A great book from cover to cover. I read a review about it in the American Library Association's Booklist and decided to get the novel. Pale Truth is one of the best books I have read in some time. Alef really develops his characters. They are not two-dimensional. He has a good grasp of hooking the reader from chapter to chapter. And the setting of the story in San Francisco in the gold rush era is nothing short of amazing. It's hard to imagine all the remarkable things that took place, the vigilantes, the Hounds, the political corruption, and the flow of inconceivable wealth. Alef really blurs the line between fiction and history, but the Afterword gives some clarification. I love a novel with illustrations, and Pale Truth has great ones. My only complaint: lack of sleep because I couldn't put the book down. Can't wait for the sequels.

I heard about Pale Truth by Daniel Alef through the grapevine while at a conference in San Francisco a couple weekends ago. I didn't think I had the time to fit recreational reading into my busy schedule but, as the cliche goes, from the moment I picked it, I couldn't put the novel back down. Alef describes the struggle of three incredible individuals striving against all odds to succeed in the cut-throat world of early California. Mary Ellen is a cunning woman who joins her lover to establish financial, political,and social power in San Francisco. As she endures everything from the fires that demolished lives to financial wars to relationship drama, the novel's main male characters engage in battles of their own. Both will stop at nothing to gain political power. However, no matter how hard each try to escape it, they are continually reminded of their painful, controversial, and dangerous pasts. Alef's vivid description and clever plot twists combine with history to tell a story true to both human desire and California's youth. Another unique detail is that his novel contains beautiful illustrations that gave me just the taste of visual enhancement needed. They are actual pieces from libraries and other collections throughout the nation. Not to mention, you should see the cover. My only complaint is that the ending left me a bit unsettled and I hate having to wait around for sequels. Enjoy!

I bought Pale Truth because of Dr. Fracchia's review in the Nob Hill Gazette. I'm glad I did. Pale Truth is a memorable and joyful story of early California and San Francisco. The characters are wonderful and, I understand, based on real people. Now, as I drive through San Francisco the streets names come alive. I may be prejudiced -- I love San Francisco -- but I've got to say that I challenge anyone to come up with a more fascinating history for a city. This novel is great, an easy read, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the kind of book that occupies all your attention.

Enneagram personality typing is fascinating stuff -- there are nine basic personality types, with connected wing, security and stress types. If you've taken (and found benefit from) the Myers-Briggs or other similar tests, give this a try. I was amazed that the description of my "type" really fit me to a tee, and the advice on how folks of my type should refocus their thinking was extremely helpful.

My concern is how valuable this book alone is as a diagnostic tool. The book is short (about a hundred pages, with lots of diagrams and white space), much of which will be irrelevant or marginally relevant to you. (If you find you're a type four, you probably won't need to read about type one.) You determine your personality type quite simply, by reading nine paragraphs (that describe the nine personality types) and choosing the one that fits best. It's a great introduction, but I think calling it "The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide) is a bit of an exaggeration.

A friend had been talking to me about enneagrams for quite some time, and we had an initial idea of my type. This book, in just 9 paragraphs and a few descriptions made me certain. And it also provides both the strengths and the weaknesses for each type--what a type has lost sight of, and how they might be compensating. This isn't an "in-depth" book--it's the enneagram boiled down to the absolute essentials--and it's a great place to start--and the "What a # has lost sight of" is a great place to get a daily affirmation to try and regain sight of that lost fundamental principle.

Just what enneagram enthusiasts and those curious to discover what all the talk is about needed--a complete, compact, crisp compendium of: how the enneagram really works...what it tells you about yourself and others...how to discover your real type...and what to do with the information to make yourself the best you can be.

After reading dozens of enneagram books by any number of therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, teachers, students, and academics, here, finally, is a book I can recommend to every one of my students to help them take their next steps with the enneagram. Why this book? Because Daniels and Price have transgressed communication style limits and boundaries and made it truly user-friendly for the masses, not an easy task with multi-layered material.

I truly believe this is one of the books that will help the enneagram get into bedrooms and board rooms of mainstream North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antartica.

How can one little book do all these things? It is brief for the bottom-liners, personal for the emotionals, and detailed-enough to satisfy the cerebrals.

Anyone with curiousity about the enneagram from the seasoned to the surface-testers can sit down with one mug of something delightful and gain a working knowledge of the enneagram and the mysterious self in less than three hours.

I personally found this book to be a good documentation of the death of Price Daniel Jr. and the subsequent events that followed. Vickie Daniel,the wife of Price Daniel Jr. was charged with murdering her husband Price Daniel Jr. Ganiel had been a State Representative and had also served as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He was defeated by Mark White in a race for Attorney General. His father had served as Governor of Texas. Vickie was put on trial for the murder of her husband. She was represented by the Haines firm. This was a spectacular trial that eventually wound up with Vickie's acquittal. She was next taken to court by the Daniels family over her children.She was once again represented by the Haines fir, The Daniels family were represented by J.K. Zeke Zbranek(who now serves as a District Judge in Liberty County). Once again Vickie Daniels emerged victorious. This is a very interesting book that you can really get into. Read it.

This romantic comedy by Daniel Conway was absoloutely superb. The character of baby Alexandia was my favourite as she was a talking baby with a strange disability, she has wheels instead of feet. There were other interesting characters such as Bessy the poisenious mark that could talk and fly.

Even though this book was fantastic it was great.

This new Miller's Guide is a very special one. Leyla Maniera and David Agnew present a various range of soft toys, classified in several chapters as animals, disney characters, comic characters, oddities, manufacterers, care & restoration. Many of the described toys are very unusual and you won't know many of them from other collector's guides. Beside nice photos, the descriptions contains informations about the manufacter, the history of origin and a valuation. This is the only point I would like to criticize: the valuations are not very helpful.

But summing up, it may be said that this soft toy guide is highly recommended!