Linda Jewel has written quite an engaging book. "SO MUCH JOY" is a page turner. I found myself caring what happened to Miss Jewel's characters. And so will you, because the characters are so much like people I know and even myself. This book will make a good read for teenagers, young adults and adults alike because it lets the readers know that real life happens to everyone... even if we don't say it out loud. This is a great first writing effort and I hope Miss Jewel does not stop offering us good books to read. I will be looking forward to her next publication.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, So Much Joy. It reminded me of many things I went through as a young woman, as the author reflects on past pain and intimacies in youth. I recomment this book for all women, and men alike. There's something in it for everyone.

when i started reading the book i could not put it down something new every page could not put it down

This book contains three terrific novels in which Wells showcases his predictions for the future. The novels are presented in the chronological order for Well's Predictions. When the Sleeper Awakes takes place in the year 2100. A Story of Days to come is in 2103 and 2104. The Time Machine is in the 800,000's and beyond. All three novels predict a grim and dark future beset by class struggle. Wells believes that the future will be a time where the capitalists dominate over the laborers of society. The Capitalists will own all of the material and intellectual property in the world, and they will subject the masses to a life of degradation and servile labor. The wealthy will build massive glass cities where they will live a life of privilege and ease, while the vast majority will live in abject poverty underneath these cities. Wells is a tremendous storywriter that makes it hard to put this book down. I highly recommend this to any fan of science fiction.

This is a marvelous collection that takes the reader through three science fantasy works arranged in a chronological order as to the subjects of the novels. Each possess Wells' marvelous ability to send the reader ahead in time to what might become of our future generations. When the Sleeper Wakes unfolds as a visually stunning, action-packed and thought-provoking page turner. A Story of Days to Come focuses on the hazards they may be found in a loving relationship if the future were to further segregate the classes found in Wells' day. This collection also boasts the first complete publication of Wells' classic The Time Machine. If you've read The Time Machine and are not familiar with "the kangaroo rat people" then you will need to go back and read the whole story as Wells originally envisioned it. This collection was worth every penny I spent on it.

The three books are:

The Time Machine, A Story of Days to Come, and When the Sleeper Wakes.

With so many biased books out there - it's refreshing to read something that's actually objective. The various authors and experts that contributed to this book is like a who's-who in the debate over euthenasia. If you have a family member with a terminal illness - this is the must-read book.

When I purchased this book, I had no idea that it would be one of the most fascinating reads I've had in years -- and that goes for some of the most outstanding fiction on the market. The editors have assembled some of the most thought-provoking contributors imagineable. Here are advocates of unrestricted euthanasia juxtaposed with some of America's most respected opponents. To have Dr. C. Everett Koop and the likes of Derek Humphry (Final Exit) in the same book is a credit to those who put the book together. Likewise, to be able to read the first-hand accounts of individuals who have faced terminal situations and were willing to share their personal end-of-life decisions made the book even more genuine and objective. This is a book for those who are personally facing terminal illness, family, close friends, clergy, professional counselors, and anyone interested in this timely and often threatening topic. I give it an A+.

This is a must read for anyone facing the difficult decisions associated with euthanasia. Many experts and actual people with true stores give personal opinions in easy to understand language. This book offers a much needed non biased format that will benefit anyone needing to learn more about the difficult questions regarding euthanasia. READ THIS ONE!!!

I found this book to be surprisingly interesting, given that I am not interested in bass fishing! The plot twist and a touch of romance caught and held my interest throughout. I would highly recommend this author's first work as a delightful gift for Fathers Day, or for anyone who has savored the excitement of bass fishing or gets "hooked" by an intriguing little mystery.

This was a great mystery. I picked up my friend's copy of this book to read on vacation and I couldn't put it down! You would enjoy this book even if you are not into bass fishing. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery will appreciate it. The characters are fun, thoughtful, and genuine. The plot is well thought out and full of intrigue. I hope this author continues to write - I'd love to read further adventures of Brad and his friends.

Ambrose Burnside may not be many people's favourite Civil War Commander but in this 1991 biography, the author, William Marvel, presents Burnside in a light previously not seen before. The Federal general comes across as a man who cared deeply for his men and was honest in his dealings with other commanders and his subordinates. The author presents his case that Burnside's reputation was tarnished by other Federal commanders who wished to pass on the blame of their failures to this man who would not publicly air his dissent. Examples given are General McClellan at Antietam, General William Franklin at Fredericksburg and Meade at the Wilderness and Petersburg. The author presents his case well and you start to feel that maybe Burnside was given the short end of the stick in a lot of cases. Burnside appears to be a patriotic soldier who was prepared to give everything to the cause regardless of the cost to himself and his reputation. Marvel offers references & notes to support his theory and although he tends to offer Burnside the benefit of the doubt most of the time I still came away feeling that Burnside probarly did not deserve all the negative media he has received in history. Overall this is a well researched and presented biography and although you may not agree with the author it's still a very well told story and a treat to read.

