If you're a backyard or weekend wildlife observer, this is the perfect book for you. Put it in your backpack, pocket, glove box or camper and always be ready to identify! The illustrations are excellent and provide enough detail to know one similar frog from another. If you're looking for some biological detail, go for a bigger book, but this one is great for quick ID.

I enjoyed this book as it reveals the stories behind the stars. It is suprisingly inspirational. This wonderful book prompted me to read Barbara Barrie's equally wonderful book, Second Act about her bout with colon cancer. Both Books givew great insight into life. Fame, beauty and Stardom matters not. One does not feel alone after reading these two wonderful books. One never knows what waits.

Very thorough, especially with idioms.

So far I've only come across one French "word" that I found in the Grand Robert but not in here: "véronal". And to call that a word is something like calling "kleenex" in English a word.

It costs something, but if you're serious, it will be well worth it: it will save you lots of time.

Finally, my coworkers don't feel the need to hassle me every minute for translations!Worth every penny!

Trapped! the story of Floyd Collins, is a very well written account of one of the first mass media coverages of an American Tragedy. The book itself flows very well and engrosses the reader in the details of the often heroic effort to save Collins who was trapped in a cave near Mammouth Cave in Kentucky. Murray and Brucker do an excellent job in discussing the noted personalities associated with the media frenzy that closely followed the efforts to save Collins. Also dealt with is the exploitation of the entire event by a number of self serving individuals. A great book for those interested in Kentucky History and a noteworthy work for those who prefer casual reading.

When asked about his earliest childhood memory, my late father would tell of his dad carrying him to his uncle's house to listen to radio news reports of the attempted rescue of Floyd Collins from a cave in nearby Kentucky. This book brings to life those events that captured the nation's attention in Jan.-Feb. 1925. Trapped is a well-written, well-documented account of the tragedy that occured in the central Kentucky hills and before watchful eyes of the nation. Its a gripping account that manages to capture the facts of the event, including great details of America's first modern media circus, while still attending to the many colorful characters who played a role in Collin's life, the rescue attempt, and the aftermath.

As a former resident of Lexington Kentucky, I quickly became fascinated with caves soon after moving there. After visiting Mammoth Cave and several smaller caves in the area, I heard the story of Floyd Collins. Being naturally curious I had to read the book. I read it in one sitting! The reader is wedged in that narrow space, the suspense is unberable. But it was not until a year later when I actually visited the site that the full scope of the tragedy hit home. The site is at least a ten minute treck through the woods. It's very lonely. At the end of the path is an outcropping of rock, not at all what I expected, tremendously overgrown with only a small written testimonial to his life and tragic death. At the bottom of a steep slope is an opening.Apparently the state or local government was in such fear of anyone trying this fatal mistake again, the opening is covered with thick metal bars. My fascination faded, a hard shiver went down my back and I truly felt a sadness for this unfortunate explorer. This book is a MUST READ, the reader will not be disappointed.

"Sue walks along the seashore/warmed by the sun./Picking up seashells one by one..." Author, Marianne Berkes, takes readers on a wondrous seaside adventure in her third picture book, Seashells By The Seashore. Come count the beautiful shells, learn their names, and watch your collection grow on the lefthand border of each two page spread as you walk along the beach..... Ms Berkes lilting, rhyming text is engaging and complemented by Robert Noreika's captivating watercolor illustrations. Together, word and art send you to the beach on a hot summer day, and you'll almost be able to feel the sand between your toes, hear the crash of the waves, and smell the salty sea air. Additional information about each shell and the mollusks that live inside can be found at the end of the book, and young nature detectives, ages 4-8, will revel in this joyous, fun-filled hike along the shore.

Seashells by the Seashore had my five and seven year olds running to find shells they had already collected to discover their names. To their delight, the shells they had were featured in the book. What I particularly like about the book is its interactive nature, encouraging children to go beyond the pages and explore the seashore searching for the shells they had read and learned about. My children are planning to bring the book on an upcoming beach vacation, and the pull-out shell reference card, an added bonus.

