It is difficult to know where to begin. This book is a must have for any archaeologist who works in the Great Basin. However, It would be of benefit to anyone who works in North America. Beck put together a splendid volume that includes articles by many of the movers and shakers in Basin archaeology. The title describes the contents of the book, with a review of important archaeological questions and models that Basinists were dealing with in the past and how that leads up to what we are doing now. My copy is already well worn.

The Singing Bird Will Come is a remarkable book by a man who is truly in touch with himself as he struggles with the reality of death. His strong desire to continue to celebrate life as he prepares to die makes a lasting impression on the reader. How the author comes to grips with communicating his journey is the focus of the book. He seems to follow Kubler-Ross's stages of death--denial, anger, bargaining with God, depression and finally, acceptance. He feels it is especially ironic that he has to come to accept his dying so soon after he had come to accept himself as a gay man. This story captures the well-balanced tension John Noonan experiences between continuing daily living and thinking of eternity. I recommend it highly for caregivers, service providers, and all of us who will prepare to die someday.

This book's appeal lies chiefly with Daniel's obsession with dinosaurs. He lives in his imagination, seeing dinosaurs everywhere he goes and in everything he does. It brought back memories to me of being a young child living in a fantasy world, and being so wrapped up in it that it seemed very real. My son, Jack, loves this book and we've checked it out at the library again and again. Now we want our own! This book is fun for kids to hear and for parents to read.

I was very surprised indeed when I found my mothers book, at.... Of course I am a tad bias towards the book, but Ihonestly believe it is a spectacular book. It is special to me as it was I who inspired her to write the story. It is brought to life brilliantly with the precise illustrations by renound illustrater (renound in New Zealand) Martin Baynton. If your child or yourself likes Dinosaurs then this is the book for them/you.

Perfectly captures the obsessions youngsters can develop! Daniel lives and breathes dinosaurs, and sees them everywhere - at the supermarket, directing traffic, his teacher. That is, until the day his mother takes him to the aquarium, where he looks at the sharks ....for a very long time!

Absolutely delightful and lovely illustrations.

Sure to amuse the younger dino afficianados.

I have had this in book form, not CD and gave them as new baby gifts, but can't find them anymore. Any suggestions as to where I can get them?

Wow! What a wonderful book for kids . . . and adults! For the first time, I'm finally beginning to connect the Bible and world history in a meaningful way. I never knew that popcorn was around when Noah was on the ark, that Jesus ate cookies and ice cream as a child, or that Daniel was a contemporary of Aesop and his fables. This book helps me and my children put the Bible in its world context and, therefore, to understand many of the customs and habits of people in the Bible. An enlightening experience! Great for homeschoolers, Sunday school teachers, private school teachers, and kids of all ages. Get it!

Most people will know of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth as a couple of old cruise liners -- many may have stayed at the Hotel Queen Mary in the ship's now permanent home in the waters of California. For a brief time, these ships were converted to military use in World War II to transport troops. On one occasion, the Queen Mary hit the British light cruiser HMS Curacoa, causing the ship to sink with the loss of hundreds of allied soldiers.

Daniel Butler is a great historian and storyteller and he makes the wartime history of these two ships come alive. He doesn't start with the day the decision was made to use these cruise ships for military use. He sets the stage and gives the readers an understanding of the years leading to World War II -- not only giving a political and military background, but also telling us what was happening in the shipping industry that led to the construction of these two ships.

To me the two most interesting parts of the book came when Butler tells about the most significant event of the Queen Mary's tour of duty (when the Curacoa was cut in two by her), and the most mundane (what it was like for a soldier to be transported on one of the Queens). If there is a weakness, it was here. I wish he could have had more first hand accounts from the surviving veterans who had crossed the ocean on their way to war. But of course, there are fewer and fewer such survivors still with us. Butler wrote this book just in time.