This is a true honest work of a General who had some excellent ideas but was often too naive with initiating action or from truly evaluating his staff. He was politically inept in being aware of the political cabal of McClellanites that undermined his command of the Army of the Potomac and contributed to his failings at Fredericksburg. Marvel does an excellent job demonstrating Burnsides successes at Roanoke Island with amphibious landings, perhaps the first in American war, and his occupation of coastal N.C. Marvel explains that Burnsides beat Lee to Fredericksburg but was held back by Halleck's failure to organize the pontoon train needed to cross the Rappahannock. The author's most interesting part of the book is his explanation of Burnsides' battle plan at Fredericksburg and his misunderstanding of the terrain features of Marye's Heights. In addition, one of the cabal generals commanding the left wing failed to execute his flanking movement properly yet communicated success causing Burnsides to unleash full scale attacks on Marye's Heights. Another fascinating piece centers on Burnsides' plan of the "crater", blowing up a confederate section of line and exploiting the breach with specially trained African American units. Unfortunately, the plan was severely hindered by Grant's and Meade's last minute disallowance of the black units to execute the plan resulting in untrained units commanded by an intoxicated officer. In between Burnsides does well keeping Longstreet out of Tennessee but inflames Sherman by providing Sherman a feast upon his arrival. Sherman misunderstood the meal as evidence that Burnsides' needed no relief. Burnsides is depicted as a very intelligent man that invented a breech loaded rifle but was politically naive particularly that even his alleged friend, McClellan undermined him for his own purpose without Burnsides being aware of it. Hard to defend Burnsides' limited action on McClellan's left flank at Antietam where any early action could have resulted in defeat of Lee. Regardless that McClellan didn't not ask Burnsides to attack earlier but any initiative by Burnsides would have made for a different outcome. Also, if Burnsides was aware or more personally involved with the crater attack, he should have recognized that the officer in charge of the attack was unfit and when the attack was misdirected, perhaps organized a better follow-up of troops although Meade aborted support. One of the last McCellan's generals of the Army of the Potomac to resign, only Warren lasted longer until his encounter withh Sheridan. The book leaves one thinking that if Burnsides had just a little of Sheridan in him and a little less of Burnsides, he would have been more successful. From a biography standpoint, Burnsides seems to havea lot in common with Confederate Genenral Ewell whose failures were also more pronounced than his victories.

This book interestingly delves into ghost stories that were published in magazines in the Victorian era. Reprinting them allows one to see the historical and cultural influences that were prominent at the time, such as the development of a mass-capitalist economic system in Victorian England. The stories are not necessarily scary in a traditional sense but more intellectual and historical.

I have not yet read all of the novellas in this volume; in fact, I have only read one so far, but it was excellent, and the others appear to be of the same quality after thumbing through them. The one I did read was "The Ghost of Guir House" by a 19th-Century American writer named Charles Willing Beale. It is truly bizarre. It begins with the narrator recounting his horseback journey in a remote neck of the woods one twilight, a journey which leads him to stumble onto this old rotting mansion. Yeah, good stuff, right? He meets this beautiful, ethereal girl who takes him inside the house and introduces him to her father. The descriptions of the interior of this creepy house are just classic, archetypal haunted-house type stuff. The father and daughter talk about themselves and slowly reveal their really weird secret--which is not exactly a dark or horrifying secret, rather a mind-boggling one. I won't give it away here but it has to do with rips in the fabric of time and other dimensions intruding onto this one. Really unexpected ending which leaves you sort of flabbergasted, but an enormously entertaining story which makes perfect Halloween reading on a moonlit night.

I have just started "The Amber Witch" (plenty of gothic witch-burning and occult horror for you) and it looks like this one will be just as good.

This Dover edition comes with an informative introduction by an expert on supernatural literature, Everett Bleiler, and has some illustrations (those wonderful old-style Victorian illustrations with a caption at the bottom culled from the text on the facing page)and has a very attractive cover--a picture of a ghostly castle or turret with bats flying around it.

If you like the ghost stories of M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe or J.S. Le Fanu you will more than likely enjoy these tales immensely. They are all relatively short novellas, averaging 80-90 pages in length each.

My first reaction to this book was highly negative, perhaps because I opened it with extremely high expectations. As I have spent more time with it, however, it becomes clearer and clearer that -- at the very least -- this book is better than nothing, and "nothing" is just about what we have written on this subject.

Moreover, the last article, "Intoxication and Immortality," by Suzanne Stetkeyvych, is absolutely fascinating, especially when read in conjunction with footnote number 85 to James Monroe's article, "Abu Bakr's Naughty Son." What was so fascinating?