Berkes's has done it again and this time the subject of her book is one of my favorite nature items! A truly informative book; I can finally name all the sea shells I have thanks to the descriptions within the story and glossary at the end. The unique set up of this book identifies each shell as the main character finds them which can be used to promote counting in young children, and memory/matching games for older children. Berkes also includes questions at the end to foster further investigation in the reader. The pull-out, waterproof shell identification chart merits a field trip to the beach. Noreika's breath taking watercolor illustrations illuminate the shoreline from morning to dusk. The book's poignant ending instills the value that a gift from the heart is better than a monetary one.

The temptation to finish the tale seems irresistible. In the beginning, everything seems to lead toward a predictable solution - but then the plot thickens. After some digressions that shrewdly delay the action and raise the level of suspense, and after some florid editorializing (e.g.,on professional philanthropy, on female intuition vs. male obtuseness, etc.) Dickens introduces some new characters, and the mystery deepens: Who is Datchery? Is he one of the previous players in disguise, or a Sherlock Holmes-like figure? Who is Tartar? What is Bazzard up to? What does the opium dealer know or suspect? Who is the "fellow traveller"? Did Jasper murder (or try and fail to murder) Drood - or did he commit the deed only in an opium dream?
My own hunch is that Drood is not dead. There is no body - at least not yet; and it would seem so much more like Dickens to have a man given up for dead re-emerge triumphantly after many trials and tribulations, and after much dissimulating on the part of characters "in the know" (cf."Our Mutual Friend"). But since we don't know what Dickens planned, we are free to spin our own yarn and weave our own tapestry. Isn't that a lot more fun?

It is a tribute to Charles Dickens' reputation that to this day this unfinished novel, a mystery no less, still garners such speculation as to who allegedly murdered Edwin Drood. There are organizations created for the sole purpose of analyzing the novel and to theorizing whom the culprit may have been, if indeed there really was a culprit. After all, only Drood's watch and his shirt pin are produced, not his body.

As in all of Dickens' novels, the characterizations are the thing. You have the innocent young woman with the somewhat eccentric guardian and his Bob Cratchitlike assistant. There is the dark, possibly unfairly accused, but hot headed antagonist of Drood. Then there is Drood's brooding choirmaster uncle, John Jasper, who frequents opium dens, and who may or may not have ulterior motives in his seeking revenge. Durdles, the stone mason, and a somewhat weird character, provides some chilling comic relief in cemetery scenes with his stone throwing assistant. There are also the typical Dickensian characters, which includes a snooty older woman, a class conscious, spinsterish school mistress, and in a hilarious restaurant scene, an unappreciated, hard working "flying waiter" and a lazy, wise acre "stationary waiter."

It is a shame that Dickens died before he could complete "Edwin Drood." What is here are the beginnings of an exploration of man's dual nature, a journey into "the heart of darkness" so to speak.

This novel has stayed on my mind ever since I read it. It's so frustrating that Dickens died before completing this novel. On the other hand, the fact that this classic British mystery was never finished has created a great opportunity for literary critics and mystery lovers alike to try to solve the mystery for themselves. We'll never know who Dickens really had in mind as the murderer, or if indeed there was a murder after all. That's a huge loss. But it's a great ride for readers to try to make up their own minds.

I still haven't made up my mind about who did it. Sure, there is a very obvious suspect in Jasper, but that doesn't mean Dickens thought he did it. Some people have speculated that Dickens wrote this novel as a tribute to his friend Wilkie Collins' "The Moonstone," so perhaps the opium addiction would have played a huge part in the mystery. It's even possible that Dickens saw a bit of himself in Jasper's tortured love life because of the way it paralleled his own life. After all, Cloisterham is supposed to be based on Dickens' Rochester. Then again, just because Dickens sympathized with someone, that doesn't mean that character was innocent, either, does it? Now you see why this story continues to torment mystery lovers.

Like any other Dickens novel, this one has lots of memorable characters, from the suspicious and tormented Jasper to the Reverend Crisparkle to Princess Puffer. And of course, the enigmatic Datchery. The gravedigger and his obnoxious but perceptive boy assistant provide both Dickensian eccentric characters and possible clues.

