I own several field guides to Texas wildflowers, and I find this one to be the best among them. There are books with bigger and better photographs, but none come close to having the nearly 400 color photos this one has. This one also has maps of growing areas for each plant identified and very clear descriptions of each plant. It even has sections on Texas' endangered species and landscaping with native plants.

The book divides the plants into five sections for easy use. The wildflowers are further divided into colors to help find and identify them quickly. The five sections are (1) herbaceous wildflowers, (2) vines, (3) trees and shrubs, (4) cacti, agaves, yuccas and other succulents, and (5) miscellaneous plants, weeds and growths on trees. These are followed by appendices on how to identify common plant families and "plant watching" as a hobby (collecting plants, how to make a plant press and save your specimens, and a sample wildflower documentation sheet). Finally, there are three glossaries and an index.

While some might complain that the plant photographs are not printed with the specimen entries (they are grouped together in the center of the book), this is really quite handy. Each photo is numbered identically with the entries, so matching the photo with the description is really very simple. Indeed, it is quite easy to find the flower by its photo and then look up the corresponding plant description by the photo number.

All in all, this is the only wildflower field guide Texans will need. If you want a desk reference, that's another matter.

Concise, accurate review of Jumeau history. Lovely photos, sharp in focus, great detail. (And big enough to really see!) Enjoyable browsing anytime.

THIS BOOK COVERS ALMOST EVERY FISH THAT I CAN FIND IN OUR LOCAL MARKET. THE COOKING TECHNIQUES ARE SIMPLE AND EASILY FOLLOWED BUT GIVE WONDERFUL RESULT

Everyone knows Robert Louis Stevenson; everyone has at least one of the myriad books of his poetry. There are some stunningly illustrated collections of his poetry out now, notably two by Thomas Kincaide, among others. But how many of us have actually read all or most of his work? I'm guilty as charged.

This smaller, quieter version of Stevenson's poetry helped me finally, actually read all the Garden poetry. True, the illustrations are spare, but delightfully accurate. My children (7 and 10) were not as mesmerized by this book as they are by others with fanciful graphics, illustrations and larger type to accompany the poetry.

Still, this small book found its way into my purse to be used for waiting moments, e.g. at the orthodontist, doctor, and also to my bedside, where it's shear diminutive size did not dissuade me from reading "for only a minute or two." And within Stevenson's words and language lie the ferment of creative pictures. I liked to have my children close their eyes while I read short poems to 'force' them to use only their mind's eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures, moods, and images Stevenson conjures and at long last can understand why his poetry remains so classic.

When I was younger, well 5 actually, I had the chicken pox. This was one of my mom's favorite books. The words in the poetry just soothed me. It seemed like the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, knew exactly what I was going through.

You can't forget about the little toy soldiers (a poem) at your feet because when you are sick for days, you can imagine all kinds of things in your mind. The curtains billow like sails, the bedpost is your anchor. I sat there in bed and just floated away with the fun of having someone to share my illness. It seemed like a had a friend right there with me.

I loved the pictures too. The little kids are old fashioned and it made me laugh because the boys wore silly clothes, but they fit the time period, my mom said.

I love this book and keep it by my bed when I need to be relaxed.

Hayley Cohen

Most everyone knows that Robert Louis Stevenson was sickly, both as a child and as an adult, and the happy result for the reading public was his nearly feverish flights of imagination. Here, in an edition of his classic "A Child's Garden of Verses," that fever is complemented in spades by the fantastical illustrations of English artist Joanna Isles.

Isles uses an arsenal of utterly frivolous flowers, borders, insects, birds, kings and queens, fairies, and more to expand upon the imagination exhibited in Stevenson's poems. The children in these pictures are depicted as being in charge, being at one with their environment, and being delighted to be alive.

Some of the illustrations hint at the influence of artists more famed than Isles (Henri Rousseau appears to be a special favorite of hers--see the illustration for "The Unseen Playmate," in which a boy lies down in weeds that might have sprung from the edge of Rousseau's painting "The Dream"). Using both primary colors and pastels, Isles creates a world within the world of Stevenson's verse. The marriage of the two is a happy one.

I have to agree with the other reviewers it's Atwood at her best, and so help me disturbing as can be, disturbing as the Handmaid's tale. I have actually listened to the audio-book (unabridged!) and it is the absolute best narration - the way he reads it makes you believe you are there with Jimmy or Snowman if you wish - I really loved this book and am sorry, it's over.

Keep reading - this is not your usual Margaret Atwood story line, or is it? A brilliant and illuminating novel about a possible future for a world that has come to worship at the altar of technology. The story has considerable tension in it to keep the reader glued to the book to see what comes next. Above all, this is a book about "words" and the beauty of language lost. Atwood flavors her grim vision of the future with the spices of words no longer in the vernacular, creating an intense paella that is immensly satisfying and yet somehow shot through with loss. Atwood exhibits her marvelous sense of story and language in this book, leaving the reader running for a dictionary of ancient words to reintroduce them to everday talk. Words, lost or unrecorded, die a death, unmourned.

Atwood's latest and strangest novel is truly unlike anything she has previously written, and readers of Atwood's other novels may find themselves flipping to the front, checking to see if her name is really on the title page. Like "The Handmaid's Tale," which was also set in the future, "Oryx and Crake" describes a dystopic tomorrow-land--but there the similarity ends. Featuring an uncharacteristically sparse prose and an abundance of scientific content, Atwood's bitingly satirical and hauntingly apocalyptic novel seems heavily influenced by science fiction novels of the last three decades, even while it recalls such classics as "Frankenstein," "Brave New World" and especially "Robinson Crusoe."

"Oryx and Crake" is technically a single-character novel; "Snowman" (or Jimmy) is the surviving human after a cataclysmic global disaster. He serves as a mentor of sorts to the strange yet harmless "Crakers," who have been so genetically altered that they resemble humans only in their basic appearance. Their blandness is so thorough that neither Snowman nor the reader can tell them apart. Through a series of flashbacks, Snowman describes his closest friends Crake and Oryx and their role in bring the world to its present state; and he mockingly details his attempts at elevating them to the status of gods for the new species. Atwood doesn't really develop these two characters; instead she (through Snowman's eyes) presents only the basic, painful "truth" behind a new Genesis mythology.

The novel, one could argue, depicts a second character: the scientific community. Through extrapolation (one might say exaggeration--but I'm not so optimistic about industrial self-control), Atwood projects into the future the topics of today's headlines: anthrax, genetically modified foods, cloning, gene splicing, weapons of mass destruction, the overuse and abuse of psychiatric drugs, Internet porn, SARS, ecoterrorism, globalization. On a lighter level, she also skewers the moronic corporate brand names flooding the market these days: anyone who thinks her inventions are far-fetched should consider such mind-numbingly lame (and inexplicably popular) trademarks as Verizon, ImClone, MyoZap, Swole, Biocidin, and Rejuven-8.

"Oryx and Crake" may well fall short of some readers' expectations for "a Margaret Atwood novel." But judged as an entry in the genre of science fiction, it's a powerful and visionary masterpiece.

The King's Bed is a tale about choices and struggle. Tansy Marsh is the daughter of an inkeeper, but undergoes many stuggles and losses in her days. Her experiences are ones that we all can relate to, from a demanding stepmother to choosing a husband, even how to keep her business afloat. It takes you through a war, and the sacrifices that Tansy must endure for her family and for herself. It also takes you through the post war era, where she deals with family loyalty and her new husband mastering his trade. This book is captivating and enticing. I recommend this book for young adults who love a little bit of historical literature.