I liked the way Butler filled in the history of the Queen Mary and
Queen Elizabeth.He also told a very good clear picture of life
we lived aboard ship. On page 92 second phargaph tells of a March
1945 crossing . I was on that passage and well remember hearing
the depth charges explodimg.I still have my white tag and cabin
with number on D deck.To verify my memory I checked my discharge and called our coplit yes he remembered hearing the depth charges.
This tolded of the vital roll these two great ships played in
winning of the war.Many of these things where new to me and I was there.

Well about the wholoe wonderment of this book?? It's so-called illustrations and descriptions of anarchism are shotty at best. That's not how anarchism was or is and only people who haven't expierienced it would say otherwise.

JD

I read this book in a day, and filled the margins with many, many notes, something I rarely do. Clearly, Gruien doesn't cover every aspect of Anarchism, but for a brief introduction to Proudhon, Bakhunin and Kropotkin, it is the best out there. And, our very own American Anarchist Noam Chomsky did the introduction, which is just as good as anything in the book (Hell, his intro is half the reason I bought the book). Plus, it is a very well bound book. The pages are sturdy, the print clear, and the size small yet durable, something you really don't find in many Political books... Very recommended.

Wonderful overview of the ideas and actions of anarchism. Includes commentary on the Russian Revolution, Spanish Revolution, the distinctions between libertarian and authoritarian socialism, and the words of such essential thinkers as Proudhon and Malatesta, to name only a few. Also includes a brief but enlightening introduction from Chomsky that serves to place anarchism and its historical development in a broader and historical context. All in all, a worthwhile and valuable contribution for those searching for information on this neglected (at least in the United States)component of political/philosophical discourse.

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.

Okay, you're probably thinking that I'm just someone complaining about having to read it in my freshman year's honors English class. No, I was not forced to read this. I read it far before it was on the reading list. Just wanted to clear that up. Back to the review. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an intriguing autobiography of a man obsessed with tampering with the laws of nature by reversing them. This novel shows how man deals with failure and loss. Unfortunatly, Victor Frankenstein dealt with failure and loss the wrong way and... Wait, I don't want to give away the ending. Anyway, Mary Shelley creates a clever plot and adds some gruesome happenings and romance, combining the three to make one of the most famous horror stories. Unfortunatly, for those of you still hooked to video games and fast-paced action, you may have a difficult time reading this for it tends to drag out at some points. But that's how literature is, you'll just have to deal with it. Apart from that, I would definitly recommend this book to just about anyone.

Victor Frankenstein's creation had murdered members of his family and strangled to death his fiance on their wedding night fulfilling his threat to "be with you on your wedding night" and warned Victor, "You are my creator but I am your master." As Victor centered his life around creating the monster, he would later center it around hunting down and killing his creation. This manhunt would expend Victor's life and prove his efforts futile to catch an untouchable and nameless monster. This novel is full of enduring themes of ambition, friendship, and the conflict between the two, psychology, oppression and rebellion, the dangers of scientific and intellectual advancement, and societal injustice. The writing itself isn't great but it's the story and the themes that make this a great classic.

Shelley wrote this book influenced by the period of time in which she lived, the Romantic Period. This was the response to the previous time, the Age of Enlightenment. In the Enlightened Age, reasoning was deemed of utmost importance and people thought that there were natural laws and that reason plus these natural laws would equal progress. By progress, they meant not only advancement, but unlimited advancement, that society would continue to move closer and closer to perfection. In Frankenstein, we see the result of so much logic and reason- the creation of a monster. In the story there seems to be no natural laws governing the world. The Romantic Period accounted for emotion like reasoning and logic cannot. The monster as the center of the novel shows us as his direst need a companion, as does Frankenstein himself.

