death of Steerforth, for I rather liked the man, even thought he took Emily away; and I love Peggotty's character to death! She was such a glorious figure of devotion and heartfelt love for David; I felt he would not have survived Murdstone and other things were it not for her steadfastness and friendship (I dearly loved her button-poppings! I found them hilarious!). And the grand Agnes, how I worshipped her! She was so real, I can see her cordial eyes looking upon David with the love of a sister, the passion of a wife. It was the most admirable work, I am sure. Dickens made Uriah Heep come alive so vividly, I see him writhing about, with contortions like a caught fish. I see Traddle's hair sticking up on end like a porcupine's, I see Miss Mowcher waddling about, I see Steerforth, tall, dark, and handsome. Oh, how David did admire Steerforth in the beginning! How he did charm! For all the critics: yes, the book was sometimes boring, and at times it was dull. But can't you see the art in it? That all Dickens wanted you to do was enjoy it and fall in love with the characters? Yes, sometimes he got a little carried away but that's hardly the point. It was worth it, because I know I'll never forget a one of them. What more can I say? I want to read the book over and over again, never ending.

For those who don't have time to read for pleasure, or perhaps spend too much time reading as part of their daily job, audio books are a godsend. You can play them while travelling to work, and you're suddenly transported to another world, if they're any good.

Fortunately this Naxos abridgement read by Anton Lesser is superb. I haven't yet found an actor better at handling both the male and female voices, old and young, rich and poor. It's so easy to forget that that is not a large-cast dramatisation -- it's just a a one-man reading, brilliantly executed.

As a story, 'David Copperfield' means a lot to me because it means a lot to my Dad. Now 73 years old, he had a troubled childhood in and around London, and a difficult relationship with his stepfather. While Dickens needed to create some out-and-out baddies such as Uriah Heep and the Murdstones, many of his characters are basically decent folk, rigidly sticking to Victorian values, and I think this is how my father still sees the world.

Much of the detail in this story is specific to England, but the basic human themes are universal. As a first pass at getting into 'David Copperfield', I would very strongly recommend this 4CD audiobook.

I sure am enjoying reading the stories and the artwork. You created a masterpiece, a gem for those who discover it. I'm going to use the quote by Robert Henri, in your introduction, at the first staff meeting I'll be leading this month.

In reading the various essays it was comforting to know that in this at times seemingly cruel and insane world, there are well-meaning, decent and often gifted people who, in the aggregate, comprise the fabric of what holds our society together... I'm grateful to Bob Young for compiling these inspirational essays and to all the contributors. All of you brightened my day.

What Bob Young's book offers is such a wonderful affirmation of hope and the human spirit. It's a perfect gift for anyone seeking relief from all the predictions of doom and gloom surrounding Y2K and beyond.

I was dissappointed with the book. There's no in depth discussion on any event. It just reads on and states facts like those in High School text books. Didn't capture me at all.

A huge book that traces the history of America from pre-Columbus through present day. Although considered by many to be a "text book" for study, it is not written in that format. It reads easily and clearly. It is non-biased and informative. The pictures are helpful. It's the first book on American history that I have been able to finish. Although expensive, I think that every book collection should have a copy and it is an essential part of any history collection.

My AP US History class used this book as its textbook. Statistics speak for themselves: anyone who read and studied the book got a 5! It is one of the most comprehensive texts in American history ever published. George Tindall, the primary author, is a wonderful and knowledgable man who I have met in Chapel Hill,NC. An excellent buy!