"Masks" and "Tao" are my personal favourites both because of their intelligence and beauty, something hard to find together.
Masks is a disturbing and compelling tale of identity while the eastern quest of 'Tao' fits Batman's spiritual history quite well.

One of my favorite Batman graphic novels! I especially liked "Sanctum" and "Masks", both of which stand on their own as excellent Batman stories ("Sanctum" gave me chills!). The artwork is all first rate, too, making this one a winner on all counts!

I first read "Masks" one of the several stories featured in this excellent collection when I was a kid and it's haunting, dark imagery, has not ceased to entertain me. As well as the above mentioned story, Batman: Dark Legends also has a tale about Batmans first encounter with the Joker, which is one of the greatest Batman stories in print buy this book now, you'll treasure it forever! Peace.

This is a P.S.

Battered & Bruised, should be required reading in every college and university in the country that have or DO NOt have Women and Gender Studies.

Just got the book out of the library last night and I'm nearly 1/3 through it. It is wonderful. In reading the bible, I could never understand how such vile and derogatory outpourings against the few women they wrote about could have been so well hidden. Women seem to make up the baulk of religious worshipers and yet not a kind word is directed at them.

Arthur Ide has my deepest appreciation for stating out right what has been so cleverly distorted regarding the reality of women in the OT.

Thank you.

Arthur Frederick Ide work should be available in school reading lists. I did not know what to expect until I realized that with the bible in hand you can check every footnote and discover that what he says is true. The bible is written as a rabid assault on female sexuality and women in general. Especially note worthy are the comments regarding foreign women, racism is rife a long side hypocrisy and gang rapes. Ide writes well and offers up some thought provoking material .

Outstanding book that would be even better with pictures.

My brother sent me a copy of Beyond Burlap for my birthday. I fell in love with this cookbook. Now, I send it to all my friends who have ever asked what can I make with potatoes. It is very complete and appeals to all tastes and ages. A perfect gift for anyone!

Beyond Burlap has an excellent assortment of potato recipes! I never knew there were so many ways to prepare a potato! The Potato Mocha Poundcake is my favorite. The stories and fun potato tidbits make Beyond Burlap a fun cookbook to own!

All potato lovers should own this book!

Mathews deals with the subject of spiritual warfare from a front liner's viewpoint. He spent significant time on the mission field and learned tremendous spiritual lessons as he participated as a soldier in Christ's army. He shares these insights in short chapters which should be read more than once. Each lesson is relevant for today even though written in years past. Get ready to use your highlighter as you get new understanding on the believer's battle.

I read this book while I was serving as a missionary in Asia; my experiences paralleled those of the author and his insights helped me a great deal

Mathews was an officer in the Indian Army during WW II, which accounts for his liberal use of a military vocabulary in these brief and excellent studies. As someone born for battle, Mathews is obsessed (in a good sense) with the absolute and unquestioned victory of Jesus Christ. His insights, therefore, should boost the spirits of even the most down-trodden Christian. The titles of a few of the meditations on spiritual warfare and the power of Christ reveal his clear convictions: "The Soldier of the Cross" "The Soldier's Best Friend" "Our Wrestling" "Rendering the enemy Powerless" "Lions' - Den Loyalty" "Discipline Accepted . . . Mission Accomplished." It's hard to imagine how these brisk, to-the-point, yet warm devotional thoughts could fail to stir up the reader.

Based on the "Arthur" episode by the same name, "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver" teaches a lesson, but at the same time includes humor that escalates to greater and greater levels throughout the story. When Buster "rescues" a cat from a tree, he at first denies that it was an act of heroism; he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. As more and more attention starts be heaped on him, he starts to really get into being a hero, even starting a script for his own television series, which he states will be "edutainment." ("It's supposed to be a combination of entertainment and education, but often ends up being the worst of both.") When he starts trying to get the Brain to do his homework and being otherwise pompous, his friends start hatching schemes to try to bring his eager down to size. This is one bunny, though, who isn't so easily swayed.

My class of first graders loved this story. This story hasfunny things happen to the characters. Arthur is upset because Busterthinks he is better than everyone. This story has many plots and mysteries as Buster's friends try to show him that he is not as brave as he thinks. It is easy to read and easy to follow, but NOT BORING!

My 7-year old daughter (2nd grade) loves this entire series of books. When she was younger (up to kindergarten) she loved the "adventure" series of Arthur books. We made the transition to the chapter books because they have so much more story to them. They were perfect at the age where I would just read them to her, and by now we're at the point where she reads them to me. We have LOTS of books, but no others have held her interest as well across these stages. Fantastic value for the money. I automatically buy each new chapter book as they're released.

Fans of the authors in this will want to scoop up this highly original collection, as well as any Arthuriana buffs. The authors include such greats as Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, Debra Doyle/James McDonald, Diana Paxson, and others.