When I think of what natural laws would govern the world, Justice comes to mind as the most important. Throughout this whole story, justice is so dearly lacking. Injustice leads to more injustice. The monster is born into unforgiving circumstances that were not his fault. His creator rejects him immediately. Throughout his life, the monster found himself rejected by everyone for the repulsive looks his creator gave him. The monster even suffered rejection of the impoverished family he ardently and sacrificially helped. When he saved a girl from drowning, her father shot him. The monster yearned desperately for a mate of his kind, which Victor denied him for fear the two would breed an entire race of fiends or that she, too would reject him and there would be two fiends. Decide this debate between the monster and Victor for yourself. Even if Victor was right to deny him a mate, it was still an injustice for the monster. After all, the monster could not help the disadvantages he was born into and he strove mightily to be virtuous. He exercised his will and responsibility strongly, but to no avail. The poor thing begs for just one friend and he is denied this. The innocent Justine (a play on the word "Justice") is executed for the monster's crime; the monster eventually slays several innocent people he doesn't even know. Injustice is what moves the plot of Frankenstein.

Shelley's novel disputes the importance and promise of natural laws, reasoning, and the idea of progress. It introduces emotion and intuition. Frankenstein studied laboriously but failed because he left the monster emotionally neglected and rejected. When Victor first learns of the murder of an innocent member of his family, he intuitively knows it was the doing of the monster- he offers no reasoning or deduction as to how he knows. The monster hounds Victor and seems to supernatually know where he is at all times.

One of the many interpretations of Frankenstein is that it was a product of the Romantic Period, which was a response to the Age of Enlightenment. My own evaluation of reasoning vs emotion is that our logic must be in control of us always but that emotions are a part of us too and must be satisfied.

Shelly's Frankenstein is pretty well understood to be a flawed work, an amazing first attempt by a young author while also being a classic of literature. It is hard to say how I avoided reading it for so long but was surprised to find my friends negative attitudes on this book. Classics though must be read, so I devoured this over the course of a weekend and found the book quite enjoyable, however, at times I found some of its problems nearly overwhelming.

The first problem Frankenstein has is that it is (as far as content goes) really a short story. I can't imagine it needing more than 60-100 pages, but Shelly inflates it to over 200, and for no discernable reason. The expanded length leads only to additional passages where Frankenstein himself is lying unconscious for months, or needless travelogue scenes which only serve to detract from the story. It might also be said that after 100 pages of melancholic whimperings from Frankenstein the reader has probably lost all sympathy toward the character. There are also certain plot elements that seem to repeat themselves a bit too often, but I the appeal of these elements will be based upon the reader.

Ultimately, Frankenstien seems a great story that you occasionally feel compelled to skim through. There is a certain sloppiness (I am still not clear what happened to Edward--the only surviving Frankenstein, but I do know something about some of the townspeople mentioned in a letter which have NOTHING to do with the story), but when you put all that aside, the very heart of Frankenstein is an enjoyable read. The monster is a sympathetic one and I found myself glued to the pages as he first illustrated how he came to understand the world around him.

Unlike Moby Dick which should never be abridged since so much of its irrelevance seems the primary point of the story (I often consider Ahab and the whale merely a sub-plot in Ishmael's life), Frankenstein could do with some good editing. Despite Frankenstein being a relatively short book to begin with, even 200+ pages feels a bit trying when all you are reading about is landscape and Frankenstein fainting.

When Daniel is wed to Hildie Raber his parents wonder if the match is wise. Four years later Hildie mysteriously disappears and everyone is shocked. Daniel is left with 5 young children and a heavy heart - surely Hildie didn't leave by her own choice! Then an Englisch [English speaking person]who has an auto accident, accuses Daniel of not having proper 'road manners'. When man threatens to take Daniel to court, what will happen? Will Hildie ever return? To find out read "Daniel", by Mary Christner Borntrager.

This book identifies some of the thousands of valiant women who cared for the soldiers during the war. It gives a tiny insight into those women who are known by name. As a nurse, I wish that there was more detail regarding their specific duties and responsibilities. The manner in which the material for this book was collected does not lend itself to a more detailed review of the nurses. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It opened the door into the world of civil war nursing and the brave women who answered the call of the bugle.