I really enjoyed this book !!!!!!!! It was very interesting. The pictures looked as if you were really under water with the aminals. It gave such great details. The words were very well thought out, becasue a child could understand them, but it was not a book that adults would not like.

I took my 3 year old to a raceway where he enjoyed watching his first car race. Soon afterwards he picked out this book, and asks me to read it to him every night. It's just like being at the race track (except since it's a kid's book, it downplays the accidents and crashes). A great book for kids, and has colorful cartoon pictures of multi-colored racecars. Also helpful in teaching how to count.

I read the Diary of Anne Frank when I was nine or ten years old. I liked it then, but I understood little of what was happening, and what she was saying. When I was fourteen, I went to Holland, and saw the house where she, her family, and the Van Daans had been in hiding. I bought the Diary there, and read it before the remainder of my trip was out. (I was in Europe for ten days) I was amazed at how she often felt the same things I did. I was also amazed at how well she could write. As an aspiring writer, I was enthralled with her devotion to detail, and reality, but at the same time I loved how she poured out her soul to the diary. Now, at the ripe old age of sixteen, I hold Anne Frank up as a writer to be respected and admired. I also wonder sometimes why it is that I am allowed to live to sixteen, and she was not. But I don't think her diary would have affected the world as much had she survived the camps. I think all of us after reading this diary will carry a little piece of the girl we know as Anne Frank with us forever.

This book is something that is absolutely wonderful, and life changing. It is so because of its author- a teen-age Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis from 1942 to 1945. Reading this allows you to feel what she was feeling, expeirience what she experienced. And all of it is true. It all happened, and the diary allows you to know Anne Frank, in a sence. Her thoughts and ideas were real, and they remain to be because of the diary. Anne goes on, and reading what she went through will change your life.

"The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition" is a wonderful chronicle on the life and writings of that perky Dutch teenager. Now in my late thirties, I first read her diary at thirteen. I was just a frisky Australian schoolboy trying to learn more about the mysterious world of girls. That first read, though, put me in tears. The diary enchanted me and I wanted to know more about Anne, her family, and those fatal frosted footsteps beyond the Secret Annex.

In time, I would learn more, much more. As the "The Critical Edition" shows there is in fact not one diary but several as Anne rethought and revised her own work. "The Critical Edition" places the various revisions side by side so readers can gain an insight into how Anne constructed her work. There is genius in Anne's work but it didn't always come in the first draft. As inspiration to us mortals, she too, had to work at it.

"The Critical Edition" has an especially fascinating account of the publishing history of the diary. Anne's father was the key to publication and it would be some time before he could come to terms with Anne's incredibly honest account of her developing sexuality and those raw comments on her mother, Edith. Publication also came at a time when people's minds were barely coping with understanding World War II and its legacy. For the first time, "The Critical Edition" highlights the difficulties with translating Anne's diary into German and how, for some, it had come too soon and too fast after the great conflict. Yet, for others, the diary was too good to be the work of - in Anne's words - an "incurable chatterbox". Again, this scholarly (and lengthy) work reveals the outcome of analysis that proves the diary's authenticity.

For the reader there is the danger that the light shed on Anne's life and work by this book will lower her from the enormous pedestal she has arisen. In fact, Anne's spirit emerges even stronger. "The Diary of Anne Frank: the Critical Edition" enhances Anne's irrevocable message that freedom and good can reign over a corrupt and evil world.

The Curtis family lives on a farm at the edge of Concord, Massachusetts, in the 1840s. Twelve-year-old Rachel Curtis is beginning to balk at the traditional female role being thrust upon her, and she also happens to be a talented artist. She'd rather sketch the woodgrain pattern of a log than do household chores. (Who wouldn't?) She's encouraged to pursue her craft by a local teacher and by several famous residents, and although Rachel's family members are cautiously supportive, they cannot afford to send her to Boston, New York or Paris to study with an artist. Rachel is lucky enough to meet Henry David Thoreau at his Walden Pond cabin, and he in turn introduces her to Margaret Fuller. Through Margaret's connections, the young girl begins a correspondence study with an artist in New York. By the end of the book, Thoreau's made arrangements with the William Emerson family to house Rachel in the big city while she continues her personal study. We're satisfied at the end of the book that Rachel will realize her creative dreams.