McCaffrey's story is an excerpt of "Black Horses for the King", a YA novel about a young boy named Galwyn, whose abusive uncle is shipping enormous Libyan horses for Lord Artos. Pratchett's story is the entertaining "Once and Future" about a time traveller who creates the sword in the stone. We see the roots of Nancy Springer's bittersweet "I Am Mordred" in the story "Raven," in which young Mordred's soul is imprisoned in a raven's body. Doyle/MacDonald craft a hilarious story called "Holly and Ivy" about Lancelot having a little fun with Gawain.

The writing styles range from "kooky" ("Holly," "Once and Future") to detailed ("Black Horses") to dreamy ("Raven").

As a previous reviewer stated, the only flaw with this is the last story. Honestly, we've had enough drooling in the area of the former president, haven't we? The final story isn't really Arthurian at all.

However, the final story is the sole flaw. It is, overall, a lovely collection of highly original stories about Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot. A must-read for fantasy and Arthurian fans.

Ah, Arthurian fiction! I love it!

This is a stunning collection of short stories, often reflecting the different ideas of the various authors. There are stories about Merlin and Arthur, Guinevere... and a few that are out of the ordinary. A part of the Anne McCaffrey book "Black Horses for the King", the short story that led to "I Am Mordred," the glorious alternate view of Arthur's unfortunate son. Almost every story is accompanied with illustrations that go with the story's theme-"Black Horses" has a realistic drawing, while "Mordred" is strange and dreamy. The cover art is simply stunning--Merlin, you glorious old crank!

My only problem is the last story. Does this REALLY count as Arthurian fiction? But if you ignore the last one, this is as close to perfect as you can get!

This book is great i reccommend it to all of you. There is detail and adventure. the characters are great, and the fact that it is written by different authors is good, because people get a sense of the characters. Otherwise one author may have a different interpitation of a character or setting, now it would be easier to see what it was really like.

Michael is a three hundred and sixty year old vampire who works for The Circle, an organization of paranormal beings dedicated to destroying their evil kin. Nikki is a thrall, a being similar to a vampire without the need for blood. She and Michael are a couple in trouble because he wants to protect her and she wants to work with him for The Circle.

When Michael arrives home after an assignment, he finds that Nikki is not there, she has gone to help her partner in their private detective agency track down a killer who is abducting, torturing and killing women. When Michael arrives, they learn that the killer is a vampire out to settle some old scores from his high school days. Only through teamwork can this killer be stopped, but even working together that remains a dangerous proposition since he has targeted Nikki as one of his victims.

Keri Arthur is one of the best supernatural romance writers of the new millennium. Her books are always refreshingly different and she has a knack for creating characters it is easy to care about. CHASING THE SHADOW IS ONE OF HER BEST works to date because equal attention is given to the relationship and the hunt. Vampire lovers are going to love this book and want to read the next book in the series because there are questions that need answers.

Harriet Klausner

While Michael is in Ireland hunting vampires, Nikki, at loose ends, is contacted by Jake to assist him in a case. Three wealthy women have been kidnapped and held for ransom. After the ransom was paid, two of the women were found dead, mutilated and drained of blood. The third is the wife of Jake's best friend. They have to find her before she meets the same fate. Annoyed at Michael's overprotective ways, Nikki jumps at the chance to work on a case again. Unfortunately, Michael has been assigned to the same case by the Circle and doesn't want her in any danger. And, there's the little problem of the new powers that Nikki seems to be developing faster than she can control them.

I am hooked on this series. The characters are strong, the villians wild, and the story line intense. Once I picked this one up, I couldn't put it down. This is an outstanding addition to the series.

Michael is a three hundred and sixty year old vampire who works for The Circle, an organization of paranormal beings dedicated to destroying their evil kin. Nikki is a thrall, a being similar to a vampire without the need for blood. She and Michael are a couple in trouble because he wants to protect her and she wants to work with him for The Circle.

When Michael arrives home after an assignment, he finds that Nikki is not there, she has gone to help her partner in their private detective agency track down a killer who is abducting, torturing and killing women. When Michael arrives, they learn that the killer is a vampire out to settle some old scores from his high school days. Only through teamwork can this killer be stopped, but even working together that remains a dangerous proposition since he has targeted Nikki as one of his victims.

Keri Arthur is one of the best supernatural romance writers of the new millennium. Her books are always refreshingly different and she has a knack for creating characters it is easy to care about. CHASING THE SHADOW IS ONE OF HER BEST works to date because equal attention is given to the relationship and the hunt. Vampire lovers are going to love this book and want to read the next book in the series because there are questions that need answers.