The power of this book even today is clear in the way it inspired an award-winning Broadway musical where the audience got to solve the mystery on their own. (By the way, 1935 movie with Claude Rains was good, but some of the main characters were cut out, and others seemed little like the characters in the book, even if they were fine actors.)

Anne M. Marble
All About Romance and Holly Lisle's Forward Motion Writing Community

I'm glad I have this book to refer to. No matter where we consider traveling, I have this handy book to know what's "out" there for us.

I bought this book back in 2001 for a trip to New York. Not knowing anything about "the city", I needed some help. Along with this one, I purchased a few other guides focusing on gay oriented places in the U.S. and New York, but this one was far better. With it's insightful mini reviews of places shown in the guide, I got ALOT from this book. From places to stay, to places to see, it'll give you a great base to start with when trying to find nightlife, or otherwise, in ANY new city. I'm taking it back with me again to New York and to Seattle this time. But, be weary, as with any guide, places change, and what you read might not be as bad as it says it is, or it could be worse! Thanks for reading.

Just looking over my hometowns review I found them correct in substance but wrong in form. Cleveland has a neighborhood called "WEST PARK" that the book names WEST EDGE>. While not devastating to the overall value of the text it would leave a visitor here asking for a place that residents wouldn't recognize. I'm not sure if the other cities reviewed suffer from similar mistakes. Going to Orlando 8/24 and San Francisco 9/3 so I'll note any discrepancies.

As other reviewers have noted, we expect books to be better than the movie they cover. This is certainly not the case with Saving Private Ryan. It almost seems like the author was in such a hurry to finish the book ( to coincide with the release of the movie ), that he had no time to proof-read or research his subject. I found numerous little quirks that, although minor, added up to make the book a less than perfect reflection of one of the best movies of all time. Just a couple of examples ; Capt. Miller has to cut the pack off a drowning soldier in order to lessen his weight, then, within a few paragraphs, is hauling this same soldier out of the water by the same straps he cut off minutes before. The author also describes the shoulder patch of the 101st Airborne as " the blue and red double-A". The reference he is making is to the 82nd Airborne, not the "Screaming Eagle" patch of the 101st. Minor, maybe, but to me it shows a lack of research into the subject matter. I wonder if the book would have been better if Dale Dye ( the military advisor of the movie and an author himself ) had been given the go to write it. Unfortunatly, we'll never know.

I think this book is very well written. First of all, the book develops all the characters extremely well. Unlike the movie, where most of the characters' backgrounds remain unknown, when each soldier is introduced into the story their name, rank, and some background is provided. The way the author described the characters makes the reader feel they know each soldier personally.
Another strong point of the book that can not be obtained through watching the movie is the thoughts of the soldiers. Not only is the reader provided with the soldiers thoughts in battle situations, but also their thoughts about the purpose of their mission.
The author does an excellent job of describing the hellish atmosphere of war. In the movie, some of the battle scenes are so complex and distorted that it is somewhat difficult to understand the horror that the soldiers go through in battles. In the book, the reader is provided with the soldiers' thoughts and also their feelings when wounded.
One of the few things I would change about this book would be a better explanation of some of the military terms and tactics. Some areas of the book seemed unclear because I did not understand some of the termanology.

I am an avid reader, but I like to take my time reading a book so that (1) I don't miss anything, and (2) because I enjoy reading. I went to see the movie with my father on the last night of the showing. My father & I are both US Army veterans (my father a combat vet), so it seemed the perfect movie to see. When it was over, I had gained a world of respect not only for my father but also every combat vet. The next day i purchased the book, and was finished within a day and a half. I was totally unable to put it down (despite my reading habits). Most people think of WWII as a glorious time in our history, when in reality, it was one of if not the most tragic. Now when I think of WWII, I no longer think of the victory parades or dances you see in the movies, I think of the blood, sweat, and many tears shed by American and Allied troops in the defense of freedom. My thanks to the author of the book, and the director of the movie for a true classic to be