What's missing here is an appendix that provides factual information about Thoreau and Fuller and indicates to the uninitiated reader that the two of them are not fictional characters. Even D.B. Johnson provides such notes at the end of _Henry Hikes to Fitchburg_ and _Henry Builds a Cabin_, his picture books based on Thoreau's life. Faigen should probably also take an opportunity to explain that many of the lines that come out of Henry's mouth here are quotes adapted from _Walden_. Young readers could then be directed to read that classic if they were intrigued by his character's behavior and opinions in this book. Since Margaret Fuller is the lesser known of the two celebrities featured, it would be a valuable service to the readers to tell of her good writing work and her fateful death at sea, since that would happen sometime in the next few chapters if Rachel's world continued.

_Finding Her Way_ is still a fine introduction to the life of the times and the transcendental movement. But even if no one read an "Afterword," I think one should appear.

Wonderfully inspirational for all readers but a must for pre-teens. Anne Faigen recreates nineteenth-century rural Massachusetts with historically accurate detail while drawing the reader in with issues resonant and ultimately relevant to today. Readers will find themselves rethinking their own attitudes and values toward autonomy, self-development, gender and the environment while empathizing with the lively character of Rachel Louisa Curtis. The fact that we are introduced (or reintroduced) to the writing of Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller is the other truely rewarding payoff.

I seriously struggled through Thoreau in both high school and college. After reading Finding Her Way, I was actually enthused about picking up Thoreau for a new reading. Ms. Faigen has accomplished her goal in a literary and entertaining way; to make the ideas of Thoreau accessible to young readers, and give them an appreciation for a critical period of thought in American history.

Death of a Stranger, Anne Perry's latest installment in the William Monk series, is a good, entertaining read, but it could have used a little more meat on its bones. Perhaps Perry was rushed to meet a deadline. As Hester works in a charity medical clinic in the slums and investigates the beatings of prostitutes, and as Monk looks into the possibility of railroad fraud for a woman who is afraid for her finacee, Monk finds that, though he can't discover any current fraud, he fears that in his past life he had less than honorable dealings in another railroad fraud sixteen years ago.

Monk's fear of finding that he had been involved in something illegal or immoral estranges him from Hester, and Hester is uncertain what to do about it. As the action accelerates, though, that part of the story is neglected, leaving one wishing for more character-oriented material. The two storylines-- Hester's doings in Coldbath Fields and Monk's railway investigation--do not intersect enough, and at times one must assume a conversation relaying important information between them took place. Also, whether or not (or, if he does, how) Monk confides his fears and certain important events and information to Hester, we are not told, and since much of the first half of the book deals with that issue, it's strange that their interactions all but cease in the last 120 pages. Basically, I was left feeling that the book needed a few more scenes depicting Hester's and Monk's interactions were needed. Monk certainly spends a lot of time in the first half of the book agonizing about how Hester would feel about him if he had done something wrong in the past, but there is no resolution, or confrontation of this issue as one would expect. Perhaps in the next Monk/Hester novel this will come out, but it would have been appropriate in Death of a Stranger. Lack of it gives a somewhat sketchy, unfinished feel.

There were also some small inconsistencies (or seeming inconsistencies) that niggle slightly. The woman Monk undertakes an investigation for, Katarina Harcus, is a strong, interesting character, but I think some readers will start to figure her out before Monk does. However, the subplot with Rathbone (who is getting over Hester) helping Hester investigate beatings of prostitutes is excellent.

There are three reasons to read a Perry novel, the fine mysteries she cooks up, the descriptions of Victorian England, and the new information and insights into her characters. Unfortunately, the third element is not as srong as could be; I missed the richness of Hester and Monk's relationship that's more evident in earlier installments. An opportunity for Hester and Monk to face a real problem in their marriage is missed, and it shows. However, the unexpected (and unexpectedly action-packed) denoument is top-notch. Other positives include a practically laugh-out-loud funny sequence in which Rathbone helps Hester uncover the prostitutes' persecutor and the (re)introduction of spunky young Margaret, a well-to-do young woman who helps Hester in her clinic. Followers of the series will enjoy this latest book, and with its revelations about Monk's past, it's not to be missed.