Harriet Klausner

Even now, more than 20 years later this book is permanantley in my mind as being an all time classic. Not only does the story inspire me as to its imaginative structure but also the illustrations within the book brought the story to life. I can still remember to this day peering through the crack of the fridge door trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of Chilly Billy turning off the light. This is a book that all adults should return too, to remember that there is no need to ever forget the limitless imagination of being a child. Next time you're in the kitchen see if you can catch out Chilly Billy as he skates around the fridge.

I read this book when I was 6 years old during 'reading hour' at my school. We would be expected to read a book every week or so, and I must have read hundreds! This book was special. And now, nearly 13 years on, the title 'Chilly Billy' still fresh in my memory, I'm searching to find this special book again. As a child I was drawn into the fantasy of the story - this is the work of a true genius. I remember clearly the little details added, like the suckers on Chilly Billy's shoes so he could walk up to the ice-box. Every child should have the opportunity to read this magical tale, and every adult should be reminded that imagination does, and should, be stretched like a rubber band. Who switches off the light in your fridge when you shut the door...?

It's a book for peaple who like to use their imagination , not only has this book earned 5 stars but so has the intreging sequal , Foot-prints in the butter . The charactors are funny, creative and all have somthing to do with the fridge or food in it. My favourite charactor was stripey normin the caterpillar who met Chilly billy by being on a lettuce in the garden and it was transfered into the fridge. It's a great read for anyone at any time.

Drews wrote this book in German and it was translated to English with sometimes difficult sentence construction, but the ideas are good and essentially clear. The ideas are not at all outdated. I've read the recent Christ-myth books, such as The Jesus Puzzle, The Christ Conspiracy, The Jesus Mysteries, The Jesus Myth, and Deconstructing Jesus. This book and The Jesus Mysteries are my favorites because instead of only refuting the historical Jesus and discarding the whole of the Jesus story, they ask what is the meaning and value of the myth, in terms of religious experiencing and insight into the relation of self and world.

The conclusion of this book is that given the choice between Jesus as myth and the historical Jesus, the right path for religion as religion is to choose Jesus as myth. If all we have is the historical Jesus of liberal Protestantism, then we no longer have religion, just mundane morality divested of both myth and the supernatural. But if we retain Jesus as myth, then we retain the religious redemption that is possible. He asserts that the Catholic Church could become legitimate by abandoning the historical Jesus and emphasizing the mythic Jesus as redeemer. Despite his elevation of redemption as the true essence of religion, Drews does not define redemption. (I'd define redemption as reconciliation between the self as moral agent and that from which it emanates.) Drews does not explicitly define this reconciliation and explain specifically how the Jesus myth assists this reconciliation.

He explains a main motive for creating the assertion of the historical Jesus. The early Jewish Christian leaders used a strategy of trying to limit authority to themselves and shut out competitors such as Paul and his Gentile/mythic Christianity by creating historical requirements that would serve to exclude others and restrict authority to themselves. Drews shows that this is the same strategy the Church fathers used: assert that the only spiritual authority is that of the person who spent time with the historical Jesus. If Jesus is allowed to be purely mythic, religious authority is potentially spread evenly among all people, but if Jesus is historical as well as mythic, the profitable and advantageous possibility of excluding other authorities arises.

Drews emphasizes the sacred meal as central to early Christian worship and compares it to the central role of soma (= "body") in Vedic religion, thus this book is useful for the entheogenic theory of religion.

You must take a carefull look on this book originally writted at the turn of the century (1910). How actual are the views of this eminent German philosopher.

To my surprise, The Christ Myth is not at all a rant of Christianity and Christian theology, but rather simply a comparsion between Christian beliefs, similar pagan belies, and the essential meaning behind the motiff of the suffering god image that has persisted religious faith in a number of different ways from Mithras, Odin, and on to the sacraficial vegetation god worshipped by modern pagans. That is at least the first part of the book, the second part takes a look at the Jesus figure himself, apart from his pagan influences, and relates how the character of Jesus came about, meaning what went into him, what sources were used, and the eventual product character that is today the centerpiece of Christianity. But all throughout this, the book is still not work of religious forgery of deception, but rather a book about literature and poetry, and how these two elements forged the image of Jesus Christ.

We received this book as a gift for our son's first birthday, and he has loved it to death! He loved to fill in the missing words as we read to him, and quickly learned all of his nursery ryhmes. Now at age 2, he is rediscovering this treasure...he has fallen in love with the illustrations all over again, and he understands the meaning and humor in these wonderful rhymes!

I got this book when I was little and now I want this book for my little girl. My favorite nursery rhyme is the one about the Crooked man. I reccommend everyone buying this book for their children.

The Classic Mother Goose is the perfect book to introduce nursery rhymes to kids of all ages. The illustrations in this book captivate the smallest children and they will choose this book over and over again as a favorite for bedtime stories. My kids read our first copy to death. That is the true test of how good a book is.