The vast resonance of the term "saqi" in our own civilization, from the Assyrians onwards. I first came across this term while studying Arabic poetry, and learned that it meant "wine-bearer," and, more specifically, the handsome ephebe who poured out your wine for you.

Now, let's take the idea that wine = immortality (not such a new idea for Christians, where wine = the blood of Christ = immortal God!) and then add on the fact that the Assyrians called the "saqi" "rob shaqe" (lord of cupbearers). The term has cognates in all the Semitic languages including Hebrew and shows up in the Old Testament. So we have a very old idea here.

More excitingly, we have an "archetype." The archetype is a banquet, where a beautiful adolescent male hands out the wine of immortality, and implicit in this archetype is the possibility that the handsome young male also offers physical love.

Now, is this a powerful archetype, or not? It is the very image of the Greek symposium (as described by Plato and many others). It's right there in the myth of Zeus and Ganymede, where Ganymede offers "ambrosia" (immortality) to Zeus. It is such a powerful archetype that it made its way into the Koran, where Muhammad promised beauteous boys serving wine to his followers in Paradise. It is superabundant in Arabic poetry from virtually all eras, and it is a very visible theme of Persian poetry as well.

At any rate, I found this an extremely valuable idea, one which made my whole day. And ANY book which can do that for me is definitely worth owning!

Recommended!!

This is a very interesting and readable book not only for westerners or exclusive monotheists but also for us Japanese. Although we know that in pre-modern muslim societies male-boy love was extremely popular as a common knowledge, we could find Arabic same sex relationship only sporadically in famous literal works e.g. Thousand and One Nights, Abu Nuwas' erotic poems, etc. And now we can read the topic as a whole in this book. If I may be allowed to hope more, I wish that the authors have included many historical episodes & anecdotes too. Of course I know no book is perfect. Then I 'd like to read Homoeroticism in classical Persian literature, and in classical Indian(Sanskrit & Prakrit) literature also.Probably Mr. Leonard Zwilling will offer us a good book on the latter.

Dive into the specialty dishes that made the old-time diners famous. "Retro Diner: Comfort Food from the American Roadside" won't make it onto the top healthy foods list, but it sure makes some old-time favorites come to life.

With recipes from the 1930's to the 1960's you are sure to find your favorite diner meals here. Alabama Sweet Potatoes, Monte Cristo Sandwich, Butterscotch Pie, you'll find recipes here that you won't find anywhere else. But don't look for any shortcuts here; these are the original recipes, which means the recipes don't start with a plain cake mix but with flour, eggs, and salt.

The book can be confusing at times like where step seven of Dixie Diner's Blueberry Pancakes say to "bake in your waffle iron", which would make it a waffle and not a pancake, or the Chipped Beef recipe that does not include toast or biscuits in the ingredients list but does state to serve it over toast or biscuits, a bit of an annoyance if you are done preparing it and then find out that you have no bread. Things like this are the only reason this did not receive a full five star rating.

Still, even with the small annoyances, the book is a pleasure to read. To add to the enjoyment of the book, it is filled with illustrations, advertising, and photographs from the appropriate years. For those who would like to travel back to a time of simple pleasures the book is a wonderful nostalgic trip and the recipes sure to delight.

Retro Diner: Comfort Food From The American Roadside by Linda Everett is a compendium of nostalgic, yesteryear cuisine that is a kind of birthright culinary legacy for every American. Profusely illustrated throughout, Retro Diner is a celebration of great eating as experienced by generations of men and women who ate "blue plate specials" and other palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, pocketbook friendly fare from a local diner. From Granny Glenn's Biscuits n' Gravey; Corn Chowder from the Sweetheart Diner; and Off the Grill Ham n' Cheese; to Countryside Chicken n' Dumplings; Big Daddy's Diner Meat Loaf; and Mushroom Burgers from Mooney's, Retro Diner is a pure and highly recommended celebration of a distinctive American cuisine and individualistic dining ambiance that was to pass into cultural history with the introduction and coming dominance of the fast-food franchise.

I love this book of poetry and it describes the way i feel about the sky

I absoulutely love this book! I love the sky and i have a personal collection of sounds and colors in my own journal. Myra uses images of the sky and describes it in unique ways that i love. I recommend this book for children and adults of all ages!

A must for the state of Ohio boiler exam,along with Steingress & Frost!

The book is good to see lots of pictures of steam plant equipment and a bit is given explaining what the equipment does, but I found the "Steam & Diesel Power Plant Operators Examinations" book much more powerful to pass fireman and engineers exams, including employment interviews! I suggest to buy both of these great books!

The best book on the market for training of power plant operators. Revisions keep up with the field. Have been using this book for training power plant opreators to optain their Massachusetts Stationary Engineers and Firemen's licenses, for over 15 years.