I really enjoy Anne Perry's books, especially her ongoing romance between William Monk and his wife Hester. Her description of these characters and the people in their world is really detailed and fascinating. 'Death of a Stranger' is beautifully written (as always) and enjoyable. My only caviat is that Perry's in-depth look at the railway industry is almost overwhelming. She adds so much detail about the day to day workings of steam engines that is tends to draw the reader away from the plot. Granted, there are many details about steam engines that are important to solving the book's mystery, but if more chapters are needed by the publisher, more Hester and William scenes would be welcome (less historical engineering). This is a lovely, beautifully written book, and anyone who enjoys historical mysteries will be captivated.

Hester and William Monk become involved in the investigation of the murder of a railway executive in a brothel. At first, Hester and William are working on seperate cases (Hester finds that prostitutes are being abused by their clients from the women that come to her free clinic, and William is retained by the finacee of a young and successful railway executive to see if he is involved in fraud). Soon, Hester and William realize that their cases are connected, and William finds, as the investigation progresses, that his memory loss from a past accident is starting to come back, and that he may be involved with the railway fraud.

Riveting and suspenseful, it was a hard book to put down. Another winner for Perry, and one of the best in the Hester and William Monk series.

There are three schools of thought regarding the origins of cancer: 1. it is genetic. 2. it is environmental. 3. it is a combination of 1 and 2.

Anne Frahm was a 35 year old woman with breast cancer (originally misdiagnosed) who comes from the environmental school where the American diet is the prime suspect. A Cancer Battle Plan outlines her road back to recovery using body detoxification and nutritional therapy along with the standard therapies..

It is an interesting book, well researched and written in an easy to read style yet one must be cautious of holding out any false hope. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States and if the "cure" consisted of enemas, fasting, a vegetarian diet and additional vitamin supplements, I believe that this would already be part of the knowledge base. I just don't believe that the medical community would be hiding something like this from us for the sake of profit.

While it is difficult to believe that a cheeseburger or a milk shake can be just as dangerous as a cigarette, in defense of Frahm's position, the 3 conventional therapies of chemo, radiation, and surgery often seem to be just as successful or unsuccessful as her coffee enemas - recommended to clean out the poison in the body. Its a lot cheaper, to be sure.

Conventional therapies are also flawed in that one has to wait until one has cancer before administering them. Often, with aggressive cancers, the diagnosis comes in too late and the patient then becomes nothing more than a cash register. The therapies simply postpone the inevitable and in my experience, are often worse than the disease itself.

What is needed in the future, is a device or procedure capable of predicting cancer, in all its myriad forms, long before it is recognized as a tumor. Easy to say, I know. Until then, A Cancer Battle Plan makes the implication that it might be easier via nutrition to prevent cancer rather than cure it and if one has cancer, then detoxification and nutritional therapy may offer some help.

It's worth reading.

This was my fourth purchase of "Cancer Battle Plan," I had already given it to three cancer victim friends, but this time I needed it for myself. I am following the advice in it to a "T" because I am convinced it holds the key to beating cancer (along with prayer and faith in God.) The author Anne Frahm had breast cancer so severe it ate a stress fracture in her backbone--she was sent home to die, but cured herself of cancer using herbs, vitamins and other techniques. This book is extremely enlightening and inspirational. It is easy to read and follow her methods. I would recommend it to anyone.

If you believe cancer is not controllable or curable, this book WILL give you the hope which traditional medicine (MD's) practioners destroy in our minds (not always). This book teaches you how to think for yourself by giving you many, many natural paths (methods) toward giving your body a chance to heal itself. I am not a personal friend of the author! This book entirely changed my perspective, paradigm, or way of thinking on health. This book was "the" book that started my interest in preventative health. WARNING: You may begin to question your doctors. Keep your presence and stand up for your beliefs. Doctors think from a "fix it" rather than a "heal it" perspective. I had Lyme disease and I cured myself, thanks to this book. (PS: This is the first review I have ever written.)

Beep! Beep! has simple, yet beautiful illustrations that will catch the eyes of preschoolers. Anne Miranda narrates the story with rhythmical, predictable, and ryhming words which invite preschoolers to naturally join in. The book does a fine job of bringing transportation vehicles to life by giving them voices. This book is a hit with my preschool students!

I got this book from the library for my son (who's 3.5). He likes ANYthing that Goes. This book covers all things that go; and the sounds they make in a fun and rhythmical fashion. Vehicles ranging from cars, to helicopters to a tank and much more. It was such a big hit! Although the book is probably geared for a younger child than him, he still really enjoys it! He likes memorizing the easy text, enjoys the fun pictures, and of course likes the little boy that zooms all around his room. One cool thing I found when I got the book the 2nd time around from the library, was that he is trying to READ it! With simple words placed in the photo above the text, like VROOM, ZOOM, ZIP, WOWEE, BOOM, etc., he sounds things out and tries to read the words...and since they are easy and interesting words, it is fun!
If your child is a fan of all things that "GO" they will enjoy this little book, it is short, and fun to read again and again (without you, the parent/caregiver going insane).

"The Essential Olive Oil Companion" isn't about oil only. It also explains the steps needed the convert those hard green fruit on your olive tree in delicious snacks and ingredients in Mediterranean recipes. If you've got an olive tree in your yard, orchard or garden, get this book.

I very much enjoyed the stucture of the book. The historical introduction on olive oil is splendid. The chapters on processing, tasting, etc are the best yet on this subject in books of wide readership. Throughout the book one gets permeated by the author's contagious enthusiasm. The chapter on Spanish oils is accurate and fair.Illustrations are also of fine quality. The only blemish I was able to find was the frequent spelling mistakes in the original language of different recipes:"ajo blancho", "carne machada", "bagna calda" etc

"Pentecost Alley" is another entry in Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. It is the thirteenth of these stories that I've read, so it would be safe to assume that I like the series. Perry seems to have a good feel for the period and her characters are well-drawn. She makes late nineteenth century London seem an exceedingly grim place, and perhaps by our standards it was, but other major cities of the day were likely worse (some still are). She sometimes spends a bit too much space on her soapbox expounding on the social evils of the day, something that Doyle avoided (to his credit -- his stories were always concise). Still, the social ills focused on are invariably central to the plot, so this is only a minor complaint. Some of Perry's earlier stories also suffered from rather simplistic plots. There was often a single character with a clearly dysfunctional personality, leaving the reader with only the details to figure out. All that is not a problem here, though. Perry makes it clear in the course of "Pentecost Alley" that she is against capital punishment (an opinion that is not necessarily germaine to the story), but the plot is intricate and intriguing. As public pressure mounts on Pitt, especially when it appears that the wrong man has been hanged for the murder of Ada McKinley, I felt his anxiety. The tension builds very effectively. Although I was able to identify a couple of characters who ended up in a central role, I still couldn't see how it all fitted together until very near the end.

Fans will enjoy "Pentecost Alley" as another chance to spend time with all the regular characters: Thomas, Charlotte, Emily, Gracie, Caroline, Grandmama, the children, etc., but beyond that this is a first rate mystery that any mystery fan can sink his teeth into. I think this is one of Perry's best efforts, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading a good mystery, whether familiar with the series or not.

As far as I'm concerned, Anne Perry's books are keepers. I was buying her books in hardcover as soon as I spotted them before there was an Amazon.com. Now I routinely pre-order them. When I pulled PENTECOST ALLEY off the shelf yesterday, I realized I had forgotten who all but the regular characters were and who was the killer. Some things dimly came back to me while I read, but the story was just as compelling. Yes, there's the usual contrast between the lives of the filthy rich and those of the filthy poor, but I've never known Anne Perry to fail to bring them to life.

Is Finley Fitzjames guilty? The more I learned about his father, Augustus, the worse he seemed, but that didn't mean his son was a murderer. If someone was framing Finley, why? Did anyone hate Finley that much or did someone want to get revenge on the father through the son? The best member of the Fitzjames family is the daughter, Tallulah. Underneath that party-loving exterior is intelligence and fire. She's certain that her beloved brother is innocent, but how can she prove it? While she's at it, can she make up her mind between her life of luxury and a very worthy, but poor man whom she loves but who thinks she's only a social butterfly?

Emily Radley's life has been just as useless as Tallulah's lately. Her husband is fighting for the right in Parliament so they don't have much time together. Her servants are so competent that they could easily manage the household without her. Worse, she has Grandmama living with her. The other women of the family have grown and changed since book one, but Grandmama is a narrow-minded and nasty as ever. It's a good thing we have Lady Vespasia to show us that an elderly widow can still be vital and involved. What Emily needs is to be involved in another of her brother-in-law's cases. Will her new aquaintance with Tallulah give her the chance to be something other than decorative and charming? When things go horribly wrong, as they will, Charlotte will have to step in, too. More than just her husband's career is at stake. There's been an outbreak of violence. Will more follow? Full scale riots? Anarchy? It's a very tense situation. No one has forgotten that Jack the Ripper business only a couple of years ago, nor the fact that the killer was never caught. Don't miss the scene where Emily, Charlotte, and Tallulah forsake their good clothes to visit the brothels for clues. I loved the frank assessment of their chances for success as ladies of the evening. Pay attention to the names of even the most briefly-noted characters. One of them is the same as that of a character in a famous classic novel. I wish I knew if that were coincidence or deliberate.

As usual in one of Anne Perry's mysteries, morality, principles, and soul searching play a prominent role. One of the other reviewers mentioned the author's past, but failed to mention that she was only a schoolgirl at the time.

If you're looking for a book that's fast-paced and shallow, with characters of cardboard, PENTECOST ALLEY is not for you. If you demand more from your mysteries, I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

This book has been my favorite of all the Thomas Pitt series. I love how Anne Perry investigates all levels of victorian London. This one caught my attention and I could hardly put it down. I highly recommend Anne Perry!

In comparison to the previous chapters in the Vampire Chronicles, the Queen of the Damned is composed of a lot more fantastical elements--particularly in relation to the vampires' powers--which provide the story with a much more "fictional" feel. Nevertheless, Anne Rice's poetic prose deftly guides the subject matter to a satisfactory conclusion, never pushing the story's credulity to a dangerous level.

However, the book does suffer from a major flaw: varying points of perspective coming from far too many different characters. The charm of the previous books was that with the first-person redaction, it was easy to become attached and relate to the main character. Yet when roughly half of the book is spent describing the experiences of minor characters to progress the plot and nothing more, with hardly any worthwhile introspective commentary, it becomes strenuous to retain interest.

Thankfully, the latter half of the book, where Lestat returns, more than makes up for this deficiency; by the end of the novel it's incredibly difficult to not wish that the story kept going.

If there were one point I would like to emphasize, it is the following: the story of the twins is sheer brilliance. Read the book solely for this; then mourn the fact that Anne Rice makes it impossible to enjoy anyone else's vampire stories. They seem so puerile afterwards, it's unbelievable!

"The Queen of the Damned" is one of Rice's most intricate, involving and altogether fascinating novels. It takes the reader 6000 years back in time, across continents, and through multiple points of view. It is a true epic. It is also a thoughtful meditation on evil. Real evil.

It continues the story started in "The Vampire Lestat" (rather awkwardly, but more skillfully as the novel gains momentum.)

Dozens of stories are interwoven, characters from previous novels are players as well as some new characters. At the heart of the novel is the rising of two ancient female vampires Akasha, the Queen, and Maharet one of a set of twin vampires opposed to the Queen and her plan for humanity.

Okay, it sounds pretty silly but Rice uses what is basically a comic book plot and makes a fascinating story out of it. Another writer would shy away from the possibly "camp" elements of the story but Rice writes it with great fidelity to her characters and basically writes a great story that is not afraid of going over-the-top. She writes with a great fearlessness and almost an abandon. She's absolutely set on writing whatever the hell she wants.

Here she muses on the nature of evil. She is not just writing about some kind of abstract comicbooks evil but she targets a very real and immediate kind of evil that is all about us. The evil of ideas out of control. The evil of disregard of human life. Anne Rice is definitely our greatest Romantic Writer, but here she reveals her gifts as one of our strongest humanistic voices. This from a "comic booky" set up. This is a surprisingly potent novel.

This novel is exhilirating. The complex narrative and histories detailed in it is a work of genius; the way the characters are all so inextricably intertwined is wonderful. The story behind Daniel, the interviewer in "Interview With the Vampire", and the allusions to ancient Egypt brought to this novel a mixture of gothic wonder and compex storytelling that Anne Rice excels in. As a closing point, can I also stipulate that I can't believe that some people have problems with the sexual content in the book-- I mean, come on! After 200 years and three novels, Louis and Lestat finally...kiss! Oh, the horror! That's one of the best parts in the book-- it sees a reconciliation of two of the most enduring characters in modern fiction. I strongly urge you to read this, what I feel to be the last of the truly great books in the Vampire Chronicles. Its surpassed only by 'Interview With the Vampire' and 'The Vampire Lestat'. It's all downhill from here, folks. But what a ride it was to start with!